Alanna's mind was gradually clearing, letting the light that came through the window to unveil completely. The hospital bed was much more comfortable than Alanna expected (Or it could really be the excess of painkillers), so being careful to not move the tracks connected to her hand, Alanna sat up wide-eyed.

The memories of the previous day were returning little by little: The beginning of contractions breakfast, all the problems to find parking near the door of the hospital until neither short nor lazy Erika left the car in front of the door, down to catch her wife in arms while his grandfather got out of the car to sit in the driver's door ....

And all those memories led to a single concept, one so primary that Alanna couldnt contain adequately. Moving carefully to the side (That's when she noticed that the painkillers werent insufficient, Something strange because the last thing she could remember was Theo saying that the reconstruction operation would be directly after delivery), Alanna came across the most wonderful image in the world:

Beside her bed, Erika was lying in a recliner with one hand on the rail of Alanna and another on the rail of a cradle.

Cradle on which the most precious being of light that Alanna had ever seen was sleeping peacefully, so great that Alanna herself didnt understand how it could have come out of her. A thin layer of delicate and orange hair like Erika's own redhead (Although over the years the tone had become much lighter), thin as if it were a lint it brought color to a slightly pinky skin. "Erika ..." Alanna tried to wake up her wife, touching her gently with his free hand in an attempt not to disturb the dream of his new treasure. "Erika, my love ... please ..."

Stretching out lazily, Erika squeezed the grip of both hands as if wanting to keep everything close without waking. This bothered her wife a little, who decided that if she couldnt wake her up the other best option was to put the marriage years into practice.

"My love, another of your action figures has arrived-"

"I swear I have not asked for any more this month ..." Erika answered automatically, waking up seconds after avoiding the false bullet. "My love ..." The eyes of the sleepy wife were filled with tears of happiness, while both approached to share a kiss that tasted of blessed glory, their first kiss as mothers.

"We made it ... at last," Alanna whispered as they supported their foreheads against each other, rubbing their noses gently without opening their eyes. "Have you seen her cry? Tell me how it sounds ... "

"Like a celestial choir desiring attention" Erika replied giving one last chaste kiss to her wife before separating, getting up from the chair and bringing the cradle towards Alanna's bed. With the utmost care of the world, Erika picked up her still sleeping daughter, holding her in her arms for a few seconds before kissing her on the forehead and delivering her to the real winner of the nearly 10 months of endurance, the person who had carried her inside almost inexplicably.

"Be careful, she weighs almost 9 kilos of love"

"It's ..." Alanna couldnt understand what was happening when she took her daughter for the first time, leaning her against her chest. The creature in her hands was soft as the softest bed sheet in the world, and it smelled so deliciously that Alanna couldnt contain several aspirations in a row. "It's huge!" Is the only thing that Alanna could formulate, crying of emotion alternating the look between her wife and her daughter. "How could I hold her inside?"

"Because you're already the best mom, that's why" Erika said kissing the forehead of her wife while stroking the forehead of her daughter with two fingers, trying to not wake her up. After a day of labor, 2 night cries and an extremely difficult session of breast milk (Between Erika and two nurses had to prepare the unconscious Alanna to feed the newborn, with Erika sitting behind her wife holding her daughter while a nurse stimulated and held the breast of Alanna), Anne deserved at last to sleep with the rays of the sun welcoming her.

"She have your hair ..." Alanna rocked her daughter with care as she felt herself stirring, trying to imitate as best as possible all the YouTube tutorials that she and Erika had seen since the 5th month of pregnancy.

"And your nose, smile ... in general is identical to you when you were a baby, comparing her with the photo that Roland has give me. The only thing ..." Alanna turned to her wife, raising a confused eyebrow. "You will see it when she open her eyes. All that matters is that she is healthy as an oak, our little daughter of almost 80 centimeters ... "

"Are you telling me Theo was serious? I was carrying inside until yesterday a preciousness of 31 inches? ... we have to agree that the metric system to teach, it will be very messy to have a mother who first thinks in centimeters and another that first they are inches"

"Time to time, my life ..." Erika rubbed the back of her wife, staying both gawked to see how Anne began to stretch. Slowly the newborn was moving from side to side, moving her little arms in small uncoordinated spasms.

