AN: Two chapters left, okay? Just this one and then a short one...Fair warning 😉

Leo carefully balanced the coffee cup, holding it in both hands. His tongue was sticking out as he concentrated, to help with the task of not spilling it. He slowly made his way to the room that used to belong to Mouse, when she was his nanny, in the months before she became his mother. Happy followed close behind, offering moral support, presumably.

Mouse, mountainous and nine months pregnant, watched him from the kitchen, hoping he made it. She took a breath of relief when he turned back to smile at her from the doorway.

"Mary Lizard? I brought you some coffee," he called, setting it safely on the nightstand.

"Hmm? What?" Mary Lizard rolled over, stretching, yawning, smiling as she reached for the heavenly smelling brew. "Ooh, thanks so much, Leo, this smells absolutely incredible."

"Good morning," he replied, hopping up to sit on her bed. "It's Jamaican Blue Mountain," he offered helpfully. "I can't tell the difference, but Mommy and Daddy said 'it's the shit.'"

Mary, who was just about to take a sip, carefully held the cup away as she laughed. "They say that, do they?" she asked rhetorically. "You maybe shouldn't repeat that, you know, Leo?"

"Why? Mommy says there's no such thing as a bad word, just words that aren't appropriate sometimes," Leo intoned.

Again, Mary held the cup away until she knew she wouldn't spill it. "Gotcha," she said, grinning.

"She's making breakfast for us right now," Leo told his aunt. "Smells really good, better than the coffee, even."

"Kay, gimme a sec to get dressed, I'll be out," Mary said.

Leo nodded amiably and got off her bed.

It was mid-May, and Mouse's due date was fast approaching. Mary had come to "help," though so far she hadn't done much except play with Leo.

He went back to the kitchen to see Mouse leaning against the counter with her eyes closed.

"Mommy? You okay? Is the lil bean hurting you? Punching your bladder?" He scurried to her to pat her bottom tenderly.

"I'm okay, big guy, and no, she's not doing much, but I think I just felt a contraction," she told him, eyebrows raised.

"Really?" Leo's eyes were huge. "Can I call Daddy?"

"Yeah, you call him, then let me talk, okay?" Mouse handed Leo her phone, and he quickly pushed the numbers to connect him with Henry.

"Hey Daddy! Mommy just felt a construction," Leo informed his father.

Mouse and Mary Lizard, who'd just emerged from her room with her coffee cup, locked eyes filled with mirth.

Leo shook his head. "No, just one. She said I could call and tell you, and then she wanted to talk to you." He listened, then spoke again. "Okay. I love you, too, Daddy."

He held the phone up to his mother. "Here you go," he said. "Is breakfast ready? Or are you not going to make it because of the construction?"

Mouse thanked him and held the phone to her ear as Mary and Leo took over breakfast prep. Mouse was half-way through making omelets, so Mary set Leo on the counter to supervise while she assembled them and put them in the pan.

"Henry?" Mouse laughed as she spoke into the phone. "Yeah, it felt like a really strong cramp, and my stomach got really hard. No, like he said, just the one. No, no need to come home. I might not even have another one for days, right?" She listened, smiling, then continued. "Just know that it's started, okay? Yeah, get things settled down there so you can be here if I need you." She nodded. "Yes. Yes. Okay. I'll call you if anything else happens.

"Love you." Mouse kissed into the phone and ended the call.

The three of them sat on the sunny terrace to enjoy their breakfast, looking out at Manhattan, the rivers, and the Statue of Liberty as they ate.

"God, this view is incredible," Mary said as she ate.

"You should see what it looks like from the Santangelos' apartment," Leo replied. "They live in the penthouse, you know what that is? The very top floor? You can see the Chrysler Building and the Empire State building from their apartment."

Mary shook her head. "I can't believe you guys are friends with Pete Santangelo," she said. "My straight friends would die. Maybe even my gay friends," she admitted.

"Why?" Leo asked. "Do you mean that they're in love with him?"

Mary and Mouse laughed.

"Not exactly, but yeah, we all think he's really cute," Mary explained.

"Really?" Leo looked perplexed. "But I thought you liked girls? And you're in love with Esmé, anyway, right? The way Mommy loves Daddy?"

"I do, and I am," Mary answered, rolling her eyes. "But some people are so gorgeous that they supersede everything. Their gender doesn't matter."

"And Mr. Santangelo is one of those people?" Leo persisted. He stabbed a piece of cantaloupe and put it in his mouth, making his cheeks bulge as he chewed.

"Yeah, he is," Mary said.

Mouse nodded agreement, grinning at her son.

"Wait a sec. Mommy, you think he's gorgeous too? Even though you love Daddy?" Leo looked concerned.

"No no, no need to worry, Leo, I do love Daddy, I do," Mouse reassured him. "It's just that--" she stopped talking, a listening look on her face.

