Nikolas watched helplessly as Emily ran down the attic stairs. He wanted to
join her, but assumed she needed to be alone. Emily had volumes of information
to process; he had no intention of interfering with that. Still he worried.
He knew, all too well, what she was going through. When he was told Stefan
was his father, he spent days analyzing the time they had spent together. A
part of him was thrilled. Stefan had always been there for him. Stefan was
alive, and for all of his faults he had never kidnapped Laura or tried to
freeze the world. Stefan was no saint. However, Nikolas had always felt
pressure to rationalize Stavaros' actions. Learning Stefan was his father,
freed Nikolas from that duty.
However, it also caused him great pain. He understood it intellectually.
Stefan was protecting Nikolas' position in the family. Emotionally, that was no
comfort. Stefan robbed him of the opportunity to call somebody father. Stefan
had kept himself emotionally distanced for so long. There had been so many
opportunities when Nikolas desperately needed a father. And yet, not once did
Stefan ever reveal his hand. Nikolas questioned that decision so many times. He
assumed Emily was doing the same thing.
Emily ran down the attic stairs and snuck off the Qartermaine estate. She
had no intention of being spotted by the family. What could she tell them? She
was looking for information about her father? They would think that she hated
them. Things weren't perfect with Q's. The family had more problems than she
could count. However, they took her in, after Paige died. They gave her a
family. Having a dysfunctional family was better than having a father who had
never claimed her.
After what seemed like hours of aimless wandering, Emily found herself
kneeling at her Mother's grave. "Oh mom." She whispered sadly. "I found your
letters. I know about my father. I had to look; I felt so alone, so
disconnected. I wanted that connection. I just never dreamed it would end like
this.
"I know him, Mom. He lives here. When things get bad with the Q's, sometimes
I talk to him. I mean," Tears almost obscured her words. "I liked him. I
trusted him. But now? He never told me… I almost died Mom, and he never said
anything. She became more upset as she spoke.
"Did he really love us? He said so, not to me. Why not? I needed him, Momma.
Why did he stay away?" She knew her mother couldn't answer, but her mind
wouldn't let her stop. "Was it me? Was he disappointed in me?" She choked on
her tears as she finally voiced one of her biggest fears.
---
"Brooke!" V exclaimed. I must be dreaming; V decided silently. Brooke couldn't
have told Ned that she was moving in with them. It wasn't possible was it?
"What?" Brooke's face showed complete innocence.
Ned grinned and brought Brooke onto his lap. "What is all of this about?" He
asked before V could get a word in edgewise.
"V is moving in with us." Brooke rolled her eyes. She loved her Daddy but
sometimes he could be a little slow.
V stood in stunned silence. She prayed Ned knew that it had been Brooke's
idea.
"Has V agreed to this?" Ned was torn between thinking the whole situation
was funny and wondering what had made Brooke come to this conclusion.
"She said she would play with me every day. And she is nice and pretty." Brooke
smiled. "And she doesn't cheat at Candy Land like Grandfather." Her nose
wrinkled as she remembered the way he always lied about the colors on his card.
The image of Edward cheating while playing with a child amused V and she was
finally able to speak. She knelt on the ground to be at eye level with Brooke.
"Brooke, Sweetie, I will play with you anytime that you like, if it is okay
with your Daddy. You can call anytime you would like, but I can't move in."
"Bu…But…I want you to stay." Brooke's lip quivered. When people left
sometimes they didn't come back, and Brooke wanted V to come back. "Please?" It
wouldn't be so scary with a nice lady like V living with them.
Brooke's expression melted Ned's heart. Part of him didn't want to share her
with anybody else. He wanted to make up for all of the time that he had missed.
However, he could tell how important V was to Brooke. She was used to having
Lois, her grandparents, and neighbors all around her. She had been surrounded
by people she trusted. The Quartermaines, on the other hand, frightened her.
Having V around, as a buffer, couldn't hurt, right? Ned smiled softly at his
daughter and then turned to V. "Please stay." He whispered.
---
Carly's words stung. "You need to go." Sonny demanded. He never imagined that
Emily would find out. The thought sent shivers up his spine. He needed to
think, and he couldn't do that with Carly and Mike yammering away.
"Son, I think…"
Before Mike could finish, Sonny interrupted. "Go, both of you!" The matter
was not up for debate.
Mike and Carly exchanged helpless glances before leaving. When Sonny was in
that mood, little could be done to sooth him.
"We should find her." Carly mused when she reached the foyer. "She shouldn't
find out by accident."
"We can't. Michael needs to work this out on his own." Mike argued. However,
before he could say another word, Carly was out the door.
---
Sonny rubbed his temples and thought over his options. For once in his life he
had no idea about what to do. It never occurred to him that Emily might find
out. But now that it had, he was consumed by it. He needed a plan. "What do I
do? What do I tell her? God…. She is going to hate me. And what can I say? I
would hate me too. I have spent years hating Mike. He didn't know what Deke did
to my mother and me. I can't claim that. I saw what they did to her."
Sonny sighed. He was getting nowhere. Sonny stood up and walked out of the
door. He needed to talk to Paige.
---
