Scientific Crescendo - Book 2: The Genetics Project 🪼✔

34 - Dr. Feelgood

SIM
From the down expressions that were on the faces of my family when I got back, I guess the talk didn't go as well as it should have. I asked Mom where Dad was but she said he went out and Ichor had locked himself up in his room again. I knocked on the door to his room and looked in.
"Ichor-"
"Go away..."
"It's me, Sim."
"I know. Go away. I don't want to see anyone."
"Ichor-"
"I said get!" he yelled, throwing his pillow at me.
I sighed and closed the door. I went to my room and saw that Northern was sound asleep. I looked over her crib and then touched her face softly. She breathed in deeply and licked her lips a little and I smiled. She was so adorable... I crawled into bed myself and decided that I needed a good nap.

**********************

Some weeks later, Tayla came to visit and Dad let us have ourselves a little date night and we sat across the table from each other.
"How's Northern?"
"She's doing great. She's growing so fast but she's a very good baby."
"That's good. When are you coming back to school?"
"I was going to try and wait until she was at least five months or something before I leave her all by herself and such. I also just want to relax my mind a little considering all the things I've been through."
She nodded, drinking a bit of her wine.
"Yeah, that was crazy. They still haven't found Sansr or Billy have they?"
"From what I understand they have completely disappeared."
"Have you heard those news reports though about the strange activity in the skies over Russia?"
"What do you mean?"
"There's been reports of these strange objects in the sky that have been hovering over Russia. They say that they are UFOs or some shit like that."
"Really? Aliens?" I said with a laugh.
Tayla laughed too. "I know, right? Like there are really aliens..."
We both laughed for a moment but then I stopped, remembering something."
"Tayla, I just remembered something from when I was captured by Gerald this last time."
"What is it?"
"When I asked him how he was able to escape he told me a story of how before he became a chemist, he was an astronomer. He sent out a probe to see if there were any alien races out in the universe. He said that the probe he sent out actually made contact with a race and to prove their alien-ness, they gave him a serum full of mysterious liquid. That liquid is what enabled him to shapeshift and stuff. What if these are the same aliens or something?"
"Sim, you're trying to tell me you believe in aliens? Next you'll say you believe in mermaids and werewolves."
"I'm not trying to be funny here, Tayla. I mean, seriously, I'm a man who just had a baby because my father's genetics got mixed up with a seahorse. The man who tortured me half my life could shapeshift, changing his skin and voice just by will. If I can't believe in some of the impossible then what can I believe in?"
"I'm not disputing that, Sim, because chemicals can happen. But real aliens in the sky? That's just not true."
I sighed, not really wanting to discuss all of these things to her. I didn't really want to believe it myself but with all the crazy things that happened to my family, what more was it to put faith in something just a little more farfetched such as aliens?
We finished our dinner and walked along the beach holding hands.
"Sim?"
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry that I haven't been closer to you all these years... We drifted apart and that's not cool."
"It happens sometimes but we're together now. You trust me and I love you..."
"We had to go through a lot of stuff to get to this point though. You had to get knocked up by your girlfriend and I had to... well... I had to get raped by my father and seek solace from you to ever trust you."
"Tayla, you don't have to-"
"I need to get this off my chest. I need to be free from this grip that he has had on me all these years. I want to love you freely."
"But-"
"Please..." I stopped walking and looked down at her as she looked up at me. "Please let me tell you." I nodded and she held my hands. "He never did anything after that night but he hurt me and my pride. My virginity was gone before I was twelve and thus I felt like a slut, unloved and thrown aside. He'd touch me every night but I knew that you, my best friend, would never do that to me. You let me come in to your room to escape and take care of me and I appreciate everything that you did for me. It gave me the strength to stand up against him. That time that you rescued me after you heard me screaming will never escape my mind; in fact, it's one of the fondest memories that I have of you. Charging in there with your baseball bat like you were some sort of major league slugger; all ten years of you just swinging away with the force of nothing more than a wet noodle. But you saved me and I loved you from that moment. I love you now, Sim."
I took my hands from hers and put my hands on either side of her face.
"I love you too, Tayla. You were always there when I had meltdowns or episodes that no one understood. You always cared for me when I went off the deep end or screamed in horror. You have always been my rock, my pillar. If it weren't for you, I don't think I could have been as sane as I am now if it weren't for your support... You complete me, Tayla Vitzbragen."
Tayla's blue eyes glistened in the moonlight and I leaned down to kiss her tenderly. She wrapped her arms around me and I ran my fingers through her hair. I had never felt so complete and so in love before than I did right now. I knew that a couple more nights like this would cause me to want to be with her for eternity.
We pulled away from each other and she licked her lips.
"Wow..."
"I can say the same... Tayla, I love you."
"I know."
She jumped into my arms and we rolled around in the sand.