The Other Path ~ Season 1
By Thomas Mc

Author's Note: Because of events in the story "The Road Not Taken" and Catherine's advancing pregnancy this chapter will have nothing to do with the subject of the original episode of this name. But that doesn't mean that there isn't an alternate story for this episode.

The Beast Within

Catherine frowned as she looked discontentedly down at her expanding middle. She knew that this was what she wanted very much. She wanted it as much for Vincent as for herself, but that thought didn't make her feel any less fat and ungainly.

After a few seconds she felt her soul suddenly become flooded with love and compassion from an outside source. She smiled. Vincent must have noted her emotions and was sending his love to her in response to lighten her mood. It worked. Her mood had just brightened considerably.

She glanced at the clock over on the wall by the main stairs. In another four hours she was supposed to be meeting Vincent over at Doctor Peter Alcott's special clinic for an ultra-sound.

Because of the very special nature of her pregnancy and the nature of the baby's father, Peter had decided to wait until much later in the pregnancy than normal before doing this test. For the same reasons they were doing it after hours when all the staff had gone home for the day. He wanted to be sure that the baby was developing normally . . . well as normally as possible considering the situation. Hopefully, tonight, they would also find out whether the baby was a boy or a girl.

She glanced again at the clock and resisted the urge to check it to be sure it was working. Damn this day was going so slowly.

~ o ~

Dennis McCormick glanced up as his new boss Jenny Aronson approached his desk. He had only been working at the publishing house as new submissions proofreader for a little over a month but he loved the work and he liked his boss.

"How is it coming?" She inquired as she approached his desk.

"That depends. The plot and pacing are very good. The characterizations are excellent." He paused and shook his head before continuing. "But the writing style is terrible. The spelling is so bad that many of the words are unintelligible and the grammar is abysmal. I'm wondering if this author even speaks English."

"What do you suggest?

"A complete rewrite, probably by a good ghost writer, as long as the ghost writer doesn't try to monkey with the plot or the characters."

"I'll see if I can arrange it if you really think it would be worthwhile."

"With corrected grammar and style I think that this has best seller potential." He looked over at an opened letter that was sitting out on his desk. "Oh, ah, Jenny, my dad is in town this week end. Would it be alright if I took off a little early today?"

"I thank that will be just fine." Jenny reached down and picked up the manuscript. "And I'll see if I can get a ghost writer for this. Now get out of here and I'll see you Monday morning."

As Jenny walked away from his desk she again thought about that young man's remarkable eye color. She couldn't help but notice how closely his eyes matched the unique color of Vincent's eyes. She had been thinking about mentioning it to Cathy since the day she first met Dennis face to face three weeks ago but she just hadn't gotten around to it. She really needed to get together with Cathy and Vincent sometime soon but she had been swamped lately and the workload showed no signs of letting up anytime soon. Once she got back to her desk she wrote up a quick note and stuck it into the manuscript then dropped it onto her 'to-do' pile. With a long suffering sigh, she pulled out her notebook that contained lists of useful people and flopped to the section that contained a list of available ghost writers.

~ o ~

Bill McCormick glanced at his watch. His son Dennis should be here any time now. He glanced at the door as another patron, silhouetted by the bright sunlight, entered the little restaurant. Then the figure waved and started moving toward Bill.

Dennis entered the restaurant where he was supposed to meet his father for a late lunch. After a few seconds scanning the interior he spotted his father at a booth half way back. He waved and went over to join him. His father looked uncertain until he was halfway to the table then his father's face lit up with a welcoming smile.

Bill indicated the chair across from him. "It's great to see you Dennis. Your mother sends her love."

Dennis smiled back as he sat down. "It's good to see you too, Dad. What brings you to New York?"

Bill responded. "Just a business trip. My company is planning on expanding the branch office here in New York and I'm here to evaluate the situation and make recommendations. How is your new job going?"

"It's great dad. They've got me proofing new submissions from first time authors. I've had to slog through some unbelievably bad crap but I have also gotten the chance to read some fascinating and unique stories. So far the good has far outweighed the bad." He grinned. "And my boss is great. She's very good looking and a real character. I could write a best seller just by writing a story about her."

Bill cocked his head quizzically. "Do I detect a note of interest here?"

Dennis shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. She is fascinating but she's my boss and I'm just a wet-behind-the-ears, rookie. I'm too new to the company to get involved in anything like that."

Bill chuckled. "Too soon to rock the boat, eh." They were interrupted by the waiter who had arrived to take their order. After the waiter left Bill continued. "So how do you like living in New York?"

Dennis responded. "I love it here. The hustle and bustle, the life. Every time you turn a corner you see something that you've never seen before. And the people are fascinating. Just last Sunday I was walking in Central Park and came across dozens of street performers." His grin widened. "I saw this great gray haired street magician, the little sign called him 'The Great Sebastian'. I swear he was the best sleight-of-hand artist I have ever seen." Dennis had always had a great love of magic acts. "And the stories that these New Yorkers tell." He grinned shaking his head. "I've never heard so many local urban legends in my life." Another of his passions was local urban legends.

