Chapter 206 – James and Margaret Learn the Truth
"No." Father Mark said. "Walk away."
Jack stood up and walked over to the piano.
"I will have you know." Bill said. "Those things you are referring to online were posted or paid for by a young woman who is just jealous that Jack wanted nothing to do with her."
"She is also the cousin of Charlie Kensington." Doug said. "She has been nothing but a thorn in our side for years. She is a spoiled brat who thinks she can do and say whatever she wants. Hence the lawsuit that they were served with today."
"I agree with what has been said." James said. "JP's character is above reproach. Believe what you want, but if you are going to be in this house, you need to understand a few things.
1) Don't question the character of my grandson or his friends.
2) If you don't understand something, ask questions. But drop the attitude.
3) Everyone helps around here. I mean everyone. We are not here to serve you. Most everyone at this table is a guest in this house and they help, so you will as well."
"Thank you, hon." Margaret said. "In case you forgot, this is my house and I won't put up with disrespect. I told you I had my own daughter removed from this house for disrespect so don't think I won't have you removed. We have all encouraged Elizabeth to reach out to you, but you also must understand that being here is a privilege, not a right. There are rules and they will be followed – no questions asked."
"Thank you Gran." Elizabeth said. "I agree. I told you, Rosemary, about the rules and you agreed to them. Yet, you have come in here looking for a fight. I have told you I will not be treated that way."
Elizabeth then got up and walked over to Jack. She put her arm around him and he turned into her. They shared a quick kiss and then just held each other for a moment.
"It is okay." Elizabeth whispered. "I understand why you are upset, but you know I don't believe those things online. I believe what you told me."
"Thank you." Jack whispered. "I am sorry I got mad. I hate people thinking I am like that."
"I understand." Elizabeth said. "Just know I believe you, your family believes you and that is all that matters."
Jack nodded. After a moment they walked back to the table.
"I am sorry, Gran." Jack said.
"Apology accepted." Gran said. "But you didn't do anything wrong. I get why you were upset, but you didn't react and that is a good thing."
"Your grandmother is right." Nathan said. "You had a right to be upset, but you didn't lash out. Let's just move on."
Jack took a couple of deep breaths and then looked at Nathan, then Father Mark.
"Thank you both." Jack said. "I suspect that Grandpa John and Devin should be out soon."
"Any idea what Devin needs to talk to John about?" James asked.
"Yes." Jack said. "But, I don't want to get into it right now. Devin talked to me this afternoon and I have only told Elizabeth."
Jack then turned to Doug and Lee.
"Doug, Lee." Jack said. "You are my best friends and I promise I will eventually share with you, but right now, I think that the information I learned is best kept to immediate family only. I told Elizabeth because it affects her as well."
Jack then turned to his grandparents.
"I promise to sit down with you and explain." Jack said. "I will probably have John sit in as well. But until that happens, I don't feel comfortable sharing with everyone."
"We understand." Doug said. "We are here for whatever you need."
"Thank you." Jack said.
"Does this have to do with what we talked about after the banquet last week?" Gran asked.
"Yes." Jack said.
"Then, I agree." Gran said. "We need to sit down and talk before it is shared with others."
"Jack." Trish said. "Don't feel bad about not sharing something. I understand how close you are with Doug and Lee, but even given that, there are things that need to be shared with family first. I know that you see yourselves as family, but you know what I mean."
"Yes, I do." Jack said. "Thank you for understanding."
Before they could talk anymore, Devin and John came out. James and Gran look at John and could tell that whatever Devin shared was hard to hear.
"Bill." John said.
"Yes." Bill said.
"I know that you stayed to talk to me." John said. "But I was wondering if you can just take the information that you learned and work with Devin and see what else you can find. Maybe we can sit down and talk later this weekend or next week. It has been a long day."
"No, I get it." Bill said. "I will see what else I can find. And we will sit down later."
"Night, Bill." Margaret said.
"Night, Bill." Jack said. "We will see you later this weekend. Bring your guitar. We can play on Sunday."
"I will do that." Bill said.
Bill made the rounds and said good night to everyone., then left. Peter looked at his boss and knew that it was probably time to leave.
"Sir." Peter said. "How about you spend the evening with your family. Andrew and I can head to the hotel and work from there. If anything comes up, we will call. I have confirmation from all three publications that the story will go live online at nine tonight."
"Thank you." John said. "Devin, are you going to stay here or head to the hotel?"
"Margaret, is there still a room upstairs?" Devin asked.
