Summary: When Claire returns for Shaun and Lea's baby shower, a familiar patient from Guatemala surprises Shaun and Lea.

At 34 weeks pregnant, the little Peanut was technically the size of a pineapple. However, Lea admitted that the "pineapple size" felt more like she had a flour sack or a bowling ball strapped to her. Shaun added to that by saying that pregnancy books and websites should count in density and mass when comparing gestational sizes, not just weight.

All in all, Lea was so ready for the little boy to come out because she was so uncomfortable.

The breast pump had arrived, and the car seat had been installed in their new car, but they still had more items to receive, and the nursery and other furniture needed to be put together.

Fortunately, they were about to get that done with their baby shower happening tomorrow. Claire, her boyfriend Ravi, her patient and their family, Pam, Mike, Donnie and his boyfriend Raul, and Lea's elderly grandmother had flown in this afternoon for the event. Claire and Ravi were staying with Dr. Lim and Clay, and her patient was staying in a hotel.

It was evening, and Dr. Glassman was helping Shaun and Lea set up dinner, which they would have with Claire, Ravi, and the patient she was bringing along. She said it had something to do with the patient wanting Shaun as the doctor since she was impressed with him in Guatemala.

"I don't understand," chuckled Aaron as he displayed the food on the dinner table. Thankfully, Jared would be handling most of the catering and food for the baby shower since he offered, taking all the weight of cooking off of Shaun, Lea, Aaron, Pam, and Mike. "Why are we making an all-you-can-eat buffet? It's just us three, Claire, her boyfriend, and her patient. Why are we serving and cooking like we're serving the San Jose City Council?"

"Claire said the patient's family is coming, too," explained Shaun as he poured the drinks. "So, we'll be serving nine people. The patient's parents and grandmother are coming."

"Okay then," Aaron chortled. "So, it's a patient you and Lea met before when you were in Guatemala?"

"That's what she said," shrugged Lea, trying to remember which patient it would be. One of her guesses was Miguel, the one with the ugly cute dog, but he claimed his dog was his only family. However, she assumed that the patient was Baby Isabela, the one patient who really helped Lea through her grief over her daughter. Although, she hoped that Isabela's health hadn't taken a turn for the worse. She figured that it would hurt Sofia to see her expecting a healthy baby when her own baby was sick...just as much as it hurt Lea to see Sofia with a baby after she had lost her own.

Right on cue, the trio heard a knock on the door. Lea opened it to reveal Claire and Ravi. Apparently, Ravi was one of the nurses at the rural hospital. Just like Claire, he decided to make his temporary job there permanent. He chose to stay when he got a permanent offer instead of returning to India.

"Wow, Lea! Look at you!" Claire gushed as she eyed Lea's protruding belly, obviously having the urge to feel the possible kicks of Baby Murphy. The last time she saw Lea in person was during their wedding; months before that moment, the second-last time was when they were grieving their first baby. "Can I feel?"

"Go ahead," chuckled Lea as Claire reached to feel her belly. She knew how badly Lea and Shaun wanted their last baby, and she remembered how much of a mess Lea was in Guatemala due to the loss of their little girl. Seeing Lea in the third trimester with little baby Shaun cooking in her belly made her tearfully ecstatic for them.

"Hello, Claire," greeted Shaun excitedly as Claire and Ravi entered the apartment, immediately embracing her for a hug. "I've missed you."

"I missed you, too, Shaun," wept Claire, remembering what he and Lea went through when they lost their first baby, as well as Lea's Asherman's and almost-hysterectomy (plus what happened to Audrey and Villanueva at the wedding) that she heard about from Audrey. Seeing Lea this far into a pregnancy felt so surreal. In addition, she was also excited to see Jared again since she heard he was back. The two of them were finally at peace with what happened between them. "I'm so happy for you two."

"Thank you," bid Shaun as he let go of Claire's embrace. When Claire noticed Dr. Glassman, he immediately allowed her to hug him. She was surprised he wasn't retired yet, especially with a grandchild on the way.

"Nice to see you, Dr. Glassman."

"Dr. Browne," he greeted as Claire hugged him. She also heard about what tragically happened to his house and that he now lived next door to Shaun and Lea. "It's good to see you."

After briefly hugging Claire, shaking hands with Ravi, and being introduced to him, Shaun finally asked Claire who the patient was and where she and her family were.

"Actually, she's not a patient anywhere right now; she's perfectly happy and healthy. She's more of a guest at this point," clarified Claire, turning her head to look at the door and call out. "La familia Salgado, entres!"

