Getting through school was one thing. Surviving multiple zombie nightmares is another thing. But keeping up with legal paperwork seemed to be far annoying than anything else.

Ashley groaned and tossed down her pencil. No need to fill out the form for permission to see the evidence, she would do it tomorrow. The new defense lawyer pushed away from her desk and jumped out of her chair to hit the kitchen for some peanut butter cup cookies and a tall glass of milk. Always helped calmed her nerves as a child, and definitely helped during her therapy following her safe return from Spain.

Speaking of Spain, Leon contacted her a while back. While she wanted that call to be a get-to-together, Leon merely wanted to say hi and confirm that he had escaped another hot zone. Seemed like he no longer pined for that Chinese woman in red and held a stable relationship with the sister of that big hunky guy…Pinkerton? Ashley was a stranger to the rest of those heroes, and to be frank, she preferred to be like that. One time through the fields of the undead was a enough. (Even though she was reminded constantly that the Las Plagas wasn't a zombie-virus.)

But she was lonely. Her father left the office peacefully and didn't run for immediate reelection. Instead, he spent the last decade going around the world on a mission to promote his name all around the world. Ashley's mother got her daughter to focus on her studies to become the best lawyer she could be. The first few cases didn't go as well as she thought, but she didn't have any major losses on her belt and had began to gain a good reputation in the legal world. But most of the of lawyers men she found attractive were either gay, married, or asexual. She gotten some friends…

…her internal monologue and cookie-dipping got interrupted by a rushed knock at the door and some quick footwork going away. Ashley shook her head. Must be that kid in 305 leaving her some chocolate again. It reminded Ashley about the crush she had on her fifth grade history teacher. But still, no need to leave out good chocolate. Ashley went up to the door…

…and heard a baby giggle.

She threw open the door with a swift swing of her arms. Like in the movies and sappy TV shows, a baby awaited outside her door cuddled inside of a large flower basket. Going by the abuse of pink all over the baby, the newborn had to be a girl. Ashely reached down and lifted up the infant from the basket. She didn't cry at the sight of the stranger, but continued to giggle. Looking down, Ashley noticed a note that been pressed against the baby and the side of the basket. It had two sentences written on.

"Call 1-767-876-6780 at 3:30 PM. Please don't contact authorities until we talk."

As a lawyer, she would have ignored the command and contact both the police and child's service. But something inside Ashley poked at her to wait and actually follow the instructions. Turning her head around, Ashley could see that 3:30 was merely a hour and half away. She took the baby inside and decided to wait. If the caller wasn't trustworthy, Ashley would bring the fullest extent of the law down.

The baby settled in quite quickly. Ashley made a makeshift crib out of a blanket and a tub she used for containing some old clothes. Ashley had some cups of applesauce lying around, so she fed tiny spoonfuls to the baby. If things check out with the baby dropper, Ashley would go out and grab the necessary supplies. She spent the next ninety minutes doing a little work and keeping a eye on the baby.

The moment the clock struck the designated time, Ashley jumped up and dialed in the number. She bit her lip as the phone tried to connect with the other side with those annoying dialtones…

"Hello? Hello? Is Nai safe? Please tell you haven't called the cops." Came a somewhat recognizable female voice. She sounded greatly concerned and a little bit in pain

"I haven't, she's safe." Ashley started with. "But I will…"

"PLEASE!" The other voice barked in a panic. "Please don't. They'll find her…"

"Who will find her?" Ashley demanded. "If this is some sort of a joke, I'll warn you right now that my father…"

"Don't get him involved either." The voice suddenly got serious, spooking Ashley. "He can be a possible victim…"

"Start at the beginning, dammit!" Ashley grunted out. "Your name, anything necessary to know about the baby…"

"My name is Ada Wong…we met before a few times…in Spain." Ashley took a second to think back then, and then it clicked. The woman in red! "I joined up with Neo Umbrella in order to sabotage their efforts…but they used me. I need you to listen for a bit. Please don't interrupt with questions until I finish. Please." Ashley recalled from both her personal encounter with Ada and files about the mysterious woman that she had a very stolid personality…yet she seemed to be fragile and ready to break in two.

"Okay." Ashley stated. "Are you in trouble? Are you injured?"

"That's not important right now." Ada grunted before starting her story. "A year ago, Neo Umbrella wanted to gain the support of various political officials by various methods. One of their targets were your father. And the method they chose to…'convince' him was to have a bastard child. Seeing how they couldn't gain his sperm, they found a alternate method."

