Chapter FOURTEEN

It was a week almost to the day before Carol got another e.mail. It came in the morning just after she went to work and she used her remote to access it from the office, read it and raced to the Studio to give a copy to Urs.

They were working and she waited impatiently until she caught his eye through the glass of the booth and held the paper up. She could see him say something over the mike, take off his headset and come out to her. The 3 other Divos came out of the control room and watched as Urs read part of the e.mail and sank back against the wall, crouched down with his head in his hands, his legs suddenly weak.

David took the sheet from Urs nerveless fingers and read it to the others.

“January 10th

Well, I promised news and do I ever have some. The doctor here was concerned about the baby’s heart beat and had me see a specialist when I took my trip. The trip absolutely exhausted me, so I think I won’t be willingly doing such a long haul again until after May. Two planes and a bus, each end of the trip, having to lug my own bags....…it’s too much.

Carol, Urs and I are going to have twins, boys they think, but definitely twins. I’m still in shock, not upset of course, but this is going to take some getting used to. If my memory serves me I think Urs mentioned once that his mother was a twin.

So that’s why I’m showing so much at not quite 5 months. Carol, at this rate by the time May gets here I’ll need a crane just to get out of a chair. All joking aside, I have to admit that I was scared before, doing this alone is not for chickens, believe me. Now I’m absolutely terrified and I have to somehow calm myself since it isn’t good for the boys. There are too many things that can go wrong with twins, early delivery, underweight babies and more. I so want to do this well, give our boys a fighting chance to be born healthy.

I can’t write anymore now, my head is just too full of mush. Katja is making me some hot Ovomaltine and her specialty in times of emergency, something she calls ‘Zuger Kirschentorte’. She says it’s sure to help me sleep tonight and unscramble my brain so I can think what to do now.

Love to all of you….Honey”

There was silence in the hall as they all absorbed the news. Urs slowly pushed himself off the wall and had a determined look in his eyes.

“She’s in Switzerland. I should have realized it before. We talked about Switzerland and she was intrigued, said she had never seen mountains but wanted to. And she loves the snow. She’s gone to Switzerland so the baby…babies will have Swiss nationality. It makes sense and it would to Honey too.”

“What makes you think that, Urs?” Seb asked.

“Ovomaltine is nearly impossible to get except in Switzerland…and the Zuger Kirschentorte isn’t often made outside of the area around Zug, on Lake Luzern. It’s the cherry growing region of the canton.”

**

They were leaving for Tokyo in ten days. Much of the time up to their departure was spent making arrangements for Carol to forward e.mails on to Urs and to Simon who was pulling strings among his many contacts trying to narrow down the search.

Urs finished the tracks that he wasn’t supposed to know were going to Honey and Carol drafted a letter to go with the CD’s when Honey eventually sent the information of how to transport them. Urs worked on the letter with her, both of them being careful to not scare Honey into moving again, but making tentative moves to let her know how much she was missed and how much he loved her. It was a delicate balancing act.

The next letter came from Honey on the 13th, exactly one week before Il Divo would fly to Asia.

“January 13th.

Gruezi…..{Hello, in Swiss-German}… Jonas is teaching me that, Spanish and Italian, while Katja is trying to teach me German. It’s really a lot of fun. We do this thing where we only speak one of the languages for half a day…they ignore me if I slip into English. LOL

Sorry for that last letter. You know I’m not usually so down. Thank goodness I got over that mood.

Today was a remarkable, lovely day. No snow but the air was almost solid with cold. Jonas had to rescue me today…I forgot how difficult it is to get up now and made snow angels…getting down in the snow is easy, just fall. But then I was stuck and started laughing so hard I couldn’t call for help. Finally he came around from the garage and noticed me. Of course he teased that I need a shepherd to keep me out of trouble but it was worth it. I haven’t made snow angels for years.