Bill's chuckled. It seemed that New York had everything that his son loved. Then he asked the question that he knew was bound to get Dennis going. "So, what kinds of urban legends have you heard about, besides alligators in the sewers?"

That did it. Dennis launched into the subject with enthusiasm as he told his father about the more unusual New York urban legends, the ones that were very specifically unique to New York. They stopped for a moment as the food was served but Dennis was soon back on the subject, much to the amusement of his father. As Dennis talked, Bill would comment on the stories and occasionally ask questions or remark on other similar stories. Dennis was deep into one of the most unique legends that he had come across, about a Lion-man type creature that was referred to as 'The Creature of Central Park', when he became aware of his father's unusual silence and a surprised look on his face. As Dennis continued his father's expression changed to speculative then to deeply thoughtful. Dennis started to wind down and his father started asking him all sorts of questions about the lion-man creature Then out of the blue his father changed the subject, by mentioning his mother's latest art project, and they were soon talking about his mother.

As they left the restaurant Bill reminded Dennis that they were planning on going to a play that night then they parted until that evening.

~ o ~

Catherine and Vincent watched nervously as Doctor Peter Alcott stared, frowning, at the screen of the machine on the roll around stand beside the examining table for a moment. Peter cocked his head then shifted the smaller probe a few inches to the right on Catherine's belly. Again he studied the screen intently for a few seconds then he broke into a grin. He turned a knob on the machine and the tense silence of the room was suddenly filled with a rhythmic whooshing sound. Catherine and Vincent both grinned at each other as they realized that they were hearing their baby's heartbeat.

The next second Peter looked back at them and spoke. "Well, you two, she's got a strong heart and she appears to be developing right on schedule."

After another second Catherine's eyes opened wide. "She! You said she! We're having a little girl!" She looked over at Vincent, her eyes shining. "Vincent, we're having a little girl."

Vincent chuckled at her excitement. "Yes, I kind of gathered that." He got a rush of warmth at the joy that he felt radiating off her over their bond they shared. He shifted his gaze over to Peter and asked the question that was always sitting there at the back of his mind. "Can you tell which of us she will favor?"

Peter knew exactly what Vincent meant by his question. "I'm afraid that there's no way to tell at this stage of her development whether she will inherit any of your more unique features." He shut off the machine. "It is quite likely that we won't be able to tell that until the day that she is born." He wiped off the probe then began cleaning the jelly off of Catherine's belly. "I could have a DNA test done but the results would probably be inconclusive since our understanding of that is still fairly limited." He looked up at Vincent. "Even if we compared it to a sample of your DNA the most we would be able to tell for sure would be your relationship to her and it might cause the lab staff to start asking a few questions that we don't want asked."

Catherine squeezed Vincent's hand. "It doesn't really matter what she looks like; we'll love her just the same whether she takes after you or me." She smiled kissed the back of his hand. "Regardless of whether she looks like you or not, she'll be your daughter and that alone will make her very precious to me."

Vincent squeezed Catherine's hand in return. The empathic link between them made it impossible for him to doubt her sincerity. "It's the fact that she is also your daughter that will make her very precious to me." Vincent responded to her.

Peter cleared his throat drawing their attention back to him. "Like I said, she appears to be developing normally and there do not appear to be any problems or complications so just take the normal reasonable precautions and I want you in here again next month for your next checkup."

~ o ~

Later that evening Dennis met his father over at his hotel room and they took a cab to Broadway where they saw the currently hottest play.

After a while Denis noticed that his father seemed to have again become unusually thoughtful; very much like he had been at lunch. As they were leaving the theater Dennis asked his father about what was on his mind. Bill told him it was nothing important and changed the subject to discussion of the play that they had just seen.

~ x x x x x ~

Two days later Dennis was seeing his father off at the airport. "I really enjoyed seeing you again, Dad."

Bill quickly embraced his son then picked up his carry-on bag. "And I enjoyed spending some time with you too." He started to turn away then stopped. His brows creased and he appeared to be thinking very hard about something, then he turned back to Dennis and, without quite making eye contact, spoke as though considering each word. "This legend about the Creature of Central Park, interests me." He glanced down then looked intensely into his son's eyes. "I need you to do something for me. I want you to find out everything you can about that Central Park Creature urban legend you told me about." He glanced at the floor again then again made eye contact. "I can't really explain why I want this, but it is important to me . . . and don't say anything to your mother about this. Can you do that for me?"

Dennis was a bit unsure about all this but he nodded his head. "Sure, Dad, I can do that for you."

Bill's expression relaxed and he smiled at his son. "Thanks, son. I can't really explain why but this really means a lot to me." He reached out and gripped his son's shoulder. "And remember, This is very important, not a word to your mother about this. I wouldn't want to needlessly upset her." With a quick squeeze he turned and headed up the jetway onto his plane.

