26th May 2013. So here is the moment you've been waiting for... almost as long as Lauren and Joey. Is it a boy or is it a girl?

Chapter 65.

Lauren's eyes were locked on what she could see. She could feel Joey's hand tightening on hers as he also looked at their child. "What is it?" she asked the doctor, still staring at the tiny screwed up face that was inches from hers.

"Why don't you have a quick look?" the doctor said with a smile.

Lauren glanced at Joey. "You look, Joe. You tell me." She whispered, squeezing his hand as he looked at her unsurely.

Joey took a deep breath and brushed his free hand over the towel and slowly opened it, "It's a girl..." he whispered, his eyes flicking up to his wife's as he told her. "We've got a daughter, baby girl and she's beautiful." He closed the towel, wrapping it around their child. He kissed Lauren on the mouth softly, "She's just like her mummy."

"How so...?" she asked.

"I fell in love with her the second I saw her too." He whispered.

"Ti amo..." Lauren whispered.

"I've thought of a name..." he said, his face colouring and suddenly he couldn't look at her.

Lauren reached up and brushed the side of his face. "Tell me, Joe. We never really discussed names. I just assumed we'd know once we saw him or her."

"I kind of knew when I saw her..." he admitted. "In fact, I've actually already told you it."

She had never seen her husband look more unsure and overwhelmed, "Joe..." she whispered and he looked up at her, "Tell me."

"Bella..." he whispered. "It's beautiful in Italian..." he added although he knew she knew.

Lauren glanced at their daughter, "Welcome to our crazy world, Bella Branning." She whispered as she brushed a finger down the side of her daughter's face.

Tanya had taken a few steps back after her granddaughter was born and she watched the interaction between mother, father and daughter. She couldn't help the tears that welled in her eyes as she heard the name Joey suggested. It certainly seemed appropriate.

"Would daddy like to cut the cord?" the doctor asked.

"Can I?" Joey asked. She nodded and passed him the scissors, indicating to him where to cut as she unwrapped Bella.

"I'd like to check Bella over now, if that's okay?"

"Can I feed her first?" Lauren asked.

"You want to try breastfeeding her?" the doctor asked.

Lauren nodded. She glanced at Joey, "Please."

"How about I take Bella for a few minutes and just do the standard checks and clamp the cord. While I'm doing that Joey can get you sorted out so you can feed your daughter when we come back. Then while you're doing that we'll be able to deliver the placenta."

"Okay." Lauren reluctantly passed Bella to the doctor, watching her for as long as she could as the doctor carried her away.

"I'm going to leave the three of you alone, Lauren." Tanya said as she stepped forward. She kissed Lauren on the forehead, "I'm so very proud of you, sweetheart." She turned to her son-in-law, "You were amazing as well, Joey." She said, hugging him tightly. "Do you want me to tell them? Or do you want to?"

Lauren and Joey were distracted slightly by the sound of Bella crying on the other side of the room. It was the first noise she'd made. "You can tell them it's a girl... but I think we'd like to tell them her name." Lauren whispered after she'd fallen quiet again. Tanya nodded and made her way out of the room.

"Do you want to take your T-shirt off?" Joey asked. "Actually, give me a few seconds..." he dashed away from the bed and pulled off the gown, pulling on a hoodie of his he'd been wearing earlier and then moved back to his wife's side. "Put this on instead... so you don't get too cold." He helped her sit up and lifted the T-shirt over her head. Then he wrapped the gown around her shoulders, putting her arms through the sleeves and watching and smiling as she put her nose to the material and breathed in. It was bunched up behind her to try and avoid getting any blood on it later but at least it kept her top half covered and she would stay warm. "Is that better?" he asked her. She nodded, her face flushing as she saw him watching her. "Ti amo..." he whispered to her as the doctor reappeared.

"So Bella was born at 5.02am on Sunday 7th February 2016. I've done my checks and as we suspected your daughter is a little small but she is perfectly healthy. Her skin colour is nice and pink, she is breathing easily. She has a very healthy heart and reacts to stimuli. Her temperature is exactly what it should be at 36°C. She weighs in at 5lb 12oz which is slightly below weight but for her size and the fact she was three weeks early this is understandable and actually a good birth weight." She handed Bella over to Lauren, "As we discussed and agreed I gave her the vitamin K injection. Now, how are you feeling, Lauren?"

"Cold..." she whispered, her teeth had started to chatter in the last minute or so.

