|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Chapter Five | ||||||
| Secrets Revealed | ||||||
| Shawn used his own keys to open up the door to his parents' house. Bo had called him earlier that day to ask for help with something for Hope. So naturally he had said yes and he came right over after dinner. As he pushed open the door to the kitchen he heard his father's angry voice. Closing the door quietly, he walked over to the doorway between the kitchen and living room. His father was yelling at his mother for something. He had never heard his father this angry before in all his thirty-four years. | ||||||
| "Hope, how could you... how could you lie to me about this? I asked, time after time, if you knew who JT's birth father was and you told me again and again no. But, all along you've known that John was his father." Bo yelled at Hope who had tears running down her face. | ||||||
| "Bo, I'm sorry. So sorry. I didn't always know, but I suspected and found out it was true. You have to understand that I thought at the time that keeping it a secret was for the best." Hope grabbed his arm and held onto it as if she was afraid of something. But, Bo pulled away from her disgustedly. | ||||||
| "Hope, sorry isn't going to cut it this time. You've kept this secret for far too long. Tell me does John know?" | ||||||
| "Yes, he does. He's always known the truth. And he agreed to keep it a secret for me. But, I-," Hope stopped talking as she heard the back kitchen door slam, a car start then, drive off. She looked at Bo shocked, "Oh god, please tell me that wasn't JT." She said running to the front door of the house after Bo who had left to see who it was. | ||||||
| "No, it wasn't JT." Bo said gravely. Hope breathed a sigh of relief until she saw his face. "It was Shawn. Damn, I forgot I asked him to help me with a surprise for you today. Before of course you threw this one on me. Well, I hope you are happy now you're little secret is out. And it not only ruined our lives, it's ruined our son's." Bo brushed pass Hope into the house. | ||||||
| Hope stood alone outside her arms wrapped around herself. "I'm sorry, so sorry. How am I ever going to fix this?" She asked the cool night air as she stared out into the darken sky. | ||||||
| *~*~*~*~*~@~*~*~*~*~* | ||||||
| Belle had just put Ian in his bed for the night and was in the living room drinking a cup of tea. She was waiting for Shawn to get home. He had been gone for over two hours, since Bo asked him for help. JT was gone on a school trip for the night. Belle was worried. It had almost been a week since she'd issued an ultimatum to Hope and she knew someday soon the Brady family would be rocked from its core with this secret. And she fully intended to be there for Shawn. Not a day had gone by that she didn't struggle with telling Shawn the truth about JT herself. But, Belle had made a promise to Hope to let her do it and she would. Then together she and Shawn could help each other deal with the pain. | ||||||
| As she sipped her tea, her oldest daughter coming to say goodnight pulled her out of her thoughts. "Hey sweetie, coming to say goodnight?" | ||||||
| "Yeah, but I wanted to tell you that Grandma called while you were bathing Ian." Serena responded pushing her shoulder-length chocolate brown hair behind her ears. | ||||||
| "She did?" Serena nodded before turning around so that Belle could put her hair in a braid. "Did she say what she wanted?" | ||||||
| "No just that she wanted you to call her, she said it was important." | ||||||
| "Oh well, I'll call her later." She braided the end of Serena's hair and placed a barrette on the end of it. "There now, I'm finished. You better go on up to bed so you won't be late for school tomorrow." She kissed Serena's cheek. When Serena didn't leave right away Belle wondered what was wrong. "What's wrong, honey?" | ||||||
| "Nothing, I guess. It's just that I wanted to wait up for Daddy. He said he'd tell me about your island adventure and how you guys saved Granny's ruby." | ||||||
| "I didn't know your father was telling you about that. Rena, it looks like he's going to be late. So I'll remind him about the story tomorrow. Okay?" | ||||||
| "Okay, but could you tell him I want all the gory details and he can't leave anything out. Including your late night escapades alone." Serena said smirking. | ||||||
| "Where did you hear about that young lady?" Belle questioned arching her eyebrow. | ||||||
| "From Conrad of course. He told me, Ana and Domy and Jarod all about it. Of course it was the PG version. Well at least that's what he said." Serena said as she grinned wickedly. | ||||||
| Belle nodded. ~ I am going to have to talk to Mimi about telling Conrad these things. The last thing I need is for Serena to find out about half the stuff Shawn and I did then. ~ She stood and started to walk Serena to her room. As they started up the stairs, they heard the sound of a car in the driveway. Serena bounded off the stairs. | ||||||
| "Well, it looks as if you may get your edited adventure story after all, sweetie. You can ask your Dad when he gets in." Belle said as she turned and followed her daughter back down the stairs. She walked over to the window by the door and watched as Shawn approached the house. From where she stood he looked fine. But, as he walked into the light of the porch she realized something was wrong. | ||||||
| Shawn unlocked the door to his house expecting to see Belle waiting up for him. When he walked in the house his eldest daughter immediately attacked him. | ||||||
| "Hi Daddy, I told Momma you'd get back in time to tell me about the island adventure. " Serena jumped up and down in both excitement and happiness that her father was home before she ran grabbed hold of his shirt to make him look down at her. | ||||||
