The Girl, The Gold Ring, And Everything
The Five Of Hearts Series
By Thomas Mc
Chapter 8
Another screech of outrage was heard from the stairway followed by more insults exchanged.
Linda laughed shaking her head. "Yea, Charles and Elizabeth are two of the most competitive people I've ever met." She grinned. "You'd never guess from their rhetoric," She nodded toward the stairway. "that they were very much in love and already bonded to each other."
Jacob jumped in "No one was really surprised when they first announced their intention to marry, even if they were only sixteen at the time. And any wedding would be years away."
Jennifer took up the story. "Elizabeth is in her first year of college now. She and Charles plan to marry right after she graduates from NYU then she intends to go to Columbia to get her law degree."
They were all distracted by the sound of a door and excited voices coming from the back of the house. A few seconds later four chattering and laughing women loaded with packages entered the parlor. Byron recognized Nancy, Brigit and Samantha (Sammy) but the fourth woman was unfamiliar to him. His eye was drawn to Sammy who was in a red dress trimmed in short white fur and put Byron in mind of a young Mrs. Santa Claus.
Sammy was the first to notice the new guest in the house. "Byron! You're here!" She exclaimed as she glanced from Byron to Jacob then back to Byron. She dropped her packages on the sofa and gave him a quick hug. "It's great to see you again."
As the other three now became aware of Byron's presence, he noticed that their first reaction was also to glace back and forth in surprise between Byron and Jacob.
Nancy then stepped up and smiled. "Hello, Byron." She indicated the unknown blond standing next to her. "Byron, this is our oldest sister, Naomi. She got in from Washington DC yesterday
Byron could see no family resemblance what-so-ever between Naomi and the rest of Jennifer's family. "I've heard your name mentioned but not much about you." He cocked his head. "Glad to finally meet you."
Brigit jumped in at this point. "Naomi is sort the token normal in this family of freaks."
Byron's face took on a quizzical look glancing back and forth between Brigit and Naomi. Nancy elbowed Brigit in the ribs. "Brigit!"
Naomi spoke up for herself. "What my sister means is that I'm adopted. I was five when a bad car crash killed the rest of my family. We were being chased by several very bad people. I was thrown from the car as it flipped and Vincent caught me. Catherine and Vincent took me in and hid me. Later the Witness Protection people arranged for Catherine to adopt me - - they didn't know anything about Vincent back then." She grinned at her adopted siblings. "That's why I'm the only normal one of the bunch." Byron nodded as she took his hand in greeting then she pulled him into a quick hug. "Welcome to the strangest household on the planet." She finished with a grin.
Nancy again jumped in. "Naomi flew in from Washington DC late last night. She is just finishing her first year as a field agent with the FBI - - The youngest person ever to do so." The pride in her sister's accomplishment was evident on Nancy's face.
"Congratulations." Byron remarked then a thought occurred to him. "You said that the FBI didn't know about Vincent 'back then'. Does that mean that they do know about him now?"
Naomi shook her head. "No, not really. The only one that knows about Vincent is the head of the New York Field office. He was the one that arranged the adoption. He finally met Vincent about a year after that." She chuckled. "Shortly after that he married Jenny, Mom's best friend." She smiled. "We all think of him as 'Uncle James'. He and Jenny will probably drop by some time tomorrow." She paused and a smile played across her face. "Although . . ."
Nancy jumped on her unfinished last statement. "Although what exactly?"
"Wellll . . ." Naomi's cheeks developed a tinge of pink. "There is this . . . other agent that I have been kinda interested in lately."
"What?" Nancy, Brigit, Jennifer and Linda all exclaimed simultaneously. Then the girls were throwing out questions practically on each other's heels. "Who is it?" Jennifer asked . . . "Why haven't you told us?" Brigit asked . . . "How long has this been going on?" Nancy asked . . . "How serious is it?" Linda asked . . . "What's he like?" Brigit asked . . .
"Hold it, hold it." Naomi responded with a laugh. "His name is William Cartwright. He is nice, funny . . . good looking . . . and we've only been, ahh, going together for about a month. But I do like him a lot." Her blush deepened slightly.
"You'll have to give us the whole scoop on him later." Sammy jumped in at this point. "But for now, let's get these packages under the tree." She grinned. "There will be plenty of time for family gossip later."
