Post by rsafan on Nov 1, 2006 4:55:54 GMT -5
Chapter 18
Once their meeting was over, Victor waited till she closed the door behind her before picking up the phone. “Niko, I want you in my office in twenty minutes. I have an assignment for you, quite possibly the most important to date.”
Twenty minutes later Niko was occupying the very same seat Victoria had vacated awaiting instructions.
“I want you to find out everything you can about my newest granddaughter, this Victoria Campbell. I want to know where she lived, what she eats for dinner, who her friends are. I especially want to know what her connection to the Dimeras is. I want DNA tests done on this girl.”
“You think she isn’t legit?”
“I think that I’d rather be safe than sorry. One grandchild popping up and wrecking havoc is bad enough. At least there was prior knowledge of Chelsea’s existence; this girl just comes out of the blue. I don’t trust that.”
“So you want me to check all angles? The dirty ones too?”
Victor nodded, “I want to protect my family, if this girl is the genuine article, I’ll accept that but God help her if she’s involved in some Dimera con to hurt my son and his family. I want a preliminary report on my desk by the end of the week. And there’s no need to tell you that this remains between us.”
“Sure thing boss.”
“You’ve got to have dinner with us some time.”
“Well I can’t come tonight; Shawn’s rounded up another family get together. This time with the Hortons, I swear I have family spewing out of my ears. Last week I didn’t know anyone here except Max, Mimi and Shawn and now I’m related to half of Salem.”
“Yeah but they’re really good people and they’re truly amazing so it can’t be all that bad.”
“You’re right they all seem so nice, and I’m not complaining about all the family, I guess I just feel a bit overwhelmed.”
“Speaking of overwhelmed,” Belle turned to Mimi, “aren’t you at all nervous?”
Mimi, enjoying her lunch and not paying much attention to the conversation going on between Belle and Victoria, simply asked, “About?”
“Mimi you’re going to have a baby in four months time, your life is going to change forever not to mention giving birth.”
Mimi, having lost her appetite, put her fork down, “Thanks a lot Belle; I was trying to forget all about the process of giving birth. At the beginning I was so happy to be pregnant that I thought I’d just enjoy every moment of it but after watching close to fifty videos with Shawn on the birthing process, I’m not so sure.”
“Of course if he turns out to be half as cute as this little one, you’ll be lucky.” Victoria leaned over to talk to Claire in her stroller.
“Oh I’m sure he will. He’s got all those wonderful genes from Shawn, just like Claire.”
Victoria frowned, “Just like Claire?”
Before Mimi could come up with an excuse to cover up her faux pas, Belle did it for her, “Shawn is Phillip’s nephew, so they share the same genes, well pretty diluted but its there all the same.”
“Just as long as he’s nothing like my mother.”
“What’s wrong with your mother?”
“You’re about to find out, she’s on her way over.”
“Mimi Lockhart Brady you should be ashamed of yourself!”
“Mom hi…”
“A baby? And when exactly was I going to become privy to this information? I have to be told by Maggie Horton of all people. And who’s your new friend?” she turned to Victoria, “You’ll have to excuse my daughter’s bad manners, I’m Bonnie Lockhart, Mimi’s mom.”
“I might’ve if you’d given me the chance.” Mimi muttered under her breath.
Bonnie extended her hand and Victoria took it reluctantly, “Victoria Campbell, Mimi’s sister-in-law.”
“Sister-in-law? Now obviously there’s plenty my Mimi hasn’t been telling me.”
“Mother, we’ll talk later. Victoria has to get back to work and Belle and I have someplace we need to be, right Belle?”
Belle nodded.
“Well in that case I’ll see you tonight and you can catch me up.”
“Sorry mom, it’ll have to be tomorrow. I’m having dinner with the Horton’s tonight.”
Bonnie nodded, “Tomorrow then.”
Hope shoved a tray of cutlery in his chest, “Shawn, leave Mimi alone and go help your dad set the table.” Shawn was about to protest when the doorbell rang. “That must be them, Abby honey would you get the door?”
Placing the tray on the table, Shawn said. “Its okay mom, I’ll get it.”
“Are you sure you can tear yourself away from your wife that long?”
“Ha-ha.” He said as he left the kitchen to open the door. Hope had been right about who was at the door and Shawn took Victoria’s coat as he motioned them inside. “Hey, just in time. Dinner’s almost ready and don’t worry mom didn’t do any cooking.”
“I heard that Shawn Douglas.” Hope called from the kitchen.
