AN: I think I've let everyone wait long enough. Have I mentioned recently that I love my reviewers. Your messages bring me smiles. . . . That was an understatement. I really love my reviewers! I wanna give virtual hugs to all of you! If you don't want a hug, then a virtual cookie will have to suffice.

I will admit, I took some creative liberty with this chapter. I know that labor would be much slower than what I wrote here, but I had to speed it up for the sake of moving the story along.

Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil, its characters, or the movie Titanic. The baby's identity, however, is my idea.

May 7th, 1999

Several days passed and the baby had yet to arrive. Jill was getting very antsy and restless, and it was all Chris could do to keep her occupied while he was working upstairs. He had taken to working from his home office so he could keep a close eye on Jill. It was a sacrifice, but a necessary one to ease his mind.

Jill on the other hand, spent the past few days parked in front of the TV, armed with an endless stream of movies and TV series reruns. The pregnant woman could barely move, thanks to her watermelon-sized stomach and Braxton-Hicks contractions, so the TV remote received a lot of abuse as Jill flipped through the channels, searching for something interesting to watch. She paused on one of the movie channels that she and Chris had ordered, noticing that Titanic was showing. On one of her first dates with the Redfield, they went out to see Titanic together and Jill loved it. She would have invited Chris downstairs to watch it with her, but he had said that he didn't want to be disturbed unless it was a "baby-related" emergency. Sometimes Jill wondered how engrossing his work could possibly be; she would be bored out of her skull if she were in his shoes. "Oh well," she resigned with a shrug of her shoulders, "back to Titanic."

The movie had cut to the scene where the RMS Titanic was just about to hit the iceberg. Jill tensed in anticipation as the ship crept forward and to the side of the iceberg until the side of the ship made impact, jarring the hero and heroine from their kiss. The pregnant woman silently cheered at the dramatic shift in action, only to discover a distinct puddle that had somehow leaked through her pants and onto the sofa.

"What the . . . " Jill thought in hazy astonishment, "There is no way I could have just peed my pants! I just went to the bathroom ten minutes ago and my bladder feels fine!" Having ruled out those answers, a sudden revelation interrupted Jill's thinking. "CHRIIIS!" she shouted as the movie showed water pouring into the Titanic, "GET DOWN HERE!"

Chris' footsteps hammered down the stairs. "Jill? Is everything okay?" he asked wildly from the doorway.

Jill hissed as she felt a contraction arriving, this one very real as her muscles tightened in pain. "Water just broke. I think . . . I think the baby's coming!" she replied, bracing herself as the cramping disappeared.

"Baby's coming?" Chris repeated. Jill nodded desperately. "Baby's coming!" Chris ran out of the room to grab the necessary items that Jill would need at the hospital. "Just sit tight! We're going to the hospital!" The pregnant woman groaned in response.

While Chris fumbled around for the supplies, he caught ahold of the telephone and speed-dialed Rebecca's number. The call was forwarded to voice mail, forcing Chris to leave a quick message. "Rebecca. It's Chris. Jill's going into labor. We're on our way," he said quickly before Jill screamed from the other room, "Gotta go!" The frazzled man stuffed the bag of supplies into the passenger seat of his car, checking that the baby car-seat he had bought earlier was in the trunk and ready to be installed at a moment's notice before going back in for Jill.

When Chris had made it back into the house, Jill's contractions had left her in so much pain that Chris had to carry her out of the house and lay her sprawled across the backseat of the car before he could start driving. "It's gonna be okay, Jill!" he reminded her as he tried to focus on getting to the hospital. He forgot which parking lot he was supposed to enter for expecting parents, so he took a gamble and pulled into the parking lot that was closest to the ER. He wound up carrying Jill in his arms, with a bag of supplies over his shoulder and a mental note to thank STARS for his police training. Thankfully, the ER was experiencing a slow day and he made a beeline towards the nearest admissions nurse. "My fiancé is in labor. We need a room NOW," he commanded forcefully.

