Dear Aurora,

I do not know where I should begin a letter that you will only ever read when I and your father are gone.  A part of me wants to leave behind wisdom for you to use in building a good life.

"Mom!"  Aurora called out loudly.  "MOM WHERE'S MY BRUSH?!?"

Bella set aside her pen, putting a hand on her stomach, she pushed down a mouthful of saliva before calling back across the apartment,  "The kitchen counter.  You were brushing your hair before bed.  Check near the toaster."

But I know we've already taught you all the things you need to know for that - honesty, loyalty, and most of all... love.  That you should give none of these easily, but when you commit to it, that you do so reckless and completely.  

"The list of reported deaths from the conflict?  Do you have it for Tara?  I can run it by before school."  Linval put his head into Bella's office.  She pulled her robe closed instinctively at the interruption.  Again, her hand gripping her stomach.

"Yeah."  Bella shuffled things around she found the list of names.  She glanced at it again and frowned at Dominic.

"You okay?"

She forced a smile and handed him the paper.  "Just still processing it.  This much death never sits well with me.  Is Gavin awake yet?"

"I heard him rustling around in your room... but with how late he came in last night, none of us expect him up until afternoon sometime."

She nodded her agreement and picked up her pen, letting Linval disappear with his delivery for the Godmother.

Another part of me wants to try and console you and tell you not to cry for your Father and I... but having lost many people in my life, I know how futile such talk is.  Cry, darling.  In fact, whether alone or with someone else, please cry.  Tears are a physical measure of love and denying your pain is a denial of love and I know you loved us as we loved you.  You don't have to be brave or strong for anyone when it comes to something like this ... your father taught me that, and he's right.  

Bella picked up her glass of water and sipped it, making a face as she swallowed.  An instant later she got up out of her chair and began her way towards the bathroom.  

Talk of our lives and the happy times.  When everyone wants to talk about how sad it is we're gone, or worse not talk about us at all, you talk about whatever you wish.  Share funny stories about us, talk about our favorite things, and make sure we're not remembered for how we died... but how we lived.

"Mom, can you help me tie my shoe?"  Aurora called out as she passed the little girl's bedroom in a rush.

Because there is a truth about death that few really consider and it's this:  Death is not painful for the dead.  Death is painful for those who remain behind.  You father and I have only ever wanted one thing in this life... and we got it.  Mission accomplished.  No regrets.  When we leave you behind, we begin a new adventure together and God willing your father is wrong just this once... because I choose to believe we'll be reunited again one day far away from this petty, dirty, evil world. 

Bella fell to her knees, pulling her hair away from her face and began to vomit into the toilet so violently that her eyes bulged and her face turned red.  Sweat beaded on her face as she emptied her stomach and kept trying to exude more.

Aurora stepped into the doorway of the bathroom, worry lining her young face.  "Mom?"

But Bella could not reply.

I know, it's like believing in Santa, but sometimes belief is its own joy and there is comfort in ritual and stories.  If it brings you a smile to think of your father and I picnicking together forever in a beautiful wheat field on a sunny summer day - so be it.  I hope we've raised a young woman who is strong enough to make her own truths in this world regardless of what her father and mother believed.  It was never our intention to make you into one or the other of us... but into a woman who could stand on her own and be herself in a world so full of conformity and casual excuses to be less than true to yourself.

"DAD!  DAD!"  Aurora's feet thundered through the kitchen, dining room, and across the living room toward Gavin and Bella's bedroom door.  Just as she was about to reach it, a half-dressed Gavin opened the door.

Before Gavin could ask, Aurora shouted at him with fear in her voice, "SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH MOM!"

If your father is the wolf and I the dragon... then you are the lioness we saw at the zoo, do you remember?  She was so strong and fast... powerful.  She was able to hunt, kill, but also care for her family - and most of all herself.  

The two of them raced towards the bathroom where Bella was curled around the toilet, hair pulled to the side, struggling to catch her breath.  One hand balancing herself, the other draped around the small swell in her lower abdomen... those extra ten pounds everyone thought she'd gained from indulging too much on their cruise and trip across Sicily.

And you can.  You're going to be okay.  I know because I've been where you are and the sun comes up tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after.  And if you find yourself asking what the point is of going on (and I pray you don't), but if you do... know this, the worst ends are often the best beginnings.  It was only after death darkened my door, and I lost love, that I found my best adventure and true happiness.  

Bella looked up to meet Gavin's eyes.

"You need a doctor?"  He asked. 

Aurora peaked around his leg.

