Author's Note: This is my second attempt at a Hibbles fanfiction. I'm hoping it will turn out better than my first, which in my opinion, seemed rushed. I love this couple so much and I wanted to write a story worthy of their greatness as a pair.

Chapter One: Promise

Antonio sat in the waiting room of the E.R., wringing his hands, sobbing. His stomach was in knots and his entire body felt cold. The smell of the antiseptic made him cringe, and the excessive air conditioning in the place made him shiver. The white walls and fluorescent lighting had a spooky effect...he was praying, something he didn't personally believe in, but anything to assure that his wife, Vanessa, was going to be all right.

"Dear Lord, please watch over my beloved wife...I don't know why this accident happened, why it had to happen to her, but I could not bear to lose her...and all the children would be devastated without her. Please make her well again."

Vanessa Utonium was the newest kindergarten teacher at Pokey Oaks, she had begun teaching late that August. The 31-year-old woman was passionate about children and was naturally maternal and nurturing. Her students loved her dearly like a mother or an aunt, and though she did have a few troubled or "difficult" children in her class, she was patient and understanding enough to work with them so that they would succeed and thrive, as well as make friends with their peers. She wanted children of her own with Antonio, and within the last 6 months they had been trying for a baby, though for whatever reason they were unsuccessful. They had tried numerous fertility treatments that had not worked, and Antonio, being a scientist, was trying to desperately come up with a formula that would help them conceive.

And at this moment, their entire romance and life together flashed before his eyes...the moment she had made the right choice, choosing him over his wicked brother, the most feared villain in all of Townsville. He remembered her words so clearly the day she rushed into his arms, escaping from his brother's clutches.

"Antonio...I've decided to leave Adrienne, or as he likes to be called, His Infernal Majesty, for good. I cannot take his cruel ways anymore...the life I had with him was a rollercoaster, but it's doing more harm than good and I just can't continue to partake in his crimes...I need someone I know I can love and trust...and spend the rest of my life with." He held the beautiful young woman in his arms and kissed her, making a promise to never leave her side. And to this day, in the emergency room, he had kept his word.

The hot tears were stinging his eyes as he felt the lump rise in his throat and his lower lip quiver. Damn the careless truck driver that had hit Vanessa, threatening such a precious, ultimately good life. The woman he loved dearly with all his heart, the companion he had been waiting his whole life for. Though Antonio and his brother Adrienne were both born to a demon mother and a mortal father, Antonio, taking after his father more, suppressed the evil urges he had throughout his life, though occasionally putting evil thoughts into others' heads involuntarily (which he regretted with the utmost sorrow). He had dedicated his life to do good, using his impeccable scientific knowledge for medicine and discovery rather than poisoning and manipulating mortals. He had married one, after all.

As Antonio's tears hit his black slacks, he saw through blurred vision that an older, dark-skinned man wearing a lab coat was walking towards him slowly with concern in his deep brown eyes. Antonio blinked and wiped his heavily wet face. Fearing for the love of his life, he was not ashamed to cry in front of another man. "Mr. Utonium," The man said, reaching his hand down to Antonio, "My name is Dr. Warrington." Antonio stood up, shaking the man's hand. "How's Vanessa...?" He stammered, "Please tell me she's alive." Dr. Warrington gripped Antonio's hand in both of his, looking down at the floor before aiming his gaze directly into the crying man's eyes. "She is, Mr. Utonium," and a sudden wave of relief rushed over Antonio's body, making his heart soar. "Oh thank you, thank you." He said, shaking both the doctor's hands with both of his own. "Sir, you didn't let me finish." Dr. Warrington cut him off, "She's alive, but she's only got moments...I give it only a half hour at most. The collision completely crushed her...all her organs are destroyed. Every second she lives, she will be in constant pain." Antonio suddenly became pale, his stomach turning. "Oh my God..." He said, suddenly letting go of the doctor's hands, "OH MY GOD!" He rushed over to the nearest trash can in the room and vomited, losing himself in uncontrollable sobs on the floor. Dr. Warrington put his hand on the man's back, comforting him as he had just gotten his heart ripped out, his whole life gone. "Come on, Antonio." the doctor said with concern, "It's going to be all right." Antonio stood up after wiping the acidic vomit from his mouth and threw his arms around Dr. Warrington, sobbing into his shoulder. Any bit of shame and modesty was gone at this point as the doctor genuinely hugged him back, feeling the pain of a man losing his wife. He couldn't imagine the anguish in Antonio's poor heart. "Go to her." Dr. Warrington said, helping the man regain composure, "Say your goodbyes. You need to."

Antonio slowly walked towards the door to the room where his wife was being kept. His hands were shaking as he pushed it open. There she was, his wounded angel, lying in the hospital bed. She was covered mostly by a white sheet, but he could see the bruises and blood all over her delicate, pale face. Her curly black hair was partially ripped out and covered in blood as well, and both her emerald eyes had been blackened. She was white as a sheet, even the color in her lips were gone. Seeing the life leave his wife's kind, pure eyes was ripping Antonio's soul apart. But he had to fulfill his beloved wife's final wishes. He approached the bed, taking her bruised, broken hand in his own. "I love you with every inch of my heart." He said to her, "And I always will. Vanessa...you're everything to me. I don't know how I'm going to survive without you. We were supposed to have children...CURSE ME for not finding an infertility cure!" "Don't speak..." Vanessa said, her beautiful voice hoarse, "I need you to do something for me, Antonio." Just the sound of her voice made him wrack with sobs. Even on her deathbed, she sounded like an angel, her voice sweet and patient as always. But he looked into her jewel-like eyes and listened to her words. "We will have our children, you will. I just won't be physically here to see them. I need you to take part of me with you after I'm gone...take strands of my hair, I already cut them off." Antonio glanced at the stand on the side of Vanessa's bed, seeing her beautiful yet damaged locks sitting on the delicate white wood. "You're a scientist, I know you can create children from my pure DNA alone, and being half-demon...you have powers to make them without a female surrogate." Antonio began to cry harder than ever, draping his body over his wife's, gently though, as not to cause her more pain in her final moments. "I will do it, Vanessa." he said as he gave her a kiss on the lips, "I swear to you with every damn fiber in my being I will do it. I will raise our children to be the best I can make them...to be as amazing, beautiful, smart, and compassionate as their mother..." Vanessa kissed her beloved husband back for a final time, before grasping his hands tightly with all the strength she had left in her. "Antonio, you are my light." She said, her voice shaking with tears, "You are my heart and soul, and a part of me will always be with you. Please, never remarry. Take care of our children. Love them as much, more than you ever loved me. I love you more than words can explain...so much that it would destroy me to show you how much I love you." "Speak no more, Vanessa." Antonio said, holding his wife's hand on his chest so she could feel his heartbeat, "I love you with everything I've got, angel. I'll love those babies more than life itself, and I'll protect them with every bit of strength I've got in me. Watch over us from the other side..." And after a few moments of quiet crying from the young couple, Vanessa's heart monitor let out a long, high pitched beep. She was gone.