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* Charlotte McDougal mentioned in To Laugh Again under Emergency Fan Fiction

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Christy's talk with Sean MacDonald

Ch. 4

Christy was mentally kicking herself; there had been no reason to snap at Catherine not really. It had been three years; she did miss the games, and Sean-Patrick would want her doing them. It's just that it had always been a team effort. With her children grown and out of the house, not to mention Patrick crossing over, it just wasn't the same without family.

"I'm sorry, but I have extremely good hearing; I couldn't help but overhear you and your friend." He noticed her guard instantly go up. "Please here me out, Ma'am". William spoke cautiously. This conversation really did need to occur, and his father had asked him to be the one to approach Christy first as his own nerves were getting the best of him.

"Keep our promise. Do not push her. But, please..." His father begged. "Since we know she is your brother's widow, see if she will give us...me...answers."

"Name's Christy-Anne but you can call me Christy, no one calls me Ma'am." She glanced behind him and asked about the old man eyeing them so closely.

"That is my father." William sighed. "Sean-Patrick's as well." He half-expected her to bolt as Christy's back visibly stiffened as she asked what it was they wanted.

"It's not like I have anything of yours, and it's not like I can bring your brother back to this side of life."

William silently cringed at the sound of slight resentment in her tone; it implied his family would blame her for his brother not coming back to them. He could not let such idea, or any other close to it, stand.

Birds flew overhead but did not stop to listen. A few dogs barked from cars with windows rolled down just far enough to allow fresh air into their vehicles and people selling wares could be heard in the background. Nonetheless, none of it disturbed their conversation.

"We know that. I... we, my father and family...were hoping you'd talk to at least my father. He hasn't gotten much time left. He's beat himself over and over throughout the years for not believing Sean-Patrick. He blames himself for my younger brother not reaching out to the family before his death." He shook his head. "We've tried to tell him for a good seventeen years it was to be laid at Sandra McBean's feet, but he keeps hanging onto guilt."

"What finally woke your family up? Seventeen years is a long time, but that's still fifteen years of believing her over your own blood; one of which I might add should have already had time to prove what kind of man he was." Christy had mixed feelings on the matter, knowing how much her own husband had wanted to reconcile but also knew why he hadn't. "Crumb, his boss, when that ...female... showed up in Tennessee, after being told what she'd pulled, covered my husband's tracks when he quit on the spot, grabbed all our family and fled out west. We ran to another set of mountains and buried ourselves deep in them. After that, to be safe, we changed our names until the last five years of Patrick's life. It was only then we went back to the name of MacDonald." She shook her head. "He never would go into town other than the highland games—and even those were done with safety precautions in place. So, again, I ask when did you all figure it out?"

"A friend of the family saw Sandra and her son once they came back to a nearby town. He was the spitting image of our neighbor's son." William sighed. "You're correct in saying my brother should have been believed." He continued on. "I can make educated guesses as to my brother not reaching out, could ask you, but my father needs to hear it himself. He'll leave...we will all make our departure... as soon as he gets his answers if that is what you desire. Just, please, talk to him. Give him his answers even if you make him vow to take them to his grave without saying a word to the rest of us."

"Surprised you're not holding my age against me." Christy-Anne's tone slipped and quickly apologized for her snarkiness.

"In the past, I might have." William hated to admit it but then let out another long breath of air. "However, at this point in my life, I have figured out age isn't a subject to worry about in a matter like the one we have on hand." He then grinned. "Besides, I don't even know it other than you don't look a day over thirty-five."

"I just turned forty-two." Christy couldn't help but smile herself and then shrugged her shoulders as she rose from the boulder. "I'll talk to your father, but I prefer he come to the edge of the grounds. In spite of handling the games, I do not do well talking in large gatherings, strange as that may seem after my musical stunt." With that she walked by him and got a chair to set it near the spot where Roarke had parked his car earlier.

Sean had watched his son while he'd talked to Christy, had seen his daughter-in-law walk past him and easily seen William looking at him while nodding towards the lady as if to say, 'Go ahead, get your answers." So, with that, he stood up and walked across the lawns, past relatives, past participants of games and past other couples to a chair the lady had set at angle that allowed the two to see the games and yet look at each without straining their necks to do so.

"How long was my son married the first time and to who? Did they have any children?" There was another question that would have been first but when Roarke told him his son had been married twice those two questions had been put ahead of it.

