“Oh, babies, you were fantastic,” I said.
April and June blushed before June said, “Well, we were a little rusty at first, but once we got into it…”
April finished, “… We kicked their asses.”
“They were such pretty assess, too,” I said with a sigh.
“Momma!” April and June protested simultaneously.
I smiled and said, “Of course, not as pretty as my babies’ asses.”
That got a smile from both of them. They sat down on each side of me, leaned in, and gave me sweaty hugs. April asked, “So, you think our asses are pretty?”
“Oh, I’d say way more than pretty. On a scale of one to ten, you’d each get an eight,” I started.
“Eight?!?” June and April exclaimed together.
“For a total of sixteen out of ten,” I finished, wrapping an arm around each of them.
“Oh, Momma,” they both said as they leaned in on me, nearly crushing me.
After a beat, I asked, “Why don’t you babies get those pretty asses moving and back to the house so I can show you how much I appreciate them?”
“Okay, Momma,” April said. We quickly got up, gathered our stuff, and returned to the house. I looked around and saw that many more people had gathered on the beach since we got there, so we had to weave our way through the people to get back to the paved path. When we were safely home, we dropped everything in the entryway and ran upstairs to the shower, shucking our outfits as we went…
***
Finally, it was time to fly back to Virginia. When April and June dropped me off at the terminal, I hugged each one, telling them I loved them and that I’d be back as soon as possible. My eyes burned as I walked into the terminal and then to my departure gate. As much as I wanted to stay here, my life was in Virginia. As CFO, I needed to ensure my focus was on my job and not on my babies in California. Besides, they could fly out to see me just as easily as I could fly out to see them, so I was sure we’d all have plenty of air miles accumulated in the future.
December 1988
Sean, Siobhan, Séamus, and Saoirse were coming up from Ft. Worth for Christmas. I was thrilled because I had decided to introduce April and June to my parents as a Christmas surprise, which would be even better now that the whole family would be there. I had called Mom and told her that George and I were coming over for Christmas, so she was expecting to have her whole family together for the festivities. I hoped the surprise didn’t give her or Dad a heart attack.
April and June were flying into Washington Dulles International Airport, where George and I would pick them up before taking them to my parents’ place. What made this trip memorable was that in addition to meeting my parents, April and June wanted me to meet their adoptive parents, Anthony and Sophia Ferrari. Little had I known they had grown up in Suffolk, Virginia, only an hour southeast of my childhood home.
After we picked up the twins, we spent the three-hour drive catching up. Thanks to my help with their financial and business plans, April and June started their software consultancy business while working on their next project. We also discussed current events, especially the terrible earthquake in Armenia that cut Secretary Gorbachev’s visit short with President Reagan. However, the news about Pan Am Flight 103 being blown up over Lockerbie, Scotland, was about the only thing people talked about.
When we pulled into the driveway of my parent’s house, I was nervous about introducing April and June to them. George sensed my nervousness and gave me a hug. April and June looked nervous but smiled when Séamus and Saoirse came running out to greet me. They were grown up now, and both of them towered over me.
They looked curiously at April and June, probably wondering who they were. I smiled at them and said, “This is April and June Ferrari.”
April and June were dressed similarly in complimentary colors so everyone could tell them apart. April and June greeted Séamus and Saoirse with smiles and handshakes before we trooped into the house. Mom came out of the kitchen, and I flew into her arms. By the time we separated, Dad had come out to greet us, followed by Sean and Siobhan.
They all had curious looks on their face upon seeing April and June. I took a deep breath, braced myself, and said, “Mom, Dad, I’d like you to meet April and June Ferrari… your granddaughters.”
The curious looks on my parents’ faces were quickly replaced with stunned looks as they absorbed the news. The silence was so complete that you could have heard a pin drop. Mom was the first to recover as a big smile came over her face, and she stepped forward and hugged April before hugging June.
Dad quickly recovered and, after looking at me and giving me a quick nod, stepped up and hugged April and then June.
Mom was in tears as she turned to me and asked, “How did you find them?”
I smiled at Mom and said, “Actually, they found me.” April, June, and I had discussed what we’d tell my family. We had agreed to the story that we had met each other two years ago during one of my business trips and had become friends. After learning about my story, they decided to look for their birth mother and discovered it was me.
After hearing the story and seeing April and June nodding along with it, Mom pulled me in for a hug and whispered, “They’re wonderful girls.”
