The Time Traveler's Wife

The List

April 17, 2010

"Home for spring break?" Carmilla asks, finding Laura in her living room watching TV.

Laura squeals and bounces out of her seat, throwing her arms around Carmilla. "Yep!"

Carmilla smiles and gives her a small squeeze before they both let go. She sits down on the couch beside Laura. "Wild spring break you've got going on here," she says dryly.

Laura narrows her eyes in a playful glare. "I'll have you know that watching this new episode of Doctor Who is very wild."

Carmilla laughs and settles in, since it's the middle of the episode. "You're right, you're right. Always a wild time."

"You'd better not spoil this one for me like you did with Buffy," Laura comments, regarding her suspiciously.

Carmilla hums. "Isn't this the one where the Doctor and Amy meet Winston Churchill in World War II? And they find the--"

Laura clamps her hand over Carmilla's mouth. "Shh! Spoi--" She gasps and removes her hand. "You got 'spoilers' from River!"

"Or you did. Not totally clear on that," Carmilla murmurs. "But I'll be quiet."

It isn't until the credits are rolling that Laura realizes Carmilla is staring at her with an endearing look.

"Wh-What?" Laura chuckles nervously.

"I was just thinking how the first time I met you, you also covered my mouth and screamed 'SPOILERS' at me, like River Song in Doctor Who. Guess some things really don't change."

Laura giggles. "I heard it from you, first."

Carmilla crosses her arms. "We've really gone and fucked up this whole chicken-or-egg timeline, haven't we?"

Laura laughs at that and shrugs. "We're keeping things interesting."

"Yeah, I hear that's the secret to a successful marriage," Carmilla jokes without thinking. She freezes when she realizes what she's just said.

Laura's eyes widen and she looks like she's about to faint. "Wh-What?"

"Fuck," Carmilla curses.

"Oh my god! Am I your wife?" Laura squeaks. "Or, will I be?"

There's a squeak of a door hinge. "Goodness," a voice says.

Carmilla and Laura both turn to face Sherman.

"That was one helluva proposal," he comments, still in shock as he takes off his jacket.

Carmilla swallows hard. "I... I swear, when I actually proposed, it was way more genuine and thought-out and romantic, sir."

"First of all, call me Sherman. Since we will be family, apparently." He walks over. "Second of all, I certainly hope so."

"Well, suddenly I understand why when I asked for your blessing in the future, you gave me a weird look and said 'uh, yeah, of course,'" Carmilla realizes.

Sherman laughs and walks to the kitchen. "I guess I have some time to become okay with my daughter marrying a time-traveler, huh?"

"You're supposed to do something with a bookshare, right?" Laura asks, slowly recovering from the revelation. "I, uh, still have the letter."

Carmilla chuckles. "In your little 'Carmilla' box, yeah?"

Laura blushes and averts her gaze.

Carmilla clears her throat. "Speaking of the bookshare, there's something we need to talk about. Do you have some paper and a pen?"