February 10, 2015

This entry is part 8 of 17 in the Fiction Graveyard: Shadows #1

The remainder of Michael’s spring break passed in relative peace. Jason arranged for another doctor and released Dr. Vincent from his employ.

Michael gave his solemn promise to call daily and maybe Elizabeth could even help with his spelling during the calls. Elizabeth smiled and told him she’d look forward to that.

“I’ll call too,” Jason promised. He touched Michael’s shoulder. “Go wait in the car.”

“Bye, Liz,” Michael hugged her tightly. “Take care of Andi, okay?”

“Okay.” She ruffled his hair and kissed his forehead. “Take care of your uncle.”

Michael grinned and shot an adoring look at the man in question. “He doesn’t need anyone to take care of him.”

“Sure he does,” Elizabeth said with a teasing smile. “He needs someone to make sure he has enough…soup.”

“Soup,” Michael repeated. He looked at Jason again who was grimacing. “You don’t eat any soup.”

“Well, see, that’s a problem.” Elizabeth’s face turned serious. “I recommend a bowl of chicken noodle soup just as soon as you get home, okay, Michael?”

“I’ll make sure he eats all of it,” Michael promised. He hugged her again before heading to the rental car.

“I’d say thank you but you know how I feel about lying,” Jason murmured, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

“I think he needs to think he can take care of you,” Elizabeth said. She touched his upper arm absently as she stood at his side watching Michael climb into the car. “He’ll think he’s stronger then. And he’ll remember that it’s okay not to be strong all the time because well, if you need someone to look after you, then it’s okay for him to need that too.”

“Yeah…but soup?” Jason grimaced. “You couldn’t have suggested coffee?”

She laughed and looked up at him. “Just tell him that for every bowl of soup he makes you eat, he has to have a plate full of his least favorite vegetables.”

“You’re diabolical,” Jason said, unable to keep the smile back this time. “Is there some kind of handbook for mothers?”

“No, it’s just something my mother used to use on us,” Elizabeth replied. “My brother Steven wanted her to quit smoking so she told him for every day she didn’t smoke, he’d have to eat all the vegetables she could feed him.”

“Did she quit?” Jason asked.

“My brother is very stubborn. He ate vegetables by the plateful for almost a year before she told him she no longer craved cigarettes.” Elizabeth glanced back at the car. “He decided to be a doctor then. He figured that if he could make a difference in Mom’s life, he could do it for anyone. He was only eleven.”

“You don’t see him much, do you?”

“I don’t see him at all. He’s in Manhattan and he’s busy a lot.” Elizabeth’s eyes cleared and she smiled at him. “You should get going. Michael needs a full night of sleep before going back to school.”

“I’ll call when we get back to Port Charles,” Jason promised. He hesitated and then kissed her forehead. “Take care of yourself. We’ll be back soon.”

“When?” Elizabeth asked softly. She shook her head. “No–I didn’t… I shouldn’t ask. I never expected to come at all so whenever you get back, it’s fine–”

“Michael gets out for summer vacation at the end of next month,” Jason interrupted easily. “He’s been making noises about spending most of it here. And you’re due about then. You shouldn’t be alone.”

“Well, then I’ll see you next month,” Elizabeth replied, with a smile more genuine this time.

“I’ll see you then,” he told her. He backed up towards the car slowly. “Call if you need anything.”

“I will.”

They’d been back in Port Charles a week before Jason wished for the solitude of the house by the ocean.

Sonny dropped by more often than before they’d left, trying to gain back Michael’s love. The boy was having none of it and clung to Jason more tightly than before. Carly was still emotionally wrecked–the divorce proceedings were being strung out as Sonny continued to fight the custody decision.

She was fighting with Sonny, with Lorenzo Alcazar, with her mother, with Courtney and with herself for feeling resentment towards Jason. Jason understood that resentment and encouraged Michael to spend as much time as possible with his mother.

Work was tense–Faith Roscoe was still a problem though Lorenzo’s relationship with Carly had neutralized him, something Jason was grateful for. The less problems with the business, the less contact he had to have with Sonny.

Nothing was really that different than before their vacation. Except that Michael talked to Elizabeth daily and as if somehow sensing his guardian would never actually call on his own, he would dutifully hand the phone to Jason at the end of his conversations with his surrogate aunt. As a result, Jason spoke to Elizabeth daily now.

And it couldn’t go without mentioning that Ric stopped asking questions. Stopped asking to see Elizabeth, to call her, to know where she is. In fact, other than Jason dropping off Elizabeth’s letters to him, one would think the district attorney wasn’t married at all.

Ric’s sudden change was unnerving and Jason knew it would come to a head sooner or later but for now he relished the lack of Lansing in his life.

Until he found out the reason for Ric’s change of heart.

It was early May, just three weeks before the end of the school year. Michael was working on convincing Jason to spend the entire summer in Spain and also to bring along his mother and little brother–at least for a visit.

Jason had to take Michael by the warehouse briefly while he met with Max about something. He spoke in hushed tones a few feet away from the boy and Michael was growing bored waiting for Jason. He wandered towards the dock stairs and when he returned, his face was pensive and a little confused.

“Michael, didn’t I tell you to stay where I could see you?” Jason demanded. He left Max’s side and came towards the boy.

“Jason, when people get married, they’re not supposed to date anyone else anymore right?” Michael asked.

Jason frowned and crouched to be at Michael’s eye level. “Well, no. They’re not supposed to.” Had Michael seen something? Lorenzo and Carly on the docks? Sonny and Sam? He wished they would keep these things discreet.

“Elizabeth doesn’t right?” Michael asked.

“No, Elizabeth stopped when she married Ric,” Jason said carefully. “She’s a good person.”

“Well, then why didn’t Ric?” Michael asked curiously.

Jason stood abruptly and moved towards the dock stairs. He blinked and looked back to Michael. “Michael…”

“Do you think she knows?” Michael asked sadly.

Jason thought of the phone call from the day before when Elizabeth had excitedly told him about how often the baby was kicking now. “No, I don’t think she does.”

“I knew he would hurt her,” Michael sighed heavily. “I told her that but she didn’t believe me.” He frowned and then met Jason’s eyes. “Do you think Sonny knows?”

“I sincerely doubt it,” Jason sighed. He looked back towards the lower level of the docks where Ric Lansing and Sam McCall were sitting on a dock bench, curled up in each other. If Sonny knew his mistress was seeing his half-brother, there’d be no where Ric Lansing could hide.

“We should tell her. She’d want to hear it coming from family,” Michael said after another moment.

“Wait here,” Jason said quietly. He went back over to Max and hurriedly finished their conversation. Max had heard the conversation between Jason and Michael and Jason instructed him to keep it to himself for now until Jason had decided how to handle this.

“You are going to tell her aren’t you?” Michael asked as they were leaving the docks later. “If Elizabeth stopped dating, then her husband should have.”

“Michael…” Jason sighed and picked him up, setting him on a bench so they were eye level. “Some marriages don’t work out. But when it’s good, both people should stop dating other people, okay?”

“Well, yeah.” Michael shrugged. “But she’s so nice and pretty. Why would he hurt her like that?”

“Just because he has something special, it doesn’t mean he knows its value,” Jason said after a moment. Telling Michael that he didn’t suspect Ric Lansing had a soul much less cared what this could do to Elizabeth didn’t really sound good to him. “Some people, they can’t appreciate the good things in their lives. The gifts. They let them go.”

“Why?” Michael asked. “I have this autograph from Michael Jordan and I’m smart enough to know that’s really special.”

Jason smiled faintly. “Adults are funny, Michael. We don’t always realize what we have until it’s gone, and then mostly it’s too late to fix it.”

“I bet if you had Elizabeth, you would never be that stupid,” Michael said confidently. He hopped off the bench. “Right?”

“I wouldn’t bet too much money on that,” Jason said quietly as they made their way to Harborview Towers.

Later that night, Michael was preparing to make his nightly phone call to Elizabeth. “We should tell her,” Michael argued. “She should know.”

“Yes, she should,” Jason agreed. “But you’re not telling her.”

Michael pouted. “Liz is my friend, I love her. I think she’d like it better if I told her.”

She’d be mortified if the little boy she adored told her that the husband she’d given too much trust to was sleeping with Sam McCall but Jason couldn’t say it like that. “I’ve been friends with her for a long time,” Jason said instead. “Since you were a baby. There’s no way we can tell her that she’s going to like it. It’s going to hurt her, Michael. A lot. She thought they were a family, she thought she could trust him.”

“I don’t want to hurt her.” Michael hesitated. “Jason, maybe you should tell her.”

“Why don’t you go upstairs and get ready for bed while I call her?” Jason suggested.

“Okay,” Michael agreed reluctantly. “Do it nicely, okay? It’ll be better that way.” The boy ran towards the stairs and Jason sighed as he started towards the phone. There was no way that this would be better.

He dialed her number.

“Hey, Michael,” Elizabeth greeted warmly.

“It’s–” Jason cleared his throat. “It’s me.”

“Oh, Jason–I’m sorry, I’m just used to talking to him first,” Elizabeth replied, her warmth undiminished. “How is everything?”

“It’s–Elizabeth–” Jason hesitated. Ric’s cheating on you. He’s a bastard. You deserve better.

The words were on the tip of his tongue but nothing could force them out. Instead he cleared his throat again. “How’s the baby? Are you feeling all right?”

“I’m feeling fat,” Elizabeth laughed. “How did Michael do on his spelling test? Did he pass?”

“He got an A,” Jason told her. “I took him out for ice cream to celebrate.”

