Survival

“Ten years, Alex. Can you believe it? How old do you feel right now?” Isis smiled as she wrapped her arms around her husband’s waist, kissing him gently. “Clara and Nate are almost as excited about this little trip as I am.”



“I talked to Gabe and Abby, and they’re thrilled. I’m glad we’re bringing little Riley and little Eric along though. I think that seeing where they were conceived is an essential part of who they are.” Alex smiled and kissed Isis gently. “Speaking of conceiving and children, where has AJ gone to this time?”



“I don’t know, Alex. He’s your son.”



“But he looks like his mother.”



“Who could that be?”



“Very funny, Isis. Go find your son before I beat you.”



Isis laughed as she walked around the small boat, finding their little boy in the cabin, playing with his trucks. “AJ, your daddy and I have been looking for you everywhere.”



“I just wanted to play with my trucks, Mommy.” He made a car noise and then put them down. “Is Auntie Clara here?”



“Not yet, but she’s on her way. She’s bringing Riley.” Isis smiled as her son giggled, picking him up and carrying him upstairs. She smiled as she spotted Clara climbing into the boat. “Ahoy, beautiful!”



“Isis!” Clara ran to her friend and squeezed her tight, pinning AJ between them. Clara pulled back and kissed AJ gently. “Hey, handsome! How’s my favorite little boy?”



“I’m good, Auntie Clara. Where’s Riley?”



“She’s over there. Go ahead and play with her, but stay away from the edge of the boat.”



“Yes, ma’am.”



Clara watched AJ walk away before turning to Isis with a smile. “He’s beautiful, I. He looks just like you, except for those brown eyes. Definitely Alex’s eyes.”



“Yeah, I know. I can’t help but think that his good looks had something to do with his surrogate’s own beauty.” Isis smiled at Clara, hugging her to her again. “You’ll never know how much I love you for that, Clara.”



“It was nothing, I. After all that you have done for us, keeping us alive and all, carrying yours and Alex’s child was the least I could do.” Clara smiled, brushing a few tears from Isis’s eyes. “Don’t cry. I’m serious. It was nothing.”



“Yeah, Isis. We were glad to loan her body out to you for nine months to give us a nephew.” Nate walked over and hugged Isis, kissing her on the cheek. “Besides, you needed something to keep you busy. Alex is a handful, but not nearly as bad as a three year old.”



“That’s for damned sure.” Isis smiled and shook her head. She looked up and squealed, jumping onto the dock and tackling Gabe, knocking him down. “Gabe! I have missed you so much!”



“Auntie I, get off Daddy. You’ll hurt him. He’s too old for that.” Eric, ever the smart mouthed nine year old he was, said the thing that Isis always found the funniest thing he said.



“Yeah, your daddy is definitely.” Isis stood and pulled Gabe to his feet, kissing him on the cheek before hugging Abby to her. “It’s great to see you two here. Come on.”



They all piled into the rather large yacht and got comfortable. Alex told the captain to go and off they were, stopping at the island that had taken a year of their lives.



They wandered around the island and Isis smiled as she looked at waterfall. “There it is, Alex. The first place we ever kissed. Magical, isn’t it?”



“Not really, but yeah.” Alex smiled and hugged her to him. “It’s even more beautiful now that I know we managed to survive and make all our lives happier because of it.”



“I bought the island, Alex.”



“What?”



Isis smiled and turned to him. “I bought the rights to own this island. We found it ten years ago, now it’s ours. The six of us can pass it to our kids from now until our line dies out.”



“That’s brilliant, Isis.”



“There’s one other thing, Alex.”



“What’s that, Isis?” Alex laid his head on Isis’s, looking at the waterfall.



“About a year ago, I went into an experimental program that transplanted female reproductive organs from a woman who was dying but had otherwise healthy reproductive organs into a healthy woman. I had some of your frozen sperm fertilize one of my remaining eggs, and I’m pregnant. I’M pregnant.” Isis felt Alex jump like she had slapped him.



“You mean, you have a baby growing inside you, right now?” Isis nodded, and Alex pulled her into his arms. “That’s amazing, baby! I can’t believe it! We’re going to have another baby! And your dream of carrying your own child will be a reality!”



“She’s pregnant? Like honest to God pregnant?” Clara walked around the corner, huge smile on her face. “So it worked? I mean, my procedure worked?”



Isis nodded. “I got the tests back yesterday. I’m actually going to have my own baby!”



Everyone rejoiced and, for old times sake, they started a fire on the beach and sat around the fire, with their own children, singing and thanking whoever watched over them from above that they had this opportunity. For the six of them, life had gone on, but, ten years later, they still remembered those who had fallen and dedicated their celebration and their good news to the one they had lost so long ago.