Written by MichaelSeptember 14, 2020

Episode 1036

Previously…
– After an argument with Caleb, a pregnant Molly collapsed — but her hazy memory of the day made everyone wonder if it was Claire who’d left her lying there in crisis.
– Brent admitted to his brother, Josh, that he loves Molly and wants to be with her, but he has been hesitant to voice his feelings because of the unusual circumstances of her pregnancy.
– Jason and Sabrina gave their first date a do-over and shared their first kiss.

“You have to be kidding me!”

Molly Taylor stands at her open front door, mouth agape, as her ex-husband enters the house. Outside, the sky is an uneasy bluish-gray, the sort of shade that makes the weather seem completely different every ten minutes.

“There’s no kidding here,” Brent Taylor announces as he hands her the large plastic cup. A red straw rises proudly out of it, held in place by the cup’s lid.

“First of all, I don’t think we’re supposed to be using plastic straws anymore,” Molly says.

“Tell that to the mini-mart around the corner. Then again, they probably have corndogs in the display case that go back at least a decade, so they’re probably not authorities on current trends.”

Molly carefully holds the cup between both hands. “You’re probably right. But thank you. How did you know?”

“Because I have a really clear memory of you craving blue raspberry slushees the whole final trimester of your last pregnancy,” he says. “I stopped to get a coffee on my way and thought I might as well…”

She takes a long sip through the straw, wincing slightly at the cold temperature of the drink. “How can that be so good? I know it’s all sugar and garbage.”

“Because it’s all sugar and garbage.”

She laughs. “Well, thank you for this. You’re a saint.”

“Far from it.” His eyes flicker downward, and he takes a drink of his hot coffee. “But I was hoping we could talk.”

Molly’s expression shifts with his more serious tone. “About what?”

Brent hesitates. It’s clear to Molly that he is steeling himself for something. A nervous knot tightens itself in her already-uncomfortable stomach.

“Brent, what’s wrong?” she asks.

“Nothing’s wrong,” he tells her, and he moves to close the front door. Just as he does, though, their teenage son bounds onto the small cement porch.

“Hold up,” Caleb says, and he pushes open the door to enter the house.

“Hey, buddy,” Brent says. “You have a bag packed already?”

Caleb looks up at his father. “Huh?”

“You and Christian are coming to my place for the rest of the week. Remember?”

“Oh. Yeah. Uh, no. I have to pack.”

Molly studies her son. His dark hair pokes out in all directions from beneath his flat-brimmed cap. Something about his eyes looks hazy and distant.

“Caleb, look at me,” she says with authority.

The teenager flinches. “What? Why?”

“You’re stoned, aren’t you?”

“No! God, Mom.”

Immediately Brent tries to get a better look at Caleb’s eyes.

“Where were you just now?” Brent asks.

“With Arjun! He gave me a ride home. Jeez.” Caleb pushes past them and moves for the stairs.

Molly is about to speak again when a flash of memory hits her like a lightning bolt.

“Are you stoned?”
Caleb looks up, doing his best to appear offended, but Molly knows her son well enough not to miss the half-second hitch in his reaction.
“Are you?”
“No! What the hell, Mom?”
“Your eyes,” Molly says. She approaches him.
“Mom, I came home to write my paper. Jeez.” He shrugs away from her.
“I asked you a question.”
“And I told you no. God. Don’t yell at me ‘cuz Claire pissed you off.”
Molly freezes. “Excuse me?”
“You’re pissed ‘cuz Claire called you out on stealing Dad from her. Don’t take it out on me.”

She steadies herself against the wall as the full memory comes back to her, clear as day.

“Mol. What is it?” Brent asks with alarm. “Are you okay?”

She nods slowly, still gathering her wits, and then fixes a sharp stare upon Caleb.

“I’m fine,” she says. “But I remember.”

“Remember what?” Brent presses, placing an arm on her back to hold her up if need be.

She can already tell from Caleb’s guilty look that he knows exactly what she means.

“The day I collapsed and went to the hospital,” she says with a gulp. “You were here, Caleb. You were here after I fought with Claire. You were here when I collapsed!”

The sounds of a late afternoon hockey practice, of sticks slapping against pucks and players crashing into the boards and frequent shouts of triumph and defeat, rise up to fill the vast, open space inside Edge of Winter Arena. Jason Fisher watches the action on the ice as he descends the stairs from his second-floor office and rounds the rink.

He approaches the door that connects the arena to Thaw Coffee & Tea. When he pulls it open, a bell jingles lightly; inside the café is a quiet scene, a handful patrons spread out over a few tables, chatting softly or reading. Sabrina Gage, who is at the far end of the bar cleaning an espresso machine, lights up at the sight of him.

“If this isn’t a nice surprise, I don’t know what is,” she says.

“Hi,” Jason says, unable to keep a grin from creeping over his face. “How’s your day been?”