“I knew he had it in him.” She was silent for a moment. “Jason, it sounded like there was something you wanted to say. Is everything okay?”

He hesitated. There’s something you should know about Ric. He could feel the words already formed in his throat. All he had to do was say them.

But he couldn’t give her that knowledge and then leave her alone to deal with it. No, she needed to be told in person. So for the first time, Jason consciously told her a lie. “Everything’s fine.”

He had just hung up the phone when a freshly bathed and pajama clad Michael came back down the stairs. “Is she okay?” Michael asked.

“I didn’t tell her,” Jason admitted. “I’m going to tell her when we go back at the end of the month.”

Michael frowned. “Why wait that long?” He climbed onto the couch next to Jason.

“Because I don’t think this is something she should hear over the phone,” Jason told him. “She shouldn’t have to deal with this alone.”

“She’s gonna need a lot of support,” Michael said after some consideration. “We should go now.”

Jason shook his head and laughed a little. “Elizabeth would be the first to tell you that school is more important.”

“But we’ll go as soon as school’s out?” Michael asked. “And you’ll tell her then?”

“I promise,” Jason assured him.

Michael nodded seriously. “And you’ll make her feel better.”

“I–I don’t know about that,” Jason said. “This isn’t good news, Michael. It won’t make her happy. I don’t know if anything will make her feel better.”

“You’ll make her feel better,” Michael said confidently. “Remember the first time? When we left? She wasn’t smiling and then you talked to her and then she was smiling. So you can make her feel better.”

“Michael–”

“She doesn’t deserve that kind of pain,” Michael told his guardian with a kind of maturity a boy of his age shouldn’t possess. “It’s just like with Mom and Sonny. He knows how much she loves me ‘n Morgan and he used that against her. Mom didn’t deserve to be hurt like that. And Elizabeth doesn’t either. There are people in the world that like…” he hesitated, searching for the right words, “they’re different from everyone else. ‘Cause they got bigger hearts. And they love more. Liz never would have married Ric again if she wasn’t one of them people. And people like that, we gotta protect them.”

Jason smoothed his hand over Michael’s unruly mop of red hair. “Elizabeth is special,” he agreed quietly. “She’s always taking in people that most have given up on. Zander, Ric…me.” He looked away. “She’s got something in her that searches for the good in everyone, no matter what they’ve done.”

“Exactly,” Michael said, pleased Jason had found the words he couldn’t. “And we can’t let Ric ruin that just because he didn’t understand.”

“Understand…?” Jason shook his head. “Understand what?”

“Love shouldn’t be something you toss around, like an old hat,” Michael said fervently. “It’s special and if you love someone, they’re special. Ric doesn’t understand that. He only cares about himself. So you have to make sure Liz knows it’s not her fault. You have to make her feel better.”

“I’ll do the best I can,” Jason pledged. “But until then, don’t let on that something’s wrong. She’ll only worry.”

Michael nodded. “And you know what would help her? If we stayed the whole summer.”

Jason waited a moment. “Well, her due date is early July. I see no reason why we have to leave before the baby’s born.”

“And we can talk about the rest of the summer after Andi’s born?” Michael asked hopefully.

“We can discuss it,” Jason agreed.

This entry is part 3 of 4 in the Fiction Graveyard: Poisonous Dreams #1

Elizabeth closed the door behind her and sighed, taking in the guest room of Jason’s penthouse. Her home, she corrected mentally. It was her home for the foreseeable future.

She’d moved her things into the same room she’d stayed in originally and if she closed her eyes, for a few minutes it would almost feel like the last ten months hadn’t happened. That maybe if she wished really hard, it would be that night in September again and she’d get a second chance.

But inevitably, she’d open her eyes and she’d come crashing back to reality. So what was the point of pretending for a moment?

She sighed again and crossed the room to the vanity table. As a wedding present, Carly had redecorated the bedroom in soft rose and beige colors. It was almost like the other woman was making an extra effort to be nice to her, but Elizabeth was willing to take what she could get. Any allies during this period of her life would be welcome.

She sat down and stared at her self for a few moments. Her makeup was faded but still intact for the most part, her hair was still done. She smiled. “Elizabeth Morgan,” she said softly, trying to get used to the sound of the name from her lips. The smile fell after a few moments.

It was ridiculous to try and pretend like any of this mattered. So she lived in his penthouse, had his name and now wore a gold wedding band. They were married in name only. There would be no romantic honeymoon, no silky lingerie…she closed her eyes, letting her imagination drift. They would have gone to Italy, rented a villa by the ocean. The room would have had a balcony overlooking the water with silk curtains. She could almost feel the wind on her skin and see the bed where he’d—

A soft knock startled out of her fantasy. She flushed and took a deep breath. If she allowed herself to think about things like that, she’d never survive this marriage.

She peered in the mirror and saw the door over her shoulder. “Come in,” she called.

Jason entered, his tux jacket long gone and his shirt undone a few buttons. Her mouth was suddenly dry. She licked her lips. “Jason.”

“Hey. I just” He shifted and leaned against the door frame. “I wanted to make sure you had everything you need.”

Not everything. She closed her eyes, forcing the idea out of her brain for good. “I’m fine,” Elizabeth answered. She reached up and started to unclip her hair, letting the curls fall around her neck. “You?”

He watched her take the pins out of her hair and set them on the vanity, her rich chocolate curls surrounding her face. She still wore the silk strapless gown and her lips were still painted a dark red. She was so beautiful

And she was speaking. He shook his head slightly. “I’m sorry—what did you say?”

“Never mind,” Elizabeth replied. She unclasped the locket from Luke and set it on the glass surface.

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Uh…Sonny wanted to invite us over for brunch tomorrow. Emily’s supposed to come too.”

“That’s fine,” Elizabeth answered. She slipped her bracelet off and set it next to the necklace. She glanced down at her left hand with a small diamond engagement ring and a slim gold wedding band.

“Good night,” Jason said finally after an awkward silence.

“Good night,” she echoed.

He closed the door behind him and she let out an uneasy breath. Her eyes fell on the locket and she picked it up. She hadn’t opened it, hadn’t thought about it actually. She clicked it open.

Inside was a picture of Elizabeth taken the summer of the “Dead Ted” disaster. Her hair was worn short—she looked so much younger and happier. She couldn’t remember being happy all that much at that time, so she wondered when Laura had taken this.

The picture in the other side was of Jason. Her eyes widened at the sight—it was an old picture in which he had longer hair and he was young. Why would Laura…what would give the idea to put their pictures together in a locket?

A lump grew in throat and she wished she could call Laura and ask her, to talk to her. She stood and crossed to the nightstand where the phone was.

She dialed the familiar number and waited until his soothing voice came over the line. “Hello?”

“Luke, it’s Elizabeth,” she said softly, sinking onto the bed, the locket still in her hand. “The locket from Laura–”

“What about it darlin’?” Luke frowned. “You sound upset. Is everything all right?”

“Did she ever tell you what was in it?” Elizabeth asked softly.

“Not especially,” Luke replied. “She kind of fretted for a while about what to put in it, and then she told me one day she’d figured it out and that it was the perfect idea. But she didn’t tell me, told me I’d have to wait until the wedding.” Luke hesitated. “What was in it?”

“An old picture of me and an even older picture of Jason,” Elizabeth replied. “So you don’t know why?”

“Well, my angel was always perceptive. It’s possible she saw what was between you and Morgan and went from there. I can’t really help you, sweetheart.”

“I didn’t want to bring up Laura…but I just opened it and it just…” Elizabeth trailed off. “Luke, I can’t do this,” she breathed, the sound of tears in her voice. “I’m not strong enough.”

“Sure you are, Liz,” Luke replied, confidently. “You got that baby inside you. You’re strong enough for anything.”

“What if I’m not?” Elizabeth asked. “What if Ric finds me?” her voice almost fearful. “What would he do if he could get to me?”

“He can’t,” Luke assured her quickly. “Morgan and Corinthos have taken every security measure possible to ensure differently. They’ll protect you and if comes to anything else, I’ve got the resources to protect you.”

“Luke—”

“Elizabeth, get some rest. You’ll wear yourself out worrying about thing that will probably never happen.”

She chewed on her lip. “I’ll see you later, Luke. Thank you for everything.”

“Not a problem. Good night.”

She replaced the phone in the receiver and stared at the open locket again. She touched her still flat abdomen. “I won’t fail you,” she murmured. “I promise.”

Jason was waiting the next morning when Elizabeth came down the stairs. She was dressed in a gray tank top and a pair of jeans, her only jewelry were her rings and the locket. Her hair was thrown up in a careless ponytail. He became alarmed when he saw the pallor of her face.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

She nodded and grabbed her purse from the closet. “Morning sickness,” she murmured.

“Isn’t there anything you can do to avoid it?” Jason asked, curiously.

She shook her head, not wanting to share the details of her pregnancy with him. She’d already made her decisions. She would barely mention it, not let him to go any doctor’s appointments. She was refusing to let him be emotionally involved.

“We’d better be going,” she murmured as she slipped past him out the door.

“Good morning,” Carly chirped without looking up from her magazine. She sipped her orange juice. “How was the wedding night?”

“Knock it off,” Emily shot back. She smiled at Elizabeth and Jason. “Hey guys, Sonny’s still cooking.”

Elizabeth groaned as she slid into a seat next to Carly. “Do not even mention food,” she grumbled.

“Ah, morning sickness,” Carly murmured. “I know how that is. You know, Sonny made these really cool smoothies for the first few months. I got all the vitamins and stuff I needed and it was easier to keep down.”

“You think he’d give me the recipe?” Elizabeth asked curiously.

