Almost over. Second to last chapter.
Jade: you are the best! You made posting this worth it after all. I know this story was probably all over the place and since it was a sequel to a rewrite it was kinda doomed from the start - that it was also Bonenzo AND Tybekah surely didn't help matters. lol. But you were here anyways and let me know that someone IS reading. You don't know how much that means. :)
Also, I'm glad you liked that Tyler is the Risen. :) It just kinda happened that way.
Thank you, and any secret silent readers.
...
The rest of this will be a bit rushed and I apologize.
...
Eventually, Stefan had given the order to open the gates again. By then the situation had been resolved, the Zoners had retreated, the Golden resumed their normal positions guarding the gates, and the Silveren had even apologized after talking to both Tyler and Enzo for an extended period of time.
Bonnie was ready to finally wrap her arms around Enzo and leave it all behind for the day, and she looked up at him as his arms came around her, pulling her close. All tension left her body then, and the weight of the last few days, maybe even weeks fell away.
"I could use a day off," she joked, making Enzo chuckle into her hair.
"You and me both, love…"
Leaning her head against his chest, she heard his heart beat, a soothing sound that made her want to just lay down with him. But first, she had promised Enzo they'd go over to where Abby and Alaric had allotted Rebekah, Tyler and their new friends accommodations, leaving the skeletal camp to them for the next few days or however long it took to figure out what was going on with them and the Blazing.
"You ready?" she therefore asked, and waited until he nodded in affirmation. He was anxious, she could tell, but she knew better than to call him out on it. Instead she said, "They'll be fine, you know?"
"Yuh," he made, not quite looking at her as they walked out into the open again. The wind had picked up, making it feel positively autumnal out there, and the early darkness only aided in that impression. Trying to close her coat and failing, she huffed to herself.
"It's time this little one makes room," she said, and Enzo chuckled when he saw the hand's breadth of stomach poke out where the coat didn't fit over it anymore.
"Can't believe we'll really be having a little one so soon."
"Me neither." She scoffed, suddenly feeling self-conscious. Up until now, all their endeavors had kept her mind off of contemplating a life with a baby, but now it seemed to just whoosh into her mind all at once. How was she even going to do all that? Raise a child, keep doing her job, look out for all these people? She had no idea how to even start.
Bringing a baby into this kind of world…
She had thought things would look a lot different than they now did. All they had already accomplished before, it hadn't been enough. The disaster at the Ruins, the Eternals wish to want back what they had worked so hard to get rid of…
"They'll get over it," Enzo said out loud, having read her thoughts, but she wasn't so sure. "It'll be fine, Bonnie." He nudged her lightly, smiling. "Come on…"
"What if this has all been for naught? We can't save people that don't want to be saved, Enzo. We got lucky this time. Lucky that Tyler and these Blazing people showed up. Lucky that Qetsiyah brought them and her people here. But we can't rely on forester myths to come true and the Zoners to be ignorant of the bot technology forever. What if they come back?"
"Then we'll deal with it." Enzo gave her a tired look, and she got it. She was tired too. But his non-answer didn't help any of them.
"We'll have to come up with a better plan. We'll have to catalog and examine the remaining sites thoroughly. We can't let the Black Ruins get repeated anywhere else. And we can't just sit here and wait, either. We need to prepare for the Zoners, and we need to work on resolving the problems with the former Eternals for good. And speak to the ones still waiting for treatment. I mean…" She looked at him, running a hand over her cold cheeks. "What if they refuse?"
"Bonnie…"
His mouth in an unhappy bow, he stared at her. They had stopped right in front of the main tent in which Abby had set up a lab of sorts with Caroline, but neither of them moved to step in yet.
"We need to talk about this, Enzo," she insisted, and eventually he nodded, if briefly.
"I know. Just… can it wait till tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow… okay." She could give him that. Elijah wouldn't be back tonight, probably not even in a week or a month. But something told her that eventually, he would be back, and they had to be prepared. But Enzo was right. It could wait a little while longer…
When she finally opened the flap to the tent, she saw her mother bent over Rebekah's leg, both Caroline and Tyler standing not far.
While Caroline was focused on something Abby was pointing out, Bonnie noticed that Tyler wasn't as skittish around her mom anymore. Head held high, he still watched her warily, but there was a new confidence in his posture that she hadn't ever seen there. Strangely, whatever had happened to him and Rebekah seemed to have done him good.
"Just wait, little St. John," Klaus Mikaelson piped up from behind just then, swaggering into view. "You and Tyler will be their newest project. And I can tell you from personal experience that it involves a lot of prodding and poking."
