Looking for Daniel Mason

Jason asked tenuously. "What were you and your mother talking about in the kitchen that day?"

Gracie thought back and shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure, it was four years ago, but I think it was about the set up for the evening. I had organised with nanna and papa, that's dad's mum and dad about an evening at the Harriet Hotel. I'd made reservations for mum and dad to have their honeymoon that they had missed out on when they were first married."

Gracie's face showed the concentration of remembering so long ago. "I'd organised it with nanna, it was suppose to be a surprise for the both of them, but mum found out, but promised to keep it a secret from dad. We were talking about how to get dad out of the way so that we could set up the ballroom at the Harriet. All their friends and our relatives were coming for their night of nights."

Jason listened intently. "After that mum and dad were going up to the honeymoon suite for a special night together. The night was a disaster I can tell you. The boys were to keep dad occupied until we rang for them to get dad dressed and to the hotel, but they couldn't find him. They waited two hours before they rang mum to say that dad hadn't come home. They were going to go to golf with him, but he never showed. What has all this to do with his disappearance?"

Jason sat and took in everything Gracie was saying. "I think there has been an unfortunate misinterpretation of what was being discussed that afternoon. I can see why it happened, and if your father had confronted the two of you when he heard you talking to your mother, then all this would have been settled a long time ago."

"I don't understand? If he heard what we were talking about, how can it get misinterpreted? We weren't saying anything that could be misunderstood."

This was the moment he dreaded most. Going back out to the kitchen, he brought back his briefcase and took out the papers that Dan had given him. Handing four of them to Gracie, he stood there. "The conversation by itself, maybe not Gracie, but when you add these to the equation, then it all changes!"

Gracie took the forms and read them, "I don't know what they mean? Why have you given me DNA results?" Gracie took another look at them, "They don't say who they're for, just subjects A, B, C and D!"

"They're results for you, your brothers, and your father!"

Gracie was getting a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, but fought to ignore the implications. "Ohhh god Jason, don't do this to me. It's just dots on a graph, I'm not a geneticist. I can't read it!"

Jason handed Gracie the last page of the report and waited until she read it. He could see the colour drain from her face as her hands trembled and the page slipped from her grasp. Staring off into space, she mumbled. "It's not true! There has to be a mistake."

Looking up at Jason with pain-filled eyes, she looked for some comfort but only found a sadness that she herself felt. "He's my father Jason, he always has been. I don't care what this report says, I want you to take me to him...Please Jason...Please help me. This can't be happening, it's not fair."

Tears were running down both their faces as Jason sat next to his fiancé and held her while she wept for her father.

Speaking as much to herself as to Jason she said. "You know what this means! He thinks I knew about this! He thinks I don't love him. He thinks I was setting mum up with her lover."

Jason just held her and sighed, "Yes Grace! That is what he thinks, but we should look on the bright side! I'm almost sure that is one we can rectify, I was pretty certain that you had no idea. We just need to find out about what really happened back then."

Gracie was starting to come out of her depression, and a white-hot angry rage was replacing it. "There's only one person that knows everything, and when I get through chewing her a new arsehole she won't be shitting properly ever!"

Gracie wanted to go over to her mother's place straight away but Jason persuaded her to wait until morning in the vain hope that Gracie would calmed down a little before she confronted her mother. For the next couple of hours Jason and Gracie went over his conversation with her father.

~...~

Gracie had stewed over night instead of calming down as he had hoped. Storming into her mother's kitchen, she threw the DNA results down on the table and cursed. "Alright mother, who the fuck is Edward Carlyle?"

Katelyn just looked at her daughter in stunned silence. The fact that Gracie never swore, and had certainly had never sworn at her, was what brought her up short. "I beg your pardon young lady; you will stop this swearing this minute and tell me what this is all about."

Gracie stood staring daggers at her mother with her arms crossed, "Edward Carlyle? And what the fuck has he got to do with me and my brothers?"

Katelyn's face showed no recognition for quite some minutes, and then it paled. "I don't know what you mean. He's nobody, just...just someone I knew from long ago."

"Don't give me that shit mum, if it's not him then who is it? Who is our biological father?"

