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No Ordinary Love


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KEEPING UP WITH THE DEVERAUXES
By Jennifer-Lynn D'Anna
EPISODE 57

SCENE 1: INT. MARLENA'S OFFICE

IN on JENNIFER, staring at MARLENA, who just cancelled her appointments for the rest of the day.

JENNIFER: You think I'm an awful person, don't you?

MARLENA: Jennifer, I wish you'd quit saying that. No, I don't think you are an awful person. (MOTIONING) Have a seat and we'll talk about this. (WAITING FOR JENNIFER TO GET COMFORTABLE AND THEN SITTING DOWN HERSELF) Now, tell me everything. I'm assuming this happened in Africa?

JENNIFER: (NODDING) Yes.

MARLENA: A little after I left you and Jack?

JENNIFER: I found out not too long after that. (GRABBING A TISSUE) Oh, Marlena, I wanted so bad not to be. I mean, Jack was gone and-

MARLENA: And you were unsure. Jennifer, it was a perfectly normal feeling.

JENNIFER: But a baby, Marlena. A perfectly innocent child and I didn't want him and now everytime I look at Hope with Isaac all I keep thinking is, that should be me. Our babies should be playing together, growing up together. I was so selfish.

MARLENA: You were alone, Jennifer. You were scared.

JENNIFER: I was irresponsible. I lost a child and I'll never get him back, all because I was too worried about myself. I'm an awful mother. And I kept it from Jack. I should've told him...I should've, but...

MARLENA: But you couldn't. And we all know why.

OUT on JENNIFER, who knows MARLENA is right.


SCENE 2: INT. J & J'S LIVING ROOM

IN on JACK, who is on the couch thumbing through old photo albums with tears in his eyes. He wishes he could be happy, but knows that he will just hurt those he loves.

JACK: (TO HIMSELF) No...no...no...Jennifer needs someone who can be there, who was there.

JO walks in from the foyer. She has been out shopping and is still in her coat. JACK sets the photo album down.

JO: Jack? (SMILING AND TAKING OFF HER COAT AND HANGING IT) You're home.

JACK: What is it with everybody acting so surprised to see me? It's not like I haven't been around since February.

JO: Oh, it's just I thought you'd be down at the hospital, that's all.

JACK: The hospital? Is it green jello day in the cafeteria?

JO: (GOING THROUGH HER BAGS) You don't have to be so flip, Jack. I just thought you'd be down at the hospital with Jennifer.

JACK: (FINDING THIS INFORMATION INTERESTING) So that's where she is. (UNDER HIS BREATH) Fancy that, my plan is working already.

JO: What was that?

JACK: What was what?

JO: (GIVING HIM A FACE) You said something.

JACK: Oh, that. I was just saying...saying how glad I am that your home....already.

JO: (WALKING TOWARDS HIM) Oh no, not again...

JACK: (JUMPING UP) What? (RUNNING AROUND THE COUCH) Jo, have you gone and lost your mind?

JO: No, but I'm fairly sure you have. Billy Johnson, what are you up to?

OUT on JACK, feigning shock that he's "up to" anything.


SCENE 3: INT. J & J'S LIVING ROOM

IN PROGRESS

JACK: I am not "up to" anything. Can't a man just lower his voice sometimes?

JO: Normal men can, but you...you can't. It always means you're up to some hare-brained scheme.

JACK: (FAKE HURT) Hare-brained? Why, I never!!

JO: You never, alright. Are you forgetting that I was here for the bulk of them? A willing accomplice in them, nonetheless.

JACK: You make it sound like I'm a common criminal.

JO: (RAISING AN EYEBROW) You tried to fix your pregnant wife up with another man, Billy!

JACK: I thought I was dying!

JO: You videotaped them!

JACK: I did, didn't I? I wonder what ever happened to those tapes anyway.

JO: Billy!

JACK: You know, I wish you'd quit calling me that. Jack, J-A-C-K, say it with me now.

JO: You'll always be Billy to me. Oh, son, when are you ever going to learn?

JACK: Learn what?

JO: That you can't play these games anymore. People get hurt. You get hurt.

