Final legacy of the Potomac.
Chapter 1 - "Shannon, Ireland - Loren Singer's arrival".
A/N Back by popular demand and building upon the Chapter 11 Epilogue for my 2018 story "Resurrection 2013 - the return of Loren Singer".
My original story rescued Loren Singer from the river in 2003 and, after a ten-year coma, brought her back to the land of the living and her ten-year-old daughter Lorna. Since I completed the "Resurrection 2013" universe, a number of readers and reviewers have asked me to extend beyond the completed circle of the river story and to bring Loren to Ireland to meet Declan's mourning parents. This will introduce those characters to Lorna - the granddaughter whom they (and Declan, her biological father) never knew about. You may read this as a stand-alone story, but it would also pay you a dividend to read the original "Resurrection 2013" AU story and particularly its 11th (Epilogue) chapter. Mike 05-Jan-2019
A/N (added 05-01-2019): They aren't mine, I'm just playing with them - apart from any character created by myself". This is a fictional story, in a fictional Alternative Universe, about fictional characters who entertained us in a fictional TV series between 1995 and 2005. I simply wanted a more-positive outcome for one story-line in the "JAG" canon - which was the original inspiration behind "Resurrection 2013". After all, isn't that what fanfiction is all about? Mike.
A/N: Allusion to canon: "Capital Crime" (S07Ep12), first broadcast on 08-Jan-2002; "Family Business" (S08Ep03), first broadcast on 08-Oct-2002. Allusion to canon: "Ice Queen" (S08Ep20 - the discovery) and "Meltdown" (S08Ep21 - the resolution). My AU branched off after these episodes of "JAG" in their 2003 timeline - the point at which "JAG" also spun off the excellent "NCIS" which continues today in 2019. This story is published to mark the 16th anniversary of Loren Singer's unplanned swim in the Potomac.
Characters from FFNET - L Singer; C Imes; S Zhukov. This story picks up in 2017, four months after Loren had married Sergei on the 14th anniversary of her unplanned swim in the Potomac at the hands of Teddy Lindsey. My grateful thanks to "Syrae" as my helpful beta-reader
Final A/N 05-01-2019: Stand-alone two-chapter story, but set in my 'Resurrection 2013 – the return of Loren Singer' alternate universe.
Mike: England, 05-Jan-2019. (reviewed by Rae - Ch 1 - 11-12-2018)
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Saturday, 27th May 2017 09:10hrs EST
Home of Loren Zhukov-Singer and Sergei Zhukov-Singer
73xx Old Dominion Drive, McLean, Virginia, 22101
Loren cleared the breakfast items into the dishwasher, tidied the kitchen and, taking a glass of fruit juice, wandered into the family room.
Her 14-year-old daughter Lorna was being escorted by their neighbour Carolyn Imes. Carolyn had volunteered to take Lorna to the Memorial Day rehearsals at her school (Lorna was a keen member of the school marching band, where she was in final preparations for the Memorial Day parade the next day).
Carolyn's stepdaughter Lizzie, along with Carolyn's husband David, was visiting the stables, where Lizzie had expressed an interest in taking her dressage riding further.
Carolyn had continued (at Loren's insistence and with her active encouragement) to play a close and active part in Lorna's continued development once Loren had emerged from her resurrection in 2013 and had come home from her rehabilitation in 2015. Loren had steadily settled into her role of being a "new mom" to Lorna, steadily taking over the role from Carolyn's excellent job of guardianship. This was facilitated by the location of their two homes, sitting next door to one another and being linked by a covered walkway.
The home had been built after Loren had finally consented to break into the trust fund which her deceased parents had established for her (another benefit from Tracy Manetti's dogged search for all Singer assets as she had built the case for long-term care and guardianship, way back in late 2003). Loren's home-coming in June 2015 had enabled Carolyn to concentrate on her own unexpected pregnancy, ahead of a scheduled birth of the Imes twins in November 2015.
As part of the expanded "family support programme", Lizzie was happy to help out Lorna when babysitting Carolyn and David's 19-month-old twins Rae and Richard, who had arrived a month early, slightly over three months after Carolyn and David had married in late July of 2015.
