Harry sat back and watched the doctors check Julie again before dinner that evening.  Between the doctor and him, they had convinced her to stay for the night.  She wasn't real receptive, especially at first, but he knew she would do what was right for the baby, and they just couldn't get her contractions to stop completely.  She spent the day telling people not to come visit her.  She was cranky and admittedly so, and she didn't want any company right then.  Julie had bit his head off a couple of times, and tried to get him to leave a couple of other times, but he wasn't leaving.  He could handle the mood.  He understood she was going through a lot, and he'd put her through even more with his escapades the other night. So, Harry was sticking by her side whether she liked it or not.

He looked at Julie when the doctor left, and she called his name.  Nothing had really changed, not worse, not better, so they'd just hang around a little longer to see how things progressed.  He planned on having dinner delivered for her.  He'd already cleared it with the doctor, so she didn't have to have hospital food tonight.  Something she didn't ask for, but he felt he needed to do.  "I'm here, baby, do you need something?"  Harry nodded when she asked him to get her hand bag from the small closet for her.  He brought it to her and sat next to her.  "I know you don't want to stay here, baby, but we'll make the best of it."

"Yeah, whatever, it's fine."  Julie waved him off.  She didn't want to talk about it.  She was already annoyed enough at having to stay.  And the longer she was lying there, the more uncomfortable she was becoming.  She opened her bag and dug inside for a second before pulling out a small box.  "With everything going on, I never gave you your birthday present."  She played with the small box in her hand.  "Usually, your presents consist of a little more me and not so much gift because you're really hard to shop for.  You can buy anything you want anytime you want.  But this year, it was pretty impossible to do what we normally do on your birthday so, I went with a bit more traditional gift."

"You know you didn't have to get me anything, right?"  Harry sat down in the chair next to the bed.  He should have known she would have gotten him something, but with everything happening, he wouldn't have been disappointed if she hadn't.  She was giving him the best gift of all by having his baby.

"Of course, I did.  I'm your wife."  Julie shook her head.  "But it isn't easy.  The longer we are together, the harder it is to be clever and think of things that will mean something beyond spending money."

"You've always been pretty great at the meaningful gift giving, love.  I've never had a complaint."  He took the small box from her and smiled at the bow tied on top.  "I have to say, I'm pretty excited to see what it is."

"Go ahead and open it."  Julie shrugged.  "Sorry, I didn't give it to you on your birthday, sorry you're getting it while sitting in a hospital.  But, Happy 25th Birthday, Harry."

Harry leaned forward off his chair and kissed Julie's lips.  "It's perfect right here, baby.  It doesn't matter as long as we're together."  He sat back in the chair and slowly unwrapped the box.  He carefully untied the bow and then careful not to rip the paper, he slowly pried the taped edges open.  He smiled at Julie and then opened the box and looked at the ring lying beautifully inside.  He ran his fingers over the smooth stones.

"It's a titanium ring.  The center stone is an Amethyst, which obviously is your birth stone, and which Grace's will be, too.  I was pretty confident even before now, she would be born in February.  The small stones are Sapphire.  Which, again, you know is my birthstone.  I know you have a pretty massive ring collection, but I thought, maybe this way, even when you had to be away, you could always carry a part of Grace and me with you.  I know we will always be in your heart, but, I dunno.  I hope you like it."  Julie rambled.  She was always nervous when it came time to giving him gifts, but she had no reason to be.  He always adored everything she gave him.  No matter how small, inexpensive, or silly she thought it was.

Harry was always astounded at the thought Julie put into every gift she gave him, and this ring had so much meaning, it took his breath away.  "I love it."  He took the ring out of the box and removed the ring from the ring finger on his right hand and replaced it with the new ring.  As always his fingers were full of rings.  He only wore his wedding ring when they were home together, but not when he was working.  They had talked about it and agreed that his professional life should be kept as separate as possible from their personal life.  People might assume they were married, or maybe even know, but he wasn't going to bring on the questions or the whispers when she didn't want him to.  He sniffled as his eyes filled with tears.  "So, I have permission to wear two rings at home now?  Without you trying to hide them in the jewelry box on me?  My wedding ring and this one?"

Julie shrugged slightly and gave him a bit of a smile.  "Seems you are taking advantage of me being in the hospital and your hands are pretty full of rings today, anyway."  She was always removing his rings at home.  She loved his hands bare.  Lately, though, seeing him just wear his wedding band when they were home was something she completely loved seeing.

