29 comments/ 12132 views/ 5 favorites The Proverb Stories: No Man Can Serve Two Masters By: hansbwl Whether you would be interested to read my life story or not, I really don't know. I won't take you through my life from birth to present day, just the important bits. You see, I can divide my life into three periods, the first being the pre-Amy period, then the Amy period, and afterwards the post-Amy part. I am sure you will guess the most important part will indeed be the Amy period and the end of it, the why and how. It is an interesting tale, so bizarre that most people will say it couldn't be true, but it is the gospel truth! Today I am a content grandfather, I am happy with loving people around me. The really good thing is, I have had good people around me all my life, even during the time when it seemed to fall apart. That may be a surprise for a lot of people, the cheating that took place was not malicious or done out of selfishness or greed, on the contrary. To help you with the time line of events I will mention a couple historical facts. The Korean War ended in 1953, well it was a cease-fire then and in fact still is. In 1988, terrorists had placed a bomb on the PanAm flight 001 which led to a horrific crash at Lockerbie, Scotland. This was the beginning of the end of this airline, it went into bankruptcy in 1991. Another event, although not of an international dimension, was the opening of the Aquarium in the Mall of America in Minneapolis in 1996. Looking back, I remember the fateful summer day about a year after the Aquarium was opened. I was running my own insurance agency, which after several busy years had been quite lucrative. I lived and still do, in Saint Paul, one of the twin cities. I attended a meeting in the morning, and had a couple of hours to spend before my next meeting. I chose to walk around the Mall of America as it was almost next door to the office I was visiting. I had never been to the Aquarium so I entered, paid my ticket, and started my tour. It was very impressive; people could walk between the tanks with exotic fish and sea life. The winding corridors took you past all the exhibits. I could see the crowd strolling in the opposite direction on the other side of the tanks. While I was watching a rather large shark, I had to look twice at a woman holding a little girl by the hand. The woman smiled at the child, pointed at a colorful fish in the tank away from me, looked at the man next to them, laughed and kissed him lightly on his lips. Stunned, I realized it was my wife and daughter with an unknown man. They seemed to be one happy family. She turned towards me, I am sure she recognized me because she whispered something to the man and they hurried towards the exit. The crowd was rather dense, there was no way for me to overtake them. When I got out, they were gone. I was troubled. Did I see my wife and daughter? They were both their spitting images, it is too much to be mistaken identity I thought, but how was it possible? It was my wife's working week, she was supposed to be far away and not back before Monday noon. The rest of the day went in a haze. I couldn't remember what I had done when I at last got home. My six-year-old girl came rushing towards me, delighted to see me. She hugged me and I lifted her up and asked, "What have you done today, dear Maggie?" "Linda and I went to the swimming pool, I can swim at least ten breaststrokes now Daddy," she replied excitedly. Linda, our Swedish au pair, smiled and told me that they spent the whole day in the park and used the pool. Maggie is learning to swim, she is making good progress. It must indeed be a case of mistaken identity, I had seen the proverbial "doppelgänger" - two of them, was it really possible? Maggie and Linda could not be lying so convincingly, no way! The rest of the week went quickly and Amy returned on Monday, around noon. I was at the office of course, but when I got home I had forgotten the strange incident at the Aquarium. As always, when she comes back the first night is an amorous evening of reuniting. I met Amy while she was a stewardess on a PanAm flight. As many other male passengers most likely did, I was taken by this quick-witted and bubbly Korean girl. I asked her where she was based, which happened to be my town of residence. I asked for her telephone number saying I really would like to get to know her. One thing led to another, one year later we were married. She was adopted as a baby by an American air force captain and his wife at the end of the Korean War. They brought her and a Korean nanny back to America, were she grew up, learning the Korean language and culture from her nanny. She was therefore bilingual. PanAm had use for her language skills; they put her on the Asian routes. Her time away from home was for several days at a time, but she had longer home time as a compensation, which I liked very much. After a few of years in wedded bliss with a wonderful loving woman, PanAm was hit by the terrorist attack on Flight 001. She was home at the time, but her reaction was stronger than I expected. Onboard were good colleagues, but her crying was almost hysterical. When I got her calmed down, she explained that she should have been on that plane - she switched with another stewardess, called Mandy. Her remorse was immense, she told me she had to go to the family to try to comfort them. She stayed with them two days, came back more composed, and told me she would start flying again. Thinking back, I knew this was the turning incident in our life. You will later understand. About two months after the horrible crash of flight PA 001, she came home and announced she had quit her job and would not fly anymore. Before