Chapter 5: Epilogue
A/N: I've had this idea for a while and decided to write a bit of an epilogue to the first few chapters. It's a little bit longer than the other chapters, but I hope you enjoy it.
15 Years Later: Tuesday April 26, 2039
Two full days with parent teacher conferences towards the end of the school year to make sure students were on track to go to the next grade offered the perfect opportunity for Cyd, Shelby, Daisy, Naldo, James, and Barry to get together with their families to celebrate the fact that it wasn't a sad day. The families having their own businesses and being able to take whatever time they wanted off made it even more simple to have a backyard barbeque – not that it was uncommon for the families considering they all shared a backyard.
"Why are having a barbeque today?" Lydia, Shelby and James' daughter, who was 13, asked. She looked to her parents as she was in the kitchen helping them get a few things taken care of for the night.
"We're celebrating something," James explained to his daughter.
"What are we celebrating?" she asked.
"We'll tell you when you're a little older," Shelby replied.
"How much older? You keep saying I have to wait until I'm older for everything."
"Just a couple years, we promise," James said.
"Okay," Lydia agreed, looking out the window to the backyard where she saw Mason, Cyd and Naldo's son and her best friend since birth. He smiled and waved to her. "Can I go outside since Mason's out there?"
"Yes. Just don't you get into trouble," Shelby warned. "Mason always seems to encourage that."
"Just like Cyd always did with you," James said.
"Shhh," Shelby turned and playfully shushed him. James only smiled and pulled Shelby in for a kiss.
"Eww. Gross. PDA Mom and Dad," Lydia exclaimed before going out the back slider door to meet Mason.
The couple laughed while they watched their daughter go meet Mason as their sons came running into the kitchen.
"I just saw Lydia go outside! Can we go outside too?" their older son, Hudson, who was 10, asked. His younger brother, Brayden, who was 4, followed him.
James looked to Shelby and they shared a conversation without words. "Sure," James answered his sons. "Go ahead and just stay out of trouble. Hud, you're in charge of making sure Brayden doesn't himself hurt more than the usual falling and scraping his hands and knees. And no pushing him or anything, please."
"Okay, Dad," Hudson agreed. "Brayden, c'mon, let's go outside. Maybe Tucker and Simon will be outside too.
"If all of them are outside, we better get out there too," Shelby said to James. He hummed in agreement. They finished taking care of the last couple things they needed to in the kitchen and headed outside where they found Daisy watching all the kids.
"We were worried about the trouble they might all get in," James spoke to Daisy.
"So was I," Daisy said. "Simon, Tucker, and Brayden all seem to have that effect on each other. I feel bad for their teacher next year since all three of them will be in the same grade together."
"For their sake, we can only hope they end up in different classes," Shelby said.
"Well, it's kind of like with Grace, Cora, and Hudson, except they're a bit more controlled than our boys are," James said.
"Yeah," Daisy agreed.
Shelby and James went to get their own chairs to sit with Daisy where they waited for Barry, Cyd, and Naldo to join them. It was only a few minutes before the missing half of the group brought chairs out to join them. Cyd sat down next to Shelby and turned to her.
"I'm glad you're here," she spoke quietly to her best friend so only Shelby could hear what she said.
"I know," Shelby replied.
"I can't imagine going through these last 15 years without you. I know Mason wasn't the age he is this time around then, but I can't imagine him growing up without Lydia as his best friend."
"Neither can I," Shelby agreed. "But I guess the parent teacher conferences explains why the kids weren't in school then. Even though they were a lot younger than they are now in that timeline."
"Yeah," Cyd agreed. "And I guess like with that timeline, we would have taken the days off for the kids and you." They fell into a silence as they watched their kids running around and playing together. After a couple minutes of silence, Cyd turned to Shelby, "You're my best friend and I can't imagine living life without you. You're the best friend I've ever had."
"I love you too," Shelby replied, knowing that Cyd still found it hard to relay her feelings to others. They leaned over to share a hug before continuing to watch the kids running around the yard. Though Lydia had begun to play games with her siblings and best friends less after her 13th birthday because she was a teenager and thought she needed to 'grow up', she too was running around the yard for a game of tag the kids were playing.
"You'll never catch me, Tuck!" Mason exclaimed to his younger brother, Tucker, who was 5.
"Don't need to," he replied, tapping Simon, Daisy and Barry's youngest who was the same age as him, on the shoulder.
