"Everybody ready to go?" Angela asked, popping a pacifier into Gregory's mouth as she carried him toward the front door.
"I'm ready," said Leo, pulling on his winter coat. "You said Gavin will be there, right?"
"As far as I know," said Angela, as Hadley, Henry, and Maria joined them. "All thirty-six kids from the plane were invited."
Only a week and a half had passed since Angela, Hadley, Gregory, and Henry had begun their new life in the twenty-first century, but so much had happened in that week and a half that it felt much longer. First, they'd started moving Angela's stuff into the house the time agency had purchased for Hadley—it was bigger than Angela's, and therefore much better-suited for a family of six. They'd spent time with Maria and Leo, doing a lot of shopping and making a few excursions to the park or the mall to meet Gavin and Daniella. They'd also visited Angela's family, which had started out extremely awkward as Angela had needed to explain that she was now in a serious relationship with this man who, to their perspective, she could only have been dating for about a week, unless she was seeing him at the same time she was seeing Marcus. "We've known each other for a lot longer than that," Hadley had assured them. "We were friends over a span of many years before we started dating."
Angela grinned, remembering her family's slightly confused looks at Hadley's odd wording, and her own struggle to keep from laughing. Once the babies had started being passed around from family member to family member, and Hadley had effortlessly joined in the conversations and banter as if he really had known Angela's family for years, everyone had decided they were okay with these newcomers.
She grinned even wider as she thought back to the other exciting thing that had happened that night, and the even more exciting thing that would be happening a week from today. It was admittedly a very bizarre situation, but nothing about Angela's life was conventional, and she was okay with that.
She couldn't wait to share the news with the Skidmores.
A few flakes of snow started to fall as they drove, and by the time they pulled up to the curb in front of the Skidmores' house, the street was covered in a thin layer of white, glittering under the streetlights.
Angela and Hadley each retrieved a baby and one of the tins of Christmas cookies they'd brought. Maria and Leo had gone a little overboard with the baking when they'd heard they'd been invited to a Christmas party, so altogether there were six tins of various goodies. Angela figured that was probably a good thing, considering how many people were going to be there.
Someone called Angela's and Hadley's names, and Angela looked up to see JB waving from the front porch. "JB!" she exclaimed joyfully. "What are you doing here? I thought time travel was sealed off!"
"That's happening tonight, as soon as I get back to my time period," JB explained. "I just came to drop off Kevin and say goodbye to the kids."
"Oh—that's right! Where is Kevin? Did you already bring him in?" Angela had known that Michael and Linda were going to adopt the baby who'd once been the thirteen-year-old version of Second, but she hadn't known exactly when or how this was taking place.
"I had Jordan bring him in," said JB. "I want to make sure he feels included, since there was so much of the time travel stuff he wasn't part of."
"Good call," said Angela, imagining how strange this party might feel to Jordan, who didn't really know anybody.
The front door opened, and Jonah and Katherine stepped out onto the porch. "JB, Angela, Hadley—wow, you guys are all here!" Katherine exclaimed. She turned to JB. "Jordan said something about you wanting to talk to me and Jonah?"
JB nodded, and Angela, Hadley, Maria, and Leo respectfully slipped past the kids and into the house. Angela had already gotten to exchange goodbyes with JB; seeing him briefly tonight had just been a little bonus. This was his moment to share with Jonah and Katherine.
The house was packed with kids, dressed in Christmas sweaters and Santa hats, holding paper plates and plastic cups and chatting animatedly with one another. Daniella squealed and ran over to hug Maria, and both Maria and Leo got absorbed into the group of kids while Angela and Hadley continued into the kitchen.
"We brought Christmas cookies!" Hadley announced loudly.
Three people had been huddled in a happy-looking group hug in the kitchen, and when they broke apart Angela saw why. It was Michael, Linda, and Jordan, and Linda was holding a baby in her arms. Baby Kevin, who Jordan must have just brought in.
Angela opened her mouth to apologize for interrupting, but Jordan blurted incredulously, "You brought the baby versions of Gary and Hodge to the party?"
Angela had prepared herself for this kind of reaction. Linda was the only one of the Skidmores who she'd informed about the possibility of Hadley adopting them. "We're going to call them Gregory and Henry," she told him.
