As the door closed behind John, a shocked silence overtook the Brady house. After a moment, Marlena quietly told the children to go back to the playroom until dinner was ready. Apparently sensing the tension in the room, the children complied and quickly left.
As soon as they were gone, Bo stepped towards Roman. "You just couldn't help yourself, could you?" Bo asked angrily. "You just had to ruin things."
"Just hold your horses, Bo," Roman replied. "I was just being honest with my kids. John was the one who decided to leave."
Kayla stepped towards her brothers, wanting to prevent another fight from breaking out.
Out the corner of her eye, she saw Shane and Kim exchange some words. Kayla heard Kim say "don't" but could not make out the rest. Shane smiled, brushed her cheek with his hand, and whispered something that Kayla could not hear. Kim seemed to sigh and then nodded as Shane turned, walked to the door, and put on his coat.
"I'm going to go look for John," Shane announced, opening the door. "He shouldn't be alone right now."
"Please try to get him to come back to the house," Caroline pleaded.
Shane nodded, but before he could leave, Isabella joined him in the doorway. "I'm . . . I'm going to go back to the loft in case he shows up there." Tears glistened in her eyes.
"You don't have to leave," Shawn said. "You should stay and wait for Shane to bring John back."
Isabella shook her head. "I don't think that's such a good idea." She stared pointedly at Roman. "After all, this is a family gathering."
Kayla saw the sadness on her mother's face as Isabella turned and walked out the door with Shane right behind her. She silently cursed her brother for ruining Caroline's dream of a happy family Thanksgiving.
"Great," Bo said, rolling his eyes at Roman. "Now you managed to chase my sister away too. I guess she's not family enough for you either."
Kayla stepped closer as Roman's eyes flashed with anger. "Look, little brother. I'm getting a little tired of being your punching bag every time John gets upset about something. The man took over my life for years. I don't owe him anything."
"Maybe you don't," Steve spoke from behind Kayla. "But the rest of us do."
"Well, that's your problem, isn't it, Johnson?"
Kayla reached behind her and took Steve's hand, hoping her touch would keep him from losing his temper. The last thing her parents needed was another war breaking out in their living room.
"It's not just his problem," Kim chimed in. "Like Steve said, we all owe John a lot."
"Seems like the only person here who has a problem - or is the problem - is you," Bo snapped. "Why couldn't you just let things be? Just let John and Isabella and the family enjoy Thanksgiving. Was that too much to ask?"
"Bo. . . ." Kayla spoke softly. "That's enough."
"No, Kay. It's not." Bo turned to Kayla, and she could see the hurt and anger in his eyes. "Roman's not the only one who's had a rough time of it. Hell, last Thanksgiving half of us were trapped in the tunnels under Alamain's villa. A big part of the reason we made it out was because John came looking for us."
"I know." Kayla smiled at her baby brother. "It wasn't much of a happy Thanksgiving for any of us. But we're all here together now, and I'm sure that you and Roman going at each other is not the way Ma and Pop planned on celebrating."
Bo glanced to the kitchen where Shawn stood with his arm around Caroline's shoulder. Kayla saw the chagrined look on Bo's face as he saw his mother's tears. "I'm sorry, Ma," Bo said quietly. "I know you've put a lot of work into this day."
Caroline just nodded, still staring at the door as if hoping that force of will alone would bring John back. Kayla's heart broke a bit for her mother. Maybe it had been unrealistic, but she understood why it had been so important for Caroline to have everybody there. Peace and normalcy had been rare commodities in the lives of the Brady family in the past few years.
With that in mind, Kayla turned back to her older brother. Lowering her voice, she looked him straight in the eye. "Don't misunderstand me, Roman. Bo's right. We wouldn't even be here today if it wasn't for John. And not just because of last Thanksgiving. You had no right to treat him that way."
"What do you want me to do, sis? You want me to lie to my kids?" Roman hissed, also keeping his voice low. "They spent the last five years thinking that guy was their father. They need to know that he's nobody to them."
"Nobody?" Steve asked incredulously. Kayla elbowed him in the ribs and his tone softened. "I know how hard it is to accept that somebody else was taking care of your kids," he said with a glance at Kayla. "But isn't the important thing that they were loved and cared for?"
Roman just stared at Steve silently and Steve waved his arm at Roman dismissively. "Whatever, dude. If being bitter and angry makes you happy, more power to you." He leaned down and kissed Kayla on the cheek. "I'm going to go see if I can track down Shane and John." He smiled and winked. "Don't let them carve that turkey without us."
Kayla nodded and watched as Steve headed out the door. Sighing, she returned to the couch and plopped down. A few seconds later, Kim joined her. Kayla put her arm around her sister and they sat there together silently for a few moments. Roman returned to the football game while Carly tried to calm down Bo. Kayla saw Marlena stare at Roman for a few moments, before leaving the room and heading towards the back of the house.
"I don't get the feeling that things are all that great between Roman and Marlena right now," Kayla said quietly to Kim.
Kim nodded. "I know what you mean. I can't imagine how hard it is to put their marriage back together after everything that's happened."
"I know," Kayla agreed. "I'm just afraid that if Roman's not careful he's going to push Marlena away with his anger." She looked at Kim. "I think we both know a little something about how that can work."
"Yeah, we certainly do." Kim looked pensive for a moment then stood. "I tried to stop Shane from going. I don't like him being out in this cold for so long. He's still recovering. I'm going to go look for him."
"Kim," Kayla said, putting a hand on her sister's arm. "Steve went after them. If Shane needs help, Steve will help him."
"I know, but maybe Steve didn't find them." Kim smiled at Kayla. "I just need to make sure Shane's okay."
Kayla chuckled softly, knowing exactly how her sister felt. "All right. But just remember that if you don't find them, then we'll have to send somebody else out looking for you. At this rate, nobody will be left to eat the turkey."
Kim just shook her head. "Don't worry. I don't think anybody wants to miss out on Mama's turkey."
Kayla watched as Kim walked to their parents and said something to them. They both nodded and Kim walked to the door and put on her coat. She flashed a smile at Kayla before leaving.
Leaning back into the cushions of the couch, Kayla closed her eyes for a moment and whispered a prayer that Shane, Steve and Kim could somehow convince John to return. And, failing that, she prayed that her family could salvage a happy Thanksgiving out of the mess and dysfunction anyway.