Chapter Nineteen

June …

Meg had started wearing her loosest clothing by the first real snow fall of the year. She'd been juggling her consulate responsibilities and the repercussions of being pregnant for months. If that wasn't enough, Dief had decided he was her personal lap dog. He sat beside her desk, eying her from time to time. Fraser wasn't much better. The Mountie had started taking his lunch in Meg's office whenever possible since he'd proposed.

Sometimes Meg would catch him watching her as she moved around the office. She could sense such warm emotion in his expression when she caught him staring at her growing form. The lady Mountie ached for him to touch her, to feel the new life progressing inside her. Meg needed to feel his strength at times.

The second week of May Dr. Howard scheduled the lady Mountie for her last ultrasound. She felt apprehensive about the results. This child meant more to her than anything ever had, her career, her parents, even Fraser.

Meg had left after lunch, allowing extra time for her ungainly gait and the heat. The taxi dropped her off across the street from the doctors' offices. She felt relieved when she saw the familiar, red figure jogging toward her, a white fuzzball trotting beside him.

"My apologies for my tardiness." Fraser came to a halt in front of Meg, his finger tracing the buckle of his Sam Brown belt.

"I'm twenty minutes early, Fraser." Meg shook her head at him, hoping that their baby shared his propensity for being early.

"Ah, yes, I see." The Mountie checked his wrist watch.

"Come on, Fraser, Dr. Botner wanted to see Dief the next time he decided to accompany me." Meg rolled her eyes at the fondness her general practitioner had developed for the Arctic wolf.

"Okay, lay down, now this will be cold, alright." Tammy, the new ultrasound technician smiled sweetly as she put a tube of ultrasound jelly under her arm to warm it. The petite blonde loved her job, seeing new parents getting a first glimpse of their little ones. She noted the quiet way this pair had about them.

"Is this your first child?" Tammy asked as she warmed the machine up in the small room decorated with pastel elephants and lions. Florescent light reflected off of her wire framed lenses.

"Yes." Meg smiled as she unbuttoned her blouse to expose her baby bump.

"I bet both of you are excited." The experienced tech looked from mom to pop.

"Yes," Both Meg and Fraser answered in unison as Tammy spread the clear jell on Meg's skin.

She had to chuckle at them. Next she took out the want, squishing it into a mound of jell. The first black and white image appeared on the screen. It didn't look like much.

"Fraser, that's our baby." Meg spoke in hushed tone full of wonder. She took him by the hand and laid his warm fingers along the side of her stomach. Her eyes danced with joy as the radiologist turned up the sound on the heartbeat.

"Our baby." Fraser breathed, feeling overwhelmed at the thought of having a child. What added to it was the feel of her hand laying on top of his. Benton never thought he'd feel like this; so connected, so important, to anyone.

Meg saw that amazed look on his face and knew that they were sharing an important moment together. With one finger, she motioned for him to draw nearer. Meg took him by the lanyard and pulled him into a quick but passionate kiss. Their fingers laced as they lay on her stomach.

"Do you want to know the gender of your baby before delivery?" Tammy asked, hoping she would be able to tell them it was a girl.

"Yes" Fraser said as he looked over Tammy's shoulder. He could discern the head and appendages.

"No" Meg answered boldly, looking at Fraser, confused.

"I need to know, guys." Tammy's soft voice came as she worked the radiology equipment.

"As long as the baby is healthy." Fraser relented, looking down into Meg's eyes.

"No, I do want to know, we should discuss the middle name." The lady Mountie smiled, glad that he had expressed his opinion without hedging.

Tammy began trying to move the wand in position to identify the gender. She had to stand on tip toe to get the image.

"It's a girl." The radiologist proudly announced. She charted some measurements. A tap at the door came before Dr. Howard, a petite, bird like lady with bright blue eyes and blonde curls, entered.

"Hello, how are things going?" Dr. Howard shuffled in, her small, white coat nearly swallowing her.

"It's a girl, Dr. Howard." Meg volunteered, still beaming like a flood light.

Fraser was almost as amazed at the change in Meg as he was at seeing his daughter on screen.

"Let me take a peek, okay?" the small, doll-like doctor took the helm from the radiologist. Meg and Fraser waited on pins and needles, watching Dr. Howard's every move. Both of them feared the worst secretly.

"Well, everything seems to be going smoothly, lets' make an appointment for a few weeks." Dr. Howard's tone was optimistic. Tammy handed Meg a wash cloth to get the jell off.

"Would you like pictures of the baby?" The radiologist offered. The Mounties looked at each other before answering with a 'Yes' in unison-again.

