"You know how I feel about her being on the bed." Beck remarks as he pulls his shirt over his head
"Oh she's fine." Jade assures him as she gently rubs Georgia's back
"We'll see if you're still saying that when she's all over the baby in a few weeks."
"She'll be fine with the baby, she loves the baby." Jade insists "Look."
Georgia is more than content at the moment to lay with her mother, her head resting on top of her bump. Every once and a while the baby will kick and the dog will flinch, but she's completely gentle otherwise. It's as if she has already accepted the responsibility of protecting her baby sibling, and is taking her job very seriously.
"Good girl, Georgia." Beck reaches out and scratches the top of the dog's head "Gentle with the baby."
"She's always gentle with the baby." Jade smiles "Such a good big sister already."
"Alright..." Beck sighs "I'm headed out, this should hopefully only take a few hours."
He has ADR work to do for the movie, but is hesitant about leaving his wife for even the shortest amount of time. Her due date has come and gone and they still don't have a baby. She's technically forty-one weeks and three days now, and if she gets to forty-two...her doctor will have no choice but to induce labor. Neither Beck or Jade want that to happen, first because they know that it can be more painful and second, because they want the baby to come on his or her own terms...not be forced out by medication. For his wife's sake, Beck hopes that labor starts soon, because she's clearly uncomfortable. The baby's head is pushing against her cervix and while it's not exactly painful, it definitely doesn't feel good either.
"I'll be okay." Jade assures him "If I feel anything, I'll call. I promise."
"Okay." Beck nods, leaning down to kiss her forehead "I love you, I'll see you later."
"I love you too."
"Try to get up and move around." He suggests as he's leaving "That might help kickstart things."
"Yeah, yeah." Jade waves him off "I'll try."
In reality though, she has no desire to move at all. Her back is killing her from having to carry the extra weight of the baby and any time she shifts her position even slightly, the baby moves and pushes even harder against her cervix. She knows she should get up and move around, maybe do a short yoga workout, but she just doesn't want to.
"What do you think, Georgia?" Jade sighs "Ten more minutes in bed? Then we'll move around a bit?"
Georgia nuzzles her head against Jade's belly, which she takes as a sign of agreement.
Of course, their 'ten more minutes in bed' accidentally turns into a forty-five minute nap. Jade probably would have slept longer but Georgia woke her up by nudging her arm repeatedly, which is usually a sign that she needs to go out.
"Alright, alright. I'm coming."
Getting up is difficult, Jade has to swing her legs over the side of the bed first and then push herself into a standing position. Of course, this causes the baby to shift positions, which makes Jade uncomfortable.
"Look, you're uncomfortable, I'm uncomfortable...if you would just come out, we wouldn't have to do this anymore!" Jade says to the baby "Come on, Georgia."
She exits the bedroom and heads to the main part of the penthouse, Georgia following close behind her. If Jade is being completely honest, she wouldn't mind just one more day of being pregnant. It's February 4th, meaning tomorrow is February 5th...the anniversary of her mother's death. Not the most ideal day for the birth of her first child. February 6th though, or even the 7th, that would be fine.
"Alright, here you go." Jade tells the dog as she opens the door to the balcony
There's a patch of fake sod that she uses to relieve herself, that way Beck and Jade aren't spending all day every day in the elevator taking her out to the street. It also guarantees them fewer interactions with the paparazzi.
It's cloudy, masking most of the view of the city that is normally visible from the balcony, and a light snow is beginning to fall. Jade shivers a bit as she waits for the dog to come back inside, a cold blast of air rushing into the apartment through the open sliding door. Eventually, Georgia meanders back inside, making her way over to the spot in the kitchen where she knows to wait for her treat.
"You know, you're almost three." Jade says to the dog as she takes a treat out of the jar on the counter and gives it to her "I feel like we should be past the 'getting treats for not peeing in the house' thing."
The dog looks up at her happily, spinning around twice before sitting down and looking up at her again.
"Fine, we'll keep giving you treats." Jade rolls her eyes "But only because you're so fucking cute."
Suddenly, Jade feels the muscles around her abdomen tighten, and it scares her. She reaches out and grips the edge of the island tightly as she waits for the pain to pass. Thankfully, it lasts less than thirty seconds, but she knows it will happen again.
"I don't think that was a Braxton-Hicks, Georgia..." Jade sighs, looking to the dog
Actually, she knows for sure that it wasn't. She's been having Braxton-Hicks contractions on and off for a few weeks now, and whatever that was felt a lot different.
Jade decides not to call Beck right away, wanting to see what happens in the next hour before she pulls him away from work. In the time that passes she has three more of what she can only she can only assume to be real contractions, each lasting for less than thirty seconds. At that point, she figures it's time to call her husband.
