Lisa's entrance forestalled anymore reminiscing. "Sorry I'm late. The traffic on 405 was impossible. I take it they're not here yet?" She sat down next to Kris' feet. She had borrowed Andy's car so no one would have to pick her up.

Her question was answered by the sound of a car driving up. "I'll leave the three of you to greet your guests and I'll drop in a little later after you've had time to talk." Granny headed for the kitchen. "Good luck."

At the sound of the bell, Raven opened the front door for her mother and brother. It seemed like several minutes pa.s.sed before the silence was broken by Philip. "Can we come in?"

Raven stared at the woman that had made so much of her childhood so unbearably difficult. She could see that the years had taken their toll on her, not so much in aging but in bitterness. The woman that stood before her seemed to be angry with her lot in life. "Oh yes, sorry." She closed the door and led them into the living room.

"Lisa? What are you doing here?" Cynthia asked her youngest daughter.

Lisa stood and faced her mother. "I have a right to be here, Raven is my sister after all."

"Yes, I suppose you do." She admitted and sat down at the end of the couch, with Philip sitting next to her.

Raven introduced Kris as a friend. They decided earlier not to rub their relationship in Cynthia's face, yet. Kris then headed to the kitchen to get the coffee and tea she had made. Lisa sat on the opposite end of the couch, closest to the chair that Raven occupied.

"Philip said he explained everything to you." Cynthia stated into the uncomfortable silence.

"He told me that he finally told you the truth about what happened." Raven paused to restrain her sarcasm. "But I'm not sure what you want from me."

"I...I guess I just wanted to see how you were...how you ended up." Cynthia looked at the face that still reminded her of the husband that had abandoned her.

Kris sat the tray down that contained mugs, a coffeepot, a teapot, sugar and cream. She then filled everyone's mug with his or her preferred beverage before taking the chair beside her companion.

"Thank you, dear." Cynthia said to Kris as she sipped her tea. "Is this your parent's house? It's a lovely home. They must do very well." She stated, glad for the chance to change the subject.

Kris answered before her partner could. "No, Mrs. Chandler, its Raven's. And it is lovely isn't it. She had the whole thing redecorated." Kris replied sweetly. If money impressed the witch, she was going to make certain Cynthia knew her daughter had it.

Raven barely kept the smirk off her face at Kris' antics and Lisa had to cough to cover up her amus.e.m.e.nt.

"This place is yours?" Philip couldn't keep the envy from his voice. "What do you do for a living? This cost some big bucks. It's nothing illegal is it?"

Raven had to bite her tongue to keep from pointing out that the house was hers and Kris'. "No, Philip, it's not illegal." Raven sighed. "As you can see, mother, I ended up landing on my feet after a somewhat rocky start."

"And I suppose you blame me?" Cynthia questioned halfheartedly; knowing deep down she could have been more loving and caring toward her eldest daughter.

Raven shook her head. "Not anymore. At first I wondered what I had done to make you hate me so much. Then I was angry with you, then I hated you, and then I really just didn't care anymore. It wasn't worth the energy it took to sustain the emotions." She stared at the woman that hadn't been her mother for a long, long time.

Cynthia broke eye contact first. "I never hated you. I just hated your father after he left and you reminded me so much of him that I would get angry with you."

"That wasn't my fault." Raven pointed out as she stood and walked to the mantle, leaving her back to the room and its occupants.

"I know." Cynthia continued to stare down at her hands. "I know I treated you badly and took my anger out on you. I can't change the past, but I'd like to get to know my daughter if you feel like sharing your life with us."

Raven turned around to find actual sincerity in her mother's eyes. She returned to her chair beside Kris and looked at her questioningly. At the subtle okay from her partner, Raven decided that she might as well answer some of their questions. "I'll try to answer some of your questions. What would you like to know?"

"Gracious, I don't know where to start." Cynthia wasn't quite prepared for Raven to accept.

"I do." Philip spoke up. "What bank did you rob?"

"Give it a rest, Philip, I work for the government." Raven wasn't about to tell them the complete truth. She hoped that he would drop the subject.

"So you just rob us tax paying citizens. Nice to see how government officials live."

Surprisingly Cynthia was the one that chastised him. "Philip that will be enough."

"Yes, ma'am." He mumbled and glared at Lisa who was trying her best not to laugh at her brother, which was kinda hard since she now pictured him as Tarzan, King of the Idiots, every time she saw him.

"Did you and Kris meet through school or work? Why don't you tell us the story?" Cynthia requested what she thought was a safe topic.

A small shrug of the shoulders indicated a 'why not' gesture from both women. "I was on an a.s.signment. Actually Kris was part of the a.s.signment and we just happened to become close friends in a short time." Raven explained. "We were to protect an Amba.s.sador and his family from possible threats."

Cynthia interrupted. "I thought I recognized your name, you're Amba.s.sador Whitfield's daughter. The papers said that he and his family were brought back from Turkey because of a terrorist plot to either kill him or kidnap his family to keep him out of the peace talks. That must have been terribly frightening."

