Chapter 2 – A Meeting with Dimitri

While their future selves and son were in the kitchen helping themselves to some tea before they were due to talk with Dimitri in prison about the time device, Emmy and the professor were sat in the living room, trying in vain to take in their big news.

"I'm pregnant..." Emmy whispered. "I still can't believe it Hershel." She rested her head on his shoulder.

"I know; it's all very unexpected, isn't it?" he smiled, stroking her hair. If he were to say that he was unhappy with this scenario, he would have been lying. In truth, he was overjoyed to have a son to continue his legacy, his very own little gentleman to carry on after him. He had always wanted children; it was very high up in his list of plans with Claire, after getting married, of course. He already had a wonderful little girl, and now he was going to have a little boy too. He beamed at Emmy. He noticed her terrified expression and gave her a squeeze. "You don't have to worry, my dear," he whispered. "You'll be a wonderful mother. You're a natural when it comes to handling Luke and Flora, and you've got me. We'll be fine."

"It's not that I'm worried about," Emmy sighed. "And I'm not worried about losing it, because, well, Alfendi is in the kitchen fifteen years in the future, but..."

"But?"

"Well... it's going to hurt, isn't it? Childbirth? I heard it's the second most painful thing after a heart attack." Emmy looked down at her feet. "You must think I'm being stupid."

"No, dear." The professor smiled at her. "I know that you of all people will be able to handle it. You've taken many a beating before, and you've been fine."

"Yeah, but this is supposed to be different." Emmy sighed again. "I'm really sorry, Hershel, but you just don't understand."

The professor sighed too. "Well, I may not understand, but all I can say is that I promise to be there at the birth, holding you, comforting you, until the whole ordeal is over. I promise."

"Oh, Hershel..." Emmy smiled. She held him tighter. "I'm sorry. I'm glad that I've got you. Any baby would be lucky to have you as a father." She kissed his mouth and hugged him tighter.

"Just so long as they have you as a mother," the professor replied, kissing her back. "We can do this. I know we can."

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Alfendi was still laughing about Emmy's reaction.

"My God, did you see her face?! It was the end of the world, I tell you!" he laughed.

"Well, you can hardly blame her for that. You know she's scared of pushing your fat head out, and she has every right to be," the other Emmy scolded. "Twelve hours in labour for you to laugh at me every chance you get. You ought to be ashamed."

"Please, you two, we really do have better things to discuss," the other Layton said, exasperated. "We have a few things to clear up before they set out to see Dimitri. Alfendi, my boy, will you go out to the living room and fetch our younger counterparts? I'm sure that they're finished their little heart-to-heart by now."

"Yes, father," Alfendi replied, getting up and heading out the door.

"What things do we have to clear up, uh, Professor?" Flora asked.

"Well, that's one thing we have to sort out; what you're going to call us. You can't really call us 'professor and Emmy' as there are two of each of us, and it would get highly confusing."

"Yeah. And I don't think Emmy would really take too kindly to being called 'little Emmy' either, you know," Flora added.

Bronev laughed. "Yes, me neither, actually. She hates being made out to be small. You know, I think we ought to call the future Emmeline by her full name, Emmeline, and our Emmeline 'Emmy' like you normally do, and that's how we'll distinguish between you two. But as for Layton here..."

"We could always call him 'Mr. Layton'?" Flora suggested.

"Please, anything but that. I would resent being called Mr. Layton by my own daughter, you know."

"What did we call you last time?" Emmeline asked. "Didn't we just call you Hershel?"

"Er... no. That was... well..." he leaned in towards her and whispered, "The other one."

"Oh, yeah," Emmeline replied, clearing her throat. "We just called you Layton?"

"I think so," Layton replied.

Alfendi returned with Emmy and the professor at his heels. Bronev turned to Emmy.

"We've decided to call your older self Emmeline and the older Layton is just Layton. Is that alright?"

"Yes, okay," Emmy replied, sitting beside her older self.

"Well, that's one thing cleared up," Layton said. "But there a few more things I'd like to clarify before we go ahead and begin our investigation of this time machine."

"Oh?" the professor asked.

"No one, under any circumstances, must ask questions about what is going to happen. Otherwise, the consequences may be disastrous. Do you all understand?"

They all nodded.

"We have already told you all as much as we're allowed to about this case. The rest, I'm afraid, is up to you to figure out on your own. The reason for this is because our older selves did not tell us any more than what we have told you fifteen years ago, and so therefore, we cannot tell you any more. Does everyone understand this?"