Seconds later, a young couple, their one-year-old daughter, and an elderly woman walked in. Shaun and Lea immediately recognized the couple, especially the woman.

It was Sofia, Oscar, and baby Isabela, who was now a jumpy, hyperactive toddler. This was the baby that Shaun and Lea helped save back in Guatemala.

"Lea, hola! Es bueno verte! See you good!" Sofia greeted in Spanish while also translating, immediately rushing to hug her old friend, being mindful of her pregnant belly before greeting Dr. Murphy and then introducing Isabela to them. "Eras tan hermosa! Isabela, Isabela, ella es Lea y este es Dr. Shaun. Te ayudaron a salvarte cuando eras un bebé."

Isabela gave a shy wave to Shaun and Lea.

"I know, you don't remember me," Lea chuckled nervously as Isabela hid behind her mother, clutching her leg. "But that's okay."

"Lo siento, a Isabela no le gusta conocer gente nueva," apologized Oscar.

"She doesn't like meeting new people," translated Shaun.

Once Oscar, Sofia, Shaun, and Lea were finished hugging, Lea and Shaun exchanged some high-fives with a now one-year-old Isabela (who actually hesitated), who was in pigtails and walking, holding her stuffed orange cat. She was as energetic as Boo in Monsters Inc.

After that, Oscar introduced the elderly woman with a cane to everyone. "Esta es mi madre, Josefina," introduced Oscar, leading the old woman toward everyone.

"This is his mother'," translated Shaun before introducing Dr. Glassman to the Salgados. "Este es Dr. Aaron Glassman, mi padre."

As they all gathered to mingle and eat, Lea and Shaun asked Sofia about Isabela and if she was doing okay. Sofia then clarified that they weren't here for anyone's health (although Isabela did occasionally come to the hospital clinic since she had chronic respiratory problems, and was also one of Claire's patients), but because Claire invited them along to help Sofia (who got accepted into grad school at USC) and the rest of them find a way to obtain citizenship to the United States...and she had been helping them in the process and decided that this was a perfect opportunity to bring them here.

Shaun and Lea's baby shower was held in the same place their engagement party was held. The room was decorated with little (definitely not looking like something from Pinterest), but there was some excellent food provided by Jared (who went overboard a little bit) and a table full of wrapped and bagged gifts. Some of the gifts were neatly placed in baskets.

Family, friends, and colleagues were there - Glassman, Park, Kellan, Morgan, Lim, Clay, Andrews, Villanueva, Jordan, Danny, Asher, Jerome, Claire, Ravi, Jared, Hawkes, a few other nurses, Sofia, Oscar, Isabela, Jessica, Aoki, JL, Pam, Mike, Donnie, Raul, and Lea's Grandma Frances. Members of the IT department were also there.

Lea sighed deeply as she relaxed between Sofia and her mother on the couch, cradling her belly. "As much as I love my son, he is crushing my organs and kickboxing right now, and it hurts. I didn't even think I would make it to the third trimester."

"Well, you made it. Just hang in there, sweetie," reassured Pam, running her hand through her daughter's hair. "Six more weeks to go. It will all be worth it."

That better be true, thought Lea, as she remembered Elizabeth Banks' character's honest speech on pregnancy on What to Expect When You're Expecting.

"Isabela pataleaba como loca," bubbled Sofia. "Ella siempre bailaba cuando yo quería relajarme. Ella valió la pena, incluso cuando pasó sus primeros momentos en el hospital."

"She said that Isabela was kicking like crazy, always doing it when she wanted to rest. But she was worth it, even those scary moments she spent in the hospital," translated Villanueva, who sadly remembered the two pregnancies she had lost eight years ago (which ultimately led to her separating from her partner), sipping her wine.

"Yes, it's true," added Nurse Hawkes, who had three children. "It will all be okay. It gets easier with each child."

Lea laughed and nodded, still unsure if she was interested in giving Peanut a younger sibling someday. She already endured two (or maybe one and a half) scary pregnancies.

Out of all the women near her, very few had actually given birth or experienced pregnancy. Her mother, Grandma Frances, JL, Nurse Hawkes, Nurse Ella, Nurse Ocampo, and Priyanka (one of her employees from the IT department) were the only ones at the baby shower who had actually given birth and had children. Nurse Villanueva never experienced pregnancy past 20 weeks. Morgan (who was trying to hide her jealousy), on the other hand, was still trying to get pregnant.

