"Dean," Lizbeth said, a week into her bedrest. "Can I ask you for a favor?"
Dean looked over at her from the desk, where he was reading through a lore book. "Sure. What's up?"
"Can you get those old coots out of the house for a bit? They're makin' me crazy with their constant bickerin'. Hell, I'm half tempted to call an ambulance to go to the hospital just to get away-"
Dean chuckled. "Sure. I'll get 'em out. Should be fine with Sam still here."
She smiled. "Thank you!" She picked up the word search book she was working on and the pencil.
Dean stood and walked out. It took some effort, but he managed to pack up Bobby and Rufus into his Impala and they pulled out of the scrapyard.
Sam came in. "How are you feeling?"
"Better knowin' the elder statesmen have gotten out for a bit," she smiled.
He smiled. "Feeling a little crowded?"
"I'm behaving!" she insisted.
"Oh, you are! Absolutely!" He picked up the chair by the wall and moved it near to her. "I'm actually impressed."
She smiled. "It's just that I could tell they were getting antsy. None of you are used to being cooped up or tied down for any length of time."
He sat so that his elbows rested on his knees. "I'm sure you're not either."
Lizbeth looked down at her belly, which seemed larger than ever to her. "In this condition, I'm kind of glad not to have to move."
He smiled and stood. "Can I get you anything?"
She took his hand and squeezed it. "I'm good. Thank you."
Henodded and pulled his hand away and stepped toward the desk to read one of the lore books.
"Actually," she said. "Do you think you could get my lotion from my bedside stand?"
He nodded, his hair falling forward. "Sure. Be right back."
When he returned with the squeeze tube of coco-butter lotion, she smiled gratefully. "Thank you. I feel like my skin is getting more and more dry. And I try to drink a lot of water, but that just leads to me having to go to the bathroom more and more as this kid sits on my bladder."
Sam nodded and watched her as she squeezed some of the lotion into her hand and spread it onto her arms and rub it in. Then he moved to the desk, opening the lore book he'd been working on the last time he was here, but couldn't concentrate as he watched her rub the lotion into her shoulders, then move her hands under the blanket to rub her belly.
Finally, he cleared his throat and moved to begin reading.
She paused and looked back at him.
He looked at her and smiled, uncomfortably.
She chuckled. "Am I making you uncomfortable?"
"What?" his eyebrows danced upwards. "No! Uhm, I was just thinking about your back."
Her eyebrows rose. "What?"
"Well, it's not like you can reach your own back and I imagine if anything this is going to feel dry and start to itch," he shrugged. "It'd be your back."
She smiled. "Yeah. I just deal with it, usually."
His eyebrows rose again. "I can put the lotion on your back, if you want."
"Thank you, Sam. That would be lovely."
Sam rose from the desk and she scooted forward on the couch enough for him to sit behind her. She unbuttoned her shirt and lowered it , lifting the blankets to maintain her modesty while exposing her back. She moved her hair to the side.
He picked up the tube on the table. "How much—?" he asked.
She took his hand and the lotion, squeezing a small amount on his hand. "That should do it."
He nodded and rubbed his hands together. "Smells good," he said, suddenly nervous. He held his hands up parallel to her back for a moment, then swallowed and touched her back. He spread the lotion across her back and rubbed it in moving from her waist to her shoulders, efficiently, but trying not to use too much pressure. As his hands moved, he frowned. "It feels like you have a knot by your shoulder blade."
She lifted on shoulder. "That's been there for a while. It's where I carry my stress."
He frowned. "Do you want me to work on it? I-I might be able to work it out."
She nodded. "If you want to."
"Well, it doesn't seem to be a good way to relax if your muscles are bunched up ," he rubbed the part of her back that was knotted, his skilled fingers manipulating the muscle to work out the knot. Focussed on his task, his nervousness melted away. He smiled as he felt her relax under his hands.
She moaned after a few minutes. "That feels heavenly," she murmured.
The sound she made alarmed him, more for how it affected him than what he might be doing to her. He lifted his hands. "Does it feel better?"
She nodded. "Oh, yeah!" she sighed.
Sam gently touched her shoulders then. "Okay, then," and he stood, rubbing his hands together.
She pulled her shirt back up and buttoned it as he tried not to watch. "Thank you, Sam," she said, softly.
He smiled, feeling awkward. "Sure. Uh, need anything else?"
She picked up her word search and shook her head. "No, I'm good now."
He nodded and returned to the desk, but it was a long time before he was able to focus on the words in front of him.
#
#
Lizbeth walked into the kitchen, supporting her back with one hand and rubbing her enlarged abdomen as she walked. The four men in the room stared at her as she walked to the refrigerator, standing.
"Liz?" Bobby asked.
"I'm thirsty."
"That's what the bell is for."
