The future next door box.., p.129
The Future Next Door Boxed Set, page 129
Matthew picked up the photo of the three of them in the hospital on the day he was born, nine years earlier to him, nine days earlier to Mark. He held it up next to Mark’s face. Mark smiled. Matthew didn’t.
“Why do you look the same?”
Mark’s smile vanished. “Huh?”
“Mom looks different in all these pictures and you don’t. She looks older now and you don’t. You’re wearing the same clothes in all of them. You’re wearing those clothes now.”
Megan put the pot back in the coffee maker. “Shoot.”
Mark sighed. “I knew you’d grow up to be smarter than me. I mean, you’d pretty much have to be...” He took the pictures and stacked them into a pile. “All right, kid. Time for you to know the truth.” Mark took a breath. “Your father’s a time traveler. I can’t stay with you all the time because I have to get back to my own time before too long to help my friends stop a bad guy from doing something bad. I only have a set number of jumps through time I can make, so your mom and I decided when you were born that I would visit once a year, on your birthday, so that I could at least be a small part of your life.”
Matthew said nothing for a long time, but stared at his father with his eyebrows furrowed. He looked at his mother.
She nodded. “It’s all true, hon.”
“Where’s your time machine?”
Mark took the remote control out of his pocket and slid it across the table. “The real machine is in the future. But that lets me use it. Don’t touch the screen.”
Matthew picked the device up carefully, by its sides. He squinted at the tiny wormhole hovering just over its surface.
His face lit up. “Wicked cool.”
***
“I’m a few years older than you now,” Megan said. “That’s weird.”
“You’re...”
“Thirty-two.”
Mark picked at the remains of the birthday cake in front of him. He was getting very tired of eating birthday cake every day.
Megan was scrutinizing his face. “Ten more days,” she said.
He tried to smile for her. “Ten more years.”
***
“So...do you have any, like, questions or anything?”
“About what?”
“About...like, guys and girls and how they’re different?”
“You mean like the sex talk? Dad, I’m eleven, I know all about that.”
“Oh, right.” Mark tossed the football back to Matthew, who caught it neatly. He felt his cheeks growing flush and a smile creeping onto his face. “You called me Dad.”
Matthew threw the ball back. “What?”
Mark threw it back again. “You called me Dad. You always called me Mark before.”
Matthew held the ball against his chest and shrugged. He was blushing. “Mom said I could.”
“No, no, it’s awesome, dude. I like it.”
“This new guy she’s dating tries to act like he’s my dad and I don’t like it. I mean, he’s cool, I guess, but...whatever. It’s not a big deal.” He shrugged and threw the ball back. “I do have a question, though.”
“Shoot.”
“Do you, like...do you know anything about girls? Not, like, sex, but...there’s this girl in my class, and she makes fun of me when there are other kids around but she’s really nice when we’re alone, and I don’t know why, and I asked her why and she got mad, and I was wondering if you knew what she was doing.”
Mark abruptly sat down in the grass. “Oh, dude. I’ve been waiting for this day. Yes. Yes, I know about girls.” He patted a spot next to him. “Come, my son, and receive your father’s wisdom.”
***
“Sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
“He’s twelve. He wanted a pizza party with his friends.”
“So who am I pretending to be?”
“A friend of Nick’s, from work.”
Nick, Megan’s new husband, joined them on the front porch. He shook Mark’s hand. “Mark. Hey. Good to meet you, finally. Any hot stock tips for us? Sports results?”
Megan elbowed him. “Don’t. Don’t even joke about that.”
“Sorry, sorry. I wouldn’t want anybody to disappear from a photograph or something. Come on in, Mark. Matthew’s excited to see you. Just remember, once you’re in there. You’re not his father.”
Mark nodded. “Right.”
***
“Why can’t you stay?”
Mark tried to hug Matthew, but the boy pulled away. “Matty, buddy, I’ve told you...”