Your father.  You.

Hand trembling as she lifted it from her belly to wipe her lips, she whispered, "I'm late."

"You're late?"

She nodded.

"You mean... ?"

Despite her discomfort, she couldn't help but smile as she nodded again.

And now your little brother or sister.  I would have missed all of this, the best years of my life if I had chosen to believe the lie that life ends with death and loss.  All of our lives are connected Aurora and in time you will see the lines, the stories that weave us together in a beautiful pattern that continues on without end.  Today is a dark day, but they won't all be this dark.  The darkness is here only to contrast the light, of which my & your father's lives were filled with.  This is but a moment in your story, a sad note in a symphony that you have yet to hear.  And if you keep dancing in spite of it, then your father and I have successfully completed our most important mission in life.  

Gavin was on the bathroom floor a moment later. 

"NO! NO!  NO!"  Bella shoo'd him away, feeling disgusting in her current state, but he kissed her brow anyway before turning to pick up Aurora who was overwhelmed with confusion.

"Dad?"  She asked.  "What's going on?"

She squealed as Gavin lifted her into the air.  He covered his little girl with kisses and then dropped her down to the floor and mercilessly tickled her. 

Bella watching from her place the floor.  

"I'm taking you to school, Squirt!  Then I'm taking your mom to see a doctor.  We'll make sure she's okay... go on now, get ready!"  

Aurora ran from his tickles and sprinting back to her room to finish getting ready.

You may be many things by the time you read this letter.  Maybe have a successful business career like Aunt Tara, or work with your hands like your father... maybe you'll go to a fancy school or embrace dancing; but no matter what you choose to be - you will always be our daughter.  

Gavin looked back into the bathroom where Bella was picking herself up.

"This is happening,"  Gavin said as if reassuring himself.

"It's early yet.  A lot could happen."  She confessed the grim truth she'd heard other wives and mothers say before.

"This is happening,"  Gavin said smiling, this time with confidence meant to reassure her.

She couldn't help but smile.  "I would seem so."

"DAD!?!?"  Aurora called out from across the apartment.  "I NEED HELP WITH MY SHOELACES!"

"I'm gonna shower."  Bella said walking over to the door.  Gavin's response was a wolfish smirk.

"DAD!?!"  Aurora screeched

"You're being summoned,"  Bella smirked back and shut the door.  In the hallway, she could hear Gavin give a cheer and then call back to Aurora that he was coming to help.

Live a happy life and know that we love you now and forever.   No matter how our story ended, it was better because of you.  Please know that it wasn't any Godfather or Don who gave me the only title in life that ever meant a damn to me.  It was you.  And for that, I am eternally grateful.  

-Bella Byrne
Mom.  

Gavin blinked wearily as he shrugged on his coat and walked into the chilled night. As he walked for a few minutes with nothing to do but watch his breath in the air and listen to his footfalls, he eventually reached his destination. 

A quick glance around showed no watchers; who else would be outside at this time of night, especially in this weather?

Slipping around the alley, he deftly picked the lock on the side door and made his way inside. Moving back to the freezer, he grabbed a carton of vanilla ice cream and turned to make his way back to his wife and daughter.

Bella frowned at the MOUNTAIN of paperwork on her desk which Tara had sent over for her.  She had NEVER had so much paperwork before now... but the moment her Sister found out she was carrying Gavin's child the pile only grew, and grew, and grew until it was all she was doing anymore.  

Walking in she shut the door and noticed a small note from Gavin taped to the light switch where she wouldn't miss it.

Doc says more iron.  Tara says spinach has iron.  Got you salad from the restaurant you like downtown.  In the fridge.  I'll call later.

Bella sighed.  She tore down the note and flipped on the lights.  No point in dragging her feet.  The work needed doing and she was the only one who could.  If this was what legit work life looked like, she was beginning to see why so many 9-5 lifers were assholes to their wives.

She sat down, only to unexpectedly bump her shin on ... a footstool?

Another note in Gavin's chicken scratch.

Doc says feet up.  Relax!  We can handle things.

Bella scowled.  OF COURSE, they could handle things!  THEY got to do everything fun these days while she was stuck counting beans.

It's not fair!  

Tears welled up in her eyes.  This only made her angrier.  Marie had said NOTHING about the constant roller coaster of emotions that snuck up on you during this shit!

She dropped her purse violently to the floor and wiped her tears as she put her feet onto the stool and threw open her first manilla folder to find a photo on top of the expense reports for this month. 

