Maternal Instinct [Invite]

[Eureka]

Open to anyone connected to Eureka or Aaron Hunter.

The swell of the freckled skin of Eureka’s abdomen engendered within the woman a basic maternal instinct that was dangerous in all its simplicity. It didn’t matter that the redhead knew that the thing that grew within her was not something that could be nurtured. It was still a living thing growing, too fast, within her. And despite anyone’s strong suggestions that she try to get rid of it now to minimise the damage, she refused. If Aaron got too close with his disapproval she’d his and gnash her teeth, bright eyes gleaming even as the creature within sucked the life from her. It was a beast of shadows and despair, and yet Eureka could not see nor feel the negative effect that it had.

Even if Eureka were sent to the Shadow Realm giving birth to the monster, so be it. She wouldn’t mind, as she would come back. She had died before for transgressions that she was not aware of – hell, she was aware she had transgressions, but she did not know which ones she’d been targeted for. The point was that the Shadow Realm, though dull and boring, was not as bad as everyone called it out to be. If it sent her insane, it was only because she had nothing to do. But she was insane enough already, so it didn’t matter if she added a little more insanity to the pile.

The monsters were beautiful to Eureka. They wreaked havoc and inspired fear. They tore people – humans or vampires – limb from limb with no thought or mercy. They were predators in their own right, and Eureka admired them for it. She would be proud to unleash such a force upon the city. Perhaps it would catch up with one of those fuckers who’d sent her to the Shadow Realm the first time, and cause them a little inconvenience.

The creature rolled in Eureka’s abdomen, causing her taut skin to stretch and respond in kind. Eureka cooed at it as she meandered the apartment, rocking the creature as if it were restless and in need of comfort. She did not do it in the hope that it would be more gentle when it ripped through her cut and tore her in half.

She wore only a crop top and a pair of boy shorts, which was more than anyone could have hoped for in the privacy of her own home. Their own home, as she had basically commandeered Aaron’s apartment and made it her own. She was a stray cat who’d moved in after making nice with the owner, and like any other cat had pushed to assert dominance. Even now, like a cat with a broken tail, she would not let the one whose only intent was to help her get close to her.

Though, she was not prancing around the streets like she was accustomed. Her condition had weakened her to the point that she barely left the apartment, and when she did it was only to feed. She never went very far; tonight, she could even hear the sirens as the body she had created was discovered. He’d been a chef, taking a smoke break behind a nearby restaurant.

Eureka felt no shame, nor any guilt. She was safe at home. She and her monster were safe at home. No one could touch them here.

[Edenor]

How he wound up in the area he wasn't even really sure. More and more he found that when he did leave his apartment he simply followed where his feet took him, his mind always elsewhere yet, when he would finally stop he found his thoughts vanishing like a bit of smoke in front of a fan. A swirl and then dispersed into nothingness. The first thing he noticed as he looked around was the emergency vehicles around and the small crowd. As he took a deep unneeded breath he could smell death on the air and as his sense fully tuned in he realized that the sirens were even still on so he couldn't have gotten here all that long after whatever it was, was found. There was also a smell he recognized but he couldn't quite place it and it bothered him but, as so often was the case anymore he shrugged it off and lost himself in thought as he continued on his way.

He really was dead to the world as he walked, the only oddity about him being the sleeve that moved about as it pleased, or the wind dictated as there was no arm to fill it. That had been the price he paid in closing his debts with his former employer when all was said and done and really wasn't that steep of a price all things considered. As he was lost in his wandering and thoughts he only came to as he suddenly bumped into something hard. He bounced off it as he collided and at first as he regained his focus thought he must have bumped into some really tall person, his nose smarting from where it had smashed against the object and instead found himself in front of a door.

Hesitation was written on his face as he thought about it, wondering just where the hell his feet had taken him, he hadn't been walking that long since he had seen the police and ambulance, but he knew he couldn't really trust his own judgment of time. Just the week previous he had spent what he thought was an hour or two wandering the catacombs and came out to find three days had passed. A heavy sigh escaped him then as he decided to deal with what may come and reached out with his right hand to knock. For better or worse he would see why his feet decided to walk this path and as he waited he could smell that scent again, stronger with a faint mix of blood but even still he couldn't remember what it was about it that was so strangely familiar yet couldn't be placed by him. The knocking was done, only the answering of the door would reveal it. Or get him killed. That last thought put a smirk on his face, his hand dropping to his waist just in case to grab his blade, at least if it was death waiting on the other side he'd go fighting and cursing all the way down.

