No Island Paradise
Resigned
"Peter?" Jennifer called for the third time. There was as yet no sign of the man. But it wasn't like him to be late, or to forget something he'd said he would do. He must be around here somewhere.
Sure enough he opened a door just down the hall and walked out, glancing both ways before spotting Jennifer and Abby. He looked dazed and dishevelled, as if he'd been dozing in an armchair and had only just awoken. Jennifer had never seen him look that way. The Blake children rarely allowed themselves to lose their self-control that way.
"Ah…good morning Abby," he murmured, and smiled faintly as he began to walk towards them. "Jennifer." He barely acknowledged her as he bent down in front of her daughter. "How did you sleep, sweetheart?"
"Good," Abby piped. "But where are we going?"
Peter was still smiling, but the sadness was radiating from him. "You're going on that little holiday I told you about. It's going to be a lot of fun."
"Are you coming with me?" Abby asked.
Peter hesitated, and then shook his head. It seemed that he made a decision right there, crouching in the hallway. Jennifer wondered what it had been.
"No, sweetheart, I'm not coming with you. It's a special trip just for you and your mommy."
Abby looked confused, and Peter said, "Come on, sweetheart. Let's go for a walk on the beach. We have a few hours before you leave."
"But daddy, why aren't you coming with us?" Abby persisted.
Peter took her hand as he straightened, and motioned for Jennifer to follow as he led Abby down the hall. As if I would have let you take her off alone, anyway, Jennifer thought to herself, but there wasn't much spite in the thought. She was too confused about current events to feel her usual disgust for this man. Particularly if her suspicions about what he was planning were right. Those suspicions balanced on that one statement he had made – that he was going to grant her fondest wish. She had told him a few days before what that wish was, and if he was speaking literally, then she was right to have hope. She wasn't yet willing to let go of her reservations entirely, but she knew that even with that precaution she would be devastated if she turned out to be wrong in her suspicions. The pain would begin all over again. Please, God, don't let me be wrong.
Peter said gently, "Sweetheart, this trip is for you and your mom, because it's a gift from me to you. A gift is meant…is meant to be something you give to others. Not something that you take for yourself."
Jennifer very nearly stumbled at that – she couldn't believe the nerve of this man, taking what she had always told him and making it his own sentiment, therefore making himself the good guy! How dare he try to ingratiate himself to her daughter like that? Oh yes, she had her anger back.
"When will we come back?" Abby asked.
Peter thought for a while, and stayed quiet even when Abby tugged insistently on his hand, but finally he said, "You'll come back when you want to, sweetheart."
Jennifer analysed that response as she continued to walk, and confirmation hit her like a lightning strike. Her heart began to soar, quite against her will, and she thought almost feverishly, He's letting us go. He's letting us go back home! He's granting me my fondest wish!
Her doubts continued to cling on in some small capacity, but they were fast losing ground.
* * *
Jennifer took the ultimate risk during the next hour or so, probably foolishly putting her trust in a seemingly transformed Peter Blake. She couldn't say why she did it, only that she felt so sure that she was right about what was going to happen today. The risk she took was letting Peter make Abby smile and laugh; giving him, of all people, one last gift. He didn't really deserve such a concession, but she didn't mind today of all days. He'd get his just desserts soon enough; for now she would behave like the merciful human being her family had brought her up to be, and show Peter Blake the kind of kindness he'd not known in aeons.
Somehow, even considering all that he had done in the past, she managed to take pity on him. A part of her knew for certain that she would never see him again. Or, if she did, it'd be when she was standing on the other side of the prison bars. He would lose the family he had coveted for so long, even if Jennifer had not considered them a family since the dissolution of their real marriage years ago.
Inside a frantic voice reined her in, or tried to. Don't trust him. Just because he's looked so sad, doesn't mean he's suddenly not a Dimera. Just because he said those things doesn't mean he's not fooling you – he's good at lying, remember? But no matter how hard that voice fought for control of her, the other voice, the voice of hope and joy and anticipation, maintained its supremacy. She had perhaps never behaved this foolishly in her life before.
An hour and a half after they had met in the hallway and ventured outside, Peter, Jennifer and Abby made their way up the beach, leaving a series of varyingly elaborate sandcastles and other sand sculptures behind. Soon the tide would rush in and obliterate the exhibition of carefully crafted mounds and ridges and concavities. Castles would cave in and fill the moats surrounding them; dolphin bodies would implode; flowers would lose all their petals and become nothing but slightly ridged areas of smooth sand. But for the castles, dolphins and flowers remained, a moving testament to one lost man's impossible dream.
Birds soared over the beach and out onto the water, their cries echoing eerily across the magnificent landscape.
* * *
It looked to Jennifer's eyes like a jumbo jet, even though it was only one of those little private planes the likes of Peter Blake could afford. At the sight of it Jennifer's eyes filled with tears, and she quickly took steps to ensure Peter didn't notice. Am I really coming home to you, Jack? she wondered as she pressed Abby closer against her. Am I going to talk with you over tea again, mom? Even with her newfound conviction that indeed she would be returning home, it was still hard to fathom. She had grown grimly accustomed to life here on the island – if one could call it a life – and this abrupt change in routine made her dizzy.
"It takes off in forty-five minutes," Peter informed her grimly, standing with his arms hanging loosely at his sides. He looked like he was wondering whether it was worth the effort to breathe. What is he going to do with his time once we're gone? Jennifer wondered. Or will he return to Salem too? HE still has Stefano and Lexie, after all…if not Kristen. Then she thought, Why on earth am I even bothering to wonder what he'll do when we're gone? I certainly don't care.
