The Future is Ours

Sixteen

Holly looked over the crowds of people, catching the eye of her dad and rushing over excitedly, pulling Ernesto along with her.

"My little Holls! Look at you! You're glowing!" He exclaimed as he wrapped his arms around her.

"I've missed you so much." She whispered into his chest, before pulling away and pulling Ernesto a little closer, their baby daughter held safely in his arms.

"This is Ernesto, and your granddaughter." She whispered tentatively, weary of his reaction.

"Hmm, so you're the chap who got my little girl pregnant?" He replied, eyeing him up.

Ernesto had seemed to be in a trance, only pulled out of it by the man's booming voice. "Umm, yes, ummm, it's a pleasure to meet you, umm, sir." He stammered out, shifting Kimmy in his arms so he could hold out a hand to shake.

There was a moment of silence before Holly's dad broke out into a smile, shaking Ernesto's hand and patting him on the back. "Welcome to the family." He greeted warmly. "Kim has told me all about what a wonderful man you are already, thank you for looking after my daughter." He said as he wrapped an arm around his wife.

Ernesto let out a shaky breath he didn't know he had been holding in, grateful at being accepted by Holly's parents.

"Where are your parents, Ern?" Holly asked, and he cocked his head to the seats just down the table. She followed his gaze and looked to see Rat, his dad, glaring at him. His mum, Althea, looked at him with warm eyes but seemed unsure about approaching.

Kim put a reassuring arm around Ernesto. "Go talk to them, Ernesto. I'm sure they've missed you."

He took a breath, allowing Holly to take Kimmy out of his arms before approaching his parents.

"Hi, mum." He greeted, leaning down to kiss her cheek. She took his hand in hers, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Dad." He said as he looked up to the taller, burly man standing in front of him, still dressed in his military uniform.

His dad's face started to redden, his eyebrows frowning together. If Ernesto focused enough he was sure he could see his dad shaking in anger.

"So first, I hear that you run away from military school? And then you lead a mutiny against the headmasters son? And now you get some girl pregnant at ONLY 18?!" He started to yell.

Had it been prior to the disappearance, Ernesto would have cowered away, fearful of his father's outburst. But he was a man now, a short man, but a man none-the-less.

He squared up to his father, looking him dead in the eyes. "You know what, yea. I did run away from military school. But I hated it there, and you'd have known that if you ever bothered to visit me. And I held a mutiny for the good of the children there, to help them escape their lives as slaves! And she is not just 'some girl'." He looked over to where Holly was rocking their baby. "She's my girlfriend, my Chi Chi, the mother of my child. And I love her." He finished, refusing to raise his voice in front of his child, not wanting her to experience what he had when he was young.

His mum smiled up at him. "Oh, my little soldier." She struggled to get off the chair, and Rat was quick to help her, all signs of anger gone from his face.

She came and wrapped her arms around her son, and Ernesto melted into them, feeling like a child again.

"I've missed you, mum." He whispered, before freezing. He looked down between them, only now noticing his mum's stomach protruding out from her jacket. He pulled away, confusion etched across his face. "Wait, mum, are you...?"

She beamed at him, his dad wrapping an arm around her. "Yes! I'm pregnant! You're going to be a big brother!"

**********

"I can't believe this, how could they be so...so...irresponsible!" Ernesto exclaimed as he paced back and forth of their bedroom.

The original shock that Ernesto felt had worn off to be replaced with anger. He was 18, a dad himself. His parents were grandparents. They couldn't be having another baby.

"You mean like how we were?" Holly laughed at him from where she sat upright in bed, nursing Kimmy , half paying attention to the news on the tv and half to Ernesto's ramblings. She found the whole situation rather amusing, and was more than a little excited that their daughter would soon have a playmate of the same age. Even if it was her aunt or uncle.

The news article on the tv seemed to be focusing on the couple, or in particular them being parents.

"Tribe Sparticle members Holly and Ernesto aren't the only of our children to have become parents during the disappearance. Our statistics show that teenage pregnancy in England and Wales has increased from 80.4 conceptions out of 1000 in 2010 to a staggering 127.6 out of 1000! And that number is set to increase as figures continue to be counted. It's clear that the teenagers had to make their own fun whilst left to their own devices. However, if this statistic shows anything, it's that our dimensions were realigned at the right time. Any longer, and we would have had an epidemic of teenage pregnancies."

Ernesto groaned in frustration. "Was hardly like we could pop to the shop for a pack of condoms!" He collapsed onto the bed, relaxing slightly as Holly began to run her fingers through his hair.

"Who cares what they think? We're happy, that's all that matters." She tried to convince him,

It had been an emotional day of reunions for the tribe. Their families had been offered to stay in a hotel down the road from them, and the promise of a lifetime spent with their families again had left them feeling more than excited. That is, except for Ernesto.

"But what if my parents make the same mistakes again? What if my dad ships this one off to military school as soon as they're old enough, only to completely forget that they even have a child." He sighed, taking Kimmy into his arms and holding her close. "I promise I will never be like my dad. You'll always have me and your mum, my little Chi Chi."