“Dad,” Katie said slowly. “Maybe we should go somewhere to talk. Somewhere private.”
Jack gazed at his daughter, nodding in response. “Yeah good plan,” he sighed. Looking back at his family he gave them a knowing look before turning once more to his daughter. “What do you have in mind?”
Katie now thought carefully about where to take her father. Normally she would suggest her place, however, considering it was in another timeline that seemed out of the question. Jacks family was evil, giving them acces to the other timeline was a non starter. The best place he could think of would be the Magic Shop. “I know a place dad,” she said. “I say you, me and Kellie go and sit down and try to get to know eachother.”
“Whoa hold up,” Mika exclaimed. “What about us?”
“Mika you and Claudia head back and join the others,” Katie stated.
“No,” Lilith said quietly. “These two stay. If something happens to my son then they will suffer the consequences. Think of it as an insurance policy in case you and your soon to be bride are planning something.” Claudia and Mika paled slightly as they assumed a defensive position. “How do I know they’ll be safe,” Katie frowned as she gazed at Lilith. “I won’t chance harming these two as long as my son is unharmed,”she smiled. “If you are a woman of your word then their shall be no issues. They will remain here, unharmed by myself or anyone else. When my son returns they can go free. Besides, it has been far to long since I’ve had the opportunity to talk with two wizards. I want to learn about them, as much as they wish to learn about me.”
“Kat, Kel,” Claudia stated. “We’ll be fine.”
“You sure,” Kellie asked, a nervous look crossing her face. Claudia smiled as she looked at her friends. “Hey I’ve never been intimidated by anyone and the Major has taught me more than enough for me to be safe. Trust us we’ll be fine, just don’t take too long.” Katie and Kellie nodded as they turned towards Jack. Extending her hand Katie took his hand as the three of them vanished.
As Katie, Kellie and Jack now appeared in the Magic Shop Jack gazed at his surroundings, a smirk crossing his face. “Interesting,” he grinned. “I thought for sure we would end up in your home.”
“Not yet dad,” Katie said. “I know enough to know that giving you access to the other timeline is a bad idea. I have to be careful for now. Their are too many people that could be hurt if you and your ‘mother’ were to go there.”
“Fair enough,” Jack shrugged. As they gazed around the empty Magic Shop they noticed a small table with chairs towards the register. Pulling up a chair to the table the three not sat down, Katie taking her fiancée hand as they looked at Jack.
“So,” Jack said. “It appears your getting married. Congratulations.”
“Um thanks,” Kellie answered. An awkward silence now descended on the three as they searched for words. Katie wasn’t sure how to begin talking with Jack. Jack, like Kellie, had been magically created and claimed by a powerful magical being. While he had memories of his former life he would not have any blood relations with her, in the same way that Kellie no longer was blood related to her. Katie didn’t want to discount what he said though, Katie was certain about Kellie and deep down she had the same feeling about Jack. Katie now felt she should ask her dad what he remembered about his former life. “So dad,” she said. “What can you tell me about you and moms relationship?”
“Well it’s a bit muddled to be honest,” he sighed. “I remember us being married but I also remember us simply having a long term affair. It’s odd that I would remember both situations. What Indo remember though is that we were passionate.” Katie nodded as she listened to Jacks words. It didn’t surprise her that Jacks memories would be confused about his and Kellies relationship. Katie and her mom had altered reality quite extensively over the years. The history of the two would be splintered to the point that in one timeline Kellie and Jack had gotten married before Kellie erased him from existence. Another timeline would have the two engaged in an affair that would lead to Katie’s birth. In both cases though one thing was certain, Kellie and Jack had a love hate relationship.
“So your not quite sure then about you And Kellie,” Kel asked. Jack nodded and sighed as he looked at his daughters fiancé. “Yes and no,” he said. “I mean it’s odd. I know me and Kellie were involved. The thing is though I was married to someone else. I can’t be sure if me and Katie’s mom were ever married though.”
“So what happened to your other wife then,” Katie asked.
