Chapter 4:
Hope walks up to the main house for breakfast. The birds are chirping, the sun is out, it's a beautiful day. But Hope can't bring herself to enjoy it, she still feels like her soul is being crushed. As she gets closer to the open patio door she can hear the voices of Thomas and Douglas. She manages to feel a small sense of excitement to see Douglas again.
"Hope!" Douglas says excitedly as he catches a glimpse of Hope coming through the doors. He jumps up and gives her a hug. "Good morning!"
Hope hugs Douglas back, "Good morning, how are you doing?"
"Really good, Daddy and I just got back from an appointment with Dr. Samuels."
"That's great, how did you like it?" Hope inquires.
"It felt really good to talk to him with Daddy. I can't wait to go back again."
"That's great, maybe I'll have to look into making an appointment with him too." Hope says as Brooke lets out a small sigh of relief. She had been pressuring Hope to make an appointment with a therapist. She knew Liam had been too, Brooke can't help but think this would be a step in the right direction for her and Liam to make an appointment together.
"I can give you his card." Thomas says reaching for his wallet in his back pocket. He fishes a business card out of the wallet and hands it to Hope.
"Thank you, I'll give him a call."
Brooke and Ridge exchange relieved glances. They had both been talking to Liam about trying to get the two of them into therapy. "Well I do have to get to the office," Ridge says, "Unless you need me to stay." He says as he puts a hand on Thomas' shoulder.
"No you can go in. As a matter of fact I may want to start coming into the office to. I'd like to get back to work once Douglas starts going to school."
"That's a great idea, no need to rush. I'll let everyone know our new lead designer will be coming in shortly." Ridge gives one more pat on Thomas' back, gives Hope a quick shoulder squeeze hug, gives Douglas a great big grandpa hug and gives Brooke a kiss goodbye then goes off to work.
"Douglas," Brooke sweetly says, "would you like to help me with those chocolate chip cookies we talked about making?"
"Yeah!" Douglas excitingly says then he looks up at Hope, "We are going to make some for Aunt Steffy and the girls."
"I bet they'll love that." Hope smiles at Douglas as he and Brooke head to the Kitchen.
"I'm glad to see he hasn't sunk into a depression," Hope says turning to Thomas.
"I know, that was my biggest fear. But therapy has been doing him good." Thomas says looking into Hope's eyes. He can't help but notice that there is a sadness to her eyes that suggest she has already sunk into that place of deep depression. His heart breaks for her. "How have you and Liam been?"
"We, we've been," Hope takes a minute to think about her next words, does she lie and say they've been fine or does she tell Thomas the truth, that she has been terrible and has been pulling away from Liam. That she wants him to spend more time at Steffy's house with Kelly and Phoebe. She looks into Thomas' eyes and realizes he already knows the truth. She can feel her eyes burning as she tries to fight the tears they just roll out of her eyes spilling onto her cheeks as Thomas wraps his arms around Hope and gives her a consoling hug. It's the first time in a long time she has just let out the emotions uncontrollably for a while, it feels good to just let it flow and not worry about any judgement or anyone acting like she is a fragile little doll. Just as she continues to sob into Thomas' shirt Liam comes through the patio door.
"Hope!" Liam says as he pulls Hope from her hug from Thomas into him, "It's ok, I'm here for you."
Hope pulls away from him and wipes her tears, "I'm ok." Hope assures Liam.
"You don't have to mask your pain to me." Liam says brushing the hair from Hope's forehead.
"I'm not, you already know my pain. I'm not trying to mask anything. Weren't you going to Steffy's to pick Kelly up for a daddy/daughter day?"
Liam sighs, "Yes, but if you need me please call me and I'll be back in a heartbeat. Ok?"
Hope nods as he gives her a kiss on the forehead. He looks over at Thomas and gives him a silent nod and a weak smile. Part of him can't help but feel frustrated and maybe a little bit jealous that Hope allowed herself to be vulnerable to Thomas and not him.