It wasn't numbers that she first saw, but a crayon drawing with her daughter's name signed to it.  Four stick figures with names above them - 'Mom'  'Dad'   'Me'   'Baby'  a big yellow sun was high above them and flowers of every hue were drawn all around the ground.  Through the paper, she could see Gavin's handwriting on the back.  

This is why.

Bella scrubbed the tear away from her eyes.  Small surprises like this had appeared more and more since she'd first learned she was pregnant.  They had increased in frequency and extravagance in proportion to her increasing frustrations with the need to give up the things which brought her joy.  But this simple one... it struck home far better than the fur coat, the new pearls or the expensive car she'd come home yesterday to find parking out front of the loft.

Bella picked up her phone.  "April come in here."

Quickly she penned a note.

When April entered, Bella handed her the crayon picture.  "Find a frame for this and get it hung on my wall over there across my from my desk, would you?  And please send have this sent over to Gavin via his Sister's office."

April looked at the crayon art and smiled.  It would be the first personal thing Bella dared to put in her office and it was a far louder statement of change in her life than anything else save her swelling belly thus far.  Apparently, this wasn't lost on her secretary who smiled from ear to ear.  "Of course, Mrs. Byrne, right away."

The note to Gavin read:

She captures us perfectly.

As the office door closed, Bella put to the place her child's bottom or head was protruding against her skin and she rubbed.  "Not much longer now, Peanut."  She said softly.  "Then it'll be the four of us."

+++

Hours passed.  Though the morning the baby kicked up a storm, and Bella found herself glad for the stool despite hating the thing at first.  Lunch was... tolerable, but she was dying for a good steak and not leafy greens.  Far worse was the gas she had come two o'clock.  Her iron might be doing well from all the vegetables but her guts were not.  

Bella put aside the profit loss statements and leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes.  She was exhausted.  Of course, that's when her door came open without a knock.  There was only one person in all the world who would dare do that so she knew instantly she didn't need to open her eyes.  Instead, she smiled for her husband. 

"You said you'd call."

"Well, I was in the neighborhood so I figured I'd just pop in."  Tara's voice, not Gavin's.

Bella's eyes flew open.

"Godmother."  Bella sat up, panicked that now Tara and Gavin would coddle her even more.  "I wasn't sleeping... I was just..."

"Relax Bella.  You're doing fine.  More than fine.  I didn't come by to read you the riot act."

"Well... what's up?"  Bella took a drink of the water on her desk.

"Let's go for a drive."  Tara said with a smile.

+++

They hadn't driven out of Philly, but somehow they were surrounded by trees.  A small forest still inside the city proper.  It was a pretty area and with the leaves just starting to turn it looked more like the image off a postcard than reality.  Tara's car turned down a long drive, through a gate that bore a small ornate sign which read 'Hollowood Estate'  

Bella looked at Tara and arched an eyebrow.  "You finally took my advice?  You bought a home."

"I did.  A very expensive one... worthy of what this family has become."  She said with a smile.  "You're going to love it."

Tara's car came up alongside several others.  Neil and Linval were here.  Gavin too.  The moment the car was parked Aurora was rushing for the car.  "MOM WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE THIS PLACE!"

Gavin appeared just behind Aurora, he wore a genuine smile - though his eyes appeared a touch sad.  Bella felt Aurora's arms go around her belly and hug it tight.  She put her hand on Aurora's head.  

"Well, show your mom around, Kiddo."  Tara said to Aurora.

Bella smiled at her boss and let her daughter lead her inside, pausing only a second to give Gavin a kiss on his cheek.  "You okay?"  She asked him quickly to which he only nodded and then he began to walk to Tara.

Bella went on a whirlwind tour of the buildings and grounds.  

It was like something out of a storybook.  This miniature estate was hidden away on Chestnut Hill.  Three buildings nestled away on a hillside, a babbling brook, an enchanting garden of wildflowers - even the white stars from Canada which had been at her wedding!  A guest house and carriage house for bodyguards and staff, a massive main house all of which were made of stone and featured custom wood, tile, and iron working. Tara hadn't bought a home ... she'd bought fairytale.  It was exactly the sort of magic she'd told the woman years ago she needed to fill her life with and when Aurora finally lead her back to her Aunt and Father on the back veranda, delight was pouring out of Bella's every pore.

"Tara... it's perfect."

"You think so?"  She said, for the first time in her life wearing a smirk like her brother often wore.

"Dad!  Dad!  There's a turtle by the water!"  Aurora shouted back to the adults on the veranda, bending over to look at it closer.

