A/N: Warning, this chapter does depict childbirth so if that doesn't bother you, then have fun haha!
July 1948
The July heat of 1948 descended like a twister upon Wisconsin, appearing suddenly and sweltering. It was the kind of heat that made you sweat like a sinner sitting in a church pew and want nothing more than to be in a freezer. With nearly three weeks to go before baby Cleven was due to make an appearance, Kathryn felt like she was a pig being roasted during a bonfire in this heat.
She could barely stand the daytime—and night time only provided a little relief with cool summer breezes and an open window. Kathryn had kicked off all of the blankets of the bed, unable to find an ounce of comfortability between her lower back pain and the sheen of sweat that covered her body.
Between her husband and Meatball on the bed, Kathryn was decidedly not a fan of the heat anymore than she was a fan of the cold.
Just as she moved to slip back into the bed, finally relaxing at the cool air circulating through the room, there was a release of pressure. Something wet slipped down her legs, landing on the carpet below and for a moment, it was all Kathryn could do to just stare at the liquid on the ground.
"Honey?"
"Hmm?" Came Gale's sleepy reply.
"I need you to go into the hall and call Lenore. I think my water just broke."
Gale's eyes snapped open and in seconds, he was sitting up and staring wide-eyed at her. "Are you sure—"
"Yes! I didn't just pee myself!" Kathryn insisted, waving her arms emphatically.
At that, Gale was up in seconds and helping her to sit down on the bed before making a mad dash into the hallway to call Lenore. Kathryn felt suddenly very tired—but she wasn't having all that much pain or body aches at the moment, so she supposed that she should count herself lucky.
A short conversation later, the trio determined to wait for contractions and labor pains to actually start. And that could be a whole 24 hours from now. It was a waiting game now; even though her water had broken, they still had to wait for her body's response to that before Lenore would even come over to start helping with the birth.
And it wasn't that Kathryn was annoyed by any means—but having Gale glance over at her every two minutes in concern was leaving her a little emotionally tired. Kathryn just continued to write in her journal, trying to distract herself from Gale's incessant worrying.
"You know, if I start having contractions, I'll tell you," Kathryn stated lightly, pen pressing into the top of her journal page.
"I know that," Gale said sheepishly. "I'm just worried."
Kathryn just gave him a smile. "Well you should get some sleep—one of us might as well be coherent since we don't know how long the labor will last."
He didn't altogether like that response of hers, but still, he knew that her words were true. The two of them attempted to get as much rest as they could—but the thought of their child making its way into the world as soon as a few hours away consumed both of their thoughts like some sort of front-line news scene.
It wasn't until the early hours of morning that Kathryn felt her first actual contraction—a dull ache that started at the bottom of her spine and stretched outwards like a wave. It rippled all the way towards her pelvic area and Kathryn gave an eye-twitch at the pain. It was at this point that they called Lenore again —
And then she promised to be on her way within the hour.
If Kathryn Cleven thought that she had seen her husband nervous at any point in their relationship up until now, she had sadly been mistaken. Because the moment she expressed that she felt a contraction, that man was on his feet and pacing back and forth. It almost made her dizzy watching him move around in their bedroom and Kathryn just let out a sigh.
"Alright, that's it—you're tiring me out with all of this walking. Help me up," Kathryn insisted, waving a hand in his direction.
"Should you be up?" Gale's voice sounded panicked and she nearly laughed.
"Well I'm not gonna sit on my ass the entire time. I'm hoping walking around will help me a little bit," Kathryn stated.
At that, Gale seemed to not understand—but he crossed over to her and helped her to her feet. Back and forth across the room they began to walk—until the sun was shining more brightly and it was nearly mid-morning. The sound of food made Kathryn want to vomit and the heat was nearly unbearable.
When Lenore finally arrived at half past 9, she seemed to be disappointed at the lack of consistency between contractions. She insisted that they try to walk around and do as many regular activities that Kathryn could comfortably do—in order to ensure that her body continued prepping for the events of the day.
By the time that they hit noon, Kathryn had sunk into a spot on the couch—feeling as though her spine were twisting up and down and trying to snap in half. Her breaths that she had been practicing were doing little to center her or ground her.
