“We should leave,” Joshua said. The nurse had only been out of the room for a moment before he suggested it.
“Nonsense,” his wife replied without looking at him. Her focus rested entirely on the wiggling bundle in her lap. A fair-skinned, dark-haired baby boy giggled at her various faces. “We need to get our boy taken care of.”
“Something isn’t right, Mary,” Joshua said. “The nurse looked surprised when she gave him his first shot,” he said. “You saw how fast she excused herself.”
“It’s a doctor’s office, dear. Things come up,” Mary replied while still making the boy giggle.
She was supposed to give him more than one,” Joshua added. “What if he’s not… normal,” Joshua asked. That did get Mary’s attention. She looked at her husband with stern eyes.
“Our boy is perfect,” she said. “The nurse said she’d be back in a moment; maybe she went to get the rest of the vaccines.” The baby’s giggles died down without Mary’s attention, but they began again as soon she was locked onto his sparkling blue eyes. Joshua sighed and leaned closer to Mary’s ear.
“Honey…,” he said. “I know we’re going to love him no matter what, but you have to consider the fact that we found him in a crater in a field. Maybe something happened when she gave him the shot.”
“If something out of the ordinary happened, don’t you think she would have shown it a bit more?” Mary asked. “She didn’t even blink, she injected him, then set the needle down and excused herself.” Mary paused for a moment after that and tilted her head slightly; she looked up from the baby again.
“She didn’t dispose of it properly…,” Mary realized. Joshua stood and walked to the small cart the nurse left behind. He picked up the plunger and examined it; the needle only extended a fraction of what he expected, he held it out to his wife.
“It’s broken,” she said plainly. Then she looked down at the baby’s leg and realized the nurse left without applying a bandaid. “Maybe we should,-” Mary’s suggestion was interrupted by a knock on the door. It swung open to let in a tall, lean, aqua-haired woman in a white coat.
“Mr. and Mrs. Clark, my name is Dr. Mundo,” the woman smiled at them, then she looked down at the baby in Mary’s lap.
“Oh my, it looks like you’re going to have your hands full with this one,” she said. Mundo tilted her head slightly, as if she noticed something, then he gave Mary and Joshua a more thorough appraisal.
“Where did you find him?” she asked.
“He’s my son!” Mary said. Her voice only carried slight traces of annoyance and anger; but, they were enough to interrupt the baby’s giggles. Dr. Mundo shook her head.
“Not biologically,” she said. The Clarks stood to leave, but Dr. Mundo continued. “I’m not trying to take him away from you, but if you’re going to raise him, there’s a lot you need to know. To give you the right information, I need the right information from you,” she said.
“Why?” Joshua asked. He realized that seemed vague and clarified. “Why aren’t you trying to take him away from us?”
“The simple answer is, he’s not from this Earth,” she said. “I’m not sure how he got here. If his real parents ever come looking for him, that’s for you and them to work out. Until then, I know you’ll give him a good home.”
“What do you mean he’s not from Earth?” Mary asked. Both parents sat down again; they seemed to trust the doctor a bit more.
“Oh, he’s from Earth. Just not this one. Alternate universes exist and this little cutie seems to be from one of those.”
“How do you know… any of this? You just walked in,” Joshua asked. A broad smile took over Dr. Mundo’s face.
“I’m so glad you asked,” she said.
“I’ll get to that answer eventually. First, let’s talk about your baby, have you named him yet?”
“Constance,” both parents replied simultaneously; to their surprise. Things happened so fast, they hadn’t had any time to discuss names. They had a library of names to choose from; they often discussed children in the past. Before they gave up. However, Constance was not on any of their lists.
“It’s a beautiful name,” Dr. Mundo said. “So, let’s get started. Your son is what’s known as a ‘Unique Soul’. I mentioned alternate universes earlier; you should know that a ‘Unique Soul’ does not have a counterpart in any other universe. In all of infinity, there is only one child like your son.” Both parents smiled at that extra bit of information.
Dr. Mundo was about to say more when a sudden knock struck the door. The same nurse that tried to give Constance a vaccine peeked in but now her white uniform was covered with a growing green sludge.
“Dr., I’m sorry. Fae emergency,” she said. Dr. Mundo nodded, then turned her attention back to the Clarks.
“I’m sorry, something’s come up. But, we really should continue this. Please make an appointment on your way out,” Dr. Mundo turned to leave the room, but paused in the doorway.
“You should know that Unique Souls often attract each other. Now that he’s part of your life, you should be prepared for lots of unexpected things. If anything out of the ordinary happens before our next meeting; here’s the important stuff. Your son is Unique Soul #42, La Calavera. Even at his age right now, he’s the strongest person on this Earth. On top of that, he’s also a Super with the ability to fly.” She turned away again, leaving them semi-confused. But, to their surprise, she paused again after a step.”And, one final piece of advice until our next meeting. If you ever meet anyone named Dana Sharp; or someone claiming to be from Sharp Development. Do not trust them under any circumstances.”