She turned and looked at him, tired. "Bobby, if I don't get up and move, my legs are going to atrophy."
"Doc said—"
"Yes, I know what the Doc said. I just wanted to walk to the refrigerator and back. How much harm can that do?"
Sam stepped over to her. "I'll walk you back," he smiled, apologetically.
She looked up at him. "Mind if I get some cold water first?"
He grinned. "Sure."
She looked around the room. "Anyone else object to the pregger gettin' some water?"
Rufus sat back down and continued going through the book he'd been studying. Dean shook his head and looked at Bobby, who looked chagrinned at her.
"Get your water, idjit. Then back to bed - or couch or whatever."
She smiled.
After she retrieved the bottle of water from the fridge, she allowed Sam to take her arm and walk her back to the couch.
"You know how hard this is for me?" she asked Sam, softly. "I hate being an invalid."
Sam smiled. "I know." He put his hand on her back and looked down at her. "It won't be too much longer. Right? Your due date is only a week away now."
She nodded. "If I don't go crazy first."
He helped her sit down on the couch.
"Bobby really needs a new couch. This one's springs are worn out."
Sam chuckled. "It might not be as bad when the extra weight is off you."
She looked up at him with eyebrows raised.
"Oh, I mean, I didn't mean anything—I just thought—uhm—"
She laughed as he stammered, embarrassed. "Relax, Sam! When you're as big as a house, it's hard to get offended by someone saying you have extra weight on you."
"Don't get me wrong," he said, pulling a chair up to sit across from her, taking her hand in his. "I think you're beautiful."
Her eyebrows rose as she looked at his hand holding hers. Then her eyes met his. "Thank you, Sam," she smiled, clearly touched. "That's nice to hear when you feel as big as a whale." She covered his hand with her own.
He smiled. "Are you comfortable?"
She sighed. "As much as I can be with this kid sitting on all my major organs."
He frowned and looked down at their hands. Then he cleared his throat. "I was reading, uhm, that you should have a go bag ready. I could help you pack one and we could keep it in Impala…" His eyebrows rose, drawing together. "If that's okay."
She tilted her head and smiled. "Thank you, Sam. I appreciate that." She looked down again. "Can I ask a favor?"
His eyes rose and he looked at her until she looked back at him. Then he nodded, his blue-green eyes meeting her blue eyes. "Of course."
"When time comes," she swallowed. "Will you go in with me?"
His eyebrows rose and his jaw dropped as he straightened. "What?"
"If it's too much, I understand."
"No! It's not that it's too much…" he leaned forward and tilted his head under drawn eyebrows. "Are you sure? You don't want Bobby?"
She smiled. "I love Bobby to pieces, but that old coot will NOT be able to handle the birthing suite."
He frowned. "He's sewn up both Dean and me - and Rufus. I think he can handle blood."
"Any one of you could deal with blood, Sam," she smiled. "But could you all deal with the blood while I'm in pain, keep your head and offer me some form of support all at the same time, for as long as it takes?" She looked back into the kitchen. "Bobby would have a hard time with the pain. Rufus would lose his patience and Dean would become awkward - and I could see all of them yelling at the doctor or nurses to do something to hurry up the labor."
Sam grinned. "Yeah, you're probably right." He glanced down again, then looked at her. "I can't promise I will be able to handle it any better."
She smiled. "You have more patience, as part of your personality. I think you will."
Sam frowned. "But I don't know if I will have much patience knowing you're in pain."
"Intellectually," she said. "I know that you know what the process entails - your research?"
He smiled again and met her eyes. "Yes. I know some."
"And because of that, you will be better prepared." She leaned forward. "But, Sam, it's a big ask. If you want to say no, it's fine." She looked down at their hands again.
He smiled and removed one of his hands from hers, using it to tilt her chin up to meet her eyes again. "I'd be honored, Liz," he said, seriously.
She smiled and released a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. "Thank you."
#
#
A phone rang.
Dean blinked and turned over from his spot on the floor to look up at his brother, who turned on the couch and reached for his phone. "Who is it?" Dean grumbled.
Sam moved his hair from his eyes and looked at it. He frowned and answered. "Liz?" He straightened. "What? Yeah! I'm on my way. I'll get Dean up."
Dean frowned, more alert. "What?"
"She thinks her water broke. It's time."
Dean jumped to his feet and grabbed his boots. "We gotta wake up Bobby, call Rufus."
Sam nodded as he shoved his feet in his boots and headed for the stairs. "I'll get Bobby on the way. You call Rufus, get the car and meet us out front."
It took a few minutes for Sam and Bobby to lead Lizbeth down the stairs and out the door. They put her in the backseat with Sam as Bobby jumped into the front passenger seat next to Dean, who peeled out of Singer Scrap Yard's gate as soon as everyone was in safely.
