Chapter 18- Moving In
Willow was packing some of Wiley's toys into a box when she heard a knock at the door. She opened it to find Carly outside the gatehouse.
"Oh, hello, Carly."
"Hi Willow." Carly smiled. "Can I come in?"
Willow nodded. "Sure."
Carly walked in and scanned all the boxes. "I hear that you're moving."
"Yeah. I'm just about all packed. We get the keys today."
"Are you sure this is what you want?"
"Yes," Willow said. "It wasn't an easy decision but it's for the best."
"But you and Michael are so good together," Carly said.
"We were. But I can't handle his control anymore."
Carly touched her arm. "I think Nina has gotten into your head. "Michael wasn't trying to control you. He wanted to protect you and the kids."
Willow sighed. "I don't call blackmailing my mother protection."
"But you know Nina. She tried to send me to prison and was successful in sending Drew to prison. He almost died in there."
"It might have been tactless and petty, but she didn't set out to kill Drew."
"Michael and I are concerned about Wiley and Amelia living under the same house as Nina."
"I'm not concerned. I think the worst she'll do to them is spoil them. Something you do too."
"And I don't think it's fair that you have the children full time while Michael only takes them for visits," Carly said.
"We'll figure out a schedule," Willow said. "I won't keep the kids from him unless he starts controlling them too."
"You know that would never happen. Michael loves them and he loves you too. Try to see it from his perspective."
Willow scoffed. "And was he looking at it from my perspective when he meddled in my relationship with my mother?"
Carly gritted her teeth. "You know I love you, Willow, but if you expose my grandchildren to Nina, I will not be pleased."
"It's not your decision whether they see Nina. Now, I would like you to leave. I have packing to do."
GHGHGH
Esme could barely focus at work. Her mind kept going from Daddy to Felicia to Heather to Spence to Ace. She went to Alexis' office to pass along some files. Alexis wasn't there, so she dropped the files on her desk, but froze.
An unpublished article sat there with Daddy's face staring up at her. She picked it up with shaky hands and skimmed it.
It mentioned all of his victims and what he did to them. From murder to bombings to kidnappings to assault. Her eyes stopped when she reached Felicia's name. Stalking and harassment….
"Esme?"
She turned to find Alexis walking in.
Esme's eyes welled up and she shook the article at her. "You can't publish this!"
Alexis frowned. "I know it's about your father. That must be hard to see. I didn't write this. I don't have a say whether it's published or not, I only edit it."
"You gotta stop it!"
"I know this is the hard part about this job. I'm sorry about Ryan—"
"What if Felicia reads this?" Esme asked. "You've got to leave her out of this. This will hurt her!"
Alexis squinted at her. "That's… kind of you to be concerned about Felicia Scorpio. But I'm sorry, Esme. It isn't up to me."
"Then I quit!" She ripped up the article and threw it at her. "I want no part of it!" She rushed out of the room and headed to Ace's daycare.
GHGHGH
Mac managed to convince Felicia to get out of bed and to join him, Cody, Maxie, and the kids at the Metro Court for lunch to get her mind off Esme. The kids had a day off school because the teachers had professional development.
Mac dangled two breadsticks from his mouth and made a silly face.
James and Bailey Lou howled with laughter while Georgie played with her food.
"Why do walrus' swim in salt water?" Mac asked. "Because pepper water makes them sneeze! He-he-he!"
Maxie rolled her eyes. "I see Mac's dad jokes are coming out again. Or should I call them grandpa jokes now?"
Felicia forced a smile.
"Hey Maxie, I missed these dad jokes, so I want to hear them," Cody said.
"Grandpa you're silly!" Bailey Lou giggled and climbed onto his lap.
"Mommy, I wanna go swimming with Uncle Cody," James said.
"Well, I don't know if he brought his bathing suit, bud," Maxie said.
Cody winked at James. "I did."
James lifted his arms. "Yay!"
Maxie grinned. "I guess you're in luck."
The kids turned their attention back to Mac when he pretended to remove his finger.
