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Authors fore note:
Okay, I'm sorry, sincerely sorry, I know, .........I know, we all want it to go on forever, but it has to come to an end at some point, and it's gone much further than I ever expected, or intended it to, I'd anticipated around twenty, possibly twenty five chapters to this extension of 'Life's Illusions', and here we are on Chapter 48.
This is the penultimate chapter, I apologise profusely, but it won't change matters.
Thank you for your dedication, the responses have been plentiful and really helpful, keep them coming, please.
I'm not sure where it will go next, I haven't quite figured that out yet, but be assured, go forward it will, after a break, quite possibly in the New Year, it will be back.
Thank you, seriously, thank you all, whether you liked it or not, thank you for giving me your precious time, I'm truly grateful.
This story started in a time when my own life was truly idyllic, I never envisioned, that in reality, I would so suddenly lose the love of my life, my soulmate of 37 years, that I would be plunged into a place so dark I couldn't see a way forward, didn't know if I even wanted to go on, but just like the story line, it happened to me.
My friends helped me, guided me, you all helped me, to move forward, it's been a really difficult, painful, stumbling journey, but I'm still here, I'm amazed, I wouldn't have given a betting man odds on my being here, but I am, and I'll continue to write, he would have tutted, told me to stop feeling sorry for myself, told me to pick myself up and get on with it, with life, and so I will.
ARB Allan
Life's Illusions - 10 years on - Chapter 48
Piers and Milo had been an item for several months now and the festive season was approaching.
It was that time of year when Lenny started to canvass the family on who was going to be in Lanzarote for Christmas and New Year.
Piers had put the question to Milo, but he'd been nervous about agreeing to go, thinking the family would see him as a free loader.
It had taken a pretty surprising personal visit to persuade Milo he was not just welcome in Lanzarote, he was a required element certain people were not prepared to do without.
He'd been engrossed in the intricacies of a particularly difficult protection scenario, when a shadow had suddenly appeared over the paperwork he'd been studying.
Looking up he was shocked, standing beside him were both Lenny and PJ Thorn
Milo sprang to an almost military style attention.
Mr Thorn, Mrs Thorn, this is an honour, is there something I can do for you?".
PJ just smiled, leaving it to his wife to respond, he knew this was a Lenny moment, this boy was about to be charmed big style.
"Yes Milo, there is something you can do, you can agree to come to Lanzarote with Piers for the Christmas and New Year Holidays".
Milo guessed wrongly it had been Piers who had instigated this visit.
"I'm sorry, I don't mean to be ungrateful, but you have a large number of family, Piers shouldn't have troubled you, I don't want to take up valuable room".
Lenny smiled, sat down next to him, and took his hand in hers before responding.
"Milo, my darling granddaughter, and great grandsons, are living their lives freely, and it's all because of what you and Rick did, plus you are currently dating one of the nicest people on the planet, who, although he isn't legally related, enjoys the position of adoptive grandson in my heart, as does his brother, that means you are also an important person to have around, so if you really want to make me happy, say you'll come".
Milo was just mesmerised, he didn't say anything, he just nodded his agreement.
Lenny leant in and planted a kiss on his cheek.
"Good, that's settled then".
As they made to leave Milo found his voice.
"Could I possibly ask a favour?".
PJ and Lenny were intrigued but Lenny answered.
"Yes, what is it you want?".
Milo visibly blanched before he blurted his request out, worried they'd think he was crazy, but he needn't have worried, their immediate expressions told him they were happy to grant his wish".
Before leaving Lenny told him she'd keep in touch to finalise the arrangements regarding his request.
PJ gave Milo a card, instructing him to call the number on the card, and insisting Milo make the person whose name appeared on the card aware that PJ had recommended him.
For Milo the next six weeks were fraught with worry, he hoped he was doing the right thing but he couldn't be sure.
A week before they were due to leave for Lanzarote, Milo hitched a ride with PJ and Lenny to New York, he would be away only two days, he'd told Piers he couldn't make the trip to Montclair that weekend due to a commitment, he hadn't elaborated, because that would have meant either telling the truth or lying, neither of which he wanted to do.
His trip was to a renowned New York address, where he took delivery of his precious order.
