Chapter 506) Chance Encounters

San Sequoia
The Coneira (Home to Connor, Keira and Christian Cameron-Vatore and their dog Morpheus

Looking up from her book as the two toddlers had become quiet, maybe too quiet, something every parent knew to be wary about, AG sighed exasperatedly.

“Viv – seriously!? Quit smooching on poor Chris! He’s your second cousin! Must be the name, your namesake started smooching around on her second cousin when they were about you guys’ age, some decades later they were married and voila, your Uncle Nick and I were made. Let’s just not, okay?! Try to behave a little more princessy and a little less incest-y, okay?”

AG put down her book and separated the two toddlers, which caused her daughter’s bottom lip to tremble, so she picked her up, talking to her softly, when now Chris started wailing at the top of his lungs, so with an eyeroll, she sat her daughter back down and picked up Chris instead to soothe his wailing, when Vivienne now started as well, generating a sound of frustration from AG as she gently sat him back down, trying not to get frustrated while trying to keep them apart, which was easier said than done. Morpheus, Connor’s dog, who was sleeping nearby briefly raised his head and opened one eye, but decided it was just a regular toddler melt-down and nothing to worry about, especially since a capable hooman was handling the situation, so he just stretched laying on his side and groaned, leaving AG to wrangle the grumpy tods.

“Oh, Chris come on, baby boy, don’t cry now! Same goes for you, Viv. Just pick one of the five gazillion toys Chris has and play with each other not ON each other. I know it’s innocent and you don’t know what you are doing, but you both are decidedly too young for ANY of that, okay?! Let’s get your ducky toy, yes? Ducky? You want Ducky, Chris? Yes? Your Ducky dolly?”

Chuckling from the doorway distracted AG, she paled and nearly jumped out of her skin. Morpheus looked over at Jack, huffed while getting up before trotting out of the room. Too much going on to get any restful sleep.

Jack peeled off the doorframe, headed over to her, his eyes trained on Vivienne, when he smiled then looked up at AG.

“May I?” he asked, casually pointing at AG’s daughter.

“Sure.” AG replied. It was all she could say, literally rendered speechless, while watching the tall cowboy talk to her daughter ever so gently, the little girl’s eyes staring big at the stranger, her mouth forming a tiny O.

“Howdy there little majesty, so we finally meet at long last. Aren’t you just the purdiest lil thang?” he greeted the toddler, which made Vivienne giggle and coo for joy, probably at the accent which had to sound strange to her.

“Highness.” AG said.

“Hm?” Jack was clearly elsewhere with his mind as he stared at Vivienne in sheer and utter amazement, bending down then gently lifting her up. AG knew Jack had a baby himself and often watched Connor and Keira’s son Chris while staying with them, but seeing him pick up her daughter made her feel a certain type of way, considering once upon a time both thought Vivienne was his.

“She’d be addressed as … never mind. What are you doing here?” AG asked.

Jack winked at Vivienne who was very interested in his longer hair. She loved playing with her ‘Uncle’ Connor’s long hair as well, Connor was AG’s cousin and not technically Vivienne’s uncle, but the little girl was too young to know the difference and her parents and grandparents were trying to teach her to only trust close family members. For security reasons. There still were twisted people in the world with strange and dangerous agendas and it didn’t get any more high profile than AG and Max’ children. No matter which direction you looked on their family tree, it was celebrities and royalty as far as the eye could see.

“Yeah, well, what am I doing here? Almost feels like I live here now, huh? Well, I guess the short answer would be that Monday is another one of my appointments and I … well … I’m just visiting, I guess. Longer stay. What are YOU doing here? Weren’t you just here two weeks or so ago? You’d think Henford was just two towns over, the way you hop around everywhere. Where is your fancy husband?”

“Max is home with the two other children, who have school, I came back because of an event I promised my best friend Bianca to go with her to, she lives in Del Sol Valley, so I came by here on a whim. Jack, how long are we going to do this? I thought we agreed to be … friends. Or at least friendly. Yet every single time we happen to be in the same location, which is rare enough as is, you vanish faster than Houdini. Why? I mean … look, this isn’t easy on either of us, but we can’t keep this hide and seek up. YOU can’t keep this up.”

