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While the major events of this day were exactly as Tim had predicted, the circumstances of those events were not even close. Lucy was in labor, just like he had told her this morning as she denied it, and now they were at the hospital soon to meet their baby. However, that’s where expectations diverted from reality. Someone had just written “ACH” in bold, red letters across their carefully scripted birth plan.
Tim woke up to his alarm and wasn’t surprised to find his wife’s side of the bed empty. For the last few weeks, Lucy hadn’t been able to rest comfortably for longer than a few hours at a time, no matter how many pillows she tried to stuff around herself. Often in the middle of the night, she had to get up and stretch and walk around before settling back into bed. Otherwise, she’d grab a blanket and opt for the couch, hoping a rerun of The Bachelor would distract her mind enough that she could sleep.
Tim sighed and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He rolled out of bed and made for the kitchen, having made sure to have enough time before work to make them both some breakfast. He grabbed a T-shirt from the chair and threw it on as he walked out of their bedroom and down the hall, careful to step quietly across the wood floors to keep from waking Lucy if she was asleep on the couch.
However, the noise coming from the baby’s room told him that wasn’t the case. Tim peeked around the corner of the door to find Lucy folding a tiny onesie and placing it gently into a hospital bag that he knew she had repacked four times already. He shook his head and smiled before stepping inside. He opened his mouth, prepared to tease her about it when his eyes finally saw the rest of the room. He must have made some noise of astonishment because Lucy turned and gave him a guilty smile. “Hey,” Lucy tried to brush it off softly.
Tim didn’t answer her as he surveyed the room. Not only the hospital bag but the entire room had been reorganized. Even the furniture was rearranged. He shook his head, “Lucy… what?” He finally turned to look at her waiting for an explanation.
“I…um,” She looked around at the room and gestured at it with a sweep of her hand. “I wanted to move the crib under the window. I was reading that it’s good for babies to nap in natural light during the day, that way they can more easily adjust to a night-time routine when it’s dark. It creates better sleeping habits.” Lucy looked back at Tim, her fingers twisting together.
Tim shook his head again and took a breath, “That’s great, but babe, why didn’t you wait for me to help you? You aren’t supposed to be doing anything strenuous, and moving the furniture certainly qualifies!”
Lucy scoffed, irritation flashing in her tired eyes. “I’ve been awake for 4 hours and my back hurts too much to sit. I needed to find something to do. I’ve already done all the laundry. I cleaned the kitchen and I just…” Her eyes started filling with tears and she looked away.
Tim immediately felt guilty and stepped forward to pull her against him. Lucy sagged into his chest and wrapped her arms as far around his waist as she could with their baby squished between them. Tim kissed her hair and rubbed her back in soothing circles. “Hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
“You didn’t. I’m just tired,” he heard her whisper into his chest.
“I know. How about I run you a hot bath – that should make your back feel better. And while you relax, I’ll make you some breakfast.”
She nodded against him and then pulled back to look up sheepishly at him. “That sounds nice.” She then glanced around the room. “I’m sorry I didn’t wait for you, but none of it was too heavy. I took the drawers out of the dresser to reorganize them anyway, so it was easy!”
Tim rolled his eyes, “You shouldn’t even be lifting the drawers.”
Lucy made a disgruntled face at him but couldn’t hide the smirk that flicked at the side of her mouth. “You have to admit that it looks better this way.” Lucy finally smiled as she squeezed her fingers into the meat of his hips.
Tim made a sharp noise of protest and quickly grabbed her wrists as her fingers found a ticklish spot. He held her hands hostage between them and leaned close to her. Lucy instinctively raised her face to meet his, but he stopped just short of kissing her. “I’ll admit that after you promise to ask for help next time.”
Lucy huffed, “Fine.”
Tim smiled, “Thank you, and the room really does look good. The baby will love it.” He finally closed the distance between their lips and kissed her softly for a moment before pulling back. “So, you don’t need to do it again,” he whispered against her ear.
Lucy scoffed and rolled her eyes high to the ceiling, “Oh my god.” She pulled her hands out of his and moved to walk around him. “I’m going to take a bath,” she called as she continued down the hallway.
Tim stood for a minute and admired the room as her footsteps quieted behind him. Lucy really had done a good job. She’d fixed the standing awkwardness that had resided in the flow of the room, which they had tried several times to adjust. But this, along with all the other tasks she claimed to already have done this morning, was surprising. He walked over and replaced the neatly folded onesie on the dresser back into the hospital bag, then placed the baby blanket that was covered with little sunshines on top of the bag before zipping it closed. Lucy’s new restlessness and back pain could be signs that she was going into labor.
