Mom and Dad,
His name is Scotty.
Okay, this is going to be the weirdest letter you've ever gotten in your lives, but that has to be the first sentence. It'll make sense in a minute, I promise.
The next ones have to be: I'm alive, I love you, I miss you.
I have a feeling you're probably going to need proof this is from me, one way or another. I may already be there. I may already have told you some of this stuff. I'm not shocked, if so. I told you this was a weird letter. Either way, congratulations, Mom and Dad... you have twins.
I can prove I'm not a crazy person mailing you random stuff. Dad, you keep your liquor stash under the fifth floorboard from the back wall in the attic. Sorry. I found it sophomore year and it was better than drinking the really cheap vodka. Hope I didn't just rat you out to Mom.
Mom, when I was eight years old and Dad thought I was throwing up too bad to go to school, I was faking it with vegetable soup and you covered for me so we could go to the park and both take a day off. Sorry for ratting you out to Dad.
Anyway. You're probably going to be really, really angry. And confused out of your minds, and I'm so sorry for that, but I need you to know that I'm okay. And that I exist. Here goes.
***
...or not. Ugh. Harold stared at the page, pangs of anxiety coursing through him to still his hand. The magnitude of it daunted him on a number of levels. He would tell the truth. He just didn't know how much.
So much of the truth was laced with stuff you just didn't tell your parents. Ever. Not unless you were like that hippie girl Harold knew in college who smoked with her dad and used her mom for a wingman in bars.
Fụck. He wished he had it that easy about now.
Hands passing over the mess of printed photographs on the desk beside him, each marked on the back with the place and name, he took a few careful breaths before putting pen back to page.
***
Sorry about that, Mom and Dad. Needed a little break to breathe. Not that you can tell I went away from the page. This is hard for me, you know? I know. Probably not half as hard as it is for you.
Okay. His name was Hikaru. He looked - to most people, anyway - just like me.
I couldn't stop myself. Maria ditched, stuff with Kumar was a mess, I couldn't get anything together and god knows where my head was, but my freaking double walks out of... the future, I guess, and of course he holds out a hand. Of course he says, "Come with me." And I took it. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, but I did. I made the decision to walk away without a word. All me. No excuses.
It was a mistake. On so many levels, a huge mistake. There was something really weird going on there, we never did figure out why. He wasn't just my double, we were connected or something. He was inside my head. Almost literally. Connected. He... wasn't a good guy. Maybe you can figure out how somebody could use a link like that against you. He did. I don't even know if he realized he was, but he did.
I was alone, and messed up, and I can't really explain to you why, but I bolted. And then, his name was Scotty. All I saw was this person running by me who needed help. He was just about as alone and out of place as I was, in a lot of ways. He pretty quickly became the most important person in my life.
It's a really long story. It'd take pages to tell. I love that story, and one day I'll spell it all out for you, but right now I just have to get through this letter. I did a lot of really stupid things. I did some really okay things too. I got hurt a lot. He helped me. We helped each other, I guess.
***
And here it was. He knew what came next. Breathe, Harold Lee. A flicked look to one photograph; shared, Scotty and Harold. Marley took that photo.
Breathe. Pen to paper.
Right.
***
Sorry, had to breathe again. Okay, here's the deal. I fell in love. Please don't freak. Please, don't just crumple this letter up when you read the next sentence. His name is Scotty.
Yeah. I think you get the idea by now.
We've lived a couple of places since that ship. That's the big difference between me and the guy probably looking at this after you read it doing eyebrow acrobatics. Yeah, you, Harold Lee. Calm down. You've seen weirder stuff than this letter, trust me.
We split off somewhere. Two people instead of one. Reality is a little weird, truth be told.
I have no idea when or if you'll even get this letter. The thing is, though... we're getting married. Next month. The 9th of March.
Don't kill me.
***
There were four notches cut carefully into the paper sheet, perfectly spaced for the photograph Marley took. Harold slotted it into the space, careful not to leave fingerprints on the glossy shot. Harold leaning on his smiling Scotty, blissful expression written across his features. It was perfect, he thought.
