Chapter 7 - The Truth Hurts

Jesse and Eric head for Jesse's house right from the airport. They enter the house and start surveying the room. "Does anything seem out of place?" "I can't be sure Eric. Martha could have been over here looking for one of Maddie's toys. I just don't know. Hey wait a minute. Is that picture crooked?" Eric goes to straighten it. He notices that there is something behind it. It is a safe. "I never knew that was there." "Looks like we found where your mother hid your adoption papers." "What time is it?" "Almost 4 o'clock, why?" "Let's head over to the adoption agency."

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At the adoption agency
"I am Ms. Brown how may I help you?" "My name is Jesse Hayes. I was adopted through this agency about 26 years ago. Recently I received an envelope with my adoption papers inside. There was no return address on the envelope. I would like to see my adoption records to make sure that the information I received is correct." "Do you have any identification on you?" Jesse gets out her driver's license from her wallet and hands it to the woman. "I had a request to see this file a few days ago. The woman who was here said she was Jesse Hayes." "What did she look like?" "She was about 5'4", long blonde hair, and blue eyes." Eric hands the woman a picture of Sami. "Is this the woman you talked to?" "Yes it is! How did she get a hold of those papers?" "It's a long story. Could we see my records now?" They go off to the record's room. "Here's the file." Jesse's worst fear came true. Samantha Evans and Donald Craig are listed as her parents. She hands the file to Eric. Eric reads the file and he fights to hold back the tears. Jesse takes the folder from Eric and she hands it back to Ms. Brown. "Thank you for your time!" "I would like to apologize for showing that woman your records. I thought because she had the adoption records that was enough proof of who she was." "Just be more careful in the future."

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Jesse and Eric drive around for hours not saying a word to each other. When they get back to her house it's very late. Jesse turns on a light. "Eric, are you okay?" "I don't know. I just feel numb. I never thought that those papers were real." "Do you want to talk?" "I think I need some time alone." "Okay, I am going to bed. You can stay in Maddie's room." "I'll be up in a minute."

Jesse gets ready for bed. She opens the bed and climbs in. She lays on her side staring at the empty space where Eric used to lay. Tears start to flow from her eyes. Eric knocks on the door and enters the room. "Eric don't come in!" Jesse's back is facing Eric. She looks over at the nightstand and she gets an idea. "Go to Maddie's room and turn on the walkie talkie." Eric leaves the room and does, as Jesse wants. Jesse speaks first. "Can you hear me?" "Yeah." "The truth hurts doesn't it. I know this is going to be hard. I want you to know that I will never stop loving you Eric. A little piece of my heart will always belong to you." "You're the only woman I ever really loved. Saying good bye to you is going to be the hardest thing I ever had to do." "I know. I feel the same way." "What about Maddie?" "You will always be a part of her life. You just won't be her daddy." "Goodnight Jesse." "Goodnight Eric." Both turn off the walkie-talkies. "I love you Eric." "I love you Jesse."

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During the night a sudden chill comes over Jesse. She gets up to get another blanket when she sees another person in the room. "Eric is that you?" The person moves closer to her and sits down on the bed next to her. "No Jesse, its Samantha." With tears in her eyes, Jesse reaches out to touch her. "Samantha?" "No, I'm not supposed to be here. If you touch me I'll have to go away. I'm here to tell you that things are going to get better. I know that it seems that the hurt will never go away, but with time it will. I want you to turn to Marlena for help. She cares about you and she wants to help you. Please let her help you!" "I will." "Do you hate me?" "I hate what you did. I could never hate you. You're my mother, you gave me life and for that I could never hate you. I think it took a lot of courage to admit that you needed help." "It must have been hard to give me away." "I knew that I couldn't keep you. I knew that that would hurt Marlena too much. I just want you to know that I loved you from the minute I held you in my arms. Not a day went by that I didn't think about you."
"I will always be watching over you and Maddie." "So you know about your granddaughter." "Of course I was there the day she was born." "You were?" "I will always watch over the two of you." Samantha slowly fades away. "Goodbye Jesse. I love you." "Goodbye, Mom. I love you too!" Jesse wipes the tears from her eyes and she tries to fall back to sleep.

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Marlena is asleep in her bed when she gets a strange feeling like someone is watching her. She wakes up and she sees Samantha at the foot of her bed. "Samantha is that you?" "Marnie." "What are you doing here?" "I wanted to talk to you about Jesse. I want you to help her." "Of course, you know I will. How's DJ? Are you still taking care of him?" "Yes. I'm watching over DJ and now I'm asking you to watch over Jesse. Please take good care of her. Convince her to stay in Salem. Promise me you will do your best." "You know I will." "Take care of the both of them and watch out for them." "I will."

"Sam. Why didn't you ever tell me about her? I forgave you for what you did I still don't understand why you didn't tell me." "Because of DJ." "DJ? I don't understand." "Can you honestly tell me that it wouldn't have hurt you to hear about my child with Don? Especially since DJ died." "I guess it would have hurt for a while. I still think you should have told me." "What good would it have done to tell you? It only would have brought back all of the pain of my past actions. I wish I could stay but I can't. Take care Marnie."


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Samantha decides to make one more visit before she calls it a night. She enters Sami's room at the Kirakis mansion. "Sami. Wake up!" "Mom what the hell are you doing here it's 3 in the morning." "Take a better look Sami. It's me Aunt Samantha." "This is a dream. I am going to wake up any minute." Samantha goes over to her and pinches her on the arm. "Did you feel that?" "Yes!" "Are you awake?" "Yes!" "Am I still here?" "Yes!" "Then you're not dreaming. I am here to tell you that if you keep up your little schemes you are going to end up like me dead." "You're just mad because I hurt your daughter." "I am here to warn you to stop your scheming. If you don't watch your step you will pay dearly." "I am just living up to the reputation of my namesake. I mean a lot of people would say we are a lot alike. You tried to steal your sister's fiancée and I did the same. We both had one night stands with our men which produced a child." "You even take pot shots at dead people. You are unbelievable. At least I had a drug and alcohol addiction, which drove me to do what I did. You just do terrible things out of spite. You had better straighten out young lady or you will be sorry!" Samantha fades away.

To be continued…

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