mark's Guestbook

Lynda sat there for a few minutes and didn't say anything as she listened to what Mark had to say. And once Mark was done or at least pausing so he could breathe a little bit, Lynda took the opportunity to speak. "Mark, I discovered something that I don't think you and Victoria know about," she said as she looked down at her second glass of wine. She really wanted to drink but she was pregnant, and she knew she was the moment she ordered the first glass. So, Lynda didn't take a drink but rather let her thoughts wonder as she was trying to figure out how she wanted to speak to them in terms that they would understand. Finally, she looked back up at Mark and began to speak to him again. "Our father never worked two jobs," she told him honestly. "That was a lie that mama made up to get you and Victoria to quit asking questions," she told him. "But he was gone a lot during the day, which leads me to what I found out about our father," she added, still trying to decide if Mark and Victoria could handle the other stuff that's more demonic and eviler or if she still should keep that a secret. Lynda finally made up her mind that since they were there and she was already going to tell him that she thought that their father had other children. Lynda looked down again at her wine, still tempted to drink it but finally just pushed it away. She did, however, pick up her ice water and began to sip it. Once she was done drinking her ice water, she let out a sigh and then went back to speaking to her.

"There's some very dark stuff that our father was into and I was forced to be apart of it," she told Mark. "Which caused me to develop OCD, which is why I can't stand anything to be dirty," she told Mark honestly. "I'm still trying to figure out just how I want to explain everything to you and Victoria, without scarying you both to death," she added and then went on to change the subject as she knew she would have to get back to the whole darker thing afterwards. "But I did find something that makes him relatively human," she said as she reached over and got into her purse and pulled out a picture and handed it to Mark. "I think our father had another family, "she told him. "Because that isn't mama pregnant with any of us," she told Mark as he was looking at their father with his arms around a very young and very pregnant blond and they were both smiling while standing on an expensive boat. Lynda stopped talking for a little while so she could drink some of her ice water. It was about that time that the waiter brought them their dinner. It was also about the time that Victoria showed up but was still sitting out in her car, trying to decide if she really wanted to go in or not. Lynda picked up a couple of French fries and began to eat them and then reached over for the ketchup. Neither Lynda nor Mark said anything for a few minutes as she was putting ketchup on her fries while Mark continued to look at the picture. Finally, after finishing using the ketchup and then put the ketchup bottle back in its hole. It was Lynda who broke the silence. "What are you thinking about Mark?" Lynda asked as she once again picked up a couple of fries and this time dunked them into the ketchup before eating them as she waited for Mark to reply to her.

"Well, she does have two wonderful parents," Lynda said with a smile on her face. She tried not to sound like there was something that was bothering her, but she knew that she was failing big time. Lynda let out a sigh as the waiter came over and started to take their order. Lynda ordered an Italian sub with grilled chicken wrapped in prosciutto, topped with pepper jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles and onions and for sauce, she requested both Mayo and Ranch and for her side, she wanted seasoned fries, easy on the garlic seasoning. Then she asked for another glass of red wine and a glass of ice water. Once she was done and while the waiter was writing her order down, Lynda turned back to Mark and began to speak once more about her favorite niece, Rachel. "Well, if you want my opinion, I would do both," she told him. "I would ground her for arguing with a teacher, but because she proved that the teacher made a mistake, it will be a suspended grounding, which means, it's like it never happened to begin with," she told her brother as she went on speaking. "This way, everybody wins and she will get the message that yelling at the teachers can and will get her grounded," she added as she gave her brother a soft smile as the waiter cleared his throat almost impatiently as he waited for Mark to say what he wanted to eat. Finally, Mark just ordered what Lynda was having, including his own glass of red wine and a glass of ice water. Lynda just shook her head and smiled once more. It was just like Mark to copy what she did, just like Victoria always liked stealing or as she put it "borrowing" her things.

