Five years later...

Anita found herself in the same hospital room she'd been in years earlier. This time, however, it was for a much different reason. She was about to give birth to her third daughter. Funny, wasn't it? She was having her third daughter on the same day she'd had her late Surprise Lily. She couldn't help but think there was some force out there that liked to play practical jokes on people, much less her. She moaned and screamed. She was in so much pain. It was all she could feel. She couldn't tolerate the sensation, even for just a second. She just wanted it to end. She groaned and huffed, the pain ebbing and then disappearing. She panted and her throat burned. She was so hot. A cool hand pressed against her face and tilted it to the side, and then there were lips on her forehead and a calming voice.

"It's alright, Anita. It's going to be okay, I promise." Victor just stroked Anita's hair, which by this point had become drenched in sweat. "I couldn't be any prouder of you than I am now. I know you can do this."

Anita didn't say anything in response. She just bit down a scream while more tears streamed down her face, then gazed over to Victor.

"I mean it," Victor said again. "You're doing great."

"Make it stop. Please, just make the pain stop." Anita was teetering on the edge of sobbing, her face flushed and her gown drenched with sweat.

"C'mon, Anita. I know you can do this. You gotta do this. You're the strongest person I know."

"I can't, Victor, I can't..."

"Yes, you can!"

Anita tried to calm down. She was panicking. She knew she was panicking, but it was impossible not to do so when she was experiencing such excruciating pain. She felt another contraction begin. As soon as the contraction reached its peak, she let out an anguished cry.

"Oh my gosh!" Anita shrieked while feeling the baby's head move into position. "I can feel it! It's coming, it's coming right now!"

Victor was practically shitting himself at this point, but he tried his best to keep his composure. Despite having known each other for so long, Victor was still hesitant for her to see him show any sign of fear. He knew she knew he was nowhere near as manly as he liked to present himself, but old habits died hard. He couldn't even believe how quickly the birthing process had been progressing so far. Before he knew it, it could all be over. Soon, the hospital room door opened. Victor looked over to see Dr. Pertwee just now walking into the room, mask and gloves on.

"Please tell me we're getting close, Doc," Victor said. "I don't think she can take much more."

Dr. Pertwee held up his hand and lifted up Anita's gown, disappearing under it for a moment. When he emerged back out to the surface, he spoke some medical jargon about dilations and contractions. He then nodded to the nurse, and the door was closed.

"It's time, Anita," Dr. Pertwee announced. "Are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be, I guess," Anita replied uncertainly while grimacing from yet another contraction.

"That's good enough for me. Now, Mrs. Knight, I can see her head starting to crown, so I'm going to need you to push when I say so. Can you do that for me?"

"I-I'll try..."

Victor lay his hand upon her sweaty shoulder. "Hey, I'm with you, okay? Always. Now come on, Anita, you can do it. Push for me, buddy."

Too overwhelmed to disobey, Anita started to bear down. She pushed and pushed and tried to breathe between them for what felt like hours. She couldn't tell if minutes or hours were passing by. Over. She just wanted this to be over. She wanted her daughter to be in her arms already. Her contractions came fast and hard, giving her little time to think much about anything except bringing this child safely into the world.

"Just one more," Dr. Pertwee said.

A surging pain pulsed through Anita, back full force, and she let loose a cry that she didn't know she was even holding in. As her voice died down, mind totally frazzled, she slowly became aware of a baby screaming. It was such a shrill little sound, but it was also a loud and healthy sound. Anita raised her head from pillows that had now been soaked through with sweat. She smiled faintly, her ears ringing and her vision becoming blurry with freshly falling tears. Dr. Pertwee wasn't between her legs anymore. He instead was looking down upon something Anita could barely see.

"Congratulations, Mrs. Knight," Anita could hear Dr. Pertwee say. "You have a beautiful baby girl."

Dr. Pertwee held the newborn baby up for Victor and Anita to see. From what Anita could see of her, she looked so small and she still had her umbilical cord attached. It only took a few moments for Victor to nervously cut the cord and for Anita to deliver the afterbirth. Anita's exhaustion was overcome by joy at seeing her daughter, her healthy little girl, being cleaned up and wrapped in a pink towel. Dr. Pertwee then handed the baby over to Victor.