*******
“Hey, Luce, what do you want for breakfast?” Tim called as he peeked his head into the bathroom. He found Lucy with her eyes closed and a slight scrunch to her face as she lay back in the water.
“Hmm,” she hummed, “whatever.”
He moved to kneel beside the tub and stroke a hand through her hair. “Is it your back?”
She opened her eyes and nodded. “Yeah, the water is helping a bit.”
“That’s good.” Tim thought for a moment. “Is it a constant pain? Or one that comes and goes?”
She looked up and met his concerned eyes, “It’s just an ache, Tim.” She reached up a wet hand and laid it over his on the edge of the tub. “I’m not in labor. We’re still two weeks away from my due date.”
“The baby doesn’t know what day it is. And like Dr. Mac said, she’s measuring big. She could be ready.” He rubbed his thumb over her hand, “Maybe I should take the day off.”
Lucy pulled her hand away and shook her head. “It’s not time yet! I’m not in labor, I would know!” She snapped, getting annoyed.
“Okay, okay,” Tim held up his hands in surrender. “I was just checking.”
Lucy closed her eyes and sighed, rubbing her hands over her face. “I’m sorry. I’m grumpy.”
Tim smiled and leaned down to kiss her head, “You’re awfully cute when you’re grumpy.”
Her eyes narrowed playfully as she reached up to kiss him properly. “This Bradford baby must be rubbing off on me. Bradfords are known to be grumpy, so it’s completely your fault. You should be the one apologizing.” Tim huffed a laugh.
“I’m sorry, babe,” he said in concession. He laid a hand on top of her belly that was peeking out of the water rubbing it gently. “Now, what do you want for breakfast?”
********
Later that day, not even halfway through his shift, Lucy called him to sheepishly inform him that her water had broken, and she was no longer able to deny that she was in labor.
“Don’t even say it!” was the first thing out of her mouth when he answered. “Just come home so we can go to the hospital.” Both excitement and panic flooded through him at once, and Thorsen didn’t say anything about the fact that he illegally used the lights and sirens all the way back to the station.
Now that Tim had Lucy beside him and they were at the hospital, he thought his nerves would settle, but they were only growing. He had never been good at seeing her in pain, and she was currently hanging onto his arm, fingers biting deep into his skin as they rode the elevator up to Labor and Delivery. Since her water had broken, the contractions were coming fast and hard, this baby was going to be here soon. At least Tim hoped so. He didn’t want to have to helplessly watch her suffer for long.
“Why did you wait so long to call me, Baby?” he asked softly as the contraction seemed to lift.
“I called you as soon as my water broke,” she barked back defensively. She took a few panting breaths before continuing with a hand held to the underside of her belly. “The contractions weren’t that bad before. It happened really sudde-” She was cut off as the elevator screeched and shook to a stop causing Tim to reach out to keep Lucy from falling.
“What the hell was that?” she asked, her eyes showing her worry while she tried to keep it out of her voice.
Tim reached forward, one arm still around Lucy, and hit the button for floor number seven again. The light reilluminated, but nothing happened. The elevator didn’t restart, the doors didn’t open, and everything just stood still as they both held their breath.
*******
Tim held Lucy close as he swayed them back and forth. Lucy had stopped talking about ten minutes ago and now only answered Tim’s question with noises -groans, hums, and his least favorite, cries of pain. Her forehead was resting against his shoulder, her arms wrapped high around his neck though her hands hung limply until a contraction came and then she gripped hard onto whatever clothing or skin or muscle she could find. “Those biceps are there for something after all,” she had told him earlier.
The fireman had just checked in with them via the elevator's intercom a few minutes ago to let them know that they were doing all they could as quickly as possible, but after an hour they still didn’t have any kind of timeline to offer them. That meant that, so far, the LAFD was once again a whole lot of worthless. “Just a bunch of hunky idiots in waterproof jackets,” Tim said to Lucy, once the intercom was disconnected, in the hopes of making her smile. She didn’t lift her head from Tim’s shoulder, but her huff of response seemed lighter than the one before. He was going to take that as a win. He pressed his lips into her hair. “You are braver and stronger and more badass than all those firefighters put together. You’ve got this.”
Suddenly, everything changed and with the next contraction Lucy simultaneously became more rigid and tense while her knees gave way and all her body weight seemed to hang in Tim’s arms. Her quiet noises of pain turned to a cry as she tried to open her mouth, but no words came out.
“Lucy! Lucy, what’s wrong? What do you need?” The almost dead weight of Lucy in his arms was scaring him. It was too reminiscent of a time he would very much like to forget.
Her breathing was coming out in fast gasps, and he was worried that she couldn’t breathe, “Lucy, keep breathing. Breathe with me and tell me what you need.”