Everyone else nodded again.

"Good."

"So, who's going to see Dimitri? Because I doubt we'd get away with walking around with our older counterparts without anyone noticing, especially since everyone in London knows who we are," Emmy pointed out.

"An excellent point," Layton agreed, "which is why last time, I went alone, with Bronev. So therefore, you have to go with him." He was referring to his younger self.

"And the rest of us?" Emmy asked.

"Well, what do you think you should do?" Emmeline asked her.

"Well... I think that Celeste may be in a bit of shock, what with discovering that there was a fully-functional time machine in her attic for the last God knows how many years and everything," Emmy said. "I think I should go and see how she is."

"Then that's what you should do," Emmeline smiled. "Layton and I will stay here with the children until you return.

"Alright then, that's settled," the professor decided. "Emmy, would you like a lift to Celeste's place, or would you rather walk?"

"Um... I think I'll walk. I need to clear my head after all this," Emmy smiled, glancing at Alfendi. She turned to Flora and gave her a hug. "I'll see you later," she said, holding her tight. They let go and she, the professor and Bronev headed out the back door.

Flora sat back down at the table and looked at Emmeline. "Uh... I know that I'm not allowed to ask too many questions... but..."

"Ask away, dear. I'll tell you if I'm not allowed to answer," Emmeline smiled.

"Well... if the professor and Emmy have older counterparts, that means I must have one too, right?"

Alfendi smiled. "Yeah."

"But there won't be a future Flora coming here, then?"

"I'm afraid we won't be allowed to tell you that, dear," Layton said.

"Oh, okay. But, can you tell me what happens to me? Because you told the professor and Emmy..."

"Yes, we can tell you bits and pieces," Emmeline smiled. "If you ask the right questions."

"What will I become in the future?"

"You're gonna be a. I.T. detective at Scotland Yard," Alfendi replied. He suddenly looked shocked. "I was allowed to tell her that, right?"

"Don't panic, Alfie, I'm sure it's fine," Emmeline smiled.

Flora suddenly looked excited. "Really? Wow! So, I'm gonna be like McGee out of N.C.I.S.? Or Abbie? That's cool!"

Emmeline smiled. "Yes. But don't forget that you need top results to be able to get into college and do all the courses you need. So you'll need to work really hard at school. Just because it happened in our timeline doesn't mean that it'll just happen out of the blue in yours when you don't do the work and put in the effort required. Do you understand?"

"Yep!" Flora beamed.

Emmeline smiled. "I know you're a hard worker and you will get there. We knew that, didn't we Hershel?"

"Of course," he smiled fondly.

Alfendi smiled too and began to snigger. "I still can't believe how small you used to be, Flora."

Flora frowned. "Huh?"

"Well, in our time, you are a bit bigger than you are now."

Flora suddenly looked angry. "Are you calling my older self fat?"

"No, dear, not at all," Emmeline said, giving Alfendi an odd, confused look. "You'll be a bit taller and you'll have grown up more, that's all. Alfendi here is just too used to seeing you all grown up, is all."

"Oh... okay," Flora said, still unsure if Emmeline was telling the truth.

As he drove trough London to their desired destination, the professor couldn't help but notice that Bronev was giving him odd looks whenever he appeared not to be looking. The atmosphere was tense as they drove on. When they stopped in traffic, the professor turned to Bronev.

"Er... is there a problem, Bronev?" the professor asked.

"Well... you did get my niece pregnant."

"Ah." The professor had been expecting this topic to come up between himself and Bronev. After all, he knew how much Bronev cared for Emmy, and that he had every right to be worried. "Well, I have spoken to Emmy about it, briefly. She seems... afraid of the pain she will endure in childbirth."

"I know. She may put on a brave face, but Emmeline is really not good with pain. I need to know that you will look after her and protect her, no matter what."

"Of course I will," the professor replied. "I love Emmy. And I know that we'll be fine having this baby."

"That reminds me, pull over here," Bronev said, pointing to an empty parking space outside a chemist. The professor did as instructed.

"Go in there and get a pregnancy test," Bronev said firmly. "I don't know if I trust these counterparts of yours. This is the only way that we'll be able to prove if they're truly genuine."

"Er... alright." The professor got out of the car and headed in.

