WFOL 2022
BBTV Round Robin
THE NOTE IN THE BOOK IN FATHER'S LIBRARY:
NOTE ONE
By
KathyDe
Twenty-two-year-old Jacob Wells walked into his bedroom and glanced at the box on his bed. He frowned as he reached inside and picked up a book. Its edges charred, probably from a fire, he swept away debris and squinted to see the title. Curious, he grabbed a rag from under the bathroom sink and wet it with water then scrubbed at the binding. Unable to read the title, he laid it on his desk then opened it gently. He skipped the first few pages then frowned at the title, Genetics.
He picked up the book and quickly scanned through the pages until he got to a note stuck in the pages of the book.
He read it then raced Below and followed the directions written on the note.
He frowned when he found himself in a little-used tunnel. He grabbed a torch off the wall and continued to follow the directions. He finally came to a solid wall and re-read the paper then felt around for a hidden lever. He gasped when a brick fell to the floor and the hole showed a thick wad of papers towards the back. He glanced down at them then his face showed his shock.
He raced through the tunnels and back up to their brownstone and straight to his room, where he sat down heavily at his desk. He read the papers for over an hour as he let the information slowly sink in. Then he put the pages and the note back in the book and ran from the room.
“Daaaaad!” he shouted loudly as he raced across the hallway to his parents’ room.
Vincent came from around the back of the stained glass divider and frowned. “Tell me!” he asked worriedly as he quickly walked over, desperate to hear the news that had his son so upset.
Jacob grimaced at the look of concern on his Dad's face and looked at him sheepishly. “Sorry to worry you, Dad, there's nothing wrong exactly...”
Vincent rolled his eyes as he cocked his head and smirked. “Well, it certainly must be something important for you to run in here so exuberantly.”
“Is Mom coming home soon?” Jacob asked as he walked over to the bed.
Vincent paused then looked up into the air and closed his eyes. “She's...near...”
“I think we should wait until she gets here.” Jacob frowned as he sat down.
Vincent nodded as he walked over at sat down next to his son. “I can feel your confusion...and excitement... You must know that whatever you have to tell us, we will work together to solve the problem.”
Safe in the knowledge of his parent's love, Jacob smiled. “I know that, Dad! You and Mom are the best parents!”
“Dinner's ready!” a girl's voice called out.
“Can this wait until after dinner, or should I ask Caroline to keep it warm?” Vincent asked.
Jacob shook his head. “She's your daughter! You know Carrie will be furious if we ask her to wait!”
Vincent chuckled as he put his arm around his son. “I do believe your Mom and I overindulged your little sister...”
“Ya' think?!” Jacob grinned.
The two made their way down the stairs and walked towards the dining area.
Catherine opened the front door with a smile. “I'm home!”
Vincent walked over and helped her take off her coat and set her briefcase down on the chair. “You've been missed!” he said as he bent over to kiss her.
Catherine rolled her eyes. “By my husband! Obviously not by any of our five kids!” she said loudly as they walked arm and arm into the dining room.
“Hey, Mom,” a chorus of voices called out.
Catherine smiled widely. “That's more like it! Did you miss me?!”
Eighteen-year-old Devin put his hand to his heart. “I don't know how we made it through the day!”
Catherine snorted derisively as she hugged and kissed him.
Joseph, Devin's twin, chuckled as well. “Devin has been beside himself, Mom. I knew you loved us too much to abandon us to just Dad. I knew you would come home again!”
Twenty-year-old Charles came into the room carrying a huge tray of lasagna. “Everyone knows I'm Mom's favorite, so you two can just stop sucking up!”
Caroline, who was now sixteen, pushed past her brother and set down baskets of garlic bread. “Yeah, that's great, but as their ONLY daughter, we know who rules this house! Right, Daddy?!” she said as she slipped into Vincent's lap.
“Whatever you wish, Princess.” Vincent hugged and kissed her before he patted her back.
Caroline slipped into the chair next to him and started serving him.
“It smells fantastic, Carrie!” Catherine complimented.
Caroline chewed her lip nervously. “I followed all of Grandma Chandler's instructions from her cook book and didn't waiver from them at all.”
“Good girl,” Vincent encouraged.
As usual, their four sons were instantly devouring their food. Catherine finally rolled her eyes at them. “Is there something special about tonight that you feel the need to shovel the food into your mouths?”
All of them had the grace to blush and slowed their eating.
Caroline looked on with disgust. “You guys are pigs!”
“That's ‘cause we're eating slop...” Devin joked.
