“It’s, um … n-nice to meet you, Joey.” It was all Jack could think of to say. Meeting his son’s girlfriend was one thing – he’d been expecting to have that happen sooner or later. Finding out that the two of them had taken a baby in, however, was a complete shock. He could feel his old stutter coming back, and had to bite his tongue to stop it.
Ulric’s words caught his attention. “Yes, I landed in a space pod. My birth parents sent me to Earth, though I don’t remember it well-” He realized. “Wait, you mean he landed that way too? He’s … he’s like me?”
Smiling at Joey as he tried his best to touch the screen, Mira had to hold back that chuckle. Looking back up at Ulric, then to Jack, Mira pressed her lips together and nodded. “Yeah, he…he kinda landed on Ulric’s balcony.” Speaking softly, she was sure this was completely unexpected. “Couldn’t really leave the little guy and, well…” Shrugging lightly, Mira reached out her hand and softly patted at Joey’s head.
Though, at that last question, she glanced back up to Jack. Slowly, she nodded her head, looking at Ulric for him to answer. Ulric clearly knew more about this than she did.
“Yeah, we…” Ulric’s nervous, enough so that it comes across when he’s speaking. “We still have his pod, actually. He, uh, came with a Minion, too. Like Auntie.” Where the little guy was, he wasn’t sure. Somewhere in the apartment, likely. Joey had been insisting on the fish joining him in his crib, he might still be in there.
He turns to Mira, biting his lip lightly. “Do you think I could… ?” He lifts Joey a little, making sure to be careful.”
For a few moments, Jack just stared at the three of them through his screen. His first instinct was to tell Ulric and Mira that they were crazy, they were too young, there was no way they were ready to take care of a baby, they should give him to someone who …
But who was there?
Jack didn’t have many memories of his early years, but he did remember what it had been like for him in the foster care system. Shuffled around constantly as the social workers tried to find a family who would accept a blue, big-headed child. Always alone, often scared, never having anyone he could bond with or turn to for comfort. He hadn’t even had a minion-fish, the way all the other blue people seemed to.
How could he ask his son to leave another child to the same fate?
“He’s lucky to have found you, then,” Jack said at last. “But have you two thought about this? How long are you going to be able to keep him there?” He paused, then asked Ulric, “… Are you thinking of bringing him back with you?"
Jack Maple 