Jessica had expected her water breaking to be like in the movies- a huge gush of fluid, probably while she was out in public for maximum embarrassment. But in reality, she didn't actually know what was happening for almost an hour after it had started. She had assumed the slight leaking in her underwear to be some weird pregnancy thing and put in a panty liner; it didn't seem worth mentioning to Luke or Claire, since she didn't feel any pain or see any blood. She went about her day and even got in bed for the night, ignoring it.
But Jessica couldn't sleep, and although she shifted her position frequently, it didn't seem to help. She started noticing pain in her lower back and stomach, starting to intensify and spread towards her pelvis, and when she got up to pee a few times and realized the leaking was getting heavier, it started to dawn on her what could be happening.
"Oh shit," she said out loud, gripped with a rush of excitement tempered with fear. "Now?"
It wasn't like it should have been unexpected. It was a week before her due date, and she was feeling enormous, uncomfortable, and as ready as she would ever be to get the baby out of herself. She had been waddling more than walking for what felt like far too long, but now that Danielle was about to make her first appearance, it suddenly felt like it was all too soon.
Trying to take a breath as another cramp spasmed through her, Jessica made her way back to the bedroom, pulling on some loose pants as she stood over Luke.
"Luke? I think it's showtime. Do we seriously have to go to the hospital, or can Claire just come here?"
Luke snapped awake. He had been mentally preparing himself for this moment, although he thought he'd have more time at least a little bit before Danielle would be here.
"Wait what? Right now? SHIT! Ok we got this." Grabbing his phone off the nightstand, he texted Claire. "It's time meet us at the spot."
Grabbing his shirt and pants off the chair near the bed and pulling them on, slipping on his boots, he looks over at Jessica. "Do you need help getting dressed?"
Seeing her dressed minus her shoes, he moved to help her put them on. "I texted Claire, she didn't respond yet but I'm sure she'll meet us."
Luke helped her to the door, noticeably not grabbing any pants or jackets. Leaving their apartment, they walked down the hall to an apartment next door. He opened the door and hit the lights, shining light on a birthing suite. Luke smiled as he helped her to the bed.
"I know you hate hospitals and doctors. Hell just about the entire medical industry. So I called in some favors, this place was for rent so I figured we could use it."
"I don't think she's going to be here like, immediately or anything," Jessica attempted to reassure Luke, but she doesn't sound sure. "Or not. Hell, what do I know, I'm pretty sure my water may have broke a long time ago and I just thought I was having pregnancy bladder."
As Jessica follows Luke, confused, she notices the tightening in her abdomen is worsening and spreading lower as they walk. She ignores it, arguing with him.
"Where are we going, I thought I said I don't want the hospital, there is no way Claire messaged you back that fast and you should have let me argue with her first before you take a blanket no!" She's sounding agitated and snappy because of her nerves but doesn't care. "I don't want everyone gawking at the freak having a mutant baby in the hospital, can't we at least stay home a few more hours? I can keep my legs together or something."
When Luke stops at the next apartment and unlocks it, she halts, thinking at first he's breaking in, or maybe asking some stranger for help, for some reason. When it dawns on her what he's explaining, she exhales, relieved.
"Thank fuck, I was about to start screaming you were kidnapping me if you kept walking because I don't want to see one more person in scrubs than absolutely fucking necessary."
Her first contraction that is actually painful rather than just uncomfortable hits then, and Jessica stops speaking, sucking in her breath. She's startled and a little shaken by how much it actually did hurt.
"Shit, I thought they were being dramatic and misogynistic when women scream on TV. Turns out not, fuckkkk. This is going to suck."
"Yeah it will and I'm sorry about that, I can't even give you anything for pain so you're gonna have to deal with it till Claire gets here. In the mean time you can call me every dirty name you can think of and I'll just stand here and take it. Should I call her to see if she's on her way? Should I call Trish, the Marines?"
"Fuck. Did she answer you? Is she coming? She said she's coming, right?" Jessica demanded.
She sat up on the bed, wanting to start pacing, but pain ripples her again, lasting longer than before. Jessica doubles over, her hair falling forward over her face as she grits her teeth against it. "Fuck, why does everything suck for women? Like we don't put up with enough shit without this bullshit too!"
