AN: Some of my reviewers for Soul Mate asked for more back story on the 'family', while others wanted to see the future. In 'Vartann's Memories' I will be submitting one-shots that provide some history on Greg's family. They will most likely be stand alone memories, in no particular chronological order. (Still marinating about the future!)
This chapter is kind of short, but it is merely to set the stage for the others to come. More detailed chapters on incidents in this chapter will be forthcoming as soon as I have them worked out in my own mind. Hope you enjoy. ;)
Don't own 'em, just love 'em.
In the month since Nick had joined Greg and his family in Las Vegas, he and Vartann had developed a routine of sitting by the pool before lunch and engaging in a 'question and answer' period. Vartann learned about Nick and his life prior to meeting Greg in Dallas, and Nick learned more about his new 'in-laws', Vartann in particular.
Nick talked about being raised in Austin, Texas and having six older siblings. He spoke of his parents being professionals, who instilled a deep moral thread in him. He mentioned college, where he had been a member of a fraternity and had played football, before joining the Dallas police department. But mainly he spoke of the loneliness he had felt during those years away from his biological family and the fact that he had always been optimistic of finding someone to complete him.
Vartann answered any question that Nick brought into the conversation regarding his new home and the people residing on the estate. Nick learned that Gil's father had moved the family to Vegas shortly after Catherine and Gil's marriage. The old patriarch had foreseen the westward expansion of the new country and wanted to carve a niche in the wild for his growing family. They had arrived almost fifty years before the railroad and telephone, sixty years before the city was even incorporated.
'The Old Man', as Vartann called him, had been smart and he'd had his fingers into every endeavor to pass through Vegas for almost 70 years. He had either been very astute or very lucky, because almost every deal he'd been involved in had been lucrative. The family had prospered and grown under his tutelage, until he and his wife perished in a fire that had destroyed the family's first residence in Vegas, along with the lives of several other family members.
Gil, Catherine, Sara, Vartann and his wife had been on a trip to New Orleans at the time of the fire, visiting another family conclave. The visit that coincided with the fire had brought Warrick into the fold. His addition had eased the strain to Gil and Catherine's marriage that Sara's addition ten years previously had caused, but had added a totally new set of dynamics that needed to be addressed.
Upon returning to Vegas, Gil had begun the construction of a new estate house, attempted consoling the remaining family members, and had undertaken the daunting task of managing the ever expanding family. In addition, after the death of 'the old man', Gil and Catherine had been under the gun to provide an heir for the Las Vegas family.
Greg was born the same year the Hoover Dam was dedicated. The fifteen years between the death of Gil's parents and the birth of his son had made some of the family nervous, and as a result, Gil seldom, if ever, left the estate, allowing respected family members to conduct the necessary day to day business.
The fact that Gil retreated from the outside world to the extent he did had allowed the 'family' to stay in Vegas for so long. No one questioned the fact that individuals from the estate didn't appear to age, because, after a number of years, the faces that mingled with the public changed. After a respectable number of years entry back into the general population was allowable due to the demise of a generation or two.
Nick never pushed the reminiscences, knowing without reservations, that many of the memories were difficult for Vartann to discuss. The brief mentions of his wife were short and to the point, but Nick always heard the catch in Vartann's voice when she found her way into the storyline, dancing along like a shadow on the edge of the page.
Every day brought new information. Sometimes it was information about those living within the estate compound at the present time, those that Nick was learning to identify by face and name. Sometimes the stories were about those that had left the fold, or who had passed away during Vartann's lifetime. Although those were the hardest for the older man to tell.
But, Nick knew the stories that would be the most interesting, whenever Vartann was ready, would be the stories that were old as time. The history of his people, the oral stories passed down from generation to generation. If Nick was lucky, he might get a chance to hear some of those stories. As long as Vartann was willing to share his memories, Nick was eager to listen.
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Now where do I start? ;)
