Gen 3: Tough

 Days were gloomy on the island after that night. Almost like the sun didn't want to shine there. The only source of happiness for my family was the happiness that we made on our own and even it was scarce. Della never stopped crying and telling me that she doesn't care what I say, she implies that it was all her fault but I know better than that.

"Cause of death?"
"Heart failure."
"Oh goodness, that ought to be hard on your family...how is Della taking it?"
"No one is really taking it too well...it's been hard on all of us. Especially Ande's little girl, Genesis."
"Did anyone see it coming at all? Couldn't the doctor predict something like that and stop it?"
"Obviously not."
"Mr. Langly, I'm not trying to make you talk about this, but I am your therapist and you're paying me to sit here and ask you these questions that are supposed to take the sadness off your shoulders. If you would please, just open up a little?"

I looked at her with the sadness apparent in my eyes. "My daughter died. I'm not paying you to take the sadness away...It'll never go away. I just really need someone to talk to without seeing the same sadness  that I have to look at everywhere else."
"You can't expect everyone to just give up the sadness not even a week after Ande has passed..." I sighed and pushed myself off the couch "I'm not expecting for anyone to give up being sad. I just need someone that isn't." I walked out of the office, swearing under my breath. Aren't therapists supposed to listen to you? Well, I felt completely ignored.

"Nessa, Kalyn, Amber...do you think you could help arrange the flowers in Ande's room?" Was the first thing I heard when I walked in the door and I thought "Great...Della's got her friends over." I did my best to ignore them all, the last thing I need is a bunch of women crying.

But Amber caught me by the sleeve and pulled me into the little circle that quickly formed. "Adam, we aren't here to soak your shoulders or cry all over the place. We're here to help you get ready for tomorrow...If you think you can't handle the funeral then its okay...Ande would understand." I smiled at all 3 of them before ducking out of the circle and heading to me and Della's room, where I can be sad in peace.

The morning was horrible...I didn't want to get out of bed just to go see my daughters dead body being laid 6 feet under the cold ground but I had to...I know that if it was me, Ande would be there and just because the world was falling apart by its seams doesn't mean I can skip my own daughters funeral. Eden helped Genesis and Abel get dressed while Della and I finished up the last of the preparations for the guests who would be sharing our house with us for a few hours after the service.

When I walked into the church, I felt sick instantly. I didn't want to be here...I don't know if I could handle it, but Eden and Della each grabbed one of my hands and walked me through the church slowly. My heart had started to go numb again when I saw her laying there in the front of the church. Her white casket was open and she looked so beautiful and peaceful. Her pale blue eyes closed to the cruel world that put her here...

She is a vision in purple...absolutely beautiful and even death couldn't change that...Death couldn't take away her beauty.

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OH COME ON GUYS! I'm not that evil -_- If you believed any of this for even a second then I'm gonna smack you over the head. Ande can't die! She's got a legacy to fulfill. This is how it REALLY happened....

"DELLA! CALL THE DOCTOR!" I screamed as Ande's heart monitor started to change...as the line quickly straightened, I put my hands straight over her heart and began pumping it in order to get her heart rate back up. Della came bursting through the door and when she saw it she began to freak out. My arms were getting tired but I didn't stop...I couldn't..

"Dammit Ande! Stay strong...." I kept pushing and pushing until I was pushed aside by doctor Spencer who pulled out something that he quickly plugged into the wall. I didn't know what it was, I'm not a doctor. But he pressed it to a spot just above her heart and it sent a shock straight through her that must have worked because her heart rate was going up.

I sighed with relief and plopped down on a chair, breathing heavy, cheeks stained with tears. Right before this had happened, I was getting ready to go to bed but now I couldn't leave...if something else happened then Ande could be gone, quick as a wink...But little did I know, something did happen.

My tiredness got the best of me and I fell asleep with Ande's hand in mine and Della's head on my shoulder. But I, being the light sleeper that I am, was woken up by someone moving Ande's hand out of mine. "What?" I woke up with random useless words on my lips but was looking right into a pair of Sapphire blue eyes.

"Mornin' sleepy head." Ande weakly smiled her little half smile and tried to sit up tall with pride, just like I had always known her to do, but it wasn't working. Her fragile body wasn't letting her.
"Ande...You're awake.." I smiled and stood up, holding out my arms and with as much speed as she could handle...she shoved herself into them and I held my little girl close at last...She was finally safe.

"Don't leave us again." I managed to spit out through the tears of joy running down my face. I almost was in too much shock to feel Della touch my back gently and then wrap her arms around both me and Ande.
It was late but Eden must have heard the commotion from where she was sitting on the couch by herself watching TV because soon enough it was a whole family reunion going on in Ande's room...because at last....we were a complete family.

*Ande, 3 weeks later*

"Eden, you'd just love how beautiful Bridgeport looks from across the bridge. The lights illuminate the water like you'd never believe. And the sparkles of the stars that we can see so well here...you can't see at all" I tried for Eden, to remember the parts of Bridgeport that were beautiful. None of it seemed really beautiful to me when she had asked, but remembering the lights and sound of people doing anything they wished on the big city streets had made me wish that I had gotten to see more of those things that people take pictures of when they explore the city.
 I had spent most of the time in a basement.

I rocked Genesis to sleep with a sigh resting on my tongue, it hadn't even been 2 months yet since I've been back on this island and I still felt like I hadn't been back long enough. The peacefulness of the entire place rested on my shoulders and I felt like I was allowed to sleep in every morning and wake up when my little girl jumped on me saying "Momma, wake up before I have to go get gammah." I would smile and pull her into my arms and we would cuddle there until she got tired of it.

Usually then, my mom would come in and sit on the edge of my bed and we'd talk. One morning we sat and talked for almost 3 hours. Today she had something on her mind and I was pretty sure I knew what. When she started talking, I knew I was exactly right. "Ande, you're a third generation Wriner. You know that right....You're first born and you're named after me and your grandmother. I'm going to only ask you this once and you can answer right away or you can think about it..." She paused to make sure I was listening and when I nodded, she went on. "I want you to take on the 100 baby challenge."

I looked at her pleadingly, begging her not to make me go around and sleep with 100 different men for this challenge. It means morning sickness and cravings. This challenge meant labor pains that had the chance of being worse than my first pregnancy. "I'll do it." I said with a huff. "But I'm playing by my own rules. That means no men. You read my diary, I know that you know exactly what I'm thinking." She looked confused but I was going somewhere with this. "Artificial insemination. I won't do it any other way."

"Fair enough...You can do it your way. The line extends with you, Ande. You're the heir to this legacy and it's all yours to do what you want with it. I have faith in you. Oh, and I want you to take a class for women who have been violated. I never took it and I should have...Just be glad that you have a mother who cares...someday you'll thank me for it...I promise."