The Turns Life Takes, Chapter 17 - Eve/Julian
by yhh





"Are you sure?" Julian asked again for the millionth time.

"Julian, I'm sure," Eve answered. She knew he was worried about her mental state and why shouldn't he? When he arrived at Kay's, after her niece somehow persuaded her sister and her daughters to leave the house, he found a woman on the verge of a breakdown. She had been tittering on the edge, her house of lies collapsing, the question in the girls' eyes, the images of TC throwing pieces of their life out of their bedroom window, as if they meant nothing.

But Julian came to her rescue. He held her, coaxed her into talking, whispered reassurances. He was her rock. Pulling her back from the abyss she was beginning to fall into, reminded her of how much she wished he had been by her side when she had lost their son. How differently everything would have turned out. His words and comfort, freed her to make the decision, they were both having second thoughts about. But in her soul, she knew she had made the best decision for both of them, for their families. Let the cards fall where they may. How much worse could her life get? Even if the girls and TC never spoke to her again, at least they were alive and well.

"Julian, everything- -" she began, as the front door opened.

"Mom, how are you?" Whitney and Simone asked in unison as they ran to her side.

Hugging her daughters fiercely, Eve prayed this wouldn't be their last hug. "I'll explain everything to you in a few minutes."

"What is he doing here?" Simone asked, pointing her head towards Julian.

"He is- -"

"Father, I hope you know you interrupted dinner and I’m starving. Is there any food around here? Is this going to take long because Noah and I are going to this new nightclub that just open outside of Boston?" Fancy rattled off, walking into the living room followed by Ethan, Gwen, Cassie, and Fox.

"I'll get you something from the kitchen," Julian said quickly, needing a moment to himself.

"Why is Fath- - Julian familiar with Kay's house?" Ethan asked to no one in particular.

Gwen and Cassie shrugged their shoulders as they greeted Eve, Whitney, and Simone.

"Mom, why are they here?" Simone questioned, with a hint of fear in her voice.

Taking her second youngest's hand, Eve kissed her and asked one simple request. "Please be patient with me."

Simone and Whitney both reluctantly nodded their heads. They looked at each other, neither having a good feeling about what was about to happen.

Julian returned with cake and drinks for everyone and sat the tray on the table. "Be our guest," he commanded.

Fancy grabbed a piece of cake and drink and dug in. "Oh my, this is so good. It must have a million calories in it. I'll never fit into my clothes- -"

"Francesca, shut up," Cassie ordered.

Fancy pouted, but did as her younger sister asked.

"I asked you all here this evening- -"

"No, Julian. Let me." Eve stood up and moved to the center of the room. "What I'm about to say will be surprising, shocking, but I would really appreciate it if you would hold your questions, comments, and reactions as best you can until the end."

Fox moved over to sit next to the hand holding Whitney and Simone.

