This was the Terra Nova one I had started awhile ago.
[Prologue]
"Have you come to terms with the fact that you have died?" A voice comes from somewhere but when I look around me all I see are stars in the distance and the blackness of space.
"Yes…" I trail off because how does one really come to terms with dying yet…still be alive.
"Then let's start on the reason you're here. But first, do you remember taking out that Isekai Life Insurance policy, in 2021?"
"Yeah…probably the best dollar ninety nine ($1.99) I've ever spent…especially because they made that hoax insurance look so official…" The voice that is distinctively feminine lets out a tinkling laugh.
"Yes, well…though novelly amusing the insurance policy was to you at the time, it is very real…and you purchased an unlimited use policy, so that means you're insured no matter how many times you die."
"Okay, and what does that mean for me?" I ask as I try to remember the fine print of the policy but find that it eludes me.
"Well, as your policy is an Isekai policy…you can be transported or reincarnated into a new, unfamiliar or familiar world, which could be anything from a fantasy realm, to a parallel universe, or a game-like setting…the options I have just said are actually not completely accurate as I have limited the description to save time."
"Ahh, okay I get it now, this is like one of my Self Insert fanfictions."
"Correct, unlike your typical fanfiction though you do not get wishes as you didn't buy the additional policy coverage for wishes however there is a CYOA sheet I can offer to you, that is the only other thing included into your policy truly besides unlimited Isekais upon true death, is that your memories…your identity will stay intact, any powers, skills abilities, etc etc will carry on with you to the next life, unless however you request them not to be. Oh and you have the choice of where you want to go and of what sex and species that are limited to that universe."
"I see…" I mumble though I feel more than a little lost.
"Upon a thorough examination of your personality and an audit of your policy I have made a list for you." The female voice says as holographic lost appears in front of me
"Have a look at this list of worlds, at the top are worlds that you would be most likely to choose, which includes Jurassic Park, Stargate, Terra Nova, Fast and Furious, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and so on and so forth. After selection of the world the list will be updated."
I mark Terra Nova, 'Terra Nova combined with Stargate would be neat…but nah I think I'll just go basic Terra Nova…'
The next sheet of is character and covers whether or not I keep my memories, and my plot knowledge, what kind of transfer it'll be like SI as a character, a drop in or full reincarnation. For my origin I pick random as it says this selection will allow me to pick three things from a list of things I can pick from that have all manner of cool things like, superpowers, weapons, items and so on.
For my appearance I fill in, Male, black hair, green eyes, height 6' 3" as I want to be a little taller this time around, as for my build it'll be athletically toned, and attractive…my new look is very close to Tom Welling.
Once completed with my character sheet, the screen changes to a power sheet type setup.
A little bar at the top of the sheet informs me that I have 15 points of power to assign to myself, there are additional options that would allow you to gain more points, and that I can choose one of four options for immortality for free.
~Types Of Immortality~
-1 Sacrificial Immortality: Drain someone's life force for an hour, 1 hour equals one year of their life force, 1 year worths of Life force will reverse your aging by six months, you can use this ability on other people to keep them younger.
-2 Undying Immortal: You will keep getting older, scars will build up, you'll become decrepit and feeble, but you won't die. You will still be mobile and won't lose your wits, but expect to spend a lot of time complaining about your knees, or back, or whatever.
-3 Linked/Bound Immortality: Your life will be bound to a large object of your choosing. This can't be changed afterwards. You must spend one day per year in the object's presence to restore yourself. You can't touch or move it through your own efforts and must convince another to do so.
-4 Unbound: You become a disembodied spirit. You must convince others to allow you to possess them via dreams to interact with the world. Their consent must be given freely, so, no using an ability like Dominate. This only needs to be done once per victim.
~End Of Types Of Immortality~
'Kind of shitty options for immortality…but I guess Sacrificial would be the best of the shit options.'
I quickly select option 1, and start scrolling down.
~Level 1 Spells~
(These cost 1 point each.)
-1 Pyro: Create a gout of flame from your hands, eyes, arse, where-ever. It behaves like a flamethrower and can reach up to 10 metres.
