Every Memory Repeats

Chapter 27

Marlena cried softly, staring at the front door that Carrie had just slammed on her way out of the house. The hurt in her daughters face, when she learned that Roman had left Salem, had nearly broken Marlena's heart. She couldn't make excuses for him. She couldn't explain away his actions. Carrie blamed herself. Marlena wanted to scream, rant, and physically maim Roman.

John slid his arms around her from behind, and whispered, "She's hurt, Doc. She'll be back. She just needs time."

"I know," she whispered, wiping at her tears. "I can't believe Roman's done this to her. I can't believe he's done this to his family."

"All we can do is help her through it," he said softly. "Help her, and the twinners, get through this."

"He broke her heart, John. She thinks he's left because she came home."

"Once she calms down, we'll speak with her again. She won't hear the message until she's ready, but we'll make sure she understands. Leaving Salem was Roman's choice, and it had nothing to do with her," he said.

Marlena sighed, leaning her head back against his chest, "I feel like this is my fault."

"This is Roman's fault, baby. Roman's. Not yours. Not Carrie's."

Looking up at him with wide eyes, Marlena turned around in his arms, placing her arms loosely around his neck, and said, "I love you. Thank you for being with me...for helping me speak with Carrie."

"I will always be here for you," he whispered, brushing her hair from her face, and kissing her softly. Reaching for Marlena's hand, John said, "Come sit with me on the couch. I needed to talk to you about something."

He settled into the corner, and Marlena curled up on his lap. Wrapping one arm around his neck, and resting her other hand on his chest, she laid her head on his shoulder, and kissed his neck gently, murmuring, "You smell so good."

Squeezing her thigh, John growled, "Doc, you keep doing that, and I'm going to forget what I had to say."

"Okay...I'll stop, for now," she said, licking him once behind his ear.

He wanted to throw her naked body onto the couch, and make her scream, but instead he said, "Lawrence and I met with the doctor who did the DNA test today. It's official, I have a half-brother."

"How did he react?"

"He'd already had paperwork drawn up," John said softly. "Even before we had the test results, he said he knew. This new relationship is going to feel odd at first. I'm trying to reconcile my childhood memories of him, with my adult ones. I've never been a fan of Lawrence Alamain."

"What did he have paperwork for?"

"Half of our mother's estate. I, um...Lawrence signed it over to me today," John said. "I have no idea what I'm going to do with it. Doc, it's worth $33 million."

Marlena gasped lightly, "What would you like to do with it?"

"Buy us a house. Marry you. Aside from that, I have no idea. The only job I was good at was police work, and that's no longer an option," John told her.

"Why? You could rejoin the police force. Abe's in charge now."

"When Roman came back, I lost my position. I'm no longer Commander Brady. I'm not sure I'm up to the challenge of starting from the bottom."

"You could open a PI business," she said.

John was quiet for a moment, "A PI business?"

"Or security," she said. "You could open a security firm. I recall you being very good at that. Didn't you redesign Victor's whole system?"