Moving quickly, but quietly to the closed door, she sucked in a shaky breath, and stepped into the room determined. Helen's back was to her, and she was wrapping Alex in a little blue blanket. "Jack," she said over her shoulder. "Go ahead and bring the car around. We should go."
"Get away from my baby," Lana said to her back in an icy voice. She pointed her gun at Helen's head and almost pulled the trigger. This is it! Helen turned slowly to look at Lana with wide eyes. Kill her now! Her finger began to squeeze, and Helen shifted her weight slightly, enough so that Lana was able to see her baby. He was being quiet now, as if listening, and waiting to see what would happen next. Alexander. That was enough, and Helen, recognizing Lana's hesitation turned back around and leaned over the baby. Lana faltered a bit, knowing that she had missed an opportunity that might not come again. Helen picked little Alex up and laid him against her chest. Lana flinched, but remained calm. "There's nothing that you can do to change this Lana. You're not a killer," she said.
"Tell that to your guards," Lana replied evenly. This time Helen flinched. It was fast, and she was quick to recover, but Lana caught it. "We both know that you won't endanger your child by shooting at me," Helen said. Lana shrugged keeping her gun aimed at Helen, hating that it was pointed anywhere near Alex, and hating Helen more for making her do it. "Taking out your knee won't hurt Alex." Helen cocked an eyebrow at the use of the baby's name. "I was actually thinking of naming him Stephen, after my father."
"Why are you doing this?" Lana spat out at her. "Why do you want our baby so badly? Why don't you just go have your own?" The silence in the room became charged with emotion as Helen finally began to crack. She seemed tired all of a sudden, and the change was confusing to Lana, who had expected Helen to be a bitch to the bitter end. Her stone faced facade split open and tears welled in her eyes. "I did," Helen said quietly. "The night Lex came home from the island, we slept together, and three weeks after I left him I found out that I was pregnant." She took a shaky breath, and held Alex tighter to her chest. "You don't know how difficult it was for me to hide from him. Always moving from place to place, the stress of it was too much. . . " Her voice trailed off, and she looked down at Alex with sadness in her eyes.
Lana lowered the gun slightly, but stayed on guard. "I gave birth to a son also, and I named him William," Helen continued. "I tried to be a good mother, but it was just so hard, and I wasn't ready yet, not ready at all." A chill went up Lana's spine, and she tried to read Helen's intentions even though her eyes were still downcast. "Helen," she said, trying to get her attention. "What happened? Where is your baby?" Helen started softly rocking Alex, and he started crying, as if sensing that something was very wrong. "I tried to be a good mother, but I wasn't ready yet," she repeated, still rocking. Lana began to feel panic and she raised the gun back at Helen. "Helen!" Lana shouted over Alex's cries. Helen, as if finally hearing Lana, looked up in surprise. "I just wasn't ready yet."
"Put him down," Lana ordered. She glared at Helen with murder in her eyes and held the gun steady. "Put him down, and I'll let you leave." Helen cocked her head as if trying to understand. "You'll just let me leave?" She looked uncertain, and clutched Alex tightly. He was really howling now, and it was hard to concentrate. "Yes, I'll let you leave, just put my baby down and walk away." Helen stood in silence, and then laughed shrilly. "You'll let me leave? How kind of you! How truly perfect you really are! I always wondered if you were actually that naive." She pulled Alex so close to her body, that Alex's cries became muffled, and he struggled lightly against her. "Put my baby DOWN, Helen. Put him down, and get the hell out of our lives."
Helen's anxiousness diminished somewhat as she weighed her options. "You'll really let me leave?" Lana felt the power shift over to herself, and was glad to finally have the upper hand. "Have you ever known me to lie?" she asked her. Helen seemed to take comfort in that. "Alright," she said slowly. "Put the gun down, and I'll put the baby down." Lana lowered the gun, and looked at Helen expectantly. As if sensing that was as good as it would get, Helen carefully laid Alex down on a table. She stepped away from him carefully and moved around Lana towards the door.
Lana's eyes searched Helen's and somewhere deep inside she knew this wasn't over. Helen could go away for years and then come back at any time. They would never even see it coming.
She watched as Helen's eyes widened in realization, and then she pulled the trigger. The bullet entered Helen's upper torso, and she slumped against the wall in surprise, gasping and clutching at her chest. When Helen finally closed her eyes, an avalanche of emotions hit Lana. She tried to force them down again, but they came out anyway and she turned to vomit. Wiping her mouth, she looked up at Alex, who, since the gunshot had become very quiet. As she walked over to her baby, she felt her humanity returning bit by bit, but knew that there were some things about herself that were ruined forever.
She brushed the bad feelings aside as she inspected Alex. He seemed okay, only cautious, alert, wondering who this new person was. He looked very much like Lex, especially in his expression, but Lana could see herself there too. She swaddled him in his blanket snugly to keep him warm, and picked him up for the first time. He didn't cry, and Lana could only wonder what was going through his little mind as he stared at her so intently. She picked up Helen's cellphone from the table, and turned to leave.
"Let's go call Daddy," Lana said, smiling at her son.