“Ha!” Carly replied. “I doubt it. But he’ll probably make you one whenever you want it.”

“Good. Because I don’t know how I’m supposed to survive this morning crap,” Elizabeth muttered. She poured herself some orange juice. “I’m not a morning person to begin with.”

“Who’s your obstetrician?” Carly asked curiously. The two women fell into a discussion about their doctors and different delivery methods while Emily leaned closer to her brother.

“How’s it going so far?” she asked.

He shrugged. “About the same as it’s been going for the past two months,” he answered.

“It’ll all work out,” Emily said, patting his arm. “I’ve got faith.”

“At least someone does.”

Elizabeth was curled up on the sofa in the penthouse reading a book about pregnancy when Jason entered later that day. He’d gotten some weird looks from some of the men at the warehouse and had asked one of the guards what it was about. Johnny told him that the men thought it was odd that a newly married man would be in work at all the day after he’d been married. Apparently, not everyone realized the marriage wasn’t real.

“Hey,” Jason greeted.

“Hey,” Elizabeth murmured, not looking up.

He stood awkwardly near the stairs for a few moments. “Uh, did you want to do something for dinner?” he asked.

“I’m not really hungry,” Elizabeth replied. She turned a page and began reading about the changes her body would be making this month.

“You should eat anyway,” Jason told her. “You’re—”

“—eating for two,” Elizabeth finished. “That’s what Sonny said when he was checking on me earlier.”

“Still” Jason eyed the doorway to the kitchen. “We’ve probably got some frozen dinners in there. I could heat them up,” he offered.

“That’s fine.” Elizabeth bit her lip. “Courtney called. She left the number of her hotel room. It’s over there,” she said, indicating the pad near the telephone. “She told me to tell you she’s having a great time, but wishes you were there. She misses and loves you.”

Jason winced. “Elizabeth—”

“I think I’ll go to bed after dinner,” she interrupted. “I’m tired.”

He exhaled slowly and waited a beat before heading for the kitchen. It was like pulling teeth trying to have a conversation with her. It had been since the day she’d come to Sonny for help in May. They’d just discovered Ric’s connection to Sonny and were discussing their options.

“He’s hell bent on destroying you,” Jason said again pointing out the obvious. “We’ve got to do something to neutralize him.”

“You’re right. I know you’re right.” Sonny sighed and shook his head. “But I just don’t feel right doing it to my own flesh and blood. My mother’s son. My brother, y’know?”

“I understand that, Sonny, but Ric has crossed the line far too many times. With Carly, with Courtney—” Jason shook his head. “We need to do something.”

There was a knock at the door then and Marco opened the door. “Elizabeth Webber to see you.”

Sonny frowned but waved her in. Elizabeth was pale and trembling when she entered. “Sonny, I know this is unexpected, but I really need to talk to you.”

“Sure, what’s up?” Sonny asked. “Are you okay?”

Elizabeth glanced at Jason nervously and licked her lips before saying. “It’s—it’s Ric. He—I—” Tears gathered at the corner of her big cerulean eyes. “I’m pregnant and when I went to tell him, he was on the phone. And II over heard him talking about taking you out and destroying you” She swallowed hard. “He saw me and he knew I’d overheard too much. He—” Elizabeth stopped suddenly.

“What happened, Elizabeth?” Sonny asked concerned. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and led her to the couch. “Did he do anything to you?”

“He just—he told me if I went to you, he’d kill me and the baby. But he told me that he’d take care of it anyway.” Her eyes searched his dark ones. “He scared me, Sonny. I can’t—he threatened my baby. I knew I had to come to you.”

“You came to the right place,” Sonny told her. “We’ll protect you. You have my word.”

And since that day, it’d been Sonny’s goal in life to protect his half-brother’s ex-girlfriend and her child. When Jason closed his eyes sometimes, he could still remember that haunted look in her eyes that day.

She was four months pregnant now and would be showing at any time. Against his better judgment, sometimes he thought what she’d look like. Her face would be fuller, her breasts heavier, her stomach rounded. She’d probably look more and more beautiful each day.

He knew it’d be all too easy to get involved in her pregnancy and become attached to her unborn child. This child, though half Ric Lansing’s, was part of Elizabeth and he knew he’d love the child.

But this marriage would be over one day and Elizabeth would take her child and leave. He’d lose another child. He couldn’t do that again, so he was going to force himself to stay aloof. Not ask any questions or make suggestions. He was going to make sure she was healthy and safe, and there his obligations ended.

He tossed the dinners into the oven and turned the heat on. He headed for the wall phone, intent on calling Courtney and asking her not to call the penthouse again during the day. She had his cell phone number, there was no reason to disturb Elizabeth.

He stopped halfway through dialing and hung up the phone. Defending Elizabeth to Courtney was the fastest way to screw this all up. He leaned against the kitchen counter and sighed, irritated. How did his life get this complicated so fast? A year ago, he’d been traveling in Europe, his only thoughts of home were Sonny, Carly, Michael and Elizabeth.

Now, he’d been married once to a woman he couldn’t stand, managed to alienate the woman he loved, and gotten involved with his boss’s sister. In his eyes, the only thing he’d done right lately was agree to marry Elizabeth. He’d keep her safe and healthy and love her from a distance. He could do it. He’d been doing it for years, why should now be any different?

He returned to the living room to tell Elizabeth that dinner was almost ready and saw her stretched out on the sofa, her book having fallen to the floor. She was sleeping soundly, her hand resting on her flat tummy.

He sighed and hooked his arms underneath her light body, lifting her into the air. She stirred only for a minute, long enough to tuck her head in the crook of his shoulder.

He set her on her bed and took off her sneakers, placing them at the foot of the bed. It was a warm night, so he left the sheets off. He kissed her forehead and before he knew it, he had his large tanned hand resting on her abdomen.

“I promise to always take care of you,” he said softly. “You and your mother.” He waited another moment to be sure Elizabeth didn’t stir again before he stood and left the room.

When the door clicked shut, Elizabeth opened her eyes and a single tear streaked down her cheek.

Meanwhile somewhere in Europe

Ric Lansing glared at the wedding announcement. “I don’t know what he thinks this is going to solve,” he snarled before tossing it aside.

Faith Roscoe laughed and sipped her wine. “He’s made some sort of deal with the families,” she replied. “No one is to support anything to do with you or I and in return, he’ll let them run some shipments through his territory. It’s actually rather smart having Jason marry the little twit—”

“Watch it, Faith,” Ric warned.

She rolled her eyes and leaned towards him, her blood red lips in a perfect pout. “Don’t tell me you still care about the girl? After all, you threatened to kill her and your unborn child should she run and tell anyone what she overheard.”

“You don’t understand,” Ric muttered. “She was never supposed to get involved. She wasn’t part of the plan.”

“You should have stayed as far away from her as possible,” Faith reminded him. “And now, you’ll probably have to get rid of her.” She sighed. “We should do it as soon as possible. Get it over with.”

“No,” Ric said sharply. “After the baby is born. We’ll take her.” He shoved a folder aside. “Her and the child. She’ll come to me and we’ll raise the baby together.”

Faith smirked. “You really think she’s going to come to you willingly? She went to Sonny to get away from you.”

“I’ll make her see it my way. I’ll make her understand that I never wanted to hurt her, that I was just angry because things had gotten out of control. She’ll understand, Faith.”

“Right,” Faith drawled. “So, we wait for five months to finish Sonny off just so you can have your precious princess?”

“We wait. We let Sonny think he’s got everything under control,” Ric replied. His brown eyes flashed in anger. “Don’t do anything stupid, like you did last month by grabbing Elizabeth. That just pissed Corinthos off more. Why do you think this marriage happened?”

“Fine. We let the little morons sit in peace,” Faith replied. “That doesn’t mean I’m happy about it, by the way. I hope you know that.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Ric muttered. He stood. “I need some fresh air.”

Emily dropped into a seat across from Lucky. “The photographer dropped off the wedding photos,” she told him, shoving the large manila envelope across the table.

“Why’d they give it to you?” Lucky asked, curiously.

She shrugged. “Because I ordered it. I thought one day, they might want a memento.” She opened the envelope and took out the package. “Here’s one of her walking down the aisle.”

He took it from her. “She looked almost happy,” he mused.

“I think part of her is happy,” Emily replied. “She’s married to Jason, who you and I both know she’s still in love with. Sonny and Jason would do anything to protect her. She’s got her friends and family looking out for her. The only thing that would complete it—”

“Would be Ric’s head on a silver platter and Jason loving her in return,” Lucky finished.

“If I get my way, she’ll get both,” Emily said fiercely.

Lucky raised an eyebrow. “How you going to accomplish that?”

Emily searched through the pictures, handing one to him. It was a picture of Elizabeth and Jason dancing. “Tell me he doesn’t love her,” she challenged.

Lucky studied the picture, the way Emily’s brother had his arms tight around his best friend’s face and his head dipped, his forehead resting in her hair. “Okay, I can’t say that he feels nothing for her.”

She put the pictures back and nodded. “That’s what I thought.”

February 6, 2015

allweare I had hoped to begin posting this last week, but alas, things got away from me a bit. This story is unbeta’d at the moment, so if you notice any typos in the chapter, let me know ASAP so I can fix them. This story is about halfway finished, and I have plenty of chapters ready to go so there should be no lull in posting (save my own insane schedule)

So All We Are, Chapter One has been added and Friday is your official day for future chapters. 🙂

I still need to update The Best Thing‘s in progress ebook, I’m completely aware of that fact. I had planned to do it but then you know…life. I’ll take care of that and the events calendar later this afternoon after I run another errand or so.

