It was only the five of us, Ben banging on the table sitting on Emma’s lap.
Finally Zach said, “Let me clean this up, Emma needs to nurse Ben to sleep. I’ll bring drinks and pumpkin pie to the living room.”
I said, “Can we help? If we all pitch in there will be barely anything—”
“Absolutely not. I just spent the day watching crazy stuff happen in my mom’s kitchen. I’m grateful that I can run my kitchen the way I want. Alone. With no one putting pans away unpolished. Or the fucking knives in the same drawer with the spatulas.”
I laughed. “Okay, Mister Control-freak, suit yourself.” Magnus and I carried our wine glasses to the couch. He sat at one end, one arm waiting along the back cushions.
I checked the tv, set as always on the weather channel, and turned down the brightness so it wasn’t as insistent. I turned on Spotify, the Ariana Grande station. I sat down and leaned against Magnus’s chest. “How’s this, painful?”
He winced, shifted, and adjusted my shoulder. “Tis better.”
Zach walked into the room with a tray of brandy snifters and plates of pumpkin pie heaped with whipped cream. “This is Emma’s favorite music.”
“Cool, me too. And what’s this?” I held up a chocolate rectangle that was leaned on my triangle of pie.
“Chocolate-covered bacon.”
“Jesus Christ, are you trying to kill us?” I took a big bite. “Yum. Are there more, is this it, will we have to have a Hunger Games right here in the living room for the last one on Magnus’s plate?”
“There are more. Eat that and you can have seconds.”
Magnus said, “Hunger games, are they played with a ball?”
“The Hunger Games, let me see, it was a book series where young people were made to fight to the death to...” I checked his face, then squinted as I reconsidered. “Yeah, never mind. Let’s call it a book series and I won’t joke about it anymore.”
Emma entered and plopped down in a chair. “He is fast asleep. I want pie.” She picked up a book from her pile on the end table. “I’m dying to get back to this, so don’t mind me.”
Zach passed her a bowl and we all ate happily with plates resting on our bellies.
I finished eating, passed my bowl back to the tray, took a deep breath, and jumped into a big important thing. “So, Magnus, I have something to discuss with you and... I — one day Zach and I were Googling the history of you, and we learned something about Lizbeth that I want to talk to you about.”
“Lizbeth, what is...? You have a sad look tae ye, Kaitlyn.”
“We learned that she doesn’t make it through the birth, this December, I mean, in December of 1703, she dies.”
“Och.”
“I know.”
“Can we go back and do somethin’ tae save her?”
“I don’t know, but I want to try.”
Zach said, “Okay, wait, I don’t want to sound callous, but we’re talking about someone, your sister Magnus, I get that she’s important to you—”
“She has raised me from a verra young age.”
“I understand that, but she’s been passed away now for three hundred years. She will die. Don’t you have to get used to the fact?”
I said, “But when I go back there, to Scotland, she is alive. And she is amazing. I can’t imagine Scotland without her.”
Zach said, “I get that, but what about changing time? If you change the course of history, what will you change in the course of our present?”
Magnus asked, “What do you mean by this, Chef Zach?”
He leaned forward in his chair. “Like if you go back in time and killed someone, like a King, you would change written history. Maybe his death starts a war. Maybe something important that we need wouldn’t be invented. Maybe the children of the king are important. Maybe you come back here and this present-day world has been altered because the son of the king wasn’t born. As a time traveler everything you do might have consequences...”
Magnus said, “Kaitlyn has killed a king.”
“That was in the future, we don’t need to worry on that one much. Though what’s happening there now should concern you.”
“It does, verra much. So ye are sayin’ we only need tae worry on our effect on the past? We left machines from the future in the past. We left a black man in a Scottish castle. I have already changed the story in 1703, and this world hasna changed.” He looked around at us. “Has it?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t think so.”
