Chapter 4: The Annual Visitor

Neither Denise nor Thomas had classes or work on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Denise tried to keep Thomas awake on Tuesday night, but he was asleep well before midnight. Even so, they slept until almost 8:00, then stayed in bed for another hour.

Thomas spent the morning in his office going over his financial paperwork one more time. Denise went with her mother to the grocery store to pick up the last-minute things that were needed to host the family on Thursday.

Thomas met Denise and her parents at a diner for lunch. To an outside observer, it would seem like they chatted casually, but Denise could feel the tension rising within Thomas as each minute passed. She begged off desert when the waitress arrived in order to get Thomas out quickly.

They went to the lake where they walked once before when they needed to kill time. When Denise realized where they were going she asked, “Another omen?”

Thomas just glanced at her in the passenger seat and scowled.

She laughed. “C’mon, lighten up. There is nothing we can do about tonight’s visit, so enjoy the day.”

“That was the plan. Until you said ‘omen,’” Thomas replied. He laughed before he could give her another scowl and Denise knew they would be fine. At least until midnight.

They spent the afternoon walking, talking, and reminiscing. As dusk started to fall, Denise suggested, “Let’s go to a movie. I’m not hungry for a full meal, so a mindless movie and popcorn sounds good.”

Thomas led her to the car, opened and held the door for her, then got in and motored to the theater. There were two options: a chick-flick and an action-movie. Thomas was going to suggest a coin flip, but Denise said, “Just get tickets for the shoot-em-up.”

They both enjoyed the film and ate two buckets of popcorn, more than sufficing for any food they may have needed or wanted for dinner.

When they got home it was almost 9:00. Denise talked Thomas into getting the Christmas boxes out of the attic even though they would not be opened until Sunday. “Assuming there was a Sunday,” was the unspoken thought on both their minds.

After an hour of rooting around in the attic, and even a few minutes in the garage eaves, Thomas had worked up a sweat in the cool November evening. He told Denise he was going to jump in the shower.

As he showered she stripped and motioned to him that she would be waiting for him on the bed.

He quickly rinsed. He did not dry as well as he normally would given what awaited him and left large water drops all the way to the bed. He climbed in and on top of Denise. Kissing her as soon as he could reach her lips.

They kissed, touched, and made love for over an hour. At 11:30, they were once again spooned together with Thomas behind Denise, his arm wrapped protectively over her side.

“We’re spooning again,” she said.

“I know. I rolled you over to get into this position.”

“I know,” Denise answered.

They stayed still for another ten minutes before Denise said, “Get up. No need to be naked when we get company.”

They got up and as if on auto-pilot got dressed. Thomas took a detour to the kitchen to get ice before going to the living room and pouring two stiff drinks. He handed one Denise and they clinked glasses.

“Here’s to you, kid,” he said.

She started to laugh very hard. He raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t know why, but that’s really funny since you are almost forty years my senior in some kind of math, so I am just a kid.”

Thomas had to laugh at her logic. They clinked again and drank before Thomas went for refills. When he returned he handed Denise her glass.

“No matter what, I love you.”

She replied, “No matter what.”

That’s when they heard a small pop. Thomas saw that the clock on the wall read 11:49, but there less than fifteen away, was a dementor.

“How touching,” he said. “And such a good moment for an entrance that I decided to pop-in a few minutes ahead of schedule. Of course, if an extra ten minutes would have meant you could have given her a fourth orgasm, I would have let you be.”

Thomas could feel Denise stiffen. He was not happy either that this thing was able to watch them as they made love. But neither took the bait and offered a comeback.

Instead, Thomas said, “I believe this is our last meeting?”

“Unlike the kid, I get no foreplay, huh?” The dementor’s hood raised slightly as if he was laughing at his own joke.

After a moment of silence he turned serious.

“This is your third-and-final time to make a decision. As you know, previous decisions have had consequences. The effect of this decision are permanent.”

He let that sink in for a minute.

“You need to decide if you stay in this timeline or not. If you stay, you will lose all memories and knowledge of the future. Anything that existed from this point on in the future may or may not come to pass. For example, you will obviously not marry your ex, so your kids will never exist since they won’t be born.”

