Skin Deep III - Chapter 5 - Confluance free porn video

Chapter 5 Confluence Public Knowledge The next morning, after the hours of thoughtful reflection by everyone, Gary rose slowly from the depths of tranquil sleep at the sensation of someone gently tugging at him. "Gary," a voice was calling to him from somewhere far away. There had been no dreams and Gary's spirit gently floated in a warm bath of slumber; blissfully unaware of the business of the previous day and no consideration to what lie ahead. Still, there was some nagging something there that wanted to resist the transition to the world of the conscious. Gary groaned and turned over in the chair where he had fallen asleep the night before. Still, that soft sweet voice from beyond beckoned to him, calling him up and out of the place from which he did not wish to return. It was so splendidly warm and soft where he was at that moment. The place that the voice called to him from was a place of worry, a place of stress... His mind told him that there was more, much more, but he didn't want to see it. He didn't want to face the thing that lay in wait to consume him. A beast so large that it didn't have to hide and ambush him, its size made it patently impossible to hide from. "Sweetie, it's time to get up," the voice said to him. The pleasantness, the warm and encouraging way it beckoned to him was almost enough to drag him up and out of the place where he hid. To Gary it felt like a hand stretched out from the rail of a ship at sea to a drowning man, ready to hoist him aboard and save his life. But why should his life be saved, what would he be returning to when the ship finally made port and he was returned safely to shore? Gary felt it might be better to drown than to take back the responsibility of life. A pair of gentle lips kissed him softly on his rough stubble cheek. The soft smell of perfume and delicate skin together with the aroma of coffee penetrated his senses and drew him involuntarily back to the surface of reality. A loving face with a sad smile greeted him when his eyes finally opened. "I didn't think you'd ever come back to me," Michelle said as she knelt down next to him. The moment was confused. The surroundings were unfamiliar. "I've made some breakfast, I know you're probably not hungry, but you should eat anyway." The smell of toasting bread and something else savory hung in the air causing his stomach to grumble at the vacancy there. It was enough to temporarily distract him from asking the questions that danced tauntingly around in his mind, What time is it? Why are we here? Where the Hell is here? Why wouldn't I want to eat? The clues began to compile, one on top of the other, faster and faster until they became and unstoppable avalanche of unwanted facts. The outline and shape of the buildings outside the windows, the positioning of the furniture, images of his family in electronic frames all helped to pull to the surface where he was and why he was here. The truth fell upon him burying him under the frozen snow pack that was reality. It knotted his stomach into a tangled gut mess as wave after wave of grief washed over him. For a moment, he felt he might not regain his breath. The sounds of plates and silverware rattling together greeted his ears. "You're right," he called out weakly to his wife who was doing something unseen in the kitchen, "I'm not very hungry." Michelle reappeared from the dining room area with a plate and a glass of tomato juice. On the plate were two pieces of toast, two thin slices of cantaloupe and a couple of slices of tomato topped lightly with goat cheese. "Tell you what, you make me happy and take a couple of bites," she encouraged, "I'll toss whatever you can't eat away." "Make you happy huh, will that really make you happy?" Gary asked eyeing the meal with grave suspicion. "Truth?" Michelle asked "I already know the truth," Gary said glumly. "Fine then, eat something anyway and I'll pretend to be happy. Can you do that for me?" she asked, returning to her unseen spot in the kitchen. "I guess I can try." Gary picked up a piece of buttered toast and flipped it around examining it, "Have you eaten anything?" There was a moment of silence that was very telling for Gary. "I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that we're not talking about me," Michelle said as cheerfully as she possibly could. Gary easily saw through the charade. "We are now," Gary called out. "Have you seen how nice it is outside? Hard to believe they're calling for rain tomorrow night." Michelle called back. To Gary her voice sounded weak, perhaps even a little weepy. Gary set his plate on the arm of his chair and rose to go to his wife, "You didn't answer my question..." The answer was on the counter before him. There was a plate; the food that had once presumably been arranged there in a very orderly fashion was pushed about haphazardly. Melon on toast, toast in pieces here and there, cheese scattered about no longer what looked like one or two small sparrow sized bites taken out one from the melon and one from a discarded piece of toast. Michelle was facing him, wiping her hands on a dishtowel. "One of us has to eat," she said meeting his eyes earnestly. "I don't think I can muster it. I tried, but I don't think it wants to stay put." She offered him a sheepish tired smile that actually worked out to be a genuine smile for the first time since the news came yesterday. Yesterday... Not much time really, 24 hours, not even that yet, his mind wandered around the subject, Today however, is the first day in 170 some years since the sun has come up on a world without my Erin in it. Gary glanced at his plate on the arm of the chair. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Listen, no offence Hon, but I can't." Gary retrieved the plate and set it next to Michelle's. "I feel like I've had the wind knocked out of me by a mule." Michelle nodded. "Little things keep setting it off. I looked in the refrigerator and saw that someone had bought milk recently. Before I could stop myself, my brain just took off. I started to wonder if it was Erin's and if she had gotten enough to satisfy one last craving. Did she know she was going to die so soon after buying it? If she did, why on earth did she buy a gallon? Oh Gary, I've been up all night." "Why didn't you come and get me?" Gary asked, going to her. "I didn't want to disturb you. You were sleeping so soundly. There were enough people up last night. I could hear whispering then opening doors and people walking around trying to be quiet. And there you were, on the chair, fast asleep..." She smiled cherishing the memory in a day when there was going to precious little to cherish. "Yeah, selfishly snoozing away," he said glumly. He sat in an occasional chair that was propped up against the chair railing that ran along the interior walls of the flat. "No Gary, selfish would have been taking her to the hospital last night. Trying to keep her with us because of the time we feel we've missed out on. That would have been selfish. I spent most of last night trying to cry myself to sleep over this. By the time the sun came up, I think I'd pretty much thought of this thing every way someone could think about it." Michelle fell silent, moving close to Gary. He allowed her to lie pitifully against him. He then lay his head on top of hers listening to the gentle rush of the blood in her veins. "Ah realized sumpthin last night Gary. Ah came to a point where all the advice and experience seemed to come together to form a picture... a sort of understanding. "Please, do tell. I could use a little of your old fashioned wisdom." "Don't make fun ah me, Gary Allen Shipley." Her warning was a stern one, serious, as evidenced by the emergence of the accent she so badly wanted to shed. Yet, as she was giving him her warning, she wrapped her slender arms around his head and pressed him tightly to her. "I wouldn't dream of it Love," he said most