by Linda Ellen
“Forgive you?!” the miserable young man yelled incredulously, both hands grasping his head as if he couldn’t believe what his father had said.
Instantly, his brothers were on their feet and rounding the couches to get to him from both sides.
“Hey hey, hold on, now,” Gene admonished, reaching out with one hand to firmly grip his brother’s shoulder. Steve reached Gareth at the same time, clamping a hand gently on the back of his neck. “It’s okay, Gar’. Don’t be so hard on the old man…”
The three stood there together, and it was astoundingly obvious to the girls, as well as Mr. Tucker, that they were already bonding. Viv watched with tears dripping down her cheeks. It was as if the years were melting away as the triplets communicated with one another in short pieces of sentences and soft words, cajoling and comforting, until Gareth calmed down and perceived his siblings, each in turn. His eyes were pools of sky blue, matching those of his brothers. So familiar, and yet the sensation was so new.
Viv could barely see through her tears now as she and Mary June stood huddled together, their arms around one another, watching the amazing spectacle unfold right before their eyes. Vivian knew she had never seen anything so touching in her life. She looked over at Mr. Tucker, not surprised to see tears slowly streaming down his face, his lips trembling as he watched the wonder of their connection.
“I used to dream of you…” Gareth whispered to his brothers as he sniffed back tears, seemingly embarrassed by his outburst now. “I thought of you as my pretend playmates. Probably sounds lame, but sometimes I would talk to you, and try to imagine what you would say in return. I’d picture having brothers to do things with, climb trees, stomp through mud puddles…but in my mind, their faces looked like mine…” he paused and let out a shaky snort as his newfound brothers showed how fully they understood, and their audience somehow knew they had each experienced the same thing. “I never told anybody. I knew they’d think I was crazy. Sometimes I wondered that myself…”
Gene’s eyes as well as Steve’s had grown misty, and neither one could seem to find their voices to reply, the emotion was far too overwhelming.
For the first time since they had been separated at birth, the brothers grasped one another in a fierce hug.
Then, they broke down and wept for the lost years they had been forced to spend apart.
CHAPTER 18
Ninety minutes later, after dining on a scrumptious meal delivered by room service, the six sat digesting the food and the information.
Gene was immensely relieved that Gareth, or “Gary” as he insisted his brothers call him, had calmed down and reconciled with his father. Now, the three searched their hearts for questions.
Steve glanced at his brothers, and then at Mr. Tucker. “Sir? What was our mother’s name?”
The old man smiled. Turning towards Viv, he cleared his throat. “Her name was Vivian, and she was as sweet and beautiful as this young lady.”
Viv gasped and Gene turned to her with startled eyes, reaching for her hand. However, he wasn’t surprised that he had fallen in love with a woman by the same name as the one he had never known, but had brought him into this world. Viv was such a huge part of his life now. To him, that made perfect sense.
“And…our father?” he asked when he turned back to Mr. Tucker.
“Your father’s name was Charles Arville Tabor. He was born in Texas and was called up to serve in the Great War. He was twenty-nine when he was killed,” Mr. Tucker responded. “I only saw him a handful of times. Vivian had been with us for several years as a single woman. She met and married him in a whirlwind, I even gave her away at their wedding,” he remembered with a sweet chuckle. “They had one week of honeymoon together, and he shipped out the following week. He was killed in the first battle in which he fought, and she found out a month before her babies…before you three, were born. As far as I could ever find out, he had no living relatives – and neither did she.”
Gene and his brothers were nodding as they absorbed this, repeating their father’s name in their minds and trying to imagine him. “And by the way, you inherited your looks from him. He was tall with dark hair and blue eyes. I remember hearing your mother talking about his ‘sky blue eyes’ and how they had completely swept her off her feet from the first moment they met.” The guys checked each other like reflections in a mirror, laughing as Mr. Tucker added, “I wish I had photographs of your parents to show you, but your mother never had any made of herself, and she didn’t have one of your father. Not even of their wedding. I’m sorry.”
