CHAPTER 34

Working at Salem University Hospital again felt strange to Carly at first but her old skills of a trained physician automatically came to her as she tended to the patients she was assigned to. She truly felt reborn, saving lives and curing the sick like she used to before the years of incarceration as Princess Katarina de Alamain. Remembering her married name made her shudder and immediately blocked it from her mind. Katarina was gone, along with Lawrence. She had her life back now, along with Olivia and Bo.

Just thinking about the father of her child made her smile as she went on her rounds. Living with him again felt even stranger for the first few days; waking up next to him every morning, sneaking up behind him in the kitchen as he made breakfast for her, the wild nights of love and the heart-to-heart talks afterwards , lying in each other's arms.

"A pair of cooing turtle-doves" Olivia wryly described them after catching them cuddling on the couch once. Every kiss or touch from Bo always made Carly feel he was double checking to make sure they were truly together again, that it wasn't all a dream.

Of course there a few people who were peeved at their relationship. Besides Hope, Doug, Julie, Maggie... to some extent, Lexie and Abe and of course Victor, who'd made his objections more than loud than clear. As they were leaving the cemetery after Mickey's funeral, he'd walked up to them, face contorted with fury.

'What is she doing here? It's bad enough she's caused enough trouble but I would have thought you'd know better than to show off your mistress for all to see...'

'I'll thank you to show Carly some respect,' was Bo's cold reply, 'or I'll be forced to remind you that if you don't, Olivia's off limits for good although not having you in her life would definitely not be a big loss. You insult her mother, you insult her, and me as well.'

'He'll never change, will he?' she'd remarked as they drove off. 'It's like he's shrunken to a totally embittered old man over the years.'

'Probably because most of the women he was married to resisted being called to heel.' Bo replied dryly. 'Especially you.'

'Ugh, don't remind me,' she said with a slight shudder. Thinking that Victor would heal all the hurt Bo's constant rejections had inflicted on her, she'd stupidly fallen victim to his Greek charm and outer solicitous attitude towards her only to find out later he'd forged the love letter Bo had sent to her; begging her not to marry Victor, that he truly wanted a chance with her. Victor had shown his true colours; a conniving, obsessive tyrant who hated to lose anything or anyone to someone else; his son no exception. What Caroline and Loretta Toscano had seen in him, Carly would never figure out. Caroline had eventually chosen Shawn Brady over him, but Bo was embittered for a long time on discovering that he was a Kiriakis. She, on the other hand, had walked out on him- the ultimate wound to his pride and he never forgave her for it. Somehow or other, Victor brought about misery and destruction on lives he touched but Bo and Isabella had narrowly remained untarnished.

'I'm not about to lose sleep over Victor,' she'd told Bo, 'I don't care what he thinks of me. But I don't want him around Olivia.'

'Neither do I, princess. But we both know very well he won't let us hear the last of it.'

'Then we'll make him listen to reason!' she insisted. 'Victor will never stop hating me, what sort of relationship does he hope to have with Olivia? This seems like an obsession to me, Bo and I don't like it at all. What if he wants to hurt her in some way, for revenge?'

Bo was silent for a while, his eyes on the road. 'He wouldn't.'

'We're talking about a man who once tried to kill you! He can't stand the idea of us being together, yet you think he can be trusted around our daughter?'

'What I meant was, he can't hurt her while I'm around; he wouldn't dare. Trust me, Carly; when it comes to my family, especially my children, I make no exceptions.' He seized her hand, squeezing it tightly. 'He lays a finger on her, in any way, his ass is in prison. I'll personally guarantee it. '

Carly shook her head, refusing to let dark thoughts of Victor Kiriakis ruin her day. Bo had called her a while back to see if she was busy as he had a surprise for her and she wanted to finish up before he arrived to collect her.

Opening the door to her office, she put down the files on her desk.

'The white coat's always suited you, Carly dear.' A cultured voice from behind said.

Spinning round sharply, Carly glared at the woman seated on the couch, legs elegantly crossed. 'You. What are you doing here? You have no business here!'

Vivian got up, raising her hands. 'I came in peace, Katarina.'

