Kari And Brett Pt 09

A Rose Called Miracle: Book #3, Pt. 9

Author's Note: This is the final part of the third book of 'A Rose Called Miracle'. This is fiction. All characters in intimate situations are over 18. Any resemblance to real people, organizations, or businesses is purely coincidence.

If you are uncomfortable with the subjects of control, restraint, discipline, and mild corporal punishment, please go no further. Likewise, this story is peopled with hetero, interracial, and LGBTQ+ characters and couples, and indirectly--incest; if you can't deal with that, leave now--you'll only be offended. Also, I apologize to BDSM aficionados--in this story I pretty much ignore proper BDSM safety measures as the characters develop their relationship. Please do not use these writings as a 'how to' guide. Lastly, if anyone reading 'A Rose Called Miracle' has enjoyed my characters, feel free to take them on new adventures--but please don't mess too much with the canon.

BRETT AND KARI (A Master/slave story of Love and Loss)

**There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle. Albert Einstein

**For those who are willing to make an effort, great miracles and wonderful treasures are in store. Isaac Bashevis Singer

CHAPTER 36

"It's you!" Stephen echoed. Valerie and the boy stepped toward each other. My daughter reached up and cradled his face in her hands.

"You look exactly like in my vision." The boy and girl spoke together...laughed together. The boy leaned over and they kissed; and it wasn't a scared teenager's first kiss, either. This was the kiss of two young people who'd known and cared for each other for a long time and shared many kisses before. The boy stepped back, still holding Valerie's hand, he reached into his pocket. "My mother told me to bring this..."

Beside me Kate gasped, "Stephen!"

He continued, "Valerie, My Love, will you wear this ring as a sign of our devotion until we marry?"

"I will." Valerie held out her left hand and the boy slipped the gorgeous diamond onto her ring finger. It fit perfectly.

"Valerie!" It was my turn to gasp. Poor Brett looked as if he'd been shot and hit his head again. Me? I've always laughed at the trite phrase, 'The silence was deafening'; but no longer. Now, I understand it completely.

The Hellsen kids broke the stunned silence, "Jesus, Stevie, what did you just do?" One of the boys said loudly. "Come on guys; soccer's waiting." They all trooped out. Valerie and the boy...Stephen...held hands and walked slowly in the crowd's wake; staring at each other.

"I think I need a drink," Brett seemed to be recovering his senses.

"Brett, it's still morning..." I started to cajole him. Then I thought about what I'd just witnessed.

"Kate, I need a drink!" I said looking at Kate and David. Kate was quick with two chilled bottles of white wine. We four adults went first to the large dining room, then Kate led us off to the side to their living room. We sat in very comfortable chairs. I sipped the wine; didn't really care for it; but I needed something to soothe my nerves.

"Someone has to say something..." Kate began. "Valerie and Stephen...seems like they've known each other forever."

I stared out the large window. I noticed a gaggle of boys and girls running back and forth kicking a ball (and occasionally each other). But I stared at the two teenagers standing together just outside the window, with their arms around each other, and talking while they watched the other teens chasing around the yard.

"What do we do?" I reached over and took Brett's hand as I spoke.

"Nothing." He said emphatically. "You saw her. You heard her. Valerie knew exactly what she was doing. I believe she knew what was going to happen. She just chose not to tell us."

"Why wouldn't she?" I asked.

"Remember how skeptical we were about her 'visions'?" Brett squeezed my hand.

"Yeah. I guess she had a few doubts too...about the visions or about us?" I murmured as Brett nodded. I gulped the last of my wine. I declined Kate's offer of more. I simply watched Valerie and Stephen. I wondered what else she knew that she wasn't telling us?

David Hellsen broke the spell, "So Brett, do you play golf?"

"Not in almost six years; since I retired from the Air Force. The clubs I had were destroyed a couple months ago when our house was burned down."

"Tell you what; once the rest of the 'Rose Mafia' arrives..." Kate punched his shoulder, "You and I will be irrelevant. Let's go to my club; we'll rent you some equipment. We'll have a good time while the ladies are networking."

Brett glanced at me, "Go ahead Sweetheart. I'll be busy; and it looks like Valerie is fully occupied." I glanced at the window; I wished I hadn't. Valerie and Stephen were holding each other and kissing again. I couldn't help myself; I rose from the chair, walked over, and rapped on the window.

