A very-pregnant Lily stood near Rae in the cemetery. Gran had died in her sleep a few nights before and now they were saying goodbye to a woman they all loved dearly. She tried to listen as the minister spoke, but found that she couldn't concentrate because of the pain in her swollen belly. It wasn't that bad. Usually only for a short time every few minutes or so. She had been feeling that way through most of the night.
She tried to shift her weight and gasped loudly when she felt a sudden wetness between her legs.
Rae glanced over at the girl and instantly knew what the problem was. She turned to Sippi who stood on her other side. "Beau...we've got to get Lily back now!"
"But it's too early, isn't it?" he asked.
"Tell that to the baby," she snapped, putting her arm around Lily and leading the girl from the cemetery.
Rae was sitting on the bed beside Lily, wiping the sweat from the girl's brow and talking to her in soothing tones, when Sippi stuck his head in the door nearly an hour later. "Where's Trent?" she asked, rushing over to him.
He pulled her out into the hall. "I've looked everywhere for him. I can't find him."
She cursed. "What about China?"
"The baby is sick."
"What are we gonna do?"
He took her face in his hands. "You've helped Trent deliver babies before. You can do this."
She shook her head. "Not by myself. It's too early..."
He forced her to look at him. "What do you need?"
"Someone to hold her hand...and bathe her face..."
"I can do it."
She sighed and opened her mouth to speak, when Lily cried out in the room. Rae turned and ran into the room, with Sippi on her heels.
Rae slipped from the room with a tiny bundle in her arms. She paused when she was Sippi slowly pacing the room talking softly to the baby in his arms. Twins! She never would have thought that Lily's tiny body could have handled the long hours of labor, but the young girl had done well. As soon as the second child was born, poor Lily had passed out from exhaustion.
Rae watched Sippi and smiled. He had done well helping her, holding Lily's hand, wiping her brow and whispering comforting words to the girl. Most of the words he had spoken had not been in English, but they had calmed both Lily and herself.
Trent had shown up about an hour before the first child had been born and Sippi had been promptly exiled from the room. When they had realized that there was more than one child, Rae had left the room long enough to hand the first baby, a boy, over to Sippi.
She glanced again at the tiny blanket wrapped child in her arms and sighed.
"Rae..."
She looked up to see Sippi standing beside her. "It's a girl," she whispered, "...but she's not going to make it...she's just too small..."
He wrapped his free arm around her. "Does Lily know?"
Rae shook her head. "The poor thing has passed out from exhaustion...she was in labor for nearly twenty-four hours..."
He led her to one of the couches. "You look pretty exhausted yourself, Cherie."
"I can't rest, Beau...I have to take care of the babies..."
They fell silent and in the quiet of the room they could hear the ragged breathing of the tiny baby girl in Rae's arms.
"How long?" he asked.
"A couple hours at the most..." She sighed as they watched Trent leave. All three knew that Rae was more than capable of taking care of things now. "I don't know how I'll tell Lily when she wakes up..."
"We'll tell her."
Rae looked up at him. "What would I do without you?"
"Let's not find out. Won't you please reconsider your answer, Rae?"
She sighed. "Beau, we've been through this so many times before. I can't marry you until Spot decides to grow up and stop getting himself into trouble and expecting me to fix it."
"You and I both know that he'll never change."
She stood. "I won't change my mind, Mississippi Wayne! I promised his mother and I very well intend to keep my promise to my aunt! Unlike you I look out for my family," she snapped, turning and walking back into the room where Lily was sleeping.
Rae was rocking Lily's daughter when the tiny baby breathed her last. Lily had not yet stirred. Rae closed her eyes and held the baby close as tears fell silently down her cheeks. She had grown quite attached to this tiny baby, her niece, in the last few hours as she had cared for her.
Knowing that there was nothing else she could do, and that she must now turn her attention to her nephew and Lily, Rae adjusted the blankets around the baby and placed her gently in the crib. When she turned back around, she noticed that Lily was beginning to stir.
Rae sat beside Lily as the girl's eyes opened. "How are you feeling?"
"So tired..." Lily whispered.
"Do you remember what happened?"
"I had my baby?"
Rae nodded. "Yes you did...do you remember what else happened?"
Lily rubbed her eyes and shook her head. "No..."
Rae took one of the girl's hands. "Lily, I need you to listen closely to me..."
Lily nodded. "Alright..."
"You had two babies...twins...a little boy and a little girl..."
"Two?!" Lily asked, shocked.
Rae took a deep breath and nodded. "Your son is very healthy...but your daughter..."
Lily frowned deeply. "What happened to her?"
"She's didn't make it, honey..." she replied.
Lily closed her eyes as a single tear fell down her cheek.
"Would you like to see her?" Rae asked.
Lily shook her head.
Rae sighed. "Then I'll go get your son. What are you going to name him?"
"I'll wait and ask Spot," the girl whispered, staring at the window.
Rae frowned, but went to get Lily's son.