"You're just about to give birth," commented Hawkes. "I'm guessing some of the people in your Lamaze class might have said not to get the epidural and might have guilted you out of it, but trust me. If you need it or want it, get it. I was one of the few actual medical professionals in mine. Well, I was only a nurse in training when I had my first, but still. A natural birth doesn't make you or anything else more special. All I wanted was for my kids to be okay."

"Yes, I agree," nodded Pam, patting her daughter's knee. "The only thing your father and I cared about was that both you and Donnie were healthy. That's all I want for my grandson right now."

"Okay, Alyssa, how much time do you spend on the ShitMomGroupsSay subreddit?" Jordan joked, lightly punching Nurse Hawkes' shoulder.

"How did you know?" Nurse Hawkes laughed. "And yes, I do. Lea, don't spend too much time in mom groups. You will find some of the most ridiculous drama."

Lea agreed with Nurse Hawkes on that. Although not every member in certain groups was one of those, she has found too many anti-vaxxers, anti-Autism, anti-caesarean, anti-doctor, anti-formula, and any other kind of extremist in those groups...they icked her out too much. She couldn't believe there were actually people who believed breastmilk was the cure to everything.

"Shaun and I haven't gone to any birthing classes for this one," remarked Lea, who figured that being married to a medical professional was enough she needed to learn about childbirth. Although it was embarrassing at the time, the moment they were kicked out of birthing class during the first pregnancy was something she laughed about to this day. They attempted to go to one during this pregnancy after Dr. Winkler said it was safe for her to attempt a vaginal birth, but then they left and decided not to after the instructor spewed some anti-medical opinions and other red flags. "Well, we tried one until the instructor mentioned dolphin midwives and dolphin-assisted births. She said some negative things about interventions, too."

"Yep, you definitely dodged a bullet there," breathed Claire with a chuckle. She couldn't imagine what that instructor would have said about Lea if she knew her medical history - surgical intervention during both pregnancies, a previous loss, and a history of blood clots. "And to be fair, I think Ravi and I probably would have gotten thrown out of a Lamaze class, too."

"I'm sorry," Dr. Lim choked a bit on her drink. "Dolphins? What the fuck? Dolphins aren't certified midwives or OBs. They didn't even go to college. That sounds dangerous and irresponsible, and also animal abuse. I'm just thinking about all the zoonotic infections and diseases you might catch from that."

"I'm serious," sighed Lea. "As soon as she started saying all that nonsense, Shaun decided we were leaving."

"Good, I would have, too," chuckled Villanueva. "I've watched a lot of discovery and learned that dolphins are scarier than sharks. Just look up all the disturbing things they can do."

"I know," agreed Jordan. "I heard they can be violent rapists and might try to drown the baby."

"And they put their penis in dead fish and kill baby porpoises," added Claire with a chuckle before realizing she was getting off topic and wondering why she was sharing disturbing dolphin facts.

"Also," added Morgan. "Epidurals and c-sections can be necessary. I'm not even pregnant yet, and I already decided I'm getting an epidural."

"No epidural para me," giggled Sofia nervously. "Me hubiera comprado uno si estuviera disponible."

"She would have gotten an epidural if she had the opportunity," translated Claire.

"Yeah," sighed Lea. "I decided I don't need a birthing class. I think being married to a doctor, knowing a lot of medical professionals, and working at a hospital reassures me enough. After all, if it wasn't for modern medicine or for my brilliant husband, brilliant father-in-law, or Dr. Lim, I don't think the Peanut would still be in my belly. I don't think I'd still be able to have children either."

To Lea, the thought of almost losing her uterus still haunted her. This wasn't even an exaggeration. She and Shaun still would have survived and would have been able to live a long and happy life together without children, but she couldn't help but tear up a little as she said the last sentence.

All the women surrounding Lea chuckled, agreeing with her. Even her own mother, who had a distrust of doctors due to the way she was treated by one when she suffered a miscarriage 34 years ago, agreed that modern medicine saved Lea and Peanut's lives.

"This whole pregnancy I wanted to keep him safe inside my belly, but as much as I'm scared of pushing him out, I can't wait until he comes out," Lea groaned. "My back is killing me. I'm terrified of giving birth, though. I don't want to imagine the pain either."

"No tuve epidural con Isabela, pero valió la pena," reassured Sofia, glad that the woman who helped her while Isabela was sick (and gave her the socks that were meant for her deceased baby) was in a better place emotionally. "Fue aterrador, pero me alegro de que Isabela saliera con vida."

