Koumbaros and Koufettas

Epilogue

In every ending is a beginning, and in every beginning a new story grows.

In Stella's hospital room, Lindsay sat in a rocking chair, crooning a quiet song to her namesake in her arms, marvelling at her tiny fingers and long eyelashes.

Danny came in with armloads of flowers and balloons for mother and baby. Don was sitting at the foot of Stella's bed. Danny kissed Stella on the cheek, and handed her a bouquet of roses. He tied one of the balloon bouquets on the headboard of her hospital bed, then he leaned over to kiss Flack on the cheek as well, handing him a single pink balloon. With a growl, Flack swatted him in the head, which Danny ducked.

He squatted down beside his wife, his heart aching at the sight of her cuddling the baby. She looked at him and whispered, "Isn't she the most beautiful thing you've ever seen?"

He nodded because she expected it, but privately he thought Lindsay was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Her eyes were shining and she seemed, finally, to be at peace.

Lindsay stood up and urged him to take her place in the rocking chair. As she placed the sleeping baby in his arms, she intoned the 'passing-over-the-baby' mantra of all women: "Be careful of her head."

Danny sat and stared at the tiny thing, almost afraid to breathe. "It's hard to believe we were ever this small." he said in awe. Lindsay pulled over a chair and sat beside him, putting out a hand to gently touch the baby's soft dark hair.

"You'll have to practice, you know." She said it so softly that Don and Stella, cuddled up on the bed only a few feet away, did not hear her.

Danny looked at his wife, whose bright Montana smile was blinding, and had to swallow, hard. "Are you sure?"

Lindsay nodded, eyes shining and a little teary, and whispered, "How would you like to be a daddy for Christmas?"

Danny leaned forward and kissed her gently on the lips, then said, "Hey, Flack? Could you come here a second?"

"Something wrong?" Don leapt up, and took his daughter carefully from Danny, looking quizzically at him.

Danny had eyes for no one but Lindsay. He stood up, wrapped his arms around his wife, and swung her around, kissing her through laughing tears.

And a new story was born.

A/N: Koumbaros is the Greek word for godfather, a very important role in the Orthodox Church. Koufetta are the sugared bitter almonds given out at a Greek wedding, signifying both the happiness and the sorrow of married life. According to several websites (I research – it's a curse) there are no vows given in an Orthodox wedding. It is accepted that the marriage is a love match, and promises are superfluous. That's a lovely thought.

Stella and Don were married in the Catholic Church (have you ever noticed that nearly every TV wedding is Catholic?), but Stella and Lindsay added some Greek touches to the celebration.

Special thanks go to the following people:

Chocobetty, for all her messages of encouragement and correction

Mystik225, The Little Corinthian, melissouza, mabelreid, Prefect Rachel, mercy4vr, caitgab13, and others who all asked questions, sent messages, even bribed me to keep going.

Brilliantly confused, who posted 25 chapter-reviews at one go!

lagentillefan, Pepite, mysparkles, chili-peppers, PrettyEyes72, BlueHaven4220, wolviesgirl, and the many others who reviewed so many of the chapters – you guys are all great!