"Dr. Cunningham?"
Gabe looked up to the nurse in front of him. He had been asleep for awhile now. He got up anxiously.
"How is she?"
The nurse smiled.
"Come see."
Gabe hurried into the room, a smile crossing his face as he saw his wife holding a small bundle in her arms. She looked to him, smiling softly.
"There you are… Gabe… he's beautiful…"
Gabe sat on the side of her bed, looking at the baby in her arms. A little boy with green tufts of hair like him, his caramel brown eyes looking up at Gabe in wonder.
"Bah…?"
"Oh Babe… Look at him…"
Gabe held one of the little boy's hands in his. The baby giggled a bit, holding tightly.
"Bah bah!"
"Takes after you." Lisa sighed happily, leaning against Gabe a bit. "He's got your looks…"
"Has your smile and nose though…" Gabe kissed her head. "Have you named him yet?"
"I wanted to wait till you saw him before naming him officially."
"Well… let's hear it."
"I was thinking… Joshua…. Joshua Cunningham."
"Joshua Cunningham… has a nice ring to it…"
The baby, Joshua, yawned, curling up to his mother, still holding Gabe's hand.
"I can't believe he's finally here Gabe…" Lisa closed her eyes. "I'm so happy…"
"I know you are Babe…" Gabe kissed her head again, keeping her close. "So am I… You're gonna be a great mother…"
"And you a great father…"
oooooo
That was so long ago… Yet if feels like it happened yesterday… and look where we are…
Gabe was out with his son on a night walk. It had been a long day for both of them and they wanted some father and son bonding time with just them. Elly had the girls to keep her occupied at Naomi's place so… Joshua got what he wanted.
"So… weird to be back on Earth?" Joshua asked as they walked through the park.
"Yeah… When you live basically 300 cy- Ugh. 3 YEARS of basically having most of your senses turned off and being surrounded by rubble and not having much life… it's a shock to the system when you come to a place like Earth… everything is more vibrant here and well… having the senses back is gonna take some adjusting."
"I would imagine… you've technically haven't eaten anything in that time span."
"And trust me, food has never tasted so good." Gabe chuckled.
Joshua chuckled as well.
"I'd probably be the same… I got to skip over the horrors of being a starving college student because Mom was content with me living at home while I studied at Resurgam. Moved out about a year ago once I started to be able to stand on my own and well… Mom still helped in getting me food."
"I didn't hear you mention that earlier." Gabe elbowed him a little. "Studying, medicine huh?"
Joshua elbowed him back. "Let's just say an old influence of mine kind of lead to make that choice… Though I admit…" He lowered his gaze a bit. "When I applied I was hoping you'd be there… and we could hang out like old times… and you could teach more because I wasn't a little kid anymore… Kind of hit hard when I found what happened."
Gabe frowned. "Same year disappeared huh?"
"Yeah… You really made an exit… and impact on everyone…"
"Didn't mean to… still got plenty of apologies to hand out… and probably a few smacks to face from Mary, along with a wrench being thrown at my head before being given a hug from Maru."
"Their way of showing love… and don't forget Amy."
"I owe her time too… though right now I think the biggest time I owe is to you." Gabe looked to Joshua with remorse. "I missed out on so much… We did get to spend time together for a good while… but even then… I wasn't your dad to you… I was just a doctor…"
Joshua shook his head, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"You got it all wrong, Dad."
"Huh?"
Joshua smiled.
"You were my best friend… I never told you… but… I saw you like a dad… I really did… I wanted… and I wished you were my dad… and now… look where we are… I got my wish."
Gabe smiled, pulling Joshua into an embrace.
"C'mere…"
Joshua hugged him tightly.
"You were my hero… and you still are…"
"Oh Joshua…" Gabe pulled back a bit, looking at his son. "You've gotten so big… Still got your mother's smile… and her kind heart… Where did time go?"
"It flew I guess… But the past has gone… but the future is still wide open for us… to make up for what was lost."
Gabe nodded. "Darn right… Love you, Joshua."
"Love you too, Dad."
Joshua pulled back, starting to walk with him again.
"Well… How about we get you back to Elly? I get the feeling the girls might've gone overboard with showing her things."
"Indeed, hopefully they didn't give her a sugar hangover."
"Here's hoping for the best… and Dad."
"Hm?"
Joshua smirked.
"Looking forward to showing you what I know about medicine."
Gabe smirked back.
"Game on."