Written in 68 minutes. Went a bit over because I ended up adding some stuff with Danny I wasn’t planning, but I’m happy with it, sooo….

See you on Monday!

Danny fidgeted as they approached the front entrance of the Quartermaine mansion, and looked back at his father. “You’re sure he’s not here?”

“I’m sure,” Jason repeated, reaching around Danny and pushing the door open. “Tracy wouldn’t let him through the door—”

He stopped when he realized the foyer wasn’t empty and that the double doors to the living room were open where more people were waiting. He glanced back at Elizabeth, Jake and Aiden. “Did Michael say something to you?”

“No, but I’m not surprised—”

“It’s about time you got here,” Tracy said sauntering forward, one hand on her hip. “We need to talk strategy.”

“Be afraid,” Michael warned coming from the hallway behind the staircase, Amelia in his arms. “Grandma gave her free reign.”

Dante ignored all of this and came forward to hug Danny. “Hey kiddo, you okay?” He ruffled Danny’s hair. “Chase and Mac took good care of you?”

“Yeah. Yeah. It wasn’t so bad. I was a little—” Danny made a face when Lois appeared at Dante’s side and turned his face to the side.

“That’s one hell of a shiner you’ve got there. Drew thinks he can get away with goin’ after you, he’s lost his mind—”

“Ma, you’re crowding him,” Brook Lynn said, trying to tug her mother back.

Jason swallowed the urge to turn around and leave, the memories of how overwhelming this family could be rising up. He felt a hand on his shoulders, and looked down to find Elizabeth at his side.

“On the bright side, every single person in this room hates Drew as much as we do,” she said. Then she made eye contact with Michael, lifted her brows meaningfully.

“Right. Right.” He handed Amelia to whoever was standing next to him — it happened to be Gio, then came to the center of the foyer. “Okay, I know everyone wants to show Danny our support, and to figure out what to do next, but we really don’t need everyone for this.” He folded his arms. “Danny, why don’t you and the rest of the kids head upstairs. Scout’s upstairs in the nursery with Wiley.”

“But this is about me—” Danny started to protest.

“We’ll catch you up,” Jason promised. “But we need to get your things. Drew is probably filing an injunction against that order right now, and if that happens before your charges are dropped, you can’t come back.”

“And I can’t see Scout.” Danny nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, okay.”

“Good.” Michael looked at the rest of the crowd. “And honestly, while everyone’s opinion and input is important, the only people who need to be involved in this are Jason, Elizabeth, Dante, and Aunt Tracy—”

“And you,” Jason said to Michael. “You said you and Brook Lynn were going to try to keep custody of Scout if the judge didn’t want to leave her in Monica’s care.”

“Right. Then, I guess Brook and I should stay.”

“But—” Lois began.

“I really think I could be helpful,” Ned said at the same time.

“If we’re talking about character witnesses—” Olivia added.

“I think I could add some insight,” Chase argued.

“Michael’s right,” Gio said, hitching Amelia higher in his arms. “The fewer voices in this, the better for everyone. I, for one, am going to bother Sasha in the kitchen for some snacks for the kids upstairs. Amelia, you wanna help?” he asked the toddler, not waiting for her answer as they headed back down the hallway towards the kitchen.

“I’ll go help them in the kitchen,” Aiden said. “Sasha said she had a baklava recipe she wanted give me anyway.”

“The only ones with any sense around here aren’t even related to this family. What is this world coming to?” Tracy muttered, turning and heading for the living room.

Jason just shook his head, took Elizabeth’s head, and reluctantly followed. Danny, Jake, and Rocco jogged up the stairs, their heavy thudding footsteps rumbling through the room.

“I did not miss the sound of teenagers in this house,” Tracy grumbled. She gestured at her granddaughter. “Make yourself useful and get me a martini.”

Brook Lynn rolled her eyes, and obeyed as Michael pulled the doors shut.

“I saw Alexis pull you over after the hearing,” Michael said to Jason. “What did she say?”

“She wanted to talk to me, but I told her getting Danny settled was more important. I don’t know if she’s changing her mind about me, but I expect her to double down on getting custody of Scout from Drew.”

“You’d think that would work in our favor,” Tracy said, taking a seat on the sofa and accepting the martini. She sipped it. “But I don’t trust her. And you shouldn’t, either. Look at how she turned on you after everything you did for that guttersnipe daughter of hers—”

“Granny, is that really necessary?” Brook Lynn demanded. “The woman’s dead.”

“And I popped the champagne out of the sight of the children. I’m not a monster,” Tracy said with a snort. Dante scowled.

Jason grimaced, then rubbed his temple. “Look, I don’t know what the point of any of this is. Alexis isn’t going to win in family court. Not with Danny.  He’s made it clear to her where he wants to live, and—”

“And you and Liz are pretending to be engaged, which is only going to strengthen your case,” Michael added.

“Pretending to be what?” Tracy got back to her feet. “When did this happen?”

“That’s risky, don’t you think?” Dante asked. “You don’t think a judge is gonna figure it out?”

“No, because we’re not pretending,” Jason said.

“Wait, you’re actually engaged?” Brook Lynn demanded. “Holy crap.” She whacked Dante’s chest. “I told you!”

“Never going to let this go,” he muttered, casting his eyes to the ceiling. He removed his wallet from his pocket, flicked out a ten. “Yeah, yeah. You win.”

“Should have bet double—”

“Can we please get back on topic?” Elizabeth interrupted. “As much as I hate to agree with Tracy—and I do,” she added when Tracy just raised her martini glass. “I don’t think we should bank on Alexis changing her mind. We’ve thought she’d see reason after what happened at the penthouse, and nothing changed. And Drew is going to fight the order.”

“And he’ll win if we can’t convince him to let Scout stay with us. Grandma isn’t…her health isn’t what it used to be,” Michael admitted. “She’s resting today. And Aunt Tracy—well, she might work, but we have to be ready.”

“We’ve got two offers on the table,” Brook Lynn told Jason. “One is obviously to just award emergency custody to Michael on his own, but we’re worried, ah, that the rumors about Willow will sour that situation. Sorry,” she added with a wince.

“Which is why Brook Lynn and Chase are a good substitute. Our first choice was Dante since he’s been her stepfather for the better part of two years, but—”

“But I’m not a blood relation,” Dante said, his voice a bit rough. “Sam and I…we were engaged for maybe an hour. I don’t think that’d help us in court.”

“I think Brook Lynn and Chase are a really good idea,” Elizabeth said. “You guys were so wonderful with Violet, and you already know Scout. I’d be happy to say so in any affidavit supporting the petition.”

“Good, that’s settled. Scout will stay here where she belongs.” Tracy sipped her martini. “Now. How do we destroy that pathetic excuse of a man she calls a father?”

—

Danny felt like he was moving at half speed, bunching up clothes and shoving them in a duffel bag. He’d barely brought anything here in the first place, and now he was packing them up again to go somewhere new.

Scout was sitting cross-legged on the bed, watching him with quiet, dark eyes, while Jake lingered by the window, one hand in his pocket.

“What was all of that in court?” he finally asked, drawing Jake’s attention. “I know what Dad said at the police station, but, like, are they serious? Are they actually getting married?”

“Who’s getting married?” Scout wanted to know.

Jake sighed. “Yeah, Aiden and I had questions last night. They told us it’s for real. That it’s something they’d been talking about, and I guess I’m not that surprised. I mean, you used to say it all the time, that I couldn’t get away with anything because my parents check with each other on everything.”

“I guess. I just—I’m gonna live with you guys? Like all the time? Even after you go back t Spain?”

“Danny’s supposed to come back here,” Scout said, her voice small. “I thought he was going to stay overnight. Y-you’re going away again?” Her eyes glimmered.

“I don’t have a choice, Scout. Your dad wants me to go to jail, so the judge only let me out if I go stay with Jake’s mom. Because they’re getting married and she’s supposed to be my stepmother.”

Scout’s lower lip trembled. “You…you’re gonna live with Jake and Aiden and ‘Lizabeth? You’re gonna have a new mom?”

“No!” Danny said forcefully. “It’s just for right now, okay? Dad bought a house, and we’re gonna live there. And Elizabeth isn’t my mother. She won’t ever be my mother.”

“Hey, come on—” Jake came closer. “I don’t know what’s gonna happen when this all cools off, but I think my parents are serious about the getting married thing. I don’t think living with Dad is gonna happen — not the way we talked about. But it’ll be okay. You like my mom—”

“I liked my mom—” Danny threw off the hand his brother tried to put on his shoulder. “This isn’t what we talked about! This isn’t fair! You guys are changing everything!”

“Hey, calm down—” Jake grimaced when Danny shoved him again. “Hey, dickhead, my mom stayed up half the night worried about your dumb ass, and Dad only, like, slept for ten minutes. All they could talk about was bringing you home—”

“It’s not my home! Scout won’t be there, will she?” Danny demanded, gesturing at his sister. “Rocco and Dante and my mom! They’re not there. So it’s not my home!”

“Fine, it’s not your home! But you’re the idiot who took a swing at a Congressman, not me! And all anyone can talk about is how to clean up the mess you made—”

“Shut up—” Danny shoved Jake again, and Jake pushed back, sending his brother towards the post of the bed.

“Stop stop stop stop stop stop!” Scout  scrambled off the bed, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Stop fighting! Stop fighting!”

Gio appeared in the open doorway, frowning. “Uh, we can hear you down the hall—whoa—” he backed up as Scout flew past him. “What’s going on?”

“You happy?” Jake demanded, shoving Danny again, then taking off after his cousin.

Danny’s chest was heaving, his eye was burning, and his lip stung like a mother fucker. He swiped at his eyes, his shoulders hitching, and the sob that crawled up his throat couldn’t be swallowed. He crumbled to the side of the bed, drew his legs up to his chest.

—

Ric knocked at the door, and had to act fast to stop Alexis from slamming it in his face. “Give me five minutes—”

“I wouldn’t give you five seconds, you filthy son of a bitch—”

“I withdrew as his lawyer,” Ric interrupted, and Alexis closed her mouth. She didn’t shut the door — but didn’t hold it open more than a foot. “I tried to get him to drop the charges last night, and I couldn’t convince him. And this morning—well, I can’t get into a lot of it. But I realized if I stayed on this case, if I helped him even a little—Molly would never forgive me.”

“That’s if she forgives you for taking the case in the first place,” Alexis said flatly. “After you took Ava’s—”

“Ava is innocent,” Ric added, and Alexis rolled her eyes. “But that’s not what I’m here to do. I just—I want to see my daughter. She’s not at home, or answering my calls. Is she here?”

—

“Hey man…” Gio’s voice was closer now, and Danny peered out of his one good eye to see that Gio was crouched down next to him. “Not having a great twenty-four hours, huh?”

“What do you know?” Danny said sullenly. “You just play the violin and smile all the damn time.”

Gio grinned then sat down, stretching his legs out. “My mom died, you know that, right?”

Danny grimaced. “Shit, I forgot—”

“You’re good, dude. It’s not easy, I get it. You have this world that seems perfect, you know? Especially when you got a good mom, like me. We were a team. Me and her against the world.” Gio hesitated. “Then she got sick, and the world stopped making sense. We thought she was gonna get better, and then she just—” He gestured with his hand in a descending motion. “It went bad, like, overnight, or at least that’s how it felt to me. I was twelve. A little younger than you,” he added. “And I had to leave everything. One second, I had a mom, and a life, and room, and a world. And then the next, I was living with Aunt Lois and Aunt Gloria, tryin’ to figure out a whole new situation. And none of it was fair.”

Danny sniffled, rested his forehead against his knees. “I like Jake’s mom. I just don’t want her to be mine.”

“Felt like Aunt Lois was trying to be my mom when I first came to live with them. She still hovers too much, and smothers me. But no one is ever gonna be your mom, Danny, except your mom.”

“It’s happening too fast. Too much. Mom was here, and then she wasn’t, and now I gotta move again, and m-maybe I-I gotta go to jail—” his breathing hitched again.

“You won’t go to jail. I overheard the last part of what your brother said. His mom up worrying all night with your dad? So was everyone here. You got a lot of people in your corner, Danny. Except the one person you want the most in the world because she’s gone. It sucks. And it never stops sucking, I’m sorry about that.”

Danny swiped at his eyes, wincing when he hit the bruised skin. “I know everyone just wants to help. I should—I should have been the one to go after my sister. It’s my job to take care of her.”

“Yeah, but you’re not the only one who can do that. It’s okay to let someone else clock in on that job. It’s okay not to be okay, Danny.” Gio got to his feet, held out his hand. Danny took it, let Gio pull him to his feet. “You can sit up here and keep sulking, or you can go down to check on your sister.”

—

“I can’t come back to this house for at least a week,” Jason muttered, folding his arms at the bottom of the stairs, tossing another dark glare at the closed double doors.

“Yeah, they’re a lot on a good day. And today—” Elizabeth sighed. “Today is not a good day.” She stroked his biceps. “But they’re on your side right now. We can avoid them later.”

“Yeah. And Michael’s plan is crazy enough to work, I just—I don’t know what Alexis is gonna want to do—” Jason stopped when they heard footsteps above them. They both looked towards the staircases in time to see Scout hurtling herself down the steps, Jake hot on her heels.

“Whoa, whoa—” Elizabeth met them at the bottom of the stairs, snagging Scout’s shoulder as she came past. “What happened? Are you okay?” The little girl’s face was swollen from crying, and Elizabeth snapped her fingers at her son who sighed and trotted over to fetch a box of tissues. “Scout, what happened?”

“D-Danny and J-Jake were f-fighting, and I wanted them to stop, and I want Danny to stay, and I don’t wanna go to DC, and you can’t make me! Danny’s getting a whole new family and a n-new mommy, and I don’t have a mommy anymore, and he has a daddy who likes him, and mine h-hates me—” the words poured out in a jumbled mess that ended on a wail, and Elizabeth instinctively pulled Scout into her arms, looking at Jason with alarm.

“Jake?” Jason prompted. “You and your brother were fighting?”

Jake grimaced. “I should have kept my cool, but I was tired, and he was being a jackass—it’s just a lot, Dad, you know? Getting arrested, in jail, and then finding out about you and Mom, then he has to go live with us—I know you guys didn’t want it this way, and he’ll get that it when he has a chance to cool off, but Scout’s…” He looked down at his cousin with a grim expression. “She’s getting a shitty end of the stick, you know? At least Danny’s got you on his side. Her dad sucks ass.”

Jason exhaled slowly, put an arm around Jake’s shoulders. “I know. We’re working on all of that—”

“Why can’t she come with us?” Jake wanted to know. “I mean, Scout’s not wrong. Her dad’s awful to her. And if Grandma Monica can get emergency custody, why can’t you and Mom? So Danny and Scout can stay together?”

Scout looked up, her breathing hitched. “C-Can you do that?” she asked Elizabeth. “I wanna stay with D-Danny. I don’t wanna go to DC, I wanna stay home. I w-want my mommy. Please don’t make me go! Please!”

There was another set of footsteps and Jason lifted his eyes to find Danny at the top. He shuffled down slowly, stopping a few steps above Scout, sitting down. “I know you’re all doing this because of me and what happened with Uncle Drew. But I don’t wanna come live with you. Not without Scout. You said I could stay with her until she went to DC.”

“Danny—”

“And I know you said things have changed, but not the one thing that should. Scout needs to be here. With me and people who love her. She needs to be with us.” Danny lifted his chin. “So either we come to live with you together or I don’t wanna come at all.”

+33

Written in 58 minutes.

Molly breathed a sigh of relief when the elevator doors slid open and Jason emerged, stepping to the side and holding the door open so that Elizabeth and her sons could follow him out. Elizabeth stopped and straightened the tie her youngest son wore, even as Aiden made a face, and Jake snickered behind his back. Behind them, Jason tugged at his own tie, then stood obediently when Elizabeth, satisfied that both boys looked presentable, turned her attention to him and fixed the lapels of his suit jacket.