I whispered back, “Yes, they are. I’m so glad they turned out okay after everything that had happened.”
Sean and Siobhan hugged them, and Séamus and Saoirse shyly hugged them before we all trooped into the living room. We talked, and everyone wanted to know more about April and June. They gamely answered everyone’s questions and were soon totally accepted as part of the family.
I went over and sat next to Dad, and he put his arm around me and gave me a squeeze. His eyes were shiny, so I leaned into him and whispered, “Isn’t it amazing how everything worked out?”
“Oh, Pumpkin, I’m so happy for you,” Dad whispered as he smiled down at me.
“Thanks, Dad,” I whispered. We stayed that way for a while. I threw up a prayer to God, thanking Him for providing for my babies and giving them loving parents to raise them into the incredible women they have become.
Eventually, our get-together broke up when everyone ran out of questions to ask April and June. I went with Mom into the kitchen to help her get dinner ready. April and June offered to help, so Mom put them to work setting up the dining room table, adding another leaf to accommodate everyone.
Finally, everything was ready, and we all sat down at the table. Dad led the prayer over the food before we all plated our food and dug in. As I looked around the table, enjoying the company of all of the people in my life that I loved, I realized how blessed my life was and how even the worst possible events can lead to beautiful results.
June 2023
It was a beautiful day at Greenwood Memorial Gardens, with a cloudless sky and a bright sun, but I wasn’t enjoying it. The scent of freshly turned earth signaled the reason I was here. A marker with the name Sinéad O’Rourke carved in it, along with the dates of August 1936 – June 2023, stood as a testimony of a full and complete life. I looked at the marker next to it with the name Sionainn McDonald and the dates February 1936 – September 1997 on it and felt a feeling of completeness now that the two of them were together again for all eternity.
“It’s time to go, Aunt Anna,” my niece, Saoirse, said, taking my elbow. I turned, seeing my nephew Séamus and his wife Judy and April and June Ferrari, my twin daughters waiting patiently for me.
“Yes, it is, Saoirse,” I said. I had one more stop to make before I finalized my move to Manhattan Beach, CA, to live with my two daughters… my two lovers. I hugged Saoirse before hugging Séamus and Judy, telling them all goodbye. They would fly back to Ft. Worth since their work, friends, and Judy’s family were all there. I promised to visit them sometime in the future, but for now, I’d have telephone and internet to keep in touch with them.
Now that Sinéad was gone, I no longer had a reason to stay in Virginia. I had retired seven years ago, shortly before George died, ending our marriage of forty-three years. I had visited his gravesite earlier today, promising him I’d see him again someday. He had been my best friend and confidant for all those years. I still miss the comfort of his hugs and had constantly caught myself wanting to rush home and share something with him, only to stop and realize I couldn’t anymore. Moving out to California would finally put a stop to that now that Sinéad was gone. I’ve already sold the house that George and I had lived in for all those years and taken care of Sinéad for the past several years.
I walked up to April and June. They closed around me and wrapped their arms around me. I wept quietly for a while before I got myself under control. I smiled up at them and said, “One more place to visit, and then we can go home.”
“Okay, Anna,” April said, and she and June led me to their car. We’d be driving up to Point Pleasant, NJ, to visit the White Lawn Cemetery, so we had a seven-hour drive ahead of us. We’d stay the night in a hotel before returning to Richmond, VA, to turn the rental in and catch our flight to LAX and home.
It was a pleasant drive, and we planned what we’d be doing once I was settled in. Although April and June hadn’t minded splitting their time between Manhattan Beach, California, and McLean, Virginia, while I took care of Sinéad, I had felt bad keeping them apart so much. Now, we’d all be together, and I planned to spend what time I had left enjoying their company and the surf and sun of Manhattan Beach.
Finally, we reached Point Pleasant, and we quickly found the cemetery. Alessia Falcone had a grave in the Falcone family plot. I had hired a private investigator forty years ago to find out where her grave was and had visited several times since then. Over the years, more family members were buried there, but not for some time. Their gravestones were not tended to, which told me no one visited them. The exception was ‘Sia’s marker, which I always cleaned and ensured flowers were regularly put on her marker. I had no love for the rest of the family for condemning her for loving me, so I didn’t feel bad about not tending to any of the other markers.
Leave a Reply