Kintsugi

Chapter 15

"Are you ready?" she asked him carefully, as they sat in front of the fireplace later that night. The flames gave off a warm glow as the fire crackled beside them.

"Am I ever going to be ready for this, Doc? I mean ten years ago, when I met you, I had no idea who I was. Then I was Roman Brady. Being a Brady meant I had parents, siblings, children...and you. Seven years later, I was no one, all over again. Now...well, now I'm John Black. At least I'm someone," he said quietly. "I've got Brady, Belle, and...I have you back in my life. I don't know, Doc..."

"Hey, listen to me, John," she said turning his face to hers. "I thought about it earlier. You and I, we started on this journey together, and we're going to finish it together. I promise. I'm here for this. All of it. With you." She looks at him, and then the leather-bound journal in her hands, and says, "So how do you want to do this?"

John took a deep breath to release the growing tightness in his chest, "Can you read it out loud, for a little bit? Your voice calms me, and I don't think I can read it right now."

"I can," she said softly, smiling at him in a reassuring manner. Turning to the first page Marlena began to read. "April 12, 1952...I hired Shawn Brady today—"

"—Holy shit, Doc..." John whispered. "Holy shit." John had no idea where this was going but he knew for a fact it was going to be a wild ride.

"John?" Marlena said, touching his arm.

"I'm okay, Doc," John said, but his heart was racing. "I have a feeling we're about to find out why Stefano DiMera hates the Brady's, and that scares the hell out me."

"Me too, but John, we're in this together," she said.

"Together," he said, kissing her softly.

"Okay, so...April 12, 1952...I hired Shawn Brady today. I hired him away from the O'Leary family. They were just wasting his talents, and I need a new guard for Luna. She keeps sneaking away from the others. Now that Father is dead, I'm running the whole organization by myself. I certainly don't have time to watch an argumentative, seventeen year old girl. Shawn is reliable, good with a gun, and able to ensure her safety whenever she insists on going out," Marlena read, looking up at John when she finished.

"Shawn worked for Stefano? Doc, in all of the time I have known the man, he never referenced ever knowing him. Stefano has been after the Brady's as long as I've known them. Why would Pop never mention this? Shawn was in Ireland in 1952, but I remember him saying...he came to America in August of '52," John said.

Marlena watched as the light from the fireplace flickered across John's features. She asked him, "Do you want me to skip ahead...to August 1952? To see if Stefano mentions anything about Shawn leaving?"

"Maybe...yes. We can go back later, but I need to know...maybe it's another Shawn Brady. Not the same one?"

"I think we need to remember Gabe's message John."

"Okay. Yeah, skip ahead to August," he said.

"Sure. Sure," she said flipping pages. "August 4, 1952...Luna is pregnant. Her maid informed me this morning that she has not bled since May. I confronted my sister, and she refused to tell who the father is, but I know. Shawn Brady. The man I hired to guard her. The man I trusted with her safety. I told her as much, and although she denied it, I saw the fear in her eyes. Shawn Brady is the father of the child she will bear, but Shawn Brady will not be here to learn of it. The man is gone. Not just from my employ, but from the whole G-dforsaken island of Ireland..."

"Doc, oh G-d, Doc...I think I know where this is going," John whispered, dread curling in his belly as the growing truth began his mind.

"Do you want me to go ahead again? A few months...to the end of her pregnancy? We can go back, and get all of the details later," she asked said.

"Yes, skip to February of 1953," John said, figuring about nine months from June would be about right.

"February," Marlena said scanning the pages quickly, and then gasped out softly, "Okay, um...okay...February 23, 1953...the baby was born today. A boy. Luna was alive long enough to hold him, and name him John. My sister is dead, and I am stuck with a daily reminder of her short life, in the form of an unwanted infant. Shawn Brady will suffer for the rest of his life, just as I must now suffer through mine. I will enact every form of vengeance against him that I can devise...March 3, 1953...I have sold the baby. Let someone else raise the child. He looks like my sister, and I cannot stand to see his face every day. I will let the Alamain's raise the child until I see fit to take him back..."

"No. No, Doc..." John said with tears rolling down his face. "Doc, this can't be right."

"John, honey, I think it is," she said, moving closer to him. "I think we have to take what's written here for the truth. Gabe said—"

"I know what Gabe said!" John shouted, standing up to comb his fingers through his hair in frustration, "...but if this is true. Fuck! If this is true, then Stefano is my uncle, and Shawn is my father. Roman, Kimberly, and Kayla are my siblings. There are so many levels of hate in what Stefano DiMera has done to them because of me."

Marlena gets to her feet, walking closer to John. She places her palm on his chest, and makes sure he's looking at her when she says, "This isn't your fault. It's about a man who has so much anger, and hate inside him, that he's had a vendetta against Shawn Brady for 42 years. John, that's not your fault! Would you ever blame a child for the mistakes of its parents?"

"No," he said softly, gazing down at her, and remembering exactly why he loved her as much as he did.

"You were an innocent child, John. A baby. You are not at fault here," she told him, softly running her palm over his face.

"I can't take any more of this tonight, Doc. How far does that thing go, what's the last date in the book?"

Marlena picks up the journal, flipping to the back and says, "1975. March 16, 1975."

"What does it say?" he whispered.

"Today John was finally found, at a monastery in New York. They couldn't hide him forever..."