-2 Arcane Bolt: Shoot a bolt of energy at things. It hits like an armor piercing shotgun slug and has a practical range of 100 metres, and a max range of 150 meters. (Initial activation motion and phrase is a finger gun and the word bang, making finger guns also helps with aiming, with training activation phrases and motions become obsolete.)
-3 Mind Hand: Basic telekinesis, you start off at being able to now lift up to 20 kilos at a distance of 10 metres, you're telekinesis is as precise and dexterous as using your hands, with practice and training you can raise your max lift amount to 400 kilos and 20 meters.
-4 Shield: Generate a short-lived forcefield of about half a square metre in size, it needs constant concentration to keep it up, but it can be cast very quickly, durability is equivalent to 1 inch thick steel.
-5 Stem Bleeding: This holds together wounds, preventing a severe injury from slowly killing you or someone else. This won't heal the injury, but if you get stabbed through the heart you can stop yourself bleeding to death while you get help.
-6 Equivalent Shifting: This will give you an alternate form. Choose any animal that is roughly human sized. You can now transform into a version that is equal to your normal mass. This form is always the same one. It can be bought multiple times for extra species.
-7 Perfect Sight: Gain night-vision that is 20,000 times more sensitive than normal and the ability to see infra-red, you also get perfect vision.
-8 Levitate: Swim through air like water. This gets much less effective at altitude. It's quite a slow way of getting around, but you can move at about walking pace.
~Level 2 Spells~
(These cost 2 points each.)
-1 Steel Skin: Your skin toughens to the point it's as resistant to damage as 1 inch thick high carbon steel. This power is always active unless you choose to suppress it. Your skin feels normal unless it's being struck hard enough to injure you.
-2 Boost Strength: You become 10 times stronger and tougher. This power is always on unless you choose to
suppress it.
-3 Far Sight: Separate your mind from your body and travel elsewhere, your disembodied mind can see and hear as if you were standing there, you can only move at a fast walking pace, but can return to your body instantly.
-4 Perfect Form: You become a peak human in every physical regard, your health is perfect, you will remain fit, and you are now extremely attractive, though still recognisable, this can't be taken with undying.
-5 Sizeshift: change size from anywhere if the range from one millimeters to six meters.
-6 Invisible: You become undetectable by sight (including infra-red) and sound, but not scent. This will even fool laser tripwires.
-7 Blink: Teleport up to 250 metres to anywhere you can personally see.
-8 Haste: Your reflexes and twitch muscles move 10 times faster, despite this, your coordination isn't thrown off and you will automatically adapt, this power is always active unless you choose to suppress it.
~Level 3 Spells~
(These cost 4 points each.)
-1 Scry: By meditating for up to ten minutes you can locate your target up to 1,000km from your body.
-2 Boom: Create an intense blast of energy up to 10-30 kilometres away, you must have line of sight, but the spell is instant, it is comparable to a 155mm artillery shell. (Similar to Arcane Bolt, the initial activation motion and phrase is a finger gun however the trigger word is boom, making finger guns also helps with aiming, with training activation phrases and motions become obsolete.)
-3 Golem: Tear loose and animate a half-ton chunk of stone, a golem is 10 times stronger than a human and is as tough as the stone it's made from, it has the intelligence and problem-solving abilities of a small child, but no emotions or initiative of its own.
-4 Transform: Transform into an elemental form, you gain the ability to move through and behave like that element. Must be bought again for different forms. You don't need to eat, sleep, or breath in this form, conditions hostile to your chosen element will damage you.
-5 Regen: Repairs the body of whoever you cast it on (including yourself). Regrow up to 1kg of flesh an hour and recover from poison or
disease in a day.
-6 Dominate: Use this ability on a person or animal and gain their absolute loyalty, the person or animal dominated will do everything in their power to fulfil your wishes while under this spell's influence. This spell must be bought multiple times for the ability to control multiple victims at once, ability lasts indefinitely unless castser cancels it.
-7 Fly: Fling yourself through the air at 200 kilometres per hour, or 1g of acceleration if the air is thin enough, the only limit is the altitude at which you can keep breathing.
-8 Counter Spell: Remove a magical effect from someone, or suppress another caster, (you won't be able to cast anything yourself while doing this). This spell also renders you immune to the scrying spell.
