Love Child: A Manifest Story

Chapter One

A/N: Hey everyone! Just got through binge watching Manifest, and got this idea of what could happen after the finale. Hope you like!

***

For Saanvi Bahl, the weeks following the Death Date flew by in a whirlwind. She could finally resume a normal life, but that took a lot of adjusting when she'd been fighting through a dystopian nightmare for so long. She had to keep reminding herself that it was okay to be happy now. No one wanted to experiment on her, or lock her up, or worse. No one cared anymore. As far as the world knew, Flight 828 had landed without any issue. So Saanvi had very few people who would actually understand what she was going through.

But she had Ben, and that was enough. They still talked regularly, since she was Cal's doctor. Unfortunately, the time traveling meant that Cal had to beat cancer all over again, but Saanvi was confident that it would happen- which she expressed to Ben as the two of them sat in her office.

"I know he can beat it," Ben agreed with her. "I just wish he didn't have to. He's already been through enough trauma to last a lifetime. At least he doesn't have to remember 828 anymore."

"Life would be a lot simpler if we could all forget," Saanvi mused.

Ben frowned. "Still having the nightmares?"

She nodded. "I think Alex already suspects that something's wrong. I just don't think I can explain the truth to her. All the insanity that we went through...it was in a timeline that never existed for her. What if she thinks I've lost my mind?"

This was a real concern for Saanvi. She'd finally reunited with the woman she loved and didn't want to ruin it all with the truth about 828. Not to mention, she didn't want to end up in a mental institute either. Which was why the majority of the passengers were staying quiet about the matter.

Ben sighed. "Yeah, it's the same thing with Grace. I don't want her worrying about me on top of everything with Cal. Especially when she couldn't understand it. Sometimes it's just hard to pretend that things are normal. Not having Eden. Not having the Cal and Olive that I used to know. I mean, I'm grateful that they get a normal childhood now. I just..."

"It was a different kind of bond in the other timeline," Saanvi finished, understanding. "There's nothing wrong with missing that, Ben."

He managed a slight smile. "I'm glad that I have you to talk to about all this. You and Mick are really the only people who could get it."

As Saanvi returned a small smile, she felt a ripple of mild queasiness come over her. She'd been having these brief spurts of nausea for the better part of a week. But with no other troublesome symptoms, she'd been ignoring them.

"Saanvi?" Ben looked at her with concern.

"Hmmm? Oh, I'm fine. I just haven't eaten lunch yet," she assured.

Yet some nagging feeling in her gut told her it was more than that.

***

Later that evening, Saanvi went over to Alex's apartment for a romantic dinner date. She was looking forward to just relaxing and spending time with her girlfriend, but those plans changed when Alex's ex called saying that he couldn't watch their two kids that night.

"I'm sorry about this," Alex apologized as she hung up the phone. "Scott's dropping the kids off in a few minutes. Hopefully we can try this again tomorrow."

"Hey," Saanvi said, putting her hands on Alex's shoulders. "I knew you were a mom. The girls come first. Besides, we don't have to cancel exactly. We can just order a pizza and watch movies or something. It'll be fun."

Alex bit her lip. "It does sound fun. It's just that the girls have been having a hard time with the divorce. I don't think they're ready to see me with someone new."

Saanvi blinked. "But they've met me before. I'm not a stranger to them."

"They know you as my friend," Alex pointed out. "Saanvi, of course I want to be able to include you in my family. I just have to think about my kids right now. They aren't ready for that."

"So you're going to keep me a secret from them?" Saanvi couldn't hide her hurt. Even though she wanted what was best for Alex's daughters, she really thought Alex was ready for them all to move forward as a family. They'd talked seriously about moving in together, getting engaged...how could any of that happen when Saanvi was being kept a secret?

Alex sighed. "I love you. I don't want to keep you a secret from anyone. You just...you can't understand if you're not a mother."

Saanvi began to protest, but was stopped by a sudden, strong wave of nausea crashing over her. She covered her mouth with her hand and rushed to the bathroom, where she ended up hunched on the floor- vomiting into the toilet. She finally glanced up, catching her breath, when her gaze landed on a nearby shelf. Nothing particularly remarkable about it, except for one item that caught Saanvi's eye. An item that she hadn't used since before the time change.

Tampons.

Saanvi's eyes grew wide as she mentally calculated. Seven weeks. The Death Date was seven weeks ago.

"Saanvi?" Alex appeared in the room, kneeling down in front of her. "Are you alright?"

But Saanvi barely registered her presence. Flashes of memory played through her head, of her and Ben having sex, what felt like a lifetime ago. They agreed not to talk about it again. It was a different timeline, different circumstances. It was never supposed to impact the life they came back to. Yet, her gunshot wound traveled with her through time. Who's to say a fertilized egg couldn't do the same?

"Saanvi?" Alex tried again, visibly worried now.

"This can't be happening," Saanvi whispered, as it hit her like a ton of bricks. She was pregnant. And with this realization, she suddenly became lightheaded, and everything went dark as she passed out.