Chapter 23: The One Who Waited
302 Words
The jump didn’t settle right.
Zella felt it instantly.
She had done this too many times—jumping between 2046 and 2024, staying just ahead of things she didn’t dare let catch up.
But this one—
Lingering.
Her girls clung close.
“We’re okay,” she said. “We made it.”
But her eyes were already scanning.
Because something else had.
The air shimmered behind her.
Not collapsing.
Not closing.
“Stay behind me,” she said quietly.
The space folded.
Zella stepped forward slowly, her pulse steady.
“I know this pattern…” she whispered.
“But this isn’t mine.”
She reached out—
And the moment she touched it—
It gave.
And suddenly—
She was holding him.
A baby.
Warm.
Quiet.
Watching her.
Zella froze.
“No…” she whispered.
“This isn’t how this works.”
“You followed me,” she said softly.
Behind her—
A voice.
“You felt it too.”
Zella turned sharply.
Alexander Reagan stood there, watching carefully.
“I’ve handled time jumps,” Zella said quickly. “So have you. None of them do this.”
Alexander didn’t argue.
“Because they don’t,” he said.
He stepped closer, eyes locked on the baby.
“In 2046, we started tracking what happens when timelines get stressed,” he continued.
Zella’s grip tightened.
“And this?” she asked.
Alexander’s voice dropped.
“This isn’t stress.”
A beat.
“It’s something new.”
Zella looked back down at the baby.
He blinked up at her calmly.
Like he had been waiting.
“…You waited,” she whispered.
Final Beat
Zella pulled him closer instinctively.
Because she understood one thing now—
Whether she chose this or not—
She had just become part of something much bigger.
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