“I’m not a Goddess,” Delphie whispered. “And Levi’s not a God.”
“Of course,” Jill said. “We can only live out what life we’re given. We can’t make life happen.”
“Can’t make life happen… I can’t make life happen.” Delphie laughed with relief. “I’m just me. Just a minor oracle.”
“And a major miracle, at least to me! Are you all right?” Jill whispered.
“I’m really good,” Delphie laughed. “Naomi?”
Delphie called Celia by her spirit name and for the first time in months Celia appeared. Delphie’s eyes filled with joyful tears.
“Can you see her?” Delphie asked.
“See who?” Jill asked.
“You’ve saved me.” Delphie hugged Jill. “Bless you, Jillian Roper.”
Jill kissed Delphie’s cheek.
“Will you tell Celia that I miss her?” Jill looked around the room.
“She knows,” Delphie said.
“I’ll leave you to enjoy each other.”
Picking up her books and purse, Jill stood up to leave. She was almost at the door when a warm loving sensation overcame her. Jill smiled and tried to return the loving feelings. Shaking her head at how strange and wonderful her life had become, she made her way to her apartment.
~~~~~~~~
Monday mid-day — 12:40 P.M.
“We’re confused,” Mike said. “Val’s never had regular periods. Especially since she’s been an actress. She’s too thin for that. And with the movie, she’s lost even more body fat.”
“When was your last period, Val?” The doctor asked.
“Boy, I don’t know,” she said. “Last summer some time. I haven’t been eating really.”
“And recently?”
“Well, I found out I lost the movie, so I ate a bunch. Cheesecake. Ice cream. Brownies. That’s why I’m so pudgy now.”
While Mike rolled his eyes, Valerie slapped her flat belly.
“You restricted calories followed by a period of high caloric intake,” the doctor said. “That would do it.”
“Do what?” Valerie asked. “What is going on?”
“Oh,” the doctor chuckled to himself. “I didn’t say it?”
“Say what?” Mike asked.
“You’re pregnant,” the doctor said. “Not very. Probably only a few weeks. But pregnant nonetheless.”
Mike grabbed the doctor by his white coat.
“What’s the sex?” Mike asked.
“Hey settle down.” The doctor dusted Mike off his white coat. “We won’t know for a few months. You don’t have to know. Lots of couples wait until birth to be surprised.”
“We need to know today,” Mike said. “Val can’t have boys. No boys.”
The doctor shook his head as if he didn’t hear correctly.
“We’ll do an ultrasound today and…” the doctor started.
“It’s a genetic thing. Boys in my family have genetic problems,” Valerie said. “Can you do an amnio today?”
“No, it’s dangerous to the…”
“Please,” Valerie said. “My life depends on it.”
~~~~~~~~
Monday night — 6:40 P.M.
The Castle
The silence in the dining room was deafening. Sitting between Mike and Jacob, Jill looked from face to face in the room. Easy going, kind, wonderful, loving Steve was a bound up with rage. His pregnant wife, Leslie, kept trying to calm him. Candy and Jazmyne looked like they were ready to bolt at any moment. Mike was so uncomfortable he kept shifting in his chair. Jacob made a few stabs at conversation before he gave up. Even Megan was over focused on her eggplant. Her usually jovial husband Tim was silent.
The elephant in the room?
Mama brought her husband to dinner.
It had to happen some day.
Mama had been in their lives for two months. They’d spent an amazing Christmas all together. It was completely perfect in every way. Everyone said they had the best Christmas ever.
And now her husband appeared.
And Steve was furious.
Steve threw his fork onto his plate. His plate shattered with the impact of silver against china. Everyone turned to look at him.
“You killed my father! Stole our mother! Left us orphans to fend for ourselves! And I am supposed to sit down with the psychopath who destroyed my life as if nothing happened?”
“Psychopath?” Anjelika’s husband’s accent was straight out of British colonial Africa. He raised an eyebrow at Steve. “Are you sure?”