Dennis stood there for a long time mulling over what had just happened. Why was his father suddenly so interested in that particular urban legend? Dennis found the Creature of Central Park to be very intriguing but his father's reaction went far beyond simple curiosity. And why was his father so insistent that he say nothing to his mother about it? Finally, shaking his head in uncertainty, Dennis made his way out of the terminal. All the way back home he kept going over in his mind what his father had said. He also realized that his father had been a bit distracted from the time that he had told him about New York urban legends over lunch.

~ x x x x x ~

For the next few weeks Dennis seriously threw himself into his research on his father's request whenever he could get the time. He spent most of his free time at the library searching through old newspapers and magazines, looking for any articles that mentioned the Central Park Creature or references to a lion-man. The more he looked into it the more intrigued he became.

Once he realized that there had been a few occurrences that involved police he even used the publishing company's background fact checking division to get access to police reports on the grounds that he was doing research for a book that he was editing. That led him to the oldest reported observation that he had yet encountered. It had involved a mounted officer in the park late at night over at the carrousel. The police report described a group of kids that had broken into the carrousel. According to the report one of the kids was wearing a lion mask and had 'roared' at the officer.

Over all, what he found was very sparse but there were a few interesting elements. Most of the few sightings were in and around Central Park and were relatively benign. He could find nothing older than about twenty years ago. Most urban legends could be traced back in one form or another much further back than a mere twenty years. All the sightings were very similar in their description. Also most urban legends contained some moral or warning about inadvisable actions. The Central Park Creature stories tended to consist mostly of glimpses of it from a distance.

The majority of the sightings involved homeless or street people so he spent that weekend wandering the area around the park and speaking to the locals, particularly the homeless. Most of what he got was second, third and fourth hand stories.

~ x x x x x ~

By the next weekend he had located two people that were supposed to have had first hand sightings. One was an old woman that lived in an apartment building next to the park, the other was the police officer, now retired, that was supposed to have seen a boy in a lion mask by the carrousel almost twenty years ago. The retired officer insisted that the child must have been wearing a mask but he was unable to explain away the roar that he swore had come from that child. Next he talked to the old woman. She had a telescope set up at her window overlooking the park. Through the telescope she showed him the area where she had spotted the lion-man on three separate occasions.

Twice during those three weeks his father called to 'talk'. Both times the subject soon came around to the Central Park Creature. Each time he reported the near dearth of information. After which he could clearly hear the disappointment in his father's voice. It seemed to have become almost an obsession with his father and Dennis was beginning to wonder why.

~ x x x x x ~

The day before his father was due to return to New York, Dennis was about to give up on the whole lion-man search as useless. He had only found two highly dubious firsthand accounts and no real concrete leads. He was just going to scan the last few reports he had pulled up when he came across a report that didn't seem to belong with the current group. At first he was going to skip it wondering how it had ended up among the results of his search. For one thing it had nothing to do with New York or Central Park. The police report was about the kidnapping and attempted rape of a Catherine Elizabeth Chandler at Radcliffe College in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the spring of 1979, over eight years ago.

He wasn't quite sure why he took a second look but, when he did, the statement by the kidnapper caught his eye. The man was in an institution for the criminally insane. He claimed that he had been attacked in the woods near his house by a rabid lion-man. The psychiatrist discounted the man's story as psychotic ravings though he did have markings on his body that resembled claw marks but a broken branch was found nearby that the police believed could have caused that damage. The kidnapper's description however matched perfectly with most of the more detailed descriptions of the Central Park Creature.

His attention was also caught by the names of the other witnesses in the case. They were Nancy Wilson, Rebecca Jennings and "Jenny Aronson!" His boss, Jenny Aronson, was involved and he knew that Jenny had a best friend named Cathy Chandler. This definitely demanded closer investigation.

~ x x x x x ~

The following morning Dennis met his father at the airport. As they walked toward the baggage claim area Bill noticed that his son kept giving him very speculative looks. Finally he came out and asked. "Dennis you seem to have something on your mind. Would you care to talk about it?"

Dennis stopped walking and his father stopped a half step later. Dennis wondered for a moment if he should really bring up the subject of the lion-man. His father's obsession with it worried him. Finally he shrugged his shoulders. I had just about given up on the whole lion-man deal as useless when last night I found something that may involve my boss and a friend of hers. I didn't want to say anything until I got a chance to check into it."

Bill's eyes lit up with excitement. "What is it? What did you find?"

Dennis took a moment before responding. The intensity of the look in his father's eyes worried him. "It's just some nine year old police report that I stumbled across. It's probably nothing . . . the ravings of a lunatic . . . but there is a very slim chance that it could lead to something. I just don't want to say anything until I've had a chance to check it out."

After a long moment Bill sighed. "OK, son, do whatever you need to do."

They again were walking toward Baggage Claim as Dennis remarked to his father. "Believe me, Dad, the minute I find anything concrete I'll let you know.

As they collected the luggage and headed to his father's hotel, Dennis noticed how his father seemed to alternate between curiously subdued and almost bouncing eagerness. As soon as he dropped his father off, Dennis headed in to work. First chance he got, he was going to ask Jenny about that police report.

