A Hero's Reward

 

Table of Contents

Author’s Note

Chapter 1—Vacation

Chapter 2—Aftermath

Chapter 3—On the Job Training

Chapter 4—Still Relevant

Chapter 5—Retirement

Epilogue

 

Author’s Note:  Shortly taking place after the incidentals in Jurassic World: Rebirth.  Don’t read unless you enjoy spoilers. 

‘Science should be accessible to all people, not just some.’—Henry, Jurassic World: Rebirth

‘My ideal burial place would be right here on the beach.   The silt content is high enough that I would be fossilized after death.’—Henry, Jurassic World: Rebirth

‘It was Plato that once said, ‘the unexamined life is a life not worth living.’—Pat, ‘It’s Pat !’

 

 

Chapter 1—Vacation

                Doctor Henry Loomis was the very epitome of leisure and indolence as he idly sipped a Bahama Mama from his hammock in the tropics.   He couldn’t believe his marvelous fortune since the unbelievable incidents in Saint Martins.    He and Zora had worked so well together even though they had been diametrically different.   From the moment he had seen her, he had been inexorably smitten.   He could never voice his thoughts aloud for fear she would ultimately ghost him, but she hadn’t.  She had seen his bravery in the face of insurmountable odds.    Frankly, he believed that what was left of their crew during extraction duty should’ve been dead the moment they had stepped foot on forbidden ground. 

                ‘Penny for your thoughts, Henry.’, Zora said, lovingly as her soft hand interlaced its fingers with his.   He had always wondered what love had felt like, especially a touch so tender that he thought he was either melting in ecstasy or lost in a dreamscape.   The truth was that reality had been so much more satisfying than any sort of fantasy his ingenious mind could craft.   

 

Chapter 2—Aftermath

                After the extraction detail, word had gotten out about the supposedly ‘top secret’ mission that Loomis and Barrett had been selected as lecturers, the topic of late-night TV fare, and more pharma meetings and conventions than they could’ve wanted.    Henry stood up for himself and the ideal that the mission had taken in the first place.   The medicine that was being researched and which had nearly come to being marketed to the public for a ridiculously low price was meant for everyone.    Henry himself had to admit a skosh of bias.  

                ‘I wanted my dear mother to be a recipient of the drug.’, he admitted.   Unfortunately, the saint of a woman passed of a difficult and painful journey with cancer.   He had done everything for her, and she had fought against it tooth and nail.   Fortunately, she had been well enough to see Zora and Henry married.   The occasion had been bittersweet, but they had promised her that if they had a daughter, they would name her, ironically enough, Amber, after the woman who had taught him intellect and kindness would ultimately win in any situation, even if it seemed impossible to gain victory. 

                Thanks to private research, now anyone could receive the life saving treatment that Henry had received a Nobel prize for his work and had been awarded a medal of honor for bravery and a dignified service award for sensational altruism and compassion.   None of that went to his head, however, he knew that in a small way, he had made an immense impact on young lives.   

                In fact, it was Isabella Delgado who had invited him to her school before Zora and Henry could finally take their much-needed honeymoon after toying with death.  

                ‘Remember the Delgados ?’, Henry asked, stroking Zora’s hand from across the way lounging about in his hammock, swinging with the gentle island breezes.  

                ‘Yes, in fact I do.  What about them ?   I heard that Duncan got to go back to his daughter, and honestly, I couldn’t be any happier for him.   He gets to see his little girl grow up !’, Zora said sweetly. 

                ‘I remembered how kind you were towards them, which made me realize that you’re going to be an excellent father…’, Zora said, gently.   Henry’s face immediately lit up but there was also a bit of trepidation in his timbre.   

                ‘No…No, really ?   Are you certain ?’, he asked, his voice trembling.    He tried to keep from weeping from joy, but when she confirmed she was pregnant, he knew their lives were going to be wholly and fundamentally different once they arrived home from their euphoric vacation. 

 

Chapter 3—On the Job Training

                Zora wasn’t certain that she was ready to be a mom, and Harry didn’t think he was going to be a great dad whatsoever.   The two of them were pretty skittish about all the bodily fluids that came from babies but figured that if it was coming from their own progeny, it would be less disgusting.  

                ‘Are you as worried about this as I am ?’, he said, as the two of them got to work at the nursery in their home.   He dabbed a bit of paint on Zora’s nose and laughed.   She looked like a lemon clown from Candyland, which is the scene he had painted on the baby’s wall.  

                ‘The closer we come to the due date, the less stressed I feel.’, Harry confessed.   He knew that no amount of research would prepare him for the twins coming into their lives, but at least he could learn from other parents who had trod the same path that he and Zora were about to embark upon.  

 

Chapter 4—Still Relevant

                Junior came into the world kicking and screaming, hollering up a storm.  It wasn’t until he was placed in Zora’s arms that he had begun to calm down.   Harry sang him a bit of a song his own mom had sung to him whenever he was upset, and the tender lullaby worked its magic once again.    Junior’s sister, Vera, was far more laid back and had to be awakened by the doctor lightly patting her butt to make certain she was awake.   She wasn’t too happy with the rude awakening, but she yawned and went quickly back to sleep once daddy took her into his grateful hands.

                The two fraternal twins couldn’t have been more different than one another.   It was obvious that Vera had become enchanted with dinosaurs the moment she learned about them.   In fact, it was an everyday obsession, just as much as science, chemistry, and animals in general.   She was probably going to become a veterinarian or a paleontologist like her dad.    She would be the last of a dying breed of scientists but at least her career path looked relatively bright.    As for Junior, he was fascinated by the sea and the host of creatures held within it.   With the world changing as it was, Henry was going to be in high demand when he became an adult.    Presently, however, it was  a mad rush to keep the two of them clothed since they outgrew their outfits almost overnight. 

 

Chapter 5—Retirement

                Henry had a host of small side hobbies that had kept him busy, but he never thought they would become lucrative.    The gold rush had seen another surge in popularity, and he had been on the cutting edge of the latest and greatest technology to unearth the planet’s rare minerals.   It was also something that he found gratefully satisfying and he was able to travel to states he had only seen on postcards.  

                Zora didn’t mind having her lover close by.   All the appearances they had made in the past meant they would have more time together.    She had never envisioned her life being so fulfilling or having such a devoted partner.    It was true that love often happened in the most unlikely of places, but she had never thought she was meant to meet her soulmate while nearly dying multiple times.   Funny how romance works that way.  

 

Epilogue

                Henry had finally had time to write  his memoir after Junior and Vera had grown.  The two of them had moved out of the house and made friends on their campuses elsewhere.  Though they were far away, each weekend, they would come and visit, savoring Zora’s succulent cooking and Henry’s outstanding confectionary treats.    Vera was on the fast track to becoming a veterinarian, having become one of the youngest in her class to do so.   Junior had also done well for himself, earning a degree in marine biology and research.   The two of them had also found loves of their own and planned to have families in the not-so-distant future.    

                ‘This is more than I could’ve ever wanted, Henry.’, Zora said, watching their children play a game of pickleball with their spouses.   Retirement had treated them both so immensely well that they had seen the world and as an added bonus, they took their kids along as ‘edutainment’.    The two didn’t mind, since they remained curious about the world around them and knew curiosity was contagious.    Although dinosaurs weren’t so widely discussed, they would remain a topic of discussion among the family and the thread that knitted them all together.    They were free, just like the Loomises were. 

 

The End