Post by rsafan on Oct 18, 2006 6:33:33 GMT -5
Chapter 15
Shawn removed Mimi’s coat as they stepped into his grandparents’ home. His mother came out from the living room and greeted them. She’d overheard Celeste’s comment the night before, about a baby being fine and she wanted to know what it meant. Her son and his wife obviously knew, as they hadn’t seemed that surprised by Celeste’s observation.
“Hey mom, has dinner started yet? I’m starved.” Shawn hugged his mother.
“No honey, we’re still waiting for some family members. Listen I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“Can it wait till later? I have to greet the rest of the family.” She nodded as Shawn walked into the living room.
“Sorry about his manners, he’s been that way all day. Max said to tell everyone he’d be late, so to go ahead and have dinner without him. Bo invited his girlfriend along and she’s a little nervous meeting the family. She’s still deciding what to wear. According to Max, she’s already tried on ten outfits.”
Hope simply nodded, not hearing a word Mimi said; instead she’d been studying Mimi. Had she put on weight recently? She was looking slightly chubby, especially in the tummy area. Hope dare not get her hopes too high, she could have simply misunderstood Celeste’s comment last night. Deciding to wait until she had a moment alone with Shawn and Mimi before asking them, she simply walked with Mimi into the living room.
Max grabbed her arm and guided her back to the front door, “Yes you can. You were done with college by the time you turned sixteen, this’ll be a piece of cake in comparison.”
“Are you kidding me? College is all about studying, it was way easier than what I am about to do. What if they don’t like me?”
“Hey, they like me. They like your dad, they like your brother, in comparison, you’re an angel. They’ll love you; they’ll accept you and they’ll welcome you with open arms.”
“Promise me you’ll stay by my side the entire night, I need you to be my buffer, just till I get to know them.”
“I promise, although we might have some explaining to do when either of us needs to use the bathroom, tongues will be wagging.”
She laughed, and thanked him because she’d needed a laugh and he’d known that. She leaned up and kissed him chastely on the cheek.
He pointed a finger at her, and said very sternly, “No hanky-panky. Don’t think you can seduce me into forgetting to take you inside. It won’t work,” then his expression changed and he grinned at her rather wickedly, “Although I’d certainly enjoy the experience.”
She snorted, “In your dreams mister.”
He opened the door for her. As they stepped inside, they could here voices coming from the living room, obviously dinner had already finished. He stood in the foyer for a while, listening to the conversation, Bo was telling the family about Victoria. He’d already gotten past their thoughts exactly how events had unfolded almost twenty years ago when she’d been given up. He placed his arm around Victoria’s waist and led her into the living room just as his mother asked Bo, “So where is she now, this newest addition to our family?”
It was Shawn who answered, having spotted their arrival, “She’s just come in the front door grandma.”
Victoria watched as at least a half dozen heads turned in her direction, as at least a half dozen sets of eyes looked her over. She moved closer to Max, though not quite close enough.
“Aren’t you the girl?”
“Yes grandma, she’s the girl you saw Max with this afternoon.” Shawn moved from his place behind the chair Mimi occupied and walked over to his sister. Reaching out his hand, he waited till she placed hers in his and then smiled at her reassuringly. She smiled back and for the first time since all this had started, she felt like she was going to be okay.
Shawn turned to the room, “Everyone, I’d like you to meet Victoria Blanche Campbell, my sister.” Then he turned to her, “Victoria, this is almost the entire Brady clan. I think I’d better introduce you to the more important people first.” He walked her over to Bo and Hope, “Mom, dad, this is your daughter.”
Bo looked her over, “I can see that, she looks just like her mother.” He pulled Victoria into a hug and she had no choice but to reciprocate, it felt good, it felt right.
She was a lot more nervous about meeting her mother, the person who had actually birthed her. She smiled shyly at Hope. Hope reached out and touched her face, like a blind person felt something so as to commit it to memory, so Hope ran her hands over her daughter’s face. Committing each curve and contour to memory, every inch of her daughter’s face, the daughter she hadn’t known ad existed till yesterday, the daughter she already loved more than she could say. She touched the tears that had fallen from her daughter’s eyes and that were now running down her face and didn’t even realised she’d been crying herself till Victoria reached up with a shaking hand and did the same. They stood there for a while, simply smiling at each other until Hope whispered, “Hi honey.”
