Chapter 23

Hope lay peacefully in Bo's arms as the morning sun rose up over the horizon. She reached out her arm to stretch and woke Bo. "Hey Fancy Face." Bo smiled sheepishly at her. "You been awake long?" He asked her.

"Not long." She said as Bo leaned in for a kiss. "I've been going over everything that happened yesterday." Hope told him.

"Still feeling as guilty as I am for not believing Alicia?" He asked.

"A part of me did believe her, but I .." Bo placed his finger on her lip silencing her.

"I know what you mean. We couldn't be sure with everything that went on. I have to say I'm glad it didn't turn out that she wasn't our daughter. I think I'd feel even guiltier if I had put our daughter in the hospital." Bo still couldn't get over the resemblance of the two girls. "I'd like to know who the other girl is. I wonder if she was willingly working for Stefano or if she was just another victim."

"Bo, I've been thinking about something." Hope said.

"What's that?"

"We never showed any of the video footage to Alicia. We just asked her about what we saw on the disc. Do you think it's possible the girl on the disc wasn't Alicia?" Hope asked him as she raised herself up on Bo's chest. "Think about it. She claimed she went along with the teachings so Stefano wouldn't hurt her. Maybe the girl on the disc was this imposter we saw. You said yourself, she looked proud at her accomplishments. Whenever Alicia talks about it she always gets withdrawn and she looks disgusted at what she had to do for him. I don't think she'd be smiling while aiming a gun at my head."

"She did tell me when she fired the rounds at your picture she was imagining Dimera's face there instead of yours. I think I'd look just as happy after pumping that many rounds into his smug face." Bo told her.

"That's you Brady. Alicia doesn't seem like the type of person who would take pleasure in hurting anyone regardless of what they might've done to her." Hope rose from the bed and grabbed her robe. "I still think we should ask her about it. I'm going to make breakfast. You want some?" She called over her shoulder as she made her way to the bedroom door.

Bo was behind her when she reached the door. He grabbed her around the waist and spun her around to face him. "I'd love some breakfast, but first I want to make love to my wife." He pulled her into a passionate kiss. "I was afraid I wouldn't see you again, be able to hold you in my arms or kiss you." His lips met hers again and they slowly made their way back to the bed pulling off each other's clothes. They fell back on the bed and made passionate love to each other. Bo held Hope in his arms thankful to have her safely there once again. He didn't want to ever be separated from her again.

……

Alicia woke up feeling relieved to be in her own room again. She got up from her bed and opened the blinds to look out her window. She finally felt safe enough to look out her own window. She could smell the fresh scent of coffee and breakfast wafting their way to her room. She grabbed her robe pulling it on and went down to join her family for breakfast.

"Good morning sweetheart." Hope hugged her daughter. "Are you hungry?" She asked.

Alicia nodded her head before taking a seat beside her sister Ciara. "Morning Ciara."

"Good morning." Ciara smiled up at her. "Are you going to stay home today?" She asked her. "I want to play with you."

"I'd like that." Alicia told her. Hope brought a plate of food over to Alicia.

"I hope you like this. Melissa found this recipe online." Hope placed a plate of pancakes in front of Alicia. "It's a vegan recipe. I don't know how it tastes. I can't bring myself to try it." Hope told her.

Alicia laughed. "That's okay Mom." She placed a forkful in her mouth. "Mmmm it's delicious."

"Good I'm glad you like it." She took a sip of her coffee. "Alicia, your dad and I want to ask you some questions about when you were with Stefano."

Alicia's face paled as she put the fork back down on her plate. "What do you want to know?" She asked.

"It's not really what we want to know, it's more or less trying to figure out a few things that might give us some indication as to who this imposter is. You never looked at any of the video footage from the disc, right?"

"No. I didn't. Dad wanted me to look at the images of me shooting your picture, but I refused to look. I don't like the memories it brings up." Alicia sat listlessly at the table. "Do you want me to watch it? Is that why you're bringing this up?" She asked her mother.

"I don't want to do anything to hurt you. I'm just trying to get to the bottom of this." Hope bit at her lip. "Let me ask you this. When you were doing target practice, how good was your aim?"