"We were very well protected, so most of it wasn't too bad." Kris explained. 'Except for being shot at and chased to the airbase. But she probably doesn't need to hear that.' One look at Raven and she knew they shared the same thoughts.

"That was very brave of you but wasn't it too dangerous for you to be there?" Cynthia questioned her daughter. "Shouldn't the military have been protecting them?"

Philip, who didn't like not being the center of his mother's attention, thought surely that his sister didn't have an important roll. "I believe it's the marines that guard the emba.s.sies, mom and I'm sure the men stationed there had to make sure all the secretaries and non-essential people were safe."

"Actually," Kris gritted her teeth. "Your sister was..." The doorbell interrupted her and Lisa jumped up stating she'd get it.

Raven leaned her head towards her defender and whispered. "Don't let him get to you, Kris, his opinion isn't important. I don't care what he thinks about me."

"I do." Was the only response she had time for before Lisa came back, followed by John. "Part of the cavalry's here." Kris whispered and winked.

Raven was touched by the display of her friends, the people that she considered her real family, rallying around her. Which reminded her of how much her young lover had changed her. Less than a year ago she would have thrown them out for thinking that she couldn't handle things herself. "Is there a problem?"

"No, no problem. Can't I just stop by to see how you're doing?" John responded. A raised eyebrow from Raven let him know that she wasn't fooled in the least. He turned his attention to Cynthia. "Mrs. Chandler, I'm John Logan, you probably don't remember me. It's been awhile."

"I remember you." Philip spoke up. "You were the cop that use to haul Raven home when she started getting into trouble. You remember don't you, mom?" He smirked. "You still having to keep an eye on her after all this time? She still getting into trouble, huh?"

"Yes I was." John looked at the man like he was a lower life form. "And I don't think I like you implying that I spy on her, she is my boss after all."

Raven chuckled at the stunned expression on her brother's face. "John, I think you're scaring Philip, sit down please."

"I thought you worked for the government?" Cynthia eyebrows drew together, showing her confusion.

"Mom, John's not a policemen anymore. Raven, maybe you should explain to mom and Philip what you were actually doing when you and Kris met." Lisa suggested.

Raven sighed at the look she was getting from Kris, Lisa and John. They weren't going to let her down play her roll in the operation. 'Okay, fine, I can do this.' She shot a glare at John, warning him to keep his mouth shut. "I work for an anti-terrorist organization. I command one of several teams. We're issued military ranks even though we're not affiliated with the military and John is my Lieutenant. There had been indications of a possible terrorist attack against the Amba.s.sador and we were sent in to protect them and if need be, to remove them from danger. After two attempts to infiltrate the emba.s.sy, I ordered the evacuation of all emba.s.sy personal and their families. End of story."

There were several minutes of silence before Philip started laughing. "This is a joke right?" No one responded. "Oh come on, you can't really expect us to believe that she's some kind of...GI Jane or something equally ridiculous."

Raven worried when Kris and John looked at each other with a devilish glint in their eyes. Kris turned to Philip. "She saved my life twice in less than twelve hours after we had been evacuated."

John continued. "Several years ago, I was shot in the leg and couldn't walk and she carried me close to five miles on her back through the jungles of Central America to our extraction point." Knowing full well that he was being glared at, he refused to look at Raven. "She would never admit it, but your daughter is a hero, Mrs. Chandler. She's respected by the people that work for her and the people she works for."

"Except for the dear departed Major Otis." Lisa mumbled thinking she wouldn't be overheard but was.

"Whose that?" A very confused and dazed Cynthia asked.

"Sorry, sis." Lisa apologized.

Raven groaned and hung her head. She briefly described his plot for revenge and her injury. Lisa then described her meeting with her sister and how they became reacquainted with each other.

"Well, this is a lot to take in." Cynthia was well aware that her eldest daughter was a complete stranger to her and that Raven could have died with this lie between them. "You seem to have most definitely landed on your feet without needing any help from me or anyone else."

Raven's insides were trying to pull her in two different directions. Part of her wanted to comfort her mother, the other thought that she deserved to suffer. "Mother, I had help. From John who always believed that there was some good in me somewhere. From Colonel Albright, who gave me a chance. To Granny, my longtime neighbor, who was a friend even when I thought I didn't need one. And Kris who trusted me and loved me no matter what. And also Lisa who gave me a chance." She looked at her mother's hanging head. "Mother, maybe things would have turned out okay between us if I had stuck around. But like you said, we can't change the past. So maybe we could go forward. I don't think we'll ever become a family again but we could try to be friends or at least be civil to each other." Raven put forth the offer and waited.

"I...I don't know what to say." Cynthia was stunned. "You're the one that I treated badly and yet you're the one offering the olive branch." Philip, for once, wisely kept his mouth shut.

"There's one thing that might make all this irrelevant." Raven put her hand over Kris' and squeezed lightly. She decided to go ahead and get their relationship out in the open. "I know that you were involved with the Catholic Church and their beliefs and I'm a.s.suming you still are. So before we put a lot of time and effort into getting to know each other, I probably should tell you that Kris and I are lovers and we are completely committed to each other for the rest of our lives. So if you can't deal with that, we shouldn't waste our time." Raven leaned back in her chair still holding Kris' hand and waited.

