The Mystery of Chad Harris: Fate Delivers Us, Chapter 41
 
 
 

" Well, you got an earful, didn't you?"

TC turned around and saw his mother.

" Did you hear what you wanted to hear? Eve was speaking to her son privately."

" She shared things with him that she's never told me!"

" Because, Eve knew that you didn't want to hear them. You had decided what you wanted to hear from Eve, and she knew it. You had a picture of her, and she needed you so much, she let you believe it. You HEARD how she described you, didn't you?"

TC looked down. " Yes."

" So, you are beginning to understand WHY your wife lied? You don't have to like it, Theodore. You DO have to try to understand. If you remotely have loved Eve the way you 'said' that you did."

" I DO….did love Eve."

" I think the first word was more accurate. You DO love Eve. She loves you."

" Mama, it hurts."

" Never said that it wouldn't."

" It hurts, listening to her talk about loving Julian Crane."

Madelaine shook her head. " She didn't know real love until she met you. Whatever she had with Julian, it doesn't compare with building a life and supporting someone for 20 years. It can't. They are on two different plains."

" What about Chad?"

" Chad? What about him."

" Mama, what about him? Sometimes I look at him, and for an instant, I remember how it used to be. How I used to feel about him. Sometimes I think that all of this Julian mess is but a fantasy. But, then, I wake up, and realize the reality: Chad is my wife's son by the one man I hate most on the face of the Earth."

" That may be, but, it's not his fault that he was born. And CHAD  has never done anything to you. He's done nothing that would qualify your dislike of him. None of us should be branded by what our parents did. Chad is his own man. He made his way in the world, and I can bring out some of the letters that you wrote me about him. About how impressed you were with him. How much you wanted to help him. He's not only Julian's child. He's EVE's child. The mother of your children. He is helping to heal her heart."

TC nods. " I could hear it in her voice, when she told him she didn't want him to leave. Something has changed in her. I can hear that the burden of the world has been lifted from her heart and soul. " TC looks down. " I realized something else tonight."

" What?"

" That my wife doesn't need me anymore."

" Theodore, that is ridiculous."

" No, Mama. I know she loves me. But, she doesn't NEED me the way she used to. Now I know WHY Eve clung to our family so ferociously. She thought we were all she had in the world. Knowing that her son is out there, and wants to be with her. Wants to have a relationship with her…she doesn't need me anymore."

" Theodore, that is the most ridiculous thing in the world. A woman can't replace her husband with her child. Now, if you're telling me that Eve will emotionally handle it if you leave her? Yes, you are right. Before, she would have been destroyed. Not now. She has another emotional anchor. Something to focus her energies on. Her heart would be broken, but not her soul. Is that what you wanted? To break her soul? "

" Mama.."

" You wanted vengeance? Is that it? Make her feel the pain that you've felt? Not a lot of love in that, Theodore."

" Are you trying to make me feel ashamed, Mama?"

" I don't know. But, I hope you know that no amount of vengeance on your part could possibly give Eve more pain than she's already experienced. When she thought her child was dead - there is a pain in that …it's incomparable. Nothing comes close."

" I know."

" So, what are you going to do about it?"

" Mama, you're acting as if this was eons ago. It hasn't been that long ago."

" No, but, it's been awhile. Now, you're in danger of settling into a funk, instead of confronting the issue. You've spent enough nights on that couch, Theodore. A man either moves back in with his wife, or he moves out of the house. It's been long enough. So, you have to decide. It's your moment of decision. But, whatever you choose, it's time for you to piss or get off the pot. Live with whatever decision you make. This family can't go forward without knowing how you feel about it. "

" You think it's that simple?"

" When did I say it was simple? I said that YOU have to decide if you want your marriage or not. That's the only question. If yes, then take the appropriate steps. If no, do the same. The family will survive either way."

" You make me sound irrelevant."

" Hardly. The rest of them are looking to you for leadership, and that includes Chad. He will never be able to feel comfortable in his mother's home as long as you and Eve are in limbo. Chad's a bright young man; his entire life has been about a series of adjustments to situations. I don't have to tell you what it would mean to him for you to accept him into this family."

" No, you don't.", TC mumbles.

" Well, be a man about things, Theodore. Whatever I've taught you, I believe your father and I taught you how to be a man. Be the head of this family. Do what you think you can live with, because if you do it half-assed, and SAY that you want your family, but punish Eve at every turn…it won't work. She doesn't have the tolerance for it. So, be honest with yourself. The rest will come." Madelaine sighed. " I have to finish the dishes, and get over to Grace's. We were going to quilt together for the church bazaar."

Madelaine leaves the living room. TC goes over to the fireplace. He looks at the family picture. He looks at a picture of himself and Eve. His mother is right. He has to choose. He doesn't know what to do. Getting his keys off of the desk, he leaves the house to take a drive.
 

Sheridan came into Julian's study.

" Hi, Julian."

" Sheridan."

She looks at his desk, where there are three manila envelopes.

" Business?"

" No. Chad's test results. I should give you a cigar. It's a boy.", he joked.

" You didn't think it would turn out otherwise?"

" Absolutely not. I knew he was my son. Mine and Eve's."

" How do you feel about it?"

" I don't know. Proud. Happy. Excited. Sad."

" Sad?"

" Sad that he had the life he did. Sad that he was apart from his mother for all those years. Sad that he's seen a side of life that I wouldn't wish on any child. Sad that the way he looks at me, I doubt he will ever forgive me for what I did."

" Julian, YOU weren't the one to hurt him like this. You didn't do it. Father did it…..Um…have you spoken to Father?"

" Yes. I told him that I knew about Chad."'

" And?"

" He said that he had more important things to worry about than 'my bastard'. It was odd, in a way. I had always thought that I would have a fight on my hands. I told him that I was going to make sure that Chad had MY fortune, and all he could say was that Chad wouldn't get any of his money. "

" That's all he had to say? He didn't bring up how this was embarrassing to the Crane bloodline, and other racist comments?"

Julian shook his head. " No. I told you, it wasn't like him at all."

" Why do you think that happened?"

" I don't know. And, to be honest, I don't care. Maybe he realized that everyone knew what he had done, and he didn't want to further the bad publicity by dragging it out anymore."

" When are you going to tell 'the press'?"

" I thought I'd wait awhile. At least until I know that the situation at the Russells is settled."

" How are things with them?"

" Well, 'my people' tell me that TC still lives at the house. So…that's a good thing, isn't it?"

Sheridan arched her eyebrow. " Are you wondering about the Russells because of Chad…or because of Eve?"

" Sheridan, of course, I'm worried about Chad. I want him to have stability. His mother loves him, and I'm sure she wants him in her family."

" And, that's it? Nothing on your part where Eve is concerned?"

" Eve and I are in the past, Sheridan. I know that."

" But, if TC walked away………."

Julian shakes his head. " Won't happen."

" Why?"

" Because, I know how much he loves her. And, he didn't have her for a few months. He's had 20 years. He won't leave her. His soul won't allow it. TC Russell is a boor. He's not a fool."

Sheridan looked at her brother. This situation with Chad and Eve had brought to light a side of Julian she never knew existed.