Season's Greetings: A Carol Christmas

by Tigger
© 2000, all rights reserved

 

Second Interlude:

After her day at the pediatric oncology unit, Jane returned to Seasons House weary in mind, body and spirit. More than anything else, she wanted privacy for her spirit, a hot bath for her body and a large snifter of brandy for her mind, but she was Jane Thompson, and she had responsibilities. Thus, she rapidly found herself in her downstairs office, discussing the day's events with her two assistants. In truth, it was almost more than she could deal with in one day. A student she had been forced to admit she'd failed, the totally unexpected return of one of her other two failures and the discovery that one of her few real secrets, her special cause, had been revealed to one of her students.

Tiredly, she shook her head to clear it. *I should be glad they caught me before I reached the decanter. No way would alcohol help me deal with all this.* "Well, I suppose it is just as well that he will be reliant on his uncle's largess for a few more years. That should encourage him to keep his mouth shut. Bribery ought to work as well with him as it did with Donald."

"Ummm... Aunt Jane?" Darla put in. "I don't think Carl is really going to need his uncle's money."

"Why do you say that, Darla?"

"Because during one of our set-to's this morning, Carol let slip the possibility that she might have an inheritance from another relative - one that she comes into on her eighteenth birthday. I don't think it was a lie."

"Well, that would put the fox among the chickens, wouldn't it? I will call his uncle and ask him to check. Anything else happen today?"

"Well..." Darla started, then hesitated. Jane resisted the urge to groan and instead gave the girl a 'let me have it' gesture with her elegant hands. "I gave Carol the letters."

For a moment, Jane said nothing as her fatigued brain tried to work her way through the possible ramifications of that act, but finally she gave up. "Why, may I ask?" she asked, her eyes closed against the first twinges of an incipient headache.

Darla's shoulders drooped. "I got her talking when we got back. Actually, I think she got herself drunk because by the time I found her, she was throwing back your brandy like it was fruit juice."

"Wonderful. Another violation of our agreement," Jane noted. "I told her that she might be served wine at table, as that is the custom in many families, but that the stronger spirits were off limits. I'm sorry for interrupting, dear. You were saying that you had her talking? About what?"

"Why she dislikes and distrusts women, and specifically about her mother. Did you know her father was abusive?"

Jane nodded. "It's strongly hinted at in some of the letters Carl's mother wrote to herself. Unfortunately, powerful men can hide such things from the authorities, or worse, with the help of the authorities. By the time the uncle had enough to go after Carl, the boy was old enough to express himself in court and told the social worker he would prefer to stay with his father."

"He said that the social worker failed him!" Darla exclaimed.

"I'm sure he felt that way. I suspect that he was too afraid of his father to do anything else, and the social worker didn't pursue it any further. In her defense, she had a heavy caseload, kids who really needed to be moved from obviously brutal situations, and by all accounts, Carl's father was smart enough not to leave much in the way of evidence."

"Oh," was all Darla could manage. "Anyway, he blames his mother most of all, for not taking him with her the night she was killed. So, I gave him the letters hoping he'd read what her real intent was from that last letter."

"You didn't point it out to him?"

"No, I figured that he'd take that as one more instance of Jane Thompson's manipulations. I was sort of hoping that he'd find it himself and maybe, just maybe, believe they really are his Mother's words. I'm sorry if I messed up."

Jane reached out and lovingly stroked the soft blonde hair, a gentle smile curling the lips of her full mouth. "You did fine, dear. I'm very proud of you for not giving up, for continuing, even in the face of all our setbacks with this student, to try to find a way to reach him."

Jane stood and went to her desk where she produced a business sized envelope. "I was planning on giving you this tomorrow morning as a Christmas present. Perhaps now is more appropriate."

Darla took the envelope and carefully opened it and removed the one page document. Her first thought was that it was some type of award certificate as it was made of a heavy parchment paper and had some type of seal embossed in the lower right hand corner of the page. Then she opened it, and felt her head begin to spin as she read aloud the words at the top of the page.

Proclamation of Adoption

Case of

Jane Thompson and Darryl Smith

The signature at the bottom of the page, embossed by the great seal of her state, was of Aunt Ruth - Judge Ruth.

"Omigod," Darla exulted. "It's approved? It's real? I'm your... you're my..."

Suddenly, Darla was wrapped in two pairs of loving arms, and was being hugged tightly. "You're my son, now," Jane said softly, "And God help you, dear, I am your mother."

Darla reached out with both arms to pull the two older women even closer as all three shared kisses and tears. "He already did, Momma-Jane," Darla/Darryl whispered over the lump in his/her throat, "The day He sent me to you and Marie."

They stood there for several minutes, basking in the warmth of the mutual embrace and in their shared love. Finally, Marie pulled back first. "I have to get dinner finished. Darla did invite Donald to join us and I think the two of you need to go clean yourselves up and dress for dinner."

"He may not come," Darla noted, very reluctant to let go of either woman.

"And then again, he might," Marie replied. "Now scoot, the both of you, or my Christmas Eve dinner will be spoiled."

"Very well," Jane replied. "But Marie? Set four places, please. You will also be joining us at table tonight." Marie started to protest, but Jane cut her off with a single raised hand. "Not another word, Marie. Whether Donald comes or not, I want to celebrate tonight with my family."

"Me too," Darla said, trying to inject a touch of sass into her voice. "So THERE!" whereupon all three began to giggle.

