Sacrifice: the Rise of Adeline Goode

I. NOW I LAY ME DOWN TO SLEEP

She rings like a bell through the night and wouldn't you love to love her? She was alive like a bird in flight and who will be her lover?

Once in a million years a lady like her rises...

"One more push, Mrs. Foxx!" The doctor encouraged Cordelia, earning a glare from the blonde. After 48 hours of unmediated labor, he could take the encouragement and shove it up his ass for all she cared. Another contraction crashed over her like a tidal wave. She'd heard horror stories all throughout her pregnancy, but Cordelia thought it couldn't be as bad as other women made it seem. She was wrong, though, and it was worse than she could ever imagine. She gritted herself teeth, pushing through the pain, a scream escaping her mouth. She was hit with sudden relief from the pain and she collapsed back into her pillow, trying to catch her breath. Hank leaned over his wife, smiling and wiping her hair away from her face. Tears broke from Hank's eyes, causing Cordelia to snap back into reality. The relief she'd briefly felt was replaced by panic when she took in what was happening.

"What's happening?" She asked, turning away from Hank and looking at the backs of the several doctors and nurses they were huddled around her baby. "Why isn't she crying?" Her voice went up a few octaves as panic overwhelmed her completely and she tried to get out the bed. One of the nurses turned their head and sprinted to Cordelia, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder and laying her down.

"Mrs. Foxx," the nurse spoke, her expression unreadable. "The baby is having a little trouble breathing but we're going to run her up to the NICU and take care of her, okay?"

"What?!" Cordelia's shriek came out as more of a raspy whisper, her voice jumping higher than her throat could handle. "She's not breathing??" Cordelia fought against the nurse, ignoring the waves of pain that would hit every time she moved. "No, please! I need to go with her!"

"Cordelia, please..." Hank choked out, his eyes pleading. "Let them go help her."

"I've got her, Mrs. Foxx." The nurse reassured the blonde, and against all instincts, Delia nodded and laid back down. The doctors went to work on her before moving her back to the room they were in before her water had broken. The light flipped on, revealing Fiona standing in the corner of the room, reading the vitals that were written on a dry erase board. She stood with her back to her daughter and Hank until the room had cleared out of everyone but the three of them. Once they were alone, Fiona turned around, a grim expression on her face. Cordelia swore she even saw tears in her mother's eyes, which was not a common occurrence.

"No," Cordelia whispered, stubbornly shaking her head. "No, no. No! It's not true."

"What?" Hanks mixture of confusion and panic caused Fiona to roll her eyes.

"Delia, I..." Fiona started, but was interrupted by Delia.

"No! It's not true; she's fine! She's fine, Fiona." Cordelia set her jaw, and Fiona put a frustrated head in her hands.

Before her mother could respond, they heard a knock on the door. They all turned their heads, their eyes on the doctor from the second he cracked the door. Cordelia's heart sank, and she looked at her mother—pleading silently with her eyes—to be a mother, just this once, and comfort her. Cordelia didn't know why she was surprised that Fiona stayed on the other side of the room, her arms folded over her chest. Even when the doctor told them their baby had died, Fiona didn't console Cordelia. She walked from the room, down the stairs, and out the sliding doors, lighting a cigarette the second her toes touched the pavement. She broke down, but only for a moment, already having decided what it was she needed to do. What she would do.

She took another long, drawn out drag, feeling her nerves calm as the smoke filled her lungs. She strutted back into the hospital, upstairs, back into Cordelia's room. She ignored the tinge of pain that stabbed her in her chest when she saw her daughter, sobbing in pain, grieving her firstborn child. "Would you like to see her?" He asked them, and Cordelia shook her head, crying into Hank's chest.

"Her? She's a girl?" Cordelia croaked and her doctor nodded, starting a whole new wave of sobs. "I don't want to see her."

"Yes," Fiona chimed in. "We want to see her."

—

"Fiona, no, no, no. Please; I don't wanna look at her. Please." Cordelia's voice was high pitch, trying with all her might to scoot herself in the opposite direction of her mother, who was walking over with her granddaughter's tiny, cold body. She could only go so far, considering she was in a hospital bed full of tubes and wires. "No, please..."

"Fiona, this—!" Hank started, but with a wave of Fiona's finger, he froze in place. Had Cordelia been any other person, she would have panicked at the scene. But being a witch, and a smart one at that, led her to knowing what the energy change felt like when someone manipulated or froze time.

"No," Cordelia cried again, shutting her eyes tight like a scared child.

"Delia, shhh. Shut up and listen to me," Fiona whispered, not having the patience for her daughter's dramatics. "Listen!" She snapped, and Cordelia immediately felt herself calm down and relaxed against the mattress. She furrowed her eyebrows at the way the calm feeling hit her so abruptly. "Hold her. Hold her. She's your daughter. You have to keep them close. So they feel safe." She whispered, putting the baby in Delia's arms. "Talk to her."

"No," Cordelia choked, crying as she looked at the tiny girl in her arms. "Why are you doing this, Fiona? She's dead..." Cordelia's voice cracked, and she sobbed audibly.

"No, no! Come on. Talk to her. Tell her I love you more than the whole world. Come on. Say it to her." Fiona begged, sitting on the bed next to her daughter.

"I love you more than the whole world." Cordelia whispered, her voice thick with anguish.

"You're the most beautiful baby. Tell her how beautiful she is." Fiona played with her daughter's hair and Cordelia looked over at her desperately. "Tell her."

"Please... I can't do this." Cordelia sobbed.

"Tell her." Fiona pushed. "Say it. You're so beautiful. Tell her."

"You're beautiful..." the younger witch whispered.

"Now say, I'll never leave you."

"I'll never leave you."

"I'll be your mother until you die. Tell her."

Cordelia looked curiously at her mother, her eyebrows furrowed, then back down at her baby. "I'll be your mother until the day you die."

"Tell her again."

"I'll be your mother until you die..." Cordelia whispered. Fiona leaned over, and Cordelia choked back a sob—thinking Fiona was showing a shred of humanity and kissing the baby goodbye. It wasn't until she felt her mothered energy decrease drastically and feel the tiny human in her arms start to wiggle that Cordelia realized what Fiona had done. The baby cried out a shrill shriek, and Cordelia looked over at Fiona. She looked absolutely drained but nodded at her daughter.

"Don't break that promise." Fiona huffed a deep breath and snapped her fingers, returning time to its normal flow. Hank's eyes were wide and he immediately sprinted into the hall to find a doctor.

After all was said and done, Cordelia laid in her bed, holding the tiny baby in her lap. She ran her fingertip across the girl's silky skin, completely entranced by someone she'd just met.

"Have you decided on a name?" The nurse walked back in. Cordelia glanced at Hank, who nodded encouragingly at his wife.

"Adeline. Adeline Fiona Foxx."