THE PHOTO TRAVELER (THE PHOTO TRAVELER SERIES - BOOK 1)

CHAPTER 33

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

It can’t be! I’m only 18! There’s no way I can have a son who’s 12!

      I collapse on my bed. My head is spinning and I have no idea what to do. I need help but I have no one to turn to. Certainly not Estelle. She’s barely hanging in as it is. Think, Gavin! I take a deep breath and go to my dresser.

      I open the drawer and take out my parents’ album and grab a professional photo of them at Disney World. What are they going to say? But I don’t have any other choice. I sigh and recite my words.

* * *

I appear on Main Street next to an ice cream kiosk and whip around trying to spot them. They’ve got to be here.

      “Hey, kid, how ‘bout a chocolate-dipped Mickey?” the mustached vendor asks.

      “I’m good.” I dodge through the crowds of tourists. Inflated colored mouse ears are floating above their heads. Ahead of me I glimpse my mother and father walking toward the Cinderella castle.

      I tear after them yelling “Mom! Dad!”

      They whip around when they hear my voice and hurry toward me. My mom looks more pregnant than she did last time.

      “What’re you doing here, Gav?” my dad asks, obviously stunned.

      I throw my arms around them in a nearly bone-crushing hug. I feel like a terrified 5-year- old.

      My mom eyes me worriedly. “What’s wrong?”

      I can’t look at them as I tell them, so I raise my eyes to the sky and the floating mouse ears. Even so, it’s hard to bring out the words. “I’ve done something bad.”

      “What do you mean, ‘bad’?” my dad asks.

      I look around and say, “Not here.” I grab my mother’s hand and pull her through the crowds and past the costumed characters to a bench next to a giant garden of character-shaped trees and flowers. I point at the bench and signal them to sit down. “Okay…don’t be mad.”

      And then I plant myself in front of them and tell them everything about Alanna and Edwin. When I finally run out of words, I wait for their reaction. But they’re speechless.

      “Do your grandparents know about this?” my mom finally asks.

      My father shakes his head. I don’t remember ever seeing him angry at me before, but he is now. “We warned you! You don’t change the past!”

      “I know. I messed up. And no, Estelle—I mean, Bud and Estelle—don’t... What am I going to do?”

      Liam chews on his bottom lip for several moments. “There’s not much you can do. But you need to tell my parents. I’m sorry, Gav, but we can’t do much from this side. We would if we could, but we’re limited.”

      “I know!” I snap. “But what do I do now?”

      My dad eyes me up and down. “You need to face the consequences. You’re not a baby.”

      “I didn’t come here for a lecture,” I sneer.

      “Hey!” my mom frowns. “Honey, we want to help you. I think you know that. But what do you expect us to do? I don’t know what you were thinking.”