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Keeping Up With the Deverauxes
By Jennifer-Lynn D'Anna
Episode 8

Scene 1: It is still the same day. Both Jack and Jennifer are in an embrace at the hospital. Jennifer is upset because J.T., Hope's son has just been revealed to be Glen Barber's and has been taken away.

(JACK IS RUBBING JENNIFER'S BACK AND SHE BREAKS AWAY)

JACK: (UPSET) Wh-what? Did I do something wrong?

JENNIFER: (TURNING AWAY FROM HIM) No...yes....no... (BEAT) Jack, I think we should just go.

JACK: Jennif...Jennifer, I...

JENNIFER: (BLOWING HER NOSE) We really should go. (SHE ADJUSTS HER PURSE AND LOOKS AT HIM PLEADINGLY)

JACK: (UPSET THAT JENNIFER WON'T TALK ABOUT THEIR EMBRACE) Yes...yes we should. After you, my lady...(HE MOTIONS FOR HER TO GO AHEAD OF HIM AND THEN PAUSES AND LOOKS AT MARLENA AND JOHN, WHO ARE STILL IN A VERY HEATED DISCUSSION)

JENNIFER: Jack? Jack, the elevator's here.

JACK: (LOOKING AT THE ELEVATOR) Well, then...All aboard (HE HOLDS THE DOOR OPEN FOR HER AND ALLOWS HER TO GET ON. HE IS STANDING BEHIND HER AS THE DOORS SHUT. JENNIFER, WHO IS UPSET STILL, SMILES A LITTLE.)


Scene 2: Jennifer and Jack are in the car and are both very uncomfortable about their recent embrace.

(THE SCENE OPENS TO JACK'S CAR. JENNIFER IS IN THE PASSENGER SEAT LOOKING OUT THE WINDOW AND WIPING HER EYES. JACK KEEPS THROWING LOOKS HER WAY. HE CAN TELL SHE IS UPSET AND IS BOTHERED THAT SHE CAN'T EVEN TALK TO HIM ABOUT IT. A FEW SECONDS OF SILENCE PASS. JACK CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE AND HE PULLS OVER AND STOPS THE CAR)

JENNIFER: Jack, what are you doing?

JACK: What does it look like I'm doing? I'm stopping the...Jennifer, we need to talk.

JENNIFER: About what, Jack?

JACK: About what happened back at the hospital....about our embrace...about that moment...

JENNIFER: About our moment, Jack? What moment? I was upset, that's all. People tend to do that when their family gets hurt. People with hearts, that is.

JACK: You're doing it again.

JENNIFER: Doing what again, Jack? Speaking the truth? Well, you know what they say, Jack. The truth hurts.

JACK: You're baiting me.

(JENNIFER'S MOUTH JUST DROPS OPEN)

JENNIFER: I'm baiting you?! Jack, I cann-

JACK: And I'm not going to take it. I'm not going to let you do it. I am just going to chock it up to the fact that you have tons of...tons of ...displaced anger.

JENNIFER: Displaced anger? Jack, I assure you, this anger is anything but displaced.

JACK: Fine, fine. Have it your way. I just, I just wanted to tell you that I am here for you...

JENNIFER: That's a first (SHE LOOKS OUT THE WINDOW)

JACK: (IGNORING HER AND LOOKING STRAIGHT AHEAD) I am here for you if you want to talk. (BEAT) Contrary to popular belief, I am not the spawn of Satan here ...although Harper and Duke come pretty close.

JENNIFER: (LOOKING OVER AT JACK WITH GREAT CONCERN) Come on, Jack. You know me better than that....(BEAT) (QUIETLY) I do not hate you.

JACK: (STILL LOOKING AWAY FROM JENNIFER) You could've fooled me.

(THE SCENE ENDS WITH JENNIFER LOOKING AT JACK AND WANTING HIM TO LOOK AT HER)


Scene 3: Jennifer and Jack are still in the car and Jack has just accused Jennifer of hating him.

JENNIFER: (LOOKING AT JACK, WHO STILL REFUSES TO LOOK AT HER) Jack, is that what you think? (BEAT) You think I hate you?