JACK: (MOVED BY HER CONCERN) I...Listen, I am not playing games. I'm just doing what's right.

JO: What's right for who?

JACK: Whom. The whom being my family. I'm doing what's right for my family.

JO: If it's so right, why are you keeping it from them, son? What are you doing that you can't tell Jennifer?


SCENE 4: INT. MARLENA'S OFFICE

IN PROGRESS

MARLENA: Jennifer, do you think I don't know what it's like to lose a child?

JENNIFER: I know, Marlena, but Belle was found.

MARLENA: I'm not talking about Belle, Jennifer. I'm talking about my son.

JENNIFER: But Eric's fine. You said he was back in Colorado.

MARLENA: My other son. I have been fortunate enough to have had six wonderful children in my lifetime. I've watched five of them grow up to be wonderful adults. I only wish I had seen all six of them do so.

JENNIFER: Marlena, did you-

MARLENA: You might not know this, but there was a Marlena Evans before there was ever a Roman Brady or a John Black. Just like there was a Jennifer Horton before there was a Jack Deveraux.

JENNIFER: I never doubted that. It's just...

MARLENA: I know. It's hard to think of me without the other but a long time ago, I was. Did you know that when you were a little girl I was married to Don Craig, Amelia's son?

JENNIFER: Grandma mentioned it before, but I never really thought about it.

MARLENA: It seems like eons ago, doesn't it? Well, Don and I we had a son, his name was D.J. (WISTFUL, EYES FILLING WITH TEARS) Donald Jeremiah, Jr.

JENNIFER: (CONCERNED) Oh Marlena.

MARLENA: (GRABBING A TISSUE HERSELF AND LAUGHING A LITTLE) I'm supposed to help you, not join you.

JENNIFER: It's okay, Marlena. Really it is.

MARLENA: (WIPING HER EYES A LITTLE) It's just I haven't really spoken of him in a long time. He was such a happy little baby. Premature but a real fighter. He would make these little fists like he was showing you that he wasn't going to give up.

JENNIFER: What happened?

MARLENA: We lost him. It was SIDS. We know more about it now, but back then...Jennifer, when I lost D.J., I lost a little bit of myself. I kept thinking if only I had been in the room with him, if only I had watched him more carefully, if only...

JENNIFER: Oh, Marlena, you shouldn't feel like that. You didn't do anything. You couldn't do anything.

MARLENA: Which is precisely what I'm telling you.


SCENE 5: INT. J & J'S LIVING ROOM

IN PROGRESS

JACK: I'm not keeping anything from anyone.

JO: Billy--Jack, don't do this---

JACK: I'm not doing anything, keeping anything. What more can I say?

JO: (GIVING UP AND TURNING TO PICK UP HER BAGS) Fine, do what you must. Just know that I don't approve.

JACK: (SEEING THAT HE HURT HER AND WANTING TO MAKE IT UP) Jo, um, Mother---

JO: (BRIGHTENING A LITTLE AT THE "MOTHER" AND TURNING AROUND) Yes?

JACK: Do you, um, as far as fathers go, I mean...I'm no Steve and all, but...do you think I'm a good (CANNOT FINISH THE SENTENCE)

JO: (MEETING HIS EYES AND SMILING) I think you are an excellent father.

JACK: You...you do?

JO: I do.

JACK: That, that means a lot. I know you're biased and all, but...

JO: Jack, you are a great father. Why would you ask? (LOOKING AROUND AT THE PICTURE BOOKS ON THE COUCH) Is this what this is all about?

JACK: (IGNORING HER MENTION OF THE PHOTO ALBUMS) I don't...I don't know...maybe it's because I haven't had the best examples. It wasn't exactly the "Brady Bunch" over at the Deveraux mansion growing up. The fictional Bradys, that is, not the proprieters of the fish market-slash-pub.

JO: I know what you mean, son. (THE PHONE RINGS) I'll get that. (PICKING UP THE PHONE) Hello? ....Yes....Yes....Tell her to just sit tight, someone will be right there. (HANGING UP THE PHONE)

JACK: (CURIOUS) Who was that?

JO: That was the school.

