Baby Time!
It was just after she ate dinner that the contractions began, and for a while Juno thought that she just had heartburn or something. As soon as she figured it out... she had no idea whether to be terrified or relieved. By the time she waddled to the clinic and it really started to hurt, she decided that terrified was probably the most appropriate.
Everything after that kind of blurred together since she spent most of it breathing heavily and asking for painkillers and squinching her eyes and hoping that it would be over soon. But the doctor on duty went to get Dr. Chase and then someone must have gotten Ray and Horatio too, because by the time she was up on the table with her legs spread, one of them was on either side of her, holding both of her hands.
She remembered them trying to console her as tears poured down her face. She remembered apologizing for cursing and then Ray telling her she could say whatever she wanted. She remembered Horatio looking a little ill and then being careful to keep his eyes well above her waist. She remembered Dr. Chase telling her how to breathe and when to push and that it would all be over soon... even though it seemed to take forever. She'd read in some book that labor could last a whole day and she prayed so hard that it wouldn't.
All in all, it was about four hours before it was all over, and the baby - a boy, Chase proclaimed cheerfully as he held him up - was born at 11:32 PM on Friday the 13th. Juno thought that the kid could have waited half an hour to avoid any potential bad luck, not that she was complaining that it was over. Dr. Chase offered the umbilical cord to the two men, but Juno didn't even see who cut it because by that point she could hardly keep her eyes open. She was just so tired and so relieved that the pain was gone that she wanted to go to sleep for a year. She had a vague memory of Dr. Chase and some other doctor cleaning her up and helping her into real pajamas, and maybe someone holding a baby out to her, and she thought briefly that he had Bleeker's eyes before she nodded off.
She must have fallen asleep for a little while, because when she woke up, Dr. Chase was gone and Ray and Horatio were standing beside her bed. Ray had a baby bundled up in a blanket in his arms.
Everything after that kind of blurred together since she spent most of it breathing heavily and asking for painkillers and squinching her eyes and hoping that it would be over soon. But the doctor on duty went to get Dr. Chase and then someone must have gotten Ray and Horatio too, because by the time she was up on the table with her legs spread, one of them was on either side of her, holding both of her hands.
She remembered them trying to console her as tears poured down her face. She remembered apologizing for cursing and then Ray telling her she could say whatever she wanted. She remembered Horatio looking a little ill and then being careful to keep his eyes well above her waist. She remembered Dr. Chase telling her how to breathe and when to push and that it would all be over soon... even though it seemed to take forever. She'd read in some book that labor could last a whole day and she prayed so hard that it wouldn't.
All in all, it was about four hours before it was all over, and the baby - a boy, Chase proclaimed cheerfully as he held him up - was born at 11:32 PM on Friday the 13th. Juno thought that the kid could have waited half an hour to avoid any potential bad luck, not that she was complaining that it was over. Dr. Chase offered the umbilical cord to the two men, but Juno didn't even see who cut it because by that point she could hardly keep her eyes open. She was just so tired and so relieved that the pain was gone that she wanted to go to sleep for a year. She had a vague memory of Dr. Chase and some other doctor cleaning her up and helping her into real pajamas, and maybe someone holding a baby out to her, and she thought briefly that he had Bleeker's eyes before she nodded off.
She must have fallen asleep for a little while, because when she woke up, Dr. Chase was gone and Ray and Horatio were standing beside her bed. Ray had a baby bundled up in a blanket in his arms.