With a few comments of acknowledgement, the four women proceeded to arrange the packages that they had carried in under the tree. Then they were alerted by three rings of the doorbell. Jacob quickly stepped just out of direct line of sight of the front door just as it swung open. District Attorney Joe Maxwell and Catherine both stepped into the front parlor, calling out greetings.
Jacob stepped out from behind the tree and over next to Byron and Jennifer. Both Joe and Catherine exhibited surprise at the sight Jacob standing next to an apparently unconcerned Byron. Catherine smiled. "Byron, have you . . ."
"No, not completely." Byron shrugged. "The phobia is still there but I seem to have conquered it somewhat as far as your family is concerned. I still can't bring myself to enter the large cat section of the zoo. And there are a few movies with lions or tigers that I still can't sit through. Other than that I have managed to gain some control over my fears."
"That's still a very impressive accomplishment." Joe commented then stepped into Sammy's willing embrace. After a quick kiss he inquired. "Where's Lizzie?"
Sammy chuckled and nodded toward the spiral staircase where faint sounds of gunfire could be heard. "Where do you expect. She and Charles are upstairs trying to kill each other on some video game." Her pronouncement was punctuated by a spate of insults and threats coming from upstairs.
Joe laughed. "You'd never guess that they were in love based on that." He shook his head then gave his wife another quick kiss.
"How did it go at work?" Jacob inquired. He had already picked up a hint of annoyance from both his mother and Joe.
Catherine snorted. "Biggest waste of time I've ever seen."
Joe continued. "The Defense lawyers threw up a bunch of groundless nuisance motions and we had to respond to them."
Catherine finished. "They were hoping that we would ignore them during the holidays and be surprised by a fait-accompli leaving us in a bad legal position the next time we saw them." She grinned. "We found out about it and now they are the ones that will be surprised."
The door bell rang once. Catherine went to the door looked through the peephole then announced. "It's Dennis and Diana." Then she opened the door. "Come on in."
A nice looking sandy haired man accompanied by an equally good looking woman entered the room. Byron noticed that the woman was the same height and build as Catherine. Her hair was almost the same color as Catherine's except that it was a shade redder. Then his attention was captured by the man's eyes. They were the exact same color as Jennifer and Vincent.
The woman pulled a holster with a pistol in it from behind her back. "Cathy can I, ah . . ."
"Oh, sure. You know where it is." Catherine responded.
Diana went over to the coat closet by the front door. She opened a small safe on the top shelf and placed the gun in it. She closed it and turned to face them. "I just came from the police station where I was booking in my latest collar. Fortunately we got him before he could harm the kid."
Catherine nodded. "That's good. I was afraid that you wouldn't be able to come. I know how you are when you're on a case. Are Aaron and Lynn going to be coming?"
Diana replied with head shake and a grin. "Aaron is out spending Christmas Eve with his current girlfriend." She glanced over at Byron then continued. "You know how close Lynn is with Jennifer and 'Father'." She shrugged. "You know he's getting up there in years and his health hasn't been so good lately. She just wants to spend more time with both of them."
Catherine nodded her understanding.
The Senator had taught Byron a lot about reading the nuances in words and body language in order to read between the words and discern what was not said. For one thing there was something about the way she had spoken and the way she glanced his way. He was sure that they were being circumspect about something but he wasn't sure exactly what it might be. He also wondered who this other Jennifer she had mentioned was.
Catherine escorted the new couple over to where everyone else was standing then addressed Byron. "This is Vincent's half brother Dennis McCormick and his wife Diana." She turned to the newcomers. "This is Byron Wyatt. He's visiting us for Christmas."
As before, they both glanced uncertainly between Byron and Jacob before schooling their expressions and exchanging greetings. Byron couldn't help snickering this time at what seemed to be everyone's reaction to his reaction to Jacob.
Everyone was soon talking about their day when Byron leaned close to Jennifer and quietly inquired. "Who is this Jennifer and Father that Diana mentioned?"
"Jennifer is Dennis and Vincent's birth mother. I was named after her. 'Father' is what everyone calls Jacob Wells. He was the one that took in Vincent as an infant and raised him. Jake was named after him."