If anyone else had been looking at the quartet, it would be hard to guess that a week ago, there’d been no engagement, no hint that anything permanent would form though Molly knew enough about her sister’s ex-husband to know Elizabeth Webber had always lurked in the wings — even if it was just the memory of something Sam couldn’t erase.

She didn’t know how she felt about Danny being absorbed into that picture — being another boy that Elizabeth would dote on, gently molding and pushing him towards adulthood. That it might be Elizabeth at the important moments — graduations, weddings, the birth of children — when it should have been Sam.

Molly fisted her hand against her middle, the swell of grief rising so sharply that she had to look away. It should be Sam, she told herself, but it couldn’t be. It wouldn’t be. And all that mattered, all that should ever matter was the best interest of Sam’s kids. And there was no argument that Elizabeth was an excellent mother with whom Danny would thrive.

Resolved, she forced herself to smile and approach the four of them. “I’m so glad you changed your mind and brought Jake and Aiden. You both are a huge part of the petition I filed,” she told the teenagers. “I don’t think he will, but are you both all right answering questions if the judge has any?”

“Whatever you need to get Danny home,” Jake said. He elbowed his brother. “Right?”

“Well, what if he asks about the living situation? Room assignments,” Aiden added when Molly frowned. “I tried to get that sorted last night, but everyone said it wasn’t important—ow—” He winced when Jake flicked him. “What? It might come up—”

“Ignore them. They know how to act normal when they have to,” Elizabeth said, silencing both boys with a lethal glare. She looked to Molly. “And the room situation isn’t an issue. We have Cam’s empty room. He’s not due home for another week or so, and that will give us time to make final decisions. Unless you think the judge—”

“No, as long as we have space for him, that should be enough.” Molly stopped when the elevators opened again and Drew stepped up, followed by another man she didn’t recognize. She tensed and didn’t miss how Elizabeth subtle shifted so that she stood between Drew and Jason.

Drew adjusted his tie, arched a brow in their direction, then headed for the court room. Molly followed his progress, noticing the other man followed him. Where was her father?

“We should get inside. I think everyone else is already here, and I don’t want to keep the judge waiting,” she said, shaking off her concern. All that mattered was Danny and getting him out of here. She’d worry about her father later.

—

Michael shifted on the hard courtroom bench, then got to his feet when he saw his uncle arrive with Molly, Elizabeth and the boys. “Hey. Hey.” He came out of the row,  and hugged Jason. “I’m sorry about last night—”

“No explanations needed,” Jason told him. “Is—is everything okay?”

“That depends on your definition—” he paused when he saw Willow come into the courtroom, followed by her mother. They locked eyes for a moment, then Willow and Nina sat in the final row. “I told Mom to stay home. I hope that was the right choice.”

“And she listened?” Jason asked, surprised.

“So far. We’ll see if she pops up. Uh—” he gestured at the row behind where Brook Lynn was seated with Dante and Gio. “Drew came to the mansion last night. Tried to pick up Scout. But Grandma and Aunt Tracy had already been cooking up a plan. She slapped with an order of protection.”

“An order—” Molly blinked. “Against Drew?”

“Yeah. Grandma has temporary custody, pending the investigation by CPS. I don’t have all the details yet, but Drew will challenge it. Definitely because of Grandma’s health, but Brook and I—we’re gonna try and see if one or both of us can get custody instead. At least for right now. But I know Danny worried—and I’m sure you did, too,” he said to Molly.

“I did. I’m…stunned,” she admitted. “But relieved. If Drew can’t go back to the Qs, and he doesn’t have Scout, that makes things a little easier for Danny if we can get him out of here today.” She saw her mother lingering in the doorway, looking uncertain. Molly nearly waved her forward to join them, but then Kristina appeared at her side, whispered something in Alexis’s ear, and they went to sit near Willow and Nina.

The door behind the judge’s bench opened, and a bailiff led Danny in. Overnight, the bruise had bloomed into a sickening black and purple mark that crawled up most of his cheek, with a deep cut on his bottom lip.

Molly made a sound, and Jason tensed up, glaring at Drew who had taken a seat on the other side of the court room. The other man made a show of examining his tie, keeping his eyes from meeting anyone’s.

Elizabeth touched Jason’s arm. “He doesn’t have a scratch on him,” she said to him softly. “And yet he’s trying to claim self-defense. This can only help us. He wants you to react.”

“We’d better take our seats,” Molly said, moving aside so that Jason, Elizabeth, and the boys could take their seats in the front row, directly behind the table where the bailiff had led her nephew. Michael slid into his seat next to his cousin.

“I believe in the law, I believe in the law,” Dante muttered, and Brook Lyn squeezed his hand.

“His day is gonna come, Dante. You heard what Liz said to Jason. Drew wants us to react. Our only shot at keeping those kids away from him and where they belong is show him we’re better than that.”

“At least for now,” Michael muttered, leveling another dark glare at the man who’d torn through the family like a one-man wrecking crew.

Molly embraced her nephew, then touched the bruise on his cheek. “Hey, baby. You doing okay?”

“I guess.” Danny looked impossibly small in the clothes they’d given him — the juvenile detention kids wore an ugly shade of gray and they’d given him a jump suit that was one size too big. He was fourteen, and taller than his aunt, but somehow he seemed like the little boy with a gap-toothed smile asking for another hug.

“We’re going to get you out of here today.” Molly gestured at the row behind them, and Jason was on his feet, hugging Danny over the bench, and Jake managed to get one in before the bailiff cleared his throat. “You let me handle everything,” she told Danny, then turned—stopping when she realized who was sitting at the other table.

Justine Turner had a pair of reading glasses on, examining a brief. The ambitious ADA who everyone knew planned to challenge Robert in the next election. She only worked high-profile felony cases. Not family court or juvenile offenses.

“Aunt Molly?” Danny asked. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah.” She looked at him, flashed a smile that she didn’t really feel. She looked back at the front row, and saw Jason looking at the prosecutor’s table, too, his brow furrowed. Did he also realize who Turner was? Did he know that things had just taken a very nasty turn?

“Order, order. All rise,” the bailiff barked, ripping Molly’s attention back to the front of the room. She swallowed hard. Whether she was ready or not — they were out of time.

—

“What’s wrong?” Elizabeth murmured, feeling Jason’s forearm behind her hand tense so tightly, he might as well as have been made out of stone.

“The ADA.” He looked at her, and she saw a flash of fear in his eyes. “She works felonies.”

Elizabeth inhaled sharply, then looked at the judge, shuffling through paperwork. An ADA who worked felonies handling a juvenile misdemeanor assault? No. She was here to prosecute the son of Jason Morgan. The crime didn’t matter.

The judge, an older man with a thick cap of white hair, slid his glasses down his nose to peer at the those gathered. “Whose representing the minor?”

Molly got to her feet. “Molly Lansing-Davis, representing Daniel Edward Morgan, Your Honor.”

“Justine Turner for the city, Your Honor.”

“Ms. Turner?” The judge’s brows lifted. “I don’t recall ever seeing you in my courtroom before. Did you lose your way? The press office is on the first floor.”

Justine’s lips parted in surprise, and Elizabeth drew in her first easy breath. She squeezed Jason’s hand. The judge didn’t seem happy to see the ADA, and maybe it would work in their favor.

“Your Honor, the case might seem minor, but the victim is Congressman-elect Andrew Quartermaine—”

“Yes, I’m familiar with him. Saw his all his commercials and posters. Former Navy SEAL and devoted father.” The judge lifted a brow. “I see you’ve joined us today, Congressman-elect.”

“Yes, Your Honor.” Drew rose, buttoning his suit jacket. “I appreciate your support.”

The judge pursed his lips. “Are your injuries documented? I didn’t see any in the file. Just, ah, the assailant’s bruises.” He looked at Danny,  then looked back at Drew. “Do you have some where we can’t see them?”

“Your Honor, I don’t think that’s pertinent to this hearing,” Justine said, flashing a tight smile. “This is merely a bail hearing. Whether the Congressman has any visible injures, there are more than a few witness statements—including the accused—who say the first punch was thrown by the minor. That is assault.”

“Yes, I’m familiar with the charge, ADA Turner.” The judge adjusted his glasses, then picked up a petition. “You’re asking to deny bail and to hold young Mr. Morgan in a juvenile detention center pending the outcome of trial. You don’t think that’s a little harsh considering the circumstances and his clean record?”

“No. I don’t. Daniel Morgan has a family with vast resources who can transport him somewhere extradition treaties won’t reach. And there’s a history in his family of disappearing off the face of the Earth with no trace—”

“Your Honor, if I may—” Molly interrupted, earning a dirty look from Justine. “Daniel has no criminal history whatsoever. Until October, he lived in a home with a decorated PCPD detective acting as stepfather. We ask that you release him on his own recognizance into the custody his father and his future stepmother.”

“And that would be who you described in this petition?” the judge asked. “Jason Morgan, whose, ah, history is colorful and long, and Elizabeth Webber?”

“Exactly, Your Honor. Ms. Lansing-Davis would have you return this child to the man who inspired this kind of behavior. Since the return of Jason Morgan from God knows where, Daniel Morgan has had an unstable living situation with no legal address—”

“Daniel Morgan’s mother died five weeks ago,” Molly snapped, then flushed when the judge lifted his brows at her. “Samantha McCall died from complications of a liver donation surgery. At that time, Mr. Morgan was ready, willing, and able to step up and take full custody of his son. But it was agreed by everyone involved what was best for Daniel and his sister was to remain with his younger sister for as long as he could. The Congressman intends to take his daughter to DC at the beginning of the year. He lives in the family home, where Mr. Morgan was raised, and where he is a frequent visitor. The home is filled with relatives who adore Daniel and his sister. The only instability has come from the so-called victim in this case.”

Molly didn’t even wait for the judge to take a breath before she continued. “Mr. Morgan is engaged to Elizabeth Webber, and plans to make a permanent home for Danny with her. She has three sons, one of whom she shares with Mr. Morgan. She is an excellent mother. Her oldest son is a Stanford pre-med student on a scholarship where he plays soccer. It’s one of the best teams in the country, and Cameron Webber—”

“Your son is Cameron Webber?” the judge interrupted, and Molly turned to find Elizabeth blinking in surprise.

“Ah, yes. He’s…in his junior year at Stanford—”

“I remember Mr. Webber. He had a little trouble a few years ago. Silliness,” the judge added. “He was trying to help a friend with cancer?”

“Yes,” Elizabeth said. “He was young, impulsive, and he took the punishment the court gave him. Fortunately, it didn’t hurt his chances at Stanford.”

“Always thought it was an overreach. Just as this is,” the judge said, switching his attention back to ADA Turner.

“Your Honor, perhaps you should recuse yourself—”

“ADA Turner, maybe you don’t know how things work here in family court. You ought to have asked a colleague before taking this case. You’ve got a young boy, grieving the loss of his mother with bruises on his face, and an adult pressing charges of assault. I’d think very carefully before you push this forward.”

“Your Honor—” Turner tried again.

“I’m releasing Daniel Morgan into the custody of his father and his fiancee. And Congressman—I hope you weren’t looking to be re-elected once this hits the papers. Court is adjourned.”

+42

Went a little over 🙂

The role of Michael Corinthos is now being played by the scrumptious Rory Gibson.

With a trembling hand, Willow twisted her key in the lock, and released the breath she hadn’t known she’d been holding when it turned easily. Michael hadn’t changed the locks. Maybe he hadn’t thought of it, maybe he hadn’t been able to get anyone out on such short notice, but Willow would take it as a small sign that she hadn’t completely destroyed her marriage.

Though it was on life support and fading fast.

The living room was silent, shades still drawn to block out even the weakest of the December light gradually spreading across the estate as the sun rose higher in the sky. Wiley was usually awake by now, getting ready for school, begging to go to the main house for Sasha’s cooking rather than the basic cereal and fruit he’d happily eaten before she’d taken the job as the Quartermaine cook.

But there was no small, boisterous boy bouncing around with that bottomless well of energy that only children seemed able to tap into. And if not for the small rustling from the kitchen, Willow might have thought no one was home at all.

She set her purse on the table next to the door, laid her keys next to it, the metallic clinking making her wince though surely Michael — if it was Michael in the kitchen — would have heard the door.

He was at the counter, leaning back against it, a mug of coffee in his hand. One that Willow had given him last summer for Father’s Day. She could remember making it with their son, having Wiley draw a picture for his father, with Amelia’s scribbling, and her neat hand writing proclaiming World’s Best Dad, then sending it away to be placed on the mug.

Had that only been a few months ago?

She stood in the threshold of the kitchen, and he said nothing, just looked at her. Watched her with a careful expression. His shoulders tensed — just the slightest movement beneath the white button-down shirt he wore, and a muscle in his jaw clenched.

Finally Michael broke eye contact, set the mug on the counter, cleared his throat. “How’s Drew?”

Willow inhaled a shaky breath, because why wouldn’t he think that? Why wouldn’t he believe she’d run from him to the man she’d broken their vows with?

“I don’t know. I was with my mother.” She folded her arms tightly across her middle, heat crawling up her neck. “I don’t know what to say. Don’t how to act. How to look at you and not…I don’t know what happened. I can’t explain it. I-I’m s-sorry.” She lifted her gaze to his. “I’m so ashamed, Michael. That— that doesn’t even begin to describe it, but it’s the b-best I can do right now.” She dragged a hand through her hair, rumbled from a sleepless night. “I don’t know how it started or how it—I don’t understand.”

“I’m sure you don’t.” He picked up the mug again, but didn’t drink. He stared down at it, his thumb rubbing against the Amelia’s purple scraggly lines. “He’s my uncle, Willow.”

“I-I k-know. I know that it makes it s-so much worse, and I can’t—” She squeezed her eyes shut. “He was sleeping with my mother.”

If she’d been looking at him, she would have seen the first real reaction — Michael nearly dropped the coffee, catching it at the last minute, but the liquid sloshed over the sides, burning his skin. He hissed and set it down, reaching the faucet and twisting it on to cold water.

Her eyes flew open. “Oh—did—” She came forward, then stopped, when he flashed her a warning look not to come closer. “Can I get something—cream or—”

“It’s fine,” he bit out. He yanked the dishtowel from the hook to dry his hand. “What did you just say?”

“Nina—she told me last night. I—I didn’t know I could feel worse, you know? That there was something lower than how I felt. The man I thought he was — I made him up in my head. The whole time I thought—he was sleeping with Nina. And God, that would be bad enough, but what he did to Danny—I don’t understand. I don’t know how I didn’t see it.” Her voice broke. “How did I throw us away for something that doesn’t exist?”

Michael tossed the towel aside. “I don’t know. And I don’t really have time to talk about any of it. I have to go to family court.”

“Oh, Danny—” Willow stepped aside as he came closer. “What happened? Is he all right?”

“He spent the night in the PCPD lockup, Willow. And there’s a small chance that the judge won’t release him to Elizabeth’s custody today.” He stopped when they were little more than a foot apart. “Weeks I’ve known what you did that night. And it’s been days since I found out Drew was forcing Scout to lie and trying to blackmail Jake into keeping quiet—”

Willow pressed a fist to her mouth. “Oh, God—”

“I didn’t act. I didn’t do anything to protect my cousins, because I thought protecting my kids was the right choice. But I was just—” He pressed his lips together. “I was just protecting myself. From this moment. From what has to be said.” He met her eyes. “The night I found about you and Drew—the first time—the kiss—before Sam died. I went to the bar. And I slept with someone.”

Willow flinched, dropped her eyes to the tiled floor. She said nothing, could say nothing. The flash of anger had to be swallowed. Because she’d started this, hadn’t she? She’d cracked her marriage first. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Yeah, me either.”

And then he left, the gatehouse front door slamming a few beats later.

—

Jake stifled a yawn as he came down the steps, trying to step lightly, knowing—hoping—his father had managed to get some sleep on the sofa, though he couldn’t imagine how. Jake had tossed and turned, only dozing off a few times but always being jerked away at the thought of his brother being behind bars.

