Page 78 of Time Loops & Meet Cutes
I nearly lose it. I haven’t seen all these people together in a long, long time. There was no family gathering on June 20, and it would have been awkward to arrange one on any of the iterations I lived through.
Lenora reaches for me. I pull her into my arms, slightly unprepared for how heavy she is.
“Baby,” she says, pointing not to herself but toward the front room. I follow her finger and see Mona on the couch. She’s nursing.
“What’s his name?” I ask.
“Cece!” Lenora says.
“Do you like being a big sister?”
She nods solemnly.
Dalton laughs. “She’s not used to sharing our attention with another kid, and sometimes that makes her unhappy.”
I pat his arm. “I’m sure I was the same when you came along.” In fact, based on the stories I’ve been told, it’s pretty clear that was the case.
After my nephew finishes feeding, he falls asleep, so it’s not until after dinner that Mona hands him to me. He briefly opens his eyes and gives me a look that I interpret as suspicious.
Yeah, kid, you should be suspicious of the auntie who just lived through seven months’ worth of June 20s. Who knows what she could do next?
At least with Cecil, I haven’t missed anything. Well, I don’t remember being told that Mona was in labor, and I don’t remember hearing that he was born. But this is my first time meeting him, and he’s still so small.
When he starts fussing, I hand him to Dalton, who goes off to change the baby’s diaper. Then I inquire about the one person who isn’t here.
“How Madison?” I ask.
“She’s fine,” Mom says, a little abruptly.
I open my mouth to ask what happened between Madison and me, then shut it. I ought to know, and what if saying I don’t has a cascade of effects?
Consequences. I can’t handle them.
“That’s good,” I say simply.
I’ll have to study my sister’s social media accounts and see what I can glean, but for now, I need to focus on my job.
I walk into the office at the usual time on Monday morning. After leaving my parents’ house yesterday, I spent about an hour going through my work computer, trying to figure out what projects I’m working on and what the deadlines are. Fortunately, my main project appears to be the one whose proposal was due in June, so I’m somewhat familiar with it.
Alas, my research also revealed that Tyler still works here and is just as useless as always. I can practically hear the frustration oozing out of my voice in my polite emails.
“Good morning…” I trail off as I realize that Eloise isn’t where she’s supposed to be. Someone else—a young man I don’t recognize—is there. Did she quit?
I scan the room. When I find her at another desk, I breathe out a sigh of relief. There’s been some reorganization, that’s all.
I head toward my own desk, but stop short when I see Fernando sitting there.
“Hey,” he says.
“Hi, you’re…”
No, he’s not in my seat. He has pictures of his family here. This must be his desk now.
“Oh, right.” I attempt a self-deprecating laugh. “Old habits die hard.”
He frowns. “We changed desks five months ago.”
“Has it been that long?” I say airily. I swear I can feel multiple people looking at me, but hopefully that’s all in my head.
