A/N: You guys, I have been waiting for this chapter FOREVER. I am so excited.

Also, I've updated a lot lately, so make sure you've read them all.

Also again, I started this story almost exactly a year ago. For real. Happy anniversary to me!

There was so much left to do. She wasn't prepared for the baby yet, and the fact that Colton's birthday was tomorrow had her ignoring the slight contraction pains in her back. She still had presents to wrap and a cake to make, not to mention the fact that Adam was at work and with the snow starting, it would take him longer to get home than normal. She didn't want to go into labor now, so she simply wasn't going to.

Unfortunately for her, Austin was over and could read her better than that. She was watching her out of the corner of her eye while Colton and Isa worked on their homework and Lindsay was trying to stay out of her line of vision as best she could.

"Okay, that's enough."

"What?"

"Are you in labor?"

"No."

"Lindsay."

"I'm fine. A little uncomfortable but I'm fine."

"You're pale. Are you having contractions?"

"Just a few but they're not real. Probably Braxton-Hicks."

"Lin!"

"What?"

"How far apart are they?"

"Like… five minutes or more but-"

"I'm taking you."

"No. Adam's not here and-"

"He'll meet us there. Danny's just off work, he can come and take the kids. Call Adam and let him know."

Lindsay knew there was no arguing and Austin was probably right as much as she didn't want her to be. She grabbed her phone and called Adam getting just his voice mail.

"Hey it's me. Don't panic, but I had a little contraction and Austin's freaking out and dragging me to the hospital. I'll let you know if anything changes, but I think it's a false alarm and I'll be home soon. Love you."

"You're that calm?" Austin asked, arching a dark eyebrow.

"Obviously someone has to be."

"Danny will be here in five minutes, so let's get your bag and… are you having another one?"

"Yeah. It's just a little uncomfortable."

Austin cursed and plopped Lindsay down into a mismatched dining room chair.

"This is no time to be cavalier, Lindsay Ross. Now sit there and breathe."

Lindsay did as she was told, as she didn't really have the energy to argue.

"I'm going to get your stuff. You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm alright."

Austin rushed off to get the bag while Colton walked over to Lindsay, patting her shoulder.

"Mama. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I think maybe I'll have the baby tonight."

"Really?"

"Maybe so."

"When can I see Aiken?"

"Maybe tomorrow."

"That's my birthday!"

"I know."

"That's pretty exciting."

"I think so too."

"Hey!" Danny called from the front door. "Your water broke yet?"

"Shut up, Messer."

He took one look at Lindsay and shook his head at how pale she was.

"Need me to carry you to the car?"

"No, I can walk."

"Let me help you."

She gave him a look and he chuckled, helping her to her feet. She stood still for a second and breathed as the blood rushed from her head.

"I've got you, Montana. You're okay."

She took a moment longer to breathe before she felt she could take a step.

"Okay. Let's go."

He helped her slowly out to the car and settled her into the passenger seat, dropping a comforting kiss to the top of her head.

"You be good. We'll be waiting."

"Thanks."

"Love you."

"Love you too."

He closed the door and turned to his wife who looked on the verge of panic.

"Babe?"

"I can't do this."

"Yeah you can. You just gotta breathe."

"What if Adam doesn't get there in time?"

"I don't know. He went with Jo and Hawkes to a scene, they're pretty far out."

"I don't think I can do this for her."

"You have to. Go. Hurry up."

He gave her an encouraging hug and she got into the car, taking a deep breath.

"You ready?"

"Yeah. Are you?"

"Yeah. Adam will get here soon. Don't worry."

"It hurts," Lindsay whimpered as a contraction released its hold on her and she was able to breathe normally again.

"I know," Austin said softly, smoothing Lindsay's hair back from her face, an action that seemed to comfort both of them. "What hurts the most?"

"Well it's not my big toe, Aust."

"Lin-"

"It feels like Edward Scissorhands is trying to have his way with me."

The nurse smothered a laugh and Austin shook her head.

"Lin, I don't even know about you."

"No one does."

"I know, my life as your best friend is a terrifying one. Want to find something on TV to get us through these long and horrible hours upon hours of labor?"

"I want to pinch you right now."

"Here, have an ice-chip."

"Are you patronizing me?"

"Maybe so."

Lindsay glared and took the cup of ice-chips, eating one before sighing and closing her eyes.

