Changes After the Crisis (Snowbarry)

40

At the restaurant

"Hi Caitlin, welcome!" Carla Tannhauser said, seeing her daughter enter

"Hello Mother, I hope you don't mind, but two of my dear friends, your great admirers have practically begged me to meet you..." Caitlin lied, unable to reveal the too complex truth of time travel

"Ah...I was hoping this was going to be a family lunch ... but where are they?"

"I didn't mean to impose anything  ... so they are outside, waiting for your permission to join us"

"OK... tell me what are their names and what work do they do"

"Nora, and Cassie, are 26 and 17. Nora is a CSI, has a  degree in bioengineering. Cassie is a prodigy girl, has a medical degree and a physics degree, and is completing a PhD in quantum mechanics. "

"It's unbelievable! But ... it's not a joke is it?"

"Of course not!"

"Ok Caitlin, let her in"

"Gr ... Dr Tannhauser! I'm Nora, she is Cassie, we are very happy to meet you!" Nora said, not resisting the temptation to call her grandma.

Seeing her like this, came back to her many wonderful memories, some even prior to Iris's disappearance ...

Flashback 2028

It was about 8pm, it had been a quiet day, Caitlin was in her apartment lying on the sofa watching Netflix, when the phone rang
"Hello, this is Caitlin Snow" she said as she answered the phone

"Hello Caitlin, this is Barry ... sorry for the inconvenience, but Iris just went out of town for a conference while I just got called on an urgent case ... you might..."

"The door is open," Caitlin said laughing, interrupting her friend

"How did you know?!" Barry said as they enter the apartment, with Nora asleep in his arms

"I knew immediately where you wanted to go, Nora and Jenna had a fight this morning... you would not have asked Joe and Cecile, leaving them alone to manage them"

"Yes it's true .... I hope it's not a problem for you"

"I love spending time with my goddaughter, you know how much I love her"

"Yeah I know Cait... Anyway Iris and I were talking about it the other day ... have you ever thought about having children?"

Caitlin sighed and took Nora, still asleep, from her father's arms, and cradling her gently said:

"Years ago, Ronnie and I were planning everything... after the inauguration of the particle accelerator we would get married, we would buy a nice house , and we would have 3 children and a dog ... After everything that happened, I never thought about it again ... "

"Sorry Cait, I didn't think about that," Barry said apologetically

"It doesn't matter... anyway any recommendations for tomorrow morning?"

"You just have to convince her to go to school tomorrow ... there's a trip to the Central City museum planned, she doesn't want to go... that's what she got from Iris"

"Don't worry, I'll convince My Little One to go tomorrow"

Barry started laughing after Caitlin answered, then said:

"You know Cait, just this morning Iris tried to call Nora that way ... well Nora got offended and said only Auntie Caity can call me that "

"Okay Barry now go, I'll put Nora under the covers"

"Goodnight Cait"

"Goodnight Barry"



As soon as Barry was gone, Cait said

"Nora, honey, stop pretending to sleep!"

"How did you understand that ?!"

"I know my goddaughter too well ... anyway I don't understand why you don't want to go to the museum tomorrow"

"Science is boring, and so are many scientists!"

"Your father and I are not boring, and neither is Uncle Cisco!"

"You and dad are a little bit ..."

"Seriously!" Caitlin said taking Nora in her arms starting a tickle war

"Okay, okay... you're not boring," Nora said between laughs

"Ok honey, what do you say if I change your mind about science?"

"Okay auntie Caity!"

"Perfect, the science I wanted to introduce to you was the one with which my father introduced me to science in general, that is astronomy! Have you ever heard of it?"

"Yes, it is the one who studies the planets, like the Sun!" Nora said smiling

"More or less ..." Caitlin said with a chuckle,

"Well Nora, astronomy is the science that studies celestial corps and all celestial phenomena. It studies planets, Natural satellites, stars, like the Sun, but also galaxies, nebulae, Supernovas and comet stars.

In practice, astronomy observes and analyzes all the phenomena that occur in space, and are observable in the night sky, and beyond.
Then through mathematics and physics, tries to understand how they work, how they occur and why "

"It seems cool... but I don't understand well"

"Wait for me to put my coat on, then come with me to the balcony, it's very cold so cover up well!"

The two went out onto the balcony, and Nora was immediately drawn to the strange object that Caitlin had pulled out of a briefcase from a hallway cabinet.

"What is that thing?"

"It's a gift my father gave me when I was your age. This is a telescope, an optical telescope... it's a fairly old instrument, made famous by one of the greatest scientists of all time, the Italian GALILEO GALILEI. This tool uses lenses to magnify images of distant objects "

"So with that we can see the stars, the planets and all those things in the night sky?"

"Yes, that's right, but only if there are no clouds, but there are many lights in the city, this can be a problem at times"

"Why is this a problem?"

"Do you remember when the light went out last week and your father lit candles?"

"Yes," replied Nora

"When the light came back, did you see the light they made?"

"No, why... did they keep doing it?"

"Yes, except that with the strong light of the bulbs, the light of the candles was so weak that it was not visible ... The same happens with the stars, they are always there, even during the day, only they are so far away that their light is made invisible from the solar one.
During the night the lights of the cities do not prevent us from seeing them completely, but we lose several details "

While Caitlin was talking, Nora remained there, listening to all the things that the godmother was explaining to her, she didn't want to miss even a single detail

"Ok Nora, now it's time to use my old telescope!"

Caitlin began to show Nora all the constellations visible that night: Big Dipper (Ursa Major or  Great Bear), the Little Dipper (Ursa Minor or Little bear) and Orion.
While the little one gazed entranced by the majesty of the stars, Caitlin told her the story of the solar system, starting from theory of the collapse of a planetary nebula, and everything Caitlin knew about the eight planets.

The time passed and before Caitlin knew it it was already midnight.

"Oh my God Nora, it's already midnight, come to bed!"

"Can we stay a little longer? I would like to stay out here with you until tomorrow, I love spending time with you! This month with mom we never spend time together ... I'm almost always with dad, I think mom doesn't. .. "

Nora was interrupted by Caitlin's sudden hug

"Nora don't even finish saying that sentence, your mom loves you so much, she would like to spend time with you but she can't.
You have to be the one trying to spend as much time as you can with her! When I was little it was the same thing for me , I spent a lot of time with my father, a little with my mother, when then my father died, my mother and I drifted apart, only now I regret not having spent so much time with her.

Remember my Little One, your mother loves you and wants to spend as much time with you as possible"

"Okay Caity, but can we stay here until tomorrow? I love this place" Nora said with all the innocence of a child her age.

"Honey... it's midnight, it's tomorrow already. How are you going to get up early tomorrow to go to the museum?"

"Okay Caity, is my bedroom ready?" Nora asked, referring to the guest room, which she had appropriated

"No ... I forgot, there are no clean covers ..."

"Where do I sleep then?"

"You can sleep with me in my bed if you want, I'll sleep on the sofa"

"No, we can sleep together!"

"But my little one, you are old enath to sleep alone"

"But, Dad still sleeps with mom!" Nora said, causing Caitlin to die with laughter

"Okay Nora!You will sleep with me tonight, my little one"