Should Old Acquaintance

Chapter 10

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Joan Kinney sat at her kitchen table. She had a bottle of sherry in front of her. It was mostly gone. She had been drinking for most of the afternoon. She couldn't quite understand how God could be so cruel to her to leave her all alone while her family went on with their sinful lives.

She could see that beautiful little blonde girl running around the fountain in the churchyard. She was Joan's granddaughter, a child that she had never even seen before. The little girl had to be two years old, and Joan hadn't even known she existed. Her son was so cruel. He wouldn't even tell her about the children. She had had to find out about Gus totally by accident. Brian's son must be a teenager by now. She took another sip of her wine. Her children were so wicked to keep her from her grandchildren.

With a sigh Joan polished off the rest of her glass of sherry. She still had a little more in the bottle, but she might need it later tonight to help her sleep. She was pretty sure that she didn't have any more liquor in the house either. She screwed the top on the bottle and wearily got up to put the bottle in the cupboard.

She had just cleaned everything up when her front doorbell rang. She wondered who would be coming to the house at this time of day, probably someone selling something. She decided not to answer it. The bell rang again. She quietly made her way to the living room and peered through a crack in the curtains.

Her heart soared. It was Father Tom. She hadn't had a visit from him at home in a long time. She had to go to St. Anthony's if she wanted to see him. She had a feeling he didn't approve of some of the things she had done with regards to her family. But that didn't matter now. He was here. Quickly she opened the front door.

"Father," she said with a big smile. "What a lovely surprise!"

"How are you, Joan?"

"I'm fine. Please come in," Joan said stepping back and holding the door open for the priest.

Father Tom walked past Joan getting a whiff of liquor as he did so. He shook his head. He knew that Joan was a secret drinker, but he had hoped that she had cut back on that as he had suggested. Apparently his hopes weren't to be realized. Joan was a very lonely old woman.

"Would you like some coffee, Father?" Joan asked.

"That would be nice," he said thinking that the coffee would do her more good than him. He followed her to the kitchen where she started a pot of coffee and pulled out some cookies from a cupboard.

"To what do I owe the honor of this visit?" Joan asked as the coffee started to drip.

"I haven't visited you lately, and there's something I want to talk to you about."

"No, you haven't been here for months," Joan said unable to keep the judgmental quality out of her voice.

Father Tom could hear the accusation in her voice. She was one unforgiving woman. "Joan, I believe you know about the existence of Brian and Justin's daughter," Father Tom said gently.

"And who might that be?" Joan asked as she took down some cups for the coffee.

"This is your granddaughter I'm talking about."

"Did he send you here to taunt me with the granddaughter that I didn't even know existed until a few days ago?" Joan demanded.

"No one wants to taunt you, Joan."

"Sit down, Father. The coffee's ready," Joan said her voice like ice.

Father Tom sat down at the kitchen table and accepted the coffee that Joan handed him. He noted the trembling in her hand, as she gave him the cup.

"I am here on my own recognizance. No one asked me to do anything. I just thought I might be able to pave the way to some understanding."

"Understanding? What understanding? That my son has children that he doesn't even want me to know exist? That he has effectively turned everyone against me including my daughter? I understand all these things only too well."

"Joan, please, sit down. And calm down. What I'm here to tell you is nothing like that," Father Tom said in his most gentle voice.

"And just what do you want to tell me?" Joan demanded taking a sip of her coffee and wishing it was something much stronger.

"Brian and Justin have decided to have their daughter baptized."

"And you're going to do it? In the church?"

"Yes, I'm going to do it, and no, not in the church."

"Then it isn't even valid," Joan said with that supercilious tone of criticism that she had perfected to a tee.

"Yes, it is valid. Priests are allowed to baptize outside the church under certain conditions," Father Tom said carefully.

"Conditions, like having two homosexuals for parents?" Joan asked glaring at the priest.

"That has nothing to do with the baptism."

"Says who?"

"Says me!" Tom retorted finally letting Joan get to him. "Look, do you want to hear what I have to say or not?"

"I suppose … since you're here," Joan said sipping her coffee.

"The baptism is going to be held at Brian and Justin's home."

Joan snorted. "That disgusting loft that half the men in Pittsburgh have been through, if I am to believe half of the rumors that are circulating."

Father Tom raised an eyebrow. Obviously Joan was getting information about her son from somewhere, and it was not of the flattering variety. "The baptism will be at their home in the country."

"They have another home?" Joan asked. She let out a barely audible moan, as what the priest had said registered. Her son had another home that she had never see, had never been invited to, had never even known existed. Just like her granddaughter.

"I believe Brian is going to invite you to the baptism," Father Tom continued.

"Invite me?" Joan asked in true surprise. "Why would he invite me?"

"You are his mother, and he knows how important the church and religion are to you."

"Then why isn't this being done in the church?" Joan demanded.

Father Tom sighed. There was no winning with Joan. "Justin isn't Catholic," he said taking that as the easiest explanation of why the sacrament needed to be outside the church.

Joan digested this fact. So, she had been right that the blond man, this Justin, was the little girl's father. She wondered at the fact that Brian would even consider inviting her. "Where is this house?" Joan asked.

"About halfway between here and Harrisburg."

"All the way there?"

"Yes."

"I don't know," Joan said suddenly uncertain. She would like to see this house. She would like to see how her son actually lived. She would like to hold her granddaughter, if only once before she died.

"We'll see that you get a ride there," Father Tom said thinking this might be the reason for her hesitancy.

"I can drive myself," she stated.

"Of course," Father Tom said realizing he had guessed incorrectly about her motives for not answering. "Would you consider coming to the baptism?"

