A/N: I left some details out and really tamped down the humour aspect to romanticize the birth (I've seen a mentor give birth and it's not as "pretty" as I thought it would be. It's beautiful, the process really is, but it's not pretty) because I decided to go the fluff route instead of funny. The second part of this chapter was a small request by Sundowner for a scene similar to OTH's (I'll be honest, I've never seen it, but from what you told me, I hope it worked for you!)

Alright guys! It's been a ride (though longer than I expected) but now it's time to close out this story! Yaaaay! My first mid-length completed Lucaya story ever! I had a lot of fun writing this story and though the fluff was more difficult to write than I expected, I'm glad it was decent enough for you guys!

First, I want to say thank you for everything, the kind, lovely reviews, the favourites and follows, the support even through my crappy updating times and difficulties staying on track with my schedule. Just the fact that you guys read the story makes me doofy happy. You guys are amazing, and I can't thank you enough. I appreciate you taking a chance on this weird af story. Fluff is not my strongest suit and quite frankly most of the time I just don't want to write it, but it's been an interesting experience/experiment. I learned a lot about my writing and where my strengths and weaknesses lie through this story and maybe waaaaaay in the future, I might try something as fluffy as this again to get more practice (I didn't even technically succeed tbh. This wasn't even straight fluff lol. This was angst with some fluff slipped in towards the end. I TRIED THOUGH.) And second, there is a sequel oneshot for this story, but it'll be in Love And War.

Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed It Has To Be You, despite all of its shortcomings. I thank you guys once again and I love you all!

And with that:

À tout à l'heure, mes chéris! Bisous!

Disclaimer: It's a good thing I don't own GMW because these poor characters would be put through the ringer...

"Stop talking on the phone, you dumbass!" Maya shouted, squeezing her eyes tightly shut and whimpering in pain as another sharp contraction hit her. "Hang up or we're never having sex again!"

"It's only Riley, Maya. Your best friend in the whole wide world, remember?" Lucas said calmly, knowing if he visibly reacted any type of way, Maya would snap. She was barely hanging on as it was. He brushed Maya's sweaty hair out of her forehead before talking directly on the phone. "Riley, Maya needs me to hang up. I don't think it would be wise to disobey."

"No! I'm missing a meeting so I can make Katia's birth! I refuse to miss it! Put me on speaker!"

He pushed the button for speaker phone and Maya shot him a glare so sharp he thought he had a knife to his throat.

"I thought I told you to hang up, Lucas!"

"I am not missing the birth of my goddaughter! Maya, do not let that baby out, do you understand me? You can't have her until I get there."

"Riley, she is coming out whether you want her to or not!" Maya yelled. "So if you want to be here for her birth, you better tell that cab driver to fucking book it!"

"She's right, you know," Dr. Diaz said to Lucas from the foot of the hospital bed. "Almost fully dilated. This baby is ready to go. I don't think it'll take very long."

Maya sat up slightly with a grunt. "You, shut the fuck up."

Lucas gave their doctor a sheepish smile as she ducked her head back down under the sheet in fright at Maya's anger.

"Sorry, she doesn't mean it."

"Oh hell yes I do mean it!" Maya barked, rage in her eyes. "Don't you dare apologize for me, you fuckwad! You try being on this hospital bed for hours with painful contractions, not being allowed to eat anything, bleeding more than any fucking period you've ever had before and vomiting and pissing and shitting on yourself while a damn baby is trying to force herself out of you! Do you see how fucking small I am?! Do you even know what Katia is trying to—"

Maya suddenly cried out, her face contorting in pain as she gripped Lucas' hand so tightly, his knuckles cracked. Lucas closed his eyes, grimacing and trying to ride out the wave of pain. He'd read up on labour as much as he could, even asking Emma to give him some advice on how not to anger Maya since Emma had witnessed the birth of her younger sibling (and watched her mother punch her father in the face). He'd heard about labour rage, but Maya's was off the charts high. He didn't blame her when she was in a lot of pain, though she was exaggerating a bit about the bleeding and excretions. It hadn't been as bad as she thought. He wouldn't argue with her comments though. He had no doubt Maya would get up and find something to stab him with if he dared contradict her.

"I'm a block from the hospital! I'm almost there, Maya! Hold Katia in. And Lucas, pay attention to her and stop talking on the phone! You're upsetting her!"

He stared at the phone incredulously for a moment, wondering if Riley enjoyed making everything his fault when it pertained to Maya. But Maya whimpered, a tear trickling down her cheek as she tried to take deep breaths from the pain. He tossed the phone on the other bed, leaning down and wiping the tear from her cheek before clasping her hand in both of his. Maya was breathing heavily, her stringy hair plastered to her face and nose slightly red as she tried to relax.

