Lost & Found Ch. 06 Pt. 02

"Baby, you look...incredible!" he murmured, smiling appreciatively as Luna grinned and twirled to give him the full view. She was wearing a short, forest-green dress, light and summery, and almost the same shade as her marvellous eyes. Her long hair had been brushed until it shone with an almost metallic sheen, a brilliant coppery splash against the green of her dress, setting it off perfectly. Her long, smooth legs were clad in nude stockings, and once again she was wearing black platform stilettos, displaying her slim, elegant, endless legs to their best advantage.

"Why thank you, young sir!" she simpered modestly, falsely, fluttering her eyelashes coquettishly, and giving him a twirl so he could once again get a good look at all of her. She grinned wickedly at his expression, sashaying up to him to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him even as she ground lightly against him. Joey slipped his arms around her to pull her closer, feeling her grin against his lips as he did so.

"Uh-uh, no you don't!" she grinned, "you get started on that and we'll never leave the house!"

Joey smiled, still not releasing her.

"I'm sure Aunt Kat won't mind if we're a little late; with you dressed like that, how can I...!" he whispered, gently squeezing and massaging her hips though her dress, his mischievous grin matching her own .

"No! Down, boy, heel, heel!" she commanded, wriggling out of his grasp with a giggle and dodging his reaching hands.

"Come on, baby, show-time!" she smiled, picking little Joe out of his play-pen and holding him against herself as protection against any more of Joey's advances.

Joey grinned in defeat, and bowed her into the car, watching fondly as she buckled the little boy securely into his safety seat, then sank back luxuriously into the deep, soft leather upholstery.

"Let's go, Blondie!" she grinned, squirming and giggling as Joey reached out to squeeze her knee.

*

The drive to Morgan Hill was uneventful, and when Joey pulled into Frank and Kat's drive, he saw Robbie's Mercedes already parked there, along with Steve's Dodge Crew Cab, and Gramma Rosie's frumpy old Lebaron, so he knew the family was already there. As Luna busied herself unhooking Joe and collecting his baby things, Joey looked up and grinned as Frank stuck his head out of the door and grinned at him.

"Gang's all here Joey, just waiting on you!" he called out, a big grin splitting his face, and then freezing, his eyes wide as Luna backed out of the car and turned to face him.

"Baby, this is my Uncle Frank!" grinned Joey. Luna looked curiously at Frank, her gaze flicking between him and Joey, and smiled as she held out her hand. Frank took it, but it seemed to Joey he had something on his mind. His momentary distraction passed, and he seemed to be his usual self after just a moment, but Joey could tell there was something bothering him as he ushered them through to the back of the house.

Luna was so wrapped up in Joe that she didn't seem to be aware of the sudden undercurrent, baby-talking and rubbing noses with Joe and watching him squirm and giggle. It was only when someone dropped a plate that her head snapped round, her eyes fixing on Moira and Morag, Kat's twin daughters. The three girls stared at each other, a frozen tableau, as all conversation died away. Luna was astounded; the two redheaded teenagers were almost the image of her! The same bright, coppery hair, only theirs were a mass of long curls, not straight and glossy like hers, the same vivid green eyes, the same milk-pale skin, the same fine, classic features.

"Joey..." she murmured, frozen in place, her arms tightening around the small body in her arms as she looked from face to face. The two girls also looked just as shocked, their eyes flicking from her to each other, to her again. Luna nearly collapsed in shock, her knees trying to buckle when two older women, one obviously the girls' mother, and one older also stepped into her field of view, their expressions equally as shocked; they were almost mirror images of her, too.

"Joey, what's going on?" she moaned, starting to panic, her heart thudding so loud everyone in the room must have heard it. Joey heard the panic in her voice and held her close, his own expression as shocked as hers; he was stunned that he hadn't seen the resemblance sooner; Luna looked enough like the twins to be their big sister. How could he have been so blind? For the first time in his life, Joey was completely speechless. He, too, wanted to ask the same question: what the hell was going on here? The younger of the two women stepped closer, and Luna shrank back against him with a low whine of panic as this stranger with her face approached her.

"Who are you people?" she whispered, "Why do you all ...what are you, is this some kind of...?" she trailed off as the older woman smiled gently at her.

"Please, calm down, it's all going to be OK, you're among friends. Please, both of you, come with me; Joey, tell her, everything's going to be fine!"