"This time is worse."

"Worse than with the boys before?"

"Yeah."

Austin didn't say anything, just tried to be as calming as possible. She'd never been on this end of labor and he hated to see Lindsay in this kind of pain, so she wasn't really sure what she should be doing or how to help her.

"What does Adam do for you?"

"Nothing more than what you're doing right now."

"Are you nauseous?"

"Yeah."

"Do you want the life saving barf bucket?"

"Keep Pinkie close."

Austin chuckled and tucked Lindsay's hair behind her ear, wishing Adam would get there.

"At least you get to have your baby while the snow falls. Want to put a sock in your mouth so you don't scream?"

"Watch out, I'll put your leg in a cast."

The door opened slowly and the doctor stepped inside, he shoes squeaking on the floor.

"Alright, let's check and see how far along you are."

"That is my cue to try and call Adam again," Austin said standing up. "Back in a few minutes."

She slipped out into the hallway and breathed for a while before calling Adam for the third time. He still didn't answer, and she figured the scene he was at was out of range, so she left him another message before calling Mac. He promised to try and get a hold of Adam at the scene and she made it clear to him that she really wanted reinforcements.

She then called Danny to check on the kids and to see if he was surviving. He assured her that they were fine, ordered pizza for dinner and were happily playing in the snow. They talked for a few minutes before she hung up and went back into the room, finding Lindsay just starting a contraction.

She pulled the chair back to the bed and sat down while Lindsay closed her eyes and hummed through the pain. It was nearly a minute before it was over and Lindsay kept her eyes closed for a while.

"Lin?"

"Is he coming?"

"I left another message. What did the doctor say?"

"Halfway there."

"Are you going to get an epidural?"

"Not yet. It speeds things up and I don't want Adam to miss anything."

Austin wanted to argue with her because she knew the epidural was probably a good idea, but she figured she'd wait a little while.

"Lin, can I do anything else for you?"

"No. Just don't leave me."

"I won't leave you," Austin whispered. "Not on your life."

"I want Adam," Lindsay whimpered, her breathing shallow. "Where is he?"

"He's on his way, it's just taking longer because of the snow. It's okay, I'm right here."

"I can't do this."

"Yeah you can."

"It hurts. I'm too tired."

"Don't wimp out on me now," Austin said, trying to keep her tone light as she reached over to rub Lindsay's back. "You have to do this."

"It hurts so bad," she said as tears ran down her face.

"I know."

Lindsay sniffled and wiped her eyes. Nothing had let up the entire time, it just seemed to be getting more intense. She didn't remember it being this bad either time, even with Colton when she'd been so scared.

"You know what's really not fair?"

"What?"

"When I have contractions I scream and bite things and call Danny names. When you have contractions you hum and then blink a few times like it was nothing."

"It's not nothing. These hurt so bad."

"I can read by the light of your face, Casper."

"Don't make me laugh."

Austin smiled and leaned down to grab something out of the bag, then scooted her chair over to the end of the bed.

"What are you doing?"

"Painting your toenails."

"Okay. Why?"

"Baby's gotta have something pretty to look at during that traumatic experience."

"Thank you for thinking of that."

"Hey Lin?"

"Yeah?"

"If Adam doesn't get here… are you going to make me stay in here?"

"No. You can leave."

"It's not that I don't want to be there for you, I just… don't really… um…"

"It's okay, Aust. You can go. You don't even really have to be here now-"

"Don't talk crazy, I couldn't leave you right now if I tried. I just don't know how well I do when things get… uh… they natural way they get with the uh… graphicness."

"First of all, you're two years old. Second, you can just do what Adam does and turn your back to it."

"He does?"

"He says it's awkward and he doesn't wanna know what's going on down there unless he's the one doing it."

"Thanks for making me throw up in my mouth."

Lindsay giggled and reached for the remote, wanting to find something that would distract her from the horrible pain.

"I love you but if you turn on one of those crappy infomercials, I am going to take your ice-chips away."

"You'd withhold hydration from a laboring woman that weighs seven hundred pounds?"

"Yes."

"Okay, as long as I'm prepared."

"You're freakishly calm right now."

"Yeah, another one is coming so I'm holding on to sanity as long as I can."

"Linds, will you please think about getting an epidural?"

"I don't want-"

"I know you don't want Adam to miss anything, but if you don't get an epidural he's going to miss the circulation in his hand when he gets here."

