Laura's fingers shifted inside Remington's and her head began to move, ever so slightly, from side to side, her dark hair fanning out over the stark, white pillow.
"Laura?" he whispered hopefully, and again, a little louder, "Laura?"
She could hear him softly calling to her. Swimming through the darkness, she managed to respond,
"Hmmm?" she moaned before her eyes fluttered open and focused on her husband's face.
"Laura, oh thank God!" he exclaimed in relief, gathering her into his arms and holding her tight.
She was dazed and disoriented, blinking in the morning light that streamed through the open curtains. Her hands came up to grip his shoulders as she hugged him back, rejoicing in the feel of his strong arms beneath her fingertips.
His hands moved to cup her face, smoothing back her hair as he pressed a tender kiss to her dry, cracked lips.
Laura stared at him, her eyes wide with terror, her voice hoarse as she choked out, "The baby? Is it...?"
Tears of joy filled Remington's eyes as he nodded, "It's a miracle," he told her.
Laura's sigh was audible, her shoulders sagged in relief, "We did it," she murmured in wonder, "We did it."
"No Laura," he corrected, "You did it. I didn't do anything. You did it all."
Just then, Dr Barnett entered the room on morning rounds.
"Ah," she said with a smile, "Sleeping Beauty awakes. Good Morning Mrs. Steele, did you have a nice rest?"
Laura's smile was half-hearted as Dr Barnett went about examining her and checking her vital signs.
"How long was I out?" she wanted to know.
"Two days," Dr Barnett answered as she finished up her examination. Turning, she noticed Remington's worried gaze.
"Is she...?" he asked.
"Vital signs are strong, stable and healthy, those stitches will be tender for a while and you'll have to build your strength up, but other than that, you're fine, Mrs. Steele," Dr Barnett told them, "I see no reason why you shouldn't be out of here in a few days."
"Oh thank God," Remington said, for the second time that morning, his relief palpable.
"You gave us quite a scare there, Mrs. Steele," Dr Barnett explained, "You started hemorrhaging during the C-section and you lost a lot of blood. After the toxemia and eclampsya had taken their toll on your body, you just needed time to replenish and recover. But, everything is OK now," she smiled warmly, "And, I think there's someone who is mighty anxious to meet their Mommy, don't you Mr. Steele? I'll have neo-natal bring your baby down to you."
"Of course," Remington realized with a grateful smile, "Thank you."
When the doctor had gone, Remington turned back to Laura, "I'll go and call the rest of the family," he offered.
"No," Laura responded, reaching out a hand, which he took obligingly, and using it to draw him closer, "I feel like I've been gone so long all I want is to see you and touch you."
"It's OK sweetheart," Remington reassured her, coming close enough to hug her, "I'm right here. I've been here the whole time."
"You can't imagine what I was dreaming," she said, her voice muffled by his shoulder, "I was remembering -"
"The last time we nearly lost one another?" he finished for her.
"Yeah," Laura answered, "How did you know?"
"Because I was remembering the same thing," he told her, recalling his own vivid dream from that first night after her operation.
He eased down onto the bed beside her and curved an arm around her shoulders. Laura leaned against his chest and sighed.
"I was so scared," she admitted, "I had the most vivid flashback to the day you nearly got deported, it was almost like being there, every colour, every memory, every feeling the same and so real," she paused for a moment. "At one point I could hear you calling to me but I couldn't get back to you."
"I was terrified too," he confided, "Terrified of losing you. This was the second time I'd come close to it, the first was that day."
"But you didn't," Laura tried to reassure him, lacing her fingers through his and carrying his free hand to her lips, "And you never will. I think that flashback made me realize that."
"Really?" Remington was genuinely interested, "How so?"