“Oh, you know… The usual. A few customers who are convinced you made their drink wrong and then watch you remake it and are convinced it’s somehow still wrong.”

“Ugh. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. It comes with the territory.” She sets a damp rag down on the stainless steel worktop. “How about you?”

“I actually popped in because I’m taking off for the day,” Jason tells her.

Sabrina glances at the wall clock that hangs behind the register. “What is it they say? Banker’s hours?”

“Don’t worry. I have about 400 e-mails to handle at home later. The life of a business owner…”

“I’m only teasing. I wish I didn’t have to close tonight.”

He leans forward, a twinkle in his eye. “You’re welcome to come by after you’re done. Sophie is still away at camp.”

“I wish I could, but I still have work to do on my project for my photography class,” she says. “I’ll definitely take a rain check on that, though.”

“Don’t wait too long to cash that in, okay?” he says with a wink.

“Would tomorrow night be too soon to cash it in, then?”

“Tomorrow night sounds perfect to me,” Jason says, flashing her a smile.

—–

“It looks like it might storm,” Paula Fisher says as she gazes up at the gray-hued sky. “Should we move inside?”

Helen Chase waves a hand dismissively. “A few clouds don’t scare me. The two of us have been through much worse!”

The two older women sit side-by-side in Adirondack chairs on the back deck of Paula’s home. Each of them has a glass of iced tea, its outside damp with condensation, beside her.

“I’ll tell you what, a little rain isn’t half as bad as dealing with that terrible Loretta Ragan!” Helen continues. “I’m not one for dramatics, but the shiver that woman sent down my spine would rock the Richter scale!”

Paula chuckles to herself at her old friend’s characteristic hyperbole.

“I’m grateful I haven’t run into her again,” Paula says.

“The only reason I am glad I saw her is because it helped me put together the pieces.” Helen pokes her index finger against her temple several times. “She was the one who had me mugged. I know it.”

“I wouldn’t put it past her. And I’m glad you told me. Tim has been looking for something he might be able to use to get her parole revoked.”

“I’d be happy to talk to him about it. Anything to get that snake off the streets!”

“I’ll let him know,” Paula says.

“You know,” Helen says thoughtfully, “I’d always wondered how anyone else managed to get the same DNA results we got at the very same time. It only makes sense that it was the same test!”

“We?” Paula asks.

“I had a little help from that Sabrina Gage. You know I didn’t trust her much back then, but she offered to help out of the goodness of her heart — or because she already had a crush on Jason by that point, if you ask me.”

“I had no idea she’d been a part of all that.”

“Not that big a part,” Helen says. “All she did was take a can Spencer had been drinking from and bring it to me. I’m the one who had to fish Peter’s dirty diaper out of Natalie’s trashcan!”

Paula grimaces. “You used a dirty diaper to get a DNA sample?”

“I was desperate, Paula! Desperate and clever, if I do say so.”

After taking several seconds to process this new, troubling information, Paula says, “We’re all grateful that you helped bring the truth to light — including Tim, because otherwise he wouldn’t know he had a grandson. I’m sure he’ll be thankful for this new lead, too.”

“I’d certainly hope so! No one puts Helen Chase in harm’s way and gets away with it.” Helen reaches for her iced tea. “But if my suffering is what it takes to put Loretta back behind bars, then maybe it was all worth it.”

—–

Molly stares at Caleb. Immediately she recognizes the look on his face — the same look he’d sport as a kid when she would catch him sneaking chips right before dinner, or when she caught him running outside to play without having made his bed.

“Are you sure, Mol?” Brent asks, as he stands by in a confused daze.

“Yes,” she says. The scene is so vivid in her head that she cannot fathom how she ever didn’t remember it. “Caleb, we talked after Claire left. You were– I could tell you were stoned, and you blew up at me.”

Caleb grits his teeth. His eyes are on fire as he processes this new reality.

“I went upstairs before anything happened to you. I swear,” he finally says. “You were standing here yelling at me. I didn’t know anything was wrong ’til I heard Trevor.”

All Molly can do is shake her head. She doesn’t know how to believe anything that comes out of his mouth right now.

“Is your mom telling the truth?” Brent asks, his tone accusatory.

“I didn’t leave you lying on the floor! I would never do that,” the teenager spits.

Molly and Brent exchange a wary look.

“Of course you don’t believe me.” Caleb shakes his head with disgust. “You never do. You never trust me.”

Before either of his parents can answer, Caleb bounds up the stairs. A moment later, they hear his bedroom door slam, its force reverberating through the house.

“It all just hit me,” Molly says, her brain moving so fast that she finds it difficult to tackle one thing at a time. “I could tell he was stoned when he came home that time, too. And when I asked him about it, he blew up at me. Claire had already left.”

“So Claire didn’t leave you like that,” Brent says. “I knew that didn’t sound like her.”

All Molly can do is nod as she adjusts her entire perception of that day and everything that has come since.

“It was Caleb,” she says sadly. “It was Caleb all along.”

