I'm In Trouble Deep

He's Perfect

Danny sighed, standing in a corner. He had been yelled at, and even though he knew she didn't mean it, it still stung a little. He had to remind himself she was in pain- a pain he'd never experience, much to his utter relief. But being banned to a corner for a while left him with little to do, and being hyper active, he naturally found something to do. He picked up a weird looking tool, one that looked like the head of a pterodactyl... or maybe a duck.

Linda looked over to Danny, who was opening and closing the bill of the tool. He smirked at himself as he made quacking sounds. "How f***ing old are you?!"

"Twenty seven." Which was the wrong thing to say, because he got yelled at again. Reluctantly he sat down next to her, sighing dramatically. He needed to get his nervous energy out somehow!

"What is your problem?"

Danny didn't want to tell her, knowing he'd get in even more trouble. He jumped up when she started yelling and crying again. "What? What? Is it coming?"

"It hurts. A lot."

He kissed her sweaty forehead, holding her hand. "It'll be over soon. And you won't even remember the pain."

She nodded, whimpering. When the door opened and a doctor and nurse came in, she unashamedly breathed, "finally!"

"It's been a long time," Danny looked at the clock. It was now almost midnight. "Is she okay?"

"No, I'm not okay!" She grabbed Danny's hand as another contraction hit. They were coming more often now, and therefore were hurting much more.

"On the next contraction," the nurse said, adjusting her gloves, "we want you to push."

*********

Erin had to go back home to Jack and Nicky around seven, and Joe took Jamie home at nine. Despite wanting to stay, Jamie knew the next day was an early day, a school day. So he reluctantly let Joe take him home (and neither told Mary how Joe had let him stay up an hour past his normal bedtime).

"I hope everything's okay," Mary looked at her watch. It was now 1:30 the next morning. "It's been fifteen hours."

Frank looked to Mary, noting how tired she looked. "Why don't you go home? I'll stay here- you need your rest."

"I'm fine, Francis."

That was the end of that conversation. Frank knew if his wife called him by his Christian name, he had no say in the matter at hand. He sat down next to her, "it'll be worth it though. To have another grandchild to spoil."

Mary smiled, "they'll be so happy- Danny and Linda, I mean. They were so devastes when Ella didn't make it."

"Any parent would be."

**********

Danny tried not to freak out when medical terms were being shouted. He didn't understand medicine or nursing or birthing babies, but he knew the sound of worried voices.

"I can't see a head." The nurse said, and Linda squeezed Danny's hand tighter.

"No head?" Danny got out before the doctor talked again.

"There's a foot- it's breached."

"Breached?" He looked to Linda for an answer, but she was only crying. More medical jargon was thrown around, Linda was yelling again, and he felt like the most useless piece of trash. He had no idea what was going on, no one would tell him in English, and Linda looked and sounded like she was in so much pain, and he couldn't do a freaking thing.

"Okay, Linda, we need you to push."

Finally, something he understood. He clutched her hand with both of his, wondering what the hell was happening behind the small curtain of blankets. He wanted to watch, but Linda needed him. Besides, he had seen a baby being born before- in the back of his patrol car. (That was a fun mess to clean up).

Linda dropped her head back, annoyed, tired, and in pain. She was so scared- a breached birth. That meant her little baby was turned the wrong way, and was probably being choked by the umbilical chord. She wanted it to be over; she wanted to be holding her son against her chest, her head resting on Danny's shoulder.

She bit her lip when the baby came out of her body. He wasn't crying like he was supposed to be. In the few minutes after birth, she swore she stopped breathing. She didn't hear, see, or feel anything else while she waited for her baby to do something. She closed her eyes, ready to except her fate of being childless. She just wasn't cut out to be a mother, that was her only explanation... until she heard high pitched wails.

"Here he is," the nurse handed her the tiny baby.

"Oh..." this time, Linda cried tears of joy instead of tears of fear and pain. She closed her eyes, holding her baby to her, saying a quick prayer of thanks. She and Danny didn't say anything as the nurse cleaned up the mother.

"We'll be back shortly," the nurse and doctor left; Linda knew they were going to get the baby's bed ready.

"He's so small," Danny ran his fingers over the baby's head.

"He's perfect," Linda whispered, pressing a kiss to the baby's forehead.

"What do you want to call him?" They had discussed names, but hadn't decided on any.

"Jackson. Jack for short."

"He looks like a Jack."

"You pick the middle name." She laid her head against Danny's shoulder, thoroughly exhausted.

"How about we call him Andrew Jackson?"

"Like the president?"

"Sure. He was good, right? And he's got his face on a bill."

Linda chuckled, "naming him after a president? He'll have high expectations."

"He's a Reagan. He already has high expectations."

She couldn't argue with that. "We'll still call him Jack for short. Andrew Jackson Reagan."

When the baby was taken away to be properly cared for, and Linda asleep, Danny walked out the the waiting family. He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but he was surprised the entire family wasn't there.

"Well, what happened?" Frank put an arm around Mary.

Danny smiled widely, "it's a boy. Andrew Jackson. Linda did good, I'm so proud."

The parents hugged the new Dad, and he laughed with relief and joy. He went back to Linda, and laid beside her as she slept.

Many hours later, they went home with their little bundle of joy, Andrew Jackson Reagan. Two days later, the family came to fawn over the baby and to drop off ready to eat meals. After a full day of family fun and love, Danny and Linda put Jack to bed.

"So," Danny looked at his wife. "What do you wanna do now?"

She smirked and led him to the bedroom. Ten minutes later, they were both fast asleep in each other's arms, which was when Jack decided he wanted to eat, of course.

Linda groaned along with Danny, and she rolled out of bed. "I'll see what he wants."