Milo was traveling out from Torremolinas the day before Christmas Eve on one of PJ's planes, Josef, Carry, Paulette, Sofia, her boys, Rick, Leo, Pip and Ramon would be flying out with him.
On the flight out he'd been daydreaming, thinking back to where this all began, it had started initially when they'd met at Chateau Montclair, that day when he'd first laid eyes on Piers, the day he'd fallen in love, but then, after that day, he'd been preoccupied with his work in Torremolinas.
As days and weeks turned into months he became nervous about finding a reason to meet Piers again, but he couldn't put him out of his mind, then finally Rick had sat him down, told him to do something about it, go to Montclair, see if the feelings were still the same, see how Piers reacted, well that was now history, it was ingrained in his memory.
That day when he'd arrived in Montclair had been a mixture of happiness and disaster, the later mainly because Milo had blurted out his love for Piers, leaving everyone staring open mouthed at him.
Piers was traveling to Lanzarote from Nice with all of the Montclair family, he was deep in thought too.
It had been an idyllic few months, hectic sometimes, juggling his responsibilities at The Inn with his desire to see and be with Milo, but they'd managed it.
Arriving at Arrecife airport in Lanzarote, a fleet of vehicles was waiting for each plane, ready to ferry the guests to the house everyone called 'The Christmas House'.
It had originally had five bedrooms on one floor of the main house, then a further eight bungalows, all of which were two bedrooms, four each on either side of the main house and gardens leading down toward the promenade.
One of the bungalows was used as a permanent residency by the house's Housekeeping couple.
Lenny had added to the bedroom numbers by converting the nursery and nannies quarters on the top floor into a further four bedrooms.
They now had nine bedrooms in the main house and seven, two bedroom bungalows available when the family descended at Christmas.
Milo was in the first party to arrive, he was shown to a bungalow by Cesar and Allis who had been Housekeepers of this property since it had first been built by Lenny after she and PJ married.
When they led him inside he'd stopped dead in his tracks, been staggered, completely shocked, apart from the fact that the Bungalow was beautifully decorated and furnished, Cesar and Allis had added the extra touches Lenny had requested.
There were groups of candles all over the ground floor, a sprinkling of rose petals led the way up to one of the bedrooms, on the side of the jacuzzi in the shared bathroom sat several more groups of candles and a tub of rose petals to sprinkle in later when the jacuzzi was filled.
Milo just stared so Allis explained.
"We have everything ready, Piers plane will be the last one to arrive, everyone is primed to come straight to dinner, he won't see any of this until after dinner, Cesar will come down to fill the tub and light the candles before you get here, when you bring him in make him close his eyes, it should put the icing on your night, now dump your bag and come up to the main house".
Piers arrived about an hour later along with the rest of the Montclair party.
Every adult in the party knew what was planned, and the excitement threatened to boil over, so much so that, Lenny suggested to Milo he get his proposal underway whilst they were on the top terrace enjoying pre dinner drinks, Milo agreed.
As the drinks were served each guest took their drink and moved away to the outer edges of the terrace, looking back towards the centre where a confused Piers suddenly realised only he and Milo were now standing.
As he was about to ask what was happening, Milo took Piers hands into his own.
The look on Piers face told how confused he was, but it didn't last long.
Realisation dawned quickly when Milo dropped to one knee, pulling from his pocket what he'd travelled to New York to collect, a ring box containing two exquisite gold rings, causing Piers to gasp.
"Piers, I love you, I have since that first meeting in Montclair, I've dreamed about this moment for so long, I've planned it out in my mind so many times, with a long speech, lots of flowery words, but now the moment has come, I realise I don't need them, I just need to ask the most important person in my life, the most important question I'll ever ask in all of my life, Piers Alonso Bowles-Cruz, will you marry me, be my equal partner, love me and keep me safe, as I promise I will you, for all of our lives?".
Piers just stared, until Junior shouted.
"Say yes, we're all starving".
There should have been laughter at Juniors remark, but instead there was complete silence, Piers hadn't answered, it was as if everyone were holding their breath, there wasn't a sound".
Piers looked into Milo's eyes and he could see it, the love that was there, he'd known, just as Milo had, from that first meeting, there was only going to be one person for him, and that person was here in front of him, down on one knee.
