Back to the Drawing Board_Fibonacci Rabbits and the Murdoch's
) (
"Well detective, since you ask, it would be best when serving the meals for your traditional seat to be vacant," Eloise answered William's question. The, now quite a bit larger, Murdoch family crowded around the kitchen entrance waiting to take their seats for their first dinner together in their home.
Julia's voice added from behind the bunch, baby Chelsea in her arms, "And I think it best to put Chelsea's high chair at the other end." She had decided to leave the seating plan to her husband, albeit for this one little piece of advice. She was, however, fighting the urge to suggest that she should sit closest to the baby, when her husband shared his plan aloud.
"Yes, let's put Chelsea at the end, Julia you should be next to her right here…" the man of the house said, pulling out the chair facing the kitchen window next to "Chelsea's end" of the table. "And I think Katie should sit next to her mother. William Jr. and I will sit on the opposite side of the table," William instructed as he placed his son's 'booster seat' on the chair in front of the window for him. "I'll make a booster seat for you Katie… tomorrow. But for now…" William peered around the room hoping to have an idea. His eyes stopped on a large soup pot hanging on the wall. "Julia," he asked, "Can we use a couch pillow, just for now?" He walked over and lifted the pot from the wall, and flipped it over to show her his idea.
"Good idea, William," she praised, "William Jr., could you and Katie go get the dark brown pillow on the sofa?"
"O.K. Mommy," William Jr. quickly answered.
Imitating him, fervently motivated to fit in, Katie rushed to oblige as well, "O.K. Mommy," she declared and looked to her older brother.
"Come on," he said and the two of them dashed off to run the errand.
Eloise had made one of the detective's favorites, Beef Stew. She worked in the background as the family ate and talked.
Julia noticed that Katie bounced constantly in her seat, legs swinging back and forth. "A bit anxious, probably," she thought to herself. "Not a big eater either," she noted. Julia put her fork down and leaned over to Katie, slipping her fingers around the little girl's head and into her hair and giving her a soft kiss on the head. "I'm so glad you're our little girl," she told her. "Do you like the Beef Stew, it's your Daddy's favorite," she said.
"Oh yes, Mommy," the little girl answered, rushing to take another bite.
Chelsea drew everyone's attention by slapping her hands on her high chair top and letting out an excited screech. Her hands were covered in remnants of the tiny pieces of food she'd been half eating and half playing with.
Katie interpreted, "I think she wants a spoon."
Eloise's voice could be heard from behind them, encouraging in baby-talk, "Of course she does. She's a big girl too, aren't you Chelsea." The woman hurriedly delivered the dining implement.
William Jr. asked, "What did you usually do after dinner, at the orphanage?"
Keeping her eyes down on her meal, Katie answered, "We played for a little, but then we had to get cleaned up… Whatever Sister Raquel told us. Then we would get in bed and listen to a story."
Excited, William Jr. said, "We do that too! But I'm not in bed yet. We read it in the Living Room."
"What types of stories do you like, Katie?" William asked.
"Do you have a favorite?" Julia asked too.
"Cinderella!" Katie replied.
Julia caught her daughter's eye, "We have that one," she offered.
William Jr. frowned. He released a sigh and rested his chin into his hand and began tossing his food around on his plate.
William chuckled. "Mrs. Murdoch," he said from the other side of the table, "I believe we may have our first conflict." His eyes guided Julia towards William Jr.
Julia laughed out loud at her son's expression. "Cinderella is not your favorite?" she asked somewhat sarcastically.
"No!" he declared, "It's just a pretty girl getting into pretty dresses and falling in love with a handsome prince," he elaborated.
Julia had to admit, she saw his point.
"Peter Pan is better," William Jr. went on. "At least it has pirates… and flying…"
So many things went through Julia's mind. This boy was definitely William Murdoch's son! The first thought blurted out of her mouth, while others tracked off in all directions in her brain.
"Fitting with his ship-faring ancestors," Julia teased, eyeing William she added, "Fisherman grandfather and all."
"True," her husband acknowledged.
Her connections were far from finished, however. She went on to say, "Not to mention your Daddy's penchant for flying." Immediately the image, from years ago, after she and William had returned home from watching the play Peter Pan – ironically… the image of seeing William flying through the air as he tripped while playfully chasing her down the hall, because his pants had fallen down around his knees, this hysterical image flew through her mind, and made her giggle. She would share it, would wholeheartedly enjoy seeing William turn bright red, but first, a few more respectable examples of William's flying were in order.
"Your Daddy had a friend… still does actually," she said, glancing at William, "named James Pendrick. He probably invented the first real airplane… But it was your Daddy who first flew it," Julia said, raising her eyebrows high with excitement.
"Wow!" William Jr. exclaimed. "Really Daddy?" he asked.
Bashfully, William couldn't deny it, "You could say…"
Julia interrupted. "There's more," she promised. "This same friend invented a rocket to fly to the Moon!" her eyes grew big again.
William Jr. and Katie gasped with anticipation.
"Did Daddy fly it too!" the small boy nearly shrieked.
Julia glanced William's way and then continued, now looking at Katie, happy the little three-year old was following along, "No. But he did wear a special winged suit and jump out of a hot-air balloon and fly back down to Earth."
"Wow," both children said.
Preparing to serve the dessert behind them, Eloise instinctively wrinkled her face in doubt. Then, however, she questioned her rush to judgement. "The doctor was speaking of the detective, after all," she reasoned, ultimately talking herself into believing the tall tales.
Julia peeked over at her husband. "Oh, he's loving this – on top of the world," she thought, "Perhaps it's best to keep William's little "Peter Pan" adventure between ourselves for now, especially in light of the fact that Eloise would overhear, and would surely figure out why his trousers were down in the first place." Still, he read something mischievous in her smile, she was sure.
Julia giggled when William raised an eyebrow at her. "Later," she whispered to him.
Interesting, he felt that right in his groin…
Her mother changed the subject, asking, "Katie, why do you like Cinderella so much?"
Eloise was clearing the dinner plates away, replacing them with dessert.
"Because she marries a handsome prince," the tiny child answered.