—–

“You just missed Helen,” Paula tells Jason as she leads the way into her living room.

Jason lets out an exaggerated sigh of relief. “Must be my lucky day.”

Paula responds with an understanding laugh before pointing to several tied-up trash bags, arranged as neatly as possible, resting by the foot of the stairs.

“These are the things I put together for the clothing drive,” she says. “I would’ve been happy to bring them by the arena.”

“I don’t mind at all,” Jason says. “You’re on my way home, anyway — and besides, it’s a good excuse to drop in and say hi.”

Paula smiles warmly at her youngest child.

“Have you heard from Sophie? Is she enjoying camp?” she asks.

“She called to tell me that she trapped a spider, so… sounds like she’s enjoying herself, yeah.”

“She certainly is her own person.”

“That’s putting it lightly. All I can think of is when Wednesday Addams went away to camp…”

“She’ll grow out of all this,” Paula says. “I’m sure plenty of it is for shock value.”

“She pulls that off in spades. Anyway, it’s good for her to be away for a little bit.”

Paula levels a quizzical look at him. “And it gives you some time to live your own life.”

“That, too. I had forgotten how hard it could be to date when you’re a single parent.”

“So you and Sabrina are dating, then.”

Jason feels his cheeks flush, even though he knows that he has nothing to be embarrassed about.

“Yeah, we are,” he says at last. “It honestly kind of crept up on me. We considered each other friends for so long — and even that took a while, considering how she first showed up here — and then we just started seeing each other, I don’t know, in this new light.”

Paula beams in the way that only a proud mother can, but there is a glimmer of something else in her expression.

“What?” Jason asks, recognizing the look at once.

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

“Mom, I know you. It’s something.”

Paula hesitates for one long beat and then explains, “I think Sabrina’s been sweet on you for quite a bit longer than that.”

He lifts one eyebrow. “What makes you think that?”

“I really can’t imagine her conspiring with Helen the way she did otherwise,” Paula says. “Not that she was the one picking up dirty diapers, but if she didn’t already care about you, I don’t she would have–”

“What do you mean, conspiring with Helen?” Jason asks, suddenly much more intense.

Paula freezes.

“Mom.”

“I thought you knew,” she says much more meekly.

“Knew what?”

His insistence hangs in the air, not even needing more words to fuel it.

“Helen said that Sabrina helped her gather the samples for the DNA test on Peter,” Paula finally says, her posture sinking with defeat. “I thought you knew.”

“Why would I know that? Who told you, Helen?”

“She only mentioned it in passing. I thought– Jason, I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” he says, though the sharp edge in his voice is hardly reassuring.

“I’m sure Sabrina only wanted to help,” Paula says after a few terse seconds of silence. “She cares about you. She didn’t want you to be manipulated by Natalie’s lies.”

“If she cared about me,” Jason says, “she wouldn’t have let me be manipulated in front of everyone I love at that wedding.”

—–

Molly takes one more gulp of the slushee and then sets the cup down on the kitchen table.

“I hate that we can never get a handle on what’s going on with him,” she says with exasperation. “He’s our son.”

“He’s also a teenager,” Brent counters.

“Still.” Molly braces herself against one of the chairs and takes a deep breath. “Caleb was perfectly content to let everyone think that Claire watched me collapse and tore out of here rather than making sure I was okay. That’s…”

“Not good. Yeah.”

“I don’t get it, Brent. We’ve given him a good life. A safe, happy life.”

He nods along compassionately before adding, “We can’t protect our kids from the world forever. And it’s not like he’s been that shielded…”

“I don’t know what to do.” She swipes a hand over her tired face. “Sometimes I think that if I hadn’t brought Philip into our lives, everything would be different.”

“Molly, you didn’t cause this.”

“I was going to marry a man who turned out to be a serial killer! He murdered the boys’ uncle and grandfather.” Her face and voice strain with anguish. “It’s not like we could shield them from that.”

“No, but that doesn’t make it your fault.”

“None of it would’ve happened if I hadn’t been so stupid. Even poor Tori–”

“You just gave Tori a job.”

“Which she wouldn’t have been nearly as desperate for if she had been able to finish college on time, if Philip hadn’t almost killed her. This is like the nightmare that keeps on giving.”

“Let’s sit down and take a few breaths and try to relax,” he says. “This isn’t good for you.”

Molly continues to hold onto the chair, shaking her head in horror.

He moves over to aid her into the chair. “C’mon, Mol.”

As he touches her arm, however, she lets out a gasp.

“What’s wrong?” Brent asks.

“My water just broke,” she says in a frantic rush.

“What? No. It’s too early.”

“I know it’s too early,” Molly says, her eyes wide and wild, “but it’s happening. I’m going into labor.”

END OF EPISODE 1036

Is Molly really going into early labor?
Will Caleb finally own up to his behavior?
Should Jason be angry at Sabrina?
Talk about it all in the comments below!