Shattered Paradise

Chapter 14: The Way It's Supposed To Be

…Vous êtes bénie entre toutes les femmes, et Jésus, le fruit de vos entrailles, est béni. Sainte Marie, Mére de Dieu, priez pour nous, pauvres pécheurs, maintenant et â l'heure de notre mort. Amen… Je vous salue, Marie, pleine de grâce, Le Seigneur est avec vous…

Her eyes fluttered open. He had never seen a sight more beautiful in his life. She blinked with the shock of the bright, sterile lights before focusing on him.

"Vaughn."

So, he was still Vaughn, but God, he didn't care. Just to hear her voice, to hear her call him something, to know that she recognized him, knew his name…

He shook his head, bringing himself back to reality. Now wasn't for focusing on the could-have-beens or the ifs, it was for reveling in what he still had.

"Sydney. Oh honey, I've been so worried about you…" He brought his lips to her forehead. The feverish glow was still twinkling in her eyes, but her skin felt a lot cooler against his lips.

He heard her sigh with contentment as he pulled away. "Vaughn? What…what happened?"

Sydney suddenly brought a hand down to her now nearly flat stomach and her eyes grew wide. "Vaughn…" she whimpered, tears filling her eyes and her lower lip trembling.

"Shh, baby…" He ran a hand through her hair, brushing a stray strand behind her ear. "You need your rest."

"But Vaughn. Our little baby…" A single tear dripped from her eyelashes and made its way slowly down her cheek, the first raindrop sliding down the window pane during a soft spring storm.

"Oh no, Syd," Vaughn responded, giving her a sweet smile and kissing the tear from her cheek. He pulled the sheet down to her waist and lifted her shirt, running his finger gently along the stapled incision on her stomach.

"We have a little girl, Syd," he murmured, bringing her shirt back down and pulling the sheet up. He brought his face close to hers. "And she's tiny, but beautiful. She's perfect, Sydney. And she's ours."

She smiled and he placed a sugary sweet kiss on her lips, before pulling away and lacing his fingers with hers.

"Now, Syd, they'll bring in the baby in a few minutes, but first, I think you should hear what happened…"

Vaughn waited for the longest second of his life, expecting to feel the impact of the bullet or feel it whizzing past him, too close for comfort.

Sydney had gone limp in his arms. But bringing his ear to her lips revealed the short, tiny breaths, and he hadn't felt her jostled. So, she couldn't have been shot, she couldn't have…

He heard the impact and someone groan, almost afraid to turn around and see who it was. Fahim or Jack. It was too much to wish for, too much to hope…

The groaning continued, a pained voice suddenly added to it. "Why, you little whore…"

Vaughn turned around. There was no mistaking the painful wheezing in that poisonous voice. Fahim had his back to him and the blood glistened and oozed from a hole in his side. He was facing a figure in the doorway.

A young woman… no a girl was standing there, a pistol held tightly in her shaking hand.

"Dammmit, bitch! When I get my hands on you…"

The girl didn't move, oblivious to his harsh words and threats, frozen with fear.

Fahim was advancing on her, a string of obscenities flowing from his mouth as quickly as the blood flowing down his back.

"Run! Get back!" Vaughn managed to yell. But the girl did not respond. His head seemed to be swirling in a million different directions. Sydney, Jack, Fahim, the girl, Sydney, the girl, Fahim, Sydney…

Fahim had his hand at the girl's throat. Tears were streaming down her cheeks and she was struggling to breathe, but other than that, she did not make a sound.

Vaughn knew he had no choice. He placed Sydney gently on the bed in the back of the room and ran over to Fahim. He punched him forcefully in the side of the head, and Fahim was thrown back with the blow, forcing him to release his hold on the girl's neck. She sunk to the ground, gasping for breath.

With a reassuring glance in her direction, Vaughn tore the gun from her hand. Fahim was staggering toward him, gun drawn. Vaughn aimed the pistol at Fahim and shot it before the other man would have a chance to fire his.

One shot, in the chest, immediately exploding Fahim's black heart of stone. His lifeless body sunk to the ground; he would never bother the Vaughn family again.

Vaughn glanced at the girl, who was peering uneasily up at him from where she knelt on the floor. Besides the marks on her neck, she appeared unhurt.

He ran over to the bed where he had left Sydney. She was still unconscious, but still alive. Alive and once again in his arms, that's all that mattered.

He scooped her up and held her close to him, kissing her damp forehead. Glancing over her again, he realized how close she had come to dying, to letting herself die. That was when he knew that their little baby was the one thing that kept her alive. Their hero.