Victoria laughed and replied with a greeting of her own and then, was enveloped in another hug, this one was a lot different from the first, it was gentle and comforting. It was an embrace that welcomed, that comforted and yet it was also unsure. And in that moment, Victoria knew that her mother had been as afraid of meeting her, as she had been of meeting her mother.
When they finally let go, Shawn turned her around and introduced her to the rest of her family. There was Grandpa Shawn and Grandma Caroline, Uncle Roman and two of his daughters, Samantha and Caroline, known as Sami and Carrie. She was told about Eric, who was in Colorado with his maternal grandparents. She already knew all about most of them from Rex and Cassie, and it was revealed that she already knew them. This seemed to go over well with the family. It was at that moment that she realised she hadn’t told Rex about finding her parents; she made a note to call him when she got home. Next was Aunt Kayla and her daughter Stephanie, she was told about her Aunt Kimberly, who was living in Los Angeles and then introduced to her Uncle Frankie, Max’s biological brother, whom she’d already met at the amusement park all those months ago.
After almost an hour of getting to know her family, Max demanded dinner. Complaining that he’d had to miss out on what he was sure had been a delicious dinner because she’d been getting dressed.
Caroline got up to fix them both plates and Hope followed her to the kitchen.
“You must be so overwhelmed. It’s different for us, for Bo even. You’re her mother, there’s a lot more emotions involved.”
Hope leaned against the kitchen counter, “I never expected to meet her tonight. Shawn and Mimi said that it’d probably be a couple of days before she’d even be ready to meet us. I was so nervous, and yet when I held her in my arms, it felt so right.”
“Bo mentioned that you wanted to have a talk with Shawn and Mimi, was it about that sweetheart inside?”
Hope shook her head, “I overheard something last night, when they were over at our place. Celeste mentioned something to Mimi, I wanted to talk to them about it tonight, but it doesn’t seem as though I’d get the chance now.”
Curious, Caroline placed the plate she’d dished for Max on the table and gave Hope her full attention, “What did you overhear?”
“Well, Celeste placed her hand on Mimi’s stomach and told her the baby would be okay? Mimi’s reaction was shock, but not surprise.”
Caroline nodded, “Frankie always had a way of knowing these things.”
Just then Roman came into the kitchen, “You girls better hurry, Max is dying of hunger out there, and Shawn and Mimi have an announcement to make.”
The two women smiled at each other, Hope needed no extra prodding, she was out of the kitchen in a flash, Caroline following at a slower pace, carrying Max and Victoria’s dinner plates.
Shawn scanned the room to see if everyone, his parents in particular, where there. Then clearing his throat to get everyone’s attentions, he made his announcement, “Well, tonight certainly seems to be the night for revelations. Mimi and I decided to join the club and reveal a little secret of our own. We’ve known for a while now, but decided to wait to tell you all, just in case something came up. Didn’t want to disappoint anyone but today we got some good news and we’re happy to announce that in a few months time, we’ll be welcoming yet another Brady to the fold.”
Sami was the first to speak up, “Does this mean that you’ve decided to adopt already?”
Hope shook her head, “Celeste was right last night wasn’t she?”
Mimi stared at Hope, “You heard that? I was so sure you hadn’t.”
“Oh honey,” Hope hugged her, then Shawn. “I’m so happy for you, for the both of you.”
“Can someone please tell me what’s going on?”
“Oh Shawn,” Caroline couldn’t believe he was that dense, “They’re going to have a baby. Shawn and Mimi are going to have a baby aren’t you?”
As soon as they nodded, they were swamped with questions and congratulations, Victoria sat next to Max and smiled at her brother, he simply winked at her. He’d promised to take some of the attention off her and he had certainly delivered.
“So how far along are you?”
“Nineteen weeks.”
“Are you having a boy or a girl? Have you found out yet, do you want to?”
Shawn looked at Mimi, his eyes questioning. She simply nodded; telling him it was okay to tell the family, “We actually found out today that we’re having a boy.”
Hope sighed, “A boy? I’m going to be a grandma, a grandma to a baby boy. A daughter and a grandbaby, this has been one of the best weeks of my life.”
Shawn removed Mimi’s coat as they stepped into his grandparents’ home. His mother came out from the living room and greeted them. She’d overheard Celeste’s comment the night before, about a baby being fine and she wanted to know what it meant. Her son and his wife obviously knew, as they hadn’t seemed that surprised by Celeste’s observation.
