Author's Note: Okay this was a review request for Letty going into labor and giving birth and Dom holding his baby for the first time. I really wanted to write this but it ended up a lot longer than all my other shorts. Mostly because, labor is long. And I didn't want to go into too much detail but I didn't want to over glamorize that either. And yes, it's not 100% accurate because some things are just better left out of fics. Hope you guys enjoy!

An Arrival

The last month had been what one might call… uncomfortable for Letty. Overall she found pregnancy a bizarre experience. At first it had just been a lot of being fatigued, occasionally wanting to eat really strange things and spurts of over-emotional reactions. After fatigue had passed she'd found herself with sudden bursts of energy, combined with a body that was more obviously physically changing. She supposed that had been the hardest part. Mia had complained that she had it easy, having avoided the dreaded nausea and vomiting of morning-sickness. But Letty had difficulties adjusting to the mere being of pregnancy. Avoiding alcohol and coffee tested her self-control daily, and the vitamins she had to be reminded time and again to take. At first it was simply inconvenient, and then as her belly grew and her breasts became larger it was at turns hilarious and frustrating.

She couldn't be convinced to take time off work, even as her larger belly prevented her from working under the cars or being on her feet for too many hours at a time. She'd complain until Dom sat her down and soothed her with a back rub. And then sometimes the baby would kick or move around and she'd sit there in a silent moment of sheer amazement. It was as if this tiny life inside her was not always real to her.

And in the last months of her pregnancy it seemed that LA was doing its best to have the hottest summer on record. So she was uncomfortable, fat and hot. Which led to her being incredibly irritable and all-around bad company. After month eight, Mia and Dom had joined forces and banned her from the garage. She was in danger of getting over-heated, she was having back pain, she was on her feet too long and she was stressing herself and everyone around her out. She was off work for the foreseeable future. And no arguments.

Not that she hadn't tried to argue.

But there was little on this earth more stubborn than the Toretto siblings. Even she couldn't stand against the both of them.

She would be sulking at the garage except it truly was hot and at least if she was sulking at home there was AC. She'd spent the first two weeks tinkering on some smaller parts out in the garage that she brought into the kitchen. She could sit at the table and put them together, losing herself in the familiar work. After lunch, which Dom usually came home to have with her (and she wouldn't admit it but she found it incredibly sweet), she'd take a nap in the recliner, car magazine resting over her belly and Top Gear playing continuously via Netflix.

Afternoons seemed to lead to nesting, which Mia had caught her at once or twice and giggled over. But she was starting to feel the baby moving more often now, as if the child was eager to be out and experiencing the world. And she couldn't help but realize how very soon it would be before this child was actually born. So she'd spend a great deal of time in the nursery. Dom and Brian had painted it and assembled all the furniture. It was a warm, sunny room; a little brown bear sitting in the crib just waiting for his new owner.

Letty had found some old family photos tucked away in a closet and framed them, hanging them on the yellow walls. The picture of her and Dom that Mia had used for her supposed funeral was reframed, made a happy memory for the start of a life and not the end of one. She went through all the boxes of gifts from the baby shower Mia had arranged, folding tiny clothes, marveling at the sheer amount of diapers people had given and tucking away toys in the little wooden box with a smiling red car on the front. There were dozens of books and stories tucked in a colorful basket, and Letty found herself settling down in the rocking chair (it had once belong to Dom's mother though was now refinished) every day to read a story to her unborn baby.

She found she cherished the last month at home away from work. From the distractions of her life that had kept her from thinking about how much it was soon to change. No longer would every day be about the garage and cars and her and Dom. Something was going to change their lives forever.

It was in the middle of her third week home alone that it happened. A hot July morning, rolling blackouts through the LA area making the AC flick on and off throughout the day until she gave up on anything productive, sprawling on the couch in one of Dom's old t-shirts and only her underwear beneath. Her dark hair bundled up away from her neck, a water bottle resting atop her belly and ice melting in a dish and occasionally on the back of her neck or against her collarbone.

She was too weary and overheated to read, and the television was a no-go without power. She found herself texting Dom just to complain, especially when her back began to hurt fiercely. He must have been hotter than she was, stuck at the garage in the middle of the day, but his responses were nothing but sympathetic, promising her a massage as soon as he was home.