Alicia looked puzzled. "Well, it wasn't all that good. I don't know why Stefano kept insisting I keep at it. I was always off target. I guess because a part of me was rebelling against him. I didn't want to cooperate, but I didn't really have a choice either. So, I made it on purpose to shoot off target." Alicia told her mother. "Why do you ask?"

"Just something I saw on the disc that puzzled me. After talking about it with your father, I thought maybe the girl on the disc might not be you after all." Hope pondered over what it could all mean. "Would you mind looking at the disc with me to see if maybe it could be this other girl and not you?" Hope asked her.

"Sure." Alicia went back to eating her breakfast. "Where's Dad?" She asked noticing he wasn't eating breakfast with them. "Is he still in bed?"

"No. He had a trial to go to." Hope said as she got up to start clearing away the breakfast dishes.

……

Bo sat in the courtroom eager to hear the verdict passed on Vito. Higley had already been given the death sentence. He hoped the same would be given to Vito. He watched as the judge returned from deliberation and asked the defendant to please rise. "In the case of Vito Carlen, I find the defendant guilty as charged. You will hereby be sentenced to death by lethal injection on May the 30th in the year 2009."Bo was ecstatic. Finally justice was being served. Stefano was dead or at least as far as they knew and Higley and Vito had both been given the death penalty. Bo left to call Hope and give her the news.

"Hey Brady." Hope said as she answered the phone. "I was just going to call you."

"I wanted to let you know how the trial turned out." Bo told her. "Vito was given the death penalty."

"So will you be home soon?" Hope asked him. "I was wondering if you'd like to join us for lunch?"

"Who will we be having lunch with?" He asked.

"Just the two of us and our lovely daughters." Hope said.

"Great. I'll be home in an hour." Bo said goodbye and hung up the phone. "Roman?" He called out to his brother who had just walked out of the courtroom. "Hang on a minute."

"What can I do for you?" Roman asked.

"I'd like you to do a little digging and find out any information you can on the girl who impersonated my daughter." He told him.

"Will do. Has there been any change? Last I heard from Kayla she was still unconscious." Roman asked.

"No change yet. I wish she'd wake up so I can question her." Bo told him.

"Say little brother, want to go grab some lunch at the pub?"

"Sorry, I can't. Hope just called to see if I'd meet her for lunch with our girls." Bo explained. "I'm heading home now."

"Give my love to them."

"Will do. Later Bro." Bo left the courthouse and made his way to his car.

……

"What time did Dad say he would be home?" Alicia asked.

"He should be here soon. Help me move the couch over there." Hope pointed to the wall.

"Dad is going to be so surprised." Chelsea came in carrying a basket in her hands. "This is a great idea Hope."

"Will Daddy be happy?" Ciara chimed in.

"I think he's going to love this idea." Hope pulled Ciara into a hug. "He gets to spend lunch with all his girls."

"I think I just heard his car pull up." Chelsea went to look out the window. "He's coming up the walkway now."

"You girls finish up in here while I go stall your father." Hope raced outside to greet Bo. "Hey there handsome. Care to give me a kiss?" Hope winked at him.

"What are you up to?" Bo laughed as he pulled his wife into a deep kiss.

"Well if you don't know the answer to that Brady, then I must be losing my touch." She said as she locked lips with him again. Her kiss lingered on his lips as her hands roamed under his jacket and she wrapped her arms around him.

"Not that I don't mind this at all," Bo pulled away from her, "But I thought I was having lunch with my daughters too? Have plans changed? Did you send them out so we could continue what we started this morning?" Bo leaned back in to kiss her again. His lips moved down to her neck leaving a trail of wet kisses.

"Ehem." Chelsea cleared her throat. "I don't mean to interrupt, but lunch is ready." She walked back into the house.

"I guess not." Bo laughed grabbing Hope's behind as he walked into the house. "What do we have here?" Bo looked around the room. The furniture had been moved to the surrounding walls leaving an open space in the middle where a blanket had been spread across the floor. Ciara, Alicia, and Chelsea sat on the blanket with a picnic basket in front of them.

"Do you like our picnic chez Brady house?" Chelsea spread her hands out at all the food.

"We thought we'd have a little picnic. But since it's so very cold out, we decided to bring the picnic inside." Hope grabbed Bo around the waist. "Do you like our idea, Brady?"