"Well, it's funny really," she went on, "I have the strangest feeling that, deep down, my subconscious wouldn't let me wake up until I'd been over every detail of that day. From the case we were working on, to me barging in on your wedding to Clarissa, to Mildred locking us in that dingy motel room and to us finally 'facing our fears', as you called it. Only when I got to our wedding was I allowed to wake up, secure in the knowledge that, together, we could over come any odds and that we'd never lose one another."
Remington wasn't sure what to say to that. He was amazed and delighted by what she'd told him. Fate had dealt her a couple of losing hands when it came to the men in her life leaving her. Her distrust of him, and of happiness, while painful for him to watch, had been something she'd had to overcome on her own. The fact that she finally had filled him with an unbounded joy and relief.
They sat in silence like that a moment or two longer and when Dr Barnett returned with a tiny bundle of pink in her arms, Remington and Laura looked up in surprise.
"Shouldn't you be finishing your rounds, doctor?" Remington asked as she approached the bed slowly.
"This was one family reunion I didn't want to miss," Dr Barnett explained with a warm smile as she leaned down to place the baby into Laura's waiting arms, "Say hello to your daughter, Mrs. Steele."
"Oh my," was all Laura could gasp, tears of joy and relief overflowing as she stared down at the sleeping infant, watching in wonder as she snuggled instinctively closer to her mother.
"I'll leave you three to get acquainted," Dr Barnett said, backing away from the one sight she would never tire of, "Congratulations."
Remington did little more than to raise his hand towards the doctor in a vague gesture of thanks and farewell combined. He was too captivated by the vision before him, Laura with their baby, the two women who commanded all of his love and held the whole of his heart within their power.
He brought a hand up to trace a finger along their tiny baby's forehead and down her cheek.
"She's so tiny," Laura marveled, her voice a whisper, "So small, but so perfect."
"Of course she is," Remington agreed, "She's just like you, perfect, strong, healthy and beautiful, so beautiful. That's why I want to name her Laura, after you, the most amazing woman it has ever been my good fortune, or maybe pure dumb luck, to meet, fall in love with and marry."
Laura tilted her head and looked up at him, honored by his suggestion, but, her ever-practical mind had other ideas. She raised a hand to cup his cheek and kissed him tenderly. Her eyes shone with love and she smiled as she answered him.
"I love you for saying that, but Frances and Donald already named Laurie Beth after me. With all those Lauras running around, things could get a little confusing," she told him, "Besides, I want our daughter to share in her Daddy's Irish heritage. I did some reading while I was stuck at home in bed, and I found a beautiful Irish name - Aislinn - it means dreaming, which, now more than ever, is rather appropriate," she finished with a wry laugh.
"I love it," Remington said, his voice catching, "And I love you. Do you have any idea how much?" He held her close, rested his forehead against the top of her head and pressed a kiss to her hair.
He raised his head thoughtfully a moment later, "I have another Celtic name I'd like to add to that, if you don't mind," he began, "I remember when I was very little, only about 8 or 9, I was sent to live with one of many distant cousins. Well, my so-called relative had a husband who saw their new family member as a convenient form of child labor and he used to bully me around, but they had a daughter of their own, much older than me, and she was nice to me. She helped me do my chores, brought me extra food and blankets when it was cold, and she would bring me books and read to me about wonderful places, far away from our small Irish village." Laura was watching him tell his story in awe, touched by his decision to open up yet another part of his increasingly less mysterious past, "Her name was Briana," he finished softly.
"Aislinn Briana," Laura murmured, "It's beautiful."
As if on cue, their tiny daughter opened her eyes, and instead of the murky grey-blue of most babies, they were the color of the sky, destined to be as clear and piercing as her daddy's.
Mommy and Daddy gazed at their daughter in awe and it was a while before one of them spoke.
Remington hugged Laura to him, "I've missed this," he told her, "I've missed you, I've missed holding you in my arms." He placed a tender kiss to her temple. "Are you very sore?" h asked softly, running a gentle hand over her abdomen.
"It's kind of tender, but not too bad," she answered, "Why?"
