Sam Archer
April 7, 2735 – Current Day – Late Morning
As of a week ago, I knew for certain it was my daughter inside of Freya. The birthmark had been enough evidence two weeks ago, but when I took a peek last weekend, and saw that our baby had developed teal eyes, I was finally convinced all the way.
I had no idea how it was possible, but my daughter was alive again.
Which had put me through a rollercoaster of emotions in the last couple of weeks, because the implications of her growth rate meant that she might die on me again within a decade.
Just like before, when she passed away as a nine-year-old.
The idea that I might lose her again within ten years made it feel like a curse, not a blessing.
I just hoped that Freya’s meeting with the creepy-eyed woman would reveal something, because the stress of not knowing how this would turn out was something that was only adding to the problem. At least if we knew for sure, then I could try to cope with this new reality I’d found myself in.
Instead, I was left wishing and hoping, while I slowly got ready for our photography session later. Honestly, I kind of just wanted to cancel, because if Freya came back with bad news then this wasn’t a day I wanted to have hanging on the walls or displaying on the fridge’s touch screen.
But I had already been a huge bum the last couple of weeks, and I didn’t want to ruin Lily’s fun. I was actually a little surprised that she didn’t want to wait until she got her breast implants put in, but I could understand the reason why – she wanted nice pictures with Freya while she was still pregnant, and her surgery wasn’t scheduled until over a week after the due date in nine days.
Which meant it was now or never, flat chest or not.
Ironically, both Lexi and Heidi were going to be a lot bigger than her for our pictures, with Lexi having slowly returned to her original size in the last couple of months.
Alternatively, Heidi had been really packing on the pounds to make her chest grow on purpose, because she and her sister both had the genetics to have decent sized breasts even while still being skinny. Both of them put the weight in their boobs, butt, and thighs before they started gaining fluff anywhere else.
And I had to admit, Heidi’s extra fluff was quite nice.
She was still skinny as a rail while starting to become thick in all the right places.
Not that I was checking her out or anything. On the contrary, I was way too depressed to even be remotely interested in Heidi’s appearance, but I could certainly acknowledge hard facts.
Or fluffy, juicy facts.
Facts that you just wanted to sink your teeth into, to elicit a cute whimper.
At least, if someone was so inclined to do so.
Once Heidi received a phone call from her sister to let us know they were on their way to meet us at the botanical garden, we all piled into my Mustang, with Lily sitting up front while Heidi and Rose sat in the back.
I wasn’t expecting a phone call from Freya, knowing that whatever she found out, she would want to tell me in person. Probably after the pictures too, especially if it wasn’t good news.
Lily was wearing a dark purple V-neck dress made of a soft fabric that had a tight band wrapping around her torso. It was simple and cute, though I wasn’t about to tell her that, since apparently ‘cute’ had become a forbidden word in the last few weeks.
I suppose she didn’t like the fact that she wasn’t damn sexy hot without her implants, which was only partially true. She was sexy hot without her implants, but also super cute as well.
The only accessory she had on was her engagement necklace, the purple gem complimenting her dress. She also had a small black FRIL purse for her phone and some makeup.
Rose was likewise wearing an adorable purple dress, while Heidi was dressed in white slacks and a silky white shirt that revealed a distracting amount of cleavage.
Like, damn Heidi.
Too much cleavage.
Or not enough? I wasn’t sure where I stood on that issue.
Honestly, I was a little surprised Lily hadn’t complained about it, though I supposed my apathetic attitude was reason enough for her to not be concerned with Heidi’s outfit. Not to mention, with how large Freya’s breasts had grown, she was overflowing too in her green dress that matched my shirt.
Talk about juicy.
Freya had become juicy in all the right ways on a totally different spectrum than Heidi. Because while Freya’s butt and thighs were still thin, she was super thick up top. Part of me really wanted to fantasize about all the things I’d love to do with her in bed, but I couldn’t keep my mind distracted for longer than a few seconds here or there at a time.
Which meant, I couldn’t enjoy sex at all, even with Lily, causing our sex life to have dropped off the face of the planet in the last couple of weeks.
Which was fine with everyone I supposed. I mean there was more to life than sex. At least, neither of them seemed to be overly concerned about not getting any from me. Granted, a woman’s sex drive wasn’t like how a man’s drive usually was, so two weeks probably didn’t seem like anything overly long to them.
I know it had certainly flown by for me, in a bad way.
When we arrived at the botanical garden, I wasn’t surprised that we had beaten Lexi and Freya there, considering they had a longer drive.
The garden was fenced off and charged for admission, which made it an extremely popular location for weddings and other important events. They had several different sections that could be reserved, with us having made our own reservation that included a scenic area with a gazebo and fountain, that was surrounded by both trees as well as recently transplanted flowers that had been grown in an onsite greenhouse.
There was also a large section for general admissions as well, but we didn’t want to chance being photobombed by strangers.
And, as if to add to the beauty, the weather was also finally nice, with the sun shining brightly in the sky, making the water on the leaves glisten from a scheduled sprinkler showering that occurred before we arrived.