'Don't you dare call me by that name!' Carly snapped, anger and stark hatred in her voice. 'Never again! And don't touch me!' she backed away as Vivian came nearer.

Vivian bit her lip. 'I take it you're still angry with me.'

'You think? You ruined my life, you and Lawrence! You buried me alive, with a baby inside me! How the hell do you sleep at night, Vivian Alamain? And what the hell are you still doing in Salem?'

'I have a valid reason.' Vivian said, defensively. 'I have some health problems which requires a two week check-up. Today being my appointment, I thought I'd use this chance to see you.'

'Well then, you wasted your time because I have nothing to say to you. I want you to leave, now!'

'Carly, come now. I'm aware that I caused you a lot of pain and I want you to believe me; I regret everything... I wasn't well at all that time.' Vivian pleaded, reaching out towards Carly again. 'Especially now that Nicky's gone... I need your forgiveness.'

Was this old hag for real? Carly thought incredulously. She drew herself up, backing away from Vivian's touch.

'Don't think you can use the name of my poor boy to get around me, you hear? Even if I can overlook what you did to me, I can never overlook what you did to Olivia, to Shawn Douglas and Bo. Olivia lost several precious years with her father; thanks to you- that nephew of yours beat her for years! You made the man I love and our son and my family believe I was dead, caused them a lot of grief! You may have pulled the wool over your idiot ex-husband's eyes but not mine, or Bo's. And I suppose all the beatings I got from Lawrence, including him trying to kill me; he was not in his right mind too?'

'He wasn't!' Vivian said, vehemently. 'The illness he had addled his mind, he didn't mean to hurt you, he loved you too much...'

'Ugh, stop before I throw up!' Carly interrupted, thoroughly disgusted. 'Please leave, I can't stand being around you one more second!'

'But Carly, dear...'

'You heard the lady loud and clear.' Bo interrupted, materialising. 'What are you doing here in the first place? I thought I told you during our last encounter to stay away from Carly.'

'You are being too paranoid.' Vivian said with injured dignity. 'I came here with no intention but pay Carly a courtesy call.'

'She needs nothing from you except maybe six degrees of separation.' Bo said ominously, taking Carly's arm. 'Leave and don't let me see you sniffing round her again. Same with Olivia, stay away from my daughter; because Victor won't be able to protect you if anything happens to her or Carly! Am I reaching you?'

'I have no deadly intentions towards them,' Vivian mumbled. 'I promise you.'

'Yeah, right. I'll be watching you, make no mistake. Get out.'

Pursing her thin lips, Vivian beat a hasty retreat. As she walked towards the elevators she smiled knowingly. Carly not being fooled by her act didn't bother her. She had the element of surprise and Bo Brady won't know what hit him until it was too late. Olivia and Carly were going to pay dearly for Lawrence's death. The plan was more than fool proof.

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'Where are we going?' Carly asked for the third time, knowing full well he wasn't going to tell her.

'You'll soon see Princess, keep your skirt on.'

Carly sighed in frustration. 'You don't want to tell me, fine. But was it necessary to blindfold me too?' she grumbled, touching the black cloth.

'Touch that and you've ruined my surprise.' Bo grabbed her hand. 'Patience, we're almost there.'

'Patience he says,' Carly muttered.

Bo grinned at her adoringly. If she was impatient, it was nothing compared to how he'd felt the past month. Once he'd admitted his feelings towards her, he wanted to propose immediately but Caroline had advised him otherwise. It was too soon, she argued. After sixteen years apart, they had to get to know each other all over again. Surely there was no hurry.

A month was how long Bo could wait. No one could blame him for wanting to bind Carly completely, not after what she'd been through; he was hell bent on making sure no one ever took her away from him again. Living with her was bliss, holding her in his arms every night and kissing her awake every morning; he felt he'd returned to the place they were in the night they'd made love for the first time almost twenty years ago; Corzon del Cielo- the heart of Heaven. And they'll stay there from now on, thanks to the second chance Fate has given them.

Kissing her hand, he pulled to a stop finally. 'We're here. No... Keep the blindfold on.'