sincerely. She took a deep breath and began to speak, fighting the accent she must have realized was back and losing the battle. "When I went up stairs last night, I felt like I was going to break down. Ah just didn't think I was going to be able to pull it togetha in front of everyone. But when Ah made it to the bedroom, all the things we'd done as a family, all those memories seemed to be up there waiting for me. Ah discovered that Ah was sad, but I wasn't mad." She shifted her body and Gary lifted her head so she could adjust. Instead of settling in, she turned to her husband and said. I don't feel like we forced her to do anything. She lived this way, here, with William because she wanted to. Gary only blinked in confusion, unsure what point his wife was trying to make. Michelle continued, "I found a picture last night, an image of Erin playing piano with Jimmy. Do you remember Jimmy?" "Sure I do. Probably the best keyboardist of his day." "No, See that's the thing, Erin was vastly better than he was. She turned her back on those things because she wanted to live her life. She didn't want to become a spectacle. All that talent and she chose to raise her son and live here quietly. We were only the vehicle that she used as the excuse to make all that happen." Gary lifted his head and looked up at her confused, "And just how do you know that?" "Because she was my daughter, she loved her family the same way I do, the same way we do. The talent she carried around in her was the same as my sister's. It was huge Gary, she could sing, play guitar, she taught her self to play piano and was a virtuoso by nine. She had all the tools to make her own life in any kind of music or show business she wanted and she only gained moderate success at it." "What's your point?" Michelle locked eyes with Gary's and shook her head in a mildly amused fashion, "Her heart wasn't in it," Michelle said with a warm smile. "It was something she could never tell you or me, not after the stink she'd made about my becoming a 'waitress', as she liked to call it. She hated the idea that I was successful like I was. From her perspective, I'm sure she thought that I didn't even have to work at it, and there I was, turning my back on something she thought she wanted for her self. She couldn't see that I hated it on the road. I hated being away from you and my babies. She didn't see how everyone wanted a piece of you, a souvenir. She just didn't see how much work it really was. "But some how I got too big for my britches, I couldn't turn off the machine once I got it rolling. I think Erin decided not to push the machine for fear that it just might roll over her." "When fate didn't float her boat, then she made it float herself." Michelle watched him, gauging his reaction. He was lost, he could see it in the glazed over look in his eyes. She looked down and located his hands and took them in hers and gently shook the tension from his arms. "What I'm saying is that she learned to direct things so that she was no longer waiting for fate to tell her what to do Gary. From long before the time we left, she was doing exactly what she wanted to do. I don't know if I can include myself in the 'we' part of this next statement, but I think 'we' succeeded in showing her how to live without compromise. We, probably you more than me, showed her how to live by example." She watched, completely amazed as the burden slipped off him, as if it had been a physical thing that had been tied to his back. The relief of being free of it was so profound that she was aware of every twitch and jolt of his nervous system, down to his hands. His eyes welled up with tears, but none fell from their perch. His chin trembled slightly as he was overcome with the grateful knowledge that she was telling him a truth he would not have seen without her wisdom to illuminate it. In that much, Michelle could be grateful. If she had had nothing to do with Erin's incredible strength to do what she saw as right; then she could at least know she had a hand in helping the man she loved so much to recognize the truth of it. Gary sniffled for a moment, then turned away. Michelle detected that he had not wanted to see him crumble like this. He was an emotional man and at the same time, she saw incredible strength in him that he himself could not identify. Michelle marveled at how changed he was from that boy she had sat with in the hallway on that first date together, discussing the possibility of pregnancy and responsibility. This man was a man that no longer tried to reason his mind around a challenge. When they had been simply friends, Gary's pride, his agility in life came from cheating destiny and responsibility. He had always been a sort of Gary Houdini when it came to dodging responsibility for his actions. Something had happened that had changed that paradigm completely for Gary. Michelle was constantly mystified at what event that had been. Now, the maturity of his years drove him to accept; even welcome responsibility and instead of dodging it, he would challenge it right back. Michelle knew him well enough that he still worried constantly about failure. He never accepted success or the implication of success willingly or at face value. Before he gave himself any credit for anything, which was rare, he would often look at the parts of the whole and deem them successful one piece at a time. Then, he would give the credit away to those around him, who had supported his efforts but had not been responsible for them. He could not see that his reformed values and his moral fiber in raising their children had been the success story. His words from that long ago drive home from his parent's home echoed again in her ears, '...show her how best to use that gift, but after that we have to let her go so she can use it.' "You told me once," she said rubbing his back from behind, "that if we set the right example then the children would learn to make their own choices and do it well." Gary nodded his head but could not speak. "Looks like you were right." Michelle wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him as tightly as she could. The overwhelming sensations she carried was an explosion of love for this man she held. Total peace washed over her and she was totally consumed by that feeling. "I know that we would totally dishonor her choices if we felt bad about her life for any reason. Erin wouldn't want that." "No," Gary agreed with surprising authority, "she would not have been happy about that. Not in the least. And to be truthful, when she got mad, I for one was always a little afraid for my safety." They shared a phlegm choked laugh. When they quieted, Michelle came around to face him, "We're going to make it through this Gary." "Only because she was smart enough to get it," Gary said tapping the side of his head with his finger. "I guess that's a measurement of a gift well delivered." "No Gary, they all were. And so were the men that married our girls, because we were there to show them how to live life. We then had the strength to let them learn from their own mistakes," Michelle smiled. "Do you remember telling me that? Lead by example you said..." "Remember?" Gary sniffled, his mouth thick as he answered. "I went home and wrote it down as best I could remember that night when we got home. I think it was probably the most profound thing I ever said in my entire life. I was pretty sure I wasn't smart enough to think of it again. I wanted to preserve the moment." He smiled sheepishly, embarrassed. "I was ready to burn the evidence if it turned out I was wrong." They paused for a moment listening to the stillness of the house they had built together from great fear and uncertainty. "I still miss her," Gary admitted. "I feel like part of me is dying inside." "So do I sweetie," Michelle concurred, a little sadly. "There's a very selfish part of me that wants to blame myself for getting us all into this in the first place, for