Liz was leaning back on Sam, who was sitting at an angle in the back seat to support her. He dipped his head to speak quietly into her ear.
"You okay?" he asked.
She pressed her lips together and rubbed the side of her abdomen. "Yeah. You?"
Sam chuckled. "I'm good, but I'm not having a baby."
"You're not?" she asked. "Then what are we here for? I'm certainly not doing it!"
His eyebrows rose. "I think it's a little late to make that choice."
"Let's make Dean do it," she grinned.
"Hell, no!" Dean responded, trying to smile while worry was clearly etched on his face. "Remember, we said I'm nowhere near as strong as you are."
"Bobby?" she asked.
"I'm too old, Lizzy," he smiled back at her. "You've got this."
She took a deep breath, then and rubbed her sides again, breathing out slowly.
"Contraction?" Sam asked.
She nodded. "I think so. It's like a massive muscle cramp in my sides."
Dean frowned. "Really?"
"Yeah, her abs are starting to push the baby downward," Bobby explained.
He looked at Bobby, askance. "What?"
Bobby shrugged. "You haven't done any readin' on this?"
Dean looked alarmed. "No! Was I supposed to?"
Bobby rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Idjit!"
Liz grinned at their exchange while Sam took her hand.
"How far apart are the contractions?" he asked her.
She looked at her watch. "I haven't been timing them. But it doesn't seem like that much time betwe—" she caught her breath again.
"Another one?"
She nodded.
"Dean, drive faster!" Sam commanded.
#
#
Sam and Bobby walked Lizbeth into the hospital emergency room while Dean parked the car. When they put her in a wheelchair, Sam reported to the nurse:
"Her name is Lizbeth Quinlan. She was diagnosed with a partial placental abruption about a month ago. Her water broke thirty minutes ago and her contractions are less than five minutes apart."
Liz smiled up at him while breathing out a contraction and nodded.
"Okay," the nurse nodded. "I've got her. Come with me, Dad." She looked at Bobby. "You're gonna have to wait out here for now."
Sam's eyebrows did a dance as his eyes widened at the word 'Dad'. Bobby saw it and grinned, tilting his head to the side with a shrug. Then handed her go-bag to Sam.
"Go on, 'Dad'."
Sam frowned at him, but followed the nurse and Liz beyond the double doors. They moved through the halls, to the elevator and up. Meanwhile, the nurse, who introduced herself as Megan, was asking questions that Liz was trying to answer. When they reached the seventh floor, the nurse moved her quickly into a room and pulled out a gown.
"Here you go, Mom," she smiled. "Put this on and get into bed. Then we'll get you situated."
Liz moved into the bathroom with gown in hand, and Sam looked around the room.
"Your first?" the nurse asked.
Sam looked surprised again at the assumption that he was the 'Dad'. "Ah, yeah."
She smiled. "We'll take good care of all of you. Why don't you put her bag in the closet - is there anything in there she wanted to have during labor?"
He looked at the bag in his hand. "Uhm…" he frowned. "There was some lavender oil…"
The nurse smiled. "Set it up. When she comes out, help her into bed and I will be right back."
He nodded. He opened her bag and pulled out the aromatherapy diffuser. He put her bag in the closet and looked for an outlet to plug the diffuser in. He set it up the way she'd shown him.
She opened the door and emerged, shuffling.
Sam abandoned the diffuser to move to her side and help her into the bed. "Are you okay?"
She nodded and smiled a tight smile at him. "Thanks. And if I don't say it again. Thanks for everything."
He tried to smile reassuringly, but knew it didn't come across that way. He looked down, frowning.
She took his hand. "Hey," she smiled, taking a deep breath. "It is okay that you are uncomfortable. I'm kind of freaking out myself. We'll get through it."
His eyebrows rose and he looked over her head to the other side of the room, then looked back at her. "I can't believe you're trying to make me feel better." He smiled. "That's what I'm supposed to be doing!"
She shrugged. "It's reciprocal."
"Do you need anything?"
She leaned back in the bed and shook her head, bringing her hands to rub her sides, again, her eyebrows drawn together.
He took her hand and looked at her, his eyebrows up. "Squeeze as hard as you want."
She laughed.
He smiled.
"You know that's…" she breathed. "Such…a cliche…"
He chuckled. "Yeah. I guess it is."
Then she squeezed, gritting her teeth and bracing backward in the bed.
His eyebrows rose to his hairline and he swallowed against the sudden pressure, working to relax his hand as much as possible. "Liz?"
She breathed and relaxed. "Oh, I hope this kid hurries."
He frowned. "Is it a lot of pain?"
She tilted her head. "I don't know if I would call it pain - not like being stabbed or shot. Or that time when I broke my pinkie toe…that was pain!"
He smiled.
