Reachout 53

Lucille got out of her bed. The BS Lady said I could walk around the front with a guide. But, she's gone. No one was there. She'd rather go and find someone. She didn't want to be alone right now.

She walked down the hall, hearing funny sounds.

"Ooga ooga booga. Ooga ooga booga."

Babies. She went toward the silly noise.

Yeah, someone had been in there playing with babies.

There momma turned and saw Lucille. "Hi, I'm Heidi. Do you want to see my boys?"

Lucille went over and saw them. Heidi started to tickle one so he laughed. "How do you hold all of them?"

"Usually it's one at a time. Sometimes I can get away with two." She knocked herself on her forehead and stuck out her tongue. "When it's all three, I beg for help from one of my girlfriends around here. They are always around."

Lucille smiled as she tickled the foot of the baby Heidi was playing with. "Babies are cute."

"Babies are work, but they are cute. Especially my boys." She laughed and rubbed his nose.

"What's the babies names?" Lucille asked.

"I couldn't think of three cool names together, and I really didn't want them to have gemmy names," Heidi said. "So I called them Athos, Porthos, and Aramis."

"Your babies have weird names," Lucille told her.

"I'm surrounded with people named after gems," Heidi said. "No one can complain if I name them after the three musketeers."

Oh, that's what the funny names were. Three musketeers. How cute and silly. She would have to tell the braided man when he came back again about the silly names.

She heard more baby sounds. "More momma's?"

"There are a lot of momma bears around here," a very large woman said as she came. She was extra tall but really round. "Or future momma bears."

Lucille looked around "Pretty " She pointed at paintings.

"The artist is just down there," Musketeer mom said to her.

"Do you know Johnny?" She still got no answer.

"Not our department, so we don't know," the big lady said again.

Oh. Lucille continued on her way to the momma who made the drawing. She was feeding her baby. "Pretty art."

The lady smiled. "Thank you! I like it too. I just really like art and I was really good at it. The others really love it too." She rocked her baby back and forth. "This is Triton. What's your name?"

"Lucille," she said. "It used to be Relena. Momma changed my name."

"Yeah, I can see why she did that," the art momma said. "Maybe when you get older, you can use it again. For now, Lucille is a really pretty name. Mine is Marilyn."

Lucille waved. "Do you know about Johnny?"

"I'm not part of your case, so I don't know. I'm really sorry." The art lady grabbed some paper. "What kind of things do you like?"

"Balloons. Pretty dresses. Pink."

"Keep going. Tell me more." She was writing something with one hand while she fed her baby with the other.

Lucille told her about animals she liked. About her pets. The woman was nice. She was balancing the stiff paper.

"Hello?" Another woman came in.

Ooh. "I like your dress." She was pretty in her dress. "Do you know Johnny?"

"Who is Johnny" she asked her.

Lucille told her about her big brother. About riding in a big robot. About trying to find Johnny.

The lady actually bent down to her level. "I have no idea what happened to him, it is not our area. However, I will look into this personally for you."

"Thank you," Lucille said. "Can I stay here? Everyone is nice. It's lonely over there."

"For so long, but we all need a little privacy at times," art momma said as she handed her the paper. "Since you like my art."

Ooh! It was her with her pet kitty, and doggy in a pretty dress with balloons. "Thank you. It's pretty." She hoped she didn't lose it.

"Over in the corner are some crayons," art momma said. "You can color it if you want."

That would be fun. But. "I'm not good at staying in lines so well."

"It's a sketch of fun, just for you. Don't worry about the lines. Just enjoy," she insisted. "If you don't like it as much, I can make another one for you later with color. When I have a wee bit more time."

"Thank you!" Then she wanted to color herself. She got the crayons and got on the ground to color. This was nicer. Being with people while she waited for momma.

Another momma stepped around her. "Pardon me, I just need around you." She went down further. Lucille heard pretty music. She got up and looked over. "You have two?"

"Yes, my little girl is still sleeping. My boy wakes less grumpy if he hears music when he wakes up," she said as she walked away. "Mandy?"

"Yes, please." Some of the momma's held a rocker steady while the really large woman sat down.

"Are you having a baby?" Lucille asked her.

"I wish. I am having four little munchkins," she said to her. "It looks like I swallowed a beach ball, doesn't it?"

Lucille touched her tummy. "It's bigger." One of the mom's laughed. "How can you mommy so many of them?"

"We are probably gonna move in together when this place closes for good," Musketeers momma said. "We'll manage."

Oh. It was such a funny place with so many moms. "Do you do other stuff than baby stuff?"