putting you in that SKIN, just so I wouldn't be alone." Michelle rubbed Gary's chest with her open hand. "...for putting mine on in the first place. But none of your girls would have ever had the pleasure of having you in their lives. I think I can actually let her go with the joy that I was the one that was blessed. I think I can actually be happy about that without letting the sadness blacken my days." Gary stood, standing tall over his wife. "Well, when you find out for sure, could you teach me how to do it?" Michelle raised herself up on the tips of her toes, she leaned in, pressing the flesh of her breasts against his chest and softly kissed him on the lips. "We'll do it together," Michelle assured him Gary smiled a sweetly painful smiled and answered, "It's a date." He was impressed with the way she was justifying Erin's choices in life. Giving ownership of Erin's life to her daughter was more than Gary felt he could do at this point. But knowing that Michelle was right was helping him set the pain aside in favor of the joy in the knowledge that Erin knew how to live, and commanded her own life as a result. She patted his hand, "Well, I'd better get back to these dishes. I still don't feel like eating just yet so I guess this stuff will go to waste." It was idle chatter, a way to change the subject that had been thoroughly explored. They had spoken enough about it for now. There would be time later for that, after the funeral or when the next emotional ambush caught them all by surprise. Gary sighed and moved back in the direction of the Kitchen. "Where is everyone?" he called out, suddenly aware of the silence in the house. "Beth and Shelly are out shopping for something to wear. I need to go too at some point. We didn't have much of a chance to pack before we rushed off. I think I'll ask Shelly to go back out with me. It will give me a chance to have that long overdue talk. I don't' know how productive it will, but I can't let any more time slip away now." "You don't want me to take you?" Gary asked sounded too wounded to be believed. "Thanks Sweetie. If I thought for a moment that you enjoyed sitting in the women's department while I tried on clothes, then I'd snap that offer up like a bullfrog snaps up flies. Some times, watching you just sit there looking around awkwardly is worth the price of admission, but today, I want it to be me and Shelly," She knew Gary had only been teasing her anyway. Michelle added, "Uh... Randy, Arron and William have gone to pick up... the canister." "Canister?" Michelle popped her head around the corner and informed Gary, "Erin Honey." Gary breathed out another deep sigh, "Oh yeah, the canister. They were all traipsing around down here and I slept through all that?" Gary moved to the WR and spoke to the machine, "On, NewService, Local." The WR wall unit flashed into life, "Volume 3", a volume bar popped on briefly, displayed a level three volume amplitude and then it vanished from sight. The images Gary saw were startling; as the anchor did his best to keep up with the ever-shifting images. "Rescuers battled fierce winds and torrential rain last night in the northern tier states. All along the Canadian-Federal States boarder, officials and rescue workers spent the night trying to save as many people as they could from rising flood waters. Storms from as far west as North Dakota, east to Maine and north into central Canada, have dumped record amounts of rain over most of the northern North American continent. Flood waters have choked rivers through the Ohio Valley sending rivers and water sheds over their banks as much as twenty feet in some places. Farms and townships as far south as Louisiana are being warned to evacuate there homes as soon as possible in the wake of northern flooding, as the storm moves south. 45 homes in Bangor, Maine were lifted off their foundations last night as water accumulated in and around the downtown area, flooding the cities sewer and drainage systems and swamping the quaint New England town." "Good God! Michelle, have you seen this?" Gary called out. Once more Michelle appeared from the kitchen. She followed Gary's gaze to the wall where the images of people by the hundreds were being swept away in cities like Plattsburg and Rochester, NY. The worst of the flooding had been restricted to up-state New York, Maine, Massachusetts, Northern Ohio, the Upper Peninsula and Lakes Region of Michigan. The storm was a diagonal slash across Canada and the Eastern Federal States. Right now It loomed large over Maryland, Pennsylvania, Arkansas and south to Texas. The heaviest rains were being felt to the north and west of the great line of showers. Forecasters felt certain that the flooding would move south with the storm and inundate the entire Eastern Seaboard of the Federal States in time. The news anchor didn't lack material or images that spoke to the intensity of the storm to the north. Described as a storm 'of Biblical proportions' as he described it, "The front, dubbed 'The Storm of the Century' by some meteorologists has only grown in intensity as it moved out of northern Canada in the last six days. It has joined with a disturbance of low pressure from the Atlantic creating a line of massive thunderstorms that continues to move south from the East Coast to the Plain's States. Most transportation services as well as ATS services deep in the center of the storm area have been temporarily suspended until this storm has moved away and air travel is once again deemed safe for the general public." When Gary turned to gage Michelle's reaction, he could see that she had gone ghost white. "Michelle," Gary asked alarmed, remembering the strange 'gas attack' of yesterday, Gary was off the couch and had clasp her by the shoulders. "What's wrong, are you Okay?" "I'm... I'm fine. I think I should finish the dishes." She tried to turn to walk away but Gary held her firmly. "Michelle, you're pale, what happened?" Michelle blinked a few times, then looked up at him. The emotion had run from her face, leaving only a vacant looked that frightened him badly. "Watching all those people, it's disturbing. I just can't imagine it, that's all. It's scary to think about." Gary eyed her cautiously, "Are you sure? That look you had just scared the living daylights out of me, are you sure that something isn't wrong here." He was careful not to prompt responses at first; wanting an honest assessment of what Michelle was feeling. In the background, the news anchor droned on, Both Gary and Michelle seemed oblivious to his report, "Meteorologists studying the phenomenon are urging caution by citizens in the path of this storm. While the front seems to have stalled in the last few hours, everyone is urged to take precautions now..." "Sure there is Gary, just look at the screen." Gary glanced behind him and watched as a woman was dragged from a tree limb someplace in central New York State. He watched as the sensor camera's tracked her flailing body as it slammed into a tree trunk just a few yards away. Michelle gasped audibly, "Ah God, Gary, please change the frequency or turn it off or something, that poor woman." "Yeah, Okay. Freq 128." The frequency changed to yet another NewsService and the images there were thankfully different. Like any breaking disaster however, the potential of it held their attention. A new announcer was telling the local audiences, "Authorities in New York State are trying to determine what happened to cause a security failure at a Disease Control facility in the southern region of that state. Authorities in Binghamton received the first alarm from the Stanaford Disease Research Center around 10:30 p.m. last night. Due to the intense storms, however, they were unable to respond for over two hours. At this point police are not saying much, except it looks like an attempted break in by someone using the chaos of the storm as cover for their crime. Authorities are questioning staff members who were on