Times Changed

Months passed. Times passage seemed non-linear, especially as they travelled between Earth and Quatarr. The weeks spent on Quatarr seemed to last as long as the month did on Earth and it had nothing to do with the change in solar system. Given repeat exposure, and the news that Lore was not only the parent of her grandchild but an almost godlike figure in her culture, Ka’lana’s heart had warmed to Lore. They still weren’t on the best of terms but things were improving. As the due date drew ever closer, their time on Earth shortened and the couple spent more of their time on Quatarr preparing for the return of their child.
“So… I know we already know her name but I was thinking, what about Pwy’he for a middle name.” Char lowered a Quatarrian - English dictionary. “Closest translation is Calm or Peace.”
“Middle name?” Ka’lana spat out her tea. “Middle… Name?” She muttered something about humanity under her breath.
“I like it.” Lore tried to contain their smile. “Sounds perfect.” They came behind Char and began massaging her shoulders.
“We need to be getting ready soon, I’ll be going into labour in about four hours’ time.” She shook her head. “And I’ll finally be able to stop these visions.” She subtly moved her mother’s coaster before the mug landed on it, saving the carpet.
“It’s going to be fine.” Lore patted their wife. “And if it isn’t immediately, you know it will be eventually? Right?”
“You’ve been talking like this for the last four months. Are you expecting something to go wrong?” Char grabbed at Lore’s hands.
“It’s complicated but remember, I’m going to be there for you no matter what.” They gave a nervous smile. “I can’t say any more.”
Sure as the suns, four hours later and Char’s water broke. She had called ahead and made sure a bed was ready for her. The nurses seemed stunned by her punctuality. This was the first time Lore had stepped foot in a Quatarrian hospital and found it strange that they would even need such a large building given the bulk of the planets inhabitants were immortal. Lore tried to be supportive but watching their wife writhe and scream in pain was almost too much. Her pain was their pain. They watched from close by, providing support when needed and ensuring that they were out of the doctors way when not. It was a surprisingly quick process. Since the start of their maternity leave Lore had heard tales of women in labour for days, including the horror story of Char’s birth. Hours passed and the child was born.
The nurse lifted the child from the bed and began to carefully bundle them up. “Congratu…” They got half way through both the word and their task before they froze. The hairs on the back of Char’s neck stood at attention. Lore had no idea what was going on but knew something was off.
“How are they then?” Lore came in beaming, trying to raise the mood. Their child sat half swaddled in a blanket. “Hello.” They put on a voice but felt out of place.
“Nurse, what’s wrong? Is our baby alright?” Char tried to lift herself up. The nurse remained frozen. “Lore, is there anything wrong?”
Lore walked over to the child. At first glance it looked like a perfectly healthy baby boy, but there was something amiss. Lore smiled. “Their perfect.” The nurse’s face dropped as he excused himself. Lore finished wrapping the child and handed them to Char who promptly tore into the blanket like it was her birthday. She too froze after looking at them.
“You knew…” She spoke softly at first. “How did you know? How long have you known?”
“Since we met up with Tay on Dekk Rekkarvik. She told me.” Lore held their arms out for their baby.
“Do you know what they are then?”
“Not really. Just that your people aren’t big fans of Niwen.” Char shushed them as if the word itself were taboo.
“Niwen, them.” She pointed at the child. “Were considered to be the next stage in Quatarrian evolution. They had all of the benefits of the biological sexes with almost none of the drawbacks. One of the major differences was the fact that most of them were born with the ability to see through time so when a group of them came together and formed The Oracles, they became an unstoppable force. A non-hostile force but because of their power, they were all killed. They were simply deemed too dangerous to be kept alive.”
“Times have changed though.” Lore was beginning to look worried.
“Not nearly enough. Quatarrians have a natural defence mechanism, it’s almost like having another sense dedicated to telling you when one of them are nearby. They would never be able to set foot in a Quatarrian school. Or anywhere in public for that matter.”
“So? We’ve got the house on Earth all set up and should we want to, Tolan or your parents are only a Breach away.” Lore came and sat on the bed with Char. “It’ll be fine.”
“I know, I know. It’s hard. I know I should be over the moon that we’re finally starting our family but… there’s this niggling sense that I’ve already failed as a parent.” Lore brought her in closer.
“You haven’t failed. No one’s failed yet because we’ve only just begun. We physically can’t fail, we’ve seen how our child grows up and she wasn’t too bad. Look, no one on Earth is going to care that our child isn’t normal. They won’t even know. We can have a normal life.”
“What about work?”
“A normal life bar us searching for our forty nine missing co-workers and the maintenance of the universe.” They both chuckled. “And I’m sure the other Cornerstones will take good care of everything while we’re on maternity leave.”
“I’d like to try that.” She looked at the child with joyous confusion. “Hello there Pwy’he.”
“We’re changing the name then?”  Lore looked at her confused but Char nodded. “Fine. But they’ll need a human one too. How’s about Piper. Pip for short.” Lore smiled.
“I didn’t want to carry on the tradition but, I like Pip.” There was sadness to her smile. “A beautiful baby boy. Willkoeso Plentynder Haplich Pen’Blwydstag.” She whispered, kissing Pwy’he on the forehead. Lore wrapped their arm around Char and put their other below Pwy’he. “I’m sorry.” She buried herself in Lore’s shoulder. The bitterness of the moment was palpable but balanced by the sweet sensation of cradling their new-born child. It wasn’t exactly what they were expecting but for the moment, all was well. Changing times.