A world split

Chapter 1

I woke up to my pregnant husband, Luke. We had decided to conceive a child whilst the women weren't attacking us so we could both be there to see our child be born. I kissed him awake and he pulled me in close.
"I love you, John." He said.
"I love you too. We should get something for breakfast. I'm feeling donuts, maybe?"
"Yeah," Luke's eyes lit up. "Let's do donuts. The baby really wants some, and by the baby I mean me."
"I know, Luke. Get dressed and we can go down to the donut shop on the corner. We'll walk."
"Do we have to walk, though?"
"Yes, Luke. We have to walk."
"Ugh. Fiiiiiiiine." Luke stood up out of bed and labored to put his pants on.
"Babe!" I yelled but it was too late.
As Luke was buttoning up his pants a grenade sailed in the window and landed next to him. Before I could tell him to move it went off and he began bleeding profusely from his stomach and chest. Water built up in my eyes but I tried to stay strong and I rushed to his side.
"Oh my god, Luke. I'm so sorry," tears began to stream down my face and I couldn't stop them. "It should have been me."
"No, honey. Don't think that way," he softly rested his hand on my face and I leaned into it hard. "Do you remember when we first met in the trenches? The women were just throwing mortar after mortar at us and we just snuck to your room and had sex. You always were an amazing guy. I love you."
Those were his last words. Luke's body went limp in my arms and a small baby slipped from his agaped stomach and cried. I grabbed a towel and scissors, cut the umbilical cord and wiped the baby clean. There were no cuts on his body. Somehow all the shrapnel from the grenade missed the baby. I rushed to the window with my M-4 and scanned the streets as well as the rooftops and alleyways. Not a single soul was in the streets. I grabbed my baby and rushed to the hospital, tears in my eyes, blocking my vision. I almost crashed three times but I made it to the hospital and rushed the baby inside. I was met by hospital staff outside the building and they took the baby and what had happened from me.
That's when it hit me. My husband was gone and now, somehow between deployments and constant war I had to raise this baby. I cried harder than I ever have before. My stomach hurt and my lungs ran out of air several times. About a half hour later I dried up my eyes and walked to the front desk, unsure of myself to the point where I almost fell over.
"Hi. My name is John freckdon and my baby was just admitted. Can I please go see him?"
"Of course you can, sir. Are you okay? I saw you over there." He looked at the corner I was in.
"I don't know. And honestly, I couldn't tell you. My husband was just killed by a grenade. It flew right through the window and," my eyes started to well up, "and I watched him die and then my baby somehow not dead slipped out of his stomach."
"It's okay, sir. If you need to," he slid a business card across the counter, "call that number. You will get all the help you need, whether it be with the baby or with your mental health."
"Thanks. Where's my baby?" I sounded a little harsh.
He pointed to the room on a map. I picked up the business card and practically sprinted to the NICU. My son was perfectly healthy and still crying.
"Can I hold him?" I said to a nearby nurse.
"Let me get a doctor."
"Of course. Go get him."
I waited for twenty minutes just staring into my son's eyes thinking about how he's gonna grow up with a failure dad and a dead one. How he'll never be able to say that he had two dads and how all the kids at school will make fun of him and how he will come home someday and ask why he only has one dad compared to the other kids' two dads. And I will have to tell him that his dad was killed by a grenade in my bedroom.
"Mr. Freckdon?" A voice interrupted my thoughts.
"Yeah? That's me." I looked at the source of the voice.
"Your baby is in perfect condition for a baby born the way he was. Honestly I'm surprised that he's alive. You're a lucky man. I'm sorry for your loss. It's rough to have to go through that."
"Thanks, doc. Can I have my baby, please?"
"No. He can't go because we've gotta watch him and make sure he's okay. There's a lot of issues that could have occurred during the birth as well he's a newborn so there's still a couple shots and monitoring we have to do."
"Okay. Is there a food court? I'm hungry."
"Yes. If you walk all the way down the hall and to the left. On your right there will be a pair of double doors. Go through them and you'll be there."
"Thank you."
I left the NICU and followed his directions. The whole time I was trying not to break down and I was really trying not to put my fist through a table. I returned to outside the NICU and fell asleep waiting for my baby to be given to me.