Chapter 9
The laptop that Vil had sent Jessie the day before was, quite simply, awesome.
It was a new model, the next step up from Kit's own laptop, and he was just slightly jealous of it. Mike, on the other hand, was almost violently jealous when he came over to help them set up the laptop for their home network. Sam too was quite interested in it, having come over to hang out with Jessie and get some more lessons on cooking. "Think I could get your sister to do me a favor?" he asked with a laugh as they finished setting up the laptop for the network, and Mike went about installing the programs she'd need on it and importing over the work she kept on his laptop into her own.
When Vil called that night to talk about the wedding, he told her that the laptop had come. "Jessie's in love with it, and Mike almost stole it," he chuckled.
"What, you like it?"
"It's a lot nicer than mine," he admitted.
"I didn't even see it. I just told them to send the best they had. I have the same laptop as you, bro, how much better is it?" He told her about the upgrades with the new model, which made her laugh ruefully. "Hmm, sounds like I'm gonna upgrade mine too."
"Mike was drooling over it."
"Oh, he'll get over it."
He should have caught the little tilt in her voice that would have warned him that she had shenanigans on her mind. It would have prepared him for what happened at work the next day. As he and Savid worked through the mailbag page with Marty, working out how much space he'd need for the issue, Fed Ex showed up in the office. Two of them, with a dolly of Sabletech boxes. "Which of you is Rick Sanders?"
"I am," Rick called as he came out of the office. "What's this?"
"Delivery," he said. "You got nineteen boxes total here, sir. Where do you want us to stack them?"
"Delivery of what?"
Kit, however, was on the phone almost instantly. "Hey bro," Vil called in a bored voice, the sound of a computer keyboard's clicking in the background.
"Vil!" he barked.
She laughed immediately. "Are they there?"
"Vil sent them!" he said, in a little disgust. "What do you think you're doing?"
"I was looking for a way to pay Rick and your friends back for saving your life, baby bro," she said pleasantly. "I figured what the hell, why not invest a little in your company?"
"What the hell did you do?" he demanded.
"I bought your office a new computer network," she replied. "And some other equipment that magazines often need. Did you think I'd forget? I don't forget slights, but I also never forget good Samaritans. And it's not like I'm down there throwing cash around," she said teasingly. "Tell me that your magazine can't use what I've sent you."
He growled, then sighed and chuckled ruefully. "We probably can," he admitted.
"And it's not a gift. It's an investment. I expect to see a return on the money I've invested in your company. But, I won't be looking for money. I'll be looking for a favor sometime in the future."
He blew out his breath. "What did you send?"
"It's Christmas for Lone Star, baby bro. Open them and see," she actually giggled, then she hung up on him.
Rick gave him a wild look. "Vil sent it all," he repeated. "As a thank-you for what you guys did for me."
"She did?" Marty gasped, as the two delivery drivers waited patiently.
"Stack them anywhere," Rick told them. "Let's see what we got here."
After four more trips, all the equipment was taking up the entire office. Rick talked with the two delivery drivers, a mouse and a rat, signed for it, and then they left. "Well, let's see what's in them," Rick said. "Everyone pick a box, but don't scatter stuff everywhere. And look for a manifest! There has to be a manifest in one of the boxes. They'd never send a shipment this big without a manifest."
Vil was thorough, and she made everyone in the office feel like a little kid. Vil had sent enough cutting-edge desktops to replace everyone's workstation, complete with large monitors, as well as a high-powered new server that could replace the five boxes Mike used for the current website and other jobs. And she also sent eight identical laptops, the same model as Jessie's new laptop, even one for Kit. There were also four video cameras, three high-powered professional digital cameras, five hand-held casual digital cameras, two new digital drawing easels, two new high-powered scanners, four professional-grade color printers, and a huge LCD TV that could be hooked up to a computer and serve as a monitor, which they could hang on the wall and use for meetings. The last item they came across, buried in the box holding all the cameras, was a small box packed with a personal gift to Rick, the fur who had literally saved Kit's life. Inside the box was a stack of envelopes, a little plaque to hang on his wall, and a letter. "There are three personal gifts to each of you," he read aloud to them all. "I've also decided to invest in your magazine by supplying you with equipment you need to do your work. The laptops, the Blackberries, and the envelopes in this box are are my personal gifts to you, the crew, who were there for my brother when he needed you. The professional equipment is for the magazine, so you have everything you need to do your work. Except," he chuckled, "for the Toshiba camera. That one is Jessie's. I just had them send it to the office as part of the shipment, and Kit can take it home to her tonight. And to Rick, who shot the fur who nearly killed my brother and saved his life, a personal thank-you, my eternal gratitude, and a small token of my appreciation for saving my little brother."
He looked at the envelopes, saw that his own was on top, and he opened it. He gasped, his eyes wild. "Holy–" he said, breathing fast. "She sent me a check for twenty thousand dollars!"
"Oh God!" Lilly said with a squealing laugh. Rick handed the next one in the stack to Mike, who tore it open, then gave a whoop.
"She gave me ten thousand! I can buy a new car!"
After all of them were opened, Kit saw the ugly truth. Vil had given ten thousand dollars to every member of the crew but Rick, to whom she gave twenty thousand. And there was nothing he could do about it. Outside of the laptop and the Blackberry, she'd directly given nothing to him. She instead went around him and gave to everyone at his job, including the job itself. And there was nothing he could do about it. She only sent him the laptop and the Blackberry, and not because of who he was, but because he was a member of the staff.
He wouldn't complain too much. He had to admit, Jessie's laptop was awesome, and he was secretly thrilled that Vil sent him a toy of equal wow-factor. He had his principles about not taking hand-outs from Vil, but the little kid in him couldn't deny the excitement of having a kick-ass laptop to play with. The Blackberry, well, he could actually see use for that. He did do some work outside the office, and staying in touch was always a good thing. Thanks to Vil, now the whole office had a way to keep in touch through company phones, something Rick couldn't afford.
And he also had to admit, Vil was right. They could use everything she sent. It was all cutting edge, and they could really get a lot of work done on it.
Mike was in heaven. It would be a lot of work to install all the new equipment, but he looked forward to it with a childlike enthusiasm.
And he got to work. The first thing he did was put all the new laptops on the network, and after that, little got done… so it was a good thing that the next issue was already basically wrapped up. It usually was by Wednesday, what most of them were working on were pieces and sections for next week's issue. The entire office started installing their programs on their new laptops as Mike went through and started installing equipment. He started with the master computer, which was the main station that handled the actual editing software and files they sent to the printer, and worked down from there, moving on to Rick and Savid's systems, which also handled editing, but Rick's computer also held most of the vital magazine files and documents he needed to run the magazine. Mike was very thorough as techs went, and was able to mirror everything on their original systems into the new ones quickly and efficiently, making it almost seem that they weren't on a new machine. There were some differences, and he'd had to reinstall some software because the new machines were more powerful and had more options, but it didn't take him long, about two hours per box. He drew up a schedule after he finished with Savid's system and made sure everything worked properly. Mike would be installing the new machines at a rate of two a day from there out. Jeffrey and Lilly would get theirs tomorrow, Barry and Kit the day after, and then the day after that, Mike would come in on his day off and install his own workstation and port everything dealing with the website and databases to the new blade server stack.
"Now, since we got all this junk all over creation," Rick said after Mike told them about the plan, "here's the deal. When Mike finishes installing your new station, if you want, you can keep your old one and take it home. Jeffrey, Savid, you can keep the gear you have installed on your old machines, since you'll use it. Anyone who wants the old printers and scanners can throw their names in a hat and we'll draw to see who gets to keep them. Mike, the machines you're using to run all the network stuff are yours."