“God damn it!” Steve jumped from his chair. With his index finger pointing at the man, he screamed, “We don’t deserve your sarcasm. You have no idea what we’ve been through.”
“And what do you deserve?” the man asked.
“The truth,” Candy’s voice vibrated with emotion. “I want to know what happened to Dad. I’m sorry Mama, but I don’t know this man at all. And Dad…”
Candy sniffed at her tears.
“I cried every night for… for years for Mama and Daddy,” Candy said. “I want to know why… why?”
“He’s did it for money.” Holding his hand out to his wife, Steve said, “A murderer. No more, no less. Come on, Leslie. Let’s go.”
“You’re so like your father,” Anjelika’s husband said. “Run away. Go ahead.”
“Now listen,” Mike said. “We’ve had a tough time of it. There’s no reason for you to taunt Steve. Steve, Candy and Jill grew up without parents. Meg and I…”
“Yes, Mikhail, you’re correct,” Anjelika said.
Everyone stopped moving, breathing, when Anjelika spoke.
“I’m so sorry, Angel.” Her husband kissed her cheek. “I lost myself.”
“We must tell them the truth,” Anjelika said. “They are adults. They deserve to know everything.”
Anjelika’s eyes held her husband’s eyes. He gave her a curt nod. For not more than a split second, his eyes shifted to Jill. Jill flushed.
“What? What was that?” Mike jumped to his feet. “Why did you look at Jill? Leave Jill out of this.”
When Jill put her hand on Mike’s forearm, Mike looked down at his sister.
“Please sit down.” Jill said. Leaning around Mike, she said, “Please Steve. Please.”
Steve’s attention jerked to Jill. Seeing her distress, he flushed.
“I’m sorry Jake, I broke your china,” Steve said.
“Actually, it’s my china,” Valerie said. “And that’s all right. Let me get you another plate. Leslie? Tim? Jazmyne? Why don’t we work on dessert while they talk?”
Jacob leaned down to kiss Jill as he got up. He swept the mess of Steve’s dinner onto a tray and carried it into the kitchen.
“Wine?” Jill held up the bottle of wine.
Anjelika’s husband smiled at her. He said something in Russian to her mother. Anjelika chuckled.
“We don’t know what to call you,” Mike said. “And Papa doesn’t really work for us.”
“I’m called Perses,” he said. “Anjelika calls me Pyotr, when she’s angry. Most people call me Peter or Pete. I will answer to any of those names.”
Mike sat down then yanked Steve down into his chair.
“Why did you kill our father?” Mike asked.
“He was dying. I sped the process along,” Perses said. “Some might say it was quite the humanitarian gesture.”
“What?” Candy’s voice echoed over the others.
“Stuff it,” Mike said. “I’ll handle this.”
“You’re not the boss of me,” Steve said. “I say what I want.”
Candy giggled at Steve’s oft stated sentiment. Megan and Mike laughed. Jill joined in when Steve finally laughed. They stopped their tension-filled laughter when Mike cleared his throat.
“We don’t understand what you’re saying,” Mike said. “You killed our father.”
“He was not your father, Mikhail,” Perses said. “But, yes, I ended his life.”
“And
he was dying?”
“He had an injury to his neck,” Perses said. “Rather than let him bleed to death, I finished him. There would have been no way to save him, even if I’d wanted to.”
“Why wouldn’t you want to save him?” Megan asked.
Mike kicked her under the table. She glared at him.
“He stole my wife, my children. He beat my Anjelika, my children. I am sorry to stay this, Steven. I am. But your father was a cruel, abusive man who did terrible things to people I love.”
Perses and Steve’s eyes held across the table. Steve’s face clouded. He looked away.
“How was he injured?” Mike asked.
“He was injured in the middle of committing an unspeakable act of cruelty.”
“That doesn’t really answer the question,” Mike said. “What…?”
“I shot him,” Jill said.
CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT
Buster
Jill collapsed into herself as Candy, Megan, Steve and Mike began talking all at once. Candy jumped from her seat to hug Jill.
