Rag Doll Ch. 08.2.2 - Connections

I pointed at Nicky, still deep in conversation with my aunt, only now it felt like he was with his mother; Anh had exactly the same "mum" vibe Mum Julia had, it came off her in waves, I could even feel it where I was sitting and watching, wondering at how Nicky looked and felt for all the world like he was having a quiet moment with his own mother, and just then he looked up and beckoned us over.

"Miss Anh, this is my wife, Ashley," he said, and Anh frowned.

"Not 'Miss' Anh; you Barbara son, Barbara my family, you my family too, Nicky; you part of this family, what I tell you? And this beautiful girl, she family too, so come, sit with me, tell me of children and days gone, want to know all about you!"

Nicky began telling Anh his story, aided and clarified by Ashley, and the occasional interjection from me, and her face grew more and more sombre as Nicky's story unfolded. When he finally wound down, she took his hand, her eyes glistening.

"I know what that man like, how evil he is, know from first time I see him; Uncle James try stop him, he love his sister very much, he see what he truly was, he try and stop it, but no good, he take her and leave, and he lose her. Your father, what he do is wrong, no father beat child like that, children a blessing, not a burden, he do much wrong! Please show me what he do, cannot believe such evil... "

Nicky locked eyes with Ashley, who slowly nodded.

"Please Babe, it's okay, they all have to know, show her... "

Nicky reluctantly tugged his polo shirt out of his jeans and turned his back on Anh, while Ashley helped him pull the back of his shirt up. I was watching Anh and the look of shocked outrage and appalled horror on her face as she saw Nicky's back was utterly genuine. She gazed in silence, her hand coming up hesitantly, tentatively several times as if she could somehow heal his injuries by touching him, but then she took hold of his bunched shirt and gently pulled it down again, covering the dense network of half-healed welts and scars that was his back as tears of sympathy for his horrific injuries stood in her eyes.

"How can man do this to own child? This is evil..." she murmured, "this is the work of a demon..." she breathed, her delicate, tentative fingers trying instinctively to caress and soothe his injuries but pulling back at the last instant and not quite touching his back, obviously afraid of hurting him.

Anh cupped his face and kissed his forehead, patting his cheek as she did so, a tender, motherly gesture I saw Shari do with our children every day.

"You suffer so much for her, you are truly her son, you are part of this family, we not let this happen again, I promise you!" she murmured. "Uncle must see this too, he must know what you do for her, what it cost you."

She sighed, once again flicking the hair back off Nicky's forehead so she could look at him properly.

"Nguye't, my Nia, and Jamie have such normal life, loved by daddy and me, they grow up so happy, have friends, have proper life, yet other half of family have such pain, such bad life, is not fair. Nothing you do make you deserve what you live, and Nia tell me wife Ashley also have story to tell. Please to share if can, it is time for these things to be known, this family too much secret too long, you are all here now, this must end. No more secrets."

Anh turned to Ashley and took her hand. Ashley looked at Nicky and this time he nodded, giving her the okay to share what had happened with her. Nia sat next to her and took her other hand.

"Bobby told us that... man... hurt you too, he said you would tell us what happened to you, that he couldn't, it was your story to tell. Please, tell mummy, she can't help you if she doesn't know what happened."

Ashley began slowly, haltingly, relating her story, what had happened to her, what that bastard had made happen to her, but somehow Anh's comforting, motherly presence made it easier for her to get the whole disgusting story out, stoically relating that whole terrible time, dragging up and remembering once again what that animal had done to her, what my father had sent someone to do. Ashley refused to cry about it ever again; in her mind crying would be surrendering to what had been done to her, and she would never do that; she was better than that.

Anh's arms were around her, holding her close as she murmured soothingly after she'd finished telling her story. Nia sat by, staring at her, a shocked, horrified expression on her face.

Anh cupped Ashley's face, looking intently into her eyes before nodding like something had just been made clear, before kissing her on her forehead and letting Nicky take her. She shared a glance with Nia and took Ashley's hand.

"One thing not understand; when bad thing happen to you, you say it supposed to be trap for mother set by...that man, this happen two year before you meet Nicky, yes?"

Ashley nodded, so Anh continued.

"Nicky come to America, find his mummy, and he meet you, he hurt by Robert, you hurt by Robert, what is connection, and what happen to mummy?"