"But it's a lot of pressure and it hurts. Like if it was just a stabbing, it would be localized…" She took a deep breath and bit her lip, frowning deeply again.
"These contractions are incredibly close," Sam remarked, alarmed. "I should get the nurse."
"I'm here," the nurse said from behind him. "Doc's on his way, and so is the anesthesiologist." She grabbed Liz's free hand and put a band on it and then grabbed Sam's and put a band on it as well. "For after the baby is born. He or she won't be able to leave this floor unless one of you is with." She then went to the other side of the bed and looked down at Liz. "I just need to check you, Mom."
She nodded.
The nurse arranged Liz's blankets. She put a glove on and picked up a bottle, squeezing a gel on it. She moved her hand under the blankets and smiled at Liz. "This might be a little cold."
Liz nodded.
The nurse looked upward.
Liz breathed.
"Oh, nuts!" the nurse said.
Liz frowned. "What?!"
Megan laughed. "Sorry. You're not going to have time to get anesthesia." She pulled off her glove and threw it in the garbage and straightened Liz's blankets.
Liz's eyes widened under furrowed eyebrows. "What?!"
Sam tilted his head. "What do you mean?"
"This young'un is coming too quick. You're already nine centimeters dilated and ten is showtime. By the time the anesthesia kicks in, the show will be over."
Sam's eyebrows bounced and he looked at Liz, who looked alarmed.
"But I was depending on drugs," Liz moaned. Then her hand tightened on Sam's and she pressed into her pillows.
Sam's eyebrows rose and he looked down at her.
Megan chuckled, moving a monitor near the bed and placing sensor pads on Liz's chest, side and abdomen. "Welcome to parenthood. Those little suckers never do anything as you expect they will."
Liz looked at Sam. "Then I quit. I don't want to do this. Let's just go."
As Sam fought a smile, Megan laughed and turned on the monitor, which started beeping steadily. "This is monitoring your heart, the baby's heart and your contractions. Don't be alarmed if the sounds become faster or slower because that's supposed to happen with contractions. However, if you start feeling the need to push, get that man of yours on the horn," she said.
Liz breathed and nodded. "Where is the doctor?" she panted.
"He'll be here soon. I'll light a fire under him."
Sam watched her as she worked through her contraction. "So you were telling me about the pain?"
She opened her eyes. "It's like a charlie horse that wraps around your entire torso."
He frowned. "Ouch."
She chuckled.
"But not as bad a broken 'pinkie' toe."
"No. That really hurt!"
"How'd you do that?"
She paused to breathe through another contraction. Once it was over, and she loosened her grip on his hand as the beeping monitor became white noise in the background, she continued. "It was two o'clock in the morning and I got up to go to the bathroom. I walked out of my bedroom and my toe caught the shoulder strap of my bookbag. The bag was filled with textbooks - and my favorite copy of the Unabridged Works of William Shakespeare - so it didn't move. My toe flipped backward and there was blinding light and I hit the floor."
Sam's eyebrows drew together. "Ouch."
"Yeah. And I didn't have a car. I crammed my foot into my shoe and walked to the bus and then to the clinic on the college campus I was attending."
His eyebrows. "You went to college?"
She gripped his hand again and pushed into her pillows again, with eyebrows furrowed. A groan escaped her this time as her eyes closed.
"Breathe, Liz," he grunted. "Try to keep breathing."
Megan walked in, then, followed by the doctor from weeks ago. Megan hanged two bags of blood on the IV rack near her bed as well as an IV.
Sam focussed on Liz until she relaxed. Then he looked at the Doctor. "Doc," he nodded.
"The blood is just a precaution," Gutierrez said. "Sometimes there can be hemorrhaging in vaginal births with placental abruptions. We're going to be prepared, just in case."
Sam suddenly had a rock in the pit of his stomach. He looked at Liz with concern etched on his face.
She smiled up at him. "Everything's going to be okay," she whispered, squeezing his hand affectionately. Then she gritted her teeth. "Oooh!" she groaned as her grasp tightened on Sam's hand.
His eyebrows rose, alarmed. "I think I need to switch hands," he said to her.
She looked up at him with drawn eyebrows, gritting against the pressure, and snorted a laugh, then winced. "Don't make me laugh!" she growled.
Sam grinned. "They say 'laughter is the best medicine'."
She glared at him, even as her eyes danced.
He frowned as the contraction seemed to him to last for a while. He moved from one foot to the other, stepped closer, then placed his free hand on her head. "Liz?"
She sighed and nodded. "I'm okay." She took a deep breath. "Damn! Now it's starting to hurt!"
His eyebrows rose. He bent to get closer to her and looked into her eyes. "Listen," he said, lowly.
She looked into his eyes and nodded.
"I want you to channel any pain you feel into my hand. Squeeze as hard as you can. I can take it."