"Oh my god, are you having another contraction?" Mary asked. "Maybe this is it, Mouse, maybe it's really happening."

"Maybe so," Mouse answered with a smile.

A few hours later and no one was left in any doubt. The contractions were coming every fifteen minutes or so, very strong and regular. Mouse sat on the couch, with Leo next to her, timing everything with her phone, concentrating with all his might and main. Henry had been called, and was on his way home.

Mouse was in labor.

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Mouse emerged from the bathroom, hair wet from her shower.

"I don't love these shorts," she complained. "They make me look dumpy and fat."

"You're nine months pregnant, you are fat," Mary retorted with a smile.

"No, don't say that," Leo interjected. "She's beautiful."

Henry smiled at his son.

"She is, isn't she?" he asked, scooping Leo up in his arms. "Just beautiful."

It was nearly seven o'clock the following morning, and Mouse's contractions were five minutes apart, and very strong. It was finally time to go to the hospital.

Mouse opened her mouth to retort to her sister about making fat jokes when someone was in labor, but a contraction hit her just then, and she held her tongue, merely grabbing the back of the sofa and bending over to breathe through it.

Henry quickly put Leo down and went to Mouse's side, rubbing her back and talking soothingly to her.

"I'm okay, I'm okay," she assured him. "Mary Liz, please come and braid my hair before we go?"

Mary quickly and efficiently put Mouse's hair in two fat French braids, her speed showing the benefit of years of practice braiding hair in a large family.

"Okay, done," she proclaimed, kissing the top of her sister's head. "Now go, quickly, before the baby just pops out in the elevator or whatever."

"Could that happen?" Leo asked, eyes huge. "You guys need to hurry!"

"Nice," Mouse murmured to Mary. "Way to terrify the kid."

"I'm not terrified," Leo said stoutly, reaching for his aunt's hand. "But you guys should go, I think."

Henry appeared, pulling Mouse's overnight bag. "Car's out front," he announced.

"Henry, you called the car service?" Mouse asked in disbelief. "For this? We could've just taken a cab."

"I didn't want to risk it," he explained. "What if we couldn't find one?"

"Yeah, what am I thinking? A taxi in Manhattan on a weekday morning? Madness, just madness," Mouse teased, doing her best Phoebe Buffay.

"I'm a little preoccupied, don't be mean to me," Henry retorted, kissing her nose.

"Kiss me, Leo, and wish us luck," Mouse said to her son, pulling him into a tight hug. "The next time I see you, you're going to be a big brother, aren't you?"

"I already am a big brother," Leo told her. "She's just in there right now." He gestured to Mouse's huge belly. "Good luck, though," he added, smiling.

"Aww, I love you, Leo," Mouse told him.

"I love you too," he answered, putting little hands on her cheeks.

"Okay, this is all really nice, but we need to go," Henry interrupted. "Leo, kiss--" he put deed to the words and kissed his son. "Mary Liz, hug--" and he pulled her in.

"Here we go," he called, opening the door.

Mouse laughed at him as they rode the elevator down, and she had another contraction in the lobby, causing Mr. Bobby to come scurrying over, concern in his kind eyes.

"I'm okay, I'm okay," Mouse assured him as he helped her into the car.

She sat next to Henry as he fretted about the traffic. "Oh my god, why is there so much?" He asked, looking around.

"Henry, relax," Mouse begged, putting a hand on his leg. "I need you to be calm, and not freak out before we're even at the hospital, you know?"

"I'll try." He gave her a tense smile that did nothing to put her at ease.

They arrived without any mishaps, and the machinery of the hospital took over, getting Mouse into a wheelchair and over to her room with a minimum of fuss.

Dr. Bernstein came and examined her, declaring everything to be "perfect," for which Mouse was very grateful. Henry needed to hear those words. "And you don't want anything for the pain? Haven't changed your mind?"

Mouse resolutely shook her head. She could do this.

"How's the pain?" Henry asked after they were alone.

Mouse shook her head. "Not too bad."

"Really? You're not just saying that?" He smoothed her hair.

"Honest, not too terrible." Mouse grasped the window-sill as she felt another contraction, breathing through it. "Please don't worry, Henry."

"You know I'm going to worry, right?" he replied, rubbing her back. "But I'm sorry, I'll try to be more supportive, I will."

"Are you kidding me?" Mouse asked as the contraction finally abated. "You couldn't be any more supportive, you're like the poster child for pregnant woman support."

Henry laughed.

"Well, great, I'll take that, I guess," he answered.

They whiled away the morning walking around Mouse's room, talking to Leo and each other, as the contractions got closer and closer together. Eventually, Mouse stopped walking and got in bed, trying to ease the pressure on her back.

Shirley, the nurse, came in and checked Mouse, and announced that she was completely effaced, and pretty much completely dilated as well.

"You ready to do this, mama?" she asked cheerfully.

