Afterboom - Chapter 36

[Author's Note: Hey OR junkies! I am SO VERY sorry for my bad writer etiquette, but I have decided to take this chapter to the next level. Some of you may be disappointed, but I promise I will make it worth your while. Please don't forget to comment!]

Janet let herself into her house, she was freezing cold, she was sure it was going to rain later that night. I hope he took his windbreaker, or he'll catch his death out there, she thought throwing her keys on the table. She walked through the foyer and noticed a dim glow from the kitchen. Walking towards it her breath got caught in her lungs.

The entire kitchen floor was covered in rose petals and red tapers lit the white tablecloth and silver cutlery that decorated her dining table. The light of the candles caught the glimmer of tears in her eyes, making them sparkle. Candles were posted all over her kitchen and the rest of the house was in pitch darkness. Her eyes finally began searching for the main attraction.

"Eddie?" she called through the rest of the house. Suddenly, soft music began to play from the living room. It was one of those slow rock ballads that always made Janet sentimental. She slowly approached the living room that was in absolute darkness. She heard the shuffle of what sounded like a matchbox get nearer to her and with a sudden flick, the match was ignited in front of her face to reveal the most loving, beautiful brown eyes she'd ever seen.

Tears began to roll down her cheeks when she thought of the things she said to him earlier that evening and then she took him all in now, standing in front of her, orchestrating a romantic evening anyway. I must be dreaming, she thought, after the way I treated him today I don't know if this is even real.

"You wanted it to be special," he said simply, smiling at her tenderly.

"Why didn't you say something before?" she croaked through her tears.

"I didn't want to ruin the surprise," he smiled pulling her into him by her jacket collar and planting a heart-stopping kiss on her, "I love you, Janet. You are quite possibly the only person who can make me smile by yelling at me," he said grinning, his eyes never leaving hers.

"I love you, too. You're the only person I'd want to trade places with in a hospital bed," she said sweetly. A hint of teardrops blanketed his eyes but he didn't pause long enough for her to see, he just pulled her in for a honey-sweet kiss and held her tight in his arms for what seemed like minutes.

"You know," he began in a teasing voice, pulling away from her, "it's a good thing I stuck around like I did. Leaving these open flames unattended would have really caused a fire in here," he finished snickering.

"Well... I dunno... I mean there are always...other things...that could cause a fire in this house," she suggested flirtatiously, wrapping her arms around his neck again.

"Yeah?" he asked grinning.

"Yeah," she said smiling her cheeks turning a hot pink in the light of the candles.

"Great!" he shouted excitedly, running all around the kitchen like a lunatic blowing off all the candles that were lit.

"Eddie!" she exclaimed surprised at his switch in moods, "What are you doing? Are we going to eat in darkness the whole time?" she asked jokingly.

By now, all but four candles were out and he stopped in front of them and gave Janet a long sideways glance that felt like a touch. His lips hovering over the first, he said, "Eeny...." blowing it out and moving to the second candle, "Meany...," then the third, "Miny...," he said then blew it out. Walking over to the fourth, he blew it out. Janet stood where she was as he found his way to her. Encircling his arms around her, he lowered his lips to hers, and just before touching them, he whispered, "Moe."

Janet's eyes flew wide open at the sound of tapping against her car window, "Janet! Janet! Open up," called Rooster, tapping impatiently against the glass standing out in the pouring rain. Her heart sank at the thought of her dream of being wrapped up in Eddie's embrace was just that – a dream. She was waiting for Eddie to turn up at Sully's, despite Hannah's instructions to go home and she figured she dozed off.

Rolling down her window she looked at Rooster puzzled, "What's wrong?"

"It's Hannah. She just called and she sounded really upset," he said frantically.

"Where is she?" Janet asked worry building up in her by the second.

"All I could get out of her was "inn" and "Big Cat"," he said trying desperately to remember their conversation.

"Dammit, Ray!" Janet cursed slamming hr hands on the steering wheel in frustration, "Thanks, Rooster. I got it from here. You get yourself inside or you'll catch pneumonia," she said jabbing her thumb towards the bar. Rooster nodded and jogged back inside.

"Inn... inn... inn," Janet repeated as she pulled out of the parking lot, "There's only one 'inn' in this entire hick town," she said making a turn on Sunset Drive towards the Johnson Inn.

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"Hey Joe, what goes on?" she greeted the ninety year old bellhop at the door. She was surprised he was still standing, let alone still working.

"Hey baby doll," he greeted smiling.

"Artie, has Hannah checked in?" she asked the concierge hurriedly.

"Maybe she has, and maybe she hasn't," he said aloofly looking down at his cards and glancing up slyly. He was playing solitaire.

"How much?" she asked rolling her eyes and smiling, knowing exactly what his price was.