Joey, still slightly glassy-eyed, could only nod.

"Aunt Kat, please, what's going on?" he husked, and Kat Novak shook her head slightly, telling him 'not here' as she took him by the arm, piloting both of them into the den and away from the shocked silence in the formal sitting room. Luna took a seat where Kat indicated, still too spooked to say a word, only jigging the little boy in her arms as he squirmed restlessly, picking-up on her disquiet.

"Joey, I think I know what's going on here; much as it stretches my credibility, there's only one possible explanation. Luna, your mom was Jo-Jo Hollister, wasn't she, not Laurie?"

Luna nodded, still not seeing where this was going, or why it mattered who her mom was.

"It's my fault," sighed Kat, rubbing her temples distractedly, "I should have questioned Sally a little further. I was just so happy when she told us Joey'd found someone, when she said it was Jonah Hollister's niece, I just assumed it was Laurie's daughter she was talking about; she'd already had a little girl when I left Springfield who'd have been about Joey's age..."

She looked sadly, compassionately, at Luna.

"Luna, did your mom ever mention your father, say who he was, a hint, maybe, anything like that?"

Luna shook her head, wondering at the question, who her never-mentioned father was, and what it had to do with all these people who looked so like her.

Kat sighed again, fixing her gaze on Luna.

"The reason I asked is, before I left Springfield, I met up with Jo-Jo. It was the last time I ever saw her. She told me she was pregnant, and who the father was, and that she was going to leave Springfield, that she needed to get away from him. Baby, I don't know how to tell you this, so I'm just going to tell you; your daddy was Steve Dolan, that other lady out there is his mom, your grandmother; Robbie is Steve's son; he's your big brother, honey..."

She paused to let Luna take it all in, sensing her panic and confusion as her words sank in. Kat took her unresisting hand, twining her fingers gently with Luna's, holding hands with her.

"My father was Michael Moran. He and your grandmother Rosie were brother and sister, which means Steve Dolan was my cousin, and you are as well; the Moran blood is in you, it bred true in you, just like it did in my girls; I know this is a lot to take in, but you're my family too, Luna, you're among family, and we'll help you get through this."

Luna's head was spinning; she was Steve Dolan's daughter? She was that...man's daughter? Holy fucking Christ, no wonder Mom had kept shut about who her daddy was. Now she had a whole bunch of strangers for family, a grandmother, too; how was she supposed to deal with this? She became aware of Joey's arm around her, holding her protectively as her mind ran over and over what she'd just been told. A thought occurred to her, and she glanced sharply at him, noting, almost in passing, the look of shock, and...something else, on his face.

"Did you know about this? About all this...this?" she asked him, her voice sharp with suspicion, but the look he gave her was one of honest bewilderment; that, and something else, something she couldn't sense, which was unusual for her.

"No baby, I swear! It never even crossed my mind how much you look like Aunt Kat and the twins; I thought you looked familiar when I first met you, but I wasn't thinking too straight then, I just thought I was maybe remembering your mom from when I was a kid, honest!"

Luna looked searchingly at him, and slowly nodded, seeing no hint of a lie, only his puzzlement, and that...something else, something to do with her. Joey stirred from his shocked study of her face as Kat tapped him gently on the arm.

"The rest, Joey, you have to..."

Joey nodded, and handed her his car remote access fob.

"Aunt Kat, ask the girls to go across town, get some pizza, anything, they can't be here, not for this, please?"

Caitlin nodded in agreement, and opened the door to the den, calling Moira over. Joey heard the girls squeal, knowing how thrilled they'd be to be seen driving and posing in his Bentley, and Kat led them both out to the family room again, where Frank, Roisian, and Robbie and Casey waited.

Luna looked at him in trepidation, unconsciously holding Joe closer; she could sense there was more to come, and she was unsure if she could take it. When the girls clattered out, and the muted throb of the Bentley's engine sounded, Kat opened the door wide, and ushered them out into the circle of family waiting for them. Luna scanned each face minutely, especially that of...her grandmother? The handsome older woman was almost the spitting image of Caitlin, just a few years down the line, and Luna realized she was, indeed, in the presence of family, unsettling as that was.

As she thought that, her eyes fell on Frank, and suddenly his resemblance to Joey struck her like a thunderbolt; how could this be? If Caitlin was his aunt, why did he look like her husband?