I had time to ask what she intended to do, she said: "I was offered a job and I have accepted." "Without discussing with me first?" I replied a little surprised. "It was too good to refuse," she replied and continued, "I have accepted a job with a government agency using my Korean language skills. I have passed the security clearance and have been told not to discuss the job with anyone. It is not dangerous work, only not to be talked about. The pay is more than twice of what I earn as a stewardess and the free time is generous." She smiled at me and gave me a kiss. "Ok Amy, there must be a snag somewhere?" "Not a big one Peter, I used to fly out for five to seven days at a time, on a very irregular schedule. This job will be very regular, I will share it with one other person on a 50/50 basis. One week on followed by one week off. This means that I will leave Monday morning and return next Monday before noon. I stay home until the next Monday for a new workweek. I will therefore be home twenty six weeks every year." This has been her work schedule now for nearly nine years, only interrupted by the maternity leave after giving birth to our child six years ago. She must be good at her work, as she earns serious money. That Saturday evening, we were sitting on the patio enjoying the late summer sun, she was curled up in my lap. We had opened a nice bottle Californian red wine, the atmosphere cozy, relaxed, and very intimate. Then I started to tell her about my visit to the Aquarium and seeing hers and Maggie's "doppelgänger". There was no doubt, she became tense, and I could feel her stiffen in my arms. She tried to smile it off and joke about it. She succeeded almost, but not completely. Then I knew, there was something I didn't know. I had to find out. I usually drive Amy to the airport on Monday morning. On rare occasions, she has to take a taxi if I am away or have an early meeting. So, this morning I told her I had to leave early and she had to use a taxi. I kissed her goodbye, wished her a good week, and left. Not for work, but to the airport. There, I parked my car in the parking garage, went to the Enterprise counter, and rented an inconspicuous car. I was hidden behind a pillar when she arrived at the service entrance; she walked into the building as usual. Twenty minutes later, she came out again, with a different bag. She flagged a taxi, hopped in, and the taxi departed. I jumped into the rental and followed them, hoping for the best. The taxi ended up in the more affluent part of Longwood. Amy paid and walked up to a very nice house, the door opened and out came a Maggie clone who propelled herself into Amy's arms. In the open door, I could see a statuesque blond goddess laughing and wishing her back home, the au pair I presume. I was stunned, could she work here? No way, that could not be possible. I drove slowly back to the airport, returned the rental, and took my car to the office. I asked my secretary to clear the day and told her to not transfer any telephones to my desk except from my wife. Then I started the search for the residents at the address where Amy had entered. I found out that the residents were Mandy and John Stevenson. After a while, I remembered that fateful day in 1988 when Amy had said she had switched flights with a stewardess called Mandy. She had gone to comfort them and stayed two days. What the hell happened afterwards? Did she live a double life? In that case, where did the money come from? Did her "husband" John pay her to stay one week at a time for compensating the loss of his wife? Too many questions, the only way to find out was to confront her. I took a deep breath and called their home number, when the telephone picked up I heard, most likely the au pair saying, "The Stevenson's residence!" "Could I speak to Mandy Stevenson please?" "Who is asking, please?" "Tell her it's Peter Wilson calling, she needs to speak to me." After a few seconds she came to the phone and asked in a worried voice: "Peter, is anything wrong at home? Please say all is OK with Maggie." "Yes Amy, all is good with her, no emergency." "Why did you call then, you were not supposed to open the sealed envelope with this number unless it was a serious case I had to know about." "I did not open the envelope Amy, I looked up the number in the directory, searching for the number to Mandy and John Stevenson, can you explain that Amy?" There was a long pause, and then she said, "Peter I am sorry, yes I can explain, but not on the phone. Are you at the office?" "Yes, I am." "I can come to the office, but first I have to call John and ask him to join me. He doesn't know more than you, I must explain the story to both of you together, please." "I have cleared my calendar for today. What happened this morning when I followed you from the airport has unnerved me to such an extent that work is out of the question. I will be here waiting for you." "Thank you Peter, I'll call John, hopefully he can get away on a short notice and we can be there within a couple of hours." I heard her voice was about to break, she had great difficulty getting her words out and before her phone disconnected I could hear her crying. A little past noon she came to my office with the same man I had seen her with in the Aquarium. She looked at me and said, "Peter, meet my husband John Stevenson." She kissed him lightly on the cheek, walked over to me and kissed me on the cheek, turned towards John and said, "John, please meet Amy Wilson and her husband Peter." Both John and I were struck dumb with astonishment, but after a few seconds we said almost simultaneously, "Are you a bigamist?" "No I am not, but I fully understand an explanation to both