by Rachel Harris
Part 12
Parts 1 through 11 can be found at Rachel's home page -- A Whole Other Life
Duncan nearly scalded himself with the coffee he splattered when Marsha asked him about Genvieve. Trying to regain his composure as best he could, he wondered what he should do now? Was Marsha ready to hear the whole truth herself? Did Duncan have it in him to tell her about Genvieve?
"Marsha, I really am not in a space to be online right now, so I will talk to her later, O.K.?" Duncan implored. "As far as what I was saying at the cemetery, Ben knew Genvieve too, and I actually had to tell her about the accident." Duncan could only hope that would hold Marsha until he knew how or if to tell her more about Genvieve.
Tears welled up in Marsha's eyes immediately. "That must have been hard on the people that knew him online," Marsha said. "Now that I think of it, I wonder if everyone knows. Do you know where he hung out on IRC?"
Duncan could see that this had the potential of getting more involved than he had wanted. He hated giving her partial answers, but he could feel the pulse pounding in his temples and he wanted some relief. "Well, I am not sure all the places he might have hung out Marsha, but I will see what I can find out and let you know if I come up with anything."
"OK, thanks Duncan. I would appreciate that," said Marsha, "I never even thought of this before, but now that I am online, especially with meeting Joel, I feel badly that I gave Ben such a hard time about being on the computer so much."
"Well, in spite of what I seemed to have spilled on myself, this coffee was only loaned to me and needs to be *returned*," Duncan grinned as he excused himself to head to the men's room.
With Duncan away for a bit, Marsha returned her attention to the computer and tried again to see if Joel was online. She had just gotten this new program called ICQ that let her know when someone was online and send messages, even if they weren't on IRC, but on this machine, she didn't have that ability. Timing was in her favor as her "/whois Joel-" showed that he WAS on. She quickly messaged him.
When Duncan returned, full of reports of the fun Benny was still having, Marsha was caught up in a private channel with Joel. Apparently they were planning on Joel coming to visit next week, which took Duncan a bit by surprise. While he knew that Marsha and Joel were getting very tight, he wasn't sure he was ready to meet her new love interest. Was that out of loyalty to Ben he wondered, or was he actually feeling pangs of jealousy?
Marsha just beamed as she typed away to Joel. He couldn't recall the last time he had seen her so excited or, for that matter, radiant. She was such an attractive woman anyway, but when she had those sparkles in her eyes, she was a downright knockout! Duncan had always been envious of Ben's good fortune for being with Marsha. In a way, Duncan felt a bit sad that Marsha wasn't glowing that way from talking with Duncan, himself.
Marsha started to include Duncan in her conversation with Joel, then seemed to remember he had mentioned he wasn't into being online at that moment. She appeared a bit nervous with Duncan watching over her shoulder as she was saying her "good-byes" to Joel, so Duncan walked over to check on Benny again.
Duncan never seemed to tire of watching Benny play. He was a very expressive child and his animated ways were lots of fun to observe. It was even more enjoyable for Duncan, because he often saw some of Ben's mannerisms come through his young son. Duncan imagined what it would be like to be Benny's stand-in father. He hoped that this Joel fellow would appreciate the gift of this wonderful family and not become a jerky step-father if it came to that. A paternal instinct seemed to sweep over him as he felt protective of Benny from any traumas and dramas that may lay ahead for him.
Benny saw Duncan and came bounding over to the window. He was trying to tell Duncan about all the things that he was doing in that kid's area and he most emphatically was asking to stay longer. Duncan gave him the thumbs up and Benny raced off to conquer the gigantic tube slide once again. Marsha had joined him at the window and slipped her arm around Duncan. He immediately felt a surge of comfort as she felt so natural there next to him.
"He is having a blast, huh?!" Marsha exclaimed. "He sure will sleep good tonight." Duncan nodded and they quietly watched the boy for a bit longer. "You ready to go or would you like to go sit back down and *rent* some more coffee?" Marsha asked.
"Do you think we would be able to tear this child away from here, even if we wanted to?" Duncan teased. "I am fine for now, the rest of my day is yours, Marsha." Duncan said, smiling as he walked back over to their table.
"You sure seemed to enjoy connecting with Joel, eh? Great timing I'd say," noted Duncan.