~Enchantments~
(Free but you can only choose one.)
-1 Planes shift: With 8 hours of meditation you can open a portal to another dimension, this portal is
metres wide and will last for one minute.
-2 Bonus Points: You receive Eight extra points to spend on spells.
-3 A Loyal loving Sexy Magical Maid: Once an apprentice of a powerful witch who grew bored with her. She's got the equivalent of 10 spell-points and is physically perpetually 18 years old (she's also physically a virgin.) she's been well trained, she'll always do as you tell her.
-4 Teleport: Spend a minute meditating to teleport to anywhere you are familiar with -a recent, detailed picture is enough. This has
planetary range.
~Drawbacks~
(Drawbacks come with a bonus of either more spell points or an additional enhancement, you can only choose one. P.S. don't ask about these aloud these are on the DL between you and me, your beautiful insurance agent, and are not technically approved by the company.)
-1 Be My Manservant: Positives +2 spell-points, Negatives spend 10 years serving as my assistant, This is probably safe option…Probably.
-2 Be My Assassin: (Hey don't judge working for an Omniverse spanning insurance agency makes enemies.) Positives +4 spell-points, Negatives some minor noble deity won't take no for an answer, it's not that I truly want him dead but…I fear he's going to abducte me and rape me to death, he is visiting Earth in disguise committing various heinous crimes against women and puppies. I have some leads on his location, but finding him would be a, you problem. Be warned he'll be well defended against magical threats and the more obvious physical ones, but getting past those is also a you problem too.
-3 Be My Fixer: Positives +1 enchantment, Negatives in exchange for an extra enchantment, you will be On-call to fulfil 1 task a year for me. I won't choose anything too arduous, so you'll probably succeed, but don't expect it to be both easy and quick. Refusing the task means losing your powers.
-4 Hunted: (Requires Planes shift) Positives +10 spell-points,
Negatives for a bit of entertainment on my end I will add a hint of abyssal energy to your magic, which will result in you getting mistaken for a disguised demon by all manner of planar adventurers. I get to have fun watching you try and kill each other, don't bother trying to tell them you're not a demon.
'Alright these drawbacks are pretty sketchy…but let's work from bottom to top, as of right now I'll bypass the drawbacks.'
'Planes shifting, teleportation and magical sex maid are awesome options, I'm not too comfortable with opening myself up to different dimensions, teleportation would be a good ability but then again I have access to Blink, the sex maid is…very tempting but feels wrong…my little brother definitely wouldn't approve as it sounds like she's a slave…so that leaves me with extra points and teleportation…as I plan on going to the Terra Nova colony 88 million years in the past to pangia teleportation makes little sense, so extra points it is.' I think as I select extra points and watch my points count increase to 23.
"Alright, Regen is a definant." I mutter.
[Level 3 spells: Regen -4 points, 19 points, Boom -4, 15 points.]
[Level 2 Spells: Haste -2 points, 13 points, Blink -2 points, 11 points, Sizeshift -2 points, 9 points, Perfect Form -2 points, 7 points, Boost Strength -2 points, 5 points, Steel Skin -2 points, 3 points.]
[Level 1 spells: Stem Bleeding, -1 point, 2 points, Shield -1 point, 1 point, Arcane Bullet -1 point, o points.]
"I'm skipping the drawbacks." I say aloud as I click confirm on my selections.
"Very well then, ave fun, I'll hopefully never see you again!"
"Typical insurance type." I grunt as everything goes black and my perception of everything ceases.
[1]
I wake up half asleep, and stay laying on my back staring up at a slate gray cement ceiling, my brains a little fuzzy at first before I fully wake up.
A sense of déjà vu hits me, it's like I know where I am like I've been here before, even though I've only just gotten here.
Suddenly things start making sense, the fact I'm four years old, and that my mom's name is Elizabeth and sister's name is Maddy, and then it hits me I'm Josh Shannon.
'Nooo, why did I have to be Josh Shannon, in the Terra Nova Universe?! Now I can't try and woo Maddy Shannon…well not without it being wrong, that is.' I mentally cry out in my mind and my situation plays on repeat in my head.
