Epilogue

It was a mess of blood and stern voices and figures rushing by. Her fingers were almost crushed by Cordelia's hand, gripping them so tight. Cordelia's whole body was shaking and it transferred through that touch into Misty. There was a smell, Misty could never quite put her finger on, sterile as hospitals always were, but with an organic taste, which lingered with her. Neither of them said a word, Cordelia's panting breaths were returning to normal, but no words came over her lips. They were both caught in a limbo, waiting, watching the scene. The figures, all covered in scrubs and concentrated faces and Cordelia's blood, gathered in one end of the room, like a shield, mumbling and gesturing with instruments.

And then, a moment of gasping silence.

Until the cry.

It was the tiniest, most fragile, infant sound Misty had ever heard. Yet it was so full of life. It spoke to her in the most direct way, hit her in the chest and clenched an infant fist around her heart. But she didn't want it to let go. Never. This fist didn't hurt, it only made her feel giddy.

"The baby's healthy, Delia, I can feel it. You did it."

Cordelia closed her eyes and let her head fall back. She smiled through the exhaustion and gave Misty's hand a gentler squeeze. Misty lifted Cordelia's hand up and kissed it.

"You did good, baby."

Cordelia opened her eyes again and looked up at Misty. Her face was glimmering with sweat, her hairline wet and her body the picture of bone-deep exhaustion, but her eyes shone with life. The same as that cry, which still danced around the room, only now subsiding.

"I wasn't scared, not one bit. Because I knew that if anything went wrong, you were there to fix us."

Misty smiled at her and opened her mouth to speak, when one of the nurses emerged from the shield of scrubs.

"Are you ready to meet your baby?" Both women looked at her, but only briefly, because the tiny creature in her arms stole their attention right away. "He's a healthy baby boy."

The nurse stepped close to the bed and Misty moved to give her space, as she handed Cordelia her newborn son. She placed him in Cordelia's waiting embrace, against her naked skin and Cordelia stared at the little boy as if she had never seen anything quite so miraculous. Misty squeezed her shoulder, for a moment just as mesmerized. Then she bent down and tapped at the boy's pink cheek with her finger.

"Hey, baby boy", she said.

Cordelia's chest heaved as she tried to stifle her crying. Tears rolled out of her eyes and landed softly on the baby's stomach. Then the faintest chuckle came out of her mouth and she looked up to meet Misty's gaze.

"I don't think I've ever been this happy", she said. The conviction with which she said it and the light in her eyes made Misty feel like her heart was too big for her chest. It beat out of rhythm, it swelled inside her body. Only the infant fist kept it in place, as she bent down and kissed Cordelia.

"I love you", she whispered into her face. She whispered, because she wanted nothing to disturb this moment, not even the sound of a loud declaration of love. Because it wasn't needed. Cordelia finally understood, finally embraced it and it was with a convincing smile that she whispered it back.

O0O


A/N: That was it for my story! I thank you all so much for reading it and I hope I lived up to the foxxay expectations. Thank you so much to all of you who have commented and kept me going. Reading that has been my favorite part of the day. Special thanks to nokhnia for sticking with me from the very beginning, you know I appreciate all your comments and thoughts.

Now I have a confession to make: I don't feel like I'm done with these two. And I have some ideas to work with for a sequel, which involves a foxxay baby (obviously), Marie Laveau and possibly some voodoo. So this piece right here can either be the epilogue or it can be teaser for a new story – so I want to ask you guys, if you're interested in reading more? I have some original stuff to work on for a while, but if you are, I might come back to it. That's all, thanks again for all your support! Great day to you all :)