~ o ~

Dennis managed to corner Jenny at lunch. He waited until she had just started to eat and sat down next to her. After a few innocuous conversational forays, he jumped right in. "Jenny, what can you tell me about the lion-man creature of Central Park?"

Jenny gave him a startled look. "What do you mean?" There was something very defensive about her response.

Dennis pressed his perceived advantage. "I found a report that mentioned you and a woman named Catherine Chandler being involved in a sighting of the Creature of Central Park."

Jenny shook her head. "I have no idea what you are talking about." She glanced at her watch. "I have to go." She jumped up and made a hasty retreat.

Dennis stared after her in surprise. He wasn't sure what he had expected but he had not expected her reaction to be this extreme.

Dennis had always had an innate ability to tell when someone was lying to him. He was pretty sure that he had inherited that ability from his mother, along with his very unique eye color. There was no doubt about it; Jenny had been very disturbed by his questions and she was lying, big time. She definitely knew something about the Central Park Creature. The big question now was: What did she know?

Dennis left the lunch room immediately after Jenny and was able to follow her back to her desk without her noticing. While standing unobtrusively just beyond her office door he was able to overhear part of a telephone conversation.

"Cathy, I have to see you right away." . . .

"It's very important." . . .

"Someone up at work has made a connection between you and me and Vincent." . . .

"I think there's a lot more to this than we know. I can't talk now . . . I'm afraid someone might overhear." . . .

"OK, I'll come by your place right after work." . . .

Dennis moved quickly, quietly and unnoticed away from Jenny's office. As soon as he got to his desk he called his father.

"Dad, something very strange just happened here." . . .

"I'm not sure but I certainly stirred something up."

"I don't see how it could be possible but it seems that my boss may actually know something about that particular urban legend." . . .

"Look, can you meet me here where I work about an hour before quitting time?"

"OK, that's great. I'll see you then." . . .

The rest of the afternoon, every time Dennis spotted Jenny, she appeared to be very fidgety and he twice spotted her staring at him with a very serious look on her face.

~ o ~

An hour before quitting time Dennis left work saying that he had some personal business to take care of. He went out to the street and five minutes later his father drove up in a rented car. Dennis jumped into the car and directed his father into an adjacent parking garage that was used by the employees of the publishing company. They parked on the street where they could clearly see all the cars as they left.

Bill turned to his son. "Now what is this all about?"

Dennis glanced at his father. "I'm not really sure. I just know that when I asked Jenny about the Central Park Creature, she got very agitated. Then just minutes later I heard her talking to her friend Cathy about it. I got the impression that both of them may actually have firsthand knowledge related to that legend." He glanced around to verify that they were in a good location to watch the front door of the publishing house and see inside any car leaving the parking structure. "On the phone, Jenny made plans to meet with Cathy at her place right after work." He glanced at his father. "Jenny told Cathy that I was asking questions about someone named Vincent."

Dennis noticed his father was visibly startled as he responded. "Vincent!"

Dennis replied. "That's what she said. She told her friend that I was asking about Vincent."

For the next forty-five minutes, Dennis kept a close eye on the front door of the publishing house and the main parking garage exit. During that time he noticed that his father kept glancing at a folder that was stuffed between the driver's seat and the center console. He was thinking of asking about it when he spotted a light blue sedan coming out of the garage with Jenny at the wheel. He pointed the car out to his father. "That's Jenny in that blue car. Follow her but don't get too close."

Jenny finally ended up stopping in front of a nice brownstone located two blocks from Central Park. Jenny got out of her car and sprinted up the steps to be admitted inside a few seconds later. Dennis and Bill looked at each other. Neither had missed the significance of the brownstone's location.

Dennis turned to his father. "Well, we've come this far." He nodded toward the building. "The answer to whatever it is you're looking for may be inside that place. What do you want to do?"

~ o ~

As soon as the front door was closed Catherine glanced over at Vincent then turned to Jenny. "OK, Jen, now what is this all about?"

Jenny moved further into the front parlor. "There is a new employee, a young man, where I work. He started about a month ago. I had been intending to tell you about him because his eyes are the same color as Vincent's. I've never seen anyone with eyes that color before I met Vincent." They stopped at the sofa group. "Anyway, today at lunch he started talking to me then out of the blue he was asking about you, me and Vincent. It really surprised me, catching me completely off guard, and I don't think I did a very good job of covering. I felt that I had to warn you, as soon as I could, that someone was getting uncomfortably close."

At that moment they were startled by the sound of the doorbell ringing. Vincent sprinted up the stairs as Catherine advanced cautiously to the door. A quick check told her that there were two men at the door that she did not know. "Jenny do you recognize those two?"

After a quick check Jenny nodded. "I know the younger man. He's the one that I was telling you about. I don't know who the older man is." She glanced over her shoulder at the staircase. "Can Vincent get some kind of read on those two out there?"

At that same moment Catherine was inquiring about that very thing from Vincent over their link. In response he echoed their emotions back to her and she responded. "Vincent is only getting anticipation, uncertainty and a hint of worry, but there is no hostility from either of them." With a quick nod she pulled open the door. "Yes, may I help you?"