Overall, it was the perfect day, or at least should have been.
Once we entered the admission building to claim our reservation, we made our way through the lobby towards the rear to enter the fenced in area, already knowing how to get to our spot.
However, the moment we were outside, Rose immediately grabbed Heidi’s hand, and started tugging her along.
“Let’s go explore!” she announced cheerfully.
Heidi glanced at Lily as if to make sure it was fine, and then grinned at Rose as they both took off. The photographer still wouldn’t be arriving for another forty minutes, so we had plenty of time to walk around a little. Not to mention, we couldn’t take very many pictures without Freya and Lexi, though I knew they would be here a lot sooner.
I wrapped my arm around Lily’s shoulders as we began slowly following in the same direction the other two had run off, allowing Lily to take the lead, stopping whenever she wanted to admire something.
This place really was amazing to look at, making us feel like we were in a completely different world. The pathways were ornate stone, and there were fountains and flowers everywhere, along with ornamental trees and various statues hidden throughout. There were plenty of benches as well, with there being neat little surprises here and there, like a spot with an artificial waterfall hidden among some overhanging trees.
Lily and I just walked in silence for a while, enjoying the peaceful scenery.
At least, until she pulled me to a stop to look up at me.
“Hey Sam?” she said as I met her gaze.
Her eclipsed suns were churning slowly, the oscillating colors appearing like coals in a fire, only more orange.
“What is it?” I wondered, uncertain about her serious expression.
She smiled. “I just wanted to say, thank you for asking me to marry you. I’m really looking forward to our wedding in the fall.”
I returned
her smile. “Me too,” I agreed. “And thank you for saying yes.”
“Also…” She hesitated, glancing away. “I just wanted to say that I’ll stick with you no matter what.” She returned my gaze. “I love you, and in sickness or health, for better or worse, I’ll stand by your side so long as I’m able.”
As my eyes began to sting a little, I took a deep breath and then nodded, leaning in to rest my lips on hers.
She immediately wrapped her arms around my neck and we both lingered there with our lips touching.
It wasn’t until someone cleared their throat that we pulled away a little.
It was Freya, with Lexi close behind, pleasant smiles on both of their faces.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Freya said warmly. “But I wanted to talk to Sam before the photographer shows up.”
My brow furrowed. “Are you sure?”
She nodded. “I have good news, Sam.”
Unexpectedly, it felt like the weight of the world lifted off my shoulders, and the sensation of my muscles relaxing was so intense that I almost burst into tears from the relief.
Shit, when did I become such a crybaby?
I used to be a lot better composed.
Seeing my reaction, Freya walked right up to me and wrapped her arms around mine, forcing my hand to fall on her enlarged belly. At the same time, she leaned her head against my shoulder. “Let’s take a walk,” she whispered, a deep contentment in her expression.
Lily leaned forward to kiss me once more on the cheek, before letting Freya lead me further down the path.
Once we were a fair distance away, she finally spoke up. “You know there’s something I never told you, because I wasn’t sure how you’d react.”
“Okay? Does this have to do with our baby?”
She nodded, looking up at me endearingly with her beautiful red eyes. “You know when you and Heidi almost…” Her voice trailed off.
I cleared my throat uncomfortably. “Umm, yeah?”
“Well, Heidi started her period a couple of weeks later. She hasn’t been on birth control this whole time, because she just wasn’t having a period at all.” She paused. “She’s on birth control now though.”
“Okay?” I really wasn’t sure where she was going with this.
She took a deep breath. “Well, it got me thinking. I sort of developed this theory that the reason why you and Heidi almost, you know, was because she was fertile then.”
“Oh,” I said in surprise, the wheels starting to turn in my head.
“So I stopped taking birth control, because I wanted to see if that was really the case.” She scoffed. “Although, I didn’t exactly think it through. Sure, I knew I could get pregnant, but I guess I just didn’t really expect it to happen. But then that day when we just randomly had sex–”
“Shit,” I exclaimed. “That was just like what happened with Heidi.”
“You just now figured that out?” she asked skeptically. “I knew right away.”
I shook my head. “I mean, I knew it was similar, but I didn’t realize there was any kind of hidden connection between the two separate events.”
Freya nodded. “There was. We were both ready to have a baby.”
I shook my head. “Freya, I’ve been around a lot of women over the years, and nothing like that has ever happened.”
“But you’ve also been extremely depressed,” she explained, before lowering her voice. “Borderline suicidal the whole time.” She then took a deep breath and stopped, pulling away to face me, grabbing my hands in hers. “Sam, your daughter Eden does have a superpower. It’s basically reincarnation. When she dies, her soul attaches itself to a nearby body so that she can be born again.”
I gawked at her.
Shit, was she serious?
Freya seemed to anticipate the thousands of questions popping into my head, because she continued explaining. “Eden has been with you this whole time, though she wasn’t conscious. In a way, it’s not much different than all the potential kids you have waiting to be born, except that her genetic code is predetermined. And her memories of her previous life will probably be intact once she grows old enough as well. But the reason why she couldn’t be born until now is because her superpower has a passive effect on hormones, but it can’t control them. Which means you being depressed pretty much nullified any effect it would have had on your body. It wasn’t until the combination of you being in a good mood happened, along with being around a woman who was fertile, that you got the compulsive urge to make a baby.”