“We don’t have to talk about this,” Megan said. “Ever. It’s over. He’s dead. That is it.”
“I want to know!” Steve demanded. In a softer voice, he said, “I have to know.”
“Well Jill can’t tell you,” Candy said to Steve. “Grow up.”
“Children,” Anjelika said.
Steve started yelling at Candy. Candy yelled back at Steve. Megan and Mike tried to yell over Steve and Candy.
“CHILDREN!”
Stunned, they stopped arguing. They looked at their mother.
“SIT DOWN!”
Without hesitation, they returned to their seats.
“If you must know, you must hear the entire thing,” Anjelika said. “It is neither a pretty story nor a short one. And our dinner is getting cold. Your partners are waiting for you. Megan, why do you want Jillian to be silent?”
“I don’t want her to get in trouble or go to jail or…” Megan shook her head. “Jill would only hurt someone as a very last option. She must have had to shoot him.”
“Always the little mother,” Anjelika said.
“The only mother for the last fifteen years,” Megan said.
“Yes, you are correct,” Anjelika said. “I must apologize. We’ve been insensitive to your experience and struggle. You are each…”
Anjelika looked from face to face of her adult children.
“You are each such wonderful human beings. We overlook how hard the last years have been.”
“We’ve been a little in awe of each of you. That may be why our interactions have been brittle,” Perses said. “You are amazing people.”
“We must decide. Shall we finish our dinner or finish our story?” Anjelika asked. “You are adults. We must decide together.”
“I want to hear the whole story,” Mike said. “The whole thing.”
“I do, too,” Megan said. “I feel like I deserve that.”
Candy and Steve nodded.
“Tonight?” Perses said.
“No, I’d rather do it later when we have time,” Mike said. “Can you hold out Steve?”
Steve nodded.
“Then tomorrow? Meg and I are done with school at three o’clock. We can meet here?” Jill asked.
“Tomorrow at three will work for me,” Steve said. “Candy?”
“I’m done at the bakery by two,” Candy said.
“What about the children?” Anjelika asked.
“They can stay at the Marlowe school until six,” Jill said.
“Then it’s settled,” Perses said.
“Good,” Anjelika said. ”Shall we get your partners?”
“I’ll get them,” Jill said.
Jill went into the kitchen to find Valerie sitting on the kitchen counter entertaining everyone with stories about movie stars. The laughing group followed Jill back into the dining room.
She wasn’t sure what she expected to find. She was relieved to find everyone laughing at Perses’s story of being chased by a lion in South Africa. Even Steve was laughing at his description of climbing to the slimmest branches to get away.
Mike stood to hold the chair for Valerie then sat down. When there was a break in the conversation, he said:
“We have news,” Mike said. “Val’s pregnant.”
Everyone cheered. Anjelika got up to kiss Valerie’s cheek. She hugged Mike.
“We’re having twins,” Valerie said. “One girl, one boy.”
Perses made a toast to Leslie and Valerie’s babies. The group laughed their way through dinner and dessert. It wasn’t until the family left that Jacob asked:
“What are you going to do?”
“We don’t know,” Valerie said. “I was going to talk to Delphie but they left before we had a chance. Tell me Jake, what do you see for me? Am I going to die?”
“Some day,” Jacob laughed.
Valerie punched his shoulder.
“No, I don’t see you dying,” Jacob said. “Congratulations.”
~~~~~~~~
The next day
Tuesday morning – 11:15 A.M.
“Thanks for bringing the kids,” Teri, the special advocate said to Aden. “I know it’s hard to have them miss school. This was the only time Nuala was available.”
“Yes, I’m sure she has a full schedule.” Aden couldn’t keep the bitter sarcasm from his voice. “Incarceration is time consuming.”
“I understand how you feel,” Teri said. “Actually, she’s being moved to Canon City this afternoon. We wanted to catch her before you had to pay for her and her guards to travel from there. We could also have waited and done this there, but I thought this would be less challenging on the kids.”
Aden nodded.
