WHO's YOUR DADDY?

THE LETTER....by Terri

Will was watching TV with Heather, his fifteen-year old babysitter.
"Heather? Are you really staying overnight?"
Heather said, "Uh huh. Your parents don't know when they are coming home so it is easier if I just stay in that spare bedroom and go home in the morning. Julie is asleep and you're a perfect gentleman, Will. You guys are no sweat!"
Will looked at the TV. "Are you still going to watch that sappy movie, Heather?"
"Sappy? That is Sleepless in Seattle! A classic!"
Will made a face. "I'm going to play on the computer. There's a new game there I want to try."
Heather said, "Be my guest," and ate a handful of popcorn and washed it down with rootbeer.
Will went into the computer room and turned it on. Mommy and Daddy promised me my own computer when we move into the house. He clicked on the internet. Oooh! There it is! I'd better write this website down in case I get bumped off.Mbr< He looked in the desk drawer to get out a pencil and paper. He tugged and tugged and finally it came open. Something is jamming it, he thought. I'd better get it out before it happens again. He crawled under the desk and reached up. A piece of paper was stuck. Will carefully took the drawer out and the paper fell down. Will bent down and picked it up. It's in Mommy's handwriting. I know her pink writing paper with the single rose in the corner. Will sniffed it. Ever so faintly scented. Will smiled. It always reminded him of his mother. He laid the paper down and when he did so, he caught a glimpse of a familiar word. There it was. His very own name.
Will.

Will stuffed the paper into his jeans. I'll read it later, he thought. He shut down the computer and called out to Heather, "I think I'll go to bed now. Goodnight!"
Heather called out "Goodnight, Will. Would you take a peek in at your sister?"
"OK".
Heather went back to watching Sleepless in Seattle. Will went up to his room and sat on his bed. He unfolded the paper. He read--
"Henry--
This is to let you know that Will is doing wonderful. The adoption went through without a hitch and you have been stripped of your parental rights. So you need not bother yourself with us. You have your other sons and Will is now John's son. If it were up to me--and it is---he will never know you existed. Except maybe in a history book. But he will never connect you as the father he left behind. I am only so thankful that Will was only three when he was whisked away from you. Now there is no way you can ruin him like you have your other sons. Everything you touch is poisoned, Henry. I give thanks every day that I escaped your clutches. John is a wonderful father and loves Will like he was his own. He is now known as William GWINNETT. And there is not a damn thing you can do about it. He will be raised in a loving family environment. So just sit there on your throne and think about the one that got away.
I would say 'love' but we are way past that.
Rosamond.
P.S. You were a lousy boring lover then---and I'll bet you are even worse now!


PICTURES DON'T LIE...............by Coralynn

Though the hour is late, Macella is waiting up when Abby returns home after the house warming.
"Mother! You should be in bed! you didn't need to wait up for me!" Abby exclaims.
"Well, I tried to sleep, but I was too restless. Did you have a good time, dear?"
"Yes, very good. You should see how elegant Mr. Livingston's house is! The fab five really went all out."
"That's nice," Marcella's voice is guarded. "And did you speak to Mr. Livingston?"
"Oh yes, of course. I had to compliment him on the excellence of the party!"
"And what did he say to you?" Marcella asks, frown lines forming between her eyes.
"OH! he showed me a photo! Follow me into my computer room, Mother. This you have to see!"
Marcella follows her daughter, fear rising within her.
Abby brings up the photo she'd emailed to herself earlier in the evening. "See? Is that uncanny or what?!"
"It looks like you! I wonder how he maneuvered that! You can do all manner of magic things with computers nowadays."
"It's not supposed to be me, it's YOU. Believe me, this picture was old! He said he'd carried it in his wallet for 35 years."
"Impossible."
Abby pulls her photo album off a shelf and flips through it to the pictures of her mother in her twenties.
She puts one of them up alongside the picture on the computer screen and looks inquisitively at her mother, who is now noticably nervous.
"The faces match perfectly!"
Marcella sighs loudly, "I never met the man, how could I be in a photo with him?"
Abby returns the photo album to its place on the shelf and asks, "Why won't you admit it, Mother? You met him, you were with him, and it looks from this picture that it was taken at Woodstock."
"That settles it, then," Marcella says decisively, "Since I never went to Woodstock, it has to be another woman who looks like me."
Abby can see the futility of this conversation. She lowers her head and looks up at Marcella through her eyelashes, "OK, if you insist!" but her tone does not communicate agreement.

"Good night, dear. So glad you had a good time. I'm getting drowsy, so off to bed!" Marcella says as steadily as possible though she is now more awake than she's been all day.
"Good night, Mother. Sleep tight!"
After Marcella leaves the room, Abby prints out the photo of James Livingston and 'the woman who looks like' her Mother and puts it into her purse.
She's not the least bit tired, either, because she is trying very hard to figure out why her mother would deny something as plain as this fact: her mother was at Woodstock, and with James Livingston."


CONTEMPLATIONS......by Terri

Rosamond and John were getting ready for bed. "That was one wild party!" John said. "Imagine Montgomery's mama getting busted for drugs!" Rose slipped out of her shoes and tried to look at her feet. "Travis McGee will stop at nothing, will he? Always trying to make like you are some big drug lord." John unbuttoned his shirt and threw it over the chair. Rose frowned. "Please, John. In the hamper." He shook his head and said, "Since when are you such a neat-freak? I remember how your room used to look." Rose hung her dress up and put her robe on. "I'll be back in a second. I'm going to check on the children."
She went through the door to Julie's room. Asleep. She covered the baby up with a light blanket. Rose gently removed Julie's thumb from her mouth.
Down the hall, she opened up Will's door. She went over to pull his blanket up when Will rolled over. "Hi, Mommy."
"Will, why aren't you asleep yet? Have you been reading under the blankets again?"
Will said, "No."
She leaned over and kissed her son. As she started to walk out the door, Will said, "Mom, what about my father?"
Rose turned to him with a puzzled look. "What about him, sweetheart? He's getting ready for bed because we have to finish moving everything in tomorrow. This is your last night in this room. At least until you have sleepovers."
Will sat up. "Not my now daddy. The one I used to have."
Rose said, "Honey, Mr. Montgomery and I got a divorce. He's not your father. Now get some sleep."
Will sighed and decided not to pursue the subject of Henry. The elusive father.

