AND THEY ALL LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER!
By
Owlcroft
"C'mon, McCormick, nobody ever wins that stuff," grumbled that amiable retired jurist known affectionately as Hardcase. "I dunno why you waste your money on those things."
The bright-eyed young man next to him passed over a twenty-dollar bill to the convenience store clerk and grinned engagingly. "You never know, Judge. Ever since that kitchen appeared in the gatehouse, I've felt that everything is turning around, you know? That it's time for our lives to be wonderful. So," he took the tickets from the clerk and nodded his thanks, "I figured what better time to buy a few lottery tickets Hey, if I win, I promise I'll share. You get ten percent, okay?"
"I'd be happy if you just paid for your share of the groceries."
ooooo
The next morning, Mark burst into the main house kitchen, shrieking with glee. "I won! I won! Look, right here in the paper, see? Thirty million dollars, all mine!"
"What about my ten percent?" Hardcastle grabbed the paper from him and scanned it quickly. "Are you sure you read the numbers right?"
McCormick waltzed around the table in high spirits. "Yup. I've even called the state office and confirmed it. I told you, Judge. Everything's going to be wonderful for us from now on."
ooooo
Sure enough, the very next day Hardcastle was out examining the rose bushes for thrips when his neighbor, Mrs. McGillicuddy, showed up in the garden.
"That nice young man told me you were out here," she explained. "I just wanted to let you know that your son, Tommy, is alive and well and living at my house."
The judge was stunned, as well he should be. "What?" he exclaimed.
"You see, he had amnesia from his terrible injuries in the war. Being in procurement must have been much more dangerous than I thought," she mused. "Anyway, he showed up at my place – I guess it was some sort of homing instinct – but couldn't remember who he was and exactly where he lived until just this morning. I thought I'd come tell you he's on his way over here now. You know, kind of prepare you for it all."
Meanwhile, in the den, Mark was answering the phone. "Hello," he said.
"Mark, dear, I hope you're sitting down."
"Oh, hi, Millie," he said. "How are you?"
"I'm fine, but I have some startling news for you. I've just had a vision of your mother and she's alive and living in luxury in the Bahamas."
"What?" he exclaimed.
"Yes, it seems when your father left the two of you, she filed for divorce and then married a man she'd known in high school. He has something to do with computers and has become rich enough to buy his own island."
"But what about me?" Markie was heartbroken. "Why did she pretend to be dead so that I had to go live with my bottle-cap collecting uncle? Not that Uncle Ralph mis-treated me or anything. We used to stay up late and watch monster movies and eat cheeseburgers. It was a great childhood. But," he firmly wrenched his mind back on-topic, "why did my mommy disappear and pretend to be dead?"
Millie's sigh could distinctly be heard over the phone line. "Because her new husband didn't want kids. He was still struggling to develop the first mini-chip and your mother knew you'd be better off with your Uncle Ralph. I just wanted you to know she isn't dead and now that you're also filthy rich, you might be hearing from her. But you can certainly stop grieving for her."
"Oh, I did that a long time," the old, care-free McCormick was back. "Who cares, anyway? Hey, thanks for the call, Millie. I'll send you a present!"
ooooo
Back in the garden, a tender reunion was taking place. "Tommy!" cried the judge.
"Dad!" replied his son.
They embraced. Tears were shed.
"Mrs. McGillicuddy tells me you have someone else living here now, Dad." Tommy loosened his hold on his father slightly. "I just want you to know it's okay with me, and I'll be glad to welcome him like a brother."
Hardcastle pulled him tighter. "I knew you would, Tommy. Now I'll have two sons."
Just then, they heard a car door slam in the driveway.
"Milt, where are ya?" It was the voice of Lieutenant Frank Harper. "Oh, there you are. Hi, Tommy. Hey, Milt, I got a phone call from that cryogenics place. They'd lost your number and wanted to let you know they're going to revive Nancy this afternoon. Seems they've got a heart-lung-stomach-spleen-kneecap transplant all ready for her and she'll be good as new by tomorrow morning."
"That's great, Frank," exclaimed the judge. "Let's go give Mark the good news and plan a big dinner party for tomorrow!"
ooooo
The next night, a joyful group met around the table, admiring the Windsor Rose china and salivating over the beautiful dinner Sarah had prepared.
"I'm so glad you've decided to come out of retirement, Sarah," said Mark shyly. "We really missed you around here."
"Why, that's very nice of you, Mark. Thank you." The housekeeper beamed at him.
"Yeah, we had to do all the shopping and cleaning and dishes and everything ourselves." McCormick grabbed up a roll and strolled over to talk to his new brother.
Frank and Claudia Harper had brought a bottle of red wine to the festivities, but it had miraculously turned into champagne as soon as they entered the house.
"Must still be some of those leprechauns around here," Harper grinned as he popped the cork and poured.
The judge held up his flute and claimed everybody's attention.
"Hang on, Judge, here's your trombone instead," offered Claudia.
"Thanks, Claudia, I always confuse those two. Anyway, I just wanted to say how happy we are that everything is going to be wonderful from now on. We're all here together as a family and friends and -" he paused to swipe at the tears cascading down his cheeks, "all I can say is, thank God for fanfic!"
"To fanfic!" They all raised their glasses and musical instruments and cheered.
The End