FAMILY

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S3 Round Robin (2025)

Chapter 7

T'Mara

 

The next morning, Devin was up early. He had not slept well since too much had been on his mind. For so many years he had felt isolated, alone. He had never known his mother and his father had only begun to treat him like a son, to really acknowledge him as his own roughly ten years ago. And now...

Now, there was finally hope that he might be able to learn something about his mother; even Father had been a bit more forthcoming about her when Devin had mentioned the music box. Was there a chance that their somewhat strained relationship could finally turn into something more meaningful, deeper, into a truly emotional bond?

And then there was Vincent, the brother and companion of his formative years, with a wife and son and another baby on the way. For someone like Devin who had never really thought much of family, all these new developments were overwhelming.

Devin decided that a cup of coffee – or rather a really gigantic mug of it – might be exactly what he needed under these circumstances. He left his guest chamber and immediately stopped short in his tracks. There, at the other end of the corridor, his little nephew was nervously pacing up and down in front of the chamber where Susan and Alex were staying.

“Hey kiddo,” he called. “What's up?”

“Uncle Devin!” Jacob exclaimed, running up to him. “It's... umm… I mean...”

Devin laughed. “I can guess that you are waiting for Alex, but why are you so nervous, boy? It's still fairly early, she will be up soon.”

“It's not that,” Jacob sighed then inhaled deeply, in order to calm down a bit. “It's Mouse's birthday today and to cheer him up since he is so sad because of Arthur (Mouse's beloved pet raccoon had recently passed away at the ripe old age of 15), Jamie is throwing him a surprise party in the kitchen this afternoon. My Dad said I should invite Alex...”

“Absolutely!” Devin agreed. “I am sure your cousin would love to attend this party!”

“It's just...” Jacob hesitated. “She does not want to... to become a candlemaker.”

Devin laughed. “Why is that a problem? Do we need another candlemaker or what?”

Jacob shook his head and explained to his uncle what had happened between him and Alex.

“She is different,” Jacob ended his story. “She sometimes says such weird things...”

Devin remembered what Vincent had confided in him about Alex and the possibility of his future baby suffering from a similar condition, and he finally understood his nephew's problem.

“Everybody is different,” he explained. “No two people are the same. Everybody has different interests, skills, strengths and also flaws. In some cases the difference can easily be seen, like in your father or my late friend Charles. In other cases, it's not as obvious. But to be different does not necessarily have to be a bad thing. Alex may just be a bit more impulsive than you, which means that she sometimes blurts out things without thinking about how they might affect somebody else. I am sure she did not mean to imply that Rebecca's job is unimportant or that life Below is bad. She just meant that maybe she has other plans for her future. Do you understand what I am trying to tell you?”

As Jacob nodded hesitatingly, Devin continued. “Alex is your cousin, your only cousin at that. She only has one other cousin on her father's side, but she rarely sees him since he lives in L.A. So the two of you should stick together; you are family. And believe me, family is very important.” He sighed, remembering the far too many years of estrangement from his own father. “It took me a long time to understand that, but it's true. As the old saying goes, blood is thicker than water. Now go and talk to Alex!”

Jacob nodded and turned towards the entrance of the guest chamber where Susan and Alex were staying. Just when he was about to knock, the door opened and his aunt and cousin emerged.

“Alex!” Jacob shouted excitedly. “I must tell you something, but it is a secret!” He motioned for her to bow down a bit so he could whisper into her ear. “We are going to a surprise birthday party today!”

Alex frowned. “You don't really want me there,” she said. “Because I often say stupid things that hurt or offend others.”

“Yeah, I know, but I do stupid things, too, on occasion,” Jacob replied. “Everybody does. Uncle Devin just explained it to me. Everybody is different, he said, and that the two of us need to stick together since we are family. And something about blood being thicker than water....”

Alex beamed at the man that she adored because of the wonderful stories he could tell about his travels and the exciting life he had led so far. “Your Uncle Devin said that?” she asked.

