A/N: So, this last chapter I wrote way back in March. This is a different version than my original draft chapter. Chapter 8 kind of sidetracked me and I came up with a totally different ending. So here is chapter 10!

Chapter 10: Bittersweet

Author: zeusfluff.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Blue Blood's characters. They belong to CBS. Date Started: 6/26/24. Date Finished: 6/30/24. Enjoy!

Eddie was currently in a hospital room hooked up to monitors and deep into the throes of labor. A contraction side swiped her and Danny was her only comfort right now.

"Just breathe through the contraction Eddie. Keep breathing."

Eddie blew out a breath and shook her head.

"I can't do this Danny! I need Jamie!"

Danny felt for Eddie. The family had supported her throughout her entire pregnancy. Helping her with various chores she wasn't able to do since she had weight lifting restrictions, and everyone had helped put the nursery together. Danny and Frank had helped paint the nursery and assembled the crib. Pop stocked the nursery with all the essentials the baby needed, while Jack, Sean and Nicky had brought various tiny stuffed animals and placed them on the dresser. Danny tried to reassure Eddie once more.

"It's ok Eddie. Just keep breathing."

Eddie again shook her head. A look of relief washed over her face as the door opened and in walked Jamie. She then grew angry at him as Danny switched places Jamie.

"WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG!"

Jamie gave Eddie a sympathetic look, sitting down in the chair next to the bed and started running a left hand through her hair and gently massaged her lower back with his right.

"I'm sorry Ed. I had trouble finding a parking spot. Some guy took forever to figure out how to pull out of the spot I took."

Danny clapped a hand on Jamie's shoulder, then leaned in and squeezed Eddie's other hand.

"You've got this Eddie. Be strong kid. It's one thing delivering a baby out in the field, but its a completely different thing seeing your own kid being born. Good luck."

Jamie gave a nervous smile and nodded.

"Thanks Danny."

Danny exited the room and Jamie turned his attention back to Eddie and then glanced at the monitors she was hooked up to. It was regaining its normal rhythm again. Eddie let out a breath and Jamie wiped the sweat from her forehead.

"Your doing so good babe. Have some rest."

Eddie nodded and let her eyes drift closed. Jamie leaned down and kissed her belly.

"Hi baby girl. Mommy and daddy will see you soon."

Going back to running a hand through Eddie's hair with his left hand, he kissed her forehead and saw her open her eyes.

"Thirsty."

Grabbing for the cup of ice on the bedside table, he took a piece out and popped it into her mouth. Eddie sighed and let it melt in her mouth.

"Better?"

Eddie blinked tiredly at Jamie.

"A little. Don't leave me bub. I can't do this by myself."

Kissing her forehead again, he shook his head.

"I'm not going anywhere babe. I'm right here."

With the remote on the bed, Jamie turned the tv, turning the volume down. He flipped through the channels aimlessly trying to find anything to distract Eddie from the pain she was feeling. She was dozing and ignoring the tv. Finding nothing, Jamie turned the tv off and wiped more sweat from Eddie's forehead.

He turned his head towards the monitors and watched the lines go up and down monitoring the baby and the other keeping track of Eddie's heart rate. Eddie was still sleeping as there was a slight knock on the door and it slowly opened. Jamie smiled over at Eddie's doctor.

"You must be Jamie. I'm Doctor Santowson. I just want to check Eddie's progress real quick."

Jamie shook hands with Doctor Santowson and waited for her to wash and dry her hands before waking Eddie up.

"Ed, wake up babe. Doctor Santowson needs to check your progress."

Eddie cracked her eyes open and looked at Jamie and groaned.

"Ok."

A couple of nurses helped Eddie scoot to the bottom of the bed, Jamie squeezed Eddie's hand as Doctor Santowson spoke to her.

"Ok Eddie, I'm just going to check your progress and see where we're at with everything. I want you to take a deep breath in and let it out slowly. There you go. One more. That's it."

Jamie saw Eddie wince and squeezed her hand again.

"It's ok babe. I'm right here. Just keep breathing."

He wished he could take all her pain away, but he knew it didn't work that way. Doctor Santowson looked up and over the sheet and fixed it over Eddie's legs.

"Ok Eddie, Your at 6 centimeters dilated. Did you still want an epidural?"

Eddie nodded her head yes.

"Absolutely. Anything to help with the pain. I guess I wasn't expecting labor to be this painful."

Doctor Santowson gave Eddie a sympathetic look.

"We're here to make you as comfortable as possible and bring a happy and healthy baby into the world. I'll get the Anesthesiologist down here right away. In the meantime, I want you to rest up. Your water should break soon."

Eddie nodded her head as the two nurses helped her lie back on her left side.

"That's good to know."

Jamie ran a thumb over her left cheek and then the back of his hand.

