Chapter 1

"Good evening Mrs. Hernandez. I'm Dr. Brittany Pierce. Dr. Yung your obstetrician is out of town attending a medical conference so I'm covering for her while she's gone." Brittany reached out and shook Mrs. Hernandez's hand. She then started reading the patient information on her tablet about Mrs. Hernandez. "Mrs. Hernandez, I see that your due date is in two weeks but it looks like this little one is ready to be born tonight. Your water broke and you are having contractions at regular intervals. I'm going to check to measure the dilation of your cervix."

The nurse helped Mrs. Hernandez put her legs in the stirrups on the delivery bed while Brittany put on some disposable gloves and sat down on the stool between Mrs. Hernandez's legs. "Mrs. Hernandez just relax your legs a bit more please. That's it. I know it is uncomfortable seeing a new doctor when you've gotten comfortable with your regular doctor." Brittany did her exam, got up from the stool, and threw the gloves away. She typed something in her tablet before speaking to Mrs. Hernandez. "Mrs. Hernandez, you are 5 cm dilated which means you are definitely in active labor. When you reach 10 cm it will time to push. Do you have any questions or concerns?"

"Will my baby being born two weeks premature cause any complications?"

"No according to your last visit with Dr. Yung your baby is a good weight and babies born two weeks early do very well. The baby is just a little early. Would you like me to talk to your wife?"

"No that won't be necessary." Mrs. Hernandez's tone was sharp.

Brittany noticed the tone and felt like she had said something wrong. "I apologize if I said something. I noticed in your patient record that you are married."

"I'm newly divorced actually so please don't call me Mrs. Hernandez. Call me Santana Lopez. I have taken my maiden name back since the divorce."

"I'm sorry to hear about your divorce and I will make the change in your patient record. Is there anyone in the waiting room you want me to send in to be with you?"

"No there's no one in the waiting room. My parents and grandmother were flying in over the weekend so they would be here when I gave birth. We didn't think the baby would come this early. I called them and they are trying to get a flight to Chicago from Columbus. I don't know if they will make here or not in time for the birth." Santana's voice quivered like she was about to cry but she held it in.

"It will be a few hours before your baby is born so let's hope they get here in time. I will be back to check on you in about half an hour but if you need anything before then just tell the nurse and she will page me." Brittany walked out of Santana's room and to the nurses' station. She spoke to her favorite nurse on the maternity floor, "Mrs. Hernandez…I mean Miss Lopez is here by herself. She wants to be called by her maiden name so please change her patient bracelet. Her parents and grandmother are flying in but I'm not sure they will be here in time for the birth. Can you please sit with her? She shouldn't be alone going through contractions."

"The poor woman having to go through this by herself. I'll sit with her and let you know if there any problems." The nurse smiled at Brittany before going to Santana's hospital room.

Ten Hours Later

Brittany walked into Santana's room to check on her. She stopped just inside the door to watch the scene in front of her for a few seconds. Santana was sitting up in bed holding her baby in her arms. Brittany suddenly realized she shouldn't be staring so she gently cleared her throat to let Santana know she was in the room.

Santana turned towards the door where Brittany was standing and suddenly got the biggest smile on her face. It was the first time Brittany had seen Santana smile all evening and she couldn't help but noticed her sexy little dimples. "Hi", Santana said quietly.

Brittany walked over and stood by the bed looking down at the baby in Santana's arms. "I wanted to check in with you before I go off duty for to see how you are feeling and if you have any questions."

"I'm just really tired and sore of course but I'm happier than I ever thought I could be." Santana smiled again looking at the baby in her arms.

"I'm sorry we had to take him away so quickly when he was born but as you knew ahead of time we had to check him out thoroughly especially his heart." Brittany couldn't help but notice how the peaceful the baby was sleeping in Santana's arms.

"Dr. Yung told me that would happen because fifty percent of Down Syndrome babies are born with heart defects. I would have loved to have held him as soon as he was born but I'm just so thankful he's in the fifty percent that doesn't have heart problems. Although I know there could other health problems as he grows."

"I'm glad the initial tests showed no heart defects too. When he is a couple weeks old your pediatrician will do some additional tests to double check but I don't foresee there being any problems. We will continue to monitor his heart and oxygen levels while he's in the hospital. I was happy your parents and abuela got in with time to spare before he was born."

Santana scowled at Brittany, "Abuela? I think I referred to her as my grandmother to you earlier not abuela?"

Brittany smiled, "Well after I delivered your son I was told by your grandmother I was to call her abuela."

