The Epilogue

As the pregnancy progressed, I couldn't have been happier, even through the discomfort of it all. Damien was very gentle with me and always got me what I wanted, even if it was something little. We learned a lot about each other. What was sad was that there was still that underlying fear that I might die. I'd catch Damien holding me or looking at me in such a way as if it would be the last time he could do so.

It was in my last month of pregnancy that I sat in the graveyard where Eliza, Damien's first wife, was buried. I wanted to see her and try to get over my fear. It didn't help much.

I don't know how long I had been sitting there before I heard footsteps behind me. I looked up to see Damien. "I didn't expect to find you here," he said. He was dressed in his normal Victorian wear, but he wore his clear contacts.

"Neither did I. I just wanted some time with another girl who's been in my shoes… she must have been as scared as I am," I said, tears coming to my eyes.

Damien bent down to my level and gently wiped the tears away. He soothed me. "Carrie, I've told you time and time again: it will be all right. It will."

"I've never done this before."

"Neither have I, really." He looked thoughtful. "As much as I raised Lucien on my own, I've never had the opportunity to have a helpmate such as you with me. We are going to make it through this. Together."

"I just can't stop thinking about the what if's, I guess."

"If you die, Carrie… I will never love again." His smile was weak, grim. "Death may be a part of life and I may have accepted that in my mind, but in my heart, I cannot deny the feelings there. I love you too much, Carrie." He was blushing, bashful now.

I gave him a tender kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, Damien. You always know what to say."

He helped me to my feet and placed a hand gently on my stomach. "Whatever happens, Carrie, I will be here. I'll take care of us."

I gave a cry of pain as I felt a strong kick. I took a few deep breaths. Damien appeared alarmed. "I'm all right. Can you just take me home, please?" I asked.

"Of course. I'll call a cab." Damien took out his cell phone and started calling a cab, but something else intervened.

I sank to my knees. "Damien, baby…"

"Right." He cancelled his call for a cab and instead dialed three numbers.

Wow, pain. More than any dumb thing I'd ever done in college. More than any dumb thing I had tried in private. Pain. I lost track of the time.

Five hours passed. I was exhausted, but… I was alive… and so was our little one. Damien and I had a baby girl. She was born and put in my arms just as the first rays of sunlight came over the horizon.

I was, sadly, too exhausted to hold onto her properly. The doctor instead gave her to Damien. He was in tears. I knew he was happy though. Happy and relieved.

"What shall we name her, darling?" asked Damien, sitting in a chair by my bed.

"Hope, because she gave us hope for a new tomorrow," I said wearily.

"Hope…" He let the name rest in the air. "I agree. Hope Uriel Bloodmarch."

I hummed in agreement.

I went to sleep shortly thereafter. When I woke, I saw Lucien holding his baby sister with Damien standing proudly behind them. I was so happy.

A few days passed before they sent me and the little one home. Andrew met us at the house. He looked ecstatic. It was a great family I had fallen into and created.

One evening as I held Hope in my arms and rocked her to sleep, I wondered, briefly, what would have happened had my life turned out differently. I was happy with the life I had chosen, certainly, but I wondered: what if I hadn't picked Damien? What if I picked Andrew's teacher, Hugo; my old college roomie, Craig; the mysterious Robert; the barista, Mat; or bear-sized Brian? And why was Joseph on a dating site if he was married? What other mysteries were out there, waiting to be discovered? I heard a knock at the door and I answered it…

To Be Continued…

I just wanted to take a sec to tell you guys what I thought while writing this: I wanted to write a mom falling in love with the DDADDS dads. I am not trying to attack or bash at all. If anything, this should be looked at as an homage to the beautiful artwork and creativity put into the game.

When I was writing Damien's story, I wanted to give background onto the things that were not explicitly explained in the game. These things were my interpretation and should be taken as such. So, if you had a different idea for who should have been Damien's past wife or if you had a different idea on why he was transgender, that's fine. I was trying to write him as this guy who had been put into this box by being teased as a kid, but as he grew up, he never got enough affirmation that he was worth anything. The death of his wife further cemented him going into his shell. This is just my opinion. You guys can translate it however you want. This was written in fun and should be treated thusly.

With all that being said, thanks to my reviewers: and Lord-Possum. Thank you to those who followed this story: CheshireHexx, FaerieQueenCrystal, Faeriie, HeartedWhirlwind, Hibari Shizuka, NinjaGirl2009101, le petite fleur, psycho-143, psycho-phantom, and xXSatanSkittlesXx. Thank you also to those who considered this story one of your faves: Lilty Ravenhearth, NinjaGirl2009101, SakuraPheonix13, blackmoresnight3, psycho-143, vampireXgirl13X, and xXSatanSkittlesXx. Thank you also to the most important person of all: you. I appreciate all of you so much.

The next story* in this series is going to be centered around Robert. It is going to have the same mother and son with a similar backstory, but it'll be tweaked a little. If you want to check it out, I will try to get the first chapter up soon.

On another note, my account is five years old today. If any of you would like to check out my profile for other stories I've written as well as yearly statistics, please feel free to do so. Thanks again for reading and I hope you enjoyed the story. See you laterz ;)

*Update: The story on Robert is posted with a Prologue and Chapter 1 done. I will be updating it weekly every Sunday ;)