The younger man stared at Catherine for a few seconds then he finally spoke up. "Ah, yes. Ah. My name is Dennis McCormick and this is my father Bill McCormick." He glanced at the older man then back at Catherine. "We're here to speak with Cathy Chandler and Jenny Aronson about a very important matter. May we come in?"

Catherine was still getting a reflection of the two men's emotional state from Vincent and anxious uncertainty was most predominant. The thing that drew Catherine's gaze like a magnet was the younger man's eyes. They were the same startlingly brilliant blue as Vincent's. She stepped back, her own curiosity shooting through the roof. "Please come in."

The two men stepped into the home. As Catherine closed the door behind them her mind had already shifted to lawyer mode. She turned to direct them toward the parlor initiating the first gambit hoping to get a little enlightenment. "Those contacts of yours are a very interesting color."

Dennis looked at her a bit surprised by the remark. "I don't wear contacts. This is my natural eye color."

So far so good Catherine thought. Now to push for details. "I've never heard of eyes that color." She glanced at the older man. "You didn't get it from your father."

Dennis shrugged wondering why the interest in his eye color. He decided to play it close for now. "Neither have I."

Round one, net gain zero. As they reached the sofa where Jenny was seated Catherine inquired. "Now what, may I ask, is it that you want from us?"

Dennis responded. "As Miss Aronson has probably already told you, my father and I are looking for any information about the urban legend of the Creature of Central Park and I think you two may know a lot more about the subject. As far as why . . . you will have to ask my father since he has not explained to me what this is about or why it is so important to him."

Catherine sat down on the sofa next to Jenny. They all three faced the older man expectantly. Catherine could feel Vincent's curiosity building as he listened in from just beyond the top of the stairs.

Bill McCormick shuffled his feet nervously and finally cleared his throat. His gaze took in the three expectant faces then finally he cleared his throat again then began speaking. "The reason I am trying to find that creature or lion-man is for my wife's sake. If he is real, and I think, I hope he is, then it would mean a great deal to her . . . more than I could ever understand." He paused glancing at the three of them again. "This is going to sound very strange but it is the absolute truth."

Bill nervously shifted the folder that he was carrying then after clearing his throat one more time launched into his story. "On January twelfth twenty-seven years ago I encountered a young seventeen year old girl collapsed on the Brooklyn Bridge. She was in bad shape physically and almost completely spent emotionally. She told me that there was a very powerful and very evil man after her and she had to get as far away from New York as quickly as possible. As I was heading out of Manhattan she told me that she had just given birth to a stillborn baby while on the run from those evil men that had intended to take her baby and kill her. I took her all the way back to Arizona with me and we were eventually married." He paused looking at the two women standing before him clutching the folder close to his chest. "For months after I found her, she was plagued by nightmares. My mother suggested that she needed to talk to someone about what happened but Jennifer insisted that it was too dangerous and she wouldn't be believed anyway. So my mother then suggested that she write about it in a diary or journal to help her sort it out." He glanced down at the folder again. "She never let me read her journal but I once managed to get a look in it when she didn't know. When Dennis was born Jennifer burned the journal but I was able remove these eight pages, without her knowledge, before she destroyed it." He took a deep breath and reluctantly held the folder out to the two women. "This should explain why I think that the Central Park creature could be real and need to find him."

Catherine took the folder and opened it. She gingerly removed the old weathered pages and began to read, passing each page to Jenny as she finished it. Both of their eyes got wider and wider as they read the eight old pages. His curiosity growing by leaps and bounds, Dennis asked to see the pages. Jenny handed each page to Dennis as she finished it. After the first page Dennis collapsed into the large chair sitting next to the sofa. Once he finished the last page he handed them back to his father. What he had read there had left him staring at his father in disbelief.

The pages told of a young teenage girl that had been held hostage by some evil man named Julian that did unfathomable experiments on her that made her pregnant. She had managed to escape just as she was starting to go into labor. She finally ended up behind, what had to be, Saint Vincent Hospital where she gave birth to a baby with strong feline features that apparently died in her arms minutes after birth. She had left the body hidden among the trash and tried to make her way out of New York. The story ended with her collapsing on a bridge her strength and will having given out. - - ( Note: If you are interested, the complete text of the eight pages can be found in the second half of the first chapter of my story 'A Mother's Diary' found on this same web site. )

Bill looked down at the pages that his son had just handed back to him for a moment then spoke up. "I know how absurd it sounds but, as you can see by these pages, if the lion-man or Creature of Central Park is real then he could very well be my wife's lost first child."

Catherine felt Vincent's emotions swirl chaotically as he had overheard that last statement. For several seconds Catherine locked eyes with Dennis as the room was engulfed in a pregnant silence. Finally she spoke directly to Dennis. "Dennis, just where did you get your unique eye color?"

Dennis blinked then looked over at his father who shrugged back then he responded. "From my mom. She's the only one I know of with this same eye color. My pediatrician once told me that he thinks that it was just a random mutation that produced this color in my mom and she passed it on to me." Then he shrugged.