[Aaron Hunter]

What would happen if you were to gather together a group of expert scientists, quantum physicists with gargantuan intellects the size of planets, and stick them in a room with a bunch of deep-thinking philosophers, creative theorists with minds as expansive as the universe itself? It’s probably fair to say that the debates and discussions that ensued would blow the brains of most common folk, like a cerebral bullet fired from an enlightened gun. There’s a reasonable chance that one of the topics of complex and convoluted conversation would be the infinite monkey theorem.

In a nutshell, the theory states that if a chimpanzee presses the keys of a typewriter at random for an infinite number of times, the monkey will eventually quote a chosen body of literary text, such as the complete works of William Shakespeare. Granted, the chances of this happening are almost unbelievably miniscule, and could effectively take forever to happen, but in an existence full of an infinite number of parallel universes, with a never-ending supply of typing chimps, then anything could be written at any given time. In layman’s terms, if you throw enough mud at a wall, eventually some of it will stick, or in other words, if you do something enough times, you can obtain any conceivable result.

The problem with the unlimited troop of ape secretaries is that, in addition to producing copies of Romeo and Juliet or Hamlet, the animals could inadvertently type up long lost transcripts from books about satanic rituals, and mistakenly summon a demon, well, in theory at least! Accidents do happen.

Aaron Hunter was no scientist or philosopher; he was a simple musician with a penchant for killing in his spare time. However, he did like to monkey around with his red-haired lover, Eureka, although the animalistic pair’s antics would probably be more akin to rabbits than chimpanzees. Let’s just say that they thoroughly enjoyed each other’s company, regularly, in fact as often as possible. And therein lies the problem.

No matter how many precautions are taken to prevent the unwanted from occurring, if something is repeated often enough then there is always a chance that a complication will eventually arise. There is always one tenacious fish that can swim through the net. If Aaron’s band continued to play their set list over and over again, even if they frequently altered the last song for variety to give the gig a different ending and keep things exciting for the audience, a speaker could always explode to mess up the grand finale. Whether the final tune ended with a pounding drum fill, intricate finger work from the guitarist, a slapping master class from the bass player, or an oral opus reaching a screaming crescendo from the vocalist, a faulty wire in an amplifier’s power cable could spell disaster.

Should it really have come as such a surprise, such an unexpected shock, when Eureka discovered that she was pregnant? After all, the monkeys had been working overtime. She was going to have a baby; they were going to have a baby. Aaron’s initial thoughts, once he’d pulled his stubble-covered jaw back up off the floor, were how had this happened? Could vampires really have children? Weren’t they just… dead?

Aaron’s vampiric family, the Acheron clan, had dispersed across the city and to goodness where else. Maybe they’d all been turned into ashes by now, the affable drummer didn’t really know, although he was sure that he’d spotted a few familiar faces in the streets. Their physical presences may have effectively vanished into nothingness, but some of the wise words from their weird old leader, Ambrose, still echoed in Aaron’s mind. In particular, the younger vampire recalled a few stories, lessons about strange codes and laws. Aaron was sure that for a vampire to give birth the process would be, to say the least, fraught with danger. The infant would not be the usual cherub held so lovingly by doting parents, but something much darker, more sinister in nature.

As if the mechanics of actually bringing a child into the shadowy underworld weren’t perilous enough for his partner, Aaron was passionately concerned about how terrible a father he would make. His own dad had been little more than a monster, so would Aaron ultimately take on the same role? Would he become a nightmarish beast, born of a human monster, destined to nurture the demon currently brewing in Eureka’s womb? The complexity of the situation was destroying Aaron’s mind, as if someone had flipped open the lid to his skull and was grinding his brains round and round like a primitive neurosurgical mortar and pestle. He needed time and space to understand what was going on.

Eureka’s curse, the fact that the gorgeous redhead returned to the rooftop of Aaron’s apartment each and every night, was, in the bewitched musician’s eyes, his blessing. She would always come back to him like a beautiful boomerang. They were fated to be together, destined to share an eternal embrace. But when you are confused and bewildered by the amazing scenario developing before your eyes, the blissful shared bedroom can transform into a cage. Being trapped with a wild lioness, no matter how much Aaron loved and adored her, was like walking an emotional tightrope.