William observed his wife's frown. He cleared his throat and said, leaning across the table to get closer to Katie, "She did a lot more than that." His voice almost in a whisper, highlighting his words as he explained, "She had survived the loss of her mother…"
Julia leaned closer too, marveling at this wondrous man once again. He seemed to be onto something.
William went on, "Being strong and brave in such circumstances is no easy feat. And even when people treated her cruelly, she remained kind. Then, she turned to ask for help, she didn't give up hope, despite the fact that she was confined to life as a servant in a kitchen. And she let the birds and the animals help her get the things she needed to go to the ball." He leaned back, making room for Eloise to put down the desserts. "My this looks delicious Eloise," he declared, earning similar accolades for the older woman's cooking all around.
Julia decided to join in, grateful for the new perspective on this fairytale. "Cinderella had to be very bold to go to that ball at all, pretty much as an imposter," she evaluated, wrinkling her face in judgment, "I mean the ball wasn't for people like her. It was for wealthy aristocrats. That's why she had to sneak in and sneak out…"
"You mean Cinderella was like a spy!?" William Jr. showed some interest now.
"Sort of," Julia answered.
William inserted, "She didn't know she was going to fall in love with the prince."
Julia glanced at her husband with a smile and added, "And the prince didn't know he was going to fall in love with her."
Everyone felt it, the shift. Probably because of the look William and Julia shared. It was as if all the oxygen flew out of the room, made it fuzzy.
Entranced, Katie asked, "Daddy, did you fall in love with Mommy the moment you met her – like the prince?"
William's eyes seemed stuck to his wife's beautiful, big, blue ones. "I did," he admitted with a nod to her. After a pause, William turned to Katie, glanced over at William Jr., and then said, "But, we're not quite like Cinderella and Prince Charming… uh… It's sort of the other way around for us, um, Mommy is more like the prince in our story, and I'm more like the pauper…"
"Huh?" William Jr. wondered.
William sighed, it would be harder to explain than he expected. He heard Julia's voice in his head, "He's only four… She's only three." Besides, their class differences had never been a comfortable issue for him. "Your Mommy is from an upper-class family. They had more money than most, and me, I was from a much lower class, didn't really even have a family…"
"He is quite dashing though," Julia flirted from across the table, trying to ease some of the tension in the air. An idea hit her and she turned quickly to face Katie. "You know, it does seem like you already met a Prince Charming Katie, I mean Daddy here," Julia glanced over at William, "He swept you off your feet, brought you from the orphanage to this beautiful house…"
William interrupted, "We all did, and we all fell head-over-heels in love with you too, from the moment we met you."
Katie looked around to see William Jr. and her Mommy nodding their heads in agreement. She bounced happily and said, "And fed me this delchus cake," popping a piece in her mouth.
"You'll have to thanks Eloise for that," Julia advised.
"Thank you, Eloise," Katie said.
"Your welcome Katie," the woman glowed back at the girl with a smile, "I'm glad you like it."
"I love it!" Katie declared.
"Me too," insisted William Jr.
Soon after, the family headed to the living room for their story reading – Peter Pan tonight, Cinderella tomorrow. Bolting out ahead of their parents, Katie and William Jr. rushed down the hall, baby Chelsea bobbled away happily behind them in her Daddy-made baby walker. William took Julia's arm and leaned close, "Now, wouldn't it be nice to have a little puppy bounding after them?" he suggested, extending his hand out before them, inviting the image.
"Oh yes, the dog," she feigned annoyance. "Perhaps that will be next, let's give it some time… to adjust to all this first," she reasoned.
They walked by the gate William had built and installed at the top of the staircase to the basement, Chelsea's safety in the baby walker in mind. "Well done, William," Julia said.
He smiled and replied, "At least we were prepared for her. We're playing catch-up with Katie."
"Yes," Julia responded, "happily."
) (
As soon as they pulled the girls' door ajar, having finally agreed to letting Katie sleep in the crib with Chelsea for tonight, Julia remembered her plan from seemingly days ago, although it was from just this morning, waking next to him from her sexy dream of secretly, silently, making love with him, in their curtain-covered compartment on the train. She was going to ravage her husband wildly. Now was the time. So quickly she felt the luscious twisting begin in her insides.
Her husband took her arm as they continued down the hall past William Jr.'s room on the right, then past their bedroom door on the left. He moved as if expecting that they would be going down the stairs…
Her tug drew him backwards, capsizing the gravity in him. She led him into their darkened room. Click… the door closed, her supple body pressing into his, her whisper, lips so soft, a kiss, "I intend to have my way with you husband," her seduction hauled at his core.
Stung, breathless, and stunned, the electromagnetic jolts charged directly to his groin. He tried, to think, to speak. His heart thundered in his chest. His tie… He didn't even remember he had one on…
His brain surrendered, gave way, swirled and melted into a soupy mush. He flipped their positions, treasured the sound of thumping her back into the wall. He covered her, squashing and crushing, and swaying, and rhythmically, his kiss penetrated deeply into her warm, slippery mouth.
"Mm," her muffled moan surged him. She had wanted to be more in control. Fighting the whirlwind, Julia pushed at his chest. Pushed him back. Stretched forward to linger on his lips, so delicious, before pushing away harder, stopping the kiss.
"A shower?" she suggested, unable to hide the effect he was having on her, it could be detected in her voice.
"That would be delightful," he heard himself answer her through his lusty fog, feeling as he might when inebriated and faking self-control.
Quite hot, the shower rumbled over them in the flickering glow of the soft candlelight. Soapy, and sudsy and slippery, they moved along, and over, and into, one another. Julia, focusing with all her might, for her head had that scrumptious, densely dizzy sensation in it, soaped up her hands. She pushed him back into the cold tiles of the shower wall, the water tumbling and storming behind them. "Do you remember… on the train?" she said, putting the soap down, hesitating above him, so close their auras tingled with the temptation.