duty at the time of the attempted break in, but due to the sensitive research efforts and pathogens stored at the facility, reporters are not being allowed to approach the facility until the investigation is complete and hospital officials have had an opportunity to repair damages done in the course of the break in." "A little closer to home," the anchor was saying. Gary was about to change the frequency again when a side-by-side image of two women, each one familiar to the members of the Shipley home appeared on the screen. "Oh shit," Gary said. When Michelle opened her eyes, the image that was displayed was divided by a white line. To the left was Erin, many years younger. It had been taken when she had been on stage someplace, in her hands was a Wind Guitar. Next to that image was an image of Michelle, also on stage at a music festival that had been held in New York City's, Central Park. Michelle was singing, leaning backwards a little, sharing a mic with Mark Allen who had assumed back up vocals at the time. "Oh shit!" she said in a weak mousey voice. "Citizens of Rouston are waking up this morning to find one of their own has passed away during the night. Erin Shipley Claxton, the daughter of the Rouston born diva, Michelle Shipley has died from complications brought on by a prolonged illness. An artist in her own right, Erin Claxton followed her mother's lead and abandon music to head the popular restaurant chain The Red Fish. What people will remember most of Mrs. Claxon however is the stirring graveside eulogy she gave her parents at their funeral when they perished in a vehicle accident along the banks of the Susquehanna River not far from where they lived." The screen flashed to a clip of the memorial service that had been broadcast live nation wide. "My mother and father, my sister and her husband would have been moved beyond words to see the out pouring of emotion you have brought to this place today. You might not know it, but these people we are remembering here today were very much like all of you that have assembled here and watching across the country. My dad was a prankster and loved a good laugh. He was accessible and willing to shake the hand of any man that extended theirs to him. It was my mother however, that most people understandably remember. She was not just the front-woman of a little known band from Pennsylvania," The crowd listening live chuckled and laughed accordingly, "but she was perhaps the friendliest woman you'd ever want to have seat you when you went out to eat. I never knew her to refuse an autograph or a request to sing happy birthday to anyone who came in for a birthday supper. She was the face of my parent's business. A bright and shining light that everyone seemed drawn to. They were more than celebrities to this community. They were neighbors, friends and family members to all. I would have a hard time walking among you today to find someone here that had not known one or both of them. They loved this community and the people that bought it to life. They were unbelievable parents. They showed us, their children, more love and compassion for our humanness, for our fallibility and our frailties than anyone I have known then and now. I do not grieve. They would not want me or you to grieve for this loss. They would want you to seize the day because you are here to do and make your opportunities count. They would tell you to never look back wondering if your choices had been better spent fearing life rather than loving to live it. Go home from this place and gather your family in your arms and give them that gift of love that my parents gave to us." The image withdrew and shrank behind the anchor, still running off his left shoulder as the man continued to speak, "Mrs. Claxton and her sister Mrs. Shelly Shipley Banks continued to run local franchises of the The Red Fish long after the restaurants became the property of the New Orleans Restaurant conglomerate Jennifer's Sea Food. Mrs. Claxton's age was estimated to be over 170 at the time of her death. She is survived by her son William, her sister and at least two nephews and one niece. She is expected to be laid to rest later today in a private ceremony." The two of them sat in stunned silence, "I guess I should assume that the shopping trip is off," Michelle said glumly. Behind them the WR droned on. There were two guests on the split screen discussing the unusually long life Erin had enjoyed and the possible implications of her advanced age. "That's probably a safe bet. I think the chances of anyone recognizing you from an image with a sixty second blurb on the local NewsServices is remote at best, that is unless..." Gary paused. "WR - Preset, Top 10, National and Local News, five by two." The wall instantly changed display. Ten equally sized squares, each one displaying a different news cast, five across, two tall showed on the screen. Gary commanded, "Search today's content for Erin Claxton." Each display changed instantly to show either previously aired or yet to air reports on the death of their daughter. Seven of the ten all showed images of Michelle in conjunction with the images of Erin. Four of those were national services. Michelle turned Gary, "Well then, that's going to make explaining ourselves a little difficult back home, don't you think?" Gary winced as though she'd thrown a punch at him, "It guess it would be hoping for too much to believe that everyone that knows us in Florida missed all these broadcasts." "Do you want me to go up and start packing?" Michelle asked. He could tell that her heart was broken. Worse, the fear mirrored in her eyes was obvious. She was not looking to him to decide if they would stay, but only direct her to when they would begin to run again. "Pack what? We didn't really even bring anything." Michelle's shoulders slumped. "Right, then we should contact the kids and let them know that we're leaving," she concluded. Michelle planted her hands on the sofa where she sat, intent on getting up to begin her preparations to leave, when Gary laid his hand on top of hers. "No Michelle." She halted with a questioning look of confusion on her face. "This kind of life has to stop. We've been running away from who we are for over a hundred years." Gary shook his head at the sound of it. "One hundred years. It's still difficult to believe I'm old enough to have earned the right to even say that." Gary drew a breath of resignation and said, "I don't want to leave." "You don't?" Michelle asked, perplexed. "What do you want to do, stay here, live here?" she asked. "No," Gary smiled. He could see the relief melt into Michelle soft face, merging with a sort of peace that only their home seemed to give her. "I love our place on the beach. You have made that little cottage of ours a real joy to be in. I want to go back to it. But if we run away now, who knows when we'll ever get back there? Running away would only mean one thing." That peaceful look was gone suddenly. Michelle's face was twisted now with lines that come with worry. "We'd be hiding again. We wouldn't be able to go home if we were hiding." Gary nodded with a dubious, sarcastic smirk on his face. "You're getting pretty good at this." He took a deep breath out of frustration and said. "I'm tired of letting them drive us off of our homes, away from our family." His hands were grappling for a grip on his knees. His voice had a sharp edge that, Michelle fancied, were it a physical thing it might cut though solid rock. "I'm God damn sick and tired of running from shadows I can't see and can't confirm if they even exist." Michelle slid close to him so they were sitting hip to hip. She took his hands in hers and gently laid them on her thigh. She locked eyes with him and allowed her emerald green lazar like eyes to penetrate his soul, "And what if they do exist? What if they are looking for us, what do we do then?" "God knows I want to spend the rest of time with you. If we can do