Time Traveler: E236. Reasons

AURORA SKIES, 7:00 AM…

While Juliette took some time out to calm herself, the rest of the Shens stayed in the living room to continue the conversation, but not before Karen brought everyone fresh cups of hot coffee, as the previous ones had gone cold. Once everyone was settled, Dustin jumped back in:

“Okay, back to where we were. I still have a few questions.”
“Go ahead, ask whatever you want,” Dylan replied.
“Okay, it’s about Lunar Lakes and the document on the flash drive. As far as I know, you couldn’t crack the code, so I have to assume that someone helped you. Was it Dr. Beaker?”
“Yes, it was Bjorn… In part.”

“The other part was done by his alien friend, and with great pleasure,” Karen teased.
“Oh, right, your alien friend. Tell me, is she hot?” Logan chimed in.
“Log, that’s not funny,” Karen snapped, while Dylan gulped down his coffee, looking embarrassed.

“We still want to know everything about her. I, for one, am dying to hear the whole story,” Dustin pointed out. “The alien girl, Rob’s genes, his parents being alive and in Lunar Lakes… This was important intel that might have helped us to avoid what happened.

“I don’t understand why you would keep something this big from us.”
“We had our reasons for holding back,” Dylan answered.
“Very important reasons”, Karen added.
“So, what were those reasons, if I may ask?”

Once again, Dylan and Karen exchanged glances.
“Well, we didn’t want to…” Dylan began.
“…Call off your wedding,” Karen finished.
“What?” Dustin froze.

A FEW MINUTES LATER…

“You’re telling me you kept silent just so my wedding wouldn’t have to be canceled?” Dustin grumbled as soon as he recovered after listening to his parents’ lengthy explanation.

“I know it sounds ridiculous now,” Dylan admitted. “But we were worried about Robin’s reaction. We thought that hearing about his parents would make him want to rush off to Lunar Lakes. He’s not just Jul’s boyfriend; he was going to be your best man too.”
“We felt it was prudent to wait so that neither you nor Jul would miss him at the ceremony,” Karen added sheepishly.

“The prudent thing to do was to let all of us know. Robin especially. Perhaps if he had known about his DNA, or about this alien girl you talk about, he would’ve been more alert, even prepared for an event like the one he had to endure. This was vitally important, not only that, it was a matter of life and death…

“Not to mention that whether or not to celebrate the wedding was entirely my decision,” Dustin ended agitatedly.
“We know, honey, but we didn’t think it was fair to Judy. She’s been waiting for this day for so long…” Karen argued.
“Really, Mom?” Dustin countered.

“You know, you gotta give Jud more credit. First of all, she lives in the future, remember? She travels through time whenever she wants. A week or so is no big deal to her, so I don’t think she’s waited that long.

“Plus, she’s not so immature to put a party above Robin’s safety and well-being. Jud is a modern, open-minded girl, and she loves Rob as much as we do. I don’t think she’d mind postponing the wedding for a few days, or months even, until this whole thing is sorted out.

“In fact, there’s no way in hell she or myself will go ahead and get married without Robin. So, yes, the wedding is off until further notice.”
“Without consulting Judy?” Karen gasped.
“Of course I’m going to consult her, but I know in advance she’ll agree to call it all off. And Jul too.”

“That’s right. I agree with Dust we should put everything on hold until Robin comes back,” Juliette exclaimed from the doorway. Her eyes were still moist and slightly red, but the tears on her cheeks had already dried up.

All the eyes turned to her.
“Jul, welcome back, sweetheart,” Dylan said.
“Are you feeling better, honey? Can I get you a cup of coffee or something?”
“No, thank you, Mom, I’m fine,” Juliette mumbled as she walked toward her brother.

“Back to the wedding… Dusty, you know I love you, but I can’t imagine attending your wedding without Robin,” she told him.
“There’s absolutely no problem. We’ll wait for him to return.”.
“If he returns,” Logan blurted out.

“Log, please! This is not the time to be negative,” Karen scolded him.
“Oops, sorry,” Logan backtracked.
“Mom is right. We gotta believe Rob is coming back,” Dustin affirmed. “As for the wedding, it is on hold until he’s back and well enough to attend. If he’s not, we’ll wait until he recovers”.

“And what will we tell our guests?” Karen complained.
“The guests are our friends and neighbors, they’ll understand.”
“Okay, son, if that is your decision, we will respect it,” Dylan hurried to say.
“Yeah, I guess we have no choice,” Karen sighed.

“Okay, then, I’ll talk to Judith about it when I get home.”
“Do whatever you see fit, we’ll support you,” Dylan restated.
“Thanks, Dad”.
“And you too, dear,” Dylan added, turning to Juliette.
“Thank you, Dad. Thank you all,” she mumbled.

With everyone agreeing to postpone the wedding, the tension eased a little and they all returned to their seats. After a pause during which Juliette finally accepted her mother’s offer of a cup of coffee, she took a few sips, breathed deeply, and set it aside.

“About Robin’s DNA, I have another question,” she started.
“Go ahead, ask whatever you want, honey” Karen replied.
“If both Robin and her father are 40% alien, do you think Rowie is too?”
“That seems to be the trend, yes.” Dustin answered.
“The only way to know for sure is to do a DNA test on Rowie, if you approve, of course,” Dylan added.
“Not only do I approve, but I can also take the sample myself,” Juliette said.

“If we do that, then we should test Ann’s daughters too,” Dustin suggested.
“True, but then we’ll have to tell her about Robin’s DNA,” Juliette replied.
“Well, as the mother of those girls, she has a right to know.”
“Okay, who’s going to tell her?” Karen asked.

“The right thing would be for Robin to tell her himself,” Dylan noted.
“But Robin isn’t here, and we don’t know when he’ll be back or what condition he’ll be in, so I think the right thing is to go ahead and tell Ann. I could talk to her, if you want,” Dustin concluded.
“Okay, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” Dylan reacted. “Let’s focus on Rowie, for now”.
“And on finding Robin,” Juliette added.
“Of course, that is our priority” Dylan hurried to say.

“Don’t worry, sis, we’ll find him,” Dustin reassured her.
“I know, but how, where?” Juliette asked.
“That’s a good question,” Karen interjected.
“We have to start somewhere, but for that, we need a plan.”
“Well,” Dylan chimed in. “I think I might have one…”

(To Be Continued)

Poses used in this episode:

Coffee in the Lounge, Emo Male Set 2, Emotions/Body Language, Casual Sitting Poses, Conversation Poses, Convo/Emotion Poses Set 2, Convo Set 3, Convo 4, and Office Poses, all of them by Bee (Poses by Bee).

Have a Seat, Seated Poses by k2m1too.

Thanks a lot, to both of them! 🤗💖