Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 31, 2012 22:03:56 GMT -5
Chapter 4
It’s morning in the Kiriakis kitchen and Victor chuckles from his seat at the breakfast table. He is holding Maggie’s phone in front of him as he watches a video of giggling baby Sophia. With a bright face, he looks up at Maggie who is pouring coffee at the counter, “She is the happiest little thing… I can’t believe how big she is getting!”
“I know!” Maggie smiles as she sets a cup of coffee in front of Victor and sits down beside him with her own, “I see her almost every day and she’s always doing something new.”
“She comes from a line of very smart women,” Victor smiles as he scrolls through the rest of the pictures on the phone.
“Well, Mr K,” Maggie smiles, “Was that a compliment?”
“Like I never compliment you,” Victor rolls his eyes before taking a drink of his coffee then looking seriously back to his wife, “How is Melanie?”
“Melanie,” Maggie takes a deep breath, “She’s putting on a good show, that I can say for sure. She’s just under a lot of pressure… I try not to be worried, but I can’t help it.”
“How did she seem when you saw her yesterday?”
“Defensive. I made the mistake of bringing up the possibility of her taking some time off of work…” Her eyes widen, “I should have known better.”
“Not an option, hmm?” Victor raises his brow.
“Not an option, no. To Melanie, taking time off of work would show weakness. An inability to provide for her child.” Maggie shakes her head.
“Unfortunately, Maggie, I’m afraid she is right. Chad is going to grasp at whatever he can. I mean… look at what he’s already done. Luckily he doesn’t have a leg to stand on with most of his accusations, but she also is being very careful not to give him anything to use.”
“I never really thought that Chad was capable of being so vicious.” She shakes her head before taking a sip of coffee.
“He’s a Dimera,” Victor scowls, “I’ve been warning you of that all along.”
“Yes, I know you did. But people warned me about you, too. Would you have liked me to heed their warnings?” Maggie raises an eyebrow.
“No, but that’s different.” He huffs.
“Oh, really?” Maggie chuckles, “I don’t think so…”
“It is different. We are at a different place in our lives. For one, we aren’t going to be having any children. And you could walk away from me at any time. I would have nothing to hold over your head.”
“You are correct,” with wide eyes, she gives an affirming nod, then chuckles at Victor’s annoyed expression, “I’m only teasing you. I know you’ve been worried about this from the beginning.”
“You really haven’t been?” Victor is sincere in his questioning.
“I certainly am now,” Maggie shakes her head, “But, I believed in Chad- that he was different from the rest of his family. In a way I still do.”
“So did Melanie. Look at where that got us…” Victor sighs before taking another drink of his coffee.
“You know, of course I’m worried about her, yes… but I’m also so proud of her,” Maggie smiles softly, “She’s such a strong girl.”
“She is,” Victor smiles, “Takes after her grandmother.”
“I don’t know,” Maggie’s eyes widen, “If I was going through this, I don’t think I could be nearly as strong as Melanie is.”
They both turn towards the hallway when Parker comes bouncing into the room, with his coat on and his backpack on his back. Philip follows behind him, holding his own coat in his hand.
“G’morning!!” Parker smiles as he climbs onto the chair opposite his grandparents, a folded piece of construction paper in his hand.
“Good morning, Parker.” Victor smiles, “Are you ready for school?”
“Yep!” Parker nods happily, “Wanna see my homework?”
“Homework?” Maggie chuckles, “How old are you, again sir?”
“I’m free!” Parker smiles as he hold up his 3 fingers, “An-a half…”
“Can’t forget that half, can we?” Maggie laughs, “Now what is this homework?”
“See?” Parker lays out his paper on the table. A picture with a few different figures on it and a house in the background.
“Parker had to draw a picture of his family for school,” Philip smiles as he retrieves a bottle of water from the refrigerator and leaves his son to explain the rest.