Though sobering news, Gene was able to take comfort in the fact that something of their father survived in him and his siblings. They gave each other the once over again, identical smirks on their faces as Vivian leaned to bat her eyes at Gene and coo, “I can totally understand and sympathize with your mother. Those eyes of yours are what hooked me, too.” Everyone laughed as Gene leaned close and playfully wiggled his eyebrows at her like a philandering Lothario.
Steve then sat back and eyed this man who had played such a huge role in all of their lives, either directly or indirectly. Picking up his glass of wine, which Mr. Tucker had ordered along with their meal, Steve swirled the liquid around and took a sip before casually asking, “What line of work are you in, Mr. Tucker?”
Senior and Junior glanced at one another and Gary grinned at his brother. Wiping his mouth on his napkin, he offered, “Father owns Tucker Manufacturing in Dallas. We, well, the company, manufactures machines for various mining industries, and now that the war is on, we landed a government contract and have begun producing parts for diesel motors, such as fuel pumps and injectors, among many other things. We…” he waited as he noticed Gene beginning to stifle his mirth.
Viv knew why he had found that amusing, but the others looked at him oddly, and he waved an apology. “I’m not laughing at that. Remind me sometime to tell you about the rather involved plot I helped uncover regarding a certain pain in the neck and boxes of used injectors masquerading as new.”
Gareth Senior and Junior could only stare quizzically at one another, the older man with a raised eyebrow.
“I’m sorry,” Gene apologized. “You were saying?”
“Oh, well, just that we came in on the train last week to secure a deal to open a plant here in Louisville, and I’m to be the overseer.”
“That’s great, Gary,” Gene praised as Steve echoed the sentiment.
“Gareth earned degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Business Administration at Texas A&M,” his father bragged, obviously proud.
“But Mr. Tucker…didn’t you say you owned one of the oil wells in Texas?” Mary June asked.
“That I did, young lady,” the older gentleman replied, smiling at the girl. “But when Gareth…Gary, was ten, I found myself tired of the dog-eat-dog competitiveness of oil rigging. I sold my half of the business to my partner and with part of that money I started Tucker Manufacturing. I’ve been much happier since.”
“Do you still live in Texas?” Viv queried.
“Yes, I do, although I was born and raised in New York. My dear wife…God rest her soul…was from Massachusetts. I met her on holiday when I was a young man and she, very quickly, hooked me,” he added light-heartedly at his play on Vivian’s earlier comment. Everyone laughed with him.
A half hour had passed and the girls were sitting together, watching the triplets interacting, laughing and teasing as if they had grown up with one another. Turning to Mary June with an unspoken question, to which her friend nodded, Viv cleared her throat.
“Gene…”
He immediately swung around and crossed to her, sitting down and taking her hand. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I’m afraid I’ve been ignoring you. It’s just that…”
She interrupted, placing a gentle hand up to his cheek. “I understand, there’s no reason to apologize. I just wanted to ask if you could take Mary June and me home now…”
He nodded, “Of course!”
The
girls gathered their wraps and bid the brothers goodbye, and then turned to Mr. Tucker.
“Thank you for the lovely dinner, Mr. Tucker. I hope we shall see each other again,” Viv politely acknowledged.
The elder gentleman took Viv’s hand and raised it to his lips. “The pleasure was all mine, young lady. And may I say…” he paused and cast a side glance at Gene, “That this young man had better not let you get away, or I just might give him a run for his money!” Everyone burst into happy laughter and Viv blushed at his compliment, knowing he was playfully teasing.
He kissed Mary June’s hand, as well, and cast a look at Steve, who stood to the side, watching. “The same goes for you, young lady.”
Mary June’s face heated up and she flashed a quick gander at Steve before she said her goodbyes.
Gary gave his farewells and made assurances that they would definitely be seeing them again soon, and then Gene escorted the girls out into the hall.
