“Hey,” he said.
“Umm, hi,” Isaac replied awkwardly.
“Hey, Ike, it’s you,” Zac said cheerfully. “Only about twenty years younger. Hey Carla, he should have more stamina.”
“Dork,” Carla replied.
Zac beamed.
“Interdimensional teleportation?” Jo inquired.
“Yeah. How’d you guess?” Tristan asked.
“We’ve had our own fun getting picked up and carried around by a kid named Tristan who professed to be my son,” Zac said.
“You too?” Isaac asked surprised.
“Yep,” Older Isaac replied.
“And you got back home all right?” Tristan asked hopefully.
“We’re here, aren’t we?” Taylor shrugged.
“That’s awesome.”
“Never had a Tristan in this reality,” Zac mused. “I think it’s because I married someone else, eh, Jo?”
Jo batted her eyes at him.
“Wait, in this reality you guys marry?” Isaac asked, his eyes lighting up with mischief. “Hmm…”
“Really?” Tristan said. “My mom is Mary Anne.”
“Mary Anne’s a power sharer?” Isaac asked, the same time that Zac chewed his bottom lip and turned away.
“Yeah. Isn’t she an anomaly in your world?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Huh. Weird.”
“She died in ours,” Taylor said softly with a glance at his brother. “Sore subject.”
“Ahh,” Tristan replied. “Okay, changing subject. So when the other Tristan did his thing, did you guys get split up?”
“Yep. Only Jess was the last one,” Older Isaac said.
“Jess?” Isaac questioned. “Huh. I wonder what she was doing backstage. Unless Tristan picked you up elsewhere?”
“Nah, backstage,” Older Isaac confirmed. “Isn’t Jess in the band in your reality?”
“Nope. Not for lack of trying to persuade her to take up the bass, though.”
“Huh, imagine that. She’s our bassist. Good voice too. Like you can expect anything less in this family,” Zac chuckled.