CHAPTER 34

Jack and Sue returned to work a few days after their wedding to an impromptu reception. D had lunch for everyone catered in. Sue was beginning to get her new office ready for the task force, looking over files of possible people to join. She wished she could steal Lucy and Tara away, but knew they belonged with the team. The weeks passed quickly. The days were long and getting warmer. It was beautiful weather to take Levi for walks in the park to visit with Daisy and Lucy. Lucy and Sam had decided to move in together, and give it a go. So far, it was working out wonderfully, but she still hadn't given up the apartment yet.

June 16th Sue went for her doctor's appointment and a non stress test at the hospital. The doctor and nurses all told her things looked wonderful. The baby was still very active and high; she had a couple weeks left before their bundle of joy would be with them. Sue busied herself in the baby's room. She loved to just sit in the glider and think about what it was going to be like holding the little one at night as she rocked him or her to sleep. Sue made chicken parmesan for dinner. She and Jack ate in front of the TV talking about the day. After dinner, they took Levi for his walk, and then went to the grocery store to pick up a few things for the weekend. Sue said she didn't feel much like doing a big shopping, she was tired. She decided to turn in a little early because she was so tired lately. Jack decided to stay up and watch the baseball game. Jack crawled into bed about 2:15, after having fallen asleep on the couch. He did his best not to wake Sue up. At just before 3, Sue jumped out of bed yelling something and ran to the bathroom calling for Jack. He was half awake but was pretty sure he'd heard her swear.

Jack stumbled into the bathroom rubbing his eyes. "What? What did you say?" he asked grumbling still half asleep. "Did I just hear you say 'shit'?" He asked smirking.

"YES!" She shouted, nearly panicked.

Jack shook the cobwebs out of his head when he heard the panic in her voice. "Hey, what's wrong? I have never heard you swear." Jack said, no concerned, squatting in front of her.

"I don't swear often, but when I do… My water broke!" Sue said, again the urgency in her voice was noticeable.

"OK… don't panic. What do I do?" Jack said starting to panic some himself.

"Call the doctor, let him know that my water broke." Sue said. Jack was now pacing the hall in front of the bathroom.

"The doctor's office isn't open at this hour!" Jack insisted.

"Honey… first, calm down! The doctor has an on call service for just this sort of thing. Jack ran and got his phone and dialed the doctor's number. "Umm, yes, hello. My wife's water just broke. She's not due until June 27th." Jack said into the phone. "OK, thanks." And he hung up. "The doctor will call us back." He went to Sue's side, holding her hand. She was shaking, but seemingly calm. "Are you OK? Do you think the baby's OK? Why did your water break, it's too early." Jack said beginning to sound worried.

"I'm fine. I'm not feeling any pain yet. I'm pretty sure the baby is fine. I think he or she is just anxious to come out and meet us. I'm only a week and a half early, that shouldn't be a problem. The baby's lungs and other organs are fully developed at this point. He or she might just be a little small, but I think everything will be fine." Sue reassured. Jack's cell phone rang.

"Hello? Yes. Susan Hudson. Her water just broke." He said into the phone. He got a curious look on his face and turned to Sue: "Honey, are you sure your water broke?" Jack shrugged.

"Yes. It broke in a gush." She answered. Jack repeated what she had said.

"Is it clear?" Jack said making a face as he asked the question. Sue stood up and looked in the toilet.

"Yes, looks clear to me." She answered. Again Jack repeated what she said making another "YUK" face. Sue giggled.

"OK… OK… O-K. We'll be there. Thank you." Jack said, hanging up his phone.

"What did he say?" Sue asked.

"He said, since you were completely closed 12 hrs ago, you should be fine. He said, don't rush, but get to the hospital. He said if you want to take a shower, go ahead." Jack said, repeating the instructions the doctor had given.

"Ohh… I just took a shower before I went to bed, I'm all set." She said, clinching her teeth. "Besides, the labor pains have started. Let's get my stuff and go." She said, standing up. "OK, first… can you get me a clean pair of underwear, and my coat? And my phone." Sue took care of what she needed to in the bathroom, and put some sweat pants and the Hockey jersey that Jack had gotten her for Christmas years earlier. They were big, but comfy. "Can you call my parents and let them know? Tell them to call everyone else. Or they can wait until the baby is here and call w/that news…" Sue asked.