of you is required. It is a long and complicated story. Could we sit down at the conference table, both of you facing me, please?" "Before I start my story, please know I love you both very much and I would like to continue and to be allowed to love both of you. I do understand this will be difficult, but please hear me out first and please do not interrupt me. It will be very emotional and difficult for me." Peter looked at her and asked, "Please tell us, who are you?" "I am Amy, wife of Peter and I am Mandy wife of John. For the duration of this story, this is what you have to believe. At the end I hope you will not ask that question again, can I continue without interruption please?" John and I looked at each other, shook our heads as an affirmation and leaned back in our chairs with folded arms, nodding for her to continue. "I have to start with the background. Just at the end of the Korean War, a young Korean woman gave birth to two girls, identical twins. Her husband had been killed at the front a few days before the cease-fire. She was poor with no family and therefore was unable to take care of them. She went to an orphanage and gave them away for adoption." "An air force captain and his wife adopted one of them and called her Amy, the other was adopted by an army colonel and his wife. They called her Mandy. Neither of the families knew about each other and they did not know they got one of a pair of twins. Both girls were most cherished and loved by their adoptive parents. As fate would have it, one of the families settled in Saint Paul, the other in Minneapolis." "Amy and Mandy lived all their years as children and teenagers very close to each other, but they never met. Both Amy and Mandy played sports, made good grades at school and strangely enough, both sets of parents hired a Korean nanny so the girl could learn her mother's tongue. After high school, one went a year to a Kibbutz in Israel and the other on a peace-corps exchange for a year in Africa. When they came back, both became airline stewardesses in PanAm. The first few years, one flew domestic routes, and the other flew to and from Europe." "During those years, Amy met Peter, or more correctly he got interested in an air stewardess and asked for her telephone number. They married a year later. Mandy met John in London, he was very happy when he found out she was American. They also were married a year later." At this stage of her explanation, she asked John and Peter if she should get Ruth, Peter's secretary, to make them coffee and go out for some Danish pastries. Both declined the Danish, but thought coffee would be a good idea. That organized, she continued her story. "Some time later, PanAm used their Korean language skills and put them on the Asian routes. We ended up both on the world circumnavigation route 001 and at last we met. We understood that we most likely were identical twins, after finding out we had the same birth date and place of birth. We bonded immediately and became best friends. Our first reaction was to involve you two, but after thinking about it for a while decided we would like to learn to know each other first. The next few months we were together at all possible moments without interfering with the job or you two. We told each other our stories, our family background and about our husbands. In other words, we learned all about each other." "One day, Mandy called Amy and told her she had a flight and did not feel well. Amy offered to take the flight for her. We did not inform the company, we just switched identities and Amy did the tour as Mandy. Nobody was the wiser so we did switch flights from time to time. A few months later we talked about how we seemed to be able to fool everybody. Then we almost at the same time asked each other 'Can we fool our husbands?' Of course we had to try it out. There and then, we changed jackets with nametags, purses with passports, credit-cards, keys etc., took each other's bags and Amy took a taxi to Mandy's home and Mandy took a taxi to Amy's home. You two did not notice anything suspicious at all. Both of us experienced an intense erotic feeling when we kissed our sisters husband, we fell almost instantly in love." At this point Amy/Mandy looked at us and said: "We did not expect that. I think you almost can guess what happened next, can't you?" John looked at her and asked: "Does that mean you have slept with both of us for more than ten years?" "Yes, one of us slept with you both for about two years, I almost eleven. You may now better understand my anguish Peter, on that fateful day in 1988 when the flight 001 was downed over Lockerbie? My sister and the wife of one of you were killed that day. Also Peter, accept that you that day did not know for sure who was home with you and who was on that plane." "I felt my world collapse and you tried to calm me down and I hurt so much that I could not tell the truth. I told you about the switch and that I was supposed to be on that plane. I had to go to John and comfort him because he believed Mandy was on that plane. I stayed two days then told him I had to go back to work again, but only a short domestic tour." "Peter you know don't you, I didn't go on a domestic tour, I came to you and stayed a few days before telling you I had to start flying again. The thing is, I didn't. I quit flying altogether and only went from one house to the other being a loving wife to two husbands. It was so hard, not the loving you bit, but the losing my sister bit. After a while, I had to go to a shrink to have therapy, I could not bare my soul to you regardless of how much I wanted to. The therapist gave me strong advice to come clean with you two, which I