Butterfly and Flame - Alina and Evan

"you can hate me later"

11 months later...

"Well?..." Evan's voice was low as he looked at her face. He was trying to hide his worry but she could see through his efforts as he tried to be of comfort. "She's sleeping. I'm sure it's the medications that take over. The doctor said as long as she is comfortable and eating well .... there is nothing  more needed". He looked tired so she walked up closer to him sliding her arms around him and moving as close as she could. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head while his hands caressed her back slowly up and down. "Evan...you know I've been thinking about taking up the board at the hospital. I think I'm ready. I need a distraction and ...They want me to chair the annual fundraiser, and they want to honor grand. I've spoken with her and she has agreed as long as they name the new wing in honor of her sister. My aunt who brought me to live with my parents. It's her way of making amends. It will make her happy and I'm happy to make her happy. What do you think?" His hold on her tightened a bit more as he looked at her upturned face that right now was free of sadness and pain. His response came in a slow and hushed "whatever makes you happy".

Ashely pulled the soft wrap a little tighter around her shoulders and smiled softly as she watched her great grandson play in the backyard with his father. Christian was so like her son that seeing him now with his own son softened the pain of the loss of her beloved boy. He had managed to give her so much in the form of Evan and Christian. So much that she still couldn't find a way to deserve. She thanked God and asked him for a little more time. Just enough to see her grandsons fully settled in their lives, with their wives and children. Alina had shared her fear of not having children but the young woman was not to be deterred from being a mother. She and Evan had agreed to give it time before they tired again. It was a possibility that it was Dr meant to be for them, and if they couldn't conceive again... they would adopt. As a child of adoption herself and Evan's own upbringing Alina felt sure that they could love any child that they might be blessed to have as their own. There was a time where she might have turned over every rock and flown in the best doctor to see to Alina's worries but that was the old Ashley. This Ashley would stand aside and allow them their own story to write. Someone tried to write her story once and it had changed the course of her life. Whether it was fate or destiny it no longer mattered. Her life was full and happy. She only prayed for blessings upon her family. All of her family. She looked up and cleared her mind as Elliot made his way over to her. "My dear are you warm enough?" His kind eyes always making sure to read what lay beneath the surface of her own. She reached her hand up to him and he took it happily kissing the inside of her palm and holding it with both his own hands. Life had given her back the love of her life and she was grateful. More grateful than she could ever express.

Evan held Alina close as they breathed heavily after having loved each other with a passion so deep and so strong it always transported him outside of himself. Soon her even breathing told him she had fallen asleep and he held her close pulling her soft and warm body into his own, wrapping his arms around her waist and nestling his face into the back of her neck. His hand rested across her flat belly and he felt it burn heavily, as if in someway he could comfort her.. by pure touch alone. "I love you Alina, you are all I will ever need". He let his eyes close as he breathed in the scent of her, drifting away into dreams of a future he once thought he would never have.

She looked at the glow of her phone on the charger as she slipped out of the bed and walked quickly to the bathroom. Her stomach lurched as she hurried her steps and her mouth filled with saliva, just barely making it to the bowl before she committed out the contents of her dinner. She heaved twice more and flushed the toilet shakily, and sank down on the cold tile, holding herself as tears streamed down her face. A wave of dizziness overcame her as she gripped the edge of the countertop to ease herself up. She was trembling, and the cold of the floor only heightened her sense of unease. She felt clammy and weak. Another wave of dizziness and nausea hit her as she tried to rise from the floor. She held on and then pushed up to stand. Something wasn't right. Memories of her loss slammed into her brain and she soon felt heavy. A pair of warm hands were embracing her, and a voice she knew so well called out to her, and then there was only black.