Letters 1/2 tg and romance Letters ------------------------ Jennifer Williams was about to step into a nice hot bath when the doorbell chimed. Quickly turning off the water she wrapped a white towel around herself and walked downstairs. Looking thru the spyhole, she saw a smartly dressed man carrying a large leather folder. She sighed and opened the door. "Ms Williams. I represent Hutchinson-Walter and Barclays," the man started to say. "I know who you're from and you can tell my brother to piss off. The terms of the will were resolved over a year ago. I've nothing else to add." The man pushed his spectacles onto his nose again and then added, "Ms Williams. Your brother has instructed me to tell you that he wishes to bring action against your father's will on the grounds of diminished responsibility. It his view that your father was not of sound mind and body when he left the family home to you." "We had all this out last year. If you want any more answers from me you'll have to speak to my lawyers. Now I have an urgent appointment to get to and my bath is getting cold. Good day!" This said, Jennifer closed the door in the lawyers face. She slowly walked upstairs, dreading the renewal of the conflict which tore her family apart nearly 5 years ago. The terms of the will were quite clear. She would get the house, her brother John would get everything else. It wasn't her fault a developer wanted to buy the house and now it was worth five times it's market value, far more than John had inherited. She had debated selling, but this was her home, the home where she and her brother had grown up. She had so many memories of this place -- how could she let it be torn down to make way for a mall? Letting the towel fall from her body she stepped into the bath. She just wished that all could be made right between her and her brother. She remembered her mother trying to intervene and mediate the dispute right up until the moment when her health declined and she was forced to move into a nearby hospice. Still at least she was happy there and there seemed to be no resentment over what had transpired so long ago. As the warm water flowed over her body she relaxed and let the tension melt away. -- In another part of town David Williams was angry. The lawyer had just got back from his sisters house and told him the bad news. "If it's a fight she wants then a fight she'll get," David shouted to the cringing lawyer. "Yes Mr Williams. We have medical evidence that suggests your father suffered mental trauma for many years. All we need is your signature to proceed." The lawyer held out a sheet of paper. David picked up his gold plated fountain pen and signed where the lawyer indicated. "Y'know if she'd just've been willing to share. That's all I really wanted, half and half," David said. "We did make the offer, but Ms Williams was unwilling to sell," the lawyer added. "I know. Look come back and see me tomorrow. I'm just going to visit mom at the hospice," David said. "Thank you," and with that the lawyer left. David sat down on his leather chair. As a successful business man he didn't need the money the house sale would bring, but it was the principle that counted. Dad had always favored Jennifer, always knew what Jennifer liked. It just wasn't fair that in death Dad should show a preference. -- Jennifer got out of the bath and dried herself down. As a divorced woman of forty four she reckoned she could pass for 35. Nature had been kind on her face, and the crows feet around her eyes could hardly be seen. Her figure wasn't too bad considering she'd had two children. Taking regular exercise had managed to keep her muscle tone firm as well. All in all she was in good shape. However, nature had not been so kind to her in other ways. Already she had been having hot flushes and the signs were pointing to her impending menopause. Still, she'd had two wonderful children and lots of years were left. Ignoring how she felt for the moment, she selected a shortish skirt to go with a white blouse and quickly slipped them on. Today was the day she found out if she was going to get that loan she'd been after. Putting on her heels and smart jacket she got into her car and drove off. -- David drove thru town on his way to the hospice. Drawing up to the lights he let his foot gently blip the gas peddle. The throbbing engine of his specially imported TVR Cerebra roared as he idly passed the time waiting for the lights to change. Looking over his shoulder he noticed that it was his lucky day as a bright red Viper drew up alongside him. It's driver looked at him and smiled. David smiled back and blipped the gas once more to signal his acceptance of the challenge. David focused on the lights and adjusted the pressure on the heavy clutch. Green, go, and David floored the gas pedal. The Viper did quite well and even managed to stay level for 