A Way Home

Chapter 1 – Arrival

A/N: Okay, so this is the first chapter of the last book in the Time Traveler series. It's called, as the title indicates, A Way Home. There is some French language in here, so the translations will be at the end of each chapter (if there are any in the chapter. Some may not have any French words, although most likely they will.) Anyways, here it is, sorry to have kept you waiting all this time. I'm considering putting song quotes at the beginning of every chapter from now on, so don't be surprised if you see some.

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I watched as Dominique (if that was even her real name) faded from my view, and everything else changed around me. The wind swirled my hair, and I was suddenly struck with another labor pain. I gasped as it stabbed at my belly like a knife. The wind tore at my face, and ripped the tears from my eyes. Then, just as suddenly as it had picked up, the wind stopped, and everything had changed.

It was still the same Paris, but it was different. Now it was modern. I had never thought to see it again, and it felt so strange. A McDonald's was just across the street, and a Burger King was not far away.

I thought I saw a 7/11 sign in the distance, and I suddenly craved a slurpee. The labor pain faded, and I stepped out onto the sidewalk. I stopped the first person to pass me. I asked her (in French) if she could direct me to the nearest hospital. I was a stranger in Paris, and needed medical assistance right away. She eyed me suspiciously.

"Please," I said in French, "I have gone into labor, and I need a doctor." My eyes pleaded with her.

She said something in French that even I couldn't catch, and then walked off. The only word I heard was "faux". It meant false.

I sighed and tried to ask some other people for help. No one believed that I was a pregnant woman, by myself, who had just gone into labor. Something like that apparently didn't happen every day. I despaired of ever getting to a hospital.

I leaned against the wall of the Opera Populaire, letting myself slide to the ground. I covered my face with my hands as a labor pain took hold of me. The tears that I had hoped to prevent came.

I looked up, pleading with God to send someone who could help me. I hadn't felt this alone since before I had first appeared in the past. But it was now the future, and I was someone who couldn't be accepted in my own time. I put a hand to my belly and prayed for someone to help me and my unborn child.

-

Joey smiled and looked up at her husband. This had to be the best honeymoon she'd ever been on. Then again, it was the only honeymoon she'd ever been on, so it was a given that it would be the best. She held David's hand in her own as they walked down the streets of Paris, France.

"Let's visit the Opera Populaire," she suggested.

David turned to face her. "I know that you still believe that she's coming back," he said to his wife. "But you have to give up. Please. You're becoming obsessed with this."

"You mean like how we both are with the story of the Phantom of the Opera?" She asked pointedly.

"Alright," he said with a sigh, not wanting to get into that fight again. "We'll go and take a look."

They were only a few blocks away, and it took them only a few minutes to walk there. Joey let go of David's hand and looked around. She couldn't see anything. The only thing out of the ordinary was a pregnant woman sitting on the ground. Then the woman looked up, and Joey gasped. It was Rebecca. It had to be. Her hair was longer now, and she was (obviously) pregnant, but it was her.

Joey pointed her out to David and the two of them went up to her. This would be a wonderful reunion.

-

I looked up when a shadow fell over me. I pushed myself up against the wall. "Pardonner-moi," I began in French, and then stopped. I couldn't believe my eyes. Joey was standing right in front of me, with AM4 standing a little behind her. I was about to say something, but a labor pain took hold, and I gasped.

"Rebecca, are you alright?" Joey asked, lending me a hand. I nodded and sucked in my breath.

"I – am in labor," I said through clenched teeth.

"Oh my gosh, we have to get you to a hospital," she said, putting her arm around me and beginning to lead me away.

"That would be nice," I replied, and I let her lead me the few blocks to where they kept their rented car. It was when Joey was helping me with my seat belt that she noticed the belt around my upper half.

"Nice accessory," she joked.

"Thanks," I said. "It says made in America, but I know for a fact that it was made in Sweden." We joked like this until AM4 got the car to work, and started driving.

"So, what are you two doing here?" I asked. "Not that I'm complaining," I added.

"We're on our honeymoon," AM4 said. "And call me David."

"Ooh!" I exclaimed teasingly.

"Tell us what happened," Joey said, after a few more minutes had passed. "Why didn't you come back right away?"

"Mostly because you failed to mention the lake," I replied.

"You read the book through half the flight there," David said. "How could you not know about the lake?"

"I didn't think it was literally a lake," I countered. "Besides, I don't know how to swim."

"You could have mentioned that," David replied.

