Confessions of a Missing Week
I don't usually do this, but I've been asked to, so, here goes. A sequel.
When Frank went to church the morning he returned to his family, he did confession. Another confession 13 years later brings tears and joy to the Reagan family.
Rated T due to references to my other story, 'Consequences of a Missing week' which is Rated M.
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Frank knelt in the booth and waited for the tiny door between him and the father to slide open. When it did, he recited the traditional words that always began the confession, "Bless me father for I have sinned…"
"Good morning Frank," the familiar voice of Father Patrick said. "Glad to see you here. Your family's been worried."
"I know," Frank replied but fell silent.
"Go ahead," Patrick urged.
"It has been six months since my last confession," Frank began.
"Understandable, considering," Patrick returned.
Frank went on. "I got short with my wife's doctor. I cursed at an orderly and I accused another orderly of theft that I knew had not happened and had her fired."
"I'm not going to make you do penance for your grief," Patrick said. "But you should for the orderly's firing."
"I understand," Frank replied.
"Go on," Patrick continued.
"I made numerous sins yelling at my father and children," Frank went on. "I also cursed at a colleague." He fell silent.
"Grief makes us say terrible things," Patrick said. "But somehow, I get the feeling that you are leading up to something."
Frank smiled and took a breath. "In my grief, I spent most of this week drinking to excess."
"Yet you are here today," Patrick said. "And you are not the man you were last week. What made the change?"
"I was… for lack of a better word, rescued," Frank told him. "Someone found me and gave me a metaphorical slap across the face to wake me from my drunken stupor. Then she listened."
"She?"
"I'm not finished," Frank went on. "After she did so, I had sexual relations with her."
Silence came from the booth next door that went on for far too long. "Father Patrick?" Frank queried.
"I'm still here," Patrick said. "I'm just a little shocked." He cleared his throat. "Is there anything else?"
"That's all," Frank told him. "But I gave her all the money I had in my wallet. She had lost her car and was being evicted from her apartment… Although I would have given it to her without…" He stopped then continued. "Wait… that's not all. I have a Polaroid of her I took as I was leaving."
"I'm guessing it is the kind of photo you wouldn't want your children to find," Patrick said.
"Yes."
"If you intend on keeping it, hide it well," Father Patrick told him. "Since you gave your money to the woman, I suggest you simply do the normal penance and hope that the events of the week do not return to… well, bite you."
"Thank you father," Frank said.
"You're welcome Frank," Patrick said. "I take it you do not intend on revealing the events of your week to your family."
"I'll likely take it to my grave, father," Frank replied. "It would shake them up too much."
"I understand," Patrick said. "Go with God."
"Thank you, Father," Frank said and left the booth.
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"Bless me father for I have sinned," Frank recited as he knelt in the confessional. "It has been three weeks since my last confession…"
"With such a short period of time since your last confession," Father Patrick said. "I'm hoping it is more than cursing at your children… Or trying to get me to reveal a confession."
"No Father," Frank replied. "It is a bit of a continuation of a previous confession."
"How long ago?"
"Thirteen years," Frank replied.
"You're going to have to refresh my memory, Frank," Patrick said. "I've heard a lot of confessions in that amount of time."
Frank took a breath. "My first confession after Mary died."
Patrick was silent as he dug into his memory. Most confessions he heard, then prayed over, then forgot, but some were memorable… like the first one Frank confessed after the death of his wife. "The bender," Patrick remembered. "And the relations you had with the woman who pulled you out of it."
"That's correct," Frank said. "I was almost hit by a car about two weeks ago and my life was saved by the woman who was hit by the car. Fortunately, she was not seriously hurt."
"I'm guessing that this was the same woman?"
"Yes," Frank replied. "She used the money I gave her to get her car back and begin the journey back to her home in South Dakota. When it broke down in Chicago, she met Cora Levine. She has been employed by her ever since."
"The lord works in mysterious ways," Patrick said.
"Yes he does," Frank said. "And more. The orderly I had accused of being a thief…"
"It was the same woman, wasn't it?"
"Yes, it was," Frank replied.
"You've already done your penance for that sin, Frank," Patrick pointed out.
"Yes," Frank said. "But it seems I left her with more than money when I was with her…"
Patrick lifted his head. "There's a child isn't there?"
"No, Father," Frank replied. "There are two."
Patrick sat in shocked silence. "I never told her my full name," Frank continued. "And as punishment for it, I have missed the first twelve years of their lives as well as robbing my son Joe of the chance to know his brother and sister."
"I don't suppose that her name is Anna Bryant," Patrick asked, suddenly.
Frank jerked. "How did you know that?"
"I suppose it doesn't really matter, now, since both confessors have passed," Patrick said. "Or maybe it does…" He fell silent.
"Which confessors?" Frank asked. "Joe and… I'm guessing Linda since she took the other Polaroid."
"What's this about another Polaroid?" Patrick asked.
"Before we had relations," Frank said. "Anna and I spent the day together. We had lunch then went to a bad movie. Outside the movie, we ran into Linda while she was waiting for Danny, and Beth, I mean Anna, asked her to take a couple of pictures of us with her Polaroid camera." He paused to remember. "I asked Linda not to tell anyone." There was a beat of silence. "I'm guessing that was one of the confessions you spoke of."
"I can neither confirm nor deny," Patrick said.
Frank went on. "I'm guessing she told Joe, too. Erin confessed to me that Linda had told her about it a few years later."
Patrick was silent. "It is possible that a good detective can find out what he wants to know," he said finally. "I suggest that that detective start in Vancouver. Do the usual penance for asking your daughter-in-law to lie. Go with God."
Frank pulled himself off his knees and sat in the nearby chair to think. He heard Father Patrick exit the other booth, leaving Frank to ruminate about what they had both said.