You might have noticed that Life for Rent has been moved to the series page, as well as a bit of sprucing up on that story page in general — All of Me now has a cute little featured banner image. I still have some more plans for that section but for now, it’s cleaned up as much as I can do at the moment.

I am still playing around with a Valentine’s Day story for next week, but I can’t make any promises. My entire writing schedule was thrown off when I got sick last week so if it gets posted it might be late.

This entry is part 1 of 18 in the All We Are

There’s an albatross around your neck
All the things you’ve said
And the things you’ve done
Can you carry it with no regrets
Can you stand the person you’ve become
– The Weight of Living, Part 1, Bastille

Friday, October 20 , 2006

General Hospital: Nurse’s Station

Elizabeth Spencer glanced up as Kelly Lee tapped her fingers on the counter in front of her. “Hey, Kelly.”

“Hey, babe.” The obstetrician joined her inside the hub and reached for a chart. “Ah, I hadn’t heard from you since we confirmed your condition. Regarding that test. Have you decided not to take it?”

“Oh.” Elizabeth flushed and looked down at the charts. “No, it’s not…I decided to have it at Mercy.” She bit her lip. “It’s not personal, Kelly. It’s just…his family works here. I’m afraid if his name comes across on a record, they’d look into it, and it’d be out before I knew how to deal with it.”

Before she could tell Jason and see his reaction face to face.

“No sweat.” Kelly set the chart down. “But, hey, let me know if there’s anything I can do.” She touched Elizabeth’s elbow. “You just say the word and we will totally replace the tequila with some ice cream.”

“Thanks, Kel.” The beeper at her waist vibrated and emitted a sound. Elizabeth glanced down, frowning. “I’m being paged to the conference room.”

When she opened the door to the conference room, a chill slid down her spine. Epiphany Johnson sat there with an annoyed look on her face—but next to her, Ric Lansing with a smirk.

God.

“Um, what can I do for you guys?” Elizabeth asked, stepping over the threshold.

“You’d better close the door, Elizabeth.” Ric leaned back in his chair. ‘You don’t want others to overhear.”

“Shut up,” Epiphany shot back. “You’re here as a courtesy. I do not have to allow you to harass my nurse on my watch. Elizabeth, before we start this, I think you should call a lawyer.”

Elizabeth shut the door and leaned against it. “I—I don’t think….why do I need a lawyer?”

She didn’t even have a lawyer.

“Elizabeth, the board has voted to suspend you indefinitely without pay,” Epiphany said bluntly. “The DA here has informed them you’re under suspicion for theft and distribution of narcotics.”

Elizabeth just stared at her. Those words—they made sense. But they couldn’t. Because how was any of this possible? “I—” Blindly, she reached out for the chair and dragged it out so she could sit before her knees gave out.

“I fought it, honey, but they weren’t interested.” Epiphany leaned forward. “Call a lawyer—”

“Elizabeth can trust me to watch out for her interests,” Ric said coolly. “While the DA’s office is pursuing the charges, Nurse Johnson, I am not a vindictive man. I believe Elizabeth made a mistake. I’d like to make it go away.”

“I’ll bet you do.” Epiphany rose to her feet. “You don’t say a word to this scum, Elizabeth. You get yourself a lawyer and keep your mouth shut.”

“It’s time for you to leave, Nurse Johnson,” Ric said. “Elizabeth and I will discuss her options.”

“It’s all right,” Elizabeth told her supervisor while looking at Ric. “I can handle this.”

“Ain’t right,” Epiphany muttered as she made her way out of the room. “Going after a woman like this.”

“Put your cards on the table, Ric.” Elizabeth took a deep breath, hoping her face looked as stoic as she intended. She was a quivering mess of jelly inside, but Ric Lansing would not prey on her again.

“Your husband is in a rehab center recovering from an addiction to Oxycotin,” Ric said, flipping through a file. “We served a search warrant on your home this morning—”

“You did what?” Elizabeth cut in, stunned. “How—why wasn’t I notified?”

“I’m not required to do so.” Ric set the paper aside. “We found a stash of pills in the cookie jar. Despite the fact your husband has been gone for some time.”

Elizabeth closed her eyes. “I—I thought I found them all—” How could he have left that in her home, the sanctuary she shared with her son?

“The pills have been traced back to General Hospital, where a rash of thefts have occurred recently. On your floor, during your shifts.”

Her heart began to race. This wasn’t Ric playing around. The PCPD had searched her home, had had her suspended from her job. Without pay. Those words began to sank in. “I didn’t—”

“Elizabeth, no one wants to see a single mother go down for this. I want to make this go away for you.” Ric leaned forward. “If you can help me, I can help you.”

“There’s always a price isn’t there?” she murmured. She swiped at her eyes. “You don’t want to help me. You started this. You came at me because there’s something you want from me. What is it?”

“I’m empaneling an investigative grand jury to bring RICO charges against Jason Morgan,” Ric said simply. “You testify truthfully in front of that panel? This goes away.”

Elizabeth folded her trembling hands in her lap. “Are you kidding me? I don’t know anything—”

“You don’t even know what you don’t know.” Ric turned a page in his file. “You’ve been in and out of Jason’s life for many years, Elizabeth. More than anyone else, I’m aware of the hold he has over you.”

“Ric—”

“But now I’m asking you to make a choice. Do the right thing. Save yourself for once. Save your career, your life with your son.” Ric leaned forward. “You wasted so much time running after Lucky and Zander, after Jason, trying to save them. You sacrificed yourself for them. What have they ever done in return?”

“Are you insane? What about what you’ve done to me? What you’re doing now?” Elizabeth started to shove the chair back, but he held out a hand.

“I’m giving you a choice, Elizabeth,” Ric repeated. “It’s Jason or your freedom. You will be convicted for this. What happens to your son if you go to jail? Audrey’s in her seventies, hardly able to care full-time for a toddler. He might end up in Lucky’s custody. A drug addict for a stepfather?” He pursed his lips and leaned back. “I don’t know if I could stand back and let that happen. I might have to step in, petition that he enter the system—”

Her vision blurred and her heart felt like it was leaping into her throat. “You…you stay away from my son. How…” She closed her eyes. “You can’t do this to me.”

“I can, Elizabeth, and I will. I may not be able to work on cases involving my brother, but I will punish Jason—”

“Why?” she bit out, her voice sounding tinny to her ears. Distant. “Because Sonny chose him?” She raised her eyes to his. “Or because of me?”

“Because he’s a criminal,” her ex-husband said tightly. He rose to his feet. “You have a week to consider your choice. Testify against Jason or you’ll go to jail yourself.”

General Hospital: Parking Lot

Elizabeth’s hand slipped as she tried to slip her key into the lock. God. What was she going to do? She couldn’t testify against Jason. She couldn’t. He was…it was Jason.

But she couldn’t lose her baby. Her career. Her freedom.

She had to talk to Jason.

The phone was in her hand before she could remember removing it from her bag, but she stopped before she could dial.

What if Ric had her phone bugged? What if he’d put a GPS on her car? Was he even required by law to inform her? She couldn’t do that, get Jason swept up in this mess that way.

“Elizabeth?”

Robin Scorpio’s soft voice broke through the haze of terror and Elizabeth focused on her dark-haired friend. “Robin. Thank God. Thank God. I—” She closed her eyes. “I need you to do me a huge favor and not to ask a lot of questions.”

“Of course.” Robin stepped forward. “Honey, what’s going on?”

“I—I need your car. And your phone.” She dug her keys out. “Here. Can we trade? Just for tonight.”

“Um…” Robin blinked and looked down. “I mean, it’s not a problem. But what’s going on?” Her eyes were soft with concern. “Elizabeth—”

“I need to make sure that no one follows me. Or knows who I’m calling.” Elizabeth shoved her hair out of her face. “I-I need to talk to Jason. I might have to meet with him. I can’t…no one can know.”

“Oh.” Robin held out her keys and phone. “Are you in trouble? Is he? Is there anything else I can do?”

Elizabeth accepted them gratefully and traded her own. “Yes. But I can fix it. I think I can fix it. I have to fix it.”

“Elizabeth, let me drive you somewhere. In my car. I’m…you don’t look good.” Robin held out a hand. “Please. Come with me. We’ll have dinner with Patrick and we’ll work this out—”

“No, I can’t involve you more than this. I wouldn’t ask but I just…I don’t know…” Elizabeth took a deep breath. “Okay, okay. I have to chill out. I just…I need to talk to Jason. He’ll make this go away.”

Robin still looked unconvinced but reluctantly pointed out her own car, . “Elizabeth, promise me, when you can tell me what’s happening, that you’ll tell me.”

“I…yes.” Elizabeth nodded. “Yes, I can do that.”

Once inside Robin’s car, she took out the phone and dialed Jason’s number. Let him pick up, let him pick up.

“Robin? What’s up?”

“Thank God, you’re there. It’s Elizabeth.”

His voice shifted to worry. “Elizabeth? What’s wrong? Why do you have Robin’s phone? Are you all right?”

“I—I didn’t want anyone to know I was calling you. I have to meet with you. Please. I promise it’s an emergency.” The first tear slid down her cheek. “God, this is all falling apart and I don’t know what to do. I just made Robin trade me her car and her phone so no one would know and that’s all I know to do. I don’t know if I can make this go away.”

“Hey, hey…” Jason paused. “Give me one second.” She heard mumbling in the background. Oh, God, what if Sam was there? She squeezed her eyes shut. “Sorry, Carly’s here. I had to leave the room. Listen, are you…are you okay to drive? Can you come here?”

