Louise Ch. 15

He sat in the back and tried to be inconspicuous. He looked around the room surprised at the number and variety of people already there. There were people dressed in business suits to people dressed in shorts and tee shirts. What amazed him was that they intermingled so easily.

A woman in an Armani suit sat down next to a man who looked as if his face hadn't seen a razor in months. Gene listened in amazement as the woman warmly greeted the man by name and then asked if he wanted a cup of coffee.

"We're all battling the same enemy." Leon said as he watched Gene's reaction. "It's a fight that we can't win unless we support and help each other."

It wasn't long before the meeting started and the moderator was asking if there were any new comers. Leon stood up.

"My name is Leon and I am a drug addict. I know that this is an AA meeting, but I came to offer my support to any that need it."

"Welcome Leon." A chorus of voices said.

"Yes welcome." The moderator said. "Alcohol is a drug too is it not? Anyone else?"

Gene sat immobilized. His mouth was dry as he finally forced himself to stand. This would be the first time that he publically admitted that he had a drinking problem.

"Ummm hello, my name is Gene and I'm an alcoholic."

"Welcome Gene." The group said.

Gene sat down and looked around him. He thought that he would feel a sense of relief; but he didn't.

"You've just taken the first step." Leon whispered.

After the meeting, people stopped and greeted them. Gene soaked up the warmth and caring that he felt as he shook hands with members from the group. The moderator was the last one to talk to them.

"Do you have a sponsor yet?" he asked.

"No, but I'll find one as soon as I get back to Pittsburgh." Gene replied.

"Good, it's important to your recovery." he said. "Thanks for coming."

They walked back to the hotel and got into Leon's rental car. It was almost time to face Kevyn.

*********

Kevyn looked over at the clock and closed her eyes again. She wasn't sure that she wanted to hear what Gene had to tell her. She knew by the tone of his voice that it was bad, but she couldn't imagine what it could be.

She turned over to face Patrick who looked to be still asleep. She had a game that she liked to play when he was asleep. She liked to see how close to touching his face she could get before he caught her.

This time she didn't even get to lift her hand before it was in his.

"Damn." She swore laughing.

"I've been awake for as long as you've been." He said laughing as he pulled her so that she was flush against him. "I'm so ready to have you all to myself."

"I'm ready for that too and we still need to talk about school. I still want to go."

"I was hoping that you would. " Patrick replied. "You'll have to retake the anatomy and physiology class; but it can't be from me. It wouldn't look right."

"I know and I don't want you to make any suggestions either."

"I knew you'd say that." Patrick said, "I also know what you're going to say next." He said nuzzling her neck.

"Alright smart ass, what was I going to say?" Kevyn asked.

"You were going to tell me that you're going to use your maiden name." Patrick replied.

"How do you feel about that?" Kevyn asked.

"I have no problem with it." Patrick said. "In fact, I think that it's a good idea. You seem surprised."

"I am kind of." Kevyn replied.

"Why?" Patrick asked. "I know that you're my wife, you don't need to use my last name to prove it."

"I just don't want any special treatment because I'm married to you." Kevyn said.

"I Understand." Patrick replied. "Enough business, I think that we have time to...."

The phone rang before he could finish his sentence. He reached over Kevyn and answered the phone.

"Louise? Hi... Gene and Leon are supposed to be coming in about an hour... what's going on? I don't know, Gene wants to tell Kevyn something.... Now? Barb? What about her? Alright, we'll see you in a few minutes."

"What's going on?" Kevyn asked.

"I have no idea." Patrick said, "She only said that it had something to do with Barb."

"What now?" Kevyn muttered.

Less than five minutes later, Louise and Nathan were sitting in the kitchen with Kevyn and Patrick.

"So what's up?" Kevyn asked.

Louise told them about her short meeting with Barb.

"She's still angry with us but.... Kev, she's pregnant. I didn't say anything because she would have denied it and she would have wanted to know how I knew."

"Are you sure?" Kevyn asked.

"I'm sure and here's the kicker, I think that Thorne Blackwell is the father."

"Thorne?" Kevyn asked. "Oh shit!" she added when she understood the implications of the pregnancy

"Exactly." Louise said. "I know that Gene and Leon are coming over, but I wanted to let you know. As far as what we can do about it, at this point nothing. We have to wait for her to come to us."