"Come and join us Dad." Alicia patted the blanket next to her. Bo and Hope sat down with their children. Chelsea passed out the plates and Ciara handed everyone a napkin.

Hope looked around at all the smiling faces and felt happy she could spend this time with them. Alicia smiled back at her mother, thankful for having taken her mind off the test results. She knew her mother had planned this for her as much as for her father.

"Let's eat." Bo grabbed the basket and started pulling the sandwiches out. "Mmmm, I smell liverwurst. I think this one is mine. Unless you want to share a bite?" He pushed the sandwich towards Hope's mouth and she shoved his hand away.

"Oh god, no. That is all yours, Brady." Everyone laughed and started eating their lunch. The phone rang breaking up the happy little party.

Hope got up to answer the phone. "Hello?"

"Hope, it's Kayla. I have the results of Alicia's test. Can you meet me at the hospital in say half an hour?""You have the results already?" Alicia's heart sank at her mother's words. "I thought you said it would take a few days?"

"I put a rush on them. I knew you would want them as soon as possible." Kayla told her. "I'm sorry to cut this short, but I have another patient to see to."Hope cradled the phone in her hand before hanging it up. "She wants to see us at the hospital." She said to Bo and Alicia.

"I can stay here with Ciara and clean up." Chelsea told her.

Alicia, Bo, and Hope left for the hospital. Alicia sat silent in the back seat wondering if she would be given good news or not.

……

Bo, Hope, and Alicia entered the hospital and looked for Kayla. She wasn't in her office or anywhere they could see.

"Let me have her paged." Bo walked over to the nurses station. "Excuse me? Would you mind paging Dr. Johnson for me?"

"Commissioner Brady. Dr. Johnson is with a patient right now. She told me to expect you. You can wait for her in her office." The nurse told him. "She should be with you momentarily.""Thank you." Bo turned to his wife and daughter. "Let's go."

Alicia sat in a chair playing with her fingers. She couldn't sit still waiting for the news. Hope glanced over at her and took her hand in hers. "It's going to be alright." She squeezed her hand.

"What if it isn't? What if I do have cancer? I've already lost so much time with you. If I have cancer and I die." Hope placed a finger on Alicia's mouth to quiet her.

"We can't jump to any conclusions right now. Why don't we wait until Kayla gets here and gives us the results. It's not doing you any good to think the worst. We don't know what will happen, but I promise you your dad and I will be right here with you every step of the way." Hope lovingly touched her daughter's cheek.

"It's not fair." A few tears escaped Alicia's eyes. "I don't want to die. I don't want to lose you so soon after finally getting home and knowing what it's like to be part of a family."

Bo got up and went over to his daughter drawing her into a hug. "Hey baby girl. Look at me." He gently lifted her face to meet his gaze. "Your mom is right. You can't think like this. We'll know soon enough what the results are. But until then, I refuse to believe you have cancer. Your Aunt Kayla even said it could be nothing more than just a glitch in the first set of tests results. Who knows? Maybe there was a piece of dust that landed in the blood before they took a look at it." Alicia smiled at her father. "The point is, there's no sense in worrying about what we don't know to be true. Let's just wait until Kayla gets here and gives us the results." Bo pulled Alicia closer to him in a bear hug. "I love you." He said as he kissed the top of her head.

"I love you too, Daddy."

"Good you're all here." Kayla walked into her office and sat down. "I have your test results right here." She opened a file on her desk. "Let me see here." She rifled through the papers. It's just as I thought. The first test must have had a glitch. These test results came back negative. You don't have cancer."

Alicia cried in relief. Bo and Hope both held her in their embrace. "See all that worrying for nothing." Bo looked at his daughter. "What do you say we get out of this stuffy place and go celebrate?"

"I'd love that." Alicia was so relieved to hear the news. Her heart was filled with joy. She was safe and healthy and home with her family.

"So what shall we do? I'm not sure I can top that little picnic we had this afternoon, but maybe dinner with the family?" Bo asked her. "You know what? Don't answer that. I have a better idea." Bo got up to leave.

"Bo? Where are you going?" Hope asked him.

"I need to go take care of a few things. Why don't the two of you meet me back at home?" Bo was walking out the door when Hope stopped him.

"We came in the same car, Brady." She grabbed his hand pulling him back.

