Far from the large hospital complex of downtown Toronto, he instead found his mother and sister situated in a quaint place not much larger than the average boarding house of his time. It was even furnished in a similar capacity, though clearly from the more recent past, judging by the electronic piano in the parlour room. All in all, it was not what he was expecting and he wondered if he was in the right place.

Shortly after he walked in, however, a kindly looking woman welcomed him back and told him they were upstairs. At the top of the stairs Murdoch took a moment to steel himself one last time before making contact. It would not do for him to lose control over himself unnecessarily.

The third door was slightly ajar and he heard quiet conversation on the other side. Hearing their voices 'in person' caused his stomach to do a somersault and the beginnings of tears in his eyes. Quickly he blinked them away and then knocked in a timid manner, far from certain he was ready for this encounter.

"Yes?" called his mother.

Murdoch pushed the door open to find utter silence as a greeting. His mother stared at him like HE was the ghost and then with a hand to her chest said, "Did you teleport here? I swear we were just talking on the phone!"

He found himself incapable of speech and instead gazed towards Susannah. She was propped up in a comfortable looking bed, with many more pillows than she actually needed, and attached to sensors similar to ones he had seen at Toronto General. The digital journal had told him his sister had struggled on and off again with ovarian cancer...and the spread of that cancer to her lungs and a few other vital organs. Though she had received her initial chemotherapy (he'd had to 'google' that one) at only stage two of the disease and beaten it, it had persistently come back to wreck havoc with her life, with all of their lives. Things had been looking very bleak for the past six months as the cancer had progressed to a terminal stage...but the William of this time had scoured the world for some alternative fix and finally found it in his home country of all places. The treatment was still in the experimental stages and highly risky (two patients had already died from adverse reactions to the aggressive 'cancer cell targeting agents') but Susannah was a strong willed woman and kept on breathing.

Still, knowing all this, he was unprepared for how wasted away she really was. He was strongly reminded of Liza in her last days, and the tears came back with a vengeance. It was all he could do not to make a complete fool of himself.

Susannah smiled slightly. "Look that bad, do I? You're looking pretty haggard yourself, Will." She flashed him some pearly whites that weren't exactly pristine. "Not feeling well?"

And that was the tipping point. Overcome with repressed emotions, he completely broke down, blubbering uncontrollably like an infant, crying like he hadn't done since he discovered his mother's body as a boy.

Mary and Susannah shared a startled and worried look and then his mother got up and embraced him like she used to when he had hurt himself, or Harry had frightened him horribly. She held the back of his head with one hand and rubbed his back with the other, cooing softly. He clutched onto her tightly and focused on gaining his legendary composure back.

Once he quieted down a bit she asked softly, "Honey, what's happened? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he murmured into her fragrant collar, "nothing at all. Everything is wonderful."

Mary held him for a few moments longer and then observed him closer. It was his turn to do so as well. Her hair was styled in a somewhat reminiscent manner to Julia's, except it was much shorter, the fringe was swept to the side instead of straight down like a broom, and it was much, much greyer. There were the usual markings of age around the corners of her eyes and lips and accentuated in her furrowed brow. Her brown eyes were still vibrant and emitted a keen intellect, not unlike his own. Murdoch was certain she could see him for what he truly was - an imposter - but all she did was put a hand to his cheek and kiss his forehead.

"Seriously feeling left out here," said Susannah in the background. They turned to face her. Neither spoke. Exasperated, "Will somebody tell me what the hell is going on?"

Mary glanced at him. Murdoch cleared his throat and said, "I suppose I was just very happy to see you," he caught his mother's eye, "the both of you. It feels like it's been a very long time."

"Okay then..." his sister replied, making a face, which only served to amplify her already gaunt features. "I don't call 3 weeks a 'very long time.' Sounds like a load of BS to me,"- she caught Mary's warning glance- "but whatever you say, Will, whatever you say."

There was an awkward silence. "Now, then," said Mary, clasping her hands together as he was wont to do, "why don't we start a new game of crib?"

Not waiting for a reply from either of them, she simply sat down and began shuffling the cards. The board was on a small portable table meant for invalids, over Susannah's lap. In order for them to all be able to play, Murdoch had to sit across the bed from his mother.

Thankfully this was a game he was familiar with so he managed not to make a further fool of himself that afternoon (with one exception) and even managed to win the first time.

Susannah shook her head in a slow, disappointed manner. "You're supposed to let the sick people win, Will. Common decency."

"I didn't know," he said stupidly, without thinking first. "Please forgive me."

His sister laughed at him when she realized he was in earnest. "Jesus, Will, it's like you took stupid pills before you got here."

"Susie," warned their mother again.

"Anyway," Susannah continued, unabashed, as she clumsily dealt out the well worn cards with fragile hands, "how's work going, Will?" She paused very briefly and not looking at him said, "How's George? You still letting him get away with anything and everything?"

