After watching Terminator Genisys, I fell in love with the family dynamic of Sarah, Kyle, and John. This is dedicated to the idea of them living the ideal life as a family.
Kyle Reese
It was finally over.
The war with Skynet was finally over!
The dream that John and I wished for could finally happen. There would be no more deaths, no more tears, and no more pain.
This all seemed so unreal, especially since John…
No, I couldn't think about that.
It still tore me up, knowing I couldn't save him. I couldn't save my own son…
No, don't think.
Right now, the three of us were driving off into the sunset with no goal in mind after giving my younger self an important message.
I didn't think anything like this would have been possible.
Pops was in the driver's seat repeatedly looking back at us from the rearview mirror. It was really creepy, but Sarah told me to ignore the terminator. He was just being his usual paranoid self.
Sitting in the back of the car with the woman I had been in love with for as long as I could remember, I couldn't help but think that for once in my life I could actually believe in the idea of hope.
"Kyle? What're you thinking so hard about?" Sarah gazed at me with her dark-blue eyes.
Before, when I looked into her eyes all I could see looking back was hostility and suspicion. She'd softened up to me now.
"About how crazy everything became in a span of days. I mean, it feels like just yesterday I was fighting side by side with John, wondering if I'd make it through the day. But now, I'm here with you and…well, I'm not sure where to go from here."
Sarah showed me a small smile.
"Funny, just a while ago it was me saying all this. What if I can't? That's all I could think of when I realized that for the first time in my life, I had a choice. That the future isn't set in stone." She paused to take a breath, shrugging off the spur of emotion. "Like you said Kyle, we'll figure it out together."
A strand of her red-brown hair fell into her face while she was talking. Without thinking, I moved it out of the way.
Sarah froze and stared into my eyes. Dark blue met light blue.
I was mesmerized by her.
All those times I found myself staring at that worn picture of her couldn't compare to how beautiful she was in person.
Sarah looked so delicate and fragile but was as tough as the steel-metal of a terminators. She didn't let anything, or anyone put her down. She stood her ground, facing her enemies with courage and determination.
A born soldier. However, there was profound compassion in her soul.
Pops, who was naturally supposed to be her enemy, was instead treated like a second father by her. Even more surprising was her tolerance for me.
All her life, Sarah had been told that I would be the man she fell in love with. Instead of hating me for robbing her of the chance of finding a man she loves, she accepted me.
With a little reluctance of course.
My reverence of Sarah Connor was disrupted by her ever socially-awkward guardian.
"You two have become less hostile with each other. Have you two begun the process of mating?" The stone-faced terminator asked the question like he was asking for the time of day.
Sarah came out of her daze and pulled away from me in a huff. "Oh, my god! I told you to never use that word again!"
Her face had turned a few shades redder.
"Yeah, we need to work on his social skills." I scooted over to the car door, rolling down the window. "He really knows how to kill a mood."
Looking at Pop's face in the rearview mirror, revealed the twitchiness of his mouth.
Was he trying to smile?
I swear, for a terminator, Pops had his moments. If I didn't know what he was, I'd actually believe he was Sarah's father.
"Negative responses are unnecessary, Sarah Connor. It is already known that mating from you and Kyle Reese will result in John Connor, the savior of the human race." Pops continued to drone in that mechanical monotone of his.
I wanted to jump out the car.
This was the most uncomfortable conversation ever!
A machine was telling me to sleep with a woman, just so we could make "the savior of the human race". Man!
To think, Sarah's been hearing this for years. No wonder she couldn't stand me at first.
"Will you stop saying that, Pops?! I don't need you telling me to get knocked up, all right?! That's not my goal in life." Sarah spat heatedly. "What do we even need John for now that Skynet and Genisys are both gone? How can he be a savior if there's nothing to save us from?"
After hearing that, I pulled my head back from the window.
Sarah was right.
With the threat of Skynet gone, there wasn't any reason for John's birth. That thought depressed me.
Was John's whole purpose in life only to fight and be surrounded by war and death? He deserved more than that, especially after everything he did and sacrificed for the world.