"Yes, I can hardly believe that he will be here next week" Marsha shared. "I feel like a giggling teenager. What if we don't like each other in real life. What if we DO?" Marsha emphasized.
Duncan did his best to keep focused on Marsha's interests and not on any of his own emotions right now. "Well, I am sure it will be fine," he assured her. "You know he is legit because he is good friends with your old teacher, and you have built quite a relationship together so far. I know it will be awkward for a minute or two, but I have total confidence he will be blown out of the water at how much more wonderful you are in person!"
Marsha blushed a bit at Duncan's sweet attention. "Thank you for that, dear brother," she said, almost in an attempt to keep their relationship more clearly defined. "Maybe he will find me boring," she continued, "I seem to be more witty and clever online that I have felt for a long time in real life."
"I have NEVER found you boring Marsha" Duncan said candidly. "You have always charmed the socks off of anyone you were around, so again, I wouldn't worry about anything. Have you talked to Benny about him and to Joel about Benny?" Duncan directly asked.
Marsha fielded Duncan's questions regarding the preparation of her son to this new man in her life as well as the reverse. Joel had no children of his own and always wanted them. His wife had a long history of illness and while hopeful, they were never able to have children. In some ways it was for the best as they would have lost their mother while still quite young. However, Joel felt a real hole in his life because he was not able to give the love he had in his heart to children close to him. He didn't even have any nieces or nephews around. Marsha explained that she thought Benny would only benefit from that loving energy.
Benny, on the other hand, seemed to be concerned and almost protective of his mother. She shared the story with Duncan about Benny's reactions to the flowers Joel sent her when he basically said "Those flowers aren't from my daddy!" She was very concerned about his acceptance of Joel and worried that he would feel Joel was trying to take over being his dad. While of course logically, Marsha knew that wouldn't happen, explaining such an emotional issue to a child was very difficult. She would just have to wait and see. Marsha was also hoping that Duncan would be able to help out in this department if needed down the road. He and Benny had such a wonderful relationship, she was sure that Duncan could smooth any rough edges that might come up with Joel being more involved in their life.
When Marsha and Duncan were finally able to coral Benny, they decided to get food and drinks for him as a "to-go" order. On the way back to Duncan's car, the three chatted happily, adding a nice ending to the day. Hugs were spread around as were promises to get together even more often. "How lucky I am, Ben," Marsha said to her late husband in her mind's voice. "I don't think I could have done it without Duncan. I love him dearly! If you had to leave me, at least I have Benny and Duncan!"
That night, "Starbuck" logged on, hoping to find Genvieve. He wanted to tell her that he had spoken briefly to Marsha about her, just in case Marsha met up with Genvieve directly. Luckily she was on and he invited her to a room called "#NEW_BEGINNINGS." He was grateful that she seemed to drop everything and join him.
"Halo Ben brother and new ami" Genvieve said in greeting. "Is good to see you. How your life?" Duncan found himself feeling very pleased to see her, above and beyond just wanted to keep her posted. Duncan was so relieved that she seemed to have dealt with the situation better than he would have himself had he been in her shoes. His respect for this woman just seemed to grow each time he was with her.
They visited for what seemed like ages, catching up on the day to day activities of their lives. When Duncan shared what had happened during the day with Marsha, he found himself sharing things with her so candidly, he was surprised at the ease with which they talked. He had to admit he cared for both of Ben's loves very much!
Right in the middle of their conversation, Starbuck noticed he was getting a /msg from "Brandi-" of all people. She was wondering if she could come join them. Nervously, they invited Marsha to join the channel.
"Hiya you two" Marsha started off typing as she entered. "How goes it?"
"*HUGS* Marsha" Duncan typed in quickly, "I was just telling Genvieve about that great new place we went to earlier. It was fun wasn't it?" Duncan was hoping to steer the conversation to safe harbours in ways that weren't too obvious for a very perceptive Marsha.
"Yes it is a great place and I bet it will catch on all over soon" Marsha replied. "Genvieve, it is nice to meet you. Where are you from?" asked Marsha.
"O I so glad meet you. Please sorry for my English talk. In France here." Genvieve shared. Duncan raced to open on of the windows and get back before he missed a word on the screen. He desperately NEEDED air!
