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It had been hours and Liz was exhausted. Her contractions had become closer together and much more intense. So much time had passed that she was becoming restless. Conrad had been as supportive as possible. Not moving from her side for more than a second.

Another contraction had barely passed just as the nurse came to check on her. The nurse  stands upright from the end of the bed, "It's time."

Liz's face falls, "What?"

"It's time, honey." She says before looking around, "I need anyone who isn't supposed to be in the room during birth to head outside please."

"Okay." Laurel says

Dakota looks over, "We'll be right outside, alright, Lizzie?"

"Okay." She breathes

"You got this, Lizzie. It'll be okay." River says following Dakota out

"We love you." Megan says

"Love you, too." Liz says laying her head back. As Megan leaves, the doctor and two nurses enter the room.

Conrad grabs Liz's hand, "You got this, baby. You're gonna be okay."

•••

"I need to you push a little bit harder, okay?" The doctor says, "One, two, three."

Liz grunts as she pushes again. It had been about 30 minutes of pushing and stopping and pushing and stopping. Liz squeezed Conrad's hand hard before releasing. She breathed heavily as her head lulled back. Conrad pushed her hair from her sweaty forehead, "You're doing amazing, baby. You're almost there."

"One last big push, okay? One, two, three."

Liz groans out as she begins pushing again. Her chest heaves as loud cries fill the room. She sighs out as Conrad leans down and kisses her forehead. Her eyes shut for a moment as he mutters praises to her.

"Congratulations." She hears. She opens her eyes just as the doctor holds the baby out to her.

Liz gasps out softly as the baby is place gently in her arms, "Oh my god. She's so beautiful."

Conrad leans down and kisses Liz's forehead again as tears run down his cheeks.

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Liz looked up as the door opened slowly. Dakota entered first followed by everyone else. Soft gasps filled the room as they stepped closer, "How you doing, Lizzie?"

"I'm okay." She says as he steps up beside her

"Holy shit. She's so small." He says making her giggle softly

"She's beautiful." Laurel says

Conrad smiles as he watches everyone stare at the little girl in Liz's arms. Steven looks between the two of them, "What's her name?"

Liz looks up at Conrad. A small smile takes over his features as he looks over at everyone, "Her name is Maeve Lily Fisher."

"Susannah means Lily in Hebrew." Liz smiles as she turned to Laurel and Megan whose eyes were filled with adoration. Dakota smiles along with River.

"Oh, that's gorgeous." Megan says holding her hand to her heart

"Yeah." Liz breathes out as she looks down at her, "I can't believe she's actually here."

"She's so beautiful." Laurel says, "I'm so proud of you guys."

Liz smiled as Conrad kissed the crown of her head softly.

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Almost two months has passed since the birth of Maeve. While it had been tiring and extremely tense at times, they didn't think they could love anyone else as deeply as they did one another. Maeve was their world.

And she definitely had Conrad wrapped around her finger. Liz found herself smiling often at how gentle and patient he had been with her. She could see his heart break any time she cried or fussed. He never wanted her to be uncomfortable. It hadn't been the easiest, but they wouldn't trade it for the world.

It was now April 14th. The anniversary of Susannah's death.

Conrad had been a little hesitant to fly to Cousins. Especially with Maeve and Liz recovering, but Liz was insistent. It's been five years since she passed and she knew it was important to the both of them.

Liz stood with Maeve cradled in her arms. Conrad stood close with his arms crossed as they stared down at her grave. A familiar sadness overcoming them like it always did when it came to Susannah, but it hurt a little less. Conrad turned and his arms came down hesitantly. Liz turned and Jeremiah's steps slowed.

"Didn't think you guys were coming." Jeremiah says

"We didn't tell anyone. Thought we'd be in and out before you got here." Conrad says as he and Liz take a step back. Jeremiah sets the bouquet of flowers down beside her tomb stone before standing and stuffing his hands in his pocket, "I can't believe it's been five years."

"This morning, I realized I can't remember her laugh." Jeremiah says

"I can't remember her hands."

"They're like yours." Jeremiah says before going quiet. He then looks over at Liz. His eyes flicker down to her arms before looking back at her, "Hey, Liz."

"Hi." She says simply

"So, you guys had the baby." He nods, "Congrats."

"Yeah, thanks."

"No one told me anything."

Conrad turns to him, "You really want to do this here?"

"I mean, you told me not to call or text you or her. I didn't get invited to the reveal or birth, so yeah, let's do it here." He says, "Let's talk about how you two hung around all summer, like snakes in the grass, pretending to help me with my wedding, when really, you were just waiting for it to all fall apart."

"That's not how it was."

"You're so full of shit."

"Jeremiah, that's not what was happening." Liz says

"I loved her, and you ruined it." He says pointing to Conrad, "You don't know what it's like to be with someone that long, what you build. What you lose when it disappears. She was my fucking world."

"If you loved her so much, how could you go and sleep with someone else?"

"We were broken up."

"That's bullshit, Jeremiah."

"And you want to know why? Because I know about the two of you on Christmas."

"Nothing happened, Jere." Conrad stresses, "You can't just take someone. She's not a fucking object. And the only reason that there was any wedding to break up was because you were afraid of losing her. As if a ring could... make someone yours."

"Fuck you."