Immediately William spiraled down the rabbit-hole of memory, dark, the drumming of the train wheels below them on the track, her hand… her fingers, into his trousers, taking him, Oh, my God, he remembered…
"I love to hear you breathing like that, William Murdoch," she confided, "Like a raging bull about to charge…"
"Mmm," his moan soared them both, her touch intolerably lush as she took him, wrapping him in her fingers, firm and taught, surrounding him. She knew exactly how to move to devastate him, to build him and to crush him, carried in the ebb and flow of each moment. Her teeth took a demanding hold of his chest, quicker, quicker, she sucked on his flesh and hurled him towards the edge of his tolerance. He bucked, involuntarily, making her smile, forcing her to release his burning skin to touch the colder air. A few more strokes… up to the last possible second, to the last tolerable inch. Then she let go, grabbed his shoulders and pulled him into the rushing water, she rinsed him off.
Julia stepped around him, turning him with her orbit. Kissed him, their heads just above the gushing, the pressure of the cascading water, flowing over their wriggling bodies below the kiss. She let go of his mouth, turned away, reached up and pulled her hair aside to show him her smooth, creamy flesh. How could he possibly fall harder? The sight of her backside more than he could withstand – curves, Oh my God the swerving arch in her back and those two plump, round…
He seized a hold of his wife with both hands from behind her, taking control of her hips, he lifted her, pulled her to him.
She felt it simultaneously, his hard, firm presence against her wet softness, and the rigid, cold, wall flattening her marshmallowy breasts. He pushed, leaned, pinned and pressed, stealing her ability to breathe, heavy against her.
"Oh," her voice echoed in the humid air as he ruptured her, pushing forcefully into her from behind. Unbearable. She could not take it, so delicious. "William," her voice whimpered, "Please."
Deeper in, further up into her, he pushed, he squeezed, so deep she felt him dock, completely filling her, caressing, teasing, bearing down on that one spot, demolishing her every resistance. Then it started, first the backdraft of it, sucking her into up its wind-tunnel, gasping her every ounce of oxygen, panicking her as she felt the roll of the drop begin, then, the huge pressure of his pounding forward into her again, tumbling and flipping her. The cadence of it building, fiercely building, faster, harder, deeper, ever so much deeper, each powerful thrust, magnificent, so magnificent, pumping for more and more and more.
They each sensed it, barely held at bay, it would burst. She felt William surge towards it. Push and shove and pound with all his might. He heard her gasp… just the right way, like the fluffy edges of a feather quivering before the wind takes it in its waves. Phenomenal, the explosion of the succulent heat around them, through them, ruffling sweetly through each cell, they lunged for the top of each ripple of ecstasy, praying the sweetness of it would never, ever, end… But the upswings stretched out and lowered, please just one more delicious wave. Mmm, so delicious.
Then… so weak, muscles so loose and open, hearts pounding. Quiet and stillness around them but not yet captured by it, they drifted together, gently, rushing breaths taking in the steamy vapors, winded from the effort.
He had to kiss her, over and over, and over, again. He loved her so much. "Julia," his voice spilled into her ear. "Julia, I love you. My God, I love you," he swore as the world still hurled by them. She couldn't answer, relished in the flutter of his kisses. Pleaded in her mind for him to stay with her, cherished the feeling of him inside of her.
He stepped back, slid out of her, turned her around and took her in his arms, flooded her with more kisses, on her ear, her cheek, her neck. They rocked together in the candlelight until reality settled back in.
Naked and dry, Julia tucked under the silky sheets, waiting for William to lock up the house and check on the children before bed. Candidly, she watched him disrobe, his sculptured body revealed in the warm glow of his lamp. "This man is gorgeous," she thought to herself. Unconsciously, she took a deep breath, as if she could suck more of him into herself that way.
He slipped in next to her, and she moaned with the heavenly feel of his skin sliding along hers. William lay on his back. Julia, moved over him, covering him, splendid the feel of his groin under her thigh as she ran her long leg over him, stopping with his masculine bulge just under the right spot, below her. She felt him distinctly, rousing her hairs. She stroked the mark she had made on him with her love-bites. She wanted more. Her insides tweaked and twisted, as her hands began to mold his flesh, marveling in its firmness, and its yielding to her pressures as she rode its contours, and my God, she felt him growing underneath her, and it raced her breathing and savaged her heart.
"Make love to me again, William," she whispered to him. Heaven, she felt the push as his groin responded. She crawled up on top of him, tall at first, took his hand with hers and led him to her waist, guided him up her willowy body, to her breasts. Her eyes, such a deep, deep, blue as he gave in to his urges, took hold of her breasts in his hands, he surged up into her bottom from below as her malleable flesh rippled and jiggled between his fingers, poking out, then bending away again, with his will.
Dropping down onto his chest, Julia again sequestered his flesh into her mouth, this time sucking on his neck. Spinning and sinking and flying into sensuous abandon, he chased a thought, as he pictured the brand she was making on him, succumbing to the need to moan with the pleasure of it, as he realized it would be hidden from sight by his shirt collar. Enticingly, she wriggled and writhed on top of his tight body, her flesh so much softer than his, pillowing and undulating into him.
His own hands had not been still, they explored every inch of this luscious woman, every swing up, and every dip down. He heard her breathing barrel into his ear, storming out of her in deluge after deluge. So tight she sucked on him. His fingers rode over the curve of her buttocks, dipping so delightfully into that taught bottom curve, reaching inwards… hairs, coarse hairs. So close.
Julia's moan was torturously hungry, as he discovered her creamy eagerness. She released his neck. "Please William…"
Wham, he flipped her over. There was no stopping this now. His hot breaths flared over her flesh. His hand rushed to push her thighs apart. Now, he would take her – now. Hard.
"William, please… Oh… Yes," as he breached her, she so wanted him. It was rare, that William Murdoch lost control, but it was gone now. He powered into her with everything he had, the maximization of his efforts revealed in his savage grunts. Tormented, her head spun and her womb coiled and wound desperately for him, sucking him in with all her might. "Please William… harder," she lured. The pressure, the tension, stronger and stronger. It would surely burst. It would. It would.
