There was a knock on the office door. Isaac hit the stop button on the CD he and Babsie were listening to, from a prospective MOE Records artist.
“Come in,” he said.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Jack said, “but there’s a man on the line for you Babsie. A Lyle Carter. He’s doing some family research and is calling from Australia.”
“Really? Hmm,” Babsie picked up the phone after making sure it was still on audio only. “Hello, Lyle Carter is it?”
“Yes. Are you… err… was your maiden name Barbara Ann Walters?”
“Yes, why?”
“Ahh, well, I’m doing some family research. I never knew my father you see. Mother never told me much about him and when she died some months back I found some papers and things, some involving my father. You could say that peaked my interest and brings me here. We’re cousins.”
“Cousins? Just a moment, I’ll put you on visual. You don’t mind if my husband joins in, do you?”
“No, not at all.”
Babsie put down the receiver and flipped on visual. A most astonishing sight appeared on the screen.
“Oh my gosh,” she gasped.
“Do I look that much like him?” Lyle asked ruefully.
“Too much,” and she looked away.
“So, uhh,” Isaac said trying to break the tension. “How’d you get this number?”
“Oh, well, I managed to track down your last known address in Australia. Or at least the last known one listed in the phone book. A, uhh, Mrs Masters gave me this phone number.”
“Ahh.”
“I hope your looks are the only thing you’ve inherited from Larry,” Babsie said at last. “Especially considering last I heard he was in prison.”
“For life! He’s still there. Heck, he didn’t even know I existed,” he shook his head. “Now that I know about the resemblance, I think I can understand some of Mother’s attitudes to me while I was growing up. But I’ve never done anything illegal. I don’t have his evil streak, although I expect you’ll believe it when you don’t see it.”
Babsie managed a laugh.
“Spoken like a true Walters,” she said ironically.
Lyle laughed back.
“So, any twins?”
“Excuse me?” Lyle asked as Isaac groaned and grinned.
“Twins. Harry - Larry’s twin and my father - informs me they run in the family. Every single generation have them. I have a twin. Both my parents have a twin. Ike and I have five sets of twins…”
“Uhh, no. No I don’t have a twin. And none of my kids are twins.”
“How many kids you have?”
“Oh, three. Keith is twenty, Ross is seventeen and Lane is fifteen. Lane has twins, though. Chad and Bradley.”
“At fifteen?”
“I wasn’t all that impressed when I found out either. What about you?”
“Twenty kids.”
Lyle laughed. Then he stopped.
“Oh, you’re not kidding?”
“Nope.”
“Twenty kids…”
“Yep.”
“Do you even remember all their names?”
“Sure! And ages, and birthdays too. Let’s see, Xavier’s nineteen - he’s getting married next month actually. Esme and Carmen are eighteen. Matt, Duke and Cosmo are seventeen -”
“Cosmo?”
“We started off calling him Sean, but he decided he wanted to use his middle name instead, like so many others in the Hanson family,” Babsie replied, grinning at Isaac. “And if you think Cosmo is unusual… Anyway, Rogue and Storm are sixteen in oh, four days. Tobias is fourteen. Lockie and Cyke are thirteen. Libby and Joy are twelve. Wolvie and Gambit are eleven. Myst is ten. Nigel is nine. Jubilee is eight. Zeke and Audrey are seven.”
Lyle whistled appreciatively.
“You mentioned five sets of twins, you had a set of triplets there too, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“One of the triplets in the seconds set died as a baby,” Isaac interjected, and, knowing that Angel was a sensitive topic with Babsie, swiftly changed the subject. “Xavier’s in a band called Four Amigos, and Rogue and Storm are in another called Mutant Girls. I don’t suppose you’ve heard of them.”
“As a matter of fact, I have. Lane is a big fan of both,” Lyle laughed. “I can just imagine the expression on her face when I tell her.”
“Oh, uhh, by the way, could you send us copies of your notes and stuff? As much as I think it’s plainly obvious we’re related, I’d like some err…” Babsie trailed off, trying to think of the right word.
“Physical evidence?”
“I wasn’t going to say that, but yes.”
Lyle grinned and arranged to have the papers sent. They continued chatting for a time, before they had to hang up, but not before telling Lane, who promptly freaked as was predicted.