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Anna woke to Katie shaking her from her nap on the couch. "Mom," she said. "Wake up."
"I'm awake," Anna said.
"You're flushed," she said. "Were you dreaming?"
"Yes," Anna replied as she noticed Erin and Nikki standing near the door. "I was dreaming about climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro."
"Again?"
"Yes, again," Anna replied as she pushed herself off the couch. She glanced at the clock. "You've only been gone an hour. What's wrong?"
"I forgot my money," Katie said. "I have to buy Mason's birthday present."
"Go on up and get it," Anna said. "I think you left it in your purse on your bed."
"Why don't you go up with her Nikki," Erin suggested. "She can show you her room."
Katie grabbed Nikki's hand as she ran past and dragged her up the stairs. When they were gone, Erin looked at Anna as she stood and headed to the kitchen. "You weren't dreaming about Kilimanjaro, were you?"
"What would make you think that?"
"When we were kids and dad and mom got romantic," Erin said. "They used to say they were discussing Kilimanjaro." She followed her through the house. "You were having an erotic dream."
"So that's where I got that," Anna said thoughtfully.
"Please don't tell me you were dreaming about Dad," she said and covered her eyes.
"Then don't ask," Anna replied. She pulled a couple glasses from the cupboard and held them up. "You want some water?"
"I'd ask for scotch if I weren't driving," Erin told her.
Anna laughed and filled the glasses with cold water from the fridge and handed her one.
"So where is Danny taking Mason?" Erin asked as she sipped her cold water.
"He said something about taking him to a movie with the boys," Anna said. "I just hope it's not too violent."
"He learned that lesson already with the boys," Erin told her. "He took them to…, I think it was 'The Fast and the Furious' and the boys were jumping around and being rambunctious when they came home. Linda really reamed him for it, too."
"I'll shoot him if he brings him home like that," Anna said. "With his own gun."
Erin laughed then fell silent. "Did anyone mention to you how much he looks like Joe at that age?"
"No," Anna replied. "Did I ever tell you that I met Joe before your mom died?"
"No," Erin said as she heard the girls pounding down the stairs. "I would love to hear about it though." They appeared in the doorway.
"You ready mom?" Nikki asked.
Anna ran a hand over her daughter's hair then kissed the top of her head. "Do you know what you're going to get him?"
"Not yet," Katie said. "But I thought about getting him a book about soapbox derby."
"That would be a great gift," Erin said. "Let's go." She turned to Anna. "We'll see you this evening."
Anna nodded. "I'll see you this evening." She waved them off from the porch then went back in to start the unpacking.
She sighed when she was interrupted by her phone. She picked it up to find that it was from Frank. "Hey Frank," she answered the phone.
"Hello Anna," Frank said. "Are you busy for lunch?"
She looked at the stacks of boxes. "I have a lot of unpacking to do," she told him. "But I'd welcome your company."
"I'll bring some sandwiches," Frank said. "Do you still like corned beef on rye?"
"As a matter of fact," Anna smiled. "I do. Was there something in particular you wanted to talk about?"
"Yes," Frank said. "I want to talk about Vancouver."
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Anna handed Frank a cold beer from her fridge and opened the one she brought for herself before sitting down across from him at the dining room table. "Now what is this about Vancouver?"
"Have you ever been?" Frank asked.
Anna thought about it. "Yes," she told him. "When the kids were little we went skiing with Eric. In Vancouver."
"When was this?"
Anna blew out a breath. "January of 2009?" she said. "That was a nice trip."
"Joe was killed that May," Frank said absently.
"So I was told," Anna said. "I met him at the hospital where I worked."
"You did?"
She gestured with her bottle then took a drink. "He was there visiting Mary. Frank, what's going on?"
Frank shook his head. "I'm trying to figure some things out concerning the children."
"Like what?"
Frank shook his head. "I have no idea."
Anna watched him as she thought about the trip to Vancouver. "You know," she said as she thoughtfully shook her finger. "I have an album of pictures from that trip. I was still predominantly using film so the pictures will be in hard copy albums." She took another swig of her beer before heading to the stacks of boxes in the living room.
"Do you know which box they're in?" Frank asked.
"It's labeled on the side as photo albums," she said as she began to look at the boxes. "And it's heavy so it'll hopefully be on the bottom.
Frank moved to the other side of the room and began looking at the boxes. He pushed a stack aside and found the one they needed. "Here it is," he called to her.
He pulled the boxes from on top of it as she joined him, the let her open the box. "If these were on the shelf," she said as she read the handwritten dates on the spines. "They would be in chronological order and I'd find it like that…" she snapped her fingers then took several of the albums out. She took a few more out, stacking them on a nearby table, before she found the one she was looking for.
"Here it is," she said as she pulled it out. "Let's go back to dining room table."
She and Frank sat side by side at the table and opened the book to lay it on the table. She began flipping through it and Frank looked at the photographs. "Whoa, stop," he said suddenly. "Go back."
Anna flipped back a page and there was a picture of Joe in ski gear standing next to Angie. Both were smiling. The label next to it read, 'Joe Reagan and his girlfriend Angie Ferraro.' "I remember this now," she said.
"You have pictures of Joe," Frank breathed.
"Even better," Anna said and she flipped to the back of the book. The very last page held several DVDs labeled with dates. She chose one and went to the TV hanging above the fireplace and put it in the player on the mantle. Using the remote, she turned on the TV and the image of Joe and Angie played on the screen.
"We ran into them on our first day there," Anna said. "It was their first day, too. Eric had a new video camera and was filming everything." She skipped it to another spot and Frank watched as Joe helped a small Mason and Katie into some skis.
"Eric and I were taking video and pictures," she remembered. "It was the kids' first time seeing snow. Joe and Angie did everything with them that week. Cora had to miss it so we wanted as much video as possible and I wanted pictures." She looked at Frank to see his eyes sparkling with tears.
