Chapter 6
"Mama, how come you're not wearing your wedding ring?" observed the ever-curious Will.
Susan looked uncomprehendingly at him as her brain struggled to come up with a possible answer that did not involve explaining to the four-year-old about alternate realities and the fact that she was very much unmarried in this universe. Somehow the idea of hurting this little boy in any way at all was completely abhorrent.
"It's umm, well," hedged Susan as she struggled desperately to find a suitable answer to that question.
Marcus was watching her in amusement and she remembered just in time to not curse him loudly in her mind as Will might pick up on her emotions.
"Oh, yeah I forgot, Mama. It's okay, I remember now," said Will after a while, patting her hand reassuringly.
Both Susan and Marcus looked at him in surprise.
"You forgot?" echoed Susan, puzzled.
"Yeah, you already told me why," stated Will calmly.
"What did Mama say that time you asked?" asked Susan, now curious herself. She caught Marcus' eye. He wanted to know as well.
Will looked up at her with a roll of his eyes.
"You said it's cause you knew that your fingers would get swollen soon and you didn't want it to get stuck again," said Will.
"You put it somewhere safe so that you could wear it again after my baby brother or sister is born," continued Will complacently.
Marcus wondered if the day could get more bizarre. The latest revelation from young Will was way too much. Actually all of the past few hours had been so incredible, he had thought that it could not have gotten even more unbelievable. Apparently he was dead wrong.
Fortunately, Iona had come with milk and a cookie for Will right after he had delivered his mind-boggling information. She very effectively distracted Will from Susan, who had been holding up fairly well until the latest bit of news about their counterparts. Susan could not control her shock and she had gone quite ashen. Iona led Will away to where DJ was sitting and eating.
Her expression proved to Marcus that whatever happened in that other universe, would never ever happen in his own. She was overwhelmingly shocked by Will's words. It was rubbish to realize that the reason that you do not have everything you've ever dreamed of is that some other version of you is living it. Typical, that he would get stuck in the wrong universe.
"She loves you here as well," said a voice softly, beside him.
Marcus turned his head slowly to Iona.
"It took them ages to get together. My father and Delenn didn't really need that much help. Maybe just a little nudge in the right direction. But Mama wouldn't even hear of it, when you came along. But she'll come around," said Iona.
Marcus could only stare at her.
"How did you know what I was thinking about?" he asked.
Iona gave a small smile.
"My stepfather had the same expression on his face before he became my stepfather. Technically I helped him cheat to win Mama over," she replied.
Marcus' eyes went wide.
"You helped the me in your universe to get together with your mother?" asked Marcus, in surprise.
Iona nodded silently.
"Why?" wondered Marcus.
"Cause Mama deserved to be happy too. Dad was pretty much in a stable relationship with Delenn. He was really happy. Which was great. But Mama needed someone too. And I like you, you'd always been really great to me. I thought that you would be good for Mama. You had been trying to get Mama's attention for some time. It looked like everyone else on the station knew except Mama herself. So I decided it would be the best for all of us if I helped you out," explained Iona.
"Did your Mama know?" asked Marcus.
Iona grinned slyly.
"I'm not going to tell you that, Marcus. It's up to you. But she will come around eventually, I'm sure," said Iona and she moved away.
Marcus had a contemplative look as he watched her leave. He then turned his attention back to Susan who rather surprisingly, had gone to sit with the children as they ate their snack. She looked quite natural speaking with the two children. It looked like she had gotten over her shock very quickly. Maybe there was some hope for him yet.