The characters from the game belong to Capcom.
A/N:I'm not english native speaker, so you might find some typos or grammar mistakes, I do apologize for that.
Chris' POV
It's been 24 hours since I returned "home". Yet it doesn't feel like home at all, not to mention it feels like forever. I'm struggling to move on with my life after Pier's death and there's not a moment I can't stop thinking about my Eva. I wonder how she's doing. I wonder how long I'm continuing with this lie…
TPOV
After a long sleepless night, Chris dressed his uniform and left for work as if it was just another ordinary day. Laureen was still sleeping.
He parked his green Hilux at the BSAA parking lot, greeted some of his coworkers at the elevator and before going to his cabin, he was called by his superior. They entered at the man's cabin to talk.
Chris couldn't believe the man's words, those news was one of the things he didn't need to listen.
"Initially it will last for 30 days, but it can happen to be prorogated if they say you need more time to be 100% back to work."
"What am I supposed to do then?"
"Take some vacation with your wife. Mrs Redfield will be glad. She was very worried about you and you both need to support each other…"
"Sir, I need to work. You sent me to missions without taking this evaluation and now you tell me I'm suspended to relax?"
"The China incident was an extreme situation and you were very helpful. We trusted Piers' evaluation and command. He wasn't wrong, but the committee has decided otherwise after learning you haven't recovered all of your memories and to have time to process the death of your partner and second in command."
Chris sighed in frustration, 30 days seemed to be an eternity to spend with Laureen. Work would always be a good excuse to keep him busy and away from her, but this bombshell ruined his best excuse.
"Sir, I accept staying out of the field for this time being, but I know I can work here without any problem… Paperwork, training soldiers or even with the storage maintenance and cleaning…"
"I'm sorry Chris. That was their decision. You can try to convince them for off field activities."
"I will!"
Chris left the man's cabin shaking his head in frustration. His "shift" was over from that day on, but he didn't want to go home yet. Fortunately, he had friends and decided to spend some time with Jill. He also needed some answers.
(**)
Chris stood by the door of Jill's cabin that was open. He saw her talking on her phone and from her expression, she wasn't having a good day either. She looked at him giving him permission to enter.
He sat on the seat in front of her desk, trying to ignore her conversation, "Leon, it's enough!" she spoke in annoyance turning off the phone
Chris looked at her making a face, mostly a puzzled one, "Is that Leon S. Kennedy?" he asked in curiosity
"Yeah!" she replied with a sharp sigh
"What happened?" he asked showing concern
"Nothing…"
"You know you can trust me."
"I know… it's just that I'm tired of this relationship! Everything he excuses with work. I know this time things are tough for him after Adam's death, but I don't know… I'm just not that patient with him anymore!" she spoke in frustration
"Wait a minute… are you two in a relationship?" he asked surprised
"We are…we were…I don't know."
Chris made a thoughtful face and remembered of his encounter with Leon and their differences about Ada. The thoughts he had after it, got his protective instinct on, "Do you want me to beat him? Just give me the permission and I'll finish what we started in China."
"No. That would be just worse. Leon and I have a bond that connects us… I'd feel terrible if that was affected." she spoke after a sigh looking at the window
"What are you saying? Do you have a child together?"
Jill chuckled, "Sort of…"
"Wait a minute, are you pregnant?" Chris asked in shock
"No! I'm not…" she shook her head, "But we are godparents of an orphaned girl. She is a victim of the Bioterrorism, her parents were killed in Harvardville incident when she was just three years old. Her only living relative was an aunt that took care of her until she died in a car crash in 2010. Since then she lives in the orphanage. People don't really want to adopt older children like her."
"Why don't you adopt her?"
"Because of my own story background. They thought I wasn't sane enough when I tried it… I don't even know why they let us be her godparents considering our professions. Just recently they allowed her to spend a few days with us."
"You seem to have a strong maternal bond with her..." Chris commented
Jill nodded, "She fills an emptiness and always makes my day brighter… I don't know if you remember, but it's very unlikely that I can have my own blood children and maybe if I could, I don't think I'd have the courage for that. I live with the fear of what's left inside of me after being exposed to so many viruses, not to mention I lived with the T-Virus dormant within for so many years!"
"Oh… I didn't remember that. There are some details I don't remember and it sucks! I'm sorry..." he spoke with an apologetic expression, "But I believe you can be a great mother." he added
Jill smiled at his compliment, "It's alright...But it's great to have you back, Chris. I know with time you will get it all back."
