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We were home. Team Bravo was in Washington tracking down a serial killer that liked to cut his victims into small pieces and put them in gallon baggies to leave in random places. Which was incredibly gross and I was glad I wasn’t on that case. There’d been three victims so far.
I was sitting at Lucas and Trevor’s kitchen table. We’d just finished dinner. My mom was with us.
“I have questions, big important questions,” I said to the two men.
“We thought you might,” Trevor responded.
“What are you going to tell a child who wants to know how they got here?” I asked first.
“You mean would we out you as the egg donor?” Trevor asked.
“Pretty much.” I responded coolly.
“Would I be allowed to babysit?” My mom asked.
“Mom,” I said.
“I know it wouldn’t technically be my grandchild in the same way Nyleena isn’t technically my daughter, but I had to ask.”
“Still complicated,” I told Lucas.
“Honey, life is complicated. It’s the nature of living.”
“We would not out you without your approval. We can always say we just randomly applied to a clinic and got eggs from an anonymous donor.” Trevor finally said. “And yes, Myrna, I would want you involved. Lucas and I discussed that, and since you’re basically our family, it only seems right for you to be involved.”
“Although for the sake of ease, I would prefer if they didn’t call you grandma.” Lucas added after a moment of hesitation.
“I understand that,” My mom smiled at them.
“Are you guys really sure you want to pass along my genes?” I asked.
“Neither of us have a history of psychopathology in our families. We think it would be fine and if the child does turn out to be psychopathic, well your mom is across the street to give us tips. She did a pretty good job with two psychopathic children.”
“You remember my brother is in prison for mass murder, right?”
“Yes, but it wasn’t like he randomly killed innocent people at a mall. Your parents did a decent job of instilling some sense of morality in you and Eric, even if you are both psychopaths.” Trevor said.
“Okay,” I sighed. “What kind of timeframe are you thinking?”
“We’d like to start within the next year.” Lucas said.
“Okay.” I nodded as if I was in agreement even though I wasn’t sure I was.
“Do you have other concerns?” Lucas asked.
“I don’t know, not really. I’ve been researching it some and Xavier gave me the medical landscape for it. I still have reservations.”
“I think we expect you to have reservations that you can’t express, beyond just should I really pass along these genes.” Trevor reached across the table and took my hand. “You do understand why we want yours, right?”
“Not really.”
“Seriously?” Trevor asked. “Ace, you are smart, strong, independent, attractive, and very capable. Those seem like great traits to pass along to a child. Even if there is some risk of passing along your affect disorder.”
“Give me another week to think about it?” I asked.
“Of course, take a month or two months. We don’t want to rush you and have you decide later that it was a mistake. Because just like your mom is our neighbor, you are as well, it will be impossible to avoid our child.” Lucas said.
After I got back home, Kimberly called me. I’d put her phone number in my phone so her name popped up on the caller ID. I sat at the kitchen table with my mom. I wanted to get her advice one more time.
“Hey,” I said as I answered the phone.
“Hey, I was calling to give you an update. The judge ruled tonight to send Amber to KC to stand trial under the SKMM laws despite documented history of her condition.”
I groaned and Kimberly agreed with a groan of her own. This meant I would have to give evidence at a trial. Normally, that didn’t bother me, but with Amber, it did. Now I had something else to talk to my mom about because I was going to need advice on how to handle this.
“Dr. Abernathy is already writing an appeal. I called her first. She isn’t sure whether it will help or not, but hopefully.”
“Yeah, thanks, Kimberly.” I hung up and put my head on the table.
“Bad news I take it.” My mom said.
“Not great, they are going to prosecute the serial killer with DID under the SKMM laws. I don’t know why. Personally, I’m not convinced she’s entirely at fault for her crimes.”
“Who is then?” My mom asked.
“Her mom,” I answered. “I don’t normally blame mothers for that kind of thing, but this time, I’m feeling like it is probably her mom’s fault.”
“You’ve been having nightmares about it. I hear you at night yelling at Brexton.” My mom told me.
“And yet Lucas and Trevor want me to pass these genes along.”
“That’s because Lucas and Trevor love you, they see the good in you more than the bad,” my mom said.
“And you?” I asked.
“I’m not a nonconscious observer, I have a stake in the pot because I love you too. The question is can you watch a little girl or little boy grow up across the street knowing that the child has your genes?”
“I don’t think I have maternal instincts,” I responded.
“Probably not, but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be difficult.” My mother said. “Even with Isabella and Eric, it was hard to watch Nyleena grow up for both me and your dad. Because we knew she was our child, but we weren’t raising her. If your dad could feel that way, I’m not sure you couldn’t also feel that way.”
“That’s illogical.”
“Probably, but our brains aren’t always logical, especially when it comes to children,” my mom said.
I awoke at 5:27 am. My phone was ringing. It was Kimberly. This was going to be bad.
“I woke you,” Kimberley said.
“Sort of, I haven’t been sleeping well lately.”
“I thought you should know, Amber was killed last night after I spoke to you.”
“Killed?” I asked.
“Yes, I guess Brexton came out while they were distributing medications and attacked a guard and another patient. Staff had to give them a strong sedative to stop the attack. It stopped her heart.”
“So she was murdered?” I asked.
“We don’t think it was deliberate murder. It might have been an accident, or it’s possible that Brexton had a sensitivity to the sedative that the other personalities didn’t have. When I talked to Dr. Abernathy about it, she informed me that Martha was allergic to strawberries, but she was the only one allergic to strawberries.”
“That’s mind boggling.” I said.
“Yes it is. We are going to try to get hold of the leading expert in DID to see if they’ve ever heard of such a thing, but right now, that’s the theory we’re going with.”
“Okay, thanks.” I hung up as my mom opened my door.
“Bad news?”
“The killer with DID died of a bad reaction to a sedative that the other personalities didn’t have problems with.”
“Wow,” my mom said.
“Yep, good night, I’m going to try to get a few more hours of sleep.”
“Good night, honey,” my mom said as she shut the door.
