Asa sat at one of the tables writing down a few quick notes for his conversation with his grandparents. He didn't think the notes would help but he was trying to keep his mind off of the conversation that was coming. Detective Stone had given him the rest of the day off and now he was just waiting for the Scotts to arrive.
He looked at his watch. They'd be there in five minutes. He put his pen down and sat back in his seat. He still wasn't sure how to tell them the news that he was their grandson. He was sure they wouldn't believe him.
"Excuse me?" A voice said from behind him. He turned around to see his grandparents standing behind him. He hadn't even noticed them enter.
Asa stood up. "Hi." He said. "I'm off work."
"Let's go outside. There's a bench not far from here," Jacob said.
Asa nodded. It wasn't too secluded but it would have to do.
They walked out of the building. They walked over to a park bench and Asa was glad to see no one was around. The Scotts sat down while Asa chose to stand.
"Who are you?" Jacob asked
Asa decided to just come out and say it. "I know this is going to be hard to believe," Asa started, "I'm not Jason," he said. He saw his Grandmother's face start to crumble. "I'm his son from the future Asa."
"What?" Jacob and Elizabeth asked at the same time.
"That's why I look like him," Asa explained. "I'm his son. Your Grandson."
"That's really hard to believe," Jacob said.
"I know it is. I'm not sure how to make you believe me but…" he thought for a moment. "Wait I can tell you something only you and he would know. When he was six years old he got lost in the woods during a camping trip. He had his dog Comet with him and Comet led him back to the campsite."
Jacob and Elizabeth exchanged looks. They hadn't told anyone about that. The only other people who knew were the park rangers.
"How did you know that?" Jacob asked.
"My grandparents told me that many times," he said, "Dad would get so embarrassed by the story. It sort of became a joke whenever we went camping." He said.
Elizabeth smiled remembering that coming up any time they went camping or if Jason went camping with his friends.
Jacob was a little more hesitant to believe that. Asa looked just like Jason but he wondered partly if it was a trick. He had heard stories about people pretending to be a lost one returning to his family. "I'm still not convinced," Jacob said.
Something appeared in Asa's hands suddenly. He grinned inwardly. Someone was watching out for him. He looked at it before giving it to Jacob. It was a picture of Asa taken a few years ago with his parents, grandparents, and his little sister Olivia. There was a date stamped on the back and his mother's handwriting saying Olivia's fourth birthday party.
"See these are my parents," Asa said pointing at Jason and Emily. "And this is me and my sister Olivia and that's you," he said with a smile.
"How did that picture appear?" Elizabeth asked still a little shaken.
"Someone sent it to me from the future," he explained. "I didn't know they would. They did it last time…" he trailed off realizing his mistake.
"You've been here before?" Jacob asked.
Asa decided since was confessing everything he might as well admit to this. "Yeah I was here about six months ago."
Jacob looked confused for a moment before saying, "Around the time that Jason disappeared."
"Yeah," Asa said, "but before you ask, I don't know where he is. No one seems to not even dad." He stopped talking when he saw people were leaving the Youth Center.
Elizabeth frowned. "There's so much I want to ask you but I know that now is not the time."
Jacob stood up. "I think the best thing is for you to stay with us until this is all sorted out."
"Well that's a problem," Asa said, "I'm pretending to have amnesia. Detective Stone took me in."
Jacob just shook his head with a smile. "I'm going to talk to Detective Stone and explain you are my nephew. You look enough like Jason that should be convincing." He said and then walked into the Youth Center.
"How is Jason," Elizabeth asked.
"He's great," Asa answered. He would have said more but more people approached. They stood and talked about the weather and anything that wouldn't cause problems if it were overheard.
Ten minutes later Jacob came out, holding Lucky and said, "It's all been taken care of." He handed Lucky to Asa. "This seems to be yours."
"Thanks," he said. He followed his grandparents to their car.