"I... do?"  She said carefully wondering what she'd missed.

Tara pulled the keys from her pocket and offered them to Bella.  "Then it's yours."

Bella looked to Gavin who was smiling but still had that caul of sadness on him.  "You knew?"

He nodded.  "Today."  She could hear the sadness in his voice now.  "I should go make sure it's not a snapper."  Gavin began to walk across the yard quickly towards his daughter who was now touching the back of the large turtle.

"What's happened?"  She asked with worry.  

Tara put a hand on her shoulder.  "I didn't want to get your blood pressure up until I knew for sure what I was doing, but of everyone... I think you'll understand the best.  Let's sit down."

And with that, the sisters sat and Tara began to explain her plans for the future of her and her family.  A picture that involved all the things she'd ever wanted to do in life... and ensuring there was the security that Bella and Gavin so craved for their children, no matter what happened next in the world of the Cosa Nostra.

As usual... Tara had thought of everything.

As the two women clung to each other, crying, Bella knew she was going to miss her horribly.

Gavin enjoyed the fresh air as he walked toward Aurora's school to pick her up. Bella had been understandably demanding lately, and Gavin knew how caged up she felt with the many restrictions on her. His mind was constantly on Aurora and Bella, trying to think of what else he could do for them. It was tiring, but rewarding. And he had to admit that he was both excited and nervous about-

He watched the sedan drive by out of the corner of his eye and, as his peripheral vision caught sight of the girl sitting in the backseat, his body had already kicked into a sprint.

Aurora.

His heart stopped and he stumbled slightly before baring his teeth and sprinting.

The car was heading in the opposite direction, about to turn right. Gavin's hand had started moving toward his gun... but he couldn't risk hitting his daughter. As the car turned and began to accelerate, Gavin dipped low to the ground as he ran, coming up with his knife in his right hand. Throwing himself in the air, he plunged the knife through the roof of the car and held on as he felt the car lurch forward and accelerate. He hung on for two blocks before the driver panicked and slammed on the brakes, sending him flying forward in front of the car. He rolled, feeling something in his shoulder twinge, but he came up smoothly with his gun pointed at the driver.... who was a terrified looking middle aged woman?

Gavin frowned, walking toward the car. Peering in the backseat, he noticed a terrified looking six year old girl... who looked vaguely like Aurora, but most certainly wasn't her.

Oh. 

Shit.

Gavin sheepishly tapped the driver's side window with the barrel of his gun as he reached for his wallet.

"So. Thought you were kidnapping my daughter... my bad. Here's a thousand bucks. Fix your car. Buy something nice. Keep this to yourself?"

The woman took the money and nodded with wide eyes.

"Uh... maybe buy something nice for your kid, too."

Like therapy.

Holstering his gun, Gavin started walking slowly back toward the school.

Gavin sat up.

The heavy quilt fell away from his body.  He looked over to Bella's side of the bed.

"You okay?"  He whispered.

Bella didn't respond.

He was sure she'd made a noise, and yet, she was silent and still now.  She lay on her left side, her swollen breasts rising and falling with the slow breath of deep sleep.      

He watched her for a while.  She was snuggled deep down under the blankets, hiding from the winter chill.  He dared not wake her.  She'd been having such a hard time getting restful sleep at this late stage of the pregnancy.  The baby hadn't been moving a lot anymore, but the position it was laying, she was waking three and four times a night just to go to the restroom.  That was to say nothing of her swollen ankles, the pain in her legs, back, shoulders and just about every other part of her body day in and out. 

Gavin slipped out of his side of the bed and walked over to the fireplace.  As quietly as possible he put another log down, the red-gold sparks floated upward and the scent of burning cedar filled his nose.  Cedar burnt longer than pine and the evergreens that were so plentiful in New Foundland and so the hardwoods were preferable and sought out during the long winter months when you needed a fire to keep going all night if you didn't want to wake up half-frozen to death.  

He warmed himself and stared into the coals for a long moment, letting his mind wander.  Distantly he could hear a radio playing Christmas carols.  Bella had started leaving it on for Aurora, whose room was further away from theirs than it used to be.  It comforted her, a girl who had never slept anywhere but inside the noisy city. 

Bella gave another breathy protest, nearly a moan.  Gavin looked back towards her.  She was stretched out to an almost comical size compared to the proportions of her lithe athletic form.  The doctors were already anticipating the baby would be very large.  And yet, in moments like this, it was hard not to see her as more beautiful than ever.

