Written Sept. 19th - Dec. 23rd 08 (Parts 25 - 29)

Part Twenty-Five!!

The family gathered at the funeral home for a private viewing and a chance to say goodbye without the rest of Genoa City looking on. So many people were expected for the funeral on the following day. Katherine was loved by so many...

Jill, Cane, Billy, Brock and Esther gathered around the coffin as the funeral director lifted the lid and then excused himself. Lily had the unfortunate pleasure of waiting in the anterior room with Chloe while the family had a few moments alone with Katherine, they simply chose to ignore one another.

So many thoughts were running through Cane's mind out of all the different scenarios he thought of that he would meet his Uncle Brock under - he never considered this one...

They all gazed at Katherine's now lifeless body still not truly believing it was even her.

"She looks so different, like it's not even her." Jill choked back yet another sob.

Cane put his arm around her shoulders and his lips to her temple. "Ah, Mum. She was so vibrant and striking in life to see her so very still now... is just so wrong."

"I know what to expect with life. We are born, we live, we die but for some reason I thought my Mother would be around forever." Brock said as he reached out a shaking hand to touch Katherine's.

"No matter how many times I screwed up my life Grandmother was always there, always in my corner. What am I going to do without her?" Billy said, leaning on Jill's other side.

"What are we all going to do without her? Mrs. C. was such a big part of our lives. Everything seems so empty now."

The funeral director cleared his throat from behind them. "Mrs. Abbott? If you are ready, there are still a few more arrangements to be made."

Jill nodded. "Yes, of course. I will be right with you."

"Mum, is there anything we can do to help?"

"No, no. I want to do it myself, it will keep me busy."

"You're sure?" Asked Billy.

"Yes, you can all go ahead. I will see you at the estate later."

"I have some sandwiches and snacks ready if anyone is hungry. I'll just head back now to put everything out."

Brock squeezed her shoulder. "Esther, you don't have to cater to us. You are grieving just as much as we are."

"I want to. Come on Chloe, let's go."

Cane wrapped Lily in his arms. "Do you feel up to eating right now sweetheart? After all you need to keep your strength up for both you and the baby."

Chloe froze for just a moment as she was following her mother out the door. Baby! Cane and Lily are having a baby? Jeez could the day get any worse. And with those wonderfully sarcastic thoughts running around in her little head Chloe continued out the door.

"I could manage to eat something. How is your Mom holding up?"

"She's trying her best to keep it together for us but she is hurting so very much. I'm just going to check on her once more before we go. Billy, you'll be able to give Uncle Brock a ride?"

"Yeah, I'll see you both back at the estate."

"I wish it could have been better circumstances we met under, son. I am sorry I couldn't make it to your wedding. But I am so thankful that you are here for your Mother, she is going to need her family so much right now." Brock wrapped Cane in a warm hug before he followed Billy out the door.

"I'll wait for you here, sweetheart. I love you."

Cane kissed Lily tenderly and whispered, "I love you too. Thank you for being here for me."

"Always."

Cane turned and went back into the viewing room where he found his mother sobbing over Katherine and begging her for forgiveness...

"I am so sorry Mother. This is all my fault. If I was just paying more attention and saw the signs for what they really were instead of thinking it was something to do with memory loss, maybe you would still be here now. Can you ever forgive me? Because I don't think I will ever be able to forgive myself."

Cane's warm hands gripped her shoulders from behind. "Mum, please don't blame yourself, Grandmum doesn't. In my soul I know she doesn't. She loved you, so much."

Jill turned and wrapped her arms around Cane and said, "do you think so?"

Cane pulled back and looked at his mother. "I know so..."

The next day at the funeral...

As Cane looked around the packed church he thought to himself that everyone in the city had turned out for the great Katherine Chancellor's funeral and he would be right and then some as many former residents and longtime friends of Katherine's had made the trip as well.

Many tears were shed but also many smiles shared as so many people stood to speak so fondly of Katherine. Everyone had such wonderful stories to tell about her that it truly turned into a celebration of her life, which Cane thought would truly be what she wanted...

