“Tag,” Danielle thought, “it’s time.”
“What?”
“Our little one is telling me that it’s time.”
“Call the doctor, get to the medical facility, oh my god, call Leila to come help you, I’m on my way.”
“Take your time, Darling. The baby says it will begin in three hours so I should begin preparing.”
Tag just sat stunned, “Danielle, can the baby communicate in words?”
“Not exactly, but her meaning is clear.”
“You just said her, is it a girl?”
“Yes she is, better be thinking of a name.”
“I’m on my way.”
Tag ordered the Captain of The London to jump the megaship straight to Earth. They had been testing the new ship on its first field trials and it had performed marvelously. “We have Admiral Kosiev on a channel for you sir,” Lt. Thomas said.
Tag pressed his com and said, “What’s up?”
“I just wanted to discuss Admiral Dorg’s upcoming effort to contact the Dremel. I’m concerned about him going in only one ship. He’s going into hostile territory and I don’t want to run the risk of losing him; he is after all a Cainth warrior and is reluctant to run from a good fight. If the Plant fleet is there he could bite off more than he could handle.”
Tag stared at his console for a moment and said, “Let’s have a conversation with him prior to him leaving. He will probably know we’re trying to protect him but I agree with you, we still need to do it.”
Kosiev thought for a moment and said, “If we position it right, he won’t.”
Tag laughed, “Five credits says he’ll know immediately.”
Kosiev smiled, “You’re on.”
“Sorry I have to run, Admiral but the baby is due to be born in three hours and I have to hustle to be with Danielle.”
“Congratulations, you better hurry to the medical center. How do you know you have three hours?” Kosiev asked.
“The baby told her.” Tag cut the connection and jumped on a shuttle to take him down to where Danielle was waiting for him.
Kosiev looked at the blank screen and shook his head, “The baby told her? I will never get accustomed to that family.”
Danielle sat in her bed and held Tag’s hand. “I love you, Tag. I was so lucky to have found you.”
“Danielle, I’m not completely certain that it was luck. Think about all that could have happened to prevent our meeting.” Danielle started to protest but Tag raised his hand and said, “Wait, hear me out.” Danielle sat back and folded her arms. “I’ve never explained to you how I’m so good in martial arts. You’ve seen firsthand how quickly I can respond to an attack. Do you know how much thought goes into my reactions?” Danielle raised her eyebrows and Tag continued, “None, absolutely none. It’s like my body is taken over by a power that I don’t control. I can see all that is happening but it’s like I’m a spectator to what’s taking place. This gift I was born with actually controls me in those attacks. I have been thinking about you and I for some time and I had an insight; maybe my gift and yours sensed each other and placed us in circumstances that would bring us together.”
“Tag, get real. How could that have possibly happened?”
“Think about it Danielle. Why did you ask me out? I would have never asked you. Think real hard, was it an impulse you couldn’t fight. You’re beautiful and I’m just average. Every red blooded male in our school was chasing you but you were attracted to none of them and some of them were really great looking. I was also in love with Leila at the time but my attention turned to you when you touched my hand in the lunchroom when we met. Am I really that wrong?”
Danielle thought back to the moment she met Tag. Leila had brought her over and introduced her to him and his best friend Eric. Eric, who was very good looking, immediately asked her out but Danielle ignored him and only looked at Tag. She gave herself several reasons for asking him out but she had to admit that after he took her hand in his and she felt the little shock that always happened when they touched and then looked into his eyes; she had no interest in anyone else from that point on.”
“Tag, are you saying destiny made this happen and we had no free will?”
“What I’m saying is that how could the two strongest psychics on Earth end up together by chance? Perhaps the universe made this happen so that this child would come into existence. I don’t even want to think about what her purpose would be and I haven’t talked about the odds of me crash landing on the moon right next to Atlas’ cave. There’s just too much coincidence that defies all logic.”
Danielle just closed her eyes and thought about all that Tag had said. Her talent of seeing the truth was screaming at her that he was right. There were too many coincidences. What or who made this happen? “You’ve got me wondering about this but perhaps I better wait until after this is over to talk with you.” Suddenly, Danielle doubled over and her water broke. Tag grabbed her hand and then let the doctors take her into the birthing room. He opened his link to her and let her know that he was right there with her. He sat down and shared the intimate moments of their child being born.
Tag thought in his deepest thoughts, “I’m anxious to hear what she thinks but it can wait. Whatever the reason, it can’t be bad if it gave her to me.” Tag then closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair and joined Danielle in the birth of their Daughter.
Tgon-Gee and Dorg were sitting in the waiting room while Danielle was delivering. They had jumped in as soon as Leila told them it had begun. Tgon-Gee had made Leila promise to tell him when it was time and Leila knew that a broken promise to a Glod was never a good thing; especially not to the Crown Prince. Five hundred pounds of a seven foot six Glod warrior was best kept as happy as possible. Tgon-Gee had then commed Dorg and asked him to come immediately. Dorg jumped to Earth on the Rossville, sent Tresk to Ross to pick up Klas, and then took a shuttle down to the medical center. Dorg ran into the waiting room, looked at Tgon-Gee and asked, “Why is it so important for us to be here? You act like its life or death.”
Tgon-Gee raised his head and said, “Dorg, do you remember when you once said that you’re glad that Tag was on your side and I corrected you by saying, no, we had better be glad that we’re on his?”