I raise my right hand up and motion with my hand like I'm trying to claw at the air as I continue to lay in my…in Josh's bed. and having nothing to do I think about the future, the future that I know of from the show Terra Nova. Terra Nova was a good tv show that started in 2011 and was sadly canceled in 2012 before we got the much anticipated season 2.
Terra Nova was a show that showed a near dead earth where people were literally dying of hypoxia, the earth was a giant dustball with no greenery outside of special domes where the rich lived, a portal to 85 million years ago was discovered and a particle accelerator was built to help stabilize the portal and anchor it in one place.
People, Pilgrims are sent back in time 85 million years into the past and are building a colony named Terra Nova, you can be sent their either by lottery or paying your way, but if course the wealth of the dead earth are greedy and want to strip mine the lush world for it's meteoric iron and other resources.
Terra Nova was also the last show I watched before…dying… "I died…" I murmur in a way that trails off.
'Lets see, if my memories of the show line up with the here and now, the year is 2132, the first Pilgrimage isn't until 2142, a whole decade away from now, my Father's name is Jim Shannon who is cop who just got promoted to detective, for a branch of the Chicago police department, My mom is Elizabeth Shannon, and she is a doctor both of a medical nature and a scientific one, Maddy Shannon my sister, is brilliant. Zoe won't be born until eleven years from now…at least as long as I don't mess things up too badly.' I say in my head as I start to hyperventilate, I look to my right and see Maddy across from me sleeping in her bed, I breathe in a deep breath.
'Maddy and I share a room!' I internally express, as I feel that it's weird for boys and girls to share their bedrooms even as children, especially for siblings because it tends to breed taboo feelings that manifest during puberty.
'No time for panicking or water works she'll wake up if I start crying.' I tell myself as I take another deep breath, and let my tears pour down my face as I bite into my bottom lip and return to staring up at the ceiling. It hurts inside, none of my friends are here, my parents are probably dead and gone for all I know…and my little brother.
The thought that I do have parents here tries to burrow into my head, but I quickly shoot it down as they're not my parents, they're Josh's parents, and I probably just killed/body jacked their first born and only son.
But the thought is more insistent that they're also my parents, because I'm now Josh Shannon, whether the original is here or not.
'I should go to the living room so I can let out what I feel without waking Maddy.' I think as I take another deep breath, and slowly wipe the tears from my face and quietly pull my blankets off of me.
'I'm tiny!' I express in shock, granted that shouldn't be so surprising as I know that I'm only four years old right now but still.
Rolling out of bed, I walk over to the door, extend my right hand and gently push open the door, exiting the bedroom I keep a firm grip on the door handle and slowly close the door behind me, as I watch to see if Maddy wakes up.
Luckily she doesn't and the door closes with a soft thud, my intention is to go lay on the couch grab the pillow cover my face and cry/scream into it just to get all this hurt out at what I've lost, and to try and get rid of some of this guilt at what I believe to be my unknowingly killing of Josh Shannon.
But my body seems to have other plans whether it's echoes of Josh or not I don't know but I find myself stumbling my way to Josh's parents room, all the while tip-toeing like a stealthy ninja.
I try to stop myself from reaching for the door handle, but my bodily urges for some parental warmth and comfort overwhelm me, and I twist the door knob and push open the door.
Elisabeth Shannon is awake and sitting up in the bed she looks at me, "Josh?" Elisabeth whispers, her voice filling with worry, as she quickly stands up and strides over to me and kneels down in front of me, her night rob spilling open, revealing rather revealing lingerie underneath.
Though I can idly think that this woman is gorgeous, I thought, the thought is quickly squashed as Elisabeth picks me up and cradles my head to her breasts and begins rubbing my back as she carries me to her and Jim's bed.
As we gently land on the bed Jim Shannon rolls over, his eyes opening slightly while his lips start to quirk upwards into a smirk that is before he notices me.
Jim immediately sits up and reaches over to ruffle my hair but I snuggle further into Elisabeth's maternal embrace, while looking towards my dad, it feels wrong to think of him that way.
Because they are technically my parents, and I'd need to get over my killing and body jacking of their son, and my notion that they aren't my parents eventually.
