Interstellar: Revivisco, Part II
Chapter 6: Rubesco

"N7011T and M3031H are safe and sound, just like the rest of them," Amelia said as she read the message to herself.

Cooper smiled gently, thinking about last night's conversation. "And they can begin incubation whenever?"

"Yes." Okay, you were honest, but he's definitely going to want to talk more about this before going ahead with it. "You're sure that this isn't some whim?"

"This would be planned beyond normal planning - I know this is your decision, too." Whew, good. "This isn't on a whim."

"Good to know that you want me to be involved," she said sarcastically as she poured coffee into the mugs.

"You said you'd think about it," Cooper reminded her as she handed him a coffee mug.

"I sent the message and just read the response to you, didn't I?" The irritation was clear in her voice. "Look, this would be a big undertaking for both of us. Granted, you have had experience with this and I obviously have none, but it wouldn't be easy. I hardly think it's fair for you to expect me to be on board with this right off the bat."

He has to understand that. "I just want you to give it some thought. No, it wouldn't be easy, but it's not as terrifying as it sounds, trust me."

Well, at least I know he's serious. "I'll think about it, but I'm not making my decision in a few days or a week, even. This is something I want to make a solid decision about."

"That's all I can ask for," he responded, smiling softly.

It had been a few days since Cooper had mentioned it to her. He could tell that it made her uneasy when they talked about it, and that certainly wasn't helping his cause. If he got his hopes up, he knew he'd be disappointed.

"Pates should be here in about ten minutes!" he heard Amelia yell. Cooper sat at his desk, trying to come up with a few questions that he might need answers to. He had only dealt with corn before, so this was all new to him, and even though Pates was from a station, he seemed to be highly knowledgable from what Cooper could tell in his messages.

"Alright." Cooper got up from the desk to go upstairs and change out of his pajamas. "Amelia, what's the temp out?"

"10 Celsius." He headed up the stairs and into their room. "It's not terrible but it's not what we're used to during the day, that's for sure. I guess it's just starting to get a bit more cold." Winter was getting ready to set in. Would those trees even survive? The greenhouse, Cooper. You still have one, and they can't be that massive yet.

"I like that sweater," he said as he saw Amelia.

"Thanks." She started to pull clothes out of their closet for Cooper.

"You're dressing me now?" He laughed as she put out a flannel shirt and jeans on the bed.

"We don't have time for you to pick out clothes - to act like you're so low maintenance you take forever to pick out an outfit." She grabbed socks and an undershirt from the dresser drawer.

"I have a very high sense of fashion, what can I say?" She stopped and rolled her eyes at him. "Alright, alright." They heard the plane coming in.

"I'll go on downstairs, just, um, get yourself together." Cooper smiled.

"I'll try," he replied as Amelia headed down the stairs.

Cooper was back downstairs before Pates and his crew had landed. "That was quick," Amelia stated once she saw him. "I suspect you'll be needing your jacket; I put it up in the coat closet... off of the banister." That type-A in her is really making an appearance today.

They both watched as Pates exited the plane and walked toward the house. "What's he holding?" It obviously wasn't a tree.

"That's a baby," Amelia froze, "Cooper, did you say something to him?"

"Not a word. Maybe it's bring your kid to work day or something." Amelia seemed to believe that. She walked toward the door and opened it once Pates was about 20 feet away.

"Hey, there! Had to bring this little chick today - the nanny's out with a stomach bug." Pates walked into the house with the chunkiest baby - a girl - Cooper had ever seen.

"That is no problem," Cooper assured him.

"How are you?" Amelia asked Pates as he walked in.

"Busy. Hodge, my husband, his office isn't exactly the best place for a baby right now, not that a plane is any better." Cooper couldn't help but smile at the baby and Amelia noticed.

"What does your husband do?" Amelia asked as she took the giant diaper bag off Pates' shoulder.

"He's a lawyer for NASA. Actually, I think he wrote your contracts up." They all walked toward the kitchen table and sat down; Pates put the baby in his lap. "And this is Ellie."

"Hi, Ellie," Cooper said with a smile, getting a smile out of her. Oh great, Amelia thought. This is going to push it further.

"We also have a son, Ren. He's five." Amelia assumed that he must be in school. "I'm sure you've noticed that it's getting colder, so we don't want to plant these trees just yet. We'll keep them in the greenhouse for now."

"Did you know it was going to get colder or was this a shock?" Amelia had a list of questions, too.

"I did. I tried to tell them, but Hart's pretty stubborn. I don't think her head has wrapped around the idea of winter yet. She's smart, but snow's not really on her radar. She's on board though, and I guess that's all that matters." Cooper and Amelia chuckled, looking at each other. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, we just figured out not too long ago that Hart's a little more than obsessed with this mission," Cooper replied.

"She's obsessed with you," Amelia corrected him, smiling.

"That wouldn't surprise me." They both looked at Pates, shocked. "I'm not kidding, but she's in a serious relationship with some guy from SpaceX. I don't remember his name."

"Sleeping with the enemy?" Cooper asked as a joke. Pates laughed.

