"I want to talk to someone who knows about more than just conquering things. Someone who's read a book or two. And maybe kiss that woman a few times, too. And more if she'll let me. Will she?" – Aidan MacKenzie
"I don't go by half-measures. And I will love and support you both day and night, kiddo, like I have ever since we met." – Leonora Digiorno
=/\=
"Transitions and errors," Q said, "Yours, perhaps, are minor ones. But ours – they can affect the entire galaxy."
"Yes, collateral damage, right?" Lili asked.
"Correct."
"So you need to be careful. I mean, when Doug and I fight, we're careful so that the children don't hear. I imagine Malcolm and I will need to do the same."
"You also, you don't always get along with Melissa, either."
"That's right," Lili admitted, "There's push and pull there as well."
"Push and pull."
"But – is there a peacemaker among you?" she asked.
"Yes. For the most part, it's Joy," he said.
"But you've fought with her at some point, right?"
"Not often," he said, "Although it does happen on occasion. And you have a peacemaker as well, right?"
"Yes," Lili said, "It's Melissa, actually. She – well – recently Doug and I had quite a row. It was about Joss's schooling. Doug wanted Joss to go to a regular school. He argued that Joss is too big, and too smart for a pre-school program. But he's only three, you see, so I argued that Joss should be home. Melissa is the one who got to the bottom of it, for Doug and I were too busy picking at each other to get to the heart of the matter. And it was, well, Doug was concerned that Joss would be so big, and he'd be bored by the lessons, that he would bully the smaller children. And my end of it, it was that I was seeing my little boy growing up so fast, it bothered me. I mean, I know it'll be a long time before the nest is empty, but I hated – I still do – that they grow up so quickly. It's the mirror genes. Joss is three, but he looks and acts about twice that."
"And the outcome?"
"We sent Joss – he just started – to a regular preschool."
"So you won the argument?"
"No, well, not really. It was a compromise. And Doug got something he wanted, which was for Joss to also go into Little League. And, well, he now hits a tee ball with kids who are, chronologically, one to two years older than him. But it's good for him, as he works off any frustrations he may be having. He's a sweet and gentle child, and I can see the future veterinarian in him. But he's also a big kid, so yeah, if he loses his patience, he could hurt another kid. This works out best for everyone."
"And in the mirror, during the alternate timeline, he was a ballplayer anyway."
"That's right," Lili said, "But that was also because, on that side, they don't exactly value vets. He, it's pretty obvious, he grows up well," she picked up the baby, "This is the only one who's going to remain a child for as long as he should."
"You'll have more diapers to change."
"That's true. And I can't say that I'll never complain about that. But it's all right," she said.
He was distant again briefly, "We should go soon. Another event."
"This one will be negative, right? It's Norri's death."
Q nodded as the room began to transform.
=/\=
"I'm no teacher, but I can clean the erasers or something." – Aidan MacKenzie
"I know why you fell so hard, and so fast. It's 'cause, you just know." – Jennifer Crossman
"I guess we're gonna be parents. You, me and him." – Leonora Digiorno
=/\=
It was a crowded bedroom.
Lili counted eighteen people. There were Joss and Jia, off to the side, with their two kids. Jay looked like a young man; Shaoqing was a teenager. Then Tommy in a Major's uniform, sitting on the edge of the bed, and Declan behind him. Then she saw Marie Patrice with Ken Masterson, and Kelly, who was, perhaps, about thirty or so. And then there were Neil and Ines, with their two kids. Jennifer Leonora was a young woman. Martin Kevin was about eighteen or so. Yinora was there, with her husband and her three children. There was also a silver Calafan nurse who would pop in and out on occasion.
Lili looked at the clock on the wall – September second, 2212 – and the time was sixteen hundred hours.
"Malcolm's centennial," she said, "And Joss – he's, um, fifty-four today."
Q just directed her back.
"I bet you're all waiting for me to say something really profound," came a trembling voice, and Lili saw the nineteenth person. It was Norri, in the bed. She looked shrunken, tired and sick, "But I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint you all."
"You won't, Ma," said Tommy, and she reached up and tousled his hair.
Lili went over to Shaoqing as she saw that the girl had a PADD with her that had gone into sleep mode. It scrolled through photographs – Kelly Masterson's High School graduation, and Joss and Jia's wedding and the Bat Mitzvah photo of Lili with Malcolm and Declan and the Shapiros and their two daughters. Then there was the short movie of Marie Patrice kicking the soccer goal. Another photograph was of Doug and Lili's wedding. Another was of Declan in front of the Eiffel Tower, and another of him in front of the ruins of Pompeii, painting.
"Got room for one more in there?" asked the nurse.
"Sure," Norri said.
It was a woman, in her late thirties perhaps, with thick black hair and greyish-blue eyes, "Sorry I'm late," she said, first to Declan, and then she came over and kissed Norri on the cheek. Then she went back to stand next to Declan.
