After the Drift

Chapter Thirty-Three: A New Normal

The remaining days of July passed quietly.

Newt had been taken into custody and was being questioned repeatedly by just about everyone.

My mother and father had checked in more than since my sister had passed.

It had been nice seeing my father again. He had always been such a large part of my life and seeing him so isolated and blaming himself for everything hurt.

I knew the pain and blame was still there, but having his arm around me and talking about the past together was a sort of healing for the both of us.

My mother was plump and completely glowed. I think in a small way, the tiny miracle that was to be my sister was helping all of us.

"I think we should name her... Mira. After miracle." Dad mentioned from beside me. I nodded along.

"That's not bad, honey." Mom gave a small smile.

"What about Mira Lucille...?" I piped up.

Both my parents looked at me, an unspoken sadness immediately swallowing them. But they, like always, persevered.

"That's perfect." They said in unison.

I put my hand on my mother's belly. "See you soon, Mira Lucille Blackwell. You're already so damn loved."

I felt a like thwack on the back of my head. Dad winked at me when our eyes met. "No swearing in front of the baby."

I smiled, and then I prayed everything would work out. It had to. For Mira.

                                 ——————

Having missed the ceremony for my sister and the others who had passed at sea, I stood on the railing overlooking the ocean, outside the Jaeger bay.

For once it was a sunny day, a tiny respite from the lashing wind and rain.

I held a small paper flower in my hand. It was a vibrant red. A vibrant color just like my vibrant sister.

I quietly prayed for all the souls lost and got stuck with my eyes closed, trying not to cry once I reached my sister.

I missed her so much. She was such an ass, but I would take any of that to still have her around.

I swallowed hard and dropped the flower down into the ocean. It floated away with the waves and the slight breeze, before finally sinking into the darkness below.

I felt a warm hand on my back, glancing up I saw Chuck. He gave me a peck on the head and pulled me closer, looking out into the water.

We stood there for awhile, until Carlos began calling for us. He and Emma had finally begun dating and made a point to eat with us whenever they could. Like some sort of weird double date.

Chuck even began warming to Carlos, realizing he had feelings for Emma and wasn't a complete idiot with Jaegers probably the cause for that.

Emma talked about the goings on in the dome. How Raleigh had gotten Mako Mori as his drift partner and they were working on their compatibility.

Chuck gave a grunt whenever Raleigh was mentioned, reaching down to let Max who sat beneath me.

I shook my head. Such a stupid man sometimes.

His off hand would settle around my waist, causing me to lean into him. I couldn't help myself. I was so in love with him. He was my tiny slice of solace.

                                    ——————

The next time the alarm was set to go off, a surprise and a disaster struck.

My mother, unbeknownst to anyone, was stressing going out. So much so as soon as the ringing began, mom went into labor.

My father rushed her to the bed bay, carrying her himself as she panted and screamed.

The whole of the dome heard her cussing him out.

This shifted the order, causing Chuck and Herc to have to take up early. Raleigh and Mako still weren't prepared to take a solo mission, so they ran back up.

While mom was laughing maniacally through contractions and Dad paced the floor, I stood there holding her hand. I channeled Lucie. I hoped she was here with us.

Four hours later, almost like clock work, as Eureka was shaken to the core by whatever newest bell beast and finally taken out by Gypsy, little Mira Lucille Blackwell came into the world. She was a healthy nine pounds, 16 inches long.

My father held me, my mom and her all together and we all cried laying on that bed. At that point, I knew Lucie was there. I could feel her crying right along with us.

Two hours later, I left my parents to get some sleep and check in on what was happening with the rest of the dome.

I had known Chuck was sent out. My heart had gone with him and prayed for him to be alright. As soon as the chaos began with my mother's labor, the rest of the world floated away.

I exited the room they had secured for privacy for the birth and emerged into the rest of the med bay.

Herc lay on a bed, his whole right side was wrapped up and he looked to be in a lot of pain. I searched quickly for Chuck and found him asleep on another bed a few feet away. He was banged up pretty bad, but nothing looked broken or worse.

I slowly came up to him, not wanting to wake him. His arms were crossed over his chest. The stubborn oaf was laying on top of all his blankets, so I found another and covered him gently and turned to leave. I soon felt a hand on my wrist.

"No, darl'- please don't leave." One of his eye cracked open and he looked so tired. I swallowed hard and climbed onto the bed with him. Situating myself under the blanket with him, he wrapped around me. His warmth was almost overwhelming, but it brought so much comfort.

"How'd it go? She beautiful?"

I smiled. "She's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

I felt his hand tracing light circles under my shirt. I closed my eyes. "How's Herc?"

"He's pretty busted up. Won't be able to go up for awhile. Makes me real nervous." His voice sounded strained.

I nodded slowly. "I love you, Chuck Hansen."

I felt him smile. "I love you, future Mrs Hansen." He said dreamily.

My eyes shot open. Now that was something to dream about. I fell asleep with the satisfied feeling that my little sister was safe, my parents were safe and the man I loved and his family was safe. Right now, that's all you could hope for.