Plus One

As was promised – the final shot! All mistakes are mine, and reviews are always welcome.

Enjoy.

How do I even feel right now? I guess I feel – my thoughts are interrupted by Claire. She's yelling about something. I'm not really sure. I'm a tad busy at the moment trying to put together our latest new piece of furniture. It's got me damn frustrated. The directions are somehow in English that makes no sense, and I pretty much have to go by the pictures though they look like they were drawn by a six year old…or me.

I read the directions out loud hoping they will somehow make more sense that way. "Put Part A into Part B using Part 47-" Part 47? When the hell did we switch to the numerical system? I try to put the pieces of wood together again, but I'm doing it without Part 47, I don't even know where the hell it is. Or where Parts 1 through 46 are for that matter.

Claire hollers again. "Alice!"

"What?" I yell back not really listening to her answer.

"It's now!"

I read the directions again, it definitely says put Part A into Part B with Part 47 – then Claire's words find their way into my thoughts. Now… now. What the hell does she mean by that? Now-now-now…

Oh FUCK!

"Now, Claire?" I about scream as I leap to my feet, and she's just as adamant to scream back.

"Now! Alice!"

I still can't believe it. "Right now?"

"Yes, right now!"

I'm trying to make my feet take me to Claire, but they're not working. Claire gets pissed.

"ALICE! Where the fuck are you?"

It's finally enough for me to get my ass in gear. I run to our bedroom and Claire is leaning up against one of the walls. I'm immediately at her side trying to help her stand. I hardly know what to say so I keep blubbering.

"Now as in – like now?"

I take her arm around my shoulder. I'm two seconds away from just scooping her up in my arms, but she can't believe I'm still asking if it's time.

"It won't be if you don't get me to the damn doctor."

She's joking, but I'm absolutely panicked.

"It can't be now." I'm not ready. Claire makes me ready by smacking me upside the head. A lot harder than normal, but thank God it works. I lift her in my arms and take a worried look at her. Her face is contorting in pain, there's a light sheen of sweat on her forehead, and her arms are cradling her belly. I swear we're at the doctor's house faster than a pack of undead dogs chasing me down.

Doc is an expert in childbirth, and he gave me strict instruction that when it was time to take Claire straight to his house. He had a room all set up strictly for giving birth. Oh god. That's what's about to happen. Claire is about to have a damn baby! We've been preparing since the pregnancy test was positive. I'll admit it's possible I actually prepared too much. I've gone to every appointment with her, read whatever books I could find, and I ruthlessly interrogated nearly every mother and father I came across. It's entirely possible that my new nickname in this town is the 'Crazy Baby Lady'. I just wanted to be thorough, and I over did it. Not only do I know what to expect, I also know every little damn thing that can go wrong. Let's just say that it's not good for my nerves.

"DOC!" I'm completely freaking out. And it's completely obvious when I kick the man's door down, not in – down – as in broken at the handle and the hinges, whole thing falling backwards – that kind of down. I see Doc jump back before it falls on him. I can't even be bothered to apologize for the destruction.

"Get her inside," he says calmly. I take Claire straight to the room he had ready, and lay her down as gently as I can on the bed. Her eyes aren't open, and her breathing is elevated. I feel so damn useless, like I was just taken over by a satellite… again. Doc is on my heels already pulling on gloves.

"I need you to take her clothes off. Her shirt can stay on." I don't even have a chance to be jealous. He's seen Claire that way before, obviously, but I'm way too afraid to not do what he says. I'm pretty sure Claire's never lost her pants faster, which is saying something.

"Ok," he says extra relaxed, almost as if he knows I'm not gonna like what he says next. "You need to leave."

"WHAT?" I'm furious, there's no way in god damn Hell I'm leaving Claire's side.

Doc holds up his hands to try and placate me. "You're too anxious; you'll do Claire no good if you're freaking out. Go outside, maybe go find Chris, take a breath, and when you've calmed down you can come back."

Son-of-a-bitch doctor is right. I need to relax. I take Claire's hand in mine, and her eyes open.