"I'm going to keep two of them here to serve as backups," Mike told him.
"Mike, think I might borrow one of those?" Kit asked. "I don't have a desktop at home, and I'd like a platform for doing some stuff."
"Why not use your old computer, Kit?" Barry asked.
"Kit's box isn't set up for dealing with heavy graphics or movie files," Mike answered for him. "It's the oldest box in the office, and it just doesn't have the horsepower. I think I could swing trading you your old box for one of the servers. It has the hardware for it."
"You can have my old machine, Kit," Savid told him. "I don't need another computer at home. I have what I need… but I would like to keep easel. Easel here is better than easel I have at home."
"I doubt I'll be doing any graphic design," Kit chuckled. "But thanks, Savid. We just bought a camera, and with this one that Vil sent Jessie, I'd like to have a single computer we can use for it, not two separate laptops."
"No problem, Kit. You get good computer for that, mine is graphics machine, it has lots of power and much memory for graphics. I have many graphics programs on it already," he grinned.
"Well, there ya go, Kit," Mike laughed. "Savid has all the good graphics software on his box, so you get the whole shebang. I think he even has Moviemaker."
"Yes, you install off server for me, remember?"
"You can do what you want with them, son," he chuckled. "I'll have Mike install the big TV on the wall on Monday, and I think I'll have cable put in for it," he chuckled. "Can it run cable and still work as a presentation monitor when we have staff meetings?"
"Hell, easily, boss," Mike nodded with a chuckle.
"Mmm–mmm–mmm, can you say superbowl party, ladies?" Marty said with a snap of his fingers, which produced some chuckles.
"We're gonna be a little crowded with all these boxes around, but it'll work out. Don't throw them away, Mike. I'll take them home and stow them in my old storage shed, just in case we need them to ship something back."
"Got it, boss," he nodded.
In all, Kit was a little miffed at Vil for meddling, but again, she had him by the whiskers on this one. She didn't send anything directly to him. She sent things that the magazine could really use. And though she sent money, she didn't send truly obscene sums. She gave each of them a large amount that they could really use, but not so much that it went beyond the pail. And besides, they were his friends. He couldn't be angry that Vil had shown them such generosity, for they were all like him, even Rick. They were all squeaking by on lower middle class incomes, but they all loved their jobs and they had a lot of fun doing it. Rick may have owned the magazine, but on some weeks he took home less money than he paid his staff, and he kept paying Kit even when he wasn't working… so that Vil gave him money seemed like a very proper thing to do for him.
And Kit got an awesome laptop… and a little more. Kit put his name in the hat for the printer, and he won one of them, but he lost on the draw for the scanners. He was happy about that, because those were professional-quality graphics printers, and able to print out high-quality photographs when one used the right paper.
He went home with his old and new laptops, Jessie's new video camera, printer, and Savid's old system. Jessie was in the kitchen, a little apron on over a tank top and shorts, getting ready to cook stuffed bell peppers. "Sam's coming over later, my handsome fox. What is that?"
"You won't believe what Vil did," he grunted as he put his portfolio on the coffee table. "Come out the car, I need your help."
"What?"
Jessie listened as he explained what happened, and laughed when he opened the trunk and showed her Savid's old computer and monitor. "Vil sent you a video camera too, so I figured I may as well take advantage of it. Rick's letting everyone keep their old computers to take home, but Savid gave me his because my old office machine is kinda old. Savid's computer is a graphics machine, so it's got plenty of power. It can handle everything we need to do on it, no problem. We can put all our pictures and movies and such on the desktop, that way it's not scattered across three laptops."
"Hmm… Kit, are you too attached to your old laptop?"
"Why?"
"Because Sam would kill for it. Think you might sell it to her?"
Kit laughed. "Love, she can have it."
"She'll be thrilled!" Jessie said, kissing him exuberantly. "I'll get the heavy stuff, my handsome fox, you get what you can carry."
Even though Kit was sure he could do it himself, Mike still showed up a little after he got home, still giddy and all but dancing around like a kid. "I came to help ya network that desktop," he grinned.
"I think I can handle it, Mike," Kit chuckled. "You've taught me well."
"Well, yeah, but this one'll be a bit trickier. You're dealing with a machine that was part of another network, so I'll have to do a little remapping on it. It's either that or reinstall."
"And lose all the programs Savid has on it? No way! This is like free Edit Master, Office, Flash, Moviemaker, Studio, and Photoshop!"
"Then let's get it set up," he grinned.
Sam came over as Mike was setting up the desktop to be the main part of the their home network. "What?" she gasped from the living room, then she appeared in the doorway of the spare room where Kit had his modem, serving as a little office. "Kit, are you giving me your laptop?"
"My old one, yeah," he grinned. "My sis sent me a new one, and Jessie asked if I'd sell my old one to you. But you've been a big help, and the sorority gave me a lot of my furniture, so it's only fair to return a favor with a favor. As soon as I get all my stuff off of it, it's all yours. Just share it with the rest of the sorority," he added with a chuckle.
Sam charged in and hugged him from behind, "I think I love you!" she shouted.
Kit laughed. "Don't let Jessie hear you say that."
It took about two hours. Mike and Sam stayed over for dinner as Mike set up their new desktop. It had all of Savid's programs on it, and Mike went ahead and set up the printer and attached it to the network so any of the four systems on the network could print using it. Mike even helped him mirror his old laptop onto his new one, then cleared out his personal files and gave the old laptop to Sam, but left the programs on it. They decided to leave it on their home network as well, so Sam could come over and use their printer. Since Sam was pre-med, the ability to print some detailed pictures might be useful to her for her anatomy homework and such.
Sam looked like a girl with a new doll after Mike helped him move all his personal files off his old laptop and to his new one, and he handed the old one over to Sam. She actually cradled it like it was a baby when she waltzed out of the room with it.
"That's one femme who takes her computers seriously," Mike chuckled. "And cute, too."
It took Mike until Tuesday to finish the conversion of the office to the new equipment, and the last station he replaced was Kit's own. It was a huge upgrade for him, going from that wind-up toy to a cutting edge workstation with the best graphics card and a virtual bottomless pit of RAM. It was so powerful, he could run about ten different programs at once and barely notice a slowdown. It also put them a little behind on their work, because of the sheer giddiness and the disruption of the computer network while Mike replaced everything. They had to roll up their sleeves and buckle down to get the magazine fully laid out and ready for printing on Thursday night.
On Thursday, they held their first staff meeting using the big TV as their display as Rick and Savid went over the issue and looked for feedback or last minute changes. It was a huge difference from all of them crowding around the monitor they had in the table… which was actually still there. Rick rather liked using it when he and Savid were working, since it was fairly large and under glass, which allowed them to lay things over top of it to get a rough idea how things would look.
Getting used to the Blackberry, on the other hand, wasn't quite so easy. He'd never had one before, and had no idea how it worked. He spent the better part of Wednesday afternoon reading its manual and learning how to set it up and customize it, and really saw that he wasn't going to get as much use out of it as he expected… at least until he had it all working. Since Vil had set up the accounts for them, she knew which was his, and she was already sending him messages. Vil was a dedicated "Crackberry," someone who was never without her trusty device, and now that Kit had one, she started using it to email him. The one she'd sent them all was like a bloody swiss army knife. It was a phone, email messenger, text messenger, web browser, video and audio player, integrated camera, organizer, wifi, modem feature that allowed the blackberry to connect a computer to the internet using the device's own phone feature, it even had GPS. He emailed Vil when he got the device up and running, and she called him back using the Blackberry's phone number not a minute later.