Lucy forcible took a few shuttering breaths, “Push,” she cried faintly, the contraction still wrapped around her belly. “I need to push!”
Somewhere in Tim’s mind, he was sure the elevator was going to be fixed before anything more happened, but as today was going so far, he should have expected that anything could happen once again.
“Okay, okay,” he answered, her urgency causing a new panic to settle in his chest. He wrapped his arm all the way around her back and slowly walked her back a couple of steps to lean against the elevator wall.
“Hold on to me, Lucy,” he ordered, her trembling fingers automatically responding to his command as his arm slid down and held tightly to her hips and he bent down without gosling her. “I’m going to lift your skirt and take your underwear off.” She nodded with a breathless cry and desperately leaned her head back against the wall and squeezed her eyes shut as she panted.
Once the underwear was gone, Tim stood back upright beside her and noticed that her breathing was a touch easier. The contraction must have passed for now. He took his free hand and brushed the sweaty hair off her face gently. “Do you want to get down on the floor?”
She opened her eyes and looked at him before nodding her head.
“Okay, hold on to the handrail for just one second, okay? Can you do that?” he asked before his arm moved away from her. Again, she nodded shakily.
In one quick movement, Tim released her waist and pulled off his flannel shirt to spread it out on the ground below her in the corner where the walls could more easily support her. Then he was in front of her, helping lower her to the floor. She came to rest on her knees over the top of his shirt and immediately shook her head when Tim tried to help her the rest of the way down. “No,” she breathed faintly, “here.”
“Alright,” Tim nodded, happy that she seemed to know exactly what she needed. As soon as she was settled, the next contraction started, and she reached up to grip the handrails on the wall to either side of her. Tim gently rolled her long skirt up her thighs so he could see below her.
Lucy pushed hard, her face turning red with the effort before she’d stop and pant for a few breaths and begin again.
With both of them kneeling in front of each other, it was hard for Tim to see the progress, so he reached a hand down to gently feel for the head. Lucy was in the middle of a push and Tim’s breath caught when he felt the hard dome of his baby’s head move downward against his fingertips. “I can feel her, Lucy. I can feel her!” He couldn’t help the laughter in his voice and the smile that spread wide across his face. “You’re doing it, Baby.”
As Lucy stopped pushing, Tim felt their baby retreat a little bit, but the crown of the head remained. Lucy released the handrail and let her arms drop to her knees and she leaned forward. Tim moved to hold her against him as they breathed together, rubbing circles on her back as they waited for the next contraction. They repeated this several times. Each time Tim could feel more of the baby’s head emerge while Lucy pushed harder and harder. Her sounds and movements were becoming more desperate with each one.
“I can’t!” Lucy cried as she released her last contraction. Her breath coming in short gasping cries. “This isn’t -how it’s - supposed to be!”
Tim reached up to cup her face in both of his hands, “I know this isn’t how we planned, but you can do this, Lucy. You are doing it! And I am right here. We can do this together. This is just like the home birth you wanted at the beginning. Just you and me and the baby.”
Lucy opened her exhausted eyes and looked at Tim tears falling in big drops down her cheeks. Tim’s heart clenched painfully at the sight. “You didn’t want a home birth – you said it wasn’t safe,” she whispered beneath a sob.
Tim rolled his eyes, “Trust you to remember everything I have ever said, even now.”
He brushed her cheeks with his thumbs soothingly, wiping away her tears as he scrambled for words that would reassure her. “I did say that,” he admitted. “But I said that because we would have been so far away from the hospital. But we’re here. It might not seem like it,” He huffed a laugh, “but we are at the hospital. We are inside the building, and any minute now those firefighters are going to get that door open. But until they do, everything is fine.” Tim lifted her face to look into her eyes. “You and the baby are safe. Everything is looking good and normal. Everything is okay, Lucy.”
He leaned forward and kissed her softly as she nodded. “Just close your eyes and imagine we’re at home. You’re kneeling on a soft rug and a pile of blankets. It’s dark and there are candles everywhere. Soft music and incents. And it’s just you and me. Relaxed, peaceful, and ready to meet this baby.”
Lucy opened her eyes and something softer glimmered with her tears, “Ready to meet this baby,” she repeated with a small smile.
Within moments her grip hardened on his biceps and she groaned loudly, her head falling forward and bore down with another push.
Tim held a palm up in the space between. “Give me your hand,” he said softly. Letting her know it wasn’t an order, just a request if she could manage it. Lucy pried her fingers from where they were bruising his arm as she released the push and panted for breath. She then laid it in Tim’s who guided it down between her legs. The moment her fingers brushed the baby’s head her eyes widened, and her tears started again, though in astonished joy this time instead of fear. “She’s right there, Baby. You’re so close,” he whispered as they both held their hands over their daughter’s head.