“Hey mom, has dinner started yet? I’m starved.” Shawn hugged his mother.
“No honey, we’re still waiting for some family members. Listen I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“Can it wait till later? I have to greet the rest of the family.” She nodded as Shawn walked into the living room.
“Sorry about his manners, he’s been that way all day. Max said to tell everyone he’d be late, so to go ahead and have dinner without him. Bo invited his girlfriend along and she’s a little nervous meeting the family. She’s still deciding what to wear. According to Max, she’s already tried on ten outfits.”
Hope simply nodded, not hearing a word Mimi said; instead she’d been studying Mimi. Had she put on weight recently? She was looking slightly chubby, especially in the tummy area. Hope dare not get her hopes too high, she could have simply misunderstood Celeste’s comment last night. Deciding to wait until she had a moment alone with Shawn and Mimi before asking them, she simply walked with Mimi into the living room.
*****
Outside, Victoria was having second thoughts about going through with this; second, third and fourth thoughts. Max had to practically drag her out of her apartment and now she stood at her grandparents’ front door, about to cross the threshold into their home, the place where they lived, where her father had grown up. She was moments away from meeting her family, or her father’s side of the family anyway. No, her father’s mother’s side of the family, she had yet to meet the both the Horton and the Kiriakis families. She turned around and walked to the car, “I can’t do this.”Max grabbed her arm and guided her back to the front door, “Yes you can. You were done with college by the time you turned sixteen, this’ll be a piece of cake in comparison.”
“Are you kidding me? College is all about studying, it was way easier than what I am about to do. What if they don’t like me?”
“Hey, they like me. They like your dad, they like your brother, in comparison, you’re an angel. They’ll love you; they’ll accept you and they’ll welcome you with open arms.”
“Promise me you’ll stay by my side the entire night, I need you to be my buffer, just till I get to know them.”
“I promise, although we might have some explaining to do when either of us needs to use the bathroom, tongues will be wagging.”
She laughed, and thanked him because she’d needed a laugh and he’d known that. She leaned up and kissed him chastely on the cheek.
He pointed a finger at her, and said very sternly, “No hanky-panky. Don’t think you can seduce me into forgetting to take you inside. It won’t work,” then his expression changed and he grinned at her rather wickedly, “Although I’d certainly enjoy the experience.”
She snorted, “In your dreams mister.”
He opened the door for her. As they stepped inside, they could here voices coming from the living room, obviously dinner had already finished. He stood in the foyer for a while, listening to the conversation, Bo was telling the family about Victoria. He’d already gotten past their thoughts exactly how events had unfolded almost twenty years ago when she’d been given up. He placed his arm around Victoria’s waist and led her into the living room just as his mother asked Bo, “So where is she now, this newest addition to our family?”
It was Shawn who answered, having spotted their arrival, “She’s just come in the front door grandma.”
Victoria watched as at least a half dozen heads turned in her direction, as at least a half dozen sets of eyes looked her over. She moved closer to Max, though not quite close enough.
“Aren’t you the girl?”
“Yes grandma, she’s the girl you saw Max with this afternoon.” Shawn moved from his place behind the chair Mimi occupied and walked over to his sister. Reaching out his hand, he waited till she placed hers in his and then smiled at her reassuringly. She smiled back and for the first time since all this had started, she felt like she was going to be okay.
Shawn turned to the room, “Everyone, I’d like you to meet Victoria Blanche Campbell, my sister.” Then he turned to her, “Victoria, this is almost the entire Brady clan. I think I’d better introduce you to the more important people first.” He walked her over to Bo and Hope, “Mom, dad, this is your daughter.”
Bo looked her over, “I can see that, she looks just like her mother.” He pulled Victoria into a hug and she had no choice but to reciprocate, it felt good, it felt right.
She was a lot more nervous about meeting her mother, the person who had actually birthed her. She smiled shyly at Hope. Hope reached out and touched her face, like a blind person felt something so as to commit it to memory, so Hope ran her hands over her daughter’s face. Committing each curve and contour to memory, every inch of her daughter’s face, the daughter she hadn’t known ad existed till yesterday, the daughter she already loved more than she could say. She touched the tears that had fallen from her daughter’s eyes and that were now running down her face and didn’t even realised she’d been crying herself till Victoria reached up with a shaking hand and did the same. They stood there for a while, simply smiling at each other until Hope whispered, “Hi honey.”