"Gale?" Kathryn mumbled.
"Yeah, honey?" Gale was at her side in seconds, taking her hand in his.
"Can you please get Josie?" Her voice just felt very breathless and far away from her own lungs at the moment.
She didn't even hear his response to that before her eyes were slamming shut and she was having another contraction of pain. The simple fact of the matter was that for Kathryn Cleven, she didn't have any experience with childbirth. And the two people that she should have been able to ask weren't people that she wanted anywhere near her or her child.
No, Judith and Eugenia hadn't been spoken to in years and Kathryn much preferred it that way. But she needed someone here with her, needed and wanted Josie's steady presence and she wanted her brother here. She wanted the people that she loved and trusted the most to be with her on this day.
So when the door to the kitchen opened and Josie hurried to Kathryn's side—followed by Bucky holding a sleepy Cathy—Kathryn was finally able to let out a slight breath of relief. Josie immediately was snapping into action and trying to help Kathryn get comfortable. She was quick to get a wet towel to try and cool Kathryn down in this sweltering heat storm.
"Looks like you Egan's have a knack for coming early," Josie said, a grin slipping onto her face.
"Tell me about it," Kathryn murmured.
Josie helped her into a different position, this time kneeling and taking deep breaths. It only brought slight relief to Kathryn. The other relief was the fact that Meatball was no longer barking—Bucky had taken Cathy and the dog up into the nursery to play for the time being.
Between Gale, Lenore, and Josie—Kathryn really felt like she could do this. Really felt like things could turn out and be okay for them.
It wasn't until late evening when the contractions finally started to even out and get closer together. Kathryn's body was taking its sweet time in getting ready to give birth—and she was more than annoyed with herself. Lenore had warned her that it was probably going to be worse since she was such a high-risk pregnancy anyways—but Kathryn hadn't really seen that until she was actively in labor.
Emotions were running high for everyone, none more than Gale Cleven. He knew that Kathryn was a singular woman with the ability to get through anything. He had seen her persevere in the worst of circumstances and overcome every single obstacle that had come into her way.
But he worried—how could he not? The image of his wife bleeding in his arms kept flickering into his head. And then that made him think of Maggie bleeding out in the Camp, and the fact that Kathryn was in labor just made him feel sick to his stomach. At this point, he was more worried about Kathryn's ability to get through the labor.
He had watched her go from having energy to being tired out. After all, she had been awake for a full 24 hours and now, on the evening of July 3rd, 1948—Kathryn was just barely starting to have active labor.
If she wasn't hot before, Kathryn was certainly burning up now. The contractions were searringly close together and every breath she inhaled was in a shudder. Her shoulders shook and Gale and Josie did their best to try and calm her, talking to her and holding her up. Bucky had popped in and out of the house, dropping baby Cathy off to a sitter before returning to the house to help in any way that he could.
Things seemed to be going well—Lenore was encouraging Kathryn to push and then all at once, she just stopped, eyes falling on something that clearly concerned her. "What—what is it?" Kathryn huffed out.
Lenore glanced between Josie and Gale, a frown on her face. "Maybe I should—"
"Talk to me—I'm the one doing this," Kathryn bit the words out, clutching at Gale's arm as another contraction rolled through her body.
"The baby is breech."
Awful silence fell and Kathryn just let out a curse, tears spilling down her cheeks. "I need a minute—I need a minute—Gale—"
Lenore and Josie were abruptly ushered from the room by Gale Cleven, who just returned to his wife's side to continue holding her up. He recognized the determination in her gaze and the way in which she looked sure . "What do you need, sweetheart? You're doing great."
Kathryn knew enough about births—she was a damn doctor after all—to know what needed to happen. "We need to turn this baby around and it's gonna hurt like hell—I need you to tell Lenore that's what I want and I need—I need you to just keep me going, okay?"
He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "We're not losing this baby. And I'm not losing you."
"Damn straight," Kathryn panted the words out.