Katelyn's vision narrowed to a pinpoint until she slumped to the floor. The shock of her past coming back to haunt her, completely overwhelmed her senses. The next thing she knew she was laying on the couch with Jason applying a cold washer to her forehead, and Gracie marching back and forth mumbling to herself.

"Are you alright Mrs Mason?" Jason's calm voice was enough to bring her state of mind back to the forefront, but then the thought that her sins were now out in the open brought on a cascade of tears. "Ohhh god, I'm sorry Gracie, please forgive me, I never wanted anyone to know what I had done." She cried openly.

Gracie stopped her pacing, swung around, and lit back into her mother. "Well it's too fucking late for tears now mum, you've fucked up our whole family and what for? So you could have some dirty little affair, some filthy fling with an old boyfriend to while away some lonely nights?"

Jason looked back up at Gracie. "Stop it Grace! This isn't getting us anywhere, you're angry and your mother knows that. Accusing her without listening to what she has to say is only going to make things harder. If you don't hold your tongue, then I WILL take you home and deal with this all by myself!"

Gracie glared at her fiancé, saw the determination on his face, and backed down. "Ok Jason I'll listen, but at the first sign that she's sugar coating it, I won't be responsible for my actions. Go ahead MOTHER; let's see how you can justify your whoring around behind your husband's back."

Jason shot a glare back at Gracie that brought her to a standstill, "Enough I said!"

Kat patted Jason on the arm, through her sobbing she managed to say. "It's ok Jason, she's right. This is my entire fault. Because of my actions I have lost my husband and in turn sent her father away."

Jason got up, retrieved a glass of water from the kitchen, and offered it to Katelyn, "Drink this, you'll feel better."

Kat sipped the water and thought about how to tell her sordid tale. "To start with, Edward or as I think of him, Eddie was a boyfriend I had before I started to go out with your father, and as far as I'm concerned Daniel Mason IS your father and no one else."

Grace saw a determination on her mother's face. "Eddie had been after me for months to go to bed with him, and when I finally decided that he was the one I wanted to marry, well, you know, I let him have me. That night after we had made love, he told me that he was going overseas to work. I told him I couldn't go with him and that he said that he knew I couldn't, and all the while with a smug smile on his face."

Katelyn dabbed at the corners of her eyes with a tissue. "He had got what he wanted and now throwing me out of his bed. I was hurt, and angry that he'd led me down the proverbial garden path. The next night I met up with Dan and he consoled me, I never told him that I had given Eddie my virginity, and your father never asked."

Kat looked up at her daughter. "You have to realise that I was on the rebound and I basically threw myself at your father. I don't know of one man that could resist a woman with the determination that I had to get back at Eddie."

Kat dropped her eyes in shame. "A month later I found out I was pregnant with you and as far as I was concerned, Dan was your father. Dan was and still is a good decent man, and husband any woman could ever hope to want. He showed me all the love that he had. It didn't even enter my mind that Eddie could be your father."

Kat stopped to take another sip of water, and looking woefully up at her daughter, "Please believe me sweetheart, I didn't know then. I honestly thought that Dan was your father, and he was so enwrapped with you. He loved you even before you were born, I can't tell you how he used to lay next to me watching to see you kick, and putting his hand on my tummy and waiting to feel his child's next move."

Kat choked up. "You are his daughter, no matter what those tests say; you have always been his little girl. I can't count the times he would bend someone's ear about how sweet his little Gracie was. He'd tell anyone who would stop and listen long enough, just how smart, pretty and funny you were."

Grace was crying with her mother's confession. She missed her father terribly and this last four years had been a nightmare for her. "Now... now because of you, he's telling everyone that he has no children!" She sneered spitefully.

While not looking at Gracie, Jason held his hand up to stop her from continuing. "It's ok Mrs Mason, Gracie's just hurt by all this, please continue."

Katelyn looked to Gracie and wrung her hands in pain and sorrow for the suffering she had caused her daughter. "You're father still loves you Grace, I know that in my heart! He may very well hate me, and I can fully understand why he does. The boys are closer to me and I think the reason for that is that I had to hand you off to your father to nurse your brothers, but we both love you all equally. I have made some stupid, stupid mistakes and they have and will cost me dearly. If I can, I will do all in my power to make sure that my children don't pay for them as well."