"With the timeline disrupted, I am unable to determine what role John Connor will play in the future. That role will now be determined by Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese." Pop's may have looked like his usual serious self, but I could tell the idea of an uncertain future unnerved him.
What freaked him out, gave me hope.
"Don't you see, Sarah? This could be a chance for us."
"What?" She craned her head backwards from the taunt position of clinging to the back of the driver's seat. "What are you talking about?"
"It's like what John said or that terminator said…we've become exiles of time. Sarah, this could be a chance for all of us to actually be a family. " I took ahold of her hand.
The fantasy took root in my mind till it was all I could see.
"You, me, and John...and Pops too, I guess. I'm alive and our son doesn't have to fight some war. He could grow up like a normal child with two parents that love him." I found myself tracing a line on her hand again, just like she taught me. "We just go in a straight line and don't look back."
Sarah stayed silent but I could see it in her eyes, that brief flicker of loneliness that sometimes came through. I knew that no matter how much she protested the notion of having John, deep down she wanted him more than anything.
I could give her that now. Our future was ours to write.
Kyle Reese
"Stop standing there and help me, would you?" Sarah demanded, in the kitchen attempting to cook stew.
The three of us decided to return to the cabin her parents used to own and rebuilt it. It took some time, but we managed to make it into a suitable home.
A huge benefit was having a hulking machine with monstrous strength to help.
At first, I wasn't sure that coming here was such a good idea. The place held bad memories for Sarah.
But the lady in charge insisted on it.
"I grew up here and I can't think of any other place I'd rather live."
I should have expected her to say something like that. She was no princess; Sarah Connor was a soldier.
Walking into the kitchen, I saw her standing over the stove, in a pair of simple jeans and tank top. Sometimes, it was odd for me to see in her in regular clothes.
The fierce Sarah Connor decked out in leather and combat gear, ready to kill, was what I got used to. Anytime I saw her looking like the average girl, I got swept away in how ordinary everything became.
My partner telling me to cut up the potatoes for her pulled me back to reality.
"You want me to cut potatoes? You should just ask Pops, he'd have this done in seconds." I started slowly cutting.
"Oh yeah, if I want my table cut up alongside my potatoes, I know just who to ask. Be a man and do it." Her sarcastic reply got a chuckle out of me. "And don't get blood on the food this time."
Some time ago, she asked Pops to help cut potatoes, thinking it would be faster for the machine to do it since he'd been upgraded by that liquid metal and could turn his arms into razor-sharp blades. However, that blade proved to be too sharp. The machine didn't know how to restrain himself, resulting in a bisected table.
That was a hilarious moment that should've been captured on camera.
"You could at least be a little more concerned about the man you love and not some potatoes." I teased, still joking around with her. "It wasn't my fault Pops startled me and I sliced my finger."
The two of us developed more of a relationship now that we didn't have to worry about dying every second. We were on our way to secluded, old married-couple with the annoying father hovering in the background.
I never expected this.
"Well, be more useful then. You're not a soldier anymore. You're a … I don't know what to call us." Sarah paused in her flurry of activity. "Boyfriend and girlfriend just sounds so stupid, we're more than that. I can't call you the father of my child either. That hasn't…happened yet."
In exasperation, she sank into a chair, leaning on the table. I was too caught off guard to follow her, standing like an idiot with kitchen utensils hanging from my hands.
"You said yet! Usually, you're so against talking about...the events that lead to his birth…" As flustered as I was, one of us had to be calm. Not sure how much I managed with the floundering in speech. "I'm happy with how we are…"
While I knew that John was our son, it was still a bit embarrassing to think about having that kind of intimacy with Sarah.
To meet the woman, I admired and loved for so long…
For her to love me back…
Wow!
"I know it seems like I don't want John from the way I talk and act, but that's not it! It's just that…my whole life, Pops was always telling me how important my son was going to be. It seemed like my only purpose was to give birth to this legendary man and then fade away." Sarah hung her head in shame. "I felt like I didn't matter."
It took a second for me to take her hand and squeeze, letting her know how much she did matter. To me, this woman was the world.
"After I met him, or at least had a glimpse of what he was like…I knew I was wrong." Her eyes misted over with tears. "John is my son…my boy."
