Chapter Eighteen

An unscheduled trip OTG did not put him in a good frame of mind; and it made him late getting home. There were issues with the new hydro energy system, the energy grid was less than a click beyond the wall and with a work crew on site he wanted it resolved sooner rather than later. Jones headed construction and he had to respect that the man was a work horse. The plans for the day were shot but the man had put his crew to work setting the lines deeper to keep wildlife away from them.

The foreman had met him at the site, looking frustrated and tired. The bases of the grid had already been sunk into the river bed, the problem arrived this morning. The modules built by the science division had been modified from the blue prints and did not fit into the support structure. Apparently during construction of the modules the science division had found a flaw in the design that they had fixed without informing anyone. Now they had two pieces of the grid that didn't fit together.

Construction agreed to redesign the base, and he understood their frustration as they had followed the blue prints and it wasn't going to be a simple fix. What was more concerning was the worn surface on the other bank, and when they crossed the river a few tricks he had picked up from his wife had nerves on edge. Their perimeter mines had been spaced out considerably in the last six months after the last EMP; it was one of the reasons they were glad to have the second wall. But it meant the outer perimeter was vulnerable, wildlife could wander closer to the colony than ever.

And by the way the far bank was being worn down he figured something was coming here regularly, by the tracks it was something big. Some of these creatures were smart, they didn't just hunt they would watch and stalk. But what he didn't know was how well they could swim. The river was deep and wide, the currents strong and that worked in their favor. He was going to have to increase security on the site, who knew if or when whatever was coming here to water would find a way to cross the river and put the work crew at risk.

By the time he got on base the colony was going quiet, work details were done, afternoon shift was well underway for security and it was long past time for him to get home. He had passed his paperwork off to his wife this morning, leaving her a note as Alicia hadn't returned from the clinic when he got called out. Leaving the rover at the bays Nathaniel walked home, and found Alicia had supper on, already out of her work gear and hair damp from the shower; he was very late.

"Hydro grid coming together?" She asked, following him down the hall.

"It's coming, science division apparently found a problem and fixed it without telling any of us." He filled her in as he stored his gear and changed into clean clothes. Alicia listened and crossed to her dresser to pick something up. It was an old tab, he hadn't seen one in a few years, and didn't know what use it would be.

"Talk to the doc this morning?" He asked as she walked towards him, reaching for her.

His hand had started to slide around her as her leg hooked behind his knees and he dropped onto the bed with a grunt. Nathaniel started to ask, but she straddled his lap; a mischievous grin breaking across her face. She looped an arm around his neck and he slipped his around her hips, pulling her hips to his; feeling her belly pressed against him. "Want to see your son?"

"It's a boy?" Nathaniel asked, his hand sliding over her belly.

"Yeah." Holding up the tab she clicked it and the holo projected.

He swallowed hard as he looked at the projection of their baby, a little boy safely nested in his wife's body. His hand slid around her middle, as he pulled her down to him. He smiled as he kissed her, feeling her press into him. Nathaniel tightened the arm around her and rolled her under him, nuzzling his way down her neck. Alicia arched and he grinned, pulling her tank up so he could press his mouth to her belly; to their baby.

"I have dinner on."

"I don't care." Nathaniel grinned, pulling himself up to distract her and remind her that he needed her.

And later she sat cross legged on the couch in his shirt and stole bites off his plate. "I spoke to Elisabeth about developing the vaccine."

"And?"

"It is safe, but I will need about a week or so down after." Alicia paused to steal a piece of his kabob and he smirked. "Shut up. I made supper and I missed lunch. Anyway the anesthetic is safe for both me and the baby, the procedure should only take a few hours. They will need to do the science thing to work up the vaccine, maybe a month to have it ready."

"Are you going to be awake through it?" He asked, trading plates with her; he wasn't very hungry talking about this topic.

"No. It's a general anesthetic. But it needs to happen sooner rather than later, preferably before he gets too much bigger."

"I want to stay with you." She gave him an annoyed look but he didn't care. "My wife. My son, I'm not going to be anywhere else."

Much later he lay awake, her excited voice playing over and over in his head; asking if he wanted to see his son. She slept now, even in the heat she curled into his side and idly he rubbed her back. He should be happy, and a part of him was, but something dark stirred deep in his mind. Every man wanted a son, a boy to pass on his trade, his skills and his name to.

A boy who would become a man, who would look after his wife when he was gone, who would have his own children and build his own household. Was it wrong that he had almost hoped for a girl, a girl to take after her mother, loyal to death, fiercely protective and compassionate. His wife was proof that a woman could learn to do anything, he could teach a daughter to fight, to defend her home just as he could a son. He had already lost a son, in truth lost him many years before he died; he couldn't loose another child to death or evil.

He couldn't deny the reality that he would be an old man when this child became a man, too old to fight him if he became an enemy of the colony. And he could hardly hope his wife would, something like that would kill Alicia. She already wore too many scars from a child from his body, how did he make sure this boy was different?

Nathaniel knew neither of them could change what or who they were, and that meant there was a risk that this baby might someday loose one or both of them. And while he did not doubt the colony would raise their child with love, Lucas had been loved and it had been loosing his mother that drove him over the edge. He would do everything in his power to make sure this baby never lost Alicia for if that happened then they both lost her; and he wasn't sure he could survive that. He had barely survived loosing Ayani but what he shared with Alicia burned even stronger; she understood him in ways no one else did. And because of that they would get through this.

They would raise this child as best they could, and a part of him hoped they would not raise it alone. Although if he could not convince Alicia to have a bio sonic procedure she may never want to have another. Like Alicia he had been an only child and Ayani had only wanted Lucas; the pregnancy had been hard on her. And that was something he feared for Alicia, she was strong but he would do what ever he could to make the term easier for her.