(A/N): Olá, amores! So, this is touching the topic of an extremely rare, yet deadly disease, known as Ectopia Cordis, a birth defect which causes a fetus's heart to form outside of the thorax, and they have a very slim chance of survival. Usually, they have an estimated 3 days to live before they pass of complications. The children who survive are absolute troopers, and when I learned of this, I almost cried. The little girls in a video I watched looked so happy to be alive, and they have "heart shields" that they wore to protect their hearts, which were placed surgically back into their chests.
This will also touch the subject of birth complications, such as a blood clot forming to prevent further bleeding, which may actually lead to death.

So, kinda angsty? Not really though.
If you're squeamish or sensitive to these topics, don't read. I know I'm gonna get a lot wrong, but bare with me here, I'm still new to these defects.

He was stressed. Horrified. Paranoid. Worried. Every negative word there was to disprove how he was feeling. He couldn't even focus on his damn work.
Every knock, and every ring of the phone, he was damn near convinced it was the hospital coming to tell him his wife was in labor.
He became distracted on the battlefield as his thoughts drifted to you, he couldn't work on upgrading his Über, he could barely sign his own name on the papers from the administrator, for crying out loud!
So yeah, he wasn't doing so hot, and this didn't go unnoticed by his team, or Miss Pauling.

"You need to calm down! (Y/N) is going to be fine," Miss Pauling attempted to reason with him, and failing horribly as the man towered over her.
"Calm down?! Mein vife is nine monze zrough, and jou're telling me to calm down?!", Joseph shouted, waving his hands about.
Sarah chuckled nervously, and attempted to find the words. She'd never seen him so angry, or terrified, for that matter.

The shouts of the doctor echoed through the base, and caught the attention of the others.
The Spy nearly fell out his seat, barely catching his glass of red wine before it spilt.
The Engineer sighed, pulling the shaking Pyromaniac in for a hug.
The Scout and Heavy paused their skirmish over a sandvich, and looked at one another.
The Demoman sat up from his place on the couch, and shrugged, before plopping back down to take another swig from his Scrumpy, and handing it to the Soldier.
The Sniper grumbled to himself as he stopped at the door. He shut it, and put his sniper down.

This was going to be a rough ride for all of them.

Joseph slowly slid down the wall and to the floor, hiding his face in his knees. He hated not being there for you, he hated that you had to go through this alone.
The both of you had already gotten rid of the only company you had there, as you deemed it a danger to the baby. Your old 4 1/2ft Great Dane, Saltador, was returned to your parents, and you settled on getting  a Puggle after Joseph returned home.
You were in the middle of Germany alone, and in no condition to travel, you were way too far along to fly.

A tear slipped from Joseph's eye as he sat.
The doors to the medbay opened, to travel the team, even the drunken Demo had stopped by. They were frozen in utter shock at the sight of their fearless medic. Crying.

Heavy rushed forwards to embrace his dear friend, to which Medic cried harder. He was breaking over the stress, with little to do.
Spy sighed, and stomped on the cigarette butt. He understood what his teammate was going through, for he was nearly as stressed when his son was born.

Then the phone began to ring.
Joseph jumped to his feet, but was beat by Sarah. She seemed to visibly stiffen as she held the phone out to the Medic.
"It's for you."

Joseph basically sprinted across the room, and snatched the phone from his boss's hands.
"Hallo?"
"Hallo, wir sind das Martin-Luther-Hospital in Berlin. Ist das Joseph Heilburg?"
"J-Jawohl. Was ist los?"
"Ihre Frau, (Y/N) Heilburg hat mit der Geburt begonnen—"

Joseph hung up and sprinted through the doors or the med bay, and out the front of the fortress to the nearby car.

"Medic! Medic, what the bloody hell is happenin?!", Sniper called after his friend, to which Joseph turned abruptly.
"(Y/N)'s at the hospital!", he shouted, and began his run to the car again.
The team needed no further context to know what was happening.
"Get in moi van, Oi'll droive us tha'," Sniper jabbed a thumb to his van and jogged over to it, allowing everyone to pile in.
"Get MOVING, MAGGOTS!", the Soldier screamed, pushing them all out of the way as he forced himself into the van.

Sarah Pauling knew there was no stopping them. They had all met you, and absolutely adored you. They were more than surprised that their mentally unstable doctor could catch such a beautiful woman such as yourself.

They caught the earliest flight they could, and waited overnight, but Joseph didn't sleep. How could he? His wife was giving birth without him by her side, he was halfway across the world, he was going to be a fucking father.

Spy stood up, and sat down next to his friend, minding the sleeping figures surrounding them. He placed a comforting hand on Joseph's shoulder.
No words were exchanged, but there was no need. The presence of a knowing man was all he needed to feel somewhat comforted in the dark airport.

Their flight was called, and off they went.
As the plane accelerated, Joseph looked around to find everyone asleep. He soon found himself dosing off, as his head slumped against Heavy's broad shoulder.