John was already in bed when Rose came back into the room. She slipped under the covers and said, "John?"
"Mmmmm....?"
"Do you realize this is our last night in this room?"
"Mmmhmmmm....."
She shook him. "John? Are you listening to me?
"Mmmmhmmmm...."
"I'm going to miss this room."
"Mmmmhmmmm,......."
She turned the light on.
"Hey! What's the big idea, Rose?" He shielded his eyes with his forearm. "We have a big day tomorrow. We have to get the rest of this stuff out and then unpack the boxes. I didn't need to be dragged to that housewarming. I would just as soon have gotten to bed early..."
"Oh, quit complaining, John! I need to talk to you about something. Will asked me about his father. I told him that Montgomery and I were now divorced and he is not his father. What do you suppose brought that on?"
John said, "I don't know. I wouldn't worry about it. Montgomery was barely in his life."
John reached over and turned the light out.
After a few minutes of silence, Rose nudged John again.
"John?"
Silence.
"JOHN!"
"Mmmmm?"
She flipped the light on again.
"For the love of Pete, Rose! I NEED TO GET SOME SLEEP!"
Rose said, " 'For the love of Pete Rose?' Who's he, John?"
John groaned. "Just some guy that kept turning the light on his wife, Rose."
John sat up, punched his pillow up, leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest.
"I am giving you five minutes---FIVE MINUTES!--to get this out of your system and wrap this up. And then I don't want to hear another word from you unless you are in labor. And with three more months, I'd better not even hear that!"
Rose sat there, staring at him and pursing her lips. John gave her the 'out with it!' gesture.
He sighed and turned the light out.
From the darkness, he heard her say softly, "What if he is referring to...Henry?"
This time John turned the light on. He said, "How would he know about him? I thought we agreed that his name would never be mentioned around Will."
Rose shrugged, palms up. "I don't know. He certainly didn't hear it from ME!"
John sighed deeply, shut the light out, and said, "He'll probably forget all about it in the morning. And now....GOODNIGHT!"

THE UNWELCOME.........................by Coralynn

WandaSue wakes with a headache from consuming too many drinks the night before at the house-warming. She wanted to sleep in till noon, but the phone rang and rang..........
"Yes...." she grumbles into the phone.
"Oh darlin' girl, this is your dear old Dad calling clear from Texas!"
"How'd you get my number?" she asks, annoyed.
"Slim gave it to me."
"I didn't think Slim had my number! He and I aren't exactly on good terms, ya know."
"I'm sure it can be patched up. I'm coming to visit today and the three of us can go out for an old fashioned barbeque at your best steak house."
Wandasue is sitting by this time, and wide awake, "Just a minute........you said you were phoning clear from Texas, so how could we all go out for steaks today?"
She hears him chuckle, which amounts to what sounds like a death rattle in his chest, "I was just funnin' ya!"
"Well, I don't like being 'funnin-ed' or whatever. I don't want to go to dinner with you two. Last time the three of us went out anywhere it ended in a fist fight."
I brought someone with me that you should meet, too."
"Another of your bimbos?"
"NO! I'm insulted by that, WandaSue. This is a fine lady. We were married last week."
"Spare me! How many 'fine ladies' have you married, Dad? six? seven? each one more of a dog than the last. Don't wanna meet her and don't wanna go out for steak!"
"But don't you want to hear about the opportunity of a lifetime?"
"What is it this time, a chance to get rich by buying stock on lots on the Moon? or could it be getting in on the ground floor of a land purchase in Arizona that has (a) no water (b) no way to get any water, (c) no electricity for 50 miles and (d) is full of scorpions and gila monsters. Sound familiar?"
He sends forth another loud death-rattle laugh, "WandaSue, you only remember the ventures that failed! That's unfair!"
"OK, then, tell me which of your ventures succeeded?"
"Wellllll, there was the oil well....."
"HA! You got all of 5 barrels of oil out of that place in Oklahoma. Dont' call that a success!"
"Let's see," he ponders but doesn't have time to come up with any other tale of success, as WandaSue then says a firm "Goodbye!" and he's disconnected.

That Slim! He gave the old man my phone number? I suppose he also told him that I have quite a bit of money now, never mind how I got it, I have it. So good old Lem Skaggs, who claims to be our father, smells money and can't resist.........has to come here and try to get it away from me. Well, it won't work, buddy. Not this time.

MEANWHILE:

Abby is awake before her Mother, her mind immediately thinking of the picture again. That picture: it has to be Mother. Why is she stubbornly refusing to admit it?
She puts on her robe and goes out into the computer room, and, taking the photo album down from the shelf again, takes the picture of her mother in her 20s and puts it into her purse along with the copy of the Woodstock one.
"You up?" her mother peeks in.
"Yes. What do you want to do today mother? It's your last day here before you fly home."
"I hope you don't mind, but I need to run a few errands this morning, but if you're off duty this afternoon we can shop."
"I'm not on duty till tomorrow. Sounds great."
"Well, dear, I have to get dressed and be on my way!" Marcella says breezily.
"Me, too. I have some odds and ends to clear up this morning. See you at 1 at the Garden of Earthly Delights?"
"Perfect!" Marcella answers before she goes into the guest room to dress.

Abby only has a couple small errands to run, and afterward finds herself walking down Winding Willow, past Jim Livingston's house. She looks at it as if the house itself could answer her questions; clear up her confusion.
Moving on, she sees that nice lady, Celeste, outside sweeping the front porch. Celeste sees her as well and waves, then puts aside the broom and walks over to where Abby is pausing on the sidewalk in front of the house.
"Did you enjoy the party last night?" Celeste asks. "You're troubled about something, though...." Celeste begins.
Abby chuckles, "What are you, psychic?"
"Well, sort of," Celeste admits, "Care to come inside and tell me about it?"
"Sure! You won't tell anyone else, will you?"
"My dear, I am the soul of discretion," Celeste assures her as they walk into the house and back to Celeste's room.
Abby sits on a stuffed chair and kicks off her shoes, "I need a second opinion, Celeste. My eyes could be playing tricks on me, but..." she takes the two photos out of her purse, "Look at the young woman in the first picture, then, look at the one in this picture. Do they look like the same person to you?"
Celeste adjusts her reading glasses and examines them carefully. "They are one and the same," she answers, handing them back.
"Please don't tell anyone, Celeste, but these are of my Mother. She denies that she is the woman in the picture with Jim Livingston at Woodstock, but she was, even you can see it's the same person."
"I was at Woodstock, too," Celeste informs her, "and I remember Jim.......he was sort of a new-age preacher and quite a wild man. Now just a minute, he did hang out with one woman toward the end of the bash. Called her Sunshine, yes, that's it. Let me see that picture again, would you?"
Abby hands her the Woodstock photo again.
Celeste gazes at it, then closes her eyes for a few minutes before pronouncing, "The woman in this picture is Sunshine."
"That's the name he called out when we accidentally met up with him in a restaurant a couple days ago!" Abby is becoming excited. "But she denies ever meeting him, and says she never went anywhere near Woodstock."
"She has to have a reason for denying it, dear."
"Obviously. But why? A lot of young women date a lot of fellows, there's nothing to hide in that. Think she did drugs at Woodstock and is hiding that fact?"
"Wouldn't you?" Celeste asks, raising one eyebrow.
"Probably. But her knowing Jim.........there's more to it than just drugs, I feel it. Jim also told me that the two of them were at the 10-yr reunion bash together. That's shocking, because she married Dad about a month or so later. Did my Dad know where she was in August 1979?"
"When were you born?" Celeste comes right out and asks the question that could cause a lot of trouble, but has to do it.
"May, 1980." Abby answers, then after thinking a moment, almost jumps out of the chair, "Oh my God! Nine months later!"

