Chapter 23- Aftermath

Michael parked his car and saw yellow tape with a crowd huddled near Bobbie's. He jumped out and as he approached, he noticed Mac, Dante, and Chase along with several other police officers.

"What's going on?" he called out. "Dante! What happened?"

Dante walked over to him. "Heather Webber is in there with a gun."

Michael's heart sped up. "Willow and the kids… they're in there. So is Mom and Joss."

"I know," Dante said. "We're doing everything we can."

"Michael…." Nina approached, her eyes wide in fright. "Wh-where is Willow?"

Michael's face went rigid. The last person he wanted to deal with was Nina. "Inside. Same with Wiley and Amelia."

"Well, we have to get them out of there," Nina said.

They whipped around when Maxie ran over followed by Cody.

"Mac!" Maxie called out and tried to break through the tape, but Dante held her back.

"You can't come through, Maxie," Dante said.

"But my kids are in there!" Maxie said.

"It's okay, Maxie," Cody said. "Let the cops do their job. Mac is right up there. He'll get the kids out."

Suddenly, the door to Bobbie's creaked open and Heather stepped out, her gun to Willow's head.

"Lower your weapons or I'll kill her!" Heather ordered.

"Willow! That's Willow!" Nina shouted and tried to run over but Michael grabbed her.

"Don't, she'll shoot her," Michael said.

The officers kept their guns pointed at Heather.

"Heather, if you let Willow go, we can work out some sort of a deal," Mac said.

"Willow?" Heather scrunched her face. "Who's Willow? Now, put your guns away!"

When the police didn't budge, Heather turned and shot Chase in the arm. Everyone screamed. Two officers tended to him.

"H-heather?" Willow said. "Um… I mean… mother? Please put your gun away, you're scaring me."

Heather stroked her hair with the gun. "Don't be scared, sweetheart. I'm doing what I must do to protect you."

"Forget about them," Willow said. "I will go with you. But only if you put the gun away."

Heather squinted at the police officers. "Lower your weapons and do not hurt Esme."

Maxie scrunched her face and whispered, "Esme?"

"Then we can leave safely," Heather said.

Mac nodded to his men and they lowered their guns.

Heather brought her gun back to Willow's temple and dragged her away.

"No… no…" Nina cried out.

GHGHGH

After checking on Georgie, Felicia looked at her phone, hoping to find something out about the kids at Bobbie's, then returned to the living room.

"Georgie wants to play on the computer for a bit," Felicia said. "She's a lot like her dad that way. But like her mom in other ways."

Esme swallowed hard. "Maxie doesn't want me here. She's never going to accept me."

Felicia sighed and sat across from her. "Maxie has had a hard time too. Mac isn't hers or Georgie's biological father. Their real father abandoned us when they were little. Georgie was only a baby, so she didn't remember him. It affected Maxie more because she has memories of him."

"Oh," Esme said. "I didn't know that. But… I thought Georgie was your granddaughter."

Felicia teared up. "Georgie was named after my daughter Georgie. She died 16 years ago."

"Oh. I'm sorry…."

"Thank you," Felicia said. "I would never wish the pain of losing a child on anyone."

Esme looked at Ace, who bit a French fry.

"But Maxie went through a lot back then too," Felicia continued. "She was devastated when we lost Georgie. And she was furious that I left them with Mac as teenagers and that I wasn't here when Georgie died. It took a long time for her to let me back in. She matured a lot over the years, I think both because of her children and because of her husband Nathan who passed away. But now that she knows the real reason why I left them, I think her abandonment issues are coming back to her at full speed."

"Wh-why did you leave them?" Esme asked.

Felicia took a deep breath. "Because I wanted to protect you, Esme. I had to find you when you were taken from me."

Esme pressed her fingers to her eyes when they started to well.

"Aww, sweetie," Felicia said.

"I like it when you call me sweetie," Esme mumbled.

Felicia smiled a little. "Are you okay?"

She nodded through her tears. "I'm more than okay. I finally found my mom."

