A Dancer's Sin (editing){Completed}

Pressing Forward

Shannon's POV

When I heard the news that Raven was pregnant I was ecstatic. I wanted a beautiful girl that looked just like her mother.

Overtime Ravens stomach began to grow bigger little by little and parenthood became real. This would be our first child. It was scary and exciting.

Talia said there was nothing to it once the baby was actually born after that everything would just fall in place, and I looked forward to it.

Months went on and there was a flood of emotions. Somedays a things got so bad that we slept in separate rooms and didn't talk, but even after all of that there was still so much love we refused to let that keep us apart.

One night as we slept, Raven was unusually restless. That's a night I will never forget. She began to scream in pain.

I rushed her to the hospital and called Talia on the way there. When we arrived the doctors rushed us into a room and prepped Raven for birth.

"Something isn't right." She said that phrase over and over again throughout the night, and she was right. Something was horribly wrong. The baby was still born. It took a toll on us both, but Raven especially.

She depression hit her hard as she kept blaming herself. She stopped eating and wouldn't even talk for a number of weeks. She locked herself in our room and refused to leave. Three weeks she lived on very few hours of sleep, and when she was able to shut her eyes and rest, she cried. Her life had turned into a nightmare and no matter what I tried nothing soothed her pain.

I tried getting Talia to bring Edith over to test how Raven responded, and it wasn't good. She cried for two days after that.

Many nights I cradled her against my chest and sang to her as I caressed her head. The more I did this the more she relaxed. I always told her I loved her, and that it wasn't her fault. That she did all she could.

She slowly came to, but was still somewhat depressed. She began to eat and gain back the weight she had lost from starving herself, and the spark in her eyes began to return.

It filled my heart once things were back to normal. Or at least as normal as things could get.

Today was Raven's first day going to see our child's grave. She clung to me nervously with tears already in her eyes.

I wrapped my arm around her waist and supported her. As we came to the grave site there was a small tombstone that read:

"To our angel in Heaven, may you be safe.
Naomi Leto"

She began to tremble but didn't look away. She placed a single white rose by the headstone and touched it gingerly. She stood wiping the tears from her face.

"What now?" She asked leaning against me to support her.

"We keep pressing forward. There will always be times of hardship, but we can't let that stop us." I kissed her head and guided her back to the car, continuing our journey forward.