Gen 8 Ch 8: Until Death Do Us Part

Early that Sunday morning, Huxley leapt out of bed with a strange feeling twisting her stomach. A trip to the bathroom confirmed her suspicions. She trudged downstairs to breakfast and began eating without tasting a single bite.

"Huxley," Grace's voice startled her, "aren't you excited about the baby?"

Huxley inhaled sharply, making the piece of toast she'd been chewing catch in her throat. "Wha--?" She coughed violently, took a few moments to regain her composure and stared at her mother with eyes as big as the breakfast plates before her. She knew? How could she tell?

Grace, positively bouncing with excitement, had already turned her attention back to Hazel. "Do you have names picked out yet?"

"We have a list," Hazel stroked her bulging belly and smiled lovingly at Aidan, who grinned back at her before finishing her sentence, "but we haven't decided yet."

Normally Huxley would have wrinkled her nose at this sappy exchange, but that day she only leaned back in her chair and let out the breath she'd been holding. No one seemed to notice. The entire household had been talking about nothing but Hazel's pregnancy for the past few days, but Huxley couldn't count on that being a distraction forever.

She went to find comfort where she always did.

Neither of them was bound to a regular schedule, but there was just something about Sundays that welcomed indulgence. They moved slowly, Theo savoring every second while Huxley rested her turbulent mind on the pure physicality of the moment.

She could not avoid talking forever though. Once they had found release, it didn't take Theo long to bring up just the thing that was troubling her.

"How's Hazel doing?"

"I'm right here with my boobs out and you're asking about my sister?"

"I mean her pregnancy, duh! Do they know yet whether it's going to be a boy or a girl?"

"No idea. Maybe? Does it matter? Whichever it is, it's going to need a place to sleep."

"Not that again, Hux. I told you, your family are happy to have you around. I don't know why you're so fixated on this. Things are gonna be alright." Theo moved to put an arm around Huxley, but she ducked away and sat up on the edge of the bed.

"Oh yeah? Well, golly, I'm just so relieved now I know that 'things are gonna be alright'." On the last few words her lips curled into an angry snarl that did not leave her face when she began collecting her scattered clothes.

He made her name a gentle rebuke as he reached to touch her, "Huxley."

She shook her head and slipped into her shirt. "You don't understand. It's all...wrong. It wasn't supposed to be this way, staying in my parents' attic forever with no money to do anything about it. Our band was gonna be huge. I was gonna be a real musician, famous, living life on my own terms. And this shit--believing that 'things are gonna be alright'--is exactly what fucked me over."

"You are a real musician, famous or not. And I've never met anyone who lives their life on their own terms more than you do, so--"

She interrupted him with a dry laugh. "And now that's gone to shit too."

"What do you--"

"I'm pregnant, Theo," she barked. "I'm having a freaking baby."

Huxley did not turn around to see his reaction. She hadn't planned on telling him today. His arms could have remained her carefree refuge for a little while longer, at least until she began to show. But now that it was out, she found that she didn't care what he thought. The problem was there either way, and it was hers alone.

She turned to leave, but this time she wasn't quick enough to dodge him. Theo had scrambled up off the bed and planted himself in her path. "Wait," he breathed, "wait right here just a moment."

Still in his underwear, Theo moved to rummage through a drawer and came back to kneel on the bare metal floor, presenting a small box.

He took a deep breath and began to open the box slowly. "Huxley Mason, will--"

"Stop right there." Huxley took a step back. "Don't tell me that's a fucking ring in there."

Theo's face fell. "Uhm."

"You've got to be kidding me... why'd you even... wait, you've been planning this?!"

Theo gave her a hopeful smile. "I've been saving up. It's not much--I wasn't expecting this to happen so soon--but it'll be enough. If we sell both our bikes we can afford a small house, maybe even a car." As he watched Huxley's stony expression, Theo's smile slowly faded. He set the small box down on the floor and stood to meet her eyes. "It'll be tough, but I can get a second job, a third one if I have to. So yeah, I've been planning this. I've just been waiting for the right moment. I thought that--"

"You thought now that you knocked me up and I feel like I have nowhere to go, this is the perfect moment to rope me into something I don't want?!"

"I had no idea this was something you don't want." His voice had grown quiet, barely audible, and as if to balance that, Huxley's next words came as a raging explosion.

"Seriously, dude?! You're talking about getting a shitty 9-5 job and a house with a white picket fence, being a boring square until death do us part and you're saying you had no idea it isn't what I want? What the hell, Theo? It's like you have no fucking clue who I am!"

