Chapter 67

Carol's phone rang and rang. I was just about to hang up when Carol answered, out of breath. She said she'd been doing some Christmas baking and couldn't run to the phone because she was taking stuff out of the oven. Ben was sleeping, and probably didn't hear it. She sounded tired and worried and said that Ben seemed to be getting worse. She said Beth came over last week after she talked to us and spent some time with her which she really appreciated, and thanked Mom for calling Beth. Ben must have been wakened by the phone ringing, and picked up the extension in his room. He didn't say much, he was too weak, but he did say hi and stayed on listening as we talked. I told them someone had extremely good news for them.

"David, darling, what someone and what good news? You make everything so mysterious."

"Remember what I told you years ago about being told what is down an old road? The fun is in the exploring? This is similar. Hang on while they sort themselves out."

I looked at the newlyweds. Who was going to speak? Paul took the initiative. "Carol Anne?"

Carol answered with a question. "Hi, Paul. What's your news?"

"Well, there's several bits, and you better be sitting."

"OK, I'm sitting."

"First of all, it's not Paul, it's Uncle Paul to you." Paul said with chuckle.

Carol was stunned, and squealed repeatedly as she struggled to comprehend his news, "Uncle... ? Uh... I don't get... EEEEEK! UNCLE PAUL? The Uncle Paul? Pie and Jo's Paul? How? Why? But... but... I don't understand... but... but... but... I thought you were Muffin's daddy! THIS is just too much!!"

Paul laughed as he told her, "Slow down, Girl! I'm still Muffin's daddy. I just found out yesterday that you're Dolly's daughter and therefore my niece. There's..."

Carol wouldn't let him finish, yelling, "MUFF-FFIN!!"

"I'm right here, Doll, no need to shout! What would you like Sweetheart?" Diane replied, her love for Carol just dripping from her voice.

Carol heaved a long sigh of longing, then, "Aside from having you here with me... you mean we're really cousins and not just something we made up to cover our letters?"

"Mmmm-hmmm! That's what I'm told. I only found out yesterday myself. David kept this to himself for quite a while until he got all the details straight and everything set up to break the news right."

"Set up? You mean my aunts know?"

"Ask them yourself, they're right here. Daddy was going to put them on until you hollered for me."

Carol squealed again in giddy delight, "Pie? Jo? Are you there? How'd you get there, and why? David never said anything to me about inviting you up to the farm."

Pie and Jo laughed at Carol's antics. Pie spoke for both, dropping into her schoolmarm voice, "Yes, Carol Anne, we're here, and have been since yesterday afternoon. David drove down and picked us up because we didn't want to drive, which turned out to be a good thing because we just made it here ahead of a big snow storm. We've never been before, and it's just beautiful! You should see the farm with all this fresh snow — it's breath taking!

"David invited us a couple weeks ago. He said Diane and his family wanted to meet us, and what better time than at Christmas time? Seeing as we were going to be alone over Christmas this year, we accepted. We'll all be here together if you need any of us, too. He kept his wonderful surprise from us, and even told us he was still working on his Quest. Paul didn't know anything either until he arrived last evening in the middle of that dreadful snowstorm. What a wonderful, delirious surprise! We recognized each other instantly after all theses years! When your David makes a promise, he keeps it!"

Carol couldn't stop squealing like a school girl. "EEEEEK! Oh that's wonderful! I'm so happy for you! Is everything OK amongst you now?"

Pie sighed contentedly and said softly, "Oh, yes, everything's fine now, couldn't be any better." She giggled a little. "I'll let Jo tell the rest, but just so you know, Carol Anne, this has been the happiest day and a half of my life. I hope it never ends." Pie's voice had taken on that soft, loving quality she'd had since last night, and Carol could tell that her aunt's life had indeed taken a sharp turn for the better.

Jo spoke up in a similar warm, loving tone as her sister-wife. "Carol Anne?"

"Yes, Jo. You two sound so happy!" Carol replied with another giggle. "What happened? I knew you'd be glad to see Paul... Uncle Paul... if David ever found him for you, but you guys sound like something even more wonderful has happened."

"Carol Anne, something wonderful did happen! Actually, for me, three something wonderfuls!" Jo dropped her nuclear bombshell straight on target with a happy giggle. "So wonderful, the second one made a baby in me!"

Carol gasped, blasted into incomprehension. "Huh??" Then there was a dead silence, a silence so loud it shouted, as the news penetrated into her numbed brain.

Jo heard the silence. "Carol Anne?... Carol Anne?... Are you still there?" The silence continued as Carol slowly digested this staggering information, and Jo became concerned. "David? I think we lost the connection..."

Carol recovered enough to choke out, "Uh... Uhh... No... No... The connection's Ok... I'm-I'm still here! Tante Joanna Koorstis... How... How... ?"

Jo couldn't resist a jab. "Oh, come on, Carol Anne, I shouldn't have to explain how to you of all people!" She giggled at Carol's discomfiture.

