Unspoken

Chapter 5

Marlena spent a tense week with Roman. Every time they encountered one another, she tried to talk to him, and he found reasons not too. She knew he was doing it intentionally, but there was nothing she could do about it. She called the twins, and explained what was happening with Isabella. As she expected they were upset, but at the age of eight, death was still an abstract concept. The thing they focused on the most was the fact that she was going on a trip with John.

"Why do you get to go on a trip with Daddy, and we don't?" Sami asked. "That's not even fair."

"Samantha, this trip is not a vacation. Isabella is very sick. I'm going to help John, and to help with Brady," Marlena had responded.

"I can help with the baby. I like babies," Sami argued.

"I know you do, honey. Maybe John can come visit you in Colorado, or maybe you and Eric can come to Salem for a visit. I'd really like it if you both came home," Marlena said. "Have you thought about that?"

Sami was quiet for a long time, when she replied, "I miss Daddy...and we can't live with him..."

It broke Marlena's heart. It was the first time one of the twins had ever even hinted at being unhappy with Roman as their father. "Sami, is there something you want to talk about?"

"Mama?" Eric said.

"Eric? Where did Sami go?" Marlena asked her son.

"She said she had to go to the bathroom, and just gave me the phone. I dunno..."

"Oh, okay..."

"So how come we can't come on the trip with Daddy?"

Marlena felt sadness in her soul, "Eric, I'm so sorry, but not this time...but maybe before I go back to Salem, I can come see you?"

Marlena had spent the next few days, mulling over what she had missed in the interactions between Roman and the twins, and determined to find a way to bring her children home.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

John, Isabella, Brady, Marlena, and a nurse named Brenda were on their way to Italy. Roman hadn't even bothered to tell her goodbye, and Marlena had to admit that maybe her marriage was in more trouble than she had previously admitted to herself. She'd left him a note, and she'd left him a message at work, and then she had left.

Victor's plane had two cabins. In the first, towards the front of the plane, was the medical equipment and a hospital bed firmly tethered to the floor, in the second Marlena watched Brady. John's sole focus since the flight had taken off was making sure that Isabella was settled, and comfortable, especially since it was going to be close to twelve hours in the air. That didn't mean that he wasn't aware of the goings on in the next cabin, as he heard his son fussing and Marlena's voice calming Brady in soft tones. It gave him memories of her time with the twins when they were young. Long nights pacing the floor, bouncing unhappy babies until they nodded off to sleep. John took one last look at his sleeping wife, brushing the soft brown curls from her forehead, and kissed her, "I love you, Izzy B."

Walking through to the rear cabin, he stopped short. Marlena was curled into the corner of the couch, sound asleep, with Brady wrapped snuggly in her arms. Her face unlined and serene in sleep, her golden hair laying in soft waves as it framed her face. Brady had been having trouble sleeping, and recently it had gotten worse. John knew that he was feeling the stress in the house, especially the stress in his parents. Babies were sensitive to those things, and yet here he was, so peaceful, wrapped in Marlena's arms. He wasn't sure how long he stood in the doorway watching them. It could have been one minute, it could have been fifteen, but eventually Marlena's eyes fluttered open, and John found himself staring into the most amazing set of hazel eyes. He couldn't move for a long moment, riveted in that spot, caught up in her gaze. Sometimes Marlena's eyes were so expressive that words weren't necessary, and right now he felt like he could see through to the bottom of her soul.