JACK: (GETTING NERVOUS) The school? Is everything allright? Did Abigail get hurt?

JO: Now, calm down son. She's just got a little bellyache. The nurse said she got sick at school and asked if we could come pick her up. Just let me get my coat (GOING TO THE COAT RACK) and I'll drive over there.

JACK: No, I'll go....Abigail needs her father. (GRABS HIS COAT AND KEYS AND HEADS OUT FRANTICALLY)

JO: (CHUCKLING) And he can't see he's a good father. (SHAKING HER HEAD, SHE PICKS UP HER BAGS AND HEADS UPSTAIRS)


SCENE 6: INT. MARLENA'S OFFICE

IN PROGRESS

JENNIFER: I appreciate you telling me this, Marlena, but the two situations aren't really comparable.

MARLENA: And how's that?

JENNIFER: Well, you...you didn't wish that your son wasn't there.

MARLENA: No, I didn't, but neither did you.

JENNIFER: But Marlena, I said that I didn't want a baby right then-

MARLENA: Oh, Jennifer, do you know how many mothers say that? How many people always say that a baby is coming at a wrong time?

JENNIFER: But this is different.

MARLENA: How? Because you lost the baby? You know very well that your miscarrying had nothing to do with that thought.

JENNIFER: I wished the baby wasn't there.

MARLENA: You wished that because you didn't think you could handle it at the time. (BEAT) Let me ask you this, Jennifer, if you had this baby, would you still hate him, still wish he weren't here?

JENNIFER: (SHOCKED THAT SHE'D THINK THAT) No...I could never.

MARLENA: There's your answer. Everything that happened between you and Jack was a direct result of that. You blamed him for not being there at first, then shifted the blame to yourself. Now that you've told him, you know that he's questioning every aspect of his and your relationship.

JENNIFER: Marlena, I knew he'd react like this. I shouldn't have kept it from him.

MARLENA: No, you shouldn't have, but I'm sure you had your reasons. Jack will not break Jennifer. You seem to think that. You handle him with kid gloves.

JENNIFER: (RAISING HER EYEBROWS) I think that's the other way around.

MARLENA: Do you? I wasn't really around when you were raped (JENNIFER SHIVERS AT THE MENTION), but I do recall you keeping that from him when it first happened.

JENNIFER: It almost tore us apart. That was because...

MARLENA: I know why you did that...(CHOOSING HER WORDS CAREFULLY) because he raped someone...once you figured out that he didn't leave you willingly in Africa, you decided to keep the miscarriage from him because of his past, his relationship with Harper.

JENNIFER: (LIGHTBULB MOMENT) And all these years I thought he was the one who was scared he'd break me.

MARLENA: Oh he is...but we'll save that for your group session. I just want you to see that there is a method to your madness and that you and Jack tend to follow a pattern. I also want you to see that there is no reason for you to blame yourself or Jack for this miscarriage. That baby would've been overjoyed to have you two as parents.

JENNIFER: (SMILING) Thank you, Marlena. I should go and find Jack (STANDING UP). I feel bad about you canceling all your appointments, though.

MARLENA: (STANDING UP) Don't. I don't really feel like going on much anyway today.

JENNIFER: (NODDING, KNOWING SHE'S TALKING ABOUT D.J.) I understand. (WALKING TO THE DOOR BUT STOPPING AND TURNING TO MARLENA) Marlena, I..hate to ask but is, nevermind.

MARLENA: No, go on.

JENNIFER: Okay.. was D.J.'s death the reason you and Mr. Craig divorced?

MARLENA: (A LITTLE TAKEN BACK) There were several reasons for Don's and my breakup, but I'd be lying to say that his death didn't affect our marriage. We never really could let that go.

JENNIFER: (PAINED) Oh.

MARLENA: Jennifer, that doesn't necessarily mean it will happen to you and Jack. I have faith in the two of you.

JENNIFER: Yeah, thanks.

JENNIFER exits and stands outside the door.

JENNIFER: (TO HERSELF) I only wish I did, Marlena...I only wish I did.

