“If you need to rest, just let me know, Max. We can take a break anytime you’d like.” Rachel’s voice audibly grumbled far in the distance, as a sizable portion of her focus was on the scenes the new Watcher displayed through her consciousness. The other part of her was well aware that the love of her life had tunneled in again, and was there witnessing the amazing sights with her. She didn’t want to break their concentration so she hadn’t communicated with Chloe right away, despite the pleasurable sensations that came from her soulmate being inside her. It didn’t take long, however, for the girls to give in to their desires for each other’s attention.

“Max, I miss you so fucking much,” Chloe whispered with a desperation in her voice that her wife found adorable and reaffirming. “I couldn’t feel you anymore and thought… something terrible happened. Scared the shit outta me!”

“Fuck, it’s good to feel you, babe.” The scenes continued to play through their minds, but their hearts were overwhelmingly set on one another. A yearning passion was ignited inside the younger girl, and she wanted nothing more than to lock in and join her partner in the ballroom-like reality of the mindspace. “I feel your grip on me and I wanna wrap mine around you too. Dammit, I so want to look into your gorgeous blue eyes and feel your body against mine. But we gotta finish watching what Rachel’s showing us; it’s wild, and apparently important.”

“I thought I heard her voice,” Chloe inquisitively responded. “Where the hell are you, love?”

“We have a lot to talk about, babe. Rachel is the new Watcher now. I know it’s a lot to take in, but this is where she said she wanted to be. I agreed to let her show me why we should convince Des to join in with a dangerous plan to save other versions of me and you.”

“The fuck? Wait… does she have you in a trance? Are you okay!?” Chloe was clearly on edge. She remembered how upset her wife became when she detailed her previously torturous experience.

“Yeah, Rachel’s been great. She’s still trying to help us, I’m certain of it. I’ll tell you everything when we get back. Deal?” The married couple could sense each other and it was good enough for the moment. The connection was beautiful, and Max enjoyed her soulmate’s warmth through their bond as they continued to watch what Rachel was showing them.

At first, the scenes jumped back and forth from the older version of a wheelchair-bound Chloe to a Max who worked at a small mom and pop’s retro-photography store. That version of herself sacrificed Chloe several years back and was living in a depressed state of regret since. The scene involved a panic attack in the street and was overall a very miserable existence for the freckled photographer. It broke the hearts of the onlookers to witness the painful events unfold. Both girls experienced their own version of the hellish nightmare before their timelines were merged after the first storm week.

Another set of scenes involving a version of Chloe who was visiting the Arcadia Bay cemetery for some sort of scientific research began to scroll through their minds. She was keeping her distance from the Max in her timeline because she was apparently following orders from some ploy she referred to as “The Plan”. Somehow, the notes in her journal were tied to a larger scheme that didn’t make much sense to the observers.

After following several Maxes and Chloes who were involved with this plan, Rachel began showing Max seemingly random other versions of themselves.

For some reason, she decided to have her focus on them as young teenagers. The time was one year after William’s death and Chloe woke up alone and miserable. She decided to reach out to the Max in her timeline one last time. The girls reconnected, Max played her a song on the guitar, and they shared their first teenage kiss together. It was intoxicatingly beautiful but also broke the observing Max’s heart. She regretted the five years she was away from Chloe more than anything, yet, this scene filled her with hope.

The other Maxes from the different universes not only looked and sounded like her, but she felt a tethering connection with every single one of them. The most surprising and eye-opening part of the entire trance-like experience, was how much love she felt for the other Chloes. They looked and sounded like her wife, of course, but she felt a similar energy flowing over her heart every time she looked into their eyes.

Suddenly, it all made perfect sense to the brown-haired observer. A couple of years back, the only reason the girls decided to risk the perfect life they shared together was to save their daughter. Similarly, Max’s newfound realization sent a sense of understanding through her heart. She knew there was only one option left, and it would involve another monumental risk. “Destiny,” she whispered, causing Rachel to end the trance, returning the girl to the realm.

