The Turns Life Takes - Julian/Eve - Chapter 8
by yhh
"Auntie, Maria and Dora aren't sleeping, but they are lying down quietly
in bed," Kay informed Eve, as she sat the baby monitor next to Eve's mug on
the coffee table.
"Got it," Eve said, absentmindedly as she organized papers in front of her.
"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?"
Taking a break, Eve looked up at her niece. "Thanks, sweetie, but I think
I'll pass on seeing a movie with the four of you. I'm happy to stay at home
and watch Angelpie and Marebell."
"Aren’t you going to be lonely with Uncle TC out with Dad and Luis for boys'
night and Mom helping Charity finish packing?"
"Do you get lonely when Maria is finally asleep and you have time to actually
get things done?"
Kay shrugged her shoulders. "Sometimes."
She stared at this young woman who was thrust into adulthood much too soon
due to poor choices. Sometimes Kathleen reminded her so much of herself, minus
the manipulation and lies, but hadn't she lied to Julian to be free of him
and hadn’t she lied to TC also. She would do whatever she could to help Kay.
"Well, when you are, call me or come over. I'll be happy to keep you company."
"Auntie, you're busy with the hospital and now with Dora- -"
"Kathleen, I'm never too busy for you. I love you. And I’m always available
when you need me or you just want to chat. Have you been keeping up your lunches
with your mom?"
Finding a sudden fascination with the rug, Kay lowered her head. "Yes,"
she mumbled.
"How is it going?"
"It's going."
"You can give me a better answer than that."
"I don't know. She's just so- - so- -"
"Human, non-perfect. Doesn't have all the answers."
Kay nodded.
"Welcome to another part of adulthood, when you discover your parents are
human and make mistakes and can hurt you without meaning to."
"It sucks."
"Yes, it does."
"When did you discover your parents weren't perfect?" Kay asked innocently.
Eve paused. When did she discover her parents weren't perfect? She felt
like she had always known that, but when did she discover her parents love
had conditions on it? Maybe she always known that too, deep down. "When I
told them I wanted to pursue my dreams."
"They didn't want you to become a doctor?" Kay said shocked.
The lies. They were everywhere. And always caught her at the most unexpected
moments. With practiced and well-learned ease, she began to add another lie
to her house of lies.
"Kay, let's go," Simone interrupted. "Fox is here."
"Fox?"
"Yes, he was dropping off Resa and decided to tag along."
"Aunt Evie, can we finish this discussion later?"
Eve nodded.
Looking from her Mom to her best friend, Simone wondered what she walked
in on. It seemed very heavy and deep.
"Do you girls have enough money?" Eve asked, thankful that Simone saved
her from lying again.
"Yes, Mom. We all have money. Come on, Kay. I want to catch the trailers,"
Simone commanded, heading back out the door. "Don't have too much fun without
us, Mom."
"I won't," Eve replied, walking Kay to the door. "I'm proud of you Kathleen.
You made some poor decisions that led to you making some choices, you never
ever thought you would have to make, but you're doing the best you can and
giving it you're all and I admire you for that."
Finishing buttoning her coat, Kay turned to her aunt and hugged her. "Thanks,"
she answered, hoping she conveyed how deeply touched she was by her aunt's
words and her vote of confidence.
"Have fun," Eve said, watching Kay catch up with Simone and get into Fox's
Escalade. She waved to the kids and stayed on the porch until the headlights
were no longer visible.
Going back inside the house, she decided to look through the box of pictures
she found in Angelpie's bedroom. Making herself comfortable on the sofa, Eve
grabbed the box and began looking through the photos which seemed to be of
one costume ball after another based on the way Timmy and Tabitha were dressed,
yet they didn't seem to age in any of the photos. Why wasn't she surprised
by that?
There was just something about Tabitha and Timmy that struck her as odd
and strange occurrences seemed to cling to them and follow them like a black
cat or bad luck from a broken mirror. And why was Timmy in all of these pictures,
yet it took him years before he came to Harmony? Maybe he enjoyed where he
was living before he moved here, whereever that was, but he obviously saw
Tabitha on a regular basis. Though she couldn't remember Tabitha taking any
vacations over the years the older woman lived down the street from her. Hmmm.
Strange indeed.
Eve continued to look at the pictures, amazed by the outfits, and the detail
paid attention to make it seem like Tabitha and Timmy were from that certain
time period. Then she came across a picture of a hospital which looked vaguely
familiar to her. The next photograph was of her.
A young her. A young pregnant, sleeping her. How in the world did Tabitha
get this picture? And how was it taken? When was it taken? Trying not to panic,
she dove for the phone and quickly dialed a number she knew by heart but
never used before.
"Why did she have a picture of me? I don't understand this, Julian. No one
knew where I was. No one knew what hospital," Eve said, pacing the floors.
So true. He had hired the best private investigators and they hadn't been
able to turn up one credible lead of his young, pregnant lover. How did Tabitha
have pictures of Eve? Was his father somehow involved? But why would Tabitha
have any dealings with Alistair? He would have to go through Alistair's files
again with a fine-toothed comb and investigate. "I'm not sure at the moment
how and why Tabitha had pictures of you, but I will get to the bottom of this.
Trust me."
She did with all of her heart even though she didn't want to. She would
without a second thought place her life in his hands. Maybe it was time to
trust him with her deepest secret and concern. "Start the search."
Julian paused and stared up at her from the pictures. "Are you positive?"
"I never took any pictures of myself when I was pregnant and there in your
hands are pictures of me with our son living inside me. I'm taking that as
a sign. Along with that precious little baby upstairs who has brought us together
again, giving us a second chance at parenthood. That is a sign. A sign from
our son. We need to find him. We need to find out what happened to him."
He nodded. He didn't necessarily agree that these things were signs, but
he wouldn't dare say so out loud. Whatever got her to agree to give him the
go-ahead to start the search was fine by him.