Zach sank back in his chair. “But I guess if you think about it we wouldn’t know. If the present was different from three days ago, we would be living in a different present with a different history. We would have no idea.” He groaned. “I just totally freaked myself out. Hold that thought, I’m going to go check on Ben.”
He jogged up the stairs and was gone for a moment and then jogged down to the kitchen. He called, “Sorry about that, got a little nervous.”
Emma said, “I have the baby monitor right here.”
Zach shook his head. “Sometimes you have to put your hand on his sleeping back to accept he’s okay.”
He opened the cabinet over the refrigerator. “I have a bit of a pot brownie. Anyone else wants a bite?”
“No thanks,” I said. To Magnus I explained, “That’s one of those cookies, like we ate that night, remember?”
“The one that made ye giggle like the ocean fish? Aye, I canna eat it. I need tae be ready in case there is a storm.” Our eyes all shifted to the television screen. It didn’t help, it was a commercial for Xanax.
I resumed our conversation. “And Zach, we have these paintings — they’ve been here for well over a year, but having them didn’t change Picasso’s worth or value or anything, right? I mean, if we killed a king that might have a ripple effect, but small things, in the scheme of it, might not be that big a deal.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. Don’t mess with big established important events and don’t interfere in your own personal history. Like the time rules on Doctor Who—”
Magnus asked, “He is a physician?”
I said, “Doctor Who is a television show about a time traveler.”
“Och, twas based on truth?”
“No it’s completely fictional because time travel is fictional.” I shrugged. “I mean, now that I’ve traveled through time I don’t know what to believe anymore. Maybe one of the writers on Doctor Who actually had a vessel?”
Zach said, “Let’s say the rules make sense — at least you’d have guidelines to behave by. The number one would be: you can’t interfere in your own past or future.”
Magnus said, “I came close tae that when I traveled tae see Kaitlyn at the bar.”
I nodded. “Yes, you did.”
Zach said, “While arguably a very fucking romantic gesture, it could have gone so wrong. What if you had gotten into a fight with her boyfriend? You might have ruined all of this.”
Magnus said, “So we shouldna go back and fix what has happened to us.” His brow was drawn down. “Or what will happen to us?”
“Oh, I think you can change course, but don’t loop back on yourself and change what’s already done. Like don’t return to a year and a half ago, kill Lady Mairead, and call it good. I don’t think that will work and it might set the world all spinning wrong. According to the Doctor at least.”
Magnus said, “But that rule does nae mean Kaitlyn canna try tae save Lizbeth’s life.”
I pointed at Magnus in agreement. “True. I wouldn’t be altering my past, just her future.”
Zach said, “I still wonder though, that date has been set in the historical records, what happens if the records change — what else changes?”
Magnus stared down at his drink. “You think, Chef Zach, that if there is a written record of the birth and death there is nae changing it?”
“I just think you have to be careful changing it. Consider it carefully, make sure it’s worth the possibilit
y your actions may have a ripple effect.”
Magnus leaned forward. “Chef Zach, Kaitlyn, what did ye discover of my own history?”
I gave him a wistful smile. “That’s actually good news. The records we looked at didn’t include your date of death. So nothing we do changes your history. We can do whatever we want.” I took a sip of brandy and grimaced. “Ugh. Now I just want a soda or something.”
Zach jumped to get me a fresh drink. I said to Magnus, “See, in the beginning you were telling me you were a dead man — you’re not. You might be the closest to immortal of anyone. You’ve been alive for centuries.”
Zach passed me a glass with coke and ice cubes.
Magnus asked Emma, “You have been quiet on the matter, Madame Emma, ye have thoughts on it?”
She put her finger in the page to hold it. “I agree with Zach, you have to be careful changing anything, but he’s forgetting the biggest rule in Doctor Who — to act morally.”
“I have killed men for entertainment.”
She frowned in commiseration. “I know it weighs on you, Magnus, but soldiers have to kill under orders, that’s what war is. You pray for guidance about it and you ask for forgiveness.”
