Lilith & the Nephilim Snippet #5

I must have fallen asleep halfway through chapter two of A Land Remembered. Charlie was just so nice and warm. He was like the perfect pain reliever and protection from the cold. It was so comfortable. My arm was starting to tingle and I knew it was falling asleep. I started to adjust my position, but something stopped me. Something was pinning my arm down and stopping me from turning over.

I finally got enough courage to open my eyes and look down at where my arm was pinned. I nearly screamed when I realized that it was my belly and that I’d been dreaming. It was still in Sampsa’s tower, trapped and far away from Charlie de Beaufort. The bed was wet and my body felt like a weight had been dropped on me. She was coming. My daughter was coming. I was going to have to do it alone, but I was going to do it.

After four hours of pushing, holding in my screams, and nearly passing out, she crowned. One final push and I heard my baby cry for the first time. I ripped a pillowcase off of a pillow and wrapped it around her, trying to shield her from the cold as much as I could.

When she was swaddled nice and tight, I actually looked down at her and began to cry. She had a beautiful head of dark brown hair, perfectly shaped lips, and when she looked up at me all I could see were her electric green eyes. She was perfect like I knew she would be.

“Hi, baby girl,” I whispered, a tear falling onto the lacy pillowcase wrapped around her. “You’re… you’re going to need a name, aren’t you?”

I thought of all the names I could think of, but none of them seemed to fit her. Then I remembered a story Niko told me once about a Finnish girl who survived in the wilderness for years after getting lost. Her name was Hannele Tuula. I’d always loved Finnish names and hers especially. We were both lost like Hannele and we were going to make it just like her.

“But don’t worry, baby Hannele Tuula Barker, I’ll try not to get us lost in the wilderness.”