Our Time

by W. J. May

  “How much longer until we get back?” Angel muttered. “I swear he’s taking us the long way.”

  Julian flinched and grabbed at the side of the car as they narrowly missed hitting a truck by swerving into oncoming traffic. “Sir, do you think you can keep your eyes on the road?”

  They hadn’t survived this long just to die in a cab, just because their driver liked their puppy.

  The driver ignored him and began cooing things at the pooch in German. Just a block or two further, Rae swore he started humming a lullaby.

  “So glad I decided to come along,” Angel said bleakly, staring out the window. “First, I’m denied a pet of my own, for absolutely no legitimate reason. And now they’re going to scrape my body off the side of the road. Not to mention, I didn’t even get my waffles…”

  “I warned you not to come,” Julian murmured but his eyes flashed white to check on the driver, more worried and protective than he was letting on.

  Rae glanced between them with an amused smile. She wasn’t troubled at all by the pace of their ride. She was so excited to give Devon his present, nothing else could matter. “How did you even know we were leaving?” she asked curiously. “I can’t imagine Jules told you.”

  “I followed him,” Angel replied without a hint of shame. “After coercing it out of him using my own…powers of persuasion.”

  Rae glanced at Julian, who hung his head in shame. She rolled her eyes. “Real healthy relationship the two of you have…”

  “At any rate, it doesn’t matter.” Angel shifted and leaned forward, stroking the puppy behind its ears. “Not if we’re all living in the same house. The dog’s basically mine as well. We can timeshare it.”

  There was a sudden falter in Rae’s smile. Hold on a sec…

  Angel was right. They were all living in the same house. Still. They were all sharing every moment, every life experience…still. And while she and Devon could live happily with Julian for quite some time, the addition of Angel added a roommate sort of feel. And while Molly and Luke, and Gabriel, might have gotten their own place, that still left Kraigan, who was currently haunting that attic of the London house like some sort of adolescent bat that never quite left the nest. With Rae’s luck he’d finally get a girlfriend, unless he and Camille had actually, officially, hooked up, and she’d move in, too.

  Of course, that’s not why Devon had originally bought the house. It wasn’t meant to house all the friends forever. It was supposed to be the place where he and Rae started fresh. The place where they planned the next chapters of their lives as newlyweds. Together. And if he wanted to get married as soon as possible, what would that mean for all the rest of them?

  “Penny for your thoughts,” Julian said quietly, in a voice so soft that only Rae, with Devon’s tatù, would be able to hear it.

  She glanced nervously from him to Angel, but she needn’t have bothered. The second she spaced out Angel had lured the puppy away from her arms and was currently holding it up to the window, gleefully narrating all the London sights.

  “…and that’s what we call a prostitute…”

  “Seriously,” Julian pressed gently, ignoring Angel. “What’s wrong?”

  Rae turned back, but one look at his face and she panicked. How was she supposed to talk about it? Considering he was one of the people living in the house? How were they ever supposed to tread on such sensitive conversational territory, after everything they’d been through together?

  Fortunately, Julian had known her for a long time. Hard to hide anything from a psychic.

  “You know, when Dev and I bought the house…we never intended for Angel and me to stay there. Not for very long, anyway.”

  Rae’s cheeks flushed as the two of them angled towards each other, completely ignoring the German nursery rhymes and the twisted monologue coming from the other side of the car. “No, that’s not…” she trailed off uncertainly. “Jules, I would never—”

  His eyes twinkled as he gave her a gentle smile. “I know you wouldn’t. And, truth be told, I thought we had a little more time. But I also know that Devon wants to marry you as soon as humanly possible. That changes things.”

  A sudden wave of panic hit Rae in the gut. “It changes things in the future, maybe, but not now!” She struggled to control the suddenly wavering volume of her voice. “You guys can’t possibly go anywhere with Samantha on the run. It’s bad enough that the others—”

  “The others are living about two minutes away. And that’s two minutes walking.” Julian smiled again, easing her fears with his signature reassuring calm. “When Angel and I decide to get our own place, I’m sure it will be nearby as well.”

