Chapter 22
Although Lauren and Jessica were the ones who had the idea of throwing the bachelorette party, Bella told them they could have it at her house because there would be more room there than in their apartment. The guys had agreed to make other arrangements for the night, leaving the house to us. Besides Bella, her family, her friends and Raven and me, Lauren and Jessica’s families all came. Amanda and Lauren’s nieces went to find some games so we could have the most fun possible in one night.
“We have to play Pictionary!” Amanda said when they came back with all the board games they could carry.
“Good idea,” Jessica said. “I‘ll help you set it up.”
The doorbell rang and Bella let Joanna in, along with her mom and sister.
“Thanks for inviting us,” Joanna said.
“Thanks for coming,” Bella replied. “I‘m glad you could make it.”
“Oh, and this is for you,” Joanna said as she gave Bella a small, dark blue gift bag that she had been carrying.
“You didn‘t need to get me anything,” Bella said.
“I know, but my mom didn‘t want to come over empty handed.”
“Thanks,” Bella said. “I‘ll open it later.” She took the bag and placed it on a table.
We grabbed some slices of pizza and were sitting at the dining room table when the doorbell rang again.
“Who could that be?” Bella asked as she got up to answer it. “Everyone‘s here.”
“It‘s the surprise,” Jessica said. She and Lauren started following Bella out of the room.
“Wait, what surprise?” I asked her as I walked with them.
“You‘ll see,” Lauren said.
We watched from the doorway as Bella opened the door. A look of ecstatic shock crossed her face as a woman with dark red hair at the door said “Surprise!”
“Oh my gosh,” Bella said. “Scarlet, what are you doing here? I thought you were staying in Phoenix for the New Year.” Bella moved aside so Scarlet could come in. A little blonde girl came in behind her carrying a package covered in wrapping paper.
“Well that was before I heard you were getting married,” Scarlet told Bella as she gave her a hug. “I‘m so happy for you,” Scarlet said when they let go. “As soon as I saw the news I found my husband and said Honey, I know where we’re going for New Years.” They both started laughing. “I was going to tell you I was coming, but Lauren and Jessica told me to surprise you here instead.”
Bella looked over at us and Lauren and Jessica waved at her.
“Hi, Bella,” the girl said. She handed Bella the package. “Here‘s your Christmas present.”
“Thank you,” Bella said, taking the package. “Did you get yours?”
“Yeah. It‘s amazing! Thank you so much.”
“So where‘s Todd?” Bella asked Scarlet.
“He‘s at the hotel with our son,” Scarlet said.
We went back to the dining room as Bella showed her surprise visitors through the kitchen so they could get some pizza. Then she led them into the dining room.
“This is my friend Scarlet and her daughter Audrey,” Bella said, and then went on to introduce her family as well as Joanna’s, and Raven and me. Audrey joined Amanda and Lauren’s nieces at the doorway.
“Did you know that Bella looks younger than your mom?” Audrey asked Amanda as the group of girls left the room. All of us started laughing.
“That‘s the funniest thing I‘ve heard all week,” I said.
We ate for a while and then called the kids back and started the Pictionary game in the living room. We divided into teams and took turns drawing different objects on a pad of paper that our teammates would have to guess.
Amanda wanted to try using one of the cards instead of making up her own object to draw. Cassandra looked through them and went though three of them before finding one Amanda could use.
“You should know this one,” she said and whispered a word in Amanda’s ear.
Amanda stared by drawing a line.
“It‘s a stick!” Jessica said. Amanda shook her head and drew a circle on one side of the line.
“It‘s a lollipop!” I said. Amanda kept drawing. She made a stick figure with a circle in the middle of it.
“Is it a baby rattle?” Lauren asked.
“A candle holder?” Joanna asked.
We were all lost until Amanda drew a smaller stick figure inside the circle in the middle of the bigger.
“That‘s your mom and the baby,” Bella said.
“Yeah, but that‘s not the word,” Amanda told us.
“How did we not guess that?” I asked.
“It‘s a stork!” Jessica said.
“That‘s it,” Amanda said.
“How is that a stork?” Joanna asked.
“I didn‘t know how to draw one so I just drew Mom and the baby,” Amanda told her.
We kept playing until Amanda, on her third turn, drew Jessica spitting up ice cream, causing everyone in the room to laugh like crazy, even Jessica. It also reminded us that there was ice cream cake in the freezer, so we put the game away and got out the cake.
