Chapter 6: What's In a Name?
"Keely!!!" Barb cried out and all three of them rushed to hug her. "You're alive!" Barb added as she pulled her in close.
"Yeah I am! I'm so sorry for what I must have put you all through. I had no choice though. When I saw that Phil was being arrested I couldn't just sit around my house and worry," Keely said as everyone hugged her, even Pim.
"But how did you get here?" Lloyd asked.
"Well that's the funny thing. Two days after Phil was arrested your time machine just appeared in front of my house!" Keely said.
"The cloaking device! I told you guys it had some bugs! It must have malfunctioned," Lloyd said and looked more happy than anyone had ever been about a malfunction.
"That's great, but you were reported missing! Please tell me that you didn't just leave without explaining things to your Mom!" Barb said.
"I explained everything to her. I...told her your secret. I hope that is okay. Don't worry she won't tell anyone. Once I explained everything that happened...and then reexplained it....and then used some of the gadgets from the time machine to prove it, she finally understood what I had to do! The missing person report was her idea. Since I'm never going back she wanted to explain my absence," Keely said and waited for a reaction.
"You're never going back?" Lloyd asked.
"I can't can I? The laws prohibit it. I'm lucky I got here without getting arrested! And the ride...was interesting. Especially the giant insects!" she said with a scared look.
"Oh yeah we should have warned you about that," Barb said with a weak smile.
"Besides...I'm here for Phil. Why would I want to go back when the man I love is here in this time?" she said and everyone but Pim went, "Awww."
"The thing is Keely Teslow was declared dead quite a few years ago. If you just show up things are going to get a little messy," Lloyd said.
"I have a plan for that too. I'm going to start a new life, with a new name. I can pretend to be one of Keely's descendants! The only trick is getting the necessary documents and stuff," Keely said and looked a little worried.
"I think we can cover that when the time comes. We're just glad to have you back. Oh wait until we tell Phil!!" Lloyd said and his face lit up with the last few words.
"Honey it's going to be hard to get that message to Phil without it being intercepted right now. They will be watching Phil like a hawk. Oh no!!! They are watching the house! The might have seen Keely!" Barb yelled as the realization hit her.
"Don't worry. During the long trip I played around with this Wizard until I got the hang of it. When I got to this time I parked the time machine on the next street over and used the cloaking device on it. Then I used the wizard to disguise myself when I walked up to the house. Curtis didn't even recognize me at first when he answered the door!" Keely said with a smile.
"Wow, I guess we've rubbed off on you over the years," Lloyd said.
"So what's your plan?" Barb asked.
"I don't know yet. You guys need to fill me in on what's happened so far," Keely said.
"Phil says he's going to marry some girl he's never met in less than a year!" Pim said excitedly and Keely looked hurt.
"What!?" Keely exclaimed.
"Pim!! Let me explain Keely," Lloyd said and then proceeded to tell her about the CTTF and their ideas about fate and what they had told Phil. When he was done Keely was calmed down, but she gave Pim a dirty look.
"What? I was just passing on the message. Don't shoot the messenger!" Pim said.
"Well I'm here now so forget "Fate"! No one is marrying my man!" Keely said with a triumphant look.
"The hearing is in two days. We will have to come up with a plan by then. I'm going to call the Clark's and see about getting that lawyer!" Barb said and then added, "Make yourself at home Keely. You can sleep in Phil's room tonight. I'll be spraying out some dinner here soon."
"Thanks Mrs. Diffy," Keely said.
"Honey you know you can call me Barbara," she said and then hugged Keely again.
Keely grabbed her bag and headed up the stairs to Phil's room. The second she walked in the door she was overwhelmed by emotion. After all this time she was finally going to be with the love of her life. She looked around his room, not wanting to pry too deeply for privacy sake, but also wanting to touch and see every nook and cranny of the room. She walked over to his closet and couldn't help but lean in and smell his clothes. The scent she missed so badly filled her nose. At that moment she felt kind of like an obsessed little girl, but she couldn't help it. Just a few days ago she thought she would never see him again. She turned and looked across the room, taking in every little nuance and every quirk. He was surprisingly neat for a guy. She spied a pair of Virtu-Goggles sitting on his desk and couldn't help but think about the trip to the virtual mall he took her on. She remembered how jealous he got when she hit on the robot waiter. It made her giggle to think about how little she realized back then what would become of their relationship. She then looked at his bedside table and saw the photograph of herself sitting there. She picked it up and smiled at the fact that he kept this by his bedside. She was so lost in thought that she didn't hear Barbara walk up.
"Dinner is ready Keely," she said.
"Oh...thank you Barbara," Keely said and placed the photo back on the table.
"Phil is going to be so glad to know you are okay. He truly does love you Keely," Barb said with a smile.
"I know he does and I love him," Keely replied.
Barb started to walk away, but she stopped and turned back to Keely to say, "by the way what did you choose to be your new name? That is if you have chosen that yet."
"Oh I have. I am going to go by my Grandmother's name," Keely said.
"Really? What was her name?" Barb asked.
Keely smiled and said, "Alyson Martin."
To be continued...