The Memoirs of T. W. Spears

Narrated by William and Grell's son from my "Box series", a series of stories that tell some of what happened after the end of "Forever Together". The stories themselves are told in my usual style, while the narrate parts are in first person. I hope it isn't too confusing.

Thomas W. Spears.

That is my name. Son of William T. Spears and Grell Sutcliff Spears. As to whether or not I am physically the son of William T. Spears is debatable and even with the invention of the paternity test, my 'mother' has forbidden these tests. I say 'mother' because I know naught what else to call her(?). Though claiming to be a woman dressing in women's clothes, wearing make up, etc., I can attest to the fact that she does not meet all the specified biological requirements that qualifies her as such. After walking in on my parents for the fourth, or fifth, time (my brain is so scarred I cannot remember specifically), I can avow that my mother is not a woman. At least on the outside?

It is incredibly confusing. So confusing it makes my brain hurt. Because she not only gave birth to me, but to my younger sister as well. I remember when my parents found out they were expecting another child. My parents love each other, I know for certain, but they fight. A lot. My mother lives for drama and is usually he instigator of their squabbles. However, on this occasion she was not…

X

Undertaker, also known as Thornton Kench, came back into the room to give them their results. A wide grin was plastered over his face. His experiment had been a success! Now to tell the couple the good news.

Thomas sat in an overstuffed chair nearby. Grell held onto William's hand tightly, scared to death of what must be going through his head and what his reaction would be if the test resulted positive. William's palms were sweaty and while his face was as stone, behind his eyes a storm was brewing. The only logical answer to the positive was that she had once again been unfaithful. How else could be expecting again? But Grell hadn't been unfaithful. She had been certain to take her medication everyday. So there was no chance it could have been Jack. She simply couldn't have…

Seeing her anxiety, Undertaker's smile slipped. Idiot. Of course she was worried, considering as far as her and William knew there was no way that William could be the father. With his opening line, he regretted the dirty trick he had played on his rose. It was worth it, but it just may come back to nip him in the arse. "Congratulations," he said and what little color was still in her face drained away.

Before another word could be uttered, William got up and left in a silent rage. Grell followed after with Thomas at her heel. "Will, wait!" she called.

He stopped and turned. "Wait for what?" he all but shouted at her and then in a cold manner, "You promised me. 'Never again', you said, but you did Grell. You did!"

"I didn't! I swear!" she defended, tears stinging her eyes.

William's eyebrows formed an even 'v'. "Do you think I am stupid? There is only one way you could he become pregnant and there is no possible way it was me this time!"

"It has to be you! I swear on my life that I haven't been with anyone besides you since we've been marred. Why won't you believe me?"

"For one, you are forgetting about Michael Summer."

"That doesn't count!" she shouted. It was her turn to get angry. It wasn't my fault, as you very well know and I was upfront wit you about that."

"As I recall, you had 'no memory of that night'."

"It was your idea I even go on that stupid vacation to begin with! I never wanted to go!"

"The entire incident is my fault. I am the evil villain and you are completely innocent. You never do anything wrong."

"Stop putting words in my mouth! But it is you fault. You sent me on that trip! All of this is your fault. If you had never sent me that letter to begin with…hell, if you had never stuck your nose where it didn't belong."

"You think I do not regret sending you that letter? I've regretted it from the moment I sent it, and it was you who made the first move, or have you conveniently forgotten that too? I was not responsible for you getting inebriated, nor sleeping with that filth. Were you drunk this time? Is that why you 'have no idea' how you ended up having another man's child yet again?"

"You know perfectly well I have not had one drop since Summer."

"So then what is your excuse this time? Jack? Jack is once again the culprit and therefore you cannot be held responsible for your actions?" Her hand sped toward his face, intent on slapping him when a pale, long fingered hand caught her wrist.

"Calm down, Rose, think of the baby," Undertaker spoke calmly yet firm.

William turned and resumed walking away. "Where are you going, William? We're not through!" She shouted after him.

"Do not be so certain of that," he answered quietly, not stopping to reply and was soon out of sight. Thomas was torn. Should he follow William or stay with Grell? He wasn't entirely sure what was going on.

"Oh, dearie me," Undertaker appeared beside Grell. "Wait here a moment." He took off after William, catching up to him quickly. "Willy~" he called.

"Whatever you have to say, I am not interested," William answered not breaking his stride.

"Please," Undertaker said in a serious tone, "I need you to come back. I have something to say to you both. If you still want to leave afterward….I will not stop you." William stopped, clearly thinking it over. "You need to hear this…"

"….Very well. I shall hear you out, but do be quick about it, I have some packing to do and some papers to file."

William followed him back to his quarters, meeting Grell in the hall outside the door. They all went back inside. William sat as far away from Grell as possible. Thomas sat beside Grell. Undertaker remained standing as he addressed them. "First, Willy, you owe our dearest Rose an apology"

"I what?!" William balked.

"Damn right he does," Grell said at the same time, crossing her arms.

