A Gift From the Heavens
Copyright© 2026 by A Well Traveled Man
Chapter 1
Maggie Sterns worked for a top-secret lab in the foothills of Southern California. It looked normal from the outside but had six floors underground, where they performed top-secret work. She had a doctorate in Biology and had worked at the lab for 5 years. The last 3 years were the most difficult because they had developed and refined the artificial womb.
The lead scientist was Doctor Henry Paxton, a hard-driving, grade-A asshole. You did it his way or were out the door, and there were rumors that no one had left the program alive. The lab had ten artificial wombs and had successfully grown babies from the sperm and eggs. If it didn’t meet Doctor Paxton’s expectations, the baby was incinerated, and we started over. That had been the case for years, it seemed, but now we were using all ten artificial wombs.
Doctor Paxton would mess with the feeding formula and alter the DNA of babies one by one. If we lost one, it was no big problem. We had more to experiment with and test. If the treatment was successful, all the babies got it. Five babies survived the latest round of treatment, but Doctor Paxton wasn’t satisfied. Maggie became attached to a male baby that was about as perfect as you could get, and she couldn’t let him be incinerated.
So that night, Maggie bought a life-sized baby doll that cried and moved its arms and legs. She smuggled the doll into the lab and replaced it with baby number 10 the next day. All the remaining babies were incinerated, and Doctor Paxton said to go home, and we’ll start over tomorrow. Maggie smuggled the baby out after giving it a mild sedative. Then she packed her things and ran away from the lab and Doctor Paxton.
What Maggie didn’t know was that the ashes were tested on each baby that was incinerated. The search began when Dr. Paxton discovered baby number 10 wasn’t human. Video footage confirmed Maggie Sterns was the culprit, and the hunt was on. Poor Maggie wasn’t experienced at evading pursuers, and they found her within two days.
Maggie escaped the first attempted capture through the motel’s back door. Desperate, she put baby number 10 in a dumpster behind a law office and hoped and prayed someone would find it. Maggie wasn’t so lucky and was killed by a hit-and-run driver five blocks away.
A young couple had been trying for over a year to get pregnant, but nothing worked. Ben and Carol Stone were tested, and no problems were found. Ben worked as a computer specialist for the State of California, and Carol was a legal secretary for a high-profile law firm.
One day, Carol was leaving her office late when she heard a baby crying on her way to her car. Investigating the noise, she found a baby boy in the dumpster behind her office. She picked him up, looked around, saw no one, and took him home after stopping at the market for baby supplies and formula. Arriving home, Carol told her husband, Ben, Look what I found in the dumpster behind our office. Ben extended his finger to tickle the baby, and the baby latched onto it, and he had a new home.
Ben and Carol had selected baby names in case they got lucky, and baby number 10 became Hudson Alexander Stone. Then the problems began: getting a birth certificate, adoption papers, and a believable story for friends and work colleagues. Ben knew people in his line of work and handled the paperwork. Carol came up with a story that a childhood friend died, and they adopted her baby.
The next problem was daycare, and Mrs. Stanford, a widowed, retired schoolteacher and next-door neighbor, was more than happy to watch Hudson. After her husband died, she retired early, and the school district was cutting staff. So, Helen Stanford, with 20 years of service, took early retirement and a nice exit bonus. With her late husband’s life insurance, money wasn’t a problem.
Helen tutored students in the afternoon to keep herself busy, but without children, Hudson provided the spark in life she needed. Hudson was a smart baby and learned to walk and talk early, and loved girls and women. There was Carmen Sanchez, a divorcee with a preteen daughter, Isabella, who lived across the street and would watch Hudson when she needed help.
Then there was David Kim, a martial-arts Sensi who ran a dojo. He lived at the end of the street and was among the few men Hudson liked besides his Dad, Ben. David was in a friends-with-benefits relationship with Carmen and took an interest in Hudson through her. He developed an exercise routine for Hudson and was doing forms, rolls, and kicks when he was three.
