Chapter 1: Homecoming

"We're home!" Jim called into the entrance of the Benbow Inn.

"Jim, a little help?" Alice called from outside, carrying two huge suitcases.

"Sorry honey," he apologized, taking hold of both suitcases with ease. His wife smiled. They walked into the inn at the exact moment Jim's mother walked around the corner with trays of food. Her face lit up when she saw the couple. She set down the trays and ran over to hug her son and her new daughter-in-law. When she finally broke both hugs, she said, "I wasn't expecting you two home so soon."

Jim laughed. "We've been gone for two whole weeks, Mom."

Sarah looked surprised. "Has it really been that long? I guess time does work in mysterious ways." They all started to laugh at the inside joke of the family. Just then, B.E.N. came out of the kitchen screaming and flailing is robotic arms in the air.

"B.E.N. what's wrong?" Jim asked as he took hold of the robot to calm him down.

"That crazy cyborg is going to kill me Jimmy!" he replied, panicked.

"Cyborg?" Then it clicked. "Silver!" Jim dropped the bags and ran into the kitchen hoping that the rumor was true. It was. Silver stood at the stove, his back to Jim. He was wearing a long dirty apron over his old baggy clothes that covered his robotic leg. Silver's mechanic arm was chopping away at some vegetables when he turned around and saw his old friend.

"Jimbo!" he exclaimed, opening his arms wide for a big hug. Jim gladly gave him a long bear hug.

"What are you doing here, Silver?" he asked curiously.

The half robot smiled. "I missed ye' Jimbo, so I came ter' visit ye', but ye' were still on yer' honeymoon when I got here. So I asked yer' mother if I could help around the inn."

Jim was thrilled. His good friend and father figure that he hadn't seen in five years had come back into his life. "I'm so glad you're here," he said to Silver.

"Me too, Jimbo," Silver smiled. "So when do I get to meet the lass?" Jim blushed and led the half robot out of the kitchen to where his beautiful bride was still talking to his mother.

"Silver," Jim said as he approached the women. "This is my wife, Alice." The brunette looked up and her big, blue eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

"You're John Silver! It's so nice to finally meet you! I've read so many great things about you and Jim has told me about your adventures. Wow this is so exciting!" she exclaimed, excitedly shaking the cyborge's normal hand.

Silver looked at Jim frightened. Jim laughed and explained, "Alice has read things about us because she's from the future. Two years ago, I came across another one of those portals, but it was a time portal. When I went through it, I met Alice and asked her if she wanted to come back to our time and she agreed. We've been together ever since." He smiled as he put his arm around his wife.

Silver looked at Jim confused. "If she's from the future, wouldn't that mess up the whole time space continuum or something of that nature?"

Jim was quick to answer, "We fixed that a few days after she got here. We had to go to Father Time to ask for his help. It's kind of a long story, but in the end, the universe was on our side and let us be together."

Silver smiled happily at the couple. "Well that's just the cutest darned thing I ever did hear." Just then, smoke started coming from the kitchen. Silver ran back into the kitchen and called for B.E.N. to help him.

"I don't want to go back in there Jimmy," the robot begged. "He almost chopped my whole arm off no more than five minutes ago!"

Jim chuckled. "You'll be fine B.E.N." He patted the robot's back and turned back to his wife. "We should probably go unpack now so we can eat dinner before it gets cold." She nodded in agreement as they headed upstairs for Jim's old room.

As soon as they walked into the old bedroom, a pink blob was licking their faces and squealing with delight. Jim propped their bags on the bed and took hold of the blob with his hands. "I missed you, Morph!"

Morph chirped, "Me too! Me too!" and then squirmed over to play with Alice.

She laughed and said, "I missed you too, Morph." Morph seemed satisfied and went back to Jim's shoulder.

"You haven't been causing trouble while we've been gone have you?" Jim asked.

Morph giggled and chirped as he communicated the kind of mischief that he had participated in.

"You put what in Silver's soup?" Alice persisted.

Morph transformed, showing them that he put B.E.N.'s old oil in Silver's soup. Jim laughed out loud and Alice gave him a look that shut him up.

"Morph, that was not very nice. Did you apologize to Silver?" Alice said to the blob. Morph looked down and shook his head. "Well then go say you're sorry. And don't do it again, okay?"

Morph chirped and floated out the door. "Oh come on, that was pretty funny," Jim said chuckling.

Alice looked back at him frowning, but then started to laugh as well. "Okay, okay it was a little funny," she said as she kissed his cheek. She then went over to the bed and started to unpack her things. Jim couldn't help but notice her pink, silk nightgown that she had worn a few times on the trip.

"Did I ever tell you how great that nightgown looks on you?" he flirted.

She blushed and replied playfully, "No, actually, you never did even though I wore it five times." She put it in what was now her dresser and continued to unpack. Jim got up and hugged her behind her waist, putting his head on her shoulder.

"I was a little distracted," he said as he kissed her neck.