CONFRONTATION...............by Coralynn

Marcella rings the doorbell, which plays "The Ride of The Valkyries," thoughtfully installed by Jai of the fab five, and waits. He'd better be home! she thinks, because I'm not leaving town before I give him a piece of my mind!
Jim opens the door wearing a brocade smoking jacket, an extremely long cigarette holder between his teeth.
Marcella pushes into the house and demands, "What do you think you're doing?!"
"Uhhhhh, smoking?" Jim takes the cigarette holder and holds it in front of him to be sure that's what he's doing.
"NO! You've been talking with my daughter, Abby!"
"Sure, she was at the party last night. I spoke with everyone here!" he sits on the most elegant chair in the living room and gestures for her to choose between couches and chairs, smiling.
"You are to stay away from her!" Marcella refuses to sit.
"Wellll, Sunshine, I don't see why..." Jim begins, but is cut off when she reacts "Don't call me that name. Ever!"
"Have you changed, or have I? Why are you being so angry?"
"Because......because you gave her that picture of us at Woodstock for one thing! That was uncalled for!"
"It seemed the natural thing to do......."
Marcella finally sits down on a couch and clenches her hands and unclenches them, back and forth. "She must never know!" she says defiantly.
"Know what? All she knows is that you were at Woodstock in 1969 and at the reunion in 1979."
"WHAT?!" Marcella is more alarmed than before. She stands up and walks over to where he's sitting, glaring down at him, "You didn't!"
"Why not? We hardly even got stoned at that one, Sun....." he breaks off.
"Do you know how hard I worked to raise that girl so that she would be an upstanding citizen and not get caught up in drugs or heavy metal music or any of those other things? Do you know how much work that is? And I succeeded! She is not only upstanding, but on the police force."
"Well, that's nice," Jim comments.
"And along you come now to ruin everything!" she paces the room.
"I don't get it," he scratches his head, "I just don't understand......"
"Of course you don't.......you have to be coherent to be able to count to 9!" she almost shreiks.
"Nine? Ohhhhh, you mean '99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer, if one of those bottles should happen to........"
"STOP!" she is shrieking now, full throttle.
"Do I get to congratulate you on your marriage?" he asks timidly.
"I married a sober man, a good man, a man who has never inbibed in illegal substances..... a man who has been a perfect father for Abby...."
"Good for you!" he slaps his leg and grins.
"You still don't get it, do you?" she asks, this time in a more normal tone of voice.
"HUH, I guess not," he says sadly, "but ya know, there are a lot of things I don't 'get'......like the theory of relativity for instance, or how the television manages to show programs that are a thousand miles away..........that stuff blows my mind."
"Your mind is blown, alright, Jim. No way was I going to let you influence my daughter's tender mind."
"Ya mean when she was little? Hell, Sunshine, how could I? I didn't even know where you and she lived.....I didn't even know you had a daughter......"
"And now that you do, I want you to forget it! Do not speak to her again or.......or......"
"Yeah?"
"You'll be sorry if you do, that's what!" she declares as she goes to the front door, steps outside, then slams it shut with such force that the beautiful stained glass windows Thom of the fab five installed on both sides of it rattle.
Jim nods several times and remarks to the room, "Sunshine isn't very sunny anymore, ya know? Hmmm, maybe I oughta call her 'Cloudy Day' or 'Ragged squall line approaching, dive under you desk' or 'Hurrican e Marcella.......yeah, I like that last one."
He takes a beer out of the fridge, turns on the TV, flips to the PBS station and begins to watch and listen to a symphony orchestra concert.......that one was Jai's idea, too!


GOOGLING MY PARENTS.....by Terri

"Will, you stay here with Grandma Celeste. Daddy and I are going down to the new house and arranging the furniture and unpacking some things. It won't be fun for you. We'll come back at lunch. Be good, sweetheart!" Rose said to her son.
"OK, Mommy."
Will watched his mother and his adopted father leave. Rose gave John's arm a squeeze and he put his arm around her as they walked down the street. Will sighed. He said to Celeste, "Grandma, I am going to play with DisneyPlayhouse on the computer. Is that OK?">br> Celeste looked up from feeding Julie. "Sure, dear."

Will closed the door and logged onto DisneyPlayhouse. He played with Clay-mation for a bit and then turned to SpongeBob. B-O-R-I-N-G!! he thought.
He hit 'my favorite places' and came across 'GOOGLE.'
Google? Must be a new game. Will clicked it on, all set to blast the bejeebers out of googles. He looked closely. A search engine? For information? He thought,.'hey, I wonder if it has me on it?' He entered his name. 'Will Gwinnett'. Hmm..not me. He typed in his mother's name. 'Rosamond de Clifford.' The screen lit up.

"Whoa!" He exclaimed. He browsed and clicked on the website---

King Henry II "Curt Mantel" of England

Born: 5-Mar-1132
Died: 6-Jul-1189
Comments: Birth: 5 Mar 1132/33 in Le Mans, Sarthe, France
Death: 6 Jul 1189 in Chinon, Indre-Et-Loire, France

Marriage 1 Rosamond DE CLIFFORD , Queen of England b: ABT 1136 in Of Clifford Castle, Clifford, Herefordshire, England
Married: in (not Married)
Children
William "Longespee" PRINCE OF ENGLAND b: ABT 1173 in Of, , , England

Will looked unbelievingly at the words in front of him. He then typed in "King Henry ii" and came up with the following information:

Henry II was born at Le Mans in 1133. He was the eldest son of the Empress Matilda, daughter of Henry I, by her second marriage to Geoffrey the Fair of Anjou. In 1151, the year of his father's death, he went to Paris to do homage to Louis VII for his duchy. There he met Queen Eleanor, and she fell in love with him. Henry was by no means averse. To steal a king's wife does a great deal for the ego of a young duke; he was as lusty as she, and late in their lives he was still ardently wenching with 'the fair Rosamund' Clifford.

