Gertie

Chapter 29

John had met with Mickey again the morning after the party at the Penthouse Grille. He'd left feeling frustrated. Courts almost always gave custody to the mother, and John's concern over Isabella's growing isolation of Brady wasn't grounds to say that he was in danger physically, or emotionally.  Isabella had now decided that Brady couldn't have any contact with Gertie, Sami, or any of the Brady's. When he'd leave to go see his daughter, Brady cried, begging John to bring him along. He couldn't imagine being limited in his ability to see Brady, not when he'd spent nearly every day of the last four years with him.

    He walked down the hallway slowly. Brady was down for the night, asleep after just two short stories. Sighing, John went to see Victor, and welcome him home. Victor had been released from the hospital earlier in the day, but John hadn't found out until he'd returned from spending some time with Gertie, and Sami. As soon as he'd walked in the door, he realized that Isabella was, again, angry with him. It had become almost normal to find out that he had disappointed her in some way. Dinner had been an awkward affair, and John had spent most of it interacting with Brady.

    He knocked on Victor's door softly, and waited until he heard Victor say softly, "Come in."

    Victor was a shell of who he had once been. Being ill for months had taken a toll on his body, leaving him frail, and emaciated. "Hey, Vic," John said, entering the room slowly. "I'm sorry I wasn't here when you came home tonight. I was visiting with Sami and Gertie."

    "And Marlena?" Victor asked with genuine curiosity.

    John was quiet for a moment, but seeing no malice in Victor's eyes, he said, "Doc was at work."

    "Isabella mentioned you had an appointment with an oncologist about your daughter coming up," Victor told him. "How is she?"

    John sat down with a sigh, running his fingers through his hair, "The cancer is progressing faster than they thought it would, and none of us are matches. We're hoping this new baby is, but there isn't a guarantee. I feel like I lost so much time with Gertie, and Marlena is falling apart, afraid to lose Gertie, plus she's worried about her pregnancy, because of her stress level."

    Victor took a deep breath, frustrated with Isabella, "I told Isabella, she needed to tell you about Gertie. I remember how I felt when I found out about Bo. I loved Caroline so much, and when she kept that from me it almost destroyed our friendship." John was quiet, and Victor noticed that the color seemed to have drained from his face. Isabella had never told John she knew about Gertie, that much was obvious. Victor looked out the window for a moment, and then back to John, "Isabella never told you? Did she?"

    The pain in his chest was crushing him. The betrayal he felt all encompassing. He shuddered, taking a slow breath, and said, barely above a whisper, "Sami told me. At the hospital my first night in Salem, in December. How long did Isabella know?"

    Victor paused. Telling John what he knew would be betraying his daughter, but he had told her to be honest. He had told her that it would all come down to this. Honesty. Victor found that he was unable to lie to John. The man looked as if he was barely holding himself together. Sighing deeply, Victor looked into John's eyes, and he said, "She knew in September. I had initially heard a rumor when I came back to Salem after six months in Greece. I had a PI look into it, and sent the information to Isabella."

    "What information?" John ground out.

    "Gertie's birth certificate, some photos..."

    John felt like any remaining trust he had in his wife was shattered in an instant, "She knew, and even when I asked her, she lied. She knew for three months before I found out. I asked her if she knew about my daughter and she swore she didn't. She even said...she said she would never do that to me..." John choked on his emotion, "She said, she would never hurt me that way. Did she know about the affair? Before that?"