Victor felt himself tearing up while holding his new daughter in his arms. "Oh, my sweet Resurrection Lily. I love you. I love you so much. I can't believe you're already here." He slipped his finger into his daughter's hand and bounced her gently, cooing at her.

The baby slowly flickered her eyes open, trying to adjust to a world that had suddenly illuminated before her. Her eyes were a grayish-blue, which was typical for most newborns. It would probably take some time before the parents could tell whose eyes she'd gotten, but neither Victor nor Anita really cared whose eyes she'd have in the end.

"Victor..." Anita softly whined at her husband.

"What is it, Anita?" Victor asked.

"Give me the baby..."

"Okay."

Anita felt herself tearing up as she reached out for her daughter, and Victor placed her in her mother's arms. All Anita could see at this point was that round, ruddy little face staring back at her with those grayish-blue eyes and wisps of blonde hair sticking out of her head.

"H-Hey, sweetie," Anita told her new daughter. "It's me, your mummy. Welcome to the world. I hope you like it so far because this isn't all you'll get to see. You've got your dad over there and some other people I can't wait for you to meet."

Victor smiled at this. "Aw, that was beautiful, Anita."

Anita smiled back. "Thanks, Victor."

"Knock knock," said a familiar feminine voice.

Victor and Anita looked over to see Mildred standing in the doorway along with Liam and Millie.

"What are you doing here already?" Victor asked curiously.

"Well, I had a feeling that my new granddaughter would already be here by the time Liam and Millie got out of primary school," Mildred replied. "So I picked them up after school and brought them here."

"Oh, okay."

"So..." Mildred smiled cheekily. "Has she finally been born?"

Victor nodded happily. "Yep."

"Mind if we come in?"

Victor and Anita shook their heads, and Mildred proceeded to tug her grandchildren into the room behind her. The children's eyes lit up and they bounced beside the bed, their mouths turned up in little grins.

"Is that my new little sister?!" Millie practically squeaked out.

Anita laughed and nodded while brushing the blanket away from the baby's face to show the children.

"What's her name?" Liam asked curiously.

Victor and Anita both looked at each other and smiled.

"Lily," Anita answered proudly. "Her name is Lily."

"Wait, isn't that the same name you gave...?" Mildred asked before her son cut her off.

"Yeah, it is." Victor proceeded to look down at the baby with a sad smile. "It's our way of honoring the other Lily, the one who's heavenside." He then quickly followed it up with, "But this Lily's middle name is Angelica, so we'll just call her Angie in the future."

Mildred nodded to show she understood. "Oh, okay."

"Ooh, pretty!" Millie exclaimed. "Can I hold her?!"

The adults laughed at her eagerness, but Angie just wasn't having it. She fussed and began to cry, and Anita gave a knowing half smile.

"Not right now, kiddo," Victor replied. "Looks like your sister is hungry. Why don't you and Liam go get something to eat with Grandma and we'll call you when you can come hold her, okay?"

Millie nodded, and she and her brother rushed out of the room, Mildred in tow. Victor grabbed Anita's chin and tugged her face sideways to kiss her lips. Anita pulled her gown apart and set Angie against her chest to eat.

"Well, it's official," Anita said.

"What is it?" Victor asked, confused.

"Our family is finally complete."

Victor nodded in agreement. "Yep, it's finally complete."

"I love you so much, Victor."

"I love you too, Anita."

Anita looked up at him with stars in her eyes, her cheeks flushed and her hair disheveled, but still looking as beautiful as the first time Victor had laid eyes on her. He thanked his lucky stars that he could spend the rest of his life with someone he knew to be a friend and a lover.

Three months after Angie had been born, the family of five proceeded to take a trip to the cemetery where Anita's grandparents had been buried all those years ago. They made it a tradition to visit Lily's grave every year on her original due date since she'd been laid to rest. It was a way to honor her memory and reflect on things that perhaps might have been. It wasn't exactly a joy to do so, but they knew they had to do it.

Parenting might have been coming more naturally to Victor and Anita as the years went by, but it never got any easier. Even though Liam and Millie were six years old now, the two secret agents still didn't have it right all the time. Then again, that was just something to expect according to Lucy Woo. Still, Liam and Millie were great kids, already proving just how altruistic and considerate they could be. Five years ago, Victor couldn't help but think. It had only been five years ago since they experienced every parent's worst nightmare. He stepped forward in front of Lily's grave and began to speak.

