Hunter: Fate & Fury

Chapter 31

I'd been standing outside the door long enough to give my anxiety full control now. I should have told Cain I needed him to come with me; no, I just shouldn't have come at all. I needed to leave and the nurse that was hovering down the hall would most likely be coming down to tell me to do that soon or be raising some kind of silent alarm that would make this whole situation a million times worse.

I should just go.

"Elle?" It was barely a word as he sighed, instantly pulling me against his chest. "This can wait. She isn't going anywhere."

The decision was made for me, for us, as the door opened. Raya faced us in her floral robe and fluffy slippers, suspicion turning to relief as she threw herself our way.

"I thought I sensed you guys nearby." she grinned, releasing the group hug before reattaching herself to me. "I was worried you wouldn't come."

Not the reaction I was expecting at all.

"I didn't know if you'd want me to," I admitted.

"What? Why?" Stepping back, she glanced between us before nodding. "Let me guess. Penny?"

"She made good points."

"No, she didn't," Cain mumbled.

"What he said, and I don't even know what she said but I can imagine. Oh, I'm so happy to see you, both of you and oh wow, look at how he's grown!" She looks at my stomach, before hugging us both again. "I'm sorry for Penny scaring you away. I'm sure she had good intentions, and I didn't know if you were here or in the other world or what's going on, but you're here. You're all okay."

For now.

Crying interrupts our moment from inside her room and her grin only widens. "Come in, come in!"

Raya disappears and I don't move until Cain gently nudges my back, leaning down to kiss my cheek and take my hand in his. "Go, it's okay."

"Just like Liv, you know when your Aunty Lise is around don't you?" Raya coos to the bundle of blankets she now holds in her arms. "Say hello, baby Brianna."

Raya wasn't glowing, she was radiating and from the covering of pink and white a tiny little round face can be seen; a thick covering of dark hair already there.

"She's so different to Olivia, mostly because she already sleeps more than she ever did!" Her hold is adjusted as the cries ease and suddenly I'm fumbling with the cocooned baby as I work out to actually hold the tiny thing.

Brianna is different to Olivia.

It took me three weeks and half the anxiety to go and meet baby Olivia. I'd never forget the way she looked at me, held my finger, or the way she angled her chin to look so damn stubborn - something she still does today. There were similarities, of course, Keiran's nose still dominated the gene pool, but while there was that determination in all that her sister did from the second she was born, Brianna looked calmer, softer. Her blinks were slow, and her yawn delicate. She gave a little wiggle, deep blue almost black eyes peeking out once, twice and then she was asleep again.

A familiar feeling of complete and utter love seemed to grow, I didn't even realise I was crying until Raya wiped my tears away with a tissue and as she sat on the bed, I moved to sit with her.

"I know we did ask Penny and Colton to be godparents, but you're already Olivias. Will you be Brianna's too?" Raya asked softly. "Liv would be lost without you, this one will be as well. I know it and I already made it clear to Penny too."

"Of course." I sniffed, and a flicker of a smile appeared then vanished on Baby Bri's face. "But, Raya. What happened, and with everything-"

"Don't Elise. Do not say you are sorry or that you can't do this. You can. You fought for my baby, you kept her safe. Life happens, our life happens, and we know that when we bring them into the world. It's what we do while they're here that matters and that's all we can do. Powers or not, you do not control the universe. Anything that goes wrong, is not your burden to carry."