"As I recall, I did, and you said something to the extent of, 'Well, you're going to learn'." I raised an eyebrow at him pointedly.

But before David could reply, I was hit with another labor pain. This time, though, the pain didn't go away. I clutched at my seat, sweat trickling down my forehead. I cried out in pain and gripped the handle of the door. I clutched the seatbelt beside me and screamed.

"Hold one!" Joey cried. "David, step on it!"

"With pleasure," he grimaced at my screams and slammed his foot on the pedal, running three reds and getting a cop car to chase us.

We were stopped before we reached the hospital. David rolled down his window and faced the cop.

" Je veux voire votre registration et permis de conduire, s'il vous plaît," the policeman said.

"Well, see I have no idea what you said," David began, in English.

I shrieked in pain.

"Excuse me, honey," Joey said to David. "I didn't take those French lessons for nothing." She turned to the policeman. "Pardon-moi, monsieur, mais mon ami, Rebecca est en sainte, et nous devons lui amener au l'hôpital." She smiled at him. He raised an eyebrow at her and peered inside the vehicle. When he saw me, his eyes widened in surprise.

I screamed again. Through gritted teeth, I said, "Ce n'est pas quelque chose qui peut attendre."

"Bon, je compris. Venez après moi," the policeman said, and returned to his car. Joey translated for him, and David followed the policeman as he led us to the hospital.

When we reached the hospital, I was rushed into the emergency room. Several hours later, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. When the doctor put her in my arms, I cried and wished that Erik was there to see his perfect little angel. She had a head of blond curls, and her green eyes stared up at me intently with perfect innocence. She was perfect.

My hair was sticking to my scalp, and I was filthy. But when I held my baby, I felt like this was why I had been put on the planet. It was the same feeling I had felt when Charity had been born.

I smiled faintly at her, and whispered to her the lyrics to a song that had popped into my head. They were very encouraging words. "You're my little girl, you're the one that I created. No one in this world could ever be like you. When you're crying in the night, all you need to do is call me. I'll be there for you, 'cause you're my little girl." I was crying with happiness.

Just then, the door opened, and Joey came in with AM2. I was shocked, but I didn't let it show on my face. I gave the baby to the nurse and she put my little girl in one of those hospital baby beds.

"What are you do here?" I asked, surprised to see AM2 here.

"Joey and David called me as soon as you were checked in, and I took our private plan here right away, on the orders of AM1," he replied. "Where is The Phantom?" He asked. The nurse had left the room, so he spoke freely.

"In Paris," I replied, and my face saddened. "The last I saw, he was wrongly accused of murder, and taken to prison."

"Well, wrongly accused is really not what the word we would use," AM2 replied.

"Do you know something I don't?" I asked, "Oh, wait, that's right, you couldn't, because I was the one who went back in time, not you." I folded my arms across my chest.

"Whose kid is that?" AM2 asked when the baby began crying.

"Whose do you think?" I retorted, and I reached over to pick her up. I cradled her in my arms and saw her bury her head against my breast. She yawned widely. She was obviously tired.

"It's yours?" He asked.

"She is mine," I replied haughtily.

He gaped. "That is so sad," he replied.

"Why?" I asked.

"That you were attacked like that," he shook his head.

I held up my left hand and showed him my wedding ring. "That answer your incorrect assumption?" I asked.

He narrowed his eyes at me. "Who's the father?" He asked.

"Erik," I replied matter-of-factly.

This time, he laughed. Wiping a tear from his eye, he said, "No really, who is it?" Then he saw my face. "Oh, you're serious. Seriously?" He asked in disbelief. I nodded. "Who would have thunk?" He asked rhetorically.

The nurse came back in with a baby blanket, and told me that I was well enough to nurse. I made AM2 and David turn around until I covered the baby's head with a blanket. Once she was nursing, I let them turn back around to face me.

"Vous devez nommer votre bébé," the nurse said.

"Oui," I replied. I spoke to my little girl then. "Tu t'appelle, Dominique." I smiled.

A/N: Okay, there's the first chapter. Now, for the translations:

1) "Pardon me." (said by Rebecca)

2) "I would like to see your license and registration, please." (said by the policeman)

3) "Pardon me, Sir, but my friend, Rebecca, is pregnant, and we have to bring her to the hospital." (said by Joey)

4) "It's not something that can wait." (said by Rebecca)

5) "Good, I understand. Follow me." (said by the policeman)

6) "You have to name your baby." (said by the nurse)

7) "Yes. You are called Dominique" (said by Rebecca)

Okay, there it is. Review please!