"This has gotten weird…" Ashley groaned.

"Your father donated blood very year, yes?" Ada asked, sounding very short on breath. "So Neo Umbrella took some of the blood and transformed it into usable DNA with the seed in it."

"And, what, they impregnated you?" Ashley sighed.

"Yes, without my permission!" Ada barked angrily. "They knocked me in the middle of the night and when I woke up, they 'congratulated' me for my new development. With the bastard child, they could blackmail your family into submission. I didn't want to spend any time with those…rapists…but I needed time and money to escape, so I staid with that organization for a few short months planning my escape. They needed the baby to be born to properly start the extortion, so I had time. By time I hit the third-trimester, I managed to get out of a heavily-armed fortress."

"While with a balloon belly, huh?" Ashley bemused. This story started to sound really damn silly. In this world of zombies, this sounded far-fetched.

"Please listen to me!" Ada pleaded, right before gasping for air.

"Are you okay?" Ashley asked all worried.

"Just…a small…wound." Ada gasped again. "Look, the truth is…the truth is…" Ada repeated.

"Ada!"

"I had the baby at a hospital not too far from here. But Neo Umbrella is after me. I can't take care of Nai…please, I want her to live a normal life, away from the zombies, and…"

"Wait." Ashley interrupted. "…you want to keep the baby? After being…"

"You have a choice too." Ada breathed out. "I had the baby's DNA checked to make sure…I was hopeful that the procedure went wrong at some point. Maybe only my DNA got carried on and not the father's. But no…they got it right…only worse."

"Hold on." Ashley held up a hand invisible to Ada. "Define worse. What, did they get my little brother's DNA?"

"No, yours!" Ada replied after coughing. Judging by the thick clearing of her throat, Ada just coughed out some blood. "All the procedure did was to take the sample and turn into a seed capable of fertilizing my eggs. It didn't matter about the gender, it was blood! I don't-t know this is possible, but your that baby's father!"

Ashley wanted to laugh. Really. This had to be a prank set up by one of her lawyers friends, possibly revenge for winning a case just a few days ago. But a quick look over at Nai made Ashley's heart jump. While the baby had been born only a short while back, it had some of the father's features. The blonde hair, the nose, cheeks…suddenly, Ashley's material instincts kicked in.

It took a great deal of strength to keep holding the phone in her hand.

"I'll take your silence as confirmation." Ada sighed. "So…yes. That child's parents are both mothers. This would be a major break through…if Neo Umbrella would bother selling it." She groaned again before continuing. "Please. Give Nai a normal life. Yes, she was forced upon me, but she is innocent. I can't give her a normal life…at least while I'm being hunted. I made sure nobody saw me on my way to your apartment, so you should be safe as long as you don't go around announcing my name."

"I won't!" Ashley suddenly got angry. "But do you expect me to raise this child on my own? And how do I explain this to my neighbors, friends, family and co-workers?"

"I couldn't get the excuse today, but I will be sending it tomorrow via the mail. Should come in a huge box with the label of a popcorn company on it. It will contain a few notes about Nai, as well the necessary papers to put you out of eyesight of Neo Umbrella. And don't worry, I destroyed your stolen DNA sample, you won't be having any other babies."

"…why me? Why not send…her?"

"Her."

"…send her to Leon, or the BBSA? They could take care of her…"

"Normal life!" Ada coughed. "Please work with me. I can't take the strain." She repeated after having some heavy breathing. "I want….Nai…to stay as far away from all this. Please. I keep in contact, I'll send you money, I'll help you as much as I can." Ashley could hear Ada starting to tear up. "I can't…"

"Ada!" Ashley shouted. "I will take care of Nai. Please, stay alive. As soon as you're free…"

"Yes, I will come and stay and help raise Nai." Ada sounded less in pain and actually sounded healther. "I can't thank you enough. I should be safe enough to make a phone call in about a week…I'll find a way to send my new phone number."

"Ada, get to a hospital" Ashley ordered.

"I know something as equal, but without the chance to be found." Ada let out a moan. "I-I need to go. Please. Just let Nai live." Without a 'good-bye', Ada disconnected. Ashley put the phone back onto the receiver hook and sat down in a chair. But before she could think about what just transpired, Nai started to cry. Perhaps she knew about her mother's condition. Ashley went over and cradled Nai into her arms and lightly bounced the baby to ease the crying.

"So…" Ashley sighed. "Nai. Where does that name mean?"