it, then I'm going to be right here, by your side, every day, every night." Michelle closed her eyes with a grateful expression on her face. It might seem to anyone else standing around, that this was the first time she had been told that by her husband. "I think we've paid our dues for what we did way back when. God knows, you paid more than any of us. I want to be what you need me to be here and now, today. For a while, I believed that you needed someone to keep your family, your children from harm when circumstances turned in unexpected directions." She smiled at him and gently caressed his cheek with her hand, slowly shaking her head, "Gary..." "Wait," Gary said, holding up his hand, silencing her, "let me finish." Michelle nodded agreement and was silent. "Since we've been here, I can see that pain in your eyes. I see a little fear there too. I don't want you to have to be afraid of being with your family, with your children any more. It was so much easier not to change things. As long as we were the Millers, it was easy to just keep coasting along until something changed that forced us to move on." Gary paused and seemed to gather himself for a moment. To Michelle, it seemed that there might be something stuck just behind his tongue he was battling to dislodege. "I waited far too long to do this. Erin suffered needlessly; you suffered needlessly and for what? Just so they could run us off again before we even get to say goodbye to our daughter properly? No Ma'am, not any more." Michelle seemed to think about what he said for a moment or two. He watched her digest all that he had said and found himself trying to recall every word, examining if he had said his mind. "Okay," Michelle finally said, "now, my turn," she insisted. Gary relaxed and waited for her to begin. "I'm going to follow you where ever you decide we need to be. You told me once that you were only half a person without me. Like you, I'm looking for one thing from you Gary, your love. I may hide behind you sometimes, but I do that because I trust you, I love you, I know that you'll take care of me, not because I expect it. I know that when you stand between me and danger, you're risking more than I want you to risk on my account. But I also live off of your strength. I draw all of my courage from you. What really surprises me at times like this is that you don't seem to know that." Michelle's hands rested calmly in her lap. There was no nervousness, no hesitation and no fear in her voice when she spoke. "If you have the courage to stand and face whatever is out there, real or imagined, then that's all I need to do it too. I know that there are risks involved. I know that everything may not turn out the way you planned or the way I want. I know that we might not always be together. I have faith that you'll never leave me of your own free will. That alone makes me feel safe." The conversation between them halted for a moment as they began to take in the implications of what they were talking about. Going public with the fact that they were both still alive could backfire in their faces. There were no guarantees that the peopled would accept them. There would be no alternative but to assume the worst in order to prepare. Michelle squeezed Gary's hand, turned her large doe like eyes to him and asked, "What about the kids, Gary? Do we even have a right to do this now? Before we may have had our own reasons for keeping our head low, but now, it's not just about you and I any more. We're out of sight as much to keep Sharon and William and all the grandkids safe too." Gary nodded silently. "What do you want to do?" Michelle drew in a labored breath, and then exhaled uneasily. "Put it to a vote. If even one of them asks us not to do this thing, then we go away, you and me, forever." Gary eyed her carefully and explained, "If they want us to go away, then we have to go today, now and we can't go back to Jacksonville either. That would be just like calling a press conference." "I know that Gary. If we go public, if we hold that news conference, then who's to say that they'll be any safer than they are right now. We're talking about doing something that we don't even know is necessary. I just want to stop being afraid. I hate not knowing if the next time we walk out of our house will be the last." Michelle got up and crossed the living room to the window walls that looked out over the small park. She turned her gaze to the approaching storm. In the distance, the boiling dark angry clouds seemed to punctuate her point for her. Everything felt precarious right now. A lone rain drop hit the window wall where she stood with a sharp smack, startling her. Michelle feared the skies might open up and destroy them all but nothing happened. The deluge promised by that single drop did not follow however. This only served to add to the feeling that all was topsy- turvy. In the distance somewhere, a rumble of thunder moved across the open air. The storm they had all seen last night did not appear to be as threatening in the light of day. It was extending its reach to the south but doing it slowly, almost painfully. The pace at which the storm moved made it easy for Michelle to see why the flood waters were building to such an unbelievable level. "It might not matter anyway. If this storm moves in, we'll all be running for our lives." She stood looking out the window, her arms wrapped around her midsection, "If the press is there today, then what? Do we say something, do we wait until we're asked?" Gary rested his hands on the nape of her neck. "If the kids are behind us, then let's just tell them. We'll draw public attention to it, then, if there is anyone out there looking for us, they won't be able to do anything secretly. Too many people will know at that point." "I wish I had your kind of faith about that Gary. Sometimes I surely do." They watched as a pink HOV made an approach from the north, circled over the street and landed in front of the building. When the hatch opened, Shelly and Beth climbed out and dashed for the front door. "Look's like we're not the only ones who know..." Gary said. The street level door burst open behind them, down on the landing they heard Shelly and Beth talking excitedly as they charged up the stairs. Beth beat Shelly up the stairs handily, "Mom, oh my God have you heard..." Beth stopped and stared at the screen which still had NewsService broadcasts related to her sister either looping or updating from current broadcasts. "I guess you have." Shelly was not far behind but the stairs had taken their toll on her body. "I..." Shelly panted, "I... told you," She steadied herself by leaning against the wall, bending her head down, and trying to catch her breath. Without looking up she hit Beth in the back with a department store bag she had in her right hand, "I told you... to wait up. I'm old!" Soft chimes indicated that there were incoming calls to the WR from at least two addresses. The addresses of callers were identified in a display below the images, and it was no surprise to see that the grandchildren had gotten wind of the news streams. "That's William," Shelly said, "Looks like Carl's heard too." A third address appeared. "There's Sharon," Beth said. "Anyone have a plan?" "Sort of," Michelle offered. She moved to the WR, responding to the displayed incoming calls, "We should probably answer those..." "Let me Mom," Shelly said moving between her and the unit. "Beth, Mom, you might want to back away out of the picture." Michelle was puzzled, "But we know..." "I know Mom, but it's for the same reason Erin insisted you or Beth never call. This end may be monitored." Gary gently took Michelle by the shoulders and moved her out of the way from the WR pickup sensor. "Until we have a solid plan, then we have to still worry about what will happen to the kids." Shelly voiced the command, "Pickup all incoming lines please." The tangle of voices flooded the sound system all at once, "Hey