While the early pregnancy hadn't been easy, in the last month something had changed.  Bella had stopped going to her office entirely.  She'd begun singing to herself, cleaning, and focusing on getting the nursery ready.  Gavin smiled as he realized that it wasn't too dissimilar to the way mother animals built nests for their children in the wild.

As he continued to look at her, this time, he actually saw her moan.  He realized that it was, in fact, a moan because of the brief a mask of discomfort that her face was contorted into.  Rising from his crouched down position smooth, Gavin crossed the room in just a few long strides. 

"Bella..."  He said softly.  She didn't immediately reply.  "Isabella?"

The oddity of hearing Gavin say her actual name must have worked because her brown eyes fluttered open and she smiled sleepily up at him.

"You okay?"  He asked.

Bella's smile faded.  She sighed, looking annoyed.  "I think I've wet the bed."

Gavin chuckled.  "I'll get some towels."

"I'm sorry."  She said as he left the room.

He called back from the ensuite where he grabbed a small stack of towels, "At least the discomfort of sleeping in a wet spot explains your moaning."  And turned to come back into the room.  "I was worried something was wrong." 

Bella was standing up.  She had a wide-eyed look on her face as she stood still as a stone, eyes fixed on him.  Instantly Gavin knew something wasn't right.  Instinctively he looked down to where her hands were holding her belly, and he could see by the dim light spilling out from the bathroom behind him, that a large puddle was forming all about Bella's feet.

"Gavin..."  She said with a nervous smile, visibly shivering.

"I'll get your coat,"  He went for his shoes, not bothering with his socks.

"Gavin?"

"We'll leave Aurora with the guys.  I can drive."  He pulled a shirt off a hanger and threw it over his head.

"Gavin!"  Her voice was firm but he could hear the growing fear as she began to squat down.

It hit him then.  She was trying to have this baby right in the middle of their bedroom.

"Just keep your legs together.  I'll carry you."  He came rushing to her side.

She spoke through gritted teeth, "I don't think... it works that way."

Gavin looked back to the door as he heard heavy footfalls.  Neil was on duty tonight.  The man's facial expression was a mirror of what Gavin was feeling inside.  Excitement.  Worry.  Gavin realized then if only for everyone else, he had to be the one to keep his shit together. 

"Wake up Stella.  Then wake Aurora and take her out to the carriage house.  Let her sit with you and the guys.  Go!"

As Bella's lead bodyguard and oldest living friend raced off to the guest house to wake Stella, Gavin put his arms around his wife.  Bella had stopped moaning and was now panting softly.   

"You should probably lay down."  Before she could protest he said simply, "We'll buy a new bed."    

Bella nodded to her husband's advice and with his help rose slowly to her feet and moved back into the bed.  Minutes passed and downstairs Gavin could hear a commotion.  Voices.  Most of them easily recognizable as staff and Stella's man, Paul.  Aurora making a fuss too - clearly not wanting to do as she was being told by staff.  Gavin thought briefly about going to his daughter, but then he looked at Bella.

She was focused, clearly getting a moment of reprieve from the pain that had brought her to her knees a moment ago... but she was also afraid.  A rare enough thing to see on his wife's face.  And so he sat down on the edge of the bed and took her hand in his own.

"Do you remember what I told you in Chicago?"  He squeezed her hand gently.  Bella's focused stare rose to met his own.  "You're a fucking dragon.  This is your big moment.  This is what we've be waiting for.  Women do this all the time.  And... I'm not going anywhere.  I'll be right here."

Her brown eyes softened an instant.  She even managed another nervous smile before the pains seemed to return.

It was then, finally, he began to hear Stella's distinctive approach up the stairs - though with no thumping of her cane.  She was coming as fast as he'd heard her move since she'd been shot, calling out before she reached the room, "Gavin?"

"The bedroom!"  He called back and just a heartbeat later, Bella was letting out a moan that could have woke the dead.

"Alright, finally some excitement in this town!"  She said far more cheerfully than anyone had a right to be at 3:31am.  Observant, Stella immediately noted the puddle of waters on the floor and Bella finishing her most recent contraction.  Paul appeared at the top of the stairs behind her, carrying her forgotten cane.

She looked over her shoulder and said, "Paul... we need a bowl of hot water, towels, scissors, and some thread."

Paul nodded and went to work tracking down his boss' list. 

"You've done this before?"  Gavin said hopeful.

