Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chloe and Philip got a babysitter for the night. Deciding that they deserved a night just for themselves while on this vacation. All those plans changed however, once they had received the note from Stefano telling them, where they could find "Nonnie." They now sat outside the house of Emilia Amodeo otherwise known as Nonnie.
"So do you want to go meet Signora Amodeo or do you just want to wait? There's no rush for us to meet her right this minute." Philip asked his wife silently staring out the window at the house.
"I don't know Philip. A part of me says that I have to meet the woman who not only rescued our son but also brought him to us. But, another part of me is scared and for no apparent reason." She replied honestly glancing back at him to see Philip nodding in agreement.
"If you're not ready Chloe, having second thoughts or something we can always come back. Like I said before there's no rush."
"I know Philip but we've been given this opportunity and I want to take it. We have to do it now not any other time." Chloe said.
"You're sure?" he asked.
"I'm positive let's go." Chloe and Philip got out of the car and walked up the sidewalk hand in hand, Philip rang the doorbell. It took a few moments but the door was soon opened to reveal a young girl who couldn't have been more than a couple years older than Jarod. Maybe 15 or 16 years old she was almost as tall as Chloe with a smooth caramel complexion, silky black wavy hair, and light green eyes.
Casey opened the door to a sharp dressed, attractive-looking couple. The man was tall and handsome with dark blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. He was wearing a blue button-up shirt with a pair of black dress pants. The woman also had blue eyes and waist length wavy brown hair. She was dressed in a black spaghetti strapped slip dress with delicate floral embroidery on the bottom.
"Can I help you?" The young girl asked.
Chloe and Philip looked at one another and then turned back to the girl. "Yes, we were wondering if an Emilia Amodeo lives here." Chloe said to the girl.
"Casey, dear who is it?" A slightly accented voice called out from inside the house. The girl turned away from the door to answer the voice. "It's someone looking for you, Nonnie. I think it's Jarod's parents," the girl replied smoothly in Italian. Not suspecting that either Philip or Chloe were fluent in the language. Turning back to the couple, Casey gestured for them to enter the house and then she closed the door.
"Emilia will be with you in a moment. Please take a seat." Casey replied after escorting them into a beautifully decorated living room. She then took off in another direction of the house.
Chloe and Philip sat down on the couch together and waited for the appearance of Nonnie. They only had to wait a few minutes though because sure enough a matronly looking woman arrived on the scene. She had shoulder length iron gray hair and gray eyes to match. She had a bronze complexion that only nature could have given her, just kissed lightly by the sun. She wasn't very short, totally dispelling the image of a graying old woman that they had both envisioned. She was probably the same height as Chloe herself or taller. Philip and Chloe shared a look of surprise; this Nonnie woman didn't look a day over 30 but if what Jarod had said was anything to go on she had to be at least in her 50s.
"I've been expecting you for quite some time. But, before we get involved with the whys and how's of our neat little situation please tell me how Jarod is?" She asked gesturing for them to remain seated as she walked into the room. "I know you both must be caught off guard by my forwardness. But,"
"No Signora Amodeo, it's not that at all." Chloe replied glancing at Philip before continuing. "We just didn't expect you to be quite so … welcoming to us. We thought that you wouldn't be expecting us. To be quite honest we're a little baffled as to how you knew that we were even here about Jarod. I guess what we wanted to know is how you figured he's our son."
"Well, Mrs. Kiriakis may I be blunt with you?"
"Yes, of course but please call me Chloe."
"Okay Chloe and call me Emilia. I suppose I always knew Jarod wasn't my natural grandchild. When I first found out about Jarod I didn't want to believe it. But, I knew, in my heart, I knew it was true. Anyway, I guess through all the time I was looking for Jarod's parents I didn't really expect to find them. It was only when I happened to be watching television that I saw you Chloe." She paused. "I knew then I could no longer deny that he wasn't my grandchild. He resemblances you so much and it was then that I saw your husband,"
"Philip," he offered.
"Yes, Philip" she smiled at Philip before continuing. "After I saw both of you. It clicked. Jarod had so much of you in him. The eye color, hair, facial features–– I knew he was your child." Emilia finished quietly.
"Could you tell us about Jarod? I know this maybe painful for you so I'd understand if you couldn't tell us more. But, I know Philip and I feel like we missed so much of his life. Could you tell us about our son as you knew him before you brought him to us?" Chloe asked the older woman wanting to hear everything about their son that she didn't already know.
"I'd love to." Emilia got up and then proceeded to spend the next two hours devoted to sharing tales of Jarod's childhood. She showed them albums full of all his firsts (baths, rides, etc).
It was hours later when Philip broke into the camaraderie formed over memories of Jarod sharing to inquire as to how Emilia had learned the truth about Jarod's paternity changing the light mood into a somewhat somber one.
"It was after my son and daughter-in-law, died and I went to get Jarod. He was so brave, so strong when it happened. I stumbled upon a letter my son had left amongst some of his things and it explained everything he learned from the blood test. Lorenzo was in the process of finding out about you when he died. After I got this information I knew I had to find you for my son. If not for Jarod himself."