20 yards, until the superior acceleration of his Cerebra took him to 100 mph in just over 9 seconds. Grinning all over his face he slowed down to 55 and took the turning towards the hospice. Parking his car he got out and walked to reception, where he was met by a young nurse. "Mr Williams?" "Yeah." "You'd better come with me. I have something to tell you," the nurse said softly. >From the look on her face David knew what it would be. He felt tears well up inside him. "It's about mom isn't it?" The nurse nodded. "I'm afraid so. Listen, take a seat over there and I'll arrange some tea," the nurse said, pointing at a side room. David sat opened the door and went inside. The gloomy interior of the room did nothing to brighten his mood. A few moments later the nurse returned with a tray of tea. "How'd you take it?" she asked. "White with one sugar," he replied. The nurse poured the tea and handed it to him. She then sat down on the chair next to him. "It's about your mother, Vickie," she said softly. "She's dead isn't she?" David said, tears filling his eyes. The nurse nodded. "I'm afraid so, she slipped away peacefully last night, in her sleep. The doctors says that she wouldn't have felt a thing." David put his head in his hands and started to sob. The nurse put an arm around him and just let the grief pour out. "Y'know she was the only one to understand me," David cried. "I thought you had a sister?" the nurse asked. "Only by relation. Since dad died and cheated me out of my house I have no sister. No, even when I was a child mom knew exactly how I felt, even about girls. Now she's gone there's no-one," David sobbed. "Did you want me to tell your sister?" the nurse asked. "Even though I hate her, I owe her enough to tell her myself," David said. "That's good. I think she knew she was going to die because she wrote a note and sealed it last night. It's addressed to you and Jennifer Williams. Is that your sister?" "Yeah. What's it say?" "It's sealed remember. The only thing written on it were instructions that you and Jennifer must open it at the same time." "OK, let me take the letter now. I'll pick up the rest of her things tomorrow." "Fine. I'll just go and get it. You'll be OK here won't you?" "Yeah," David replied. The nurse left and shut the door behind her. David's head was in a whirl. What could the letter contain? Amendments to her will? Or even the proof he needed to disprove pops will? He thought back to the fun times him and mom had, of the water fights in the garden, building snowmen and mom showing him how to fix a car. He felt himself drifting back into halcyon days gone past. His day dreams were interrupted by the nurse returning with a letter. "There we are," the nurse said, handing it to him. "Thank you," David replied quietly. "Do you want to see her?" the nurse asked. "Yes please, this is hard to take. I'd like to see her again." The nurse looked at David, compassion showing in her eyes. "She's in our own facility for the moment, she'll be moved to the funeral home later on today." "Which way is it?" David asked. "Follow me I'll show you," the nurse said. The nurse stood up and held the door open for David. David put his tea down and followed the nurse thru a seemingly endless passage of brightly lit corridors. Eventually they came to a large, dimly lit room. Looking inside David noticed that the place had an almost religious feel to it. A large stain-glass window was at one end and copious amounts of flowers were placed everywhere. An oak casket lay on a table at the far end. "This way," the nurse said. David walked to the casket, dreading what he would see inside. His stomach was in knots and he could feel his eyes starting to sting with tears. David got to the casket and looked inside. A wail of grief escaped from his mouth as he saw his dead mother inside. Once the initial shock was over he noticed how peaceful she looked. She was dressed in her favorite night-gown and her hands were clasped to her chest. To all intents and purposes she looked asleep and she looked more radiant than she'd done for years. "She looks so peaceful," David commented. "Yes she does. That's how we found her. I'll leave you to spend some time with her. I'll be right outside if you need me," the nurse said. David nodded "Thanks." The nurse left the room, leaving David alone. Seeing her body there rammed the facts home. David could feel himself crying again and after a choked "Bye Mom," had to leave the room. Still in shock David got back into his car and just sat there for a moment, gathering his thoughts. Pressing the starter button the engine roared into life and he drove off towards Jennifer's house. -- Jennifer sat back in her chair and sighed. The bank had refused her loan on the grounds of insufficient liquid assets. She needed the money to start up her own cleaning firm and now selling the house