Chapter 76

I

“It’s not fair!” Rachel yelled. “It’s just not fair! We didn’t even get to say goodbye!”

The tiny redheaded nine year old then dissolved into tears. Her sister put her arm around her, but Rachel was having none of it.

“Why is everyone dying?” she demanded. “Why is God taking everyone I love away from me?”

“Rachel Regina, that’s enough!” her mother said sternly; “I will not permit you to talk like that! Things like this happen, and it’s not fair, but there is little we can do to change the situation. Remember all the good times we had with Grandpa Jacob and not be mad that he’s gone.”

Rachel looked at her mother and said, “I’m sorry, Mama. Daddy dies, then Jack dies, now Grandpa Jacob dies. It’s not fair!”

“Mom, is Miri coming home from college?” asked Jaime. “Does she even know yet?”

“I told her first,” Julia said; “She’s going to try and be here later this afternoon.”

“Is Kelly coming with her?” asked Zach.

“I don’t know,” said Julia; “Miri is going to call before she starts out this way. We’ll find out then.”

The kids left the room at that point, leaving Julia alone with her thoughts. Jeremiah and Nik went back to their own families to tell them the news, and Jordan and David went to the hospital to see Kimber and the baby.

I hope you three are having fun, Julia thought, now that Jacob has joined the trifecta of people I’ve lost in the last five years. Maybe Rachel is right, that it’s not fair.

Julia had to stop thinking like that. If it’s not acceptable for her nine year old to do it, then she shouldn’t be doing it either.

I suppose I should be making plane reservations so we can go to the funeral, she thought as she picked up her phone from the coffee table and flipped it open.

She sat back down on the sofa. I don’t get it, she thought. Jacob just wasn’t that sick. Was he? Was there stuff about his health that even his children didn’t know?

“Even Christine kept her cancer to herself and Jacob before she died,” Julia said aloud. “What’s the big freaking deal about that? Had you said something, Dad, you might still be alive. Or is this how you wanted it?”

She sighed, wondering when Miri was going to call to say she was on her way home.

===

Miri recalled to John how she was awakened from sleep when her mother called with the news that her grandfather had passed away. She was trying not to cry in front of him again, but she was failing miserably at it. He had put his hand on hers, telling her that if she needed to cry, it was okay.

“Then no sooner than I get off the phone, Kelly had seen the news of Grandpa Jacob’s passing on the news! What if I had seen that before my mother called?” Miri asked.
“Then some news organizations would have a lot to answer for, I’d imagine,” John said; “That’s something that you’d have to ask your aunt the journalist.”

“Oh, in the same phone call, Mom told me that Aunt Kimber had her baby the same day that Grandpa Jacob died,” Miri said; “I should at least call her and congratulate her and Jamey.”

“Jamey’s her husband?” asked John.

“Not quite yet,” Miri said, smiling for the first time since he arrived; “They’re getting married, probably after the first of the year. They really haven’t set a date.”

“Did she have a boy or a girl?” asked John; “The last time I asked, you said they weren’t sure.”

“A little boy,” Miri said; “Andrew James. His parents are calling him Drew.”


“Andrew was my uncle’s name,” John said; “Remember me telling you my mother was a twin. Andrew, or Uncle Andy, is her brother. He was older by about half an hour.”

“This is the one that died right after you escorted my family to Wyoming, isn’t it?”

“Yes, he was,” John said; “He was my father figure after my dad died when I was fourteen.”

“So you know exactly how I’m feeling right now, don’t you?” asked Miri; “Maybe that’s why you came up here, you just didn’t know it yet.”

“I came here to surprise you, Miri,” John said, laughing; “I was hoping I’d get to spend part of my leave with you.”

Miri thought about that, then said, “I have to take this important exam later, then I’m going home to Chicago to be with my family. I was going to ask Kelly to bring me, but I don’t want her to miss classes because of me.”

“I’ll be happy to take you home, Miri,” John said, grinning; “I just couldn’t see you taking a bus.”

“You would? I’d appreciate that more than you know, John!”

“Then it’s settled; I’ll take you home.”

John looked at Miri. She’d been through enough for one day, he thought.