Caroline was so hurt she looked down with shame. “I'm sorry, I tried so hard!”
Devin's head shot up in surprise. “Carrie...hey...Sissy, this stuff is fantastic! I'm sorry, I was just joking...you know...slop...pigs...”
Joseph elbowed him. “She gets it! It’s not funny.”
Charles reached over and grabbed his sister's hand. “Carrie, it really is very good!”
Caroline looked up and saw that everyone truly felt that way and she smiled. “I'm glad you all like it.”
Vincent frowned at Devin. “It’s so good, I'm guessing your brother Devin will volunteer to clean up after dinner.”
Devin knew he deserved the punishment and sighed. “Yep, I sure will, Carrie. Whatever mess you made, I will happily clean!”
Carrie smirked at him. “Thank you!”
“Hey, Sissy?” Devin cocked his head in a pose similar to his father's. “Did you make a big mess?”
Everyone laughed as Joseph started stacking empty plates up.
Vincent smirked and looked over at Catherine. “Jacob has something important to share with us.”
Catherine's brows rose with surprise. “Okay...what is it?”
The other siblings started to get up but Jacob stopped them. “You guys might want to listen too...this affects all of us!”
Curious, everyone sat back down and waited for him to begin.
Vincent moved closer to Catherine as Jacob began to pace.
Catherine hid her amusement at the likeness he shared with his father and reached over for Vincent's hand. “Jacob?”
Jacob took a deep breath. “When I came home today, I found a box of books on my bed.”
Charles nodded. “Yeah, I put them there, they're from Below.”
Catherine looked at him curiously. “The books from Below are supposed to stay Below.”
“Grandfather said they could go,” Caroline explained.
Charles nodded then looked at his parents. “You know how Grandfather has been letting Jacob use his medical books?” His parents nodded at him, so he continued, “Well, he remembered seeing some upstairs way in the back behind the geography section.”
Vincent chuckled. “It’s damp back there; were any of them ruined from the moisture?”
Devin shrugged. “A couple of them had a little bit of damage on the outer cover but no, they were in good shape. Joseph and I spent a lot of time up there organizing them, and I was able to save a bunch of them.”
Caroline nodded. “That's when we found a box of books that looked like they had been in fire. One of them said ‘John Pater’ inside it.”
Catherine immediately glanced at Vincent, who blew out a long breath.
Their kids had noticed the exchange but stayed silent, except for Caroline. “That's the same reaction Grandfather and Mary had...”
“Who is John Pater?” Charles asked.
Vincent hesitated then sighed in resignation. “He was one of the original founders of the world Below. He chose to go down the wrong path and had to be banished for his crimes.”
Jacob grabbed the book and started to pace again.
Catherine frowned as she leaned forward and looked at him. “Did you find something in one of them that has upset you?”
Jacob shrugged. “I thought...”
“Jacob, perhaps if you tell us what you found, we can all work through it together,” Vincent encouraged.
Caroline slipped from her seat and took the book from her brother's hand. She flipped to the first page and read aloud, “It’s a book called Genetics. That's genes and blood and DNA and stuff, right?”
“Yeah, Carrie, it is,” Charles answered.
Jacob smiled weakly. “I found a note in the book. It was directions to a chamber Below. In its back wall there was a hidden mechanism and it opened a pocket where I found this stack of loose pages.”
“Go on...” Catherine encouraged.
“They're very well detailed and to me it looks like some John guy worked on some pretty complicated genetic equations...um...” He hesitated.
Devin scowled. “I've got a kitchen to clean; is there a point to this?”
“As best as I can tell, they are equations to create a hybrid....” Jacob hesitated.
Joseph rolled his eyes. “I'm with Devin on this one...Hybrid what? Car? Dog?”
Jacob looked nervously at his parents. “Human...hybrid human!”
Vincent closed his eyes and sank back in his chair as Catherine squeezed his hand tightly.
Charles gasped. “Are you sure, Jacob?”
Jacob slid the pages out onto the table and Charles started to read through them. After he read through the first five pages, he looked up at Jacob. “I...think you may be right.”
Catherine had taken each page after Charles finished and she and Vincent read them together.
Vincent cleared his throat. “I guess I truly was his son!” he said quietly.
Devin, Joseph and Caroline started to read the pages as well. They had only read the first three before they looked up.
Charles looked up. “So it would seem that this guy John used collected sperm from a lion and eggs from a woman and managed to create a fertilized egg. Um...I'm guessing the same woman he got the egg from he implanted the fertilized egg into...”