"This is all your fault, you damn Huckleberry."

She was the one who wanted him to get her pregnant. Did she forget that this was part of the pregnancy too? But no way he was going to say that out loud. She would maim him with her claws.

"I'm not dealing with this pain next time."

"Next time?" he said playfully, trying to bring some levity to the situation. "So does that mean you want to have another baby?"

Maya shot him a glare so vicious he clammed up, chuckling nervously and deciding it was better to nix on the jokes for now. He was really screwing up and honestly, he was starting to get scared that Maya might actually hop out of her hospital bed and kick his ass or anyone else's. She'd threatened pretty much everyone by this point, and he had a feeling she was extremely close to snapping. Every time they thought she had calmed down, she would rage within a second.

"Lucas…" Maya groaned, dropping her head back onto her pillow after another particularly bad contraction. "I just want our baby to come already."

"I know, Maya." He cradled her cheek, and she gratefully leaned into his hand with a soft sigh. "I'm sorry there's not much I can do for you right now, but you're doing amazing. I'm proud of you."

She chuckled softly, her eyes welling with tears as she gazed up at him with a sweet smile, her glassy blue-gray eyes making Lucas' heart race.

"You're beautiful, Maya…" he murmured.

And he meant it. She was beautiful and all he could feel was an all-encompassing love for her.

"Thank you." Her gaze grew sharp, a dangerous glint in her eyes as she glowered at him. "And when I get this baby out of me, I can guarantee you I'm skewering your ass for thinking it was a good idea to get me pregnant."

A nurse dabbed away some of the sweat on Maya's face and placed a cold towel on Maya's forehead. "You're doing great, Maya."

Maya gasped for breath, wincing as she shuddered from the pain, gripping Lucas' hand again and sinking her nails into his skin when another really sharp contraction hit her. She was shaking so badly, her face scrunched up in absolute pain, and Lucas couldn't help but feel terrible for her. The contractions were coming much faster now and sustained for a much longer time. Lucas knew because the amount of pain his hand suffered was steadily and gradually increasing in frequency and the sheer agony from her death grip was lasting longer and longer.

"Lucas…"

"I'm right here, Maya. It's okay. Look at me," Lucas said, stroking her cheek. Maya slowly opened her eyes as she tried to catch her breath, staring up at Lucas. "Right here, okay?"

She nodded, her breathing a bit shallow as her face contorted again. She grit her teeth, a soft whimper escaping her lips as the contraction rode through.

"Maya, you're fully dilated. Your baby is dropping," Dr. Diaz said, speaking slowly and calmly. "You are doing great. Now, I want you to push when you feel the urge to push. But relax and breathe as best as you can during your contractions, okay? Lucas, I want you to breathe with her."

Lucas and Maya both nodded. She bit her lower lip as she shut her eyes tight, squeezing Lucas' hand as a strained grunt left her mouth. Maya tried to relax as she breathed, sucking in choppy breaths of air.

"In and out, Maya," Lucas said. "Breathe with me. Just like we practiced."

She breathed slowly with him, trying to find some rest through the pain.

Lucas was unbelievably proud of her. Despite suffering through the birth, she was still fighting to finish it out. And not just through the birth, but even through the grueling nine months, many of which where her pregnancy was out of control.

Her outrageous morning sickness. Her avid forgetfulness. Her pickle juice cravings. Her discomfort in sleep. Her crazy hormones.

On the one hand, it had been very cute to watch his pregnant almost, sort of, kind of, but not really, but might as well be because they lived together and she wore his ring on her finger and she was having his baby wife, but Maya was also terrifying pregnant and her mood swings would come and go very dangerously.

There was livid Maya who would be raging mad one second only to start crying right afterwards thinking Lucas hated her because she caused him pain in the past. When Lucas would reassure her that he did not in fact hate her, that was all it took for her to get horny. Lucas overslept for work too many times than was acceptable. And horny Maya was just as dangerous as raging Maya because she was too kinky.

Lucas never thought he'd live to see a day where he was a little bit scared to have sex with her, but it happened. He'd hidden all of their bondage accessories after that evening, and honestly, he wasn't sure he would ever put them back.

But unfortunately for Maya, the pregnancy wasn't easy.

They'd had their fair shares of ups and downs. Maya sprained an ankle during a class about a week and a half before. Thankfully, it had only been light ligament stretching, so she'd been able to use an aircast, but getting the call from her saying she was heading to the hospital had nearly given him a heart attack. Not to mention the three false alarms they'd had that she was in labour.

