Chapter Fourteen – The Best Laid Plans
Mimi had drove Brady to Salem International Airport within thirty minutes of leaving their house. The car ride had been one of complete silence neither Brady nor Mimi had said a word. When they arrived at the airport they still said nothing even as they walked to their designation, hands intertwined.
After Brady made it to the gate and checked in, he and Mimi waited for his flight to be called. He turned to her and placed his bag on the ground. "You don't have to wait for my flight to be called."
"I want to. I mean," she brought her hand up to hair and pushed it away from her forehead. "I really don't mind waiting. Besides, it gives me more time to spend with you before you leave."
"Well, when you put it that way," he placed his hands on her waist and pulled her closer to him. Then as he wrapped his hands around her waist he lowered his mouth over hers. Their lips met gently at first, then more forcefully passionate as Brady's tongue swept into her mouth. He licked her teeth before moving on behind them to make contact with her tongue. Mimi took control of the kiss and sucked on Brady's tongue gently. They were still embraced when the announcer came on.
"Now boarding, Flight 470 via London, England for Rome, Italy."
Brady lifted his head up from Mimi's and pulled her closer to him, tighter in his arms. "That's my flight, I need to go." With a tight squeezing hug he released her to pick up his bag. He rose and started toward the line to get on the plane, when Mimi grabbed his free arm.
"You're doing the right thing, Brady. It's time for Philip and Shawn to come home. You know that."
"I know Meems. It's the right thing to do. The only thing I can do. I love you." Brady said.
"I love you too! And I'll miss you." Mimi said as he walked away from her. He looked back at her and smiled. Then giving the flight attendant his ticket he left.
~*~*~*~*~*@*~*~*~*~*~
Only a few days had gone by since Brady had left for Italy. Mimi had talked to him every single day since then. It seemed like every time they talked, she missed him more. But, he quickly assured her that he was really okay and the moment he found the guys he would be on his way back to Salem. And that was all the reassurance she needed.
So now she was coming to pick-up her children from the Kiriakis Manor. They had spent the day there playing with Chloe's kids. Mimi rang the doorbell and Henderson answered it.
"Hi, Henderson are my munchkins ready to go?"
"Not just yet Mrs. Black. I believe Conrad and Jarod are engaged in a tournament of sorts with the younger boys. While Racquel is playing with Ariana and Jessica. The last time I checked they were in the last half of the tournament. If you would like I could go round them up for you." He politely inferred.
"No, don't bother. I'll just go talk with Chloe. Could you point me in the right direction?"
"Of course, she's in the office." Henderson answered before Mimi took off for the office.
When she arrived at the office she opened the door and was surprised to see loads of papers everywhere on the floor, the desktop, and the chair. And Chloe was in the middle of it all her hair piled on top of her head in a messy bun with a pen sticking out from it. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a men's dress shirt over a lavender tank top. She was also wearing a pair of gray wire-framed glasses.
"Chloe what in the world are you doing?"
Chloe looked up at the doorway and saw Mimi enter the room. She wasn't supposed to be there so soon. "Aren't you a little early, Meems?"
"Chloe, it's a quarter to four, I told you I would be back to pick the kids up before four. Now back to my original question what are you doing?"
"Oh my goodness, I didn't realize it was so late." She started to collect the papers off the floor. "I've been doing some research that's all trying to figure out when I was pregnant with Jarod."
"Then that's what all this is?" Mimi asked as she put her purse down on a chair and began to help Chloe collect some of the papers.
"Well, not all of it. Most of it is stuff I found on the Internet about infertility, adoption and stuff like that."
"But why are you looking up stuff like that? I-I don't understand." Mimi sat down in a chair adjacent from the desk.
"Well, I did a little research and was able to figure out when I might have conceived Jarod. Since his birthday's in May I figured that means I must have gotten pregnant in August. Which for various reasons is a little off for me. The main reason being that I was in New York at the time. Philip came up every weekend to help me pack and stuff so it is not entirely impossible."
"You're certain of that?" Mimi asked as Chloe took off her glasses.
"Yeah, there is no one else who could possibly be his father."
"What about Brady?"
"What about him? He's not even in consideration." Chloe looked up surprised. "He was married to you at the time Jarod was conceived. Even if he wasn't Brady could never be a possibility for being his father. That would be damn near impossible." Although Mimi seemed somewhat relieved on the outside, she had an inquisitive look on her face. "Alright, what is it? What do you want to know?" Taking the glasses off her head she sat them on top of the desk and turned to look back at Mimi awaiting her answer.
"It's nothing, forget about it."
"No, what it is?" Suddenly as if it had just hit Chloe raised her head. "You want to know if I slept with Brady? That's it isn't it?"
"Chloe, look you don't have to tell me anything. I know what happened between you and Brady is in the past. Before he and I were together but–––," she was interrupted.
"No, Brady and I have never slept together." Mimi interrupted her shocked.
"What!? You guys dated for over a year–almost two and you mean to tell me that you never once came close to sleeping with him." She shook her head. "Although, I am glad to know that nothing ever happened between you and my hubby. Could you tell me how in the world you managed not to touch him? I mean, my husband has always been a hottie, if I do say so myself."