All family members who were in the area gathered regularly for what had become the traditional weekly "Old Dominion Drive Sunday lunch" at Loren's. This had started out as a house-warming event for Loren's new home, then assumed a place of permanence in the weekly calendar. By tradition, an empty place setting was always laid - both to honour those who had passed on and also to be able to welcome any last-minute surprise guests.
Carolyn would usually walk across on a Saturday evening to assist with preparing the vegetables ahead of Sunday, enabling David to concentrate on spending quality time with his first-born daughter Lizzie. Both Carolyn and David had been determined that Lizzie should not, in any way, feel "left out" by the arrivals of the new twins, so Saturday night was "quality time for first daughter".
Tracy Manetti and her family usually dropped by on the first Sunday of every month, to catch up, share gossip and compare the growth spurts in the various offspring.
Loren had almost forgotten Declan (Lorna's biological father) by the time she had moved into her new home up on Old Dominion Drive in June 2015. Lorna had loved moving in and becoming a next-door neighbour to Carolyn's home. Having David's daughter Lizzie (who was Lorna's age) as a next-door neighbour was a massive bonus for Lorna. The two girls, as 12-year-olds, had formed a firm friendship at the Shenandoah Valley riding stables in 2014 - a meeting which had subsequently brought David and Carolyn together.
When she had miscarried at 16 weeks in 2003, following the death of her Marine Pete and just after being expelled from the JAG Corps, Carolyn had withdrawn from physical entanglements. This had enabled her to devote her energies to bringing up Lorna for the first ten years of her life until that magical day when Loren emerged from her ten-plus-year coma. Carolyn commemorated Pete, just as David commemorated his late wife Amanda. Carolyn and David had grown closer in late 2014 and their relationship had deepened from there.
Having unexpectedly fallen pregnant at the age of 51, Carolyn had adapted (eventually!) to a slower lifestyle, delegating more work to the staff in her practice in Tyson's Corner so that she could concentrate on unexpected motherhood to her twins.
Loren also knew that, since her 2013 resurrection, Carolyn had many, more-pleasant reasons to mark the Memorial Day weekend (although Carolyn would, of course, be travelling to Arlington in her black outfit on Monday). However, Carolyn would never be making that walk through the Arlington cemetery alone, ever again, because her extended surrogate family would be accompanying her, as they had every time since she had got together with David, on each pilgrimage to Arlington to pay respects at Pete's and Amanda's graves.
Similarly, the Christmas Eve visit to Peter's and Amanda's graves had evolved and extended. The visits had spun off a respectful pair of birthday lunches at Arlington around their graves. The Christmas Eve gatherings saw everyone together at the gravesides ahead of an extended family lunch, before the families attended Chaplain Turner's traditional JAG Christmas sermon in the evening. This service provided a friendly and convenient opportunity for JAG friends, old and new, to catch up and re-acquaint, whatever the intervening year had thrown up.
The sermon was followed by a "bring the drinks, Harriet will provide the food" party at the home of Bud and Harriet Sims-Roberts. The Zhukov-Singer family group then accompanied Sergei to the long black wall of the Vietnam Memorial, where he bade "Merry Christmas" to his long-dead father and usually met up with his older half-brother Harm Jr and Harm's family, if they were spending Christmas in the cold of DC rather than the Californian sunshine of La Jolla. Additionally, Harm and Mac usually brought their children across during the summer school vacations to catch up with "the Washington cousins".
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Loren's thoughts had turned once more to how she had been able to invest successfully in Carolyn's practice, growing the advocacy side of the business whilst cross-funding the "pro-bono" work from the increased litigation fee income. Loren had also started working there two days a week, most weeks, in the practice after her re-qualification (or "aggressive re-instatement" to describe the campaign which Tracy Manetti had run on her behalf) to the Virginia State Bar.
The fact that no previous Bar-certified attorney had ever survived a ten-year coma made the Loren Singer case unique, but the Virginia Bar had rapidly conceded to Tracy Manetti's eloquent arguments and had equally rapidly re-instated Loren.