Even the birth had been a bit troublesome for her.

Maya's dilation had been slow, and she was forty weeks and two days overdue when her labour contractions really started. They'd gone to the hospital and their obstetrician had told them they would break Maya's water once she reached five centimeters if it still hadn't broken by then, but it turned out they didn't need to.

Lucas could remember it like it was yesterday—it had been yesterday actually—when Maya's water suddenly broke when he had been giving her a lower back massage to help her ailing soreness only for liquid to start trickling down her leg. He had been terrified and thought he had popped her like a balloon or something. Maya had laughed and laughed at that, until a sharp contraction had nearly knocked her off her feet. Within five minutes, things had progressed quite rapidly, and Maya had been crying out from the intensity of the contractions. Dr. Diaz had come in and prepped for delivery, instructing Maya on how to handle what was happening to her.

But the delivery had not been kind to Maya.

She refused to get an epidural because she was scared of what the drug could possibly do to their baby. And aside from the pain she was in, she'd been in labour for about twenty-nine hours now waiting for her cervix to dilate completely, and Lucas knew she was exhausted. He'd been up the whole time with her, supporting her as she gradually grew more and more irate and frustrated at the time it was taking to get her baby out.

At her worst, she threw Lucas' pen at one of the nurses whose shoes were apparently making too much noise. She'd wanted to break the TV at some point too so Lucas turned it off and then she yelled at him for turning it off so he'd put it back on. Not to mention all of her 'no sex ever again' threats which the hospital staff had thought was funny until Maya started threatening them bodily harm for laughing. There had been nothing Lucas could do to calm her down and honestly, he was a little bit scared to try.

But Maya was fighting and doing her best, and he couldn't be more proud of his almost, sort of, kind of, but not really, but might as well be because they lived together and she wore his ring on her finger and she was having his baby wife.

Maya squeezing his hand when another contraction hit her until the severe pain ripped him out of his thoughts. He inhaled sharply when he felt his knuckle crack painfully, the joint popping with a sickening sound, and he bit down on his tongue to keep from shouting out. It was agonizing, only made worse by the fact that she was only increasing the pressure with each passing second. He had no doubt Maya had just fractured a bone in his hand, but he could handle it. It was the least he could do for Maya who was in much more unimaginable pain.

It amazed him that for being such a short little stack of pancakes, she sure as hell seemed to have Amazonian strength.

"Lucas…" Maya said shakily, staring up at him with red rimmed, watery blue eyes, breathing unsteadily. "It really hurts. My back hurts, and I'm tired and I just want to go to sleep."

Lucas felt helpless, wishing he could do more for her, wishing that all the pain she was feeling could be transferred to him somehow so she could get through this more easily. She was incredible. The fact that she'd spent nine months slowly growing a baby inside of her and now was going through all this effort to bring their baby into the world was absolutely unreal to him.

"You're almost there." He leaned down and kissed Maya softly before pressing his forehead to hers with a smile. "We're doing this together, okay? You're doing amazing."

"I can see her head, Maya," Dr. Diaz said from under the sheet. "I promise it won't be long now. Push when you feel the urge. Breathe when you don't, okay?"

"Maya, breathe with me. In. Out."

She matched her breathing with Lucas', only stopping momentarily as she felt another terrible contraction and clutching Lucas' hand. At this rate, he couldn't even feel the difference between her squeezing and her not squeezing. His hand was on fire.

"You're doing great with your pushing, Maya," Dr. Diaz said. "Remember to breathe. Lucas, keep distracting her."

"I love you, Maya." Lucas murmured when another soft cry left her lips as she pushed again, her eyes squeezed shut as she concentrated.

"I love you too," she breathed out as she relaxed a bit and tried to catch her breath. "But I meant what I said. If you ever put a baby in me again, I'm going to kill you, got that?"

Heel clad feet suddenly burst into the room, making a ruckus. They both looked up in surprise, their brows lifting when they saw Riley.

"I'm here! I'm here! Peaches, I'm here!"

Riley squealed, wide eyed, looking frazzled and breathing hard, her business suit disheveled and hair in disarray, spilling out of her tight bun. She raced over to the other side of the bed and took Maya's other hand, holding it gingerly in her hand as she crouched and gave Maya a quick kiss on her cheek.

"Riley…" Maya whimpered and then winced, her face contorting in pain. "You made it."

"Maya, you're doing great!" Dr. Diaz encouraged. "Give me a nice big push on your next, okay? You can do it."

