When the rains may come (Science Fiction)

33. Heroes no more

Nine months ago.

"It turned blue." Lisa said, holding up the pregnancy test strip.

Richard gasped, pleasantly surprised. He swept her in his arms and whirled her around.

Lisa squealed. "P-Put me down, Richard!" She was blushing.

"I'm so happy!" He gave her another whirl.

"Trust me, I can tell." She giggled.

He finally put her down and kissed her deeply.

Lisa couldn't stop blushing. They'd been married for six years now. Yet he managed to make her feel like a schoolgirl sometimes.

She looked down at the test strip and felt a fist of nervousness clenching her heart. "Are we doing it right though?" She looked out the living room window, the purple sky was like a sore bruise glaring down at the city. "Is this really the right time to have a child, Richard? Especially the way C3 has become?"

His gaze never left her face, neither did it lose its tenderness. "Is that really how you feel?" He took her hand in his. "Are you getting second thoughts, honey?"

Lisa couldn't look him in the eye. She knew he was regarding her with the utmost fondness that she sometimes found terrifying. "Being a mother is hard, Richard." She said. "Being a mother in a warzone is..." she trailed off.

Richard gazed at her for a moment longer. Then he looked at the purple sky outside. "We can still abort." He said.

Lisa clutched his hand tighter, almost as if she'd fallen off a cliff, and his grasp on her was her only anchor. Richard stroked the back of her hand with his thumb. "Y-You're just saying it for my sake, aren't you?"

He frowned at her. "Your sake is my sake." He said. "How am I supposed to be fine with it if you aren't fine with it?"

Lisa laid her head on his lap, her fingers gripped the hem of his shirt. "You always wanted to be a Dad." She said, barely whispering.

He smiled down at her, stroking her hair. "More than that, I want to have a family. With you." He said. "And when we do have it, I want both of us to be excited for it."

There was that feeling of nervousness again, clenching her heart. She nuzzled his shirt, feeling almost like a child in his caring proximity. Richard kept stroking her hair.

They stayed that way for a while before Lisa finally looked up at him. "I want to have this child, Richard." She said.

Richard's tender expression was like a lake at dawn. "Are you sure?"

Lisa smiled. "How can I ever be unsure with you by my side?"

He leaned down and planted a soft kiss on her forehead. "I'll be the best father there was. And a better husband."

"You already are, my love." She said. "You already are."

#

Cathy and Erik were at the first floor stairwell when the big crowd of inmates came down. Cathy raised her hand. They all came to a halt when they saw the red and white fist of the Last Hand that was painted on her kevlar vest. "We're all heading for the armory before we walk out!" She bellowed out at the crowd.

One of the inmates at the front of the crowd, Gary Wan, spoke up. "So you're the new guys who took the leadership after the siblings?" He said.

"I'm the only new one here." Cathy said.