Chapter Twenty-Two

Belle and Shawn were standing side by side against the wall, waiting for some word on Chloe.  Victor was getting acquainted with his grandson and talking with Craig and Nancy.  Philip had just arrived from speaking with the doctor who'd been with Chloe when she entered the ER.  All of the conversations stopped as they waited for him to say something.

"So what did the doctor say?  Is Chloe alright?"  Nancy asked with her hand over her heart.  Craig had come to stand behind her; he placed his hands on her shoulders to offer some comfort. 

"The doctor said she's alright and stable now.  She hasn't lost consciousness at all.  But, they are going to keep her overnight for a precautionary measure.  As soon as she's moved to her room they're going to let me in to see her."  Philip told everyone happily. 

Everyone released the breath that they had been holding; happy to hear Chloe was going to be alright.  "Did she say what the cause of the abdominal pains was?"  Craig asked clearly interested in medical reasons for her pain.

Philip frowned slightly.  "I didn't ask her actually.  In my excitement, I only asked if Chloe was alright. I forgot to ask the actual cause. But when she comes back to let me know when I can see Chloe I'll ask." Craig nodded.  Philip looked toward Jarod.  "I'm going to tell your brother and sisters that your Mother is fine.  Do you want to come with me?"  Jarod nodded and then rose to walk with his father down the hallway towards the cafeteria.

Craig and Nancy turned to Victor and were discussing the outcome of Philip's trip to Italy, leaving Shawn and Belle to talk.

"Do you want to get a cup of coffee?"  Belle turned and asked Shawn looking slightly anxious.

Shawn nodded, held his hand out for her to take; she took it.  He led her down the hallway towards a coffee machine.

~*~*~*~*~*~@~*~*~*~*~*~

Shawn and Belle had gotten their coffee and found a table to themselves.  They sat across from each other at the small table.  The coffee was gone and now there was a tense silence between them.  After avoiding making eye contact with each other, Belle looked at Shawn head on in his eyes and broke the silence.  "I missed you, Shawn.  A lot."

"I missed you, too Belle."

"Good."  She paused briefly as she contemplated what to say next.  "So did your time away from me help you get things figured out?"

Shawn's eyes widen in surprise of her question.  "Belle, I didn't leave because of you.  Never because of that.  I had to go gain some perspective on the whole JT thing.  Yeah, I was mad that you didn't tell me when you found out.  But, I also realize that you did what you thought was best.  And after what happened on this trip––"

"What happened?  I forgot to ask you, I mean besides the fact that you found out Jarod is Philip's son?"  Belle interjected.

"Philip and I learned that some doctor took advantage of Chloe when she was a victim in some accident.  The end result was that he and his mentor, removed an embryo from Chloe.  That embryo, Jarod, was then implanted into another woman who gave birth to Jarod and raised him as her own."  Belle looked shocked and mortified.

"Oh my god, poor Chloe," she paused thinking about she had said about Jarod, the things she accused Chloe of.  She grimaced.  "Oh Shawn I said some horrible things to Chloe, some unforgettable things."

"Hey, you had no way of knowing about this.  You shouldn't beat yourself up over it.  Besides, I'm sure Chloe understands that you were angry with me, with the way I left things."  Shawn said reaching over to touch her hands.  At the touch of his hands, Belle looked into Shawn's eyes. "You know Belle I learned a lot of things on this trip.  But, I learned one thing that is so important."

"What, is it, Shawn? What did you learn?" Belle questioned as Shawn brought her palm to his lips and kissed it.

"I learned that it doesn't matter who JT's father is he's still my brother.  Seeing Philip search for the truth about Jarod.  It didn't matter to him that there was a chance he wasn't the father.  He searched for the truth because he knew that Jarod needed the clarification; for him it had been settled the day he came to his house.  Jarod became his son then. While, I'm not completely used to JT being our brother, I know one day I will.  And it doesn't matter who found out first all that matters is now we both know the truth."

Belle was silent for a moment.  "Do you mean that Shawn?"

"I do Belle with all my heart and soul.  Besides, I married you throughout all our drama and this is just another roadblock for us to pass."  Shawn answered moving to stand-up and takes Belle into his arms.  After all, the weeks of inner turmoil they both were ready to move on face whatever happened next, together.

~*~*~*~*~*~@~*~*~*~*~*~

Brady and Mimi were alone in the hospital lounge since Philip had already arrived to get his children and told them about Chloe.  Then, he had taken his children back with him back down to waiting area to get a chance to see their mother.  Leaving Brady and Mimi on their lonesome.

"So I have to ask did you know about our son's illegal activity in helping Jarod get his plane ticket to Las Cruces?"  Brady questioned his slightly amused.

"Um, I'm assuming you are referring to our hacker extraordinaire.  I grounded our little angel for a month.  He will not be allowed to even see a computer led alone play on one; I unhooked his modem and took his hard drive.  I think that will just about kill him.  Added to the fact that I won't allow him to go out with anyone for any reason at all.  He will just hate that."  Mimi smiled gleefully.

