Author's Note: Ok I lied. After I posted that last chapter I felt a huge burst of inspiration. I wrote up the outline for this chapter and typed it up very quickly, well here it is.
(October 5, 2015 Lily and Oliver: 24)
LILY: I walk into our apartment quietly. I set the bags down and spot Oliver passed out on the couch. He has a book over his chest. I bend down and pick it up. He's reading Heart of Darkness.I place it on the coffee table and lay down with him.
I kiss his cheek, his neck, and his mouth. He opens one eye then both. I see him smile and I do the same. A little bit of stubble is growing on him. His eyes are tired and I can only guess mine are the same.
"Comment êtes-vous mon amour?" I ask.
"Juste grandiose." He chuckles.
I kiss his neck suggestively and fiddle with hem of his shirt. "Too tired?"
" 'Nor Time, nor Place, nor Change, nor Death can bow/ my least desires unto the least remove' "
"Come again?" I laugh.
"Sure let's go!"
We kiss and kiss and soon we are inside of one another. As we approach a climax we release and a question burns inside of me.
"Do you think people have as much sex as we do?"
Oliver lifts his head from my chest and laughs. I feel his body shake as his laugh echoes through his throat. "I don't know."
We ponder for a moment before I realize something. "I forget to get eggs!"
"Huh?"
"I went to the store and completely forgot! Come on lover boy let's go!"
I drag Oliver to the corner grocery store. We walk inside and I run to aisle 12.
"While we're here we might as well get some junk food." Oliver suggests.
"Totally! I've been craving M&M's."
We are in the party foods aisle. I'm pushing the carte forward and Oliver is right behind me kissing and nuzzling my neck.
"Hey Mistier! We are in a public!"
"So."
"You're right." I say turning around and he pushes me up against the rack of candy kisses. We are groping and touching and I feel great. I haven't time traveled in two whole days! I'm ready to go home make love to Oliver and eat candy till I puke.
I find my hands going south and pinching Oliver's butt but I'm greeted with an unusual square box sticking out of his back pocket. I pull back.
"Oliver?"
"Yes." He says breathlessly.
"What is in your pocket?"
I watch and marvel as his face goes pale. "N-Nothing!"
"I'm not that stupid." I reach for it.
"No! Not here."
"What is it!"
We do a funny dance. Oliver is hoping away from me with both of his hands on his butt and I'm trying to remove them. I bet the security guards taping this will have a fun time later, laughing their asses off at us.
"Oliver Oken you tell me right now!" I yell stomping my foot.
"Jesus! You know I'm starting to regret this already!" He yells back.
"What are you talking about?"
He pulls the box out of his pocket.
"Oh." I say feeling idiotic and stupid.
"Marry me Lily." His voice is below a whisper.
I feel like crying or slapping him. Instead I kiss him gently and nod my head. He slips the small ring onto my finger and I laugh. We kiss again and this time the manger of the store comes out and asks us to leave. Oops.
(October 23, 2015. Oliver and Lily: 24)
OLIVER: Lily and I are getting married at city hall (much to all of our parent's dismay.) We decided on not having a real wedding partly because we're not in to that sort of thing. We were going to run off and elope but Miley and Jake wanted part of it so city hall it is! I'm getting ready in one of the bathrooms. I feel like I'm going to throw up.
"Come on man! You're going to be great!" Jake reassures me from outside of the stall.
"Just shut-up." I groan.
LILY: "Miley shut-up!"
"What? All I'm saying is that it's a tradition that the bride wears white."
"I know that's what you've been saying over and over for the last two days! I don't care about tradition I'm getting married in my own way."
I quickly run my fingers through my wavy hair and straighten my blue dress. It's a simple dress that I've worn once and it has to be my favorite. It brings out my eyes… at least that's what Miley says.
I'm a little nervous. My heart it pounding, but I'm determined to stay here in this time. I can't miss my own wedding, I just can't. Please let the power of God, Father Time, and Santa Clause keep me put.
OLIVER: She looks amazing. A tall balding man is reading a passage but I'm not listening. Lily looks ravishing. Her dress hugs her curves in a very pleasing way and her make- up is natural and perfect. We look like a regular couple. She isn't disappearing and I'm not throwing up. Thank God! Or whoever is up there!
Once we get into the car I turn to Lily, my wife, and kiss her. "I love you."
"I love you too." She replies.
And together we drive to the beach. I park the car and turn the radio up. Together we dance to a jazzy tune spewing from the small car door speakers. I twirled her around and watch her endless blonde curls spin around. "Je vous aime, je vous aime, je ne vous permettez jamais de vais." I tell her.
"Dido." She smiles.
(August 10, 2016. Lily and Oliver: 25)
LILY: It's odd. Sometimes I wonder how Miley and I ever became friends. We are just so different. My wedding was simple and low key. But this, this is crazy! I'm standing here at the reception with a glass of champagne in one hand and a program in another. I'm wearing a pink dress, one of the many horrors of being maid of honor.
But Miley looks lovely. She's smiling non stop and Jake is always kissing her or holding her close. Oliver is at the bar he waves me over and I collapse on a stool.
"Howdy partner." I say placing my program and glass on the counter.
Oliver drinks a scotch and nods. "Good, you?"
"Tired and wondering when Miley is going to be done with the pointless small talk. I really want to hang out. See! This is why I never wanted a big wedding. I hate small talk among many other things."
"Come on." Oliver says finishing his drink. "Let's dance gorgeous."
I can't help myself, I feel ten times lighter and I giggle like an immature school girl. "Right behind you handsome!"