The moment they were both waiting had arrived, Anne opened her mouth several times before opening her eyes. In front of Alanna and Erika, bright eyes between turquoise and dark blue opened keeping their attention fixed on both. "What? But…"

"Dont ask" Erika saved her wife's job, smiling both like idiots while her daughter studied them with her eyes. "Theo has spent the night looking for information and I asked Meredith by text message when Anne finally fell asleep, thinking that it would be normal for children born through the MM ..."

"And?"

"And nothing. Our daughter has eyes that shine like a nightfall and orange hair that if she follows my path will become a deep red in the next months ... and I couldnt be more in love with her"

"Are you cheating me with another one girl?" Alanna said between smiles, unable to maintain the seriousness demanded by the joke because of the angel in her lap.

"And you're not doing the same thing?" Erika asked, dropping on her wife's shoulder. Anne finished her study, frowning and shaking her head up and down as if nodding before proceeding to snuggle in her mother's arms, her mouth half open waiting for breakfast.

"How could I not fall in love with her? My heart is now divided and you and Anne have split it up" Alanna crooned trying to understand what her daughter was doing, realizing too late for her taste of what was happening. "As soon as demanding? If you dont have a day!" Carefully, Erika helped her wife to get up the hospital shirt, revealing her swollen and full breasts of milk. (A strange sensation but that Alanna had been enjoying for weeks)

"Last night was a real problem, so I'm glad you're awake this time!" Erika joked as Alanna brought her daughter's head to her chest, placing the nipple carefully on her lips. As if born for it, Anne latched on to her mother's breast, beginning to suck without fear. (And with such force that Alanna was happy and afraid that she was toothless)

"You gave her my chest unconscious?" Alanna asked without knowing very well how to speak, too lost in the sensations to look for the words she wanted to express.

"Yes, and I ask heaven that the rest of the time be with you wake up! I had to put myself on the bed in a terrible posture to hold Anne and you upright!" Erika reached up to one of Anne's raised hands, dropping her index finger into her small palm so that her daughter could hold on to it. The simple gesture was enough to steal the hearts of both wives, who had no idea how they were going to stand if with such simple things they were already dumbfounded.

The minutes passed until one of the two dared to ask the question, which this time was Alanna. "How much ... How much should a baby drink??"

Erika shrugged, beginning to worry more about it. "I dont know! Last night she stopped alone and it took much less time! Can you let her go?"

"No idiot!And what happens if she misinterprets that we are taking her away from us and she begins to hate us?!"

"Anne was born last night, Ala! In less than 1 day of life I doubt very much that she will come to understand concepts beyond 'These are my mothers' and 'This is sweet, I must keep sucking!'"

"You dont know that! Babies are much more perceptive than they seem!" And while both mothers couldnt agree on how to act, Anne continued sucking until her hunger was satisfied, releasing her mother's breast and closing her eyes looking for a nap after the meal.

"Awwww ..." Both mothers sighed in love, ignoring the door of the room opening as they touched her daughter's cheeks.

"Good morning, family-" Theo stopped at the door, holding back the nurse with the breakfast cart. "Family ... girls? Alanna, Erika!" Theo ended up raising his voice, receiving a double SHHH from the marriage. "Dont send me to shut up, I only do my job ..." While the nurse left everything next to Alanna's bed, changing the soothing serum of Alanna in the process, Theo approached the bed on the other side preparing his stethoscope. "Do you allow me?" The gynecologist asked as Alanna placed her daughter, opening the simple pajamas and uncovering her chest. "Normal beats, normal breathing ... all right, as you would expect"

The news was similar to winning the lottery for the marriage, which both fists clenched as a sign of joy. "Alright girls, let me give you a summary of the situation. Alanna needs to start rehabilitation if she manages to move her legs toda-" The sentence was cut in half when Theo's eyes caught on as Alanna moved her feet and legs from right to left. "I swear that if this isnt the greatest medical miracle, I have no idea that you can overcome it. Literally 14 hours ago you had your womb open as if it were a turkey of thanksgiving, and you were less than 8 hours in the operating room, relocating all the lower half ..."

"I swear Theo, I dont feel bad ..." Alanna made a small gesture to her wife, helping her to pick up Anne while she stood on the edge of the bed. With less than a day of rest, Erika stood up without any tremor, no gesture of pain or difficulty.