Byron merely nodded then he was distracted by the arrival of Vincent from somewhere behind the kitchen. He felt a surge of nervousness at Vincent's appearance but it was nowhere near as strong as he had feared. As Vincent approached Byron became aware of all the eyes turned to himself.
Vincent seemed to study Byron for a moment then held out his hand. "I'm glad you came."
Byron glanced down at the furry clawed hand and felt a quick flash of fear that he quickly suppressed then took it. "I'm glad I came, too." He was able to look up into Vincent's eyes. "It is good to see you again, sir." He had come a long way but he still wasn't where he wanted to be yet. His fear was controllable but it was not gone.
Vincent smiled in response. Byron also thought he saw a hint of approval in his eyes.
Catherine's cell phone rang. After a short conversation, she put it away and announced loudly. "Everybody, the caterers are here." She turned to Vincent and Jacob. "You boys better make yourselves scarce."
Vincent and Jacob headed up the stairs as Catherine headed to the front door.
A minute later Catherine opened the door and five people trouped in carrying all types of containers.
As the caterers worked at setting up the evening's feast, he contemplated his reaction to Vincent and sons. He suspected that he was having an easier time of it because he was beginning to see them more as people and less as creatures. However he still could not completely get past their physical appearance. Hopefully soon . . .
In less than ten minutes the caterers had set up an impressive portable buffet loaded with a wide variety of delicious dishes. The young woman that seemed to be directing the operation then sent the other four people away. As the young woman double checked everything Linda shouted upstairs that the coast was clear.
Vincent, Jacob, Charles and Elizabeth all filed downstairs into the dining room.
The young woman barely glanced at the three leonine males as she continued to adjust everything until she was satisfied. Then she stood proudly behind the buffet and announced that dinner was served. As the guests grabbed their plates she continued to serve them in a friendly professional manor, totally unfazed by the appearance of the leonine males. She also seemed to know the culinary preferences of most of the guests. Byron learned that the woman's name was Roxanne and had known Vincent most of her life.
The excellent food, the warm atmosphere, and the fascinating conversation, all served to make the evening a very pleasant experience.
Though they were circumspect about some subjects, Byron was able to conclude a few interesting things from unintentional hints and even from the way that some things were left unsaid in the general conversation. - - There was a fairly sizable hidden community that protected and raised Vincent. Sammy and Roxanne had grown up in that same hidden place that Vincent had grown up in. Roxanne owned the catering company and learned to cook from another member of Vincent's hidden community named William. Joe Maxwell had learned about Vincent and this hidden community after meeting Sammy. He also came to the conclusion that this hidden place was located underground. He also caught one reference to something called Winterfest before the subject was quickly changed. He kept all of his conclusions to himself to think about later.
After the dinner was over, Vincent and his sons retired upstairs while the four other catering employees returned to clean up the remains of their Christmas Eve Banquet. As soon as the cleanup was finished the catering crew left. Roxanne left shortly after the rest of her crew but not before wishing the entire family a Merry Christmas.
~ o ~
It was getting late and the guests were getting ready to leave for the night. Joe, Sammy and Elizabeth were the first to leave, followed by Dennis and Diana ten minutes later. Naomi would be stay in the family home for two more days before heading back to Washington. The other's trickled up the stairs until only Catherine, Jennifer and Byron were left in the parlor. That was when Catherine approached Byron. "I've reserved a room for you at a hotel that is very close by . . . but we would be more than happy to have you stay here if you're interested."
Byron had not been expecting this. Jennifer had originally extended the invitation to stay at the family brownstone and Catherine was aware of it but she was phrasing it in a way to give him an easy out if he was unable to handle staying under the same roof as Vincent and his sons. To Byron, this was the final hurdle. His fear had not been near as bad as he had expected and he had managed to keep his cool during the long evening but the fear, though less than expected, was under control but still there. There was a possibility that he would never be truly free of it and he knew that he was not fooling anyone. After all you couldn't really fool a family of empaths. They knew of the effort it took for him to contain the fear and maintain his calm demeanor. Could he do it? Could he hold it together for seven whole days and nights?
With a quiet surge of determination he accepted the invitation to stay at the brownstone. Catherine suggested that Jennifer show him to his room.
Continued in Part 9
'Beauty and the Beast' and its characters are owned by Witt-Thomas Productions and Republic Pictures. No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.