The flash, lighting strike so bright there were no shadows, sparking, setting the inevitable in motion. There would be a bone-shaking thunder. For only a second, it promised before it hit, this eruption would be big – so high the abys dropped off, so high as they whooshed and whirled forward, taken by the enormous inertia of it. Heavenly… celestial, boundless, sublime, their moans of pleasure mingled together. Enraptured, they climbed again, breath-taken with the soaring, nearing the certain plummet. Again, thank God, the gushing blaze roared outward, warping and filling each atom in its way. And again. And again. This ride was exquisite beyond measure, as they were pulled along in its wake, savoring each slowing torrential overflow, to the last confectionary drop.
Done. William completely melted into oblivion on top of her, unable to move. He was done. Too exhausted to kiss her, to appreciate her, and yet, he did. But with such effort that he buckled and drooped again, with a giggle at himself. He was spent, completely. Much sooner than he would normally do so, he rolled off of her, and moaned as he lay out flat, aware of the cool air as it kissed his sweaty flesh. William gave in to the urge to giggle again. He felt her move, more than saw her do so, for his eyes were closed, yet he sensed her rise up and prop herself on an elbow.
His voice convincingly displaying his exhaustion, he scratched out the words, his chest still heaving with the effort, "I feel like Blanco the rabbit."
Prompting Julia to shower him with a belly laugh. Flooding him with joy, expressed in his simple smile.
Her fingers traced the various marks she had made on his body, a red swelling on his chest, another smaller purplish-brown one on his neck, while picturing her fingernail marks on his shapely buttocks currently hidden out of sight. She had ravaged him, alright. "I loved you to rags, William Henry Murdoch," she said between her laughing.
"And it was wonderful," he gave, "Absolutely wonderful."
She reached over him and turned out his lamp, then nestled onto his chest. He tilted his down to kiss her hair, to breathe in her familiar, satisfying scent.
"Lucky rabbit," she said, smiling gleefully as she felt him smile against her in response. Lucky rabbit, indeed.
) (
Katie woke up the household, except for Claire-Marie far off asleep in another section of the house, again screaming from having had a bad dream. Her new parents were jolted awake instantly, but scrambled around desperately to find any semblance of clothing as they had fallen asleep after making love. William found his robe quickly after turning on his lamp, Julia however was struggling to orient herself, having not slept at home for a few nights now.
Dashing towards her dresser to get a nightgown, Julia started to say, as her husband reached their bedroom door, "At least Chelsea…"
At which point baby Chelsea's cries began to sprinkle the air amidst those of her older sister. "Go," she urged William.
His heart broke as Katie's cries switched from terrified to begging for them. "Daddy! Mommy!" she wailed out into the unfamiliar house.
"We're coming, Katie," he called, rounding the corner in the hallway, the girls' bedroom door in sight.
Julia passed by William Jr.'s bedroom door, right behind William, to hear their son ask if he could come too. She paused ever so slightly to encourage him to join, then hurried on her way. Arriving in the girls' bedroom, Julia switched on their light to see that William had Katie in his arms, and, gratefully, the child was quickly responding to his comforting presence. She reached into the crib and lifted Chelsea into her arms.
"It's alright, little one. I've got you," she said to the baby. Chelsea's eyes found hers. Julia coached herself, calm down now, breathe. She took a deep breath and the baby stopped crying, as simple as that. Katie however, was another story. Although she was no longer screaming, she remained very upset, each rapid exhale exaggerated by a sob.
William worked to soothe her. "Hey there, you're fine. It's O.K. sweetie…" He kissed her head, noticing how warm she had made herself with all this turmoil. "Shh… You're safe…"
Julia walked up next to him to show Katie that Chelsea was fine.
"See," William said, lowering his voice even more in an effort to quiet her, "Chelsea's safe. You're safe…"
"Not Maman!" the little girl's angst elevated with the words. "Maman!" she wept, "Maman, no… Maman n'est pas sûre," she seemed to plead with the world.
Julia caught William's eye, "She must have had a nightmare about her mother," she said.
William turned back to look into Katie's red, wrinkled, tear-soaked face. Such unbearable pain, with all his heart he longed to fix it. He reached up and wiped a big teardrop with his thumb. Those huge blue eyes held to his, and he felt the warmth of it, relief seeped in, the moment he remembered his faith.
Speaking back to the little child in French, he offered, "Ta maman est en sécurité, Katie. Elle est au ciel ... avec Dieu."
Instantly, Julia saw it, Katie's release of her terror. And as the child's troubled eyes settled deeper into William's, softening, Katie stopped crying. "Dieu… God," Julia thought it out.
Katie's tone more settled, peaceful, she checked with William, "Maman?"
William leaned closer to Katie and said, in English now that she was calmer, "She is in heaven, looking down on us right now. And I'm sure she is worried about you, Katie… and Chelsea. But I'm sure she is also so pleased, so proud of you, being such a brave girl, so good, taking care of your little sister…"
Such a sincere sadness took the child, took them all with her as well, as she accepted it. "Maman," her tears returned, but without the stress… and the anxiety… and the panic… of before. The little child dropped down into William's chest and he rocked her.
He turned to watch Julia as he said, "I can bring you with me to Mass tomorrow morning, hmm? We can pray to your Maman?"
Mixed emotions filled Julia with his plan, but predominantly she was glad for it. "That would be lovely, William," she reassured him that she was with him.
Katie nodded, her head still tucked securely to her Daddy's chest, and her beautiful eyes held her Mommy's.
"So much better," Julia said, reaching over and stroking Katie's hair. Her heart swelled with love as it seemed to break for this sweet, sweet little girl. Julia leaned close and kissed Katie's head.
Katie reached for her, yearning for the comfort of being close to her Mommy, remembering the tenderness from last night on the train. William helped her get into Julia's arms and took Chelsea. Julia walked Katie into the next room, reaching over to switch on the soft light before sitting down on the guest bed with Katie in her lap, the child's head nestled into her Mommy's bosom. William Jr. followed in, then William with Chelsea. Julia invited William Jr. to sit next to her on the bed.
The four-year old crawled up. "Are you O.K. Katie?" he asked carefully.
He was rewarded with a nod.
