Code Lyoko Fan Fiction ❯ Promise for... ❯ A Family ( Chapter 1 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Lord Archive 
Aelita doesn't want to remain alone, with no family to call her own.
Anime/Manga: Code Lyoko Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Romance / Sci-fi | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 10.30.2009 | Updated On: 11.02.2009 | Pages: 8 | Words: 7.7K | Visits: 511 | Status: Completed
Aelita doesn't want to remain alone, with no family to call her own.
Anime/Manga: Code Lyoko Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Romance / Sci-fi | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 10.30.2009 | Updated On: 11.02.2009 | Pages: 8 | Words: 7.7K | Visits: 511 | Status: Completed
Promise For...
A Family
By Lord Archive
Code Lyoko and all characters belong to Taffy Entertainment a Moonscoop Company, and was used without consent. All rights reserved.
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"I would like to hang out with you and talk."
Such a simple sentence that had been e-mailed to him, yet one that filled Mr. Belpois with worry. In the past couple years his son had practically avoided him. He knew that really wasn't the case. His son had found something, or rather someone, that was more important than anything else. In that time Jeremie missed vacations, even going so far as purposely getting detention to be forced to stay at the school rather than go home on vacation. It was not until Principal Delmas called and inform him that Jeremie had a girl in his room well past curfew that he learned why. Before that call, he had wondered if his son didn't want to see him.
So, here he was taking his son to a football game on a Saturday. The fact Jeremie agreed to go to the game was proof enough that his computer geek son with sun starved skin was indeed troubled by something.
Jeremie's glazed eyes watched the men on the field kick around a white and black ball. "Dad... I kind of have a problem..."
"You didn't blow up your computer again, did you?" Mr. Belpois tried to joke.
"Nothing that simple I'm afraid..." Jeremie gazed at his toes. "You know that Aelita is an orphan. Well... we haven't told you everything. Some of it would sound unbelievable."
Mr. Belpois nodded shallowly, but said nothing.
"Aelita..." Jeremie swallowed. "Well, I first met her when I was searching for stuff I could use to build robots in an abandoned factory. She didn't even have any memories. My friends have been working to piece together her past and help her remember. She has a lot of her memories back, but there are still holes she may never get back."
"Ah, so that's what you've all been working on," Mr. Belpois commented.
"Well... yeah." Jeremie tapped his feet against the bleachers. "Aelita knows her mother died when she was young. I only recently learned that she has been having nightmares about it. Her mother died in a wolf attack saving her life."
Mr. Belpois flinched. "Ouch."
"Since then she lived alone with her father." Jeremie squeezed his hands tightly. "However there was a problem... he was a research scientist for the government. After something happen, he went into hiding. While running, Aelita was separated from her father. He was believed dead, but we still had hope he was out there."
"I take it you found proof her father is dead," Mr. Belpois guessed.
Jeremie nodded. "Yes. But the main problem is that he worked on top secret projects. I've found her father's degrees from universities; we've found her abandoned home with family pictures. Yet, I've been unable to find her birth certificate, or even proof her mother ever existed. It's like Aelita and her mother were never born."
Mr. Belpois raised an eyebrow. "How was she admitted into school?"
Jeremie looked away. "I... um... forged her identification... I couldn't just leave her sitting in that factory doing nothing. She's as good in mathematics as I am."
Mr. Belpois laughed a little. "At least you did it for the right reasons."
"But it kind of gets to part of the issue at hand." Jeremie sighed. "Aelita has nothing, absolutely nothing. No family, no money. Even her underwear was given to her by one of our friends. And now she desperately wants something she can truly say is hers. Dad, Aelita wants... she wants..." Jeremie gulped deeply. "She wants to have a baby."
Mr. Belpois stared at his son with wide eyes. "That... certainly is a problem. Have you...?"
Jeremie nodded. "I... I can't say 'no' to her. The first time she said she wanted someone to hold her, but it was obvious that wasn't all she had wanted. Later I asked her why... when she refused my suggestion to use protection and she told me." He looked up at his father with a lost expression. "I don't know what to do! I know we're not ready to start a family. But I'm afraid. Afraid if I tell her 'no' she'll go to one of our friends."
Mr. Belpois sat silently next to his son, uncertain how what to say. After a minute, he finally found something. "I'm not sure what to say. I'm proud that you at least realize you're not ready for that sort of responsibility. If you were older, I'd be encouraging you, but this is indeed too soon." Mr. Belpois sighed. "Aelita is certainly a wonderful girl, and I certainly understand that you love each other. Unfortunately, love isn't always enough. I'd like you to back away from this, even if it means losing her, but I understand if you can't. This is a decision I can't make for you, only make it harder and I don't want to do that. Whatever you decide, I will support you."
Jeremie nodded. "Thanks, Dad."
-----------------
"Hello, Mr. Delmas."
"Ah, Mrs. Belpois, what brings you here?" Mr. Delmas greeted the woman.
Mrs. Belpois sat down. "I have an unusual request. My afternoon unexpectedly opened up and I have the urge for a bit of a girl's afternoon out. And since I was in the area, I thought I'd take Aelita Stone with me."
Mr. Delmas blinked. "Why would you want to take her out instead of your son?"
Mrs. Belpois smiled with false innocence. "Well, a few reasons. Aelita is an orphan, as you know, and has no means to get new clothes by herself. Not to mention she is my son's girlfriend and I would like to get an idea of where their relationship stands now."
Mr. Delmas nodded slowly. "I do see your reasoning, but this is, as you said, 'an unusual request.'"
"Last weekend, my son went out with his father for a guy's day out. They had a nice bit of bonding, but it was brought up how Aelita has nothing. She doesn't even have a mother, or any other adult female, to talk to about problems she may have. All she has is my son and her friends, and sometimes that isn't enough," Mrs. Belpois finished.
Mr. Delmas bowed his head. "Yes. I can certainly understand. I try to be there for my own daughter, but there are some things I can't do for her. As long as Ms. Stone is willing, she may accompany you." He got up from his desk. "We had best hurry to her last class before it lets out, otherwise it may be hard to find her."
Mrs. Belpois followed the principal through the school. They did not have to wait long before the class ended and the students filed out.
"Mom?!" Jeremie squeaked out in surprise.
Aelita walked up next to him. "Hello."
"Hey!" Odd added, while Ulrich grunted, "Hi."
"Hello," Mrs. Belpois returned the greetings. "Jeremie, would you mind if I borrowed your girlfriend for a girl's night out?"
Jeremie shifted nervously. "Ah... sure..."
Aelita blushed slightly while giving the boy next to her an accusatory glance. "Um, why would you want to take me out?"
"I unexpectedly have the afternoon off, and I wanted to have some girl time. Since I was in the area, I thought I'd take you," Mrs. Belpois half-explained.
Aelita sighed. "It might be fun."
-----------------
Of course Aelita thought her statement would be a lie. She knew very well that this outing had nothing to do with wanting some 'girl time' but to talk to her about her relationship with Jeremie. Yet an hour into the trip to the mall, the closest they came to talking about it was when Mrs. Belpois bought her some new bras, the fanciest one of them was something 'Jeremie was sure to like,' as his mother put it. She was sure he preferred her without a bra at all.
As they stopped for dinner, Aelita had to ask, "Aren't you going to say anything about my relationship with Jeremie?"
"I've been trying to figure that out." Mrs. Belpois poked at her pasta. "At the same time I don't really want to think about such things."
Aelita looked strangely at her boyfriend's mother.
Mrs. Belpois sighed softly. "Aelita does the thought of having a baby scare you?"
Aelita shook her head. "Not at all."
Mrs. Belpois frowned. "Then you have absolutely no idea what becoming a mother means. It's scary in a way you've never seen."
"I assure you I know what it's like to be afraid," Aelita told her seriously.
"It's a different sort of fear than something threatening your life. A baby is completely and totally dependent on you. There's no running to the store for a minute as the baby may need you. And you can forget sleeping through the night for at least a year," Mrs. Belpois warned.
"Why are you so frightened now?" Aelita wondered. "I doubt I'm pregnant yet."
"You might not be... but I am." Mrs. Belpois laughed nervously. "It's why I took the afternoon off."