"Hey bro," she said with a chuckle.
"I didn't need another phone, Vil," he told her.
"Hey, I wanted to get you a real toy, and Blackberries do it all," she told him. "I'd be totally lost without mine. Look at it this way, bro. Now, when applications ask you for a work phone and you don't want Marty knowing your business, give them the Blackberry number."
Kit laughed. "Well, that is a good point. And it feels kinda businesslike to have a company phone," he added. "I hope this doesn't cost too much."
"Eh, I just had your accounts added into the shipyard account, but your phones are like mine and my higher execs, unlimited, where I have limits on the ones used by my lower execs."
"Isn't that a bit dangerous? I mean, that's documented help you're giving me."
"Don't you worry about that, little bro," she told him seriously. "I've almost taken care of that little problem."
When he asked he what she was going to do, she refused to answer, and then hurriedly said her goodbyes and hung up.
Rick put a memo out for them all that had all their Blackberry numbers listed, so they could call each other. All of them put the numbers in their phone features, and that wired up the whole magazine.
The Blackberry came in handy the next day, when he was at the annex for his next doctor's appointment. This time, he was there alone, and Doctor Barnett gave him another exam to check his arm. The exterior signs of the wound were now fully healed, and there was only a little tightness and twinging when he moved his left arm in certain ways. His fur was even well on its way to growing back out. Barnett examined him for about a half an hour, and then had the nurse draw some of his blood. "Well, we're gonna check for any sign of infection," he announced, "but either way, I want you to take that antibiotic until it's gone. That will really discourage any bugs from trying to take up residence in you."
"Okay, Doc," Kit chuckled.
"Now, on to the results. Good news, bad news… which do you want?"
"Both," he smiled.
"Okay, since you're leaving it up to me. The good news is, kiss the sling goodbye," he grinned. "I still want you to take it easy, though, and you're still on light activity restriction. No heavy lifting, no stresses to your shoulder, and if you spend extended periods of time at a computer, I want you to take a five minute break every twenty minutes."
"Okay."
"Now, the bad news. Physical therapyyyyy," he said in an intentionally melodramatic, spooky voice which surprised Kit and made him laugh. "Three times a week right here in the annex, you'll have a half hour of physical therapy, to work the tightness out of your shoulder and get your muscle tone back."
"How long will I have to do that?"
"It's never a set time, Kit, it'll depend on how well your shoulder responds to therapy. When I feel your shoulder is rehabilitated, you're outta there, and you never have to come back. But, I want you back here in two weeks so I can check out the shoulder and see how it's responding to therapy. Same place, see the nurse at the desk for your appointment and to set up your therapy. Now get outta here!" he said with a grin and a shooing motion with his paws.
Once everyone got used to the upgrades, it just rocked.
The new computers were fast and powerful. The Blackberries actually proved very useful when Barry, Lilly, and Kit were out doing fieldwork, letting them check in with the office and each other quickly, and more than once on the next Tuesday, Kit sent off research information straight to Barry's Blackberry as he was out doing interviews. All in all, by the time they released the next issue, they were fully used to them, and the magazine was better than ever.
He also got an answer from Jessie's mother. After returning to work from physical therapy, he found an email message from her in his work email. He opened it and found a short message:
Kit:
I received your letter and read it. I found it to be surprisingly moving, and I have to admit that you stated your case with emotion and warmth. I can appreciate your candor.
But understand, this is a very personal and emotional issue for me. I have no doubt you love Jessica, not after reading that letter, but what I fear is the future, when you grow bored with her and then abandon her. I know you say you'll never do that, but that's the big difference here. You say you won't do it, but I think you will. And I don't want my daughter to have to raise children alone because you've left her.
I've agreed to come to the wedding. I admit that I can't stop it, that I can't turn Jessica away from what I think is a terrible decision. She's made it clear to me that if I force her to choose between you and me, she'll choose you. I have to accept that fact. All I can do is step back, watch, and pray that I'm wrong. And when you do leave her, I'll be there to help her get her life back together.
I do want you to come to Thanksgiving. You need to meet Jessica's brother and sister, and I'd like to talk to you in person, so we can discuss the marriage. I promise I'll try to be civil.
Hannah
Kit leaned back and read it again, and pondered it. Well, that was… nothing he ever expected. She was afraid he was going to leave Jessie when he got bored with her? It was almost ridiculous! But, since so many marriages ended with divorce–no, that was a silly thought. No, not really. It was a justifiable thought for Hannah, since she didn't know him and she didn't understand how much he loved her.
He was right… he just couldn't put it into words.
She did deserve a reply, though.
Hannah
I'm a little surprised by your reasoning. It had never crossed my mind. But, looking at it from your point of view, I can at least understand it.
That's one of the things we can talk about when I come for Thanksgiving.
But, I do need to warn you. Because I was in the hospital (I'm sure Jessie told you all about it, I won't go over it again), and my boss was kind enough to pay my salary while I was out of work, I can't in good faith ask him for any extra days off. It would be terribly rude. We will be doing an issue on the day after Thanksgiving (our magazine prints once a week, and is released on Fridays), so I'll be working during Thanksgiving week. The best I will be able to do is to fly up on my days off, stay overnight, and then fly back the next day. My normal days off are Sunday and Monday. I'll talk to my boss, but I may end up going that way.
I will get Thanksgiving day off, however. If me coming up either before or after Thanksgiving is too much of a hassle for you, or I'll miss meeting Jessie's brother and sister, I could fly up on Wednesday night, and then fly back on Friday morning. On Fridays, we don't come into the office until 1pm. That would give me enough of a window to fly in, spend Thanksgiving day with you, then fly back early the next morning.
By the way, Hannah, if you ever want to talk to me in real time, please, don't hesitate to call. You have my number, and I'm always willing to talk with you.
Kit
He thought that was a decent enough reply, and sent it off.
He spent most of the rest of the day knocking out some research projects and working with Jeffrey on the strip, and was surprised to have a reply back from Hannah as he checked his mail one more time before heading home.
Kit:
I'd rather keep it in emails for now, since I have time to think about what I want to say. That prevents me from saying something that might get me banned from the wedding. The phone doesn't have a backspace key.
Kit had to laugh at that.
I can appreciate your dedication to your company. Given the choice between a weekend at either end or Thanksgiving itself, I'd much rather have you there on Thanksgiving day. It might make things a little rushed, since I'd like to have a long talk with you and I have a lot of cooking to do that day, but you'll miss Jenny if you come before Thanksgiving and you'll miss John if you come after. John has to go to a conference in Chicago, and will be leaving on Sunday afternoon. I don't think that would give us enough time to talk with you.
So, if you would, please make your reservations for Wednesday evening and a return on Friday morning.
Hannah
Kit typed out a quick reply telling her that he'd do so, then went home.
Jessie was doing her homework at the table when he came in, but the smell of tuna cassrole assaulted his nose in an appealing manner. "Hey pretty kitty," he called as he closed the door. "You mom sent me an email about Thanksgiving."
"She did? What did she say?"
"I gave her the options for me coming out, and she went with Thanksgiving day. I'll be flying out Wednesday evening, and flying back Friday morning."
"You won't get much sleep."
"I'll live. God, that smells wonderful."
She giggled. "You mind some company tonight? I asked Sandy and Sam to come over. I'm going to help Sandy with an essay she needs to write."
"I love how you asked me after you invited them over," he laughed.
She grinned. "It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission."
"You're terrible," he accused, leaning over and kissing her on the ear as he went into the kitchen for some tea. Jessie always had at least a cup of tea waiting for him when she got home before he did. "Your mom also answered my letter. She gave the strangest answer to it."