Once we each got a piece and sat down at the dinning room table, Scarlet got up and went to the front of the room.
“Lauren and Jessica gave me the honor of speaking tonight because I have something to say that is related to this occasion,” she said. “About ten and a half years ago, when I was lucky enough to find a guy that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, I was also lucky enough to make one of the most amazing friends I‘ve ever had. Jessica and Lauren, my other amazing friends, had agreed to be two of my bridesmaids and they were the ones who introduced me to Bella. I actually meet her at my bridal shower. Lauren called me and asked if Bella could come because, not only did they want me to meet their new friend, but also because they didn‘t want to leave her alone so soon after she just showed up in town. Bella and I became friends that day, and we got to know each other better while we were planning the wedding. Bella helped us out, and there were some parts of the wedding I couldn‘t have done without her. Then my sister, who was going to be my maid of honor, got sick at the last minute, and couldn‘t make the wedding. I didn‘t know what to do, but Bella stepped in and took her place. Bella didn’t ask for me to do anything in return, but I promised her that if she ever found that special guy, I would be willing to help her in any way that I could. Well, it turns out that she had found that guy years before we met, and here we are, celebrating that she has been reunited with the family she‘s missed so much, and now it‘s my turn to wish her the happiness that she wished me on my special day.”
We gave Scarlet a round of applause as she took her seat and then dug in to the cake.
“Did your sister get better?” Cassandra asked Scarlet.
“Yes, she was fine,” Scarlet replied. “She just ate something bad. It was nothing too serious.”
After we finished eating, Jessica left the room.
“We have another surprise for you,” Lauren told Bella.
Jessica came back with a huge box wrapped in white paper. She set it on the table in front of Lauren and Bella. Everyone on the other side of the table got up to get a better look. Bella was speechless.
“It‘s yours,” Jessica told her. “Go on, open it.”
Bella unwrapped the package to reveal a simple cardboard box. Inside the box were several picture frames. Some of them were empty, but others had photos in them. The one Bella took out first had a picture of her and Mortimer on Christmas Day, standing together under the mistletoe where they had been reunited. The frame was a shining silver color - the fanciest one in the whole box.
There were older pictures in the box as well. There was one from Scarlet’s baby shower with the four friends sitting on the couch smiling for the camera. Bella started laughing as she showed everyone.
“What‘s so funny?” Audrey asked her.
“We played a game where we each had a necklace and got to take someone else‘s if we heard them say the word ‘baby’ and I don‘t know how she did it, but Jessica ended up with 11 of them,” Bella told us. Her three friends started laughing as well. Sure enough, everyone in the photo was wearing pacifier necklaces. Jessica had so many you couldn’t even count them all, Bella and Scarlet each had three, and Lauren had one.
“That was hilarious,” Scarlet said.
“That‘s exactly why we chose that photo,” Lauren said.
The last frame in the box had a marble looking finish.
“That one‘s for tomorrow,” Jessica said. “It‘s so perfect for a wedding picture, don‘t you think?”
“You‘re right, it is,” Bella said. She then took another empty white frame from the group. “So is this one. I know what we should put in here.”
“What?” Jessica asked.
“I can show it to you if you‘ll let me get it,” Bella told her. “I think I know where it is.”
“Go ahead,” Lauren said with a smile on her face. “I think we all want to see it.”
Bella left the room and came back carrying a bunch of prints.
“I think these would all look good in the frames,” she said, setting the photos on the table.
The one on top was another one of Mortimer and Bella. He had one arm around her while he was holding the hand of a toddler girl with black hair and brown skin in Bella’s arms.
“Look at the wall paper,” Jessica said when she saw the photo. “It screams 1980‘s.”
“That‘s because it was the 80‘s,” Bella said.
“Who‘s that?” Amanda asked pointing to the little girl.
“That‘s your mother,” Bella told her.
“No it‘s not,” Amanda said. “Mom doesn‘t look like that.”
“She did when she was two years old,” Bella said.
We looked at a few more family photos, and then Bella picked up one in particular, and set it next to the white frame.
“This is the one,” she said.
It was a photo of her and Mortimer outside standing in front of an arch woven with plants and roses. Bella was in a white dress and holding a bouquet while Mortimer was behind her, his arms wrapped around her. It was clearly a wedding photo. Upon seeing it, Bella’s three friends held their breath.