Maxie turned to Felicia. "You okay, Mom?"
Felicia sighed. "Yeah, I'm okay."
"You don't seem okay."
"Let's go swimming!" Mac shouted.
"Yay!" James and Bailey Lou shouted in unison.
Maxie groaned. "Mac, don't be so loud, you're going to rile up the kids."
GHGHGH
Nina unlocked the door the penthouse and Wiley ran in first.
"Yay!" he skipped around. "Our new house, Grandma Nina!"
Nina grinned, carrying in a box. "That's right, it's our new house.
Willow pushed Amelia's stroller behind them. "We won't be sleeping here yet though. Our official moving day is Saturday."
"Will Daddy be living here too?" Wiley asked.
Willow frowned and knelt in front of him. "Daddy's going to continue living with Grandma Monica, Uncle Ned and Aunt Olivia, and Leo."
"And Brooklyn?"
"Yes, and Brooklyn. But you're going to visit him lots and can have lots of sleepovers too."
Wiley pouted. "But does that mean we won't see him every day?"
Willow hugged him. "No, buddy. But you can call him every day if you'd like."
GHGHGH
Felicia was sitting sideways on the lounger watching Mac, Cody, and James cannonball into the pool, while Bailey Lou floated around in her water wings.
Maxie sighed and sat beside Felicia. "Georgie went to the restroom. I don't know what's with her lately. She's been so moody."
"Oh?" Felicia said. "Is it puberty?"
"I guess. I don't where she gets it from." Maxie looked at her. "Why are you so down?"
Felicia took a deep breath. "It's Esme."
Maxie groaned. "I knew she was going to hurt you. Just forget about her."
"I can't do that, Maxie. And she didn't hurt me. Ryan hurt all of us."
"Grandma, come swim with me!" Bailey Lou said, kicking her feet.
Felicia smiled at her. "Not right now, sweetie. But I love watching you."
"James is getting really good at swimming," Maxie said. "I can't believe how big he is."
Felicia wrapped her arm around Maxie. "Yes, they grow so fast."
"Look Grandma!" James called over to her before jumping and spinning into the pool.
"Good job, James," Felicia said, then laughed when he jumped on Mac's back.
"Why are you staring at my mom and grandma?"
They turned to Georgie's voice and she was standing next to Esme holding Ace, both in their bathing suits.
Felicia smiled at her. "Esme, hi."
Maxie jumped up and pulled Georgie away from her.
"Hi…" Esme said quietly.
"Come on, Georgie, let's go for a swim." Maxie prodded her into the pool.
Felicia stood up. "How are you? How's Ace?"
Ace smiled at her.
Esme shrugged. "I—I should go."
"But would you like to join us?" Felicia asked.
Esme bit her lip.
"It would be fun. I've love for you to join us."
"Okay."
Felicia's face lit up. "Okay, let's go swimming. Ace, your mommy told me you both love the pool."
Esme set down her bag and followed Felicia into the shallow end.
Bailey Lou circled around them.
"Esme, this is my granddaughter, Bailey Lou," Felicia said. "And that's Georgie and James, Maxie's two oldest. You know Mac and that's my stepson, Cody. Maybe you can meet him after." She watched as the men dove into the water and she chuckled. "They're a little preoccupied at the moment."
Maxie eyed Esme, then swam into shallow end and picked up Bailey Lou. "Bailey, come with Mommy." She took her to the deep end.
Felicia sighed, then turned to Esme. "Do you come here a lot?"
Esme shrugged. "Once or twice a week. Laura got us memberships."
"That's great. It's good for them to learn young."
Esme made eye contact with Maxie. "Maxie doesn't like me."
Felicia frowned. "Maxie is struggling too. Don't take it to heart. Maybe you two can get to know each other." She looked at Esme's wide eyes. "But we don't have to rush anything. Ace looks like she's enjoying the water."
"Yeah. He likes it."
"Esme, I'm really happy you joined us," Felicia said. "I've been worried about you."
Esme didn't say anything, she just bounced a giggling Ace up and down in the water.