Delia had never been in so much pain in all her life.
Her water had broken about twenty-four hours ago, and Melanie had told her that there was still a lot more time before the baby finally arrived. Melanie could not deliver the baby until it was crowning, which is what Melanie had to go by, since she did not know how to measure how many centimeters she was dilated. The contractions were still pretty far apart as well.
"Get this thing outta my uterus already!" Delia was yelling at Melanie. "I told you we shoulda taken some epidurals, but no you have to be all rational..." Delia stopped abruptly feeling another contraction coming on.
"Just breathe," Melanie tried to calm her.
"Easy for you to say," Delia remarked, crossly. "That's it!" she shouted, losing her patience, "Bring in the man that did this to me!"
Melanie tried hard not to laugh, and brought in Bryan. "Has my son been born yet?" He asked.
"Do you hear any screaming besides Delia?" Melanie asked amused. Delia gestured for Bryan to come to her, and hold her hand. During the next couple of contractions, Bryan was sure that if he was a weaker man that Delia would have broken his hand.
About twenty-four hours and many contractions later, Delia finally gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. "Wow, forty-eight hours, Del." Melanie commented, handing Delia her daughter. The little girl had blue eyes, like all newborns, and brownish hair. "Hey, baby girl," Delia smiled, pushing her sweat soaked strands of hair behind her ears. "Welcome into the world."
Bryan smiled at his child, and kissed Delia's temple. "You were supposed to give me a son," He teased her.
Delia laughed. "You have no one to blame but yourself."
Bryan raised a brow and said, "How so?"
"Oh, it just has to do with genes and sperm. Nothing you would be concerned with. Just know that this is your fault."
Bryan laughed and said, "I love her just the same. She's beautiful, just like her mother." He commented before holding the baby himself.
They named her Faith. Because Delia had faith that things would work out in the end, despite the obstacles she had to overcome. She knew everything happened for a reason. She had the man she loved and a beautiful baby girl. What more could a girl ask for?
*****
Mrs. Lynn hoisted the small wooden chest onto her kitchen table. She examined the rusty lock, and wondered how to go about opening the thing. The wooden chest was deteriorating, due to centuries of being under the cool dirt. The lock had a family crest engraved on it, with some Latin, probably the family motto. Mrs. Lynn had no idea as to what it meant, but that was something she was not concerned about.
She felt the cool wood, and traced the intials on the top left hand corner. The intials were roughly carved and read: D. L. W.
"Rebecca!" Mr. Lynn's voice sounded from the doorway. He walked in carrying a huge duffle bag. "What do you have in this? Why did you have to bring so much stuff?" He asked, irritated.
Mrs. Lynn laughed softly, "Because. We were there for a month. What did you expect?"
Mr. Lynn mumbled incoherently to himself before inspecting the wooden chest himself. "You don't think it is..."
"What else could it be? It was near the coordinates Robert gave us. It could mean one thing. I thought a town would be built on top, but the ruins were beautiful. It must have been a nice place to live once upon a time." Mrs. Lynn said, sounding distant.
Mr. Lynn shrugged, "I suppose." He paused, "How do you want to open it?"
"I would suggest an axe, but we don't have one of those, do we?" Mrs. Lynn laughed.
"A shovel will do." Mr. Lynn left, to only return with a shovel. He instructed his wife to place the wooden chest on the floor, while he hit the lock several times with the shovel. The lock finally broke, allowing them to open it up.
Mrs. Lynn slowly opened the chest to find a note with "Mom & Dad" written on the envelope. Mrs. Lynn removed the note and placed it aside, preferring to look at the contents. She saw a Kodak camera and several rolls on film. A piece of fabric also laid inside. Disappointed that there was nothing else inside, Mrs. Lynn opened the envelope and commenced reading:
Dear Mom and Dad,
Anyways, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, whom I named Faith, several months back. She's healthy and happy. But, let me tell you, natural birth sucks! Epidurals were probably the most wonderful invention. Too bad that doesn't take place during this timeline. If I could choose, I would never go through anything like that again, but I will, actually in eight months. Yes, I am pregnant again. I can't wait for my next baby, and neither can Bryan. Despite the drawbacks (no electricity, etc.) I am happy here. I miss you terribly, and wish you could come up to visit sometime. Melanie says that sometime she'll take me back for a back for a visit. I hope I can.
