The Morgan Legacy, Chapter 35, Part Three: Disparate Youth--Seeley
It was the day the residents of Belladonna Cove had been waiting for for rotations now--Anne and Jace's wedding day. Since seemingly half the neighborhood would be in attendance, the members of the main house all did their part to get everything ready. As the oldest of Anne and Jace's children, Seeley was particularly determined to make sure the wedding went off without a hitch.
He checked in on his mother first. "Are you okay?"
"What do you mean?"
"You should be way more excited," Seeley told her.
"I am excited," Anne said defensively.
He crossed his arms. "Mom."
"Seeley." She smiled. "I'm excited, really. Now how about you leave the parenting to me and go hang out with your friends before the wedding?"
"Okay," he agreed warily. But it didn't change the facts--he knew his mom better than almost anyone, and he knew something was up.
It was confirmed when he bumped into his brother in the hallway and Sam recoiled way too violently. "What?" Seeley demanded.
Sam shook his head, eyes darting like mad in hopes of finding a way out of the conversation. "Nothing."
"I know something's up. Did you have another dream? Does Mom know? Is something going to happen to me?"
"I don't know everything just because of my stupid dreams! Leave me alone!" Sam pushed past him, and Seeley sighed. Sam was prickly about--well, everything, but especially about his abilities. Seeley should have known better than to interrogate him like that.
He cut through the living room, noticing that Samantha was napping. Again. His great-aunt always seemed tired these days. Anne was worried, so Seeley was, too.
Jace and the girls were already outside. "Look, Seeley, look!" Hannelore called in delight, jumping up and down. "Isn't it beautiful? I'm gonna use it when I get married."
"You don't want a pink one instead?" he teased. Hannelore did love the color pink, despite how it clashed with her red hair.
"No, 'cause this is more romantic if Mom and Dad used it, too."
"It is Romance-sim approved," Jace assured her.
Katherine was still studying the arch. "What about you, Kay?" Seeley asked. "Are you gonna get married under the family arch?"
"I dunno." She made a face. "It's too far away. Thinking about it now doesn't make sense."
"Very sensible," Jace said.
"Boring," was Hannelore's opinion.
"No, being the same as you would be boring," Katherine returned.
"Hey, how about we all get along for the wedding?" their father suggested. "Go make sure Sam's in his suit."
"Race you!" Katherine said mischievously to Hannelore, the brewing argument forgotten, and the twins ran, giggling, into the house.
Jace watched them go, shaking his head fondly. "What a family," he said, then smiled sidelong at Seeley. "Thanks for making me part of it."
Jace could credit him all he wanted, but Seeley knew his dad was really the one at the center of their family. "Thanks for everything, Dad."
He had quite recovered from the sentimentality by the time Wilf and Lina showed up.
"Tell me you invited some hot townies," Wilf said hopefully.
Seeley grinned. "Don't let Jacqueline hear you say that."
"I know, I know."
"Hear him say what?" Jacqueline asked from behind them.
Seeley noted Wilf's face light up with appreciation, though he didn't understand why until he turned to look at her--and kept looking. He didn't know the first thing about dresses, but the way she looked was definitely worth how long it had taken her to find the damn thing. Given the way Wilf was looking at her, he agreed, which annoyed Seeley. Wasn't there any girl Wilf wouldn't go after?
"You look great!" Lina told her.
"Yeah," Wilf agreed.
Jacqueline did smile, though it was strained. "Thanks."
"When did you buy another?" Lina asked. "I didn't see you at the store."
"You went shopping again?" Seeley asked. He still wasn't sure how she spent so much time shopping the first time without going nuts, and she went back for more?
She shrugged, defensive. Again. "I changed my mind."
He was never going to understand her, Seeley decided. But at least she hadn't dragged them on the second trip, too.
The ceremony went off without a hitch, Seeley cheering louder than anyone at the end of it.
Then, of course, it was time for the reception.