At the end of the service there was some commotion as everyone turned in surprise to see Victor and Ashley in the doorway but before he could even say goodbye to his long time friend the police had been notified of his presence and he was arrested. It became even more uncomfortable when he vowed revenge against Adam Wilson, his own son...

Later...

Many of the guests who attended the service returned to the Chancellor Estates for an informal gathering to continue the celebration of Katherine Chancellor's life.

Funny how things would be turned upside down even more in just a matter of days...

Part Twenty-Six!!

A week after the funeral. The will about to be read...

A letter from the office of Mr. Mitchell Sherman had gone out to the following individuals as their presence was required at the reading of Katherine Chancellor's will...

Jill Abbott, Cane Ashby-Chancellor, Lily Winters-Chancellor, Billy Abbott, Esther Valentine, Kate Valentine a.k.a Chloe Mitchell, Brock Reynolds, Mackenzie Reynolds, Phillip Chancellor IV and Amber Moore.

Jill took a deep breath as she paced the outer office of Katherine's lawyer. This was all just a formality. Of course the grandchildren would get their token amounts and of course Katherine's many charitable causes but Jill knew without a doubt that the bulk of the Chancellor fortune was coming to her...

The reading of the will (part one)...

Mitchell Sherman cleared his throat as he leaned against the edge of his desk for everyone to take their seats. Not everyone was going to like what he had to say...

"So we are still waiting on a Mackenzie Reynolds and Phillip Chancellor IV?"

"Actually Mackenzie couldn't be here so I, her father will be here on her behalf and mine."

"And I am here to represent my son Phillip, who is serving over in Iraq." Nina said as she was the last one to step into the room.

"That is fine and since everyone is now represented in one way or another we shall begin." Mr. Sherman opened a large file and pulled out several legal documents. "As I mentioned to you at the service, Mrs. Chancellor had made some recent changes to her will. As recently as a few weeks ago."

Jill shifted slightly in her seat but for the most part remained outwardly calm.

Mitchell Sherman began. "I Katherine Chancellor, being of sound mind and body do solemnly swear that this is my final will and testament..."

There were final gifts in large amounts left to each and every charitable organization that Katherine supported.

"To my first born son, Brock. I leave you the sum of five million dollars to do with as you please but if I know you like I do it will find it's way into the hands of so many in need."

Brock smiled softly, looked up and said, "I will try my very best Mother to live up to your expectations."

"To my grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Mackenzie, Billy and Phillip IV. Even though it may have occurred that not everyone is related by blood, you are still very much my family and the trusts that were made in your names at the time of your births are yours to do with as you wish."

Nina nodded in acceptance.

"To Esther Valentine. My dear Esther. You were never just my employee. You were my confident, my friend and my companion. You will never have to work a day in your life again - if that is your choice. My Estate will always take care of you for as long as you live and the Chancellor grounds will always be your home."

"Thank you Mrs. C." Esther said as a few tears slid unchecked down her cheeks.

Jill pursed her lips but managed not to say anything. Esther may drive her crazy but she would respect her mother's wishes on this.

"Kate Valentine a.k.a Chloe Mitchell. I made sure that you had the best education that money could by and because of your mother I will extend that same courtesy to your unborn child."

"To Ms. -"

"Wait, that's it!" Chloe exclaimed.

Several pairs of eyes turned and glared in her direction.

"I mean, thank you. How very generous of Mrs. Chancellor." Chloe bit out as she seethed inside.

"As I was saying. To Ms. Amber Moore. If it should come to pass that my time had come before my memoirs had been published, I leave all drafts and there rights to you. Please see that my story is told."

"I will Mrs. C." Amber whispered.

"You will do no such thing. I will contest that."

"Ummm... yes Mrs. Abbott. Mrs. Chancellor anticipated your reaction to that so she took extra precautions and went through thorough legal channels to make sure that you could not. She says and I quote, 'I want my story told and I have taken every measure to insure that it will.'"