Max’s eyes rolled back to the front and she was looking directly at Rachel. “You see, these other version of you two aren’t strangers at all. They are you and you are them. It’s worth the chance to save everyone… but…” Rachel paused and lowered her eyebrow, squinting towards Max. “I believe by saving them, you’ll be saving yourselves too.”

“Rachel… I have a question I need to ask, but I’m nervous about what you’ll say. I’m fairly certain of the answer; I j-just need you to say it.”

“I actually have better news for you than I did back in the dreamspace. You wanna know if I’ve seen a possible future where everything works out? That about it?” Max nodded and could feel Chloe’s anticipation for Rachel’s answer deep within her. “Yes. There’s exactly one way this will all end well for everyone. The bad news… if I tell you what that is, it’ll never happen. But I believe you can do this. You’re Max and Chloe, and now… Destiny. You got this!”

“Rachel, I need to tell you something else. Chloe is here too, inside me. She can see and hear everything.”

“Yeah, I sorta figured,” The Watcher smirked from behind her impish demeanor. “I don’t know how you lovebirds do it, but I can connect the dots. Maybe something about your love and being the prime versions of yourselves allows you to literally become one. If I’m correct, that same energy is how you merged two timelines into one way back then.

“Max?” Chloe whispered.

“Yeah, Chlo?”

“Will you tell her I miss her… WE miss her?” Through the tunneled connection, Max couldn’t discern a particular emotion flowing from Chloe’s voice, but she knew how important this moment might be for her partner.

“Maybe you can tell her yourself. Hang on, babe, I have an idea.” She closed her eyes and found the tiny mound where her power lived and gently slid it upward. She recognized the cobalt glow of Chloe’s essence and latched on. Immediately, they were standing face to face with one another in the mindspace again. Max threw herself into her lover’s chest and snaked her slender arms around the blue-haired girl’s neck, squeezing her into a standing cuddle.

“Maxter!” Chloe excitedly bubbled. “How the fuck do I miss you so much and like, can’t get you outta my mind? Why can’t I go just one goddamn minute without thinking about you?”

“You’re in love with me, dork.” The girls marginally withdrew from their hug then tangled their lips together. It was a short, yet mature and sentimental kiss that meant everything to the younger girl.

After pulling back, Chloe buried her face in Max’s hair and took a deep sniff, then she responded, “You’re damn right I do, and shit, I love the way you smell even in this place.”

“Love you too, babe. How is Destiny, by the way?” Max realized she could kill two birds with one stone. “You know, both of them.”

“They’re fine. Your parents were more than happy to keep the rug rat a couple of nights, and Des should still be at home where I left her. Oh,” Chloe beamed “did you know she plays guitar and sings? She played me a song you two wrote together… or, I guess… that you two WILL write together. It was terrific, love. She inherited your beautiful voice. Makes me wanna kick your ass so you’ll play for me more.”

The idea of her daughter playing and singing almost drove Max to tears. She knew that meant they would spend a ton of time together, and she very much looked forward to shared moments in the girl’s life. “I’ve been meaning to get back to playing some. Maybe we can find a park and build a fire like we used to. I miss playing for you babe.”

“I miss it too, but I wouldn’t change anything we have now for the world.”

“Ditto, babe.” Max looked back and forth between Chloe’s eyes then placed a palm on the side of her face. “Now, go in and see if you can sorta take over my body. I think I can release control when you latch on.”

“Are you sure, love? We don’t have to, ya know?”

“I want to do this; it’s important. The last time Rachel left, I fully believed we’d never see her again, but we did. It’s just… this feels different. I really think it might be the final chance you’ll speak with her, and I want you to be able to do it yourself, not with me as the go between. You’ll be glad you did.

“Goddamnit, Max, what did I do to deserve you? You’re literally perfect. Have I ever told you that before?”

