Guest Author - Lynn McMonigal

Sympathy for Adam Chandler is not something that I ever thought I would feel. He lies, he cheats, he steals to get whatever he wants. Adam doesn’t care who gets in his way or who gets hurt. So long as Adam gets what he wants, nothing else matters.

I always thought that he deserved whatever he got. Never once did I feel bad for the things that Krystal did to him. After all the crap he put Dixie through, I thought he deserved it. Payback is so much fun to watch, no matter who is dishing it out or how long it takes to play out. Every lie, every trick that Krystal pulled was OK with me. Adam deserved to have someone get the better of him.

But this latest secret is more than Adam or anyone else deserves. Adam loved his wife, loved that baby, and had his world riped apart when he learned the baby was not his.

In a way, I could sympathize. Two years ago, I had a miscarriage. The pain Adam is feeling now is comparable to that, I am sure. He was planning a life with this child, had already picked out the baby’s name, and promised to “do the right thing” in raising this child. He wasn’t going to repeat the mistakes he had made in the past with JR and Haley and even Skye. Naming her Charlotte was Adam’s way of honoring his much-missed sister, and assuring he would be batter father this time around. Then, suddenly, that dream was taken away with a just a few honest words. I’d like nothing more than to wrap my arms around him and let him cry his heart out.

His words to JR and Babe, and even to Tad, today may have been very harsh, but they are untreatable. Adam has lost his child, he is hurting, and is going to lash out at whoever is nearest. He doesn’t want to be the only one in pain.

The only one in that house I feel sorry for right now, other than Adam, is Colby. She knew there was a secret, just had no idea what it was. JR, Babe, and Krystal all knew the secret, and had their own reasons for keeping it. JR and Babe, in one sense, can be forgiven. This was not their secret to tell. JR was willing to keep the secret, even if it meant hurting both of his fathers, because he wanted to make up for the horrible way he had treated Babe prior to her “death”. Babe was willing to keep the secret because, besides knowing what Adam was likely to do to her mother if he ever learned the truth, she felt that she had to repay her mother for all the things she has done, like helping Babe keep her son away from JR.

Krystal’s keeping the secret, though, is inexcusable. Had she told Adam the truth months ago, maybe things would be different. But keeping it from him, just to keep her life the way it was, isn’t right. That child should have been her first concern, not keeping her place in Adam’s life.