considered. Even the therapist did not know who I was, Amy or Mandy." At this point she started to cry, it was no doubt strenuous for her when all her secrets were spilled out to us. It must have been very difficult to live a double life like she had done. It was a very natural reaction. After awhile both John and I asked her: "Are you finished, can we start asking questions? We have so many." "No, I'm not. There is a lot more to tell." She looked at us, dried her tears and continued. "Amy and Mandy bought together a raffle ticket on the National Lottery every month. A couple of weeks before the horrible accident they won the main price, a huge amount, which they agreed should be paid out to them over the period offered, 30 years. We were planning to invite you two to a classy dinner and tell you about it and us. Our two families would have been set for life. Then Lockerbie happened before we could make the arrangements." "I know I should have told you who died in the crash and let the grieving husband have half of the proceeds and then be able to start a new life. There were no children involved. The problem for me was that I loved both of you. Having all that money made it possible for me to quit working and transferring the monthly sums equally to both households. I invented the government job and started to live with you both, one week with Peter and one week with John." John and I looked at each other just shaking our heads saying; "This is pure madness, how could you?" "I just told you, I loved you both, I could not let one of you go. I know it was very selfish, but I hoped to make you both equally happy. I did, didn't I? Have you not been happy with me?" "Yes I have," both of us said. "But you had to know your double life at one point would come out into the open," I added. "I know," she said, "I was certain the bubble would burst when I became pregnant, I did not expect that to happen. I knew I could not hide a pregnancy from one of you so I decided fate would have to play a role. I did not know who made me pregnant. At least I hoped one of you would stay with me. But later the doctor told me that I was expecting twins. You know I was a twin, so the chances for just that to happen to me, was quite big. So I fooled you both again." John just shook his head, with a big sigh said: "You scheming woman, remembering what you did a bit more than six years ago, I can almost figure it out how you fooled us." With a slanting smile she looked at both of us and continued: "The money which was transferred to your account was less than what was actually coming in. Funds had therefore accumulated in the bank so I had funds to arrange with a private clinic for the birth and the few weeks afterwards. I told them that I did not know who the father was, so I wanted you two visiting me on alternate days. They accepted my explanation, but they had problem understanding why you two only got to see one of the twins. In the end I had to tell the doctor some of the story to keep him on my side. I did not tell him the whole story, only enough to keep him happy. To be able to bring home one girl to each home I had to invent a story about the child's immune deficiency. We had to stay a prolonged period in the clinic to build the child's resistance to the environment up to normal. That was just an excuse to make it possible for the children to gain strength so I could leave them for short periods so I could alternate between the homes." The Proverb Stories: No Man Can Serve Two Masters "I asked you both to find a suitable au pair, Peter found one first, so I brought Margaret Chin home first. As I did not have enough milk to feed them both I had to supplement with formula. I went to the clinic to Madeleine Joo during the days waiting for John to find an au pair for her as well. I was exhausted for several weeks until we got everything streamlined, au pairs in both homes organizing the double life so I could start 'working' again, that is, going between the homes again. I have never been so tired in my life as I was in that period. I was utterly exhausted. Going back to 'work' was almost like a continuous holiday by comparison." "I named Margaret after Peter's mother and Madeleine after John's mother. I did not take the risk of slipping up and saying the wrong name, so I call them Maggie and Maddie, it's so similar that if I say the wrong name you would hopefully not notice. They do have different Korean middle names, Chin which means precious and Joo meaning jewel, that's what they are to me." I could see John had a problem accepting her tale as I did. This was just too outrageous. She made a pause, drying the tears rolling down her cheek, she had to understand that what she had done was an enormous shock for us, something we most likely would not be able to handle. When she saw John and I looking at each other shaking our heads, she reached over the table and grabbed our hands hard, saying, "Please Peter and John, I love you both so much it hurts, just as I do love my girls. Can't we find a way out of this so we still can be together, - - - please?" John said immediately, "No way can things be as before, I have to think about it for some time, there's too much to digest in just an hour. What about you, Peter?" "Too many questions are still unresolved, is what I think," was my comment. I continued, "Is my wife living with her sister's husband half the time?" "Or, am I a widower and living with the sister of my late wife, half the time?" "Who died in the plane crash? What happened to her remains? Who collected the insurance and compensation paid at the time?" "The question about the children and who might be their father, do I want to know? I am not sure