Chapter Twelve

The Finished Experiment

 

 

Gasping from shock, Jessica ran outside. She looked up into the sky trying to see what could have happened. The rain was relentless, pouring down her face, mixing with her tears. "William" she screamed into the uncaring sky. Her only reply was the rumble of thunder. She stood in the pouring rain trying to comprehend what happened but her mind kept rejecting what she witnessed. She knew shouldn't be possible but William was gone and it was her fault.

As she stumbled into the house, she repeating that thought "my fault, my fault if I hadn't told him to go to that party, he wouldn't have been outside when this happened. It's my fault, my fault." Her mind chanted this over and over needing someone, something to blame. She stood dripping in the middle of the kitchen, shaking from shock and cold. She slowly crumpled to the floor and huddled into a ball, weeping until she fell asleep from exhaustion.

She awoke to the cries of Robert and the unhappy screams of Sydney carried to her through the baby monitor on the kitchen counter. She slowly picked herself up realizing that William hadn't come home. If he had he would have picked her up and brought her to their bed. With an aching heart she went to the children. Taking Sydney from her crib and setting her on the floor with a bottle to calm her. The she hurried in to Robert who had been crying for a while. "Hey little man, mama's here" she said soothingly trying to calm his frightened screams. He peered up at her with a questioning, confused look as neither of his parents had ever left him to cry for so long.

"Mama where's Daddy?"

"Someone was sick at the resturant so Daddy went in to work" Jessica told her, hating the lie but couldn't tell her the truth that Daddy was gone, taken. She was too young to understand and Jessica didn't want her to worry. As the day slowly turned to evening and still no Daddy, Sydney became pensive and whiney constantly asking "When is Daddy coming home? I want Daddy!" refusing to be consoled, Sydney finally cried herself to sleep.

Jessica hated seeing the lost, heart breaking confused sadness in Sydney's eyes. What would she do tomorrow when William wasn't here? How could she tell Sydney that Daddy wasn't coming back? That some evil aliens came and took her Daddy away and it was her mama's fault? Once again her thoughts haunted her. As she crawled into bed and fell to sleep to the on going chant "my fault, my fault, my fault, my fault, my fault"

Meanwhile William awoke strapped down to what felt like an examination table. He had an uncomfortable feeling that he had been here before and he was about to relive his worst nightmare. He tried to free himself but the restraining strap were too strong, too tight resisting his attempts.

He tried to calm himself but his heart was racing and pounding in his ears. He strained his eyes but he was unable to see anything, nothing but a black void. He wondered if he had gone blind it was so completely devoid of light. The only sould he heard was from his own struggles. He felt so alone and his thoughts drifted to his family. He saw Jessica's face that he so loved and adored, then Sydney with her mother's eyes and then little Robert so content and happy. Would he ever see them again, he wondered.

He laid in the dark for what felt like hours, when suddenly there was a flash of light above him. It was on for a less than a second before it went off. Then it was on again, flashing on and off faster and brighter each time. It flashed so bright and so fast it hurt, William squeezed his eyes shut as tight as he could attempting to block the light out but nothing worked.

Just as suddenly as it began it stopped but the light stayed on. William tried to open his eyes but the light was too bright and made his eyes water so much he couldn't see. Then it began a pulsating heat wave that would flow over his body. At first it felt good to be finally warm after laying in the cold dark but it soon became extremely uncomfortable. The heat kept building in intensity until he felt like he was being roasted alive. The silent room became filled with his screams for mercy but his pleas fell on deaf ears.

Finally William passed out and no longer aware of his surroundings, when two aliens came into the room.

First alien technician: The specimen endured the tests so far adequately.

Second alien technician: Yes it was ... adequate. But his scores are not high enough to continue.

First alien technician: No he is not a canidate for the next phase of the tests.

Second alien technician: Humans are to frail to withstand the hardships they would encounter would not make useful soldier drones.

First alien technician: High Command should have listened us regarding humans. They are frail and we have better specimens from other planets that make excellent drones.

Second alien technician: The experiment is not complete and we will no doubt be ordered to obtain more specimens to test modifications to their physiology to see if their usefulness can be improved. But this subject was destined for a ...

First alien technician: But that experiment has been discontinued We can't continue it or we'd be ...

Second alien technician: Yes, yes we'd lose our scientific credibility. But I know it would work.

First alien technician: It has failed in all other species; which is why it was discontinued in favor of making drones.

Seething with anger alien two turned towards the computer console behind him and said "I'm terminating this experiment and going forward with the original." Alien one turned to intervene and they both struggled for a while.

First alien technician: You can't, you'll be throwing away your career.