Then the thought that came unbidden more often than not: I’m going to marry you, Miri. Someday soon.

“John, you okay?” Miri asked, seeing the puzzled expression on his face.

He shook his head to clear the thought. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he said; “Just tired. I better go find a place to stay and get some rest.”

===

II

Wow, almost ten pounds, huh? David thought as he held his new grandson for the first time. I don’t think you got that from my side of the family.

Drew slept away, unaware that anyone new had picked him up.

“He’s a beautiful baby, Kimber,” Jordan was saying; “You know that hard part starts now.”

“Oh, I know, Mom,” Kimber said between yawns; “I’ve changed his diapers about a dozen times and he’s not even 24 hours old yet!”

“I’ll have to take pictures to send to your sister and brothers,” said Jordan; “Niki wanted to come, but her doctor wouldn’t clear her to travel. Not after we told her about Jacob.”

“I’m sorry he’s gone, Mom,” Kimber said; “I liked him, even if I thought he was a little scary looking. He was always so good with kids. How did Julia take it?”

“Not well, I’m afraid,” David said; “Understandable considering he was her father. Rachel actually took it worse. She thinks it’s not fair that God is taking everyone she loves.”

“I can understand that,” said Kimber; “She’s always been so sensitive. I’ll be ready to string up the first boy who breaks her heart.”

“Get in line, my dear,” David said; “Right behind her mother, siblings, me and Mom.”

Kimber sighed. Of all of Julia’s kids she worried about the most, it was Rachel. Getting back to the subjects at hand, she said,

“I guess I won’t be going to the funeral either, seeing as I just gave birth. Weird how Drew comes into the world just as Jacob was leaving it.”

“Julia, Miri, and Niki all said the same thing,” Jordan said; “But let’s not read anything into that, okay?”

Just then, Drew started to fuss, and his grandfather gave him back to his mother. “There, there, Drew,” Kimber said softly; “Let’s see what you need. You just ate so that can’t be it, so it must be a dirty diaper. What do you think?”

Jordan handed Kimber one of the newborn size diapers and she changed him there on the bed. “Icky-poo, Drew!” Kimber cooed at him as she cleaned him up. He settled down into a contented state, and Kimber checked the umbilical stump, making sure that it wasn’t caught up in the diaper.

“There we go, Drew, all clean and dry. You wanna go hang out with Nonna and Grandpa for a while?” she asked him. She wrapped him up and handed him to Jordan. She and David spent the next few minutes talking to their newest grandchild.

Kimber just shook her head. She’d never seen her parents so silly as they were when playing with an infant. At least this time, it was her child they were getting silly over. She settled back into the bed with a smile on her face and fell fast asleep.

===

“Miss Summers,” Miri’s Psychology professor said over the phone later that morning, “I’ve seen the
reports of your grandfather’s death on the news today, and I’d be willing to allow you to take your midterm after the funeral.”

“Dr. Feinstein, that’s very kind of you,” Miri said; “The funeral is Friday. I can take it next Tuesday when I return to campus.”

Miri got the feeling the professor wanted to say something more, but instead, she said,

“Will 4pm be good for you, Miss Summers?”

“Yes, 4pm will be fine.”

“Please extend my condolences to your family,” Dr. Feinstein said.

“I shall, and thank you for understanding,” Miri said; “I know you don’t usually make these kinds of arrangements.”

“As important as your grandfather and his late wife were to the country after the Occupation ended, it was the least I could do, Miss Summers.”

“Again, thank you.”

The professor closed out the call as Miri stared at the phone in her hand.

Kelly came in from class to see this as she walked inside.

“What was that about? Nothing wrong at home, is there?” she asked.

“No, Kel,” Miri said; “Dr. Feinstein just called me and is allowing me to take my midterm next week. She just doesn’t do that sort of thing. Even her syllabus says, ‘NO MAKE UPS UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES’. All in caps no less. Yet, she’s allowing me to do just that.”

“She’s seen the news, I take it.”

“That’s what she told me when she first called,” Miri said; “I’m getting special treatment because of who my grandfather was. I didn’t really want that.”

“Sometimes, maybe it’s good you have the family you do,” Kelly said; “I doubt they’d do that for me.”