  He said it so casually, it caught Rae completely off guard. Apparently, she hadn’t been the only one thinking about this. Apparently, she wasn’t the only one ready for a fresh start.

  “Jules, we’ve been friends for a long time. Tell me honestly,” she lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, “do you not want to live with me anymore?”

  He threw back his head with a burst of bright laughter, looking her up and down with a fond smile. “You’re the one kicking me out.”

  “But you’ve already started looking for places. Admit it!”

  He shrugged as if it couldn’t matter less. “I started looking for places the day we moved to Kent. Just seeing what was out there. It doesn’t mean I’m going to take off in the middle of the night.”

  Rae’s eyes narrowed suspiciously, seized with the sudden urge to lock him in his room. “Does Devon know you’ve already started to look?”

  Julian chuckled again. “Okay. Let me just say that I still have no idea how you’ve somehow turned this around on me but, no, Devon doesn’t know. Because he’ll be horrible about it.”

  Rae giggled, instinctively knowing he was right. “Why do you say that?”

  Julian rolled his eyes and cast an indecipherable look at the cab driver as they ‘accidently missed’ their turn-off for the second time. “You should’ve seen him when we got the place we’re living in now. He was a nightmare.” With hilarious accuracy, his voice morphed into an uncannily spot-on impersonation. “Do you think Rae would like these kitchen cabinets? What about the color of the back porch? Do you think Rae would like grays or creams…?” He sank back against the leather seat, rubbing his eyes with a long-suffering sigh. “Like he doesn’t already know that you and Molly used the kitchen in your old place for nothing but extra shoe storage.”

  Rae laughed again, trying to imagine it and ignore the terrifying drive. Devon and Julian were usually of exactly one mind, but Devon tended to obsess over trivial details, while the psychic was a little more laid-back. “So it’s your fault we don’t have a pool then?” she asked teasingly.

  He flashed her a grin. “Point is, it’s always been your house, Rae. Whether you knew it at the time, or not.”

  She considered this for a moment, warming greatly with the very thought, before staring intently into his eyes. “But you’ll stay, won’t you? At least until after we get Samantha? And maybe…maybe for a while longer after that?”

  Their eyes met with a look of twin tenderness.

  “Hon, one way or another, I’m always going to be in that house. You don’t have to worry about—” There was a streak of golden fur, and he broke off with a sudden smile as the puppy jumped into his lap and licked his chin. “Damnit, I’m in love.” He ruffled its fur and kissed it between the eyes. “We’re going to have to get a dog after all.”

  “Yes!” Angel cheered in triumph, then checked her watch. “And you caved a full ten minutes sooner than I thought you would! Had it been twenty, we’d have two puppies in this taxi cab!”

  * * *

  By the time the cab finally pulled up to the house by the park, its occupants were all bursting to get outside. Not the least of which was a tiny dog who had been cooped up inside long enough.

  The trio thanked the driver, and forcibly removed the pup from his grasping hands. Rae actually had
to use a bit of a strength tatù just to do it without a fuss. After paying him, quite generously considering his transparent stalling tactics, they sent the man on his way and headed up the front walk.

  “Now just remember,” Rae’s voice fluttered with excitement as she tried to steady the dog in her shaking hands, “go inside and don’t say a single word. I’ll be in next with the—”

  The front door opened suddenly, and the three of them froze as Devon walked outside.

  “Hey! There you are, guys!” He came to a stop directly in front of them, his bright eyes missing nothing as he looked them up and down. “I woke up and no one was here. At least the ones I like.” He grinned and winked at Rae.