He stopped at the landing, where he could see that his father was still sitting up, his legs stretched out, but Jason’s head was tipped to the side, his eyes closed. Jake’s mother was curled up next to him, his father’s arm around her shoulder,  her head on his chest. Neither of them stirred at the sound of his footsteps, and he didn’t know what to do. Continue to the kitchen to get something to eat? Wake up them for court?

He thought of his father’s words the night before, remembering that as his parents had tried to explain their sudden engagement, that he’d said something unexpected, something else that had kept Jake up throughout the night.

“I don’t think it’s that much of a surprise. Not to me. And if you think about some of the things we’ve talked about, Jake, it’s probably not to you. Yes, the custody case has sped up something that would have happened later. But I want to make it very clear that it’s not why.”

His dad had talked about regrets a lot the last few weeks, Jake remembered. Especially when they’d talked about his childhood and when he’d been born, and he’d mostly thought that Jason meant he regretted not being more present for Jake, not stepping up as his father.

“I made a mistake. I was too scared to hold on, and your mother was tired of waiting. And by the time I realized it—she hadn’t put her life on hold. So I tried to move on. I did for a long time. I’m not sorry I married Sam because I have Danny, and I love him. But I will regret for the rest of my life that I was too scared to hold on to you. That we lost all those years.”

Jake had just figured we was him and his dad, but maybe it was his mother, too. And what if that was true? What if his dad regretted both choices? What would it be like if they were really married? Any maybe—maybe it wouldn’t be that different, Jake thought. After all, hadn’t he told Jason that his parents were like most divorced parents who had co-parent? They’d always been a team when it came to him—and pretty much in general. Always defending his each other, looking out for each other—

Maybe most things wouldn’t change, Jake thought, except his dad would live with them and so would Danny. And everyone might be happier.

It was something to think about. But first—

Jake crept back upstairs, stood at the top for a moment, then came back down in his usual fashion, thundering down them so fast he was almost skipping a few by the time he reached a bottom, and this time when he reached the landing, his parents were awake, sitting up, his mother stifling a yawn.

First, they had to bring Danny home.

—

With an uncharacteristic heavy heart, Ric knocked lightly on the open office door with Drew’s name emblazoned the name plate, above the word CEO. Behind the desk, Drew sat scribbling something on a yellow legal pad. “I came as soon as I got your message.”

Drew glanced up, then got to his feet, his mouth pinched. “How long will it take to get Tracy’s order of protection thrown out? I want to get my daughter out of there before they can poison her more—”

“I imagine,” Ric said slowly, “I could probably file an injunction pending the outcome of the CPS investigation. The right judge would probably grant it, so maybe two days.” He paused. “But you’ll have to find another lawyer.”

Drew scowled, came around the side of the desk. “I thought we were on the same page. I thought we understood each other.”

“I understood that you hated Jason Morgan nearly as much I as I do.” Ric tipped his head. “And until yesterday, I let that be enough for me.”

“I know—” Drew put up his hands, his expression easing. “I know that was difficult, and believe me, I didn’t enjoy it. I love Jake and Danny—”

“Hard to see it,” Ric said dryly. “And I don’t think anyone in that room would believe it either.”

“Jake’s a good kid. An excellent one. Elizabeth—you know I think the world of her, I do. And under other circumstances, if Jason weren’t in the picture, hell, I might even let her take point on Scout when I’m DC. I loved her once, too—”

“You threatened to throw Jake in jail last night, Drew. Danny spent the night in lockup, and with the wrong judge today, he’ll be sent to juvenile detention.” Ric exhaled slowly. “It was one thing to champion you when this whole idea was academic. When the kids were just pawns on the chess board, but safe at the Quartermaines or with Alexis. The only reason I took your case if because you told me you wanted to destroy Jason’s case so you could have both kids with Alexis. Now you’re playing damage control, trying to butter me up by singing Elizabeth’s praises, but I was there last night, Drew.”

“You think I wanted any of this?” Drew demanded, the sneer returning to his mouth. “You think I wanted Sam to be dead, to have those kids be used this way? She should be alive, damn it. And with her kids. But I don’t get to have things the way I want them. I don’t get to have any of it the way it should be. I can’t go back and not get on that damn plane, okay? Or to take that stupid plea deal for Carly and lose more time—”

“Well, if you’d called me back then, I’d have told you that was pretty dumb,” Ric muttered. “Never sacrifice for Carly. Always ends badly.”

“You—” Drew stabbed a finger at him. “You don’t get to stand there in any moral superiority. You chained her to a wall and threatened to take her kid—”

“And give her to Elizabeth, so let’s not pretend Morgan wouldn’t still be alive if I’d succeeded.” Ric ignored the roll of Drew’s eyes. “You don’t like the hand you’re dealt, fine. Me either, buddy. The stunt I pulled back on you with Hayden cost me the last chance I’ll ever have with Elizabeth—”

“And you certainly didn’t earn yourself any points for standing there with me last night,” Drew shot back. “We’re both in shit, Ric, so you can either work with me to dig out, or—”

“You’re right. I’m in the dog house not just with Elizabeth, where I’m pretty sure I’ll be living permanently, but with my daughter. Molly. The last person on the planet that gives a damn about me. And you know what, Drew? It’s going to be pretty easy to get myself out of trouble. I drop you and walk away. It’s called cutting your losses. Why don’t you try it?”

“Not when I’m almost where I need to be. Jason’s been around for five minutes, and both his kids took swings at me. Jason’s put me against a wall. It’s going to be a slam dunk keeping Danny away from him—”

“You’ll have to do without me.”

—

“I don’t remember the last time I wore one of these,” Jason said, reluctantly holding up his arm so that Elizabeth could button the cuffs at his wrist. “I hate this. What do my clothes have to do with what kind of person I am? It doesn’t make be a better father to put on ties—”

“No, but it means you understand how to follow rules. To respect authority.” She lifted her brows. “And you need all the help you can in that area, we both know that.” She smoothed a hand down his light blue shirt, then lifted the tie from her dresser, winding it around his neck and going to work on the knot.

He made a face, but it was impossible to argue with that logic. He had enough working against him today, and knew what Elizabeth hadn’t said — that no matter how amazing she was — there was still a chance the judge would see the son of Jason Morgan in front of him on assault charges and throw the book at him.

“I don’t want this for Danny or Jake.”

Elizabeth frowned, lifting her eyes to his, her hands still on the tie. “What? Suits?”

“This life. Going to court. Being arrested. I’ve—I’ve never cared about my record. Even when they were younger. I don’t care what people think about me. I never did. But I should have. I should have—” His throat felt tight. “It reflects on the people around me. How they’re treated. What if they don’t look at Danny? What if the district attorney and the judge, what if all they see is the last name? What if I’m the reason Danny can’t come home today?”

Elizabeth hesitated, dropped her eyes, and his stomach lurched when she didn’t immediately reassure him. She slid her hands down his chest, smoothing the shirt, then straightened his tie one more time, before moving away from him to find the jacket still on the hanger he’d tossed on her bed behind him.

“You were so young when you went to work for Sonny,” Elizabeth said, handing the jacket to him. “I know you weren’t thinking about the day, nearly thirty years later when you’d have to look at the consequences of that choice in the face.”

“I didn’t care about the future,” Jason muttered, whipping the jacket around, shrugging into it, grimacing at the way it didn’t stretch easily over his frame. “It didn’t exist for me. But I could have changed my mind at any point. We could have left Port Charles. I thought about it.”

She looked at him, tipping her head to the side, the ends of her hair carefully curled in the way that made him want to run his hands through them, straighten them and watch them curl back into position. “We’re not your only family, Jason. We weren’t then, and we aren’t now. Even with Michael in a coma, you would have worried about him. About Morgan. And Carly and Sonny—”

“I should have put my son first—”

“Jason.” She adjusted the lapels of his jacket, flicking away an errant piece of lint, then touched his temple. “Up here, you know Michael isn’t your son. Not biologically or legally. But here—” She pressed a hand against his heart. “He’s always been yours. And he loves you, too. You’ve been a steady constant for him when his world was chaos. You put your sons first in the only way that made sense to you. You knew Jake was safe with me, that I would guard him with my life, and love him with my whole heart. You knew Danny was safe with Sam, that she would do anything to keep him whole and happy.”

Her lips curved into a sad smile. “But we both know Michael has never had that guarantee, as much as Carly might wanted it. I regret the time we lost with Jake, the time we lost together, but I will never regret the time and love you’ve given to Michael. I’m so indebted to that little boy who taught you how to love with your whole heart, and I would never resent him for the love and attention you gave him. Look at who he grew up to be. What a wonderful father, son, brother—how can either of us look at Danny, Jake, or Michael, at who those boys grew up to be and think we could have done better?”

Jason wanted to speak, wanted to find the words to express what her words meant to him, the truth he wanted to believe so much, but he couldn’t speak past the tightness in his throat. He raised her hand to his lips, kissed the inside of her palm. “But today—”

“Today we’re going to court as a united front. You and I, with the future we’re planning. With the boys I’ve raised as an example of the home Danny can hope to live in, and with the full force and might of the Quartermaine name and ELQ behind Michael when he shows up. We’re going to bring Danny home today.”

And when she said it, he could believe it. “And then I’m going make Drew sorry he ever threatened my sons.”

“Oh, count on it. That’s step two today.” She smiled again, one that reached her eyes. “Let’s go bring Danny home.”

+41

Written in 69 minutes. Went way over, but I was at 58 minutes before I got to the last Liason scene, and well, I figure you won’t mind.

Drew sauntered up to the entrance of the mansion, flipping through his keys to locate the correct one. Though he’d been hoping for Jason to actually take a swing in the squad room earlier, having both boys try to attack him was a decent second place. A few more pushes, Jason would lose control, and he’d be in a position to make a deal with Alexis that would benefit them both.

It couldn’t have gone better if he’d planned it.

Just as he found the correct key to fit into the lock, the door swung open and Tracy stood there, one hand wrapped around the edge of the door, and the other holding a martini. “Oh, did you think you still lived here?” she asked with an arch of her brow.

Drew smiled thinly. “You can’t evict me without notice, Tracy—”

“You know what, you’re right.” Tracy turned to someone who wasn’t visible, traded her martini for legal petition. “I have something better. Well, I have a two for one special.”

He ripped the petition from her hand, then scowled, as he skimmed the action. “An order of protection—” Drew whipped his gaze up to hers. “What the hell?”

“That has been in the works for several days. Since you put your hands on Monica’s granddaughter.” Tracy reached out, and her martini reappeared in her hand. “Your things were already packed and they’re waiting for you at the Cosmopolitan Hotel. In the lobby. You’ll also have to get your own room. I can’t do everything for you.”

“This—” Drew clenched his jaw. “You can’t file on behalf of my daughter—”

“See—that’s where you’re wrong. Not a very bright boy, are you? It makes me nostalgic for AJ, honestly. At least he was quicker.” She sipped her martini. “Monica, as her grandmother, can do whatever she wants.”

“You can’t keep me from my daughter, Tracy—” Drew took a step forward, but then Tracy stepped away, and Drew saw who had been just out sight.

Dante stood just to the left the door, his arms crossed, and his jaw clenched. “Take one step over that threshold, I’m begging you,” he said. “Do me a favor and violate that order. I can’t wait to arrest you.”

Drew crumpled the petition in his hands. “I barely touched her—”

“Saturday, maybe. But that’s for a judge to decide. And we have more evidence of your violence against children. You see—” Tracy smiled, though the glint in her eyes was anything but humorous. “You punched a child today, and dragged Scout bodily out of a house, kicking and screaming. There were witnesses. A very helpful police report you insisted on so you could charge Danny with assault.”

Drew cleared his throat. “Tracy, there are things going on you don’t understand—”

“No, you don’t seem to understand.” Dante stepped up next to Tracy. “You might have won for the night, Drew. And maybe for a few days. But you’re not going against one man and his kid. Danny’s got a family who loves him.”

“And like it or not, Jason is a member of this family, and given the choice between the two of you?” Tracy shrugged. “I choose him. Now, will you leave willingly or you know what—Dante,” she said, looking at him. “I think I’d like him to try to come inside. Maybe he’ll resist arrest.” Her smile had disappeared when she focused on Drew again. “I’d like to see you with the same damage to your face.”

“This isn’t over, Tracy. I’ll be back for my daughter—”

“Please, make more threats, Drew. In front of the lovely detective.”

Drew hissed, then turned, stalking off towards the driveway, his footsteps crunching on the gravel.

Tracy swung the door closed, then turned to beam at Dante. “You played your part marvelously. It might be the first time I’m grateful that my son married your mother.”

Dante’s lips twitched, but then he went to the window, watched Drew’s headlights disappear down the drive. “He’s not wrong, Tracy. This isn’t over by a long shot.”

“Of course not. Our fun has just begun.” Tracy sipped her martini. “Shame he didn’t give you a reason to punch him.”

—

Elizabeth didn’t answer Jake right away, instead choosing to shed her coat and hang her purse on the hooks by the door. She held her hand out for Jason’s coat, and he reluctantly stripped it off, handed it over.

“Mom—” Jake made a face. “It’s not that I’m mad if it’s all a ploy to get Danny out, it’s just—”

“It’s not a ploy,” Elizabeth said, turning to face him, and her son fell silent, looked at his father, then back at her. “I told you at the station. It’s not the way we wanted any of you to know, especially you and Danny. But if it helps him home faster, I guess it’s worth whatever reaction you both have.”

Jake opened his mouth, then closed it, and looked at Aiden who looked down at the paper in his hands. “Okay, so I guess it’s my turn.” He squinted. “I can’t read your writing, so I’ll choose one of mine,” he told Jake. “Where are we going to live?” he said, lifting his eyes to his mother. “You bought a house and stuff. And Jake said it had three bedrooms, so it’s not big enough for all of us. Which I guess is related to another question — will we have to share rooms?”

“That’s your first question?” Jake demanded.

“I’ve never shared before, so it’s important—I have a lot of stuff, man! And so do you and Cam, where does it go?”

“Ridiculous—” Jake snatched the list from Aiden’s hand. “You’re not in charge of any of this anymore. So it’s real,” he said to his mother. “Fine. Let’s just say that’s true—”

“Jake,” Jason said, his voice low and a bit tense. “Pick another tone. Right now.” Elizabeth looked at him, startled, but then Jake swallowed hard.

“Okay, yeah, I know. I’m—I’m just—come on, this is all insane, right? You have to admit this wasn’t on the radar. At least not for me or for Aiden, and definitely not Danny—like, the timing of this—” Jake closed his mouth, furrowed his brow. “Is it for the custody case? Because—”

“It might feel like it came out of nowhere, and maybe for you, I guess that’s not wrong,” Elizabeth said. She folded her arms. “And okay, maybe the custody case is why it became a topic—” She stopped when Jason held up a hand.

“I don’t think it’s that much of a surprise,” Jason said. “Not to me. And if you think about some of the things we’ve talked about, Jake, it’s probably not to you. Yes, the custody case has sped up something that would have happened later. But I want to make it very clear that it’s not why.”

Jake didn’t seem to know what to say to that, and honestly, neither did Elizabeth. Aiden seized the opportunity to snatch back the list. “Okay, but I still didn’t get my turn. About the room situation—”

“We don’t have any of that worked out right now. Not longterm, I guess.” Elizabeth took a deep breath. “And we’d planned, I guess, we’d thought we’d have more time to make those decisions. But right now, Aiden, Danny will probably use Cam’s room. Because all that matters tonight, and tomorrow is getting him out of there.”

“Yeah, okay, I can get on board with that,” Jake said. “And obviously, Danny’s the priority. But—but there’s Scout. I don’t—Drew’s got her.”

“Not tonight he doesn’t,” Jason said. “We called after we left you, and Tracy said they’d pulled some strings. There’s an order of protection keeping Drew from taking Scout out of Monica’s custody. He’ll probably contest that, and it might not hold. But tonight, she’s safe.”

Jake visibly relaxed, nodded. “Okay. Good. Good. And Danny—”

“He’s okay for tonight. Not an ideal situation.” Elizabeth approached him, and was relieved when he let her slid an arm around his shoulders. “We’re going to fix this, Jake. No one is going to let Danny or Scout get hurt anymore than they already have.”

