Surprises

Part Seventeen

Dara stood at the curtains, looking down on the street below as she waited for Hope to finish in the bathroom. After their frantic rush back to the penthouse, Hope was still visibly shaken. Dara suggested that the teenager take a warm bath and change into more comfortable clothes. Hope complied but only if Dara would stay in the room with her. When Sonny tried to approach her, Hope tore up the staircase.

Sonny was clearly saddened by Hope's response to him. Dara didn't know what to say so she asked him to leave. He protested at first. In reply, Dara promised to call him as soon as Hope was ready to see him. Those words got through to him, and he left. Sadly, but he left.

The bathroom door creaked open. "You shouldn't stand in the window," Hope said, her voice quiet but urgent.

Dara turned to face her daughter. "How was your bath? Do you feel better?"

"It was okay," the girl replied. She moved past Dara and firmly pulled the curtains closed. As the room became shrouded in darkness, Hope took Dara's hand and pulled her away from the window and toward the foot of the bed. Hope crawled under the covers and hugged her knees to her chest. "You're not gonna leave now, are you?"

"No." Dara shook her head. She sat on the side of the bed and patted Hope's knee. "I'll stay as long as you like. Wanna talk about what happened?"

Hope's bottom lip trembled. "Not especially."

"We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"Weren't you scared?"

Dara chose not to lie. "Yes."

"He wasn't," Hope said, frowning. "He's used to it. How can anyone get used to being shot at?"

"I doubt if Sonny likes it--"

"Why are you defending him?" Hope asked. "Do you love him?"

Dara's mouth dropped open. She expected a heart-to-heart, but nothing along these lines. Talk about treading on dangerous ground. This conversation had the potential of being as hazardous as their simple shopping trip.

"Did you love him when you got pregnant with me?" Hope asked when Dara didn't immediately answer.

Inwardly, Dara sighed with relief. This was an easier question to deal with. "Yes, I loved him then."

"Did you trust him?" Hope asked. "Seeing you two now, I can't imagine you together. I know you didn't want me--"

"There was never a day when your father and I didn't want you," Dara said. "We didn't plan to get pregnant, but when we knew, we planned to be a family. Hope, please, don't ever believe you weren't wanted. Baby, you were. We both wanted you so much. We still do."

Hope rolled into a reclining position on the bed. Curling on her side, she maintained eye contact with Dara and asked, "Do you love him now?"

Back to this again. Dara didn't try to change the subject. "I'm not in love with him, but because of you, a part of me will always care about him."

"Does he love you?"

"I don't know how he feels about me," Dara answered honestly. "My relationship with Sonny is complicated. I would guess that a part of him still cares about me, too, but in all honesty, what he and I feel about each other isn't as important as how much we both love you."

Hope averted her eyes and began to pluck at the comforter. One of the girl's many walls was resurrecting itself. Dara didn't want that to happen. They'd made too much progress for them to start over again.

"He loves you, Hope. You shouldn't doubt that."

"People die because of him," the girl mumbled. "I was scared. I'm still scared."