“I don’t care about the future! I care about right now! You always leave!”
Mark looked around anxiously. He had already opened his exit wormhole in the yard behind Megan’s house, and he was worried Matthew’s yelling might attract the neighbors’ attention. “I don’t want to leave...”
“Then don’t!” Matthew wiped his nose with his sleeve. “Just stay. Just stay another day.”
“You know I can’t. Please, buddy...”
Matthew pointed at the sphere. “I hate those things! What if I ran in there? What if I just came with you to the future? It’s better than here.”
“You don’t mean that. You don’t want to leave your mom, Nick, your friends...”
“Shut up! You don’t even know me! I don’t even know you! Just go if you’re going.”
Matthew ran back into the house, slamming the back door behind him.
Mark waited a moment to see if he’d come back, but the light in the kitchen window went off. He turned and stepped into the sphere.
***
“Hey, buddy.”
Matthew looked up from his breakfast. “Oh, hey.”
Nick discreetly picked up his newspaper and moved into the living room without saying a word. Mark sat in his vacated seat.
“What’s...uh...what do you got going on today?”
Matthew went back to his bowl of cereal. “Just school.”
“And after? Can we hang out?”
“I have a soccer game.”
“Oh, cool. Can I come and watch?”
He shrugged. “If you want. You’d better not talk to me, though. It’s not like I can explain who you are.”
Mark nodded. “Yeah. Sure. Can we get dinner after, maybe?”
Matthew slurped the last of the milk from his bowl and stood up. “We’re having dinner at school after. We’re gonna get pizza and I think they’re getting me a cake.”
“Oh.”
He walked to the sink and started rinsing out his bowl. “I guess we could go see a movie after or something. If you don’t mind waiting around outside. I don’t know how long it’ll be.”
“No, that’s cool. I don’t mind.”
Matthew picked up his bookbag and headed out. “All right. See you then, Mark.”
***
“He wanted to go camping. He didn’t want to miss you...”
“It’s cool.”
“They got the day off from school unexpectedly, a water main broke or something, so his friends all wanted to get an early start.”
“It’s good. I understand.”
“He’s fifteen, he wants to do things on his own. He was really sad to miss you, though...”
“Yeah.”
***
Mark sat on Matthew’s bed, watching his son hurl a tennis ball against his bedroom wall and catch it, over and over again.
“She didn’t even care,” Matthew said. “She was like, ‘Oh, it’s not like we were boyfriend and girlfriend, right?’ Which, like, was news to me, but I didn’t want to say that so I was like, ‘Yeah, Becky, but we went out on a date and we came to this party together,’ and she was like, ‘I just kissed him, I didn’t know I wasn’t allowed to kiss anybody else,’ and I said, ‘You are, but maybe not while we’re actually at a party together, you know?’ and she just walked away from me.”
He missed a catch and the ball sailed past him. Mark plucked it out of the air.
“Dude, chill. Come here.”
Mark put the ball down on the bed and stood. He took Matthew by the shoulders and turned him until they were both facing the full-length mirror.
“Look at yourself.”
Matthew slouched and looked away. “Why?”
“Just look.”
Matthew examined his reflection. “It’s me. Dorky me.”
“Shut up. Look at me. I’m a good-looking guy, right?”
“I guess so.”
“You guess so. Shut up, I’m hot as hell. And your mom’s hot as hell.”
“Gross.”
“And you got the best of both of us. You’re tall and you’re good looking and you’re an awesome guy. You’re smart, which was a lucky escape. You’re athletic.”
“Not as good as you. Coaches never start me.”
“We can work on that. I can give you some tips, some things you can work on. But I’m trying to say, you’re a hell of catch and if this girl doesn’t realize that, fuck her.”
Matthew laughed. “Don’t let Mom hear you say that. She hates swearing.”
“Any other girls interested?”
Matthew smiled. “Yeah, there’s this one girl who I think likes me. She’s Becky’s friend so I think she was hanging back.”