Will then clicked on the name of a child that supposedly was born to his mother.

*William "Longępee" Prince of England
born about 1173 England
died 7 March 1225/26 England
buried Cathedral, Salisbury, Wiltshire, England

father:
*Henry II "Plantagenet" King of England
born 5 March 1133 Le Mans, Sarthe, France
died 6 July 1189 Chinon, Indre-et-Loire, France
buried 8 July 1189 Fontevrault Abbey, Fontevrault, Maine-Et-Loire, France

mother:
*Rosamond de Clifford
born about 1136 Clifford Castle, Clifford, Herefordshire, England
died about 1176 Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England
buried about 1176 Godstow Nunnery, Wolvercote, Oxfordshire, England
(not married)

He sat there bewildered. My mommy had a baby named William? That baby is me? He did some further investigating. As he typed in 'Queen Eleanor', the following appeared on the computer screen---

Eleanor of Aquitaine: She was queen of both France (1137 – 1152) and England (1154 – 1204), and had 8 children, including King Richard I (the lionheart) and King John (lackland).
Born in France in 1122, Eleanor was always a feisty child – a red head with a temper to match. At the age of 15 her father died – leaving her Ruler of Aquitaine. As she was a woman carrying vast amounts of land, she had to marry fast so a man would be left in charge of the kingdom she was carrying, as this was not a fit job for a woman.

Eleanor married Prince Henry, a violent Englishman with a fiery temper. People were shocked at this marriage as Henry was a lot younger than Eleanor.
Two years later, Henry became King of England, Eleanor Queen. This was now a great move for Henry, as since Eleanor owned Aquitaine, and had once jointly owned the whole of France – Henry now had a claim to the French throne too.
However, Henry was foolish enough to take up a lover – The beautiful Rosamond de Clifford. Eleanor found out – and the story goes that to keep Rosamond safe Henry hid her in a secret cellar in the centre of a large maze. But Eleanor found her way to Rosamond.
“Take your pick,” she said, “The dagger or the poison?”
Rosamond threw heself onto the Queen's mercy but the queen just laughed. Rosamond picked the dagger to get it over with. But Eleanor then picked up the poison, and killed Rosamond. She did not divorce Henry, however, as the two of them had already produced 4 sons – Henry, Richard, Geoffrey and John.

Will sat there, confused. This Eleanor--is this MY Aunt Eleanor? Are these my brothers? And did my mommy marry this King Henry?
And is this King Henry my REAL father?
Will clicked off the computer and sat there. SpongeBob and SquarePants were the farthest thing from his mind.


MUST I CALL YOU "MOM"?...............by Coralynn

Slim feels a little guilty about accompanying his Dad and "Trix," his new stepmother, to Pleasantville.
He's not all that happy about his father's visit, but, after assuring the man that he didn't (quote) 'have a pot to piss in,' (unquote), part of him relishes the prospect of sticking it to WandaSue, who has always had an adversarial relationship with their father as well as most of the other people on the planet.

"Is that her?" Trix asks as they see a woman leave the apartment building.
"No. That woman is too thin to be her," Lem informs Trix, "WandaSue is big hipped, big!"
Trix continues to peer out the car window, looking for the elusive stepdaughter with tons of money, at least according to Slim. She yanks at her mini-skirt, which is riding up, and pulls down the bottom of her tube top, which is barely adequate to cover her shockingly ample bosom.
She wants to make a good impression on WandaSue, should the younger woman ever appear, which doesn't look likely. She just put a new application of 'red to the max' from Clairol in her hair the night before, plus even purchased a new lipstick, fire-engine red.
"How many exits are there to that building?" Lem asks Slim.
"Not sure, Dad. WandaSue hasn't exactly made me welcome to her place, not since the falling out."
"What was that about anyway?"
"Oh, there were so many things......first, she blackmailed Billy Bob Montgomery, because, as you may know, they were never legally divorced....."
"She's still married to him?" Lem is mentally counting the money.
"Yeah. Then she's gone after a lot of my new friends, you know, the ones without police records."
"Hmmmm, why would she do that?" Lem asks.
"Must be jealousy is all I can think of," Slim says, "but I like them a lot. They treat me with respect."
"Any of them rich?" Trix asks from the back seat.
"Most of them are rich, but they're nice, real nice. One of them owns a fitness center and gave me a job there."
"Got a key to the place?" Lem's mind goes into overdrive again.
"Why?"
"Well, all the equipment is expensive. We could sell it to a 'fence' and made a big....."
"Absolutely not!" Slim turns on his father angrily.
Lem gives forth with one of his death-rattle chuckles, not pursuing the subject any further.

"There she is!" Slim points to someone exiting the building.
They just sit there for a moment trying to figure out the best approach. Trix is so eager to meet her new stepdaughter she leaps from the car and runs over to where WandaSue is putting a large plastic bag of trash in the communal dumpter.
"HI!" Trix smiles broadly, which, unfortunately shows teeth not seen by a dentist in fifteen or more years.
WandaSue is leeery, "Who the hell are you?"
"I'm your new Mom!" Trix tells her, as if this is a piece of good news to the other woman.
"In a pig's eye!" WandaSue laughs in her face. "Did that no-good piece of trash named Lem Skaggs put you up to this? Is this a joke? Did you just come from the national hillbilly convention? What?"
Trix does have feelings under all that heavy makeup, and is feeling hurt. She lets a tear escape her Tammy Faye Baker look-alike eyes and says sadly, "I wanted us to be friends."
"Not likely, toots!" WandaSue is resolute, and turns away to return to her apartment when she sees her Dad walking quickly toward her. "@#*&$%" she yells and makes for the entrance door, but finds that the key to the building is not in her pocket the way she thought it was.
This costs her in timing, as before she knows it she's being given a bear-hug by the one man in the world she detests more than any other......more than BB, more than the rich snobs on Winding Willow, more than Hitler, more than Hannabel Lechter, more than....
"Well," Lem holds her firmly by the shoulders so that she cannot escape, "If it isn't my favorite daughter! So glad you've agreed to join us for steak!" and yanks her toward the car. Now, as scrawny as this guy is, he has muscles like iron, and, try as she might, WandaSue is unsuccessful in breaking his grip and soon finds herself seated in the backseat of a car next to the woman who said she was her new Mom, a woman so garish that she makes WandaSue look like she's from high society.


