Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2015 18:44:44 +0100 From: Clive Westwood Subject: Life's Illusions - 10 years on - Prologue Life's Illusions - 10 years on - Prologue To appreciate this story I would recommend you read the previous story first "Life's Illusions" here on Nifty under "Relationships", it will give a much better understanding of the Thorn's (PJ, Lenny and their children) and of their extended family. The previous story had almost no sexual content however as the children hit their teen years, puberty and later life in this story that has to change, though not in the extreme. There could be details of sexual activity between male/female, male/male or any variation thereof, if that is offensive to you, or not legal to view for whatever reason where you are, please leave now and find other material to satisfy you. Having said all of the above I would ask you please to donate to Nifty, it's a wonderful site and offers an excellent free service to one and all, the link for donations, large or small, all are welcome, and will be received with thanks, is: Http://Donate.nifty.org/donate.html Thank you. Allan ARB ####################################################### A brief update on where we are today, 10 years on from when we left the family. PJ and Lenny still consider their Torremolinas Penthouse Apartment to be home base and head back like salmon to the spawning grounds at every opportunity. As we left them at the end of the last story Lenny had just gone into labour with their 4th child. Woodruff Paul James Thorn (Woody) was born healthy after a short labour. He was immediately surrounded, nurtured and drawn into the protective, loving custody of his older triplet brothers and sister. In their infancy his older brothers, Pete and Pauly had been the typical monster kids, only kept in check by their sister Beth as no amount of scolding from nannies or parents seemed to affect them. The arrival of Woody changed that overnight, almost as if they had been waiting for him, they became his constant shadows, he was their little pal. Pete, Pauly and Beth had been almost 3 years old when Woody was born and by the time he was 2 they were 5 and became his personal, willing slaves. At 5 years old Beth, Pete and Pauly finally relaxed the bond which saw them refuse to be separated and moved into their own individual bedrooms. Right from the earliest time, when he could get himself unaided out of his cot bed and crawl, Woody was found every morning snuggled up in the bed of one of his brothers or sister. Every spare moment of each day of his early years was happy for Woody, the days were a constant round of entertainment, piggy backs, horsey rides and cuddles from his brothers and sister. All of the children in the extended family were home schooled up to the age of 7, at that time they were enrolled in the local public school system which in itself was a logistical nightmare as special minders were implanted into the school to ensure constant security coverage. At age 4 Woody was suddenly without his brothers and sister each day until school was out, his days consisted of home school accompanied by Aleandro (Aly) the son of Leo and Rosa, brother of Reya, born on the same day within minutes of Woody and destined to become Woody's best friend for life, so much were they devoted to each other, at age five they would be rushed to the local emergency room with deep cuts on their palms still reciting their blood brother pledge, 'Brothers forever, whatever, for life'. School was out around 2pm each day at which time normal service resumed for Woody and Aly who were never happier than when their brothers and sisters returned to entertain them. Raul too had a brother and sister, Louisa born just barely 7 months after Ramon and Pip's wedding (even Raul worked that one out and had great fun innocently teasing them on it), she was Mommy's little princess and despite his obvious love for her, she drove Raul to distraction. Raul's real joy was his brother Roco born a year after Louisa and Ramon's constant companion. Raul worshiped his little brother and Roco worshiped his big brother in return. Billy, second cousin to Lenny had grown and flourished following his adoption into the Thorn Family, to the boys and Beth he was their big brother and called on constantly to settle arguments, they accepted his was the final word. PJ had once likened Billy's situation during his early years to a young plant, desperately trying to survive in a wasteland without the much needed nutrients for its development. He struggled but didn't make much headway until he was wrapped up in the Thorn family love, after that it had been almost like lighting the blue touch paper on a rocket and watching it go. Billy had traveled with them around Europe and America for the first year, his confidence slowly building, the self doubt dropping away before he informed them at breakfast one morning he wanted to be adopted, and he wanted to go back to school or as he had put it, 'I want you to be my real Mom and Dad and I want to go to school, but not a boarding school, I want to go to regular school in Torremolinas'. Alma and Anton, daughter and son of Ana the Thorn family Chef, along with Zack and Lisa, children of Phil and Casey, Tutor and Second in Charge of Thorn family security followed Billy to school a year before Billy was preparing to leave for university. PJ's father was murdered in prison a year after being incarcerated, it was generally thought to be by his former drug smuggling protectors, in all honesty PJ didn't much care who had been responsible nor did he shed any tears. He paid a funeral home close to the penitentiary to cremate his fathers body and dispose of the ashes, he made it clear he didn't want them. On the day his father was cremated he arranged to be in New York, he took the Ferry out to Staten Island and laid flowers at the family gravesite, paying homage to the family he loved dearly and missed deeply, ignoring the plight of the man, who to him was no more than a sperm donor at his inception. That first year after the carnage his father had orchestrated was one of mixed emotions, PJ, never having been one prone to bouts of melancholy found himself with tears running down his face at odd and inconvenient times without warning, thankfully Lenny and his children pushed the balance back the other way, but he, and more importantly Lenny, knew there was something not right, on her insistence he finally agreed to see the counsellor he'd seen when he'd first arrived in Spain all those years earlier. It had revealed things PJ had never been aware of and as Lenny had predicted the real deal PJ was restored in no time at all. In all the last 10 years had been good, and then the kids hit puberty. The happy home atmosphere became charged with a triple mixture of happy, angry, caring, disinterest, hating, loving, hormones, and above all rebellion, in other words they were typical teenagers. Even Woody at nearly 11 was able to throw a monumental strop if things didn't go exactly as he wanted. The one saving grace in their household was and always had been Lenny, or, as the kids called her when she finally ran out of patience and exploded, 'Scary Mary', at that point all sensible kids (and most adults) with a survival instinct dropped the rebellious attitude and ran for cover. And so, on we go. Happy reading, enjoy. Allan ARB