HalfWorlder #Wattys2017

Epilogue

Darkness crashed down. The night was bitterly cold.

Too cold to be out here nearly nine months pregnant, I thought to myself. But who was I kidding? I wasn't about to let a little thing like this belly get in my way.

I shifted my awkward weight and patted the little thing growing inside me warmly. It was the only warm thing about this January night. But I couldn't leave well enough alone. The readings I had been picking up were astronomical.

And here? On the ranch of all places? But crazy things were always happening around Morty. Why not this? That's what drew me to him in the first place. There was something so different about him. Something I couldn't quite put my finger on. I'd figure it out soon enough, I'd thought. But I wasn't in any rush. After all, I loved a good mystery. That's why I fell in love with science in the first place. The galaxy was so full of mysteries. Who knows? Maybe I could figure out another one tonight? Especially with the baby coming; this could be my last chance for a while.

I bit the inside of my cheek. I tried to push the thoughts away.

You can do it. You have to do it. You're going to do it. You're going to give up that job offer from CERN for her – and for Morty.

I reached down and patted her again.

It had always been my dream to work there, but sometimes you dream better dreams. She was worth it. Let someone else work on the Large Hadron Collider, I thought. I can always work there when she's older.

I set down a fourth sensor and powered it up. Wobbling up unbalanced from my bulging stomach, I pulled out my notebook and took down the reading. I made a quick calculation in my mind. It was great having a calculator for a brain. Two hundred feet due west of here was the greatest probability point. I marked it in my notebook and walked toward it.

I stopped again, thinking, and knelt down to check my notebook. I needed to be sure. The solar fluctuations were so strong lately, and then the negative energy density readings had been off the charts. Something strange was going on here at Morty's property. It seemed unbelievable. Or was it something else? Something to do with Morty's otherness?

I stood up again awkwardly. It felt weird to be so huge. I had worn black to blend in with the night too, but had turned into something like a giant midnight-grazing moose. I didn't want anyone to find out what I was up to, so the outfit I wore made my surreptitious expedition all the more exciting. Long blonde curly hair stands out well in moonlight too, so I pulled mine into a ponytail and hid it under my coat's hood. I quickly tucked a few errant strands behind my ears and tightened it down for good measure. I smiled my gapped-tooth smile and picked up the pace.

If Morty knew what I was up to, I would be in such trouble. He was so protective – like it was his job or something. He sure wouldn't want me wandering around up here in the middle of the night with his baby girl, I thought, and patted my belly again.

Right.

"Little Alexandra," I said aloud to my belly. "We better be careful tonight. I'll stay back 50 feet just to be sure."

I computed the odds again mentally. Yes, that distance was within the calculable margin of error – well, that is, within the framework of humanity's existing knowledge of physics. I should be safe enough for whatever might happen. There was just a glimmer of the anomaly last time. I was too far away. I wanted to be close enough this time – belly or no.

My wrist monitor blinked and the air shimmered 10 feet from me.

"Oh, good night," I tried to back up, but I was too late. I guess our knowledge of physics was more limited than I wished to admit. I was 10 feet short of one cosmic sized oopsie. This was it though. It was happening. I was witnessing the formation of, of ... my brain stopped and I couldn't even think the word.