Caleb 59 - Family

As soon as I got out of my truck, she came and dragged me into the house and into the living room, pointing at her laptop which was sitting on the coffee table. I looked at it but the screensaver had activated and all I could see was a picture of a lake and some trees.

"That's pretty," I said.

She looked puzzled and then looked at the screen seeing what had happened. She scowled at me before unlocking the device and showed me what it was she wanted me to look at.

She'd taken all four of her exams for her GED and had gotten her results back only ten minutes before I'd arrived home. She'd passed them all with a score of 180 or more on each section.

I threw my arms around her hugging her to me. "Congratulations," I said. "I knew that you could do it."

"I would never have been able to without your help," she said.

"Of course you would," I assured her. "You're an extremely intelligent young lady, even with your amulet in place. Imagine what you can do when you get full access to your metal capacity. Think what you could achieve."

"But without you giving me all the memories of your's and the girls' schooling," she said, "and then sorting my mind out so that I could remember it, I'd never have done all this in just a couple of weeks. I crammed years of study into two weeks. I would never have been able to do that."

"Maybe not in quite so short a time," I said, "but you would have done it. Have you any idea what you want to do next?"

She nodded. "I want to be a doctor," she said. I looked at her wide eyed.

"Wow!" I said. "Talk about setting the bar high. Way to go."

"I've been looking at the PSU catalog, and they have a pre-med major. I could do that and then go to med school. I just need to look at how much it..."

"Don't even think about it," I assured her. "John gave you enough to get you through college. I'm going to talk to Dean about investing money in his business. By the time you've graduated PSU, I promise there will be money available for you to go to medical school - wherever you decide to go."

She looked up at me, her eyes bright.

"I don't know what I did to deserve you," she said. "But whatever it was, I'm glad I did it."

I gathered her into my arms again and held her to me. "You deserve everything good that happens to you," I said.

Just then the door opened and the girls arrived home. Melanie wasted no time in showing the girls her results and they too were impressed and lavished her with praise.

Later I was in the kitchen, making dinner, when Jules came in.

"You see that Pricktard has a camera pointed directly at our house?" she said.

I nodded.

"Can't we do something about that?" she asked.

"I don't think so," I said. "It's his right to film anything he can see from his property. I could claim that the camera itself is a harassment, since it's so blatantly pointed at our house, but I'm not going to waste any time on it.

"I have some other ideas." I grinned at her, and she grinned back at me.

The next morning, when I got up to train, I scanned the local area. I wasn't looking for people, rather I was looking for wildlife, and I found it for almost immediately. Just down the block there was a squirrel just waking with the dawn. Other than the dancing cow, I'd never tried compelling an animal before, but I went about it in the same way as I would a human. The effects were, predictably, just as potent.

In less than ten minutes, the squirrel had chewed through all the wires to all three cameras placed on Pricktard's house. The voltages were so low that the animal was never in any danger of electrocution. With the cameras taken care of, I once again pulled the valves and the drain plug from his car, allowing the air to escape from his tires and all of his engine oil to drain out onto his previously pristine drive.

I went out onto the back deck to train.

It was just past seven when there was a hammering on my front door. I looked through the window and found Tom Pritchard on my porch.

I dialled 911 immediately.

"911, what's your emergency..." the operator answered the call.

I told her about Pritchard being on my front porch, that I had a restraining order against him, and that there were several young women in the house who were now in severe distress from having a deranged neighbour hammering on the door. I also told the operator that I was armed and that, should he actually break through the door as he appeared to be trying, I would not hesitate to use lethal force in defence of my property and those inside.

I heard the sirens less than five minutes later.

Pritchard was taken into custody once again. His claims that I'd tampered with his cameras, and once more vandalized his car, were investigated, but the officer who looked at the cameras could see clearly that some animal had chewed through the camera cables.

After they loaded Pritchard into their car, one of the officers knocked on my door.

"Good morning," I said smiling at the officer.

"Good morning," he said. "Mr. Pritchard is claiming that you vandalized his car. He says that you have done so on several occasions."