Julia's voice, steady and sure, said, "You had a bad dream, I know. I have bad dreams too…" her lips kissed the soft blond hair of the little girl. "I used to have them a lot…"
Immediately William's mind flashed… seeing himself opening the coffin when Julia had been buried alive by Gillies…. then later running into her at the asylum. Her voice ever present in his mind, his memory stealing his breath away once more with the joy and excitement of having seen her unexpectedly, "The nightmares started soon after I was buried alive. They became so bad, I was afraid to sleep at night…" she had explained. And William stalled there, marveling at this woman – his wife, in that moment. There could be no better woman in the world, he was certain. And right now, being a trained doctor, and a psychiatrist too, and being the remarkable woman she was, William knew there couldn't ever be a better mother for this troubled little, amazing, girl than Julia Ogden. How could it be that his heart was breaking so, and yet he felt such wonder and amazement with the world… such a powerful love and gratitude that they had all found each other… swallowed him up. He took a deep breath and refocused on what Julia was telling their little daughter.
"…But I know a secret about bad dreams Katie. You want to know what it is?" she asked.
Unable to help herself, Katie was intrigued. The little girl's head bobbed 'yes' as she nestled safely into her new mother's comfy chest.
Julia was thinking rapidly, two ways to go… Sharing what happened in the dream was important, but learning to master the dream was too. Both paths involved speaking…
"Say it out loud, sweetie. It takes the power away from bad dreams. It makes it better when you tell someone about it… So, you tell us about the bad dreams, all the awful things in them. That's the secret Katie," Julia encouraged, "That's your secret power over nightmares – your voice. Cause then sweet girl, then you are no longer alone, and those nightmares know they can't hurt you when you're not alone. That's how you take away their power, hmm?" she leaned down and asked for her response.
"O.K. Mommy," her tiny voice replied.
Julia leaned back, requesting Katie to look her in the face as she asked, "Your Maman was in the dream…"
Katie nodded.
"Yes," Julia said, nodding. "Can you say it?" she pushed.
The child needed to breathe to speak, then answered, "Yes."
Such a wonderful smile grew on Julia's face. "You are very brave," she said. She solidified her eye-contact with Katie, connected, strong, she went on, "And something bad was happening to your Maman…"
Katie nodded.
Julia waited…
"Yes," Katie said, again rewarded for her courage with a reassuring smile.
William brought Chelsea and sat on the other side of Julia on the bed. The more support, the better.
"What was happening to your Maman in the dream?" Julia asked.
Katie glanced over to her Daddy, receiving a nod. "The tubes were getting her," she said. Katie's heart began to race, the fear threatening and looming again.
So calm, Julia's voice grounded her, "What did the tubes look like?"
The question too general for a three-year old terribly frightened by a dream, she asked more specifically, "Were they thin and long, like a finger, or thicker like an arm?"
"Long and skinny tubes," Katie answered, her voice rising, stressed.
Julia modeled another deep breath. "Take a breath, little one, nice and slow," she asked, joining Katie as she obliged, and, so sweet, Julia noticed that William Jr. and William did too. Sensing she had ventured far enough for one night, Julia knew the next step would be helping Katie handle the "tube dream" in the future. Still, part of her mind worked to solve the puzzle – Katie and Chelsea's mother had been ill… Perhaps Katie had seen her mother in the hospital at some point, with medical tubes… an I.V…
Julia nodded, requesting Katie's full attention. "Remember I said your power against the bad dreams is your voice," she started, then waited for a verbal answer.
Nodding first, and then remembering, Katie replied, "Yes Mommy."
"Good," Julia answered. "So…" another reassuring nod, "if you see any tubes in another dream, you need to make a noise – a loud one. You need to yell at the tubes to stop, but not scared, angry, angry at them for hurting your Maman. And you need to call for help, as loud as you can, with all of your might, you call for us… and we'll come help too…"
Julia knew that if Katie could make a loud enough noise in her dream, it would wake her up, pull her out of the dream. In this way, Katie could begin to have some control over the nightmares.
It was William, now, who insisted Katie respond verbally, urging, "So you yell at the tubes, and you call for us, right?"
"Right," the little girl asserted with a nod. The confidence in her was impressive.
The children back in bed, parental presence until Katie was actually asleep, William and Julia returned to bed. Turning out the lamp, wrapping his arm around his wife as she tucked into her favorite spot on his chest, William repeated for the umpteenth time, "You never cease to amaze, Julia." The phrase vibrated with an extra dimension of connection between them, originating many years ago, back to the last time Julia would work in the morgue before marrying Darcy, leaving William for good to avoid the suffering of living life partially with him was causing. She had helped him see then, that two shooters were possible in the shooting Alderman Hidell, with the help of stereoscopic goggles.
Keeping with tradition, she added, giving him a squeeze, "We've always made a good team."
As usual, she was right. And with that, all of the Murdoch's slept peacefully through the rest of the night.
) (
Katie's tiny hand tucked inside her father's, early Mass completed, they headed for the door at the end of the big church to thank Father Clements for his inspiring sermon. Katie had drawn much attention, and immediately Father Clements spotted the little girl standing next to his friend and parishioner.
"William, who is this beautiful little girl?" he asked, his smile warm and wide.
"Father Clements," William nodded in greeting, "Meet my daughter, Katie Murdoch."
Father Clements squatted down to better connect with the child. "Well, hello there Katie. I'm pleased to meet you."
Overwhelmed, Katie hugged William's leg.
"She's a bit shy," William explained.
"Well," Father Clements said, "She is quite brave too… We had a rather large crowd for her to contend with this morning." Even the busy priest had noticed all the interest William and his new daughter had been getting. Having previously known about William's plans to adopt a baby this weekend, he, too, had been surprised to see this older child with him.
William explained a bit more, "Katie here…" he decided to pick her up in his arms, "is the big sister of the baby we adopted, Chelsea. She wanted to pray to her mother and father."
"I see," the priest responded, now seeing the stunning, big blue eyes of the child as he looked into her face, secure in her Daddy's arms. "We will all pray for them, Katie," he promised. Then the young, handsome priest turned to William and said, "Susana is surely smiling down on you for this, William," fully aware of the connections between this little girl's story and that of the man holding her.
