| Fathers and daughters reconnect ... Saturday 9/15/2001 |
| // God, is it morning already? // Lennie�s eyes fluttered open. He rolled over, trying to focus on the clock. 8:00. Jack appeared to still be sound asleep next to him. He smiled, glad that Jack hadn�t done his usual �early riser� bit today. After yesterday, he deserved to sleep in. It had been a rough one for both of them. To keep Jack�s mind off his problems, they had spent the evening talking about Lennie�s. Both of their �long-lost� daughters had picked this week to turn up again. He had promised Julia he�d call Saturday, hoping to be able to figure out how to talk to her in the meantime. And here it was, Saturday, and he still had no idea how to make this work. He sighed and got out of bed, careful not to wake Jack. Was Julia a morning person? How early was too early to call? He grabbed his robe and made his way to the kitchen; no use even trying to think before coffee. An hour later, Jack found him sitting at the kitchen table, staring into his second cup. He came up behind him, gently resting his hands on Lennie�s shoulders and leaning over to kiss his cheek. �Morning.� Lennie reached up to cover Jack�s hand with his. �Hey.� �What are you doing up so early?� �Woke up about an hour ago. Guess I�m just nervous.� Jack let go and got himself a cup of coffee, detouring to the fridge for cream, then sat down on the other side of the table. He took Lennie�s hand, his thumb gently rubbing back and forth. �It�ll be OK, Lennie. Why don�t you go take a shower while I fix some breakfast. By the time we�re done, it should be safe to call.� Lennie nodded. �Thanks, Jack.� Finally, he sat alone in the study, staring at the phone. Picked it up, dialed the number he�d had to look up in his address book. Three rings, then a female voice said �Hello?� �Hey kiddo. I told you I�d call Saturday. You got some time to talk?� �Dad? Yeah. I didn�t think you were really going to call.� �Oh, sweetheart. When you called Thursday, you took me by surprise. I guess we�re all still a little shell-shocked from last week.� �Yeah, here too. They said on the news about how so many cops had been killed helping with the crisis � all I could think of was you.� �I�m glad you called, honey. I thought you�d given up on your old man. After the funeral �� �Dad, you don�t blame yourself for her death, do you?� �No, but your mother does. And you pretty much stuck with her.� �Oh yeah? You have no idea how much grief she gave me for just hugging you that once.� �She what?� He sighed. // Damn that woman! // �She was upset, Julia. Don�t blame her for that.� �Dad, she was still fussing over it a year later. And your friend the lady cop �� Lennie had to think a minute � oh, yeah, Van Buren had pretty effectively put Gloria in her place when she was ranting at him after the funeral. �That was my boss, actually.� �Oh! Mom thought she was your latest girlfriend.� Lennie couldn�t help laughing at that. Oh, sure, Anita Van Buren was an attractive woman. But considering his new life � �Uh, no. She�s VERY married. And my boss. Way off limits.� �Married never stopped you before, Dad.� Another sigh. �Yeah, well, let�s just say I finally grew up. It�s funny, kiddo. It took me almost 60 years, but I think I�ve finally got my life figured out. But by the time I crawled out of the bottle, we had grown so far apart, I guess I gave up on you. Just when I was starting to get a handle on everything, Cathy died, and that tore us apart again. Julia, honey, do you think you could give your old man one more chance?� Silence on the other end of the line. Then softly. �Yeah.� He blinked back the tears. �So how�s my grandson doing?� �Tommy�s growing up way too fast. He�s in first grade � started school full time two weeks ago.� �Oh, geez. I�m guessing you�re going nuts.� �You could say that. Hey Dad, did you ever get email? I could send some pictures.� �Uh, actually yes. Hey, I even have a cell phone now. Dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century.� He gave her the address and his new phone number. �So how about you? Anything else new?� // oh, boy, the loaded question. // �Um � you better sit down for this, kiddo.� �Dad?� �Honey, I�d rather tell you this in person, but it doesn�t look like travel is going to be easy for a while, so here goes.� He paused, taking a deep breath. �I�m gay.� The silence on the other end was deafening. And then laughter. �Oh, man, mom is going to FREAK! I can just imagine the look on her face!