An hour and a half had passed since Emma, Toby, Marco and Ellie had started their vigil in the hall outside Liberty’s room. 

After they had gone into the room and seen JT and Liberty talking again Manny offered to wait outside with the others but Liberty asked her to stay, so she had. 

“Man this is taking a long time,” Toby said looking at his watch.

“Toby what’s your deal?”  Emma asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You have looked at your watch 50 times in the last hour.   What’s with you?  Do you have some place to be?”  Emma asked.

Before he could answer Liberty’s scream pierced their ears.

“What was that about?”  Marco said nervously.

“She’s in pain,” Ellie said softly.

******

“Liberty I know you’re hurting hunny but I really need you to concentrate for me,” Liberty’s doctor said soothingly.  “This baby is crowning.  Give me three more good pushes and I think we’ll be done.”

“WE’LL BE DONE?”  Liberty gritted out.

“Come on baby listen to her.  She is trying to help you.”

“Shut your mouth JT Yorke.  I don’t want to hear your voice anymore.”

“Sorry,” he said softly just as Liberty screamed again.

******

“El you alright?”  Marco asked looking at Ellie who was paler than usual.

“Do you think she is alright?”  Ellie asked.

“Liberty is fine Ellie.  Don’t worry she is just trying to deal with her pain El.  If something was wrong JT and Manny wouldn’t be able to stay in the room.”

Oh my god!  I don’t think I can stand this anymore,  Ellie thought.  She had stopped hearing Marco.  How did he know Liberty was fine?  The screaming was getting to her.  Ellie couldn’t stand to see someone hurting or hearing it for this matter.

I gotta get outta here.  Ellie thought and started to walk out when Ava walked down the hall. 

“Hey,” Ava smiled.  “How is it going?” 

“It’s not good,” Ellie answered.

“What happened?”  Ava asked

“She keeps screaming.”

“Everything is fine Ava, Ellie is just freaking out.  I mean if something was wrong they would make Manny and JT leave the room right,” Marco said sounding unsure.

“Marco, I’m not freaking out.  I think I would know if I was freaking out,” Ellie said a little too loudly.

“El, calm down,”  Ava said smiling at her friend.  “Liberty is just getting through the delivery in her own way.  I’m sure she is alright.”

******

Liberty let out another agonized screech.  She had only pushed once since yelling at the doctor and telling JT to shut up.  Manny took Liberty’s face between her hands and looked right into her eyes. 

“Liberty don’t you want to see this baby?”

“Yes,” Liberty said as tears ran down her cheeks.

“Then stop crying and push,” Manny ordered.  “You push as hard as you can because this little girl wants her mama.  NOW PUSH!”

And Liberty did.

“The head is out Liberty.  Now let’s stop a second and catch your breath.  You’re almost there,” the doctor assured her.

JT looked between Liberty’s legs and saw the beautiful head of his daughter.  “Liberty she’s bald,” he said smiling.

“Okay Liberty give me one more big push.  Come on.  You’re doing it!”

Liberty gripped the hands of Manny and JT and gave one final push.  She felt the baby slip form her body.  An instant later the tiny baby was laid on her mother’s chest.  Liberty reached out and touched her soft head.  Then she looked up at JT who was wiping away his tears. 

“I love you,” he whispered and leaned down and kissed her forehead.  Liberty squeezed his hand.  She just couldn’t speak not yet she felt as if her heart were about to burst.  She loved this little girl already.  So much that it scared her a little.

******

Manny backed away from the bed as the nurse took the baby from Liberty.  She placed her on a scale. 

“6lbs. 7oz. and 19 inches long,” the nurse announced and moved the baby to another table and began to wipe her clean and check her over.

Manny couldn’t take her eyes from the crying baby.  Her heart felt as if it would explode.  Manny didn’t even realize that she was holding her breath.  She suddenly became very dizzy.

As she watched the nurse wrap the precious girl in a soft blanket with tiny pastel footprints on it she realized it wasn’t Liberty’s baby in the blanket.

It was her baby she could feel it.  She just knew it.  He had dark hair and big brown eyes.  The big smile on the baby’s face said he was happy.  Manny couldn’t help but smile too when she saw the dimple in the baby’s cheek.  He squealed and flapped his arms in the air.

“Manny, Manny! Come on wake up.”

Manny opened her eyes and saw JT’s face.  Then she realized the cold of the tile floor was pressed against her back.  How had that happened? She silently asked herself.

“You fainted,” JT said as if he had heard the question.

“Fainted?”  Manny asked surprised.

“Yes are you hurt?”  Liberty asked from the hospital bed. 

“No,” Manny answered trying to sit up.

“Take it easy,” the nurse said kneeling beside her.

“I’m fine I guess the excitement went to my head,” Manny said standing up.  She immediately sat down in a chair feeling dizzy again.

“Here,” the nurse said handing her a cup of water.

“Thanks,” Manny said looking at Liberty with her daughter in her arms and smiled.

JT took the baby from Liberty and walked over holding her out for Manny to see. 

“She is beautiful,” Manny said and rubbed her head.

“Yes she is,” he said smiling.  “I’m going to go show her to everyone.”

“We will need to take her to the nursery in a minute for a bath and to make sure her temperature is steady,” the nurse told him.

“I’ll just be a second,” he told her and took the little girl out to see all the people who had been waiting for her.