Second alien technician: I'll be throwing away nothing. Don't you see that if this works we'll be saving our people from extinction.

First alien technician: That's why we are making drones.

Second alien technician: Yes so that our people won't continue to die in a useless war that should have ended a millinia ago. Can't you see beyond that? To why the original experiment is so important.

First alien technician: But it failed. Can't you understand that we failed?

Second alien technician: No this one will succeed. This one will prove I'm right. This specimen had all the improvements. I won't throw all that work away. Not when it means life for our people.

First alien technician: That's why we need the drones, to save lives.

Second alien technician: No. Our race is dying. When was the last time you saw a female child? When was the last one born? When we discovered how to slow down the aging process it was only successful on males. The females continue to age at the normal rate and fewer and fewer females are born. We can't reverse the process, at least not in time before we are extinct. The women are dying and growing too old to have more chidren. If we don't figure out how to grow the female reproductive organs and have them work properly we will become extinct and everything we have accomplished will be for nothing.

First alien technician: Yes I comply.

Second alien technician: Good. Download DNA 1AG2390U and prepare the speciment for fertilization.

Another day went by and still no William. Sydney was sullen all day, refusing to be pacified and took to talking to her ugly doll for comfort. Thankfully Robert was too young to realize that William wasn't there. Jessica did the best she could to carry on as normal. Knowing that soon she would have to tell Sydney the truth and she would have to file a missing persons report. That night after putting her babies to bed, she laid awake in her room, softly crying hearing the words in her head "my fault, my fault" once again. Through her thoughts she heard something, a shrill loud engine. Getting up she hurried to the window just in time to see an alien appear with William in the front yard.

 

Her excitement at seeing William overrode caution as she rushed outside. The alien seeing her coming ran off and disappeared. Jessica stopped short, in front of William when she noticed he was vacantly staring. She was sure he didn't see anything around him. She become even more concerned as he aimlessly walked in circles until he stumbled to his knees and violently threw up. She went to him, helping him gently to his feet and guided him to their bedroom.

Jessica helped him undress for bed. Biting her lip to keep from crying out as she saw how badly he was burned and the deep gauges in his wrists and ankles that looked like he had been tightly bound. She gently cleaned and bandaged the wounds and gently kissed his cheek all the while William stared blankly ahead. She put him to bed before crawling in the other side to fall into a light, uneasy sleep.

She was jolted awake by Williams screams as he flashed back onto a memory of being tormented. Jessica held him to her tightly comforting him until he quieted down, telling him he was safe and he was home. For the rest of the night she sat up worrying about what William must have endured and wondered if she could help him.

 

The next morning Jessica got up to care for the kids, hoping William would continue to sleep. He looked as if he needed a good nights sleep and a good meal. However Sydney had other ideas. She was on a mission to find her Daddy. She searched everywhere she could think of then she decided to check out her parents room. When she saw her Daddy asleep in bed, she squealed in delight and walked over to his side of the bed and asked "Daddy where you go? I missed you!"

William woke up and looked at this daughter in confusion. What does she mean, I missed you? I didn't go anywhere, did I? Getting up and walking into the kitchen he asked Jessica "What does Sydney mean by missing me?"

Jessica stopped what she was doing and asked him "Don't you remember?"

"Remember what?" starting to panic William thought the last thing he remembered was getting out of the car and running to the house and then nothingness. "What day is it?" he demanded.

"Sunday"

"Sunday? It can't be Sunday!" How could I forget two whole days, William asked himself. He looked at Jessica for answers and then down at his wrists that bandaged. Lifting very large frightened eyes to Jessica he asked "What happened to me? Why can't I remember?"

"William I think we should go and see a doctor."

"But, but I don't like doctors." William said flashing back to being in a room strapped to an examining table. "No I won't go."

"William please, they can help you. I'll go with you." Jessica pleaded with him.

"No I said no, please don't make me" William said has his yes darted anywhere and everywhere as if looking for a way to escape.

"Ok, ok not today. Calm down." Jessica said soothingly gently touching his shoulder she quietly said "We'll get through this together."

 

About four months have passed since William came home and he still has no memory of what happened. No matter how many times Jessica has tried to get him to talk he always refuses. The nightmares have increased and getting worse. Almost every night he is awakened in a cold sweat. He tries not to disturb Jessica as he gets up but he knows she's awake fearing his reaction if she asks him if he's alright. Her concerned and worried looks she gives him often make him feel like a specimen under a magnifying glass. He doesn't understand what's happening to him.

This time as he was once again awakened in the middle of the night, Jessica got up with him.

"William I'm concerned for you. You need to see a doctor. Ignoring the problem doesn't mean there isn't one."

"I don't want to see a doctor." William practically screamed at her becoming instantly angered at the suggestion.