Aaron wasn’t overly confrontational unless he really needed to be, and tonight, the apprehensive punk rocker needed fresh air, to feel the cooling city breeze ruffle the loose strands of his thick dark hair. He wouldn’t be gone long, he never could be such was the overwhelming magnetism of his red-haired rooftop rebel.

[Eureka]

Something kicked in Eureka’s torso; a vicious, violent kick that caused her to flinch, but afterwards a low, smooth chuckle rumbled from her throat. A vampire pregnant with a leech-like fadebeast doesn’t look healthy. They look like a shell of their former selves, the beast inside taking all the life for themselves, inspiring a hunger that could not be sated.

The red-head was no longer as vibrant as she usually was. Her flame-like hair was limp and ragged and lacking its warmth. The freckles were all stark against the pallid white of her skin, and it wasn’t the regular vampire-white. It was the white of death, the circles under her eyes dark and heavy. Flesh clung to bone, her limbs all sinew and muscle. The only thing that remained of Eureka’s old self was her eyes; they had their usual spark, their fiery passion for freedom, for satisfaction. A selfish need for self-satisfaction.

The echo of the knock reverberated through the apartment, which was situated on the top floor. The hackles on Eureka’s back immediately spiked. In her human form she had no hackles, but she believed she did – so often was she her cat-self that the hackles felt like a constant. Her bright eyes scanned the apartment.

”Aaron!” she called.

There was no answer.

”Aaron! Someone’s at the door…?” she called again. It was his apartment. He ought to be the one to answer the door. But the apartment was quiet. There was no answer. Aaron was not there. How could he have slipped out without Eureka knowing? With each hour her stomach grew, the creature within it swelling, eager to be born. And yet, Aaron was not home. Was he avoiding it? Perhaps best. She did not want her baby to kill Aaron. That would not do. No, her baby should kill someone who deserved it.

Still, she stomped toward the door and its knock. Whoever was on the other side would have heard her hollering. They knew she was home. She wrenched open the door, a scowl on her face, ready to growl at whoever was coming to sell her **** at this time of the night. Instead, she was greeted with a familiar face and her scowl turned into a gleaming grin.

”Edenor!” she greeted him. ”Come in!” she said, standing aside from the door and gesturing to the space inside.

[Edenor]

The wait wasn’t long before the light bulb went off in his head and it certainly explained the familiar smell that he hadn’t been able to place. As he heard the voice calling out a couple of times he relaxed almost immediately and let his hand fall from his blade with a soft chuckle, the first time he had met her he had done something similar though that time he had actually stabbed her only to end up becoming the monster he was now. As that thought crossed his mind he couldn’t help a slight frown at the thought as he was likely less monster now than he had been before.

All things considered her turning of him had certainly straightened out many things in his head, he wasn’t quite as jumpy as before and ready to kill anything that moved that he didn’t like the look of, it likely stemmed from the fact that being what he was most threats to his former self were simply inconsequential now, replaced by things much darker and yet it didn’t have the same ability to instill even hesitation in him as before.
His mind was already wandering again in just the few moments he had heard her voice and snapped out of it as the door actually opened only to be greeted by his sire, a smile on her face, her so very pale face. A frown was put onto his own as he considered her looks but it lasted only a moment before he too smiled in return as she invited him in and he stepped in as soon as she invited him in as it wouldn’t do to not accept her hospitality. As soon as he cleared the door he turned to look at her, “Good evening Eureka, I have to say I am rather surprised it is you my nose decided to follow. It’s a rather pleasant surprise.”

His eyes took in everything then, wandering over her and the pronounced bulge of her stomach which brought less of a response than seeing her even paler than she had ever been when he stood before her. It was her business and none of his unless she decided to make it so in which case he would cross that bridge when he got there. His eyes scanned the rest of the room that he could see but it wasn’t really all that interesting to him, he was used to his home being more workshop than home so to see things so ordinary meant he had just shy of zero interest in anything but his sire as his eyes focused fully on her again never straying from her face after noticing her stomach, “So how long has it been and how much longer will it be? I hate to presume but seeing you like this I can’t help but assume you’re keeping… it.”

The start of his attempt at conversation had been so normal, no foot in mouth like normal but then it happened just a moment later and he could only inwardly sigh. At least half the things he said weren’t meant to sound offensive or set people on edge and yet he lacked so much tact in most situations that such comments were commonplace and he could only hope she wouldn’t take offense. She had to know as well as he did what one of their kind being pregnant meant and there was no point in trying to put up a facade about it. At least that’s what he tried to tell himself and hope she didn't take it personal.