By the way, Melanie says hi. I don't know if Dr. Johnston told you or not, but Melanie ended up staying and keeping the machine with her. Sometimes, she goes back and forth for different things, although she refuses to pick me up things. Dr. Johnston doesn't like her going back and forth, and bringing stuff back. He says it can really warp the time space continuum. Like I care about that, I just want my pads! Anyways, she ended up marrying Alex, who is Bryan's younger brother, by a year. She had a baby boy about 5 months ago. She's going crazy with exercise routines to lose the extra pounds. She actually volunteered to run with me in the morning (which I started since it is boring here, sometimes).
Well, I am sorry to go, but I must conclude this letter. I hope to see you soon, but I don't know when. Only time when tell. Time, it's a weird subject.
Love, Delia.
How's it going? I hope this remains undisturbed until you find it. Here, it is about a year and a half since I first left you. It's, well for lack of a better word, tolerable. I am slowly making this place a better place for me and my family to live. You should have seen it when I first got here! It was bare, and very dark, well compared to your well lit home. I miss electricity, and more importantly: indoor plumbing. :(
Mrs. Lynn folded the letter and placed it back in the envelope. She then found another piece of paper, which was dated. It was just a little blurb which Delia quickly wrote, that she had five daughters in all, their names and birth dates. She then described them, so Mrs. Lynn could understand who was who in the pictures. Her daughters were: Faith, Juliet, Bethany, Rebecca, and Genevieve, respectively. Mrs. Lynn smiled sadly as she read the last sentence that appeared on the page, "Bryan still blames me for having all girls. But, we all know the truth. ;)"
Later that day, Mr. Lynn had the photos developed. Both parents looked at them, together, and later added them to their photo album. Each picture was the usual family potrait, updated yearly, but others stuck out. One was a picture of the fortress, insides of rooms, and the landscapes. Mrs. Lynn knew how Delia loved to take photos. Other photos out of the ordinary were pictures of both Delia and Melanie, one in which Delia was pregnant. Mrs. Lynn did not know which child she was with, but it did not matter.
Every now and then, Mrs. Lynn would take the photo album off of the book shelf and look through the many pictures, her daughter's camera had taken. Since Mrs. Lynn had found the wooden chest, she was curious as to what had happened to the Walkers. She researched and found a diary published that belonged to a Genevieve Walker. Reading the diary, Mrs. Lynn found that it was indeed her granddaughter's diary. She smiled and a particular paragraph stuck out to her:
"My mother used to say that keeping a diary would help me sort through these feelings of mine. She also used to say that one day when I am old, I can look back and read what I was thinking and smile to myself. She told me that she used to keep a diary, and it helped her through some hard times. I never believed that writing something down would help me in any way. I value that my sisters and I are the few that are able to read and write, and do so many other skills that most women do not possess.
I always valued my mother's role and determination to further my skills, even though I was hardly interested. She said that one day I would be grateful. I am grateful, although it is too late to tell. She is gone and a piece of me is as well. Father becomes more distant each passing day. He loved her a lot. As did the rest of us. I love her and miss her a lot. She was a great women, and I miss her more than words can express. She will not be forgotten."
"Yes, I miss her too," Mrs. Lynn said to herself, letting a tear fall onto the open diary. She closed the diary, knowing that her daughter had made the right decision. It was meant to be.
Author's Note: Yea, well it's not an usual epilogue, but I think it suits it fine. Anyways, thank you to all the reviewers! I never thought I'd get over 100 reviews, let alone 200. ¡Muchos gracias! Please make sure to come back and read other stories I am going to post within the next few days. One is a time travelling story (yes, again), while another is a contemporary romance. Thanks, again!
~Ashlita