“Only like a gazillion times,” Max snickered. She could never tire of hearing her favorite person doting on her. There was a time when she felt awkward and unworthy of the girl’s affection, but now, she embraced it and understood their perfect connection and the mutual love they shared. She noticed the look of contentment on her partner’s face and it filled her heart. She reached up and swept a strand of blue hair from her perfect person’s face and tucked it behind her ear.

The married couple leaned in and touched their foreheads together in the center above their brows. They closed their eyes and Max slightly released her grip from Chloe’s essence. She felt hers being clenched with a heightened firmness and the experience was both sensually gratifying and emotionally joyful.

“Rach?” Chloe spoke aloud after she opened her eyes and noticed the blonde gazing in her direction. “Whoa.” The illuminating violet aura shined almost too brightly, so she held up her hand and momentarily shielded her eyes. After noticing Max’s hand where hers would typically be, she wiggled her fingers and stared in awe.

“Chloe? I have no idea how you two do some of the things you do.” Rachel took a couple of steps closer swiveling her head left then right like a doctor examining her patient. “But I keep getting reminded that my decisions to help you and Max have always been correct. There’s a great beauty in life that you don’t get anywhere else. The finite nature and emotional journey life provides is second to none. Having said that, I would give it all up again to be where I am now. I finally know my full purpose and am exactly where I’m supposed to be, helping you fulfill your purpose. The truth is, I’m doing this for me too. It feels a bit selfish, in a way, but helping you is also helping me.”

“We miss you, Rach. I wish you could have gone through life with us and all this other bullshit would’ve never happened. Sometimes I imagine going on double dates or drinking beer or wine and just hanging out, wasting time…” She paused and took an intentional breath before continuing. “Other times, I daydream about us being on a playground watching our kids run and laugh together.” Chloe squinted, as she was still getting used to seeing through Max’s eyes. “For the brief time you and Max were able to be around each other, it was surreal and shit. You would have become best friends too, no doubt.” She sniffled at the thought of all three of them enjoying happiness in life, making memories together.

“Chlo,” Max spoke from inside, “I didn’t want to interrupt, but you’re doing great. Keep going.”

“Thanks, love.”

Rachel pivoted to the side and propped both elbows on the girl’s shoulder. It felt weird inside Max’s body, being the same height as her friend, but she also kinda enjoyed it. “You need to go now,” Rachel matter-of-factly blurted. “This really is the final time we’ll ever see each other, but if you don’t leave soon, it could be bad.” Chloe’s heart sank and she knew Max experienced the same sensation.

“Thank you for everything, Rach. You’ll always be our angel. We’ll never forget you; I hope you know that by now.”

“Of course I do.” A mischievously crooked smile formed on the girl’s face. “And I’ll be watching you two, keeping an eye on my besties. Don’t worry, though, I’ll look away during your… ya know, alone times. Well… maybe.”

“You’re such an idiot, Rach.” Chloe giggled, as she also felt her soulmate’s laughter from inside. “So, what’s next? How do we get Max back?”

“Hmm,” Rachel pondered, walking towards the back wall then turning to face her friends. “I’m fairly certain you know the answer. You’ve done this before; I was there. Maybe try the same thing you did then. It worked when you didn’t even know what you were doing. I suspect, if you concentrate on your love, it might come easier than you ever thought. Plus, you have a very powerful secret weapon. Maybe with her help, it’ll be a smooth sailing.”

Chloe assertively walked over and squeezed The Watcher around her torso, then kissed her on the cheek and stepped back. “Goodbye, Rach.”

“Laters, Chloe.” Rachel winked, then blew her a kiss.

Max blinked several times as she abruptly regained control.

“Gonna jump outta here, Maxi Max. Can’t wait to see your hippie ass back home!” After her words, Chloe was gone. Max knew the next time she’d see her blonde-haired goddess, she’d be back at their new home. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears and felt it throbbing in her throat. The excitement and anticipation of being back in their own time with her partner and daughter filled Max’s heart with determination and joy.