"How so?"
"She said that she thinks I'm going to leave you after I get bored," he said with a mystified expression as he took a sip of his tea. "But, at least she said she believes I love you now."
"Well, it's a small step," she said. "But I agree, that's a weird reasoning. I think Mom doesn't understand."
"Not at all," he said with a nod. "I'm a fox that takes marriage vows seriously. When the priest says til death do you part, I take it to mean exactly that."
"I'm glad, cause that's the only way you'll ever get away from me," she said with a loving grin, reaching over and patting his paw. "How's your shoulder?"
"Doing fine," he said. "I didn't have any pain at all today. So, any movement on the marriage front?"
She laughed. "Some. I don't want to set a date until you're completely healed, though. Me and Vil have just been talking about decorations and the reception, and my dress. There is something she wants, though, that we haven't told you yet."
"What?"
She seemed to steel herself. "She wants to have the ceremony in Boston."
"Absolutely not!" he said immediately. "I won't go within a thousand miles of Boston! Is Vil crazy? Does she want to start a war in the family? If I brought you to Boston, that would be like bringing you into the lion's den!"
"She's… serious about it, Kit," she said. "I've been trying to urge her out of the idea, but she doesn't want to give it up. She wants you to get married at the church where your father and mother married."
"Well, that's nostalgic of her," he said with dark irony. "No. We met here, our life is here, we marry here. I won't get married in a place that has nothing but bad memories."
"I think that's why she wants us to marry there, so you'll have a good memory."
"Well, she can just get that idea right out of her mind," he said adamantly. "She went way over the line this time. I could handle her giving the office and the crew gifts because it made them happy, but she's starting to get way too comfortable with the idea she can cheese me into what she wants."
"I'll tell her–"
"No, I'll tell her, Jess," he said, standing up and taking the phone out of his pocket.
She picked it up on the first ring. "Hey baby bro," she greeted.
"No," he said with a hiss.
"Ah. She told you, did she?"
"Are you crazy?" he demanded. "You want us to get married in Boston? Are you just trying to kick sand in the family's face, Vil? This isn't some kind of game of nose-tweaking! This is our lives, Vil! I won't bring Jess within artillery range of Boston!"
"Kit, I didn't want it because I want to rub you in the family's noses. I wanted to… it's hard to explain. I wanted to honor a promise. Do you remember Mom much?"
"Of course I do," he answered.
"Well, it was mom's wish that we got married at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, Kit," she told him. "I just thought it would be nice to do the one thing I could remember that Mom always wanted, that's all."
"She never told me that."
"Since when do mothers talk about weddings with their sons, baby bro?" she asked. "It's something that mothers talk about with their daughters. Trust me, bro, I'd never bring you to Boston without a good reason, and I sure as hell would never expose Jessie to the family. I just want to do something for Mom."
"Well, I can understand that, but it's still completely out of the question," he said.
He heard her sigh. "How about a deal, then?"
"What?"
"You have your wedding in Austin, but you also get married at the Holy Cross," she said. "I can arrange for a midnight ceremony at the Holy Cross. You can fly in, go straight to the cathedral, have a ceremony, then go right back to the airport. That way we honor Mom's wishes and minimize the exposure."
"I… dunno, sis. I'll have to talk to Jess about it. This is something we have to agree to together."
"No pressure, baby bro. Talk about it and get back to me."
"Talk to me about what, love?" Jessie asked after they said their goodbyes.
"Vil explained why she wants us to marry in Boston," he said, sitting back down and taking her paw. He explained Vil's idea to her quickly and simply. "I… I don't know, love. I'd love to give something to Mom, but…"
"But you'd have to go to Boston," she surmised, touching his cheek.
He bowed his head, holding onto her paw.
"I understand, love. I know what Boston is to you. So really, I don't have anything to say. Personally, I don't mind flying in and having the ceremony. We'd only be there like two hours. But I'm not the one that matters here, my handsome fox. Vil doesn't understand why you don't want to go there, does she?"
"She knows that Boston is nothing but bad memories for me," he told her. "I spent most of my life either trying to get away from that place, or trying to forget it. But," he said with a sigh. "But I loved my mother, Jess. If she wanted me to get married in that cathedral, I'd like to fulfill her wish. It just won't be easy."
"I'll be there with you, my love. You don't have to face it alone."
He gave her an earnest look of relief, love, and gratitude. She leaned over and kissed him, then, to his surprise, she urged him down, until he was laying on the couch with his head in her lap. He sighed and closed his eyes as she tousled his hair, and just babied him a little as he tried to get over the fear and anger and humiliation and pain that always came whenever he thought of his life in Boston, both before and after he was disowned. Sometimes Jessie just amazed him. She always seemed to know how he was feeling, and always seemed to know exactly what to say or do to make him feel better.
Clearly, that moment of quiet intimacy was the perfect time to be interrupted. The doorbell rang, and Jessie just sighed. "It's open!" she called, keeping her paw in his hair.
Sandy and Sam came in, Sam carrying her new laptop and backpack and Sandy with her backpack. "I think we're interrupting something," Sam noted.
"Naw, if JD's head was in his lap, then we'd be interrupting something," Sandy said with a naughty grin.
"I think someone doesn't want any supper," Jessie said in a prim tone. He didn't need to look at her to know her face fur was ruffled.
"When will it be ready?"
"When the timer goes off," she answered, twirling his bangs around her finger. "You two can set the table. I'm busy."
"We can see that," Sandy laughed.
"Did we have to let them in?" he asked, rolling over on his back and looking up at her with a light smile.
"Well, given I invited them over, it would have been a little rude to leave them on the doorstep," she giggled.
"I swear, JD, we must have totally corrupted you," Sandy grinned as Sam came out of the kitchen holding plates. "You go from the vestal virgin to engaged in like three months."
"I was just waiting for the right guy to come along," she said with a gentle smile down at him, her cheeks ruffling slightly.
"Can you find one for me? I think me and Bobby are about done."
"Mind if I make more tea?" Sam asked.
"Go for it," Kit called, reaching up and taking Jessie's paw.
"Hey Kit, your fur grow back?" Sandy asked.
"It's about halfway there," he answered her.
"Can I see?" she asked.
"You really don't want to eat dinner, do you?" Jessie said archly.
Sandy laughed, then laughed even harder when the timer went off. "Oh no, I'd better get it before you kick me out!"
The physical therapy wasn't much fun.
It wasn't that Kit minded doing physical labor, since he'd spent months doing manual jobs. It was the mechanical feel of it. He did exacting exercises in a large room filled with other patients and therapists, which made his arm and shoulder ache when he went back to work. He went three times a week, and though he hated it, over the course of three weeks, it did do its job.
Over that time, his fur grew back in, and the pain finally faded away from his shoulder. Doc Barnett proclaimed him fully healed, but continued him on physical therapy to both strengthen his shoulder and arm and also to make sure that he'd have no lingering pain or reduced range of motion from his wound. The latter concern was minimized, Barnett said, because of the excellent work of the surgeons who had repaired the tissues in his chest and shoulder, putting it back together perfectly and allowing Kit to heal with no issues at all.
When he was finally released from physical therapy and completely discharged and proclaimed healthy, his shoulder was as good as new. There was no pain, no stiffness, and much to his eternal relief, no sign he'd ever been shot. His fur did not grow back scarred white like it did on his back and head, mainly because the vast majority of the surgical scars were on his white-furred chest. Only the edges of the incisions wandered into the red fur on his shoulder, and that fur grew back red, not white.