—

Willow paced in front of the window, her phone clutched in her hand. She looked at her mother. “He’s not answering my texts.”

Nina took the phone from her, replaced it with a glass of water. “Take a deep breath, and drink that. Of course he’s not answering tonight. You both need to take a minute. To take stock of what’s happened.”

Willow’s hands were trembling too hard, and she sat the glass down with a thud on the table, water sloshing over the edges. “What’s happened?” she demanded, her voicing climbing to a pitch that had her mother wincing. “What’s happening is I set my marriage on fire, okay? I had a man—a perfectly good man, a wonderful—” Her voice broke, and she pressed her hands to her mouth. “A wonderful father. And he loved me. I know he did.”

“He still does, honey. Or he would have said something weeks ago.” Nina put an arm around Willow’s shoulders, guided her to the sofa. “And you love him, or you would have left him.”

“He doesn’t love me now. Not after what he saw — after tonight—” She closed her eyes, squeezed her hands into fists in her lap. “I was still telling him Drew was a good man—I still wanted to believe it—” Her voice faltered again. “But he’s not, is he?”

“No.” Nina’s voice was heavy. “He’s not.”

“If…he put his hands on a child. Danny’s just a boy, really. You’ve—you’ve seen him. And Drew is—oh, God, he punched Danny, claiming Danny hit him first! Have you ever heard anything more vile?”

“Very little.”

“Danny’s fist would have felt like a fly—a-and—” Willow squeezed her eyes shut. “And they said Drew was dragging Scout out of her grandmother’s, as she was kicking and screaming, crying. This is the man I threw away my marriage for? How could I do that?” Tears streamed down her face, and she looked at her mother, begging her to find a way to explain the inexplicable. “How could I think we had a connection?”

“Oh, it’s my fault, baby. It’s my—” Nina turned away from her, pressing her fist to her mouth. “I should have told you ages ago, the moment you told me about the Fourth of July.”

Willow furrowed her brow. “I don’t understand.”

“I was so furious when you told me—” Her mother looked at her again, misery etched in every line of her face. “So humiliated. Because I’d just learned that the man I’d been sleeping with for months preferred my daughter.”

—

TJ winced when he saw Molly rip the top from another energy drink and reached to take it away before she could take a sip. Since they’d left the hospital and returned home, Molly had dove into her computer, into legal research, taking page after page of notes, the table by the window littered with yellow legal pages torn from the pad.

“Mols, you need some sleep. You have to let some of this wear off. You need to be your best self tomorrow,” he added when she started to protest. “Danny’s counting on you.”

“That’s not—that’s not fair. I just—I have to make sure I account for everything, a-and I know Tracy was able to get that order of protection, but Drew will contest it—”

“The Quartermaines have lawyers on retainer and will probably find the best family court attorneys in the state.” He plucked the pencil from her fingers. “Baby. Scout is safe. Danny will be safe tomorrow. And no one is served if you kill yourself trying to fix something you didn’t break.”

“I—”

“You took Jason’s case because it was the right thing to do. That’s it. Your mother—no doubt egged on by your sister,” he added with an edge to his tone that had her frowning. “Your mother started this. And for whatever reason, Drew has decided to escalate it. Creating that scene with Scout over the weekend, going after Jake and Danny today—it’s like he wants Jason to live up to his reputation—” He closed his mouth, looked at her as the realization dawned in her expression, too.

“He said he wanted to be on my mother’s side. My dad—my dad said Drew was willing to do whatever he had to do in order to get Danny away from Jason. Oh, God, is this what he meant?”

Trying to wrap her head around that possibility, she missed the first knock on the door, but TJ heard the second one, and left the table to open the door.

Where her mother stood, her cheeks tear-stained. Molly got to her feet, wary. “Mom.”

“Molly. We need—we need to talk. We—” Alexis closed her eyes. “I need to fix this.”

—

Danny pressed the ice pack to his face, wincing as the chill hit his skin. “You don’t have to keep apologizing,” he said through the bars to Chase as the older man set up his own cot. “You didn’t punch me.”

“No, but I feel like we should have been able to come up with a better solution,” Chase muttered. He nodded at the tablet on Danny’s cot. “But you’ve got whatever streaming services you want. A-And I bet Mac could get a TV or something rolled in for a video game—”

“I just want my sister to be okay.” Danny dropped the ice pack to his lap, stared at it. “I don’t care about anything else.”

“Hey—” Chase’s voice was closer, and when Danny looked up, he found the detective perched on the edge of his cot. “I talked to Brooklyn. Scout’s okay. Brook calmed her down, and she had dinner. Wiley and Amelia are hanging out with her tonight, and you know she loves that.”

Danny’s lips curved into a tiny smile. “She gets to be the oldest.”

“Exactly. Everyone is on your side, Danny. You and Scout are the top priority. Your dad and Elizabeth are working with Molly to get you out of here tomorrow, and Tracy and your grandmother are working to keep Scout safe, too. We’re going to make this okay.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I— I know what everyone is trying to do, and I—I’m not trying to be, like, ungrateful, you know?” He sniffled, then dragged his forearm across his face to wipe his nose. “But everyone said my mom would be okay. They said it was okay, that they had it handled, and so I left. I took Scout and I—I never saw her again. I c-can’t ever talk to her a-again and maybe Drew won’t let me talk to Scout ever again either—”

He heard movement from Chase’s side, and the sliding of the bars a moment before a weight settled next to him. “I won’t promise you everything will turn out the way you want it to,” Chase said, and Danny looked at him. “You’re right. There’s a lot that could go wrong, and you know that more than anyone. But you’ve got people on your side, Danny. People who love you and that are going to fight for you. What would your mom say if she was here?”

“She’d say—” Danny paused, considered it, trying to bring his mother’s voice to his mind. “She’d tell me to take things one at a time. To not be like her and rush into everything without thinking.” He grimaced. “She’d probably be mad I ended up in here. She always worried I’d end up going to jail like my dad.” He paused. “Or like she did. She didn’t want me in here.”

“No parent would. But you stood up for your sister, and that’s what the family court is going to understand. But your mom would be right. We’re going to take this one thing at a time. First, sleep. And then, tomorrow—”

“Tomorrow, I should get to go home.” Danny exhaled. “Yeah, okay. Okay.”

—

Elizabeth dropped a folded blanket on the sofa next to Jason, the lights around the room dimmed. “I don’t know why I’m bothering with these,” she said, sitting on the sofa next to him. “You won’t use them.”

“My son’s in jail,” Jason muttered, though she knew the tone wasn’t directed at her. “I’m not going to sleep while he’s in a cell.”

“Fair enough.” Elizabeth kicked off her shoes, drew her legs up on the cushion. “I’ll keep you company.”

Jason looked at her, his eyes a bit softer now. “You don’t have to do that. One of us should get some sleep.”

“Oh, okay, I’ll skip up the stairs, and lay down in my bed, knowing you’re down here worrying.” She arched a brow. “Would you if the situation was reversed?”

“No.” Jason shook his head. “No. Of course not.” He reached for her hand, twisting the ring he’d placed on it a back and forth on her finger. “I’m sorry. That it’s…it’s like this again.”

“What, you mean, the second we get engaged, the phone rings and world falls apart?” She sighed, slid closer to him until she was curled into his side. He let his head tip to the side so that it touched hers. “It’s not the same at all. The situation is different, and…so are we. We made a deal, didn’t we? We’re in this together. Tonight, Danny needed us. If it had been Aiden or Cam, you’d have felt the same way, and we’d be on this sofa for them.”

He acknowledged that with a nod, bring her palm to his lips, pressing them against the soft skin. “How do you think Cam’s going to take this?”

“Oh. No way to tell with him.” She smiled, thinking of it. “He’ll either just go with the flow, or he’ll be like Aiden, making a list of questions. Just depends on we tell him.”

“We could call him. Tomorrow. After court. If—if it goes well.”

“That sounds like a great idea.” She sighed, then eased her head into the cradle of his shoulder, closing her eyes. “Four boys. God help us.” He laughed, and she could feel it rumble through his body. She smiled, and somehow slid into sleep.

Jason shifted her weight slightly, wrapped an arm around her shoulders so she was more comfortable, then sat back to wait for morning.

Daily M-F updates start next Wednesday, June 25! See you then!

+37

Written in 60 minutes.

The interior of the SUV was deathly quiet as the vehicle traversed the distance between the PCPD and waterfront neighborhood where the house Jason had bought was located. Elizabeth had left her car there, and she had an inkling that Jason planned to drop the trio of them there, then spend the night alone, brooding over the scene at the PCPD.

He didn’t know it yet, but she wasn’t going to let that happen.

They’d left a pale and terrified Danny in Mac’s care, with his reassurances he’d look after him, and then had gone out to the lobby where Aiden was waiting alone. He’d related the stunning developments between Michael and Willow — and had been disappointed that it was old news to the three of them.

Jason parked behind Elizabeth’s car, then shifted slightly to look at her. “Tomorrow—” he began, but she was already fishing in her purse for her keys.

“Jake, I want you to take my car and go home with your brother. He has school in the morning—”

“I don’t really have to go to that, do I? I mean, come on, Mom!”

“—and then Jason and I will be there in a little bit to answer whatever questions you have.” She turned, holding out the key ring to her middle son. “Does that work for you?”

“Yeah, I guess. You should have let me get arrested,” Jake muttered. “Then I could be with Danny, and make sure he’s okay—”

Elizabeth turned shifted again so that she could face Jake more directly, waited for her son to look at her. “Mac is putting him in the women’s section tonight where they don’t have anyone in lock-up and Chase is taking the cell next to him so he’s not alone. Everyone except Drew knows what a mistake this is.”

“Yeah, but—” Jake closed his mouth, looked out the window. “It doesn’t matter. If I got tagged now, you’d just be mad and I guess we don’t have time for me to get charges, too. Probably wouldn’t help get Danny out tomorrow.”

“No, it wouldn’t. We’ll be just behind you, okay?”

“Yeah, okay.” Jake reached for the door handle.

—

Jason watched the red taillights on Elizabeth’s car turn on the next block, then looked down at the quiet woman next to him, only to find her already studying him. “I thought maybe if I asked Mac again, he’d let me—”

“He’s already gone above and beyond, Jason, you know he’ll say no.” She tipped her head. “Come home with us tonight. You can have the sofa or Cam’s room for the night. But I don’t want you to sit alone and brood about this.”

“I don’t—” Jason closed his mouth when she just arched a brow. “I don’t brood,” he finished on a mutter. He exhaled slowly. “What if it doesn’t work? What if a judge says Danny has to stay, and Mac can’t stop family court from forcing a transfer—” He swallowed hard, looked out towards the end of the block. The street ended at the water front, and the sounds of the harbor could be heard faintly. Water lapping against wooden piers, horns of ships navigating the lake’s shipping lanes.

“You didn’t used to think about what ifs.” She touched his face, and he reluctantly looked back at her. “You taught me that. Looking forward to all the things you can’t control or looking back at what you can’t change — you said you wanted to find the pieces of your old self, right? Then let’s do that.”

“It was easier then. I didn’t—” His chest felt too tight, and it was a struggle to force the words through. “I didn’t know that much. It’s different when you can look back at decades of mistakes, and — what Michael went through at Pentonville—Elizabeth—” His voice faltered.

“It won’t happen to Danny. Not tonight. We can know that much, and I hope you find comfort in that. Chase is right there with him, and Danny knows him, doesn’t he? They live in the same house. And tomorrow, we’re going to tell that judge what Danny’s been through. I know it’s hard to trust the system. It’s not easy for me, either. I’ve seen it fail too many people, including Michael. But tonight? Tonight Danny is safe. Tomorrow—” She pressed her lips together. “If they don’t let us take him home, well, then we’ll talk about a country without an extradition order or something.”

The laugh that slipped out surprised them both, and he had to smile. He reached for her hand, touched the ring he’d given her only hours earlier. “I’m sorry. That’s not—that’s not how I wanted the kids to find out.”

“It’s okay. I didn’t want it that way either, but if it helps us bring Danny home sooner, then we can live with it. But that’s why I want you to come with me. Jake has questions, and we can practice some of our answers on him before Danny gets his turn.” She tugged on his hand, leading him towards the car. “We’ll stop at Bobbie’s, pick up a few things. And then face the music with Jake.”

He let her guide him to the driver’s side, but then stopped her before she went around to her side. “Hey.”

Elizabeth looked at him, her brows drawn together quizzically. “What? Did you leave something inside—”

He kissed her, cutting off the question. He could do that now, he thought. Any time the thought popped in his head, and for the first time in a long time, he wasn’t shoving his hands in his pockets to stop himself from touching her, sliding his hands through her silky hair, cupping the back of her head, tipping it back so he could deepen the kiss for just a brief moment, before drawing back.

“Thank you.”

She opened her eyes, then licked her lips. “For what?” Elizabeth asked.

“For reminding me why I never should have walked away from you in the first place.” He stroked her cheek with the back of his knuckles. “You keep me grounded. When I look at you, when you say it’ll be okay, I believe you.”

“We take turns at that.” She rested her forehead against his chest, and they stood there for another long moment, just listening to each other breathe, and he wondered at how easy it was to fall back into each other, into this moment, and why it didn’t feel awkward.

“The boys are waiting for us,” Jason said, pressing his lips to the top of her head. He rubbed her shoulders. “And it’s getting cold. We should get home.”

Elizabeth squeezed his hand, then headed around the SUV to the passenger side. “Let’s go.”

—

Michael stepped into the quiet foyer, all the primary lights dimmed indicating the family had gone to their rooms for the night. He looked around, wondering what to do. Though Willow had only left the PCPD moments before he had, she’d been gone when he reached the sidewalk, and she wasn’t at the car.

He’d driven home, almost trance-like, making turns and following traffic guidelines automatically.  How many times had he traveled between the Quartermaine estate and the PCPD? Too many. And he’d gone back to the main house, assuming the kids were up there since he and Willow had left them there.

But now he stood in the middle of this room, uncertain what to do. It wasn’t that late, but for Amelia and Wiley, they’d be long asleep by now. And if he went down to the gatehouse, he would just see Willow everywhere.

How had it gone so wrong? Where had it gone crazy? When had he lost his wife? Shouldn’t you know when your marriage shattered? How could that happen when you weren’t looking?

“Michael?”

He blinked, looked up and saw his cousin, saw Brooklyn standing in the entry to the sitting room. He cleared his throat. “Is—everyone—are they—”

“They went to bed. Not without a fight,” she added with a wry smile. “Granny had to nearly twist Aunt Monica’s arm, but it worked. And Scout—well, it helped to have Wiley and Amelia here. They’re upstairs, asleep. I figured you’d be okay with that.”

“Yeah.” He dragged a hand down his face, then went past her, heading for the mini bar. “Yeah. I, uh, I didn’t wait to see Jason at the PCPD after he saw Danny. How did that—are  they keeping him tonight?”

“They are, but Mac found a loophole to keep Danny at the station tonight, and Chase is taking the cell next to him. They also put Danny in the women’s section. He’s safe there.”

Michael’s hand bobbled a little as he poured the vodka. “Chase is….Chase is a great guy.”

“Don’t I know it.” Brook came up to him, but kept her distance. “Hey. Not that I care all that much, but…did Willow go to the gatehouse, or—”

“I don’t know where she is.” Michael tossed back the vodka, the burn of the liquor scorching a trail down his throat. “I don’t care.”

“Do I—do I get to ask why? You can say no—”

Michael looked at her, then poured another shot. “She wanted me to try and understand that Drew is a good man. That we could find a way to fix all of this. My little cousin—our little cousin—” he corrected, “— is in jail, and she’s defending the man who—” He closed his mouth. “I couldn’t stop myself. Couldn’t keep it in anymore.”

“Michael—”

“It wasn’t just one kiss.” Michael looked at Brook again. “They slept together. The night Sam died. In the nursery.”

“In the—” Brook stopped. “You better pour me one of those. And then start at the beginning.”