"Hey, Surprise Lily," Victor said. "I-I know I said that we would never forget you... and we haven't. We actually named your little sister after you. I... I can't believe it's been five years since you had to go home. Mommy and Daddy love you, and we miss you every single day. We especially miss you today because today might've been your fifth birthday."

Now it was Anita's turn to speak. "We think about who you might have been all the time. We think about what you would be doing, what mischief you'd be up to, what kind of friends you'd be making..." Her voice started to crack at this point. "And perhaps what your favorite color might be..."

Victor just squeezed his wife's hand to calm her down. Anita gave him a little smile. She knew fully well that he would do anything to try to make her feel better.

Soon, Millie swooped in and took the opportunity to talk to her little sister. "I wish you could have stayed with us somehow. I'm sure we would have been best friends."

Liam nodded in agreement. "I would have loved to share my toys with you, Lily."

Victor and Anita both chuckled at that. Kids always said the funniest things.

Victor then decided to speak again. "No matter what you would have wanted to do in life, we would have been proud of you, I'm sure of it." He cleared his throat. "Lily, we miss you so much and we love you. We'll always keep you in our hearts until the day we die and even after that."

Victor found himself feeling much calmer and steadier after he finished talking. In that moment, it somehow felt like a little piece of Lily was there with them. With every year that went by, the grief of losing Lily to stillbirth gradually lessened, but Victor and Anita both knew by now that the pain of losing a beloved (especially a beloved like their Surprise Lily) would never fully go away. It certainly helped to honor their daughter like this, though.

"That was beautiful, Victor," Anita said.

"Thanks, Anita," Victor responded. "I did my best."

"You sure did. It's... it's not easy to move past tragedy like we're doing, but you know what? We've dealt with much tougher things along the way. We've had to go up against Doctor Doctor, the Impostors, the Reptogators, the Chef, Lucky Leo, aliens, the Juseemee, and all sorts of other crazy unprecedented things. We're learning as parents what is and isn't acceptable to teach our children, and we're learning the best ways we can how to keep our children safe. It's just too bad that Lily will never get to experience any of that for herself. She'll never have to know what it's like to experience heartbreak or bullying or even failure."

Victor nodded sadly. "Yeah... yeah. At the same time, though, I don't think Lily would have wanted us to dwell on the past. She would've wanted us to move on without her and continue our lives the best way we knew how."

Anita nodded back. "Of course. I'm sure that right now, she's looking down on us and she's proud of us as her parents."

Victor smiled at this wife, still forlorn by the mood at present but at the same time hopeful for the future. "Yeah, and that is exactly how we should be living."

"Now that's the spirit." Anita then turned to look at her two oldest children. "Liam, Millie, would you like to play in the sandbox with Lily for a moment? Daddy and I are going to look at your great-grandparents' graves for a bit with Angie."

"Okay!" Liam and Millie both exclaimed simultaneously.

With that, Victor and Anita proceeded to walk Angie's pram a short distance to where Anita's grandparents had been buried, leaving the two oldest children to play in the same sandbox that Delphine had suggested all those years ago. On the trek to her grandparents' graves, Anita couldn't help but look back and watch as her twins played with their toys in the sandbox.

"Victor?" Anita asked as her eyes darted in his direction.

"Yeah, Anita?" Victor asked back.

"Do you suppose that one day, our kids will know how to handle anything that comes their way?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, of course. I mean, they're our kids, after all. They've got two secret agents for parents. Hell, their grandma is a former secret agent. I'm not saying that they might become secret agents themselves someday because of those credentials, but they've got our gumption for overcoming even the toughest obstacles and beating the odds."

"You're right. I just hope that they'll remember who they are as they're growing up."

Victor and Anita just smiled at each other as they and Angie paid a visit to the graves of Anita's grandparents. They had good reason to think that their children had inherited their gumption and tenacity, as well as their courage and determination. The kids had already displayed that from the start. They'd also learned from their parents their senses of morality and justice, and they'd learned from them what it meant to look forward to the future. In a way, the children themselves were the future, so to look forward to the future was also to look forward to what they could someday bring to the world. And what more could Victor and Anita have wanted than that?