Never Forgotten

Part 30

Part 30

The young blonde woman stepped out of the car and started walking with shivering legs and her heart pounding hard in her chest. Each step she took felt like slow motion, as she moved silently on the hard concrete.
Even with their backs to her, she could already feel an aura of warmth and love ooze from them towards her, softly wrapping her heart in the most precious and loving way, making it whole again.

A sudden force made both John and Marlena stop mid sentence as they were telling Jack about what had happened. They both took in a deep breath of air when they felt a tight pull at their hearts.
Feeling the presence of someone who they loved very deeply but had once been lost to them, made their heads turn and loud gasps escaped from them.

The moment their eyes met, time stood still. All that existed in that moment was the three of them.
Marlena grabbed John's arm to steady herself.
"It's you.." She whispered before a heartbreaking cry left her.
Years of missing and longing, the deep sadness and pain that had lived with her for years without her knowing why, left her in that single moment. And all she felt was an overwhelming sense of love and finally feeling complete.

John wrapped his arm around Marlena's waist to keep her from falling to the ground as her body shook violently, while he tried to keep his own emotions in check, but failed as he laid eyes on their daughter, who was the perfect mix of the two of them.

"Alice..."John said lovingly with a smile and tears slowly running down his face.
With Marlena still in his arms he began walking them close to their girl.

Marlena's cries had calmed down to quiet sobs. She still couldn't believe it, Alice looked just like she did in her dream... beautiful and sweet. But unlike her dream, Marlena felt herself able to move closer and closer without Alice disappearing...this was very real and with John right by her side made it absolutely perfect.

Alice had stopped walking when she heard her mothers heartbreaking cry, unsure about what it meant. But when she was able to see the look of love in their eyes she knew...She felt exactly like her mother. Years of feeling like something or someone was missing, the pain of not knowing and the fear of never finding it, all disappeared the second she saw her parents. If the lump in throat would have allowed it, she would have cried out in the exact same way.

Alice watched as her father gently and lovingly held Marlena. Even from a distance the deep love that Jack had described between them was obvious to her, even after all those years apart. And that made her believe that even though it had been 31 years since she and her mother were together, for what could only have been a very short time, she knew that when those two loved someone deeply, that love would never die, and that also applied to her.

With only a few feet away from their daughter, Marlena broke out of John's embrace and ran to Alice with open arms and hugged her in a tight embrace, never wanting to let go in fear of waking up and realizing that this was all a dream.
It wasn't until she felt John's warm and strong arms wrapped around their hugging forms that she dared to believe that this moment was very real indeed.

"Oh I have missed you so very much..my sweet darling girl" Marlena whispered, small sobs still present in her voice. "We are never letting you go again..never".

Alice didn't know what to say, so she just let out what came to her naturally.
"Mommy...Daddy...". She cried out softly, feeling like she was a little girl again.

At a distance Roman and Jack were watching the sweet reunion. Jack with a soft smile on his face and Roman with confusion. The moment Roman had seen the young woman, he knew who she was. There was no denying her physical resemblance to both Marlena and John. Judging by their reactions they apparently didn't know of her before now. Watching them, Roman did some quick math, trying to figure out how old the girl was. If Marlena didn't have any recollection of her, then she must have had her during her missing years when Stefano had her, and that she was conceived when Marlena and John were married. Along with that realization, Roman also realized that now, John and his wife were bound together forever and there would be no change for him.
With a defeated look, Roman shrugged his shoulders and glanced at the small family one last time before he got in the car and drove away.

                                     ————

For hours they talked, sharing stories about their lives.
After their public reunion they had retrieved to John's loft. Jack had felt a little awkward and said he was leaving but Marlena and John wanted him there. "You are as much a part of this family.." Marlena had said and held his hand, reassuring him that they wanted him to stay.

John and Marlena told Alice about when they met for the first time and how they fell in love during an adventurous trip to West Virginia, in the search of John's identity. About how they lived as husband and wife for too short a time before a crazy man tore their family apart. Marlena told Alice what she remembered about time when she was held captive on an island and the faint memories she had of being pregnant with her and the horrific actions by Stefano, who took away their precious time together and made Marlena forget her newborn baby girl.
They also shared the current situation with Marlena's accident a few weeks ago and the fact that she had to go to dialysis for the first time in a few days. Alice knew instantly that if needed, she would donate one of her kidneys to her with a heartbeat..no doubt about it. She was not willing to lose either of them now when she had just gotten them back.

To Alice it all sounded like a soap opera, how much pain and suffering could two people endure?. But she believed every single word and felt in her heart that everything they told her was true.

Alice told them about her childhood and it made Marlena and John happy to know that she had a good and safe upbringing with parents who really loved her as their own.

"Do you know why they named you Alice?" John asked.

Alice smiled at them as she remembered how she used to hate her name, until one day, when she had asked about why her parents had chosen that name for her.

" When I was about four months old I became sick with some sort of virus and a doctor prescribed some penicillin. But what my parents didn't know at the time, was that I was and still am allergic to penicillin. So I was rushed to the hospital where doctors worked for hours to save my life. In the meantime a sweet lady, who was a volunteer at the hospital, took care of my parents, comforted them and stayed with them, during the whole day and night until she knew that I was okay. She never left their side. So to honor her, they named me after her. Her name was Alice Horton."

Alice saw how John and Marlena's expression changed from big smiles to one of wonder.
They couldn't believe it. Alice had been in Salem when she was a baby.

"What!" Alice said a bit nervously.

John cleared his throat and took Marlena's hand.
"We know Mrs Horton....or knew. She died a few years ago". He said with sadness, remembering the kind and caring woman he held dearly in his heart. "She was the matriarch of Salem. A true believer in love, kindness and compassion. You are very special and honored to be named after her....it's just perfect." John smiled with pride.

The four of them continued talking until the wee hours of the night. Laughter and tears filling the loft for hours.
Everything fell into place in all of their lives. The last pieces of the beautiful and amazing story of their family, finally came together with the hope and promise of many more years together as one happy family.