JACK: (FINALLY LOOKING AT JENNIFER) You don't?

JENNIFER: Jack, I...

JACK: Jennifer, you don't have to ans-

JENNIFER: I don't hate you, Jack. I mean, I don't hate you anymore. (LOOKING OUT THE FRONT WINDSHIELD) Do I understand you? No. Do I want to understand you? No. I may have said I hated you, Jack and I'm sure that somewhere along the line I did, but I don't hate you anymore...I don't think so, anyway.

JACK: Then why...why can't you talk to me? After everything we've been through, why can't you just talk to me?

JENNIFER: (LOOKING AT JACK WITH GREAT SADNESS IN HER EYES) That's why, Jack. Because of everything we've been through. (BEAT) You think you can just swoop back in and fix everything with a joke or a stupid disguise or some flamboyant gesture. It won't work anymore, Jack (SHE TURNS AWAY)...It won't work.

JACK: And at the hospital? When you fell into my arms?

JENNIFER: (SMILING TO HERSELF) You were there, Jack. (SHE TURNS TO HIM) You were there and I was upset. I would've hugged anyone at that moment. It was nothing....It was nothing. (JACK JUST LOOKS AT HER WITH TEARS IN HIS EYES BECAUSE HE KNOWS SHE IS LYING)

JACK: (CLEARING HIS THROAT) Ahem...(HE STARTS THE CAR) Well, we better get out of here before the good 'ole Salem PD decides to give us a ticket.

JENNIFER: Yeah, we should (SHE LOOKS OUT HER WINDOW)

(JACK STARTS UP THE CAR AND THEY PULL AWAY, MORE CONFUSED THAN EVER)


Scene 4: Jack and Jennifer arrive home.

(JENNIFER AND JACK WALK THROUGH THE DOOR OF THEIR HOME. JENNIFER PUTS HER KEYS ON THE TABLE BY THE DOOR AND JACK FOLLOWS SUIT. JENNIFER THEN WALKS INTO THE LIVING ROOM AND PLOPS DOWN ON THE COUCH AND SIGHS)

JACK: (SORTING THROUGH MAIL) You know, one day they're going to spell my name right. I mean, D-e-v-a-r-o-w-e...What the hell is that? (HE HANDS SOME MAIL TO JENNIFER)

JENNIFER: (TAKING THE MAIL) Thanks. (SHE LOOKS AT THE MAIL AND THEN SETS IT ON THE COFFEE TABLE)

JACK: You're not going to open it?

JENNIFER: I'll get to it in a minute.

JACK: (KNOWING THAT SOMETHING IS UP) It's from your father.

JENNIFER: (ANNOYED) Yes, Jack, I know who it is from. I'll open it in a bit. (SHE AVOIDS HIS EYES)

JACK: I remember a time when a Jennifer Horton Dever, um, Jennifer Horton, would tear through mail...Postcards, catalogs, forget about 'em. I think she even beat the speed of light whenever the package was marked from a Mr. Bill Horton.

JENNIFER: It's probably nothing, Jack.

JACK: (SITTING DOWN) You're probably right. (HE OPENS HIS MAIL AND BEGINS TO READ)

JENNIFER: (GROWING UNCOMFORTABLE WITH JACK'S ACTIONS) I'm going to get something to eat. I know I'm going to regret this, but do you want anything? (SHE GETS UP)

JACK: (LOOKING OVER THE LETTER HE WAS READING) Mmmm. I am feeling a bit peckish now that you mention it. How about some caviar and champagne? Ooh, and a spot of pate, if you will.

JENNIFER: (SMILING) How about ham and cheese sandwiches and potato chips, Jack?

JACK: (SMILING SARCASTICALLY BACK AT HER) Mmmm...Even better.

(SHE GOES TO LEAVE)

Oh, and Jennifer?

JENNIFER: Yes, Jack?

JACK: Can you be sure to cut the edges off mine? You know how I hate them.

JENNIFER: (UNDER HER BREATH) I'd like to cut something, allright. (SHE GOES TO LEAVE)

JACK: What was that?

JENNIFER: Nothing, Jack, Nothing.

