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The last few weeks, they had been a little at odds again. After months of things running smoothly and them being fully on the same page, Beth had been struggling for the past month. She felt tired constantly, not a normal full-time job with a side of crime tired, but utterly exhausted. In the past few days, she'd felt even worse and was running behind on printing. Rio’s patience was wearing thin.
As she stood in the back room of the club, slowly printing their product, she couldn't fight back the nausea or subtle cramping in her abdomen. Being in her mid-40s, she cursed her age, placing the blame for her ailment on pre-menopause.
Trying to keep from succumbing to her fatigue and ebbing cramping, she zoned into her work, not hearing Rio walk in, “Imma need you to speed things up. Don’t know what the hell's been up with you this month, but I’m getting tired of waiting around all the time.”
She sighed and rolled her eyes at him, “You know, instead of bitching at me all the time, you could, I don’t know, help? I’m sick of carrying so much weight on my shoulders all the time. I’m exhausted, and I’ve been feeling like shit all day.”
Rio stepped behind her, his chest pressing into her shoulders, “I ain’t ask about none of that. I asked you to do ya job.”
A combination of flutters and extreme pain washed over Beth as she suddenly felt the need to sit down. She winced, sucking in a breath through her now gritted teeth. Before she could say anything, Rio whispered into her ear, “Damn, ma. You uncomfortable around me now?”
Rather than pushing him away from her, she leaned back into him as she grew unsteady on her feet. She winced again, still not speaking, and Rio grabbed her upper arms, turning her toward him, “Aye, you good, Elizabeth?”
“I don’t know what’s wrong…” She whispered, her hands finding his wrists. Her already pale complexion had turned even more ghostly, “I… mmmm.” She let out a grunt as her body tensed in another round of pain.
Rio hastily moved one of her arms over his shoulder and grabbed her purse in his free hand, starting her toward the back door of the building, “Wh-where are we going?” she asked frantically.
“Hospital,” was all he muttered as they left the building.
“We don’t need-,” She started before hunching over in pain, “Oh!”
“Yeah, darlin’,” Rio said, lifting her into the passenger seat of his G-Wagon, “I think we do.” He shut the door before making his way around the vehicle and climbing into the driver’s seat.
He peeled out of the parking lot, making the ten-minute drive to the nearest hospital. Every few minutes, Beth was practically lunging out of her seat, “I’m so sorry.”
Rio reached across the center console, looping his fingers between hers, “None o’ that.”
As soon as they arrived at the hospital and parked near the emergency entrance, Rio was out of the car, helping Beth out of her seat. Halfway between their parking spot and the emergency room doors, he opted to pick her up bridal-style as she struggled to walk, even with his assistance. He got her settled into a wheelchair before walking up to the registration desk.
Luckily, they only had to wait about five minutes in the waiting room before she was brought back into a triage room. As the room filled with doctors and nurses, Rio sat out in the hallway. He debated calling anyone for her, but didn’t want to get Annie or Ruby freaked out, and knew better than to get her ex-husband involved. She was stubborn, and he knew he would never hear the end of it.
He zoned out, trying to balance out his concern for her well-being with his frustration over the past month when he heard her cry out his name. He jumped up and quickly walked into the room. The look on her face was both panicked and apologetic.
“We need to move her now,” He heard a nurse or a doctor say, “Book an O.R. and get labor and delivery here stat.”
He felt his own eyes fill with panic, “Elizabeth…” He calmed himself down as he saw tears beginning to stream down her face, “Hey, hey. Shhh, it’s gonna be okay.”
He knew just as well as she did that this day was about to completely and utterly implode their lives. He knew her well enough and was around her often enough to know that she hadn’t seen anyone, hadn’t even gone on a date since Dean moved out of the house. He knew without a doubt in his mind that the last person she’d been with, three times over now since the night Nick got put away, was himself.
A nurse got his attention, “We are moving her to an O.R. for an emergency C-section. You’ll have to wait while we prep her. We’ll let you know when you can come into the operating room,” The nurse then looked at Beth, “If he can.”
She nodded her head vigorously, “Y-yes. He can. Please,” her pleading eyes met his.
He leaned over pressing a kiss to her forehead, “I woulda busted the door down if ya said no.” He brushed her hair out of her face and swiped his thumbs down her cheeks, “You got this. I’ll see ya in there.” He whispered as he pressed a long kiss to her forehead.
Twenty minutes later, Rio entered the operating room, donning baby blue scrubs. He made no hesitation in finding himself by Beth’s side. Throughout the procedure, he smoothed her hair back, his own emotions starting to get the best of him.
Over the next twenty minutes, Rio seldom broke eye contact with her except for the occasional peek over the curtain as he took in what was happening. They both looked away from each other as they heard the piercing cry of the infant.