"Yeah, well, what can I say?  I'm used to putting them on when I leave the house.  You seem to be the only one quite so obsessed with my hands being naked."  He took her hand and held it between the two of his.  He looked down at his new ring and then up at her face.  "I do love it.  How could I not?  Another way to always have my girls with me.  It's perfect."

Julie was just about to say something in response to Harry when a pretty intense contraction cut her off.  Probably the most intense one she'd had through this whole ordeal.  "Oh, shit."

"What?  What is it?"  Harry stood from his chair concerned.

"Contraction.  Pretty strong."  Julie looked at him as the pain started to subside.  "It's ok.  It happens.  I guess.  Hurts.  But I am having a baby sometime this month."

Harry sat back down in the chair.  "Ok, but you haven't really reacted like that to one while I've been here."

"Yeah, I had a couple strong ones before I got here, but they've controlled them pretty much since I've been here."  She couldn't help but notice the crease between Harry's eyes now, and how he seemed to lose some color in his face.  "Shit's getting real now, huh?"

"Do you think you're going to have her now?"  Harry asked, concern showing on his face.  He was starting to feel a bit overwhelmed.

Julie shrugged.  "I don't know.  It was one contraction.  And who knows if it was real.  Only time will tell.  I think maybe you'd better relax though.  I don't need you to be one of those dads that passes out during the birth of their child.  And if you start freaking out now, it could be a long few weeks if she decides to wait."

"Ok, alright, sorry."  He tried to relax back and stay calm for her sake, and for himself.  He definitely didn't need to start panicking already.

Over the next few hours, they tried to act as normal as possible.  Harry had Julie's favorite chicken alfredo delivered for dinner, but she didn't eat much.  The contractions seemed to come more often and more intensely as the evening progressed.  He had talked to his mum and Julie's, and both their families would be arriving in a couple of days.  The doctor had come in to check Julie just a little bit ago and had given her more medication to try and control the contractions, so they weren't giving up on holding off the birth just yet, but Harry was starting to get a bit more nervous every time she had one.  After this last dose of medication, Julie did seem to relax a little more, and she'd fallen asleep about 10 minutes ago.  He was hoping that meant things had calmed down for the moment.  That it was back to a wait and see game.  He had just leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes when he heard Julie gasp in pain.  He sat up as he recognized the look of contraction pain on her face.

"It's ok, baby."  He rubbed over her thigh as he watched the waves on the machine.  He had learned how to read the contractions on the screen over the past few hours.  This one seemed to be more intense than any of the ones before.  When he saw the intensity drop he offered her a drink of water.  "You ok?"

Julie took the water from Harry and took a drink before handing it back.  That contraction woke her from a dead sleep.  And it was intense.  The medication didn't seem to be doing anything anymore to slow the contractions.  "They hurt.  So, I wouldn't say I'm ok."

"I know, baby.  I'm sorry.  Can I get you anything?"  Harry held her hand and reached up to move some hair from her face.

"No.  What do you think I need?  Can you stop the pain?  Or the contractions?  Cuz if you can, you should have done it a long time ago."  Julie snapped at him.  Even she knew she was being moody, and maybe a tad ridiculous, but right now, she didn't really care.

"I wish I could, sweetheart.  I really wish I could."  Harry stood and resituated her pillows for her as she seemed to struggle to do it herself.  He sat back and held her hand as she relaxed for a few minutes.  Right when things seemed settled again, she tensed back up and the pain spread through her face again.  Checking the monitor, it was no doubt another contraction, just as strong as the last, and now only 8 minutes apart.  "Do you think we should call the nurse?  Or the doctor?"

"I'm not ready to have this baby, Harry.  I'm not.  She can't come yet.  It's not time."  Julie shook her head.

"Baby, I don't think you have a choice anymore."  Harry stood and grabbed the call button.  He pushed it and then set it back down.  "I'm scared too, baby.  Really scared.  But we can do this."  This was really happening.  A nurse came in and took Julie's vitals and 7 ½ minutes later while she was completing the work up, another contraction came.  It seemed more intense and lasted longer than the ones before.  His baby was coming, and his mum and sister weren't there, Julie's family wasn't there, hell, no one else was there.  "I'm calling Amanda and Niall."