"I'll be back soon, baby. I'm going to find your brother."

She nods and closes her eyes again. I don't understand why she seems to be in so much pain. Claire's tough, a lot tougher than me – who get's freaked out by needles. But then again needles and I have a bit of a history. I give my wife a last look, and walk out the door I busted.

Chris is easy enough to find because I know he's on border patrol. I do not however want to make the trip out there, so I pull out the walkie-talkie in my back pocket. It's already on, and Chris has its counterpart so we can stay in touch. It's ridiculous how close we've grown since the wedding. The walkie-talkies were his idea as Claire got closer to hitting the ninth month of her pregnancy. He didn't want to be left out. Not that I blame him. I walk to K's as I push down the button and call him.

"Chris."

K-mart won't want to be left out either.

He responds back. "What's up, Alice?"

"You need to find someone to take over your shift." I take a second to drop the bombshell on him. I can already see his reaction. "Claire's in labor."

A surprised one word comment comes over the device. "Now?"

It's funny how alike we actually are. "Yes, now."

"Now?" He tries again, still uncertain. Suddenly I know how Claire feels, I however don't have the option to hit him. So I'll have to stick with verbal abuse.

"CHRIS! YES! For Christ's sake – right now!"

"I'm on my way!" Despite the nervousness I feel, I can't help but smile at his panic. Thank God I'm not the only one who's at their wit's end.

K-mart's house is before me, and I bang on the door. At least I didn't break it down. She opens it in panic.

"What? What, Alice? What is it?"

"Claire's in labor."

She's furious. "Then what the fuck are you doing here?" Honestly, I'm shocked. I don't think I've ever heard her say 'fuck' before. She continues, and I oddly suffer from a real case of déjà vu.

"Get your damn ass to Claire! Jesus Alice, what is wrong with you?"

"Take it easy, Wal-mart."

She glares at me. K hates it when I switch her name for other stores, so naturally I do it all the time – it's hilarious.

I try to explain why I'm here. "I can't. Doc kicked me out until I calm down." There's a pained look on my face and K-mart takes a breath.

"Ok, Alice. Come on." She takes me by the arm. "I'll walk you back, and see if I can't find a way to make you relax."

My nerves still aren't working right as we head back – until K-mart tries to tell a joke. She does it on occasion though I have to say some of them are pretty… dirty. She told this one about what lesbians and mechanics have in common and right in front of Claire. Who happens to be quite handy with... well, let's just say the punch line of that particular joke is – they both use snap-on tools. Claire's face was instantly redder than her hair. This time however, K's joke is much more appropriate.

"You know what I've learned about kids, Alice?"

"What?"

"You spend the first two years teaching them to walk and talk. Then you spend the next sixteen telling 'em to sit down and shut up!"

I bust out laughing. It's exactly what I needed. I'm ready to pull myself together and be there for Claire. Chris meets us at the once-door to Doc's house. K-mart instantly comments on the missing piece of house.

"What the hell happened here?"

Chris smirks as he answers. "If I had to make a guess I'd say Alice Badass Abernathy."

Damn straight. I don't hesitate as I walk on the door into the house, and Chris and K follow me.

"We'll be out here Alice," Chris comments from the living room.

I stop, confused. "What?"

It's K-mart who answers. "It'll be too crowded in there with all of us. Besides, this is a special time for you and Claire."

Naturally, K-mart is right. I nod to them, and walk back into Claire's room.

There's a blanket spread across her parted knees, and the doctor is doing something I don't care to give words to in my head. Let's just say if he wasn't a doctor I'd be smacking him across the face with a damn shotgun. But he is a doctor so it's for Claire's benefit, and not my jealous streak.

I got over my animosity for Carlos the second Claire jumped into my arms with the pregnancy test kit results in her hand. She smiled like she'd received the best news in the world, and she did. We both did. I already made her first dream come true by loving her, and while I couldn't make the second one come true – I could stand out the way while someone else did. I love her. I would do anything for her. It hurt, but the pain was worth it. Though Carlos and Claire never tried again they were successful, and that's all that matters.