"Just a little longer," Lindsay managed to squeak out as the next contraction hit. She held onto the side of the bed and breathed through it as best she could, counting in her head until it started to ease.

"Well your toes are done," Austin said, moving back to the head of the bed. "Just don't move."

Lindsay gave her a look and used the cold washcloth to wipe her face.

"You know, you're going to forget it all the moment you see Aiken."

"Yeah… except I was thinking that maybe that's not this baby's name."

"Yes it is. It's prefect and you both love it."

"I know. I just… I don't feel it."

"Hormones talking."

"Probably," she sighed, flipping through the channels.

"Oop, stop there, that's something good."

They watched the show in silence for a while, through one more contraction, through which Austin brushed Lindsay's hair back again and breathed with her, then sat back and held her hand.

"You're pretty good at this Lin."

"Good joke. Are you going to start doing whale song?"

"What?"

"Sorry, that's an Adam joke."

Austin chuckled and shook her head.

"You never told me how you guys kind of… fell in together."

"You mean how we met?"

"Yeah. Like obviously it was at work, but how did you guys become friends?"

"It was actually Danny's fault. He and I got into an argument about Star Wars originals versus prequels-"

"Originals, duh."

"That's what I said. And he said they were all valid and Adam was our tie breaker and he agreed with me and then we decided to watch them and… the rest is history."

"That's it?"

"We started hanging out a lot after that. Movies and video games and before I knew it we were together pretty much every night after work and then suddenly… I don't know, it just kind of came out of nowhere."

"You get all starry-eyed when you talk about him."

"Yeah."

"You know when I first met you, I had no idea you two were together. I mean, I could see that he liked you. He would light up when you walked into a room. He wasn't as nervous around you. I even asked Danny if there was something between you two and he was of course oblivious. But then when you told me, it all made sense. You guys just go together."

"We think so too."

"We think what?"

They both turned at Adam's voice as he came in the door.

"Adam," Lindsay said softly, smiling as he came to her side.

"I'm sorry honey. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. It's not your fault."

He kissed her and brushed her hair back, closing his eyes and feeling guilty for not being there earlier.

"I'm going to go," Austin said quietly. "I need to rescue Danny from the kids."

"Thanks for staying," Lindsay said as Austin pulled her coat on.

"Anytime. Call me when it's over. Love you."

"I love you too."

Adam caught her by the door and hugged her tightly.

"Thanks for takin' care of her. I really appreciate it."

"Anytime. You know that."

"Yeah."

"Be good. Don't look down."

"What?"

"Never mind."

She left the room and Adam went back to Lindsay sitting down and pressing his forehead to hers.

"I didn't know I didn't have service up there and-"

"Shh," she said, pressing her fingers to his lips. "You're here now. And I'm about to have a contraction, so hold my hand?"

He took her hand and held on until it was over and the doctor came back in for an exam. It was uncomfortable and she hated it, but it had to be done.

"Well there's some good news and some bad news."

"I don't like hearing that."

"The good news is dad got here just in time because you're really almost ready to push. The bad news is that you're so far along that an epidural is probably not going to have much effect on you."

There was a long silence before Lindsay managed to find words.

"I should have listened to Austin."

"Please, please, I can't do this anymore," Lindsay cried, swiping her hand across her forehead.

"Yeah you can honey. You can do anything."

"Can I spit ice-chips at you?"

"Whatever you want, love."

"Will you buy me a pony?"

"Absolutely. After you push some more."

"I can't."

"I don't care if you can't. You have to. I seem to recall this being your fault in the first place."

"It was so your fault," she argued weakly as he stroked her face.

"I know. You need to do this sweetie and you need to do it now."

Tears were streaming down her face despite the joking and he dropped his forehead to hers.

"Breathe with me okay? And then we'll count to ten."

She nodded and they worked together for a while, shutting out the pain and the noise and the lights until a soft voice broke through the concentration.

"Okay, stop pushing. You're almost done."

Lindsay drew in another breath, the pain so intense that it was nearly to the point of not noticing it. Her ears were ringing and everything was swirling around her, and she wondered vaguely if this was an insane kind of dream.

"And it's a girl."

"What?" Lindsay gasped, trying to sit up so she could see, while Adam stared in shock, his jaw dropped halfway to the floor.