She smiled, then lifted her head slightly. "Sam."
"Yeah?"
"I have been," she chuckled.
His eyebrows rose and he straightened. "Oh. Well, good. Keep it up."
Liz smiled, leaning back again.
Megan appeared again. "Okay, Mom, we're going to check you again." She looked at Sam. "Dad, you can have a seat on the bed, if you want - been standing all this time and might be standing a long time yet. Or you can pull up that chair…"
Liz didn't let go of his hand and smiled at him. "Sam."
He nodded and sat on the edge of her bed, moving his hand in hers to a different angle, pulling it toward his chest as his other hand touched her shoulder. He was aware that the nurse was moving the blankets, but he focused on Liz.
She sucked in her breath and gritted her teeth again, pulling her eyebrows together as her grip tightened around his hand.
He relaxed his hand in her grip and kept the pressure from his hand on her shoulder steady as she worked through the contraction.
"Okay, Doc," Megan said from behind him. "She's fully dilated; time to play ball."
Sam frowned as Liz's eyes opened and she looked askance past him, then at him, making him grin at her. She smiled through the pressure and pain and dipped her chin again.
Megan and another nurse pulled stirrups from the sides of the bed and moved Liz's legs up into them. "Scoot down, Mom, until you touch my hand. Dad, you can help her."
Liz frowned and shook her head as the contraction continued.
"Give us a minute," Sam growled.
"Sure thing," Megan returned, cheerfully.
Once the contraction eased up, Sam helped Liz scoot down in the bed. Megan lifted the head of the bed so that Liz was in more of an upright position, forcing Sam to stand up, as the other nurse arranged her blankets up at her knees, maintaining her modesty at the same time as the doctor took up station at the foot of the bed.
"We have a mirror we can bring down if you want to watch?" Megan asked.
Liz looked at her like she was crazy. "Absolutely not!"
Sam chuckled, but it was cut off by Liz squeezing his hand again as a contraction overwhelmed her.
"Great! Lizbeth," Gutierrez said. "I need you to bear down."
Liz looked at him. "What?!" she ground out.
"Bear down. You need to help the contractions move this child out."
Sam nodded. "It's almost over, Liz," he encouraged. "Come on!"
She gritted her teeth and did as she was instructed.
"Good!" Doc called out. "I can see the head!"
When the contraction stopped, Liz panted to catch her breath.
"You're doing really well, Lizbeth," Doc smiled up at her. "One or two more like that and we should have a baby howling in the room. Uh, Sam, is it?"
Sam nodded.
"Why don't you get behind her? Help support her when she goes to push?"
Megan took Liz's arms and pulled her up so Sam could slip behind her, placing his head next to hers and taking both of her hands in his.
It was only seconds when the next contraction gripped her and she gripped his hands as he whispered words of encouragement into her ear. The nurses held her legs as she pushed with all her might when told to by the doctor.
She held her breath until the contraction stopped and panted to recover, leaning her weight back on Sam.
Doc looked at her. "One more."
"Didn't you say that last time?" she asked.
"You got this, Liz. You're doing great." Sam's murmur was a rumble she felt in her soul.
"Take a deep breath," Doc instructed. "And push!"
Liz pushed and growled, with Sam supporting her and the nurses pulling their hands toward her legs as they held her legs in the stirrups.
"Okay, stop!" Doc instructed.
As Megan moved to assist, Sam pressed his lips to her temple. "You're amazing, Liz!" he whispered.
She panted and looked over her shoulder at him, smiling weakly. "I'm about to pass out."
He grinned at her. "Nah. You're tougher than that."
"Okay, one more, Liz," Doc instructed.
"You really need to stop saying that unless you're sure," Liz frowned at him. Then she took a deep breath and pushed, but this time wasn't as drawn out as the last.
"She's out!" Doc announced. "Relax, Liz!"
Sam looked down at her, smiling. "See? You did it!"
Before Liz could respond, worry clearly etched on her face, a baby's cry rang out and her face relaxed.
"It's a girl!" Megan announced. "And she's beautiful!"
Doctor Gutierrez handed the baby off to Megan, who brought her up for Liz to see her.
Liz smiled, weakly. "A girl," she whispered. Then her eyes closed and she went limp against Sam.
The monitor Sam had forgotten about now started to beep fast and wail.
Sam was alarmed. "Liz? Lizbeth?!"
"Listen," Megan looked at Sam with a calm firmness that was very different from her previous cheerfulness, as another nurse stepped forward. "This is Annie, the neonatal nurse. She's going to take the baby to another room to clean her up, weigh and measure her. You go with and let the doctor work."
Sam allowed himself to be pulled from behind Liz as another nurse lowered Liz's bed. "Work? What work?"
