Fifteen hours later

-

"Dr. Watson?"

James stood up from where he'd been sitting in the maternity ward waiting room. "Yes?"

"Your wife had a baby girl."

"That's wonderful!" He cried, proudly. Suddenly, he realized what she'd just said. "My wife? Oh no, Helen's not my wife."

The nurse shrugged. "Anyway, she would like to see you."

He nodded. "Of course."

He followed her into the small room where Helen sat up in her hospital bed, holding a small bundle in her arms. "Hello, James." She greeted with a radiant smile.

He walked over and kissed her cheek gently. "Helen," he whispered.

"Do you want to see her?" She asked with a soft smile.

"I would love to see her." He said, looking over at Helen.

She pulled the receiving blanket further down so that James could see her daughter's face better. "I'm going to name her Ashley."

"She is as beautiful as her mother." He said, honestly.

Helen blushed, self-consciously as she reached up and tucked a few errant strand of hair behind her ear. "Thank you."

"Helen, I am not exaggerating. She is absolutely breathtaking."

Helen smiled softly as she looked back down at her daughter. "She is." She said, tearing up. "She really is."

They were silent as they looked at the newborn for a moment. Helen looked over at her friend after a moment. "Would you like to hold her?"

"May I?"

She nodded. "Of course. Here. Hold her."

She gently helped him hold the baby with some extra support for her head.

"She's so small."

She chuckled softly. "You are entitled to your own opinion."

"When you've rested, I wi'll send a telegram to the Sanctuary to inform them of her birth." He said, looking over at Helen.

"Don't trouble yourself." She chuckled. "I can make a telephone call."

He looked at the child in his arms, and then he looked back at Helen. "John – the version of him that truly loved you – would be very proud of you and of your daughter."

Tears moistened her eyes as she nodded, gratefully. "She does look a great deal like him." She admitted.

"I know that, Helen." He said, seriously. "But she also looks a great deal like you."

"I should hope so," she laughed tiredly.

"You should rest." He said, returning baby Ashley to her arms. "And I should return to the Sanctuary to welcome your team."

"Thank you for staying, James." She said, gratefully. "You have been a tremendous source of support through this endeavor, and I will never forget it."

"I told you once before, Helen," he said with a look in his eye that mystified Helen. It was almost sad as if he was merely saying what she wished to hear. "I'm doing this as your oldest contact and as John Druitt's closest friend." He turned to leave before he looked back at her. "Helen, you are going to make a wonderful mother."

"Thank you." She whispered with a small smile as she returned to observing her newborn daughter.

He turned back to leave before she looked back up at him. "James?"

"Yes, Helen?"

"Will you be her godfather?" She asked, softly.

"I would be honored." He said with a faint smile.

"Thank you, James." Helen said, relieved. "With all that I've seen in my line of work, it will take a burden off my shoulders to know that should anything happen to me, Ashley will have a proper English gentleman as a role-model."

"Anything for you, Helen." He said, turning back toward the door.

Helen puzzled over his words for a moment before she looked back at her daughter. "Welcome to the world, Ashley." She whispered, gently.

James paused at the door, wishing for a moment that Helen was actually his wife as the orderly had intimated, and that Ashley was his daughter.

He sighed as he shook his head. A young, vibrant woman like Helen would never want a decrepit old man, kept alive only through the grace of God and Helen's ingenuity, like him for a husband or a lover. Especially after how entirely she'd loved her former fiance. No, he would instead be Helen's oldest contact and Ashley's godfather.

-

Helen looked down at her newborn daughter as he left. "Your godfather is one of the best men I've ever met. You'll discover how blessed you are to have such a gentle man watching over you."

For a brief moment, as Helen looked down at her daughter, she wondered what life would have been like if, instead of John, she'd fallen in love with the "smart" choice of her day – James Watson. "I wouldn't have you, Ashley." She whispered as she shook off her train of thought. "And after all these years, perhaps the damage has been done."

She would be the independent woman she'd made herself out to be more than a century before, and she would teach her daughter the importance of fulfillment in her life – regardless of her marital status or the number of children she had. She would teach her daughter to be like her – a strong and modern woman.

Who cried herself to sleep at night because she was lonely.

Helen sighed. Perhaps she would try to teach her daughter the things that she'd neglected to learn herself.