When she arrived back at the house, Helena was still chatting with the doctor. When the doctor saw Bette, she smiled and left. “Everything ok?” Bette asked quietly. Helena shrugged and patted her belly. “I think so.” She replied. “Everything feels calm again. The baby probably needs to put on some more weight, I mean it really is too soon. I haven’t had any cramps since this afternoon, so that’s a good sign.”

Bette sighed, feeling slightly relieved. She stretched out next to Helena, laying her head on Helena’s chest and rubbing her belly. She laced her fingers with Helena’s and closed her eyes. “Baby?” She whispered, her eyes still shut. “Do you ever miss him?”

Helena sighed. She nudged Bette’s forehead until her girlfriend looked at her. “Of course I do.” She said. “But that doesn’t mean that I don’t love you. He was a great guy. He taught me that I could be strong. He taught me that all of my talents weren’t so useless afterall. But you know…” Bette arched her eyebrows questioningly. “You know, you taught me a lot as well. You taught me to reach up, and grab for the stars, no matter how bad things seemed.” Bette smiled and kissed Helena softly.

“Yeah, good thing I taught you that one.” Bette yawned as she spoke. “I love you Cherry. Cherry Brandy, or Cherry…whatever your name was.”

Cherry had been Helena’s stage name. She rolled her eyes at Bette’s forgetfulness.

“Cherry Darling.” Helena tried to correct her.

“No, I know it was Cherry something, but what was it?”

“Never mind sweetheart. Go to sleep now.” Helena laughed as Bette dropped off into sleep. She lay on her side, comforted by the way in which Bette instinctively put an arm around her, making her feel safe even as she slept.

While she slept, Helena dreamt that she was no longer pregnant. She knew that the baby was somewhere safe, but she was alone, protecting the camp. Very few survivors were left. She whipped her Vulcan around her as the infected swarmed. When it was out, she hurridly changed it. One of the infected inexplicably launched a missile at her and she gracefully arched, bridging with her gun and her hands holding her to the ground as the missile flew under her. Then she slid in a wide circle, taking out the rest of the infected before launching herself into the air and landing on her feet. The war was over. Her baby was safe. But somehow, she knew, Bette had not made it.