The Melaswen Paradox (Read 329,840 times)

[André DiMera]

Thanks for reading and commenting, everyone! I’m excited now that we’re getting into February!

---

Next week...

Hope reacts to the news of what her villainous alter ego has done.
HOPE: I shot Ciara?

While her daughter continues therapy. But does her therapist have a secret?
LILY: I can’t talk right now.

Plus, Penelope tries to explain the situation to Jade.
PENELOPE: I’m the woman who brought her back.

And Nicole and Daniel make last minute wedding plans.
DANIEL: Looks like we’re all set.

All this and more next week on THE MELASWEN PARADOX!

[heroicmuse]

Yay! February sweeps is shaping up. I can't wait to see more of Hope's reaction to learning the news about what happened to Ciara. Of course Ciara's therapist has a secret. I wonder what it is.

I doubt Jade will listen to Penelope, but we'll see.

Can't wait for Daniel and Nicole's wedding!

Great previews André DiMera.

[tghca]

February Sweeps definitely is shaping up. Hope I know won't be able to forgive herself for what she did to her own daughter.

Jade of course will go after Penelope

Daniel and Nicole's wedding if it goes off without a hitch it should be the event of the season.

[André DiMera]

Chapter 627

SALEM PLACE
JADE: You brought her back?
PENELOPE: Yes. A short time after you’d left, André showed up. Seeing him again after all this time somehow broke the brainwashing. I remembered that I wasn’t Kristen or Simone. But he forced me to come with him, anyway. We returned to Salem, where he had his evil doctor try to brainwash me again. Only, this time, it only lasted for a few hours. That’s why I was still acting like Kristen at the Halloween party. Hours later, I returned to myself once more. I knew that what that horrid man had made me do was appalling, and I wanted to make it right as fast as I could. So, I returned Emmy to the Horton Center, only nobody was there. I picked the lock to the office of Eric Brady, hoping that he would have some idea that the child belonged to you.
JADE: You know, you wouldn’t have had to bring her back in the first place if you hadn’t stolen her from me.
PENELOPE: I know. I regret doing that, but as I have explained, I was not in my right mind.
JADE: Whatever. I don’t have time to deal with this. I need to get back to my daughter.
Jade turned around.
PENELOPE: Jade.
Jade stopped.
PENELOPE: You say that everything between us was a lie. Whatever’s happened since then, all those times when you were young, when I would protect you from Hal or his brother, all the good times we had together, whether it was the real me or not, in the moment, it felt real. I did truly care about you.
JADE: Stay away from my daughter, and from me.
Jade walked away.

SALEM UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL
Aiden sighed and took Hope’s hands in his.
AIDEN: Hope you did not paralyze Ciara. Princess Gina did.
HOPE: You’re getting into semantics. Whether Gina was in control or not, it was still my body, the gun still went off, and Ciara is still the one suffering because of it.
AIDEN: But it wasn’t you. Not the real you, anyway. You’re no more responsible for what happened than Chase was for what happened to his mother.
HOPE: You can’t compare the two.
AIDEN: Can’t I? From where I’m sitting, it’s basically the same situation.
HOPE: It’s not the same at all! Chase was…
Hope checked to make sure the door was closed.
HOPE: Chase was a child. He had no idea what he was doing.
AIDEN: And neither did you. Hope, everyone knows that if it had been the real you, Ciara would never have been shot. We wouldn’t even be in this situation. But it was not the real you, Commissioner. Whether it was your body or not, in that moment, you were not there, Gina was.
HOPE: Well, it’s not like Gina can suffer the consequences, is it? The real Gina’s been dead for years.
AIDEN: And the fake one, hopefully, is gone. I know it’s a lot to process, I know that. But believe me, beating yourself up over this isn’t gonna help at all. Ciara is gonna need as much support as she can get.
HOPE: Well, of course I’m going to support her. Once I’m cleared to go home, I’m gonna do everything I can to make sure she gets better. I just hope she’s as sure about this situation as you are.
AIDEN: Well, if there’s one thing I know about Ciara, she’s strong, like her mother. I’m sure, eventually, she’ll see what really happened.
HOPE: I hope you’re right.
Aiden and Hope hugged.

