The Time Traveler's Wife

The Home

December 2018

The aroma of pancakes and eggs and bacon wafts into Carmilla's nose and she lets out a yawn as she cracks her eyes open.

"Good morning," a warm voice whispers beside her.

Carmilla chuckles. "Have you just been watching me sleep?" she mumbles without rolling over, her voice raspy from sleep.

Laura grins and climbs back into bed to kiss her on the cheek, propped up on her side by one arm. "Maybe."

"Creeper," Carmilla comments, making Laura laugh. "And what if the food burned?" she asks, lazily slinging an arm over Laura's side.

"Then I guess we'd have to have sandwiches and cupcakes," Laura teases.

Carmilla chuckles and stretches.

"Glad you're well-rested," Laura says, rolling off the bed. She heads for the door. "And you'll be well-fed. Coz we have quite the day ahead of us."

Carmilla's eyes widen. "Fuck."

Laura turns with a frown. "Wha--"

She's faced with a pile of clothes on the bed. And no Carmilla.

Laura buries her face in her hands. "Fuck."

~*~

"I... don't know," Laura frets.

"I thought you were both supposed to be here today?" SJ, the real estate agent, replies. "Buying a house is a pretty big deal. Surely you need her insight?"

Laura swallows hard. "She's traveling. Emergency."

SJ frowns. "Well, we can reschedule. She really should be here--"

"Here I am!" a breathless voice declares, bursting into the house showing.

Laura stares at the new guest and cocks her head to the side in confusion.

"Welcome, Carmilla. Glad you could join us in spite of your emergency trip," SJ says. "So, we've just done a tour of the house, but we can do another--"

"This isn't it," the person interrupts. "This isn't our home."

SJ sighs. "You don't even want to--?"

"Nope," she interrupts. "Lemme see the itinerary for today."

Laura gives SJ a polite smile and gently tugs her away by the elbow. "Can we have just one moment, SJ? Thanks."

In the next room, Laura finally releases her.

"What year are you from?" she asks in a whisper.

Future Carmilla grins. "2020. How'd you know?"

"There is no way your hair grew that quickly from when I saw you this morning," Laura says.

"I will always love Laura Hollis deductions," Future Carmilla comments. Laura giggles. "Anyway, I'm here to help you find our home. Or at least, that's what happened in my timeline. And it's a pretty amazing home, if I do say so myself. So why mess with that?"

Laura huffs. "Kinda takes the fun out of house hunting together."

Future Carmilla pats Laura on the arm. "We'll get our kicks some other way, buttercup."

She leads Laura back to SJ.

"Itinerary," Future Carmilla requests.

SJ looks inquisitively over at Laura, who nods, so she hands it over.