She sat back on the bed, pressing her hand against her stomach. "What the fuck is Trish going to be able to do, annoy the shit out of me by telling me to breathe and think happy thoughts? Try to hold my hand and end up with broken fingers?" But she finds herself rethinking the automatic rejection. "Yeah, call Trish. If I have to be there for her drama when it's her turn she's coming in here for mine."
Truthfully she just wants her there. But she's not saying that.
Luke is hesitant to call but does anyway. "Trish, the baby is coming, get here asap! Danny knows where we are but you'll probably hear screaming and cussing from the hallway."
He hangs up and immediately calls Claire this time. "Are you on your way? Get here soon!"
Hanging up, not really sure if she actually picked up, he turned back to Jessica. "Ok that's done now, I can focus on you. Can I get you anything, adjust the temperature? Just tell me what you need and I'll do it."
"You can tell the kid you knocked me up with to wait until the damn doctor gets here before shoving her big ass head out of me," Jessica snapped. She stood up again, fidgety with anxiety, but is finding it uncomfortable to actually pace the way she wants to. "Since she's almost here anyway can I drink now? Because that would also fucking help."
She's only partly kidding. Then another terrible thought struck.
"Oh my god, what if she does have your big head? And your enormous shoulders? This kid will split me in half! What if she's the size of a toddler because my stomach is fucking big enough to be harboring one!" She gave Luke a murderous stare. "If this kid breaks ten pounds you are a dead man. And you will never have sex with me again."
Claire is on her way and so ignores the messages from Luke; he would have specified if Jessica was in danger. She arrives just as Jessica is going into a contraction and cursing out the world in general.
"This cannot be normal! This baby is trying to kill me!"
"Don't break my arm for saying it, but let's calm down and breathe," Claire said dryly. She checks Jessica's vitals, determining they and the baby's are elevated but not abnormally, and gives reassurance. "Labor hurts. Even for super heroes. Sorry, but good news is this baby seems to want out quickly. How long have you been in labor?"
"I don't fucking know, maybe all day," Jessica growled, turning her glare towards her. "The movies fucking lie, I hate Hollywood. How long is quickly?"
Claire helps her change into a hospital gown and examines her, making a humming noise to herself. "You're five centimeters she dilated already. So active labor is started, it could be a few hours to eight or ten hours. Depends on the baby and the woman."
But Jessica is losing it. "Ten more fucking hours and I'm only halfway dilated?!" She punches and breaks the bedframe. "Ten?!"
Trish rolls over with the buzz of her phone and nudges Danny awake, eyes wide with excitement as she receives the call from Luke. She isn't tired as soon as she registers the news.
"Jessica's having the baby, I'm going to the apartment they set up. It's next to theirs, right?"
"Well then today can be the baby's first lesson in life, patience," Danny says while yawning. "We should sleep in and show up in the morning."
He yawned again, glancing at the clock on the wall. Suddenly a chill shoots down his spine. It's as if he could feel everyone at once glaring at him even though they weren't in the room. He winces with pain in his back as he sits up and swings his legs over the side of the bed and lets out a deep sigh.
"I'll get dressed."
"Jessica doesn't do patience so I'm guessing her daughter doesn't either," Trish remarked. She glanced again at her phone to make sure there were no more messages from Luke. "I think Jessica wants me, Danny. Besides, aren't you excited to see your little niece?" She frowned, seeing the sudden tension in his face. "What, what's wrong?"
"Of course I'm excited, that little girl is about to change all our worlds. At least until our kid gets here."
Danny takes a deep breath, drawing on his own chi to heal his body. "I'm ok, just over did things in my workout. I'm good now, you should get dressed."
He stands and walks into the closet, emerging a couple of minutes later dressed with keys and phone in his hand, texting Luke. "We're on our way."
Back at the apartment Luke's phone vibrates. He glances at it before returning his attention to Jessica, trying to slip in between her cursing. "Trish and Danny are on the way. You'll have someone else to cuss out when they get here." Looking up at Claire, he asked, "Is there something you can do about her pain?"