“And she’s cute?”
“Oh, yeah, she’s really cute.”
“Perfect! A hot girl and revenge. The total package. Forget Becky, you don’t want someone who plays mind games like that. Ask her friend out.”
Matthew laughed. “I will. Thanks, Mark.”
“Yeah, no problem.” Mark sat back down on the bed. “You used to call me, ‘Dad.’”
“Huh?” Matthew picked up the ball and started throwing it into the air.
“Nothing. I’m just remembering, a few years ago...”
“Oh, right.” Matthew kept his eyes on the ball. “I didn’t know if you would...I mean, I could call you Dad. If you wanted.”
“If you wanted.”
Matthew shrugged, still not looking at Mark. “Yeah, whatever. Okay.”
***
Matthew pulled the front door shut. “Let’s go.”
“You don’t have school?”
“It’s Sunday, Dad.”
“I should say hi to your Mom...”
“Better not. She’s kind of a mess. She threw Nick out.”
“Oh, shit. For good?”
“It’s been building for a while. He’s always been kind of a dick, honestly. I think she was mostly keeping him around for me. I figured that out and told her to do what she needed to do, that I’d be okay. She’ll be all right, but I don’t think she wants to see the lost love of her life right now.”
Mark paused, his hand on the door of Megan’s car. “She called me that?”
“I can tell from how she talks about you. Come on, I wanna get breakfast.” He gently shoved Mark out of the way. “I’m driving.”
***
“NYU. Wow. Congratulations.”
“Thanks!” Matthew leaned back on the sofa and put his feet up on the coffee table. “I’m just coasting through senior year, now. Grades don’t matter. It’s awesome!”
Megan smacked his legs and he drew them back. She placed three plates of cake down on the spot he had vacated. “So he’s moving to New York. I’ve already got empty nest syndrome.”
“You know I’m there,” Mark said. “I’m living there by now.”
Matthew nodded. “I know, I know. We’ve been over everything. I won’t look you up, I promise. I’ll stay away from your gym and your favorite bar. And Mom made me a list of businesses that Amalgamated Synergy owns. No part-time jobs at any of them. I’ll be smart.”
“I’ll get a hotel next year,” Megan said. “For his birthday. You can stay with me. Where should I meet you?”
“Let’s say Washington Square Park, near the fountain. I’m not there very often, should be safe.” He picked up a plate. “It’s gonna be tricky. New York’s big, but there’s still a chance I might run into someone I know. We’ll have to be careful.”
“Two more years,” Matthew said. “Two more years and we won’t have to anymore.”
***
“You’re liking New York?”
“I fucking love it.”
Megan rolled her eyes. “You’re fitting right in, with all the swearing.”
“Sorry. Yeah, freshman year has been great.”
“Your girlfriend seems cool.”
“She’s great, yeah. She liked you both.”
“I wish you had warned me you were going to introduce Mark as my boyfriend,” Megan said. “She must think I’m a cradle robber.”
“Nah, she thinks you’re a total player.” He wolfed down the last of his cake and stood up. “But it’s getting late, and I still have some studying to do, so I’m gonna get going.”
Mark stood up. “You’re not staying with us?”
He smiled. “Nah. I’ll see you next year, Dad.”
Mark hugged him, patting his back. “Same time, same place?”
“I’ll be there.”
“It’ll be so close,” Megan said. “August of next year and you’ll be all caught up. Do you just want to skip ahead to that?”
“Nah. Every birthday, I said. I’m not going to miss the big two-oh.”
“Great.” Matthew opened the door and winked. “Have fun, you crazy kids.” He closed the door behind him.
Mark laughed. “Subtle.”
“He wants his parents to get together,” Megan said. “I suppose that’s normal. Silly, though.”
Mark sat next to her on the bed. “Why is it silly?”