You could almost see Carol blushing as she said. "I should have said 'Who?' and 'How do you know?'." Carol was pretty quick on the comeback, too, and giggled. "David didn't seduce you, did he? I know he thinks you girls are pretty hot for your age..."

Jo caught the reference, and laughed aloud. "No, Carol Anne, David is quite busy enough with his own wives, thank you, and thank you for the compliment." She riposted Carol's crack about me nicely. "Until Paul returned, I might have been tempted though; David is a fine looking man... But, as to who, haven't you figured that out all ready?"

Carol was still trying to assimilate the news of their reunion, let alone on their first night back together, one of them gets pregnant. "Yeah, I guess I have... Pau... Uncle Paul... but so soon after getting back together?"

Jo giggled again. "We're no different than you or David getting together after a long separation and now look at you, your tummy all swelled up! You were trying from the first night, and as I recall, almost dragged David away in your haste!" She laughed heartily then got a little more serious as she answered another of Carol's questions. "Yes, we had some problems to work out, mostly Pie and Paul, but we did, with the help of Lori, and then she tied a new knot for us. Last night was my Wedding Night, Dear, and it was wonderful! So wonderful! I had dreamed of it for so many years!" She giggled some more as she reminded Carol, "Do you remember your own?"

Carol sighed, in happy remembrance, then exclaimed, "Oh I remember the most beautiful night of my life, yes I do! Your wedding night... Jo, I'm so happy for you, but to get pregnant on your first time? And how did you know you were... ?"

Jo explained her thoughts on getting pregnant from her first time and how she 'knew'. "I guess I'm one of the lucky four per cent. I used to use that number all the time when I taught girls' health class to try to discourage young girls from having sex without protection. Now I'm one of the four percent! But I don't regret it for a minute, just to have Paul love me like I wanted all this time! I never thought a woman my age would enjoy it so much!" Her face coloured a bit at speaking so openly of her experience and telling publicly how good it was, but she answered Carol's big question. "I knew the same way you did, Sweet Carol Anne... the same way you did — I saw a flash of light and just had this... this knowing. Your mom says it is so unusual, it must be a family trait."

Jo sighed, and continued, "I was worried about my age, but Lori says while it is very uncommon for women my age to get pregnant, it isn't unheard of, and she's going to watch me closely. My own doctor says my body is much younger than my actual age. I know I feel young now, like a giddy teenager in love; I think you know the feeling..." She was referring to when we were sixteen and so much in love. "We're hoping Riekie comes home soon so she can help Lori with my care. I think we are going to be here for a while then we have to decide where we're going to live after that. Where we live is just too far away from the rest of you, but Paul has a house not far from here, so we'll see."

Carol recovered from her shock and disbelief and squealed her delight for Jo, "EEEE! Oh, Jo, I'm so happy for you, as long as you are! I know there's a long story attached to Paul's return, but I'll worm that out of David another time, seeing as how he kept it a deep dark secret from me.

"Uncle Paul said there was other good news?" It was amazing how quickly she adapted to the new situation and Paul was now 'Uncle' Paul. "I can't imagine any more good news! Let's see now, since September: I have David back; I'm having his twins; Riekie's getting set to come back to us; I have a new wife waiting to join us; I have an uncle back; Pie and Jo found their lost lover; they re-married him last night (there's a story there, I'm sure); Jo had her wedding night after all these years; and Jo is now pregnant from her first time. What more could there possibly be?" She trailed off to a nervous giggle.

Carol's reference to Riekie getting set to come back and Diane waiting to join us reminded me of something I had to do, but for now, I'd let them have their fun.

Jo chuckled, "Oh, yes there's more! Someone else wants to talk to you now. I'll let you go for now — there is just too much to tell you about our reunion, I don't know where to start. Anyway, your other party is bursting with her news, so I'll let her talk to you now."

"Carol Anne?" Diane came into the conversation again, her voice soft and full of love.

Carol heaved a lover's sigh, "Muffin?"

Daine giggled merrily, then dropped her own bombshell. "Oh! I love how you say that! What do you think of raising three babies instead of two?"

Carol was having trouble grasping so much at once. "Huh... ? You mean we're gonna raise Jo's baby? But I thought..."

Diane giggled merrily again, "No, Silly! Our own!"

Carol let out a shriek of delight "EEEEEEK!! Oh, Diane Marie Lloyd! You mean you're... ?"

Diane was almost bouncing as she confirmed her news. "Yes, Carol Anne, me too! I thought Momma Jo was gonna give it away before I could tell you myself. David and I are ecstatic!" Then she sounded a little worried as she asked Carol. "What do you think?"

Carol shrieked again, "Eeeek! That's WONDERFUL, Muffin! I'm so happy for you... for US! When? How long have you known?"

Diane laughed sweetly, telling Carol, "Last night, and I KNEW, just like you! Mom said she knew this morning when I howled." She almost broke up completely, giggling hard as she told Carol about her howling.

