Chapter 50: Bert’s Last Message

“I have a message from Bert. Andy is to hear it with you,” Mary said quietly in the unique voice of a trance, as she knelt in front of me. Andy sat down by me, but Lisa, who had never been present when a trance message was given, started to leave. I pulled her down by me, telling her to stay with us because she was very much a part of this family. She hugged me gratefully as she curled up against me.

In a moment, Mary began.

“Hello, son. It is me again. I knew you would get this message one day, but I had no idea of the timing. The only way it could be accessed is if either Mary or Andy or both were pregnant. You lucky guy! Remember what I said about telling my grandchildren about me.

Davy, Mary has a secret, a secret only she and I knew. Because it made her very distraught, I programmed her not to remember it. When I began making plans to give her to you, I decided to reveal the secret. You will have to handle it, but it is better handled than left buried. Sorry. It is not something I could correct in my lifetime.

Approximately ten seconds after this message is over, Mary will remember everything. Be prepared, Davy.

Kiss the kittens on their sweet little pussies for me, son. I love all of you very much. Goodbye again.”

Mary was quiet and still as I counted off the seconds. None of us moved for what seemed an eternity. Her eyes opened, but they did not see us. She burst into tears as her hands flew to her face.

“Oh, my God! My baby! My baby!” she screamed.

Repeating “my baby, my baby,” she sobbed and rocked back and forth, arms around her middle, tears flowing in rivers. She was hysterical.

It frightened me. It frightened all of us. I had never seen Mary like this, out of control, her agony so severe it wrenched out her heart with every breath she took. When she realized Andy was beside her, she wrapped her arms around her tightly, digging her nails in. Andy was gasping for breath she was being held so tightly, her own face showing her fear and distress at her mother’s desolation.

“Oh, God! My baby, my baby!”

She ignored any attempt to placate her. Immediately, I thought of programming her to stop, but something told me to let her cry out whatever demon was in her. I had no idea it would be almost twenty minutes of gut wrenching sorrow before she began to calm down.

Have you ever seen a loved one with a devastating loss, an inconsolable sorrow? Remember how it hurts you to see them hurt so much? We were like that for Mary.

I thought her sorrow must be about Andy and the baby, my baby Andy was carrying. All sorts of horrible thoughts crossed my mind: diseases, genetic abnormalities, any thing you could imagine being wrong.

Mary was spent, but her body was still wracked by sobs, when she finally released Andy and sat back, wobbling she was so exhausted. We all three had been crying with her. She was in such pain, seeing her was painful for us. Andy and Lisa had both been near hysteria themselves, but as Mary began to quieten, so did they.

“Why didn’t you program me not to hurt?” she said accusingly, her eyes red and swollen as she stared at me.

“You needed to cry it out.”

“Please, promise me you will program me to make the pain go away,” she pleaded.

“If you want that, I will do it,” I said, holding her for comfort. “But, what is it?”

“Could I have some tea, please?” was her response.

Resisting the urge to order her to tell me, I sent Lisa to make herbal tea. The tea helped sooth all of us, but I could stand it no longer.

“Is something wrong with Andy’s baby? My baby?”

“Oh, no! It is nothing like that. Oh, God.”

Sobbing, she pulled Andy back into her arms which made Andy and Lisa start crying again.

“Mary! Calm yourself and talk to us! Tell us what is wrong!”

She nodded and took a series of deep breaths. Then, she began.

“Andy, I told you your father was abusive. He was a cruel man, a very cruel man. When I became pregnant by him, he told me he was going to take you away from me and I would never see you again. He had abused me mentally and physically, so when he threatened me legally, I was very afraid of him.”

“Mother, I would never let that happen.”

“Honey, you were a fetus. You were not going to prevent anything. Oh, Andy, you do not know what it is like to be with a cruel man. It is absolute hell for a woman. You have only known Bert and Davy, both of whom are wonderful, dear, men. That is the reason Matt frightened me so much. He was cruel, like your father.”

Mary sipped at her tea, still restoring herself to equanimity. The rest of us were speechless.

“Then, we found out something which changed everything. I was pregnant with twins. Twins, Andy. I made an agreement with your father when we determined both the babies were girls. I would keep the first born, name her Andrea and give her my surname. That is you. Andrea Mathews. He would take the second born and name her Angela. He would give her his surname. Anderson. Angela Anderson. She is your twin sister, borne eleven minutes after you.”

The room was deathly quiet, our collective breathing the only sound. We all were in shock!

Andy had a twin sister, a sister none of us knew about until that moment. My mind was reeling.

“I don’t understand,” Andy said mechanically. “Do you mean that you gave birth to two babies and I am one of them?”

“Yes, honey. I gave birth to twins. You are one. Angela Anderson is the other.”

“Go ahead! Finish the story,” I said.

Andy looked at me with disbelief, not comprehending what she had heard.

