I Will Never Let You Go (A Maxcer Fanfic)

Good Pain.

Max meant what she had said about calling her mother. She had called three days after she found her on her doorstep, saying that she would be willing to meet up with her. They ended up going out for lunch one early afternoon, which Max had to admit wasn't what she was expecting. She didn't know why, but she felt a lot calmer around her mother; calmer than she thought she should be at this stage. It was nice to just talk about things with her mom; eventually however, they did have to breach the subject of whether or not this would become a regular thing. Max had talked with Spencer about what he thought, and he seemed supportive of letting her be in their lives, as well as their daughter's. However, he did say that they shouldn't jump right into things, and that steps needed to be taken before they could completely trust Lilith, which her mother completely understood. Then Max felt the need to ask more about her mother's condition, to which she was honest. She had stage three breast cancer and they were still trying to figure out which treatment would be best. They had been thinking about doing a double mastectomy, which after some thought was the route Lilith felt she should go; however, there was still the risk of it coming back in other areas. Max supported her mother's decision, and wholeheartedly hoped that her mother would be okay. She hadn't seen her mother since then, but she remained in touch with her, calling her at least once a week.
It was June 20th and Max was thirty eight weeks and two days pregnant. A few days prior, she had an appointment where they checked her dilation for the first time. Her cervix was only a centimeter, so they didn't think she'd have the baby much earlier than her due date on July 2nd. She had been having braxton hicks for the past few weeks at that point, but the night before they started to feel different. They definitely felt sharper and left her unable to move, but they were few and far in between, allowing her to sleep.
Spencer woke up to the toilet flushing and he squinted towards the slightly ajar bathroom door, which was allowing light into their room. He expected Max to come back to bed a few minutes later, and when she didn't, he slid his glasses on and walked to the bathroom. Knocking on the door lightly, he pushed it open farther to see his wife on the floor on her hands and knees, her phone in front of her.
"Max, are you alright?" He asked, concern clear in his voice as he knelt down to her level and put a hand on her shoulder. Max let out a breath and sat back on her calves, clicking a button on her phone.
"What do you think Doc?" She asked, still slightly out of breath. She handed him the phone, which displayed a contraction timer app that she had downloaded. It gave an average time of nine minutes between each contraction, and each one lasting an average time of forty seven seconds. Scrolling through the list, he could see that there were some outliers, but it was mostly consistent.
"Think we're gonna have a baby today?" Max asked, a small grin on her face. Spencer looked up at her, matching her expression. He leaned forward and gave her a soft kiss on the lips, putting a hand to her belly. Pulling away, he asked "How long have you been laboring in here?"
"Not long. Maybe thirty minutes? I'm pretty sure I had a couple contractions before I went to bed but they weren't close together at all. I woke up around three thirty from them, tried to fall back asleep but couldn't, so I came in here so I didn't disturb you."
"Why didn't you say something before we went to bed?"
"Because you were already working late on a case and I didn't want to worry you." Spencer had stopped leaving for cases two weeks ago, instead working alongside Garcia at the BAU. They seemed to be on the verge of a major break, but in the end they were making their heads spin with sleep deprivation. Spencer nodded, then he stood up looking down at Max. "Yeah, I'm gonna shoot Emily a text now, tell her I won't be working the case." Max nodded as he walked back into their room to get his phone, leaning forward on her hands again. After a few minutes, Spencer walked back into the bathroom, making Max look up from her phone.
"Did she respond?" She asked.
"No, and she probably won't till five when she wakes up." Spencer replied, kneeling back down in front of her. After another minute or two, Max's belly tensed up, signaling the start of a contraction. She clicked the start button on her timer, then hung her head, humming as she worked through the pain.
"Do you need me to do anything?" Spencer asked quietly. Max looked up at him, scrunching up her face for a moment. "Uhh could you get me some ice water?" Spencer nodded and kissed her head, leaving to go downstairs. By the time he got back, she was already sitting up again, scrolling through her phone. He sat back down in his spot on the floor, handing her the full water bottle. She took three big gulps, enjoying the feeling as the cold liquid ran down her throat.
"Your water didn't break yet, did it?" Spencer asked.
"No, but I do feel pressure down there." She answered, a hand under her large bump, lifting it slightly. Spencer kept his hand on it, curious to see if he could feel it when she started contracting. After several minutes, he felt her muscles tighten beneath his fingers and Max's breathing grew heavy. She inhaled sharply, and leaned forward on her hands again. Spencer got behind her and put his palms on either side of her hips, squeezing them inwards. Max let out a moan. "Does that help?" Spencer asked, to which Max hummed her approval. He kept his hands firmly pressing on her hips until she seemed to relax. She sat back up, letting out a breath and taking a few sips of water. Spencer massaged her shoulders and said "How about we move you to the bed? The floor's gotta be killing your shoulders and knees by now." Max nodded and allowed him to help her off the floor. Leading her back into the room, he put a towel on her side of the bed. She resumed her position of being on all fours over it, facing the headboard. On the bed, she was able to stay in that position while her head rested on a pillow, allowing her to open her pelvis more comfortably. Spencer sat behind her, his legs off the side of the bed. When she hit a contraction, he continued to push her hips in; when they ended, he took the time to massage her back. From where he was, Max was handling the early stages of labor very well. She had planned on not accepting pain medication, unless she came to a breaking point where she could not go on any longer. He knew it was going to be long and difficult, but he had no doubts that Max would be able to safely bring their baby into the world.