Instead of answering straight away he'd knelt down on one knee, mirroring Milo's stance before replying.
"Like you Milo, I've been certain of my love for you since that first time we met in Montclair, I want to marry you, be yours for all time, I'm kneeling with you because that's how it will always be, together, two halves of the same being, so my answer is yes, please, now do I get a kiss?".
As Milo leaned in to kiss Piers, no one else heard him whisper.
"You're getting a lot more than a kiss later, try about eight and a half inches".
Piers blushed a deep crimson, and only they two knew why.
It had been around four months after they met when Piers had deliberately initiated the situation where they would have sex.
Aly and Bo had left for England to visit Will and Maddy.
Piers was alone in the house, he'd deliberately set up Milo to visit the day after his Poppas left.
Their bedrooms had been next door to each other with a connecting bathroom between, and a door into each bedroom.
Milo had been stood in the shower when Piers walked in, both were totally naked, each, though shocked they were in the nude, took the opportunity to survey the others body, and their penises flagged up their approval, standing to attention within seconds.
It had led to a night of sexual exploration, both knew the basics, but neither had ever done anything with another person, virgins, they sealed their future that night, learning together.
It had quickly become a pattern, when he wasn't working, Milo would grab a flight to Nice and Piers would collect him from the airport, a similar arrangement fell into place in reverse, if Milo couldn't get to Montclair, Piers would travel to Malaga and Milo would have someone collect him from the airport, they'd rarely been apart for more than a few days.
Christmas and New year had been an enjoyable holiday for everyone but especially for Junior, Gabby and Berto, it was the first Christmas they had ever enjoyed, and the adults made sure they were spoiled.
Arriving home to Montclair in early January the family were surprised to find the driveway into their house on Avenue Montclair blocked by an animal who was lay dead centre without any intention of moving, their security guard was standing to the side flagging them down, he came up to the car.
"I'm sorry, I can't get near it, it's too aggressive, I think I might need to call the police and have it removed".
Juan got out to shoo the dog away but it didn't move, it just growled aggressively.
Juan returned to the car and retrieved a tyre iron from the trunk, intending to be armed if the animal became aggressive.
As he was walking back toward the animal Berto leaped out of the car shouting.
"Don't hurt her, I think she's injured, let me try, she won't hurt me, I know she won't".
Juan caught him before he could get any nearer.
"Stop Berto, I can't let you go any nearer, it looks vicious".
But Berto was having none of it, slipping out of Juan's grip he approached the animal which, just as Berto had predicted, didn't show any aggression.
Berto sank down next to it stroking it's head and the animal just whined sorrowfully.
"She is hurt, I think her leg's broken and there's blood on her back, she's been hit by a car".
Juan was shocked, he'd thought the animal might be a rabid stray, but Berto had sussed the situation so easily, the boy might not be up to speed on a lot of things, but he was definitely in tune with all life forms.
Pierre by now was out of the car calling to Berto.
"Can we approach Berto, what does she need, I can get the vet out if we need him".
Berto was stroking the animal and taking stock of where she was in pain.
"Yes Poppa, she needs help, she's in real pain".
Pierre pulled his cell phone from his pocket and within a few minutes had secured an assurance that a vet would be with them shortly.
By now Juan had sat down next to Berto, he was doing the same as Berto, stroking the animal and talking softly to it.
The vet arrived within fifteen minutes, initially administering a sedative which reduced the animals suffering, before lifting it into his van, then taking it to the surgery.
Berto had insisted, he had to go with her, she would need a friend.
The rest of the family had no option, they couldn't, or rather, they wouldn't, let Berto go alone, and so they all spent the next three hours at the veterinary surgery.
It was around two in the morning when a tired vet told a very tired family, she's okay now, her right back leg was broken, he'd set it and splinted it, he was confident she'd mend okay and be good as new in no time.
Everything else was skin abrasions and bruising, she'd be sore for a while but that would ease, he gave them some painkiller tablets with instructions on how to administer them.
He informed them there was no need to keep her, she could go home with them now just as long as she was kept quiet for a couple of days, nothing strenuous, she needed to rest and let the leg heal.
And so, the family of five became a family of six.