"So he did get to know them," Frank said softly.
Anna wiped the tears from her own eyes. She skipped again to a dinner they had together. She was showing Joe something and he got a strange look on his face.
"Wait, wait," Frank said. "Pause it there…" He looked at his son as he looked at the item with shock. "What are you showing him?"
Anna backed the video up to when she pulled it out and turned up the volume. "Here it is," she said on the video as she pulled the picture from her purse. "This isn't the only picture I have of their father, but it's the only one I show." She handed it to Joe and he looked at it for a minute as the shock crossed his face. "I only know his first name is Frank." She shrugged.
Frank took the remote and paused the video. "Where were the kids, here?"
"They had to go to the bathroom and Angie offered to take them," Anna replied. "While they were gone, Joe asked about their father and I pulled out the picture. That was back when I was trying to find you. I have no idea why he didn't say anything."
"Me either," Frank said and started the playback again.
"After that, Joe was especially attentive to the children," Anna said as Angie returned with them in the video and they proceeded to have a boisterous meal. "It was as if he wanted to remember them as well as possible. Although I didn't see it at the time." She blinked tears away. "I wonder why he didn't say anything about them to you."
"I don't know." Frank's eyes glowed with tears. "But Joe knew them," he said. "And he knew that they were his siblings." He took a breath and swiped at the tears. "That's all that matters."
Anna went back to the beginning and let the video play. Frank watched in fascination as his son played with and helped and held his sister and brother both before then after he knew. Although after Anna showed Joe the Polaroid, he seemed to hug them tighter, hold them longer, and tickle them more, the time he had spent with them was special.
"Eric, would you put that damn camera down and try to be a part of the adventure for a minute," Anna scolded him on the screen at one point.
"I'm having too much fun watching the action," Eric told her from behind the camera. Then he caught Joe whispering to Angie and the twins conspiratorially and they all picked up handfuls of snow. "Don't you dare!"
All four threw their snowballs at the camera then it jumped to a shot of Joe cuddling them while reading a story to them. They fell asleep in his arms.
Frank shook his finger at the video as it ended. "We've got to show this to the family Sunday," he said.
"I agree," Anna said as she wiped the tears away.
"I just need to know where Linda fits in all this," Frank said.
"What do you mean?" Anna asked.
"Father Patrick wouldn't say much since it would break the sanctity of the confession," Frank began. "But he told me that two confessors to our transgression had passed."
Anna shrugged. "Maybe he told her and she swore him to secrecy?"
"We'll never know," Frank said then gestured to the DVD as Anna took it out of the player.
Anna's stomach growled suddenly and she remembered the sandwiches. "Let's go eat our sandwiches," she said. "I'm starving."
As they sat back down at the table, Anna slid the disc back into the book and unwrapped her sandwich. "Erin was here right before you called," she mentioned. "Katie forgot her money for Mason's birthday present so they stopped by to get it. Erin told me that Mason looks a lot like Joe at that age."
"He does," Frank said and he bit into his own dark meat turkey sandwich. "That was one of the twos that Danny added to get four."
Frank suddenly sat back in his chair. He swallowed his mouthful of food. "She told me that Linda told her about that Polaroid at the theatre," he said then looked at Anna. "I wonder when."
"Erin we can ask," Anna said as she chewed her corned beef. "We can ask her tonight or wait until Sunday dinner."
"I think we should ask her tonight," Frank said, his mouth half full. "That way if she doesn't remember, she'll have the night to think."
Anna nodded in agreement. "If you want to hang out here and help me unpack," she said. "It'll kill some time while we wait for them to get back."
Frank nodded. "Then maybe we can take a look at some of those photo albums."
Anna smiled in agreement.
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"Dad," Erin said in surprise when she arrived to drop off Katie. "What are you doing here?"
"Had the afternoon free so I thought I'd help Anna get some things organized," he said. "We found some surprises in the boxes, too."
Anna joined her in the entry. "Why don't you guys join us for dinner?" she asked. "We can talk and show you some of what we found. I'm ordering pizza."
Katie pulled Nikki towards the stairs. "Come on Nikki," she said. "You can help me wrap Mason's present."
Erin smiled as she watched her daughter being dragged by her young aunt. "I'd love to," Erin said. "What did you find?"
The living room had been put together and Anna headed to a corner near a shelf full of photo albums as Frank led his daughter to the couch. "Do you remember when Linda told you about the Polaroids she took of Anna and me?"
"Oh, yeah," Erin said. "I remember. It was after that ski trip Joe took with Angie to Vancouver."
"Was there any particular reason she mentioned it?" Frank asked as they sat down on the couch. Anna sat with one of the photo albums in an arm chair next to Erin.
"Yeah, Joe asked about that week," she said. "He wanted to know if you had mentioned anything about what had happened. Now that I think about it, he didn't seem very surprised about the revelation." Frank and Anna shared a look. "Why?" Erin said as she looked between them.
"This is a book of pictures of a ski trip I took with Eric a few years ago when the kids were little," she handed the book to Erin.
Erin flipped the cover open and smiled at the pictures of the younger children as they arrived at the lodge. Three pages in, she stopped and looked up. "Joe!"
Anna nodded. "Joe and Angie were there for the first week of our trip," she said.
"Then Joe got to meet them!" Erin said. "This doesn't explain what would make him ask about that week?"
"There are DVDs in the back," Anna explained. "Cora wasn't there for the first week of that trip so Eric filmed everything for her. He got some video of me showing Joe the Polaroid of your father and me that I kept." Erin flipped to the back of the book to see the DVDs. "We're going to play them tomorrow after dinner."
"So Joe knew," Erin said. "Why didn't he say anything to anyone? Least of all, you?" She gestured to Anna.