I shrugged at him. "I don't know what to tell you," I said. "This is the first time I've opened this door today. I have footage from my security system that can prove that neither I nor anyone else has been out of the house today. He just had a new security system installed. Surely that will show whoever did it. One of the cameras is pointing directly at my house after all."

The officer looked across the street and nodded. "It certainly appears that way," he said. "I'm going to note that in my report. He seems to have a real problem with you. I'm not even going to bother asking to see your footage. But I would suggest that you ensure it's not deleted. I suspect it will be needed as evidence."

I nodded. "Thanks," I said. "I'll make sure we keep a copy."

He nodded and went back to his car where his partner was waiting. They drove off.

"How long are you going to keep tormenting him?" asked Mary.

"Until he stops harassing us," I said. "We can't have a camera pointed directly at our property. If he were to capture something on camera, through one of the windows, it could cause us all kinds of issues."

She sighed. "It was funny at first," she said. "But now it's starting to feel much less so. Can't you just Compel him to leave us alone?"

"Ask Dianna that question," I said. "If she says okay then that's what I'll do. But I doubt that she will."

Mary sighed. "It's just starting to seem so vindictive," she said. "Can't we just..."

I shrugged. "I'll leave him alone from here on," I said. "As long as he affords us the same courtesy."

She nodded. "I somehow doubt that this particular dick measuring contest is over," she said sadly.

The rest of Thursday passed uneventfully. Pricktard apparently spent the night in jail and was released the next day on bail. One of the bail conditions was that he didn't so much as look in our direction. The judge also directed him to point his security cameras away from our house. He considered that having a camera directly pointed at our dwelling, in light of the previous harassment, constituted further harassment and was in breach of the restraining order.

I got a really nice surprise on Friday afternoon. When I got home, I found Cheryl and Dean at the house. Dean grinned at my look of astonishment as I walked through the door and found them there.

"Well," he said, "it's nice to know we can still surprise you."

"Jules said she was going to ask you," I said, but she didn't say you were coming in today."

"We thought it would be easier than everyone arriving tomorrow," said Cheryl. "Your contractor let us in." I wondered where Melanie was.

Marcia came into the room looking a little nervous.

"Jules told me that her parents were coming today," she said, "and asked me to let them in. I hope that's okay?"

"Of course," I said. "Where's Melanie?"

"She said she had an errand to run," said Marcia. "She's been gone all afternoon. Would you like to come and look at your new ensuites now they're finished?"

I grinned at her. "Perfect," I said. We all trooped into the bedrooms and examined the two new bathrooms.

Marcia had done a great job and they were perfect.

"Don't use the showers for 24 hours," she said. "The grout needs time to dry. If you can stay out of here until this time tomorrow altogether it would be best."

I nodded. "We can do that," I said, and then turned to Dean. "I was going to put you and Cheryl in here. But you'll need to use the family bathroom if that's okay."

Dean sighed theatrically. "If we must..." he said and then grinned at me.

I shook my head and we went into the kitchen. I started to make coffee.

"How long have you been here?" I asked.

"Just about half an hour," said Cheryl. "We've just been chilling on the back deck."

"Where's Gerry?" I asked.

"He's staying in the city," Dean said. "He's going to look up some old friends."

I heard the front door open and looked around to see Melanie entering. She had a huge grin plastered on her face as she entered, but that faltered a little when she saw the strangers in the kitchen with me.

I smiled at her.

"Melanie," I said. "I want you to meet my other parents, Dean and Cheryl, Jules and Ness' mom and dad."

They both turned to her. She stood, a little nervously but Cheryl went to her and pulled her into a warm embrace.

"Jules and Ness have told us all about you," she said. "I have been really looking forward to meeting our newest daughter."

I saw tears drip from Melanie's eyes as she returned the hug.

+++++

The rest of the girls arrived home and were happy to see Dean and Cheryl. Melanie eventually got around to telling us where she'd been for the afternoon; I was surprised to find that she'd actually been to the admissions office at PSU to discuss her joining the Pre-Med program.

