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"Josie," Cecil exclaimed, greeting her with a hug. "And Erika! And Erika!" He briefly hugged the two angels too, to be polite, even though they just stood there, and touching them gave him the taste of static in his mouth.
"What took you so long, Cecil?" Josie questioned. "It's a good thing that the people under the Desert Alley Bowling Alley and Arcade Fun Complex just elected a more stubborn representative, otherwise the pre-match negotiations would have been over and the game would have already started." Josie looked at Esteban. "And who's this little tyke?"
Cecil glanced at the end of the bowling alley, where the referee was indeed laying down with her head in one of the lanes. He looked down at his watch and winced.
"Sorry, sorry," he apologized. "So, you know how the years orbit each other, and some moments in time are closer to others, whether we know it or not? Weeeell, I was in a hurry this morning, so I didn't check the calendar. And then when I picked Esteban up from daycare, I took a wrong turn, and we ended up here in the past-- or, here in the present, of course. And then I remembered it was still League Night, or it was League Night again, so we came straight here. I didn't bring my bowling shoes, though, so I'll have to play barefoot."
Cecil paused. "Everyone, this is Esteban, my son. He'll be born in a couple years." Esteban waved, Josie gasped, and the two Erikas gave a friendly smile. "Esteban, this is my good friend Old Woman Josie, this is Erika, and this is Erika. The two of them are--" he lowered his voice-- "angels".
"Oh, Cecil, you have a son!" Josie exclaimed. She fixed her attention on Esteban. "And you look just like your fathers. How old are you now?"
"I'm eight," Esteban said reservedly. "Nice to meet you, Old Woman Josie. Nice to meet you, Erica and Erica."
"It's Erika with a K," the Black angel said impatiently." Esteban ducked his head in apology.
"Eight is old enough to bowl," Josie said. "Do you want to join in?"
Esteban looked at Cecil. "I'd rather play with my tablet," he said, and he pulled from his pocket a heavy stone tablet covered in arcane symbols.
"That's fine," Cecil said. "If you want, the food stand has ranch milkshakes." Esteban's face brightened, and Cecil handed him some money.
"Ooh," the other Erika said, "can I borrow money too? I'd like ten bucks."
Cecil sighed and handed the other Erika ten dollars. The money disappeared to wherever angels put things. Turning back to Josie, he explained, "My son has been suuuuuper into witchcraft lately. In fact, he recently put on a magic show. Not to brag, but it was a major success."
"Eight is a good age to get into witchcraft," Josie agreed. "Old enough to read sacred tomes, young enough to take it in stride when things go cosmically wrong."
Thinking about the past summer's witch camp, Cecil nodded agreement.
Then, there was a moment where, instead of responding to Josie, Cecil just paused and looked at her.
"Oh, Josie," he said after a moment, "I've missed you so much."
Her eyes softened. "I've missed you too, Cecil. We only ever see each other at League Night these days. Why don't you come to my place after this match to have a cup of tea?"
"I would," Cecil said regretfully, "but I have to get back home before the time traffic patterns change. Carlos will worry if we're gone for too long." Josie nodded her understanding.
"There's probably some wise lesson about cherishing the present moment, since we don't know how many more moments we'll ever have with someone," Josie began. "But I'm not in the mood for philosphizing. Let's bowl!"
"Well said," the two Erikas said in unison.
Cecil echoed them. "Well said!"
As if on cue, the referee stood up stiffly from the lane and signaled the start of the match, and the four of them bowled.
