Lost & Found Ch. 06 Pt. 02

"Mom liked her job at the college; she was good at it. She stayed in Springfield during the week, and Aunt Stella looked after me, and Mom would come home Friday afternoon. She'd pick me up from school and we'd go off and do stuff, have some real family fun all weekend, and she'd go back Sunday night."

Luna looked down at the little boy, stroking his hair absently as she looked back over the years.

"I asked her one time why I couldn't live with her in Springfield, seein' as she had a place there and all, but she just told me 'no' and never said why; I just got the feelin' that for some reason she really didn't want me livin' or bein' in Springfield. She wouldn't even take me shopping there; instead she used to take me all the way over to Gainesboro, or even Monte Diablo, more'n three hours Southwest of Holden's Crossing, rather than take me into Springfield."

Luna shifted uncomfortably; Joey could see this story was bringing back painful memories, but she shook her head and smiled when he would have asked her to stop.

"Mom never said as much, but I kind of got the feeling she was worried about something or someone in Springfield, and the Terrible Trio were away bein' marines, which is why she lived in town; she never come out and said so, but I could tell she was afraid to live up at the farm all alone; she felt safe in town, she had Myra Donnelly's kid brother living in the apartment below, and Logan Hennessey, Natty's brother, right across the street."

She paused, her expression sad, and when she resumed, her voice was lower, almost a murmur.

"She was driving back one Sunday, it was a real wet night, a big storm came up, and her car came off the road, and she was killed. I was nearly thirteen when it happened. Jonah came and got me; he said that now my Mom was gone, he was gonna look after me, that I was his baby sister's baby, and it wasn't right to just leave me with Aunt Stella, even though she was real good to me; that would be like abandoning me, and he wouldn't do that, family takes care of its own. He left the Marine Corps, the only thing he ever loved, and he walked away from it so he could give me a home...'

Her voice faltered, and a tear spilled down her cheek. Joey frowned and wiped it away. Luna looked at him questioningly. Joey returned her gaze, but that concerned expression was still there.

"I promised Jonah I'd never make you cry, and here you are, your first morning home with me, crying on my couch..." he murmured, but Luna smiled as she patted his arm companionably.

"Don't you all worry, I'm not sad, you didn't make me cry, baby! I just got kind of wistful there for a second thinkin' about it all. I guess it was just when he said that to me, it felt like he really was family come to get me, not just a face in a picture and a story from my Mom when I was small."

She blinked, and her eyes were clear again, green and fascinating once more.

"Them other two, Jerry and Jethro, they weren't gonna leave the Corps, not for me; they wanted to pack me off down to Nogales and go live with that slut Laurie and her latest deadbeat, asshole boyfriend, and her tribe of whoever's kids they were; Jonah wasn't havin' none of that; I hear things got kinda physical...!"

She grinned, her sudden smile literally lighting up the room.

"I guess he really did care about me; he's the nearest thing I have to a dad. When I needed him, he walked away from the Corps, just when he made Staff Sergeant too..."

She shook herself, and patted his arm again.

"Ancient history, Joey, but now maybe you can tell me something; tell me how Robbie Dolan, only son of the richest family in the state, came to be livin' in California with you and Miss Sarah and all her family? I know there's things you need to keep to yourself, but at least tell me what you can, because all I know are rumors and stories, and a big ole mystery right in the middle of it, about the boy who disappeared. Tell me why Robbie Dolan is Robbie Anderson."

Joey pulled her closer, settling Joe more comfortably between them while he stared unseeing at the opposite wall, gathering his thoughts. When at last he started speaking, his voice was so low she could barely hear him.

"Robbie was...unwanted, yeah, that's the word I was looking for. His whole family just decided he wasn't one of them, for whatever reason. I don't know, and I never asked; it's a real sore point with Mom; even now, after all that's happened, it still riles her up. Anyway, they just kind of...left him to one side; everything they had, they gave to Casey, and they never gave him a damned thing; they just left him out."

His face tightened, a frown-line appearing between his eyebrows as he thought back to his childhood.