“I still don’t like the special treatment. I just want to be Miri Summers.”

“You know that will never happen,” Kelly said; “Not with who your mother is.”

Miri sighed, knowing that Kelly was right. Kelly then asked,

“Did you have a good visit with John?”

“I did,” Miri said; “He offered to take me home later today. He’s sleeping in my room. I got permission from the lead RA for him to be up here.”

“I would have taken you home, Mir,” Kelly said.

“I don’t want you to miss class because of me,” Miri said; “If John had not come by to see me, I was either going to ask one of my uncles to come get me, or take a bus.”

“I wouldn’t let you take a bus,” Kelly said; “I’d have gladly skipped classes to see that you got home safely. Buses aren’t all that safe for girls like us.”

“You forget I’ve had weapons training,” Miri said, laughing; “Anyone try anything with me and he may end up leaving the bus on a stretcher!”

Kelly laughed; “This is true... I remember that campus safety course they make us take. You totally embarrassed the instructor because you called him out on things he got wrong.”

“Had any of the girls tried what he was proposing, it could have had the opposite effect of what it was intended for,” Miri said; “Is it any wonder they asked me to teach it next fall?”

“Nope.”

Changing the subject, Kelly asked, “When are you planning on leaving to return to Chicago?”

“I want to get out of here by three,” said Miri; “John said he’d be up by one, so he should be getting up soon.”

“He’s kinda sweet on you, as my grandfather would say,” Kelly said.

“Yeah, I know. I feel the same about him,” Miri said; “But John is still going to ask for my mom’s permission to date me while he’s in town.”

“That’s cool,” Kelly said; “Speaking of my grandfather, should I tell him and Krysta that I’m coming alone for fall break?”

Miri thought about it for a moment, then said, “No, don’t change the plans we already have. I’ll need some time away from the current drama by that time.”

“Agreed,” Kelly said. “I better grab some lunch and get along to my next class at one. Have a safe trip home and extend my sympathies to your family from me.”

“I will, Kelly,” Miri said as she hugged her roommate; “Zach will be disappointed you aren’t coming with me. I think he has a small crush on you.”

Kelly laughed. “It was pretty obvious the last time we were there, wasn’t it?”

“Zach wears his heart on his sleeve sometimes,” Miri said; “He’ll get over it.”

===

III

Natasha made it her mission to contact as many of the former BlackOps members that she could still find to inform them of their former trainer’s death. She figured that it would keep her busy so she didn’t have to think about Morbus actually being dead.

Hell, he was fucking indestructible, she thought. I guess it was divine providence that he lived as long as he did.

Everyone she contacted was as shocked as she was that Jacob, whom many from BlackOps still called Morbus as a point of reference, had died. Even Rebekah would make the journey to fly back to Washington to attend the funeral with her daughters. Her husband, Chris, was working on a movie and couldn’t get away. Natasha hadn’t seen Rebekah in nearly ten years. She hadn’t even come for Natasha’s wedding in July. She was attending another funeral in Vermont where she grew up at that time.

After she contacted all the members she could find, she closed her tablet and put it aside.

She then let her mind wander back to when she realized that it wasn’t love for Morbus she felt when she was eighteen; it was gratitude for saving her from her previous life.

It was her life between the ages of nine to 18 she never wanted to remember. She had scars on her back to remind her of that when she least expected it.

===

There was a lot not right with her mother. It was like she was faking it.

Helene DeWitt had figured out that the woman in her mother’s body was Chastity. There had been a lot of hints that her younger sisters didn’t pick up on. Not even her father suspected.

No, Chastity waited until she and Helene were alone to drop some of the biggest hints.

The first big one was not being allowed to go to ballet rehearsal. Helene found her way around that, as she just asked her father and he’d take her.

On the way to rehearsal one afternoon, Helene asked her father, “Have you noticed anything, um, odd about Mom lately?”

“Not really, princess,” Christian had said. “Perhaps she’s just not feeling well. She did have that bout with the flu in June that left her feeling out of sorts.”

“Maybe, Dad,” she said; “but what I’m thinking is more, I don’t know, mental. Like she’s tired.”

“It could be exhaustion,” said Christian; “She’s been spending a lot of late nights in her studio getting ready for her big gallery opening later this month.”

