3.3 It's a Matter of TIme

Authors Note: This is the last time jump for a while. This is taking place as Jeff is moving to Bridgeport to start at the police academy and right after Drew graduated from High School. Caleb Gray was made by legendofsim/thepartysim. You can read more about him by reading A Graying World, How to be a Star and Sim Star Idol Season 1. Thank you legendofsim for letting me have Caleb in my game I hope you like what I do with him and that I get his character right.

"So what is this place you're taking me?" Jeff asked his cousin Terrell.

Terrell gave him a worried glance "trust me you'll like...."

"That's not what I asked," he brought his hands up in exasperation. "It better not be a bar. I just got into the police academy."

"Don't worry so much," Terrell glanced over at him "relax we're going to a friends house. He has live entertainment and drinks if you want ...."

"Live entertainment ... strippers? You mean strippers don't you?" Jeff swallowed hard as he felt his pulse quicken and his palms become clammy. "Teri take me home....I can't....I....."

"Jeez kid relax," Terrell laughed softly "I promise I won't let any of the ladies take advantage of you. Although if you continue to turn all shades of red your going to make my job a whole lot harder."

Burying his head in his hands Jeff moaned "I shouldn't have let you talk me into this. This is a really bad idea."

"Tell me about it," Terrell grumbled under his breath. Pulling up outside the house Terrell got out and ushered Jeff out muttering "don't embarrass me cuz."

Jeff looked up at the huge house feeling very much like the country bumpkin he was. Taking a few gulps of breath he followed his cousin inside. Once inside he heard a bunch of people hooting and hollering. Following the noise he found his cousin staring at something, following his gaze Jeff felt like someone had squeezed the air from his lungs.

It was one thing to see nearly nude strangers gyrating to the beat of the music but it was another thing entirely to see one's older sister doing it. "What the hell?" he said grabbing onto Terrell's arm. "Did you know she was doing this? Did you?" he shouted.

Several people turned to stare at them "calm down," Terrell told him. "She wasn't supposed to be here tonight or I wouldn't have brought you."

"You knew she was stripping. You knew and you didn't tell us." Running his hands through his hair 

Jeff wondered what he was going to do. The more he watched the angrier he got. Suddenly he charged through the crowd yanking Diana from the stage. Despite her struggles she couldn't break free.

A tall heavily muscled man stood in front of Jeff hands on hips "let the girl go."

"The girl is coming with me" Jeff said refusing to back down. Before Jeff could respond to protect himself the larger heavier man punched him. Falling backwards he hit his head on the dance floor. He heard Diana screaming in the background until she kneeled beside him.

"Are you alright?" she asked in concern.

"Yeah," rubbing his jaw "that guy hits like a sledgehammer."

"He's here to protect the dancers from over zealous admirers," she explained looking at the floor.

"Diana what happened?" Jeff asked "what happened to your dreams of being a director?"

Shrugging she stood up "if your alright I've got work to do." She walked away without a glance back.

Stunned he let her go. He stood up in time to see her start to dance again. Disgusted he turned his back on her and walked out.

"Is this why she hasn't come home?" Jeff asked. It had been over two years since Diana had been home for a visit and whenever they had tried to arrange a convenient time to come here she would always be too busy. "Everything she told us about being a director were all lies."

Nodding Terrell wiped a stray tear away "I'm sorry Jeff. I promised I wouldn't tell anyone but I can't lie anymore. She needs help and she's too proud to ask for it." Glancing at his watch Terrell frowned 

"look I've got to go. I promised I'd pick someone up at 10."

"Can you at least call me a cab?" Jeff asked "I can't go back in there..."

"You can come with me," looking at Jeff he added "it's someone you should meet anyway."

Driving in silence for several minutes Terrell spoke "do you remember Darren?"

"The old guy who said he'd help Diana produce dad's book into a movie?" Jeff asked. He vaguely recalled a balding older man in his forties.

"Yeah him," Terrell drove another minute or so in silence "they had an affair and he dumped her when she got pregnant." He glanced over at Jeff who was staring at him from the passenger seat "she was desperate. She could barely afford the place she was renting led alone the added medical expenses, daycare and everything else involved in raising a kid." Slamming a fist down on the steering wheel "I tried to get her to go home. I really did Jeff."

"It's not your fault," Jeff assured him "I'm sorry if I gave you the impression that it was." 