Vaughn kissed Sydney's stomach, silently thanking his unborn child for saving its mother's life. But that one sweet, silent moment was shattered with the sound of footsteps running down the hall.

Vaughn closed his eyes. Not again, not again, not again. Not when he had come so close. Not now, that he had her back. Not when Fahim was finally gone.

There was nothing he could do but let them come. There were too many liabilities, too many pairs of boots storming through the hall, too many people that he had to take care of. Maybe if he surrendered, if he gave himself up to them, they would let Sydney and the others go. He would do it. He would do it for her…

Eyes shut tight against what he was afraid to see. Other senses focused on nothing but the woman in his arms. The love of his life. His guardian angel.

"Agent Vaughn…"

Someone was shaking his arm. And how the hell did they know his name…?

"Agent Vaughn, we have operatives taking care of the girl and Agent Bristow, we just need to get you and…"

"What about my father?" Sydney asked quietly.

"What?" Vaughn asked, shaken from his memory.

"My father," Sydney repeated, playing with Vaughn's fingers. "My father and Shadya. What happened to them?"

"They repaired the wound that your father had received and he's resting comfortably. The girl is fine, as well. Traumatized by whatever that bastard did to her, and they discovered that she's deaf, but she'll be fine."

Sydney nodded and closed her eyes.

"Are you okay, baby?" Vaughn asked, his eyes clouded with concern.

"Mmm," she answered. "I'm fine, now."

Maybe now they'd have the chance. Maybe now they could live like a normal family, get back all those years they had missed, they had lost. Maybe, just maybe…

"Michael?" Sydney had opened her dark eyes and was gazing seriously up at him. "Thank you."

"Sydney, you never have to thank me," Vaughn murmured in between the kisses he showered on her forehead, cheeks, eyes, and nose. "I love you more than words can say…"

"Mr. Vaughn?" a voice called from the doorway. "Ah, Mrs. Vaughn, you're awake. Feeling better?"

Sydney nodded and Vaughn turned to see a nurse standing in the doorway, holding a tiny bundle in her arms.

"Wonderful. Now, I believe I have a visitor who would be interested in seeing you…" the nurse continued, coming closer and nodding to the bundle she held in her arms.

"Michael…" Sydney whispered in awe, holding his hand tightly.

Vaughn kissed her forehead as the nurse placed the baby in her arms.

"We got her to take some formula, but she'll be hungry again soon, so I'll be back in awhile to show you how to feed her."

Sydney was too caught up in the moment to answer, so Vaughn nodded his thanks and the nurse left them alone.

"Here I am with my girls," Vaughn murmured. He had never thought that this day would come. And now that it had, he wished that he never had to leave it again. Everything was so perfect, so calm and right. If he could freeze time and live in one moment forever, this one would be it.

"How could we have made something so beautiful, so perfect?" Sydney whispered after a moment.

"She takes after her mother," Vaughn answered, unable to take his eyes off his two girls.

"And her father," Sydney responded. At that moment, the baby stirred and opened her eyes, peering up at her two doting parents.

"Green eyes," Sydney whispered, turning to Vaughn and giving him a smile so beautiful and so bright that he could barely contain the love and desire he felt for her. "Our baby has green eyes."

Vaughn swallowed and nodded, bringing a hand up to run it through her hair. He drew his head slowly closer to hers until they were just inches apart, all the while never breaking eye contact with her.

Sydney sighed softly and closed her eyes. He placed a syrupy-sweet kiss on her lips, unable to resist them any longer. She pulled him closer, careful to keep the baby out of the way. Her lips were hot, the fire of passion augmenting the heat of the fever.

She pulled back after only a few seconds and leaned back against the pillow, already gasping for breath. Vaughn's forehead wrinkled with concern, but she smiled reassuringly at him.

"What should we name her?" Sydney asked after a moment, motioning toward the tiny miracle she held in her arms.

Vaughn glanced down at his daughter and thought for a moment. "I bought a baby name book a few weeks ago and I was flipping through it at the airport. I have no idea where it is now, but there's one name that I remember. Now, I don't know if you'll like it, so just tell me if you don't, but…"

"Michael," Sydney interrupted, smiling at her husband's flustered look. "What is it?"

"Hailey," Vaughn answered quietly. "It means hero."

"Hailey," Sydney whispered, trying the name out on her tongue. "I love you, Hailey Vaughn." She gazed up at Vaughn and smiled. "It's perfect."

A week later, Sydney, Michael, and Hailey Michaela Vaughn walked up the steps to the front door of their home. Vaughn smiled down at his daughter and kissed his wife before reaching down to unlock the door.

