CHAPTER FOUR: Understanding
He inhaled sharply, obviously not quite expecting such a question from her. Neither had I. I was sure she would ask about his older brother, the future, anything but that, but knowing Piper the way I do, I shouldn't have.
Suddenly his eyes went blank, and I knew that although he had decided to answer her truthfully, he was very carefully keeping his emotions in check, and I wondered why.
"No, you're wonderful in the future," he replied with the smallest of smiles. "A great mom. The best."
Oh, you should've seen the look of relief on her face, and I almost laughed, thinking about all the times she wondered if she'd turn into a dreadful mother.
Then she simply asked "Why?"
"I told you yesterday. I can't let you know too much about the future," he said softly, gently, trying to dissuade her from asking any more. "It might change the timeline, for better or worse; I can't tell."
"But you came back here, to save Wyatt, to save us all. Shouldn't that have changed something in your future?"
"Maybe. Maybe not." He smiled at her sadly. "I don't know how much I've changed the timeline."
She nodded, understanding, not wanting to press him any more than necessary. But she had to know something. A lot more gently than the previous night, she admitted, "I've been thinking about it, all night yesterday, all day today. I still don't understand. I want to. Truly I do, but I can't. All those lies ..."
"I had to," he admitted in a pained tone. "Believe me when I say that I never meant for everything to go out of control. I never wanted to hurt any one of you, especially you. I'm so sorry, Mom," and now he sounded so pitiful, so near tears, that for the first time, my heart went out to him.
She didn't even flinch at his using that word. Like me, her heart must've gone out to him in his pain. She reached out to touch his hand. "It must have been a pretty desperate mission for you to risk everything," she said softly, newfound pride in her voice. "And it must be painful for you, too."
He looked down at the countertop, closing his eyes, now unable to hide that pain, muttering, "If you but knew."