"Hey." Beck answers after only one ring "What's wrong? Are you okay?"
"Oh my god, I'm fine." Jade sighs "But, uh...I think I'm having contractions."
"I'm coming home." Beck tells her "Get the bag ready."
"You don't have to." She says quickly, before he can hang up "They're still sporadic, we technically don't have to go anywhere until they're lasting for a minute or longer and occurring every five to ten minutes, or until my water breaks. It's too soon to go to the hospital."
"I should still be there with you, Jade."
"You'll have time to be." She assures him "Just...finish up whatever you're working on, then come home. Okay? Don't run out in the middle of anything."
"Alright, fine." Beck agrees "I'll see you soon, and if anything gets worse call me."
"I will, I promise." She tells him "I love you."
"I love you too."
He's home within the hour, insisting that they should go to the hospital anyway regardless of what Jade had told him on the phone earlier. She refuses to go anywhere, even calling her doctor to prove the point. Reluctantly, Beck agrees to stay home for the time-being, and goes to get them dinner. Once Jade gets to the hospital, she won't be allowed to eat until the baby is born, and she's definitely going to need her energy. They get Chinese takeout from their favorite place a few blocks over, and eat it on the couch together while they watch a movie.
Around 10:30, Jade starts to cry. Beck is terrified, worried that it's out of pain. But he soon learns that's not the case.
"There's no way this baby is born before midnight..." She tells him "Their birthday is going to be..."
"Shhh...yeah, it might be." Beck nods, not needing to hear the rest of her concern before knowing how to comfort her "You know what though? For eighteen years February 5th has been such a sad day for you, but now there's a chance it could turn into a happy day instead. I think your mom would rather you be happy, don't you think?"
"Yeah, probably."
"And it's not discrediting the date's original significance at all." Beck quickly adds "It's just looking at it from a happier perspective. Your mom would prefer it that way."
"Yeah." Jade nods, wiping her tears away "Yeah, you're right."
"Only happy tears from here on out, yeah?"
"Yeah."
Jade's water breaks just after one in the morning, finally giving her and Beck reason to go to the hospital. Beck calls ahead to let them know that they're on their way, then calls a car to meet them in the back alley behind their building. Normally they call cars to the front, but he isn't sure if any paparazzi are watching the building or not. They definitely have been during the day, and he doesn't want to risk it. They should get to announce the birth of their child on their own terms.
While they rush around gathering up all of their belongings and making sure that Georgia will be okay until someone comes to check on her in a few hours, Jade's contractions become closer together and more intense. As they walk to the car, she's leaning against Beck for support, clearly in pain.
"You're okay." He assures her "Everything is going to be okay."
He helps her walk into the hospital, her leaning against one shoulder while all of their bags are slung over his other. The light snow that had started falling earlier has become much heavier now and shows no signs of letting up any time soon. Jade is in a lot of pain now, it's obvious to anyone who looks at her, but all Beck can do for his wife is reassure her as they make their way to the maternity wing.
Both Beck and Jade are surprised when they reach the nurses's desk to see Craig and Marcia, their agents, waiting for them. Despite it being close to two in the morning now, they're both dressed as if they need to be ready to walk into a business meeting at any minute.
"What are you two doing here?" Beck asks, still holding on to Jade
"NDAs." Marcia answers him simply, holding up a stack of papers "For all of the nurses and doctors on the unit."
"Oh you've got to be kidding me." Jade groans, resting her forehead against Beck's shoulder "Really?"
"Do you know how conceited that makes us look? Beck sighs "We didn't ask you to do that."
"No, but we've been in this business long enough to know to take precautions." Craig explains "The last thing you want is for the birth of your baby to be announced in some tabloid because someone here was offered the right amount of money."
"Wouldn't that be illegal anyway?" Beck asks "HIPPA?"
"HIPPA isn't always enough." Marcia insists
"Beck..." Jade moans, clutching her stomach "I need to sit down."
"Okay, I'm sorry." Beck turns his attention to the nurses at the desk "My wife is in labor, could we get a wheelchair please? How did you two even know we were here? We haven't even told our families that anything was happening yet."
Which is true. They haven't told their parents or any of their friends because they weren't sure how slowly or quickly labor was going to progress. Now it's the middle of the night, there's no sense in waking anyone up if there's nothing to report.
"You called the hospital, the hospital called me, I called him, and here we both are." Marcia tells him "It's been arranged for weeks."
"Here you go, Mrs. Oliver." A nurse says kindly as she appears with a chair "Take a seat and try to relax, we'll have a room ready for you shortly."
"Alright, we appreciate what you guys were trying to do..." Beck sighs "Maybe just fill us in on the plan next time? We have enough uncertainty today as it is."
