Life has been rough for Violet Denson and it doesn't seem to be getting any easier. When she was thirteen years old, both of her parents were killed in a car accident. It was especially difficult because she was an only child. From then on, she was in and out of foster homes until she turned eighteen and graduated from high school. Just after high school, she married the love of her life who was enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. After five blissful years of marriage, Violet became pregnant with twins. Unfortunately, her husband had been assigned to an undisclosed location in the middle east for most of her pregnancy. On January 7th, 2042, Violet was awakened by a knock on the door. Upon opening the door, there were two men in uniform who were there to tell Violet that her husband's plane had been gunned down. The news was devastating and gut wrenching. After the well adorned military funeral, Violet withdrew from everyone. She struggled to grasp the fact that she had nobody to turn to for help with the twins whom she was due to have in two months. It had been three weeks since learning of her husbands death, when Violet began to have severe flu like symptoms and because she was so late into her pregnancy, she was admitted to the hospital. The doctor realized that Violet had contracted what was believed to be a new, rare strain of the Ebola virus. Consequently, her doctor referred her to a specialist, named Dr. Desmond Harris, who had been working on specialized research in cures for the various strains of Ebola. Dr. Harris had more specifically been working on a cure for pregnant women who contract the Ebola virus, as well as a vaccine for the unborn babies. Accordingly, only women carrying twins were candidates for this study, as it was desired not to risk the lives of both babies. During her first appointment, Dr. Harris assured Violet that he would do his best to save her and her babies, but the risks were very high. Also, he told her he would only vaccinate one of the babies, so that if the vaccinated baby ends up dying, the other one would still have a chance of living. Violet was also made to understand that because she did not seek medical attention right after coming down with the virus, coupled with the strains her body had already been through while carrying twins, that her chances of survival were slim. Her main concern was for her babies, so she was willing to take the risk. She also knew that with no intervention, all three of them would die, giving her no other choice. Violet agreed to his terms, and signed the necessary release waivers. She was relieved to learn that she would have to stay at the hospital for the remainder of her pregnancy so that she and the babies could be closely monitored. She grew very close to Desmond, and at this point, she and the doctor were on a first name basis, as well as all of the other people who were tending to her during this time. Knowing that the chances of her death were high, she asked Desmond to take care of her boys if anything were to happen to her. He agreed wholeheartedly. Violet's health rapidly declined and two weeks later, she gave birth to two healthy baby boys. Her dying words were,
"Thank you for taking care of my babies, Desmond ... Mommy loves you, Finley and Landon."
Desmond gladly and lovingly followed Violet's wishes. Since paperwork had all been signed before her passing, he was able to take the twins directly home when they were released from the hospital. Desmond kept true to his word, loved and cared for the boys, and raised them as his own, never telling them that he wasn't their father or disclosing what had actually happened to their mother. He also thought it would be best if they didn't know that one of them, because of the injection given to him in the womb, was immune to all diseases, but the other isn't. A former colleague of Desmonds, Penelope, who lives across the street, was able to lend great support in caring for the boys, as she was a stay-at-home mom and had a daughter of her own.
When the boys were in the fourth grade, Finley got the flu and was out of school for two weeks. This obviously wasn't the first time he had gotten sick. Landon's curiosity got the best of him and when he came home from school, he asked his father,
"Dad, how come I never get sick?" to which Desmond responded,
"Do you want to get sick?"
"Well, no, not really... I just don't get why all of the other kids at school have gotten sick a lot of times and I haven't even gotten sick once! Other kids tell me I'm weird or that I'm some kind of freak alien from another planet!" Desmond chuckled and lovingly put Landon on his lap.
"Son, do you know what the immune system is?"
"Yes, we learned about it in school," Landon eagerly replied.
"Just because you have a very strong immune system, does not mean you are weird or from another planet. Those other kids don't know what they're talking about. Maybe the ones who get sick are the weird ones from other planets!" Landon chuckles to himself and Finley chimes in with him.
"I heard that, dad!" Finley quickly retorted. They all laugh and Landon decides that him never getting sick doesn't mean anything, so he goes to play outside with Ivory, Penelope's daughter. Since Ivory has lived across the street from Landon and Finley their whole lives, and Penelope has helped care for the boys, they've grown up together and the three have become inseparable.
From their childhood and into high school, their bonds grow even stronger. Landon and Ivory realize how much they have in common and fall in love. Before Landon asks Ivory to "go steady," using his fathers terminology, he makes sure to ask Finley if he's okay with it.
"Of course I'm okay with it!" he insists. "You two are meant to be together! Besides, she's not my type," and Finley subtly winks at Landon.