"Joey, I thought Caitlin was your aunt, I thought she was your mom's sister!" she whispered, and Joey nodded. "She is..."

Luna's eyes narrowed in puzzlement.

"Then why do you look like her husband? He looks just like Miss Sarah, is he her brother? If he is, does that mean...Oh my God, Caitlin's his sister isn't she? He's with his sister too? And they have children? Oh my Christ, you're all the same, all of you, what kind of people are you? I have to go, I...I can't stay here, not like ...first Robbie and Casey, now Frank and Caitlin, who else, Joey, what else is going on around here?"

Joey looked helplessly at Kat, who sighed and nodded.

"Tell her Joey, you have to, she has a right to know!"

Joey tried to take her hand, but Luna shrank away from him, her eyes wide and horrified.

"Tell me what, what do I need to know? Who are you, Joey, are you Frank's son, is that what you didn't want those girls to hear? But he's already with his sister, and Miss Sarah's his sister, and she's your mother..." She trailed off, an expression of horrified disgust sweeping across her face, twisting her mouth with distaste.

"Oh my God, your mom and...her brother too? What...how...oh dear God, Joey, who else, tell me!"

Joey looked at Sarah, lost for words, but Sarah stared at him, her expression flinty, all her fears coming to fruition as their family secrets tumbled out of their carefully tended hiding places. Kat reached out and touched his arm, her eyes filled with love and compassion, but her features set firm.

"Tell her, baby, please, you have to..." she murmured.

Luna looked almost fearfully at Joey as he gazed back, for once in his life completely at a loss.

"Baby, I'm not Uncle Frank's son, but I am Miss Sarah's son. She was in school with my...my father, my real father, stuff happened, some bad stuff, and she got pregnant. Robbie and I are like brothers because we really are brothers; his daddy is my real daddy...and yours, and Casey's too. I'm sorry baby, I didn't know about you, how could I...?"

Luna's eyes widened in shock and horror, words tumbling out of her as she struggled to find some balance.

"Your uncle and his sister, your brother and his sister, now I'm your sister, and you want to...to...oh dear God in Heaven, what have you done to me? This is all so wrong, everything about this is wrong, and no-one cares, you all think it's fine, and now I'm part of this...this...with my own brother..."

Luna stared at Joey in thin-lipped shock; Joey was... he was Steve Dolan's son too, he was...her brother, and the things they'd done, the promises they'd made, all ashes, all less than nothing, because he was her brother. He'd taken her heart, he'd made her love him, and that beautiful, wonderful boy, who should have been her son, and now he was gone, too, the dream as trampled and soiled as her heart. Now her heart was a crushed and blackened ruin, forever sullied because of what she'd done, and yet...and yet...

She trembled as conflicting emotions battled inside her; part of her wanted to believe this was all some weird hallucination, and it would somehow all suddenly melt away, while another part of her was revolted to its very core, memories of what she and Joey...her...brother, had done echoing and trampling around inside her; and yet another part of her wanted to say that it didn't matter, that she still loved him, that she wanted him, and their son, and it all be perfect again and not the nightmare it had all become...

As she wavered, Roisian stepped forward, and gently took Joe from her, passing him to Kat, and reaching out to her, her expression compassionate.

"Luna, as soon as I saw you I knew, I have another granddaughter, and she's a beautiful, smart girl. Please, honey, sit down, let me explain. I know this is a lot to take in, but we're not monsters, just family, and you're my family, you're my granddaughter, and I wouldn't do anything in the world to hurt you, I swear!"

She made to embrace her, but Luna leaned away from her, her expression anything but understanding.

"If you want to help me, get me away from this...all this..whatever 'this' is!" she grated through clenched teeth, "All you people...perverts, oh my God..." she trailed off, holding her hands to her face to shut out the sight of all those deviants staring at her. Roisian looked helplessly at Sarah, who nodded, and so Roisian gently led the trembling girl to her car, and drove away.

*

CHAPTER 4: And you will know the truth; and the truth will set you free - John 8:32

Joey watched, paralyzed, as his grandmother drove away, his hands clenching and unclenching by his sides as his world collapsed. Now he felt the truth of Sarah's words; even if he hadn't known that Dolan was her father, he'd still kept the truth from Luna; he hadn't been honest with her, and now she'd found out, in the worst possible way, and she was gone.

