"What do you mean she's in labour?"
Nikki heard a shout on the other end of the phone and Leo winced and ran one hand over his face before giving Nikki a small smile which she returned hesitantly.
"That's what I said, so I think you should get up into my office now"
Leo hung up and turned back to Nikki, she had her eyes closed again and was breathing heavily, her hands gripping the arms of the chair.
"Another one?" he asked and she nodded without opening her eyes, her breathing becoming rapid "Calm down" he soothed and placed one hand on her shoulder. Nikki opened her eyes and looked up at him before covering her hand with his and nodding, giving him a weak smile "It'll all be fine"
Leo then reached across his desk and picked up the phone again, hearing running behind him he looked up and saw Harry rushing into his office. The younger man dropped to his knees next to Nikki and Leo walked around to the other side of his desk to give them some room as he spoke on the phone.
"Nikki" Harry whispered and she gave him a small smile, he entwined one of her hands with his and she squeezed it lightly "Are you okay?"
"I'm scared. I'm sorry I was so stupid" she whispered "I had some contractions this morning, quite early as well before you came to work, but I didn't tell you. I didn't want to worry you in case it was nothing"
"Oh Nikki" Harry sighed and brought her hand to his mouth to kiss it gently and placed his free hand on her stomach "You should have told me whatever happened"
"I know" she gasped as another contraction came and let out a groan. Harry glanced at Leo with a worried look on his face as the older man slammed the phone down.
"Ambulance should be here soon, they said about half an hour"
Harry glanced at his wife and shook his head, biting his lips slightly.
"I don't think that is going to be soon enough" he told him quietly as he looked at his watch and Leo nodded "If she's been having contractions since early this morning since before I came to work she's technically been in labour for over ten hours"
"That's what I thought" Leo muttered "They are barely five minutes apart now"
"She won't make it to the car, and if she does she will defiantly never make it to the hospital" Harry told the man next to him who gave him a knowing look as they both sighed.
"Harry" Nikki moaned and he whipped his head around to look at her "It's agony"
"I know honey" he nodded and gripped her hand "It'll be over soon"
"No you don't bloody know!" she shouted "You men have it so bloody easy it's unreal" she took another deep shuddering breath and Harry turned to Leo as he tried to ignore the fact that his lover was crushing his hand. She was obviously in more pain than he was.
"We'll have to deliver the baby here"
"What?" Nikki screeched as she heard this and sat up straighter in the chair, her face already covered in a layer of perspiration "No you bloody well are not"
Harry nodded at her and tried to look brave in front of Nikki but inside he was utterly terrified.
"Listen Nikki there is no time for you to get to the hospital and the ambulance isn't going to be here for another half an hour" he told to her "Do you honestly believe you are going to last that long?"
Nikki bit her lip and shook her head, her eyes filling with tears of both pain and terror.
"It will be fine I promise you" Harry whispered to her as he helped her to the floor and pressed a kiss onto her clammy forehead.
"I believe you" she mumbled and leant back against him taking a deep breath as another stronger contraction ripped through her.
"We should know how to deliver a baby, we are all doctors here" he reminded her and she scoffed and shook her head.
"Yeah that makes me feel so much better" she told him sarcastically as Leo walked back into the room "How long has it been since you were both in med school?"
Neither of them replied but shared a look over her shoulder before Harry leant down and kissed her on the temple. Nikki's grip on his hand tightened and she let out another louder moan and closed her eyes.
"That..that was..one of the..worst" she told them as she tried to get her breath back "God..I hate you..Harry"
"and I love you" Harry replied sincerely
"Nikki you're going to have to take your trousers off for me sweetheart" Leo told her and Nikki let out a sarcastic chuckle and opened her eyes slightly.
"That's what got me in this bloody state in the first place" she snapped and turned to Harry who looked terrified "and you, you're sleeping on the sofa for the rest of your life. Why am I so stubborn" she muttered and gasped as another pain flew through her rendering her breathless for a few seconds "I could..have..been in..hospital now..if I wasn't"
"I know" Harry whispered as he ran the hand that wasn't in Nikki's vice like grip through her damp hair "but Leo knows what he is doing"
"You better bloody know" Nikki whispered as she leant her head back on Harry's shoulder and took shallow breaths "I really..need..to push"
"No" Leo said loudly "Not yet"
"Please" Nikki cried loudly and a few tears leaked from her eyes causing both men's hearts to break slightly "Please I have to"
"Listen Nikki you will do yourself and the baby more harm than good if you push now okay" Leo told her forcibly "You can push when I tell you"
"Stop telling me what to do" she snapped "Who are you my boss?"