"No epidural, but it was still worth it," translated Villanueva with a smile.

"It is," chimed in Pam, sharing her personal experience. "Donnie was almost two weeks late and I was in labor for nearly three days, although I didn't realize it at first. With you, you were born a week early and it was only four hours. We almost didn't make it to the hospital. I can't wait to finally meet my grandson."

"You'll do great, dear," Lea's grandmother, who was sitting in a chair, added.

"I still can't imagine the pain," frowned Lea. "I don't want to either. I'm kind of scared. I'm mostly scared of screwing it all up as a mother actually."

"I'm sure you'll do great," reassured Claire, despite having no experience as a mother or even the best parental role models growing up. However, she had a few teachers and professors that were good parental figures to her, and once she met Dr. Lim and then later Ravi's mother, she found her mother figures that helped her shape up. She was actually thinking that maybe she could make a good mother as well.

"Si," agreed Sofia before offering words of wisdom, bouncing Isabela in her lap. "Vas a cometer errores. Make mistakes. Alot. He hecho mucho. I did. Pero aprenderás de ellas."

"You will learn from them," translated Claire, who was practically almost a fluent speaker of Spanish.

"Thank you, Jared," acknowledged Shaun, who was in a crowd with most of the men. Out of all the men at the baby shower - Glassman, Park, Mike, and Oscar - they were the only men here who actually experienced fatherhood.

The party was mostly just going to consist of hanging out, eating and drinking, and some groups playing board games. There was a pile of wrapped presents and gift baskets on the table.

Because Shaun and Lea were not fans of gender reveal parties or the whole color/gender assignment, the room wasn't decorated with blue decor or any "It's a boy" banners. However, there was a banner that said "Welcome Peanut".

"You're welcome, Shaun," smiled Jared along with a joke. "Best I could do for my old friend, his wife, and his mother-in-law. And to stop your mother-in-law from going overboard. Party planner is on my resume."

"Dr. Kalu, Dr. Murphy, esto es genial," Oscar exclaimed, gently patting Shaun on the shoulder, causing Shaun to jump slightly. "Es bueno conocer a la pareja que salvó a mi hija."

"I'm going to go talk to Claire," Jared said, excusing himself to mingle with Asher and Jerome.

"Shaun, nunca te agradecí a ti y a tu esposa por salvar a Isabela," Oscar thanked as soon as he was alone with Shaun. "Estaba cuidando a mi madre. Sofía me dijo que en ese momento tú y Lea habían perdido a su bebé."

"Si," acknowledged Shaun. "Lea tenía 22 semanas. Hubo un coágulo de sangre en el cordón umbilical y luego el bebé murió. No había nada que pudiéramos hacer."

"Lo siento," sighed Oscar. "Ahora tienes un niño pequeño en camino."

"No," Shaun shook his head. "Aún podría producirse un coágulo en el cordón umbilical. Un coágulo en el cordón umbilical significa que el bebé no tiene ninguna posibilidad."

"Shaun, ambos estarán bien," reassured Oscar. "Las probabilidades son bajas."

"Okay," sighed Shaun, trying to stay cautiously optimistic. Even though Lea's pregnancy was progressing well since the surgery, he was aware things could still go wrong. He didn't care a bit for celebrities, but he was informed that what happened to him and Lea with their daughter happened to Keanu Reeves and his girlfriend 23 years ago...and that was when his girlfriend was nearly full term, much further along than Lea was when it happened to her.

Still, he wanted to stay strong for Lea.

"Estara bien," Oscar reassured again with a smile. Isabela came into the world with congenital respiratory issues, but that was discovered at viability and full term and also not until she was born. Shaun and Lea's first baby, on the other hand, slowly suffocated in the womb before viability.

"Con un poco de suerte," sighed Shaun, twiddling his thumbs.

"Sofía tuvo dos abortos espontáneos antes de que tuviéramos a Isabela," admitted Oscar. "Isabela es nuestro milagro. Incluso cuando Sofía llegó al tercer trimestre, todavía teníamos miedo de perder a nuestro bebé."

Shaun nodded in an understanding manner. He was interrupted by Claire barging in.

"Hey, let's go open gifts," she guided, leading Shaun to the crowd of everyone else, where he eyed Donnie happily feeling his nephew kick.

AN: I hope you all enjoyed. Please review :)

Next Chapter Prompt:
Shaun and Lea unpack and review the gifts they received.