Chapter 21
Adrienne sighed as she looked about the, for now, Spartan room she was living in at her brothers apartment.
It was the room Jack had originally left for Steve. She had spent her first evening in the smallest of the three bedrooms, but with it looking as if he was not going to be in need of it, she had decided to move in to the bigger one, with Steve's blessing.
Still it was not going to be bare for long. She was not going to let it be. She was going to make it cosy. She would make it home… it was not going to be like the Kiriakis mansion but it would be home.
Her brothers were here and she would make it her home.
And that was what they had to focus on. The family. So to thank Steve for letting her stay at the apartment she had decided she would make a dinner for Kayla, to say welcome home.
They could all sit down together…
"What would you say to helping your baby sister make a family meal this weekend?"
"As long as it is not mama's tuna casserole with green noodles then I am in," Jack grinned.
Adrienne could not help but giggle.
"Well I was thinking about a casserole of some kind… but not that kind. I couldn't do it justice the way she could."
The siblings shared a fond smile before Jack straightened up.
"Sounds good," he nodded. "So when you say family…."
"Steve and Kayla and the kids of course…. And you can ask Jen and Abby," she said with a smile. "Maybe Sonny, Will and Ari too."
They were after all her family. He nodded.
Jack nodded again, because all of that sounded good… but not perfect. The obvious omission, the name missing next to Jennifer and Abigail's made it so.
But there was no use on commenting on that.
"Better ask Marcus too, "Jack added to the guest list. He was an honorary Johnson after all.
She nodded. "We are all going to get through our own things… you know right?"
He had seemed a little distant from her at times, and she knew why. But she was sure what she was saying was the truth. All of them would get through their troubles. In time. And they would do it together.
X x x
"So what do you think, homey?" asked Steve as the two of them sat at the coffee table.
The first day Marcus had spent in Salem he had just caught up with the Johnson's and had got settled at the Salem Inn.
And on the second day jet lag hit.
So it was not until the Monday when Joey was back at school and Stephanie was preparing to go back to Chicago to tie up a few lose ends later that day that he got to go through Kayla's medical file. He was sorry Stephanie and he were not going to get a bit more time together before she went back but it was as if she would be gone long. They would have her home for the fourth of July.
"So what do you make of all this?" Steve repeated his question.
"The damage to the ear is very much as it was before," Marcus was not telling Steve anything which he did not know but he believed it when Marcus said the words. "I am going to have to go into the hospital to compare the x rays and scans. But from what I have read, I should think Kayla's treatment would be as it was before. That is what I would be recommending."
"And you are going to be telling her that?"
"Through you and once I am sure it is the right way to go forward, yes."
Steve nodded.
He knew Marcus and he was not going to lead them wrong.
"I am going to able to use the hospital equipment, aren't I?"
Once upon a time he would not have had to question such a thing. But it was a long time now since he had been a member of the staff at Salem University Hospital and he did not wish to take liberties. But then he was also sure there had to be a few perks to being best friends with the Chief of Staff.
"I do not know the ins and outs of it dude, but there has to be a way." Steve nodded. He would ask Kayla later.
Naturally, she would be off for a couple of weeks to recuperate though if Marcus knew her at all then he knew she was going to want to get back to work as soon as she could, whether she could hear or not.
That day though, she had gone out on the house hunt with her sister.
A weekend with the kids and Steve had been nice but in order to give them all a little space and avoid cabin fever all together if she was at all able to do so, Kayla had had the wisdom to know she did need a little time out of the apartment.
She did not want to risk them all getting under each other's feet.
They had to breathe.
"So what is going on between the two of you right now?"
"What do you mean, 'what is going on'?" Steve shrugged.
Marcus's face said it all.
"Marcus, I am here as a friend to help her out with the kids."
"One, she could have asked anyone to move in if it was a friend which was all she needed. Two, the kids are not even that little any more so please do not try and tell me this is all for their benefit and three, this is you and Kayla we're talking about. When are you going to stop lying to yourself?"
Steve sighed before he, reluctantly, nodded. He had to admit His friend had a point. So what on earth was going on between them…
The only answer which he was really able to draw up was nothing.
Nothing had happened. He guessed, at least, not since the first night he had got back. He had held her then but not since…
And yes they were living together but it was not as if they were together….
But he had to admit, all he saw when he looked at her was the same sweetness he had always loved. Steve opened and shut his mouth.
"I thought so homey," Marcus smirked knowingly. "I thought so."
X x x
It was not long before noon that the house hunters took their first break of the day. Shane and Kim had picked Kayla up at ten and by ten minutes past they had got to their first house. It was nice but not over whelming by any measure. It would be pleasant to stay in for a few days, but on coming out of it, Shane and Kim knew that they would not being living there.
The second house which they saw at ten thirty simply looked nothing like the pictures they had been shown of it so that was off the list even before they smelt it, which was not the most pleasant of experiences…
The third was however, one to keep in mind.