"Honey, it's three in the morning. Do you really want me to call your parents?" Jack asked in disbelief.

"Yes." She signed as she dialed her Black Berry. "Luc? It's me. My water broke, we're headed to the hospital. I just wanted to let you know. See you later. Thanks!" Sue said, shutting her phone.

Jack looked at her extremely nervous. "Ready?" He asked with a scared smile on his face.

"About as ready as I'll ever be." She said as she waddled down the front stairs to the car. Jack carried the bag. They had decided to leave Levi at home, at least until the baby was actually born. The hospital wouldn't allow him to go into the delivery room and they couldn't leave him in the waiting room.

On their way to the hospital, Sue remembered her breathing and took deep breaths and let them out slowly. She could feel the contractions, but the pain wasn't bad yet. Once they were at the hospital, the nurses hooked her to the non stress test machine, then to a monitor to check the labor's progress. Her vitals were taken, sugar levels, an IV was put in and she was set up in a room for her labor. By the time the doctor came in and checked her, it was nearly 6 AM.

"Well, not bad… 3 CM dilated in less than 3 hours, pretty good… but that's not a head I feel." The doctor said.

"I'm sorry?" Jack questioned. "What did you just say?"

"I said, she's progressing quite well, but I don't feel a head. I'm touching a bum." The doctor explained.

"What does that mean?" Jack asked, totally confused.

"He means the baby is breech." Sue answered. "Are you sure?" Sue asked.

"Yes. We're going to do a sonogram to make sure, but I know I am." The doc said. He was calm, and not rushing in the least.

"Wait. How did this happen? For the last 3 weeks the baby's been face down head down, ready to go. I just had a sonogram 2 weeks ago!" Sue said, beginning to get scared. A nurse rolled in the sonogram machine, and the doctor pushed the wand against Sue's belly. He pointed on the screen.

"See… right there. That's your baby's head." The wand was up near Sue's ribs. He moved the wand side to side. "See, there are the feet." He moved the wand lower. "And if you look over here, you'll see a little bum." He shut off the machine and the nurse took it out of the room.

"Are you saying that the baby is bent in half?" Sue asked in disbelief.

"Yes. It's quite common actually. The baby will usually work itself back around to the correct position before birth. This little one, however, has decided to come and say hi before that can happen." The doctor continued to explain.

"Now what?" Jack asked.

"Well, there are two options. If you want to try for a vaginal birth, we can try to turn the baby. I will be honest with you. That takes a lot of time, and it is very painful. Your second option is to have a C-Section. We just go in and take the baby, quicker and a lot less painful for you in the long run." The OB said.

"Is it safe for the baby if we try to turn it?" Sue asked nervously. Jack noticed how much her hands were shaking, and he took both in his, holding them close.

"Yes, it is safe. Your baby isn't showing any signs of distress." He paused.

"But?" Jack urged.

"But… Sue, your blood pressure is slightly elevated. With that, I would really rather not put you through that. If it was up to me, I would rather do the C-Section and just get it over with." He said.

"Are they in danger?" Jack asked, looking petrified.

"Not right now. If the baby wasn't breech, I would say a vaginal birth would be OK to try. We would keep an eye on the blood pressure, but it would probably be fine. My professional opinion is, do the C-Section. I'll give you two a few minutes to think it over. Buzz for the nurse and let me know what you decide. I'm going to go scrub." He said, giving Sue's hand a gentle squeeze.

"What do you think?" Jack asked Sue. Her eyes welled up with tears, her hands began to shake uncontrollably.

"I'm scared Jack. I don't want to lose this baby." Sue said.

"Hey, the doctor said the both of you are ok right now, no worries." Jack tried to reassure.

"I think we should do the C-section. I don't ever want to take any chances with this baby." Sue said as she started to sob.

"Then, that's what we'll do." Jack agreed. Sue pressed the buzzer, and her nurse came in.

"Can you tell Doc B that we've decided to go with the C-section?" Sue said.

"Are you alright?" The nurse asked.

"Yes, I'm fine. It's just the nerves!" She said, still sobbing.

"OK. No worries, alright. I'm going to stay with you through this." The nurse said.

