The Time Traveler's Wife - The Other Side

The Home

December 2018

Married life had not changed Carmilla's sleeping habits and they were approaching late morning when Laura goes to see if she needed to wake her up for a big day. She shuts off the stove and sets the cooked breakfast aside to cool, before heading to the bedroom and lingering in the doorway.

She still hadn't told Carmilla yet about her health scare, but Carmilla was either still traveling frequently, and stressed when she came back because the tests LaFontaine was running on her weren't yielding many conclusive results. As long as Laura kept up with her medication to manage her condition, there didn't seem to be a need to worry Carmilla.

But Carmilla slept, she looked absolutely at peace and relaxed, and Laura really doesn't want to disturb that serenity.

Luckily, she doesn't have to. Carmilla stirs a bit and lets out a yawn.

"Good morning," Laura whispers beside her.

Carmilla chuckles. "Were you just watching me sleep?" she asks 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 teases as she turns to face Laura, 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, giving Carmilla a peck on her nose.

Carmilla scrunches up her face and sits up, stretching with another yawn.

"Glad you're well-rested," Laura comments, 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. "Oh, shit."

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. "Oh shit."

~*~

"I thought you were both supposed to be here today?" SJ says from inside. "Buying a house is a pretty big deal. Surely you need her insight?"

"She's traveling. Emergency," Laura replies as smoothly as possible.

SJ clicks her tongue. "Well, we can reschedule. She really should be here--"

There's a loud commotion of someone bursting into the house behind Laura. "--And here I am!" they shout out breathlessly.

Laura stares at their new guest and frowns in confusion.

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

"This isn't it," she interrupts. "This isn't our home."

SJ cocks her head to the side, perplexed. "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 chuckles. "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, making Laura giggle. "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?"