Saying a quick good bye, Carter handed the phone to Lucy, "Hey mom!" she
squealed.

"Hello dear.  How are your holding up?"

"Ah, the power of modern medicine.  I've had my epidural and I'm fine now."

Hearing her sisters complaining in the background, she asked her mother to
talk to her sibling.  "Hey Lucy!"

"Hey Corrine!  I guess, in a couple of hours it will be aunt Corrine!"

Laughing the eighteen year old turned more serious, "How are you holding
up?"

"I'm fine.  Just getting myself ready mentally to be a mom."

"Wow!  You gonna be a mom..." stated Corrine, really thinking about it for
the first time.

"And I'm going to be a damn good one to!" shot back Lucy with a laugh.

"I know you will... Uh, I got to go.  I have to pack and we still have to
make hotel reservations."

"Bye, love you,"

"See you in a few hours," pressing the 'off' button on the phone, Lucy
handed the cell back to Carter, grinning now that she finally got to hear
her families voices.

"They'll get here tonight Luce.  They will be a little late, but they'll
get here.... And I'll be here," playing with her hair again, Carter picked
up her hand and kissed it.

"I know."

Bending his head down towards the side of her head, he moved her thick
blonde hair and whispered in her ear, "I love you."  Siting back in original
position, he stared at her facial reaction.  Her smile had returned and she
glimpsed up at his deep brown eyes, sharing the connection she had with him
and she shared with no one else but him and their unborn child.  Leaning in
towards her, he gave her kiss.

"I love you too, John."

As he shared an intense glance with Lucy, he looked up in curiosity as
someone knocked at the door.  After Lucy granted them entrance, the red
headed women pushed open the door with her crutch.  Kerry Weaver appeared
from the hallway, and grinned at them, greeting them with a nod, "John,
Lucy, I believe I found some people that belong to you," she held the door
open wider to reveal Millicent and John Carter Senior, "They were wandering
around down stairs so I thought I would show them to your room."

"Thank you Kerry," John said.

"Sure," turning away from Carter, Kerry Weaver faced Lucy and walked over
to the side of her gurney, "How are you doing?  I heard what happened down
stairs and I wanted to come up sooner, but I was busy holding up the
department.  And it didn't help that one of residents was MIA," Kerry smiled
at Carter.

"Um, I forgot to say something."

"It's okay, I'll let it slide this time because of the circumstances,"

Allowing their presence to be known, the elderly couple stepped forward
from behind Kerry.  Awkward silence filled the gaps between the two couples
as they just stared up at the ceiling, down at the ground or analysing the
surroundings.  Noticing the atmosphere, Kerry excused herself, leaving
behind a tiny teddy bear beside Lucy.  Thanking her superior, Lucy started
playing with the fuzz on it, fascinated with it's cuteness.

"I was just about to go get a cup of coffee from the cafeteria.  If you
fill the cup with sugar and cream, you can't even notice how bad it really
is.  Care to join me grandfather?" deciding that it would be best to get it
over with now then later, the two men exited, leaving the women to sort out
their difficulties.

With a mix of discomfort and happiness, the much older women looked towards
her grandsons fiancé, "How are you feeling?" asked Millicent.

"I'm fine right now, but that is only because my entire lower body is
numb," she giggled.

Millicent grinned back, "In my day, we never had the choice of all those
medications out there now.  It was natural childbirth or no children."