Santana laughed, "That's my abuela." There were a few moments of uncomfortable silence before Santana spoke again. "She left when we found out our baby had Down Syndrome. Dr. Yung had us get the new blood test and scan that can be at the end of the first trimester. The results came back positive for Down's. We both were upset of course but she was upset for a different reason than I was. She was upset because she and I quote 'did not want to raise an imperfect child that others would stare at'. I was upset because there was something wrong with my baby and I was concerned for him. She told me she wanted me to put the baby up for adoption and that we would try again. I told her I wasn't giving up my baby so she left us and filed for divorce. The divorce was final two days ago. She has no legal responsibilities for him so she could just leave."

Brittany was shocked to hear how Santana's wife had left her and their unborn child because he had Down's Syndrome. "I'm so sorry you had to go through all of that. I can't imagine someone walking away from their unborn child for any reason."

"I wonder now what I ever saw in her. When I saw the type of person she really was it made me wonder if I was ever truly loved her." Santana yawned.

"You need to rest because you've had a long, busy day. The nurse will be in to take…" Brittany hesitated realizing she didn't know the baby's name.

"Liam, it means strong-willed warrior and protector." Santana looked proudly at her son.

"Liam to the nursery. Dr. Yung will be back tomorrow so she will be in to see you during her rounds." Brittany really liked the name it seemed to fit the baby perfectly.

"Dr. Pierce, thank you for delivering Liam and being so kind."

"You're welcome. I'd better go now I've got a couple of other patients to check on before I leave. It was nice meeting you Santana and Liam." Brittany walked over to the door but stopped and turned around before opening it. Something was pulling her towards Santana and she didn't want to leave.

Santana and Brittany stared into each other's eyes for a several seconds before Liam whimpered so Santana looked down at him. When she looked back to where Brittany had been standing by the door she was gone.

XXXXXXXX

Three Weeks Later

"Dr. Pierce you look exhausted." Debbie the ER receptionist said as she saw Brittany getting ready to sign out.

"The past two weeks have been one delivery after another plus keeping up with my office appointments. I have the next three days off and I am so ready to do absolutely nothing but sleep and watch trashy TV." It was now 3 o'clock in the morning and Brittany had been called in six hours earlier when one of her patients went into the labor. The baby was in a breech position and she couldn't get the baby turned around so she ended up having to do a cesarean section. Mother and baby are doing fine and resting comfortably. Now Brittany wants to go home and rest comfortably herself.

Brittany was finishing up with some last minute entries in her tablet when the ER reception desk phone rang. She could hear Debbie talking but wasn't listening to what she was saying until she heard Debbie say her name.

"I'm sorry Dr. Pierce is off duty for the next three days. I can put you in contact with the doctor who will be covering her patients while she's off. Ma'am, if this is an emergency with your baby call 911 or I can do it for you. I already told you Dr. Pierce is unavailable."

Brittany looked at Debbie and scowled. Debbie put her hand over the phone receiver part of the phone. "It's a woman saying you delivered her baby three weeks ago and she needs to talk to you. She's crying and very upset."

"What is her name?" Brittany asked.

"Ma'am what is your name?" Debbie asked in the phone.

"She said her name is Santana Lopez."

Brittany immediately motioned for Debbie to hand her the phone. "Santana, this is Dr. Pierce. What's wrong?" Brittany could hear Santana crying and sniffling in the phone. She could also hear Liam crying in the background.

"He..he won't stop crying. He's been crying for three hours straight. No matter what I do he won't stop."

"Are you parents and abuela still visiting?" Brittany knew they were going to be staying to help Santana out for a few weeks.

"No they left three days ago. I'm a terrible mother I don't know what is wrong with Liam." Santana cried harder.

"Santana, give me your address and I'll be there as quickly as I can." Brittany wrote Santana's address down. "I'm on my way Santana."

"Thank you I didn't know who else to call." Santana's tone of voice showed she was a bit relieved Brittany was coming to check on Liam.

The call ended and Brittany handed the phone back to Debbie. "I didn't know doctor's made house calls anymore." Debbie looked at Brittany with a confused looked.

"I delivered Santana's baby three weeks ago when Dr. Yung as out of town. She has no one else to call. She's so upset and the baby is crying. If I didn't go check on them I'd worry about them not get any sleep tonight."

Brittany hurried out to the parking lot and got into her car. She put Santana's address in her GPS. It would take her about twenty minutes to get to the Santana's apartment building. On the drive Brittany couldn't help but wonder if she was overstepping some bounds by visiting Santana at home. Technically Santana was only her patient the night she delivered Liam. They no longer had any professional relationship as doctor and patient. Brittany had thought about Santana on several occasions since she delivered Liam. There was something about Santana that had caught her attention and Santana kept finding a way into her thoughts.

TBC

This won't be a very long story, probably no more than 5 chapters. Let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: I don't own the show GLEE or any of characters portrayed in this story. This story is written solely for entertainment purposes.