Aelita's eyes widened in surprise. "Does Jeremie know?"
"Michael doesn't even know yet. I only found out this morning." Mrs. Belpois smirked. "But it would be funny to have our children go to school together. And if you did have a baby now, the cost wouldn't be as bad. Though it'd be better if you waited."
"So you're not upset with me?" Aelita questioned meekly.
"No. I understand why you'd want to have a family. I just think you're going at it all wrong." Mrs. Belpois pointed at the girl with her fork. "The time I felt most alone was after I got pregnant and eloped with Michael. It was during my first year at university. I was forced to stay at my parents' home for a year instead of continuing my education. During that time I was so afraid that Michael would leave me as I would only see him during school vacations. He wasn't even there when Jeremie was born because he was taking an exam at school. That loneliness didn't end with Jeremie's birth, but only got worse. I desperately wanted help raising my baby, but I was left to that task by myself."
"Didn't your parents help you?" Aelita wondered.
"I did get some help, but mother didn't entirely approve." Mrs. Belpois tried to smile. "Dad was happy I didn't go for a big wedding, however he was more clueless on how to raise a baby than I was. Now, I'm afraid I'll screw up again."
Aelita blinked. "What do you mean 'screw up?' Jeremie is a wonderful man."
"And in the last two years I've seen more of you than him. Jeremie is what he is despite of me, not because of me," Mrs. Belpois said seriously. "When he went to public school near home, he had such trouble with bullies. We felt it best to send him to boarding school. It took a couple tries before he had discovered his place, and found true friendship and you."
-----------------
Odd stared in surprise at who was sitting in front of the television in the recreation room. "Hey, Einstein, what are you doing away from a computer screen? Did Aelita promise to meet you here?"
Jeremie glanced up. "Hello."
Odd plopped down next to him. "Is something wrong?"
"I hope not," Jeremie almost groaned.
"Well if you're not going to spill it, how about I shoot it out of you?" Odd held up a shooting game.
Jeremie shrugged weakly. "Why not?"
Odd grinned as switched the television over to the gaming system and booted up the game. He handed Jeremie a controller before reclaiming his seat. "You've got the bottom screen."
"Whatever," Jeremie muttered.
Odd's experience in the game gave him the first three kills, but that was all he got as the boy next to him began to take demented glee in turning his avatar into Swiss cheese. "So, what's the deal with your mother taking Aelita out shopping."
"Dad must have told Mom that Aelita wants to have a baby." Jeremie pressed a button and used a cannon to snipe the head off Odd's character.
"Say what?!" was cried out by more than just Odd.
Sissi stomped in front of Jeremie. "I take back ever calling her Ms. Einstein if she's THAT stupid! You couldn't possibly be dumb enough to help her, could you?"
Jeremie hit the pause button. "I don't see how this is any of your business."
"You better believe it's my business! My Dad is the principal! If Aelita goes and gets herself knocked up, he could get into trouble!" Sissi ranted.
"She does have a point," Odd chirped.
Jeremie glared at him. "And how many girls have you tried having 'fun' with?"
"Oh, please. It's the chase that's the fun part. I never caught a girl I wanted, and walked away from the girls who wouldn't run," Odd defended.
"And if Aelita decided to go to you?" Jeremie accused.
Odd blinked. "So that's why you're being so grouchy to me. Listen, I'd never take Aelita from you."
"Even if she literally threw herself at you because I don't want to be a father yet?" Jeremie pressed. "Could you really say 'no' to her."
"If I could say 'no' to Sam, I can say 'no' to Aelita." Odd looked away. "My folks may not have any problems with being grandparents, but I sure as hell don't want the responsibility of being a Dad."
Sissi growled. "When I see Aelita, I'll give her a piece of my mind!"
"Does she have any left to spare?" Jeremie grumbled.
The door slammed shut as Sissi stormed out of the room.
"You're certainly brushing up on your diplomacy," Odd joked. "Just don't use it on Aelita."
Jeremie replied by killing Odd's avatar again.
"Have you and Aelita..." Odd trailed off.
"Do you think she would tell me she wanted a baby first?" Jeremie returned.
Odd laughed. "You two do tend to over think and discuss things. Then again warning you would freak you out." He tried to move into a sniper position, but his attempt to hide failed. "You know, I'd suggest letting Aelita find out what having a baby is really like by babysitting my nephew, but taking care of a baby had the opposite effect on one of my sisters."
"Which one?" Jeremie wondered.
"Louise, my fifteen-year-old sister, was caught having sex with a guy she wasn't even dating." Odd scowled. "His parents were upset, mine were talking about baby names."
-----------------
"Is it really okay that you spent so much on me?" Aelita wondered. "You have so many other expenses coming."
"Don't worry about it. Michael and I have done more to make a living than having a life. We can at least use some of that to help our boy's girlfriend," Mrs. Belpois returned in a bored tone, indicating this was not the first time the question had been asked. "With the exception of what you're wearing now, you'll be able to wear them months into a pregnancy."
"What are you people smoking?!" Sissi cried out. "You can't actually be encouraging her! And what's with that outfit?!"
Aelita looked down and then at the girl. "Sorry if I'm borrowing your look, Sissi." Both girls were wearing a tank top and short skirt, only Aelita's was pink and while Sissi's was deep red.
"I'm trying to GET attention, you've already got it!" Sissi defended. "How can you be so STUPID to think having a baby is a good idea?"
Aelita bowed her head. "Because I was being an idiot. I've never dealt with a baby and I didn't know what goes with it. I can't deny I still want to have someone I can call family, who is really related to me. But Mrs. Belpois has given me reason to wait."
"Then what's with that outfit!" Sissi demanded.
"Waiting doesn't mean I can't have fun," Aelita replied mischievously.
"My father will hear of this!" Sissi cried out before running off.
Aelita folded her arms. "This wouldn't be a bad day to redo."
"If only such a thing was possible," Mrs. Belpois commented. "Was that Mr. Delmas's daughter?"
Aelita nodded. "She can be annoying at times."
Mrs. Belpois looked at the girl knowingly. "You should perhaps understand her more than others do."
Aelita blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"She doesn't have a mother either," Mrs. Belpois pointed out. "Perhaps we should take her with us on the next outing."
Aelita pouted. "Can they really find out if I'm... capable or not?"
"That's why you should go," Mrs. Belpois replied. "I don't know why you think you might be infertile."
"As I told you, I don't know what happened after I was separated from my father. Anything could've happened." Aelita looked at her feet. "I'm just afraid that I might never have a real family."
Mrs. Belpois smiled sadly. "Don't worry so much. You're still young and have a lot of life to go through."
Aelita tried to smile. "I hope so."
"Why don't you go and knock my son's socks off?" Mrs. Belpois patted the girl's back. "And do try to remember what I told you."
Aelita laughed a little. "I will. Good-bye." With the farewell from Jeremie's mother, she ran off to the dorms and informed Jim she was back on campus before dropping her bags off at her dorm room. She then headed to her boyfriend's room. She was surprised that he was not there. Puzzled, she went over to Ulrich and Odd's room and knocked.
"Who is it?" a voice called out.
"Hi, Ulrich. Do you know where Jeremie is?" Aelita replied.
"Good thing Odd isn't here. He'd start calling you 'Ulirch' for the rest of the night. Afraid I don't know..." The door opened and the boy poked his head out. "Wow! You make that look better than Sissi ever did."
Aelita folded her arms and smirked. "Which I think upset her more... Wait, where's Odd?"
"He went to the rec. room." Ulrich frowned. "Why?"
"Considering what Sissi yelled at me, she could've only learned it by eavesdropping on Jeremie. And if you're here and Jeremie is not, then it could only mean he's with Odd," Aelita concluded.
"Hold up. I'm coming with you," Ulrich told her.
"Want to see Jeremie's reaction to this?" Aelita waved her hand over her outfit.
Ulrich laughed. "If you're right, there may be something more to see."
Aelita raised an eyebrow and walked with him to the recreation room.
"Ah! No fair! Run, damn it! Run!" Odd cried out. "Are you cheating? How could I repop right in front of you?!"
"He got me too!" Nicolas whined.
"This game is infantile!" Herve growled in annoyance.
"How does he know where we are?" Nicolas asked.