The Bar also welcomed her back with an unexpected present - an invoice for twelve years of back membership fees! Loren had been very pleased to settle that invoice, then she had it framed in her office alongside her new and original Bar certificates.
She knew that Carolyn was unlikely to ever retire fully, although as the flame-haired lawyer settled into her fifties she had been forced into stepping back slightly, because of the birth of Rae Amanda Carolyn and Richard Peter David, aka "The Terrible Twins".
Carolyn had embraced the unexpected pregnancy as she and David built their relationship. Lizzie, as a fully-involved stepdaughter, had been a god-send to her stepmother and assisted with many aspects of the babies' upbringing.
Carolyn's continuing practice was well-regarded and envied far beyond the Beltway; all of her staff loved "The Boss Lady" and she continued to achieve great results for families with problems. She had trained her staff well and everyone delivered to her high standards.
Carolyn and David had got back into the saddle in May 2016 (when Rae and Richard were seven months old) and there were several trips to Shenandoah Valley during 2016, including the second anniversary of their first weekend meeting on 15th September. Lorna usually accompanied the Imes family on these trips and Lizzie and Lorna always enjoyed the weekend expeditions into Shenandoah Valley.
The year of 2016 had been devoted to further improving Loren's stamina. Although she had never (yet!) achieved her goal of cycling the entire 45-mile length of the W&OD Trail (along the old railroad grade of the Washington & Old Dominion Railroad from DC up to Purcellville) she had regularly driven the support vehicle for the group expeditions up the trail (which Lorna, Lizzie, David and Carolyn had cycled regularly once Carolyn was back to fitness after the birth of the twins). On one occasion, Loren had cycled almost seven miles out eastwards towards Leesburg, to greet the group at the Route 7 crossing point and she then boldly cycled back up to Purcellville with them. Everyone was happy to sit down and relax over lunch at the Monk's Grill in Purcellville near the trailhead in the old railway depot.
Loren knew that she was able to pass (should she so desire) the US Navy Fitness tests for re-instatement, had she decided to apply to re-join the JAG corps. For now, inactive Reserves suited her fine - especially after the shock of her honeymoon pregnancy with Sergei. She did not miss the irony of the father, after the 2003 mystery which had consumed the JAG rumour-Mill.
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Loren put her glass of juice aside and stretched out on the sofa to peruse the huge Saturday edition of the newspaper. Looking down the length of her body, she realised that her feet were beginning to disappear behind the baby bump.
This unplanned pregnancy at the age of 46 had come as a considerable shock to her - and triggered another round of visits, studies and "poking and prodding" by the NASA team, ESA researchers and a visit from Dr Andersen at the Institute where Loren had been housed during the ten-plus years of her coma.
The new pregnancy would further the body of knowledge of post-coma living, hence the interest from the scientists. After all, a pregnancy on Mars after deep space travel was not an impossible event.
Jokes about "supporting your child when you are in your walking frame" had been dismissed with the ultimate put-down from Loren (usually accompanied by a wide, welcoming smile): "I don't care, because I am alive!"
Loren had supported Sergei and had eventually adopted young Yekaterina Galina Zhukov (known universally as "Galina Katyusha" or "Katyusha" for short) after Sergei's transfer to the USA. The transfer followed the tragic death of his beloved wife Galina in a car crash in Russia during March 2015, some two years after Loren's resurrection.
Sergei's role as Aeroflot station chief at Washington Dulles had enabled him finally to put down roots and Harm's obsessive determination had finally revealed and uncovered, in Trish Burnett's long-stored possessions, a set of letters from Harmon Rabb Senior - sufficient to provide direct DNA evidence to support an ultimately successful application for Sergei's US citizenship.
Katyusha's birth in late 2005 had occurred two years after her parents' marriage; Sergei had last visited the States in early April 2003 to introduce Galina Borkova to Harm just ahead of their marriage. They had enjoyed a "honeymoon" year before starting their family, with the result that Katyusha had been about to celebrate her 10th birthday when her mother was killed. Grieving, Sergei had taken the Aeroflot job at Dulles when it unexpectedly became vacant in October 2015 and had introduced a 10-year-old Katyusha to American culture - and her distant California second-cousins in Harm's family.
