Also, I'd like to note that I do not own NBC's Days of Our Lives or the characters and I will NOT be receiving any payment whatsoever for writing this story. It is intended for entertainment purposes only.
I hope you like my story and please don't forget to review...
Chapter One :::
When you are old and grey and full of sleep.
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look.
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;
How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;
And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled.
And paced upon the mountains overhead.
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.
~ W.B. Yeats
"Dad! Dad!" Nicholas called as he ran wildly through the thick vegetation upon a slightly worn path strewn with green leafy vines and fallen palm leaves. "Somethings wrong with Mom, Dad! DAD!"
Lawrence could hear his son calling from the distance and he dropped the bundle of wood he had been gathering to stride swiftly toward the sound of Nicholas's voice. When he reached Nicky, the boy was huffing and puffing from the exertion, his blue eyes wild from some unspoken fear.
"What is it, Nicky?" Lawrence asked urgently. "What has happened?"
Tears filled Nicky's eyes as he struggled to get the words passed his lips. "It's Mom. She - She fainted again. I was so scared, Dad! She just got so pale and the she fell-!"
"My God," Lawrence gasped, but then he saw the terror reflected there in his son's eyes. Reassuringly he said, "Don't worry, Nicholas. I'll take care of your mother. You finish gathering the wood and then return to the cave."
"But, Dad-."
"Just gather a little wood and come right back. Your mom will be fine."
Lawrence gave his son a quick comforting hug, and then swiftly disappeared down the path in the direction Nicholas had come. Nicky wiped a tear from his face and began gathering the wood as his father had ordered. *Why did this have to happen again?* he whispered sadly to himself. *What's wrong with my mom?*
"Katerina!" Lawrence called out breathlessly as he reached the mouth of the cave and stepped inside. It was just as Nicky had said. Carly lay unconscious upon the cave's floor, her limbs strewn haphazardly every which way. Luckily she appeared to have fallen upon the sleeping pallet of blankets and palm leaves, otherwise she may have been injured during the fall.
"Katerina?" Lawrence spoke, lifting her still form into his muscular arms. "Katerina, can you hear me?"
She moaned softly and very slowly her eyes drifted open. She looked at him strangely, as if unable to focus upon his image. "Lawrence?" she whispered, her head lying limply against his arm.
"I'm here, Katerina. You've fainted again," he said, tenderly brushing the strands of long dark hair back from her face. "What happened?"
"I- I don't know... Nicky..."
"Don't worry. Nicky's alright. He came out and found me when you fainted. I sent him to gather wood as he was quite frightened. This is the second time you have fainted in less than a week. Something's wrong, Katerina-."
"No, Lawrence. No, nothing's wrong," she denied.
"Don't tell me that. You've fainted twice. You could be seriously ill."
"I'm not... I... Let me set up now. I'm fine," she said quietly, pulling out of his arms as he helped her sit up on her own against the wall of the cave.
"Then what is it, Katerina? Tell me," he said insistently
"I-I'm pregnant," she whispered.
He said nothing, but she could see the pain in his hazel eyes. His eyes were the color of carmel with just the hint of green within them. She nearly flinched when she was the vivid torment shining within those eyes.
"Please. Aren't you going to say something?"
"What do you expect me to say, Carly? Congratulations? I hope you and Bo are happy?"
"How could we be happy? We are separated, and I doubt I'll ever see him again. I doubt Bo will ever see his child, thanks to your Aunt Vivian and Ivan!"
Her voice was nearly hysterical and it worried him. "Carly, I don't understand. You said you thought you couldn't get pregnant again. After all the trouble you had delivering Nicky, I thought-."
"The doctors said it was doubtful, not impossible. There was a lot of scarring after Nicky's birth. They told me it would be nearly impossible to conceive. I can't believe it's finally happened, after three years."
"Strange it should happen now," Lawrence said, his voice barely audible.
"Yes, it is. Bo and I wanted a baby so badly... we we may never be together again." Her voice was filled with great sadness, and he saw the tears glistening in her blue eyes.
"I can see how much you want this baby. But my God, Katerina! I remember your description of Nicky's birth, all the pain and suffering you went through-!"
"It was worth it!"
"I'm not denying that! All I'm saying is that I know nothing about childbirth! And if this birth is anything like Nicholas's, I don't know if I-I can help you."
"I will tell you all you need to know. We don't have to worry about that now. It's more than six months away. But I will tell you that I'm scared. There was so much damage made during Nicky's birth. I'm afraid this birth will be difficult-."
"Mom, you're okay now!" their son exclaimed. They both looked up quickly from their engrossing conversation to see Nicholas at the entrance of the cave, his arms laden with firewood.
"Come here, baby!" Carly called. Nicky tossed the wood aside and ran to his mother. Carly pulled the eight-year-old into her arms and placed a tender kiss into his hair. "I love you, Nicholas," she whispered. "I'm sorry I scared you."
"I thought you were dying, Mom!" the boy confessed tearfully. "What's wrong with you? Why did you faint again?"
Carly's eyes met Lawrence's over their son's dark head. His expression urged her to tell Nicholas the truth. Carly lifted the little boy's face up to meet his blue eyes which were so much like her own. "I'm not sick, Nicky, but I do have wonderful news for you. In about six months time, you will have a little sister or brother," she said with a tender smile.
"Ohhh," said Nicky, quickly looking away from his mother's eyes.
"What's the matter, honey? Tell me," Carly urged.
"The baby. It won't really be my brother or sister, will it? It's half Bo's, isn't it? It isn't my dad's," Nicholas spoke.
"No, Nicky. It isn't your dad's baby, but you are my son, so that mean the baby WILL be your sister or brother," Carly explained gently.
"No!" Nicky yelled furiously. "I don't want it to be that way!"
"Nicky-!" Lawrence began, grasping his son's arm as the boy pulled forcefully out of Carly's embrace.
"We are family now! This wasn't supposed to happen!" cried Nicholas angrily as his father took the boy's hands into his own. "I thought Bo was out of our lives forever!"
Carly was looking at her son tearfully, great sorrow in her expression from his harsh words. "Don't say these things, Nicholas. We ARE a family, and we will continue to be a family. This baby isn't mine, but it doesn't matter. We are together now; that's what matters," Lawrence said. "Your mother and I love you, Nicky. We want you to be happy."
Carly bent down to hug Nicky and caress his hair. "I do love you, Nicky. I'm sorry if you are not happy about the baby," she said softly.
"I AM happy about the baby... I just wish it was my dad's..." the boy confessed. He then jerked out of his parents' embrace and went running from the cave.
"Nicky!" Carly called after him, turning to follow her son, but Lawrence held her back.
"Don't, Carly. He needs some time to himself. Time to absorb the news. He's so very young. It's difficult for him to understand sometimes."
"I didn't expect him to react as he did. I-I thought he'd be happy to have a little brother or sister."
"He will be happy. Just give him some time."
"It's difficult for him to accept that this baby is Bo's."
"I know. It's hard for me to accept, too. I too wish that this baby were mine." And with those words Lawrence left the cave, leaving Carly to stand there in a state of numbness from his confession.