“Thank you, Rachel. You’re our angel. Like Chlo said, you’ll forever be in our hearts. We love you and owe you so much we can never fully repay.”

“That’s not entirely true. If… I mean, WHEN you pull this off with Destiny… damn, I don’t know if I should say this. Fuck it. This is a selfish thing for me, too, like I said. I have a lot to gain from your success. We’re all counting on you, Max. Just remember, your daughter needs to decide to do this on her own. What I mean is, your words will be enough to convince her, but don’t make it seem like she has to do it. Her willful participation is very important.”

“Got it.” Max wasn’t fully sure how to say goodbye. She was overflowing with an array of emotions. She felt she might break down and cry knowing they would never see their protector again. Equally, she was excited to get the hell out of that place and join her family back in their reality. Nodding her head, the brunette turned away and faced the darkened depths of the realm. She inhaled through her nose, feeling the cool, dank air filter into her lungs, then she closed her eyes and located the raised sweet spot.

Awareness returned as Chloe slowly lifted her eyelids and looked around the townhome. There were less boxes lying on the floor and a pile of discarded cardboard in the foyer adjacent to where she was sitting. She stood up to stretch followed by a march to the kitchen for a drink of water. After filling her glass then guzzling its contents, she was determined to bring her wife home.

Shuffling and other commotion was coming from the master bedroom, so she sauntered down the hall to locate its source. Des was apparently doing her best to unpack while Chloe was away, and the girl seemed to be doing a good job with the task. “You’ve been busy,” Chloe uttered for the teenager to hear.

Des jumped up and twisted her body into a defensive stance, with one leg ahead of the other and two balled fists about chest height. “Dammit, you scared me, Mom.” She relaxed her muscles and shook her head, eyebrows scrunched down in a disapproving gaze. “Shit.”

“You’ll be fine, but I need your help. We’re bringing Max home pronto. I don’t mean, let’s sit around and figure it out… we’re doing it right fucking now.” The taller girl strolled behind her daughter and began nudging her forward, with arms out and palms flat on her back, pushing her towards the living room.  She noticed the girl had changed her clothes back into what she was wearing previously. The wash and dry cycles must have finished and she felt more comfortable in her own garments.

Des giggled and leaned backwards towards her mother with most of her weight, hindering Chloe’s forceful attempt to push her forward. Chloe stepped around, bent down, and wrapped her arms around the teen’s legs, then hoisted her up, slinging her over her shoulder in the process. The girls enjoyed a playful mother-daughter moment that ended with the older girl flinging the teenager down on the couch, where she landed comfortably. “No time for messing around, we have a Maxter to bring home.”

“Damn, you guys are so cute… but also… you make me sick.” Her smirk let Chloe know she was joking, and it seemed that the younger girl was growing more comfortable the longer they were around each other, and it felt nice to bond.

“Yeah, yeah. Grab on.” She angled her left elbow outward, with her hand upside down grasping her hip. She closed her eyes and located the area in her mind where the power was stored. As she figured, she could feel Des’s energy splintering into her from the spot where they touched.  Just as Chloe was pressing down, she felt Max’s gentle rewind tickle her on the neck.  She opened her power a little more and felt Max do the same.

The intensity grew and a bolt of raw energy blasted through the living room. A bright white flare ripped a giant circular floating hole in front of the wall-anchored television, reminding her of the other time she withdrew Max from the realm. A golden sun-like glow glimmered from the area as a tumultuous swirling tunnel opened up between them and the opening. Chloe watched as Des shut her eyes and channeled her own power into the tunnel. The chaos died down and, despite a giant portal and a tunnel in their living room, everything seemed to flow smoothly with the young adult’s steady energy.

In the center, a human-like shadow appeared and started towards the girls. “Max!” Chloe called out, as light spilled out from around the shadow casting an eclipse-like effect throughout the room. Max strolled up to where the mother and daughter were standing, wrapped her slender arms around her family, and pulled them into a three-way hug. Simultaneously, the powers were released and the elemental disturbance was restored, and the portal winked from existence.

