The Sacrificial Love of an Immortal

by Kurtis Eckstein

  Again, we were all quiet for a few minutes before Lily spoke up. “You know, I really think we should talk names. I personally like Noah if it’s a boy.”

  Freya and I exchanged a glance, only for neither of us to say anything.

  “And what if it’s a girl?” Heidi asked, taking the bait.

  “Hmm,” Lily exaggerated thinking a little, tapping her bottom lip with her index finger. “Well, we already have a beautiful Rose, and a gorgeous Lily…” She grinned at me, only to pout when I just gave her another weak smile. “So maybe Iris or Jasmine?” she continued, looking at me expectantly.

  I shrugged, prompting Lily to pout again.

  “Come on, Sam,” she pleaded.

  I sighed. “I’d rather wait to–”

  Rose gasped, causing us all to look at her. She immediately hopped up and ran over to me. “Daddy, I’m hungry.”

  Unsurprised by the request, I held out my wrist for her and continued talking. “I’d rather wait to find out the gender. I don’t want to think up a bunch of girl names and then it end up being a boy. Or vice versa.”

  After a few hasty gulps, Rose returned back to her place on the couch.

  “Ah, come on,” Lily whined. “That’s the fun part.” She then looked at Freya for support. “What do you think?” she asked.

  Freya shrugged, obviously not into it either. “I agree with Sam,” she admitted.

  Lily rolled her eyes. “Couple of old farts, you two.”

  I smiled at that. “How about this?” I offered. “Once we find out the gender, we can come up with a nice big list of names. Sound good?”

  Unexpectedly, Rose spoke up.

  “She doesn’t need a name,” she announced, still rubbing Freya’s belly.

  We all looked at her in confusion, with Lexi lowering her phone to stare too.

  Rose quickly continued, looking up at her mother. “She already has one.”

  “She?” Freya asked. “How do you know it’s a she?”

  Rose smiled warmly. “She knows who she is whenever daddy talks.”

  Everyone immediately looked at me, as if I had any idea what she was talking about. I cleared my throat. “Rose, sweetie, I know it’s nice to pretend, but–”

  “See!” Rose interrupted with a triumphant grin on her face.

  Freya’s expression became more serious. “Rose, this kind of pretend isn’t fun. You’re not even using your eye.”

  Rose pouted. “I don’t need to use it to feel her happy thoughts.”

  We all stared at her in shock.

  Lily was the first to respond. “Rose, you can sense how people are feeling?” she asked.

  Our daughter nodded confidently. “Everything and everyone has happy thoughts, because of the people.”

  Freya seemed to figure out what she was saying before anyone else. “Honey, can you sense happy things in objects? Because of the people who have touched it?” Rose nodded. “And in people too?” she clarified, prompting Rose to nod again. Freya immediately met my gaze. “And our baby is happy,” she whispered speaking more to me than anyone else.

  “She’s very happy when daddy speaks,” Rose said again.

  I took a deep breath. It was really close to April Fool’s day, but I was sure Rose understood that this kind of prank would be extremely mean spirited – at least, I hoped. In her mind, she might think that telling me that our baby was happy whenever I spoke would make me less depressed, not realizing that her lie didn’t help at all.

  We were all quiet again as Rose leaned closer to her mommy’s belly, rubbing it gently.

  “Hi Eden,” she whispered.

  My eyes instantly unfocused, the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end. Slowly, I met Freya’s wide eyes, who quickly recovered, speaking to our daughter firmly. “Rose, we can’t name her that.”

  “I don’t think she will like a different name,” she argued.

  “Rose,” Freya repeated, her tone a little harsh. “We can’t name her that. Don’t say that name again.”

  Our daughter immediately sat up, looking shocked. “But her name is Eden! Eden Marie!” she pressed. “If you don’t believe me, see for yourself!”

  Freya immediately looked at me with a furrowed brow, probably knowing that humoring her wasn’t helping me out at all. I felt like I was going to be sick to my stomach, and if I moved from my spot, the only place I was going was away for a few hours. To try to escape the horrible images flashing in front of my eyes.

  When I didn’t budge, Heidi unexpectedly shoved her arm out towards Freya’s face, causing her to jerk away slightly.

  “Do it,” Heidi demanded.

  Freya’s expression became pained as she glanced at me again, before she bit as gently as possible into Heidi’s arm, taking a gulp as her third-eye appeared. She then stared down at her belly for a few long seconds with a grimace.

  When she spoke, her voice was full of agony. “Rose…”

  “Daddy has to talk!” she repeated, looking at me expectantly.

  I shook my head. “I can’t do this,” I whispered, getting up as fast as possible to go downstairs. “I’m sorry,” I said more loudly.

  Freya gasped.

  I froze.

  “Sam, say that again,” she urged, her third-eye still focused on her belly, being able to see both the child’s body and thoughts with her unique ability.

  I grabbed the couch behind Lily to steady myself. “Freya, don’t do this to me. This isn’t even remotely funny.”