"We've talked about your options with pain before, but Jessica never made a decision one way or the other," Claire told Luke. "I could give her an analgesic but it can affect the baby, same with a sedative. An epidural doesn't have as many risks but would mean you're having a catheter in your back. Jessica, you've made it pretty clear before that you want as little medical intervention as necessary. How are you feeling now?"
"I'm feeling like I want to kill something," Jessica muttered. She is recovering from another contraction, noticing they already are closer together and getting more intense. She shakes her hair back from her face, trying to focus. "I...I don't want anything. Women have been doing this shit for centuries, I can too. Just don't give me shit if some things end up broken."
"So we're going natural," Claire confirmed. "All right then. You're on track and doing fine. If you have cramps down your back or legs, sometimes a massage can help. Some people do music."
"What, Enya or Dido cooing shit? No fucking way, if you're doing music it's got to be something I can listen to without losing my mind."
Dressed, Trish was already in the car and starting to drive before it occurred to her as she looked at Danny. "Are you sure you want to be there? That might be a little awkward. Or potentially violent."
Danny grinned at Trish. "Oh I'm sure she's full beast mode right now, but you're right. You're always right, we should be there to greet our niece when she gets here."
Danny reaches for her free hand and holds it during the drive across town to the building. After a short elevator ride, they entered the apartment into a flurry of profanity that would make a sailor blush. Luke looks over his shoulder when the door opens and gives a weak smile to Danny and Trish.
"Look baby, Danny and your sister is here. I bet they know some ninja stuff to take away the pain."
Luke looks at them with pleading eyes, but Danny holds up his hands and shakes his head no.
"Sorry but that kind of thing is above my level of knowledge."
This is a shock to Luke who kind of thought Danny's whole Chi thing could do anything. "Try to focus on your breathing, I'm sure Claire must have said that."
Danny looks at Trish with a sheepish look before finding a corner in the room to retreat to. "Seriously you guys are useless!" Luke hears himself say and immediately regrets his words. "Sorry I didn't mean that."
As they enter the apartment, Trish rolls her eyes, not in the least surprised by Jessica's outburst. "I've heard similar when she's really drunk, my ears are hardly recoiling."
To Jessica, she says, "Hi, Jess," as though Jessica had greeted her with a hug and a smile. "You hanging in there? Stupid question, but how can we help?"
"All of you push a giant human out your ass right along with me, and let me record it," Jessica retorted, breathless. "See if Danny can maintain his bliss and fucking breathe then."
Trish blinks, surprised, when Danny says he can't do anything for pain. "But you healed her when her hand was broken...oh, I bet it's because that was an injury and this is a natural occurrence, nothing is wrong with her body, am I right?"
"Nothing wrong with my body, you switch places and say that!" Jessica yelped.
"He's right, Jess, if you had taken Lamaze or practiced yoga like I suggested, you could bear better," Trish shrugged, unbothered. "Note to self, I can see now why people do that and I will make sure I do."
"Are you seriously going to talk to me about fucking yoga right now?!"
"Might as well piss you off, it might be a good distraction," Trish mused. She came alongside the bed, staying out of hitting range and Claire's way but close. "I know you don't want to hear it, but it will be okay. You're going to have an amazing little girl by tomorrow. She just wants to raise some hell getting here."
Gritting her teeth, Jessica reached for Luke's hand and squeezed. Hard. Extremely hard.
"Tell me stories about people getting their ass kicked, that's the only thing that might distract me."
Luke leans in since he doubts Jessica could hurt him even accidentally. "A story huh? Wait did I tell you about Danny's bachelor party?"
Danny starts to step forward to stop him but realizes there is no point now, neither of their wives will let it go now.
"Yeah, seems someone at Rand didn't like Danny's ideas and sent a gang of thugs to grab him and do away with his progressive style. Took us to the river front and everything. It was actually a lot of continued to tell her the story about that night. So yeah that was a pretty wild night. He embellished the story for about an hour and half, making sure to be as detailed as he could remember adding in sound effects and voices of the gang members.
Jessica listens, occasionally cracking a smirk close to a smile. Trish chimes in occasionally with stories of her own, either that she remembers or that Jessica had told her, and Claire sees that Jessica seems calmer, though not above continued ridiculously violent swearing. As the labor progresses, Claire finally notes aloud almost four hours in that Jessica is fully dilated.