Carly muttered something that sounded like "pain in the tonsils" but allowed him to help her out of the car and lead her to some steps and through a door.

'Okay, now.' He pulled the cloth off her eyes. Blinking, she looked round. 'Remember this place, Carly?'

Carly stared round the beautiful old church. 'This is St. Benedict's. Where we almost got married...' she replied, voice trailing off as she remembered that fateful day. Arriving at the church in her dress and veil, walking down the red carpeted aisle towards Bo who looked so devastatingly handsome in his tux, that she'd felt no Award winning actor could have pulled it off better. And Shawn Douglas, wide eyed and eager and looking so sweet, bearing the satin pillow holding the rings. Bo had recited his heartfelt vows, his brown eyes looking down at her so lovingly. In the middle of hers, Lawrence had swooped down like an angel of doom and ruined everything with the news of Nicky's kidnap. Bo refused to speak to her for weeks after the fiasco.

Bo stroked her cheek, wincing at the clouded look in her eyes. 'I'm sorry; I didn't mean to stir up sad memories.'

Carly shook her head. 'Why are we here, Bo?'

'Come on.' Bo said quietly.

They walked down the aisle, hand in hand. The church was empty, no one there except themselves.

Bo stopped in front of the altar before turning to face her. 'When we stood here, years ago; I called you a gift from God. You made me so very happy when I thought I never would be again; everything we went through, all the odds we beat... every single one was worth it because it got us to that point in our lives where we could finally say how we felt for each other and live our love. That's what you've done again Princess; you came back, just when I thought my life was over. With you by my side, my life's gone through a brand new chapter, having you and our daughter with me and I'll truly grateful to Him for that.' He kissed her palm, holding it against his cheek.

'I feel the same way too.' Carly replied, softly. 'And I love you.'

'I love you too, Carly. Very much. That's why I want to take what we have a step forward.' Releasing her, he reached into the pocket of his coat, bringing out a small velvet lined box.

He opened it, holding out for Carly to see the ring nestled inside. It was a traditional Claddagh ring but unlike the one he'd given her for Christmas years ago, this one was made of yellow gold with a diamond heart and crown between the two clasped hands.

Carly shook her head, hand to her heart. 'It's so beautiful.' she whispered, entranced by the exquisite ring.

'I saw it advertised online and Kim found a jewellery store in L.A specialising in Irish and Celtic jewellery. Remember what a Claddagh ring represents?'

'Love, friendship and loyalty.' She replied.

'This particular Claddagh says much more than that. It's a Diamant mo Chroí and it means "Diamond of my Heart"; which is exactly what you are princess, the diamond of my heart; precious and priceless.'

Bo took her hand, kissing it. Looking deep in her eyes, he said softly. 'By giving you this ring, I'm giving you my heart and crowning it with my love. And I chose this place because I want Him, who brought you back to me, witness me asking you, Carly Manning, to marry me ; I want us to be joined as Man and Wife a month or two from now, if you'll have me.'

Carly was already sobbing, deeply touched and so very happy she couldn't speak. She couldn't believe she meant that much to him.

'Princess, will you marry me?'

Carly nodded. 'Yes, Bo.' she whispered. 'I want to be your wife, more than anything.'

Without a word, Bo slid the ring onto her finger; the heart pointed towards her to traditionally signify she was engaged to be married and kissed her hand again before hugging her close.

'I've never loved anyone as much as I love you, Bo Brady.' Carly choked. 'Why am I so blessed to have you in my life?'

Bo smiled, pulling away. 'Why am I so blessed to have you? Either way... I know we're going to be alright, Princess. Nothing and No one will come between us, ever again. I believe it and I want you to believe that too.'

Carly glanced at the huge cross on the wall then back at Bo. 'I'm glad you chose this place, because I feel His circle of protection surrounding us right now. I do believe it; more than ever. We won't be separated. He won't allow it.'

Bo nodded, holding her face in his hands. 'We will be alright,' he repeated, as if to convince her still.

'Yes,' she whispered.

Wrapping his arms around her, they kissed long and deeply; their mutual happiness almost complete. When they finally become Man and Wife, they would reach the pinnacle of their long journey.