� Lennie could too, and in a matter of moments father and daughter were lost in a fit of giggles. When they could finally talk again, Lennie explained how he and Jack had become roommates, and eventually lovers. �I wasn�t looking for it, honey, but when it found me, suddenly everything made sense. Why I could never keep a relationship together, why my whole life just felt, I don�t know, �out of balance.� I�m finally happy.� �So it sounds like you two are really serious?� �We actually kind of had our own private wedding ceremony a little over a month ago. July 24.� �Dad! That�s so sweet!� He was actually blushing. �I�m glad you think so. I was afraid you�d be upset.� �Don�t worry, Mom will take care of that part. I�m just glad you�re happy.� �Thanks, sweetheart.� �No problem, Dad.� A shrill squeal in the background. �Oh, boy, I�d better go � sounds like somebody needs me.� �OK, sweetheart. But listen - maybe after travel gets going again, we could get together?� �I�d like that. I think it�s time Tommy gets to know his grandfather.� Once again, he felt the sting of tears behind his eyes. �Oh, yeah. Thanks, kiddo. I love you.� �I love you too, Dad. Talk to you soon, OK?� �Promise.� He hung up the phone and went out to the living room. Jack heard him coming and got up, coming to meet him. The look on Lennie�s face was one of pure joy. Jack felt the tightness around his own chest loosen as he pulled his lover into an embrace. They held each other close, then finally Jack pulled back, bringing his hands up to hold Lennie�s face. �It went well.� Lennie nodded, smiling. Jack kissed him. �You tell her about us?� �Yeah. She found it amusing to think how pissed her mom is going to be when she finds out.� Jack laughed, remembering the last time he had seen Lennie�s ex. He could easily imagine her having a fit over this. �She lost, I won. Game over.� He leaned in and playfully kissed the tip of Lennie�s nose. Lennie laughed and kissed him properly. �So. You going over to see Kate?� Jack was almost annoyed at the sudden shift from that happy moment to the crisis that he�d been trying not to think about all morning. He let go and wandered over to the couch. �Yeah. But I still don�t know what to say, Lennie.� Lennie followed him and sat beside him, one hand caressing his back. �You can�t plan it, Jack. Just let it happen.� Jack looked at his lover and nodded. Lennie leaned in and gently kissed his forehead. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kate laid there in the hospital bed, bored out of her mind. Thanks to the uniformed cop stationed outside her door, she wasn�t allowed visitors. She still couldn�t believe this was happening; she was accused of murdering her friend. Then to have HIM turn up on top of everything. One of the reasons she had accepted this offer in New York was to have a chance to finally find her real father. But to meet him like this! Not at all what she had planned. But at least he believed her. Got her a good lawyer � she liked Jamie Ross. Most of all because she had insisted on interviewing Kate without her father present, even though he was paying the bills. A knock at the door brought her out of her reverie. �Katie � uh, Kate? Um, hi. Can I come in?� �Dad �?� // geez, I sound as uncertain as he does. // �I thought I wasn�t allowed visitors?� // There, make it a real question. Good recovery. // Jack shrugged. �One advantage of working in the DA�s office. �Professional courtesy.�� They looked at each other, not sure what to say. Jack wanted desperately to reach out to her, to hug her, but was afraid it would be presuming too much. He finally settled for coming over to the bed and reaching for her free hand. His stomach twisted as he again realized the other one was handcuffed to the bed rail. As Kate looked up at him, the reality of her situation hit her. She suddenly felt like a scared little girl. And looking down at her was a face she recognized. OK, so the hair was silver now instead of the black she remembered, and the face was deeply lined from years of scowling at crooks and defense attorneys. But it was still him � the one who had comforted her as a child. Steve Michaels had eventually become �Dad,� but this � this was � �Daddy?� Her voice sounded almost like the little child he remembered; scared and alone. It went straight to his heart. �It�s OK, Katie, I�m here.� He pulled her into his arms, held her as his own tears mingled with hers. �Everything is going to be all right.� Finally they let go. Jack spotted the box of Kleenex on the bedside table, grabbed one for each of them. Kate laughed as she took one and wiped her face. Jack smiled and leaned in to kiss her forehead. They looked at each other, once again awkward, not sure what to say. �So.� When Jack didn�t follow that with anything, Kate answered with �So?