300 for 30: Day 24

“My period’s usually here by now each month,” Taylor elaborated as Nat took her hand and led her to one of the mattresses. Without seeming to be aware of it, she had an arm protectively over her stomach. “And I’ve never felt that particular kind of nausea before.”

“I thought you weren’t supposed to…” Ferdinand began.

Sally rolled her eyes. “Hush. If there ever was a time not to criticize, honestly. Congratulations, dear. I presume it is your fiancé’s.”

Taylor’s smile fluttered but shone. “You’re right, Ferdinand, I wasn’t supposed to. But there are circumstances you don’t know about. You were asking earlier how Derrick and I have this mind-link. It’s time to tell you that story.”

Ferdinand by this point had figured out that Rivki would accept his fingers in lieu of a pacifier. It hurt less than the neck, and right now the infant seemed to want more comfort than nourishment. “Go on,” he said, much more gently.

“When I was sixteen I started having visions. I was visited by a ghost named Tylianvornika, or ‘Ty’, myself from a previous life. The life was in a different universe. Fortunately I found out I wasn’t crazy, because my two best friends could see her too. They had lived lives in that universe as well. We faced an apocalypse together.”

Nat put his chin in his hand and nodded. “You need to sell the movie rights.”

Taylor gave a laugh. “Only you, Nat, could say that so sincerely and respectfully.”

“Forgive me if this sounds far-fetched,” Ferdinand said.

“Ferdy, you’re holding a vampire baby and listening to a story by a young lady who is periodically possessed by her lover, at which point her eyes glow orange,” Sally said.

“Point taken. Only my sister gets to call me that, though.”

“Duly noted.”

“Anyway, Derrick was there too. His name was Riquaniuvant, or ‘Riq’. I hadn’t met him yet in this life. I knew I would one day, though. Two years later, I did. I started working at his pet shop. But he didn’t remember me. Sometimes he’d look at me oddly, like he was recalling something from a dream, but he never said a thing.

"I had a little bedroom in the back part of the shop, the way people so often do in countries like Thailand. Derrick had a separate bedroom and bathroom, and we shared a kitchenette and living area. We had only been friends up to that point. One night, as I was trying to sleep, Ty came to me one last time. ‘He’s washing dishes,” she told me. ‘Go kiss him. Then, when he remembers and asks if you will, go to his room with him. One day it will save your life.’”