"Who's that?" Lili asked.
"Hang on," Q said. He brought her over to where Shaoqing was standing, and indicated the PADD. Q flicked a finger near it and it returned to the Bat Mitzvah photo. From left to right, in the back, Lili saw Ethan, then Karin, then Declan, then her and Malcolm. And in the front were the elder Shapiro daughter – the Bat Mitzvah girl – and the younger one. And Lili noticed something she hadn't before – that the younger daughter was poking Declan in the ribs.
"Who is she, Q?"
"Rebecca Shapiro," he said.
"She's how old in the photo?"
"Eight."
"And Declan was twenty-two, or almost, if I recall correctly. So, this young girl has a crush on him. It's pretty obvious from the photo that she's flirting. And he thinks nothing of it, and goes off to live his life. And he marries."
"Yes, he weds Louise Schiller in 2187. The, uh, that photograph is from 2183."
"But then he gets a divorce," Lili said.
"In 2190."
"And he goes on, and he mourns the end of his marriage and he loses his parents and – I am guessing recently – he heads off to Europe."
"Yes. It was at Leonora's insistence, after Melissa's death."
"I thought you didn't pay attention to details, Q."
"An exception," he said, "Nothing more."
"Did he go with her?" Lili asked.
"No. They – well, here. There are photographs," he flicked his finger again and the PADD showed four photographs, all in four quadrants. There were the two she'd already seen, of Declan in front of the Eiffel Tower and another of him painting the ruins of Pompeii. Another was just of Monet's water lilies, at Giverny. And the last one was of Declan and Rebecca, standing in front of Tower Bridge in London. He had his arm around her and it seemed a little tentative.
"When was the trip?"
"Last summer. 2211," he flicked his finger again and the photographic slide show went back to a random mode, and a picture of Marie Patrice with Andorian, Calafan and human models in front of an MP Fashions sign slid by.
"So they're together for less than a year."
"Yes. Watch."
=/\=
"Thank you for making me a mother. I can't imagine life any other way." – Leonora Digiorno
"Sharing your time – I suspect it's not always easy for him. Much like sharing Melissa's time may not be so easy for Leonora to do. But we persevere. The rewards are too great to not make the effort, my love." – Malcolm Reed
=/\=
"I suppose the occasion calls for some profundity," Norri said, "But instead I'd like to tell you a story. Way back when, before any humans were here, it was 2157, in May. And there was this girl. She was barely twenty-one, and had just gotten her BA from Oklahoma State, in English literature. And she didn't know much. She knew she was twenty-one. She knew she loved books. And she knew she was gay. And that was about it," Norri smiled, "So she went on vacation, to Ceres. It was the first time she had ever been away from home. And, you gotta understand. Ceres is the very essence of a budget vacation. There is no skiing like on Charon. No great architecture, like there is on Triton. No one talks with a pretty drawl like on Titania. There's no view of Saturn like on Dione. There are no beaches like on Ganymede. There are no old human homes like on Mars or the Moon. It's just a view of a lot of other asteroids and not much else. So this girl, she went there. And she didn't have a lot to do with herself. So she ate a lot of Room Service, and she hung around. And not much else."
She paused for a breath, and Tommy took her hand, "And then on May eleventh, she was sitting in the hotel bar. And this group of pilots came in. And there was this one pilot. She had brown hair, and dark brown eyes, as big as saucers. And the girl, the one from Oklahoma, she realized that, right in front of her, was everything she had ever wanted. But she was scared, so she sat in the back of the bar, and said nothing, worried that she would say the wrong thing, and kicking herself for blowing her chances. But the pilot, she saw. And so she did this," Norri slowly raised her hand and crooked her finger once, "And the girl came over. And she never left. And now the pilot is gone. And that girl, she is no longer a young girl. And she will see the pilot very soon."
"No, Ma. You're gonna get better," Tommy said.
"No," she said, "Yifep said, and I know she's right. It's why you were called here."
Norri looked at all of them, her glance lingering, "This is my family. We are young and old, male and female. We are straight, we are bi, and we are gay. We are tall and short, fat and thin. We are Mexican, we are English, we are Italian, we are French, we are Polish, we are Calafan, we are Greek, we are Chinese, and we are Irish, so don't mess with us. We are Protestant, and we are Muslim, and we are Catholic, and we are Buddhist, and we are atheists, and we are agnostics, and we might be Jewish, too," she smiled, "We are from Earth, and Ganymede, and Lafa II, and Titan, and I bet someday we'll be from Andoria and Vulcan and the Xyrillian home world, and any number of other, as-yet undiscovered places. We are designers, we are healers, we are chefs, we are artists, and we are defenders. And we are sports people, and nurses, and business people, and architects and writers and everything else, because we can do anything. Beware of falling in love with us, for we play for keeps, and we will not let you go. When we say forever, we mean it."