Thank you for that, Father," William replied.
"Will you be making confession?" he asked.
William looked down at Katie in his arms. He very much wanted to, but how could he…
Seeing the problem, Father Clements called a sister over to watch the child for him.
Making the sign of the cross, William said, "Bless me, Father, for have sinned, it has been seven days since my last confession and these are my sins, I have broken the eighth commandment, by lying to my daughter..." telling Father Clements about his promise to Katie that either he or Julia would always be there when she needed them.
His heart feeling the tug of compassion for this good man before him, Father Clements suggested, "God looks at these things with children a little differently, William. Think of Santa Clause. And in this case, the child lost her father, and her mother, and her home. She will surely have trouble trusting enough to attach to you, or anyone else for that matter, in the wake of such loss."
William frowned, unwilling to let himself off the hook so easily. "But I never lied to William Jr…"
"No," Father Clements interrupted, his eyes strong through the confession screen, "Your son assumes you will never die, so he does not ask." Relieved, for he saw understanding on William's face, the priest went on, "A child must be able to bond to function, to be happy, healthy, to have meaningful relationships that foster growth and help them to thrive…"
William, found he thought of his own boyhood connection with Father Keegan…
Father Clements continued, "In order to do so, the child must be able to trust that the person will be there… will not die…"
Images of all the heartfelt talks he and Julia had had, about worry over losing the other, flooded through William's mind. "But Father," he argued, "Julia and I live with a stronger love, knowing we could lose each other, we have been so close to doing so, so many times. We cherish every moment, more so than we would without this fear…"
Father Clements nodded and replied, "Yes, but could it not be that the best lives, best loves, friendships, maintain a balance, so the other is not taken for granted, and yet they rely on each other." He saw that William considered his point. Back to the matter at hand, he concluded, "True, it was a lie that you told your young daughter, but for her own good, and you must pray for her forgiveness, someday, for your having told it to her."
William stepped out of the church, taking a deep breath of the fresh air on an early spring day. His burden felt lighter. Katie spotted a woman selling homemade candy, and they stopped and bought some. He was acutely aware of it, he felt happy. A small box of Patterson's hard candies on the woman's table caught Katie's fancy. Paying for them, as well as a large box of homemade chocolates for Julia, William wondered why the woman did not make the hard candies herself, as she did the others, learning that making hard candy required very high heat and she preferred to avoid potential accidents.
He considered the chemistry of it as they headed home, "Strong bonds require high heat to be broken, no surprise, I guess." A smile slipped on his face. He would do everything in his power to make such strong bonds with his children.
"Perhaps we'll take a family walk in the park later?" he asked Katie, as she sucked away contently on a piece of the candy.
"O.K. Daddy," she bounced excitedly with her reply.
) (
The Murdoch family looked picturesque as they walked together in St. James Park. Baby Chelsea was tucked securely in her daddy-made baby carrier, riding along in front of her Daddy's chest, looking out on the path unfolding ahead. William Jr. rode his father's shoulders, while Katie rode her mother's. The parents locked elbows together and leaned towards each other entranced in conversation.
"Mrs. Murdoch," William began his argument, "Would not a dog, tail-wagging and happy, out in front of us, only improve the scene?"
"And who would walk this dog, William…" she tried to nip it in the bud, adding with a sarcastic tone, "every morning… every night?"
Conceding, he gave, "I do see your point."
"Good," she thought.
Actually, I've been thinking," William added, "I believe we will need to get three dogs, when the time comes…"
"Three," Julia gasped with surprise. "What are you thinking, William, one per child?!" she exclaimed with the incredulousness of it.
So beautiful, she thought, his chuckle.
"Not exactly," he answered her. "No, um, well I realized that with the adoption of Chelsea and Katie, well… we fell quite naturally into the Fibonacci sequence…"
"Of course," she noted aloud, shaking her head with her wonderment in this man, a part of her dashing off with the memory of his reading about Mendelian Genetics at the beach, "Why didn't I think of that – the Fibon…?
"The Fibonacci sequence," he pronounced the name again for her. "Leonardo Fibonacci, a twelfth-century Italian mathematician, performed a thought experiment in the reproduction of rabbits," William's eyes twinkled with delight as he lectured. "He discovered the most common number sequence in nature. It's found on pine cones and snail spirals on their shells, and nearly everything else…"
"I see," she said, patiently hearing him out. "And how does this mean we need to get three dogs?" she asked.
"It's the sequence. Starting with 1 – me, then another 1 – you, you add those two numbers together to get 2," he began explaining how it worked, "Then take the number before 2 and add it to the 2…"
"One plus two is three," she figured next to him, such a good sport.
"Yes," he enthusiastically declared, "And then you add that three to the number that was before it…"
"Two," she continued working with him to unfold the sequence, "So, two plus three is five."
"Just like our number sequence, Julia," he said. "The two of us became three with William Jr., and then five with Chelsea and Katie!"
"I see," she said, finding she was enjoying the game. "And if we follow the sequence, then we would add the number before our current five… three, to five… to get eight!"
"Yes, thus we need three dogs to follow the sequence, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8," he concluded. Thirteen would be next, but he was cautious not to push his luck.
"Or three more children, of course," she teased, knowing his desire for what she believed to be a huge family.
He wrinkled his face up, admitting his wish, "Well, if that…"
"Detective Murdoch! Dr. Ogden!" Madge Merton, the famous gossip columnist for the Toronto Daily Star Newspaper, called out.
"Miss Merton," William greeted.
The older, high-class woman raised her eyebrows in surprise. "And who do we have here?" she inquired.
"Yes, Miss Merton, it must be quite a shock," Julia said, "seeing our family grow exponentially."
William tilted forward, still balancing William Jr. on his shoulders and Chelsea in the baby carrier on his chest. "Well, not quite exponentially," he corrected. He reached up to lower William Jr. to the ground and then reached over to help lift Katie off of Julia's shoulders for their more formal introductions.