"They used to go away on vacation, and take Casey with them; they mostly never even told him they were goin' away; Robbie'd be knocking on our door the night before they left because that's when they'd tell him he couldn't go, so he had to come stay with me 'cause he had nowhere else to go and no-one to turn to; not that I minded, y'understand; Robbie and I grew up together; hell, he could have stayed a week, a month, forever, it wouldn't have mattered to Mom or me. Mom looked out for him because his family wouldn't; they just left him out every damned time because he meant nothing to them at all. I never understood that part; Robbie's a genius, but they were all so wrapped-up in Casey, and so goddamned ashamed of him. It wasn't right!"

Joey stopped talking, instead chewing his lip, the remembered anger flashing in his eyes, before calming down again.

"They never took him anywhere, or gave him anything, or did anything for him, nothing; he used to walk around in beat-up old clothes, and his house had Mercedes Benz's and Cadillacs parked out front! When I first knew him, we were in first grade and Mom said I had to make friends with him; he used to get beaten-up a lot, because he had to wear these huge eyeglasses; man, those things were like telescopes! He was almost blind, and all the usual assholes soon worked out that all they had to do was take them away from him, and they could beat on him, because he couldn't see to defend himself."

Luna looked closely at him; his eyes were slitted with anger at the memory, outrage still burning there, even after all the intervening years, at the bullying Robbie'd had to endure.

"So I stepped in, partly because Mom wanted me to, mostly because I wanted to. I'd always liked Robbie, he was a quiet kid, but he knew things, all kinds of things. He never rubbed it in your face, or made a thing about how smart he was, and no-one deserves what those assholes did to him; poor kid was like a lump of meat in a dog-pound, he just got ripped-up and chewed-on by everyone. Mom liked him from the first time she met him, and it kind of went from there. Robbie and me lifted weights and ran laps together, but his eyesight was still real bad, and sometimes, when I wasn't around, one of those assholes would catch him, smash his glasses, and then they'd all whale on him, and his fucking father never did a goddamned thing about it!"

Luna held his arm comfortingly as the old feelings once more rose up in him, the outrage at the injustice and neglect his brother had suffered at the hands of his family. Her expression grew concerned at the effect his tale was having, at the flash of deep anger in his eyes as he plumbed once again the darkness he'd thought was gone forever.

"Baby, don't, it's OK, another time, please! I didn't mean to rake all that up again, you don't need..."

Joey wrapped his arm around her as she shifted Joe more comfortably in the crook of her arm.

"It's OK, Luna, I need to tell you all this, so you understand a little better how it is between us. Robbie was always a nice kid, he never hurt anyone, never complained, never bad-mouthed his folks, not once; he just took it, probably because he thought that was how his life was supposed to go; that's what they did to him, and it made my mom's blood boil. His whole family spent as much time as they could mocking him, running him down, leaving him out, and making sure he knew he meant nothing to them; they treated him like something you scrape off your shoes; they took away his self-esteem, his future, and any chance for a life of his own, and that's the most evil, most unforgivable part of the whole thing; Mom once said to me about Robbie that it was a sin to waste your life, but a crime to waste someone else's; what they did to him was purely criminal."

He paused, raking his fingers through his hair.

"Robbie's a genuine, honest-to-God genius. He could have been his family's biggest asset if they'd ever once given him a chance to show them, or even let him speak up without being shut-out or just plain ignored. When he was younger, mom couldn't touch him, because he thought that was wrong, not allowed; none of his family ever touched him, picked him up, talked to him, hugged him, nothing; he was like a leper, an outcast; he just stayed in his room because they made sure he knew they didn't want him around."

He sighed, frowning still at the memory.

"Mom and me, we tried, and pretty soon my mom was his mom as well; she had to be; his own mother could give a shit if he lived or died, and when he finally walked out, it was Mom who called up Uncle Frank, and between them they got him this gig. When he moved out here, he lived with Uncle Frank and Aunt Caitlin, and pretty soon she was his mom as well."

He grinned suddenly.

"If you ever take the notion to harm Robbie, you better be damned sure Aunt Kat never finds out, because if she does, she'll flay your skin off real slow, and bury you in salt; Robbie's her son, and the twins, Moira and Morag, are his sisters, and they're as tight with Robbie as Aunt Kat, and just as mean when they need to be. Mom once told Angie Dolan there are people she could name who'd stand over Robbie on bloody stumps and defend him to the last; she was talking about Aunt Kat, Uncle Frank, and the girls, among others. Robbie's kind of unique; he's a special guy, and he makes the people around him feel special, too."

