Unexpected Happenings, Chapter 8
 
 

TC finally came into the house and up to his bedroom. He saw that Eve was sleep. Of course, she was sleep. She had no reason to think that anything was wrong. She was unaware that he had shattered their marriage vows with his actions. He didn’t know what he was going to do about it, because his actions had raised more questions than settled anything. He got into bed, and tried to go to sleep.

Grace Bennett wasn’t getting a restful night’s sleep either. Her mind was reliving certain moments: when she had ‘felt’ Sam making love to Ivy, and her own betrayal of her marriage vows with TC. She sat up in her bed, shaking. She looked over at the picture of Sam and her that she kept on her nightstand. Holding it, her hand drew over it.

" How could things have gone this wrong, Sam? What’s wrong with us?"

Grace sat in the bed, holding the picture. She knew she wouldn’t go back to sleep, but, liked the privacy that her room afforded her.
 

" Kay, I love you. I’m sorry that I was such a fool about Charity. Will you ever forgive me?"

" Oh Miguel, of course I will. I’ll love you forever."

" And, I’ll never let anyone come between us. Will you marry me?"

" Yes! Yes! Yes!"

Miguel pulls Kay into a long and deep kiss. They part for just a few seconds, smile at one another, and go in for another kiss.

" Yes, I love you…I love you…I love you.."

" Kay..Kay…Kay!"

Kay Bennett awoke from her glorious dream to find Jessica sitting on the side of her bed.
 

" WHY are you here? I was having a terrific dream."

" Come on, Kay. It was just another one of your Miguel fantasies."

" Miguel? What are you talking about?"

" Spare me, Kay. The only ones who don’t know about you and Miguel are Reese and Charity. And, then again, I think that Reese knows."

" What are you talking about?"

" Haven’t you seen how Reese looks at you and Miguel lately? He definitely doesn’t have that dewey-eyed devotion that he used to have with you. "

Kay wondered about what Jessica had said. She thought she had sensed a change from Reese, but, figured she had imagined it.

" I can’t believe that you waked me up in the middle of the night to talk about Reese. Goodnight."

Kay turned over, and Jessica, said quietly,

" Kay, please. I didn’t come to talk about Reese. I came to talk about Mom and Dad."

Kay could hear the concern in her voice and turned to face her sister, " What about them?"

" You DO know that Dad isn’t in their bedroom, don’t you?"

" He’s stayed at the Office many times, Jessica."

" But, not this often, Kay. Something is wrong with them."

" Jessica, Mom and Dad are just going through a bad patch, that’s all. You know that bitch, Ivy Crane, isn’t stopping in her pursuit of Dad."

" Yeah, I know that. But, Kay, Mom has changed. Before, whenever I spoke of her and Dad, and not giving up, she always had a spark about her. Now…"

" What?", Kay was curious. She had to admit that she hadn’t been paying much attention to her parents. She genuinely believes that nothing could come between them, least of all, Ivy Crane. Surely her father had to see through a lying tramp like Ivy, right?

" Mom doesn’t even seem to CARE if she and Dad get back together."

" Jessica, that’s crazy. Of course Mom CARES! This family is her life. There’s no other man for Dad. Maybe she’s tired of Ivy Crane, but she loves Dad, we know that. This is just a rough spell. They took vows. For better or for worse. Nothing means more to Mom and Dad than those wedding vows. It might take sometime, but, they’ll get back together. And, if they can’t get it together on their own, then maybe we’ll have to help them."

" Help, how?"

" I don’t know, Jessica. But, if I decide that they need some help, you know what I’ll do is drastic."

Jessica looked at her sister. She nodded, because she knew Kay never really did anything halfway.

" Well, I don’t think we need one of your plans, Kay. Not yet. But, I’m going to be sticking close to Mom, reminding her how much our family means to her. Why don’t you stop by the station and try to do the same with Dad?"

Kay nodded. " I can do that."

" Thanks."

" OK. Night."

Jessica didn’t move.

" Jess, is there something wrong?"

" I wanted to know…..if I could sleep in the other bed."

Kay hadn’t heard that request from Jessica since they were little girls, and Jessica used to come and sleep in the other bed during bad storms.

" Sure, Jess. It’s ok."

Jessica got in the other bed, and just like when she was a little girl, she held the stuffed bear that was on the bed until she went to sleep.
 

Ivy Crane had the grin of a Cheshire cat on her face. Her dreams this night were nothing but steamy, sexy remembrances of her recent encounters with Sam. Ivy was remembering how it felt to have Sam’s hands and lips all over her body, and what it felt like to be with him once again. In all those different positions…hee hee hee

Ivy woke up completely horny, but, she didn’t feel the sense of frustration that had filled the many years of the past. Ivy knew that this time, she didn’t have to feel frustrated; she could get her release with the help of Sam. He protested weakly, but, still, his passion - their passion, overwhelmed him. Soon, she and Sam would be together, and there would be nothing that anyone else could do.

