Ever since she was a little girl, she wanted to be a mom. Sure, a lot of little girls dream of growing up to be a mom and to have kids, and she wasn't anything out of the ordinary. But she wanted to be a badass mother; she wanted to kick ass, take names, and be the mom that her kids could look up to. It was a dream until it was dashed when her doctors told her in her 20s that she couldn't have kids, that it would be impossible. It was a dream that became a reality when she found out that by some miracle, she was pregnant. She'd be a mother. August would be a father. They'd be a family.

Given her age and other factors, her pregnancy was not a walk in the park. In fact, her pregnancy was, by her own words, horrible. She felt insecure, as most pregnant women usually do, she felt scared, she felt like she was losing a bit of herself along the way. And yes, she did lose a part of herself, but it was a part that needed to be lost. It was the part that had told her she would never have everything she wanted in her life, it was a part that had told her that she wouldn't be successful in this. That part, she struggled with losing. Because so much of her life she believed that she couldn't and wouldn't be able to do this, that even when it was happening, when her pregnancy moved along, when she could visually see what was happening, she still thought it was too good to be true.

She's always been stubborn, and her pregnancy brought that out more than anyone had expected. Hormones took her over, she started to put her foot down on things more, and she lost friends along the way. But those who stood by her through the pregnancy were the ones she knew she could count on the most; they understood that it was hard for her to be pregnant at this age, they understood that sometimes it was hard to see how much things could change. Though she doesn't remember it now, since she didn't shift, her pregnancy was a large reason why she had to stand on the sidelines, to not join the fight like she was always so used to doing, and that was a big blow to her as well.

It was a struggle to get to this point, and the last nine months she had been through so many ups and downs, that she found herself scared in the last few days. She was scared that she might not be a good mother, that she wouldn't be able to be what her child needs, that she'd maybe end up being a bad wife, and would her body ever bounce back to what it was before? Her own mother told her all these worries were natural, that when she had the twins, Lissa's youngest sisters, that she was terrified of everything going wrong. But then the two girls were born, and all her fears, doubts, and worries went away. Every hardship and struggle, how terrible that pregnancy was, it all went away.

On September 29th, at 5am in the morning, Lissa was prepped and brought into surgery, the bottom part of her made numb, a sheet up to cover her from seeing what was going on, and she was holding onto August's hand tightly, watching him and waiting to hear. Waiting to hear what was going on, waiting to hear that little voice she was so dying to meet. At 6am, she heard it, and Lissa cried. It was the sound of a little angel brought to life, and the doctors telling them congratulations, it was all so much. She wouldn't be able to see her child yet, she had to be stitched up, she needed to be cleaned, she needed to be brought to a hospital room and rest. Before August was escorted out, he kissed her on the forehead and whispered that he loved her, and she replied in kind.

Due to the medication she was on, she wasn't sure how she got to the hospital room, but a few hours later around 10am, she was finally waking up. The moment she did, she immediately tried to sit up in bed, though she was too weak to do so. "Where is she?" She asked, turning to look at August who was sitting next to her, and he grinned. He stood up and went to the side of the room where there was a little crib, and brought over the baby. Lissa held out her hands, tears already coming down her face, as August placed their child in her arms.

August's hand was on Lissa's shoulder, and his other hand was lightly touching the top of the baby's head, as Lissa just looked her daugher over, tears of happiness coming down her face. "Hey, little one," She said softly, moving her pinky under the little one's hand, as her daughter slowly opened her eyes, and Lissa grinned. "Hi baby," She laughed, unable to stop herself from crying happily, "Hi Olivia, I'm Mom. Welcome to the world."

The three of them, their little Bergmen family, stood in Lissa's hospital room, with love all around them, but it was safe to say Lissa and August weren't focusing on anything other than Olivia.

Later, she would realize her mother was right. That all the hardship, the pain, the struggles, it was all worth it. All of it went away, now that their daughter was here. She was here, she was loved, she was everything and nothing else mattered.