Cleopatra, or Cleo as she became known, was Berto's shadow, whenever she could be, she was next to him, she slept at the foot of his bed, they absolutely adored each other.
A few months after Cleo became part of the family Berto slipped out of their house heading into town.
He was focused, he wanted to buy a present for Great Grama Lenny's birthday which was only a week away.
He'd been asking both of his Poppas and his brother and sister for over a week to help him get the present, but no one had the time to spare.
He'd thought about it, they told him he shouldn't go alone, he wouldn't normally, but they couldn't come with him, they were all busy.
He knew what he wanted, knew exactly where he was going so it wasn't such a big deal.
There was a stall in the market place, one which sold handmade soap, Great Grama Lenny had stopped there with him several weeks earlier, telling him how much she loved the smell of lavender soap.
She'd admired one box in particular, it was beautiful, made of a rich deeply coloured polished wood, he was determined to buy it, the biggest box with several different shaped lavender soaps, all nestling individually in a silk interior.
He had his credit card in his shirt pocket, the PIN number written on a piece of paper in his jeans pocket.
As usual Cleo was trotting along happily beside him.
He'd done it, he was feeling so proud, the box of soap cost thirty five euros, it was carefully packed into a stiff paper carrying bag bearing the stall holders details.
As he was leaving the main square walking back toward home, he was suddenly confronted by a group of local youths.
He knew who they were, local boys who called him names whenever he was on his own.
They wouldn't have dared pick on him if Junior or Gabby were around, Junior would have put all of them on the floor in moments, and Gabby packed just as formidable a punch when roused.
They were blocking his path, surrounding him, calling him names as usual, that didn't really bother him, he was used to it, it had always been this way.
Berto tried to reason with them, he didn't want any trouble, he just wanted to go home with his precious parcel.
The biggest of them, the son of the local police chief, stepped in close and punched Berto hard on the back of the head.
This really was the catalyst for what happened next.
The punch was forceful, causing Berto to cry out in pain and stumble, forwards falling to his knees.
Berto would have ignored this, got up and gone on his way, but what they did next sent him into a fit of pure rage.
The same youth who'd punched Berto, kicked out at Cleo who was cowering frightened and confused, next to the fallen Berto.
Her yelp of pain set the path for what would land Berto in deep trouble.
As soon as he witnessed his precious Cleo being harmed Berto stood up, grabbed the offending youth tightly by the neck and punched him squarely in the face, the punch broke his nose, exploding blood over both him and Berto, he collapsed backward, squealing like a girl.
By now a small crowd had gathered, they'd witnessed everything, but done nothing to help Berto, and almost too quickly police officers arrived.
They immediately recognised their bosses son and arrested Berto.
A canine unit was called to take Cleo to the local animal pound.
No one was showing Berto any sympathy, he was handcuffed and bundled into the back of a police van, whilst everyone fawned over the youth who had caused the incident.
At the house on Avenue Montclair, Pierre was studying a cost proposal for a sophisticated piece of listening equipment Guardian was looking to purchase.
Juan was in Toremolinas, due back later that evening.
Junior and Gabby were entertaining friends in the garden.
When the housekeeper informed Pierre that there was a police officer at the gatehouse he immediately asked for him to be sent up to the house.
Pierre met the officer at the door and was sent into a panic when told that Berto was in custody charged with Aggravated Assault.
The officer asked where Juan was.
When Pierre explained Juan was in Toremolinas, due back later that evening, he was surprised to be handed a package as the officer said.
"Juan needs to view this urgently, he'll know what to do with it, please I'm begging, don't let on I gave this to you, I could be sacked, it proves your boy was the innocent victim of an attack, your dog is at the pound, you need to collect her quickly, they're already talking about having her put down".
As soon as the officer left Pierre called Chateau Montclair, in a panic he explained the problem to Juan's Uncle Pete, emphasising he was really worried about Cleo being put down, and the effect that would have on Berto.
Pete told him to wait, he would be there to pick up Pierre in about thirty minutes.
Pete was with Woody and Jaque when the call came from Pierre, Woody was incensed, he'd repeatedly warned the Mayor that the Police Chiefs son was heading for trouble, but he'd been rebuffed several times.
They immediately agreed, Pete and Jaque would head to pick up Pierre, whilst Woody went directly to the pound, determined to rescue Cleo.