"What's wrong baby?" Elisabeth asks me, while continuing to rub my back and putting her other hand on the back of my head, her fingers slowly tickling my scalp, making me feel safe and comfortable.
I feel a rush of guilt and pain at these traitorous emotions and begin to sniffle and shake my head.
"Did you have a nightmare?" Elisabeth asks me, 'You could say that again lady!' I internally express in my mind, and Elisabeth continues and says/asks, as if it's obvious, "You don't want to talk about it?"
shake my no, and Elisabeth sighs as she lays down in bed holding me on top of her Jim/dad leans over plants a kiss in my hair before laying down and pulling the blankets up over the three of us.
"Goodnight Kiddo." Jim says in a soft murmur, while Elisabeth kisses the top of my head, I find myself lulled to sleep by Elisabeth's warmth and steady heartbeat.
[2]
Elisabeth gently wakes me up, "Good morning, honey, mommy has to get ready for work, your dad has breakfast ready." I hear Elisabeth talking to me and groggily reach up to wipe the sleep from my eyes.
I find that I'm still laying on top of her. There's a smile on her face that I never received from my own mother. It makes me feel warm…and loved.
Feeling both shy and embarrassed I quickly look away from Elisabeth's smiling face and roll off of her onto the comfy bed.
"Sorry, for bothering you last night." I mutter an apology while keeping my back to Elisabeth.
"Josh, sweetheart, you didn't bother me or your dad at all, whenever you have a bad dream or are scared you can come to me and your dad, okay sweetheart." Elisabeth says in a soft murmur but I only nod while feeling ashamed and guilty, Elisabeth using her mom powers must feel that I'm not okay as she begins tickling me and nuzzling my hair with her nose.
And though I try to resist I find myself writhing in laughter.
'This feels rather kinky…' I internally express and Elisabeth is on top of me held aloft by her knees on either side of my thighs and her hands on either side of my head.
"There's my baby's beautiful smile." Elisabeth smiles at me with a laugh in her voice as she tilts her head and kisses my nose before rolling off of me and out of bed, she begins to walk into her and Jim's bathroom that is attached to their bedroom and separate from the rest of the condo type apartment.
Feeling both embarrassed and guilty at how much I enjoyed Elisabeth's attention I get out of Jim and Elisabeth's bed and leave their bedroom, entering the living room, I pull their bedroom door shut behind me.
Maddy grins at me from her place on the couch, her wide smile shows off missing teeth, the adorable girl jumps off of the couch toddles over to me, I have to reach out and catch her from falling, the cute kid hugs me tightly and kisses my cheek.
"There, all better!" Maddy cheers triumphantly, and I can't help but smile at her adorable antics, even as I feel a sense of guilt that I killed her brother and jacked his body.
"What do you mean by all better Maddy?" I ask the little three year old girl, who pouts at me.
"Daddy said you were feeling bad." Maddy says, and breaks the hug and proceeds to grab my hand and turn around facing the kitchen, "So um, he made chocolate pancakes!" She continues to tell me and the way she says chocolate is just too precious.
I can't help but smile as I let Maddy drag me towards the kitchen and by extension the kitchen table, her fumbling step makes me worry but we reach the table without any falls so I count that as a win.
Looking at the high chairs and the high table I frown, Maddy undeterred, begins to fumblingly try to climb her way to the seat of the high chair.
Making me quickly reach out and grab onto Maddy at her hips and steady her as she makes her way up to the seat of the chair she had chosen to be her own.
I let out a sharp exhale as Maddy slips and loses footing and grip of the cushion but luckily I'm here to hold her steady and support her, Maddy looks down at me and smiles her gap toothed smile making me smile back at her as she nestles onto the cushion of her seat.
"Thanks, My Bubby!" Maddy says while continuing to be all smiles and adorableness to me, while I flash back to moments with my little brother who also used to call me that until he got older, I feel a fresh wave of grief filled heartache as I climb up into my own chair, Elisabeth Shannon lets out a small laugh while looking at the two of us with adoration and love in her eyes and a warm smile on her face.
"You're welcome Madds." I quickly say back to her as I tamp down on my feelings as I don't want to turn into a blubbering mess in front of the adorable girl as she'll probably think that she did something wrong.