"I promised you I would be here, didn't I?" Riley smiled serenely, not even flinching when Maya squeezed both their hands as she pushed again. Riley glanced up at Lucas. "Farkle couldn't make it because he has a debate in another city, but he's flying in as soon as it's over. He said to tell Maya he's proud of her. And that he thinks Farkle should be her middle name. Though I disagree."

"Her head is almost out, Maya. Keep up the good work."

Maya cried out, shuddering a bit as she was wracked with another bout of pain.

"Maya, you're almost there. Just a little more." Lucas said when she had finally relaxed. "Keep your eyes on me. Right here."

She looked up at Lucas, smiling through her tears. Riley gently rubbed her fingertips on Maya's scalp, giving her a massage as Maya's breathing grew more ragged from another push.

"I just wanted to say," Riley stated, "that since Farkle isn't here, Katia's middle name should be the name of the godparent who actually made it to the birth. Just putting it out there."

Maya chuckled, and then grimaced again, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly as Lucas rubbed small circles on her hand, breathing with her as she prepared herself for another push.

"Alright, Maya. Just give me one big push and you're done! One big push, and your baby will be out! You are at the finish line!"

"C'mon Maya! I believe in you! You can do it!" Riley cheered.

Lucas stroked Maya's cheek tenderly, feeling his own eyes well with tears as she gazed up at him lovingly, sniffling and laughing a bit softly. She was almost done. They were almost about to meet their daughter.

"Thank you, Maya," Lucas said.

"Whenever you feel it, Maya. Push! You are right there!" Dr. Diaz said.

Maya took a deep breath and strained, her eyes shut tight as she pushed, biting her lower lip and giving it her all. Lucas ignored Riley's cheering, Dr. Diaz telling Maya to keep pushing, Maya's vice grip on his hand, the noise from the TV. He kept his eyes solely on Maya, his heart swelling in his chest as he watched her. There was something so profound about it, something he couldn't describe, but all he knew was in that moment, he knew he couldn't live without Maya.

The strangled cries of a baby resounded throughout the room as Dr. Diaz stood up carefully, holding Katia's tiny, squirming pink body in her gloved hands as she wailed.

"Congratulations, Lucas and Maya. Meet your new daughter."

Maya relaxed, her entire body slumping against the bed. She whimpered as she started to sob happily, reaching out for Katia as the nurse swaddled her in a towel and handed her to Maya. Katia let out a small, congested cough, her crying subsiding and face relaxing as her eyes closed. She breathed deeply, her tiny fists curling as she rested on Maya's chest. Riley teared up, wiping tears from her eyes as Maya held Katia.

"Lucas…" Maya inhaled shakily, tears streaming down her cheeks as she gently stroked Katia's back. "It's our baby…"

And Lucas couldn't help it.

He started crying too, laughing as tears fell from his eyes. It was just so unbelievable to him. He was a father.

Lucas settled on the bed beside Maya, leaning over and kissing Maya's forehead. He stroked Katia's head gingerly, his heart imploding in his chest as he gazed down at their baby. Maya's shoulders shook from her sobs and mingled laughter. It'd been a long period of time waiting for their daughter and the birth had also been long and stressful, but they had made it to full time parenthood. And the wait had definitely been worth it.

Lucas would never forget this moment.

"She's precious…" Riley whispered, pulling out her phone and snapping a picture of the two of them before stooping next to Maya and cooing softly.

"Alright. Don't sleep now, Maya," Dr. Diaz said after giving them a few moments. "We're not quite done yet. We have to cut the cord, get the placenta out, and stitch up some slight tearing on the skin, but it's nothing to be worried about. You are almost done."

Maya sighed in exasperation and glared at Lucas, looking exhausted, her hair plastered to her face and forehead.

"Fuck this. We're never having any more kids."

~.~.~

In the calm of the darkened hospital room, Lucas gazed fondly down at Katia swaddled in her blanket, his mind still reeling from the fact that he was actually cradling his newborn daughter in his arms.

He gently caressed her cherub cheek with his finger. Her skin was soft and warm, almost plushy. She stared up at him unblinking with her big, beautiful eyes, clearly trying to get used to the light and the sights in her first hours of life. They were a dark bluish/gray at the moment, but Lucas expected them to lighten up later. He didn't know what colour they would end up being though he suspected they might end up being blue. Katia had Maya's mouth and really light tufts of blonde hair under her cap. He had a feeling she might take after Maya. Hell, she already seemed to have something of a defiant spark in her eyes.

