Scott Baldwin stood with his father in the vestibule of Trinity Episcopal Church over an hour before services began. His father, who had become his attorney, had arranged for them to meet Serena's CPS caseworker before the service.
"How do I explain this to her?" Scott asked. It was mostly a rhetorical question, although Scott supposed if his father had any great thoughts on how he explained to his five-year-old daughter that he was being framed for rape and she wouldn't be able to live with him until he got it straightened out then he would certainly consider them.
"Monica said she did fine overnight and she apparently loved the breakfast salad," his father said.
"Is that the thing she makes with spinach, fruit, nuts, and a little cheese when Edward has been complaining about her heart healthy oatmeal louder than usual?" Scott asked.
"I think so, it is actually quite good," his father said but his words trailed off as a tall woman with short dark brown hair came through the front doors of the church and turned in their direction.
Lee Baldwin took half a step forward and extended his hand. "Are you Ms. Carpenter with Chapparal County Children's Services?" he asked.
"Yes, Mrs. O'Connor told me you arranged with her for your client to attend church services with his daughter and then have a brief visit with her in the church garden. Given the charges, you understand that all needs to be supervised."
Scott scowled silently. As much as he wanted to scream and rant about the injustice of it all he needed to see Serena even more.
"Yes, we understand that. We appreciate you giving up your Sunday morning, and on such short notice."
"My father was an Episcopalian Bishop, I actually briefly considered becoming a nun so attending church is hardly a significant hardship," Maggie Carpenter said.
Scott saw his father smile. He probably saw the random caseworker sharing their faith as a positive. Unfortunately, it was hard for Scott to see any positives in the situation. However, because Serena's wellbeing depended on him convincing this woman that he was not a threat to his own daughter he merely said, "Regardless, I still appreciate this. Serena is only five and she is only now starting to feel comfortable again after the kidnapping. This is going to be hard but I think it will be even harder if we don't have this opportunity now."
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In her suite in the East Wing, Brenda Barrett brushed the mascara wand across her lashes, reinserted the wand into the bottle and returned it to the cosmetics tray on her vanity table. She frowned at her reflection and then picked up tube of raspberry blush lipstick by Jacks Cosmetics from the tray. She brought her lips into a pout, relaxed, and then applied color. She had just set the tube down when there was a knock at her door.
"Come in," Brenda called as she picked up a hairbrush and started brushing out her dark brown locks. She presumed Alli or Emily needed fashion advice or help with their hair for church. That was one area of nannying she supposed she had always excelled in although typically people didn't expect their nannies to select clothes and do hair for their teens as much as toddlers and other aspects of toddler care had been a bit overwhelming at first.
However, when Brenda glanced over to the doorway, she didn't see Emily or Allison. Instead, their second cousin, Chloe Morgan, was standing just beyond the threshold. At Ned and Carly's reception, Jax had mentioned that Chloe owned her own design label in Milan. Then he had spent the rest of the evening stalking her with his eyes. Brenda suspected he thought he subtle but what he didn't understand was that it wasn't that she didn't notice; it was that she didn't care.
Brenda understood that men like Jax needed a certain type of woman on their arm. She fit that type and in a way as the Spokesmodel for his company she couldn't really say no. Of course, in her current situation she also didn't really want to say no because dating Jasper Jacks gave her something to occupy her mind and gave reporters something else to ask about other than her broken engagement to Michael Corinthos Jr.
"I'm sorry to intrude. Aunt Lila thought you might have a sweater I could borrow. I laid mine on a bench during our walk in the rose garden and it seems to have disappeared. The gardener thought he might have seen some stray dog named Foster with it so Uncle Edward is convinced he has likely turned it to rags by now."
Brenda laughed at the French Mastiff's antics. Foster and Lila Quartermaine's French Briard, Annabelle were the epitome of puppy love both literally and figuratively. For over three years Foster had been running away from the Spencers and coming to see his beloved Annabelle. Edward found it infuriating but most of the rest of the family found him and them entertaining. "Sorry about your sweater. You're welcome to look through my closet," she offered.
"It was hardly the extreme hardship Uncle Edward is making it sound," Chloe said as she took a few steps forward so she was clearly in Brenda's room but didn't venture into the walk-in closet.
"Edward and the Spencers, who own Foster, have had a bit of a contentious relationship over the years. I think Edward uses Foster as a vehicle for his frustration with Luke because he knows Luke will basically just laugh in his face. It is rather ironic if you think about it."
Chloe appeared perplexed. "Why?" she asked.
"Luke and Edward actually share a similar opinion of Foster. He is an annoying nuisance on his good days."
"Maybe that is why he runs away so frequently," Chloe suggested.
"Perhaps, and I get the impression that Luke certainly aided his escape in the beginning. But he comes here because he is in love with Annabelle. Emily's puppy Raoul is their lovechild."
"So, this is just a preview for a few years from now when Emily or Allison want to date Luke's son?" Chloe asked.
"Perhaps, Allison briefly dated Matt Reynolds and I think her parents are still recovering from that."
Chloe smiled. "Ah, yes, our father started finding gray hairs the same year I started dating. Our mother is still trying to convince him it was coincidental rather than causal."