It was nice to finally be free of it. He was back to full strength, back to work, and Jessie was overjoyed that he was fully healthy. She made him a cake from scratch when Barnett gave him his all-clear and discharged him from physical therapy, German chocolate, and even gave him a very private party that night that resulted in him being late for work the next day.
As he'd healed, he continued corresponding with Hannah. It was strange to talk to her over email, like something out of that movie You've Got Mail, but it had a strange quirky charm. Kit wrote her about every day, a page or two as he talked about work and other innocuous things, but mainly continued to tell her all about his life with Jessie and how much he loved her. He told Hannah things that Jessie wouldn't, even delving slightly into their love life when Hannah boldly asked if they were practicing any kind of protection before the wedding. He was honest in telling her no, that Jessie was hoping to get pregnant, and though he'd be overjoyed to have a child, he was secretly hoping that Jessie could finish school before she conceived. He really wanted her to get her degree, and a child would honestly make that much harder. But, he'd written, he could not deny Jessie anything. She wanted a baby, and though he was concerned for Jessie's ability to finish school, he couldn't tell her no. If she became pregnant, well, they'd find a way to make sure Jessie got her degree. Hannah really didn't like that answer, but, he did feel like he scored a few points with his position. She grudgingly complemented him for his wisdom and his dedication to Jessie's education.
But what he liked most was the fact that he was getting to know this enigmatic woman, who had a story he was dying to learn, but knowing he could never ask her to tell it to him. Not only would it be terribly rude, but he'd made a promise to Jessie, and Kit was a fox of his word. Jessie called Hannah "Momzilla," but when he learned the truth of her, and then began to correspond with her, he started understanding her and didn't think she was quite that bad. Sure, she was pushy, willful, cunning, overbearing, melodramatic, and she was stubborn, but at least he knew why she was the way she was, and that allowed him to shrug off the majority of her invasive badgering without getting angry about it. He could see that though her actions were being influenced by her own past, she still sincerely loved her daughter and wanted what was best for her, and in that manner he could not fault her. Jessie was a treasure, the most precious thing in the world, and he'd be just as protective if she was his daughter. The main difference between them, though, was that Kit trusted Jessie, where Hannah didn't. But that was a fundamental difference between spouses and parents the world over.
He'd just finished up another message for Hannah and sent it off as he sat on the couch, laptop in his lap, listening to classical music on the radio and the wind howl as a freak November thunderstorm raked across Austin on a Sunday afternoon. Jessie was over at the sorority, visiting with friends, and Lupe had just left a bit ago with two other neighbors, Dan the lion and Mickey the lemming, who came over to watch football. Which, for Kit, meant getting ragged on because he wasn't a Dallas fan. Luckily, they didn't watch Dallas play, so the snide comments and Patriots bashing was kept to a minimum.
Kit may have hated the city of Boston, but he was still a loyal Patriots, Celtics, Red Sox, and Bruins fan.
He made himself some tea, and was sitting at the couch, a hot cup on the coffee table as he surfed the web and checked email when Jessie got home. She was in the act of closing her phone when she came in. "Hey, my handsome fox," she called with a bright smile.
"Welcome home, pretty kitty. You're in a good mood."
"Just got off the phone with Vil, we have everything all planned out as far as what we want. And now that you're all healed up, it's time to set a date."
"That is your domain, my pretty kitty," he said with a gentle smile as she leaned down for a kiss.
"Well, I'd like at least a little input," she said to him. "Sometimes I feel like you're a little too accommodating, Kit. Do you realize we've never once fought? That's a little unusual given how long we've been together."
Kit laughed. "Oh, that's not going to last forever, but I'd like to avoid that for as long as possible. And I'm accommodating because I want you to be happy, my pretty kitty. If it makes you happy, then it makes me happy. And since I honestly have absolutely no opinion about what day we should have the ceremony, then what more is there for me to say? It all falls on what day makes you happy, Jess. We can get married tomorrow, we can get married next year, it doesn't matter to me as long as we're married at the end and it makes you happy."
"Really?"
"Really, love. Find the day that works best for you and your family. Since Vil can come down here whenever she wants, and that's the only member of my family I want at the wedding, this side of the aisle is flexible and easy to please."
She laughed. "Okay then, love, lemme call my folks and talk to them about it."
"Think I'll go over to Lupe's."
"Poker?"
"Minimum safe distance," he said immediately, which made Jessie laugh richly. "Who's cooking tonight?"
"I am, silly. What do you want?"
"I've been having a craving for steak."
"Only because I bought some and they've been in the meat drawer," she accused.
"Well, that might have had something to do with it," he agreed.
"Well, that works for me too. I think I'm gonna be on the phone for a while, and that's something I can cook with one paw tied up by the phone," she chuckled, kissing him one more time. "Take your phone, I'll call you when it's ready."
"Surely, love."
Kit evacuated himself over to Lupe's apartment to give Jessie the space and privacy to deal with the sure hostility Hannah would present when a solid date was put in her face. Hannah had been rather pleasant and civil. Lupe's apartment was very much a bachelor pad. It was a little messy, dominated by his TV, and filled with mismatched furniture. And though it was a little messy, it was actually rather clean. Lupe just had a habit of leaving things laying around. "She boot you brah?" Lupe asked.
Kit chuckled. "Nah, just giving her space. She's setting the date of the wedding, and that means calling her mom. She's not very happy about Jessie getting married, and Jessie doesn't like to fight with her mother in company. So I cleared out to give her privacy."
"Ah, that's nice of ya, brah," he noted. "Glad to hear you're finally getting the ball rolling. Any idea when it'll be?"
"Knowing Jessie and my sister, the first day that her parents can manage to get here… but probably after Thanksgiving," he speculated. "She does want them to meet me before the wedding, and I'm going up to her folks' for Thanksgiving dinner. So, probably sometime in December."
"Ah, cool. So, you have any of that leftover curry in the fridge?"
Kit laughed. "No, you ate it all. And I was a bit ticked when I went looking for it," he said, pushing Lupe lightly on the shoulder.
"I can't help it, brah, Jessie's an awesome cook. She offered to teach me."
"She's trained quite a few cooks, she could make something out of you," he noted. "I think she gives cooking lessons once a week over at her old sorority."
Lupe grinned. "So, she have a sister?"
"She does, who lives in Ohio," Kit told him.
"Damn. Is she cute?"
"No idea. I've never seen her before. She does have a brother though."
Lupe gave him a look, then laughed brightly. "No thanks!"
"Hey, it's always an option."
When Jessie called him back home, he was fairly sure she had a firm date, and she didn't disappoint, nor did she wander too far from his expectations. "We have a date," she told him. "December eighteenth. I'll be out of school, Dad'll be done at work on the fifteenth, but Vil can't get down here that week until the seventeenth, so we're holding it the day after."
"Nice. So, we're still having it at Four Corners?"
"The reception, yeah. My folks had to be talked down over the church, though," she giggled. "They thought we were having a catholic wedding. I had to remind them three times it's not going to be a catholic wedding, just in a catholic church. Our Lady of Fatima."
"Never heard of it."
"Vil organized it for us. It's a new catholic church about two miles from here. The monsignor there agreed to conduct a non-denominational wedding for us, but Vil was kinda adamant about a catholic priest conducting the ceremony."
"Vil's a Catholic, pretty kitty. "The whole family is, at least theoretically. I haven't been to confession since I was fifteen."
"Well, my family is Baptist, and I didn't want a holy war," she laughed. "Vil's coming down next weekend to finalize the details, and I still need a dress."
"Go as the most beautiful femme in the world, love. Go naked."
"I'm sure you'd like that," she giggled, her cheeks ruffling.
