A/N: Second to last chapter everyone! Mindy finally has the baby and Tom's back! (:
It was a beautiful, crisp October afternoon in New York City when Mindy went into labor two weeks before her due date. She was in the kitchen, preparing two turkey sandwiches while Danny was hunched over their dining room table, working on paperwork that was long overdue. Mindy's hand holding the butter knife stiffened as she felt some pain and discomfort across her midsection. She squinted her eyes in concentration, mentally gauging the intensity of the contraction. It quickly passed, so she wasn't worried. This was her first contraction, and it could even just be Braxton Hicks contractions.
She padded over to the table and took a seat beside Danny, placing the two plates on the smooth surface. "Come on, Danny. You need to eat lunch."
Danny waved a hand in dismissal. "Yeah, I know, Min. I will. Don't worry about me."
"Danny. You haven't eaten since breakfast and that was hours ago. I even made one of your favorites. A turkey sandwich with the homemade mayo you like so much from the deli down the street."
He looked at Mindy with tired yet appreciative eyes and smiled in thanks. He had taken on a couple of her patients the past few weeks in preparation for Mindy's maternity leave, and the extra paperwork had worn him out thin lately. However, he didn't mind because he was doing it for Mindy.
He pulled the plate closer to him. "Thanks, Min. You're the best." He gently squeezed her hand and tenderly kissed her.
"Of course, babe, anything," she smiled back. He took a generous bite of the sandwich before looking back down at the patient files. Satisfied that Danny had started eating, Mindy gingerly picked up her sandwich, not wanting to let any of the tangy sauce drip down onto the plate. The sandwich barely touched her lips with another contraction shot across her stomach. She dropped her sandwich and clutched her stomach as she sharply inhaled and squeezed her eyes shut.
Within milliseconds, Danny pushed his chair away and knelt beside her, eyes darting back and forth from her face to her stomach. "Mindy?!" She was squeezing the life out his left hand within seconds, which elicited a painful yelp out of Danny.
"God, this hurts like a moth-" She took in another breath as the pain intensified and continued to sharply breath through the contraction. "Dan-Danny." She grunted in pain and panted out, "Danny, we need…hospital…ugh...NOW!"
Danny was sweating buckets, sweating more than he has ever sweated in his life. Mindy's pregnancy was pretty easy. Her blood pressure was just fine, the baby was healthy, and there had been zero complications. All the signs pointed towards an easy delivery, but all of this meant nothing to Danny as his worries of Mindy's and the baby's well-being flashed through his mind after seeing Mindy clutch her stomach with one hand and his hand with the other, hunched over in pain. However, Danny didn't have time to dwell on this. He ran into action as he carefully helped Mindy stand and walk towards the door all the while grabbing some pillows and Mindy's delivery bag in the closet.
Luckily they got to the hospital in less than 25 minutes, but they still had to wait a bit since Mindy was in the early stages of labor. She was 4 centimeters dilated, so they still had some time to waste. In the meantime, they called their respective family and friends, including Tom, to let them know of the news and to say that they'll call again if anything changes.
After 20 hours of labor (Mindy had an epidural. She could not take the pain. Neither could Danny's hand, so he was just as grateful for the epidural as Mindy was.), Baby Girl Castellano came into the world. They had a beautiful baby girl, 7 pounds 9 ounces, 20 inches long, with Mindy's dark hair and perfect nose. Mindy was slightly disappointed at first since she was so sure she would have a boy, but overwhelming love washed over her as she held her for the first time.
"Don't you dare say a word, Castellano."
"I wasn't going to," Danny smirked. "I love you. You did wonderfully." He placed a kiss on her damp temple, settled his forehead onto hers, looked into her eyes. "Thank you for the greatest gift in the world." He kissed her again, and lowered his head to place a kiss on the baby's forehead.
Mindy smiled at him. "I love you too."
Mindy and Danny were cooing over the newborn when Tom walked in.
Mindy smiled up at him. "Hey, Tom. I'm glad you could make it."
"Me too." He stood beside the bed and smiled at his daughter. "Wow, Mindy, she's beautiful." After a few moments of taking in her features, Tom asked, "How are you? How is she?"
"We're doing great, thanks. Do you want to hold her?"
"Yeah, of course! I'd love to." Tom leaned down to delicately cradle the small newborn in his big arms. He started to sway her back and forth. "Does she have a name yet?"
"No, not yet, but Mindy and I were throwing a few back and forth," Danny piped up.
"Yeah? What are you guys thinking?" He looked down at his daughter in awe, admiring the subtle features of himself in her.
"Danny suggested Piper, but I think she looks like an Emma or a Hayley. What about you, Tom? I think it's only fair you provide some input in her name."
"Thanks, Mindy. Well, I have been thinking about a couple of names, but now that she's finally here, she looks like...a Chloe."
