Morbus and David walked to the living room via the kitchen. When Morbus saw the young woman sitting on the couch talking with Brie and Nicole, he froze. David turned when he felt that Morbus was no longer behind him. “Is everything ok, Morbus?” he asked.
“I swear to God I just saw a ghost, David.”
“Who?”
“My old girlfriend Karyn. I haven’t seen her since before the explosion.”
“Holy hell, Morbus, I’m sorry. I didn’t know that. If I had, I wouldn’t have let her in.”
“It’s okay, David. I’ll go see what she wants.” He took a deep breath to steady himself, then walked into the living room. He looked at Karyn, the only thing on his face that was obvious were his eyes. Everything else was covered by the hood he wore. “Hello Karyn.”
“Rex. Oh, my God, honey, what happened to you?”
“Explosion ruined my face and eyes. You don’t want to see the mess the Utopians left me face, Karyn.”
“Rex, I loved you before the scarring. Why wouldn’t I love you now?”
“Karyn, that explosion made me a monster. My training has made me even more so. How can you love a monster?”
“Let me be the judge of that.” She stood and gave him a defiant look.
His eyes went from cold to concerned. “Are you sure about that, Karyn?”
“Yes. Let me see for myself if I think you’re a monster.”
He swallowed hard, then his hands came up to pull the hood that covered his face back. “Please, if there is a God up there, don’t let her freak out. She’s the only girl I’ve ever loved. Please let her be accepting of what I am now”, he thought as he uncovered his face. His eyes locked on hers, anticipating her reaction.
She watch calmly as the hood came back. Once it was down and resting on his shoulders, she took every inch of his face in. “It’s not that bad. It would take a little getting used to, but, Rex; I never cared what you looked like. I don’t care now. I love the person you are inside.”
“Karyn, I’m not that same person anymore. I’ve done things you don’t even want to think about. I’ve watched the people in this ROOM do things you don’t want to think about.”
“Like what, Rex?”
“I watched Brie Draiman blow her own cousin’s head off and not flinch from the thought of it. What made her lose her lunch was the fact that she was covered in the Utopian bitch’s brain matter.”
Karyn looked at Brie. “You did that?” Brie just nodded and went on with her packing.
“Hmm… interesting. What else, Rex? Give me something YOU’VE done.”
“I blew up a Utopian Extermination Squad with an RPG rocket launcher. Before the last safe house move, I slit the throats of two Utopian soldiers that blew the other to shit with a sawed off shot gun.”
“They were all Utopians and therefore deserved it.”
Morbus looked at her in shock. “You really don’t care, do you?”
Karyn shook her head. “No, Rex, I don’t care. Because, at the end of the day, you’re still the sweet, funny, quirky guy I fell in love with.”
As if by sheer reflex, Morbus’s hand reached out and caressed her cheek gently. “I’ve missed you so much, Karyn.”
She smiled softly, trapping his hand against her cheek with her own hand. “And I’ve missed you, Rex.”
Every other couple in the room watched with a smile. Brie had an arm wrapped around David’s waist. “It’s nice to see him happy, isn’t it?” she asked.
“Yeah, it is. He’s overdue”, David said.
Dan and Nicole, Mike and Tina, John and Kristen; they all shared the same sentiment.
--------------
They took a break from their packing and sat and got to know Karyn better. She and Morbus had been together since high school and she was a World Lit major in College. “I love literature. I always have.”
Brie and David had been sitting and practically staring at her in between whispering sessions. Finally, Brie rolled her eyes and blurted out, “Karyn, I know we hardly know you, but I have a question for you.”
She smiled. “Ok. What is the question?”
“David and I want to have two more children, but I can’t carry children anymore. I’ve already gone through menopause, which sucks by the way, and before that I had a bad miscarriage. Anyway, to cut to the case, David and I were both wondering if you would be so kind as to be a surrogate for us?”
Karyn blinked at them. “Are you FUCKING KIDDING ME? Tell me you’re NOT joking please.”
David smiled at the girl. “We’re not joking.”
Everything in her wanted to automatically say yes, but she wanted to clarify something first. “I don’t have to sleep with David, do I?”
David laughed. “My wife would kill BOTH of us if that were to happen. I love my wife and I like breathing. No, Karyn, you wouldn’t have to sleep with me. And, we’ll tell you the same thing we the last surrogate. We’ll take care of the medical bills and if you need a place to stay, you and Morbus can stay in the guest house at our house after we get moved the hell out of here.”
She didn’t know what to say. She was shocked to say the least. “Let me just be clear. You two aren’t kidding?”
“No, we’re not kidding”, Brie laughed.
She looked at Morbus. “What do you think?”
“I think that if you WERE to do something like this for a couple, you couldn’t pick two better people. David and Brie are two of the nicest people I know. I can count all the genuine souls I know on both hands and they’re all sitting in this room.”
She smiled at him, then looked at David and Brie. “Yes, I’ll be your surrogate.”
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