When the nurses had taken Katia to go weigh her and check her vital signs after they'd cut the umbilical cord, she'd started crying pretty loudly. Maya had asked Lucas to go be with their baby while she had her examination so she'd have at least one parent with her, promising that Riley could keep her company while she waited. Katia had been healthy and birthed with no complications and would probably be allowed to leave with him and Maya within a couple days.

In the end, it turned out Maya really had broken a bone in his hand as well as his pinkie finger, but he'd been able to get that checked out while Maya was sleeping. She'd conked out fairly quickly after the entire birthing process had ended, completely exhausted and spent after that long, taxing birth. She hadn't even woken up through the entire stitching of her tear nor when Lucas came back with Katia after getting his hand taken care of and settled beside Maya on the hospital bed.

Lucas wanted to sleep too after being up for too many hours, but he could wait it out until both his girls were feeling replenished and comfortable. Riley had had to fly back to DC pronto since she'd snuck out of an important meeting to begin with, but she'd promised she would be back with everyone else in a few hours.

Lucas smiled as Katia's eyelids slid slowly closed, her breathing a little deeper than before as she fell asleep.

"You're perfect. An angel," he murmured to her before kissing her forehead. Her eyelashes fluttered on her cheeks, but she didn't otherwise wake up. "Just like your mother."

"You seem to already have a handle on this father thing." Maya mumbled beside him.

Lucas glanced down at Maya slowly getting her bearings as she was roused from slumber. Her eyes were open though her face was still puffy from sleep, and she sounded drowsy.

"She's really calm. I was expecting her to never stop crying."

Maya chuckled softly. "As I expected. A real daddy's girl."

"Only time will tell. You want to hold her?"

"In a minute. I'm still half asleep." Maya yawned, snuggling her head further in her pillow. "I'm so sore. I can barely fucking move. Sorry about your hand, by the way. Though in my defense, you did crack a pretty stupid joke at one point. I wanted to clobber you."

"It's no big deal. It was nothing on what you went through." Lucas craned his head down and pressed his lips to Maya's. She hummed into his kiss, her lips curving into a smile. "You're amazing, you know that? I'm proud of you."

Maya yawned sleepily, shifting onto her side so she could rest her head on his shoulder as they gazed down at their sleeping baby girl.

"She has your lips and mouth. Probably will be just as mouthy in her teens too," Lucas said playfully. "She looks like you."

"Riley said so too. But I don't see it. She has your nose."

"I think she'll take after you. Maya two point oh."

"I guess we'll see." Maya laughed quietly. "I probably look like roadkill right now. I feel like shit."

"You're beautiful, Maya. Always."

She reached up and lightly brushed Katia's chubby cheek with her knuckle, her gaze warm and affectionate.

"I won't screw this shit up, right?" Maya muttered, smiling softly.

"You might if you keep cursing in front of her. Watch her first word be shit or fuck."

Maya chuckled tiredly and then sighed. "I'm serious, Lucas."

"You won't screw this up. We've been over this. You'll be a wonderful mother." He reached across and took Maya's hand in his, intertwining their fingers. "And we're doing this together. There's nothing you have to worry about. I'll be right here. Always."

They held hands, watching their baby sleep.

"We did it," Lucas said. "We're parents now. Does that mean you're leaving me now that you've used me to fulfill your wish, Shortstack?"

"Not a chance, Huckleberry. You're stuck with me for life."

"I wouldn't have it any other way. I love you, Maya."

"I love you too."

They leaned over and kissed each other, happy that they had found each other again after all those years.

"Knock, knock."

Lucas broke away from Maya and turned back to face the door. Riley was standing in the doorway, their friends and family standing behind her as they crowded in the doorway, watching them on the hospital bed. Lucas' brows rose in surprise that Riley hadn't been kidding when she'd said she would come back with everyone. They were all there. Even Farkle, despite how busy he had to have been.

"We brought presents for the baby," Farkle said, lifting up a sparkly silver bag with a grin. "Is it okay for us to come in?"

"Of course it is, Farks. I'm glad you could make it." Maya said, sitting up with a slight grunt. "Come meet Katia."

As their friends and family all filled the room, cooing and tittering excitedly at the newest member of the Friar-Hart family, Lucas couldn't help but be glad that the love of his life—his perfect woman, his best friend—had asked him to be her baby daddy a year and a half ago. A crazy request that had given them trouble in their relationship and had dug up old scars had brought him the happiest day of his life.

Lucas had gotten his happy ending with Maya—a family—and he wouldn't have it any other way.

~Fin!~