All My Tomorrows

by Karen D. Badger

  "We can do this tomorrow, if you'd like," Tom said.

  "No, that's all right. She has a book with her. She'll be fine. So, tell me, Tom how we're going to contain the size of this unit? I really don't want it to be substantially larger than this one," Jordan said as she picked the original unit up from her desk. "This is actually the second implant. The first one I had required an external battery pack that I had to wear in a pouch around my waist. Although it provided me the mobility I needed, I had to plug into the wall every night to charge it. It was quite cumbersome, and sleeping was not a lot of fun. This particular unit was redesigned small enough to include the battery pack in the same package as the device. Do you think that will be achievable?"

  Tom took the device from Jordan and turned it around in his hands. "I'm not sure we can make it this small because I suspect the module we get from WWM will be larger than the original. In fact, I suspect the module will be about the size of this whole device, but we might be able to design a separate battery pack that would plug into the device, yet still be small enough to implant under the skin."

  "That would work."

  "Let me think about this over the weekend, then I'll get back to you early next week with a design. I think it's nearly time to pull Jason and Wendell into the project. I can design the battery pack, but I'll need their help in determining how to get it to react with human tissue."

  Tom looked at his watch. "August twenty-third. Time is really flying. Five months is not a lot of time to prepare for the arrival of the new modules. I've got my work cut out for me."

  "The whole team does, but I have confidence in all of us."

  Tom stood up and turned to leave.

  "Tom, don't spend too much time on this over the weekend. Enjoy your family, okay?"

  Tom grinned and nodded, then left her office.

  Jordan picked the device up from her desk and looked at the cut wires protruding from both ends. With any luck, Jessie will be walking a year from now. She mentally reviewed the timeline. If several copies of the new module arrive in January, it will take a month or so to perfect a program that will send the continuous wave pulses at exactly the right frequency to both sides of an injury. That brings us to late February before the clinical testing can begin with the lab animals. We're looking at maybe two or three months of testing with several animals. That will put us in the June time frame of next year. We'll probably want to wait until Jessie is out of school for the summer before implanting. If all goes well with physical therapy, she'll be walking to her classrooms in September just like any other high school freshman, instead of wheeling herself.

  Moisture filled Jordan's eyes as she remembered her first steps after fourteen years in her hover chair. It was an amazingly freeing feeling. She could only imagine how Jessie will feel, being given the gift of mobility just as she was beginning such a tenuous stage in her life.

  Jordan closed her fist around the device, then wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.

  "Gotta put this baby under lock and key," she said aloud, the proceeded to the vault before heading to the lobby to meet Maggie for dinner.

  Jordan exited through the secured door into the lobby and saw Maggie sitting with Chuck on one of the couches.

  "Hey love," she said as she approached.

  Maggie rose to her feet and hugged Jordan. "Chuck was just telling me that the two of you need to go with Tom to a materials conference next month."

  Jordan looked at Chuck. "That's true. We just learned about the conference today. I was going to tell you about it at dinner tonight."

  "Sorry. I guess I let the cat out of the bag," Chuck said.

  "No worries," Jordan said. She looked at Maggie. "It's in Monterey, California. Were you interested in going with us?"

  "Actually, I just volunteered to watch Jessie while you're gone."

  "If you really want to go, Maggie, Jessie can stay with her nanny," Chuck said.

  "No, that's all right. I can go another time. I'm kind of looking forward to spending time with her."

  "Okay then," Jordan said. "Are you ready for dinner?"

  Maggie looked awkwardly at Chuck. He backed up a step. "Don't worry about me. I'm just here to pick up some paperwork for the financial guys. Jessie and I actually have plans of our own for dinner and a movie. You two enjoy yourselves."

  * * *

  Jordan and Maggie slipped into the high-backed booth at the local Irish Pub and perused the menu.

  "Wow, everything looks so good, I don't know what to choose," Maggie said.

  A waiter stopped by their table and placed a couple of cardboard coasters in front of them. "My name is Cody and I'll be your waiter tonight. Can I get you ladies something to drink?"