When the door to the suite closed behind them, Mary June let out her breath in a huff, fluffing the hair on her forehead.
“Wow, what a night this has been!” she exclaimed in a whisper-shout. “It was such a coincidence – if I hadn’t been in on this myself, I’d never have believed how it all came about!” She shook her head in wonder. “Three of you so identical it’s impossible to tell you apart…and you never even knew about each other until fate decided to step in and shake things up a bit.”
Viv immediately slid her arm through Gene’s and gazed up at him. “Oh, they’re identical, all right…but I wouldn’t say it’s impossible to tell them apart. I bet I could pick you out first time under any circumstances.”
“Just for fun sometime, we might just put you to the test,” Gene chuckled, his dimples pronounced and his eyes sparkling with happiness. Viv thought for a moment that he’d never seemed happier…it was as if he felt…well…whole. Yes, that’s it. He probably feels whole, now, for the first time in his life. What a wonderful thing.
Out loud, with a grin, she remarked as they moved on down the hall, “I have a feeling that this whole evening was more than just incredible coincidence. I think it was arranged by an ‘Invisible Force’.”
The others murmured, “Me, too.”
“And I’m so very glad that Mr. Tucker told all of you the truth tonight,” she added. “He could have just hurried Gary on or found an excuse to turn around, and not acknowledge you…”
“And I’m glad that Gary forgave him…for a while there, I was starting to wonder,” the other girl added.
“Gary’s been through a lot,” Gene immediately took up for his sibling. “You know…of all of us, I think he had the hardest time of it growing up – in spite of their money. Steve grew up on the streets for the most part, so he learned to be tough, plus he had lots of friends. I had the best situation, because I had two parents who were great role models, plus four brothers and sisters to play with, get in trouble with, confide in…but, Gary missed out on all that. I was never alone from the time Jack was born, and that was before I was two.” He paused, his expression reflecting his affection for his natural brothers. “I feel a bit sorry for Gary…”
Mary June took Gene’s other arm as they left the building and walked down the street to his Ford. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about him. If he’s anything like you and Steve – and I’m betting he is – he’ll be just fine. He has you two now, and that will never change.”
Gene smiled as he mused over her words and nodded. “That’s true. Like you said – what a night this has been!”
Once they dropped Mary June off at her house, Gene drove slowly, wishing to prolong his time with Viv before they reached her home.
“I’m so glad you’ve found your brothers, Gene – and I’m still in awe that God had a hand in this and worked everything out to get you back together. It’s almost a miracle the way it all happened.”
“Yes, I thought so, too. Starting with the incident that almost tore us apart,” he reminded her with a grimace, referring to her bumping into Steve and thinking it was he. Then, thinking of what she had said earlier about telling them apart, he couldn’t resist kidding her, “Hmm, what was that about how you could tell us apart under any circumstances?”
She pressed her lips together and batted at his arm. “Oh you. That was before I knew about Steve and Gary. I wasn’t expecting you to have duplicates!”
They laughed together at that, although Viv scooted a bit closer to his side as she remembered that awful night and how she had made up her mind to never see him again. Turning to look at his profile in the moonlight streaming through the windshield, she sighed softly. “I’m so glad you came back Sunday and tried again – and made me listen. I…I’m still a bit ashamed of how I acted about it all…and how my father yelled at you…”
He glanced from the road to her face and sent her a grin and a wink. “No, I totally understand why you both reacted like you did. The way you’d been treated before, you were gun shy. And you’re the apple of your father’s eye and he was defending you. Makes perfect sense.”
Viv smiled and leaned her head against his shoulder with another soft sigh. “Did I tell you lately how wonderful I think you are?”
“Hmm,” he hummed and tightened his arm around her. “No, but I’m willing to listen if you’d care to expound.”
Viv giggled at that. “No, you might let all that praise go to your head. That would be awful!”
Snuggled close, they couldn’t help but feel overflowing with joyfulness.