Taking a deep breath, Eve began. "When I was twelve, my parents died in a car accident and I was sent to live with my fanatically religious, spinster, demanding, hard-to-please aunt. It was quite a change from the loving and giving household, I used to live in. Nothing I did was good enough, everything I did was wrong. Finally, I stopped wishing for my parents to come back or for someone to rescue me. I learned to keep my head down and try to make myself invisible. In junior high, I was assigned choir as an elective. And in that class, I found a place where I could express myself and truly be free. I knew I wanted to pursue a career in music, but my aunt felt anything that had a beat was a sin so I kept my dreams to myself. At midnight, the day of my eighteenth birthday, I picked up my one suitcase full of my belongings, left my aunt a note, and left her house never looking back. My aunt had allowed me to baby sit for fellow church goers; she thought I was putting the money in church, but in reality I was saving it for that day. I found a dirty, scummy weekly motel, the only thing I could find and afford, then I hit the streets that night and went from club to club looking for a place that would pay me to sing. Finally, one manager said he would give me a shot if I could sing "At Last" right then for him. I mustered up my courage and sang one of my favorite songs for him. He was blown away and I was hired immediately. I was excited beyond belief. I was going to get paid for living out my fantasy. The Blue Note was just the beginning." Eve heard several gasps at the mention of the club, but she persevered. "A few weeks later, after one of the waitress had taken me shopping for adult clothes, this man walked in with his date and took a table in the middle of the club. And when I started singing, his eyes found mine and I was hooked. I was singing directly to him, nothing else existed but him and the same was true for him. But he didn't approach me like I thought he would, after the set and I was deeply disappointed. Week after week he would return, sometimes with a date, sometimes without, but each night during each set I sang only for him and his eyes never left mine. Then one day after my finally set for the night, he was waiting for me in my dressing room and told me that it was unacceptable for me to stay in my ghastly, dangerous room and that he had found me a suitable apartment. At first I was flattered, then offended, who did he think he was? Then he said, 'Please.' And my heart melted. He held out his hand and I took it. The romance began from there, he wined and dined me, made sure I continued my education, and we partied. Boy, did we party," Eve laughed, lost in her memories and coming to only when she felt Julian moving closer to her. "I wanted so badly to impress him; to impress the members of the band, that I did everything they did and twice as much to show that I could hang. You took one shot, I took two. You took a hit, I took two."

Whitney and Simone gasped, "Mom." Whitney gripped Simone's hand tighter with one hand, and tightened her grip on Fox with the other. She suddenly knew why her father had been acting like a maniac. They had all been living with a stranger.

"For the first time since my parents' died, there was someone with me not glowering with disapproval but just standing, waiting to pull me back from the edge. Then it all came to a halt, when his real life came crashing down. His father found out or rather acknowledged that he knew about us and demanded we break up at the exact same time, I found out I was pregnant."

The whole room struggled for breath upon that announcement.

"So I did what I thought was best and I did what I had done years before, with him lying in bed sleep, I took out my one suitcase, the same one I carried from my aunt's house, and I left. I was alone, miserable, broken-hearted and pregnant in New York City, but I was surviving. The baby kept me going, kept me fighting and as soon as the baby was born I was going to go back to school and get my BA, but then tragedy struck. My Christmas baby died, hours after I had given birth to him. SIDS was the best guess the doctor had and I was crushed. But somehow with the Christmas lights blinking and the Christmas music on the PA, I knew I couldn't die I had to honor my son's memory and succeed. I had to have the family I had wanted for him, the one I had lost years ago. So I found a school to admit me after a last minute withdrawal and just a week and a day after my son's birth and death I was back in college, mingling with people who had no idea at the meaning of loss, pain, or suffering. When I applied to medical school, I was shocked to learn when I was submitting my paperwork for a student loan that all four years of my tuition, books, and board had already been paid for. I knew my lover's husband was sending me a sign saying he found me and thanking me for leaving his son. My pride wanted to throw the money back in his face, but the memory of my son allowed me to accept it and thrive with it. And I did. I met a wonderful, wonderful man who loved me and wanted to marry me and I loved him too. And as years past, he gave me two beautiful daughters and we created a great family. Everything I had ever dreamed of," she finished, feeling exhausted yet liberated.

Standing next to her and grabbing her hand, Julian made his declaration. "I was the man who loved her and my inability to tell my father to take a flying leap caused us to be separated and lead separate lives."

"Oh my gosh," Simone cried. "Our whole life has been a lie, Mom."

Turning to her daughter, she moved closer but kept her distance, partly in fear of rejection. "I didn't want to taint you with the ugliness from my teenage years, my drug usage, the loss of my son- -"

"Then why are you telling us this now? And Mr. Crane? You slept with Julian Crane?!" Simone shouted in disbelief.

"Our son is alive. Alistair lied and made it appear that he was," Julian answered.

"How is that possible?" Simone asked.

