If the nurses on the labour and delivery floor were surprised by our attire when we arrived, they kept it to themselves. I had simply uttered that I was meeting Dr. Castile before Andrea had rounded the corner, dressed in pyjama pants and a Dartmouth sweater, ushering us into a room. She got me out of my dress and into a gown, quickly examining me before doing an ultrasound.

"I've got some okay news and not-so-good news," Andrea said after a moment.

"What's that?" Dimitri asked.

"Okay news: the back pain you've been feeling is because you are in labour. Not so good news, scar tissue is thin and it looks like a section of tissue has torn," Andrea said as she turned the monitor, pointing out a spot on the screen, "Your baby's shoulder is pressing against the tear, that's why you're not bleeding like most usually would in this situation. But we do need to take you for an emergency c-section."

I blew out a slow breath and nodded my head. This was something that we had been prepared for. We knew I could run into risks because of the previous trauma; we were lucky we didn't have any until now.

"Okay," I whispered and Andrea squeezed my hand, telling me that she was going to get an operating room ready and that she would be back soon. A nurse who was standing in the room got to work by putting an IV in my arm while I looked at Dimitri.

"Can you hand me my phone? I need to call Andrew," I said, reaching for my clutch. Dimitri stood up and got my clutch, handing me my phone while picking up his own phone too. I wasn't sure who he was calling, but I was trying not to freak out as I waited for the phone to pick up. I knew it was late to call, but I needed to tell him. Millie would already be asleep.

"Hello?"

"Andy, it's me," I said as I glanced at my monitor.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked cheerfully.

"Um, well, I'm going in for an emergency c-section. Some of the scar tissue has torn and I'm slowly bleeding. I wanted to let you and Mom know before I went in," I explained, rubbing my hand over my stomach.

"Holy crap!"

"I know. Take a deep breath. I'm going in shortly, but Dimitri will keep you updated, okay?"

"Okay. I'll let Mom know. You got this," he said gently. I could tell he was both freaked out and excited, and I tried to hold onto the excited part. I was freaking out on the inside.

I hung up and let my head rest against the pillow and Dimitri smoothed my hair back, kissing the top of my head.

"I called Tasha and Ivan. They'll let Lissa and Abe know," Dimitri said.

I scoffed in disappointment. I had promised I would call Abe when the time came.

"I need to call him," I said picking up my phone again but another nurse came in, saying they were taking me to pre-op. I nodded and Dimitri hung back for a second, getting a change of clothes from the nurse and then coming after us.

The operating room was freezing, and being stripped naked, I couldn't help but shiver.

"Rose; because we need to act quickly, we are going to put you under general anesthesia. We are going to let Dimitri sit beside you until the baby is out, and then he and the baby are going to leave the room so we can take care of the tear," Andrea said as she leaned over me, "I don't want you to panic. I am going to do everything I can to make this quick and easy. I will try and save your uterus, but if it comes down to it, I'm taking it out."

"Okay," I whispered, my fear overcoming me and a few tears slipped down my cheeks. Andrea nodded and dipped her head down, her masked face pressing against my forehead for a moment.

"Okay, put her under," she said to the anesthesiologist. I took a deep breath and let my eyes move to Dimitri beside me, his hand holding mine gently. The mask was put over my face and the anesthesiologist told me to count backwards from ten. I knew that I wasn't going to get past six, but did it anyway, my eyes drooping as Dimitri's worried eyes bored into mine.

When I opened my eyes, I was groggy and disoriented. I was never a fan of anesthesia, and not being able to really mentally prepare for it sucked. I blinked a few times and turned my head slowly, spotting a nurse at the station. She was scribbling something on a chart and her eyes glanced up for a moment before they went back down. Her eyes snapped up again and she came around the counter, smiling softly at me.

"Hi, Mrs. Hathaway. How are you feeling?" she asked gently.

"It hurts," I whispered, "Where's my baby?"

"He's just doing his tests. Your husband is with him right now."

"He?" I asked with a smile, momentarily forgetting the pain.

"You have a beautiful little boy," she said as she pulled the blanket back, "I'm just going to check your incision."

I nodded and let her lift my gown, nodding to herself as she looked at my belly. It felt strange to not have the baby inside me. My abdomen was still distended, but I felt empty inside. And the long incision from my belly button down wasn't what I was expecting.

"Everything went okay?"

"Yes. I will let Dr. Castile know that you're awake," she said and put my gown and blanket back in place. I nodded again and asked for water. She let me take a few sips of water before pulling it away. I remembered the rule with water after surgery, and my throat was sore.