"So would every male in Austin," he added, leaning over and kissing her on the neck.
"Well, I think I'd have a problem showing my dress to my daughters in fifteen years," she giggled, beginning to purr almost immediately.
"We can always take pictures," he offered in a husky voice, wrapping his arms around her.
"Kit! Don't you dare distract me right now!" she ordered, pushing against his chest. "This is important!"
He chuckled. "Have you got the invitations?"
"The list is done, yeah. Now that we have a date, Vil said they'll go out tomorrow. She's the one that's been doing all the real planning," she giggled. "After we finalize the details, she takes care of it. So far, we've got all the decorations and flowers handled, and Vil's booked the reception for us at the Four Corners. I just need to get my dress and the bridesmaid's dresses, and you need to pick a best man and grooms, and the rings."
"That's easy. Rick will be best man, and I'll dispense with the other grooms because I couldn't pick just two or three. It'd be the whole crew or none."
"That's fine, love. Sam and Sandy will be my bridesmaids. We'll have to get you a tux."
"I can rent one."
"Vil already said no. She wants you to keep your wedding clothes. She said it's an old custom."
"That's why I wasn't going to do it. It's a Vulpan family tradition, and you know how I feel about my family."
"Well, can you humor me? I'd like to have your tux hanging in the same bag with my dress. That way we're always together, just like our wedding clothes."
He smiled gently. "For you, my pretty kitty, of course I will."
"I just hope your tux and my dress get along as well as we do," she giggled.
"They better, there won't be much room in that garment bag. I guess we'll know they do if we open the bag in a year and find baby clothes in there," he agreed, which made her laugh.
"Maybe, if we're lucky, we'll have a baby to put in them," she cooed to him, nuzzling his cheek.
"And who's distracting who now?" he challenged.
"I have more control than you," she said teasingly.
"Oh really?" he asked archly. He knew all her little buttons, and he used one of them against her. He put his paws on the small of her back, above and to each side of her tail, and started to massage her. Jessie's back was very sensitive, and he'd learned that that area was particularly sensual for her. She leaned against him and immediately began to purr, her claws kneading his back and shoulders. But then she caught herself and laughed ruefully.
"You cheater!" she accused, pushing out a little. "I didn't do that to you!"
"Hey, I'm just arguing my case," he retorted with a teasing smile. "You said you have more control than me. Well, I think that statement's been debunked."
She laughed richly, then gave him a sultry look. "Well, if you want to fight over who has less control, well, I know your on switch, love," she threatened with a smug smile.
"Oh no, get that throat away from me," he laughed as she began to purr and leaned forward.
"I win," she said smugly, letting him go with a victorious smirk.
"And you accuse me of cheating," he said under his breath as she sauntered back towards the kitchen. "What about the rings?"
"Vil told me to go pick out what we want, and she'd pay for them. She also said if you argue about it, she'll brain you."
Kit laughed. "I get the feeling she's going to insist."
"Well, given how much money we have right now, we wouldn't have many options," Jessie answered as she pulled the baked potatoes out of the broiler. Kit moved to make some tea for them, but the combination of the smell of the steaks and Jessie's gloriously shapely backside taunting him as she retrieved the foil-wrapped potatoes made it hard for him to keep his mind on what he was doing. "But I don't think we're going to go buy rings that cost more than our cars," she giggled. "I want to find some rings that are tasteful but not too expensive."
"I saw some good ones at the place where I bought your engagement ring."
"We can go look tomorrow after I get out of school."
"Sounds like a plan."
Knowing that they had a solid date didn't make him feel nervous as much as it made him anxious. He felt like a kid waiting for Christmas. He thought about it all during dinner and while he was practicing the guitar and she was doing homework. They were going to be married, and all he could think was why do we have to wait so long? He watched her as they ate, as pop music played on the radio, and couldn't think of anything else. She glanced at him, then smiled and blew him a kiss, which made his heart flutter. "Did I go too far?" she asked with a little smile.
"Not far enough," he answered.
"Eat your dinner," she ordered. "I didn't slave over a stove just to watch you ignore my cooking. Besides, I get the feeling both of us will need our energy tonight."
He laughed. "Yes ma'am."
Kit spread the news at work the next day, dropping in on them on his day off while Jessie was at school. "We've set a date," he said in the office as Savid, Jeffrey, and Mike were busy preparing pieces for the next issue. "December Nineteenth."
He accepted hearty congratulations and pawshakes, and a rough hug from Marty, then sat down at the big table. "I need a best man yet," he ventured. "Think you'd be up for it, Rick?"
"Of course, son!" he said with a laugh. "I haven't worn a wedding tux since Martha dragged me to the altar."
"Oh, I've been dissed! The heartache!" Marty said, putting the back of his paw over his eyes melodramatically.
"Well, you could always ask Jessie if you could be a bridesmaid," Jeffrey chuckled.
"Oooo, I'll have to talk to her," he said. "I just can't clash with the bridal party! We have to color-coordinate!"
"I'll leave that to you, Marty," Jeffrey laughed. "Where can I rent a tux at, Rick?"
"You don't have to wear a tux if you're a guest, son," Rick chuckled. "Just something nice will do."
"Kit, can we invite some folks?" Mike asked. "I'd like to have my folks come and such."
"Well, I don't see anything wrong with it, but lemme ask Jessie before you do," he said. "You should get your invitations in the next couple of days, by the way. They're supposed to go out today, but my sis is handling it, so I guess they'll come from Boston."
"I'll be looking for it. And I need to call Martha, we'll have to go reserve a tux," Rick chuckled.
They went shopping for rings that afternoon. The shop owner remembered him, and showed them several pairs of wedding rings. Jessie gasped in delight when he took out a fifth set, which were amazingly plain. The male's ring was a simple band of gold and silver twisted together, and the female band was similar, but had three small diamonds vertically arrayed across the top, which was similar to her engagement ring's single diamond and vertically flanking emeralds.
"They're beautiful!" she exclaimed, holding up the female's ring. "Look, Kit, the gold and silver bands are just like you and me, two different breeds who come together to make something beautiful. How much are they?"
"The set is fifteen hundred dollars," the little chipmunk said with a light cough. "But since you're a repeat customer, I think we can negotiate over that a little."
"You make it thirteen fifty, I can pay for them right now," Kit said immediately.
"Kit, that'll wipe us out!"
"It's worth it," he said, holding up the male's ring, then slipping it on his finger. "And it even fits as is."
"Well, why not?" the chipmunk laughed. "Thirteen fifty it is. Try it on, madam, let's check the sizing."
Jessie's ring wasn't quite as made-to-order. It was a tiny bit too small, which the jeweler fixed using a very light mallet and a strange little cylinder that was thicker at the bottom then the top, marked with ring sizes. He slipped it onto the cylinder, got Jessie's ring size, then used the mallet to delicately and carefully stretch the ring to fit by tapping it down onto the cylinder. He only had to enlarge it by a half a size, so he was done in just a moment. He carefully inspected the ring to ensure it wasn't damaged in any way, then had her try it on again. "Perfect," he said with a satisfied nod. He nodded again when Kit handed him his debit card, but he pulled it back a second.
"Jessie, remember when I told you it was important to tell me if you took out any money?"
"Let me guess, this is when that counts," she laughed, and he nodded. "I'm positive I haven't."
"We're about to find out," he said, handing the card over. "Cause if you did, it's going to decline."
To Kit's delight, the card was accepted. "Do you want to take them with you, or would you prefer to leave them here until you're ready for them? I can keep them in the safe for you until you're ready to pick them up."
"Actually, that's a good idea," Kit told him. "I'd feel safer with them here."
