"MAM,MAM" Dec called out in a slight panic,as he ran upstairs towards the bathroom "Ali is in labour"

Anne had come to stay with Dec and Ali for a couple of weeks to help them out with those exhausting first days of having a new baby.

Many new mums might have found having their mother in law around when they had just given birth incredibly difficult,but Ali was actually very grateful for Annes offer.

With her own parents being in Australia,having Anne around to support her was the next best thing and of course,she would be able to take care of Rocky while they were at the hospital too.

"Ok Declan" Anne replied as she followed Dec up the stairs "let's stay calm shall we?"

"I'm trying Mam,I'm trying" Dec insisted as he arrived in the bathroom to find Ali bent over the bath tub in pain,with a large puddle of fluid on the floor between her spread legs.

"My water's broke" Ali winced.

"Oh God,oh God,oh God" Dec muttered.

"Declan" Anne snapped,as she went over to help Ali "this is a perfectly normal part of childbirth,now get a grip will you?"

"Sorry" Dec mumbled.

"Why don't you go and put Ali's overnight bag in the car and I'll help her down the stairs" Anne suggested.

"Ok" Dec nodded and did exactly as he was told.

"Good luck" Anne smiled as she waved from the front door "call me as soon as you have any news and drive carefully ok Declan?"

"I will" Dec called out through the open car window.

"You're about to have a new brother or sister" Anne jokingly told Rocky as she settled back onto the sofa with the small dog on her lap "that will be nice won't it?"

Poor Rocky had no idea just how much his,lovely,peaceful life was about to change.

"So,do we know what we're having?" the midwife,Lynn asked as she checked Ali over,once she was comfortably settled in her room.

"No" Dec replied "we decided to be surprised"

"We'll be happy whatever it is" Ali beamed,before another contraction made her screw up her face in pain.

Dec winced as Ali dug her nails into his hand as she waited for the contraction to pass,he couldn't let her know that she was actually hurting him,not when she was about to push another human being out of her body.

"You're doing great" he assured her,as he kissed her sweaty forehead.

"Might be a bit of a long night though" Lynn informed them "doesn't look like this little one is ready to come out just yet"

"Must be comfortable in there" Dec smiled.

"Well,I'm glad someone is comfortable" Ali snapped.

Indeed,it did turn into a very long night,but eventually Dec and Ali's first born child decided it was ready to come into the world the following morning.

'Don't faint,don't faint' Dec told himself as the baby's head started to emerge.

Everyone had been worried about how squeamish Dec was and how he would cope with witnessing the reality of childbirth firsthand,which to be frank,could be pretty damn gruesome.

Lynn noticed the queasy look on Decs face.

"Feel free to stay at the top end if you prefer Mr Donnelly" she smiled.

"Ok" Dec replied gratefully.

"You've got this darling" Dec whispered to Ali as he patted her sweaty forehead with a cool,damp cloth.

"Ok,another big push" Lynn urged "you're almost there"

Ali pushed as hard as she could,while letting out a blood curdling scream,which shocked Dec to the core.He'd never heard a noise like that,except for in scary films,which he did his best to avoid.

"One last big push" Lynn smiled "push down into your bottom"

"I feel like I'm gonna shit myself" Ali panted.

"That's a really common feeling" Lynn assured her "the baby is pushing on your bowel,so it feels like you need a poo,but don't worry,you won't be having any accidents and even if you do,it's not a problem,we'll sort it out"

"Ok" Ali nodded,now feeling incredibly exhausted.

"And push" Lynn stated firmly as Ali held her breath and pushed with all her might until the newborn baby was safely delivered into the midwifes capable hands.

"Congratulations" she beamed "you have a baby girl"

"A girl?" Ali grinned,relieved that the ordeal was over and done with and the pain of the last few hours was now behind her.

"Yep" Lynn grinned as she wiped the baby and placed her onto Ali's chest "you have a daughter,happy birthday little one"

"A daughter" Dec smiled with tears streaming down his face as he peered lovingly at the mother and baby who were bonding in front of him "I have a daughter"

"Yes,you do" Lynn nodded "now,would you like to cut the cord?"

Dec peered at the umbilical cord that had given life to his daughter throughout the last nine months.

"It's not gonna squirt at me is it?" He frowned.

"It'll be fine" Lynn assured him "come on"

So Dec nervously stepped forward and followed the instructions that Lynn gave him.

"You see?" She smiled after Dec had performed the small,but meaningful task "that wasn't so bad was it?"

"No,it was fine" Dec beamed.

"Now" Lynn smiled as she took the baby from Ali "I'm going to get this little one cleaned up a bit,then daddy can have a cuddle"

She soon returned with the baby tightly swaddled in a warm blanket.

"Here she is" Lynn announced,as she handed the infant to Dec "here's your baby girl"

"My baby girl" Dec repeated as Ali lovingly watched the two most important people in her life.

"Do you have a name yet?" Lynn enquired.

"Isla" Dec and Ali both announced together.

"Oh that's lovely" Lynn smiled "well,I'll leave you two in peace to get to know your little girl.Just press the buzzer if you need anything at all"

"Thanks" Ali smiled.