Luna smiled at the note in his voice, once again her talent for reading people clicking into high gear; for some reason, Joey adored Robbie; he really did think of him as his beloved kid brother, every note in his voice and line of his face told her that Joey and Robbie had a special closeness, one she'd never encountered before.

Joey shifted uncomfortably as he once more replayed what had happened at the house in Springfield, at Robbie and Casey's wedding, and the final, shocking episode in this drama, the death of their father in Santa Rita Holding Facility after his crazed attack on his ex-wife's new-born baby.

"Did you hear, back in Springfield, about Robbie's father, about Steve Dolan, and what happened here?"

Luna shook her head.

"Nope, 'bout all I know is that he disappeared, and all the DolanCo stores went bust 'bout a year ago, something to do with a whole bunch of lawsuits and the family's refusal to file Chapter 11; put a heap of folks out of work, that did, then next thing we hear a few months back is he's dead, in jail here in California. So tell me, Joey, what did happen to him here?"

Joey paused, picking his words carefully.

"Angie, Robbie's mother, finally worked out what she'd done to him, and what her husband had been doing to Casey, what kind of a man he really was, and she divorced him. She came out here, and met Elio, my stepdad's brother. Angie Dolan finally made it right again with Casey, but it was too late for Robbie; she lost him a long time ago, and as far as he's concerned, Angie, for all her being sorry, doesn't mean much more to him than the fact she's now his business-partner's wife; she married Elio, and they have a baby girl, Sarah-Caitlin, my God-Daughter. Dolan somehow found out where she was and followed her out here; he snuck into the church at Robbie's wedding, punched-out mom and Karen, and grabbed Angie's baby; she was just a new-born then, and he held a craft knife at her throat. He threatened to kill her..."

Luna stared at him in shock.

"Go on, please, finish it!" she whispered, and Joey took her hand, lacing his fingers in hers again. "Did he...?"

Joey shook his head.

"That stupid, crazy sonuvabitch thought he was going to get Angie to go back to him if he threatened her baby. He didn't know Robbie's grandma, his own mom, was right behind him, and she brained the bastard with a church candlestick before he could hurt that baby, Robbie's little sister; if she hadn't been there..."

Luna waited in shocked fascination for him to finish the story.

"Dolan spent six months down in Atascadero, where the state cages-up the psycho's and sex-offenders, and then they transferred him to Santa Rita, over in Dublin in the East Bay, pending trial. One day someone decided to shank him, so they did, but they raped him first. Don't waste any pity on him, babe; he paid for everything he ever did, and believe me, he did some bad stuff!"

Luna stroked his face, wiping away the outraged expression there.

"You said something about what he did to Casey...?"

Joey leaned back and averted his eyes, his lip curled in distaste.

"That's not for me to say, baby; what he did to her is something she'll have to tell you herself; when she's ready, she'll tell you about it, and then you'll understand."

But Luna, her mind already in-sync with his, knew what he was trying to avoid saying, and her eyes widened, her expression aghast as she contemplated a man doing...that, to his own daughter...

"How...how is she now, what..."

Joey adjusted his arm around her, holding her and the sleeping toddler closer.

"Now he's dead, she's finally free of him, she can rest easy at night; she thinks justice has been done, and I don't think she's losin' any sleep over him. Robbie knows his family are safe, and that's all that matters to him. His family sleeps safe at night, so everybody wins."

Luna still looked shocked.

"So Robbie's ...OK with the murder of his father? What kind of...?" but Joey interrupted her.

"It's not that simple, baby; Robbie isn't OK with it. He didn't condone it, he's a peaceable man, and he thinks everybody's got some good inside them. I have no doubt in my mind that one day he'd have forgiven Steve, his mom, everyone who ever hurt him; he'd forgive them and let it all go. Robbie doesn't hold grudges, he doesn't know how."

He paused to scratch his chin reflectively.

"But think about this: now that Steve Dolan's gone, he's not gonna be waiting around a corner in five years, or ten, or twenty years from now, to harm Robbie or Casey or their kids; he's not gonna be harming any babies, and he's not gonna be killing Robbie, or Casey, or her mother, or any of us. Robbie accepts that; he's sorry it happened, he's shocked and horrified at how it happened, but he's also relieved. To give him his due, he's horrified that he's relieved, but at least now he knows his babies, his wife, his whole family, is safe, that there's one less demon to trouble the world. If you'd seen the way Dolan held that knife at that little baby's throat, you'd have shot him down in an instant, like a mad dog. I still can't believe I saw that happen, in front of my eyes, in a church, it was..."

