Ben’s mother was petite and slim, with altogether more delicate features, but much darker skin. Ben had once told Cara that though her family had been on Chenon for over two centuries, they still referred to northern India as the home country.
She looked up as they approached, her expression hopeful.
“Rion?” she asked.
“No, Mom. Reska, though these days everyone except Nan calls me Ben.”
“Reska. My little boy.” She put one hand to his cheek.
Cara stepped forward and took Kait in her other arm as Anju hugged her little boy and he hugged her back.
“I’ll get my turn next.” Robert smiled at Cara. “You look to have your hands full. May I help?”
“These are your grandchildren. The smiley one is Duncan and the little madam is Kaitlin. I’m afraid she needs changing again. There’s only so much that self-cleaning fabric will take.”
“Nappies hold no fears for me. Give me the smelly one and come inside. We have the kettle boiling. I’ll make tea. You must be Cara. Prime Jessop told me about you.”
“Only the good bits, I hope. Pleased to meet you,” she said. “And you don’t know how much I mean that.”
Tea. Suddenly the Benjamins felt like family. It was easy to see both Malusi and Nan in Robert, and Robert in Ben, while Ben’s finer features, straight hair, and inherent grace came from Anju.
By the time they had exchanged hugs all around, dealt with the twins, and been furnished with tea in sensible ceramic mugs, two groundcars had pulled up outside. Cara peered out of the window.
“It’s Rion and Kai and family, and—oh, fantastic—Nan and Malusi as well. They must have arrived at the same time.” She turned to Robert and Anju. “Prepare to be overwhelmed.”
While Nan reacquainted herself with her son, and Robert and Anju met their family, Cara left the twins on the rug with Kai’s little ones and slipped into the kitchen area to wash mugs and make more tea.
Thea followed her in to help. “It’s all a bit overwhelming, isn’t it?”
“For them,” Cara said. “They had two descendants when they left and now they have eight—and that’s not counting us.”
“Are you hiding away?” Robert grabbed a drying cloth.
“Of course not,” Cara said. “We’re just talking about you.”
He laughed. “Are we what you expected?”
“I don’t know what I expected. I thought you’d be overwhelmed, sad to have missed your boys growing up, uncomfortable because they’re older than you.”
“Yes, all of that.” His face was suddenly serious, but he forced a smile. “It’s going to take a while to get used to the idea, to hear all of your stories, to decide on our next move.” He tilted his head to one side, a gesture she’d seen Ben do a thousand times, and never taken any notice of until she saw it mirrored by his father. “But I think of it this way—no one has ever figured out how to time travel and this is like time traveling for us. We’ve come fifty years into the future. We get to see what our sons have become, and though we didn’t have as much of a hand in that as we’d have liked, it seems as they are both fine men.”
“Yes.” Cara grinned. “They are. Ben and I have both time traveled. Cryo—like Nan.”
“I think I’ll throw away all clocks until I get used to it.”
Ben joined them, putting his arm around his father’s shoulder. “There’s plenty of time to get used to everything. We’re happy to have you both back.”
“A toast,” Rion called as Cara handed out refreshed mugs of tea. “To the Benjamin family and all who sail in her.”
“Benjamins,” Cara echoed and grinned at Ben.
He winked back.
Yes, plenty of time.
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Nimbus Page 57
