She heard a rumour at the time, from some of the medical personal, that it was an alien child she had in her belly, but that seemed silly. She was sur... it was a cover story for something more common. Her pregnancy had felt perfectly normal, as far as she could tell.Her own opinion was that this was a child for someone high up in the government who either could not conceive naturally, or whose work was too important to take time off for a pregnancy. She did not care what it was, for she was well. I was worried about what I'd find in town. Gardner was a typical small farming community in Central Illinois; Peoria was off to the northeast and Quincy lay to the southwest. The county was poor as most in the region are, relying mostly on volunteers to man the ambulances and emergency services. I'd come here two years ago to settle Dad's estate and decided to stay; Chicago hadn't worked out very well for me.As I neared town, I had to detour over fallen trees and debris on the road. I lit the. It was a semi detached home at the end of one street and the trees at the end of the path made it more secluded.Her name was Anne and after the initial entrance I was led into the living room and she offered me a cup of coffee, which I accepted. I felt quite relaxed even though everything had been quite restrained so far. After all she had immediately let me in. She was about five foot two, slim, medium length grey hair and the only thing not perfect was that she dressed like an old. "I'm okay, I'm cool. I can deal with this." It's not like we're planning an orgy," Luke remarked, and I couldn't help laughing at the look Eddie flashed him. This seemed to direct Eddie's attention to me."So who are you inviting?" Huh?" was my response."I mean, have you made any friends yet?" Eddie asked me. "You can always invite a few people, too, Rory; just, try to keep it under forty, okay?" he added with a small smile.I didn't smile back. I was too busy thinking. Aaron. I wanted to bring.