Ashley flicked a quick glance at Nicky, and he nodded resignedly. Ashley squared her shoulders and looked Anh in the eye almost defiantly.

"When Nicky came to America he found his mom, and when he found his mom, he found me, too; my father was James Lowry, but my mom Julia Lowry is Brian Davis' ex-wife; Nicky is her son... and my half-brother..."

Anh didn't say anything, just nodded as if something had just become clear, but her glance flickered to Nia for just a second. Ashley looked confused at her lack of reaction, but I knew why; Nia had already shared with us about her and Jamie, just as she knew about Rick and Yaz, and Shari and me.

Ashley stared at Anh in confusion, unsure why so little reaction, but no-one ever accused Ashley of being slow or stupid, and her eyes suddenly widened.

"You already knew! How long..." she whispered, but Anh just smiled at her as she caressed her cheek with the backs of her fingers.

"Just now know for sure, you just tell me, but it not matter. Tell me, you love husband Nicky?"

Ashley nodded silently, her eyes fixed on Nicky's, and Anh smiled that enigmatic, Ivory Goddess smile I was becoming so used to.

"If love husband, it not matter, what you have is all. Uncle have favourite old song, words say "all you need is love"; maybe so, but you and Nicky have more than love; you have what you need; if you are happy, then it is enough."

She stood, as did Nicky and Ashley, and she took their hands.

"Come now, must talk with uncle, tell him what you have told me, show him what love for mummy has cost you. He will understand and honour you. Do not be afraid to share with him, he is a good, kind man, but he must know too."

I watched Anh take Nicky and Ashley up to Uncle James and speak with him. I didn't hear what was said, but I saw his expression change, and then he nodded and led them to the dining room through a large set of double doors. I followed them, but stopped at the doors, thinking this was private and they really didn't want everyone else seeing this, so I took up station in front of the doors instead, hopefully keeping everyone else out.

Nicky and Uncle James spoke but it was too low for me to hear, not that I needed to; I knew what he was telling him, I knew the whole disgusting story off by heart, but I needed to see his reaction. After they talked back and forth, Anh said something to Nicky and he nodded, and she and Ashley gently pulled Nicky's polo shirt up. I heard my uncle's shocked exclamation even above the conversation and the chatter of excited children playing in the sitting room, I saw the horrified expression on his face, his involuntary hand covering his mouth, and watched his hand tremble as he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and mopped his suddenly bloodless, drawn face.

Ashley gently slid Nicky's shirt back down, and from her expression I knew she was telling her story; that, and the way her hand tightened around Anh's. Uncle James looked shell-shocked, I could see how shaken he was. He suddenly looked ten years older, but he still pulled Nicky in and hugged him the way a father hugs his grown son, with his arm around his neck and his head in the hollow of his shoulder, while Anh held Ashley. Uncle James pulled her in too, holding her to him, his hand on the back of her neck as he held her into his other shoulder, no longer a stranger they'd only met that day, but a father easing his children's hurts even if they weren't his children.

I eased the doors closed and turned away; they had things to say that I wasn't part of, so I left them to their privacy and went to find Shari, because I needed to hold my wife.

*****

Ricky, Yaz, Shari and I discussed with Nia and Jamie what had happened, while the blonde girl Julie listened with a shocked expression on her face, but she said the same things that Anh did; that what had happened to Nicky was just another of the crimes my father would pay for one day, and all that Nicky had suffered made him part of this family; he'd earned his place, there was no doubt about that. Julie then told me some of her story, what her mother had done to her and Mark, and I agreed with Nia; Julie and Mark had earned the right to call this their family too...

As we were talking, I felt someone behind me, and turned to find Anh smiling up at me.

"What you say is true; brother Nicky is part of your family, a part of my family, so is everyone here. This our family, we are not perfect, but we all together now, all questions answered, all missing pieces back in place. You have done well, Bobby, Barbara is proud of you; can you not feel her blessing and thanking you? Listen carefully, Bobby, Nicky say he have heard her voice from deep inside self, listen and one day soon you will too. Your spirit has searched far and wide, and you have found what you need. Karma has looked kindly on you, so live, cherish family, and enjoy."