"Okay, it sounds like your body is getting ready to deliver the placenta. Let's get Bella on your breast. If she starts suckling it will assist further with that anyway." She removed Bella from the clean blanket she was now wrapped in as Lauren opened the gown she was now wearing. The doctor laid Bella directly on Lauren's bare chest. Lauren watched in fascination as Bella naturally pulled her mummy's nipple into her mouth and began to suck.

"Well that was easy..." Lauren whispered. Joey stood watching the process, fascinated by what he was seeing. He always was a breast man and that didn't appear to be about to change anytime in the near future.

About twenty minutes later the doctor broke the silence that had filled the room as Lauren fed her daughter, "Okay, Lauren. The placenta will be delivered in the next few minutes. You'll feel me pressing down on your abdomen. You'll feel the urge to push again. Just do what your body is telling you to do. Focus on Bella and I'll sort you out." Lauren couldn't tear her eyes away from her daughter, even if she'd wanted to, which she didn't. She felt her doctor push on her stomach and winced slightly. "A small push Lauren, when you're ready." She pushed and felt the placenta slip from her body, although there was no way she was going to look. The doctor rubbed her stomach and Lauren felt a slightly stronger contraction ebb through her. "All done, Lauren." She said as she lowered Lauren's legs to the mattress and pulled the blankets over her. She came up to the top of the bed, "How's Bella doing?"

"I think she's finished..." Lauren whispered, still slightly stunned by everything that had happened.

"Maybe daddy would like to hold his daughter and wind her...?" the doctor suggested. Joey glanced at Lauren, as if asking her permission and she smiled at him. He nodded, somewhat in awe of what he was seeing. "Skin on skin contact will help your bond with her, Joey." The doctor told him. He undid his hoodie and slipped it off. Lauren passed him his daughter and he placed Bella gently against his shoulder. "Rub her back softly for a couple of minutes and a few soft taps with your fingertips, it'll get rid of any air that's trapped in her stomach." She advised.

Joey did as she told him. He couldn't help the tears that filled his eyes as he watched his daughter lying so peacefully against his chest. He hadn't made such a connection with someone since the instant he met Lauren and to know that this tiny little girl was completely reliant on him and Lauren was both overwhelming and amazing at the same time. He was already completely and utterly in love with the person he held in his arms and his love for his beautiful wife had grown exponentially. "Hi Bella, I'm your daddy," he whispered to her, "I don't think you have any idea how much your mummy and me have wanted you. We've been longing for you for a very long time and now you're finally here. We're going to be the best mummy and daddy we can be for you, I promise. We will always keep you safe from harm and love you with everything we have." He kissed her forehead tenderly, ignoring the tear that ran down his face as he continued to stare at his daughter in wonder.

"I'll leave the three of you alone for a while. I'll be back to check on you in a while, Lauren... just to make sure everything is how it should be." Lauren nodded absently at her, "And congratulations to you both on the birth of your beautiful daughter."

*JL*JL*

Joey was lying next to Lauren on the bed, his arm around her shoulders as her head rested on his chest. She was gazing at Bella who lay asleep on the other side of his chest.

"I can't believe we created that, Joe." Lauren whispered.

"She's beautiful, just like her mummy."

"Oh, but she looks like you, Joe." Lauren murmured.

"Do you think so?" he asked, glancing at his daughter and trying to see it.

"Oh yes, Joe. There's no mistaking she's your daughter."

"In what way?" he whispered.

"She's got your mouth and your ears. She opened her eyes earlier and it was like looking at you but with blue eyes."

"She'll look like you too, baby girl." He told her. "I can see bits of you in her. The shape of her face and I think she's going to have you hair." His arm tightened around Lauren's body, pulling her closer to him, "I love you so much, baby girl." He whispered to her and he kissed Lauren's hair tenderly.

"Are you still going to call me that... now you've got another baby girl as well as me?"

"You're always going to be my baby girl. Bella will be my beautiful girl." He told her softly.

"You and your charm will get you many places, Joey." She whispered, yawning and closing her eyes.

"Sleep, baby. I'll keep you both safe." He told her.

TBC

A/N: Now personally I think the doctor just wanted to see Joey with his top off... hence the skin on skin contact thing, but I could be wrong. And to be honest, who can blame her? And yes, Bella is a bit of a shout out to my Twilight writing days... before I caught the Joey/Lauren bug (which seems to have inspired me so much more than Twilight ever did) and it fitted with the Italian slant of this story, in fact Bella helped me choose the location for their weekend away. Well I guess that just leaves the epilogue to go... I wonder what happens next... Back tomorrow then!