"Shut up, Klaus," Abby and Caroline said simultaneously, making him roll his eyes but chuckle. Then he turned around, a smirk appearing on his face as he spotted them.
"If that ain't the big brother and his girl…"
Enzo didn't even grace him with a reaction, instead walking straight over to where his sister was sitting with one leg dangling off a gurney, they other stretched out in front of her.
"How's it look?" he addressed Abby, who was wrapping the leg back up right then. She gave a sigh, but smiled, especially when her gaze fell on Bonnie.
"It's early, but as far as we can tell, there doesn't seem to be an infection with the bots present. The slight sheen is merely superficial, not unlike it was back when Caroline got Klaus's blood on her hand. The first samples we took all came back negative." She exchanged her gloves from sterile ones to her usual dark leather pair, and nodded to Rebekah. "I still want you to lay down and rest now. Hop on over to the bed. And use the crutches I gave you." Her stare bored into poor Rebekah, whose mouth had turned into a thin line, but then she nodded anyways.
"Does that mean I can finally hug my brother?" she asked while hopping off the gurney, extending an arm to grab the crutches Tyler had just brought over for her.
Abby shook her head, sighing. "I'd advise against it. Just until we've made sure there's really nothing contagious in your bloodstream."
Bonnie nudged Enzo lightly, feeling the disappointment coming from him, which mirrored that visible in Rebekah's expression.
"How long, you think?" she asked for the two of them, and her mom shrugged.
"I'm hoping just a couple days or so. That should give us time to monitor the blood samples for any changes, and also take new ones for comparisons…."
"What about Tyler? The bots are definitely back in his system. Is it the same as with Enzo?"
Caroline, who was sitting in front of Alaric's big microscope just a few feet away, raised her head, and Bonnie looked over to her expectantly.
"So far so good," the girl said, and Bonnie breathed a sigh of relief.
Enzo didn't seem to be satisfied with that answer, however, and asked, "Which means?"
"That it looks like the kind of spreading you experienced before. We'll treat it the way we treated you. Well… minus the Old One. We'll use a regular weapon - Qetsiyah said we could use the one she gave him." Caroline lowered her voice. "She really seems to think he's the next big thing or something, it's…"
"Just shut up, Caroline." Tyler didn't look at any of them, just rubbed his neck uncomfortably, until Rebekah placed a hand on his arm, making him stop.
Caroline threw her hands up as if in surrender, stifling a chuckle. "Alright, fine. But you gotta admit it's a little funny. You as the foresters' new messiah…" This time she did chuckle, earning herself another glare from Tyler. "Sorry," she breathed, finally falling silent, and rolling her eyes at Enzo, who raised an eyebrow at her.
"So… nothing out of the ordinary," Bonnie noted, trying to get them all back on track, and Caroline nodded.
"Like I said, so far so good."
"What about your strange new friends, and the foresters that got in contact with them?"
"We haven't been able to sample all their blood yet, but here's where it gets interesting…" Caroline looked to Abby, then the until then rather quiet Alaric, who both nodded for her to go on.
Bonnie subconsciously clutched Enzo's hand, and he reciprocated the gesture, both of them strangely on edge.
"These people… their blood is chock full of bots, which I guess is not that surprising what with their rather glaring appearances. But these bots… they're not Silveren. Or Golden."
Bonnie frowned, not quite understanding yet what that meant. "So there's a third kind of bots? Is that what you're saying?"
Caroline nodded, her expression almost solemn. Alaric, who stood just a little further away from her, raised an arm, then opened his mouth.
"Actually, we're not quite sure yet. It could be an entirely different version of nanobots, yes. But the ones we extracted from them show rather interesting similarities to the ones we know from Abby - and recently Klaus here."
He waved over to the both of them, and Bonnie briefly caught Klaus's gaze, who suddenly looked a bit uncomfortable.
"Yeah," he muttered, "I hope that doesn't mean we'll turn into what they are…"
"Tyler and Rebekah said they have telepathic powers," Alaric explained further, looking at Klaus as he did, "I think that might mean you're in the clear. Seeing as your bots worked in severing your bond once they had been altered enough to resemble Abby's."
"But… are you saying these new bots could also just be a… a result of Silveren and Golden bots fusing together? How?" Enzo exchanged a glance with Bonnie, his confusion mixing with her own. Neither of them knew what to make of this new information, what to make of these shiny people and all the different nanobots.