"I know but I feel like I've let her down. I shouldn't have let her convince me to lie to everyone. Granted with mom and dad moving to Dragon Valley and Rob never being home anymore it's been fairly easy not to tell anyone." Turning the car into a parking lot Terrell sighed "I'm glad you're here. I've been lonely and despite dad giving me the house I can barely get by..."

Giving Terrell an appraising look Jeff nodded "you've been giving Diana money haven't you?" Terrell began to shake his head "don't bother to deny it. Diana always had a way of getting people to give her things." Getting out of the car Jeff reached out and touched Terrell's arm "it's time you stopped getting sucked into my sisters mess. You have your own life to live."

"I know but it's not so easy," Terrell shrugged "just wait you'll see..."

***

"I don't understand what we're doing wrong," Jennifer said frustration evident in her manner and tone

"Maybe we should stop," Rob suggested "we've been time jumping into the past for what? Almost four years now. Nothing changes Jen. Your dad still dies no matter what we do."

"There has to be a way..." she kicked at a some rocks with her foot while she thought of something they hadn't tried before.

"Maybe we should...no forget it..." Rob said sitting down in the grass.

"Out with it," Jennifer said eyeing her cousin "let me be the judge of whether it's a good idea or not."

Looking up shielding his eyes from the sun Rob never ceased to be amazed by her single-minded determination. Shrugging he said "going into the past isn't working maybe we should go into the future..." he stopped talking as Jennifer's frown deepened.

Shaking her head she looked off into the distance. After several minutes of silence she spoke "you know you might be right. I heard grandpa talk about a time keeper. Maybe he knows why we can't change the past." A smile brightened her face "come on let's go."

Rob reluctantly stood up and followed her "um Jen there's something I need to tell you..." His voice drifted off as she was obviously not listening as she entered the time calculations into the machine. 

"Jennifer could you stop that and listen to me."

Frowning she turned towards him hands on hips. She demanded "what is it?"

"This will be my last trip Jen. I'm tired of time traveling. We're both almost 26 years old. I want to get married. Have a family." He looked away "we all have things in our lives we wish we could change. I'm sorry about your dad but I can't do this anymore."

"Fine. Whatever," she turned wiping at her eyes "I've got the time programmed. Ready?" she asked ignoring their conversation.

"Yeah I guess so," Rob followed her into the machine.

They landed hard once they made it through the time dilations. Picking themselves up from the floor Jennifer held up her hand to keep Rob from opening the door. "Let's give it a few minutes before we go out there. I'm not sure if time has settled around us yet."

Nodding his understanding he leaned back and waited. The tension between them was thick. Maybe he should have waited to tell her. But finding out Miranda was pregnant he knew what he had to do. Where is responsibility lay. He was going to be a father. He wanted to be a positive influence in his or her life. To do that he couldn't be hopping through time. He had hoped Jennifer would stop with him but that didn't' seem likely. She was to obsessed with changing the past. Hopefully this time keeper could talk some sense into her.

Jennifer nodded towards Rob when she felt the time dilations settle around them. She had been traveling through time so much she had become attuned to them. How could Rob ask her to give this up? How could she stop when it was only a matter of time before she found the solution? If she could bring her dad back it would all be worth it. She couldn't stop. Not now. Not ever.

Opening the door it looked like they landed in the middle of a desert. Wrinkling his nose Rob said "this doesn't look very promising."

Shrugging "maybe this is some kind of wasteland and it's still waiting for future development." Jennifer suggested "come on let's go. I want to find this time keeper so we can leave."

"Don't  you want to explore and see what the future has to offer?" Rob asked with the beginnings of excitement to see what new things the future had to offer.

Shrugging "the future doesn't interest me. It's the past I'm concerned with."

"Yeah I know," Rob muttered "do you ever stop and consider what it might do to the future?"

"No," she said adamantly.

"What about the children that are born in this time line? You could essentially be wiping them out of existence." The thought of his yet unborn child weighed heavily on his mind. If she succeed in changing the past would he still meet Miranda? Would he still be expecting his first child?

"No," she shook her head "I can't think of things like that." Shrugging she continued "it doesn't matter in the big scheme of things."

Rob looked at her hoping he hadn't heard her right. Could she really be that cold? That single-minded in her quest? "Jen what if someone in your family had kids now? You can't seriously just wipe them out of existence."