Magnus nodded quietly.
Zach said, “The other possibility is that no matter what you do, you might not be able to change what has already been recorded.”
Magnus asked, “So if it has already happened we may nae be able tae stop it?”
Emma smiled sweetly at her husband and said to Magnus, “What my dear future-husband’s drug-addled mind is not thinking about is you can’t decide what to do simply because you haven’t seen the record of it. You could just not look anything up and declare it okay. If you haven’t seen it does that mean it doesn’t exist?”
“Nae, ye are right, Madame Emma.”
I asked, “Did you see my future, Magnus? Wait, don’t tell me — no, tell me. Did you? Wait, don’t tell me. Do — at least tell me if you saw a blank.”
Magnus ran his hand over his head. “I dinna ask about it.”
“Oh.”
I gulped at the thought. “How weird would that have been if you had?”
“Aye. Tis why I dinna.”
“Okay. That’s good.” I stared off into space. “I wouldn’t want to know. I think...”
Magnus said, “So we daena ken whether we can change the outcome of a story...”
Zach said, “Nope, but that’s cool right? It makes you exactly like every other mortal on the planet — just doing the best they can do.” He gestured toward Emma. “Acting with morals as my sweet church-going wife would say and hoping it turns out fucking okay in the long run.”
I said, “I think the one thing we are all saying is yes, we can go back in time and try to save Lizbeth’s life. If I can, I have to, right? Don’t even answer that. I know it. I have to do everything I can.” I turned to Emma. “That being said, what can I do?”
“I can talk to my midwife about it in the morning.”
Zach’s phone vibrated. He picked it up. “Hayley is here.”
He went to the front door and opened it as Hayley had her hand about to knock. She bustled in with a full bloom on her cheeks. She took off her jacket and tossed it toward the hooks on the wall, came to the living room, dropped on the couch beside my feet, and tossed a stack of mail on the coffee table. “Here’s your mail. Don’t worry about it. It’s junk.” She sighed loudly.
Zach followed her into the living room. “You look like you need a stiff drink?”
“I do. I need one. And you’re partly responsible. But I’m not going to because that’s not me anymore, in case anyone bothered to notice. I’d like a soda please.” She jerked her shirt back, frustrated. “And why is Quentin still gallivanting around in the 18th century? He should be here to take me to a meeting.”
I asked, “You could go by yourself?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I don’t actually need to go, I just thought if Quentin was here I could be supportive of him going and that would be... Is anyone going to ask me what I’m doing here or do I have to talk about this bullshit the whole time?”
I said, “You are in a pissy mood, what’s up?”
Zach handed her a drink.
“If you must know, Michael and I have just broken up.”
“Oh no!” I left Magnus’s side to throw an arm around her. “Oh no. Oh no, this sucks. What happened?”
Hayley waved her hand at Zach and Emma. “They happened, with all their love and marriage and having a baby and, ugh.” She dropped her head to the back of the couch. “Right after the turkey, Michael gave me an ultimatum, marry him and start a family, or not.”
I pouted in sympathy. “You chose not?”
“I did. Of course I did. Because I’m a dumbass. Probably.”
I pulled her head to my shoulder. “You aren’t a dumbass, you didn’t want to marry him. That isn’t dumb. That’s what your heart is telling you and you have to listen to it.”
She started crying. “I look at you with your awesome hunky husband and I want that, I mean, not him, he’s prettier than me and I wouldn’t be able to take the pressure, but someone who really likes me. And that I really like. I thought Michael was the one because I’ve been with him since I was seventeen, but maybe he’s not the right one. He doesn’t even really like me that much. Like not really. I want what you have.”
“I have been crying for a year. You really want that? You really want to never know if you’ll survive being apart? What I have might be a little too death-defying.”
She looked at me with a red puffy face and tear-sopped eyes. “You missed him! You know what I think when Michael goes away for two whole days?”
I shook my head.