"Yup," Caroline said, before Alaric could continue on, and going by his slightly flustered expression, he had meant to put it somewhat differently.
Probably more wordy, too…
Bonnie grinned at Enzo's dry comment, but quickly returned her focus to the others.
"Alright," she said, sweeping a strand of rogue hair out of her face where it had bothered her. "Any working theory on what could have happened? How they might have… turned the way they are?"
"We do have one, actually, yes." Abby had sat down on the gurney, fidgeting with her hands until she became aware of it and stopped. "Alaric thinks the Black Ruins - at least parts of them - could have been research facilities in the Before. Potentially the birthing ground of the Golden nanobots. Which could explain why they were targeted by the Big Ones."
"We're now thinking that more than one went down there - which would also explain the much stronger reaction to the agent with the consecutive disastrous explosion." Alaric exchanged a glance with Enzo that Bonnie caught, too, and she felt the turmoil going through Enzo at the mere mention of the inferno. Would he forever blame himself?
We gotta move on from this, she told him, You did what we thought was best. We both decided…
Yeah…
Sighing, she let it go. For the moment.
What Alaric had said made sense. "But what about these Blazing people? How do they factor in?"
"We're not sure yet. But it could be that they're direct descendants of survivors from the Before, survivors of the Black Ruins bombing, specifically. These survivors would have been doused in bots from all sides. But thanks to the structure of some of these Ruins, we think these buildings had been built to last through an atomic attack, if not a multitude of them. But somewhere in there, life was preserved. If these first survivors back then already looked like their descendants now, chances are they decided to hide. And so they stayed among themselves..."
Bonnie was a bit mind-boggled still. And she wasn't the only one. Enzo was shaking his head, running a hand over his face as he did.
"And you guys, what, talked to them? Telepathically?" He looked to Rebekah, then Tyler, who seemed to feel a little put on the spot. Then Tyler cleared his throat and nodded.
"I think so, yeah."
"You think so?" Enzo scoffed, shaking his head, and Rebekah glared at her brother, pushing herself before Tyler. "Were you so sure about what the hell was going on when Bonnie first appeared in your mind?"
Enzo made a face, and she went on.
"It was… strange. I mean, I'm not sure how it feels for you guys. But I figure this was different. I… couldn't even communicate with them, just listen. It was just like listening in on a conversation. But you," she turned to look at Tyler, "you actually talked, too. I could hear it…"
He shoved his hands into his pockets, avoiding most of their curious gazes. "Yeah, no idea how that worked. Hasn't happened since…"
Abby squinted at him, making him cast his eyes down.
"Hm," she made. "We'll definitely need to check your samples thoroughly the next few days, see whether you don't have at least traces of their bots show up in your blood work.
"What if he does?" Rebekah suddenly looked almost protective.
Abby jerked her head, shrugging. "I don't know. We'd have to monitor him… He'd have to remain in quarantine until we could be sure it's not contagious."
"No." Rebekah shook her head, pressing her lips together. The one word sounded determined, angered. Bonnie took a step forward, trying to appease her, to explain again, but Enzo held her back, shaking his head.
His sister seemed to catch that small gesture too, and scoffed.
"So we're what now? Your captives? Until we're cleared?"
"You're not captives, Bekah." Enzo looked at her with a pained expression, sighing when she glared at him, her hands fists. But before she could walk closer to them, Tyler pulled her back, a gaze passing between them that made her deflate somewhat.
Right then, the tent flap opened again, and Qetsiyah walked in, making a careful wide berth around Bonnie and Enzo as she walked over to where Rebekah and Tyler were standing.
"They can stay with us," she announced, indicating both of them, then she smiled at Rebekah. "Captain's daughter, your place is with us now. You and the risen will always have a home in our midst."
Enzo snorted. "What's with that risen-talk anyways?"
Qetsiyah turned to stare at him, her gaze impenetrable.
She's crazier than I first thought, Enzo communicated, and Bonnie touched his arm, feeling him bristle. For some reason he had never quite taken to the forester woman, saw her as a threat. There was something buried deep in his childhood that made him wary, and she knew it had to do with his sister and how she'd always ventured out to seek the company of others.
You know you won't lose her to them, right?
Won't I?
She loves you, Enzo. She'll always come back.
What if they do have… He didn't finish his thought but she knew what he meant.
We'll cross that bridge when we get there. I'm sure we'll come up with something if we have to. Alaric and Caroline can whip something up to cure them, perhaps. Or my mom, or… We'll find a way…
"They can't just leave," Abby just told Qetsiyah, crossing her arms, but the other woman merely stared at her, an eyebrow raised in suspicion.
