Author's Note: Just an idea that popped into my head while watching "The Angel Maker".
Chloe Kelcher lay in her hospital bed, excited but exhausted, despite the epidural keeping the worst of her pain at bay. The contractions seemed endless and unceasing. But in a few hours, none of it would matter. In a few hours she would give Birth to Cortland's son. Though there was no one there to help her through the pain, she could feel Cortland smiling down on her. She could envision the proud look on his James Bond- gorgeous face. He would have been such a good father if he'd had the chance. He would have shined. A nurse came in and checked her cervix, and the doctor followed shortly after.
The time came for her to push. Most women would have screamed the entire, but not Chloe. She was stoic in her pain. She saw the doctors scrambling madly around the room, but they were obscured by the stinging blurriness of her eyesight. She pushed as hard as she could, clutching the metal bars of the bed railing with clammy hands. She was covered in sweat from the exertion, but when she heard the cry, all the pain vanished.
"Congratulations Miss Kelcher, it's a baby boy." A boy. A perfect combination of Cortland and herself had taken it's first breath into a new world.
Chloe held her son for the first time, and her entire world shifted onto it's head. He was perfection. His dark hair a carbon cooy of his father's and her skin tone blended together seamlessly. He had a perfect little mouth and the most adorable button nose she'd ever seen. She traced a finger down his tiny velvet cheek, and grinned like a fool.
When the doctors took him from her arms to screen him for any anomalies, she leaned back onto her pillow.
She had done it. She smiled up at the ceiling.
"We did it, baby. We did it."
All was bliss. Finally something had gone right in her world. She shut her eyes in a way that felt most satisfying, and fell asleep for two hours.
She woke up in time for a nurse to ask her what she wanted for dinner. At that time she didn't really care, but asked to see her baby again. The nurse replied that they were still screening him. She decided to be patient and wait.
She got out a notebook where she wrote love letters to Cortland and told him all about their son, from what he looked like right down to the sound of his cry. Each time she wrote one she would light it on fire to send it to him in heaven. After all, he was her guardian angel. Always watching over her.
A doctor approached her. "Miss Kelcher, may I speak with you for a moment?"
"Sure."
"Miss Kelcher, my name is Doctor Brown and I'm your son's pediatrician. I'm sorry to say that he has Microvesicular steatosis of the liver and doesn't have long for this world. I'm sorry."
As her mind slowly processed those terrible words, she started to choke up. "Can I see him?" She asked, tears running down her face. The doctor nodded.
"Of course."
The baby she was presented with was paler than she remembered. She kissed his tiny head and sang softly to him as he fell asleep. She stroked his velvet cheek as often as she could, cuddling him to her and praying that Cortland would somehow interfere with what was about to happen to their child.
Her desperation was indescribable.
When he passed, he passed in her arms.
She screamed and sobbed and cried at the twisted situation she was in. The last connection she had to Cortland was gone. At some point (when exactly, she wasn't sure) the doctor took the baby away and she was all alone in the world again.
A wave of primal anger seized her and she slammed her hands on the railing, wishing she had something to break.
After that brief period of emotion, there was nothing. Only numbness.
She went home two days later, completely heartbroken. Everything she loved was gone. It was so unfair. The two greatest things to ever happen to her were never going to be with her again. The only thought that gave her comfort was that now both of her boys were together.
Frustrated with everything that had happened, she rummaged around her drawers for a piece of paper and a pen.
When she found them, she sat at her kitchen table and began to write.
My Dearest Cortland,
My heart has been split into so many pieces since your passing. My love, you are the light of my life. My moon and stars. But I write to you with a heavy heart this evening. Our beautiful baby has gone to be with you now. I know you'll take wonderful care of him. My bosom is heavy with the weight of your absence. I wish I could hold and kiss you, but I must wait until I join you both in solemn death.
Until then I promise to make your name famous. You will rise again, my darling. By any means necessary.
Always With Love,
Your Dove
She went outside to her backyard and pulled out her lighter, watching the note turn from white to black, then gray as ash.
Try as she might, sleep evaded her, and she knew it had to be Cortland's doing. She was right on the edge of a revelation. She could just feel it. With Cortland and her baby gone, what was she to do? Why was she still here?
Then it hit her.
She was here to finish what he had started.
On the anniversary of his execution, she would begin tying up his loose ends.
Smiling, she shut her eyes and let the sweet caress of sleep take her into a world where she and Cortland and their baby were one big happy family.
She had no idea of how quickly that wish might come true.