Voting:

Celeste: 3

Luna: 1

ATTENTION! I MADE A MISTAKE IN THE LAST CHAPTER THAT AFFECTS THE ENTIRE STORY AND MOST DEFINITELY THE SEQUEL TO THIS STORY... KELLA IS NOT DEAD. ROCHELLE IS THE ONE THAT DIED!

Chapter Twenty-Nine: In which Case Everyone Stops Ray...

Ray narrowed his eyes as he stared at grid in front of him. It was peppered with red and white dots, indicating hits and misses alike. Maybe... "H-8."

"Miss." Wu smirked as he crossed his arms triumphantly across his chest. "A-10."

Ray sighed as he shoved first a white dot into his top screen... then a red one into his last ship. "Hit and sunk." Frustrated, he lifted his head up to glare at his friend. "How come I couldn't find any of your ships?"

Wu twisted his board around so that Ray could see his ship line up. "For some reason no one ever thinks about the possibility that they are all in one spot."

Ray shook his head, muttering under his breath, "Seriously..."

Wu merely chuckled, despite not knowing what it was that Ray had said. He trusted his friend enough to realize that he was simply annoyed. "Would you like to play another round?"

"Sure." Ray quickly removed the pegs and ships off his board, before he reset it up. This time he spaced out his ships so that there was an entire row between each one. Satisfied, he straightened back up to look Wu in the eye... just as his phone went off. Flinching at the loud sudden ringing, he reached into his pocket and pulled the cellular phone out. Pushing the talk button, he spoke into the mouth piece. "Hello?"

"¡Viene el bebé! Kella me va a llevar al hospital ahora mismo." Maya's voice flooded his ear, worry and excitement mingling in her voice.

Alarmed, and not knowing what it was that she had just said, he forced himself to speak calmly to his wife. "Maya, what was that? You know I don't speak your native tongue..."

"The baby is coming Ray!" Kella's voice yelled out suddenly, before the someone hung up on the phone.

Ray felt his face pale at that, before yelling at the phone uselessly, "The baby isn't due for another six weeks!"

Wu's eyes widened at that, before pointing to the door. "You best get going Ray. Maya, I am sure, will want you there to meet the new little one."

Ray nodded as he leaped to his feet, running towards the door. "I'm coming Maya! And nothing is going to get in my way!"

"Ray! I need your help for five seconds!" Forest hollered from where he was struggling to balance a potted tree, shovel, and watering can. Ray skidded to a halt, before whirling around to help Forest move everything outside. Once he was assured that Forest no longer needed his help, he rushed out the monastery door.

Once outside, Mason waved him over, "Ray! Can you help me wield these two pieces together super quick? My wielding torch is on the fritz again." Ray paused once again to help Mason, using his fire to wield the two metal pieces together for him. "Thanks Ray!"

"No problem!" Ray darted down the mountain, towards where his car was parked. Jumping into it, he took off as quickly as he could towards the hospital without going over the speed limit. He could do this... He could still make it... really it only took a few minutes to help both Forest and Mason... He slammed on his brakes to prevent himself from crashing into the car in front of him which was just sitting there. Rolling down his window, he stuck his head out to try and figure out what was going on here. For as far as he could see, traffic was backed up from here to possibly past Ignacia Village. Groaning, he pulled his head back in as the fun start and stop of terrible traffic slowed him down miserably. There must have been a pretty major accident earlier, either that or road construction again. Ray tried to turn the radio on to help pass time only to discover that all of the channels were playing commercials for small children and babies at that moment. Groaning to himself, he turned the radio off, noting that Wu was right when he suggested that they get CDs to listen to in the radio.

Finally he got close enough to the exit to turn onto it. Sweat beaded Ray's forehead as he glanced at the time. Maya had called him two hours ago... how was he gonna explain this?! Shaking his head, he tore through town, before coming to a screeching halt in the hospital's parking lot. Yanking his keys out, he jumped out of his vehicle, sprinting towards the door that would allow him to enter the lobby. Running up to the secretary, he gasped slightly as he leaned against the counter. "My wife is having a baby... one of our friends brought her in since I was visiting my best friend... her name is Maya Smith?"

"I've got you covered Ray." Kella appeared behind Ray, dropping a hand down on his shoulder, a huge smile on her face.

Ray started in surprise, wondering why exactly it was that she was in the lobby. "Kella? Shouldn't you be with Maya while she's having the baby?"

Kella rolled her eyes as she lead him away from the check in counter, towards the elevator. "Ray... I'll have you know that your little girl didn't hesitate with coming into this world. What should have taken hours instead only took about fifty-five minutes, really. The baby was almost out by the time we got her here."

"So... I missed it?" Ray felt a stab of disappointment at that, not too sure what to think about that detail.

Kella ushered him into the elevator, pushing a button that presumingly would take him to his wife and new baby. Speaking of which... "You said that the baby was a girl?"

"Yes. Maya said that you picked the name Celeste. Something about how it was your great-aunt's name..." Kella glanced over at him quizzically.

Ray nodded wearily, before speaking in a tired voice about that particular relative. "She died when she was ten. Her horse was spooked and threw her. From what I was told Aunt Celeste was pretty beat up, and already dead, by the time anyone found her."

"Ouch." Kella winced, noting that was probably hard on original Celeste's parents.

Ray merely nodded, before darting out the elevator as the door dinged open. Kella followed him, before leading him down the hall to a closed door. After knocking briefly, she ushered him into it. Ray felt his breath hitch as he looked over at his exhausted wife, who was holding a small pink bundle in her arms. Moving over to her, he glanced down to see a very thick head of black curls snuggled deep with in the blanket. "Hey there Celeste... I'm your daddy..." He gently stroked his daughter's tiny fist, a smile tugging at his lips.

A/N: Done! In case you didn't get the memo... last chapter wasn't supposed to say that Kella died... it was supposed to say that Rochelle died! Kella is still very much alive! We're gonna have to have issues if she wasn't alive anymore. Thank you for being patient with me!

Reviews:

ThePowerOfOats: Thank you! About those deaths... I goofed up. I swapped Kella and Rochelle around. Rochelle was the one that died, not Kella.

Ninjagolover52: Your vote has been noted!

PiratePirata: Sorry about that... also I goofed. Rochelle died, not Kella.

CopperHillsGrizzly2010: Your vote as been counted... and nope! Kai is still not with us just yet!

Review!

SkyTalon