I shook my head in disbelief. “I’ve been around other women,” I repeated. “And that just sounds messed up.”
Freya shook her head as well. “It’s not any different than what usually happens. Most women are the horniest when they’re fertile. And, like I said, her superpower only has a passive effect on you, as well as the woman in question. It doesn’t make you jump the first woman you see whose body is ready to have a baby, but it would probably make you feel a strong attraction towards them temporarily. And possibly vice versa.” She lowered her voice. “Or cause you to have spontaneous sex that will make your head spin for the next week.”
I took a deep breath. “That good, huh?” I commented, trying to lighten the mood. At least now I fully understood how she knew the conception date.
“Yep,” she agreed.
I sighed. “So what does this all mean?” I wondered. “What about how fast she’s growing?”
“Well, the woman said that Eden has a setpoint that she will return to very quickly. In fact, she said that her growth is speeding up and I’m probably a lot closer to giving birth than we originally thought. I might actually already be at nine months, like I look, instead of only seven.”
“And what happens when she reaches the setpoint?”
Freya smiled. “Then she’ll start growing like a normal person again. Sam, we’re not going to lose her to old age in ten years.”
I sucked in a deep breath, and felt the remaining tension leaving my shoulders as that sunk in. “And what is her setpoint? Did the woman say?”
Freya nodded. “She said it was exactly 407 weeks old, which Eden will achieve in less than a year. That’s about seven years and ten months.” She paused then, shifting gears as she asked me a question. “And Eden was nine when she passed, right?”
I took another deep breath and nodded. “Yeah, nine and a half basically.”
Freya was pensive.
I spoke again. “How does that woman even know something so specific like that?”
She blinked at me for a second. “Oh, she can pretty much see everything about a person’s superpower, including all the implications. In a weird way, it’s almost like she has foresight, predicting the future, but instead of being able to see ‘events,’ she sees the possible future of specific powers.”
“Wow,” I exclaimed. “That sounds useful.”
Freya nodded. “Yeah,” she agreed absentmindedly.
“Something wrong?” I wondered.
She shook her head. “No, I was just thinking.” She paused. “You know, Rose is turning nine this summer, but because July 3rd is actually her creation date, she won’t truly be turning nine until the end of next March. So, assuming Eden has reached her setpoint by then, then they’ll only be about a year apart.”
“Huh,” I commented.
Freya’s brow furrowed more as she stared past my shoulder. “There’s something else,” she whispered.
“What?”
“I don’t think it means anything. It’s just a crazy coincidence that I realized months ago, but if Rose had actually been born, then her due date would have been…” She hesitated, glancing up at me. “Rose’s due date would have been March 25th.”
My eyes widened in surprise. I knew Rose’s true birthday probably would have been close to Lily’s in March, but I had never considered that it might be the anniversary of my daughter’s horrible death. But Freya was right. It had to be a random fluke. Weird things happened like th
at all the time, right?
Or did they?
“It might not be a coincidence,” I unexpectedly commented.
“Sam?” Freya said in surprise.
“Think about it, Freya. Who was responsible for my daughter’s death? And who might have been responsible for Rose’s creation?”
Her eyes widened in shock. “Okay,” she agreed. “But what would be the purpose of that? From Rose’s memories, I learned that the scientists considered Rose to be a success they had never been able to recreate, which means the fact that she was conceived on July 3rd should be random. And yeah, I’m not exactly sure what they meant by that, but I assume it means she’s the first successful clone of me that they’ve made. Ever. Including now.”
I sighed, switching subjects slightly. “We really need to find these people and end them. I don’t like the idea of them creating more clones of you. Just think of another Rose out there, all alone!”
Freya nodded somberly. “Considering they’ve been trying for decades, hopefully they still haven’t had another success. But yes, we do need to try to end them.”
“Agreed,” I said simply.
She took a deep breath, glancing at my watch. “We can talk more, but we should probably get back. Don’t want to be late for our own pictures.”
I grinned, wrapping my arm around her shoulders as we began navigating back towards our reserved location. And for once in a long time, I felt like I could breathe again, as if I had been holding my breath forever.
When we arrived, everyone was waiting, with Rose and Heidi playing in the gazebo, while Lily and Lexi were by the fountain.
Lily was just hanging up on someone when we arrived.
“Who was that?” I asked.
“Just Nancy from work,” she replied, depositing her phone back in her black FRIL purse. “She wants to meet up for lunch sometime, but I didn’t want her to see me without my implants – too many questions would come up – so I told her I’d call her back in a few weeks to schedule something.”
I nodded, catching a glimpse of someone approaching us in my second-sight.
“Photographer is here,” I announced at a normal volume. Rose and Heidi both began making their way over to us.
The Sacrificial Love of an Immortal Page 30