Portal (26 page)

“Thanks, David, I did my best. I guess it’s up to the coaches now….”

“And here they are,” said David as Harry walked towards the center of the cafeteria. Harry got up on a table and announced, “It was hard but we’ve reached a decision. We’ll have two teams this year. Please line up outside the dressing room. We’ll see each of you individually and discuss your options. Kellan will be the assistant captain of the varsity team….”

There was applause through the crowd; I beamed at him proudly.

Harry continued, “And Mike will captain the JV team. So I need both of you to come with me to the changing room. Ok, so line up everyone and lets get started!”

I rushed over, wanting to be as near the start as possible so I could head out soon. We’d been here long enough. I was ninth. I could see Justin up ahead, number one. Ariele had to head home so Ali and Maria stayed in line with me. It took forever. The coaches certainly took the “discussing your options” bit to heart!

Finally, it was my turn. David tapped on my shoulders from the back and shot me a thumbs up. I smiled and went in. We had not been able to watch the players exit as another door was being used for that. So, I had no idea how many were already on the team.

“Sit down, PH,” said Coach.

I sat down on an uncomfortable metal chair. Facing me were Kellan, Mike, Coach Stanislaw, Coach Pickett and Harry. They all looked grim.

“You are an enigma,” Coach said taking a deep breath and studying me thoughtfully.

“You are so ‘petite’ for the lack of a better word, but you surprised us all on the ice. I know that Kellan and Harry protected you today, however, they assure me that they didn’t need to in hindsight. I tend to agree, you’re sharp and strong on the ice. You tackle like someone twice your size. It’s hard to believe that you haven’t done this before. Your only ‘sport’ experience seems to be cheerleading,” he guffawed. “You’re in. Get out of here now and we’ll see you at practice Sunday morning.”

I so wanted to hug him but resisted. I threw a big grin at the beaming Harry and Kellan and floated out of the room. Ali and Maria were waiting outside the exit door.

“Well?”

“I made it!”

The delight on their faces filled me with warmth. They were happy for me even though it meant that they would lose me from the cheer squad. Although it wouldn’t be any loss at all if they saw me cheer. I shuddered at the thought.

“This calls for a celebration!” Ali proclaimed.

Maria coughed, “Small issue. Your mom called me, Arizona, while you were in there. She needs you back home to look after Ella. She has to head back to work and Rupert wants to go in with her.”

“Wow, she really seems to live at work,” I thought to myself. Oh well, spending some time with Ella would be nice. I needed to get to know her some more.

“That’s ok, we can celebrate tomorrow. Or even better, fly to NYC with us on Thursday and we can hit the stores there!”

Ali and Maria looked at each other, carefully at first, but then with excitement pouring from their faces.

“That sounds like a
plan
! We’ve got to convince our parents but….,” shrugged Ali jumping up and down.

“Great! It will be a blast. Ella is auditioning, so we should have plenty of free time for shopping and fun!”

They walked me out to my Jeep full of delight at our upcoming trip.

Olivia and Rupert watched Ella perform her audition piece with pride. She was belting out “Good morning, Baltimore” from
Hairspray
with gusto, her face alive with expression. Her pal, Jonas, was sitting watching her in awe. She finished and took a bow looking expectantly at Jonas as he clapped his hands enthusiastically.

“Awesome, Ella!” He shrieked with delight.

Rupert and Olivia clapped their hands with pride as Olivia got up and walked to her little daughter, picking her up for a major bear hug. “What a star you are, Ella! That was amazing! I’m so upset that I’m going to miss your auditions, I wish I could come.”

Ella looked at her mother, “Mom, maybe you should think about giving up working and staying at home again?”

Olivia nodded, “Well, as soon as this month’s out, I’ll only be going to work a few days a week and I’ll always be back in time to get you from school. It’s just October. Busy, busy! I’m sure you’re going to have a great time in Manhattan. Who’s going, Rupert?”

“Not totally sure yet, but definitely Harry, Arizona, Kellan, Ariele and young Jonas here.”

Olivia looked at Rupert thoughtfully, wondering about the wisdom of taking Arizona so close to Princeton, especially with Ariele going. She would have to carefully consider the possibilities of that and talk to him about it later.

As soon as Arizona got home to watch Ella, Olivia and Rupert would head off to Glenda’s. They were going to pick up Larry on the way. Kellan had been told to join them as soon as he was done at the tryouts.

Olivia wondered how the tryouts had gone. She wished that she could’ve been there. Arizona was always amazing to watch. She decided to take time off work on Monday and head over to watch their first game. Even if Arizona hadn’t made it, Harry would definitely be playing and he was awesome as well.

Harry, her son. A son she didn’t think possible, should not have been possible. She had in fact never wanted a son, but that changed the second Harry was born. She had been totally smitten, just like when she had first laid eyes upon his father. He was the calming influence that Ella and Arizona had needed, the protection they had craved. She thought back to the afternoon in Manhattan when Rupert and she had confirmed that they were going to have a baby. They had both been overjoyed, it was a dream that they had not even dared to dream. They lay in bed for ages studying each other’s faces wondering how they would translate into a new being.

The confirmation of the pregnancy presented complications though. This meant that they definitely couldn’t stay here. This baby couldn’t be born here, not in this time. They’d have to go back. It meant having to leave Larry in charge of getting Arizona and Ella back to her at the right time interval. This would mean almost a decade of separation from the girls, which would be unbearable for her. It wouldn’t mean a lengthy separation for them, though. They’d be with her in a matter of days. But it would be ten long years for her.

She had to learn to cope. Rupert and she went back through the portal and they returned to London leaving Larry to readjust it.