Jacob nodded. “Yes, yes, that's what he said. So, are you coming with me?”

“If you truly want me there...” Alex was not completely convinced yet.

“We are family, we belong together,” Jacob announced, grabbing Alex's hand.

In the meantime Susan had approached Devin. “I went out into the park yesterday afternoon, since my cell phone does not have reception down here, and I called Nate,” she told him.

Devin frowned. “Who?” he asked.

“Nate Wyburn, my late husband's boss,” Susan clarified. “I told him I needed to talk to him about his former employers on behalf of an acquaintance of mine and that it might be a rather long and maybe confidential conversation. So he agreed to come over to my place next Sunday afternoon for cake and coffee.”

Devin grinned. He had not expected her to act so quickly on her promise to help him find out more about his family on his mother's side. This Susan really was a godsend!

“Thank you, Susan,” he said, “you would not have had to talk to the man immediately. I have lived my whole life so far without any knowledge of my mother's background, I could have waited a little bit longer to learn more about her.”

Susan nodded. “I thought I'd better get to it right away, lest I forget about it, and... I mean, since this does concern you and it is your family, would you like... I am sure Nate would not mind...” She blushed.

Devin stared at her. Was he understanding her correctly? Had she just tried to ask him to join the meeting with her and this Nate person? Could that mean that this attractive, kind woman was interested in him of all people? He sure liked her a lot, maybe...?

“Uhh... next Sunday?” he asked. “You are meeting this boss of your husband?”

“Yes, and maybe... I mean it could be helpful if you were there as well?” Susan's face now definitely was as red as a lobster.

I told Vincent that Alex has a crush on Devin, she thought. What if she is not the only one?

In order to hide her embarrassment, she turned towards the children. “Alex, Jacob!” she called. “Are you done talking? It's time for breakfast and I heard William has prepared some chocolate chip muffins!”

“Yay, breakfast!” the children exclaimed, running up to the adults, hand-in-hand.

XxX

“Father has asked Peter to come down and discuss our problem with us,” Vincent announced. He had told Diana about his conversation with Father, about what risks other than the possible genetic condition her pregnancy could cause.

Diana sighed. Now that Father had brought up the probability of anomalies in her bloodwork due to the nature of her baby's father, she realized that there were other dangers as well.

“My doctor mentioned that she would soon do an ultrasound, so that I could see our child,” she informed Vincent. “What if...?”

Vincent nodded. “You mean if our baby looked somewhat unusual, more like me than you?”

“She is not a Helper,” Diana continued. “She would not understand. She might think that something is terribly wrong with our child, maybe even think that he or she is not...”

“Not viable,” Vincent agreed. “We cannot risk that. Since Jacob looks more like his mother than myself, of course there is the possibility that this child will favor you over me as well, but what if not?”

“I know,” Diana agreed. “But I have been with this doctor for years. What will she say if I leave her now, right after she diagnosed me as pregnant? And who will I go to from now on? As far as I know, none of our Helpers is a gynecologist!”

“We will have to ask Peter for advice,” Vincent continued. “Which is why he is coming down to discuss the situation with us. With the possibility of you being a carrier of this genetic defect, you will need a doctor's support during the pregnancy, but we cannot risk our baby being seen as an anomaly – or even worse, as a curiosity – should he or she inherit my looks. That means only somebody we really, truly can trust, should be involved. Any genetic screening, blood work, ultrasound or whatever other check-ups you may need that could reveal the child's unusual heritage can only be done by somebody we can rely on to keep any unusual data or pictures confidential.”

He thought about it for a moment. “Maybe you should move Below until the baby is born,” he then suggested. “Right now the only people Above that know you are pregnant are Susan and your doctor. Once you start showing neighbors, colleagues, other people you see more or less regularly, will notice, which could cause additional problems should the child look like me. For in that case we would have no choice but to keep him or her Below. But what would you tell people in that case if they asked you about the baby? Surely you would not want to tell them that he or she had died?”

“I would still have to go Above for the actual birth process,” Diana reminded him.