was the only option she could see. After her ex-husband had taken the kids and cleaned her out she was nearly broke. She hated that David would win but she needed to get on with her life and this was the best way to do it. She was about to put some coffee on when the doorbell rang again. She got up and saw David at the door. She unbolted it and almost shouted "What the hell do you want?" "It's mom. She's dead, " David said sadly. "What, When?" "Last night, she passed away in her sleep. I wanted to tell you myself and to give you this," David said and showed Jennifer the letter. Still shaken by the news Jennifer said "You'd better come in. I was about to make some coffee, want some?" "Please. Listen I haven't come here to fight, I just wanted to tell you the news and to see what mom wanted to say in her last letter," David explained. "Truce?" Jennifer said, holding out her hand. "Truce," and David shook it. David paced around the room whilst Jennifer made the coffee. Putting to one side his feelings of being wronged he noticed that the place hadn't changed at all in nearly 5 years. The clock on the wall was still 15 minutes fast and he smiled when he remembered dad's reasoning for leaving it that way. He could almost hear his dad's voice saying 'Son, I want to tell you a secret. The clock is 15 minutes fast so that we can always be on time.' His memories were interrupted when Jennifer came back in, holding two mugs of coffee. "This place has hardly altered," David commented. "Yeah it's just the way Dad liked it. Anyway what's the letter say?" "Don't know. I'll open it and you can read it," David suggested. "You don't want any lawyers to witness it do you?" Jennifer said sarcastically. David glared and tore open the letter. Handing a rough sheet of paper to Jennifer he sat back and sipped his coffee. Jennifer started to read. 'To my dear, precious children. If you are reading this note then it means my time has come to join my husband. You will have many questions and I hope my letters will help to answer them for you. I sincerely hope that these letters will bring you back together and you will come to see why we did what we did. My letters are stored in the loft, underneath the fifth floorboard, nearest the hatch. It's the floorboard that has the grain running opposite to the rest. All my Love Vickie.' "What letters?" Jennifer asked. "No idea. Mom never said anything about them. I guess the questions she's talking about are about dad's will," David suggested. "That's only a small question. What about this one. What did Mom and Dad do before they married? We never heard anything about their families, never saw grandparents, aunts, uncles or anything. You know how much that hurt when we were younger." "OK, what about why Dad always favored you?" David said. "We didn't come here to fight. I suspect these letters will answer questions we never even thought of. Let's go find them." "Agreed." David went outside to the toolshed and found a long crowbar. He then extended the stair ladder and switched the light on. Jennifer followed him into the loft and looked around. "There it is," David proclaimed. "Yeah look how the grain of the wood runs opposite to the others. Quick, lever it up," Jennifer ordered. David slipped the bar between the boards and pushed downwards with all his strength. There was a loud crack and the floorboard split in two. David gave it another go and the floorboard came loose. Jennifer knelt down and pulled out a cloth bag. Dusting it down she gently untied the string that held the bag shut. She reached inside and pulled out a pile of letters. The paper looked old and worn and the writing was faded but just legible. "Shall we take them downstairs?" David suggested. "I can't wait. Let's read them here. Besides, I don't want the writing to fade in the sun. Say, this is just like when we were young and played at secret agents isn't it?" David didn't admit it but he was as curious as his sister "That WAS a long time ago. OK, we can read them here," he replied. Gingerly Jennifer put each letter on the floor. There were four altogether, three in their mom's handwriting and another, more official looking one. Each envelope had a number written on the top right corner. "I guess we go for number 1," David said. "Logical," Jennifer replied. Jennifer took letter number 1 and slowly opened it. She took the letter, written on old pink notepaper and started to read. 'Dear Jennifer and David, If you are reading this letter it means that I have passed away and my husband, your father has also gone. Try not to be too sad as we both had a life full of joy and happiness. More than we were entitled to in any case. Sure it was a struggle sometimes but our love carried us thru. What you are about to read is the truth about us and where you came from.' "Shit, we're adopted," David said. "Shut up, she continues," Jennifer said and continued reading. 