� Jack sighed. �So what brought you to New York?� �You mean besides putting the entire continent between me and Mom? It was a great opportunity. I got an internship with PHC in college, they hired me when I graduated. David had come out to the Frisco office to work on a project, we got to be friends. So when they had an opening in his department out here, he recommended me.� Jack was amazed at how quickly he dropped into �concerned father� mode. �You moved across the country to live with this guy?� Kate rolled her eyes. �I told you, he�s not my boyfriend. David�s gay. Poor guy � so deep in the closet, then dropped into the gay capital of the US. He didn�t know what to do when he got to Frisco. I just showed him around, helped him loosen up a bit. I guess he appreciated that.� Jack blinked, wondering if she was saying what he thought she was saying. �So you know the Fricso gay scene well?� Kate tried to decide if his voice sounded judgmental; she hedged. // I need him now, don�t piss him off yet. // �Dad, I went to college there. I had more gay friends than straight. Yeah, I know the scene.� Jack decided this was getting a little too close to something he really wasn�t ready to discuss yet, so he jumped on the change of subject. �So how�d you end up going to college there?� �Well, first rule was I had to get away from home. Ever since you two split up, Mom got real possessive, over-protective. And she wanted me to be her perfect little angel. But that�s just not me. She never would have let me go away to school if I hadn�t gotten the scholarship, though.� Jack couldn�t help the grin. �Scholarship?� Kate smiled back at him. �Full scholarship to the University of San Francisco. BS in Finance. Not that we needed the money, of course. But she liked the prestige of getting a scholarship to a small school.� Jack felt the pride swelling in his chest. �Oh, sweetheart, that�s wonderful.� Kate blushed, not used to the positive attention. �Thanks. It�s nice to have it appreciated for once, instead of taken for granted.� Jack looked at her, concerned. �You and your mom really don�t get along, do you?� Kate shook her head. �I�m just not her perfect carbon copy clone. She wanted me to study law, but that�s just not my thing. I�m a numbers person. She just expected perfection all the time. I�m smart, but I like to have fun, too.� Jack was confused. �Wait a minute � she was the one who divorced me because I worked too much. Are you telling me she turned into a workaholic?� Kate sighed. �Sort of. And I guess my idea of fun is a bit rougher than hers. I wanted to get a motorcycle instead of a car when I got my license. She wouldn�t hear of it.� Jack had to laugh. �I�m afraid that one�s my fault, Kate. Not that she didn�t have her share of fun riding on the back of my bike �� Kate stared at him in shock. �Mom? Riding a motorcycle? You�ve got to be kidding?� �It�s still the only thing I own. I�ll take you for a ride when we get you out of here.� That brought them back to reality. �They said that when the doctors discharge me, they have to take me to jail.� Jack nodded, held her hand. �I know. But you�ll be arraigned on Monday. Even though I�m technically on personal leave right now, I have friends in high places. They�re not going to ask a high bail; as long as the judge cooperates, I should be able to get you out Monday afternoon. Don�t worry, Kate. We�ll get to the bottom of this. A lot of good people I trust are working to find the truth.� The guard tapped on the door and stuck his head inside. �I�m sorry, Mr. McCoy. I think you�d better leave � I really shouldn�t have let you stay this long.� Jack sighed. �I understand, Officer. Thank you. I�ll be out in a minute.� He turned back to Kate. �I promise you, honey. We�ll sort this out.� He hugged her tightly, then got up to leave. As soon as he was safely out in the hall, he fished in the pocket of his jeans to retrieve his ring. He�d reluctantly taken it off, not wanting her to notice and ask questions he wasn�t quite ready to answer yet. He wanted a little time to get to know her before dropping that particular bombshell. Although it certainly sounded like she wouldn�t have a problem. Monday afternoon he�d tell her. Lennie was waiting for him at the lounge by the elevators. He got up and went to Jack, laying his hand on his lover�s arm. �You OK?� He was still blinking back the tears. �Yeah.� Lennie reached out to brush away one that snuck out. �Come on, let�s go home.� Jack nodded and let Lennie guide him to the elevator, grateful for the support. 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| Daughters Chapter 3 |