"Jim," she giggled. "Do you want a cold dinner?" she reminded him.

He sighed, "No." He then started unpacking his bag as well.

When they walked down the stairs, they were greeted by a few more familiar faces.

"Hello there Jim!" Dr. Doppler waved. "Alice, you look lovely, as always," he commented.

Alice smiled, "Thank you, Doctor."

"Hey Doc.," Jim responded with a grin. He was glad to see his old friend. Amelia than walked up with her four toddlers, who were running around the room. As soon as they saw Alice, they rushed into her arms.

"Alice!" they screamed, "We missed you!"

Alice laughed and replied, "I missed you too, little ones." Jim smiled as he watched Alice play with the children. He walked over to the table with the doctor and his wife.

"So how was the honeymoon?" the doctor asked with a wink.

Jim laughed and replied, "It was amazing."

Amelia then jumped into the conversation. "Well you won't have to unpack anytime soon."

Jim looked at her confused. "What do you mean?"

She answered his question quickly. "You are to report to the I.S.U. tomorrow for your first assignment. They are in need of a great captain for this mission, so I recommended you. I know that new graduates are supposed to wait a year before they are supposed to sail, but you are an exception since you have the most experience sailing through space."

Jim thought to himself for a moment. This is the chance he had been waiting for ever since he had graduated from the academy three months ago. He then looked at his wife, who had overheard the conversation. 'How long will you be gone?' was the question on her face.

'I don't know,' was his silent reply. He turned back to his former captain. "How long until I leave?"

She responded as if she had planned the conversation in her head. "You will report tomorrow morning at ten o'clock. They will give you the papers needed to organize your ship and crew. You will leave in approximately one week, if everything goes smoothly."

Jim turned to look at Alice again, but she was already sitting next to him, leaving Morph to play with the children. "How long will he be gone?" she asked, hoping to finally get an answer.

"The I.S.U. is estimating around four to six months," Amelia replied.

Jim took Alice's hand, "We'll be okay for that long right?" She smiled sadly and nodded, but he could see the pain in her eyes. He knew exactly what she was thinking but he couldn't bring up her family in front of their guests.

As if on cue, Silver and B.E.N. then came out with six steaming plates of different entrees. Sarah followed with four smaller plates of food for the children. The families all sat down and ate their delicious dinners until they were completely stuffed.

A few hours of card games and story telling passed when the doctor and captain had finally left with their sleepy children. Sarah and Silver had each gone up to their rooms after they finished cleaning up. Everyone was asleep in the house except for two people.

"Alice, I can't turn down an assignment like this," Jim said frustrated.

"Couldn't you postpone it for a while?" Alice pleaded.

"Why?"

"You know why!" she almost yelled.

"Alice," Jim sighed. "You have nothing to be afraid of-"

"Nothing to be afraid of?" she started. "Did you forget that my parents died while in space? How I lost everyone I loved because they wanted to sail through space and they never came home? What if you never come home? What if I end up watching you sail away with pirates through the hole in the side of a barrel just like I did with my parents? I can't live through that again! I can barely stand living without them every day and the only thing keeping me alive is you! If you die, I won't be able to live anymore. That's what I'm afraid of, losing you." She sat down in the chair closest to her and wiped her tears.

Jim thought for a moment. How was he going to convince her that he would come back? He knew about the pain that she had gone through, living as an orphan, trying to survive on her own. He thought about his own family and how his mother raised him herself because his father was never there. Even though she wouldn't be raising a child, he still couldn't put her through the pain of losing her husband. "You're not going to lose me," he said.

"You can't guarantee that," she replied, avoiding his eyes.

He knelt down in front of her and lifted her face toward his. "Alice Elizabeth Hawkins," he began with her new full name. "The last two years with you have been the best two years of my life. Before I met you, I thought I had everything I wanted. But when I fell in front of you at that party, I knew right then that you were the one I would spend the rest of my life with. I know that we both have rough pasts, but I promised you from day one that I was going to change all of that for both of us. I'm not breaking that promise anytime soon. The life we have together isn't going to end in the next six months, I can promise you that. I have something to come home to that my father never realized he had. I have my other half that I will love for the rest of eternity waiting for me to return and that is what is going to keep me alive. I swear to you that I will always come home to you, no matter what."

Alice couldn't stop the sobs from escaping as she buried her face in her hands. Jim scooted closer to his bride and gently pulled her hands away from her face. He started to help her wipe away her tears as she concentrated calming herself down. When she finally stopped shaking, Jim felt safe enough to continue.

"Alice," he said as he took her face in his hands, "I love you with all of my heart and I will never leave you alone. I promise." He then kissed her lovingly, tasting the salty tears on her lips. She put her arms around his neck and pulled herself closer to him while she kissed him back. He moved his hands from her face down to her waist, and in one fluid motion, without breaking the kiss, he bent down, picked her up bridal style and carried her up to their bedroom.