“Who says I am keeping anything up? I just need my space. Your life isn’t the only one with changes, Queen AG. The world didn’t stop spinning for the rest of us to gaze upon you in awe. We all have our cross to bear.”

“No shit! And I am over here with all my ponies and rainbows in everything-is-always-easy-land. Get a grip, Jack! We all have our own pile of shit to shovel.”

“Now that wasn’t very royal. They let you speak that way at court?” Jack mocked, while setting Vivienne on the floor, who immediately waddled over to Chris, who clapped excitedly.

“Great, now they’re gonna kiss again! I can’t wait for them to outgrow that phase A.S.A.P.! And I speak however the fuck I want, Jack. I am still me; I will always be me. Royalty is like a career, not a persona I morphed into. THAT is what I learned during the entire … whatever you want to call whatever happened after I was brutally violated.”

“I think the Amish call it a Rumspringer, live it up and let loose for a while and then put your dowdy outfits back on and go back to what you’re used to cos it’s predicatble and feels safe. Glad I got to be part of your Rumspringer. Probably as the example of what – or better who – not to do.”

“Whom.”

“Who? Me! Duh.”

“No, I got that part. But it is whoM, not who.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, woman! After all you and I have been through, and how everything then went down, you want to stand here and correct my grammar!? You really lost touch with reality and you are raising this beautiful child as just another entitled brat the world doesn’t need! What a waste! Had things gone different, she could be a …” Jack’s voice trailed off and he swallowed.

“Keep your voice down around the kids! And my children are NOT entitled. If anything, they go through a much harder school with a lot more things to learn at a young age than regular kids! I would know, cos I never had a normal childhood either! Privilege can be a curse, Jack.”

“Tell me about it, simply knowing your privileged ass has been a curse for me! One I will probably NEVER recover from!” he said, turned and walked off.

Fuming, AG fought the urge to run after him, unable to leave the kids behind.

But a few minutes later, Jack heard the patio door open and shut, then footsteps on the concrete of the patio behind him.

He rolled his eyes bracing for another earful, resisting the urge to turn around, when he felt a shove, followed by that ‘oh-shit!’ moment of free falling, before taking a gulp of Connor and Keira’s freshly chlorinated pool water as he went down to almost the ground before breaking through the water’s surface.

Gasping for air, pushing his hair out of his face, ready to unleash on AG, seeing her standing there, hands propped into her hips, he couldn’t help but laugh.

“What’s so funny?!” she wondered in an almost accusatory tone, watching Jack, shaking his head as he made it to the edge, then held up his hand.

“Help me out and I’ll tell ya!”

She bend down, bracing to pull when instead she was pulled, experiencing the same as Jack just had. She could hear his laughter before she even broke through the water’s surface, ready to lay into him, but once she could breathe again, watching Jack have so much fun ended up being contagious.

They bobbed in the water, fully clothed and laughing till they couldn’t breathe for a while, before swimming to the edge and climbing out, dripping wet.

“Thank you Jack. I think I needed that.”

“Not as much as I did. I didn’t think I even remembered how to laugh anymore at this point, so thanks, Queen AG.”

“Quit calling me that. Sounds like some character from Star Wars, like Amidala’s long lost sister or something.”

“I don’t even know what to call you anymore.”

“AG. Just like before. Like I told you, I am still ME.”

“Yeah, you sure are. Sadly, I don’t know who I am anymore.”

“Why? What’s going on?”

“Like you haven’t heard …”

“I haven’t. Everyone is trying to pack me in cotton wool and bubble wrap like some Porcelain figurine. Is something with your son? Maybe I can help. I’d at least try.”

“Jackson’s fine. Chasing girls, so maybe fine is a stretch, but so far, he hasn’t knocked one up, so guess that’s good.”

“I meant the little one. Your baby boy. The way you were upstairs with the kids … I can tell something is going on. Your baby is sick? Jack, let me try to help. Please.”

“Jeeze Louise, you REALLY haven’t heard. How is that possible? I thought everyone was feeding me bullshit when they told me they won’t tell you. Guess they meant it.” Jack began to realize AG was blissfully clueless.

“Heard what? Do I need to put you back in the pool to get a straight answer? You’re freaking me out, Jack!”