“Bella, you look so gorgeous in that dress,” Scarlet said.
“She‘s right,” Lauren said. “You’re always beautiful but here you look so stunning. He must have almost fainted when he saw you come down the aisle.” We all laughed at that.
“This makes me wish I had been there,” Jessica said.
“Jessica, you would have been eight,” Lauren told her.
“Well, at least I would have known what it was like.”
“It was a big, traditional wedding,” Bella said. “We have more pictures, but this one is my favorite.”
“You‘re not doing anything that big tomorrow, are you?” Scarlet asked.
“No,” Bella replied, “it won‘t be nearly as big.”
“Hey Mom,” Amanda said, “this dress looks a lot like the one you have on in the wedding picture upstairs.”
“It‘s the same dress, Honey,” Cassandra told her. “It didn’t look nearly as good on me though.”
“Oh, that‘s ridiculous,” Bella said. “You gave that dress your own touch. You wouldn‘t want it to look the same on everybody.”
“You‘re right about that picture,” Jessica said. “It looks perfect in that frame.”
“You should totally hang it next to the one from tomorrow,” Lauren told her.
“That‘s a great idea,” Bella said.
There was one last picture, and that was also one of Mortimer and Bella. They looked younger than they did in the wedding photo, and Bella was in a full length dress. It could only be the one formal event that a couple would go to before their wedding, an event almost as special as the wedding itself.
“Oh my gosh,” I said. “Is this from your prom?”
“Yeah,” Bella said. “Our senior year.”
“I can‘t believe this!” Jessica said. “My boyfriend dumped me the day before my senior prom, but there was no way my parents were going to throw away the money spent on my dress so I had to go with Lauren and her boyfriend.”
“It wasn‘t that bad,” Lauren said.
“This one guy who went by himself noticed that I wasn’t having a good time so he invited me to dance with him and he was the one who became my next boyfriend.”
“Only you could find a new boyfriend that fast,” Scarlet said.
“And I thought I was lucky,” Jessica said, “but Bella‘s so lucky that the guy who danced with her at prom became her husband.”
“Speaking of which,” Scarlet said, “is there anyway I can meet him before the wedding?”
“Of course,” Bella told her. “I can ask him to come back whenever you want.”
“Let‘s do some girl stuff first,” said Lauren, “like manicures.”
“Agreed,” I said.
“Thank you for the frames and pictures,” Bella said. “They’re such thoughtful gifts, and they‘ll look great in the house.”
“Bella, there‘s one more thing in the box,” Jessica said. Bella reached in and pulled out a fleece blanket.
“This is so nice, Jessica,” she said. “Thanks so much. It really means a lot to me.”
“And the best part is we won‘t be broke for the start of the new year,” Jessica said with a smile on her face.
“What do you mean?” Bella asked.
“We broke the jar,” Lauren replied. Bella looked shocked.
“I wanted you to keep that money,” she said.
“Bella, you‘re the reason we had that money,” Lauren said. “We were saving it for you to find your family, but we didn’t need it for that, thanks to Joanna, so we thought we should use it to get you something nice for the wedding.”
Bella gave both her friends a hug.
“We should do the manicures on the roof,” Audrey said. “Amanda took us up there and you all have to see it - it‘s amazing.”
We left the dining room and went up three flights of stairs to the roof. It really was amazing. The staircase from the third floor led to a rectangular section of the roof which we could walk on. Surrounding that was a black fence, separating the area from the shingles. We all looked out in awe at the sight around us. We could see most of Strangetown, and the desert landscape behind it. But what we saw the most of were the stars. There were millions of them, more than I had ever seen. I looked over at Bella, wondering if being on a roof under the stars made her nervous. She seemed fine however, and her friends were by her side so I knew she would be.
Cassandra went back downstairs with everyone who didn’t want to get their nails done and the rest of us did each other’s nails. We stayed up there until the party was over. The visitors left except for Scarlet, her daughter, Lauren, Jessica, Raven and me.
We waited in the entryway for the guys of the house to get home, and as they entered the house, they were followed by another man and a boy. Scarlet stared at the two in disbelief.
“Todd?” she said as the man went to her side.
“You were right, Dad,” the boy said, “Mom and Audrey are here.”
“How in the world did you…” Scarlet started, but she was interrupted by Lauren and Jessica shouting “Surprise!” She turned around to find them smiling and trying so hard not to laugh.