“Yes, why?”
“The foundling being born today will sense us here and sense our love and protection for it and its parents. I have seen its aura; and I want to make sure the foundling knows that we are willing tools for it to use. Dorg, you have no idea of the power this child will posses. I only pray that its spirit is like its mother’s and not warrior like its father’s or ours.”
Dorg could see the Glod Prince was nervous, “You’re really afraid, aren’t you?”
“Dorg, you would be too if you understood the power being born today. I wanted you here to protect your people just like you protected mine when the Alliance attacked the Humans. The foundling will have a special place for us because we are here. You do not want to miss this moment.”
Dorg looked out the window of the waiting room at a beautiful spring day on Earth and thought about what Tgon-Gee was saying. Dorg and his race were skeptical about psychic powers. Their main claim to fame was being one of the most aggressive warrior races in the galaxy. However, he had seen firsthand how everything that Tgon-Gee had said had been verified by subsequent events during the war with the former Alliance of Worlds. Tgon-Gee said that Tag could not be defeated and Tag had gone out and proven it defeating five Glod martial arts champions bare handed with no weapons. He also knew from first-hand experience that every time his race had challenged the humans they were beaten when this young human led them. He thought about it and it came to him that without Tag and Danielle’s wisdom and forgiveness that his race would probably be extinct now. They had given his people, and him, another chance. He knew in his deepest feelings that he would give his life for the two humans and their race. He also discovered at that moment in the deepest part of his being that he would do the same for their child. He looked at Tgon-Gee and said, “Thank you. I will always value your trust in me to have me here with you today. I will protect this family with everything I have.”
Suddenly both Tgon-Gee and Dorg felt something in their mind that was like a warm glow. Tgon-Gee smiled and said, “The foundling hears you and accepts you.”
Dorg no longer needed to be persuaded about anything psychic. He could feel the child in his mind and he held on to that warm glow as long as he could.
Tag was sitting in the room with Danielle and their new daughter. He could actually see the psychic field that surrounded the two of them and he wondered at what psychic talents their daughter would have. Danielle and the baby were asleep in the bed with the baby lying on her chest. As Tag watched them, Danielle without opening her eyes said, “She’s beautiful isn’t she?”
“Just like her mother,” Tag said tenderly. “She’s got blond hair just like you.”
“But she has your eyes, Tag.” Danielle quit talking and used her thoughts to speak with Tag. “You’re wondering about what we were discussing before the baby started coming?”
“Yes, I am. I think you may glean why we ended up together.”
“This is probably going to sound crazy but it feels right to me.”
“Then it must be right; I’ve never known you to be wrong,” Tag thought softly to his wife.
“Tag, our baby brought us together.”
Tag just looked at her with a stunned look on his face. He didn’t know how to respond to what she said. “Tag, the part of you that is used to produce a child also has psychic powers. Your DNA was looking for a match that would compliment your talents. I also believe that my DNA was doing the same. Just like your body taking control of you when you’re attacked; your genes sought the perfect partner. Somehow, our inner selves saw each other even when we had never met and manipulated events to insure we would come together. All of this was for us to have this child. The defeat of the Alliance was simply a byproduct of the process. You are right; it is not an accident that the two strongest psychics on earth ended up together.” Danielle placed her head tenderly next to her new baby and nuzzled her cheek.
Tag continued to stare at her. “Are you telling me that we had no say in what happened? We had to come together? I find this hard to believe.”
Danielle kept her eyes closed but thought, “Don’t you see, love? We loved each other from the first moment we touched. Our inner selves longed for each other long before that happened. It was what we are that brought us together. The universe has a reason for this and we may not ever know that reason. However, how do you feel now that our daughter is here? Look deep inside yourself and tell me what you feel.”
Tag closed his eyes and looked at his deepest feelings. Danielle waited and watched him as he sat for several minutes. Finally he opened his eyes and said, “I feel at peace. It’s hard to describe, but somehow I feel complete.”
“As do I; we need a name, Tag. Oh, what a hoot; a name tag. I made a funny.”
Tag smiled and said, “I have read a great deal about Earth’s ancient history and I learned that the flower most associated with love was the rose. I would like her name to be Rose.”
“Tag, what a wonderful name; I agree with you. She will be Rose Luanna Gardner.”
“Luanna,” Tag asked?
From my great grandmother who lost her husband and raised her children on her own; she was the strongest willed person in my family. I suspect our daughter will be a lot like her.”
“Rose Luanna Gardner it is. Are you ready to let the two new uncles in to see her?”
Danielle smiled and said, “I look a mess but they deserve to see her after sitting there for hours. Call them in.”
Tgon-Gee and Dorg walked in the room and saw Danielle and the child. Tgon-Gee came to the bed and bowed low to them and Dorg also hit a knee. Danielle said, “Please stand, you’re here with friends. There’s no need to bow.”
Tgon-Gee said, “My Queen, I can see your child’s aura. She will be the future leader of all our races. She deserves my homage and my total loyalty. I can feel her presence.”
Dorg said, “I can’t see anything about an aura, but I, too, feel her. I also give her my total loyalty just as I’ve given it to you, Majesty.”
Tag and Danielle looked at each other both a little unsettled by the admission that the two leaders could feel their baby’s presence. Danielle thought to Tag, “I think that life has taken a major turn here.”
Tag only smiled because like his two friends, he could also feel her and what a great feeling it was.