“Anna?” Catherine asked.
“Who's Anna?” Caroline wondered.
“His wife at the time,” Catherine explained.
Devin looked confused. “If all of this is true then it would explain why you look the way you do, Dad.”
“Yes,” Vincent said quietly.
“But it doesn't make sense,” Jacob added. “In the animal kingdom, most hybrids are sterile.”
Catherine chuckled. “Well, there are five of you here proving that finding is unfounded.”
“Why don't any of us look like Dad?” Joseph wondered.
“We all look like Dad!” Caroline frowned when all eyes turned to her in question. “Well...okay, not some of his features but we are all tall...”
“Yeah, we certainly didn't get that from Mom,” Devin joked.
Catherine stuck her tongue out at him and they laughed.
“You guys all have huge shoulders. We all have thick reddish blonde hair. Three of the five of us have blue eyes...” Caroline continued.
Catherine chuckled. “You all pace like Daddy when you're worried, and you all roar when you're mad!”
Caroline sat on Vincent's lap and went on, “For brothers, you all give good hugs; not as good as Daddy's but still comforting.”
“We all have great study habits and are pretty level-headed with our thinking,” Jacob added.
“We can all calm Grandfather down when he's upset.” Charles laughed.
Joseph looked over at Catherine. “Gosh, Mom...what part of you is in us?”
Catherine sighed. “None of me. You guys are all your Daddy.”
“I like to shop.” Caroline grinned.
“I like to debate,” Joseph added.
“I want to be a lawyer,” Devin announced quietly.
All eyes turned to him. “You're just saying that!” Catherine grumbled.
Devin grew serious and shrugged. “I don't think I am. I want to see what it’s all about. I even called Uncle Joe and asked him if I could shadow him at spring break so I can see what he does.”
“You did?!” an astounded Catherine asked.
“Ask him...” Devin challenged.
Vincent smiled as he leaned forward. “That showed good initiative, Devin.”
“I know,” Devin said as he felt his parent’s praise.
Jacob stood up again. “I have a professor I can talk to about these papers. I'd like to see if he can give me any answers.”
Catherine looked worriedly at Vincent. “I don't think that's a good idea...”
Vincent looked at her then back at Jacob. “I know you will go with care. Your mother and I were very lucky that none of you kids inherited my unusual features. If you can find any genetic information that will help you kids in the future then I think you need to find it.”
Caroline shot to her feet and started to clean up plates. “Well, I hope one day I have a little boy that looks exactly like you!”
Vincent grabbed her hand and smiled. “Thank you, Caroline.” Caroline leaned over and kissed his cheek and Vincent held her hand for a moment longer. “Perhaps you can make sure that happens in ten, maybe fifteen years...” he joked.
“Well, without a boyfriend, it certainly won't be this weekend!”
All eyes turned to her as she realized what she’d said. She blushed and mumbled, “I meant I would need a boy, and since I don't have one now, it would...Oh, God!” she groaned.
Catherine chuckled. “Go hide in your room, Devin is cleaning up, remember?!”
Caroline raced to her room and they laughed when they heard her door slam.
Joseph looked at his twin. “I'll help you, Dev,” he said as he started to clean up.
Charles looked to Jacob. “Let's go see if there is anything more in those books!”
Jacob nodded and they left the room too.
Catherine nodded over her shoulder. “Want to go to the study for a while?”
Vincent was quiet but nodded and followed her. Catherine quickly grabbed a book then settled on one end of the couch. “Come here...” she asked.
Vincent laid down and placed his head in her lap. Catherine read aloud and caressed his hair and slowly felt the tension leave him.
After an hour, she stopped. “Feel better now?”
Vincent sat up and put his arm around her and waited for her to snuggle against him. “I knew the day would come when this would need to be discussed. I'm sorry that your children have to go through this...”
Catherine looked up at him. “Our children love you! None of them would choose another man to be their father. I don't think it’s a bad thing to learn more about the family genetics...”
“Neither do I. You may have to address these issues with potential spouses of our kids.”
“We will have to... I know that when the day comes that someone brings home a potential spouse, they will have already screened them and fully trusted them with our secret. They have been taught since day one how important your security is.”
“And neither you nor they should have to go through that.”
“Well, we are, so get over it!” Caroline said as she came into the room. “Dad, I need you!”
“What's wrong?” Catherine asked.
“There's a spider in the tub!”
“Oh, for Pete's sake, Carrie, you have two brothers upstairs!” Catherine spat.
