You Know Me Through The Years

Reflecting

A girl. The baby was a girl. Not that Dante did not mind this, but he and Roe strongly felt that they were having a boy this time. Even when he was handed the baby fresh from Roe's womb, he was looking for those seemingly missing parts. Instead he shrugged the feeling of disappointment and surprise off to marvel at his newest child.

She was a little small being born early and all. Unlike when Mara was born, this little girl did not want to come out of her mother the traditional way. No, the main reason for the early labor was the separation of the placenta. She had to come out as soon as possible and this left Roe in unbearable pain. Seeing Roe nearly collapse as she was washing the dishes made him spring into action before he could smell the blood coming from her. Her pained cries caused more than enough panic to course through him.

"Dante!" Dante heard her yell out as she was wheeled into the operating room at the hospital clutching his hand for dear life. "If something happens, save the baby." Roe looked him in the eyes, pleading for him to listen to him.

"Roe, you're going to be fine. The baby will be fine." Dante refused to think about the possibility of losing his beloved then. He kissed her on the forehead before he had to let go of her. "I'll be right there with you in a minute."

Considering that seeing Roe's belly cut open could have caused a normal man to pass out on the floor, Dante actually found it fascinating. To be fair, he almost had to catch Mara as she was born. Almost. They barely made it to the delivery room when she decided to make her presence known. Roe was getting up out of the wheelchair when she felt the sudden urge to push. That was probably the first time Dante really did not know what to do with himself other than to be ready to catch. The nurses laughed at him for that in the end and he laughed at himself for the drama. However, Roe was unable to make it on the bed before Mara almost dropped to the ground. Luckily, the nurses were there to catch the precocious infant when she decided to be born like a giraffe. Either way, everything turned out fine. Easiest birth ever according to the doctor.

This one, not so much. Roe was still resting from her operation which consisted of a hysterectomy. The separation had caused a hemorrhage and the best course of action was to remove her reproductive organs completely. This did not bother Dante in the least as long as Roe was able to recover without problems. That was all that he really cared about. He had three children now and that was enough for him. Actually, he was pretty sure he never saw himself getting this far in life. Internal reflection said he had won the biological and romantic lottery. Points for Dante at least.

In his reflection, Dante also found he had misjudged himself over and over again. He had certainly changed over the last (he had to count with his fingers on one hand for this) decade and a half; give or take. Way back when he had gone through this broody stage before learning about Cade. Broody was probably putting it lightly because he was very self destructive then. Of course, he also had the added bonus of losing his mind over Roe and Lady keeping secrets from him for seven years. Ultimate betrayal from his two best friends...ever. Going back before that when he was an irresponsible nitwit of a teenager was even worse.

Dante had no clear direction on what he was supposed to do with his life back then. There was no one to tell him what to do or what he should do. Granted there was Trev and his father, but all those two did was give him a source of income and a hefty supply of magazines. Those were the days between mercenary jobs and dropping out of high school. He thought he was smart enough (clearly school was boring and he preferred doing other things) to have a go on his own. Chain smoking and booze were part of the worst years of his life. That brought him to thinking about his mother.

If Eva could see him now. Dante could give anything for his mother to be sitting in the chair across the room holding the baby girl in her arms. He could imagine the happy little smile on her face which by this time had smile lines that showed her age. He could also imagine her reading books to her grandchildren as they fell asleep in her lap. He could see her fussing at Nero for his smartass mouth too. Yes, he truly missed his mother. Just like that Dante knew what he wanted to name his new daughter. He was pretty sure Roe was going to approve of the name, but to be sure he was going to wait until she woke up.