Leo and Harry exchanged a look that spoke volumes but they didn't say anything to Nikki and Harry checked his watch nervously.
"Harry" Nikki whispered "I'm so scared"
"You'll be fine" Harry assured her and pressed a kiss to her lips and then to her clammy forehead before moving some of her damp hair away from her face.
"I don't want to do this anymore" she sobbed and groaned loudly as another contraction ripped through her, gripping Harry's hand tightly and pressing back into him "Please"
"I'm sorry" Harry whispered to her and pressed another kiss onto her temple, his heart broke when he realized that he couldn't do anything for her in her present state "You have to okay"
"I don't..want..to" Nikki breathed and turned to look at Leo "Leo?"
"It will all be over soon Nikki I promise" he told her and gave her a kind smile "Then you'll have a beautiful baby, if she's anything like you"
"He" Nikki whispered and returned Leo's smile "I keep telling you both it's going to be a boy"
"Okay Nikki on your next contraction I want you to push okay?" Leo informed her and Nikki nodded slightly and squeezed Harry's hand tightly "You'll be fine" he told her again and Nikki made a small noise of agreement before pain flicked over her face and she moaned loudly and let out a scream as she pushed "Good girl"
"I'm..not..a child" she hissed out through deep breaths and Leo mouthed 'sorry' to her as Harry chuckled "and..you can..shut up..it's your fault..I'm doing..this" the last part came out as a shout as she felt another contraction and pushed with it.
Harry could feel her shaking under him and once again moved her hair from her sweaty face and tried to calm her down. After another few contractions Nikki fell back against him in exhaustion and shook her head, tears falling down her cheeks as she tried to catch her breath.
"I can't…" she whispered as she shook her head again "Please"
"Leo she's exhausted" Harry told his friend, terror invading his voice as he looked down at his exhausted lover in his arms, her eyes were shut and her breathing shallow as she let out small moans of pain.
"Harry if we don't get the baby out of her now then there could be some serious damage" Leo whispered to him "there's fifteen minutes until the ambulance is due and that's not enough time, she needs to push now"
Harry sighed and his eyes filled with tears as he once again looked down at Nikki.
"Sweetheart come on" he told her and moved her so she was sitting up a bit more and she opened her eyes to look at him, exhaustion obvious on her face "Only a bit longer"
"I can't" she whispered and shook her head
"Come on that's not the Nikki I know" Leo informed her and gave her a soft smile "Our Nikki never says she can't do anything. As soon as someone does she sets out to prove them wrong"
Nikki swallowed slightly and nodded, her chest heaving with each small breath she took.
"Good" Leo smiled and shot a glance at Harry who just nodded and gave him a weak smile before he focused all his attention back on Nikki "Now I want you to push really hard on the next contraction"
Nikki did so and let out a loud scream and a groan that made Harry bite his lip and blink away tears, he hated seeing Nikki in pain, and to know that he was the cause of her going through this made it even worse, the pain in his hand seemed extremely small compared to what Nikki was going through.
"Good Nikki" Leo's voice brought Harry back to Earth and he heard Nikki groan loudly and take in short, shaky breaths "Once more, nearly there I promise"
Nikki did as she was told and closed her eyes against the pain and bit her lip but this didn't stop her letting out another louder scream before collapsing back against Harry. There was silence in the room for a second which was then pierced by a loud cry of a newborn baby.
"What.." Nikki breathed out as she tried to sit up to look at her child and Leo's face split into a grin as he quickly wrapped the screaming infant in a towel and carefully laid him on Nikki's chest.
"A little boy" Leo informed them and Nikki choked out a sob as she clutched the screaming baby to her chest with one arm and moved the towel away from him with her other hand before running the object over her son's head to try and clean him. Tears slipped down her face as she glanced at Harry who was also crying, the biggest smile she had ever seen him have, on his face.
