Samuel stared down at the small, fragile thing he was holding. Gwendolyn Ortez. His girl. His daughter. Beside him, Natalie smiled at the scene.
"She's so small." He sounded surprised.
"She's a baby, what did you expect?" Natalie giggled and hugged him. Sam smiled and pulled her closer. At the sight of this, Natalie's brother pulled out his phone and snapped some pictures.
"Do you really have to leave?" Natalie sounded so sad it nearly broke Sam's heart all over again.
"We've been over this. It's the only possibility." He sighed and pulled her into a last hug. "I'll come back."
"Okay... It'll be okay..." she mumbled and tilted her head up to kiss him. "Just be careful..."
"I will," Sam promised, shouldered his bag and turned to leave. Before he closed the door he took a last look back at his girlfriend and his two-month old daughter. He would miss them.
He had read the letter for the fifth time now and still couldn't believe it. Trembling he ripped the piece of paper in half and threw it on the ground. The other letters and pictures she had sent him followed and a burning match landed on top of the pile. Of course Isaac had to choose exactly this moment to walk in.
"What the fuck, man? You can't just burn something in here!" he yelled and quickly opened the window to let out the smoke.
Sam just shrugged and pushed past him to get out. He blamed the smoke for the tears stinging in his eyes, but he knew it wasn't true.
"What the fuck," Felix muttered as he snatched a picture and a piece of paper from the burning pile. The picture was okay, just the left corner was a bit burnt. It showed a woman hugging Samuel who was holding a baby and practically beaming; the letter, however, was barely readable. Still, he could make out some words.
I'm sorry... have to break up. This won't work... met someone new...
"Oh shit," Isaac cursed, threw the letter back in the fire – but decided to keep the picture – and went to find Sam.
"What do you think about naming her Hazel?" Megan asked randomly. Siris just shook his head.
"Alice?"
"No..."
"What are you doing?" Felix, wandering by, asked curiously.
"We're trying to find a name for our child" Siris sighed and crossed out another name.
"Do you have any suggestions?"
"Samantha", Felix answered after a moment of thinking.
Megan snorted. "No."
"That's a good name!"
"No, it's not!"
"How about Gwendolyn?" Locus quickly suggested in order to prevent the two from arguing again. He immediately regretted it, as Megan said "Yeah, I like that!" and Siris agreed.
A few weeks later, they announced that they would name their daughter Gwendolyn.
"Can you hold her for a second?" Before Locus could protest, Megan had handed him her daughter and left. The girl was babbling happily and tried to grab his hair and as Locus looked at her, he was painfully reminded of his own daughter. Why are they always so small?
Only seconds later a sharp pain pulled him out of his thoughts. She had managed to grab a strand of his hair.
"Nu-uh, we're not doing that", Locus mumbled and carefully removed her hand. Gwen just giggled and tried to do it again.
"Okay, I can take her back!" Locus looked up surprised. He hadn't even noticed Megan coming back.
"Oh... right... I... yeah." Hesitantly he tried to hand Gwen over, but the girl grabbed his hair again.
"Never mind, keep her as long as you want. You two seem to get along great," Megan chuckled and patted him on the shoulder.
Gwen was drawing, as Megan entered the kitchen and came over to her.
"Hey, Mum." Gwen smiled brightly at her. Megan ran a hand through her hair.
"We'll get visitors later, love, and I just want to establish some rules," she said softly.
"The friends you and Dad are talking about the whole time?" Gwen began, to bounce up and down excited.
"Yes, they're gonna stay a while. And, Gwen, they can be very dangerous, okay? So, don't yell, don't startle them and, please, don't run to them and hug them when they arrive. I know how much you like to do that, but it can end really bad."
"Okay, Mum. But I still can draw them a picture!"
"Yes, sweetheart, of course." Smiling, Megan watched her daughter getting a new piece of paper and her favourite crayons.
Siris had just opened the front door as a little girl darted around the corner, shouting "Dad!" on top of her lungs and hugged him. Locus and Felix both flinched at that and Locus had to force himself not to draw his weapon, because it was just a little girl and not a threat. He still flinched as the girl suddenly ran over to him and hugged him to. "Hi, I'm Gwen!"
"What did I tell you not to do?!" Megan said coming down the stairs.
"It's okay. I'm... Sam," Locus sighed, ignored the look Felix gave him and picked Gwen up who tried to hide behind him.
"You've grown since the last time I've seen you," he said to her.
"How come I haven't seen her before?" Felix interjected as he threw a bag in the next corner.
"Because I wouldn't trust you with a cactus, much less with our daughter," Siris deadpanned.
Returning his attention back to Gwen, Locus found her staring at him. Oh right. The scars.
"I like your tiger stripes, they look cool," she blurted out.
For a moment, Locus was baffled. Megan exclaimed "Gwen!" and Felix started laughing, but stopped the moment Siris and Megan both glared at him.
"Those aren't... tiger stripes. Those are scars. And they're not... cool," he finally managed to say.
"I still think they are cool," Gwen said and tried to wiggle out of his arms. Locus sat her down just for her to immediately run off.
"Hey!" Felix complained, "I didn't get a hug!"
"Too bad. Now get you bags out of my hallway," Megan shot back and turned to Locus. "I'm so sorry; Gwen can sometimes be very impulsive."
"No, it's alright. She is really lovely."
"Yeah, she really -"
"Look, I drew a picture for you!" Gwen suddenly appeared at Locus side and he jumped.
"How often do I have to tell you not to sneak up on people!" Megan scolded her.
"Hello parents and adopted parents!" Gwen said cheerily as she came in the kitchen. "Or, well, hello Sam," she corrected as he was the only one there.
"Hi, Gwen. How was school today?" Nervously, Locus smiled at her. He wasn't good at small talk normally and what he was about to tell her didn't exactly make it easier.
"Boring, what else did you expect?"
"That's... good. Gwen, I have to tell you something."
"Oh. What's wrong? Is it bad?" She sat down t the table and looked at him worriedly and expectantly.
"I – You know the job we've got offered, the one at some backwater planet? Felix and I are taking it." Locus fidgeted nervously with a pen.
"You are leaving?!" Gwen asked incredulously.
"Yes, we are. Tomorrow. I'm sorry, Gwen, but -"
"No, you – you can't just leave!" She yelled, jumping up from her chair. Locus expression became stern.
"Look, Gwen..."
"No, I don't want to hear any excuse! You promised you wouldn't take it!" she sobbed, grabbed her school bag and left for her room.
Locus was left feeling very guilty.
The next morning, Gwen refused to leave her room to say goodbye.
"Locus, come on. We can't wait any longer, the ship is leaving soon!" Felix complained.
"But we can't just leave without a goodbye," Locus protested.
"Well, she wants to be stubborn, right? It's not our fault. Now, come on." Grabbing their bags, he pushed Locus out of the door.
"We'll come back."