After ruminating over how and when she would tell Willow that the younger woman was one of her twin daughters (as well as her mental tête-à-tête with Vindictive Nina), Nina had risen from her Crimson desk and was making her way around it when the door opened to reveal her daughter on the other side.
Her daughter, who was staring at her with an expression she couldn't quite decipher.
"Willow?" Nina asked. "Are you alright?"
Willow was silent for a minute, just gazing upon the woman who she now knew to be her biological mother.
She had so many problems with Nina before. She'd criticized Nina's parenting style with Charlotte, believing that her enabling behavior was doing more harm than good to the girl and Nina had, on multiple accounts, tried to sabotage her job and get her fired all while questioning her abilities as a teacher. She'd even insulted her for not being able to raise her own child, which had both hurt her and alerted Shiloh to the fact that she had been pregnant when she left Dawn of Day, beginning a chain of events that lead to her discovery that her son had been dead all this time.
Willow couldn't blame her for that, though. She had insulted Charlotte and Nina first in her panic to escape the situation and Nina hadn't known that Shiloh was eavesdropping on their conversation, nor was she aware that the baby she gave up was his.
Despite all of that, she was grateful for Nina. The older woman stayed by her side during her grief, her biggest supporter other than Chase (not to say that Michael and Sasha didn't support her because they did; it was just painful for her to accept their support at times because then she would have to see Aaron and she wasn't ready for that). It felt good to be able to see Nina at Kelly's or on the street and not have to worry about another round of verbal abuse. It made her so happy to finally make peace with the Crimson CEO that she never really gave her change of heart much thought other than chalking it up to Nina having lost her children as well.
She knew better now, though. She knew that Nina's friendship was more than just a woman realizing that it's pointless to continue such a petty feud. She knew that it was a mother trying to make amends with the daughter she wronged and while she still had so many feelings about her new discovery, Willow found the idea of being connected to Nina in such an intimate way very appealing.
"Willow?" Nina's concerned voice pulled the brunette from her reverie and back to the present.
"Hi," Willow said.
'Hi? Couldn't you do better than just hi? This is our mother!' Maternal Willow incredulously complained. The motherly personality wasn't quite as rude or demanding as Rational Willow could be, but lately the former had been agitated, first with Willow's decision to stay away from Aaron for the time being, then with the results of Nelle's arraignment, and now with the conversation with Harmony in the cemetery.
'A hi is just fine in this situation!' Rational Willow snapped. 'Do you expect her to just yell out "mommy" and hug her like in some fairytale?!'
'Quiet,' Willow admonished, and the two clashing personalities fell silent.
Nina smiled at her, unaware of the mental conversation. "I was on my way to see you," she said.
Willow perked up. "You were?" She asked.
Nina nodded. "I needed to tell you something. Something I've known for awhile," she answered, playing with her hands as anxiety gripped her again.
Willow bit her lip, staring at the older woman—her mother—with interest. Was she going to tell her what she had just found out from Harmony? And if she was…how long did she know?
"Wait, Nina," Willow said, stepping forward. "I think I know what you want to tell me."
Nina stared at her. "You do?" Her query was tinged with confusion.
"I was adopted," Willow began. "And you were going to tell me that you're my biological mother. Right?"
Nina's eyes widened and she froze in shock. "How…" She swallowed past the lump in her throat. "How did you know that?"
Willow sighed and took off her coat, moving to sit in the chair across from Nina's desk, watching the redheaded woman do the same. "I had my first therapy session with Dr. Winters today," she began. "I told her about everything—my son, my experiences with Shiloh and Dawn of Day, my relationship with Harmony. She told me about this form of therapy called exposure therapy. Apparently it's when you're afraid of something, but you confront it bit by bit until you're strong enough to really face it."
Nina nodded, looking puzzled but allowed Willow to continue, wanting to know how this factored into her discovering her true parentage.
"She told me that one of the things that I was afraid of was my son. I didn't have time to properly mourn him and I've been doubting my capabilities as a mother because of that and being pregnant while I was in a cult, so I went to his grave to visit him, and I…I saw Harmony," Willow watched the way Nina tensed at her adoptive mother's name, the anger in her eyes touching Willow. It was obvious to the brunette that Nina really hated Harmony for everything she's told her about her during their time in Dawn of Day.
"I heard Harmony talk to my son's tombstone, unaware that I was right behind her. She apologized for everything: Shiloh, her involvement with Dawn of Day, not being able to be a good grandmother to him, not being a good wife, not taking care of me the way she should have…everything. After I revealed myself was when she told me the truth."
"The whole truth?" Nina asked softly.
Willow nodded. "The whole truth," she confirmed in a voice as soft as her birth mother's.
"And how are…how are you coping with this?"
"It's a shock and I'm not happy that Harmony kept this from me, but…I'm happy that you're my mother."
"Really?" Nina whispered, staring into her daughter's eyes.
Willow nodded, her lips lifting upward into a smile. "Yes," she said. "Ever since we made peace, you've always been here for me. You've listened to me, protected me, supported me during this entire crazy situation I've found myself in. I appreciate it so much and…well, Nina…you're the mother I always wanted growing up." Admitting all of this made her feel so exposed, but unlike with Shiloh and Harmony, it felt good. It wasn't intrusive nor was it being manipulated out of her. With Nina, with her mother, it felt natural. She hadn't felt so free or expressive with a family member since her father,—adoptive father, really—Douglas.
Nina's eyes misted with unshed tears, her throat tightening with the emotions her daughter's speech evoked. "You don't know how much that means to me," she whispered.
"I think I have an idea," Willow replied as her hand moved to the front of her shirt, reaching in and pulling out one-third of the heart necklace she'd received at birth.