"I don't understand why. William help me understand. I can't help you unless you talk to me." she pleaded with him hoping for a glimmer that she was getting through to him.

"I, I don't know why. I just don't want to be a guinea pig."

"You won't be William. They can help you. Maybe they'll know why you've gained so much weight. It's not healthy to have gained so much weight in such a short amount of time."

"I know but" hesitating to voice his biggest fear of seeing a doctor. He turned away from Jessica as he said "I don't want to be on an examining table. I'll go but I won't get on one."

Jessica made the appointment for the same afternoon, knowing that William might refuse to go if it wasn't the same day. As they entered the doctors office William gripped Jessica's hand as he said "Jess promise me you won't let them strap me down to the examining table."

"But William they wouldn't do that" she tried to say but William just pleaded with her "Please just promise me, you let them."

"Ok, ok I promise" Jessica said giving him a hug of reassurance.

The Doctor who was examining William was willing to do so while William sat in one of the office chairs. The doctor then suggested that William be hypnotized to see if they could bring up the memories of those two missing days. William agreed as long as Jessica was there the entire time.

Under hypnosis William recalled the trauma and torture he endured while on the alien ship. Jessica's heart was breaking for the pain that William endured but now she at least understood his anxiety and fear of seeing a doctor and the promise he made her keep.

When it was over the doctor left the room while he went to consult and read some test results. While they waited for the doctor to return they held each other tightly. Now William knew what happened and he vaguely wondered if maybe he would have been better off not knowing. Jessica kept saying that they would get through this and that everything was going to be alright.

The doctor came back into the room. "Well Mr. Bennett, you are suffering from PAASD, Post Alien Abduction Stress Disorder. At this time we cannot prescribe drugs to help you deal with the anxiety as we feel the drug might harm the fetus."

"Uh fetus, I don't understand" William said in confusion.

"Well it seems from the tests we took that the aliens not only tortured you but performed some unorthodox experiments on you that resulted in you becoming pregnant. That is the main reason why you've been gaining weight. Which is why we don't want to start a drug regimen until after the baby is born. Now we do want to start you prenatal vitamins and set appointments to check on the fetus, unless you don't intend on keeping the fetus."

"We need some time to discuss this."

 

William and Jessica left the doctor's office feeling overwhelmed with what they just found out. A baby. An alien baby. William is pregnant. Could things get anymore complicated? They both knew that no matter how this child came into existence they couldn't terminate it.
 
Five months later William gave birth to a baby girl, he named Evelyn. He chose to name his daughter after his mother to give her a sense of belonging to the family. He knew looking different from her siblings might cause hurt feelings somewhere along the line and he wanted her to have that link to family.

 

"Hey pumpkin, how's daddy's little girl?" William cooed to Evelyn when he went in to check on her. She calmly looked up at him and he was glad that he didn't experience any form of revulsion upon looking at her. That was his biggest fear all the months he was pregnant. He was afraid that he wouldn't be able to bond to her because of his experience with the aliens that caused her to exist.



 

Jessica was thankful that now that the baby was born, William was able to start his prescription for PAASD and he was more like himself now. She still worried that the aliens would come back but she tried not to let that concern become her obsession.

 

She helped William take care of Evelyn letting William get some rest. She rather enjoyed being able to experience the other side of pregnancy and she knew that William had a new perception of her and being pregnant. She hoped that William would be open to the idea of more babies. But right now three little ones was more than enough. 

She was a little concerned that she wouldn't be able to love Evelyn as much as she did her other babies. But thankfully she found that she could, after all she was a part of William and she loved him with all her heart.

 

 





Chapter Eleven

The Aliens Return

Jessica's pregnancy went smoothly and this time when Jessica went into labor it was the middle of the night. She woke William up to drive her to the hospital. They got there in time to deliver a healthy, bouncing baby boy, whom they named Robert. As things went so well William was able to bring them home in a few a hours.

 

"Sydney meet your baby brother, Robert."

"No!" Sydney shook her head vehemently.

"Don't you want to meet your baby brother?"

"NO! NO! NO!"

Begining to feel exhasparated at Sydney's reaction, William asked her "Why?"

Sydney shrugged her shoulders, refusing to look at him as she said "I want a sister not a brother". She turned her face into his shoulder and cried.

"Honey you'll come to like your baby brother." William told her.

Shaking her head she said "No, send him back" Squirming out of Williams arms she left the room.

Chuckling to himself, William reufully turned to Jessica and said: "Well that could have gone better. I guess it's a good thing we built onto the house so that Sydney could have her own room."

"Yeah I don't think she's in the mood to share. Just wait when she realizes her swing is no longer hers but Roberts. That's not going to go over well I'm afraid."