"We go out on duties sometimes," the musketeer mom said. "Sometimes. It depends on what it is, where we have to go, and who can watch over everyone."

"I go nowhere like this," the beach ball future mom said. "I can barely sit down by myself. I mainly help watch over things." She tried to scratch her back lightly.

Oh. "Did you used to go on more adventures? Like the long braid man?"

"Don't really need to name drop in here." the white haired long momma didn't seem fond of talking about it.

"We don't know," the beach ball mom told her. "We don't remember much of our selves at all."

"How do you not remember yourself?" That didn't make sense. "Like your name?"

"Our group used some corrupted technology, so our past feels more like facts on a page," the beach ball mom said.

"We just kind of figure things out." Musketeer mom brought out some yarn to show her. "We try to learn what we like. What we don't. What we can do, and what we can't. It's like starting all over again."

"That's with everyone here?" Lucille asked. "How do you learn language again?"

"It's not like that. We don't start like brand new babies. We have certain abilities," the beach ball mom said. "We try to build up from there, to figure out ourselves."

"I have this paper I printed out." Musketeer mom said. "I typed up lots of things and questions."

"When you remember, will you go back home and leave like mommy will with me?" Lucille asked. None of the mommies looked very happy at her phrase. "You got konked on the head. If you konk it again, you'll be better."

"Oh, if that were true." The beach ball mom rocked. "Life isn't cartoons unfortunately. How can I explain this to a child?"

"A lot of times, there are some memory losses that happen. They come because of accidents and stuff," musketeer mom tried to tell her. "This isn't the first time in the history of this place, that the mind got hurt by this technology. In reality? The mind is . . . different. No one here has ever gotten better, only worse."

"Even if we could get those memories back, that same technology had messed up our heads before that. We were like . . . not good people." the beach ball momma slowed her rocking down more. "Not good people at all."

Oh. "So you wouldn't want to remember anyhow?" Lucille asked.

"We have profiles with our basics," Musketeer mom said to her. "We have our ID's. That's enough for us." She smiled, but it seemed sadder. "We are just all huddled up together trying to get through one day at a time." Her baby started to cry, so she touched his foot, making him kick. "We all have a lot of responsibility too, but it seems to help keep us going. Going and going, right Porthos?" She picked her baby up and put all kinds of mommy kisses on his face.

"Right," art momma agreed as she brought her baby up closer on her. "A day at a time works."

"It's miserable," the lady with the nicest clothing said. "They are all lying to you. Whether we were evil or villainous, to start back from scratch and not know anything about who you are is in no way good. Knowing that we can look up all the facts we want to about our past, doesn't help." She brought out her ID. "See? I am Mae Morgana. I lived at this address. I had a certain weight and height. I have two brothers that are deceased. I feel nothing about any of this, it's all just information."

"Will you not get so serious with an impressionable child in the room?" the beach ball mom called her out. "She misses her home and family. We all know how that feels, so don't get it all twisted."

Lucille didn't know what deceased meant, but she did understand the home thing. The nursery was bright and cheerful and warm because each mommy or future mommy was trying to make it like a home. They didn't have a home anymore. Maybe that's why they were so nice to her when she came over? "So, you make a new home together? As new people?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," musketeer mom said as she held her son closer as another one woke up. "Looks like my peace and quiet is going to be gone for a bit."

"It's a little less lonely when you have friends that are there with you through it," the beach ball mom answered her.

Oh. "I'm getting hungry Beach Ball Future Mom, can Musketeer Mom, White Hair Lady, Pretty Lady in Dress, or Art Momma help me?"

They all laughed.

"Now I don't know if I liked Mandy, but Beach Ball Future Mom is definitely not a favorite," the beach ball mom said. "Do any of you have something for her? I'm not leaving this rocking chair."

White Haired Momma grabbed her boy. "Amira is still sleeping, so I'll take Zara and be back soon." She held her little boy who looked like he had really white hair too and held her hand with her free hand. "Let's go."

As they walked, Lucille looked at the white haired lady. "I like your hair."

"Thank you. It's platinum, not white," she corrected her.

Platnum then. Pretty, it sounded like a silvery word. "Can I have pizza?"

"Oh, I think Heidi will tear me a new one if we take that from her," Platnum said. "I bet you are more than ready to go home, aren't you? Not much here for children. No one to interact with at all except some strange people you don't know, who don't even know themselves." She reached the kitchen and looked in the fridge. "What do you want?"

Lucille got closer. There wasn't much. "Can you make something?"

"I can try, but Heidi got sick last time I made breakfast. She can't stand cheddar cheese." She grabbed white cheese and eggs and she closed the refrigerator. She bounced her baby in one arm while she did everything with her other hand. "No, no, Zara. Not for you."

