Chapter 54

Bea Loretta was born two weeks later. If Melissa was verbal while making love, she was also verbal while giving birth. I wasn't sure if I was so happy about the intimate details she shouted out about me - and what I wasn't ever going to do to her again – yelling all that out, during the childbirth. Later on, Lindsay told me the female staff had found it quite fresh and interesting, compared to the normal curses they heard. Also, they'd be very happy to see Melissa there again, as she was a most inspiring person. Once Melissa heard that herself, she almost crawled under the bed; but there was no room, as I was already there!

Gradually the life in our 'not so normal' family settled back to something at least close to normal. Since Ashley was now in college, we saw my aunty and Beth more often. Oh, we did see Ash quite often, too. She had started swimming, and our warmed swimming pool was something that she just could not resist. She had dated a bit, but was not very satisfied with the results – and she blamed me for that. I wondered if I should be worried, as she had decided to study law. That had made my aunty very proud. After all, Ashley was as much an own daughter as aunty and Beth could get. As for the girls and Luke? They existed only to get spoiled by their only grandaunts. Or that is what the aunts proclaimed.

Once again it was a Saturday in April that caught us totally unprepared. I was in the kitchen doing the first preparations for the family dinner (after all, I still was the designated cook of the family) when the doorbell rang. This surprised us all, as nobody had noticed any cars coming or going, and our neighbors did not usually visit us. This time it was Katy who went to the door. As the doors to the kitchen were open I could hear what was happening even if I could not see a thing. And while ripping the meat out of the chickens I did not really want to move far from the sink. I heard the door open.

"Hi, ... Mom."

There was a noticeable edge in Katy's voice, which made me wonder. Then I got it. Both of her mothers were already inside the house. The replying voice confirmed my thoughts.

"Hi. Can I please come in? Right now, I have no other place to go."

"Sure."

Marie. Somehow I got a feeling that everything would be turning upside down again.

Some fifteen minutes later, a nervous Marie was sitting in the living room with a cup of coffee in her hands, and four women looking at her more or less curiously. Bea was asleep and Luke found the cartoons more interesting than our guest.

And I? I did not really know what I should feel. To me, she was like a book I had closed and had no intention of opening again. Now it was once again open in front of me, waiting.

Marie looked at the women and then me. It was obvious that this was not something she had expected. She had known that I had a family of two daughters and a son, but she did not know about Melissa - nor Bea. I sighed.

"Marie, I guess I should introduce our family. My fiancées Lindsay and Melissa and OUR children Katy, Evelyn, Luke ... and Bea, who is two months old and is asleep right now. As you already know, my name is Noel."

"I ... I noticed that some things have changed. I guess that ... Noel has told you about me?"

"Yes, I told them that Katy's mother is an actress but I protected your identity as I thought that you did not want people to know about your past. However, they figured out by themselves that it had to be you."

Like there would be any question about their relationship now when Katy and Marie were sitting in the same room. Same full lips, same dark curly hair - and same eyes. They still had some effect on me - after nine years. Was it really that long ago?

At that point Marie steeled herself and showed that it was not an accident that she had managed to create a career in one of the most demanding professions there is. She sat up straight and looked at Katy and me.

"First of all, I want to say that there has not been a day when I have not regretted my own cowardice. I made a mistake, but I did not then have the backbone to come back and apologize. When I finally tried to find you, there was no trace of you, only those terrible stories."