"But she's too big for it and she'll have to get over it."

"We'll see" Jessica said on a yawn.

"Why don't you go to bed before you fall over and let me feed Robert?" William offered.

"I'll do that, thank you" Jessica gently leaned over and kissed William on the cheek.

"So little man are you hungry?" William asked turning his attention to the baby in his arms. Once Robert had drained the bottle dry, William put him in the swing. He stopped to watch him swing his arms in sync with the slow motion of the swing. When he was satisfied that Robert would be suitably entertained for a while William went to find Sydney to put her to bed. He was yawning the entire time and could barely keep his eyes open by the time he was able to crawl into bed.

 
Jessica was up before William and decided to let him sleep late. While he slept, she took the opportunity to clean house and made sure the kids were occupied. As she suspected, Sydney was not happy seeing Robert in her swing and promptly demanded that he be taken out. Trying to reason with her was impossible and decided that she would just have to get used to the idea of Robert being in the swing. Jessica also tried to keep Sydney from disturbing William while he slept but wasn't quite quick enough to keep Sydney from getting into their room.

"Morning Daddy" Sydney called from the floor by his head. William groaned in response not ready to be awakened yet. "Daddy get Robert out. It's my swing." Sydney demanded.

William opened his eyes to see his little princess staring up at him from the floor. His heart melted as he looked into her deep brown eyes, so much like her mothers. "Daddy isn't awake yet, princess." Jessica said hurrying into the bedroom.

"Yes he is. Daddy's eyes are open." pointing at her daddy as he began to stir and get up. Jessica mouthed to him "I'm sorry, I tried." William shook his head and said "I know but I may as well get up."

 

After playing with Sydney for an hour or two, William was able to put her down for a nap. Afterwards he got busy carving the pumpkins he had gathered from the garden. He wanted to have them ready in time for Spooky Day, which was only a couple days off. He hoped he would be able to complete them before Sydney was up from her nap. The last thing he wanted was to have her playing in the pumpkin guts spreading them all around the house.



He was just finishing the last pumpkin when he heard the unmistakable sounds of Sydney stirring in her crib. Before going into Sydney, he took the pumpkins outside so that they could light them later that night.

William had received an invitation to a costume party from one of his co-workers on Spooky Day. He hadn't planned on going until Jessica encouraged him to go.

"Honey, why don't you go?"

He shrugged his shoulders and said "Parties really aren't my thing."

"William I know better. You love parties. You don't want to go and leave me at home with the kids."

Not able to deny it William said: "Yeah, why should I be able to go have a night of fun and leave you here alone with the kids?"

"Honey don't worry about it. Go! Have some fun. Sydney and I will have fun handing out candy"

William gave in, realizing he was looking forward to a night of fun. He decided to go as a fireman.

William stayed later than he had planned as there were so many people there he knew and he enjoyed the chance to have a little fun and being away from the house for a few hours. The downside to the night was that it was mostly an out door party and it was raining. He was glad he had brought extra clothes to change into as he didn't want to go home soaked.

Meanwhile Jessica was delighted at all the costumes the kids had on as they came to the house for candy. Sydney had fun helping hand out candy, although Jessica tried to get her to hand the candy to the kids not throw it at them. She delighted at taking a handful of candy and throwing it so she could watch the kids try to catch it. Each time she did it, she would squeel in delight.

Towards the end of the night, Jessica decided it was time for Sydney to go to bed. She had let Sydney stay up later than normal to enjoy the night. As she was getting Sydney ready for bed, the doorbell rang. By the time she was able to get to the door, Jessica expected that no one would be there. However when she opened the door two kids were patiently waiting. One was even doing his homework in the dark in the rain. Jessica was sure he wasn't the brightest student in the class, at least she hoped not.

As she cleaned up and put away the candy for the night she started to worry. She had an uneasy feeling that something was wrong. She wished that William would get home soon. She kept glancing at the clock and wondering why William wasn't home yet.

She was getting nervous and it wasn't just the storm outside. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Had William been in a car accident? Should she call?
 

 

Then she heard it, the unmistakable sound of a car door shutting. She ran to the window to see William running from the car towards the house. As she watched bright lights descended down from the sky and enveloped William, then he was gone.

 





Chapter Ten

Almost Perfect

 

 

Throughout the following year William and Jessica slowly adjusted to the demands of parenthood. As Sydney grew into a toddler they enjoyed teaching her new things and watching her explore the world around her. William was especially proud of his little princess when she uttered her first word "dada" followed closely by "mama". Soon though her favorite word was "no", which she used to voice her displeasure from being taken from her swing or being put to bed.