about that. My Maggie is my child whoever the seed donor was, -- I think." "John, can you live on without the answers to these questions?" "No Peter, I don't think I can. At least I need some time to digest this and evaluate the options if there are any." "One thing I feel we need to address," he continued, "the girls, do they get to meet each other or not? Without thinking it through, my first reaction is that we cannot keep them apart. They need to be siblings. That particular experience was taken away for Amy and Mandy." Amy/Mandy looked at us and said: "I will not answer the two first questions just yet, I had hoped you will be able to let me continue to be John's Mandy and Peter's Amy, -- please. The next question regarding my sister's remains and the compensation, I have my sister's ashes in an urn and I collected the insurance and compensation. It is in an offshore bank and the beneficiary is the true widower and it is untouched. The next question which Peter said he maybe didn't want the answer to, as he considered Maggie to be his child anyway, I hope John feels the same. Please do not go for DNA tests, consider both girls as your children, both of you." At this point she collapsed, she cried with her head in her arms lying half over the table, shaking. It was too much for her, eleven years of living a double life with two homes and families, knowing one day the secrecy had to be revealed - sooner or later. John and I both had to hug her and we both tried to convince her life wasn't over, we would try to find a solution. After a while, she calmed down and I said to her, "Amy, I call you Amy for that is who you are to me, at least for now, John and I need to talk alone, you have to stay away from us a few days. You cannot go home to either of your homes just yet." I turned towards John, "Do you agree?" "Yes," he replied, " I do." He then asked my Amy, but his Mandy, "Do you have a personal friend you can stay with for a few days?" "No, not here I think. I have many friends, one set as Amy and another as Mandy. Peter and you know one set each, I'm sorry, it's so complicated." After a short pause she said, "I was a very good friend with one of the stewardesses from my time as a flight attendant. I have kept contact with her for all these years, - as Amy. She married a doctor and lives in New Jersey. But, I could book myself into a hotel here, I would then be available for talks with you on short notice." "No," John said, "you should not be alone. You need to be able to talk to somebody you trust, somebody you could tell the truth to and unburden what has been storing up these years. Do you think this friend in New Jersey is such a friend?" "Yes, I believe she is. I think she wouldn't condemn me. She is a good person and if she is able to accommodate me for two or three days I believe she will listen without judgment." "Call her, Amy," I told her. "I don't have her number, it's on my 'Amy' phone which is in my bag in the airport." "John and I will drive you to the airport. You pick up your bag from the locker you have there. Then we stay with you until contact with your friend is made. If she says you can visit, buy a ticket to New Jersey and off you go." That's what we did. She contacted her friend and after a few pleasantries, I asked for the phone and she told her friend that I wanted to speak with her. "Hi, Susan, this is Peter speaking. You may be surprised by this sudden phone call from Amy. She has a big problem and she needs a good friend she can talk to and have a good shoulder to cry on. To you it may sound dramatic, but she needs to unload her troubles to somebody outside her family and close friends here in Saint Paul. Can you be that person for her for a couple of days? If you can, I will be very grateful." "This is urgent, isn't it?" she replied. "Yes it is, it is not a conflict between husband and wife in its normal sense, it is far more complicated and Amy will tell you all. Please support her, she will need it." "Ok, when you have booked a flight for her please send the flight number and arrival time. I will collect her at the airport." "Thank you, very kind of you, I don't want her to be alone at this point. One more thing, I understand your husband is a general practitioner. Could you please ask him to give her a full check up so that we are sure she is in good physical health? She will pay him of course, she is financially very well off. But she has been at a very high level of stress for many years and I just want to be sure all is in order." "Of course, will do. I'm looking forward to seeing her and I will take good care of her." "Thank you, goodbye." An hour later, she checked in on her plane and she was on her way to New Jersey. John and I made arrangement for meeting the next day; we had a lot to talk about and also needed to get to know each other. There is no need to go through our conversations, they were long, heated and filled with anger, desperation and more, but also memories of happy moments with Amy/Mandy. One thing we did agree on at an early stage, the girls had to meet. We decided it would probably be best to let them meet without any of us present so as not to confuse them. We told our au pairs about the problem we were facing and arranged for them to go with the girls together in the park. They would hopefully bond without our interference and slowly find the truth by themselves. After a couple days, Susan called from New Jersey, "Peter, Amy is in great turmoil and three days here is not enough. She has told me everything and clearly lives in a fantasy world believing she can keep you both. Is that remotely possible, Peter?" "No, I don't think so. At least from my point of view that is