Shawn shook his head, “I don’t know how she does it; it must be a mom thing.”
Abby came through the doors eager to introduce herself to her newest cousin but came to a dead stop when she saw Max in the living room with his arm wrapped around the foreign female’s waist. “Max what are you doing here?”
“Abby hi.” She noted with pleasure that he seemed a bit uncomfortable. Good. “Umm I was invited to dinner.”
“You where? Care to introduce me to your girlfriend?” knowing full well that she could only be Victoria, if the features hadn’t given her away, Shawn’s expression certainly did.
“Sure, Abby this is Victoria. Victoria, meet Abigail Deveraux.”
Victoria held out her hand, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Abby took it reluctantly, saying the first thing that popped into her head, “So how long have the two of you been dating?”
Shawn dumped their jackets in Abby’s arms, “Abby come on you’ve only just met her.”
But Victoria had already replied, “Two or three months.”
“That long?” Shawn dragged his sister away to meet the others, leaving Max and Abby alone in the living room. “It didn’t take you very long to move on did it?”
Max sighed, he should’ve known something like this would happen, “Abby would you drop it? You can do your little interrogation tomorrow.”
She shoved the coats at him as she stormed off, “I think I know all I need to.”
They were about to have dessert when Mimi almost jumped out of her chair, “Oh, Shawn get over here quickly.” She grabbed his hand and placed it on her stomach, “Do you feel that? No wait, there.”
He had to wait a while before he felt the bump, “Yeah, I felt it.” He smiled at her, the look that passed between the two of them was so intimate; everyone looked away.
“Can I feel too?”
“Of course Abby, just hold on a moment.” She ran her hand over her stomach then reached for Abby’s, placing it on the exact spot where the baby was moving.
“Wow, that’s so cool. Reminds me of when mom was pregnant with JJ.”
“Well,” Jennifer piped up, “trust me the novelty wears off pretty quickly. The bigger you get the more people are going to want to touch your tummy and the less you’re going to want them to do it.”
Once their meeting was over, Victor waited till she closed the door behind her before picking up the phone. “Niko, I want you in my office in twenty minutes. I have an assignment for you, quite possibly the most important to date.”
Twenty minutes later Niko was occupying the very same seat Victoria had vacated awaiting instructions.
“I want you to find out everything you can about my newest granddaughter, this Victoria Campbell. I want to know where she lived, what she eats for dinner, who her friends are. I especially want to know what her connection to the Dimeras is. I want DNA tests done on this girl.”
“You think she isn’t legit?”
“I think that I’d rather be safe than sorry. One grandchild popping up and wrecking havoc is bad enough. At least there was prior knowledge of Chelsea’s existence; this girl just comes out of the blue. I don’t trust that.”
“So you want me to check all angles? The dirty ones too?”
Victor nodded, “I want to protect my family, if this girl is the genuine article, I’ll accept that but God help her if she’s involved in some Dimera con to hurt my son and his family. I want a preliminary report on my desk by the end of the week. And there’s no need to tell you that this remains between us.”
“Sure thing boss.”
*****
Oblivious to the curiosity she’d piqued, Victoria was enjoying lunch with Belle, Mimi and Claire.“You’ve got to have dinner with us some time.”
“Well I can’t come tonight; Shawn’s rounded up another family get together. This time with the Hortons, I swear I have family spewing out of my ears. Last week I didn’t know anyone here except Max, Mimi and Shawn and now I’m related to half of Salem.”
“Yeah but they’re really good people and they’re truly amazing so it can’t be all that bad.”
“You’re right they all seem so nice, and I’m not complaining about all the family, I guess I just feel a bit overwhelmed.”
“Speaking of overwhelmed,” Belle turned to Mimi, “aren’t you at all nervous?”
Mimi, enjoying her lunch and not paying much attention to the conversation going on between Belle and Victoria, simply asked, “About?”
“Mimi you’re going to have a baby in four months time, your life is going to change forever not to mention giving birth.”
Mimi, having lost her appetite, put her fork down, “Thanks a lot Belle; I was trying to forget all about the process of giving birth. At the beginning I was so happy to be pregnant that I thought I’d just enjoy every moment of it but after watching close to fifty videos with Shawn on the birthing process, I’m not so sure.”
“Of course if he turns out to be half as cute as this little one, you’ll be lucky.” Victoria leaned over to talk to Claire in her stroller.
“Oh I’m sure he will. He’s got all those wonderful genes from Shawn, just like Claire.”