Chloe laughed in response before she answered. "Well, that maybe true but… let's just say Brady's not exactly my cup of tea and leave it at that."
Mimi shrugged her shoulders. "Okay, so going back the stuff about Jarod. Where do all of those papers," she gestured to the piles of papers on adoption and stuff. "Come in?"
"That's just some research to start me off about how to find out what happened to Jarod after I became pregnant with him. When Philip gets back I will have him help me look for some answers. But, before he gets home I have one thing I need to do."
"And that is,"
"I have to find out if Jarod is Philip's biological son. That is something I think I can do without any problems."
"How are you planning to prove Jarod is Philip's son after all?"
"Well, that's easy. I'll get a DNA test done on their blood samples. That just seems like the most logical way to go about this." Chloe answered promptly putting her glasses back on her head.
Mimi nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that would be the best way to do it. So how are you going to do the test if Philip isn't here to give blood? Don't you need t o wait for him to get back here before you do the test?"
"Technically yes, but I have a way to go around that. Besides, that I don't want to wait until he gets back to do it. I want to do it now. Only I can't allow the results to be done here in Salem."
"Then where are you going to have them done?" Mimi questioned.
"Las Cruces. I called Liz and she agreed to run the test for me. But, she needs the samples of Jarod and Philip's blood. So all I have to do is bring them to her. I don't want anyone to know those results before I do. And the only wait I know how to assure that I am the first to hear them is to have them done elsewhere."
"So Liz is going to run the test for you in Las Cruces?"
"Yeah, she runs a facility that does genetic testing among other things. It's one of the most prestigious in the States. When I talked to her early she informed me that she could do the analysis of the DNA and be done in the same day. So that seems to be the best way to get my results."
"So when do you plan on leaving?"
Chloe looked on the calendar on the desk. "I'm going to make reservations so that I can leave on Friday night and come back on Sunday. I really don't want to leave the kids any more than I have to. So I guess leaving on the weekend would be better." Mimi nodded once again agreeing with her. "My mother has agreed to stay with them while I'm gone. So that works out fine. I'm sure everything will be okay while I'm gone."
"Okay, I understand that. So after you get the results what are you going to do then? I mean I know you're coming back home. But, what else after that?"
"Well, whether or not Jarod is Philip's son, I am absolutely positive that he is mine so the next step is to find out how and when he was taken from me." While Chloe and Mimi pondered those two very important questions they did not see so pairs of small feet quietly tiptoe away from the door.
~*~*~*~*~*~@~*~*~*~*~*~
All of the children were upstairs doing their own things. Jarod and the boys were in his room playing a game on his computer when Racquel and Ariana walked in.
"Jarod, I am so going to beat you at this game." Conrad said punching in a combination of computer keys.
"Yeah, right just like you have the last 10000 times we played this." He responded then grinned cockily about it. He was in the lead and with one more shot he'd win the game, again. Or at least he would have if Ariana hadn't turned off his computer.
"Ana, what are you doing? I was going to play winner." Dominic said as he rose from his seat.
"Momma's leaving to go to Aunt Liz's in Las Cruces on Friday." She announced as Jessica came into the room and moved to Jarod's side.
"Where did you hear that from?" Dominic asked suspiciously like his father.
"We heard it downstairs just now, Mom and Aunt Chloe were talking about––," Racquel was interrupted by her older brother.
Conrad held up his hand laughing in a little disbelief. "Wait, you were eavesdropping again? Don't you even think that some things aren't your business?"
"Hey don't interrupt her, she hasn't even got to tell you the best part about why our mother is going to Las Cruces. It's the interesting part." Ariana responded defending her eavesdropping partner.
"Okay then, enlighten us," Jarod crossed his arms over his chest. "Why is Mom going to see Aunt Liz?" He asked anxious to get back to his game.
Ariana and Racquel looked at each other and nodded, then turning to face their audience, both Kiriakis and Black children before Ariana announced the news she considered very important. "Momma thinks that Daddy is your Dad, your real Dad, Jarod. And she is going to see Aunt Liz to have a test run to prove it. But, that's not all," she nudged Racquel to continue on.
"Wait there is more news?" Jarod questioned softly, his eyes now bright with excitement and glee.
"Yup, and this can top it all. The other day before my Dad left, I overheard him and my mom talking. The thing is they were talking about your Dad and how he and uncle Shawn are in Italy right now looking for something." Racquel answered.
"Do you know what for?" Jarod asked.
"No, but Conrad does, he saw Daddy's e-mail before he left. And it tells exactly where Uncle Philip is."
Jarod looked at Conrad expectantly. "Okay, so technically I wasn't supposed to know this, I don't even think my Mom knows the reason they're in Italy. But, I happened to see an e-mail from Uncle Philip to my Dad."
"Well, what did it say don't hold us in suspense." Dominic demanded practically on the edge of his seat wait to here the news.
"Apparently, Uncle Philip thinks he's your Dad too. And that's why he's in Italy. He is looking for the people who took you." Conrad informed the kids.
But even before Conrad had finished Jarod was off in a world of his own. He was thinking about the everything he had just heard, totally tuning out the sounds of his siblings and the Blacks. ~I finally have a family. I have a Mom and Dad… I have a family. ~