“My youngest ‘son’ isn’t mine, AG, that’s the gist of it. The other headline is that Taynee lied to me, faked having fallen in love with me and I ate it up because I wanted it to be true, wanted someone to love me back, I was so confused and in pain after losing you and what I thought was our baby, so I guess I talked myself into believing I loved her, when she and I both felt nothing but maybe warm and fuzzy friendship for each other all along. Made it easy for her to pull the wool over my eyes to sneak me a kid, so her tribe won’t shun her, and Ahanu won’t get mad at her. She and I always were just friends, nothing more, we’re not compatible romantically, never have been, believing we’re in love was lying to ourselves and each other. It would explain though why I could never bond with the baby. Maybe there is such a thing as male intuition. So, now we’re divorced, thanks to your father, I can’t believe he didn’t tell you as close as you are with your parents. Guess he does take that attorney-client privilege seriously, even for pro bono cases like me.

So, Taynee and her shitting-and-pissing souvenir from a few hot nights with some tourist moved out of my cabin and took her maiden name again, my oldest best friend Ahanu can barely look me in the eye after what his younger sister tried to do, but since blood is thicker than water somehow I am still the asshole in his book, his loyalties lie with her, and I can’t look at him without remembering the crap his sister tried to pull, while I am wondering if he didn’t know about it all along and didn’t say anything to me. My life is screwed up six ways till Sunday, AG, meaning Connor has been my one saving grace, the only one keeping me sane enough to be able to try to be a decent father to Jackson, who is gonna be 18 before too long and if he’s smart, he’ll get the hell out of Dodge as soon as that clock strikes midnight on his birthday, and forget he ever met me. Excuse me now, I am gonna go get changed out of these wet clothes.”

Jack turned to walk off, leaving a totally shocked AG behind.

When she was finally able to close her mouth, she ran after him, caught up with him just before the stairs up to all the bedrooms and just hugged him.

Jack was uncomfortable at first but couldn’t find the energy to fight it. Instead, he gave in to his true desire and enveloped her with his arms, holding her tight as he could without risking hurting her fragile frame, and they just stood there, both fighting tears. It was up to anyone’s interpretation who was sad for which reason exactly, the sad story Jack just told, or their own sad love story that didn’t make it either.

After what felt like an eternity in a minute, Jack spoke first.

“AG, wait – who’s been watching the kids?”

“Morphy.”

Jack let go to stare at AG.

“What?”

“Oh yeah, that crazy ass dog is good for something. I told him to stay, then told each of the kids the same thing. Every time one tries to move, Morphy barks and shoves them back.”

“You gotta be kidding me! I gotta see that!”

Both ran up the stairs and sure enough, it was exactly as AG had said. Both babies saw the adults and wanted to go see them, but Morpheus was gently insistent, nudging the kids back into place each time they tried to leave.

“He IS a black Shepherd. And he definitely is highly intelligent. Just needed the right task. Just like his mother, Georgina. She was exactly like that and I watched Grandpa Blaine use her like that when he didn’t want to work so hard babysitting his million grandbabies.”

“You really ARE an animal lover. I thought I knew all there was about horses and dogs, but I would have never even thought of this. That’s brilliant. I need to get on Connor to breed that damn dog. I want one!”

“Grandpa Blaine has been on him about that forever. You know Connor, stubborn AF. Do you think Keira would kill me if I borrowed some dry clothes from her?”

“I’d text her first, or she just might. Mortal or vampire, that girl has kerosene for blood. I wouldn’t ignite it.”

“Ha, believe you me, Jack, even a red, hot mad Keira is nothing but a purring kitten compared to my mom when mad, and I made her mad plenty of times. I’ll take my chances, not like I am going to keep her clothing, she’ll get it all back, dry-cleaned with a red bow on it.”

“At least make it a pink bow, her favorite color is hot pink.” Jack chuckled.

Some hours later 

“Jack, did you happen to see my knit dress anywhere? That off-white one with the self-belt? I cannot find it anywhere and feel like I am losing my mind here. I was gonna wear it to date night tomorrow and wanted to make sure my new heels actually didn’t clash, or I need to get my other off-white ones back from Chelsea, but looks like my dress vanished into thin air. I heard of washing machines eating single socks, but entire dresses???” Keira pulled a face.

“Nah, I tried that one on last time I was here and it did nothing for my curves.” Jack chuckled.

