Clover slowly swam out of unconsciousness to the sound of calming, yet upbeat instrumental music, surrounded by softness. Her eyelids parted to see the interior of a penthouse apartment, decorated in a familiar stylish, colourful flair. As she gathered her senses, she saw that she, Alex, and Sam were lying on the three couches of the spacious living room, heads resting on pillows, as the sound of music played out on some kind of MP3 player. Then came a groan, as Sam started to wake up as well.
"You okay, Sammy?" asked Clover in concern.
Sam sleepily rubbed her eyes. "Yeah, but I had the weirdest dream, where we were fighting some robot and got saved by... our daughters?"
As if on cue, three figures came into the room, and Sam and Clover's eyes widened as they saw they were the same three girls who had rescued them earlier.
"Hey, glad you're finally awake," smiled the brunette as she set down a tray she had been carrying, upon which were three cups of steaming hot tea, which she started to hand out to the superspies.
"Yeah, you've been out of it for hours," added the black-haired girl, who was currently wearing a red short-sleeve shirt and greyish jeans with a unique vertical and diagonal pattern of lines. She put a hand on the waking Alex's shoulder, keeping her from jumping up out of fear of capture due to years of bad experiences from waking up in the clutches of villains.
"It's okay. We're home," she said to Alex. "Well, I mean the penthouse which will be your, that is, our home. Ah man, time travel context is, like, so confusing."
"Um, yeah," said a befuddled Alex. "So, uh, who was that creepy metal guy?"
"Oh, him?" said the black-haired girl as looked to her friends. "That was Nega-Brain you guys fought. One of the worst villains we've ever had to face."
"Here, have some tea," the blonde girl said, easing one of the sturdy cups into Clover's hands.
Clover sat up a bit, mumbled a thanks, then drank up, feeling better. The mysterious blonde had a teal-coloured top with sleeves that flared out like flower petals, and a brown skirt. The brunette, wearing a white minidress with square patterns, helped Sam with her tea.
"Nega-Brain's been trying to eliminate non-cyborg people, as he blames society for an experiment that made him lose his body," she said somberly. "For a guy who's just a brain in a jar, he's quite a tough baddie. He can alter and control tech, and has a seriously bad superiority complex."
"We keep foiling his schemes, but we'd never caught him til you three tackled him. You guys really are quantum. Best of all time," the blonde said, slightly awed.
"Quantum?" Alex said in a raspy voice.
"Modern slang, like 'cool' in your days," said the black-haired girl, who smiled and shoulder hugged Alex.
Alex nodded, then returned the warm smile, before getting to the real question she, Sam and Clover needed answering.
"So, um... Are you three really... You're really...?"
"Your daughters?" completed the black-haired girl with a grin. "Yeah, we are."
"I guess we better do some proper introductions," said the blonde, turning her head to Clover. "I'm Daisy, Clover's daughter." She hugged her amazed mother, patting her back. Clover gasped, then embraced her daughter in return.
"Hi, I'm Hope," said the brunette, hugging Sam, who hugged her back.
"I'm Cindy, Mommy," the black-haired girl said, hugging Alex tight, who also reciprocated.
Astonished beyond words, Clover, Alex, and Sam were teary-eyed, reluctant to release their daughters, bizarrely almost the same ages as themselves.
"A-and," started Sam, mind working, "are we still alive in this future... um, present?"
"And who are your Dads?" asked Alex. "I mean, I'm guessing this all means the three of us have hubbies?"
Hope smiled, holding Sam's hands. "Yes, you guys are still alive and have husbands. And my Dad is... Dean," she said with a grin. "From the WOOHP Gadget Lab."
Sam squeaked in surprise, laughed, then squeezed Hope in a hug that verged on pain-inducing, making Hope chuckle.
"Easy, Mom," she said, straining, with a silly grin.
"My Dad's named Ray. He's a vet, like you," said Cindy quietly to Alex.
"What, you mean Ray, who I go to veterinarian studies with?" gasped Alex. "Wow, he's a cute guy and we get on great, but he hasn't asked me out before."
"You mean he hasn't asked you out yet," said Cindy with a wink.
Alex squealed and clutched Cindy even tighter than Sam's hold on Hope, making her daughter gasp.
"Mom!" Cindy said, struggling comically, to the amusement of the others.
"And, uh-" Daisy said, brushing Clover's mussed hair into place. "Don't crush me-" she added, scooting back on the couch a bit. "My Dad's... Blaine."
Clover's eyes went wide, then she sprang up with a scream, making everyone's jaws drop. She jumped up and down, almost falling over, then was caught by Daisy, who was manhandled to the couch, hugged fiercely.
"Whoa!" Daisy said, finally released when Clover managed to calm down.
Daisy breathed deeply, hand on Clover's shoulder, laughing. "You're supernova, Mom. Seriously," she said, to the laughter of everyone.
Sam, Alex, and Clover finished off their tea, then composed themselves.
"Sorry if we seem a little hyper, kids," said Sam, as she, Clover and Alex gave sheepish looks, still trying to get their heads around all these revelations and their sudden status as mothers. "It's just that the last time we got sent into the future, we were still single."
"Oh, I remember you telling me about that, when Mandy tried to take over the world in some alternate timeline," said Hope.
"That's right, so we weren't expecting to discover that we're going to start families in the future this time around," said Clover as she rubbed the back of her neck.
"Yeah, and it's all the more weird, cause we're almost the same age," said Alex. "I mean, we're now twenty, while you guys are... sixteen?"
"Seventeen, going on eighteen," clarified Cindy. "But yeah, I get what you mean. We look more like sisters rather than mothers and daughters."
"So how did you guys know we're from the past in the first place?" asked Sam.
"You can thank your future selves for that," explained Hope. "They told us how twenty years ago, they, or you, got sucked into a time portal and were apparently sent to the future. When they returned to the present, they had no memory of what happened to them during their, or rather your, visit to this time period."
"A few weeks ago, they remembered that today's date was the time they, that is you, got sent to," continued Daisy, "so they suggested we should all keep an eye open in case you dropped in on us. Then, earlier today, we picked up the distress signal from your compowders and we rushed over to find you."
"That makes sense, sort of," said Clover. "So where are our future selves and husbands, by the way?"
"Busy at work," said Cindy. "They helped us settle you guys here while you were out for the count, but they had to get back to their everyday jobs, so we stayed behind to look after you three."
"Yeah, Mom had some important fashion designs to finish for a client, and Dad's been helping her out," said Daisy, "while Aunt Alex and Uncle Ray are busy looking after some animals at their Veterinary Hospital."
"My Mom, that is our time's Sam, is writing an article for 'The Global Telegraph'," added Hope. "Though she did say that once she got that out of the way, she'd be heading to WOOHP to help my Dad sort through the Gadget Storage Area. They're trying to find Jerry's old Time Machine, the one that sent you here and back before."
"That's great!" said Alex, walking over to hug Hope, then Daisy. "We should all go to WOOHP! Then we can get home, and get these families started!" Alex cried in victory with a small arm pump, making the others titter.
"I'm gonna tell Blaine how wrong he was! Said I was too high-maintenance." She shook her head primly, eyes closed. "In your face, hubby!" she proclaimed wide-eyed, pointing to an invisible Blaine, making everyone laugh even harder.
"Oh man, the girl energy is off the charts here," Sam said with a chuckle. "But seriously, fastest way to WOOHP is…"
Hope smiled and pressed a button on her compowder. Moments later, a trap door opened in the middle of the living room carpet, and they all jumped in with a cry of excitement, sailing down the WOOHP tunnel.