Chapter 37- Triggers

Esme swallowed hard and glanced around the creepy padded room. "Wh-why are you here?"

"Well, you see, Esme," Daddy said softly. "The people in this town are very evil and they've locked me up."

Esme frowned. "Oh. Why would they do that?"

He shrugged. "They've wronged me. And they will wrong you too."

There was a long pause. "Can you tell me who my mother is?"

He stared at her. "Of course, I will, Esme. But I need your help first."

"What kind of help?"

"It's a very important task," Ryan said. "I need your help to get out of here."

"Um, okay. I don't know how. But I'll try."

"Come sit." He patted beside him on the bed. "We have a lot of catching up to do."

She slowly went over and sat beside him. He wrapped his arm around her.

"Esme," Ryan said. "I'm going to toughen you up."

…"What is Spencer offering?" Daddy asked a few years later.

On the verge of tears, Esme responded in a choky voice, "The identity of my birth mother."

Esme turned as she received a text from Spencer telling her to get to the courthouse or no deal.

She jerked as Daddy snuck up behind her and ripped the phone out of her hand. "Not on my time." He deleted the message. "Well, thanks to your childish vendetta against the Robinson girl, Spencer now has a bargaining chip. Worse… his curiosity could lead him to discover that I'm your father."

"That's your only concern…." Esme took her phone back.

"You've been compromised, Esme. You're of no use to me."

"So, this relationship is purely transactional?" Esme took a breath, thinking of Mr. Prince. "Your brother Kevin told me that he feared that you could never truly care for another person and I'm starting to think that he is right."

"You know I care about you."

"Do you?" Esme asked. "Then why do you never ask me what I want?"

He sighed. "Fine. What do you want?"

"To know who my mother is."

"You can't be considering Spencer's offer," Daddy said.

"I need the truth," Esme said desperately. "If not from Spencer, then from you. Whatever it takes."

…"I could always just run away," Esme said.

"As if I'd ever allow that," Daddy said.

"And if I dare disobey you? What then?"

"Then consider yourself an orphan."

Esme's eyes welled with tears.

Daddy slowly moved over to her, his face barely inches from hers and he wrapped his arms around her. "My brother is wrong. I'm not an unfeeling monster. Your mother meant everything to me." He pulled away slightly, face close to hers again. He cupped her chin between his finger and thumb and stroked her hair. She shivered. "And so does our daughter. But that time in my life was very painful. You know your mother was the only person I could completely be myself with. And then she walked away from me. And that's why I can't bear the thought of you doing the same."

Esme swallowed hard. "I would never do that to you. I would never leave you and I would never betray you."

Daddy smiled, stroking her chin. "I know that my sweet girl. Besides…." He leaned in closer, his mouth touching her ear as he whispered, "There's no place that you can go. No place you can run. No place on earth that I wouldn't find you." He kissed her temple.

Esme sat up shaking. She hugged her knees to her chest and cried.

Ace was already awake in his crib. He held onto the bars and looked out at her.

"I—I don't know what to do, Ace. I don't want to lose you and I don't want to lose Mommy. If I tell her she could help us. Or… she'll hate me. She'll think I'm horrible and disgusting. She'll get rid of me…. But I want to tell her. Maybe she won't. Maybe she'll understand and still care about me. What do you think I should do, Ace?"

Ace pulled himself to a standing position and said, "Gam!"

Esme slowly sat up and smiled. "Aww, you said your first word, Ace." She went over and lifted him in her arms. "You heard James and Bailey call her Grandma, didn't you?"

Ace leaned against her shoulder.

"Okay." Esme nodded at him. "Okay. You're right. Mommy is going to be strong. I'm going to be brave. I'm going to tell her. Right now, before I chicken out."

She carried him out to the hallway just as the bathroom door opened and Robin stepped out.

"Oh, good morning, Esme." Robin smiled. "The bathroom is all yours. Emma is using the one downstairs, so that's why I came up. I won't be at breakfast this morning. I'm dropping Emma off at my dad's, then Uncle Mac and I are having breakfast at the Metro Court together. Aunt Felicia wanted to spend the morning with you and Georgie."