It was roomy and light, had space for Shane to work while not feeling cramped if they managed to get Theresa and the baby to come to stay with them, which they very much hoped they would. That was one of the main reasons which they were looking for a house in Salem after all, as Kim confided in Kayla over lunch. In spite of the fact they had been a little out of town, they had driven back in so they could eat at the pub. If they were going to be having a long day then they might as well get some energy from their mothers wonderful cooking.
'I cannot stand the thought of our little Tate growing up in Victor's house."
It was a morgue, it was not a house, in the opinion of Kimberly Brady and it certainly was not good enough for any grandchild of hers.
She wanted her grand baby to be brought up in a house that was filled with love.
Not ghosts.
'At least you know Brady is a good man.'
'I do,' Kim said – he was John's son and no matter how much time had gone past, they were always going to see John as the brother he had been to them for just a little while. But Victor had always had a hand in raising Brady and she knew better than anyone the lengths which a parent who was desperate would go for their child.
'I just want to make sure the two of them are safe,' she signed. 'And I want to do it before Shane has a heart attack.'
The stress of it was telling on her husband. Not only Theresa and Tate but also Eve and Paige.
The two of them loved their family. But it was not the easiest.
'He is going to be ok. You both are,' Kayla replied with a smile on her face.
Kim gave her a quizzical look.
Kayla shrugged. Then she signed two words. 'Thank you.'
'For what?'
'For not holding back what the two are of you are going through from me.'
'Well, your my sister and I need someone to unload on right now,' she signed as she took her hand.
They had had a patchy relationship at moments in the past but those days were long forgotten right then.
And if there was one thing Kim knew about Kayla it was how she could not stand being coddled. She was a strong women and she demanded to be treated as such.
Focusing on her own problems all the time was not going to help her get well.
'And you know you can do the same to me,' she signed.
Kayla nodded. 'I just wish some other people felt the same.'
'Steve'? It did not take a mind reader for Kim to knew who Kayla was talking about. 'What is it like having him at the apartment'?
Kayla smiled softly. 'It is the way it is meant to be – that is how I feel some times. Especially when Stephanie is home too. You know the four of us actually sat down and had a family dinner the other night. I can't remember the last time the four of us ate together."
Kim grinned. 'That must have been really special.'
'It was. And I love seeing Steve with the kids and Joey adores him and…. And then he goes to sleep on the sofa and I go to my room and it is as if he is not back at all.' She finished.
That was not quite the truth. Even when the two of them were in separate rooms, somehow she was keenly aware of his presence. It was because he was on the sofa that she could sleep at night. Of course it did not stop the nightmares… but it let her sleep.
She wondered if he was by her side at night…. If that would stop the nightmares.
'Is that what you want?'
'You know what I want,' they were sisters. They had seen one another fall in love with two very different men. But from the moment they had given their hearts in retrospect to Steve and Shane, they had never been able to take them back.
That was part of the downside of being a Brady Kayla guessed, and those numbered few. But once you were in love… that was it. 'For better or for worse' was not a vow in a marriage ceremony when you were a Brady. It was not even a choice. It was just something in you.
Kayla just thought how glad she was the two of them had been able to find men who were made of similar stuff, with similar values.
Neither of them could take their heart back either…
'But at the same time I do not know if I can trust him. I don't want to… to be made a fool of again.'
Kim was pensive for a moment before she replied, 'I think we are all fools in love sometimes. I think we have to be.'
Almost as if to prove her point, she saw their brother approach their tables with lunch.
"And how are my two favourite big sisters in the world?" asked Bo as he put down some chowder in front of each of them in turn.
"We are not doing too bad, little brother. Tired already," she said signing as she spoke. Kayla nodded in agreement, following Kim's signs as she spoke to Bo. "But as long as me and Shane get a beautiful new home, sooner rather than later then it is going to be all worth it."
With his hands free now, Bo took a deep breathe. Time to show off what he had been learning.
'Well, don't you let our Kimber wear you out," Bo signed with a big grin.
"Little brother what have you been up too?"
But Bo had no time to answer Kimberly question. Kayla was up on her feet and even thought it hurt her ribs to do so she had thrown her arms about her younger brother.
She had missed him so much. It felt like she had had so little opportunity to spend some time with him between the kids and everything going on with both of them. And even if they had had time together then there was no way which the two of them could have communicated.
Until now. He had clearly wanted to change that as much as she had and so he had done something about it.
The two of them had always had a bond – maybe it was because they were the younger pair. Or maybe it was because neither of them had been number one, nor the best and the brightest…
They had always had one another's back. Now Bo had just proved that again.
It took a while for them to draw back, but as soon as they did, Bo signed three words.
'I missed you.'
Kim felt tears prick at her own eyes as tears begun to fall down the faces of her kid's siblings.
She knew they were happy tears – still, seeing the two of them cry always got to her.
Kayla signed back that she had missed him too and none of the three Brady siblings noticed Hope enter the pub at that very moment.
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