I held my phone in a death grip as I slowly made my way down the stairs. Once at the bottom, I paused long enough to get to the text window. I quickly typed in five characters before flipping through the phonebook to find Josh's number, quietly cursing the timing of everything.

I had gone to bed earlier that afternoon, not feeling well. Josh had poked his head in long enough to ask me if I wanted anything for dinner since he was going to go out. I had waved him away and gone back to sleep only to awaken to some rather troubling cramping and discovering a faint trickle of blood upon a trip to the bathroom.

My phone rang, startling me out of the train of thought I had been in. I quickly answered it.

"What's going on?" Josh asked.

"Cramping and bleeding," I answer. I start to hear the sirens in the distance.

"Shit," Josh whispers.  I hear voices in the background, recognizing the deep timbre of my ex immediately.

"You're at Lance's?"

"Um, yeah. I'll be home in a minute."

"Better be, the ambulance is nearly here."

"I know. See you in a minute." Josh hung up. I did also and moved to the front door, opening it and leaning against the frame, listening to the sirens get louder.

I tried to keep myself calm as I watched the ambulance stop in the end of the driveway and the EMTs rushed out of the back and up to the house. They helped me onto the stretcher and closed up the house. Josh arrived, on foot, as they were loading me into the back of the ambulance. He wasted no time climbing into the back with us and taking my hand.

The ride was a quick one, the EMTs asking a bunch of questions to get a head start for the ER staff and checking my vitals.

I was rushed into a private section of the ER upon arrival. Josh followed, getting bogged down in paperwork to fill out as I was stripped down and put into a gown and having an ultrasound done to check on the baby.

It wasn't long before the diagnosis came - the placenta was ripping away from the uterine wall, and I had the beginning stages of  preeclampsia. I listened as they told Josh.

"Bottom line, Mr. Chasez, is that baby has to come out, right now. Now at 32 weeks, he's still premature, but we will do everything in our power to give him the best start, the rest will be up to him," The nurse said as more of them came in, prepping me for the emergency C-section.

I was prepped and moved into the Operating Room. They put a sheet up just below my neck so that I wouldn't be able to see what they were doing.  Josh was allowed to scrub up and join me on that side of the partition.

"Hey," he said softly as he sat down in the chair they provided him.

"Hi," I responded, looking up at him and trying to ignore the weird sensations going on throughout the rest of my body as they numbed me.

Josh moved the chair a little closer and I could see him easier. The emotions etched across his face made him look much older than his thirty years. I felt a tear escape from my right eye and he gently wiped it away with his thumb.

"Everything will be fine, Sam," Josh whispered. I offered a weak smile.

"I did everything I was supposed to."

"I know. It's not your fault."

"Why do they keep wanting to come out early?"

"I don't know, love."

I smiled at his choice of words. "Still love me, then?"

"Always."

I winced as I felt a tug. "We never agreed on a name."

"What one did you like?"

"I don't know. You pick it out. Just not Joshua Junior."

"Alright, if that's what you want."

"It is. I decided that a few days ago. Happy birthday," I joked.

"It's a boy," one of the doctors announced. Josh and I immediately quit talking, listening for the cry we expected. An eternity went by before we heard a quiet cry as a nurse bundled him up in a blanket.

"Go with him," I told Josh.

"Sam-"

"I'll be fine. Go with your son."

Josh kissed my forehead and followed our son as he was wheeled to the NICU.

I was quickly put back together and wheeled to the recovery area, where I waited an eternity to be given a private room. Josh eventually found me, standing at my side quietly after reporting he knew nothing yet. I reached out and took his hand and he squeezed mine gently.

"I love you," I said quietly.

"I love you too," Josh answered.

A nurse entered our little area, checking my chart.

"How are we feeling now, Mrs. Chasez?"

"Been better. Been worse. Starting to feel it now though."

"Okay. That's a good sign, and we can start you on some painkillers if you'd like," I nodded. "And we'll get you into your room here in a few minutes."

I nodded again and Josh moved out of the way a few minutes later when they started rolling me down the corridors to a private room.

Once I was settled into the room, Josh broke his silence.

"What about Leroy?"

I immediately wrinkled my nose in distaste.

"I was joking. I was thinking maybe something like Harry Daniel," he watched me as I thought about it.

"Harry Chasez. It works. If that's what you want, I'm happy with it."

Josh nodded and gave my hand a quick kiss and left to return to the NICU to see what was going on with Harry.

Once Josh left, I closed my eyes, the painkillers making me drowsy. I don't know how long I slept, but I awoke sensing a presence in the room, and saw three figures sitting around, talking quietly. I recognized Josh and Lance's voices, though I didn't hear what they were talking about.

"Joshua."

"Sam." Josh pulled his chair closer to the bed.

"What time is it?"

"Pretty late. How are you feeling?"

"Sore. Harry?"

Josh sighed. I was immediately wide awake and tried to sit up, but the stitches across my abdomen made it impossible and I lied back down.

"He's stable now. The doctors say his lungs are underdeveloped a little even for 32 weeks. They had some trouble getting him to breathe, but he's doing alright now. And tests so far are looking good. No heart or brain problems as far as we can tell. He's a fighter, Sam. He's going to be alright."

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and feel my body relax a little. I turn my attention to the other figures in the room. Now that my eyes had adjusted to the dim light in the room, I recognized Lance and his current boyfriend.

"'Sup?" I asked.

"Thought we'd stop by and bring you this," Lance said. Reichen picked a gift bag off the floor and placed it on the bed next to me. I pulled it closer and pulled out a stuffed lion.

"Can't break with tradition. The lion just seemed fitting."

I laughed quietly. "Just what this family needed. Another Leo. Thanks Lance, Reichen."

Lance and Reichen stayed a few more minutes before leaving Josh and I alone. 

"You should have gone with them," I said, realizing something.

"Trying to get rid of me?"

"No, I'm glad you're here. But you came in the ambulance with me."

"Lance brought my car over. But I thought-"

I watched him quietly, waiting for him to continue.

"If you felt like it, that I'd stay here with you tonight." He looked down at his feet.

"Sleep in the chair? You're not fifteen anymore, honey."

Josh looked up and nodded to the other side of the room. I followed his gaze to see a small cot set up.

"Ah. I suppose I have no say in the matter then, but yes, I'd like if you stayed."

Josh moved Harry's lion to my pillow and gently brushed the hair off my forehead.

"Go back to sleep. As soon as you're feeling up to it, I can take you to meet our son."

I nodded and closed my eyes, eventually falling back to sleep.