Oh, Yes….Jonas was in the garage polishing MY CAR!!! I finally bought my first vehicle and I think Miles would be so proud of my choice. I know Urs would approve. I bought an Audi A-6 allroad quatro, in a sleek gunmetal grey, with Bose speakers and stereo system, I even had them put Pirelli tires on….nice and reliable, safe and roomy, good on snowy roads and of course with all the safety features plus GPS etc. I bought it when I was away and we took delivery yesterday. Now I guess I should get a license….I’ve only been driving since I was 12 or so. LOL

When I was away on business it was to Geneva, to see the specialist about the twins and for banking. I opened an account with the bank listed at the bottom of this letter. You can send any packages to me there and they will see that I get them. I’m so sorry for all this cloak and dagger stuff, Carol, but I worry so much about the press finding out and printing nasty things about Urs. I couldn’t stand to hurt him like that…… And I’m sure Nicole would not be happy.

I suppose the guys are all getting ready to leave for Tokyo. I do hope that at least some of the girls can go with them. It would be a lovely honeymoon sort of trip for Seb and Anna, that is if they are engaged now as I’m ready to believe they are. They were so meant for each other. Oh how I wish I could catch up on the news of everyone but I can’t figure out how to do it privately. Going on the Forum just doesn’t tell me enough, though I get a taste at least of the current photos of the SRG. Why do I keep torturing myself like that?

I’m sending an attachment with this letter, the specs and blueprint of my little invention. See what you think…I call it Baby Music, which is maybe too logical but defines what it’s for. One of the books I read claims that introducing the fetus to music helps encourage appreciation for the arts in early development. I wear mine on a long velvet cord and so far the boys seem to love classical and Il Divo, but kick like crazy when I play jazz or the blues. LOL. That’s why I want Urs’ voice on tape, to get the boys familiar with the sound of their father. Oh and they love heavy metal and rock….maybe they’re dancing, who knows.

Wish the guys a safe and wonderful Asian tour for me will you? I know it’s too much to ask you to give Urs a secret hug from me, so I won’t. {Is that a subtle enough hint?}

Love from Honey and the boys”

“She sounds so lonely,” Gerry said as she finished reading the copy of Carol’s e.mail.

“If only we had some way of contacting her, of telling her what’s happening, of how hard Urs is trying to find her, and that Nicole is no more,” Holly said as she glanced at the guys clustered around the piano in the lounge.

“He’s holding up better than I thought he would,” Anna said. “I wondered how he would be able to perform with all this hanging over him.”

Gerry just looked at the non performing French woman and smiled. “He’s the ultimate professional, that’s how he does it. Only those of us close to him can see the stress and pain.”

“Well, at least the CD’s and letter are on the way. Maybe that will make a difference,” Holly said and prayed that it would.

**

They got one more e.mail before the band had to leave for Tokyo, just a short one and it was clear that the parcel had not made it to her yet. Gerry received a copy from Carol and printed it early in the morning of their last full day in London and rushed up to see if Urs was back from his morning run yet.

He was just out of the shower, clad only in his jeans when he opened the door and she waved the sheet of paper at him.

“I’ve got to wake Carlito…read this and then come down for breakfast.” She left and raced back to get Carlos up and in the shower, leaving Urs to read the short message himself.

“January 19th:

Hi Carol and Lefty:

I shouldn’t be up this late but the boys are doing a tango and I can’t sleep.

I hope that music I wanted is on the way. It’s relatively difficult in the village to get anything current and I so want to hear the guys voices again. I wish they were doing a tour close to here…..I’d crawl naked over live coals to see them and hear them sing again…..way in the back of course so no one would notice me.

Getting my hair cut tomorrow, well today I guess, it’s that time again. It will seem funny to have it to my shoulder blades again. I meant to do it in London but you may remember I was wallowing in self pity and didn’t take care of things like I should have. Anyway, I’ve been assured that the beautician here in the village is very good.

The tango has stopped for the night…now I think they’re both sleeping, on my bladder, of course, so I have to tinkle every half hour. LOL. Just wait until they are all grown up with pregnant wives…LOL. As Urs always says when the guys tickle him ‘Payback is a *****’.

Love you and I MISS YOU ALL, SO MUCH!!!

Honey and ? ?...maybe Peter and Lucas for Urs’ Papa and mine…what do you think?”

“Sounds wonderful,” Urs whispered and sat on the sofa to read it again.

**