On the back, in red ink, Harold's clipped handwriting would read: "His name is Scotty."
***
Here we are together. So you know I'm not crazy. That's the bar, in the inn where we live. I don't know how much of this you know from other-me, but his full name is Montgomery Edward Scott. Don't call him Monty, seriously. Bad idea. And Dad, if you haven't gone nuts by now, I'm sure you'll be really freaking happy to know he's going to be a Lee.
He's beautiful. Perfect. And he's going to be your son-in-law, so please love him as much as I do? We're happy. Life is... really good. We've got a home, and two jobs each, and each other. He's this amazing, brilliant, sharp, sweet person that I just know you'll love when you meet him. If you meet him. I love watching him work. He's an engineer. He'll tell you he's only a mechanic, but don't buy it, he's an engineer too. Whatever he says. I've seen the schematics. He's an engineer.
I'll stick a few more pictures in here. I couldn't get everyone I wanted to show you, but it's a good little collection. Marley's my best man, she came with us from the last two hops between universes. She's pretty special to me. Scott - yeah, he's got the same name as Scotty, it's a long story, but think of them like cousins - is another friend of mine from one jump back. Well, kind of. It's hard to explain. His story's almost as weird as mine. Jamie is like my adopted little brother. Yeah, I know the family resemblance is just so strong. He's Scotty's best man.
There's Vex, she's a dragon. No, I haven't been in your liquor stash, Dad. Seriously. Dragon.
There are also a couple of shots of my bosses, Maia and Harold. Yeah. Another Harold. I get that a lot. Oh, and you might just find some shots of me in there with a baby. Don't panic. She's our god daughter, Annalise. Only just met her today. Prettiest gold eyes you've ever seen. My other boss, Mai, is her mother.
Okay. I think I've used up plenty of paper to freak you guys out. I hope this gets to you okay. And that you believe me. I love you.
Harold
His name is Scotty.
Okay, this is going to be the weirdest letter you've ever gotten in your lives, but that has to be the first sentence. It'll make sense in a minute, I promise.
The next ones have to be: I'm alive, I love you, I miss you.
I have a feeling you're probably going to need proof this is from me, one way or another. I may already be there. I may already have told you some of this stuff. I'm not shocked, if so. I told you this was a weird letter. Either way, congratulations, Mom and Dad... you have twins.
I can prove I'm not a crazy person mailing you random stuff. Dad, you keep your liquor stash under the fifth floorboard from the back wall in the attic. Sorry. I found it sophomore year and it was better than drinking the really cheap vodka. Hope I didn't just rat you out to Mom.
Mom, when I was eight years old and Dad thought I was throwing up too bad to go to school, I was faking it with vegetable soup and you covered for me so we could go to the park and both take a day off. Sorry for ratting you out to Dad.
Anyway. You're probably going to be really, really angry. And confused out of your minds, and I'm so sorry for that, but I need you to know that I'm okay. And that I exist. Here goes.
***
...or not. Ugh. Harold stared at the page, pangs of anxiety coursing through him to still his hand. The magnitude of it daunted him on a number of levels. He would tell the truth. He just didn't know how much.
So much of the truth was laced with stuff you just didn't tell your parents. Ever. Not unless you were like that hippie girl Harold knew in college who smoked with her dad and used her mom for a wingman in bars.
Fụck. He wished he had it that easy about now.
Hands passing over the mess of printed photographs on the desk beside him, each marked on the back with the place and name, he took a few careful breaths before putting pen back to page.
***
Sorry about that, Mom and Dad. Needed a little break to breathe. Not that you can tell I went away from the page. This is hard for me, you know? I know. Probably not half as hard as it is for you.
Okay. His name was Hikaru. He looked - to most people, anyway - just like me.