His frown deepened. "I guess I don't."

His eyes still rested on hers, one last bit of hope compelling him to search for something that was never going to be there. She averted her gaze and kept it stubbornly fixed on the wall while Theo hurriedly picked up his clothes, threw them on and walked out.

She didn't watch him go, but the clank of the metal door told her he'd gone.

She stood in the same spot for a long time after that. Theo had looked so hurt--but seriously, what had he expected? She wished he hadn't said anything at all. Getting married? Why'd he have to make things weird?

When she caught herself absently stroking her belly, she dropped her hand to her side, turned on her heel and left.

Huxley wished things could have just stayed the way they had been. But it was too late for that now, she supposed... She wouldn't be able to hide the pregnancy for long, but for now, all she wanted was to sleep.

She'd have to tell her family soon enough.

*

It had been a while since Grace and Adam had been on a date, but tonight's news called for a celebration.

Even though Irina's Irish Pub wasn't much to look at, it had always held a special meaning for the two of them. So much time had passed since they'd first sat on these bar stools together, but that connection they had felt back then had never left them.

 Together they had created a home and a family, and now they were expecting not one, but two grandchildren. Truly a cause for celebration!

It was such a joy to share Hazel and Aidan's growing excitement for their baby. And the soon-to-be grandparents were sure that, in time, Huxley was going to feel the same way about hers.

*

There was a peaceful stillness to these late autumn days. As the world outside slowly went dormant, sims retreated indoors to curl up with cozy blankets and warm mugs of tea.

In this season of calm restfulness, Adam was aghast when he was faced with a horrid grimace one morning.

His eyesight wasn't what it had used to be, but even as he came close enough to see every single brushstroke on the canvas, the image remained just as monstrous.

"What are you painting there, love?" he asked his wife carefully.

"It's a cute bunny for the nursery," Grace chirped. "I know, I know. The pink is a little gender-specific. But all children love animals!"

"That's nice..." Adam rubbed the back of his head as he wondered if he should just drop it. It wasn't the first time that one of his wife's paintings had turned out somewhat... disturbing. Yet Grace always seemed to remain oblivious to that fact and Adam didn't want to discourage her from pursuing a hobby she so obviously enjoyed. However, the risk of scarring his future grandchildren for life was too high. He had to speak up. "Um... why does it only have one eye?"

"What?" Grace took a step back and tilted her head. "Oh no! It's winking, silly! It's supposed to be cute!"

"Oh... yes." He coughed. "Yes, I see it now."

Meanwhile, Hazel and Aidan continued their secret research of the time traveling portal.

 Up until this point, they had relied on the settings dictated by the people of Oasis Landing, the futuristic city on the other side of the portal. But after many days and nights pouring over the problem, they were confident that they had finally understood how the portal worked. And with that knowledge came the power to manipulate where the portal would lead.

"So," Hazel reiterated, "Once we input the coordinates into the portal's interface and activate it, a quantum copy of the portal's particles is formed at the destination--"

"Creating the point of arrival and return in the form of another portal, yes. The Z-axis is still a variable, which is why you landed one level above the portal that time you almost didn't make it back... But now that we know this, and barring any topographical surprises--"

"We've exhausted the theoretical portion of the experiment," Hazel finished. "Both the computer simulations and your calculations only confirm it. I think we're ready, Aidan."

Aidan nodded and moved to help Hazel heave herself up from the chair.

"I just wish we could go together," Hazel sighed as she waddled into the containment chamber and activated the portal with a practiced motion. "It feels reckless to send you in there by yourself. After all, I'm the one that has been through the portal countless times now."

At that, Aidan placed a hand on Hazel's belly. "This one here hasn't though," he grinned. "But if she's anything like her mommy, she'll be leaping through time before she walks."

"Oh, it's a girl now, is it? Yesterday you were coming up with boys' names until you fell asleep."

Aidan shrugged. "I have a feeling."

She pressed herself against him and wound her fingers into his thick hair. "Just come back to us quickly, you hear?"

"You won't even notice I'm gone," he promised.

Once Hazel was back at the computer, they exchanged one more nod through the thick glass walls.

Aidan knew they had taken the theory as far as they could. This was going to be a short mission--just to confirm that everything really worked as they'd intended. Still, his heart raced as he turned toward the portal.

Sparks of energy buzzed all around him, eliciting a tingling sensation somewhere between excitement and anxiety.

The light was so very bright...

Aidan took a steadying breath and stepped forward.