"Yeah well you may want that, but that's not up to you is it?" Gracie snipped.

Katelyn broke down crying again. "I'm so sorry darling; I don't know what to say. Part of me wishes it never happened, and yet if I hadn't, then your father and I wouldn't have had the three of you and I can't help but believe that both Dan and I are better off having our children."

Jason called for a break so that Katelyn could pull herself together and he could get Gracie to back off with the accusation atleast until they had the full story.

Jason watched Mrs Mason for any sign that she was making any of this up but decided that she wasn't. They had caught her by surprise and everything had just flowed out of her as though a dam had broken and all the secrets she had been holding in for years were now released.

Jason rubbed Kat's shoulder as he asked her to continue. "I know this must be hard, but for us to get through it, you have to tell me everything. Mr Mason doesn't want to have anything to do with any of you but I have garnered a simple pledge from him, and that is that he'll listen to me once I have all the facts. That means I need the truth, as ugly as it may seem, the truth is the only way that Gracie or her brothers will ever have of seeing their father again."

Katelyn sat up erect and choked back a sniffle. "You're right Jason! It matters not what Dan thinks of me, I have made this bed and I am damned to sleep in it for the rest of my life. I have destroyed my marriage. If I have to I will be the one to disappear if it means that the children get their father back where he belongs."

Gracie started laughing hysterically. "What? You're going to be the martyr, do the honourable thing and fall on the sword?"

Katelyn snapped and leaped up, slapping Gracie across the face, catching Jason unprepared and stunning Gracie in the process. "I know you're hurting and I can't tell you how sorry I am for everything I have done to our family. I don't want to go anywhere! I love you all with every ounce of my being, just as much as your father does. If it is the only way and means that your father comes back to you, then yes, I will do it gladly." The sheer strength of her words and actions sent Grace reeling back in fright.

Katelyn felt sorry for slapping her daughter, but it offended her that Grace couldn't see her sincere contrition. "So get over your hatred of me and let's find some ground that we can go forward on and get you father back where he belongs. I'll tell you everything Jason needs to know, no matter how it makes me look. If you want to see me as some sort of round heeled slut and whore then so be it. I'll live with that, because I can tell you; that is much more preferable to what I/we have been enduring these last four years."

Gracie broke down and wept. Katelyn softened her demeanour, taking her daughter in her arms and hugged her tightly. "You will have your father back sweetheart that I guarantee it, and whether or not I'm around is still to be decided, but know this Grace. I have always loved my whole family, that includes your father, and would not willingly hurt any one of you, especially your father."

Gracie settled down enough to ask. "I understand and can even forgive my conception, but what were you thinking with the boys? They have the same sperm donor as me. You understand that that is where all this came unravelled."

Katelyn nodded grimly. "Yes sweetheart, as much as I love your brothers, I have to admit that their conception was my biggest mistake. The only justification I can offer is that your father and I were desperate to have more children. After five years of trying, I realised then that Eddie must have been your donor in the first place."

Kat put her hand to her mouth and felt sick. "I hadn't seen hide nor hair of him in years, even the thought of him made my skin crawl. He was a selfish, self-centred son of a bitch, and the thought of having to play up to him almost made me back out. The only reason I went back to him was because he has the same physical appearance as Dan. Same colour eyes and hair, same build and height, but that was where the similarities ended. Eddie can't hold a candle to your father as far as personality, integrity or presence. Maybe I should have back out, but I didn't."

Katelyn didn't want to go on but she knew that Gracie needed to know. "I only saw him twice to get pregnant, and the last time I verbally abused him for his attitude. I couldn't go through with it again. If I wasn't pregnant, then it was too bad, as it was I was lucky, if you could call it that. He actually thought he was god's gift to women. I let him know that he had no idea what love making or even good sex was all about."

