Chapter 82- The Lesser Stepdaughter

Mac didn't sleep a wink that night. Felicia made him sleep on the couch and refused to talk to him about it right away. For a while, they'd been taking turns sleeping on the couch so one of them could be on the same floor as Georgie, but since she was gaining strength, she moved to her bedroom upstairs. So, Mac hated sleeping apart from Felicia again, and this time it was over a conflict.

The next morning, he saw a light in the kitchen and found Felicia in there setting the breakfast table.

"Good morning," Mac said. "How did you sleep?"

Felicia took a deep breath. "Not well. I thought I'd get breakfast ready before the girls wake up."

Mac nodded. "I couldn't sleep either. Felicia, about last night. I know that you love Esme, but she can't keep running off like that and scaring you. We're providing a roof over her head, food, free childcare, free car rides, and you've been bending over backwards trying to help her, and this is how she repays you?"

Felicia smacked the carton of eggs down on the counter and they heard a crack. She turned and glared at him. "Food and a roof over her head? She's my daughter, Mac. She doesn't need to pay me back for anything."

"That's not what I meant—"

"And we give Maxie free childcare all the time. We never expect her to pay us for it."

"I know," Mac said. "But I expect Maxie to treat us with respect. And if she's leaving the kids with us, I expect her to tell us, not just drop them off in a room and take off and we just find them there with no explanation. I'm happy to help with Ace. He's adorable and I enjoy having him here. But Esme can't just take off without telling us she's leaving Ace here with us. What if we didn't know he was here and something happened to him? Or what if something were to happen to Esme when she takes off like that and she's in that state of mind? She needs to learn to control her emotions and not have temper tantrums when her feelings get hurt."

"I understand that, and I agree," Felicia said. "I have the same concerns. She does have a lot of emotional issues. It breaks my heart, but she has very valid reasons why she responds that way to things. She is working hard. She's been going to therapy and I am seeing improvements in her. But she's not going to magically be perfect overnight. She came back this time on her own. The other times she ran away, Cody and Maxie brought her home. That in and of itself is growth for her. But yelling at her like that, especially while she was crying in my arms, is not okay, Mac. She shutdown after you reprimanded her. So, I don't even know where she went last night. And now I probably won't be able to talk to her about it. She might even regress after last night. I am not happy with how you spoke to her, Mac. You don't understand how important your role is in her life."

Mac sighed. "I'm on your side, Felicia."

"That's just it. I don't need you to be on my side. I need you to be on Frankie's side. The same way you've always been on Maxie and Georgie's side, even before mine when it came down to it."

"I've been way harder with Maxie in the past than I was with Esme last night," Mac said.

"But Maxie wasn't traumatized and you had a relationship with her. You don't have a relationship with Frankie. You would not have scolded Georgie that way right now. Would you?"

"Georgie isn't behaving the way Esme has been."

"But if she was behaving that way, would you have yelled at her like that with everything she's going through right now?" Felicia asked.

Mac paused in thought. "Probably not."

"I know you were trying to defend me last night, and if the situation were different, it would just be part of parenting her. But like I said, you have no relationship with her. So, all she probably saw is another potential father figure beating her down."

"How am I supposed to have a relationship with her when she's scared to even be alone with me?" Mac asked.

"You need to meet her where she's at. Make more of an effort with her in group settings. She really needs you, Mac. Most of her issues stem from how her previous fathers hurt her. I know there was Heather too, and she was kidnapped from me. But Ryan and Prescott really, really hurt her. It's affected how she views men and who she's been with romantically. She doesn't need you to only pay attention when you're reprimanding her. You need to show her that you're here for her and not just to make me happy. I spoke to her nanny and I have read hundred of letters that she wrote to me growing up. She ran away from the Princes a lot. And Prescott… Mr. Prince… he would only give her attention to discipline her."

"And I have great sympathy for what she went through, but she's not a child anymore. She can't just run off like that, especially when she has a baby. She's a grown woman and a mother but keeps acting like a child."

"Trauma does that to some people," Felicia said. "She has severe emotional issues and I've noticed she acts like a teenager a lot. But so does Georgie, just in a different way."

"That's different," Mac said. "Georgie was locked in a dark room for 17 years and she lost all sense of time."

"And that breaks my heart too. But it's similar with Frankie. Ryan was sexually abusing her and manipulating her since she was 15. All because she wanted to find me. Then he made her get close to Nikolas and he locked her in a tower. Then she hit her head and got amnesia. By the time she got her memories back, Ryan was gone. I think getting her memory back has shocked her system. Now that she's out from Ryan's influence, she's reverted to the 15-year-old girl that so desperately wanted to find me and who he molested. No wonder she had a nervous breakdown at her trial. Even though she has been improving, she still must be feeling the affects from that. On top of all that, she just found me. No wonder it's bringing out all of these emotions in her. But she needs the same Mac who moved mountains for Maxie and Georgie. The same, funny, loving stepdad they've always had. Who was there for them when their birth father wasn't. And we need to be patient with her. She really is trying."

Mac cleared his throat. "I can try harder with Esme. I guess it was just so easy with Maxie and Georgie because they were so little and attached to me almost right away. They needed me. It doesn't feel like Esme needs me the way they did."