"Aww, look at you two!" Elisabeth cooes, affectionately and moves behind us and begins rubbing our heads, before leaning in and kissing our cheeks.
Before she makes her way over to the other side of the table, and grabs two devices from a white docking station.
'If I remember correctly those things are called PlexPads, the universe version of the iPad, and really they just look like panels of glass with one end having a sort of white frame that contains the electronics of the device.'
"Time to start your lessons." Elisabeth says with a sad smile on her face and a sadness in her voice that I don't quite understand as the thought of being able to do schooling from home seems like a wonderful thing to me.
A sigh leaves Elisabeth's lips as she places the devices in front of Maddy and I, I try to look through my memories but they're hazy and more like a jumbled mix of sensations and impressions that actual visual memories like I'm used to, so I find that I don't really remembering much of anything from Josh's four years of life except from things like this is home Jim, Elisabeth and Maddy are family, but I guess that's too be expected…after all Josh had to die for me to take his place.
I look at the tablet before picking it up, it has a setup that would easily draw in a kid's interest and keep it. It has a selection of studies, like English, History, Science and so on.
"Jim, what subject did you want them to work on today?" Elisabeth calls out to her husband and Jim comes out of nowhere wearing an apron that says Mr.Mom, and I nearly bust a gut, but manage to keep control of myself.
"English today kiddos, and then an hour on whatever you guys want to do, before history and then another break before science." Jim says and Maddy gleefully starts clicking buttons as dutifully label each colour to each other, and type out the words for said colors.
'Okay, this is way more fun than it should be.' I think and feel a bit let down that I've finished the English lesson so quickly, Jim comes over with a frying pan and spatula in either hand and begins placing a few pancakes on my plate and Maddy's plates.
"Hmm." Jim hums with clearly fake interest, "Need any help, Kiddo?" He asks me, and looks at the tablet that I set down in front of me. I shake my head no as I reach for my plastic fork and knife.
"Nope, I'm done." I say easily as I grab the churned butter and scoop a large amount onto my pancakes that frankly smell fuckin amazing, though my statement quickly draws Elisabeth's attention and she turns towards me, while pulling out a gallon of milk from the fridge and walks over to the table, she stops in-between Maddy and I and begins filling our cuos while she looks down at my tablet.
"Can I see?" Elisabeth asks, clearly disbelievingly interested in the fact that I "finished" my English lessons for the day, Jim takes the gallon of milk from Elisabeth and I hand the tablet thingy.
Elisabeth hums from beside me as she flicks through it as Jim moves to the kitchen, puts away the milk and puts the frying pan back on to the stove and moves to help me cut my pancakes.
Jim pauses at my free side and blinks at my cut up pancakes, "Good job, Kiddo." The man says with an honest praise as he ruffles my hair and grabs the bottle of maple syrup from the center of the table.
"Thanks…Dad." I mumble slightly, he bumps my shoulder to mine making me look at him, a big dumb proud smile on his face makes me flush in embarrassment for him.
Jim moves the bottle of syrup to pour it on my pancakes, "No, I don't want to ruin my chocolate chip pancakes with that nasty stuff." I quickly say and cover my pancakes with my hands drawing a surprised but amused chuckle from Jim and odd looks from Maddy and Elisabeth, but Jim shrugs my refusal off and moves to help Maddy with cutting her pancakes up and applying the nasty substance named maple syrup.
"Hey Josh, sweetie?" Mom calls out to me with a too sweet smile on her face, and a sweetness in her voice that mothers use when somebody is going to get a new asshole chewed out.
"Did your father help you with your course work?"
I can't help but look at the woman with an expression on my face that screams bitch are you serious right now, but Elisabeth doesn't seem to pick up on it.
"Nope, I did it all by myself…mommy." Elisabeth's right eyebrow twitches as I smirk at her and Jim chuckles while Maddy murmurs something I can't hear.
"Would you mind doing this lesson for mommy, please?" Elisabeth asks me and I nod yes.
"I'll do it when I'm done eating, Mommy." I say in a sweet sarcastic way to Elisabeth, the woman has a look on her face before finally nodding to, and placing the tablet back onto the table.
