Title: Yesterday to Tomorrow: Chapter Fifty-eight, Re-arrangements to Be Made
Rating: NC-17 [violence, swearing, nudity, sexual situations]

Summary: Alyssa learns quite a bit about her familial past.

Previous Chapter Family

Current Chapter Re-arrangements to Be Made

Next Chapter Bottle of Happiness

Alyssa let the words trip over the wrinkles in her mind, trying to find some logical way to piece it all together. When it failed to fall in place, she lifted her glass to her lips once more and drained the rest of the martini glass. Nick baby babbled something, breaking the settled silence a few moments before their plates of food arrived.

Focusing on feeding Nick for the moment, Alyssa was able to conceal her lack of desire for any food in the moment. Chris noticed her discomfort naturally, his foot reaching to touch hers under the table. Her eyes shot to his and he smiled reassuredly.

For the rest of the dinner, everyone spoke congenially. Alyssa made a point to listen, to get to know her new family, even if she still couldn't wrap her mind around having a family. They told stories of family gatherings she had missed and growing up in Spokane. By the end of dinner, she could not only tell who was who but where they worked or went to school. And she had actually moved from playing with her food to eating it, something that surprised even Chris.

"How long are you guys here for?" she asked, wiping Nick's hands clean.

"Three days," Caleb answered.

"Why don't you come over tomorrow for a .... barbeque or something," she suggested, glancing at Chris who nodded at her suggestion. "We can talk more then."

"That sounds great," he agreed. "Probably time to get the kids home and in bed?"

Alyssa nodded, "Or at least attempt to. We don't usually take them out so late."

There was a brief pause before Lisa said, "No offense, but they don't look anything like you, Alyssa."

Another pause, before Chris spoke up as he lift Toni out of the chair, "She's not their birth mother. Lily's mother is my first wife. Toni and Nick's mother is my second wife."

"Mommy Lyss-Lyss," Toni argued, a deep frown on her face.

That caused a few eyebrows to raise, but no one said anything, at least not until Nick buried his face on Alyssa's shoulder, sucking his thumb and muttering 'Mama.'

"Well it's clear to see who their heart's mother is," Lynda claimed. "Have you raised all three?"

Alyssa shook her head, "Only Toni and Nick. Lily lives mostly with her mother. I've just managed to get to spend some quality time with her lately."

Lily hugged Alyssa after that statement, "Aunt Lyssa is letting me help with the wedding."

"And she's been a very big help," she nodded, squeezing the girl back. "Should we plan for three tomorrow?"

"That sounds good," Caleb agreed, accepting a slip of paper from Chris with their address written upon it. "Not hard to find

"Sure it is. Have to keep the fans away somehow," he winked. "But it's fairly easy. Not a new build so you can get directions online or the hotel can."

"Three it is then," he smiled, heading out of the private dining room in front of the rest of the family.

Outside they all embraced and said their goodbyes whle their cars were brought forth. As Alyssa buckled Nick into his car seat, he blabbered on and on about whatever his little baby mind thought of. Shaking her head, she tickled him before closing the door. Turning she was a bit surprised to see Caleb still standing there.

"If you have a chance, I'd like to speak with you alone, tell you all of the story," he said softly. "It's not an easy story to listen to, much less tell, but you need to know, Alyssa."

She nodded uneasily, "After the kids are in bed.... you can come over. I don't really like to get that far away from them at night and I don't know how to drive."

He smiled crookedly, "I'll get the others back to the hotel and then head over. Say about an hour? That way I can look like I know where I'm going tomorrow and really impress them."

She chuckled, "Sure. An hour will do."



With all three kids in bed, Alyssa changed her clothing and sat in the living room. Focusing her attention on her wedding book, as she had to shift a bunch of things around, in hopes her family would come to the wedding, she barely noticed when there was a knock on the door. Luckily Chris happened to be passing by it and opened the door. Though Alyssa had informed him of their impending visitor, he hadn't really expected Caleb to show up. But he smiled and stepped aside.

"She's in the living room," he declared. "I think she's looking at her book."

"What book?" he asked.

"Just you wait," he grinned, showing Caleb to the living room. "Care for anything to drink?"