"You—you aren't scared to be alone with Mac or for Emma to be alone with your dad?"

Robin looked at her concerned. "No. Of course not. They're both great guys."

"But… but what do you do together?"

"Um, well we'll usually talk. They like to tell corny Dad jokes. We'll sometimes do an activity together."

"What kind of activity?" Esme asked. "What do you talk about? Do they tell you what to do?"

Robin scrunched her face. "I don't know. We've played board games in the past. My dad likes to take the kids mini golfing or bowling. Stuff like that. We'll talk about our lives. Family, work, things we're struggling with. They'll give us advice, but they don't tell us what to…. Esme, what's wrong? You're crying."

"I—I want my mom. Where is she?" Esme choked up. "I—I want to tell her. I want to tell her. I'm ready to tell her."

Robin rubbed her arm. "Okay. It's okay. I saw her in the kitchen. Esme, it's okay. Go talk to her."

Esme's lip trembled and she nodded. "Will you take Ace?"

"Oh, uh sure. I have a little time."

"Just don't leave the house."

Robin took him in her arms. "Okay, just focus on talking to your mom. Don't worry about Ace."

Esme wrapped her arms around herself as she cried down to the living room and she stopped outside the kitchen door.

"Did the shower feel good this morning?" Felicia asked, sitting with Georgie in the dark kitchen.

"Yeah, it felt great," Georgie replied. "I feel a lot better today."

"I'm glad to hear, sweetie. I was going to suggest a shower last night, but because you were so unwell, I thought you should just wash and go right to bed. I want to talk to Robin this morning about it. See what she suggests. Maybe just sip on your water until then."

"Okay, Mom. I was wondering if maybe we could go to Blockbuster and rent a good movie?" Georgie inquired. "It's been a long time since I've watched a movie. I didn't have a TV in my room. I thought maybe you, me, and Maxie could have a girls night together."

Fresh tears streamed down Esme's cheeks and she ran out the front door.

"That sounds really nice," Felicia said. "But I want to include Esme too."

"Oh, Mom, I'm sorry," Georgie said. "I didn't mean to exclude her. I just have a lot to get used to now."

"I know, and it's okay. A movie night sounds great. But Georgie, Blockbuster went out of business about ten years ago. We don't even own a DVD player anymore. We use streaming services like Netflix and Disney+. It's all online now."

Georgie frowned. "Oh. I—I guess you'll have to show me how that works."

Felicia reached for her hand. "It's okay, honey. We'll help you. You can even pick the movie." She pulled out her phone. "Let's see what's on Netflix."

Georgie's eyes widened. Her breathing sped up and she rose from the table.

Felicia looked up at her. "Georgie? Are you okay?"

"The-the-the cellphone…."

Felicia's eyes moved between Georgie and the cellphone and it finally dawned on her. "Oh, Georgie! I'm so sorry." She slipped it inside her purse, then got up and hugged her. "I'm so sorry, baby."

"That—that's the last thing I remember… before… before."

"I know." Felicia rubbed her back. "I know. It's not fair. But you're safe now."

"They—they look bigger now."

"They are," Felicia said. "A lot has changed. I can't imagine how hard that is for you."

"I'm sorry. It's silly."

"You don't need to apologize. It's not silly at all. We'll all be more considerate."

"Good morning." Robin walked in.

"Good morning," Georgie said.

"Hey, I actually wanted to talk to you, Robin," Felicia said. "Georgie got very sick last night. She brought up the soup. I'm very worried about her."

"Hmm, it's probably refeeding syndrome," Robin said. "We have to be careful not re-introduce food too quickly. Georgie, how much were they feeding you and what did they give you?"

"Well, they'd give me water every few days," Georgie said. "Sometimes they'd give me rice a couple times a week, but sometimes they would forget and I wouldn't get any for up to two weeks."

Felicia clenched her jaw. "Once I am able, I'm going to be paying Victor a visit."

"Then I think we need to start with rice and water since that's what your body is used to," Robin explained. "Small amounts each day. I know it sounds very bland, but once you can get through a full week without throwing up, then we'll reintroduce other foods slowly. But in the meantime, you need to take a multivitamin."

