‘This one’s from...’ Melanie checked the card
carefully before handing it over to Carly, ‘Maxine.’
Carly unwrapped the box, smiling at Maxine’s gift;
scented candles and small bottles of massage oil. ‘Obviously for use on the
wedding night,’ the plump, motherly Head Nurse said, winking. The other women
present laughed.
‘Thank you, Maxine. I love them.’ Carly assured her,
exchanging a hug with her. ‘And I’ll definitely put them to good use.’
That brought loud and knowing hoots and Melanie,
struggling to overcome her giggles, passed another wrapped box to Carly. ‘Now
this one’s from… Chloe.’
Chloe, now heavy, shifted her back more comfortably on
the cushioned arm chair. ‘It’s totally unconventional as gifts go but I figured you might
get a kick out of it.’
Very curious, Carly unwrapped it and everyone yelled
with laughter at the item. ‘Unconventional
is right!’ Adrienne exclaimed, almost choking on her drink.
‘Oh…my God,’ Carly shook her head, laughing; running
her hand over the black and red box, labeled XXXopoly.
‘What… what’s better to spice things up with your
spouse than an adult board game?’ Chloe insisted. ‘Naughty but fun.’
Carly read from the back: ‘The game box contains
board, dice, game pieces, money, sexual space cards, “Hot & Heavy” cards,
Erotic chest cards and Time chips. Hmm…’
‘In the course of the game there will be many erotic
activities such as massaging, licking…’
‘Ahem… I should like to point out that the mother; daughter, daughter in law and the sisters
of the groom are present!’ Kayla raised her hand before Chloe could go on,
making the women laugh again. Caroline was already blushing red.
‘Okay, I’m done.’ Chloe pretended to zip her mouth,
her intensely blue eyes gleaming with mischief.
Making a mental note to buy the board game on Amazon,
Melanie picked up the next box from the high pile of gifts. She had insisted on
throwing Carly a wedding shower, refusing to listen to the bride’s protests
that she didn’t need one. Present beside the Brady women- which also included
Marlena, Chelsea, Sami and Belle- were Maxine, Lexie, Jennifer, Chloe, Maggie
and Adrienne. Melanie had hesitantly invited Maggie and Julie as well, not sure
if they would want to come. But Julie had to leave town with Doug at the last
minute, but she sent her present; a box of beautiful china. And Maggie, while
feeling slightly guilty over Hope, came because she was genuinely happy for
Carly and Alice would have wanted her to. Besides, why should Carly be held
accountable for something she had no hand in? Maggie vividly remembered Carly’s
warning to Hope, a warning Hope ignored; despite everyone’s urging she
squared things with Bo. That and the story of Carly’s traumatic past; no one
had the right to criticize her or Bo.
As Carly opened more presents, surrounded by her old
and new friends, she couldn’t help but think how things were so different. She
was longer the embittered, broken woman of last year and was friends with
Caroline and Kayla again. The two women
were more than repentant and did all they could in many ways to make up for
their past unkindness, even though she’d long forgiven them. The wedding was in
a week’s time and she was excited about it. Bo adamantly refused to have a
quick wedding at City Hall or elope when she suggested it. Their wedding wasn’t
going to be a secret or a quick quiet affair as if they had anything to be
ashamed of; it was going to be done the way she deserved, with family and
friends. When he asked her where she would like to be married, Carly
immediately knew where- The Blue Pearl;
the floating restaurant Bo took her on their date. It was wide and big enough
to hold the ceremony in and have the reception afterwards. ‘I lived with you on
a boat; I might as well marry you on one.’ She added. ‘And exchanging vows at
sea will somehow make it more memorable.’
‘Marrying
you’s going to be memorable, no matter where we do it,’ was his tender reply
before kissing her.
Victor wasn’t invited, by mutual agreement. Bo was
still very angry with him and Carly didn’t want to see Victor’s cold eyes
watching them as they exchanged their vows, marring the happy day entirely.
Carly was also disinclined to invite Justin as well, yet to forgive him. As
Adrienne was separated from Justin and ashamed of him for what he tried to do
to Carly, didn’t protest when Carly said she didn’t want Justin at the wedding.
However after much persuasion from Carly, Bo finally forgave Caroline.
Caroline’s gift was next and Carly was touched by it; a
large Wedding Anniversary Photo Album. ‘Thank you Caroline.’