"Aww, were you trying to find me?" Felicia asked.

Esme nodded.

Felicia moved to the couch and wrapped her arm around her. "Then we were trying to find each other. I searched endlessly because I wasn't complete without my third baby. You were my missing piece and I'm so glad we found each other. I'm just so sorry it took so long. Don't worry about Maxie. And please, don't take what she says to heart. I'm the one she's mad at. She's just taking it out on you."

"She shouldn't be mad at you," Esme said.

"Well, thank you for saying that, but I understand why she is," Felicia said. "I made a lot of mistakes. Maxie will come around eventually. But even if she doesn't, it doesn't matter whether she wants you here or not. I want you here. And I hope that you know that."

GHGHGH

"Back away. I'm warning you," Heather said. She kept point the gun between Michael, Nina, and Willow's temple, and pulled Willow towards a massive silver trailer.

"Just let her go," Nina said. "Please. Take me instead."

Heather scoffed. "You are not my daughter."

"And neither is Willow," Nina said.

Bang!

Heather shot a tree, then pushed Willow into the passenger seat of the trailer. She jumped in the front and drove off.

GHGHGH

Felicia glanced at the coffee table. "Sweetie, you haven't touched your burger."

Esme shrugged. "I'm not hungry anymore. Besides, it was supposed to be for you guys."

Felicia sighed. "I guess I've lost my appetite too. Oh! I was going to give you a tour. It's probably close to Ace's bedtime too, I'm guessing?"

Esme nodded and lifted him from the highchair.

"Don't worry about the food, I'll clean it up after," Felicia said as she led her upstairs. "We still have a crib from when Bailey Lou was a baby. And lots of toys Ace is welcome to play with. We turned Maxie's old bedroom into a playroom. This is mine and Mac's bedroom. I thought you could stay in Robin's old room."

"Who's Robin?" Esme asked.

Felicia pointed to a picture of Robin with Patrick and the kids hanging in the hallway. "She's my niece. She lived with us when she was a teenager."

Esme frowned. "Oh."

"Would you prefer Ace to have his own room, or do you want him to stay with you?" Felicia asked.

Esme shrugged. "Maybe with me."

"Okay, I'll get the crib." Felicia went into one of the bedrooms and checked her phone again and read that there was a shooting at Bobbie's. She took a deep breath, not wanting to show her fear in front of Esme. She wheeled the crib out to the hallway and found Esme staring at Maxie and Georgie's baby pictures hanging on the wall. Felicia chewed her bottom lip.

"Would you like to see yours?" Felicia asked.

Esme jumped.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Felicia said. "Would you like to see your baby pictures?"

"Uh… uh… you have some?" Esme asked.

Felicia smiled. "Yes, I do." She pushed the crib into Robin's room. "Come, I'll show you." She led her down the hallway to the master bedroom and she patted the bed. She opened a cedar chest and pulled out a box, then sat beside Esme and Ace. "I haven't shown this this to anyone. It's special to me and I've always kept it safe."

Esme swallowed hard. "I have a special box too. It's still at Wyndemere."

"Oh, do you have any pictures in there?" Felicia asked.

"A few from boarding school," Esme said. "But they're not that great."

"Well, maybe you can show me sometime." Felicia opened the box and lifted a tiny blue dress. "I couldn't keep everything, but I had to keep some of your things." She then lifted a small, white photo album and flipped through it. "You were 7 pounds, 2 ounces. Maxie was the smallest, 6 pounds, 5 ounces. And Georgie the biggest at 8 pounds, 12 ounces. None of you had hair when you were born, but by the time you were nine months old, you had a head full of brown hair."

Esme looked away when Felicia flipped to a picture of her kissing baby Esme's cheek at about 4 months old, and the baby was beaming. Below was written Mommy and Frankie.

Esme got up, then carried Ace off to their new room.

GHGHGH

Spinelli was sitting on the floor at Bobbie's with his arms around James and Bailey Lou.

"I want Mommy," James said.