“‘Eh. Whatever.’ That’s not who I should spend the rest of my life with!” She looked across at Zach. “Sorry, I know he’s your little brother, and I don’t mean to blame you guys, not really. I’m happy for you. Really. Your timing just blew my whole life apart.”
“No worries, Hayley, I’m sorry about that. You’ve been my future little sister for years. I don’t know what I’ll do without that. Are you sure? You guys aren’t going to get back together?”
“Nah.” She waved her hand. “Kleenex please.”
Emma brought her a box of Kleenex and Hayley blew her nose loudly. “When we were discussing it tonight it wasn’t even sad, not really. It was like I knew it for a long time, but I didn’t really know it.” She sighed. “I guess now I can stop doing the races, though they were actually kind of fun.”
“They were fun. Magnus and I will do them with you. Quentin will come and you can take him to meetings. And we’ll all go out and do fun things together.”
Zach began texting. “I’m checking in with Mikey now.”
Hayley dropped her head back on the couch. “He’s going to move his stuff out tomorrow. What am I going to do, sit there and watch him pack his stuff up? Plus I’ll have to go get my stuff from his place.” She was ugly crying now, full sobs.
Zach excused himself to go talk to Michael out on the deck.
The baby monitor beside Emma emitted a loud wail from upstairs. Emma said, “I might as well get in bed for the night. What is it eleven?”
I said, “Yeah, it’s late.”
Magnus whispered, “I have tae go speak with security.” He kissed me on the cheek, squeezed Hayley’s shoulder, and went through the French doors to the deck.
Hayley stopped sobbing enough to ask, “So what’s happening with you guys, did I interrupt something?”
I held her hand. “You interrupted a philosophical conversation about the moral and ethical issues inherent in jumping through time. We weren’t really getting anywhere on it. Except to justify what we want to do.”
She sniffled. “You don’t want to do that time-turning stuff like Hermione did, which Harry Potter book was that? Like the third — where she almost saw herself? I don’t know what would happen but that part would probably be dangerous.
”
I took a deep breath. “I wouldn’t want any of it to be dangerous. That would suck.” We both chuckled. “Look on the bright side, Hayley. First, you get to be sad and I get to help you through it for once. Want to spend the night in our guest room?”
“Absolutely. Can we watch tv, like you on one end and me on the other end of the couch with bowls of ice cream on our chest and talk about how screwed up our lives are like the good old days? I can tell you that Michael broke my heart and you can tell me that he’s an ass and that I deserve better.”
“That sounds good, we can focus on you for once. And I already ate some pie. But I’ll get you a slice in a second. And yes, we can watch a movie.” I picked up the remote control. “Are you sore? It’s been a day and a half and I’m so sore I can barely move.”
“Totally. Wait, look there, it’s the newest Avengers movie.”
The French doors opened and Magnus stepped in.
Hayley said, “Mags, you can come sit on the couch with us if you bring a blanket.” Magnus disappeared down the hallway and returned with the scratchiest blanket in the linen closet, but I decided not to micromanage him. I sat in the middle of the couch. Hayley put her feet in my lap. Magnus sat at the other end. I leaned against him with his arm around me.
Zach entered from the deck. “Little bro is doing okay I guess.”
Hayley said, “That sucks, he could at least be broken up about it.”
Zach shrugged. “He is, but I’m not going to tell the ex about it. Want some pumpkin pie?”
“Yes, extra whipped cream because, you know...”
He left for the kitchen.
She said, “Did you hear that? Michael’s upset about our break up.”
“Of course he is.”
* * *
The movie opened in the full Avenger style: battle, mayhem, chaos, jokes.
Magnus said, “Tis verra loud.”
I said, “I know, movies can be so loud sometimes they even hurt my eyes. Want to go to the bedroom to sleep?”
“Nae, I want tae stay with ye.” He turned sideways in the couch, his head back with his eyes closed. I snuggled against his chest.
Entangled With You Page 3