Grinning, Lucy silently prayed that their conversation would stay calm and
comfortable.

~~~~~~20 minutes later (10:30 PM)

Returning to find Lucy and his grandmother laughing, he thanked a higher
power telepathically for them getting along, "Hey Luce.  Hey Gamma."

"Hey John," they both said simultaneously.

Looking him over, Millicent nodded, turning to Lucy, "Told you so," Lucy
laughed.

"What?"

Lucy continued to giggle, "Nothing."

"Is your grandfather still in the cafeteria?" nodding, Millicent picked up
her purse and moved towards the door, "I better go see him before he eats to
many sweets.  If I know him, he'll probrely be on his third bowl of jell-o
by now," a smiling Millicent left the room.

"So I'm guessing you've worked out your differences?"

"Old news."

"Seriously, what did you talk about?" he grinned at her and she smiled
back.

"Just stuff.  I guess she got over the 'Dale Edson incident' because she
laughed, finally finding it funny that a pregnant women in a cocktail dress
could punch someone and successfully give him a black eye."

Carter laughed and then there was silence for a moment, "Your mom called my
cell again."

"Oh?"

"She just wanted to see how you were."

"And what did you tell her?"

"I just said that everything is fine and that she has no need to worry. 
She started screaming, her little girl is having her grandchild, and that
she had every reason to worry.  After taking a few breathes, she calmed down
and told me to tell you that she loves you and will see you later
tonight.... or tomorrow morning, matters how you look at it."

"By two o'clock, I hope I'm sleeping."

"You wouldn't want to be waken up?" Carter asked.

"You know what I mean."

~~~~~~10 minutes later (10:40 PM)

Snapping off her gloves, Dr. Coburn jotted some notes down on a chart and
smiled at Lucy, "You are now nine inches dilated.  I'd say that you can
start pushing in probrely half hour to forty five minutes," giving some
orders to the nurses, she went to see another patient of hers.

After Janet Coburn and Claire left, Cindy joined John, sitting beside Lucy
and the three discussed names.

~~~~~~1 Hour later (11:40 PM)

"Okay Lucy, just one more push!  One more push and your baby will be here!"
getting out all her tormenting anguish in one yelp, Lucy clenched her teeth
together, taking out all her pain on her jaw.  Droplets of sweat covered her
hair line and forehead, another visual aid of her agony.  Pushing forward
and downwards with all her muscle, Lucy fell back and relaxed her muscles
when Dr. Coburn gave her the okay.  Rinsing off her forehead with a damp
cloth, Carter, continued to squeeze her hand, "Congratulations!  You have a
healthy little girl!"

Dr. Coburn set the baby onto Lucy's stomach, Lucy brushed her hand over the
small amount of hair her daughter had on her head.  Looking over her, she
made made sure she had all ten fingers and ten toes.  So happy, Lucy started
to laugh.  She turned to Carter, "She's beautiful," he grinned back at her.

After letting John and Lucy get acquainted with their daughter, Claire,
picked up the small girl and carried her over to a neighbouring room to get
bathed, cleaned up, dressed, measured and weighed.

Smiling continuously, Lucy reflected on the last minute.  In the last
moment she had become a mom.  In the last moment, she had fell in love with
a person just as much as she loved John.  In that last moment, they had
become a family.

A few minutes later, Claire returned with the child in hand, wrapped up in
a yellow blanket, and showing off a light pink hat.  Handing her to her
mother, Lucy cradled her to her chest and let a tear fall.  A happy tear.

Leaning over the gurney, Claire smiled at the child and straightened her
mini hat, "She needs a name,"

Getting happier by the second, Lucy beamed, "Katherine Elizabeth Carter. 
It was the only girls name we could agree on."

"I think it's a wonderful name."

Giving his wife-to-be a kiss on the lips, he reached out his arms to hold
his daughter.  Cuddling the sleeping baby to his chest, he smiled, "I think
we should go and tell everyone out there that everything is okay," after
getting the nod of approval from Lucy, Carter got up from his seat.  Dr.
Coburn opened the door for him, then she went back to Lucy.

Taking a peek out before walking into the corridor, he noticed that there
was the same crowd as there was a half hour earlier.  There was Mark,
Elizabeth, his grandparents, Kerry Weaver and Abby Lockhart.

As soon as everyone saw Carter exit the room with a bundle in his arms,
they sprung out of their seats and towards him, making a circle to see the
newest edition to the Carter clan, "Katherine Elizabeth Carter," he said
bluntly.

"Elizabeth?" Mark asked for his pregnant fiancé who stood dumbfounded
beside him.

He nodded towards Elizabeth, "It was the least we could do, have part of
you in our daughters name.  If it wasn't for you, Elizabeth, Lucy wouldn't
even be here now," he hated reflecting back on the fact that is life could
be so different if it wasn't for two surgeons efforts, but he somehow
managed to hold a smile throughout saying his last statement, "She said that
you could go in and see her if you like," he commented, but Elizabeth had
already bolted into Lucy's room, embracing her in a hug before the door
could finish closing.

After getting the name out of the way, Carter was bombarded with questions,
causing a lot of noise, which eventually woke Katherine up, giving him an
excuse to go back in and see how Lucy was doing.

