As she opened her eyes she felt like she'd wandered into a dream. She felt herself stand up and began to walk around. Then to her amazement she noticed some familiar faces with her.
"Oh my gosh! Babe, Jamie! Hey guys!"
She was so happy and relieved to see them, but they didn't seem nearly as happy to see her. In fact, they all looked like they'd been through the wringer. Everyone had bloodshot eyes and tear stained faces. Obviously something had happened, and she had to find out what. She had to let her family know everything would be alright.
"What's wrong? J.R? Honey, why are you so upset? Babe? What happened? C'mon guys please! I'm right here! Just talk to me!" But nobody made a sound. "What the.. J.R? Hey sunshine it's okay. Mom's right here."
But then something happened, a feeling she couldn't describe. She couldn't even manage to give her own son a hug, just an affectionate tap on the head was all she was allowed. And he didn't even seem to react to it.
"It's okay Jamie! I'm right here okay. Don't worry." She reached out to try and reassure the grown man standing in the corner, but all she could manage was to touch his shoulder.
"Okay, I've gotta find out what's going on"
She stepped outside through the open door, and realized she was at PVH. She saw Di and Aidan in the corner with Julia, Adam sitting in a chair, and Joe trying to calm a hysterical Opal down.
"Guys? It's alright! I'm...I'm here"
She tried to walk over to them, get their attention somehow, but felt that odd sensation again, like something was holding her back, preventing her from helping her distraught family.
Then somewhere in the back of her mind she noticed someone was missing. A very important someone. She felt puzzled for the reason he wasn't here, when their entire family seemed to be suffering. She had to know where he was.But before she could even open her mouth to voice her concern, somehow she heard herself say his name, and not a minute later she found herself standing behind the park bench he was sitting on.
"Tad? Sweetheart? Hey, it's me? It's Dixie. I'm right here hon."
She tried as hard as she could to walk over to the other side of the bench, to try and sit down next to him. She wanted to take his hand and never let it go. But it happened again. She couldn't move so much as an inch.
"Okay now, what is going on? Why is everyone so upset? Why are you here all alone? Please Tad, if you can hear me answer me. You can hear me, can't you? God, what is going on"
As she tried to figure out the answer she saw Julia walk into the park with Kathy at her side. Only something seemed different about the little girl, something she hadn't noticed before when they'd met. Then she saw Kathy run over and hug Tad, and then the little girl's blue eyes locked on her's. Dixie felt a connection like nothing she'd felt before, and then she knew why. Kathy wan't just an ordinary little girl, she was her baby.
"Kate! My beautiful Kate"
She said with a smile and tears in her eyes as she blew her daughter a kiss.
"Oh my sweet Kate! It's you! Oh God I can't believe I found you! It's alright baby I'm right here, your mom's here now."
Then Kate smiled back and waved at her, but try as she might Dixie couldn't even wave back, and felt herself being engulfed in this blinding white light.
"Kate? Tad..."
"Hey, she's trying to say something. I think she's coming around."
"Poor thing, She probably doesn't even know what happened."
"Wait, is that? No way. That's not Dixie Martin is it?"
"No, it couldn't be! She'd just gotten back...No!"
"No look, it is her!"
"Where...where am I.? Who? Simone? Erin Lavery? What in the world?" "Wow, it is her. I can't believe it!"
"Believe what? Wait, where am I. Holy... is this?"
"Yep. Welcome to Soapland's version of the pearly gates." Erin said with a sad smile.
"No, wait. This is, no! I'm not...I can't be, this makes no sense! I can't be dead!"
"Um, I don't really know what to tell ya there."
"I..I don't remember dying! I, I don't even remember getting here. What..what happened to me? Oh no, it wasn't those pancakes was it? No!"
"Now Dixie if you'll just..."
"No, my, my life can't be over! I can't be dead because of something that stupid! I ate peanut butter banana pancakes and now I'm gone! Those weren't even meant for me! Babe should be up here now!"
"Well I..."
"I can't be gone. Not yet, not now! I mean I know it took me awhile to get my life in order, that I waited too long and I lurked and I made mistakes, but that's all over now! There's so many things that I still have to do! I...I need to be with my family right now, my daughter! I just found Kate! She has to get to know me! No, this isn't right! I shouldn't be up here. No!"
Dixie yelled as she began pacing around frantically.
"I mean, what is this? I...I finally get my baby back, after almost five years! And the only time she's gonna see me is when I'm dead! The only visual she'll get when she thinks of her mom is just some random semi- transparent woman blowing her kisses, in this, getup, that looks like something out of a Victoria's Secret catalogue!"
"Well now that you mention it, it is sort of...but you can get away with it you know." Simone said as Erin gave her a nudge.
"Not the point Simone, this is all wrong." Erin said with confusion.
"I ..I did not just see my daughter for the first and last time! I did not just, just make my last date with...with Tad! I did not just see my son for the last time! Please!" Dixie choked out, praying that this was all a nighmare. That she'd wake up and be with her family again.
But as she looked at Simone and Erin and saw their sympathetic glances, she knew it wasn't just a dream, and broke down in tears.
"Oh hon. Look, it's not the end of the world! I mean, you could be a lot worse off. You could've ended up somewhere a lot worse than this, trust me."
"Simone, it doesn't matter that she ended up here. Of course she'd end up here. The woman's practically a saint. What matters is why she's here. Don't you get it, Dixie was killed off." Erin said as she took Simone aside.
"Well so were we! What makes her any different?"
"No, it was bad for us don't get me wrong. But it's worse for her. Way worse."
"It's an odd scenario I know. I mean pancakes meant for her daughter in law doing her in. That is pretty bizarre. But still, we all have to go sometime"
"No, the timing is off here Simone. With us, we didn't really have much of a place in PV. I mean people thought you took your own life to be with Ethan, it made sense to them."
"Hey it even makes sense to me.Ethan's my life."
"Exactly, just like helping my brothers was my life. I mean Ryan found his wife and daughter, and he's happy now. And Jonathan is getting there too. Sure they miss me, and I miss them too. It really wasn't the ideal time for me to go, but it wasn't the worst possible time for me to go either. That kinda happens with most of us, but with Dixie, this is a totally different ball game."
"How do you figure?"
"C'mon! Look at the timing Simone. She's a veteran in Pine Valley for pete's sake. She's lived in that town since she was eighteen years old! And now all of a sudden she gets killed off! Right when she finally gets her life back with her daughter, right when everything is getting better for her, for her family. Right when it's supposed to be the best time of her life!. Something's wrong here. I know it"
Erin and Simone both looked over and realized something was definitely wrong. The last thing they'd expect would be Dixie Martin, of all people, wandering around heaven looking lost and heartbroken The mere fact that she died eating poison pancakes, meant for a person who actually deserved them, was almost as insane as Dixie giving away Kate in the first place, or Tad Martin burying a man alive. It even topped Erica Kane's abortion being undone by a mad doctor resulting in her long lost son.
But even not counting the strange cause of her death, the timing in this whole situation was weird to them as well.
Dixie dying without even getting to speak to her daughter, and her not even being able to tell Tad personally that Kathy was Kate, was crazy, and on some levels seemed cruel. And that was something no one wanted to see here, in what was supposed to be a better place.