"She won't do that." Kevyn said.

"No, she won't." Louise agreed. "I have a feeling that she's going to use the baby to get Thorne to marry her. But look, we'd better get going. Can you call me when you're done with Gene and Leon?"

*******

"Maybe this is a good thing." Kevyn said after Nathan and Louise were gone. "Maybe a baby will help Barb think about someone other than herself."

"Maybe so." Patrick said.

He could almost see the wheels turning and decided to put an end to any doubts before they took root.

"We will have a baby when the time is right." He told her. "And even if we don't, it changes nothing between us."

Kevyn sighed. "I know that. I'm just trying to figure out the logic of your fates. I mean, Lou is pregnant and that's great. She and Nathan will be great parents and that kid is going to be loved and cared for. On the other hand, there's Barb who's pregnant by a man who used her. Kids were never a part of her life's plan but yet, here she is pregnant. I don't get it."

"The fates are fickle creatures." He said kissing her temple. "Don't bother trying to understand them. You'll drive yourself crazy."

"I wish that I could talk to one of them." Kevyn said.

"What would you say to them?" Patrick asked.

"I would ask them why they made some of the stupid assed decisions that they made." Kevyn replied.

"They're here." Patrick said before Kevyn could elaborate on her answer. "But hold that thought. I want to hear what you would say to them."

*******

Gene sat in the car too afraid to move; but knowing that he had to. Leon sat in the driver's seat patiently waiting for Gene to indicate that he was ready to go in. There was nothing that he could say to make it any easier for him other than he had been in his position not that long ago.

"How did you do it?" Gene asked nervously.

"It wasn't easy." Leon replied. "There were a lot of false starts, mumbled apologies and tears. I think that the hardest part of it was going to mom and dad. Seeing the hurt and disappointment in their eyes was worse than being beaten; but we got through it just like you will."

Gene nodded and looked out of the window and at the house. He opened the car door acutely aware that he was sweating and that his hands were shaking. He stood by the car and waited for Leon. His heart pounded as they walked side by side to the front door of the house.

Kevyn answered the door and let them in.

"Are you hungry? Can I get you anything to drink?"

"I'll take a soda if you have one." Gene said.

"Sure... is cola alright?" she asked giving Gene a curious look.

"Any kind is ok." He replied nervously.

"Gene, are you alright? You look peaked."

"I've been better." Gene replied quietly. "Is Patrick here?"

"He's in his office. He thought that we might need to talk privately.Gene, what's going on?"

"Could you go get him? I want him to hear this too."

Kevyn looked at Leon who gave her a nod and a smile. When Kevyn left to get the drink and Patrick, Leon put a hand on Gene's shoulder.

"You're doing great." He murmured.

A few minutes later, Kevyn was back with Patrick. Gene looked away when Patrick looked at him. It started the way Leon it would. Several false starts later, he was confessing to everything.

"I for all practical purposes sold you to Clay Robinson. I was the one who told him when you were coming into town."

"Gene, why would you do that when you knew how I felt about him?" Kevyn asked.

"I.... it was for the money. When Dana left, she took everything... but the problems started before that. I was drinking on the sly, only Dana knew; but after a while she couldn't take it and she left.

I got to the point where I just didn't care anymore and started drinking even more. I had to do something to save my job so I went to Clay to ask him to invest with me. He agreed, but told me that I had to do something in return."

"You had to let him know when I was home." Kevyn murmured.

"Kev, I'm sorry... I thought that it was a onetime thing, but it wasn't. Every time I asked about the money he blew me off and asked me when you were coming home again. When he did give me money, it was such a small amount that it wasn't even worth writing up as a proposal. I tried to save the money so that I could make an investment but I always ended up using it for something else."

Kevyn hesitated and then spoke.

"Gene, I'm going to tell you why I left home the way I did and why I wanted nothing to do with Clay Robinson."

Gene and Leon sat with their mouths open as Kevyn told them about the night she saw Clay and his friends kill someone.

"I remember that!" Leon said. "You saw that? Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because I was afraid that he would come after you guys and I thought that he might kill me."

"I didn't know." Gene murmured. "He never said anything about that night."