"Oh, you are always selling yourself short Mark," she said with a smile on her face. "I remember you studying until you fell asleep at your desk," she reminded him and then went on. "Though I'm sure a few of those times you fell asleep at the desk because of you doing other things and just made it look like you were studying," she said with a chuckle. "I won't wouldn't worry about her. She has a good head on her shoulders," she told her brother. "Plus, she has two terrific parents to lean on, and well as a ton of family members who love her dearly, not to mention all her siblings," she said with a chuckle and then finished off her wine just as the waiter brought her a refill and a glass of ice water, and brought Mark the same thing. Lynda let out a sigh as she began to speak before taking another drink of her wine. "I probably should quit after this glass," she told Mark. "Since I am carrying the Cartwright triplets," she said and then gave him a smile that was more brighter and happier than all the ones before. This one wasn't fake or forced like the other ones had felt. Finally, after clearing her throat again and letting the only genuine smile that was on her face fade to her serious face, she began to answer Mark's question, knowing that she should go ahead and tell Mark what was going on, but she would rather wait until Victoria got there so that she didn't have to repeat it a second time. "Well, Mark, I would rather wait until Victoria gets here," she told her brother. "But what I have to tell you guys, has to do with our father and something that, even I didn't know about our father," she told him as she started to play with her glass of wine, trying to decide if she really wanted to take a drink or not. "Hell, I'm not even sure mama knew about what daddy was really up to," she added and then finally took a small sip of her wine.

Lynda was sitting at the table, waiting for Victoria and Mark to show up for their little family meeting. It was good to get back in touch with the two people she shared the most with and know her more than anyone else did. It was at that point that Lynda's phone buzzed with a text message. When she saw it was from Mark, she quickly checked it, hoping he wasn't texting to say he wasn't coming. But when Lynda read the message, she couldn't help but chuckle as she began to type back her reply. "Yes, I am at the good restaurant with the best breadsticks in the world. And take your time, don't rush and make mistakes. I would rather wait a few extra minutes then have to deal with a lawsuit," she added to what she already wrote. She paused as she went back to read what Mark had sent her and she couldn't help but smile at herself. She was glad that she was able to set this up too. She had a feeling that she wasn't the only one that needed something like this. It wasn't that she didn't love her family or her children, but she just needed to see her brother and sister and take a few minutes to breathe and catch up on things. Then she went on to add a couple more lines before she it the send button. "I couldn't agree more with you. Besides, we still have a lot to talk about regarding our childhood and our family, but that can wait until we get a few drinks in us," she wrote and then added a wink emoji. Once Lynda was satisfied with her reply she hit the send button. Then she turned her phone off because she didn't want anyone to disturb them while they were having lunch. After taking a couple of sips from her wine glass, Lynda began to look over the menu as she waited for Mark and Victoria. It was about that time that Mark, who was reading the last text she had sent walked in with a huge smile on his face. She, too, had a smile on his face as she looked up from the menu as she began to speak to him.

"You didn't keep me waiting too long," she added as she watched her brother take a seat across from her. Once Mark was sitting down comfortably, Lynda smiled as the waiter came over with a menu for him to look at, while he was filling up Lynda's class a second time. The waiter asked Mark what he wanted to drink and he said he would start off with a glass of iced tea. The waiter nodded and went to get Mark's drink as Lynda shook her head and let out a chuckle. Then she began to speak to her brother still with that same chuckle in her voice. "So, like you, little brother," she said playfully. "Always ordering something sensible before going for the really good stuff," she added as she reached over and took her brother's hand gently in hers. She gave it a little squeeze and then let go so that he could pick up the menu and look at it, which he did as she went onto to speak to him before taking another sip of her wine. "Victoria will be here soon. She lives a few more miles away than we do," she said with a chuckle and then took couple of sips of her wine and then she put her glass down and picked up her menu. She began to look over it once more, finally making up her mind on what she was actually hungry for. After making up her mind what she wanted for lunch, she began to make small talk with her brother. She could see how exhausted he was just from working that day. "So, how's my beautiful niece, Rachel, doing in school?" she asked with a smile on her face. "I bet she's getting straight A's or at least close to it as humanly possible," Lynda said with a smile on her face as she remembered the first time that Mark brought home straight A's. She couldn't help but look away for a little bit as she felt a few tears start to swell in her eyes. She quickly wiped them away before Mark could see her crying. Lynda cleared her throat and began to speak again. "You know, Rachel is as beautiful as her mother and as smart as her father," she said with a smile and then waited for Mark to reply just as the waiter was coming back over to take their orders.