“You two are the worst!” she said jokingly.
“I know,” Bella said while keeping in her own laughter. Mortimer stood next to her and she gave him a smile.
“You should have seen your face,” Jessica said. She imitated Scarlet’s shocked look which had everyone laughing.
“We told the guys as they were leaving to go to your hotel during the party,” Lauren said.
“Then after you left to come here, we called your husband and he was more than happy to surprise you,” Jessica finished.
Bella introduced Mortimer and Scarlet to each other.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Scarlet told him. “Bella’s a great friend, and you‘re very lucky. Just as lucky as this guy.” She took Todd’s hand.
“And you‘re just as lucky to have her as a friend,” he said.
They kept talking as the excitement was built for Bella’s second wedding day.
Chapter 23
Upon arriving at the church, it didn‘t seem like much was going on. But as we pulled into the parking lot, we could see some signs of the day’s special event. It wasn’t much - just a photographer getting his camera ready and a limo waiting in another part of the lot. Even so, I knew that this was going to be very different from the other weddings I had been to.
I got out of Lauren and Jessica’s car in a fancy pink blouse and a long white skirt. Being the desert, the weather was perfect for a wedding - a clear sunny day. Raven and I headed for the doors while Lauren and Jessica pulled out the “Just Married” sign they had made themselves and took it to the limo. No one asked us if we were here for the bride or groom, since everyone present would know them both.
“Remind me why I‘m wearing a skirt,” Raven said when we passed through the doors. She never wore skirts, but I had insisted she wear one.
“It‘s for like two hours,” I told her. “You can change before the New Year‘s Eve party.”
We walked into the chapel area to find that Bella’s and Scarlet’s families had arrived before us. Aside from the bride and groom themselves, Scarlet was the only one out of sight, as she was probably helping Bella get ready with Lauren and Jessica.
Raven and I walked over to the first row of pews where we found Anne sitting with Cassandra and Alexander. I was happy to see her, since I wasn’t sure if she would make it. I had heard her say she wanted to go, but I knew that it was a possibility that her mother would forbid her from doing so. I was glad to see that she was able to be here.
“Hey, Joan,” she said when I approached her.
“Glad to see you could come,” I told her, giving her a hug.
“Well, Mom didn‘t want me to go,” she said, “so I sneeked out before she woke up. Then Dad went over there and told her that I was going to the wedding.”
“He also paid her off,” said Alexander, who was between Cassandra and Anne, “or at least he will pay her if she doesn‘t show up here.”
“Which she won‘t after the amount he offered,” Cassandra added, probably to keep us from worrying about it. I could tell that it must have been stressful, since she was sitting down and holding her huge stomach as if to say “it‘s okay, Mommy‘s here.” She seemed to be relaxed now, but maybe that was because her husband Don was sitting next to her, calming her down. Amanda and Randy were hanging out with Scarlet’s kids, and Alexander was watching Anne.
“Do I even want to know how much?” I asked Raven.
“Probably not,” Raven said.
“You‘re right. I don‘t,” I told her.
“I don‘t either,” Alexander told us. “He really doesn‘t want to give her any more money than he has to, but you know my dad. He cares more about Anne being here than who he gives his money to.”
More people arrived. Joanna’s family came, as well as Lauren and Jessica’s families. There wasn’t a huge crowd - only enough to fill the first three rows.
We took our seats when Lauren, Jessica and Scarlet came into the room announcing that the ceremony was ready to start. Raven and I sat with them on the left side of the first row. Bella’s family was on the right. As we sat down, Lauren told us that the pastor standing at the front of the room was the same guy who had married both her sister and Scarlet.
Mortimer was now also at the alter. Even though the event was semi-formal, he was wearing a full suit. Actually, I had never seen him in anything but a suit. He was still the most formally attired, as most of the guys in the room were wearing dress pants and a nice shirt.
We stood up as the music started, and turned to face the back of the room to see Bella start walking down the isle. She was wearing a fancy sleeveless top and a short, layered skirt, but even up close it looked more like a white, spaghetti strap dress. Although she didn’t have on a full wedding dress, she did have a veil and was carrying a bouquet of roses. As she passed the front row, she handed her flowers to Scarlet, who was sitting next to the isle. Then she walked up the steps and took her place at Mortimer’s side. The pastor asked us to sit down.