When the back pain persisted she started to pace the house, stretching and rubbing at her spine to try and get some relief. She vaguely remembered some mention about back labor when she thought back to her pregnancy classes, but she also knew that labor could be false, and she certainly would have known if she was having contractions. Heading for the bathroom she popped a Tylenol instead and lamented for the days when she could take something stronger.

Though Letty hadn't been exactly less than anxious about the idea of being pregnant to begin with, much less actually giving birth, when she'd started to feel the false contractions a few weeks prior she'd been relatively level-headed. She'd found them annoying, and uncomfortable, but it had been Dom who'd panicked. Though you'd never know it to see him. He'd hovered. He had asked her constantly how she was, if she needed anything. She'd assured him they were just false contractions and they'd passed within a few hours. She found herself somewhat disappointed that she'd probably be in too much pain during labor to laugh at him. Having a baby was really turning him into a pile of mush.

So of course, when she'd felt the tightening in her muscles and abdomen her first thought had not been that she was going into labor. Instead she wandered into the kitchen for a snack, hoping that they would not last very long today.

She was just not in the mood.

If anything, that just made baby Toretto more likely to want to be born today. That's what she would tell herself later. She pulled a lemon ice-pop out of the freezer, sucking on it as she considered what to eat. It was too hot to cook and her appetite wasn't incredible. The only reason she even thought to eat was because the doctor had told it might help the Braxton-Hicks contractions to pass more quickly, as sometimes hunger or thirst could bring them on.

Finally she settled on some fruit that she sliced into a bowl and a couple of scoops of tangy Greek yogurt. Taking her bowl and spoon to the living room she settled down on the couch, trying to read a little bit more of her car magazine.

Unfortunately after a few bites the pain in her back returned with ferocity, tense and knotted in accompaniment to the occasional irritating contractions tightening her belly. She sighed, pushing herself to her feet, pacing around the room while she ate her food. She was beginning to think that perhaps this was not a false alarm, but since they still weren't coming regularly or frequently she decided to wait it out a little longer before calling the garage. The last thing she needed was Dom rushing home like a madman while she still had hours to go before she could give birth.

Instead she tried to relax, pacing through the house, having another ice pop, reading her magazine as she wandered, trying to distract herself from the pain and the nerves in the back of her mind. She passed a few hours in this manner, but the contractions did slowly start to become more regular, and less irritating, radiating painfully from her back around the curve of her belly. She picked up her cell phone to call Dom. He answered after two rings.

"What's up baby? Power still out?"

"What?" she looked around. "Oh… no." She had hardly even realized that the AC was back on and the house was cool again. The television had been left on, and she could faintly hear it from the other room. She let out a long breath. "You have to come home."

There was silence from the other end, and she could only picture the sudden look of panic on his face. She couldn't help the chuckle that slid out of her lips, distracting her from the low level ache in her back.

"I'll be right there," he replied, and she could hear him hold the phone away to shout to Mia that he was going. "Are you okay?" he asked, putting the phone back to his ear.

"I'm fine. We probably still have plenty of time, but I don't think these are false contractions."

"How long have you been having them?"

"Uh… since around 10."

"Jesus, Letty it's almost 5. You better call the doctor."

She smiled. "Yeah, okay. Don't panic, Papa. I'll see you in 5." She hung up the phone and started up the stairs to their bedroom as she hit the doctor's office on speed dial. She left Dom's t-shirt on, pulling a pair of grey sweat shorts from her dresser as the receptionist put her on hold.

The doctor's voice was soothing calmness on the other end of the line, asking questions and then saying that she would meet them at the hospital within the hour. Letty hung up feeling slightly more at ease as she packed some extra clothes into a duffel bag, then slipped on a pair of flip flops. She heard Dom's car pull up and the door slam as she started back down the stairs.

He was inside before she got to the bottom. He looked at her worriedly, as if she was suddenly made of glass and he reached out to take the bag from her (it wasn't really heavy) while also offering her a hand to help her the rest of the way down the stairs. She raised a brow at him, but slipped her hand into his.

"Dom, I'm fi-" unfortunately the rest of her response was cut off as another contraction clenched through her body, stealing away her breath with the sudden sharpness of it. She squeezed down on his hand, breathing out slowly as it passed.

She could tell he was less than assured, so she only took the last few steps down, pushing him aside to move past him towards the door. "The doctor said she'd meet us at the hospital so we'd better go," she said.