“She’s here,” the Obstetrician said cheerfully, holding their daughter up for Rio to see. He could no longer contain his emotions as he felt himself tearing up. He looked down at Beth, a feeling of pride washing over him.
“Elizabeth…” He whispered, a small smile forming on his face. He was at a loss for words. He was confused, worried, scared, and happy all at the same time. He could see those emotions and so many more in Beth’s gaze. They held each other’s eyes as a nurse brought their daughter over. As Beth looked at the infant, her body gently shook as she cried.
Rio took over, holding the baby girl up to Beth’s face. The infant, who’d spent the last few minutes screaming at the nurses and doctors, instantly quieted. She had dark brown hair and soft blue eyes.
“She’s perfect,” Beth whispered, breaking her silence. She pressed gentle kisses to the girl’s cheek, “Hi, little girl.”
“Proud of ya, Elizabeth,” Rio whispered, looking at her in pure awe, before returning his attention to their daughter. His daughter, “You was hidin’ real good in there, huh? Wanted to sneak up on us.”
“Rio…” Beth’s panicked whisper came out raspy. Out of nowhere, she was gasping for air, and multiple monitors were going off.
Before Rio could react, a nurse was grabbing his daughter from him and ushering him out of the room.
——
An hour later, Rio sat in a labor and delivery recovery room, holding his tiny daughter close to him. His nerves were all but shot as the door opened and Beth was rolled into the room on a gurney. She slept as they transitioned her to the recovery bed. Rio instantly moved his chair closer to her and grabbed her hand before looking at her doctor, “Is she okay?”
“She should be in the clear now. She developed preeclampsia during the procedure. We have a magnesium sulfate infusion going, and once she is awake, we will give her Labetalol every twelve hours.” The doctor reassured him.
Rio nodded, letting out a sigh of relief and squeezing Beth’s hand, bringing it to his lips and pressing gentle kisses on it, “See, little lady, your mama is a fighter,” he told the sleeping infant.
“We are also going to refer her to behavioral health, as this was a cryptic pregnancy and she is probably going to be in a bit of shock for a while,” the doctor added, “We can also get you some information on behavioral health for yourself if you would like.”
Rio nodded and thanked the doctor before being left in the room, just him and his girls.
Only a few minutes later, he saw Beth’s eyes flutter open, and she turned her face toward him, “I’m so so sorry,” she whispered, “I had no idea.”
He shook his head, letting go of her hand and placing his hand on her face, “I know, mama. I know. We're gonna figure this out, and we’re gonna be okay.”
“I want to hold her,” Beth spoke softly, “God, I don't have any baby stuff. I don't have any clothes. I have to fit another car seat in the car? And the kids. How do I tell them? What if they freak out?”
“Hey,” He whispered, “We gon’ figure it out, mama.”
He stood up and laid their daughter in Beth’s arms, “She got my hair and my skin, but her lil’ face is all you,” he said and kissed Beth on the forehead, “You did a good job.”
Beth seemed to calm down a bit as she looked at her newborn daughter’s face, “She has your lips, too. I hope that means she’ll have your smile.” She didn’t look up at Rio, who had once again felt tears spring to his eyes. “Oh my God, we have to figure out her name.”
Rio chuckled and smiled down at her before running his hand over his face, “I ain’t even think about that.”
Beth wrinkled her eyebrows in thought for a couple moments, “What if one of us picks her first name and one of us picks her middle name,” She suggested.
Rio thought for a second before nodding, “I got her middle name all figured out,” he said with a grin.
“Already?” She asked, reaching for her phone, which Rio had set on the table alongside her bed, “I have to consult the list I made when I was pregnant with Jane.”
“I want her middle name to be after someone important,” He responded with a shrug, “Got someone in mind.”
Beth opened her phone, and they sat in silence for a few minutes. After a few minutes of scrolling through her notes app, she took time to carefully consider the names she’d listed while looking at the infant she was holding.
Eventually, she looked up at him and smiled, “Okay, I got it. But we both get a veto if we don’t like it.”
“Go ahead,” Rio nodded, “Let’s say ‘em.”
“Maribel,” she stated.
“Elizabeth,” Rio said almost simultaneously. Beth’s face softened and reddened as tears pricked at her eyes.
“Maribel Elizabeth,” Rio said softly, as Beth was taken aback, still, by his choice.
“Martinez,” she whispered, her eyes meeting his before darting back to their daughter, “Maribel Elizabeth Martinez.”
Rio gazed down at Maribel, “I hope you grow up to be as brave and strong and beautiful as Mama here. That’s a powerful name to be carrying.”
Beth smiled, a joyful smile that slowly turned sad, “How are we going to do this? We’re not even, you know, I don’t know. I don’t know what we are or what we aren’t, but we aren’t whatever we’re supposed to be for her.” She felt herself starting to panic, slowly descending into a sob, “We’re not prepared for this at all. And that’s not fair to her or to us or to my kids or Marcus.”