"Because he's watching all four screens at once," Aelita observed.
Jeremie froze and looked nervously behind himself, and his mouth hit the ground along with Nicolas's and Herve's as they stared at the girl's new attire.
Odd took the opportunity to shoot Jeremie's avatar repeatedly.
"So, I take it Jeremie won?" Ulrich grinned at them.
"Gah! We still lost!" Odd moaned as time expired. He then glanced up. "Hey, you do the Sissi look better than she does."
"So I've been told." She then batted her eyes toward Jeremie. "Like it?"
Jeremie wasn't the only boy nodding dumbly.
"I had a great time with your mother." Aelita moved and squeezed herself between Jeremie and Odd. "We'll need to talk later, but right now I'd like a turn at shooting people."
"Sure!" Herve and Nicolas chorused.
Ulrich snatched one of the controllers. "I'm with Jeremie against you two."
"Sounds like a plan," Aelita agreed.
Odd didn't particularly like the team-up until Aelita began warning him about the positions of Jeremie and Ulrich. Still Jeremie was better at keeping track of everything than Aelita, and Ulrich was a better shot than he was. The game was close, but Jeremie and Ulrich were still ahead.
Aelita kept her eyes on the screen, frowning at having been taken out by Ulrich snipping her in the back. "Oh, Jeremie... I forgot to tell you that you had better get ready for a new addition to your family."
The controller fell from Jeremie's hands.
"What?!" Ulrich cried out.
Odd blinked. "Already?"
Jeremie slowly turned toward her. "Aelita..."
"Your going to be a... big... brother!" Aelita held up her controller and pressed the button to fire off her attack, taking out her boyfriend's avatar.
Ulrich quickly refocused on the game. "That's not playing fair."
Jeremie blinked repeatedly. "You're not...?"
"Don't think I am," Aelita replied.
Ulrich fumbled with his controller. "You two are lovers?" he whispered harshly.
"Don't need to be quiet about it. By now Sissi let the whole school know," Odd replied evilly, taking advantage of the situation.
Jeremie's eyes were wide. "Wait, are you saying my Mom is going to have a baby?"
"Yep." Aelita nodded. "She wants me to go with her when she goes to the doctor in two weeks to see about my own sexual health."
"Oh... Wow..." Jeremie sat there in stunned silence as the game ended with Aelita claiming the most kills.
-----------------
Jeremie quietly followed behind Aelita as they took the long way around to the dormitory. She didn't look at him as she broke the silence, "Why did you tell your father about us?"
The silence returned for a moment before he finally replied, "I... Well, because I didn't know what to do. We're not ready to be parents. I understand why you want to have a family, but I really don't think it would solve anything. You'd have a family, but that's all you have."
Aelita whirled around. "What do you mean by that?"
Jeremie sighed. "It's just that all you'd have is the baby, me and my parents. That'd be it. You'd be stuck living with my parents. You wouldn't be able to pursue a musical career. You would lose your education and our friends. You wouldn't be able to see Yumi, Odd or Ulrich. Hell, you wouldn't be able to see much of me as I'd still be in school."
Aelita's posture softened. "Your mother actually told me much the same. As lonely as I feel now, it'd be worse if I did get pregnant. You wouldn't believe how scared she was today, learning she's going to have a new baby."
Jeremie shuddered before he nodded. "You know how I feel about you. I have a real hard time telling you 'no,' but I have to say it for this."
"I'm sure I could still make you say 'yes.'" Aelita smiled coyly while striking a sensual pose.
"Aelita..." Jeremie breathed.
She leaned forward, placing her forehead against his. "As much as I want to make you say 'yes,' you're right. I'm not ready. I only thought about what I'd gain. I didn't think about the cost." She stole a quick kiss. "Yet part of me hopes that this is all too late already."
Jeremie swallowed hard, edging back from her. "I hope not. But if you are, at least we have my parents support. It's better than what Ulrich would get from his parents."
Aelita let out a short laugh. "True. While Yumi has her reasons for keeping him at arm's length, I'm sure that's one of them."
"We'd best head back to the dorms." Jeremie shifted uncomfortably. "Don't want to get in trouble for breaking curfew."
Aelita giggled. "I'll be thinking of you before going to bed as well."
"Right..." Jeremie laughed.
The couple turned toward the dorm but got no further as Principal Delmas stared down at them. "So, my daughter was telling the truth."
"Yes, sir." Aelita bowed her head. "I've been an idiot. Everything has been my idea."
Jeremie glanced at his girlfriend. "I am to blame as well."
Delmas folded his arms. "You will both be confined to your rooms until it has been decided what your punishment will be, if you're not expelled entirely."
Jeremie and Aelita paled and exchanged looks. As one they nodded before dashing into woods.
Delmas was taken aback by their reaction and tried to chase after the young lovers.
Aelita made it to the manhole cover first and lifted it for her boyfriend to scurry down. She quickly followed behind him. They both pulled out their cell-phones to warn the others that they were going to reactivate Lyoko to reset the day.
-----------------
The elevator opened with Yumi leaning against the wall. "And why haven't you shut the computer back down?"
"Oh, hi." Jeremie continued to work at the terminal. "I thought since we turned it on I'd use it for a little project."
"What kind of project?" Yumi wondered, walking toward him.
Jeremie laughed sheepishly. "It's a secret. But you must NOT tell Aelita about this." He glanced at her. "Was there a reason you asked us to delay resetting the day for a half-hour."
"I wanted to find out what Milly thought about my brother." Yumi smirked. "She didn't believe me that Hiroki LIKED her."
"Even with him following her around like a lovesick puppy?" Jeremie laughed.
Yumi peered at the screen. "Why are you searching for that?" She blinked in confusion before her eyes widened in surprise. "You don't mean that's..."
"Yes." Jeremie looked at her seriously. "You can't tell Aelita. You wouldn't believe what I had to go through to learn this."
"I understand." Yumi patted the boy on the back. "I didn't find you."
Jeremie smirked. "Thanks."
Yumi began to walk away. "Better not hang around here too much longer. Aelita should be back from her shopping trip with your mother soon."
"As long as Aelita didn't do anything to shorten it, I should have another hour. More than enough for to program what I need," Jeremie replied.
-----------------
The weekend came and Aelita was beginning to think Jeremie was avoiding her. She dialed his cell-phone.
"Hello," Jeremie greeted.
"Where are you, Jeremie?" Aelita demanded.
"Can't you hear the computer keys? I'm in my room," Jeremie sheepishly told her.
"I do hear you typing, but you're not in your room. I am," Aelita almost growled. "You're using the super-computer, aren't you?"
"Aelita... please trust me on this. It's very important," Jeremie pleaded. A buzzard sounded. "Oh, wow! I'll tell you everything soon. I promise."
"Odd wants to meet up at the Hermitage for some reason," Aelita told him.
"Go on ahead of me. I'll be there soon," Jeremie promised.
Aelita scowled. "You better be there."
Jeremie began laughing. "I just want to confirm this information. Then I'm gone."
Aelita snapped her phone shut irritably before closing and locking Jeremie's room with her copy of the key before heading off to the Hermitage.
The run down building made her frown. Here was where she spent years of her life, but only had a handful of memories. It was sickening that her home had fallen into such disrepair. Her fingers traced along the wall as she followed the once familiar path to her childhood bedroom, where she found most of her friends.
"It's time," Odd announced before he pulled out a knife and cut open his pointer finger. He then tossed the blade to Ulrich, who also cut open his finger.
Aelita's eyes widened. "What are you doing?"
Ulrich held out the knife. "You'll understand. Just cut open your finger like we did."
Had the request come from anyone else besides her fellow warriors, she would've refuse. Aelita winced as the blade bit into her skin.
Odd grabbed her now wounded hand and pressed his bleeding finger to her open cut. Ulrich likewise added his finger.
"We are your brothers and you are our sister," Odd and Ulrich intoned at the same time.
Aelita felt like crying. "I am your sister, and you are my brothers."
Yumi then grabbed the knife, and cut open her finger as well. Pressing her cut to Aelita's, both girls said as one, "You are my sister, and I am your sister."
"What's going on?" Jeremie questioned, panting slightly.
