Chapter 13

Richie and Jon sat in stunned silence. There was no way they could have anticipated something like this. Of course, when Richie told Jon that there would be a call from Romeo later that day, neither knew what to expect.

"Did you hear that?" Richie mouthed the words to Jon.

Jon's look of fear mixed with astonishment answered his question.

"Rich? Are you there? What's going on, man?"

"Uh, yeah, Jon. I'm still here." Richie snapped out of his reverie long enough to pick up the phone again. "So, what did Romeo want to talk to me about? I asked him how his first day of school was, but he didn't say anything," he asked, quickly regaining his composure.

"I don't know, Rich," sighed Jon, "he was bugging me to call his 'daddy' but when I handed him the phone, he didn't say a word. I guess it's some weird version of the imaginary friend, I suppose."

"Yeah, I guess."

"When are you coming back? We're not finished with the song, you know."

"Not sure. Maybe in a day or so. I'll call you."

"Okay, see you," then having a second thought he added, "I hope you don't bring back whatever it is you have."

"Wha...what do you mean by that?" Richie looked over to where Jon was sitting.

Laughing, Jon explained, "I don't know. It just seems like whenever you're near, I get these weird headaches and I'm starting to get one now." Hanging up the phone and went to find Romeo for his bath and bedtime.

Having confirmation from Jon that Romeo did not speak was not really a comforting thought. He looked at Jon, still sitting with a dazed look on his face.

"Did you hear that?" he asked, again, this time out loud.

Jon nodded, unable to form a coherent thought, his mind repeating his future son's words.

It wasn't so much as what they heard, but it was the way they heard it that shocked them. They heard him in their heads.

*****

Tucking his son in bed, Jon sat down and gently stroked his hair. "Hey, buddy, I'm your daddy, you know that, right?"

Romeo looked up at his father and nodded. "I know, Daddy. I love you."

Jon reached down and hugged him, placing a kiss on his little forehead. "I love you, too, son. So, who did you call at Uncle Mookie's house?"

"I call daddy."

Sighing, Jon decided that it was not worth the frustration and just played along with it. "Yeah? And what did you say to him?"

"I told him not to go home, yet."

"Really? And what did he say?"

"He said okay."

"Hmmm...and do you think he will listen to you?"

"Have to." And with that, Romeo turned to his side and closed his eyes.

*****

"Rich, we have to go back."

"Back? Back where?"

"To Jersey. We need to be closer to Romeo."

"Oh no, Jon. We're not going to risk that. We just can't. You know what almost happened the last time." Richie was adamant about keeping the two Jons apart. "Besides, Jon already suspects something is going on."

"But Romeo knew it was me then, Rich. And he knows now. I'm sure he knows something about about what is happening. Didn't you hear what he said?"

"I heard him ask to speak to you, that's all."

He stared at Richie. "Didn't you hear him ask me not to go back? That there was something he needed to tell me?"

"No."

Jon thought about this for a moment. "See? That proves it. There has to be some kind of connection for us to be able to hear him. We have to go back. We can go after Thursday."

"Why Thursday?"

"That's Mrs. Ferguson's funeral. I thought maybe we should attend since..."

"No! You're not going. What if some of your old classmates came and they saw you? They would recognize you right away."

"Rich, she was 'old bat Ferguson'. Who would come to her funeral anyway?"

"Maybe the ones who got her letters."

*****

"Jon, I'm starting to get a little worried about Romeo."

Dot had just returned from dropping the kids off at school after another hectic morning, and Romeo had asked if he could call his 'daddy' tonight, again.

"It's probably just a phase, Dot. You always say that about Steph and Jess, don't you?"

"That's not the same, Jon. What they're going through is a phase. You and I both went through that. Don't you remember?"

Jon couldn't deny that, but he didn't want to let on that he, too, was a bit worried. "I bet it's one of those imaginary friend things some kids go through."

"Those kids don't call their imaginary friends long distance."

Letting out a breath, he took her into his arms and hugged her close. "Look, if it will make you feel any better, why don't we go and talk to Dr. Rothschild and see what she has to say about that?"

Dot nodded, "okay, but if she recommends that we take him to a child psychologist, I don't want to hear any protests out of you. Agreed?"

"Agreed," he answered rather reluctantly. "Now, why don't we go upstairs and see if I can't work on those tense muscles of yours and get you to relax?" he waggled his brows at her.

"Jon!"

"What? The kids are at school and it's Grace's day off. It's just you and me, babe."

*****

Waking up nearly in the afternoon, after a restless night, Richie found Jon sitting outside on the patio sipping a Coke and gazing, unseeing, out towards the pool.

"Hey, what's going on in your mind?"

"Huh? No, just thinking."

"About what?"

"A lot of things. I've been here almost a week. When I first learned that I ended up twenty years in the future, I thought I would see people traveling to the moon for their vacation or something, you know?" Jon was absent-mindedly toying with his can of soda. "Then I see that things haven't changed all that much. Except you're old.....older," he smirked.

Richie chuckled at that and sat down beside him. "Yeah, well a lot of things have changed, Jon. They're just not so outright obvious."

"I guess. That lawnmower thing was a pretty good idea, though."

"Lawnmower thing?"

"Yeah, you know, at the park. Those people riding lawnmowers."

Richie bit back a laugh, trying to decide whether to tell him the truth or not. "Yeah, the government's gotta get some credit sometime." Jon's gonna kill me.....if he remembers.

"Is that all you're thinking about?" Richie knew there was something more.

"Romeo asked me not to go back yet."

"You already told me that. What else did he say?"

"That he couldn't stay very long, but that he needed to tell me something."

"And?"

"And he asked me again, if I would stay."

"Why didn't you answer him? You didn't say anything."

"I did. I said okay."

"I didn't hear you."

"I said okay."