The nurse seemed to understand his intensity and called for a gurney. The bed arrived, and Chris relinquished Jill from his arms so he could ask the nurse to contact Dr. Chambers. Minutes later, Jill was set up in a birthing room, where a nurse was helping Jill control her breathing and time her contractions.

"She's nowhere near dilated enough to start pushing," the nurse stated, "Dr. Chambers is on her way. She can take it from here." The nurse then promptly left the room, leaving Chris and Jill to be alone.

Jill was gripping Chris' gloved hand like a finger trap as the contractions came and went. The Redfield could only look down at Jill as he could only imagine the thoughts running through her head right now. When he tried to stand and take a break from the unforgiving plastic chair, Jill pulled him back downwards. "Please…don't leave yet," she pleaded, gazing up at him with her waterlogged blue eyes. Chris returned the gaze and sat back down. It was painfully clear how anxious she was when she was vulnerable. Jill had always believed in her own strength to carry her through hardship, but right now it was not enough for her to make it through alone. She needed Chris to be there.

A few minutes later, Rebecca arrived with a frantic look on her face. "Is everybody okay?" she asked, noticing the death grip Jill had on Chris' hand.

"Contractions are coming a various intervals," Jill grunted, "and they HURT."

Rebecca nodded in understanding and began to walk to the foot of the bed. "I need to see how far you're dilated," she said, pulling on a clean pair of rubber gloves.

Another contraction wracked Jill's body as Rebecca checked her progress. "We're at four centimeters," the medic reported, "We need ten centimeters before you can start pushing."

Jill grunted in pain again. "Now what?" she growled, holding on to Chris' hand like a life raft.

"We'll have to wait," Rebecca said, checking her watch, "I have other patients to tend to. Call the nurse if you need anything; I'll be back as soon as I can." The young medic left the room, leaving Jill and Chris alone. The Redfield sat quietly with his fiancé before announcing that he needed to use the restroom. The pregnant woman allowed him to leave on the promise that he would return when he was done.

However, the story was half-true. Once Chris was on his way to the men's room, he found a pay phone and called Claire. He had promised her that he would call her when Jill was in labor. "Claire?" he spoke, "Baby's coming today. I'm at the hospital with Jill now. You know which one. Bye."

Chris ended his call and did his business, only to speed back to Jill's room quickly after hearing an extreme shout of pain. "Is everything okay?" he asked, stopping in the doorway to observe the situation.

"Oh, I don't know! What do you think?" Jill shouted sarcastically from the bed. Despite the fact that her hair had been tied back into a short ponytail, several little strands had escaped the ponytail holder, giving Jill a neurotic, intense look. "It's getting really, REALLY painful, Chris!"

Chris was struck dumb by the amount of aggressive, raw strength emanating from the mother-to-be. "Just- Just hang in there, Jill!" he encouraged, " You can do this."

Jill nodded wearily. After what felt like three hours, Rebecca returned to check on Jill's progress. "We're almost there. Eight centimeters," Rebecca reported, standing at the foot of the hospital bed, "We'll be able to start pushing as soon as you reach ten."

Jill shot a knowing look at Chris. The Redfield understood immediately and turned to Rebecca. "I suppose I'd better wait outside before it gets too crowded in here," he said. Rebecca nodded in response; Jill's contractions had gotten closer together and the medic's voice would be inaudible over the screaming.

Once Chris had left, Jill began speaking with Rebecca. "Oh man…What was I thinking, Rebecca?" the pregnant woman pleaded in hysteria, "What possessed me to go through with this?"

Rebecca rushed up to Jill's side, offering comfort in the form of holding her hand. "You're doing great, Jill. You're almost there," the medic assured. "Just push when I say so."

Once outside, Chris parked himself in one of the uncomfortable plastic seats of the waiting area. He tried thinking of other things to take his mind off Jill's shouts of pain, but it was no use. The waiting room in this part of the hospital was a short distance away from the room Jill was about to give birth in.