'No you're not adopted and we are your biological parents. Let's just say for the moment that you had an unusual upbringing. These letters will answer many questions you will have had over the years and could even resolve any disputes that have sprung up between you.' David glared at Jennifer when she read that last sentence. "Hey I didn't make that up," Jennifer said. "Stop interrupting will you and carry on," David moaned. Jennifer shrugged her shoulders and obeyed. 'I guess the easiest place to start is my birthday. I was born on the 16th of June 1929 in California. The year does not surprise you but the date does I bet. Why do I say I was born on your fathers birthday? That will become clear in time. As I grew up I developed an interest in science and vowed to become an engineer when I grew up. My dad, your grandfather said that it was a worthy trade for a lad such as me.' "Wait a sec. Read that bit again," David demanded. "Umm, oh yes. 'My dad, your grandfather said that it was a worthy trade for a lad such as me.' ," Jennifer read and then looked right at David. "Did I just read LAD?" "Yeah, are you sure it says that. Could it be lass?" Passing the letter Jennifer said "No it's definitely lad, take a look." "You're right. Look, she continues and I'll take over," David said and started to read. 'Yes you did read lad. You see I was born Victor Turner to Mr and Mrs Robert Turner of 132 Redondo Ave, Los Angeles. My dad was a carpenter and my mother looked after me, her only child. In case you missed the facts staring you in the face I'll repeat them. I was born a man in 1929. How I became Victoria Williams, nee Turner will be outlined in my second letter. ' "Mom was a MAN?" Jennifer almost shouted. "No way. She says that we are her biological children. Even today's surgery can't do that. She must've been joking," David exclaimed. "Keep reading. I have to know," Jennifer cried. 'This is no joke. I'm afraid I've got another shock for you. Your father, Robert Williams was born Rose Williams on the 20th September 1930. Yes, that was my birthday. His parents were Fred and Gloria Williams of 158 Northholt St, New Jersey. He always wanted to be a housewife and look after his beautiful children. That may seem strange to you nowadays but then it was the done thing to do. Your father knew all about me, because in a way he created me. However that story is another letter. Anyway you are in shock no doubt over this and that's quite understandable. Please understand that we loved you and if there is life beyond the grave, still love you. What you are hearing is painful we know but you have to know the truth. We kept this secret from you when you were younger because we knew that it would hit you hard. The one lesson we want you to carry with you thru the rest of your life is that our situations don't matter, it's how we feel and react to others that really matter. We tell you this now so that you may know that love triumphs over tribulations. Please understand we did this out of love and not any desire to see you hurt. All My Love Vickie.' "I can't cope with this, Dad used to be a woman?" Jennifer sobbed. "I know, I feel the same way. I feel as though my whole world has just fallen in. First mom's death, now this," David started to cry again and for the first time in five years brother and sister embraced, each giving comfort to the other. Jennifer sniffled, wiped her eyes clear of tears and said "I've just thought of something. We now have the names and addresses of our grand-parents. We may even have aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews we don't even know about. We could even be a family again." "Hmm, there's still the issue of Dad's will." Jennifer's face showed anger and she spat "OK I'm fed up with your carping on about it. We agreed a cease-fire so stop sniping. Anyway let's see what mom says in her second letter." "OK, OK, I get the message." Jennifer reached down and opened the second letter. "Hmm seems much heavier than the last one. Why don't we take it in turns?" "OK, I'll go first," David suggested. "Fine." 'Hello Again. I'm sure my first letter was quite a bombshell for you and no doubt you are still reeling from it's revelations. This letter will answer the how and the why we ended up like we were. It also goes into explicit detail, which you may find distasteful but underlines what we want you to know. Anyway on with the story. As I said I was born in LA in 1929 and my name was Victor Turner. I had a natural gift for engineering and physics and I graduated from college with a high honors degree in 1951 . Since my parents were poor I enlisted in the army to see me thru college and beyond. During that time the cold war was about to get into full swing and the whole country was starting to get nervous over the goings on in the Soviet