Shadows May Fall

Petra's Suprise

Ender had been gone for two weeks, Bean thought that the amusing part of his situation was that Alai still remained at the beach house clinging to Nikolai, Bean, and Petra like a flea on a dog. The thing that confused Bean was why? Why was the caliph still remaining in Greece.

When confronted the nearly eighteen year old boy caliph shrugged and told Bean he didn't feel like going back home.

On that same day, Bean found himself swimming in the cerulean blue water of the shallow areas near the beach house. This was a habit he had recently taken up since Ender had left two weeks before. For some reason Bean liked the feel.

He liked how the higher pressure of the water pushed on his bones, trying to collapse them but never succeeding. The feeling of the water dragging him down towards the bottom where he could die a watery death. Where he could just disappear and not cause Petra any anguish at the event of his death that was approaching quickly.

Bean had recently gone to the specialist that had determined his condition incurable and that specialist determined that Bean had a year left, if that.

Bean would never see his eighteenth birthday, he would never be able to leave the continent since his large size and weakening heart prohibited Bean from air travel. He would never get to smile at Petra as they grew old together.

Bean could never have the things that he wanted later in his life, so he would find a way to have these things now. He still had Petra so while he lasted he could smile at Petra, he could live to see his seventeenth birthday, he could travel by boat off of the continent.

Bean knew that if he had he way, these goals would be accomplished but they would leave out one goal that he had, a family. Bean wanted the one thing he had never had, sure he had Petra and Nikolai and who was considered as his parents, but Bean wanted more than that.

He wanted something that would keep him alive even when he was long gone.

Something to give his Petra once he was dead.

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Petra sat nervously on the deck of the beach house watching Bean swim laps from one buoy he had anchored out in the water to another buoy. Petra knew that Bean had said he wanted a child, but she had no idea how he would react once he knew that Petra had gone behind his back and was now pregnant with their child.

The child that would hopefully inherit Bean's mind, yet not his condition that would cause the premature death of Bean.

Ugh Petra though with a big sigh.

"What's up Petra? Seems like somethings up." Petra glanced to her left to where Alai sat in a beach chair reading some random book that Alai had plucked from Nikolai's bookshelf without his knowledge.

With a glance back towards the water to make sure that Bean was still in the water Petra began to ramble, "Soooo...BeanwasseemingreallydowntheotherdayabouthisterminalconditionandhowhecouldneverhavechildrensoIwenttoaspecialistandnowImkindagoingtohavehisbaby."

Alai raised an eyebrow at Petra and turned his chair, "Okay, one more time a little slower please. I didnt catch any of that Petra."

Petra sighed with a solemn look on her face, "I'm pregnant, Alai."

A shocked look crosses Alai's face, "Wow Petra, I'm assuming its Bean's?"

"Yes Alai, did you really think I'd go and have an affair with another guy? You know I'm not that kind of girl."

The boy caliph shrugged, "Just checking." Alai looked out at Bean who was still swimming from buoy to buoy in the water. "How long?"

Petra followed Alai's eyes to Bean, "Three weeks." She returned her pleading eyes to Alai, "I just don't know how to tell him, I don't know how he'll take it."