  With wide eyes, she met my gaze. “Sam…”

  I shook my head again, and quickly made my way to the stairs. I couldn’t handle this. My daughter was dead, and she wasn’t coming back. It wasn’t possible and never would be. Dead people were dead, a permanent fact of life that I’d been forced to suffer with for over a century. I wasn’t about to be destroyed all over again by hoping for something that was impossible.

  Unexpectedly, I was tackled from behind by a surprisingly nimble pregnant woman, who yanked me down to the floor and climbed on top of me.

  “Sam, look at her face!” she demanded, straddling my lap and holding up her shirt to reveal her milky stomach, as if I needed the extra help.

  But I couldn’t do it. I turned my head away even though my physical eyes had nothing to do with the vision she was telling me to use. My eyes exploded with tears.

  “Dammit Sam! For heaven’s sake, look at her face!” she repeated.

  I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t.

  But I reached out anyway, my head still turned to the side.

  The baby was five or six inches long now, still small enough that I could fit her in one hand. Her arms and legs were about the size of Lily’s fingers, and she looked a lot more like a regular baby, just smaller.

  And she had a small blemish below her right eye that looked like a tiny heart…just like the birthmark my daughter had.

  “Freya,” I whimpered, really starting to sob.

  She reached down and grabbed my head, forcing me to sit as she pulled my face against her bare stomach. “Sam, I swear I would never lie to you about something like this,” she whispered, holding me tight. “I don’t know how it’s possible, but this little girl is Eden. Your Eden.”

  I’d never cried so hard in my life.

  And apparently, when a man cries like I was, everyone cries.

  20: Unique Blessings

  Freya Rosetti

  April 7, 2735 – 2 Weeks Later – Morning

  Freya climbed out of Lexi’s red Ferrari with her hand on her large belly, instinctively wanting to protect it from accidentally knocking it against the door. After all, only a month ago her stomach had been completely flat, and now she looked like she was already nine months pregnant even though she was basically at seven months.

  It had been thirty-one days, with her growing baby estimated at about thirty-one weeks based on what the development rate had been thus far.

  Only nine more days to go until her predicted due date. Which meant Fre
ya just wasn’t used to her belly sticking out so much. From behind, she didn’t even look pregnant, but if she turned around then, ‘Bam!,’ a sizeable belly combined with her swollen breasts announcing to everyone that she was very pregnant.

  Sam thought it was hot.

  She just felt like a blimp.

  Lexi met Freya at the front of her car as they both walked up to the large building, which hadn’t even existed three centuries ago, where Sam would probably be starting work in the next month. He hadn’t signed a contract yet, largely because the requests he made weren’t things someone could just say yes to. The various demands had to go through a whole process of paperwork, with Sam being unwilling to agree to their terms with just a ‘promise’ to deliver at a future date.

  No, if they wanted him to sign, then they needed to have everything ready to go.

  Which was the reason why Freya and Lexi were showing up here today, because the CDS’s desire to please Sam had caused them to agree to something they almost never did – allowing access to the unique super who could detect powers in others.

  When Sam had asked if his power involved bringing people back from the dead, the CDS blatantly refused to give Sam access to his evaluation, neither denying nor confirming, with Lexi’s boss not even knowing the full extent of his abilities herself, thanks to the risk of Freya using her third-eye – something they had considered in advance, upon discovering that she could read minds.

  However, when Sam finally asked if they could at least test for a superpower in his unborn child, they reluctantly agreed to it, under the condition that Sam didn’t come with Freya.

  The reason?

  Because the woman who had evaluated him never wanted to see him again, in no uncertain terms.

  Sam felt like it was a shot in the dark having the baby tested, because his formerly deceased daughter had been one of the rare people who didn’t have a superpower at all. So, he felt like the idea that she actually did have an ability after all was a little farfetched. But at least it would confirm whether or not it had something to do with Sam’s ability.

  Freya and Sam also wanted to know if the rapid growth was going to continue on forever, though they weren’t sure if the ability-sensing super would be able to determine that.

  Lexi opened the door for Freya as she walked in, who appreciated the gesture but felt like everyone was treating her as if she was disabled, rather than just pregnant.

  Even despite the larger belly, she could move around just fine like before. Although, she did have to admit she was waddling a little, but that was only because it was more comfortable to do so. Her body was certainly more than strong and flexible enough to handle the added strain.

  Lexi’s boss, Jackie Hendricks, greeted them just inside the door.

  “Welcome,” she replied warmly with a sincere smile. “If you’ll follow me, it’s just this way.”

  Freya nodded her head, only giving the nonverbal gesture since she felt a little nervous, and both women followed Lexi’s boss through the long lobby.

  Being that it was a Sunday, there weren’t very many people around, with the massive area only having two security guards, a random woman sipping coffee by a large window, and a receptionist typing out something on his computer.

  As Jackie led them to the elevator, and pushed B3 for the third-floor basement, she began explaining how it would go down. “Okay, so I’m going to put you in an interrogation room with a bullet-proof one-way viewing window. Unfortunately, we’ll have to ask you to wait in there for twenty minutes.”

  “How come?” Lexi asked on Freya’s behalf.

  Jackie gave her a weak smile. “Well, because they don’t want our esteemed guest here to use her extrasensory ability, which they know has a timer on it.”

