Chapter Text
Vaggie had always imagined what this moment would be like. Since she found out she was pregnant almost 6 months ago, it was all she could think about. She had pictured a quiet room, just her and Charlie, no doctors, no nurses, no interruptions, no distractions, surrounded by warmth and love. She had imagined the moment their baby would be placed into her arms—tiny, perfect, and healthy. She had dreamed of hearing her cry for the first time, of counting her little fingers and toes, of holding her close and whispering how much she was loved. But this… this was nothing like she imagined. The hospital room was in chaos.
"She’s coming too soon!"
"We need more hands in here-"
"Her heart rate is dropping-"
The voices around her blurred, drowned beneath the deafening roar of panic in her head. So much pain was ripping through her body all at once. More physical and mental pain than Vaggie had ever been in.
She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. Couldn’t do anything except clutch Charlie’s hand with an iron grip, her nails digging into her wife’s skin as the medical team worked frantically around her. Charlie’s other arm wrapped around her shoulders, helping Vaggie scrunch forward when she was trying to push. Charlie was crying, her face pale, her golden eyes wide with terror. "Please, please, please let her be okay- " she whispered, her voice barely holding together. Vaggie barely heard her. She barely heard anything past the pounding in her ears, past the unnatural silence of the delivery room, past the terror squeezing her chest. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. This wasn’t right. She wasn’t ready.
It was too soon.
The doctors moved quickly, their hands working with a sharp, urgent rhythm, voices snapping commands to one another. Vaggie could only catch glimpses- gloved hands, the glint of surgical tools, blood that shouldn’t be there, the monitors screaming warnings. The pain was getting to be too much, and a sense of urgency washed over her.
Then-
A sound.
A tiny, gasping, fragile little cry.
Vaggie’s entire world stopped.
The relief hit like a wave, crashing over her so fast and hard that her whole body shook. Charlie sobbed, her entire frame trembling. "She’s here. Oh my Satan, she’s here." Vaggie turned her head, desperate to see her.
And there she was.
A doctor carefully lifted the smallest baby Vaggie had ever seen.
So tiny.
So fragile.
"She needs oxygen-"
"Get her to the NICU, now-"
"Wait-" Vaggie choked, reaching out, but her arms were too weak, her body too exhausted.
The doctors barely hesitated, moving fast.
She barely got a glimpse of her before they whisked her away, her fragile little cries fading as the doors swung shut.
Gone.
Vaggie gasped, her body collapsing back against the hospital bed, her chest aching. Charlie’s hands were on her, squeezing tight, pressing frantic kisses to her knuckles, and brushing away the hair that was stuck to her face, but nothing felt real.
All she could see was how small she was.
How helpless.
And how she wasn’t in her arms.
Charlie’s voice wavered, breaking through the suffocating silence. "I’m so proud of you mi amor." she whispered, tears slipping down her face, kissing Vaggie’s temple. "She’s alive, Vaggie."
Vaggie squeezed her eyes shut, her own tears finally spilling over. "But she’s not safe."
Charlie let out a broken little sound, pressing her forehead against Vaggie’s and holding her the best that she could. "She’s strong," she murmured, her breath shaky. "She’s gonna fight. Just like you. Just like us."
Vaggie wanted to believe her.
She needed to believe her.
But all she could feel was the emptiness in her arms.
She had carried their daughter for months, felt her little kicks, her stretches, her life growing inside her. And now? Now she was gone, taken from her before she could even hold her.
"I need to see her," Vaggie whispered, gripping Charlie’s wrist. "I can’t- I can’t sit here-I need to-" Charlie nodded quickly, wiping her tears. "I’ll get them to take us to her, okay? We’ll go together." Vaggie exhaled shakily, nodding, barely holding herself together.
Their daughter was alive.
But she wasn’t safe.
And Vaggie had never been more terrified in her entire life.