Rio swiftly moved, scooting Beth over gently before sitting next to her on the bed and wrapping his arms around her, “Aye, listen to me. Breathe with me. I been telling ya since we got here, we’re gonna figure everything out. Shit, I know we get on each other’s nerves. Or at least, you get on mine. But that’s the last thing I’m thinkin’ about. Cause this right here ain’t business. You ain’t gettin’ business me right now. And when it comes to this little girl right here, you won’t. She won’t.”
“I don’t want to raise our daughter always worried about the other shoe dropping,” She whispered, “I don’t want to worry that we’re going to be enemies if I’m not on my a-game.”
“Ain’t you figured it out by now? I couldn’t make you my enemy if I tried.” He huffed with a chuckle, but not one of his intimidating, cold chuckles. This felt warm and just… warm.
She let herself fully relax into him, her head falling into the crook between his shoulder and his head, starting to doze off comfortably. Rio took their sleeping daughter out of Beth’s arms, holding Maribel in the crook of his arm that wasn’t roped around her.
Half asleep, Beth snuggled into him more, letting out a mumbled whisper, “I love you.”
With Beth and Maribel asleep, Rio let himself finally feel every ounce of emotion that had brewed throughout the day. He leaned his head back as he let himself cry.
He knew nothing would ever possibly be the same again. His relationship with everyone around him would change. He would change. Hell, he already had the second that Beth was being rushed into surgery. That change was solidified the moment he laid his eyes on their daughter. The way he viewed the woman lying next to him would never be the same. He’d already accepted that no matter how hard he tried or how badly she pissed him off, he couldn’t find a single cell in his body that hated her, let alone disliked her.
After a while, he stood from the bed, making sure not to wake Beth. He set Maribel in her bassinet and stepped out of the room to make a few calls. The first call he made was to his grandmother, who reacted as if she’d won the lottery. The second call he made was to Mick, assigning him an important task: baby gear shopping.
Finally, hesitantly, he called Annie, “Um… what do you want?” Annie questioned without a hello. When Rio was silent for a beat too long, she followed up, “Is everything okay? Is Beth okay?”
“Yeah, Elizabeth’s good. Imma have Mick pick you up for sum’ in about thirty,” He said with a sigh, “Look, I need you to be quiet ‘bout this.”
“Dude, stop being so vague,” He could hear the eye roll in her voice, “Tell me what’s going on.” Rio still couldn’t find the right words. He sighed a couple of times, his breath shaky, which seemed to concern Annie, “Rio…”
“Y’know how I got a kid? Marcus? Runs around playing with her youngest, Jane?” Rio asked.
“You’re being super weird right now, and I’m honestly starting to get worried about you, too,” Annie said, “Get to the point.”
“He got a sibling now. And you got a new niece. And I got a daughter and I’on know the first thing ‘bout havin’ a daughter,” He started to ramble, severely lacking his usual confidence and quietness.
“Oh… my God. Oh my God,” Annie gasped on the other end of the line, “I, um, okay. Yeah, I’ll be ready.”
Without another word, Annie had hung up. He went back into the room, grabbed Beth’s phone, went to her contacts, found Dean’s number, and typed it into his phone.
Against anything he wanted, he called. He didn’t explain much of what was going on, but told Beth’s ex-husband that Beth would talk to him and the kids soon, when she was ready, letting him know she was okay. Though clearly feigning anger and confusion, Dean reluctantly agreed to keep the kids for an extra week.
As he finished making a few more phone calls, he heard Maribel waking up. He tried everything he could think of in a span of a few minutes, from rocking her to bouncing her to burping her and changing her diaper. The poor infant continued to scream, and Rio, feeling horrible about it, woke Beth up.
Without missing a beat, Beth, truly a natural at being a mama, opened her hospital down, and cradling her daughter, who immediately latched and calmed down. Rio smiled softly at the two of them, “I’m sorry, mama, I really tried everything. Had a feeling she was hungry.”
He sat next to Beth as she fed their daughter, “I’on wanna sound all soft and cheesy, but I ain’t realize you could get anymore beautiful. This, though… most beautiful sight I’ve seen,” he professed, “Don’t be doubtin’ your ability to handle this situation. You’re a pro. Knew it when ya went back to that house for that blanket. I’m real lucky this is happenin’ with you, Elizabeth.”
Still feeding Maribel, Beth looked up at him with tears in her eyes, briefly hesitating before connecting her lips with his in a soft, gentle kiss. He placed his hand on her face, caressing her cheek with his thumb as he kissed her back, keeping the kiss slow and tender.
When she pulled away, she smiled up at him, “She’s a lucky girl. Having you to keep her safe.”
“I love you, Elizabeth,” Rio said softly, sighing and closing his eyes before resting his forehead on hers, “I really wanna do this with you. All of it. Keeping both of you safe.”