  It was hard to say whether he sounded more confused or curious. But either way, there was no getting past him. Rae gulped, and tightened her grip on her bag. The puppy was stashed safely inside, but it was only a matter of time before the thing wriggled out to freedom. “Sorry about that.” She stretched up on her toes for a quick kiss, angling the bag behind her all the while. “I had some errands to do in town, and Jules and Angel decided to come with me and grab some breakfast. Want to come back inside?”

  Her heart was literally bursting with excitement, but she didn’t want to open the bag and show him the puppy right here. With their luck, the thing would jump to freedom and take off running down the street. And while it might be incredibly easy to catch given their particular skill set, the last thing they needed was to get caught using their powers in public.

  “I would’ve run errands with you,” he murmured as he stepped forward for a soft kiss. “You should’ve woken me up.”

  For one of the first times in his life, he seemed quite oblivious to the tension radiating off the other three. Just as oblivious as he was to the fourth, tiny heartbeat.

  “Dev, can we go inside?” Julian asked helpfully. “I’m starving.”

  Devon made no effort to move, or to release Rae. He simply glanced over with a little frown, still holding his fiancée by the waist. “Didn’t you guys just get breakfast?”

  For a second, all was quiet.

  Then Angel tossed back her hair with all the false indignation of a medieval martyr. “Are you fat-shaming him now?! Maybe he’s hungry again, you don’t know!”

  She was as bad as Molly. Rae and Julian grimaced at the theatrics as Devon took a step back with a look of shock. He glanced once at Julian, completely caught off guard by the sudden outburst, before turning back to her warily. “No, I…of course I wasn’t. What does that even…” His frown deepened as he glanced between them, lingering for a moment on each one. “What’s going on?”

  “Nothing,” Rae insisted smoothly, angling him towards the door. “We just want to get out of the cold, and go back in—”

  There was a sudden snarfling sound from her bag. The kind that seemed to echo in the crisp winter air, despite being no louder than a whisper.

  The three friends grimaced as Devon took a giant step back. His eyes grew wide as they focused on her purse, his entire body stiffened at the ready.

  “Rae, what—”

  Then a tiny golden head poked out of the bag.

  It was like flipping a light switch. Snapping suddenly from night to the brightest day.

  Devon’s entire face transformed on a dime; he stared in wonder at the little creature who was staring just as intently back at him. His arms drifted up almost automatically, reaching towards the little puppy, before he caught himself and forced his eyes back to Rae. “Honey…what is this?”

  Rae had never smiled so hard in her entire life. She felt like her face might burst just from the strain of it all. Behind her, the others were frozen with anticipation, trying to control themselves. “This, my dear, is a puppy. More specifically…it’s your puppy.”

  He was literally at a loss for words.

  She giggled as his mouth opened, closed, and opened again.

  “My…what?”

  Then the tiny dog let out a high-pitched yip and strained towards him, somehow sensing that this was the man to please. Its entire body wriggled with anticipation as it leaned forward, craning its little neck with all its might.

  Without a second’s pause, Devon walked forward and lifted it out of the bag. His breath caught in his chest as he lifted it up with incredibly gentle hands, then held it tentatively to his chest.

  “I can’t believe…” He could hardly catch his breath. “I can’t believe you did this.”

  Rae clamped her hands over her mouth, doing her best to rein in her emotion. No matter how many times she had imagined this moment, the real thing was a million times better.

  She had simply never seen Devon look like this. In all their years, she had never seen quite this expression. It was as if someone had handed him a fallen star. Placed some precious jewel into his trembling hands. “So you like her?” she whispered, bouncing on the tips of her toes.

  A breathless laugh escaped his lips as the tiny puppy licked every inch of his face.

  “Like her?” He caught the dog’s face between his hands and stared in adoration, kissing the tip of her nose. “Rae…I love her. You have no idea how much.”

  At that moment, the little dog dropped back its head and howled in sheer delight. Its body squirmed all over as it tried its best to burrow inside Devon’s jacket.

  Julian looked on with a knowing grin. “I think she feels the same.”