“We are gathered here today to reunite this couple in holy matrimony,” he said. “They have shown us that love stands the test of time. That after being accidentally separated for more than a decade their love never faded, and that their true place is with each other. They know that this change will not only bring happiness, but hardships as well. They know that life will not always be easy, but they’ve decided to confront it together again, as they stand here ready to renew that promise they made to each other many years ago.”
Mortimer and Bella said their vows and exchanged rings. The ceremony seemed perfect, as the happiness of the occasion was in the air.
After the last “I do,” the pastor said the words I knew that Bella and Mortimer had been waiting all week to hear: “You are now, once again, husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
And as he did, Bella placed her arms around him and pulled him closer. We stood up and started clapping, and continued as they broke away, and then headed back down the aisle hand in hand. Glowing with happiness, they stopped only long enough for Bella to take back her rose bouquet.
Of course they didn’t leave the church. When we walked outside the building everyone was waiting for them to come out. There was the limo, with Lauren and Jessica’s sign on the back, waiting to take the happy couple on their day long “honeymoon.” Lauren and Jessica gave us small bags of flower petals, and told us to start throwing them when we heard music.
“This isn‘t another surprise, is it?” Scarlet asked Lauren.
“No,” she said, “We cleared this one with Bella first. Remember our old theme song?”
“No way!” Scarlet said.
“You guys had a theme song?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Lauren said. “There was a song we just loved, so we made our theme song. It was Breathless by the Corrs.”
“The other day we realized it was the perfect song for the event,” Jessica said as she passed by. She and Lauren then told everyone to stand in two lines, creating an isle leading away from the church entrance.
The familiar riff of the song began to play, and we started throwing our flower petals into the isle. Mortimer and Bella came out the doors and walked hand in hand through a shower of falling pink flowers. The music was a prefect fit to it all. They stopped once they got to the end of the isle, and we got out of the way as the photographer set up the photos.
The first picture was just the two of them. A photo of the whole family was the one after that. Then everyone else got to have a photo taken with the newlyweds. They took two photos with Bella’s friends - the first one with just Lauren, Jessica and Scarlet, and Raven and I joined them for the second one.
When the photo session was finished, the music started up again and Bella and Mortimer got into the limo. We gathered around to applaud them as the limo took off down the street. It didn’t go far before it turned around and headed back into the parking lot as the music got louder.
Bella stood up through the sun roof, bouquet in hand, and a crowd gathered around the limo. She smiled at us and tossed the bouquet in our direction. It sailed through the air and dodged several reaching hands until it landed in Lauren’s grasp. She jumped up and down once she realized she had caught it, and waved it at her friend. Bella waved back and sat back down in the limo. We applauded once more as the window of the limo rolled down. Mortimer and Bella waved to us as the limo left the parking lot and took off down the street.
Chapter 24
I pulled Bella’s phone out of my purse and turned it on to find I had one missed call. It had to have been Kelly. I was able to get the number she had called from and call it back. The phone rang twice before Kelly answered it.
“Hey, Joan,” she said. “My dad has figured out some information regarding your situation and he wants to see you as soon as he can. Are you free now?”
“Yeah,” I told her, “we‘re free for the next couple of hours. We can be at your place in about 20 minutes.”
“Good. See you then,” Kelly said before we hung up.
The New Year’s Eve party wouldn’t start for a few hours, so that gave us enough time to walk to Kelly’s house, hear what her dad had to say, and then walk to Bella’s house in time for the party. Kelly was waiting for us at the door when we arrived.
“You do realize you didn‘t need to dress up,” she said after taking in our appearance.
“We just came from Bella’s wedding,” I told her.
“I hope it was nice,” she said. “Come on in.” She opened the door and let us in the house.
She didn’t need to call her dad, as he was coming down the stairs with his arms full of so much stuff he could hardly move.
“What in the world is your dad doing?” I asked Kelly.
“He calls it research,” she told me. “I call it annoying.”
“How is that research?” Raven asked.
“I have no clue,” Kelly said. “Uh, Dad, we’ve got company.”
For the first time Pascal noticed us in the entryway. He got off the stairs and set his stuff down on a desk.
“I‘m glad you‘re here,” he said as he led us to the living room and offered us a seat. “I have a lot to tell you about your situation, and I have the answer as to why you‘re here. The scientific term for what happened to you is temporal-spatial displacement. Now, when someone has traveled through time, his or her body is surrounded by a special aura that normally is invisible. We don‘t know what the function of this aura is, but by looking at it through special instruments, we can determine many things about the nature of the displacement, such as why the person traveled through time.”
