"Yes, we will monitor Laura and we can always do a caesarean section if need be. We will take care of both of you. He is looking normal in every way, Mr. and Mrs. Fieldstone."
Laura cried and Ben squeezed her hand in reassurance. All will be okay, he thought. He hoped he was right. And it was funny everyone considered them married, but Ben wanted to give her his name. It worried him her due date drew close and they weren't bound together as husband and wife. He wanted them all to have the same name, and then would they truly be a family.
So when Ben got down on one knee in the sand on an evening beach walk and pushed a ring onto Laura's hand, it felt right. He had to put it on her pinkie finger as her hands were so swollen, but she said she didn't mind.
"Will you marry me, Laura Armstrong?"
"Only if you want children, Ben Fieldstone," she quipped. He embraced her enormous belly on his knees and they remained like that for a long while as the waves washed ashore and the moon shone down with its blessing. They walked along the beach afterwards, hand in hand, unhurried. Laura looked up at the stars and Ben followed her gaze.
"What do you see, Laura?"
"I see somewhere up there is home."
"Here too."
"My dad used to say I had two mommies, one in Heaven watching over me, and one on Earth watching over me." Her voice trembled. "Now I have a home up there watching over me and a home here too."
Ben put his arms around her. "And I'm here watching over you too. We're home to each other now. A family."
"I would say that's the desired outcome." Laura smiled up at him.
"Destiny."
"Fate."
"Forever."
And so they had a quick ceremony with Likini, baby Joseph, and Andy in attendance followed by brunch. Laura glowed in a cream-colored high-waist princess dress. The material flowed gracefully over her pregnancy, now pushing out everywhere in front of her.
"Here's a toast, to the two most meant-for people ever!" Andy held up his glass.
"A family now, you are." Likini smiled at Laura and then down at Joseph.
"We all are," Laura said. And it was true. He and Laura had both lost a family but were creating a new one now, together.
And when her water broke a few days later and the pains came, fast and intense, Ben held her hand all the way to the hospital. She squeezed his fingers so hard with a contraction he slammed on the brakes at a green light and recovered just in time to avoid a rear-end accident.
"It's happening so fast." Laura moaned. "Is it supposed to be like this?"
"I don't know." Ben sighed with relief when they reached the hospital.
"She's nearly at ten centimeters," the nurse said. "Your first child is coming fast. The doctor will be here soon. Everything looks good."
There was no time for an epidural. Laura held onto the hospital bed rail with her eyes closed. The pain must be unbearable, but he could only hold her hand feeling helpless and frustrated. He prayed it wouldn't be long. Her screams wrenched inside his gut, knowing he did this to her. All the pleasure they felt together to create such pain now. It was cruel.
The nurse had Ben help move Laura into a better birthing position. She was curled up on her side and they moved her onto her back so she was semi-reclined. The nurse pushed her hand deep up into Laura, who shrieked in agony. Ben bit his lips, willing her pain away. Let this be over.
"Please help her," he pleaded. "Can't you give her something for the pain?"
"It's too late, the baby is coming. I'm sorry. It will be over soon. She's doing a good job." The nurse soothed him, and pushed Laura's legs up and outward. She directed Ben to hold one of her legs up. "We've got to spread her as wide open as possible to help her push this baby out."
Ben was terrified. Laura tossed her head from side to side, spewing out staccato screams.
"Is she okay? And the baby…is he too big?"
"Your wife is doing fine and your son is too. He is in perfect position. I feel his head. Look, Mr. Fieldstone."
Ben, captivated by what Laura had created and now pushed out, stared at the top of his son's head.
"I don't want to see it!" Laura's legs shook. "Just get him out!" Then her screams turned to sobs. "He changed inside me! I know it." She looked at Ben with terror in her face and grabbed his arm. "Don't let him be a freak." She let go of his arm and closed her eyes.
"It'll be fine, Laura. I promise," Ben said, his other hand squeezing hers that hung onto the bed rail. He hoped he was right, as he wept alongside her. Felix said she would survive. He said the baby wouldn't be so big it would kill her, like the others. Like her mother. He had to believe Felix was right, again. And fate. Fate had brought them together and it would re-align now for good, not bad. It had to. Right?
"Push Laura, you've got to push now." The nurse encouraged her as she and Ben held her legs up. "Push down. The doctor will be here soon. Everything is fine. "
The doctor banged through the door into the room just as the baby slid out of Laura. The nurse held him up high. He was a gorgeous, wonderful boy.
Laura sank back. "It's over. He's alive." She clutched Ben's hand, but kept her eyes closed.
"And so are you," Ben whispered to her.
"My dear, you work too fast for me," the doctor said.
"Laura, look!" Ben shook her gently.
She opened her eyes. Ben smiled at her and pointed. Their baby boy was perfect in every way. Then he opened his eyes and looked at the nurse and doctor. They gasped.
Laura tried to sit up "What is it? Is my baby okay? His eyes, what color are they?"
"No, he's fine," the doctor said. "His eyes are a beautiful blue but I've never seen a newborn open his eyes so wide and so fast. He's smiling too! Unbelievable."