—

Willow hadn’t gone far after dashing out of the PCPD — had stumbled and sobbed the five b locks to her mother’s building, shakily begging over the intercom to be let into the building, then practically fell into Nina’s arms.

“Oh, God, oh, God, he knows, he knows—” Her breathing hitched and she hiccuped, dragging in a deep breath, trying to find control again, but she couldn’t. It was all breaking apart, jagged pieces raining down and pricking her skin — she was burning all over—

“Sit down, sweetheart—” Nina guided Willow to the nearest sofa. “Whatever it is, we can fix it—”

“N-No—” She looked at her mother, little more than a blurry mess. “No, we can’t. I slept with Drew. And Michael knows. Oh, God, he’s known all along—” Her stomach lurched, remembering the video, then she jumped up, and ran to the nearest bathroom, making it just in time to vomit.

—

TJ found Molly waiting on the roof of General Hospital, staring out over the city skyline, hugging herself. He was already dragging off his lab coat, intending to drape it over the thin long-sleeved she wore when Molly turned and he saw her swollen eyes, the tears staining her cheeks. “Mols. What happened—”

“My family—it’s—it’s so destroyed. So broken. Danny—oh, God, he’s in jail.” She reached for him, gripping the fabric of his scrubs, twisting it in her fingers. “Is this my fault? Did I start this? Did I make this happen? What do I do? What do I do?” And then she crumbled, falling against him, sobbing so hard that her body trembled from the force of it, sobbing harder than she had in weeks, months, maybe even years.

And all TJ could do was hold her tightly, and hope the storm would pass.

—

The lights were visible in the living room as Jason and Elizabeth approached the front door. She wrinkled her nose. “So much for hoping they’d fall sleep before we got here.”

Jason seemed steadier after their conversation, and she was rewarded with a slight smile. “I haven’t been around teenage boys as much as you have, and even I knew that wasn’t going to happen.”

“Time to face the music, I guess.” She pushed the door open, unsurprised when she found her sons on the sofa, a half-eaten pizza in a box on the coffee table. “Hey. Sorry, that took longer than we thought it would.”

“No problem.” Jake tossed his crust into the box, then got to his feet. “Aiden and I had time to think.”

“And make a list,” his brother added, a piece of paper in his hand. “You wanna start?”

“Yeah.” Jake lifted his chin, folded his arms. “Now that we’re not at the PCPD, are you pretending to be engaged to get Danny out, or is this, like, real?”

+39

Written in 56 minutes. See you Monday!

“Lock this one up, too.”

When Jake had learned the truth about Drew’s identity and had to reconcile himself to building a relationship with another father, he’d been devastated. He’d cried himself to sleep, and though he’d eventually agreed to spend time with Jason by the time his birthday rolled around, his relationship with Drew had remained important to him. Until Drew’s plane went missing, and he’d been feared dead.

And now, standing in the middle of the PCPD, Drew might as well have been a stranger — an alien to them all, rather than the man who had celebrated Jake’s return from the Cassadines and begged Jake at that Nurse’s Ball to remember how much they loved him, to break him free of the control Helena had wielded from beyond the grave.

Lock this one up, too.

As if Drew weren’t speaking about two boys he’d loved and raised as his own for more than a year—

“Over my dead body,” Elizabeth snapped, striding forward to put herself between the irate politician and her son. Jason reached for her, trying to stop her before she could get far but she was too quick. But she didn’t direct her anger towards Drew, rather she stabbed a finger at Mac. “If you put those cuffs on my son, you will regret—”

“I don’t think threats are going to help—” Anna began.

“Just let Danny go!” Alexis said, standing next to Drew and Ric. “You don’t need to do this!”

“He tried to assault me!”

“Everyone shut up!” Mac barked. He released Jake. “No one is arresting anyone else tonight. Now everyone take a step back. Now,” he said when Elizabeth only lifted her chin in defiance.

“Get your hands off my son—” she began hotly but Jason took her by the shoulders and gently steered her to the side, away from Drew. She nearly shook him off, but saw the clench of his jaw and the vein in his forehead. He was as angry as she was — but the last thing anyone needed was her making a scene. Not when she was supposed to put herself in front of the judge in the morning.

“Give her a break, Mac,” Jason said flatly when the chief of detectives’ harsh gaze didn’t ease. “She just saw what did Drew to my son. He’s lucky he’s not laying flat with her shoe shoved down his throat.”

“Is that a threat?” Drew called but Ric whacked him in the chest.

“Shut up and stop making this worse,” the lawyer hissed. He focused on Mac. “My client is upset, of course. It’s been a terrible evening for all of us—”

“You’re not the fourteen-year-old kid in cuffs with a black eye!” Elizabeth retorted, but subsided when Jason touched her shoulder. She folded her arms. “Mac, let Jake go. He’s not going to touch anyone.”

“I might,” Jake grumbled, but Mac released him anyway and he went to stand with his parents. “Where’s Danny?”

“In the interrogation room with Molly. He’s all right,” Jason said, then looked at Mac and Anna. “I want to take my kids home. You’ve seen Danny’s face—”

“What did he do?” Jake interrupted, but Jason kept speaking.

“—there’s no judge in the family court system that will let these charges stand. We’ll take Danny home—”

“What home?” Drew sneered.  “You can’t be bothered to live with your own kid! How’s that going to look for the custody court?”

“Shut your client up before I turn my back and pretend to be deaf and blind,” Mac told Ric. He looked at Jason. “This is out of my hands. Believe me, no one here wants to press charges—”

“Which the mayor will hear about. The commissioner who won’t take a strong hand against assault, the chief of detectives bowing to a criminal—Hey, Elizabeth, how is threatening a congressman going to look when your probation is up for dismissal in a few months?”

She curled her fingers into a fist, her nails digging into her palm, but forced her tone to remain even. “I don’t know, Drew. How will your constituents feel when they find out you slugged a grieving child?”

“You hit him? You son of a bitch!” Jake shot forward, only stopped at the last minute when his father and Mac both went  after him, Jason wrapping both arms around him and lifting Jake away just before he reached Drew.

“I want him arrested! Throw them all in jail!” Drew hollered. Ric put his head in his hands.

“That’s it! I have had—” Mac growled, but the squad doors rolled open and Michael strode in with Willow hot on his heels, and for the first time, Elizabeth realized Aiden had come with Jake. He must have been waiting in the lobby, and slid through security with Michael and his wife.

“Oh, great, that’s just what I need,” the older man grumbled. “Sonny and Carly on their way?”

“No,” Michael said warily, looking around the room, bewildered when he realized Jason had Jake in a bear hold, the teenager still struggling to get free. “No, but we were at the house when Scout got home. She told us what happened.”

“Scout. Danny’s so worried about her. Is she all right?” Elizabeth wanted to know.

“Sobbing hysterically, but physically fine.” Michael looked at Drew. “She said you hit Danny. Is that true?”

“It was self-defense,” Drew said. “He attacked me, and I was forced to fend him off. I wasn’t trying to hurt him, but he’s out of control. Must run in the family,” he said, sliding Jake a dark look.

“Let me go, Dad. I won’t kill him,” Jake said, but Jason could feel the tension in his son’s body, the rage leaving him trembling slightly. He loosened his grip slightly, but didn’t release him all the way. He didn’t trust that Jake had the impulse control he’d need to hold it together. Not when it was taking Jason every ounce of his own to keep from shoving Drew against another wall and finishing this time.

“I’m not arresting anyone else tonight,” Mac repeated. “Unless you want to overule me,” he said, looking at his former sister-in-law.

Anna pressed her lips together, took a deep breath. “Let’s all take a moment to cool down. Drew, pressing charges against Danny might seem like a good idea right now—”

“Do I have to make a call and force your hand?” Drew asked, lifting his brows. “I was assaulted. I want justice. I have the right to press charges. Do it, or I’ll make sure you regret it.”

Then he stalked out of the room, passing Michael and Willow on his way out. Ric followed him, and after a moment, so did Alexis, likely hoping to continue begging him to change his mind.

“There are far too many people here right now,” Anna decided. She rubbed her hands together. “Anyone who isn’t Danny’s father or lawyer is going home. Including his brother and his mother,” she said pointedly to Jake and Elizabeth.

“I’m not going anywhere without seeing my brother,” Jake said, and then without even waiting for Anna to say anything, headed for the interrogation room. When she might have protested, Mac stopped her.

Jake yanked the door open, stared at Danny seated at the table, then looked back at his father. The mixture of fury and helplessness in his eyes mirrored what Jason felt. All he’d wanted to do was protect his son, and somehow that had put Danny at the PCPD with a black eye and facing assault charges.

Jason scrubbed a hand down his face, looked at Michael. “I’m glad you came down, even if it was just so we could find out about Scout. Can you—” He nodded at Aiden, standing near Willow. “Can you stay with Aiden until we’re done?”

“Yeah, of course. Whatever you need. I mean that. I’ll call everyone in the morning.” Michael fished his phone out of his pocket. “I’ll start now, actually.” He gestured for Aiden to head into the lobby, then left, not saying a word to Willow. She followed after a moment.

Aiden trailed after Michael until they reached the PCPD lobby and watched as the CEO scrolled through his phone contacts and began typing texts.

“Michael—maybe we should go home. We could drop Aiden off,” Willow suggested, smiling nervously at Aiden. “I’m worried about the kids, and about Scout—she’s going to be so confused when Drew gets home without Danny—”

“You think us being there is going to help anything?” Michael demanded, lifting his head to level a hostile gaze at his wife. It clearly unsettled Willow as much as it did Aiden, because she took a step back, bit her lip, and looked at Aiden again before focusing on Michael again.

“I think that we all need to calm down. Tonight has been difficult, but in the morning, when Drew’s had a minute to calm down, I know he’ll change his mind. He’s a good—” Willow jumped when Michael kicked a chair, sending it flying across the lobby, hitting the wall. Her face lost its color, and her eyes widened. “M-Michael—”

“After all this—after what you just saw—” Michael gestured towards the doors leading back to the squad room. Then he curled that hand into a fist he raised in the air. “After all this, you still think he’s a good man? What will it take for you to get it?”

“I think we’re all upset—”

“He wants put Danny in prison, Willow! He’s trying to put my cousin in jail! Do you not get it?” Michael demanded, taking a step towards his wife. “He’s been there, he knows what could happen there! Drew almost died there, and he damn well knows what happened to me!”

“All right, I know—” Willow raised both hands, trying to soothe him. “But it’s one night and Danny will be in juvenile detention—”

“One night? You don’t know that! No one knows that!”

“Michael—”

“What’s it  going to take for you to see what he is?” Michael demanded. He dragged a hand through his hair, turning away for a moment, forcing himself to think. He looked back. “He tried to drag Scout forcibly from the penthouse a few days ago, and ended up putting hands on Elizabeth. And then today, he actually drags Scout from Alexis, and she’s crying. Danny tries to stop him, and he hit him! He’s had him arrested! He tried to have Jake arrested!”

“Well, Jake was threatening—” Willow stopped when Michael growled. “Michael—”

“You won’t see him. You refuse to see him. Well, then fine.” He scrolled through his phone, then shoved it at her. “I tried to pretend I didn’t know, I tried to forget it, because I thought you’d get over it, but I can’t do this anymore. I can’t. Drew’s lost his damn mind, he’s hurting people I love, and I can’t do this anymore.”

Willow’s face paled as she looked at something on the phone, then raised stunned eyes to her husband’s. “You…you’ve had this all along? Sam—Sam died a month ago!”

Aiden frowned — he’d been following the argument well enough until now, but he was bewildered by this turn of events. What was on the phone—

“You think I’m the bad guy here, Willow? While his grieving daughter slept down the hall, when our kids could have come in at any moment, you were fucking my uncle next to the doll house and teddy bears.”

“Oh damn,” Aiden said. Willow looked over at  him, her cheeks flooding with flushed red. She dropped the phone, then ran out of the station, disappearing into the night.

Michael crouched down, picked up the phone, then stood. He looked at Aiden. “Tell Jason I had to go. He knows what—he knows what you just overheard. He’ll understand. Don’t leave the lobby.”

“Yeah, sure—” Aiden watched him go, then exhaled slowly. “What the hell just had happened?” he asked the empty room.

—

When Jason got back into the interrogation room, Jake was hugging Danny. “We’re going to get you out, okay? Dad won’t let you stay here.”

“Longer than a night,” Jason said, closing the door once Elizabeth had come in with him. He looked at Molly. “Drew won’t drop the charges.”

“I don’t understand. I just don’t—” Molly pressed her hands her to her face. “How can he thinks this will make him look good? How can he think any of this makes him look good?”

“I don’t know what happened to him in prison,” Elizabeth said. She folded her arms. “Maybe they broke something in him. He’s not the same man. He’s just—” She shuddered, took a deep breath. Looked at Jason. “We can’t leave Scout with him. Not this way. He doesn’t care about anyone but himself.”

“I need to talk to my mother again,” Molly said. “She has to see—she has to see how much you love Danny. And once she finds out that you and Elizabeth are getting married, I know it will help ease her mind so much—”

Jake snapped his head up, looked at them. “What was that? What is she talking about—”

Molly pressed a fist to her mouth. “Oh, no, I didn’t—I forgot you said—”

“It’s all right.” Elizabeth touched her arm. “It’s not a state secret. It’s just—” she looked at Jake. “And it’s not something we were keeping from you. It literally—it happened today. He put the ring on my finger and we got the call, Jake. I promise—”

“Yeah—I—” Jake looked at Danny, then looked back at his parents. “Yeah, I get that. I just—it’s kind all—” He released Danny, ran a hand through his head a bit nervously. “It’s just a lot.”

“Aunt Molly said it means that maybe they’ll let your mom take me home tomorrow. Since she has room for me.” Danny’s lips trembled. “I wanna go home now.” He looked at his father. “I don’t wanna stay here. Don’t make me stay here.”

“I don’t—” Jason came around the table, took Danny in his arms again. “I can’t stop it. I’m sorry. I’m doing everything I can, and I’ll—I’ll—”

“Should have let me get a punch in, and I could be in the cell with him,” Jake said. “Hey, it’s not too late. You think—”

“You’re not getting yourself sent to jail,” Elizabeth said, taking Jake by the arm. “That wouldn’t help anyone.”

“Maybe not, but I’d feel better,” Jake muttered.

“We’re going to get you out as soon as we can,” Molly said, coming to Danny’s side, stroking his back. She met Jason’s eyes, as resolute as her own, before looking back at her nephew. “I promise. One night.”

“Whatever we have to do, Danny. I won’t let it be longer than one night,” Jason promised. “I promise.”

+43

Written in 69 minutes. Went over, but I had a lot I wanted to get through in this part 😛

They could hear the voices even before Jason shoved open the double doors to the squad room. Mac Scorpio stood in the middle of the room, going to toe to toe with Drew, who held an ice pack to his cheek with one hand, and was wagging a finger at the chief of detectives.

Molly was standing next to Alexis, trying to break into the furious confrontation between Anna and her mother. Chase was at his desk, not participating in the circus, but clearly keeping track of the players. He saw Jason before the rest of them did, but before he could reach Jason and Elizabeth by the front desk, Anna abandoned Alexis and made a beeline for him.

“We have a problem,” she told him, throwing a glare at Drew. “Drew is insisting we press charges—”

“Charges—” Elizabeth broke in, coming around Jason’s side, her mouth set grimly as the man in question noticed them and started to stride forward. “I don’t understand—Danny’s only fourteen!”

“Old enough to know better,” Drew bit out. “But if this is the result of your influence on him—”

“I want to see my son,” Jason interrupted, ignoring Drew which was really the only way to avoid shoving the man’s teeth down his throat. “Now. Molly—have you talked to him?” he asked when his lawyer joined them.

“Not yet, I just got here, a little before you. I don’t even know what happened—and I don’t care to hear it from you,” she snapped at Drew who opened his mouth. “Get away from me. Right now.”

“Maybe you’d better come over here,” Chase said, taking Drew by the arm, steering him away. “Away from the, ah, angry people.”

