Todd and Nicole Cameron are Halloween fanatics. In their eyes, the more gruesome, gory, and unsettling, the better.
So, it really shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone when the couple unveiled their rather unorthodox maternity photos last year.
Weird how everyone just assumed it was a human living inside Nicole the whole time.
Yes, that is a chestburster—the fanged, snake-like creatures from Ridley Scott’s Alien—exploding from her very pregnant belly.
“Our chests are bursting with love for our new addition,” Todd captioned the family photos, which were taken by Lila Carter.
Now, one year later, the baby xenomorph, appropriately named “Burston,” is still around and thriving with his human family. So what did the Cameron’s do to commemorate the anniversary of his explosive arrival?
They threw him a birthday party, of course! And on none other than the USCSS Nostromo, the ship where Ripley fought her first xenomorph.
“So hard to believe that yesterday, one whole year had gone by since our little guy burst through Nicole’s abdomen and into our hearts,” Todd shared on Facebook.
Todd told The Dad that he’s been a huge Alien fan ever since he saw it when he was 13.
“I remember being totally freaked out during the Chestburster scene,” Todd told The Dad. “The fact that the monster was coming from inside the victim was especially disturbing!”
Surely, that’s a feeling many expecting mothers can relate to when they become pregnant for the first time, too. Look, there are plenty of hilarious parallels one could make, which is why the joke is so spot-on.
Unsurprisingly, online responses to Burston have been mixed.
“One woman from the states messaged me after the initial Alien maternity photoshoot and said that when she got to the part of the shoot where I started chasing the chestburster through the pumpkin patch, she laughed so hard that her family in the other room came to check to see if she was okay,” Todd recounted.
“On the other side, a local religious woman told me that we had likely cursed our newborn with this photoshoot. I responded that the only things he would be cursed with are parents with a healthy imagination and an extreme love of Halloween.”
The virality of the post has had other laughable results as well. Google is apparently having a hard time deciphering whether or not these are legitimate family photos.
“Basically, any expectant mother or photographer who Googles ‘maternity photos’ will see our blood-soaked faces on the first page. Give it a try! This delights me to no end.”
As for how long the gag can go on, Todd told The Dad that there are plenty of opportunities for future posts when it comes to the hurdles of raising a terrifying alien son.
“Xenomorphs hit their teenage years pretty quickly and as surly as teenagers get, I can only imagine how much worse a Xenoteen will be. Plus we always have to worry about xenophobia and deportation. I will definitely continue as long as I can!”
Of course, with age comes new responsibilities and stages of life. Todd doesn’t seem worried, though. He’s ready to be a father to his weird alien son, in whatever capacity he needs.
“Eventually, I will, of course have to give the ‘The Pods and the Queens’ talk to young Burston as it’s more important than ever to give our kids all of the proper information about reproduction,” Todd elaborated, self-assuredly.
“I mean, everyone knows what just a little facehugging can lead to. Of course, first I’ll need to find out more about xenomorph anatomy myself. We all know about their acidic blood and, as he moves into adolescence, I’m just hoping that doesn’t apply to all bodily fluids.”
Those teenage years might be more terrifying than we thought.
Happy birthday, Burston. And Godspeed, mom, and dad.
For more horrifying Xenomorph goodness, check out Todd’s Instagram account, ‘chestburstingwithlove.’
