Chapter Twenty

"Oh, fuck!" Savannah's waters broke in the car.

"Gross!" Cassidy cried, before she could help herself. Savannah shot her a glare but also snorted a short laugh.

"Birth," she announced, gritting her teeth, "is a beautiful, natural miracle. Get used to it."

She undid her seatbelt, no longer able to tolerate sitting. She shifted up onto her knees, a literal pool of wetness spreading into the expensive upholstery as Burt sped through the outskirts of the city. Cassidy observed her with horror. She undid her own belt, ready to help, despite having no idea what that was going to look like.

"Put your damn belt back on!" her sister snapped, bracing her hands on the seat in front of her, somehow finding time to be the traffic police despite the oncoming contraction. Cassidy obeyed warily, one eye on her sibling, just in time for Burt to pull up at the hospital.

It was a fancy private hospital, but Cassidy was still surprised when they stopped at a discreet side entrance to be met by two security guards, a hospital administrator, a well-dressed doctor, a nurse and an orderly pushing a wheelchair. Savannah Grace arriving to give birth was a whole big deal.

"Where's Imani?" Savannah asked with gritted teeth as they wheeled her into the elevator. "She's my obstetrician. That's who I want."

"She's on leave," the doctor told her nervously. "You're a little early. We've called her, though-" she added quickly as Savannah's eyes turned so steely it looked like she believed she actually could kill with her gaze.

They were whisked inside to a beautiful private birth suite with mood lighting, a hospital bed, and what looked to Cassidy's eyes to be an actual jacuzzi.

Her sister ignored all of it, pulling off her clothes almost as soon as the door closed behind them, making Cassidy blink, and walking naked into the shower where she proceeded to scream bloody murder.

"Oh fuck, oh fuck." Cassidy was way out of her depth here. Her eyes darted around the room. The doctor looked at her expectantly.

"We need to give her a quick exam," she said, as if Cassidy had anything to do with anything. "Can you let her know?" Cassidy thought doctors were normally a little more assertive than this, but this one seemed star-struck or just plain terrified of fucking up with such a high-profile patient.

"Savannah?" she tried, standing in the bathroom doorway. "The doctor wants to examine you. Can you come out?"

"Fuck that fucking doctor." Savannah turned, in all her naked glory. Her face contorted in pain again and she gripped the shower rail, an unholy sound escaping her.

"Savannah!" Cassidy hissed, more than a little alarmed. "Come on, what are we here for if not for medical attention?"

"I don't know!" Her sister sounded desperate. "I don't want to be here at all! I'm not ready for this!"

Cassidy stared at her.

"I don't think you've got much choice in the matter," she pointed out. Savannah had kept it together to get this far, but now they were here she seemed to be unraveling.

"No," her sister started crying. "You don't understand. I'm not ready. I can't do this yet. Not the birth, not the hormone crash, not the lack of sleep." Her voice broke. "Not the always having a tiny person on you, not fucking cracked nipples and leaking boobs." Cassidy's eyes went wide. Savannah sobbed helplessly. "Not the part where I'm never sexy anymore, being alone with no one but a baby while Brynn goes out without me and meets god knows who else. I'm not ready for my life to fall apart like that again-" Her voice broke into a ferocious moan as the next contraction took hold, almost bent in half by the pain.

"Okay…" Cassidy stepped into the shower with her. She used her knuckles to press against Savannah's lower back, the same way she'd seen Brynn do. Her sister didn't seem to register the situation until the contraction passed and she turned her head to see Cassidy in a half-soaked dress with her hair dripping into her eyes and her sob choked into a despairing laugh. They both looked deranged.

