Snow fell in blankets. Outside the hospital window, you couldn't see a thing and Marissa found herself extra glad she was in the warm hospital bed. She glanced over at the hospital crib and felt a shudder; A month early. When she had first felt the contractions, she remembered what the doctor had said her due date was and shrugged it off, figuring they were just Braxton hicks contractions. Shortly after they started, however, her water broke.

5 hours later, on the 8th of November, her baby girl was shoving her way into the world.

Marissa looked over at the chair her son sat quietly in. He was kicking his legs back and forth as he stared at the crib with impatience.

"Jason?" the toddler looked up at his mom. She beckoned him over while a nurse came in, checking on the premature infant. She adjusted the breathing tubes and got some movement from the baby as she tried to wrap her tiny fingers around the nurse's finger.

"She's pretty strong for being a month early." the nurse said, almost suspiciously. Marissa smiled as she hugged Jason. She remembered her pregnancy with Jason. He had been a whole week late, and Marissa was astonished by how different her two pregnancies had been. Jason found himself pulling away from his mother slowly, making his way over to his baby sister.

The little girl's eyes were closed, and her skin was red.

"Why's her skin like that? Why's it red?" asked the 4-year-old.

"It's because your sister is stubborn and came before she was ready," Marissa explained.

"So, you ready to try breastfeeding again?" the nurse asked encouragingly.

A duck, about 5'7, stood staring at a computer screen. She had peach/tan feathers and long blond hair, which was presently tied up into a ponytail. She had piercing blue eyes that trailed across the screen she stared intently at.

"Anything yet, Nora?" Another duck stood at another screen just a few feet away, tapping at the keys every so often.

"No, not yet," she reported, her eyes hardening, trying to see something. All she saw was the grid, but nothing to show they had breached inter-dimension travel.

"We'll get there." The dark yellow drake replied, running a hand through his messy blonde hair. He turned his brown eyes back to his own screen.

"Nora! Nora, Layson! I've got something!" the blonde drake stood excitedly as the other two ran over. Layson was almost purely black. His blue eyes complimented his color nicely.

"What is it, Rudy?" Layson asked, leaning forward to look at the screen.

"It's a planet. Definitely not in Limbo. Looks to be..." he paused, glancing at his readings. "Warmer than our planet. And instead of ice, it looks like 66% of it is covered completely in water. This is astonishing! It looks as if it ca-" he was cut off as the computer began smoking and blew a few circuits from behind. They all coughed and looked behind the machine, "it can harbor life." Rudy finished his sentence.

"It has life on it?" Layson asked.

"Oh no, I don't think so anyway. I didn't get that far down the screen." he said, tapping his finger on the now blank screen, "but I highly doubt it."

"This is a huge breakthrough!" Nora said excitedly behind the two drakes.

"Since we've found a planet that can sustain life, I say we use it to test our gateways," said Layson.

The scientist pointed behind him to the circular arch. They had already successfully tested the portal, being able to get them from Point A to Point B on their own planet. Now, the next step was getting from one dimension to the next.

2 months later

Marissa was pleasantly surprised by her new baby's growth. She looked her age; 2 months old, and you never would have guessed she was a preemie, to begin with. She shocked all the doctors and Marissa couldn't help but feel proud of her baby girl for impressing everyone.

Jason sat on the floor, playing with his toy trucks. She watched the toddler and let out a sigh as her baby girl lay sleeping on her chest. Jason was definitely going to look just like his father, and it was going to kill her inside.

The father of her children, Edward, had been murdered about 6 months ago.

Marissa didn't know how or why. Ed had left her a message, telling her that if he didn't come home that night from work, she was to get on the next train to Anaheim. He said he loved her, that he would join her in Anaheim if all went well. If not, she was to assume he was dead.

She sat up all night, and at dawn, she caught the 6 AM train to Anaheim, dragging her toddler with her, her pregnant belly barely showing at that time.

She was confused and scared. When she arrived in Anaheim, she had no idea what Ed had wanted her to do next. A man had been standing in the station with a sign that read her name on it. She went with him and he drove her to a house. She tried to ask him questions, about Edward or anything else. The only thing the man knew was that he'd been paid to pick her up and to bring her home. Inside there was another note from Ed,

"My love,

I'm sorry for all of this. I bought this house for us years ago, knowing I planned on raising our family here. I hate to think it, but if you're reading this, I'm probably dead. I hope if you're reading this, I'll be joining you shortly. I have to believe I'll make it to Anaheim. To you. You must be so confused, but the less you know, the better. I wasn't always the honest man you thought me to be. I didn't work in a cubicle. That's all I can really say. Just know I love you, always. When I make it to Anaheim, I WILL explain all of this.

You have to know I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I love you always, Mari. Always.

Love, Eddie"

"Mommy?" Marissa was pulled from her thoughts as Jason walked up to her. "Why are you crying?"

"I just miss your daddy, baby." She tried, wiping the tears away.

"I miss him too, mommy. I wish he could have come with us." Jason admitted. Marissa smiled, opening up her other arm to the toddler. She sat there, rocking in her chair while the baby fell asleep on one arm, and her toddler fell asleep on the other.

"I think that's it." Rudy informed his colleagues, snapping some cords together. He glanced at his computer screen, which was showing a 3D image of the habitable planet. He had the screen back up that had showed the readings from before. In a chair next to the computer sat a curious seven-year-old.

"Ready to see history in the making?" he asked his excited daughter. She nodded vigorously, her wild hair bouncing back and forth.

"What's she doing here again?" Layson muttered, tapping something into the keypad by the gateway.

"Bring your kid to work day?" Rudy drew out.