I walk up to Claire, there's an IV in her arm, and her eyes are open. She seems to be in less pain. Thank God. I take her hand in mine again.

"Hey baby." I don't think I've ever called her 'baby' so much. But I can tell she's loving it.

Her voice is a little hoarse, but her smile is bright. "Hey."

Doc stops his examination, and speaks to Claire. "Everything is looking perfectly fine. Contractions are normal. You're dilated about four centimeters."

My constant reading and questions have come in handy because I actually know what that means. That means this kid is coming fast. It usually takes an hour to dilate a centimeter at least, but then again she likely started at three. I take a long breath, and Claire squeezes my hand. She's in the throes of another contraction. I seriously hate this. More than I hate it when I destroy motorcycles, not that it happens much anymore… Claire won't let me near them.

The hours drag on. Chris and K-mart are allowed to come in for a little while as Claire continues to dilate, and her contractions grow closer together. They're lasting for longer too. It's entirely possible that by the end of this – I won't have a hand. But I'm willing to sacrifice anything for Claire and our child. Our child. The thought makes me smile. No, it makes my heart light, yet full at the same time.

"Hey Claire," Chris says as he walks and up takes Claire's other hand.

I stand up from the chair I pulled up to her bed so K-mart can see her too.

Claire smiles at them both. "Hey guys."

"How you feeling, sis?"

Chris doesn't often address his sister as such, and I can tell that it's because this is a very sweet moment for him. It is not however, a sweet moment for Claire. For the last hour I've been asking her every variant of that question possible almost every other minute, and she was two seconds from biting my head off like an undead dog when Chris and K walked in. So now, she isn't two seconds away from lashing out, she's lashing out right now!

"I swear to God – if I get asked that question…one more time…"

This ought to be good.

"I will tie you all to the anchor of the Arcadia, sail to – where we're we Alice when we saw those sharks? You remember – there was like fifteen of them or so, all of them no shorter than six feet long."

I do remember. Oh yes. It was fucking scary as hell because all of the sharks were undead. She's got her facts wrong however. There were actually six sharks, none of them shorter than fifteen feet. I'm not sure if that's better or worse. But I do know one thing – I am not going to call her out on her lacking memory skills. Not this time anyway… Last time Claire forgot something – she came at me with a knife.

I swallow nervously as I answer. "That was in the middle of the South Pacific."

"Oh yeah," she recalls, and continues her threat. "I'll sail out to the middle of the South Pacific Ocean, scream 'land ho!' and give the order to drop anchor with zealous glee."

Have I ever mentioned that when my wife is in pain she tends to…we'll go with – be a little touchy? Yeah, true story.

Chris is instantly regretful, but K is laughing. Only she could laugh at a time like this. Of course it could be because she knows there's no way Claire would include her in that plan…unless she was the one dropping the anchor. That would happen.

Another hour passes, and Claire is fully dilated so Doc asked Chris and K-mart to leave. Claire's really sweating now and her face is a complete grimace. She's doing her breathing exactly like she's supposed to, but I'm hardly breathing at all. She looks like she's in so much pain. I'd take it away if I could. I'd do anything, but all I can offer is my hand for her to squeeze and encouragement. She meets my eyes and I kiss her forehead before speaking.

"You can do this, love."

Claire seems to hang on the words as she suffers another contraction. Doc is telling her to push but I can't think straight. I can't really hear him or Claire's groans as she follows the instruction. I have no concept of time or pain or anything. Yet…the doctor's words are still somehow there.

"That's it Claire. I can see the head."

A head? A baby head? I'm really not breathing any more.

"There's a hand."

A hand? A little hand with little fingers? There's no air. I'm dizzy.

Next thing I knew, Claire had done it because a child's wail breaks out. It's honestly the most relieving thing I've ever heard. Doc calls out the gender but I am way too distracted with child's cries to listen to words properly. The doctor is quick to give the baby to its mother wrapped in a soft blanket, and I can't describe the smile on Claire's face as she cradles the baby. I look at the baby, at them both. Claire has tears on her cheeks, and she can't break her eyes away from looking at the little patch of red hair on top of the baby's head. I look too. I've never seen anything so beautiful. My lack of oxygen makes itself known. I really should've taken a breath sooner because the second I do – I faint.