"Hush," Undertaker said to Grell. "We do not need any more fuel on the fire. Where was I?...Ah, yes," he turned to William. "Grell is telling you the truth. She doesn't know anything about this."

"Then how did she end up like this, since you seem to have all the answers."

The reaper looked at them shamefaced. "A little experiment on my part of which you two were the test subjects. My sincerest apologies." At which the Grell began her enraged shouts. It was some time before she calmed enough to continue. "I wanted to see if we could replicate the process in which enabled Grell to be able to bear children by having William come in contact with that same energy so that the two of you might have more children if so desired. Evidently it worked."

"Might I ask how?" William asked, not really believing any of it.

"How did I bring you in contact with it? Quite simple really. I wasn't sure it would even work if administered in the manner in which it was. I snuck it into a cup of coffee you drank shortly before babysitting my godson whilst you two, erm, took a day off, as it were."

It made sense, William could not deny. It explained his wooziness from that time. It could still be a trick of Mr. Kench to keep them together, however, as he examined his wife and child from across the room, having calmed enough to think properly, he knew he did not want to leave them. Grell was telling the truth, he determined. He rose from his seat and took Grell by the arm. "Come, Grell," he said quietly. "Let's go home. You need your rest." He whispered an apology in her ear as they headed for the door. "Thomas!" he called. Thomas said goodbye to his godfather and followed after his parent

X

My parents were not on good terms with my godfather for a long time. I believe my father even gave him some overtime for his little trick. Much of my childhood passed rather uneventfully for the most part. One of the things I will note is that my visits to the crazy doctor woman ceased during my adolescent years. The Board finally realized what a waste of time it was and 'Doctor' Lorry was well ready to be rid of me. I must have pushed her too far and not without regret when, on suggestion from my godfather I began playing nasty tricks on her. The best one was when I pretended to turn into a demon. The look on her face when she found out I was faking was priceless Mother found it quite amusing while father scolded me, however I believe he was secretly amused by it too. Lorry was demoted shortly after I stopped visiting her when her questionable methods of testing me were discovered.

How did the Board react to my mother's new pregnancy? There were some minor inquiries, however, they did not press the issue. It is my personal belief that my godfather told them his part in it. We were fortunate that they left us alone. My mother had a hard enough time as it was. She was sick all the time and came down with sever high blood pressure in her final month.

Adulthood came and I managed to establish a career for myself in the human world after graduating from a university. It was around this time that I found permanent lodging there as well. I thought it was about time I found someone and get married. I did manage to met a nice young woman that I was interested in. It was the early 1930's and we were out on a date the night I was ready to ask her that question...

X

"Katherine, are you having a good time?" Thomas asked, holding her hand from across the table as he stared into her brown eyes.

"Of course, Thomas. I always have a good time when I am with you," she answered with a blissful smile.

"Katherine-" RING! RING! Katherine looked around quizzically for the source of the noise.

"Is there a telephone nearby?" she asked. The source was coming from Thomas' mobile phone in his pocket. While telephones had been around for a little wile, these devices, however, were not known to the human world yet and he cursed himself for not turning it off.

"I'm no sure what you mean, darling. Will you excuse me for a moment?" He got up,, setting his napkin on the table. Finding a private area, he answered the call. "Mother! Now is not a good time. Whatever it is, we can discuss it later." He heard a sob on the other end. "Mother, what is wrong now?" he asked with a sigh. It was likely one of her 'moments'. Son he would hear her cry about how much she missed him and wondering when he come visit, etcetera, etcetera.

""W-William," she managed then sobbed harder. It was obvious he wasn't going to get anything intelligible out of her over the phone so he hung up and apologized to his date once more. "A sudden family emergency. Out of sight from humans, he created a portal home. His sister had gone off to 'discover herself' or some other nonsense a year or so ago. So whatever this was about, as his sister and father were no available, it was up to him.

He found her sitting on the couch in the living room wearing her bathrobe and blowing her nose into a tissue. "Mother, what is wrong?"

She looked up, startled for a moment at his sudden appearance then cried, "I can't find your father anywhere. He's just vanished!"

"Perhaps he was called in to work and did no have time to tell you he was leaving.," he answered, fully believing this to be the case and that his mother was severely over reacting.

"I'm not over reacting this time either," she said as if reading his thoughts. "I was in the tub and when I got out, he was gone! I tried calling dispatch and he's not there. His mobile is here and I've searched the house from top to bottom, but he isn't anywhere. Our anniversary is in a few weeks. I thought at first he might have stepped to make plans or buy something for the occasion, but he should have been back by now and why didn't he take his mobile with him!"

"Mother, please calm down. I'll see if I can locate him, all right?" he said, getting slightly aggravated. There had to be a simple explanation and his mother was making much ado about nothing.

