Chapter 7: How Time Flies
(2047 and beyond)
Charlie is sitting on her porch, drinking a cup of tea and enjoying the sounds of the early morning around her. The rustling leaves and birds singing are a perfect reminder. This is a beautiful day.
Five months have passed since she'd brought Bass and Connor back to her present.
Connor had found an apartment in Willoughby and Bass had settled into Charlie's house as if he'd lived there forever. Willa had lasted two weeks before fleeing. She said she loved getting to know her Dad, but that there were some things she didn't want to know, or see, or hear. Charlie and Bass had smirked and shared a guilty glance at this announcement, but they were happy to have the place to themselves and didn't object when she'd moved in with Connor. It was for the best anyway. Ever since they had met, the unusual siblings had been inseparable.
Charlie smiles as she strokes the curve of her growing belly. When she had been pregnant with Willa, Charlie had struggled. She'd been afraid and worried at every turn. This pregnancy has been different in every way and the reason is simple. Having Bass at her side makes everything better. He dotes on her, though he also makes a point to hang out with Miles every day as well. The new age difference was weird at first, but now they have worked their way back to being the best of friends.
Charlie is lost in thought when Zep appears. He's holding the familiar flat piece of wood. She takes it with a smile, but her smile fades as she reads the invitation for a visit. Something about it feels different and the dog looks….worried. She puts down her tea and stands, "Let's go." She says, patting Zep on the head.
Zep leads Charlie to Aaron's house and they walk inside silently. It is immediately clear that the dog is taking her to Aaron's room, which is not something he's ever done before. Charlie feels worry slide down her spine. When she enters his room, she takes in a sharp breath. Aaron looks so small and pale lying in the middle of the big bed. Charlie's heart clenches.
"Aaron, why are you still in bed? A beautiful new day is out there waiting for you." She is trying for a teasing tone, but her heart isn't it in.
Aaron shakes his head slowly, "Nah Charlie. We both know I don't have many more beautiful days ahead. I don't have long left. A few weeks, maybe."
Zep whines from his place beside his master's bed.
"No Aaron. You'll bounce back. You always do."
"Not this time."
She starts to speak, but he cuts her off. "No, Charlie. It's okay. It really is. I've had a wonderful life. I want you to know how happy I've been to know you. You are my family, Charlie – the daughter I never had. You know that, right? I love you so much."
Zep moves closer, nuzzling against Aaron's arm, mewling sadly.
"Aaron, I do know. I know because I feel the same way. You are my family too." She can't hold back the tears that fall. "I don't want you to go. I don't even remember my life without you in it. We need you here, Aaron."
He reaches out a hand and she takes it. They share a moment, remembering all the years they've shared. Good years. They talk quietly then, reminiscing about Danny and Ben, Maggie and Priscilla.
"Oh Charlie, I'm going to miss you." He looks so tired and frail.
Charlie is reminded of how this conversation started and she tears up again. "God, Aaron. Can't Zep heal you? Can't he fix whatever is wrong?"
"Yes he could, but it's not what I want. My life was so good Charlie, but I'm tired."
"Aaron, what do you think happens to us when we die?"
He's thoughtful for a few moments and then he shrugs, "Maybe it all just ends. I don't know. Maybe we go to a heaven. Maybe we are reset somehow and get to relive our best years in some crazy eternal loop. I kind of hope that's it. My best years were really, really good."
Charlie smiles sadly, "Your best years - the ones before the blackout?"
"No Charlie. My best years started when I found you and your family."
Aaron Pittman is laid to rest less than a month after discussing the afterlife with Charlie. She wonders where he is and if he's happy. Zep disappears without warning the next day. It is Miles who first notices that 'the stupid phone booth' is gone as well. The possibilities are endless where the Nano is concerned, but Charlie doesn't worry about any of it. She has other things on her mind.
Bass and Charlie get married in their front yard. She is heavily pregnant with Grant at the time, but nobody cares. The ceremony is simple and (with the exception of Aaron's absence) perfect. Willa and Connor stand up with the happy couple and Miles and Sophie watch them exchange their vows.
The day was perfect, and so was the promise of many wonderful years ahead.
The years that follow are indeed wonderful, but they fly by as years do.
Grant is only eleven months old when his younger brother Jefferson is born. Jeffy in turn is just two when Bass and Charlie have their final child – another boy. They name him Aaron Miles.
On her twentieth birthday, Willa marries Michael, the boy she'd once pinned to a tree with arrows. Connor finds a bride that same year, a lovely young doctor named Elizabeth. Both couples begin having children right away.
The Monroe household is filled with laughter and happiness as children from two generations mix and play. There is always a pile of children's shoes beside the front door. A bicycle or two always leans against the house. Charlie perfects her Grandma Charlotte's chocolate chip cookie recipe (the one Rachel could never quite get right).
Bass and Charlie never do move out of their 'honeymoon phase'.