~~~~~~12:30 AM (50 minutes later)

Striding into the room with a cup of coffee, Carter stopped a foot infront
of the door, catching Lucy just as she finished nursing Katherine, "Hey
Luce."

"Hi," she said confused about the fact that he was about to burst into
laughter, "What's up?"

"Well, I was down in the ER, talking to Weaver about my schedule at the
desk, when Dave comes stumbling up... With his hand glued to his forehead!"
giving in, Carter starts laughing hysterically, "And apparently, the only
reason he got up from his haldol induced sleep was because he wanted to come
up and see how mother and child were doing.  Isn't that just sweet?" he
continued to chuckle, "And, we hid the whole stock of acetone from the ER
with the saline.  He'll never find it,"

Laughing at their sense of humour and shaking her head at their childish
games, Lucy waved for John to let him in.

A second later, Dave Mallucci entered the room, with the palm of his hand
firmly attached to his forehead, "Hey, how are you doing?" with the bags
under his eyes and the fact that he was about to fall over any minute, Lucy
couldn't help but go into a fit of laughter, "This isn't funny you know. 
Why are you laughing?"

"I'm sorry it's just... uh, quite the April Fools Day, eh Dave?"

"Ha ha.  Once I find Luka, and kill him, not only for the glue, but for the
haldol too, I'll start getting revenge on the people that hid the acetone." 
While Carter motioned for Lucy not to say anything, Dave turns around and
glares at him, "Although I might just spare the person that gives it up."

Carter shrugs his shoulders, "I know nothing."

Not wanting to be part of it, which included John, Lucy gives in, still
chuckling, "If I tell you where the acetone is, will you keep off the
revenge."

Thinking about the deal for a moment, Dave contemplated, "Fine."

"Back, glass cabinet of trauma two.  With the saline," instructed Lucy.

"Traitor!" accused Carter.

"Well, I want nothing to do with him and his games.  You guys go to far
sometimes."

"It's April Fools!  We were having fun!  You should of seen what we did to
Kerry earlier."

"Hmm, I scared to find out.  Does it have to do with glue?"

"No, but there is cans."