I dutifully eat the delicious chocolate chip pancakes and find that I'm full, which makes me look at the rest of the food on my plate, which covers half of it's surface.
I turn to Maddy who looks between my face and my plate, she gives me the biggest, most adorable puppy dog eyes, that are just begging for more, with a soft smile making its way on to my face, I ask the little girl.
"Do you want mine?"
"Yes! I mean yesPlease!" Maddy cheers loudly before blushing and getting a shy look in her eyes, and quickly replies in a more polite manner, rolling my eyes at Maddy as I push my plate over to her.
"All you Madds." I say to the girl with a genuine fondness for her growing in my heart.
"Thank you, you're that Best Bubby!" Maddy thanks me as she dives into pancakes, a soft laugh slips out of me and I reach over and ruffle her hair gently but not enough to disturb her eating.
"Not hungry, kiddo?" Jim asks me as he sits down at the table across from me I nod to him in reply while extending my right hand to grab my cup and take a sip of milk.
With my left hand I tap on the tablet's screen, making it come to life and am instantly bombarded with many more interesting English questions, instead of colors there are animals that I have to name animals, I mean there are still a few colour questions, but ones like is this cat yellow or is this cow red, when they were either blue or white.
I speed through the course and I'm surprised at how little effort I need to use, I mean I was alright at English, or at least I hoped I was, but I was never a genius at anything.
Maddy looks over to me and frowns at my quiz quietly, I look at the girl in signal to ask the question she wants to ask.
"What does that word mean?" Maddy asks me while pointing at the word Autumn.
"Autumn is another term for fall, the season that comes after summer and before winter." I explain to Maddy easily, getting three looks of surprise two from the adults while Maddy looks at me like I'm a genius.
"Autome?" Maddy tries to pronounce, "Close, but Autumn is typically pronounced like this, Aww-Tum, say aww and then start to say tummy."
"Autumn." Maddy says with a happy smile on her face and I smile back to her after she says it correctly on her second try, "That was perfect Madds." I praise the adorable girl who glows under my praise.
"Thanks Bubby, now how do I spell Autumn?" Maddy thanks me before huffing cutely.
"A-U-T-U-M-N." I say each letter for the girl and watch as she grabs a little pen from the white frame and writes each letter down.
'Wow, she should only be three but she's already able to write…this girl is too smart.' I think as Maddy asks me for help with another word that she doesn't recognize in her lessons, and sink into helping and teaching her.
Maybe twenty minutes into helping a specific set of word/picture catch my attention, 'Dinosaur, it's hard to believe that someday I'll get to see dinos in person.' I can't help but smile at the image of a T-Rex.
I've been done with my lesson for awhile now but I've been so concentrated on helping Maddy with her very easy questions that I haven't noticed Jim or Elisabeth's looks.
As Maddy finishes both her English lesson and food she begins to get out of her seat. "Young Lady use your manners." Elisabeth's nose crinkles slightly in amusement, "May I be excused from the table Mommy?" Maddy asks cutely Elisabeth waits a moment which makes the girl start to fidget before finally nodding.
"You can go play or watch cartoons but hand me you Plex first." Maddy makes a happy sound and jumps to the floor making a strangled sound come out of me but the girl is unhurt and she happily runs over to Elisabeth and gives her mother her tablet.
"Would you like mine as well mom, and may I leave the table please?" I ask the woman who nods, I hand her my Plex ignoring the way that the adult Shannon's look at me oddly.
"Please stay at the table while I look over your work sweetie." Elisabeth says to me and though I'm not sure why For some I start to feel anxious…like I made some massive earthquake shattering mistake that will expose me to these people, as Elisabeth looks over whatever she's looking through on the Plex, Elisabeth looks at Jim then back at the Plex, Elisabeth leans towards her husband, cups her hands over his ear in an effort to muffle whatever she is saying to Jim.
Jim quickly shakes his head from side to side and turns towards Elisabeth, a look of hurt on his face, "No Liz, I didn't help him out with his lessons." Jim quickly denies and sounds honestly offended that Elisabeth would even think that he'd help his son cheat.