‘And I hope you’ll get to store several years’ worth
of wedding anniversaries in it.’ Caroline smiled and Carly smiled back; seeing
the warm sincerity in the older woman’s eyes.
Kayla’s was equally touching and Carly felt tears
creep from her eyes as she held it in her hands, a leather bound illustrated
first edition of Alice in Wonderland.
‘I remember Bo saying it was your favorite book when you were a little girl,’
Kayla explained, wiping her own eyes after she and Carly exchanged a tight hug.
From Kimberly, Sami, Marlena, Adrienne and Lexie; lingerie made from sheer lace
specially designed to appeal to a man’s sexual fantasies. Carly’s favorite was
a short cream lace nightie, wondering whether to save it for the wedding night
or ‘model’ it for Bo when he got back from his Stag party with the men.
From Jennifer was what she called a “Cuddle Kit”; a
gift basket containing a fuzzy blue and white blanket, a bottle of expensive
champagne, gourmet chocolates and an Andrea Bocelli CD. Belle got Carly a plush
white robe, from Chelsea a personalized makeup bag and Melanie, the matron of
honor; a pair of ornate silver photo frames. Carly thanked everyone for their
generosity.
‘I would like to make a toast,’ Caroline raised her
glass. ‘Carly, I hope you and Bo have many happy years together. When two
people who are more than lucky enough to find each other again after so many
years; one can only call it divine intervention and have no right to question
it. You deserve happiness after what you went through in the past. We can’t
turn back the clock, we can only move forwards. And I hope you’ll do that from
now on dear. Because the future’s sunnier when we put the past firmly behind
us. I’m more than proud to have you back in the family. To Bo and Carly.’
‘To Bo and Carly,’ the women raised their glasses,
Carly too overwhelmed with emotion to speak.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Bo entered the loft after returning from his stag
party. Wanting a clear head,
he only had one glass of beer; impatient to be with his fiancée. He wasn’t fond
of such parties but Roman, Steve, Abe, Daniel, Shawn Douglas, Shane and Max insisted,
as it was traditional. Hence, he had to sweat it out, mentally counting the
hours before he was allowed to go home to Carly.
Carly was just finishing clearing up the last scrap of
wrapping paper when he came in. ‘Hey’, she straightened. ‘How was your party?’
‘So, so. Looks like yours was a huge success.’ He
indicated the large pile of presents on the couch. ‘You look pretty by the way,’
admiring the wreath of flowers encircling the top of her head.
‘Prettier than
the strippers you probably gawked at all evening? Why Commissioner Brady, I’m
really flattered.’
Bo kissed Carly deeply, running his hands over her
shoulders. ‘You should be, you were on my mind the whole evening. These bachelor/ bachelorette parties are a pain.’
‘Come on, it couldn’t have been that bad for you.’
Still holding her hand, Bo sank into an armchair,
pulling her onto her lap. ‘I’d rather spend the evening with you, not watching
half naked women dancing around. Who happen to be half my age.’
‘You poor old thing.’ Carly murmured, pressing her face
against his.
‘Seriously, how was your party; aside from the pile of
presents over there?’
‘Really it was great. Caroline even made this lovely
speech; she really wants us to be happy, Bo.’
‘I’m glad to hear that.’ Bo stroked her cheek. ‘It’s
going to be okay like I promised, princess. I’m right where I want to be and
we’re going to be together for a very long time, God Willing.’
‘God Willing.’ Carly repeated softly. ‘It was a long
road for both of us.’
Bo’s arms tightened
round her. ‘Especially for you; going through all that for so long. If only I’d
known…’
‘Lawrence would’ve had you killed and I wouldn’t have
wanted to go on living if he did. He probably hoped at some point Frankie would
go to you and you would come after me; that would’ve been his ultimate way of getting
his revenge on us both.’
Bo’s face was sad. ‘I would’ve done all I could to get
you out of there, regardless.’
‘I know,’ Carly whispered, her eyes bright with tears.
‘I know. But he can never hurt us again, not him; not Vivian.’
‘Vivian Alamain ever comes back here, she’s a dead
woman and that’s not even an idle threat.’ Bo vowed darkly. ‘She will never get
another chance to hurt you, ever. Not while I’m here to protect you.’
Carly held him close for a few minutes, feeling safe
and warm in his arms; his heart beating against hers. Bo then turned her head
to face him, kissing her gently at first then with eager intensity , his hand
moving under her top to caress her skin, aching for her. ‘Should we go to bed?’
