°~1 Month Later~°

°~April, 1790~°

(Y/N POV)

Hugh knocked at the door.

"How do you think he'll..." - I gulped - "He'll react?"
Hugh sighed. "My thoughts are with his wife. Did she know?"
"I don't know... I don't think so..."
"Nevertheless, they'll be astounded to see you both. He has children of his own now, does he not?"
"Yeah..." I knew that Alexander had lots of children, but I could not remember how many. I had vague memories of them, which I hoped were going to come back to me once I had laid my eyes on them again.

Even the ship here had sparked something, so I could only expect that there was much more to come. I'd looked up to the bow one morning and in my head saw a figure standing there. He stood for half a dozen seconds leaning his body over the side, gazing into the sea below us. He was fairly tall, but did not give much care for my presence. He was fascinated with the waters, and it left me unable to see his face before he vanished from sight.

When boarding, we'd used our real names: Y/N and Emily L/N. Nobody could trace our identities, for we came from the future, so using a fake name would be unnecessary. If we used the names we had gone by for so many years, people would grow suspicious of us. Only Hugh, Alexander, Mr and Mrs Church knew who we were thus far... at least, as far as I was aware.

Dogs barked from inside, nearing closer to the door. A silhouette of what appeared to be a woman emerged through the tainted glass, as she then opened the door and covered her mouth with a gasp.

That woman was Eliza.

The dogs (two, to be precise) wriggled their way around her delicate frame and circled us in an inspection. They meant no harm and wagged their tails through the air violently. "W- We were not expecting you to be here so early!" Eliza stuttered, uncovering her face. A young boy with curled, dark hair and freckles scattered about the areas across his cheeks raced from the stairs and stood motionless on the last step. I recognised him to be Philip, just... younger. He furrowed his eyebrows, before waiting a moment and fleeing into a room at the far right of the corridor.

"Is it them?!!" A startled voice called. The dogs bolted towards it and the man's heavy footsteps came trudging down the stairs after Philip.

It could only have been one man.

Just as his son had, Alexander stood motionless on the last step. His mouth was gaped open as he stared at us both, his eyes switching constantly. Finally, having had enough of his staring, he collapsed, his body clashing against the floor.

"Alexander-!" Eliza supported her husband's head with her hand, whilst Hugh darted as quickly as his withered body would allow over to his side.

~

Alexander rested on the couch, unconscious, with Eliza padding his forehead gently with a damp cloth. She was knelt on the ground, as Hugh, Emily and I were sat on the opposing couch. The children had been gathered into the sitting room by a young maid that helped Eliza to care for them and reintroduced to us. Angelica and Frances sat on the two singular wooden chairs present in the room; Alexander Jr (referred to as Junior) knelt on the floor with his head hung over the arm of the chair, inspecting his father; James, the youngest of the bunch, played quietly with a rattle supplied to him; Philip, the eldest, glared at us whilst hiding himself around the door for his own personal comfort.

"You don't look like Sophie and Emily..." Angelica spoke innocently. "They were old."
"And fat!" exclaimed Junior.
"Alexander!" Eliza spun her head to face him.
"Sorry, Ma."

My memories were slowly advancing. They were faint, yet present. I remembered these children, but not in a way that I could remember their individual characters. The impressions they were making already told me much about them.

"If you're Sophie then why is your name Y/N?" Frances asked.
I sighed. "Sophie's not my real name." I confessed. "That was my fake name for many years."
"Then why didn't you tell us?" A strong emotion, call it anger, took over Philip's face. "Sophie would have told us everything. She trusted us."
"It's complicated, Philip-"
"Are you witches?"

"Philip, that's enough." Eliza stopped him. His face changed instantly to a look of regret. "That's enough from all of you. These young ladies have gone through the unimaginable and you must show them dignity."
Suddenly I noticed that Emily's full attention was focused on Philip. She pointed her finger out. "Haven't I seen you before...?"
"Of course you have, Em-"
"No, not like that," she disrupted, "not like the dream. Like... somewhere else..."

I took a deep breath, facing the children again. "The truth is that we have been keeping this secret for... years. And your father has known. We were afraid to tell anyone else from the risk of being... being killed..."
"But we were your family..." Angelica spoke.
"I know. And I'm sorry. I don't know why we did it and if I could go back and do it all again, I would. But now is the time that you need to know."

"Ma says you're from the future!" Junior jumped up in excitement. "Can you get to space there?!!" He had entirely avoided the matter at hand, but it had made me relieved, you could say.
"Yes, you can get to space." I giggled.
"How?!" Frances enquired, now intrigued too.
"Well, you have to fly a rocket ship."
"A rocket ship?!" Junior questioned. Just then, Philip's mouth rose into a smile.

"Now, Junior, let's not be hasty." Eliza advised him.
"Sorry, Ma." he repeated once again.
"You can ask as many questions as you would like to at a later date.

For now, let us restore your father back to his health."

~~~~~~~~~~

Aaaaaand I'm all set for tomorrow!

Hush, I'm making this as real of an experience as possible-