[Aaron Hunter]

Aaron had always been creative. The musician had artistic flair, a rich vein of imagination inside his body. In addition to playing the drums, Aaron was an occasional, wannabe photographer, and more frequently, a serial doodler, regularly scribbling bizarre sketches onto his drawing pad. He was never going to be the next Vincent Van Gogh or Salvador Dali, but the inventive designer was still able to convey his personal, inner feelings through the medium of art.

As Aaron sat alone near the transit station in Swansdale, he twiddled a stubby pencil between his thumb and index finger, producing a metronomic rhythm with the short wooden stick. The doodler’s hands were stained with blood, a messy by-product of his trip to the Wendigo Forest that was situated to the south of the neighbourhood. Normally, the skilled killer would use his trusty gun to take down the hideous beasts that lurked within the woods, but not tonight. Aaron needed to let off some pent up steam, to release the energy that was bubbling away inside him like a giant cauldron. The intimate feel of close quarters combat with swords, where Aaron could allow his physical prowess to run riot like Godzilla rampaging through Tokyo, was exactly what the confused vampire had desired.

Pulling an old train ticket receipt from the pocket of his tight jeans, the pencil tapping on his knee like a miniature hammer, Aaron drew a single black dot on the back of the crumpled piece of paper. Pausing for a few seconds, the makeshift artist scribbled the word “Solitude” underneath his lonely dot.

Aaron was not an anti-social guy: quite the opposite, in fact. The affable punk had always enjoyed hanging out with his friends, whether it be to shoot a few hoops on a basketball court, sink a couple of beers at a local bar, or jam away with his band members. But sometimes, Aaron just needed to escape, to spend time alone so that he could gather his thoughts. It was possibly a deep-rooted psychological issue linked to his abusive childhood, and his need to find a safe place to hide. Nonetheless, a creative mind could often be messy, with emotions and feelings whizzing around here and there like frenzied bees in a hive. The daydreamer simply required a bit of mental bookkeeping every now and again. Tonight was definitely one of those occasions.

Emitting an audible sigh through his dry lips, the troubled vampire slowly got to his feet. As much as Aaron felt the benefit of time spent alone, his disappearing act could be viewed as being selfish. Eureka meant everything to Aaron; she was his eternal soulmate, the yin to his yang. He didn’t just want her, he needed her, and right now Aaron knew that she needed him too. The fiery redhead may have been one of the most independent and self-sufficient women that the drummer had ever had the privilege of knowing, but she was about to undergo a monumental voyage. Aaron had to be there for her, not stuck outside in the middle of nowhere, pandering to his own whims.

The adventurous duo were about to embark on a crazy expedition into the unknown, a journey that was undoubtedly going to be littered with hurdles, and filled with hidden dangers. The lovers had to face the future together, with all its uncertainties, in order to survive.

Wiping a streak of crusty, drying blood from his knuckles, Aaron watched the lights of the rumbling train grow ever larger as it approached the transit stop. Hopping onto a virtually empty carriage through the sliding doors, the vampire grabbed an overhead rail, glancing at the two teenagers seated near the back of the car, nodding politely to acknowledge their existence.

Aaron chose to remain on his feet as the train departed Swansdale, rather than sit down: he’d sat around enough already this evening. It was time to head home, to stand shoulder to shoulder with his mate.

[Eureka]

Eureka’s head canted to the side; from what Edenor said, he’d not intended to visit. But here he was on her doorstep. Offense wasn’t generally an emotion that Eureka suffered, and nor did she feel it now. An ordinary person might have wondered why their childer hadn’t come on purpose. Vaguely, she wondered whether she’d ever even given Edenor her address. Why would she have? It wasn’t her address. Definitely hadn’t been at the time of his siring. The point might be argued by Aaron, were he here. Or maybe it wouldn’t be. He might be perfectly at ease to call it his place and no one else’s.

Eureka at least laid claim to the roof. But that wasn’t really an address, was it? She’d never lived there.

The door closed loosely behind them, Eureka failing to lock it again. She wasn’t good with locks, never had been. She was far too easy-going, too little involved in the human life she had once led or the expectations that she behave like a normal person. She was still smiling that broad, near-predatory smile of hers when Edenor asked his questions and made his statement. Freckled fingers immediately found and caressed the bulge of her stomach, as if protecting the baby’s ears from the accusation.