Carly asked softly against his lips.
‘I got something else in mind,’ he whispered back.
They took a shower together, the water playing over
them; their slick, wet hands all over each other. They kissed deeply and
sensually; Bo running his hands over Carly’s scarred back before gently pinning
her against the tiled wall, wrapped her legs round his hips and entered her, Carly frantically kissing his neck
and holding on to him as they moved together
in fiery unison until they slumped against each other, panting. The rest of the
night was spent making tender passionate love, holding each other tightly
afterwards.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::.
Through the Brady Pub’s large glass window; Bo saw Frankie
getting out of a car; followed closely by Nicholas Alamain. ‘Well… look what the cat dragged in.’
Shawn Douglas turned to see, his eyebrows rising at
the sight of his soon to be stepbrother. Now that he was an adult, Nicky’s resemblance to his late father was more recognizable;
all he had of Carly were her eyes, startling green like hers. And unlike
Lawrence who spotted expensive business suits most of the time, Nicholas was
dressed in a blazer over a dark blue
shirt and black designer jeans.
‘Big Bro.’ Frankie smiled warmly at Bo, exchanging hugs
with him and Shawn Douglas.
‘I was beginning to wonder if you would ever show up;
everyone’s already here. Where’ve you been anyway, Carly said your secretary
told her you were away.’
‘I had to take care of some business, us both
actually.’ Frankie replied, indicating Nicholas.
Nicholas was
astute enough to detect chilliness from Bo and Shawn Douglas, even though they
willingly shook hands with him. ‘Look at you, man; I hear you’re married now,
with a daughter.’ He said, attempting to break the awkwardness.
‘That’s right,’ Shawn Douglas confirmed. What he
really wanted to do was ask Nicky a major question: where the hell was he when Carly
was abused by his father.
‘Bo, something’s come up and you need to know about
it. Shawn D can stay to hear if he likes.’ Frankie said.
Bo frowned. ‘Does it have to do with Carly?’
‘And you.’
‘What’s going on?’ Shawn Douglas demanded.
‘Whatever it is, please tell me it’s not something that’s
going to upset Carly; she’s recovering from what she went through and I don’t want
any nasty surprises.’
‘Bo, calm down; it’s nothing like that.’ Frankie
placated. ‘Let’s all sit.’
Bo sat down, eyeing Nicholas suspiciously. ‘So, what’s
this all about?’
Nicholas also sat, placing the briefcase he was
holding on the table.
‘First off, I know what you and Shawn D probably think
of me, that I turned a blind eye when my father abused Mum. Uncle François here
thought the same thing when he came to where she was hospitalized in the South
of France. But I swear, I honestly didn’t know he was doing those things to her. He
covered his tracks all too well and he completely had me fooled, you must believe me. I knew nothing, if I did, I would’ve put a
stop to it.’ Nicholas said earnestly.
‘Go on.’ Bo said quietly.
‘After Mum moved back to Salem; not only did I take
over the reins, I began reading Father’s
journals.’
‘That sick bastard kept journals?’ Shawn Douglas asked, disgusted.
‘Yes and it's unsavory reading; I suppose I was
trying to see it for myself, what he managed to hide from me for so many years.
Every entry was detailed, talking about how he hated you and Mum for ‘betraying’
him and how leaving welts on her body and… violating her was his way of
punishing you.’
Bo’s mouth tightened, feeling sick to his stomach.
‘Anyway, they were really distasteful; there were
weeks I would leave off reading them but I continued. But after a while, I noticed some journals were missing; vital
ones dated after my father killed the baby Mum was expecting. The first
person I could think of who might have stolen the journals was Vivian. I forbade
her from setting foot into the Alamain compound but it turned out she bribed
one of the maids to burglarize my study and take those specific ones. After the
chit admitted it, I flew over to Paris to demand them back from her. I was
using the journals as leverage because Vivian was going to tell the press it
was Mum who killed Father; twisting everything to make her appear a murdering psychopath.
But on the way there, I kept wondering why Vivian didn’t have the maid take all the journals, just those ones.’
‘Did you get them back?’ Bo asked.