“I want to see Danny,” Jason told Anna. “Right now. Where is he?”

“If you put my nephew in lock-up,” Molly began, but Anna scowled.

“Of course not. What do you take me for—”

“One of your officers slapped handcuffs on my fourteen-year-old grandson,” Alexis broke in, drawing Anna’s attention back to her. “After watching that lunatic manhandle a little girl, he arrested the child trying to protect his sister. So spare us the excuses—where is Danny?”

“He’s in the interrogation room,” Anna said. “I want to help, Alexis, but even you said Danny threw the first punch—”

“I can’t listen to you anymore. I’m calling the mayor.”

“You can see Danny now,” Anna told Jason, gesturing towards the interrogation room. When Elizabeth started to follow, Anna snaked out her hand. “Family only.” Elizabeth stopped, not wanting to argue, but Jason had no patience for this.

He brushed Anna’s hand from Elizabeth’s arm, then raised it so that the ring was visible. “She’s family. Now let me see my son.”

—

Jake tossed his jacket over the hook by the door, then headed into the kitchen where he could smell the tray of brownies his brother was pulling from the oven. “Mom’s recipe?”

“No, I made these from scratch.” Aiden dropped the tray on the warming rack. “I needed a distraction.” He made a face, looked at his brother. “My dad came by today. He’s leaving again.”

Jake took down two glasses and retrieved the carton of milk from the fridge. “Seriously? Just like that? I thought you said things were fine at Thanksgiving.”

“They were.” Aiden jerked a shoulder, waved a hand over the brownies as if that would cool them faster. “He didn’t want to talk about it. At least not to me. Now if you’d come—”

“I told you, it’s not about me,” Jake interrupted, and Aiden made a face. “It’s not. Lucky doesn’t give a crap about me. He just knows he can use me to hurt Mom, and piss my dad off. He doesn’t like me more than you.”

“I know.” But Aiden was staring down at the uncut brownies. “But maybe he sort of does. I mean, he raised you longer—”

“And he raised Cameron the longest. Cam actually remembers him which is more than you and I can say, right? And he doesn’t give a shit about him either. Aiden—” Jake waited for his brother to look up. “I’m sorry. I never should have said anything to you. I knew your history with Lucky was rough, and I know I made it worse—”

“I would have kept poking at you,” Aiden muttered, turning away to look for a knife to cut through the dessert. “Bugging you until you said something. It’s fine. My dad’s never been a factor in my life, why should now be different?”

“Because it should be.” Jake watched Aiden carefully slice through the brownies, measuring to create even slices. “But I’m sorry anyway.”

“How’d…” Aiden paused, considering what he wanted to say. “How’d you get past it? Your dad being gone?”

Jake picked up one of the brownies, wincing at the heat. He blew on it, tossing it from one hand to the other. “I don’t know if I’m really past it. Like, I still—it sucks. Knowing he chose to leave. I believe he thinks he had a good reason, but—” He made a face. “This is gonna be so mean, but I gotta tell you, part of the reason I think I can live with what my dad did is because…I see what your dad is doing.”

“Because my dad clearly doesn’t want to be here, can’t really explain why, and hasn’t been around at any point in my life?” Aiden asked, almost with a smirk. “And wasn’t exactly pounding down my door for forgiveness. Your dad at least looks sincere when he says he’s sorry.”

“Yeah. I guess that helps. And I was an asshole to him when I got home from Spain. He kind of took every hit, which he really didn’t.” Jake popped a piece of brownie in his mouth. “Really could have taken it personally. But he just kind of kept moving forward, like accepting that I wasn’t gonna get over it right away. The only time he ever got pissed at me was when I mouthed off to Mom. Which…fair. I…I was a real dick to her.”

“You didn’t mean to be—”

“I did. I’m just sorry I did. All of that—” Jake shook his head. “It’s still weird. Knowing everything I know. And all the things they’ll probably never tell me. But then I see what Danny’s going through, and I just— you know? It doesn’t seem that big anymore.” He frowned, looked around. “Hey. Where is Mom? I thought she was supposed to be home for dinner.”

“I don’t know, maybe she got called into a surgery or something—” Aiden picked up his phone, tapped a few screens. “She didn’t text, but she doesn’t always remember—oh.” He lifted his gaze to his brothers. “She’s at the PCPD.”

“The—” Jake sighed, wiped his hands on a towel. “All right. Give me a second to find the bus schedule.”

“Really? You want us to just show up at the police station? That feels like a bad idea,” Aiden said, even as he followed Jake into the living room. Jake was downloading the app onto his phone, and only half listening.

“If we wait for her to come home, we’ll never find out why she was there. We show up, we got a chance to find out what’s going on.”

—

He had already been struggling to keep his temper in check in the squad room, focusing on getting to see Danny, his irritation rising at every obstacle thrown in their way.

But now he realized Anna might have been stalling for a good reason — Danny was sitting at the table, his face red and swollen from crying — and a bright, puffy black eye forming, the bruise blooming down his right cheek.

Jason stopped still in the doorway, then whipped around to find Drew on the other side of the room, still talking to Drew. Before he could back over the threshold and act on the impulse to do similar damage, Elizabeth reached past him, and closed the door — shutting the squad room away.

“Oh my God,” Molly cried, rushing around the table and pulling Danny into a rough hug, before pulling back to frame his face. “I’m going to kill him—” She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, stepped back. “We need pictures. Right now.”

Elizabeth picked up Molly’s bad from where she’d dropped it on the floor. “I’m going to get a first aid kit,” she told Jason, squeezing his arm. “I’ll be right back.”

Jason exhaled his first easy breath, turned his attention back to his son and went around the table to hug him. Danny had held up with Molly’s tearful hug, but he crumpled when Jason embraced him, his shoulders shaking. “I don’t know where he took her, I tried to stop him, but she was crying, and he wouldn’t let her go—”

“It’s okay.” Jason rubbed his back, met Molly’s eyes. “We’re going to take this one step at a time. First, Molly’s going to take some pictures, okay? We need to make sure we document this.”

Danny sniffled, then turned to his aunt, who’d found her phone and opened the camera app. “I know I hit him first, so I guess I’m guilty—”

“You’re a fourteen year old kid, Danny. He’s a former Navy SEAL and he’s three times your age,” Molly interrupted. She finished taking the photos, gripped it tightly in her grasp. “And he has my niece. Jason—”

Elizabeth returned then with a first aid kit. She gestured for Danny to take a seat back at the table and began to clean his cut. “Drew’s still out there demanding charges,” she told them. “Molly—tell me he can’t do this.”

Molly hesitated, grimaced. “If he’s insisting, and Danny…threw the first punch, the PCPD won’t have much choice. At least until we get in front of a court.” She pressed a first to her chest. “They might have to keep you overnight, Danny. You might be transferred to juvenile detention.”

—

“I don’t know why every meal in this house has to turn into a circus,” Tracy muttered, following behind Monica’s mechanized wheelchair. “I blame you.”

“I blame you—”

“Do they ever stop arguing?” Willow asked, joining Michael in the foyer with a smile. She held out a tumbler with a dark liquid. “I thought you’d need that after the third round between your aunt and grandmother.”

“Thanks,” Michael said, absently accepting the glass. He lifted it to his lips, but then looked over at opening of the door.

Scout ran through, her face flushed, breathing hard with pitched sobs. The nanny Drew had hired for her came after her, calling her name, but Scout kept running until she hit someone familiar—Brooklyn who crouched down and swept her into a tight hug.

“Hey, sweetheart, what’s wrong?” Brooklyn asked. She looked over at the door, maybe expecting to see Drew. “Where’s your dad?”

“Where’s Drew?” Michael asked the nanny. He hesitated, knowing that Danny had been with Scout, too. “Where’s Danny?”

“Oh—” The nanny’s mouth trembled. “It was so awful, Mr. Corinthos. Mr. Quartermaine came to get Scout, but she didn’t want to go—”

“He-he m-made me,” Scout wailed. “And he hit Danny!”

“He—” Michael set the tumbler down with a thud, whipping around to look at the nanny. “Where’s Danny?”

“He’s been arrested. Mr. Quartermaine insisted.”

—

“Alexis—”

At the familiar sound of her ex-husband’s voice, Alexis whirled around, then stabbed a finger at Ric’s chest. “You,” she hissed with deep, utter loathing. “You tell that cretin paying your bills that he is going to release my grandson. Right now. Or I will make his life a living hell—”

“I see the mayor wasn’t returning phone calls,” Drew said, snidely, arriving at his lawyer’s side. “Ric, I think I have some paperwork for you to file on my daughter’s behalf.”

Ric looked back and forth between them. “I remind you both that we’re on the same side—”

“That remains to be seen. Ric, I need you to file an order preventing Danny from going back to the Quartermaines.” Drew gestured at his cheek. “Obviously I’m not safe there, and if he can do this to me, what could he do to his daughter?”

Alexis fisted her hands at her side. “Ric—”

“Drew, I think perhaps you’re a little shaken. Why don’t we all go home,” Ric said, “sleep on it, and if you want to press charges tomorrow, we can probably talk to the DA’s office, maybe some counseling for Danny—” He met Alexis’s eyes, lifted his brow. “He’s been through a lot, and a judge would make that—”

“It’s not the first time he’s threatened me, or put hands on my daughter. I expect you to do as I ask, Ric. Or I’ll find a lawyer who will.”

—

Molly paced the length of the interrogation room, trying to order all her thoughts, but every time she so much as looked away from Danny, she could see his face, the bruise, the black eye, the cut—”

“We’ll get you a real ice pack,” Elizabeth told Danny handing him the cold pack from the first aid kit. Danny winced when the chilled side hit his skin, then relaxed. He looked at his dad, standing by the door, as silent and still as stone.

“Dad? Can you find out how Scout is? She was scared and crying and—”

“I’ll make calls,” Elizabeth said, getting to her feet. She started to look through her purse. “Odds are the nanny took her to the Qs, and I can ask Michael what’s going on.”

“Molly, they won’t really let him press charges, will they?” Jason asked. He gestured at Danny who was still sniffling. “He’s a kid—”

“The cop filed a report,” Molly said almost apologetically, looking at her nephew. “You threw the first punch. And Drew, as much as we hate it, had the right to take his daughter from the house. By force,” she added when Danny opened his mouth. “When we get in front of a judge, I know he’ll understand, but the PCPD doesn’t have a lot of choices here. If Drew insists—and—the DA—” She looked at Jason, and he closed his eyes.

Danny was his son, so a DA wouldn’t care about much else. “Molly—”

“I’ll make all the calls I can, call in every favor,” Molly promised. “We’ll get a court date as soon as possible, but—” She bit her lip. “The judge might not release him back to the Qs. He doesn’t have a guardian there—and I don’t think my mother is the right place. I don’t—” Her face was pale. “She’ll use it against you in the custody battle. I don’t know if she’s ready to back down. Even now.”

“Jason has the house now,” Elizabeth said, tuning back into the conversation. “Michael’s not answering,” she added. “I’ll call again in a minute. But Jason has the house—” she looked at him. “That should be good enough.”

“No furniture. I can get that done tomorrow—” Jason said, looking at Molly. “But it’s not my legal address. Not yet. I don’t want to take any chances the judge will refuse.”

“I’m gonna stay in jail?” Danny asked, his voice teetering into panic. “I don’t want to be in jail—”

“We won’t let that happen—” Molly folded her arms tightly. She looked at Elizabeth. “I don’t have the space in my place, and you’re not related—”

“What about—” Jason grimaced, looked at Elizabeth. “I’m sorry. This isn’t—”

“What about a future stepmother,” Elizabeth asked, and Molly widened her eyes.

“A future what?” Danny demanded. “What does that mean?”

“It means we’re going to get you out of here tomorrow,” Molly told him firmly, and Danny closed his mouth. “That’s what matters, isn’t it? Elizabeth is Jake’s mother, which might be enough, but if you’re…if you’re engaged or planning—” She looked at Elizabeth’s hand. “It might be enough—”

“I’m sorry, Danny, this isn’t how we were going to tell you—” Jason began, but they heard more shouting and something fell — a voice that had both Jason and Elizabeth scrambling for the door, Molly and Danny hot on their heels.

When they had it open, they found Mac holding Jake back, a chair tipped over between him, and Ric with a hand on Drew’s chest, as if keeping the other man from striding forward.

“You son of a bitch! You had my brother arrested! What kind of man does that?” Jake demanded, struggling against Mac’s hold.

Drew shot Jason a smug look. “Like father, like sons.” He looked at Anna. “Lock this one up, too.”

+42

Written in 58 minutes.

Jason gestured towards the archway leading into another part of the house — a large open floor living room and kitchen space that was as empty as the foyer. “Uh, I didn’t really—there’s no where to sit—” He gestured at the stools by the counter that separated the kitchen from the rest of the space. “I guess that’s…”

Elizabeth set her purse on the counter, then looked at him, and it was almost a relief to see his own uncertainty reflected back at him. He knew Michael was right. He knew that the only way forward was a conversation, open and honest, about her suggestion, and what he wanted to do with it. And that usually wasn’t an issue for them—

Except when the topic of the conversation was their own feelings or their possible future. They did not have a great track record where that was concerned, and Jason was unsure how to stop them from repeating old mistakes.

No way to go but straight ahead, he thought. “I, uh, went to Alexis’s office. To talk to her alone.”

“Without Molly?” Elizabeth frowned. “Was…was that a good idea?”

“I know Alexis is representing herself, but I thought—” Jason paused, trying to think of the best to articulate his intentions. “I thought after this weekend, after what happened, Alexis might be willing to agree that I’m not the enemy. That she and I—we both love Danny and we can work together to figure out what’s best for him. She…was not willing to compromise.”

“Nothing except full custody?” Elizabeth asked. When he nodded, she folded her arms, looked at the floor. “Well, that’s not surprising. Alexis doesn’t back down easily. Not when she thinks she’s right.”

“No. And she’s not willing to consider anything that isn’t full custody of Danny and Scout. So we’re right back where we started.”

“Ah—” Elizabeth looked up, her arms still tightly crossed, but there was tension in the thin smile she offered. “So the visit to Alexis was trying to get out of what I suggested. And now I’m the last resort—”

He winced, held up one hand. “I know it might seem that way, but can you let—let me explain, okay? Before you—” When Elizabeth dropped her eyes, he clenched his jaw. “Please don’t do that.”

Startled, she lifted her gaze to his. “What? What did I do—”

“You decided what my intentions were before giving me a chance to explain, and now you’re already off and running. I can see you thinking, Elizabeth, and we’ve done this before. You’re jumping to conclusions, and if this—if this has a chance, we can’t do that. Okay? We have to—” He gripped the edge of the counter. “We have to be able to trust each other. We used to do be able to do that.”

“I—” The tightness eased from her expression, replaced by a flush of red rising in her cheeks. She bit hard on her bottom lip. “You’re right. You’re right. I do that. I—I think the worst, and I start preparing myself for it, and it’s not fair. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” He stepped just a little closer, though they were still separated by almost a foot, and she lifted her chin higher so that she was still meeting his gaze. “Yes, I made an attempt to resolve this with Alexis because it would be better for Danny and Scout. But I also—” He looked down at his hand, focused on the edge of the counter that he still held because it was important that he find a way to explain this. Everything hinged on Elizabeth understanding why he’d done this.

“Also what?” she asked when he didn’t say anything.

He looked at her. “Because I didn’t want you to feel obligated.”

“Obligated—” she echoed, bewildered. “What?”

“Because I know—” He scratched the edge of his brow, shifted the weight of his body from one foot to the other. “I know we’ve been talking about what happened when Jake was born, and the regrets, and I know you carry a lot of guilt for how it got started, and I know that doesn’t change because I don’t blame you. You don’t think you deserve my forgiveness for that, and I haven’t been able to convince you otherwise. So, yeah, I guess I don’t want you to make a sacrifice because of you think you owe me something.”