On Christmas Eve 2015, Sergei had met Loren at the Vietnam Wall, where she was meeting with Harm Junior to commemorate the loss of Harmon Rabb Senior. In a sense of "deja vu", Sergei and Loren found that their mutual attraction was still there from 2002 (although buried deep) and they began dating ("again?" Lorna had enquired when she heard the news) on Valentine's Day of 2016. Loren had appreciated the increased maturity that she found this time around in Sergei, and their two bodies had fitted together very easily during the summer of 2016.
Although Loren had been fairly certain that her fertile days were behind her, she stayed on the pill until the autumn, when Sergei had surprisingly proposed marriage.
Loren's Russian-language skills had come into use when she travelled with Sergei and Katyusha to visit Galina's parents in Minsk, to successfully obtain their blessing for her to marry Sergei. Katyusha's IT skills had already enabled SKYPE conversations to become a regular feature of her communications with her grandfather (dedushka) and grandmother (babushka). A multilingual Russian-English student was emerging in Katyusha. The grandparents had no great fears about Katyusha joining Sergei and Loren in the USA - there was a strong bond to Mother Russia.
The Zhukov-Singer home often rang to the sound of international conversations as well as English conversations, all taking place simultaneously in different parts of the large house. Loren and Sergei had agreed (with young Katyusha's full consent) to formally adopt Katyusha on the day of their wedding. Accordingly, whilst Miss Yekaterina Galina Zhukov-Singer was enrolled at an excellent school in Tyson's Corner. Socially, "Katyusha Singer" made her way into American culture.
Loren and Sergei had married on January 5th 2017 - the 14th anniversary of her unscheduled "swim" in the Potomac - and thus they had enjoyed a great start to 2017. The honeymoon activities that week had resulted in the conception of what was now being referred to as "The Bump 2.0" as Loren headed towards her fifth month of pregnancy. Her baby's delivery was due in early October 2017.
Loren had rationalised that Sergei's age (12 years younger than her) meant that he had lived through her 10-year coma and was therefore more-or-less the same "soul" age as she was after her deep-freeze. She rationalised that this was a good enough reason for her to marry the (physically) younger man.
Sergei's first marriage, to Galina, had caused him to mature from the slightly nervous, reticent young man whom Loren had first met that day long ago in Harm's apartment, way back in 2002. At Sergei's request (and mindful of his initial comment about her hair in its Navy-style "bun"), she customarily wore her hair loose or, at best, in a long pony-tail. Loren justified this hairstyle to herself by the simple explanation that "I am ten years younger than my physical age because of the coma".
Loren and Sergei were glad to receive the periodic updates from( (and contacts with) Harm's family in California.
The Rabb dynasty, just like the Zhukov dynasty, spanned a number of decades. Lt Matilda Grace Rabb-Walden (USN) was now serving as an F/A-18 Hornet pilot, although this year the 29-year-old was on maternity leave awaiting the arrival of her first child. She and Loren had hooked up and frequently exchanged news and views as their pregnancies advanced almost in parallel.
Mattie's husband, Lt Cdr Daniel "Danny" Walden (nickname "Spliff"), had matured significantly following his enlistment in May of 2001 as an alternative to prison and he had subsequently qualified for OCS, from which he had emerged as third in class. His mother Sydney Walden was still very proud of him and his progress, although she lamented the fact that Danny's teenage shenanigans had deprived her of more quality time with Admiral Chegwidden (after their reconciliation, their time together had been cut short by AJ's death from prostate cancer).
Sydney doted on her daughter-in-law Mattie and was very proud that her former "wild child" Danny had knuckled down and grown into a fine young man and serving officer - validating the faith and trust of AJ Chegwidden as well as the decisions of Judge Geary. Indeed, it was the "nod" from AJ that had assuaged Harm's initial doubts about supporting the start of Mattie and Danny dating, given Danny's "wild child" (or "problem child reformed" as AJ described him) reputation. Both Mattie and Danny were looking forward to their impending parenthood later in 2017.