"We'll never know," Frank said as Anna shook her head. "He had a lot on his mind around that time."
"The Blue Templar," Erin said absently. "He must not have even written it in his journal either."
Anna sat up straight. "Journal?"
Erin nodded as Frank looked thoughtful. "Joe was the only one of all of us kids who kept a journal. His 9/11 journal entry took up an entire volume on its own," Erin told her. She turned to Frank. "I remember Angie gave it to you after the funeral."
"I never read it," Frank told her. "The pain was too fresh. I put it in a bin of his things in the attic. Never got around to going through it."
"Would it still be there?" Anna asked.
"Yes," Frank said. "It would."
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"What is it we're looking for?" Henry asked as he helped Frank, Erin and Anna search through the dusty boxes in the attic of their home.
"A bin," Frank replied. "I has some of Joe's things that Angie gave me after he died."
"Here, Dad," Erin said after pulling the lid of a bin.
He dug into it to find a car manual for his car, an old car radio, a model of the car, a toolbox with some tools in it, and a spare set of keys for the old car. "I sense a theme," Anna commented.
Frank smiled back at her. "He loved that car."
"I don't see it in here," Erin told him. "Maybe it's not in this bin. Were there others?"
Frank nodded as they began digging through the other bins. Anna stood over the car bin and thought. "Did you put the journal in the box?" Anna asked him. "Or did you find it in there?"
"I honestly don't remember," Frank replied. "Why?"
Anna looked thoughtful. She reached down and opened the tool box and removed the tray. There, under the tray, was a book with a hard leather cover with a car embossed into it. She pulled it out. "Is this it?"
The rest of the searchers stopped to smile. "What made you think to look there?" Frank asked.
"You said he loved that car," Anna said. "I got to thinking that maybe you put the journal in there because that's where you think he'd put it."
Erin had to smile. "He hid his journal in his toolbox as a teenager," she remembered.
Twenty minutes later, they were in the kitchen, sharing a pot of coffee. Anna handed the volume to Frank. He flipped through it until he found two pages where he had started to write then scribbled it out as if he wasn't sure what he wanted to say. "Here we go," Frank said. "It's after all this mess."
"He didn't know how to put words to his thoughts," Anna commented as she looked over his shoulder. "But go back a couple of days."
Frank flipped back. "OK, here," he said then began to read. "January 19, 2009. You would not believe how clear the sky is here, nor how blue. Angie is driving us to the resort. I still can't believe our luck at winning this trip. I never have much time to ski anymore, but I let Angie talk me into this. I'm glad I came…"
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Joe looked out the window as the snow-covered trees flew by. "I have never seen such clear blue skies," Joe said.
"Or smelled such fresh air either," Angie told him.
Joe breathed the fresh air then pretended to gag. Angie hit him and he started to laugh.
They finally went around the last turn and into the parking lot of the ski lodge. They checked in at the front desk then made their way to their room. Joe carried his suitcase as Angie pulled hers behind and into the elevator where they were joined by a small family. The man, Joe assumed he was the children's father, had a video recorder and was taping every minute. A little girl gripped her mother's hand while her brother was riding on her back. Both had blond hair, but with the girl had blue eyes, the boy's were darker.
"Eric, cut it out," she said as the doors slid shut.
"I told Aunt Cora I would get as much video as I could before she got here," he said.
"Yeah, but you really want to bore her with an elevator ride on our walk to our room?"
"What floor?" Joe asked as he pressed the button for the 7th floor.
She looked at the buttons. "It seems we're on the same floor."
Joe looked into the eyes of the boy on her back. There was something familiar about those eyes. The boy grinned at him with bright teeth. "Hi," he said. "I'm Mason."
"Mason," his mother said. "You shouldn't talk to strangers." Then she turned and got a good look at him. "Joe Reagan?"
"Beth O'Brian!" Joe said. "Fancy finding you here. It's nice to see you."
"You too," she replied. "But now I go by Anna." She paused as Eric grabbed Mason from her back and straightened. "This is Eric Willis. He's a friend. His aunt is my boss." She went on to introduce the children. "This is Mason and Katie."
"And how old are you?" he asked them as the elevator doors opened.
They each held up two fingers as Angie and Joe stepped out of the car. Anna followed as Eric picked up Katie so they could go ahead to open their door.
"What room are you in?" Anna asked.
"710," Angie said.
"We're right across the hall in 709. Are you Angie?" Anna asked and the other woman nodded. "Joe talked about you to his mother constantly. She was thrilled that he was dating someone seriously."
"You knew Mary?"
"She was an orderly at the hospital," Joe said. "Mom was pretty fond of her."
"Didn't your father have an orderly fired for stealing?" Angie asked as they stopped at their door.
Joe slid the key card in the slot and worked the handle, opening the door. "Yeah," he said. "I'm really sorry about that. He was really struggling after mom died and when he didn't get that locket back with her things, he kind of went ballistic."
Eric took Mason's hand and took the children into the room. Anna stepped in the doorway to keep the door from closing. "I forgave him for that a long time ago."
"Oh yeah?" Joe said.
"If not for him," she said. "I would not have this wonderful job with Cora Levine. Nor would I have those beautiful twins."
Joe smiled. "I'm glad things worked out for you," he said.
"Why don't you join us for dinner?" Anna asked.
Joe looked back at Angie and she smiled and nodded. "Sure," he said. "What time?"
"I hope that six isn't too early," Anna said. "I need to get the kids in bed by eight. We just came from Japan yesterday and I need to get their schedules reset."
"That would be fine," Angie said. "We'll see you then."
Anna waved and let the door close behind her.
Joe carried his suitcase in the room and put it on the bed so he could unpack. "Is it my imagination?" Joe asked Angie. "Or is there something about those kids?"