Casey and Robbie sat in silence; Casey's head was whirling, but underneath it pulsed deep concern and fear for her big brother, the fear she'd thought she could finally put aside. Luna was Steve Dolan's daughter, which meant she was...she was her little sister, and even worse, she was Joey's little sister too; how the fuck did this all happen, and more to the point, how the fuck were they supposed to make it come right again?

Sarah took Joey's arm and turned him to face her, alarm bubbling inside her as she saw that apathy and deadness slowly building again; he was sliding back already; Luna had been his hold on reality and normality, a promise of a return to a life of happiness, and now...

He looked into her eyes, pain and guilt welling-up in his own eyes.

"You were right, Ma, I should have told her back in Springfield. I should have let her know who we were...who I was, before I ever...now she's gone. What do I do, Ma?"

"You go find her, meathead, that's what you do!" rumbled Robbie's voice in his ear. "Anyone can see she's crazy about you, and she should be here; she's one of us, too, so what are you waiting for?"

Joey glanced at Casey, who nodded in agreement.

"Go to her, baby," said Casey, "Robbie's right, go find her, and tell her everything; she has to know it all. It's your only chance to make this right. Just trust her, baby, she needs you too, and you need to be there to remind her of that!"

Joey looked at Sarah, and she slowly nodded.

"Go find her, baby; go find her, talk to her, and bring her back to her family. You have to make this right with her; you have to make her see who you are. She did once; make her see you again."

Just then the twins came in carrying pizzas, making their usual amount of noise and fuss, and stopped dead, sensing immediately that something was wrong, their eyes tracking from their mother, to Sarah, to Joey and back again.

"What, what'd we miss?" asked Morag, her sister a split second behind her.

"Not now, babies, later," stated Robbie. "Joey's got to leave, keys, please."

The girls silently handed Joey his key fob, exchanging a long glance and a quick burst of muttered 'twin', the gibberish that only they understood, but saying nothing more as Joey hugged little Joe and strode from the room. A moment later, the throb of his car engine rumbled through the house, and then he, too, was gone.

*

When he arrived back at Daly City, after a frustrating, seemingly endless tussle with the Saturday traffic in downtown Sunnyvale, the house was silent; there was no sign of Luna, no sense of her presence, and, a sudden foreboding gripping him, he checked in the bedroom; her closet was empty, and her flight bags were gone; she really was gone. Joey tried ringing her cell, but it just rang-out, and ringing his grandmother's cell was equally fruitless. He didn't know what else to do; there seemed nothing he could do, and so he sat, while the afternoon light dimmed and evening shade closed in.

The light slowly faded, twilight shrouding him, and still he sat, immobile, endlessly replaying what he'd done, trying to work out a way to undo it all, to have it not happen, to give himself a chance to do it over, and do it right, and then came the thing he wanted hear most of all: keys in the lock, and the front door opening. He looked up in wild hope as footsteps sounded in the hall, and then the door swung open, but it was only his grandmother, and she was alone.

"Gramma, where...?" he began, but she shook her head.

"Baby, I'm sorry, I couldn't get her to stay; she had to leave, so I took her to the airport. She's gone home, baby, I tried to convince her to stay, I'm sorry..."

"What do I do, Gramma, if she's gone..?" he choked.

The look Joey turned on her melted her heart; all she wanted to do was to hold him, comfort him, tell him it was all going to be okay again; instead she did the only thing she could think of to wipe that lost, hopeless look from his face and shake those tears from his eyes. In two steps she was at his side, her hand reaching out to grasp his ear and haul his face up to hers.

"What do you do, Joseph Anderson? You get off your ass and you go get her, that's what you do! Do you think your granddaddy Martin would have sat around moping for one instant over something like this? No, he wouldn't. He'd get off his ass and fix it! I hope he's not watching you now; a fine spectacle you're making of yourself! I loved your granddaddy; he was the best man I knew, and I had to smile and look happy when he married someone else, because he loved her more than he could ever love me. He was true to his heart; now you have to be true to yours. You've got to fix this, and fix it now; I just hope you have one hundredth of the backbone he did, because you're all I have left of him. Don't you dare let him down!"

Joey looked at her in shock; she'd never spoken to him like that before, and it jarred him deeply.