AN: Hey, this is just a story I got while trying to write the next chapter to Gallagher's 7 Deadly Sinners, and To Love An Enemy. I'm trying my best to get them out, but I'm swamped with tests, homework and all that good stuff. I'll try for this weekend, but please be patient!
Zach sighed and ran a hand through his already tussled hair. He smiled contently as he watched his little girl and run around in their yard. Her brown-blonde pigtails, more brown because of him, streamed out behind him as she shrieked happily and tried to catch the pretty little butterfly she had seen. Her pink dress had already become soiled as she tried desperately to follow the butterfly, crouching in the grass. He still remembered the day Vivi had been born and the days leading up to it. All the heart-ache and joy....
"Zach?" Cammie had asked in her soft voice. The couple was getting ready for bed, and Zach was in the bathroom, brushing his teeth. He spat and said, "Yes honey?" He reached for the mouthwash and began swirling it around in his mouth.
"Are you happy? Being married to me, I mean." Zach choked on his mouthwash, and spat it out before sitting on the toilet and coughing. Cammie rushed in and crouched beside him.
"Zach, are you okay?" she asked, her blue eyes filled with concern, one hand on his arm.
He finally got his breath and glared at her. "What type of question is that?!" he growled. She removed her hand and looked at him, raw pain in her eyes.
Sighing, Zach ran a hand through his hair and crouched next to her. He could see tears well up in her eyes, and immediately gathered her in his arms.
"Oh Cammie," he sighed. "I'm fine. I wasn't talking about that question. I was talking about the other one." He held her by the shoulders. "Cammie, what would ever make you think that I wasn't happy with you?"
Cammie sniffled and wrapped her arms around him. "Zach, we've been married for five years now. We still don't have a baby."
Zach sighed and rubbed her back. "Is this what this was all about?" He kissed her cheek. "Cammie, I love you. Just because you haven't gotten pregnant yet, it doesn't matter to me."
He lifted her in his arms and carried her, bridal style, to their bed and gently placed her down on her side before climbing in next to her.
"So you don't want a baby?" Cammie asked. Zach caressed her cheek gently. "I do want a baby Cam. Who doesn't want a little bundle of joy?" His eyes danced with laughter before quickly sobering up. "But my parents died when I was young Cammie. Since then, no one has cared for, until I met you. We've tried a lot Cam, and I know the risk of pregnancies. I'm not going to risk losing you." Cammie had smiled, and kissed him gently.
Zach snapped out of his reverie by a shriek. He bolted out of his seat, but eased himself back down when he realized it was just Vivi losing sight of the butterfly. She had trained her attentions on a colony of ants now. Zach's mind wandered back to the past.
Despite everything Zach had told her, Cammie still wanted to try for a baby. And one day, against all odds, Vivi had been conceived.
They had both been so happy. Cammie was beaming, despite the morning sickness and obvious discomfort, was so happy to have been able to give Zach the child he had admitted to wanting.
Zach watched her carefully though. Cammie had mentioned that both her mother and her mother's older sister Jane had suffered from miscarriages and that her aunt Jane had died from childbirth. Time and time again, until it was too late, Zach pressed the fact that no child was worth losing her. But Cammie had persisted.
"Zach!" she had laughed. "I'm fine." Zach was too caught up in the happiness of the moment to notice the slight strain in her voice as she said it.
Since Cammie was on maternity leave, she had a lot of time to rest at home, but often, when Zach came home early from work, he could see her scribbling away, papers piled high around her.
One night, as they were getting in to bed, Zach decided to ask her about the papers. "What is it that you are writing hon?" he had asked.
"Oh that?" Cammie asked, waving a hand in the air, as if to push the thought away. "That's nothing. I'm just keeping a baby log." She then proceeded to tell Zach about how, today, the baby had kicked her.
Zach glanced up from his hands to see Vivi do just that. She was kicking a ball around with Jonathan, the neighbor's child. It seemed he had arrived early for Vivi's birthday party.
Zach remembered the final few days of Cammie's pregnancy.
She had become agitated and nervous, and Zach noticed that every few days, she would reach down under the bed, and pull out a box filled with papers, and add another one to it.
She didn't like letting Zach leave her for too long, and Zach couldn't help but wonder what was happening to her. Whenever he asked though, her voice would become strained and she'd squeak out, "Must be the hormones getting to me."
Finally, the day had come. They day Cammie was giving birth. Zach was busy tying his tie, when suddenly, Cammie had shrieked. Dropping everything, (and colliding into a wall or two) Zach rushed into the living room. Cammie was on the couch and she looked up with him with big blue eyes. "Zach," she'd said. "It's time."