ABBY ON THE TRAIL..........by Coralynn

Abby goes to the metal safe where her legal papers are stored.
Rummaging through, it takes but a minute to locate her birth certificate. Eagerly she examines it under the light from her desk lamp. Her mother's name is on the document as well as her father's. OK, so she was married to Dad when I was born, that doesn't prove anything, she muses.
She then notices the birth weight written on the certificate. It looks like it was tampered with. She gets out a magnifying glass and positions it over the numbers and sees that the 4 lbs 8 oz has been written in with a slightly different type than the rest of the information.
"This is when it pays to be on the police force," she says to the empty room as she goes to a database and requests a copy of her birth certificate after typing in her police access code. They'll probably just send it back without realizing I'm asking for my own b.c., she thinks.
She's put a 'rush' on this, but realizes it could still take a while, time she can spend looking for other documents about her life. She hopes against hope that her mother doesn't return to the apartment after doing her own errands, but goes straight to the restaurant where they agreed to meet.

She's surprised to find a Hospital Certificate in the file; one she had never noticed before, or if she had, hadn't bothered to look at closely. It has the same parental information, but where the birth weight is written in, it states 8 lb 8 oz. She sits there looking at this, transfixed. Her mother had told her she was born 6 or 8 weeks early, a real preemie that they had to put in an isolette with nurses monitoring her constantly. This has become such an integral part of the family verbal history that until now she'd assumed was correct. Who would make UP such a story if it were not true?>br>
She goes back to the computer and sees that a response has arrived from the vital records department in California. She clicks open the attached file and the picture of her original birth certificate appears. She looks for the birth weight. 8 lbs 8 oz.
She sits there, stunned. Now what do I do? she asks herself, do I tell my Mom that I know her guilty secret? Is this sufficient evidence to point to James Livingston as my biological father? The evidence may be cirumstantial, but it's compelling.
She prints out two copies of the birth certificate just sent to her, puts one in the file and one in her purse. Looking at her watch, she realizes that if she leaves her apartment right now she'll be just in time to meet her mother at the Garden of Earthly Delights restaurant.


INQUISITIVE WILL.....by Terri

"Over by the window, John." Rose said.
A chair was slid over to the front window.
"No, I don't like it. How about over in this corner?"
More sliding. More moving. Finally John exploded.
"For crying out loud, Rose! Why don't we just make a diagram on the computer and arrange it in cyberspace?"
Rose stood there and said, "No, I have to get a feeling for it. It just doesn't..FEEL right!"
John wiped the sweat off his brow with his arm. "You are killin' me, woman!"

Will came into the living room.
John said, "Hey, sport! You're mama is going to destroy me!"
Will sat down on the chair and slouched.
Rose said, "What is the problem, pouty-puss?"
Will just shrugged. Rose felt his forehead. "Are you warm? Do you have a fever?"
Will shook his head. He said, "Mommy...are you alright? You and Aunt Eleanor? You don't hate each other, do you?"
Rose laughed, "Of course not, Will! What brought that on?"
Will looked at her with troubled eyes. "Mommy, how many times have you been married?"
Rose hugged Will and looked over his head at John. John gave her one of those 'what shall we do?' gestures.
She said,"Will, I have only been married twice. You know Mr. Montgomery. He was my first husband. Now I am married to Daddy here."
Will broke away and looked at her and then John. "But he's not my real daddy."
John said quietly, "Will, I couldn't love you any more than if you were my natural son."
Will blurted out, "Mommy, who is my daddy? Where is he?"
Rose got down on his level and said, "Will, the man who is your natural father is dead. There is no need to concern yourself with it. You were an toddler when he was gone."
Will nodded and gave his mother a hug like he was afraid she would disappear. Rose said, "Why don't you go upstairs and start unpacking your boxes? I'll be up in a bit."
Will went upstairs. Rose turned to John and said, "What do you think brought this on, John?"
"I don't know. Kids get strange notions."
Rose bit her lip and asked, "Do you think we should tell him about...you know...his father?"
John said, "It's your call, honey. Women know this stuff better than men. Now if it was the birds and the bees, maybe..what do you want to do? Do you feel the time is right?"
Rose sat down. "I don't know. How do you tell a six-year-old that his father has been dead for over 800 years? How can I possibly explain to him that his father was Henry Plantagenet and he is the son of a king?"
John sat down next to her and said, "That is only part of it, sweetheart. How are you going to tell him he was whisked away from the royal court as a mere baby and transported into the 21st century? How can you possibly explain William's time travel coin to a child--brilliant child that he is."
Rose sighed and said, "I don't know. Maybe the time is not right yet. I'll just have to let him think he's a child of this century. Now--do you think that chair would look better over by the fireplace?"
John groaned and stood up and started shoving furniture. Again.

They didn't notice the small figure sitting on top of the stairs, hearing the entire conversation. Will thought, 'It's true. Everything I read is true. This takes some thinking through' and he went into his room and shut the door.


CAT OUT OF THE BAG........by Coralynn

Abby and her mother, Marcella, arrive at the restaurant at the same time and walk in together, arm in arm.
After being seated and giving their orders, Marcella remarks, "I hate to go home so soon, dear, but your father has social obligations I'm expected to attend. I wish we lived closer! You're my only child, and I miss you terribly."
"Why is that, mother?"
"Why is....what?"
"Why didn't you and Dad have more children? I would have loved to have had siblings."
"Well, I guess it just wasn't meant to be," Marcella tries to brush it off.
"I know why," Abby hopes her wild guess doesn't ruin her relationship with her mother, but plunges in regardless, "Because Dad had mumps when he was around eighteen and it rendered him sterile."
Marcella is visibly alarmed, "How did you know that?"
"Just a hunch, mother, but I see that my hunch was right. Now, being that Dad was sterile, where did I come from?" She asks as she takes the printout of her birth certificate out of her purse and pushes it across the table.
Marcella looks at it and blanches.
"I wasn't a preemie at all, not a 8 pounds 8 ounces!"
"Where did you get this?" Marcella pushes the paper back across the table.
"I can access all manner of things because I'm on the police force," Abby says matter-of-factly, then changes her tone to one of intensity, "I know that Dad is not my biological father. Who is?"
Marcella, not being prepared for this, just sits there, mute.
"It's James Livingston, isn't it?"
Marcella reaches into her purse and pulls out a Kleenex, which she dabs at the corners of her eyes, as tears have formed. "Yes," she admits in a soft, defeated tone.
Abby reaches across the table and gently puts her hand on her mother's arm, "I would probably do exactly what you did all these years, mother. I'm not angry, but now that I'm an adult I feel I should know the truth."
"He would have been a terrible father, terrible! With the drugs and shenanighans, with the crazy new-age ideas he had, with his mental instability......I didn't want you exposed to any of that."
"I appreciate that, truly I do, and I thank you for shielding me from him, but since he's my real father, I'm going to get to know him better."
Marcella looks stricken, "No! He's not a good influence!"
"But I'm a woman grown now, mother. Do you think that knowing him will turn me into some wild-eyed hippie?"
"No, no, I don't suppose so."
"OK, then, don't worry about it. I have to know, though, how was Woodstock""
Marcella's laughter rings out across the restaurant as she finally admits it, "Oh Abby, it was a blast!"

