The Son I Buried Lives

Synopsis

Three years ago, I lost my baby in childbirth. My husband Charles Bennett broke down outside the delivery room, sobbing on his knees. Since then, he has been nothing but kind to me—gentle, caring, almost desperate to make up for something. But the system I'm bound to has kept its progress bar frozen at ninety-nine percent for three full years. I'd long stopped expecting it to move. On our son's memorial day, after visiting the grave, I walked to the beach to clear my head. A little boy ran into me, then darted off before I could speak. I followed. Under a palm tree, I saw Charles lounging on a chair, laughing as the boy leaped into his arms and called him "Daddy." The woman the boy called "Mommy" was my best friend, Emily Carter. I froze. And for the first time in three years, the system's robotic voice returned. "Host, confirmation: this is the child you gave birth to back then. Parenthood System mission complete. Do you wish to leave this world?"