"Rest babe. I'm not going anywhere."

Eddie yawned and looked Jamie in the eye.

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to yawn."

Jamie gave Eddie a small smile.

"You don't have anything to be sorry about babe. Labor is hard on the body. It makes you tired. How's your breathing?"

Eddie nodded and nearly had to cross her eyes to see the nasal oxygen she was being given.

"The oxygen in my nose helps."

Jamie gave Eddie a sympathetic look and kissed her belly once more.

"Daddy can't wait to meet you baby girl. I'll see you soon ok?"

The expectant couple looked towards the door when they heard a knock. Both replied.

"Come in."

A Doctor Marshall stepped into the room.

"Hi Eddie. I'm Doctor Marshall. I'll be giving you your epidural today. You must be Jamie. What I'm going to have you do is hook your arms under her arm pits and pull her into a hug. I'll need you to stay absolutely still for me ok Eddie? Keep your back nice and round. I'm going to give you the local first and then the epidural. Take a deep breath and let it out slowly. That's it."

Jamie swallowed as he looked at the needle Doctor Marshall had in her hand. She glanced up at him briefly and gave him a concerned look.

"You doing ok there dad?"

Jamie nodded and swallowed his uneasiness.

"I'm ok. I just don't like needles."

Eddie snickered but stayed still.

"Yeah this one's afraid of needles, but he can deliver a baby out on the street without so much as a cringe. I don't get it."

Doctor Marshall gave Jamie a sympathetic look.

"Your not the first husband to be uneasy about needles in the delivery room. If you think the needle for the local is pretty big, you'll get a kick at how big the one for the epidural is."

Jamie kept his feet grounded to the floor as best he could and took a breath in and let it out slowly. His eyebrows shot up as he saw Doctor Marshall organize some things on her cart. She continued her conversation with Eddie.

"Ok Eddie, the local is in. Can you feel me touching your lower back?"

Eddie shook her head.

"Just some pressure. But that's good right?"

Doctor Marshall nodded her head proceeded with explaining the next step.

"That's a good thing. Alright Eddie, keep your back nice and round for me, I'm going to insert the epidural now."

Jamie held onto Eddie and his eyes wandered over to the monitors tracking the contractions, it was beginning to beep rapidly. He rubbed her back and he felt her finger nails digging into his back. Wincing slightly, Jamie did his best to keep her calm and comfort her.

"I know it hurts babe. Just try and breathe ok? Just breathe. I'm right here."

Digging her nails into Jamie's back even more, Eddie let out a scream and buried her face slightly into his neck.

"It really hurts!"

Jamie kissed her head and comforted her again.

"I know sweetheart. I know it does. Just keep breathing. I've got you. I've got you."

Shifting his eyes back towards the monitors one more time he watched and could hear the beeping becoming less frantic and returning to its normal rhythmic pace. Jamie felt Eddie's warm breath on his neck and her nails weren't digging into his back anymore.

"I'm sorry bub. Did I hurt you? I'm sorry I was digging my nails into your back."

Jamie shook his head and kissed Eddie's head one more time.

"Don't worry about it babe. When the next contraction comes, you hold onto me as tight as you want. You're not going to hurt me. I've got you. We're in this together."

Doctor Marshall made a note in Eddie's chart and went back to what she was doing.

"Ok Eddie, now that the contraction has passed, I'm going to place the epidural. Once in, it should only take a few minutes to take affect."

Eddie held onto Jamie and he rubbed her back.

"Almost done babe."

Doctor Marshall smiled at the couple and gave Eddie's hand a squeeze after she put her used supplies on an empty tray.

"Ok Eddie. All done. You should start to feel that take affect in about 15 minutes. Good luck and congratulations."

Jamie and a couple of nurses helped Eddie lean back against the pillows in the bed. The nurses had left the room and now it was just Jamie and Eddie. Jamie placed a left hand on her cheek and ran a thumb over it. She looked at him and swallowed.

"Jamie, I'm scared."

Jamie gave Eddie a sympathetic look and then pulled her in for a kiss. When they broke for air, he gave his response.

"I'm scared too babe. But we're in this together. I'm not going anywhere. Our baby girl is going to come into the world healthy and strong. She'll have lots of people to protect her. Not to mention spoil her. Pop spoiled Nicky. I know I did as she grew."

Eddie felt slightly better.

"Thanks bub. I guess I'm just scared because I've never been through this before. Neither of us have. I just want to have everything to go smoothly. It's been on my mind since you were gone. It was very lonely without you. I even recorded videos of each month so that when you came home, I could show you."

Jamie felt tears come to his eyes, but didn't let them fall.

"Babe, I look forward to watching them."

A knock on the door sounded and the couple answered.

"Come in."

The door opened slowly and in came Joe.

