A/N Short authors note today. I know I said this chapter probably wouldn't be up for a while but I started writing and just wrote the whole thing. So without further ado, enjoy. Also don't forget to review.
Zach bolts out of bed and runs into the nursery to grab the pre-packed baby bag that I've had ready for the past three weeks while I roll out of bed and grab some cropped work out pants and an oversized t-shirt. After I've pulled those on I grab my overnight bag (which is always packed in case I get a last minute mission) and throw that over my shoulder. I remember that Zach didn't stop to get dressed before he bolted so I grab a pair of shorts and a t-shirt for him and am about to walk down to the nursery to give them to him when he bursts back into our room with the baby bag slung over his shoulder. I throw his clothes at him and then find myself leaning over as a contraction comes so forcefully I actually feel the pain it brings with it. I am trained not to feel pain but after the numerous torture sessions my dear departed mother in-law put me through, I barley register most pain as a built up defense my body has learned.
"Are you all right?" Zach asks with concern, coming up behind me.
"Fine, the contractions are pretty far apart, the pain just caught me off guard." I straighten my spine and look at him. He has put his clothes on and has the baby bag in his hand and a car seat in his other hand. "Let's go." I say with a smile.
"Let's go," he agrees.
When we get to the stairs, I realize that there is no way I am getting down them without help and so Zach, without a word, picks me up bridal style and carries me to the bottom where he sets me down and opens the front door. With one hand on the small of my back, he ushers me through them and to the car where he deposits the car seat into the back seat along with my overnight bag and the baby's bag which has baby clothes, a baby blanket and an assortment of diapers in it. Zach opens my door for me and helps me in, then goes around to the driver's side and slides into his seat.
"It's a good thing I got home when I did," Zach murmurs.
"No kidding," I say, "I would have been very pissed if you missed the birth of your child."
"So would I," Zach says.
I'm amazed at how calm the two of us are right now, I figured that this would be a terrifying experience but now that it is happening, I'm not scared at all. Like all new or soon to be parents, I've lain awake at night obsessing over all the things that could go wrong with my labour, all of the things that could happen to my baby, all the ways my son could die, what would happen if Zach or I died. The thing is, unlike other parents, there is always a good chance that one of us or both of us could die. Every time we start a mission there is always a chance we won't come back and with every mission we complete safely, we gain more enemies that would kill either one of us or our family without hesitation. Maybe it's that I live with this knowledge every day and have worried for nine months, but right now I am calm. It is the kind of calm I feel while I'm on a mission, the kind of calm that comes when you except that you don't know what is going to come next but know that whatever does come, you'll be ready for it. I glance at Zach's face and see that he is wearing what I like to call his mission face. It is focused and terrifying. It's observant and deadly and smart. I look at my face in a mirror and see that my face is just like his. We both have our mission faces on, we are both treating this new experience as one more unpredictable, dangerous thing that will end in either joy or despair. I sigh, being a spy never ends.
"Almost there," Zach tells me. "How're you doing?'
"Fine," I reply. "A bit of pain but I haven't had another contraction yet so that's good. Does Shelly now I'm in labour?" I ask, referring to my obstetrician.
"She's going to meet us at the hospital," Zach answers, "I called her when I went to grab the baby's bag and car seat."
I nod acknowledging that I'd heard him and grit my teeth as another contraction hits. Zach notices.
"You okay?" He asks.
"Yup, just another contraction. Don't worry," I add when I see his face, "I'm fine."
"Alright, but tell me if that changes Gallagher Girl."
"It won't," I mutter. "I've been through worse."
At this, Zach laughs, "I know you have baby, but child birth is a level all on its own."
I smack him.
"Ouch, Cam, I'm driving." Zach says.
"And I'm fine so stop worrying about me." I don't know why but it's really bothering me.
"Fine," he says pulling into the hospital parking lot. "We're here anyways."
Zach and I walk through the doors of the ER and tell the nurse at the desk who we are and that our obstetrician, Shelly Schmidt should be waiting for us in the maternity ward. The nurse at the desk dispatches another nurse who looks about 30 to take us up to meet her.
"I'm Kelly," Kelly tells us in the elevator.
"Cammie," I say sticking out my hand.
"Zach," Zach says also offering his right hand but keeping the left one tightly around my waist."
"How old are you guys?" Kelly asks us.
"27," I say at the same time Zach says 28. We grin at each other.
"Is this your first?" She asks us.
"Yeah," Zach says with a grin.
"Well you two sure are very calm about it," Kelly informs us. "Good luck," she says when the elevator doors open.
"Thanks," I tell her as we step out onto the Maternity floor.
The elevator doors close and Zach looks at me. "Let's do this," he says and together, with our mission faces on, we march up to the front desk.
Four hours later, I hear the distinct sound of a newborn baby crying and a nurse puts my son in my arms.
"Do you have a name picked out for him?" She asks us.
Zach and I exchange a look. "Jason," Zach answers, the pride in his voice prominent. "Jason Mathew Goode."
"Hey buddy," I say. "Welcome to the world." I grin at Zach. "Do you want to meet your Daddy?" I ask the tiny little baby in my arms.
Zach takes him from me and smiles down at our sons little face. "Hey, your Mommy and I have been waiting a long time for you," he whispers sitting down in the chair beside my bed.
I reach out to touch my sons head. "We're so glad you're here," I tell him as the door to my hospital room opens.
"Hey Mommy," Bex's voice says.
I turn my head. "You came," I say.
"You didn't think I wouldn't come and see my best friend's baby, did you?"
"Of course not," I smile at her.
"Move," I hear Grant's voice say from behind her. "The rest of us need to be able to get into the room."
Bex moves and Grant, Abby, Townsend, Joe, the Director and my Mom pile into the room. Zach passes Jason back to me and stands up to greet them, hugging Bex and Grant and Abby and Joe, shaking Townsend and the Director's hands. Then he comes and sits back down next to me.
"This is Jason," I say to my friends and family.
My mom is the first to move. "Can I hold him?" She asks me. I nod and carefully hand Jason to her. "I'm your Grandma," she tells him with a smile.
Bex comes forward next and takes him from my mom. "Hey little guy," she says.
Grant comes up next to her and she passes Jason to him. They stand shoulder to shoulder and stare at his little face and I know that it won't be long before they'll have a child of their own.
"He's beautiful," Grant says, looking at Zach and I. "How can anything with half of Zach's DNA be beautiful?" He jokes.
Abby holds him next, then Townsend, then Joe, then the Director. Everybody croons at Jason and smiles and laughs.
After about fifteen minutes, the Directors phone rings. "I have to go," he says apologetically after talking to whoever is on the other end. "Congratulations," he adds. "He really is beautiful."
After the Director leaves, Zach and I look at each other and a message passes between us. Jason is back in my arms and is fast asleep snuggled against my chest. "Bex, Grant." Zach says. "We'd like you two to be Jason's Godparents."
They freeze. "Us?" Bex stutters.
"Yes you," I say, trying not to laugh. It's not often you I get to surprise Bex and I don't think I've ever seen her like this.
Both Bex and Grant seem to unfreeze just as suddenly as they'd frozen. "We'd be honored," they say together.
After another half hour of happy conversation and baby passing, a nurse appears at the door and kicks everyone out with the exception of Zach, Jason and me saying we need to rest. I don't think she's right until I close my eyes and everything goes black.