“So why are we here?” Raven asked.
“Unfortunately, I only have half the answer to that question, but I can tell you that you are here because your presence is needed. It is impossible to tell how, but you were sent here because you have something you need to do. There is no way of knowing what that is, however, and until that task is completed, you won‘t be returning home.”
“So what you‘re saying is,” I said, “we have something to do and we have no idea when or what it is.”
“That‘s right,” Pascal said.
“So we could be stuck here for months,” Raven said.
“Not necessarily,” Pascal told us. “Further analysis of the aura revealed how your displacement functions. The information is all contained in the aura. By looking at it, I could confirm all the information you told me the other day. It’s almost as if the aura has been programmed with all the information of your displacement so far. The aura also indicated that you’re likely to jump in time again.”
“So the aura somehow knows all of this?” Raven asked.
“More or less,” Pascal said.
“And it also knows what we have to do?” Raven asked again.
“Not exactly,” Pascal told her, “but it probably knows when that will happen, as the aura could be what regulates your displacement. It seems as if your time jumps have been set for you, but I can assure you that you are in control of everything except the time and place of your jump, and the duration of your stay in that time and location.”
“Do you know when our next jump‘s going to be?” I asked.
“I don’t know for sure, but I predict that it will happen in the next 48 hours. It won‘t be like your last one. You will stay in this town, but you should arrive sometime within the next year, so no one will forget who you are like they did with your last ten year jump. I suggest you come up with an excuse for a sudden departure to tell anyone who doesn‘t know your situation, so when you do jump, there will be no reason for anyone to worry about you.”
“Yeah, that makes sense,” I said. “We can just tell everyone we’re planning to visit the town of Belladonna Cove.” Raven looked at me like I was joking.
“Are you serious?” she asked me.
“It was the first thing that came to my mind. Do you have something better?”
“We can figure this out later,” Raven told me. She turned to Pascal. “Is there anything else you can tell us?” she asked him.
“I‘ve told you everything. The aura does not reveal much about the future,” he said, “but I have something that will help you out.” He reached in his pocket and pulled out what looked like one of those restaurant pagers with a red light in the center. “This will warn you about two minutes before you jump in time.”
I took the device and was looking for a pocket to put it in when I remembered I was wearing a skirt. I slipped it into my purse instead.
“Thanks,” Raven said. “We really appreciate your help.”
“Kelly and I will let you know if I find out anything else,” Pascal said.
Kelly wished us a happy New Year and showed us to the door.
“If you want my opinion,” she told us, “I think The Cove is a great idea.”
“The Cove?” Raven and I asked at the same time.
“The town‘s nickname. Everyone calls it that but hardly anyone here knows its full name. If you say The Cove, it will sound less ridiculous to everyone that does know.”
We said good bye and walked down the street.
“If we‘re gonna come up with an excuse, now‘s the time to do it,” I told Raven.
“Do you have anything that doesn‘t make us sound crazy?” Raven asked.
“It was just a suggestion.”
“How about this,” Raven said as we continued walking along the road, “we‘ll say we might go back to San Francisco soon.”
I replied, “That works for me.”
Chapter 25
The New Year’s Eve party started soon after I tossed my semi-formal wear and threw on a tank top and shorts. The party had everything - food, games, music, and a crazy game of cards. I even played Mario Kart with the kids on Joanna’s GameCube. It also served as a wedding reception as everyone who was at the wedding was here.
A couple hours into the party, we were setting up a huge game of Uno when a limo pulled in front of the house.
Scarlet’s daughter, Audrey, was the first one to notice it. She stood up, pointed to the window and said, “Hey look! The limo‘s back!”
We got to the entryway just as door opened. As we applauded, Mortimer carried Bella into the house. He gave her a kiss and then lowered her to the floor so she could stand up to greet her guests.
“Congratulations! We‘re dealing you in our Uno game,” Jessica said. “Is that okay?”
“Of course it is,” Bella told her.
Raven and I were watching the kids play games on the roof after dinner when Bella came up and told us that the cake was being served. The kids all raced downstairs, and I told Raven to go with them so I could tell Bella what we had found out about our situation.
I took a seat on the railing next to where Bella was standing.