"Not yet, Harry, you don't know anything yet.  We haven't even talked to a doctor yet."  Julie tried to argue.  But she had barely gotten the sentence out before the nurse said that she was calling the doctor, and she would put money on there being a baby sooner rather than later.  Julie just stared at Harry.  She was really having a baby.  Now.  Not in 3 weeks like she'd planned, but right now.  She started to panic.  She thought she'd be going home, waiting it out, and complaining in a few weeks that the kid hadn't come yet. But now, at just over 36 weeks, she was about to have her baby.

Harry looked at the nurse who walked over to the machine monitoring Julie's and Grace's heartbeats, and he heard the nurse calmly tell Julie she needed to try and calm down a little.  He noticed all of the numbers on that monitor seemed to have gone up, quite a bit from what he'd seen previously.  He held his phone in his hand and shook off his own panic as he walked to Julie's side.  "It's ok, baby, it's ok.  We are ready.  Whether you think so or not, we are.  It's a bit overwhelming, and a little bit scary, but we can do this."  He looked down into her eyes and tried to remain as calm as he could.

Julie wasn't convinced and no matter how calm she had stayed before now, it just wasn't happening right now.  She was about to be a mother.  Not pregnant mother, but a mother to a newborn baby.  One she was completely responsible for.  One she had to raise, and make decisions for, and take care of.  One who depended completely on her to survive, and all of a sudden everything she had worked through since she had found out she was pregnant vanished.  "I can't do this.  I can't be a mom.  I can't take care of a baby.  I can't.  I'm too much of a mess, there's no way I can do this right."

"Ssshhhhhh."  Harry tried to calm her.  He should have known that her doubts would creep back in when things got real, but she had accepted it so well and so quickly, he was somehow surprised at her words. "You will be a wonderful mother.  You never think you'll be good at anything.  But you always end up doing perfectly fine.  More than fine actually, you end up being wonderful.  You never thought you could be a girlfriend or a wife, and trust me, I can't live without you."

Harry kissed her lips and held her hand as another contraction came and went.  The doctor had come to talk to her, and Harry used that time to call Amanda and tell her what was happening.  He left it to Amanda to tell Niall and Marcus and Jaime.  And anyone else she felt needed to know.  He called his mum and Julie's and then sat back next to Julie.  "Baby, how are you doing?"

"I hate this.  It hurts."  Julie sighed exasperated.  "The doctor says there's no stopping labor now.  I'm too far along.  She's coming.  And no matter what you say, I'm not ready."

"You are.  But I won't argue.  I'll just be here to help you through it."  Harry took her hand and stroked the top of it with his thumb.

"Help me through it?  Do you want to have the contractions?  Because this is all your fault.  If I'd never met you, this would never have happened.  I told Panda I wasn't going to go to that concert Niall gave us tickets to, and I should have never given into her and stayed home."  Julie complained.

"Oh, stop."  Amanda said walking into the room.  "Imagine how boring life would have been the past 4 ½ years if we hadn't met Niall and gone to that concert."

"I could handle boring."  Julie glared at Amanda as another contraction started.  "I fucking hate this."

"I know."  Amanda walked up to Julie and shot Harry a sympathetic look.  "I imagine the pain sucks, but you've gotten through worse.  The outcome of this is so much better than any other pain you've had."

"I'm not ready."  Julie said through gritted teeth.  "And I shouldn't be a mom."

"Of course, you shouldn't."  Amanda comforted as Julie's contraction passed.  She looked over at Harry.  "How far apart are they now?"

"About 5 minutes.  The doctor says there's no turning back now.  It's happening.  Things are progressing pretty quickly from what I'm being told."  Harry looked at Niall when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"You doing ok?"  Niall asked Harry.  He watched Amanda comfort Julie and figured maybe Harry needed a minute to breathe.

"I don't know.  I'm not sure I'm ready for this either, but she's now panicking so much, I have to be, or it could just get bad."  Harry admitted.  "She has been the calm one for months, up until now.  Now, I feel like I'm gonna freak out, but can't because she's already doing it."

Niall chuckled.  "You did realize that she would have to give birth eventually, right?  I mean she couldn't stay pregnant forever.  I know you enjoyed her pregnant.  But, eventually the baby has to come out."

"Funny, Niall.  It just wasn't supposed to happen yet."  Harry was grateful Amanda and Niall had made it.  He needed them.  Julie needed them.  Especially Amanda.

