Birth and Rebirth

Harvey Sherman came into work early. He hadn’t heard from Jessica or Tom in days, and he was very worried. He was just about to call the Waldorf again when one of his couriers handed him a VHS tape. It was labeled “Ghostbusters Interview”. He ran to his office and popped it into the VCR.

The interview began with about twenty minutes of the Ghostbusters and their secretary discussing the Vigo incident and how it all played out. He thought with a smile that Dana Barrett and her son were barely mentioned. He hadn’t told Jessica about the other woman in the hopes that she would include her in the interview. She had not. She was such a soft touch when it came to mothers lately. Of course, it was a great interview anyway, with Jessica asking questions from behind the camera, to keep the focus on her interviewees. ‘I knew you could do it, Jess.’

Next, there was footage of the Ghostbusters, including Jake, Eddie, Futura, Janine Melnitz and an auburn-haired woman Harvey couldn’t identify. They were fighting some horrible octopus demon outside an abandoned warehouse. A few smaller octopus creatures attacked them as well. Even the smaller ones were at least seven feet tall. When it was all over, Jake, Peter Venkman, and Ray Stantz came out of the warehouse. Jake was carrying something. When he got closer to Tom’s camera, it became clear that he was carrying Jessica. She was unconscious and wrapped in a blanket. “Dear God,” he whispered.

Then the tape faded to black fad faded back in. The new scene was of Jessica, alone and with a microphone in her hand. The blood drained from Harvey’s face when he saw her. She was lying in a hospital bed looking like she’d been mugged, and there was a shock of white streaked into her hair. She was ouslously no longer pregnant, so his gut instinct told him that she’d lost the twins and that it was all his fault for making her go.

To his relief, she gave a five-minute summation of what happened, in which she reported that she and her newborn children owed the New York City Ghostbusters their lives, and that the world owed them a debt of gratitude. Then Harvey heard Tom’s voice say “Cut” from somewhere behind the camera. Jake then came into frame. He was holding two blonde infants wrapped in pink blankets. He handed them to Jessica, then went back behind the camera and returned with a red-haired child swathed in blue. Jake sat by his wife’s side on the bed, the whole time scowling at the camera lens.

Jessica patted his hand, giving him a kiss that wiped the frown from his face. She then turned to the camera and added, “Oh, and Harv? YOU owe ME a year of maternity leave. See you in the 90s.” She waved and smiled then the picture went black.

Harvey leaned back in his chair, pondering what had occurred. ‘Triplets? I can’t wait to hear the rest of this story.’ He smiled and pushed the intercom button on his desk to call his receptionist. “Sharon, have payroll put Jessica Rhea down for triple-pay maternity leave until April 3, 1990.”

“Triple pay! Until when? Are you nuts, Harvey? That’s a full year!”

“I know how long it is. Just do it Sharon.” He smiled and turned off the intercom. “She’s certainly earned it.”

END

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Story is based upon:
RGB episode: The Collect Call of Cthulhu
FGB episode: The Phantom of the Big Apple
GB Movie sequel: Ghostbusters II

Also referenced the RGB episode The Hole in the Wall Gang, in which Ray went into the Netherworld and came out with a full head of white hair.