"Good.  So besides our little convicts doing what they do best, how were things on your end?"

"Well other then Chloe going to Las Cruces and having a DNA test run on blood samples of Philip and Jarod; everything was alright."  Mimi sipped a little coffee.

"That's where she was at?"  Brady asked Mimi nodded.  "Well that explains why she was at the airport.  Naturally, I'm going to assume that she got the same results we did, right?"

"Of course, she did.  Philip is Jarod's biological, natural father in every way shape or form.  The only thing we don't know and when I say we you know I mean me, is how you found out in Italy?  I mean what could you have found out there?" 

"Well, I'll make a long story short I'll give you the basics.  So Chloe and Philip were in Italy when she was actually pregnant with Jarod.  She got into an accident and was taken to the hospital when some assine doctor removed Chloe's embryo without her knowledge that she was even pregnant and transplanted it into another woman.  Who at eight and half months later gave birth to a bouncing baby boy."  Mimi gasped.  It was Jarod, the first-born child of Philip and Chloe, raised by someone else."  He finished.

"That can't be true, it's so … so hard to believe."   She fell silent having nothing left to say.  A few seconds later she released a sigh of semi relief.  Brady had been watching his wife closely waiting for some reaction.

"What? What's wrong?

She looked up into his concerned blue eyes.  "Nothing actually, Brady.  I was just having a completely selfish thought.  I can't believe I even thought of it in a time like this."  Brady around a brow as if saying 'what.'  "I was thinking about how lucky we were, are to have never had this happen to us.  I know I shouldn't be thinking that.  But, I just can't help it."

"Mimi, that's alright, no one is going to condemn you for it."  Mimi nodded and drank some coffee.

"So what is Philip planning to do now that he knows what happened?"  Brady put his arms around his shoulders and pulled her closer into his arms.  "Honestly, I don't know what he is planning to do.  But my instincts tell me that Uncle Philip is not going to let this go.  He will hunt down whoever can be held responsible for this make them pay, tenfold."  Mimi nodded in agreement; both of them knew that once a Kiriakis had been crossed, payback was indefinite.

~*~*~*~*~*~@~*~*~*~*~*~

Chloe was lying on her hospital bed waiting for the doctor to return come back and talk to her.  She still hadn't come back since she informed Chloe of her pregnancy, which was still a shock having not expected to ever become pregnant again.

Her hand went to the place that housed her child, her little miracle baby.  This child was going to be so cherished and loved by everyone in the family.   If anything, he or she would bring them closer than ever before because this time the family was complete Jarod was there.  The door opened and in walked Philip.  Chloe turned her head at the sound of the door and saw her husband, not the doctor, was coming in.  Even though she remembered seeing him at the airport, seeing him before her now walking over to the bed, allowed a moment of actualization.  He looked different from the last time she'd seen him.  His hair was longer for one, it was over the collar, and he had some facial hair, a goatee possibly when he shaped it up.

"Like what you see?" He asked now beside her bed, smiling at her, his eyes smiling down at her, dimples flaring.  "Because if you do there's more where that came from."

"Yeah, I think I do," she answered softly as Philip grasped her hands and brought it to his face and kissed them.

"Good.  Now, I can tell you how scared you made me for a while there.  I didn't know what happened to you … when you passed out ... all I could think about was the fact that you were unconscious."

"I'm fine now, Philip."

"I can see that, now.  But, I didn't when you were brought in.  You had me so scared I thought something horrible had happened to you.  It was one of the most terrifying feelings."  Chloe smiled at him.  "Seriously, you and the children are the most important things to me in the world.  I don't know what I'd do if anything ever happened to you."  He pushed a fall strand of her hair away from her face, cupping her face tenderly in his palms.  "I'm completely lost without you."  Her hands covered his, a wealth of emotion showed on her face.

"And I am lost without you, Philip.  You are my husband and I love you, now, always and forever."  She released his hands to pull him down next to her.  "I would never leave you or our children, if I had it in my power I'd stay with you forever.  I'm sorry I worried you.  I am fine, I don't want you to worry about me."
           

"Thank you for that.  I guess I do feel a little reassured.  Are you sure you're fine?"  He asked again looking her face as if he expected to find something wrong.

"I'm positive, the doctor told me I have to stay overnight for observation.  But after that I can go home."  She answered nodding to his question.  It was then that she remembered about Jarod and the children.  She grasped his hand and entwined it in hers.  "Where are the kids?  Are they here?"

"Yeah, they're here Craig brought them when he came down and you know of course Jarod was already here.  As a matter of fact they're waiting to see you I could go get them for you."  He offered starting to stand from his position on her bed.  But, she pulled him back.

"No, not yet Philip.  There is something we need to talk about something I need to know,"

"Okay," he eased back down alongside her on the bed.  "Shoot."

"Where were you? I know you weren't in London.  So tell me Philip, where were you all those weeks when you were away from me?"