 Sydney was soon speaking in sentences and enjoying being able to communicate like a big girl. Although she still reserved the right to scream and cry for things she really dislike for things she wanted and couldn't have. She especially disliked being left alone on the floor. She wanted to be in constant motion. Her swing was her favorite toy; although she occasionally played with an absolutely ugly doll her grandparents sent her. She much preferred her swing or one of her other stuffed animals to that ... thing.

One day, Jessica decided it was time for Sydney to learn how to walk. For sometime Jessica noticed that Sydney had been crawling and pulling herself up on things and taking a step or two before falling down.   

"Come to Mama" Jessica said holding out her hands towards Sydney.

"That's right, honey First your right then your left. You've got" Jessica encouraged Sydney over and over all afternoon. Sydney was becoming more confidant and soon she was able to walk without assistance. 

"Look Mama I did it. I did it!" Sydney triumphantly announced as she danced excitedly around the room.

When William came home she proudly met him at the door.

"Look Dada look what I can do!" She ran to give her daddy a hug. William picked her up and hugged and tickled her. He had tears stinging his eyes as he realized his little princess was growing up.

"Your getting to be such a big girl, princess. Daddy loves you"

"I love you too. Down please." As soon as William put her down, she went to play with her toys.

William laughed as he watched his daughter leave. Turning to Jessica, he said "She's getting so big. Maybe it's time we have another."

"Can we afford it?" Jessica asked concerned with how difficult it was for William to provide for them financially as they had decided she would stay home and take care of Sydney.

William shrugged his shoulders and said "probably not but if we wait until we can afford it, we'll never have another. Something's always going to come up where we could use the money somewhere else. So why not now?"

Jessica smiled and agreed that now was perfect, she had always wanted a large family.

A few weeks later William came home from work early.

"Jessica I finally did it, I'm a Five Star Chef and they want to send me to France to learn French Cuisine. It's only for three days and it's all expenses paid. I can even have someone come with me, if we pay their way. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity. Come with me."

"I, I'd love to but we can't afford it" Jessica said dampening Williams excitement.

"Why not? We have some money saved up and I just got a promotion and we can use that ..."

"William we can't afford it and what would we do with Sydney? Who would take care of her?" Jessica tried to be the voice of reason even though she knew she was hurting Williams feelings by doing so.

"We can Jessica. Just listen to me for a moment." William pleaded with her. "We have money in savings and your parents have been wanting to have Sydney stay with them. She's old enough now. This is the perfect opportunity."

"But, but I thought the money was for us to have another baby." Jessica said barely loud enough for William to hear. She was disappointed believing that William had changed his mind.

"Who said we can't have both?" William smiled mischievously as he continued "I thought while we were there we'd have some fun trying making our French memento."

So they packed up Sydney and took her to Jessica's parents. Although Jessica's parents have never forgiven Jessica for not staying in college, they have tried to be good grandparents. They doted on Sydney and couldn't wait to have her stay with them for a few days.

Then Jessica and William caught their flight to France. They could hardly contain their excitement to be in the City of Love. Although William had to spend each morning with the French Chef, he had his afternoons free to explore.

They explored one tomb where they found an old tent that someone had left behind.

With a wicked gleam in his eye, William seductively approached Jessica saying "There's no better time then the present. We have all the privacy we could want. Let's try to make our next memento."

Jessica giggled at how corny William sounded but she leaned into him for a kiss. He kissed her until she was weak in the knees and he picked her up and carried her into the tent. It wasn't the most romantic setting but it didn't matter.

On their last day in France they toured the winery. They enjoyed tasting various wines, being careful not to over indulge as neither one wanted to be ill on the long flight back to Aura Skies.

William became interested in the art of wine making. He even took a turn at squishing the grapes. He found it relaxing to feel the grapes ooze between his toes and squish beneath his feet. He tried to convince Jessica to give it a try but she didn't want her feet to be died purple from the grape juice.

All too soon their trip was over. They happily boarded the plane hand-in-hand, ready to go home and see their daughter.

A couple months later, Jessica was excitedly waiting for William to come home. She was pregnant. She had known for a while but had wanted to wait to tell William. So far the pregnancy had been pretty uneventful. She hadn't been sick or lightheaded the way she had been with Sydney. She was almost sure this one was going to be a boy.

She knew exactly when she had conceived him, the night they had spent in the tomb in France. Although she didn't regret going to France, she still worried over the money they spent.

That night William was in the process of cleaning up the living room, putting away books when Jessica approached him.

"Honey, I have something to tell you" Jessica began waiting for William to focus his attention on her. "I'm, I'm pregnant" she finally blurted out.