She couldn't take her eyes off of Dec and Isla.The way Dec was staring lovingly at his new born daughter just melted her heart.

It was a look she hadn't really seen on Decs face before.Of course she'd seen the look of love from him many times,but this was something else,something special,but she understood it as she no doubt had that same look herself.

"Hello Isla" Dec whispered as he held his daughter up to his face and kissed her forehead "I'm your daddy"

"We should take some photos" Ali suggested.

"Oh yeah" Dec smiled as he passed Isla back to her mother, so he could get his phone out of his pocket "we definitely should"

The couple then proceeded to take endless pictures of themselves with their new arrival.Isla behaved impeccably as she slept through the whole photo shoot.

"I think that's probably enough pictures for now" Ali smiled,as she placed Isla into her cot by her bed "I could do with a nap"

"I'm not surprised" Dec replied "you have a sleep and I'm gonna phone people to let them know our happy news"

"Maybe not from here eh?" Ali yawned.

"No,of course not" Dec laughed "I'll go out into the corridor and leave you two to sleep in peace,Mam will be desperate to know everything"

"Well,you can spare her all the gory details" Ali laughed.

"Hey,she's had seven kids" Dec grinned "there's not much about childbirth that she doesn't know"

"Off you go then" Ali smiled,her eyes already starting to close.

"Mam" Dec said excitedly as Anne answered the phone expectantly "you've got a new granddaughter"

"Oh Decky" Anne replied delighted "that's amazing news sweetheart,how are they?both doing well?"

"They're fine" Dec beamed "Ali is exhausted though,it was a pretty long labour,so she's having a sleep now"

"I can imagine" Anne replied "when was she born?"

"At 9 o'clock this morning" Dec informed her.

"Born on the first of September" Anne smiled "she'll be the oldest in her year at school"

"Not even thought about that Mam" Dec laughed "she's literally only about an hour old"

"Well,I'll be there to visit her as soon as you give the go ahead" Anne said.

"Let's just let them get some rest first" Dec suggested "then I'll call you"

"Shall I call your brothers and sisters?" Anne asked "or would you like to do that yourself?"

"You can do that if you like" Dec laughed "it's fine"

"Ok" Anne replied,delighted at being able to spread Ali and Decs happy news to her other children "have you taken any pictures?"

"Yeah,loads" Dec replied "don't worry Mam,I'll send you some in the next few minutes"

"Shall I call Ant too?" Anne enquired.

"No thanks" Dec replied "I definitely want to tell him myself.How's Rocky?"

"Oh,he's fine Decky" Anne smiled as she gazed down at the dachshund sleeping at her feet.

"Ok good" Dec replied "give him a big kiss from me and I'll call you again soon"

Dec immediately called Ant after he ended the call with Anne.

"I've got a daughter" Dec announced gleefully to Ant,without even saying as much as a hello.

"Oh Decs" Ant replied cheerfully "that's brilliant,congratulations"

"Thanks" Dec smiled "she's amazing,so tiny"

"Aww,I can imagine" Ant smiled "I can't wait to meet her"

"Come tomorrow" Dec stated suddenly.

"Really?" Ant replied "that soon"

"Yeah,why not?" Dec nodded "I'll check with Ali when she wakes up,but I'm sure she'll be fine with it,I'll text you later,don't tell Mam,but I want you to be the first to meet her"

"Ok" Ant replied happily "that really means a lot"

Ant couldn't wait to meet this little girl.The baby who he knew would bring so much happiness to so many people.

Practically straight after he finished the call to Dec,Ants phone pinged several times,notifying him that he had some WhatsApp messages.

He smiled broadly as he gazed at several pictures that Dec had sent of him,Ali and the baby.Dec had simply titled the pictures 'ISLA'

Ant immediately sent a message back telling Dec how gorgeous she was,before forwarding the pictures on to Anne-Marie,Christine and Sarha.

"Hey" Dec smiled later,as his wife started to come out of her slumber "how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine" Ali smiled,as she gazed from her husband to her daughter,who was still sleeping soundly "how long was I asleep?"

"Not that long" Dec replied "just over an hour,look at this picture"

Dec had been browsing through the photographs and showed Ali the adorable picture of Islas tiny hand wrapped around his finger.

"How about we put this one on twitter when we announce her birth?" Dec suggested.

"Yeah,that's lovely" Ali agreed.

"Great" Dec smiled "Ant's coming to visit tomorrow,if that's ok with you?"

"Yeah,of course it is" Ali smiled.

"Then Mam will no doubt be desperate to see her new grandchild" Dec beamed.

"I'm sure she is" Ali laughed "one at a time though sweetheart ok?just until I get my strength back"

"Of course " Dec replied,just as Isla began to stir "I'll get her"

"She probably wants feeding" Ali pointed out.

As Dec lifted his newborn daughter from her cot,ready to hand her over to her loving mother,he couldn't help but stare down at this little bundle of joy once again.

He took in every fascinating detail of her tiny features.Gazing lovingly at her cute button nose,her rosebud lips,her wisps of dark hair that were exactly the same shade as Decs and her soft eyebrows.

As he marvelled at the fact that this baby girl was about to change their lives forever,he knew one thing for certain.

And that was that dreams really did come true!