Simon turned to his right where he found his older sister, Grace, who was 10, less than a foot away and tapped her wrist. The game continued until they were all out of breath and decided to sit down for a rest by their parents.
"Do you kids want me to go inside and get some drinks?" James asked when the kids all lay in the grass trying to catch their breaths.
The general consensus from the 8 kids was that they wanted drinks. James got up and headed inside. He returned a minute later with a small water bottle for each kid. "Thank you," they all replied.
"You're welcome." James returned to sit beside Shelby and put his hand over hers. He leaned over to give her a quick kiss on the cheek, causing her to smile. After a couple minutes of comfortable silence, the kids had all finished their waters and were ready to start playing games again. There were a few yard games in their garages that they all retrieved and started to set up. Teams were divided and a couple tournaments began.
Around the time all the games in the tournament were ending, it was time to get the food on the grill. All the adults took turns watching the food and getting what they wanted on the rather large grill they had collectively invested in for times like that.
A little while later, the three families were sitting down together at a couple picnic tables in their backyards to eat.
"So, what's this party thing for?" Hudson asked. "It's a Tuesday and we have school tomorrow and you have to work."
"Well," Shelby began. "Something really bad almost happened 15 years ago today. Since you kids don't have school today, we're taking advantage of that and celebrating that everything is okay now."
"All right," he agreed, accepting the answer. Lydia, on the other hand, was more skeptical about the answer she had gotten earlier and the one her parents had now given her younger brother. She thought she'd try asking again later when her brothers had gone to their room for bed since she could stay up a little later than they could.
After dinner, the kids ran around for a little while longer before each family returned to their own home to make sure the kids were bathed or showered for school the following day. Everyone had made sure that all homework that was due on Wednesday was already done during the weekend so there would be no need to worry about it on Tuesday night.
Lydia had taken to showing in the morning and hadn't run around to get quite as hot and bothered as her brothers had, so she would still be able to sleep comfortably. She was sitting in the living room when Shelby and James came back downstairs after getting Hudson and Brayden to bed.
"Hey, sweetheart," Shelby greeted.
"What are you watching?" James asked.
"Just reruns of Wizards of Waverly Place," Lydia replied.
James laughed. "That was a show from when we were kids. It's still on Disney?"
"Dad, you've watched it with me before at night."
"Yeah, it was last week that it was on," Shelby commented.
"Right," James replied. He went over to the couch and sat down beside Lydia while putting his arm around her shoulders. Shelby sat down on the opposite side of Lydia while they three of them watched Wizards for a few minutes before it got to a commercial.
"So why did we have the barbeque today? I know you told Hudson and Brayden that it's because something bad that was supposed to happen didn't happen 15 years ago today. But what was it?"
"We can't tell you yet," Shelby answered.
"Why not?"
"We'll tell you in a couple years, okay?" James asked.
"Okay," Lydia agreed.
2 Years Later
For a couple years, Mason and Lydia had voted to each have a small party with a couple friends on their own birthdays. Usually it was a couple close friends over for pizza and a movie on a Friday night, but then a bigger party between their birthdays, which were just 2 months and a couple days apart.
Lydia's birthday fell first and Mason's the two months later. The Saturday after his 15th birthday and the small party the night before, the six younger kids were all over at Barry and Daisy's house and were having a sleep-over so Cyd, Naldo, Shelby, and James could talk to Lydia and Mason without their younger kids overhearing anything.
"Mom, Dad, why are the six of us here to have a—a talk did you say?" Lydia asked when she, Mason, Cyd, Naldo, Shelby, and James sat down in their living room.
"We already had the talk at school. You don't need to try and give it to us as well," Mason said.
"No, this is something else, Mase," Cyd said.
"Do you remember that barbeque we had a couple years ago that you kept asking about, Lydia?" Shelby asked.
"Yeah," she replied.
"We can tell you about it now," Shelby explained. She took a deep breath to begin explaining. "When we were your age, 15 and freshmen in high school, we became time travelers through an accidental experiment in Barry's lab."
"At first, it was just Shelbs and I, but then Naldo and Barry got the ability in the midst of one of our time traveling adventures."
"Daisy's actually from the 1500s," Shelby continued. "It was while we were returning her to her time when we didn't know she was supposed to be here that Barry and Naldo got the power to time travel."
"Then, when we were seniors in high school, we jumped 20 years into the future to see what our lives were like," Shelby said.
