Cliffhanger resolution: right here :)

...

Terry's POV

The cat's out of the bag now, but I'd rather it happened sooner rather than later.

Everyone except me swings their gaze on Perry. "What?" gasps Hermes. "But Terry doesn't have any children!"

"Explain," Anke snaps. "Now."

I address the astonished Lydia, knowing full well that what I'm about to say is going to bring up a lot of painful memories for me and perhaps also for Lydia too. "What do you remember about your parents?" I ask.

Lydia narrows her eyes but I think she realises that she's going to have to tell us if she wants to learn the truth. And if she's anything like her mother, I'm sure she has a burning curiosity, if nothing else. "I remember an image of my mother. I don't remember my father."

I nod. I was expecting that but it still hurts. "Your mother was a blue turtle. You look exactly like her, except she had a birthmark in the shape of a wonky heart on the side of her neck and she always wore a necklace of flowers."

Lydia stares at me. "That's what I remember about her...!"

"Her name was Lyndi," I recall. "She was beautiful. I met her when I was sent on a long-duration mission to California five years ago."

Perry gasps like he's just been slapped in the face. "I remember that!"

"I can't disclose the details of my mission but I finished it several days early. Major Monogram said my flight wasn't leaving for another eight days so I might as well enjoy Monterey while I was there. I was swimming in the pool at my hotel when I saw a blue turtle dive from the top diving board, one that nobody else was even daring to try, and yet she dived like she was in the Olympics. I complimented her dive, and then we had a diving contest. Turned out she was on vacation like me. She said she lived in Rio."

"There's a Brazilian version of OWCA," Perry says aloud. "Was she-?"

"No," I reply simply. "No, she wasn't an agent. We spent the next week together and we found ourselves falling in love. When we found out she was pregnant, I phoned Major Monogram and requested more time. He said I was entitled to a month more vacation time, and I said I wanted to spend it all here. He said that was fine."

Lydia is following this with a kind of fascinated horror. "She was pregnant with me?"

I nod. "That's right. When she gave birth to you, we felt like the happiest parents alive. We were blessed with a beautiful baby girl. We named you Lydia because it was close to Lyndi and we thought it really suited you.

"But...one day, we were attached on the street. Two men snatched you from Lyndi. When we tried to get you back, they tossed me aside and kicked Lyndi into the path of an oncoming car."

Lydia claps her hands over her mouth. "No...!"

"The car didn't even see her. It tore me apart but I had to let the men escape with you while I tried desperately to revive Lyndi, but she was already gone."

"I remembered my name," Lydia whispers. "I guess I must have known deep down that if my parents really had abandoned me, I wouldn't have remembered my name."

"I think I knew that she was dead when I rushed into the road for her," I say dully. "Sometimes I hate myself for choosing to do that; if I had gone after the men, I might have been able to get you back."

"That's why you were so distant when you came back," realises Perry. "I thought you just didn't want to come back to work after such a long holiday."

There's a stabbing pain in my chest at the memories. "I loved Lyndi but I lost her. I loved Lydia but I lost her too. I felt hopeless and as if the whole world wanted me to suffer."

Perry puts his arms around me and hugs me. I can't stop the tears falling down my face as I clutch my friend.

Lyndi was the love of my life. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her as mates but that future was cruelly torn from me, as was my daughter, who was made into a living weapon at such a young age.

"What I don't understand is why," Hermes says. "Those two men were clearly working for Bill and Dimitri, but they always snatched pregnant females, like my mom. Why did they target Terry and Lyndi?"

"I guess they can recognise a newborn when they see one," Anke says bitterly. "So they decided to eliminate the middleman."

"Um...Perry, is it?" comes Lydia's voice.

I let go of Perry and my friend turns. "Yes, it is."

"I know I have no right to ask anything of you after what I did, but...could I...could I hug my father?"

I look pleadingly at Perry, who nods. "As long as you promise not to use your powers."

"I do." Lydia nods violently. "I promise I won't use my powers."

Perry goes off to open the cell while I press my hand against the glass. Lydia presses hers against her side of the glass. Our eyes meet. It strikes me now just how much Lydia looks like Lyndi. It makes me happy in a way; I feel like Lyndi is still here. She isn't gone, not really. Her spirit lives on in her daughter...our daughter.

The cell opens and Lydia throws her arms around me. I hug her back, and now we're both crying.

"My daughter," I keep repeating, half to make her believe it, half to make myself believe it. "You're home..."

"I'm home...Dad."

...

*starts bawling*