"Right." He nodded, standing there a moment, eyes wide. "Right," and then he was hurrying to the door ahead of her, holding it open for her. His hand on the small of her back as he helped her down the steps. He tossed the bag into the back seat of the car and then opened the passenger door for her.

As she lowered herself awkwardly into the 1970 Plymouth all Letty could think was that Dom's preference for fast, low to the ground cars was a drawback in this particular situation. Sitting down only made her back hurt anew and so she reached down to straighten up the seat back as Dom hustled around the car and slid into the driver's side. She buckled up as he backed out of the drive, and he was on the highway shortly.

Though she couldn't say Dom drove cautiously, he didn't speed as much as he would have before she was pregnant. Still, it didn't take them all that long to get to the hospital. Only two more contractions, which she breathed through, hands clenching on her knees as Dom looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

Thankfully he didn't say anything, just drove faster.

When they got there he pulled up front, going around the car to help her out. Which was good since she didn't think she could lift herself up on her own. Leaving the car running, hazards on, he helped her into the hospital. The receptionist at the front took their name and brought up their chart on the computer. All the information was already there, thanks to regular check-ups with their doctor. Technology was nice, because it meant that once they were checked in Letty got to pace the waiting room while Dom went out to park the car.

He had half a dozen texts from Mia asking him if the baby was coming and to keep her updated and that she and Brian would be by the hospital later. He texted back that he would let her know as he hurried back into the hospital to join his wife. A nurse had come out to escort them out of the waiting room by then and he put his arm around Letty, who leaned slightly against him, either a testament to the pain she was feeling, or nerves. Perhaps a combination of both. Once she was given a gown to change into they settled into their private room to wait for the contractions to get closer together. She didn't even sit on the bed, insisting that pacing and walking around was helping her with the back pain. He brought her water and ice, lured her to sit down by offering back massages and inclining the back of the bed as far as it would go. Their doctor, a middle-aged woman with a soft round face and confidence in the set of her body arrived not long after they had, and Letty seemed to relax. They gave her some pain killers for her back, and the doctor urged her to try and rest while she could.

"You have a bit to go still," she said gently. "And this isn't even the hard part."

"Yeah, thanks for that reminder," Letty groaned, resting her head back against the pillows. Sweat had already begun to curl the hair at the base of her skull and around her temples.

Dom reached over to take her hand and she squeezed it gently.

Though she tried to sleep between contractions any real rest was elusive and it was still a few more hours before the doctor came by to check and announced they were ready for the delivery room.

The next couple of hours were a blur to Dom, Letty's hand on his, clenching hard through contractions and labor. She did not suffer quietly, cursing him out in a string of Spanish, some of which he didn't even understand, mixed with English and crying out as pain tore into her body. Sweat made her long hair cling to the back of her neck, dripped down her face. He felt totally helpless, wanting to ease her pain but unable to do so. So he let her crush his hand, mopped the sweat from her brow and murmured words of encouragement as she brought their child into the world.

Child birth was hardly as glamorous as the movies made it out to be, and he thought any man who brought a video camera in for the event deserved to be kicked in the face by his wife for the mere thought. Still, it was an amazing moment when the first piercing cries of a baby filled the room. Letty beside him even forgot her pain when the baby was placed in her arms.

"Congratulations, it's a girl," the doctor told them. "And she's completely healthy."

Everything else seemed to fall away as he stared down at the tiny human being in his wife's arms. A daughter. He had a daughter. He could hardly believe it. Just hours ago she'd been this presence that occasionally kicked against Letty's rounded belly, but now she was a living, breathing little person blinking up at them. A head full of black hair, already slightly curled. From her tiny, slightly smushed-looking face she peered up with enormous dark eyes.

Letty smiled, watching him watch the baby. "Wanna hold her?"

"Oh… yeah," he held out his arms, taking her as if she were made of glass. She was tiny cuddled into the crook of his massive arm. It hadn't been like the first time he'd held Vince, even though he'd been there when the little guy had been born. This was different. As he and his daughter stared at one another in silence he felt this sudden tightness in his chest, like his heart was too full of love and it might burst.

Letty was the love of his life and this was their child. Their daughter.

Yeah. He had room in his heart for two loves of his life.