victoria's Guestbook

"No, I do not and thanks for noticing," Lynda said with a smile on her face. "Besides, I'm an overachiever, so why not overachieve with babies?" she asked playfully. Lynda couldn't help but roll her eyes playfully as she began to speak again to her sister. "Once again thank you and don't worry, nobody at this table is getting any blackmail about one of the others who are at this table," she told him. "At least, not without me finding out first," she added as they all three laughed, though they were each thinking different and yet serious thoughts. Lynda hugged Victoria back as she chuckled in Victoria's ear. Then Lynda softly kissed her sister's cheek as they let go. Then Lynda began to speak to Victoria before they moved on to the real reason, they were there. "Don't worry, I have already been petitioned and out ruled about working so much, so I will be taking a sabbatical for a while from work," she added and then picked up what was left of her sandwich as Victoria started to speak about the reasons why she came. And as Victoria spoke and her and Mark just listened with content and yet a serious look on their faces. Once Victoria was done talking, a silence fell over all three of them. It was as if they were afraid to say the wrong thing. But finally, it was Lynda, who after putting down her sandwich and wiping her hands on a napkin, a forced a smile on her face and an empty mouth, began to speak to Victoria. In the back of Lynda's mind, she hoped that what she says will help her baby sister, though what she called to talk to them about, wasn't exactly something to be celebrated.

"Vic," Lynda started as she put her hands on her sisters gently and softly. "I couldn't agree with you more," she told Victoria. "And I'm sure Mark does too. We do need to be closer together so that we won't be too far away," Lynda told them. Then Lynda went on, but first she had to look away for a few minutes and then back at her siblings as she went on. "But Vic, you don't have to pretend that you are fine. If something is wrong or bothering you, do hide it, let it out. Call me or Mark, write a letter and burn it, journal it, I don't care what it is," she said as she looked over at Mark, who was nodding in agreement. "And there is nothing wrong with taking your time at bouncing back from something emotional or physical that you are going through," she told Victoria as Lynda pause for a few minutes. She let go of Victoria's hands for a little bit as she reached for her ice water and then took a few drinks. Once Lynda had gotten herself rehydrated, Lynda then cleared her throat as the silence fell over them once again. Finally, Lynda let out a forced cough as she began to speak to them again. "Vic, Mark," Lynda started and then paused for a few minutes as she gathered her thoughts. "I have an idea that it's relatively crazy, but it just might make sense for what we all want," she told them. "Mark and I live on the Ponderosa, is in Nevada, and Vic, you and your family live in California, but what if you move to the Ponderosa and we merge the two ranches together?" she asked her siblings. "This way, Tom can still have his ranch, but it will be part of the Ponderosa, sort of like a California version of the Ponderosa," she added. "Of course, we will have to talk to Ben and Tom, but I'm sure that we can get them to agree to it," she told them. "So, what do you all think? Vic? Mark?" she asked him. "Does this help you Vic?" she asked with a loving smile on her face.

Lynda and Mark were already sitting in a booth next to the window, waiting for Victoria and making small talk while Lynda sipped on her second glass of wine and Mark on his first, though he was sipping tea in between, though Lynda knew that wouldn't last much longer, considering the day everyone was having. Mark was about to say something about what Lynda wanted to talk to them about when Lynda spotted her sister and shot her a warm and inviting smile. Lynda could tell that something was on her mind which was causing her some conflict between going and sitting down with them or just turning around and going home. But the more Lynda's stayed glued to Victoria, the warmer and more inviting Lynda's smile became until Victoria took a deep breath and walked over to him. Once Victoria was standing over their booth, speaking to them both, Lynda chuckled and Mark gave Lynda the "you wanna tell her or shall I" looked, to which Lynda just ignored. Then they both got up and gave Victoria a huge hug as Lynda went to speak to what Victoria said. "Well, we kind of already did order, but they are backed up a little, so we are still good," Lynda said with a chuckle as they stood for a few minutes more, then they all sat down, with Mark sitting in the middle of his sisters. Lynda reached over and took Victoria's hand into hers. "We've missed you too baby sister," she said still with that same warm smile she had just before she came in and sat down with them. Lynda signaled for the waiter to come to their table and then she turned to look at Victoria as the waiter stood next to their table, waiting for Victoria to order her drink. "Now, you just order your drink and anything else you want, while I speak first," she told Victoria with a smile. "I have some exciting news to share and I already told Mark, by accident," she said as she was watching Victoria trying to make up her mind.