There seemed to be a million friends, relatives, and well-wishers on hand, so Seeley lost track of Lina's whereabouts pretty fast. When he saw her next it was because she sought him out, pulling him away for a quiet word.
"Have you been telling people we're getting married?" she asked.
He blinked. Of all the things that he'd thought she might say, that was definitely nowhere near making the list. "No, of course not. We only just started dating. Why?"
"One of your relatives kept talking to me about how they were sure I would make a great legacy spouse. I thought they'd gotten that idea from you."
"I haven't said a word, I promise," he said. "I guess they just figure it's natural."
"What do you mean?"
"I have a one-in-four chance of being heir. Anyone I date, people are going to assume I'm doing it because I think they'll be a good legacy spouse one day. They'll think that with my siblings, too." He frowned. "That won't be a problem, will it?"
She slowly shook her head. "I don't really ever want to get married, Seeley, is the thing. Not even for your legacy. Is that a problem?"
It probably should have been. Other people would have gotten upset. He tried to imagine Jacqueline putting up with getting this talk from someone she'd been dating, inwardly shuddered at the mental image. But Seeley was feeling okay. "No, it's fair. I should have told you all this before someone else brought it up for me, I guess."
"It's okay. At least we know where we stand now, instead of waiting until this went further." She smiled hopefully. "Friends?"
"Friends," he agreed.
He crossed paths with Jacqueline pretty soon after. "Lina's dancing with Wilf," she reported. "In case you were looking for her."
"You can stop trying to break us up," Seeley said, a bit more snappishly than he'd intended. "We're not dating."
To his surprise, Jacqueline didn't beam and do a dance for joy at the news. "Are you serious?" She actually sounded upset, of all things. "What happened?"
"She's not interested in marrying in, or in people thinking she will."
"Her loss," Jacqueline said, tossing her head. "See, this is why you should always listen to me."
He laughed in spite of himself. "Yes, ma'am." Jacqueline could be annoying, but at times like now she always proved that she had his back, and that meant a lot to him. "Hey--I know I didn't say this earlier, but you look really nice."
Was she blushing? "Thanks."
"Yeah." Jacqueline was usually one of the easiest people in the world to be around, so why the sudden tension? "Hey, want to dance?" he asked impulsively.
She smiled. She could be one of the prickliest people he knew, second only to Sam, but she had an amazing smile when she was in the mood to use it. "Sure," she agreed.
Once the reception was over, they went right to the beach house for a family trip. Seeley's grandparents had all opted to stay behind, so it was just him, his parents, and his siblings.
"The family beach house," Anne announced with a flourish.
"You say that like you've been here before," Jace teased, and she swatted his shoulder.
"It's beautiful!" Hannelore said, eyes wide.
It did look pretty cool, but Seeley was way more interested in how they had their own personal beach. He'd spent lots of time in the beach behind Wilf's house, sure, but this was Twikkii. "Race you guys to the water!" he said, nudging Sam.
"Actually, Seeley, we need to talk to you," Anne said.
"Oh. Okay." His parents looked so serious all of a sudden, and Sam had been tense the whole way to the beach, like he was waiting for another of his visions to unfold. Maybe whatever had had him upset before the wedding. Something was definitely going on.
"You guys go play," Jace urged the kids. "Then we'll go to the boardwalk, see the sights." Hannelore took off, oblivious to the sudden undercurrents, but Sam and Katherine both cast looks back as they followed her.
"Let's go inside," Anne suggested.
By the time they had settled in the living room--well, as settled as Anne could ever get--Seeley's patience had run out. "What is it?" he asked them. "What's wrong?"
"Seeley-" Jace began.
"Your father lives here," Anne blurted out.
Seeley's eyes darted to Jace in confusion, and his mother went on, "Your biological father. Jim."
