The Volunteer

"I need to tell you the truth, baby," she said.

"That would be a first," I said.

"Honey, I never really cheated on you," she told me.

"Boy, lady, you and I must have two very different definitions when it comes to cheating," I said.

"There was never really any other guy, well that's not entirely true. There was someone else, but it's not what you think," she tried to explain.

"Yeah, famous last words," I thought.

"You see, honey, the real reason I broke up with you is because I stopped taking my birth control pills and became pregnant. I did it on purpose. You have to understand, sweetheart, that I am seven years older than you are, and the timeframe for which I could safely conceive a child was growing shorter by the day. That being said, you were just about to start college, and I didn't feel that it was fair to tie you down with parenthood at this stage of your life, so I made up that story about another man and tricked you into promising that you wouldn't come after me. I know it was wrong of me to lie to you, but I truly believed I was doing it for your own good. Now you're here in this damn hospital bed, hooked up to all these machines, when you should be home with me and your son. Oh, that's right, you don't know, do you. I had a baby boy, honey. I named him Christopher. He has your eyes. He is perfect, but he needs his daddy. I need his daddy, too. I brought the ring, sweetheart. If you still want me after all this, I will proudly wear it and show the world I belong to no one but you, and if you don't, I'll understand that too. I know that I hurt you so bad with my lies. For what it's worth, I almost caved in and told you that night. I kept telling myself that I was doing this for you, but that too was a lie. The truth of the matter is that I was always insecure about our relationship. I was just waiting for the day that some hot young thing would come along and take you away from me. I mean, how could a woman like me compete with girls almost a decade younger, especially after I became all fat and bloated from my pregnancy? I told myself that you deserved someone better and younger than me, but as your Dad pointed out, that really wasn't my decision to make for you. I already know how I feel, and I am through questioning our relationship. You just need to wake up and tell me what you want, baby. Please, Ryan. Fight your way back to us. Fight for your family," Melody begged through her tears.

Of all the things Melody could have said, this was definitely something I never suspected. I really wasn't sure now what to feel. I mean, how does someone go from I'm a cheating slut to sorry honey I lied about cheating I just decided had your baby instead, without telling you about it. So many thoughts were running through my head at that moment that I couldn't even begin to process them all, so I tried focusing on the most important matters first. My biggest question was whether Melody was telling me the truth this time, or if she was merely manipulating me again to try and make me wake up. I knew what I was about to do would be painful, but figuring that I really didn't have much choice in the matter, I braced myself for impact and opened up the floodgates of emotions I had been repressing for the last year. All at once it hit me like a tsunami so powerful, in fact, that it actually caused a reaction to my dormant body. Doctors and nurses suddenly flooded my room, each of them fearing that this was the end for me, but I wasn't done yet.

Once I got myself under control, I found my new abilities to be quite amazing. On earth I had to concentrate entirely on a single person to before I could begin to determine if they were being honest with me or not, and even then sometimes I still wasn't sure. Here, in whatever state of consciousness I was in, it seemed to take almost no effort whatsoever to accomplish this feat. I knew instantly that Melody was telling me the truth about what happened. What I was still unsure of, though, is how I felt about it. How do I get over someone lying to me in a way that causes the type of anguish I went through, and then conspiring to keep my own child from me as well? It was at this point that something else began happening to me. I started having visions. I'd never experienced them before, but found mom's description of how they felt to be pretty accurate. They didn't come to me in any type of chronological order, but instead were random images, which were similar to movie clips. I saw me playing with my toddler son. We both were smiling. I saw myself changing his diaper, yuck, but I still seemed happy. I saw him at what appeared to be some party as a teenager. To my horror he was drinking and doing drugs. This was simply unacceptable. Next I envisioned myself married to someone other than Melody. My wife and I must have had kids of our own, as two small children were in the background playing some sort of game. I suddenly answered the door only to find Christopher there. He told me that his mother had died and he came here to meet me, his father. This was so strange, because I could tell in my dream that I had no idea who Christopher was, or that he even existed. Was I really going to forget my own son in the future?

"Mom, what's going on?" I asked.

"Honey, I was afraid this might happen. You see, the world is full of many dimensions. Generally as earthlings we are only conscious of one of them, but several really do exist, and they run parallel to each other. Here in limbo, the abilities which you've always possessed but subconsciously blocked are heightened exponentially. What you're seeing, my darling, are mere possibilities of how things might turn out should people react one way over another," she tried to explain.

