2 – Tested for What?

Two months later, Jonny was lying on his stomach in his new parents’ bedroom while they cooed over him. This was nothing out of the ordinary, and he had grown accustomed to it happening at least twice per day. At first, it was humiliating, having two grown adults fawn over him as he struggled to control his own body, but he had soon realized that the humiliation was the least of his concerns.

Being a baby was torture, especially compared to what his body had been. He was the strongest man in the world, and not in a lame, impractical, power-lifting kind of way. He was a mixed martial artist, and the best in the world. He had a perfect record, 89-0 at all levels, and 32-0 at the highest. Nearly every one of his fights ended with a knockout, with a rare few opponents being able to keep up with him until the end of the final round. He was one fight away from breaking the title defense record when he died. Now though…

He was completely dependent on everyone for everything. He couldn’t eat on his own, he couldn’t move, he couldn’t speak, and he could barely see. He was a slave to his own body, which sometimes felt like it had a mind of its own. He cried when he was hungry, he cried when he was cold, he cried when he needed to burp, and he even cried when he had to go to the bathroom. He couldn’t stay awake, and he couldn’t stay asleep, and his dreams were nonsense. As humiliating as it was, the precious minutes when he was allowed to “play” on his stomach while his parents watched were his most free moments.

A month before, he had managed to start lifting his head up a little bit, and by now, he had gained enough control to just start getting his arms under him so he could push himself up. His muscles felt non-existent, and most of the time, his limbs refused to cooperate with what he wanted them to do, but he was starting to get the hang of controlling their non-cooperation. If he had an hour to himself he felt confident that he could at least get his arms fully under him, but he never had that hour. His mother would pick him up whenever he started squirming too much.

“Aw, Jonny, are you uncomfortable?” she asked, doing just that.

“I’m fine! Put me down, woman!”

His tongue felt like it was little more than a stump, so of course, no actual words came out, and since he wasn’t crying, his mother assumed that the sounds he made were happy sounds. She picked him into the air, and held him close enough that he could see her face. She was smiling so widely that Jonny immediately felt guilty about being so rude.

“I love you too!” she said.

Hmph.

A moment later, there was a knock on the door. His mother’s smile vanished almost immediately, as she turned to look at the source of the sound.

“He’s here,” she said.

“I’ll get it.”

The speaker was Jonny’s father, who Jonny had met not long after he was born. His father’s voice was deep, and sonorous, which contrasted greatly with his thin face and pencil beard. He was out of Jonny’s range of vision at the moment, but Jonny could hear the man walking across the room toward where he assumed the door was.

“Archie!” said a new voice at the door. “Good to see you!”

Archie was just one of his father’s names. He also went by “Duke” sometimes, but only to the servants, which Jonny’s new family apparently had. The only “servant” he had had in his first life was an old hispanic housekeeper named Maria he hired after making it big who made him fajitas sometimes and slapped his shoulder when he cursed. His new family had at least five that he had heard.

“Good to see you too, Raymond,” said Archie. “Jonathan is with Melinda.”

While the conversation happened, Jonny’s mother had pulled him down so that he was being held against her chest while she leaned back in her chair.

“Ah, excellent,” said Raymond. “Oh wow, he’s so tiny! I had forgotten how small they were at that age.”

“He’s growing well though,” said Melinda.

“Oh, I’m sure,” said Raymond, sounding much closer. “Can I take a closer look?”

“Go ahead.”

Jonny felt himself being held outward, and soon, his mother’s face disappeared into the blurry grayness that seemed to make up everything outside his range. A moment later, another face appeared directly in front of him.

“Hey, Jonny! I’m your Uncle Raymond!”

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The man looked like a younger version of Archie. He had the same rough facial features, though Jonny thought he looked a little more handsome. While Jonny didn’t find anything about him too off-putting, his appearance had been a surprise, and his new baby body didn’t like surprises, so he started crying. His mother immediately pulled him back into her arms and started rocking him gently side to side while he heard Raymond and his father talking nearby.

“Ah, looks like I went in too fast,” said Raymond. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine,” said Archie. “It happens with me sometimes too.”

“Yeah, babies are just like that. He’ll grow out of it.”

“I’m aware.”

“Well, I just wanted to stop in and say hi, and see how my new favorite nephew is doing. I’ll get out of your hair now. Good luck, and make sure you get plenty of sleep whenever you can.”

“Thank you,” said Jonny’s father.

“See you guys later. Just let me know when you guys are ready and I’ll bring Henry down to play.”

“Of course. See you later.”

The door closed again, and Archie walked back to wherever he sat while Jonny was being held by Melinda. By that time, Jonny had calmed down, and while his heart rate was still a bit high, he was no longer wailing.

“He did that on purpose,” said his mother.