"Shelbs," Cyd caught her attention. "Let me take it from here." Shelby nodded. "When we jumped to 20 years in the future, it was the day we had that barbeque, except we weren't having a barbeque. In that time line, it was the 15 year anniversary of a car accident that ended up killing Shelby. So, we worked out how to prevent it."
"Mom, is that true?" Lydia asked.
"Yes," Shelby answered. "In that timeline, Cyd and Naldo had saved a copy of my obituary and we actually still have it if you want proof."
"No," Mason said. "I—I can tell you're telling the truth and I think Lydia can too." She nodded in agreement.
"Dad, so what happened to you? Were you a widower?"
"We hadn't gotten married yet," Shelby said. "Cyd, Daisy, and I still had an apartment together."
"So, how'd you stop it from happening?" Mason asked.
"Wait, what happened with the accident. How'd it happen?" Lydia asked. "I've hardly ever seen you go more than 5 miles an hour over the speed limit."
"It was a drunk driver," James answered. "Head on crash because he was speeding and swerving to the other side of the double yellow.
"So, if that timeline had continued, Hudson, Brayden, and I wouldn't be here," Lydia said.
"How'd you stop it?" Mason asked again.
"We went to the bar he was supposed to be in and figured out how to stop him driving. A friend of his had taken his keys, but he hid a spare on his car. When we found that out, we jumped back and stole the spare so he couldn't drive," Cyd explained.
"Then we returned it the following day before he ever knew it was gone," Shelby finished.
"Well, other than when he was drunk, but the friend he was with probably thought he was delusional while drunk."
"Whatever happened to him then?" Lydia asked.
"A couple years later there was a news article about him running off the road and crashing into a tree because he was driving drunk. He died in the hospital a couple days later," James explained. "And it probably sounds bad that we didn't go back and stop that from happening, but—"
"Dad, I understand. You don't need to say anything more. He wasn't going to learn his lesson because he wouldn't know what was changed and he could have hurt someone else next time if you changed it. Some people will never change."
"Then that's all we had to tell you," Naldo said, standing and thus prompting everyone else to do the same.
"That may be all you had to tell us, but we're not done here," Lydia began. She turned to Shelby and embraced her in a hug. "I love you, Mom." Shelby wrapped her arms around Lydia and held onto her while resting her chin on top of Lydia's head. The two hugged for a couple minutes before they broke apart.
"Uh, Shelby. I don't think you two noticed it, but there was a little glow of tachyons around you when you hugged," Naldo spoke.
"What?" Lydia asked, looking to Naldo with a confused expression on her face. "What are tachyons and why does that word sound familiar? Mason?"
"I don't know what tachyons are, but there was a yellow glow like Dad said," Mason replied.
"Barry has always been better at explaining these things that I am," James said. "But tachyons have something to do with time travel and whenever any of us time travel, there's either some tachyons left behind or they dissipate really quickly."
There were a few seconds of silence that followed before Lydia spoke. "Wait, does—does that mean that I could time travel too?"
"We could see," Shelby spoke. "When do you want to go?"
"Your high school graduation."
"That's probably not the best place to go," James spoke.
"Everyone still sees you even if you go outside your life time, so you'd either have to hide in the crowd or appear with my class during graduation," Shelby explained.
"What about your graduation party. Like before or after it?" Lydia asked.
"You could try going to right before it while Cyd and I were still getting ready," Shelby suggested. "That is, if it would work."
"Okay." Lydia and Shelby embraced each other in a hug once again. Like every time Cyd and Shelby time traveled, the two were enveloped in a small yellow glow before they disappeared.
"Mom! Your room looks just like I always thought it would from the pictures," Lydia spoke when she found herself in Cyd and Shelby's room. "Aunt Cyd's side is really her."
"Yes, it is," Shelby laughed, looking around the room and reminiscing on the time she and Cyd had spent sharing the room.
Lydia laughed. "You can tell exactly whose side is whose. There's like a line down the middle," she said, stepping to the side on motioning to the separation between clean and the dirty as well the separation of the color scheme in the room. "I'm glad I was able to see this in person," Lydia said. She and Shelby hugged once again and returned to the moment they had left.
"Since that works, doesn't that mean that Mase and I should be able to time travel together?"
"And what about Lydia and I? Could we time travel together just the two of us?" Mason asked.