"Okay, now the really hard part is here. You can start pushing during your next contraction," she told her.
"Oh, we're almost there, this is it!" Trish said excitedly. "You've got this, Jess!" Then she pauses. "Actually, apparently the pushing part of labor can also take a while? If what I read was right."
"No comment," Claire said drily as Jessica gasped out several more curses at this information. "But this does seem pretty fast for a first labor, so fingers crossed. The baby's heartbeat has stayed strong, everything is still looking fine."
When Jessica's next contraction came, she steeled herself to bear down, eyes shut as she squeezed Luke's hand hard enough that her own knuckles popped. For the next hour Claire kept monitor of her until she finally announced, "Okay, Jessica, the baby's head is down where it needs to be, close to crowning. Take a deep breath and push again when I tell you."
Luke leans over and kisses Jessica's forehead. "I love you so much and I'm so proud of you, and I swear when this is over I'll be at your beck and call. Anything you want I will get or make you, I promise you."
Jessica's skin is slick with sweat, and her muscles feel weak and tremulous with exhaustion, burning each time she rides out another strong wave of pain. She closes her eyes, muttering "You fucking better," through clinched teeth.
"Luke, get behind her and support her," Claire directed, gesturing for Luke to go behind her on the bed and help her half sit up as she prepared to push.
Jessica leaned back into him, wanting nothing more than to check out and sleep. She's more than ready for this to be finished. Trish, on the other hand, appears totally rested, and full of energy and encouragement that kind of makes Jessica want to punch her.
"You can do this, she's coming soon! This will be worth it so soon, Jess!"
"Shut up," Jessica mumbled, but she sounds tired more than pissed now.
When the next contraction comes, she bears down with Claire's direction, letting out a pained cry as she pushes, feeling like she is about to lose all her insides in the process. A few pushes later and she is panting, shaking worse than ever, but Claire announces, "Great, Jessica, here she is, that's her head out! One or two more and she's all the way out!"
Luke wraps himself around Jessica hugging her from behind, giving her some extra support while letting her know he's right there with her. Danny had been standing in the corner with his arms crossed over his chest but when Claire indicated it's almost over, he moves next to Trish, draping his arm around her.
"You're so close babe," Luke whispered into her ear. "Our baby girl is almost here, just a little more."
Jessica takes Luke's hand again, squeezing hard enough to shatter any normal person's bones. Claire, leaned down to monitor her, continues to encourage calmly. "All right, Jessica, you're doing great. Slow breaths. Push again, and soon you can rest."
When her next contraction comes Jessica gathers herself and bears down with all the strength she has left. She feels like she is close to passing out or expelling all the blood in her body, but she hangs in, and as the rest of her daughter's body passes into the world, separate at last from her, a loud, indignant wail pierces the air. Danielle is here, with clearly developed lungs, and ready to make herself heard.
"You're almost through, Jessica, here she is," Claire said, a smile in her voice. "Here's your baby girl. Just the placenta now."
She cut the umbilical cord and cleaned Danielle off quickly, wrapping her in a blanket. Trish caught her breath, tears coming to her eyes as she leaned in to see her for the first time.
"Oh Jess, she's gorgeous. Luke, she looks just like you! And she's so little!"
"Didn't feel little," Jessica mumbled, but her voice is faint, without anger.
Claire hands the baby to Luke with a smile. "Here you go, daddy. Here's your baby girl." Returning to Jessica, Claire presses on her stomach, helping her to expel the rest of the placenta, and then checks her over quickly to make sure it is all expelled, that she doesn't need stitches, and that her organs are returned to their normal alignment. When she checks out as okay, she nods and says with warmth, "You're good, Jessica, and you have a beautiful little girl. You can rest now. Luke, why don't you hand her over to her mom?"
Mom. This was the first few minutes of Jessica's life where the word could apply to her. Exhausted, shaking from a rush of cold chills and bone deep weariness and muscle soreness, Jessica reached out, wanting to see the baby but too tired to form the words. Claire took her from Luke, quickly measuring and weighing her, and then handed her to Jessica, making sure Jessica held her to her chest and supported her head.