Mouse nodded, trying not to grit her teeth as the contraction tightened her abdomen and took the strength from her legs. She reached for Henry's hand, gripping it tightly.

"Okay, I've paged Doctor, and someone will be coming to move you to delivery in a few minutes," Shirley told the couple.

"A few minutes? Can she wait that long?" Henry asked. He looked at his wife with concern.

"Don't worry, Daddy, this baby's not coming out for at least half an hour," Shirley told him with a smile.

That didn't sound like very long to Henry, but he kept his thoughts to himself. Instead he fed his wife some ice chips, which she received gratefully.

When they were alone, Mouse said, "Henry, please, please, relax. I need you to relax, I can't worry about you right now."

Henry took a deep breath and nodded. "I know, I know, I'm sorry. I just--" He stopped, unsure how to continue.

"You don't have to say anything, darling Henry," Mouse told him. "You don't."

Henry leaned forward and kissed his wife, wiping some perspiration from her forehead. "I love you, Mouse."

Mouse leaned back as she felt another contraction. She felt a really strong urge to push, but knew that she couldn't, not yet.

She was wheeled into a delivery room minutes later, and she was joined there by Henry, who was nearly unrecognizable in his gown and mask. He pulled the mask down, anyway, because he felt like he couldn't breathe when he wore it.

By now they were timing her contractions by when and how long she didn't feel them, and Mouse knew that the time was really drawing near.

Dr. Bernstein came in, smiling at the couple.

"Are we ready?"

They nodded to her, and with the next contraction, Mouse began to push, sitting up, dropping her chin and grasping Henry's hand hard enough to cut off his circulation.

At one point she looked up at the clock on the wall, and she was shocked to find that it was nearly two o'clock. She'd been pushing for over two hours.

"Henry, I'm tired," she told him breathlessly.

"I bet you are," he replied.

She felt another contraction before she could say anything else, and they both smiled when they heard Dr. Bernstein call out, "I can see her head, you two, she's nearly here."

Henry kissed her temple, and helped her sit up for the next contraction.

"Okay, okay, here we go, honey," he encouraged.

And when Mouse pushed next, just when she thought she couldn't take the pain, and was going to cry in front of her husband, she felt the most intense pressure, followed by equally intense relief.

"There's the head," Dr. Bernstein declared. "Want to see, Daddy?"

Henry nodded, and briefly left Mouse's side, returning quickly to tell her, "She's beautiful, Mouse, she looks just like you." And Mouse could tell that he was close to tears.

"Come on, Henry don't fall apart," she teased, and he looked at her in surprise, impressed that she could joke at such a time.

"You are the most amazing woman," he said, shaking his head.

"As long as you know it," she answered, reaching for his hand again.

One final push, and Mouse felt like she was expelling her insides from the force of it, and the baby was out.

Mouse fell back against the bed, utterly spent, as the newest Gardener's cries filled the delivery room.

"You did it, you did it," Henry said to his wife, kissing her chapped lips.

"Us, Henry, we did it," Mouse answered, eyes closed. "Even Leo, we did it together..."

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Leo bounced as he held his aunt's hand.

"This is the slowest elevator ever," he announced.

Mary agreed with him, watching the display as it crawled up to the eighth floor, where her sister was recovering.

Finally, they arrived, and the doors slid open. Leo pulled her by the hand, though he didn't know which way to go.

"This way, Leo, come on," Mary laughed. She led him to the right room, and they entered to see his Mommy sitting up in bed, with his Daddy sitting next to her.

They were holding his new sister.

Leo stared at the blanket as he approached the bed, not even wanting to blink. He stopped a few feet away.

"Well, come closer, Leo," his daddy encouraged. "Come meet your new sister."

His new sister.

Leo swallowed and got his feet moving again. He climbed on the bed and leaned forward to look.

She was tiny.

Her skin looked like it was made of something really soft, and her eyelashes were beautiful. Her little hands were held in front of her body, fingers curled up, as she made tiny little smacking noises.

As Leo gazed at her raptly, she opened her eyes, seeming to look right at him.

"Can she see me?" Leo asked in a whisper.

As if in response, her little hand came out of the blanket, waving in front of his amazed eyes.

"Leo, meet Cameron Bean Gardener," Mommy said, smiling at him.

Leo looked at his mommy, who looked so tired, and so happy.

"Bean?" he repeated. "Like Beanie? Like we've been calling her?"

Mommy nodded, her smile growing. "She still looks like a lil bean, doesn't she?" she asked.

Leo looked back at her, at her perfect little mouth, and the bit of dark hair on her head. "She does, she does," he agreed.

"Can I hold her?" he asked, looking between his parents.

"Sure you can," his daddy replied.

So Leo scooted to sit on his father's lap, and the precious bundle was placed in his arms.

"Welcome, Beanie," Leo said softly. "Welcome to your life. I promise to love you and take care of you, I do, I do."

And he pressed a gentle kiss to her perfect forehead.