| Shawn wasn't in the mood or in the right frame of mind to deal with his exuberant daughter. Yet, he knew that he had to deal with her delicately so not as to hurt her feelings. He leaned down and lifted her into his arms. "Rena, sweetie, I am really tired and I don't think I will be up to telling you about the adventure tonight." Serena's small mouth pursued in a pout. "But, I promise I will tell you all about it tomorrow." | ||||||
| She was silent for a moment. "Well, okay Daddy. Momma told me you probably would be too tired from helping Grandpa anyway. Do you promise not to leave out a single detail?" | ||||||
| "Yeah, I promise you, Serena. I won't leave out a single detail." | ||||||
| "Okay but it have to be really, really good," she answered as she was set down on the floor. | ||||||
| "Don't worry, it will be none of that sweet PG kids stuff. PG-13 action all the way." | ||||||
| Serena frowned a little as she looked at he father. "PG-13 Dad, shouldn't I at least get rated R since you can't tell me tonight?" Although, she knew it was a long shot she asked anyway. | ||||||
| "Rated R, I think not little Miss Brady. You should be happy you're getting PG-13 since you aren't thirteen yet. Now, why don't you go on to bed munchkin." Shawn swatted Serena's tush and sent her on her way. He had to smile at her audacity even in his mood. She left the room giggling happily. | ||||||
| As soon as their daughter left the room, Shawn shoved his hands through his hair and walked over to the chair to sit down. He had been driving around for the last two and a half hours trying to decide the best way to tell Belle about JT. It would be shocking for her at first but she needed to be told. No, she had to be told. | ||||||
| "Shawn what's wrong?" Belle watched as he sat down. He looked uneasy and maybe even a little annoyed. Whatever was wrong it was serious. "Please tell me. Whatever is wrong, Shawn, tell me." | ||||||
| He didn't know what to say to her. ~ How can I tell her this, she is going to be so hurt, so shocked, ~ he thought as Belle moved in front of him sitting on the coffee table holding his hands. | ||||||
| "Shawn you're starting to scare me by not saying anything. Please just tell me whatever it is that has got you so ... so... messed up." Belle wondered what was wrong. Although she had a sneaking suspicion he had found out about JT, she knew that couldn't be it because Hope would have warned her. Hope would have given her some sort of warning promised that she would. | ||||||
| "I was at my parents house. My mom and dad were having a fight about..." he paused. "I don't know. I just came in from the backdoor. And she said--," | ||||||
| "Shawn I--," Belle started to interrupt him. But Shawn was on a role and couldn't be stopped. | ||||||
| "Belle please, don't interrupt me." He stared into her eyes and held her hand tightly. "JT ... he's my-our brother. JT is our brother. John is his biological father." Shawn released the breath that he had been holding. Then he waited for Belle to show some kind of response. "I know this is a shock to you, Belle. But we can get thru this together. I promise." Seeing Belle's neutral yet sad expression he realized that she had yet t say anything. She didn't look shocked to him either kind of like she already knew. But, she couldn't have. | ||||||
| "Shawn I-I already knew." Belle said softly, he looked thoroughly shocked. | ||||||
| "But, you couldn't I just told you." | ||||||
| "No, I found out on Monday. That was the reason I never made it to lunch with Chloe and Mimi. I walked in on my father and your mother talking about it. I'm so sorry. I don't know what else to say." Shawn had pulled his hand out of Belle's to push it through his hair. | ||||||
| "You've known for a week. Why didn't you tell me? I thought we never kept secrets from each other. You deliberately acted like nothing was wrong all day. Why, why didn't you tell me?" He stood and began to pace the living room. | ||||||
| "Shawn that's not true. I wanted to tell you. But, your mother begged me to let her do it. Please don't be angry with me. I wanted to tell you this so bad. But, I couldn't do that. She had to be the one to tell you." Belle stood and attempted to walk over to him. But, he moved away from her holding his hand out before him to keep her away. | ||||||
| "Belle, you should have told me. You're my wife. And this is not just some little fib. It involves a child, my brother--our brother and if my mother didn't feel the need to tell me were you ever going to?" Belle attempted to answer him. "If she kept this secret for over 18 years what makes you think she would tell me anything?" | ||||||
| "Shawn I made her promise me she would tell you. And if she didn't I would. I'm sorry that I didn't say anything to you. But, I thought that since it was your mother's secret then it was hers to tell. Can't you understand that?" She placed her hands on his shoulders and this time he didn't move immediately. | ||||||
| "Oh I understand, I understand that you didn't tell me and that's all I need to know." He grasped her hands and pushed them away. Then he pocketed his keys to his motorcycle, grabbed his leather jacket and headed to the door. Belle stood in the same place and watched him gather his things. "Where are you going Shawn? You can't just walk out on me while we're talking." | ||||||
| He turned the knob and opened the door. "Yes, I can. I need to get out for a while to think." He started to walk out the doorway. | ||||||
| "I'm sorry," Shawn turned around and looked at Belle. He nodded and then walked out of the house. Belle stood still as if her feet were glued to the floor. After hearing the motorcycle fire up and leave she slowly fell back on the couch and cried. | ||||||
| On to Chapter Six | ||||||
| Back to Secrets of the Hearts | ||||||