Ch. 9

I was so confused. I didn't know what to think. Why would Danny bring us here? Obviously, this is where he was staying. But, what people were waiting for us? I was kind of scared. I didn't know what was going on.

We walked up the steps of the porch. I was holding on to Danny's arm tightly. When he noticed, he just looked at me and chuckled some. I knew Danny wouldn't bring me into any danger on purpose. I had no reason to be scared. Emily was walking behind us, bringing up the rear.

Danny didn't even knock. He just walked right in. I was slightly taken aback. To me, this was a stranger's house. It wasn't some place I was just going to walk into like I owned it. I didn't know who lived here besides Danny.

We were standing in the living room. We could smell food cooking coming from the kitchen. It smelt delicious. Just then I realized how hungry I really had been. I didn't eat my whole sandwich from earlier, and it was around dinner time now.

Emily just looked around in amazement. She never really noticed this place, either. I could see why she was in shock. It looked like someone was living here for quite some time. There weren't any pictures of anyone around, so we had to leave it to our imaginations who lived here. By this time, Danny had left my side to go to the kitchen. Emily and I hesitated to follow.

I could hear voices coming from the kitchen. I definitely recognized one as being as Danny's. The others seemed familiar, too, but I couldn't quite place them. Emily started whispering to me.

"Where are we, Ally? Who lives here?"

I shook my head. I had no idea.

"I don't know, Em. Do you think we should follow Danny into the kitchen?"

"No. He would have said something if he wanted us to."

She was right. Danny never really assumed much. He either asked, or said what he wanted.

Emily and I must have looked like complete fools looking around like we were. We were amazed at how homey it had felt in the house. We felt like we could stay there forever.

We didn't realize it, but Danny had walked out of the kitchen. The others were behind him.

"Ehem."

My eyes shot straight to the doorway to the kitchen. My mouth dropped immediately. Emily's hands went over her mouth. We were both in shock. I had started crying. This had to be some sort of dream. Why would they all be sent to my time? I couldn't understand. Then I remembered how Emily had said that people like Ms. Leslie would send whoever through time, to be in the lives of people they were meant to be around.

"Evelyn? Rafe? Red?"

Everyone was smiling at me. Evelyn had tears in her eyes as well. Before I could even begin to move, she ran over to me, and gave me the biggest hug. I finally had my other sister back in my life. I couldn't have been happier. Everyone I had ever cared about was right here in this room. Red and Rafe weren't too far behind her with hugs for me. Nobody had really spoken to Emily. They didn't know her. They were waiting for introductions. Danny just stood beside her and watched the reunion.

Evelyn had gone back in the kitchen real quick to get us all something to drink. Danny, Emily and I all sat on the couch. Rafe had one chair, Red had the other. I couldn't help but notice, Red couldn't keep his eyes off Emily. I think Emily had noticed, too, because she had started blushing. When Evelyn came back in with the drinks, Rafe was the first to speak.

"So, Alyssa, who's your friend?"

Well he was blunt about it. He could have been a little nicer, but that was his way of teasing. I wouldn't have had it any other way.

"This is my other best friend, Emily. Emily that's…"

She cut me off. She knew exactly who everyone was. I had made her watch the movie with me so many times that she could probably recite it word for word just as I could.

"I know. The kind of rude one is Rafe."

We all laughed. Rafe just gave a small smile. He had already liked her. I was glad.

"That's his wife, Evelyn. Wife, right?"

They shook their heads. I was surprised. I thought for sure they would have been married by now.

"Oh, well then fiancé. Sorry."

The both just smiled warmly at her. Then she got to Red.

"And, that's Red. It's very nice to meet all of you. Ally couldn't stop talking about you all after the incident."

I didn't realize it, but I was holding a breath in. I was so relieved when she didn't mention the movie. Why would she? She knew what would happen if they all saw their doppelgangers on TV.

When she said my nickname, everyone looked at her strangely. Not one of them knew that Emily had called me that. I hated it. They could tell by the way I cringed when she said it.

"Dinner's almost ready. Would you girls like to help set everything up?"

Danny gently squeezed my hand. He wanted some time alone with the guys, and I knew Evelyn was anxious for some girl talk. I didn't know how long they had been here, but I intended to find out. Not just that, I knew how her brain worked. She was already planning on setting Emily and Red up. I saw it in her eyes.

Emily and I both nodded. We got up and headed into the kitchen with Evelyn. I also needed to ask Evelyn about her pregnancy. I hoped nothing happened to the baby. I was worried.

