"All right, Erin, one more big push, and then your daughter will be here." Erin nodded as she tried to smile at Doctor Brunner, feeling a bone weary exhaustion gnawing at her body as she bore down and tried to push with all her might. Finally, she felt something shift and change, and she relaxed back against David once more as she watched the doctor guide her baby into the world. Her heart seemed to leap up in her chest as she clutched David's hand tightly, waiting for her to let out that first cry, to let Erin know that she was alive. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as she waited to hear that sweet sound, only for her hand to tighten around David's painfully tight as it didn't come.

"Stellina."

"She's not crying, David. Why isn't she crying?"

"It will be all right," Doctor Brunner said as she brought the baby over to waiting scale, blocking her from their view. Erin felt close to tears, and David held her tightly as they a nurse helped her to deliver the placenta. It was as she gave that last final push to expel the placenta that she heard the first soft mewl come from over by Doctor Brunner, and then she did start to sob. "See, we just had to have a little patience, Erin. Let me bring her to you."

She nodded as she watched her doctor wrap the baby up in a clean blanket, bringing her over to their sides and placing her in Erin's arms. "She's so little."

"Four pounds, ten ounces. I knew she was going to be small when you told me you were already in labor, but this is a little concerning. I think that we're going to keep her in the NICU for a week or so to monitor her growth. I know that this isn't the news that you'd like to hear, but we need to make certain that everything is all right with her before she goes home. So, we'll let you have an hour to bond with her, but then she'll be taken up to there."

"All right," Erin replied through her tears, staring down into her daughter's face. "Oh, Elise Grace, why did you decide to come early? We could have waited to meet you for another five weeks or so. But you're so beautiful." She ran her finger along her cheek, smiling when Elise turned her head a little, her mouth opening and closing. Hurriedly, Erin unbuttoned her nightgown with one hand and brought her daughter to her breast, a pleased sigh escaping her lips as Elise latched on and began to suckle.

"Our little Elise," David murmured in her ear, and she nodded as she watched the nurse fill out the requisite information on her birth certificate. "She's going to look like you."

"I hope so. I truly do." She let her head thump back on David's chest as a nurse cleaned away the blood and bodily fluids that came along with birth. "But she has wisps of dark hair, already. Which lends credibility to the fact that you are her father. Will you get out my phone so that I can call Helen?"

"Of course." David slid out from behind her before bending down and giving her a tender kiss. Erin let out a deep sigh to feel his warmth disappear from her, and she scooted back so that she could recline against the stiff headboard of the hospital bed as she continued to feed her daughter. "Dammit, I forgot the camera."

"My phone has a camera, David. Are you still in the dark ages of technology?" He nodded sheepishly. "Give it here." She held out her hand expectantly, and he placed the phone into it. Quickly, she unlocked the device before calling up the camera and then handing it back to him. "There, you can take pictures now."

He nodded as he snapped a few of her and Elise before leaning in and taking a number of just their daughter after she'd finished eating. "May I hold her?" Erin nodded as he took a seat on the bed near her side, and she carefully passed the tiny bundle of baby over to him, watching as he cradled Elise close to his chest, a few tears rolling down his cheeks. Erin took a few pictures of them together before dialing Helen's personal number and waited for her to be connected.

"Erin! I take it that she's here?"

"Yes. Elise Grace Rossi is here and beautiful. Doctor Brunner thinks that she'll have to be in the NICU for a week or two, because she's so small and early, but she's going to be all right. I'll send a few pictures over text in a few minutes. Would you be a dear and let Penelope know, too, that Elise is here?"

"Of course, I'll stop by her office before I head over to your home with your car. I tried to get ahold of Alan, but couldn't, so I'll be staying the night with them and getting them off to school in the morning, since I thought that Dave would probably be spending the night with you."

"You don't have to…"

"I do, Erin. If there is anything that I know about you, it's how much your children mean to you. And if I have to take care of them for an evening, so be it. It can't be that hard, right? And tomorrow, David can bring them by to see their sister, and maybe you'll be released and can head home with them."

"I certainly do hope that is true," she murmured. "I will talk to you soon, Helen, I need to talk with the doctor again. Thank you so much."

"You are most welcome, Erin." They ended the call and Erin smiled tiredly up at Doctor Brunner.

"It's not been our hour yet, Doctor Brunner."

"I know, but I need to recheck her Apgar score, to see where she fits now." Gently, the doctor took Elise from David's arms and brought her over to the bassinet to do her tests. "If you want to dress her, you can. Though you might not have clothing small enough to fit her."

"Do you want me to get out the dress?" She nodded at her partner, watching him go over to their hospital bag and pulling out the romper that Karen and Tabitha had chosen to be Elise's first outfit. It was a dusky rose in color, and while Erin had thought it impossibly tiny at the time, she knew that it would be large on Elise. Tiredly, she watched as he managed to get their daughter into the romper, and she let out a small chuckle to see that she was right, Elise was nearly swallowed in fabric, but that still helped her to look a little more normal, though small. "Hello, Elise. I'm your papa. I know that you were excited to come see us, but you have to grow strong quickly so that you can come home to Mama and me. We love you so much already, little one."

Erin's eyes swam with tears as she watched her partner coo and sing to their child, and she carefully curled up on her side as her eyes drifted closed, allowing sleep to overtake her body as she knew that Elise was in safe hands with her David.