Chapter 9

The Brady-Horton Christmas party was held at the Kiriakis mansion that year; an 8 foot long Christmas tree Victor's living room stood in grandiose grace, the gaily wrapped presents underneath it. Bo stared up at it with disgust and bitterness before roaming about the crowded room, an untouched glass of eggnog still in his hand. So much for Christmas cheer. He felt nothing of the sort, only the aching pain in his heart he's not been able to be free of for five years.

Marriage counselling had been Hope's idea. But what she didn't know was that he had been seeing Marlena on another case entirely... his guilt, sickening shame and remorse.

Marlena kept pointing out that he couldn't have known Carly would be attacked. But Bo knew she would never have been attacked in the first place if they were still together, under his protection. She could've died or lost the baby that day.

'Are you okay, Dad?' Ciara asked anxiously. 'I've said we're about to open presents like three times but it's like you didn't hear me.'

Bo forced himself to smile at his daughter, now a beautiful teenager. 'I'm sorry honey, I was miles away.'

'Well, come back to earth already,' the girl grumbled, dragging him by the hand to where the family was gathered.

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At Carly's house in Dededo, gifts were already exchanged and Frankie and Marcus were supervising the turkey being barbequed on the stainless steel outdoor spit, while Carly, Adrienne and Piper brought out the rest of Christmas lunch from the kitchen, the twins helping them. Since it didn't snow in Guam, everyone wore light clothes, but on their heads were Santa hats with chasing lit-up stars across the front. While they eyed the turkey with eager eyes, the twins were especially looking forward to the chocolate and coconut cream cake Carly ordered from the bakery.

Watching Carly, Frankie wondered if his sister has completely put that terrible day, and the events before it, completely behind her. While he and Piper would've preferred her and the twins near them, Guam was a better setting for her; she has never been a city person. And even though Carly was now a few years away from 50, her lightly tanned skin and hair streaked by the sun made her look younger. There was no telling if she would give romance another chance, but Frankie would rather have the reason to be Carly was more focused on the twins than still having feelings for Bo. He'll never forgive Bo, Hope or their families for what they did to his sister, ever. Abruptly he focused on the turkey, pushing back his angry thoughts.

'You mind grabbing me a beer?' he asked Marcus.

'Oh, sure, I could do with one myself.' As he spoke, he saw Carly emerging through the French Windows with an ice cooler. 'Whoa, Whoa... I'll take that.' He said, hurrying to relieve it from her.

Carly smiled up at him and he smiled back, something Frankie couldn't help but notice. If Carly did give her heart again, Marcus would be the best choice. Close friends have been known to fall in love and Frankie knew Marcus Hunter would give Carly his heart and not a part of it, that is if their relationship did become deeper than it was now.

The turkey finally done, it was taken off the spit and within moments graced the centre of the table. Carly sat at the head and reached out for Marcus' hand, who was seated at her left and Frankie's, who was seated on her right. Evangeline slipped her small hand into Marcus' other hand, while Ethan took his aunt's, his other hand entwined with Adrienne's.

'We thank you Lord for this family, this bounty and this day. We pray for your blessings and many more of these moments.'

'Amen.' Everyone echoed and dug in, happiness and contentment enveloping them.

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Back in Salem, Justin was thinking of Adrienne with bitterness and yearning. Things had gotten so bad between them that Adrienne had filed for a divorce, refusing to go one with a marriage that was no longer a marriage but a drowning ship. He wasn't sure where she was but he had a strong guess who she was spending Christmas with, a name no one dared mention out loud, and definitely not in Bo's hearing. The last person who dared to had been Sami's older sister Carrie, mentioning her in a scathing comment then received such a vicious tongue lashing from her uncle that Roman, who was present, had to intervene as Bo was angry enough to hit a chastened Carrie. She and Austin hadn't come for the holidays, preferring to spend it with Shawn Douglas, Belle and Claire in Chicago.

'Merry Christmas Daddy,' Ciara said, passing Bo a small wrapped package. Bo smiled at the gift, a simple silver tie-tack, a line of black onyx mounted on it. 'Thanks, baby.' He kissed the delighted girl on the cheek.

Hope cleared her throat. 'My turn,' she passed Bo a slightly larger package. A Rolex watch met his gaze on unwrapping. 'Look at the inscription at the back,' she prodded.

'Merry Christmas B, Love H', he read dully, his mind going back to another Christmas several years ago.

'On two; one, two...'