He was being led out of the room by another nurse as Annie preceded him with the baby. "There's some bleeding that Doctor Gutierrez needs to get under control. He'll let us know as soon as he can."
"Bleeding?!" Sam started to turn back to the room, but was pushed forward. "Is it the abruption?"
"Not uncommon. But there's extra blood in there and Dr. G is a fantastic doctor. She's in good hands."
Sam followed the baby into another room where the nurses cleaned her and measured her as he watched, numb. They sat him down in a chair and placed the baby in his hands, instructing him on how to hold her properly.
"Do you have a name for her?"
He shook his head, looking down at the tiny thing in his hands. A lump filled his throat and tears came to his eyes. He tried to clear his throat and looked up when Annie touched his shoulder. "She's beautiful, Dad. Do you want me to get the rest of the family? Mom will be brought in here as soon as she's ready."
He nodded, suddenly remembering Bobby and Dean. Then he was alone in the room with this brand new life. "Hey, there," he whispered, gruffly. "Welcome to the world."
Bobby, Dean, and Rufus entered the room. Sam looked at them, unaware that he had tears on his face.
"Sam?" Dean frowned.
"It's a girl."
"A girl?" Dean whispered, looking at the child in his brother's hands. Then he looked around the room. "Where's Liz?"
Sam sniffed. "She's not out of the woods. They forced me to leave her. She was bleeding — passed out —" Sam frowned. "She barely got to see her little girl!"
"Well, she's made of pretty tough stuff," Bobby said. "She'll pull through."
Sam looked at Bobby. "You want to hold her?"
Bobby's eyes widened. "Me? Uh, no. You—you seem to have a pretty good handle on things."
Dean moved closer to his brother and looked down at the sleeping infant. "Wow. She's small."
"Well, her mom's pretty petite," Rufus started.
"Did you idjits think she's come out full sized or something?" Bobby growled.
Sam chuckled. He adjusted her to support her in his arm, while his other hand moved to extend one finger to touch her cheek.
In response, she turned her head to his finger and touched her mouth to it.
"Well, that's a great sign," Annie said from the door. She introduced herself to the other men in the room. "She's looking for food already, real good sign. I'll go get a bottle prepared."
Sam frowned. "What about her mother?"
Annie tilted her head. "Well, when Mom doesn't come with Baby, it usually means complications. And a lot of times, when there are complications, Mom can't nurse right away even after the complications are resolved. But Baby still needs to eat. So, I'll go get a bottle and show you how to feed her." She looked at the men in the room. "Dad, Grandpa and Uncles?"
Before anyone could say anything, Rufus put his arm around Annie's shoulders and led her out. "You're absolutely right! Why don't you get that bottle before she becomes inconsolable?"
As soon as Annie was out of the room, Rufus turned to look at Sam as Dean's eyebrows rose. "Dad?" he asked.
Sam shrugged. "They started calling me that when we came in. I never thought to correct them."
"Don't," Rufus said. "If you do, they'll take Little Q here and show us to the door until Lizzy says we can come back."
Sam frowned. He looked down at the baby.
"As much as I hate to say it," Bobby added. "Rufus is right."
"Nobody's taking our baby away from us!" Dean growled. "Not until Liz gets here."
"And what if she doesn't?" Sam asked, voicing the fear that surrounded his heart since leaving Liz behind.
The men fell silent for a moment and then Dean spoke with growling determination. "Then you're Dad. You're Dad and I'm Uncle Dean and Bobby's Grandpa and Rufus is… Rufus. And nobody is going to take her away from us. Until Liz says you're not, you are!"
Bobby looked at Sam. "Lizzy doesn't have any other family, Sam. There's no one else."
Sam nodded. "Then she's ours," he said, lowly, looking down at her again.
"Besides," Dean growled. "Liz is going to be fine."
"Of course she is!" Bobby and Rufus agreed in unison, then glared at each other.
#
#
Doctor Gutierrez walked in as Sam was feeding "Little Q". He stood, quickly, moving the bottle from the baby in the process. With her protest, he returned the bottle to her and looked at the doctor.
"How is she?"
Doc G nodded. "She's out of the woods, but she's lost more blood than we like to see. The placental abruption tore her uterine wall as it separated during labor. I've moved her to post-op for tonight, where she'll continue to be monitored and given blood, if needed. I'm sure she's going to want to see this one when she wakes."
Sam smiled, grateful. "Thanks, Doc!"
Dean, Bobby and Rufus took turns vigorously shaking his hand as Annie returned to the room with a small bed with sides on a cart.
"Are we finished eating?"
Sam looked down at the babe in his arms and at the bottle. "Looks like almost."
"Very important that you don't let her drink to the last drop," Annie explained. "Because you don't want her sucking air. It causes really bad gas bubbles and infants can't burp on their own."
"Yeah. Don't you guys know nothin' about babies?" Rufus asked.