Initially they had been reluctant to entertain her request to join so far into the semester but, once she offered to pay all her fees up front and showed them her GED report, she finally managed to convince them. She was due to start on Monday. At some point over the weekend she'd have to go get some textbooks. I suggested that she pay a visit to Briar's books in the morning before the rest of the family arrived.

After dinner, Dean and I sat out on the back deck as was our habit.

"I needed to talk to you about the money," I said. He nodded but said nothing.

"I decided I wanted to invest about four and a half million," I informed him.

"And the rest?" he asked. "Is there something that you are keeping the other half million for?"

I explained to him that I had offered to pay for Sarah to attend PSU, and that I'd also told Melanie that I'd finance her through med school if she ended up going.

"Then your best bet," he said, "is to invest the full total. You'll get a better return on it than in your bank, and you don't need the money for Melanie straight away. With regard to Sarah, you can pay her fees semester by semester and give her an allowance. I would be happy to organize it all for you if you want. I'm kind of used to it with the girls, and my accountant will be able to deal with it without issue. The last thing you need is to have something else to worry about.

I looked at him gratefully. "Will the interest cover it?" I asked. "I thought I'd have to use some of the principle."

"In the short term," he said, "probably not. But it will even out over time. There's enough money around to take up the slack."

"I don't..." I started and he held his hand up.

"Caleb," he said, and then looked thoughtful for a moment as if deciding whether to tell me something or not, but then he sighed.

"Just over a year ago," he said, "we got a call from the counsellor at PSU. She told us that Jules had tried to commit suicide and that her life had been saved by another student. She said that there were others there but she'd spoken to Jules and that, in her opinion, the only reason that Jules had stepped down rather than jumping was because of one boy. Jules is my baby. She was my first born, and I know you know how much I, we, love her. Her loss would have devastated me and would have destroyed my family.

"That night, I opened a bank account and put a sum of money into it. It was going to be a thank you to the person who'd saved my baby, who'd saved my family. Then I met you. I realised that you were not the kind of man who would take money for what you considered to be something that anyone in your situation would have done, even though that, in itself, wasn't true.

"Then that same boy saved the life of one of my employees' children thus saving me a lot of money and grief in the process. So, I added to that account, another 'thank you'. I figured that at some point in the future you would need some money, and that money would be there for you when you did. The cost of the house, and its upkeep, is actually coming out of that account. In reality, I'm not paying your expenses, you are. It's money I'd already given you.

"Then Ness went and got herself in strife and you saved her, damn near killing yourself in the process. Again I wanted to show my gratitude - so I added to the account."

"But I didn't..." I began but he interrupted me again.

"I know," he said. "And if you'd asked me for money that first time we met, or I'd thought you'd have accepted it, then I guess things would be very different between us. But you never did. You never asked for a red cent and that is why I never begrudged a single cent I spent. I would never begrudge spending money on my girls, on my family, and you, now, are my family. All four of you, sorry five now, and possibly more, are my family.

"If Melanie needs money for school, for med school, to set up her own practice, it's there for her. If either of the other two need money, then let's talk. There is plenty of money around and, even without the money Nana Babi gave you, there's a good chunk of it with your name on it. Not to mention that both Jules and Ness have their own accounts.

"I know you're not the kind of man to sit back and rely on the generosity of others. I've watched you work your ass off for the last year, juggling school, the FBI, your hypnotherapy business, none of which you needed to do. Not to mention all the extra curricular activities that you seem to get up to. I'm surprised there are enough hours in the day. I remember that first day, thinking that my telling you we got up at five in the morning would put you off helping on the farm, and then finding out that you're up at four every morning in any case to train. And then you came out with me and, once again, worked your ass off even before you figured out about using your powers.

"All I'm saying," he finished, "is that you need never worry about money. As long as you aren't planning on buying a superyacht or a 747, there will be money available for anything you need."

I gazed at Dean for a long moment, bereft of words.