“Fuck yeah!” Destiny celebrated as the three girls continued to hug. “We did it!”

“I’m never letting you out of my sight again, love. Seriously… FUCK. THAT. SHIT. Not again. Nope.”

“Oh, Chlo!” Max slowly ran her fingers through her wife’s hair, and Chloe enjoyed the sensation of her favorite person’s hand gliding atop her head. Instinctually, the older girl released the teen and placed both hands on her dark-haired partner’s cheeks, pulling her in for a series of short, quick pecks. One word was spoken between each kiss, “Never <kiss> gonna <kiss> let <kiss> your <kiss> beautiful <kiss> ass <kiss> leave <kiss> my <kiss> sight <kiss> again <kiss>.”

“Sheesh,” Des cringed as she rolled her eyes. “This used to gross me out, but when you’re Max and Chloe’s daughter you kinda sorta get used to it. Although, you guys can knock it off now. I’m literally right beside you.”

Chloe secretly nudged her wife and bobbed her head in the unsuspecting teenager’s direction. As the girl was facing away from her moms, the taller of the pair pushed her on the couch. Max joined in as they held her down and began tickling her on her side and under her arms.

“Stop! No, no, no! I’m gonna peeeee!  STOOOOOP!” The red-streaked blonde giggled and squealed. Finally, after several seconds of squirming and thrashing, the mothers released their daughter and she jumped up to her feet. “Fuck!”

“Shouldn’t’ve said we grossed you out,” Max confirmed, as she giggled from behind the hands that hid her mouth.

“Never again,” Des responded with a smirk, after jumping up and shaking her head. “You two are nuts!”

Without hesitation, Chloe bubbled, “Yep, yep. We’re insane in the brain.” She recalled, several years back, dancing on her bed and encouraging her best friend to let loose and dance too. They were rekindling their friendship and it was beginning to feel like they were kids again.

“Okay, Des,” Max began, as she abruptly changed the tone, “have you ever heard of something called The Plan? I think it’s important and it involves you. Sorry to be so abrupt, but we need to talk about…” The brunette trailed off as she noticed the look on her daughter’s face.

The teen’s mood obviously shifted from playful and carefree to a look of weight and heavy burden. “I need to run to the bathroom. Be right back.” The girl turned and swiftly headed down the hall.

“That didn’t go well,” Max concluded as she slid her arms back around her wife, hands latching in the rear at her waist. “She has to help, babe. Rachel told me we can’t force it; she has to decide on her own if she wants to be a part of this whole thing.”

Only moments after their daughter left the room and shut the bathroom door, Chloe felt the hairs on the back of her neck tingle. “You feel that?”

The spinning of the doorknob clicked from the hallway and Des reemerged, ambling towards her moms holding some sort of document in her hand. “When I glitched the first time, I was a panicked mess. I saved another you from this stalker bastard who definitely planned on doing some terrible shit.” She pointed at Chloe with her free hand. “Then I glitched again taking her with me. We ended up in some other place with another version of you in a wheelchair who was working on something she called ‘The Plan’. I spent the night in that reality and woke up back home in my bed, at my house… in my time.”

She slid the parchment from one hand to the other and extended it outward. She removed a clip from a second attached item and began unfolding the wrinkled page. “I thought it was just a dream until I found this in my back pocket that morning. I only read it once and haven’t picked it up since.” The girl opened the letter and pivoted around, allowing her moms full view of the document.

Destiny,

By now you’ve probably realized that some weird things are going on with you and your abilities, and I can tell even while you’re asleep you’re scared shitless. Hell, if I were in your place, I think it would be too much for me and I’d just throw in the towel. But you haven’t, which shows just how strong a young lady you are; being a teenaged girl is hard enough without extra special bonus rounds in the grinder that is life. All of us here understand perfectly as many of us have been working on our own situations which are potentially related to your powers. We don’t have all the answers yet, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t take this opportunity to fill you in on what’s going on. Before we get to that, though, I need to clear the air. Bear with me.