Loren looked at the Celtic "wedding" ring on her right hand and the Russian wedding ring (three inter-twined gold bands of different colours) on her left hand. Her life was definitely complete - and with no signs, at all, of still wanting to become the Navy's first female JAG.
Her life was stable, satisfying and enjoyable. Once more, she offered up a short prayer of thanks for her deliverance from the waters on that dark and cold and snowy night in the Potomac back in early '03.
Reading the weekly summary of local news, her eye was drawn to an article on an inner page:
"Parents bid final farewell to Irish couple at Great Falls."
The article included a backstory which rehashed a report from a year earlier, when two more people had died in Great Falls.
This was not an isolated incident. In a report published in 2013, it had been announced that 27 people had died around Great Falls since 2001.
The name of one of the latest victims caught Loren's eye.
Declan, who had (just prior to the tragedy) sold up a highly-successful IT services company headquartered in Shannon Ireland but with a large US operation based out of Boston Mass, had fallen into the river along with his pregnant fiancée, an Irish lady called Mairead.
The bizarre coincidence was too much for Loren to ignore.
Further reading confirmed her worst fears - the surname matched "her" Declan – Lorna's accidental father..…
She read through the article and came upon the reason for this week's article in the paper in May 2017. The parents of Mairead and Declan (both sets of parents came from Galway and had travelled over to the USA together) had returned to the bridge to scatter the united ashes of the two deceased Irish love-birds at the place of their deaths. This small, private ceremony had happened on the previous Monday and the parents were now back home in Galway, enjoying the peace and tranquillity of the western Irish coast as they healed following the loss of their children.
Declan's mother was quoted: "We were informed from witness statements that Declan and Mairead were at the edge of Great Falls and that Declan was proposing to Mairead when they fell into the waters. The couple had recently revealed to friends that Mairead was pregnant with the couple's first children. Mairead's brother, back in Galway, is still inconsolable regarding the loss of his younger sister and the unborn nephew and niece. It is our eternal regret that we shall never see our grandchildren or watch them thrive."
That line took Loren's breath away.
The article continued, beneath a photograph of the four older Irish parents standing on the bridge over Great Falls, holding the cremation urns containing the ashes of Declan and Mairead prior to committing the ashes together into the Potomac river, to mingle for eternity.
Loren shivered - the saying "someone walked over your grave" suddenly rang true to her.
Loren folded the newspaper so that the article was on display and fired up her laptop, researching flights to Ireland and deciding that it was time to lay yet another ghost from her past. Unselfishly, she wanted to let Declan's parents know that, however accidentally, they now had a 14-year-old granddaughter resident in the USA.
Obviously, Loren needed to track down Declan and Mairead's parents - a quick referral to a private detective agency in Dublin would facilitate this, if she wasn't able to find what she needed with an internet search.
Carolyn's practice also had an excellent investigator on the books, so Loren had several routes to obtaining the information that she needed in order to build an itinerary for the trip to the Emerald Isle.
Long ago, Loren had made her peace with the river. On July 5th 2015, twelve and a half years after her swim, she had stood once more on the bridge where her life had nearly been ended on that winter night long ago, with Lorna, Carolyn, David and Lizzie, recounting the tale. A stray piece of tape still remained, stuck under the corner of the railing where her blood had been found during the subsequent NCIS investigation. She had touched the back of her skull, grateful that there had been no permanent impairment of her faculties.
Looking into the river (which was more placid in summer than the raging winter torrent into which she had been thrown), she had realised that the margin between being thrown up onto the rock where she had been found and simply being washed away to the Tidal Basin was something like two feet - a metre at most.
Standing on the bridge, when a cold sinking feeling had settled on her as she realised how lucky she had been, Loren had re-dedicated herself to becoming a better person.
Today, this newspaper article in her hand gave her that mission.
