Part 1
This part was written by Daphne.
Bo Brady laid motionless on the sofa, staring at the mocking red numbers illuminated in the darkness. 4:02, the clock said. 4:02 a.m. She should have been home hours ago.
All of her familiar arguments about his overprotective nature raced through his brain-
"I don't need a curfew, Bo," she'd spit at him. "I'm not sixteen anymore." "I am a doctor, for god's sake. I don't need you to hold my hand and tell me what to do like I'm some kind of fucking simpleton." And then the clincher: "It's a little too late to
He sighed softly as he tried not to worry about where she was, what she was doing, and whom she was doing whatever with. But as far as he was concerned, he was her father, and taking care of her was his job. It didn't matter if she was twenty-seven or seventy-six. He was always going to be concerned about her well-being. But try explaining that to Chelsea. She just didn't seem to care. What bothered him the most was that they had been in a very good place when she'd left for London with Max several years back - or at least, he'd thought so - and now here they were, back to square one.
The sound of the door opening and closing announced her arrival. He sighed and pulled himself upright. He reached out a hand and flipped on the nearby lamp. She stood there like a deer in the headlights, rapidly blinking her eyes. Finally, she threw a hand up to cover her vision.
"Not this crap again," she snapped. "I'm too tired for an interrogation." She started for the staircase but her movements were slow and sluggish. She staggered and he was there to catch her before she slammed to the floor. She shrugged off his touch as she glared at him. "Ahem. I'm trying to go to bed."
"You're drunk."
"Yes. And your powers of deduction are still impeccable, Officer Brady."
Bo rolled his eyes. "Tell you didn't drive yourself home."
"I didn't." Chelsea smiled innocently. "Adam did… Or maybe his name was Alan…"
"Who?"
"Oh, he's just some guy I met at this bar," Chelsea said. "He was very nice, I assure you. Not too grabby at all. I only had to slap his wrists twice." She giggled.
"Chelsea, you're playing a dangerous game here. What the hell is going on? I know things are bad with Max-"
She stared daggers at him. He knew he'd touched a nerve; picked it raw, actually. "Don't even go there. Don't pretend to care about me. Let's not do this daddy-daughter late-night confessional, okay? I'm tired. I'm sure you're tired. Let's all just hit the hay and forget this shit."
"Chelsea-"
"Goodnight!" She snapped. She barrelled past him, shoving her way towards the staircase. Gripping the railing for dear life, she held on tightly as she wound her way upwards. She soon disappeared from view. Bo sighed as he heard her slam the guest room door somewhere down the hall loud enough to wake the whole house, but neither Hope nor Ciara emerged from their rooms to seek out the source of the noise. By now, they were probably painfully aware of what - or whom - had caused it.
Bo had a lot on his mind and felt anxious as hell. He thought about going upstairs to try to get some sleep but couldn't make himself do it. He knew he wouldn't sleep a wink and that his tossing and turning would only keep Hope awake. She worked long shifts too. She needed her sleep.
He walked into the kitchen and fixed a pot of coffee. While it heated, he paced the room anxiously, thinking over his situation with Chelsea. He didn't begin to know what to do with her. They had been so close for awhile there and now… Things were bad again. Maybe worse than ever before. And on top of that, he had news he needed to share with her and he didn't know how she'd react to it. He needed to talk out his feelings with someone and there was only one person he could think of who would know what to say; only one person who would even be awake at this ungodly hour…
He reached for the phone and dialed. It made sense to call her. Truthfully, in the last month since Chelsea had returned to Salem, they had talked more than a few times, trying to figure out how to deal with their daughter and the situation she had found herself in.
The phone rang three times and then Billie's voice was on the other end. "Hello?"
He decided he'd never been quite so glad to hear her voice. "Billie, it's Bo," he said, dropping into a chair and setting his steaming coffee mug in front of him.
"Bo, hey," Billie said. "It's - wow, it's after four a.m. there. What are you doing up so early … Oh no, is this about Chelsea?"
Bo sighed. "She just rolled in drunk. For the third time this week."
"Oh, Bo. She's… she's falling apart, isn't she? I should be on a plane right now instead of getting ready for an ISA briefing. I should-"
"Billie, stop."
"No, Bo. I'm a bad mother."
"You are not a bad mother. You're a great mother. I didn't call so you could trash talk yourself, alright? I called because I'm failing on all fronts to understand why she's regressed like this and I thought maybe you'd have some new insights on things."
"I feel as clueless as you do, Bo. I've asked her what happened with Max. They seemed so happy, you know. They did. They seemed like they were going to go the distance but then she ups and cheats on him with one of the attendings at the London hospital… I don't get it. Why would she do that? Everytime I bring it up though, she snarls at me. She still hates me. I swear, she does."
