ABC/DISNEY owns GH. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 20

"Sleigh bells ring, are you listening." Epiphany was standing at the main hub singing to the music that was on the overhead system. Elizabeth was standing next to her humming along. Piph had a great voice, but she rarely sang outside of church. Monica was trying to figure out how to get the head nurse to sing at this year's Nurses Ball. "So what are the festivities at the Morgan house tonight?" Piph asked.

"Sleigh ride." Elizabeth said doing a happy dance. "Everyone is very excited. Edward will be with us this year so Cameron is thrilled about that. The sleigh will bring us here to the hospital, from here we go to Mass, and then its home to get the cookies and milk out for Santa."

"What are this year's cookies?" Epiphany remembered those days with Stan. Her son refused to leave anything but Oreos, saying they were the best cookies.

"Oatmeal." Elizabeth said grinning. "Currently Jake's favorites. Cameron said since Jake will be awake this year he should pick the cookies."

"Cameron is a good big brother." Epiphany said smiling.

"At the moment. We shall see how things go when Jake starts getting into his brother's things. I am hoping they have divergent interests." Although that didn't mean peace. She and Sarah had nothing in common, yet still found things to fight about. Jason was hoping the age gap would help, which only made her worry about Jake and the new baby being so close in age. "I'm going to take the ER schedule downstairs and check to see how things are going."

"No trauma patients." Epiphany told Elizabeth.

"Yes ma'am." She said saluting before stepping down from the hub.

"Jason is on speed dial." Piph said arching an eyebrow.

"I totally believe you." Elizabeth said calling for the elevator and stepping inside when it came.

Most folks would think that the Christmas holiday would mean a busy ER, but Elizabeth found the opposite to be true. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were two of the slowest days all winter. New Year's Eve and Day were a completely different story. It would be hopping in the trauma department. That was also the day the hospital saw the most emergency surgeries. Piph's rule about Liz not assisting on non-scheduled surgeries would be tested for sure.

"I have the schedule for next week." Elizabeth told Felix coming behind the hub and hanging the paper up.

"Good I get to complain about my shifts first." The nurse said coming over. "Dang, that's actually a decent schedule. Whatever shall I bitch about now?" He joked.

"Lack of paisley scrubs for the male nurses?" Elizabeth suggested. Female nurses had a wide selection of colors and patterns to choose from. The male nurses didn't have nearly as much variety.

"Paisley is so last spring." Felix joked. "Besides it doesn't matter what you put me in, I always look good. It's the curse of being one of the beautiful people." He said smiling. He liked working with Liz.

"It's a burden you carry well." Elizabeth said laughing. "How is trauma treating you?"

"Good." Felix had graduated in last year's nursing class and now had a bit of seniority with a new class coming in. "I actually like being down here. Being a floater sucked." He answered honestly. "I had a chance to work all the departments while training. I'm good being here." He looked around and then leaned in to whisper. "Maybe you can let Piph know and I won't have to go back up on the wards." Felix had an intense dislike of bedpans.

"I'll see what I can do." Elizabeth whispered back. Actually Piph would be thrilled to hear that. Felix was an outstanding nurse and would be an asset to trauma. That he didn't mind working down here was great, most of the staff hated it. "Have you seen Sabrina?"

"She's in pediatrics today." Felix told her. "Piph pulled her because they are short due to a call out. Don't you know where your staff is?" He teased. They were laughing when the trauma door slid open and a wide eyed Cody Paul rushed in.

"Kelly's in labor." He announced trying not to panic. He was a Marine, and had seen combat. His wife in labor shouldn't scare him.

Elizabeth and Felix both rushed over. "Where is she?" Elizabeth asked because Cody was standing there alone.

"You did bring her right?" Felix asked because it wouldn't be the first time the pregnant wife got left behind.

"She's in the car." Cody pointed over his shoulder as it registered he should go get her. "I'll get her."

"I'll go too." Felix said manning a wheelchair. He'd bring Kelly in and turn her right over to Liz, he didn't do babies. "Wait here." He told his supervisor in case she was considering running off.

"I'll call Joyce." Elizabeth said reaching for the phone. Not a minute later Felix was back with Kelly. "Where's Cody?"

"Parking the car. I'll send him up." Felix promised.

"He didn't call a driver?" Elizabeth asked pushing her friend toward the elevator.

"I drove." Kelly said as a contraction passed. "He would have killed all three of us." The unflappable doctor said.

"How far apart?" Elizabeth asked as they headed up to Labor and Delivery.