“Be careful,” she told me. “You don‘t want to fall off.”
“Don‘t worry. I won‘t. The roof at my house is a lot like this, except the whole thing is flat and there are no rails.”
Bella sat down and I saw the ring on her left hand shimmering in the light of the setting sun. Bella noticed that I was looking at it and placed her hand in front of me.
“What do you think?” she asked.
Attached to the silver engagement ring was a gold one with tiny diamonds across the middle of the whole ring. It had to be the most beautiful accessory she owned.
“It looks amazing on you,” I told her.
“It’s just as amazing as I feel. I’m the happiest I’ve been in a long time,” she said. “What did you find out from Pascal?”
“He said that the reason Raven and I are here is because we need to do something and that we have no control over how long we’re staying here.”
“Do you know how long you‘ll be here?”
“No, but he said we‘ll jump again in 48 hours and come back sometime within the next year.”
“We’re going to miss you. The kids will too. Come see me when you do come back so I know you‘re back in town.”
“You‘ll be the first to know. Oh, and by the way, if anyone asks, we went back to San Francisco.”
“Bella?” came a voice from the staircase.
“I‘m up here, Honey,” she called back.
Mortimer came up the stairs and I got up off the rail. Bella stayed where she was and let him approach her.
“They want us to cut the cake,” he said.
“That sounds like a good idea,” Bella replied. Without getting up she placed her arm around him and turned to face the setting sun as he put his arm around her back. “Did you see the sunset? It‘s so beautiful.” They turned to face each other and Mortimer slid his other hand around her back.
“Not nearly as beautiful as you,” he said.
Bella slid her arms over and around his shoulders and pulled him down into a kiss. It was so magical with the two of them surrounded by the pink and purple hues of the sunset. Bella got up once they broke off and they went downstairs arm and arm.
The cake was by no means a traditional wedding cake, but Mortimer and Bella cut it together anyway. While we ate, Lauren’s parents left the house and came back in with a large package.
“I think they’re going to give us the plaque next,” Bella said with excitement in her voice.
“Wait, what plaque?” Joanna asked.
“It‘s a tradition in my family,” Lauren explained. “Whenever a family member or a close family friend gets married we give them a wooden plaque commemorating the event. It‘s normally presented at the wedding reception, but in this case my parents decided to present it at the party.”
“Of course the friend or family member knows their getting it, but it’s up to them whether they tell their partner in advance,” Jessica told us. “I like the surprises best. I take it you told him.”
“Yes, I did,” Bella said. “I thought it would be better if we both knew about it. We even left a space on the wall for it so we could hang it up as soon as we got it.”
“See, Scarlet,” Todd said from across the table, “She told her husband.”
“Todd, will you let that go?” Scarlet said with a hint of laughter in her voice.
“She didn‘t tell me about it,” Todd told us, “and when we opened the box, I was looking at it like what the heck is this?” That made all of us crack up.
“Oh, it wasn‘t that bad.” Scarlet gave him a smile.
“Well, it was the best surprise I ever got,” Todd replied, “right after our kids, of course. You‘ll never believe how she told me about that. I just came home from work one day and the first thing she said was ‘Todd, you’re going to be a father’ and then I was speechless.”
“Well, I figured after the whole plaque surprise I should just tell him outright,” Scarlet explained.
“Still,” Jessica said, “the look on his face when he got that plaque was priceless.”
Sure enough, after everyone was finished eating cake, Lauren’s parents asked everyone to come into the living room. Mortimer and Bella stood in front of a coffee table and Lauren placed the large box on it. We all watched as they took off the lid and removed the plaque. It had a rectangular base but the top was rounded like an arch. Etched on the plaque in fancy script was:
Mortimer & Bella Goth
Wed on
June 18, 1977
Renewed Vows on
December 31, 2004
They held it up as everyone got out their cameras and shot photos. Instead of applause, everyone started clinking their glasses, and as Bella and Mortimer kissed, even more pictures were taken. Then they hung the plaque on the wall.
The party officially ended at midnight, but some guests left early when their kids got tired. Mortimer and Bella invited Scarlet and her family to stay the night at their house and even offered them their bed. Scarlet and Todd had checked out of their hotel and agreed to spend the night, but they insisted on sleeping on the sofas. Lauren, Jessica, Raven and I were invited to spend the night as well.
