A Brand New Twist, Chapter 30
by Luvin_Evian

“Is it a bad time?” Sheridan asked, looking from one to the other. “I feel like I’ve walked in on something.”

“No, actually, Sheridan, your timing is perfect,” Eve said, walking over and ushering her inside. She brushed away the tears staining her cheeks. “Julian was just about to tell me something I’m sure you would like to hear.” They stopped a couple of feet from the bed. “Julian, you were saying?”

Julian closed his eyes. Eve and Sheridan standing there together, side-by-side, patently unaware of the bond they shared, was too much for him to bear. Hidden beneath the covers, his fingertips trailed against the smooth finish of the picture. “Eve, please, don’t push this.”

“No! I am going to push it. You’re not making any sense, Julian, and you won’t even look at me.”

Fighting himself, Julian met her gaze.

Eve frowned. “Too little, too late, Julian. I know you’re keeping something from me and you were about to explain what. So, just tell me.”

His hand closed over the picture. Eve had no idea what she was asking.

“I don’t hear you saying anything, Julian.”

“Eve, you don’t know what—” he began.

The shake of her head and an annoyed grunt silenced him. “Just tell me what this is about, okay?” Eve advised, her tone deadly serious. Julian sighed. There was no way she would drop this. “I don’t want to hear anything else.”

Sheridan cleared her throat. “Uhm, I’m going to leave now,” she announced, moving to the door. “I think you two need to be alone. I’ll just come back at a more convenient time.”

“No, Sheridan, you stay,” Julian said. “If I’m going to do this, you need to stay.”

She nodded as she returned to Eve’s side. “Alright.”

“You have a captive audience, Julian.” Eve folded her arms across her chest. “Tell us what this is about.”

What this is about?

Was Eve really as strong as she thought? Julian closed his eyes. How would he find the words?

“Father paid me a visit this morning.”

“Alistair?” said Eve. “What did he want?”

“To show me this.” Julian pulled the picture from under the covers and extended it to her.

“Oh, my God.” Eve studied the picture. Joy brightened her eyes. “It’s our baby, Julian.” She sighed. “I’ll never forget that precious little face,” she said smiling. “He was the most beautiful baby.”

“He is a beautiful baby, Eve,” Sheridan agreed, peering over Eve’s shoulder at the photo. “Who is the other baby?”

Eve took a closer look and shrugged. “I don’t have a clue. I know the baby on the right is my son, but I don’t even remember taking this picture. Julian, you said Alistair gave you this?”

He nodded. “Yes, this morning.”

“What was he doing with it? And whose baby am I holding?”

“Eve, it’s…”

“It’s strange I don’t remember taking this picture. It had to be from the day I gave birth. Why can’t I remember?”

“Because you’re not supposed to remember,” Julian explained. “It’s what Father wanted.”

“What he wanted?”

“Yes. Father’s ‘people’ informed him of when you went into labor and he came to the hospital to make sure everything went the way he planned.”

“To take away your baby,” Sheridan said.

“Yes, that was the idea, but things changed when Eve—when Eve had two babies,” he shared, turning to a wide-eyed Eve. “Fraternal twins.”

“When I what!” Eve laughed. A nervous, disbelieving chuckle. “Julian that’s crazy.” She stared at the picture, rubbing her forehead. “No, I didn’t have twins. I think I would remember if I did. I had one baby. A son.”

“That’s what Alistair made you believe, but it’s not the truth. The truth is that picture you’re holding in your hand, Eve. You gave birth to two babies. A little boy Father gave to God knows who, and a little girl he—a little girl he gave to my mother to raise after her baby daughter was stillborn,” he said, turning his teary gaze to Sheridan.

The room grew quiet for several agonizing moments.

Sheridan pressed her hand to her chest. “Me?” she murmured, finally breaking the deafening silence.

“Yes, Sheridan, you.”

“No, Julian!” Eve stared at the picture, shaking her head. “This can’t be because you-- Julian, that would mean you tried to...” Her voice trailed with emotion. Unchecked tears rolled down her cheeks.

“He tried to what? Eve, what are you talking about?” Sheridan’s gaze flew to Julian. “What’s going on here?” she asked. “I’m your sister, Julian. You know, it must be the pain medication. It has you confused and it’s making you say all these irrational things.”

“I wish this was as simple as too much medication, Sheridan, but it’s not. Father came to the hospital the day Eve had our son. Soon thereafter, to the surprise of the doctors, nurses, and Alistair, she had another baby. A little girl.” Eve cried softly in the background as he continued his story. “This baby girl looked so much like my mother, he used her as a stand-in for the baby my mother lost. He didn’t want the world to know that Alistair Crane fathered a stillborn baby.”

“You’re saying my whole life has been a lie? That Fa— That Alistair stole me away from you and Eve and denied me the love of my real parents so the world wouldn’t know his baby was stillborn?”

“I’m sorry, Sheridan. It’s what I was about to tell Eve before you walked in. She wanted to know why I didn’t want you on the search for our son. It’s because you would end up finding out there wasn’t just a son, but another baby Eve didn’t know about. You.”

Tears welled in Sheridan’s eyes. She backed away. “I need to go. I have to—I have to process all of this. I have to go,” she said, racing out of the room.

Eve covered her eyes. Sobs wracked her body. “This can’t be, Julian.” The desperation in her voice broke his heart. “This just can’t be.”

“My love, I would give anything for this not to be true. For me not to have to live with the fact that I--”

“Julian, no! Stop! I would know.” Eve pressed her hand to her chest. “I wouldn’t forget about my own child. I couldn’t have done that.”

