The Experiment by Cassidy Shay (i can read with my eyes shut .txt) 📖

change that. Instead of getting up so that I can see you, I want to wake up and have you right beside me, every morning for the rest of my life. I want to be able to protect you, and take care of you and treat you the way that you deserve to be treated. Sarah… will you marry me?”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When they leave, I look at Mathew. “Why do we have to be responsible for everyone else?”
“I have no idea,” he says. “But right now, our job’s pretty much done.” I just nod and start to clear everything away. “Why don’t you go to bed?” he suggests, seeing hoe exhausted the day’s made me. “I’ll clean everything up and put Belle to bed.”
“Thank you,” I say, and give him a quick kiss. I go over to the bed, and I’m asleep before I hit the pillow.
I wake up puking, covering Mathew, the bed, and myself. “I’m so sorry,” I say. “I’m…” My apology is interrupted by another round, just bile this time.
“Are you alright?” You were just fine last night.” He rubs my back with one hand, gathers all my hair in the other. I look over at Belle, and she looks terrified.
“It’s alright, honey,” I say calmly. “Just don’t come over here until we get it all cleaned up.” She nods, and I straighten up. Turning to Mathew, I say, “I’m going to go see Dr. Pender after I get everything cleaned up. Wash yourself off and get ready for work. I don’t want you to be late because of me.”
“Mommy, are you okay?” After Mathew has left, Belle’s sweet, soft voice makes me smile.
“Yes, honey, I’m fine. Do you want to go see Dr. Pender with me today?” She nods vigorously, and I tell her to get dressed. Now that she’s older, she doesn’t have the cute clothed that she had when she was a baby. Instead, she has jumpsuits just like ours.
I clean up the floor and strip the bed, and then put the bedding in the basket in the hallway. “Are you ready?” I ask her, and we head off to Dr. Pender’s office.
I knock on her door, but don’t wait for an answer before entering. She’s sitting at her desk, writing some reports. She looks up when we come in, and smiles. “How are you, Meagan?”
“Mommy’s sick,” blurts out Belle. “She threw up all over Daddy.” To emphasize her point, she takes a step away from me so that I don’t vomit on her as well.
Of course, that gets Dr. Pender’s attention, and she looks at me with a knowing look. “This could be interesting,” she mumbles to herself.
She opens a drawer and pulls something out, then hands it to me. A pregnancy test. I go to the bathroom adjacent to her office.
When the result shows, I’m numb. What will happen this time? Will I be on bed rest again? Will it last?

I go out to where Dr. Pender is, and she’s talking to Belle. Despite my fears, I can’t help but get excited. I can feel the smile on my face grow as Dr. Pender looks at me. “We’re having a baby,” I say.