Bronev sighed heavily. He was concerned for his niece's wellbeing. He knew that she still wasn't quite right after what had happened to her, with her father kidnapping her and the Grounds of Rebirth and everything else. "You never know; maybe a baby will fix things," he told himself. "Maybe a bit more responsibility will help her settle down nicely and forget the bad things that have happened to her and help her to concentrate on the good." And yet, Bronev still had a terrible feeling that Emmy was in a worse state than he had previously realised and that a baby might make things ten times worse.

The professor returned with a white paper bag in hand. Bronev nodded.

"Good. We had better get going, then, before the visiting hours end. Oh, and let me do the talking."

Emmy clicked the button on her camera and captured the photograph she desired. The park, full of small children running around, people walking their dogs, new mothers walking with their babies in prams. As she watched, Emmy realised that in a year or two, her own baby boy would be growing up right here in London and would be playing in that very park, from when she would be taking him out for walks to when he would be out playing football with his friends. Emmy smiled fondly. There were so many happy years ahead to look forward to. She just needed to get better first.

Emmy walked on, going up the road towards Celeste's home. She thought about how much Celeste had helped her in the past. "Perhaps if I offload to her over a cup of tea or two, I'll feel better," she thought. She reached the front door and knocked.

She heard someone come forward and answer it. Celeste opened, looking stressed and very confused.

"Celeste, I heard about the machine and everything else—" Emmy began.

"No, you didn't. Not yet."

Emmy frowned. "What—"

"I think you'd better just come in. And brace yourself. I think you may be in for a bit of a shock."

"Please state your name and business," the woman at the reception desk said.

"We are here on behalf of White's funeral directors to see one Dimitri Allen," Bronev replied.

"I'm afraid he was put into solitary confinement for reasons that are strictly confidential," the woman replied, checking her list.

"Please, it's urgent," the professor said. "We—"

"His mother has just died. We would prefer to tell him in person," Bronev interrupted.

The professor just about managed to retain his look of surprise and tried to act as though this cock-and-bull story wasn't news to him.

"Ah," the woman said, looking at them pitifully. "Well, we have exceptions for situations like these. Take a seat in the visiting area and I will send some officers to fetch him immediately."

"Thank you," Bronev said. He turned on his heel and entered the visiting room. The professor quickly followed suit, astonished by how good a liar Bronev really was.

They sat down and watched as two officers passed them by, leaving to go and get Dimitri.

The professor turned to Bronev, frowning. "So, all that about his mother—"

"If we came charging in, demanding that we see Dimitri so that he could finish an incomplete time machine to send the older counterparts of you and your girlfriend back to their own time, we would have been sent to the loony bin in ten minutes flat," Bronev said simply. "And besides; prisons always make exceptions for those with bereavement issues."

The police officers returned with Dimitri in tow. He looked sad as they beckoned him to sit down. As the police officers left them to it, Dimitri frowned at them.

"My mother died fifteen years ago. What do you really want?"

"We've made a discovery in Claire's mother's home that I think you may find shocking," the professor explained. "Allow me to explain..."

"Is everything in order now?" Andrea asked.

"Yes, they are," the woman replied.

"And their older selves came, as you said they would?"

"That they did."

"Good. Everything is in place. Now all we have to do is wait." Andrea smiled. "Emmy Altava, I will have Hershel as my own. I will have my revenge."

"... So the machine actually works?" Dimitri said, looking excited. "My word... and I thought that a fully functional time machine was impossible to build..."

"Not quite, Dimitri," the professor replied. "You see, the machine itself is more of a portal from the future to the past. The machine is not developed enough to actually take someone to another point in time, but it has the properties needed for someone to travel from the future to the past. But if they travelled to the point before the time machine was completed, then they would be trapped, like our older counterparts are now."

"So you and your partner have older counterparts?"

"Yes."

"Hmm... I will need to take a look for myself. I think I have a theory, but I will need to take a good look at the technology of the machine before I can be certain that it works. But how will I get out of prison?"

"That's where my little story comes in," Bronev replied. "I believe we will have to lay low for a few days, in fact, no, a week, and then we will call here and state that you are to attend your mother's funeral. Then I will call on a couple of acquaintances to stage your 'kidnapping'—"

"Wait – you're going to kidnap me?" Dimitri asked, shocked.

"Yes. That way, it's not your fault and you won't get into trouble. And I can ensure that it will not get traced back to us."

"Er... alright," Dimitri said, looking unsure.

"Anyway, a few days after that, we will smuggle you into Celeste's house and you can get to work on that time machine. Alright?"

"Alright. It's a plan."