A/N:

"They named her Elena, meaning 'shining light'."
"Elena was a daddy's girl, through and through..."
Epilogue: Forever, Inevitable
Takes place midway through the epilogue of "Inevitable".

Five am, on the dot. At ten months, night-time wake-ups were becoming less frequent, but early mornings had started to replace them. The sound of Elena's cry came through the monitor, clear and shrill, shocking both Lucy and Tim out of their slumber. While Tim bolted upright, Lucy merely groaned and muttered, "It's your turn."

"My turn? I got her last time."

"And I got her every night month one through three while she was breastfeeding. This is my long overdue back pay, babe." She rolled onto her side and snuggled deeper into her pillow as Tim sighed then pulled back the blankets. "Thanks, sweetie," she whispered through a yawn as he departed, heading down the hall to the nursery.

Elena was standing up in her crib when he got there, no longer crying, but fully awake as he turned on the bedside lamp. "What's going on, darling?" Tim cooed as he bent down to her level before giving the sign for sleep. It felt a little silly as he did it, but teaching Elena baby signs had been important to Lucy. Consistency was key, he could practically hear his fiancee saying, so Tim tried to sign as often as possible (even if their daughter had had yet to sign back even once since they started teaching her at six months). "Time to sleep," he said, placing his hands together in something like a prayer pose before putting them beneath his head. "Sleep."

Nothing.

He did the sign a second time and was met with her blank stare. "Sleep?" She remained upright, her big brown eyes -so very like her mother's- giving no indication that his encouragement was working even a little. Tim tried something else. "You wanna rock?" he asked, pointing to the cream-colored rocker in the corner. Still nothing.

"You want up, huh?"

As soon as the word "up" left his mouth, Elena's arms were in the air, reaching. A pat on her bottom revealed her diaper was damp, so Tim carried her to the changing table first. "Hold this for me, dove," he said, handing her a diaper with pictures of purple giraffes printed on it. He got her cleaned up, discarded the soiled diaper, and replaced it with the one she'd been holding against her chest. Once she was changed, he placed her on the floor by his feet while rubbing Purell onto his palms, then picked her up and quietly padded down the hall to the kitchen with her on his hip.

It was an okay routine they had, he thought as he stifled a yawn and started the coffee. Lucy had had a late night the night before, and his alarm was set for six anyway. One lost hour wouldn't kill him. While the coffee brewed, he made Elena's small morning bottle of formula (she'd have applesauce and a little infant cereal after) before carrying her to the couch. Ever since she was a baby, Tim had fed her the same way, placing her in the crook of his right arm and holding the bottle with his left. She'd always been a good eater but as she had gotten older was more easily distracted. He'd stopped letting Sports Center play in the background when trying to get her to take a bottle, knowing the sound would attract her attention, and instead began to talk to her in a quiet voice about the day they had coming up.

"Mommy and Daddy will go to work, and you will go to Miss Francesca's for the day, and then when Daddy gets done he'll come and pick you up. How does that sound?" He pulled the bottle away long enough to burp her gently before offering her the remaining half of the formula while softly humming one of the handful of kids' songs he knew.

Elena was towards the end of her bottle when Lucy walked down the hall, stretching as she went. "Good morning," she said, her voice just a little gravelly from drowsiness, and pressed a kiss to his temple as she passed.

"Thought you were sleeping?"

Lucy smirked. "I had this weird dream where a stray cat was singing 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' under my window," she teased, lovingly ribbing him over his poor attempts at singing.

"Hey, Elena seemed to like it."

"Yes, because ten-month-olds are such discerning audiences," she chuckled. "Did you start the coffee? Want me to get you a cup?"

"Yes, please."

Lucy poured two cups, one for each of them, carrying both as she came to sit beside him on the couch. She placed his mug on the coffee table before kissing Elena's forehead. "Good morning. How's she doing?"

"Almost done," he replied, nodding towards the nearly empty bottle. "Five ounces already."

"Wow. Someone was hungry." She rubbed the short brown locks that crowned her head. "Are you going through another growth spurt, baby love?" Another kiss, this one to her sweet little cheek, then Lucy stood again. "Guess I'll go get her cereal ready."

Elena quickly made it through the rest of the bottle. Fed and happy, she playfully patted her palms down her daddy's arms, her chubby fingers taking particular interest in the timer on his left wrist. She ran her right hand over the acrylic strip, eyes narrowing a little before holding her hand in front of her face and waving.

"Hi, baby," Tim replied, waving back.

Elena looked at him and giggled, then patted his timer again. With her left hand, she once more waved toward her face, a slow open and shut motion right in front of her eyes.

"I see you, Elena. Hi, baby."

Elena lowered her hand. One more time, she touched Tim's timer, then lifted her hand in front of her eyes. Open and shut. Open and shut.

"… Wait a second."

Open and shut. Open and shut. All of a sudden, he understood. "Lucy," Tim called softly, afraid his excitement might startle Elena. "Honey, come here."

She hurried back to the living room, still mixing the infant cereal as she walked. "What is it?"

"Look."

While they watched, their daughter touched her dad's timer again and for a fourth time, she signed. Holding her hand above her head and fanning her fingers outward, her gesture imitated a lightbulb going on and off, on and off. Open and shut.

"Tim," Lucy gasped.

"Yeah."

"Oh my God!"

"I know!"

Elena had touched Tim's timer, had found and was fascinated by the green glow emitting from his wrist. After they celebrated the milestone (lots of kisses and a few tearful exclamations from Mommy) Lucy ran to make an entry in Elena's baby book.

April 16th, 2022

Elena Faye's first baby sign:

Light!