It wasn't like Seeley didn't know he wasn't Jace's biological son. After all, Katherine and Hannelore were both very clearly Jace's daughters, while he and Sam didn't share any resemblance to him whatsoever. He'd just never thought about it much. He couldn't remember a time when Jace wasn't around, so of course he'd quickly come to think of him as his father. Looking like him wasn't important, being like him was.
"Oh," Seeley said at last.
"We think you should meet him," Jace said. "It's one of the reasons we're here."
"Does he even want to meet me?"
"He will," Anne said firmly. "I'm going to go talk to him today while the rest of you are exploring, and we'll take it from there."
"He doesn't know we're here?"
"No. But I'll take care of it, Seeley. I promise."
There was more to it than that, he could tell, but he wasn't going to push. Not when his mom was this upset on what was supposed to be her honeymoon. "Okay," he said.
His parents both did a good job of pretending everything was normal, though still not good enough to allay Katherine and Seeley's suspicions. Anne made some excuse to part company with them, but Jace quickly distracted everyone else by insisting on a trip to see more of the island, and Seeley did his best to help.
The first thing they did upon reaching the boardwalk was purchase beach clothes. "Picture time!" Jace insisted, and the kids obediently struck a pose.
Seeley was helping Hannelore build a sandcastle when he sensed more than heard his mother approach. When he saw who was with her, Seeley hastily got to his feet. This man had to be Jim.
"Who's that?" Hannelore asked.
Seeley swallowed. "My father."
"But Dad's your dad!"
"Not technically. Mom was, um, dating someone else first." Not that he really knew what their relationship had been like. He wasn't sure he wanted to know. It was just too weird to think of his mom being with anyone but his dad.
"Seeley, this is Jim," Anne said once they'd reached them. "Jim, this is Seeley."
Jim smiled and held out his hand for Seeley to shake. "Hello, Seeley. Welcome home."
"Hello," Seeley said quietly. He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, but it wasn't for it to be this easy. Or this strange. He didn't look just like Jim, no, but after looking at him he knew where all the features he hadn't recognized in his own reflection before came from.
Jim looked at all of them, like he could tell Seeley still needed time to really absorb all of this. "Welcome to Twikkii, all of you," he added. "I see you have chosen your outfits. How about we get something to eat? The pineapple surprise is very delicious."
"What's the surprise?" Hannelore asked, albeit in a shyer tone than Seeley had ever heard her use.
He smiled at her. "I suppose you will have to find out."
Jim fit right in, it seemed. He didn't push Seeley to accept him, which Seeley was grateful for. Instead he got to know the whole family at once, playing tour guide during the days that followed.
Seeley's siblings all seemed hesitant about accepting him, which he quickly decided to sort out himself. It would be better for everyone if this went smoothly, and he knew he could get them all to talk to him.
"Seeley," Hannelore said worriedly when he spoke to the girls, "you don't have to live here because Jim's your dad, do you?"
"What? No way!" He looked from one twin to the other. "Were you guys really worrying about that?"
"I wasn't," Katherine declared.
"You were too."
"Nuh-uh. I knew Mom and Jim wouldn't make him stay." Her gaze darted away from Seeley's, and in a slightly less confident voice she finished, "But you do keep saying you like it here."
He tousled her curls. "That's because I do like it here--to visit, not as a place to stay."
Her expression melted into one of relief. "Oh, good," she said, so emphatically that it made him laugh, and Hannelore flung her arms around Seeley's waist.
Sam, true to form, was much less easy to deal with.
"Okay, we need to talk." Seeley yanked Sam down on the shrine bench, met him glare for glare. "Why are you treating me like I'm worse than Patrick?"
"I don't wanna-"
"Sam, come on!" Seeley was exasperated, and more than a little worried. Sam was surly as hell, sure, but he'd never been like this toward Seeley before. Seeley had always been the one running interference between Sam and the world, not the one on the receiving end of his temper.
"It's not fair!" Sam lashed out. "Now you have three parents who love you best! My dad's not even a person, I'll never see him and he doesn't care, and Mom doesn't care, and-"
"What? Nobody loves me best, they love us all the same. Mom cares about you! And you have Dad!"