Staring at him for a moment she nodded "if time changes they wouldn't even know they had a child."

"But....but that's unbelievably heartless," Rob stammered.

"What's the matter Robbie? It's not like they would know," she countered.

"We would know. I would know," Rob said "Jen I'm having a baby. That's why I won't continue to help you..." shaking his head "please reconsider if not for my sake but for my baby.."

"It's Miranda isn't it? I knew she was trouble." Her eyes narrowed "I should have kept you from meeting her when I had the chance."

"What?" Rob looked at her not recognizing the girl he had grown up with "I can't believe you'd ever become so warped. What happened to you?"

"My dad died. That's what happened," she yelled at him "I'll do whatever it takes to change that. No one will stand in my way. Not you. Not anyone." She took several strides away before saying "I guess it's a good thing you won't be time jumping anymore. At least you won't remember what might have been."

Running to catch up to her he grabbed her arm. Whirled her around to face him "no only you will know the countless lives you'll have forever altered. How do you know that this isn't the way things are supposed to be? How do you know that you won't be changing things for the worse?"

"I don't know," she shouted back at him "but a world with my dad in it has to better then a world without him. I don't care what happens as long as I accomplish that." She stomped her foot to emphasis her determination.

"Excuse me," a voice said from behind them.

"What?" they shouted in unison.

Smiling the blue haired man said "I'm Emit Relevart, the time keeper...I came to investigate the time dilations you made by coming here."

Rob opened his mouth to speak as Jen elbowed him in the stomach taking his breath away. "I was coming to see you," Jennifer said with a grin "I need your expertise in time travel."

"You certainly do," Emit frowned at the girl "you're making a right mess of the time line."

"It was already messed up when my dad died," Jennifer stated crossing her arms.

Ignoring the girl Emit turned to Peter "what do you think? Will the machine work?"

"It seems to be doing the job," Peter shrugged "are you sure I can't go back to the same time I left?"

"I'm sorry," Emit sighed "with the changes this girl has made to the time line we're lucky the time stream still knows who you are."

Nodding his understanding Peter accepted the fact that he would arrive in Dragon Valley sixteen years after he last left it. His children would be adults along with most of his grandchildren. He was probably a great grandfather by now. Jean is wife would be well into her fifties while he still looked forty, younger then some of his children. So much time had past would they even know or want him in their lives now?

"You're not using my machine," Jennifer protested "it's mine you can't have it."

"My dear young lady I'm the the time keeper. I can do whatever I want." Emit gave her a stern look "including confiscating this machine and banishing you to a void where time doesn't exist."

"Not to mention the machine isn't hers," Rob mumbled earning him a glare from Jennifer. "Well it's not. My mom invented it. I should have listened to her and never used it."

Ignoring the squabbling cousins Emit turned to Peter "can you manage transport of this machine back to the house?"

"Yeah no problem," Peter smiled "do me a favor Emit...go easy on the girl, she's William's granddaughter...."

"I know and I will," Emit smiled "if she listens I won't have to do anything more than talk to her."

Later that night Emit was speaking to Peter when Jennifer approached them. "I need to know something. With all the changes I've made why is it that I can't keep my dad from dying? I've tried everything I can't think of and none of it works."

Emit nodded sadly he understood her desire to change this tragic event. His own parents were killed tragically when he was a toddler and he wished many times that he could change that. Instead of answering her question directly he asked "Would you be time traveling if you dad were still alive?"

The answer was instant "no I'd have no reason to."

Putting a hand on her shoulder Emit said "there's your answer. You can't change the past and keep your dad from dying because without that event you never time travel. It's paradox of time travel."

Stricken Jennifer turned away in tears "there has to be a way. A loop hole...something." Stumbling back towards her room she bumped into someone "excuse me" she mumbled.

"Are you alright?" a deep voice said. Looking up she smiled into the dark eyes of a good looking man with pink hair.

"I'm fine," she said grinning at him.

He smiled in return holding out his hand "I'm Caleb Gray."

Taking his hand feeling slightly giddy she said "I'm Jennifer Bennett."

"Any relation to Gene Bennett?" Caleb asked.

"He's my uncle," she replied "do you know him?"

"Yeah I ... I guess it's been a while. I hadn't realized so much time had passed." Caleb muttered more to himself than her.