Somehow, hearing about that night made the rest of what he had to tell her more difficult. He took a big gulp of the soda almost spilling it because his hands were shaking so hard.

"I need to tell you something else." Gene said and stole a glance at Patrick whose expression was unreadable.

"The night that Clay was killed, you were supposed to die. I..... I had a gun. Clay was going to make a huge investment if I killed you. I didn't want to do it; but I didn't see any way around it. I agonized over it and....."

"You were going to kill me at mom's repast dinner?" Kevyn asked shocked.

"No, I mean you know how superstitious Clay was about things happening at funerals. I went back and forth about which of you I would kill; but the choice was taken out of my hands."

Kevyn went into a quiet shock as she tried to digest what Gene had just told her. Her own brother had thought about killing her for money. For the thousandth time, Kevyn felt like they could all be on the panel of a bizarre television show.

She felt arms go around her as she began to shake in pain and anger. She shook them away as she stood up and glared at Gene.

"What in the fuck is wrong with you and Barb? Both of you want everything handed to you on a silver platter and are willing to do anything to get it including hurting your own family! This isn't how we were raised! You were supposed to help us; but you didn't. You fought me at every turn, you didn't.... and now you tell me that you traded me for Clay's money?"

Tears ran down Kevyn's face as she took another step toward Gene. Patrick moved to her side ready to intervene if things got out of control. He noticed that Leon had also moved, ready to jump in if necessary.

Gene sat on the sofa with his head bowed. His shoulders shook as he sobbed. There was nothing that Kevyn could say or that could make him feel any worse than he did.

"What's wrong with working for what you want?" she asked softly. "You knew who Patrick was, why didn't you contact him about investing instead of alienating him? You had options!"

"I know that now." Gene said, "I'm sorry! I don't know what else to say."

Gene then looked at Patrick fully expecting to see fury. What he saw was anger that was mixed with... respect and understanding.

"I owe you an apology too." Gene said to Patrick. "This one is a sincere one. I acted the way I did because you have and had what I wanted-money and power. I wanted it without having to work for it. I sold out my own sister because I wanted it so badly. I came here looking for a way to save my job and instead of being honest about it; I tried to use my sisters to get you to invest. I'm sorry for the disrespect that I showed to you and to them. Kev, I have a lot more to tell you. I told you the worst of it. Sometime, I would like to tell you the rest of it."

Kevyn barely heard what Gene was saying. She was trying to wrap her head around the fact that her brother had been involved with a drug dealer and a murderer, that he had valued money more than her life. She barely heard Leon and Gene leave.

"He was going to kill me." she whispered to herself.

Patrick put his arms around her and hugged her.

"Let's go sit in the Jacuzzi." He said and began to lead her away.

*********

Gene was shaking so hard that his teeth chattered. He was almost positive that he would be carried out in bits and pieces once Patrick heard what he had done. Kevyn, as he had expected was furious and hurt while Patrick had been angry; he hadn't been murderously so.

Gene had noticed how both Patrick and Leon were ready to intervene if necessary and realized that at that moment; Kevyn had been more dangerous than Patrick. He also realized that Leon was right about something, the pain, anger and disappointment on Kevyn's face was worse than being beaten.

The knowledge that that he had lost what little respect that Kevyn had for him compounded the pain. The knowledge that he had gained a little respect from Patrick did nothing to diminish the pain. It wasn't Patrick's respect that he wanted or needed. It was Kevyn's and the rest of his family's.

The drive back to the hotel was quiet with each man lost in his own thoughts. Leon didn't feel right about leaving Gene alone and made a decision. He would postpone his date with Nadine.

"Why don't we catch a movie or something?" Leon asked.

"What about your date?" Gene asked.

"I'll call her; she has stuff to do for school anyway." Leon replied.

"No, you go, I'll be okay." Gene replied.

"Ummm, no you won't." Leon replied. "You've had one hell of a day and it would be easy for you to convince yourself that one drink won't hurt anything. So what flick do you want to see?"

"Could we just talk?" Gene asked.

As Leon thought, Nadine understood.

"Gene is lucky to have you." She said. "Why don't you come to my house for lunch tomorrow?"

They set up a time for lunch and then hung up.

"I take back everything I said about her." Gene said. "She's good people."

Leon made a pot of coffee and called for sandwiches. It was going to be another long night.