As soon as we left the living room, the boys immediately started talking in hushed tones. I wasn't paying any attention to what they were saying, though. I figured it was none of my business. I walked around that kitchen like I had lived there my whole life. I knew how Evelyn liked things set up. I knew exactly where everything was. It was a no brainer. Emily was helping finish dinner, and I was setting the table.

"It's nice to meet you, Emily. Alyssa talked about you quite a bit when she was with us. How are you doing?"

Emily was taken aback by this. She didn't expect Evelyn to open up to her so warmly. It wasn't something she was used to.

"I'm good, thanks. What about you? How's the baby?"

Evelyn gave me a shocked look. I guess she wasn't expecting me to tell anyone about the baby. Why wouldn't I? I didn't think I was ever going to see them again, so I didn't see the harm in it.

Evelyn got over it really quick, though. She gave Emily a big smile, and rubbed her tummy some.

"It survived, if that's what you mean."

She chuckled a little. It? How far along was she? Had she been to the doctor yet? I was concerned.

"Evelyn, have you been to a doctor since you got here? I mean, technology is so far advanced, and you'll be able to see the baby, hear its heartbeat, check if it's healthy, and in a couple months find out what you're having."

She must have not known all of this. She was kind of shocked. I couldn't blame her. She traveled 75 years into the future.

"No, I haven't. Maybe that's a good idea. I want to make sure everything's ok. You know, considering what we've been through. I'll get you to help me with that tomorrow."

I nodded and smiled. It felt like I had never left. It felt like none of us had ever been apart, and it made me even happier that they were including Emily so easily.

"Okay, Ev, I have got to ask. How long have you guys been here?"

Evelyn was standing over the stove, and Emily was sitting in a chair peeling potatoes. They both stopped immediately. Emily was just as curious as I was about it. Evelyn looked like she was unsure of how to answer. That's when she started her story.

"Shortly after Rafe had come home, and you left, we went to bury Danny."

Evelyn had decided to sit down. I could tell this was going to put a strain on her. I didn't want to cause her too much stress because of the baby.

"Rafe wanted to say one final good-bye. Well, as you would know, this is where Danny wanted to be buried. Here, at the farm."

I nodded my head. Of course I knew. We had actually talked about it once before.

"Any way, Rafe decided to open the lid to the casket to see Danny one last time. When he did, Danny wasn't in there. Rafe had started freaking out. That's when we found ourselves here. It was like, a whirlwind, I guess you could say. All of a sudden, there was a paved road in front of the house. Nothing inside had really changed, but everything outside did. When we walked in the house, we found Danny there. We were in shock at first. Danny sat us down, and explained a lot to us."

Emily and I were both shocked. When it happened to me, I was asleep. When it happened to Danny, he was on the brink of death. But, with Evelyn and Rafe, they were completely aware of what was going on. I felt sorry for them.

"I tell you what, though. It's still home. Nothing's changed. We're still in love, we're still happy, there's no war around here for us to worry about, and we have all of our family."

She was right. Those were really the only things that mattered. It didn't matter what time we were in, as long as they had each other.

Emily and I both smiled at her. Neither of us really knew what to say. We just wanted to know how it happened. The only thing I didn't know was how long they were here. I know it was shortly after Danny had gotten out of the hospital, and shortly before he came to find me.

"Now Emily. I have to know. What do you think about Red?"

Emily was blushing beat red. She didn't know what to say. I could tell by the look on her face, though, that she at least thought he was good looking. When we watched the movie she had always said how Red was her favorite. She didn't know much about him beyond that, though. I knew what answer was going to come.

"Well, he's cute, but I don't know him, so I can't give much of an opinion."

Evelyn just smiled. I just rolled my eyes at both of them, and went to help Evelyn at the stove while she and Emily peeled potatoes.

"Well, that's good enough for me. I think you two would be perfect together."

I giggled. Emily was the total opposite of Betty. Emily had dark hair, and green eyes. She wasn't giddy about everything like Betty. She didn't like to wear bright colors, and she was a lot smarter than Betty, too. I don't know what Evelyn had seen, but for her to say that, she must have saw something that I hadn't. Although, I knew Red was interested by the way he looked at her. It was still hard to imagine him being with someone other than Betty. I knew, though, that if anyone could erase that pain, it would be Emily.

After we had finished cooking, I poured glasses of wine for all of us except Evelyn. I wasn't about to let her drink anything. Especially, since she didn't know how the baby was.

I had sat the last glass of wine on the table before I heard Evelyn call out.

"Boys! Dinner's ready!"