A Mother's Love

by Snoopygirl

John was sleeping. He was dreaming about Aeryn. About how much he loved her. The fact that she was gone. He kept waking up, thinking that she was here, sleeping in her quarters, child at her side. But after running to her, each and every time, he finds an empty bed; the black bedspread neatly laid out over the bed and pillows. This time, he could not stand it any longer. He crawled up into the bed and covered up. He buried his face in the pillow, smelling her in the case. His eyes burned as he tried to hold back the tears. When the tears broke out and streamed down his cheeks, he drifted of into a dark, dreamless sleep.

The next day, he heard Chiana calling his name.

"Crichton, where the frell are you?"

He quickly wiped his face and stood up.

"Crichton, are you in there?"

He grabbed Winonna off the bedside table and walked out.

"Yeah, Chi, I'm over here."

"Were you in Aeryn's bed?"
"Uh, yeah."

"You ok?"

"Yeah. It's just- God, I miss her so much."

"Me too. Hopefully we can find her."
"Yeah. What did you need?"

"Oh, it's just D'Argo went to see if you wanted some food cubes, and he didn't find you in your quarters."

"Oh, yeah, I want some food cubes."

D'Argo came in and said, "Too late, Rygel's eaten them all."

John laughed. "Screw you, Sparky."

Pilot spoke through the comms.

"Sorry to interrupt your conversation, but there is a- some kind of transport coming. You'd better get down there."

"Right away, Pilot." said D'Argo.

The three of them ran down to the transport hangar, immediately followed by Wrinkles and Sikozu.

Winonna and Qualta Blade out, they saw the transport land and open. Out walked a tall female Sebacean with black hair. She was holding a baby.

"Aeryn?"

She smiled as John ran over to her and, tears streaming down his and her face, looked down at the child.

"Our baby boy." whispered Aeryn.

John was speechless.

"His name is..." Aeryn began.

John slowly moved his head up, and his eyes scanned her anxiously as he waited for the name.

"...Talyn."

John smiled. "Let's go show him to everyone."

After introducing Aeryn to Sikozu, and showing him to everyone, they made their way down to Pilot's den.

Aeryn walked up to him holding Talyn, and said, "Pilot, this is my baby boy. I've named him Talyn."

Pilot gasped quietly. "Aeryn. He is beautiful."

Pilot pushed a few buttons on his console, and then a windy female voice echoed through their ears.

"Aeryn... I am Moya. Your child is beautiful. I hope he brings you as much joy as my Talyn did."

Aeryn smiled. "Thank you, Moya."

The next day, John woke up and Aeryn was feeding the baby. He sat up. "Hey, baby, how's the baby?"

Aeryn smiled. "Healthy. Not very crabby."

John smiled. "Sebaceans, their children, about how old are they when they mature?"

Aeryn said, "Around 12 cycles."

John said, "That's close to humans."

Chiana walked in.

"Hey. I uh... made this for the baby."

She handed Aeryn a blanket with the name Talyn on it, written in Nebari.

"Than you, Chiana. It's beautiful."

Chiana smiled and left.

The next day came and went, so did the next day. But the fifth day after Aeryn had arrived; something was about to happen.

Aeryn woke up early. She had a gut instinct something was not right.

She stood up and walked over to the crib and picked Talyn up and felt his forehead.

It was extremely warm.

She panicked. She spoke through her comms. "John, John! Something's wrong!"

Within seconds, John shot through the door way and shouted "What?!"

Aeryn was shaking. "He's really hot. He's half Sebacean, and they can't stand heat!"

John nodded. "Ok, so we have to make him cool off."

Together they ran to Zhaan's Med Chamber. After she died, they had still used it for emergencies.

They opened the restorative chamber and hooked Talyn up to it.

They turned it on and waited.

An arn passed.

Aeryn had her head on John's shoulder, and he wrapped his arms around her.

Another arn passed.

Talyn's condition was worsening.

John said, "Aeryn."

Aeryn was gripping the blanket that Chiana had made in her hands. She was staring at Talyn, silently praying for him to live.

John looked up and was thinking:

I know he isn't going to live. God, if you're there, please. Give us and Aeryn the strength to get through this. Talyn had a short life. I love him. Amen.

John looked down at Talyn. He looked at Aeryn and nodded. She looked at the floor. The tears were dripping off her chin onto the blanket.

John stood up and walked over and shut the chamber power off. He and Aeryn walked into the chamber and picked Talyn up.

He was not breathing.

After having a ceremony for him, they jettisoned the coffin that contained Talyn into space.

Aeryn had accepted his fate and let go. It was hard, but she had done it in the arms of John.

Her love.

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