Chapter Text
“Do you want to know today? Or leave it a surprise?”
You glance at Simon. “It’s what he wants.”
The decision is his, but he’s sitting there like an idiot, unable to form the words he wants to say. Simon’s childhood consisted of sorrow after sorrow, each memory gnarled and sharp. Fatherhood is rapidly approaching, growing closer each day. It would be a lie if he said he wasn’t frightened.
“Today,” Simon answers.
The ultrasound tech grins, moving the probe over your stomach to a specific spot. “See this here? You’re having a boy.”
You break out into a wide smile, reaching out to tightly grasp Simon’s hand, squeezing it in reassurance. Old memories start to crawl their way up, wanting to push Simon down into the sludge of history, but he brushes it aside—refutes those emotions for what they are. A farce.
Simon is not his father. This, he vows. Whatever happened to him in a distant life, it will not be Simon’s future.
With you, and this new life growing inside you, means Simon can start again—to do things differently from his father. There will be joy. Happiness. Love enough to drown.
Simon will be different.