"And what of my father?" I couldn't help asking her; I really needed to know what she thought of him, knowing what she did.

"Father is evil man, but he is still only a man, with the soul of a man; when he leave this world, harm he has done and pain he cause will fade, but his journey will be long and long; he must still answer for his sins, and pay for what he did, but not to me, or you, or anyone on this earth; it not our place to decide or to punish; karma demand a price for our sins, all our sins, so he must pay in his own way and his own time. He will be in Địa Ngục, the place where his actions have imprison him, and he must seek to make atonement through many, many cycles of life he must undergo, cannot escape, it is his fate. He will return there many time until he find enlightenment; it will take long time, maybe very long time, many lives he must lead, but he will learn; karma will teach him how."

*****

EPILOGUE & Coda for 'Sherry Baby:

Danny & Sherry:

Sam was pacing nervously in the little ante-room, wearing a groove in the stone-flagged floor.

"I wish she'd hurry up and get here," he muttered for the umpty-zillionth time. I had to grin. All he had to do was stand there, look sober, and not faint, and he was stressing in a way I'd only seen him do on finals-day. The morning coat and white tie was definitely irking him, but Sherry had been adamant: grey morning suit, buff waistcoat, and white tie for the groom and best man, and woe betide him if he showed up looking like an unmade bed, his normal ground-state.

"Calm down, boyo!" I grinned, "It's quick and painless, just like you told that big bloke when you pulled that "foreign object" out of his rectum!"

Sam glared at me.

"You just had to bring that up, didn't you? The bastard came after me, four nurses and a porter had to hold him down, and I had to leave via the dumpster entrance for bloody weeks after that!"

"What can I say; it looked like true love to me!" I laughed while he glowered at me.

"You're a sack of shit, you know that?" he growled, and I frowned at him in overdone sanctimonious annoyance.

"Shush, you're in the house of God now, show some respect!" I chided him, and he glared back.

"Bunch of English Protestants, 'House of God' my arse, what do they know, bloody pagans, if it's not Chapel, it's not real!"

"Then why are you here, you Welsh sex-fiend?" I asked him, and he grinned.

"Because you threatened me, Sherry threatened me, and because Shirley Conroy's here, and those tits, I mean, a man could die happy..."

I grinned at him.

"Sherry was right, you are a disgusting, sex-obsessed pig... whoops, there's the signal, show-time Sammy, let's go."

Sam and I got into place as the organ started pealing out 'The Wedding March' from Lohengrin. I resisted the urge to turn and watch her walk down the nave, I wanted to see her for the first time when she stood with me, and when she arrived, she was everything I knew she'd be, and more. She was on the arm of her uncle James, looking amazing in yards and yards of crisp white satin and a long, trailing lace veil dotted with tiny, powder-blue rosettes, and held in place by a simple, elegant silver tiara, a gift from Jamie and Nia.

She was wearing her mother's ruby and sapphire pendant paired with my mother's gold box chain and tiny gold heart-locket with pictures of mum and dad inside, and her Aunt Barbara's platinum charm bracelet borrowed from Bobby and Ricky.

To complete the wedding charm, Nicky and Ashley had given her a gorgeous, blue-enamelled platinum brooch made in the style of a bouquet of Forget-Me-Not's, with tiny gold centres to each individual flower, so she could have the traditional 'something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue' to bring good luck on her weddding day.

Her bridesmaids were elegant and low key, as they should be, Shirley and another of her friends from medical school, with her Cousin Bobby's gorgeous little girl holding her train, all three girls in pale blue watered silk dresses to complement Sherry's "blue" theme, with delicate chaplets of cornflowers on their heads.

I never took my eyes off her as we recited our vows, I couldn't, she was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen; she looked radiant, that's the only word I could think of, clichéd as it sounds, glowing so brightly as she did in the sunlight bathing the altar. Nia's little boy in a page-boy's uniform brought the rings on a gold-tasselled white velvet cushion, and her little girl, his twin sister in a crinoline dress and sun-bonnet scattered blue flower petals as we walked back up to the church doors.

I was pleased to see Sam walking with Shirley Conroy's arm through his and a 'do not take liberties with me, boy' expression on her face, and I almost grinned at the thought of what she'd do to him if he tried his usual Sam 'Magic' on her; oh well, there were enough medical people here, we should be able to patch him up...