"Who made you Doctor Spock?" Bobby returned, irritated.
"Well, surely you remember when Ms. Quinlan was a baby," Annie smiled at Bobby.
Bobby frowned. "I wasn't there when Lizzy was a baby," he said.
Annie smiled at him. "Ah, you're one of those kind of men." She stepped toward him. "Any man who'd take another man's child as his own is good people in my book." She turned to Sam. "Well, Dad, let me give you your first lesson in burping a baby."
After having Sam sit down so she could reach, she put a small towel on Sam's shoulder and positioned the baby on his shoulder. "Now cup your hand and pat her back."
Sam did as he was told, and Annie shook her head.
"You have to do it harder."
Sam looked up at Annie, frowning. "What?"
Annie took the baby from him, arranged her on her own shoulder and began to hit her back.
Dean lunged at Annie, but was stopped by Bobby. "She's hurting—!" his protest was cut off when Little Q let out a burp that would make a trucker proud and Annie chuckled. Then she placed the babe into the bed and Little Q fell to sleep almost immediately.
All four men in the room looked surprised and impressed.
Annie smiled at them. "It just takes practice." She took hold of the cart's handles. "Come on, Dad, let's take her up to see her Mama." She looked at Bobby. "You guys can wait here."
#
#
Sam looked down at Lizbeth, asleep in the bed. She had an oxygen tube in her nose, an IV attached to her left hand, and wires disappearing into her gown that were attached to a monitor similar to the one in the delivery room. She seemed very pale to him and when he took her right hand, it was cool to the touch. He touched her hair and took a deep breath.
Her eyebrows drew together, and her eyes fluttered.
He moved his hand from her hair as her eyes opened. "Liz?" he whispered.
She smiled, weakly. "Sam." Her eyebrows came together. "The baby?"
Sam smiled. "She's right here." He looked to the side where the baby was sleeping in the little baby bed. "She's healthy. She's perfect. Beautiful," he grinned and looked back at her. "Like her mom."
"Her mom doesn't feel so beautiful," she whispered. "I want to see her."
Sam moved to the baby bed and gently picked up the bundle sleeping there. He moved a chair close to the bed and used the remote to lift Liz slightly as he sat and leaned toward her. "Liz, meet your daughter." He smiled. "Again."
Liz smiled. "Oh, Sam! She is beautiful."
"We've been calling her 'Little Q' since we didn't know what name you wanted to give her."
Her eyebrows rose. "My mother's name was Mary."
Sam grinned. "So was mine."
She smiled. "Mary Elizabeth Quinlan…can't get more Irish than that, huh?"
Sam chuckled. "It's perfect." He stood and placed the baby in the bed next to her as she shifted and turned slightly to her side with grimace that made him frown with concern. Then he looked down at the two of them together and felt his heart swell. He straightened and cleared his throat to rid it of the lump that was forming. "By the way, you should know: everyone is making the assumption that I'm her father. And I haven't tried to correct anyone."
She nodded. "I figure that's best."
"We - Bobby, Rufus, Dean and I - thought it would be the only way that we could keep her with us until you got better."
Liz smiled. "Thank you…again." She touched her daughter's cheek, lightly, and Mary's face turned toward her.
Sam grinned. "She thinks you're going to feed her. But she just ate a little bit ago."
Her eyebrows rose and she looked up at him. "Really?"
"Nurse Annie told me."
She nodded. "Have they told you when I can get out of here?"
Sam frowned. "Doc G says they'll revisit in the morning."
Liz sighed. "Will you stay with me - will you and Mary stay with me for a while?"
He sat down again and covered her hand, resting on Mary. "You know," he whispered, his eyebrows drawn together, looking at her. "I never thanked you."
She frowned. "Thanked me?"
"For letting me be a part of this," he looked at Mary, then back to her. "I feel… honored."
She smiled. "I wouldn't have been able to do it without you."
His eyebrows were high and his eyes were wide as he looked at her with awe clearly etched on his face. "I don't know about that. I think you can do anything."
Liz moved her hand so that her thumb grasped his. Then she relaxed into the bed and closed her eyes.
He sat there watching them sleep until he felt exhaustion take hold and rested his head on his other arm on the bedrail and closed his eyes.
Some time later, a hand touched his shoulder. He started and lifted his head to see a nurse. The room they were in was darker than it was when he'd come in.
"Hey, there, Dad. Baby's fussing for food and I need to check Mom's vitals."
Sam looked down at his hand, still resting on Liz's on top of Mary, who was awake and chewing on her fist.
"That's fussing?"
The nurse smiled. "Not really," she chuckled. "But she does want food. She's too young to be teething."
"Can I feed her here?"
The nurse frowned at him. Then took a deep breath. "I'll see what I can do. But you'll have to take her so I can check Mom's vitals."