Union. The US government routinely performed nuclear tests in the atmosphere, something that seems madness today. Anyway I was transferred to a secret research establishment in Utah in 1955 to work on experiments with radiation and other still secret devices. I had been there a year when I met Rose. You've seen pictures of me when I was young and I was quite a, what's the modern name for it? That's the word I'm looking for, a babe. That's right -- the pictures of me are pictures of Rose. I'll explain later before you ask, OK. Anyway Rose was a babe. I'm not sure that photographs capture how blonde her hair was or how blue her eyes were but suffice to say every man on the base was after Rose. I wasn't too bad either, tall dark and handsome my mom used to say. Anyway, Rose worked as a nurse, taking care of routine health matters on the base. I can still remember admiring her shapely form underneath her uniform, how her pert breasts emphasised every curve she had. It was time for my routine radiation check-ups and the staff nurse was off sick. So Rose did the checks instead. We got talking and Rose and I hit it off right away.' "Hey when's it my turn?" Jennifer complained. "I didn't realise they worked in some kinda military research base in the 50's. No wonder they kept it secret," David commented. "My turn," Jennifer demanded. David passed the letters onto Jennifer and said "There we go. No skipping ahead remember." Jennifer started to read. 'Times were different then and to have slept with someone before you married them was seen, by polite society to be taboo. However Rose and I weren't polite society and we went at it like rabbits. As I write this I can feel my erect cock thrusting it's way into her warm, moist pussy. My hands are caressing her erect nipples and her moans are music to my ears. Yes, we were very much in love and damn what others said.' "Ewww,"Jennifer said. "What?" "Mom said she'd go into detail but that's taking it a little far." "Come on keep reading," David demanded. Jennifer continued. ' Yes the sex was great and we planned to marry as soon as we had enough money together. However we came under pressure by her parents to split up. You see they were from the old school that believed you should marry within your social group and a carpenters son was not their idea of an ideal match. We pointed out that Jesus was a carpenters son but that only served to fan the flames. Rose's parents were 'old money' in New Jersey and didn't want the bloodline polluted. Anyway we had to stay on the base for long periods of time so we didn't see much of anyone else. I guess you are wondering where all this is leading so I'll get on with it. I remember the day as though it was yesterday. The 18th of August 1957, unknown to us and most people at the time the Earth passed thru a strong solar flare. The significance of this will become clear later on. I was inside a laboratory performing the last set of experiments on the effects of Gamma rays on living tissue and was just bombarding some lab rats with radiation when Rose came in. She'd just finished her shift and decided to visit me on the pretence of monitoring my health.' "I wonder why so much detail?" David asked. "No idea. I'll see what she says," Jennifer said 'Anyway I was so distracted by Rose that I forgot to switch off the Gamma emitter when I removed the now sleepy rat. All of a sudden every valve in the apparatus blew and my body was bathed in electrical energy. Rose seeing me in danger leapt into the field and dragged me out as best as she could. We must have been exposed for about 20 seconds but it was enough to knock us both out. The power spike shorted the machine out and we lay, unconscious until an MP walked past an hour or so later.' "Wow just like the incredible Hulk," David exclaimed. "Except that they didn't turn green and cranky. I wonder what happened?" Jennifer commented. "My turn to read," David said. Jennifer passed the letter to David and said "OK." 'We were taken to the infirmary and prodded and poked. A Geiger counter showed that we had been exposed to high doses of radiation but something had prevented cell damage. Eventually ,after a battery of tests we were released and went to our separate homes on two weeks sick leave. I first knew something was wrong three days after the accident when I went to shave. Strangely there was no stubble on my face and my normally brown eyes had turned blue. I thought nothing more of it that morning until Rose came over to see me. I noticed her eyes were brown and that she was wearing more blusher than usual. I also noticed a thin layer of hair on her face. When asked about it she was a little coy and said sometimes her body played tricks on her.' "I can see what's going to happen," David said. Jennifer looked puzzled. "Yeah. The accident. I'm surprised that they didn't suss it out then."