"We've declared ourselves Aelita's siblings!" Odd announced.
"You're not going make me cut open my finger, are you?" Jeremie wondered nervously.
"Nope. Brothers don't marry their sister. Which is why Ulrich and Yumi didn't do it at the same time," Odd joked.
Two glares were cast toward Odd, while everyone else laughed.
Jeremie held up some papers. "It actually may have been sort of redundant for you, Odd."
"What are you talking about?" Odd wondered.
"You're her cousin," Jeremie announced.
Ulrich bandaged his finger. "We know that's the lie we told the school."
"It's actually NOT a lie." Jeremie looked at the papers. "Marie Aelita Waldo, born April third 1982 in Vancouver Canada to Franz Hopper Waldo, who we also know to be Waldo Franz Schaeffer, and Antea Kathy Waldo. Now we know that Franz had changed his name, but I never considered that he might have changed Aelita's or his wife's name. And here I have proof that Aelita was born to a different name. That led me to check on variations of your mother's name and found Aneta Catherine Hopper who was the second daughter of Antonio and Henrietta Hopper. Their first daughter, Triela, married Vincent Lombardi."
"Wait! Those are the names of my Mom's parents!" Odd cried out.
"Exactly, because they are your grandparents. Aelita's mother was your great aunt, which makes you her first cousin once removed. It's the same with me and Patrick as his mother is my great aunt," Jeremie spelled out. "I had the super-computer run a DNA comparison to confirm it. Aelita is closely related to you, and is most genetically different from Yumi."
Aelita stared at the floor, barely registering the explanation of Odd being her cousin. At the mention of 'Marie Aelita Waldo' came an unbidden memory of her arguing with her father over her name. Marie had been the name her mother had given her and she had not liked using a different one. "Are you kidding me?" She demanded, yet knew his words were true. She still wanted proof. "This had better not be a sick joke."
"You can see for yourself." Jeremie handed her the papers he printed out.
The second page made her go weak in the knees. Tears weld up in her eyes. "It was true. That really was a memory."
Jeremie nodded sadly. "I'm afraid so. But thanks to that I finally got the information I needed to track down her side of your family. It's not easy tracking down ancestry through the female side."
Aelita began to sob as she continued to read over the papers.
"Hug her, Mr. Diplomacy," Odd whispered before knocking Jeremie to his knees next to her.
Jeremie nervously held her, uncertain if this was what she would want at the moment. "There's something more."
Aelita looked at him with lost eyes. "What is it? You're not related to me, are you?"
Jeremie grinned. "I've checked out to five generations out, and only Sissi might've come up as your fourth cousin."
Aelita let out a short laugh.
"However, with your family information and the computerization of records, you'll finally be able to claim your inheritance," Jeremie announced.
Aelita pulled away from him. "What?!"
"I should be able to make it possible for you to claim the Hermitage as your own." Jeremie smiled sheepishly. "You'd end up your own first cousin, but with the way your father kept moving around and changing names, yours included, I'll be able to prove that 'Aelita Stone' is separate and related to 'Marie Waldo.'"
Yumi grabbed Aelita by the shoulders. "Isn't it great? You really do have a family now."
"We can even celebrate your real birthday," Ulrich added.
"I'm sure my mother would love to meet her first cousin," Odd chirped.
-----------------
"Hey, cousin, how you feeling?" Odd asked with a smirk.
Aelita looked up from where she was sitting on her childhood bed. "Strangely confused, actually. I know who I am now, yet it's all sort of messed up."
Odd shook his head. "You should've already known who you are. Names and papers don't say who you are. It's what you do. You are a brave, retired warrior of Lyoko, who stayed true to her friends. I'm proud to say you really are my cousin, but even if we weren't related by blood, meeting you has made my life better."
Aelita glanced at him. "It's when you say things like that you get girls to melt in your hands."
Odd sighed melodramatically. "It's a curse."
Aelita giggled.
"You going to be okay?" Odd asked.
"Of course I'll be fine. I'm just trying to sort through my thoughts. I only got to know my mother for a short time..." Aelita trailed off.
"And she was the greatest mother of all time," Odd asserted. "And one day I'm sure you'll be just as good in your own way. Just wait a while to be ready for it and don't die on the kid."
Aelita's face quirked. "You were doing so good up until that last part."
Odd let out a short laugh. "That's a curse too."
Aelita gazed down at the floor.
"You and Jeremie really are perfect for each other. You both put too much thought into everything," Odd groused.
Aelita shook her head. "You may think it's silly. That I'm no different than before. Yet right now I'm wondering if I should reclaim my birth name."
Odd blinked in surprise. "Don't you like your name?"
"Aelita is the name my father gave me, and because of him I lost everything. My home, my future, and any hope to not be dependant on help from people not related to me." She sighed deeply. "Marie is the name my mother gave me. And she died so I could live."
"Your father died for you too," Odd pointed out.
"Did he do it for me, or did he sacrifice himself to fix his mistake with creating XANA?" Aelita clenched her hands. "He was a perfectionist. He would do anything to correct any sort of glitch or error."
"Dying to fix a mistake would be going too far, unless it's to save the one you love." Odd poked the girl's forehead. "And in case you hadn't noticed, if you were never in Lyoko, you would've never had the relationship you do with Jeremie. You two were made for each other. Hell, I bet his parents support is only because they know you're the one and only hope he'll ever have to finding love. Not too many girls can be found in computer geekdom, especially ones as pretty as you."
"Oh, I'm a geek, am I?" Aelita jokingly growled.
"If the shoe fits..." Odd's grin dropped when the girl raised an old shoe she wore a decade ago in response. "What are you going to do with that?"
"To see if it fits in your mouth," Aelita threatened.
Odd laughed as Aelita chased after him.
-----------------
"Is it done?" Aelita questioned as soon as the elevator doors opened.
Jeremie turned to look at her. "Yes. Aelita Marie Stone is now the technical owner of the Hermitage and all assets that Franz Hopper possessed until his disappearance."
Aelita cocked her head. "'Technical owner?'"
"You're not old enough to claim the properties yet," Jeremie pointed out. "If you had a legal guardian, they'd be in control of it."
"So, your parents will be in control, huh?" Aelita shrugged.
Jeremie blinked. "What?"
Aelita folded her arms. "You really don't talk to your parents much, do you? Your mother decided to become my legal guardian as a safe guard. Of course it won't be a full adoption so we'll still be able to get married, but it'll allow your parents to cover my medical health and set money aside for university tuition."
Jeremie shifted nervously. "Right... How did your visit to the gynecologist go?"
"I'd rather not talk about it." Aelita pouted. "Why haven't you turned off the super-computer yet? Aren't you done with it?"
Jeremie frowned at the change of topic. "There was something I wanted to check out with regards to your father. I wanted to make sure of things."
Aelita's eyes widened. "Is he alive?"
Jeremie closed his eyes. "Yes and no. He is no longer the man you knew. Actually it would be hard to call him a man at all, but more of a sentient computer program. His consciousness has spread over the Internet and bringing him back would be impossible. There's no way to draw his mind back into a cohesive whole to materialize him. Even if we did, he would not be complete as XANA destroyed part of him in the final battle."
"I see." Aelita touched the computer screen. "He lives in what he helped create."
"Literally." Jeremie then pointed at the running program. "However, I had one last task to make sure of. I need to know that XANA has been fully defeated and nothing of it found a way to survive my program... and that my program hasn't become a threat like XANA had. Tests are in progress."
"I see. But you know how Yumi feels about this." Aelita shook her head. "How we all feel about it now. We shut the book on that chapter of our lives, and it'd be best to leave it shut."
"I know. Just making sure the book will stay shut on us," Jeremie affirmed. "Now did you find out anything at the doctor's?"
"Yeah. They use over the counter pregnancy tests," Aelita bitterly mentioned.
"And the test results?" Jeremie pressed.
Aelita gazed at him. "Not much chance that I'm pregnant." She then sighed. "I'll have to go back to do more extensive fertility tests."
Jeremie let out a relieved sigh.
Aelita sauntered up to him. "I've also gotten a prescription for birth control pills."
Jeremie gulped. "You have?"
"Unfortunately I won't be able to fill it until I've done those fertility tests. They want to harvest a few eggs to test their health." Aelita then grinned. "In the mean time we can use these."
