Chapter 88- Nelle's Family Dinner

Nina took a deep breath and knocked on the door. A few minutes later, the door swung open and Nelle set her hands on her hips.

"What do you want?" Nelle asked.

"I want to talk," Nina said. "Since you aren't answering my phone calls."

"There's a reason for that."

"Nelle, please. I know that I hurt you."

"And exactly what instance are you referring to?" Nelle asked. "What hurt are you talking about?"

"At the custody hearing a couple years ago," Nina said. "I know I let you down and I'm so sorry. I did the best with what I knew at the time."

"You were supposed to be my witness after I opened up to you about the life I was planning for my son," Nelle said. "You failed me. You have always failed me."

"I want to make it up to you," Nina said. "And I heard that Wiley is with you now? How's he doing? Maybe I can come in for a visit?"

"This isn't a good time. I'm getting ready for my family dinner."

"Family dinner?" Nina asked. "Well, can I join you?"

"Absolutely not," Nelle said. "You and Willow aren't welcome around my family. I am going to protect my children the way you never protected me. And I won't let anyone take them from me."

"I wouldn't have let anyone take you from me," Nina cried. "But I was in a coma."

"I don't want to hear your sob story." She glanced over when a car pulled in the driveway. "Now please leave."

A man jumped out of the car with a small package. "Delivery for Janelle Chamberlain?"

"It's about time." Nelle yanked it from his hand, then slammed the door in Nina's face.

GHGHGH

Robert glanced up from his desk when Holly walked in.

"I'm here on a sensitive matter," Holly said. "A—A highly, deeply sensitive matter. A matter that I need to talk to you about."

Robert stared at her. "Sounds serious."

"It is," Holly said. "It could change things… completely."

Robert laughed. "Well, don't keep me in suspense."

Holly took a deep breath. "How do I put this into words?"

"How about… Robert… you have a daughter."

Holly gaped at him. "Who told you?"

"Sasha," Robert said. "She just left here. She just filled me in."

"Robert, I—"

"I told her it's impossible that I'm her father," Robert said. "She told me she is 31 years old. You know perfectly well we weren't together when she would've been conceived."

"Robert—"

"What exactly are you pulling this time?" Robert asked. "Why lie to your daughter and why pull me into this?"

"I wasn't lying," Holly said. "Well, not about this matter. You are Sasha's father. But I lied about Sasha's age."

"What do you mean, you lied about her age?" Robert asked.

"Well, you see, when I got pregnant, I couldn't risk your enemies finding out about the baby, so I went into hiding," Holly said. "And I gave birth to Sasha without anyone knowing. But I wanted my child to have the best chance at life and I knew I couldn't keep her hidden for much longer. That's why I left her with my mother when she was six. But by then she was behind in her education and I didn't want her to know that she was behind when she went to kindergarten, so I told her and my mother that she was a year younger than her true age."

"You realize kindergarten isn't mandatory, right?" Robert asked. "Why not just put her in first grade? I don't know why you're doing this, but I know you're lying. Sasha is not my daughter."

"I didn't want her to miss the kindergarten experience. She is your daughter, Robert," Holly said. "She is and she needs you. We both need you."

"You need to leave, Holly."

Holly sighed. "Just please don't turn Sasha away."

He picked up the phone when she left. "Hello, Sasha? I think we better run a DNA test."

GHGHGH

Nelle stood in the doorway of Wiley's room. "Wiley, it's time to go down for dinner."

"I wahnt Mah-ee and Dah-ee…" Wiley cried in his bed.

Nelle walked over to his bed and sat down. "Oh, Wiley, we've talked about this. I am your mommy. And you never have to see Daddy or Willow ever, ever again."

Wiley sobbed.

Nelle rubbed his arm. "It's okay. I'm going to make you very happy here. Let's go get Esme. Lucas and Sam will be here soon."

"Ungle Luhas?"

"Not uncle," Nelle said. "He's your brother. Come on, Wiley. I'll help you walk."

She lifted him out of bed and held his hand. He swayed through the hallway.

"Are you feeling dizzy?" Nelle picked him up and knocked on Esme's door. "Esme, dinner will be ready soon. Why are you crying?"

Esme pushed away her tears and lifted Ace. "I was just… doing some thinking."

"Well, dinner's going to be ready soon and Sam and Lucas will be here with the kids any minute."

"Why are they coming?" Esme asked.

"I invited them," Nelle said. "They are my stepchildren."

"Aren't they older than you?"

"Age doesn't matter when it comes to family."

"Okay…."

"Come on, let's go." Nelle led her down to the dining room and sat Wiley in a chair. "Esme, you sit across from Wiley and I'll sit between you at the head of the table."

"And Ace?" Esme asked.

