From Chapter 9….
Porter Webb, who had been listening contemplatively and not saying anything, suddenly spoke up very forcefully. "AJ's going to have that puppy, and Natalie, you and Jason are going to have the wedding of your dreams. How does the Naval Academy Chapel Sound?"

Jason and Natalie gasped as Porter barged on.

 You are all coming to live with me, at least for the time being. I know how it is being married and being apart, and in your case, Harriet, it's personal. You see, you should have been my child."

********

"WHAT!?" Exclaimed Clay and Harriet at the exact same moment.

"I'll tell you all about it, every sordid detail." Porter promised.

"When I was just a young lady, not long after my coming out party, I met a very dashing man by the name of Roland Sims. We dated for several years, as my mother insisted I finish my studies at a private women's college and then an exclusive French finishing school. I made the mistake of asking him to come as my escort to the final dance…and letting him meet my classmates. Lydia Beaumont set her sights on him, and what Lydia wants, she takes, no matter the cost to her or anyone else.

I was in an extremely rebellious stage at the time, and I figured, we're getting married in less than a month. The society columns were all aflutter…a wedding between the Sims and Muhlholland families… What would I wear? Who would I choose as my attendants? I have all the clippings in my scrapbook. You have to see them to believe them. To make a long story short, dears, by the end of the weekend I was pregnant with Clayton."

"WHAT!?" (Webb)

"But that would mean…?" (Bud)

"I have a Brother?" (Harriet)

 Everyone spoke at once, and Porter raised her hand for silence.

"It was, of course a great scandal at the time. My parents were fully ready to send me away until the baby was born and put up for adoption. Fortunately, love intervened. The rumors were flying around the social set, and one Sunday morning a young man waited until my parents left for church and snuck up to the house. We had dated all the way back in high school, before I met Roland. His name was Neville Webb."

Porter paused. " That's why I named you after him, Clayton. He had carried a torch for me all that time. My parents were furious that we had been there all afternoon without a chaperone. They obviously thought we had been 'intimate' as the euphemism was at the time. That morning I fell back in love with him. We were 'intimate' all right, but not in the way my parents thought. Halfway through his proposal I threw up on his shoes. He held my head over the toilet, kept my hair out of the way… I found his tender caring for me intoxicating, especially since it seemed that nobody loved me right then.

My parents were shocked when Neville informed them he wanted to marry me. You see, one of his missions had left him unable to produce children. He would get me and an heir in the bargain. His grandparents didn't like their daughter's choice in mates, so they put the money in trust for their future grandchildren – half payable on the occasion of their wedding, the other with the birth of the couple's first child. My parents married me off to him the next weekend, the same day I was to have married Roland." She turned to Harriet. "Didn't you ever wonder why you didn't grow up in Boston with the Beaumonts or Virginia with the Sims clan? Your parents were completely ostracized for what they did. The legend of our family is, that if the man completely loves you, you will have a girl… I'm sure if Neville could have found a way, you would have a sister."

Harriet unexpectedly started to cry. "That's why AJ was a boy, then… because Bud and I were almost separated at the time."

"Dear, if things like that didn't happen, the world would die out for lack of men. You had two girls after that- you've made up for it. We seem to be a really loving family. If Sydney has a girl, it will be a sweep with this round. Are you going to keep up the tradition of Australian city names?"

Sydney spoke from her nest on the couch. "We know we are having a girl, and yes. She'll be Adelaide Mackay Brumby. Sorry, we couldn't find any cities named Mackenzie! And Sarah was out – out of respect for Harriet."

Harm interrupted, mystified. "What about Becky's name? What's the city connection?"

"Middle Name, Mate. Victoria."

Harriet nodded. "Go on, Porter, please. I'm sorry I interrupted. What happened after the wedding?"  

 Porter smiled. We spent our honeymoon in New York City, seeing plays and musicals, and since the doctor had told me I must walk every day, we had our choice of public parks. I loved him so much. I still do." She put her head down as a single tear slipped slowly down her cheek. Harriet jumped up and went to her, and the two women embraced. "Go stand over by Clayton, dear. I've waited years to see if you look alike."

Porter smiled yet again. "You do look a lot alike. And so you see, my dear, why it will give me great pleasure to help you annoy the living daylights out of your mother. Neville and I had plans for a much bigger house than we have. We planned on adopting as many children as we could, but the CIA refused to allow that. The original plan for the house called for it to go all the way around the fountain garden out back. I think it's time to make that dream a reality."

Clay interrupted -" so that's why you wouldn't let anyone build anything there – even my playhouse when I was little. You still hoped that someday you would finish the house."

"Yes, dear. You are finally going to have the siblings I always wanted for you, and I am going to have a full house. Maybe by the time you are able to leave on a mission again, you will have been able to get Mac pregnant so I can have a grandbaby?" She asked hopefully.

"We'll see what we can do." Clay said, while knowing that it would never happen.

 Many hours had passed, and Becky Brumby had put little AJ to bed and crashed on the couch herself.  Suddenly a superman pajama clad AJ burst into the dining room. "MAMA! MAMA!"

"What is it, AJ?" Harriet asked, thinking he must have had a bad dream or needed to go potty.

"It's SNOWING! I saw it out my window when I woke up! It's all white outside! Can we go sledding?"

Harriet ran to the window. "Guess we are going to see if we are all compatible living with one another, because nobody's going anywhere in this blizzard." She turned from the window and headed towards the TV.

The weatherman said " The worst blizzard to hit Washington in 50 years is fast approaching, folks. All roads are closed, and everyone should stay inside and conserve food and fuel, because you will be stuck for several day. Upwards of 3 feet of snow are predicted, and almost a foot has already fallen. ^^^^^"

The TV static buzzed to a stop, and the lights went out. About that moment an anguished moan was heard from the vicinity of the couch "I know this is a really bad time, but I think we are going to see some baby action tonight." Sydney's voice was deadly calm.