Jeremie stared at the condoms in her hand with a goofy grin. "Right."
-----------------
Author's Notes:
Finally posting something after having serious time issues due to work. This is part one of two which will be posted next week:
The Future
Yumi is still keeping her distance from Ulrich and he wants to know why.
A Family
By Lord Archive
Code Lyoko and all characters belong to Taffy Entertainment a Moonscoop Company, and was used without consent. All rights reserved.
-----------------
"I would like to hang out with you and talk."
Such a simple sentence that had been e-mailed to him, yet one that filled Mr. Belpois with worry. In the past couple years his son had practically avoided him. He knew that really wasn't the case. His son had found something, or rather someone, that was more important than anything else. In that time Jeremie missed vacations, even going so far as purposely getting detention to be forced to stay at the school rather than go home on vacation. It was not until Principal Delmas called and inform him that Jeremie had a girl in his room well past curfew that he learned why. Before that call, he had wondered if his son didn't want to see him.
So, here he was taking his son to a football game on a Saturday. The fact Jeremie agreed to go to the game was proof enough that his computer geek son with sun starved skin was indeed troubled by something.
Jeremie's glazed eyes watched the men on the field kick around a white and black ball. "Dad... I kind of have a problem..."
"You didn't blow up your computer again, did you?" Mr. Belpois tried to joke.
"Nothing that simple I'm afraid..." Jeremie gazed at his toes. "You know that Aelita is an orphan. Well... we haven't told you everything. Some of it would sound unbelievable."
Mr. Belpois nodded shallowly, but said nothing.
"Aelita..." Jeremie swallowed. "Well, I first met her when I was searching for stuff I could use to build robots in an abandoned factory. She didn't even have any memories. My friends have been working to piece together her past and help her remember. She has a lot of her memories back, but there are still holes she may never get back."
"Ah, so that's what you've all been working on," Mr. Belpois commented.
"Well... yeah." Jeremie tapped his feet against the bleachers. "Aelita knows her mother died when she was young. I only recently learned that she has been having nightmares about it. Her mother died in a wolf attack saving her life."
Mr. Belpois flinched. "Ouch."
"Since then she lived alone with her father." Jeremie squeezed his hands tightly. "However there was a problem... he was a research scientist for the government. After something happen, he went into hiding. While running, Aelita was separated from her father. He was believed dead, but we still had hope he was out there."
"I take it you found proof her father is dead," Mr. Belpois guessed.
Jeremie nodded. "Yes. But the main problem is that he worked on top secret projects. I've found her father's degrees from universities; we've found her abandoned home with family pictures. Yet, I've been unable to find her birth certificate, or even proof her mother ever existed. It's like Aelita and her mother were never born."
Mr. Belpois raised an eyebrow. "How was she admitted into school?"
Jeremie looked away. "I... um... forged her identification... I couldn't just leave her sitting in that factory doing nothing. She's as good in mathematics as I am."
Mr. Belpois laughed a little. "At least you did it for the right reasons."
"But it kind of gets to part of the issue at hand." Jeremie sighed. "Aelita has nothing, absolutely nothing. No family, no money. Even her underwear was given to her by one of our friends. And now she desperately wants something she can truly say is hers. Dad, Aelita wants... she wants..." Jeremie gulped deeply. "She wants to have a baby."
Mr. Belpois stared at his son with wide eyes. "That... certainly is a problem. Have you...?"
Jeremie nodded. "I... I can't say 'no' to her. The first time she said she wanted someone to hold her, but it was obvious that wasn't all she had wanted. Later I asked her why... when she refused my suggestion to use protection and she told me." He looked up at his father with a lost expression. "I don't know what to do! I know we're not ready to start a family. But I'm afraid. Afraid if I tell her 'no' she'll go to one of our friends."
Mr. Belpois sat silently next to his son, uncertain how what to say. After a minute, he finally found something. "I'm not sure what to say. I'm proud that you at least realize you're not ready for that sort of responsibility. If you were older, I'd be encouraging you, but this is indeed too soon." Mr. Belpois sighed. "Aelita is certainly a wonderful girl, and I certainly understand that you love each other. Unfortunately, love isn't always enough. I'd like you to back away from this, even if it means losing her, but I understand if you can't. This is a decision I can't make for you, only make it harder and I don't want to do that. Whatever you decide, I will support you."
Jeremie nodded. "Thanks, Dad."
-----------------
"Hello, Mr. Delmas."
"Ah, Mrs. Belpois, what brings you here?" Mr. Delmas greeted the woman.
Mrs. Belpois sat down. "I have an unusual request. My afternoon unexpectedly opened up and I have the urge for a bit of a girl's afternoon out. And since I was in the area, I thought I'd take Aelita Stone with me."
Mr. Delmas blinked. "Why would you want to take her out instead of your son?"
Mrs. Belpois smiled with false innocence. "Well, a few reasons. Aelita is an orphan, as you know, and has no means to get new clothes by herself. Not to mention she is my son's girlfriend and I would like to get an idea of where their relationship stands now."
Mr. Delmas nodded slowly. "I do see your reasoning, but this is, as you said, 'an unusual request.'"
"Last weekend, my son went out with his father for a guy's day out. They had a nice bit of bonding, but it was brought up how Aelita has nothing. She doesn't even have a mother, or any other adult female, to talk to about problems she may have. All she has is my son and her friends, and sometimes that isn't enough," Mrs. Belpois finished.
Mr. Delmas bowed his head. "Yes. I can certainly understand. I try to be there for my own daughter, but there are some things I can't do for her. As long as Ms. Stone is willing, she may accompany you." He got up from his desk. "We had best hurry to her last class before it lets out, otherwise it may be hard to find her."
Mrs. Belpois followed the principal through the school. They did not have to wait long before the class ended and the students filed out.
"Mom?!" Jeremie squeaked out in surprise.
Aelita walked up next to him. "Hello."
"Hey!" Odd added, while Ulrich grunted, "Hi."
"Hello," Mrs. Belpois returned the greetings. "Jeremie, would you mind if I borrowed your girlfriend for a girl's night out?"
Jeremie shifted nervously. "Ah... sure..."
Aelita blushed slightly while giving the boy next to her an accusatory glance. "Um, why would you want to take me out?"
"I unexpectedly have the afternoon off, and I wanted to have some girl time. Since I was in the area, I thought I'd take you," Mrs. Belpois half-explained.
Aelita sighed. "It might be fun."
-----------------
Of course Aelita thought her statement would be a lie. She knew very well that this outing had nothing to do with wanting some 'girl time' but to talk to her about her relationship with Jeremie. Yet an hour into the trip to the mall, the closest they came to talking about it was when Mrs. Belpois bought her some new bras, the fanciest one of them was something 'Jeremie was sure to like,' as his mother put it. She was sure he preferred her without a bra at all.
As they stopped for dinner, Aelita had to ask, "Aren't you going to say anything about my relationship with Jeremie?"
"I've been trying to figure that out." Mrs. Belpois poked at her pasta. "At the same time I don't really want to think about such things."
Aelita looked strangely at her boyfriend's mother.
Mrs. Belpois sighed softly. "Aelita does the thought of having a baby scare you?"
Aelita shook her head. "Not at all."
Mrs. Belpois frowned. "Then you have absolutely no idea what becoming a mother means. It's scary in a way you've never seen."
"I assure you I know what it's like to be afraid," Aelita told her seriously.
"It's a different sort of fear than something threatening your life. A baby is completely and totally dependent on you. There's no running to the store for a minute as the baby may need you. And you can forget sleeping through the night for at least a year," Mrs. Belpois warned.
"Why are you so frightened now?" Aelita wondered. "I doubt I'm pregnant yet."
"You might not be... but I am." Mrs. Belpois laughed nervously. "It's why I took the afternoon off."
Aelita's eyes widened in surprise. "Does Jeremie know?"
"Michael doesn't even know yet. I only found out this morning." Mrs. Belpois smirked. "But it would be funny to have our children go to school together. And if you did have a baby now, the cost wouldn't be as bad. Though it'd be better if you waited."
"So you're not upset with me?" Aelita questioned meekly.