"Just one on this here cheek," he said smiling and pointing to his left cheek.

"You dirty old man," she laughed and leaned forward and pecked him on the cheek. Needless to say, Janet was beloved in the Ridge.

"She's in room 18, but she doesn't look like she's ready for company sweetie pie," he warned.

"Thanks ,I got it though," she called back grabbing the keys off the counter and jogging down the lobby.

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"Ma, how long before we can go home? I miss my TV," Sam whined sitting on the bed and flicking through the channels on the small hotel room TV.

"I told you, just long enough for Ray to get his stuff out of the house. Now let's not talk about that. You wanna order room service?" she asked him with enticing eyes.

"Can I get ice cream?" he asked hopefully. He really milked the opportunities where his mother was trying to bribe him. Usually because they were few and far between.

"On a freezing night like this?" she asked smiling incredulously.

"Yeah...?" he asked his hope fading.

"And steal The World's Most Eccentric Mother and Son title from Beverley and Jason?" she asked referring to the first 'grown up' movie she ever saw with Sam; Riding in Cars with Boys.

"Uh huh," he nodded just as there was a frantic knock at the door.

"Fine, but make sure there are no traces of peanuts in it," she warned walking over to the door and answering it only to find Janet's worried expression staring back at her.

"So when you said you 'needed to be somewhere' on Saturday night, where'd you go?" Janet demanded calmly walking past Hannah into the room, "Hey egghead," she greeted Sam ruffling his hair as he spoke to room service.

Hannah smiled sadly and looked over at Sam nervously, "Hey Stud, do you wanna shoot down to the lobby and play Go Fish with Art for a while? I bet you can't beat him," she challenged her son.

Sam rolled his eyes, "If you want me to leave you guys alone just say so!" he said exasperated pushing himself off the bed and making his way to the door as his mother and her friend smiled at him appreciatively.

Once Hannah and Janet were alone, Hannah began relaying the entire horrendous weekend's events as Janet listened, bug eyed and growing angrier by the second.

"So he lied to you all this time? I can't believe that guy!" she exclaimed in disbelief, "But you know what Hannah? I told you about Matt, Eddie, and BFW. I'm sure he was behind that whole night too," she said her eyes sparked.

"He was. I got him all on tape remember? He took Mattie there to get Eddie mad enough to throw the first punch. Knowing Eddie would cave the minute he said something about you... I'm so so sorry about our fight over that. In the whole parade of insanity with Nick and Ray, I'm twirling the flaming baton, I swear," she said frustrated dropping down on the bed and holding a hand to her forehead.

"What did Matt say about me?" Janet asked weakly, knowing it was not good. Another stab at my weight no doubt.

"I don't know. But it couldn't have been too good because Ray was really mad at him," she said propping herself up on her elbows to look at Janet.

"Ray was mad?" Janet spat.

"Yeah apparently he said he wanted Matt to go get Eddie mad enough so that he would come off clean as a whistle with a conscience to match," Hannah felt sick even repeating his despicable ploy, "But insulting you crossed the line because we ended up fighting."

"So does Nick know about...?" Janet began after a long pause.

"Yes. I told him and I got the expected outcome. He yelled, he cried, he accused me of being cruel and then he asked me if..." her voice cracked.

"Hannah he's just hurting. You have to know that this couldn't have been easy on him," she reasoned placing her hand on Hannah's back for comfort.

"Easy on him? Janet, what about me? Do you think raising Sam by myself has been easy all these years?" she asked getting worked up again.

"No, I'm just saying that in all the years you raised Sam you knew he was yours and your responsibility, but to be told that you have a child with your high school sweetheart more than ten years after the fact... I'm surprised the guy's still sane," She said gently rubbing Hannah's back as Hannah took in what she said.

"All I'm saying is that at the end of the day, you know your kid like the back of your hand. You know what time he was born, how to handle his allergy attacks, how many Theraflu he can take before he starts to feel nauseated. You know how his last ten birthdays went and how he was freaked out by the clown on his fifth birthday." She noticed that the thought made Hannah laugh softly as she remembered her son's petrified expression when The Cupcake Kid visited. "Nick didn't have those opportunities. And I'm going to be every honest right now, so if you feel the urge to throw something at me, please make it a pillow, okay?" Janet requested. Hannah just nodded, eager to hear what Janet had to say.

"I think you've done a terrific job these last ten years because Sam is just amazing. But I truly believe..." she paused, studying Hannah's expression before she continued slowly, "...I truly believe, that if you had called Nick all those years ago, that he would have been there for you and Sam in a heartbeat. Nothing would have been more important to him." She finished.

