Ch. 9- The Baby

-An amount of time later-

"Oh, Kit! She's beautiful," Jacques breathed, holding Kit and Dewey's newborn daughter in his arms. Kit, pale as she was, smiled, practically glowing. The young girl was to be named Aqua, for her sea-blue eyes. You could practically see the foam.

Lemony reached over and took Aqua from Jacques, smiling at his niece. "Dewey would love you," he thought fondly. He looked up at Frank, standing a bit off to the side, but beaming as much as any of them. He had never really gotten over his brother's death, and was a bit distant most of the time.

"Okay, okay, everyone out," the doctor said, bustling into the room. "We need to clean up Aqua a bit, and take care of Kit." At these words, every eye went to Kit, pale and weak. She wasn't doing too well at all. Frank and Ernest bit their lips in unison, the way only triplets can do. Lemony and Jacques looked worried and handed Aqua to the doctor.

The doctor shooed everyone out of the room, handing Aqua to a nurse nearby. He went to Kit's side and looked at the monitor next to her bed. Almost a straight line, which meant almost gone. "Kit, what do you think you're doing?" he murmured. "You can't die on us now." Then a beep, and a straight line.

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Lemony and the others sat in the waiting room. Lemony was pacing, Jacques paling, Ernest crying. Frank, however, sat staring at the wall. The doctor came in on this sad scene, hesitated, then said, "I'm sorry, but-but, she's gone. We lost her."

Jacques sighed heavily, putting his head in his hands. Lemony sat suddenly, and his shoulders began to shake and his eyes closed. Frank rose, and walked to Kit's room, not paying any attention to the doctor, and Ernest followed.

Kit lay on the bed, serene, calm, dead. As Ernest walked to her side, he noticed she was smiling gently, as though she was very happy. "She's with Dewey now," he thought.

Frank suddenly broke down and cried. He hadn't cried since Beatrice died, but boy, did he sob now. "Why, Kit, why?" he whispered. Jacques entered, put his arm around Frank's shaking shoulders, and bit his lip. He didn't want to cry, not here, not now.

Lemony rose from the chair and followed his brother into the room. However, unlike Jacques, he did not cry. His own tears stopped, he smiled, and sighed. He realized how happy she finally was, and wanted to be happy for her. Her pain hadn't stopped since Dewey's death, and now she was with him again. Where was the sorrow in that?

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The memorial service was short, sad, and filled with an air of loss. Except for one person, Lemony, who still refused to be sad. This earned him strange looks from all except Ernest, who understood his reasoning, and agreed 100. Though on opposite sides, the two were friends in this one category, this one idea.

Aqua sat in Frank's lap, sleeping peacefully, quietly sucking her tiny thumb. He kissed the top of his niece's head, and she smiled in her sleep. He gave a tiny sigh, and looked up. Kit's casket was being closed, and she was still smiling very gently. He closed his eyes, keeping back his tears.

Jacques suddenly stood and darted. He couldn't be here for this, not his twin sister's burial. He couldn't take it and ran, ran as Beatrice had that first night towards the Hotel. Jacques, however, ran from the Hotel, ran to his brother Lemony's house, and collapsed in a heap before the front door.