This just might be my favorite chapter ever to be honest. I apologize for any actual inaccuracies in Noll and Gene's adoption and heritage however I researched the basics and this is what I found out since the novels are not available where I live so I did't have more to go on. Luella's past is fictional as well as how she met Noll and Gene, but I think it fits. I hope you guys enjoy!
28-Never
Luella never got to hold Gene and Noll when they were babies.
They were seven when they were adopted from the U.S. Sure, she held the babies of her friends and colleagues. She even got to hold her niece when she was born, but since her sister ended up moving permanently to the U.S. she never really got to see them. Martin was an only child, so there were no small children on his side.
The couple had been married for several years before they began to try for a child. When Luella was thirty-two and suffered her third miscarriage, she was heartbroken and swore she would never try again. A year later, she and Martin went to Boston to visit her sister and niece as well as assist the American branch of SPR. That was when she ran into them.
They were identical in every way except for their clothes. They both had the same shaggy black hair, deep indigo eyes, flawless skin, and an odd sense of loneliness emanating from their features. They stared the woman up and down as she stopped in the middle of passing an alleyway. One leaned over to the other and whispered something in a language foreign to her and that was when Luella knew.
Luella was a researcher, she was just as fascinated with the paranormal as her husband, but she also had a bit of an upper hand. She had uncanny instincts. It wasn't like she was clairvoyant or anything, but when she felt strongly about something or someone, there was no changing her mind. Not that there was a need, seeing as she was never wrong.
So when she saw the two boys in the alleyway whisper to each other and take off, nearly knocking her over in the process, she knew she needed them. She knew they needed her too. Not because they were lonely even with each other, no they wanted a home. And she needed to give them just that. So she followed them. Sure enough, they ran straight for the local orphanage.
The following day, she talked Martin into checking out the place. He hadn't seen such determination and, well, hope, in his wife's eyes in more than a year so he did just that. After speaking with the Nuns who took care of the children, he too became interested in the young twins.
They had apparently been involved in odd happenings throughout the orphanage that last couple of years. Lights going out, objects moving, rapping sounds, you name it, they both seemed to be around and the only ones not completely freaked out.
They had learned that their mother was of Japanese decent, while their father was an Irish American who left the mother after bringing her over and learning of her pregnancy. She died in childbirth and left the twins in the care of the hospital until they were transferred to another orphanage a few towns over.
Then two years before, they had been brought over to this orphanage as the other was closed down. That's when the strange things started to happen. Martin decided he needed to meet these boys, much to the joy of his wife. The meeting was short, but soon preparations were being made to give the boys a permanent home.
Luella never got to hold them as babies.
But she did get to hug them as children. She coddled them, but knew when to be stern and reprimand them. She was a great mother and Martin hadn't seen her so happy in ages, he grinned everyday when he came home from work.
When Noll had the vision of Gene's death, the agony of a mother's cry would scar him for life. It was pure anguish, guilt, regret, pain, sadness, anger, hopelessness, there was just no one word for the sound that came from the woman's mouth. It was also the only time he ever saw Martin shed a tear.
She may have never held him as an infant, but that didn't make him any less her baby.
Eventually, the pain had numbed to a dull throb that still hurt to talk about, but didn't feel like it would kill her anymore. Just in time for Noll's wedding. Luella loved Mai. She was the daughter she never had, and while she had initially didn't want her to take away her only baby left, Luella knew she had to let go.
Oh, she missed them terribly, and if she had it her way, they would both move to England and live in one of their guest rooms. But Noll was too independent for that. She was just happy that the couple both made an effort for weekly video chats and phone calls and frequent emails.
She cried when she found out Mai was pregnant. Tears of joy, of course. When they came to visit for a presentation Noll was doing for a friend of Martin's, Luella was the most excited. Feeling the baby kick and hearing his parents bicker about names, gave the woman a glimpse into the part of parenthood she missed out on. While she wished she hadn't, at least she would be a part of Mai's journey through it.
She cried again when she got the call from Madoka after Mai had delivered at the hospital. They named their son after Gene. They named their first child after Luella's baby. She swore in that moment she would hold that infant. He might not be her baby, but she knew deep down he was the closest she would ever get to holding Gene again.
She and Martin flew over and stayed for a couple of weeks over the Christmas holidays. She remembered Mai looking exhausted as she handed the infant to her. Luella had been sitting in an armchair as the child was handed to her and she was much calmer than she expected as she looked down at the boy.
"You know, I never got to hold Noll and Gene when they were this small," she had said almost fondly. "They were older when we adopted them."
She kept her tears at bay as she mentally scanned the boy's image into her memory. Dark brown hair, from Mai's side, Noll's nose, blue eyes like his father, but they were shaped like his mother's. Yes she would forever remember this moment. Not because she got to hold her baby again. But because she got to hold her grandbaby.
It was hard to think about, but as it seemed, if she had never lost her baby when he was only sixteen, she wouldn't be holding this precious little thing now. She had gone through so much pain over the years, but it was all with reason.
If she had children of her own, she wouldn't have adopted Noll and Gene.
If Gene hadn't died, Noll might not have met Mai.
If Noll hadn't met Mai, she wouldn't be holding Baby Gene now.
It was with a heavy heart that she realized, there was a reason she never held them as babies.
She would never have this.
Poor Luella, you went through a lot. I hope you guys enjoyed! Merry Christmas and Happy First Anniversary to The Haunt Continues! Please leave a review!