"She does not and you know that."
"I don't know that." Billie paused for a long moment. "I was planning to go to the Caribbean on a new case, but I won't. I'll come to Salem instead. Maybe if we put our heads together-"
"Maybe that could work. I just know she's giving Hope and me a hell of a time."
"I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault." He sighed. "Unfortunately, there's something else to worry about where our daughter is concerned."
"That sounds ominous."
"It's Lockhart," Bo said simply.
"Lockhart … As in, Patrick Lockhart?"
"Yep. That bastard is getting out of prison next week."
"What?" Billie gasped. "But didn't he -"
"Kidnap Hope? Yep. Work with EJ Dimera as the 'Black Hand' to commit a whole slew of crimes? Yep. Change the paternity test results to try to make us all think that Ciara was his daughter? Yep."
"That's right. Ohmigod."
"Yes, I don't think he's stupid enough to come around Hope or Ciara, but I remember Chelsea had a big thing for him -"
"Oh, that was such a long time ago though, Bo."
"Yes, but he could easily try to play on how vulnerable she is right now; use her to get back at me."
"You don't think he'd do that. Seriously?"
"I wouldn't put it past him, would you?"
"I don't know, honestly. But I doubt he'll stay in Salem anyway. He has no family left there, right? I mean, there would be no point."
"Well, we'll see."
"Still, I understand your concern and in light of all of this, I am definitely not going on this mission. I am coming back to Salem ASAP."
"Billie… are you sure?"
"Yes, Bo, I'm sure."
xoxox
"Hey, Mommy," Allie said as she walked into the kitchen to find Sami sitting at the breakfast nook, chin in hand, staring off into space. "Mommy?" She said louder, when there was no response.
"Huh?" Sami asked, lifting her head. She looked up at Allie. "Oh, hi, honey. I didn't hear you come in. What's up?"
Allie shrugged. "Not much. What's for breakfast?" She asked, rubbing her sloping, rounded tummy. "I'm pretty hungry."
"Oh … breakfast? Hmm," Sami said. "Breakfast! Right, breakfast."
"Don't tell me you didn't make anything," Allie said.
"I didn't… yet... but we'll find something, okay?" Sami scrambled to her feet and raced to the cupboards, beginning to yank open the wooden doors.
Johnny and Sydney padded into the kitchen on sock-clad feet as Sami was arching up onto her tippy-toes and scouting around for a box of oatmeal she thought she remembered was back there somewhere. "What's going on?" Johnny asked, rubbing his sleepy eyes.
"Mom forgot to make breakfast… again," Allie said. "We're all going to starve to death."
"Oh, come on. Don't be so dramatic. You're not going to starve," Sami said. "I'll find something." She reached up still higher and finally locked her hand around a box. It wasn't oatmeal however - it was just a box of brown sugar that had seen better days. "Well, how does McDonald's sound instead?" She asked lamely.
"Yay!" Allie said. "I like their Egg McMuffins better than your cooking anyway."
Sami sighed. "Gee, thanks." She patted Allie on the shoulder. "Go get ready to the spend the day with Grandma Caroline, okay?" She looked at Sydney and Johnny. "And you two, you're going to see your Dad today, so chop, chop."
"Okay," Sydney said. She started to follow Sami and Allie from the kitchen but Johnny grabbed her by her tiny right hand and tugged her back towards him. She looked up at him curiously, as if to say, hey, what's the big idea?
"Hey, Syd," Johnny said. "Come sit with me for a moment, alright? We have to talk." He was very mature and business-like as he helped her into a chair at the table. He crossed his arms and leaned forward, meeting her sky blue eyes. "Sydney, have you noticed anything strange about how Mom's been acting lately?"
"Like what?" Sydney asked. She rubbed her little dimpled chin, deep in thought. "Well, she doesn't try to cook for us much so much any more."
"Yeah," Johnny said. "She's been real distracted. And she seems sad since Rafe left us. And what about Dad? Have you noticed anything strange about him?"
"Well… He seems kind of sad too. And when he sees Mom, he looks kind of like this." She pulled at the taut skin around her cheeks and made sad "puppy dog eyes" - her attempt at an imitation of EJ.
Johnny nodded. "Yep. That's what I noticed too. So I was thinking… Maybe we should… Get them back together so they won't be so sad anymore. Dad always loved Mom and I think secretly she always loved him, even when she was married to Rafe so… let's fix them up okay?"
Sydney thought it over. "Do you think we can do it, John?"
"Sure. Why not? Mom's always saying we can do anything we put our minds to."
