Page 89 of After the Fall

A warm sensation hit my cheek. I touched it and realized that it was wet. I was crying, not from pain, but from emotion. The scene in front of me was beautiful.

Joe smiled and winked at me. “Hope. I want to introduce you to someone. Our future son-in-law.”

It was only then that Hope saw me. She’d been so engrossed with her daughter that Santa and his reindeer themselves could’ve been in the room and she wouldn’t have noticed. Her eyes met mine. “We’ve met.” She stepped away from her daughter and husband, and reached out to touch my face. “Thank you for keeping Harper safe while we couldn’t. Welcome to the family.”

The same weird sensation hit my other cheek, and then more followed.

“Are you sure you’re okay with us being together?” I asked.

Hope shot Joe a look. “You two are meant to be together. We couldn’t stop this magic, even if we tried.”

A knock on the door interrupted us.

“Boss.” Tank stuck his head in the office. “Gloria wants to know if your guests would like to stay for brunch. She’s serving surf and turf.” He was holding a plate and popped a shrimp into his mouth.

“Oh, no.” Harper clapped her hand to her mouth and barely made it to a wastebasket.

“Harper, honey?” Hope held her daughter’s hair and Harper allowed it. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know.” Harper’s voice echoed in the metal container.

“I think she ate something bad last night,” I offered. “Tank, get that shit out of here.”

Tank disappeared and the heavy door fell shut.

“It can’t be the shrimp.” Harper sat on the hardwood floor, her feet out in front of her. “I didn’t have any last night, but as soon as I smelled it…” She gagged, as though even the memory of the shrimp was enough to make her puke.

Hope looked at Joe. “It’s not possible, is it?”

“What?” Harper was able to get to her feet. “What’s not possible?” she asked.

Joe scratched his head. “I had a feeling it could be. I was experimenting with cryptothelys at the time. Maybe…” Joe’s voice trailed off.

My head shot up. “Cryptothelys,” I muttered. “That would explain why you’ve always felt warmer to me. But…” My head began spinning as I considered the implications of what Joe was saying.

“Can someone please tell me what’s going on?” Harper begged.

Hope smiled. “Harper, honey. When I was pregnant with you, I couldn’t handle the smell of any seafood.”

“I’m not pregnant.” Harper crossed her arms and her chin dropped to her chest. “It’s not possible, between me and Wyatt,” she said sadly.

It was a sore spot for Harper and me, and I moved so I could drape my arm over her shoulder.

“It’s true that it’s never been documented before, between a human and a… a Wyatt. But that doesn’t mean it can’t happen. I was experimenting on myself when you were conceived, and your mom was taking cryptothelys supplements from the lab to prevent another miscarriage.”

“What are you saying, Dad?” Harper’s voice quivered and I squeezed her tightly.

“Yeah, Joe. What exactly are you saying?” I repeated.

“Maybe you should ask Tim if he has any pregnancy tests in the lab.” Joe shrugged, but a wry smile crept across his face.

My world went into slow motion. Harper had seemed bigger and stronger lately, and she’d also been more sensitive. Maybe her softer belly wasn’t just because of Gloria’s pancakes. And the extra heartbeat that I’d heard… It all started rushing to me, like pieces of a puzzle falling into place. How could I not have seen it? How had I ignored all of the signs?

We were told it was impossible. That’s why.

“Harper.” I turned and held her hands in mine. “You know how I can hear your heartbeat? Well, lately I’ve been hearing something else too.” I dropped to my knees and pressed my ear beside her navel. I looked up at her and those damn tears were back. “We’re going to be parents.”

The End

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