“Yeah,” He points to the paper, “Grampa, dats you… and Gramma Maggie,” He smiles up at her then focuses back on the paper, “And daddy…”
“This is very good, Parker. Did you draw it all by yourself?” Victor was expecting the drawings to be relatively unrecognizable.
“No,” Parker shakes his head, “Daddy help me!”
“Whose that?” Maggie points to a figure curiously.
“Dat’s Melnee!!” Parker smiles, “And Sophie right der.”
Maggie and Victor exchange glances before looking up to Philip who stands silently behind his son.
“Uh,” Victor clears his throat and looks back to Parker, “How would you like Grandpa to take you to school today, hmm?”
“Okay!” Parker’s face lights up before he bounces off of the chair.
“All right, then,” Victor chuckles as he gets up from his chair and leans down to kiss Maggie, “I’ll call you later.” He watches as she nods, before he takes Parker’s hand, “Come on, my boy, let’s go out the front so I can get my coat, okay?”
“Kay!” Parker turns to Maggie and Philip, “Bye!”
“Bye, sweetie,” Maggie smiles as Philip ruffles Parker’s hair and then makes his way to the table to have a seat with Maggie. “You want a cup of coffee?”
“No, thanks,” Philip smiles.
“That’s a nice picture the two of you drew…” Maggie raises an eyebrow.
“Yeah,” Philip takes a deep breath, then smiles, “Parker loves his family.”
“We love him,” Maggie smiles, “His dad isn’t too bad either…”
“Thanks,” He smiles, “I guess I didn’t really think about how much Parker must miss Melanie and Sophie living here.”
“Yeah… Probably as much as you do?”
Philip looks up at her with a raised brow and chuckles slightly at her frankness, “I do, yeah. Is she okay? I heard you and dad talking about her before I came in.”
“Yes, she’s fine. Well, as good as she can be under the circumstances. She’s doing the best that she can.” Maggie nods encouragingly.
“I wish I could help her…” Philip looks down at his hands.
“We all do, Philip,” Maggie shakes her head, “Melanie won’t accept very much help from any of us, lately. She is hell bent on proving that she can handle everything on her own.”
“She can,” Philip nods, “She’s very capable.”
“That she is,” Maggie nods, “It would just be nice if she could cut herself a break, you know? Take care of herself a little bit more.” She shakes her head with a sigh, “But that’s hard for her. I just try to be there for whatever she might need when she is ready to ask.”
“And I know she is so grateful for that. For you.” Philip smiles.
"Thank you," Maggie nods, “So, how are you doing?”
“Good,” Philip nods, “Yeah, good… just busy with work and Parker. Trying to keep things going.” He forces a small smile to his lips before taking a drink of his water bottle.
“I know this whole thing must really be hard for you… I’m sorry, Philip. I’m sorry that after everything you and Melanie had been through, now you are forced to be apart.”
“It’s okay, Maggie. It’s just how it needs to be. I’ll get used to it.”
“You shouldn’t have to. No one should have to deny a friendship just because someone else is jealous.”
“Jealous and powerful. I mean, he’s holding her daughter over her head. I don’t blame her for any of this.”
“I know you don’t blame her…” Maggie takes a deep breath, “But you miss her. And I know she misses you. Hopefully things will turn around soon.”
“I don’t know,” Philip shrugs, “Sometimes I start to wonder if maybe things just aren’t meant to be for me and Melanie.”
“What isn’t meant to be?” Maggie tilts her head in question.
“Well, I just mean, us,” Philip shakes his head, “Like being friends or whatever. Being in each other’s life. It doesn’t ever really work out… we’re starting to get a little insane. You know, doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” He chuckles slightly, shaking his head, “Maybe Melanie is right to just leave it all behind.” Philip looks away from Maggie, leaving her to study him closely.
“Philip,” She reaches out, covering her hand with his, he turns back to her, “For what it’s worth, I don’t think that’s true.”
|
I used to work in a daycare- can you tell? LOL.