Minutes later, Gene pulled up in front of Viv’s house and switched off the motor.
Swiveling to her, he drew her into his arms for a thorough and quite stimulating kiss. She melted into his embrace like always, wishing they’d never have to part, and loving the feel of his smooth, warm lips exploring hers.
When they finally pulled back, both breathless, Gene touched his forehead to hers as he dialed himself down.
“I love you so much, Vivian Powell,” he whispered.
“And I love you, First Sergeant Eugene Banks. Very, very much,” she answered with a contented exhale.
“I have something to ask you…” he stilled and Viv’s heart kicked into overdrive. “Right now, I’m going back to spend time with my brothers…but I want you to go with me on a very important outing tomorrow, so don’t make any plans that don’t include me, hmm?”
She grinned up at him, their eyes inches away from each other’s.
“Yes, sir, Sergeant.”
Chuckling again, Gene gave her one more long, scintillatingly wonderful kiss, and then walked her up to her door.
Touching her lips with his one more gentle time, he gave her a playful salute, whispering, “See you tomorrow, my sweet Vivian,” and turned to go back to his car.
She watched him back the Ford out and drive on, and then closed the door, resting back against it with a hopeful sigh.
I hope that outing tomorrow is for the purpose I think it is…
With a delicious shiver, she wrapped her hands over her arms and made her way to her room.
Gene drove back down to The Brown and spent several more hours in the company of his brothers and Mr. Tucker.
As one would expect, none of them wanted to go their separate ways now that they’d finally become aware of one another. Twenty-five years was a lot of ground to cover, and the triplets wanted to share everything that had ever happened in their lives. At one point, Mr. Tucker laughed and pointed out that they would have the rest of their lives, God willing, to catch up. It didn’t need to be completed in one night.
Around midnight, Mr. Tucker – or Dad Tucker, as he’d told Gene and Steve they could call him – yawned and announced that he was going to bed. Indeed, it had been an emotionally taxing evening for him as well.
As he stood up to take his leave, the brothers stood as a unit, and as one, embraced the older man. Stepping back, each wore identical silly grins on their faces. It seemed the more time they spent together, the more alike
they became.
Gareth Senior took one last glimpse at all three, standing together shoulder to shoulder – his Gareth in the center – and his eyes misted.
“Boys…I’m so profoundly ashamed that I separated you twenty-five years ago…” When three mouths opened to argue his comment, he held up a hand and shook his head. “I know…I thank you for forgiving me. But…” he halted and then laid one hand on Gene’s shoulder and the other on Steve’s.
“I want to make amends, and I want you boys to believe me…my door will always be open to you. If you ever need something and I can help, please allow me. I want to be involved in your lives from now on…if you’ll have me. You’ll make an old man’s burden feel a bit lighter if you do.”
Steve and Gene exchanged a quick brotherly meeting of eyes and Gene spoke for them both. “Dad Tucker, we would be honored to have you in our lives. You are our honorary dad from now on. And…I thank God for you.”
The old man clamped his lips, trying to keep them from trembling. He cleared his throat and met their eyes once more. “Boys, none of us knows how long this war will last or what is going to happen, but…once it’s over, and if you don’t decide to make the army your careers, you’ll always have places at Tucker Manufacturing. You’ll never be in want, as long as I have anything to say about it.” He smiled then, and added with gentle humor. “But, from what I already know of you – you probably won’t even need my help.”
He bid them goodnight and the triplets watched him walk to the door of his room and close it behind him.
They turned to one another and with wide grins, slapped each other on the back.
“Well, brothers, should we call it a night?” Gary asked.
Steve let out a guffaw and called his brother a few risqué names.
The three of them burst out in laughter and with that, they continued their chat. They still had quite a few years to cover.
The next day, Gene, once again late to church, waited in his car for the service to let out. I’ve got to get myself back in the church habit. He and his brothers had stayed up most of the night and had fallen asleep sometime before dawn.