Loren finally knew with certainty what she needed - no, she corrected herself, she *had* - to do. It was only fair; it was right; and it signified, far better than any other action, how far Loren Marie Zhukov-Singer had developed from the self-centred, self-obsessed, driven, spiky, shrewish individual whom Ted Lindsey had dumped uncaringly into the raging waters of the Potomac that dark snowy night.
She offered up, once more, a quick prayer of thanks to Carolyn's Marine Pete for rescuing her that night. Her mind wandered over the folded newspaper in her hand. She looked at the framed photograph, on the window-sill, of Carolyn Imes and Pete taken in the summer of 2003, before he had deployed on that fateful mission which would leave Carolyn Imes alone - and pregnant.
Loren made up her mind. It was time to do some good for a number of strangers, and to "pay it forward" in terms of a good deed for an unconnected stranger. She had made her decision. Her resurrection was complete.
Loren pulled out her Gold American Express card as she prepared to call Amex Travel Services to price up flights and hotels for the flight across to Shannon Airport (SNN) and the trip up the coast to Galway. She tapped Sergei on the shoulder with the newspaper, pointing to the article.
After waiting until he had read it, she then asked him a question as he looked up into her eyes; even having a husband who was 12 years younger than her didn't detract from her happiness at being able to discuss "anything" with him.
"Sergei: how would you fancy taking Lorna, Katyusha and "The Bump" to Ireland? I've got four months before I am due, so I am safe to fly now. Also, I think we should invite Carolyn and Lizzie to come along as well, perhaps with David and Rae and Richard."
Sergei's reply was swift and affirmative: "Da, my darling; we should go - and soon."
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Saturday, 27th May 2017 12:38hrs EST
Home of Loren Zhukov-Singer and Sergei Zhukov-Singer
73xx Old Dominion Drive, McLean, Virginia, 22101
Loren had been busy - the flights were all researched and planned; they could be booked once contact had been established with Declan and Mairead's parents.
If Declan's parents made contact - and agreed to a visit - then she, Sergei, Lorna and Lizzie and Katyusha could be heading over to Shannon the following Friday night, landing on the west coast of Ireland on the Saturday morning after the overnight flight across "the Pond".
Carolyn and David would not be accompanying them. Carolyn had elected to stay, pleading workload and the impending absence of one of her "right-hand women" (namely Loren).
Similarly, David had a busy period coming up at the hospital (the second annual "busy phase" after the post-Christmas peak).
Nevertheless, they encouraged Lizzie to accompany the Zhukov-Singer family group with their blessing. It would be good for Lizzie to see Ireland.
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Tuesday, 30th May 2017 19:07hrs EST
Home of Loren Zhukov-Singer and Sergei Zhukov-Singer
73xx Old Dominion Drive, McLean, Virginia, 22101
Messages had been sent to Ireland and had elicited a prompt response. Declan's parents had telephoned back on Tuesday lunchtime (which equated to early evening in Ireland) in response to the polite approach via the Dublin detective agency.
The initial conversation was very positive and Loren explained the existence of Lorna and her belief that Lorna should visit Ireland and meet her ancestors, with a view to building a relationship and furthering Lorna's knowledge of one side of her heritage. The O'Shaughnessy elders were both surprised and delighted with the discovery of their unannounced American granddaughter. They were very eager to agree with - and they supported - the idea of a visit.
Because of Loren's pregnancy, everyone had readily agreed that it was sensible for Loren and Lorna to fly over "sooner rather than later". Everyone rapidly settled upon the coming Saturday - which would, spookily enough, be the anniversary of Declan and Mairead's deaths in the Potomac at Great Falls a year before. The date was agreed.
Amex Travel Services made all the arrangements, including hotels in Shannon and Galway along with hire cars from Shannon Airport (the airfield was around a one-hour drive from Galway town).
On the Wednesday evening, Loren and Lorna began their packing for the great Irish expedition. Passports were checked and a supply of Euro bank-notes was secured from the local bank.
Friday afternoon saw the family head off to Dulles, ready to check in for the overnight trans-Atlantic flight. An Irish dawn beckoned.