"He's not my real dad," Sam said mulishly. "I don't even look like anybody."
"What, because you don't have red hair? So what? Dad may not have given you any of his genes, but he raised us. That makes him our dad. And he loves us. He'd throw himself in front of the vacation shuttle for all of us, including you, and so would Mom. And so would I."
Sam scowled down at his hands. "I hate being different," he said. Seeley knew that was an admission he never would have made to anyone else, except maybe Katherine, and he had no idea how he was supposed to respond. After all, there was nothing any of them could do to change who Sam was.
"Jim being around for this trip okay with you, right?" he asked Jace on the morning of their last vacation day. He'd wanted to have this conversation sooner, but Seeley hadn't seen much of Jace during the vacation. He figured Jace was trying to give him and Jim some space.
Jace looked surprised. "Yeah, of course. He's your father."
"You're my father," Seeley corrected him stubbornly.
Jace ruffled his hair. "Lucky you. Two dads for the price of one."
"So, Jace," Jim said abruptly the same day, an instance of perfect timing that had Seeley starting a bit in his seat. "He is a good father to you?"
"The best," Seeley said immediately. "He treats me and Sam the same way he treats Hannelore and Katherine. We're all his kids."
"Good. That is good."
Seeley hesitated. He would always think of Jace as his father, end of story, but it wasn't like it had been Jim's idea to stay out of Seeley's life. "You've been great, too," he offered.
"Perhaps. But I would not have left my home, not even to raise you, and so I think Jace would have been more important to you in any case." He shrugged. "The past is past. We still have time. That is what is important."
It was so precisely a mirror of Seeley's own feelings that he couldn't help but stare a bit. "You're right."
"Of course." Jim grinned broadly at him. It was so weird, seeing his own smile on someone else's face. "Your trip may end tomorrow, but we will see each other again. You should come back here when you are in college, bring your friends."
Jacqueline would love it, Seeley thought, his brain tripping a bit over the mental image of her in a swimsuit. "I will," he promised.
As he'd hoped, Wilf and Jacqueline were still there when Seeley and his family came back. No time had passed for the rest of Belladonna Cove, but for Seeley it had been days since he'd seen his friends, and he'd missed them.
They'd been talking for a few minutes when Seeley happened to glance at the porch. His parents and siblings were talking to the house's elders, which wasn't surprising, but there was something about Samantha that wasn't right. The way she was standing a bit apart from the rest of them, pressing her forehead like she had a bad headache....
"Wilf?" Seeley looked to his best friend. Samantha was Wilf's grandmother, after all.
Wilf bit his lip. "Yeah. The rest of my family's coming over soon. For--you know. The last day."
Seeley had never born witness to the death of a family member, but he knew the rituals. The indicators. "You'll stay, too, right, Jacks?" he asked, reaching for her hand.
"Yes," she promised, linking her fingers with his. Seeley took Wilf's hand in his free one and together all three joined the rest of the family.
Samantha died several hours after they came back.
It wasn't a surprise to anyone, really. They all had either been alive when Stephen and Lucy died and remembered the signs, or they'd been prepared ahead of time by their parents. That didn't make it any less painful.
The whole extended family was there, but they gave John David, Donna, and Arthur time to say good-bye to her privately. The rest of them stopped at the grave later, and spent the rest of the time with each other, a silent reminder that they were all there to help each other get through this loss.
"Are you going to be okay?" Seeley asked Wilf. He may have been the one who lived with Samantha and John David, but Wilf was their grandson, and he had been very close to Samantha.
"Yeah," Wilf said, though his smile came nowhere close to reaching his eyes.
"I'll stay with him," Jacqueline promised, and Seeley's attention immediately shifted to her. "You can come, too."
The whole idea was tempting, but, "I can't. I'd better stay here and help."
