Milly held the baby in her arms, wishing that Wolfwood was there in that hospital, gazing down on the child with the same wonder and awe that filled her now. Vash and Meryl were grinning from ear to ear (Vash was bawling of course) and asking the baby's name. Milly was silent for a moment. She could only think of one name that would fit the baby girl: "Nicole."

---

"Nikki, where are you going?" The raven-haired girl only kept running, laughing as loudly as possible. Milly sat back on the porch swing and grinned.She looks so much like her father when she laughs, she thought with a giggle. Indeed, the young Nicole had her father's almost exact features. When she whirled around to face her mother, her shoulder length, black hair whirled with her. It even seemed to stick up in the same places. Her eyes were her most similar trait. They were the exact smoky grey of Nicholas D Wolfwood's.

"No where, Mom!" Nikki called back. "I just wanted to see your reaction to that. It wasn't as entertaining as I thought it would be, so I'll be coming back now!" Milly laughed as Nikki began jogging back toward the house. She jumped into the porch swing, causing a terrible racket of the chain clanking and Milly screaming.

"Nikki, don't do that!" Milly grabbed her daughter's wrist and the side of the swing for support. Nikki, in turn, surprised by Milly's sudden grip on her wrist, leaped up again with a short scream. She yanked her arm from Milly's fist, and did so such force that she toppled backward and landed in the dust. Yes, she had her father's appearance, but she had her mother's personality.

When Milly had also jumped up from the swing, she looked at Nikki on the ground and laughed as she began to help her up. "You remind me of myself sometimes!" she giggled. Nikki laughed again. Until she laughs, Milly smiled.

---

Meryl peered out the window at Milly and Nikki, but continued to type up her reports. "Those two," she grinned to herself.

"What two?" It was difficult to understand what Vash had said when he entered the room for his mouth was stuffed with food as usual. Meryl pointed out the window as Vash gave a loud, gulping swallow. He pressed his forehead against the window to get a better view of the girls outside (he was looking out the second story window) and straigtened up with a laugh. "It's incredible how well Milly has been able to raise her. She has her mother's spirit!"

Meryl nodded. "It's amazing. She acts so much like Milly, yet she looks so much like...well...like him." She turned her head toward a large gun cabinet on one end of the room. Her gaze fell on an enormous cross, wrapped in cloth and rope inside the gun cabinet. It had been Wolfwood's when he was still alive. Vash had found him dead in the church and brought his cross back.

Since then, Milly had refused to leave the town, claiming she wanted to raise the baby in the place where her daddy died. Vash and Meryl didn't know what she was talking about back then (having not known that she was pregnant), but agreed to stay.

Vash waved his hand in front of Meryl's face. "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah. I really need to focus if I want to get these reports done. Go downstairs until I'm finished and I'll start dinner." Vash gave a mock salute, turned and marched out of the room. Meryl shook her head and turned her attention back toward her reports.

---

"Uncle Vash!" Nikki scrambled herself toward her spiky, blonde-haired uncle and thrust herself into his arms. Vash caught her, almost with ease, and put her down.

"Happy birthday, Nikki!" he yelled, imitating the loud voice she had used when she jumped at him. "How old are you now anyway?"

"Fifteen years, seventeen hours and fourteen minutes. I counted." Nikki returned proudly. Milly chuckled behind her as Vash slapped a gloved palm to his forehead.

"Fifteen? You don't look fifteen," he added, sizing her up.

"Deal with it." Nikki growled. "I am fifteen." She pounced and tackled Vash into the dust. They wrestled for a moment before Vash was begging for mercy and Milly was lifting Nikki off of him.

"We'd better go in," Milly said. "Meryl will probably have dinner started. Come on Mr. Vash." she added, using the old nickname she used to call him.

"No need to tell me twice!" Vash called bolting through the door before the girls had even reached it.