Bass takes up woodworking and finds a niche making rocking chairs and cradles for folks in the community. Charlie makes a point of being a hands-on mother. She's with her boys as they learn to hunt and play baseball. She's there when they scrape their knees and have their first crushes. She's there when they each find a mate of their own. Bass lets Charlie do most of the parenting, but he's always there too, quietly supporting her every move.
They are a team in every sense, and as their nest empties, they have no problem reverting back to it just being the two of them. They like it best like that anyway.
Life isn't perfect, of course. Like any couple, Bass and Charlie have their ups and downs. Connor's daughter Tara dies after falling from a horse when she is just fourteen. Jeffy's first wife falls to cancer. These periods of grief are difficult on the whole family, but they try to remain strong.
It is Miles's death that takes the biggest toll on Charlie and Bass. Charlie and Sophie are both at his bedside when he closes his eyes for the last time. He is ninety-two when he dies, never having lost any of his snarky attitude or quick wit. In their late sixties themselves, Charlie and Bass deal with their grief in the only way they know how, curled around each other as they reminisce and love and cry.
In total, Charlie and Bass were blessed with five children. By the time her 85th birthday rolls around, they have fourteen grandchildren, and twenty-seven great-grandchildren.
Epilogue Part 1: Charlie's 85th Birthday
(Willoughby Texas - The year is 2092)
Charlie is old now. She wears her long white hair in a simple braid down the middle of her back. Her skin is translucent with age, but her eyes are still a startling blue. She has had two heart attacks, but bounced back each time - although recovery has taken longer after this last one.
There is a party for her birthday. Family, friends and neighbors flood the house and lawn with laughter and joy. Jeffy's oldest bakes a big chocolate cake and sentimental presents are piled high on the dining room table. Charlie oohs and ahs over the finger paintings and pet rocks. Bass watches from nearby, smiling at the happiness he sees in his wife's eyes.
After the cake is gone, and the wrapping paper has been tidied away; Bass and Charlie sit in old wooden rocking chairs, side by side on the front porch. From this vantage point they can see the scurry of children and the flurry of activity all around. Bass is silent as is the norm ever since a stroke last year. It doesn't stop him from looking at his wife and telling her with his eyes just how important she is to him.
Charlie's voice is soft, "It's days like this when I miss them all so much… Miles and Aaron. My Mom."
Bass's silver curls are picked up by a breeze. His face is weathered. His beard is trim and white. His eyes are icy blue. He cocks one eyebrow in response to her comment.
Charlie laughs, "Okay, well, Miles and Aaron at least."
He nods with a small crooked smile.
They watch their family – Connor and Willa are still the best of friends. Inseparable even after all these years and they have proven to be invaluable - especially as their parents' health has started to fail. The younger boys are there as well, mingling with their spouses and laughing with their children. Everywhere they look, Bass and Charlie are both reminded of a life very well lived.
Willa walks up to the porch with one of her granddaughters perched on her hip. Willa's hair is streaked with grey but she's still the same Willa. She smiles up at her folks, asking if they are okay. They both nod and smile, holding hands.
The next morning, Charlie wakes up slowly. Before she even opens her eyes, she knows. Bass's fingers are still entwined with hers, but they are cold.
"Damnit Bass." She says, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Word of his death spreads quickly and soon the house they've shared for forty-five years is filled again with family for the second time in two days. Instead of yesterday's happiness, the tone is somber. Everyone is worried about Grandma Charlie. She is strong, but seems lost.
Bass Monroe is buried at the top of a hill under an oak tree, not far from where Miles, Rachel and Aaron had all been laid to rest years before. Charlie leans against the tree and shoos everyone away. "I need to talk to him, alone." She smiles sadly at Willa. "You need to take care of them. You are the leader of this family now."
"No Mom. That's still you."
"No sweetie. I can't lead anything. Not without him." She stares at the fresh dirt, her heart clenching painfully. She doesn't let Willa see her discomfort. Charlie is sure this is what a breaking heart feels like.
Charlie talks to the love of her life well into the night. She tells Bass how much she loves him and how happy she is that she was able to find him again, to get him back. She reminds him of all the amazing memories they've shared and how very happy she's been to have him in her life.
In her hand she holds the old picture phone that Aaron had given her all those years ago. She loads it with her fondest memories of Bass and she watches the pictures change as she talks. Now and then she'll pause at one or another, choking back tears.
She lies down on his grave, and the coolness of the fresh dirt soothes her heated cheek. She cries because she can't imagine life without him. Eventually the sobs stop and her breathing slows as she drifts to sleep.
Charlie had survived his death once before, but this second time is too much. Her heart doesn't know how to live without him. She doesn't even wake when her third and final heart attack comes. There is a subtle tightness that causes her to grimace in her sleep, before her face smooths into a peaceful smile and she is gone.