"Do you two do that all the time?" Tammy asked, amused. They seemed an odd pair. Fraser looked down at the floor while Meg smiled. They did tend to echo each other.

"I'll have your pictures ready in a bit, have a seat in the waiting room, okay."

In a few minutes, Meg had pulled herself back together, Fraser holding her jacket over one arm. They seemed a lot more at ease with each other.

"Thank you for coming, Fraser." Meg said as she exited the exam room, the Mountie behind her.

"It was my pleasure, Meg." He had taken to calling her by first name when possible, thrilling her to no end after so long of hearing 'Inspector Thatcher'.

"Have you had lunch yet?" Meg stopped in the hallway, turning to face him.

"No, I haven't, would you like to go somewhere for a meal?" The Mountie took the hint. Meg smiled up at him. She slid her arm into the jacket he held up for her to slip into. Gently, Fraser straightened the collar on her coat, his fingers brushing against her neck, sending chills up her spine. Without a word, they simply stood looking at each other, enjoying the peaceful moment. Fraser ran his thumb along Meg's cheek. The lady Mountie reached up to feel his rough hand.

"Let's go to lunch, we can talk about names while we eat." Meg suggested, wrinkling her nose playfully.

Birthday ….

The last week of May was Meg's last week at the consulate before she took maternity leave. In a way she was glad to have the time off. She still had paperwork from the museum theft. That she finished two days before leaving Fraser in charge.

The Mountie hated not seeing her every day around the consulate. The office seemed unearthly quiet without her. Unfortunately, Fraser had no one to distract Turnbull. He knew why Meg was cranky- Turnbull. The man had absolutely no common sense, he was so full of procedure and logic that he didn't know how to stick his finger in a peanut butter jar without a manual.

"Hello, Fraser, how are things at the consulate?" Meg asked when the phone rang precisely at twelve-thirty, the same time he called every day.

"How did you know it was me calling?" He sounded genuinely surprised. Meg just shook her head.

"You are so predictable, Fraser." She sighed.

"How are you feeling today?" The Mountie asked, his tone concerned and intimate.

"I'm fine, thank you. Are you ready to send Turnbull back to Ottawa yet?" Meg sounded cheerful, teasing.

"Yes, but I don't wish to do my country a disservice." Fraser smiled. Turnbull's bumbles had become their inside joke. He launched into the junior Mountie's latest annoying exploit. Meg sat listening, her feet propped up and a bowl of popcorn and raisins beside her on the sofa. Suddenly, she felt something she hadn't felt before. Meg slid the bowl onto the coffee table and stood up. Something was different.

"Fraser, tell Turnbull to hold all your calls, you're meeting me at the hospital." Meg gathered the overnight bag she'd been keeping by the door.

"What? You mean you're due to deliver? Right now? Are you certain that it

" His voice rose a fraction.

"Meet me at the hospital, Fraser." Meg hung up the phone.

Twenty Minutes later ….

Ray drove Fraser to the hospital. The detective revved the GTO up and put the blue light to good use. Normally, the Mountie would have frowned on using the detective's station for personal gain, but it wasn't just any day that his daughter was being born. Frannie and the gang were on the other end of the cell phone line.

"Yeah, Frannie, we uh, we just got here." Ray held the cell to one ear as he shoved the car into park. "We'll call you back with the news." He abruptly hung up. Fraser had already made his way to the admitting desk. When Ray caught up to him, the Mountie took off again, a nurse pointing him down the hall. Ray jogged to catch up.

Meg was laying on an exam table, a nurse taking her pulse. She seemed distressed, which distressed Fraser.

"Meg, how are you?" She glared at him. Fraser knew that it was going to be a long labor, for the both of them.

"Today is the day, Ben." Meg softened.

"Your due date isn't due for two more weeks." The Mountie calculated.

"Tell that to her." Meg laid a hand on her hospital gown covered stomach.

"You aren't supposed to arrive for two weeks." Ben laid her hand on top of Meg's, shaking his head. They heard the sound of a camera shutter.

"Nice," Ray grinned, holding a disposable camera. He got the mother of all annoyed glares from Meg.

"I'll give you double prints." The detective wiggled his eyebrows.

"Ray, please, now is not the time." Fraser warned him politely. Meg looked at him as if that were an understatement.

"I just, ah, thought that you'd want to remember this day, with pictures. I've been carrying this with me for the last week." Ray shrugged.

"Detective, please leave." Meg said coldly as a labor pain shot through her.

"I'm goin', I'm goin'." Ray threw his hands up before shuffling out to the waiting room. An older nurse slipped in as he left.