"I hope so and because of that they put me in suspension!" he murmured
"What? Really?"
"Yeah, I just learned it. I don't know what I'm going to do now. I don't really want to stay home with that woman!"
"Laureen?"
"Yeah!"
"She's still your wife…" Jill said leaving the sentence in hang
"Yeah, I know! Yet I still don't remember her, but I can't connect with that woman when I love somebody else…"
"What?"
"Don't tell that to anyone!" he said looking at the door
"Of course I won't! Laureen cannot even dream about it!"
"Yeah, I noticed that... But it sucks to share the same room with her. Last night I even slept in another bedroom. I could not share the same bed with her!"
"Well, if that's the case you should stick to your plan before you went to Edonia."
"What was my plan before going to Edonia?"
"You said you talked to a lawyer to file for divorce. I don't know if you entered with the petition and I'm sure that Laureen would never give you easily the divorce!"
"What? She didn't tell anything about divorce, but there was a subject she wanted to avoid about the locked bedroom."
"Oh… I know…" Jill said looking down resting her back on her chair
"Jill, please, can you tell me my story with Laureen? I need to know what to do and expect from that stranger." Chris spoke leaning over the desk, resting his elbows on it
Jill took a deep breathe, "I cannot tell you everything, but I know you always had a complicated relationship. You met here at the BSAA, she was from the Tech Department and she seemed nice at first, despite her jealous. I don't know if it was her immaturity or her family influence, but she changed over the times. At some point she proved to have a high ambition that caused some arguments between the two of you. You had a strong attraction for her and I don't know how things worked between the two of you when in my Africa period. All I know is that you reconciled shortly after I returned and then one day you told me you didn't have patience with her anymore, but then she showed up pregnant. You had a mix of feelings for her, but with all the pressure you ended up marrying her which seemed to be a good thing. You told me she was a real good wife, you didn't argue anymore until when she was already in the third semester…"
"So I married her because of the pregnancy and not because of love?"
"Basically yes. But, it's like I said, you always had mixed feelings for her."
"Okay… I saw a portrait of her holding a baby and now you said we had a child, so where is the child?"
Jill took a deep breathe in distress, "He's dead."
"What?" Chris replied astonished starting to feel the bad sensations again
"Noah Redfield died two years ago due to pneumonia because he had weak lungs for being born prematurely."
"What?"
"On Laureen's third semester of pregnancy, you spent nearly a month just on missions and you returned home to tell her that you were going to spend some time in the European Branch and most probably you would miss her labor, but they needed you there. You had a fight and then you told me she had fallen off the stairs for running away after you. Noah was born into 29 weeks of gestation… He fought hard, but he died 4 months after he was born." Jill spoke with a saddened tone
Chris revived the pain of that loss once again, he remembered Noah's funeral. He remembered the last fight he had with Laureen before going to Edonia
Flashback
"You killed Noah!" she yelled
"I didn't kill him!" he yelled back
"Yes you did!"
"You know he died of pneumonia. We did everything we could to save him!"
"He wouldn't have it if it wasn't your fault to get him born prematurely!"
"You fell off the stairs alone! I didn't push you."
"You did this! If you spent more time home while getting me always preoccupied with your fate, none of this would've had happened. You made me fall off the stairs! You made him be born before the time. You killed him!" the woman shouted in sobs
"You knew me that way. You were always aware that I was dedicated to fight the Bioterrorism!"
"Bullshit! I got pregnant with your child, you married me, and you should be responsible for your family! You could not be just the fighter. You had responsibilities at home, because you were the head of the family, but what did you do? You jumped into missions one after another voluntarily; you think I don't know that? Coward!"
"So divorced me!"
"You Idiot! The divorce wouldn't spare me from the child I was carrying in my belly and all the concern his father caused us!"
"You should have had better control of your emotions and accepted the reality."
"SO you should accept the reality that you are a miserable soldier, a miserable captain, a miserable man who cannot take responsibilities for your own actions. You almost killed your sister a few times, your incompetence made your beloved mistress to sacrifice herself, not to mention all the men that have died under your watch and then it wasn't enough, you had to kill your own son with your constant absence. So now, be the responsible man you think you are and get out of your pink bubble and face your reality! Noah died because of you and how many more people are going to have the same fate for following you?"