"Twelve years and her name was Ella Collins; she was an orphan from Wales. They met at the docks coming to America. They had four children. Three boys and one girl before she died unexpectedly - doctors never could figure out why. None of the children live back east after fleeing Tennessee when Sandra made her appearance."

"Our family had no idea she'd came to America when we cut off child support." He nodded his head when Christy's eyes widened. "I thought the boy was my grandson and, with my son gone, I felt obligated to support him. Once it was proven otherwise, I cut off all funds." Sean lifted his hands and lowered them back down. "None of us could fathom Sean-Patrick leaving Scotland altogether or at least not the surrounding countries. So, we had men looking in Wales, Scotland, Ireland and such. Though a few relatives, while visiting America did search New York. But like I just said we had no idea Sandra had come to your country for any length of time."

'Well, she did, yippee for us' It wasn't a thought spoken as Christy saw no need to poke verbal knives into the old man who was now slightly hanging his head down. "Sandra's actions are not your fault." She may not have liked the old man buying into the female's lies when he was younger but saw no need to pour salt into his wounds in regard to Sean-Patrick.

"Maybe, not, but I didn't even know my own son. I wasn't being honest with how much I was gone; I just assumed he was like one of his brothers and their cousins. I should have listened." He then asked about the lack of communication. "Why not so much as one letter? I understand fleeing our country and, I guess, to a point, I get no communications. However, after we cut Sandra off, I thought for sure -somehow-." His sentence trailed off leaving the sentence unfinished.

"But I did send letters once I found your address that is." Christy believed him when the old man said he knew nothing about communications; nevertheless, she also knew her own actions very well. "I sent multiple ones behind Patrick's back. First, when our youngest was having seizures and then when Sean-Patrick fell ill and was getting no answers from the doctor. Figured there might be some family history going on. I received no replies."

"When was this?" Sean was appalled, if not right down furious, to find out the first ones were well over a decade ago and the second round of letters during the summer of a little over three years back and even went into the fall. "It had to be Sandra; she was definitely around ten years ago for a short time, and we had word she was back in our local area during the time my son would have been ill. She had to be preventing those letters from getting to us."

"It couldn't have been Sandra." Christy shook her head. "That jack...wagon..." Her face reddened and her newly found father-in-law politely said nothing and let her continue on. "...would have shown up at the hospital both times and we never saw her face once. It had to have been someone she knew. They had to have been dumping the letters in with the trash. Whatever lies they'd been told must have been bought hook, line and sinker. Unfortunately, unlike you, they'd not woke up to the truth and had to have decided to keep any contact with you impossible. I guess we'll just be glad they didn't hand them over to Sandra if that really was the case." It wasn't something they'd ever know for sure, so the old man did his best to focus his attention on getting more answers though his blood still boiled over Christy's letters being intercepted.

"How did you get together with my son? Did you have children?" Sean, like his oldest son, ignored the apparent gap in age-it mattered far less than getting his answers.

"We had four just the same as he and Ella, but we had one more girl; the girls were twins." She sighed as to them getting together. "The start of our marriage was for the same reason of another friend of mine *Charlotte McDougal's. We both stepped into and kept a very nosy social worker from getting a hold of the men's children. Both of our husbands were going by the names of Patrick- only she was a few years older than I was." Christy spoke low and told her father-in-law the details of her and his son's second marriage. "My parents signed for me since I wasn't yet eighteen on the understanding it was to be a marriage of convenience until my legal birthday. If I wanted out at that time I was -without a fight from him – to annul the marriage and move on. Clearly, I opted not to walk even though he gave me that chance." She went ahead and told Sean MacDonald every single detail involving the day the pesky social worker had shown up in the hills causing problems for both Patrick McDougal and Sean-Patrick MacDonald. Christy insisted on him making a vow to take those to his grave.

"You and your parents did what you thought was best, plus you kept my son with his children when Ella was clearly out of the picture. Even if you had walked as originally agreed I'd still be thanking you. I have no problems making you such a vow."

"If you don't mind, I need to eat. Then, we can talk again?" Sean agreed and also thought about the details he'd been sworn to secrecy on. No, he'd not reveal them -ever nonetheless, they made him determined Christy was to be protected and cherished by his family at all costs.