Slipping her arm around his she smiled up at him "I guess you're the other person going back with us."

"Oh is that your time machine?" he asked enjoying the attention from this pretty girl. It felt strange knowing that he should be old enough to be her father.

"It is and it isn't," she told him laughing "I borrowed it from my Aunt but for all intents and purposes it's mine." Walking towards her room she asked "so what brought you to the future?" She watched as his eyes clouded over and a look of profound sadness came over him. She had a feeling she should have known who he was but she couldn't place him in her memory. Maybe Robbie wasn't off his rocker for wanting to settle down. It wouldn't be so bad if she had to stop time traveling if she could wake up everyday with someone like this pink haired man by her side.

A week later they were almost ready to make the time jump home after giving the machine time to recharge. During that time Jennifer had tried to draw Caleb out but the harder she tried the more withdrawn he became. "I can't wait to show you off to everyone at home," Jennifer told him as they entered the time machine. "My very own man from the future."

Shaking her hands off Caleb turned to her "I'm not some object to be put on display." For some reason her comment bothered him. Was that the only reason why she showed so much interest in him?  Was he just an item of curiosity? To be put on display? Was that what his life would be like now? Maybe he'd have been better off staying in the future ....

"That's not what I meant. It's just I'm so excited for everyone to meet you..." Jennifer tried to explain.

"I told you before I wasn't ready for a relationship yet..." he tried to be kind but he could see the hurt in her blue eyes.

"It's been almost twenty years since you lost your girlfriend and your still mooning after her." She walked away from him hurt more than she cared to admit.

Caleb followed behind her. What else could he do? he didn't know anyone and the friends he had were old men now. Feeling uncomfortable as he walked into the house he was greeted by a young girl coming down the stairs. "OMG you're Caleb Gray," Drew smiled throwing her arms around him "Uncle Gene has every song you ever made. You haven't aged at all. Why is that?"

"Would you believe me if I said I was stuck in the future?" he asked with a smile instantly at ease with her. He could see the sadness in her eyes and the effort she made to pretend she wasn't.

"You've been to Oasis Landing?" she asked 

"Yeah I've been there for almost twenty years," Caleb ran his hands through his hair.

"Grandpa told us stories about Emit the time keeper..."

"And you believed him?" Caleb teased her.

"Of course he'd never lie," she grabbed his arm pulling him upstairs "besides your here what more proof do I need?" Giving him an assessing look she said "you need a make over."

"I like this look," he frowned at her a little miffed.

"It looks very good on you too," putting a hand on his shoulder "a lot of things have changed while you were in the future. Most people think 'Caleb Gray' died years ago when he disappeared. So you need a new look and a good story."

"I hadn't thought of that," Caleb began only to be interrupted by Jennifer stomping into the room.

"Is he giving you any trouble?" she asked Drew.

"No,  he's been a perfect gentleman," Drew asserted feeling the need to defend him from her aggressive older sister.

"You can handle him?" Jennifer asked.

Looking at Caleb and his gentle eyes and calm exterior Drew nodded "I don't see why not."

"Good. I'll leave him in your care then. See you later." Jennifer turned and fled from the room.

Giggling Drew asked "what did you do to her?"

"I'm not really sure other than tell her I wasn't ready to date yet because I'm not over losing my girlfriend...." He sighed no matter how many years that went by the pain never got any better.

"Star Upton right?" Drew asked gently "I'm sorry it must be terrible to lose someone you loved so much like that."

"It does," Caleb agreed blinking back tears. "It doesn't matter how many years that go by the pain never goes away."

Squeezing his shoulders she handed him a science magazine explaining  "this scientist is making great strides in resurrecting the dead. All he needs are more volunteers to gather more willing spirits to further his experiments." 

"Do you think he'll succeed?" Caleb asked after reading the article.

"I hope so," she said "I'd do anything to have my dad back. Jennifer would to but she doesn't think science is the answer. She'd rather try to change the past through time travel. The more she fails the angrier she gets. I'm sorry she just dumped you on me."

"At this point I'd rather be with you than her," Caleb admitted.

"That being the case let's see if my brothers left any clothes you can wear. Then I'll see what I can come up with for your hair."

A couple of hours later Drew led Caleb to a mirror "keep your eyes closed," she demanded.

"They're closed," he said anxious to see what she had done to his hair.

"Ok you can open them," she said standing back "what do you think?"