Price of Past Miracles Ch. 01

Charles frowned and looked down as his daughter's eyes widened in shock. Tom continued, "He didn't mean to kill him Meggie... it just happened so fast that he could only react on gut instinct. And I think Williams would rather have been killed than to end up in prison any way. He confessed to me before he died that he'd never meant to hurt Yakira... he knew she loved me and that the baby she was carrying when she died was mine. His last words were that he loved her..."

Tom looked at his son. "Bradley Williams was a great man for many years... he just couldn't handle the horrors that we faced during the war and the fact that the only woman he'd ever loved didn't love him back. That's why I gave you his name, Brad, to honor the good man that he was before..." Brad smiled sadly and nodded his head as though he understood.

Then Tom chuckled. "Your Aunt Lisa was shocked to learn that your Uncle Bob had been an undercover agent for the CIA the whole time. She was afraid that she'd let herself fall in love with a guy who was just as bad as her father and Donald Price! She begged Bob to take her away that night... they'd never been together, and Bob had looked desperate when he told her they'd have to wait until after being debriefed. Charles felt sorry for them and told them to disappear for a while and to come back and give their statements when they were ready!"

Megan busted out laughing. "My God, Dad! You really like to play matchmaker, don't you? First Uncle Tom and Aunt Lynda and then Uncle Bob and Aunt Lisa! Maybe I should've told you how I felt about Brad a long time ago so you could've helped me get his attention sooner!"

Charles frowned sadly. "Megan, sweetie... I, too, wish you had told me about you're feelings for Brad. It would've been a lot easier to help you then... But now..." He swallowed the lump that kept trying to form in his throat. "I didn't play matchmaker for Uncle Bob and Aunt Lisa... they were already in love. I just couldn't stand the thought that two soul mates had been kept apart due to twisted circumstances beyond their control, so I gave them a break..."

And from what Lisa told Diana and Lynda years later about that night, she was eternally grateful to Charles for that... His mind drifted and filled in the details of what had happened between Bob and Lisa from what Diana had described to him during a really hot lovemaking session one night...

Bob was almost old enough to be Lisa's father and they had built a vivid fantasy about her being "Daddy's little girl!" Then he frowned and shook his head.It's OK to fantasize about an incestuous relationship... but not to play it out for real...

Tom looked at Brad and Megan as he continued the story about how everyone had realized that they had been destined to meet through strange coincidences and that they had all let go of perceived past hurts and how their group of friends was expanding. It was during that time that Diana had learned she was pregnant and how elated everyone had been for them and how Rick had introduced everyone to his partner Larry Wilson and his new wife, Maria, just before Lily was born.

Brad got up to pace in front of the couch again. "OK... so you discovered that some good guys had gone bad, some guy who'd been a bastard in the past to Aunt Dee was actually a good guy and now he's married to the second ex-wife of the bastard who was first married to my Mom and you're all friends now! The arrests didn't go down as smoothly as you would've liked, but the arms smuggling ring was shut down and the bad guys ended up in prison or dead... justice was served. The end. Like Meggie said earlier... this was a very interesting, but twisted, story... but what does it have to do with us?"

Tom sighed. "You kids have always known what close friends we've been through the years. What we were trying to make you understand from this story is that Charles and I felt an instant connection when we met... we've always instinctively trusted each other. That's why we've always made such a good team. And your mothers were friends for years before we met them... they've always been as close as sisters.

"There's nothing we wouldn't do for each other... and we made some pretty big sacrifices in years past in the name of love and friendship so that we could all be happy. Especially when it came to you children. It all started on New Year's Eve 1956... And as soon as we refresh our drinks again, we'll finish explaining," Tom said as he stood to move to the bar.

Brad and Megan groaned in frustration.

The adults were all thinking the same thing.We can't tell the kids everything, only what they need to know... But we sure shared some really wild times that night...

Memories of that night flooded their minds as the adults fixed themselves very stiff drinks...