"Blessed be the sky ... mother of beautiful love ... Are you aliens? It's the only explanation I can think of" Theo rubbed his forehead, drying a cold sweat with disguise.

"We are the Barlow Holm family" Erika replied smiling as Alanna turned around until she was with her wife and daughter, making faces at Anne while she gently caressed his hands. "Neither wind nor tide can stop us!Because neither wounded nor helpless we lose the way!"

Theo couldnt help but smile, not understanding what was in front of him. "That was something from megaman, right? I swear, doctor ... "Alanna sighed taking her daughter in her arms, hugging her carefully. "If we dont have 3 boxes full of megaman figures, we should have 4"

"I'm going to ignore that ... I have enough with this miraculous recovery in front of me" Theo scratched his chin, thinking it was the best then. "There really is no reason to be in the hospital any longer ... I havent seen any baby with as good health as Anne in my life and Alanna doesnt seem to need calming or serum. If I give you the discharge in exchange for me coming to your house to do daily check-ups, would you accept it?" The couple nodded at once, with Anne completely immobile, opening and closing her mouth little by little. Theo's plan to keep mother and daughter away from the hospital before the rumors of the intensification of quarantine was solid, so only the other part of it was missing.

"Even so, Alanna must leave in a wheelchair for reasons of keeping all this cover; so wait here while I'm going to inform all my colleagues and bring you a wheelchair, please"

But obviously it wasnt going to be so easy, because as soon as Theo explained the situation to the director of the hospital, not a few doctors went to the room in Alanna to perform different tests both mother and daughter. It took midday for Director Addams to be convinced to let them go, offering to take Erika's car personally to the underground employee parking lot to avoid prying eyes.

With Alanna sitting next to a baby chair not enough wide for Anne, the couple said goodbye to all the medical team that had made the miracle possible, driving back home where Erika expected their families to wait.

(11:30 a.m. on January 1, 2019, one hour later Park Boulevard, Brightside)

"I swear, I dont know if I'll be able to carry her when I grow up a little ..." Alanna lamented as she let Erika carry Anne, awake and as active as a newborn could be. "You're a lovely heavyweight, you know?" Pinching her little nose, Alanna touched the elevator button to send it down. At the foot of both lay the hospital bag that the couple had prepared for months, without using anything from the interior due to the very short stay ... but it's like Theo said, without both were in such good condition to have them occupying a room when the demand for beds is so high would be irresponsible.

"Dont worry! Now there's no excuse for not training those muscles, my love!" Erika was more than happy with the situation, since the need to move her daughter would force Alanna to get in shape whether she liked it or not. "Do you want Mommy to take to a wheelie everywhere, right Anne?" The baby didnt react the slightest, yawning even with the desire to sleep.

"You said mom without specifying which, so you're in that group!" Alanna responded with a smile, believing the battle won ... Until both of them had the same question. "Mom ... and mother?"

"What are we coming from, the twentieth century?"

"Mom and mommy?"

"Very similar, no?" The elevator opened its doors with no one inside, and as no one entered the parking lot of the building Alanna and Erika decided to enter and press the button on their floor. "Mom Erika and mama Alanna?"

"Mama Eri and Mama Ala"

"I love it" Alanna raised her head smiling with her arms crossed over her chest, enjoying the victory while her wife was inclined to give him a chaste kiss on the cheek. "You think they will be ..."

"To be honest? I hope there is no one- "The elevator reached its destination so Alanna went first while looking for the house keys in the bag. "I love our family, but right now all I need is to lie down and enjoy our little ray of sunshine; And then there's the fact that during the first 24 hours, more or less, Anne only focuses on what is 20 or 30 centimeters-" With a smile from ear to ear, Alanna pulled out the keys, preparing to open the door when the phone started to Sound.

"Uh ... how many numbers, do you expect a call?"  

"No-" And just before finishing the sentence, Alanna's cell phone and the landline of the apartment began to ring. "... I dont like it." Anne began to whimper, preparing herself for the crying while her mother Alanna answered the call with the speaker activated. "Hello?-"

"This is a call from the American emergency service. Citizen of Brightside, your presence at the entrance of the city at 12:00 is required; In case you cant attend all the television channels during the informative round will be intervened so that you can follow it live. Thank you for your attention"

The robotic voice hung up the call, leaving the marriage too confusing for the desired.