  Freya laughed humorlessly. “So they want to make sure I’m dried out beforehand, huh?” she asked.

  Jackie just gave her a small apologetic nod. “I know that twenty minutes is a little extreme, but it was the only way they would agree to let this happen, considering you can read minds. They actually wanted to put you in there for an hour, but I argued them down to a third of the time, saying that annoying you probably wasn’t in our best interest.”

  Freya silently gritted her teeth in annoyance. She probably wouldn’t have tried anything either way, but it was just frustrating that after all these years, the government finally knew she could peer into another’s thoughts. At least they didn’t know she could actually see all memories too, but they would probably know now after this evaluation.

  No doubt the woman would evaluate her full repertoire of skills too, in addition to the baby. But having this evaluation done for Sam’s sake was more important to Freya than keeping her secrets hidden.

  And it truly had been one of her most guarded secrets, with Lily being one of the few people she had ever told in her three-hundred and fifty-eight years. Like, she had only ever shared that secret with seven people – Lily, Sam, Lexi, and Heidi making up four of those seven. It would be eight if she considered Rose, but since Rose could do the same, she didn’t feel like it counted.

  Granted, Rose was even more unique.

  At least now Freya knew why her daughter had turned out differently. Unlike Freya’s violence trailing, it appeared that her daughter had developed something more versatile – emotion trailing, with her being able to sense ‘happy thoughts’ in objects and people even without fully activating her third-eye.

  Really, it was sort of like emotion psychometry or being an empath whenever she touched objects or people without her third-eye being out.

  As far as Freya was aware, Rose’s ability wasn’t very strong without drinking some blood, but it still meant that she had always been surrounded by all the beauty in the world, even during her worse memories.

  But what was scary to Freya was that Rose had somehow hidden it from her. Freya had certainly seen in Rose’s memories how she reacted to situations, but the fact that her daughter had an actual power that cause those reactions had remained completely allusive.

  Was it a side-effect of them having the same mind-reading power?

  Or could Rose really hide things?

  “Do you need anything before we start?” Jackie asked Freya as they stepped off the elevator.

  Freya pursed her lips, debating whether or not she wanted to ask for something to eat afterwards. However, she knew Lexi could just stop by a fast-food joint on their way to the botanical garden where they would be meeting everyone else for family pictures. They had originally scheduled the photographer at 11 AM, only for Lexi’s boss to call up in the early morning saying that if they were going to do it, then it had to happen now.

  The ability-sensing woman didn’t live in this area at all, and she had a busy schedule, so it really was now or never.

  “I’m fine,” Freya replied, allowing Jackie to lead her down the hallway to the room.

  Lexi of course waited outside, so Freya walked to the center of the room while the door closed behind her. There was no seating available – just stone-cold walls on all sides except for the one-way mirror.

  Freya sighed heavily and then resigned herself to staring at her reflection, her hands automatically returning to her stomach as she examined her figure. By itself, she didn’t feel like the green sundress she was wearing for the pictures later was very flattering, but she knew they all looked good together as a group.

  Sam would be wearing the same shade of green, along with black pants, while both Rose and Lily would be wearing cute purple dresses. Lexi and Heidi were then both dressed in silky white shirts of various design, along with bright white pants, which caused their natural colors to really pop.

  As Freya examined herself in the mirror for a long few minutes, she heard a commotion in the hall, causing her head to snap towards the door in alarm.

  Unexpectedly, a woman with black hair, pale skin, and oscillating blue eyes barged into the room, her black pupils being like swirling galaxies.

  Jackie was ye
lling behind her. “–n’t go in there!”

  The woman ignored her as she drew closer and fell on her knees in front of Freya, an expression of awe on her face.

  Freya just stared at her in shock, not understanding why she seemed so mesmerized.

  The woman then smiled as she placed her hands on Freya’s belly, a small giggle coming out of her mouth like she was a little kid.

  “Hi there,” she whispered, her smile brightening even more.

  Jackie and Lexi were both at the door, just standing there dumbfounded.

  “W-What are you doing?” Freya finally stammered after a moment.

  The woman looked up at her with a gentle smile. “Saying hello. Your daughter is possibly the cutest person I’ve ever met. And the happiest.”

  Freya just stared at her in disbelief. “I don’t understand,” she admitted. “Are you saying you can talk to her?”

  She shook her head, leaning forward to rest her cheek against Freya’s belly with another warm smile. The oscillating blue energy in her eyes almost glowed as it flowed rhythmically. “No, not at all. But I can see and feel her. I’ve never met a baby who was self-aware, and it probably has to be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever experienced.”

  “What does that mean?” Freya whispered. “Does she have a superpower? She’s growing way too fast, and we’re afraid that –” Her voice cut off when the woman looked up at her again with a reassuring smile.

  “She does have a superpower. It’s something many believe exist, but that I’ve never actually seen evidence for, making it possibly the most unique power I’ve ever witnessed. Which means I’ll have to be the one to officially classify it as being a true ability – not just a belief.”

  “W-What is it?” Freya stammered.

  The woman rested her head against her stomach again, as if she was giving the baby within a hug.

  “Reincarnation,” she whispered.

  ❖ ❖ ❖