A Love Beyond Compare by Sandra Bondelier

Chapter 6 - Part 2
Welcome Home Marlena

Hand in hand they entered the home in which they once shared every part of themselves. Tonight there were many friends and family members waiting patiently, but with concern as there was much uncertainty ahead for this pair. Roman smiled warmly at Marlena as he turned the doorknob and ushered her back inside, saying, "Let's try this again, shall we? Welcome home, Marlena."

She melted into that warm greeting, "Thank you, Roman." Then she looked up to a sea of loving, welcoming smiles and they all called out at once, "Welcome Home Marlena!!" Before she knew it she was surrounded by love as Shawn and Caroline, Tom and Alice, Maggie and Mickey, Hope, Bo, Kayla and all the other people that she loved came over to embrace the woman they had all mourned for five long years. "It's a miracle! I can hardly believe it! You're really alive and well!" Those and so many other comments were heard as the group continued to adjust to the return of someone who was dearly loved, but had been presumed dead for five long years.

Still in her own kind of shock she said a heartfelt, "Oh, this is..so.. wonderful! Thank you all so much!" she cried, tears leaking out and trickling joyfully down her slightly flushed cheeks. She turned back toward the smiling Roman and mouthed a quiet, "Thank you."

He leaned in and wrapped his arms around her and said in her ear, "You're welcome, Doc...I'm so glad you're home now. We all missed you more than we can say."

"Okay...tell us all about what happened? Do you know where you were?" asked Bo, the detective in him seeking answers.

Roman felt his protective nature returning powerfully as he said, "Hey, Bo...why don't we give her a break, there will be time for all of that later..let's just let her enjoy being here for now, okay...everybody?"

"You're right, I'm sorry, Welcome Home, Marlena," Bo said as he pulled her into a warm embrace.

"Thank you, Bo. I'm glad to be back. Roman tells me you and Hope have a little boy named Shawn Douglas, you wouldn't happen to have any pictures would you?"

Hope stepped forward, "I do! I always carry some with me, Marlena," she said with excitement as she began to pull out the photos of her adorable boy.

"Oh, Hope...Bo, he is so cute...I can't wait to see him!" Marlena said with enthusiasm, while also anticipating seeing her own children in the morning. They had decided to wait until the next day to spring the news on the kids, who were sleeping soundly. The twins were able to sleep through just about anything, or so it seemed to Roman.

Within minutes Marlena found herself catching up with everyone and Roman just stood back watching with a satisfied smile gracing his face. "Oh, Marlena...I can't tell you what's ahead for us, but I sure am glad you came back home," he said to himself in a whisper. Roman knew he had made the right decision in bringing her straight to the house when he looked around at all the happy faces that filled his home and heard the sounds of her soft laughter echoing off its walls. "Welcome home, Doc..welcome home."

As he leaned against a wall and watched his friends and family gather around to tell her all the news, he felt a hand on his shoulder and heard a comforting voice. "So, how are you doing with all of this, Roman?" asked his little sister Kayla.

He turned to her instantly, saying, "Honestly?"

"Yes, of course, honestly. I know it couldn't have been easy to tell Isabella about Marlena being alive."

He sighed with relief, knowing he could tell her his true feelings, "No it wasn't.... it was the toughest thing I've had to do since I told Carrie that Marlena....that I thought Marlena had died. Pretty ironic isn't it?" he said, trying to muster a smile, but failing.

"Yes..it is. I'm sorry about that, Roman. It must have been very hard to do it on a night when you were supposed to be celebrating your engagement with her."

He shrugged it off, "Yea, well...it just couldn't be helped. I couldn't really ask Marlena to wait any longer to see everyone either. It was the right thing to do." Thinking back to the moment he told his fiance the news, Roman sighed again and said, " I just wish I didn't have to hurt her, Kayla. She was so...strong, she was better about it than I was. Izzy B realized right away that she had to move out and she gave me back the ring. She said we couldn't be engaged because my wife had returned. I couldn't even think that far."

Kayla could see he was struggling with his emotions and hugged him lightly, saying, "I'm sorry Roman. I know how much you love her, how much you were looking forward to the wedding. This must be quite a shock for you."

He nodded and smiled strangely, "You could say that, yea. I sure wish there was a way to make it so that nobody would get hurt in this scenario," he said sadly.

Kayla had shared that thought, "Me too, Roman. But, you know there isn't, don't you? At some point, you have to make a choice between them, and one of them will be hurt."

A few tears came to his eyes and he nodded and struggled to respond. Absently running his fingers through his hair, he said, "I know...Kay...I know. I just wish... Oh, man....if only I had waited for her."

His sister touched his arm to get his full attention and said, "Stop right there, big brother. There was absolutely no way you could have known she was still alive, Roman. You did everything you could to find her when she first turned up missing and you saw the plane go down for goodness sake. I don't want to hear you say that again, this situation is not your fault!"

Bo approached, hearing the tail end of her comments and agreed, "She's right, bro...you couldn't have known and it was five years ago."

He looked at them both and smiled, thanking God for their support. "Okay, you're right, I couldn't have known. Besides, no amount of wishing is gonna change reality here. I just have to find a way to face the fact that I...can't love them both."