"What do we do?" Alanna asked opening the front door while Anne burst into tears. Leaving Erika to enter the room directly, Alanna locked the door with the key to the sofa with her wife in an attempt to calm Anne. As Roland had agreed with them at Christmas, all of Anne's gifts were next to the closet, placed like a Christmas tree. And for gifts, we must understand everything. From a crib, through 3 bags of baby clothes as big as their family could find, a changing-tub and dozens of stuffed animals with labels of who had bought them.

It was on these occasions that Alanna loved having such a serious and organized father and such a large family. "Waaaaaa ...! Waaaaa! "Anne whimpered uncontrollably, her mother Erika rocking her from side to side in an attempt to understand what was happening.

"Alanna, time to go with the strategy!" Erika gave the signal, to which Alanna responded by preparing a towel on the sofa as they had rehearsed. Being a mother was their dream, so it was normal to have everything tied up before the time came:

"Hungry?" Erika handed the baby to her wife, Alanna already prepared with one breast exposed.

"Negative! Nappy?" Alanna left Anne in the towel, unbuttoning her pajamas too justito and the diaper- "Agggg ..."

Both mothers complained at the same time, not a thousand videos of youtube could prepare them for the first time. With resignation (but seeing some charm to the situation), the marriage was coordinated to change the diaper and discard the old, using the largest size that Roland had bought ... a little not too loose for the taste of marriage. "We consider this a victory, dont we?" Erika sat back down on the sofa, caressing her daughter's stomach without much success in making her laugh.

"I would give it as a victory, what really matters is that it is almost the time that the call has said ... the last time was the beginning of the quarantine, so the bar is too low ..."

"And even then they managed to disappoint us ..." Erika sighed taking her daughter in her arms, cradling her while Alanna leaned against her wife turning on the television.

(Brightside, Heritage Lane.12: 00 in the morning, January 1, 2019)

The crowd of Brightside gathered in front of the entrance to the quarantine block, where a stage was set up behind the security walls. The tension was breathed in the air, as the military presence had happened in one night of a patrol to have controlled the city to several coordinated teams, including an unknown team with black and gray uniforms.

The blockade of quarantine was the constant topic to talk about, with the entire Brightside municipality doing everything possible to keep it on the television as long as possible in an attempt to provoke a wave of solidarity that ended up forcing the state administration to undo the blockade giving them back their freedom ... Although until now no pressure, whether national or international, had managed to change anything.

The most that the Brightside City Council had achieved was to increase the amount of weekly entertainment product shipments and a free high-speed internet connection for the city. Shut up which animals without even the tourists being able to return to their homes, the inhabitants of Brightside completely distrusted the intention of the more and more soldiers. (They have just mounted a giant screen on the stage, decorating it with the flags of the country, state and city on both sides of the stage)

At 12:00 o'clock in the morning, a soldier in an unknown uniform took the stage, walking to the center and waiting with his arms crossed on his back for his companions to install the microphone in front of him. "Testing, one two three four. Testing, one two three four" The soldier said as openly and clearly as possible, receiving confirmation from his team by walkie talkie that both the entire BrightSide public warning system and all the channels had been properly interrupted.

"Good morning, compatriots. I am General William Black, son of Brightside and second in command of the Shepherds. Many of you will meet my father Alexeis Black, owner of one of Brightside's oldest coffee shops on the Park Boulevard; so first of all I would like to warn you that if you have any complaints direct it directly to me. I will not tolerate any kind of reprisal against my family because they have no influence on any of the decisions made last week" The general's tone was direct, making his message understood before squeezing his right fist, lighting the screen showing a military emblem composed of the head of a sheep superimposed on what appeared to be a castle.

"The Shepherds Division was born last night at 2 o'clock in the morning, as a measure of control before the last decision regarding the NEPFV. Let me put you first in a situation-" William stepped into the next phase, showing what appeared to be the excerpt from a telephone call narrated by a robotic voice.