Being the cool-headed, level 1 spy he was, Zach would like to say that he was calm and controlled during this time. However, he couldn't. During the rushed car ride to the hospital, with Cammie doing her breathing exercises, Zach found himself doing them too, with Cammie staring at him amused.
They'd gotten her into the hospital just as she went into labor. Zach waited outside, wincing at the screams that came from that room. He remembered more and more nurses going into the room, but thought nothing of it at that time.
Finally, when the screaming stopped, a doctor came out with a little pink bundle in his arms. He gently placed the baby in Zach's arms, and waited while Zach stared at his little angel.
He looked up at the doctor, gently rocking his daughter to sleep. "What about Cammie doctor?" he had asked.
The doctor cleared his throat and adjusted his glassed before speaking. "Ah yes. Cameron. I knew we'd get to that topic."
Zach felt his heartbeat quicken. "Is everything all right?" he asked. The doctor looked at the door and shrugged. "Can't say. We'll find out in a few moments."
They waited together, Zach glancing down at his daughter every so often, until finally, a nurse came out.
"Mrs. Goode would like to see you know sir," she said to Zach. Zach immediately stood up, carefully cradling his daughter to his chest and walked in. Had he waited a moment later, he would have seen the nurse shake her head at the doctor, and the doctor sigh dejectedly.
Zach walked in to see Cammie, pale and disheveled. She smiled as he walked up to her, and gripped his hand weakly in his own.
"She's beautiful," Zach had said to her, and Cammie nodded, too tired to talk. They sat together in silence, gazing at their daughter, before Cammie spoke.
"She's lucky to have a father like you Zach," she murmured. Zach kissed her forehead. "Ditto." He had spoken calmly, until he saw the tears leaking out of his wife's eyes. "What? Cammie, what's wrong?!"
Cammie sighed and caressed his cheek. "Oh Zach," she murmured. "Didn't they tell you? I'm going to die soon."
"No, no Cam. No, that's not possible." Zach had stuttered. He gripped her hand hard, almost dropping his baby girl.
Cammie gripped his hand equally strong. "It's true Zach."
"But why? How?" Zach had asked, placing his daughter in the baby bassinet next to Cammie's bed.
"Zach," Cammie paused and took a breath. "Zach, there were complications in the pregnancy."
"What do you mean?!"
"I mean that from the start it was either me or the baby. And during labor," Cammie's voice broke. "And during labor Zach, I lost blood. A lot of blood."
Zach looked horrified at Cammie. "No, Cammie! I'd told you from the beginning, nothing was worth risking you!"
Cammie laid her head back on the pillow and her grip on Zach's hand loosened.
"Zach, I love you, and no matter what you might have said, I wanted to give you this baby."
By this point, tears were streaming down both their faces, and Cammie had grown pale, and her breathing was labored.
"Zach.... under the bed.... is a box, with.... letters. Give them to my baby.... one every birthday, for 18 birthdays."
Cammie's blue eyes began to have a faraway look. "Remember that.... even though I am not here with you.... I still love you. I will always love you."
She glanced in the direction of the baby bassinet. "I will always love you Zach.... you and our little baby Vivian Ivy Goode."
She looked back to Zach, and he dipped his head one last time to kiss her. Even as he pulled away, he knew the awful truth. Cammie, the love of his life, and life times to come, was gone.
Zach startled himself by reaching up to his eyes to wipe his tears away. He glanced at Vivian, who was running around still, surrounded by her many friends, and Zach got up out of his seat.
Time for the party to begin.
He kept a watchful eye on Vivi, as she played. Finally, it came time to unwrap gifts.
He smiled as she oohed and aahed over the dolls and trinkets she received from her friends. She had already received a signed paper-back edition of Chinese Tombs by Ling Lee from him earlier today.
He continued to watch as Vivi bade her friends good-bye, and waited until she had closed the gate and came running into his open arms.
He lifted her up, laughing as she squealed happily. Finally, the two calmed down, and Zach placed her gently back on the floor. She looked up at him,
"Daddy, what is it?" she asked, her big blue eyes looking up at him wondering. Zach sighed and shook his head. "Nothing." A grin grew on his face. "Are you ready for your last present?"
A resplendent smile grew on Vivi's face, and she nodded eagerly. "Yes, yes!"
Chuckling, Zach handed the letter to Vivi, and immediately picked her up and placed her in his lap. He watched as she read the letter, and helped her out with a few words she couldn't pronounce.
He looked to the sky, and could almost see his wife smiling down on him.
"She's a beauty Cam," he thought in his head. "She's intelligent, and witty too. Just like you."
He could see Cammie smile.
"Yep honey. This baby is worth it. I'll miss you, for the rest of my life, but I know that I'll never be alone. I've got our baby with me...." he thought, kissing the top of Vivi's head.
AN: So, I know it's not that great, but please review!