Authors Note:

How long has it been? Too long!

Hello everyone, I'm back, and Unfinished Business is ready for an update. It took a while, but I finally decided to get to work and get this story under control. I've been pretty busy doing visual art lately, but I haven't forgotten my roots.

I hope to return to regular weekly updates of this story, but with real life and my job, no promises. I will promise more regular updates though.

Thank you everyone for your support and encouragement. Without the fans, these stories would mean nothing.

Now, let's continue unraveling this little conundrum.

Chapter 58

The cool breeze characteristic of summer nights permeated through the large, green-wallpaper-lined Lonergan dining room; a room, dimensioned roughly at 10 by 20 feet It's serene flow permeated the screens, entering through the Double-hung windows while moving the draperies as if they were the wings of a butterfly.

In the center of the ten foot by twenty foot room sat a long, rectangular table; carved of walnut and rounded around the edges; it's brown surface beautifully matching the two China cabinets gracing the walls. The smell of roasted chicken filled the air, mixing beautiful with the auxiliary smells of corn and sweet potatoes. It was a meal most welcome to the Kanker family, who had not had one of this caliber since leaving Peach Creek.

Prior to dinner, George, the Kankers grandfather, had extended the dining room table by placing a normally unused leaf panel in the center, adding additional chairs as needed; an action necessary to accommodate an additional six guests. The family, in the midst of their chicken dinner, sat cozily around the table, dining under the soft glow of the overhanging chandelier light.

In terms of seating arrangements, the soft-spoken George had taken his seat at the head of the table. He was a slender man, around six feet tall, his face thin and somewhat wrinkled. He wore a pair of slim cut blue jeans, a pair of brown leather boots, and a plaid button down shirt. His gray hair was cut into a short crew cut, much like his son Rod's. Perhaps his most distinctive feature was his long, bushy handlebar mustache. While just as impressive as Lindsay's fathers, Franz Ferdinand mustache, George's facial hair elicited a much different feel, a feel that of an old, wise soul; he had often been compared to Sam Elliot in his adult years.

Across from her husband, at the foot of the table sat Maelynn, with the remainder of the family filling in the places clockwise from her position: Marie, May, Lee, Lindsay, Tabby, and Katie.

Adjacent to Katie was a third member of the Texas Lonergan stronghold, Rods younger sister of ten years, who still lived at home to help Maelynn tend to the horses and teach horseback riding lessons. Her name was Nicole, and her appearance was typical of the Lonergans, nearly matching that of May with the exception of a lack of overbite. Her long blonde hair was secured behind her ears with a blue head band, matching her the light blue sundress and sandals she had donned for dinner.

With one last cut, and stab of the fork, Katie shoved the last of her meal into her mouth. After quickly chewing and swallowing he morsel, she proceeded to dab her mouth with the napkin, turn towards Maelynn, and let out a large belch.

"Wowza!" said Katie, "I haven't had a meal like that in a long time! You're still one of the best cooks around Mae."

Tabby groaned.

"I ain't gonna lie, it was pretty good," said Tabby, "But just cause you haven't had a good meal in fifteen years, doesn't mean you have to forget your table manners, Heffer."

"Oh leave her alone," said Maelynn, who had stood up to begin busing her guests plates, "Always picking on her. I take that belch as a compliment; nature's way of saying thank you."

Katie gazed across the table towards her sister and proceeded to stick her tongue out in a teasing manner. Tabby simply rolled her eyes, prompting Lee to giggle.

As Maelynn continued to bus the table, she took notice of her granddaughters plates, continuing her idea as she did so.

"My, my, clean plates for everyone," said Maelynn, "I hope ya'll saved room for desert. Nikki's rounded up some in' special for the occasion."

"Yay, more cookies!" yelled May.

"Jeez May, you already ate a whole tray and dinner," said Marie, "How much more can you fit in there?"

"There's always room for Granny's cookies," replied May in a playful manner.

Maelynn giggled.

"Well as much as I'd love to give ya'll some more cookies, I think Aunt Nikki has other plans…" said Maelynn as she passed through the threshold leading into the kitchen

Lee turned towards her paternal aunt.

"Other plans, Aunt Nikki?" asked Lee, "When did you suddenly become the mysterious type?"