But before she got into her good news, she gave Victoria's hand a little squeeze as she went on speaking. "And don't worry, we all are having some rough times to which we need this," she added as she paused while Victoria ordered her drink and anything else that she wanted, though she wasn't in the mood to eat much, so she got herself an appetizer and a dessert and planned to steal food from Lynda's plate, like she used to do. Once Victoria was done telling the waiter what she wanted, she turned to look at Lynda as she pulled a photo out of her pocket. "I just wanted to share this with you two because you're my best friends, regardless of being siblings," she told them as the waiter walked away to put in Victoria's food order in and began to get her drink(s), Lynda placed the ultrasound photo between them and with a huge smile on her face, told them the great news. "Now, Ben doesn't know yet, but I'm expecting triplets," she told them excitedly as she was breaking the ice, hoping that this news would make everyone feel more comfortable before they started in on everything that was going wrong between the three of them. As the waiter brought Victoria's drink(s), Lynda watched as Victoria and Mark's faces light up with delight as they said their congratulations and was already making on a baby shower and spoiling they as soon as they were born. Lynda just shook her head and laughed, remembering that they were like this with her other children. That's when she let out a soft sigh as her smile never left her face. This was what being a family was all about, just being there for each other in both the good times and bad times. Lynda took a sip of her wine and then began to speak again. "I'm trusting you two not to say anything until I tell Ben. I don't want him finding out by some rando that one of you accidently let slip out," she said as she knew her brother and sister had done in the past from time to time. Both Mark and Victoria looked at Lynda with playful and yet innocent looks on their faces. Once again Lynda shook her head as she then got real serious as she began to speak again. "So, let's get down to the most serious things, which would be the reasons why we are here," she told them. "So, who wants to start?" Lynda asked as she looked from Victoria to Mark and back to Victoria once more.

Lynda could hear the emotion in her sister's voice and knew she probably needed this just as bad as her and Mark, though she would never say it. After listening to Victoria speak for the moment and then took a pause, she saw her opportunity replay back to what Victoria just told her. "Believe me, things are hanging by a string that isn't very strong to begin with," Lynda said with a chuckle as she went on speaking. "And I had a feeling that something was going on. I could hear it in the way you sighed just a few minutes ago," Lynda told Victoria. Lynda still had that chuckle to her voice, though it was more softer now as her serious voice began to take over. Then a pause as the two sisters didn't say much for a few minutes. Finally, it was Victoria who broke the silence and when she said she would be more than happy to join Lynda and Mark, Lynda couldn't help but smile even more. Victoria took another pause, which gave Lynda another opportunity to speak again. "Don't worry, they have very good desserts if you just have to have something sweet," she said with a soft laugh, especially when Victoria said she could always still some French Fries from her plate, which made Lynda laugh even more as she replied to Victoria once more. "Only you would keep that tradition alive," Lynda said playfully as she went on speaking.

"But I wouldn't expect nothing less from you, little sister," Lynda said as she went on to finish up her thoughts. "I'll do that just as soon as we get off the phone and yes, I think we need this too, though I'll be the first one to say it out loud. I'm not ashamed," she added. "And you are right, we have handled worse, so as long as we are strong, we can get through this," she told her sister. Victoria agreed and they talked a little bit more about other things and life. Then, after about ten minutes of mindless chatter, Lynda and Victoria said their goodbyes and that they loved each other. Once they were off the phone, Lynda than quickly texted Victoria the address, along with can't wait to see you and then she hit the send button. After she finished with Victoria, she noticed she had a text from Mark, who said he would be there just as soon as he finished with a few things. Lynda smiled as she quickly texted Mark back and then once that was done, she went to the restaurant that not only served the best breadsticks, but the best wine and French Fries as well. It took Lynda less than ten minutes to get to the restaurant. After parking and going in and ordering herself a glass of wine, it wasn't long before Mark showed up and as they were making small talk and looking over the menu, they sat there by the window, drinking their drinks and waiting on Victoria.

"Yea I'm fine," she said and the went quiet for a few seconds before changing her answer. "Actually, I'm not fine," she said softly. When she hears that Victoria had finished lunch, Lynda let out a sad kind of sigh as she went on speaking. "Well, I was calling to invite you to lunch with me and Mark," she said. "Everything around me is falling apart and I just need to be around my baby brother and sister for a while," she said softly. "But since you already had lunch, I guess you wouldn't be interested in it then, would you?" she asked and then went silent for a few minutes as if she was thinking about something. Finally, Lynda began to speak, this time in a more upbeat tone. "Oh hell, come anyway," she told her sister. "I can a least by you a drink while Mark and I have lunch," she said still sounding like her old self. "Besides, it's been a while since the three of us got together and just hung out and talked," she told her. "Mark said he's in if you would come, so please come," she told Victoria.

Lynda had just finished up her business with Andrew and was sitting in her truck waiting to hear back from Mark. As she sat there waiting for Mark's text, she decided she would call her baby sister, Victoria, and see what she was doing. Lynda was also going to find out if she wanted to get together with her and Mark and have a sibling lunch together and catch up on what's going on with each other in life and family and anything else they could come up with. But before Lynda called Victoria, she decided to check her text messages one more time, which Mark still hadn't texted her back. So, Lynda let out a sigh and went to her contacts and then went down the list until she found Victoria's name. Once she got to Victoria's name and it was highlighted, she hit the green call button and placed the phone to her ear and listened to Victoria's phone ring while she waited for Victoria to answer.