“Eve, it’s not your fault. You felt the bond with Sheridan. You said as much. You couldn’t explain but she was a comfort to you. It’s because she’s ours. Father did this to you. He made you forget about giving birth to her. It’s why you couldn’t remember the picture. Don’t blame yourself. Alistair was behind everything.”

“Everything?” She swiped at her endless stream of tears. “Does that fact make this better? Huh? Because Alistair was behind it? Julian, I can’t remember giving life to my own baby because of Alistair, but what did he do to you? You didn’t feel the bond? You didn’t feel the connection to Sheridan enough as to not try to kill her?”

Julian lowered his head. Eve’s anguish fueling the insurmountable guilt he already felt. “I didn’t know.”

“You should have known! My God, Julian. You tried to kill our daughter!” She clutched her stomach. “Ow!” she screamed, doubling over and falling to the floor in a writhing ball of undisputed pain.

“Eve!”

“My baby,” she murmured, her arms wrapped around her abdomen. “My baby.”

“Oh, my God, what have I done?” Julian threw off the bedcovers and rushed to Eve’s side, cradling her in his arms. “I’m sorry, Eve. I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have told you. I shouldn’t have told you.”

“Eve.”

“Yes, Julian. I’m still waiting for an explanation, and I have been for the past five minutes. What are you waiting for?”

He opened his eyes to find Eve standing next to Sheridan. His racing heart ceased just long enough for him to squeeze in a sigh of relief. It wasn’t real—at least not this time. His hand mopped over his forehead, now slick with perspiration. There was no way. He could not tell Eve this. He just couldn’t. Not being able to look at her without his heart breaking into a million pieces was one thing, that was his pain, but he couldn’t tell her this. He couldn’t be responsible for her losing another baby.

“I can’t imagine what you were thinking about just now,” she said. “You’re flushed.”

“I’m okay.”

“Alright. That means you can finish explaining your strange behavior. What is it?”

“It’s nothing cryptic, Eve,” he said with a smile he definitely didn’t feel. He pulled the covers up to his chest. “It’s like I said before. With the nurses coming in and out, I’m tired. I need to rest. That’s all there is.”

“That’s why you wanted Sheridan to stay? For her to hear you say you needed some rest?”

He nodded. “Yes. That and I was hoping maybe she could get you to leave with her. You’re pregnant, Eve. You have to take care of yourself. I feel better, I just need a little uninterrupted sleep. I think I would sleep better knowing you were somewhere getting the rest you needed, too.”

Eve glared at him. “It’s more than that.”

“You’re just being overly worried, my love. After I get some rest, I’ll be good as new.”

Julian lowered the bed from the upright position, and turned to his side, away from Eve and Sheridan. He couldn’t bear to look at them a moment longer, and he knew Eve could see right through him. He tucked the picture under his pillow. How in the world would he keep this up?

“We both want you to get well as soon as possible, Julian, so you get your rest, and I’ll make sure Eve gets hers,” Sheridan said. Julian braced himself as he felt her presence behind him. Her hand closed around his shoulder. His body tensed slightly. Sheridan. His daughter. This was his daughter. “I’ll come back later and we can catch up then,” she said, leaning over and kissing his cheek. “I love you.”

Tears dripped off the bridge of his nose. His covered her hand and gave it a squeeze. “I love you, too, Sheridan. More than you could ever know.”

“We have a lot of lost time to make up for, Julian, but we will make it up.” She rubbed his shoulder before pulling away. “I’ll give you two a few moments alone. Eve, I’ll be waiting just aside,” she said.

“Thank you, Sheridan. I’ll be right out,” Eve replied.

The door closed with a soft hush. Julian wondered how long it would take before Eve would start in with her next round of Twenty Questions.

“Why didn’t you tell her?”

The wait didn't take long at all.

“Tell her what?” he returned, wiping away the remnants of his tears.

“That you didn’t want her to help in the search for our son.”

“The timing wasn’t right.”

“The timing?” An accompanying chuckle was devoid of all humor. “Is that your excuse for me, too?”

“Eve--”

“No, just forget it.” She walked to the other side of the bed. “I like to look at your face when I’m talking to you.”

He liked to look at her face for any reason. At least he did before Alistair’s visit this morning. Now, looking at her was like a hot knife slicing through his very soul.

Julian met her worried brown eyes. The knot in his throat tightened. She deserved to know the truth, she should know, but he just couldn’t tell her. He couldn’t do it—not now. If he couldn’t divulge this truth, the least he could do was look her in the eye. Damn his pain, she deserved that much from him.

“I’m not going to twist your arm anymore, Julian.” She leaned forward and cupped his cheek. He pressed his face against her hand. Enjoying her touch, missing her nearness. “Something is on your mind, and for whatever reason you feel like you can’t tell me. I don’t like this, not at all, but I’m not going to push it anymore, and I’m also not going to let you push me away. I love you.”

Julian sniffled, his welling tears spilled forward. “I love you, too, Eve. I love you so much. I just—I can’t…”

“Shhh.” Her soft lips grazed his. She brushed his tears away. “I’m almost lost you yesterday, and that’s as close to the real thing as I ever want to get again. I hate something is hurting you, Julian, and I know it’s more than your physical pain, but I can’t make you tell me what it is. Just know, when you’re ready to talk about whatever this is, I’ll be ready to listen.”

She gave him another kiss, longer, deeper, and more passionate than the previous, before she pulled away. Julian pressed his lips together, savoring the memory of the intimate caress. “Get your rest. I’ll see you later.”

He said not a word, as he nodded and smile. His eyes stayed on the door long after Eve departed. Loving her was not supposed to hurt like this. He retrieved the picture. Once again losing himself in the haunting image. She said she’d be ready to listen when he was ready to talk. Humph. No way would she ever be ready to hear this. Just as he would never be able to tell her.