“You can leave the kids. We’ll probably be a couple of hours,” the special advocate said. “We want to see them interact. I’ll call you when we’re done.”
Aden nodded. Going out into the waiting room, he held Nash and Noelle to him.
“I can’t stay here,” Aden said. “Not while you’re with your Mom.”
“Nuala is not our Mom,” Nash said.
“You know that, and I know that, but we have to let the courts figure that out,” Aden said. “I won’t be far away. You know how to get a hold of me if you need me. So does Teri.”
“It’s okay, Dad,” Noelle said. “The sooner we get this over with, the sooner Sandy can be our Mom.”
Aden smiled.
“Ice cream when we’re done?” Nash asked.
“You bet,” Aden said. “I realized we’re close to the Dumb Friend’s League here. I was thinking we might get a dog.”
“Yea!!” Noelle said.
“I’ll look while you have your appointment. We can go together when we’re done.”
Aden kissed both of their foreheads then ushered them into the room. Nash and Noelle would spend the next few hours interacting with their biological mother. If Teri thought they got along, Nuala would retain some custody. If they appeared to have no relationship with their mother, her parental rights would be permanently terminated.
Pulling the office door closed, Aden said a silent prayer that this would finally be over. He didn’t look up when Nuala passed with her prison guards. Instead, he kept his mind and heart focused on his future life.
A new dog would fit right in!
~~~~~~~~
Tuesday morning – 11:40 P.M.
“Sandy! It’s great to see you!” Sandy’s gynecologist said as she entered the room. “How did Christmas go for you this year?”
“A little crazier than usual.” Sandy stood to hug her doctor. “Since doing Valerie Lipson’s hair, everyone wanted her ‘look’. I was swamped. How was your party?”
“Thanks to you, I looked marvelous! My hair was perfect and you were right about the Claire Martins dress. It fit perfectly. No one had the same dress and everyone asked where I got it. Even Annabel Bowlen. That’s exactly what a girl needs!”
Sandy laughed.
“Your file says you missed your last depo shot,” the doctor said.
“I don’t think so.” Sandy searched her memory for when she had been in last. “I always make my appointments.”
“Yeah, it’s very unlike you,” the doctor said. Laughing, she said, “It’s probably an error.”
“I haven’t gotten my period,” Sandy said.
“I’m sure it’s just an error. We’re always on the girls to keep up with the files, but it gets out of control here sometimes,” the doctor said. “Looks like things are going well with Aden.”
The doctor took Sandy’s left hand to admire her engagement ring.
“Isn’t it gorgeous?” Sandy asked.
“Gorgeous. So is he! You’re quite a pair.”
“I hope we can be happy like you guys are,” Sandy said.
“Yeah, we’re pretty lucky,” her doctor said. “Ok, let’s get this done. I have to catch a baby in about ten minutes. I’ll do your Pap. Then we’ll have to do a pregnancy test. You know, to be sure. The nurses will give you the Depo. Does that work?”
“Sure,” Sandy said. “But I’m not pregnant.”
“Ok,” the doctor said. “Either way, I’m here for you. We’ll take it one step at a time.”
Lying back on the paper covered table, Sandy let the doctor do her work. Her mind was drifting when the doctor said,
“Okay, we’re all done. I’m off to catch a baby,” she said. Taking off her gloves, she said, “I’m invited to the wedding, right?”
“Of course,” Sandy said.
“See you in a bit,” the doctor said as she left the room.
Sandy was almost dressed before she realized what the doctor had said. Puzzled, she went out to talk to the nurse. The smiling nurse took her to get the test and took a vial of blood then led her back to the exam room. Grateful she wasn’t pressed for time, Sandy picked up a People magazine to read the latest about Valerie Lipson.
~~~~~~~~
Tuesday mid-day – 12:10 P.M.
Aden walked past row after row of dogs and cats. Overwhelmed by the sheer number of pets up for adoptions, he blew out a breath.
“Overwhelming, isn’t it?” the Dumb Friend’s League attendant asked.
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