Chapter 16
A week later, CC was three days from her due date and desperately uncomfortable. Her back ached, she was constantly burning up in spite of the frigid temperature outside, and her ankles were swollen, not that she'd seen them in weeks. She had just come from an appointment with Dr. Rivera, and had learned that her cervix was beginning to dilate. Sporadic contractions had started the previous morning, but they still hadn't become regular enough to warrant a trip to the hospital, so, as CC always did, she continued to work.
She shifted on the green leather sofa in the office and groaned when a razor-sharp pain shot across her lower back.
Maxwell looked up from the script he was reading and said, "CC, wouldn't you be more comfortable at home?"
"Shut the hell up, Max," she responded irritably and reached awkwardly behind her to press her fingers against her spine.
Maxwell reached for the intercom and said, "Niles, could you come in here?"
A few moments later, Niles popped his head in the door and intoned, "You rang?"
"Will you please rub her back? It's making mine hurt just watching her. I'd have done it myself, but I realized I value my life too highly for that."
"And you don't value mine, sir?" Niles injected all the hurt he could drum up into the question.
"I'm sitting right here, Lurch," CC said, and glared at both men.
Niles wedged himself in beside her and CC automatically turned so that he could reach her lower back. He began to knead her tight muscles, and CC didn't even try to hold in the hiss of pleasure.
Maxwell stood immediately. "I—I need to… check on the children. Yes. I'll just—" His voice trailed off as he hurried down the hall, and in any case, CC and Niles had long ceased listening to him.
"Are the contractions getting any more regular?" Niles asked her, pressing hard against her back with his fingers.
"Still at least 20 minutes apart," she said, and leaned into his touch.
Abruptly, she stood, hands cradling her belly. "Oh my god, Niles." She looked down at the liquid beading up on the sofa.
Niles jumped to his feet. "Your water. It broke," he said daftly, staring at the drops on the leather.
"No shit, Sherlock. Get Max's keys; I'm having this baby today." She walked heavily out into the hall, and Niles finally jolted into action, scooping up her bag as he followed her.
They had pre-registered, and CC couldn't help squeezing Niles's knee a little too hard as they pulled up at the same hospital they'd been at months previously, under much more troubling circumstances. Niles glanced over at her and patted her shoulder reassuringly.
Max had handed over the keys to his Porsche without complaint, perhaps fearing the result of even opening his mouth in opposition. He and Nanny Fine and the children would follow in the limo, and CC fully expected Sylvia and Yetta to show up, too, because that was just her luck.
In the few minutes it had taken them to get to Lenox Hill, the contractions had increased in both intensity and frequency. CC had phoned Dr. Rivera from the car, and the white-haired doctor met them at the check-in desk. "Let's see how you're progressing," she said in a business-like voice, and both CC and Niles relaxed a bit.
Four hours later, CC was hooked to an IV, a fetal monitor, and a blood pressure cuff and her contractions were coming so quickly she almost couldn't catch her breath between them. The doctor examined her and said, "You're coming along quicker than most first pregnancies, CC. Another couple contractions and it will be time to push."
"First and by god last," CC ground out and looked at Niles maliciously.
He raised his hands in surrender and pushed her sweat-drenched hair behind her ear. "You're doing beautifully," he said to her.
"Fuck you, Niles." CC began to shake with the intensity of the current contraction.
Dr. Rivera hid a smile. "Okay, CC, I need you to push now. That's right, just like that."
She guided her through several more pushes over the course of the next half-hour, and finally she said, "Give me your hand. Your baby's beginning to crown."
CC felt the baby's head and turned to look at Niles, an expression of wonder on her face. She took him by the hand and guided his touch so he could experience it, too, and she kissed him as a tear slid its way down his face.
"We're in the home stretch, now, mama," Dr. Rivera said cheerfully. And ten minutes later, the baby's cry filled the room as CC leaned back, a sensation of pure relief coming over her. It was nearly over, thank everything holy.
Moments later, Dr. Rivera placed a naked, tiny, wriggly creature on CC's belly and said, "Congratulations to you both, you have a daughter." CC looked at her baby and then up at Niles, who was watching with an expression she had never seen before. He balanced gingerly beside her on the bed, one hand splayed across the baby's back and one clutching desperately at CC's hand.
He leaned over and murmured, "You're more breathtaking than I've ever seen you, my love."
CC laughed, though it wobbled a little in her throat. "Your standards are becoming dreadfully low… Papa," she said quietly.
Nile's grin could have lit the darkest room.
"One more quick push, CC, and we'll be through here," the doctor called, and CC obliged.
She couldn't take her eyes off her baby, who began making suckling sounds. CC lifted her to her breast, and pulled her gown away to give her access. With much less trouble than CC had expected, the little one clasped on and began to nurse.
Niles moved his hand, gently holding the baby's dark downy head as she ate hungrily. He brought his lips to CC's and kissed her, putting all the emotions he couldn't verbalize into the movement of his mouth against hers. She responded passionately—so passionately that she jostled the hungry baby, who mewled in grumpy protest. CC and Niles both laughed, and CC shifted so the baby could nurse from her other breast.
Then she looked up at Niles. "Stella is going to keep us on our toes, I think." They had been discussing names for weeks, but hadn't decided between Stella and a couple others.
Niles nodded, smiling. The name suited the little brown-haired baby. "Aye. That she will."
A commotion in the hall drew their attention away from Stella, who continued eating happily, unaware of the crowd of people waiting to welcome her. One of the nurses moved to chastise the noisemakers, but Niles spoke up. "Let me."
He glanced over at CC and motioned at her chest. "Do you want to…"
She raised an eyebrow. "It's perfectly natural, Niles, no, I'm not interrupting her again. Let them in."
He bristled. "But Mr. Sheffield, and Brighton—"
CC's eyes narrowed. "Jealous old man, I don't care about Max or the boy. Open the door."
Grumbling under his breath, Niles followed orders. As he pulled the door open, he couldn't keep from grinning proudly as he announced, "Meet our daughter, Stella." The chaos that followed the Sheffield-Fine clan everywhere accompanied them into the birthing room, and Niles stood back, watching.
Sure enough, Mr. Sheffield's eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw CC nursing the baby, and Grace and Maggie had to catch Brighton before he fell to the floor. CC shot Niles a mischievous glance and he grimaced at her in return. Miss Fine took Mr. Sheffield's arm and tried to distract him while Sylvia argued with Yetta about whether or not Miss Babcock had indeed been knocked up, and by whom. Niles laughed out loud and moved through the crowd to join CC on the bed. He once more put his hand on his daughter's head—and if his body shielded CC from prying eyes, what could he say? He was only human.
She grinned at him, fully aware of the motivation behind his movements. She quirked her lips in an air kiss and Niles smirked at her. Oh, yes, this was going to be a grand adventure.
THE END