“Is the baby born?” Marisa’s voice came from the door, and with a proud smile, he took the baby towards her.
“Meet your grandson, Marisa,” he said, showing her the baby.
The older woman took the baby in her arms and let out a small cry of happiness. “He’s perfect,” she murmured.
Sandra, who had arrived with her smiled and embraced her friend, sharing her happiness.
“How’s Ophelia?” she asked Bretdon.
He turned to look at her, still in bed, surrounded by the doctors. “She’s fine, considering she delivered the baby in my arms,” he explained with a scowl. “I have never felt more scared in my whole life.”
The women chuckled. “I’m sure of it.”
Dr. Jones walked towards them. “It’s time to check that little man,” he announced.
Marisa handed him the baby, and he proceeded to examine him.
Dr. Smith finished cleaning Ophelia with Dr. Sheldon’s help and approached Bretdon.
“Everything seems to be alright, but I already called for a vehicle to take her to the infirmary,” he explained. “We want to make sure both mother and child are in perfect health before we can discharge them.”
Bretdon nodded his agreement. He knew Ophelia wouldn’t be pleased about it, but he wouldn’t budge on that. He wanted to make sure she was perfectly alright.
That day, all the people living in the caves celebrated the birth of Gideon. Most of them came to the infirmary to greet the proud parents, and when night fell, Ophelia was exhausted, but feeling better than ever.
Dr. Jones came by to check on her, and he was amazed at how fast she seemed to be recovering from the birth.
“I had never seen a recovery this fast,” he assured them. “Smith and Sheldon both agree with me, and we were wondering if this could be related to the nanocybots,” he asked them.
“There aren’t nanocybots inside me,” she said, furrowing her eyebrows.
“We believe there are,” the doctor replied, and Bretdon nodded.
“It’s the only explanation that makes sense,” he said, taking a seat next to Ophelia and pulling her into his arms. “I believe my nanocybots adopted you and started reproducing inside you. For some reason, they didn’t reject the fertilized egg, and you got pregnant,” he added.
“Not only that, but they also worked to prepare your body for the birth, expanding your hips and making your skin a lot more elastic than usual,” the doctor continued. “We don’t have a microscope here potent enough to identify the nanocybots, but we’re totally convinced you have them living inside you.”
Ophelia frowned. “Should I be worried about this?” she asked.
“We don’t think so. They are keeping you healthy and strong,” he replied, with a smile. “Baby cyborgs demand a lot of nutrients from the mother, and that’s one of the reasons the government still uses artificial wombs. They literally suck the life out of the surrogate mothers.”
“That didn’t happen to me,” she pointed out.
“Exactly, because they were working to prevent that and give the baby all he needed.”
She tilted her head to look at Bretdon. “This is why you were so worried?”
He nodded. “Yes, I saw that happening to a couple of women that were persuaded to become surrogate mothers.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want to worry you. You seemed to be alright. Those women didn’t go past the first month,” he explained.
“I guess the invasion of the nanocybots is the source of the tickling sensation,” she teased him, with a smile.
He smiled back at her. “Yes, I think so too.”
“We’ll keep you here a couple more days, just to be sure everything is alright before we discharge you,” the doctor concluded. “You should start considering moving to the camp in Montana. This place, though it’s a perfect hideout, is not the best place for a baby.”
They nodded, and the doctor left the room.
“He’s right, you know that?” he asked her.
“Yes, of course, but we’re not staying here that long.”
“We don’t know that for sure. So far, you haven’t been able to find a way to get the transmitters working, and I don’t think you’re anywhere close to it.”
She agreed. The alien technology was way more complicated than they had expected.
“We should consider moving to Montana. You can work on the transmitters there, as well, and meanwhile, we would be living in a better place for Gideon.”
“You’re right, of course.” She sighed.
She had gotten used to living in this place, and she was going to miss it.
“Do you think Marisa will join us?”
“I’m not sure. She has made a lot of friends here, and she has always been very independent,” she said, shrugging.
A week later, they were saying goodbye to Sandra and Marisa. Ophelia’s mother preferred to stay with her new friends and visit her daughter whenever possible in Montana.
Bretdon wasn’t very pleased with the long trip they would have to make to get to Montana, but they would be traveling in a vehicle a lot faster than the one they had used before.
It had a signal blocker that would allow them to use the roads and avoid being detected by the sensors or surveillance drones.
“Perhaps, you should wait a few more days,” Marisa suggested, not very happy with the long journey either.
“No, there’s no sense in waiting. We’ll be fine, mom and we’ll let you know the minute we get there,” Ophelia promised.
“I know, you know I’ll always worry,”
Ophelia hugged her mother and a few of the friends she had made there and a few minutes later, they were on their way.
The trip was quite pleasant, and it took them just three days to get to Montana.
The place was exactly as Sandra had described it: a hideout at plain sight. It was a huge farm, with several small buildings spread all over the area, amongst the green fields.
The farm was almost self-sufficient, and people on the nearest village didn’t get near it because they were sure the place was inhabited by a strange religious cult.
Sabrina came out of the main building to welcome them to the place, accompanied by a few other people.
“I’m happy to see you again,” she greeted them.
“Thank you for taking us in,” Bretdon said, with a smile.
He was carrying Gideon since he insisted the baby was too heavy for Ophelia to carry around.
“It’s a pleasure. Your friend Kirkcal has been of great help to us during his stay here, and I’m sure you will be too,” Sabrina replied with a smile.
“I’ll do my best.”
“So this is the new member of our community?” an older woman asked, with a welcoming smile.
Sabrina made the introductions, and soon Gideon was the center of attention.
Ophelia smiled with pride and couldn’t help feeling amazed at how her life had changed in a few short months.
She had found the man of her life, and now she had her own family. She had never felt happier, even if their lives weren’t the most normal ones. She knew once they were able to leave for Arcadia, things would be a lot easier for all of them, but she didn’t mind waiting and she was sure Bretdon felt the same way.
Though he had very good reasons to hate humans, he had learned not all of them were bad, that there was still hope for humankind.
Bretdon looked around and sighed. People at the farm had been extraordinarily welcoming. They had provided them with a small cabin, not far from the main building as well as everything they might need to start their new life at the farm.
He still wanted to leave the planet and join the other cyborgs, but right now that wasn’t his main objective. Raising his new family had become a lot more important.
He would continue working with Sabrina and Sandra, helping them to free as many people as they could from the camps, as well as releasing as many cyborgs as he could, in the process.
His life had changed so much in the course of a few months he still had trouble believing it was all real, that it wasn’t just a dream.
But each time he looked at Ophelia’s face, he knew his mind wouldn’t have been able to conjure so much perfection. She was his soulmate; his other half and he had never been so happy before.
Life wasn’t perfect, but it lacked very little to make it so.
The end