"Hey. Uncle Jamie. I just came to see how Eddie was doing."

Eddie gave Joe a tired smile.

"I'm doing ok Joe. Thanks."

Joe stepped forward with a small bag in his hand.

"Well, since I wasn't at the baby shower, I wanted to give you the gift I was supposed to."

Jamie took the bag from Joe and carefully opened it, pulling out a onesie from it. He read it out loud and held it up so Eddie could see it.

"My mommy and daddy are cops. Be forewarned."

Jamie couldn't helped but laugh at the last part.

"Thanks for this Joe. We really appreciate it."

Joe shook his head.

"That's just the first present. The other present is with pop."

Eddie looked up at Joe and still kept the smile on her face.
"I think I know what the other present is you left with pop. It's that dolphin mobile isn't it?"

Joe had a smile on his face.
"You never know."

Jamie saw Eddie wince slightly and his eyes roved over to the machines. He squeezed Eddie's hand and she tried stifling a cry but it came out anyways.

"Jamie it hurts!"

Jamie nodded and squeezed Eddie's hand again. Joe quickly responded and took his leave.

"I'm sorry, I'm just in the way. I'll let the two of you have some privacy. Let me know when she comes into the world. I would like to hold her first."

With that, Joe was gone, and it was again just Jamie and Eddie in the room. She was doing her best to breathe, and she felt Jamie's right hand on her back. As the contraction wound down and she gasped and looked down at the sheet covering her.

"Uh oh Jamie. I think my water just broke."

Jamie was quick to press the button on the remote on the bed. He did it before he realized that Doctor Santowson was behind the door just then.

"Ok Eddie. Let's check your progress again and see where we're at shall we?"

Eddie nodded as the two nurses helped turn her onto her back from her left side and put her feet up.

"I'm glad your here. My water just broke."

Doctor Santowson smiled at Eddie and looked her in the eye.

"Ok looks like your water did break. I want you to take a deep breath for me Eddie. There you go. One more."

Eddie looked over at Jamie and he ran a free hand up and down her right arm and kept squeezing her hand.

"You're doing great babe. Just keep breathing."

Doctor Santowson popped her head over the sheet and smiled behind her mask.

"Alright Eddie. It's time. Your dilated to 10 centimeters and fully effaced. I want you to give me a big push now. Good. One more. Good girl. The head is almost out. Give me another big push. That's it."

Eddie let out a groan and then a scream. Jamie held onto her and encouraged her.

"Your doing great babe. Keep going."

Nodding her head vigorously, Eddie bore down and pushed again, letting out another cry. Doctor Santowson spoke over the sheet.

"Your doing great Eddie. The head is out! Here come the shoulders. One more big push for me. Good! One more! One more! Ok I've got her! Say hello to your beautiful baby girl mama!"

Eddie let out a sob and looked at the screaming infant Doctor Santowson held over the sheet for both parents to see. Leaning into Jamie, Eddie felt herself break down and sob some more.

"She's beautiful."

Doctor Santowson looked to Jamie and nodded her head.

"Do you want to cut the cord dad?"

Jamie had unshed tears in his eyes and nodded his head.

"Yes."

Taking the scissors from Doctor Santowson, Jamie carefully separated mother and daughter from one each other. A nurse took the little girl in her arms and then carefully placed her on top of Eddie's chest. Just when Eddie thought her tears had gone away, she began to sob again.

"It's ok baby girl. Mommy's right here. I know it's really bright out here and cooler than your used to, but mommy and daddy will keep you safe and warm."

Doctor Santowson while keeping her attention on the task in front of her, she spoke over the sheet.

"What's her name?"

Jamie and Eddie looked down at the baby on her chest and smiled. Eddie then looked into Jamie's eyes.

"What do you think bub?"

Jamie smiled and traced the little girl's nose. Then the couple both replied.

"Maira Isabel Reagan."

One of the nurses nodded and entered the baby's name into the computer on the other side of the bed. Eddie was already in love with the baby nestled against her chest.

"It's ok sweet girl. One of these nice nurses is going warm you up, give you a bath, measure and weigh you, and then you can get to know mommy and have something to eat."

A nurse cooed at Maira as she gently took her in her arms and went over to the sink. Jamie followed behind the nurse and watched as she placed Maira into a small tub and began to give her a bath. She immediately began to calm and she let out a whimper or two.

"That's a good girl Maira. Lets get you all nice and clean."

Jamie felt a couple of tears slide down his left cheek but he quickly swiped them away.

"It's ok baby girl. Daddy is right here. Your going to get all nice and clean. There. That's not so bad is it?"

Eddie was sleeping as Jamie walked around the room with his baby girl in his arms. He couldn't believe he was a dad. She was fast asleep and swaddled comfortably in a receiving blanket. He froze when he saw her scrunch up her tiny face. Holding his breath for a moment, he saw Maira settled and go back to sleep.