The nurse mentioned moving me into a room and I nodded again, lulling my head to the side as she moved the gurney. I was still dazed, but I was chomping at the bit to see my baby. When she moved me into a private room, a smile grew on my face.

"Hi," I said as Dimitri came into view. Dimitri turned around and had a soft look on his face, but my eyes dropped to his arms. Once the nurse got my gurney in place, Dimitri came over and they helped get my gown down enough to put the baby on my chest.

"Oh, hi," I whispered, smiling to myself as I held my son. He was asleep, his face red and scrunched. Dimitri hadn't put him in any clothes yet, just his diaper, socks, hand mittens and a little hat for his head. I rested him against my chest and stroked his cheek, licking my lips as he moved against my touch.

"He's not as heavy as I expected," I said after a moment, making Dimitri chuckle.

"He's a whopping eight pounds," Dimitri said. I hummed quietly and tipped his head, sighing happily as I looked at him. Dimitri sat on the edge of the bed and watched us, cupping our son's head gently.

"Do you still like Benjamin?" I asked.

Dimitri shrugged. "He doesn't look like a Benjamin," he said. I laughed and looked up at him, pursing my lips.

"What about Oliver? I still like that," I said. Dimitri thought about it for a moment before he smiled.

"I like Oliver too," he said, letting his fingers run over Oliver's arm. I sighed tiredly and looked up when the door opened.

"Hey, Andrea," I said tiredly.

"Hi, sweetheart. How are you feeling?" she asked as she came over, smiling at me and looking down at Oliver.

"I'm okay. I'm starting to feel really sore," I said.

"That's to be expected," she said and looked at my vitals. "When we got in there, the tear was smaller than we thought it was. So, we closed the tear and I want you to stay here for two days, just so we can monitor you. You are going to start to feel sore."

I nodded. "It's not my first rodeo," I said tiredly and she smiled gently.

"I know. But congratulations on your baby boy," she said, "I'm sure Eddie is going to be patiently waiting by the phone."

I laughed and then winced, pressing my hand over my incision.

"Yes, remember the pillow trick," Andrea said as she handed me a smaller pillow to press against my abdomen when I needed to sneeze or laugh. Andrea went out the post-surgical procedures and my expected recovery. I nodded along as she spoke, listening to her carefully as she explained what to expect.

Once she finished, the nurse helped me nurse for the first time. I half expected it to be easy, but it was like mixing luck and geometry into one. I had to get the baby to latch and just the right angle and it was difficult, but I finally got it after a few tries.

After I got Oliver to latch, she left me and Dimitri in peace. I leaned my head against the pillow with a sigh.

"She called me Mrs. Hathaway," I mumbled with a smirk.

"That's because I filled in your triage intake. Your marital status is married, you just haven't changed your name," Dimitri said, "I still haven't gotten used to it. You being my wife."

"I haven't gotten used to it either," I chuckled gently, "But I like it. Soon I'll be Mrs. Belikov and your sister will just have to deal with it."

Dimitri rolled his eyes with a chuckle, taking Oliver from me when he finished nursing. I tried to get into a comfortable position to burp him, but I was starting to become more aware of the discomfort. Dimitri soothed me and burped Oliver, rubbing his hand over his back. I leaned back in bed and smiled as I watched them, not yet processing that our lives were going to change. But I was happy with that change.

"I feel like I need to go back to sleep," I murmured after a while. Dimitri was still holding Oliver and nodded.

"Sleep, Roza. You've gone through a lot," he said, leaning forward and pressing a kiss to my lips.

When I woke up again, I was met with a happy sight. Mildred was holding Oliver with a surgical gown and a mask on, but even with the mask on, I could see the beaming in her eyes. I could see the tears in her eyes as she held her first grandchild. Throughout the next day, we had visitors; Lissa and Christian, Tasha and Ivan, and Andrew. Mia stopped by with Mason and Eddie, all three of them thrilled about the newest addition to the group. Near the end of the day, Maria popped in, her arms loaded with things. Most of it was things for me, but she said that she would take it all back to my place when she left.

Abe arrived just before visiting hours ended. He was exhausted from flying back from New York, but once he heard I was having the baby, he got on the first flight he could get. He was deshelled, and yet, looked the best I'd ever seen him when he held Oliver.

By the end of the first day, I was exhausted more than I thought possible. I didn't mind the visitors, but I was just tired.