Thirty minutes later, Claire appeared, saw him sitting pensively, and took a seat next to him. "How's Jill doing?" she asked.

Chris ground his teeth at the sound of another scream from down the hall. "She's almost ready to start pushing," he informed, grabbing onto Claire's arm when she stood up, "Stop. She only wants Rebecca in there right now. We've been kicked out until she says so."

Claire looked down at her brother, searching for a loophole that didn't exist. A few seconds later, she caved and reclaimed her seat next to him. "Alright," she said, "I guess we wait."

Three more hours passed and Jill was in agony. Despite the increase in pain, she refused every single offer of medication that the standby nurse offered, confident in her high pain tolerance that came with police training. "She's at ten centimeters! We're ready!" Rebecca suddenly announced, pulling on a blue pair of rubber gloves, "Alright, Jill! Start pushing!"

Jill vocal chords were too strained to speak, so the mother-to-be made do with a mental response of "About time!" The Valentine began clenching her abdominal muscles in time to the contractions, just like Rebecca coached her.

"You're doing good!" the medic encouraged, "Keep pushing!"

Jill tracked her breathing patterns, counting the seconds between the contractions, all the while contorting her muscles to push the baby out. The continuous grunting drew Rebecca's attention. "Slow down!" she advised, "Push WITH the contractions. Not without them!" Jill relaxed the demands on her muscles and focused on breathing.

"Mother of God, what was I thinking when I decided to keep this baby?" she asked herself in irritation. This baby was taking FOREVER to arrive. Jill's exasperation was beginning to go to her head, so she redirected her aggression to a more bearable target. "DAMN YOU CHRIIIIIIS!" she roared into the halls of the hospital.

Farther away, both of the Redfields flinched and turned toward the source of the scream like a pair of deer caught in a car's headlights. "Yikes," Claire commented, "I didn't know that Jill could shout like that."

"Me neither," Chris added, shrinking into his chair out of fright.

"I'M GONNA MURDER YOU, REDFIELD!" Jill's voice barked from the hospital room, causing many passersby to stop and stare. Chris and Claire froze in their seats.

"Umm, Bro?" Claire said with a stunned expression on her face, "I think she's talking to you." Chris didn't respond, but jumped to his feet as he saw Rebecca passing the wait area.

"Rebecca!" he said, getting the medic's attention, "Is she alright?"

"She's fine," Rebecca replied quickly, "Just in a lot of pain. Nothing to worry about." The young medic was nearly cut off by another shriek from Jill's room. "I'd better get back to her!" The medic said before jogging back to the birthing room, leaving the Redfields alone once again.

Chris sighed deeply. There was no denying that he was anxious; here he was in a crisis, his partner was in a massive amount of pain, and there was nothing he could do but sit on his ass and wait! It was infuriating. The Redfield was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't realize he was sending an angry glare towards the nurses' station.

Claire tapped his shoulder gently and got his attention. "Hey," she said softly, "Jill is going to be fine. She's a strong woman. That baby is going to be out-"

"GET ON WITH IT ALREADY!" Jill roared from her hospital room, shocking Claire and many of the nurses on duty. Apparently the labor wasn't as moving as fast as the younger Redfield thought.

Claire sat in her seat with her mouth agape. "…I'll shut up now."

"We're almost there, Jill!" Rebecca encouraged, "I can see the head!"

Jill reminded herself to breathe as she timed her pushes with the contractions. "C'mon, kid, get out already," she grumbled, squeezing onto a nurse's hand tightly while a second nurse mopped her forehead with a washcloth.

Rebecca tracked the baby's progress, getting ready to catch it. "There's the shoulders," she reported to Jill, "We need at least two more good pushes. Ready?" Jill nodded, feeling another contraction coming on. "Okay, Push!"