Victoria laughed and replied with a greeting of her own and then, was enveloped in another hug, this one was a lot different from the first, it was gentle and comforting. It was an embrace that welcomed, that comforted and yet it was also unsure. And in that moment, Victoria knew that her mother had been as afraid of meeting her, as she had been of meeting her mother.
When they finally let go, Shawn turned her around and introduced her to the rest of her family. There was Grandpa Shawn and Grandma Caroline, Uncle Roman and two of his daughters, Samantha and Caroline, known as Sami and Carrie. She was told about Eric, who was in Colorado with his maternal grandparents. She already knew all about most of them from Rex and Cassie, and it was revealed that she already knew them. This seemed to go over well with the family. It was at that moment that she realised she hadn’t told Rex about finding her parents; she made a note to call him when she got home. Next was Aunt Kayla and her daughter Stephanie, she was told about her Aunt Kimberly, who was living in Los Angeles and then introduced to her Uncle Frankie, Max’s biological brother, whom she’d already met at the amusement park all those months ago.
After almost an hour of getting to know her family, Max demanded dinner. Complaining that he’d had to miss out on what he was sure had been a delicious dinner because she’d been getting dressed.
Caroline got up to fix them both plates and Hope followed her to the kitchen.
“You must be so overwhelmed. It’s different for us, for Bo even. You’re her mother, there’s a lot more emotions involved.”
Hope leaned against the kitchen counter, “I never expected to meet her tonight. Shawn and Mimi said that it’d probably be a couple of days before she’d even be ready to meet us. I was so nervous, and yet when I held her in my arms, it felt so right.”
“Bo mentioned that you wanted to have a talk with Shawn and Mimi, was it about that sweetheart inside?”
Hope shook her head, “I overheard something last night, when they were over at our place. Celeste mentioned something to Mimi, I wanted to talk to them about it tonight, but it doesn’t seem as though I’d get the chance now.”
Curious, Caroline placed the plate she’d dished for Max on the table and gave Hope her full attention, “What did you overhear?”
“Well, Celeste placed her hand on Mimi’s stomach and told her the baby would be okay? Mimi’s reaction was shock, but not surprise.”
Caroline nodded, “Frankie always had a way of knowing these things.”
Just then Roman came into the kitchen, “You girls better hurry, Max is dying of hunger out there, and Shawn and Mimi have an announcement to make.”
The two women smiled at each other, Hope needed no extra prodding, she was out of the kitchen in a flash, Caroline following at a slower pace, carrying Max and Victoria’s dinner plates.
Shawn scanned the room to see if everyone, his parents in particular, where there. Then clearing his throat to get everyone’s attentions, he made his announcement, “Well, tonight certainly seems to be the night for revelations. Mimi and I decided to join the club and reveal a little secret of our own. We’ve known for a while now, but decided to wait to tell you all, just in case something came up. Didn’t want to disappoint anyone but today we got some good news and we’re happy to announce that in a few months time, we’ll be welcoming yet another Brady to the fold.”
Sami was the first to speak up, “Does this mean that you’ve decided to adopt already?”
Hope shook her head, “Celeste was right last night wasn’t she?”
Mimi stared at Hope, “You heard that? I was so sure you hadn’t.”
“Oh honey,” Hope hugged her, then Shawn. “I’m so happy for you, for the both of you.”
“Can someone please tell me what’s going on?”
“Oh Shawn,” Caroline couldn’t believe he was that dense, “They’re going to have a baby. Shawn and Mimi are going to have a baby aren’t you?”
As soon as they nodded, they were swamped with questions and congratulations, Victoria sat next to Max and smiled at her brother, he simply winked at her. He’d promised to take some of the attention off her and he had certainly delivered.
“So how far along are you?”
“Nineteen weeks.”
“Are you having a boy or a girl? Have you found out yet, do you want to?”
Shawn looked at Mimi, his eyes questioning. She simply nodded; telling him it was okay to tell the family, “We actually found out today that we’re having a boy.”
Hope sighed, “A boy? I’m going to be a grandma, a grandma to a baby boy. A daughter and a grandbaby, this has been one of the best weeks of my life.”
