Tangled Web: Book I: Remembrance
Category: David and Erica. Set in present day Pine Valley, no changes to history! Just filling in a blank that most D&E fans would agree exsists between them...a past, before they met in Pine Valley.
Summary: A fling 25 years ago, a baby...and a twisted plot. Two lives joined together forever, by nothing more then a simple twist of fate.
Rating: PG-13...Some flashbacks may be R rated, but I'll mark those appropraitely.lol
Chapter 1
" Just what is it that you think you know about my past, Dr. Madden?" Erica fired at him, looking him dead in the eyes.
Greg shook his head, smiling at her, " You really don't remember me? Did you block it out, or are you just pretending?" He asked, his face blank.
" What in the hell are you talking about?" Erica asked again, completely frustrated.
" Think back Ms. Kane. California 1980." He started, watching her face as she processed what he was saying.
" So you've read my last book." She responded, annoyed by the whole conversation.
" Your book?" He shook his, " Never even seen a copy, let alone read one." He looked at her, realizing for the first time that she must have really blocked out what had happened in California. " You really don't remember, do you?" He asked, and she shook her head.
" No." She said simply, " And please don't try and tell me that you and I were ever involved." She told him, her tone sharp and accusing.
" No, no, you and I were never together." He started, motioning to the couch next to them, " Please."
She stared at him for a few moments, not sure that she wanted to hear what he was going to say, or if she should believe him.
" I think once I start it will all come back to you." He explained slowly, taking a seat on the couch.
She nodded hesitantly and sat down. " I remember being in California, but I do not remember you." She told him.
" Well, we didn't know each other for long." He told her. " My wife and I met you at a restaurant one night."
" At a restaurant?" She asked, " That makes no sense. I met you one night in a restaurant and I still remember you?" She asked.
" When we met, you were six months pregnant." He told her. He watched her as the confusion, the disbelief, and the anger fill her beautiful face.
" Pregnant?" She laughed in disbelief, " I never had a child while in California."
He nodded vehemently, " You did. You gave birth to a baby boy."
" You're crazy, you know that?" She fired at him, moving to get up.
He stopped her quickly, grabbing her arm, " You told us that you met a man, a young med student. You explained to us that it was brief affair, and that you'd both used fake names."
She froze, not looking at him, as he continued. " You told us that you found out you were pregnant about four months after your fling."
Erica was still frozen, not moving, but she did manage to sit back down. " My wife and I couldn't have children of our own and we were looking to adopt, when we met you."
She wouldn't look at him, but she nodded slowly, silently telling him to continue. " If I remember right, you were in California trying your hand at acting, and having a baby just didn't fit into your plan. You said you found out you were pregnant to late to have an abortion."
Erica closed her eyes, trying with everything she had to keep her tears from falling. She hadn't thought about that baby in years or the baby she'd aborted before that pregnancy. She was a different person now, and the thought of what she'd done, and what she would have done again, made her sick. She would live with that mistake and the sadness of her choice for the rest of her life.
" My wife and I offered to adopt your child. We offered you your dreams, and at the same time a chance to make ours come true." He continued, and Erica still didn't move or speak.
" I didn't want that baby." Erica finally spoke, her voice so quiet it was practically a whisper, " At least not at first. But by the first time I felt him move, I was so in love with him." She admitted, tearfully, finally turning to look at him.
Greg nodded, " I still remember the day we got the call that you'd gone into premature labor." He added, shaking his head sadly.
" They didn't even let me hold him." She breathed, tearfully. " They told me he was dead, and that was the end of it." She closed her eyes, refusing to let the pain flood back into her heart. Perhaps that's why she'd blocked him out, blocked it all out, for so long...because losing her little boy hurt more then she would ever admit.
Greg nodded, turning away from her. He wasn't sure how he was going to tell the truth about what had really happened that night. But he had to tell her, before his son...before her son told her first.
" I never even got to tell you and your wife how sorry I was. I know how much having a child meant to you. I know you would have given my son a wonderful life." She told him, tears falling down her cheeks. " Did you and your wife get to adopt a child?"
He nodded slowly, taking a deep breath before he began. He had no idea how he was going to explain this to her, but he owed her that. " A son." He said quickly.
" Really?" She said with a small smile, " I'm happy that things worked out."
" Erica..." He said, his voice changing, " I wasn't honest with you back then. I was lying."
" What?" She asked not sure what he was getting at.
" My wife didn't even know my true motives for adopting your child." He told her.
" Motives?" She asked, stunned.
" I did want a child, more then anything. But I didn't just run into you that night." He started, " I was told where you would be. Erica, my job was to take your child."
" I don't understand, take my baby? I was going to let you adopt my child."
" No." He told her, " You were never supposed to have that baby. That was the plan. No one could ever know that your child existed."
" You're not making any sense...", was the only thing she could manage to get out.
" Erica, it was faked. Your son...is my son. He never died. Your son is alive."
To be continued...
David wakes Erica with a kiss