After another moment of silence Catherine turned her head and called out. "Vincent, you need to get down here and see these people right now."

As Dennis and Bill turned toward the stairs a very large and powerful figure was coming down. The first thing that really got their attention was his furry clawed hand on the banister. Then his face came into view. There was no better way to describe him than 'Lion-man'. Bill and Dennis stared at Vincent in opened mouth shock.

As soon as he reached the bottom of the stairs Catherine took the eight pages from Bill's nerveless hands and handed them to Vincent. "You had better read this, Vincent." She put her arm around his waist as he began to read.

Bill collapsed into the other chair beside the one Dennis was in. Father and son stared in amazement as the huge powerful lion-man that stood there, big as life, reading the eight pages. Neither of them could miss the color of Vincent's eyes, so much like Dennis and his mother.

After finishing the last page, Vincent looked over at Catherine and spoke quietly. "This answers so many of the questions that have haunted me all my life." His gaze shifted to Bill. "If the woman that wrote this is your wife then you must tell me. What is her name, is she alive, is she well, do I have any other siblings?"

Bill shook off the shock that had taken over his body and responded. "She is my wife and her name is Jennifer. She is well and living at home back in Arizona. Dennis is our only son. That would make Dennis your half brother. Your eyes proclaim your relationship to Dennis and Jennifer." He leaned forward in his chair. "I have to bring Jennifer here to meet you."

Dennis finally managed to shake his paralysis and inquired of Catherine. "How have you come to be involved with . . . Vincent?"

Catherine smiled at him. "We have known each other since we were children."

Bill jumped in. "Then you were raised together like brother and sister."

Catherine shook her head. "No, more like best friends. We didn't meet until I was ten." She looked up into Vincent's face. "Now he is my husband."

After a moment of shocked silence Dennis and Bill's eyes shifted, almost involuntarily toward Catherine's middle where her pregnant state was very obvious. Noticing the direction of their gaze, Catherine remarked. "Yes the baby is Vincent's and no, we do not know yet whether or not she will favor her father. Personally, it makes no difference to me. We will love her just the same no matter which of us she favors."

Vincent stepped in at this point. "Please is it possible for my mother to come here so that I can meet her?"

Bill thought a moment. "As you can tell from what she wrote, there are good reasons why she wanted to stay as far away from New York as possible. It will be very difficult to get her to come. I may have to get a little sneaky." Bill stopped and thought about the problem then he looked at Catherine and got an idea. "But I think I know a way to talk her into coming. I just need to book her on an early flight tomorrow morning." He glanced at the others. "May I use your phone?"

As Bill picked up the phone he could be heard muttering to himself. "She's going to kill me for doing this to her . . . but it will be worth it when she sees him."

~ x x x x x ~

Jennifer approached the airline ticket counter a bit warily. The phone call from her husband had been very unusual and just a bit cryptic. Bill knew that she had always refused to go anywhere near New York yet he had insisted that she must fly out there first thing this morning. What had finally goaded her into making the trip were her husband's final words, spoken to her before hanging up without any further explanation.

~ o ~

"Jennifer, you have to come out to New York." He had inexplicably declared.

"But, Bill, you know I can't go to New York." She had complained.

He had responded. "I know you don't want to, but your reasons for staying away no longer exist. You will be perfectly safe and it's the only way you will be able to meet your daughter-in-law."

All she could say was, "What?"

In an impossibly calm tone he had continued. "I can't really explain why it has to be this way but believe me you will be very glad you came. I've already arranged for your tickets; they will be waiting for you at the American ticket counter at the airport. I have to go now. Bye honey, I love you." Then he had hung up before she could respond.

When had Dennis gotten married and why had he not told them? And why couldn't Dennis and his bride just fly down to Arizona to see her? She had tried to call her son immediately afterward but had gotten no answer. She had spent most of the night agonizing over whether to go. She finally decided to trust her husband and go.

~ o ~

This was so scary going back to that place that loomed so darkly in her memory but she had to go. She swallowed her fear and gave the ticket agent her name.

"Jennifer McCormick . . . Ah, here you are." He handed her a ticket and boarding pass. "The plane will start boarding in twenty minutes." He consulted something on the computer screen that she could not see then continued. "The other member of your party is waiting for you in the first class lounge." With that she found herself dismissed and he turned his attention to the next person in line. "Next."

She stepped away from the counter feeling a bit stunned. Other member of my party? First class lounge? She looked more closely at her ticket. It really was a first class ticket! But who was the other person? After a few indecisive seconds she finally made her hesitant way to the glassed in area labeled 'First Class Lounge' and a very uncertain day.

As Jennifer stepped into the lounge she first noticed that there were only about a dozen people here. Her gaze immediately locked on to the very beautiful and elegantly dressed woman standing at the bar. The woman had been watching the doorway and started over as soon as Jennifer entered. As the woman approached, Jennifer couldn't help noticing that the woman was apparently pregnant and looked just a bit tired.