"No. I understand why you'd want to have a family. I just think you're going at it all wrong." Mrs. Belpois pointed at the girl with her fork. "The time I felt most alone was after I got pregnant and eloped with Michael. It was during my first year at university. I was forced to stay at my parents' home for a year instead of continuing my education. During that time I was so afraid that Michael would leave me as I would only see him during school vacations. He wasn't even there when Jeremie was born because he was taking an exam at school. That loneliness didn't end with Jeremie's birth, but only got worse. I desperately wanted help raising my baby, but I was left to that task by myself."
"Didn't your parents help you?" Aelita wondered.
"I did get some help, but mother didn't entirely approve." Mrs. Belpois tried to smile. "Dad was happy I didn't go for a big wedding, however he was more clueless on how to raise a baby than I was. Now, I'm afraid I'll screw up again."
Aelita blinked. "What do you mean 'screw up?' Jeremie is a wonderful man."
"And in the last two years I've seen more of you than him. Jeremie is what he is despite of me, not because of me," Mrs. Belpois said seriously. "When he went to public school near home, he had such trouble with bullies. We felt it best to send him to boarding school. It took a couple tries before he had discovered his place, and found true friendship and you."
-----------------
Odd stared in surprise at who was sitting in front of the television in the recreation room. "Hey, Einstein, what are you doing away from a computer screen? Did Aelita promise to meet you here?"
Jeremie glanced up. "Hello."
Odd plopped down next to him. "Is something wrong?"
"I hope not," Jeremie almost groaned.
"Well if you're not going to spill it, how about I shoot it out of you?" Odd held up a shooting game.
Jeremie shrugged weakly. "Why not?"
Odd grinned as switched the television over to the gaming system and booted up the game. He handed Jeremie a controller before reclaiming his seat. "You've got the bottom screen."
"Whatever," Jeremie muttered.
Odd's experience in the game gave him the first three kills, but that was all he got as the boy next to him began to take demented glee in turning his avatar into Swiss cheese. "So, what's the deal with your mother taking Aelita out shopping."
"Dad must have told Mom that Aelita wants to have a baby." Jeremie pressed a button and used a cannon to snipe the head off Odd's character.
"Say what?!" was cried out by more than just Odd.
Sissi stomped in front of Jeremie. "I take back ever calling her Ms. Einstein if she's THAT stupid! You couldn't possibly be dumb enough to help her, could you?"
Jeremie hit the pause button. "I don't see how this is any of your business."
"You better believe it's my business! My Dad is the principal! If Aelita goes and gets herself knocked up, he could get into trouble!" Sissi ranted.
"She does have a point," Odd chirped.
Jeremie glared at him. "And how many girls have you tried having 'fun' with?"
"Oh, please. It's the chase that's the fun part. I never caught a girl I wanted, and walked away from the girls who wouldn't run," Odd defended.
"And if Aelita decided to go to you?" Jeremie accused.
Odd blinked. "So that's why you're being so grouchy to me. Listen, I'd never take Aelita from you."
"Even if she literally threw herself at you because I don't want to be a father yet?" Jeremie pressed. "Could you really say 'no' to her."
"If I could say 'no' to Sam, I can say 'no' to Aelita." Odd looked away. "My folks may not have any problems with being grandparents, but I sure as hell don't want the responsibility of being a Dad."
Sissi growled. "When I see Aelita, I'll give her a piece of my mind!"
"Does she have any left to spare?" Jeremie grumbled.
The door slammed shut as Sissi stormed out of the room.
"You're certainly brushing up on your diplomacy," Odd joked. "Just don't use it on Aelita."
Jeremie replied by killing Odd's avatar again.
"Have you and Aelita..." Odd trailed off.
"Do you think she would tell me she wanted a baby first?" Jeremie returned.
Odd laughed. "You two do tend to over think and discuss things. Then again warning you would freak you out." He tried to move into a sniper position, but his attempt to hide failed. "You know, I'd suggest letting Aelita find out what having a baby is really like by babysitting my nephew, but taking care of a baby had the opposite effect on one of my sisters."
"Which one?" Jeremie wondered.
"Louise, my fifteen-year-old sister, was caught having sex with a guy she wasn't even dating." Odd scowled. "His parents were upset, mine were talking about baby names."
-----------------
"Is it really okay that you spent so much on me?" Aelita wondered. "You have so many other expenses coming."
"Don't worry about it. Michael and I have done more to make a living than having a life. We can at least use some of that to help our boy's girlfriend," Mrs. Belpois returned in a bored tone, indicating this was not the first time the question had been asked. "With the exception of what you're wearing now, you'll be able to wear them months into a pregnancy."
"What are you people smoking?!" Sissi cried out. "You can't actually be encouraging her! And what's with that outfit?!"
Aelita looked down and then at the girl. "Sorry if I'm borrowing your look, Sissi." Both girls were wearing a tank top and short skirt, only Aelita's was pink and while Sissi's was deep red.
"I'm trying to GET attention, you've already got it!" Sissi defended. "How can you be so STUPID to think having a baby is a good idea?"
Aelita bowed her head. "Because I was being an idiot. I've never dealt with a baby and I didn't know what goes with it. I can't deny I still want to have someone I can call family, who is really related to me. But Mrs. Belpois has given me reason to wait."
"Then what's with that outfit!" Sissi demanded.
"Waiting doesn't mean I can't have fun," Aelita replied mischievously.
"My father will hear of this!" Sissi cried out before running off.
Aelita folded her arms. "This wouldn't be a bad day to redo."
"If only such a thing was possible," Mrs. Belpois commented. "Was that Mr. Delmas's daughter?"
Aelita nodded. "She can be annoying at times."
Mrs. Belpois looked at the girl knowingly. "You should perhaps understand her more than others do."
Aelita blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"She doesn't have a mother either," Mrs. Belpois pointed out. "Perhaps we should take her with us on the next outing."
Aelita pouted. "Can they really find out if I'm... capable or not?"
"That's why you should go," Mrs. Belpois replied. "I don't know why you think you might be infertile."
"As I told you, I don't know what happened after I was separated from my father. Anything could've happened." Aelita looked at her feet. "I'm just afraid that I might never have a real family."
Mrs. Belpois smiled sadly. "Don't worry so much. You're still young and have a lot of life to go through."
Aelita tried to smile. "I hope so."
"Why don't you go and knock my son's socks off?" Mrs. Belpois patted the girl's back. "And do try to remember what I told you."
Aelita laughed a little. "I will. Good-bye." With the farewell from Jeremie's mother, she ran off to the dorms and informed Jim she was back on campus before dropping her bags off at her dorm room. She then headed to her boyfriend's room. She was surprised that he was not there. Puzzled, she went over to Ulrich and Odd's room and knocked.
"Who is it?" a voice called out.
"Hi, Ulrich. Do you know where Jeremie is?" Aelita replied.
"Good thing Odd isn't here. He'd start calling you 'Ulirch' for the rest of the night. Afraid I don't know..." The door opened and the boy poked his head out. "Wow! You make that look better than Sissi ever did."
Aelita folded her arms and smirked. "Which I think upset her more... Wait, where's Odd?"
"He went to the rec. room." Ulrich frowned. "Why?"
"Considering what Sissi yelled at me, she could've only learned it by eavesdropping on Jeremie. And if you're here and Jeremie is not, then it could only mean he's with Odd," Aelita concluded.
"Hold up. I'm coming with you," Ulrich told her.
"Want to see Jeremie's reaction to this?" Aelita waved her hand over her outfit.
Ulrich laughed. "If you're right, there may be something more to see."
Aelita raised an eyebrow and walked with him to the recreation room.
"Ah! No fair! Run, damn it! Run!" Odd cried out. "Are you cheating? How could I repop right in front of you?!"
"He got me too!" Nicolas whined.
"This game is infantile!" Herve growled in annoyance.
"How does he know where we are?" Nicolas asked.
"Because he's watching all four screens at once," Aelita observed.
Jeremie froze and looked nervously behind himself, and his mouth hit the ground along with Nicolas's and Herve's as they stared at the girl's new attire.
Odd took the opportunity to shoot Jeremie's avatar repeatedly.
"So, I take it Jeremie won?" Ulrich grinned at them.