"Savannah." Cassidy pushed her own hair out of her eyes and then her sister's. "You're talking like an insane person. I don't know if it's the pain or the hormones or what the fuck is wrong with you right now, but Brynn is not going to leave you because you've had a baby together." She huffed at the ridiculousness of the prospect. Had Savannah not met her own wife? "I've never seen anyone more in love in my entire life, and that was before I heard her singing about you every damn day in the studio. She can't wait for the two of you to be moms all over again, leaking boobs and all." She tried extremely hard not to screw up her face at the thought. "Jesus, Savannah, your ex husband might have been a dirtbag, but Brynn is not Cole."

Savannah flinched. For a second Cassidy thought she'd said the wrong thing, as her sister slowly leaned her head against the shower tiles and cried. Then she raised her head, swallowed her tears, and took a deep breath.

"Thanks, Cassie," she said, her voice sounding almost back to normal. "I needed to hear that." Cassidy took advantage of her brief return to sanity to steer her into the room for an exam.

Things moved quickly from there, and Cassidy lost track of time. Savannah labored in the shower, in the tub, on the bed, against the wall. The doctor mostly stayed out of the way after Cassidy's beautiful, refined, famously charming sister told her to fuck off you fucking asshole, and the older no-nonsense midwife did most of the coaching. She spotted Cassidy's absolute loss for what to do and had her fetching her sister endless cups of iced water and heat packs and helping her count down her breaths.

When Savannah felt the urge to push, all hell broke loose.

She was on her knees, on the bed, still naked, and the string of blue words that spilled from her made Cassidy's eyes water.

"No!" Savannah summed up her point succinctly. "I'm not having this baby until my wife gets here-" She contracted so hard, Cassidy felt it in her own body when she screamed. She saw the doctor and the midwife exchange a glance that she couldn't interpret. A minute later, she understood. Savannah couldn't stop from pushing if she tried. She was fighting it though, her face agonized, on the verge of panic.

Cassidy grabbed her hand.

"Cut the shit, Savannah," she said firmly. "Brynn is on her way, but honestly, at this point, she probably won't make it." Her sister shook her head fast in denial, and Cassidy gripped her chin and made her look at her. "All Brynn cares about is that you are safe, and the baby is safe. Okay? Birth is like, one damn moment. She's going to be with you and the baby forever," she said fiercely. "Now let's stop fucking around and get this baby here safely."

The next minute, Savannah was gripping her hand so hard Cassidy felt pretty sure she knew what it felt like to be in labor herself. The midwife prompted her to count out loud to ten, for each long push as Savannah's multi-Grammy winning voice came out in a savage howl.

"I can see the head!" the doctor announced from the business end and Cassidy wasn't sure if she wanted to pass out or cheer or cry.

The door burst open.

"I'm here!" Brynn cried, erupting into the room. She ran to Savannah and kissed her hard on the forehead, breathing raggedly and grabbing her other hand in her own. "Oh my god baby, I'm here." Her face was red with emotion, clearly having spent the last however many goddamned hours it had been in deep stress.

Savannah looked at her and let out one sharp sob of desperate relief. Then Brynn's eyes went wide as Savannah did her level best to break her wife's hand as well, letting loose an animalistic roar as she bore down hard and pushed again. Cassidy met Brynn's thoroughly freaked out eyes briefly over Savannah's head as she carefully counted to ten again.

"One more!" the doctor coached, "Doing great!"

"Fuck you," panted Savannah. "Literally, fuck you."

Brynn looked at Cassidy again, faintly stunned, and she shook her head in response. Honestly, Brynn had no idea. The next contraction hit and Savannah gritted her teeth and made an inhuman noise that drowned out the encouraging noises from the doctor and the midwife. Then-

"Grab your baby, honey, here she is," the midwife ordered Savannah and Cassidy's vision briefly wavered as her sister reached down and - out of nowhere, it seemed - suddenly had a literal human baby in her hands. She clutched the small creature to her chest and sank down on the bed, lying back, holding her and crying and Brynn was crying and Cassidy was crying and then a whole new tiny voice joined in and everyone in the room was crying.

Even the doctor, a little, though that might have been the sheer relief.

"Emmeline." Savannah was cradling her close, Brynn weeping, her finger stroking the tiny cheek.

