Chapter Text
Everything changed after Jake and Amy’s wedding, and it was for the better.
The biggest change came about four months after the honeymoon in Paris. Amy was sick, to say the least. She was kneeling on the bathroom floor after a wave of nausea caused her to return her breakfast when she started to recount all the symptoms she was feeling. In a list, of course, she may have been sick but she was not anything less than her type A self. Due to the lack of pen and paper, she went to the notes app on her phone and typed away.
1. Nausea: inability to keep breakfast down or smell perogies anymore.
2. Fatigue: caught falling asleep at work about 4 times in the past week by Jake.
Those were the most common symptoms she felt in the last week and a half, but a new one came to mind as soon as she tried to get up. Her head spun as the sergeant landed with a thud on the ground, knocking down her phone loudly to the ground. Jake immediately yelled out from the kitchen to check if she was okay. When Amy did not answer he barged in with a worried expression in his face. She looked pale and sickly. Her head rested against the toilet seat and her hair was tousled. “Oh baby, come on, you’re lying down for a bit.” Amy started to protest but as she looked up and saw his worry there was no fighting him. He carefully brought her to her feet and into their bedroom, help her lay down and sat at the edge of the bed holding her hand. “I’m calling the doctor to see if he has the lab results already, this is getting new levels of scary”, he said a new side of him showing that was rarely seen by anyone.
A phone call later revealed that Amy Santiago was pregnant, 6 weeks to be exact. He had the phone in between them on speaker, she barely recovering from her nausea and dizziness and he scared to death of the results. When the nurse revealed the news to them, he looked at his wife and let the tears slip from his eyes. They locked eyes and smiled, thanked the nurse, hung up, and cried into each other’s arms exchanging sweet nothings and I love you’s.
There was no explaining how Jake felt at that moment. He was over the moon about a new family member but he had zero experience other than spending time with Terry’s and Charles’ kids. Roger Peralta had been the opposite of a father figure, but he did vow to never be anything like him. He would take care of his little one and be there for every milestone. Until then, he would help Amy in any shape or form, and boy, was he helpful. The remaining of the first trimester, he held Amy’s hair as her morning sickness doubled down on her. She found it sweet that he was trying to compensate for the fact that she had to go through the whole process of bearing their child. He consistently massages her wherever she feels tense and tenderly kisses her neck while doing so because this is Jake and he loves making Amy squirm as much as possible.
The second trimester comes quicker than expected, title of Jake’s sex tape. He has learned from Gina, and a book, that the baby will start kicking and reacting to voices, which excites him so much. Jake rubs Amy’s protruding bump with special creams, again, recommended by Gina, and makes Amy roll her eyes when he goes from expressing his love to the baby and her to reciting lines from Die Hard. It’s also around the time Amy feels like she’s acing this pregnancy, but is set back when the doctor orders her to bed rest after an incident on a case. Jake is now in his second pregnancy book wishing he could read as much and as fast as his wife. Amy is on bed rest for 14 days, in which she and Jake work on her pregnancy binder, and watch a whole lot of Property Brothers.
The third trimester is the worst for Amy surprisingly considering the amount of nausea and sickness the first caused her. She waddles and Jake must hold her hand as she walks around the precinct. Eventually, she just recuses herself to her chair and rolls everywhere like Scully and Hitchcock. At home, Jake rubs her swollen ankles and feet, orders her food that no longer makes her sick and in bed, continues the extensive bump routine with added elements. Amy has started to feel the baby kick whenever they hear her voice or her dad’s often. She believed it to be a coincidence before, but now she was over the moon about the confirmation.
Saying the pregnancy was over in the blink of an eye is an understatement. The baby shower, fabulously hosted by Gina and organized by Rosa, had been a giant success. There were pastel colored balloons and decorations, none of the colors specific to a gender. Captain Raymond Holt had gotten them a custom Die Hard onesie with the Nakatomi Plaza and Jake nearly cried at his dad’s- Captain’s gift to their child. Amy goes into labor at 42 weeks of gestation and it freaks Jake out more than he ever imagined it would.
“Cool cool cool cool cool, we got the go-bag, car-seat, Amy- AMY WHERE ARE YOU, OH MY GOD!” Jake was at the threshold of their apartment building trying to recall everything they needed from the binder he could not find.
“Pineapples, I’m already in the car- OH GOD THAT’S A BIG ONE- let’s take deep breaths and OH GET IN THE CAR AND DRIVE!”, Amy yells as a contraction that was longer than normal hit her. Jake ran to the car drove to Brooklyn Memorial where they told his and Amy’s parents they would welcome their baby into the world. The 99 was already at the lobby when they arrived. Jake held her hand as they said a quick hello and gratitude for coming. Amy’s parents were still in New Jersey trying to drive as fast as physically possible. Jake’s parents were in Mexico celebrating their happy marriage as they so called it.
Labor took 30 hours and it was done completely natural as per Amy’s request. He held her hand, telling her to squeeze the feeling out of it, and looked at his beautiful wife the whole time. He would kiss her forehead and cry when he heard his daughter’s first cry out of many. He cut the umbilical cord and watched from beside Amy as they cleaned her up. The nurses handed Amy the baby and she looked at her daughter with more tears prickling in her eyes. After a while of holding her, hearing her make tiny noises, she turned to an equally in-love Jake.
“You want to hold her?” Amy said, her voice weak from the screaming during labor.
“Ames, she’s tiny, what if I drop her? “, Jake said just above a whisper. Amy smiled and shook her head, shifting to give the baby to him. He held her close to his chest and looked at the face that was half him and half his beautiful wife. He kissed her forehead as gently as he possibly could and felt his heartbreak to pieces. He would die for this little person, no doubt about it. The fact that his father would ever leave him rushed in his head and was disgusted at the fact. His daughter would be loved every second of her life, and he and Amy would make sure of that. He looked back at Amy and leaned to kiss her careful not to hurt the baby between them. “I love you so much. Thank you for making me a dad.”
“I love you so much too, and our baby”, she said leaning into another kiss and kissing the top of her daughter's head.
A few moments later, Jake walked into the waiting room of the hospital where the squadron was coming back in after a much-needed break. Amy’s parents had now arrived and were meeting their granddaughter for the first time. “It’s a girl, her name is Luna Santiago Peralta, she is 6 pounds, 11 ounces, mother and daughter are doing great.”