Beth

I stroked her hair, brushing the few strands off of her face and stared at her. She looked like she was sleeping, peaceful, with a small smile on her face. It wasn't until to look at her chest that you realized she wasn't breathing, that there was no life in her anymore. The smile had been the last thing she'd given me.

A  loud cry pulled me away from her face and I turned to see Kevin holding a small, wiggling bundle in his arms. A tiny, pink arm pushed its way out of the bundle.

"It's a girl," Kevin commented. I took one last look at Aurora before I stepped away and walked over to her daughter, our daughter. My heart was heavy with the loss but at the same time it was filled with joy because I had a daughter. Gently I took my daughter out of Kevin's arms and held her close. She was crying, telling the world about her arrival and even though there were tears running down my face I smiled.

"Hello there," I whispered to her. "Welcome to the world." I wiggled my finger at her and she hit it with her tiny hand. More tears rolled down my face and I walked over to Aurora. I knew that she was dead, but our daughter should at least see her mother once. "This is your mother, she would have loved to hold you, but it was her time. I know that she loved you even if she didn't get to meet you."

"What are you going to name her?" Kevin asked. I looked away from my daughter and at Kevin. It was a valid question that I had no answer for. Aurora had been adamant that she would get to pick the names since she had to carry around the baby for nine months. She'd kept me in suspense the entire time, saying that I would know the name when everyone else did. It had sparked a few annoyed arguments and there had been a week that I'd been forced to sleep on the floor, we didn't have a couch, but in the end I let her have her fun. "Did Aurora tell you what she was going to name your baby if it was a girl?"

"No, she told me that I would know when everyone else did," I answered as I gently rocked the baby. "Remember the week of me sleeping on the floor? That was when I tried to get her to tell me the names she picked, but she never did." Kevin nodded his head and moved to stand beside me. He wiggled his fingers in the baby's face and then slid his large finger between her tiny ones. "Aurora no doubt picked the perfect name out," I whispered and choked back a sob. I was barely holding it together.

"What do you think she picked?" Kevin asked.

"I don't know," I admitted. "I have an idea though."

"Oh?"

"Beth." Kevin stopped playing with the baby and looked at me. We hadn't always seen eye-to-eye on some things, but I could tell that he agreed with my choice. For over a year Aurora had been driven into a blind rage at the mere mention of the name Nero. He'd raped her mother, resulting in Beth's pregnancy with Aurora, and then given orders to kill Beth. Beth and I had never been close, but I knew that she was a good person and that Aurora loved her mom like no one else. It was the perfect name, a tribute to Aurora and her mother. "Beth, you're name is Beth. When you're older and can understand words instead of just tones, I'll tell you all about your mother and your grandmother. How amazing both of them were."

"And I'll be there to make sure he doesn't completely screw you up," Kevin added with a small smile to the baby. The baby giggled as if she knew what they were saying and Jonas felt the tears coming again. "Go on, get it all out, I'll hold Beth," Kevin said. I nodded and allowed him to take the baby. I couldn't see anything, the tears were blurring my vision. I made my way back to where Aurora's body lay and I took her hand. It was colder than it should have been and I let out a sob.

"Aura, I miss you," I whispered and kissed her hand. "She's okay, Aura, she's healthy and crying, and already laughing at Kevin's jokes at my expense." I laughed at the last part because it was oddly funny. "I named her Beth, after your mother. I don't know what you would have wanted me to name her, but I thought that it would be the perfect name for a baby girl. I'll take good care of her, Aura. She won't want for anything, I promise. It's going to be hard without you, so hard. Nothing is going to be the same, I'm barely holding on here." I sobbed again. "Say hi to your mom for me, okay?" I kissed her hand again and then returned it to her side. "Kevin, can you…" I trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence. "I can't."

"Yeah, I can. Here's Beth." Kevin handed Beth back to me and I moved out of the room, retreating to the small nursery that Aurora and I had set up for our baby. There was a small crib that we'd built in the early stages of her pregnancy, a rocking chair that Kevin had scrounged up from one of the houses on the outskirts, and a small changing table that was actually just a table.

I sat down in the rocking chair and started rocking. I could hear Kevin moving Aurora from the table and taking her to be buried. A sob racked my body and I closed my eyes just for a second while I tried to pull myself together. I couldn't fall apart, no matter how much I loved Aurora. Our child was depending on me.

"I'm going to tell you a story about how your mom saved me," I told Beth. I grabbed the bottle from the table that Kevin had probably made when I'd been completely focused on Aurora's death, and slipped it into Beth's mouth and watched her suck away for a few seconds before I told her all about her mother.

I woke up to someone nudging me and I opened my eyes to see Kevin standing next to me, looking down at me. Even though I wasn't exactly tired my eyes were heavy. I felt Beth wiggle a bit in my arms and looked down, she was sleeping peacefully.

"I'll take her and put her in your crib, you get some sleep," Kevin ordered. I shook my head.

"I don't know how you're dealing with this so well," I muttered.

"I'll have plenty of time to mourn later, in the mean time there is this little bundle of joy that needs to be taken care of while you pull yourself together," Kevin added as he lifted the baby from my arms and set her down in the crib. "Also I found this in Aurora's pocket, it has your name on it." I took the paper from Kevin and headed toward my bedroom, which was two doors down from the baby's room. I sat myself down on the edge of the bed and looked at the large bed that was now going to be for one person. With a sigh I ran my hand through my hair and  put my elbows on my thighs. Without Aurora I wasn't sure I would be okay, she had saved me from Nero, brought me back from the brink of despair, stopped me from drinking myself to death, and made sure that I was okay before worrying about herself.

"Stop it, Jonas," I ordered myself. "You have a baby to take care of, you can cry your eyes out when she's older." With my poor attempt at a pep talk out of the way I unfolded the paper Kevin had given me. There was a small note.

Jonas, you know how I always like to be prepared. Giving birth is dangerous, even when the right people are there to help. Things can happen no one can predict. I love you and I love the child we're going to have. In case I don't survive, here are the names I picked out.

For  a girl, Beth. For my mom, who will never get to meet her grandbaby.

For a boy, Damon. For your brother who you lost that nearly sent you over the edge.

We've lost a lot of people, done a lot of things we aren't proud of, we survived and against all odds were able to find each other and start a family. I love you, Jonas, whatever happens never forget that.

"Oh, Aura." The tears ran down my cheeks again. "I love you too."