"What about the rest of us, then? Are you going to quarantine all of the forest people that were here, too? Me?"
Abby stood tall, ready to challenge back, when Alaric Saltzman stepped between the two women, a smile on his face. "We're not going to do that, of course," he said, directed at Qetsiyah, who had shifted her focus on him.
"Then what are you going to do?"
He sighed, looking around as if for support. Arms crossed, he tipped his head. "We'll let them go with you if they so desire."
"Alaric!" Abby sounded angrier than Bonnie had heard her in a long time, but Alaric lifted a hand as if to appease her, his expression now earnest and composed.
"We can't keep them here against their will, Abby. They just helped us avert an attack on our city. We owe them that. We can let them go and maybe… maybe make up a schedule of visits where we can examine them and make sure everything is healing nicely and check whether they are still infected."
"We can't do that. We have no way of making sure they won't get in contact with—"
"Are you going to keep me locked up then, too?" Klaus suddenly chimed in, a rather surprising supporter for Rebekah and Tyler, and everyone frowned at him suspiciously.
"Leave it, Klaus Mikaelson," Caroline warned, trying to pull him back out of focus, but he shook his head, looking at her.
"No, I'm genuinely curious. Nobody seemed to have thought it necessary to put me or the doc here in quarantine and we have these super weird corrupted bots in our bodies that - apparently - are very similar to the one in those freaky friends of theirs," he pointed over to Rebekah, then Tyler, the latter rolling his eyes, the former openly grinning.
"He's right," Rebekah said, turning her attention to Abby. "You just walked freely in the city. For a damn year. Doesn't seem like anyone cared then…"
"That was different, Bekah," Enzo told her. "Just let it go, okay? But I agree with Klaus." Can't believe I'm saying that…
Bonnie stifled a chuckle at that. But she was with him. "Alright," she therefore said, "Rebekah, Tyler? If you guys are okay with that, I say go with Qetsiyah. We can do everything there. No need to stay here. We'll come out to see you every other day. But you'll have to let us help, and you'll have to stay there until we're sure these bots are not in your bodies…"
Rebekah inclined her head, thinking. She exchanged a long look with Tyler, a moment passing between them. Then, eventually, she very softly said, "Okay…"
…
...
It wasn't so bad. Katherine wasn't happy that they had been scared into leaving without getting what they came for, but in the end it was probably all for the better. When Elijah summoned her to his throne room a week after they had gotten back, he seemed to be in better spirits.
"Sit down," he told her while he was pacing the room, but she decided to just wait standing, watching him make his rounds.
"What can I do for you, my king?"
A soft scoff behind her made her turn around to see Nya appear in the doorframe, Elijah's mother and self proclaimed queen.
"Have you told her yet?" the woman asked, jerking her head at Katherine as if she was just a thing, and Elijah stared at her with unmoving features before shaking his head.
"I was just about to, mother."
"Don't make everything such a fuss…"
Katherine wanted to roll her eyes on Elijah's behalf but caught herself as she noted the man's minute shake of the head before he addressed her.
"I need eyes in the Golden capital…"
Had she heard that right? He wanted her to spy on their enemies?
"Someone to find out about these gleaming creatures. About the city's defenses. The state of the alliance… I want to know more about that kid and the girl that escaped from here, and I want you to retrieve them."
Swallowing, she nodded, bowing her head low. "Yes, my king."
He sighed at her addressing him that way, but he didn't tell her off again. As if he had gotten tired of it, or maybe he had accepted it.
"When shall I leave?"
"Tonight."
A cold excitement crept into her, making her arms and legs break out in goosebumps. She was ready for this, even though she had no idea how to go about it. That stupid girl had escaped her before, had humiliated her. It was time to pay her back. But how if she was all alone?
She'd find a way...
"You'll have to convince them that you switched sides, that you ran away… I'll send Valerie with you, maybe together you can convince them that she was the one turning you, and that she wanted to go back..."
"Understood."
"You may go now," he finished, and she bowed again, then left. She was almost to the stairs when she heard his mother Esther cackle.
"You're sending her? Instead of an army? Just because you're scared of some strange shiny people? I thought I had raised a warrior, but maybe I was mistaken."