"I was taught that those...your kind of relationship is wrong." Cynthia paused. "All my life I've tried to live the way the church told me. To do what they considered right."

Philip grinned. 'This is it. Mom'll let them have it with both barrels and then we're outta here.' He didn't like being reminded of his failures and having his sister around makes him remember the day he ran scared and she stayed behind to face the music. 'And now I find out that she's some kind of big shot hero with more money than I'll ever make. It should be me, I want to be the hero and get all the good things that come with it.'

"And look what it's gotten me." Cynthia continued. "A broken marriage, one son dead, one daughter that had to run away and another daughter that barely tolerates me. Not a lot for 50 years on this earth."

Lisa looked stunned. "I don't...I."

"Its all right, dear. I thought I could bully you into thinking like me. It's the same thing that I tried to do to your sister and look where that got me." Cynthia explained. "There are a lot of things I think I need to reconsider."

"You can't be serious." Philip jumped up and pointed towards the two women. "They're perverts. And they live together and...and have s.e.xual relations without being married. It's not right." He stamped his foot.

"You need to calm down." John stood in a defensive stance, waiting for trouble.

"Sit down, Philip." Cynthia pulled on his arm.

"But, mom, you said it wasn't right!" He collapsed beside her.

"Does that mean you don't have...relations?" Raven quizzed her brother.

"Of course not, I'm not married." He replied confidently. Thinking that there was no way for her to know the truth.

"Maybe we should ask Jane about that, huh, Tarzan?" Raven grinned. Cynthia looked confused while Kris, Lisa and John had to bite their tongues to keep from laughing.

Philip looked panic stricken. "How...how did you know?"

"A little ghosty told me."

"What are you talking about?" Cynthia asked, looking back and forth from her son to Raven.

"Nothing, mother, Philip and I are just coming to an understanding about name calling and what's right and wrong. Right, Philip."

Philip swallowed hard. 'G.o.d, if she knows about that, what else could she know about?' He really didn't want to know and he definitely didn't want his mother to find out. "Right, we understand each other."

"Well, this has been a very...unusual and enlightening day. And I have many things to think about. Maybe we can all have dinner together soon?" Cynthia stood and turned white as a sheet as she looked at the person who was standing in the living room doorway. "Oh my G.o.d."

Chapter Twenty-Five:.

Raven and John moved as one and caught her as she fainted. "What the h.e.l.l?" Raven looked at Granny standing in the doorway.

Kris moved to the older woman's side when she looked like she might also keel over. "What's going on?"

"I need to sit down." Granny stated and Kris helped her over to the chair she had been using.

"Can somebody please tell us what's going on?" Lisa asked.

"I'm going to venture a guess here and say that you two know each other." Raven said as she and John moved her mother to the couch and laid her down. They moved out of the way and let Lisa sit beside the unconscious woman. She held her mother's hand and lightly patted her face.

"You could say that. Thanks." Granny gulped the water that Kris handed her. "Cynthia's my sister. The last time I talked to her was just before I shipped out to Vietnam."

Murmuring from the couch interrupted her. "What happened?"

"You fainted. It seems it's old home week."

"Shut up, Philip." Everyone but the two older women stated in unison.

"Marsha? I can't believe it's really you."

Lisa helped her mother sit up. "Not too fast, you might get dizzy."

"What happened to you? Why didn't you ever come home?" Cynthia questioned her older sibling. "I missed you so much."

"I did. Father threw me out, told me never to come back."

"I don't understand. Why would he do that?" Cynthia was confused since her father had told her that it had been Marsha that hadn't wanted to return.

Granny laughed sarcastically. "He said that it was unchristian for a girl to go gallivanting around where all the soldiers were. I guess he thought I'd come back pregnant and unmarried." She looked at Raven. "Boy, the old b.a.s.t.a.r.d's probably turning over in his grave watching you." She looked at Raven.

"Why didn't you try to find me after father pa.s.sed away?" Cynthia questioned.

"I never knew your married name. I tried several times after I returned to the states, but mother wouldn't tell me, she followed his orders until the bitter end." Granny's eyes took on a faraway look, remembering the past. "If he had died first she might have told me." She refocused on the present. "I can't believe in all these years we didn't at least run into each other."

The silence lengthened as the shadows from the setting sun stretched across the floor. Kris cleared her throat. "It's getting late and I think it'd be a good idea if I fixed us all dinner. That way everybody will have time to consider these new...developments." She hoped Raven wouldn't mind having everyone around a while longer.

The sound of Kris' voice enabled Raven to shake off the surprise that the information had created. "That's a good idea. We've all been thrown a few curves that'll take some getting use to."

John took a rain check, saying he had a date with Sharon and her parents. Lisa had to drag Philip into the kitchen behind Raven and Kris to give Cynthia and Marsha time alone.

"You doing okay?" Kris asked as she hugged Raven and ran her hands up and down her partners back in a soothing manner.