Mindy and Danny looked at each other knowingly and started to laugh.
"What? What's so funny? Is that a really bad name or something?"
Mindy waved a hand in front of her in dismissal. "No, no, it was just something Danny used to tease me about. When I first started working at Shulman's, I wanted everyone to call me Chloe, but Danny wouldn't have it." Tom returned the baby into Mindy's arms.
"So, Min, how do you feel about Chloe?"
She looked down at her sleeping daughter. "Chloe." The baby started to move in Mindy's arms and let out a mewl. Danny chuckled and started to stroke the small bed of black hair on the baby's head.
Mindy giggled. "I think she likes it. Chloe it is. Thanks, Tom."
"You're welcome. So, what about her last name? Is she going to take Lahiri, Castellano, Lahiri hyphen Castellano, my last name, or something?"
"Hmm, wow, we haven't even talked about that. Danny?"
"It's your choice, Min. She's your daughter," he said with a smile.
"Yeah, but she's also yours. You're going to be her father." She returned her gaze to Chloe. After a few minutes of careful consideration, she knew. "Okay, I got it. How about Chloe Castellano? I think it's only fair for her to have the same last name as her parents."
"Min, your last name is Lahiri."
She playfully rolled her eyes. "I know that, Danny, geez. But when we get married, I'm going to change my last name to Castellano."
"Really, Min?" He beamed with pride.
"Really." She smiled widely at him. "And Tom, you can be like her cool Uncle Tom or something."
Tom laughed at the idea. "That would be great. I'd love that. Congratulations, you two. On the engagement and on becoming a family. I'm really happy for you guys, I really am."
Danny stood up to give Tom a handshake, which he graciously accepted. "Hey. Thanks, man. For being so supportive and understanding. It means a lot to me...and to Mindy."
Mindy rested her right hand on Tom's forearm and smiled at him. "Thank you."
Tom smiled back. "Anytime."
-Four days later-
Danny looked over his shoulder, hoping Mindy didn't notice him getting out of their bed. When he decided the coast was clear, he slowly opened the door to the yellow nursery room, which had giraffes, elephants, monkeys, and other wild animals scattered along the walls.
He quietly padded over to Chloe's crib and just stared and smiled at her. He couldn't believe she was real or how gorgeous she was. He felt so much love for her, it surprised and warmed him. He didn't think he could love another human being as much as he loves Mindy, but here he was, staring at the most beautiful baby. He knew that she would have him wrapped around her finger for the rest of his life, but he didn't care. He loved her so much.
He itched to hold her, and against his better judgement, he reached into the crib. She slightly squirmed and huffed. He let out a quiet chuckle. She's definitely Mindy's daughter. I'd know that huff anywhere. "Hey, Chloe. It's just me, Daddy." He gently rubbed her back until she stopped stirring, Once she comfortably adjusted in his arms, he started to pace back and forth, softly bobbing her. He widely smiled down at her again, closely examining her features.
He heard a small creak behind him. He looked back at the doorway and saw Mindy leaning against the doorframe. "Hey, what are you doing here?" He softly whispered.
"I should ask you the same thing, Danny," she teasingly replied back.
He lowly chuckled as Mindy made her way to him. "I couldn't help it. I wanted to hold her again and make sure she's real."
"As adorable it is to see you cooing over her, you need to let her sleep in her own crib, Danny. You're going to spoil her."
"I don't care. She's perfect."
Mindy chuckled and ran her index finger over Chloe's bed of hair. "Yeah, I can't argue with you on that." She looked up at him and winked. He playfully nudged her with his elbow in response.
She loved seeing Danny coo over their daughter. She felt like the luckiest girl in the world, knowing what a wonderful father he is and that she gets to spend the rest of her life with her best friend. Her love life before Danny was less than perfect and the ups and downs they had been through together to get where they are today was both amazing and challenging, but she wouldn't have it any other way. She finally got everything she had ever wanted: a family, a loving husband, a successful career, love and happiness. The sound of Chloe mewling broke Mindy out of her reverie.
"Come on, Danny. Let's go back to bed, okay?"
"Yeah….okay." He sighed, knowing that he wasn't going to hold Chloe any longer. He carefully placed her back in her crib and kissed her soft forehead. When he straightened, he turned to Mindy and just hugged her tightly, wrapping one arm around her shoulders, the other around her waist. She automatically cuddled into him and breathed in his familiar cologne.
Danny remembered one of the many times he held Mindy like this. It was years ago when she pretended to be his pregnant fiancé. He remembered how much he wanted it to be true at the time. Now that their charade that night had finally become real, he felt like he came back full circle. He placed a lingering kiss on the side of Mindy's head, just like that night years ago. He smiled at how funny and ironic life worked sometimes.