Chapter 2: Passing through the Land of Shadow

Life, it seemed, had decided to move on, even if some of its occupants did not. Jonathan, Evelyn and Alex had returned to England, at Jonathan's bidding, after spending only two weeks at their home in Cairo. In those two weeks, both Evelyn and Alex had grown considerably worse – if anything, the sorrow that tore through Evelyn at a constant pace seemed to have quickened its relentless attack.

Now, at the home they had once found unlimited comfort in, both remaining O'Connells were beginning to break apart.

Alex would not go back to school, the place where he had so many memories of his father. He found out that he could not really do anything or go anywhere without being reminded of his dad. As a result, Alex spent most of his time in his room, leaving only to eat occasionally.

Compared to his mother, Alex was in fine shape. Evie's health had deteriorated beyond the point of slightly worrisome. She, unlike her son, had not left her bed in the two weeks they had been home. She would occasionally eat the broth and toast Jonathan made for her (Jonathan had never actually seen her eat; when he would return to collect the dishes from her room, they were empty, so he just assumed).

As often as he could, he would creep into his sister's room and sit next to her huddled figure on the bed. He would hold her, whisper to her that everything would be all right, trying as a brother to comfort her in any possible way. She never responded to his voice with her own; the only indication he had that she was still alive was the tightening grasp on him when he would lie next to her.

Jonathan worried for his sister – she had been extremely torn up when their parents had died, but now, she was slipping beyond the despair and depression that he had known after their parents' deaths.

Evelyn was falling away from him, and he was terrified that he could do nothing to bring her back.

~{:*:}~

For her part, it took Evelyn all her remaining strength to move ahead each day. Except, ahead just wasn't how she could possible describe her existence any more.

She knew, in her heart of hearts, that she had to move, had to get up and at least appear as though she was attempting to live her life, if not for her sake then for her son's.

She was somewhat aware of the continuous passage of night and day, their thunderous arrivals and exits resounding loudly. Each day and night was the same, never-ending journey through the depths of sorrow so incomprehensible that it would have been impossible to speak it out with words.

And each morning, as the sun came up, and each night, when the sun hid its fiery face, the same montage of life's happiest events ran through Evelyn's mind, not letting her forget what she had once known to be reality.

~{:*:}~

The first of the images that always came to her was that of when she had met him for the first time. She could still see it vividly; all of the senses came flooding back into her. She remembered the barbarism of the Cairo prison, the wild sense of it all. She had been horrified at the place, but she had come to find some information, and Evelyn Carnahan did not back down when she wanted something.

She remembered the first time she had laid eyes upon him. She saw a dirty, disheveled, beastly American who displayed an aura of...well, she guessed it was some sort of charm hidden beneath the layers that prison life had placed on him.

She asked him about the box that Jonathan had "found," secretly hoping that they would be able to pull the secret location of Hamunaptra from him and then leave this ghastly place. Yet all the while, she could not take her mind off of this man. True, he was dirty, and in need of a shave and a haircut, but something about him drew her in.

And then he had kissed her, suddenly. Before she had had the ability to rationalize, his lips upon hers had drained away all reason in her body. Even after the had taken him away, the feelings, the raw emotion that filtered through her left her in disbelief.

She had tried to shake those feelings off, had hoped to simply get the information and walk away. But this chance encounter had started something, something that neither Evie or this strange man had planned on.

~{:*:}~

It had been an unusually calm night at Fort Brydon, unusual indeed because it lay in the middle of an unpredictable desert. Rick and Evie's love for each other had blossomed, but with some degree of shyness attached to it. They both had strong feelings for each other, but life had taught them both to shield emotions when faced with work that had to be done (especially after the happenings at Hamunaptra) – as a result, neither was exactly sure how to let love flourish within them.

At any rate, they were in love; they both knew it, and they both knew that, in time, it would develop into something more.

It had been on one of their dates – they had both enjoyed the meal, but even more did they enjoy each other's company. The evening had been beyond perfect – as they were walking home, Rick popped the question.

"Evelyn Carnahan, will you marry me?"

In her heart, she had been wondering when, and if, he would ever have the courage to ask her. But when the words floated to her ears, she found herself at a loss, unable to do anything. She remembered gasping, suddenly having a hard time breathing – tears of unparalleled happiness fell from her.

Rick, in his cute little fashion, assumed that she was crying out of fear, or some other dire emotion. He had reached for her, trying to hold her and drive the fear from her. "Evie," he had asked, "are you okay?"

She had looked up into his eyes, and had smiled at his concern for her. She wiped away her tears, and hugged him closer to her.

"Yes."

She had meant, "Yes, of course I will marry you!" But all that came out was that simple word, which he had taken only for a confirmation that, indeed, she was all right.