MEANWHILE:

"This looks like a great place!" Lem Skaggs pulls into the parking lot of a restaurant with a sign out front saying "Bubba's Victuals: all ya ken eat fer five bucks!"
"Oh, swell," WandaSue gripes.
Slim makes no comment, as he isn't totally comfortable with the situation; not with his Dad and certainly not with WandaSue.
Lem stops the car and steps out, waiting for the others to follow. WandaSue seriously considers making a run for it, but, since she's in unfamiliar territory, plus she doesn't have her car, shrugs and follows the others inside.
Even though it's late morning, the dark interior of the restaurant makes it look like late as night. It's panneled is dark-stained knotty pine, with wagon wheel chandeliers hanging down above each booth, emitting about what you would expect from a 25 watt bulb.
The 'hostess' approaches them and asks, "Four?"
"Right!" WandaSue snaps. Good grief, can't the woman count?
"Smoking or non-smoking?" the waitress also asks.
"Smoking fer shure!" Lem says happily as he pats the pack of Camels he has rolled up in the sleeve of his t-shirt.
"Folla me!" she chirps.
They do, and find themselves in a room even darker than the first one. Apparently people who smoke don't like to see their companions is all WandaSue can figure.
She sits, and is immediately joined by Trix, who playfully pushes in beside her, giggling. "WandaSue, we're going to be best girlfriends!" she says in a voice that sounds for all the world like Goldie Hawn back in her "Laugh In" days.
WandaSue doesn't answer because she can't imagine what to say. The silence doesn't last long, though, as Lem leans across the table at her and says, "Daughter, do I have a deal for you!"
"So ya heard from this traitor, Slim, that I had money, did ya? Well, I used to, but I spent it all," she lies.
"Then how are you living from day to day? What are you using for money for stuff like food.."
"I made some investments and I'm living off the dividends," she continues to lie.
"Well, then, pull yer money out of whatever you invested in, gal, because the opportunity I'm offerin' ya will double it within 6 months, yessirree, just a short six months!"
"And just what might that be?" she's at least curious.
He leans forward even further and tells her in muted tones, lest others in their immediate vacinity overhear, "Solar!"
"Uh huh, solar...........what?"
"Solar power, solar electric, solar everything. It's an idea whose time has come!"
"Can't say you're wrong, but....."
"But nuthin'! I'm in on the ground floor, too. This company is opening up a brand new market, a totally brand new market!"
"Where?"
"Scotland!" he slaps the table, then sits back with a self-satisfied look on his face.
"Uhhh, Scotland?"
"Sure! Those folks have no solar over there. They'll snap these babies up like candy!"
"Don't you need the sun to make solar work?" she asks.
"Sure you do! The sun is the same everywhere, gal!"
"Not in a place where it rains almost every day!" WandaSue tells him, wondering if he has a functioning braincell in his cranium.
"Pshaw! It only rains for 10 minutes in the morning, then the rest of their days are bright sunshine!"
"Where'd ya hear that?"
"From this here brochure," he passes over a brochure done up in a very amateur manner, a detail he has obviously overlooked.
WandaSue reads some of the garbage on the brochure and tells Lem, "This is a scam."
"No! Lookee here, see this?" he reads from the brochure, "William Larkin of Seattle, Washington, recently built a palatial mansion from the money he made investing in Jamieson's Solar Power, Inc."
"Anybody can make up crap like that," she explains, then wonders why she bothers; her Dad is too stupid to question anything.
By now Slim is more than a little uncomfortable. This is the first time Lem has laid out his "fool proof" business plan in Slim's hearing and it's so bogus and ridiculous that he wishes he'd never volunteered WandaSue as a 'potential investor.'
Trix pokes WandaSue and giggles, "We can be rich together, girlfriend!"
"Pardon me," Wandasue says calmly, "but I have to visit the lady's room," then gets up and walks away. She doesn't look for a lady's room, but walks out of the building altogether, pulls out her cellphone and dials 911.
"This is 9-1-1, what is your emergency?"
"A scrawny man, about 5 foot 10, is holding up 'Bubba's Victuals' restaurant. I heard his companion in crime, a very trashy looking woman, call him 'Lem.' You better get the police over here quickly before they make off with the money!"
"Thank you, a patrol car is in the area and will be there within 20 seconds."
"Thank you," Wandasue says calmly, repockets her cell phone as she hears sirens approaching, and sees a Police car pull into the parking lot.
She quickly walks to a store nearby where she can watch the fun from the window. Within about five minutes she sees Lem and Trix being led out of the place in handcuffs.
She dusts off her hands and says, "Well done, babydoll!" before she phones for a cab to take her back to her apartment in Pleasantville.

