“No wonder … no wonder …” After a long period of silence doctor muttered.

“What do you mean, doctor Schwartz?” Karen asked.

“Well, you see … newborns are connected to their birth mothers in a very subtle way. In some cultures it’s even said their souls are connected. And in this case, we can clearly see how the terrible fate of Alex’s mother left a crippling mark in her consciousness.” Doctor explained, “Sophie, I think you should later explain to Karen how it could’ve impacted your daughter since you also are a professional in this field. But! I want you to know is that not everything is lost, with enough care your daughter can be cured.”

‘Still not giving up, huh?’ For some reason doctor’s voice brought Alex back to reality. The amusing fact of the con still ongoing was somehow soothing.

“You see,” the doctor continued, “we have an experimental program I would like to suggest. It would be a three month recovery retreat for your daughter and after careful and intense …”

“Thank you, doctor. We will think about it.” Karen suddenly interrupted, “I’d like you to leave us for today. I’ll contact you on Monday.”

“B … but the … the session …” Doctor stuttered.

‘Hahaha! There is a difference between avarice and stupidity, old man!’ Alex inwardly laughed. For some reason his spirits were instantly lifted.

“You don’t have to worry about this session. Goodbye, doctor, private detective. I won’t see you out.” Karen expressionlessly said and then added, “Bianca, you leave as well. Come back in a few hours, the two of us need some alone time.”

After everyone left, a long silence filled the room. Alex didn’t know what his two mommies were doing, but he knew Sophie’s oral diarrhea was not to be cured so easily. And indeed, she soon spoke.

“This is so terrible! How could this happen to us? What do we do now? Is there even anything we can do?” Sophie asked questions one after another, obviously still anxious.

“There is nothing much we can do.” Karen said with a smile while hugged her, “First of all, we’ll need to send her away. Then we’ll get another one, a good and healthy daughter.”

Alex couldn’t see the Sophie’s reaction, but he himself was stupefied. Not with what she said – he expected Karen to voice out such option sooner or later since he felt she became cold and distant on the second week he was here. What shocked him was the plain and pragmatic tone she used.

“But … but …” Sophie tried to say something.

“No ‘buts’.” Karen caressed her cheek, “That child is not ours. The clinic scammed us and gave a broken one. I’ll call Antonio tomorrow and he’ll arrange everything.”

‘Antonio? Another Tony? Is this one also some kind of a mobster?’ Alex inwardly laughed at the paradox. But his laugh abruptly stopped when he heard the next part.

“But Tony is not a good man, you know that. It’s not the child’s fault for being …” Sophie argued.

“Of course, it’s not her fault. But it is for the best, also for Alex, no I mean – for that sick child.” Karen kept caressing her cheeks, then hair, “Do you think it will be an easy life for autistic girl like her? We both know very clearly she will grow large and ugly as well, so don’t lie to yourself. In fact, we’ll do her a favor. Her parents obviously were some drug addicts, but the clinic hid it from us – and look what happened.”

“B … but how …” Alex barely could hear Sophie whispering.

“I don’t know. And we don’t need to know. That’s Tony’s job. He does things like this in the company all the time.” Karen said with a smile, “Don’t worry, my love, next week we’ll have a good, healthy daughter. After all, we have the paperwork done already. We’ll only need to fire that fat-ass Bianca and get another nanny. But who knows, maybe our real daughter will be so cute we both will quit our jobs and spend our lives raising her! We have enough money after all! What do you think?”

“Ok! I can always rely on you, dear!” Alex heard Sophie replying without much second thought or reluctance and, judging by the sound, the two began to make out.

But the last part was not what worried him.

‘Wtf just happened? They seriously intend to dispose of me, a helpless child? And quickly get a replacement, and that’ll be their real daughter? How f*cking sick are you two?’ Alex tried to process the conversation in the room next to him.

‘F*ck that! I’m out!’ He finally decided and threw off the blanket.

“ ... Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star … How I wonder what you are … “ Alex barely audibly whispered while crawling over the edge of the cradle.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

‘Ok. Careful now. Even if I break something, I can’t hit my head … at least no yet.’ He said to himself and with a soft boom landed on the balcony floor.

‘Ouch! Damn, that hurts!’ He lie on his back for few seconds, then rolled over and slowly crawled towards the railing.

After reaching it, he grabbed railing bars in both hands and one last time verified he could easily squeeze through.

Looking back at the balcony door, Alex thought, ‘So long, vegan bitches! I hope I won’t ever meet you again in none of my future lives! Hahaha!’

He looked up in the sky and heard the voice of his mother once again, “Up above the world so high … Like a diamond in the sky …”

‘F*ck! Since when I’ve become so emotional? Let’s go!’ He forcefully shook off all the unnecessary thoughts and decisively rolled over the edge.

