Two Perfect Wrongs

A Christmas Miracle?

Sally stared out the window, watching the snow slowly fall. Autumn had turned to winter while she was in captivity. The redhead was in disbelief over how much time had passed. Before she could get lost even further in thought, the door to her cell burst open. Sally was startled to see a Santa hat wearing Chelsea enter the room. 

"Merry Christmas bitch" Chelsea sang in a crazed voice. Sally blinked, Was it really Christmas?  That meant she'd been here for almost two months. It couldn't really be two months, could it? 

"What? You can't return a greeting? That's so incredibly rude." Chelsea huffed in annoyance. 

Sally swallowed the sarcastic remark that was just dying to come out, "Merry Christmas Chelsea" she replied in a voice full of fake cheer. 

The older woman chose to ignore the disrespect from Sally. She was still riding the power trip, breaking Sally's spirit had given her. "Here." She tossed a gift at her prisoner. "I got you something since I was feeling the holiday spirit." 

Sally was almost afraid to ask what the present was, but she knew how to play Chelsea's game. "Thank you Chelsea." She flashed a tight smile before opening the present. The expectant mother was surprised to see a notebook and a pack of pens. This wasn't what she was expecting, but compared to what it could've been it was like a free trip to Paris. 

"Don't get too excited, I got it at the Dollar Tree." Chelsea sneered as if that lessened the thought. Sally didn't care though, already thinking of uses for the notebook. Now that she had paper, maybe she could hide a note on her captor. Chelsea clearly left the house, a note could slip out of her pocket, someone could pick it up and give it to Adam or the police. She looked up to see Chelsea staring at her in confusion, obviously puzzled by the length of her silence. 

Not wanting to give her excitement or planning away she opened her mouth, "Thank you for braving the Dollar Tree for me. I know I'm not even worth that much." Sally hoped she sounded self-pitying and not sarcastic. 

Based on the smile Chelsea was flashing her, she succeeded. "You're welcome. I figured you could use that notebook to write your goodbye letter to Adam. He deserves that much from you after all." The blood drained from Sally's body. That bitch really could ruin any moment. Smirking at the frozen expression on Sally's face, Chelsea said her farewells slamming the bedroom door shut behind her. 

Sally sat back down on the bed on auto pilot; Chelsea's parting words swimming in her head. Maybe Chelsea was right, she should write Adam a letter. Suddenly jellybean gave her a strong kick as if she was saying to not forget about her. Knowing this might be her only chance to make sure Adam and their daughter knew the truth Sally got down to business and poured her heart into those two letters. 

Adam was sitting in silence on his father's couch observing the Newmans celebrating Christmas Eve. It hadn't been his first choice to spend his Christmas with his miserable family, but Connor had begged him so he caved figuring the kid needed something normal. Nikki storming into his office at Newman telling him that his presence was mandatory was another factor. She claimed her demand was for Victor's benefit especially since Victoria couldn't attend; Adam wasn't sure he believed her but he didn't care enough to question it either. 

"How's it going little brother?" Adam heard Nick ask as he sat down beside him. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Sharon staring at the two of them; she obviously sent Nick over to check on him. 

"She didn't send me, I volunteered." Nick said as if he was reading Adam's mind. "I saw you looking at Sharon, you're not as suave as you think you are. Now answer my question, how are you doing?" He had never heard so much concern in his brother's voice before. 

"About as well as expected I guess." Adam answered. "I'm trying to make this Christmas as normal for Connor as possible, but..." He trailed off not knowing where to start. 

"Between Sally, Chelsea, and Dad it feels impossible." Nick offered. 

"Yep, pretty much." Adam replied. He looked over to see Connor playing with Christian and Harrison. His son was smiling so he had to be doing something right. "Connor seems to be doing fine, so whatever I'm doing must be working." 

"I would say so." Nick said in an encouraging tone. "I want to tell you that I'm proud of you and how you've been acting." Adam shot his brother a confused look. He must not have heard about the meltdowns he had on Paul. "I mean it, you've been pretty well behaved for you."

"Um thanks." Adam replied not sure if he should take that as an insult. 

Nick chuckled at his brother's facial expression. "What I meant was that you could've fallen back into old, self sabotaging habits. Instead you've largely kept it together, went into Newman everyday, been there for Connor and Dad all while looking for Sally. I don't know how you've done it, I would've lost my mind by now. And more then two small meltdowns on Paul, I mean completely losing it." 

"Thanks bro" Adam said with much more confidence. "I appreciate it." 

"Dad's proud of you too." 

Adam snorted at that. He highly doubted Victor would be proud of him for not taking action and letting Paul and Coco lead the charge. "Yeah, I doubt our take charge father would be proud of me taking a step back. How do you even know? It's not like Dad told you." 

Both brothers looked over at their father. He was sitting in his wheelchair in the corner, Nikki hovering over his right shoulder. Victor had been home for almost a month and while he was largely recovered, he still couldn't speak or stand for long periods of time. 

"I just know okay? Believe me." Nick responded, sounding more annoyed then he meant to. Adam gave a tight head nod, now he knew Nick was placating him. Nick was startled when his brother suddenly stood up.

 "Hey, I need to get out of here just for a minute. Clear my head. Can you cover for me?" Adam asked, hating that he felt like he had to. 

Nick could see how painful it was for his brother to ask and how exhausted he looked. Swallowing the feeling that this was a bad idea he agreed. "Yeah, no problem. Just don't be gone too long." 

Adam thanked his brother, patting his shoulder before sneaking out of the ranch. He wasn't lying when he said he needed to clear his head. Sally and their daughter had been running through his mind all day and he wanted a moment to grieve what should've been their first Christmas together. He could just see her going overboard decorating the house, buying so many clothes and presents, chasing after him with a mistletoe. 

He wanted that, wanted it so badly. Cursing Chelsea in his head he walked over to their house so he could pretend for just a minute. Adam unlocked the door and stepped into his living room to see a woman standing there. 

"Sally?"