20 Years Later...

Oopsie she said. Oopsie. Such a silly little word, such an Elsie word, for something that had changed…everything.

You stare at the framed photo of El that you kept in your study and very lightly trace your finger across that heart wrenchingly gorgeous face. So young. So beautiful. In your memory she would never grow old.

It took some couples years to conceive. For some it never happened at all. Not so with you and El. One time was all it took. And unbeknown to either of you at the time the ‘morning after’ pill had no effect on your sister. Something about her special anatomy nullified the ****’s efficacy and so for the next couple of months you and she had blithely carried on believing you’d gotten away scot free. By the time you realized the pregnancy had took the baby already had a heartbeat. And…well…once you and El saw that little beating heart it was too late for second thoughts. El simply could not terminate the fetus.

As luck would have it Peg’s research gave you options of not only correcting for any sort of incestuous anomalies but also providing your lovechild with miraculous genetic advantages. The thing about luck though, it cuts two ways. The good luck was that your daughter was born as strong and healthy as any infant ever born. The bad luck was…that it cost your sister’s life. Peg was a genius but she was not God. Even she could not foresee the complications that arose from the use of her mad science.

Elsie’s **** hit you hard and it blew your family to pieces. You hadn’t talked to your aunt in years. Though she was distraught you didn’t even really blame her for what happened you still could not find it in yourself to forgive her. A wound had been left in you that would never heal. Mom and Fiona too grew apart from Peg. Your aunt ended up moving away and dedicating herself even more to the work that consumed her. Your cousin Chloe hadn’t been seen in years. Losing the closest thing she had to a stable family Chloe ended up going off the deep end.

As you sit here now staring at your little sister’s photo you cannot help but wonder what might have been?

And yet, despite the pain and the tears and the trauma, there was something in this timeline that you wouldn’t trade for anything.

You smile as you hear the front door slam shut. “Daddy! Are you home?”

After a soft kiss to the photo you set the frame down then turn and call back to the precious gift that Elsie had left behind. “I’m in the study, Penelope!”