Warning.....MAJOR FEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELS! You have been warned people!

Catherine's POV

I sat in the living room with Ludwig, knitting a little blanket for the baby. At this point, my stomach looked like it was the size of a beach ball. Sometimes Gilbert would snicker about it but he'd immediately get a smack on the head from Ludwig.

As I finished the last bit of the blanket, I held it in front of Ludwig to show it to him. "What do you think, Ludwig?" I asked, holding it up in front of him.

He smiled lightly at the blanket. "It looks perfect Catherine." He said.

I smiled back and placed it on the table just as the oven beeped in the kitchen. As I got up to head to the kitchen, I felt a sharp pain in my stomach. I bent over a bit in pain and had to catch my breath for a moment. Ludwig seemed to have noticed me in pain because he quickly got up from his spot on the couch and made his way over to me, concern present all over his face.

"Are you all right?" he asked me as I slowly straightened myself up.

"I-I'm fine Ludwig, really," I insisted, making my way to the kitchen to get dinner out of the oven. I looked back over my shoulder and saw Ludwig standing in the door frame, as if he were expecting me to hunch over again and scream in pain. I gave him a reassuring smile. "I'm fine Ludwig. Really, I am."

"All right," Ludwig looked at me for a long moment before going to sit back down in the living room.

When he was out of sight, I sighed and looked down at my stomach. The kicks were becoming more frequent and I was beginning to wonder if it was almost time. My doctor had told me that the baby was due any day now really so I was trying to prepare myself for that moment when the baby would come. What worried me was that Ludwig might not be ready for the moment when we welcome our baby into the world.

After dinner cooled enough, I set the table and called Ludwig to come in and eat. We both sat down to eat and enjoyed our dinner in somewhat silence. Then it happened, the big kick that I thought I was prepared for. Boy was I wrong about it. It was one of the most excruciating pains in the world. I held my stomach as agony washed over me. Immediately, Ludwig rushed to my side to see if he could assist in any way. "Catherine?! Vhat's vrong?!" he asked me as I held my stomach.

I looked down at myself and saw...liquid. I knew what that meant. "...Ludwig, my water just broke," I stated.

Ludwig was silent and just stared at me. "You're vhat broke?"

"My water! Ludwig, it means the baby is coming! Right now!"

Instantly, Ludwig's face became horrified and then absolutely shocked. "Vhat do I do?! Vhat do I do?!" He panicked.

As I tried to calm down my breathing, he panicked even more. Then I spoke as calmly as I could, which wasn't very calm at the time; "Ludwig, I need, to see a doctor, right now. We need, to get to, the hospital!"

"R-Right, of course!" Gently, Ludwig picked me up bridal style and carried me out of the kitchen and to the living room. He opened the front door and rushed out to the car, placing me in the passenger's seat and then climbing in on the driver's side. As he started the car, Gilbert came outside to see what was going on.

"Vest? Vhere are you going? Do you have any idea vhat time it is?" Gilbert asked his brother.

"Ve don't have time right now bruder!" he yelled from the car. "I have to get Catherine to the hospital!"

With that being said, Ludwig sped down the dirt road, the whole while I was breathing heavily. He glanced over at me from time to time and wrapped one of his hands around mine. He squeezed it and I squeezed back.

When we finally got to the hospital, I was immediately taken to the delivery room. There, it was all white and lights showed brightly overhead. There were many doctors and nurses in the room and they were all talking in rapid German. I could understand a few words every now and again, but I was in so much pain that I couldn't register them right away. I got, "get water" and "more towels" and of course "faster!"

"Someone, please speak English!" I yelled at one point.

For a brief moment, the doctors and nurses stopped and stared at me. Then they went back to work, but this time they spoke the best English they could. One doctor went towards me and instructed me to push when he told me to. "Vhen I say push, you push. Do you understand Ms. Beilschmidt?" He asked me.

I nodded and waited for his instructions.

"Eins, Zwei, Drei, push!"

I screamed in pain and pushed as hard as I could with all my might.

"Again, push!"

I did it again, and again, and again. It seemed like I had been doing it for days when, in fact, I had only been doing it for a few minutes. It was the longest few minutes of my life. When will it end?! I though as the pain seemed to intensify.

Then it came, that single scream that pierced the air like a spear. I looked down and saw her, my little baby, being held by a doctor. "It's a girl!" he shouted as the baby continued to wail.

Tears welled up in my eyes as I looked at her. She was absolutely precious. Then I began to cough severely, like something was lodged deep in my lungs. The doctors began to panic as I began to lose consciousness. The last thing I heard was my baby crying.

**********

When I opened my eyes again, I saw that I was in a different room. I felt weak and weary. When I looked around, it hurt to just turn my head. What's wrong with me? I thought as I looked about. Am I that weak?

Just then, a doctor walked in. He looked at me sullenly and then sat down next to the bed. "Ms. Beilschmidt, there vere...complications," he said without looking at me. "I'm afraid...you vill not make it."

Everything seemed to stop at that moment....I was not going to live.