She seemed to gather her strength in order to continue, "Tom, I have earrings that your mother gave me. I want you to have them. Get a piercing. I don't care where. And if you wear even one of them, you can have a dream, the kind they have here. And maybe you can see someone, and, and be happy. I know Starfleet won't let you wear them with your uniform. But you can wear one to bed, right?'
"Yeah," he said, "I can do that."
Jia buried her face in her husband's chest. Lili heard her whisper, "It's like when my father passed. I, I can't watch."
"I have books, as you can all imagine," Norri said, "The electronic ones, I hope you will all pass them around. But there are physical ones, made of paper. Tommy, I have Future Shock and 1984, so dystopic. I hope you'll read them, and think about how things could have turned out. How different things could have been."
He nodded.
"Marie Patrice. I want you to have Jane Eyre. And I also want you to have the bracelet that your father gave Mellie. You know, the one with the oval charm with the three circles. Because, like Jane and Mellie, you are the strong, independent heroine of your own life."
"Yes," replied Marie Patrice.
"Neil, I have a book by Samuel Richardson, it's called Pamela (Or, Virtue Rewarded). Since you're related to Pamela, I would you like for you to have it. Maybe read it with her. She's lonely, and I bet she'd be amused by the company."
"Of course," he said.
"Related?" Lili asked.
"Yes," Q said, "Pamela Hudson is the widow of Yinora's uncle."
Norri said, "Joss, I have a Bible, both Old and New Testament, and I have a Koran. Those were all owned by my great-grandmother in Sicily. And I have Dante's Inferno, The Purgatorio and The Paradisio. I hope you will read these, and begin to understand just what your father struggled with, from what he had done, before he knew your mother."
"I will do that."
"Declan, I have Charlotte's Web, Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass," she paused, "I give these to you, not only because your mother was Charlotte, and because of the connection to a distorted mirror, but also because these are three of the most important classic works of children's literature of all time. And I hope, although I cannot know it for sure, I hope that soon you will be reading those books to someone."
Declan didn't answer, but Lili saw him squeeze Rebecca's hand.
"Marie Patrice," Norri said, "I hope you will continue to spin out beautiful things," she smiled, "Tommy, you are going to go out there, and you'll see things that none of us have ever seen. I do hope you can go in with clear-eyed optimism, and see most species as potential friends, and not hostiles."
He nodded, and Lili could see that he, the toughest guy in the room, was crying.
Norri looked up, "Out there, it's as crowded as it is in here. My brother Phil, with his violin and bow. And there's Kevin, laughing and chasing another boy. Kevin has dirt and a small plant in his hands, and he's trying not to drop it. And the other boy, he's got a baseball glove."
She looked back around the room again, "Declan, give yourself up. It's time."
Declan just stared straight ahead and swallowed, "That's the thing he's most afraid of," Lili said.
"Neil, one day, Reversal will close for good. And it will not be from anything you said, or did, or anything you didn't say, or do. It'll just happen. But it will be remembered well. I can guarantee you that."
"Thanks, Ma."
"More people, and it's clearer, too," she said, looking back up again, "First, the men. Two are tall, like they were. Jay, with a hammer. And Doug with both versions of Malcolm, I can see them. The mirror Malcolm, he has a wrench. And between Doug and our Malcolm, they are carrying, it's one of those saws that you need two men for. And they can't be unequal, for the sawing would become messy and uneven. So they must work together, and push and pull in tandem."
"Push and pull," Lili whispered, "How could she have heard?"
"She didn't," Q said.
"And what I can tell is, for four men, who spent so much of their lives destroying, killing and creating all manner of mayhem, those men, instead, now, they are charged with a task. And that task is to build. For that is what they are doing. They are building a home, and it's for all of us. The mirror Malcolm and Doug had to; they had to work off their debts. The people they saw when they got here, and they didn't recognize most of them, I know who they were. They were the ones, the slain, and their families, all from the other side. But their debts are paid, and now they can work on this."
"How could she know that?" Lili asked. Q just directed her back.
"White hot flame," Norri said, "Carrying a wooden spatula and a key. And that will be the key to that home. And my darling Mellie. So strong, so beautiful, so smart. She has a bow, and on her back there is a quiver full of arrows. For she is going to bring home dinner, and Lili will cook it. And for two women who didn't always get along, they will work together, and they will provide and they will fill that house with all good things."
Norri paused to take a deep, wheezing breath, "And I see what I am being given. For you are what you did, and what you wished for, and what you can do, and what you dreamed of doing. And I am being given a PADD and a stylus. For it is my task to record all of this, and be the historian and the one to add perspective and try to make some sense of it all."
She looked up for a second and then back at all of them, "Joss, be good to everyone, even when they annoy you."
And that was it.
=/\=
"We can be very kind people to each other when we want to be." – Malcolm Reed
"I think all we can do is make them the best home that we can, and rise above our baser natures. The five of us are partners, right?If we work together, with what's good from each of us, then I think we'll be really all right." – Leonora Digiorno