She had watched the sadness creep into the fires of his eyes – clearly, he was thinking that she did not want to marry him.

As one tear became closer to slipping out of his eye, he said, "I mean, I, uh, I understand if you don't want to..."

"Yes," she repeated.

He had stopped, had looked at her with a dumbfounded expression. She had giggled at his look.

"Yes?"

"Yes...I will marry you."

He had stood there for a moment, seemingly unbelieving that she had actually said yes. She smiled as more tears rolled off her face. She buried herself in his strong embrace, reemphasizing herself: "Rick O'Connell, I would be delighted to be your wife."

Finally, the reality had hit him – his face split into a broad smile as he lifted her up and spun her around. They both laughed and held each other, relishing in eternity.

~{:*:}~

She remembered the day she had come home from the doctor's office with the most amazing news – she was going to have a baby.

And yet, for all her excitement at being a mother, she had the nagging worry that Rick would be angry. She knew that it was stupid to even consider that he would be so, but she had her concerns nonetheless.

She had gone home to wait for him. Throughout all her waiting, Evelyn tried to imagine whether the child she carried now would be a boy or a girl. Would it be a boy with Rick's handsome features, or would it be a girl that would look like Evelyn had when she was a child?

Once again, her worries about Rick's reactions resurfaced. What if he didn't want this baby...? What would she do?

She remembered hearing her heart pound louder as she heard him enter through the front door. He had walked into the parlor, looking tired but cheerful – upon seeing her worried state, he became concerned.

"Evie, what's the matter? Are you okay?"

She had looked up at him sadly, preparing herself for the worst.

"I just came back from the doctor's."

The worry on his face had grown more intense – he reached for her as he said, "Is everything alright?"

With great hesitation, she let the truth out.

"I'm pregnant...We're going to have a baby."

She looked at him, waiting for his reaction. His face had changed from concerned to surprised in an instant – she sat, waiting for the outburst that she knew was going to come…

"Hahaha! Evie, that's wonderful!!"

She blinked hard – she hadn't expected THAT.

"You're...you're not angry...?"

He pulled her to her feet, lifted her up and twirled around. When he brought her back down, he pulled her into an embrace.

"Angry? Haha, no way! This is incredible – I'm going to be a father!!"

The relief had flooded through her – she was going to have a child, their child, and he was overjoyed with that knowledge. She cried happily and let her husband hold her.

~{:*:}~

Her pregnancy had been a very difficult one – it lasted nearly nine hours. However, before she knew it, it was all over. She cradled her baby boy (yes, it had been a boy) in her arms, staring at him, realizing that he was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

They had let Rick in shortly after, when she had had enough time to rest. He sat on the bed and shuffled over next to her. They looked at each other – in that moment, their combined joy flowed through one another.

She had handed their son to her husband; she watched in awe, as they lay peaceful, staring at each other, father and son together.

"What are we going to name him?" he had asked.

They had both considered names for both boys and girls, but none had really struck them as perfect.

Suddenly, she had an idea – she thought of her great-grandfather's name; it would be perfect.

"What about Alexander?" she queried.

Rick looked back at their son, and smiled.

"Hey Alex, how are you?"

Both parents smiled and held each other; baby Alex safe between his mother and father's embrace. And, for that moment, time stood still because, at that very moment, there was nothing else to do.

~{:*:}~

Evie lay on her bed, crying afresh – the memories would not leave her. She and Rick had been so happy together; they had had everything they ever needed. And now that was gone.

She thought about the bracelet of Anubis. She let the guilt wash over her: this was her fault. If she hadn't had the bloody preoccupation with the bracelet...if those dreams had never come to her...none of this would have happened. She should have left the bracelet where it was...she should have kept that evil where it lay...she should have listened to her husband's wish...she should not have allowed such an abomination to rip away at her heart...

She knew that she was thinking nonsense. Were it not for their efforts, Imhotep might, at this moment, be rampaging across the globe. Her family had once again saved the world...but this time, the price was far more than she could possibly bear.

She slowly lifted herself from the bed, only to walk over to the window. She gazed out at the English countryside. Life would never be the same for her. She would give her love to Alex, and to Jonathan, but there would never be another Rick O'Connell to come sweeping into her life.

She started to cry again, softly at first and then louder, as she sank to the floor. She knew she had to move on, for her family's sake, but, at the moment, she saw no possible way to do so.

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Hey everybody – I will continue writing, but I am going on Spring Break tomorrow (yea!!), so I will be away from a computer for a while. If you feel like reviewing, please do – this is my first ever fic, but if you are absolutely disgusted with it, please tell me. I will only grow as a writer with your help - Thanks.

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