Elizabeth exhaled slowly, looking away, her gaze focused on the bay window overlooking the street, the fading sunlight. “You think I’d be making a sacrifice,” she murmured finally. She brought her eyes back to his, and he was surprised by the slightly amusement he found there. “That marrying you would be a sacrifice. Something I should dread.”

“I—” Jason cleared his throat. “No, that’s not—I mean, yes. But—it would be. We’d—it’s not as simple as signing a certificate to make Alexis back down. A judge would expect us to—”

“To be married?” she finished, and he nodded. “Yeah, that was kind of the point of my suggestion. We’d have…figure out where to live, and how to tell the boys, and a lot of other things, but—I don’t know.” She chewed on her bottom. “I don’t see any of that as…a sacrifice. But…you do. And I don’t want that—”

“Wait—that’s not—”

“It’s the same, isn’t it? You’d have to give up something. I mean, you wanted to live with Jake and Danny—I don’t want you to feel obligated to me because you feel like I’m making a sacrifice. So I don’t know where—”

“I didn’t want you to marry me because you feel obligated,” Jason interrupted, and she closed her mouth, confused. “That’s not…that’s not why we should do this.”

Her lips parted and she crossed her arms again. “I don’t know if I’m hearing things, but…um, that almost sounds like…that sounds like you think we should.”

Relieved that for once, they seemed to be on the same page. He stepped closer again, leaving the distance between them only a matter of inches. “Yeah. I do.” Standing this close to her, he could see the pulse in her neck fluttering, her breathing was just a little faster.

“Oh.” Elizabeth licked her lips. “W-Why?”

He couldn’t stop himself, not this time. He just wanted to touch her, see if her skin was still as soft as he remembered. He cupped her neck, his thumb brushing over that racing pulse point, and her arms fell to her side.

“Because I haven’t been able to think about any thing else since you walked out yesterday,” he murmured, pulling her towards him, just close enough to feel her breath on his lips. How many times had he done that over the years, torturing himself just enough to see if she’d give in or pull away—

But this time was different. Her hands slid up his chest until they rested at his collarbone, and then she leaned in, brushing her mouth against his lightly, as if unsure of her welcome—

It was all the encouragement he’d needed, using his other arm to slide around her waist, pulling her against him hard, briefly trapping her hands against his chest, but she freed them, slid up, into his hair, the scrape of her nails sending sparks down his spine. He’d missed the way she’d touched him, the silky weight of her hair tumbling over his fingers, the soft curves of her body, and how they always fit against him perfectly—

She broke away from him, panting, clinging to him, then kissing him again, the nip of her teeth on his bottom lip. He pinched her butt lightly, and she laughed against his mouth, the curve of her smile intoxicating. He’d always been able to lose himself in the way she looked, smelled, the way she’d felt, and he’d had to put it away, to lock it up, and forget, the only way to survive losing her.

Jason lifted her slightly onto the nearby stool just so that he could part her denim clad legs. She wrapped her arms and legs around him like a vine, bringing the center of their heated bodies into contact—

He broke away—cupping her flushed cheeks in his hands, the glazed look in her beautiful eyes. “Is that a yes?” he murmured, before trailing lines of light kisses along her jaw, down to her neck, pressing his lips to her pulse, still racing.

Her fingers tightened in the fabric of his shirt, then slid down to his shoulders to push him away slightly, forcing him to lift his gaze to hers. “I thought I was the one asking this time. It’s my turn, isn’t it?”

“Well, if you want to get on your knees, I’m not complaining,” he said, and she threw her head back and laughed, long and full, her cheeks still flushed when she looked at him again.

“No, you never did.” Elizabeth stroked his cheek, her eyes soft. “Are we crazy? This feels crazy.”

“Maybe.” Reluctantly releasing her, he reached into his back pocket, and pulled out a black box. His fingers were almost trembling as he tried to flip it open. “It’s not—it’s not traditional—”

“Neither are we—” But her voice died when he turned the box around and she saw the ring with the emerald at the center, the gold twisted around it little emeralds laced through like leaves. “Emerald and Ruby. That’s…”

“Their birthstones—”

“You—” Her voice faltered and she lifted her shimmering eyes to him. “You included Aiden. Not just…Jake.”

“Yeah—I thought—I mean, it’s all of us, isn’t it?” he asked her, taking the ring from the box, setting that aside. “If we really want to make this work…I want you to be in Danny’s life. What you said yesterday—about what Alexis sees in you—she’s not wrong. You’re an amazing mother, and you’ve raised three incredible sons. I mean, it’s not just—I don’t just want you for Danny. I—” He forced himself to finish. “I want you for me, too, it’s just—”

“You’re a package deal.” Elizabeth’s smile was so brilliant he was almost blinded. “That’s—that’s—that’s what I want. All of us.” She held out her hand. “I didn’t even know how much until you….until right now.”

He slid the ring on her finger, and she wiggled them, the gems catching the light from above them. “It’s perfect.” She slid her arms around his neck, pulling him back against her. “I love it, and—”

She was cut short when a familiar, but unwelcome sound interrupted her.

His cell phone rang.

Jason shook his head. “I’m not answering—”

“You have to.” She took a deep breath, and when he didn’t reach for it, she slid her hand into his front pocket to retrieve it. She furrowed her brow. “It’s…I know that number. That’s Chase.”

“Chase?” he echoed. He took the phone from her, stepped back and answered. “Yeah?” His face tightened and he looked at her. “I’ll be right there. Tell him not to say a word.”

“What is it?” Elizabeth slid off the stool, already reaching for her purse. “Is it Michael or—”

“Danny.” Jason clenched his jaw. “He was arrested for assaulting Drew.”

You’ll never know how close I came to just ending this part with “And then the phone rang.” But I decided I did not want to be chased down with pitchforks. Toodles 😛

+42

Written in 59 minutes

At the knock on her office door, Alexis slowly rose to her feet. “I’m not sure it’s a good idea for you to be here without your lawyer.”

“Maybe not.” Jason stepped across the threshold and closed the door, leaving it open a few inches. “But I’m here on my lawyer’s advice. In a way.” He paused. “I’ve been legally advised to take Danny home from your house, and move him into my full-time custody immediately. That leaving him with you and Scout may be used against me.” He lifted his brows. “Again.”

“Are you here to tell me that I shouldn’t expect my grandson to come home after school today?” Alexis asked coolly. “You could have left that message with my secretary—”

“I wanted to ask you about Scout.”

Alexis stopped, squinted. “What about her?”

“The reason Danny is with you is because what happened on Saturday. He wanted—needed—to be with his sister, and I didn’t want her anywhere near her father after what happened.”

Alexis sat back down, reached for her glasses, toyed with the ends. “I’m aware it was not a happy exchange—”

“Drew made it worse, and I don’t if he did it to be malicious or if he’s just that stupid. Maybe it’s both.” Jason rested his hands on the back of a chair. “He’d only sent over the proposal to sell the penthouse. Molly was preparing an injunction, and he had to know it was months away from happening. But he said it anyway. In front of his seven-year-old daughter. And when she was upstairs, in her room, sobbing into her mother’s sweater, he tried to forcibly remove her from the room. He ended up putting hands on Elizabeth instead when she tried to stop him.”

“And you put him against the wall. In front of your sons and my granddaughter—”

“Danny took Scout out of the room before that happened. Alexis—” He pressed his lips together, searching for patience, for the words to make this right. “I was never Drew’s biggest fan, I think that’s clear. I don’t know what happened to him while he was in captivity, and I know he did some time in prison—”

“I hardly think you’re one to talk about a criminal record—”

“You may not like me, and you may disapprove of the way I’ve lived my life, Alexis, but you have no record that I have ever put my hands on a child. Or a woman. Do you?”

She looked down at her desk, then met his gaze again. “No. You emotionally abused my daughter, and we both know you threatened to kill her. But you didn’t actually do it—”

“Your daughter stood by and watched my son get kidnapped, then hired men with guns to threaten Elizabeth and the boys in the park.”

“You forgave her—”

“We moved past it. If you want to hold that against me, that’s fine. That’s not why I’m here—”

“Then why are you here? We both know if you wanted to take your son away from me, you’d have done it—” Alexis leaned back, crossed her legs. “Tell me what you want.”

“If I thought—” Jason hesitated. “If I thought there was a chance that we could convince Drew to leave Scout in Port Charles while he goes to DC, if he’d leave her with you, then I’d be open to a compromise. Sharing custody of Danny—”

“The same terms as you had with Sam?” Alexis asked, leaning forward. “Because that’s the only agreement I’ll make—”

“Sam and I never had an opportunity to come to a new agreement, but if you mean what we had before I left, if you want weekends, we can—”

“No, I want you to have weekends. Maybe some holidays. If it was good enough for you then, and it’s clearly good enough for you with Jake, then I don’t see why this is any different.”

Jason clenched his jaw, biting back the words he really wanted to say. “I’ve already signed the papers for a property in town, Alexis. You know this. Jake is moving in at the end of next week, and Danny will be with me as soon as Drew takes Scout to DC. What Danny needs — what he deserves — is to be with his sister for as long as possible.”

“Because you don’t care enough to have them with you. We both know you and Elizabeth cooked up this custody of Jake scheme just to make yourself look better in the court. But it’s a lie, Jason.” She clasped her hands, looked at him coolly. “You’ve been coasting on being a full-time father for exactly one year, and that was decades ago. The only child you’ve ever shown any real interest in is the one you took from your brother. You let Sam do as she liked with Danny, and Elizabeth had free reign with Jake. It’s too late to pretend you’re anything than a part-time father. You want to do what’s best for Danny and Scout? You’ll leave them with me. Just the way things are now. That’s the only deal on the table.”

“I had a feeling you’d say that, but I had to try.” Jason went to the door, then looked back at her. “When Drew comes for Scout, and you and I both know he will, I’ll pick up Danny after that.”

“We’ll see.”

“I guess we will.”

—

Aiden swiped through a few recipes, hoping that some sort of inspiration or spark of interest would take a hold. He was used to shoving his frustrations into the work, kneading dough or hand mixing something until he was too tired to remember why he was angry in the first place.

But he just wasn’t interested in trying another sourdough starter or experimenting with macrons — he didn’t have the space for those anyway, he thought darkly, switching to Instagram.

There was a light, hesitant knock on the door, and Aiden barely looked up from his sprawling position on the sofa. “It’s open,” he said.

“Uh, hey.”

At the sound of his father’s voice, Aiden sat up warily. Lucky stood just inside the doorway, his hands in his the pockets of his coat. Remembering his mother’s words from the day before, he set his phone on the coffee table. “Hey.”

Lucky came in further, closed the door. “I…meant to call after Thanksgiving. It was good to have you there. Your grandmother likes when you visit.”

“Okay.” Aiden waited, because he knew what was coming. Had almost accepted it, he thought. And yet, he was bracing himself all the same.

“I, uh, had a chance to pick up a job. Escorting doctors into the Sudan. So—”

“So you’re going back to Africa.” Aiden nodded. “Okay. Good luck.” He reached for his phone, unlocked it, and made a show of scrolling through the apps, but his heart was pounding and his face felt hot.

“I really did think about staying this time, you know? I looked around for a job—”

“You don’t have to explain. I know you like your job. What you do. You like saving people.” Aiden shrugged, opened his email, stared at it blindly, not even seeing what was in the inbox. “No one here to save, right?”

Lucky didn’t say anything right away, but then he sighed. “I just…I don’t know what you really need me to do. Your mom—she’s got it all handed. You know? And there are so many people—”

“I used to wonder if it was me,” Aiden said, surprising himself. He still didn’t look at his father. But Lucky fell silent anyway. “I used to think maybe you knew that I was gay, and that’s why you stayed away. I mean, everyone knew, right? But you being back—” He finally looked at Lucky, met the older man’s gaze. “I was able to let  that go. You didn’t care that I was gay—”

“I don’t—”

“Because you don’t really care at all. About me. You never have. I get that now, and I forgive myself for ever wishing you would.” He got to his feet. “Thanks for at least have the decency to say goodbye, but there’s no point. You and I don’t have anything except DNA.”

“Aiden, let’s just—” Lucky took a step forward, stopping when Aiden held up a hand.

“Charlotte used to bully me, did you know that? Charlotte, your niece? She’s okay now, but when we were kids, she was a real brat, and she used to tease me that my dad didn’t love me the way hers did. Because her dad gave her a name. He was proud enough to claim her. Charlotte Cassadine. Like that was something special.”

“Your mother—”

“We all have Mom’s name, and I like it that way. Even Jake who has a dad who gives a damn. We have Mom’s name because she’s here. Not because she has to be. But she wants to be. You don’t. And you never did. I forgive you for that.” He leaned down, scooped up his phone. “You can go now, and worry about the people who need you. No one here does.”

And then he went upstairs.

His father didn’t try to follow.

—

Twenty four hours. Twenty four hours since her hasty run out of Jason’s office at the warehouse, and it had been radio silence.

Elizabeth stared blindly at the computer screen, updating the nursing schedule yet again, trying to figure out how to cover shifts without taking on more herself.

Jason hadn’t called. Hadn’t contacted her in anyway.

Maybe he was really thinking about it, she thought. Or maybe he was so appalled at the suggestion—

Stop it, now you’re just being an idiot.

She made a face, then sent the document to the printer that sat on a shelf beneath the screen, jerking the paper free as soon as she could.

“Bad day?”

Elizabeth looked over, saw Willow stepping up into the nurse’s station. “Trying to deal with this schedule. We’re still short two nurses, and I can’t work the doubles I used to. Not as the head nurse—”

“I can pull some extra shifts if you tell me when you’re needed.” Willow smiled, but it felt slightly forced. “I’m so grateful to be back, so just let me know and I can make sure to be available.”

Trying to stay out of the Quartermaine house and away from Drew? Elizabeth forced the thought away, hoping her reaction didn’t show in her face. She turned away, reaching for a pen. “Great. Thanks. I’ll get you the times, and you let me know what you can take.”

“No problem. Um…you had your deposition, right? For…Jason?” Willow asked, and Elizabeth looked up. “How did it go?”

Elizabeth furrowed her brow. “Fine, I guess. They’re not fun. Why?”

“Oh. I—I agreed to do one for Drew. You know, since we worked together for a while and we, um, got to know each other.” Her cheeks turned red and she dropped her eyes. “I was just wondering how they were.”

“Not a walk in the park, but you’ll survive.” Elizabeth paused. “You’re still willing to do that, even after Saturday?”

“Saturday—” Willow looked at her with wide eyes. “What do you mean?”

“What do—you live in the same house, how can you not know? Danny and Scout are with Alexis because Scout was so upset at the way Drew acted when they went to pack some things. He told her they were selling the place. He tried to drag her out of the room—”

“That’s—” Willow bit her lip. “That’s…I’m sure there’s some misunderstanding—”

“I was there, Willow. There’s no misunderstanding. Look, if you want to take a chance on Drew—” She waited for the younger woman to look at her. “If you want to tie your name to his…through this deposition, I can’t stop you. But I’d think about how much I really know that man. I’ve know him a decade, and I was scared what he might have done if Jason weren’t there.”

“Jason probably made everything worse. He wasn’t supposed to be there—”

“He—” Elizabeth closed her mouth. “You do what you want, Willow. Just think about what you’re risking.” Her phone buzzed, and she plucked it out of her pocket, sucking in a breath when she saw Jason’s name on the notification screen.

Can we talk?

—

Alexis set her briefcase on the floor, smiling when she saw her grandchildren on the sofa, Scout’s head bent over her homework and Danny explaining a math problem to her. This was exactly how it should be, she told herself. And it would be, just as soon as she won her battle in court.

Jason had already blinked, even if he didn’t realize it, and Alexis knew the key to getting him on her side was focusing on the bond between Scout and Danny, and their need to be together. And he’d given her ammunition against Drew—

No, as soon as she could get Jason to fall in line, they could focus on the real obstacle.

“Hey,” she said, approaching the duo. She stroked Scout’s hair. “How do you feel about some take out for dinner? I can order from the Grille.”

“Yeah, okay,” Danny said. He got to his feet. “Can I help you find the menu?”