“Part of our arrangement was neither of us would ever try to contact the other’s child. He has kept that bargain and so have I. I never saw her. I do not know if she is an identical or a fraternal twin. I do not even know if she is alive.”

Mary started to cry again and I held her to me.

“Oh, Davy, Bert saw how much I was hurting. He offered to find her and bring her to me. He said he would program Donald to be a eunuch missionary in deepest Africa so he could not harm us, but I was still afraid. I was so terrified I would not let Bert help me. So, he programmed me not to remember.”

“Donald is my father?” Andy asked, still in shock over the news.

“Yes, Andy. Donald Anderson. He was from Chicago. All I know about his family is he had an older sister who was married to a lawyer. Her name was Patricia.”

“You mean besides a father and sister, I have cousins?”

“You might. Oh, Andy, let’s not get our hopes up! I could not stand another disappointment like that. We don’t even know if Angela is alive. If she is alive, she might not want to see us.”

Andy pounced on me with an intensity which equaled her mother’s hysteria of minutes ago. She grabbed my shoulders and shook me as she spoke.

“Find her! Find her now, Davy! You must do it!”

“I will, sweetheart. I will.”

“No. I mean now! Get up and do it now!”

“Andy. Settle down.”

“Damn you! Now!” she screamed as she hit my chest with her fist.

While, as you know, I love Andy with all my heart and would do anything for her, I had enough female hysteria for the moment. Her hysteria was not helping address the problem, in any event.

“Kitten Andy. Programming adjustment. You will be calm about your sister. You will not worry about finding her, trusting me to handle the situation. Kitten Andy. Programming terminated.”

Andy wobbled and fell against me, wrapping her arms around me for support. I held her until she pushed back to look up at me.

“It is wonderful you will handle this for us so I don’t have to worry about it. Thank you, Davy. I know you will do what is right.”

It was said sweetly and lovingly. There was not an ounce of tension or anxiety in her voice or body. She brought her lips to mine in a gentle kiss.

“Program me the same way, please, Davy,” Mary said softly.

“Me, too,” Lisa added.

One of the disadvantages of being the tom cat instead of the kitten is no one programmed me to relax while someone else worried about it. Once again, I silently thanked Uncle Bert for having Andy program me to think deeply, clearly and calmly which she did that first day I met her.

After programming Mary and Lisa, I took some deep breaths and concentrated on the problem. By dinner, my attorney in Denver had located a private investigator in Chicago. When I talked to him, I offered double his regular rate and he started immediately.

Our whole world had changed.

Suddenly, there was a new woman in our lives. This would not be a kitten I could fuck and forget, not unless I reprogrammed Mary, Andy and Lisa to forget what they had only just learned. While the idea of another Andy was tremendously appealing, another kitten in the household did change our relational equilibrium.

I lay awake in bed that night, Andy to my left, Mary to my right, with Lisa to her right. I felt Andy’s hand steal across my chest.

“I can’t sleep,” she whispered.

“Me either. Let’s get up.”

As we tried to slip out of bed, Mary and Lisa announced they were still awake. Soon, all four of us were in the living room with a large bowl of popcorn between us, talking about what was happening.

The programming to be calm and let me worry about finding Angela, the natural sweet happiness of my kittens, the knowledge a detective was at work, and the passage of some time, had restored us all to the positive well being we normally enjoyed.

Once again, we laughed together. By now you know, the laughter we shared is as important, or more important, than the sex we shared. Laughter is the music of love.

Of course, as always, Andy was an imp.

“You know, sweetheart. I am a twin. You have twin sisters. I could be carrying twins right now and we would not know it yet,” Andy said, stuffing popcorn in her mouth. “And, Mom gave birth to twins, so when she gets pregnant, they could be another set of twins. Then, if Angela gets pregnant by you, well. Think, Davy. Three sets of twins at one time. Lisa’s baby would make seven, or eight, if she has twins. Eight newborns. What about that?”

Suddenly, I was horrified that all of them were unprotected and liable to get pregnant. I never thought about eight babies at once.

Andy laughed at my expression and patted my cheek with a soft hand greasy with popcorn butter.

“I wonder what she is like?” Mary said half to herself.

We all wondered that and the conversation quickly became speculation about Angela.

Think about it!

Was Angela an identical twin? Or, a fraternal twin, looking no more like Andy than any sister born at a separate time? Was I going to find a new Andy or someone entirely different? Was she married or engaged or what? What would be the differences between Andy and Angie? What impact had living with her father had on her?

The happy mood of the evening was contagious. Soon, we all were giggling. And, when we giggle, we touch. Then, Andy started talking about her own pregnancy again. She bit off the end of the pickle she was eating and set up, cupping her breasts in her hands and staring down at them.

“Mom, did your boobs grow when you had me? I mean, had us?”

“Yes. They were gigantic. You know, Andy, you have to dispose of all that milk regularly. One baby probably cannot take it all.”