Hi, everyone :) So I re-read daylighters and it got me thinking about how the Glass House gang's futures would be and I got inspired. Hope you enjoy! Sorry if the times in this story are wrong, but I figured out that since Feast Of Fools was set in October and Care Corpus (Claire's birthday) was 6th months later, that Claire's birthday was in April. So Claire would be turning 19 in April 2014.
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Title:
Smiling
Time:
November 2014
POV:
Shane
The second that I heard our daughters tiny, innocent cries, I swear that my heart stopped. She was so small and perfect; 10 fingers, 10 toes. The doctor passed her to Claire and I saw tears well up in her eyes as she held our baby in her arms.
Our baby.
That was the strangest sentence I'd ever heard, yet it was filled with some much joy and love that I'd ever felt.
Claire looks up at me and I've never seen her so happy. Pure love radiates from her pores, and if she was glowing when she was pregnant, she was practically the sun now. Even covered in sweat and blood, she's never looked so beautiful.
"Does she have a name?" I hear the doctor ask us and both of ours heads snap up. We hadn't discussed this, but we both knew. Claire nodded at me.
"Carrie Alyssa Collins" I choke out.
The doctor smiles approvingly, "Pretty... I'll give you three a minute"
She walks out, leaving Claire, Carrie and I alone. I almost choke at thought. There wasn't two of us any more, there was three. Three.
My arms begin to ache for the baby. I need to hold her. Claire picks up on this and holds Carrie out towards me. I place my hands under Carrie's body and gently lift her up towards me. She's quieted down now, no longer screaming her head off. I notice that she's staring right at me. Not through me, like some babies. Right at me, almost as if she's paying attention to who I am.
"Hi Carrie," I whisper.
She squirms a little, like she's trying to reply. I look down at her, taking in everything about her. She has thick light brown hair, like mine and Claire's brown eyes. She's red like every other newborn, but I can tell that she has my skin tone. She has a perfect little nose and a typical, round baby face. She's the perfect combination of Claire and I, but she's neither of us at the same time. She's her own little person.
Even in a happy moment like this, there's still a burning fire inside of me. I will protect her. Sure, after the whole daylighters thing, the vamps have calmed down, but there is still no way to be sure that they're entirely safe. Especially with Claire and I's reputation, she's at more a risk. Amelie's promised protection for Carrie, but I still feel the need to give her something extra.
Carrie will not be hurt by the vampires, she won't feel the pain I felt growing up; having my family torn apart by blood and alcohol. She won't be forced too grow up too soon like Alyssa and I were, she won't have her heart broken by death of loved ones. I'll make sure of it.
"Thank you," I whisper to Claire.
"What for?" She asks.
"Giving me her"
Claire laughs a little her, the noise making my steel heart flutter, "She's half yours, too. Without you, we wouldn't have her."
I smile and look down at Carrie settling down in my arms. She's struggling to keep her eyes open as she snuggles into the crook of my elbow, "I know but you did all the work."
That's true. Without Claire, there would be no chance of Carrie existing. She was Carrie's home, food and breathing for 9 months. She was the one suffering from morning sickness, back pain and mood swings, not me. She was the one who just sat through 12 hours of labour, just for our little girl. There's nothing I could ever do for Carrie that would compare with that.
With Carrie asleep in my arms, I look over at Claire. She's also getting tired, I can tell it in her eyes.
"You can go to sleep if you want" I mumble, "We'll be right here when you wake up."
"I hope Carrie likes being an only child because I am never doing that again." She mumbles.
Claire lies down on the bed, without closing her eyes. She stares right at Carrie and I, smiling.