"Gah! We still lost!" Odd moaned as time expired. He then glanced up. "Hey, you do the Sissi look better than she does."
"So I've been told." She then batted her eyes toward Jeremie. "Like it?"
Jeremie wasn't the only boy nodding dumbly.
"I had a great time with your mother." Aelita moved and squeezed herself between Jeremie and Odd. "We'll need to talk later, but right now I'd like a turn at shooting people."
"Sure!" Herve and Nicolas chorused.
Ulrich snatched one of the controllers. "I'm with Jeremie against you two."
"Sounds like a plan," Aelita agreed.
Odd didn't particularly like the team-up until Aelita began warning him about the positions of Jeremie and Ulrich. Still Jeremie was better at keeping track of everything than Aelita, and Ulrich was a better shot than he was. The game was close, but Jeremie and Ulrich were still ahead.
Aelita kept her eyes on the screen, frowning at having been taken out by Ulrich snipping her in the back. "Oh, Jeremie... I forgot to tell you that you had better get ready for a new addition to your family."
The controller fell from Jeremie's hands.
"What?!" Ulrich cried out.
Odd blinked. "Already?"
Jeremie slowly turned toward her. "Aelita..."
"Your going to be a... big... brother!" Aelita held up her controller and pressed the button to fire off her attack, taking out her boyfriend's avatar.
Ulrich quickly refocused on the game. "That's not playing fair."
Jeremie blinked repeatedly. "You're not...?"
"Don't think I am," Aelita replied.
Ulrich fumbled with his controller. "You two are lovers?" he whispered harshly.
"Don't need to be quiet about it. By now Sissi let the whole school know," Odd replied evilly, taking advantage of the situation.
Jeremie's eyes were wide. "Wait, are you saying my Mom is going to have a baby?"
"Yep." Aelita nodded. "She wants me to go with her when she goes to the doctor in two weeks to see about my own sexual health."
"Oh... Wow..." Jeremie sat there in stunned silence as the game ended with Aelita claiming the most kills.
-----------------
Jeremie quietly followed behind Aelita as they took the long way around to the dormitory. She didn't look at him as she broke the silence, "Why did you tell your father about us?"
The silence returned for a moment before he finally replied, "I... Well, because I didn't know what to do. We're not ready to be parents. I understand why you want to have a family, but I really don't think it would solve anything. You'd have a family, but that's all you have."
Aelita whirled around. "What do you mean by that?"
Jeremie sighed. "It's just that all you'd have is the baby, me and my parents. That'd be it. You'd be stuck living with my parents. You wouldn't be able to pursue a musical career. You would lose your education and our friends. You wouldn't be able to see Yumi, Odd or Ulrich. Hell, you wouldn't be able to see much of me as I'd still be in school."
Aelita's posture softened. "Your mother actually told me much the same. As lonely as I feel now, it'd be worse if I did get pregnant. You wouldn't believe how scared she was today, learning she's going to have a new baby."
Jeremie shuddered before he nodded. "You know how I feel about you. I have a real hard time telling you 'no,' but I have to say it for this."
"I'm sure I could still make you say 'yes.'" Aelita smiled coyly while striking a sensual pose.
"Aelita..." Jeremie breathed.
She leaned forward, placing her forehead against his. "As much as I want to make you say 'yes,' you're right. I'm not ready. I only thought about what I'd gain. I didn't think about the cost." She stole a quick kiss. "Yet part of me hopes that this is all too late already."
Jeremie swallowed hard, edging back from her. "I hope not. But if you are, at least we have my parents support. It's better than what Ulrich would get from his parents."
Aelita let out a short laugh. "True. While Yumi has her reasons for keeping him at arm's length, I'm sure that's one of them."
"We'd best head back to the dorms." Jeremie shifted uncomfortably. "Don't want to get in trouble for breaking curfew."
Aelita giggled. "I'll be thinking of you before going to bed as well."
"Right..." Jeremie laughed.
The couple turned toward the dorm but got no further as Principal Delmas stared down at them. "So, my daughter was telling the truth."
"Yes, sir." Aelita bowed her head. "I've been an idiot. Everything has been my idea."
Jeremie glanced at his girlfriend. "I am to blame as well."
Delmas folded his arms. "You will both be confined to your rooms until it has been decided what your punishment will be, if you're not expelled entirely."
Jeremie and Aelita paled and exchanged looks. As one they nodded before dashing into woods.
Delmas was taken aback by their reaction and tried to chase after the young lovers.
Aelita made it to the manhole cover first and lifted it for her boyfriend to scurry down. She quickly followed behind him. They both pulled out their cell-phones to warn the others that they were going to reactivate Lyoko to reset the day.
-----------------
The elevator opened with Yumi leaning against the wall. "And why haven't you shut the computer back down?"
"Oh, hi." Jeremie continued to work at the terminal. "I thought since we turned it on I'd use it for a little project."
"What kind of project?" Yumi wondered, walking toward him.
Jeremie laughed sheepishly. "It's a secret. But you must NOT tell Aelita about this." He glanced at her. "Was there a reason you asked us to delay resetting the day for a half-hour."
"I wanted to find out what Milly thought about my brother." Yumi smirked. "She didn't believe me that Hiroki LIKED her."
"Even with him following her around like a lovesick puppy?" Jeremie laughed.
Yumi peered at the screen. "Why are you searching for that?" She blinked in confusion before her eyes widened in surprise. "You don't mean that's..."
"Yes." Jeremie looked at her seriously. "You can't tell Aelita. You wouldn't believe what I had to go through to learn this."
"I understand." Yumi patted the boy on the back. "I didn't find you."
Jeremie smirked. "Thanks."
Yumi began to walk away. "Better not hang around here too much longer. Aelita should be back from her shopping trip with your mother soon."
"As long as Aelita didn't do anything to shorten it, I should have another hour. More than enough for to program what I need," Jeremie replied.
-----------------
The weekend came and Aelita was beginning to think Jeremie was avoiding her. She dialed his cell-phone.
"Hello," Jeremie greeted.
"Where are you, Jeremie?" Aelita demanded.
"Can't you hear the computer keys? I'm in my room," Jeremie sheepishly told her.
"I do hear you typing, but you're not in your room. I am," Aelita almost growled. "You're using the super-computer, aren't you?"
"Aelita... please trust me on this. It's very important," Jeremie pleaded. A buzzard sounded. "Oh, wow! I'll tell you everything soon. I promise."
"Odd wants to meet up at the Hermitage for some reason," Aelita told him.
"Go on ahead of me. I'll be there soon," Jeremie promised.
Aelita scowled. "You better be there."
Jeremie began laughing. "I just want to confirm this information. Then I'm gone."
Aelita snapped her phone shut irritably before closing and locking Jeremie's room with her copy of the key before heading off to the Hermitage.
The run down building made her frown. Here was where she spent years of her life, but only had a handful of memories. It was sickening that her home had fallen into such disrepair. Her fingers traced along the wall as she followed the once familiar path to her childhood bedroom, where she found most of her friends.
"It's time," Odd announced before he pulled out a knife and cut open his pointer finger. He then tossed the blade to Ulrich, who also cut open his finger.
Aelita's eyes widened. "What are you doing?"
Ulrich held out the knife. "You'll understand. Just cut open your finger like we did."
Had the request come from anyone else besides her fellow warriors, she would've refuse. Aelita winced as the blade bit into her skin.
Odd grabbed her now wounded hand and pressed his bleeding finger to her open cut. Ulrich likewise added his finger.
"We are your brothers and you are our sister," Odd and Ulrich intoned at the same time.
Aelita felt like crying. "I am your sister, and you are my brothers."
Yumi then grabbed the knife, and cut open her finger as well. Pressing her cut to Aelita's, both girls said as one, "You are my sister, and I am your sister."
"What's going on?" Jeremie questioned, panting slightly.
"We've declared ourselves Aelita's siblings!" Odd announced.
"You're not going make me cut open my finger, are you?" Jeremie wondered nervously.
"Nope. Brothers don't marry their sister. Which is why Ulrich and Yumi didn't do it at the same time," Odd joked.
Two glares were cast toward Odd, while everyone else laughed.