Sorry, hang on a sec…

Ok, better. Yes, I’m crying.

You have no idea how much I miss her. I’m talking about your mother, Max. Yes, it really is that easy to know who your parents are; you look so much like the both of us so many years ago. I don’t know how it all came about, but I do know why. You see, even here in this timeline I’ve never stopped loving Max. Whichever version of her she is, I’ll explain that in a bit too, both your moms must be extremely proud of the beautiful daughter you’ve become.

Anyway, I don’t know how much of the story they’ve told you, but I owe our partner-in-time everything; she saved my life a long time ago from a decision I made that I regret to this day. I put her on the spot and that was wrong. I… please just tell her for me that I’m sorry. We wouldn’t be here if one version of her hadn’t made the choice she had to keep me alive. Give her my love and a hug too. Tell your moms that even though I’m confined to this wheelchair Captain Bluebeard is still here fighting for our Max and the rest of The Crew™ to solve the problem.

The problem… It’s what keeps us going on this pirate ship. Your Mom, Max, had to make another decision whether to keep her best friend alive, and sacrifice a town, or to spare the people below at the cost of the love of her life. Clearly, in your timeline, she ultimately chose the former. But the reality is that both actually play out over the expanse of a multiverse of timelines, and the irony is that neither decision solves the dilemma of the sacrifice that’s required. It was a no-win situation; the storm still happens at some different place and time in most scenarios.

So yeah, the timeline I’m currently occupying is one of more than a hundred branches which stem from a specific instance where Max used her powers to make a change. Each timeline starts dissolving when the time traveler exits and returns to their own. How long each has is subject to the principles of thermodynamics and entropy, but each will eventually fizzle out. This one will too, though it happens to be an uncharacteristically long-lived stream; something I will take advantage of until the very end. Which takes us to what this is all about.

I don’t expect you to have advanced degrees in engineering and/or physics, so I’ll try to keep it to a broad overview. Here’s The Plan™ in a nutshell, and it’s pretty simple:

>Help Max choose Chloe over Arcadia Bay. This is Priority One.

• While it may seem self-serving, it’s about saving OUR Max and that can’t happen without HER Chloe. 

>Utilize Max’s powers to branch time streams.

• We happen to have one version of Max on our team, the one that saved the Bay, helping us out. And yeah, before you ask, she was a terrible wreck, but we gave her a renewed purpose. In a carefully orchestrated series of jumps we’ve been able to use the resulting time streams to accumulate a shit-ton of knowledge and technology. Every step gets us a little closer to saving Max as well as moving a bunch of probable outcomes closer together. Then we do it all over again. We just passed 180 years of aggregate work.

>Save The Crew™. 

• Every single one of us, even those in long-gone timestreams, have worked their asses off to get us this far. I want to save them all not just because it’s the right thing to do but because of additional patterns that have started showing up in the data. You see, we’re all connected. Every instance of Max and myself is rooted to a common origin, and those two, the prime Max and Chloe are the ones that will take the hit if we don’t gather all the pieces. If something happens to them, I’m afraid we’re all doomed.

Now you may be asking why I’m telling you all of this. Partly it’s so someone has a record of what we’re trying to do, should we fail. I’m a scientist and there’s no doubt in my mind that we’ve done fantastic things, leaps and bounds beyond what anyone’s accomplished up ‘til now, but that doesn’t mean I don’t see the possibility that we just won’t get it right, or done in time. So, yeah. I want someone to know that The Crew™ gave their last measure, if that’s how it turns out.

Secondly, you and your abilities present a new and amazing variable that I didn’t see coming. I think I know why, but as they say, ‘more research is required.’ You’re asleep now, so I can’t ask your permission, but I’m going to be tracking your next moves, I hope you don’t mind. I know how crazy all this seems, so I’m going to include with this note a little proof you were here. You’ll find a photo of all of us attached.