Victoria frowned, “Just like Claire?”
Before Mimi could come up with an excuse to cover up her faux pas, Belle did it for her, “Shawn is Phillip’s nephew, so they share the same genes, well pretty diluted but its there all the same.”
“Just as long as he’s nothing like my mother.”
“What’s wrong with your mother?”
“You’re about to find out, she’s on her way over.”
“Mimi Lockhart Brady you should be ashamed of yourself!”
“Mom hi…”
“A baby? And when exactly was I going to become privy to this information? I have to be told by Maggie Horton of all people. And who’s your new friend?” she turned to Victoria, “You’ll have to excuse my daughter’s bad manners, I’m Bonnie Lockhart, Mimi’s mom.”
“I might’ve if you’d given me the chance.” Mimi muttered under her breath.
Bonnie extended her hand and Victoria took it reluctantly, “Victoria Campbell, Mimi’s sister-in-law.”
“Sister-in-law? Now obviously there’s plenty my Mimi hasn’t been telling me.”
“Mother, we’ll talk later. Victoria has to get back to work and Belle and I have someplace we need to be, right Belle?”
Belle nodded.
“Well in that case I’ll see you tonight and you can catch me up.”
“Sorry mom, it’ll have to be tomorrow. I’m having dinner with the Horton’s tonight.”
Bonnie nodded, “Tomorrow then.”
*****
“Shawn would you stop following me around and relax.” Mimi was at the end of her tether, ever since she’d felt the baby moving, Shawn had wanted in on the act. Unfortunately the baby didn’t agree.Hope shoved a tray of cutlery in his chest, “Shawn, leave Mimi alone and go help your dad set the table.” Shawn was about to protest when the doorbell rang. “That must be them, Abby honey would you get the door?”
Placing the tray on the table, Shawn said. “Its okay mom, I’ll get it.”
“Are you sure you can tear yourself away from your wife that long?”
“Ha-ha.” He said as he left the kitchen to open the door. Hope had been right about who was at the door and Shawn took Victoria’s coat as he motioned them inside. “Hey, just in time. Dinner’s almost ready and don’t worry mom didn’t do any cooking.”
“I heard that Shawn Douglas.” Hope called from the kitchen.
Shawn shook his head, “I don’t know how she does it; it must be a mom thing.”
Abby came through the doors eager to introduce herself to her newest cousin but came to a dead stop when she saw Max in the living room with his arm wrapped around the foreign female’s waist. “Max what are you doing here?”
“Abby hi.” She noted with pleasure that he seemed a bit uncomfortable. Good. “Umm I was invited to dinner.”
“You where? Care to introduce me to your girlfriend?” knowing full well that she could only be Victoria, if the features hadn’t given her away, Shawn’s expression certainly did.
“Sure, Abby this is Victoria. Victoria, meet Abigail Deveraux.”
Victoria held out her hand, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Abby took it reluctantly, saying the first thing that popped into her head, “So how long have the two of you been dating?”
Shawn dumped their jackets in Abby’s arms, “Abby come on you’ve only just met her.”
But Victoria had already replied, “Two or three months.”
“That long?” Shawn dragged his sister away to meet the others, leaving Max and Abby alone in the living room. “It didn’t take you very long to move on did it?”
Max sighed, he should’ve known something like this would happen, “Abby would you drop it? You can do your little interrogation tomorrow.”
She shoved the coats at him as she stormed off, “I think I know all I need to.”
*****
Dinner was going fantastically, she liked Abby’s parents, Jack, who had only recently been released form the hospital, and Jennifer were a laugh a minute. Bill and Julie seemed to be really nice people as did Maggie and Mickey; they made every effort to make her feel welcome in their family. They were about to have dessert when Mimi almost jumped out of her chair, “Oh, Shawn get over here quickly.” She grabbed his hand and placed it on her stomach, “Do you feel that? No wait, there.”
He had to wait a while before he felt the bump, “Yeah, I felt it.” He smiled at her, the look that passed between the two of them was so intimate; everyone looked away.
“Can I feel too?”
“Of course Abby, just hold on a moment.” She ran her hand over her stomach then reached for Abby’s, placing it on the exact spot where the baby was moving.
“Wow, that’s so cool. Reminds me of when mom was pregnant with JJ.”
“Well,” Jennifer piped up, “trust me the novelty wears off pretty quickly. The bigger you get the more people are going to want to touch your tummy and the less you’re going to want them to do it.”
