HIS GRANDMA'S DREAM by Terry Winder

Copyright 2005

Disclaimer: I don't own them and my life would be so different if I did.

HIS GRANDMA'S DREAM

Every man has a place, in his heart there's a space,
and the world can't erase his fantasies.
Take a ride in the sky, on our ship fantasii
all your dreams will come true, right away.
 

(White, delBarrio & White - Fantasy (Earth, Wind & Fire))
*******

The water wasn't cold enough. Stewart cupped his hands under the running water in the sink and splashed the cool liquid on his face. But the effect he was hoping for didn't happen. Instead of revitalizing him and removing the fog of exhaustion from his face and eyes, the water just made him wet.

He turned the water off and gently patted his face dry with the nearest towel. The water wasn't enough. No amount of water was going to clear his head and answer the many questions there now that he was back from his adventure with Chronos.

Hours earlier, he, Batman and Diana had traveled almost fifty years into the future where he saw his son...his and Shayera's son, Rex Stewart. He rubbed the back of his neck with his right hand and walked out of the bathroom and sat down on the sofa. He stared at his large screen TV for a moment and then went to his video collection. He paused over the movie Old Yeller for a moment and then selected Stagecoach instead. He popped the cassette in his VCR, turned his system on and sat back but he didn't watch the movie. Instead, he closed his eyes and with the soundtrack of the John Wayne classic playing as background music tried to get lost in his own thoughts. And there were so many conflicting thoughts and they were all bombarding him simultaneously without give him a chance to breathe.

At this moment he knew for certain what most men only hope in their lifetime. His family name wouldn't die with him. What would his Grandma Addie say? He grinned to himself as he saw her face in his mind. He knew exactly what she'd say. "Rex Stewart out of Shayera Hol," that's what she'd say.

He repeated that thought to himself: "Out of Shayera Hol."

Wow. Shayera's kid. Shayera's...kid. My kid. Our...kid.

So many questions he'd wanted to ask that man but he didn't. Instead, he'd heeded Batman's warning about not finding out too much about his future and now he regretted that he'd listened to Bruce. He now knew he'd missed the chance to give his son the gift he never got growing up in Detroit; the gift of a Dad telling a grown son that he had made his father proud. He'd allowed Bruce to rob him and his son of that moment and he was a little resentful.

And he didn't get to ask about her at all. Was she still okay in that chaotic future? Was she safe? Was she happy? Hell, was she still alive?

He laughed out loud. Years ago when they were stranded on a planet while looking for Superman and J'onn, she'd said something he never forgot. She was angry when she said it but in hindsight maybe she was telling him then how she felt about him.

"My attitude is just fine except when you are involved."

Her attitude. He saw it in Rex.

He knew who the young man's mother was as soon as he saw Rex's face but he had to ask the question anyway. He had to be sure but the green eyes, down turned mouth and costume were a dead giveaway. Those things shouted "Shayera" to him.

He sighed heavily. No. There was no mistaking Shayera's exotic looks in that man's face. Rex was her child. Rex was his child.

The medical staff on the Watchtower had treated the cut on Stewart's head but it was still tender. He was glad that it was there because it let him know that what he saw and heard with Chronos was real. His son was real. But therein was the problem.

Rex was real but Stewart's current relationship with Shayera was "iffy." It wasn't he who was giving her space as he told Batman; it was her who'd demanded space.

And what about Vixen? How would he start that conversation with her?

"Hi Mari. John here.

"Guess what? I just returned from the future and found out that Shayera and I are going to have a child. Aren't you happy for me?"

Yeah. He was sure that conversation would go well - real well. Yet, it might be better than the conversation he could have with Shayera.

"Hi Shayera. John here.

"I just returned from the future and was told you laid an egg and I was the father."

Yeah, he might not survive to the end of that conversation. He now knew that it was possible that he and Shayera could reconcile and even have a child but knowing information and acting on that information were two different things.

Things were complicated now. In this world, as much as it pained his male pride to think about it, the woman chose her mate and then made the man think he chose her. Stewart knew, at some point, Shayera would choose him again.

No, it wasn't about chasing Shayera. It was about being available to be caught. He still loved her. He was going to stop kidding himself about that but was he ready to commit himself to the future he saw? He just wasn't sure. Did he turn the lives of three people upside down to bring to fruition that future - a future where Rex lived?

"Mari," he sighed. Then he added just as softly, "Shayera." Damn.

He turned off his VCR and pulled out an old Earth, Wind & Fire CD. He closed his eyes and listened to the music as he recalled something his Grandma Addie said to him when he was growing up.

She told him that every child represents his grandparent's hopes and dreams. He was his grandma's dream and now because of Chronos he had seen his mother's hope. When it would happen he didn't know but now he knew that it could happen. And now he knew he could be okay with it. He would be okay with it.

He would go slow and keep in mind the words of Casey Stengel, "Nothing is so bad that you can't make it worse by doing something dumb in a hurry."

Yeah.

Nothing dumb.

Nothing in a hurry.

END