Epilogue
Harper didn’t wake from that deep, dark sleep for the rest of the day. Larissa, Emily and the others got her into bed and then stayed to help Grey bathe and swaddle his child. He settled into a rocking chair and to help soothe her.
“She needs to let that baby have some milk as soon as she wakes up,” Larissa told him.
“I know.” He looked at his daughter’s face and thought of Dahlia’s children. For her crimes, Dahlia would be separated out from the rest of the population for the next year. Together, they would have to find a new space for the next big settlement and start to plan it out. They weren’t allowed back until their sentence was complete.
“Hey,” he asked the group, “what’s going to happen to Dahlia’s children?”
Maria, one of the Alliance fighters, spoke up. “They can come with me. We’ve taken in lots of children over the years. We’ll make room for them.”
Emily heard that and perked up. “How about adults?”
“Sorry?”
She moved over to Maria. “Do you think maybe I could join the Alliance? I’ve been on my own for a long time and it’s very, um, it’s lonely. I’m a hard worker and I’m good with the little ones.”
Maria patted her hand. “I’m sure you would be very welcome.”
Grey thanked everyone for their help and for accommodating another family. “I’m sure you’re all exhausted. Feel free to stretch out and sleep here.”
“Emily and I also have houses nearby. We have plenty of space.” She stood and led the way out. “I’m sure Grey needs a moment with his new daughter.”
Everyone came and said a quick goodbye to father and daughter, then stepped out. Soon Grey was alone with the tiny, grunting baby in his arms. He looked at her pink, pinched face.
“Daughter,” he repeated. “My daughter. This is my daughter.” The words made him feel like his chest had been pulled open to reveal everything inside, all his doubts and fears. He could also feel his courage and his love pouring out. All of it was there, side by side, mixed together. He gasped, sobbed for a second and the sound startled the baby.
“Aah! Aaah!”
“Oh, shh. Shh. I’m so sorry I woke you,” he whispered. “You should go back to sleep.” But the little girl ignored him and the crying continued.
“What’s happening?”
It was Harper from her bed. Father and daughter moved over to her and she looked around blinking, uncertain where she was.
“Grey? Grey, how are we here?”
“Don’t worry. You’re fine. You passed out. We all made it out okay.”
“And my uncle?”
He paused as the baby persisted in wailing. Grey shook his head. “He didn’t make it.”
Harper nodded, got her bearings and then sat up and reached for her daughter. “Here, give her to me.” Grey passed the baby to her and she held the little one in her arms and rocked her back and forth.
The child quieted and the three of them sat there together on the bed for a while, not speaking. Soon, the baby was asleep again, and Harper leaned down to touch her nose to her daughter’s face.
“So,” she said.
“Yeah,” Grey breathed. “She’s here.”
“She is.” Harper adjusted the baby’s blanket a little and then smiled up at Grey. “Who delivered her?”
“Larissa,” he told her. “She was a champ. She had our little darling out in minutes.”
Harper smiled at the thought of her most eccentric friend diving between her legs to pull out a newborn. “Did anyone help?”
“Nearly everyone. I was pretty useless, so I just stood by. But I was the first to hold her.”
The two new parents smiled down at their little angel as the baby let out a little sneeze. The sound thrilled them. When the little girl yawned they were fascinated.
“Wow.”
“I know.”
Harper looked at her partner, her lover, now the father of her child. “So,” she said, “what shall we name her?”
He looked at his daughter and then his partner and breathed in deeply. “How about we name her something in memory of the old world. Something to keep our history alive.”
“Oh, Grey, no.” Harper clucked at him and then gave her daughter a kiss. “This girl was born in a battle. She’s a fighter. She needs a name that reflects the warrior inside her.”
He nodded. He thought of that horrible scene, the blood that poured into the earth, “What about Rose?”
Harper looked at her child again. “Rose,” she said, trying it out. “Rose. Little Rose B. Wiseman.”
Grey looked at her in surprise. “No Bachmann? Just B?”
She nodded and leaned against him. “The name Bachmann needs to go away. For good. Rose will be the first of my family to be free from it. It’s the best gift I can give her.”
Grey kissed Harper’s head, smelled her hair and squeezed her shoulder to hold her closer to him. She held their baby close to her body as the little one slept. Together, they formed a family that no one would ever break apart, a group with a love so deep that the world would never see its equal.
***THE END***