*********

Hans packed up the cookies that he made for the children and put them by the door. He paced with excitement at the prospect of his new life. Unable to help himself, he called his sister to share the news.

He laughed when she squealed loud enough to make his ears ring.

"Now Gussie, I need you to keep this quiet until she accepts me.... yes, she's lovely and she has three lovely children... two girls and a boy... very well-mannered and intelligent... Juliette... no.... no. I suppose that I'll have to tell her if she asks.

I have more good news; Nadine has found her mate as well. Yes he is worthy of her... he is the brother of my mate. No don't call her, they haven't talked yet... Tonight I believe... yes.

A favor if you please... I will probably be going to Pittsburgh for a time. Could you please keep an eye on things here? Of course the house will be warded; but you never know. Thank you Gussie... Yes I will keep you informed."

Hans hung up, looked around the kitchen and left grabbing the boxes of cookies on his way out. At the last moment, he doubled the wards on the house telling himself that he needed to be extra careful now that he had found his family.

*******

Wanda, Victor and Celeste sat on the couch and waited for Juliette to come out of the bedroom.

"How many times is she going to change her clothes?" Victor groaned.

"I don't know." Wanda replied. "She just wants to look nice."

"She looked nice time before this." Victor retorted. "And we're only going out for pizza."

"What do you think?" Juliette asked coming out of the bedroom.

Wanda and victor looked at each other and laughed.

"What's so funny?" Juliette asked looking down at herself.

"That's the first outfit that you put on." Victor replied still laughing.

"No it isn't!" Juliette replied and then looked again. "I guess it is." She said sheepishly. "Maybe ...."

"NO!" Three voices cried out at once.

"Mom, you look nice." Wanda said.

Juliette took a deep breath and let it out. Her children had met other men that she dated but they had never gone out with them. She still had so many questions and little time to ask them. She hadn't believed Hans when he told her that he would move to Pittsburgh if he had to.

When the tap on the door came, Victor was off the couch like a shot.

"Mr. Hans!" he shouted excitedly.

"Hello Victor, how are you?" Hans asked.

"I'm fine. Thank you for taking us out for pizza."

"You are very welcome. I have a little gift for each of you." Hans said handing Victor the box wrapped in paper covered with airplanes. "You must ask your mother before you eat one, understood?"

"Yes sir." Victor replied as he ripped the paper from the package. "Peanut butter cookies! Thanks!!"

Hans handed Wanda hers next. Her box was wrapped in paper covered with microscopes.

"Chocolate chip! Thank you Mr. Hans and I promise to ask before I eat one."

For celeste, Hans knelt down.

"Come Celeste, I have a gift for you too."

Celeste made her way to Hans and looked at him.

"Thank you." she said as she shyly took the box which was wrapped in paper covered with paints and crayons. Unlike her siblings, she took her time in opening the package taking care not to rip the paper. A big smile spread across her face as she looked at the box filled with sugar cookies of every color with pink being the predominant color.

"You're welcome." Hans said to all of them.

Juliette stood back and watched as Hans gave each child their package. She saw the same gentleness that Angel always showed them when he was around and like Angel; she knew that Hans would keep their children .....

She broke off the thought before it could be completed. It was much too soon to be thinking in terms of "our". She was actually rethinking the whole going out with the children thing, but when she saw the way that Celeste was smiling at Hans and how excited all of the children were to see him; she couldn't back out.

The pizza place had all kinds of games that could be played for tickets that could be exchanged for prizes. Hans took Celeste under his wing and played 'skee ball' with her padding her tickets enough that she could pick out a stuffed animal.

"Which one would you like?" he asked her.

"The pink one." She whispered.

Victor won enough tickets to get a poster with the picture of an Air Force fighter plane and Wanda won enough to get a small stuffed animal which she gave to Celeste.

Juliette sat back and watched Hans as he went from child to child only bringing one of the girls back to her when they had to use the restroom. She was also keenly aware of all the attention that Hans was generating.

"Damn!" she heard one woman mutter when Hans passed by.

What impressed her was that Hans didn't seem to notice. If he was spoken to; he politely responded but didn't engage in conversation.

Finally, it was time to go. All three children were full and sleepy. In fact, Celeste was already half asleep.