From reading some of the digital journal, Murdoch had surmised that his sister was sweet on his colleague. At least, that's what he assumed 'crush' meant. For the life of him, he couldn't understand the attraction. This George was so cantankerous...so Brackenreid-like. Then again, this Susannah wasn't exactly the reserved and well bred woman he was acquainted with.

"Oh, George is quite fine," he replied, focusing on the cards in his hand. "Even behaving himself better than usual."

Murdoch didn't like to lie, mostly because he was very bad at it, but also because it was considered a minor sin. But in this case it didn't seem prudent to unnecessarily alarm her about George's recent mishap. That would simply lead to a series of questions and increasingly obvious falsehoods.

Susannah caught his eye. "Really?"

"Yes, Susannah, really," he said solemnly.

"Good one, Will!" she laughed. "Glad to see your sense of humour has returned!"

"Shall we begin?" queried their mother.

"Yeah, go on, mom, you can start."

They played in near silence for a few minutes, Mary again taking an early lead.

Out of the blue his sister innocently asked, "Are you secretly in the closet, Will?"

Mary groaned.

"Pardon me?" he replied, completely in the dark.

"It's perfectly fine with me if you are," she continued. "Absolutely no judgement here."

"I'm afraid I still don't understand."

Susannah smirked. "Playing dumb again I see. That just confirms it."

"Your brother is most certainly not gay," said Mary, rather annoyed.

It took Murdoch a moment to process that. He thought of his flamboyant hairstylist and blurted out, "Indeed I am not a homosexual!"

"Well then," she said with an extremely amused glint in her eye, "why the hell am I not an aunt yet?"

Again, it took him a moment to process that. Was she saying what he thought she was saying? Could Julia truly have children in this time?

Composing himself, "I would have thought it obvious, sister. I have yet to wed."

Susannah laughed for awhile until she started to cough. Alarmed, he hastened to aid her in any way he could, but his sister waved him off and quickly regained control of her breathing faculties. Though her voice was now more tired sounding, she looked merry enough. "What does that have to do with anything?"

He blinked dumbfounded.

"Marry Julia if you like, Will, it doesn't matter to me. All I care about are the freaking adorable babies you'll make. Their eyelashes alone would be worth the price of admission to all the fancy private schools in all of Europe!"

Once more he didn't understand this bizarre fascination with his eyelashes.

"Susie, stop pestering your brother like this. He'll have children when he's ready."

Susannah fixated on her instead, with a grin. "Don't pretend like you don't want grandchildren now, mom. I heard you talking about it the other day to dad."

"Eavesdropping are we, Susie? Have you no manners?"

"So you admit it then?" Susie said, grin widening.

Mary flushed ever so slightly. "Of course I would like grandchildren someday, Susie, what parent doesn't? It's a perfectly natural topic to discuss."

"My point exactly." She turned back to Will. "So big brother, what do you say? You gonna take the plunge into fatherhood this century or what?"

Feeling intensely cornered he gulped and said, "I would like that very much, Susie. But first I must get married."

"So when's the wedding?"

Mary groaned.

Later that afternoon when Susannah had required a rest, Murdoch and his mother went for a walk along the beach near the facility.

"I'm glad she seems in good spirits," he said.

"Yes, she is very good at pretending to be fine." She cast a sideways glance at him. "Not unlike someone else I know." He felt like fidgeting under her piercing scrutiny but restrained himself. "Still not ready to tell me what this is all about? Why you are here?"

"I simply desired to see you," he responded truthfully.

"That's very sweet, honey, but that doesn't explain your behaviour in the slightest." They walked for a minute along the shoreline, watching as some laughing children shrieked as they braved the cold water.

Exasperated, "Why won't you tell me what's wrong? You've never had a problem confiding in me before." She placed a hand to his forearm. "I'm worried about you. I'm worried you're headed for another mental collapse."

Murdoch pulled his red scarf closer against the chilly Pacific breeze. "I don't blame myself for her death any longer."

This was also true. The William of this time had said as much about Sally in the journal.

"I'm very proud of you. That was a big step to take." A short pause. "If this isn't about Sally...is it about Julia? Did you two have a falling out?"

"Yes."

"Did you break up?"

"I'm not sure...it's complicated."

"It always is with you," she said with a soft smile. "Will you be able to fix it?"

"Perhaps," he said hesitatingly.

"But?"

"But I'm unsure if it is my place to do so."

Mary gave him a confused look. "If not yours, than who's? She's your girlfriend isn't she?" They shared a look again and he was again certain she could see right through him.

She patted him on the back. "Funny how you can be so confident in the boardroom, but as soon as your heart is involved, it's as though you revert back to that gawky teenager in braces, that shy child that couldn't even talk to girls." He felt embarrassed because that was still a good description of him to this day. "You'll be fine, Will. Just be open and honest about whatever it is that has caused this rift and everything will be all right."

Somehow he doubted this very much.