Julia laughed and explained, "Of course, detective. You see Miss Merton, we were just discussing how our family seems to be reproducing following the Fibonacci sequence…"
They politely introduced all the children to the woman, and illuminated her understanding of the fun theory they had been discussing, and then went on their way. Only a few steps on their own, Julia leaned close to William and said, "That could be trouble. We're sure to be part of her next story."
"It could be worse," he replied.
"True," she agreed, taking his arm once again. Surprisingly, for a brief second, she pictured a dog up ahead with William Jr. and Katie. "Someday, perhaps," she thought. She chuckled at herself in her head, correcting the image to picture three dogs up ahead. Anything was possible when they were together.
) (
"Welcome back, sir," Constable Crabtree's cheery voice announced Detective Murdoch's arrival to the stationhouse.
"Good to be back, George," the detective replied, collecting his big pile of mail from the constable at the front desk. He glanced down at the multitude of envelopes. "I only missed Friday," he wondered.
The Inspector heard Murdoch's arrival and came to his door. "How did the little one get on?" he asked after Chelsea.
Excitedly, William filled them all in on the new additions to his family.
When he finally got to his office, he noticed his blackboard had been erased. He twisted his head to the side, running his memories through his mind. His plans for making the cooler had been on it. He hadn't recorded the final calculations for the making of the polymer and it had worked well. He intended to make another cooler. Disappointment flooded through him, and he had to admit, some anger as well.
"George," he called out, hearing his own annoyance in his tone.
"Sir?" George appeared at his door instantly.
"What happened to my board?" the detective asked.
George's eyes rushed to join those of his superior gawking at the blank drawing board. His jaw dropped a bit. He hadn't noticed… till now. "I, er… I'm sorry sir. I don't know…"
"I had some calculations on there," William started to yell, but then stopped, working to calm himself.
"Yes. Yes sir, I remember," replied George.
"When did it get erased?" William asked, his eyes searching the constable's.
"I'm afraid I didn't notice, sir," came the reply.
"Well… Who was in here?" William pushed.
George ran the comings and goings of Friday through his head. He lifted his head and beamed with a thought. "I didn't actually see him in here, sir. But Terrence…"
"Terrence Meyers!" William exclaimed, gritting his teeth with the annoyance and bother he felt with the name.
Checking in with the Inspector, William learned that Meyers had stopped by to congratulate him on the adoption of his new daughter, clearly knowing he wouldn't be here. Of course, Meyers had had an ulterior motive for his visit, the Inspector explained.
Wishing it were scotch, but it was too early in the morning, the Inspector walked out into the bullpen, Murdoch and Crabtree in tow, and poured himself some tea instead. "Alpha and beta parts, or particles or some such thing, and changing one type of something into a different type of something…" He grew frustrated with his inability to understand the mumbo jumbo and grumbled, "Bollocks Murdoch! It didn't make any sense. He wanted you to help him figure out this bloody thing…"
William ran the various clues through his mind, alpha and beta particles… "Could it have been about Rutherford's discovery of how radiation works. The discovery of half-life…"
"Yes! That was it," the Inspector interrupted, visibly relieved that he wouldn't have to try to figure it out anymore.
Murdoch elaborated, "It is speculated that Rutherford could receive the Nobel Prize for this. He would be the first Canadian to get the prize."
Pleased to see the detective's mood change from grumpy to excited, George asked, "Why would Meyers want to be dealing with whatever this radioactive, half-life stuff?"
His question pulling William back into the moment, he paused, "That's a good question George…"
"Don't forget, me old mucker, Meyers is a spy. And spies are sneaky," the Inspector said, now leading the group back into his office.
"That's true, sir," George continued the thought, "Perhaps it has to do with using the strange luminescence. Remember sir, the way the ghost glowed so ominously, in Queen's Park, after putting the radioactive cream on."
William considered the possibility, sitting down on the Inspector's couch and pulling his ankle up onto his knee.
George's speculations escalated, "Maybe the glow could be magnified, so it could be seen from outer space. That's it! The government is planning to secretly use radioactive substances to contact other worlds… of the non-terrestrial kind," George concluded, looking around and then slumping his shoulder s with a sigh, for once again, his superiors thought him crazy.
"I highly doubt that's it George," William scowled.
"Well Murdoch, you're the inventor, what dastardly plots could it be used for then? Surely our friend Meyers wasn't just making sure you were kept abreast on the latest Canadian scientific discoveries, now, was he?" the Inspector noted.
"No, no. I'm sure he wasn't," William agreed, his voice trailing off as he turned inward in search.
Impatient with the process, Brackenreid barked, "Very well detective, all to be considered. But for now, shall we get to the latest case. Dermott started it… But you'd best take it from here. Give him a call, and the body's over at their morgue. Dr. Reynolds started the autopsy. Do you want it moved?"
William planted both feet on the floor and slapped his hands to his thighs. "Back to it then," he thought. "I'll talk to Detective Dermott first, then we'll see. Thank you, sir."
Back in his office, he was confronted with the question as to why Meyers would have erased his board once again. He marched back and sheepishly asked.
"Oh," the Inspector said, "He was planning to draw the whole thing out for you. I guess he changed his mind… about leaving it there for all to see. Spies secrets and all that."
"Of course, sir," William answered. Satisfied, he headed back to his office once more.
A few hours later, after determining that the case Detective Dermott had started was best kept with Dermott, William sat at his desk catching up on paperwork. Julia knocked, lighting up his face. She had stepped out to buy some shoes for Katie, as they had noticed she had been walking incorrectly, diagnosing her tight shoes as the cause. She had some lunch, which they shared at his worktable.
"I wanted to buy her a few more toys," Julia said. William nodded. I was thinking maybe a doll house," she pushed for more.
The idea hit him with a spark. "Julia," he said, with that lovely awe he could have in his voice, humming her every molecule, "We could give her the model… of our house!"
"Perfect William!" she declared, leaning over from her stool to give him a congratulatory kiss.
"I can cut off some of the walls and put them on hinges, so they can be opened and closed…" the ideas started to domino.
"We'll need some furniture. And dolls," Julia added, bouncing with delight.