He shook himself, a shuddering quake of his body, like a man waking from a nightmare and realising it wasn't real. Luna shifted the baby's weight and leaned closer against him, her warm presence calming him even further, as did her head on his shoulder.

"Hey, Joey," she whispered, "I didn't mean to stir it all up again for you. It's been a bad time for you, for all of you, but it's over now. I'll never mention it again, cross my heart!"

Joey gently bumped his head against hers as he grinned.

"No, it's alright, you were right to bring it up; you should know these things, baby; you need to know where this all started, how I came to be out here, why you're out here now; it's all part of the same story, and you're part of the story now."

Luna leaned back against him, mulling over what he'd just told her. Joey didn't seem particularly bent out of shape over it. There was outrage there, there should be, but also resigned acceptance; bad things had happened, and now they were done; time to move on. Luna understood that. Now it was a new phase in his life, now it was their life together, this was the next chapter, and it was up to them to write it.

They were still sitting comfortably together when a knock at the door roused them. Joey went to see who it was, his face splitting into a grin when he saw it was Casey.

"Good morning, big brother!" she smiled, "I've come to take Luna and show her some of the sights of Daly City. I was planning on taking Junior, Roisian, and Caitlin to Lake Merced, and I thought Luna might like to bring Joe along; it's a lovely morning; I think she'll like it. I'm sure the fire-fighters at the fire-station are tired of whistling at me, so I thought I'd give them a real redhead to leer at!"

Luna came out just then, grinning as she caught the tail of Casey's remark, her eyebrow cocked in query. Joey grinned and nodded, so the two girls disappeared upstairs to get ready, leaving Joey to walk around holding Joe.

While Luna was gone, Joey reflected on the circumstances that had brought her here, to his home and his life, and, once again, found that all he wanted was her, with him, to be his wife.

*

The next few days were a whirlwind for Luna; when Joey brought his Bentley Continental GT back from the secure parking garage under Robbie's condo, she'd gasped in amazement that he owned such a fabulous car. Her eyes widened when he told her that Robbie had given it to him as a wedding present, and that he'd added her to his insurance, so it was hers to drive too, whenever she wanted. She was astonished at his generosity, but she would never have dreamed of taking him up on his offer; she'd grown up around pickups and Jonah's succession of battered Chevy step-sides, they were what she was more comfortable driving, not that incredible dream-machine.

San Francisco and the Bay Area was everything she'd always dreamed it would be. Nothing competed with the thrill of seeing the famous landmarks and the districts, and walking across the Golden Gate bridge, of course, then Chinatown, Golden Gate Park, The Presidio, Pier 39 and The Embarcadero, Castro, Haight-Ashbury, the Coit Tower, the Bay Bridge, and shopping in Ghirardelli Square and Market Street. Along with slaloming down Lombard Street, visiting Alcatraz, and spending a whole day at Six Flags with Joe and little Caitlin, it all blurred together into one huge, happy moment, more famous places and iconic experiences than she 'd ever thought could be in just one place. She'd never been happier, nor could she find the words to tell Joey just how much living in such a wonderful place, with him, and baby Joe, meant to her, but she didn't have to; the look on her face was enough for him.

Luna was falling as surely in love with her new home as she had with Joey, and so their days filled with happy exploration of the city and all it had to offer, and their nights fled by in a blur of passion as they connected on ever more and deeper levels, making love though the night, every night. Every second of lovemaking was an eon of hot sensation and lightning-strike orgasm, electricity flowing between them from one moment of passion to the next, vivid, sharp and delightful, bonding them ever closer, welding them into one seamless, seemingly unbreakable whole.

Finally, the day Luna had been waiting for arrived. Kat had called Joey and invited him and Luna to meet the family; she had recovered at last from her marathon trek through the best the Pacific Northwest had to offer in the way of tertiary education. The twins had a lot to think about before they started earmarking colleges, but they'd put that all aside in their eagerness to meet the girl Joey had met and fallen for in such a big way. When Luna finally finished dressing and made her grand entrance, Joey's eyes widened as he gave a low, drawn-out wolf-whistle.