Page 65 of Destined for Eternity
“I see the green stuff inside,” he said, eyes closed as he used some sort of internal vision. “But I don’t know how…”
Ariel rushed into the room. “Oh, for crying out loud. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to intervene.”
“How did you know?” Melena asked, drawing her brows together.
“As if I could continue sleeping through all that screaming and whining.” The former archangel joined Kerbasi at his side. The last time the guardian healed a child, she’d helped him figure out what to do. Back then, she hadn’t fallen and gone to Hell yet, and one of her specialties had been performing healing miracles. “Now do it like this.”
Ariel’s hand glowed as she put her palm over Kerbasi’s, and together they worked to clear the baby’s lungs. Cori wanted to watch, but labor pains started up once more as her body told her it was time to get the placenta out. Everyone was too busy to notice. It wasn’t nearly as painful as when she delivered the baby, and after a few minutes, she felt it slip from her body. She lay back against the pillows and waited anxiously as the guardian and Ariel worked.
Please, God, let her little girl be okay.She couldn’t lose another one.
A minute later, they took their hands off the baby, and she let out her first scream. The wail was loud and the most beautiful thing Cori had ever heard. Let her cry as long and as hard as she wanted as long as it meant she was breathing.
“Your daughter will be okay now,” Ariel assured her. The former archangel checked the rest of the child over and sealed the umbilical cord. “No sense in waiting for this to heal on its own when I can take care of it now.”
The fallen angel and Melena worked together to wrap the child up, then brought her over to Cori. She stared at her daughter, who had a full head of dark brown hair and stunning blue eyes. The baby was a little bigger than her previous daughter had been and yet she seemed so tiny. She stopped crying as soon as she looked up into Cori’s eyes. It was as if the knowledge of the universe was hidden there, fresh from wherever new souls came from, but she couldn’t tell them a thing.
“Oh, God. She’s beautiful,” she breathed in wonder of her daughter.
Melena smiled. “Yes, she is. What are you going to name her?”
Thankfully, Cori and Bartol had managed to pick out the names for a son or daughter months ago. It was one of the few things she’d gotten him to do before he’d become really distant from her. “Sybil—it was Bartol’s mother’s name.”
“Oh, that is a good choice,” Ariel said, moving closer to the bed. “I remember her as a sweet woman who everyone near her loved.”
“You knew her?” Cori asked, surprised.
“Not precisely.” The former archangel put her finger in one of the baby’s hands and smiled when Sybil squeezed it. “I watched from afar since it was my job to keep an eye on Bartol during his early years.”
“Oh, sure. Now you tell me.”
Ariel gave her a wicked smile. “It is no fun if I reveal all my secrets at once, but perhaps someday I’ll tell you a little of his antics.”
Kerbasi let out a dramatic sigh and threw his hands up in the air. “Forget all of that. Surely you could have named the girl after me since I did deliver her.”
“Oh, no.” Cori snuggled her daughter closely. “Nice try, though.”
He chuckled. “I suspected as much, but I had to make the argument.”
Someone pounded on the front door. Cori tensed, though she knew an enemy wouldn’t knock. “Who is here?”
“A werewolf,” Melena replied. “That must be Heidi.” She raced out of the room to answer the door.
A minute later she returned with the woman. Heidi was in her thirties with dark-blond hair, a strong build, and a no-nonsense attitude. “I’m sorry I missed the big moment, but if you could hand the baby to me, I’ll check her over.”
Cori hesitated. It was hard to let Sybil go, but after a final snuggle, she let the werewolf take her daughter. She turned to Kerbasi next. “I hate to ask, but you’re the only one who can do it quickly.”
“What is it?”
“Could you go to my house and get a few things from Sybil’s nursery? She needs diapers, an outfit, and a blanket at the very least.” Cori hoped to return there soon, but she would need at least a few hours to recover first and wanted her baby to have the basics now.
The guardian shifted from foot to foot. “Are you certain I’m the best one to find those items?”
She frowned. “Oh wait, there’s a bag by the nursery room door that will have all of it.” Her mind was still so foggy and exhausted, she’d forgotten about it. “Just grab that.”
“Very well.” He started to head out of the room, then stopped. “Are you certain you’ll be fine until I return?”
“It shouldn’t take you long, and we’ll be okay until then,” the sensor assured him.