Hudson was so advanced by age five that public school wasn’t an option. Hudson’s Mom, Carol Stone, had him tested, and he was at or beyond the sixth-grade level. Hudson learned Spanish from Carmen, Japanese from David, and Russian and German from Helen. Ben, Carol, and Mrs. Stanford met after Hudson’s testing and decided homeschooling was the only option.
Through his government contacts, Ben Stone secured a computer education program, and that’s how Hudson learned about computers, too. Ben would teach Hudson computer programming after dinner. Carol Stone brought work home and taught Hudson the law and how it worked. Hudson was a sponge for knowledge, and he read anything he could get his hands on, even his mother’s romance novels and his Dad’s Playboy magazines.
No one noticed or paid attention to a building fire in the foothills of Southern California. It happened on a weekend when no one worked in the subfloors except Dr. Paxton. After baby number 10 was stolen from the lab by Maggie Sterns and her death, his research turned to shit. The artificial wombs developed a virus, and after a year of trying to fix it, they started over and built new ones. Little did he know his research team was sabotaging his research. They had had enough of Dr. Mengele, as they called him behind his back.
After Maggie Sterns’s death, the researchers banded together and felt the only way they could survive was to kill the project slowly. They figured out that if the program succeeded, they would be killed to keep the research secret and to prevent it from being exposed. That caused trouble for Dr. Paxton with his superiors at the CIA, who were funding his research. They finally set a deadline for Dr. Paxton to produce or face termination of the program.
That caused Dr. Paxton to work nights and weekends alone. He felt his work was being sabotaged. So, he secretly did it alone in a remote section of the lab to which he had the only access. That caused him to take shortcuts on safety because it was impossible to do everything without assistance. That’s how the explosion happened, and the fire engulfed the entire building. It killed Dr. Paxton and the project, and destroyed all the records and research.
So, Hudson Alexander Stone was the only baby to make it out of the secret lab, and all the records of Maggie Sterns and baby number 10 were destroyed in the explosion and fire. Maggie’s theft of baby number 10 was kept secret from the researchers, and only Dr. Paxton knew all the details. The security team pursuing Maggie was only told that she had stolen classified material from the lab.
Hudson was growing like a weed and stronger than an ox, as his Dad would say when they played basketball in the driveway. When Hudson was seven, Carol took a rare half-day off and took him to the doctor for a checkup. That didn’t happen until Hudson researched the local pediatricians and chose Dr. Ann Davis. His previous pediatrician had moved to Florida to retire.
The receptionist asked his name when they arrived at the doctor’s office. He said Hudson Alexander Stone, and I’m single if you are interested, causing everyone to laugh. When called, the nurse took them to a treatment room and told Hudson to undress and put on a gown. Then, the nurse checked his height, weight, and blood pressure.
Dr. Ann Davis entered the treatment room and said So you’re the one trying to pick up my receptionist. Hudson said, “Guilty as charged,” but she was cute, and I had to try, and Dr. Ann and his Mom laughed. The doctor asked Carol about her concerns regarding Hudson. Carol said that Hudson is seven and growing so fast that we wanted to be sure everything was okay.
Dr. Ann said we’d do a complete physical, but Hudson looks healthy and is tall for his age. She drew blood and then asked Hudson to pee in a cup. When he returned, Dr. Ann asked Hudson to remove his gown and checked him from head to toe. When she was done, Dr. Ann told Hudson he could get dressed. Then she said Hudson is a healthy young boy. He’s taller and weighs more than normal, but that’s nothing to worry about. Hudson is also larger than normal below his waist, which makes them laugh.
Dr. Ann said she would call when the test results came in, but didn’t see anything to worry about. The only thing she recommended was a child’s multivitamin. There may be more on that front when the tests are done. When they were leaving, Hudson asked Dr. Ann not to tell the receptionist what she saw because I wanted her to be interested in my mind. The rest can come later, and Dr. Ann and his Mom laughed.
