After releasing the three teams back into their lives, Mitch trudged back to his office. Waves of tiredness had completely eroded him and every step seemed to jar his vision. His entire body ached after the cage match with GammaTron and he wanted nothing more than to fall onto his couch in his office and sleep for the next forty-eight hours. As he turned into his office, he was startled to find his wife and kids waiting for him. His wife looked different than when he had seen her last—she looked happy. She took Mitch in her arms and kissed him passionately. The kids groaned and pretended to be sick.
“Beth, I…” Mitch stammered, unsure of where to begin.
“I know you said you’d be home early today but all the kids are home and they couldn’t wait to see you. So I thought we would surprise you with dinner. I know you’ve been working really hard on this project and when you didn’t come home last night…well, I guess I underestimated the amount of strain you’re probably under. I thought that maybe we should come to you.”
Mitch saw a brown wicker picnic basket sitting atop a stack of papers on his desk. Beth pulled herself out of Mitch’s arms and began pulling food out of the basket. Mitch watched her in a daze, confused by the night and day transformation when the answer hit him like a freight train. He had been so concerned about how the timeshift would affect the base and his team that he had forgotten to consider about how it would affect his own life.
Ecstatic at the prospect of his marriage being whole again, he reached for her hand, took it in his and kissed it. He looked into the eyes that had been so cold and tired for more years than he could recollect and kissed her again, the way he knew he should have. “I have a better idea. Let’s take this across the road to the park.”