"Well, I'm sure you know NASA and SpaceX worked together a bit before the blight, then SpaceX actually went under, and not underground like NASA. Once the stations were being built, the company was resurrected, so to speak." Ellie started to gurgle, getting everyone's attention. "Cooper, I need to take you out and show you the trees. I'm sure the crew has put most of them into the greenhouse by now." Cooper and Pates got up from the table.

"How about you leave the baby with Amelia? She needs some practice."

Amelia stood up, shocked. "Cooper!"

Pates smiled to himself.

"Now, Amelia, you can do it. She's just a baby - she's not going to get too far." Amelia walked over to Pates and slowly took the baby from his arms.

"She's only five months; not crawling yet." Amelia stared down at the baby. "She just ate, but there are bottles in a freezer pack in the bag, and just about anything else she could need. We'll only be gone for about 15 minutes."

"Okay," Amelia replied shakily. Cooper grabbed his coat from the closet.

"Papa will be right back, Ellie," Pates said to his daughter as he and Cooper walked out the door.

"So it's just you and me, huh?" Ellie had the bluest eyes on a child that she'd ever seen. "You look absolutely adorable," Amelia gushed, admiring her head to toe sage green outfit.

"Are two you trying to have a baby? It's none of my business really, but the exchange between you two made it pretty obvious." Cooper and Pates walked toward the greenhouse.

"Before the stations got here, we were prepared to begin the incubation process for two fertilized eggs. When we left Earth, that was our plan if we didn't return, even though both of us believed that Plan A was going to work. Plan B was to start up a colony, and we had the equipment to incubate the first ten eggs, but ten was with the idea that all four of us would survive." Cooper stared into the distance, thinking about Rom and Doyle. "So I got here, and she put it off for as long as possible. She doesn't see herself as the mom-type, but I was really excited about those two."

Cooper took a deep breath, savoring the cold air. "Anyway, so the stations got here, and the plans for those two eggs get tossed out. I didn't realize how excited I was about them until they were gone."

"That's how we had our kids, through an incubator. With both of our jobs, we were able to pull enough strings so that we could go check on them every day. It was really neat." Cooper could only imagine - it was probably amazing to actually see the process of growth with your own eyes. When Tom and Murph had come around, even the ultrasounds were a thing of the past. You had to wait until you had the baby to find out if it was healthy.

Pates didn't want to ask about Cooper's life back on Earth. He was sure that he had already been asked a lot of questions, and he could only imagine that his children would be a tough topic. He remembered an elderly Murphy Cooper being the keynote speaker at his college graduation, and here he stood with her father who looked only a few years older than him.

"And you're trying to get her into the idea," Pates continued and Cooper nodded.

"Yep. I figure that we know this relationship is it for the both of us, at least I think she feels that way." Cooper opened the door to the greenhouse. "I miss having kids."

Pates was silent for a moment before responding. "I guess you'll have a better opinion of how she feels when we get back to the house."

The baby had gone to sleep in Amelia's arms after five minutes. She didn't know what to do except maybe walk her around the house.

Ellie's chin rested against her shoulder, her chubby cheeks something to smile about. She could imagine that she was a calm baby all the time, but there was no guarantee that N1107T or M3031H would be this calm. They could be screamers for all she knew.

Her hair kept brushing up against Amelia's cheek; what little bit of hair Ellie had was clipped up in that bow, right on the top of her head.

You can't decide to do this based off of one encounter, that would be anything but an informed decision, and they aren't this perfect all the time. Before, we were doing this out of duty, now Cooper just springs on me that he's interested in those eggs we had planned to incubate. It's incredibly sweet, but also incredibly nerve-wracking.

I know he loves me but he must really, really love me if this is what he wants. I'd be happy with it just being us for the rest of our lives, but he had to stop raising his kids in the middle of their childhoods. If he only wants a baby so he can continue that, well, that's not fair for the potential child. He needs to actually want a baby because he wants a baby "with me," she whispered.

Amelia stood in the sitting room and looked out the window. Cooper and Pates were walking back toward the house.

Suddenly there was a hand on her nose. "Well, hello. That was a short nap. You woke up just in time." Amelia removed Ellie's hand from her nose, only for her to reach for her ear. "Good thing I'm not really into earrings, huh?"

"Amelia, we're back," she heard Cooper say from the door. She walked in their direction, Ellie still holding onto her ear.

"She had a little nap and just woke up." Ellie turned around in Amelia's arms. "Look who it is."

"Papa's back!" She held out one hand for him, still keeping her hold on Amelia. "Come on, Ellie," Pates said as Amelia gently put her back in his arms. "Thanks for that, by the way."

"We were fine. She slept until I saw you two walking back." Pates nodded as he knelt down slightly to pick up the diaper bag off of the stairs.

"Cooper and I got most of the tree situation cleared up." Cooper smiled at her and she couldn't help but smile back.

"Well, good," she replied, still focused in on Cooper.

"I gotta run, you two, but I'll remember to bring Ellie the next time that I can." Cooper nodded and opened the door for Pates.

