Page 54 of Erase Me
It wasn’t until the end of last year that the mystery was swept away.
The stories I heard then were the only means I had to convince them that I was actually who I said I was.I seriously thought they might reject me, thinking it was a trick to deceive them.Never,neverin my wildest dreams did I imagine Xander would simply take one hard look at me and take me in his arms.
We stood in that embrace for a long time, allowing waves of emotions to wash over us.
Finally, he drew back and said softly, “Come with me.”
I was relieved on so many levels when he closed the garage door behind us.
For one thing, they’d arrived a day ahead of schedule.That gave me an advantage I intended to hold onto.I didn’t want anyone else to know they were here.Especially Reed.
Inside of me, I could feel a churning sensation as logic and emotion fought to control my actions.Thoughts raced through my brain about how to ensure their safety and how every second counted.But those thoughts were hindered by the flood of feelings I was experiencing, by the deep connection I had with my grandparents.
Like it or not, as I stepped into the house, my emotions took the lead.
As I followed behind Xander, years that were still decades away opened like a picture book before me.Every moment, every memory, splashed onto the pages of my mind with brilliant colors and exquisite detail.
In my earliest recollections, I was the excited toddler, arriving so eagerly at my grandparents’ house.The mere thought of the visit stirred treasured memories: playing games on the Persian carpets, building birdhouses in my grandfather’s shop, drinking hot chocolate on the porch, smelling the earthy scents of the stables, and feeling the horses’ warm breaths as the monstrous beasts took carrots from my tiny hands.So many unforgettable moments that would live in my heart forever.
As the years passed, I naturally became a sulky and ungrateful teenager, and yet my grandparents’ home remained a comforting refuge.Upon crossing the threshold of their home, I would feel my turbulent adolescent moods instantly dissipate.Here with them, I found a safe space where I could freely rant and complain about my parents and my friends and the world.They never attempted to impose their will on me.They never chided me for my selfishness.They never overtly instructed me about what to do or not do.Instead, they embraced me for who I was.When I was with them, I was allowed the freedom to navigate the awkward, hard complexities of teenage years on my own.And I knew they always loved me.
As an adult, I still journeyed back to their door, but it was all different.Each reunion was still marked by acceptance and warmth, but I felt the subtle change in that I was not only recognized as their granddaughter, I was also welcomed as a friend.There was still no judgment, no barrage of questions about relationships or jobs.No frowns about whether I was living up to my full potential.Their love transcended generational labels.In their home, the lines between family and friendship blurred.Instead, I felt myself wrapped in a tapestry of connection that encompassed the entirety of my life.
I cherished my grandparents deeply.The bond I had with them surpassed even the connection I had with my parents.I remember my grandfather joking that the reason we were so close was because we were ‘united by a common enemy.’
As I trailed behind Xander through the house, following the sound of my grandmother’s voice calling out to her husband, I thought my heart would burst.
At this moment, as kind and warm as my grandfather had been just now, I knew that the close relationship we would share was still one-sided.In the present lifespans of Xander and Nadine, I hadn’t yet been born, so there was no possibility of them having feelings for me.They didn’t know me.They didn’t share my memories.They had no idea how strong the bond was that would develop over the years.They couldn’t know how important they would be for me.They would be instrumental in helping me resolve countless crises.And if they didn’t resolve them, at the very least they would always set me on the path to a solution and support me every step of the way.
In the driveway, Xander had met and accepted me because he knew the truth about Nadine.I hoped she would do the same, but it was still a risk.After all, my mother was only a baby, and that made the stakes in believing me much higher.
As we entered the kitchen, I fixed my gaze on the woman standing by the counter.Nadine had her back to us and was gently bouncing her five-month-old daughter Layla in her arms.Over the years, I had seen countless pictures of my grandmother and mother at different points in their lives.Layla was their only child, their pride and joy.The bright face of the baby immediately turned toward me, her eyes locking onto mine.And then she cooed.
Xander’s gaze traveled from his wife to his daughter and then to mine.Three generations of women were standing in the same room.Nadine hadn’t yet noticed that I was with him.
I knew their love story.They told different versions of it, of course, depending on the audience.Layla, I think, never heard the truth of how her parents met.I only learned about it when I joined the highly classified Quantum Commute Division earlier this year.It was only then that I learned that time travel was a reality.
Nadine, an early Scribe Guardian in the Division, had crossed paths with Xander in Las Vegas during an assignment.He’d asked her to marry him.She’d said yes, but then stood him up at the altar.
How could she marry him?She came from the future.Xander was a 20th-century millennial.And Nadine felt she couldn’t tell him the truth that she was a time traveler.
Then, two years later, she’d been on an assignment to Regency England to prevent Jane Austen from destroying her writing career before it even started.All she had to do was stop the budding author from marrying a rejected but not forgotten suitor from her youth.
The mission had been pockmarked with trouble from the start.With England and France on the cusp of war, the south coast of Kent was a hotbed of preparatory activity, and every stranger was suspect.To escape a situation of imminent danger in England, Nadine had hidden in a newly built coffin before unintentionally time-jumping to a mountain road in the middle of a blizzard in the Colorado Rockies.It was only fate that Xander was the one to find her.
It was then that she tried to tell him the truth.But once she did, he’d laughed it off.To him, time travel was a hoax.It didn’t matter.They fell in love all over again, and Xander followed Nadine into Regency England where the two of them found Jane Austen.
That was their love story.It wasmeantto be.
And that was why Nadine wouldn’t return to her life in the future.She’d decided to stay with Xander in his timeline.Her becoming pregnant not only sealed their commitment but also altered the course of history.Still, she knew that her life would never be safe.It would only be a matter of time before the agency sent an assassin to take her back or eliminate her.In that grim scenario, Nadine would be lost.My mother would be lost.And I would never be born.
“Did you find the diaper bag, sweetheart?”
I quickly wiped away tears, realizing only then that I had been crying.
“No, but I found something else.Or, should I say, someone else,” Xander said, his voice thick with emotion.
Nadine turned quickly, her eyes widening the moment she saw me.There was no immediate recognition.I expected none.There was only surprise...and a hint of alarm.