In seconds, Lenore and Josie had been brought back into the room. And then Kathryn was practivcally screaming obscenities and shaking in pure unadulterated pain. It was agonizing and Gale had to blink back his own tears at hearing her screams and groans of pain— jarring didn't even begin to describe this . Nothing he had seen or been through compared to watching Kathryn's face scrunch up in utter pain as she sobbed and begged them to stop—but they couldn't do that now.
And after nearly an hour of trying to turn the baby—they finally got the baby into a proper birthing position. Kathryn was utterly spent by the time that they got to the actual pushing—tears streaming down her face and looking scarily as if she had just been through a winter-march.
"I can't—I can't—please don't make me do this," Kathryn murmured out the words, shaking her head in mind-numbing pain.
But Gale was absolutely determined. "Kath, you've gotta do this. You've made it this far sweetheart—look at me, look at me—"
And then she was not lost anymore. Kathryn was looking into the orbit and gravitational pull of Gale Cleven and in this moment, she felt that she could do anything. As their eyes locked, Kathryn felt all resolve strengthen—and all signs of fear or trepidation or exhaustion were gone.
In the early hours of July 4th, 1948—after a strenuous two day labor, Kathryn Cleven gave birth to a daughter. As soon as the first cries of that baby hit Kathryn's ears, something seemed to shift within her very soul—and she was permanently fixated into Gale Cleven's orbit, prepared to do anything that she could to protect their little star .
A sob ripped out of Kathryn's throat as that precious bundle was placed in her arms. It turned to a breathless laugh as she looked into the beautiful face of her and Gale's daughter . She was a small thing, with the bluest eyes Kathryn had ever seen in her life and the wispiest of hair atop her head. And all at once, Kathryn knew what it was to completely fall in love again— her heart felt as though it was going to just burst .
"You're a dad," Kathryn breathed out, eyes flickering to Gale.
He stood there reverently, unable to form a single word. And as his eyes fell on his daughter—half-heavenly from her mother and and half of him—Gale could've died on the spot a happy man. This was elation, this was sunlight and starlight in pure human form—more innocent and perfect than anything he had ever seen (except for maybe his wife).
And when Kathryn handed him his daughter and the tears began spilling down his face—Kathryn was certain she had never seen anything more beautiful in her life.
" God —she's perfect," Gale choked the words out, unable to tear his gaze away from the tiny bundle in his arms.
"Daisy."
"Huh?" Gale broke eye-contact with his daughter, gaze flickering to his wife.
"I want to call her Daisy," Kathryn murmured. "You always get me daisies. And now I can give you a Daisy."
"Daisy Cleven." The words seemed the perfect fit—as if he were sliding Cinderella's shoe onto the princess herself. "Oh you're gonna be so loved, Daisy," he murmured, gently rocking Daisy in his arms.
Josie just stood there in the doorway, a grin on her face. "I guess this means you win."
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When Kathryn finally slipped into sleep, Gale was left with his precious daughter—and he didn't altogether mind. If he had his way, he would never put this angel down. Daisy was peacefully sleeping his his arms and he hummed to her.
"Let's let your momma rest, huh? You wanna meet your Uncle Bucky?" Gale finally made his way down the stairs, carefully as he could.
There sitting in the living room, a shit-eating grin on his face, was Bucky Egan and next to him, Josie. "Look at you, you're smitten," Bucky said in a soft tone.
"He's not wrong about that," Gale murmured to Daisy. He carefully handed over the baby to Bucky—who just sat there and reverently held her as if he were in a Church.
For a moment, Gale wasn't sure about Bucky's reaction to the entire thing—but then Bucky glanced up with slight tears in his eyes. "She's you with my sister's hair," he murmured, blinking back the emotion.
"What do you say?" Josie prodded gently.
"I think you should only have girls, actually." Bucky grinned, passing Daisy back to Gale. "She's perfect—and I'm really happy for you. Welcome to being a dad."
"It really suits you," Josie exclaimed fondly.
And sitting there, with his entire world in flux—but everything aligning so perfectly, Gale Cleven had to agree. And then he grinned. "You realize Kathryn's going to make, like, $100 off of the Hundredth, right?"
"It's an acceptable loss to have my favorite niece," Bucky insisted, shaking his head.