"Oh, wait, we need some pictures of them!" Jessie said. "Do you have the camera?"
"It's at home."
"Well, let's go get it!"
Kit laughed. "We'll be back in about half an hour," he told the jeweler.
"We'll be open," he said, putting the rings into a box and taping a Sold receipt onto it, then taking it into the back room.
They took quite a few pictures of the rings, then when they got home, they sent them to Vil and Jessie's parents. Vil called back almost immediately and asked how much they'd cost and the number of the jeweler so she could make the call. Kit took great, almost smug satisfaction in telling her they were already bought. "I paid for them myself, Vil," he said, rather proudly.
"Well, good for you! How much?"
"Some number between one and one billion," he said dryly. He'd been waiting to get her back for that.
"Oh ho, the little bro wants to get snotty," Vil laughed. "Just for that, I'm getting you a wedding present."
"You better not. The wedding is the present, sis."
"We'll see about that," she teased.
"You're gonna look awful funny standing out in front of the church," he told her.
She laughed. "Has Jessie started looking for a dress?"
"She's doing that right now," he said, looking over to the couch, where Jessie had several bridal magazines stacked on the coffee table. "I'm sure she's called Sam and Sandy while I was running the rent check over to Lupe, and they're on their way over to giggle and coo at the pictures while I make dinner."
Jessie stuck her tongue out at him, which made him laugh. "I take it you were close?" Vil asked.
"I'd say so, given that face she just gave me."
"You're delving into the female realm here, bro," Vil chuckled. "Females love their wedding dresses."
"Is she going to get hers in time?"
"Kit, Kit, Kit," she chided. "She'll show me the design she wants, and I'll have it either bought or made for her inside a week. Then it's just a matter of having the tailoring company do the final fitting."
"Company?"
"Wentshires, here in Boston. I've already secured a team to go to Austin to do the fitting and alterations."
"Vil, you're sending a team of tailors to Austin? Isn't that–"
"Don't say it!" she barked. "This is Jessie's wedding dress we're talking about, you foolish boy! I don't care what it costs. She'll get exactly what she wants, and it will look smashing."
"If you say so."
"It will. Now, have you thought of a honeymoon?"
"It's not going to work," he sighed. "I haven't been there long enough to ask for time off for a vacation. It's not fair to everyone else. I did ask for Saturday and Tuesday off so me and Jess have a long weekend after the wedding, and a part of that was flying up to Boston to fulfill Mom's wish I get married in the Holy Cross."
"Hmm," she mused. "How about this. You fly back to Boston with me on Saturday and have the ceremony, and I have my private jet fly you two to Florida. You can stay in my condo in Boca Raton and come back on Tuesday. That way you get three days of vacation that almost qualifies as a honeymoon, it's not outrageously expensive, and you'll be back to work on time Wednesday."
"That… that sounds fine to me," he said, looking at Jessie as she paged through the magazine. "I'd love to give Jessie a real honeymoon, but it's just not going to happen."
"It'd have to stay in the U.S. regardless. Jessie said she doesn't have a passport," Vil mused.
"Do I detect a faint hint of attempted meddling over there, sis?" he asked pointedly.
"It was shot down," she laughed. "Give the phone to Jessie, bro, I need to talk to her. And you can feed that poor femme!"
He handed the phone to Jessie with a chuckle, and was surprised when she covered over the magazine. "No peeking!" she said with surprising heat, snatching the phone away from him. "Kitchen! Go!"
"You'd think I barged in when you were sitting on the toilet," he laughed.
"Seeing me naked is no way the same as seeing my dress before the wedding!" she barked at him. "Now clear out, Kit!"
"You haven't even picked it yet," he said with a grin.
"Well, I might pick one on that page, and you're not gonna see them!"
"Okay, okay, clearing out," he laughed. "Baked salmon okay with you? With asparagus and au gratin potatoes?"
"Fine, fine, just scat, you! This is a no-Kit zone!"
He cooked dinner for five, since Sam and Sandy had also brought Danielle, because her mother was a fashion designer and Danielle was in school for the same thing. The four of them spent the whole time going over dresses in magazines and on websites, and he did his best to ignore them with headphones and his Blackberry, listening to the news webcast.
When the doorbell rang, Kit chuckled from the kitchen. "I guess Lupe can smell it from across the courtyard," he called as he covered the asparagus and pulled out a bottle of wine. He pulled down wine glasses, and turned when he realized two figures were standing in the boundary between kitchen and living room. One was a coyote male, the other was a cat female with tabby fur, and both were wearing expensive-looking clothes. The coyote wore a gray pinstripe suit, the cat wore a very well cut blue skirt and blazer. He took his earphones out and looked at them curiously. "Can I help you?"
"I'm Delores Kittimer from Marks, Kittimer, and Wilson," she said by way of introduction. "Are you Kitstrom Vulpan?" the female asked.
"That's me."
The male put his briefcase on the table and withdrew a folded sheet of paper. He handed it to the femme, who in turn handed it to him. "Then this is for you."
"What is it?" he asked, taking the oven mitt off and reaching for it.
"A subpoena," she answered.
"A subpoena? What for?"
"You're being subpoenaed to give a deposition as a possible witness in a lawsuit, Mister Vulpan."
"Lawsuit? What lawsuit?"
"You don't know?" she asked, in some surprise.
"No, I have no idea what you're talking about," he said, in a little irritation. "Who the hell is suing me? And what for?"
"Nobody's suing you, Mister Vulpan," she said simply. "You're being called to give deposition in a rather complicated matter. It's a case to invalidate the will of Kitstrom Vulpan Junior. This subpoena is for a deposition to be held at our law offices on November fifteenth."
"Will? Who's trying to overturn the will?"
"Two parties, Mister Vulpan. Cybil Whitmore Vulpan, and Vilenne Vulpan. Both have filed suit to invalidate the will of your father, and the judge has decided to combine both cases."
"What?" he gasped. "Vil challenged the will?"
"As well as your stepmother," she said with a nod. "We represent no one party, Mister Vulpan. We've been retained by the state of Massachusetts to host your deposition, rather than call you to Boston. You've been subpoenaed to give deposition as a possible witness."
"Who subpoenaed me?"
"The subpoena is a blanket subpoena for all interested parties to depose you, since you live out of state," the gray fox said to him. "The last we heard, lawyers for five respondents and both petitioners will be present for the deposition."
"What? When the hell did all this happen?"
"The suit was filed by Misses Whitemore Vulpan on last Monday, Mister Vulpan. Vilenne Vulpan filed an independent suit on Wednesday, and the cases were merged by the presiding judge in a hearing yesterday afternoon."
"Well… what the hell do I have to testify for? I have nothing to do with the will. I've broken off from the family."
"Vilenne Vulpan seeks to restore a previous version of your father's will, where you are a beneficiary of your father's estate," the femme told him. "That makes you a party to the proceedings."
"Vil is dragging me into this mess? I'm going to kill her!" he said with sudden heat.
"You didn't know?" the male asked, in some surprise.
"I had no idea," he said, a little overwhelmed. "I sure as hell am not happy about it. I walked away from my family years ago, I want nothing to do with the will, this lawsuit, or any damn money. I don't see why I have to testify."
"Well this isn't testimony, Mister Vulpan, it's a deposition. They just want to ask you some questions that will pertain to the case, that's all. You should be done the same day. Just be at our offices Monday morning at nine, and they'll take your deposition and you'll be free to go."
"Good day to you, Mister Vulpan," the female said, and then the male closed his briefcase, and they both left.
