Introduction: If you haven't read Parts 1-3 of "The Converse Chronicles", then you might be a little lost, but this story can stand on its own, with a little imagination on your part.
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New Characters:
Deanna Converse - Paul Converse's 50 year old wife and Angela's mother. Deanna was a cocktail waitress and part-time model before getting pregnant with Angela. A troublesome pregnancy and the depression of Angela's father leaving before she was even born led to a very bad physical breakdown (described harshly by Angela in Chapter 2). She is away "visiting family" at the start of this story, but as we soon learn here, other reasons for the trip and its unplanned extension have taken place...
(For the record, the tale of the family tragedy detailed below isn't actually exaggerated by much at all... proof that life truly is stranger than fiction!)
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Chapter 4: The Return of the Queen
(concurrent to, and the day after, Chapter 3)
"I know I've been gone a long time, but I was sure you and Angela could handle it together. You two have always been so close and I'm so happy you chose to be the man that her biological father wouldn't be."
Deanna held the phone in her flawlessly manicured hands, standing naked in front of the full-length mirror in her old bedroom at her parents' house. *HER* house, she had to remind herself, after the bizarre occurrences of the past three months.
What was supposed to be a fun-filled family gathering for her mother's 75th birthday party and her parent's 55th anniversary turned into a spectacle of mayhem and wonder.
Amidst the revelry, a chaotic scene broke out, instigated by Deanna's drunken brother-in-law, Scott, lecherously suggesting to Deanna a threesome with his wife, Deanna's sister. Tensions escalated, words were exchanged, misunderstandings grew into open accusations... with the flow of alcohol and the naturally unstable state of the family already intertwined, it was only a matter of time before the powder keg was lit.
The party ended violently... tragically. Scott, in a drunken rage at being denied, tried to argue for what he wanted in the only way he knew how, with his fists. Swinging wildly at his wife and sister-in-law in the kitchen, the women fled out to the spacious backyard where the party remained in full swing, so to speak. Dean, the girls' father, rose from his chair and confronted his belligerent and bellicose son-in-law. As their confrontation grew, Scott let fly with his fists once more, and proceeded to tackle the elderly Dean to the ground. He pummeled the old man over and over again, fatally as it turned out. Dean's only living son, Michael, came flying into the fray and tackled the much larger Scott off of his unmoving father. The men wrestled and traded blows, rolling across the yard until they reached the natural rock grotto pool. Both men's heads were dashed on the sharp rocks, and between their furious attacks, and the water quickly turning red where they went under, neither rose again from the watery depths.
While the chaos of the physical battle erupted all around, Deanna's mother, Sandra, suffered a massive, fatal heart attack. Finally, Shari, Scott's wife and Deanna's sister, came out from behind the shed she had hid behind and... after taking in all that was before her, had the last bonds of her sanity slip away as her family self-destructed around her. The police and paramedics found her, much later, sitting in the closet of the master bedroom having a serious conversation with a pair of leather pumps and a camisole.
Deanna, having been away from this group of idiots for a happily extended period, stood by and observed. Once she had extricated herself from Scott's disgusting grasp, she stood apart from the melee, saddened somewhat, but strangely unmoved otherwise. It was as if she somehow knew that the family she had been born into would one day collapse in on itself in spectacular fashion.
What she didn't know, however, was just how much money was involved in this little fiasco. Scott, of course, had left everything in his will to his wife, Deanna's sister. Her parents, likewise, had left most of everything to the older sister. Her brother Michael, who was single, had left his things to Deanna, as they had always been closer to each other than to Shari. What that meant was, Deanna was one drooling invalid away from a great deal of money, hence why this trip had taken so much longer to finish.
After arranging for suitable long-term care for her now incapacitated sister, and being named legal conservator to all the money and property involved, Deanna had decided to make a few changes in her life. She sold Scott's construction company to one of his partners for a few million dollars. With nothing of real interest among them, she also liquidated Michael's assets and belongings. Most surprising of all, however, were the shrewd and careful investment caches that Dean had nurtured throughout the years. When it was all said and done, Deanna had made a little over 10 million dollars just by coming home for a visit.
All of this played through her mind again as she listened to her husband, Paul, rattle on about the girls' final days of high school and their summer plans. She chuckled to herself as she thought of 'the girls'. Although only Angela was hers, she was as much a mother to Cordelia as her natural mother, Carmen, was and vice versa. The girls were inseparable, and she was very happy that Angela had such a close, strong friendship with Cordelia.
What neither the girls nor her husband knew was that the bond between Deanna and Carmen was far more than their children and spouses knew. Although Carmen was happily married to her lesbian wife, Carla, she had found something in the lush-bodied Deanna she found irresistable and they frequently engaged in frenzied bouts of clandestine sex, usually in a parking lot somewhere near one or the others office, in an attempt to keep the affair private.
Deanna was sad that she had ended up missing their high school graduation, but she had explained to Paul what was going on. She had asked him to not get into specifics with Angela, as that was a family issue, and despite him being there for the last 15 years for them, she didn't feel it was right to burden him with having to explain the hurricane of events that had taken place here.
She knew, however, there would be a lot MORE explaining to come when they saw her for the first time. It wasn't just the arrangements that had kept Deanna in southern California for this long. It was also recovery. Having a windfall of money, a house full of memories of the woman she once was, and ready access to the Mecca of plastic surgery that is southern California led Deanna to make an impulsive, but altogether very satisfying decision.
Standing before her in the mirror wasn't the flabby, 50 year old mother that Angela had spitefully described to Paul as part of her seduction of her step-father. Standing before her was a vision, the promise of what might have been made real by the miracle of modern surgical practice. Her breasts, which had once been a curvy 32C on her 5'9" frame, had ballooned up to 36Fs after Angela. They had been heavy, and saggy, and thoroughly uncomfortable. Now they stood proud and firm as 34DDs, and her nearly inch long, chocolate brown nipples were almost constantly erect at the sight of herself.
Her long legs and tummy had been lasered and vacuumed and treated until they were tight and firm once more. She had, however, chosen to leave the light trace of lines on her face as they were. Something about the years, the wisdom, the trials, and the joys that had made them all were important to her, and she didn't want to erase all that she had naturally grown to be. She also, in a funny quirk, decided to leave one streak of her auburn bangs gray instead of returned to its natural color.
Turning her mind back to her husband, she said, "Honey, I love you and I have a wonderful surprise for you when I get home. I hope you'll like it as much as I think you will. I'll be home tomorrow." And with that, hung up the phone and began to gather her things and pack for the flight home the next morning.