"I've been present for foalings.  Mammals are all the same really.  Mom does the hard part.  We catch the baby.  We get it breathing and crying.  Tie off the cord, cut it close to mom.  Wait for the after birth.  Anything unexpected... we call a vet.  Or, an ambulance in this case."  She said with a reassuring smile for her friend who she noted was remarkably calm considering.

Bella chuckled.  "The closest thing I ever came to this... was a cat I found with kittens, back in Brooklyn as a kid."  She managed a laugh.  "And that was only after the fact."

"Well, don't worry, you won't have to lick yours clean."  Stella joked.  "Gavin and I will take care of that.  Right now... you just try to rest between the contractions and everything else, we'll handle.  Okay?"

Bella nodded and squeezed Gavin's hand.

Stella moved to the foot of the bed and pulled back the blanket.  "Let's help her out of these."  

Gavin went to work helping Bella lift her bottom briefly.  This caused her to cry out and Gavin to hesitate only a heartbeat, but Stella moved fast tearing away the other woman's panties.  "Oh..."  Stella said looking between Bella's legs.  "Shit."

"What?"  Gavin asked, looking.

"PAUL!  I'M GOING TO NEED YOU TO HURRY UP!"

"Is that ..." Gavin's eyes were wide.

"The head.  Hair.  Gobs of it."

Bella laughed at Stella's words, tears were in her eyes.  

Stella looked over the blanket now laying across Bella's upraised knees.  "Thick black hair... Carmella was right.  All your heartburn meant lots of hair!"

Gavin smiled back at Bella.

"This is good.  Means this little one is pointed in the right direction.  Head comes first in people."  She patted Bella's leg.  "You're doing good down there mom."

As the next contraction started Gavin returned to his wife's side, holding her hand and brushing the hair from her face.  Stella, watched the business end of things and smiled as the contraction abated.  Looking around Bella's upraised legs she told Gavin, "Another couple like that and you're gonna be the father of two.  Bella, you're doing beautiful.  This kid is in a big hurry to meet us."

"Names..."  Bella panted.

"We can talk about that after."  Gavin said squeezing his wife's hand.

"Please.  Need to not think ... about how much... this hurts."

Gavin steadied himself.  "Alright.  Whatcha thinking?"

"Haven't found... the right time to ask... but if it's a girl... I'd like to name her for our mothers.  Yours the first name, mine the middle."  She squeezed Gavin's hand fiercely as the pains came on again.  This time her groan evolved from something like a guttural grunt to an actual scream by the end of it.

"PAUL!!!"  Stella called out.  "I've got the head.  Gavin, she's pushed out the baby's head."

Bella panted, sweat pouring down her face and tears ran like rivers from her eyes as she found words again, "William... Jackson... Byrne."  

Gavin hadn't yet said a word when Paul came into the room with a bowl of water.  "I'll be back with the rest."

"Gav-"

"Our mothers or Will and Jack."  He said with a smile.

"Yeah."  She said.  "Who better to be our baby's guardian angels?"

Gavin took her hand to his lips and kissed it.  She knew he didn't believe in God or Angels, but at the moment, none of that mattered right now.  The names honored good people and that was good enough for him.  "Alright."  He agreed.  "Good names."

"Bella,"  Stella spoke up.  "The shoulders will come next.  They're wide so you're gonna have to work for this one I think."

Bella wet her dried lips again and nodded.

"Good news is,"  Stella continued to speak to Gavin, "Once the past that the rest should come pretty quick I think."

Gavin looked back to Stella, clearly measuring the status of the situation he couldn't really see, by the expression on his friend's face.

Stella smiled at him and gave him a nod in response to his unspoken question.

Reassured Gavin turned back to Bella and their eyes met.  He could see her determination wavering as the next wave of pain began.  Gavin rubbed her hand with his thumb, leaned towards her, smirked, and whispered confidently,  "Rawr."

Bella smiled as the contraction began, clinging fast to Gavin's hand.  As it continued, Bella found herself rising up from the bed, bending towards her upraised knees.  Her face red, and brow furrowed, the was no other word for what she was enduring than agonizing pain.  When her screaming ended, Bella collapsed to the bed, gasping.  Stella, on the other hand, was moving - fast.  

Paul entered the room behind her with the last of Stella's requested items.  

Gavin turned his head, trying to see past Bella's knees but all he could see was Stella's face, the absolute focus there and a soft wet slapping noise.

An instant before Gavin was about to ask, a baby's wails answered the question.  Immediately Bella's brown eyes were open and she took her hand back from Gavin. 

"The baby?" Bella asked seeming to reach for the child she could not see.