"You're right, Johnny. She does say that!" Sydney nodded. "Okay, I'll help you. What should we do?"
"Well, first we have to make a promise to each other."
"What kind of promise?"
"We have to pinky swear that we won't tell anyone about our plan, not even Allie, because she still thinks Mom and her Dad should be together -" Johnny pulled a face, communicating his extreme dislike for that idea - "even though her Dad just married that blonde lady. We can't let anyone know what we're doing, okay?"
"Okay."
Johnny held out his pinky. "Swear?"
"Swear!" Sydney said, lacing her finger with his.
"We'll get our parents back together, Sydney! You'll see," Johnny vowed.
xoxox
"I can't believe we left the hustle and bustle of Chicago for this," Cassie Brady moaned, staring out the passenger window as her twin brother Rex piloted the Range Rover down Salem's quiet Main Street. "It's so … dull. I think I just saw a tumbleweed roll past our window."
A little smile tugged at Rex's full lips. "You did not. And there is nothing dull about Salem. I would think you would know that better than anyone."
"Okay, maybe you're right. It's not totally dull," she allowed, a smile gracing her own pretty mouth. "But I don't know why you wanted to come back here. Why, after all of this time. It's been years, Rex."
"I know," Rex said, a little melancholy creeping into his voice. "It's been a very long time."
Cassie looked over at him. "It's Mimi, isn't it?" She said. "Oh God! I knew it. You broke up with Stephanie and you're rebounding so -"
"I am not rebounding, Cassie," Rex said. "Not at all."
"Oh, of course not. I mean, Stephanie was only the most fabulous, and smart, and beautiful woman you've ever dated so..."
"Actually, Mimi-"
"Oh, don't make me puke," Cassie said. "Do you forget what 'sweet little Meems' did to you, Rex? How she hurt you? How she ripped out your heart and ground it up into tiny little bits she fed to the birds?"
Rex cringed. "Do you have to be so… graphic?"
"I am just trying to make a point here, Rex. She didn't care about you. She couldn't have if she did what she did."
"I forgive her. I am over that."
"Are you?" Cassie challenged. "Are you really?"
Rex sighed softly as he flipped on his turn signal to pull into the parking lot of Horton Square. "What are we doing here?"
"I am dropping you off at The Brady Pub," Rex said. "I'll come back and join you in a bit, but I need to go-"
"See Mimi," Cassie said. She shook her head. "Don't do it, Rex. Don't let her break your heart again. Please. I can't stand to see it. I don't want to see it. Having to pick up the pieces last time … It was just too sad."
"I have to see her, Cassie… Don't you get it? I am not rebounding from Stephanie … I broke up with Stephanie … Because she wasn't Mimi. She wanted me to give her a ring, to marry her, and I couldn't… Because, in my heart … I want to be married only … To Mimi."
Cassie shook her head. "God, I hope to hell you know what you're doing."
She opened the car door and climbed out, settling two tiny, stiletto-clad feet onto the ground. She fixed the hem of her sleek black dress and swung around to face him. "Rex, please be careful," she said. She gave him a half-hearted wave and started towards The Pub.
Rex took a deep breath and started towards the old loft, the one where he had lived with Mimi, where they had shared their life together, their hopes, and their dreams... until everything had fallen apart... He just prayed that there was still a chance to make things right for them, even after all of this time.
xoxoxo
Bo sat at the kitchen table long after finishing his phone conversation with Billie, nursing a second cup of coffee, and watching the sun come up over the horizon. He was about to head upstairs to take a hot shower and get ready to face a new day of work when he heard frantic knocking at the back door.
He stood and walked to the back door, opening it. His eyes went wide in shock when he saw who stood there, clothes rumpled, sable hair tousled, face tear-stained. She appeared as white as a sheet.
"Carly?" Bo said. "Carly, what are you - Wait, what's wrong?"
Carly Manning trembled; shivering violently on the stoop. Bo instinctively reached for her and tugged her close. He smoothed her damp hair from her forehead. "Carly, what's going on? Hey, look at me."
"Oh, Bo," Carly cried. "I've … I've done something horrible. Something I can't possibly take back. It's been eating away at me for weeks now - the memories, they haunt me, day and night, night and day. They make me sick. The things he did, the things he said! I had no choice, Bo! I had no choice, don't you see! But Nicky - Nicholas, he'll never understand. Oh, he won't understand at all." Teardrops rolled down her cheeks.
"Carly," Bo said as gently as he could, "I don't know what you mean. You didn't have a choice about what? What won't Nicholas understand?"
Carly looked right at him this time, met him square in the eyes. "He won't understand, Bo… Nicholas won't understand why I had to kill his father, Lawrence!"