Once more we were interrupted by the emergence of the girls from within the house. Our 'man time' was over and they came out to join us on the deck. It only occurred to me then that Josh had never once come out with us onto the deck and I briefly wondered about that.

The rest of the evening passed in comfortable conversation with all of us taking advantage of the new seating out on the deck. I smiled to myself as the gloryhole opened but ignored it. I heard it close shortly after and I felt a twinge of disappointment from the other side of the fence. It had been some time since we'd played with them. I made a mental note to rectify that situation soon.

The next morning, though, I decided to go for a run.

I'd not slept particularly well the night before. There was a lot going on today. I would be introducing my half siblings to each other, and the two of them to my family. I was grateful for Dean and Cheryl flying in to support us. I felt that them being there might smooth the way with Sarah's parents.

The other thing I was going to be doing was removing two, or even three amulets. Melanie's and E's for certain and probably Sarah's also. I figured the sooner that they started learning about their powers, the better it would be for all. I'd checked the device that I'd been given to remove amulets and it seemed to work, or at least the little green light on the device lit up when I pressed the button.

After breakfast Melanie and I took my truck and went to Briar's books. She needed to get all her books for school. Rachel wasn't working that day, and I got a dirty look from Mrs. Briar when we entered and she saw me with yet another girl.

"Can I help you?" she asked coldly.

I smiled at her, feeling her disapproval coming off her in waves.

Melanie, either not noticing or choosing to ignore the chill, smiled at her too. "I'm starting school Monday," she said. "I need these books please."

She handed over a printout of the book list that PSU had given her.

Marjorie glanced down the list. "Pre-med?" she asked, her eyebrows raised. Melanie nodded.

"I'm starting a little late," she explained, "but it's not too far into the semester. I'm confident I'll catch up."

"There are two books on the list that I don't stock," Marjorie said. "I can order them in for you. We should have them by Friday. The rest of them you can take today."

"That's great, thanks," said Melanie, as she followed Marjorie around the store and collected books from the shelves, finally bringing them all up to the register.

"What's name for the order please?" asked Marjorie.

"Melanie, Melanie Stott."

"Stott?" asked Marjorie surprised.

"My sister," I said, one eyebrow raised. Marjorie blushed.

"Oh," she said. "Rachel never mentioned you had a sister."

"Rachel didn't know," I said. "Melanie's only just moved to Portland to go to school."

"Oh," she said again, looking guilty. "I thought..."

"I figured," I said sighing.

Marjorie rang up the total and Melanie handed over her card.

"What was all that about?" she asked as we walked back to the truck. I told her about Rachel and what had gone on there, how Marjorie was still warning Rachel about me, and how Marjorie thoroughly disapproved of our living arrangements.

"I guess she saw you and assumed that you were another girl I'd picked up," I finished.

"Well," she said chuckling, "she's not wrong, is she?"

I laughed. "I would never describe you as 'just another girl,'" I said, as we put the bag of books on the rear seat of the truck before climbing inside.

Once we were inside, I saw her running her fingers over her 'birthmark.'

"What powers do you think I'll have," she asked after a moment.

"Compulsion, definitely," I said. "That power breeds true in the bloodline. And you are strong too. That much I can feel. More than that I can't say. It took a few days before all my powers became evident. To be a healer you need minimum Compulsion and Empathy."

"And since they can't co-exist without other powers..." she smiled at me as she quoted an earlier conversation we'd had.

"You'll need to be really careful," I warned her, "if you do become a Healer, especially once you qualify as a doctor."

She smiled at me. "I've not even started Pre-Med yet," she said. "That's some way away."

"I know," I said, "but I have no doubt that you will ace both Pre-med and Med school. You are my sister after all." I grinned at her again and she laughed.

We swung by the discount warehouse and picked up what I thought we'd need for the day. We were entertaining a lot of people after all, and then headed home, arriving back just in time for me to go into the kitchen and help Ness with the preparation for lunch.

I was still in the kitchen when I heard a knock at the front door. Jules went to answer it.