When Woody arrived at the pound he was astonished to hear that Cleo had been assigned for immediate euthanasia as a vicious animal.
He asked to be shown to the holding pen where she was located.
Cleo recognised him immediately and began whining.
Woody entered her pen and sat down with her, much to the irritation of the pound handler.
"You can't do that, she's scheduled for euthanasia in the next hour, you have to leave".
Woody just smiled.
"If you think you are going to murder this beautiful girl, then you'd best be prepared to murder me too, now that should be really interesting, so unless you're letting us both out of here, go away, leave me to have some quality time with this lovely young lady".
At that point Cleo was cuddled protectively in Woody's arms.
A stand off was in progress, the handler just shrugged his shoulders then locked the pen with both Woody and Cleo inside.
At Police headquarters in Montclair, Pete Jacque and Pierre encountered a stone wall, no one would give them information or even a straight answer, that was, until Jaque invoked his Royal Privilege.
"I am The Comte Montclair, by law I rule above any person or position, get your Chief of Police, and The Mayor here now, before I fire every one of you and take personal charge of this fiasco of a department".
Within minutes the Mayor arrived, totally oblivious of all that had happened, when Jaque explained the situation he agreed, the Police Chief needed to be removed from office unless he saw sense and stopped this charade immediately.
The Police Chief, instead of turning up as requested, sent a message for his officers, only a few minutes after the Mayor arrived.
It was a complete farce, the Police Chief had instructed his officers to remove Jacque and the Mayor from the building, but fortunately, Jaque had asked the local Judge to join them, he spoke with determination to the officers before him.
"You all know me, I warn you now, don't defy me, I will exact a seriously heavy penalty from anyone who does, The Comte Montclair has invoked his Royal Privledge, he can, if he wishes, with lawful backing, remove every member of the local Council, Law Enforcement, and any other appointed position, anyone who tries to oppose his wishes will cause the National Guard to be called in, that in turn will result in each of you facing charges of insurgency".
Before Piers had left the house he'd called Juan to update him and uploaded the cctv footage he'd received from the Police Officer, he didn't need to ask, he knew, where there was a threat involving either Pierre or the children, Juan would be onboard the Guardian Company Jet, wheels up, jetting out of Malaga before Pierre even reached the Police Headquarters with Pete and Jaque.
The Chief of Police was extremely slow in responding in person to Jaques summons, he'd arrived a little over two hours after being called, at almost the same time Juan had entered the building.
Jaque was sitting in the Chiefs chair when he entered and didn't give him time to speak.
"You are removed from your post until we get to the bottom of this fiasco, I question your leadership qualities when an under age boy is arrested and dragged away in handcuffs because your son is involved, it's not the first time your son has been involved in this sort of incident, in fact it seems to be a regular occurrence, and supposedly it's never his fault".
The Chief was having none of it.
"That ruffian attacked my son, broke his nose, and you want to suspend me, get out of my office, I'll have you arrested if you don't move now".
Fortunately Juan was behind him and gave no one else a chance to speak.
"You useless piece of crap, didn't you think to look at the cctv footage that exists, or have you already discovered who's actually at fault, I've seen it, my son was attacked without cause by your bully of a son and his cronies, apart from assaulting my son he delivered harmful injuries to my sons faithful dog who presented no threat at all, I intend to issue charges on both you and your son for Aggravated Assault, Animal Cruelty and Subversion of justice, right now I'm begging you, please attack me, I so want to smack you violently into next week".
Pierre couldn't help it, he wanted to giggle, but he held it together.
Later that evening he would recite to Juan.
'I so want to smack you violently into next week'.
"I think you need a therapist".
Then they both dissolved into laughter.
The outcome that afternoon was as it should have been, the Chief of Police was suspended, pending a full investigation, the Assistant Chief of Police, the very same person who'd supplied the cctv footage to Pierre, was appointed temporary Chief Of Police.
Juan was escorted to the cells to collect a sobbing Berto who wasn't at all bothered about what they'd done to him, he was only worried about what had happened to Cleo.
Juan promised him they'd go find Cleo immediately, but assured him Uncle Woody was with Cleo, so he could rest assured, nobody was going to hurt her, Uncle Woody would make sure of that.