"Well, I noticed that Mason has eyes the exact same color as your father," Angie said. "Not many people have hazel eyes, but to be the exact same color and shade is pretty interesting."
"That little girl kind of reminded me of Erin's kid, Nikki," Joe said with a shake of his head. "If I didn't know better, I'd almost think they were related to us somehow."
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Joe was enjoying a cup of coffee as Angie looked at the brochure with the activities available to them when he felt a tug at his sleeve. He turned to find Katie smiling at him and was again struck by how much she looked like Nikki.
"Hi," he said. "Where's your mom?"
Katie pointed to the entrance, where Anna spied her with a look of relief. "I'm sorry if she's bothering you," she said as she approached.
Joe shook his head. "She's not bothering me," he said. "So what do you have planned for this afternoon?" he asked the child.
"Sledding!" she said. "You can come."
"Katie, I don't think that Joe and Angie want to go sledding with us when they could be skiing," Ana said as she knelt down to talk to her.
"Actually," Angie put in. "That sounds like fun."
Joe nodded. "We'd get all the stuff on for skiing only to have time for one run," he said. "But if we go sledding, we'd be able to have more runs and more fun."
"You don't mind?" Anna asked.
Joe shook his head. "Not at all," Angie said. "It sounds like fun."
Anna smiled. "OK, squirt," she said. "Go get your coat from Uncle Eric and we'll go sledding with Joe and Angie."
"Get your camera mommy," Katie said as she ran off.
Anna stood. "We'll meet you at the hill," she said with a smile. "It seems I have to go get my camera."
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"What a crazy week," Anna was saying as they sat in the dining room of the lodge's restaurant. She turned to Joe as he helped Mason color on his placemat. "I hope we didn't inconvenience you two with the kids."
"Not at all," Angie replied. "Yes, it was supposed to be a romantic getaway, but I wouldn't change a thing."
"The important parts have been romantic," Joe said. "The evenings to the mornings, if you know what I mean."
"I have two children, so yes I know," Anna said.
"The rest has been fun," Angie said.
"Mommy," Katie said suddenly. "I have to go potty."
Mason looked up. "Me too."
"Can I take them?" Angie asked as Anna started to set her napkin aside. "It'll give me practice for when I have my own kids."
Eric set the camera down. "I'll take Mason," he said. "Wrangling them both at the same time can be tricky."
"You OK with that?" Anna asked Katie.
"Yes, mommy," she replied. "I like Angie. She's nice."
Anna smiled and nodded. "OK, then. But stay with her."
Katie nodded furiously and Angie took her hand while Eric took Mason's hand. Joe watched as they moved away.
"When is Cora supposed to be joining you?" Joe asked.
"Tomorrow night," Anna told him. "Her business in Seattle should be concluded by then."
"Angie and I are leaving on Saturday," Joe said. "We've been having so much fun that I can't wait until we have kids of our own."
"Have you asked her to marry you yet?" Anna asked.
"I'm trying to find a ring," he replied. "I never thought it would be this hard."
"I'm sure she'll like anything you give her," Anna told him.
"You think you'll ever get married?" Joe asked.
"I don't know," Anna said. "I'm so busy I don't think I have time for that."
"What about the kids' father?"
Anna shook her head. "I don't really know that much about him. He's a couple of decades older than me."
"Wow," Joe said as he took a sip of his water. "Twenty years?"
"At least," Anna replied. "Maybe more. I find I'm attracted to older men. They're usually already broken in." Joe laughed and Anna continued. "I haven't seen him since he gave them to me." She jumped and grabbed her purse. "I had a Polaroid camera and was trying to finish off the film so I could sell it. I had a lady take a couple of pictures of us together." She dug through her purse, muttering. "Here it is," she said as she pulled the picture from her purse. "This isn't the only picture I have of their father, but it's the only one I show." She handed it to Joe and he looked at it for a minute as the shock crossed his face. "I only know his first name is Frank." She shrugged.
Joe blinked as he looked down at the picture of Anna with Frank. "When…" he began with a squeak, then cleared his throat and tried again. "When was this?"
"December of 2005," Anna replied. "My landlord asked me to get him out of his bar, and I didn't know what else to do with him so I took him up to my apartment. He had just lost his wife and was grieving a little too hard."
Joe nodded as he collected himself. "Why did you end up hooking up with him?"
"I spent the week trying to get him sobered up," Anna told him. "But he didn't listen to me until I threw one of his empty bottles against the wall."
"Yikes," he said.
"The next morning I got up and he was sober," Anna said. "He made me breakfast and helped me clean so I could leave. We went to the movie to kill time." She shrugged. "When we got back to my apartment, he finally opened up. Then something just, happened."
"And you… hooked up," Joe said.
"Yeah," Anna said. "But the condom broke."
She looked away to see that Eric had left the camera going. "Damn it, Eric," she said as she grabbed it and turned it off.
Joe took the moment to take a picture of the Polaroid while her attention was averted.
"He gave me the money to get my car out of impound," Anna went on. "I headed home and broke down in Chicago where I met Cora. She took me home and gave me a job and supported me when I had the twins."
"Sounds like a real rags to riches story," Joe said and gave the Polaroid back.
"It was," Anna said with a smile as their missing comrades and the children returned to their places at the table. "We've done a lot of good, too." She turned to Eric. "You forgot to turn the camera of again," she told him.
"I'm sorry Anna," he said. "I just can't seem to hit the button right to shut it off." He picked the camera up. "I'll double check it from now on."
"You'd better," Anna said. "I think you got our entire conversation while you were gone."
"I'm sorry," he said again. "I'll be sure to just get Joe coloring with Mason this time." He aimed the camera and turned it on. "Aaaand ACTION!"
"Aaaand CUT!" Mason said with the crayon in his hand. "You come color with us."