"She really does need you, Mac."

"Okay, I will step up my game with her," Mac said. "I'll still make it clear that I want her to respect us more, but I won't yell at her again."

"Thank you, darling." She kissed his cheek. "Should we check on the girls?"

They headed out to the living room as Esme, in her denim jacket and backpack over her shoulders, headed towards the front door with Ace wrapped in a blanket.

"Good morning, sweetheart," Felicia said. "Heading out this morning?"

Esme turned. "Uh, we're leaving."

Felicia frowned. "Leaving? What do you mean?"

"We're moving out. Then we won't bother you anymore."

"You're not bothering us." Felicia looked at Mac. "We love having both of you here."

Mac nodded. "Esme, I'm sorry I yelled at you last night. I just didn't like seeing your mother so upset and scared again. And… I was worried about you too. Just for your own well-being, I don't like seeing you run off all the time. But I didn't handle it well. You and Ace are welcome here."

Esme stared at him.

"And, I've been doing some thinking," Mac said. "I want to offer to adopt you."

Felicia facepalmed.

"You weren't dealt a good hand in the father department and I want to step up and be there for you the way Ryan wasn't," Mac continued. "You and Ace deserve better. I want to be there for both of you. You can even change your last name to Scorpio to make it official. And don't worry about cost. I'd be happy to pay for it."

Esme blinked. "Adopt me? I already had a dad. I don't know why everyone is trying to replace my parents without asking me."

"Sweetheart, he is asking you," Felicia said. "But—"

"I don't need another dad. And I don't need a mom either. Ace and I are better off on our own." Esme walked out and slammed the door behind her.

Mac gaped. "What did I say?"

"Oh, Mac…. I know you meant well, but she wasn't ready for that."

"I just tried stepping up for her like you wanted me to."

"I meant to start small. Ask her to join in your Scrabble games with Georgie or invite her to lunch with you and Maxie. Things like that. Not big gestures. Just include her more. Then if things go well, offering to adopt her would be amazing. Just not this soon."

GHGHGH

Nina arrived at the hospital and found Willow sleeping in the waiting room. She went to her side and touched her arm.

Willow jolted awake.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," Nina said.

"It's all right." Willow sat up and checked her phone. "I have to start my shift soon anyway."

Nina took the chair beside her. "You've been spending so much time here."

"Yeah. Between work and Wiley…."

"Wiley's going to pull through this," Nina said. "I can feel it."

"I hope you're right. But he has a long road ahead of him."

"I know," Nina said. "So, I was thinking, now that Michael is easing up a bit, maybe you can move back in with me?"

Willow sighed. "I can't, Nina. At least not right now."

"Oh. Oh okay."

"I'd like to, but I still don't really know where Michael stands with that," Willow said. "He's allowing you to come see us at the hospital. But I'm just so grateful he's allowing me around the kids again. I need to tread carefully because I need to be here for my children. I can't risk losing them again, so I need to honour Michael's wishes. You can visit me here, but I'm going to stay with Sasha for now."

Nina nodded, fighting back her tears. "I understand."

GHGHGH

Sam pulled into a parking lot and walked into a building with a sign saying Chamber's Plumbing. She walked in and saw Shelly sitting at the reception desk.

"We will have to call you back." She hung up the phone. "Why, good morning."

Sam clenched her teeth. "You burnt my mother's house down, didn't you?"

She smiled in response.

"History is repeating itself… you mean when Danny accidentally burnt your wicked mother's house down, didn't you?"

Shelly pointed at her. "No. When you burnt my mother's house down and framed my brother for it."

Sam scoffed. "You're joking, right? I took the rap for it to protect Danny, but the truth came out. He accidentally knocked the candle over. Now you targeted my mother and you're framing my son."

"Funny how history repeats," Shelly said. "Your mother was hurt… possibly killed in a fire that your Danny is being blamed for. That sounds so similar to what happened with my mother. Except the difference is you took my brother away from me when he was supposed to be in my care if anything should happen to my parents!"

"So, that's what this is about?" Sam asked. "Revenge because I brought Danny with me? Your parents had him chained in the basement!"

"Danny and I were very close," Shelly said. "We were since we were kids. And you kidnapped him. Then you got him exposed to a virus that killed him. And your mother took the cure for herself instead of giving it to Danny."

Sam shook her head.

"I never would have allowed Danny to die in my care," Shelly said.

The door to the back office opened. "What's going on out here?"

Sam glanced up and groaned when she saw Nelle walk out. "You've got to be kidding me."

Nelle smiled. "Well, if it isn't my lesser stepdaughter."

GHGHGH

Felicia headed out of the house and down the driveway. She saw Esme sitting on the curb by the bus stop with Ace on her lap. But a car was pulled over with the window down and the driver was talking to her.

"That better not be Nelle…." Felicia walked over. "Hi Frankie, can we please ta—" She swallowed hard when she recognized the driver.

"Hi Princess." Frisco smiled at her. "This is Frankie? After all these years you finally found her."

Felicia put her hand on Esme's shoulder.