The woman broke into big friendly smile as she walked right up to Jennifer and held out her hand in greeting. "Hello." After a momentary pause Jennifer took the woman's hand. "My name is Catherine Chandler and you must be Jennifer McCormick . . . your eye color is unmistakable." The woman broke into a big yawn. "I apologize. I just arrived about an hour ago on the red-eye from New York. It's been a long night for me."

One thing that Jennifer had learned when dealing with people was to trust was her innate ability to accurately judge people on first sight. The one time she had ignored her first impression had been nearly thirty years ago and it had lead to the worst months of her entire life. It was only by luck and guts that she had gotten out of the situation alive. Her instincts were telling her that this woman meant her no harm and was actually very happy to meet her.

"Um, ah, pleased to meet you. But why are you here?" Jennifer responded to the unfamiliar woman.

Catherine paused and cocked her head. "Let's get a seat over there so we can talk more comfortably." Her smile remained the same but her eyes became just a bit more serious. "We have a lot to talk about."

Jennifer followed Catherine over to the corner table. She noticed that this particular corner booth was one of the five isolated booths designed to give its occupants a fair amount of privacy. As they both sat down she looked closely at this unknown woman. "Can you tell me just what exactly is going on here and what your part in this is?" She asked Catherine.

Catherine took a deep breath. "First off after Bill talked to you it occurred to me that this trip might be easier for you if you had a friendly face to accompany you and someone to better prepare you for what you would encounter when you arrived. Since Dennis and Bill had obligations today and I was free, I was the obvious one to come down to get you. As to my part in this, I am the daughter-in-law you are supposed to be coming out to meet." Catherine held up her hand as Jennifer started to speak. "No, I am not married to Dennis." She paused a moment and gently placed her hand over Jennifer's hand. "I'm married to your other son."

Jennifer stared at Catherine in shock. Finally she managed to sputter out in anguish. "I have no other son." Jennifer tried to pull back her hand but Catherine held on to it.

Catherine's expression changed becoming very earnest. "I'm talking about your older son . . . the one you thought died in that alley behind the hospital." Catherine's gaze bored into Jennifer's eyes and held them. "Your first son did not die that night . . . though, from what I've been told, it's not surprising that you mistakenly thought that he had died. Some friends found him where you had hidden him among the trash and took him to a safe place. He was very close to death when they found him, but one of them was a doctor. He and a second doctor fought for the infant's life and the child survived. They named him Vincent because they found him behind Saint Vincent Hospital and raised him as one of their own regardless of his very unique appearance."

Jennifer opened her mouth to deny the possibility but Catherine pushed on, not allowing her to get a word in. "I first met Vincent when I was ten. At that age I thought his leonine appearance was 'cool'." Catherine gave a self depreciating shrug. "We quickly became best friends. Eventually we fell in love and were married on July 4th 1980." Catherine broke into a short chuckle. "To be honest, I still think he looks 'cool'. Naturally, because of Vincent's rather distinctive appearance we have had to keep him a secret but despite that we have managed to make a pretty good life for ourselves."

At the mention of marriage Jennifer's gaze involuntarily shifted downward toward Catherine's middle which was now mostly hidden by the table. Catherine's free hand came to rest on the bulge and she smiled when Jennifer's eyes came back up with a guiltily embarrassed start. "Yes, this is Vincent's child. We know she is a girl but we don't know yet if she will favor Vincent or me or some unique combination." Catherine shrugged. "Personally, it makes no difference to me other than effecting where she will be raised. I only want her to be healthy and, if I have anything to do with it, happy."

Catherine fell silent as she gazed into Jennifer's eyes watching for her reaction. They were interrupted by the first call for boarding. Catherine glanced at her watch. "We've still got thirty minutes 'til departure. There's no rush." She then watched quietly while Jennifer tried to process what she had just been told.

After a few minutes Jennifer looked up at Catherine, her eyes full of questions. "But even if it is all true, how did you find me?"

Catherine nodded. "That was your husband's doing. Even though you burned your journal, Bill had already read it and saved the eight pages that described your escape from Julian and Vincent's birth in that alley. When he visited Dennis last month he heard about one of our newer urban legends about a creature that haunts Central Park. Vincent often likes to walk through Central Park at night. Bill immediately made the connection to what he had read in your journal and with his son's help tracked us down in hopes of finding your missing son for you." Catherine squeezed Jennifer's hand. "So now here I am to help bring the two of you back together."

After a minute Jennifer spoke again. "Bill said I would be safe but I can't help worrying about those people that I escaped from. What if they find out that I'm back and come after us again?"

Catherine shook her head. "That won't happen. The Julian mentioned in your story was killed a long time ago. His son Gabriel is in prison and their criminal organization has been broken up. Most of them have also been sent to prison and I work for the New York District Attorney's office so your family and mine are safe." Catherine tilted her head and grinned. "Vincent and my boss have become good friends." The second boarding announcement blared out of the loud speakers. Catherine glanced around the now empty lounge, took a deep breath and stood up. "Well, I guess we may as well get on board the plane."

