What if it could have been different?
What if our terms had been better?
What if we could have gotten along?
What if I didn't have to go all mama bear on her?
What if she didn't do the same to me?
I mean, we were only taking care of our kids. Newt was in a bad spot and I had to protect her. I know I did the right thing, no questions asked. She wouldn't be here otherwise.
The queen though? I don't know. She was just acting off instinct like me. We were created differently with different instincts.
Should I have, yes I know I should have torched that facehugger. It was kill or be killed. Was it a threat? Yes. Was it a threat that warranted deadly force? Yes.
Should I have chunked that whole bandolier of 40mm rounds in the fire? No. That was pretty dumb looking back at it. I could have used those later.
Did we get out of there alive? Yes. Would we have gotten out without Bishop's help? No way. The platoon was really who saved us looking back at it. Thank you guys. You will always be remembered and loved.
Ripley just came out of her daydream as the song "Stay Up" by Gill Chang and Danni Carra played again. She sat there another minute before her bedroom door opened and the beat dropped.
"Hey baby. You should be asleep already."
"I know. I just got a couple questions that can't wait till tomorrow mommy."
"Like what?"
"Why was I the only one left? Why couldn't my parents make it?"
"Baby, I really don't know. I really wish I could answer that one."
Newt paused a moment as the second verse of the song started to play.
'Even though it's all different I still feel like I'm followed by shadows
Never mattered the distance, always came back to the path that we chose'
"Why do I still hear their voices? Sometimes I'll wake up and see them but they suddenly disappear in front of me."
This took Ripley a minute to process before she carefully thought it through.
"Sometimes, when we love a lot and we lose them, it hurts a whole lot. I still think about my older daughter who isn't with us anymore. I still miss her a lot too."
"Do you ever get over it?"
"Not really. It gets a bit easier with time, but it never really goes away. That's the good thing about family though. They're with you through it all."
Newt looked like she saw a ghost before she started to cry. Ripley immediately got up and put her on the bed beside her, holding her close.
"It's okay honey. It's okay. Mama's got you." she said as she slowly swayed side to side.
"I can still hear their screams..." was all Newt could say before heavy sobs rocked her whole body.
Ripley laid her down, wrapped both of them up and held on even tighter. Even she started to tear up some.
Newt rolled over, tucked in tighter, and Ripley placed her head on top of her daughter's before unconsciously drawing her legs up toward herself.
"You're okay baby. Nothing can get you. I'm here."
Newt just laid there and took in her mom's warmth before relaxing and dozing off for the night.
'Why do we stay up, stay up?'
That's the last thing Ripley remembered before she dozed off herself.