Eric laughed and handed the camera to Anna.
Joe looked behind him at Katie. "What about you pumpkin?" he asked her. "You want to color, too?"
"Will you help me draw us skiing today?" she asked as she held up the paper as Anna filmed them.
Joe glanced up at Angie, then over to Anna. He swallowed around the knot in his throat and gave the little girl a hug. "I'd love to," he replied.
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Angie had been asleep for hours, but Joe couldn't sleep. The shock of the picture's existence had hit him like a ton of bricks and he knew he had to write it in his journal. He sat looking at the blank page then began before scribbling it out. "How in the hell am I going to say this?" he muttered.
"Say what?" Angie said from the bed. She sat up. "Joe, what's wrong?"
Joe sighed. "Ask me again sometime," he replied as he looked back at her. "I'm trying to write about Anna and her children. Almost as if I want to tell my mom about them."
"Then tell your mom about them," she suggested. "But can't it wait until morning?"
"I feel like I need to get it out now," he said.
Angie smiled. "OK," she said. "But hurry. I'm getting cold over here."
He smiled at her and looked back at the page. He took a deep breath and turned to a fresh page. At the top, he wrote the date, then, on a whim, the time. The words spilled on the page as if he had poured them from a spout on his head.
Dear Mom, he wrote. I got the surprise of a lifetime today. I looked into the eyes of two children and saw the future and the past and every minute in between. I don't know what to think. If you were here, I would ask you. But if you were here, they wouldn't be. I'm so confused and elated and… scared. Yes, I'm scared. Tell me the truth. Are these little two-year-old dreams my siblings? They're younger than Sean. Is it truly possible? Or is it a story she tells to explain away her promiscuity. She does not seem like that kind of person.
Did you send her to dad, or, I guess, dad to her at a time when they needed each other most? You were so fond of her and I'm sure you would have been royally pissed at the way he treated her after you died.
Should I tell him? This is one hell of a secret to keep for the rest of my life. That's a long time to keep something from my father. Maybe let me think… I'll talk to Pops. Maybe Danny or Erin. See if he has said anything about that week when he was on a bender. Maybe I should just get it out and tell him. Mom, I'm so confused. Please tell me what to do… I'll take a day, maybe two. To think, to feel. To get to know my brother and sister. I love them already. It's as if this were meant to be.
This.
Me knowing and Dad not. Why? Why can't he know?
It's not time for him to know.
When? When will it be time for him to know?
I don't know! Who can keep the secret? Linda? She's a nurse. She can keep a secret. She'll know what to do. Or will she be like me. Shocked.
Did Dad fall in love with her? Was she in love with him? For a brief moment in time, did they love each other and make the twins? I could ask him. I could ask her. Maybe I will…
The next day was more fun with the twins. Skiing in the morning, hot chocolate with lunch, and Joe offered to tell them a story before naptime when they ended up falling asleep in his arms. Eric had taken the chance to go do a ski run on his own and Angie ran to get her camera, leaving Joe alone with Anna.
"Can I ask you something?" Joe asked when he was alone with the sleeping children and their mother.
Anna stroked Mason's hair back from his face. "Sure."
"Did you love him?" Joe asked. "Their father, I mean?"
"It's hard to imagine such wonderful children not being made out of love, huh?" she replied and Joe nodded. "I think I might have been. At the time." She shook her head. "Or maybe I just thought I was."
"Do you think he loved you?"
She took a breath then another. "When he left," she began. "The last thing he told me was 'I could very easily fall in love with you.' I think I might have felt the same way."
"So he wasn't but he could have," Joe said.
"Yeah," she replied. "Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I had stayed in New York. Would he have fallen in love with me? Would he have pretended I didn't exist?" She shrugged. "I guess I'll never know."
Joe smiled. "I think he would have made sure you and your children were taken care of. Maybe he would have fallen in love and married you eventually."
"We'll never know," she repeated as Angie returned with her camera.
"Smile," Angie said and she snapped a picture of Joe with his little brother on one side and sister on the other, both asleep."
That night, for the day's journal entry, he wrote 'I could very easily fall in love with you.' That's what he told her before he left. I know he would have because I have already… Oh, it's not a romantic love like I'm sure was what Dad meant, but the love someone might feel for their mother, or the mother of their siblings…"
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The next morning, he loaded his suitcase in the trunk next to Angie's and turned back to Anna and the kids.
"Can we go with you?" Katie asked him.
"Ah," Joe said and opened his arms for her and her brother to get a hug. "If I could take you with me, I'd have packed you up and you'd already be in the car." He hugged them and took Katie's face in his hands. He kissed her forehead. "You be a good girl, OK?" She nodded and held out a drawing and he took it. The top half was all colored blue and the bottom had four figures on skis with big smiles. "This is the picture I helped you color."
Katie nodded. "You and me and Angie and Mason,"
Joe kissed her again. "I love it." He turned to Mason, but the boy turned away. "Mason? Aren't you going to say goodbye?"
He shook his head, no. "You should stay here and play with us."
"I can't," Joe said. "I have to go back home to protect the people of New York."
"We need someone to protect us," Mason said.
"That's what your mom and Eric are here for," Joe told him. "They are doing a very good job, too."
"Can't you stay and be our uncle?"
"I've got a niece and some nephews back home that need me, too," he said. He took Mason's face in his hands. "I can't promise that we'll ever see each other again," he told the boy. "But I can promise that I love you and your sister."
"To the moon and back?" Katie asked.
"To the moon, the sun, and every star in the sky," Joe replied and Mason finally came forward for a hug where Katie joined him.
Anna glanced at Angie, then at Eric as he filmed the entire goodbye. "Ok you two," she interrupted. "Now give Angie a hug too, and let them go so they can catch their plane."