"I forgot about that." Bo looked over at his sister. "Kay, you finished working?"

"As of right now I am. Why?" She asked him.

"Mind doing me a favor and dropping my girls off at home?"

"Sure. If you'll just give me a minute I'll be ready to go." She told Hope and Alicia.

"Good. See you back at home." Bo kissed his daughter's cheek and pulled Hope into a light kiss before heading out.

"I wonder what he's planning?" Hope mused as she watched him walk down the hall.

……

Alicia ran down the stairs to answer the door. "Hi." She said as she yanked it open.

"There's my beautiful granddaughter." Doug hugged her. He and Julie walked in to the living room. "Hi Princess." Doug greeted his daughter who had just come in from the kitchen.

Hope looked at him questioningly. "Hi Daddy. I wasn't expecting you." She said as she returned his hug. "Julie." She hugged her sister. "What brings you by?"

"Bo called and asked us to come over. He told us the good news." Julie walked over to Alicia. "I'm so happy you're going to be okay." She hugged her. "Where is Bo?" She asked Hope. "He told us to meet him here."

"I'm not sure. I haven't seen him since he left the hospital." She told her.

"Hey everyone." Bo walked in the door.

"Bo, there you are." Hope went over to kiss him. "Where have you been and what have you been up to, Brady."

"It's a surprise." He drew her lips into another kiss. "Doug, Julie. Did you get everything set up all right?" Bo asked them.

"Yes. We did. Marlon was more than happy to help out. Here's the key. You go have fun." Doug and Julie said their goodbye's and left.

"Bo?" Hope looked at him questioningly. "What's the surprise?" She asked again.

"All in good time." Bo went to hug Alicia. "You ready to go? You might want to grab a thick sweater." Bo told her. "Where's Ciara?" He asked looking around the room.

"She's upstairs playing.""Ciara!" Bo hollered up the stairs to her. "I need you to dress her warmly. Chelsea won't be joining us. She has a date. But, we'll still have fun.""Daddy! Daddy!" Ciara raced down the stairs and into her father's awaiting arms.

It didn't take long before they were all packed in the car heading down to the piers. Bo pulled over and parked the car. "Let's go." He said getting out. He grabbed a basket from the backseat and led his family down to the docks.

"Bo, where are we going?" Hope asked him for the third time.

"Have a little patience." He laughed as he led them aboard a boat.

"Brady? Who's boat is this?" She asked him.

"It's a friend of your father's, Marlon. He's lending us the boat for the night so I can take it out on the lake. It'll be just us, the lake, and the stars." Bo took her hand and helped her onto the boat. "Climb up here Sugar Bear." He grabbed Ciara from Alicia's arms. "Here you go. Your turn." He took Alicia's hand and helped her on board. "Why don't you take this basket down below and get dinner set up and I'll set sail for the open lake."

It was a clear night and the stars shown bright. Having eaten their fill of food, the family went up on deck to gaze at the stars. Bo laid back with Ciara in his arms and Hope and Alicia each lay to either side of him. They lay huddled under a blanket as Bo pointed out the constellations to them and Hope even named a few. They just lay in each others arms enjoying the peaceful lull of the boat gently swaying on the open serene lake and continued to look up at the stars. It wasn't long before Ciara drifted off to sleep in her Daddy's arms and they decided to head back home. Alicia couldn't have planned a better celebration than spending some quiet time with her family.

Epilogue

It had been three months since Alicia learned the results of her tests. Kayla told her there was nothing to worry about and there wasn't. She was cancer free. The girl who had impersonated her suffered from complications after surgery and died of internal bleeding. They never did find out who she really was. It turned out Alicia wasn't the girl on the disc after all. The only true video footage of Alicia was the footage of her and her mother.

Higley and Vito were given the death penalty and Bo was there to witness their deaths by lethal injection. The town of Salem seemed to be out from under the Dimera evil doings.

Bo and Hope and their family spent the day celebrating the fourth of July at their house. All the Brady's and Horton's had made it home for the celebration. Hope looked around at all the smiling faces and thought her family could finally be at peace for once. Little did she know there was a shadow lurking on the side lines plotting eternal revenge on the Bradys. The Phoenix always rises from the ashes.

THE END