[tghca]

So it is still a secret...Chase still doesn't know that he killed his own mother by accident? I would have thought by now that Chase would know the truth but it seems Aiden and Hope are still keeping that a secret...I guess that doesn't surprise me

Hope has to suffer the consequences because she was the one who shot her own daughter...yes consciously it may not have been her but it was Gina inhabiting her body...Gina was in control and Hope did shoot her own daughter so she has to live with that guilt

Ciara of course she will think that her mother shot her...whether her mother meant to or not her mother still shot her and landed her in that chair...I know if I were Ciara I don't know if I could look at my own mother the same way ever again even if she wasn't in her right mind it still doesn't matter because her mother did that to her and it is because of her mother she is in a wheelchair...may never walk again because of her

That is a lot to forgive especially in Ciara's case...I can't see her forgiving Hope at least not right away because for her it will definitely take time for Hope to gain her daughter's trust again especially after this

Jade wants Penelope to stay away from her and her daughter...that is understandable

[heroicmuse]

I feel bad for Penelope. Essentially she and Hope are in the same situation of having done something awful while not in control of themselves. Maybe over time Jade will see that.

Aiden is right -- this is the same as when Chase shot his mother. I'm glad he made that comparison. This is still a lot for Hope to take in. Maybe a talk with Marlena is in order.

Great chapter André DiMera.

[Kpatch]

I think Hope needs to go see Ciara.

You are making me feel bad for Penelope.

[André DiMera]

Chapter 628

SALEM PLACE
Jade walked back over to Joey and Emmy, who were looking at a fish tank.
JADE: Hey, are you being a good little girl for your Uncle Joey?
EMMY: Emmy good.
JOEY: She’s been great.
EMMY: Fishy!
Emmy pointed to the tank as a clownfish swam by.
JADE: Yep, those are fish. They’re pretty, huh?
EMMY: Pretty.
JOEY: How’d it go?
Jade shrugged.
JOEY: Jade, don’t do anything crazy.
JADE: I won’t! Geez, Joey. I’m not the same girl I was back in high school.
JOEY: I hope that’s the truth.
JADE: It is. Besides, even if I wanted to do anything, I wouldn’t. I have Emmy to think of. I spent way too much time apart from her because of Simone or Kristen or Penelope or whatever other name she wants to call herself.
Jade kissed Emmy on the back of the head.
JOEY: So what did happen, then?
JADE: Nothing much. She said what she wanted to say, I told her to stay away from us. That’s it.
JOEY: You believe anything she said?
JADE: The jury’s still out at the moment. But, I have more important things to worry about. Come on, little girl, let’s get you that new winter coat.

SALEM UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL
Lily, pushing Ciara in a wheelchair, brought her back into her room.
LILY: Well, for your first session, you did pretty good.
CIARA: Thanks. I thought there’d be more to it than that, though.
LILY: Well, like I said earlier, this first session was really more about getting to know each other. Besides, we’re just starting out. Believe me, after a few weeks of this, you’ll wish every session was as lowkey as this one.
CIARA: Good. I wanna get back to normal, or as close to normal as I can, as quickly as possible.
LILY: That’s a good attitude to have. You should know, though, that it’s gonna take some time. But, being willing to work on it is a great start!
Lily looked at her watch, as it buzzed.
LILY: Well, that sound means that today’s session is over. We’ll see each other again the day after tomorrow.
CIARA: Okay.
LILY: Until then, have a good night.
CIARA: You too. Thanks.
Lily nodded and walked out of the room. Her phone rang as she walked down the hall. She picked it up.
LILY: Hello? Hey. I, uh, I can’t really talk right now. You know where I am. We went over this already. No, not yet. Well, I’ve only been here for a day. Probably, yeah. Look, if it happens, it’ll happen. Would it really be such a bad thing?
Lily sighed.
LILY: Okay, look, I need to go. I have patients to see. I’ll talk to you later. Yeah. Bye.

SALEM BAY APARTMENTS
CLICK HERE to listen to music during this part of the chapter.
Several hours later, Kinsey laid on her back, floating in the pool. She looked up at the ceiling of the pool room. It was made of glass, and showed the night sky. She thought about everything that had happened since she returned to Salem. Mostly what had happened with those two creepy guys on Halloween night, and what had happened with Mia. Of course, that was before she had even returned to Salem. Kinsey couldn’t believe that she had once been so excited for Mia to come back to Salem, but was now sad that she was back. She didn’t regret coming back to Salem, but did regret that she had invited Mia back. She thought about all the fun she and Mia had had together before they returned to Salem. She sighed, turned on her back, and swam over to the side of the pool, where her phone sat. There were more missed calls. Finally, Kinsey resolved, she was finally going to do it. She deleted the missed calls and voicemails, then clicked on Mia’s name and tapped the button that said “block”.

