The Gunslinger & the Salaryman: A Love Story for the Ages

Chapter 52: New Beginnings

     Dutch and Benny were in the waiting area along with Filo, Jimmy, and Rodel. While most of them were calm, Dutch was rapidly tapping his foot, while inhaling cigarette after cigarette.
     "Damn, Dutchy, you sure are nervous," Jimmy commented. "Never seen a boss so worried about his employees."
     "Revy's more than an employee to us," replied Benny. "Especially to Dutch, they're like father and daughter. We're not exactly what you would call a conventional family."
     "Shit, there's no such thing," Filo interjected. "Every family is fucked up in some way. Some just a bit more than others."
     "Especially in this hellhole," Rodel commented.
"How long they been in there now?" Jimmy asked.
"About three hours now," replied Filo. "If they're lucky, it won't be much longer."

     About half an hour later, Balalaika, Boris, and Chang walked into the waiting area to greet Dutch and company.
     "Nice to see you again, Dutch," she greeted in a professional tone.
     "Same here, Miss Balalaika," he replied. "We didn't expect to see you and Mr. Chang here."
      "Well, I'm not exactly a fan of births," she answered bluntly, before taking a drag of her cigar. "But, considering everything you and your company has done for me over time, especially that whole shit show with that metal mouthed moron last year, it seemed only polite that we paid the new parents a visit."
     "That's mighty kind of you, ma'am," Dutch replied with a warm smile.
     "So, how long has Two Hands been in labor?" Chang asked.
     "Just a bit over 3 hours now," Dutch answered. "If she's lucky, it won't be much longer."

         "I can't fucking do this!" Revy exclaimed in the delivery room. She was in a proper gown, her legs on stirrups, with Rock holding her hand tightly. She was sweating profusely and gritting her teeth to the point where it looked like they were going to crack.
"Yes you can," Rock said as calmly as he could while dealing with Revy's iron grip. "You're the strongest person I know."
"Everything is looking good so far, Mrs. Okajima," the doctor said. "You are beginning to crown. A few more pushes should do it."
"You got this, Revy," Rock said warmly, giving his wife a gentle kiss on the forehead.
     Revy let out some more cries and pushes, when both she and Rock heard the clear cry of a baby.

     The doctor came into the waiting area to greet Dutch and the others.
     "Everything ok, doc?" Dutch asked with some concern.
     "More than fine, Mr. Dutch," the doctor replied. "The baby is healthy, normal size and weight. Mr. and Mrs. Okajima wish for you to join them in the delivery room."

In the delivery room, Revy was smiling down at her newborn child, while Rock had an arm around her. Both then looked up to greet their visitors.
"So, who are we saying hi to?" Dutch asked.
"We'd like to introduce you all to our son," Rock answered. "Remington Okajima."
"We're gonna call him Remi for short," Revy said warmly.
"Figures you'd name the kid after a gun," chuckled Dutch.
As they got a closer look, they saw he had a small tuft of hair that was the same color as Revy's, while he had Rock's eye color. He was looking around at everyone with curiosity, making some noises here and there.
"He's a cute little fella," said Filo. "Looks just like you, Scrawny."
"Have you had a chance to tell your parents the good news?" Benny asked.
"Not yet," said Rock. "Everting happened so fast."
     "Bet they were excited to hear they were getting another grandkid," said Dutch.
     "Yeah, but they were also concerned with him growing up here," Rock chuckled nervously.
     "I'm more scared for whoever tries to fuck with you and Revy," Dutch retorted.

"Do you wanna hold him, Dutchy?" Revy asked.
"Oh, um... yeah," Dutch fumbled to reply as Rock handed Remi to him. He didn't have a lot of experience with kids, so he was a bit nervous. Soon as the baby looked at him, the Lagoon captain felt a wave of emotion come over him. He then did something that few ever saw, he removed his sunglasses. His eyes were intense looking, ones of a man who'd seen many things in life. But, in that moment, they became very soft.
"Hey, little guy," he said softly. "I've known your mom for a long time now. She's the closest thing I have to a daughter. Guess... that makes me your Grandpa Dutch." Upon saying this, the baby cooed with a slight smile. "I'll do whatever it takes to keep you safe."

     After visiting for about an hour, everyone left Rock and Revy with their son. Rock gave his parents a quick call to give them the good news. They were definitely excited to hear they now had a granddaughter and grandson. He then got into the hospital bed with his Revy, his arm around her, while she was cradling Remi, who was sleeping.
     "Can you fucking believe this shit?" she asked Rock. While her voice was calm, she didn't bother to curve her language. "We made a kid. Fucking unreal."
     "Yeah, it's pretty crazy," Rock agreed, chuckling at his wife's unfiltered mouth.
     "Do you... do you think he'll be ok living here?" she asked.
     "I mean, nothing is exactly certain," he replied. "But, I certainly don't have much concern for his safety when he's got you to protect him."
     "I'll blast away any piece of shit that lays so much as a finger on him," she retorted, albeit still in a calm manner.
"The last couple years sure have been a wild ride," he commented.
"Understatement of the fucking century," she chuckled in response.
"But, I wouldn't do anything differently," he continued. "Ok... maybe not the whole war part, and the crazy amount of shootouts." The two shared a laugh at this. "Still, the end results were well worth it."
Remi began stirring some, then slightly crying. Revy then began gently rubbing her thumb on his forehead. Then she began softly singing Let My Love Open the Door, the same song Rock played on the jukebox the night she admitted to loving him.
"When people keep repeating
That you'll never fall in love
When everybody keeps retreating
But you can't seem to get enough
Let my love open the door
Let me love open the door
Let my love open the door
To your heart"
This got the baby to fall back to sleep.
"Thought you didn't like that song," Rock quipped.
"What can I say, it grew on me," Revy replied.
The new parents shared a tender kiss, then continued looking at their sleeping bundle of joy until they eventually fell asleep.

The End... For Now

Ok, I think this is a good place to end the story. But, I definitely plan to do a sequel story. Can't say how long that'll take, as I still have other stories to work on, but I'll definitely write one. Big thanks to all the readers that stuck with this story and were patient with some of my slower releases! I hope you all enjoyed! ^__^