"I guess that's something you could try," Cyd said. "Whenever any of us have time traveled before though, Shelby and I always have to be going," she explained.
"I'm up for it," Lydia said to Mason.
"Mom, Dad?" Mason turned to Cyd and Naldo as well as Shelby and James.
The four adults shared a look and realized there wasn't anything they could do to stop Lydia and Mason from seeing if they could time travel together. It would be better if they knew and could all be aware of it rather than them trying to do so behind their backs without any idea of what was going on. "Sure," Cyd answered after a minute.
Being best friends their whole life, it wasn't weird for Mason and Lydia to hug. They had walked into their first day of kindergarten holding hands for the moral support their best friend since birth had given them. They shared a few words to figure out where they wanted to try and jump to—quietly so their parents wouldn't know—and embraced each other in a hug. A small yellow glow enveloped them as it always had their parents.
"Their high school graduation," Mason laughed.
"Well, everyone except my dad's because Mom and Dad didn't know each other until college," Lydia said.
"Yeah," Mason agreed. The two had time jumped into the auditorium where graduation was taking place and took a couple seats in the back and shadows so they would just look like underclassmen at their upperclassmen friends' graduation. In all the chaos of getting everyone seated, no one had noticed the two appear there.
They sat and watched as the graduates filled in to the sound of 'Pomp and Circumstance' a little while later. The two quietly pointed out their parents as well as Barry and Daisy when they saw them walk in.
A little while into the graduation ceremony, the principal invited the valedictorian, Barry Eisenberg, to the stage. "It's Uncle Barry," Mason commented.
"Are you surprised?"
"Not really."
"I'm not really a speech making person," Barry began his speech. "Though if one of my inventions ever wins me an award or something, I'll be sure to give one. But that's not what we're here to talk about tonight. I've had a lot of help from my friends to write this speech because I'm not one to get emotional about this as I'm sure many of my fellow classmates know. So, I have to thank my best friends Cyd, Shelby, Naldo, and my girlfriend, Daisy, for helping me with this before I go any farther." Mason and Lydia lightly nudged each other as Barry began the rest of his speech talking about the challenges they faced in high school and how they were going to be starting a new chapter in their lives while they closed the one of high school. "It is now my pleasure to welcome my friend Naldo Montoya up here as our class elected speaker." Applause broke out for Barry's speech and to welcome Naldo up on stage.
"Hi everyone," Naldo began when he made it to stage and had set his speech down on the podium. "I know some of you, unlike me, have been in the West Portland school system and it might seem like the end to leave the friends you've known your whole life, but it's not the end. It's a beginning. Since I moved and transferred schools, I've made some of the best friends I could ever have. This goodbye or see you later, opens the door for many more hellos with the people we will meet in college and our future work places." Naldo's speech continued on a more heartfelt side than Barry's had, especially since he was the one of the two friends who was the most in touch with his feelings and the feelings of others. "It has been an honor to get to know you all over the past 9 years. Congratulations class of 2019." Naldo finished before stepping down from the stage.
Once Naldo took his seat again, the principal and vice principal stepped up to the stage to begin calling off the names of the graduates. Lydia and Mason made sure they clapped extra loud for the five who would be the most important adults in their lives. At the end of the graduation, when chaos once again ensued while everyone tried to leave, Lydia and Mason hugged to return to their present.
"So, where'd you go?" Cyd asked.
"Your high school graduation," Mason replied. "It was fun to see you when you were kids."
"Well, except for you, Dad. Because you didn't meet Mom until college," Lydia added. "Maybe we should jump to Dad's high school graduation next."
"That would be fun. We could watch all of you graduate. How many kids can say they saw their parents graduate high school," Mason spoke. "Wait, do our grandparents know about the time travel stuff?"
"We never told them," Shelby answered. "We never really had any reason to. And don't tell your younger siblings. We were 15 when we got the power and started everything with time travel, so we figured when you were all 15, you could know."
"We just thought we'd tell you together," Cyd began. "Which is why you didn't find out a few months ago, Lydia. And why we just waited until after Mason's birthday to tell you."
"I think I prefer it this way anyway. I'd hate to have to keep time travel a secret from him."
"And we'll keep it our secret until you tell our younger siblings about it," Lydia said.
"And cousins," Mason added, referring to Grace and Simon who were his cousins through Daisy's adoption as Naldo's sister.