Felicia opened the cupboard and started to boil some rice. Then she got out the vitamins and gave the bottle to Georgie. "I have a few multivitamins left, sweetie. But we'll get some more."

"Thanks, Mom. Thanks, Robin." She took a sip of water and swallowed the pill.

"Hey, so did Esme find you?" Robin asked.

Felicia turned to her. "Was she looking for me?"

Robin nodded. "She asked me to take Ace. His diaper was full, so I changed him, I hope that's all right. Emma is playing with him in the living room now. Esme was very, very upset. She asked me questions about Dad and Uncle Mac, and what I do with them when we're alone together. And she was surprised I'm not scared to be alone with them. She started crying and said she wanted you and desperately wanted to tell you something and said she's ready to tell you. I'm assuming it has to do with Ryan?"

"Oh my gosh, okay, I need to find her," Felicia said. "Georgie, are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good, Mom."

Robin joined her at the table. "I can sit with Georgie for a bit."

Felicia hurried upstairs and went into Esme's room. "Esme, honey?" She glanced around the empty room, then checked the playroom and the bathroom.

"Oh, hey, hon." Mac walked out of their bedroom. "Robin and I will head out soon."

"Have you seen Esme?"

"No, I haven't. Is she downstairs?"

"I don't know. Mac, we have to find her."

GHGHGH

Esme sat on the bench on the docks and stared out at the water. She actually walked out and left Ace. She wasn't even thinking about him. She couldn't think about anything except Mommy, Daddy, Georgie. She just had to get out of there. She couldn't breathe. She wanted to curl up in a ball and die.

"Hello, Esme."

Her eyes bulged when Dex approached her. He threw a sac over her head and she screamed.

GHGHGH

Felicia grabbed her purse from the kitchen, then pulled her phone out of Georgie's view and paced the living room, where Emma was rolling a ball to Ace.

Felicia's mouth dropped when they could hear ringing upstairs. "She left her phone."

"Would she leave Ace?" Mac asked.

"No, but… if she's that upset. I don't know. I—I can't lose her again."

"You won't," Mac assured. "I'm sure she'll come back. Maybe she's just getting some air."

Georgie walked out to the living room and Robin followed.

"Mom, I think this is my fault," Georgie said. "If she was on her way down to find you in the kitchen… maybe she overheard me suggesting you, me, and Maxie have a movie night together. Maybe she only heard part of our conversation."

"Let's go look outside," Mac said. "I'll go with you, Felicia. Robin and Emma can you stay here with Georgie and Ace?"

"Of course," Robin said.

"And we'll call Cody and Maxie, maybe they can help," Mac said. "Do you think she'd go to Laura's?"

"I don't know," Felicia said.

"Come on." He took her hand.

GHGHGH

Esme was thrust into a chair, and the sac was yanked from her head. Dex stood over her but stepped aside.

Before her sat Sonny Corinthos behind his desk, grinning, giving her a dejavu. "Esme, nice of you to join me… again. Dex, thank you for your work. Please give us some privacy."

"Yes, sir." He stepped out of the office.

"Thank you for joining me again," Sonny said.

Esme slumped in the chair. "I—I—I didn't have a choice…."

Sonny leaned over his desk and looked at her seriously. "You didn't learn anything from our last conversation. Spencer came to me with concerns. You remember and the charges have been reinstated. That means you'll finally pay for what you did to my nephew, stepdaughter, and their close friends. But yet, you haven't taken responsibility for your crimes and they haven't received any justice. And what's worse, is you lied to everybody about who Ace's father is."

"Wh-what?"

"Spencer has run a DNA test," Sonny said. "Comparing me to Ace. The results will be back soon, and Spencer will take him away from you. He is confident that he is Ace's father."

"He's not Ace's father."

"Stop lying."

"I'm not," Esme said. "I know who his father is. Please, please, just let me go."

GHGHGH

"Here are the DNA results," Elizabeth said, handing the envelope to Spencer at the nurse's desk.

"Thank you, Elizabeth. This is about to change everything." He sat down on a bench and opened the envelope.

His heart sank as he read it.

Probability of relation: 0%.