"Water would be great, Chris," he smiled, looking in at Alyssa on the couch with a satin red book in her lap. "What do you have there, Alyssa?"

Her eyes flicked up, "Our wedding planning book. Every little detail of our wedding is held in these pages. Even the ones we decided against."

Caleb smiled as he sat down in a chair near her, "Quite a big wedding I take it?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "Kinda happens with Chris's stature. And now I need to make adjustments to a lot of it."

"Why's that?"

"I would like to in the least invite Mother's and Daddy's families, now that I know they exist," she replied.

His smile increased, "We would be honoured, Alyssa. And I'm certain many of your family would attend. When is the wedding?"

"Three and a half weeks," she responded instantly. "I know it would be last minute, but—"

"Don't worry about it, Alyssa. I'm certain most of us will be here," Caleb interrupted. "Really."

She grinned, "I'll have invitations ready for you before you head back."

He nodded, "I'll get you a list of family members, both our family and your father's before then."

Chris returned with a glass of water, handing it to Caleb before settling on the couch next to Alyssa. Both in the room were relieved to have his presence, knowing Alyssa was going to need it.

"Well like I said in the restaurant, your daddy wasn't the daddy of Emilie's baby," he started slowly, sipping his water for a moment. "Your uncle Alfred was."

Closing the wedding book, she moved to place it on the table. Chris intercepted the book, setting it on the side table instead. His arm slipped around her back afterwards. Her eyes went to his for a moment, before she turned her full attention to Caleb, nodding at him to continue.

"Alfred was an altar boy at my father's church. He was fourteen, your mother thirteen. No one really knows the details of what happened. Emilie came into Papa's office crying after we had had all gotten everything cleaned up from Easter services. She wasn't one to cry and we were all sent out of the room," he began.

"You mother was a ... Emmy was amazing. She was very devout, very much into her faith. Papa was so very proud of her, she always had a special place during any family gathering, would always say the blessing at meals. I think she could read the Bible with her eyes closed, had every one of Papa's sermons memorized," Caleb explained. "She was... special."

He looked at the glass in his hand before taking a drink. Sighing he set it down. Soft eyes went to Alyssa, his forehead wrinkled in concern.

"Later, Emmy told me some of what happened, because she knew that I was worried. As twins we felt things. She knew that. The day she left, she sat me down and told me things, making me promise to never tell anyone, to not shame our family name," Caleb swallowed audibly. "After the services, Alfred had walked with Emmy behind the church. He was fond of her, she was of him. Or at least was at the point."

"I don't know the exact details, Alyssa. Nor do I really want to. But Alfred... Alfred raped her."

Alyssa's breath caught. The words tumbled over in her mind. Her uncle had raped her mother. Her teenage, naive, holy mother. Chris's arm had tightened around her causing Alyssa's hand to reach up and grab his.

"Papa was furious. At least to the best of my knowledge. He was always quiet. But his eyes would take you apart, bit by bit," Caleb continued. "Alfred remained on as an altar boy, but Papa had obviously talked to him. He jumped a lot. And his father beat him something fierce. And it seemed finished at that point."

"Emilie withdrew into herself. She read the Bible more than usual. I couldn't get her to go on walks or anything with me any more. She wanted to be alone, that was all. Alone," he frowned. "Just her and her Bible. I would hear her a night, praying in Latin, until she would fall asleep."

"For a month this went on. Not telling me anything, being more and more alone. And then something changed. I didn't understand it then, but I know now. She was pregnant and terrified. She told our father... in confessional, I think. He was as horrified as she was. Alfred was summoned to his office and I'm certain he was yelled at the only way Papa knew how to yell, and with Emmy in the room too.

He rubbed his temples, "Papa tried to get him to marry Emmy right then. Married she would at least have a chance. But Alfred wouldn't do it. Papa let him walk out of the room, but soon he talked with Alfred's father. By the end of the week, Emmy was getting ready to marry. Not Alfred but...

"Howard," Chris stated.

Caleb nodded, "He was five years older, about to graduate high school. He was the best man in town. Kind, gentle, nuturing, intelligent, anything good you could think of, that man was. No one better for Emmy. And conveniently set to go to school in Seattle."

