Arrivals in the Maternity Ward

Chapter 13
Bonusending 2: Golden Horizon

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Chapter Description: It has been two years since a little girl called Kimberly has been adopted, when her parents get a call which might change or even end their family forever. Will the shadows of a tragic past claim their innocent daughter or was in truth everything they built together a lie? Second of four Bonusendings for the original Endings! Based on a chat with an AI about the proper treatment of age regressed people ... I wasn't disap-pointed. Thanks to Areat for going through it and helping me with the polish.

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Two year old Kimberly sat on the soft carpet in the living room of her parents’ house, playing with her cherished dolly Ava. Giving her the toy baby bottle, she displayed a loving tenderness, occasionally pushing back her long black hair and pulling at her simple yellow dress. Such sunken she was in her play that she didn’t even notice her diaper under the dress growing warm.

 

Her mother silently entered the room, adoring her daughter without the girl even noticing. The care and skill the little girl displayed in caring for her doll was touching and the way she could submerge into her innocent little world of make-believe something to be envious of. When Kimberly finally did notice her, she stood up and giggling ran to her.

 

“Mommy!”, the toddler squealed and rushed into her waiting arms.

 

Mother and daughter shared a warm embrace, their laughter filling the air. Picking her up, Kimberly’s mother could feel her damp diaper under the dress.

 

“Time for a change!” She decided.

 

She carried her little girl to her nursery, full of plush toys, Disney princesses decorating the wall, a crib near the window and a changing table. On the latter the mother laid the little girl down and gave her a pacifier to ease any anxiousness about leaving her play time. Still Kimberly playfully kicked her legs, not making it easy for her mother.

 

Just then Kimberly’s father entered.

 

“Oh, someone wants to play,” he noticed, joining the tender moment. “Can Hubble join, too?”

 

With this he grabbed a blue plush rabbit and made it hop in front of his daughter’s face, causing her to squeal and giggle. Him distracting their toddler, allowed his wife to complete the task of cleaning and putting a fresh diaper onto her. Teamwork having one again prevailed over innocent energy, just moments later they carried her back into the living room, as she was busy hugging Hubble.

 

On their way, they passed photos hanging on the wall showing the happy moments of the little family. Them coming home with three month old Kimberly, the infant looking unhappy and frowning. Them holding Kimberly after she had made her first crawl, the girl looking confused, as if she tried to remember something just out of reach. An image of her first steps, a happy smile on her face. A photo of Kimberly celebrating her first birthday, her hands and mouth smeared with cake, the girl smiling innocently, showing her white teeth. So many more photos of happy family moments followed.

 

“Off you go!”, the mother said, putting Kimberly down and sending her off with a pat on the diaper. “Kiss Ava from me.”

 

The little girl giggled as an answer, as she let herself fall on the soft carpet. Immediately she was once again fully concentrated on her game, forgetting everything around her. Kyle Paylen embraced his wife Sarah and they shared the serene peace of watching their daughter play.

 

The ringing of the phone interrupted this precious moment. With a sigh Kyle went to it and picked it up. It needed only a few seconds to make the annoyance in his face turn to shock.

 

***

 

Kimberly obediently held her parents’ hands as they walked down a large floor. The little girl had no idea where they were, or why they had dressed her into her special pink dress and flower hair band, only that her mommy and daddy were tense since a few days. Their smiles weren’t as full as normal and once she had even noticed dried tears in her mommy’s face. Even now they showed a seriousness she wasn’t used to and their hands held hers very tight.

 

Kimberly’s parent had told her something about this being a special place, where they would need to do boring adult stuff. All she had to do was to wait for them a bit and everything would be all right. She found she didn’t like this big, strange building which made her mommy and daddy sad, but she tried to be brave for them, even when she felt her heart beating hard from fear. After a what felt like a long and scary journey to the little girl, they entered a big room. Kimberly’s eyes grew wide upon discovering it was full of toys. As her daddy talked with a woman at the door, her mommy led her to the toys and knelt down.

 

“Be a big … a good girl and play nicely, it is just like daycare,” her mommy told her. “You mommy and daddy will be back soon.”

 

“Yeth mommy,” Kimberly promised, feeling scared, as much by the strange tone in her mommy’s voice as by being left in this strange room.

 

“Mommy loves you,” Sarah said and embraced her daughter.

 

With this she turned around, but not before Kimberly noticed the tears glittering in her eyes. The little girl felt close to crying too, but then her daddy, being done talking to the woman, approached his daughter, knelt down and gave her a smile.

 

“Daddy loves you, too,” he told her. “Take care of Ava while we are away.”

 

With this her daddy handed Kimberly her baby doll and embraced her. She didn’t want him to let go, she felt so secure in his embrace, as if nothing could harm her. Still, he did, leaving the room, holding her mommy’s hand. The little girl watched after them, holding her own dolly tight, once again feeling tears beginning to form in her eyes. Her mommy and daddy were afraid, but what …

 

“Hi!”