Dimitri's mother had shown up after everyone. Olena was falling over herself as she exclaimed her excitement. She gushed about how perfect he was and I laughed quietly as she slipped from English to Russia without noticing it. Once we had shown off our son, Dimitri promised to go back to our place in the morning to get me some clothes to go home in.

The following morning was easier, already starting to fall into a routine with Oliver. Feed, burp, diaper, back to sleep. And as the morning started, so did the overflowing number of flowers. I blinked tiredly as I read the cards attached to the flowers. We hadn't made it known on social media yet for obvious reasons, but there were enough here to know that word had gotten around. Probably Karleen when Dimitri let her know after I came out of surgery.

Most of the names I recognized, mostly people that Dimitri had associated with. But there was one that puzzled me. I couldn't figure out who it was.

"Do you know an Irena?" I asked Dimitri when he came back into the hospital room.

"Pardon?" he asked as he came closer, setting a duffle bag on one of the chairs. He went home to get our baby bag and my hospital bag.

I gestured to the flowers on the table. "I've figured out most of them, but I don't know an Irena," I said and handed him the card.

Congratulations on the safe and healthy arrival of your baby boy. All the best wishes and health! ~ Irena.

Dimitri let out a slight chuckle and scratched his head. "Greta."

"What?" I asked.

"Greta's first name is Irena. She goes by her middle name professionally. She started going by Greta when I started getting big to protect her identity," Dimitri said as he sat down, "That was kind of her."

"Yeah. She found me in the hall when I was calling Andrea. She seemed worried," I supplied.

Dimitri sighed and rested his arm on the bed, running his finger over my hand that held the card.

"Before everything that happened, she was a good person. She made a lot of bad choices though," he said and I nodded in understanding.

"I'm surprised so many people know and haven't spilled it," I said with a smile.

"That's one perk of being friends with celebrities; we all understand the meaning of discretion and privacy," Dimitri explained. I nodded and handed Oliver to him, loving seeing him in his arms.

"I'm so ready to go home," I whispered.

Dimitri smirked. "If you think a lot of things have been delivered here, you should see the house."

I rolled my eyes but knew to appreciate it. Everyone was happy for us. Now we just had to do the one thing that was going to cause a scene. Announce the baby's arrival.

I grunted as I pushed myself out of bed, wincing as I walked through the house. We hadn't had a chance to completely unpack since moving in, but it was mostly just knickknacks and books that hadn't been unpacked.

I shuffled down the hall and into the bathroom, sighing as I went to the bathroom. I stood up and washed my hands, pursing my lips as I tried to pinpoint where my husband and child were. They weren't in bed when I woke up and judging by how hard my breasts were, I really needed to nurse or pump.

I checked in the living room and kitchen before looking in the nursery, but they weren't there. Olena was sitting on the couch with a cup of coffee, a smile on her face.

"Morning," I said tiredly as I rubbed my face, "Where's Dimitri?"

"He's in the other room with the baby," she said, pointing down the hall. We hadn't set up his makeshift studio yet, but it was semi-functional. I wandered down the hall and pushed the door open, leaning against the frame.

"Hey," I said tiredly. Dimitri had Oliver in the silk wrap, and he turned the chair to smile at me.

"Morning," he said. I could tell he was tired but was trying not to show it.

"You're up early," I mused as I came over, kissing him softly.

"Oliver was up early, and I thought you'd like a little bit of sleep. He was up a lot last night," Dimitri said, running his hand over my thigh. I hummed tiredly and dipped my head so I could look at Oliver.

"What are you working on?" I asked gesturing to the computer. Dimitri pulled his headphones from around his neck and unplugged them, clicking on a few things before clicking play. It was a video slideshow of us, videos mixed together showing the last year of our lives. He even included the little bit of footage we got of our wedding and a little of us at the hospital.

"That's beautiful," I said softly as I ran my hand over his shoulders.

"You like it?"

I nodded. "I like that you used Photograph," I whispered. Dimitri nodded and tilted his head up to kiss me.

"I think that this way, we hit two birds with one rock," he said.

"Two birds one stone," I corrected but smiled, "I like it."

Dimitri smiled at me and I leaned over him, pulling Oliver from the wrap.

"Hi big boy," I mused softly, hissing quietly as my stitches pulled. Dimitri was ready to take Oliver from me, but I gave him a look that said I was fine. I cooed at Oliver as he opened his eyes, blinking at me before a small yawn escaped his mouth.