Valerie turned to look; she appeared absolutely calm. She tapped Stephen on the shoulder and pointed to me. Valerie smiled at me and gave me a 'thumbs up'. Stephen simply bowed in my direction. Neither seemed the least bit concerned that I'd seen them kissing.

Kate came over and draped an arm over my shoulder, "It's hard when they grow up. If it's any consolation, we've known Stephen his entire life; he's a good kid. His father will be here this afternoon or tomorrow; you can talk to him."

David invited Brett to join him in the kitchen for a sandwich before they left for the golf course. I watched Brett leave; I watched Valerie kissing Stephen; I felt suddenly alone and sick. I wished I'd never...anything...somehow everything was wrong. My life was wrong. I looked out the window again. Valerie and Stephen each had one arm wrapped around the other's waist and were waving happily to the soccer players.

The men had left; Kate said they'd be gone until dark. The panting, sweating soccer players streamed into the house, looking for food. Kate ordered them upstairs to shower and dress properly before lunch. Kate seemed so calm in the face of the chaos.

The kids grumbled but obeyed. I got the sense that Kate Hellsen was not a woman one argued with. When they came back scrubbed and dressed we all sat down in the dining room, the only place big enough for the whole group. Kate and I brought out bread, meats, cheeses, condiments, fruits, raw vegetables, and a gallon or so of iced tea.

The kids ate their fill; all the time they ate, claims of video game invincibility flew back and forth across the table. They disappeared. Valerie and Stephan finally came in.

"Stevie's got a girlfriend; Stevie's got a girlfriend." One of the Hellsen boys chanted as they hurried away.

"Valerie is NOT my girlfriend." Stephen called out with great dignity, "She is my fiancée. When we're old enough, we will marry."

"That's right." Valerie added for all of us to hear. "We'll wait 'til at least 18; more likely 21. We'll see."

Shortly after that announcement, the sisters of the rose began arriving. I knew, or had at least met, almost everyone: Jamie Addison, Kate, Vera and Nicole Hollenstein, even Annabeth Spencer arrived accompanied by Elizabeth. As we prepared for the meeting, the group voted by a show of hands whether to invite Elizabeth into the room. The count was 5-2 against--the meeting was only for the 'Sister'. Elizabeth had to remain outside. I was slightly surprised at the passivity with which Annabeth accepted the decision.

Outside the room, Kate had mentioned that it had served as the nursery for each set of triplets until they were a year old, we shook hands all around as we entered. Jamie took a position, looked around the room, and held out her left hand, "Natalie?" An older woman I hadn't met stood beside Jamie and took her hand. The woman was still remarkably beautiful, with two-tone hair dark auburn in back, lustrous silver in the front. Natalie held out her hand, "Kate?" We joined the circle in turn: Vera, Nicole, then me, and finally Annabeth took my hand and Jamie's to complete our circle.

Jamie looked around at us all and smiled. I felt some of my fears slipping away. "Good Afternoon Sisters of the Rose. My name is Jamie, I'm Sister #1. My deepest wish was to be a woman."

She turned to Natalie, "My name is Natalie, and I'm Sister #2. My deepest wish was to cure my alcoholism. And maybe look a little younger." She turned to Kate.

"My name is Katherine. I'm sister #3. My fondest wish was to defeat or at least slow down father time. And I wanted lots of babies." She turned to Vera.

"My name is Vera. I'm sister #4. My fondest wish was to quit smoking and reverse the ravages smoking and age had had on my body." She turned to Nicole with a loving smile.

"My name is Nicole. I'm sister #5. My fondest wish was simply to know about myself; and to gain permanent control of my addictions." Nicole smiled and turned to me.

"My name is Kari. I'm sister #7." I hesitated. "My deepest prayer was for my husband to recover from gunshot wounds and severe brain damage. I also wanted to look pleasing for my husband." I turned to Annabeth.

"My name is Annabeth. I'm told I'm sister #8. I was within hours of death from lung cancer. My fondest wish was to recover and spend the rest of my life with my darling Elizabeth."

"Now, sisters," Jamie spoke, "Let's observe a moment of silence for our beloved sister #6, Sascha Devereaux. Her deepest desire was to bear a male heir to the throne on Douravia. She died for her dream."

I lowered my head and closed my eyes. I was sick...and elated...that the remarkable Sascha I'd read so much about, was one of us. And no one outside our circle knew what had really taken place. I don't go to church; I don't ever remember praying even when I was being beaten by Philomena; but I whispered a quiet prayer then; asking whoever might be listening to grant Sascha's soul eternal peace.

