Duplicate Minds

Two

He parks the car, but doesn't go inside right away. He's been driving all day and he knows the second he walks through the front door, he will be bombarded. Which isn't an entirely bad thing, but he needs a few moments to himself.

He pulls his phone off its windshield mount and scrolls through his social media feeds. He watches some funny cat videos until he begins to feel guilty for spending so much time alone in the car while his wife and kids are waiting for him inside. He sighs, shoves the phone in his pocket, and gets out of the car.

He avoids eye contact with neighbors as he makes his way to his house. A trash bag rests on the welcome mat, and he grumbles to himself as he grabs it and walks it back to the trash can before returning.

The instant he walks through the door, he's the star of the house. A chubby nine-year-old boy speeds out of the back bedroom and immediately latches onto his leg. "Dad!"

Rajeev chuckles. "Hello, Dev." He tousles the boy's hair, just as a twelve-year-old girl walks toward him, arms outstretched. He hugs her, marveling at how fast she's growing. "Mira, you need to stop growing so much. I'm going to come home from work next week and find out you're getting married and moving out of the house!"

A woman emerges from the kitchen, her hair blonde and curly, her eyes blue and bright, but tired.

"Give your father a minute to himself, kids," she says gently, but with authority. "He's been working all day and needs a moment to rest."

He takes the brief respite as an opportunity to plop himself onto the couch, but he knows the moment won't last. Sure enough, as soon as he's kicked off his shoes, Dev jumps onto the couch beside him, looking up at his dad as if he's his whole world.

"Guess what we did at school today?" he asks excitedly.

"What?" Rajeev asks, trying to muster enough enthusiasm to match his son's.

"We made a computer program!"

"You did! Wow!" He's hamming it up, but he is genuinely impressed; they never taught anything like that when he was in school.

"Uh-huh," Dev says, nodding his head vigorously. "We made a calculator program. It was really cool! I want to be a computer programmer when I grow up."

"That's a good goal, Dev. Computer programmers can make a lot of money. If you study hard, I'm sure you can make your dream come true."

"Really?"

"Yes. If you study, and learn, and work hard, there's no limit to what you can accomplish."

***

Rajeev's questions were too numerous to count, but Dev insisted they retire to his office before discussing things further. Rajeev tried to climb down from the bed, but struggled to keep his balance. Dev brought his finger to his ear as if he were activating an invisible earpiece.

"Henry, could you please bring us a walker? Thank you."

"A walker? Dev, your old man isn't that old."

Dev chuckled. "Remember, fifteen years have gone by. Which is actually beside the point; technically, you're not even a day old. You've been reborn, dad, and it's only to be expected that you'll need to relearn some basic motor functions—like walking."

The door opened and a young man in a white polo shirt and khaki pants wheeled in a steel-gray walker. Dev took the walker and patted the man on the shoulder.