"Nine pounds, twelve ounces, and 22 inches," Claire chuckled. "Looks like she takes after her dad for sure. But just under that ten pound weight you threatened, Jessica."
Cradling her daughter for the first time, Jessica looked into her eyes, still leaned back against Luke's chest. She drank in her features with fascinated awe, noting her light skin, the dark, sparse hair on her head, and the dark, ambiguous color of her eyes. She was slightly swollen, puffy, and had the alien look that most newborns had. But to Jessica, she was the most beautiful, miraculous thing she had ever seen. She had created this child, this brand new human being. She was responsible for Danielle Cage now, and Danielle would forever be hers.
Tears streaked down Jessica's face as she lifted a shaky hand to trace Danielle's nose. It might be her imagination, but she thought it sloped up a little at the end, like her own.
"Hi, you," she whispered. "You just put me through hell, but that's okay, because I love you. I already love you so much."
Luke held Danielle in his arms, she was a tiny marvel. He barely registered Claire wanting to hand her to Jessica, he almost refused but hesitantly passes her back to Claire.
" Sweet Christmas, Jessica you did it! She's beautiful, amazing. She's a Angel. Makes sense though. Her mother is a goddess."
Danny leans in to see Danielle's face. "She may look like you on the surface Luke, but her chi is like her mother. She's gonna be a handful. Jessica, you did an amazing job."
Danny places his hand on her shoulder and closes his eyes, passing some of his own chi into her body.
"I can't exactly heal you, but I can give you a boost in energy and help deal with your exhaustion. Again I don't know enough about what your body has been through to help you heal fully."
Luke moves around and sits next to Jessica and Danielle. "Welcome to the world, Danielle Patricia Cage. Sorry it's so screwed up but everyone in this room will protect you and love you for all of time, you will never be alone."
Danny peels away from Trish and steps in front of Claire. "You did a great job. Listen I have an opportunity I'd like to discuss with you. My company is going nonprofit, it's time we did more for the actual people. I'm thinking of setting up clinics for the people and not just offering the bare minimum. I'm talking state of the art free medical care. I understand you're not a doctor, I can hire doctors. I need someone I trust and someone I know gives a shit to run them. Besides we all know nurses do most of the day to day procedures. I'll send you details with a official offer, including salary and benefits. Hell I'll even pay for any additional medical training you need. Look bottom line you've been here for our family. I owe you a debt and I pay my debts."
Jessica smiled down at Danielle, her face showing the softest expression she's ever let people see. She kisses the top of her head. The baby makes a mewling noise and moves slightly against her chest as if nestling in. She seems to feel right, somehow, close to her. How can a baby trust her, Jessica Jones, to take care of her, and yet she does. And Jessica will, before everything else.
She feels a flare of warm at Danny's sharing of his chi, and some strength surges Back into her limbs with the boost of energy he had promised. She sits up a little more, looking up at Danny and Trish.
"Come on, godparents. Come meet her."
She nodded for Trish to take her, and Trish came forward, teary. She took Danielle carefully and held her for a minute, cooing down at her.
"Hi, my little namesake. You are just so precious. Aunt Trish is going to spoil you to death and then let your mom and dad do the bad guy routine, and we will have the best shopping trips, that's a promise. I don't care if you like dolls and dresses or balls and GI Joe, Aunt Trish will have a lot of fun with you."
"You know she's a human being, not a toy, right?" Jessica smirked.
Trish grinned back at her before handing her over for Danny to hold. "There she is, you're almost back to normal already." She went over to Jessica and squeezed her hand. "Proud of you, Jess."
She pulled back and put her chin on Danny's shoulder, looking down at the baby. Claire's eyebrows rose at Danny's offer and she laughed, startled.
"Well I didn't go into this for money, that's for sure, but that sounds great. I'd love to talk further. I guess I could stand to be around you guys more."
Luke put his arm around Jessica. "You know what, I'd bet a million dollars that even Dorothy would be happy for you and proud of you today."
Danny grinned down at Daniell. "You are definitely magic if you can make Jessica all sappy."
Looking at Danny, Luke smiles. "I guess it's on you and Trish to make her a little cousin, preferably a boy, we're getting outnumbered here."
