Dan, The Early Years.

Dan, The Early Years. 2053

I feel bad, because most of these last chapters are pretty depressing... hopefully this chapter has enough happiness in it, though the ending is not as great... eh.

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Year 2053

Lieutenant General Dan Haeckel

Age: 33

Location: Cabra Rd, Blanchardstown, Dublin

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Doing this a second time was in no way easier.

"How's the baby gonna come out? Isn't it too big?" my ten year old son asked from the back seat.

"Yeah, that's why it hurts like hell," Sondra drawled from beside me. My wife, bless her, was fiddling with the music as if she had not a care that she was about to bring another child into the world. At least this time the kid had waited for the day he was actually expected, rather than three weeks earlier.

"Ish said that the doctors cut his mum's stomach open to get his sister out... brutal."

I racked my brains to remember this 'Ish'... He was either the kid who came over and cried for his mum all night or he was the one who'd convinced Liam it would be okay to sneak out of the school grounds in the middle of a lesson to meet up at the park. I'd been hoping that he was no longer friends with either of them.

"That's an option," I said slowly, glancing to the side to see Sondra rolling her eyes. It would save her going through all that pain, and technology had advanced enough to leave her without a scar, but she was a firm believer in doing it naturally. That included no drugs. I was proud of her for being so brave but that wouldn't stop my hands from sweating nervously as I turned into the National Maternity Hospital's car park.

I grabbed the overnight bag filled with her must-haves from the back seat and then took her hand. I felt a small tremor run through her and squeezed her hand reassuringly. Despite the brave front, my wife wasn't completely fearless. Liam dawdled on my other side, taking in the sights of the hospital that he, thankfully, had never seen.

"What if it gets stuck? 'Cause, seriously Dad..." Liam glanced over at Sondra solemnly. "That's one massive kid. She could get the record for the fattest baby ever born by the looks of it."

"Watch your mouth, kid," Sondra said darkly. Her face was slightly pale and I had to stop myself from wrapping an arm around her and brushing her hair off her forehead soothingly in the public foyer of the hospital.

"You were bigger," I said quietly, winking at my son.

He struggled to keep his face straight. "Was not." He kept his voice down. "It's like she swallowed five watermelons whole. Maybe there're two babies in there. Are you sure it's not twins? Or maybe Mum's had too much of my ice-cream..."

I cuffed him over the back of the head. "There's one kid, and he's going to be your little brother. And it's not Your ice-cream. I don't see you offering to pay for it."

"Hey, hey!"

I closed my eyes slowly and held back an annoyed groan. Unfortunately, when I opened them, Sondra's brother, Marc, was still approaching us, his perfectly straight teeth near blinding me with their whiteness. Christ, did he get them bleached EVERY day?

"Okay, so I've notified the nurse and you're all set. Do you want me to wheel you to your room or can you waddle there?" He laughed as his own lame joke, a loud, drawn out laugh that made me want to choke him so that I'd never have to hear it again. Sondra brushed her thumb over the back of my hand and I turned to her, rolling my eyes, not caring if he saw.