"Well I will be going over those documents with a fine tooth comb and if there is a way to stop it, I will."

"By all means go right ahead but I can assure you, you won't find one." Replied Mr. Sherman.

"There is only one other matter to address today. A stipulation, if you will before I can read the rest of the contents of the will." Mr. Sherman fidgeted with the papers in front of him, becoming more uncomfortable with what he had to say next. "A DNA test."

"A DNA test? For whom?"

Mr. Sherman cleared his throat. "For you Mrs. Abbott. Mrs. Chancellor has stipulated that she wants you to submit to another DNA test before the rest of the will is read..."

Part Twenty-Seven!!

"WHAT!" Jill exclaimed, jumping up from her chair. "That is absolutely preposterous. It was established decades ago that I was her daughter."

Mr. Sherman shifted again. "She was very specific in her requests, Mrs. Abbott. I am not permitted to read the rest of the will until I have been given the results."

"Fine. What do I have to worry about anyway? I am Katherine Chancellor's daughter, of that I have no doubt. I will go over to the hospital after I leave here. The sooner I do this ridiculous request, the sooner all of this will be over and we can all try to move on with our lives." Jill said as she gathered up her purse and coat.

Cane cleared his throat before he said, "I am not sure I understand, Mr. Sherman. Why was I asked to be here if my grandmother didn't even mention me?"

Lily squeezed his hand in support.

"Oh, you are mentioned Mr. Chancellor. When your mother has completed your grandmother's request, you, your wife and Mrs. Abbott will return here to hear the remainder of the will. As for the rest of you, as Mrs. Katherine Chancellor has already bestowed upon you all that she will your presence won't be required for the second half. Good day." Mitchell Sherman returned to his desk dismissing them all.

Billy pulled his mother aside. "What do you think this all about Mom?"

Jill pursed her lips together before she said, "my guess is that eccentric old woman is trying to drive me crazy from the great beyond."

Cane took a deep breath and got up to leave with the Lily and the rest. This was all so strange he thought. He hadn't actually expected anything from his grandmother. Finding his family and accepting their love had been such a gift as it was. And having been promoted to Co-CEO of Chancellor Industries - well he wasn't hurting financially anyways but why would Katherine ask this of his mother? He really wish he had had the time to figure out their complex relationship better...

Two days later...

Mitchell Sherman sat at his desk thoroughly perplexed as he stared at the DNA results he had just received. When he had heard Katherine ask him to include this in her will, he had honestly thought it was one last dig at Jill - something to drive her crazy since he was well aware of their stormy and sometimes volatile relationship. But still these results were the last thing he expected. So as per Katherine's instructions he took the envelope marked #2 and put it with her file and the envelope marked #1 he set on fire and destroyed. He didn't know what exactly was written in the one he just destroyed but when he read the other one in an hour he thought he would have a pretty good idea....

Jill, Cane and Lily once again took a seat in Mr. Sherman's office. Jill had done the test right after she had left his office two days prior. The hospital expedited the results as quickly as they could since these results were given top priority and with samples taken from Mrs. Chancellor's body the test had been done three times to ensure complete accuracy. Now here they sat again and waited for the rest of her will to be read...

Mitchell cleared his throat and began. "To Cane Ashby-Chancellor. The child I traded away out of anger and spite, please forgive me for what I did. Your father was such a wonderful and extraordinary man and I am so sorry that I robbed you of time that you could have spent with him."

Cane blinked back tears and he held on to Lily's hand just a bit tighter.

"Since you are the last living heir of Phillip Chancellor II, I am giving you all that is rightfully yours. The entire Chancellor fortune."

"What? I don't understand. I am my mother's direct heir, aren't I?" Jill paled as it hit her. "No!"