Brenda decided not to explain that most of Alan and Monica's trauma from Allison's first boyfriend stemmed from the fact that he had died from a heroin overdose, with drugs likely supplied by one of Monica's former colleagues. Instead she got up from her vanity set and crossed the room to her closet to retrieve a yellow sweater. "Here, this should go with your dress and you probably will need a sweater because they always over air condition the church from late April to at least mid October," she said as she passed the sweater to Chloe.
As Chloe pulled the sweater on, Emily and Allison appeared together in the doorway. "Don't shoot the messenger, but Grandfather wants to make sure everyone knows that the limo is leaving, with or without stragglers, in ten minutes," Allison said.
Brenda smiled. "I thought I heard bellowing. I guess I was right," she said.
"Merely as a point of information, the bellowing is not another tirade on the importance of Quartermaine punctuality. Grandmother informed him that if Ned comes to Sunday Brunch, he may not ask about some mine in Nevada. Apparently, that is what Ned spent the past week working on with Celia," Emily explained.
"Who is Celia? I thought Ned and Carly just got back from their honeymoon on Friday," Chloe said.
"Celia Quartermaine is Edward's great niece. She and her father, Quentin, are basically running ELQ West. Ned and Carly had to have a working honeymoon because Ned's project meeting with Celia was scheduled further in advance than his wedding to Carly," Brenda said. She had learned quite a bit about the inner workings and even organizational structure of ELQ during the eight months she had dated AJ Quartermaine.
"AJ also thinks it was Ned's way of reminding Grandfather that his marriage is not up for discussion without really pushing the issue by rescheduling any of his ELQ commitments," Allison said.
Brenda hadn't considered that possibility. Although she supposed it was the approach Ned had taken with Lois so perhaps it fit. "Maybe that approach will work better for them than it did for Ned and Lois. For Ned's sake, I guess I hope it does," she said.
"I really miss Lois and Brooke," Emily said wistfully.
"Me too, we should probably go downstairs before Grandfather starts bellowing again," Allison suggested.
As Brenda followed everyone out of her room and downstairs, she thought about how much she also missed Lois. She hadn't seen her since the weekend they had spent in Lois's brownstone after Sonny canceled the wedding. She had tried to get together when Jax had dragged her into the city for some United Nations reception but Lois had claimed she had a day full of meetings on Friday and then was going to be away all weekend. Honestly, it seemed like Lois had been too busy to get together quite a lot over the past year.
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Carly Ashton reached for her husband's hand and intertwined their fingers as they started down the sidewalk from their home towards Trinity Episcopal Church. Although she still intended the gesture as one of solidarity much more than romance, she was starting to enjoy Ned's company a little. "So, your whole family goes to church together every Sunday?" she asked.
"Mostly, Alan, Monica, and Ryan get stuck at, or called away to, the hospital sometimes but otherwise, yes. I understand my family can be a little overwhelming on their good days but I meant what I said earlier; I will run as much interference as possible if you just say the word."
Ned's offer sounded genuine and Carly believed it could be. She knew it was largely undeserved; the marriage had been her idea after all. Of course, she supposed it could be argued that most of Ned's kindness towards her was undeserved. "So, this is where our baby will be baptized?" she asked.
Ned's face showed that wasn't exactly the response or question he was anticipating. "If that is what you want. If you wanted to have the baptism at the church we got married in we could do that as well. I feel we need to raise our child in the church but I think that the denomination is less important than giving them a connection to faith and salvation."
A connection to faith and salvation? Did Ned have that? Could she ever have that? Thoughts tumbled through Carly's mind but when she really thought about it, it didn't sound so bad. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. "My mother is more of a lapsed Catholic. I more than tested her faith and honestly, I think the priest only let us get married at Old Dominion because of your generous donation. We can baptize the baby here and I'll do what I can to help you raise him in the church as long as that doesn't mean making him feel less than."
"Was that your experience growing up?" Ned asked.
"Kind of, I wasn't really a good girl," Carly said as they arrived in front of Trinity Episcopal Church.
"I'm sure this church will be different, even if only because the priest doesn't want to offend Edward Quartermaine's granddaughter in law and lose his Quartermaine endowment. My mother will be excited that we live close enough to the church to walk. She always wanted that, or maybe she just always wanted to move out of the trailer park. It was probably that," Carly said. She forced a laugh at the end.
Ned wrapped an arm around her shoulders and brought her around to face him. He gently brushed his lips across her forehead. "I think maybe you will like Reverend Staunton but I meant it before, if you aren't comfortable in this church, we can find somewhere else to attend," he said.
"I appreciate that," Carly said. The words sounded off hearing them come out of her mouth but they felt more right than anything had in months. Before she had planned to marry Tony and let him believe that the baby was his. She had justified her dishonesty as the best option for her child. Now she was about to let Ned raise a child that they both knew was not his. Somehow things felt very different. At first, she had thought that it was just that the truth was out. But now, she was starting to understand that while Tony had been possessive of the child, Ned was truly committed to parenting. There was a big difference and Carly was starting to believe she really was finally making the right choice for her child.