Travis McGee, super-cop, asks his new 'passengers,' "You aren't from these parts, are you?" a question he likes to ask whenever the opportunity presents iteself.
"We drove up from Texas," Lem replies, "Came to see my son and daughter. We took them out to lunch at that restaurant. I was jest fixin' to pay the bill, standing by the cashier, when you busted in and slapped these cuffs on me and my missus. I don't think that was a very friendly thing to do!"
"We're the Police, buster, and friendship is not our business. We were given a tip that you meant to hold up that place."
"But I didn't! and I wasn't! I was jest payin' the bill!"
"Tell it to the Judge!" Travis says smugly.
When they reach the police station, Travis herds them inside and books them on suspicion of attempted robbery. Alan Carson looks over the paperwork and considers it flimsy, but allows Travis to go ahead with it anyway, thinking that since Travis is on pretty thin ice with the force, that this might be him pounding the last nail into the coffin of his employment.
When Lem and Trix enter the jail cell, a very proper looking woman is already there, pacing and wringing her hands.
Trix, ever the friendliest person on the planet, smiles and asks, "What you in here for?"
"Possession," the woman replies.
"Ooohh, you mean like in 'The Exorcist'?"
"NO, you fool, for possession of.........I can't say it!"
"You mean you had drugs on ya?" Lem can hardly believe a woman dressed like that would be traffiking in drugs.
"I was bringing them TO the police!" Mary Ellen Livingston Montgomery says with as much of an air of superiority as she can, given her circumstances.
Both Lem and Trix bust out laughing, Trix slapping Lem's arm as she says, "That's what they all say, aye Lem?"
Mary Ellen goes to the cell bars and yells out, "Why am I still in here?"
"Nobody paid your bail, that's why!" Travis yells back.
"But my husband, Senator J.R. Montgomery, said he'd have me out of here last night! Double check! I know he's paid by now."
Travis gives the books a cursory glance and grins, "Nope. Looks like your husband isn't all that eager to have you back, toots!"
Lem looks more closely at Mary Ellen, scroudges through his memory banks and when he's found something in there, declares, "Now I remember you! You're Billy Bob Montgomer's snooty mother!"
"I beg your pardon!" she bristles.
"Hey! You and me is in laws! My daughter married your son!"
"Rosamond said her parents lived in England or were dead or both......."
"NO, not that one! WandaSue!"
"Ohhh God!" Mary Ellen looks like she's about to lose her lunch, which, by the way, was not up to her standards when she was forced to consume it by hunger pangs.
"We is family!" Lem chortles.
"I guess that means we're related, girlfriend!" Trix tries to give Mary Ellen a hug, but is repulsed by Mary Ellen pushing her away.
Mary Ellen then goes to the cell bars and yells out, "At least put me in another cell, away from these hillbillies!"
Travis ignores her plea, so Mary Ellen can do nothing but sit down and glare at the white trash her son foolishly let into their lives all those years ago, and curse out J.R. for not bailing her out. DAMN! she thinks, where is he?!"


___________.....by Terri "Will? Daddy and I are going to a movie and out for dinner. So you and Julie are staying at Grandma Celeste's overnight."
Will said, "OK."
Rose continued, " I know it is our first night here, sweetheart, but we may be out late. Grandma Celeste and Poppy William are renting Harry Potter and getting you pizza. Aunt Eleanor and Uncle Jerry will be there too."
Auntie Eleanor? Good! I can ask her questions. She's always honest, Will thought.

Eleanor and Jerry were watching Harry Potte with Will. Julie was curled up in Jerry's lap and asleep. Will wondered how to approach Eleanor. Finally, he mustered up his courage and asked, "Aunt El, can I talk to you?"
Eleanor said, "Sure, dear. What is on your mind?"
He looked at Jerry and said, "Privately? No offense, Uncle Jerry."
Jerry said, "None taken, my boy."
Eleanor raised her eyebrow and said, "Sounds serious."
Will nodded affirmatively. Eleanor then said, "OK--let's go into the kitchen."

Will followed El into the kitchen. She said, "Do you want some chocolate cake and milk?"
Will said, "Not on top of pizza, Aunt El."
She put the cake back and said, 'You're right. And I don't need the calories."
She looked at Will's somber face and said, "Sounds serious, Will. Everything alright?"
Will said, "I don't know. No one wants to tell me. Aunt Eleanor, I know that you know. Please. Tell me about my real father. Tell me about Henry."
Eleanor sat down on the kitchen chair with a thump. She stared at him.
"How much do you know about Henry, Will? And when did you find out?"
Will said, "I was looking for a pencil and the drawer in this desk was stuck. There was a letter that Mommy had written. It must have been something that she changed her mind about sending. She told this Henry that I was now adopted and that he had the other sons. She also told him that he had no parental rights. And that he can sit on his throne and think about it."
Eleanor let out a pent-up breath.
"That's all?"
"No."
"What?"
"She said he was a boring, lousy lover. Whatever that means."
Eleanor tried to suppress a grin. Will continued. "So I went to the computer and logged onto the Google search engine."
Eleanor sat in awe of this child who seemed to know how to handle things. "What did you find?" she asked.
He said, "I found out that Henry the Second and Rosamond de Clifford--Mommy--never married Henry. That she had a baby. That baby is me. I think. But Mommy won't tell me who my real daddy is. And Uncle John--I mean Daddy--gives Mommy a funny look and then she explains it all to me. I just had a couple questions. You always told me the truth, Auntie El. Won't you do so now?"
Eleanor nodded sagely. "Yes, Will. It is time you knew the truth. And I shall tell it to you."

Eleanor asked Will, "How much do you know about your father? And yes, Will, Henry Plantagenet is your father."
Will drew a crumpled piece of paper out of his pajama pocket. "I found this on the internet."
Eleanor scanned the page and then said, "You ARE resourceful, Will. Do you remember...anything? Anything about a castle?"
Will's brow furrowed. "I remember cold dark walls with rugs on them. I remember a scary man. I think they called him John. He always looked at me the way that police officer looks at Daddy. Daddy John, I mean. Like he is a bug he wants to squash.
I don't remember seeing Mommy all that much except that she was beautiful and smelled good. She didn't pay much attention to me then. She was all wrapped up in that man Henry. The one that must be my daddy. I remember one time when there was a party. All sorts of people were dressed funny. And they were acting mad at each other. Poppy William was there. I came down to say goodnight. There was a big chocolate cake and I wanted a taste of it. You were there and you and Mommy were being mean to each other. Fighting over my daddy--my real one. Mommy sent me to bed. I stood on the staircase and watched the party for a little bit. Mommy thought I was in bed. I was just a little kid then."
Eleanor smiled at this. Will continued.
"Then Uncle Henry came and he grabbed Mommy by the wrist. He was real loud and Mommy kicked him in the leg. I ran upstairs because I saw that John guy looking at me on the stairs. Oh, Auntie El, HE HANGS CHILDREN!"
Eleanor patted his arm. "No, he doesn't, Will. That is just a story."
Will said, "Then my mommy was gone. I cried and cried and my real daddy was in a bad mood all the time after that. Then Poppy William came when I was in the garden and he called to me. I walked over his way and then he took me and all of a sudden I saw my mommy. That's all I remember. I didn't see Mommy too much when she was married to Mr. Montgomery. Just on the weekends. Because Mommy said it was better for me with Grandma Celeste and all of you. Then Mommy had Julie and things got better."
Eleanor said, "You remember quite a bit, Will. What more can I tell you?"
Will said, "Can you tell me why we left my real daddy? And what was he like?"
He handed her the paper. "It says here that he had eight children with this Eleanor. And she had red hair. Aunt El? Is that you?"
Eleanor took the paper and scanned it. "Yes, Will. It surely is. I will tell you about it."