Bailey trembled. "Mommy…."

"Soon," Spinelli said.

Josslyn rocked a wailing Amelia in her arms while Carly tried to console Wiley.

"She took Mommy." Wiley cried into Carly's arms. "Is she going to hurt her?"

Carly frowned. "The policemen are out there and Daddy was on his way. I'm sure they're helping your mommy."

The door finally opened and Mac stepped inside with some paramedics who rushed over to the dead social worker.

"She's gone," Mac said. "You're all free to go after some questions."

"Grandpa…." James ran over and hugged him. Spinelli lifted Bailey Lou and followed them over.

"Hey James, everything's going to be okay," Mac said. "Mommy's just outside."

The paramedics wheeled the social worker away.

"James? Bailey?" Maxie burst in and rushed over to them. She lifted them both in her arms and held them tightly. "Are you okay?"

"It was scary, Mommy," James said.

Mac walked over to Carly and Josslyn. "Michael wants the kids to go home with you tonight. He and Nina followed Dante to hunt down Heather and Willow."

"Is Mommy gonna be okay?" Wiley asked.

"Daddy will make sure she is," Josslyn said.

"Michael also wants one of you to text him to tell him how Wiley and Amelia are doing," Mac added. "Right after you give your statements, you can go home."

GHGHGH

"Esme?" Felicia tapped on her door. "I'm really sorry. That was maybe too fast. I didn't mean to overwhelm you. I'll give you and Ace some space for the rest of the night. I just wanted you to know I'm sorry. I'll just be in the living room if you need anything."

Esme laid on the bed and held Ace close to her as she cried.

Felicia went downstairs and plopped down on the couch. She heard a ding and pulled out her phone. There was a text from Cody.

Kids are safe. Neither were hurt. Spinelli fine too. Taking them home now. Maxie asked if you'll drop Georgie off in the morning. Have a good night.

Felicia sighed in relief.

GHGHGH

Sarah carried baby Scarlett into the ER and found her mom and sister at the nurse's station.

"Sarah?" Carolyn asked. "What's wrong? How did the visit go?"

Sarah shook her head. "Not good. Steve's mother showed up and held us all hostage. She killed the social worker."

Elizabeth gasped. "Is Scarlett okay? Was anyone else hurt?"

Sarah rocked Scarlett in her arms. "She wasn't hurt, but she won't stop crying. Most of the hostages are just shaken up. But Heather took off with a brunette that seemed to know Carly Benson. I wasn't supposed to be with Scarlett unsupervised, but the police made an exception tonight. They told me to bring her here to get checked over, then wait for her foster parents to pick her up."

"Okay, I'll take you to a room," Elizabeth said. "Mom, will you call TJ?"

Carolyn nodded.

GHGHGH

After Cody dropped them off, Maxie was able to get Bailey Lou to sleep right away. She went to James' room and sat at the edge of the bed. James was staring at the ceiling.

"Are you okay, buddy?"

"Can I sleep with you, Mommy?" James asked.

Maxie nodded. "Sure."

GHGHGH

Carly sat on the couch with Josslyn and wrapped her arm around her. "What a night."

Josslyn nodded. "I hope Willow is okay."

"Me too," Carly said. "But hopefully there's a silver lining in this and Willow will get her priorities straight. We could've lost Wiley and Amelia tonight. She needs to move back in with Michael and protect her children from Nina."

"I agree," Josslyn said. "I love Willow, but she's naïve when it comes to a lot of things, especially with Nina."

"Yes," Carly said. "After everything she's done to us, she doesn't deserve Willow or the kids."

They whipped around when they heard a scream and the pattering of feet. Wiley ran down the stairs, crying. He jumped onto Carly's lap and clung to her.

"Are you okay, Wiley?" Carly asked. "Did you have a nightmare?"

Wiley nodded. "There was a big bang and the scary lady took Mommy."

Carly kissed the top of his head. "It's okay, buddy. Grandma will do everything she can to make sure you're safe with us."