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1.
The issue is raised for the first time at one of Hope’s checkups. After Dr. Lipson finishes Hope’s exam, she reaches into her pocket and pulls out a handful of chunky beads. “Before I forget,” she says, stringing them one by one onto a thin chain. “This is for her.”
Penny watches as Lipson clasps the chain around his daughter’s wrist. “Uh, thanks,” he says, inspecting the tiny bracelet with skepticism. “It’s…cute?”
Lipson glares at him. “It’s not intended to be cute. It’s functional.” She twists a bead so both parents can see the etching on its surface. “See?”
Julia squints at the markings. “Is that an anti-Travelling symbol?” she asks with a frown.
“Yep,” Lipson replies.
“What’s it for?” Penny asks.
“So she doesn’t accidentally Travel,” Lipson says, looking at him as if that should be obvious. “Unless you want your baby to just up and disappear from her crib because she’s feeling cranky.”
Penny’s eyes widen. “That can happen?”
“No,” Julia interrupts before Lipson can respond. “I’ve done my research. Most human Travelers don’t develop their abilities until adolescence or later. Penny didn’t Travel for the first time until after he got to Brakebills.” Hope begins to fuss and Julia picks her up from the examination table. “Since Hope inherited his abilities, she should be the same way.” She tilts her head. “Right?”
“Right.” Lipson sighs. “I forgot that neither of you comes from a magical family.”
Julia rocks Hope in her arms. “What does that have to do with anything?” she asks.
“There’s something about being immersed in magic from the beginning that can sometimes…amplify one’s abilities.” Lipson looks at Julia. “You were in Fillory when you were pregnant with Hope, and she’s already Traveled several times with the two of you. Plus, there’s the whole…ex-goddess thing you have going. All that adds up to the potential for one very powerful Traveler baby.”
Penny looks nervously from Lipson to Hope. “But the bracelet will keep her safe, right?”
“As long as you keep it on her, she won’t be able to Travel by accident,” Lipson replies. “I’ll give you the spell in case you need a replacement before she can get an anti-Travelling tattoo.”
“Is that something you do?” Penny asks. “When can we do that?”
“Not right now,” Lipson says. “She’s too young.” Hope starts to fuss again. The doctor makes a face as she steps away.
“Thanks,” Julia says. She hands Hope to Penny, then picks up her bag from the floor. “Let’s go.”
“Wait,” Penny says. “About the tattoo thing-”
“Penny, can we do this some other time?” Julia interjects from a few feet away. “Hope’s tired and so am I. Let’s go home.”
“We can discuss this more later,” Lipson says. She starts to guide Penny towards the exit. “For now, go home and just keep doing what you’ve been doing. You’ll be fine.”
2.
The first time Hope’s bracelet comes off is when she starts teething. Julia picks her up from her crib one morning and sees the broken chain in Hope’s hand. “Oh no,” she says in a gentle voice, prying a bead out of her daughter’s mouth. “You don’t want to eat that.” She performs a minor mending and then continues their morning routine, changing Hope’s diaper and getting her dressed before sitting down with her to feed.
Penny peeks his head into the doorway as Hope nurses. “Morning,” he says with a smile. “How are you and HQ doing?”
“We’re good. Just having some breakfast,” Julia replies. “Oh, but she broke her bracelet.”
Penny’s eyes widen. “What?” he demands, hurrying towards her. “The anti-Travelling one?”
“Yeah,” Julia says. “Don’t worry, I already fixed it.” She holds up Hope’s little wrist to show Penny.
He grabs Hope’s hand and examines the newly repaired bracelet. “What happened?” he demands.
“I found it in her crib this morning. I think she must’ve been chewing on it and the chain broke.”
Penny drops Hope’s hand and starts to pace across the floor. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that,” he says with a shake of his head. “We need to put a reinforcement spell on it. And maybe we should get a backup, just to be safe.” He stops and looks back at Julia. “How are you so calm?”
“Because Hope is safe and that’s all that matters,” Julia replies. “Babies break things; it’s no big deal.”
“It is a big deal when you’re a Traveler,” Penny counters. “She needs that bracelet to protect her.”
“We don’t even know if she can Travel yet,” Julia says. “She’s never done it before; she might not be able to until she’s much older.”
“And what if the first time she does, we can’t find her?” Penny demands. “Then what happens?”
“Then we can do a locator spell and find her,” Julia says. She sighs. “Look, I know you’re scared. There’s not exactly a parenting book for raising Traveler babies.” Penny smiles faintly. “We’ll figure this out, alright?”
“Alright,” Penny says. He hesitates, then reaches for Hope’s hand again. “Can I do that reinforcement spell now?”
Julia smiles. “Okay.”
3.
The next time it happens, Hope is almost a year old. Penny turns around for just a moment to put away a toy and when he looks back, Hope has vanished from her play mat.
Penny frowns. “Where’d you go, HQ?” He glances around but finds no trace of the baby.
Something on the floor catches his eye. He bends down, then snatches up the bracelet in his hand and looks around. “Hope!” he shouts, heart pounding wildly. “Hope!”
Julia peers into the living room. “Penny, what’s wrong?”
“It’s Hope,” he gasps, desperately searching the room. “She - she-” He falters when he sees his daughter’s hair peeking over the top of the coffee table. “Oh, thank God.” Penny hurries across the room and picks her up.
Julia frowns. “What happened?”