She furrowed her brow, then gestured towards the kitchen where she kept the menus. Once inside, she turned to her grandson. “I imagine that you’re not really looking to help pick out dinner.”

“No, whatever you want is fine.” Danny slid his hands into the back pockets of his jeans. “Um, I was wondering when we were going home. I mean, back to the Qs.”

Alexis froze, her hand partially in the takeout menu drawer. She looked at him. “Well, what if you didn’t go back?”

Danny hesitated. “Grandma, I know you and Dad are fighting about me where me and Scout should end up, but Dad only let me come here because of Scout.”

“Because he knows you belong with your sister. He said so today. That’s all I want, honey. To keep you together.”

“But Drew isn’t gonna let that happen. He said so, and Dad doesn’t think he’ll back down. He says he wants me to live with him. He got us place, Grandma. For Jake, too. I can’t stay here.”

“But—” The doorbell interrupted her, and she sighed. “Hold on to that thought. We’ll talk once I get rid of whoever is out there.”

But when she pulled open the door, she found Drew on her doorstep. Along with a uniformed police officer.

“Alexis. I’m done playing nice.” He waited for a beat. “Either you get Scout here right now or this officer will arrest you for kidnapping.”

—

Her stomach was swirling and knotting all at the same time as she climbed the short set of stairs of the house Jason had recently purchased. She hadn’t really thought about that when she’d made her crazy proposal, but when he’d texted her the address as a place to meet —

Jason had obviously been waiting for her, and had the door open before she could even knock. His expression, as always, didn’t leave her much to room to guess, but she was hoping it was nerves she saw in his eyes — or maybe it was just the reflection of her own feelings.

“Um, hey…” she followed him into the entry hall, her voice and steps echoing into the empty space. “I…I guess since you’re asking me to meet here, I have my answer. It’s okay, it was a crazy idea anyway—”

“I don’t have an answer yet,” he said, and she closed her mouth on a gulp. He took a deep breath. “I just didn’t want us to be interrupted.”

“Oh.” She nodded, swallowed hard. “Okay. So…let’s talk.”

I actually feel really bad for leaving it there, so I’ll try to update tomorrow or this weeked 🙂

+37

Written in 63 minutes.

She had obviously not planned to blurt it out that way. Will you marry me? Everything inside of her was cringing, the heat crawling up her neck, into her cheeks.

Jason actually took a step back, his brows lifting almost meeting his hairline, his hands raised slightly in front of him. “I’m sorry, what did you just say?”

“I said we should get married, but don’t say no—” she said, the words falling out in a rush, jumbled and almost breathless. “Just let me explain—”

“I wasn’t going to—” he said at the same time, and they both stopped at the same time. Had all the air been sucked out of the room, she wondered? Why was it so hard to draw a full breath?

“I know it’s insane and completely out of nowhere, okay, but it’s a good plan.” Elizabeth snatched her purse up from where it had dropped next to the chair. “It makes it impossible for Alexis to use me against you, and it might give us more time to figure out the other problem. So don’t say no just yet, just—” She reached for the door. “Think about it, okay?”

“Wait, let’s talk—”

“I have a shift, sorry. I’ll call you or you call me or—whatever works.” She smiled brightly, sure her cheeks were flaming red, then jerked the door open and rushed out of the office,  closing the door behind her because he could follow.

—

Not far away from the warehouse, Molly stood in line at Kelly’s, still going over the deposition in her head. She’d thought it went all right, all things considered, but she could mostly understand why Elizabeth had been rattled.

At some point, probably around the child support question, Elizabeth had realized what Alexis planned to do — Molly hoped her mother hadn’t noticed that Elizabeth had started evading questions more after that point, but it was unlikely. Not only had Elizabeth’s direct answers shifted, but her entire body had tightened, her shoulders stiff, her hands fisted in her lap. But she hadn’t lost control and had finished the deposition, so whatever Elizabeth had been afraid of, it hadn’t happened.

Had it?

The person in front of her moved, and it was her turn to order. “Molly. Hey.” Joss Jacks flashed a friendly smile, with her order pad out. “To go?”

“Yeah, just a coffee.” Molly folded her arms. “Um, how are you?”

“I’m good, but—” Joss poured the hot liquid into the to-go cup. “I heard you took a leave from the DA’s office. Dex,” she added when Molly looked quizzical. “And Mom said you were on Jason’s case. I just—if you need anything. Like a character witness, you know? Jason’s been an honorary uncle—” Her mouth tightened. “More like a father figure, I guess. He’s been around more than my actual father. But seriously. Just say the word.” She set the coffee on the counter.

“I appreciate that.” Molly hesitated, didn’t pick up her order. “You used to be really close to Cameron, right? You were dating for a while.”

“Yeah, a little over a year.” Joss tipped her head. “Why? You think he could help? He totally would. Jason rescued him when Cyrus kidnapped him and Trina that one time—”

“Oh. I think I knew that at some point, but—no, I guess I was wondering if you were close to his family. His mother and brothers.”

“Oh for sure, Cam and I go way back. Our moms pretty much always hated each other, but that comes and goes. But Cam’s mom is the best. She’d be a great person to testify for Jason.”

“No, I know that—” Molly made a face. “Never mind—”

“Wait.”

Molly turned back, raised a brow. “Yeah?”

Joss glanced around, then leaned in, lowering her voice. “Obviously, I’m not saying anything or whatever, but I overheard my mom and Sonny arguing about this, and Mom’s worried Alexis is going to talk about Jason working for Sonny. And, like, that being the reason he wasn’t around Jake much. I mean, you know about Jason—” She winced. “I mean, you don’t know. But you know the rumors.”

“I do. That was a factor in why Jason wasn’t around Jake when he was younger?” Molly asked.

“Oh, yeah. I mean, I can’t tell you how much of one it was, because Cam never knew. But we used to talk about it sometimes, especially after Jason came back and we found out about Drew.” Joss shrugged. “The way Cam heard it, any chance of Jason stepping in and kicking Lucky Spencer out was over after Michael got shot. And he sort of remembers Jason being around a lot until he was five or six, and then completely gone until after the accident.” She paused. “None of that should matter when it comes to Danny, though. Should it?”

“Probably not. But it never hurts to think of all the angles. Thanks, Joss.”

Molly stepped away from the counter, her coffee in hand. That might explain Elizabeth’s nerves, she thought. If they’d agreed to keep Jason’s paternity quiet because of his work with Sonny, that would certainly be an area Elizabeth might want to avoid in deposition. But why would they be so nervous about it? Kristina was Sonny’s daughter — surely, her mother wasn’t going to bring that up in court.

But she also wouldn’t have believed her mother would draw up custody papers against TJ. Molly bit her lip, then headed for the parking lot. She had a lot of thinking to do — and maybe Elizabeth had been right to look rattled today.

She couldn’t let her mother win. Just couldn’t.

—

“This is a late shift for you,” Lucas said, stepping up behind Elizabeth into the nurse’s station. When Elizabeth jolted at the sound of his voice, he held up his hands. “Sorry, I thought you heard me come up.”

“I was distracted.” And staring at the same work schedule for the better part of ten minutes. Elizabeth blew out a breath, then looked at him. “I’m sorry, did you say something?”

“You had the deposition today, didn’t you?” Lucas asked, digging through a pile of charts. “I still can’t believe Alexis is doing this, even knowing what Sam’s will said.”

Elizabeth sighed, returned her attention to the schedule. “Alexis has always thought she knew best. If Sam wanted the kids to stay together, she’d have said so, right? I mean, it’s not easy when you have kids with different fathers, I know that.”

“I won’t claim to know what my sister was thinking, but I’m almost sure she’d hate to see what’s happened. Molly going against her mother, the kids in the middle.” Lucas grimaced, made a note in a chart. “Can I ask a ridiculous question? One that’s none of my business?”

“You can ask. I might not answer.”

“Fair enough.” He popped the pen back into his lab coat. “How did you have it? In your will. I know Cam’s an adult now, and Jake nearly is. But you must have worried.”

“Um, for a long time, it was my grandmother. I wanted the boys to stay together, and there wasn’t a lot of arguments. Cam doesn’t have any one else, and Lucky wasn’t going to argue with me. Maybe Laura might have wanted Aiden, but it was Gram who’s been their number one. But…when Jason came home all those years ago, back when we found out about Drew?” she asked. “I changed it. Jason had missed so much time with Jake, that I couldn’t stand thinking of him missing more, and I knew Gram might not make it easy on him.”

“So you were willing to separate them, then?”

“Yeah. I was. It wasn’t easy, but I also knew Jason would make sure Jake was around his brothers.” Elizabeth shrugged, tapped a few keys. “And if anything happened to Gram, he would have taken Aiden and Cam. There really wasn’t any question for me.” She looked at him. “Why?”

“Just thinking, I guess. The way kids get treated like objects sometimes.” Lucas leaned against the counter. “My parents got divorced when I was a kid, and it was bitter for a couple of years. Then…with Wiley, it was…I know it was the right choice. To give him back to Michael. Not to fight it, especially knowing Brad and I were done. But man, sometimes—” He exhaled slowly. “Anyway. It sucks for Danny and Scout. Being separated, and now being dragged into court. I wish Alexis weren’t doing this.”

“Well, she might be the best place for Scout, but Danny belongs with Jason.” Elizabeth logged out of the workstation, turned to him. “Alexis will see that. I won’t give up until she does.”

—

Michael slid into the booth across from Jason, a bottle of beer already in his hand. “Hey. I’m glad you called.”

“I didn’t interrupt anything, did I? It’s late—”

Michael waved it away, then took a swig form the bottle. “One of the good things about having young kids — they’re both in bed at nine, and I—” He grimaced. “For obvious reasons, I don’t really want to be alone with my wife right now. Better to go back when she’s asleep.”

“Michael—”

“Don’t want to talk about it tonight,” he interrupted. “Like I said, I’m glad you called. I didn’t think Jake would say anything to you—”

“Jake?” Jason frowned, shook his head. “Uh, no. Why? What’s wrong? Michael,” he said when the younger man made a face, looked away. “What’s going on?”

“Drew cornered Jake in the parking garage the other day,” Michael said, and Jason tensed. “He doesn’t know that I know, or that Jake’s already told us about Scout. Wanted to make a deal — Jake shuts up about what he knows, and Drew doesn’t help Alexis in the case—”

“Tell him to go to hell, I don’t care who he testifies for. Why didn’t Jake—”

“He thought you might rearrange Drew’s facial features again.” Michael lifted his brows. “Was he wrong?”

Jason grimaced, looked away. “No,” he muttered. “But one day—”

“Yeah, well, we’ll leave that plan in the drafts for now. If it’s not about Jake, what’s up? You said it was important.”

Jason hesitated. Now that he was in front of Michael, he wasn’t sure how to have this conversation. How to even describe the conversation with Elizabeth in his office — or why he couldn’t simply tell her yes or no. Why he didn’t know the answer.

“Was it the deposition? I know Elizabeth was scheduled to go today. She was worried, but I know she’d never do anything to hurt your case—”

“It wouldn’t be her fault.” Jason shifted slightly. “For one thing, Elizabeth is worried Alexis is going to dig into why I didn’t claim Jake those first four years. Sam left me over the job, and kept Danny from me as much as she could, even when I got home, so Alexis already knows that much. With Elizabeth…”

“You made that decision after I got shot,” Michael said, and Jason nodded, a bit reluctantly. “Well, Alexis can dig into it if she wants, but at the end of the day, she’s a Cassadine. Whose family kidnapped Jake. And you. And Drew. Throw that in her face.”

“Yeah, that could work. Except there are no Cassadines left. Helena is dead, and so is that Victor guy. Valentin’s on the run, I guess, but no one’s said he’s dangerous.”

“While my dad is probably still under investigation for what happened last summer.” Michael stared down at the table, took a deep breath, then looked up again. “That’s a problem, I guess. But it would be a lot of rumors and unsubstantiated cases. Is that what worries you?”

“Enough to know it’s not a small problem. The thing is—Elizabeth’s deposition—she got the idea that Alexis is gonna try to make it seem like she’s the reason Jake is who he is. And that I did nothing to contribute.”

“And Elizabeth shut her down, right? I know she did,” Michael said immediately. “She can try it, but it’s bullshit.” When Jason didn’t respond, Michael scowled. “It’s bullshit, Jase,” he repeated. “And you need to get in your head before you testify and make that face like she’s right.”

“That’s—we can deal with that some other time—”

“Damn it—”

“Elizabeth thinks — and Molly agreed — Alexis plans to use her as evidence I can’t be a full-time father, that I’ve barely been a part-time father. She has…she has a plan to make Alexis drop that entire line of questioning. And maybe even drop the whole case.”

Michael tipped his head. “Does she have a plan the way my mom has plans, or is it an actual plan?”

Jason closed his mouth, considered the question. “I think there’s a strong possibility it’s both. It has elements of a plan, but it’s—that’s not—it’s not something I think I can do.”

“What? We get rid of Alexis? No, Elizabeth wouldn’t say that. Mom would, but not—” Michael squinted. “Short of murder, Jason, I can’t think of anything you can’t do.”

“She said—” Oh, man he couldn’t even say it. He picked up his beer, took a long pull, then looked at Michael. “We should get married.”

Michael didn’t respond right away, then frowned. “That’s it? That’s the plan?”

“That’s it.”

“Oh.” He leaned back, rubbed his chin. “You made me think it was—I mean, it’s not a perfect solution, but I kind of see the point. Alexis thinks Elizabeth is so amazing, that everything about Jake is all about her, well then she should be happy Danny will have such a great stepmom there to support you. You get the right sexist judge who still thinks moms do most of the work—” Michael stopped, leaned forward. “But you told her no?”

“She wouldn’t let me—no, I haven’t yet.”

“Yet. So you’re going to say no.”

“I don’t—” Jason picked up the beer again, shook his head.

Michael was quiet for a long beat, then folded his arms on the table. “I know first hand that getting married for a custody battle doesn’t always work long-term. Willow and I had…there was good in there, and Amelia—I wouldn’t change her for the world. But all things considered, it probably wasn’t the best choice. That being said, Willow and I barely knew each other back then. You and Liz? You guys have known each other my whole life. You know her. You can trust her to do this, and to be amazing with Danny—”

“That’s—” Jason looked away, struggling to put his order his thoughts. “Of course she would. That’s not the problem. I’d trust Elizabeth with my life. And my son.”

“Just not your name,” Michael said, and Jason winced. “I mean, I guess you’ve got the problem of an exit strategy. Danny’s, what, like fourteen? Four years he’s off to college, but there’s no chance Alexis comes back if she loses on this round. So how do you do that? You guys set a end date? Like we divorce in year two, year three?”

“That’s…” Jason shifted again. “That’s part of it.”

“Or,” Michael said, drawing out the word until Jason looked at him. “You don’t divorce at all. Is that the problem? It’s not that you don’t want to marry her. You don’t want to marry her like this.”

“I—” Hearing it put so starkly startled him, and he didn’t have a response right away. “Yeah. I guess—we’ve been talking a lot about when Jake was younger. That we…I know we both regret the way we handled things. Letting fear get in the way.” They’d had that conversation on Thanksgiving in the car, and he hadn’t quite been able to forget it.

“We would have had more kids.”

“Oh, probably. How many?”

“How many did you want?”

“Oh, dozens. To start with. You?”

“Whatever made you happy.”

“I’m not going to tell you that this the universe kicking at you, putting another chance in front of you. That’s not how the world works,” Michael said, and Jason looked at him. “And I know I don’t know everything about you and Liz, beyond the fact that you’ve always been close. I obviously knew you guys were a thing because Jake exists, but I never really asked you beyond that. Elizabeth is opening a door to a future you wanted once. Maybe she’s really only doing it because of the custody. But maybe she’s doing it because she’s having those regrets, right? Maybe there’s a reason it’s something she offers.”

“Maybe.”

“Because if you knew the answer no, Jase, you’d have told her that already. So talk to her. What does she want? Is she thinking one year and out, or maybe—” Michael shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe she’s not. But you won’t know until you talk to her.”

+40