Jeremie held up some papers. "It actually may have been sort of redundant for you, Odd."
"What are you talking about?" Odd wondered.
"You're her cousin," Jeremie announced.
Ulrich bandaged his finger. "We know that's the lie we told the school."
"It's actually NOT a lie." Jeremie looked at the papers. "Marie Aelita Waldo, born April third 1982 in Vancouver Canada to Franz Hopper Waldo, who we also know to be Waldo Franz Schaeffer, and Antea Kathy Waldo. Now we know that Franz had changed his name, but I never considered that he might have changed Aelita's or his wife's name. And here I have proof that Aelita was born to a different name. That led me to check on variations of your mother's name and found Aneta Catherine Hopper who was the second daughter of Antonio and Henrietta Hopper. Their first daughter, Triela, married Vincent Lombardi."
"Wait! Those are the names of my Mom's parents!" Odd cried out.
"Exactly, because they are your grandparents. Aelita's mother was your great aunt, which makes you her first cousin once removed. It's the same with me and Patrick as his mother is my great aunt," Jeremie spelled out. "I had the super-computer run a DNA comparison to confirm it. Aelita is closely related to you, and is most genetically different from Yumi."
Aelita stared at the floor, barely registering the explanation of Odd being her cousin. At the mention of 'Marie Aelita Waldo' came an unbidden memory of her arguing with her father over her name. Marie had been the name her mother had given her and she had not liked using a different one. "Are you kidding me?" She demanded, yet knew his words were true. She still wanted proof. "This had better not be a sick joke."
"You can see for yourself." Jeremie handed her the papers he printed out.
The second page made her go weak in the knees. Tears weld up in her eyes. "It was true. That really was a memory."
Jeremie nodded sadly. "I'm afraid so. But thanks to that I finally got the information I needed to track down her side of your family. It's not easy tracking down ancestry through the female side."
Aelita began to sob as she continued to read over the papers.
"Hug her, Mr. Diplomacy," Odd whispered before knocking Jeremie to his knees next to her.
Jeremie nervously held her, uncertain if this was what she would want at the moment. "There's something more."
Aelita looked at him with lost eyes. "What is it? You're not related to me, are you?"
Jeremie grinned. "I've checked out to five generations out, and only Sissi might've come up as your fourth cousin."
Aelita let out a short laugh.
"However, with your family information and the computerization of records, you'll finally be able to claim your inheritance," Jeremie announced.
Aelita pulled away from him. "What?!"
"I should be able to make it possible for you to claim the Hermitage as your own." Jeremie smiled sheepishly. "You'd end up your own first cousin, but with the way your father kept moving around and changing names, yours included, I'll be able to prove that 'Aelita Stone' is separate and related to 'Marie Waldo.'"
Yumi grabbed Aelita by the shoulders. "Isn't it great? You really do have a family now."
"We can even celebrate your real birthday," Ulrich added.
"I'm sure my mother would love to meet her first cousin," Odd chirped.
-----------------
"Hey, cousin, how you feeling?" Odd asked with a smirk.
Aelita looked up from where she was sitting on her childhood bed. "Strangely confused, actually. I know who I am now, yet it's all sort of messed up."
Odd shook his head. "You should've already known who you are. Names and papers don't say who you are. It's what you do. You are a brave, retired warrior of Lyoko, who stayed true to her friends. I'm proud to say you really are my cousin, but even if we weren't related by blood, meeting you has made my life better."
Aelita glanced at him. "It's when you say things like that you get girls to melt in your hands."
Odd sighed melodramatically. "It's a curse."
Aelita giggled.
"You going to be okay?" Odd asked.
"Of course I'll be fine. I'm just trying to sort through my thoughts. I only got to know my mother for a short time..." Aelita trailed off.
"And she was the greatest mother of all time," Odd asserted. "And one day I'm sure you'll be just as good in your own way. Just wait a while to be ready for it and don't die on the kid."
Aelita's face quirked. "You were doing so good up until that last part."
Odd let out a short laugh. "That's a curse too."
Aelita gazed down at the floor.
"You and Jeremie really are perfect for each other. You both put too much thought into everything," Odd groused.
Aelita shook her head. "You may think it's silly. That I'm no different than before. Yet right now I'm wondering if I should reclaim my birth name."
Odd blinked in surprise. "Don't you like your name?"
"Aelita is the name my father gave me, and because of him I lost everything. My home, my future, and any hope to not be dependant on help from people not related to me." She sighed deeply. "Marie is the name my mother gave me. And she died so I could live."
"Your father died for you too," Odd pointed out.
"Did he do it for me, or did he sacrifice himself to fix his mistake with creating XANA?" Aelita clenched her hands. "He was a perfectionist. He would do anything to correct any sort of glitch or error."
"Dying to fix a mistake would be going too far, unless it's to save the one you love." Odd poked the girl's forehead. "And in case you hadn't noticed, if you were never in Lyoko, you would've never had the relationship you do with Jeremie. You two were made for each other. Hell, I bet his parents support is only because they know you're the one and only hope he'll ever have to finding love. Not too many girls can be found in computer geekdom, especially ones as pretty as you."
"Oh, I'm a geek, am I?" Aelita jokingly growled.
"If the shoe fits..." Odd's grin dropped when the girl raised an old shoe she wore a decade ago in response. "What are you going to do with that?"
"To see if it fits in your mouth," Aelita threatened.
Odd laughed as Aelita chased after him.
-----------------
"Is it done?" Aelita questioned as soon as the elevator doors opened.
Jeremie turned to look at her. "Yes. Aelita Marie Stone is now the technical owner of the Hermitage and all assets that Franz Hopper possessed until his disappearance."
Aelita cocked her head. "'Technical owner?'"
"You're not old enough to claim the properties yet," Jeremie pointed out. "If you had a legal guardian, they'd be in control of it."
"So, your parents will be in control, huh?" Aelita shrugged.
Jeremie blinked. "What?"
Aelita folded her arms. "You really don't talk to your parents much, do you? Your mother decided to become my legal guardian as a safe guard. Of course it won't be a full adoption so we'll still be able to get married, but it'll allow your parents to cover my medical health and set money aside for university tuition."
Jeremie shifted nervously. "Right... How did your visit to the gynecologist go?"
"I'd rather not talk about it." Aelita pouted. "Why haven't you turned off the super-computer yet? Aren't you done with it?"
Jeremie frowned at the change of topic. "There was something I wanted to check out with regards to your father. I wanted to make sure of things."
Aelita's eyes widened. "Is he alive?"
Jeremie closed his eyes. "Yes and no. He is no longer the man you knew. Actually it would be hard to call him a man at all, but more of a sentient computer program. His consciousness has spread over the Internet and bringing him back would be impossible. There's no way to draw his mind back into a cohesive whole to materialize him. Even if we did, he would not be complete as XANA destroyed part of him in the final battle."
"I see." Aelita touched the computer screen. "He lives in what he helped create."
"Literally." Jeremie then pointed at the running program. "However, I had one last task to make sure of. I need to know that XANA has been fully defeated and nothing of it found a way to survive my program... and that my program hasn't become a threat like XANA had. Tests are in progress."
"I see. But you know how Yumi feels about this." Aelita shook her head. "How we all feel about it now. We shut the book on that chapter of our lives, and it'd be best to leave it shut."
"I know. Just making sure the book will stay shut on us," Jeremie affirmed. "Now did you find out anything at the doctor's?"
"Yeah. They use over the counter pregnancy tests," Aelita bitterly mentioned.
"And the test results?" Jeremie pressed.
Aelita gazed at him. "Not much chance that I'm pregnant." She then sighed. "I'll have to go back to do more extensive fertility tests."
Jeremie let out a relieved sigh.
Aelita sauntered up to him. "I've also gotten a prescription for birth control pills."
Jeremie gulped. "You have?"
"Unfortunately I won't be able to fill it until I've done those fertility tests. They want to harvest a few eggs to test their health." Aelita then grinned. "In the mean time we can use these."
Jeremie stared at the condoms in her hand with a goofy grin. "Right."
-----------------
Author's Notes:
Finally posting something after having serious time issues due to work. This is part one of two which will be posted next week:
The Future
Yumi is still keeping her distance from Ulrich and he wants to know why.