They ran to Angie and gave her a hug, then back to Joe for a final hug. He waved at the as he got in the car and then out the window until they were out of sight.
Angie wiped her eyes as she drove away. "Man," she said. "I never thought it would be that hard to say goodbye to them."
"You have no idea," Joe said.
"You'd think they were related or something," she went on.
Joe gave her a look.
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"Damn," Henry said. "Jamie's going to like hearing that."
Anna smiled. "I had forgotten that part of the trip. Cora got a little irate with us when she heard and I didn't know why until now."
"One thing that I want to know," Erin said as she looked down in her drink. She looked up at her father. "Was that true?" Frank looked uncomfortable as Erin continued. "Did you really tell her you could fall in love with her? And did you really think it was true?"
Frank nodded. "At the time, yes," he told her. "But it could have just been the state of mind I was in at the time." He glanced over at Anna, who looked dejected. "But, I can't really say for sure. If I felt that way then, it might have turned into something more. Even if there had been no twins."
He took Anna's hand. "I believed you," she said. "Because, while I was taking care of you, you took care of me, too."
He looked puzzled. "That week is still a bit of a blur," he said. "I was drunk for most of it, remember?"
"You gave me all your money," she said.
"That, I remember," Frank replied.
"Well, yeah, at the end of the week," Anna said as she shook her head. "But earlier. Like, Monday morning. I tried to get you to leave. I didn't have any food in the place and when I told you I couldn't feed you, you threw your money at me."
"I don't remember that," Frank said.
Anna nodded. "I took a fifty and bought a pizza and some groceries. Then a couple of days later I bought you a bottle of Tylenol to help with a hangover."
"I remember the Tylenol," Frank said.
"I'm not sure I want to hear any more," Erin said. "Does Joe say anything else about it?"
Frank began to skim. "Yeah, here," he said as he landed on another page. He read it out loud. February 2, 2009 I asked Erin and Linda about that week that Dad was missing. While they both denied knowing anything, Linda looked…uncomfortable.
I waited until later, when Danny was wrestling with the boys and Jamie was cuddling with Syd in the study and debating with Erin, Dad and Pops about some questionable police procedure. I talked her out onto the side porch and flat out asked her about her discomfort. She told me about this picture she had taken of Dad with Anna and I showed her the picture I had taken with my camera. I swore her to secrecy first and she promised me… She had taken the picture. I knew she would be curious, so I told her.
She did not know what to think, but she told me that there was another Polaroid, one that was likely in Dad's possession. I wondered about it, but did not voice my curiosity to her. I didn't tell her about the kids. Just that I had run into Anna and she showed me the picture, although if she had asked what made her show me, I would have told her the truth.
As for telling the truth about these kids, I have thought long and hard about it. I don't think it would be good for anyone to reveal the secret right now. It would just get everyone upset about something that cannot be confirmed. I have no idea where they are or where they will be next. Dad would go ballistic not knowing. No, I'll just bide my time until I hear that they are here in New York. Then, I'll go and tell Anna.
Meantime, I got curious this morning as I was doing some thinking about the Blue Templar thing with the FBI. Dad and Grandpa are both going to be out tomorrow morning… all morning. I think I'll use my key to go in and see if I can find that photo. I just want to know if he still has it or if he threw it away…
February 3, 2009 Never have I regretted something as much as my curiosity about that photo… Frank stopped reading there.
"Frank?" Henry queried. "Keep going."
Frank glanced at Anna, who seemed interested as well. "Let's just say he found the picture and leave it at that, shall we?" His glace turned into a look and he pushed the journal over to Anna, who read the next passage to herself.
I looked in all the places that they used to hide Christmas presents before I realized that he would not have hid something like that where we could find it. I went to Dad's closet and took down mom's jewelry box, then thought he would not have put it there. As I put it back on the shelf, I saw that dad's gun box was not locked. Of course, even though he's not a cop any more, he is the PC, so he's going to want his own weapon. I would. Then I thought that maybe it was in there and I looked. I pulled the gun form out and not just one Polaroid fell out, but two and a note and a label from a bottle of scotch.
There, having landed on top, was the picture that Linda had taken of Dad with Anna in front of the theatre. I picked up the stack and looked at the rest, immediately wishing I hadn't.
The other Polaroid was another picture but just of Anna and she was… well, let's just say she was underdressed… by a lot. There was a note from her, but I felt like if I read it, it would be too much of an invasion of privacy. I'm guessing that the scotch label is from the bottle she told me she threw against the wall, but there was something drawn on the back and I wish I hadn't seen that either because it was a drawing of Dad asleep… in the nude. She must be one hell of an artist, because I could tell immediately that it was him…
"Yeah," Anna said as she was trying not to laugh. "I don't think you want to read this to them…"
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"Do I know you?" Anna asked the blonde haired nurse.
The woman looked at her thoughtfully. "I don't think so," she said. "How long has Katie's temp been that high?"
"Not long," Anna replied. "I brought her in as soon as it started to go up."
"How old is she?"
"She'll be eleven in July," Anna replied.
"The doctor is giving her something that will bring the fever down," The nurse said. "Try not to worry."
Anna nodded. "Is this something her brother might catch?"
"Depends on what is causing her temp to go up," she replied. "How old is he?"
"They're twins," Anna said. "So he'll be eleven, too."
"If it is, keep an eye on him and bring him in if he starts to show symptoms," the nurse said. "I've got to get back to work. If you need anything, I'm Linda Reagan…"
"Wait," Anna stopped her. "Are you any relation to a Joe Reagan?"
"I'm married to his brother," Linda told her. "But he was killed in the line of duty a few years ago."
"I heard about that," Anna said. "I was sorry to hear. I ran into him and his girlfriend at a ski lodge in Vancouver a while back. He was so great with the kids."
"Really?" Linda said. "I'd like to hear about that."