 
Pausing for a moment to be sure he heard correctly, William smiled broadly and reached out to touch Jessica's stomach.

"I hope it's a boy this time" Jessica said looking at William as he continued to hold her stomach. "What would you like?"

"It doesn't matter but if I had to choose I would like another girl."

William began to get really excited for this new baby. He would talk to Jessica's baby bump whenever he could. He was proud of his growing family. He felt like he was king of the world or at least his little corner of it.

William felt his life was looking pretty good. He had everything he could ever ask for, a beautiful wife, an amazing daughter, a new baby on the way, he was becoming a successful chef, he couldn't imagine how his life could get any better.

However in the skies above a ship was speeding towards Aura Skies.   On board were two  alien scientists determined to finish a certain experiment they had started and they could have cared less for the damage they were about to wreck on their subjects life.





Chapter Nine

Not What They Expected

 

It's been several months since the wedding and that day was fast becoming a pleasant memory. Quickly fading to the ever present mundane realities of life. Jessica was finding being a wife and mother more difficult than she expected. She spent days alone, stuck at home, cleaning and caring for the baby. There was a never ending pile of dirty bottles to wash and diapers to change. There were days where she couldn't help but cry along with her new born infant.
 

Not that she didn't absolutely adore and love her infant daughter, it was just so much harder than she ever expected. One day while holding her daughter in her arms she thought about the day she was born. She had gone into labor shortly after William came home from the resturant. They were both tired and William was frantic to get her to the hospital. While she gathered her bag she had packed in advance, William went to get the car. It was an old clunker but it was all they could afford. 

William was gone for several minutes trying without success to get the car started. No matter what William tried, the car just wouldn't start. William came running back into the house to call for a taxi. While they waited for the taxi, William called the hospital to inform the doctors that Jessica was on her way in to have the baby, then he tried to remove some of the grease he was covered in from trying to start the car.

Jessica kept trying to convince herself that everything was going to be alright, people had babies all the time. All she had to do was breathe. The cramps and labor pains were getting worse and she knew this baby was coming whether she was ready for it or not.

"Come on Honey, the taxi's here" William told her as he grabbed her bag and guided her out the door towards the waiting taxi. She did her best to waddle to the taxi and William helped her. Once she was in, William ran around to the other side and held her hand. It was then that her water broke, all over the back seat. She couldn't help but feel sorry for the driver who would have to clean up after her. What was it about taxi's that she and William couldn't help but make a mess?

William apologized for the mess and the taxi driver smiled in response and congratulated them on their soon to arrive son or daughter. It was a relief to know that he wasn't upset with them for the mess. When they arrived at the hospital, William ran it to get a wheelchair. He returned with an orderly following him pushing a wheelchair. While Jessica had waited all she could think about was how she wanted a happy, healthy baby. Nothing else mattered.

They rushed her into the delivery room where someone kept telling her to push and William kept telling her to breathe and telling her what a good job she was doing. "Ok, one more big push" someone said who she assumed was the doctor told her. Shortly after she heard a tiny shrill cry and a nurse was handing her a tiny, baby wrapped in pink, saying "Congratulations you have a healthy, beautiful baby girl". She looked into the eyes of her new born baby and immediately lost heart, she was so full of love and adoration for this precious little girl.

Abruptly Jessica was jolted back to reality when Sydney started to fuss and wriggle in her arms. Jessica's nose wrinkled in disgust as she caught the aroma of Sydney's soiled diaper.

"Don't worry honey bunny, Mama will have you feeling and smelling fresh in no time."

William enjoyed helping with Sydney as much as possible. When he wasn't working, he would get up with her so that Jessica could rest. He adored his baby girl and couldn't help but wonder at the miracle he held in his arms. Sometimes he was saddened that his parents weren't there to share in this joyous time. He knew how much his mother would have enjoyed being a grandmother.

"You're daddy's precious, little princess. Daddy loves you, sweetheart." William told Sydney as he put her to bed. He stood watching over her as her eyes slowly closed. Once she was asleep William silently left and went to his room to get some rest. He noticed that Jessica wasn't already in bed waiting for him. Then he heard her calling him from the kitchen.

"William, I thought you said you fixed the dishwasher."

"No, I said I would fix it in the morning. I'm tired and want to go to bed." William said as he came into the kitchen not wanting to yell from the bedroom for fear of waking Sydney.

Feeling frustrated and unreasonably upset, Jessica frowned at William and said "I need it fixed now. Look at all these dirty dishes and bottles."

"Leave'em and I'll do them tomorrow"

"I can't leave them sit overnight. It will be twice as hard to clean with all that dried food and baby formula on them. You just don't understand" Jessica accused William.