  "I'll have a club soda with lemon," Jordan said.

  "That sounds, good. I'll have the same," Maggie added.

  "Got it. I'll be right back," Cody said.

  "So how's the work coming along on the new device?" Maggie asked.

  "It's slow right now. There's not much we can actually do until the modules are ready."

  "When will that be?"

  Just then, the waiter came back with their drinks. "Okay. Have you decided what you're hungry for?" he asked as he poised his pen over his order pad.

  Jordan picked up the menu again. "I'll have a Reuben on rye with French fries," she said.

  "And for you, Ma'am?" Cody asked Maggie.

  "I'll do the corned beef and cabbage. Thank you, Cody," Maggie said as she handed the menus to him.

  "All right. I'll put your orders right in."

  Jordan took a sip of her cub soda. "Where was I?" she asked.

  "You were going to tell me when the modules might be ready," Maggie replied.

  "Oh yes. We expect several copies in January. That's when the fun part begins and when we get to see if all our hard work pays off. Until then, we need to work on the software and the packaging, and of course the power source."

  "The science behind this blows me away, Jordan. I never would have thought when you came into my life so many months ago that you were such a genius."

  "I just seem smarter to you because I come from a time when these things are already known. In this day and age, scientists are barely scratching the surface of what is already part of medical history where I come from. I am really hoping that our work will expedite cures for spinal paralysis in the future."

  "How long before you can implant the first one in Jessie?" Maggie asked.

  "I'm hoping we'll be ready by next summer."

  "Will she be able to walk right away?"

  "Yes, if we've done our jobs right. We won't implant it in her until we're pretty sure it works consistently and reliably in several non-human test subjects."

  "How long before the feelings return?"

  "That, I don't know. For me, the feelings began to return the third time I traveled here, but according to Andi, the travel itself has something to do with speeding that process up. For a normal implant recipient… I don't know. It could take years. When the original implant was inserted in me, Peter said the feelings would come back gradually."

  "Peter?"

  "Peter Michaels. He was my doctor and the head of the research team that developed it."

  "So you're hoping to implant it in Jessie next summer, then?"

  "I hope so. She starts high school a year from now, so I'm hoping she can go on her own two feet."

  Maggie smiled broadly. "I'm so excited for her, Jordan. She's a lucky girl to have a father who's in the position to fund your research and development."

  "Yes. We're both lucky. Chuck has been able to resolve a lot of issues for me as well."

  "I'm looking forward to Jessie spending some time with me at the farm while you and Chuck are gone to your convention. When exactly is that, anyway?"

  "BACUS is usually scheduled for late September in Monterey, California… in fact, I think it begins the week of September 30th this year."

  "BACUS?"

 
; "Yes, it's stands for Bay Area Chrome Users Society. It's an annual conference for photomask technology development, but there are usually several sessions that focus on materials development as well. Those are the meetings we will be most interested in. We need to understand what materials are out there for semi-conductor development that might be useful to use in the packaging of the module and power pack. There will also be several sessions that deal with the new extreme ultra-violet technology that will be used to build the chips. That isn't vital for us to know, but it should be interesting."

  "It's all Greek to me," Maggie said. "So, the week of September 30th is a whole month away. I'll check when I get home, but I think the horse auction is on Friday of that week. Jessie should enjoy going to that with me."

  "You do realize she will have to go to school. I believe Chuck will arrange for the bus to pick her up and drop her off at the farm every day."

  "That shouldn't be a problem, but she'll need to miss just one day of school if I'm going to take her to the auction."

  "Ah, here comes our dinner," Jordan said as Cody approached the table carrying two plates heaped with food.

  "Enjoy your dinner ladies, and don't hesitate to flag me down if you need anything," Cody said.

  Jordan and Maggie spent the rest of their time at the restaurant enjoying their dinners and discussing the changes at the farm that would be necessary to open the riding school for handicapped children. When they were finished, they paid their waiter and left hand in hand.

