A Twist In Time

Dreams and Revelations

I arrived home with thoughts of Bessie.

On how lonely she was now she was left without her husband, without her family and with a baby on the way.

I was consumed with my thoughts that it took me a second to realise it was far too quiet when I returned home and closed the door behind me. It was for that reason I thought something was wrong.

I came down into the kitchen slowly, reaching out to the house with my magic. Nothing seemed wrong with the house, the magic was as strong as ever, and nothing seemed amiss.

I wasn't too surprised to find Tommy sitting at the table, one hand holding his cigarette while the other playing with my teacup from this morning. I knew he was looking at my tea leaves, trying to figure out what they meant. I knew he couldn't read tea leaves, that was only something Polly knew how to do.

"Where's Thomas-J? I was hoping to get a couple of cuddles in before he went down to bed," I said, skirting around the elephant in the room.

Tommy took a drag from his cigarette before locking eyes with me. He looked at me with crystal clear eyes and I almost felt like I'd done something wrong.

"He had a long day, was chasing Arthur around the office all morning and was climbing all over John this afternoon," he muttered, putting his cigarette out in the ashtray.

"I thought Ada was meant to have him today."

"Aye, she was but no one could find her." Huh, that was unusual. When Ada made a promise to watch Thomas-J, she normally stuck to it. "Andromeda." God I hated it when he called me that. I felt like a naughty child being scolded. "You need to take that potion."

Oh.

He was thinking about the pregnancy.

Taking in his face, I could tell he'd been thinking about this all day.

"Okay," I said, going over to the pantry and pulling out the hand-sized cauldron that was used to gain the result of the potion. I set the little black cauldron on the table and went back to the pantry searching for a circular bottle that held a violet potion. Finding it, I grasped it in my fingers and took it over to the cauldron. Uncorking the lid, I poured the potion into the cauldron, watching carefully as Tommy shifted in his seat. "All I have to do is add a few drops of my blood and if the potion turns a pale pink it means I'm pregnant. If it goes to a dark purple it means I'm not."

With a nod from Tommy, I picked up the needle that hung on the edge of the cauldron and pricked my finger, letting a few drops fall into the potion. We didn't have to wait long for the potion to change colour. Five seconds after my blood mixed with the potion, it changed to reveal the answer.

Pink.

It was pink.

"We're going to be okay, Thomas," I told him, grabbing hold of his face and lifting it so he could look me in the eye. "We will make this work, Tommy."

He didn't say anything but I could almost see his thoughts bouncing around in his head. He had plans, dangerous plans, plans that wouldn't be safe with a new baby on the way.

"If I could raise Thomas-J during the war when we didn't know the outcome, I can raise this baby with you in Small Heath with that inspector being around."

"Go to bed, Romy," he said, his eyes not leaving the pink potion.

"Tommy—"

"Go on, go to bed, you need your rest."

I didn't see the point in arguing with him. He had that look on his face.

As I kissed him goodnight, I knew he wouldn't be joining me for a long time if at all. This news was too much for him and I knew he needed time to wrap his head around it.