"Mr. Hudson, you go with Donna over there, she's going to get you some scrubs to wear in the OR. Sue, you and I are going to shave you, and put a catheter in." She said. Sue looked at her curiously

"A catheter? Why?" Sue asked.

"We don't' want you peeing on the delivery table. The doctor's don't like that… although, Heaven only knows why not!" She joked.

"Umm, OK. I guess if we're going to get that familiar with one another, you should tell me your name again. I'm sorry, I've forgotten it." Sue said, slightly embarrassed.

"It's OK. It's Dianna." The nurse said. They continued to prep her for surgery. Once she was done, they rolled her out into the hall where Jack was. "Mr. Hudson, you can wait in there for us. I will come and get you when it's time." Dianna instructed.

"OK…" Jack said nervously. His face was slightly pale.

Dianna pushed Sue into the OR and had her hop off the bed, and up onto the operating table.

"First baby?" Dianna asked. Sue shook her head yes with a big smile on her face.

"Your husband looks scared to death out there." She said with a chuckle.

"He is." Sue laughed back.

"I noticed you and he were talking in sign language earlier. Where did you learn it?" She asked.

"When I was a child. My mother insisted I learn ASL, to read lips, and how to speak, so I would lead a normal life." Sue explained.

"You're deaf?" Dianna asked.

"Yes. You didn't know?" Sue asked.

"No. There's no indication in your chart, and Dr. B never said anything about it. Now, is your husband deaf as well?" She asked.

"No. Jack's not. He learned sign so we could communicate better." Sue said.

"Nice hubby." Dianna laughed.

"He is. He actually learned when we just worked together. He made me feel welcome like that." Sue explained.

"Wow. I can't even get my hubby to take the trash out for me, never mind learn a new language for me. I'd hang onto him." She joked.

"I plan to. It took me too long to get him…" Sue said.

"OK. Now, this is Neil. He is our anesthesiologist. He will be administering the epidural. He's going to clean the area, then you're going to lean as far forward as you can, hugging me. You'll feel a pinch and a burn. You'll have to stay perfectly still. Once it's in, he'll tell you when, and you'll be able to lay down. You'll have to do it pretty quickly, the medicine takes effect fast." She gave Sue's shoulder a rub. "You won't be able to see my lips, so if you have any questions, you need to ask now." Sue shook her head no. "OK. I will wave when you can move." Dianna said. Sue did as she was instructed. Dianna wasn't kidding around. It took all of about 2 minutes for the drugs to kick in. Once Sue was laying down on the table, her arms were spread to each side with IV drugs going into one, and her BP being taken on the other. Jack was shown in and asked if he wanted to watch, or sit behind a curtain. Jack chose to sit with Sue.

"Mr. Hudson, do you want to cut the cord when we get the baby out?" Dr. B asked.

"Can I?" Jack asked excitedly.

"Yes, Sir." Dr. B said laughing. "This is Dr. Thatcher, he will be assisting in the delivery today." He said. "Are we ready people?" He asked. The entire room said a unanimous "READY!" Jack peeked over the tent they'd made in front of Sue and signed back to Sue what he could see, without scaring her. The doctors finally made their way to where the baby was. They ever so carefully cut into the sac.

"We have a bum. Do you want to know what it is?" Doc B asked. Jack signed to Sue.

"Yes!" They both exclaimed.

"You have a beautiful baby boy!" Dr. B exclaimed as he pulled him from Sue's womb.

"B O Y. A beautiful boy." Jack signed to Sue. Sue broke into tears of joy.

"How do you know he's beautiful if all you can see is his bum?" Sue asked laughing.

"Jack? You're up." Dr. B said, handing him the surgical scissors to cut the cord. Doc B held up the baby for Sue to see. His face was scrunched up, and he was covered in gunk, but, Doc B was right. He was beautiful. Dianna took the baby from the doctor so the doctors could finish up. As the doctors finished with Sue, Jack walked to the scale and starting taking pictures. Dianna cleaned him all up, weighed and measured him. They put cream in his eyes, tested him for Billy Rubin, and took a foot print all in about 5 minutes time. Jack must have taken 50 pictures in that time.

"Jack?" Sue called. "Is he crying? Is he ok?" Sue begged for information. Jack came back to her side, and began showing her pictures of their son. He was 19" long, weighed 7lb 2 oz. "He's crying Sue. He's OK. He's perfect." Jack said as tears flowed from his eyes. Just then, Dianna walked to Jack and handed him the baby.