She choked back a sob, composing herself before speaking again. I squeezed again and my knuckles received a shy stroke from her thumb.
"When he was in the hospital talking to us, I was overwhelmed with emotions. I couldn't believe I raised someone so wonderful." A tiny smile came through her melancholy. "It took some time for me to accept it but having John doesn't seem so terrible now."
Hearing her talk about John and calling him hers made me smile in pure joy, abruptly kissing Sarah's palm and making her flush.
I wanted John back in my life.
I grew up with him for half my life. Without him, it felt half full. Especially now, armed with the knowledge my superior was secretly my biological son.
Even though I wanted to have John, I never pressed the issue with Sarah. I meant what I told her before, she had a choice.
If she didn't want to have our son, then I'd accept that. I'd be shattered but understanding.
If she ever wanted to leave me and have a normal life with someone else, then I'd let her. At the cost of it breaking my heart, I would let her go.
That's how much I loved her. She deserved to have control over her life.
"Having John means the world to me and despite Pops constant pressure, I'd never, ever, force you. I don't want to have our son because it's been decided by fate. I want to have John with you because I love you and I love him." I blurted out the easy part, throat seizing up for what I had in mind.
My face started heating up and nerves were channeling the "flight" response but I had to get this out. I'd been waiting awhile and now seemed like the perfect time.
"I have loved you since the day John first told me about you. I fell in love with the strength and courage you held onto in the dark days when it felt like it would never get better and the amazing love and compassion you showed to your son that carried over from him to me."
Out of air, I had to take a breath. The astonished expression on Sarah's face made it a little easier to continue. Shock was a better sign than annoyance, which was what she gave him me the moment I did or said anything she didn't agree with.
"I was in love with the idea of you implanted in my head, but then I fell in love with you all over again when we met. From the moment you came crashing into that store, I was yours."
I stood up from the chair, reaching into my pocket to pull out a ring and kneel before Sarah. Her eyes went wide.
"Sarah Connor, would you give this lowly man from the future, who's actually only twelve in this timeline, the honor of having you as his wife?" As I kneeled before her, she reached out, caressing my cheek and smiled the most beautiful smile I'd ever seen on a woman.
In this moment, she appeared as an angel to me.
Her hair was loose and flowing around her face in waves. This was where John got his curly brown hair from. Blue eyes shined with a bit of gold in them from the light from the window.
Sarah leaned forward, kissing me softly, then again and again until I was breathless. The kisses continued all over my face and onto to my sandy blonde hair. She tried cover every inch of me with ticklish kisses.
"Hey, I love the display affection from you, but you still haven't answered my question." I reluctantly pulled back but she kept a firm grasp on my cheeks to keep us a breath away from kissing again.
"You stupid soldier, I've already given you my answer."
Our noses brushed.
"I said yes to you the day I learned about Kyle Reese when I was nine. Then again when I met you in 1984. Even now my answer remains the same. I have and will always love you, no matter how time keeps us apart." Sarah let go of me and expectantly held out her hand. "Now hurry up and put that ring on my finger."
I delicately put the metal band on. She gave me another sweet kiss after admiring the ring on her finger.
If she kept kissing me like this, I was going to faint from dizziness. The words must have been said out loud because Sarah laughed at me.
"How did I ever think falling in love with you was a bad thing" She teased. "Where did you even get this ring? It looks sort of familiar."
Sarah pushed some of hair behind her ear to better examine the ring. She was always brushing it back now after multiple requests from me to leave it down
"Pops made it for me, if you can believe it. The ring's made from some of his liquid metal. I thought you would like that since you'd always have a piece of him with you." I explained, holding back a shudder. "As for me, I think it's a little creepy that I'll have something of him on my finger for the rest of my life."
Pulling out the other ring that was for me, I showed Sarah that her name was engraved into it.
"My name's engraved in yours too but if you don't like that, I can ask Pops to make another."
My nervous rambling was cut off by Sarah lightly hitting me.
"This is the greatest gift you could have given me." She raised her eyebrows playfully. "Besides giving me John and a big, warm house with a malamute. Or you could go above and beyond, crossing the galaxies to bring me three dragons."
"Where in the world did you come up with dragons?" I scrunched up my face.
