I fell out of the portal and looked up.  I found a not-too-pleased Cleo looking down.

"So what was this about leaving the time portal alone?"

"You have room to talk! You’re the one who opened it!"

"Yeah, but I didn’t have the gall to actually go in it!”

I sighed.  She had a point…again. “Well, if it makes you feel any better, I found some interesting stuff out.”

"Oh?"

"We have a huge family in the future.  Kind of snotty though."

"Well, that’s nice, but, what about our family in the present?"

"Cleo, what are you getting at?"

"I”m pregnant!"

I felt my heart flutter.  Never mind meeting family who don’t care! This is what I’ve wanted!

A few months have passed, and Cleo is getting bigger.  She constantly ate.  Her food of choice was watermelons.  Lots of watermelons.  She had the odd spaghetti and ice cream craving too.  

One day, I was just bored and was playing with the mirror.  Then I hear Cleo screaming from the den.

"SHIN! IT’S TIME!"

I went from excited to nervous.  What if I do horrible as a dad? I didn’t have much time to think as Cleo was already out the door!

It was all worth it.  Every second.  As Cleo held our baby girl in her arms, I was filled with joy.  Welcome home, Maya.

After running into Emit, I went off to find these “descendants”.  How am I supposed to find 8 of them? How am I supposed to not screw anything up to accidentally kill them off? 

I eventually ran into a young lady who had the fiery hair like Cleo.  Maybe she knows something.

"Uhhh…hi.  I’m looking for the Bard family."

"Oh? Why are you looking for them?"

"Well, my name is Shinryu.  I’m, uh…this is gonna sound odd, but I’m from the past.  I’m looking for family members of mine.  Just to meet and greet."

Her face lit up.

"Oh my Goddess! You’re our…great…great…times infinity great ancestor!"

"Oh, so you know them?"

"Hell yeah, I’m Vanessa! I’m one of those family members you’re looking for!"

She looked at me a bit strangely.

"But you don’t seem to look like any of us…"

So I guess that is what Emit meant when he said Cleo’s genes are strong…

"Anyways, I gotta go! I’m going swimming! The rest of us can be found there!"

I nodded and headed over to the venue.  I saw at least 3 of them.

(Not entirely sure what’s going on with this one.  Must be a wild child)

They were always on the move.  I couldn’t get any of them to talk to me.  Then I ran into an older gentleman.

"Hey, I know you don’t know me, but I’m looking for the Bards.  I’m their…umm…great-great…times infinity great ancestor.  Yeah, it’s weird, but—"

"Say no more!  I knew that weird blue-haired guy was up to no good! Get out of here, and don’t fuck anything up for the rest of us!"

Ouch.

I’ve come to the conclusion that my ancestors don’t seem to want anything to do with me, so I headed back to the time portal and back home.

I stepped out of the time portal.  Something is strange here…

I’m not in Isla anymore.

I didn’t have much time to take it all in until that man showed up again.

"Welcome to Oasis Landing!"

"Have you heard of tapping someone on the shoulder before scaring the shit out of them?"

"Sorry, it’s future greeting.  Get used to it.  Anyway, this is where your family will reside."

"Umm…if it’s not out of your range of answering, how far into the future are we in?"

"Mmmm…about 100 years.  Give or take another century.."

"Sooo…"

"Nope, you and Cleo are dead.  But you do have relatives.  8 of them to be exact.  Although, I gotta warn ya—Cleo’s genes are strong."

"Haha.  Well, I guess it’s okay to pay them a visit?"

"Sure!  I’ll even tell you where they live!  They’re a nice bunch, so you’d be pleased."

"Okay then, I’ll be off."

"Not so fast, Shinryu.  There’s one important thing you need to know about the future."

"I thought you couldn’t tell me."

"Well, I kinda have to tell you this for your family’s sake.  Anything that you do here on out will affect them.  So…if you decide to not have kids in your time, poof goes your bloodline.  So make sure it counts."

"Okay then.  I’ll be off now."

"Oh, and one more thing.  The name’s Emit.  Not that it’s important, but I figured that you’d like to know since I already know you and Cleo on first-name basis."

After watching Cleo with that strange man from the portal, it kind of piqued my interest.  Who is he? Where is he from? Why the hell here?  It wouldn’t be too much longer before I ran into him.

"Who are you, and why are you here?"

"Don’t worry about why I’m here, just know that I’m a messenger of sorts.  From the future."

"Oh? Well…" I scratched my chin. "what’s the future like then?"

"You know those stories about flying cars and robots everywhere?"

"Um…yeah, I’ve heard of it."

"They exist."

"Oh.  Well, that’s…interesting.  But why do you bother coming here?"

"No matter!  But you can find out what happens if you step right in."

I look at the man wide-eyed.  ”Are you trying to get me killed?”

"Don’t worry, you won’t die.  Unless you fall from the sky riding a jetpack, then that’d just your own stupidity."

You know how they say “curiosity killed the cat”?

Curiosity may be the death of me.

After living in Sunset Valley for so long, Isla Paradiso just seemed like a nice place to settle down after I got my parents’ inheritance.  It was quiet, in comparison to the bustle of a huge town.  It was destined to be my place where I lived and died with very little interaction with the outside world.

That is, until I met Cleo.  She was loud; the life of the party so  to speak.  Where I would shy away she would step in.  She was the only one who was able to keep me within arm’s reach.  I just couldn’t pull away from her.

She bewitched me.

Everything was a blur.  Before I knew it, she proposed to me.  Then she picked out her wedding dress.  Then she picked out the venue…come to think of it, she did all of it.  She knew how to use her words to keep me hanging on.  I wasn’t sure about it at the time, but the more I stayed with Cleo, the more she grew on me.  The more I fell in love with her.  And this is where we are today.

That’s me.  I’m Shinryu.  My parents were big Japanese culture fanatics, what can I say?