not possible. She should be happy if she can keep one of us; that is the very best she can ever hope for, in my opinion. But even that is not certain." "I thought so. We need to bring her back to earth. My husband has checked her health; there is nothing physical to worry about. But she needs therapy. In my husband's practice there is a 'grandmother type' therapist who has agreed to see her for an hour each day for a few days. I think she should stay with us at least until end next week. Are you OK with that?" "Yes, of course. It will be better for John and I to have additional time to sort out our own thoughts. Maybe an extra week will be good and we will be able to cool down a bit and take a more pragmatic approach to the problems we are facing. The thing is, we both love this woman, but it is hard to live with the fact that the wife of one of us has been having a love affair with another man for about eleven years. How to get past that is our big question. Add to the fact that one of us is a widower without knowing, that is huge by any standards." "I understand, and Amy or Mandy, whoever she really is, will also have to understand that before going home. But whatever you two do, do not crucify that poor woman. She did what she did out of love for you both, not out of malice. Please remember that. I will phone John and say the same to him as I have told you. In the end I hope all will turn out to something all of you can live with. Goodbye Peter, it was good to talk to you." We got some updates from Susan every other day. Maggie and Maddie met and played together. They bonded surprisingly fast. It was awesome to watch how quickly they became best of friends. It was like they had never been apart at all. Friday afternoon, almost two weeks after our first confrontation, Susan called and said she was setting up a conference call at six for her, John and me. The telephone service set it up as arranged and Susan came on the line: "Peter and John, I hope you are both listening?" Both of us confirmed that we were. "I have Amy or Mandy here and she wants to talk to you both at the same time. I believe she is ready to come home and face the music. Please understand she is fragile, so please promise me you will not be too hard on her, she understands the situation now and she is so sorry, you have to believe me. So, here she is." "Peter and John, I love you both," we heard her low subdued voice, "I had hoped I would be able to continue to do that. But Susan has shot that idea down, but please don't say anything now, I will ask again when I meet you face to face. I don't expect anything, but please let me ask when I see you." After a short pause she continued, "I have booked a flight tomorrow to Minneapolis and I have booked a suite for one night at one of the airport hotels. I will not say which flight and I will not be met by any of you. I will take a taxi to the hotel and have arranged an early check in. I cannot take anything for granted, I do not know if either of you will take me home so that's why the suite. We need to meet on neutral ground and a hotel suite should be both private and neutral. I have one very big favor to ask you. I miss my girls something fiercely and I need to tell them a simple version of my story myself. I am their mother and I need to hug them and tell them I love them equally. Could you please let Linda and Karen bring the girls to me around noon tomorrow?" "Of course," both of us confirmed. "Thank you, give me an hour with them and I will meet you both face to face and you can tell me what I can do for you, or what you do not want me to do. Whether I have a home to go to or not, I only hope you do not hate me and that we at least can go on being friends." "We will be there and we will not be aggressive or mad. There is nothing to be gained by that. The girls will be with you at noon, they miss you too. Have a good flight back." Saturday afternoon we were at the hotel with the girls. While Linda and Karen took our daughters to their mother we spent the time together in the coffee shop next to the lobby. About an hour later two small hurricanes hurled themselves at us shouting excitedly, "We have the same Mum!" They were ecstatic and wanted to tell us all about it. "Later dear Maggie and Maddie, now it is our turn to meet your mother and talk to her," we told them. I gave Linda a fifty-dollar note and asked her and Karen to take the girls out to a café for some ice cream or whatever they wanted and be back in about an hour. Then we took the elevator to her suite. Upon entering her suite, we met a very subdued but composed woman. We both gave her a hug, somehow a kiss seemed to be improper, the situation being what it was. "It was nice to see the girls again, I have missed them the last two weeks," she said, "I have also missed you two. Please sit down and let us talk. As I said on the phone, I would like to ask you again, is it even a remote chance that we can continue as we have since 1988?" John and I both looked at her and said, "Sorry, but no." Then I continued, "I at least have thought a lot about it. I am not a religious person, but I think that what is said in the Bible, that 'No man can serve two masters', is rather relevant here. (Matthew 6:24). As long we didn't know; nobody got hurt. But now that we both know, it is impossible for us. John and I have talked and talked about it, but it is a firm no." To this John just gave an affirmative nod. "What are we going to do, I love you both, are you both going to reject me?" "Not outright, we need to know who you are. We need to know which one of us is a widower. The question is, will we believe you when you tell us. We have both discussed this, to be frank