“So you’re my daughter.”
“Yep.”
“Like my actual daughter. Me, Sarah and Marco. Our daughter.”
Jenny giggled, “Yeah daddy.”
Jack stared at her and just laughed. Jenny broke into a laugh that almost sounded identical. The pair of them were sitting on the roof of the apartment ice cream “borrowed” from the fridge. Jack put both his hands on his knees and stared at the city.
He could see the spot where their latest fighting had happened. Thankfully the main damage had only been done to streets. They’d even managed to avoid blowing up a bunch of cars. Sure, there were dents and much bigger pot hole problem, but compared to what could have happened this was tame. The interior of their apartment was a mess now though.
But looking beyond that, to the city proper, knowing what had happened in the city he couldn’t help but feel guilty and responsible. “I guess the silver lining to the whole possessed by an alien thing is that I get to meet you. So that’s something right?”
She nodded quickly her smile dimming on the edges, “Legion was a problem before I even met it. It caused Yaya so much pain. And even a little more at the end. And then it went and did this to you, and papa and mom. I want it gone. For good.”
“You and me both,” Jack replied. “It was in my head for the better part of a week. Used my voice to put Marco through hell. And.” He shuddered. Forcing a smile, he reached for the cartoon and ate a spoonful of the mint chocolate chip. “But Marco got it out of my head and saved me.”
“Yeah he did. I just wish papa could have been able to help Yaya.”
Jack frowned, “Her team had been under Legion’s mind control since it wiped them out. At least they’re free. As shitty as that sounds and feels to say.”
Jenny nodded and scooted over slightly to sit closer to Jack. “Did you think like that?”
“When I was under?” she nodded. “Not yet. But. Maybe eventually.”
She looked down and gave another quiet nod. They sat together under the silence of the city. One benefit to having an alien brawl in the streets was that traffic got redirected and that meant quiet nights. Jack wrapped his arm around her shoulder and laughed, “Well that got morbid fast. Sorry about that. Which actually, got a big question.”
“Yeah?”
“You time traveled. And you’re talking to me. Your dad from the future. And even saved my life and yada yada. Isn’t that like against the rules or something?”
“Rules?”
“You know. Time travel rules. You interact with the past and change your future. Become your own grandpa. Or erase yourself from existence. Turn everything into Nazis cause Hitler won WW2.” He tossed his arms up, eyes wide. “Shit did we cause the end of the world for you? Can I like forget we even talked? You guys have mind wipe things like the men in black?”
She broke into laughs again and shook her head quickly, “No dad. Nothing like that. And time travel isn’t really like that. At least from how Ley explained it to us.”
“Ley explained time travel?”
“I asked them.”
He smiled, “Of course you did. So how’s time travel work for me a layman.”
She laughed and held out her glove. Raising her hand up the stone in her glove glowed and then created a line. It was a simple yellow line that went from one end of the rooftop to another. Jack watched it eyes wide but then made a sour face. “You couldn’t haven’t gotten my stone color.”
“Mom’s was cooler,” she stuck her tongue out at him and smiled. “But this line is how most people think time works. This is my timeline and this is what happens if mom, you and papa never had me because I came here.” She cut one part off and it disappeared. “Get rid of some core thing and my timeline doesn’t exist. I fade away. But that’s not how it works.”
“Wat?”
“Yeah. Instead this happens,” she cut off a section instead of it disappearing there were two separate different lines. “This one is yours where you guys didn’t have me. But this one is mine where I lived because I exist. I can’t not exist because me not existing would mean I never came back and caused myself to not exist. Make sense?”
“No.”
She smiled and reached for the ice cream taking another spoonful for herself. “The long and short is instead of me not existing I just create a different timeline. One that coexists with mine. So if you guys don’t have me in the future I still exist cause we’re on two different tracks. Like there could be some timeline out there where I’m born on some alternate version of earth, a meteor hits the planet, I get super powers and go traveling through the cosmos with aliens.”
“That’s oddly specific.”
“I’m just saying. There’s almost infinite possibilities out there. The only ones who always know things are the other celestials. They’re like constants.”
“Okay. I think I get it. Long and short you don’t disappear even if we have a son named Jack Jr.”
“JJ? Really daddy?”
“It could happen.”
“Mom wouldn’t go with it.”
“I guess not. I think I could get Marco to do it though,” he said rubbing his jaw slowly. “But I’m glad that you won’t just disappear into nothing. I kinda like you.”
She beamed at him and took another spoonful of ice cream. She looked down at the stone at her hand and sighed. “It’s weird that I have this now. It’s a part of me. Being an Astro Knight is a part of me.”
Jack nodded calling his stone and let it float in his hand. It morphed into the ring that it used to be and he slid it on near his wedding ring. Turning it slowly he nodded, “I get it. This whole thing has taken over my life too. But I wouldn’t change anything about my life. Even the time I died which was something special.”
“You died?” she asked eyes wide.
“Oh I didn’t tell you?” Jack asked and shrugged. “Okay. Story time. I’ll tell you one then you tell me one. Deal?”
“Deal.”
The Harlequin Library 