He saw the sky spinning and the Hudson river appearing in his sight. He smiled towards the Manhattan and then the Twin Towers that he currently saw upside down.

‘What a view! Too bad it’s not evening yet!’ He inwardly sighed, but then suddenly realized what bugged him for the past few weeks when he looked over the river.

The Twin Towers were there! How? Why? They were destroyed in 2001 – three years before Tony killed him!

Alex floated in the familiar darkness.

‘Back again!’ He smiled to himself, ‘Hmmm, I can’t see at all and hear … also nothing? Can I move? No. I can’t or I can’t yet? We’ll see.’

Alex went over the checklist he thought of on the spot. Even though he was back floating in the familiar heaven, for some reason he felt uneasy, but couldn’t put his finger on it. Well, at least he was safe. And with this thought he fell asleep.

The cycle of waking up and falling asleep continued. For some reason Alex felt he was awake for much shorter periods than ‘usually’, but maybe it was because of the lack of any outside stimuli – sound or light. Luckily he felt his mother moving from time to time and even what seemed to be – doing exercises. That brought a peace to his mind – there was a high chance he will be born in a family where people would pay attention to their physical condition.

Alex also finally remembered the last moments before his death. But what he saw was beyond weird. He was certain he saw the Twin Towers and at the same time he knew he was not hallucinating, because the two tall, iconic buildings were there during the earlier weeks, not only at the last moment of his life – he just didn’t realize what was out of place looking in that direction. His sight was not fully developed after all!

‘Alright, let’s think step by step. What do I know? There were buildings that should’ve been destroyed years ago. Ok.’ Alex did his best to concentrate despite the fatigue that for some reason overtook him after few thoughts, That leaves me where? Either the concept of multiple dimensions is real or I was born back in time.’

The options sounded stupid and he liked none of those. The concept of reincarnation was complicated enough, so why would there be additional layer of difficulty even before he solved the first problem?

‘Let’s hope there is a good library at the place I’ll be born. I also have to remember to throw my pride away and act more like a regular newborn, otherwise they will take me for an autistic kid again. Maybe even I need to become something like a genius or prodigy. That way I officially can learn to read sooner.’ Alex thought and managed to calm himself down. Soon he fell asleep comfortably once again.

But this time his rest was interrupted. He felt as if someone was squeezing and pressing on him from several sides.

‘Wait! Is my mother giving birth already? Isn’t it too soon? Last time I was in the belly a lot longer and even then I got brutally cut out! And she’s not screaming! Something’s wrong!’

But nothing was wrong. In a couple more minutes he was squeezed out from his mother … on a rug.

Alex couldn’t see anything, but at least he could hear some weak noises … yes indeed, someone was talking, but it felt as if it was far in the distance. But before he could concentrate on those sounds, a myriad of smells assaulted his nose.

‘Oh, no! What the hell happened? I’m an animal! Some kind of animal! F*ck!’ This time Alex was panicking for real.

He thought he got released from Tony’s curse after killing him and in the future lives the worst that could happen is for him to randomly change genders – he already got used to the thought of somehow managing that by living in celibacy, at least while in a woman’s skin. But this?!

He felt someone cleaning him with a rough, wet towel. But it was warm and for some reason felt pleasant and safe.

‘Oh god! Redo! I’m asking for a redo!’ Alex inwardly screamed when he felt his mother’s tongue cleaning him.

In the corner of a dimly lit room sat an elderly couple observing a large, black wolf giving birth.

The two were married for many decades and with time became more and more alike, not only their personalities, but visually as well. Both were dressed in a light leather gear, similar to what hunters wore, albeit quite worn out.

Actually they started out as hunters, but after Ugo’s injury decided to re-specialize and began to raise beasts. Soon after it became their business and they continued to develop it their whole lives. Even though they didn’t provide the ‘high end products’, it was still a solid income and allowed them to lead decent and safe lives.

“Looks like this is the last one” Edith squatted down and checked the last pup. Then she turned to the exhausted mother, caressed her head and said, “Not bad Stella, not bad. Three out of six are alive, you should be proud, girl!”

The wolf looked back at her with tired, watery eyes, but then turned to the three wet black balls weakly squeaking and trembling at her side, and began licking, or rather – washing them with a great care.

“How is three out of six good?” Ugo asked in annoyance.

“These are pups, not pumpkins, you know!” Edith barked back, “It’s already amazing result for her age. I think she’ll be good for another year or two. Alright, let’s leave the new mother and let her do her things. We need to bury the dead ones.”

“Hmm. She’s fifteen, right? I wonder if it’s worth keeping her.” Ugo pondered out loud after they left the room. Their beasts were quite clever and it was unwise to speak of such things in their presence.

“You do have a point.” Edith agreed, “But let’s give her another year. Or maybe one of her pups can replace her, time will show.”