"It came through?" Linda asked, excitement etched across her face. "The time agency accepted your proposal?"
Angela nodded. "We solved a lot of their problems," she said, keeping the explanation simple for Jordan's benefit. "Gary and Hodge were kind of… orphaned by time and circumstances, and Second didn't do anything to re-age them, so… how do you prosecute babies for crimes they did as adults, in a totally different life? Hadley and I made the case that they deserved another chance. We're hoping growing up in a different time and place will make them different people." She peered anxiously at Jordan as she spoke, hoping he would understand. She thought he probably would, given that he seemed pretty comfortable with the baby version of the man who'd once been the Skidmores' other worst enemy, but she wasn't entirely sure.
Jordan just shrugged. "Hey, Gary and Hodge helped me. It was kind of by accident, and what they were really trying to do was torture Jonah with my existence, but… maybe this time around you'll get them to do good things on purpose!"
"Let's hope so," said Hadley with a grateful smile.
Angela realized she wasn't sure how much Jordan knew about all of the things that were by now common knowledge for Jonah and Katherine. "The time agency was always worried that one of the things the plane crash interrupted was my intended future as a mother of five," she informed him. "Time travel sort of already gave me two, since I took in Leonid Sednev and Maria Romanova when they escaped from 1918. I figured, we'll add these two and go from there."
"And the time agency approved my request to stay in the twenty-first century, 'to keep an eye on this pivotal time period,'" Hadley quoted from his official time agency emigration document. "So…" He looked at Angela, who nodded in approval of him sharing the big news. "Angela and I are getting married next week!"
Linda gasped and threw her arms around both of them, the best she could while still holding Kevin. "That's wonderful!" she gushed. "I didn't know—Angela never said—"
"Don't worry, we didn't know either until a few days ago!" Angela said with a laugh. She explained a little bit of their engagement story, then gave Linda and Michael the handwritten wedding invitation she'd been hiding in her pocket. "It's sudden, but… we think it's right."
The night she and Hadley had gone to her parents' house, Marcus had called to tell her that he and Jennifer were engaged. She had congratulated him, and then started thinking. She and Hadley already knew they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. Her parents had put a lot of time and money into preparing for the wedding she was supposed to have with Marcus, and friends and relatives from far away had long since booked flights to come into town for that day. Wouldn't it make the most sense just to keep Angela's wedding on that day?
When she'd mentioned the idea to Hadley, he'd immediately gotten down on one knee and proposed to her with a napkin ring, promising a real ring to come later. And this time around, Angela had no reservations whatsoever about the wedding or the marriage or any of it.
"Some things just feel right," Michael agreed, gesturing to the baby in his wife's arms. "It's been a long time since we've had one this little, but we're looking forward to experiencing all the milestones again."
Angela peered down at Kevin's tiny face. He was smaller than Gregory and Henry, making Angela wonder if he'd un-aged himself a little farther than Lindbergh had un-aged them. His hair was light and wispy, and his pale cheeks had a pink tinge to them. "He's so cute!"
"Most beautiful baby I've ever seen, apart from these two, of course," said Hadley, bouncing Gregory gently in his arms.
"It's perfect that they're all about the same age," Linda commented. "I was starting to worry that Kevin would grow up lonely, since Jonah and Jordan and Katherine are all so much older than him, but now he'll have two instant friends to grow up with."
"Yeah, that'll be great," Angela agreed.
A chorus of "Jingle Bells" broke out in the living room, and all four adults migrated in that direction, bringing the three babies with them. What they found made Angela's joyous smile spread even wider.
It looked like almost all of the Missing kids were gathered in the living room, singing and dancing and laughing together. They didn't look like kids who'd undergone trauma and near-death experiences. They didn't look like people with tragic pasts and uncertain futures. They just looked like a bunch of twenty-first century teenagers having fun and enjoying life together.
It's almost like things have come full circle, isn't it? Angela thought, alternating her gaze between the teens and the three babies. Thirteen years ago, those teens had been the infants being adopted into new families, starting out life as new people, with no knowledge or memory of who they'd been before. And now it was Henry, Gregory, and Kevin's turn. She hoped that the three boys would never have to come to terms with their previous lives the way the Missing kids had, but if they ever did, they'd have a whole entourage of people to support them.