She touched her hair self-consciously. “Mark, I’m forty-one now. You’re twenty-seven. I’m too old for you.”
“I told you. I like older women.”
She stood up and put the plastic lid back over the supermarket birthday cake. “Be serious. So, I’ve been meaning to tell you, I’ve been helping Sylvia and Arnold look for Jack. We haven’t had much luck, unfortunately...”
“Is that the only reason?”
“What?”
He stood and took a plate from her hand, placing it down on the hotel desk. “Our age difference. Is that the only reason? Are you seeing somebody else? Are you not interested?”
“I’m...” She shook her head. “It’s enough of a reason...”
“It’s not. You’re beautiful. Just as beautiful as when we met.”
“Liar. I must be like one of those time-lapse videos to you. I’ve aged a year every day.”
“You’re talking like you’re an old lady. You’re still young. And I’m being seriously, completely shallow right now – you are smoking hot.”
She laughed. He touched her cheek.
“So I know you’re being modest,” he said, “because you are way too confident to not realize how beautiful you are, even if you’d never admit it. So, is it me? Are you just not interested in somebody my age?”
“I’ve never stopped...” She cut herself off. “My feelings for you never changed. I wasn’t going to wait for you, or put my life on hold for you...”
“I didn’t want you to...”
“But here we are, and I’m single, and I’m moving to New York...”
“You are?”
“I started looking when Matthew moved here. I got a better job with another firm. Moving here in July.”
“Wow. Wow!” Mark rubbed her forearms. “That’s perfect! We’ll all be together!”
She broke away from him. “Mark...you can’t want me just because I’m Matthew’s mother. I won’t...I am still young, and I’m not going to waste my time if you’re just trying to slot me into this image you have of an ideal family.”
He walked to her and took her hand. “Megan, I’ve told you about my background. Believe me, I don’t need to be a part of some TV-perfect family. I’m excited to finally be able to spend some real time with Matthew, yeah, but I don’t need to be with you for that to happen. I want to be with you because I want to be with you. So...I never asked you to wait before, but I’m asking now. Can you give me a year?”
She rubbed his palm with her fingers. “Yeah. Yeah, all right, cheeseball. I can give you a year.”
***
“I can’t get over how big this place is,” Mark said. “How much money do you make?”
Megan shoved his shoulder lightly. “Rude. I make enough. I’m a very good lawyer.”
“I’ll bet.” He sighed. “I think it’s time.”
“It’s still early,” Matthew said.
“I know, I’m sorry.” Mark stood up. “But I’m rested and ready. Unless you and the Bells can find Jack in the next few months, I’m going to have to do a lot of jumping around to try and find him. It’s getting harder and harder to program the wormhole, I want to get to it while I’m alert. You guys know where and when to be?”
Matthew nodded. “We’ll be there.”
Megan got up from the couch and kissed him. “We’ll see you soon.”
He pressed his forehead against hers. “A few more months, it’ll all be over.”
“I can’t believe it, after all this time. Be safe.”
He turned to Matthew, who was smiling at them both. “You’re looking pretty pleased with yourself.”
“Just happy to see my parents happy.”
Mark pulled him into a bear hug. “Ooph. I am so proud of you, buddy.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
Mark stepped back and moved to an open spot in Megan’s spacious apartment. He took the remote unit out of his pocket. “All right, stand back. One last birthday goodbye.”
He hit the pre-programmed button that would open a wormhole to sync him up with his more intelligent self inside the tesseract drive. As always, the moment it opened, time seemed to freeze. He was vaguely aware of Matthew and Megan standing like statues as he calculated the coordinates necessary to return him to the plaza outside of Keaka Capital a few seconds after he had departed. It was getting harder to maintain the link, as he grew less and less like the version of himself on the drive, but he felt confident he had a few more jumps in him – enough to help his friends.
He was about to break the link, to return to real time so he could program in the coordinates before they faded from his memory, when something within the drive caught his attention. It was a scream.
