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“So, we’ll never really know, will we?”

“If we could find records of some of them, we might be able to trace their children, but that’s a bigif. The princess and Isabella didn’t have children, but Maria was a royal andthe seventh child of a king. We know she had relatives and that she has descendants who are alive today. There’s still a Spanish royal family, after all.”

“Not the same as their actual children, though.” Cheryl sighed. “I think I want to find him, Diana.”

“Paul?”

“Yes. I know we can’t tell him who we are. He’d only think we were lying or just plain crazy, anyway. But I want to see him just once; know that he’s all right. We should’ve done this years ago.”

“We’ve been a bit busy, sweetheart. You’re a popular reporter at your paper now; I’m a nurse, which isn’t an easy job; we have a son who needs us to be here for him; and we’ve also got two fake husbands to be seen with in public occasionally to be safe. I’m not sure when we would’ve had the time.”

“We’ll have it next month. We took the week off work to spend away with Simon.”

“Shouldn’t we be here still, just in case it’s too much for Lily and Sandy and they want to bring him home? It’s the longest they’ve ever spent with him.”

“They’ve been planning for this for months. They’ll be fine. They’re both really excited that he’s older now and can do more in the city with them. They have a whole itinerary worked out. And you and I can drive to see our other son from another life together.”

Diana knew that once her wife got something stuck in her mind, there wasn’t much she could do about it. Cheryl had a stubborn streak, and most of the time, it was something Diana loved about her. Other times, Cheryl insisted that they have a casserole for dinner, and Diana hated casseroles. That probably stemmed from the fact that after her mother died, she had to do all the cooking for her and her father, and the easiest things for her to learn were casseroles, so she’d had her fill of those already.

“We’ll get a map, then,” she replied and kissed Cheryl on the lips.

???

One month later, after stopping at a pay phone to make an expensive, long-distance call to check on Simon with his birth mother and her wife, they got back into their car and continued on their journey.

“We’re close,” Cheryl said, taking Diana’s hand.

“I feel it, too. Wow, the closer we get, it’s stronger, isn’t it?”

“The connection to them?”

“Yes.”

“I can see them sitting at their kitchen table right now.”

“Me too.”

“You’re driving,” Cheryl said with a laugh.

“I’m all right. If I need to pull over, I will.”

“He’s still here. I was right, wasn’t I?”

“I think so, yes.”

When they left the highway, turning onto what appeared to be the main street in the small town, Diana pulled over and parked on the street.

“I just need a minute. I’m seeing flashes, and it’s making it hard to focus on driving.”

“It’s okay. Take your time,” Cheryl replied. “Maybe we can get out and stretch our legs a bit. It might help.”

“Okay.”

They got out of the car and stood next to one another on the sidewalk. Across the street, Diana noticed a man who was painting the window of an old building with a new business name.

“Antiques and Collectibles,” she mumbled to herself.

“New shop in town?” Cheryl asked.