The Sister I Wished For

By Amy

 

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. They are the property of "Guiding Light" and Proctor & Gamble.

Michelle and Abby sat at the table in the Bauer kitchen. Abby sipped her coffee while Michelle stared at a glass of orange juice. Abby knew that she was hurting - she could tell by the way Michelle sat with her arms folded across her chest. The defiant look on her face was another dead give away that she was closing off again, bracing for the worst.

"Michelle, I know you’re scared and hurting," Abby said. "Please talk to me."

Michelle looked up from her stare and said, "Abby, I’m not going to dump all of this on you. Not now, when you’re getting ready for your surgery. You have enough on your mind."

"Michelle, I am never too busy for you, you know that. Do you really think that I’m going to be able to go into the hospital and not worry about you?"

It had been almost a week since the shooting at the Santos house.

Michelle had seen Danny only once since then - the night of Josh and Reva’s wedding, when he surprised her in her bedroom. He hadn’t contacted her since then, and her conversation with Pilar at the hospital had her more unnerved than ever. She was even more convinced than before that Carmen herself was behind the attack, but for now she was resolved to the fact that Danny and Pilar would never believe such a thing about their own mother. She knew that if she told Danny her suspicions, she would run the risk of alienating him from her.

"Oh Abby," Michelle began, "there are just so many things standing in our way - mine and Danny’s. I don’t know if he’ll ever be able to leave his family behind."

"Well, have you talked about it?" Abby asked.

"Once. The night of the shooting, before Danny heard about it."

Michelle recounted the events of that night to Abby. She told her about taking Danny to the lighthouse and finally getting close to him. About Carmen showing up there, and spilling the beans about Danny’s night with Drew. She even told her about getting drunk at Millenium and making a fool out of herself.

"Danny found me there, flirting with a bunch of fraternity guys. They were going to take me to a party. Of course, when they found out he was Danny Santos, they backed off pretty quick. He brought me back here. I was still pretty drunk, and I started coming on to him. I told him he owed me a party since he ruined my night."

"Michelle," Abby said, "that doesn’t sound like you."

"I know. Danny knew that too, so he threw me into a cold shower, fully clothed. Not one of my finer moments, to say the least."

"What happened after that? You said the two of you talked about building a life together."

"Once the liquor wore off, we started talking. We were being really honest with each other, Abby. It was so wonderful. He was so sweet, so tender. He said we’d go away somewhere. He said he’d do whatever he had to do so that we could be together. I believed him Abby. I really believed that he meant it. But then the phone rang, and it was Ben Warren. He told Danny about the shooting. And nothing has been the same since."

"You can’t expect him not to be concerned about his mother, Michelle."

"It’s not that, Abby, I understand his concern. But Carmen is using this to manipulate him. She has him back under her thumb."

"I haven’t been around Danny much, Michelle. Your relationship has been very strange," Abby said with a smile. "But I can see, in your eyes, how much you love him. And I have seen the same love in his eyes. He loves you, Michelle. It is so obvious when you look at him."

"I know that Danny loves me, but I don’t know if that’s enough. How can I ask him to give up his family for me?"

"Look at everything he’s done for you, Michelle. He went against his mother when he didn’t kill you. He married you despite her objections, and he has promised you that he’ll leave the family to build a life with you. You didn’t ask him to do any of that. He did it out of his love for you."

"But his ties to his family are so strong…" Michelle said, before Abby cut her off.

"I can tell you from experience that it is a very difficult decision to make. Surely you haven’t forgotten that I had to leave my family behind to marry Rick. It wasn’t easy. There were times I thought about going back to my family. And there are still, many moments when I miss the times I shared with them."

"But this is different, Abby. Your family, even though they believe differently than us, they’re still good, honest people. The Santos…" Abby cut her off again.

"Michelle, it’s true that our families aren’t the same, but the choice before Danny right now, is the same choice I faced. In order to be with Rick, I had to totally leave my family behind. But his love for me convinced me that I was making the right choice. And I have never regretted it."

Michelle’s eyes were filled with tears, as Abby continued.

"I really believe that you and Danny have the same love in your hearts. It may take some time for him to completely break from his family, but I believe with all my heart that he will - he’ll do it, for your love."

Michelle was crying now. "Thank you, Abby."

"Just love him, Michelle. You don’t have to ask him to leave his family, his love for you will make the choice for him. I know, because Rick’s love for me brought me here, to this family, my new family."

 

Amy rocks!

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