"So I packed Jarod up and brought him here to the states where I lived in New York. I was lucky that my second husband had left me with more than enough to care for myself; I had no worries about being able to take care of Jarod. Everything was going fine until I caught pneumonia. I was hospitalized for a month and was forced to give up Jarod to social services because there was no one else to care for him." She became uncomfortable as she relayed the details of her quest to find Jarod's parents.
"If this is too hard for you, telling us," Chloe started but never finished as Emilia objected.
"No, no I want you to know, so please allow me continue." Chloe and Philip nodded acquiesced in silence. "Once I became well again I decided that social services system might be better because it would give me a chance to do some research. But, I wasn't completely going to leave Jarod alone so I got a job at the school he attended and I checked out his living situation, never revealing myself to him though. It wasn't until one day that I was watching him that I noticed the bruise he had on his arm. I immediately went and spoke to his teacher because I knew someone was abusing my poor baby. She told me that she'd noticed the bruises herself and had questioned him about it. But he denied that he was being abused. So there was nothing she could do until she had his say so. Imagine that, a child being abused and absolutely nothing was done about it. I knew Jarod would never say anything so I felt I had to do something."
"What did you do?" Philip said unsuccessfully trying to take the anger he felt out of his voice.
"Well I couldn't leave my precious Jarod there with that–that animal so I packed my bags and made sure that there were no loose ends to be tied in case I needed to leave in a hurry. That night I went to the house. I could hear him; I could hear Jarod crying through the door. I don't know what happened but something inside me just snapped because I walked right into the house and followed the sounds of Jarod's crying. He was in the kitchen on the floor with Casey covering him as that man started pull out a belt from his pants. My poor little innocent Jarod was suffering because of this animal I just reacted not thinking at all, as I grabbed the first thing available, a vase I think, and hit him over the head. I called to Jarod and he came to me with Casey, once I had him in my arms I knew I could never leave him without bringing Casey too so I just took him and Casey and left."
"Where did you go?" Chloe asked.
"By that time, I had done enough research to know that you weren't in New York, so I moved us to Chicago. We were there a little over a year when I saw you on television. I promptly moved us to Salem then and watched you for a month seeing how you were, if you were a good person with clients before I dropped Jarod off at the hospital all those months ago. I had to be sure that he would be safe. So I guess the rest as they say is history." She finished.
Chloe moved over next to the older woman on the couch and grasped her hand.
"Thank you for protecting my son, for loving him and most of all for bringing him back to me," she looked over at Philip. "Back to us."
"You don't have to thank me I did what I did because it was the right thing to do."
"Please let us reward you––,"
"I don't want any money or anything."
"We weren't thinking of money. We have something much better in mind."
Philip replied as both Chloe and Emilia looked at him curiously.
~*~*~*~*~*~@~*~*~*~*~*~
The next day …
"Where did Dad and Jarod go?" Dominic asked before drinking his juice.
"To see an old friend." Chloe replied. "You need to eat your breakfast sweetie if you want to get to the amusement park early. Your Dad and Jarod are going to be there later." She answered from the window as she glanced outside side seeing Philip and Jarod walk down the beach, she smiled.
…Outside on the beach…
"So why aren't we going to the amusement park with Mom and the others?" Jarod asked squinting up at his father because of the blinding sunlight. "And why didn't we eat breakfast with them too?"
"Well, I thought that it would be nice if you had breakfast with an old friend this morning. She's been wanting to see you for a while." Philip answered as he put his hands into his jean pockets making the already tight jeans stretch over his fit physique.
"Why just me and not the twins and Jessie?"
"She's going to meet the twins and Jessie at the amusement park later." He stopped walking as he saw Emilia standing ahead of him Casey was with her and they were holding each other's hands. They were waiting on Jarod to notice him but interestingly enough he did not. Philip looked down at his son who was staring up at his father with questioning blue eyes. "There is someone who wants to see you for now, she's there up ahead." He nodded toward the area directly in front of them and waited for Jarod to see who it was.
Jarod followed his father's gaze to an old woman and a teenager watching him across the wait. He froze with acknowledgement as he realized who they were. It was Nonnie and Casey, "Nonnie," he whispered as he looked at her. He looked up at his father hesitantly then seeing the smile Philip's face he broke out into a run and ran across the beach and straight into Emilia's waiting arms with Casey beside her.
Emilia had kneeled to catch Jarod into her arms. "Oh Jarod, mio bambino. Jarod." She said as she hugged the little boy to her before she moving him back so she could look at him again. She kissed his head.
As Philip watched the beautiful scene before him of his son reuniting with the woman to brought Jarod to his family, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned slightly to bring his wife to him as they watched the reunion unfold before them.
"I think that was a grand idea Philip." Chloe said wrapping her arms around him.
"Well every now and then I even surprise myself." He joked then sobering up he said. "I just had a feeling that this was just what Jarod needed. Come on let's give them some time alone." Philip said turning around with his arm around Chloe's waist as they strolled back up to their beach house.
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