Sighing deeply William noticed Jessica was near to tears, so simply gathered his tools to fix the dishwasher. One crying female in the house was enough, he thought becoming irritated with Jessica. It took a couple of hours for him to find the problem and fix it. By the time he had fixed the dishwasher there was water all over the kitchen floor. He got up and went to ask Jessica to at least mop up of the water, when he noticed she was passed out on the sofa fast asleep.

Perfect, just perfect. I work all day, come home cook supper, take care of the baby and when I want to get some sleep I have to fix the dishwasher. All the while she's asleep. He felt tears of frustration building up behind his eyes. He knew it was because he was tired mixed with disappointment at how hard being married and raising a baby was. He hadn't expected it to be so difficult and how much he would just crave sleep.

While William grumbled and complained to himself he mopped the floor, filled the dishwasher and as he was crawling into bed the baby monitored carried the cries of his baby girl and he knew his princess was awake and demanding attention.



Chapter Eight

The Wedding

 

A few months later it was finally their wedding day. They had planned on having a small intimate wedding with Jessica's parents. However Jessica's parents were not happy with her decision to get married instead of going to college. They refused to come, they felt it would be the biggest mistake their daughter could make in her young life.

Although this upset Jessica tremendously, it did not alter her desire to marry William. She would not give in to her parents demands to wait, finish college then, if she still wanted to she could get married. Her parents just didn't understand her feelings for William or her desire to marry so young.

So she and William changed their plans to a private wedding in the garden.  

I, William Michael Bennet, take thee, Jessica Lorelie Wade, to be my lawful wedded Wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part.

I, Jessica Lorelie Wade, take thee, William Michael Bennet, to be my lawful wedded Husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, cherish, and to obey, till death do us part.

You may now kiss the bride.

It was a simple ceremony but one made beautiful by the love they shared for each other. It was perfect. 
 

Afterwards they took a moment to share their joy with their unborn child. Their favorite memento they brought back with them from the future. William loved watching Jessica's pregnancy bump grow and he felt his heart grow bigger a little more each day, keeping pace with the growing baby. He would always be grateful for Jessica deciding to move to Aura Skies to find him. He felt his life was finally complete and once again on track. 
 

 

Jessica adored how William would pretend to here the baby talk to him and have conversations with the baby inside her. She finally had the family she always wanted. A husband who came home every night to her and a baby on the way. She couldn't be any happier if she tried. So what if her parents thought she was throwing her life away. She has what she always wanted and she didn't need or want their approval.

 



Chapter Seven

Into the Future

 

 

"Honey what is this thing?" she asked William.

"Oh that, I don't know. Some guy said that it was a time portal that would take me into the future."

Still looking at this 'time portal' for awhile, Jessica asked "Does it work?"

Shrugging his shoulders, William said "I haven't tried it. I think he may have been pulling my leg." Not being an overly curious person, William went back to pulling weeds in the garden.

Jessica being naturally curious, couldn't stop thinking about the possibilities of time travel. After a while she stopped working in the garden and went over to the 'time portal' to get a closer look. "Honey, do you think we could try it?"

William once again stopped weeding and pondered her question. "Do you mean you believe that really is a time portal?" He could hardly believe she could be that gullible.

"Why not? It's a big world and anything's possible. Besides I'm curious, aren't you?"

"Not really." William wasn't sure he liked where this was going.

"Oh come on. Wouldn't you like to know what the future will be like or what our descendants will accomplish?" She couldn't imagine why William wasn't more excited. "I'll go by myself but it would be more fun if you'd come along."

I can't believe this is happening, William said to himself. But I can't let her go alone. "Ok, Ok I give up, I'll come. So, any ideas on how this thing works."
 



 

"Looks like all you have to do is step into the light." With that Jessica stepped through and disappeared. William watched and sighed I have to do this. I have to step through, nothing bad will happen, he told himself. When William exited the time portal he saw Jessica was there waiting for him.

"William wasn't that an awesome ride and I can't wait to ..." Jessica stopped as she noticed that William was turning a sickly color of green. "Are you ok?" she asked in concern.
When William exited the time portal he was overwhelmed with waves of nausea and everything danced before his eyes in an unending rotation. He closed his eyes in hopes that things would stop going in circles but it didn't help, he still felt like he was still going in circles. He could here Jessica asking him something but he couldn't understand what she was saying. He fell to his knees and he tried to keep from throwing up but it was like trying to stop a volcano from exploding. He kept throwing up until he felt he was going to heave up his insides and yet the dizziness persisted and all he wanted to do was curl up and die.