It opened before he put the key in the lock, revealing his sister, Jacqueline, his mother, and a sea of faces behind them.

"Welcome home!"

His wife and daughter were pulled out of his arms before he even had a chance to respond. His mother, his sister, his brother-in-law, Kerri and Seth, Aunt Trish, Will, Eric, Francie…

"She's beautiful!"

"We're so glad you're back!"

"Auntie Syddy!"

"Sadie, you gave us quite a scare…"

Vaughn had been looking forward to going back to a quiet home and relaxing with his wife and daughter, but on second thought, being surrounded by family and friends was better.

He finally made his way through the door and began to greet everyone.

"Oh, my Michael!" his mother cried, wrapping him in a hug and giving him a kiss. "You made it back!"

"Of course I did, Mom," he smiled.

"And you brought Sydney, and my little angel, Hailey… but where's Jack?"

"He's resting and letting his wounds heal. He'll be back in a few weeks."

"Wonderful. You were always such a smart boy, Michael," Mrs. Vaughn said, giving her son a lipstick-smudging kiss.

Vaughn laughed and untangled himself from his mother's embrace. He tried to make his way over to Sydney. She was holding up remarkably well, but was still tired and frail.

"Hey, Mike!" Weiss called, wrapping an arm around his friend's shoulders. "Beautiful little girl you have there," he said and then added, "Both of them…" He glanced over at Sydney. "I heard about everything that happened. She looks a little… Is she gonna be all right?"

"Yeah," Vaughn nodded, following his friend's gaze. "She'll be fine."

"Hey, what happened with that Shady Girl?" Weiss asked after a moment.

"Shadya?" Vaughn laughed. "She was taken into protective custody and brought into the States. She's going daily to therapy, and should find a family for her soon."

"That's good," Weiss nodded. "Poor girl."

Vaughn patted his friend on the shoulder and walked across the room to Sydney.

"Hi gorgeous," he whispered in her ear. She leaned into him and he wrapped his arms around her. Her eyes were still a little glassy and her cheeks had become flushed with the stress of all the excitement. "How're you holding up?"

"I'm fine, Michael."

Vaughn rocked her gently back and forth. "Don't pull this crap with me, Syd."

"What?" she asked, turning in his arms.

He kissed her forehead. "You feel a little warm. Let's go sit down."

"Where's Hailey?" she asked.

Vaughn glanced around the room. "Francie's got her. She's fine."

He led Sydney over to the couch and they sat down. She leaned her head on his shoulder and he put her arm around her. "I'm here, Syd. Don't pretend that you don't need help. Let me pamper you."

She smiled up at him. "Okay."

The two of them sat there and watched as Hailey was passed from person to person.

"Hey Syd?" Vaughn asked quietly.

"Yeah?"

"This is the way that it's supposed to be, you know?" he said, wrapping his arm tighter around her.

Sydney nodded and snuggled closer to him, but as she did, he pulled away.

"Hey…" Sydney cried, but her protests were silenced by Vaughn's lips, and she sighed happily into him.

"You have no idea how much I missed doing that," he whispered.

"Mmm… I think I have an idea," Sydney murmured as she pulled away. "Yeah…" she pulled him back to her again, relishing in the fact that they were together and they were home.

"Hey, Uncle Mikey!" A little voice called. Vaughn pulled away and saw Seth approaching them.

"Yeah, little man?"

Seth stopped in front of them and put his hands on his hips. "No kissing! Hawey's a tiny baby and she doesn't like kissing."

"Sorry, babe," Sydney laughed.

"Auntie Syddy," Seth began, climbing up on the couch next to her. "No more playing hide and go seek until you learn the rules."

"Got it," Sydney answered, smiling and leaning her head back on Vaughn's shoulder.

"Pinky promise?" the little boy asked, holding out his little finger to her.

"Pinky promise," Sydney affirmed, linking her finger with the little boys and shaking her hand.

"Good," Seth nodded after a moment. "Now we're all set."

Sydney nodded and she, Vaughn, and Seth sat in silence for a moment.

"Jacky," Sydney called, spotting Vaughn's sister with Hailey. "Can I have my baby girl?"

"Of course," Jacqueline answered, coming over and laying the baby in her arms. "Come on, Seth," she said, taking her son's hand and leading him off the couch.

"Now this," Vaughn said, taking his daughter's hand and planting a kiss on Sydney's forehead, "is the way it's supposed to be."

Now, I hope that ending at least partially makes up for having to make you wait so long. I'm very very sorry, but hey, just keep in mind that now that it's finished, you won't have to wait anymore! Thanks for reading!