Her Story
Caterina had been a young nurse when she had had a stroke of luck and she had got the position as a private nurse to a certain wealthy man. Santo DiMera was being tormented by his withering body but he had no intention spending his last days in a hospital. He had worked and sacrificed too much for the comfort of his own home to surrender to that. Santo hadn't really paid that much attention to the young nurse he had hired but soon enough she proved to be witty, beautiful and the most interesting creature he had met in years.
Caterina hadn't flinched at Santos bad behaviour nor at his sharp tongue. She had indeed replied in kind and unintentionally won him over. Santo had started telling her stories she had first believed to be figments of his imagination. Later Caterina had realized Santo was telling her about his only true love.
The idea of him just letting the disease corrupting his body little by little and him having nothing to fall back on to make him feel better had given Caterina the spark. She had lured Santo into learning how to paint. It was something he could do either standign up or sitting down depending on his strength. It had taken some bargaining since Caterina was dealing with an experienced business man but she had done it. His prize had been a portrait of her once he would have developed the skills needed.
Within few months Santo had been ready to try for the first time but he had never finished it. He had broken down and grabbed a pen instead and written a long letter to his dead love from the past. Caterina had shed some bitter-sweet tears that night but decided to forget it and accept that Santo would never love her as he had love this Colleen. Caterina had decided to take what she could get, because stop loving Santo had been impossible.
After few years Santo and Caterina had become close friends and they had shared everything. Caterina had told him about her mother and sisters. She had told him about his hopes and dreams never mentioning her feelings towards him. Santo had told more stories about his life and about his son and the unhappy marriage that had nearly ruined him after Colleens death. The hate he had felt towards his wife had caused him to bankrupt her family.
Little later Santo had been ready to start painting again and try the portrait of Caterina he had wanted to paint. Somehow he had convinced her to pose with only few veils covering her. It had taken long hours and many weeks to finish the first painting and during that time they had become lovers. Santo had demanded another painting and he had got it. The second portrait was painted with few small differences only he and Caterina ever noticed and she wasn't about to share those secrets.
Then Santo had gotten worse and forgotten his budding emotions to Caterina. Soon after Santo's had died and Caterina had found out that she was pregnant. She had made the mistake of telling Stefano about the child during an hour of despair. Stefano had made a deal with her promising to take the child and grow him or her as his own. As much as Caterina had wanted to keep her child she couldn't have done it at the expense of her existing family because that was what had been at stake. Stefano had blackmailed her to sign away all her rights and to content herself to the possibility that her child might one day want to find her.