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Saturday, 3rd June 2017 09:15hrs BST
Arrivals Hall, Shannon International Airport, Shannon Airport, County Clare, Ireland
Loren was fascinated to finally be landing in Shannon. It had been her originally-planned destination for her flight on January 6th 2003, a date which she had never experienced at the time and yet a date seared into her life as the first full day of her ten-year-plus coma. The brief encounter with Teddy Lindsey on that snow-strewn bridge had robbed her of over ten years of her life - and the experience of witnessing and enjoying the first ten years of her daughter Lorna's life.
Fourteen and a half years separated the pregnant, married, content Loren Zhukov-Singer from the pregnant, confused, spiteful Lt Loren Singer who had met Teddy Lindsey on the bridge on that fateful night. Digital travel documents had supplanted the paper ticket which Abby Sciuto had eventually deciphered to ascertain Loren's intended flight date and destination.
As she settled an elegant heel onto the floor of the arrivals concourse at Shannon, Loren knew that she had completed her journey. Now, there remained the wonderfully pleasant task of introducing Lorna - her daughter - to the parents of the wonderful man who had accidentally created Lorna with Loren in that Boston hotel room way back in 2002.
Loren thought back to the latter half of 2002. There had been a time when she had regretted the pregnancy; she had gone through the typical torment of the unmarried, unexpectedly-pregnant woman (and the ambitious JAG lawyer keen to climb the career ladder). The first week in Lorna's company after her Resurrection in 2013 dispelled that regret.
Fortunately, Carolyn Imes (ably supported by other concerned JAG colleagues) had stepped up and had brought up Lorna for the first ten years of her life whilst Loren had remained in the "twilight zone" in the long-term care facility. A large collections of photographs and video diaries had captured and documented Lorna's development. Loren had reviewed the video and documentary collection many times since her re-awakening. She knew that Lorna was aware of the facts surrounding her conception.
Loren had barely given a thought to Shannon during the subsequent two-year recovery after emerging from her coma, other than to confess to Carolyn (and subsequently Tracy Manetti) the story of Declan and their passionate time together, leading to Lorna's unplanned conception before Loren had embarked on the Seahawk for JAG duties in 2002.
That a simple broken condom could comprehensively de-rail her onward march to the position of first female JAG had (initially) been a source of mild irritation to Loren. However, she had long-ago accepted her fate as she appreciated her good fortune in having been saved from the river that night by Carolyn's observant Marine.
Apart from slightly swollen ankles, the five-month pregnant Loren Zhukov-Singer had relaxed through the flight and, having eaten in the executive lounge at Dulles before the flight, had slept across the Atlantic (as had most of the younger family members). As a pilot, Sergei had "kept an ear open" to the sounds of the Airbus as it flew eastwards towards Ireland.
Loren had survived the flight without incident. She had even slipped on a pair of heels for her first step onto Irish soil.
Loren headed towards the Hertz car rentals desk to begin the process of signing out the two cars; they had then revised the booking to take a Mercedes "Vito" minivan to carry everyone in one vehicle. Within a half-hour, the "Singer-Zhukov bus" was heading out, firstly north along the N19 and then Northwest along the N18 towards Galway, finally the M6 west, which becomes the N6 on the outskirts of Galway.
Through the wonders of email, the final address details with meeting times and directions had been exchanged in advance. The minibus soon pulled up outside the Galway Golf Course (the O'Shaughnessy family had suggested a first meeting on neutral territory, which made perfect sense).
For accommodation during their visit to Ireland, the family group was booked into Jury's Inn in Quay Street in the centre of Galway for the duration of their stay. The harbour location made it easy for Loren to walk around level streets if the mood took her. Having been one of the first branches of Jury's Inns to open (back in 1993) the hotel had celebrated its 20th anniversary four years earlier and was a perfect base for Loren, Sergei and the girls.
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Saturday, 3rd June 2017 11:25hrs BST
Galway Golf Course, Galway, Ireland
Loren stepped forward to meet the older Irish citizens who were waiting to greet her. "Hello, I'm Loren and this young lady is my daughter Lorna".