"Isn't it exciting, honey?" Jennifer asked Abby, squeezing the girl's shoulder gently.
Abby nodded, but said nothing. She kept looking at Peter questioningly. Jennifer tried to ignore the obvious connection that lay between the two of them. It is not fair! she raged when ignoring it failed. Peter deliberately forged that bond! He's purposefully usurped Jack's rightful place, and now in the long run he's going to hurt Abby! It's just not fair!
Jennifer wanted desperately to scoop Abby up into her arms and make a break for the plane, but the gates weren't open yet, and Peter was the one who would be giving the command there. He was in control of everything here in this small airport – Jennifer was, as yet, still dependent on him, as much as it irked her to admit it.
"Your luggage is packed in the cargo hold," Peter said. "Do you want to…have a coffee or something before you board? There's a little café inside the terminal."
Jennifer hesitated, knowing that she had to keep him happy as possible by at least being polite, lest she risk his changing his mind about freeing her and Abby. At the same time, she didn't want to encourage him to think that there was any hope of her loving him again.
"Don't worry about it," Peter said before she could answer. "I understand." And he moved a few steps away and rubbed his face with his hands, wearily.
"It's just that…I like to have a bit of fresh air. It's a nice day outside." Jennifer kicked herself mentally – did she have to sound like she was making an effort? That was the last thing she wanted him to think.
"Of course," Peter said, and they both fell silent again. They stayed that way until boarding time, except when Peter talked to Abby.
* * *
When the gates opened, everything happened very fast. Jennifer and Abby were herded towards the plane and invited to board. Peter didn't even come with them. Jennifer glanced back once and saw him exchanging words with one of the pilots. The pilot was nodding profusely, and Peter's face looked grim. God, let him not be telling the pilot to take us to another hide-out or let the plane crash or shove us out of the open door. Please!
She and Abby were seated, and told to buckle up. The plane cabin was rather luxurious, with a row of seats on either side of it and a table all the way down the middle. When Jennifer had her belt on, and had secured Abby's in place also, she turned to look out the window and saw that Peter had moved back slightly. He was not going to board the plane. He hadn't even said goodbye.
"You okay, honey?" Jennifer asked Abby, whose faced looked strangely solemn.
The girl nodded, but said, "Yes, but I still don't know where we're going."
"I know, sweetheart," Jennifer murmured. "It's meant to be a surprise." You are going to love it, my little darling.
She could hardly wait until the plane took off.
* * *
As they lifted into the air, Jennifer sat in the spot gripping both of the arm rests with white-knuckled hands. It wasn't that she was scared of flying – more that she was scared that there was some trap she wasn't perceiving, laid by Peter. Nothing presented itself and she had to force herself to relax. It was a big struggle.
She didn't look for Peter on the way up. She studiously faced away from the windows, not wanting to see the island prison anymore. She wanted instead to focus on her destination, trying to picture familiar spots in Salem in her mind. To her panic she couldn't bring any images to mind at first, and she very nearly started crying, thinking, What has Peter done to me?!? in despair. But soon enough the mental block began to crumble, and she let herself smile.
When one of the pilots poked his head in from the cockpit and said, "We'll reach Salem in about seven hours, if you and your little girl wish to have a rest."
That was all Jennifer could take. The dams broke and the tears flowed, no matter how hard she struggled to control herself for Abby's sake.
"Ma'am, are you okay?" the pilot asked with concern. "Can I get you anything?"
Jennifer shook her head, gasping for air as Abby too began to cry. "No, no," she said, "it's alright. Thank you."
"Mommy, what's wrong?" Abby cried, upset by her mother's apparently grief.
"Nothing, honey. Nothing at all. Everything is just fine. These are happy tears."
"Why are you that happy?" Abby asked in confusion, hiccuping.
Jennifer laughed loudly, and wiped at her cheeks. "Oh, honey, it's just that we're going to a wonderful place. A wonderful place where it's very hard to be sad." She had come to idealise Salem since her abduction, and now she saw it as a glowing, golden place full of love and warmth and happiness. She knew on one level that her glorified vision of home was relatively inaccurate, but she couldn't bring herself to tarnish it just yet. It was what had sustained her through some of the hardest times, after all.
She drew her daughter into a warm embrace and wept buckets of joy. She was going home, at long last. Her entire body shuddered with exhilaration and relief that the nightmare was nearly over.
Against all odds, she ended up thanking Peter Blake that day, for making what was for him the ultimate sacrifice.
The End
Note: I am Australian, therefore my spelling is different, but I chose to use American spelling at least in the dialogue, hence my use of the word 'mommy' instead of 'mummy', and so on *g* Just like it to be more authentic I guess.
Anyway, that is it. Let me make sure you know that I didn't mean to glorify Peter there at the end. I just wanted to show that Jennifer recognised how amazing it was that he did what he did.
In reality it's very unrealistic, since Peter and Kristen forgot long ago how to sacrifice themselves for others like that – but I do like things to go MY way sometimes, even if just in my imagination *G*
I am not so sure this was a satisfactory ending. Particularly since I set out to just give a "glimpse" into Jennifer's life on the island, not a happy ending. But anyway… Perhaps you can give me some feedback and I could always try a few different endings, and see which one works. But right now I want to just let this settle, because I think it's about time it was finished *g* Thanks for reading, everyone! :)