The dementor stared hard at Thomas, then slowly turned his gaze to Denise.

“If he chooses to return in order to save that timeline, you will have to make a choice.”

“Me?” squeaked Denise before she said more firmly, “Me? What kind of choice?”

“You will have the option to keep the memory of Thomas as you move forward in this timeline, or you can choose to have your memories of him erased and continue as a carefree bachelorette.”

Thomas was ready to choose. Before he could speak the dementor held up a bony finger.

“There is also one final ramification that I do not control. A random event will occur that will alter your lives as you know them. You will have time to think this over. I will return later today – sometime before midnight.”

Pop. He was gone.

“What the fuck?” Denise said disbelievingly. “After all the wait, that’s it?”

Thomas was a bit slower to respond.

“My kids would disappear. And who knows what would happen to Andrea given that we know her true past.”

Thomas was staring into the floor. “And,” he continued slowly, “I would know nothing about the future.” Saying the last part out loud bothered him more than he would have ever imagined. For three years he lived knowing more about the world than everyone around him. He used that knowledge in many ways to improve lives – his and those around him.

“And lastly, there is a final consequence. What if I turned into the douche you met in the future? Or the Tourettes returned? Can you imagine living with that for the rest of your life?”

“But we’d be together,” Denise said, a bit surprised at Thomas’s reaction. Though as she thought about what Thomas said, she also had to pause for a second to think.

“We’ve got most of the day,” Thomas said. “Let’s go to bed.”

When they got up Thursday morning they dressed and went to Denise’s family first. They wanted to see everyone and get in some time, but did not want to get cajoled into joining the annual poker game, even though they were the reining champions.

Thomas seemed a bit distracted but did a reasonable job of staying engaged with the ongoing conversations and contributing as expected.

At his family’s house it was a bit harder. It was only Sandy, Eddy, Tammy, and Billy.

“Gabriella’s flight was delayed and she won’t get in until tomorrow,” Tammy said when Thomas noticed the empty setting at the table.

They ate very little since they ate more than expected at Denise’s mom’s house.

“Sorry,” Thomas said as he pushed his plate away that was barely touched. “It was all great, as usual, but I didn’t have breakfast and overdid it at Darlene’s.”

“I expected no less,” Sandy said. “I have a to-go box in the fridge for you take some dessert.”

When Eddy’s eyes shot up, Sandy told him, “Don’t worry. I baked a second pie, and what is boxed for Thomas and Denise is half of it. Billy and Tammy get the other half. You get all of the first one. Or what’s left after you cheated and dug into it last night.”

That got a laugh from everyone at the table. Thomas and Denise stayed to help clear the table then begged off for the afternoon saying they may return to play in the annual poker game at Denise’s parents even though that was not their intention.

Instead, they went straight home. Thomas went to the bar and poured two large drinks. He delivered one to Denise who sat on the couch in the living room. Before he could sit, the front doorbell rang.

Thomas peeked through the window to see Mrs. Willow standing at the door.

“It’s Mrs. Willow,” he said. He opened the door with a bit of a surprised look.

“Mrs. Willow! Happy Thanksgiving. What...”

He could not finish when she said, “Are you going to invite me in? And pour me a big one of what you have there in your hand.”

Thomas stood aside and Mrs. Willow bustled past him and into the living room.

“Oh, good, you’re here too,” she said when she saw Denise on the couch.

The drink was momentarily forgotten as the three exchanged looks. Finally, Mrs. Willow took a deep breath and blurted out her message, “You are from the future and today is decision day, isn’t it?”

The room went absolutely still. Before either could react, Mrs. Willow finished, “Your silence tells me everything. Now go fetch me one of those drinks and bring yourselves refills.”

Thomas did as he was instructed. He came back and passed Ellie a drink, then topped off Denise’s glass. He refilled his own while at the bar.

“Might as well leave the bottle,” Ellie said.

Thomas sat next to Denise. He instinctively put his arm around her shoulder. She put her hand on his thigh.