Nikki giggled.

"No mysteries here," said Nikki, in the timbre of a high pitched southern drawl, "Have you forgotten what day it is?"

"Friday," said May in confused manner.

"Yep," said Nikki, "But what else is it?"

"June 26," said Marie, "But….."

At that moment, as if realizing something, all three Kanker sisters adopted sly grins, slowly turning towards their mother and emitting emitting a long "ohhhhhh" as they did so.

"Oh God no," said Tabby, placing her face to her palm as her pale skin turned red. Across the table Katie adopted a smile as her eyes were drawn to the kitchen door, through which Maelynn had re-entered the dining room. In her arms, she cradled a rather large, rectangular, vanilla cake, decorated with blue icing and 38 multicolored candles.

As Maelynn entered the kitchen, Nikki raised her hands as if she were the conductor of an orchestra, prompting everyone in the room to take a deep breath.

"Here it comes….." said Tabby, as small smile adorning her face as she did so.

Almost immediately, the entire room began to sing in unison to the happy tune of the famous birthday song, causing Tabby to become embarrassed and Katie to smile from ear-to-ear. At the conclusion of the tune, Maelynn placed the cake on the center of the table as the girls and Nikki clapped their hands.

"Man mom, with all the craziness of the trip, we almost forgotten was your birthday!" said Lee.

"Yeah," said Marie, "Sorry mom, it's been a long day."

"Don't worry about it," said Tabby, "I almost forgot too. You girls ain't ever forgot about me since you were small, so I could forgive ya's for one day."

May, having the biggest sweet tooth out of all of her sisters, remained completely focused on the cake as it was lowered to the center of the table, rubbing her hands together as she licked her lips. However, her facial expression transformed to one of curiosity, as she read the white words formed in icing on the surface

Happy birthday Tabby and Katie.

"Wow," said May, "I didn't know you and Aunt Katie had the same birthday?"

"Yeah," said Marie, "That's some stroke of luck, usually only twins can say they share the same birthday as siblings."

"You're right Annemarie," said Tabby, "It would be quite the coincidence if we were born years apart, but not two minutes….we're twins.."

"Wait, hold the phone," said Lee, "Youse two are twins. I thought you and Aunt Katie were two years apart?"

At that moment, Katie gazed toward Tabby with an expression of distress.

"Oh my God," said Katie, "They didn't know!?"

"Of course they don't know, knucklehead," said Tabby, "Quit acting like it's the end of the world, they didn't even know you existed until a week ago, so I didn't even bother to mention it. They just assumed you were younger."

"This is so cool," said May, "I never met twins before, and now I just found out my mom is one!"

"Now that you mention it, you guys do look a lot alike, more so than typical sisters," said Lindsay, "Especially in your hair, you both have the same pretty curls as Annalee."

"It's true, we do look alike," said Tabby, "But we are not identical twins, we're fraternal, basically two sisters born from the same pregnancy. Dingbat looks more like Poppy, but acts like Mommom turned up to eleven. I look more like Mommom, but I got Poppy's brains."

"And his mouth if it were a hundred times bigger," said Katie in a playful manner, prompting Tabby to grimace at her, "And I think we're technically supposed to be called sororal twins cause we're female, but either way we were a nice little bundle of two-for-one sale joy!"

"So, I guess I'll ask the million dollar question," said Marie, "Who was born first?"

Tabby paused, prior to answering.

"Aunt Katie, by two minutes and thirty seven seconds" said Tabby, "The only two minutes I got of peace in my life until ten years ago."

"Mommom didn't find out about Tabitha until after I was delivered," said Katie, "Her and Poppy said they didn't even have time to name me before the doctors said 'prepare for another delivery'. The technician messed up and only reported one of us on the ultrasound, she thought Tabitha was just bad gas."

All of the girls, Nikki, and especially Maelynn shared a laugh at Tabby's misfortune.

"Well at least I was the good baby," said Tabby, "You spent the first five days of your life crying more than I did in my first eight months."

"It was my statement to the world," said Katie as she ran her fingers through her hair in a nonchalant manner, after which she turned towards the three younger Kanker girls, "Fun fact, Momom and Poppy were going to name the baby Tabitha Kathryn, after our grandmothers. When they found out there were two, they split the names between us and gave us their opposite middle names."