The second he was free, Gavin stood up and turned to look at what Stella had been doing.  And there he was, William Jackson Byrne.  Wrinkled and wet, tiny, defenseless and squealing for warmth.  Why, even the pet squirrel Bella had once gotten him to care for looked stronger than the little thing under Stella's hands!  Didn't the doctors think he was going to be large?  He wasn't large at all!

Stella cut and tied off the baby's cord with a smile pasted on her lips that never wavered.  

"It's a boy,"  Stella said to Bella.  She looked to Gavin,  "You have a son!"

Quickly Stella wiped him down and then wrapped him in a towel before passing him into his father's arms to take to Bella.  Gavin came down beside is his wife - handling the boy as if he were the most priceless treasure in all the known world and ten times as breakable.  If he had thought Aurora had been small, William seemed unreal by comparison.  

Bella reached for her son and pulled him tight to her breasts fearlessly, crying not from pain but joy now as she looked at Will's thick black hair and bright blue eyes that seemed to be taking in everything of the world around him.  Bella kissed his brow over and over, looking up to Gavin with a smile.  

Gavin kissed his wife's cheek. 

"God help us..."  she said with a chuckle, her eyes never coming off of Will for even an instant - utterly and irrevocably in love with the small person wrapped in her arms. 

"We have a son."  She said, as if only just now considering what they and the rest of the world were in for, now that she and Gavin Byrne had brought not just a baby into the world ... but a son.

"We have a son."  

Gavin looked down at the tiny baby in Bella's arms; he was struck by the size... Aurora was still a baby when they'd adopted her... but she wasn't that little.

Feeling intimations of being overwhelmed by the task in front of him, Gavin pushed his concerns from his mind and focused on the moment. 

After everything else he'd been through, he'd just have to trust that he could handle this as well.

Gavin's arms outstretched before him, as far away from his face as possible, he moved quickly across the room.

"Bella!"  He called out, urgency in his tone, as his hands worked quickly.

"ON IT!"  Her voice came from the next room.  She came running, tossing a small box to her husband.  Lashing a hand out he grabbed it from the air with a truly masterful level skill granted to him from years of training and working in dangerous situations. 

As Gavin turned his head back to the matter at hand, Bella watched a sort of grim determination, confusion, and disgust playing on his face.  "I've never seen anything like it."  

She came up alongside him, thinking she was prepared for anything. 

She was wrong. 

Dead wrong. 

Aurora came into the room, Bella backed away gagging.

"WOW!"  Aurora said standing on tip-toes to see her little brother's latest 'gift.'

"Excuse me..."  Bella ran from the room trying not to be ill.

"Ick!"  She said.  Gavin looked down at Aurora who was now looking up to him.  "Can we just give him back and get a girl instead?"

Gavin was used to operating on little sleep: wars, rogues, and more mundane chaos had often left him wearier than he'd thought possible. And so when Will hit a point where he steadfastly refused to sleep, Gavin sent his wife to bed and stayed up with the baby. Gavin had never been much of a singer. Or a talker, for that matter. But the baby seemed to stop crying whenever Gavin's low voice was rumbling, and so he just started telling stories. Stories about Bella. Tara. Their childhood. Jamaica. Montreal. Paris. Sicily. A thousand Philadelphia stories.

When Will had finally fallen asleep, Gavin placed him into the crib with all the care of a man cracking a safe. Silently exiting the room, he blinked at the grey light of the morning. 

Oh... shit. 

Removing his shirt and socks, Gavin slid into bed next to his wife. Within a minute, he was snoring lightly.

Bella woke up beside Gavin, rested and listening to William babbling in his room across the hall.  He was in good spirits for a child that was probably due for a change and so she laid there a while longer thinking about her life with Gavin and the children and how blessed she really was.  

For all the insanity that had come before... the wars, the rogues, the deaths of those she loved, the people returning from the grave, the titles gained and lost; it had all gone better than her predecessors.  No one in her bloodline had ever had so long or successful of a run.  There had even been rumors about her being a Godmother - not once but twice - and yet she was still here.  Just where she wanted to be.

Had that been the secret to it her success?  Where Lucy had done all she could to keep kicking at, some would say, the cost of integrity and Frankie had been said to climb ladders and planned to put knives in backs, all she'd ever wanted and focused upon was her life in the streets.  She'd not cared, for the most part, how the cards had fallen.  Whether she'd been a wise guy or a Don, she'd only ever wanted to do right by her Family and her family.  She'd lived as true to herself as she could and in doing so made a name that would be remembered.