"Alright, it's time for your epidural, Mrs. Fraser." The nurse smiled, her eyes nearly disappearing behind her apple cheeks.

"I assumed you were having the baby naturally." Fraser turned to Meg, who was going through her breathing exercises. She shook her head.

"No, Fraser, I am not, there is no way in hell I am passing something the size of a watermelon through a hole the size of a grapefruit without pain medication, and the more the better." Meg insisted, her dark eyes taking on a steely determination. Fraser had seen that look before.

"Understood." Was all he said on the subject.

"Good, now, have you called my mother yet?" Meg asked as the labor pain eased off.

"No, I haven't." Fraser pulled the number out of his Stetson.

"Do so, please, tell her that I'm fine." Meg instructed, wishing her parents were with her.

"I'll be back momentarily." In a red flash, Ben disappeared.

In the Waiting Room …

Frannie, Lt. Welsh and Diefenbaker sat on hard, plastic chairs, waiting for news. They didn't expect to hear anything for quite a while.

"This is taking forever." Ray complained as he sipped his third cup of coffee.

"Babies, do, Ray, they take like ten months before they're born, then the labor takes sometimes a day and a half." Frannie began.

"We all went to health class, Frannie, chill, okay." Ray interrupted.

"What did you get them for a shower present?" Lt. Welsh asked Ray, to change the subject.

"Nothin' yet, I never know what to get for those things, Stella always did that." Ray shrugged, leaning against a mint green, pastel wall.

"I bought a savings bond for the kid." Welsh said, wishing he knew what to get.

"That's going to be be wonderful to hug." Frannie said sarcastically. "Ma and I got a memory book for them." She smiled, remembering strolling down the baby aisle at JC Penny's. It had been hard for the Civilian Aide to let go of the fantasy that someday she and Fraser would be walking toward the altar then welcoming a baby.

"That's nice." Ray smirked at her. Gifts from all over Chicago and a good section of Canada had arrived at the consulate. Turnbull's eyes lit up every time another package arrived. Welsh didn't know if Frannie bickered more with her real brother or her adopted - sort of- brother.

Seven O'clock the Next Day ….

"Congratulations, you're a father." Dr. Howard said as she laid Alice in Ben's arms. Smiling from ear to ear, the Mountie peered down into his daughter's face for the first time. He counted her fingers, then her toes. Gently, Ben ran a finger lightly over the dark layer of hair standing up every which way.

"She takes after you, you know that." Robert Fraser said as his son held his precious girl for the first time.

"She's beautiful, she's perfect." Ben's eyes misted as he studied her tiny features.

"Now you know how me and your mother felt the day you were born." Robert smiled down at his granddaughter, waving as she turned her head toward him.

"Ben," Meg said after the doctors and nurses had cleared out a bit. Carefully, Ben stepped to her side.

"Alice Blythe Fraser, you chose a good middle name." Meg let Ben lay Alice in her arms. One of the nurses snapped a picture of the three of them with Ray's disposable camera. Later, no one would be able to explain the fog in the upper corner of the photo behind them. Fraser and Meg knew that it was Robert Fraser, mugging for the camera.

Back out in the Lobby ….

"She's here, Alice is here." Fraser walked out of the delivery room toward his waiting friends. Frannie woke up with a jerk while Ray snoozed on without a hitch. Lt. Welsh turned from the window. He walked over to the sleeping detective and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Stella, please." He said before becoming cognizant of his surroundings.

"The baby's arrived, Ray." Welsh filled him in. Everyone followed the proud father into the hallway outside the delivery room. A strip of tape on one of the bassinets said 'Fraser, A.'" A bright eyed baby girl peered up, her tiny hand seeming to wave at them.

"She's beautiful, Benton." The Mountie turned to see his father standing in the rear of the crowd. If possible, Ben smiled bigger.

"How's the Inspector?" Ray asked, turning Fraser's attention back to the living.

"I just left her a moment ago, she's resting right now." Ben asked, crossing his arms over his chest. He'd taken off his red tunic and stood wearing just his white, long sleeved under shirt.

"Congratulations, buddy, you're a father." Ray gave his best friend a quick hug before Frannie got to him.

"You'll be a good dad, Fraser." Tears welled up in the spunky Civilian Aide's brown eyes.

"Thank you kindly, Francesca." Ben nodded, glad she was happy for him. He felt Welsh clasp him on the back with a hearty slap.

"Thank you all, for everything." Ben wanted to hug them all. He'd never thought this day would come, that he would have a family and friends in such a foreign place. But Chicago had become Ben's home.

The End