Later…

"Alice…"

Ow. My head. Everything's fogged. I don't really have a sense of self, but I know I hate waking up from… fainting? I fainted? Or was I knocked out? God knows that happens often enough.

"Alice."

At least I know my name this time, considering someone is calling it.

I open my eyes, and déjà vu and I need to have a serious talk because how many times can I wake up to K-mart staring at me? This time, she isn't exactly nervous-excited, more like so-amused-I'll-never-hear-the-end-of-the-fact-that-I-fainted-while-Claire-

CLAIRE!

I jolt upright, nearly colliding with K-mart overhead. "Where's Claire?"

I am so panicked, but I still manage to notice that I'm in Doc's house, in the living room and there's a nice breeze coming in through a wide open doorframe.

"She's fine Alice, so is the baby." K-mart soothes me.

Thank God. I'm so relieved that now I just feel like an idiot. Like the time I landed the plane on top of the prison. Not one of my brighter ideas, I'll admit. Best idea I ever had was being interested in a bunch of damn birds. The T-virus may have done a lot of damage, but without it… I don't even want to think of the end result. Don't even want to imagine where my life would be without Claire.

I need to see her, need to our new baby… girl? Boy? Shit, I totally don't know. Not that it really matters; so long as the kid is healthy I don't care.

I get to my feet and K-mart helps pull me up. We walk back to the room I was last in. Doc, Chris and Claire are all inside.

Doc is blocking my view if them. Damn man won't get out of the way, probably because he's walking towards me.

"Alice, let's check your vitals."

Fuck my vitals. They're vitally vital, but not nearly as much as my need to be with Claire. Plus, I don't do checkups and I HATE doctors, especially doctors with accents. Creepy British accents. Doc tries to take my arm to check my pulse, but I maneuver out of his way with ease. How many times I've been unconscious… one would think I'd be able to tell if I'm ok or not.

"I'm fine." I state and suddenly Claire looks up. Our eyes meet and she smiles. Take my handgun and hit me in the back of the head with it if I'm not smiling too. On second thought, don't do that. I want to see what is causing Chris – Uncle Chris – to make that ridiculous face as he holds something in his arms. Seriously, his eyebrows, heavy as they are, couldn't go any higher on his forehead. And to top it off he's sounds like he just jumped back 20 years to his adolescent, high-pitched voice phase as he coos at the baby.

Claire cocks her head to the side at me. I love it when she does that. I hate it when she adds my name to the move to scold me.

"Alice, please?"

Damn woman. She wants me to let the doctor make sure I'm ok.

I sigh and let Doc take my pulse. A few minor motions later and I'm cleared of all charges.

Chris looks up at me, and while I know he's reluctant to hand the kid over, he'll do it because he knows to do otherwise would be to suffer the wrath of Alice Badass Abernathy. I killed a door; I have no qualms of doing the same to him. I asked Claire, she said she was ok with being an only child. She didn't say that… she slugged me in the arm.

Still, Uncle Chris starts to walk to me and I meet him halfway.

"Meet your daughter, Alice." Chris gives me a smile.

Daughter?

What if I faint again? There's no point to asking that question, I can already tell I would die to keep the kid safe. Lucky for her I don't die easily. Helicopter crashes, rocket launchers, axe-hammer carrying mutations – nothing – can keep me down for long. So I should be around for a very long time to make sure that the two most important people in my life have everything they need.

It's only a moment before the tiny girl is in my arms. I make sure to give her head plenty of support. Her eyes are closed, but her skin is rosy and pink. She looks just like Claire. A second later, the baby stares up at me with the bluest eyes I've ever seen. Even bluer than mine on my off days.