"Daddy was wonderful," Alyssa muttered.

"Agreed," he declared. "Papa tried to tell Emmy that she would love him one day, as he was a very good man, one worthy of her. Emmy never said much in those last days. Nothing to any of us."

"They were wed properly. It was the event of town. Everyone was there and Emmy played the blushing bride so very well. Nevermind she had never so much as kissed Howard before. The ceremony went off without a hitch, the only one absent being Alfred. No one thought much of it, as he hadn't been seen in over a week anyways. A beautiful, though thrown together so very quickly, wedding," Caleb said.

"They left the next morning after breakfast. I saw Emmy only once after that," he looked down for a moment. "After Judith was born, I went to Seattle to see her. She only allowed me in her presence for a few minutes, before retreating back to her room to read her Bible again. I sat with your father for some time, holding the baby that wasn't his, though I didn't know, not really."

"I don't know what happened. But after that.... Emmy wouldn't talk to us on the phone. Howard kept in touch for some time, but that all changed when Judith was about three. The phone calls stopped. The letters stopped. It all stopped. Some think that Alfred showed up in Seattle. Maybe he did. Only Emmy and Howard know," Caleb leaned forward for water again. "You all right, Alyssa?"

She nodded numbly, though it was quite an extended story to absorb. It did make some things make sense. How maniacal her mother was with her faith. How Alyssa didn't have brothers and sisters like all the other girls in Catholic school. But it didn't explain why there was no Judith. And Alyssa wasn't all that convinced she needed to know why there was no Judith. She had a feeling what Caleb believed to be truth, might not be truth. And there was no one around to ask.

"I can't tell you about the years between the last letter we received from Emmy and the last one we received from your father, telling us of Judith's death. Any further letters we sent returned to us. I think they must have received the ones before that, because those never returned. So maybe losing Judith was the last straw, the last thing that connected us. I don't know," he said.

"My father sent you a letter about Judith?"

He nodded, "Yes. Mentioned that a service had already been held, so not to bother coming over for the funeral. It didn't feel right, but when you go four years without hearing about someone, it's hard to tell. He didn't even mention you. We only learned about you when Emmy died. Howard mentioned you at her funeral. I don't.... I don't know anything about you at all, Alyssa. I'm sorry."

She shook her head, "That's all right. I don't expect you to."

Caleb smiled slightly, "We'll remedy that soon enough."

"Exactly."

A silence settled in the room. Alyssa's eyes left Caleb, looking to Chris. Without even a thought, he leaned forward and kissed her gently. She smiled at his loving touch, not feeling so alone at all, especially with his arm around her, his mouth pressed to hers.

Noticing the interaction between the engaged couple, Caleb grinned, "Howard would have been very pleased at the two of you. I know that without a doubt. As I'm certain Papa will be."

Alyssa'a head spun around at that, "I have living grandparents?"

He nodded, "Papa and Mom are still very much alive. As is Howard's mother."

"Really?"

Caleb nodded once more, "I'm certain they will be flying down here to see you."

Tears glittered in her eyes, looking back to Chris, "I have a family."



Laying in bed next to Chris, Alyssa snuggled up against him. Smiling he kissed the top of her head, his fingers tracing down her curves. He could still feel tension in her body, which he attributed to the story of her parents. Something like that would have to affect someone, even if they were mature enough to handle it.

"Baby?" he breathed.

"I have a family, Chris," she muttered, for seemingly the billionth time in the past two days.

"I know. It's wonderful," he responded.

"And I'm going to have to rearrange so much of the wedding to include them," she claimed.

His hand reached up to tuck hair behind her ear, "You do what you want, my love."

"And to think the guest list had shrunk to about 600. Now I have to add a hundred more to it," Alyssa sighed.

Chris chuckled, "Only if you want to."

"Chris?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you... for bringing them here. But mostly for loving me so much. I wouldn't be who I am today without you," she breathed.

He kissed her forehead, "That makes two of us then. You make me want to be a better man, the kind that deserves you, the kind that your father would think deserves you. I love you, Alyssa."

"I love you, too," her eyes fluttered close. "Even if you did just fuck up my perfect wedding by finding me a family."