"I … I don't know." Joan closed her eyes and thought about what this might mean. Then she realized that Brian hadn't even asked her yet. It was Father Tom who was proposing this, and there was no guarantee that Brian would ever give her a chance to attend the ceremony.

"All I'm asking is that you think about it. And when Brian calls, listen to him and say yes."

"I … don't know," she repeated.

"I better go. Think about what I've told you. I can show myself out," he said as she showed no signs of getting up.

Joan never replied to his statement. She seemed lost in thought. He quietly left the kitchen and let himself out the front door.

Joan sat at the table for a while. This was an interesting turn of events. She wasn't sure what she would do if Brian ever did call her and invite her. She would have to hear him actually say those words before she believed any of this. She slowly got up and retrieved the remainder of the bottle of sherry.

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"Justin, its Sidney Bloom, my boy! We haven't seen you at the gallery for a few days. Are you doing your Justin Taylor, the elusive man of mystery routine?"

"No, Sidney, I'm doing Justin Taylor, exhausted house husband routine. We're doing some construction on the house and someone needs to be here. I've been volunteered. Besides, it gives me the time to continue my research on the Kinney notes. Why, is someone missing me?"

"We all miss you, my boy. But that's not the reason I called. Justin, we cleaned the unfinished canvas. And you'll never guess what we've found."

"What! What?"

"Kinney started a portrait of Patrick..."

"That's what I thought it was."

"But that's not all. Patrick is holding a child, a little girl. The hair and eyes look dark but aside from that, she could be Briana's twin."

"No shit?"

"No shit, to use your expression. Justin, we photographed the canvas and I will email you a copy so you can see for yourself but you should come here. I have a proposition for you."

"What?"

"Finish it."

"WHAT?!!"

"Finish the portrait. Just like you did with the portrait of Patrick. I want you to finish the painting."

"But I can't. I can't paint like him and it will ruin the original canvas. No, Sidney, I won't do that."

"I thought you'd say that. Then do the next best thing. I'll pack the canvas up for you and you can take it home, copy it onto a fresh canvas and then complete the portrait. The Rage movie has sparked more interest in your work. We can do a study. A Justin Taylor study of JAB Kinney. You have his notes, his journal and your own experiences from your journey. Do this, Justin. Take all the time you need. We can have a special show and dedicate it to Edna. We can start the exhibition here then take it to New York, maybe California. The possibilities are endless, my boy."

"I don't know what to say."

"You say, yes Sidney."

"Yes, Sidney. Um, do you want me to come into Pittsburgh to pick up the canvas?"

"Give me a couple of days. Since you're not going to paint it, we'll apply a preservative. I'll call you when it's done. Maybe Brian can bring it home or I can have it delivered. Don't sweat the details. Now, I've just emailed the picture. Have fun studying it. I'll be in touch."

"Uh, sure, Sidney. Bye.... Huh, well, fuck me."

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"Justin? You okay? You look a little flustered. The kids giving you a difficult time?"

"Hmm? No, John, I'm fine. Gus has been doing his big brother routine with Bree and Patrick, they're angels for him. I just got off the phone with Sidney; he's sending me an email with a picture of the unfinished canvas. He says it's a portrait of Patrick holding a child that looks a lot like Bree. He wants me to finish the portrait."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Nope. Sidney says that except for dark eyes and hair, they could be twins."

"Well, it does make sense. If Patrick decided to have a child by a local woman then it stands to reason the child may have dark hair and eyes. And since you and Patrick resemble each other, the features of the baby could look like Briana. There's no doubting that you're Briana's father."

"You mean in spite of the fact that Brian dotes on her day and night. Is miserable if he's separated from her for more than an hour and she has him wrapped around her little finger. Sure, I may have donated the sperm but that's about it."

"Oh stop it. You dote on her too. You're just not as blatant as he is. And Bobby's the same way with Patrick. And Justin, the way you've included Gus. You and Brian are doing a wonderful job. This could have turned out so differently with Gus but he's a fine young man."

"I know, we're very lucky. Brian loves Gus so much."

"Yes, he does."

"Mmm. Uh, John, why are you home so early? I thought you were in Harrisburg today."

"I was. I checked in at my office and then decided to take my husband to lunch."

"But Bobby came home early today."

"So I found out. So we're both here. We've been getting a progress report from Gordon. Where's Brian? I thought you two we're taking some time off."

"We are but he went to visit his sister."

"The baptism?"

"Yeah, and to talk about Joan. I think he's going to invite her."

"Do you think she'll come?"

"I have no idea. I guess we'll have to wait and see."

"I guess so. Justin, do you think Brian will be home soon?"

"I think so. Why?"

"Nice afternoon for a barbecue!"

"Very nice."

"I'll get the steaks!"

"I'll get the salad!"

"And I'll find Bobby; he can help."

"Oh, yeah!"

Later that night after the whole family enjoyed their impromptu barbeque, they were all lounging in the porch. Justin printed out the picture that Sidney e-mailed. Under the bright light of the chandelier, Justin took a good look at the picture.

"Holy shit!" Justin exclaimed out loud, forgetting that his daughter had a fascination with that word.

"What is it, Sunshine?" Brian asked more than a little concerned.

"This is the picture of the unfinished Kinney canvas. Look!" The family gathered around Justin to look at the photo. Even Briana tried to climb up her daddy's leg to see what had them all amazed. Justin lifted his daughter to hold her in his arms as Brian snatched the photo out of Justin's hand.

Brian stood back then held the picture at arm's length so that it was next to Justin and Bree. John and Bobby stood near to Brian and they saw the same thing he did.

"Holy fucking shit!" The three men said together as they looked from the photo to Justin. Father and daughter blinked owlishly at the three men who were standing with mouths agape and staring.