‘Yes, right after I almost choked her.’ Nicholas’ eyes
flashed angrily. ‘This woman stole me and buried Mum alive, so I was done being
diplomatic. Luckily for me, I got there on time because she was planning on burning
them. On reading, I realized why she stole them. It took me a while to
sink in what I discovered.’
‘Which was?’
Nicholas turned to Frankie. Frankie leaned forward,
his elbows resting on the table. ‘The baby... survived.’
A stunned silence.
‘No… no way!’ Shawn Douglas exclaimed at last . ‘I don’t
believe it!’
More than shocked, Bo shook his head, unable to believe
it either. ‘How is that possible? A baby couldn’t possibly have survived after
its mother was stabbed in the stomach, more than once.’
‘That’s what the journal revealed. It seems incredible
but true.’ Nicholas went on with his story. Carly was stabbed, six times. When
she started bleeding, the doctor Lawrence had on standby to clear up the mess; performed
a caesarian operation, to get out the fetus and get rid of it immediately. But
it turned out the baby was alive when brought out of Carly, who was unconscious
the whole time. The reason, according to the doctor, whom Nicholas and Frankie
spent a very long time tracking down; the baby survived because aside from Carly’s
pregnancy fat protecting her vital organs, the baby was in the breech position-
which had saved her life.
Lawrence first
reaction was rage and disbelief, his first instinct to finish what he started.
But instead, for his own reasons; decided to let the brat live but Carly will
never know the baby survived. While Carly lay very ill from the operation and
loss of blood, the baby was taken away and kept under intensive care in a
private hospital. Once the child was strong enough, Lawrence’s lawyer arranged
a private adoption of the child, a baby girl. Lawrence’s journals didn’t indicate
who the adoptive parents were, so Nicholas had carried out his
own investigations, with Frankie’s help.
‘ The girl was adopted by an American couple; a Trent
Becker and his girlfriend Jane.’
‘Wait a minute, Trent
Becker?’ Bo exclaimed, hoping he heard right.
Shawn Douglas frowned. ‘That name sounds familiar, where
have I heard it from?’
‘It’s the alias Trent Robbins used for years before
moving here.’ Bo explained, his heart racing, not daring to hope. ‘Trent
Robbins was Max’s father, he was murdered a few years ago. And Max’s half-sister
is… Melanie Layton.’
‘You mean Nathan’s wife?’ Shawn Douglas exclaimed.
‘Nathan’s wife, who used to date Phillip, a
nurse at the same hospital Carly works and Carly’s matron of honor.’ Bo confirmed, still stunned.
‘‘You know this girl then!’ Nicholas exclaimed sharply.
‘Bo, this girl is your daughter, yours and Mum’s… my sister! And yours too,
Shawn D!’
Bo went speechless, unable to believe it; still shocked and amazed. If it was true,
then his child with Carly had been right under his nose the whole time.. Melanie Layton Horton was his daughter, their daughter.
‘It’s the truth
Bo, Melanie is Carly’s daughter and yours.’ Frankie said. ‘I would call it
divine providence that she ended up here in Salem and Carly coming back some
time later. I wanted you to know about this first before we break it to Carly. It’s
going to come as a shock to her of course, and Melanie.’
‘Papa… what do you reckon?’ Shawn Douglas asked, when
Bo still didn’t say a word.
For Carly’s sake and his own, Bo wanted to believe this
sudden and unexpected miracle. But he didn’t want Carly to embrace this joyous
news only to be bitterly disappointed afterwards. ‘We need to be absolutely
sure about this before we tell Carly anything.’
He said at last, his tone resolute.
‘I figured you would say that and I agree.’ Frankie
replied. ‘Obviously you want to carry
out a DNA test.’
‘Obviously.’ Bo said firmly. ‘Until we are positive,
we don’t say a word to either of them.’
Lucky for them, obtaining DNA samples from Carly and
Melanie was surprisingly easy. Returning from the bridal store; Carly, Melanie,
Belle and Chelsea stopped by the Brady pub and Carly was delighted to see Nicholas and
Frankie; introducing them to Melanie. When they were ready to go home, Bo
discreetly took the spoons Carly and Melanie used to eat their ice-creams and
took them to the police lab, handing the lab tech a sample of his as well. ‘I want
the results ASAP, understand?’
‘Yes, sir.’ The young woman replied.
Bo was on edge the rest of the day and the next
morning, much to Carly’s astonishment. By evening, the results were given to
him.
He and Carly were Melanie Horton’s biological parents.