The meeting between Lorna and the O'Shaughnessy seniors was dignified and respectful at first, then increasingly affectionate as Declan's patents realised that her fair, slightly ginger colouring gave evidence to Lorna's parentage. "The eyes are the give-away" remarked Philomena O'Shaughnessy as she gazed deep into Lorna's eyes. The young American returned her gaze, warmly and affectionately.
Mairead's parents - who had generously been given carte-blanche to join in with this introductory meeting Declan's hitherto-unknown offspring - joined in gladly and the whole experience was warm and positive for all who took part. New life-long enduring friendships were established.
Like many US citizens visiting "the ould country" for the first time, Lorna fell in love with the kind, open, welcoming Irish culture and she accepted the gift of a traditional Irish dancing outfit (blouse, shawl, kilt and shoes) from her "grandparents".
Loren, similarly, was given several typically-Irish gifts "for the Bump" - which was how Philomena O'Shaughnessy described the upcoming Zhukov-Singer child.
Patrick O'Shaughnessy threw his arms around 14-year-old Lorna and proclaimed: "Young lady, you are Irish by genetics and adoration." He was known locally as a well-regarded raconteur - and someone who "would never let the facts get in the way of a good story"!
He also affectionately welcomed Loren to the family - she was "adopted by motherhood". Both of Declan's parents endorsed the design of the ring which their son had given to Loren.
Loren realised that her Declan's "gentle giant" approach to life was deeply rooted in the loving upbringing which he had received from his parents. This was somewhat in contrast to Loren's fractious upbringing in Ohio.
Both of Declan's parents lamented the fact that their son had not mentioned his American lawyer girlfriend during his life. They did, however, state that "someone had obviously knocked the rough edges off Declan before he met Mairead". Somehow, it sounded like a perfect result for a Singer to have achieved!
The conversations and information exchange ran on throughout the Saturday. Periodic orders of drinks, snacks and nibbles kept everyone content until a larger evening meal was procured around 19:30hrs. As the non-drinking member of the gathering, Loren drove the mini-van back to Jury's Inn for the overnight accommodation.
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Sunday, 4th June 2017 21:45hrs BST
Residents' lounge, Jury's Inn, Harbourside, Galway, Ireland
A Sunday lunch in Galway town ran on into the evening in the bar of the hotel. Loren was restricted to a half-glass of champagne in deference to her condition but she soaked up the atmosphere and was delighted to watch as the new friendships continued to form.
Lorna was kept busy as (un-)official team photographer, capturing the events on her smartphone for later download and distribution.
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Monday 5th June 2017 11:55hrs BST
Galway Golf Course, Galway, Ireland
After a Monday morning walk along the harbour front before breakfast, Loren and her family met up once more with Patrick and Philomena for a lunch back at the Golf Club. Loren had sponsored a wooden bench which would be installed at the 18th tee, bearing a plaque commemorating Declan and Mairead. It seemed a fitting tribute and would be delivered for unveiling on the Tuesday morning - ahead of the time when Loren and Sergei, with their family, needed to depart for Shannon Airport for the flight back home.
The three-day trip had cemented the new-found trans-atlantic Irish-American relationship. It was natural that plans began to evolve for a return visit to the USA in 2018. A possible date would be the Independence Day period including Wednesday July 4th. This would mark the date, fifteen and a half years since Loren's swim and some 16 years since Lorna's conception. Obviously, a trip to Boston was included in the itinerary.
Loren feigned forgetfulness of the name of the Boston hotel which had featured in the origins of Lorna.
As she rationalised and explained it, "taking your lover's parents to the scene of their grandchild's conception is just too, too much information"!
By the Tuesday evening when everyone landed back in Washington's Dulles Airport, the plans for 2018 were ripening nicely.
A/N: Author/beta decision 11/12/18 - go on to chapter 2. "Ch 2 - Loren Singer - Final legacy of the Potomac" - the second (and deffo final) chapter in this story - Loren unveils a monument alongside Great Falls and begins a fight for better safety guards at the location where she was almost killed in '03. Possibly publish on Valentine's Day 14-Feb-2019. Mike 05-01-2019.
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End Ch. 1 - "Shannon, Ireland - Loren Singer's arrival"