Keira’s eyes flicked to Connor, confused by the sudden bout of humor after months of only doom and gloom from Jack. Connor only shrugged, so she shook her head and went back upstairs. Once out of earshot, Connor casually said

“So, how’s AG?”

Jack froze briefly, before acting purposely nonchalant.

“How would I know? And I thought she is a taboo topic around me, because I am psycho enough as is, or something.”

“Okay, Jack, couple things. I asked everyone to not bring her up around you so you could heal on your own terms, not because I thought you were psycho, you ungrateful horse wrangler! And secondly, do you know what a Ring doorbell is?”

Jack closed his eyes, grimacing.

“Yeah, it sent me a nice notification while I was at lunch about someone at my door and imagine my surprise when I saw our maid letting in AG and Viv. Five hours later I got another alert and imagine my surprise AGAIN to watch her and her kiddo leave in Liam’s car – and my wife’s off-white knit dress with the self-belt – with you waving bye-bye holding my son as if you and AG had been besties throwing playdates all your lives. I am ALL EARS, Kershaw, cos you gotz some ‘splainin’ to do. If you turned my family home into your personal Love Shack to nail my cousin who is married to a very influential man, while my and her toddler looked on, I will filet you with surgical precision until you are nothing but confetti!”

“Nah, wasn’t like that. She came here looking for you, knew it usually was your day off, she didn’t know I was gonna be here, but she’s your cousin so what was the maid supposed to do about it, she couldn’t hardly kick her out of your home. But chill, Cameron, AG and I just talked. Not at first, the moment I saw her in the hall I hid in my room, hoping she’d just leave again since you weren’t here, but her daughter wanted to see Chris, so well … Eventually I realized me hiding out in the guest room like a burglar was very immature, not to mention creepy, especially considering I was supposed to be watching Chris. So, I finally got to meet that little girl I thought was … well, AG’s daughter, I got to hold her, and it felt beautiful. But I swear on my life and that of my horses, I didn’t touch AG. Well, I did briefly a few times and a little longer one time, but it was all uncensored and 100 % innocent. You got my word; you know I wouldn’t lie to your face about this. You’re the only friend I got left that isn’t on four legs.”

Connor looked his friend over for a moment.

“Your mood’s better. You sure you just talked. Cos, if you did, we may need to get your teeth checked if she needed to change afterwards.”

“Oh, that. Well … hehehehe … you’ll love this. I … we … well, she pushed my buttons so I said something I shouldn’t have and went to stew by the pool and your royal cousin came after me and shoved me into the pool, so I returned the favor.” Jack’s smirk was big and made him look like a little boy who got away with a prank.

“Oh, dear Lord, man. You two are like adult toddlers! Look at me, Jack, I don’t mean to be a dick about this, but I need to know you are not running straight into the next open knife with eyes wide shut again, so look me right in the eye and tell me there was NO kissing. Absolutely no touching of your lips anywhere on AG, and vice versa. I need you to say those words to me.”

“Goddamn, kid! You’re doing a miserable job if you don’t want to sound like a dick, but okay, fine, if it helps you sleep at … well … whenever you actually do sleep. No, my lips touched not an inch on her and hers didn’t touch an inch on me, I promise, scout’s honor. Same goes for any and all other body parts on either side. Happy?”

“Absolutely thrilled. Thanks boomer.”

“Boomer? For those few measely years I am older than you?! Just take a long walk off the short pier, Connor!”

“Few years? If there were a couple more years, the age gap between us could get its driver license. But whatever makes you feel young and spry again, grandpappy.”

“Ah, maybe you’re right, I am an old fuck, not sure when exactly that happened. Oh, supposed to tell you this from AG: Morpheus can babysit kids, I saw it with my own eyes, and she thinks you need to breed that mutt. If you do, I’m calling dibs on one of the pups.”

“Well, if I could ever find a dog that he likes, cos as you know, he is about as approachable as you on a bad day, and when he does like some female dog, they are usually mortified by him. But I got enough people in my ear about wanting puppies by him, and I do agree, he’s got great genes and it would be a shame to not continue that line, even though he’s got a lot of good years in him. And yes, you get pick of the litter right after my grandpa, cos he’s been wanting a puppy by my dog since Morphy had barely outgrown the puppy stage.”