A poppy love song hits the speakers and Oliver and I are the first to break a move. Dancing with Oliver is almost as good as sex with Oliver. We always dance very close together. We are playfully and silly. He kisses me deeply and I fall under his spell. We are young, married, and madly in love… God help us.
OLIVER: Speeches are being made. Lily makes a marvelous toast to the newlyweds and we all cheer and drink on it. Jake and Miley sit huddle together at the head of the table. I'm fortunate enough not to be a best man or anything so I back out on the saying anything. But I make it a point to stop Miley on her way out of the ladies room to congratulate her.
"Hey Miles!" I smile running over to her in the hallway. "Congratulations!" I hug her and lean in to kiss her cheek, only she turns her head and I kiss her glossy lips. I pull away and she gives me a look she's never ever given me. I'm about to question it but Jake comes around the corner.
"Hey beautiful! Come and sit with me!" He says.
The look in Miley's eyes is gone and she rushes to him and the two walk off together. I find Lily laughing with another friend and I smile at her. She looks great in that pink dress, no matter how many times she complains.
I want to talk to Miley but I resist the urge, it doesn't matter it was an accident. I pull Lily out to the dance floor and we dance again and again. I feel happy and complete with her near me, or touching me. But something strikes me as we leave the reception later that night. I feel like we are on top of a roller coaster…
(September 23, 2016. Lily and Oliver: 25)
LILY: I'm sitting up on a hospital bed. I'm wearing one of those ugly gowns where if I were to bend over everyone in here would see my butt. Well, most people in the world have seen my butt on numerous embarrassing occasions, but that is beside the point. Oliver is sitting next to me and we are pumping our legs back and forth over the edge of the bed.
I feel very small and unhappy in this white highly lit room. I feel very nachos and I'm not sure if that is a good sign or bad. Oliver holds my hand as the door opens. An elderly lady walks in looking grimly at us.
She pulls a rolly chair up to us and sighs. "I'm very sorry but all of the tests came back negative."
My stomach drops and my heart hurts. I squeeze Oliver's hand tightly, he doesn't flinch he just looks defeated.
"And it is very unlikely for you to ever conceive. I'm very sorry." She finishes.
I feel sick and a headache is approaching. I groan and lean forward.
"Lily?! Lily?!" Oliver screams.
"I-I…" Poof! Like magic.
(September 24, 2026. Lily: 25, Oliver: 35)
OLIVER: Lily is out at another appointment with Cindy. I'm alone again. I try to find something to read but I don't feel like doing that. I flip channels but nothing is on. I walk into the kitchen and begin making tea when I hear a crash in the living room.
I find Lily getting up off the floor and wiping a few tears away. I quickly find a few clothes and she slips into them without speaking. Oh no, what happened.
"Lily? Lily, my love what is wrong?"
She breathes in and sits at the kitchen table. "Do we have any children Oliver?"
Oh, it's that day in her time. I find the feelings of past yesterdays rushing over me. What I wouldn't give to simply lie to her, but I can't.
"No." It hurts me even as I say it.
She flinches and sobs harder. "Why?" She cries, not to me but to the sky, to the window. "Why?!"
I rush to her and wrap myself around her. "Shh." I say stroking her hair and then rubbing circles around her back. "Shh."
"I just wanted one child. One little boy or girl."
"I know, I know."
She finishes sniffling and I set warm green tea in front of her. We drink it and sit in silence. She leaves me soon afterwards and I pick the clothes up and put them away. Later I find myself looking around the house and just wondering what it would be like to have toys on the carpet and a crib in our bedroom. I choke back a small sob and wonder why things are so hard.
(September 26, 2016. Oliver and Lily: 25)
LILY: "I just don't understand how you thought you could ever have children! I told you Lily! I warned you! I mean that's crazy! You travel to different time periods and fall through the sky sometimes!"
I'm glaring at Cindy as she yells at me. She doesn't understand. She has two children, I have none.
"Shut-up!" Oliver yells from the corner of the office.
Doctor Brown sighs, frustrated, and sits back down. "Please just explain your reasoning."
"I just thought I wouldn't time travel." I say weakly. "Whenever Oliver and I are… are." I try to control the blush that is creeping up my cheeks. "When we are 'together' I don't travel. Whenever I'm connected with another person I stayed in place. I only thought that if I ever got pregnant I would be connected with another person and I would stay where I' am… but it seems that will never happen."
Oliver sits down next to me and we share a sad look. Doctor Brown nods. "I'm very sorry about this. But it's better that you get past it. I have a new idea for treatment."
"What do you have in mind?" I ask.
"There are things called clock genes. They govern circadian rhythms; keep you I sync with the sun. My partners and I have found them in many different types of cells, all over the body, but they are especially tied to vision, and you seem to experience many of your symptoms visually. The suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus, which is right above your optic chiasm serves as the rest button, as if it were of your sense of time- so that's what I want to begin with."
"Um sure." I say as she looks at me waiting for some kind of reply.
"I'm going to take a blood sample" She says pulling out her equipment.
I roll up my sleeve and turn away. I hate shots, I hate shots!
"We're going to have your DNA sequenced."
"Doesn't that take years?" I say flinching from the sting.
"It does if you do the whole genome. We are going to begin by looking at the most likely sites: Chromosome 17, for example."
I sit back and Oliver looks dumbly at me then at Doctor Brown.
"I'm going to need to scan your head." Cindy says.
"Great." I say sarcastically. "So we are going away from the fact that this disease could be sex linked?"
Doctor Brown nods.
I fall back in my chair… I don't know about this.
….
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