Claire and I decided on names a while ago. Had the child been a boy, we were going to name him after Claire's father. But it's a girl…

I can't say there's a lot about me Claire doesn't know. That the people I get close to… tend to disappear. It was a pretty common condition during the long years after the outbreak. But I don't have to worry about it anymore. Claire, Chris, and K-mart are all my family… plus our new addition. Still, I'll never forget the first person that meant so much to me when I had nothing, no memories, no idea of who I was or what I was capable of.

That's why our little girl's name is… Rain.

Some part of me wonders if I could've loved Rain. I do love Rain. Looking at the child in my arms I know I love Rain.

This is a ridiculously sweet moment for me. I walk to Claire with our child and stand at her bedside. I can't wait to get home and begin the next step in our life. Changing diapers, playing peek-a-boo, making bottles and laying Rain down in her crib so Claire and I can have a little time to our-

…The crib… I forgot to finish the crib!

I'm my defense – who in their right mind could figure out how to put Part A into Part B using Part 47?

Claire's the one who's good with tools! She should've known better than to make me do it! Me? The only thing I'm good at making is coin-filled shotgun shells. Not the most productive skill in the world. But I did get good at it… and perfecting my puns.

Last time I killed an undead with one of those… it's been a while, but I got to shout: 'You forgot your change!' Claire's personal favorite is: 'Quarter for your thoughts?'

I am so off topic right now. Claire is going to kill me for not finishing that crib.

I look down at the child, I never really looked away from her, but now all of my attention is on her. If it's a poisoned meal or assassination by my own quarter collection, at least I got to hold my daughter first.

Later…

Walking back into our house, Claire at my side, Rain in her arms, I'm more nervous than I was at my wedding. Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but Claire has come at with a knife before! My fear is wholly warranted, but it shouldn't have been.

Once in the front door, I look at what should've been a pile of wood on the living room floor. It's not in the state I left it in. Nope. It's a perfectly constructed crib, Part A into Part B with Part 47 and all. Chris must've came and done it while Claire was in labor. Thank God for that man! I owe him, might have to get him his very own six shooter…

I look next to me, happy that I just dodged a potential swing from Claire's knife. But this isn't good. She's scowling anyway. Uh oh.

"Everything alright, Claire?"

The daggers in her eyes are directed straight at me.

"Now dear…"

Oh God, there's that tone again. The one where I know I should've thought first before putting my gun away after coming upon what was more than likely a trap. What am I in trouble for this time?

She continues, and I'm about to find out. "How are we supposed to get the crib though the doorframe when it's completely built?"

My face falls. Damn Chris! Sadistic bastard did that on purpose! Get my hopes up and then just crushes them. I could cry, well not really… But I could make him cry. Oh yes.

Claire smiles lovingly. "Don't worry about it. I can take it apart a little and have it done in no time."

I grin back as Claire hands me Rain. My wife is the best.

Claire walks to crib and kneels next to it to evaluate how to best go about it. I feel a little bad, she really should be resting, but she was never one to sit out of anything.

There's still a screwdriver on the bookshelf nearby. She begins to fiddle with the crib, but I'm too distracted by the child in my arms. She's not asleep, but she's so quiet. Too quiet. There's nothing to worry about, she's looking up at me with bright blue eyes. But I want a smile.

I bring my hand up to tickle the corner of her chin. It's Claire's most ticklish spot, but... Nothing. I try that ridiculous baby voice and make noises that can barely be counted as syllables. The kid is tempered steel. I resort to peek-a-boo. Hiding my eyes behind my hand, then I pull my hand back before going…

"Peek-a-boo!" Still nothing. This is unbelievable. My ego is having serious issues with this.

I look off and whisper in exasperation. "Fuck me."

"ALICE!"

Oops.

Claire's reaction was instantaneous. I just cursed in front our child. I should not be allowed to start sentences with 'what if' because all I can think of is…

What if those are Rain's first words?

It seems oddly appropriate and causes me to nearly choke with laughter. At seeing my barely restrained amusement, the baby begins to grin.

Life is good. It's Claire and me… plus a very adorable one.

Sap... overload! AH! Too much cute! I hope you readers are happy. I finally finished this! Reviews make me smile faster than Alice cursing in front of children... :)