 

Kimberly looked to the woman who had sat at the entrance and who was now kneeling next to her.

 

“Huwo,” the toddler replied, feeling shy.

 

“I’m April,” the woman introduced herself with a warm smile. “Who are you?”

 

“Kimberly.”

 

“Nice to meet you Kimberly,” April said. “Don’t worry, your mommy and daddy will be back in no time. Why don’t you play a bit meanwhile?”

 

The little girl didn’t really feel like playing, indeed she didn’t feel much, only a dumb, nameless fear of something she didn’t understand. Vaguely she noticed her diaper growing slightly warm, but this didn’t even begin to concern her. Her parents had said it would be just like daycare, but none of her friends were there, nor Ms. Carol or Ms. Buwy. Still the woman took her left hand and led her to the center of the room where on a table just her size, another girl of her age was sitting and doodling with crayons. She had blonde hair formed into a ponytail, blue eyes with a hint of grey and wore a white dress with red flowers.

 

“Kimberly this is Emily. Emily this is Kimberly,” April introduced them.

 

The other girl looked up and upon seeing the expression in her face, Kimberly understood that Emily was feeling the same about being here as she did. Both girls didn’t say anything when the woman left them. Emily continued drawing and Kimberly put Ava on the table patting her doll to make her no longer feel sad.

 

“Cute dolly.”

 

Kimberly looked up, finding the other girl watching her.

 

“She is Ava,” she explained.

 

“Umm …” The girl laid a finger on her lips. “Wanna draw?”

 

Kimberly lit up. “Yeth!”

 

Soon the two little girls were drawing side by side, exchanging crayons without hesitation.

 

***

 

In a courtroom the live feed of the children’s play room showed Kimberly and Emily playing with Ava, taking turns in pretend feeding and cradling the baby doll. Judge Gonzales watched it a moment and then took a wide look over the room. Kyle and Sarah Paylen with their lawyer on one side and Maria Lockney with her own on the other. Behind them sat various experts and witnesses, like Kimberly’s pediatrician, a child psychologist, an expert in the process of age-regression, various character witnesses and more.

 

“This is no easy situation for anyone. Harrowing might be the better word,” the judge began. “What happened in this maternity ward to a father who only wanted to protect his daughter is damnable. That is was done by androids built to protect him raised concerns and fears far beyond this nation. That new security protocols were installed in all androids, even the dismantlement of those involved brought little relief as the answers to what they had done to Stan Lockney was removed from or had never been placed in their data banks.”

 

The judge turned his head to the head of a robot nurse, clearly the center on the table with other evidences, alongside Dylan’s old plastic identity band and more. Its plastic skin was worn away, the once blue eyes grey, partly covered by dried algae.

 

“That the remnants of the robot nurse called Luna were found at the bottom of the harbor after nearly two years and even more that the crucial details of where she had gone with Mr. Lockney could be extracted from her memory seemed like a wonder, but a wonder leading not to a reunion, but a grave decision you came here today for me to make.” Gonzales swallowed. “A decision which goes deep into the heart of two families and the very idea of identity.”

 

The judge looked at a pin board where photos of Stan Lockney and Kimberly Paylen were pinned on. The differences between the grown man and the toddler girl were profound, insurmountable even.

 

“What was done to Stan Lockney was a crime, but the little girl he has become since is innocent of it. With, as the experts laid out, no chance of anything but shreds of his memories returning, putting Kimberly Paylen through a therapy which not only would cause her stress, but risks harming her psychologically would be a crime, too. There is no way of restoring Mr. Lockney, so Kimberly will be allowed to continue her life with her parents.” Judge Gonzales looked to Maria, whose face turned pale, even as the Paylens embraced in relief. “Had this come out within the first months or even the first year things might have been different. Now the only thing left is it not harming more lives.”

 

For a long moment there was silence, until finally Maria spoke.

 

“I understand your decision and won’t litigate it,” she told the judge. “I have only one request: My daughter never met her father … not the way she should have … allow her at least time with … with Kimberly. As friends.”

 

The judged considered it, then nodded.

 

“A reasonable request,” he noticed, turning to the Paylens. “Do you agree?”

 

The couple looked at each other, then at Maria.

 

“I think playdates can be arranged,” Sarah Paylen promised, her voice filled with uncertainty. “We … understand your pain.”

 

Maria nodded silently. The pain was still there, tears were running down her face, but still there was thankfulness in her eyes.

 

“With this agreed, I hereby close this hearing,” the judge declared and let her his hammer fall.

 

On the monitor Kimberly and Emily could be seen playing with blocks. The girls were smiling innocently, free of what was or could have been, instead just enjoying time as playmates. And just for a moment they looked like sisters.

 

The end

 

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