Kat took hold of Grace's shoulders to get her undivided attention. "I don't know if this will make you feel better on not sweetheart, but I never told him about you or why I was seeing him again, he didn't even ask! I didn't tell him that I was married or that Dan was now my husband. To him I was just some round heeled slut he picked up off the street, willing to spread her legs for him and he had his fun, and that was the way I wanted it. It was all I could do not to be sick while I was with him!"

Katelyn held her daughter at arm's length and looked into her eyes. "I have never seen nor heard from him since then. I swear with my dying breath, I never emotionally cheated on your father. Yes I did physically cheat, but at the time I convinced myself that it was for a good reason. If it wasn't for the fact that we have two wonderful boys in our family, then I'd regret my actions. I can't do that, and no one else should have to suffer for my stupidity, so I'll pay what I have to, in order to bring your father home to you."

Still holding Gracie she turned to Jason. "I can't tell you how much I appreciate what you have done for us Jason. If there is no other outcome in this mess I have created, it has shown me just how much you love Gracie. You are so much like Dan that I'm pleased to have you in the family, as I'm sure so will Gracie's father. I'm not sure if I should ask you, but could you talk to Dan for me and explain that his children have done nothing to warrant his wrath. I don't care what you have to say about me, but for heaven's sake, make sure he knows that the children are not to blame for this debacle."

Jason smiled. "Don't you worry about a thing Mrs Mason, and I'll do what I can. I have a vested interest in this as much as the next man. After all, if I can't get him back then Gracie won't marry me!"

Gracie wiped her eyes. "What on earth are you talking about? I never said that!"

Jason shrugged. "Well it maybe a little stretch of the truth, but I knew that you wouldn't be happy walking down the aisle with anyone else other than her father, and I had to find him to ask him for your hand in marriage."

Katelyn smiled at Jason then turned to Grace. "You have one fabulous young man here my dear, so don't you let him get away."

Forgetting the reasons for this conversation for a moment, Gracie giggled nervously. "I don't intend to mum, so we had better get all this sorted out so Jason can go and put our case in front of the judge."

Jason and Gracie spent the night at her mother's house and he rang in to work next morning requesting two weeks leave of absence on family grounds.

"I don't know if I'll need all that time off Mr Rogers. If I can sort out my problems sooner then I'm be back ASAP."

Jason's superior grumbled but conceded to his needs and wished him well, "Ok son, you're a good lad and we have a lot to thank you for, so you do what you have to. This isn't about those extra surveillances you authorised last month?"

Jason stammered, "Ummm yes Sir, I'm well aware that I have over stepped my boundaries and will be disciplined, but I had to do something to help out my family."

Mr Rogers huffed. "I'll see what I can do to back up your story with some relevant paperwork, for some stupid reason I have a liking for you, but let me warn you now. You have used up your get out of jail free card; I won't be so lenient the next time." Jason sighed with relief and thanked him for his generosity.

For the next two days Katelyn, Jason and Gracie went over what transpired to bring about their situation. Jason saw the pieces of this jigsaw puzzle slotting together and now he was formulating a workable plan. The first moves had been played in this chess games and now it was Jason's move to set his pieces where they needed to be to go for a check and mate.

~...~

Gracie sat nervously on the bed of a pleasant but still no name hotel on the outskirts of town, while Rob and Josh sat in the only two chairs. "He's not going to show Jason?"

Jason patted Gracie on the shoulder and winked at the boys to reassure them. "Its only eleven o'clock, he said that he probably wouldn't be here until after noon, so stop worrying, he gave me his word that he would show up. Your father is a man of his word, and I for one trust him to keep it!"

Gracie was so nervous that she couldn't stop shaking. "Why couldn't you just take us to him?"

Jason sighed. "For the tenth time sweetheart, I promised him not to tell anyone where he is, and I am a man of my word. My promises mean everything to me, and short of risk to life and limb, I will do all in my power to see that I never break it."

Rob smiled. "Jason is man after our own father Gracie. Mum's right! Dad will like him. Now shut up and wait, you're driving us all bonkers with your worrying."

It was only fifteen minutes later that they heard a knock on the door. Jason got up and opened it see Dan Mason standing there with an apprehensive look on his face. "Hello! We meet again Mr Stevenson. It's good to see you."