She was rich, beautiful and sexy. And, she wanted Sam Bennett. She wanted them to have the life that they always should have had. The life that was stolen by her father, Alistair and Julian. She had given that trio the best years of her life, but, they weren’t going to get a minute more. Ivy didn’t give a damn about Sam and Grace’s marriage. Now that she had her hooks into Sam, she wouldn’t relent until THEY were together again – permanently. Sam felt guilty now, but, Ivy would help him get over it. She, Sam and Ethan were meant to be a family. And, now, that dream was just beginning. She knew that Sam loved her. She was inching closer and closer to the center of his heart. She would be the ONLY woman in it. And, Grace would be thrown out with the rubbish.

To ensure this, Ivy had been consulting with a fertility specialist in Boston. He had told her that she wasn’t too old to have another child, and had put her on a special diet, and given her vitamins to help her with conception. Ivy had given up caffeine and other ‘bad things’, and was making sure that her body was ready to receive Sam’s ‘gift’. She would be pregnant in no time. And, then, Grace would HAVE to throw Sam out. Yes…they would be a family.
 

Sam Bennett was tossing and turning in the little bed at the Police Department. He was having a dream where he was in the middle of a tug-of-war between Grace and Ivy. He was being pulled in two different directions. And the battle ended the same way, usually: Ivy pulls some dirty stunt, and he’s yanked over to Ivy’s side, with her winning the battle. Yet, his eyes won’t leave Grace, standing there, in the mud, and he begins to outstretch his arms to Grace, yet can’t get near her, because Ivy is pulling him further and further away.

Sam wakes up in a dead sweat. He looks at a picture of him and Grace on the desk across the room. He goes to it, picks it up, and pulls it to his chest for dear life.
 

Julian Crane is having an odd dream of his own.

He’s walking down to the gazebo on the estate, when he sees a figure in white.

He walks up to it. " Excuse me, but, are you trespassing on this Estate?"

" I hope not.", the woman says, turning around.

" Mother?"

" Hello, Julian."

" But, you’re…."

" I know. I know. But, I think you need someone to talk to."

" About what?"

" You know what, Julian?"

" About the fact is that my life’s a mess. I just got rid of Ivy after 20+years of Hell."

" Yes, that marriage could have been nothing but a disaster because that’s the way Alistair wanted it. "

" I know. He never wanted me to have anyone who truly cared for me. Now, I have Rebecca."

" Julian, please Darling, don’t tell me that you are going to continue to sell yourself short."

" Mother, I don’t know what you mean. Rebecca welcomes me into her bed. She enjoys playing my games. She supports me."

" Julian, does she love you?"

" Mother, I’m beyond love."

" That wasn’t my question."

" Love isn’t for me."

" It once was."

" It was? How could you know? Did you know?"

His mother laughs. " Of course, I knew. I’m your mother."

" Then, why?"

" Because, I had lost influence over you years ago. I knew that you were doomed, but, I prayed nightly that you might find the courage to follow your heart."

" Well, we both know that didn’t happen."

" No, it didn’t. And, what did you get in exchange, Julian? Did you get the Crane Empire?"

" No."

" Then, what did you get, Julian?"

" Nothing. Nothing but 20 years of marriage to a bitch who didn’t love me, and spurned me at every turn."

" Then, why would you put yourself in that position again."

" Mother, I have to ask: you arranged for Sheridan to be financially independent on her wedding day? Why didn’t you do the same for me?"

" Because, whatever money I had couldn’t compete with the Crane Empire. I knew that Sheridan would follow her heart, because Alistair’s neglect allowed me to shape and mold Sheridan’s views on love. Alistair would never allow that with you: YOU had to find that courage all on your own."

" I still haven’t found it."

" No, you haven’t. But, I believe you will."

" When?"

" The day that you decide to truly follow your heart."

" Mother, I told you. I don’t have a heart, anymore."

" Of course you do, Julian. It’s just buried."

" Mother, the only other person that loved me is with someone else now."

" Things change, Julian. I have to go.", she says, as she begins walking away from Julian.

" Mother, wait, what do you mean, ‘things change’." Julian begins to walk after her, but, she gets further and further away from him. In the end, he can’t even see her anymore, but, can only hear her voice,

" Follow your heart."

It is echoing over and over in Julian’s mind when he sits up in his bed, startled. He looks around the room, trying to get his bearings, and as soon as he can, he gets up to fix himself a brandy. Gulping it down, he shakes his head,

" It wasn’t real. Couldn’t be. Only a weird dream. Only a weird dream."