“Suit yourself.” Margaret turned and walked to the door.
“Wait.” Margaret didn’t turn and face the Queen so she’d keep up the tension. “I will give you what you want, but you must know you will be my enemy then.”
“I understand.”
“I hurt my enemies bad, Margaret.”
“I’ve witnessed that.”
“As you wish,” the Queen chirped. “What’s wrong with getting the keys in exchange for this stupid thing you want from me?” she mumbled. “Bring me the keys. You get what you want.”
“Thank you,” Margaret said, and walked out to the hallway, her chin up. She mustered her Duchess face as she dealt with all kinds of businesses.
A few moments later, she took the elevator, waited until she was alone, and began crying her heart out.
Chapter 9
SOMEWHERE IN THE FUTURE
I am standing clueless in the most surreal situation you can imagine, trapped in my future self, and staring at my future daughter. Oh my God, I just noticed her hair is a replica of mine. And her walk reminds of myself. I’m going to cry bubblegum tears right now.
“Mummy, we’re late,” she says. “Have you slept in again?”
I kneel to the floor and open my arms, wanting her to jump into them. Instead, she stares at me, as if I am a loon. Then I realize I don’t even know her name.
“What’s wrong with you, Mummy?” she says. “Did you take your pills?”
“Pills? Huh,” I say, not caring about pills. “How about you come into Mummy’s arms?”
“Ooofff.” She stomps her feet and blows out a long sigh, showing her bubbly cheeks. “All right.”
She approaches me, and my heartbeat is like a freight train. Then she slowly throws herself into my arms. I squeeze her so tight. I can’t help it. Tears squeeze out of my eyes. This feels so good. So illegally good.
“Mummy, you’re choking me,” she says. “What’s wrong with you today?” She slides herself away and stares into my eyes. “Do you want me to tell Dad to drive me to school?”
“Dad?” I raise an eyebrow. Is it Jack? Really? It must be Jack. She has those light dimples in her cheeks. It must be Jack.
Then another voice calls from the hallway. Not that of an adult. Another kid. A boy.
“Lily!” the boy calls. “Where are you? I need to go.”
“Lily?” I stare at my daughter.
“Yes, Lily, Mum. It’s not like I chose the name.”
“Lily is a nice name,” I say. I love it, actually.
“Yeah, so you say.” She rolls her eyes. “At least it’s a better than Tiger.” She points at the boy, a little older, standing by the door.
“Tiger?” I stare at him.
“Yes, Tiger,” she mumbles. “Hey, Tiger. Come meet Mum.”
“Thanks, I’ve seen her before.” Tiger giggles.
“Because she acts like she hasn’t seen us before.”
“Then she didn’t take her meds,” Tiger says.
I am at a loss for words, staring at my cute kids and experiencing something I’ve never thought of before. Hell, I haven’t even experienced being married. And frankly, I thought a girl who was out there to save the world wasn’t going to fall in love and have kids, ever.
But wait. Tiger and Lily? Is that why my plant in my cell means so much to me? Does this mean I have been into the future before?
“She is in a daze,” Tiger says. “Let’s get Dad to drive us to school.”
“No.” I stand up. “I will drive you to school.” It’s my responsibility, isn’t it? “Have you had breakfast yet?”
Both stare at me as if I am an alien.
“Did I say something wrong?” I say.
“You never make us breakfast,” Lily says.
“Oh.” I rub my chin. “That was a bad mum. Not from now on.”
Tiger and Lily burst out laughing.
“Dad won’t believe this.” Lily says.
And then Dad calls. He sounds like he is down in the foyer or something. My room is on the second floor. And he says, “Baby, are you awake yet?”
Suddenly, and upon hearing his voice, I realize I don’t want to see him.
Chapter 10
The man calling me baby isn’t Jack. That’s not his voice. I’ve never heard it before. No, I can’t meet him. That’s like a big spoiler for the movie of my life. I don’t want to know the man I am going to marry. I don’t mind my children. They are the blood that runs in my veins. I don’t mind meeting them now. But not the boy who will become a man I will fall in love with. I will have a boring love life this way when I get back.
“Listen.” I kneel down. “How about we make it a surprise to Dad, the fact that I am making you breakfast? Let’s not see him now.”
“What do you want us to do?” Tiger says.
“Let’s leave through the back stairs. Get into my car. I have a car, right?”
“If you call your fancy rabbit-looking vehicle a car.” Tiger rolls his eyes.
“Okay.” I nod. “I will drive you to school, buy breakfast on the way, and then I’ll come back and meet Dad. Then I will cook you the best dinner you can gorge on when you come back.”
“I want marshmallow tarts,” Lily says.
“I can do that.” I have no idea what that is.
“Laughing Jelly Sticks, too?” Lily adds.
“Of course.”
“You’re the best, Mum.” She hugs me again.
“You want something special, Tiger?” I say.
“I just want to see you cook, for real,” he says. “That’d make my day.”
“Awesome.”
“Awesome?” Tiger squints, as if he’s starting to suspect I’m not his mother. “Who says awesome anymore?”
“What should I say?”
“Frabjous,” Lily squeaks.
“Ah.” I forgot we won the Wonderland War. “Frabjous. Now any idea how we could sneak out without Dad seeing us?”
“You’re the boss, Mum,” he says. “That’s your problem.”
“Of course,” I say, unsure what my next move will be.
There is a man who calls me baby climbing up the stairs. My eyes veer toward the window again. Then to the bedsheets. Then back to my children. “How about we climb out the window?”
“Wow!” Tiger says. “You’re seriously the coolest mum in the Great Republic of Wonderland.”
Chapter 11
I roll the sheets into a rope and dangle it down the window. Lily climbs on my back and wraps her tiny arms around my neck. Tiger holds me from the front, head on my bosom, arms wrapped around my back. We climb down, and I am surprised at my athletic physique. I must have trained well throughout the war. Chubby but strong.
Midway, the rope starts waving left and right, like a pendulum.
“Like Tarzan!” Tiger chirps.
“No, like Rapunzel,” Lily insists.
“Like the worst mother ever,” I say.
Finally, we hit the ground. My husband’s voice is calling for me upstairs. He must be in my room now. And soon he’ll see the dangling rope.
I let my children guide me to my car. It’s around the corner from the fabulous garden. I still can’t believe I’m living luxuriously in this future. Did someone compensate me that well for killing monsters and saving lives?
Tiger points at what looks like a vehicle, draped in a large white cover. It’s parked in a garage full of pink roses, covered with a pergola of green leaves.
Surreal.
I uncover it, and there is one funny-looking car underneath it. It looks like a modified Corvette, redesigned into the shape of a rabbit. The front is the rabbit’s nose, mouth, and chin, stretched out to serve as a car, a convertible with custom-made backseats. The back is the rabbit’s ass.
“Is this my car?”
“Come on, Mum.” Lily pulls me by the hand. “We’ve wanted you to take us for a ride in it since forever.”