"I'll grab the highchair." She went to the kitchen and returned with a highchair. "Ace can sit beside you on this side."

Nelle's face lit up when the doorbell rang. "That'll be them."

Esme watched Nelle leave the dining room and she looked down at Wiley whose eyes were drooping.

"Here we are." Nelle returned with Sam and Lucas. "I'll show you the rest of the house later. Dinner is ready."

"Hey Wiley." Lucas wrapped his arms around him. "He looks like he should be in bed."

"Oh, he's been in bed since last night," Nelle said.

"Okay," Lucas said. "Remember to change his dressing every day. And don't forget about his follow-up."

"Oh, about that," Nelle said. "I don't trust the doctors at GH. I'm just going to ask my own doctor to come by and look at him."

"But he has another scan scheduled," Lucas said. "We need to monitor his brain closely."

"I need a second opinion on that." Nelle clapped her hands. "Okay. Lucas, you can sit beside Wiley. Sam—no! Don't sit at the other end. You're going to sit on the other side of Ace. If you also sit at the head of the table, then you'll be in a more important seat than Esme and Wiley. I would have Esme sit there, but I want her beside me."

Sam glared at her, then sat down beside Ace.

"All right, to begin—"

"Nelle, he needs to be in bed," Lucas said. "He can't even sit up. He's asleep now. If you're having troubles, I'd be happy to take him home with me for a bit. At least until he's recovered."

"No," Nelle said. "I will take him upstairs." She picked up Wiley. "Stay here. I will be back." She disappeared upstairs.

Sam sighed. "How are you, Esme?"

Esme shrugged, staring at her plate.

"Well, I'm going to use the bathroom." Sam winked at Lucas and disappeared down the hallway.

"Esme, how come you decided to live with Nelle?" Lucas asked.

"It's only for one night," Esme said.

"Oh okay, well I know Aunt Felicia loves having you at her home," Lucas said.

Out in the hallway, Sam peeked in each room. She set her hand on a doorknob, but it was locked.

"Oh, Sam."

Sam jolted when Nelle walked up behind her.

"I haven't had a chance to go over the rules with you," Nelle said. "Here, there are no rules. All except one. Stay out of the basement."

Sam cleared her throat. "I was looking for the bathroom."

"It's at the end of the hallway. I'll wait for you." Nelle smiled. "I wouldn't want you to get lost on the way back to the dining room."

GHGHGH

"Thank you for letting me visit Amelia," Willow said as she rocked Amelia in her arms.

"I wish we never went to court in the first place," Michael said. "I mean, I guess Wiley still could've gotten shot since he's always visited Mom and Dad a lot. But Nelle wouldn't have him now."

"I just hope Lucas can see him tonight," Willow said.

"I think all of this proves that we're better united," Michael said. "I've missed you, Willow. I'm sorry about everything."

"I'm sorry for my mistakes too. I just want Wiley and Amelia to be okay." She kissed Amelia's forehead.

GHGHGH

"Hi, hon," Mac said when he got home.

Felicia sat up from where she'd been lying on the couch. "Hi Mac."

"Where's Georgie?"

"She was feeling sleepy so she's laying down," Felicia said.

"Are you still mad at me?" Mac asked.

"Yes, but not as much as before," Felicia said. "I'm more mad at myself."

He sat beside her. "Why?"

Felicia sighed. "I know you were right, Mac. She needs to stop running off like that and it needed to be addressed. But like I said before, you have an important role in her life, a very delicate role. I should have warned you to be more patient with Esme, because she really is traumatized. It's not what you said, it's how you said it. She just can't handle that right now and I know it triggered her. If I addressed it with her sooner, then maybe it could've been discussed in therapy and Lainey could've given her other ways to channel her emotions. Then she could've started dealing with this sooner and maybe you wouldn't have gotten so frustrated with her. So, all of this is my fault. She's just so lost and confused. I really thought I was helping her, but I'm really not a good mother."

"That's not true. I've noticed improvements in her too and that's because of you. It's just this running away thing needs to stop. But she seemed happy here with you. Just not around me. Like you said she's not going to be perfect overnight. So, I know it's hard to address everything with her all at once. But don't doubt yourself as a mother."

"Thank you for saying that. I think I blew it though, today," Felicia said. "And I'm worried that Lucy was partly right, that I'm going to lose her forever. I went to see her at Elizabeth's. And I think I was starting to get through to her. But I think I went on too much. I should've just left it with how you're not a bad guy and won't hurt her, and how much I love her and want her to come home, but I won't force her. But I went on and said I won't be kicking you out because Georgie needs you. I shouldn't have added that part. It came out wrong and she probably thinks I'm putting you and Georgie before her. That's not what I'm trying to do at all."