"Emmeline Grace," Brynn whispered.

The midwife found Cassidy a pair of clean dry scrubs to put on. Once changed, she hung back, letting Brynn and Savannah be alone together with their new daughter. The doctor had checked her out and despite being a little early, she seemed perfectly healthy, Savannah thanking the doctor and apologizing profusely.

Cassidy stood over by the window, looking out over Nashville in the afternoon light. Finding her phone, she pulled up a contact she'd never once used, and sent Lane the picture she'd taken of Brynn and Savannah cradling Emmeline, making sure she'd cropped out Savannah's breasts first.

She's here. Everyone is safe.

Lane must have been glued to their phone waiting because, instantly, three little dots appeared. Then disappeared. Then appeared and disappeared again.

Thank you

Cassidy waited, but that was all she got.

A few hours later, after being cleared by the security guard posted outside the door, Lane peeked into the most lavish hospital room they'd ever seen. Brynn looked up and caught their eye and, with a wide smile, gestured them in. Tucker broke away and ran straight toward his mama, who was tucked up in the king sized bed. Brynn quickly swept him up in her arms to stop him, whispering in his ear.

Lane tiptoed closer. Savannah was breathing evenly, her face gently flushed. Asleep. Alive. Safe. They sighed in relief. Brynn looked over Tucker's head and with a smile nodded over toward the window. Lane followed her eyes and there, in an armchair sat Cassidy, inexplicably dressed in a pair of pale pink scrubs that suited her drastically. Her hair was scooped up hastily, soft wisps escaping around her face. She looked exhausted but calm, and in her arms she held a small bundle ofbaby.

Tucker's eyes went wide.

"That's our baby," he said softly.

"Come and have a cuddle with us," came the soft voice from the bed. Everyone turned to see Savannah awake, pulling herself gingerly up to relax against the pillows. Tucker struggled out of Brynn's arms and leapt on the bed. Cassidy carefully stood. She offered the baby to Brynn, who just smiled and shook her head. Cassidy made her way across the room with the fragile bundle in her arms and climbed into bed, nestling in right next to her sister. Tucker was snuggled in against his mama and between Cassidy and Savannah they helped him hold his own sister for the first time.

Brynn tugged Lane by the sleeve and pulled them over to the bed until everyone was crowded around together, admiring baby Emmeline. She was tiny, red and squishy and generally just looked like a baby. But there, looking up at them, were very much Savannah's eyes. Cassidy's eyes.

"Oh my god, there's another one of you," Lane breathed, and Savannah laughed.

"Are you sure you're up for this, Lane?" she teased. "She's going to be a handful."

"You all are." They shrugged even as their smile slipped out. They felt Cassidy's eyes on their face and couldn't help but look up. Something passed between them, for just a second: a mutual acknowledgement that they were not in fact the strangers to each other that they were pretending to be. Lane started to smile again, almost by accident, and Cassidy dropped her gaze.

Lane and Brynn went for a walk together, to grab snacks from the hospital cafeteria, as well as caffeine. Brynn was projecting a long night ahead as she tried to get Savannah as much rest and recovery as she could.

"I should never have gone away," she berated herself. "I nearly missed my own daughter being born."

"You made it though," Lane reminded her. "You were there when it counted."

"I promised Savannah years ago that I'd be here for this. And yet somehow, I wasn't there when she needed me most." She looked devastated. Then her eyes lightened. "Thank god for Cassidy. I'm not sure anyone would have predicted it, but Savannah said she was exactly the birthing coach she needed."

Lane looked incredulous, and Brynn laughed too.

"I know, right?" she agreed. "I'm so unbelievably grateful for her. I don't think any of it was pretty, but Cassidy came through."

"Huh," was all Lane managed. Despite the strain between the two sisters, despite the outbursts and the resentment, Lane suddenly found that they weren't surprised at all.

"Those Grace women." Brynn shook her head. "They're something else."