"But you do, don't you? You love them both very much," his sister said softly, yet sounding certain of her statement.

He fingered the ring in his jacket pocket and pulled it out to look at it, remembering the day he proposed, picturing the delight on Isabella's face and the happy tears they had both shed that day. Then he glanced over at Marlena, admiring the radiant smile on her face and the sparkle in her eyes; he remembered the agonizing grief he experienced when he lost her and the overwhelming sense of joy he felt in the instant he first saw her alive on the pier. After a few long moments of contemplation, he turned back to look at his siblings and said firmly, "Yes, I do. I love them both more than words can say....and I have no idea what in the world I'm gonna do about that right now."

"It's okay, Roman. We all know it's going to take some time for you to make sense out of all this and decide what your future holds. I just want you to know that if you ever want to talk, I'm available big brother."

"Me too, bro..me too," said Bo as he patted Roman on the back. "You can't really know how good that is to hear. I might just take you guys up on that offer one of these days. Bo..could you do me a favor, could you...look after Izzy B for me? She's really gonna need someone to rely on while I...try to sort all of this out."

"Of course I can, Roman. I was already thinking that I should spend some more time at the new office with her, maybe I can get her working on some cases to give her something else to focus on."

"Sounds good, Bo. Thanks so much. Knowing you're there for her will make it a little easier for me to concentrate on helping Marlena get as much of her life back as possible."

"I'll be there for her too, Roman. We've gotten to be pretty close friends during the last few months," said Kayla pleasantly. "I care about her a lot."

"I know you do...thanks Kay." Roman heard the sounds of laughter again and looked back over at Marlena, smiling slightly at the sight of her. "You know something...no matter what happens, I am incredibly grateful to have Marlena back here. Look at her...she's so happy, I can't tell you how much I missed that smile."

Bo and Kayla exchanged knowing glances. "Roman, you don't need to tell us, we remember what it was like for you at first...I was so worried about you sometimes," said Kayla, remembering how devastated he had been when he first returned to Salem after seeing the plane go down.

Roman shut his eyes briefly, remembering too, and said, "Yea...there were times when I didn't think I would survive it. A lot has changed since then, but...I do care for her...so much and I'm gonna be there for her through everything like she was for me when I came back and didn't even know who I was. I won't let her down."

"We know you won't Roman and so does she." She knows she can always count on you and that will help her get through some of the rough times ahead."

Across the room, Marlena was standing near the fireplace talking more seriously with Caroline and she wanted to ask about Roman's feelings for Isabella. "Caroline, I know he is engaged to marry Isabella, but tell me...does he...really love her?"

Caroline didn't want to hurt her, but she wasn't going to lie, "Oh, Marlena I know this must be so hard for you, to come home after five years have passed. For you it feels like a few days ago, but to all of us those years brought so many changes. Roman grieved for you...so much and it took a very long time for him to let himself feel anything for any woman. Then Isabella came along and...well...he does love her, Marlena...very much. I don't want to pretend otherwise, but I also know that he loved you more than life itself and he is overjoyed to see you alive and well. He...cares very much for you and he always will."

"Oh, Caroline..you're right it is hard on me and I know it's going to be difficult for him too. I don't want him to feel guilty about having fallen in love with someone else, but I won't lie about it either, I want Roman back. I still love him as much as the day we were married, as much as the day I was taken away from him and I'm not going to just let go of him to make things easier for everybody." Marlena glanced across the room and saw the man she loved talking with his sister and it appeared serious. Thinking he was probably talking about his impending dilemma, she continued, speaking candidly while still looking at Roman, "Caroline, I'm going to fight for his love, I hope that doesn't upset you. I can tell that everyone adores Isabella and I don't want to hurt her, but only one of us can share a life with Roman and I want it to be me, he is still my husband...you know."

"Marlena, I understand how you feel, I really do and I agree. In the eyes of God and the church you and Roman are still husband and wife, but that doesn't mean that he will see it that way." Caroline directed her gaze toward her eldest son as well and seeing the tension lines on his face, she cautioned Marlena, "Please, take it slow and give Roman some time to settle with the fact that you are alive and have come home. I'm sure you realize that this is all a tremendous shock to him and he's going to be confused for quite some time. Marlena, he had to lock his love for you away in his heart so that he could survive the loss and it might be hard for him to bring those feelings out in the open again."

Picking up a picture of Roman, herself, the twins and Carrie, off the mantel, she said, "I know that and I understand, I just want to remind him of the wonderful love we shared, to help him remember the strong bond of love that existed between us. If I can do that, then maybe he'll open up his heart and decide to spend his future with me."

It was all a little unnerving for Caroline and she finished with one more cautionary note, "I can see that you love him and that you're determined. Please take it nice and slow, Marlena. This is a lot for him to handle, I'm sure you're aware of that."

Quietly, Marlena answered as she nodded her head, "Yes, I am. Don't worry, I won't push him, Caroline. But, I won't just sit around and hope for the best either. We had five years stolen from us already. I love him very much and I want to spend the rest of my life with him and our children, the way we were meant to be. Then, I'll feel like I really am welcome here at home."