End of Flashback
Chris felt the bad weight of his choices once again, the weight of responsibilities, the weight of duties. He remembered how affected Laureen got after their son's death. She needed therapy to learn how to deal with it and stop her own self-destructive behavior after Noah's loss. Chris felt responsible for getting Laureen's emotional instable when she was proving to be a good wife for him. She had been very acid in her comments during their fights, but after Edonia, he embraced those words without even taking notice of it. Edonia's incident was the last drop to make him succumb to his broken emotional about so many losses over the years.
Jill consoled Chris during that process, she better than anyone knew how it felt to be so broken inside. Surely, Chris was a strong man, but that was the first time Chris wasn't fighting his weakness.
Now he could understand better his relationship with Laureen, he pitied her. However, now he was in a crossroads. He was in love with someone else he had to let go while he felt responsible for Laureen's fate… Maybe destiny was right in separating him from his beloved Eva…she was spared from his toxic and dangerous influence.
Bohma
Evana and Yana were at the local hospital that would be the first pre-natal checkup for Evana. There was a lot going on in her mind, thank god she had Yana by her side.
The doctor called her and both women entered in the cabin. There was a long talk about Evana's health history, the future changes and the supplements she would need to take from that day on. The female doctor decided to make the first ultrasound to precise the pregnancy age.
"There it is your baby." The woman spoke pointing to the screen
Yana and Evana looked at it excited for the small spot into Evana's womb and of course, the young mother couldn't help her tears due to her hormones that made her even more sensitive day by day. Her baby was real.
The doctor measured the embryo's size, "Mommy, I'm 8 weeks long and I have the size of a kidney bean." The woman said
"What? 8 weeks?" Evana spoke in shock with her widened eyes
"Yes. The conception was around the start of the second week of May and your due date at the Valentine's Day week."
"On Valentine's Day week, really?" Evana spoke with excitement
"Yeah. Of course this is just an estimate."
"Either ways February will be a very busy month for me, huh?"
"Yeah. If everything goes well, by the end of January you might have to come to checkups weekly, but this is not the talk for now. You can ask me anything; even call me if you feel anything at home. I'm going to print your baby's first picture and give you the cd of the ultrasound."
The women talked more about the pregnancy for some time.
(**)
"8 weeks? I still can't believe it!" Evana commented still in shock on their way home
"I told you, you looked pregnant!"
"I thought we conceived during our trip to the nearby town."
"You heard the doctor, the conception happened before, but it takes two weeks for the embryo to implant in the womb… That means you did really get a successful pregnancy during the trip since not all fertilized eggs do implant successfully." Yana replied
"Yeah, I guess you're right… Somehow, the full moon did really bless our love with a child…" Evana sighed in excitement, "I still can't believe I'm a mother! I don't think we become mothers when the baby is born. It's already real into our bodies."
"Yeah, and I'm a 'dadaunt'."
"Dadaunt?"
"Yeah. It feels like I'll be the man in the house from now on because I am the voice of the reason when you will be all emotional and having crazy wishes."
Evana laughed. Apparently, the pregnancy was starting to make good for her. She was ready to be a single mother, but she was happy that she wouldn't be lonely anymore. The changes of motherhood was started to increase and affect her personality. She knew it would be a roll coaster of emotions until the end of the pregnancy. There would have moments of big insecurities and moments of big motivation. She would need a lot of balance to deal with the turmoils, but at the same time she was carrying a seed of real love and that just made her really happy for the turnaround in her plans. She didn't want to fall in love and she loved with all her soul. She didn't want to be a mother and she was becoming a brave one. She was used to be just herself and now it felt great to know she could share it with someone else.
There was one side of her that felt sad about the whole thing, the absence of the father. She knew he could be a good father that could fit with his protective side. At least, one thing they planned did come true, their baby. However, life could never really be perfect if it allowed his presence in her pregnancy, which would be too good to be true.
Thank you Xaori, HerpDerp, silver scropion and Guest for the reviews. :D Thank you for your support on my personal matter, I'm doing better. I still have other cats and some dogs left.
Special thanks to Xaori for helping me once again with the car for Chris.
Now we are starting to have some development in Laureen's background. She definitely is not a typical "villain", I had a moment of reflection on her character and I'm starting to get used to a character with her personality. I'm sure she can give us some good material for the future of the story.
In the other hand, we saw Evana moving on with her life. Our sweet Eva is growing up and starting to get some inner confidence since she always carried a self low steem that was covered by Scarlet.
I'm really excited for the next few chapters, I have a surprise for you xD
Stay tuned!