"Funny thing, life.  No matter how much you think you plan, it never goes quite accordingly."  Niall clapped Harry's back again.  "You are ready.  You've been great with kids since I met you.  People trust you with their kids all the time.  Now it's just time to have one of your own.  You're going to be a great father.  Embrace it."

"Dunno what I'd do without you, Niall.  Sometimes I think you like my wife more than me, but I'm pretty lucky to still be able to call you my friend."  Harry clapped Niall's back.

"I do like her better."  Niall chuckled.  "I'll always be here for ya, mate.  Just like I know you've always got my back.

Amanda walked over to Harry and Niall.  "I think she wants an epidural.  The pain is really getting to her, she wanted to try natural, but I don't think she can handle it right now.  Her blood pressure is going up, and her heart rate and the baby's are also going up.  The next time they come in and check, they are going to notice.  She's afraid she's disappointing you, Harry, by wanting drugs."

"What?  That's ridiculous.  I don't know how it feels.  How can she disappoint me?"  Harry shook his head.  They had talked about a natural birth.  And agreed if it was something she could do, then that's what they would do, but if she couldn't handle it, then there was no shame in getting the epidural.  He walked up to the bed.  "Baby, you do what you need to do.  If you can't take the pain anymore, let them help."  He wiped his hand over her forehead.  She looked wiped out already.  A little pale, sweaty, uncomfortable.  He winced when she squeezed his hand hard when another contraction came.  Fuck, she had a grip on her.  But, he couldn't complain.  Not about a little pain in his hand when she was in labor.  "It's ok love, just breathe through it."

Harry's eyes widened at the look Julie shot him when he told her just to breathe through it.  Shit, if looks could kill, they'd be planning his funeral now.  It was going to be tricky to navigate around this.  He was pretty good at dealing with her when she was moody.  Normally she was just extra sarcastic, witty, sassy.  He had a feeling, however, that this wouldn't be anything like what he was used too.  He started to apologize when she jerked her hand away from him and muttered a 'don't touch me' to him.  Oh, he's sure she had a lot more to say, and if she wasn't mentally preparing herself for another contraction, he was sure she would have said them.  He turned and looked at Amanda who he swore was trying to hide a laugh.  Of course, she would think it was funny.

Amanda walked up to Harry and put her hand on his shoulder.  She did feel a little sorry for him, but all in all, she thought JJ was doing really well with what she was going through.  Besides telling him not to touch her just now, and maybe the initial general freakout about not being ready, she was relatively quiet and calm.  That actually scared Amanda more than anything, mouthy JJ would have been more expected.  But then again, this whole pregnancy had shown her a side of JJ she had never seen before.  She did have to try to hide her laugh though.  The pleading look of help in Harry's eyes amused her.  After the fiasco that was his birthday, she felt he deserved a lot more shit than JJ gave him, so for her, this was just karma.  She grabbed the cool rag she had gotten before and wiped JJ's forehead with it.  "I know you probably want to punch him right now, and I don't blame you, but you'll see once it's over, and they put that beautiful little girl in your arms, how worth it, it really is."

Amanda chuckled when JJ turned and glared at her.  "I know, I know, words or logic are not going to work for you right now."  She smoothed the hair out of JJ's face and then stepped back when the doctor came in.  She watched Harry rake his hands through his hair every 30 seconds or so, and Niall try to get him to relax and listened to the doctor and JJ's conversation.  Basically, it was a now or never for the epidural, and she was surprised at Julie's reluctance.  They had encouraged her to walk the halls a few times earlier during contractions, and they encouraged her to do more of that now if she wasn't going to have the drugs.  They also advised they could bring in a medicine ball for her to bounce on, as it seemed to help with the pain, and Amanda couldn't help but laugh at the look on JJ's face.  JJ knew the drill, they had both seen enough working in the hospital to know how it went, but when reality hit JJ that it would all be for her, the look on her face was priceless.  After a lengthy discussion, and one last blood pressure check, the doctor advised JJ that she thought it best if JJ did have the epidural.  One of the benefits was it lowered blood pressure.  Right now, JJ's was still high and on the rise, and once pushing started, it tended to rise even further.  So, medically it would help, as well as for the pain.  The only downfall being JJ was stuck in bed until after the baby was born.