"So my visions are not real?" I wanted to know.

"Oh, the images are very real, they just may not be from your own dimension," Mom said.

"So how do I know what to believe?" I inquired.

"You won't for sure, that's the problem with multidimensional visions," she told me.

"Can we go see my son now?" I asked.

"Yes, but we must hurry. As your abilities grow stronger, your human body grows weaker. If you stay here much longer you won't be able to fight your way back, even if you choose to do so," Mom explained.

My son was absolutely perfect, just like Melody described him to be, and as I got closer I noticed that the little guy really did have my eyes.

"He can feel us, you know," Mom told me.

"Can all babies sense spirits?" I asked.

"No, but he is your son, Ryan, he has the gift," she replied.

It was such a tranquil sight to witness my father sitting there holding his grandchild, that I just stood back smiling like a proud father. That is when I knew something was wrong.

"Mom, you're keeping something from me, aren't you?" I wanted to know.

"Yes honey, I didn't know how to tell you," she replied.

"It's about Dad, right?" I asked.

"I'm afraid so, dear. Your father is very sick. It's cancer, honey, and there is nothing that can be done about it. He will be joining me soon, well, actually he may be joining the both us, that is if you decide to stay, of course," she admitted.

This choice I had been given suddenly felt more like a curse rather than a gift. How could I possibly be expected to choose between being reunited with the family I had known all my life, or leaving them behind to embrace a future filled with nothing but uncertainty? In the end it was my vision of Christopher as a teenager that helped me make up my mind. Whether it was an actual prediction of the future or a crossover image from another dimension, I really couldn't tell. What was crucial is the fact that I needed to be present in my son's life to try and prevent this from happening. I knew that no matter how strong my abilities became, I just wouldn't be able to accomplish that from heaven.

"Mom, I love you and Dad with all my heart, but little Christopher needs a father more than I need eternal bliss. As much as it pains me to say this, I must to go back," I told her.

"I understand, honey. I would probably choose to do the same thing if I were in your shoes. Until you have experienced it, you will never understand the sheer joy of holding your own child in your arms. I want that for you, baby, and although I will miss you terribly, I know that one day, when it's time, we will all see each other again. Now get yourself but down there and take care of my grandson," she told me with tears in her eyes.

I came out of my coma that night, to the delight of everyone around me. My road to recovery was not an easy one, but I had made my decision and knew what I was fighting for. Melody and I had our problems, especially at first, but managed to get past them well enough that I did slip the ring I'd purchased on her finger, and I placed another one beside it about six months later.

"Dearly departed, we are gathered here today to pay tribute to our friend, Henry Foster. Henry is survived by his son Ryan, grandson Christopher and daughter-in-law Melody Foster," the preacher said.

"Honey, I just want you to know how sorry I am about your Dad. Once I got to know him, I could tell he was a good man, and I loved him like he was my own father," she said.

"He loves you too, honey, Mom and Dad both do. They're together now and happy, but we'll see them again someday," I told her.

"You really believe that, don't you?" she asked.

"I not only believe it, I know it for a fact, just like I knew you were innocent," I stated.

"Honey, I have something to tell you. I went to the doctor yesterday," she started to say.

"Oh God, baby, you're not sick are you?" I asked fearing the worst.

"Well, I must admit that I sometimes don't feel very well in the mornings, but the doctor assured me that this is just a temporary condition, and should clear itself up in about nine months or so," she explained.

Like an idiot was trying to figure out what type of illness lasted for nine whole months, when all of a sudden the answer hit me like a ton of bricks.

"You're pregnant?" I asked, bewildered.

"Yes, honey, I didn't want little Christopher to grow up as an only child, like we both did, so after he was born I stayed off of birth control. When we got back together again you never asked if I was still using it, so I just never bothered to bring it up either. Are you mad at me?" she asked nervously.

"Mad, baby, you couldn't have given me a better gift if you tried," I assured her.

Even though we buried my father today, I knew in my heart that he and mom were happy, and now so was I. As we were just about to drift off to sleep that night, after a very tender bout of love making, Melody turned to me and asked:

"Honey, if it's a girl, would it be alright if we named her Virginia?" she wanted to know.

I just smiled.

Note from author: Unlike the protagonist in my story, I am neither a computer hacker nor an expert on satellite or radio waves, so I have no idea if my explanation of them bouncing off one another is even plausible. All I can say is that it worked well in the story. Thanks for reading, and please keep in mind that all votes are welcome. - Double_entendre.