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.