My Love; My Life: Slipping Through My Fingers

Baby Boom II: Connors

Setting: same setting as the last chapter; Delivery room, two years later in 2047...

"One more big push Mrs. Connors n y'all'll ave yer baby gal," the doctor tells her

"Hee, hee, hoo," Halley practices her breathing a few more times before starting to push again, "hee, hee, hoo-mehhhhaaaaaaaaaaa!"

"A-a-aaaaaaaaaa!" The baby's cry finally comes & Halley passes out in exhaustion

"Halley," a familiar voice comes through her ear at a whisper, "Hal-ley..."

"Carl..." she says quiet as she looks over to him

"Hey darlin," he smiles at her quietly

"Where is she?" Her voice croaks out tiredly

"Right ere with Connor," he tells her quietly

"..." she quietly looks next to her in the bed & smiles when she sees her son holding his new baby sister

"What should we name er?"

"How about Constance Mary Cooper?"

"..." Carl just nods in agreement

"Can we go home soon?" Connors voice comes quietly with a yawn

"Soon buddy," Carl tells him, "soon."

"Carl," Halley whispers to him, her face looking worse for where, "I'm so tired..."

"I bet," he replies quietly with a smile

     The doctor told him that the baby was a healthy baby girl, but when he asked about Halley, they told him that she's in a fragile state & likely wouldn't last the night...

"Dad everyone here?" She asks him

"You bet," he tells her-lying, the family where on their way but got stuck in traffic, "yer dad's to worried bout droppin lil Connie ta holder, but is very proud of ya."

"It's okay daddy," she whispers to no one, "you don't need to be afraid."

"V says she's already bought er a new rattle," he tells her

"Oh V," she yawns out, "you didn't have to do that."

"Yer brother n Chali brought their son ta play with er n Connor-"

"Not yet little guy," she lets out a tired laugh, "she's still far too young for you to play with," she tells him with a smile, "hope you two don't mind being her godparents..."

"Their honored," Carl tells her, "yer grandfather's ere too n excited ta be a great grandfather-"

"But you already are one grandpa Sam," she tells no one with a slight laugh

"N yer uncle Joel's offerin ta go get ya some ice chips."

"I'd really appreciate it that Uncle Joel," she tells him as she struggles to keep her eyes open

"Tilly n Shey are losin 'emselves over hoe adorable she is," he tells her as her eyes start to close

"That's nice," she says, her voice growing quieter as she starts to give into the heavy weight of her eyes

"And Charlie's goin on n on bout hold he's gonna be the best uncle she'll ever ave."

"Is it okay if I rest my eyes?" Halley ask Carl as her voice grows softer with each word, "just for a little while?"

"Y-yeah," he tells her quietly as she closes her eyes for the last time & her breathing slows down as Connor cuddles closer to her

"Good night mommy," he says quietly, unaware that she's not sleeping

     By the time traffic dies & the other family members finally make it, they arrive too late & Halley's already gone-turning what should've been a happy day into a sad one. A numerous different emotions were going around the room, pain, guilt, shock, denial, anger, depression; all present being hit by the large wave of grief. For Howard, it was like losing his wife & mother all over again, for Veronica it was she lost her own daughter & so on & so forth. But the one it would likely effect the most, is the one person that'll take it the hardest & also the one yet to know: Conner, whom is still curled & cuddling up to his mom with his new sister between them. Instead of waking Connor up, Carl just scoops him up & takes him home with his new sister; he puts the new born in the crib close to the bed & then puts Connor in his own bed...

"I can't do this," he mutters as he sits at the counter of his closed back with a a glass of whiskey on the rocks with the bottle standing next to it

"Sure ya can Carl," his aunts voice comes

"How?" He asks her, "how in the hell am I gonna raise two youngins by myself?"

"Well, first off," she says becoming tangible, "y'all're gonna do it with Cooper sized confidence n Tucker sized gumption," she tells him with a determined look, "n ya ain't alone Carl, ya got plenty of family round ta help ya."

"N how do I explain this ta Connor?" He sighs out

"He's bout six now right?" She asks him in thought, "he should be old enough ta understand somewhat," she tells him, "but if y'all ain't think e's ready yet, then ya can just tell 'im she went ta stay with grandma Wolowitz n grandma n grandpa Sparks-ya can explain it better when e gets older n is able ta understand it better."

"..." he nods in understanding before downing the rest of his whiskey, "why do I get the feelin this is gonna be our last catch?"

"..." she goes quiet for a moment, "Huh," she sighs out, "I ain't able ta explain it," she starts, "but I sense a disturbance," she tells him, "some kinda change is comin n it's got the whole afterlife on high alert-ta the point that they're callin back all the reapers in guardian angels."

"So..."

"Ain't sure when I ain't able ta say if I'll be seein any of ya again," she tells him honestly, "or if I'll be back."

"So what's that mean?"

"I guess...it means," she replies hesitant & reluctantly

"Goodbye?"

"No," she says quickly, "just-farewell," she tells him, "fer now at least anyway," she explains, "I know we'll meet again bud."

"Y'all died so long ago," he states, "then ya came back n p-it's been like ya ain't never died," he sigh out, "n now yer basically sayin that yer leavin fer good...how're we gonna manage without ya aunt Bay?"

"Like I just said," she states again, "this is farewell, not goodbye-we'll meet again."

"Right..." he mutters as she turns intangible

"Y'all take care of em kids now, ya hear?" She states just before disappearing from sight