"Wow, these are awesome stories!" said Marie, "It's cool to finally found out how you got your name."

"Yeah," said May, "And how you two have been together since you were inside Mommom! I mean, me, Lee and Marie are really close, but you guys must have had a bond like no other!"

At the conclusion of May's statement, there was a long pause. The young, braced faced girl seemed to strike a resonating chord within the psyches of the two older Kankers. The twins locked gazes, remaining focused on each other with melancholy expressions until Tabby decided to interject in her usual, snarky manner.

"Alright enough of the memory lane crap," said Tabby, "Let's just make a wish, blow out these candles, and enjoy the cake Aunt Nikki made for us."

At the conclusion of her statement, Tabby leaned forward towards the cake, prompting Katie to do the same. On the count of three, both women blew out the candles with a quick puff of air, prompting the remainder of the room to clap their hands in celebration.

In the course of five minutes, the cake had been divided into several pieces, each one placed on a paper plate and handed to each of the guests at the table. As they enjoyed their cake, Tabby decided to pay her thanks to her sister-in-law.

"Thank you Nikki, that was very thoughtful of you," said Tabby.

"Yeah," said Katie, "Thanks a million, you're oober cool."

"No worries," said Nikki, "It's the first of your birthdays we spent together in a while, so I figured I'd make it special for ya'll."

There was a slight pause, after which Nikki decided to address the younger Kanker girls.

"I'm especially glad I get to see my nieces again," said Nikki, "I feel like I've missed so much, especially since we moved out here. What have you girls been up to?"

"Nothing new," said Lee, "Hanging out, as usual."

"How about teaching ballet, and getting straight A's in school," said Tabby.

"Mom!" yelled Lee in a somewhat embarrassed manner, prompting Lindsay to giggle.

"Oh shut up and be proud of your accomplishments, tough girl," said Tabby, "She won a school talent show with her ballet skills. She would make a great choreographer, but her true dream is to be a math teacher."

"She'a smart one Nikki" said Maelynn, "She certainly didn't get that from her mother."

Tabby ground her teeth, doing her best to stifle an ugly retort out of respect for her daughters. After a few moments, she decided to continue.

"Annemarie here is still the artist she always was," said Tabby, "I think we know what she wants to do with her life?"

"The talent runs in the family," said Nikki, who seemed to stumble slightly over her words. She had caught eyes with her mother through her peripheral vision, and taking note of a serious expression on her face, seemed to become slightly worried; perhaps praise of Tabby's family was unwelcome to the so called "monster-in-law."

After a moments awkward pause, Nikki decided to continue.

"So you're still keep in' up with the piano?" asked Nikki, "That's mighty fine, maybe you can play us something on the upright in the living room after dinner."

"Sure, I'd love to," said Marie, "I love the piano, but after our stop in Georgia, I'd really like to starting learning how to play the pipe organ. It's such a beautiful sound."

Nikki's eyes widened slightly at Marie's statement.

"That's really cool," said Nikki, "I'm sure you'll pick it up with no problem."

"I hope," said Marie, "It's something I've always wanted to do."

After addressing Marie, there was another bought of silence, at which point Nikki turned her attention to May.

"So," said Nikki as she enjoyed her cake, "What you been up to, Roddy Jr.? Still playing softball."

May, who's huge puffy cheeks we're currently filled with cake, swallowed heavily prior to continuing.

"Yep," said May, "I'm starting pitcher for high school now."

"Nice," said Nikki.

"She's a chip off the old Lonergan block, that's for sure," said Maelynn, "Shy, quiet and sweet, but packed to the gills with talent. She keeps that up, she could get herself one of them sports scholarships to college."

At the conclusion of May's statement, there was a another slight pause. In the silence, May turned towards Marie, who proceeded to briefly lock eyes with her younger sister. The black-haired girl delivered a subtle nod as if to provide a signal; a signal that it was time that May to finally reveal the career aspirations she had kept secret from her family for so long.

"A..actually," said May, "I don't think I want to go to college."

Both Tabby, Nikki and Maelynn all gazed upward, intrigued by May's proposition.

"Really?" asked Nikki.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Maelyn, "You.."

