A/N: Well, I finally...FINALLY forced myself to write something! I've been busy with my own place to live and my new dog (named...Carly!), and the times when I did have the opportunity to write, I kept forgetting. But today I told myself that I couldn't have dessert until I finished this, but it's done, so now that restriction is lifted! Yay!
As for the last chapter...I'll be getting to writing about the consequences of that later. Hopefully not as late as this time!
In the end, Jack and Carly had to make a compromise for the birth of their second child. Jack was creeped out at just the idea of having the baby in their own apartment ("What if something goes wrong?" he kept asking), but Carly absolutely refused to go back to that hospital unless it was absolutely necessary. Hospitals tend to be scary places even in the best of conditions, and in Carly's case, she had only been able to speak a few dozen words of English at the time. She had had no interpreter until Jack arrived.
Also, she had never told Jack this, but when the nurse put the IV needle in, Carly had had some sort of horrible panic attack. She'd been scared of needles since her extended hospital stay at age four, but this had been an extreme reaction even for that. She'd gotten this sensation like she was falling or something. Jack had shown up a few minutes later, so she hadn't had time to think about it. But she didn't want to take any chances this time.
After much research and debate (and many pints of cheesecake-flavored ice cream consumed on Carly's part), they decided on a birthing center. She had to get the okay for that from her regular doctor, but her pregnancy had been so healthy that this wasn't a problem. The place they selected had the atmosphere of an upscale hotel, with a large bed and a hot tub. The person who gave the tour said that the latter was very popular, and Carly looked forward to trying it herself.
As it turned out, however, she didn't get to use it. When she first started labor, she took her time getting ready, since Erika's birth had taken so long. But then, when she suddenly started having strong contractions five hours in, she and Jack had to grab their things and rush out the door. Erika was at preschool and would be picked up by the nanny.
It was a long and traffic-filled ride. Jack grumbled only half-jokingly that if Carly had the baby in his new Cadillac, she would have to pay to clean it out of her own salary. Fortunately, this didn't happen, but it was a close call. When they got to the center, the midwife took one look at Carly and said there wasn't going to be enough time to fill up the hot tub. Carly was disappointed, but found the bed to be comfortable enough. It got even better when the midwife suggested that Jack sit behind Carly, back against the headboard. Both of them were a bit skeptical at first, but Carly found it easier to get through the final stages when she quite literally had Jack to lean upon.
This time, it only took five minutes of pushing, with Jack carefully looking anywhere but down, before Martha Rose Atlas came into the world. At seven pounds, nine ounces, she was very close to the size Erika had been. Carly had been a bit worried that Jack would be annoyed at having two daughters in a row, but he didn't show any such feelings, which meant that he most likely wasn't feeling them. He held the new baby as tenderly as he'd held Erika.
Their older daughter dropped by to visit a couple of hours later. She'd been very excited about finally getting to meet her new sister.
"Rosie!" she exclaimed as soon as she saw the little bundle. Jack smirked a bit…the baby was still a bit red in the face, so it was an apropos nickname. But Carly gently corrected, "No, honey, that's her middle name. Her first name is Martha."
But Erika crossed her arms and insisted that the name was Rosie, and it ended up sticking. If Erika had chosen something totally weird like, say, "Jell-o," Jack and Carly wouldn't have let her get away with it, but this name was quite harmless.
Years later, Carly would think it very odd that her most difficult child had had the easiest birth.