Lucy rolls her eyes.

~~~~~~1:55 AM

Shaking Lucy awake, John smiled at her as she squinted, "What?" she asked
tiredly, moving her gaze from John to the tiny child lying beside her.

"Someone's here to see you."

"Tell 'em to take a number," she mumbled.

"I think you'll want to see this one," grabbing the remote, Carter moved
the gurney into a sitting position.

Noticing the time, Lucy soon realised who it must be and was suddenly wide
eyed and excited, "Is my mom here?!"

"Yup.  She and Corrine had to drop off their luggage in the lounge first so
I told them I would come make sure you were ready for visitors."

Manoeuvring her sleeping child from her side to her stomach, Lucy looked up
just as the door opened and her mom and sister came running in, jumping
excitedly.  They both rushed to her side, "Okay, now John refused to tell me
anything over the phone and he said I had to wait until I got here!  Now I
want to know every detail!  Spill!" insisted Barbera.

Lucy reviewed for her mother, "Uh, Katherine Elizabeth.  Born at
eleven-forty.  Seven pounds, one ounce, and a loud crier."

"Can I hold her?"

"Sure," making sure that all of the pale yellow blanket was still around
the child and not caught on her fingers, she handed her to her mother as her
sister cooed at the baby.  After both women had held Katherine, they placed
her back into her mothers arms.

Watching Lucy look over her daughter and rub her thumb over her facial
features, Barbera allowed a few tears to fall, "My babies all grown up,"
hugging her mother, Lucy asked about their flight.

"You don't care about our flight!  Who wants to hear about that when
something a lot more exciting was happening here.  How are 'you' doing
Lucy?"

"Well, I'm starting to get tired of people asking me that question," Lucy
laughed, "John and I together know so many people here, it's been crazy. 
Visitor after visitor, all asking the same questions."

Watching her daughter bounce Katherine in her arms, Barbera grinned,
smiling at the three generations, including her, "If you ever fly to Boston,
we will have to take her to see your grandparents.  They would like that."

"But they're flying down for the wedding, right?" Lucy asked, confused.

"Right!" Barbera reminded herself, "I totally forgot.  Yeah, they should be
coming here, then... How is the wedding planning going?"

"Fine.  We have the church, the caterers and the hall booked and I've
picked a dress, although I haven't been sized yet, for obvious reasons.  And
as soon as I get out of here, John and I will start working on the guest
list."

Looking up from her daughter as she passed Katherine to Carter, she noticed
the two sutured cuts on his jaw line, "And I thought you two were getting
along," she joked.

"Oh, this?" Carter pointed to his wound, "It's one of the downs about
working in the ER."

"What happened?"

"Just, a patient.  She moved a bit to quick for me."

"When did that happen?"

"Tonight."

"Are you okay?"

"Oh yeah, I'm fine," looking down at his waist, he pulled up his vibrating
pager to see the caller.

"Who is it?"

Gazing up at her, he contemplated whether to tell her or not.

"Who?"

"ER."

"They can call in someone else!  This is our special day, no working."

"Maybe they don't want me to work.  Just... I'll call them, see what they
want."

Sighing Lucy gave in, "Fine.  But you better come back soon."

Giving Lucy and his daughter a kiss on the lips he ensured Lucy he wouldn't
stay in the ER long, he reattached his beeper to his belt and left.

~~~~~~

Stepping through the elevator doors as they opened on the main floor, he
went straight to the admittance desk.  When he arrived, a few nurses pushed
Hellah forward, "Carter, you still have to tell us how much Katherine
weighs."

"Why?" he asked.

"Just out of curiosity."

"Sure.  I'm sure."

"So..."

"Seven pounds, one ounce.  Can I go now?"

Looking over her shoulder while she collected her money from everyone
huddled around her, Hellah payed no attention to his mumbling under his
breath, "Yup, see ya Carter."

As he was walking away, he turned on his heels, "You know, you should
really have to split that with Lucy and I.  I mean, it is our kid, right?"

Frowning, Hellah looked around at her colleagues for support.

"You know, I think that would be a great a idea," added Lydia, being a poor
sport and wanting her money to be put to good use instead of handing it off
to Hellah.

"What do you suggest, 50/50?" asked Chunni.

"Far enough." exclaimed Yosh.

Everyone took back there money and divided it evenly, giving half back to
Hellah and half to Carter.

"Thank you ladies, nice doing business with you," Carter walked off, back
to Lucy's room.

~~~~~~

"Your back," said Lucy, interrupting her conversation with her mother and
sister.

"And a hundred bucks richer."

"Oh," said Lucy, "What a present."

"Wasn't a present.  I ripped off the nurses pool."

"What this time?"

"The weight."

"Pool?" asked Barbera.

"Don't ask," stated Lucy.

~Thursday, August 16 2001

Okay, so it ended a little sudden, but it took me forever to write and I
just couldn't' think of an ending.  at I am finished ten, I am hoping to
start working on part eleven soon.  Please, tell me what you thought of
this.  I need come feedback on this because I'm not so sure what to think. 
lizzyknightlight@hotmail.com