The tears that Nina had been withholding fell freely once her eyes landed on Willow's portion of the necklace. Slowly uncurling the clenched fist that still held her part, Nina held it out, watching with excitement as her daughter reached out with her own piece, carefully touching the two thirds so it became half of one necklace.
"Now it just needs the third," Willow murmured.
"Yes," her mother nodded. "And we can worry about that later. Right now…right now I want to spend time with you…not as my friend, but as my daughter. My little girl."
Willow smiled, tears silently falling from her own eyes. "I want the same thing with you. I want to know Nina Reeves as my real mom."
Nina couldn't stand it anymore. Dropping her necklace onto her desk with a clatter while Willow's fell against her throat, the redhead hurriedly rounded her desk, her only thought now was holding Willow, of pulling her baby as close to her as humanly possible. Given that Willow was standing as she did, the brunette had the same idea.
"When I found out I was pregnant with you and your sister," she began emotionally, her arms wrapped around the young woman's waist and her chin resting on her shoulder. "I was so happy. I always wanted children and growing up with the mother I had, it was a nightmare. I never felt like she truly loved me—my father, yes; my brother, maybe—but me? No. I was her daughter, her first child, and that's supposed to create a special bond between a mother and that child, but it didn't. She was cold and distant and always busy with work. She never had time for me and it hurt. I swore to myself that I would never be that way with my own children. I swore that I would never make them feel like I did growing up.
"After your father and I got married and I found out that I was expecting, I was so excited. I could see every bit of our future together—shopping trips, lunch dates, movie days, everything—and life was so much brighter. Being a mother was something I'd always wanted and finally I got to have that chance."
Nina sniffled, her tears falling faster now. She could feel Willow soothingly rubbing her back, knowing that the tragic part of the story was coming.
"But then my father passed away," Nina shuddered. "He left everything to me and my mother," she spat the word as if it was poisoned. "Decided that she was going to control my life. She tried to poison you, Willow, and your sister. She gave me an opioid overdose to induce a miscarriage—or kill me, I don't know which she preferred—so that she would be able to get my inheritance. It didn't kill either of you, thank God, but it put me into a coma for over twenty years, making it impossible for me to raise you in a loving home. She took that opportunity away from me."
Willow closed her eyes, the agony in her mother's voice breaking her already cracked heart, resting her chin on her shoulder and hugging her tightly. "I'm so sorry," she whispered.
"Don't be," Nina sniffled, pulling away and holding Willow's face gently between her hands. Her eyes were still shining with tears, but the love in them was stronger than her grief. "You're here with me now and I am going to do everything in my power to have the relationship with you that my mother stole from me. I'm still going to be searching for your sister because I want both of my babies with me, but you are with me now. I have a second chance at motherhood and I'll be damned if I waste it."
'Hmm. I guess not all of your fire got rehabilitated out of you,' Vindictive Nina commented. It wasn't quite praise, but it was by far better than the insults.
'This is more like what I imagined,' Maternal Willow sighed blissfully.
Mother and daughter ignored the voices in their heads, choosing instead to focus on one another and building their bond as parent and child.
"Chase!" Willow called as she entered Chase's apartment.
"Hey, baby!" Chase greeted, giving his girlfriend a soft kiss on the lips as he met her at the door. "How did your first session with Dr. Winters go?"
"It went fine," she answered. "Believe it or not, it was enlightening and I feel a bit better after going to her."
"That's amazing," he said, smiling that beautiful, bright smile she loves so much on him.
"I, uh, I also went to Wiley's grave."
Instantly Chase's smile disappeared and he stared at her in concern. Gently running his hands up and down her arms, he asked softly, "How did that go?"
Willow couldn't help but smile. Chase was the sweetest man she'd ever met. Loving, protective, helpful…he was everything she wished for growing up in Dawn of Day, everything that Shiloh wasn't and could never be. In another life, maybe he could have been Wiley's father and the three of them could be living a perfect life as a happy family.
"I didn't get to talk to him. Harmony was there and she had some interesting news."
Furrowing his brows, Chase stared at the woman he loved. "Interesting news?" He repeated. "What interesting news?"
Willow grabbed both of his hands and led her boyfriend to the couch, where they both sat together. Still clasping her fingers with his, Willow tucked her leg beneath her body and took one deep breath before taking the plunge: "I was adopted and my biological mother is here in Port Charles."
Chase's mouth dropped open, his eyes widening in shock. For several minutes he was struck silent, unable to make even a sound. When he regained his composure, he cleared his throat. "Who did she tell you is your biological mother?" He asked.
Willow's smile grew. "Nina Reeves," she answered.
It was almost amusing to see her boyfriend's eyes bug out the way they did when he heard that name. He knew as well as anyone else just how much she hated Nina when she first came to town and how that hatred was reciprocated. Just because the pair were much closer in the past months didn't erase the hostility.
"Wow," Chase breathed. "I wasn't expecting that."
Willow laughed. "Tell me about it. If someone told me two years ago that Nina Reeves was my mother and we'd be close, I would have called them crazy. But that's how it is now. Nina Reeves is my biological mother."
"And are you…happy…about that?" Chase's query was valid.
A decisive nod of her head followed his question. "I am," she firmly replied. "I finally get to have a mother who will protect and love me, not use me for her own needs."
That blinding smile returned, his beautiful eyes lighting up once again. "I'm so happy for you, Willow," Chase said, leaning forward and framing her face once again with his hands as he pulled her into another loving kiss.
For the first time in years, Willow finally felt the pieces falling into place in her life instead of crumbling around her, and it felt so, so good.