"It's a girl," the doctor repeated, placing the screaming baby on Lindsay's chest.

"You're a girl. You're… Adam, she's a girl."

He didn't say anything, couldn't say anything because if he did the tears in his eyes would surely fall.

"Hi baby. I'm your mama. And you're… you're not a boy, are you?" Lindsay chuckled, wiping the baby's face off and counting fingers and toes. "Adam."

"She's beautiful. She's just… I can't believe we have a girl."

"Oh sweetheart, I'm so sorry I've been calling you a boy."

"She doesn't seem to mind. She looks like you."

"Really? We got one that looks like me? It's a miracle."

He chuckled as the nurse came over and took their daughter from them, to get her cleaned and bundled up.

"Oh Linds I'm so proud of you," Adam said leaning down to kiss her. "I love you so much."

"I love you too. Can you go make sure she's okay?"

"She's fine honey, I can see her from here."

Lindsay closed her eyes and sighed getting her breath back and trying to calm the shakes of adrenaline that were still rushing through her.

"I can't believe we have a girl. A girl."

"Are you a mama again?" Austin asked tiredly, as she had only been asleep for a few hours.

"Yeah, I am."

"And how's the little bun?"

"Well… what we thought was a boy was actually an umbilical cord, so I am sitting here watching Adam rock his daughter."

"Are you serious? Oh Linds I could cry."

"I already did. Twice."

"Is she perfect?"

"So perfect. And really tiny. And she's got a lot of hair and her eyes… they're just like Adam's, like exactly. And she's just… I don't even have words."

"Oh wow. I can't wait to see her. First thing in the morning?"

"Yes. Can you call me before you leave? I want to tell the boys."

"Yeah, I will. Enjoy that baby and get some rest, okay?"

"I will. Thanks for everything today Aust."

"Always. I love you."

"Love you too."

She hung up the phone and put it on the side table, smiling as she watched Adam rock their pink blanket swaddled daughter. He was staring at her in awe, rocking slowly in the dim light, one arm cradling her close while his other hand traced over her face.

"Hey."

He looked up at her and smiled, standing up from the chair and joining her on the bed.

"We're going to have to name her," Lindsay said staring at her once again.

"Guess Aiken's out, huh?"

"Guess so. Can I have her now? Please?"

He sighed and carefully transferred the baby to Lindsay. A lump rose in his throat as he watched them together, mother and daughter. It was so many years ago when Lindsay's dad had told him that he loved his daughter differently than he loved his sons. Adam had never understood that until this moment, when he looked down at his wife and his baby girl and felt a greater surge or protection and love than he had ever felt in his life. He took a deep breath to reign in the emotion, and reached out to take his daughters hand, marveling at how small it was.

"So what names are befitting of our little girl?"

"I don't know. Do you remember any of the names we talked about before the day that medical science failed us?" Lindsay asked.

"Not really. I think there was Allison and Autumn and I think Avalon."

"I don't like any of those anymore. They're not good enough."

"She needs something special."

"Very special."

"Hey, do you remember that song we were listening to?"

"There's been a lot of songs, babe," she chuckled while he kissed her shoulder.

"Remember on the way to the doctor that day? Dear Avery? We were talking about if it was a boys name or a girls name."

"Yeah."

"Averylin," he suggested, even before he had thought it through.

"I like that," she said, as bits of the song flitted through her mind. Headstrong, you and your long arms, listing lazily, on the cusp of your teens. But you were my Avery, when you needed saving, I could just grab you, by the nape of your neck. There are times life will rattle your bones and will bend your limbs… please Avery, come home.

"It'll be special. And she'll have part of your name too."

"Yeah, she will."

"Do you like it?"

"I love it. It's perfect."

"And what do you think, baby girl?" he asked, kissing his daughter's hand.

"She's chill. She digs."

He chuckled and put his arm around both of them.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"Can I hold her again?"

"I've only had her for like three minutes of her whole life."

"Yeah, but you had her for nine months before that."

"My baby."

"Hey I worked hard too."

Her eyebrows shot up and she gave him an incredulous look.

"How do you figure that?"

"I gave you like a hundred footrubs."

"But you don't mind doing that."

"Still work."

"Okay fine, we can call it even for now. I'm too tired to banter with you."

"Save it for later."

"Adam?"

"Yeah?"

"We really do have the best life in the world, don't we?"

"Yeah. The very best."