John and Marlena (Finally) Get a Q!

Chapter 59 - Night Vision

Kristen pushed irritably at the door and entered the Brady pub. It appeared to have been an unusually busy evening and there were still quite a few patrons seated in booths near the curtained windows. Caroline was wiping glasses behind the antique bar when Kristen caught her eye and Kristen knew that the smile she produced was about as genuine as the one she had plastered on her own face.

"Hi there Caroline," she dropped her purse on the counter and hefted her ungainly body onto a bar stool.

"Kristen." Caroline acknowledged the younger woman, hoping that her face didn't betray the complete contempt that washed through her. "What can I get for you?"

"Hmmm...," Kristen thought for a moment, "how about a glass of orange juice?" She threw her long fair hair back over her shoulders and rested her elbows on the counter as she watched Caroline throw down her cloth.

"Coming right up."

Caroline busied herself pouring the juice while Kristen cast her eyes around the cozy pub, wondering how to frame the questions that floated around in her head. Her attention was brought back to the bar as Caroline placed the frosty glass in front of her and then wiped her hands on the towel that was tucked in the waistband of her apron.

"So how are you, Kristen?" she asked softly. After all that this woman had done to separate and cause pain for John and Marlena, Caroline really had no compassion left in her but for the child that Kristen carried. John's child. And for that child, she would do her best to be civil for as long as she had to.

"Oh, I guess I'm doing okay." Kristen took a sip of her orange juice, savoring the bitterness of it against her tongue as she placed the glass back on her coaster. Deliberately she bit her lip and glanced up at Caroline in an effort to elicit some shred of pity that the older woman might retain. "I suppose it's just kind of hard, thinking about having this baby on my own." She let out a heavy sigh and played her finger dolefully around the rim of the glass.

"That's only natural," Caroline offered with all the sympathy she could muster. "I am sorry for everything that has happened Kristen." However, nothing could disguise the underlying tone in her voice that left Kristen in no doubt that her sympathy lay completely in John and Marlena's court and that she held Kristen responsible for everything that had happened to them.

Fine Caroline. If that's how you want to play it.....

"Oh, don't get me wrong." Kristen's expression melted into one of contrition. "I do know that I brought this on myself. I did some terrible things for very bad reasons and I'm not exactly proud of that." She frowned and stirred the orange juice with the straw. "There is no excuse for the way I behaved, and I know that I'm probably paying for that now..." she sighed again, slightly more softly this time, and looked back up at the woman in front of her. She was gratified that Caroline's expression seemed to have softened slightly, but she noted that her arms were still crossed in front of her defensively. "I just don't think that John's child should have to suffer for my indiscretions Caroline." A flush of triumph suffused her as Caroline softened perceptibly. That's it, that's her weak point, Kristen. Now play to it. She let her expression fall noticeably. "He hasn't called to see how the baby is for days."

"I'm sure that John will not let what's happened between the two of you affect the child you share." Caroline slipped out from behind the bar and walked around to where Kristen sat. She leaned against the next stool and regarded the blonde in front of her. "John is a wonderful father. You must know that. He would do anything for any of his children."

"I do know that Caroline," she managed a wavering smile but inside she was incensed that the conversation should turn to John's *other* family once again. She couldn't care less about the children that John already had. What was important was the baby that would bind him to her. Forever.