“No, no, he might be watching your building. If he finds out I contacted you—”

“Who? Elizabeth—”

“Vista Point. We-we can go there right? It’s out of the way. He’ll never think of it.”

“Elizabeth, what’s going on?”

“I-I can’t. I mean, over the phone.”

“Okay. Right. I can be there in a half hour. Elizabeth, are you sure you’re okay to drive?”

“Yes. I can be. I have to be. I just…” She took a deep breath. He had enough crazy people in his life. “I’ll be fine. I just…I’ll be fine as soon as I see you.”

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

Jason emerged from the kitchen and scowled, finding Carly still there. “I told you to go away.”

“Please,” his friend snorted. “You mentioned two of my least favorite people on the phone. If you think I’m—” She stopped. “Jason, what’s wrong? Is…Elizabeth okay?”

Jason reached for his keys. “No, but I’m going to find out what’s going on. I think someone’s threatening her. She had Robin’s phone, she’s using her car. Which means she’s scared to be her in own.” He tugged out his phone and sent a quick message to Milo to track Elizabeth’s car, to make sure if someone was tailing Elizabeth, Robin wasn’t in any danger either.

“It’s not like her to overreact,” Carly followed him out the door and onto the elevator. “I mean, she’s a pain in my ass, but not as much as she used to be. Do you think it’s Lucky bothering her?”

Jason hesitated, because that had been his first worry. But how could Lucky simultaneously be tailing her car, monitoring her phone, and watching his building? “I don’t think so.”

The elevator opened to the parking garage. “All right, well let me know if there’s anything I can do.” Jason frowned at her, and she scowled. “Shut your face and just go.”

Vista Point

He pulled his bike into a parking spot next to a red sedan he recognized as Robin’s. She must have broken all the speed limits to get here before him, and that all but terrified him. Elizabeth knew better than to take risks like that when she was pregnant.

Pregnant. God. What if something had happened to the baby?

Elizabeth was pacing on the upper landing of the point, where the cliffs opened up over the Port Charles skyline out to the harbor. Her fingers were twisted together, her movement jerky. Tears stained her face.

“Elizabeth—”

“Oh, thank God.” She rushed towards him but drew up short just before reaching him, as if she’d been out to embrace him in relief. “God, Jason. I’m so sorry. I don’t know what to do.”

“Okay.” He put a hand on her elbow and drew her closer. “Just take a deep breath. Someone’s threatening you? Is it Lucky?”

“No, no.” She shook her head, her loose hair flying around her face in the October wind. “No, I—” She took that deep breath. “Okay. Okay, I can do this. I was paged to the conference room at work. Epiphany and Ric were there.”

Ric. That slimy piece of shit. He should have known. “What did he do to you? What did he say?”

“I’ve been suspended indefinitely without pay,” Elizabeth said, her words tripping over each other. “The board found out the DA is investigating me for stealing pills and giving them to Lucky, I think. They—they searched my apartment this morning. I-I didn’t even know until Ric told me, but Lucky had one more stash, and they traced it to GH.”

Would those two assholes never stop ruining her life? “Okay. Do you need a lawyer? I can get Diane—”

“Ric said he’d drop the charges if I testified against you in a grand jury he’s putting together.” The words flew out of her mouth so fast he nearly missed them. Christ. This is what that little animal was holding over her?

“Elizabeth, I don’t know what you could testify about—” And then he stopped. “Did he ask you about anything specific?”

“No, no, and I don’t even know what I could tell him.” Her face was sheet white. “Not that I would. I mean, Jason, I can’t testify. But what if I refuse, and he does that subpoena thing? I’ll have to lie, and I don’t even know what he wants from me—”

“Just…” He placed his hands on her shoulders. “Okay. Let’s just take a minute, okay? He told you if you testified against me, these other charges go away?”

“Yes. He told me if I don’t, he’ll make sure I get convicted, then he’ll petition to send Cameron into foster care. Jason, I can’t—my baby.” She pressed her lips together. “I don’t know what to do.”

“You have to testify.” His mouth was dry. “Elizabeth, I can’t ask you take a chance with your freedom, with your son—”

“Jason, I can’t testify against you.” She stepped towards him, her hand slid over her still flat abdomen. “What, I should raise my child to know I allowed myself to be blackmailed? What if this baby is yours? What if you go to jail?”

His fingers tightened around her shoulders before they slid away. “I’ll make sure you have everything you need—”

“There has to be another way,” Elizabeth said. “I mean, Jason, why do you think I panicked and freaked Robin out? I came to you so we could find a way out of this without Ric knowing. I was scared he’d see me coming to the penthouse, or if he could search my place, I thought maybe he could bug my cell phone. I-I don’t know how any of that works.”

“Elizabeth, I can’t let you protect me. Not again. You’ve already risked yourself enough,” he said, remembering the file she’d shredded. “Tell Ric you’ll take the deal.”

“No,” she said, some of the panic fading from her expression. “No. I can’t…I won’t be responsible for that. There has to be away to make sure he can’t force me to testify. If I can’t testify, he won’t bring those charges against me, right? He already told me he’s not really interested in that.”

One day, Jason was going to make that psycho pay for the pain he’d inflicted on the people he cared for, particularly Elizabeth and Carly.

Carly.

Sonny and Carly.

An idea flickered in the back of his head. A crazy idea. He swallowed. “I might—I have to check with Diane to see if it would work. Okay? How long did Ric tell you had?”

“A week.” She drew closer to him. “What? You know something.”

“It’s…an idea, but I have to check with her. Can give you me a day? I have to make sure all our bases are covered.” Without thinking, he stroked her cheek, and she turned into his touch. “I will make this go away, Elizabeth. No matter what I have to do.”

“Hey, you don’t want me sacrificing myself to protect you?” She arched a brow. “I don’t intend for you to sacrifice yourself for me, either.”

He nodded. “I’ll call a guy. I’ll have a burner phone sent to you at your apartment. And a temporary car so Ric can’t trace your movements. Give Robin back her stuff.”

Jason took her hand and led her back to the parking lot. “Ah, when do you hear back about the paternity test?”

“Next Friday.” She closed her eyes. “The same day I have to tell Ric.”

“Okay.” He stopped next to Robin’s car. “Are…everything else is okay?”

“Other than my blood pressure today? It’s fine.” She touched her belly. “I should—pick up Cameron. Drop Robin’s car off so he doesn’t know I had it, and then go pick him up. I can do this.”

“Okay.”

He watched her drive away before pulling out his phone. Diane was on speed dial and picked up on the second ring.

“Hello, hello. I’m ready to earn my fabulous retainer.”

“Diane, I have a question about spousal privilege.”

February 4, 2015

bestthing I added Chapter Seventeen to The Best Thing, and promise we’re back on a regular schedule. I hope this chapter and the next several make the absense worth it, I worked hard on them 🙂

I’m still hoping to have All We Are by Friday, but maybe Saturday or Sunday. I should have it within the week. I’m mostly recovered so I’ll be back to writing again which I had to give up last week in lieu of pretty much being dead. Thanks for your everlasting patience.

The in progress ebook has not been updated yet — I have hopes of taking care of that later tonight or tomorrow.

I know I have to update the events calendar — I’ll take care of that tomorrow as well.

This entry is part 17 of 34 in the The Best Thing

I gotta say something I’ve been thinking about
I can’t wait to lay around with you
And tell you all the secrets I’ve been keeping to myself
It’s been awhile since I’ve felt butterflies.
Do you feel the same way too?
If every single second could last that much longer
Would you hold me?
– Kiss Me Again, We Are in the Crowd

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Warehouse: Sonny’s Office

Jason stepped over the threshold, the first time he had been face to face with his partner since their confrontation the week before over Carly and Evie. He wanted to believe they could still pull this situation back from the fire.

It would hurt to sign custody of Evie away, he knew that. And he knew it wasn’t following the spirit of his promise to Sam, but if Sonny could get help—if he could really deal with his demons for the first time in his life, he might find himself again.

Be the man Jason had given his loyalty to all those years ago.

If there was any hope of drawing that man out again, finding him inside the darkness, Jason thought he could live with the pain of losing Evie. Because Sonny, at his best, was a good father. He would be good for Evie.

And Jason wanted to believe they could find that.

Sonny glanced up from the paperwork he was considering and leaned back in his chair, his dark eyes flat. “We didn’t have a meeting today.”

“No.” Jason lowered himself into the chair. “No, this isn’t…business. It’s personal.”

“Oh?” Sonny lifted his brows. “I didn’t think we had anything personal to discuss after your ultimatum last week.”

“It wasn’t—” Jason stopped and shook his head. “I’m sorry if you feel that way. I didn’t…I want this to be better, Sonny.”

“You think I like the state of affairs?” Sonny snapped. “You think I like walking on eggshells all the damn time?”

Jason exhaled slowly. “I want what’s best for all of us, but Evie comes first. I made a promise to Sam to look after her—”

“To keep her away from me.” Sonny pressed his lips together. “Did you help her take my daughter away?”

“What?” Jason demanded. “Are you accusing me of tricking you into signing those papers?” How did it always spiral like this? When had Jason lost control of the moment? He used to be able to keep Sonny calm, to keep him stable.