"From some book I read in my spare time. I don't remember what it's called but there was this one character I idolize; Dany is all I can remember." Sarah shrugged nonchalantly. "She reminds me of myself. Except I don't have silver-blonde hair and violet eyes. I'd look weird with those looks right, Kyle?"
"I can see that coloring working for you, but I like the way you are now." I started playing with some of her reddish hair and kissed the curling strand in my hand while deviously looking at her. "The house and dog, I can definitely work towards. As for John, that'll take two of us."
She just smirked and swatted my hand away.
"I don't think so! You have to say I do first, Reese." Sarah stood up, going back to the stove to finish cooking.
I stayed sitting, watching my future wife make dinner for our odd family.
"You're going to become Mrs. Sarah Reese." For some reason that didn't sound right and with a snort, Sarah made her agreement known. "Never mind. I think it's better if you keep your name. Sarah Reese and John Reese doesn't roll off the tongue."
At that particular moment, Pops entered the kitchen with a bag full of baby supplies. Sarah flipped at the sight of the bags.
"Are you kidding me, Pops?! We just decided to get married, John's not gonna pop out anytime soon!"
In spite of her anger, she inspected the contents of the bags.
"John Connor's birth is assured now that you two have decided to have a conjugal relationship. It is only a matter of time before you two mate." Pops pulled out a wrapped package, handing it to his surrogate daughter. "I have procured the necessary items for him. Among other things the attendant suggested."
Curious, I stood beside Sarah while she opened it. Inside were a pair of bright, pink lingerie.
"You've got to be joking me? My android guardian bought me underwear and a ton of baby supplies?!" Sarah punched me hard in the arm the moment a noise escaped from me. "Would you stop laughing already!"
I couldn't stop myself from laughing. It was just too funny.
A terminator went to the store to buy underwear!
It was just too much for me. I fell to the floor from my laughing fit while Sarah fell into the chair from mortification.
"I do not understand why Kyle Reese is behaving in this manner. I simply procured items for Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese's benefit." Pops deadpanned, looking to the female for an explanation.
"Pops, stop. Please just stop."
Kyle Reese
"AHHHH! God, it hurts so much! I can't believe I let you do this to me!" Sarah screamed her lungs out.
"It's okay, you're doing great!" Standing next to my wife, I let her squeeze the feeling out of my hand while she continued fighting to bring our son into the world.
We were in bed sleeping until she woke up in the middle of the night, yelling that John wanted out of her stomach.
The minute she started howling, I jumped out of bed, throwing on some clothes and grabbed things for her. Pops came into our room seconds later to pick Sarah up like she weighed nothing and carried her downstairs to the car.
Lucky for me, the terminator had inhuman strength. I couldn't have picked my wife up in her condition.
At nine months of pregnancy, Sarah got pretty big, not that I'd ever tell her that. I thought she looked amazing before, but now with her carrying John, she looked even more breathtaking.
It tore me up to see the love my life in so much pain.
I was scared she wasn't going to make it, but a quick slap from Pops -that felt like being hit with bricks- snapped me out of the panic attack.
"Pull yourself together, Kyle Reese. Sarah Connor is the one giving birth to John Connor, not you."
The cyborg's blunt statement had put my mind back on track.
Pops set Sarah in the backseat of the car, taking the driver's seat and speeding off the second I was inside.
The car ride passed in a blur. I spent the whole time making sure Sarah was comfortable and calm, not an easy feat.
Auto-pilot had been my mode since we got to the hospital since then.
Sarah gave a final scream that I was sure could be heard throughout the hospital and collapsed on the bed. Seeing go limp like that, terrified me. For a minute, I thought she had died, but then weakly her eyes opened.
Right then and there, I heard the most memorable sound. My son's first cry.
Boy, did he have some lungs on him.
I saw the nurses clean up our little boy. After they were done, they handed him over to Sarah, who had teared up at this point.
"My god! Look Kyle, it's our son. It's our John!" She cradled him in her arms like he was the most precious thing in the world.
I reached out, overcome with love when the baby grabbed my finger and opened his eyes. They were the lightest shade of blue, so pure and bright.