It was another tradition to watch the New Year’s Eve ball drop live from Times Square in New York, which I had no idea how that would work due to the time zones until Jessica told me the ball dropped four times. The kids were in bed except for Scarlet’s kids who were used to staying up on New Year’s Eve. Amanda begged her mother to let her stay up as well, and Cassandra agreed until Amanda started to use her stomach as a pillow. At that point the girl was too tired to argue and let her dad carry her upstairs.
The closer it got to midnight, the more romantic it got. Scarlet and Todd were sitting on a couch with their kids, so they weren’t being too intimate, but they did have their arms around each other. Cassandra and Don were sitting together on a couch as well. She placed her hand on top of his as he rubbed it up and down her huge stomach. She rested her head on his shoulder. Mortimer and Bella were on the other side of the same couch. He had his left arm around her shoulder and his other hand reached across his body to hold hers.
“She left one tradition a surprise,” Jessica whispered to me about five minutes before midnight. “Every year until this one we’ve spent every New Year‘s Eve in our apartment with each other and whoever we‘re dating, and we always kiss our boyfriends right when the year changes.”
“We don‘t have any boyfriends right now, but Bella just got married so it‘s up to her to continue the tradition even though she‘s never participated in it.”
Finally the countdown began.
“60... 59... 58...“
We all counted along, trying to keep the pace with the numbers on the T.V. screen. Bella and Mortimer were still relaxed, but as we got closer to zero, she got closer to him.
“5... 4... 3... 2... 1...”
Her lips touched his and she began to kiss him. Mortimer looked a little surprised to be getting a kiss from her now, but he received it and placed both his arms around her. The shouts of the rest of us didn’t bother them, and after watching them kiss the other couples kissed as well.
Bella pulled away, but Mortimer left his arm around her shoulder as she rested her head on his.
“Bella, we knew you wouldn‘t let us down!” Jessica exclaimed.
Bella shook her head and Mortimer just looked confused so she explained to him what had just happened.
“I hope you don‘t mind,” she finished.
“Of course not,” he told her. “I couldn‘t imagine a more perfect way to ring in the new year.”
***
The blast of a noise maker filled my ears along with the words “Happy New Year!”
2010 already? It felt like yesterday was 2004. Wait a minute - yesterday was 2004.
I sat up on the couch and opened my eyes to find Amanda blowing into a party favor with a pair of 2005 glasses on. Behind her the morning sun was shining through the window.
My stupid absent-minded brain! Normally I can rely on it right after I wake up, but at this moment all it could do was think I was back home in San Francisco wondering how people would see in 2010 glasses with a one sitting in front of their face instead of a zero.
I got up as Amanda ran around the room blowing into her party favor and shouting “It‘s 2005!”
Breakfast was amazing - Bella and Mortimer made the best blueberry pancakes I had ever eaten. Then we helped Scarlet’s family load their van for their trip back to Phoenix.
“We‘d love to stay another day,” Scarlet said as we stood in the driveway and said good bye, “but Todd and I have to work on Monday and the kids have school, so we have to get going.”
“I know,” Bella told her. “Thanks so much for coming to celebrate with us. It was great to see you again.”
“It was wonderful to see you all too.”
“Feel free to come back any time,” Mortimer told them.
“You‘re always welcome to stay with us,” Bella added. She gave her friend one last hug.
“Thanks for everything,” Scarlet told her. Then she let got and gave Lauren and Jessica hugs and her kids gave them good bye hugs as well. “Oh, and Cassandra,” she said before getting in the van, “don‘t worry about the baby. The second one‘s not as hard as the first. Just breathe and you‘ll be fine.”
“Thanks,” Cassandra said. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“And we would love to see baby pictures,” Scarlet added. “Good Luck.”
“Don‘t worry, we‘ll send them to you,” Bella said. “Take care.”
“You too.” We all waved as Scarlet and her family got in their van and took off toward the highway.
Bella said that Lauren, Jessica, Raven and I could stay as long as we wanted, but Jessica forgot to bring our bags and a change of clothes for herself. As everyone else went back into the house, Raven and I told her where to find our stuff. Lauren and Jessica then went back to their apartment to grab it.
It was then that my beeper went off.
Both Raven and I knew what this meant - we were about to make another jump in time. I had just enough time to grab Bella’s phone and send her a quick text: Jumped. C u soon. Then the world once again dissolved into thin, spinning, beige rectangles.