(12/28/18 9:17)

Your stupid quarantine hasnt helped, the NEPFV has taken a deep hold on our blood! If you cant control it, you will be overwhelmed by the weight of a NEW AGE! NO GUN CAN OVERCOME THE POWER OF THE NEW GENERATIONS, BECAUSE IN THEM I WILL DEPOSIT ALL MY HOPE TO SEE HOW THE CORRUPT SYSTEMS OF THE WHOLE WORLD WILL BURN UNDER THE JUST FLAMES OF THE NEW ERA OF THE HISTORY OF HUMANITY, THE AGE OF DAWN !

"At this moment the government has only 2 things clear: The first is that the call was made from a prepaid phone found in a bin near the town hall of Brightside; And the second is that it is a direct threat not only to the United States of America, our home ... but to the entire Western society as such.

Since at the moment no one has attributed the utoria of the threat nor has been able to locate the culprit of the same or the virus NEPF as the author of the threat calls the strange virus that all of us who have drunk or have been impregnated by the water from our purification plant, the defense department has decided to activate the biological warning Defcon 3, starting from last night at 00:00 the operation NIGHTCATCHER"

The screen after Willian happened to show a map of the city and the surroundings, one that made people shout panic and terror. Two large walls were built around the Brightside grounds: Holder 1 (Directly around Brightside's territory) and Holder 2. (Separated by an extension of Holder space 1)

"As you can see, the government has decided that until we are able to decipher the origin, the function and a possible vaccine for the NPEF virus, whose initials we still do not know, the only logical and sensible decision is to stay away, contained and safe to avoid a possible activation of the virus. For this the defense department began at the end of last year the construction of a double security dome-"

From the moment that William said cupola and people understood what the map really meant the cries of indignation and supplication began immediately. Waiting between death threats, comparisons with Stephen Hawkins' book, cries for mercy and shouting for answers that William couldnt answer, the general counted to 20 before resuming his speech.

"You arent alone, Brightside! We will not let you face these in solitude, since we are all children of this country! All the soldiers and workers you see around me are volunteers who have come from all kinds of military groups, ready to carry this heavy burden with you! We lock ourselves with you for as long as necessary, living in the NightHold, which is the terrain between domes. We will personally take charge with the Brightside authorities to maintain order and ensure that all the time we are together is to everyone's liking" William step towards the penultimate photograph, taking a breath to bear the end of the speech. "As you can see, the government of the United States offers to take charge of your water, electricity and telephone bills during your entire stay under the dome, in addition to providing you with an economic compensation of $ 100,000 per person if the stay until neutralize the NPEF virus extends to more than 10 years"

As William had foreseen, the revelation of that possible was enough to raise more consternation. "Your lives are not going to change in the least thing, since the dome has a built-in ventilation system to protect us from the heat of summer and the cold of winter besides systems to be able to generate both natural breezes, like soft rains to snow! In addition, we will have entrances and exits by the four cardinal points, besides the installation of a direct highway controlled by the army to assure the constant shipment and exit of all the necessary goods, so much essential as secondary. The latest releases of billboard, high speed internet connection constant and free throughout the city, contracts with courier companies to meet your personal needs in technology, fashion, sport or whatever you want; with a big announcement and is that the government has designed the dome to be much larger than necessary, so that we will have space to build everything we need.

I know that our lives will not be ideal, but I can swear on my honor and that of our country that our best scientists will not stop looking for a cure for SFEF before they can even do something ... and for that I ask you all for patience and confidence in our government. The rail on which the dome will be placed will be ready by day 3 of this month to be installed, so my superior has activate an emergency system: If you have a family outside of Brightside, contact our agents who will be permanently during the remaining 48 hours at the town hall; they will they will provide all the necessary money in case your relatives wish to live with you.

Once the dome placed, all visits to the city will be handled personally by my employees... that's all. I am sorry for the inconvenience and I hope you understand the situation"

Turning off the screen, William got off the stage between screams like before, but much stronger. As a child born to Brightside, William had decided to personally be the public face of Operation NIGHTCATCHER in order to give his compatriots a familiar face to hate, fear or despise; what they decide to do was not William's business.

Anne slept peacefully, oblivious to the face full of tears of their mothers. Erika and Alanna stretched their hands at the same time, turning off the TV and looking at each other, only being able to hug as low as possible to include their daughter in the embrace. Without being aware, Anne had become one of the last babies to see the true blue sky directly on Brightside before the beginning of the time known as "Black's Guard".