Jessica tried to find someone to help but no one was around. She tried to help William get to his feet but he kept falling over as he couldn't walk straight and she wasn't strong enough to carry him. She was afraid he would get really hurt if she continued to try to move him. So the only option she had was to leave him to find someone to help. She went to the nearest street and flagged down a taxi and convinced the driver to help her get William into the taxi.

All the way to the hospital she kept apologizing for the mess but the taxi driver ignored her. She was sure he was angry at the thought of having to clean up the vomit that was accumulating in great quantities in the back seat. But what else could she do? She had to get William to the hospital, something was horribly wrong. She knew it was her fault that he was sick. She's the one who wanted to try the 'time portal'.

Once they arrived at the hospital, she begged the taxi driver to help get William into the hospital emergency room. He clearly didn't want to, the sight of William was enough to start the gag reflex in anyone and you were sure to become covered in vomit from just touching him. You couldn't help but wonder where all of it was coming from.

As soon as they entered the hospital, Jessica started yelling for someone to come and help. A nurse came running from the nurses station.

"What's wrong him?" the nursed asked.

"If I knew, we wouldn't be here." Jessica said in exasperation, already disliking the young nurse. Taking a deep breath Jessica said that once they arrived here William became extremely dizzy and couldn't stop vomiting.

"Where'd you come from?" the nurse asked as she motioned for an intern to get a wheelchair.

"From the past" Jessica stated feeling a bit stupid as she said it. She briefly wondered if they would think she was crazy for believing she traveled through time.

Instead the nurse turned to the intern that just arrived with a wheel chair and said "Inform the doctor on call that we have a possible victim of time paradox sickness."

As the intern hurried off to tell the doctor, Jessica wondered what time paradox sickness was. Turning to the nurse she asked "Will he be ok?"

"Don't know Miss but we'll do all we can." With that the nurse wheeled William off to see the doctor.

 

Jessica just stood there, wondering what she was supposed to do or where she was supposed to go. She couldn't believe this was happening. This was supposed to be an adventure not a nightmare.

"Miss, excuse me miss but I need to get some information about the young man that was just brought in."

"Hmm, what?" Jessica said distracted still looking down the hallway where the nurse wheeled William down.

"Why don't we go into the waiting room miss" the nurse said steering her towards a room.

"Here have a seat. Now miss what is the young man's name?"

"William, William Bennett." Jessica provided trying to focus her attention on the nurse in front of her.

"How old is he?"

"20"

"Is he married?"

"No, he's my fiance"

"How long has he been ill?"

"Ever since we stepped through the time portal, about 3 hours. It took so long for me to get someone to help. Will he be ok?"

"We're doing all we can. He has one of the best doctors and you got him here in time. That's what matters." the nurse said reassuringly.

"Wait here and when the doctor is done seeing to your fiance he'll come and get you."

Jessica waited in the waiting room all afternoon. While she waited she played around with the rhythm-a-con. She found it soothing to focus her attention on playing this then on the realities that her fiance was deathly ill. The music she produced was eerily sad as she tried to convey her feelings."

Finally the doctor came into the waiting room. "Miss I'm Doctor Ogun."

Stopping immediately Jessica asked "Will he be ok?"

The doctor faintly smiled at the all too common first question all families of patients asked. "Your fiance should make a full recovery. He is suffering from a severe form of time paradox sickness but you were able to get him here in time to get the antidote. I would like him to stay here a couple of days just to be sure he doesn't suffer from any adverse side effects. After that you can take him home. I will also write you a prescription for him to take just in case he suffers another bout of time sickness when you go home to your own time line."

"Thank you doctor" Jessica said in gratitude for the doctors assistance.

 

For the next couple days while William was recovering in the hospital Jessica explored Oasis Landing. She especially enjoyed playing the rhythm-a-con at every opportunity. She was really get good at it and she even had a few people stop and watch her as she practiced. Once William is out of the hospital she hoped to spend some time shopping at the emporium and showing William all the wonderful inventions that the future as to offer.

 

William was so happy to be leaving the hospital after being severely ill so long. It was an unbelievable relief to feeling like himself again. He hoped to never experience that degree of nausea and dizziness again.

Jessica could hardly contain her excitement at seeing William on his feet again. She ran over to him and gave him a hug.

"Oh William you have no idea how scared I was when you were so sick. I just kept imagining how awful I would feel if you died and how it would have been all my fault." Jessica rambled on until William kissed her to get her to be quiet. She smiled up at William as he silently laughed at her.

"Oh Jessica, my dearest you have nothing to be scared of. It wasn't your fault. I followed you because I wanted too, you didn't make me, so stop blaming yourself. I'm well thanks to the doctors here and I have my prescription for when we go home. Everything's alright. You know what?"

"No what?"

"I love you. Now let's get out of here and do some exploring."