Carly opened her gift a few seconds before he opened his, and they laughed with the rest of the family as they immediately saw they'd got each other the same thing. A fishing pole.

'Man... I don't believe this!' he exclaimed, tickled but touched all the same.

'Well, they do say great minds think alike,' Kimberly quipped, smiling at Kayla.

'Well, what I was thinking that you could use a better wrap to keep up with me, you know,' Carly teased, putting hers down.

'Keep up with you?' he asked, as Pop laughed at Carly's remark. 'Hang on to that, would you?' he handed the pole to Kimberly before advancing at Carly. 'She's going to get it.'

'I'm kidding! I'm kidding!' Carly backed up, grinning at him.

'I'll kid you.' He took her in his arms, silencing her protests as his lips eagerly touched hers. As far as he was concerned, she was his real Christmas gift.

'Bo, what's wrong? Don't you like it?' Hope asked anxiously, touching his arm.

'It's really nice.' He said, putting it back in its box.

'Really nice? I thought you would at least say...'

'Hope, will you please let it go already?' he snarled, glaring at her.

A stunned hush and Ciara shrank back, shocked at his tone.

'What the hell's wrong with you?' demanded Hope.

'There's nothing wrong with me.' Bo snapped back. 'I said it's nice! What more do you want, a song and dance to go along with it?'

'Bo, you need to need to watch your tone, there's no reason to yell at Hope that way.' Victor admonished him sharply.

Glowering at him, Bo dropped the box and strode out of the room, ignoring the amazed protests behind him. Grabbing his coat from the foyer, he left the mansion and called a cab, giving the cab driver Brady's address.

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Melanie Layton was more than glad to be at Brady's for Christmas. There was no way she could ever be in the same room with Victor, not after the scene in his house with Marcus Hunter and everything she found out about him. He made her skin crawl and she was so filled with hatred for him that nothing Maggie said or did could ever make her feel otherwise. She was more than grateful to Daniel, Brady and to Colin, who she was now dating. He was so sweet and kind and unlike the other nurses- who for a long time sat in judgment of her for the way she treated Carly- he constantly stuck up for her and was her rock. But it didn't mean she felt free of her overwhelming guilt and pain. She missed her mother terribly, wondering where she could be. Her first thought was that Frankie must have taken her to D.C but Maggie and Brady urged her to give her time to recover from her injuries and shock before contacting her. Maggie firmly believed Carly was simply upset and angry over the attack, that she didn't mean what she said that day. But Melanie couldn't bring herself to accept that, not after her past behaviour towards Carly, who obviously finally got tired of it.

Melanie had followed their advice but when the agonising months turned to over a year, she asked Brady to hire a private detective to find out if Carly was in D.C, before heading out there to see her. But the report had come back; Carly had lived with Frankie and Piper after leaving the hospital but then moved out of the country but he had no idea where. And the detective was unable to find out about her little sister or brother, if he or she had lived.

'Penny for your thoughts,' Colin put an arm around her, passing her a cup of eggnog.

'Nothing much, hon.' She ran a hand over his floppy blond hair fondly.

'I know you, babe... there's something. Give, what is it?' When Melanie said nothing, he sighed. 'Your Mum?'

She nodded. 'I can't help it... I just wish I knew where she is, if she's okay... if my little sister and brother are okay. If I'll ever see her again so I can ask her to forgive me.'

'Babe, you really need to let this go.'

'I can't let my Mum go.'

'That's not what I meant. I mean, you need to stop fretting over what happened. Besides, it's not like you didn't have reason to be mad at her. Look at what she kept from you, that thing about Phillip and your step mum.'

'That wasn't her fault; I just didn't want to listen to her at the time.'

'Babe, babe...' he admonished her gently. 'Remember we've been through this over and over. This is Christmas, you really need to stop being sad. When she's ready to come back, she will. Okay?'

Melanie nodded again and leaned over to kiss him. 'You're right.'

'That's my girl.'

Melanie mingled among the guests, seeing Rafe and Sami animatedly talking with Brady. In despair, she had turned to him, pleading for information about Carly. For a long time, Rafe had treated her the way he treated Bo, with coldness and contempt. But while he gradually softened towards her when he saw she was really sorry, he admitted he couldn't give her information. Since the attack, Carly feared for her life and he and Adrienne simply couldn't let her whereabouts hit the wrong ears, even if it meant keeping it from Melanie. Hence, reluctantly Melanie only had the hope of Carly coming back to Salem, when she was ready, like Colin said.