Chapter 12

The next hour is filled with tests as Dr. Pender tries to learn about how the baby’s doing. Finally, she takes a look at the results. “The baby seems to be doing just fine.” I breathe a sigh of relief, then turn to Belle.
“Honey, Mommy’s going to have another baby!” She jumps and claps, then says something that I can’t understand. I look back to Dr. Pender. “Do I have to be on bed rest again?”
She shakes her head. “I don’t think so. If in a couple weeks we think that it might be dangerous for you to be up and around, we’ll put you back on bed rest. But you don’t have anything to worry about at this point.” She looks at Belle. “You probably want to go tell Mathew, don’t you?”
I nod. Since Belle’s birth, I’ve told Dr. Pender about Belle’s real father. She understands that this will be important to Mathew because this is his first child that’s really his. “I’ll watch Belle for you while you go do that. That way you don’t have to worry about taking her all around the floor.”
I thank her, kiss Belle’s forehead, then head to the cafeteria, where I can find the job lists, and where everyone is scheduled to be right now.
I head to the south corner of the building, where Mathew is scheduled to work today. When I get there, I call his name softly. He doesn’t hear me, so I repeat myself, louder this time. “Mathew.”
He looks up, sees the smile on my face. He stands up straight, and a smile appears. “You sure?” he asks, walking over to me. I nod, and he lets out a cry of excitement. Heads turn and eyes narrow as people are distracted from their work.
“I’m having a baby!” he yells, loud enough so that everyone can hear. Then, to me, he says, “I love you.” He gives me a quick kiss. “But I gotta get back to work.” He gives me another quick one, and then another. Laughing, I push him away.
“Get back to work before you get in trouble,” I say. “I gotta go get Belle, and then tell Julie and Sarah.”
I go to get Belle, and then head for the elevator. I go down to Floor 4, head straight for Julie’s room. Once we get close, Belle runs straight for the door.
“Hi, Belle,” I hear once she’s disappeared from through the doorway. When I catch up to her, Julie knows right away that there’s something new. “What happened?” she asks.
“I’m having a baby,” I say. I don’t even finish my sentence before her arms are around my neck and she’s squealing in my ear.
“That’s amazing! Congratulations! That’s… that’s so exciting!” While Belle and Aron play, Julie and I talk about the baby.
After a while, Belle pulls on my arm. “Mom, I hungwy.” I remember that she didn’t have any breakfast, and I take her back to Floor 6. We go to the cafeteria, where Sarah is on her lunch break. I sit next to her and tap her on the arm.
She looks over at my smile and one similar to mine appears on her face. “You’re pregnant, aren’t you?” I nod, and her arms around my neck and she’s screeching in my ear, just like Julie was earlier. “Congratulations! Oh my gosh! I can’t believe it! You must be so excited!”
“How did you know without me saying anything?” I ask her.
“Your eyes. When you were pregnant with Belle, they were different somehow. Still green, of course, but they were different. They’re like that now.” She tilts her head to the side a bit. “They’re really pretty.”
I laugh. “Thanks. I have to go get Belle some lunch. Will you keep an eye on her for a minute?” She nods, and I get in line for food. I walk back to the table, and I talk to Sarah until she has to go back to work.
After Sarah’s gone, Belle looks at me. “You’re having a baby?” she asks.
I nod. “Yes, honey. The baby’s right here in my tummy.” She reaches her hand across the space between up and places it flat on my stomach.
“That doesn’t feel like a baby,” she says. Laugh, and try to explain it to her, but I’m not really sure how to get the idea across in toddler terms.
That night, I’m making dinner when Mathew comes in the door. “How is my beautiful family today?” he asks, and gives Belle a kiss on the forehead. Then he turns to me and gives me a big hug and a light kiss.
“We’re doing great,” I say. We sit down to eat and right away, Belle starts talking. At first, I discard it as a made-up story, but then she says something that catches my attention.
“He got shot, Mommy! He was watching a play with a lady and a mean old man shot him. Everyone cried and they took the mean old man to jail.” She looks very pleased with herself, sitting up straight and smiling as she told the story again, with more detail this time.
Mathew and I just stare at her, and then I look at him. “Are we thinking of the same thing?”
“Lincoln,” he states, and I nod. Belle starts telling us another story, but I can’t seem to pay attention to it. I’m too concentrated on what this means.
Belle has access to the Memories. She can see into the past, can know what really happened. Belle is an Azulate. But she doesn’t have blue eyes or the birthmark. “The Exception,” I mumble.

Chapter 13

The man’s eyes were a smoky blue, and his birthmark seemed much darker than any others. His voice was soft as we gathered around him.
We were of various ages, but all young. We went to this man for stories, and he always gave us something to die for. Sometimes he would tell us stories from history, stories that we knew from the Memories we possessed. But he always made them seem like a fairy tale, making every word imprint itself forever in our minds, painting pictures more vivid and detailed than the Memories themselves.
But sometimes, like on that day, his voice would become a soft lullaby, drawing us toward the abyss called sleep, then stopping right before we fell. On these days, his hands would shake, and his teeth would clench. He would look around nervously, making sure that his words wouldn’t travel to any dangerous ears. On those days, he told us of the future.
On this day, his voice was extra quiet, but there was a certain urgency in his tone that kept us from drifting toward sleep. “One day, we won’t be stuck in these cells, forced to wallow in our own filth and misery. One day,