"Mrs. Abbott, if you could just wait a moment all will be explained." Mitchell continued reading. "This includes all of the properties, holdings and money. My collection of jewels minus a few sentimental pieces for Jill will all go to you, may your beautiful bride Lily wear them with pride. Everything is yours Cane, everything except for Jabot. Jill when I requested that you take another DNA test I will admit it was to get under your skin one last time. I had my moments of doubt over all these years but I always came back to the same conclusion for better or worse you were mine. I only wrote this version as an after thought - a what if, if you will but if Mitchell is reading this now then it must be true. You are not my daughter - you never were. If I were there I must say that I might even regret having you do the test but it is far to late for regrets. So what's done is done and I leave you Jabot back in the hands of an Abbott where it belongs. I leave it up to you how much or little you want to involve the rest of the Abbotts. I am sorry Jill. Signed, Katherine Chancellor."

Cane reached out to Jill. "Mum?"

Jill wiped at the tears on her cheeks avoiding Cane's hand. "She really knows how to make a grand exit, doesn't she? I'm sorry but I need some air."

"Mum!" Jill once again moved away from Cane's grasp. "I'll talk to you later." Jill left the office quickly wiping at her eyes as she went...

Part Twenty-Eight!!

Cane and Lily had been quiet on the drive home. Shock and stunned doesn't even begin to describe how they were feeling especially Cane.

Closing the door to their home, Cane leaned back against it for a moment. "This is all so, so - heck I don't even know."

Lily turned to face her husband. "Surreal? Unbelievable? Crazy?"

"Ummm... yeah all of the above and more." Stepping away from the door he removed his trench coat and shrugged out of his suit jacket, he pulled his tie free and undid the first couple of buttons of his shirt. He walked up to Lily and wrapped his arms around her. Burying his face in her hair he said, "what about Mum? She wouldn't even let me touch her, comfort her. This must be all so confusing and overwhelming for her, much more than it is for me. Her whole identity - just like that gone."

Lily pulled back enough so that she could look up at Cane. "Your mother is such a strong and resilient woman and when she is ready I am sure that she will turn to you. She must have a lot of internal questions that she is wrestling with and both you and I can understand that from our own experiences. When she is ready, she will come to us. So what happens next?"

"Well Mr. Sherman said that he would be releasing a statement to the press, another request of Katherine's."

"I see. Wow, our lives seemed to be filled with lots of complications."

Cane kissed her temple. "I know sweetheart, I know. I just want to be with you and shut out the rest of our complicated world for a while."

Lily reached up and brought Cane's lips to hers in a heated kiss. "Lead the way Mr. Chancellor."

Cane swept Lily up into his arms and carried her to their bedroom. Just for a little while longer he wanted his world to just revolve around her...

Meanwhile...

Jill knelt at Katherine's grave. She wiped at the tears that still clung to her lashes with the pad of her thumb. "Well Katherine, I don't know what you expected to accomplish with this. Was it to lash out at me for pressing you to see that specialist? Were you drunk when you came up with this crazy idea? I was your daughter. I believed I was your daughter. Who am I?" She looked up at the sky and screamed it, "WHO AM I?"...

Meanwhile...

Murphy shuffled around his and Marge's small but functional apartment. He fixed Marge a cup of coffee just the way she liked it. She had been so lucky that he happened upon her almost two weeks ago. She had a pretty nasty bump on the head and a few other scratches and bruises but being the stubborn woman that she was she had refused to go to the hospital. So instead he had made it his job to nurse her back to health. Talking to her about her life and their life together, everything from her regulars at the diner to what the two of them liked to do most together. At first Margie had been pretty confused about things and that worried him but everyday she seemed to get a bit better and she seemed to like hearing him talk and well he surely liked to talk as well. Heck Marge even mentioned that she would like to go back to the diner pretty soon - she must be feeling like her old self...

Meanwhile...

After making tender love to his wife Cane wrapped his arms around her from behind and pulled her tightly to his warm body. "Thank you."

Lily turned slightly in his arms and touched her hand to his cheek. "Thank you? Thank you for what, sweetheart?"

"For just being you. I love you so much and everything that has happened recently just really puts into perspective just how precarious life is. I want to treasure every moment I have with you because you just never know."