"Let's check at Eaton's, on our way home," he suggested. Happy with their plans, they decided to finish up quickly, hoping to be able to leave early.
Later, right before he put on his hat to leave, a thought jolted through William's head. He had had something else on the back of his drawing board. Was it still there?" he worried. He rushed over and flipped the large board over.
Blank. Completely blank. "Why would Meyers erase both sides of the board?!" he wondered suspiciously. Not wanting to be late picking up Julia over at the morgue, he tapped his homburg on his head and grabbed his jacket. Still, his thoughts ran in his head. He had been working on making a special kind of transparent shield, that constables could use when confronting armed suspects or kidnappers. It would be see-through, but resist bullet penetration. He had been playing with the right balance of the softer, more supple, celluloid layers and the glass layers. Striking a balance between thick enough to protect, and too heavy to manipulate, had been challenging. He had, however, worked out the correct materials to use to minimize refraction differences between the materials, obtaining the transparency needed…
"Detective!" Julia's bright voice called his attention. "I do hope you are still welcome at Eaton's after your sourpuss behavior that Christmas you went undercover at the Returns Counter," she teased, with a mischievous giggle, taking his arm.
) (
Midweek, the Murdoch's had finished another delicious dinner, thanks to Eloise. The children wanted to play with the new doll house, for even William Jr. found the new toy intriguing. Chelsea was happy to just be with her older siblings. "William Jr., you need to make sure all the little people from your toy passenger ship are put away so Chelsea can't get them into her mouth," Julia warned after them, as William escorted them down to the playroom in the basement. Her husband soon returned to sit with her while Julia finished up her dessert.
Eloise worked to finish up in the background. She complimented, "The doll house you made for them, detective… it's fantastic."
"Yes, William. They clearly love it," Julia seconded the woman's comment. "I dare say," her tone held a serious note, "I hope you will be able to handle the inevitable destruction of your beautiful model, now that it is functioning as a children's toy."
He smiled as he reached for the newspaper Eloise had left on the window seat behind him. "I think of it much like Blanco the rabbit," he explained, turning the pages, "there will be physical evidence of being passionately loved."
"That there will," his wife agreed, a flirtatious sparkle in her eye. Her mind replayed his utter and delicious exhaustion, his hunky body peppered with her wild love-bites, a few nights prior, after their rather rowdy and rambunctious lovemaking. She giggled quietly, trying to catch his eye. "Lucky rabbit," she teased.
A chastising expression covered her face, for he was ignoring her, seemingly enthralled with the newspaper. She proceeded to punish him for his distraction, going on and on about how unlikely it would be for the rabbit to ever, ever be that lucky again…
His eyes still down on the paper, he gave her reason to believe he had not been ignoring her – well at least not completely. "Mrs. Murdoch," his voice sly, "I must protest against your notion that my momentary inattentiveness should cost… the rabbit, any such thing…"
"And why is that, Mr. Murdoch," she leaned closer to him from her side of the table, enjoying the playful banter. William turned the paper around and placed it down in front of her to see. The center photograph was large. It was of the five of them walking in the park, William Jr. and Katie up on their parents' shoulders, Chelsea in a baby carrier on William's chest. It was truly a remarkable photograph of them – one she would have wanted hanging on their wall, in other circumstances. She and William were arm in arm, heads tilted towards each other. He looked handsome, gorgeous as usual… she herself looked lovely…
"William wrinkled his face, as if asking for forgiveness, though he'd clearly done nothing wrong. "Nice photo," he offered.
The headline read, "The Murdoch's Reproduce like Rabbits." She could have done without the suggestive innuendo. Before she began reading the text, she perused the two or three other photos embedded in the full-page article. Julia held back a gasp, catching sight of another stunning picture. It was of the two of them kissing, at the Policeman's Ball, back on New Year's Eve. Her eyes jumped to gaze into William's. "Somebody photographed that?" she squeaked.
He remembered… that she would never have seen it, having had left for Vienna before the story of their scandalous, adulterous kiss, kisses actually, had been published. He shrugged and smiled, and charmed her right back into happiness. "The fireworks sparkling all around our heads was fitting," he said.
"Yes," she answered, her eyebrow softly lifting. Attention back to the newspaper, she soon figured out the article told their entire story, in black and white, for all the world to see. There was even a photograph from their first dance together at the Dinosaur Ball. "How did they possibly even find that?" she wondered, studying it more carefully, noting it had been flashed after William had thwarted the destruction of the dinosaur bone, and they had found the body clamped in the Tyrannosaurus rex teeth, the two of them dressed in a tux and a gown, but acting as detective and coroner. The final smaller photograph was of the two of them and baby William Jr., when she and the baby were finally going home from the hospital after weeks recovering from her Cesarean section – the surgical procedure performed by William of all things.
She sighed. "As a columnist, it would be a hard story to pass up," she admitted.
He nodded. "Mm-hmm," he replied. He cleared his throat and said, pointing to the paragraph, "They mention the court case, you being found guilty of killing Darcy, and…
"The affair," she whispered. She looked into his beautiful brown eyes, "the one that we didn't really have," she worried and twisted with the irony.
"His finger moved, resting just above the words, "the Queen's Hotel."
Julia's hand covered her mouth, muffling her gasp. It was a tell-all… with lots of sweet parts true, but still, a tell-all! Suddenly Julia asked, "Have you read this article… Eloise, about us, I mean?"
"Yes," the older woman replied, her tone nonchalant, with sprinkle of warmth, "But it didn't say anything I didn't already know – except the Fibonacci rabbit reproduction sequence thing, of course."
Julia raised her eyebrow at William, blaming him for the suggestive headline. "Of course," she charged.
"They quoted you, not me," he returned cockily, his finger now resting just above her name in the newsprint.
She leaned as far over to his side of the table as possible, waiting for him to meet her halfway. "Well, if all the world is going to think we are mating like rabbits, we might as well live up to the expectation," she said, tilting her head and inviting a kiss.
Obliging her sultry request, his lips covered hers, moving, bending, so soft and tender. For the Murdoch's, it seemed it was always rabbit season.