[heroicmuse]

Good for Kinsey! I hope Mia doesn´t show up at her door though.

Hmm... wonder what that phone call was about. I hope this therapist has purely good intentions towards Ciara.

Emmy is adorable. I hope Jade does forgive Penelope.

Great chapter André DiMera.

[tghca]

Who was Lily talking to? Whoever it was...I think Lily's intentions may not be so good

Jade of course is focused on her daughter just as she should be but with Joey it seems he is balancing Jade out...keeping her on the straight and narrow

[mae00]

Uh oh. this doesn't sound like Lily has Ciara's best interests in mind at all.

[Kpatch]

I like Jade with Joey better than Eric. She's more independent around Joey.

I'm glad Kinsey sees Mia for who she is.

Your weekend preview graphics are outstanding André DiMera.

[André DiMera]

Chapter 629

HUDSON STREET DINER
Kinsey sat in the diner, looking at her phone. She looked up when the door opened and got up when she noticed that it was Chloe coming in. Kinsey and Chloe hugged.
KINSEY: Hey! You’re back!
CHLOE: Yep, I’m back. If only for a week or so, but yes, I’m back.
Chloe and Kinsey sat down at one of the booths.
KINSEY: Hey, any amount of time is good. And, if you want, you can stay in my new apartment.
CHLOE: I appreciate the offer, but my Dad’s in town, so…
KINSEY: No, that’s cool. I get you.
CHLOE: I do wanna see this apartment, though. I’m glad you finally moved out of that hotel room you and Mia were sharing.
KINSEY: Yeah, well I finally got tired of having to put up with her.
CHLOE: So, what’s the story there? I mean, as I recall, the two of you were never great friends. What made you think sharing a room would help any?
KINSEY: That’s the thing, a few years after you and me left Salem, I was in Indianapolis for a modelling gig. Turns out Mia was also in Indianapolis. We talked, sorted out all the bad stuff that went down between us and actually grew kinda close. But then, after a few years, we decided to come back to Salem. I went right away, Mia took forever and then...I don’t know. Being in town has turned her back into her old self.
CHLOE: Gotcha.
KINSEY: But, enough about my drama. What about you? What brings you back to town, anyway? You were super vague in your text.
CHLOE: I am actually here for my best friend’s wedding.
KINSEY: Ooh! That’s exciting. When’s the big day?
CHLOE: Valentine’s Day.
KINSEY: Aw! How cute! And super romantic.
CHLOE: Yeah, that’s kinda what they figured.
KINSEY: Well, I’m super glad you’re back!
CHLOE: Thanks, me too.

SALEM UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL
CIARA: Sounds like you guys are doing pretty well.
Shawn-D was sitting in a chair by Ciara’s bed.
SHAWN-D: Yeah, we are. How are you doing?
Ciara shrugged.
CIARA: Okay, I guess. I started physical therapy yesterday, which went well. My therapist seems cool so far. And I guess in a couple days, I’m gonna get moved to the therapy wing.
SHAWN-D: Well, that’s good. I’m sure that’ll help.
CIARA: Yeah.
SHAWN-D: So...Mom woke up a few days ago.
CIARA: I know. Claire and Aiden told me.
SHAWN-D: Have you seen her yet?
CIARA: Nope.
SHAWN-D: Gotcha.
CIARA: I’m sure I probably will, either once she’s released or I’m moved to the therapy wing. My therapist said they want me to try sitting up in a wheelchair for at least an hour or more every day.
SHAWN-D: Yeah, that makes sense.
CIARA: I just...I don’t know.
SHAWN-D: Hey, talk to me. What’s going on, kid?
CIARA: I am trying to understand that it wasn’t Mom that shot me. I really am. It’s just super hard.

[mae00]

I'm glad Ciara is confiding in Shawn. If anyone can help her come to terms with what happened, it would be him.

[tghca]

Ciara even has a hard time believing this whole Gina thing just like I am...kind of hard to forgive or forget

This Mia I am assuming is Will and Chad's ex?

Chloe is in town for Nicole's wedding but she hasn't even seen her father yet...why is that? Isn't it kind of awkward for Chloe seeing as how Nicole is marrying Chloe's ex husband the father of Chloe's son Parker?