The reception was an emotional affair for both of us. Three seats at the top table had been set aside, and large framed photographs of Rosa, my mother and father, and Barbara set in their place so Sherry could have all her family present on her special day. Anh stood proxy as mother of the bride, and James, proud as any father would be, gave the speech dad would have given, taking Sherry around in the father-daughter dance after she and I had our first dance, while I danced with Anh, as befitted the mother of the bride.

After I danced with Sherry once again, Jamie claimed her, and then the men in her family queued-up to dance with the beautiful bride: Mark, Julie's husband, then her two long-lost cousins, Bobby and Ricky, Bobby's half-brother, Nicky, no relation to Sherry but someone very special to Bobby, Ricky, and their beautiful wives, with a deep and personal connection to Sherry's uncle James, too, and a helluva nice guy in his own right.

Last but not least, a fellow doctor, a surgeon, Darryl, there with his beautiful wife Lena, yet more of Nia, and now Sherry's, extended, adopted family. All the men in her family got to dance with her on her special day, and she was bright-eyed and smiling at the realization that these were indeed her family for real, come together to celebrate this day with her.

*****

A honeymoon was, of course, out of the question; Sherry was still in full student-doctor mode, this was the lead-up to both our year-end finals, so a break was out of the question. We compromised, a long weekend now, and a blow-out holiday and late honeymoon combined once she'd qualified. I took her to Brighton, she'd never been there, and while it's not a heaving metropolis like London or New York, it has its charm and its nightlife.

Making love in an opulent Regency hotel was the best alternative we had to a romantic break in Grand Cayman, but when it came to my Sherry, even making out with her on the top deck of a London night-bus ticked all our 'romance' boxes.

We'd chosen Brighton because of the shopping opportunities in 'The Lanes', but I have to be honest; getting my new wife naked in a classy hotel room trumped any thoughts of shopping. Sherry seemed to feel the same way, and so we spent four days exploring each and every avenue it was possible to take, seeing how inventive we could be in the privacy of our love-nest.

*****

Back to reality, and life for us soon settled into our preferred pattern. As medical trainees based at a major hospital, we lived a pretty hectic schedule, whether wards, lab, or, in my case, interning in the general surgery team, and we agreed that was what we wanted, but when it came time for Sherry to choose her elective, we'd talk again. That never came about.

When we sat down to work out where we were going, I started out reiterating what we'd agreed when we were first married: it was Cherie's choice, and I wasn't going to back her into any corners.

Sherry had other ideas, however. Now that the fuss and bustle of graduation had died down and we had room to breathe and space to plan, she derailed everything.

"Danny, I know we talked about me possibly following you into one of the surgical consultancy teams, but there's another option for me now, and I'm going to stick with it; it's what I want."

I looked at her in anticipation rather than dread or misgiving; if Sherry had made a decision, it wasn't lightly, but I was intrigued.

"Please, baby, don't leave me hanging here. What have you decided?"

"I think I'm going to give my surgical elective a miss, baby, in fact I think I'm going to step away from medicine entirely, I don't know how long for, exactly, but it will be a while, I think."

"Ooo-kay, you want to tell me why, baby?" I asked, knowing it this wasn't a snap decision on her part.

Sherry smiled her beautiful, radiant smile, and fished around in her handbag.

"I need you to see something, baby-boy..." she murmured, before handing me a white stick. It took me a second to register I was looking at a positive pregnancy test, and then all Hell broke loose as I launched myself at her, kissing her wildly and gabbling, trying to ask a thousand questions at once. I just had to pull her shirt out of her jeans so I could kiss her smooth tummy and introduce myself to my baby from the outset.

Sherry giggled as I kissed her tummy repeatedly.

"I think this counts as "valid reason", don't you think, Baby-Daddy?" she chuckled, before kissing the top of my head and handing me the phone.

"I think you'd better let Uncle James know the family just got a little bigger!"

*****

Finis

Author's Note:

Mark and Julie are from 'Lost Girl: Julie's Story' which is a spin-off of the 'Nia' story.

Jamie, Nia, Anh, and James are from 'Nia', Darryl, Lena, and Allie are from 'Big Girls Don't Cry', and of course, Sherry, Danny, and Sam are from 'Sherry Baby'.