(SHE GOES INTO THE KITCHEN. AS SOON AS SHE LEAVES JACK WALKS OVER TO THE COFFEE TABLE AND PICKS UP THE LETTER FROM BILL)

JACK: (TO HIMSELF) Now, why hasn't she opened you?

(JENNIFER, AS IF SHE KNEW THAT JACK WOULD TOUCH THE LETTER, WALKS IN, GRABS THE LETTER, AND WITHOUT SAYING A WORD, WALKS BACK INTO THE KITCHEN, LEAVING JACK STANDING THERE DUMBFOUNDED)

Scene 5: Jack and Jennifer are finishing up their lunch when the doorbell rings with a not so mysterious package.

(THE SCENE OPENS TO JACK AND JENNIFER SITTING ON THE FLOOR EATING THEIR SANDWICHES ON THE COFFEE TABLE AND WATCHING T.V. JACK HAS TAKEN OFF HIS JACKET AND HAS ROLLED UP HIS SLEEVES. HE HAS JUST TAKEN A BIG SIP OF MILK AND HAS A MILK MUSTACHE WHEN THE DOORBELL RINGS. HE GETS UP TO ANSWER IT)

JACK: We don't want any religious material (HE OPENS THE DOOR TO A MESSENGER) Yes?

MESSENGER: Are you a Mr. Jack Dever...Dever... (HE RUBS HIS MOUTH TO INDICATE THAT JACK HAS MILK ON IT)

JACK: (CONFUSED ABOUT THE MESSENGER'S RUBBING OF HIS MOUTH) Deveraux. Jack Deveraux. In the flesh.

MESSENGER: You have a delivery. (HE RUBS HIS MOUTH AGAIN)

JACK: (SARCASTICALLY) I should hope so. (LOOKING AT HIM RUBBING HIS MOUTH AGAIN WITH GREAT CONFUSION)

MESSENGER: Huh?

JACK: Never mind. Where do I sign? (HE GRABS THE CLIPBOARD AND SIGNS HIS NAME AND GRABS THE PACKAGE AND RUNS BACK INSIDE) Thank you, have a good day. (HE SLAPS THE MESSENGER'S HAND THAT IS OPENED FOR A TIP).

JENNIFER: (COMING INTO THE FOYER) Who was that, Jack?

JACK: Nobody. (HIDING THE PACKAGE BEHIND HIS BACK) Wrong house.

JENNIFER: (KNOWING SOMETHING IS UP) Wrong house, Jack? (SHE TRIES TO PEEK AROUND HIS BACK)

JACK: Yes...wrong house...I mean, they were trying to sell encyclopedias and I said that they had the wrong house...because...because...well, because, there were two skilled journalists residing here and that we...we have a set of our own already.

JENNIFER: Jack, we don't have a set of encyclopedias.

JACK: We don't? I could've sworn that we did.

JENNIFER: You're lying. (BEAT) Why are you lying, Jack? (SHE STEPS FORWARD TO HIM AND STRETCHES OUT HER HAND)

JACK: Jennifer, what are you-

JENNIFER: What does it look like I'm doing, Jack?

JACK: Well, it looks like you're...you're.

(SHE WIPES OFF HIS MILK MUSTACHE)

JENNIFER: I'm wiping off your milk mustache, Jack. (SHE TURNS AWAY AND WALKS BACK INTO THE LIVING ROOM)

(JACK IS LEFT STANDING AGAINST THE DOOR. HE PULLS OUT THE PACKAGE AND KISSES IT)

JACK: Shane Donovan, you are a Godsend!


Scene 6: It is now later on that evening. Jennifer is sitting in the living room, watching the news and combing Abby's hair.

TV NEWSCASTER: And in a bizarre twist of fate, Salem's own Police Officer Bo Brady and his wife Hope Williams-Brady have been victims of a coldhearted baby switch. Their infant son, John-Thomas Brady, was

ABBY: Look, Mommy, it's J.T.

JENNIFER: Yeah, Baby, it is. (SHE NERVOUSLY FUMBLES FOR THE REMOTE AND TURNS OFF THE T.V.)

ABBY: Why did you do that, Mommy? J.T. was on t.v.