After quick good-byes, Seeley held Jacqueline back for a moment while Wilf joined his family. "Thanks," he said. "I'd go with you guys, I really wish I could-"
"We know," she told him. "It's okay, I've got him. Are you sure you'll be okay, though?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine."
"If you need anything, just call me. Any time."
"Even if you're asleep?"
"I won't even mean it when I get murderous. Well, much."
"We all know you never do," he said, and she rolled her eyes but gave him another hug before rejoining Wilf. He gazed after her, still smiling. He was lucky to have her in his life. To have both of them.
But Seeley couldn't sleep that night, not with Samantha dead. He knew there was someone else who was bound to be awake, so he got up and went outside. Sure enough, his mom was out there, and Seeley joined her.
"I remember when you were born," she said abruptly. "I was so scared."
"Because of me?"
"Because of so many things. I'd spent my whole life determined to become the heir, and you--you were the first real contribution I made to the family. I was scared I'd chosen the wrong man to have a child with, scared I'd have no idea how to be a good mother, scared of... I couldn't control a second of my pregnancy, and I knew I'd never be able to control you. But then you were born, and right from the start I loved you so completely. You know that, right?"
"I know, Mom."
"I'm sorry Jim wasn't here for you tonight," Anne told him.
"I didn't even think about it," Seeley admitted, startled by the reminder. "Jim didn't even know Samantha, though. He wouldn't have belonged." He was silent for a moment, thinking about it. "Mom?"
"Yes?"
"Did you love him? My--father?" He stumbled over the word a bit. It still felt so strange to refer to anyone but Jace as his dad.
Anne shook her head. "I barely knew him. I didn't want to. At the time, I thought... well, I was in love with someone I couldn't be with, for a number of reasons, and I thought I'd never love anyone else, so I didn't want to try."
"But you love Dad."
"Yes, I do." She smiled. "We may not always get it right the first time, but we Morgans are all meant for one person. Luckily I figured that out before it was too late--and even more luckily, I didn't do it until after I'd had you and Sam." She stroked his hair. "But I'm sorry I didn't introduce you to Jim until now."
"It's okay. I mean, I'm glad I know him, but I still have a dad."
"Do you resent me?" Anne asked. "For taking so long to introduce you to Jim?"
"Not really." Resent certainly wasn't the word for it, if there was a word for the tangle of emotions Seeley was still trying to sort through. "I know there wasn't a good time before."
She shook her head. "That's no excuse. I could have invited him to visit us. The truth is, Seeley, I was afraid. I should have told him the second I knew I was pregnant. That would have been the right thing to do. The longer I waited, the more afraid I became."
"Why are you telling me all this?"
"I don't want you to make my mistakes," she said frankly. "It took me too long to get my life together. I don't want the same thing to happen to you."
Seeley finally went to bed just as Sam was waking up. It wasn't the first time that Sam had had a vision that woke him up early, but it was the first time that he deliberately avoided Seeley's eyes.
"You okay?" Seeley asked, frowning as Sam shrugged. "What happened?"
Sam's eyes were way too old to belong to a little kid, Seeley thought for the millionth time. He loved his brother, but he honestly couldn't blame the other kids for being freaked out by him. "I had another vision."
"Yeah?" Sam hadn't had many so far. Minor stuff, but it had all come true. Their mom had made them both swear not to tell their granddad. "What's this one about? Is Mom gonna buy me a car?"
The joke didn't make Sam smile. Instead he shrank away, avoiding Seeley's gaze. "Mom's going to ask you to be the heir."
"What? When?"
"I don't know. Soon. You were a Teen in my vision, too."
It wasn't like the idea was a foreign concept. One of the four of them had to be the heir, after all, and he had always gotten along great with their mother. He'd known that in theory there was a good chance that he'd be the one she would pick.
But he'd thought all of that would be ages away. Hearing it now, for sure, was a huge shock.
Oddly enough, his first coherent thought was to wonder what Jacqueline would say when she heard about this.
Author's Notes