Sam nodded. He stood and touched Liz's head with his free hand. "Liz," he whispered, leaning down. He frowned. "She's warm," he told the nurse.
She looked at the machines that were hooked up to Liz and nodded. "She's a little feverish. Not much though."
"What?" Liz asked.
"Hey!" he smiled at her. "I need to move Mary so the nurse can check you."
She nodded. "Okay," she whispered.
He bent and gently picked up Mary, cradling her in his arm, looking down at her. Then he looked down at Liz, who was smiling up at him. He frowned. "What?"
"You're so big and she's so little," Liz said.
His eyebrows bounced, then he looked down at Mary again. "Yeah," he smiled. "Hard to believe they come this small."
Liz scoffed as she turned for the nurse to wrap the blood pressure cup around her arm. "She felt a lot larger coming out."
He laughed. "I'll bet."
Mary whimpered and began chewing on her fist.
His eyes widened. "I'd better get her fed before we have a full-on melt down."
The nurse looked at him. "Why don't you take her down to the nursery and feed and change her? You can bring her back later."
Sam looked at Liz. "I'd rather do that here," he insisted.
The nurse nodded, curtly, and moved out of the room.
He paced with her as Liz smiled at them. "What are you thinking? That I'm ridiculous?"
"No," she smiled. "I'm thinking you're sweet. And even more so for asking to stay with me."
He tilted his head in a kind of shrug. "I figure you'll want to keep her nearby."
"Good call. But I trust you — and my other men — to keep her safe."
He nodded with a smile.
The nurse returned with a diaper, wipes, and a bottle. She placed them in the baby bed and returned to the monitoring the equipment, where she began to take notes.
Sam picked up the bottle and began to feed Mary, who attacked the bottle with ferocity enough to make him raise his eyebrows and grin. "Wow! She's really hungry."
Sam's phone rang, then. He frowned, looking down at Mary, then to Liz.
Liz smiled and motioned for him to come closer.
He moved to her and turned so that his pocket was close to her.
Ignoring the protests from the nurse, she moved to get Sam's phone from his jeans pocket. She moved the phone to her ear. "Sam's phone."
"Liz?!"
She smiled. "Yes, Dean. How are you?"
"How am I? She's asking how I am! How are you?!"
"I'm okay," she smiled. "Just tired."
"Yeah, I'll bet. Where's Sam?"
"Feeding Mary."
There was a pause on the line. "You named her 'Mary'?"
She smiled. "Mary Elizabeth Quinlan."
"Sounds Irish."
She laughed. "That's what I said."
"Yeah, well, I was calling Sam to get the update on you. When you getting out?"
"They're going to evaluate in the morning." She looked up at the nurse. "But I think I'm going to be good to get out of here tomorrow."
The nurse shrugged.
"Sam insisted they bring stuff to care for Mary here so that she could stay with me. But I can't exactly get up and care for her, so he's staying up here. I'll have to let him go home at some point, I guess."
Sam frowned and shook his head.
"He'll stay up there until you don't need him anymore." Dean growled. "So don't even try to get rid of him."
She grinned. "That explains the look he just gave me. I'll keep that in mind."
"Okay. Well, I'm going to send the grumpy old men home. I'll be here if you need me."
"Dean," she frowned. "You don't have to stay. Go home, get some rest. Make sure Bobby and Rufus don't kill each other."
She heard a chuckle on the other end of the line. "Yeah, well, I'll be in the waiting room."
Without any further ado, Dean hung up the phone.
Liz looked at it, then, at Sam and shrugged. "He doesn't stand on much ceremony."
Sam shrugged. "Yeah. That's Dean, in a nutshell." He pulled the bottle from Mary and looked at it. He put it down and grabbed a baby blanket from the baby bed and put it over his shoulder. He put Mary on his shoulder and patted her back as Nurse Annie had taught him. After a few minutes, Mary burped and Liz laughed.
"She sounds like Dean!"
Sam chuckled. "Yeah, she kind of does."
"You need to get some sleep," the nurse said, crossly. "And that means that hubby and baby may need to leave."
Sam and Liz exchanged looks. Liz snorted. Sam, on the other hand, looked at the nurse. "I promise you that we will not keep her from sleeping. I will take Mary out if she starts 'fussing' too loudly."
The nurse nodded and left the room.
Liz scooted over in her bed. "Do you think you can fit?" She asked.
He smiled. "I'm not even going to try. Here," he placed Mary at her side again and sat as he was seated before. "Get some sleep."
Liz smiled at him and placed her hand on her daughter.
Sam covered her hand with his, as he had earlier, and she curled her thumb around his as she closed her eyes. He rested his head on his other arm braced on the bed rail and watched both Liz and Mary until they were fast asleep, then allowed himself to fall asleep, too.