Chapter Three: The Better of Two Evils

'So how was Belfast?'
Gemma hadn't meant for the question to come across so accusingly, so she turned her head and gave Éire a small smile.
'Belfast was…. Belfast,' Éire replied nonchalantly.

Éire, even though she was too stubborn to admit it, had missed Charming. Although Belfast was her birthplace, it was never her home. She looked over at Gemma and had the same parallel thoughts. Even though she wasn't her biological mother, she would always be her Mom. She had missed her, and Clay too. Éire hadn't realised how much she missed them until she and Gemma embraced at the airport. She had so much anger and resentment towards her parents for the last year that she hadn't realised how much she missed them. Instantly regretting how she treated them while she was away, she decided to ask Gemma about her Dad.

Although surprised and suspicious, Gemma knew Clay was relieved that his baby girl was coming home. He was still pissed at the circumstances of her departure, which had been evident since Éire went away. He was also annoyed at her lack of contact but he knew that was because she was pissed at him for sending her away. It would be good to finally see her again.

When Éire asked about Clay, Gemma was content for at least Éire was showing her father some consideration. With that realisation, Gemma began to reflect on what was known in the Teller-Morrow household as the 'good days,' the period before and the lead up to the bad days. Éire and Clay had always been indivisible. Even when they got married, Gemma, no matter how hard she tried, could never become as close to Éire as her father was. He was her lifeline. He had taken her away from Belfast to Charming, two completely paradox worlds. Gemma always believed that that's why Éire had fought so hard to stay in Charming and acted so bitterly towards her parents for the last nineteen months. Her father, the saviour, had sent her back to the place he saved her from. It was as difficult for Clay as it was for Éire. He believed it was the better of two evils at the time. Gemma had agreed with Clay on this but judging by Maureen's phone call last night and Éire's face, Gemma wondered if she and her husband would soon realise they made the wrong decision.

God where the hell are they?

Over at TM Clay was as anxious as Gemma was at the airport, trying to distract himself but failing miserably. When Clay had forced Éire to get on that plane, he didn't know when he was going to see her again. As she walked away from them in the airport, after barely saying goodbye and not even bothering to look back, it broke his heart. He and Gemma clung onto each other as he watched his princess walk away. To his side, he could feel Gemma sobbing and at that moment, all he wanted to do all he wanted to do was to go home and do the same.

Now, she was back. He would see her again and he was happy but very contained. He hadn't sent her to Belfast on a holiday. He had sent her there for a reason. Charming wasn't the place for her then. Clay was worried that it wouldn't be now either. Maureen ambiguous phone call lead Clay to think his efforts to keep Éire out of trouble and sane had gone to waste. Would his daughter come back to Charming more deranged than when left? He was worried that the anger, animosity and suffering on both sides for the last nineteen months had been for nothing.

Gemma noticed that the closer she got to TM, the more Éire tried to hide her anxiousness. Funnily, as she drove into the lot, she immediately noticed her husband under the hood of a cage doing the same thing. The famous Morrow tactic; show no emotion except anger.
Gemma parked the car and turned towards Éire;
'You ready baby?'
Éire responded with a heavy sigh, as she opened the door.

Clay heard the banging of a car down and whipped his head out from underneath the car. He was met with his wife's suppressed smile, the air suddenly feeling very tense. His eyes then glided to meet a familiar pair of amber eyes. He knew by her facial expression and hesitant body movements that she could feel the tension also. This made Clay heartsick. They had always been so mundane and relaxed around each other, well at least for the first fifteen years of Éire's life. But now they looked at each other like they hardly knew one another, which was true to a certain extent. Clay had little to no idea what Éire had been doing for the last nineteen months. Lucky him.