"Yes." Gran said. "John, is in the small master. Trish is in the large guest room and the small guest is open, you will share a bathroom with Trish if that is okay."
"I am fine with that." Devin said. "I think it is better if I am here, in case there are questions."
"Then you are more than welcome to stay." Gran said. "Peter, Andrew, you are more than welcome to come for breakfast, otherwise I will see you later."
"Thank you." Peter said. "We will see about breakfast. Sir, we will be back early."
"Come up to the house when you get here." John said. "We will head to the press conference together."
"Yes, Sir." Andrew said.
Devin gave the keys to Andrew and they left. Devin grabbed his stuff.
"I will be in my room if anyone needs me." Devin said.
"Night." James said.
Most everyone else also said goodnight to Devin. He grabbed his bag from the library and then headed upstairs. John was still standing. Jack looked at him and realized that he had taken that news hard.
"James, Margaret." John said. "I think we need to go to the library and have a conversation."
"No." Frank said. "We can head downstairs."
"Stay." John said. "We will talk in the library where we won't be interrupted. You guys sit and talk. We won't be long."
"Okay if you are sure." Frank said.
"Yes." John said. "JP, please join us."
"Yes, of course." Jack said. "May I suggest Father Mark join us. I have told Elizabeth a little, but she and I can talk more later."
"I think that would be a good idea." John said. "Father Mark?"
"If you want me there, I will be there." Father Mark said.
"Please." Margaret said. "I have a feeling we will need you."
Margaret, James, Jack and Father Mark got up and followed John to the library. Nathan saw John pull the shades and figured that he locked the doors as well.
"More secrets." Rosemary said, rolling her eyes. "He wants us to believe him, but he won't talk in front of everyone. Probably all trying to get their stories straight. I mean really, you are going to tell me that he really hasn't slept around. I mean seriously, from what I understand he has had girls throwing themselves at him since he was a young teen. I highly doubt that he is as pure as he claims to be. I mean really, men claim they are pure, but I have never met one."
"Rosemary." Elizabeth hissed.
"He probably used that innocent line to land a bunch of girls." Rosemary said.
Doug and Lee both let out a harsh breath, but to their surprise it was Nathan who spoke up.
"You have been asked to be respectful." Nathan said through gritted teeth. "And now you are being told to be respectful."
Nathan looked over at Elizabeth.
"I am sorry, Elizabeth." Nathan said. "But I am not going to allow your friend to drag Jack's name through the mud. She may be an invited guest and normally, I would respect your word and let things be, but it seems like all she wants is to pick a fight. I was hired to protect you and as I have told Jack that will include yourself at times. So either find a way to get through to her or I am calling Chris and they can put her on the bus back to the city. I will not tolerate disrespect anymore."
"Thank you Nathan." Trish said. "I have had about enough as well. I am sorry Elizabeth, but with all due respect, I can introduce you to better friends."
"No, you are both right." Elizabeth said. "Rosemary, you need to shut your mouth and listen carefully. You might have just got here, but this is your last chance. I was hoping that things worked out, but you don't want to seem to try. So I am only going to say this once more and then I will be done with you and I mean it. You need to check the attitude. You come in here with a chip on your shoulder and wanting to pick a fight. I have tried to talk to you, but you don't want to listen. I was going to do this with just Jack and maybe Father Mark, but I have had it and we are going to do this right now. I think I prefer the witnesses, so you can't twist things later."
"What are you talking about?" Rosemary huffed.
"When I was upstairs earlier." Elizabeth said. "I went through a number of my old journals. I have found an upsetting pattern. I never noticed it before and if I did, I must have brushed it off. But no longer. You may be my longest friendship, but you are far from best friend material. Everything has always been about you and what you needed or what you wanted. You dismiss what I want and how I feel so often that I let you do it instead of fighting."
Elizabeth started to shake as she spoke. Both Frank and Nathan reached out and offered Elizabeth their support by putting their hands on her back. What Elizabeth didn't know was that both were silently praying for her and trying to give her strength to say what she needed to say.
Once they were all in the library and John locked the doors, James and Margaret realized that this was indeed a serious conversation.
"Please have a seat." John said. "I think it will be better."
Everyone took a seat, James and Margaret sat on the couch. Father Mark did as well. Jack pulled one of the armchairs over and John grabbed the other one.
"Father Mark." John said. "Can you open with a quick prayer?"
Father Mark nodded.
"In the Name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit." Father Mark prayed.
Everyone made the sign of the cross, then bowed their heads.