On the way to Carol’s work, she asked Hudson what he thought of Dr. Ann Davis. Hudson said she was cute and had a nice figure, but she should have left her hair in its natural color. Carol laughed and said Hudson, I meant as a doctor. Hudson said she was fine but licked her lips, feeling my cock and balls. Carol had to pull the car over because she was laughing so hard.
Carol told Hudson he was large for his age and larger than some grown men. So, he needs to be careful, and Hudson said, “I understand, Mom.” Women want to use my scepter for their gratification. Carol laughed and told Hudson to stop reading my books. When they arrived at Carol’s law office, Hudson followed her to her desk and read the law books on the credenza behind her.
When Carol finished her work at the end of the day, they were the only ones in the office. So, Carol set the alarm, locked the door, and they walked to the car. A man came out of the bushes, pointing a knife at them, demanding her purse. Hudson kicked him in the balls and the head, knocking him out. Hudson was ready to continue, but Carol told him to stop and called 911.
When the police arrived, they arrested the man, took their statement, and left. On their way home, Carol called Ben to let him know they were on the way and would be home shortly. Ben had ordered Pizza for dinner, and it arrived when they did. Carol first told Ben about the attack in the office parking lot. Ben high-fived Hudson and praised him for protecting his Mom. Then Carol told Ben about the doctor’s office visit. Ben laughed at the story Carol told him.
Hudson continued to grow and advance in his education and martial arts. At the age of ten, he reached two milestones. Helen Stanford told Carol and Ben that Hudson had passed the 12th-grade exam and was ready for college courses. They talked it over, and online college courses were the only option. Helen said they should apply to several and choose two for his studies. She explained that they only let you take 4 or 5 courses per semester, which isn’t enough to keep Hudson busy.
Then, as Hudson called David Kim, his martial arts instructor, Sensi, told Carol and Ben he had reached black belt level. They asked what that meant, and David said it was the highest level we teach at the dojo. David told them that Hudson needs specialized training to advance, and with your permission, I would make some inquiries. They looked at Hudson, and he nodded his head. They told David to go ahead.
Hudson’s computer skills also advanced to his Dad’s level, and he passed them in an area Ben had never tried hacking. Hudson would go online late at night and join chat rooms where hackers discussed their hobby. He learned to avoid getting caught by using ghost servers and never staying on a site too long. That was a sure way to get caught, so you had to research what you were looking for before hacking the site.
Hudson began his college education and advanced martial arts training with Sensi Chen. On David’s recommendation, Sensi Chen tested Hudson and accepted him as a student. Sensi’s first point was that there should be no competition. What he taught wasn’t for anyone to know or see, not even David or his parents. Sensi Chen taught Hudson to increase his speed and movements, so they seemed like a blur. Then he learned special strike points on the body, for rendering a man unconscious, up to killing him outright with one punch.
When Hudson reached thirteen, he graduated from college with a bachelor’s degree, was working on his master’s in computer programming, along with taking law courses. Another thing that happened was puberty, and that caused him all kinds of trouble. He was quite large, and it was hard to hide when soft. But when he got a hard-on, it was printed on his pants for everyone to see. Hudson had to relieve himself two or three times a day to control it.
Puberty caused another problem or opportunity, depending on how you view it. Hudson’s senses improved, and he could see, smell, and hear better than before. But the biggest thing was that he could now read minds. It caused him trouble at first to deal with it. But he learned to control it and use it when needed.
Hudson had also started working with his mother and father one day a week. Hudson would go with his Dad to work and spend a day at his Mom’s work the next week. They felt it exposed him to the professional environment he would need in the future. Of course, their employers loved him coming to work, too. They got free work from him, but Hudson also learned a great deal from the experience. Dealing with assholes and bitches without violence was beneficial. Hudson learned the art of banter and could give as good as he got. That pissed off several people who wanted to cut him down to size.