When Berto finally arrived at the Police Animal Pound, even he laughed at His Great Uncle Woody, curled up, humming softly, cuddling a sleeping Cleo in a locked pen, on a hard concrete floor.
Berto entered the pen, but instead of hugging the sleeping Cleo, he hugged Woody, and through teary eyes he just said.
"Thank you Uncle Woody, you kept her safe".
To Woody it spoke volumes, the boy was so grateful, he didn't need to say more.
A sleepy Cleo rode home in Berto's arms.
When they arrived home Berto went straight to his room with Cleo, whilst Juan, Pierre, Junior and Gabby sat in the lounge room.
It was Junior who started the postmortem.
"It's our fault, he asked us for help, Gabby and me, we didn't have time to do it, it's all our fault, we should have put him first, we didn't, he would have done it for us, it will never happen again, we promise".
Pierre could see how upset they were.
"It wasn't just you, he asked me as well, I'm as guilty as you are".
Juan surprised them all.
"Guilty, he asked me as well, we need to get ourselves coordinated guys, Berto is so gifted we sometimes forget, he won't defend himself against bullies, it's our job to correct that, let's talk about this tomorrow, but we agree right here and now, if he wants something, we work it out between us who is going to be responsible for his protection, if we need to assign him a protection detail then we'll do it, but for now I'd rather not, I want him to enjoy being a boy".
In his room Berto had already dismissed the episode, he was talking to a fascinated Cleo as he meticulously wrapped the box of Lavender soaps in pretty white paper with gold birthday greetings.
He wrapped it twice, the first time he didn't think it was good enough, after all this was for Great Grama Lenny, it had to be perfect.
The following morning at breakfast, Juan asked Berto how he felt about what happened yesterday.
Berto in his straight to the point way answered.
"I'm okay, and uncle Woody looked after Cleo so everything's alright.
Juan couldn't believe Berto would just brush it off.
"We're all sorry, you asked each of us for help and we didn't give it, that won't ever happen again, you can ask any of us, if that person can't help you it's up to them to find one of us that can, what happened to you yesterday was our fault, one of us should have been with you, it will never happen again".
Berto listened but his answer in true Berto style surprised them.
"You did help me, you came to my rescue, you made sure uncle Woody was with Cleo, I'm used to people picking on me, it's always been that way, it doesn't bother me, but I never had anyone who would come to my rescue before, it's nice to know you all love me enough to do that, but I don't need to be a trouble for you".
Gabby just burst into tears, Junior was swallowing like crazy trying to fight back tears, Juan and Pierre, who were sat either side of Berto, put their arms around him, but it was Pierre who answered for all of them.
"Son, you need to understand exactly how much we all, every one of us, loves you, I don't think you understand how much you mean to us, to me and your Poppa Juan you're our very precious son, to Gabby you're her big brother, her knight in shining armour who protected her when no one else would, to Junior you're the big brother he always wanted, we love you son, nothing is too much for you to be happy and safe".
Berto didn't answer he just put his head on Pierre's chest looking content.
On the following Sunday most of the wider family arrived at Chateau Montclair for Lenny's birthday party.
Everyone bought gifts but one gift in particular was more special than anything else, the boxed lavender soaps, as she opened the wrapping paper, so meticulously folded, she caught the smell of lavender.
"Oh my goodness, this is going to be wonderful, I just know it, I can already smell it".
Stripping away the rest of the packaging and opening the box, the look on her face told the whole world how much she loved this present.
Drawing Berto into a hug she kissed his cheek.
"This is the gift box I stopped to admire when you and I were out walking in the market a few weeks ago isn't it?".
Berto just nodded, he was always in complete awe of Lenny, he loved her company.
"This was expensive, I remember, you shouldn't waste your money on me child, but I'm pleased you did, this is going into my bathroom, every morning I will start the day with this beautiful scent, thinking how lucky I am that you gave me this gift".
Berto was positively beaming, and so were his Poppas, brother and sister.
But there it was again, life's illusion, fooling us into thinking everything was okay, when it wasn't.
TBC ARB Allan
Comments are welcome to cfgw2000@aol.com.
Thank you for giving me your time, enjoy.