"Did you name your babies after musketeers?" Lucille asked.

"No. I looked it up one time, they are Hebrew or Arabic. Amira is something like princess."

Pretty.

"Zara is also feminine for some reason though," she admitted as she continued to cook. "I have many things I don't understand, but that is one of the highest. I keep telling myself I was probably expecting twin girls, but why didn't I change it afterward?"

Hmm. "My name is Relena but I can't use it. Maybe the baby name is like me too."

"A secret name?" She flipped the food. "Do you have a hidden, mysterious name Zara?"

"You can call him Johnny," she suggested. "Johnny is a brave name."

"I know you miss your brother." She served her the food. "We will find out what happened soon. Mae took it up, so I am sure she will find out more for you."

"What about your baby boy having the wrong name?" She asked.

"My son and daughter were given these names for some purpose. They aren't gem names, they are genuine." Platnum seemed sad. "There's nothing exciting about a mystery when your whole life is one. I'll take you back to your room for now to eat. Okay?"

"Okay." She didn't mean to make Platnum sad. "It's not easy to stay happy for the momma bears who forgot."

"There are worse things in this world," Platnum said to her. She didn't tell her what was worse though, just helped her back to her room.

Platinum returned to the nursery. "She is eating in her room."

"I found out about Johnny," Mae said to her. "Her mother will break the news. She will be arriving late tonight."

Oh no. Poor Lucille. "We will respect her wishes." Amira was starting to wake up. Now it would be harder to navigate around with Lucille. "Hi, Honey. Let's go to Momma's room, it is getting crowded in here."

Hilde's boys were all up. One was getting attention from Mae who was reading it a soft book. One was being fed and the other was sitting on her lap waving it's crinkle toy around. Triton was sitting up and playing with his favorite punch toy that never stayed down.

That place would be twice as crammed when Mandy's quadruplets came. We aren't all just momma bears who forgot, we are humans trapped in a vicious circle we can't break or it will cost us everything we hold dear. "We need to move soon. What if we are still here when everything falls apart?"

"We only move if we are forced to," Mandy said. "I have four babies coming any day. We also really need to save every paycheck. We all have to agree what to do too. Mae?"

Mae looked at her clothes. "I don't know yet."

"We will be off better together. You can't just get promised away," Hilde warned her.

"They could be good, and what kind of place are we getting to handle everyone?" Mae disagreed. "Jobs. Money. We won't get much more space than we do now."

"Not so," Marilyn said as she held Triton's toy safely for him. "I heard a rumor there was something about severance pay. The more we did, the more we can get."

"Mm?! Hilde, yours!" Mae gave her boy right back. "I need to make calls. We are getting a cut if we deserve it."

Mae was on the phone for some time before she said something. "We can separate. I am on hold for more news and account information."

"Well, at least Mandy the Manslaughterer Purple Gem was good for something," Mandy said. "Each of us will have some money."

"We've done enough we would spend life in prison if anyone finds out RTL activities," Mae said realistically. "Yes, our dedication better pay well. I will take my share and leave soon."

"I want to know my share too." It would be smart to start looking for a home and head out.

"I don't," Heidi disagreed. "I don't want to be alone."

"Yes!" Mae stood up and yelled. "Pay day!"

All of the babies started to cry while everyone glared at Mae. She showed them the number she wrote down, making the glare disappear.

Mandy smirked. "I'll take a pregnancy suite please, doctor."

"I am moving to the city," Mae insisted. "A busy one. A big one."

"Somewhere simple. Tranquil," Platinum said as she held her crying boy and girl. "Somewhere far away from the world."

"We need to meet them in a day at a certain location. We each have cards they put the money on," Mae insisted. "We can't yank more than a certain amount at a time. Once a year, we can yank up to a certain amount."

"Of course," Mandy said. "Uh huh. Well, depending on the amount . . ." Mae showed her the numbers. "Yeah, okay."

"Somewhere warmer," Heidi said.

"I will leave with Triton after I get it," Marilyn insisted. "There are no rides or vehicles anyone will let us use but one, and I know I can't-"

"Nope!"

-take it," Marilyn finished. "I need to get a group food. No one has come for two days except someone with a gundam. I tried to take it. It didn't work out."

Heidi laughed. "Duh. I saw that on the security footage."

"I had better chances with someone who hasn't killed any members yet. I will get them a good degree of food before I leave for good." Marilyn kissed her boys head. "Don't worry, we'll take Mister Giraffe." Triton babbled a bit as he leaned on his little punch toy.