True
Chapter Seventeen
Once
they got back to the hotel, Chloe had decided to take a long hot bath.
She wanted at least one chance to take advantage of the gigantic roman
tub that the hotel bathroom provided. When
she finished and stepped outside of the bathroom she saw Brady sitting in the
middle of his bed with one of Nancy's diaries in one hand and a plain white
envelope in the other.
He
looked up at her and shrugged his shoulders as if he was in shock.
"Chloe... you're not going to believe this..."
Chloe
looked at him with a glance of fear. "Believe
what? What is it, Brady? Is
everything okay?"
"I...
I was putting this diary back with the others... And..." He moved the
hand with the envelope towards her. "And,
the corner of this slid out."
Chloe
took the envelope from his hand and glanced at it. On the front of the envelope, written in Nancy's thin, neat
script was one name: Chloe. She
looked at it disbelief and sat on the edge of the bed. Chloe ran one finger over the place where her name was
written and sighed. She gently
turned the envelope over and carefully tore the flap open. She pulled the paper out from inside and unfolded it slowly.
"It's
dated... three days after my birthdate."
She
took a deep breath before she began reading, but instead of continuing she
laid the note on the bed beside her and turned to Brady.
"I...
I can't do it. You have to read
it for me. Please, please,
Brady."
"Are
you sure?"
"Yes...
please..."
Brady
spied the desperation in her eyes and nodded.
"Of course, then..."
He
smiled at her and kissed her on the forehead before he read the letter out
loud.
"My
Dear Chloe Michele,
You
have just left me no more than an hour ago.
The adoption service came to take you from me today.
My heart feels broken, and I am writing this in hopes that someday when
you are older you will read it and understand.
I
pray that you will not hate me when you are old enough to understand that I
have given you up. I love you, my
baby, no matter what. I hope you
can realize that I have only done what I thought is best for you. It tears me into pieces because I can't keep you.
Unfortunately, the situation that I am in right now leaves me no other
choice but to let you go. You
will be much happier with a family who can take care of you the way that you
deserve.
I
know that nothing I can say to you will make everything okay.
But there are a few things you need to know.
I love you more than anyone or anything in this world.
I didn't think it was possible to love something so much but I have
spent three days with you now, and I understand what love really is now.
You are an amazing, perfect creature and don't let anyone ever tell you
differently. I have faith in you,
and I know that you will grow up to be a wonderful, intelligent, beautiful,
kind and loving young woman. Every
day for the rest of my life, I will think of you and pray for your happiness
and success in life. Do not make
the mistakes I have made, always be honest and true to yourself.
Don't ever let someone push you around or force you into something you
aren't willing to do.
Normally
birth mothers do not get to name their children, but thankfully I have been
allowed to. And, this is my gift
to you. Although, I will not be
able to watch you grow up and experience all the wonderful things that go with
it. But, always remember that
your name was given to you by me and think of a mother who loves you deeply
when you think of that name. I
know that from now on when I hear the name Chloe, I will always think of my
baby daughter.
I
will love you always.
Nancy"
Chloe
had begun to sob halfway through Brady's reading of the letter.
He instinctively threw an arm around her and she rested her head on his
shoulder and cried into it. After
he was finished he placed the letter aside and wrapped both arms around her
tightly. Brady held her and stroked her hair until her sobbing began
to subside. He reached over and
grabbed a few tissues out of the box on the nighttable and handed them to her.
She lifted her head and blew her nose into them as she smiled weakly at
Brady.
"Wow...
that was just... wow."
Brady
nodded in agreement. "Pretty amazing, huh?"
"Yeah...
I can't even describe it, Brady. I
have so much to say to her now... And, I think I need to apologize."
Brady
looked perplexed. "Apologize
for what?"
"I
have to apologize to Nancy for the way that I've acted.
I mean, she hasn't been perfect since I've gotten there herself... but
I've been terrible to her. I just
assumed that she never loved me and still doesn't.
I thought that she only brought me to Salem because she felt guilty for
leaving me in an orphanage and not because she actually cared about me at
all."
Chloe
sighed and shook her head in shame, as Brady protested.
"But, she has been pretty over-protective of you... Nancy isn't
the easiest person to get along with."
"No,
Brady... see... She's a mom, she's supposed to be overprotective and we're not
supposed to get along with each other. That's
just how family works. And, the
only reason why she acts that way is because she worries.
I see that now. Between the diaries, and the letters and the whole trip... I
understand her now."
"So,
what are you going to do when you get home?"
Chloe
cringed in fear. "You
mean... we have to go home?"
Brady
chuckled and brushed a piece of hair off of Chloe's face. "Well, yes...
eventually. We certainly can't
stay gone forever. Besides, as
much as I pretend to hate Salem, I really don't..."
Chloe
nodded reservedly. "I know,
I know. I just don't want to face
the music. I'm finally to the
point where I don't hate Nancy, and I WANT us to have a relationship with
her... but... she's going to kill me when she finds out what I've done."
Brady
shook his head. "Not
necessarily..."
"If
you don't think so, then maybe you don't know Nancy very well.
She's going to go ballistic when she finds out I didn't go on the
school trip. And, she's going to
be even more angry when she finds out what I REALLY did and who I did it
with."
"Okay,
granted... she will be mad... furious even.
But, don't you think the truth is important? I think she needs to know the truth, and so does Craig.
Things are going to be awful when it comes out, but it will heal.
Like you said, Chloe... once somebody loves you, they will always love
you no matter how mad they are. So,
it's either tell them the truth or we can go home the same day that Belle and
Shawn get home from Puerto Rico and pretend that NONE of this ever
happened."
Chloe
looked downward and sighed. "I
know... you're right. I can't lie
about this. I've lied enough
already. And, that's what I feel
the most guilty about. I know I
didn't have a choice, I couldn't exactly come out and share all my plans with
them... but it still bothers me."
"Nancy
has lied to you for seventeen years, Chloe..."
Chloe
sighed softly. "Doesn't
matter... my lies would just perpetuate this whole policy of secrecy in this
family. And Craig... he's never
done anything to me that warrants me lying to him.
It's not fair..."
Brady
grasped her arms with his hands and stared her straight in the eyes.
"Chloe... you have to stop this.
Stop it. You did what was
necessary, just like your mother did in the past.
It may hurt people, but in the long run, it will be worth it.
There is no way that your family would be able to survive on years of
lies for much longer. You know
the truth now, and if you want this family to work, you have to tell them.
It doesn't matter what you had to do to get to the truth, it matters
what you do with it now that you have it."
Chloe
sighed deeply and rested her head on his chest again. "I just dread it, Brady... I wish I could fast forward
through all of this and get to the part where nobody is mad at me
anymore."
Brady
chuckled softly and kissed the top of her head. "Yeah right... if only it were so easy."
Chloe
moved out of their embrace and threw herself onto the bed. "Ohhhhh...
what am I gonna do? I still have
a week before I even have to be home, don't I?"
Brady
laid back on the bed beside her and grinned.
"Pretty much. We
could pretend we're on a real vacation if you're not ready to go back to Salem
yet. You know... see the sights,
have some fun... the whole thing."
Chloe
groaned. "I don't know... I
kind of want to get this over with as soon as possible, but on the other hand,
I don't..."
"Well,
you've got time to decide... Figure it out in the morning... or the next day
or the day after that."
Chloe
laughed softly and rolled on her side to face Brady. "Yeah, no decisions today... I don't want any part of
that."
Brady
smiled at her. "Well good...
then let's just order another round of room service tonight and have ourselves
a little hotel room picnic."
Chloe grinned and kissed him gently. "Best idea I've heard all day."