Daniel was pulling duty at the hospital but promised to show up as soon as he could. So when the doorbell rang, she immediately assumed it was him. But to her surprise, when Brady opened the door, she saw it was Bo instead.

'What a surprise. Is everything okay?' Brady asked, shaking his uncle's hand.

'Not really.' Bo said flatly, taking off his coat. 'I really needed to get out of that damned house.'

Brady raised his eyebrows but didn't question him Bo further; he knew like everyone else Bo was prone to dark moods since Carly's attack. 'Make yourself at home then. There's beer, Nog, Punch and enough eats for an army.'

'Thanks.' Pausing to kiss Sami and share a nod with Rafe, he grabbed a beer from the ice-filled tub, taking a grateful sip.

'Hi.' A hand touched his arm. Bo turned and smiled faintly at Melanie. 'Hi. Merry Christmas.'

'Merry Christmas. Did Victor piss you enough to storm out of his house?'

'That's about right.' Bo replied dryly. 'And then some.'

Melanie shrugged.

'Where's Daniel?'

'At the hospital. But he'll be here soon.' Melanie scanned his face. 'It's more than just about Victor, is it?'

To his horror, Bo felt the sudden sting of tears. Blinking hard, he nodded.

'Let's go somewhere quiet.'

Grabbing another beer, Bo followed Melanie up to the roof, passing it to her.

Being on the same boat, Bo Brady and Melanie Layton had developed an alliance of some sorts. It was from Bo that Melanie learned more about Carly's marriage to Victor, why it had happened in the first place and the many dirty tricks Victor pulled on them. And needing to reminisce, Bo had also told Melanie about his past with her mother; sharing their old photos in the album and so many priceless memories that she almost felt she'd been a part of it. Because Melanie felt very ashamed of herself about Carly, she refused to judge Bo for his own past actions. They were both still serving their punishment.

'What happened?' she asked him quietly as they stared up at the cloudy sky.

Bo told her of the memory that came to him and she couldn't help but smile. 'You both got the same thing.'

'We sure did. Only two people like us would have the same idea. One heart, one soul, one mind. That was Carly and me. And I let her go. Twice. It really hit me hard... too hard that I snapped and bit Hope's head off.'

'I would've done the same, taking it out on the nearest person.'

'I don't know long I can go on like this, Mel.'

'Neither do I.'

'You've got a better chance, even if you don't think so. You weren't the one who broke a promise. You're the child she longed for, for so long.'

'I abandoned her, I hurt her.'

'A mother's love's forever.'

Melanie's tears fell down her cheeks. If the baby lived, Carly was probably focusing all her love on him or her and might have no room for her. She wanted to believe Bo and Colin were right, that Carly still loved her and will come back.

'Do you still love her, Bo?'

'I never really stopped loving her, Mel.'

'Then why? Why?' she whispered, asking him the question at long last. 'Why did you let her go the way you did? How could you carry on with Hope that fast after you guys broke up... if you say you loved Mum? Why?'

Bo took a deep breath, turning away. How could he begin to explain? For the umpteenth time, his mind went back to the phone call.

'Are you alone?'

'Hope's in the shower.' He knew he shouldn't have said that but it was too late already. 'What's up?'

'I need to see you about something important.' Carly said, her quiet tone now sounding rather cold.

'What is it?'

'It's not something I can talk about over the phone. We have to meet.'

'On our last encounter, you told me to leave you alone.' he replied. Going to the hospital to see Carly was a mistake on his part but he had to know if she was doing fine. One look at the pale, devastated face told him she wasn't and the guilt he already felt further went up, along with the aching longing he managed to push back.

'I know what I said. But that's neither here nor there now. Something's come up...'

'Listen to me,' he interrupted. 'Seeing each other again is just going to make things between us a lot worse.'

'Bo...'

'Carly. It's over between us, this time for good. What you said to me at the hospital, you were right. I'm sorry to have to admit it but that's how it is. You're very angry now but eventually you're going to move on, with someone else who will give you all of him and not part of it.'

Silence, then Carly's voice came back, even quieter. 'And finally I get the truth from you.'

'And Truth sometimes heals, as much as it hurts.' He clearly visualised the sickened expression on that beautiful face as she was listening to his cruel words.

But they needed to be said, for both their sakes. He was freeing her, as much as he was freeing himself, even though it was killing him...saying such things to her. 'If you want to hate me Carly, you might as well keep hating me but it won't change the situation. Don't call me again.'

He hung up, pressing his trembling fist against his mouth.

Why indeed? The answer was simple enough.