A/N: YAY UPDATE
Of course, that day had to come. It's Melinda's ninth month, and she's due for at least another two weeks. They had prepared everything. Phil made the necessary contacts with S.H.I.E.L.D. in case in any day of July Melinda would give birth. Melinda thinks she's ready. She had educated herself well enough on what to expect during the labour and the delivery itself. She had perhaps prepared herself for the possible pain intensity during labour, thanks to the trainings S.H.I.E.L.D. had given her, and the combat ops where she had to get shot in any body part.
Neither of them had expected, however, that Melinda would go into labour at night.
The two are sitting on the couch, watching the television, when Melinda feels a sharp pain wave rack her whole body. She shifts uncomfortably. The first few times, she ignores it, as the intervals are too far away from each other to even notice it coming. The next several times, she knows the baby's coming tonight, whether she likes it or not.
"Phil." she says, holding Phil's hand tightly as another wave of sharp pain racks her body. She groans and hisses. Phil widens her eyes.
"Is it tonight?" he asks.
"No, no, not yet, Phil." she answers. She bites her bottom lip to prevent from screaming, however, when she feels yet another pain. Her eyes are filled with tears.
"Mel, I'm calling S.H.I.E.L.D.." Phil tells her, standing up, but Melinda grabs hold of his hand.
"Don't you fucking leave me, Phil Coulson." she growls, and lets out a loud groan as she puts her hands on her baby bump. Phil sits down beside her and clears strands of hair away from her face. She is sweating profusely, and it's a humid July night.
"Mel, breathe, hey, follow me." Phil instructs, forcing Melinda to look at him. Phil takes deep breaths and Melinda follows him, and they go on for several minutes before Melinda feels another pain of contraction, making her cry out in pain. "That's it, we're going to the hospital." he says.
Phil stands up and uses Melinda's phone, dialled S.H.I.E.L.D.'s number (which Stoner had given him). "Agent Coulson here," he says, speaking after the beep, like what Stoner had told him to do. "Agent May is in labour."
In a matter of two minutes after Phil hangs up the phone, someone knocks on the door. Phil opens it and makes way as two S.H.I.E.L.D. nurses enter and guide Melinda to stand up. Despite the seething pain, Melinda stands up and relies on the two nurses for her to be able to walk. Phil grabs the bag of clothes Melinda and he had packed days ago, turns the television off, and follows after Melinda and the two nurses.
"Phil, Phil!" Melinda calls out, in between laboured breaths. Phil catches up and grabs Melinda's hand tightly beside her.
"I'm here, Mel, I'm here." he tells her softly. She looks at him with a pained yet relieved expression on her face and squeezes his hand.
"She can't wait until next week." she says. Phil chuckles.
"Impatient like her mother, apparently." Phil points out. Melinda glares at him but couldn't resist giving him a small and tired smile.
Phil and Melinda are led to a van. They ride inside, as the nurses start asking of how long the interval per contraction was.
"Seven minutes, last I checked, before Phil called you." Melinda answers, a wave of pain yet again hitting her body. She throws her head back as she prevents herself from screaming.
"Agent Melinda May, seven minutes interval of contraction. ETA to the S.H.I.E.L.D. facility hospital is five minutes, start preparing for the delivery room," one of the nurses say to a talkie. "Alright, Agent May, Agent Coulson, when we get to the facility, you'll be led to a delivery room. Doctor Hogarth will attend to you and facilitate your delivery."
"Thank you." Phil says, and the nurse nods in response. Melinda rests her head on Phil's shoulder and breathes heavily.
"After the baby comes out, I think I'll be needing more than one night of sleep." Melinda mutters.
"I don't think you can ever get a night of sleep when the baby is born." Phil points out.
"You'll be in charge of her at night." Melinda responds. Phil chuckles and stays silent.
When they get to the hospital, they are immediately led to a delivery room. Melinda is lying down on the bed, changed in her hospital gown, and Phil is beside her, her hand gripping his tightly. A nurse enters with the clipboard and a watch.
A worse wave of pain hits Melinda's body and she shudders and screams, squeezing Phil's hand tightly. Phil holds his breath, knowing that the pain Melinda is feeling because of the contractions in her uterus is worse than his contractions of his fingers. There's a moment of silence, apart from Melinda's heavy breathing, then another pain racks Melinda's body. The nurse looks at her watch and looks up at the two.