“Well,” Jack sighed. “That’s the reason I’m here. You see, apparently in my first life I really sucked at being married. I should tell you I wasn’t exactly the best husband or even boyfriend. From what I can tell I wasn’t the most faithful person. I erased my wife and another mistress from the timeline.”
“That’s awful,” Katie said sternly.
“Yeah I know,” Jack sighed. “But hey your mom did something similar, otherwise neither one of us would be here.” Katie paused as she now thought of her mother’s actions, as well as her own. Yes Kellie had erased Katie and Lisa from existence, in another timeline (the one Jack seemed to remember) Kellie had erased Jack. In both cases they both made mistakes that had led to their current existence. Katie though was not blameless in any of this, it was her initial wish that had transformed her mother into a teenager that had led to where they were now. If she had never made that wish then they wouldn’t be sitting here now. While the wish had led to a great deal of happiness their were always consequences. Katie gave a short laugh as she realized in a way Jacks existence and everything that had happened was the universes way of balancing things out.
“Okay dad,” she sighed. “I...I won’t hold that against you. I mean it’s not great but yeah mom did something pretty similar. My concern though is this whole darkness thing. What exactly are you going to do?”
“Well,” he said, running a hand thorough his blond hair. “The thing is this. When you and your mom took out Morgan you kind of threw the whole universe out of whack. The light isn’t supposed to be this strong in any universe. The reason my mom, Circe, and Baba reappeared is to kind of rebalance the scales. Bring enough darkness to keep things balanced.”
“Does that mean your going to take my daughter,” Katie exclaimed, an angry look crossing her face. “Daughter,” Jack said, slightly confused. Katie and Kellie narrowed their eyes as they stared at Jack. “Yeah our daughter,” Kellie stated. “After Morgan was transformed Katie insisted we take care of her. At first I thought it was nuts, she tried to kill us. Over the last few weeks though I’ve come to love that child. No one touches Morgan or they have to go through us.”
Jack stared dumbfounded at his daughter and fiancée. He had no idea that the two had taken the now infant Morgan LeFay as their child to raise as their own, he wondered if his mother had known this information and had kept it from him. While angered that Lilith would keep something like this from him, a part of him could understand. If he were to learn that his daughter had a child of his own, it would cloud his judgement if he ever had to destroy what was left of Morgan LeFay. “Huh had no idea,” he whispered, a small smile spreading across his face. “I’m somebodies grandfather, go figure.”
“You didn’t know,” Katie asked. Jack shock his head slowly leaning back in his chair, a befuddled look on his face. “No I didn’t,” he said. “To be honest, I never asked what happened to Morgan LeFay. I only knew she had been defeated. Personally I think my mother was surprised to see her today.”
“Morgan’s grown very attached to us,” Kellie smirked. “This was the first time we had someone watch her. I would of asked Lisa but she’s due any moment. That and Morgan seemed to like Katie’s grandma.”
Jack nodded as he tried to remember Kellies family. He recalled seeing pictures of Kellies family. She was a bit estranged from her parents and middle sister but absolutely adored her little sister Lisa. As Jack thought back he remembered a picture of a college age Lisa. “I remember seeing a picture of those two,” he said. “Lisa was Kellies kid sister, she’s quite the looker.”
“She raised me after mom died,” Katie said. “She’s the best. She got married recently to real nice man named Jason. He actually has a daughter named Gloria, my step sister and their expecting a little girl named Lynne in March.”
Jack gave his daughter a small smile as Katie described her family, he was happy that his only child seemed to be doing so well and was happy. “I’m glad,” he said. “And it sounds like things are going well for you.”
“They are,” Katie said, a small smile spreading across her face. “Aside from the occasional magical mishap I have a pretty good life.”
Jack smiled gazing at his daughter and Kellie. While the two represented to opposite sides of the universe he was glad they could sit down and talk. Trying to be a father was something totally foreign to Jack however something about Katie put him totally at ease. He now hoped that things could continue going in a positive direction.