Hadley's jovial voice joined in with the singing, and then Angela did too, still looking around at all the kids. There was Emily, carefully picking up a fallen ornament and placing it back on the tree. There were Brendan and Antonio, who seemed to have created some sort of sculpture out of the leftover food bits from their plates. There were Daniella, Gavin, Maria, and Leo, all giggling as Daniella and Gavin tried to teach Maria and Leo the words to the song. There were Chip and Alex having a miniature duel with pretzel sticks, and Andrea stepping back in from outside, tucking her cell phone into her pocket. Jonah, Katherine, and Jordan slipped into the room a moment later, and Angela thought she caught hints of secretive smiles on their faces before they all adopted more neutral expressions.
Jonah and Katherine walked over to Angela and Hadley once the sing-along session was over. "Congratulations!" Katherine exclaimed, beaming. "We heard you guys got engaged. I'm so excited for the wedding!"
"We are too!" said Hadley. "We're glad you and your family are all able to come."
Gregory reached out and tapped Jonah's shoulder.
"Oh!" Jonah looked surprised, and maybe a little uncomfortable, but then he smiled. "Hi… what's his new name again?"
"Gregory," Angela replied.
"Hi Gregory," said Jonah. "You're going to have a really good life with your new mom and dad."
"Really good," Katherine agreed. She looked up at Angela. "It's kind of cool how it all worked out, isn't it? How we're adopting Kevin and you guys are adopting those two."
"Definitely," Angela agreed. "Everybody gets another chance."
Including her. Thinking back to the two different versions of her life leading up to the point where the dimensions blended, Angela could see how the life she was living now far outweighed both of them. The time travel version of her had known all of these wonderful people and had gotten to go on exciting adventures—only after thirteen years of isolation and separation from her family. The other version had maintained a relationship with her family and pursued her dream of becoming a pilot, but had been about to marry the wrong person because she hadn't known what being in love actually felt like. Now she had it all—family, friends, a fiancé who she loved deeply, career opportunities in both piloting and physics, and the lifelong adventure of being a mom. It was a brand-new life, full of possibility.
Angela intended to live it to the fullest.
THE END (author's note below)
/
It is truly a bizarre feeling to be posting the very last chapter of this story that I've been working on for six years (and yes, it was an intentional decision to post the last chapter on the exact anniversary of when I posted the first). When I first started writing Witnessed, I didn't know how long it would take me to get through the entire series, but I knew that I would be seeing it through to the end. And now we're here! And it's so crazy!
I want to give a huge THANK YOU to all of my readers, and to anybody who ever followed, favorited, or posted a comment. I really appreciate all the support, and I'm happy to have been able to brighten your lives by sharing my take on Angela's story. In particular, I want to give shout-outs to AklFin2, A Supernatural Oncer, and musicalsoutofcontext. You guys are the BEST and I appreciate your support and enthusiasm SO MUCH! AklFin2 and A Supernatural Oncer, you've been with this fic from the very beginning, and it was your consistent reviews that kept me motivated to stay on track and keep writing even when it was difficult. I always looked forward to seeing what you had to say about each chapter, and it was very rewarding to know that people other than me were reading and enjoying the story. I also really appreciated your suggestions those times I asked for your input about how things should happen in certain parts. It means a lot that you have followed this story for all these years. Musicalsoutofcontext, it'll be a while before you even see this note, but I wanted to thank you as well, because your comments KEPT me excited about the story as I wrote the last few chapters, which were by far the hardest part to write. It's been so fun reading your story chapter by chapter as you read mine chapter by chapter. I'm excited that even though I don't have any more chapters left to post, I still have comments to look forward to! (And to everyone else—Musicalsoutofcontext's story is called "The Reaper's Muse" and I HIGHLY recommend it!)
For those of you who are wondering, even though Witnessed is over, I'm not done writing for the fandom! I've begun plotting out a story that I intend to start posting in summer 2023, and in the meantime, I've started a collection of one-shots called "Missing Series One-Shots." (not the most original name, haha). This collection won't be updated on a consistent basis, but I'll add to it whenever I have new ideas.
Again, thank you so much for journeying with me through Witnessed. It has been an incredibly fun ride, and I owe a large portion of that to all of you.
-Kelsey