Lucy had once said that she believed the success of a woman in this thing of ours wasn't measured in titles or money, but in the number of people who came to remember you at your funeral.  She couldn't really know if those who attended hers would exceed Lucy's... she'd had a line out the door and down the block by all stories.  But, Bella knew she'd outlived most of the people who loved her and in some ways, she now empathized with Jack.  It was hard to think about all the people who had been and gone.  It was hard to think about what tomorrow looks like when the path behind you is paved in golden light... and the smiles of so many who made life worth living.

Bella had come to the Cosa Nostra looking for a family.  She thought she might find that with her father.  After taking the long road, she'd found it.  Gavin.  The kids.  Tara.  William.  Stella.  Louis.  Race Street.  The Ivory Tower.  The Luciano Crime Family.  The Lucania Crime Family.  Her dad.  Her mom.

Tracing her fingers on her husband's beautiful scars she smiled as he opened his eyes and looked at her.

"This is what happily ever after looks like."  She whispered to him. 

With that, she curled into his arms one more time and closed her eyes to dream.  Content and grateful.

There was movement in the streets of Philadelphia- movement that was evidence of chaotic and persistent life. Downtrodden men and women shuffled along in the grey of the morning, either on their way to jobs or desperately seeking them. The street urchins of Philadelphia, like their brethren all around the world, were always on the move to one place or another.

In the massive sea of humanity that lurched through the streets, there were two exceptions: a man and a woman waited motionless, watching the crowd that washed through the streets near the docks. They both leaned against the fence, and the dinginess of their surroundings contrasted starkly with their evident wealth. The woman glanced at the ship behind her, while the man smirk.

She was tall, and her heels made her taller. The sleek black coat covered most of her, but her eyes were keen and she still glanced curiously around her. Those who had known Tara Byrne would have been shocked at the change in her expression. The seriousness and the weariness, earned from too many long nights sleeping at her desk, were gone. She seemed ten years younger as she glanced down to the luggage at her feet.

The man next to her was the tired one, spending late nights caring for a new child. But his exhaustion was sweet, not bitter. Those who'd known Gavin Byrne as a younger man would be shocked to find him the patriarch of a growing family, but he'd never had a job that made him happier. 

Turning to each other, the twins embraced. As they pull away, Tara laughed musically, resting her hand at the side of Gavin's head, where a few grey hairs were clear near his temple.

"Take care of yourself, Gavin. Take care of your family. I'll write you constantly, and I'll be back to visit often."

Gavin just smirked as he released Tara's hand. Sometimes, you didn't need words. He watched as Kassandra, returning to Europe herself, helped Tara with her luggage. Gavin watched as the car pulled up and a whole pack of Byrnes swarmed Tara: Bella, Aurora, and Will all grabbed at Gavin's sister, hugging her before she could leave.

Tara smiled so wide that she threatened to strain her face, and she was eventually able to untangle herself. After some final instructions for Bella and comforts to the children, she stood.

"I'll be back often. And you're free to visit me in whichever city I happen to be hanging my hat in. I'll miss you all so much... if you don't think I'll be back at least one weekend a month, well you don't know me well at all."

With a final exchange of hugs, Tara made her way onto the ship. At the insistence of Aurora, Gavin and Bella found themselves on top of a nearby building, courtesy of the fire escape. They watched as Tara's ship moved out toward the wide expanse of the Atlantic.

Gavin watched his sister leave as he held his son in his arms. Looking next to him, he saw Bella had scooped up Aurora to keep her off the ledge. 

He experienced another moment, as he had only a few times in his life, as if he could perceive the world being knocked off its axis. But this time, it seemed to settle into place perfectly. As he exhaled, watching his wife, his son, and his daughter, he experienced a moment of joy so pure that he found himself lightheaded- as if the sky suddenly became so blue that it threatened to crack and take Gavin with it.

Bella noticed his strange expression and looked at him with concern.

"You okay?"

"Yea. I am."

They stood there for a while, watching Tara's ship finally disappear over the horizon. Bella leaned into Gavin, smiling up at him as she spoke, sensing the scope of his thoughts.

"We've had a damn good ride, Gavin Byrne."

As Bella walked briskly after Aurora, who had decided to set off on an adventure of her own, Gavin stared out at the sea for a moment. He inhaled the salty air before exhaling in an utterly contented sigh and a familiar smirk. No one heard his words except his small son, too small to understand.

"The best."

With a grin, he turned to follow his family.