As they reached the jetway they found that they were nearly the last to board the plane. Jennifer discovered that their seats were in the second row of first class. Also the row directly behind them and the row in front of them were both empty. Noticing this Jennifer looked inquisitively at Catherine.

Catherine tilted her head. "I bought all three rows out so that we could have a little privacy to talk freely on the trip back." She shrugged at the incredulous look on Jennifer's face. "My mother left me a pretty substantial trust fund so this was little more than pocket change to me, especially for something this important."

Jennifer shook her head and took her seat. As soon as they were both seated the stewardess stopped by to see if they needed anything to make them more comfortable.

While they were waiting for the plane to take off Catherine told Jennifer how she and Vincent first met. Once the plane was in the air the stewardess came by to get their orders for lunch, which would be served in about two hours. It was going to be a six hour flight. Jennifer was amazed at the menu options and finally settled on the lobster dinner. Catherine selected the steak and shrimp. Right behind her came another stewardess that was taking drink orders.

For the next two hours of the flight Catherine talked about her and Vincent's history together. Then the lunch was served. To Jennifer's delight the food was excellent. For the next hour Catherine simply answered Jennifer's questions. Jennifer noticed that Catherine was really dragging and suggested a break. About ten minutes later Catherine finally succumbed to her fatigue and fell asleep. The rest of the trip Jennifer spent thinking about everything that Catherine had told her and trying to picture in her mind what Vincent must look like. A lot of her images were a bit cartoonish and some were quite amusing. The best that she was able to come up with in her imagination was a fairly ordinary man with a strong hint of feline in the shape of his face and a bit hairier than normal. Finally it was announced that they would be landing in thirty minutes so Jennifer woke Catherine.

~ o ~

As Jennifer glanced around the inside of the chauffer driven limousine she wondered just how rich her daughter-in-law really was. Then the limousine pulled up to a brownstone that was only two blocks from Central Park. As they got out of the limo the front door opened and there stood Bill smiling at her. Now as she realized that she was about to meet unusual son that she thought had died twenty seven years ago she began to get very nervous and was barely able to make it up the steps with Catherine's assistance. Ever since she had boarded that plane the whole situation had taken on a feeling of unreality. She began to wonder if she was about to wake up and find it was all a dream. Or was this all some elaborate charade for some purpose that she could not yet fathom.

Bill took Jennifer's arm at the door and led her into the home. "Easy there Jennifer. Everything's going to be just fine."

There sitting on the sofa was Dennis grinning back at her. "Hi, Mom. I'm glad you were able to come."

The sense of unreality persisted as Bill eased Jennifer into the sofa next to her son while Catherine called out. "Vincent, your mother is here."

The most incredible voice Jennifer had ever heard came from the other end of the home. "I know. I will be out there in just a minute."

Two minutes later he came around the corner. Reality suddenly snapped back into sharp focus as the two stared at each other. Nothing that Jennifer had imagined had been even close to the impressively magnificent lion-man that stood there before her. His size combined with his unconscious aura of power and feline grace was overwhelming. Most importantly there was no doubt in her mind that this really was the son that she though long dead. His intense blue eyes alone proved that.

After a few moment's Vincent spoke. "Hello mother. You have no idea how long I have dreamed of one day meeting you." There was cautions hope in his blue eyes as he gazed back at her.

Jennifer felt a lump in her throat and tears welled up in her eyes as she felt twenty seven years of regret crash in on her at once. "I thought you had died. I'm so sorry for what I did to you."

Vincent hesitated a moment in uncertainty then rushed over and kneeled before her. "Mother don't cry. The past doesn't matter. All that matters is that you are here now." He tentatively reached out to touch her hand. "I have a beautiful wife that is also my best friend and I have a fascinating new half-brother. You have a wonderful husband and a fine son in Dennis. If you had acted differently we might have missed out on these things. You and I have both had good lives and now we have found each other. No regrets."

Jennifer looked up into Vincent's eyes for a long moment then swallowed. She shook her head. "No regrets, Vincent."

Vincent stood up and pulled her into his embrace and her tears of regret became tears of comfort and joy. Soon Bill and Dennis were pulled into the hug and a few seconds later Catherine joined in. This group hug lasted several minutes before it finally broke up.

Jennifer craned her neck to look up at Vincent from her tiny five foot height. "For years I have dreaded the idea of ever returning to this city . . . now I find that I'm dreading having to return home. Now that I've found you I don't want to be separated from you again."

Bill cleared his throat then began addressing his next remarks directly to Jennifer. "I have been offered the manager's position for the expanded New York office. I had intended to turn it down because of your strong aversion to going anywhere near New York but now I think that I shall reconsider that decision - that is, if you would like to move to New York to be nearer your sons and future grandchildren."

Jennifer turned and embraced her husband. "Oh, Bill, That would be wonderful."

Bill grinned. "In that case, as soon as we get back to Arizona, I will tell my boss that I am accepting the company's offer. If everything goes well we can be moved back here in time to be here for the birth of our first grandchild."

The End (of episode 6)

'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.