"Thank you sisters." Jamie chimed and dropped her hands. She turned to Annabeth and sent a hug around the room. That ended the formal, ceremonial part of our get together. After that, Kate pulled some wine and soft drinks from a small fridge. Natalie and I were the only ones to have soft drinks.

After a couple glasses of wine, the stories started. We sat around in a circle of easy chairs, drinks in hand, and related the who, what, when, where, why, and how of our individual encounters with the rose. After the third glass of wine (maybe the fourth) Natalie began telling the tale of Kate's Bachelorette Party, and how, while drunk, the others had decided on the rose tattoos.

When the wine ran out everyone switched to soft drinks. That was when the group decided it was time to compare our tattoos. Kate immediately stood and yanked down her pants and panties to display the pretty pink rose on her right butt cheek. Nicole rolled up her left sleeve. "The pink one is for the sisterhood; the other three are personal." Jamie stood up next. Like Kate, she pulled down her pants and undies. Her rose was on the left butt cheek, but slightly larger than Kate's. Natalie stood as Jamie sat. She unbuttoned her blouse and slipped off her bra to display the large pink rose with a couple leaves above her right breast.

I was surprised when Annabeth stood up next; she pulled off her red suit jacket revealing a sleeveless white blouse. Her tattoo, another beautiful pink rose, was on the outside of her left upper arm, just below her shoulder.

"Very nice," Kate commented as Annabeth sat and folded the jacket in her lap. "Oh Vera. It's your turn."

Vera sighed heavily, "Come on Baby, show us." Nicole chided her. Vera stood, looked around, and pulled down her pants and underwear. Her rose was on her mons, it seemed to be growing from between her labia.

"Jesus! That must have hurt." I blurted out without thinking

"Like a bitch." Vera confirmed with a grimace, which changed into a leer, "Okay, Kari, your turn Darling." She motioned for me to stand up. I did; but as I removed my blouse and bra I kept my back away from them. When I was ready I turned. The women around me gasped.

"Holy mother...!"

"Oh my God!" Were the comments I could hear. Nicole was the first to approach me; she came around to my front, "Kari? May I touch you?" I nodded. Her fingers were rough; but her touch was soft. "Incredible. I never imagined something like this was possible. How long did it take?"

"Four days: two partial, two full."

"God that must have been torture." Vera said from beside Nicole.

"For most of it, I was able to meditate to a quiet place away from the pain. Except for the last couple hours...those were painful."

"So beautiful." Jamie said with awe. "Where could I get something like that?"

"This was a private salon. They don't advertise. I have your e-mail; I'll ask the artist and see if they're planning to expand."

Annabeth sidled over to me and whispered, "Wanda at Dirty Dave's?" I nodded.

"Simply amazing. Will you show Elizabeth?" I nodded in agreement. The meeting seemed to end after that. We stood in a silent circle for a little while, then we opened the door and returned to the...real world?

As we approached the grand staircase, we could hear shouts and cheers. "That would be the game room," Kate remarked. We descended the stairs and went to the living room. Valerie and Stephen were sitting facing each other, faces serious, in deep conversation.

Stephen excused himself to go to the bathroom; said he'd be back straightaway. "Interesting day." I said to Valerie.

"I guess I owe you some answers?" Valerie said, but without embarrassment or irony. She paused, "It all started a couple months ago. The first visit was quick: the white lady came to me, showed me the field, and asked if I minded her visiting. I said I'd like that. She said 'good, we'll talk often.'"

"It didn't bother you?"

"Hunh. It never occurred to me that I should be bothered. We just talked. Then she introduced me to the boy...Stephen. Over the last month or so Stephen and I spoke every night."

"Phone?"

"You wish. He was with the lady."

"And you've already agreed to marriage?"

"Yes. And I meant it. The lady held our hands and asked us if we were serious about committing ourselves to each other and to the service of others. We each answered 'yes'. The lady put our hands together and promised our lives were irrevocably intertwined."

The next day was Thanksgiving. We arrived at the Hellsen house a little after 13:00. A party seemed to be in full swing. The Hellsen kids had just returned from their High School football game against their arch-rivals from two cities over. The Hellsen's team won 49-7. "It would have been 49-0," claimed one of the older male triplets, "But Clumsy over there tripped over his own feet and the guy ran right by him." He pointed an accusing finger at one of the younger set of triplets.

"Yeah!" Shot back the younger one, "But who missed the tackle that let that guy get to me?"

