THE MISSING LINK

(Disclaimer: I have no business connection with JOAN. My only purpose in writing this story is to have fun and maybe share it)

(Author's Note: This story is part of a series that takes place in the year after the JOAN OF ARCADIA TV show ended. A listing of the other stories is on my profile. The main events that have happened since May 2005 are

(1) Joan has let Grace, Luke, and Adam into her secret

(2) Joan and Adam got married in June, 2006.

(3) Joan, Adam, and Grace have graduated from high school. Luke was jumped a year and allowed to graduate with them.

(4) Luke is going to Harvard, Joan and Adam to a nearby university, and Grace is working abroad.

(5) Kevin and Sister Lily have been married for a year, and Lily is carrying their first child.

This story starts in September, 2006, with flashbacks)

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Chapter 1 Off to College

Joan and Adam were packing the car in the Girardi's driveway. Will and old Mr. Rove were working with them, and even Kevin helped out, carrying items on his lap as drove his wheelchair in and out. Helen and Lily were watching from inside, not because they thought helping Joan was men's work, but each had a specific reason. Lily was two months pregnant and reluctant to strain herself by lifting anything heavy. As for Helen, she kept tearing up at the thought of her "babies" going off to college. Luke had already set out for Harvard; now she was losing Joan -- and Adam, who was practically one of Helen's children.

"Baconia University," mused Lily. "Doesn't sound too kosher, does it? Does it attract many Jewish or Muslim students?"

Helen smiled, knowing that Lily was clowning to cheer her up. "It's named for Sir Francis Bacon, the renaissance man. Judge, writer, scientist. The university prides itself on excelling in several fields, even though it's small. Joan likes it because it has good law courses, and Adam can get a fine education in art there."

"And it's close by, just over the border into Pennsylvania," Lily added, obviously knowing more about the school than she had pretended. "Which means that they can come home almost anytime. They're not deserting you, Helen. They were a lot further away during the European trip."

"Oh, I know. It's just that this summer has been so full of transitions. Joan getting married, you having a baby. Aunt Olive passing away."

Lily nodded. "It's like the Shakespeare quote. 'Bless thyself, for thou lookst upon things dying, I on things newborn'. Spooky." She actually suited the action to the word, crossing herself as if she was still a nun.

"And the spookiest part is the kids finding that distant relation in Italy, just before she died."

"So exactly how was the lady related to us?" asked Lily, this time sounding genuinely puzzled. At the time of the event, Lily had been pre-occupied by a missed menstrual period and what it might imply.

"Her name was Maria Cavallo, and she had a brother. He apparently got tired of village life, so he started wandering around the world. Eventually he fell in love with my grandmother in North Carolina and decided to settle down with her. They had three children. One was my mother, and another was Aunt Olive. So it turns out we're part Italian on both sides."

It sounded so pedantic, like a geneologist's report. But as her cousin Jean Cavallo enjoyed remarking, "had" was a ridiculous tame word when you were talking about the experience of childbirth. And to Helen, other parts of the narrative were downright weird. Why had her grandfather decided to wander? Why did he never mention his origin in the Italian village? How did Joan manage to find her aunt precisely at the point of death? Helen suspected Joan knew more than she was willing to talk about, but she was reticent of questioning her daughter. Joan had witnessed two deaths in two years: first her friend Judith and now this aunt. It was not something that she would want to dwell on.

"So my kid will be part Italian as well," said Lily, whose mind had explored a completely different set of ideas. "I'll hafta figure the percentage sometime."

"I doubt it will matter to her, even when she's old enough. America is such a melting pot."

"She? You think it will be a girl?"

"What?" Helen had not been aware of using the feminine pronoun, and it would be awkward to explain why she had done so. But the fact of the matter was that she had had a dream a few days ago, in which Lily had already borne the child and was nursing her, and the sex was common knowledge. "Just guessing."

"They're coming in now," Lily commented, looking out the window.

Adam came first, looking physically tired out from the lifting, and socially awkward. He took Helen's hand. "Thanks, Mrs. G. For, uh, everything. The art lessons, and the advice, and the, um--"

"You can say 'love', Adam." She tugged on the hand and pulled him into an embrace. "I just know your professors can teach you a lot more than I could. Take care of Joan."

"Yeah, well, she's more likely to take care of me." Adam replied frankly, and he stepped over to say goodbye to his sister-in-law.

His wife seemed to determined not to be mushy. "Bye, Mom." Joan said, hugging her mother for a few seconds and then stepping back.

"Goodbye, Joan. Remember what I warned you about, about--"

Joan frowned as she realized what her mother was referring to. "I'm OK, Mom. I got through Europe, didn't I?" She turned quickly to Lily as if to cut the conversation short. "Ciao, Lily. Good luck with the baby."

"Thank you, Joan. God be with you."

"Yeah, no problem."

She followed her husband outside. Lily stared at the closed door; Joan's last comment had jolted her out of her mother-abbess mode. "Now what the hell did she mean by THAT?"

TBC