This hasn’t been the best year, but yesterday was great. We moved into a new place three weeks ago, and have kept ourselves unlisted. I want to protect Melanie from Ruby Pegg. But, the good part was that we had Elliot and Judy over. Miles from my unknowing biological family, I had an amazing day with my wife and both versions of our son, and his mother.
With just four adults, we had four separate toasts before we ate. Judy toasted to all of us for getting her out of prison, and watching little Elliot for her. She held him as she stood above us speaking, and there were shiny tears in her eyes, but the smile on her face was genuine.
Big Elliot, toasted to time travellers and the women who love them. He went on to talk about how he was happy to be with us this Thanksgiving and not stalking us.
Melanie was thankful that I had survived the stabbing. She is the only one among us who has anything resembling a normal life, and she was grateful that we were getting a little bit of that normalcy this Thanksgiving.
Finally, I thanked them all. Melanie has been such a wonderful girlfriend and wife these last couple years, and I couldn’t have balanced work, and my studies, and Elliot without her. Judy is my best friend, something I hadn’t expected almost three years ago when I approached a prostitute in Las Vegas to help me find someone who could forge documents for me. And Elliot, big Elliot that is, has been such a beacon of hope that I’m going to be able to accomplish everything I set out to. Little Elliot, has made me feel that family kind of love that I have missed since my parents went off that bridge.
After dinner, I told them how the tradition in my family was always to take a walk after dinner, as a way of not falling into the food coma that a massive meal can create. We bundled up, and put Elliot in his stroller, and we walked all the way down to the park, the one where Elliot had followed us months ago. It was too cold for comfort, but the combination of blood flow and cold air was refreshing.
Judy and Melanie fell behind with little Elliot, and big Elliot talked to me about the future.
“Dad, Ruby Pegg is going to find us before we help them catch her. When the time is right, I’m going to have you send Melanie and mom away. When that happens, you need to listen to me without question. I’m going to keep them safe, I’m going to keep you safe but you have to do what I say, without hesitation.”
I tried to ask him more, but he told me he couldn’t answer. I asked if we should send them away earlier, immediately.
“You’d be away from them for a long time if we did that. And you wouldn’t be able to contact them. Just trust me, ok?”
I do trust him, I don’t trust Ruby Pegg, I don’t trust our own understanding of how our interactions play out in a timeline we have foreknowledge of. I’m scared, but ultimately, I trust him and it was too good of a day to let myself worry about the future. That’s what today is for.
Michael Christopher Cole 
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