Jack felt a sharp pang of guilt as he watched Mira carry the baby out into the other room. She’d tried to hide her tears, but he knew well enough what that gesture meant. Damn it, it wasn’t her fault the poor girl had gotten involved with a boy from the future. And he heard Ulric’s words – that they were all going to come home, permanently, by the year’s end.
But he’d already said his words. He couldn’t back down in front of his own child. He’d already been much too lenient with Gail and Ulric when they were growing up, and he knew it. There was no choice but to stand his ground.
“And what happens in the meantime? That’s almost a year from now, Ulric. Look how much you’ve already messed up the past! Who knows what else you could do in that time!” Jack groaned, rubbing his temples, his eyes tightly closed. “I’m not saying you should abandon Mira. You did this, you have to take responsibility for it. But … Ulric, you can’t do this. You’re going to destroy your future. In more ways than one.”
He knew in his heart that it wouldn’t really be that terrible. If they did bring the baby back to the present, he and Katelynn would help take care of it, just like they’d been planning to help with Joey. But that wasn’t what he felt Ulric needed to hear.
Watching Mira as she gets up and walks out of the room, Ulric turns back to face Jack again slowly, a look of determination on his face. “It can’t be any worse than how badly I’ve messed up before leaving.”
It was long past time to bring this up and he knew it. “And yes, I can.” And he was going to. Both of them were willing to. “It’s… I know it’s not going to be easy. Still easier than staying at home was last year.”
“But wanna be out there…” Joey started whining as Mira set him down on the floor next to a few toys. A rocket ship and a bouncy ball. Minion joined his little master’s side and looked up at Mira with even more confusion than Joey had. His fins flickered around in the water slightly but his eyes had been glued on Mira’s face along with Joey.
Mira on the other hand had a pained expression on her face, but tried her hardest to smile down at her little boy. She kneeled next to both of them, unable to fight a small tear trickling down the side of her left cheek. “Daddy and I are having an important talk, okay? I want you to play in here with Minion until we’re done, alright?” she kept her voice soft. Joey did manage to catch sight of that little tear, though. So he stood up and patted her face gently. ”Don’t cry, mama…”
That actually got Mira’s eyes to widen, heart skipping a beat until she sniffled and pat Joey’s scalp, leaning in to give the top of his head a small kiss. “I won’t, honey. Be good, okay?”
With that, Mira slowly got up, crossed her arms to hug herself, and left for the ling room again. She was nervous to even sit back down, but she did. She’d wiped the rest of her tears away just before appearing back on screen.
In spite of his anger, Jack did notice how his son was standing up for himself. He wasn’t acting like a child who’d been caught doing wrong – he was keeping his calm, and speaking levelly, in a way the older man had rarely seen. When he saw that determined look in Ulric’s brown eyes, he was strongly reminded of Katelynn.
“… Ulric, what did happen last year?” He remembered those quiet weeks, when the boy had barely spoken to his parents and spent so much time out of the house. Jack had known something was wrong, but, “I tried to talk to you, but you wouldn’t tell me. What was so terrible that you couldn’t share it with your mother and me?” All those old fears rose in his mind now – drugs, crime threats, and worse.
Jack Maple 