She had gone back and dissolved her painful marriage to Dillard who was nonplussed when she left him. She wondered if he even noticed. She had moved into the small cozy house with Rupert and they had spent their carefree pre baby months working and enjoying each other’s company. She completed her PhD
again
and sent off job applications to various places, including Ames in Mountain View.

They had decided to let the sex of the baby be a surprise. When Rupert gently put their warm bundle in her arms after the C-section at St Mary’s Hospital, she was more surprised at the striking eyes that stared back at her than the sex. She had never expected the clear blue eyes even though they were identical to Rupert’s. Both her girls had her hazel eyes. She had looked at the alert, tiny face in amazement.

“Chip off the old block, isn’t he, Ollie?” Rupert said proudly.

She looked up into his loving eyes and smiled, “Welcome,
Harry
Darley?”

Rupert laughed, “Yup, he looks like a Harry to me!”

Like Arizona and Ella before him, Harry slept in his parents’ bed until he was two and then moved to his own big-boy bed. It was funny listening to him talk in his posh little English accent. Arizona had lost hers soon after moving to the U.S. Olivia hoped that Harry would hold on to his, although it was probably unlikely.

Just before Harry’s third birthday, a position opened up for Olivia at Ames. Their new department head, Larry Fox, contacted her. He was setting up a new research program. She flew over to Mountain View with Rupert and Harry, wondering how this first meeting with Larry would go. It seemed so strange to be introduced to him in this dimension. Would he know her?

She walked into the interview at Ames with some trepidation. How did this fit in with the big picture? Was she being brought in to run the portal? She wondered what young Larry would be like. She was surprised when she saw him. He looked exactly the same.

“Hi, Ollie! I thought I would come through and give you an update. How have you been? How long has it been for you? Three years, just yesterday for me.”

Olivia was completely taken aback, “Larry, I thought this was for real, that I was going to get to see
young
Larry!”

He laughed, “I don’t think I’ve ever been
young Larry
. It was a fun prank and I also had to test the portal. It seems to be working. I need you based here at Ames to run the portal at this end. The current staff will stay and work for you. When’s the soonest you can relocate? I’ll need you here by next October at the very latest, sooner preferably. The logistics are only going to allow us to keep the portal open for a limited amount of time so we’ve kept October, as that’s when you requested the opening initially.”

Olivia nodded carefully, “That sounds workable. Have you seen my girls? How are the plans proceeding?”

“I’ve not seen them yet, but will head to Princeton to pick them up tomorrow. Dillard took off with his girlfriend for the week so they are staying with your mother.”

“Slow down, Larry! You’re going to have to elaborate here, it’s all going over my head!” Olivia took a deep breath as she suddenly realized that she might be able to get her mother back.

“It’s all fairly simple,” laughed Larry. “I’ve already reset the portal. I’m going back to the other end, which is now set up at the time when Arizona is eight. Ella is a baby and your mother is alive and well.”

“This is blowing my mind Larry, wow! And you said Dillard is with his girl friend. Interesting,” Olivia mused.

“Well, one of them anyway,” shrugged Larry

Olivia sighed and looked at him with resignation, “Can I come back with you and see them?”

Larry shook his head and said, “That wouldn’t be a good idea for a lot of reasons.”

Olivia looked at Larry, “I’ll take your word for it, though I miss them desperately. You’ve really worked on this and I am extremely grateful.” Then she looked sad. “I’m still going to have to wait though, aren’t’ I?”

“I’m afraid so, but keep yourself busy here.”

Olivia nodded resignedly but she was thankful.

They moved to Mountain View six months later. Little Harry lost his English accent and in no time turned into an all American boy. He was always a delight to be around. He was, like his father, musically inclined and spent precious moments strumming the guitar with his dad. He started playing baseball at an early age, at first with Rupert and then with the local teams. They started heading to the ice rink regularly during the hot summers to keep cool, as Olivia was sensitive to the hot temperatures. Harry proved to be gifted on the ice and was playing ice hockey in no time.

Rupert put his hands on Olivia’s shoulders and gently shook her out of her thoughts. She looked up at him disoriented.

He smiled, “Daydreaming?”

She nodded embarrassed, but was saved by the front door opening and Arizona arriving home.

“Hey, I heard you made it,” said Rupert, “Congratulations!”

Arizona nodded trying to hide her pleasure, “I’m hungry, any food left?”

“Congratulations, Arizona. Dinner’s in the kitchen. Will you be ok with Ella for a while? She ran off to the playroom with Jonas. His mom will be here soon to pick him up. We have to head off right now. In fact I’m already a bit late. Harry should be back shortly.” Olivia added

Arizona nodded curtly as they headed for the door.

They took the Hummer and stopped by Larry’s place to pick him up.

“Did you get a chance to talk to Kellan, Larry?” Rupert asked as he pulled out of Larry’s driveway.

Larry laughed, “You’re kidding, right? It’s like trying to get an appointment with the President. He’s been totally busy since last night. However, I did tell him to come to Ariele’s after tryouts and he texted me a while ago that he’d be there soon. He sounded intrigued.”

“He won’t be so intrigued when he finds out that this is a fishing expedition and he’s going to have to spill on his new beloved,” laughed Rupert.

“Ah, young love, I didn’t see that coming,” mused Larry.

Olivia’s mind wandered back to Kellan and Arizona’s first meeting all those years ago, when Larry was getting Arizona and Ella ready for their transport. Larry had decided that the journey was too complicated for the girls to make on their own even though he had managed to get Olivia’s mother to agree to accompany them. She had been tough, even after Larry had explained the whole procedure. She felt what they were doing was against nature. However, the thought of forever losing her daughter and granddaughters had made her reluctantly agree to this, in her mind, totally bizarre project. Larry didn’t feel confident in her commitment and decided to make the journey with them.