Beads of sweat ran down Katrina's trembling face. She was gasping for air, as she pushed. She held onto the bars lining the side of the hospital bed, as she screamed. Her knuckles were turning white, as her screaming became louder and louder.
After a few hours, Katrina's screams quieted down, but Mr. Blackwell, who was waiting outside of the delivery room, didn't allow himself to fully relax until he heard the child's first cry. "She's had the baby…my first grandchild." He slowly opened the door, before waltzing into the room, his face beaming with pride.
"Daddy," Katrina whispered when she saw her dad walk in. She then turned her shiny face to her mother, who was holding the child. "Isn't she beautiful?" Katrina held open her arms to the sleeping child that her mother reluctantly handed over.
Katrina smoothed the blanket back from her baby's face, and then shifted her body, so that Mr. Blackwell could see his new granddaughter.
Mr. Blackwell gently stuck out his huge, tough-skinned hand to touch his granddaughter's smooth forehead. He sighed in relief. He was relieved that his granddaughter's birth had gone smoothly.
"She is beautiful, sweetie." Mr. Blackwell then smoothed back Katrina's fringe that had stuck to her sweat-stained head.
"Dad, I want to name her. Could you write it down on the birth certificate? You and mom?" Katrina asked earnestly.
Mr. Blackwell nodded, not in any way affected by the earnest tone in her voice. "Yes. What do you want to name her?"
He bent down, so that he would be able to hear what Katrina told him. Mrs. Blackwell and Blair watched him smile as he listened. "Alrighty. You ready, Carrianne?"
Mrs. Blackwell nodded her head, excited. Although she hadn't supported Katrina in the beginning, towards the end, she had grown closer to her daughter. And she was now very excited to have a granddaughter, even…if her daughter hadn't been married when she had had it.
Katrina watched her mother and father walk out of the door closely, making sure that they were out of the door, before she spoke.
"Blair?"
Blair hurried over to Katrina's side to hear what she was about to say.
"I want you to know, that I want you to act like a mother to my baby, okay?" Katrina gulped, almost unable to go on with what she had to tell Blair. "You have too…you have to, okay? Please treat her as you would treat your own." Her voice began to crack, and becoming hoarse, she whispered one sentence. "Promise me, Blair. Promise me!"
Katrina held out her trembling hand to Blair.
Blair grasped it tightly, before whispering, "I promise Katrina."
Katrina smiled one last time, and closing her eyes, breathed out her very last sentence, "Tell Alex I love him, and about my baby."
With those last words, she died.
Mr. and Mrs. Blackwell came back into the dark room, overjoyed at being the ones to sign the certificate. Mrs. Blackwell glanced around, concerned about why the room was so dark, when she noticed Blair bent over Katrina's right hand…weeping.
"No, no!" Mrs. Blackwell cried as she ran to Katrina's side. "Please, no."
Mr. Blackwell let his ladies cry by Katrina's side, while he let a few tears slip out. Before long, he went to his wife, and pulled her into his comforting embrace. Mrs. Blackwell's hands clawed into his back, but he didn't care. His baby girl was dead.
All three of the Blackwells were pulled back into reality, when they heard Katrina's baby crying.
Mr. Blackwell gently took Katrina's fingers off of her child, before picking her up. "You look like your mother, Ariadne." He allowed himself a sad smile, as he let Ariadne play with his fingers.