The nurse turned him toward Laura and Ben. Their son's eyes were indeed a brilliant blue. The nurse cleaned him up and weighed him in at nine pounds, then wrapped him in a blanket and placed him on Laura's chest.
"Hi there, James Felix Charles Fieldstone," she welcomed him, peering into his sweet face. He looked up direct into her eyes and smiled. "But we'll call you Charlie for short."
"He knows who you are," Ben said. He felt a tug deep inside him as he looked at his wife and son. He felt a contentment he had never known before. He kissed them both.
The nurse came over and touched Charlie's fingers that waved in the air. He grabbed her hand and held on. "Oh my, he is an amazing baby. One strong boy, that's for sure."
"Luckily so." Ben looked at Laura, who smiled back at him. He laughed out loud as he felt an overwhelming love fill him up. His heart was wide open.
Andy was right. Love indeed makes the world go 'round.
~ * ~
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Here's a sneak peek at A HIDDEN ELEMENT…
CHAPTER 1: The Beginning
Silent dark hung under a star-filled sky.
The dark deepened as they headed into the forest. Ancient conifers towered over them, blocking out the moon. Rain fell cold and lifeless. The nearest town of Benevolence, Oregon, was five miles northwest.
Caleb Madroc's father stood across from him, waiting for his people to gather their belongings. Their pale faces glowed like orbs within gray hooded robes as they waited for his father's instruction.
"We head toward town," his father ordered. Caleb opened his mouth, but there were no words for his feelings of anger and loss at suddenly leaving the only home he'd ever known. It raged inside him, a tumult of emotion he must quell for now. At least his own black hair, like his face, was a constant reminder of his mother to his father. This made him glad.
Caleb shut his mouth and nodded, stepping in behind his father. Rain f
ell cold and lifeless. He fell behind as he helped the womenfolk with their bags. One young female sent him a furtive, desperate look as she touched his hand in passing.
I'm so scared. What will happen to us?
He smiled at her. Keep your thoughts to yourself. It's safer this way. All will work out once we settle. She bit her lip, her eyes full of tears, and nodded looking back down at her feet.
"Father, how much further? Some of the younger females are struggling," Caleb said.
His father's eyes stung him through the mist rising up from the forest floor. They were eyes so different from his, and from his mother's. Caleb had often seen sadness and pity for his father in his mother's eyes. The day he had found her dead in the well her eyes held only nothingness.
"Can't we stop and rest, Adrian?" A few in the group grumbled. They looked wet and tired, a sea of gray flowing before him. His father glowered at their weakness. As Caleb scanned the sodden crowd a female smiled at his father, holding the promise of submission. Perfect for his father, who wanted to breed another son to take his place. A worthy son.
"We do not stop." His father's voice rose over the line of people before him, and he smiled back at the female and a strange sense of relief washed over Caleb. If his father did create a new prodigal son to groom it might remove his first born from his watchful eye.
With that thought, anguish over his mother's absence hit him fresh again. At eighteen and bigger than his father, he still needed his mother. She had been his kindred spirit, like Uncle Brahm. But now he was alone in this strange place. No longer did he have someone to be his true self with. He must step carefully.
His father continued to scan his flock. They stood still and silent, conveying their subservience. He nodded, apparently satisfied with their response. "You all took the oath to come here. Hard work lies before us in breeding our new community. Understood?"
They nodded in a collective wave.
Just like you bred with Aunt Manta while your wife lay dead? Caleb spewed out in his head without thinking.
His father moved closer, until his flaring nostrils touched his. Caleb stepped back, but his father gripped his arm. Dozens of eyes watched their battle.
Do not ever mention my brother's wife's name again, Son.
His father's fingers pinched him hard and his hot breath pulsed across his face, but Caleb couldn't stop. Mother's dead because of you. And what about Aunt Manta? Did you kill her, too?
I didn't kill anyone. And your mother should have been more careful.
You let her travel alone. She fell and died because she was alone.
It was your well, Caleb, she fell into. Your hideaway you carelessly covered up. Your fault.
His father's accusations stabbed him with painful truth. He sucked in his breath. My fault. Yes. My fault.
He looked around the watchful crowd as his head reeled with the agony of what he had done. His people stared back at him, their thoughts hid behind blank faces. Why did they come? Didn't they have dreams and wants and needs of their own, too? Or were they all obedient drones of his father?
His father thrust his arm away and turned around, plunging faster through the woods. Caleb hesitated then followed behind, trying to keep up. He envisioned himself standing still until everyone glided around him, leaving him to remain alone under a watchful moon.
Branches snagged his robe shooting him back to reality. His father's people followed in silence. If they didn't obey there would be consequences. As Caleb knew. He had no special privilege here as Adrian's son.
At last his father stepped out onto a paved road. It stretched far into the distance, where welcoming lights beckoned them across the final mile. They reached the main intersection of town. A car flashed by. A radio blared. Faces stared out at them. He stared back. They were so different from himself and yet…not.
He broke his gaze realizing how out of place this group looked late at night. The people here wore jeans and shirts, the shapes of their bodies outlined under tight clothes. The female's curves called to him, unlike his people who clothed themselves in shapeless robes to discourage free sexual thoughts. They were now to breed only with those chosen for them.