“I don’t know. You didn’t seem surprised when her lawyer showed up.” His lips curled back in a sneer. “It was a fait accompli according to Diane Miller. I had signed the termination papers, and she’d filed them in family court. You had legal guardianship, even though my damn name is on the birth certificate—”

“I didn’t know—I told you this then.” Jason clenched his fists. “But you didn’t want the details. You just wanted to keep everything the way it was. You and Carly were making your marriage work. Sam knew she’d be forgotten, that you would never tell Evie about her—”

“So you decided for me—”

“You decided,” Jason cut in, his teeth clenched. “I started this, but you finished it. I told you it didn’t have to be this way, but you—” He closed his eyes. “Sonny, I’m not trying to punish you, I just—you need help. You need to talk to someone—”

“I’d be fine if I weren’t surrounded by liars, by traitors,” Sonny hissed. “I used to believe in you, Jason. I used to think you had my back—”

“I told you I would always protect your family,” Jason said. He rose to his feet. “And I’m doing that. I tried to protect Michael and Morgan, but I failed. I’m protecting Evie—”

“What gives you the right to decide I’m not a fit father?” Sonny lunged to his feet, leaning over his desk with his hands flat on the surface. “What makes you the better man?”

“I don’t know that I am,” Jason replied honestly. “I know what Sam wanted. I’m doing right by her. She knew you’d never put Evie first. Never value her above Carly and the boys. And nothing you’ve done this last year has proved her wrong.” He stepped backwards toward the door. “I came here, Sonny, because I wanted to believe we could still find common ground. Because I’m—Elizabeth and I are engaged. And I wanted to tell you.”

Sonny straightened, and he swallowed hard. “You—you’re getting married. To Elizabeth.”

Jason nodded and looked away. “And this morning, when we talked about telling the people we loved, telling our family, I wanted to tell you. Because you’ve been my family longer than anyone else.” He looked back to Sonny. “You taught me about loyalty. About friendship. What I know about being a father, I learned from you.”

Sonny looked down. “You don’t feel that way now.”

“Because you’ve lost yourself to the darkness. You’re trying to hold back the crash, trying to control it, but you can’t. You need to deal with it. You need to make it stop, or you’ll never be that man again.”

“You calling me crazy?” Sonny demanded, but his voice had lost some of that heat. “You think I need a shrink?”

“I don’t know,” Jason responded. “I just know that Carly and I have been holding you together for years, but we can’t do it anymore. I’ve been trying to do it all year, but it’s not working anymore. We need to do something else.”

“And if I don’t agree with you, you’ll keep Evie from me,” Sonny said. “You think that’s not an ultimatum?”

“I want Evie to know her father,” Jason told him. “I want her to know you the way I do. But she’s just a little girl, Sonny. Sam asked me to protect her. You asked me to raise her. I’m doing the best I can.”

“I’ll take your concern under advisement, but it looks to me like you want me to say no. So you can adopt her. So maybe Elizabeth can, too. You’ll adopt her little bastard son and be one happy family,” Sonny drawled.

“Don’t—” Jason’s throat was tight. “Don’t talk about Cameron that way. Or Elizabeth. I would never let anyone talk that way about Carly or Michael. Cameron is going to be my son. The way Michael is yours—”

“And you’ve never forgiven me for that—”

“You’ve never forgiven yourself,” Jason cut in sharply. “That’s why you keep bringing it up. In your better moments, you see this as evening the score. A child for a child. Yeah, it hurt losing Michael, but once you adopted him, I knew he was somewhere safe. With someone who would love him.” He hesitated. “And he was never mine to keep.”

“Evie’s not yours either, Jason,” Sonny rounded the desk, stepping towards. “So when you’re planning your perfect life with Elizabeth, remember that. I’m her father. This situation exists because I allow it to. I could go to a judge tomorrow and get her back—”

“If that’s the way you want to handle it, that would be your prerogative.” His head throbbed and now he wished he had never walked through the door. Did he really think that he could walk in here and tell him about Elizabeth like it was the old days? Did he think Sonny would be happy for him?

“You do think you’re the better man, don’t you? Don’t you—don’t you walk away from me!”

But Jason was already walking towards the door and pulling it open.

He wouldn’t make that mistake again.

Hardy House: Living Room

Emily pulled the curtain back from the window only to have Steven slap her hand lightly. “Hey! I’m…I’m just looking!”

“You know she hates it when you spy on her,” Elizabeth’s brother said with a good-natured smile, drawing her away towards the small crowd gathered by the sofa. Audrey was passing out glasses of champagne—something she claimed she just had lying around—while Monica and Bobbie were laughing with Nikolas.

Elizabeth had called earlier that day and asked if Emily and Nikolas could join some other members of the family at her grandmother’s that evening—she and Jason had something they wanted to share.

Emily had managed—barely—not to squeal until her cell phone was back in her pocket. She had stood in the lounge at the hospital jumping up and down like a crazy banshee. Her resident in the surgical program had just eyed her suspiciously before almost running away.

And then she’d arrived to learn Jason had called Monica and Bobbie. Their mother had the hugest grin on her face as she and Bobbie chattered about hospital news. She was finally being included in Jason’s life, and Emily had every hope that if there was going to be a wedding—and of course there would be, because what else could this news be?—Jason would be inviting other members of the Quartermaines.

Reluctantly, she knew, but finally—the fractures were healing.

“They’ve been standing out there forever,” Emily huffed, taking a glass of champagne. “And if they walk in and catch us drinking this, Elizabeth is going to murder me.”

Audrey pursed her lips. “You’re right. I should have saved it for after they actually announced—” Her cheeks flushed. “I suppose I just…I got ahead of myself. It’s not as though we know for sure—”

“But what else can it be?” Bobbie asked, her eyes sparkling. “I can’t imagine them gathering us for any other reason except an engagement—” Her eyes widened. “Oh, what if she’s pregnant?”

“Oh, God. Don’t even…” Monica’s eyes misted. “Oh, that would be wonderful—”

“Whoa, whoa—” Steven said, making a timeout gesture with his hands. “Listen, crazy family of mine—let’s not have my sister pregnant and married before she walks through the door. It could be anything. Jason could be adopting Cameron, they could be moving into together.” He pointed at his grandmother. “You—put those glasses back in the kitchen.”

“Steven Lars Webber,” Audrey began.

“Why aren’t they coming in?” Emily interrupted, going back to the window. “Jason arrived almost five minutes ago. Get in here, you lousy bastards.”

“She’s just looking forward to taking the credit for this,” Nikolas told Steven. “Opportunity creator, don’t you know.”

Emily scowled at him. “You always say that like I’m crazy. You think I didn’t have a hand in this? I put Lucky and Leyla together.” She frowned at Steven. “You dating anyone?”

“Oh, hell, that is the last thing I need right now,” Steven said. “Where the hell is my sister?”

Hardy House: Outside

“I’m sorry it didn’t go so well,” Elizabeth murmured, shifting Cameron to her other hip. “I know…you were hoping…”

“It’s fine.” Jason shook his head. “I just…I think I made it worse.” He glanced back towards the house. “Emily’s peeking again.”

“Yeah, I know.” Elizabeth turned towards the window only to see the curtain fall back in place. “I’m pretty sure our engagement won’t come as a surprise to anyone. They’re probably already drinking champagne or something.”

“I wouldn’t put it past my sister,” he admitted. He nodded towards the front door. “Should we go ahead and get this over with?”

“So romantic,” she sighed, but laughed when he scowled. “I know what you mean, and I know this part drives you nuts.” Evie began to squirm in Jason’s embrace, so they started up the walk.

Elizabeth started to push the door open but Emily yanked it all the way. “Finally!” the other woman said with an exaggerated roll of her eyes. “Give me a kid—” She plucked Cameron from her grasp.

They stepped inside, and Elizabeth pursed her lips at the sight of her grandmother’s champagne glasses and the milling crowd. They couldn’t even wait for them to announce the news before they started to celebrate?

But these people loved them, and their acceptance and support meant the world to her—particularly when she knew Jason wished Sonny were here.

Monica stepped forward, nearly reaching for Evie before she stopped herself. The longing in her eyes was almost impossible to watch, but it had been Jason’s idea to include his mother and Bobbie, someone he had always been able to talk with. So Elizabeth tugged on his elbow discreetly, and Jason handed Evie to Monica.

“Oh, she’s getting so big.” Monica pressed her lips to Evie’s forehead. The seven-month-old giggled and reached for her necklace. “And her hair is darker.”

“She looks more like Sam all the time,” Elizabeth said brushing a kiss on Monica’s cheek before greeting Bobbie and her grandmother. She almost laughed at the way all their eyes were on her bare finger.

“Enough chatter!” Emily declared. “We’ve come here for a purpose—” She stopped when the weight of Jason’s glare settled on her. “And it’s your prerogative to do what you want,” she finished in a mumble, setting Cameron on his feet so he could walk unsteadily towards his great-grandmother.

Elizabeth reached for Jason’s hand, linked them. “Do you want to do it?” she asked with a grin.

Jason shrugged. “We’re getting married,” he said plainly.

The squeals from Emily nearly drowned out the rest of the room, but Bobbie and Monica were both stepping forward to hug them. Nikolas and Steven shook Jason’s hands before embracing Elizabeth—and the force of her grandmother’s hug almost lifted Elizabeth from her feet.

“Oh, my darlings!” Audrey said, her eyes bright. She released Elizabeth and stepped towards Jason, surprising him with a kiss on the cheek and a light hug. “We thought this might be the news, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up—”

“As it is, I’m not going to be able to peel my wife from the ceiling,” Nikolas said, but he was grinning with an arm around said wife. “Congratulations, both of you.”

“This…” Monica handed Evie to Bobbie and stepped towards Jason. “Thank you—for…letting me be part of this.”

“I…” Jason looked at Elizabeth briefly. “I want Cameron and Evie to have people in their lives who love them.” He leaned down to lift Cameron in his arms as the fourteen-month-old boy tugged at his jeans. “We’re…going to get the adoption papers started as soon as we can.”

