"Mrs Grayson" Linden called to Jayne as he saw her on the ward, "Don't you think Dr Young should be on maternity leave?" He asked, looking over to where Maddy was treating a patient, watching as she stretched her back, resting a hand at the base of her spine, her back aching from being hunched over the bed. Jayne said nothing, "She's almost 38 weeks pregnant" . Jayne nodded, "and we agreed earlier in her pregnancy we'd take it week by week, day by day if needs be, she wants to work as long as possible, to have more time off after she has the little one." "I found her sleeping in the staffroom yesterday." "Well be glad she's taking it easy, or give her lighter duties, if Dr Young still feels able to treat patients, and she still does it well I am not forcing her to go on leave". Without waiting for Linden to reply Jayne walked away. He watched her speak to Maddy before leaving the ward.

"I can't believe you didn't go as soon as you had the chance, feet up watching tv all day. Heaven" Maria smiled. Maddy laughed, "No thanks, I'd have given myself a week before I was climbing the walls, ready to come back. There's only so many repeats of Jeremy Kyle a girl can stand." Maria laughed, "Come on, Lunch break started 5 minutes ago". She lead Maddy into the staffroom, where Maddy was greeted by all her friends, the walls lined with banners and balloons. A pink Moses basked stood on the table, a large pink bear sat inside, the space around it filled with anything and everything Ruby would need. "That bear's going to need a room of it's own!" She exclaimed, running her fingers lightly over the fabric. "Sam chose it" Donna told her. Maddy laughed and glared at Sam, "Sam can take it home then" she joked.

"Maddy" Linden called her as she went to leave the ward at the end of her shift. She tuned to face him, placing the bear on a chair but keeping hold of the helium balloons she had in her hands "I wanted to give you this" he said, passing her a large gift bag from the top of his filing cabinet, "it's for Ruby, I bought it her a while ago, I was going to give it you after she'd been born, but..." she nodded as he trailed off, "thanks" "and I got this one for you" he passed her a slightly smaller bag. "Thanks" Linden smiled, "good luck with everything" She smiled shyly, "thanks" she said quietly, before Maria and Sam caught up with her, their arms full of gifts from their colleagues. "Come on Mads" Sam smiled, "let's go and find room for all this in your flat". She smiled and thanked Linden again before picking up the bear and following Sam and Maria from the ward.

"Come on" Maddy sighed, her hands stroking her stomach. "I thought we'd agreed, you had 40 weeks, then you were going to move out of my uterus. Well missy, you need to check your calendar cos your time was up yesterday." She spoke softly to her stomach, before giving up and going to get dressed

"She's in the right position, it's just a case of waiting for her to put in an appearance now. It could be tomorrow, we could be inducing you in a fortnight." Maddy sighed, she'd hoped she'd be told Ruby would be here soon. "Is there nothing you can do to speed things up?" Sam asked the midwife. "Well, there's the usual, long walks, spicy food, raspberry leaf tea, and of course some women swear by sex to start labour" Maddy looked at Sam, "No way" he shook his head. The midwife laughed and left the room, "I'll book you in for the 12th if nothing's happened by then" Maddy nodded and heaved herself from the bed, thanking the midwife before leaving the room.

"No baby?" Maria asked as Maddy and Sam walked onto AAU. She shook her head, "No baby, no sign of baby, no hint of baby coming" She sighed flopping onto the sofa in the staff room, "any longer and I'll have to start charging rent" she said loudly, "are you listening Ruby?" Maria and Sam laughed, and Maddy held out her hand, allowing Sam to pull her from the sofa, "Ill ring you tomorrow" she told Maria, leaving the ward.

"No, No, I can't lie like that" Maddy mumbled, rolling off her back. "All fours?" Sam suggested. Maddy was now a week overdue and in an attempt to stop her complaining Sam had agreed to have sex with her, the only problem was finding a position Maddy was comfortable in, "It's a bit ironic" Maddy mumbled, "it was sex that made a small person take up home inside me in the first place, and it might be sex that gets her out.".

"How is she?" Maria asked Sam a few days later, "still pregnant" he sighed. He was now as desperate as Maddy for Ruby to make an appearance, on his day off she'd made him have sex with her three times before he got out of bed, reasoning that Ruby would get bored of having to hear them eventually if nothing else. Maddy had then allowed him to shower before taking him on a four mile walk to an Indian restaurant, and then refusing to let him ring for a taxi to take them home. "Anyway, I better be off, or Connie will have my balls and then Maddy will not be pleased!" he smiled to Maria before heading back to Darwin.

"How long til your shift finishes?" Maria was surprised to see Maddy stood before her. "I finish at three why?" "I'll be in the staff room, I think Ruby's chosen her birthday". Maria's face fell, "I can leave now, I'm sure Linden will understand." Maddy shook her head, rubbing her stomach and breathing deeply through another contraction, "I can wait til three."