"No, that's not what you're doing. She's the one who chose to leave and you're just giving her the freedom to choose. I think Esme is just overly sensitive and anything we say can set her off," Mac said. "She's lucky to have you and I think she will see that."

"But she said she's going to Nelle's tonight. Mac, I have a horrible feeling about it. I just feel like something bad is going to happen."

"I heard about that," Mac said. "Sam and Lucas were at the PCPD today to bail out Danny. But Nelle had already bailed him out."

"That's just like when she paid Esme's fine," Felicia said. "What is she up to?"

"I don't know, but she invited Sam and Lucas for dinner and they agreed to go. They want to check in on Wiley and I asked them to check on Esme and Ace too. But they also want to find evidence that Nelle burned Alexis' house down."

"What?"

"Alexis woke up and said Nelle burned her house down," Mac said. "But there's not enough proof and since Alexis has been disoriented, we don't have enough to arrest Nelle."

"I don't know what her motive is, but she probably did it," Felicia said.

GHGHGH

Nelle plopped a pie down on the table. "All right, kids…."

"Kids?" Sam asked.

"Lucas, you cut the pie," Nelle instructed. "While I give Esme and Sam my gift."

Lucas rolled his eyes and pulled the pie closer to himself, then started cutting it into pieces.

Nelle pulled the package she received earlier from her pocket. She ripped open the box and pulled out three necklaces. She moved behind Esme and pulled her hair to the side, then put the necklace on her. Esme tensed up and glanced down to see a third piece of a broken heart hanging from the chain. Nelle moved to Sam next, but Sam pushed her hand away.

"Don't touch me," Sam said.

Lucas gave Sam a look.

Sam cleared her throat. "I apologize, Nelle. "I just get sensitive when anyone touches my hair. Here, I'll hold it to the side while you put the beautiful necklace on me."

Nelle smiled. "Of course." She put the third necklace on herself. "Now we'll always be connected." She kissed each of their cheeks. "Always."

Sam wiped her cheek with her napkin while Nelle wasn't looking.

"Well, it's time for you to leave," Nelle said. "Esme and Ace need their sleep."

"Hey, Nelle," Lucas said. "I'd be happy to stay for a few nights if you need help with Wiley."

"I don't need any help with my son," Nelle said. "I already told you. Only Wiley, Esme, and Ace will be living here. But you can join us for dinner on Sunday again."

Lucas bit his lip. "Sunday sounds great. Just text me if you have any questions about Wiley's recovery."

While Nelle walked them out, Esme took Ace up to her room and laid him in his crib.

"I don't know, Ace," Esme said. "Do you want to go home tomorrow? Should we do what Cameron says and just trust Grandma to protect us?"

"Gamma," Ace said. "Home."

Esme started crying again and pulled off her necklace. "It doesn't feel like home here. It felt so lonely down there, even though it was a group. The only place that's ever felt like home is at Grandma's, even with Mac there. But I don't want him to hurt us. I just want both of us to feel safe. I don't want you to go through what I did. I would do anything for you, Ace. I don't know what to do. Nelle said Grandma is choosing Mac over me. Is she right?" Esme kissed Ace's forehead. "I love you, Ace."

Esme turned and jumped. Nelle was standing in the dark doorway, staring at her.

"Here's an extra blanket." Nelle set it on her bed.

"Thanks."

"I'll make us pancakes in the morning." Nelle kissed Esme's forehead. "Sleep tight."

Esme changed into her pajamas and climbed into bed. She pulled out her phone and pulled the picture of her and Ace with her mom at Ace's birthday party.

"Twenty years ago, I had another baby," her mom's voice played in her head. "A beautiful baby girl. But she was taken from me. I spent all these years trying to find her, and a few weeks ago I finally did. It's you, Esme. You're my daughter…. I don't think you understand the impact you have on people and how valuable you are to our family."

After staring at it for a few minutes, Esme pulled up her messages and clicked on her mom's name.

Can you come get us in the morning? Esme texted. I want to go home.

Almost immediately her mom texted back. Absolutely, sweetheart. I'll be there at 9 o'clock. I love you xoxo.

Esme smiled a little, then set her phone on the night table beside the necklace and fell asleep.

GHGHGH

"Okay, that was creepy," Sam said on the drive home. "It was almost like Shiloh vibes."

"Or like Ryan Chamberlain vibes. I hate leaving Wiley there," Lucas said. "She doesn't even know how to take care of him."

"And she's hiding something in her basement," Sam said. "It was locked. She told me to stay out of there and that's the only rule."

"Any ideas of what could be down there?" Lucas asked.

"I have no idea. But I'm going to find out. And what's with these necklaces?" Sam ripped hers off.

"Be careful. She'll probably check that you're wearing it next time we go. If we want to go back there, we need to keep on her good side."

Sam sighed. "You're right. I won't wear it until then, though."