"Will ya pipe down," said Tabby interrupting Maelynn, "Not everybody goes to college. In fact too many people do now a days. Many waste money and become deadbeat bums. It's Annamae's life, and she'll decide for herself what she wants to do with it. As long as she's productive, she can do whatever her heart desires."

At that moment, the air of nervousness filling May's psyche had all but disappeared. Hearing her mother's reassurance and trust that she would do the right thing in life through her own decisions completely raised her confidence; she no longer had any fear of reaction.

"So, what do you want to do with your life?" asked Nikki.

May took a deep breath.

"I want to join the military," said May.

May's bombshell statement immediately drew the attention of the entire room; all parties froze in time in various stages of eating, as if they were overcome by surprise. The roughly two second time period felt like an eternity to May, who began to regret informing her family of the sudden decision so soon.

The still silence of the room was soon broken by the voice of Nikki.

"Wow," said Nikki, "That's awesome!"

"Really May?" asked Lee, "How come you never told us until now?"

"I dunno," said May, "I guess I was afraid what you guys would think."

"Why the hell would serving your country be a bad thing?", asked Tabby, "Poppy, Grampa, and Daddy were in the military, so it's in probably in your blood. I figured at least one of you little witches would be the military girl, and in all honesty my bets were on you."

"Really?" asked May.

"Do I ever lie?" asked Tabby.

Tabby and May shared a smile, at which point Maelynn decided to interject

"I knew you had the Lonergan gene," said Maelynn, "When your Daddy, or in fact any of my sons told me they were joining the service, I was scared to death like any parent. Now my grand-baby is thinking about doing the same….."

May's smile lessened slightly, in expedition of her grandmothers disapproval; however, the perky girls positive emotions were quickly restored, as Maelynn reached across the table and took her hand.

"And I'll be dang proud of her," said Maelyn, "Just like I'm mighty fine proud of everything my sons done with their lives. With my cute little chubby cheeks and Grampa's grit, you're gonna make the Lonergan clan proud."

As these conversations unfolded, the soft spoken Big Georgie, still seated at the head of the table, elected to remain silent. Proud of his granddaughters career aspirations, the ex-military/police chief turned farmer delivered her a slight nod of approval, accompanied by a small "mmhm hmmm"; prompting May to smile.

"Wow, I didn't think you guys would think I could do it!" said May, "Now I guess I can tell you guys what I want to be after my four years in the military!"

"What's that?" asked Tabby.

"A Police Officer," said May, "Just like Grampa, Uncle George and Aunt Brookie."

While intending to capitalize on the the good vibes created by her previous statement, May's new announcement seemed to have an entirely different effect. In an instant, both Tabby and Maelynn dropped their plastic forks to the table, adopting severe expressions of distress as they did so; at the same time, Lee bit her bottom lip as if she were nervous.

"No, no way," said Maelynn, "I will not let my granddaughter become a police officer. It is way too dangerous of a job, and I'll be damned if I ever let you sign up to be hurt or even killed. Grampa, and your uncles would say the same thing. No, no NO!"

"B….b…but," asked May with a disheartened expression.

"End of subject," said Maelynn, pointing her finger at May in a stern manner.

"Hold on," said Marie, coming to May's defense, "You all were so happy about May join the military, what's the difference if she wants to be a cop? It's just as dangerous of a job nowadays, the only difference is she'd be helping people at…."

Marie was quickly silenced, as she received a discrete kick from Lee's foot under the table. Marie locked eyes with her older sister, who had adopted her "enough little sister" expression, prompting Marie to cease talking.

"The difference doesn't matter," said Tabby in a stern manner, "Me and Granny don't agree on much, but I agree with her on this. There's too many dangerous people out there for you to be a cop, it's not happening….end of discussion."

At the conclusion of Tabby's statement, there was another small bought of awkward silence as everyone continued to enjoy their cake. After a few moments, Nikki decided to initiate a new, entirely different conversation regarding Lee's ballet performance, restoring the original, tranquil, family-friendly mood to the table. In the midst of the conversation May hardly said a word, staring at her plate while twirling her fork as of deep in thought.

Two individuals took notice of this behavior. Marie, who had been silenced in her efforts to defend her sister, stared with curiosity; Big Georgie however, displayed an expression of determination.