[Dated October 21st]

[formerlysiryn]

Terry doesn't know exactly how or why it happens, just that it does. One night she's dozing in her new apartment with Sean fast asleep on the bed beside her, a tiny ball of warmth along her side. (The place was still bare, and with every news report that showed the breach getting worse, Terry realized she'd miss her friends on the other side deeply -- but she had Sean. As much as it hurt, she couldn't imagine making any other choice, and she knew they'd understand.)

The next moment, she's waking to Sean's cries and when she stumbles out of bed in the dark and scoops him up, nothing is right. The nightlight is gone, her bedside lamp is no longer where it should be, and when she finally stumbles to a wall and flips a light switch, the room is not one she's expected.

"What the..."

Sean doesn't give her much more time to stare at her bedroom in the Darrow School for the Gifted. His piercing cries break up the sleepy, confused fog she's in, and Terry is grateful to see that if they've somehow made it back to Darrow, at least all his baby items have arrived with them. There's no apartment kitchen to find baby formula in, but the diaper bag with extra formula is sitting on his bassinet and Terry grabs it on her way out to the school's kitchen. If his food hasn't come along with them, at least she has something.

The first thing she does when she reaches the kitchen is check the fridge for the pre-made bottles she'd put away hours earlier, and Terry's only slightly surprised to find the two sitting in the fridge as though they belong there. They probably do, now, though that's a conversation she'll have to have with Raven when the sun is up and she's had a bit more sleep.

Raven. Bloody hell, if Terry is properly back, she'll be glad to see her friend again. She'll be glad to see all her friends again, and though it's very late (or very early, she can't tell yet) Terry plans on sending out some texts to let them know she is back and have them meet Sean.

But that's for daylight. For now, she's got a warm bottle of formula and a baby to feed.

Comments

[formerlysiryn]

Terry's finishing up changing Sean's diaper, and it's the simple things like that she'd never had a chance to do the first time. She'd never changed his diaper. She'd only fed him once. He'd fallen asleep in her arms.

That had been the grand total of her experience with Sean, and she's already done all that and so much more in the last week. The prospect of more time with him, a second chance at an entire lifetime with him, gives Terry enough joy to override the constant fear in her heart.

The knock at the door sounds as Terry's swaddling him in a soft green blanket -- one of the first things she'd bought when she'd found him -- and she leaves him in the bassinet for the time being. He seems content, probably ready to drift off to sleep, and it's perfect timing for whomever has showed up.

When Terry opens the door to see Eden, she gives her a bright smile. She'd done enough crying in the late hours of the night with Raven; what she's left with now is sheer gratefulness at being able to see familiar faces again.

"Hullo. I'm glad ye came," she says, and Terry wonders exactly how to break the news. Eden's had a similar enough life that she can roll with strange news, but this is different. It's a baby.

Might as well rip the band aid off, really.

"Like I said, I've got some news. It's a long story, but...well." Terry steps back and opens the door, letting Eden in to see exactly how much the room has changed. Sean's bassinet is the most of it, taking up a good amount of space next to her bed.

[wishesandsmoke]

As Eden steps into the room, there's no denying that Terry wasn't kidding about it being big news. Or a long story, though she can't begin to imagine what that might be. There's a crib here, a baby, and she knows Terry wasn't pregnant when she saw her last. That's the kind of thing that would have come up.

"There's a baby," she says, and it sounds incredibly dumb once it's out, but she's not sure what else to say. Wandering closer to the bassinet, her expression softens. She's never had hopes of becoming a mother, too afraid of what would happen if she vanished, if she finally lost the life she's been granted. Or if her child had powers like her own. Seeing a baby, though, she still wishes it could happen. "Oh, my god, he's adorable. Where did it come from?"

[formerlysiryn]

"There's a baby," Terry repeats, a laugh in her voice. She absolutely gets Eden's surprise; there are still moments when she wakes up naturally that she forgets and the flood of emotion is just as potent as it was the first time she found him.

"That's part of the story," she answers, walking in and inviting Eden in behind her. She picks Sean up, settling him comfortably in her arms and making sure there's nothing he needs at the moment. Having him in her arms, eyes wide and staring up at her as he grips the finger she offers him, makes it easier to tell the brief version of her story. "I got pregnant a few years ago, and I gave birth to a baby boy. I only had him for a few hours before we lost him."

It's easier to tell the story with Sean in her arms, but that doesn't mean it isn't still difficult. "I was in that other Darrow, when I found him. He was there, cryin' like no time had passed at all."

[wishesandsmoke]

Hand at her chest, Eden shakes her head. "Poor darling," he says. The idea of this sweet little boy passing so young hurts, but now, she thinks, that's in the past. He's here and that's what matters. It makes him a bit like herself, actually — gone, but back again. This time, she hopes, for good.

And there's no room for hurt when Terry has him back, when she clearly adores her son. Eden's smile grows. "And now he's here. That's incredible. I'm so happy for you two."