Lucy smiled through her tears, and Tim couldn’t help but laugh so relieved to see a flash of joy back on her face. Their baby was so close she could physically touch her -that sense of realness prompted a newfound strength within her. Her palm covered the baby’s head, and she pushed down into her hand as she felt the baby move from inside her. The head was already halfway out and then, with the next push, Lucy let out a scream as the rest of the head was forced from her body.
“The head’s out!” Tim called, pride loud in his voice, as his hands stayed on either side of hers to guide the baby out. “You are doing so good, Baby!”
With the next contraction, and Lucy’s palm guiding it, the baby finally slipped out into Tim’s hands. Both of them were breathless and on edge until a second later when the baby let out a healthy wail which was followed by laughter and many more tears by Tim and Lucy.
Tim choked back a lump in his throat and lifted the tiny, wiggling baby in his hands up to Lucy, “It’s our daughter, Lucy,” he whispered.
She reached her hands out and pulled the baby girl to her chest, careful not to drop her. The smile that shined on her face was bigger than any he had ever seen on her before. Even covered in sweat and afterbirth, she was the most beautiful he had ever seen her.
“Look at her, Tim!” The reverence of the whisper seemed to echo around in his chest making it tight.
Tim just stared at her for a moment before he leaned forward and kissed her deeply. He pulled back before he could accidentally push her over, his hand trailing her cheek. “We have a daughter thanks to you. You are the strongest, most amazing, most beautiful…” he pursed his lips together and shook his head to clear the tears in his eyes. “You are everything…” he looked down and laid a hand on their daughter's back as she settled, “and you have given me everything!”
*******
After a few hours, Tim, Lucy, and the baby were finally settled into a large recovery suite, courtesy of the endlessly apologetic Shaw Memorial Board of Directors. From the moment they were freed from the elevator, they were surrounded by firefighters and two different teams of doctors and nurses – one for Lucy and one for their daughter. But finally, the chaos was done, and they were left in peace.
Tim sighed deeply as he settled into the chair beside the bed, content to just soak in every part of the perfect baby girl in his arms. They had named her Ellie, which meant “light,” and it already fit her perfectly. Tim smiled as he looked at the yellow sunshines on the blanket that was bundled tightly around her. Lucy had been the light in his life since the day he met her and this little girl, he knew, would be just like her mother.
Lucy watched with tired eyes from the bed, as he continued to rock the baby back and forth. She was supposed to be sleeping, but she seemed to be having the same problem as Tim, unable to tear her eyes away from their new addition.
Suddenly, Lucy’s low voice broke the silence, “Being stuck in that elevator got me thinking –.” Tim broke the gaze he had focused on Ellie and sighed as he looked at his wife. She didn’t have to continue for him to know exactly what she meant.
“I know. I couldn’t help but think of it too.” He reached out and took her hand, holding it tightly. “I was relieved it didn’t trigger anything,” Tim said gently.
“It was there, but I was a bit distracted if you hadn’t noticed,” she smirked.
Tim looked down at the baby in his arms. “A very worthy distraction.”
Lucy nodded as she watched Tim’s eyes shine with joy as he looked at Ellie. “I might have to get a new tattoo.”
This time Tim almost gave himself whiplash as he looked back at her. “What?” Lucy almost regretted saying it as she saw worry flood his eyes. She squeezed his hand tightly to reassure him.
“This is the second time I’ve got trapped in a metal box and come out completely new – ‘the first day of the rest of my life.’” Tim almost stopped breathing at the echo of his words to her so long ago. “That day I survived. I started over as a totally new person with a totally different perspective on life. And today, because of Ellie, I came out a mother, and you came out a father. Today is the first day of the rest of our lives as a family.”
Tim stood carefully and moved to sit beside her on the bed, her hand still clutched in his. He kissed her head gently and leaned his lips against her temple. “You are amazing,” he whispered against her hair. Lucy turned to look up at him, eyes gleaming. “You astonish me every day, you know that?”
Lucy blushed as she leaned her head onto his shoulder and rested a hand on top of their sleeping daughter. “Only because I know you always have my back.” She murmured through a yawn.
Tim shook his head with a smirk. “No, you walked in the door this way.” Lucy huffed a tired laugh as she tried to adjust to a more comfortable position. Tim released her hand and wrapped an arm around her to hold her against him. “Get some sleep, Baby. She’ll still be here when you wake up.”
Lucy nodded and traced a soft finger over Ellie’s cheek before snuggling farther into her husband’s embrace. “The first day of the rest of our lives.”