In The Distant Future

By caramelapples

Chapter 10

The weather was getting colder and colder and yet it didn't seem to want to snow. It was as though it was waiting for something to happen. Laura was sure of it. When she was a little girl, she remembered having her mother tell her that when it snowed, it would mean that snow angels were coming down to play and watch over her. She had gladly believed it.

She wondered if her daughter would believe her if she told her that snow angels came down when it snowed. Maybe she would until she was old enough to believe otherwise. Laura quickly pushed an unpleasant thought to the back of her mind before the full force of it hit her. She most probably wouldn't be there to see her baby girl grow old enough to not believe in snow angels. She decided to write about snow angels in the scrapbook explaining everything she couldn't when she wasn't here anymore.

Kara and Lee had been oddly quiet during dinner. Bill included. She felt a little hurt that they felt the need to hide anything at all from her.

She shifted uncomfortably under the sheets and shivered a little from the cold. Bill, even in sleep, sensed her discomfort and wrapped an arm around her waist, resting on her stomach. She had been feeling more and more uncomfortable as her pregnancy progressed. It was normal, Doctor Roberts had told her. She burrowed her back against Bill's chest as settled in her warm nest of her own. The Gods were cruel to give her happiness and bitterness all at once. She stubbornly willed herself to not think about it. If she wanted to be around longer, she would have to be stronger. For Bill. For her baby. She would stay as long as possible.

"Laura, come here!" she called to the toddler. "Come here!"

The little girl scrambled over to her mother and giggled delightedly as she was lifted of the ground.

"I love you," she said, placing a finger on the child's nose.

"Mama!" the little girl squealed as though it was the best word in the world. Perhaps it was at the moment. "Mama!" she cried again, with more pride this time.

She felt the weight of the child starting to wear down on her and sighed in relief when Bill came out of the door. He carried Laura II and kissed her on the forehead followed by one on her mother's cheek. "Da!" the child cried, as loud as she did just now. "Da!" she said proudly.

"Are you tired?" she heard Bill ask.

Laura shook her head stubbornly. She was determined not to appear weak. Not in front of her precious child. "No," she said, cursing the Gods in her head for her weak body. Suddenly her knees were to weak and she clutched desperately at Bill's arm for support.

"Mama!"

She blinked owlishly and sat up. It was a dream. Pleasant at the beginning but the same couldn't be said about the end. Dear Lords, what do you want? I've led this people to salvation and I'm going to die and you can't even let me enjoy my dream?

She sighed and reached under her comforter to straighten her wool sweater. It was constantly twisting around her body when it was loose. In fact, it was so large that it was long enough to cover her thighs and thus, she didn't have to wear pants (it was troublesome when she couldn't see her own feet if she looked down). Bill grunted when he felt her moving around.

It was then that she noticed that the sheets were moist. Confused, she flicked the lamp on the tableside on and was horrified when she saw the sheets were stained crimson with her blood. She pulled her sweater up and gasped. Her thighs were bloody and she started to shake in fear. Oh Gods, something is wrong…

"Bill!" she said, her voice coming out strangled. "Bill, wake up!" she said, shaking his shoulders.

He opened his eyes and squinted at the sudden abundance of light. "What?" he asked, momentarily annoyed at being awoken in the middle of the night. Only when he realised that she was shaking with tears that he sat up instantly and was worried immediately. "What happened?"

She couldn't stop trembling as she pushed the sheets aside. "I'm bleeding… Something's wrong, Bill…" she said, her voice dripping with panic. "I just woke up and then I saw this…" she said, staring at her slightly parted thighs. She gripped the sheets with shaking hands. Bill paled as he saw the sight in front of him.

"I'm going to call the ambulance. Don't move." He rushed out of the room and went straight to the telephone in the living room.

"What's going on?" Kara asked, appearing at the door, yawning.

Laura let out a trembling sob as Kara approached her. Panic unleashed itself onto Kara as she climbed onto the bed, kneeling beside Laura. She pushed Laura's hair away from her face. "Oh, Laura…"

"Bill went to call…uh…the ambulance," Laura said, shaking like a leaf. Kara took both the older woman's hand into her own. "What if something bad happens? Something's wrong…" Laura said, not caring if Kara answered. She squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself to calm down.

"It's gonna be all right," Kara soothed, not really believing herself. "It'll be fine." She felt Laura grip her hands tighter and she wasn't about to let go. She prayed hard.

"Dear Lords of Kobol, please let her be all right… Please let the baby be all right…" Kara mumbled under her breath as to not let Laura see how afraid she actually was. "Don't worry," she said. "It'll be all right. You'll see." Please Lords of Kobol…

To be continued…


A/N-Here's the next installment. I hope you liked it. Please leave reviews! They're wonderful! Thank you so much for reading!