*Rory*
I wake to the smell of breakfast cooking. Cait’s still curled beside me on the straw-stuffed mattress, her breath soft against my chest. For a few precious seconds, I let myself believe we are safe. That we are together in my apartment back home in the future, it’s a lazy Saturday, and we don’t have to get up yet.
A rooster crows outside, breaking the spell. Children shriek with laughter. The whole house hums with movement.
Cait stirs. Her eyes open. “Good morrow to ye. Have you been watching me sleep for long?” she asks with a sleepy smile.
I chuckle. “I just woke up too, I’ll have you know.”
Downstairs, someone clangs a pot and another trill of giggles erupts.
Cait grins. “It’s always like this here. I don’t know how Maisy has the energy for all of them.”
The long breakf