guys, I don't want to spoil an already dismal day but...", "Aunt Shelly, have you seen what's on...", "Mom, I was just watching the news, Oh my God..." Shelly muted all the incoming and said, "You're all on conference. Let's try to deal with one call at a time," she announced. It was William that squeezed in first. "Aunt Shelly, we were leaving the crematory when we were attacked by reporters outside. What in the hell happened?" "It looks like the media got wind of your mother's death. Did you get your mother's remains?" "Yeah, I got em. It might have been better if I hadn't though. The place was crawling with reporters, not that it matters now, have you seen the NewsServices? How in the hell are we supposed to have a service with this on the air? It's all over the place." It was clear that William had never been exposed to a media feeding frenzy before. Gary, now standing, began to move to the center of the room. Beth watched this without saying a word. Shelly was still talking with William when Gary reached her and laid gentle hands on her shoulder. "Shell, you're mother and I have come up with something that may or may not solve some issues." "What's that?" William asked squinting to hear over the sounds of traffic. Also in the field of vision was Randy in the passenger seat and Arron in back. "I said, that your grandmother and I have been talking this morning about whether or not any of us are in any real danger here. The truth of the matter is, we don't know. We don't know and we're probably not ever going to know until it's either too late or we go... public." Shelly turned to her mother with unbelieving eyes, "What's he saying Mom?" "I think your father stated it fairly plainly." Michelle searched the eyes of her children for clues as to their feelings, but found nothing but fear there. "If the press is there, and it seems they might be from the reaction at the containment center, then I believe there'll be no hiding anymore. If we attend that is." It was Beth whose face became contorted in confusion now. "You'd just blurt it out?" Gary once more tried to explain, "No, I don't think we'd just blur..." "What about the kids Dad?" Randy asked, a look of genuine concern masked his face as he sat facing the broadcast eye in William's HOV. "That's exactly what you're mother and I are trying to asser..." Shelly interrupted again, "Hold on, everyone's getting a little too excited here, we don't even know if..." "No we don't," Beth agreed, "I don't see any reason to go leaping at phantoms we don't even know exist yet... Randy and I have already decided that we're going to stay here and..." "No one said anything about that," Sharon exclaimed, "We need to be consulted first. We live here, we're the ones who the community will come after," she explained with exaggerated movements of her hands. Shelly was flabbergasted at her daughter's attitude, "Sharon, this is my Mom and Dad..." The statement prompted an even more aggressive argument from Sharon that shocked everyone listening. "Yes, they are. But they left us here to build our own lives. It's not bad enough that we can't have husbands or wives, now they want us to possibly sacrifice the only thing we've been able to count on..." "SHARON Stop," Shelly demanded. "No Mom, I won't stop. I'm sorry that their lives have taken them down the path it has, but they left to protect us all, you included." "That's enough," Shelly insisted, "they have a right to be here. Without them none of us would have a life to live. NONE OF US!" The tears of betrayal were flowing down her face. "I know better than anyone what it's like to say something that can't be taken back until it's too late." Shelly fell silent, unable to speak about her sin against her mother. She cast her gaze shamefully in her mother's direction and mouthed, I'm sorry... Michelle, who seemed close to shock at Sharon's out burst smiled a small, transparent smile, closed her eyes tenderly and nodded almost imperceptibly to her daughter. Shelly took a deep breath and said, "I am now the one that will make the decisions for this family here in Rouston. My sister left that responsibility to me, so I will make that choice for all of us. Those of you that want to leave may leave. I won't try to stop anyone. But if Mom and Dad feel they have to stop this thing by going public, then I for one will stand right next to them when they feel that announcement has to be made." "MOTHER!" Sharon cried. "Sharon, I'm not changing my mind. I've made that mistake once already..." "Shelly," Michelle said standing from her place on the sofa, "Sharon's right." "NO," Shelly demanded, "she's scared, but she doesn't know..." "We shouldn't have come here to do this. We're tearing your family apart. The boy's haven't said so, but you can see they're thinking it. We need to leave. We need to go now before the press begins to gather outside and there'll be no getting away unnoticed." "Mom, please. It's like Beth said, there may be no reason to hide any more. Maybe there's no one looking for you." "And if there is what then? It will be too late by then... Your father and I have to do the right thing. We've been away too long to come back and be part of this family. Sharon's right, we have no right to risk your lives too." "Listen to her Mother," Sharon implored her mother, "they can still go back and live out their lives until we're all certain..." "Sharon," Shelly said with almost begging eyes at the image of her daughter on the WR screen. To Sharon, her mother had the look of a woman begging for her child's life before a Roman Tribunal, "you don't know what you've done. You have no idea how you're going to feel later once you realize what it is you've done here. We have the family that we have because of this woman and this man." Shelly looked deep into her daughter's eyes with all the tenderness a mother could offer. "I didn't know either." Carl stepped forward, close to the camera eye of his own WR. "I'm not afraid." All of them turned to look in the direction of the voice on the screen. "Carl," Sharon snapped angrily, "if someone is looking for them then..." "Then I think we all have to consider the option of leaving town. I don't think banishing our own grandparents will make much difference in whether or not someone comes for us." "Wait, this isn't..." Michelle tried to speak. Sharon, appeared to shift uncomfortably on the screen, and said, "Carl, why would anyone come for us now, after so long? Don't you think that when people see Grandma, now that her picture is back in the news, it won't send up alarms everywhere?" "Now, later, what difference does the timing make Sharon? I personally believe that none of us have anything to worry about any longer. Everyone that had anything to do with that is gone, dead for over a hundred years now." Michelle broke in, "This is not what we wanted..." "Michelle is right, we'll leave," Gary agreed. "This was wrong and if the risk of exposing the truth is going to risk your children Shell then we need..." "STOP!" Beth screamed. "JUST STOP!" and the room fell quiet. Everyone turned to see where the hysterics had come from. "We have not come this distance to begin fighting among ourselves. Not now, not at this point in time, and we've travel further than just from France and Florida to be here. We've spent five life times waiting to be together again and I won't stand around and watch while one of the few thing on this earth that means anything to me disintegrates before my very eyes." Incredibly, the group stood around with long faces, acting much like school kids being reprimanded for breaking a window. "Look outside," Beth insisted, but no one moved. "Go on, look!" Beth stood; her right hand on her hip, her left outstretched with her index finger pointed toward the window. Her face was a grim mask of determination as she stood and waited for everyone to respond. One by one everyone moved to the window with slow uncertain dread to some unknown but commonly feared fate. On the street below, a few pedestrians moved through Shipley Park. Air traffic above moved normally, one plain black, unremarkable HOV was parked at the edge of the Park, a half a block away. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Only the encroaching clouds of the pending storm stood out against the still bight blue sky. "No one is out there, No one!" she announced. They all knew that meant nothing in the long run. They could still be out there. But what was glaringly obvious was that the general public didn't seem too interested. There were no camera-eye stations camped out in the park, there were no curious on lookers or celebrity seekers milling around, no one selling T-shirts, or flashy souvenirs emblazed with Michelle's picture on it. The street was serene. Only those few people of the neighborhood, calmly strolling, tending to the concerns of their day. "You see don't you?" Beth asked. "You see what I'm talking about?" They all stood baffled at the question. No one seemed to understand what she was asking. "There's no one out there! They're not here because there's no story here. The story was with Erin's corpse. They went to where the story was," Beth explained. Beth was still met with blank stares and doubtful faces. Beth let out a frustrated breath. "Randy," she said turning to the WR, "is anyone following you?" Randy checked the rearview camera eyes and the traffic vicinity scanners for a moment and then said, "I'll be damned... No Babe, I think you're right. No one seemed interested enough to follow us home." Michelle whispered, "They've forgotten about us," as though speaking the idea out loud might bring it crashing down around them, cursed for having dared to speak the demon's name aloud. There was a hint of sadness that sailed away from her lips as she said it. In spite of how much she avoided fame; there was a part of her, perhaps more a residual part of Michael that craved the attention. While Michelle would never tell anyone, the thrill of walking out on stage, once the band was out and playing the intro, being the object of so much anticipation had been incomparable to anything. For a few moments, they wanted her and only her. The feeling was almost obscene in the way it attracted her to the lights at the edge of the stage. At no other time in her life had she ever desired power, but when the crowd had begun chanting "Michelle! Michelle! Michelle! Michelle!" at whatever venue they were playing that night, the rush of adrenaline was almost enough to carry her right up to the clouds. Gary turned her to him. "A time for all things Michelle," he said sensing her melancholy. Michelle's head was lowered so that Gary could not see her face. His heart broke for her. It was one more insult from a world that heaped many blessings but also many unique tribulations on the shoulders of this woman. Now, the final blow to that dignity was the idea that she and her talent were washed from history forever. "Michelle?" he asked and then lifted her chin to see her face with one curled knuckle. When her face was revealed, she was smiling broadly. "You faker," Gary cried, and Michelle, in spite of the somber mood surrounding the season for which they were all gathered seemed strangely happy. She looked at Gary with unbelieving eyes of that seemed to behold the wonders of the universe and leapt into her husband's arms. "It's over Gary, They've forgotten about us! We can go home. We can go where ever we want to!" Gary held her off the ground at the waist and she enfolded him, wrapping his head in her arms passionately grateful for knowing that they time in minds of people everywhere had passed from them. Michelle whispered to her husband, "We're free! We're free Gary!" Beth smiled wearily at her parents, "We've all lived on the edge of this thing for too long now. Living in the shadow of this makes it hard to believe that there are no monsters under the bed, when all you can hear is the scratching of their claws on the floor boards." Beth responded wearily, but calmer now. "I believe that Mom's right, they forgot about us. It's time we forget about Them, whoever Them were really were." "Gary," Michelle asked, allowing him to gently put her feet back on the hardwood floor, "do you think this is real? Do you believe that no one really cared to begin with?" Gary couldn't shake the events of the past several weeks. He wanted to believe that they were all free of that terrible burden, but something way down inside him whispered, all that glitters, Gary... He understood full well where Michelle was going with her question. She wanted his official nod that all was well in the kingdom of their reality. She was turning to the one person she trusted above all else for conformation that she could begin to live, anonymously this time, without fear of worrying about recognition or interference. Gary was hesitant to offer anything that might be mistaken as an absolute confirmation. Even if it were true, how could he be sure? Proof was not something Gary relished either. Proof might just as well bear out the fact that they had never had anything to fear. The possibility that they had spent all this time worrying about something that never existed in the first place didn't feel real to him. Oh if that were true... then all their elaborate plans had been for nothing. Their exile and separation from their family would have proven to be only the irrational fear of those swept up in a bitter battle of chance. Would finding out their lives had been products of circumstance that no one had really cared about in the first place bring any of them peace? He doubted it. Still he told her as much as he dared, "It seems real enough." He half expected her to cry; instead she kissed him hard enough that when she made contact, her teeth had clicked against his. His opportunity to answer truthfully was gone. "Hey folks," Randy interrupted, "I hate to break of the French Kissing Festival, but we're circling here waiting for ILS lock. Someone want to free up the automation so we don't scratch the paint?" Gary looked up unwillingly from his current activity and looked out the window. There in front of him was William's HOV, facing outside of the large glass window-wall. Everyone inside the machine was cat calling, hooting and cheering, waiving hands acting foolish and juvenile, just like a Shipley, Gary thought. The hoots and hollers from the HOV parked outside the living room window could be heard over the WR which was still receiving all the transmissions from everyone that had dialed in. Arron had his back turned had his arms wrapped around him in a mock of Gary and Michelle, rubbing his hands up and down his back as a passionate lovers might." Gary began to moved away to engage the ILS when Michelle grabbed him by the shirt. "Let them use the stairs," and planted her lips back on those of her husband. The whines and wails of protest were loud but full of good humor as the boys jeered and complained, "Aw come on!" -- "Get a room you two!" - "Someone stop the madness." Everyone was laughing and carrying on, everyone except Sharon. Only Michelle noticed. She moved silently to the screen where Sharon's image was displayed, watching the scene. Michelle offered a light smile, "Sharon, are you Okay?" At the sound of her question, all those in the room began to sober and reign in the laughter. "No, I don't think I'm going to be. I'm still scared and now..." "Now you think you've hurt our feelings, is that right?" Michelle asked. "If everything you say is true. If there never was anyone after us, then how could you not believe that I've betrayed you? I just asked you all to leave for everybody's safety." No one spoke. This did nothing to help Sharon feel any better about what she'd said. Michelle knelt before the screen so she was eye to eye with the image of her granddaughter, "I'm never going to blame you for being afraid, and I'm not going to think badly of you