The following day, Barry was informed that Lydia and Mason could time travel just the two of them the same way Cyd and Shelby had always been able to do. He had many notes stored away about time travel and he added that to them. While he hadn't expected the kids to inherit the time traveling abilities of their parents, it was interesting to know that it was passed down the way it was. In a couple years, when the next set of kids who were the same age found out, he would make more notes of it.
3 Years Later
After Hudson, Grace, and Cora had all had their 15th birthday, Mason and Lydia, who were dating and had been for about two years, offered to watch the youngest three while their parents, Barry, and Daisy talked to the former three about time travel. The trio had fun learning of their time travel abilities. They had the same results as Mason and Lydia did where any two of them could time travel with the others.
They had first jumped with all three of them, back to their first day of high school. Then, when that had worked, Barry had asked them to try over again to see if just two of them could jump without the third. When it had worked on all counts, Barry had made those notes in his notebook and added on to the ones about Mason and Lydia. All the kids had the whole abilities like Cyd and Shelby had to begin with and similar to what Barry, Naldo, Daisy and eventually James had been able to do.
5 ½ years later
Like their older siblings who were the same age and in the same grade had been, Simon, Tucker, and Brayden were best friends. Even when they had ended up in different classes throughout school because they tended to get into more trouble when they put their minds together, they were always together whenever else they could be. Even though Brayden was several months younger than Tucker and Simon were, Barry, Daisy, Naldo, Cyd, Shelby, and James decided they'd wait until after Brayden's 15th birthday to tell the three of them together about time travel and the likely powers they had because of it.
In the same way Lydia hadn't minded waiting a little while longer to find out about time travel so Mason could find out with her. Tucker and Simon hadn't minded waiting a little longer so they didn't have to keep the secret from Brayden. They were excited to get to be able to go on time travel adventures and see things, like their siblings had, that had happened before they were born.
Over the 9 years since Lydia and Mason had been told about time travel and the discovery their parents had made regarding it, they had helped keep track of different info the same way Barry had. Outside their work, their parents had done more research which the kids had all helped with once they found out.
Simon, Tucker, and Brayden were then welcomed into the whole knowledge of the secret together. Everyone within the families knowing the secret made it easier on everyone who had known the longest because they were no longer keeping the secret from anyone.
CHCHCH
The research continued even when all the kids were moved out because there was still more research that could be done. Lydia and Mason had gotten married soon after they finished college and had been married when their youngest siblings found out about time travel. When they had kids, there were questions about whether or not their kids would be time travelers or not. But, they and their parents decided that it would be a bridge for them to cross when they got there.
When Lydia and Mason's daughter was born, Shelby was beyond excited that she and Cyd were co-grandmas like she had always dreamed they could be. "You are my favorite weirdo," Cyd spoke to Shelby when they visited the hospital together to meet their granddaughter while Naldo and James were busy. The two shared a hug in the hospital hallway before going by Lydia. Mason was out of the room so the three sat for a little while, and it wasn't much later that Cyd and Shelby met Emma. She had Cyd's dark hair that Mason had inherited and Shelby's bright blue eyes that Lydia had as well.
Life for the growing three families was getting more interesting even though they thought they had everything about time travel figured out. There was never a dull day for them in their lives.
A/N: One of the obvious changes in this timeline from the one that Cyd and Shelby originally visited is the different ages of the kids. Their ages are changed because those who were left behind weren't all going through the pain of losing one of their best friends so didn't wait as long as they did the first time around to have kids.
In the first part with the barabeque, these are the ages of the kids and who their parents were: Shelby and James: Lydia-13, Hudson-10, Brayden-4; Naldo and Cyd: Mason-13, Cora-10, Tucker-5; Barry and Daisy: Grace- 10, Simon- 5.
From there and the different time skips the ages are these if anyone wants to keep track of them: 2 Years Later: Lydia and Madon-15; Hudson, Cora, Grace-12; Simon and Tucker-7; Brayden-6. 3 Years Later: Lydia and Mason- 18; Hudson, Cora, and Grace-15; Simon and Tucker-10; Brayden-9. 5 ½ Years Later: Lydia and Mason-23 ½; Hudson, Cora, and Grace-20 ½; Simon and Tucker-15 ½; Brayden-15.
I hope everyone enjoyed the epilogue and the insight to the future of their lives after preventing the accident. I'd love to know what you thought or how I could improve in my writing. Thanks for reading,
-CrazyHayniac