JENNIFER: Well, Baby, why don't you sit down? (BEAT) I have to tell you something about J.T.

(JACK STANDS IN THE DOORWAY AND WATCHES, UNBEKNOWNST TO JENNIFER AND ABBY)


Scene 7: Jennifer has just told Abby about J.T. and Jack has watched them from the doorway.

ABBY: So, J.T. was adopted like Daddy?

JENNIFER: Well, sort of.

ABBY: Will I see him anymore?

JENNIFER: Um, well, Baby, I don't think that will be possible. We'll see what we can do on that, though. (BEAT) Are you okay? I didn't know what to tell you. ABBY: I'm okay.

JENNIFER: Are you sure? Mommy knows how hard this is.

ABBY: No, I'm okay. I'll miss seeing him. I know he'll grow up good.

JENNIFER: I'm sure he will. Abby, how did you get so smart?

ABBY: Well, Daddy was adopted and he grew up to be great. Didn't he, Mommy? Didn't Daddy grow up to be great?

(JACK LOOKS AS IF HIS HEART HAS GROWN AT THIS STATEMENT AND JENNIFER LOOKS AT ABBY WITH TEARS IN HIS EYES)

JENNIFER: Yeah, he did grow up to be pretty great. (BEAT) You want Mommy to read you a story tonight?

ABBY: I'd like that. I'll go get a book and meet you upstairs, okay?

(JENNIFER NODS AND ABBY RUNS TO THE STAIRS WHERE SHE RUNS INTO JACK)

JACK: (WITH TEARS IN HIS EYES) Why, hello, Abigail! Leaving so soon?(HE SCOOPS HER UP IN HIS ARMS)

ABBY: I love you, Daddy. (SHE KISSES HIS CHEEK)

JACK: And Daddy loves you very much. Did he ever tell you how much he loves you, Abigail? I love you more than anything...anything in this world.

ABBY: And Mommy?

(JACK LOOKS OVER AT JENNIFER WHO IS SMILING AT THEM. HE LOOKS AT ABBY)

JACK: (HE PLAYS IT OFF TO APPEASE ABBY, BUT IT IS TRUE) And Mommy, too. More than anything. (HE SETS HER DOWN) Now, you go on to bed and Daddy will be in to tuck you in.

(ABBY RUNS OUT LEAVING JACK AND JENNIFER WITH EACH OTHER AND UNCOMFORTABLE)

JACK: I take it she saw the newscast.

JENNIFER: Yeah. She seems okay with it, though.

JACK: I know you don't want me to ask, but how about you? Are you okay with it?

JENNIFER: (TURNING AWAY SO THAT JACK CAN'T SEE HER TEARS) I don't know, Jack. The logical part of me...the reporter side of me says that it's better that it happened now, not when the baby was eight or older and that Glen really does deserve to be with his son. But the mother side of me....the mother side of me...it says that Hope must be dying. And the more I look at Abby, the more I know how it would kill me if she was ever taken away from me, Jack. If she was taken away from us...

JACK: (GRABBING JENNIFER AND TURNING HER TO FACE HIM) Jennifer, nobody, NOBODY is ever going to take our daughter away from us. Do you hear me? I will...I will die before I let that happen.

(JENNIFER JUST LOOKS AT JACK WITH WONDER IN HER EYES. SHE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT HE IS TALKING ABOUT AND IS A LITTLE SCARED)

JACK: (BREAKING HIS HOLD ON HER AND TURNING AWAY) I'm sorry...I guess...I guess..I just let my emotions get a hold of me.

JENNIFER: Well, um...I'm going to go read to Abby. (BEAT) You'll be in to tuck her in, won't you? (SHE GOES TO WALK UP THE STAIRS)

JACK: Yeah...in just a moment.

(JENNIFER EXITS AND JACK GRABS THE PACKAGE HE HAD HIDDEN IN A DRAWER IN THE TABLE BY THE DOOR)

JACK: (TO HIMSELF) And Shane Donovan and the good 'ole IS of A will help us make sure of that. (BEAT) No one...no one..will ever touch Abigail.

END OF EPISODE 8


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