"So why didn't Nora bring her kid?" Layson interfered, turning and slightly smiling at the woman.

"My boys are still too little," she said simply as the gateway started up.

"I think this is going to work." Rudy said, switching the subject to the gateway in front of them. The blonde little girl sat on the chair obediently, as her father had told her to stay on the chair unless he told her otherwise.

"So... who wants to go first?" Layson asked, kind of taking a step back and looking at Rudy and Nora expectantly.

"Wait, do you hear that?" Nora asked, and everyone was quiet as they listened. Inside the portal, it almost sounded as if a baby was crying.

"Is that... a baby crying?" Rudy asked, voicing their thoughts.

"I thought you said there was no life on this planet," Nora said, shaking her head and jumping through the portal.

"Well, um... I guess Nora gets to go... Without the rope..." Layson muttered, holding the lifeline up as if to demonstrate how dangerous of a choice Nora had just made.

"She'll be alright, I'm sure..." Rudy said, trailing off. No sooner had he spoken; the two ducks heard a clank from the gateway.

"What was that?" Layson asked, not sure he wanted to know the answer. Something came flying off the side of the gateway and Rudy and Layson shot each other worried glances.

"Nora! Get back here!" Rudy called into the gateway. "the gateway's unstable!"

Nora came out on the other side of the gateway in what looked like a house. It was dark, with a dimly lit lamp knocked over on the floor. Furniture was overturned. It looked like a robbery had happened recently. Her heart began to race as she realized the robbers could still be here. She crept quietly through the house before coming upon a nursery. A crib was knocked over onto its side and a woman was lying just beside it.

Nora rushed over, rolling the woman over. She gasped, realizing this woman had no beak. The woman was breathing, but just barely. Blood was all over her chest, and Nora had no idea where the wound even was or how this woman could possibly still be alive. The woman grabbed Nora's shoulder, taking a ragged breath. She seemed unaware that they weren't even the same species.

"Please. You have to take care of my baby." She gasped out before her hand fell from Nora's shoulder. Nora laid the woman back down as she walked around the side of the crib to where the crying was coming from. She scooped the pink blankets up and almost instantly the crying softened. She pulled back the blankets. The baby didn't have a beak either, but she was beautiful and stole Nora's heart almost instantly. Nora glanced around.

"She's beautiful," Nora commented, but when she turned back, she realized the woman was dead. She shook her head in sorrow. Nora looked down and saw a diaper bag sitting on the ground. She shouldered it, looking back down at the baby in her arms.

The baby had completely stopped crying and cooed at the loving duck. She grabbed onto Nora's feathers, ever so gently, and it was as if the baby was hugging her. Nora's heart melted as she walked back towards the portal, never even noticing the stealthy four-year-old that watched from the shadows.

"Nora! The gateway's closing!" Nora heard the faint voice of Layson through the gateway. His voice and took off running, jumping through the portal.

"Get down!" Rudy commanded. He and his colleagues hit the floor. Tanya listened to her father from where she sat and hit the floor as well. The gateway exploded and pieces went flying everywhere.

"Well, I guess that's it for our practice test for now." Rudy muttered, sitting up and looking back. "But at least we know we can do it."

"The only place to go from here is up." Layson agreed, grinning slightly at their accomplishment. They had successfully completed inter-dimension travel.

"What was it like, Nora?" Layson asked, looking over at the female. She was sitting up, her back slightly turned and was looking at something in her arms.

"Nora?" Rudy asked. Nora turned towards her colleagues, a slight smile on her face. They saw what she held in her arms. It was a baby, but it was missing feathers and a beak.

"Um, Nora. Wow, it's uh..." Layson trailed off.

"It's..." Rudy trailed off too, unable to find his words either. Rudy's daughter, having gotten up from the ground came over in front of the two drakes.

"Yeah, it's freaky looking, okay, that's what it is!" she said.

"Tanya!" Rudy scolded.

"Well it is!" The 7-year-old defended herself. "I mean what the heck is it supposed to be anyways?" she asked Nora.

"Well, she's a baby," Nora said, offering her to Tanya. Tanya held her awkwardly, and the baby tugged on some of Tanya's loose bangs.

"Mind her head." Nora warned, knowing this baby she'd found was a youngling and didn't have full neck support yet. Tanya readjusted her right hand, so it was more under the baby's head. She looked at the baby and the baby smiled, laughing at Tanya.

"You know, she's actually not too bad once you get used to her." Tanya said, smiling. "So whatcha gonna call it?" she asked Nora.

"Well, I-"

"What's going on here?" A gruff voice was heard behind everyone, and they all turned to see the Colonel walking into the room. He must have heard the explosion and come to check it out. Some lieutenants stood obediently in the doorway.

"Nora found a baby..." Tanya muttered, giving the baby back to Nora and quickly moving away, not wanting to get in trouble for holding the baby that was another alien race.

"Nora? What's going on?" he asked gently, his tone giving away that he knew Nora personally.

"When I jumped through the portal, I heard a baby crying. The nursery was completely flipped upside down, so I brought her back with me." Nora explained.

"You kidnapped a baby?" he asked incredulously.

"Tommy, you know me better than that."

He looked down, sighing, before looking back up at her.

"Where were its parents."

"There was only her mother. Something happened before I got there. Looked like maybe a burglary gone wrong. with her dying breath, her mother asked I take care of her baby." Tommy sighed again.

"This is a delicate situation you've put me in, Nora." he murmured.

"I know, but I couldn't just leave her there. She might have died had someone else not come along in time. I couldn't let her die." Nora insisted. Tommy smiled.

"No, I guess you couldn't." He straightened up, "I'm making a call to the president. No one outside this room is to know about the baby til then."