Lynda was on the phone when Mark texted her back. And it wasn't long before she happily got off the phone with her sister that she was answering her back. She was excited to know that Victoria was on board with meeting up with her and Mark. She felt a sense of calmness as she thought about the three of them together while the rest of the world passed by them. And even though Mark and Victoria didn't know all the crap that their parents did, they did know that some of it was pretty bad, especially everything that their father was into. She always made sure to protect them by taking the brunt of everything, though she knew she couldn't protect them from everything. But all that didn't matter because in the end they had each other and that was good enough for them. Finally, after reading Mark's messenger a few times and smiling about it, she then began to reply to him telling him that Victoria was in and that they would be waiting for him at this little Italian place across the street from the hospital. She went on to say how great the food was and that she couldn't wait to see him.

Then after she hit the send button, she locked her phone and placed it in the seat beside her. She sat there for a little while longer, just letting thinking about everything. Then finally, after about thirty minutes of just sitting in her truck, she started it and pulled away from the hospital and headed across the street to the Italian restaurant where she was going to meet her sister and brother for lunch. After driving across the street, Lynda found the perfect spot in which she parked. And after she shut the engine off, Lynda grabbed her purse and her phone and walked in. She got a table for three and as she waited for her siblings to show up, she ordered a glass of wine and some breadsticks to nibble on while she waited for Mark and Victoria.

As Lynda was driving to the bank, she couldn't help but think about everything that Mark had said. A smile came to her face as she replayed every word in her head. And then a tear came into her eyes as she began thinking about herself and her siblings and the way they grew up. She knew they didn't have a good childhood, none of them, but that didn't stop her, Mark, Victoria became their own family and formed a bond that couldn't be broken, despite everything they went through growing up. As Lynda turned into the bank parking lot and parked her truck in front of the front door, she quickly wiped away any tears she had in her eyes. Then she turned her truck engine off and went inside to get a few things from her safety deposit box and then get some cash. Once she had done that, she got back in her truck and headed over to Andrew's office. After getting to Andrew's office and had her truck parked in the perfect parking spot, she once again turned the engine off, Lynda just sat there for a little while thinking.

Finally, after about 10 minutes of doing nothing, Lynda pulled out her cell phone and went down to Mark's name. But instead of calling Mark, she decided to text him, knowing when he woke up, he would reply to her. And besides, she knew he was worn out and needed his sleep and with her texting him, he was less likely to wake up than if she was to call her. "Hey little brother," Lynda started typing in a new message. "I was thinking about the good old days when it was just me, you and Victoria against the world," she wrote. "And I started thinking about us getting together and catching up with each other," she continued writing. Then she paused for a few minutes as she thought about what she wanted to say next. Finally, she smiled as she went back to writing her text message.

"So, here's what I'm suggesting," she added to everything she already wrote. "I'll get ahold of Victoria and then you, me and her can meet up somewhere for lunch and just hang out for a little while and just forget everything for a few hours," she added as she also added a smiley emoji at the end of her last sentence. Then she went on finishing up her thought so that she could go in and see Andrew. "What do you say? Text me back either way, love you little brother," she added and then added a kissy face emoji at the end of her sentence. Lynda then hit the send button and then placed the phone back into her purse. Once that was completed, she grabbed her purse and the papers that she gotten out of her safety deposit box and got out of her truck and went into see Andrew, which was a business visit and not a family related visit.