  A man sitting in the booth directly behind the one Jordan and Maggie used, flagged the waiter down. "Check, please, Cody," he said.

  "Here you go, Dr. Hollinbeck," Cody said as he placed the check on the table. "Will we see you tomorrow?" Cody asked.

  "As always, of course," Hollinbeck said as he left cash on the table and exited the restaurant.

  CHAPTER 38

  Jordan woke up the next morning with a roaring headache. "Oh, my God," she moaned as she swung her feet over the edge of the bed and sat up. She propped her elbows on her knees and lowered her head into her hands.

  Maggie poked her head into the room. "Do you have time for breakfast?" she asked before Jordan's demeanor set off alarm bells in her head. She knelt on the floor in front of her.

  "Hey, are you all right?" she asked as she tilted Jordan's head up by placing her fingers under her chin.

  Jordan's eyes were small slits. "Headache," she said.

  Maggie got to her feet. "Let me get you something for that," she said.

  "No, I've got to go to the bathroom anyway. I'll take care of it," Jordan said.

  "Are you sure?"

  "Yeah." Jordan pushed herself into a standing position and immediately sat back on the bed. "Damn. All of the sudden I'm dizzy and feel like I going to hurl. I wonder if that Reuben I had last night was bad."

  She covered her mouth and stood again, this time forcing herself to make haste toward the bathroom where she fell to her knees and emptied the contents of her stomach into the toilet.

  Maggie followed and stopped in the doorway. "Maybe you shouldn't go to work today," she suggested.

  Jordan sat back on her heels and closed her eyes. "I have to go. There's so much to do that it takes every bit of resource we have to stay on schedule. I'll be all right. Just give me a minute."

  Maggie's eyes suddenly grew wide. "Jordan, what if… what if you're pregnant?" Maggie said.

  Jordan's gaze sought out Maggie's face, her eyebrows high on her forehead. "You may have a point there."

  Maggie covered her mouth with both hands while her eyes misted over. "Maybe we should call the doctor."

  "Why don't we give it a couple more days and if I continue to be sick in the morning, I'll take one of those home pregnancy tests. I mean, if I continue to be sick every day, that's a pretty good sign, but if this is a one-time thing and I'm fine after today, then maybe last night's dinner just didn't agree with me."

  "Okay. We'll do it your way, but if we get a positive result on the test, you're going to the gynecologist right away. Agreed?"

  "Agreed. Now I need to brush my teeth and get rid of the vile taste in my mouth before I shower."

  "I'll have a coffee and breakfast waiting for you when you come out," Maggie said.

  "Thank you love. I'd kiss you, but you'd be here puking beside me if you come within six feet of my mouth right now."

  On Friday morning, Jordan paced back and forth across their bedroom while Maggie held a white stick in front of her. "How much longer?" Jordan asked.

  Maggie glanced at her watch. "Two minutes."

  "Longest damned two minutes of my life," Jordan mumbled as she continued to pace.

  "How are you feeling?" Maggie asked.

  "Fine now that I've puked my guts up for the third morning in a row."

  "One more minute," Maggie said.

  Jordan stopped in front of Maggie and stood by her side, both of them stared at the indicator on the stick as an image began to form.

  "It's green," Maggie whispered, almost as if the image could be chased away by the sound of her voice.

  "Well, I'll be," Jordan said as a complete, green plus sign appeared on the indicator. She looked at Maggie with tears in her eyes.

  "We did it," Maggie said. "We're going to have a baby!"

  "It appears we are."

  * * *

  Chuck met Jordan at her office when she arrived at the lab that morning. "Running late?" he asked.

  "Just a tad. Is the team assembled in the conference room?" Jordan said.

  "Yes. The last straggler just wandered in so you're no too late."

  "That's good." Jordan entered the conference room and took her seat at the front of the table. "Okay, sorry I'm late. Who would like to start?"

  For the next hour, the team reported on the status of projects they were working on, either alone or in collaboration with other team members. By the end of the meeting, they had clear directions from both Jordan and the team on how to move forward.