"I couldn't agree more. I love you too, so very much."

Cane was silent for a few minutes as he gently caressed her body, his hand coming to rest of the slight mound of her belly where their child slept. "Why do you think Katherine did what she did? I mean knowing how many lives this would change, what was her motive?"

"I don't know Cane. Katherine was one of a kind with an agenda all her own. And as it stands now we probably will never know..."

Part Twenty-Nine!!

No matter what happens in life, time still keeps moving forward and everyone must move with it...

Now the second week of March, Katherine had been gone for almost a month now but the time had not lessoned anyones pain. Cane made his way to the mansion. He had been trying to catch his mother around the office but she was getting really good at avoiding him and frankly he was sick of it. What was done was done and they had to somehow move beyond it. He took a deep and calming breath before opening the door...

And he walked into to stacks of boxes and suitcases. "What the - ?" Confused he looked around and spied Esther sitting in the living room. "Esther what's going on here? Are you moving out?"

Esther sniffed and wiped at her eyes. "No, but your mother is."

"What? Why? This is her home. Where is she going to go?"

Jill walked up behind them. "It's not my home, it never was. It's yours Cane and I can no longer stay in it. The memories of what I thought were my life are just to much to - to continue to live here."

"Mum, that is crazy. Of course this is your home. I don't want you to leave here, that thought never even crossed my mind. Mum, please... when are you going to stop pulling away from me? I need you,our family needs you."

"Jill, Cane is right. Mrs. C. wouldn't want you to go either no matter what the will brought about. I'll just give you two some privacy to work this out." Esther said as she left the room.

"There is nothing to work out, my mind is made up." Jill said as she continued to gather up some things in the living room.

"Mum, please," pleaded Cane. "Where are you going to go?"

Keeping herself busy so as to avoid looking her son in the eye she replied, "the GCAC until I can find permanent accommodations."

"Mum, I just don't understand."

"Hum... and here I thought you would be the one person that would. You searched for years to find me, you needed that connection. Well I need to find out who I really am and I can't do it in this house."

Cane's old insecurities surfaced and he reached out and wrapped his arms around his mother.

Jill felt it, she felt his fear. She knew that feeling all to well, it all but consumed her these days. Her arms reached around Cane and held him equally as tight. "I'm not turning my back on you, son. I just need some time to figure some things out."

"And I'll be here for you Mum, whenever you need me." Cane pulled back and reached into his pocket. "Here," he said as he handed her a folded piece of paper.

"What's this?" Jill asked as she unfolded it and her breath caught. "Is this -?"

"Yes, Mum. Lily had her first ultrasound yesturday. We're having a daughter - your granddaughter."

Tears shone in Jill's eyes as she once again wrapped her arms around her son. "Congratulations. I am so happy for you both."

Cane squeezed her back. "Don't keep your distance for to long. She will be here before you know it."

Jill nodded and wiped at her eyes. She tried to hand Cane back the picture but he refused.

"No, Mum. That's your copy, the first of what I am sure is to be so many. Think of it as a reminder that even though you might not know where you come from anymore, you should know exactly where you are and that you are loved so very much."

Jill nodded again and with a sad smile made her excuses and went upstairs to finish packing.

Cane sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. Looking around the quiet room he said, "Katherine. If only you were here to make everything right again. We are all so lost without you..."

Meanwhile...

"Come on Marge. Quit your chatting and get a move on, these orders won't serve them selves. If you don't shape up, you're fired!"

"You will not speak to me in such a manner. I am doing the best that I can."

"Well law-dee-daw!! What are you the Queen of England? I swear I don't know what my old man saw in you all those years ago when he hired you but I am just not seeing it."

"Oh yeah. Give me two turkeys on white, hold the tomato on one and give me an apple pie with a hat on it - that means ice cream," Marge said as she slapped the order slip on the table. She turned and Murphy gave her a wink. Marge leaned over and told him, "if a waitress is what I am then I'm going to be the best damn one around..."