Over the years, Thomas had become acquainted with many of the reapers even some from Upper Management. Henry Longbottom was one. Perhaps he could be of assistance in locating William. Stepping out the room so he could hear over his mother's blubbering, he called him. "Hello, hello, Botty?...yes, yes, I know how late it is, but I really need to call in a favor and I am afraid it cannot wait. It seems my mother has gone and misplaced my father…No I do not mean it like that. She cannot find him and she's having an awful fit, so could you…? Yes, I'll hold." Thomas listened to the silence from he other end while he waited for Botty. Finally, he returned. "Yes, I'm still here…Oh…Oh, I see. Thank you, Botty." He added the 'thank you' as an afterthought, his irritation completely dissolving away. He had known it would always happen one day, but never really thought it might happen during his time, or that he would be better prepared for when it did. What was he going to tell his mother? She was already such a mess. This was surely going to send her over the edge. If not now, then soon. Thomas was partially convinced the presence of his father was what kept his mother from completely falling off the trolley and Thomas knew full well of her instability.

Thomas walked slowly back into the living room. Grell had calmed down a little and now sat sniffling and worriedly wringing the tissue in her hands. Thomas took a seat next to her and took her hands. Facing her, he said, "Mother." She knew something was wrong from his voice and began spouting her worst fears before he could utter another word.

"William's dead!" she cried, clutching the tissue in her hand to her heart. "How? How?! He was here with me! He couldn't have-he can't be…!"

"Mother….Mother….Mother!" Thomas had to raise his voice to get her attention. "He's not dead…Not exactly. He's passed on. He's reached redemption."

His mother's face flickered with emotion: confusion, happiness for the briefest of moments, and finally settling on acceptance. A disturbing calm settled over her. "They don't give you any warning do they?" she said quietly. "'Your time has been served, goodbye'."

Thomas tried to think of what he could say to her. Ways to console her, to help her through this. He could think of no words to say and only one way to help her. Though perhaps knowing the best how to handle her, her closest friends could not help her. Ronald had been transferred to America for some time. She wasn't on speaking terms with Othello, some guy she knew in forensics. His godfather was on loan to one of the other branches and he had no idea hen he would return. His mother would be alone. And she shouldn't be alone.

"Come, mother. It's getting late. You should be getting to bed."

She grabbed hold of collar with a firm grip, her eyes wide and fearful. "You're going to leave me too! The same as everyone else. Your father, your sister… She because she couldn't stand me. You can't stand me either. That's why you left home to live in that ghastly realm."

"Mother-"

"Don't tell me it's not true. Such ungrateful children I have!"

"I was not going to argue with you. What I was going to say was that I wasn't going to leave you. I shall move my things back home in the morning."

She flung her arms around him. "Such a wonderful child! I knew it all along. Why can't your sister be more like you?"

She blabbered for a while before Thomas extricated himself from her hug. She may not require breath, but he still did. "Now, it's past bedtime and you have to work in the morning."

"I still do not know how I am going to get on without your father. We've been by each other's sides for so long, you know. And I do not know how they expect a woman who has just become a widow to work."

"You shall figure it out."

Thomas walked her up the stairs, and making certain she had gone to bed, sat down at his father's desk to write a letter.

'Dearest Kathrine,

My love, it is with a heavy heart that I write to you. My father has passed quite unexpectedly and leaving my mother not only distraught, but quite alone. She is not fit to be left alone and with my sister away, it behooves me to tell you that this means I must return home to tend to her. It would be most unfair to you to make you wait for me. I do not know how long this shall last, but I expect it to be quite some time. I regret I must do this and I wish it didn't have to end, but it must. Know that you will always be in my heart and I be for your forgiveness.

Love,

Thomas.'

In the morning, after seeing his mother off, he travelled to the human realm to post the letter and to give notice to his employer that he was leaving their employ as of now. He picked up what things he could carry and cared most for from his flat and returned to is mother's house where he placed a call to his sister to inform her of their father.

"What do you want, Thomas?" She was evidently not pleased to hear from him.

"I have some bad news. Do with it what you will."

"If it's about that red headed freak of a 'mother' we have, then save it. I'm not interested."

"It's about father, actually. He's passed on, found redemption. Mother is not taking it well," he replied, pretending he hadn't heard he insults she had made. Much like his mother, there was little point in arguing about something once she had made up her mind.

"So? What do you want me to do about it? Why do you even care so much? He wasn't your father. Everyone knows you're just some just some half-demon bastard."

"Even if that is true, William was still the only father I knew and I care a good deal while you who are most certainly his daughter doesn't care at all."

"It was bound to happen at some point anyway, it was just a matter of time as you well know."

"Do what you want. I am moving back home."

"And do what exactly, mama's boy? Live with your mother till you grow old and die?" She laughed scornfully and hung up.

She was right. His mind had already been made up before the phone call. Though inheriting some of the genetics that results from becoming a reaper, he and his sister were still human at their core and thus had not the immortality granted to a death god, but mortal as their kind had originated from. He wasn't going to take the chance that his mother would reach redemption before he died or was too old to care for her. There was a chance she may never recover from William's passing, as calm and accepting of it as she may appear to be. He knew what he had to do.