Stains
Hope and Marie talk about keeping secrets and carpet stains. I don't own any Days characters or the show. This takes place between Small Town Tragedy chapters 9 and 20. If you haven't read STT, (why not? It's a great story!) this will make no sense.
"Jen! Hey, Jennifer!" Hope threw her grandmother's front door opened and stormed in.
Alarmed, Marie let her book fall from her hand when she saw her niece's tearstained face.
"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" Marie wrapped her arms around Hope, guiding her niece to the sofa.
"They lied to me! Daddy and Julie…." Hope gulped for air.
Marie often forgot how good her family created unnecessary drama. But considering the hypocrisy of her current situation, she didn't voiced this thought.
"Jennifer isn't here, right now. But I'm going to get you some water and start making tea, ok, sweetheart?" Marie kissed Hope's forehead.
Marie returned to find her niece staring at a photo of Addie.
"She always enjoyed glamour shots. Our school photos were too boring for her."
"She would've loved the 80s. All the shoulder pads and sequins," Hope smiled at the thought.
"Yeah, Addie would've had the biggest shoulder pads. Small pillows masquencing as shoulder pads," Marie said as Hope chuckled.
"Can we sit in the kitchen?" After what her dad and Julie told her, Hope couldn't look at the stairs.
"Sure, wherever you want. What happened? Are Doug and Julie ok?" Marie asked, concerned.
"Yes. No. I don't know. I just left. I mean, I just can't believe she didn't tell me. My real mother wouldn't lie to me."
"Oh. Well, this is major then. You don't pull the Julie isn't my real mother ca rd often these days," Marie retrieved the kettle and pour the water into mugs.
"She...Did you know Daddy and Julie lost a baby boy?"
"Yes, darling. Just after your mother's death. But why are you bringing this up now?"
"No. This one was when Grandpa died. Apparently, that's why they left in a hurry after Grandpa's funeral," Hope said, taking a sip of tea.
"Wait, what?" Marie was flabbergasted.
"Um, Julie was lying down upstairs here and collapsed as she came down the stairs. Aunt Maggie took her to the hospital…." Hope closed her eyes, imagining the pain her sister must've been in.
"Ah…" A realization dawned on Marie. "The wine stain. Now, it makes sense. I could never figure out why my brother was drinking wine and then be clumsy enough to spill it. Mickey was always a whiskey man."
"What?" Now Hope was confused.
"There was a stain by the stairs. Mickey was furiously cleaning it up and when I asked about it, he muttered that it wasn't something to concerned Mom about. I assumed he told Mom the wine lie eventually. Huh. That always has bothered me," said Marie thoughtfully.
"Why aren't you more upset about this? I mean, they lied to us for twenty years."
"An omission about something incredibly painful isn't a lie. And I expect you, of all people, would be sympathetic about a miscarriage. Do you plan on telling Ciara about yours?" Marie asked.
"I don't know. I can't imagine it coming up…" Hope realized that she overreacted to Julie." Oh, God, Aunt Marie, she will never forgive me."
"First don't take the Lord's name in vain. Secondly, Julie and your father adored you. They would walk through fire for you. There's nothing a parent won't forgive their child. "
"Promise?"
Marie heard five-year-old Hope in that one word.
"Promise."