Eureka knew, of course, that the baby was an it. She was not silly, but she was protective of him nonetheless. Him. She liked to call the baby a he. It was instinct. Somehow she knew. If anyone told her she was imagining things and that fadebeasts didn’t have a sex, she would claw their faces off.

”A while, and not long,” she said tartly. To be fair, she didn’t know the exact gestational period of a fadebeast. There was a voice in the back of her mind telling her it was a far faster pregnancy than she had expected, and that the baby could be born any minute now – a fact only driven home by the sudden snap of a rib. At first she felt nothing, but then she gasped, and hissed. She sucked in the cry of pain, the effect ending in a rumbled hum.

A sane person would have been worried. Eureka was not sane, however, and her baby’s strength only made her prouder.

”As lovely as it is to see your face, perhaps now is not the best time,” she said, thin fingers reaching for a wall to keep herself standing and balanced. ”Have you ever fought a Fadebeast, Edenor….? No, never mind that question. I don’t want you to. I want him to have some fun before he’s killed…” she said. She knew that fadebeasts, though vicious, were not unkillable. There were those out there who’d put her baby down without a second thought. But surely he could best a few before his short life came to an end?

[Edenor]

The look on her face that seemed ever present was comforting in a rather disconcerting way. Sure she was smiling but it always struck him as being on a razors edge between her having a pleasant conversation or ripping out their throat. He doubted the smile would change either way. As the door swung shut and her reply to his question was so short, and obviously sharp retort. She couldn’t be blamed for such, his words did come out in a rather bad way.

He didn’t even have time to respond before he heard the sharp crack of breaking bones and his eyes focused on the woman much more closely a slight shake of the room around them before he contained himself. She knew exactly what she was doing, at least so he told himself, and if this is what she chose then so be it. Her dismissal was met with a scoff, “Please, as if I would leave you here like this knowing what’s coming and seeing you in such a state?” He moved to her then, his arm wrapping around her waist. Only after he had helped to guide her to the closest seat did he grab a chair for himself and sat opposite her.

He mulled her question over for a moment, his eyes never leaving her face as he nodded seriously, “I have and I will again I am sure. If that is what you wish then I can see to it and will never speak of it again.” A slight smirk came to his face then, a dark glee at the last she had added, “If you want the later I can let it free as well. I’m sure someone would stop it eventually but if you want it to have fun I see no reason not to go along with that as well.” He didn’t think she would even be thinking of killing it off so easily in the first place, not if she was willingly going through this, so to see that decidedly dangerous way of thinking and still wanting to sow that little bit of chaos set him at ease.

He seemed to relax slightly then with the realization she hadn't gone insane. Not much caring what she might think of his blunt offer to kill the monster inside her or to release it. That thought made him laugh to himself though as he realized she was likely just as much a monster as the thing inside her, though with more control and thought behind her, but then who was innocent? He leaned back into the chair, “So you tell me what it is you wish to see done and I will make it so. No questions, no refusals. What is it you want?”

[Aaron Hunter]

The train journey across town was uneventful, bordering on dull. The gentle rumbling of the carriages as they trundled along the lines was almost hypnotic, certainly enough to rock a small infant to sleep. Maybe Aaron could take his newborn child on a trip throughout Harper Rock if they cried a lot? How ridiculous! The vampire didn’t know too much about what to expect when Eureka actually gave birth to the fruit of their passion that was currently developing deep inside her womb, but he did realize that “it” would be no ordinary bouncing baby.

There would be no walks in the park dressed as a Disney character, no playing baseball or shooting hoops on the local basketball court, no building sandcastles under the blazing sun at the beach after a swim in the cooling ocean. Aaron had no clue whatsoever as to what was about to unfold, but he had an uneasy feeling that it wasn’t going to end well.

The teenage couple who were occupying the rear seats of the car disembarked the carriage a stop earlier than Aaron, leaving the powerful killer once again alone to ponder the future, in eerie silence, within the hollow metallic tin as it sped from district to district. Streetlamps flickered like amber strobe lights at a nightclub, casting crazy patterns across the reflective windows of the subway train as it momentarily broke out of its underground tunnel and into the dark night sky. It was Aaron’s stop.