"Two minutes. My water broke while I was standing next to the car." She may have driven, but walking into the building wasn't going to happen. "You could have mentioned that this hurt so much." She panted through another contraction.

"Kelly did you think all those women were screaming for the hell of it?" Elizabeth asked her friend. "Room?" She asked the nurse on duty.

"812." Was the response. "Dr. Meadows will be up shortly. She's delivering a baby."

"Tell her to take her time, we've got this." Kelly said grimacing.

"You do realize you're the patient today." Elizabeth wondered how bad it was going to be Kelly was a class one control freak. She drove Joyce crazy at every appointment. "Call Maggie, I want her on, and where is Al?"

"I will page him." Dr. Albert Cooper was Kelly's Fellow. Elizabeth got her friend into a gown and helped get the monitors set up.

"I'm here, baby, I'm here." Cody rushed in with the bag. "What do you need?" He asked his wife.

"Get some ice chips so dad has something to do." Elizabeth instructed one of the interns who was working the floor today. "You going to pass out?" She asked her friend.

"No. I'm good now." Cody had told himself to get his act together while parking the car.

"Okay. If you pass out we are going to just roll you under the bed until the baby is here." Kelly told him.

"There is no we, Kelly." Elizabeth said gloving up. "You're the patient." She said again. "All you get to do is yell at Cody and push when we say so."

"When did you get so bossy?" Kelly asked bearing down on her husband's hand as a contraction hit.

"It came with the promotion." Elizabeth grinned. When the contraction passed she did the exam. "Five centimeters and fully effaced. You want drugs?"

"You didn't have drugs." Kelly announced.

"I'm badass." Elizabeth told her friend. "Plus it was my second time. I was experienced."

"No drugs." Kelly said as Cody wiped her forehead. "I'll just scream at my husband."

"You were there when this happened too." Elizabeth said rubbing Kelly's stomach. "I'm going to call Piph to check in and then I'll be back."

"Call Jason, so Cody has someone to talk to when I throw him out of the room." Kelly said starting to pant again.

"I'm on it." Elizabeth said and stopped before she reached the door. "Cody if she starts throwing things duck, remember Kelly is the pitcher on the hospital softball team." The woman had wicked aim.

Epiphany told Liz to stay with Kelly. The head nurse figured Joyce would need the backup. Kelly was, like most doctors, a problem patient. After getting her orders Elizabeth called home. "Hey babe."

"Hey, how's work going?" Jason was watching cartoons with the boys and Edward.

"Good. Kelly's here." Elizabeth told him.

"I'm guessing she isn't visiting?" Jason said taking Jake off his lap and looking for his sneakers. "I'll be down shortly. Cody still in one piece?"

"After a brief moment of panic he has pulled it together." Elizabeth reported.

"Should I bring anything?" Jason considered himself fortunate that they were already at the hospital when Elizabeth went into labor. He probably would have driven them into a tree.

"Nope. You may want to send out a text message to let folks know what is going on." The Morgan Corelli and O'Brien crew was one big family. This baby was highly anticipated.

"I'm on it." Jason promised hanging up. "Kelly is in labor so I'm going to go down to the hospital."

"We will be fine." Edward assured his grandson.

"If it looks like it's going to be a while I'll head back over." Jason told Edward as his phone rang again. "Morgan."

"I'll be there in twenty minutes wait for me to arrive. Elizabeth is afraid that Edward and Cameron will eat all the cookies." Matt was calling from his car.

"So she's sending you?" Jason started laughing.

"She still doesn't know that I'm the one who ate most of last year's cookies. She thinks it was Dillon." The young filmmaker had been visiting over the holiday. Matt happily threw him under the bus. "Since you had your fair share I'm guessing my secret is safe."

"Unless I go down, then I'm taking you with me." Jason told his brother in-law. "I'll wait." He turned to tell Edward the change in plans.

Elizabeth came back to check on her friends. "I popped in on Joyce, she's almost done. I told her we would page her when you were ready. Do you need more ice?"

"No." Kelly was already exhausted. She had done most of her labor at home while Cody watched trying not to panic. They had been at this a long time now. "I'm tired." The doctor admitted.

"If you get an epidural you can take a short nap, maybe even two and be rested enough to push. If you keep going like this you'll end up having a C-section." Elizabeth gave Kelly her options. Not that Kelly didn't know them. "How long have you been in labor?"

"Active labor?" Kelly asked her friend.

"Twenty-five hours, eight minutes, and twelve seconds." Cody answered for his wife. "She wouldn't let me bring her in." He wanted to when the contractions were five minutes apart.