 

 

Third Interlude:

Carol wished she dared slip back down stairs to refill her now- empty brandy snifter. The booze made reading these blasted letters a damned sight easier. She didn't want to believe they were from the woman who had given birth to Carl Morris - simply didn't want to because they were true. That would mean her entire outlook as Carl had been a lie and that... well, that the Thompson woman might be right.

She'd never admit it to Little Miss Perfect-Panties-Darla, but the visit to the hospital had rocked her opinion of the Thompson woman. She'd jerked Darla's chain pretty hard after they got back to the house, but the truth of the matter was that seeing Ms Thompson and that poor kid had done funny things to her inside.

"And that's just bullshit," Carl's voice snapped out. "Just like she's got me thinking of myself in the feminine tense when I'm not careful. Cripes, but this is going to be a colossal pain in the ass when I finally turn eighteen and Granddad's trust starts paying the bills. Guess I will just have to drop out of sight for a few months while I practice being a guy again."

A knock sounded at the door. "It's not locked," the be-skirted boy called out before adding sotto voce "On this side of the door, anyway."

"It's Marie with your dinner," a muffled voice called. "Could you open the door for me?"

A very unladylike stomach growl immediately ended any inclination the unhappy teen might have entertained to give Marie a hard time. "At least the food is good," she thought as she hurried to open the door.

Marie swept into the room carrying a huge tray which she set on the window seat beside the bed. "Now I gave you seconds of all your favorites and an extra big piece of the pie. There's hot tea in the thermos, but I can bring up milk if you'd prefer."

"That... that... tea will be fine, Ms. Marie," the surprised student stuttered out.

"Well, enjoy your meal. If there is anything you need or want, give me a ring after the usual dinner hour. Jane wants me to eat with her and Darla tonight."

"Th... thanks. A lot."

Marie shocked the youngster to the core when she went up on her toes and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Bon Appetite, Cheri."

Uncertainly, Carl/Carol walked over to the tray and removed the lids from the various dishes. "Good grief, she really DID fix all my favorites. She noticed? And cared enough to still prepare them for me? After the way I acted today? What the hell is going on here?!?!"

The question went unanswered so she/he settled down to eat. The fact that his/her table manners, including seated posture, and her/his use of the napkin and all the flatware were impeccable, even by Jane Thompson's high standards, went unnoticed even by the sole occupant of the room.

 

 

Fourth Interlude:

"I guess I am the last person you ever expected or perhaps even wanted to see again, Jane." Donald Madden said as he sipped his after dinner coffee in the Seasons House music room.

"Let's say that you have often been in my thoughts and let it go at that?" Jane replied.

"Especially now, I would bet."

"How so?"

"I met your junior student today, Jane. Other than the fact that he makes a much prettier and more believable girl than I ever did, it was like deja vu. What happened?"

Jane sighed. "Same thing as you - he knew something his uncle and I did not. Basically, he had a financial parachute in the form of a legacy that he takes control of in two weeks. His guardian, the uncle who sent him to me did not know about that inheritance until Carl let it slip this morning to Darla and I called him to ask about it."

"Truly deja vu. Me all over again."

"Except I won't tell Carl the truth about Darla. I told you about your big sister... Lord what was her name?"

"Martha...I mean, Martin," Donald supplied.

"He's a doctor now, by the way. In any case, I revealed the truth about Martha to you in the hopes that you might understand what we were trying to do with you - in hope that you might decide to straighten up and become a big sister yourself."

"I was too sure I was right and you were wrong."

"Well, nothing I've tried with Carl since those first few days of shock-treatment has touched him in any way I can determine. Now I know why, but I am not going to reveal to him that all of my other students were cross-dressed young men, too."

"I was a bit surprised by that young person, Jane. She...he seems, I don't know, almost like a... well, a younger version of you. Star pupil?"

"My son, Donald. The adoption papers arrived today. He is very special."

"Well, I let you down fifteen years ago, but is there anything I can do to help with, what did you name him? Carol? You name it, I'll do it."

Jane regarded her guest for several moments. "I cannot imagine why you would make such an offer, or given your opinion of me when you left here, that you actually mean that 'you name it' part."

"Try me."

"In all honesty, Donald, I am afraid there is nothing that can be done with him at this point except cut all of our losses and try to move on. I've already made arrangements to send him back to his uncle after Christmas. I am curious, though, what has changed your outlook so radically."

"What usually causes a man's world to get turned upside down? I fell in love."

"Congratulations."

"Save them, Jane. I took over her family's company for the patents it held. Met her when my team arrived to start the demolition and the world as I have always known it ended in a single flash of emerald green eyes. Unfortunately, she can't seem tolerate me for all the myriad reasons you impressed on me when I was Donna."

"So what are you doing now?"

"I am fighting to save her company from my own investors using my own money. It will be close, but I think I have the deal just about done. Then I plan to appoint her as CEO and set up a sale plan so she can buy it back from me."

"Do you need another investor?"

"You? I didn't come here to hit you up for money, Jane. I just came to...well, tell you I wish I had learned some of these hard lessons fifteen years ago, when they didn't hurt so much."

Jane smiled. "Well, when you win your lady, bring her to visit." and then her smile changed to one Donald and almost a hundred other young men would recognize with more than a little frisson of fear and trepidation. "I will show her the family pictures."

His mouth literally dropped open as the full implications of that promise became clear. "You would, wouldn't you?" Donald laughed.

 

 

 

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© 2000 by Tigger. All Rights Reserved. These documents (including, without limitation, all articles, text, images, logos, compilation design) may printed for personal use only. No portion of these documents may be stored electronically, distributed electronically, or otherwise made available without express written consent of the copyright holder.