"Please do. Thanks for the run down on the trees - we'll keep ya updated," Cooper replied as Pates walked away.

Pates stopped and turned around. "Nice getting to see you both again."

"Likewise!" Amelia shouted out the door. Cooper slowly shut it and looked back at Amelia.

"How'd it go?" She smiled and shook her head.

"Cooper, it was twenty minutes, that's hardly enough time to decide if I want a baby or not." Cooper knew that, but at least it was progress. "And I think she's a particularly easy baby. You have no guarantees with kids... one of those two eggs could be criers."

"But you didn't hate it, did you?" Well of course she hadn't.

"No, I didn't hate it. I enjoyed talking to her even though she can't respond, it was just peaceful," she admitted. They still stood in front of the door, looking at each other. "The only experience with kids that I have is babysitting when I was a teenager, but that was only about three times."

"You could do this. It's not easy, but we'd be doing it together." She liked that - they have each other.

"I haven't made up my mind, Cooper." He laughed again as Amelia smiled. "But, you know what I like? Babies don't know and don't care about how old I am."

That was a bit more serious. Cooper hadn't thought of it like that, but she was right. A baby of theirs would look at them with love, not that god-like trance they were so used to. Pates was the only other adult person that Cooper and Amelia had interacted with so far that didn't look or treat them like artifacts.

"I hadn't looked at it like that," he replied as they walked toward the kitchen. "That's true."

"If we do this, that would be one certain bonus."

Just after sundown, Amelia and Cooper sat upstairs in the living room; Amelia read, Cooper wrote.

"What're you reading now?" She looked up from the tablet toward him.

"A book about the last war, how it ended. Such a happy story, you know," she replied sarcastically. "You're writing?"

He held up his stylus before putting it behind his ear. "Yes, I'm writing."

Amelia shivered, grabbing the blanket at the edge of the sofa. "How're you not freezing?"

"It's completely comfortable in here to me." Cooper got up to check the thermostat. "It says it's 73 Fahrenheit. That's beyond warm." Cooper turned the temp up as Amelia spread the blanket over her body. "Is this beyond your normal extreme coldness? You might have a fever if you're that cold."

She shook her head. "I don't have a headache and my eyes don't feel like they're on fire," she stated. "Those are sure-fire signs of a fever for me. Let's hope I'm actually not sick; I'd hate to have made Pates' baby sick. Also, yes, it's worse than my usual."

"I don't think you're sick. I think you're a tad bit anemic. You do look particularly pale." She could see that being the case; Cooper's diagnosis was likely right. "You're starting iron supplements tomorrow." Cooper sat down next to her and put her feet in his lap. "You want some hot tea or something?" He started to rub her feet, which were also freezing. "Lord, Amelia! Your feet are like ice!"

"Oh, I know!" She sat all the way back onto the couch. "Everything is freezing."

"Try and sleep," he suggested as she closed her eyes. "Might make you feel better."

"If I go to sleep now I'll be up all night." At least the anemia would explain why she'd been so tired lately, too.

"I can keep you up all night, too, if you know what I'm sayin'." She smirked as she watched him smile in return. "What?"

"You. You're just very 'you'," Amelia replied as she sat up, bringing her knees to her chest. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"So you can tolerate my innuendos?" She laughed as momentarily buried her face in her knees.

"I've been tolerating them for, oh, five months now." He winked as she lifted her head up again, quickly lowering back down. "I can't quit blushing. Sorry not sorry."

"Am I the first to ever say stuff like that to you before?" She lifted up once more, nodding, her cheeks a bright rosy pink. "Well no wonder you blush at all of that. I didn't know."

"I just never experienced flirting, or anyone flirting toward me at least, not from anyone that I liked; not until you. I might be 34 or 35, I like to think of myself as that young, but I'm sure you can image that NASA, while full of brilliant people, there weren't a lot of flirts there." So Wolf never said anything like that to her. 'Hey you're attractive and smart, let's see how this works out.' How romantic. "I'm more used to it now, no worries."

"And it's not super offensive to you? Remember Amelia, I made a move once and you seemed disgusted that someone would call you 'cute'." She grinned.

"No, I'm not offended, and do you remember that you tried to break in?!" He bit his bottom lip, looking at her. "How was I supposed to react? I didn't know you then. You had literally invaded my territory and you were super forward."

"Well, I'm glad you're into it, 'cause I've grown accustomed to that blush." They softly stared at each other.

"You have?" He nodded, switching his gaze from cheek to cheek.

"Yes." Cooper pulled her legs from their bent position, straightening them out over him. "I have."

"Oh," she whispered as if she was shocked. "Okay." She felt the blush rise to her cheeks again, knowing he'd watched it happen. He laughed in that slow, soft way that he did sometimes.

His left arm slide under her knees, his right wrapping around her back. He didn't speak as he pulled her into his arms, standing up. He stayed in place as Amelia lazily put her right hand on his left shoulder. "Where're we going?" She brought her lips to his neck, laying a light kiss right at his pulse. She felt his hold on her tighten.

"Where do you think?"