"Son, I want you to meet someone. This is your Momma. She and I love you very much." Jack said as he placed a kiss on his head which was covered with a little hat. He held the baby down for Sue to see and give him her first kiss.

"That's my baby?" She said as she watched in awe as Dianna took him and placed him in his bassinet. She took out a blue card with a baby foot print on it that read "Baby Hudson- BOY".

A nurse took the baby to the nursery for some tests, and Dianna took Sue to recovery for about an hour. For most of that time Sue slept. She had been up most of the night, and was exhausted. The emotional rollercoaster she had been on for the past 6 hours drained her as well. Jack was allowed to sit with her while she slept. He called her parents and his own. They were all very excited to be grandparents again. When Sue woke up, almost an hour after her son's delivery, she asked for her Black Berry.

"I want to call Lucy." She said. She dialed Lucy's number. It only took one ring before she excitedly answered it.

"Sue? How are you doing? What are the doctor's saying? Any idea when this little one will be here? How dilated are you?" Lucy asked in a rush.

"Luc… Luc…" Sue stopped and waited for her to finish. "Lucy… are you done with the inquisition?" Sue asked.

"Yes. Sorry.. so, what's the word?" She asked, a little less frantically.

"Lucy… I had the baby… at 8:58. The baby is 19" long, weighs 7lb 2 oz." Sue said, covering her mouth to stifle a giggle. She knew by leaving out the one thing everyone wanted to know, it would be driving her nuts.

"Wh- WHAT?" Lucy shouted. "You had the baby?" Lucy yelled. "Sue had the baby already!" Lucy shouted across the bull pen. "Wait, how?" Lucy asked.

"They had to do a C-Section because the baby was bent in half, the wrong way, and my blood pressure was up a little." Sue explained.

"Oh, my gosh! This so awesome!" Lucy gushed.

"Jack got to cut the cord, he's on cloud nine right now." Sue continued.

"So… what did you have? Do I have a niece or nephew?" Lucy begged.

"It's a boy. We have a son." Sue said, crying again.

"It's a BOY!" Lucy shouted again across the office. The entire office broke out into a cheer that actually registered on Sue's phone. "Luc, I have to go for now. They're moving me to my room, so I'm going to get to see the baby! I can't wait to hold him." Sue said. "Yes, you can come see him. I will have Jack post a couple pictures for you. Visiting hours start at 6."

Dianna got Sue settled into her room, and brought the baby in for them. She showed Jack how to pick him up out of the crib. Jack carried his son to his wife, and laid him in her arms for the first time. Sue cried. Jack snapped pictures. Dianna took some of the new family, and of Dr. B with them. Dr. B took some of Dianna with them as well.

"Sue, you look wonderful. You stay put for a couple hours. That medicine takes a bit sometimes to wear off. Let the nurses do for you, that's what they're there for. You have a beautiful healthy little boy. Enjoy him." Doc B leaned down and kissed Sue on the top of the head, and touched the baby as well. He shook Jack's hand and off he went to another delivery. Dianna left as well, leaving the family alone together. Sue looked down at her son.

"He looks like you." Sue said, looking lovingly at Jack.

"How can you tell that?" He asked.

"He's got that same scrunched up nose you have when you're thinking hard about something." She giggled. He has your dark hair, your chin." She said, smiling at both of them.

"We need to name our son." Jack said.

"I know." She thought for only a second before announcing "Jackson Samuel Hudson, Jr. I kind of like the sound of that. What do you think?" She asked. Jack's eyes had lit up when she said that.

"What do you think son? Do you like that for a name?" Jack asked, kissing his son on the head. The two sat and filled out his birth certificate.

'JACKSON SAMUEL HUDSON, JR.'

The End!

I hope you all enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. A special thanks to all who took the time out of their busy lives to let me know what they thought. A special shout out to 71 Cottes, dawnpritchard66, tangosalsa, and others who R&R often, it kept me going. I especially want to thank Anony-Mousy and PJ for the assistance with research and reviews, and especially Huck 05 who R&R nearly every chapter! You guys ROCK! As a writer, it really means a lot to know there are people reading what we're putting our heart and soul into. See you soon!