His father led them single file down the sidewalk. A handful of people sat behind windows drinking. They pointed at them as they walked by. "Gillian's Bar" flashed in neon green above the doorway in the late evening hours. A man and woman, heading into the bar, stepped back from the sidewalk to watch them pass. Freaks, he heard the man say. And his father erased the memory of the encounter from these strangers' minds in the seconds it took to pass them.
"Father," Caleb whispered in his ear. "Where are we going?"
A large building rose at the far end of a parking lot. "Ray's Lots" blinked over and over.
"Here is where we go."
A woman pushed a cart filled with bags to her car, the only car left in the lot. She stopped and stared at them. Her hair framed her face in tight curls. A blue and white striped dress strained to contain her breasts and belly.
"Good evening, brothers," she said with a hesitant smile.
His father motioned for them to stop. He smiled at her. She smiled back.
"Good evening, madam," his father drawled.
"God bless you." She grabbed his father's hand. Caleb swallowed a laugh at the way his father looked at her with such a serious, doting face.
"And God bless you, my child."
"What church are you with?" The woman fingered a cross at her neck. "Are you having an event in town?"
His father had said a church was the perfect cover. One of the many cultural ways learned before infiltration. All part of his father's master plan.
"It's the Church of Elyon," his father said.
The woman took her hand away and frowned. "Never heard of it. You're not one those crazy cults are you?"
Caleb stepped to his father's side. Let me work her mind, Father. "What's your name, Madam?"
"Sally."
"I'm Caleb Madroc." He shook her hand hoping his father didn't have some depraved mission in mind. Caleb wanted to get food for their hungry group and shelter and have as little interaction with these town people as possible. "We're simple folks. Our bus broke down outside of town. We seek food and a place to stay nearby. Can you help us?"
"What a nice young man you are. Of course I can help you." She abandoned her cart and pulled Caleb toward the store. "My cousin runs this store and can stock you up with food. And the Mercenary Motel is down the street."
He didn't understand her eagerness as she dragged him along then it was made clear by his father's mirthful laugh. His father had probed her mind and now controlled it—she would do whatever he commanded.
Caleb followed her into the store. Their people streamed in behind. Sally dragged him to a counter where a short red-faced man scowled at them. "Ray, these folks are here in town from a wonderful church. Their bus broke down and they need food."
Within seconds Ray's frown changed to a wide grin as Caleb's father continued his mind games. "Come in, come in. Time to close up anyhow." He flicked the sign on the front door and shut off the lights outside.
"Thank you," his father said. "I need food here for my flock before we find a place to stay."
"Help yourself to anything you want." Ray ran his hands over shelves. "Pretzels, baked beans, cereal, Ding Dongs. We even sell the word of the Lord." Sally and Ray beamed at them.
His father directed everyone to gather food and drinks. Sally and Ray stood by the counter, their minds blank except for what his father put into them. He dared not combat his father's powers. Not here. Not now. But someday.
"Ray, I need all your money now," his father said.
Ray clapped his hands together. "Of course." He pulled money from a nearby metal box.
When his father's bag burst full of items he handed it to a community member and cocked his head at Ray and Sally. "Time to go now, my new friends." He motioned his people out the door. Ray and Sally stood with stup
id smiles on their faces as the group filed out into the parking lot. All, except his father.
"Come on, Father," Caleb pleaded, the dark knot in his stomach hardened. "Our job here is done."
"Not quite." His father moved toward the smiling cousins, a book in his hand. The Holy Bible. He thumbed through it to a passage and looked up smiling. "As for God, his way is perfect, is it not?"
"The word of God is true," Sally sang out, clutching Ray's hand. Her cousin nodded.
"Ray, isn't Sally lovely? Look at her." His father pointed at the heavy set woman.
Ray turned to Sally. His pants bulged and Sally's eyes widened. She tugged on her dress top.
"Have your way with her Ray, you know you want to."
"Father," Caleb whispered, clutching at him but his father stayed his hand.
Ray licked his lips and nodded.
"Sally, unzip your fine dress and show Ray what you've got."
Sally stepped out of her dress in a motion more fluid than one would have thought possible given her size. Her belly oozed over her thighs and her bra cut into her mountainous breasts. Ray panted, tapping his hands against his skinny legs.
Caleb moved toward the door.
"Stay, Son, I want you to watch this."
"I won't."
"You will or you know what will happen."
Caleb stopped and sighed, looking down at the floor. Eyes watched from the parking lot.
"Look."
Caleb focused on the dirt in the floor cracks. His muscles twitched with anger. His father thrived on his hate, wanted him to hate—wanted his son to be a Destroyer like him. They had hidden their true selves for so long and now were free here to unleash it. Not Caleb. He refused to give in to the dark inside. He tried to release the hate for his father, but it now filled his every pore. He made a vow right then and there, he'd never allow himself to be controlled. No matter the consequences.
He finally looked up. His father nodded, pleased, and turned back to his playthings. Ray massaged his crotch. Sally moaned, squeezing her mammoth breasts, and stepped out of her underwear.
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