"We probably would have sent you back home." Elizabeth admitted. "Until your water breaks you don't get to stay."

"I want to get up." Kelly told them both.

"Okay." Elizabeth said unhooking the monitors.

"Okay?" Cody said not liking that idea. "She needs to stay put." He protested.

"Babe, you know walking helps labor to progress." Kelly said trying to keep him calm. They had taken the birthing classes. "When is Jason arriving?"

"After Matt gets to our place, so in about thirty minutes." Elizabeth told her friend. "Do you have a robe?"

"In the bag." Kelly said getting to her feet and leaning on the bed. She rocked a bit trying to get comfortable. "Really Elizabeth, how come you were so calm?" Kelly figured from watching her friend this wasn't that bad. She chalked everyone else up to drama queens.

"I guess it's just my nature. You're doing really great." Elizabeth assured her friend. She wasn't surprised Kelly was not into dramatics. "You coming?" The nurse asked Cody.

"I'm not going to let her walk by herself. How long?" He said supporting most of Kelly's weight as they got started.

"I'll check in fifteen minutes. Go down the hall and then come back up." It was a nice long walkway.

Jason stepped off the elevator and looking down the hall saw Cody walking with Kelly. That brought back memories of Jake's birth. In less than nine months they'd be doing it again. Elizabeth was at the hub so he went there. "How is she doing?"

"Good." Elizabeth said rubbing Jason's arm. "Cody is staying calm so that is helping."

"How bad was it?" Jason was looking forward to teasing his friend when the baby was here.

"I've seen worse." Elizabeth hedged.

"No really how bad was it?" Jason wanted to know. Very little threw Cody, and Jason figured this did.

"She drove them in." Elizabeth said quietly.

Jason coughed to cover his laugh. "Don't tell Johnny." He told his wife.

"Someday this will be him." Elizabeth bet Johnny would fall apart too. These big bad mob guys were putty where their women were concerned. Jason had been terrified but did his best to hide it. "You get him, I need to give Kelly an exam." The last time she'd been at seven centimeters. They were getting close.

"Ready?" Elizabeth asked as the couple reached their room.

"I want to push." Kelly knew that meant they were probably ready.

"Let me do a check." Elizabeth helped her friend get into position. "I'll page Al, and Joyce too."

"No, just Al is fine." Kelly said panting. "Between the three of us we'll be fine.''

"Uh-huh." Elizabeth said calling Dr. Cooper. She would let him argue with his boss.

"So I guess this means you won't be at brunch tomorrow?" Jason asked his friend.

"I think we will have to cancel." Cody said watching the doorway. "She had to drive us in." He confessed to his friend. "I totally freaked."

"It happens." Jason said trying to keep his friend calm.

"She was rock solid and I panicked." Cody wasn't going to let himself forget this. If they had more kids he would do better.

"She's a doctor." Jason pointed out. "A baby doctor. She knows the drill. What matters is that you do well with the baby. Want to tell me what you guys are having?" Kelly was too anal to not know the gender of her baby.

"A boy." Cody said smiling. "I'm having a son. I was terrified we were gonna have a girl. I think I'd kill the first boy who looked at her." He said laughing.

Jason looked to the door and tried to figure out what he'd do with a daughter. He had told Elizabeth that their daughters would kick ass like their brothers, but it was still a terrifying concept that he might have a girl. A daughter who might one day bring someone like him home. Before he could go too far down that path the door opened.

"Okay Cody it's time." Elizabeth said smiling.

The enforcer rushed into the room.

"I'll start making calls." Jason said heading to the lounge.

Four hours later Brady Daniel Paul was born. He weighed eight pounds, nine ounces and was twenty inches long. He had all ten fingers and all toes, both parents counted. He also had a really good set of lungs which the staff agreed he got from his mom.

Cody took a picture and sent it out to all their friends and family who were anxiously waiting for an update. "How did he do on his APGAR test?" Kelly wanted to know.

"Nine, because like his parents he is an overachiever." Elizabeth said smiling at the newest member of their extended family. "Congratulations."

"Thanks." Kelly said rocking her son. The tears started and she leaned against Cody who was crying too. "We're a family now."

"I love you." Cody said kissing his wife.

"I love you too." Kelly said looking back at her miracle. Elizabeth silently slipped from the room to give the new family some privacy. Down the hall Jason was still waiting.

"I told Milo I'd drive you home." Jason figured she was tired. "You can nap."

"Yup. Then it's on to all the festivities." Elizabeth said letting him put his arm around her. It was going to be a great night.

Thanks for the reviews!