because you wanted to do something that, at some time in our past, we all felt like doing." Michelle bent her head as if the words she was trying to find were on the floor at her knees. By this time the boys, William, Randy and Arron were coming up the stairs, their mood had changed however and Gary guessed they had heard much of what had gone out on the WR before they had landed. "Sharon," she said lifting her head, "did your mother ever tell you how we told her about the truth of our family and how I came to be their mother?" Behind her, unbeknownst to Michelle, Shelly took a retreating step backward. Beth however, blocked her route of retreat, taking a firm hold on her sister's arm and keeping her there beside her. Sharon shook her head uncertain of how much of that story her youthful grandmother was referring to. "It was her eighteenth birthday, and we robbed her of that to tell her some truths that, if you hadn't been raised to expect them, could be considered horrifying." No one spoke. The breaths of those in the room were stuck fast inside their throats. "I had the power to tell her at any time I felt was appropriate and instead I let it happen on the night her father was to take her to Miami for her birthday celebration." "Baby." Gary stared but Michelle lifted her hand indicating that now might not be the best time to interrupt and Gary snapped his mouth shut. Michelle continued undeterred. "I felt that something was wrong about it, but I said nothing. And when the evening was through, she wasn't speaking to me, or anyone else for that matter." Sharon's face had taken on a curious look, one that seemed filled with more questions than she could keep up with to ask. At last she managed to lock one down and presented her grandmother with it. It was precisely the question Michelle had hoped she would ask, "How long before the two of you talked again?" Michelle took a deep breath, and with a trouble smile said, "This visit is the first time that your mother and I have spoken about anything since that night." Sharon was so shocked she didn't know what to feel at first. She glanced over her grandmother's shoulder to the face of the woman who was more grandmotherly than the young girl between them could ever seem. Shelly nodded a sad confirmation that the story was true and then closed her eyes and wept lightly to herself. Sharon asked no one in particular, the question was really directed to both women, "Were you mad at her this whole time?" It was Shelly that responded. "No, I wasn't mad for long at all. I think I was mostly scared." Michelle did not turn. She remained kneeling in front of the WR, listening to the disembodied voice, trying hard to remain strong. Sharon asked, "Of what?" "I don't really know of what at first, but later, the next day in fact, Erin told me that I had hurt her very badly. She told me that she felt that if I couldn't see things for the way they really were, then perhaps I should go off to college a little early and spare Mom and Dad any more grief." Michelle stood, this was something that she nor Gary had ever heard, "No Shelly..." "Wait Mom," Shelly demanded holding her arm and her palm flat like a human stop sign. "She was right. What I did was awful, what you did; you had to do. It was a no win situation for you. You couldn't keep it from me, and there was no good time to tell me. What I feared most I think, was that you wouldn't be able to forgive me. After awhile, days became months, the months became a year... By the time college was out I was just too afraid to talk to you. I thought if I did well with Dad's store in Paris, then it would all just go away. Before I knew it, Beth and Randy were in Paris under assumed names and Erin wouldn't reveal where you and Dad were." "Oh Mom..." Sharon whispered in a small voice. Shelly ran the few short steps to Michelle and they fell into each other's arms. Michelle held Shelly at arms length and dried her eyes with her fingertips. "I never hated you Shell, how could I? You were my last child, the baby of my babies..." Shelly was too overcome to speak. Most in the room were dumbstruck by the emotion flowing from them. Michelle looked back at the image of Sharon on the screen, "Sharon, there is never enough time for bad feelings between family. We have to face what scares us together and hope we can keep all of us together as family. Sometimes that's not possible. We understand those choices here. We don't like them, but I think we're all mature enough to understand them." Shelly asked her children to come over before the service; anyone that didn't want to go wouldn't have too. No one's feet would be held to the fire later. Carl agreed, so did Franklin. Sharon was struggling with too much fear and emotional overload to say for sure where she'd be in two hours. It was not how Shelly wanted things to end. But Sharon, as Shelly had when she had been much younger, had made her decision. She would have to learn to respect it as much as Michelle had respected her own misguided decision. Michelle whispered something in Shelly's ear and then pulled back and smiled, "That's just for you. Shelly smiled and once more embraced her mother. After a moment or two, she released her mother and said, "I think we should get ready to go. I think we still have a date with Erin this afternoon." Beth nodded, "We don't have a lot of time as it is." Michelle stood, the unmistakable look of distress on her face. "Mom, what's wrong?" "I didn't pack much, certainly not enough for Erin's funeral. We just ran out of time. Once more the business of the day was encroaching. Gary still had time to take Michelle someplace but it would be tight, and it wouldn't feel like they offering Erin the service she deserved. Shelly pulled up close to the woman she had feared hated her for her betrayal, kissed her mother on the cheek and said quietly, "We got something for you to wear too Mom, something modest. Come on, let's see if it fits." Michelle gently let her hand glide over her youngest daughter's now road mapped face. She didn't say anything, she didn't have to. Shelly could see the gratitude reflected back to her. Not just for what she'd bought, but taking the time to tell her the best way Shelly could, that she loved Michelle. Shelly looped her arm into the crook of her mother's and led her away. William announced. "I guess we'll be upstairs getting ready too." William turned, vanished behind the glass brick wall and Gary listened as he mounted the stairs. "Well, I guess we'll see you guys in a while," Carl said and disconnected his transmission. Frank's went black with no departing words at all. Once Randy and Arron moved off to get prepared, only Gary and Sharon were left, she starting blankly out into the living on the WR screen. Gary, his hands in the pockets of the wrinkled pants he'd arrived in. He exhaled loudly and said, "Well, there you go." Sharon agreed. "And here I am." There was a brief but pregnant pause between then, when at last Sharon broke the silence. "Grandpa," "Yeah Pumpkin," Gary responded. "Are you mad at me?" Gary smiled tenderly at his granddaughter, "No Baby. It appears you're the only honest one in the bunch." "Then you feel it too..." The comment felt like it had ended unnaturally, but Gary caught the drift of it. "You have to talk to them Grandpa. Tell them how you feel," "I don't know what I feel right now Sharon. My daughter is only hours dead and my family feels there is cause for celebration amid the gloom. Maybe their right, I don't know. All I know is that I've spent the better part of 140 years running from something that might have only been the most extreme case of paranoia ever known. That alone cost me all the time I could have had with my whole family around. And still..." Sharon frowned, "It feels different than that doesn't it?" Gary chose not to answer that question. Instead he asked, "Is it raining there yet?" "No not yet," Sharon replied, obviously concerned that he hadn