The bomb was dropped. Now all she had to do was sit back and wait for it to explode. But nothing happened. Hannah looked at her friend sadly and stated, hope rising in her voice despite herself, "Don't be ridiculous, Janet. He coward and ran away when his mother died, I don't know how promising that sounds," she replied dismissively, "He was way too unreliable. It was bad enough Sam didn't get a chance to grow up in a proper family, with the dad reading the newspaper and the mom making breakfast. But to expose him to a parent with fluctuating appearances...," she shook her head rapidly, "I mean what would make you think that anyway?"

"Well when he first came back to the Ridge and Owen ran off to New York, you told me about his surprise visit to your doorstep. You told me he told you that he wanted you and Sam in his life. He told you that it didn't matter whether or not he was Sam's father, but that he loved you no matter what. I mean that's.... I don't even know how to describe that." Janet finished.

"You really think he would have been there?" she asked, hoping her friend would tell her what she needed to hear.

"Let me ask you something. How many parents have you lost Hannah Jane?"

"None. Why?"

"Well then you don't know what went through Nick's head when he decided to walk away all those years ago. So stop judging him," Janet said a little miffed.

"Caroline was really important to me too Janet. It's not like I don't know what it was like to lose such an amazing person. But I stayed put. I faced my troubles head on, I didn't run away!" Hannah said furiously.

"Maybe, honey. But it's not the same thing as being stolen of a parent and her love," Janet said pulling Hannah into a warm hug and let her friend cry for a few minutes.

"You really think it's worth a shot?" she asked Janet pulling away.

"I think he needs it more than Sam does at this point, Hannah. And let's face it, you keep talking about Sam getting hurt but what you really mean is that you don't want to get hurt again," she said raising her index finger at Hannah.

Hannah just grinned shyly. Janet always told her the truth, no matter how rough it was. And with the exception of all things Ray Cataldo, she never had any trouble taking her honesty as it was intentioned either.

"Ahem. Are you guys done yet? Artie keeps cheating," Sam said from the doorway, studying his mother.

Janet looked at Hannah and smiled reassuringly.

"Hey I have an idea kiddo, how about you, Janet and I go grab some frozen rocky road ice cream from the hotel kitchen?" she smiled brightly at her ten year old.

"Works for me," he said with a shrug.

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"How can a hotel not have any ice cream on the premises?" Hannah demanded raiding the massive refrigerator in the hotel kitchen five minutes later.

"Usually we don't have guests asking for it in sub-zero weather Hannah Jane," Art reasoned.

"Well that's okay. We'll improvise. As long as it's something sweet, right Sam?" Janet asked helpfully.

"Sure. As long as it's sweet," Sam volunteered.

"Okay why you don't go sit back down there,"Janet said leading Hannah to the bar stools in the corner, "and I'll fix us some cupcakes. Chocolate? Sprinkles? Jelly? Blueberry?" Janet asked like a short order cook.

"Sprinkles. Definitely sprinkles," Sam said nodding happily.

"Okay you three enjoy and I'll be right back. Clean up when you're done and don't break anything or Gus will take it out on me," Art winked as he went to see who rung the desk bell.

"Oh! Will you look at that? They have frozen muffins. Can you believe that?" Janet asked horrified.

"That's not the same as cupcakes, Jan," Sam said making a face.

"You're right, it's not. But instead of getting her to make some, why don't we just take the car out for a little spin and we can go get some ice cream instead," Hannah said standing up.

"No you can't," Art said coming back into the kitchen, "Have you seen the storm outside? You will freeze your butts off before you can say Jack Johnson," He said snapping his fingers.

"So what happened to you tonight? Didn't Eddie show?" Hannah said getting up to make them steaming mugs of hot chocolate instead, "You don't mind trading cupcakes for hot chocolate, do you, Stud?" she asked glancing at Sam.

"Ma. Its chocolate. Need I say more?"

"Well I didn't exactly go home," Janet confessed sheepishly.

"Where exactly did you go.... Janet?" Hannah prompted smiling.

"I waited outside Sully's hoping he'd show up there," she admitted cringing. Pathetic loser, party of one, she thought gauging Hannah's expression.

"Why did you do that?"

"Well usually when he's mad about something he always drinks himself silly and then Ikey or I take him home. So I just figured..." she shrugged.

"...that since he was probably mad, that that's where he'd go," Hannah finished for her nodding and understanding where she was headed, "But you over looked one very important fact," Hannah said raising her eyebrows, "Now that you're dating Eddie, if you're the reason he's mad, going over there to drown his sorrows is totally counter-productive."

"Yeah I guess you're right," Janet said lost in thought.

"Forget it, Ma. Janet's gone bye-bye," Sam commented and Janet and Hannah laughed, tickling him and ruffling his hair.

"When did you get so smart?" Hannah said looking at her little boy lovingly.

"I have good genes," he said matter-of-factly. This made Hannah's smile fade away as she glanced at Janet who had already been watching her.