The musician pretended to swing from the overhead rails like a playful monkey, before jumping through the open door onto the deserted platform. At certain times of the day, every transit station across the city would be bustling with life. It could be commuters heading to another day of pseudo-slavery at work, shoppers out for a bargain in the local mall, or partygoers embarking on a big night out filled with booze and dancing. There was usually somebody around. But not right now, not tonight. It was somehow as if the gods of solitude and contemplation had cleared a mystical pathway for Aaron to follow.

Head down, staring at the pavement as he skipped along the empty streets, Aaron hummed a random tune, probably something that he had subconsciously overheard on the radio earlier that day. The familiar sight of his apartment block quickly came into view. As ever, Aaron automatically gazed up at the rooftop of the building, wondering if his mate was up there, moonbathing on an old blanket, or dancing beneath the stars. The freckly female often inferred that she wasn’t much of dancer, but Aaron secretly suspected that the redhead had a little shuffle when nobody was watching.

Most people would push the button in the lobby of the apartment block, and wait patiently for the lift to arrive, but Aaron preferred to take the stairs. He used to time himself, and see how fast he could reach the top floor. The more powerful he became within his vampire skin, the quicker he ascended the flights of steps, as he if he were casually gliding across a meadow filled with daisies. It was so easy nowadays.

Pushing open the sturdy door that lead onto the corridor, Aaron entered the home straight, drifting passed his neighbours’ front doors, and arriving outside his apartment. Instantly, he could overhear the muffled sound of talking through the closed door. Were they expecting guests? Hopefully, Eureka hadn’t invited a complete stranger over, one who would inevitably become a rather exquisite take-out meal. There was always so much mess to clear up afterwards… although such escapades were amazingly good fun.

Turning the handle, Aaron entered his comforting abode, recognizing the face of Edenor. The bearded vampire was sitting in a chair chatting with Eureka. It kind of made sense that the feisty female’s vampiric childe had decided to pay his sire a visit. He was, after all, going to have a brother or a sister, of sorts, any time soon.

“Evening, bro,” said Aaron. “How’s it all going?”

Aaron crossed the room, parking himself next to Eureka, placing a strong hand gently upon her shoulder, and a delicate kiss upon the glistening red strands of her hair.

[Eureka]

At any other time, Eureka might have refused the help to the couch. Now, however, she allowed her weight to be distributed evenly between herself and Edenor, claiming the couch as refuge. Standing and walking and talking all at the same time took effort, and her energy was waning. It was as if every magical nerve, every immortal and preternatural bone in her body was working overtime to keep her alive, and semi-healthy. The freckled skin of her stomach remained taut, the tattoos stretched beyond recognition. Again, the creature twisted and turned, the way it pushed against her skin not a gentle kick like a human baby might have done, but a scratch and swirl.

Again, Eureka caressed her stomach and cooed, as if trying to communicate to the demonic force, as if trying to tell it there was no need to be rough. Perhaps it was the conversation. It could hear. It could understand. And it didn’t like hearing about the destruction of its kin.

The redhead was about to respond, but was interrupted by the sudden and breezy entrance of her love; Aaron had come home. For all her confidence and lack of care, in some ways Eureka was like a wild cat, tamed. She was a molly cat lured in off the streets and given a comfortable home to stay in, and should she be abandoned she would find it hard to adjust to the lifestyle of a stray. Harder, though it could still be done.

She smiled lightly at the kiss to her hair, eyes closing momentarily before opening upon her childe. A childe borne of other means; one whose presence was a comfort, and perhaps meant more than she had previously given it credit.

”Make sure the windows and doors are open,” she said, glancing between the two men now. The creature wouldn’t settle. Beneath her hand, within her skin, it was twisting and pushing and applying pressure to bones that could not withstand the force. She could feel her spine complaining, and now even sitting was allowing her no comfort—though she remained seated and seemingly calm even though she knew the time had come.

She wondered if it was the reason Edenor was here. Why had he suddenly ended up on their doorstep tonight, of all nights? Had he known? Could he feel it upon that flimsy string that connected them? Was it meant to be?

”I want him to go free,” she said sternly. She had to tell them both—Aaron, and Edenor. Regardless of the damage it would do to her, she wanted her baby to go free. ”Please. Now, Edenor,” she said, the latter words uttered through gritted teeth. Now, the pain was beginning to show. The baby had waited for its father to come home.