The family is saddened, though not terribly surprised when they find her lying on Bass's grave the next morning, Aaron's phone still clutched in one hand.
At Charlie's funeral Willa speaks. "I remember the years before Mom and Dad were reunited. My Mom was empty. When she found him again it was as if sunshine was poured into her soul. He was her everything, and she was his. I've never seen a love like that. I don't know that I ever will again.
Some of you may have heard the stories of Aaron Pittman. If you are very lucky, you will remember him yourself. He was a dear friend to this family and he was the reason Mom and Dad found each other again. Before we close the service for today I want to read something to you from Mom's journal. She had been talking to Aaron Pittman shortly before his death and had recorded the conversation as she remembered it. Mom actually read this at his funeral over forty years ago, but I think it's fitting today as well…"
Willa takes a deep steadying breath. She looks out and sees her brothers and their wives. Connor is the Silver Fox now. Their younger brothers are all spitting images of the late Bass Monroe. Willa smiles at each of them and then looks on to see her own husband and a sea of children and friends. She seeks out Connor once more and when he nods reassuringly, she reads her mother's words, "I asked Aaron today what he thought might happen after death. He said this, 'Maybe it all just ends. Maybe we go to a heaven. Maybe we are reset and get to relive our best years in some crazy loop for eternity. I kind of hope that's it. My best years were really good."
Willa glances up again, tears streaming down her face. "I think that if life after death is anything like that last thing, Mom and Dad would both want to start over at the same point – that day where they found each other again. Today, let's all remember them as they should be remembered, together and in love for eternity."
The service winds down and the mood picks up. Family is laughing and remembering and loving each other. Now that Bass and Charlie are buried side by side, it feels like everything will somehow be okay.
A portly man with a bushy brown beard and big black glasses lays a bouquet of wild flowers on each of the fresh graves. A beautiful golden retriever sits at his side, brown eyes shining happily, and tail wagging. The man smiles just a little to himself before walking to a big blue box, the dog at his heels. Moments after the door closes, the box is gone as if it had never been there at all.
Nobody notices the short visit, but if they did, they would surely wonder what that blue box was, and if the Golden Retriever was just a dog or maybe something more…
The answer of course, is more. Much more. There is nothing the Nano won't do for its creator and those its creator had loved.
Nothing.
If Aaron Pittman wants his friends to have a crazy time loop for eternity, then that is exactly what they shall have.
Epilogue Part 2: Time After Time
When Charlie enters the dingy space, she sees Bass instantly. He's sitting at the bar, staring into a glass of whiskey. Her breath catches as she takes in his dark messy curls and leather jacket. He's more beautiful even than she remembers. Seeing him after all these years, makes her knees go wobbly, but she suddenly feels wildly self-conscious. She's not twenty-two anymore. He was with a much younger version of her days ago. What if he doesn't like this older Charlie?
As she watches, a busty blond wanders over and leans in close to Bass. Charlie feels a bolt of jealousy surge through, but it subsides quickly when Bass brushes the blond off without even looking at her.
The girl flounces away with a pout, as Charlie sits down on the barstool next to Bass and orders a whiskey. At the sound of her voice, Bass's head jerks up. He smiles when he sees her, but his smile fades quickly, "Charlie? You look….different." he asks, unsure. "How the fuck drunk am I?"
"Pretty drunk I think but yeah, it's me."
He tilts his head curiously, "Nope. Not Charlie…she's in Austin."
"Bass, it's really me."
"Nope, you are almost Charlie, but not quite… She's in Austin, and she's younger than you."
"No, I'm all the way Charlie, but yeah. I probably do look older."
"I don't understand." He runs a hand along his scruffy jaw. His eyes take her in nervously.
"Is there somewhere that we can talk?" She asks.
"Aren't we talking now?"
"Somewhere else?"
"I have a room."
She nods. "Good. Let's go there."
Their eyes lock and they pause for just a moment. In that split-second, they see each other differently. She sees a man with silver curls and a lopsided smile. He sees a woman with a long white braid hanging over shoulders stooped ever so slightly with age. More than that, they both see the love of a lifetime – perhaps the love of many lifetimes…an eternity of lifetimes.
Their gaze holds and for just that one moment - before the past fades completely into a new present - they remember everything, and they understand that they get to do it all again.
For that tiny flash in time Bass and Charlie are the happiest people on Earth because their best years are in front of them again, and those years were really, really good.
The End/The Beginning
"How can the past and future be, when the past no longer is, and the future is not yet? As for the present,
if it were always present and never moved on to become the past, it would not be time, but eternity."
― Augustine of Hippo from Confessions
A/N: That's it folks. I hope you have enjoyed this story. Thank you to each and every one of you who gave it a chance, and a virtual high five for those who also took the time to comment or email me with your thoughts. You guys rock! Seriously, THANKS... Please let me know what you think if you have a moment.