Carol giggled with her, exclaiming, "You what... ? Oh! Ha! Ha! I get it! You do that, too, eh? Now I know we're related!"

Diane uttered her relief, "Oh, Carol Anne, I'm so glad you're happy for us."

Carol became reassuring and loving. "Oh, Muffin! I love you and David so much, how could I be anything but happy for you... for US? This is wonderful news!"

Their conversation turned into one of those ones all expectant mothers have about new babies and layettes and all that good stuff. Pie and Jo were enthusiastically included in their conversation about layettes and maternity wear. Mom was the 'medical' expert so she was consulted on what should be expected in each trimester and on the 'care and feeding' of pregnant ladies. Diane, as the one to have babies most recently was the 'old hand' and shared her experiences. Speaker phones are wonderful things for calls like this. The women laughed and giggled and carried on as if they were all in the same room, making Carol feel she really was there, and fully part of our family. We men were pretty well ignored except for the odd question or to acknowledge an order from one of the women to get this or do that in preparation for the births. Mostly, we just sat back and enjoyed the interaction of the five women as they chattered and laughed, mutually happy with the pregnancies.

Finally, it started to get late and I pointed at my watch for the ladies to wrap up. I still wanted to talk to Carol about a number of things, including Ben. The ladies wrapped up their women's group with a lot of tittering and tee-heeing.

Carol sent a noisy phone kiss, then laughed, "Ok, David, we're all finished for now, but lemme tell you, you're in deep trouble for not telling me anything."

I could hear the laughter in her voice, good to hear from the obvious strain when we first called, and replied, "It was on a need-to-know basis, and you didn't need to know. Actually, though Sweetheart, I wasn't sure how things were going to work out, so I thought I'd play it by ear. And if you didn't know, you wouldn't let anything slip, like an inadvertent 'Uncle Paul'. Remember I told you the Quest to find Paul was all tied up somehow with Diane Marie and her father, but couldn't figure it out? Well, it finally all came together.

"In a nutshell, when I found Muffin's dad, I found your Uncle Paul, too. It was almost too easy, like I was supposed to find all that information at one time. When we have more time, I'll explain the whole thing, but basically the Quest only took one afternoon! I've known about Uncle Paul since I found Daddy Paul, but the timing had to be right to tell anybody, and let me tell you, Hon, it was the hardest secret to keep ever. Imagine trying to keep GOOD NEWS to yourself for a month or more, especially news that good! The rest had to do with Diane Marie, herself."

Diane gave me an odd look, wondering what the hell I was talking about. I continued talking to Carol, though, because next to me, she had more of the background info that any of the others with the possible exception of Paul himself. "Remember when I told you Pie and Jo said we were separated so long was because I'd been sent on a quest to find a replacement for Kit?" That little tidbit of information was going to raise some questions later, I knew.

Carol answered me questioningly, "Y-ee-es? Where's this going, David?"

Now I finished the story. "Bear with me a while longer, Carol Anne, please. When you and I were talking about that, I said this about Diane Marie: 'She's the one in the odd position here. There's something strange about her I can't quite figure, and somehow I think the answer to that has something to do with why we can't have Riekie until Christmas. The quest to find her isn't finished yet.' Well, the quest to find Diane Marie is complete. What I was missing was that a quest can be internal, a journey of self discovery. The quest for Diane Marie wasn't just my quest, it was hers, and last night, or this morning, she completed it. She might not realize it yet, but she did."

I noticed Mom and Dad both nodding their heads and smiling happily. Paul and his ladies were also nodding and smiling in full agreement. Diane still looked mystified as I blew her a kiss. She came over to me, snuggled up, with her head on my shoulder and listened. I kissed the top of her pretty head and continued with Carol.

"Diane Marie's quest was to rediscover herself as a woman of Wicca, a member of the Koorstis family, and most importantly as a fully realized sexual and sensual person. The climax, pardon the pun, came with her ability to know when she conceives. My role, and that of all the other family members, including yourself was to help and guide her in her personal rediscovery. I'm sure I've got lots of questions to answer from her, but Carol Anne, she is now truly one of us, and she MUST be part of our knot.

"The bottom line, Carol Anne, and everyone else, the Quests are finished: my Holy Quest to find Paul Koorstis; my personal quest to reunite Diane and her father; and the unnamed Quest that Pie and Jo recognized to find and heal Diane Marie. Every condition for us to finally re-establish our family has been met, except for one, and if I had had my wits about me that one could possibly have been resolved a long time ago. That condition is Riekie. Carol Anne, she hasn't been following a schedule as such, I think she's been giving me a deadline to basically shit or get off the pot."

Carol sounded incredulous. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, if I don't do something soon, Riekie may very well disappear forever. Remember she told you she was tired of waiting, was divorcing Rick, and closing her affairs in Winnipeg? Did she actually tell you she was coming back to us?"