"Shut up, mother," Elijah growled, then Katherine couldn't hear them anymore. The fact was, Esther hadn't seen those "shiny people." She had no idea what she was talking about. Katherine, on the other hand, had seen them, and she was ready to get behind their secret. Maybe they could be the weapon her people needed…
…
Enzo was in the middle of dealing with the third alliance assembly, a meeting they had called into existence after the near disaster with the Zoners in front of the gates a few weeks prior, when he suddenly doubled over, stifling a surprised gasp.
"You alright, Captain son?" Nate shot him a worried glance that he shrugged off quickly as he straightened his back again, plastering a fake smile on his face.
What the hell was that? he asked in his mind, sure now that it had come from Bonnie.
Shit, she cursed, It's the contractions. They've been picking up all day.
You serious? An abrupt excited panic washed over him, his senses growing alert as he looked around the group sitting around him. Stefan was debating with some of the other commanders. General Wallace, as usual, was just listening, tapping the table in front of him rhythmically as he bided his time, surely getting ready to throw some rocks in their way when the time came.
Across from Enzo, Silas sat, his face a dark, broody mask and he knew that the man merely put up with this new assembly because Tyler had miraculously managed to persuade him.
Tyler, who had undergone a strange transformation since Enzo had last seen him. The kid hadn't only left behind his former fidgety behavior, but had risen to the task of leading their displaced and frustrated people, even from afar.
Abby had still not cleared him - or Rebekah - to return anywhere near the city, but people had begun to actually travel out to the forest to seek his advice. And as reluctant as Enzo was to admit it, it had made his own leading of their people a lot easier.
Now, however, he began having trouble focusing on anything. While he was sure the strange wave-like pain coming from Bonnie's side was nothing compared to what it felt like for her, it was rather off throwing.
I'll try and help if you let me, he offered but she half shoved him to the edges of her mind, a sudden fierce annoyance taking a hold of her.
I got this, she hissed, Besides, you idiot still haven't let Alaric take care of your stupid scar and I'm not going to make things worse for you by putting my own pain on y— ugh, dammit!
Yeah, he thought, this wasn't happening. The meeting would have to wait.
I'm on my way, he told her as soon as he had realized where she was, still out at the camp, overseeing the construction of the new Silveren homes and the extension of the northern city walls to encompass the camp in the future.
I'm fine. I'll just… finish this here and head back to…
You'll go straight back to the city, Bonnie. Someone else can take over for today.
I'm pretty sure I'll still have a while before baby shows up and I'm not going to let you just walk out of the meeting. You know how they get when you're not there to keep them in check. And since Tyler is still not cleared, he can't take over—
I'll tell Nate to keep an eye on things.
Nate?
He could hear her scoff, but decided to ignore it. Excusing himself, he stood up, stepping over to where Nate and Alaric were sitting.
"I gotta go," he told them, nodding to Alaric. "You happen to know where Abby is? Still with the foresters, or is she back yet?"
Alaric raised an eyebrow as he frowned. "Still in the forest, I'm afraid. Why, is Bonnie alright?"
Enzo swallowed, feeling a little awkward. "I, uh… think she's having the baby. Soon, anyways," he stammered, and Alaric nodded.
"Why don't I come with you? We'll get her over to the hospital. I know enough people there to get her a good doc and a room of her own."
Enzo nodded, grateful for the man as a sudden stupor seemed to take a hold of him.
"Keep an eye on these guys, Nate, will you? If they try and bash each other's heads in again, don't hesitate calling the meeting off till later. I'll be back as soon as I can."
The poor kid nodded, looking less than pleased, but Enzo couldn't care less right now. Somewhere at the periphery of his conscience he felt Bonnie's pain pick up and he knew he needed to get to her. Stat.
…
When Enzo appeared on the horizon, looking unkempt and worried, Bonnie had to smile. She had to admit that his concern was kind of cute, even though she hated how lately people had begun to treat her like she was fragile, something that apparently came with being rather pregnant. But she was so over it.
As she froze in her tracks again, trying to breathe through a new spike of pain, she wondered how this could be something women had done for thousands of generations. How could this be normal? No, she had made up her mind. She wasn't going to have this baby after all.
I'm afraid you'll have to. Enzo was smiling at her as he helped her stand up and to her annoyance he had brought Alaric Saltzman, too. Great, another witness.
He's just here to help. He brought one of his carriages so we can get you back to the ci—
He stopped mid-sentence, or maybe she could just not pay attention anymore, but suddenly all was a blur of pain and she felt her knees give out as Enzo caught all her weight.
Her conscience came back in time to hear Alaric rather drily declare, "We'll have to stay here. She's not gonna make it back to the hospital."