Lastly, I’d like to arrange to be able to contact you. We have a series of fixed points that seem to be constant across all the timelines and those are the easiest way to send a message. If we’re lucky, they exist where you come from too. But to calibrate it correctly, I need to locate you first and that’s where I need your help. The sensors we have constructed constantly monitor the background flux, sorry… that’s the least technical term for it I can think of. Anyway, we’re capable of receiving a simple message in real-time but it has to originate from you. So, if you wouldn’t mind brushing up on Morse code and sending us a quick ‘Hey!’ or ‘Made it home safely,’ we’d be in your debt. Then all you should need to do is check the fixed points for a response. It really is that simple.

I know this is a lot for a scared teen to shoulder, but I think your moms would be proud of how you’re handing it.

Sincerely,

Chloe Price

December 20, 2050

P.S. Please give both your moms a hug for me. We’ve got their back too.

P.P.S. Don’t forget about us. You might be our only hope.

The three girls finished reading and looked back and forth between each other and the letter in silence. Des flashed the other item, and it confirmed the teen’s presence that day. “So,” the younger girl started, “I’ve heard of this plan and I know I’m supposed to help. But should I? Mom, what do you think?” She folded the letter, reattached the photo, and returned it to her back pocket.

“I think it needs to be your choice, Des.” Max put an arm on her daughter’s shoulder. “You have to decide for yourself. Life is full of choices and decisions, and this one is yours to make.” Chloe watched as her wife conveyed her words in a convincing manner without coming across as biased. “Rachel told me…”

“Rachel?” the teenager interrupted. “What does she have to do with this?”

“Well… when I was pulled away from you, I ended up back in the realm of The Watcher. She assumed the role after I ended the other one’s reign.”

“Holy shit.”

“Yeah, it was a shocker, but she really wants to help. She showed me other timelines and universes where different versions of ourselves exist. After seeing what she showed me and reading that letter you found, I think you know the right decision, but whichever you decide, we have your back.”

“Dude, you’ve got this,” Chloe added, not knowing what else to really say. It seemed like this part was a task for Max and she didn’t want to add anything that might derail the conversation.

“Des, I… I have a suggestion. Why don’t you leave and go back to the future? Lay on your bed, turn on some music or whatever, and come back after you clear your head. What do you think? This is a huge decision, so take your time.” The girl nodded in confirmation.

“Great idea, Maxi. We could also spend some time alone before we have to pick the rug rat up in the morning.” Chloe bounced her eyebrows and bumped her wife with her shoulder.

“Gross,” Des whispered under her breath, walking a few paces away towards the kitchen area. She turned back around to face her moms, shaking her head with a slight roll of the eyes and marginally parted lips. “I think we all might need me to go for a bit. I’ll go back and chill out for a couple of hours. I’ll come back in the morning… in your time.”

“Wanna grub-out before you go?” Chloe asked, pointing towards the pantry. She was starving and figured food would be in her near future.

“Nah, I’m good. I’ll get something when I get home. We actually have more than mac and cheese and nuggets in the future.” Des smiled then hugged the married couple’s necks and took a step back. “See ya soon.” Abruptly, her solid figure faded to only an outline, then the girl was gone.

“Wowser, that was… interesting,” Max marveled.

“Yeah, she like… went poof.” Chloe hated to see her go, but was very excited to be back home and alone with her wife. “So, what’re we gonna do until morning? Wanna watch some Netflix?” She slinked her arm around the shorter girl’s shoulders and tucked her brown hair behind her ear. She kissed the girl’s soft, newly exposed neck and made a trail to her mouth with her lips.

“Well, I could definitely use a shower,” Max flirted with a mischievous sparkle in her radiant blue eyes. “Wanna join me?”

“Does the tin-man have a sheet metal cock?”

“What?” The brunette giggled.

“A quote from Trailer Park Boys. Oh, never mind. Just get over here.”