"Because that's not all I've missed," he growled playfully, his lips close to her ear. His warm breath sent shivers running through Laura and she laughed.
"You're kidding, right? You're insatiable," she teased.
"Ah, yes, but so are you, my sweet, and you love it," he joked, "Besides, how else do you think this little one came along so soon?"
Laura laughed again, this time throwing her head back so that her hair rippled down her back and over his arm. The sound resonated through the ICU room, which, until that morning, had been ghostly quiet for too long.
Remington and Laura spent a little more time with Aislinn before a nurse came to tell them that Laura was being moved out of ICU and Aislinn out of neo-natal too. When she'd freshened up, changed into one of her own pretty nightgowns and settled into the new room, Laura put Aislinn in a crib by the bed to nap and asked Remington to call their family.
The Holt clan wasted no time in getting to the hospital. Now that Laura was no longer in ICU, everyone crowded noisily and ecstatically into the ward and the room was instantly filled with chatter, laughter, congratulations and gifts.
Remington stood back and simply watched, content to see Laura so confident, so alive and so glowing. After a moment, Daniel joined him by the door.
"Well, my boy, congratulations," he said sincerely, "You've finally got the family you deserve."
"Thank you, Daniel," Remington replied, "But my family was complete with Laura, little Aislinn is merely an added bonus."
They watched in silence for a minute or two more.
"Say, could you keep an eye on things here? I've got to duck out for a minute," Remington asked.
"Of course," Daniel agreed.
Laura was so caught up with the family that she didn't notice her husband slip quietly out the door, but she definitely noticed his return a little over half an hour later.
He wandered through the door with a huge bunch of red roses for Laura and various other bags and packages, noticing that only Daniel remained talking softly with Laura. Placing the roses in Laura's arms and kissing her briefly he asked,
"Where is everyone?"
"The good doctor kicked everybody out," Daniel explained, "Said that was enough commotion for one day but that, with any luck, Laura could be released in a day or two."
"That's wonderful," Remington said.
Laura inhaled deeply, "Mmm, these are beautiful."
"Beautiful flowers for my beautiful wife," Remington told her.
"Well, I must be off as well," Daniel announced, "Laura, dear, you look wonderful. You two take care of little Aislinn and send me pictures to keep me up to date."
"But, Daniel, aren't you staying in Los Angeles for a while," Remington inquired.
"Must get back to London, you know, places to go, people to see," Daniel breezed.
"People to con, you mean," Laura suggested disapprovingly, but there was a twinkle in her eye and a smile tugging at her lips.
"Goodbye darling," Daniel said, leaning down to kiss her cheek, "Goodbye sweetpea," he cooed to Aislinn, "Goodbye Harry," Daniel shook his hand and was gone.
Remington pulled a chair closer to the bed and sat down, his packages at his feet.
"I bought a couple of toys and some clothes for Aislinn," he showed her, "They're the smallest size they make and she'll still have to grow into them. And I got these for you, too," he procured a box of candy.
"Parlays!" Laura cried happily.
"Your favorite," Remington said.
Laura heard clinking and put the candy aside to watch what Remington was doing. He pulled out a magnum of champagne and two glasses.
"The champagne is for Aislinn," he explained, "But, I didn't think she'd mind if we helped her drink it."
"For Aislinn?" Laura queried as he poured them each a glass and handed hers to her.
"Of course," he answered as they curved their arms around each other's and took a sip in perfect co-ordination, "It's tradition for me to present a magnum of champagne to any woman I've fallen in love with."
"Oh really?" Laura asked, one eyebrow quirked in interest, an annoying habit she'd picked up from him, "And how many other times have you bestowed a magnum of champagne on an unsuspecting female?" She was smiling despite her mock scolding tone.
"Just the once, my darling," he murmured, leaning down to kiss her lips, "Just the once."
They smiled as their lips met again. When it came to true love, once was enough.