Page 17 of Destiny Reclaimed
She refocused on him. "Sorry. I'm in new territory here."
"But you've time-traveled before."
"Yes, but, not like this. I've never had a future team travel to the same place at the same time."
What was she talking about? "I don't understand."
"As I mentioned on the beach, the other woman soldier, that's my granddaughter."
"What? How?" was all he could mutter.
Gabriela ran her hand over her cheek and then rested it over her mouth.
"But you both look to be the same age. How could that be?" Jack asked.
His Protector dropped her hand to her side. "I don't know. There's no rulebook, no guidelines. I take this as it comes. But the one thing I know for sure is that woman is my granddaughter. I can feel it in my heart. She is probably here to ward off Evan as we ward off his father, Arthur. And until either one of those evil souls is healthy enough to travel back to their realities, we'll all remain here until the threats are over."
"She does look just like you."
"Yes. No doubt."
Gabriela wrapped her arms around herself as a melancholy look overtook her face.
"You okay?" Jack asked.
"Yeah, it's just so...I don't know. I wanted to run up to her, hug her, tell her who I am, but I feel like I can't—shouldn't for some reason." Her gaze landed on the floor. "In my current reality, she's not even born yet."
A strange sensation crept into his bones. His reality was 1967, what was hers? They were from different years? “I thought we only traveled back to save our ancestors, not descendants.”
Gabriela lifted her gaze to meet his. "That’s what I thought, too, until now. I know you probably think I'm crazy, but I know this is true. She's my granddaughter. I've seen things, known things there's no way I should know." She placed her hand over her heart with the tip of her pointer finger pressed to her chest. "When I get this all-knowing sensation, the one I have right now. I feel things—true things. They always prove themselves true, later."
The conviction in the woman's ocean blue gaze let him know she believed what she said; therefore, he believed it to be true.
So, the tiny soldier who looked like his Protector was her granddaughter.Then...Jack's chest squeezed. Then, was the man who bore the same eyes as him, his grandson? No, based upon their ages, Gabriela looking a bit older than he, would the helmsman be his son—future son?
His breath hitched. He refocused on his Protector. "The man with her is..."
"Your son," she confirmed for him.
An aura of satisfaction washed over him.A son. I'll have a son.
He swallowed hard. His son—Blake had been sitting on the cot next to him on two occasions, and he didn't know it. Thinking back, he now realized Blake had traveled back in time to save him in Vietnam. Had been injured and still helped him fly his chopper to safety. A sensation of warmth saturated every cell in his body. Brave, his descendent was brave. Strange though, in Vietnam, only months ago, Blake probably recognized him because he'd been sent back to specifically preserve that moment in history as their relatives attempted to change it—steal it. Yet now, the man didn't seem to know who he was. With further thought, it was probably because they were all there to preserve and protect his father’s life. No, make that his entire family’s military honors and those whose lives were touched by all of them. The ripple effect was endless. He shook his head. This was all so complex.
Needing to find his son, he launched himself off the cot. Before he hit two long strides, the nurse who'd said she'd be back wrapped her hand around his arm.
"Whoa there. We need to get you stitched up."
He glanced over his shoulder. "I'm fine. It'll be fine."
Tugging his arm free, Jack managed another step before Gabriela's hand landed on his chest. A scorching hot gust of air brushed through the doorway. The heat level of it was akin to the one he'd experienced when he'd been whisked away from his real reality to WWII. Was the threat to his father over? Were they headed home?
"Let her fix your ear."
"But..."
She pressed her hand more firmly to him. "It's too late. They're gone. Your son and my granddaughter are gone. Evan's gone. That threat is over."
Sheer disappointment rocked his extremities and weakened his knees. He wanted to see his boy. Talk to him.