INSIDE MARLENA'S OFFICE:

MARLENA: (SITTING DOWN) Oh, Jennifer. (SHE OPENS UP A DRAWER AND PULLS OUT A SMALL FRAMED BABY PICTURE) I know exactly how you feel. (SHE BEGINS TO CRY)


SCENE 7: INT. SCHOOL OFFICE

JACK walks into the school office, BREATHLESS, and walks to the front desk.

WOMAN: Can I help you, sir?

JACK: Yes, I'm Jack Deveraux, I'm here to pick up Abigail Deveraux.

ABBY: (WEAKLY, FROM BEHIND HIM WHERE SHE IS SITTING ON A CHAIR) Hi Daddy.

JACK: (RUSHING OVER AND KNEELING DOWN IN FRONT OF HER) Hey, little Miss Tummy Troubles, how 'ya feeling? (CHECKS HER HEAD)

ABBY: Not so good. (BEAT) I threw up.

JACK: I heard. You're also burning up.

WOMAN: The nurse said she has a 101 fever.

JACK: (NERVOUS) Did she say anything else?

WOMAN: (READING HER CLIPBOARD) Just that she gave her two children's tylenol and that the fever should break but until then, you might want to let her rest a bit and consult your physician. I see you're new in the area. Do you have a pediatrician?

JACK: (RUBBING ABBY'S HEAD. NOT TURNING TOWARDS THE WOMAN) Her mother's a Horton, I'm sure we have one.

WOMAN: Oh, Jennifer Horton? Now I remember, you two used to work together over at the paper.

JACK: (NOT PAYING HER ANY ATTENTION) Yes, yes we did. Are we free to go?

WOMAN: I just have to see your i.d. and have you sign right here.

JACK: (RELUCTANTLY GETTING UP-HE DOES NOT WANT TO LEAVE ABIGAIL--AND HANDING HER HIS WALLET) Here. (SIGNING THE CLIPBOARD)

WOMAN: (LOOKING AT THE I.D.) Oooh, cute picture.

JACK: (ANNOYED) Thank you. Can we go now?

WOMAN: (ANNOYED AT HIS REFUSAL TO FLIRT) Sure, whatever.

JACK: (PICKING UP ABBY) Up you go. Wave goodbye to the nice lady. (TO THE WOMAN AS THEY EXIT) Have a (DRIPPING WITH SARCASM) wonderful day.

ON THE WAY TO THE CAR:

ABBY: She likes you.

JACK: I know. I like you.

ABBY: I like you too. Thanks for getting me, Daddy.

JACK: Why wouldn't I? A day with my favorite little girl in the whole world, how could I pass that up?

ABBY: I love you, Daddy. You're the best. (SHE HUGS HIS NECK)

JACK: (TEARING UP) I think you're wrong, kiddo. You are.

OUT on JACK, squeezing her close.


SCENE 8: INT. J & J'S LIVING ROOM

JENNIFER enters.

JENNIFER: Jack? Jack, are you here? Oh well. (SEEING THE PHOTO ALBUMS) What's this? (SITTING DOWN AND THINKING ABOUT MARLENA SAID) Please don't let that happen to us...please...

The door opens and JACK walks in, carrying a sleeping ABBY. He motions for JENNIFER to shhh.

JENNIFER: (RUNNING OVER AND WHISPERING) What's wrong?

JACK: (WHISPERING AS WELL) Some sort of a bug. She's taken two tylenol.

JENNIFER: Thanks for getting her.

JACK: Why wouldn't I? You were gone and...

JENNIFER: I know. Maybe you should get her upstairs.

JACK: (MEETING HER EYES) Yeah. (GOING UP THE STAIRS AND PAUSING) Oh, Jennifer?

JENNIFER: Yes?

JACK: You were at the hospital today?

JENNIFER: Yeah. Why?

JACK: Just wondering. (HE CONTINUES UPSTAIRS)

JENNIFER: (TO HERSELF) Maybe there is hope for us yet.

ON TOP OF THE STAIRS:

JACK: (TO HIMSELF) It's working already. Pretty soon it will be Colin picking you up from school, kiddo. (HIS HEART HEAVY, HE TURNS TO PUT ABBY TO BED)

END OF EPISODE 57




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