Julian stared at the teenager was it really possible someone could be that naïve and innocent, but seeing the exact replica of her mother's eyes staring back at him he knew it was. Hadn't Eve once looked at him with the same innocence?

"He paid off the nurses, doctors. It wouldn't have been that difficult. It was Christmas. The hospital was understaffed, the people, there were probably drunk and barely working. And she was a single woman with no one, except her baby," Fox replied.

Julian nodded. Fox was a quick one.

"So Dad, you called us all here to tell us we have a new sibling?" Cassie asked.

"Yes, and to ask you all to submit to a DNA test," Julian stated to his children.

"What?!" Fancy declared. "You think we're not yours."

"No, darling. You, Cassie, Fox, Ethan-Martin, Endora- -"

"Endora!" Fox, Whitney, Simone, Fancy, Cassie, Gwen, and Ethan exclaimed.

Julian continued on as if there were never an outburst. "And even you, Ethan, regardless of how I've treated you upon hearing about Sam, are all my children in my heart. I love you. But due to your grandfather's kidnapping of your brother, I think it prudent for you all to be tested."

"Okay," Cassie said. "You're right Dad, Grandfather can't be trusted. So where do I sign up to be tested?"

"Dr. Robin Scorpio-Morgan is in the upstairs lounge waiting to take swaps."

"That's fast. You must really think we're not yours," Fancy grumbled.

Walking over to his daughter, he stood her up and looked her in the eyes. "You will always be my daughter. I just want both of us to know firmly and without a doubt that Alistair hasn't played any tricks on us. You can't tell me, you wouldn't be thrilled if you found out that Ivy wasn't your biological mother."

Fancy smiled slightly. "Maybe a little. Come on, Cassie. Let's go get tested." Grabbing her sister's hand, the two Crane women headed for the steps, then paused. "Eve, welcome to the family."

Touched by Fancy's sentiments, Eve nodded. "Thank you."

With tears in her eyes, Whitney ran out the backdoor with Fox on her heel.

"Simone?" Eve called.

"Does Daddy know?"

Eve nodded.

"Were you sleeping with him while you were married to Daddy?"

"No. Never. I never cheated on your father."

"Did Kay know about Endora?"

"Yes."

Simone shook her head in disbelief. "Everyone I trusted has lied to me."

"Baby, we asked Kay not to say anything until Julian was ready to tell his children that they had a new sibling."

"Tabitha has been dead for months. When was he going to get around to it? Dad's right, you're nothing but a lying, deceitful coward," she yelled at Julian before racing out of the room.

Eve started after her, but Gwen stopped her.

"I'll go. I know what it's like to find out your parents are human."

Holding back the tears, she thanked Gwen.

"Julian, you sure do know how to clear a room," Ethan said, finally speaking.

"It's a gift," Julian retorted.

"Do you honestly believe Alistair cared enough about me to make everyone think Sam is my father?"

"He got rid of my son with Eve so the eldest Crane heir wouldn't be biracial. He gets rid of you to punish Ivy for having the audacity to cheat on a Crane."

Ethan nodded. Julian was right. It was something sick and twisted that Alistair would revel in. He would have himself tested to be on the safe side. He didn't know if he would be happy or sad if Sam was no longer his father and Julian once again was. As depraved as the Crane family was, he missed officially being a part of it. He loved Julian, in spite of the fact that he had been an indifferent father. But after hearing Eve's story of their shared past, he felt he understood Julian and the way he was when he, Fox, Fancy, and Cassie were growing up. Things were a bit clearer now. But the Endora thing would need a whole lot more explaining. Julian and Tabitha. He shuttered at the thought. "When Gwen returns, can you please send her upstairs?"

"Of course." Julian said.

"That went well," Eve laughed bitterly. "Better than it went with TC and at least my belongings aren't shredded across the lawn, while I was branded with the letter 'A.'"

Pulling her close, he inhaled her strawberry shampoo smell and kissed her forehead, as he gently rocked them side to side.


Chapter 18
Chapter 16
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