with you we simply are unable to tell after so many years. Had this question come up in 1988, we might have, but now we simply cannot tell." "I understand your problem, but I can prove my identity." "How?" "In your home, John, there is a box with all Mandy's personal documents. Certificates such as school records etc. There are also both birth certificate and a set of adoption papers, in Korean, but with a certified English translation. In your home, Peter, there is a similar box with the same set of documents. In the adoption papers there is a line saying 'Special peculiarities'. In Amy's document this says 'none', in Mandy's it says 'small birthmark shaped as a half moon on neck'." When she told us this she rose up from her chair, kneeled on the floor then bowed her head and lifted her hair away from her neck. And there, just at the nape of her neck was a small but very clear half moon shaped birthmark, then she started to shake and she cried. John went over to her, folded his arms around her, trying to comfort her. I was for a moment a spectator to their anguish and told them, "I'll leave you alone for a few moments" and went to the bathroom where I stayed for some time. We both had mentally prepared ourselves for this, but to be honest, it something nobody can prepare themselves for and be unaffected. I now knew I have been a widower for nine years, now my grieving can start. To be honest, a few tears fell when sitting in the bathroom waiting for them to collect themselves for the next important question, which incidentally I knew the answer to. Who is the twins' father? I went back to the living room to Mandy and John. "Before I leave you two for the day, I assume you need more time both of you. But we need to settle the question of fatherhood once and for all. Before I say more, I would like to emphasize that I consider Maggie as my child, whoever was the seed donor. I didn't listen to Mandy, I sent off Maggie's and my own swabs to a DNA lab. John, it seems proper since you are Mandy's husband that you in fact are the biological father to the twins. But please, I will not give up my fatherhood of Maggie." When saying all this I noticed John go pale, then he said, "I did the same Peter, Maddie and I are not related." None of us said anything, you could hear a pin drop, both looked at Mandy like she was a ghost. Mandy almost collapsed in her chair, then tried to compose herself and straightened her back and looked at us and said: "That was my great fear, I knew it could happen but hoped that one of you was the biological father. Please understand I did not have time or energy for an affair. You two were more than enough for me. It was seven years ago that I had been to my shrink, she had again said with harsh words that I had to be straight with you two. I was mentally at a very low level, went to a hotel so I could find a toilette and clean myself up and be presentable. I was resting in the lobby when Mike, my college boyfriend, saw me. He noticed I was distressed and wanted to lighten me up and talk about old days. He invited me to lunch. We had a nice lunch, shared a bottle of wine and I ended up in his room. I had an affair and I did cheat on you that day, I admit that. However, I do not regret this because as you now have told me, he did contribute to Maggie and Maddie. He was married with three children, lived in Fargo with them and his very pretty wife. I have never seen him or spoken to him since that day." "After the encounter with him, I went home to Peter and made love to him the whole weekend. On Monday I went to John and made love to him until I was sore. The reason for not being altogether shocked is that both Amy and I never used any protection after we married. We both found out that you both have a low sperm count and chances of you making us pregnant were slim. We did not say anything to you but agreed to let luck decide." "I don't know what to say anymore," was my comment. "I do not wish you any harm Mandy, I want to help and assist you in the future, I would like to be a father to Maggie and Maddie as well if you like. But I will not be there for you to marry if John divorces you. I need to grieve for the loss of Amy and build myself a new life. But I will not abandon you Mandy." "Thank you Peter," she gave me a hug, "I love you Peter, and I want to be in your life the way you will allow me to be." John cleared his throat and said, "The same goes for me Mandy, I will not abandon you either. I would like to think about our situation before I decide what to do. I might ask for a divorce, I hope you understand that the situation is rather strange. So my suggestion is that you stay in this hotel for a week, you will have access to your daughters as much as you want, but they stay at night in their homes. Is that agreeable to you?" "Yes." "Look for a house, but do not commit to anything before we have spoken again, OK?" "Yes." "Can you manage on your own for a few day without doing anything stupid?" "Yes." "Are you sure?" "Yes." "We love you Mandy, both of us, you understand that, don't you?" "Yes." "We have to go now Mandy, are you OK with that?" "No, but I understand." This should in normal circumstances be: The End. However, I know that my readers will skin me alive if I do not give them an Epilogue. Mandy and John started counseling. After a few weeks they went together to a couple's camp where intensive counseling was given. They moved back in together and we all agreed that Mandy and John should have the daily care of the two girls, and that I could have them every second weekend and at least a holiday each year. Linda moved in with Mandy and John and stayed with them a short while until everything