After high school, Ivory decides to stay close to home for college so her mom, who has had bouts with depression, is not alone. Landon follows Ivory's lead as they apply and are accepted to The University of Texas at Austin. Likewise, Landon did not want to be too far from home. Finley goes to Texas A&M University. As soon as they graduate from college, Landon proposes to Ivory. She enthusiastically, and with bounding joy, accepts. They get married in the fall and and the following winter, Finley becomes ill. At first, they assume he just has the flu, but after ten days, they realize that it's much more serious than that. After seeing a doctor, he learns that he has contracted yet another form of the Ebola virus which lied dormant in his body until just recently. Further tests are run and Desmond's worst fears have come true. His son is dying from a mutated strain of what Finley and Landon's mother had died of. With a heavy heart, he resolves that it's time to tell the boys what really happened to their mother. They are shocked to find out that Desmond is not their real father, but at the same time, they are very thankful he took them in and loved and raised them as his own. It made them love, appreciate, and respect their mom, Desmond, and their real dad all the more. Desmond notices that Finley is being very quiet so he asks,
"You're awfully quiet, Finley. What are you thinking about?"
"Well, I was just trying to figure out why you would be so willing to take in twin boys and raise them as your own..."
"Several years before you were born, I was married. Her name was Aurora. She was kind, loving, compassionate, and the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. We had been married for seven years and had been trying to get pregnant for six of those years. Finally, we decided that we were going to adopt so we flew to Africa to visit an orphanage. When we got back home, we found out that Aurora was pregnant. We decided to hold off on the adoption until our own baby was a little bit older. It was the happiest day of our lives. Everything was perfect until she became severely sick. At first, we assumed that she had food poisoning. Her symptoms persisted and we took her to the hospital. That's when we found out that she had caught a disease known as Ebola while we were in Africa. We aren't sure how she contracted the disease but truthfully, at that point, I didn't care. All that mattered to me was saving the lives of my wife and child. She hadn't even reached the second trimester of her pregnancy when the disease took her life. There was no way that we could save the baby, it was much too premature. It was too early to even tell whether it was a baby boy or a baby girl. That's when I decided that the rest of my life would be devoted to find a cure for the disease that killed my wife and child. After conducting numerous experiments, I was ready to run test trials on humans. It was shortly after this that your mother was referred to me as a patient. When she asked me to take care of her children if something were to happen to her, I knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that it was a blessing from God."
Landon anxiously inquires,
"If you tried to inject our mother and me, why can't you give Finley the same injection?"
"By all means, we will do that. But his chances are slim to none that it will be effective. The serum is most effective when given to an unborn child because the child has not yet been exposed to viruses or germs."
"Has an adult ever survived after being given the serum?" Landon asks.
"Yes... there was one."
"Well, who? And how can we make it work for Finley?!" At the thought of Finley's impending doom, Desmond looked at Ivory and tears began to swell in his eyes. He was able to choke out these few words,
"We need to talk to Penelope." Ivory, with a puzzled look on her face said,
"How will my mother be able to help this situation?"
"She's the one who survived," Desmond responds. Landon, Ivory, and Desmond immediately head over to Penelope's house in hopes that she will lend insight as to how Finley can be saved.
"Mom? Are you home?" Ivory shouts as they enter the house.
"In the kitchen, sweety!" Ivory bolts into the kitchen crying, tears running down her face, with Landon and Desmond in tow.
"Pumpkin! What's wrong? Are you hurt? What's the matter?"
"It's... it's Finley *sob*"
"What's wrong with Finley?" Penelope anxiously asks. Desmond interjects,
"I told them..."
"You told them... what?" Penelope replies with some hesitation.
"I told them about Violet. Finley's in the hospital."
"No... not Finley!" Penelope said as she and Desmond began to cry.
"I'm afraid so... and I've given him the injection but he's already in stage 3."
"Mom, what is going on? How do you know what he's talking about??"
"Pumpkin, there's something I never told you. While I was pregnant with you, I was diagnosed with the same illness that Landon and Finley's mother, Violet, had. At the time, I was Desmond's colleague, and agreed to be a test patient for the new serum. So, they injected me and
one of my babies..."
"BABIES?!"
"Yes, babies. You had a twin sister. However, because the drug was still in the testing stages, they would not inject both babies because they were unsure if the baby would survive the injection or not. Out of the two babies, you were the one who got the injection. Your sister died before she was born." Penelope and Ivory began weeping.
"Why didn't you ever tell me this before?" Ivory calmly but steadily sobbed.
"I'm so, so sorry, pumpkin. I was hoping you would never have to know. Losing my baby was unbearable and I didn't want you to feel guilty because you survived and she didn't. Her name was going to be Lily-Mae."
"Isn't there anything you can do, Desmond?" asked Penelope.
"I'm afraid not, Penny. It wasn't supposed to work on you, but it did. We've already given Finley the injection and all we can do now is wait and see if it works."
A few weeks later, Ivory announced that she was with child. Everybody was very excited for Landon and Ivory, especially Finley. Landon spent as much time at the hospital with Finley as possible. He passed away three weeks later.
Landon and Ivory decided to be test subjects in hopes of helping Desmond further his research and making the cure successful for all people, not just unborn babies. After running numerous trials, Desmond was able to come up with a serum that proved to work in everyone. He also discovered that babies who are injected in the womb, can pass on their immunity to their own children, thus making Landon and Ivory's offspring immune from all diseases and viruses.
Five months after Finley's passing, Ivory gave birth to a healthy baby boy named Finley and his beautiful twin sister, Lily-Mae.