Danny glances at Trish and smiles. "No promises, technically we're still in our honeymoon period. But I can't say the idea scares me as much as I thought."
Looking around the room at all the women, including Claire, Danny laughed. "Yeah we are definitely outnumbered now."
Jessica leaned into Luke, resting her head on his shoulder. Truthfully she does feel sad to think that her parents and even Dorothy will never know Danielle, but they have plenty who will more than shower her with love. She smirks at Danny.
"That's my kid. It isn't sappy to be amazed by her awesomeness, it's just good sense. Now hand her back over to her parents."
Trish laughed as she looked around, realizing Danny and Luke were right. "And you love it."
"Except the part about all the women around you being smarter than you," Jessica piped up. "Might not love that part."
"We should let you rest Jessica, I'll send someone to clean up," Danny says to Claire.
Luke moves around the bed and hugs Trish and Claire, then gives Danny a firm handshake. "Thanks for being here."
With Danielle back in her arms, Jessica watches Luke hug the women and nods. "Thanks," she said to the room in general.
It means a lot to her too that they were there, but she isn't very comfortable still with wording that. Trish hugs Luke, Claire, and then Jessica and follows Danny out the apartment after a final kiss on Danielle's head. The baby is moving, restless and starting to fuss, and Claire helps Jessica to arrange her to nurse for the first time, making sure Danielle latches without a problem. Lying back holding Danielle as she nurses for the first time, Jessica exhales, eyes half shut. She cannot remember the last time she felt such a powerful blend of tired content.
Luke gestures to Claire towards an adjoining bedroom. "Why don't you get some rest for now and we'll order you a car after you sleep." In a low whisper to Jessica he added, "Now that you're holding her, tell me do you have any regrets about us and our life. I did promise to make you happy so, how am I doing so far?"
Touching Danielle's tiny feet with his finger, he added, "Seriously did you ever imagine this for yourself, because honestly I didn't think I'd ever get a life like this. Especially after I was sent to prison. I pretty much hated my life until you and now her."
Claire left to lie down as Luke had suggested. Jessica stared down at Danielle as the baby stopped nursing, shifting her with some awkwardness to burp her. As she settled back in Jessica's arm, Jessica said quietly, "No. I never thought I'd have this. I didn't even know I wanted it. I don't regret a thing about being with you."
"Same goes for me. I wouldn't change a thing."
Looking at Danielle and smiling, Luke said, "It's about time the universe gave us a break. But just to be sure. I think my hero days are behind me. The only people I want to protect is in this room. I mean there has to be a way I can help people without getting shot at and making enemies."
"I mean, you never were much for costumes and capes anyway." Jessica shifts the baby a little and looks up at Luke. "We'll figure it out, Luke. We have time." She smirked. "You want her back? You might want to take advantage of her being quiet now before she realizes how loud she can scream."
Luke holds out his arms to take Danielle with the biggest grin. "You never have to ask me twice. Come to daddy my little angel." Taking her in his massive arms, he gently rocked her. "Hey Jessica you should get some sleep too, I know what Danny did helped but you should still rest. I think I want to hold her a little longer before I put her in that little bed next to you. In the morning I'll help you to the shower if you're able."
Jessica nods, not arguing. She is still tired, and sore in a way that is not acute anymore but muscle deep. "Shower sounds good. I'm disgusting right now." She lays down, closing her eyes, and mumbles to Luke, "Don't put her on her back or stomach to sleep, but her on her side. So she doesn't choke."
Luke cocked an eyebrow at Jessica. "I'm not dumb, I know baby stuff too."
Taking out his phone and shielding it from her to Google safe sleeping positions for infants, he saw she was of course right.
"Dammit!" He says under his breath, laying Danielle in the bed on her side.
He gives her then her mother a kiss on the forehead before he quietly cleans everything.
Later in the afternoon Luke pulled a chair next to both beds. He managed to get a couple of hours of sleep himself, then snuck next door to their apartment, grabbing fresh clothes for everyone to be changed into. After making a pot of coffee, he returned to Jessica's side, staring at Danielle tiny chest rise and fall. He had never felt so anxious watching someone breathing. But she was. She was real, she was healthy, and she was his. His family- Jessica, Danny, Trish, and now Danielle. His purpose, always.