“Maybe you could make sure she sees her doctor, just to rule it out?” asked Helene.

And, her mother had gone to the doctor and she was exhausted and was told to rest. But when she showed up unexpectantly in Helene’s bedroom at odd hours, Helene knew that something just wasn’t right.

Kathryn’s voice didn’t even sound like hers, Helene noticed. This is too weird to ignore. If this gets any more weird, I’m going to have to tell Dad what I suspect, she thought.

By the time Helene told her father, it could be too late to stop the motion of events. At least, from her end.

But fate, Helene’s half sister, and Kelly’s roommate from college would intervene.

===

IV

By two that afternoon, Miri was ready to head back to Chicago to see her family. With John rested, he would be able to drive the car he had rented. Kelly hadn’t returned from class, so Miri left a note for her.

“Ready to go, Miri?” asked John.

Miri sighed. “I wish it wasn’t under these circumstances, but there’s nothing I can do about that now. Let me call my mom and tell her we’re on our way.”

“How is she going to react knowing it’s me bringing you home and not Kelly?” he asked.

“We’re going to find out,” Miri said; then, “Mom, it’s me. I’m on my way. No, I didn’t want her to miss classes because of me. John Crossley came to surprise me. Yes, he’s here now and he’s bringing me. Yes, Mom, I know. I’m not ten. Okay, we’ll see you when we get there. How’s Kimber and the baby? Awesome, can’t wait to see him!”

John watched all this, and listening to Miri’s side of the conversation got an idea of what her mother was saying. He had a bemused smile on his face.

Miri closed out the call and looked over at him. “What are you grinning like a cheshire cat about?”

“Your mom told you no hanky panky, didn’t she, when you told her I’d be bringing you home?” he asked.

Rolling her eyes, she said, “Yes, she did say something like that. ‘No fooling around, Mirielle,’ she said.”

“Well, I’d worry if your mom didn’t say anything, Miri,” John said; “At least she’s concerned for your welfare and that I won’t take advantage of you in your time of grief.”

Miri grabbed her duffle bag and John took it from her. “What kind of man would I be if I didn’t take the lady’s bag?” he asked her as they went down the stairs to his rental car.

===

“Well...” Julia said. “Miri’s on her way.”

“Who’s bringing her?” asked Zach; “Kelly?”

“No, John Crossley is,” Julia said; “He went up to the school to surprise Miri, and he’d heard about Grandpa Jacob’s death on the news at the airport.”

“What if Miri saw that first, Mom?” asked Jaime.

“Then there would be hell to pay,” Julia said; “Now, we’ll need a place for the sergeant to sleep. Zach, do you mind sharing?”

“Yes, I do mind sharing.”

“I said, Zachary,” Julia said sternly, “do you mind sharing?”

Zach looked at the floor and said, “No, ma’am, I don’t mind.”

Julia looked at her son, saying, “Good. He obviously can’t stay with Miri in her room can he?”

“Why not, Mom?” asked Rachel.

“Because he’s an adult and Miri is still a teenager.”

“He’s not that much older than her,” Rachel said.

“Rachel, the reasons are a little over your head right now,” Julia said.

“Mom, I’m not a baby,” said Rachel. “I know about sex, and I know how babies come to be. But Sgt. John and Miri aren’t going to do that.”

You certainly have more faith in their ability to refrain from temptation than I do, Rachel, Julia thought.

“No they’re not, because Sgt. John is going to bunk with your brother.”

Julia then turned and walked out of the living room and into the kitchen to make plane reservations for their second trip to Washington, DC in three months.

Dammit, Jacob, she thought.  

===

Christine hadn’t been feeling well since she learned of Jacob’s death. She hadn’t been feeling well for a while, but it all seem to hit her since Secret Service agent Parkerson came to visit her the morning before.

She figured it was the flu and that she’d get over it soon.

This is not a good time for me to have the damn flu, she thought. I have too much work to do. I need to go see Todd, I need to find time to study for the Staff Sergeant’s exam in December. Being sick is not an option.

What she found out about her “flu” would put a lot of things into perspective.

Then she’d have some decisions to make which at that moment weren’t even on her radar.

===