I swayed side to side gently as I cuddled him to my chest, smiling at Dimitri.

"Did you sleep okay?" I asked him.

"I slept fine," he said, "You? Aside from the two times you got up?"

"Fine," I said quietly, "I'm enjoying being able to sleep on my stomach again."

Dimitri grinned. "You mean until around four in the morning and then you're too full and it hurts?"

"Exactly," I said with a small giggle, turning to walk back towards the living room. I found Olena sitting in the same place as last time, a small smile on her face.

"You look so natural with him in your arms," she mused. I smiled at her as he started to fuss and I sat down on the couch. I shifted my tank top down to nurse, not feeling any embarrassment or discomfort in front of Olena. She had helped me a few times since coming home. I was having issues getting him to latch.

I tried it a few times, wincing as Oliver started to voice his frustration and hungry belly. I let out a slow breath as I pursed my lips, trying to get him to latch. Olena watched me for a few moments before I sighed in my own frustration.

"Why is this harder than it looks?"

Olena tsked gently and shifted on the couch, setting her coffee down so she could help me position the baby.

"If I'm in bed I don't have this issue," I said tiredly.

"It may be the position you're in, sweetheart. Try getting into a different position," she suggested, grabbing a pillow from the couch and propping my arm on it. I nodded and tried it, shifting around on the couch to get into a more comfortable position. After a few more attempts, I got him to latch and I sighed quietly.

Olena smiled at me and tucked my hair behind my ears.

"It will get easier. He's only a few days old," she said, "You're exhausted. You're recovering from major surgery."

I nodded and tipped my head back, licking my lips. "I just thought it was going to be easier."

"Dimitri didn't want to nurse. He would scream his head off until I was able to get him to latch. It's very, very common."

"Okay," I whispered and she stroked my cheek.

"See, he's doing fine now," Olena said and I nodded, forcing a smile.

Dimitri came out a moment later and kissed the top of my head, stroking my hair.

"Are you hungry?"

"A little," I said and he nodded, heading into the kitchen. I sighed when it was time to switch Oliver to the other breast, my brows pinched as I tried to get him to latch the first attempt. It took two attempts but I got him to latch, sighing in relief.

"Is there anything I can do to help you two finish unpacking?" Olena asked. I looked around the living room where the boxes were littered and shook my head.

"Not really, mostly just need to find places for things now," I said, running my hand through my hair when there was a chipper knock at the door. I groaned quietly and closed my eyes. Olena whispered she would get the door. I sighed and pulled Oliver away when he unlatched.

I rubbed my hand over his back as I burped him, looking up when a voice floated down the hall.

I smiled tiredly as I fixed my shirt.

"Hi," I said tiredly to Lissa.

"Hi hunny," she said as she came into the living room, "I know I should have called first, but Millie asked me to drop these off for you. She's been cooking like crazy."

I glanced at the casserole dishes in her hands and then saw all the containers in Olena's.

"Did she seem okay? Not too tired or anything?" I asked. Lissa shook her head and excused herself for a moment. After a moment, Lissa came out with a mug in her hand, pressing it into my hands.

"I don't think I can have coffee," I said quietly and she smiled.

"You can have one cup of coffee while breastfeeding. And you've already fed so you have a few hours," Lissa said as she sat down, "How are you feeling?"

"Tired," I said with a shake of my head, "I'm exhausted."

Lissa frowned and nodded her head. "Here. Let me take Oliver so you can drink your coffee," she whispered. I handed Oliver over to Lissa as Dimitri came into the living room, plates balanced in his hands.

"Lissa? Would you like some? There are extras," Dimitri asked as Dimitri handed me and Olena plates of breakfast before sitting.

"No, thank you. You guys need it," she said as she rocked Oliver, smiling at him as he dozed on her shoulder.

"He's so little," she whispered. I nodded and I ate my eggs before diving into the sausage and bacon. I sighed and rested my head on Dimitri's shoulder as I chewed.

"What are you up to today?" I asked Lissa.

She smiled. "I am your personal assistant today. You and Dimitri need rest, so Olena and I will help out around the house today. I know that you have a bunch of boxes still in the closet," she grinned, "And then, I am going to make you guys dinner. Late wedding present."

I smiled at her. "You don't need to do that," I said.

"I don't mind. I want you to heal, and from what I remember with Mia, the first bit was hard. Just relax," she soothed.

Sorry for the wait on the update, I've been feeling under the weather.

Happy Thanksgiving this weekend to all my fellow Canucks.