“Maybe, maybe not,” Vincent objected. “It depends. If we can be sure that everything is as it should be and that there are no complications to be expected, maybe our baby could be born Below. You know that Mary has been trained by Father as a nurse and midwife, and if Father and Peter were here as well...”

“Peter is a general practitioner, I doubt he has experience in delivering babies,” Diana observed.

Vincent laughed. “You are wrong about that! He does have experience in that regard, even though his last assistance in a birth may have been a while ago. Guess who he delivered… Catherine!”

Diana stared at her husband. “Peter delivered Catherine?” she asked incredulously. “How would you know that?”

“She used to tell everybody that the first time Peter saw her, she was stark naked, then she added that at that occasion, she had been a newborn babe.” Vincent explained.

Now both laughed, their concerns forgotten for the moment.

“What's so funny?” they suddenly heard Peter ask. They had both been so absorbed in their brief moment of hilarity that they had not noticed his entrance.

“I take it as a good sign that you are laughing,” Peter continued, smiling. “Does that mean that the two of you have already resolved all your problems and don't need my advice anymore?”

Vincent and Diana shook their heads.

“Not really,” Diana explained. “Vincent thinks maybe it would be wise for me to move permanently Below at least until the baby is born, in order to avoid questions, first about the baby's father and later, should our child have to live Below like Vincent...”

Peter nodded. “It could definitely be helpful if you stayed out of sight for the time being,” he agreed.

“It would not solve the question about how I could get the necessary check-ups, the genetic screening and all that, though,” Diana continued. “And it would just cause another set of problems. What would I tell my co-workers, what would my neighbors think if I just disappeared for a few months?”

She sighed. “And there is still the problem with my doctor. She already knows that I am pregnant. If I am leaving her now...”

“You could probably tell her that because of the special situation, with you possibly being a carrier of FXS you are seeking advice from a specialist in that area for the time being,” Peter suggested. “As to how you could explain your absence from Above – maybe Joe Maxwell could help with that? Pretending to send you out of town on some mission or other or something like that?”

Diana nodded. That might actually work.

“Now that that is settled, let's discuss how you can get all the necessary check-ups in the most discreet way,” Peter reminded the couple.

XxX

“Do you have a moment for me, Father?” Devin asked, standing right at the entrance of the library. After his discussion with little Jacob and the realization that family was important to him, Devin, as well, he had decided to show his relatives that he valued them and their input into his decisions.

“Come in, son,” Father called. “Mary just brought fresh tea. Sit down and have a cup with me.”

Father looked at his son. So many years they had been estranged and even after they had made peace of sorts, Devin was home so rarely that he did not know or understand his son too well. Maybe it was too late now to fully connect with Devin, but could it hurt to try?

After Devin had poured himself a cup of tea and settled himself in one of the chairs, Father therefore opened the conversation.

“I take it you want to discuss something with me?” he asked.

“Yes,” Devin agreed. “You know that I have decided to stay in the neighborhood, at least for a while, maybe even for good. Of course that means I would need a job and an apartment Above...”

“It would be nice to have you nearby,” Father agreed. “We all have missed you during your repeated absences.”

Devin nodded. “I know, and now, with all those recent developments, my mother's music box, Vincent and Diana expecting, I am finally beginning to understand how important family can be. Also, maybe I am getting a bit old for the life of an adventurer, and I may finally be ready for settling down permanently.”

Devin took a sip of tea before he continued. “Now, as I said, in order to be able to stay in town, I would need a job. Of course I have acquired several marketable skills over the years, but it has occurred to me that potential employers might be hesitant to hire me due to my lack of references...”

“I see,” Father commented. “In that case you will need to start working for one of our Helpers. They would not ask for a reference. But of course, neither could they afford to hire somebody who is not taking their job seriously. If you can promise me that you won't disappear one morning and call your employer from the other end of the Earth the next day, I will ask around if any of those that have their own business has an opening for which you have the necessary qualifications.”

Devin smiled. “Thank you, Father,” he said and for once he truly meant it.