Jess and Megan walked through the front door just as the scent of slow-cooked roast filled the house. The setting sun cast warm light through the living room windows, and the familiar clatter of plates and silverware echoed from the kitchen.
But something felt... wrong.
Jess froze in the entryway, her brow furrowing. Megan looked at her sister with confusion, but Jess’s eyes were locked on the figures in the kitchen.
It wasn’t Isabelle and Mike.
It was a tall, muscular man with short dark hair and a strong jaw—Issac—and a poised, strikingly attractive woman with long auburn hair and a fitted blazer—Michelle. They moved around the kitchen like they belonged there, laughing and talking like they had always been a couple.
Jess's stomach dropped.
Megan, oblivious to the finer details, just shrugged and wandered into the kitchen to check what was for dinner. Jess, meanwhile, stepped forward cautiously, eyes flicking over Issac’s frame.
He looked like Jeff.
More accurately, he looked like what Jeff might’ve grown into—same nose, similar eyes, just reshaped into a slightly older, adult male form.
“Issac,” Jess said carefully, testing the name.
Issac looked up from the table with a bright smile. “Hey, sweetheart. Welcome home! Did you girls have fun?”
Jess blinked. “Uh, yeah. Fine.” She stared for a moment. “Can I... ask you something?”
“Sure,” he said easily, pulling the roast from the oven. “But make it quick, dinner’s just about ready.”
Jess stepped in closer. “Do you remember being... someone else?”
Issac frowned thoughtfully. “What do you mean?”
“Like... do you remember being called Jeff?”
He laughed. “Jeff? No, I don’t think so. Is that a friend of yours?”
Jess’s heart pounded. “What about Isabelle?”
Issac tilted his head. “Isabelle? Hmm... doesn’t ring a bell actually I think I remember your grandma saying that's what She would have named Me if I was born a Girl, Why? You feeling okay?”
Jess forced a smile. “Yeah. Just... deja vu I Guess is the best way to put it...”
Before she could probe further, Michelle stepped in from the hall, wiping her hands on a kitchen towel. “Girls! Dinner’s ready. Wash up and come sit, okay?”
Jess started to protest wanting to get to the computer to fix this as soon as possible, but Issac gave her a playful nudge toward the sink.
“Come on, now. You know the rules. Family eats together.”
Jess bit the inside of her cheek, nodding slowly. “Right. Of course.”
She washed her hands, eyes drifting toward the hallway where she had left her computer earlier—where the Chronivac had been open. Somehow, something had gone wrong. Terribly wrong.
Issac and Michelle... they had no idea who they used to be.
And with everyone settling in for dinner, Jess was trapped. For now, she had to pretend. Until she could sneak away and fix it all.
"Dinner first," she whispered to herself. "Then I fix this..."