Klaus sat across from the council head who was a fairly old man. His slicked back hair and his stern demeanor warranted respect regardless of his actions. He crossed his arms and sat back in his chair.

“Klaus, I hope you understand what it is you’re asking me to do,”

“Sir, I’m fully aware of the request and I’m prepared for the repercussions,”

“Letting whatever inside Mira be exposed to the public poses a great risk. While I respect your skills, both as a hunter and a scientist, I doubt convincing the rest of the council members to let that thing live in the open will be an easy task. Regardless of the potential scientific implications,”

Klaus got close to the Council Head’s desk.

“Think about it sir, nothing like this has happened in the fifteen years since this projects conception. We don’t know the true potential for what this child can do, and regardless of whether it’s half-beast or not, the other half is still human,”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Keeping that child here and experimenting on it could potentially cause unwanted problems. If the child is as powerful as the research says it could be, knowing our ways, we’d only be creating a new enemy,”

“It’s a child Klaus! If it shows any sign of aggression, we can simply kill it,”

“And destroy a high-value specimen? I don’t think anyone working on this project would consider it a worthwhile gain. All I’m saying is provide me with the resources to observe and personally train the child,”

“You can’t instill humanity into a monster, Klaus…”

“But, what if we can! I need you to trust me on this. There’s something big here and I think this is the best way to tackle it,”

The Council Head let out a frustrated sigh.

“Okay, Klaus. I’ll see what I can do. If I can convince them, you owe me a lot more than a beer,”

Klaus stood up tall before the Council Head’s desk.

“Thank you, sir! I’ll make sure this project is a success,”

The whistling of the wind and the rustling of the vibrant leaves filled the room.

“I hope that the baby will grow to be handsome,” Mira joked.

“I’d laugh if the child wasn’t considered a specimen,” Klaus snapped.

“Oh don’t be so negative. Even still, it’s a human baby,” Mira said while stroking her belly.

“I don’t want you getting attached to it, Mira,” Klaus said sternly.

“You’re the one who’s going to take care of it, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, bu-”

“Then, I don’t see the problem with getting attached. It’s not like I’ll never see him and even if it was through some experiment… He’s still my child,”

Mira smiled as she continued stroking her belly slowly with the front of her long slender hands.

“I don’t get how you can be so loving towards it,”

“You’re not the one carrying a baby, are you?”

Klaus waved his hand at her as he got up from his stool. He walked over to the window and slid the glass window open. He proceeded to stick a cigarette in his mouth.

“Uh uh! Not this time, Klaus!” Mira shouted.

“What?” Klaus asked with a surprised look on his face.

“The baby?” Mira said while pointing to her large stomach.

Klaus slid the stick back into the pack and closed it. He pulled the stool up to the side of the bed.

“Mira, if-”

Klaus felt Mira’s hand grab his wrist. She placed his hand against her stomach and rested her two hands atop his.

“In this business, we never get a chance to breathe. We forget how it feels to live, what it means to live. Whenever I see or feel moments like these, I think maybe the world isn’t so bad…”

Mira’s voice carried a motherly tone. Warm, kind, caring. All things that couldn’t be felt in the lives that they lived. A distant dream that rarely ever becomes real.

“Feel him, Klaus,”

Mira guided Klaus’s palm across her stomach. He felt the smoothness of her skin as his skin glided across hers. Mira stopped let his hand go, only for Klaus to slightly jump in his seat.

Mira laughed.

“Did you feel him?”

“Yeah… I did,”