“And why would I want to do this?”
“Well, I thought that if we took care of a proxxid for a few weeks or months,” I answered, looking straight into her eyes, “we could see if we liked having a screaming kid around.”
I smiled at her.
“...and then?” she asked, smiling back.
“And then, well, if it felt right, we could have a real child, but we’d get to experiment a little first. What do you think?”
She cuddled into me and looked up into my face.
“Okay Mr. Rick Strong, I’m willing to give it a try.”
Maybe this whole thing would work out, I thought, and a great weight lifted from my chest.
3
Baby shower—I’d never really understood the term. Why did they call it a shower? Because they showered the mother with gifts? Weren’t they supposed to have these parties before the baby arrived?
Anyway, I guess it didn’t matter, and I had to admit, he sure was a cute little sucker. Our Little Ricky had bright blue eyes—his daddy’s eyes.
This had turned into something of a coming out party for the Strong family on Atopia. The place was packed and everyone was milling about our apartment with drinks in hand, dropping into spontaneous little groups for small talk around the entertainment space I had Echo create for us. The star of the evening, of course, was Little Ricky, our bouncing baby proxxid, who burbled and gurgled away in his mother’s arms.
Cindy positively glowed.
From the corner of one eye, I could see Bobby Baxter, Jimmy’s adopted brother, making his way towards us with a stunning blond in tow.
“Congratulations Commander Strong!” he immediately blurted out when he got near, outstretching his hand.
I smiled and rolled my eyes slightly, but gripped his hand tightly and shook it.
“Thanks Bob.”
I still wasn’t quite sure if everyone was being genuine, or if they were gently poking fun at someone having a simulated baby.
“Is Jimmy coming?” I asked.
Bob shook his head. “You’d know more than me, Commander.”
Awkward pause.
“And of course congratulations to the lovely new proxxid mother,” laughed Bob as he let go of my hand and leaned over to kiss my wife on the cheek.
I looked past him to have a look at his date. She shifted uncomfortably, waiting to be introduced. The rumor mill was constantly circulating with stories about how Bob was wasting his life away, but he sure could pick his women.
“…and this lovely lady is?” I asked, smiling at his date intently. She smiled back. Stunning.
“Oh, ah,” mumbled Bob, “this is Nicky”
“Pleased to meet you,” I said as I reached out to shake her hand, gently pulling her close for a kiss on the cheek. Just being polite, of course.
“A pleasure,” replied Nicky, smiling radiantly.
Bob wandered off for a drink while my wife and I exchanged some pleasantries with his girlfriend. A few more women arrived and began mobbing my wife to have a look at the proxxid.
“Here, could you hold him for a second, Rick honey?” asked my wife.
I nodded, returning my attention to her. The group of woman all smiled watching me awkwardly take hold of him. Such a tiny package, so warm and soft; it was disarming to look down into his little face and see part of myself staring back up at me. I couldn’t help but smile.
“I’ll be back in a sec,” said Cindy. “I just need to get some juice.”
Little Ricky let out a loud squeal as she left, wriggling in my arms. The overhead lights reflected brightly in his wet little eyes and moist little lips and he smiled a toothless, gummy grin at me.
When we’d ordered the proxxid, it had come with some warnings, but I had a hard time seeing how an imaginary baby could be dangerous. We’d just try this one, and it certainly seemed to be doing Cindy a world of good.
Adriana, my slingshot lead at Command, stood beside me and poked Little Ricky gently in the tummy, tickling him to generate more squeals and giggles.
“Isn’t he just the sweetest little thing, Commander?”
If I wasn’t married and holding my synthetic baby, I would have sworn she was flirting with me. I couldn’t resist.
“He sure is, just like his daddy,” I replied with a smile.
She was the one with the sensorgy artist boyfriend. To me, it all seemed like pornography, but to them, well, I was just old. She smiled at me, and then looked back down at Little Ricky.
“Look at those bright blue eyes—you guys just have to make sure you get blue eyes when you have your kid, so beautiful...he’ll be a lady killer!” she exclaimed, winking at me, or so I thought. She tickled Little Ricky’s ribs again for more squeals. “What a happy boy!”
I laughed. Was she referring to him or me?
I bounced Little Ricky up and down a bit, basking in Adriana’s attention and thinking that this was what one did with babies. Perhaps it really was best to have a proxxid before attempting the real thing.
Cindy returned and tapped me on the shoulder, taking a sidelong glance at Adriana.
“I’ll take him back now, tiger,” said my wife.
She nodded towards the door. Vince Indigo, the famous founder of the Phuture News Network, had just appeared. He’d been one of the people who’d gone out of their way to welcome us onto Atopia. He looked tired and stressed, but smiled at me as I looked his way.
I gave him a small wave, and then cooed at Little Ricky one more time before handing him back to my wife. I walked over to grab a drink and say hello to Vince. It looked like he could use a drink as well.
“Congrats Rick!” he exclaimed as I neared, reaching out to shake my hand.
I motioned him over to the bar, taking his hand firmly. Again, I felt slightly foolish.
“Thanks Vince. Oh, and thanks for those flowers the other day, Cindy really loved them.”
“No problem at all.”
We’d reached the bar.
“So, what’ll it be?” I asked.
Vince surveyed the bottles, but then shook his head. “Nothing for me, thanks.”
That wasn’t like Vince.
“You sure?” I asked as I dropped some ice cubes into a cut glass tumbler, topping it off with some whiskey.
He shrugged.
“I’m just kind of busy…” His voice trailed off and he stared at the floor.
Definitely not the Vince I knew. I wondered what was up. Maybe he was trying his best not to offend me, thinking this whole thing was ridiculous.
“This thing, it’s just a little game,” I laughed, shaking my head and looking towards my wife holding our simulated baby. “I’m just doing it to keep her happy, you know how it is.”
At that, Vince’s attention seemed to suddenly sharpen.
“No, no, absolutely this is the best thing,” replied Vince warmly, “you need to do this, it’s the way of the future!”
He clapped me enthusiastically on the back. I snorted and took a sip of my drink, feeling less self-conscious.
“I mean it, Rick, you should have as many proxxids as you can before going on to the real thing.”
Vince seemed very genuine about it.
“You really think so?” I asked.
“I do my friend, I do.”
He put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed it.
“Listen, I have to get going, though. Sorry. Give Cindy a kiss for me, okay?”
“I will.” I nodded, smiling.
He hesitated. Something was wrong. He wanted to say something but couldn’t. He just needed to be somewhere else, and not some baby shower.
“Go on, get going!” I laughed and clapped him on the back.