Jill Valentine strained her muscles to their limits as another contraction tore through her abdomen like a tug of war inside her body. The laboring woman cried out in pain, diverting some of the agony away from her brain and into the air. "Almost…. one more time!" Rebecca encouraged. Jill gave one last mighty shove and the baby slipped out completely. A shrill cry brought Jill back to Earth as the nurses dispersed to tend to the newborn.

"Is she. . . .okay?" Jill asked, gasping for breath; the amount of energy she had just used up to give birth was taking its toll on her physical state. Her question went answered for several seconds until the cries subsided and Rebecca turned around, holding the little girl in a blanket.

"She's perfect. No abnormalities or defects," The medic reported with a smile, "She's really big for a newborn. That probably explains why she took so long to get out."

"Can I see her?" Jill asked. Rebecca nodded and carried the baby over to her.

"Careful how you hold her," the medic reminded as she handed the newborn over to the mother.

"Rebecca was right," Jill thought, "she is perfect." The little girl was the perfect balance of Chris and Jill's genetics. Apart from the pink newborn blush, many of the facial features belonged to Jill. The baby even had Jill's dark brown hair, but the soft texture came from Chris. "My little girl," Jill whispered lovingly as she moved a lock of hair from her daughter's face. The newborn squirmed a little before opening her eyes and reaching up to her mother. Jill almost began crying in joy.

"Have you picked a name for the newest Redfield yet?" Rebecca asked; Jill hadn't noticed her disappear and then reappear with a series of forms.

Jill smiled down at her baby. "Chris and I agreed on 'Catherine'," she said, "And now I know what her middle name should be."

Jill whispered the middle name she chose as Rebecca filled out the blanks on the birth certificate and put the pen away. "Alright, Shall I go fetch Chris? He's here with Claire," the young medic asked next. Jill nodded, unfazed by Claire's arrival. "I'll be right back," Rebecca promised before exiting the room, leaving Jill alone with her daughter.

Chris and Claire sat pensively. They had heard the baby's cries, and Claire had to grab onto Chris' sleeve again to keep him from rushing over to Jill's side. Now that the cries had dissipated, the Redfield siblings sat nervously, hoping that something hadn't gone wrong. The Redfields were so absorbed in their respective thoughts that they didn't even see Rebecca appear.

"Chris?" the medic started, causing the ex-STARS point man to jump to his feet.

"Is Jill okay? Is the baby alright?" he asked with a frantic tone in his voice. The suspense of waiting had definitely gone to his head.

Rebecca gave her old co-worker a kind smile. "They're both healthy," she reported brightly, "Do you want to meet your daughter?"

It took Chris four seconds to respond. "It's a girl?" Rebecca nodded. The older Redfield stood stunned for a few seconds before he nodded and a smile that could only be described as 'sappy' grew on his face. He had a daughter.

Rebecca led him to Jill's room, after the younger Redfield had declared that she was going down to the gift shop to buy a birthday present for her new niece. Chris entered the hospital room to find Jill resting comfortably in her bed with the baby wrapped in a blanket and curled up in her arms.

"Hey you," Jill greeted in a soft voice as Chris stopped in the doorway, showing how tired she was, "Come over here and meet our daughter. She has your eyes."

Chris entered the room and stood at his partner's side. The first words to come out of Chris' mouth were instantaneous. "Can I hold her?"

Jill smiled and held her daughter out to him. Chris took the newborn gently. "Careful now," Jill advised, "Support the head." Once adjusted, the baby felt no heavier than a porcelain doll in his arms. Despite the weight, he never wanted to let go of the little wonder that he and Jill had created together. A surge of warmth spread through Chris' chest and he realized that wanted to protect this little girl with all his power. Upon looking down at his child, he realized that his love was right; the baby did have his eyes, he thought as a pair of matching chocolate brown eyes met his own. But one last question burned in his mind.

"What did you end up picking for the middle name?" he asked.

A serene smile crossed Jill's face. "Her full name is Catherine Ember Redfield," she said, "A perfect name for our pure little flame."