"Your mommy and I weren't always best friends, darlin'. In fact, at one time we hated each other. It was like this--Henry was my husband and he left me for your mommy. Well, not really. Henry liked women. But when your mommy came along, Henry fell in love with her and he locked me in a castle so I couldn't bother your mommy and him. I had eight children. Five boys and three girls. My son William died when he was an infant!"
Will cried, "Oh, Aunt El! So terrible for you!"
She patted his hand. "Thank you, sweetie. I think that is what irritated me so much about your mother. She named her baby--you--the same name as the child I had that died. Your father doted on you. As much as he could on any child. Richard, Geoffrey and John are still back at Court. Along with your father."
"But--but I overheard Mommy and Daddy John talking and Mommy said he is dead. That he has been dead for over 800 years."
Eleanor sighed. "This is kind of tricky, Will. At that party--the one you saw--Poppy William assembled all sorts of people through the centuries for a Midsummer Eve's feast. Uncle Henry said some things to your mommy and she told a fib. To get out of---a situation. She told everyone she was going to have a baby. Poppy William offered to take her on a trip and he invited one other person to go along. It was a coin that can take you time-traveling. He hid it and we had to look for it. I found it and Poppy William, your mommy and I were supposed to go to New York City. But we made a mistake and ended up in another time and place. We found Aunt Beth and your daddy John there. We straightened it out and ended up where we were supposed to be. But it turned out your mommy was not going to have a baby after all."

Will asked, "So then what happened?"
Eleanor continued, "We all got jobs. I worked at a Renaissance Festival."
Will's eyes opened wide. "No! What did you do?"
Eleanor laughed. "I jousted. Your mommy got a job at Planet and so did your daddy--John. John and your mommy fell in love but they did a lot of foolish things. One time they went back to Court. There was a lot of trouble and everyone came back and we said we would never go back there. But we had to go back a couple times. There was a problem with your father--Henry. Your mommy swore she would never go back. Anyways, we had a few adventures along the way. Probably the most foolish thing your mommy did was marry Billy Bob Montgomery."
Will said, "He was always nice to me. He let me ride most any horse I wanted to."
Eleanor said, "Yes, he WAS nice to you. But he and your mommy were two different people that never should have been together. Your mommy always loved John." Will asked, "So II have brothers?"
"Yes. Four of them. They are grown now. And a more lively bunch you would be hard put to find!"
Eleanor regaled Will with stories of his brothers. He shrieked with laughter and recoiled in horror at a few stories.
Will asked, "Aunt El, can you tell me about my father?"
Eleanor said, "There are lots of stories, sweetheart. Most of them are true. He was a vital, virile man and he liked women. He was handsome and lusty and lively. Most people liked him. I did at one time."
"What happened?"
"He was a jerk, dear."
Will laughed. Eleanor said, " Do you think now you should go to bed?"
Will got up reluctantly. "I guess so. Thanks, Aunt Eleanor. I could always count on you to tell me the truth."
Eleanor took the little boy into her arms and gave him a squeeze. "I have to tell you, Will. I love you as if you were my own."
Will gave her a kiss and hug back. "I love you too, Aunt Eleanor!"
As he turned to go, he said, "OH! I forgot to ask you. Would you have given my mommy a choice of poison or a dagger?"
Eleanor laughed. "That is a legend that is not true, Will. I would never have hurt your mommy. She's one of my best friends."
Will grinned and said, "I didn't think so!"
He scampered up to bed.
Eleanor looked thoughtful and said to herself, 'at least I don't THINK I would have...would I? No, I couldn't...'
She laughed lightly to herself, turned out the kitchen light and joined Jerry in the livingroom.


LATE NIGHT ADVICE.......................by Coralynn

The hour is late, but Abby needs to talk with Jeremy about her Mother's revelations. She can't sleep anyway, so she dials up his number, hoping she doesn't awaken him from a sound sleep.
It's picked up on the first ring. "Pennypacker here!" he answers, sounding like a person who has not been awakened, but is still up.
"Oh good, Jeremy! I was afraid I'd wake you up!"
"Nope! Always good to hear your voice no matter what the hour!"
"I have a situation here. Long story. Remember how I told you that I had suspicions about my paternity?"
"Right."
"It turns out they were well founded. My mother finally admitted that I'm the daughter of James Livingston, not the father who raised me, though I have no complaint about him, he's been wonderful, but so is knowing the truth."
"Ahhhh, I'm not surprised. I thought you were on the right track with that one. So what's the 'situation'?"
"Well, I don't think Jim has any reason to believe he has me as a daughter. My Mom didn't tell him she was pregnant, but just went ahead and married my father, you know the one who raised me, and of course his name is on the birth certificate."
"Did he know or suspect you weren't his child?"
"Must have! He had mumps at 18 and it sterilzed him. When my parents weren't able to have any more children, he had to realize then, if not before, that I was not his biological child. Plus....I was born 7 months into their marriage and weighed 8 pounds 8 ounces!"
"Oh yeah, that would be a clue alright!"
"Now, back to what do I do about Jim? Do I just march over to his house and, when he opens the door, greet him by saying 'Hi, Daddy!'"
"You should talk to him, of course. But lead into it a tad slower than that," Abby can hear the amusement in Jeremy's voice, "How is your Mom dealing with the fact that the cat is now out of the bag?"
"Ya know, Jeremy, she is so relieved that she doesn't have to carry that big secret anymore, she's like a different person. We spent hours earlier this evening talking about her experience at Woodstock. She even looked 35 years younger while she was reliving the fun she had. At first she was shocked that I'd approach Jim Livingston with my news, but after while she said it was only right that I should let him know."
"Woodstock was 35 years ago, and you're closer to 25. A ten year pregnancy?"
"No, no, she went back for the 10 year reunion and again took up with Jim."
"Ah, that explains it."
After a pause, Abby tells him, "I'm going over to 244 Winding Willow tomorrow morning. Want to go with me?"
"I'd better not. It should be just between the two of you. We're on duty tomorrow, though......are you going to show up in your uniform?"
"Yes. I hope I have the time to do this, being on duty and all, but somehow I'll work it into my schedule."
"Hope he doesn't think you're there for a drug bust!" Jeremy laughs.
Abby joins his laughter, "Even better than 'Hi Daddy' would be 'you have the right to remain silent.....'"

on to next part of STORY
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