"He has my eyes, Sarah! John has my eyes and he's so strong."
He held onto to my finger like it was a lifeline and waved his other hand around.
Sarah gently kissed my cheek. I returned the favor with fervor.
Together, we created the greatest miracle and it wasn't because he was the savior of mankind, it was because he was our son. Our son that we loved more than life.
After John started crying again, the doctor told Sarah that he was hungry and now was the time for the mother to feed him.
While my wife let the baby feed, I gazed at the two in wonder.
This moment seemed so perfect. I felt fortunate to have lived to see the day my son was born.
In all the other timelines I was supposed to die after having professed my love for Sarah and creating John.
That future changed.
Here I was with my wife and newborn son. This was the life John had always wanted.
I may have failed before, but this time I could finally give him what he always desired. I was going to spend every waking moment of this life making sure these two people knew they were the world to me.
I told Sarah all the thoughts circling in my head after she rocked our son to sleep with her horrible singing. John wasn't kidding when he said she sounded like a dying cat.
"I want you to remember what I said about loving me. If you love me, you die. Don't make that come true. Don't leave me. Not after I finally know what real happiness is after so many years." Sarah looked at me with that simple smile of hers and held John out in offering. "Hold your son and don't wake him, or I'll shoot you."
Tenderly, I took hold of him, staring at his innocent, sleepy face.
"I don't think that's allowed in here. Besides, gunfire would scare the poor baby." I whispered back to my wife, rocking back and forth to soothe the little guy's protest at being removed from his mother.
The doctor came in asking if we'd liked to let visitors in now. We also had to sign off for our son's birth certificate. It only took a moment to fill out the document.
John Kyle Connor.
That was our son's name. It was official now; we were proud parents.
Finished with the rest of the documents, the doctor permitted our visitors to come in. There were only two, Pops and O'Brien.
Somehow the detective managed to track us down.
At first, Pops didn't trust him but eventually the android eased up. The detective earned the classification of "non-threatening" to us, certified by a machine.
O'Brien had been overjoyed when we told him we were having John.
"I've been eagerly waiting to meet the savior after everything Pops told me." The detective hovered by the door.
"As have I, but he no longer has that responsibility with Skynet destroyed. Now, I have the task of protecting Sarah Connor, Kyle Reese, and John Connor." The android's voice didn't change, but after living with him for so long I could see the bit of emotion coming from him. "I will never let anything hurt John Connor."
"Thanks, Pops. That means a lot to me, especially since you're going to be our son's Godfather and Grandfather." Sarah smiled.
We came to a unanimous decision that only Pops could fill out these roles.
"Don't worry O'Brien, you can be his other Grandfather. You're always welcome at our home." I added.
O'Brien teared up, fumbling with the balloons he brought.
"I'll always be grateful to you all for saving me back in 1984 and I'd do anything to help you for that…" He stepped fully into the room. "Do you mind if I see him?"
I nodded for them both to come closer.
"Be quiet around him. Anyone wakes my son and I'll shoot-" Sarah nodded off in the middle of her threat.
The exhaustion of childbirth finally got to her.
Pops took hold of John first. I watched him for a few seconds, old fears unconsciously coming up but he was fine. Mostly fine…if not a little funny since the machine's scanned the baby for problems.
Baby steps with this guy.
I pulled the covers over Sarah and kissed her on the forehead.
Pops handed John over to O'Brien after the scan finished. He stood silently at the ready for anything.
"He's so tiny right now. It's hard to believe that he was supposed to become a military leader." O'Brien smiled at the bundle in his arms.
"I know. It's still hard for me to believe that I'm his father." I took my son back from, sitting next to my wife. "I'm going to make sure John has a normal childhood."
Right now, our future looked bright.
Kyle Reese
"John! Kyle!" Sarah poked her head out from the window in the kitchen. "Come inside already, dinner is ready!"
She had her hair up in a ponytail and a bit of flour was on her face.
"We'll be there in a minute!" I turned back around to call out to my son but before I could, something barreled into my legs, almost toppling me over. "John!"
"I got you, Daddy! Now you have to buy me ice cream next time we go shopping."
