Wartime Romance (Snowbarry)

December 31st, 1947 (Epilogue)

Two years had passed since the end of the war and the world was still recovering from the damage that it had caused. Many of the returning soldiers had been plagued with nightmares of the time they spent at war since their return. Some had never recovered. But right now that was the last thing on any of the villager's minds right now.

They were all watching from their windows as a midwife came riding through the town hastily making her way to the house of a young mother in labor. It was currently seven thirty in the evening and only five minutes ago was the call made to the midwife notifying her of the distressed mother. Nurse Barbara Davies had been with her since the beginning of her pregnancy and knew this would be a hard few hours for the young mother. Especially as she was expecting twins.

The mother is question was Caitlin Allen. A young but prepared mother who was having her first child. One thing Barbara had noticed was the devotion her husband had to her and their child. She was new to the town but quickly learned of their love story and it was surely one to behold.

As she arrived outside their home, she propped up her bike against the wall, grabbed her bag and knocked at the door. From outside she could hear the distressed screams of her patient and tapped her foot anxiously as she awaited the opening of the door. And when it did she bustled through the door and passed Nora Allen, the grandmother of the children, before saying or doing anything else and hurried into the couple's bedroom where she found Caitlin pacing around to soothe the pain and her husband desperately trying to calm her. Her face was sweaty and her hair was sticky.

"Okay, Caitlin. Let's sit you down on the bed. And I'll see how far along we are. How far apart are the contractions?" she asked, helping her onto the bed with assistance from Barry.

"Only about a minute," Caitlin replied, looking scared as well as in pain.

"Well, it's all going to be okay. Babies will be out soon," Barbara assured before turning towards Barry. "I suggest that you leave, Mr. Allen. I'll take it from here,"

"But-" 

"No buts. If we need you we will call for you, now go," she interrupted sternly.

"I'll be right outside, okay. Everything is gonna be okay. I love you," he whispered to Caitlin then kissed her head then left the room.

____________

Hours passed by and all that could be heard were a lot of screams. That was until eleven-thirty when the cries of a baby could be heard. The second they could be made out, Barry's eyes lit up at the sound of their child. And a few minutes later, precisely eleven-fourty-six. The cries of another baby could be heard too.

Then at exactly eleven-fourty-nine. Nurse Davies walked out of the room and handed Barry the older child and finally let Barry in to see his wife and children.

"Hey," Caitlin whispered, half from fatigue and half not to wake the newborn cradled on her arms. 

"Hey," Barry replied and sat beside her before softly kissing her lips. The last few hours had been very hard on her. He didn't even need to be in the room to know that.

"You are holding our son. And this little one is our daughter. I was thinking we could name him Henry, after your father. And I thought that she could be called Rosie," she stated with tears rolling down her cheeks.

"They are beautiful names. I love you so much," he replied, tears welling up too, as she snuggled comfortably into him so they could relish in the moment together.

They sat in silence, only lovingly gazing at their newborns and exchanging kisses. They stayed like that for a while but were distracted by the sound of firworks in the distance.

"Happy new year," they both said in unison, not only to each other but also to the infants in their arms.

It only added to the blissful moment that they were expierencing and it truly made of the hardship, pain, heartbreak and sadness all worth it. The world certainly wasn't out of the woods yet but moments of happiness and joy like this were the showing the world that there is always hope and happiness and love in the darkest and grimmest of time. It was times like this that the world was shown that slowly it was being fixed and there was a point of saving it.

_____________

Five Years Later

Barry opened the front door and was instantly greeted by three of his children. Henry, Rosie and Thomas. The twin five-year-olds were still in school uniform from their day at school and the two-year-old seemed to he happily playing all day.

After greeting and hugging each child, he told them to go and play with their toys. He had been on his way home from a busy work day when a neighbour had told him that his wife had just gone into labor. Quickly, he made the call to Nurse Davies and soon enough she was here. And after three long hours, Baby Number Four was born in the form of Scarlett Allen.

The other three children crowded around their mother and newborn younger sister whilst Barry cuddled his wife as she was very tired from her third expierience of labor. She had become quite the expert now, after doing it so many times.

And after all the children had taken a peek of their sister, they were hurried off to bed so their parents could have some well-earned alone time.

"How are you feeling?" barry asked, caressing her cheek whilst holding her protectively as they lay in bed.

"Good. I guess we were right after all," she replied, smiling and placing a kiss on his lips.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well, we always said we would make it and we have," she replied. "I love you so much, you know that right," 

"I love you too," he smiled, kissing her head before she fell asleep in is arms and after a few minutes he joined her.

Life truly could not be any better. Forever more life would be pure bliss, no matter what the past had held.