Kit just stood there as Jessie and her friends gave him startled looks. He came over to the table, sat down, then put his head in his paws. God, why did they have to start all this nonsense and drag him into it? They could fight over his bastard father's money all they wanted. He had nothing to do with it! Why couldn't they just leave him alone? And what was worse, Vil was doing it too! Why in the bloody blue blazes was she trying to invalidate the will? Was it some kind of twisted attempt to get back at the family en masse for the attempt on him? Was she really going to take it that far?
He could see the nightmare coming. Lawyers, and lawyers, and more lawyers. Answering questions for the next six years, and maybe even being forced to testify in court.
Gentle paws slid over his shoulders, and he felt Jessie hug him from behind. "You okay, my handsome fox?" she asked compassionately.
He blew out his breath, then rose up and patted her arms. "I guess so," he said with another sigh. "I just want nothing to do with all this."
"You should call Vil, love," she urged. "I'll finish up dinner."
He took his phone and sat out on the porch in the cool afternoon and called her. "Hey bro."
"Vil," he said grimly. "I just got subpoenaed."
She blew out her breath with a dark curse. "I was hoping they'd leave you out of it. This has nothing to do with you. Who did it?"
"From what I was told, everyone, even you."
"I told them to leave you out of it," she growled.
"What the hell is going on, Vil?" he demanded.
"Let me summarize it, it's complicated," she said. "I told you that I was keeping an eye on Cybil, that she was looking into trying to invalidate the will and claim the family fortune by means of her marriage to Dad. Well, she's doing it. She's trying to invalidate the will and her prenup by claiming Dad wasn't of sound mind. Hell, bro, she's even trying to strip me of my control of the businesses. She's basically saying that everything Dad did in the last two years of his life should be thrown out, and everything given to her because she's the wife. If she pulls it off, she'll have effective control over everything."
"Well, didn't Dad marry her in that same two year span?"
"She's glossing over that part, bro," she told him clinically. "And her angle isn't to actually get everything. She's shooting for the moon so she can actually settle for half. It's a common trick, threatening to tie us up in court for the next fifteen years and wearing us down. Now, I also told you that I was looking into beating her to the punch by suing to invalidate the will with the aim of totally cutting her out. That was my original plan, but after you were shot, I decided to go after the family at the same time. I've put Boston through the wringer, and I still don't know who ordered that hit on you, so I'm going to make the family give him up by going after their money. My suit is a little different. I'm suing to have the will Dad had before you were disowned restored, which puts you back into it… and receiving the vast majority of the money and control of the businesses to boot. In effect, I'm trying to have you installed as the heir."
"Why the hell are you doing that?" he literally shouted.
"Because that's how the will was written, no more, no less," she answered calmly. "It's all I have to work with here, bro. I gotta play the hand as it was dealt in this case. I know how you feel about this, Kit. I'd never have done this if there was another way, believe me. Now, my angle is to strip the uncles of the majority of their money, and threaten to have you basically toss them out of their homes unless whoever tried to kill you doesn't own up immediately. The version of the will I'm trying to have instated leaves the uncles and cousins with little more than their trust funds, which is nowhere near enough to support them in the kind of lifestyles they're living right now."
"Vil, why did you do this to me?" he asked, almost pleadingly.
"Kit, I never wanted to drag you into this," she told him. "And think a minute. If I didn't do it, then you'd be guaranteed that Cybil would have. You don't think she'd have you dragged back to Boston to testify in the trial? Her entire case hinges on how Dad went crazy after he disowned you. You're the entire basis of her case. For that matter, what Dad did to you is also the fundamental foundation of my own case," she admitted. "So what the judge will basically be doing is looking at the will, looking at our cases, and then judging just how crazy Dad was and if it merits altering his will on the basis that he wasn't of sound mind when he drew it up."
"You're both arguing the same point?"
"More or less. But the issue for Cybil is she has to get around her prenup in addition to the will, where I don't have that kind of a barricade. She's going to have a major problem with that, because my lawyers have told me they can more or less prove that Dad had little to do with the prenup, that was a creation of his lawyers. The lawyers weren't all crazy when they drew it up, so Cybil has to talk very fast to get around that little problem. It's a strange world when me and that bitch are going to be trying to prove the same legal issue but with different motives," she chuckled darkly. "So, little bro, that's the whole deal. I'm sorry you got dragged into this, but don't blame me. I filed my suit after Cybil. She beat me to it by two days. Yesterday, the judge merged both cases into a single case, and I was going to tell you about it this week… but I didn't expect them to start throwing around subpeonas so fast," she grunted. "You would have been called no matter what."
"Why can't they just leave me alone," he said in a quiet, almost defeated voice.
"Look at it this way, Kit," she said gently. "After this, one way or another, they'll never bother you again."
"That's not very comforting," he told her.
"If I win, you get the family fortune, which you can just throw away," she told him. "If Cybil wins, nothing changes for you. If the uncles win, they'll be too busy dealing with Cybil's appeals to bother you."
"And what's to stop the uncles from deciding that one way to kill your case is to come after me again?"
"That has nothing to do with my case, Kit, and it would do the uncles no good," she answered. "Remember, I'm trying to restore a will. That you're the main beneficiary in the will I'm trying to restore is pointless in the argument. If you were to die and I win the case, then the family fortune would go to an executorship, probably administered by the courts. You really don't matter one bit in the big picture. Unless I win, that is," she chuckled. "Then you will control the family fortune."
"I don't want it, Vil."
"I know you don't. But you can use that as a hammer against the family. Blackmail them into leaving you alone, and you give them back their money."
"That or they try to kill me again."
"Oh, that's not going to happen," she told him heatedly. "You don't know what it's like in Boston right now, bro. I have the whole city locked down, and they know it. If they so much as even confess they did it underwater while speaking German, I'll know in fifteen seconds. Cousin Liza can't even screw her poolboy without a report of it being on my desk in triplicate before they're even finished. If someone tries, I'll know before they even hang up the phone."
"That sounds slightly illegal."
"You don't want to know. Trust me."
"Then I'll leave it there."
"I'm afraid I gotta go, little bro. I'm kinda busy right now. Need any other questions answered before I do?"
"Uh, I can't think of any."
"Well, call me back tomorrow around six, I'll make some time so we can talk about this more thoroughly, okay?"
"Alright."
"I'm sorry, Kit. I know you hate this, but it won't take long. I'll talk to you tomorrow, bro. Bye-bye."
"Bye sis."
He closed the phone and sighed, putting his elbows on his knees and leaning over. God, it was going to be a nightmare, and it meant that he was going to be right back in the spotlight. He was surprised there weren't fifty cameras in his face, this was the kind of thing the tabloids drooled over, a rich family in a nasty legal battle over the family fortune, complete with a widow vying to steal the fortune away from the children. Now he'd have to go do this deposition and answer questions for three or four days, then wait and worry that he'd be forced to go testify at the trial. And on top of all that, his wedding was coming up, which was going to distract him from Jessie and her special event, and no doubt that was going to find its way into the tabloids along with the trial. He had this nightmarish image of a pack of paparazzi mobbing them as they left the church, flashes going off in their faces, keeping them from reaching their cars to go to the reception.
What a mess.
He could only hope that Jessie was patient and understanding, because she was about to get thrown into the wolves. His shy and private pretty kitty was going to have her entire life taken apart on national television, and it was all because of him. Hannah's painful past very well might be dragged out and her secret exposed, all because of him. His friends at work, and Lupe, and Martha, they were all going to be harassed and aggravated. The lives of everyone that mattered to him were about to be disrupted, and it was all because they had the misfortune of being his friend.
He could only hope they'd forgive him for the insanity that was about to descend upon them.