settled down, then she moved back to Sweden and started her medicine studies there. Karen, being about ten years Linda's senior had used her spare time in the Stevenson household to study Law at the Minnesota University. She had one year left when all this happened. I invited her to stay in my house; free of any rent provided she would help with the girls every second weekend and share the domestic duties with me. She accepted enthusiastically, she could then use almost all her time to study. The Proverb Stories: No Man Can Serve Two Masters For me the next year was a mourning period, the highlights being the weekends with the two girls. Karen and I enjoyed the time with them and it was obvious that the girls also had a great time with us. Mandy and John used their free weekend very well and cemented the marriage by enjoying time together as a couple. John and I became very good friends and he told me that the fact that none of us were the seed donor in fact helped him to accept the situation and go on with Mandy. My contact with Mandy was more or less limited to the times she delivered the girls and when I brought them back. One day, almost a year later, after Karen had passed her final exams and secured a job in an all-female law firm, Mandy asked to have a chat with me. "Peter," she said, "you need to pull yourself together and start to live again." "Yes, I know. I must expect to be totally alone in this house now. Karen has got her degree and I must expect her to find a flat of her own and start her independent life, find a partner, marry and have children. I don't look forward to her leaving." "Yes, she will leave unless you do something. I have noticed the way she is looking at you that she doesn't want to leave. She loves you. But if you do nothing she will eventually leave." "I am too old, Mandy. I am 15 years older than her, she can do so much better with a man her own age." "That is for her to decide, but I can see both of you care for each other, make a move Peter." "I am so frightened that I will scare her off and destroy a good friendship. But I will see if I can muster enough courage to send the right signals and see where it leads." "Good, do that, but do it soon before it is too late." I asked Karen to drive the children back to Mandy and John that Sunday evening, I wanted to think about a possible approach towards Karen. When she came back, while sitting in our living room I asked Karen, "Karen, I understand that you after your successful exams and your new job may want to find your own flat. But before you do I would like to say that having you in the house is so nice and I think we go so well together I hope I can persuade you to stay." While saying this I rose up from my chair and went to the panorama window looking out. I wanted her to have a little time to think about it. She rose up from her chair, came up next to me and said in a very calm voice, "I might like that Peter, but there is one condition." "And what's that?" "Before telling, I need you to do one thing for me first," she said and turning against me, "Kiss me, please." I did kiss her and what a kiss it turned out to be! We were holding around each other, the kiss lasted for a long time, it felt like I was in heaven. When we let it go so we could catch our breath, she asked, "Would you like to hear my condition now?" "Yes, please." "In your master bedroom you have a big king-sized bed. You only use one side of it. For me to stay in your house you must invite me to use the other half of that bed. Will you do that?" "Of course Karen, but am I not too old for you?" "No, you are not. I think I love you Peter, I have loved you for quite some time now. You do not need to promise me anything, I am a modern woman and would like to try living with you and see if my feelings are what I think they are. Can we do that Peter?" It did take less than a minute before we where in my bedroom and soon we were testing the bed and our compatibility. Before going to sleep, Karen kissed me again, she smile lovingly at me and said, "Mandy was right, you just needed a little push." One year later, after a love session I asked Karen if she wanted children. "Yes I do. But do you?" She asked back. "Yes, but I have a problem, my sperm count is low so the chances are small." "That is not a problem anymore. We go to a clinic, extract a few eggs from me, the lab select sperm cells from your semen and impregnate a few of my eggs. We insert two in my womb and hopefully 9 months later we have one or even maybe two children." "Ok, let's do that. But we have to do something first though, my lovely Karen, will you marry me?" "YES!" We had a small wedding, John was my best man and Karen wanted Linda to be her maid of honor. Maggie and Maddie were two beautiful bridesmaids. We bought a first class ticket for Linda who as a student could not afford the travel cost this far for just a few days. But we wanted to include her as she had been with us when all seemed so difficult. Now 16 years later, we look back and see a wonderful family. We had twins - of course - but not identical; a girl and a boy, now fifteen years old. Maggie and Maddie have completed their degrees, married good men and have one - I repeat one - child each. Mandy saw that I needed somebody to get over my grieving. She did push Karen and me together. For that am I forever grateful. Karen and Amy/Mandy are so different as it is possible to be. So I can safely say I love Karen as much as I loved Amy without comparing the two, it was fate and terrorists that took Amy from me. But Karen has filled the empty void in my heart and we have a very good life together. The End. ***** Thank you Cheer_Smartie526 for editing this story.