They gave me an epidural and for a moment I was completely at peace. I couldn't feel anything, not even when the contractions were at their worst. John was standing next to me, holding my hand, and in that moment I knew everything would be alright. We'd made it through a lot in the nine months since we'd started dating and we'd get through this too... together.

"I love you," I whispered.

"I love you too babe, you're doin' great," John said encouragingly.

There was another contraction, a long one this time around. I let out a sound halfway between a cry and a gasp. They were so close together now and I was beginning to feel the need to push.

"Alright, Carly," Dr. Nesbitt said. From my position, feet propped up in the stirrups, I could only see the top of her head. "On three you're goin' to push for me okay? One big push," she instructed.

John glanced between my legs and his face went starch white. If I wasn't so terrified I would've found the scene hilarious.

"I can see the head," he said as another contraction ripped through me. I needed to push. I squeezed his hand so hard, but he didn't even wince. "She's got a full head of hair," he grinned.

"Alright, Carly... one... two... three... Give me one big push!" Sally ordered and I did as she told me, screaming through the pain.

"You're doin' so good baby," John was saying, but I wasn't hearing him anymore.

"Just one more push, Carly," Dr. Nesbitt said.

I felt completely drained of energy but still I gave one final push.

Then... silence.

"She's not cryin'," John said.

"Oh my God," I whispered.

"Just a second," Dr. Nesbitt whispered as our baby girl was whisked away from us before we had a chance to get a proper look at her, or to hold her in our arms. The doctors and nurses were surrounding her and John moved over to try and get a better look. I wanted to collapse in the bed, completely drained, but my body wouldn't let me. I was on red alert. What the hell was going on with my baby?

Seconds ticked by: two or three at most, but as far as I was concerned it might as well have been hours.

Sally Nesbitt was ordering one of the nurses to do something; medical jargon that I didn't understand was being thrown around; there was some more murmuring; John was trying to look over the heads of the medical staff... Then, just like that, Addie started to wail, the sound probably heard throughout the entire maternity ward.

I started to cry again.

"Oh my God, she's okay," I whispered, relief washing over me.

John was half-laughing, half-crying when he came back to me.

"She's so small," he said, wiping at the tears streaming down his face. "She's so small," he whispered.

They weighed her, got her cleaned up and wrapped her in a blanket. Everything was happening so fast.

"We have to get her to the NICU as quickly as possible," Dr. Nesbitt said.

I gasped when she was placed in my arms. John was right; she was the tiniest little thing and I was so afraid I'd break her.

John looked just as terrified, hesitating a moment before running his pinky finger over the back of Addie's hand. His little finger was bigger than her arm, and she could probably fit in the palm of his hand.

"Hey sweet girl," John smiled, leaning in close. "It's nice to finally meet you... I'm your dad."

I was too awestruck to speak. All I could do was stare, my vision obstructed by the tears still streaming down my face.

"She's so beautiful," I whispered.

"Just like her mom," John murmured.

Addison Johanna Kessler was born on March 16th 2016, at 7:16pm. She weighed only 1 lb. 13 oz. and measured just shy of 13 inches.

Carly was too weak to move around and the nurses still needed to work on her, so I followed Addie and the nurse up to the NICU, my heart hammering hard against my chest. She was way too small and struggling to breathe on her own, so they had to get her on a respirator as soon as possible.

I wasn't allowed to go into the NICU just yet, so I watched from the window as they worked on my daughter, poking her with needles and hooking her up to machines. I wanted to be in there, to hold her and make sure she was alright. I wanted her to know I was there for her no matter what, and that I wasn't going anywhere.

"I promise you that," I whispered to the glass, my fists balled tightly at my sides. "I ain't ever leavin' you so don't you dare leave me."

The first few hours of her life were critical. I stayed for about an hour, watching, but when that became too much to handle I went back to see Carly to let her know what was going on.

"Is she okay?" Carly asked the moment I stepped in her room.

"They've got her down in the NICU, she's crackin' jokes and makin' the nurses laugh... real charmer," I said with a smirk as I came to sit on the edge of her bed. Her hair was wet and the familiarity of her shampoo – Maisy brought it over, along with a pair of pajamas, which Carly had changed into – was enough to calm down my jumbled nerves.

"She sounds like her dad," Carly giggled.

"Mm, let's hope she's more like you," I grinned, grabbing my phone out of my pocket and swiping at the screen. "I wasn't able to go in the NICU, but uh... I got a nurse to take this," I added, pushing my phone into her hand.

It was our baby's first picture – if you don't count her ultrasounds.

"Oh my God," Carly whispered as tears started streaming down her cheeks again. I reached to wipe them away with the pad of my thumb.

"It looks like a lot," I whispered, referring to the tubes and wires. "But she's doin' okay... she's fightin'," I assured her.

"It's goin' to be a long couple weeks isn't it?" Carly asked me.

"It's goin' to be a long eighteen years. Especially when she starts datin'," I countered, which brought out Carly's smile. We needed to stay positive and find these little moments to smile, despite the hardships ahead.

Since she hadn't eaten much in the last twenty-four hours and didn't have the stomach for more hospital food, I took half an hour to grab her something from Subway a couple streets from the hospital. Realizing how hungry I happened to be, I decided to grab myself something too.

When I went back up to Carly's room, Maisy was there and the two girls were wrapped in each other's arms, both of them crying.

"Congrats daddy," Maisy smiled through her tears, lifting herself off of Carly's bed and giving me a hug, made a little awkward by the baby bump between us.

"Did you see her?" I asked as I set down the bags of food on the little table on wheels, which was against the wall. "Watch your knees," I muttered as I pushed the table towards her.

"Yeah, Carly showed me the picture... she's so small!" Maisy gushed. "What was it you said she weighed, Car?" she added.

"One pound, thirteen ounces," Carly replied.

"Oh my God," Maisy whispered.

"Her arm is literally the size of John's pinky finger," Carly said as she started removing the wrapper from her sandwich. I did the same, taking a generous bite.

Carly was absolutely beat, so after we were finished eating Maisy decided it was her cue to leave so that the new mama could get some rest. Silently I walked her down to the main floor. We made a quick stop in front of the NICU and I pointed Addie out to her. A nurse was blocking her from view at first, but when she moved out of the way Maisy let out an audible gasp.

"Wow, this is so surreal," she whispered.

"Yeah, pretty much how I've been feelin' since she was born," I chuckled.

We walked back to the elevators in silence. It was only once we were downstairs, standing in front of the hospital doors leading to the parking lot, that Maisy spoke again.

"John, it'll be okay," she told me, putting a hand on my forearm.

"Yeah, I know... positive thoughts," I sighed.

She stared at me for a second then, without hesitation, flung her arms around my neck, catching me off-guard. She was a hugger that one.

"I'll text you or Darryl in the mornin', give you an update," I told her when she put some distance between us again.

"You better," she smiled.

The doctor came to see us at a little after eleven to give us an update. Carly was knocked out cold after the nurses gave her something to help her sleep, so I stepped out of the room briefly to speak to him. He let me know that considering Addie's extreme prematurity, she was mighty lucky to be doing as well as she was. It'd be a long road ahead and we needed to brace ourselves for that, but the doctor assured me I had reason to be optimistic.

Addie was strong.

That's my girl, I grinned.

A/N: What do you guys think of Addie's name? I struggled so hard with it, not gonna lie, but I'm definitely in love with it.

Please keep in mind that the next few chapters are going to be a rough for the little family, so a heads up for anyone that might find complications due to prematurity triggering.