"A little less than a minute of interval," the nurse says. "Looks like you're ready, Agent May, I'll call in Dr. Hogarth." The nurse leaves and Melinda looks at Phil, worried.
"Phil, I'm not yet ready, I can't do this." she says. Phil levels down to her.
"Mel, she's coming. And I know you'll be a great mother. After this, the reward is more than everything we can ever ask for." Phil encourages. Tears slide down Melinda's cheeks.
"Alright, Agent May," Dr. Hogarth enters, checking at her. "Looks like your baby's ready to come out."
That's where Melinda starts pushing. She bites her bottom lip, preventing from screaming, only giving away small and soft whimpers and silent cries. She is squeezing Phil's hand tightly, and Phil just keeps on encouraging Melinda to push, occasionally stroking her hair to at least relax her for a bit. He wipes Melinda's tears streaming down her face, and Melinda eventually gives up holding back her screams as she lets out a hoarse cry.
"Okay, Agent May, I need you to give just one last final big push." Dr. Hogarth says. Melinda is breathing heavily, and she looks at Phil. Phil strokes her face softly.
"One last, Mel, and she's here." Phil encourages. Melinda nods, with tears on her face and bites her bottom lip as she gives one last final big—
The sound of a small voice crying suddenly fills the entire room. For a moment, Melinda feels the world around her stop as she listens to the small sound of crying she knows that's coming from her daughter. She lets out a soft cry and looks at Phil, who has tears in his eyes as well. She smiles at Phil as tears start to flow down from her eyes. Phil laughs softly and presses a kiss on her temple as they both listen to the small cry.
"And the little baby girl is here." Dr. Hogarth holds out to them a small, pink crying baby. Melinda looks at it with awe. "We'll let the nurses clean her up, so you can hold her." The nurses gently wipe the baby with a towel. One of the nurses wrap her around a pink towel and carries it gently to deliver it to Melinda. Melinda holds her arms up and the nurse gently transfers the newborn to Melinda.
Melinda looks at her baby. She is pink, small and she looks so fragile. The newborn opens her eyes to reveal huge light brown eyes, just like her mother's. She stops crying when Melinda holds the baby fist. The baby wraps her hand around her mother's finger and that's when Melinda could no longer hold back another set of new tears.
"Hi, baby," she whispers, kissing the small hand wrapped around her finger. "It's me, I'm your mommy." The baby lets out a small gurgle and Melinda laughs softly.
"She looks just like you." Phil says, still in awe of his baby; his daughter. He touches the baby's small soft forehead.
"She's so fragile." Melinda whispers, not taking her eyes off the newborn in her hands. She then looks at Phil. "I know you want to take her." Without any words, Phil holds out his arms and Melinda gently transfers the newborn to Phil, who takes the baby in his arms. He adjusts his arms, feeling awkward of the way he is holding his baby, but later rests into a comfortable position. Like Melinda, he is in awe of the little baby in his arms.
Melinda watches as Phil coos at their daughter and smiles when Phil lets out a soft laugh. She would want to get used to this scene. She would trade anything for the world to come home everyday to this scene. She leans back on her bed and doesn't take her eyes off of Phil and their baby. Phil plants a small and soft kiss on the baby's forehead and looks at Melinda who holds out her arms. Phil gently transfers their baby back to her mother's arms, when she starts crying.
"Little girl's hungry." Melinda mumbles, stripping off the side of her hospital gown so she can nurse and feed the newborn. Eventually, after a few moments, the newborn starts to fall asleep in her mother's arms.
"Seems like the little girl had one hell of a day, huh," Phil says softly, watching his daughter fall asleep. "And so did you." Melinda smiles.
"It's all worth it, Phil, all of it." she whispers, planting a soft kiss on the baby's forehead.
Neither of the two notice it when one of the nurses stick in a needle on both of them, allowing no room for reactions when Phil falls on the ground unconscious and Melinda back on her bed, also unconscious.
"Take the baby, careful not to stir May up," Stoner orders in a low voice from the door of the delivery room. "She's always stronger than any of the meds in here." One of the nurses carefully take the baby from Melinda's arms and walks past Stoner to the hall. Stoner walks in and carefully sits Phil on the chair beside Melinda's bed. He tidies Melinda's hospital gown carefully and exits the room slowly.