A short time later the anesthesiologist came in, and Julie made everyone leave.  Amanda said she'd stay, after all, she used to work as a nurse, it wasn't like she hadn't seen these things a million times over, but Julie insisted.  Everyone needed to get out. After they trooped out of the room and were standing in the hallway, Harry looked down at Amanda and Niall and let out a deep sigh as he slumped against the wall.  "I don't know what to do for her.  It's miserable seeing her like this.  I hate it."

Amanda nodded and sort of chuckled.  "Well, I mean, I don't know what you expected, but labor in painful, and I'm sure it sucks.  A lot.  Did you expect sunshine and daisies?  I think she's done quite well.  I could tell you stories about labor experiences.  Unexpected ones that occurred quite quickly, and I'll tell you, you've gotten off easy."

"I didn't know what to expect, but no, sunshine and daisies would have never been it.  Not with Julie."  Harry admitted.

"More like, firecrackers and thorns?"  Niall laughed.  "Which I think you've kind of gotten.  But, Amanda's right.  For the most part, she's been pretty mellow.  I expected more entertainment out of this if I'm honest."

"Don't be a dick."  Harry said but couldn't help but laugh at Niall.  After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably only like 20 minutes, the anesthesiologist came out, and Harry walked back in with Niall and Amanda.  He couldn't help but smile at his wife who now looked a little more comfortable lying back in bed, hooked back up to all the machines and IVs.  "Hey, baby.  Feeling a little better now?"

Julie turned only her eyes towards Harry.  "You're still never allowed to touch me.  Ever again.  Unless fully clothed.  I'm not sure I even want to look at you right now."

Harry chuckled under his breath.  "Ok, baby, no touching.  Unless fully clothed.  Understood."  He perched himself on the side of her bed and held her hand in his.  When her eyes looked at their hands together he smirked.  "Hey, I'm fully clothed."

"Don't be a dick."  Julie raised her eyes to his, unknowingly repeating Harry's words to Niall.

Yeah, dicks did seem to be the problem tonight, Harry thought, hiding a smile.  "That's what I just said to Niall.  As if we needed more proof we belong together."  Harry lifted Julie's hand and placed his lips gently to the back of it.

"It just proves that you and Niall are both dicks.  Nothing else."  Julie shrugged.  She leaned back as she felt the pressure of another contraction, but when the pain didn't overwhelm her, she let out a sigh of relief.  Ok, maybe this epidural thing wasn't such a bad decision after all.  She still felt pressure.  It still was uncomfortable, but it wasn't something she couldn't handle.

"Was that a contraction?"  Harry asked looking at the monitor.  "And it didn't hurt?"

"It did, I mean, I felt a lot of pressure, and it's uncomfortable, and I still think it hurts, but it's nothing like it was."  Julie shrugged.

"Baby, why didn't you have it done earlier then?"  Harry asked looking into her eyes.  "You didn't need to suffer like that."

"Can't have them to early.  Plus, with everything my body has gone through in life, I wasn't sure it was best to test it with getting the drugs.  But, even I knew my blood pressure was getting out of control, and at some point, the benefits just outweighed the risks."  Julie closed her eyes.  The pressure was becoming pretty constant now.  The contractions were pretty much right on top of each other.  "I wish my mom was here."

A lump caught in Harry's throat.  This was the first time since he'd known her that she'd asked for her mum.  After everything she had gone through with Johnny, and their breakup, and the pregnancy, she never once had asked for her mum.  The baby coming early threw a wrench into the plans of having their families here when Grace was born.  "I know, baby.  She's coming day after tomorrow.  It's the soonest she could get here."  He got up and kissed her forehead.  "Do you want to call her?"

"No.  Just, sorry.  I'm fine."  Julie closed her eyes and moved a little to try and get comfortable.  She felt Harry's eyes on her but didn't want to see the pity in them anymore.  Ok, maybe it wasn't pity, but sympathy, but right now, she didn't want to see it.  She opened her eyes when she heard the doctor come in.  She nodded when they said they were going to check her and let them help put her legs in the stirrups once Niall had left the room.

Harry squeezed Julie's hand hard, and he felt the color drain from his face just a little when he heard the doctor say, 'let's have a baby, now then, shall we?', after she examined Julie.  It was time.  In a very short time, Grace would be born, he would officially be a father, and every fear he ever had came flooding back over him in that moment.

Have I told you lately how much I love each one of ya?????