➴➹➴

The group rushed into the hospital, the only one who seemed even slightly awake and aware was the Medic, who marched right up to the front desk.
"Welcher Raum ist (Y/N) Heilburg?"
"Wer?", the woman asked.
"(Y/N) Heilburg," Medic repeated, growing impatient.
The woman began to type into her computer, and a look of worry crossed her face.
"Sie hat vor ein paar Stunden geboren, aber es gab einige ... Sie hat vor ein paar Stunden geboren, aber es gab einige... Komplikationen."
Joseph froze. "Komplikationen?"
"Ja... Ja... ein Blutgerinnsel bildete sich und das Kind musste sofort medizinisch versorgt werden."

Joseph couldn't believe his ears.
"Wird sie in Ordnung sein?!"
"Es ist zu früh, das zu sagen, Herr Heilburg," the woman sighed. "Zimmer drei einundachtzig."

Joseph rushed down the halls in search of the room, with his teammates trailing behind him.
"What's up doc?", Scout asks, catching up with the man's quick pace.
Joseph summed up what he had heard.
"Both of them could die," he breathed, going faster.
The Scout halted, shaking his head in disbelief, and began to sprint to catch up with the group's fast pace.

Medic stopped at said room, and knocked on the door, before opening it.
The sight before him filled him with relief and broke his heart at the same time.
There you were, blood bags in each arm, with many needles all over your chest, connecting to a heart monitor, that beeped steadily.

He sat down next to you, and you turned your head, smiling softly.
"Well," you chuckled weakly. "That went well."
Joseph smiled at your little joke, but quickly became serious again.
"Are jou okay? Vere iz zhe vittle vone?"
Your smile dropped.
"I... she...", you closed your eyes and grasped his hand. "They said she has three days at the most."

Joseph's heart dropped to his feet, and the whole world stopped. It felt as if he were stuck in time. He didn't realize he was crying until he let out a bellowing sob, and lowered his head onto the bed. Sobs wracked through his body as he desperately grasped your hands.

Medic's teammates pushed themselves to the corner of the room, trying to leave them be, yet be there for them.

A tear slipped from you, as well, and the heart monitor beeped faster as you sniffled.

"What happened?", Joseph whispered between sobs.
"They said she had Ectopia Cordis. Her heart was outside of her, but there wasn't any skin to protect her. Her heart got squeezed..."
"What's her name?", Joseph interrupted you.
"What?", you asked.
"Her name. What is it?"
"Wunder."
Joseph chuckled lightly. "Miracle, wonder... wunderbar..."
You laughed at his play on words.

A knock was heard, and a doctor walked in. He seemed to recognize Joseph.
"Dr. Heilburg... you don't belong here. Please leave," the doctor growled.
"Nein," Joseph said defiantly.
"Leave."
"Halte den Mund, halt den Rand, Halt die Klappe," Joseph shook his head. "I am not leaving Mein vife alone in zhis accursed plaze."
The doctor simply scoffed, and turned to you. "Would you like to see your Wunder? She is out of surgery, be careful."

You nodded immediately, and the doctor marched out, returning mere moments later with the little girl.
He placed her carefully in your arms, and left.
You heard a sniff, and of course, Joseph was crying again.

'Goddamn, he is so sensitive,' you chuckle at your own thoughts, and hold out the baby to him.
He looks up at you with uncertainty, and gently grasps the child, holding her close to his chest. He gazed at her, taking in his beautiful daughter. A tear dropped to the baby's vest.

'But it will end in a few days...'

He pressed a soft kiss to her head, to which the child gurgled and smiled, reaching out and pawing at his stubble.
Movement caught his eyes, and he looked down further, and his eyes widened.

His baby wore a pink vest, with a heart cut into the middle of it, covered with thick plastic. Through the plastic, he could see the scars, and a very prominent outline of a heart, which beat at a steady rate.

"Woah...", Scout breathed over Joseph's shoulder, eyes glued to the heart beating just beneath the skin. "How the hell...?"
"Ectopia Cordis," was all Joseph said. "Wunderbar, isn't it?"

You smiled at the site. A group of full grown men standing in a group, all mesmerized by the baby.

➴➹➴

4 Years Later

➴➹➴

Joseph rubbed your knee as he drove, looking into the rear view mirror as well.
He loved life.
A wife, a kid... hell, he got his medical license back! What more can a man ask for?

Of course, he had to quit working for Mann Co. in order to be there for his newly found family, but that didn't mean he wasn't aloud to visit.

You jumped out of the car as it parked, and moved to the back. You grabbed little Wunder and picked her up.
You and Joseph walked hand in hand to the entrance, and walked in. No need for knocking, they know who you are.

A squeal came from Pyro as he rushed towards the three of your, pulling all of your into and hug.
"Oh, aye moost be droonk...", Demoman groaned, falling back into the couch.
"Well, I'll be damned," Engineer laughed, offering a cheerful smile.
The others piled it, focusing on Wunder, who proudly showed off her heart through her "heart shield", seen as they haven't seen her in 3 years.

You smiled, and Joseph pulled you in for a kiss.
Yeah. Yeah, you could get used to this.