  His girlfriend was less restrained. “What’re you going to call her?” she demanded, unable to take her covetous eyes off the little dog. “Because I had some good ideas—”

  Julian wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her back. “I think we should let Devon name his own dog…”

  For his part, Devon was taking the question very seriously. He’d extracted the puppy and was staring at her with a very peculiar look on his face. As if he was taking a page from his best friend’s book and trying to read what the future held. Finally, she stopped her joyous squirming long enough that the two of them came to some sort of understanding.

  Rae held her breath, anticipating something perfect.

  “Annie.” Devon buried his face in her golden fur, grinning like a child. “I’ll call her Annie.”

  Rae beamed in delight and slipped under his other arm. Soon to be married, with a house and a dog. It doesn’t get more normal than that.

  “Thank you,” he murmured, shifting the dog aside for a moment so the two of them could share a proper kiss. “Thank you so much.”

  She stretched up on the tips of her toes, stroking his long hair away from his face. “Consider it an engagement present. One that stands a good chance of eating all your shoes.”

  He chuckled softly and pulled her closer. “An engagement present, huh? I didn’t know that the bride and groom gave each other engagement presents. I’ll have to think of something good for you…”

  Rae’s heart skipped a beat at the words bride and groom. She knew he could hear it, because there was a sudden deepening of his smile. It was hard to believe that a year ago the words felt taboo to think. What would the Privy Council have said back then? Let alone right now? She pushed the thought aside. “You already know what I want,” she answered quickly, glancing down to hide her blushing face. “I’ve asked for it ever since you bought this place.”

  Devon straightened up, and flashed Julian a rueful grin. “She wants a pool. It’s literally the only thing she ever talks about. That and the end of the world.”

  Julian shrugged. “At least there’s a balance there.”

  The three of them laughed and Devon opened his mouth to say something in return, when Julian’s eyes flashed suddenly white. Whatever vision it was, it certainly caught him by surprise. His arm shot out to steady himself, like it used to in the old days, and by the time the prophetic white faded from his eyes Rae could already hear the car turning around the corner.

  His face paled in apology, as he turned to his best friend. “Dev, I’m so sorry. With the puppy, I wasn’t look
ing. I didn’t see…”

  Devon took a bracing step back. “You didn’t see what?”

  A car door opened and shut behind them.

  “I can’t believe it.” A new man’s voice entered the fray. A voice that was familiar, yet hard to place all at the same time. “This is the house you bought in London?”

  The gang turned around at the same time to see Dean Wardell standing by the gate. He was dressed in travelling clothes and an overcoat, and was staring up at the house with the most peculiar expression Rae had ever seen.

  “How is that even…” He trailed off as he flipped the lock on the gate in a practiced sort of way, and joined them on the front walk.

  Standing so close in the bright sunshine, it was easy to see how much Devon resembled his father. They were both tall, fit, and handsome. With waves of dark hair, high cheekbones, and eyes so piercing—you could see them from a mile away.

  Tristan had Devon when he was very young, much the same way Beth had Rae, and there was still a rather youthful radiance about him—even now. It was a brightness that Rae had only ever seen deliberately stifled as he went about his various duties at the school, but in the last few days it seemed to be making an inexplicable comeback.

  “Dad?” Devon’s mouth dropped open and his arms tightened instinctively around the puppy, as if he was afraid his father might somehow take it away. “What are you doing here?”

  Dean Wardell broke out of his strange trance, and turned back to his son. He tried for a smile, but as his eyes flickered between Devon and the house his expression grew more peculiar still.

  “I was in the city and thought I might stop by. See where you were living these days.” With what looked like a concerted effort, he forced his eyes away from the house. “There’s apparently something wrong with your phone, so I figured I’d just come in person.”

  Devon flushed and dropped his gaze to the sidewalk. Rae wondered exactly how many of his father’s calls he’d ignored in the last several days. “I’m sorry,” he murmured, “I didn’t—”