'Oh…shit…Josh is a bit of a retard in the show, fuck I'm coming off as too smart!' I realize, as my blood seems to freeze in my veins and I self consciously start biting my bottom lip in worry, when Elisabeth turns towards me a slightly horrified look in her eyes that she tries but fails to hide when she looks at me.
I swallow thickly and scramble out of the chair and bolt towards mine and Maddy's bedroom, 'She knows, she knows I killed her son and stole his body.' I say in my head as I run into the room and slam the door behind me.
"Josh!" Elisabeth calls out to me but I ignore her and hide in the bedroom, pausing just inside of the bedroom I stop and take a deep breath in trying to calm myself down, but it doesn't work.
I know technically I'm fine, but my heart is pounding in my chest, my breaths are laborious, I look around looking for a place to hide, I don't know why my instinct is to run and hide, as that's not me…I realize I'm unconsciously heading towards the closet.
There's a box of toys inside, I push it out of the way and step into the closet and close the door behind me and sit down on the floor, pulling my knees up to my chest and wrapping my arms around my legs.
After awhile I get my feelings under control and reach up with both hands to wipe away my tears, 'Just because you did good on a lesson is a stupid reason to think you've been exposed, and it's even more idiotic to get so worked up you have a mild anxiety attack and turn into a blubbering baby.' I internally express and beat myself up internally for getting so upset as for no reason, before it dawns on me that this overly emotional/sensitivity might just be normal for a four year old, and that's without taking into account my situation so maybe I shouldn't feel like beating myself up.
'My body might be that of a four year old but I'm a grown man on the inside…it'd be so much easier if I didn't have a family to deal with…not that I want anything to happen to the Shannon family.' I think as someone hesitantly knocks on the closet door.
I don't respond to the knocking, but the person opens the door anyway.
Looking at the culprit I find that it's Maddy Plex in hand as she invades my little sanctuary, Maddy looks at me before turning away, waddling to her bed, she half crawls onto it and grabs something off of her bed.
When she turns around to face me I see that she is holding the most worn and abused stuffed T-Rex plushie I have ever seen…no I've seen it before…it's mine but I gave it to Maddy to keep her safe…because she was afraid to sleep in her new big bed all alone, at least that's what these strong sensations and impressions are telling me.
Maddy plops down on the floor next to me and she hands the stuffed animal to me, and I squeeze it tightly to my chest partially hiding my face with its head. I feel a little embarrassed about how much better the large plushie makes me feel.
"You okay?" Maddy asks me in a very quiet secretive whisper, as I hold the T-rex a little bit tighter and nod, Maddy nods in understanding while humming, suddenly she holds the tablet to me.
"Can you read it to me?" Maddy asks me and I can't help but welcome the distraction, especially when delivered by such an adorable chipmunk.
My voice cracks as I read the title "Jurassic Park."
'Oh my God this is so not a book for a three and four year old!' I complain in my head as I continue to read to the girl who gives me those big beautiful honey brown puppy dog eyes.
Maddy and I stay seated in that closet the entire time I read to her with only quick breaks for bathroom use and snacks.
"Josh, Maddy, Dinners ready!" Jim yells from the kitchen, mine and Maddy's stomachs rumble at the mention of food Maddy and I turn to each other and laugh.
We both get up and leave the closet and our bedroom making a beeline to the kitchen table, as seeing Elisabeth waiting for me with a look of worry filled consideration, I bow my head and feel like bolting back to the safety of the closet, but Maddy grabs my hand, and though I shouldn't feel anything Maddy's support fills me with both confidence and resolve.
"I'm sorry for running away from you this morning mom." I apologize to Elisabeth and she cooes and drops down onto her knees making us close to eye level and then proceeds to hug me to death.
"I'm sorry to sweetie, I'm sorry I didn't believe you did all the work yourself." Elisabeth apologizes as well and I can feel her tears as she cries.
'I don't think I'll ever be able to say anything against this woman.' I think in my head while admitting to myself that her reaction this morning was perfectly reasonable as it would be more than a little weird…honestly it would be scary as hell, if I had a child who was one day of below average intelligence who turned out to know more than they should, and I feel deeply embarrassed about how I thought that these people knew I had body jacked their son, but these emotions are just so intense.