  Chuck followed Jordan back to her office. "You look a little tired today, Jordan. Do you feel okay?"

  Jordan smiled. "Actually, I feel a lot better after puking my guts up this morning, and every morning for the past three days. It appears your boys are good swimmers, Chuck."

  Chuck frowned for a moment before he suddenly realized what she meant. "You're pregnant? The insemination worked?" he asked.

  "Yes on both counts," Jordan replied before finding herself enveloped in Chuck's embrace.

  "Congratulations, Jordan. I'll bet Maggie is beside herself."

  "That, she is. She tried to make me stay home today. She's got it in her head that I need to pamper myself for the next eight months."

  "Maybe she's right."

  "Like hell she is. I grew up on a farm, remember? We were friends with several other farm families and I distinctly remember the wives working in the fields until the babies were nearly ready to pop. I have no intention of becoming a helpless preggo. We've got too much work to do for me to be lying in bed all day eating bonbons, not to mention I'd balloon to the size of a whale."

  "You'd make a cute whale."

  Jordan pointed to the door. "Out! I have work to do. Get out of here before I kick your ass, Uncle Chuck." Jordan grinned.

  "Uncle Chuck. I like the sound of that."

  "Out!" Jordan yelled again.

  "I'm going, I'm going." Chuck smiled ear to ear as he beat a hasty retreat.

  * * *

  Maggie, Jordan, Gina and Sam all sat around the dining room table laden with salad, lasagna and garlic bread.

  "Before we eat, I'd like to make a toast," Maggie said. She reached for a bottle of champagne on ice in the middle of the table and poured some for herself, Gina and Sam.

  "This is totally unfair," Jordan said.

  "Suck it up love. You know you can't drink alcohol for the next several months." Maggie handed her a champagne flute filled with sparking grape juice, then held her own glass up high. "To mot
herhood," she said.

  "To motherhood," all responded as they clinked glasses and sipped their drinks.

  "To aunt-hood," Gina said, followed again by the clink of glasses.

  "To the end of morning sickness," Jordan called out, causing everyone to laugh.

  Maggie held her glass aloft once more. "To my beautiful, wife for agreeing to go first."

  Jordan raised her glass. "To my beautiful wife who had better not back out when it's her turn."

  "To family," Sam said. "To family we choose. To family we're born into. To Maggie and Jordan who are my sisters at heart. Finally, to the little rug rat I can't wait to spoil, then send home afterwards, full of sugar. We love you guys, and we are so very happy for you both."

  Gina put her arm around Sam's shoulder as she finished her toast, her voice heavy with emotion. "You okay?" she asked.

  Sam nodded. "I'm fine. I guess I didn't realize how awesome it would be to have a child. I guess I'm envious."

  "You know… we could fix that," Gina said.

  "Seriously? Do you really want to?" Sam asked.

  "I'm willing to bet my brother, Todd would donate… that is, if you agreed to carry it. It would be a little odd and a lot icky if I was the one to have it. Just think, the little rug rat would have biological ties to both of us."

  Sam's eyes filled with tears as she hugged Gina tight. "I love you, sweetie," she said.

  "Don't you know by now there is nothing I wouldn't do for you, Sam?"

  Sam kissed Gina tenderly then looked at Maggie and Jordan. "It looks like your little one may have cousins after all."

  "Cousins… as in plural?" Gina said.

  CHAPTER 39

  "Jordan, are you going to be okay on the airplane?" Maggie asked as she helped Jordan pack her suitcase.

  "Why wouldn't I be?" Jordan replied.

  "Well, I would hate for you to get sick."

  "I love to fly. I used to go to conferences all the time when I worked with Kale and Peter."

  "Yeah, but you've never flown pregnant, have you?"

  Jordan took Maggie into her arms. "Sweetie, I'll be fine. You don't need to worry about me travelling. I'm two months along. The morning sickness almost never bothers me anymore. All I need to do is watch what I eat, lay off the caffeinated coffee and stay away from the booze, oh, and take my pre-natal vitamin every day. See? How hard can it be?"