'Yeah, who will grab the thing from the tub and chase me around the room!”
“Your brothers won't do that!” Vincent chuckled as he started to get up.
Catherine rose as well. “Are we heading upstairs then?” she asked.
Vincent took her hand. “I thought I'd watch you kill the spider for your daughter.”
Catherine's eyes showed her fear as she shook her head. “No way, not me, that's why I had sons!”
“Why'd you have sons?” Joseph asked as he came from the kitchen.
“To kill spiders,” Catherine explained.
“Where is there a spider?” Devin wondered.
“In your sister's tub. I assured her one of you would take care of it,” Vincent explained.
Devin rubbed his hands together devilishly. “Oh, yeah...where do you want it? Pillowcase? Between the sheets?”
“Daaaaadddd!” Caroline complained.
“Devin!” Catherine scolded. “You're eighteen years old, please stop terrorizing your sister.”
Catherine and Vincent made their way to their room and were settling in when Caroline's scream could be heard.
“Devin!” Vincent roared.
Devin walked in grinning as he let the spider crawl around his hand. “What?! I got the spider from her tub.”
Catherine stood up in her bed. “Why the hell is it alive?!”
“I thought he could hang out in my room...”
Catherine was horrified. “So he can crawl around this house at will?!”
Vincent looked at his son and pointed. “Outside the back door.”
Devin rolled his eyes and did what he was told.
Three months later:
Jacob and Charles were late coming to the dinner table. “Sorry,” they said as they took their places and started to grab some food.
Catherine nodded at him. “That's okay. Caroline said you had a call from your professor.”
“Yeah...it was about the notes I found,” Jacob clarified.
Vincent set down his fork. “Well?”
Jacob blushed as his mouth was full of food.
Charles rolled his eyes. “Professor Donohue did some extensive research with some of his advanced interns. They came to the conclusion that the person was on to something and that the possibility of it happening actually existed...”
“But...” Catherine prompted when he hesitated.
Jacob shrugged. “But even though the technology was there and it could happen, they felt that it was morally reprehensible and that no true scientist would go through with the experiment.”
Vincent's shoulders sagged. “They underestimated the brilliant but sick mind that John Pater had.”
Charles frowned. “They also said that if the experiment, in fact, happened, most likely the child would have died soon after birth, as it would not have been viable.”
Catherine reached over and squeezed his arm. “They also underestimated the love of a father and his desire to help a defenseless boy.”
Vincent smiled weakly at her. “Well, at least we learned how I came to be.”
Catherine frowned as she looked at her sons. ”Did they say anything about bloodlines?”
The brothers looked at one another and shrugged. “No,” Jacob answered. “Most likely because they believe the creation wouldn't live.”
“So you children will have the decision in your lives to decide on having children and taking the chance that they could potentially look like me.” Vincent sighed.
The kids all looked around and slowly smiled.
“I wouldn't care,” Caroline said.
“Me neither,” added Charles.
Joseph and Devin grinned. “We don't have a problem with it.”
Jacob laughed aloud. “I would be honored to have a son like you!”
Vincent felt their love and nodded. “Yes, but what about your spouses?”
The kids looked at one another then grew quiet.
Caroline was the first to light up. “Any future spouse has to pass the sibling approval test.”
“What's that?” Catherine asked.
Caroline looked at each of her brothers. “If you find a partner and think she's the one, you have to bring her here and all of us have to approve of her before we let her meet Dad!”
Everyone sat and debated the merits of her idea.
Jacob spoke first. “That's a really good idea!”
“It really is,” Charles agreed.
Devin looked at Joseph then shrugged. “We're good with it.”
Catherine put her hands on her hips. “Don't I get a say?”
“No!” Caroline stated. “You're too nice, and if we are happy you will try to make it work. Only a sibling will tell you the truth!”
Devin nodded. “Yeah, like, Sissy, that is one ugly ass shirt!”
Caroline flashed him an angry look, “It was a gift from Maria!”
Joseph cringed. “Well, Maria has crap taste!”
Caroline looked to Charles, who slowly looked down, and Jacob pretended to pick fake crumbs off the table.
“What am I supposed to do? These guys will NEVER approve of anyone I bring home!” Caroline grumbled.
Devin stood and squeezed her shoulder lovingly. “Don't worry, Sissy. You will NEVER meet anyone wearing that shirt!”
“Moooommmm!!!!” Caroline screeched.
Jacob sighed. “All I can say is, sometimes notes found in books can be good!”
THE END
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