“Where are the two loves of my li-ife?” sang Emily Trudeau, their 23-year-old surrogate mother and caregiver as she danced into their nursery.
Instinctively, Karen’s crib began to slowly drop its side down when it was approached by her.
“Mommy’s here!”
Ken rolled over to watch as Karen was picked up from the crib and placed onto the changing table. Neither of the Hendersons could talk because their CCVSes (Cognitively Controlled Voice Synthesizers) hadn’t been strapped on their ankles yet and their mouths were not yet coordinated enough to talk. There was no need for these anklets while they are sleeping, so Emily took these devices off her regenerate children every night, and a few quick things were needed this morning before they would be returned to them. Biologically, instinctual, and for the most part, emotionally, the two Hendersons were infants. Chronologically and cognitively, Ken and Karen were in their 70s, with the exception of their motor and sensory skills, of course. Their livelihoods were now unrecognizable from that of any other 4-month-old except for their ability to verbally communicate with their caregiver and each other when they were wearing their CCVS devices.
“Today’s your big day!” said their mommy, “ticka-ticka.” Karen let out a reflexive hacking cackle as she poked her tummy a couple of times. No way could Karen avoid the gleeful outburst even if she wanted to, because all previously, long-dormant, infantile reflexive, actions had been revived by the transformation, as it was needed to ensure the regenerated infants’ survival. After busying herself with undressing, changing, wiping, and putting a yellow onesie followed by a green-and-yellow spring dress on Karen, Emily proceeded over to Ken and his crib, which also dropped its side in response to the surrogate mom’s presence.
“You know who’s coming to visit,” said mommy, “how’s my little boy?” Repeating the same diaper-changing and dressing process, including the ticka-tummies and cackles, she got Ken ready in a light blue dinosaur onesie followed by a blue sweatpants and matching shirt with a little embossed sailboat design in the upper left side of Ken’s front. She immediately threw the well-used overnight disposables in the diaper receptacle and washed her hands, before the waste processing nanobots in the receptacle went to work on the newly deposited items.
She got her pumped breast milk into their bottles and put them in their mouths while holding them gently. Thanks to the generous financial arrangements, she was a full-time regenerate mommy and could arguably avoid the breast pump as a middle-man. However, as much as Emily loved the bonding time and the gentle feeling at first, she later felt that it was probably time for her children to wean emotionally. They were a married couple and she had always wondered if at some level they kind of felt weird about seeing her topless.
“Oops! forgot these, …” Emily said as she placed the CCVSes on each baby’s right ankle. After they finished their bottles, she burped them, then put the two of them in their baby caddies got them downstairs to let the milk settle a little bit before breakfast. Then, she started spooning them their rice cereals. Both infants looked with love and joy at each spoonful going into their mouths. The pure rice cereal, bland to most non-infants, were heaven to these two because infant taste buds were much more sensitive. It seemed to have a very slight natural sweetness.
Though they loved each other dearly, they felt they had no problems bonding with their new mother, as any human at any age could adopt a new mother and/or father, especially with the enhanced infant instincts which had been instilled in them. The Hendersons’ original parents, of course, could never be replaced, as the mommies and daddies that Ken and Karen originally had known would never leave their hearts, even long after they had watched them pass away years ago. But, it was a wonderful feeling having someone watching over them, and making sure every need of theirs was satisfied, and who loved them both unconditionally. The only thing they had to do was obey her, and the two of them had never had any problems with this requirement. After all, their surrogate had had to go through an extremely difficult procedure, much more than a normal pregnancy, and she did it all out of love.