Other guests began arriving and the argument ended. Kate introduced Brett and me to her mother and father and David's mother and father. Natalie arrived with her husband--who turned out to be Kate's Uncle Gus. Vera and Nicole arrived at the same time as Jamie and her husband Addison. Last to arrive were Kate's friends Henri and Jacob with their daughters. They claimed to be late because Deirdre and Desiree couldn't decide on what to wear.

We socialized in the living room while we waited for dinner. David Hellsen turned on the television and most of the guests gathered to watch the local pro football team. After about a half-hour I gathered Valerie and led her to the kitchen.

"Out!" The woman doing the cooking in there ordered.

"I'm Kari and this is my daughter Valerie. We just wanted to see if you needed any help..." The tiny woman gave me an evil glare, "I just mean with lifting and carrying; I would never presume to tell you how to cook." I added rapidly.

"Tell you what...you said Kari...I'm busy putting final touches together right now; come back in a half-hour and we'll start moving things to the dining room. I smiled and we backed out of the kitchen and returned to the living room where everyone was cheering. I assumed the local team had done something good; don't ask what.

Val and I returned to the kitchen as requested. "You're Kari, and you're Valerie, right?" The cook asked.

"Right."

"I'm Naomi. Nice to meet you. Would you start moving these bowls and casseroles to the dining room? Make sure you put the hot ones on trivets so they don't damage the table. For the next several minutes Val and I hustled back-and-forth to the dining room. After carrying out the last bowls we returned to the kitchen and found Naomi toweling her hands dry.

"Thanks for helping. Did you say Valerie was your daughter?"

"Yes, my husband Brett and I adopted her."

"Weird. Seeing you together...I'd have sworn you were related by blood because you look so much alike." Naomi walked over and shook my hand and then Val's. She frowned, "I get the strangest feeling that you two are not just an adoptive mother and daughter. Have you ever considered being tested?" She laughed, I laughed, and Valerie laughed. We went out and sat down at the lavish feast with everyone else.

We pretty much forgot about the 'sister' nonsense until we were driving home the next morning. We'd eaten breakfast with the Morningsides and then headed out. Valerie and Brett napped for the first half of the trip. When they woke up, Valerie revisited Naomi's comments about our relationship.

"She thought you were related?" Brett asked.

"Yeah. Crazy, right?" I tried to kill the topic.

"I don't know...the more I look at you two...I see a lot of similarities." Brett said as he stared at me.

"Yeah. Me too." Valerie added. "Maybe we're...like...distant cousins or something."

"Oh, come on you two! Stop this nonsense."

"It's not nonsense Mom. Don't you ever wonder...you know...about your lineage or ancestry...things like that." Val pressed.

"No. My curiosity ended when I was abandoned at birth. They left me, I don't want to know about them."

"I'm not saying we need to ID who...just a little knowledge of...things. Maybe get a little warning of health issues?"

We argued for another 75 miles. Finally I caved and agreed to get one of the commercial DNA tests, provided that Valerie and Brett did them too. They agreed; Valerie willingly...Brett, not so much.

As we approached the last few miles, we stopped at the local pharmacy superstore. Val found three tests and Brett paid for them. We got home and unpacked...after turning on the heat to warm the house. Nick and Nora went ballistic and raced around from one to the other.

Once we'd all unpacked, cleaned up, and started laundry, Valerie insisted we do the swabs for the tests. Val read all the directions and did hers first. Then she guided Brett and me through ours. Val and I laughed as Brett got a little too frisky with the swab and triggered his gag reflex. We sealed and stamped them and put them in the mail the next morning.

For the next few days Brett and I concentrated on the WAMA transition. He briefed Dr. Dillon on every issue he'd been dealing with or anticipated to become an issue. At the same time I introduced Wendy Moore, Dr. Dillon's PA, to Ms. Haugen's Francesca and Janice Perkins the Special Projects Group PA. The four of us went to the cafeteria and continued to talk during lunch...don't know where Brett and Dr. Dillon disappeared to.

After lunch Wendy and I went back to the office. I called Michael from the Special Projects Group and had him come up and transfer my company laptop to Wendy. Then I showed her all the cool things she now had access to as the PA for the #2 person in the company.

By Friday, two weeks after Thanksgiving we'd finished the transition. The Special Project Group threw a big going away party for Brett and Shanique. They had a giant cake decorated like a silver oak leaf cluster to symbolize their new Air Force ranks. After that, they each received a beautiful Centenary Briefcase as a going away present.