“Another grandchild!” Monica beamed. “Oh…” She pressed a hand to her mouth. “Oh, your grandmother would be over the moon, Jason.” She looked at Elizabeth, and reached for her hand. “She always liked you, Elizabeth. I just know she would love this.”

“I’m just so glad Cameron and Evie are going to have so many people in their family.” Elizabeth squeezed Monica’s hand. “My parents aren’t…in my life. So I hope you’ll really consider Cameron part of yours.” She looked at Bobbie, this wonderful woman who had always stood behind her. “You, too, Bobbie. You’ve been so good to me—”

“Honey, you’d have to do something pretty terrible to get rid of me,” the redhead declared. She grinned. “Spencers are annoying like that.”

Jason frowned slightly, no doubt remembering how hard it had been for Elizabeth to eject a certain Spencer, but he just shook his head.

“Where’s the ring?” Emily demanded.

“I raised her better than this,” Monica said with a roll of her eyes. “Emily—”

“What?” Emily shrugged. “It’s a valid question—”

“We…” Elizabeth shrugged. “It was a spur of the moment decision last night. I don’t think Jason and I even knew it was on the table until there we were…engaged.” And her smile felt permanently affixed to her face. “There’s plenty of time for rings—”

“What about setting a date?” Bobbie asked. “Are you going to wait as long as these two?” She gestured towards Emily and Nikolas.

“I—” She looked at Jason who just lifted a shoulder. “We haven’t really thought about that either.”

“I think…” Steven said from across the room, with the bottle of champagne in his hands. “We should stop the interrogation and have a toast to my sister and her new fiancé.”

“That is a fantastic idea,” Audrey declared. “I already set out enough glasses—” She offered a sheepish grin as Steven began to pour. “We may have anticipated your news just a little.”

“I don’t think you can celebrate news like this too much,” Bobbie said. “Jason and Elizabeth know it’s only because we love them so much.”

“That’s what I’m told,” Jason dryly as Elizabeth elbowed him.

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

Later, after putting Cameron and Evie down for the night under Nora’s watchful eye, Elizabeth sat next to Jason on the sofa, her smile still stretched from ear to ear. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

“Not as bad getting shot, no,” Jason agreed, stretching his arm across the back of the sofa. But he was grinning at her. “You must really think I hate people for as often as you apologize for dragging me to crowded events.”

She tucked her legs underneath her, her knees pressing into his thigh. “I know you don’t even like the majority of people you actually know, much less strangers,” Elizabeth said. “So, yeah, I’m always kind of feeling bad when you do something you wouldn’t otherwise because I asked you to.”

“I liked the people in that room tonight.” Jason reached for her hand, lacing their fingers together. “Nikolas is good for my sister—she’s never been happier. I know how much your brother and grandmother mean to you—” He hesitated. “And I invited Monica and Bobbie, so how could I argue?”

“Monica looked so happy tonight,” Elizabeth mused, resting her head against the seat cushions. “I think she could have lit the entire town with that smile. She loves you so much.”

“I used…” Jason tilted his head back slightly. “I used to see her looking at me like that and I’d think…it’s not…about me. It’s for who I used to be. I didn’t think she saw me.”

“Do you still consider Jason Quartermaine to be a different person? Someone separate from you?” she asked. “I remember the way you used to talk about it…when we first met. Even though you’d use the first person, I still felt like you considered it separate.”

“I had to then.” His fingers rubbed over her skin, absently tracing patterns across her palm. “It was the only way to deal with the way people looked at me. The Quartermaines wanted me to be who I was. The doctors didn’t think I’d ever be able to live on my own.” His face tightened. “Tony Jones wanted them to take Michael from me. That I couldn’t be a fit parent because of the accident.”

“He was just angry Carly preferred you to him.” Elizabeth wrinkled her nose. “You were a better father to Michael then some men are to children that are actually theirs.”

“Robin helped a lot,” Jason admitted. “And mostly, I just…I read all the books that were out there. And it got easier. Because Michael—he was such a good baby…” He stopped and shook his head. “Anyway. I think Monica…she knows who I am now. And accepts my choices. Maybe she doesn’t like them, but she knows they’re mine to make.”

“Do you think you’d want to invite the rest of your family to the wedding?” she asked hesitantly. “Alan….Edward…Ned and Dillon?”

“There was a time,” Jason said slowly, “that I would have been so angry at the insinuation that they were my family—that I was part of them at all.” He looked away.

“And now?”

“And now,” Jason said, “I think I could deal with it. I used to think they lied and schemed and destroyed each other for fun. And they do that, particularly Tracy and Edward. But Ned…other than what happened to Kristina a few years ago…I’ve never had problem with him.” He frowned. “I’m not even sure I know Dillon all that well.” He looked at her. “Everyone asked for details. If we set the date, how big it was going to be—I don’t know what you want to do about that.”

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “Part of me just…” She lifted a shoulder. “I want to start our lives. To have a quiet and quick ceremony so we can just…be a family.”

“But the rest of you?” Jason asked, tilting his head. “Do you want something bigger?”

“Not huge,” Elizabeth admitted. “But I don’t know…I’d like to try something traditional for a change.” She sighed. “Maybe be engaged for a while, enjoying it. It’s the first time someone has proposed to me without being brainwashed or me being pregnant…I’d like to have that for a while.”

“As long as you’re with me, it’s not important to me,” Jason admitted. “I still want you and Cameron to move in. Here, to start with. We could start looking for something else.”

“We’ll start packing as soon as possible.” She leaned forward, brushed her lips over his. “As for the rest of it? I don’t want something like I had before. They were small ceremonies—just me…and…” She shrugged. “I’d like to wear a pretty dress, to have my brother walk me down the aisle…with Evie and Cameron. With Emily as my matron of honor.” Elizabeth sighed and looked down. “You’d hate every minute of it.”

And Sonny wouldn’t be his best man, so who would Jason have standing by him? Nikolas? A Quartermaine cousin he barely knew? It seemed preposterous to her to want a normal wedding when it might just remind him of everything he’d lost.

“Where’d you go?” he murmured, releasing her hand so he could tip her chin up. “Elizabeth? If that’s what you want—”

“I was thinking how your best man should be Sonny,” Elizabeth admitted. “How once he would have been so happy for us. He used to care about me, you know. He put guards on me when you weren’t here, and he kept me safe when I had to fake my death.” She closed her eyes. “He should be a part of all this.”

“I know.” He exhaled slowly. “I could…I could ask someone else. One of the guys who work with us. Cody. Or Francis. You know them—”

“But it’s not the same.” She shook her head. “Emily is part of my life, part of who I am. Jason, I love Evie, you know that, and my heart breaks that maybe we can’t…keep her. But I would rather Sonny raise her if it meant we had him back.” Her eyes burned and a tear slid down her cheek. “I didn’t even know how much I pictured him in our lives until I realized it wouldn’t happen—”

“Hey.” Jason tugged her towards him, wrapping his arms around her. “Hey. I’m sorry. I always forget you and Sonny were close once—”

“It’s not even that—I just didn’t let myself think about what you were losing.” She sniffled, tucking her head under his chin. “He’s your best friend, Jason. He’s part of your family. He was a brother to you—” Elizabeth lifted her head. “Can’t we just…kidnap him and force him to get help?”

“Don’t think I haven’t considered it.” Jason sighed. “I don’t know, Elizabeth. I thought the same thing earlier. I love Evie so much, I do. But he’s her father and he’d be a good one if he’d just…confront what’s inside him. I just don’t how to make it happen.”

“Maybe it’s time we start really thinking about it.” Elizabeth put her hands on his shoulders. “I want our wedding to be what’s right for both of us. And it would be right for you to have Sonny standing next to you.”

He was quiet for a moment before he rested his forehead against hers. “I don’t even know if that’s a possibility anymore.”

Well, if Jason couldn’t hold out hope for things to change, Elizabeth would have to believe enough for the both of them.

February 2, 2015

I could do without being sick again for a while. I caught a bad cold and sinus infection just before Christmas and because I didn’t have much down time between colds, I was pretty much laid low last week — I barely got out of bed. And then when I started to feel better, ear infection from hell. Good God. So apologies for the lack of updates last week. I didn’t write, I didn’t post, I pretty much stared at reruns of Parks & Rec and That ’70s Show.

But I’m back. Mad World #1 has now been completed. All twenty-two originally posted chapters and the portions of Chapter Twenty-Three that I had written but never completed. I also posted the storyboarded scenes for the final four chapters so you can see how I had planned to end the story before abandoning it. So I hope that can help those of you who liked it put a period at the end of the experience. For me, I know that the second version of MW is going to be much better.

I also completed the reposting of True To Your Heart — all twelve original chapters I could find. There may have been one or two extra chapters lost to the Internet, but these are the ones I have.

Next Graveyard posting, I’ll post more of Shadows, more of the original Poisonous Dreams and probably one of the other shorter stories — Slide or Lupercalia.

I have The Best Thing, Chapter Seventeeen for Wednesday (yay!) and I have hopes of having the first chapter of All We Are for Friday. We’re a bit off schedule but I’m hoping that’ll change now.

Additions
– Mad World: Chapters 19-22; Rest of Outline
– True To Your Heart: Chapters 11, 12

This entry is part 13 of 13 in the Fiction Graveyard: True To Your Heart

Goodnight, my angel, now it’s time to dream
And dream how wonderful your life will be
Someday your child may cry
And if you sing this lullaby
Then in your heart
There will always be a part of me
— Goodnight My Angel, Billy Joel

General Hospital

Elizabeth handed a coffee to Carly and took a seat beside her. “I thought you might need this.”