I couldn't stop myself. Maria ditched, stuff with Kumar was a mess, I couldn't get anything together and god knows where my head was, but my freaking double walks out of... the future, I guess, and of course he holds out a hand. Of course he says, "Come with me." And I took it. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, but I did. I made the decision to walk away without a word. All me. No excuses.
It was a mistake. On so many levels, a huge mistake. There was something really weird going on there, we never did figure out why. He wasn't just my double, we were connected or something. He was inside my head. Almost literally. Connected. He... wasn't a good guy. Maybe you can figure out how somebody could use a link like that against you. He did. I don't even know if he realized he was, but he did.
I was alone, and messed up, and I can't really explain to you why, but I bolted. And then, his name was Scotty. All I saw was this person running by me who needed help. He was just about as alone and out of place as I was, in a lot of ways. He pretty quickly became the most important person in my life.
It's a really long story. It'd take pages to tell. I love that story, and one day I'll spell it all out for you, but right now I just have to get through this letter. I did a lot of really stupid things. I did some really okay things too. I got hurt a lot. He helped me. We helped each other, I guess.
***
And here it was. He knew what came next. Breathe, Harold Lee. A flicked look to one photograph; shared, Scotty and Harold. Marley took that photo.
Breathe. Pen to paper.
Right.
***
Sorry, had to breathe again. Okay, here's the deal. I fell in love. Please don't freak. Please, don't just crumple this letter up when you read the next sentence. His name is Scotty.
Yeah. I think you get the idea by now.
We've lived a couple of places since that ship. That's the big difference between me and the guy probably looking at this after you read it doing eyebrow acrobatics. Yeah, you, Harold Lee. Calm down. You've seen weirder stuff than this letter, trust me.
We split off somewhere. Two people instead of one. Reality is a little weird, truth be told.
I have no idea when or if you'll even get this letter. The thing is, though... we're getting married. Next month. The 9th of March.
Don't kill me.
***
There were four notches cut carefully into the paper sheet, perfectly spaced for the photograph Marley took. Harold slotted it into the space, careful not to leave fingerprints on the glossy shot. Harold leaning on his smiling Scotty, blissful expression written across his features. It was perfect, he thought.
On the back, in red ink, Harold's clipped handwriting would read: "His name is Scotty."
***
Here we are together. So you know I'm not crazy. That's the bar, in the inn where we live. I don't know how much of this you know from other-me, but his full name is Montgomery Edward Scott. Don't call him Monty, seriously. Bad idea. And Dad, if you haven't gone nuts by now, I'm sure you'll be really freaking happy to know he's going to be a Lee.
He's beautiful. Perfect. And he's going to be your son-in-law, so please love him as much as I do? We're happy. Life is... really good. We've got a home, and two jobs each, and each other. He's this amazing, brilliant, sharp, sweet person that I just know you'll love when you meet him. If you meet him. I love watching him work. He's an engineer. He'll tell you he's only a mechanic, but don't buy it, he's an engineer too. Whatever he says. I've seen the schematics. He's an engineer.
I'll stick a few more pictures in here. I couldn't get everyone I wanted to show you, but it's a good little collection. Marley's my best man, she came with us from the last two hops between universes. She's pretty special to me. Scott - yeah, he's got the same name as Scotty, it's a long story, but think of them like cousins - is another friend of mine from one jump back. Well, kind of. It's hard to explain. His story's almost as weird as mine. Jamie is like my adopted little brother. Yeah, I know the family resemblance is just so strong. He's Scotty's best man.
There's Vex, she's a dragon. No, I haven't been in your liquor stash, Dad. Seriously. Dragon.
There are also a couple of shots of my bosses, Maia and Harold. Yeah. Another Harold. I get that a lot. Oh, and you might just find some shots of me in there with a baby. Don't panic. She's our god daughter, Annalise. Only just met her today. Prettiest gold eyes you've ever seen. My other boss, Mai, is her mother.
Okay. I think I've used up plenty of paper to freak you guys out. I hope this gets to you okay. And that you believe me. I love you.
Harold