"What?!" Enzo sounded panicked. Bonnie tried to stand, swatting at his hands, but he didn't let go.
"Oh shit," she then hissed as another contraction seized her body, feeling like it was threatening to squash her, before an awful full feeling seemed to just want to push out of her.
The baby. Alaric was right. She wasn't going to the city. She wasn't even going anywhere else. This baby was coming right here, right at his moment. And she was terrified.
"Enzo!" she yelled, clutching his hands as he lowered her to the ground, looking as frantic as she felt, his hair a wild mop around his head, while her own started sticking to her forehead because it was so damn hot all of a sudden.
"You!" Alaric yelled at someone, she couldn't see who and didn't care, "get us some blankets, water, first aid kit, whatever you got. She's having the baby. Now. Hurry!"
She was, wasn't she? Oh no…
…
Alaric was nervous, panicked even, but looking at the poor girl before him who was trying her hardest to get a child into this world, he forced himself to seem calm and collected. In charge. Because she needed that right now, she needed him to be strong and tell her that he knew what he was doing.
"Trust me, it's actually not the first birth I helped with," he told her with a smile on his features and she shot him a wary glance.
"Please leave it at that and don't tell me now that it was all cows and dogs and kittens."
That got a good laugh out of him. The girl was smart. But she was Abby's after all. Fierce and strong, and he wasn't worried about her, knowing that she'd be alright. He was almost more worried about Enzo. The kid looked so pale as if he was about to pass out from worry.
Directing his attention to Bonnie, he shook his head. "No, I mean human births. I used to live in the Outskirts growing up. My grandmother had taken me in for a while there. She was something like a midwife…" He trailed off, realizing that he had never really spoken much about this part of his life, but Bonnie surprised him by begging him to continue.
"I need something to take my mind off of this," she said, and Alaric complied with a nod and a smile.
"You know, your child will have it better. You two have helped make this place better for people like your baby, like me… there's more mixed origin people out there than you might know, and we haven't had it easy. Not everyone got as lucky as me and had loving grandparents and a rich family. But the things you've done, you've changed so much already…"
"Alaric, shut up!" Bonnie suddenly blurted before he had even gotten far, but he could see why.
This was happening now, and there was only going forward. Pushing his sliding sleeves back up, he nodded to Enzo to hold Bonnie's hands. She was going to push, and there was no waiting anymore.
…
Later, when he sat among the blood and rags and gooey things births brought with them, he rested his hand on his thighs, looking up at the sky above.
It had grown dark, stars visible, and the strong sheen of the moon spent enough light to cast shadows around him. Enzo had long carried Bonnie over to the carriage, wrapped in blankets, holding their tiny baby girl, and Alaric wanted to give them a quick moment before he came to bring them all back to the city.
It had been a good day. Out there, the unknown was still threatening to come at them, the Blazing, the strange new bots, the Zoners that were quiet for now but always a threat. But today had been good. And they had shown the world before that they could change it. They would do so again. He would. For this new baby, and all these people that had become part of his life.
Because Alaric Saltzman cared.
...
The carriage's movements on the rough ground wiggled them around a lot, making Bonnie stifle a gasp here and there, making Enzo tighten his grasp on her. He was worried about her. Maybe they should have stayed at the camp after all so that she and the baby wouldn't get jostled so much. But she had wanted to get their baby to the safety within the walls, and who was he to argue with that? With her…
"Isn't she gorgeous?" Bonnie breathed, looking up to him with a mesmerized smile that he reciprocated.
"Yeah."
She really was the most gorgeous little person he had ever seen and he couldn't wait to show her the world. Protect her from it, too.
"Hey, Lucy" Bonnie said, trying out the name they had picked, and it felt so natural that it was almost eerie.
Enzo sighed, just watching his little family, these two people that meant so much to him, and he wondered when exactly he had become someone reliable and responsible enough to take care of another human being.
"A while ago," Bonnie told him, smiling. "Believe it or not, she is not the only one looking up to you…"
He raised an eyebrow, and scoffed. "Without you, no one would…"
"I guess that just means we'll have to stick together to be our best." She turned back to cuddle with their baby, watch the tiny hand that grasped her finger, and Enzo's heart was ready to explode with all the love it could barely contain anymore.
He was so happy in this moment that all the worries about everything else took a backseat. They'd still be there come morning, and as he had now learned there'd always be new obstacles to tackle, new hurdles to jump over even when it seemed like the worst was over. But he knew he could do it. With Bonnie.
For their child.