"Of course." Craig nods "Our mistake."
"We'll give your two your privacy now." Marcia assures them, squeezing Jade's shoulder as she passes by "Good luck, sweetheart."
"Thank you..."
Beck and Jade both wait until their agents are out of sight and out of ear shot before sharing a laugh with one another, both knowing that what had just happened was absolutely ludicrous.
"I can't believe them..." Jade shakes her head
"An idea good in theory, but not well executed." Beck smirks as he kneels down beside her wheelchair "Hey, what do you think? Ready to have a baby?"
"I think so."
"You think? Or you know?"
"I know."
"Alright." Beck smiles, taking her hand and pressing a kiss to it "Let's do this."
"It's okay, Jade..." Beck's voice is calm and comforting as he brushes some of her hair out of her face "You're doing great, we're almost there."
In this moment, he's thankful for his chosen profession. If he wasn't an actor, he probably wouldn't be able to appear so calm right now. His child is just minutes away from being born, and he's freaking out on the inside.
Jade on the other hand, has no shame in not being able to hide her anxiety. She's been pushing for thirty minutes, and she's exhausted. It's just after 7:30 in the morning now, meaning that she's been in some stage of labor for close to sixteen hours. She wants to hold her baby, she wants to be done.
"Next contraction, here we go, Jade. Push!"
She also takes no shame in letting out a frustrated yell as she starts pushing again. The epidural they had given her a few hours prior is starting to wear off and she's feeling more pain than she should. Out in the hallway, her father begins nervously pacing across the hallway at the sound of his daughter's discontent. When he had woken up for work about an hour prior, he had texted Jade to see if there were any updates on the baby. She had been honest and he rushed right over, still clad in his pajamas.
"We've got a full head hair." The doctor tells them "Just one more push to get the shoulders out and we should be done here."
"Full head of hair?" Jade chuckles as she looks over to her husband "Definitely your kid."
"Well, I would certainly hope so." He smirks "You can do this, babe. Just one more push."
Jade lets out another scream as she pushes again and before long, another loud noise fills the room as well. A baby is crying, their baby.
"Congratulations." A nurse grins as she takes the baby from the doctor and places it immediately on Jade's chest "It's a girl."
"A girl." Jade gasps "Beck, we had a girl."
"She's beautiful." Beck grins, pressing a kiss to the top of her head "Just like her mother. I love you so much."
"Shut up, you're such a sap...but I love you too." Jade smirks "Oh, hi baby. Hi, it's me. It's Mommy."
"Dad, would you like to come cut the cord?"
"Sure." Beck grins
"Oh, I know..." Jade continues to comfort the crying baby as her umbilical cord is cut "It's so cold and scary out here in the world, huh? Don't worry, I'll keep you safe and warm. I promise."
The baby opens her eyes and looks at Jade, and she can tell immediately that something isn't right. The infant's breathing is short and labored, and the skin around he lips as a bluish hue to it.
"Something is wrong." Jade says suddenly "Help! Something is wrong!"
"What?" Beck appears next to her again "Is she supposed to be breathing like that?"
"Let me see, let me see." The same nurse steps in to look "Oh dear. We need to move her to the NICU ASASP."
Before Jade can register what is happening, her daughter has been snatched away from her to be wrapped in a blanket and taken out of the room.
"Beck, you have to go with her!" Jade demands "Please, go find out what's going on!"
"I can't leave you." He shakes his head, his eyes full of worry "Jade, you just-"
"I'll be okay, I promise." Jade assures him "She's so little and helpless, Beck. She needs her dad, please. Please go with her."
Beck says nothing, but nods in response. He presses a quick kiss to her forehead before running out of the room. Jade hears him yell something to someone in the hallway as he leaves, but she can't hear what specifically. The guesswork is gone though when her father enters the room less than a minute later, rushing to his daughter's bedside.
"Dad..." Jade cries, the helplessness that she's feeling starting to register "Dad, I don't know what happened. One minute she was crying and the next she was barely breathing. I...I...I..."
"Shhh..." John sits down on the edge of the bed and pulls his daughter into a hug, not caring about the blood on her chest "It's alright. The doctor's and nurses will take care of everything."
He had taken notice of her use of female pronouns to describe the baby, and his heart does a backflip at the thought of a granddaughter. Now isn't the time to ask for clarification though, he knows that.
"This day is cursed." Jade tells him "First we lose Mom and now I might lose my daughter..."
"You're not going to lose her." John rubs her back gently "Don't think that way."
Jade can't help thinking that way, though. Beck is always reminding her to think with her heart instead of her head, but what good can thinking with her heart do her when it's shattered into a million pieces?