"Maybe," Anna said. "When Katie is feeling better. And after the race."
"Race?"
"The Central Park kids' fun run," Anna said. "To help raise funds for the hospital?"
Linda shook her head. "Of course," she said. "I've just still got my mind on your little girl."
"Of course," Anna said. "I'll call you if we need you." She turned and went back into the curtained area where her daughter was finally sleeping.
Later that day, after Katie had been released with a severe ear infection and sent home, Linda began restocking… and thinking. Then she did a little remembering, a little math and a lot of realizing. "Oh, my God," she whispered.
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Since Linda was the last to volunteer, she got paired with the last kids to sign up. On the day before the run, she found that those kids to sign up were Katie and Mason Bryant. Upon meeting Mason for the first time, she knew in her heart that her realization was correct. And she suspected that Joe hadn't told her the whole story… that he had met them and suspected the same thing she now did. These children were Reagans.
She instructed the children in the proper way to run and ran them through their paces. The secret weighed heavy on her heart, but she smiled through it.
The next morning, at the end of the course, after having run a good run and receiving their medals, Linda slipped a letter into the outer pocket of their gym bag.
The next day, while airlifting a patient to her hospital, her helicopter crashed and she was killed with the rest of the crew and patient they were bringing in.
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"Can you use this?" Nikki asked as they dug through boxes for something for her to put her clothes in.
Katie had decided she wanted to spend the night with her big sister and niece and had obtained the proper permission to do so and they were now looking for a bag to put her clothes in.
"That'll work," Katie said and she dumped the stuffed toys in it on her bed so she could fill it with her clothes for church and dinner. She felt something stiff in the zipper pocket and opened it to find an envelope with her mother's name on it.
"What's this?" Katie said as Nikki brought her dress over to put it in.
Nikki looked the envelope over. "That's Aunt Linda's handwriting," she pointed out.
Katie looked excited. "I remember her. She helped us at the fun run last year. AND she was my nurse when Mom took me in with a fever and a really bad ear infection."
"So this has been in this bag for a whole year," Nikki said.
"Let's take it to her," Katie said and she grabbed it and ran down the stairs. "MOM!"
She ran down the stairs just in time to meet her twin at the door. Danny, Jack and Sean were right behind him. "Where's mom?"
"I don't know," Mason said. "I just got here."
"Katie, stop!" Nikki said and the child froze. "Your mom is at my grandpa's house."
"What is she doing there?" Katie groused. "And why didn't she come get us?"
"We had to wait for Mason," Nikki said.
"What's wrong?" Danny asked her.
It was Katie that answered. "There was a note for mom in the bag I was going to use for my clothes so I could spend the night with Nikki." She held it out to him. "She said it's Linda's handwriting."
"Our Linda?" Danny asked as he took the envelope.
"Yeah," Nikki said.
Danny took the envelope and looked at it. Anna Bryan was written on it in Linda's neat cursive handwriting.
"Open it dad," Sean said.
"Do you see that name right there?" Danny pointed out. "It says Anna Bryant. Last time I checked, my name was not Anna Bryant."
"Aren't you even curious?" Jack asked.
"Of course I am," Danny said as he made his way into the living room. "But it's probably just a note saying thanks for some donation or something."
"It's from the fun run," Katie said. "She was our coach."
"She was?"
Katie and Mason both nodded.
"The run on Memorial Day weekend last year?"
They nodded again. Danny breathed, trying to overcome the wave of grief that was washing over him. "She died the next day," Danny told them.
"Danny?" a voice broke in.
Danny looked up to see Anna standing in the doorway. "What is it?"
"Uh," he said and held it up. "It's for you from Linda."
"Yeah, I met her last year when Katie had an ear infection and a high fever," Anna said. "Then she worked with them in the fun run. I told you that."
"Yeah, and you sent flowers to her funeral," Danny said.
"I broke a heel and twisted my ankle so I couldn't attend," Anna told him. She looked at him and the envelope. "Open it."
"You sure?"
"I think I've read about enough surprises, today, thank you," she said. "Open it."
Danny ripped open the envelope and began to read his wife's words.
Dear Anna, It began. I just wanted to tell you how wonderful it has been working with your children. Joe told me about you many years ago when he asked about a week when his father disappeared after his mother died. You kept asking if we had met before, and to tell you the truth, we have. At the end of that worrisome week where he was gone, you asked me to take a picture of you and your companion and I was surprised to find that he was my father-in-law.
At the time, there were obviously no children. I have no idea whether you made them before or after that. All I know is I took a couple of Polaroids of Frank Reagan with the woman that helped bring him back to his family. Thank you for that.
Joe met you several years ago in Vancouver and he told me about it. Upon meeting you and your children yesterday, I get the feeling he didn't tell me the whole story. I am sad that he could not see the remarkable children now nor introduce them, and you, to their, and his, father. They told me that you didn't know who he was. Now I have. You'll find him at 1 Police Plaza in the Police Commissioner's office.
You have been looking to complete your family for so long. Now you can reach out and touch him. Don't waste any more time. Don't walk, RUN. I know he will be there for you and your children.
I am a Reagan by marriage, but you would not know it as they have accepted me as one of their own. Congratulations. And allow me to be the first to welcome you to the family.
With much love and admiration, Linda Reagan
Danny finished reading and looked up at his family. Katie was the first to move and she hugged Danny. Mason squeezed in with his sister and Jack and Sean joined the group hug.
When they kids ended the hug and stepped away, Anna wiped away the tears and sniffed. "Since Linda is not with us to accept," she began. "I would like to thank you for the warm welcome." She shrugged with a shake of her head. "It's only a year and a month late…"
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Is this finished? I keep thinking that it might be, but then it doesn't feel that way. Leave a review with your suggestion and I'll see if I can't figure it out…