"Heavenly Father." Father Mark prayed. "You know what is about to be revealed as You have known for all time. Please be with each of us as we take in this news. Help us to process and understand what is going to be shared. Help us to keep judgements out of things. No matter how hard it is, help us to receive the news and allow us to process it without anger or resentment. Help us to have open hearts. No matter what is shared may we all be secure in the knowledge that You love us and hold us close. Amen."
Amen was echoed by the group. The group then all looked to John. Even though Jack had heard it, he was wondering if Devin had shared something with his grandfather that he didn't tell him.
"Please let me say this without interruption." John said. "Once I am done, if there are questions, I will answer them as best as I can. I will start with the same thing that Devin told me. What I am going to share are just the facts. I can't answer the why or what they were thinking. For those answers you are going to have to ask Thomas and Charlotte, however I don't know how receptive they will be considering how they fought me getting access to the record."
John looked around and saw everyone nod.
"We all know the story of Jack's birth." John said. "But we actually only know a very small part of it. Charlotte and Thomas have decided to keep a very major piece of it to themselves, hoping that it would never see the light of day, but it has and we all need to know.
So, when Charlotte had an emergency c-section to deliver Jack due to her high blood pressure, the doctors found a second baby. She was much smaller and there were obvious signs of birth defects."
There was an audible gasp from both James and Margaret. To his credit, Father Mark didn't outwardly react.
"The baby girl weighed three pounds four ounces." John said. "Due to other factors, she was rushed to Mount Sinai NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) as it is the highest level of care for a newborn. As far as Devin could tell, Thomas knew about the baby girl, when he knew Devin didn't know. Thomas was the one that had the records sealed, so he found out at some point. After the baby girl was transferred, Devin is still working on what happened.
Thomas and Charlotte acted like the baby girl didn't exist. They took Jack home from the hospital after a couple of days and as far as Devin can tell, they never went to be with the baby girl. As far as Devin can tell, Charlotte wanted nothing to do with the baby. The medical bills were paid for by Thomas and Charlotte in cash, but it does appear to be anonymous, but they match large cash withdrawals in Thomas' records from that time. So Devin is assuming that they paid the bill. Beyond that, there was no attempt made to bring the baby home. As far as Devin can tell, they abandoned her at the hospital. Basically leaving her there. One of the sealed documents that Thomas and Charlotte fought to keep sealed were papers drawn up giving the hospital the right to make medical decisions as needed for the baby. Devin can't even find that Thomas or Charlotte named her
There were obvious deformities including Down Syndrome, cleft palate and fused fingers on the left hand. We know that a cleft palate can be fixed. Depending on the severity of the fusion, surgery is an option to make the hand appear more normal. The records don't indicate how severe either were, but there is no doubt that there would be scars and some deformities. Down Syndrome can be hard to deal with for some people, but for the most part children born with Down Syndrome can lead long fulfilling lives
Devin can't get access to the records from when she was transferred to Mount Sinai. He doesn't have any more information, because he doesn't have a name to search for. Even though he has a birth date, without a matching name, they refuse to release any records at the moment. Devin has a couple of his guys combing through the records bureau to see if they can find anything – a death certificate or adoption papers, anything."
"Do you have any questions?" Jack asked.
"If she is alive." James said. "Are you going to try and find her?"
"Yes." Jack said. "I need to know that she is taken care of just for my own piece of mind. I would like to meet her, but if she is adopted, I will respect her parents wishes. Either way, I just want to know what happened."
"Will you let us know?" James asked.
"Of course." Jack said. "I would never keep it from you. You have just as much right to know as I do. Before you ask, I am okay. Not really, but I am trying. I have told Elizabeth a little, but not all the details. If she asks, I will. For now, it is enough that I told her. Like I told Devin, I am incredibly angry at my parents for lying to me and keeping all of this from me. It also makes other things make so much sense. I wish I could explain, but I can't. All I will say is that when I was growing up, I felt a piece of me missing. Like something had been taken from me and I didn't know what it was. There were times when I was very young that I would see other children, especially twins and wonder why I couldn't look away. Now it all makes sense and at the same time nothing makes sense anymore."
Gran was crying and both James and Father Mark were trying to comfort her. They knew that she needed to let the tears out. Jack was sure that she was grieving for everything that she had missed with her granddaughter. Jack knew that his grandmother wouldn't have cared what challenges the baby had, it would have been loved. He was also sure that there was some measure of anger at Charlotte over what she had done.