"Jeremiah, I don't know what you want from us." Liz says, "We had nothing to do with what happened with you and Belly. We were supportive despite how we might of felt about the whole thing because it was something the two of you wanted. What Belly said or felt, is on Belly. Not me or Conrad. And what you did is on you."

Jeremiah shakes his head, "Can you blame me for wanting to hold on to her as long as I could?"

"No, but none of what happened is on us." Conrad says, "I tried to keep my promise."

"What promise?"

"Before Mom... died, I promised her that I would try and take care of you, that I would protect you from getting hurt." Conrad explains. Jeremiah scoffs looking off, "Yeah, I get it. You think I did a shit job."

Jeremiah turns back to them, "Uh, I... I made her a promise, too. That I wouldn't let anything get between us. So we both screwed up." He shrugs, "She would be so mad. You know, when we broke off the wedding, my first thought was, "I... I need to find Mom." My second thought was, "I wish I could talk to Connie." I needed my brother. I still do."

Conrad steps forward and pulls Jeremiah into a hug, "I'm here."

Jeremiah hugs him back tightly before the two pull away. He then turns to Liz, "Liz, I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have said any of what I did to you. I was just hurt."

Liz nods, "We can talk more about it another time."

The three look down as Maeve squirms in Liz's arms. As Liz readjusts her, Jeremiah speaks up, "What's her name?"

"Maeve." Conrad says smiling down at her

"She's almost two months old." Liz says

Jeremiah nods, "She's beautiful. I really am happy for you guys."

"Thank you." Liz says. Jeremiah smiles lightly before looking down.

•••

"Did Belly text you guys, too?" Jeremiah asks

"No." Conrad says shaking his head, "We haven't talked since last summer."

"Well, she seems to be doing fine in Paris." He sighs

"Yeah, we heard from Laurel."

Jeremiah nods, "Well, I'll see you guys later."

"Later." Conrad says as Jeremiah walks off toward his car. He turns to Liz, "You okay?"

"Yeah." Liz breathes before she looks down at Maeve, "I'm just glad she got to meet her."

Conrad gives a tight lipped smile before reaching for Maeve, "Come on. Let's get you guys home."

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Liz sighed as she set Maeve in her swing. She cooed as she stared up at the soft plushies swing from the top. Liz got on the ground beside her and pulled the basket of clothes closer. Her phone rings beside her and she answers it before sandwiching it between her shoulder and ear, "Hey, Dakota."

"Hey. How's Maeve doing?"

"Gee. I'm doing great. Thanks so much for asking." She jokes

"Okay, yeah, I already assume you're doing good, alright? Now, Maeve?"

She rolls her eyes, "She's good. She's currently mesmerized by the stars on her swing."

"Good." He says, "Hey, did Mom call you?"

"Uh, no? I haven't spoken to her really since a few weeks after Maeve was born. That's like, what? 4 months? Why?"

"Because she's been blowing up my phone like crazy. Asking about Maeve every five seconds." He complains, "I told her to just ask you. She's not my kid."

"She hasn't talked to me since I told her no one was gonna be coming over to just see her all the time. The hospital was one thing, but I needed my apartment to be my apartment." She says, "You would've thought I declared war with how she and Dad reacted."

"So, what? Now, she's just acting like you completely cut her off."

"I mean, I did. Kind of." She says taking the phone into her hand, "Honestly, after how the past year has gone, I should've done it a lot sooner."

"I don't fucking blame you." Dakota scoffs, "Alright, well, I gotta go, but I'll talk to you later."

"Alright, bye."

"Bye."

Liz sets her phone on the couch behind her and looks over at Maeve with a sigh. The little girl stares back at her with wide eyes. Liz sighs, "Your grandmother is a crazy lady." Maeve coos quietly in response. Liz smiles softly, "Exactly."

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Conrad looked up from his bag as Liz entered the bedroom with Maeve on her hip. She smiles, "God, it's so hot in here. You almost done?"

"Yeah." He says standing upright, "Just have a few more things to pack."

"It's supposed to be really nice in Brussels. The highest it gets in June is like 70 degrees, if that." Liz furrows her brows as he looks away. She tilts her head, "Why are you making that face?"

Conrad takes a deep breath, "Because I don't want to leave you guys."

"Connie."

"I don't have to go. I'm sure Namazy can find someone else."

"Are you insane?" Liz chuckles, "It's not everyday someone gets to go to Brussels. This is good for you. It's a good thing."

"But what about you guys?"

"We'll be fine." She shrugs, "You won't even be gone for that long."

"That doesn't make it any better."

Liz purses her lips affectionately before stepping closer, "I get it, okay? I don't even wanna think about how I'm gonna react whenever I have to go back to work and leave her. But this is worth it. Maeve and I are gonna be perfectly fine. We'll call and text and everything in between."

Conrad sighs. He then looked down and his heart swelled as Maeve's big brown eyes stared back up at him. Liz holds her out to him before he could say anything else. He immediately takes her into his arms.

"She's already got you wrapped around her finger." Liz chuckles

"She always will." He says as she grabs at his finger. A smile takes over his features, "She definitely will."

Liz laughs before Conrad looks over at her. Her laughter dies down into a soft smile, "We're gonna be okay."

Conrad nods before reaching out and pulling her closer. He leans down and kisses her softly before pulling her into a hug.

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