Chapter 9

"I have a lot of regrets in my life, Faith, and stealing you is one of the biggest ones. But it is important for you to know that I never intended to take you," Adam confessed as he prepared for one of the most intense discussions of his life.

"I don't think someone steals a baby by accident, so I'm going to need a little more than that."

Still standing, he began pacing. "Your mom happened to be giving birth to you in Fairview on the same night that I needed a baby to give Ashley, so, it was not an accident as much as a crime of opportunity."

She looked at him with confusion and a hint of disgust as she asked, "Why did you need a baby for Ashley?"

"That is a little more complicated…" Adam went on to explain the reason why he needed a baby for Ashley in detail, or at least the detail appropriate for a teenager.

Faith was silent for a moment. Then she asked the simplest but most complex question she could have: "Why?"

Adam sat back down in his chair. "There are a lot of reasons I had at the time for justifying my actions, but I'd have to say the biggest one was resentment over not being accepted as part of the Newman family. Your grandfather and I have a tumultuous relationship. We're on good terms now, but it hasn't always been that way." He took a breath and then continued with an analogy he hoped she would be able to understand, "You know how you like to play chess with Victor?"

"Yeah…"

"Well he and I have been playing chess for years. Except we don't use a board to do it."

"I don't understand…"

"What Adam is trying to say is that he and grandpa have used us as chess pieces in their games for years," Noah responded. "They move us around without giving a damn about the consequences."

"He's right," Adam said. "When your grandfather and I don't get along, the games get more competitive. In our desire to come out on top, we end up hurting each other and the people we love the most in the process."

Adam sat in silence as he allowed Faith to process what she'd heard. He could never fully explain to her the dynamic he and his father share, especially since he didn't always understand it himself. However, talking about his past with Victor made him even more grateful for where they are now.

"So, long story short, you took me from my mom and gave me to Ashley because my mom just happened to be there."

Adam nodded. "It was never about hurting you, your mom, or your dad. I was just trying to cover my tracks. When I saw your mom later, and how upset she was over losing you, I felt horrible."

"Not horrible enough to tell the truth though, huh?" Noah remarked.

Adam laughed self-deprecatingly. "No."

"So how did the two of you end up together?" Faith asked.

"Because of me," Noah said.

"You?"

"Adam brought my homework from the Ranch over to the house where I was living with her."

"I intended to leave the box on the porch, but your mom happened to open the door at the same time and invited me in."

"As much as I want to comment on inviting blood-sucking vampires into your home right now, I won't," Noah interjected sarcastically, "because mom would kick my butt for breaking the ground rules."

"She would," Sharon playfully scolded, speaking for the first time since he took over the story. "But, if we're using analogies, I'd have to go with a wolf in sheep's clothing."

Adam laughed. He couldn't help himself.

"What's so funny?" Faith asked, clearly confused.

"Your mom and I spent that Halloween together handing out candy to trick or treaters. I came to the door in a wolf mask."

"It was the best Halloween I'd had since Cassie died," Sharon confessed from her seat, smiling. "And it is also the night that your father pointed out that I was starting to have feelings for Adam."

"What does dad have to do with this?" Faith questioned.

"Your dad and Phyllis brought Summer over when Adam was there. He was not happy."

"You never told me he came back."

Sharon shrugged at Adam as if it didn't matter. "It never came up…"

"That's why he sent me out of town, isn't it? I figured he was jealous, but I never believed it was because he sensed you had feelings for me."

"Dad sent you out of town?"

"Yeah, Faith. He wanted to keep me away from your mom. He didn't trust me."

"With good reason," Noah snorted.

"Your dad has plenty of reasons to hate me, Noah. But he'll always hate me the most because your mom fell in love with me. No other man, not Jack, Dylan, or Rey, will ever replace him in her heart and he knows it. But me, well, that's a different story now, isn't it? Why do you think he still fights so hard to keep me out of her life?"

"Because you're toxic, that's why. Not because of some fear you made up."

"No, Noah," Sharon disagreed as she turned in her seat to face him. "Adam is right. Your father can't stand that I love Adam. He never could."

"Love?" Noah asked, agast. "Present tense?"

"Yes."

"But what about Rey?" Faith asked.

"What do you mean?" Sharon replied.

"Why did you marry him if you're still in love with Adam?"

Adam wanted to know that, too. He sensed she still loved him all this time, but she refused to admit it until now. Why did she marry the detective when he let her know over and over that he wanted another chance?

But before Sharon could answer her daughter, the pilot announced that they were finally cleared to take off and asked everyone to return to their seats.