Penny shakes his head. “I - I saw the bracelet on the floor and I thought…” He secures the chain around Hope’s wrist and then slumps on the couch, clutching his daughter to his chest. “We need better anti-Travelling protections for her,” he says with his eyes closed.
“But she didn’t Travel,” Julia says, frowning slightly. “She was just hiding.”
“That’s not the point,” Penny insists. He raises his head and opens his eyes to look at her. “She could have.”
“She didn’t, though,” Julia replies. “We don’t even know if she can Travel yet.”
“But she could,” Penny repeats. He strokes Hope’s hair. “I think we should talk to Lipson about an anti-Traveller tattoo.”
“What?” Julia asks. She shakes her head. “No, absolutely not.”
“It wouldn’t be permanent,” Penny says. “She’d have them removed when she got older. But it would keep her safe for now.”
“Penny, we are not going to tattoo our baby to suppress her magical abilities,” Julia says. “That would be like - like cutting off her legs so she doesn’t wander into traffic.”
“That’s not the same thing at all,” Penny argues. “I’m talking about a temporary measure to keep Hope safe until she’s old enough to control her Travelling. I had one for a while; it wasn’t a big deal.”
“I don’t care,” Julia says. She stalks across the room and takes Hope from Penny’s arms. “I said no. She has the bracelet and that’s enough. I can work on a spell to make it harder to take off.”
“Fine. Then I’m putting an anti-Traveller ward on the apartment,” Penny says.
“If that’s what you want,” Julia says. She turns to their daughter. “Come on, Hope, let’s go get a snack.”
+1.
It all comes to a head on the day that Hope Travels for the first time. Penny is watching Hope at the (thankfully empty) park when it happens. One moment, she’s at the bottom of the slide. The next, she’s back at the top, giggling and waving to her dad. “Look, Daddy!” she shouts before sliding back down again.
Penny doesn’t even stop to think. He walks across the playground, picks up Hope, and Travels them both directly to Brakebills. They land right in the middle of a classroom.
“Professor Adiyodi?” Lipson asks with a frown. Two dozen students stare at him. “What are you doing here?”
“I need you,” he says, hurrying to the front of the room. Without further explanation, he grabs the doctor’s hand and Travels them both away.
Lipson pulls away as soon as they arrive in the Brakebills infirmary. “Penny, what’s going on?” she asks, looking around. “I was in the middle of a lecture. Are you and Hope okay?”
Penny sets Hope down on the nearest bed but keeps one hand on her shoulder. “I need you to put an anti-Travelling tattoo on her. Now.”
“What?” Lipson asks.
“She Travelled. Just a minute ago,” Penny explains.
Lipson looks at the young girl skeptically. “Really?”
“Daddy?” Hope asks, tugging on Penny’s hand. “What’s going on?”
“Not now, HQ,” Penny says. He turns back to look at Lipson. “Yes, I saw it happen. She needs a tattoo, right now.”
“And you’re sure you want to do this?” You don’t want to talk to your wife before-”
“Yes, I’m sure,” he interrupts. “Can you do it or not?”
The doctor hesitates. “Okay,” she says. “Just give me a few minutes to prepare.”
~
When Julia arrives home, it takes all of two seconds for her to notice the bandage on Hope’s neck. “What happened here?” she asks. Julia lifts the edge of the bandage and then freezes. “Penny?” Her voice is dangerously low. “What is this?”
“An anti-Traveller tattoo,” Penny says. “I had Lipson do it this afternoon.”
“Without telling me?” Julia asks. She stands and grabs Penny’s arm. “Hallway, now.”
“Julia, look,” he starts as soon as they’re out of their daughter’s earshot.
“No, what the hell, Penny?” Julia demands. “You got Hope tattooed? Why?”
“She Traveled today when we were out,” Penny says. “The bracelet isn’t enough to stop her anymore; I didn’t have a choice.”
“Of course you had a choice,” Julia counters. “You could have talked to me. But instead, you decided to do this huge thing for our daughter without even talking to me.“
“It had to be done, Julia,” Penny argues. “She’s a Traveller.”
“Yeah, she’s a Traveller,” Julia replies. “And she needs to learn how to Travel, not just suppress her abilities because you’re scared something might happen to her.”
Penny shakes his head. “Are you kidding me?” he asks. “She can’t even tie her shoes. You think she can learn how to Travel safely?”
“How are we supposed to know if she never gets the chance to try?” Julia asks.
“She’s a child,” Penny replies, throwing his hands up in the air. “What if she tries and she ends up in Ohio, or Greece, or the bottom of the fucking Mariana Trench?”
“That’s not going to happen,” Julia says.
“Do you know how hard it is to aim when Travelling? No. You have no idea what it’s like,” Penny snaps, voice rising. “I do. She needed the tattoo, so I had it done.”
Julia just stares at him for a few seconds, then steps back. “Oh,” she says. “Okay.”
Penny deflates. “Julia, wait.”
“No,” Julia says. “I didn’t realize that just because I’m not a Traveler doesn’t mean that I didn’t get a say in my daughter’s life.”
“I didn’t mean it like-”
“Didn’t you?” Julia asks. She turns and strides toward the door. “If that’s what you want, then you can have it your way. You get to make all the decisions from now on.”
“Julia!” Penny rushes forward and grabs Julia’s hand just as she opens the door. “I’m sorry-”
“Don’t touch me.” And with that, she slams the door.