Some of you are confused; I can believe it. I sure as hell would be too if I wasn't the one writing this! Here's a bit of an explanation, just please understand that I can't completely explain it without giving away the ending.
I'm sure most of you have read a story where something happens to Brennan or Booth and they wake up several years in the future to a completely different life. This is now my version of that happening, but with a different twist. Brennan doesn't remember what happened to make her wake up in this new life. She will have to come to terms with her new life and come to terms with the day she doesn't remember.
Any more questions concerning that explanation, please feel free to ask. And now, here we go!
I looked around for a second, looking to see if anyone else was here before turning back towards the little girl. "I'm sorry, but I think I misheard. Did you just call me mommy?"
The girl just kept on smiling the familiar smile at me. "Of course I called you mommy. I always call you mommy because that's your name!"
I sighed as my previously confused mind seemed to kick all rational thought very far away. "What, uh, what do you mean that's my name? I've been called a lot of names in my time, mostly Temperance, or Brennan, or Dr. Brennan, but I've never been called Mommy before."
The little girl just giggled, "Mommy, you're funny. I always call you mommy. Daddy calls you mommy too, and that is because it's your name!" The kid made it sound as though it was the most logical thing to come along since one and one equaled two.
"So if my name is mommy, then what's your name?" I swear I hoped I sounded calm, because taking a flying leap off the balcony was feeling more and more like a fantastic plan.
The little girl nearly rolled off the couch in her fit of giggles. After a minute, she seemed to recover just to say a sentence, "My name is Lizzie, you're mommy, and daddy is daddy!"
Lizzie's focus turned away from me and I noticed that she was watching T.V. and by the looks of it, she was watching an old Warner Brothers cartoon. I felt myself get lightheaded and sat down on the couch next to Lizzie. Sense and logic had to have stopped existing. I had a girl sitting right next to me claiming to be my daughter for crying out loud!
My right arm being lifted up by Lizzie startled me out of my thoughts as she scooted closer to me. The girl let my arm fall as she hugged herself to me, watching T.V. happily. Immediately, my mind seemed to calm down and all doomsday thoughts fled from my mind as the girl wanted to feel safe. Next thing I know I wanted this girl to be safe as well.
Just as suddenly as my mind had calmed down, it went into overdrive. This wasn't about me anymore. I could hurt Lizzie's feelings, scar her mind if I pushed her away and told her that I wasn't really her mommy. I could slip up and say the wrong thing, do something the wrong way or even get her sick if I sneezed or coughed on her by mistake. I remembered why it took sense and logic not existing for me to have a kid: no child should have to deal with me for a mother.
"Mommy, why aren't you watching the cartoons? You love watching Bugs mess with Elmer Fudd."
I realized that I had been staring wide-eyed at the wall, not focusing on anything except on how I could screw up this innocent victim next to me. "I've had a crazy morning and have a lot on my mind." I ran my hand across Lizzie's head a couple times, smoothing her hair. I hoped it was something she liked.
However, Lizzie let go of me and popped off the couch. She stared at me in the eye before saying, "I'm going to the bathroom," and took off to where I assumed the bathroom was. I barely noticed though as something else hit me. The little girl had my eyes.
When Lizzie looked me in the eyes, I felt as if I was staring into a mirror, or at least a mirror that was only big enough to show eyes. They were the exact same shape and color. They were my eyes; this girl had gotten her eyes from me! No, there has to be another explanation, even if the smile was familiar and annoyingly unidentified. Now that the main area of the apartment was to myself, I decided to check out my surroundings. There wasn't a lot of color to the place, which had pale yellow walls and light brown furniture. My eyes found the dining room table with a newspaper on it. I ran across the room and snatched it up, hoping it was still 2009 and this was just a giant prank with someone stupid enough to leave the paper right in plain sight.
October 3rd, 2018.
Nine years. I'd missed nine years. All of those years in my life, gone in a flash of a dreamless sleep. I fell into one of the chairs and my head fell into my awaiting palms. So many questions ran through my head that I couldn't even form a coherent thought. I was possibly nine years in the future, so maybe people spoke fluent mumble now, who knew.
Maybe I hit my head. That had to be it. The only thing I could really comprehend was that my mind was from 2009 and the rest of me was from 2018, which made so little sense that it fell in line with the fact that I was with a little girl claiming to be my daughter. A daughter with the exact same eyes and a smile I couldn't place, which was really bugging the shit out of me.
I lifted my head out of my hands so I could feel my forehead to check for a fever. However, I felt something cool and metallic making contact with my head. I looked at my hand to find a pair of rings; one was a simple gold band, and the other was platinum with diamonds on the top. Wedding and engagement rings. Perfect.
That's when I spotted my savior from this madness. The one thing that could possibly save me from losing what few marbles I had left.
Coffee.
I hurried over to the machine that had a coffee pot at its bottom. The thing only somewhat resembled what I knew to be a coffee maker, but I was determined to make the thing work.
I started messing with it and pushing buttons when I felt a small tug at my shirt. I glanced down to see Lizzie looking up at me before I went back to fiddling with the machine. "What are you doing, Mommy?"
"Trying to make some coffee. I really, really need some right now."
"But I thought you weren't allowed to have coffee anymore. You said so!"
I had to force myself not to look at the girl. I knew I would have scowled at her and I wasn't sure that was a fantastic idea. "Why would I say something so crazy like I couldn't drink coffee?"
"You said no more coffee until you had the new baby."
I finally could look at her, but my mouth refused to cooperate. My jaw opened and closed a few times before a sound could come out and then I finally asked, "What new baby?"
Lizzie gave me a confused look, but quickly turned to a smiling face again. "The one in your tummy. You and daddy said that the new baby was going to make things 's when daddy said, 'Like no more coffee for mommy because she does things all or nothing.' Then you looked at him like you look at me when I do something I'm not supposed to do."
Well, that sounded more or less truthful. Anybody that tried to separate me from my coffee in the morning would get a strong glare, if not an outright beating. "Right, that new baby."
Here I was in the future, talking to my future daughter and according to said daughter, pregnant with another future child. So hot it's cold, so wrong it's right, so unbelievable that it may actually be true. I ran a hand over my stomach a couple times without thinking about it before I got another tug on my shirt. "What are you doing, mommy?"
"Just thinking about my life, Lizzie. Guess I'm not being much fun."
"Wanna watch more cartoons with me?"
"Yeah, sure," I replied absently. Lizzie grabbed my hand and guided me to the couch, where I allowed myself a few minutes to zone out and not think. The mental peace was fantastic, but not lasting. I looked down at Lizzie and realized I had so many questions about the little girl that I hadn't asked yet. Id been too distracted by the when to ask about the who.
"Lizzie, how old are you?"
The little girl was entranced by the T.V. but managed to hold up three fingers to me. "This may sound like an odd question, but what's your daddy's name?"
"Daddy."
I couldn't tell if that was a three year old being three or the beginnings of a long life of sarcastic retorts. "Ok, what do I usually call daddy?"
"You call him daddy, too." I cursed my genes. If this girl really was my daughter she appeared to be just like me and answer things literally. That thought paired with a girl claiming me as a parent made me shiver slightly. I decided to take a different direction and determine if this girl really was mine.
"What do I call your father when I'm talking to him and you're probably not supposed to be listening but really are?"
Lizzie scratched her arm and looked up at me with a smaller smile than she had previously been wearing. She spoke quietly, apparently knowing she'd been caught. "Seeley or sometimes Booth."
I was beginning to wonder if I was ever going to find a place to stop. Reviews would be awesome!!