"It's ok baby girl. Daddy is right here."

There was a soft knock on the door and Jamie went towards the door, opening it all the while balancing Maira in his left arm. The whole Reagan clan stepped into the room quietly and looked at Maira. Erin was the first to speak up in a whisper.

"Jamie, that photo you sent all of us didn't do this justice. Look at that adorable little face. I bet she would like to come with Auntie Erin first."

Joe held up a hand in protest but Jamie nodded towards everyone.

"Ok, you go first Erin. There you go. I think maybe everyone come in one at a time. That way we're not too crowded in here and that way it doesn't overwhelm Maira."

Everyone else except for Erin left the room. Erin cooed at Maira. She remained asleep.

"I forgot how tiny they are when they are first born. I remember when Nicky was first born, I could never get enough of her. Then came the sleepless nights and me carrying the nanny cam everywhere. At least Jack and I at that point helped each other out. She's so beautiful. How's Eddie?"

Jamie sighed tiredly.

"Exhausted. But holding her own. To think I could've missed all this. I wish she'd told me the first time I was home."

Erin shook her head and rocked Maira.
"Even if she had Jamie, you would've been distracted and not focused on what you needed to do."

Jamie nodded and watched his daughter sleeping.

"Yeah. You're right sis."

Erin traced Maira's tiny nose and rose from the chair she was currently sitting in, handing her back to Jamie.

"She's beautiful. Make sure you and Eddie get some rest. Taking care of a newborn is harder than it looks. Trust me."

Jamie shifted Maira in his arms and nodded at Erin.

"That's good to know sis. Thanks."

Erin went towards the door and opened it, and just outside was Joe.

"Now how did I know you'd be behind the door waiting for your turn?"

Joe shrugged his shoulders and stepped into the room. Jamie smiled at Joe and had him sit down in the chair.

"There we go. Mind her head."

Joe looked down at his cousin Maira, she scrunched up her face and then settled.

"I think she has your nose Uncle Jamie. The eyebrows I think are Eddie's. Well, I think she already has the trademark Reagan smirk."

Jamie leaned over and looked down at his daughter.

"You're right I think she does. Listen, I just wanted to thank you for looking out for Eddie while I was gone. She said you helped her out with the nursery a little."

Joe looked up at Jamie and shrugged as if he were being modest.

"It was nothing."

Maira stirred in Joe's arms and scrunched up her face and started to cry. Joe looked down and spoke down to her softly.

"What's the matter Maira? Huh? Are you hungry? Oof, definitely not hungry. This little one needs a diaper change."

Jamie smirked and took Maira back in his arms.

"Well Joe, when you volunteer to babysit, you'll have to change diapers."

Joe gave a slight nervous laugh.

"I can handle it."

Jamie kept smirking.

"Babies can be a lot of work. It's not a one and done situation."

Joe nodded and began to rise from the chair.

"So I've heard. I'll have to learn along the way. I'll be happy to watch Maira anytime."

Jamie nodded and looked Joe in the eye.

"Ok, I'll hold you to that. You know, your dad would be very proud of you."

Joe quietly nodded his head and ducked out of the room. Jamie had seen a change in Joe only recently. It made him wonder if he was starting to take things more seriously now. Only time would tell.

Maira was now officially 10 days old. She was healthy and doing well. Everyone in the family had been able to see her. Each one getting a photo with her individually. Jamie and Eddie were spending time sitting on their bed and getting to know her. Maira was having a meal while Eddie gently traced her eyebrows.

"I think she has your eyebrows bub."

Jamie smiled quietly and ran his index finger over her tiny nose.

"Well, I think she has your nose babe."

Eddie looked at Maira.

"Mmm. I don't think so bub. She definitely has your nose."

Jamie sighed, he could stay like this forever. Even though he knew it wasn't the reality.

"I'm glad I was able to come home and see her come into the world. It was beautiful. I just wished I'd been there the whole time she was growing inside you. I'd say this is a bittersweet moment. My undercover op could've gone in a totally different direction. But it didn't. Look at this beautiful baby girl we made out of love. I wouldn't trade anything in the world right now, other than to be with you and her."

Jamie pulled her into a kiss and suddenly the two were interrupted by Maira letting out a squeal of slight discontent. Eddie gave a slight laugh and looked down at her.

"Looks like she wants to be heard."

Leaning in to kiss Eddie one more time, Jamie smiled as he did so. When they pulled apart one more time, he kissed the crown of Maira's tiny head.

"In our family, she'll have no problem being heard."

End

A/N 2: So, here we are at the end. 33 pages later. This last chapter turned into a monster. I hope you guys liked the ending. Let me know! Thanks to everyone who favorited/followed and all the readers and guests out there. You guys are awesome!