"Hey" Nikki whispered tearfully to the crying baby as she rubbed him gently to get most of the muck off him "It's alright mummy's here. So is daddy but I think he's too dazed to do anything at the moment" she joked and Harry chuckled from next to her as he reached over and ran his hand over the sniveling child's head before looking at Nikki in alarm as she let out a quiet groan.
"It's just the afterbirth" Leo informed them calmly "I just need one last push out of you Nikki and that's it"
Nikki did as she was told before looking back down at her son who was still sniveling quietly in her arms. He sneezed suddenly causing his parents to laugh and more tears dripped from Nikki's eyes. Neither of them noticed Leo walk out of the room to get cleaned up.
"He's so tiny" she whispered as she took his hand between two of her fingers, chuckling at the baby automatically closed his fist around one of her fingers. His own fingers not even reaching around one of hers. "You're very quiet" she told Harry as she turned her head slightly to look at him "I think daddy's still in shock" she told their son and Harry nodded slightly and smiled.
"We..that's…" he ran finger gently over the baby's cheek and then wiped the towel across his head in another attempt to clean him "That's our son" he finished weakly and tears dripped down his face as it finally sunk in that he and Nikki had a baby "We..we have a baby" he whispered and Nikki chuckled and nodded.
"Yes Harry we do" she smiled at him "Here hold your son"
She went to transfer the now quiet baby into his father's arms but Harry shook his head vigorously causing Nikki to frown.
"What's wrong?"
"I don't want to break him" Harry whispered and Nikki sighed and laughed quietly.
"You won't break him Harry" she replied and placed the baby in Harry's arms, showing him how to hold the child securely before wrapping the towel further around the naked child's body so he wouldn't get cold "There we go"
The baby looked up at his father with bright blue eyes and Harry felt his own filling with tears as he looked down at his son, he blinked to try and dispel them but to no avail as they dripped down his cheeks at a rapid pace.
"Hello" he said quietly to the baby who made a small noise and coughed "I'm your daddy. I can't guarantee I'll be the best daddy in the world but I'll try my best I promise"
Nikki had to force back her own tears as she heard this and looked up as Leo walked back into the room with a bowl of water and some clean towels from the showers. He hovered hesitantly near his desk but Nikki held out her hand to him and beckoned him over to them with a smile.
"Come here" she said softly and Leo knelt down next to her "Thank you" she whispered as she hugged him "I might not have shown it but I trusted you with both our lives"
"I know" Leo replied and pressed a kiss onto Nikki's cheek "Congratulations"
"Thank you" Nikki nodded and turned to see Harry gently washing their son the best he could "Harry seems quite dazed"
"I was as well when Cassie was born" Leo replied and Nikki smiled when he mentioned his deceased daughter "They wouldn't let me in the room at first but I forced my way in" he paused as he remembered "It was pretty traumatic"
Nikki laughed loudly and turned to Harry when he had finished cleaning the baby the best he could and took the quietly whimpering child from his arms before pressing a kiss onto Harry's lips.
"Here we go" Nikki breathed as she deposited the baby into Leo's arms and the older man looked shocked for a minute but quickly relaxed and smiled down at the child. Nikki then moved closer to Harry who wrapped one arm around her shoulder and pressed a kiss onto her forehead.
"What are you going to name him?" Leo asked as he looked up at his two friends
"Harry" Nikki replied quickly and shot a glare at her lover "Don't argue, I decided ages ago that if we have a boy I was naming him after you"
"I wasn't going to argue" Harry protested
"Yes you were" Nikki laughed and Harry looked guilty "anyway you can name the next one"
"Next one?" Harry choked out and Nikki nodded and smiled before accepting little Harry back from Leo who looked towards the lab where there seemed to be some sort of commotion.
"Looks like the paramedics" he told them as he stood up
"Better late than never" Harry replied as Leo walked out of the office, closing the door behind him and meeting the paramedics halfway across the lab. Taking his eyes off them Harry then looked back at his lover and son and a smile crept over his face as he watched Nikki coo over the tiny being in her arms and run her hands gently over the tufts of blonde hair on his head.
"So when can we start on the next one?" she asked him as she looked up at him and then burst out laughing at the look on his face. Realising she was joking, Harry chuckled and leant down to kiss her on the lips.
"Thank you" he whispered and Nikki just smiled and nodded, before resting her head against his shoulder and closing her eyes with a contented sigh.
All finished! :D I had to name the baby Harry because little!harry is cute XD
xxx