I told John if he could catch me in our game of tag, I'd buy him whatever ice cream he wanted next time we went into town.
Bright blue eyes just like mine and his mom's soft smile. How could I say no to those?
Laughing, I ran a hand through his curly brown hair. He looked so much like his mom sometimes, but John had picked up on my facial expressions, which ticked Sarah off to no end whenever he started misbehaving. She almost knocked his teeth out the first time he rolled his eyes at her.
"You got me, son. Let's go inside and have dinner before your mom comes out to shoots us."
"Carry me, Daddy! That's an order, soldier!"
I snorted at John but picked him up, nonetheless. High up on my shoulders, the boy squealed happily.
He was five years old and giving me orders. I could see John got his demanding personality from his mom. Luckily, he picked up on my charm, balancing out the fault.
When we got inside, Pops was already sitting at the table. Even though he couldn't eat, Sarah still liked for him to sit in with us whenever we had meals.
John didn't understand why he never ate anything. The android's explanation of why machines couldn't eat confused the kid.
Sarah stepped in and told John that Pops's tummy couldn't handle eating food. Little guy was satisfied with that answer and never brought it up again.
"I expect you to eat everything on your plate tonight, even the green vegetables. You understand John.?" Sarah announced.
I put my son in his special chair with pillows so he could reach the table. He pouted from his mother's reminder.
"Yes, Mommy. I'll eat the nasty, green vegetables."
It seemed so surreal to live with John as child. I couldn't get over seeing this version of him.
I was so used to the brave, all-knowing leader I grew up with.
"Don't worry, those nasty, green vegetables will make you grow big and strong." I patted my son on the head, cheering him up a bit.
"Like Daddy and Pops?"
Sarah laughed at John's question and kissed him on the head after she set his plate in from of him.
"You'll be even bigger and stronger than Daddy, but it'll take twice this to measure up to Pops."
"Really?! Then I'll eat more of the green nasties." He shoveled food into his mouth, making a mess.
"That's my boy." Sarah handed me my plate and sat down to eat her dinner. "Kyle, it's your turn to clean up after your son."
"Yes, dear."
She sent me a look of annoyance.
"Kyle Reese, it is not strategically wise to antagonize Sarah Connor. Taking you to the hospital for a gun wound again will raise suspicion in the town." Pops dryly stated.
That memory of getting shot brought back a phantom pain in my arm.
"I mean…yes, my moon of my life." Her frown morphed into a smile. "I'll be more than happy to clean up tonight."
"Do you want Mommy to read you a story tonight?"
The boy stopped his version of eating to smile at his mom with bits of food on his face.
"Yes, please! But I wanna hear about how you and Daddy met."
I almost choked on my food when I heard that.
"The meeting of your parents is a complex and time-consuming story, John Connor. I do not think you will be able to comprehend the story." Pops pointed out.
He scrunched up his face. "Yes, I can! Daddy told me he fell from the sky and then met Mommy. That's not hard."
My wife and I shared a look. Until he was older, we'd just tell John watered down versions of our story.
With dinner finished, Sarah asked Pops if he wanted to help me clean the kitchen or give the baby a bath.
"I will help Kyle Reese clean. My circuits will not be able to handle another excursion with John Connor." Was his answer.
I'd lived with him long enough to determine that the machine was miffed.
The last time Pops tried to bathe John, our son managed to tear off some of Pops skin while playing and then got water on the area.
Despite being made of liquid metal, the terminator was still vulnerable to water. We both laughed at his horror at being damaged by a five-year-old kid.
Done in the kitchen, I headed upstairs to John's room, hearing that horrible singing. The blue and black room was messy with toy soldiers and robots all over the floor.
He really needed to clean his room.
I made my way to the tiny bed and knelt down.
"Daddy?" John tiredly opened his blue eyes and looked at me.
"I'm right here son, I'll always be there for you." I leaned closer to smooth his curls back and kissed his forehead.
"I love you, Daddy. I love Mommy and Pops too."
Sarah and I both echoed back our own feelings of profound love for our son.
As John fell asleep, my wife leaned on my shoulder and I held her. Together, we watched our precious boy, our little miracle, drift off into the lands of dreams.
This was the path we'd chosen.