“Thanks,” Carly murmured. She rubbed her eyes. “Mandy went in about an hour ago. Alexis and Ned are with Christina while she’s being prepped.”

“Sonny didn’t come?” Elizabeth asked.

Carly sighed and shook her head. “No. I don’t think he will be coming either.” She flicked her eyes towards the brunette. “Jason go back to work today?”

“Yep,” Elizabeth answered. She brought her cup of hot chocolate to her lips and sipped it. “I told him that I was planning on spending a lot of time here today so there was no point in him sticking around the house. He’s coming home early though and we’ll go pick up the kids around four at camp. Drew wanted to know if he could go to Luke’s.”

Carly raised her eyebrows. “Luke’s?” she repeated. “As in my uncle’s house?”

Elizabeth nodded. “Apparently, Drew adores him.”

“That’s fine. Anything to keep his mind off Mandy. He kept asking all these questions last night,” Carly said.

“I know what you mean. Sometimes kids ask the very questions you’re trying to ignore yourself,” Elizabeth murmured.

“Have you and Jase talked to Dee and Davie about…” Carly trailed off, not wanting to bring the subject up.

“We were going to last night, but we got back from our ride later than we expected,” Elizabeth told her. She gave the other woman a brief smile. “We always seem to lose track of time when we’re riding the bike.”

“It’s nice that you and Jason have something you can do together like that,” Carly said softly. “You guys…you’re really in love, aren’t you?”

Elizabeth looked at her oddly before answering. “Yeah, we are. I know you never wanted me in Jason’s life—”

“I hated you so much back then,” Carly said quietly. “At first I thought you were after Jason. I couldn’t see that I was wreaking havoc on his life—you know, I thought I loved him so much that seeing the two of you dancing that night in Kelly’s—it broke my heart.”

“You saw us?” Elizabeth asked, incredulously. “I would have thought you’d bust in.”

“The thought crossed my mind,” Carly admitted. “But you know…I couldn’t understand it. I mean—you were what…eighteen at the time?” When Elizabeth nodded, Carly continued. “He looked happy, you know that?”

“I was having a bad night,” Elizabeth told her. She sighed. “I can’t believe it was thirteen years ago—it seems like yesterday. I was missing Lucky so much it was just choking me.” Her eyes grew distant as her mind returned to that night in November. “And Jason was there. He always seemed to be there when the pain was getting too intense. So, for some reason…I tried to make it better. I put mine and Lucky’s song on the jukebox and asked Jason to dance.” She looked down at her hands. “I was trying to pretend he was Lucky—but I should have known it couldn’t work.”

“Why not?” Carly asked curiously.

“I didn’t really see it then,” Elizabeth said. “I was too young—too sure that I would always love Lucky and that it would never change. But I think…no, I’m pretty sure that for most of that fall…that I falling in love with Jason.” She sighed. “I just wished I could have seen it earlier. Would have saved us a lot of trouble.”

“I slept with Sonny that night,” Carly told her. “At the time I regretted it—I know that even though I wasn’t really in love with Jason and he wasn’t in love with me—I still…I still hoped we would be a family.” She sat back in her chair, her head tilted towards the ceiling. “And I saw you dancing with him. I saw you taking away what I had already decided was mine.” She sighed again. “It seems so petty now doesn’t it?”

“What?” Elizabeth asked. “Our mutual dislike?”

“It seems that hating you because I didn’t think you were good enough for Jason is almost ridiculous all these years later. He’s obviously happy—I don’t think I’ve ever seen Jason happier than when he’s been with you. Right now with my little girl in surgery and my marriage crumbling, hating you is the last thing on my mind,” Carly told her.

“Good. Because I never wanted to fight with you,” Elizabeth replied. “You always started it.”

Carly snorted. “Yeah…well…you gave as good as you got, too.”

“Well, I warned you,” Elizabeth reminded her. “I told you I wasn’t an angel.”

Warehouse

Jason entered Sonny’s office without knocking. “I need to talk to you,” he said.

Sonny shook his head. “Not now.”

Jason sat down. “It’s not open for negotiation.”

Sonny frowned. “What’s wrong with you?”

“A number of things, but first I got a question. What in the hell are you doing here?”

Sonny sighed and looked away. “Jase, I don’t want to hear about it right now—”

“It’s too bad,” Jason broke in. “You know I let people live their own lives, make their own mistakes and all, but I just can’t let you hole up in this office or at the penthouse. You’re making a mistake by letting Carly go ahead with the divorce.”

Sonny waved a hand. “Carly’s not going to do anything.”

“You’re wrong. She’s going to file—I don’t doubt that. But that doesn’t make a difference. One, you’re letting Carly walk out of your life without a fight and trust me, that’s never the right way to do things. Two, you’re sitting here while your daughter’s in surgery.” Jason shook his head. “I know you’re mad at Carly, but—”

“She lied to me,” Sonny said dully, trying to block out Jason’s voice. “She lied to me and she knew how much I hated that.”

Jason stood and took a deep breath. “All right. I told her I’d talk to you about it but I can’t make you do anything you don’t want to do. Will you stop by the hospital to at least see Mandy when she gets out surgery?”

“I made it clear that I didn’t want Amanda to undergo the surgery,” Sonny said simply. “Alexis only told me about Christina in order to test the twins—not because she wanted me in her life. I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction.”

Jason just stared at his best friend for a few moments before shaking his head. “Satisfaction? Are you serious? Jesus, Sonny. Christina is your daughter. Biologically. And you know she was supposed to die if a donor wasn’t found. How would you have felt it was Michael who needed it? Wouldn’t you get AJ or Courtney to test Jo and Steve?”

Sonny sighed and shook his head. “You’re right,” he said finally. He looked down at the desk. “As usual, you’re the voice of reason in my life.” He stared at a picture of himself, Carly and the kids on his desk. “I’ve been looking that picture of all us since Carly came in yesterday and I keep wondering—where did I go wrong? Were we happy at all? Was it an illusion?”

“You never trusted her,” Jason said, simply. “And I think Carly finally understood that and decided it wasn’t something she could live with anymore.” He sighed. “Look, you still have Mandy and Drew. And yeah, Michael’s mad at you right now and honestly, I can’t blame him. You kept the truth from him, brought him up to hate AJ and then the way he found out…he’s going to be mad as long as you let him be. You haven’t said word one to him in the week since he found out.”

“He hates me,” Sonny mused. “Don’t ever keep the important stuff from your kids, Jase. It’s never worth it in the end.”

“I don’t think I’ll have that problem,” Jason said simply. “You know I don’t lie and I don’t hide things.”

Sonny stood and put some files away. “I’m going to the hospital.”

“I’ll go with you,” Jason said. “Elizabeth is there with Carly.”

“How is Elizabeth?” Sonny asked as they left the office and headed for front of the warehouse for the car. “Is she feeling better?”

“I think so,” Jason told him. “She’s pretending a lot. Putting a smile on her face when she’s sad, acting happy when she’s not. She knows I don’t buy it, but it’s never stopped her before.”

“But she’s out of bed,” Sonny pointed out as one of the guards pulled the limo door open and Jason and Sonny got in.

“Yeah. I guess it’s the first step,” Jason said.

JFK Airport

Emily shifted uncomfortably, standing at the gate waiting for Nikolas and Gia’s flight. Lucky eyed her warily. “Should you be sitting down?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” Emily murmured, her eyes searching the flight board. “It’s just uncomfortable no matter what I do, so it’s useless to sit anymore.”

Lucky let the subject drop.

They waited in silence for the most part, Lucky occasionally asking if she was okay—if she needed anything. Emily was uncomfortable with the whole situation—everything had been resolved too easily with Lucky. She was the one still in love with their ex, not him.

Not that Emily was discounting his theory. She would never be able to completely bury her feelings for her ex-boyfriend. Zander Smith had been her first love—you could never completely forget your first love.

But she’d broken up with him. She’d been at a bad point in her recovery and didn’t think she would be able walk again. And when she’d returned, Zander seemed to be making some headway—finding a new life, moving on from Port Charles. He’d been in the process of his move to Florida and Emily hadn’t wanted to disrupt that. Convinced herself that he was better off without her and had brushed off all attempts to reconcile.

And now ten years later, Emily was finally coming around to regretting that quick decision.

“Em?”

Emily sighed and looked at Lucky. “Yeah?”

“The plan just landed,” Lucky said. He indicated the flight board. “They’ll be coming out soon.”

Emily flashed a fake smile at her friend and nodded. “Great. I can’t wait to see them.”

“Are we going to Wyndemere or my parents first?” Lucky asked.

“Your parents,” Emily answered. “Wyndemere isn’t completely ready yet. Another week or so.”

“Great.” Lucky grinned when he saw Nikolas stride out of the gate. He had his arm around Gia and his two year-old son, Marcus, or Markie as most of the family called him.

Lucky went forward to give his brother and his family a hug while Emily hung back, suddenly weary of her entire life.

Luke’s

“Say what you want to, Mikey, but my father is definitely going to give me this place one day,” Lu said confidently, hopping up to sit on the bar.

Michael smirked. “He should. We spend way too much time hanging out here in the off hours.”

“Where else are we going to go?” Lu demanded. “We’re both under eighteen. We’ve got here and Kelly’s. No thanks. I step in there and Dad will give it to me.”

“He wants to get rid of Kelly’s?” Michael asked, pulling another soda out from the fridge underneath the counter.

“Not really. He just says it’s a lot to take on, with this club, Deception and diner. He and Mom are spreading themselves thin.”

“Well, it doesn’t help that they run off to travel at the drop of a hat,” Michael reminded her. “Why don’t they turn Kelly’s over to a family member?”

“Which family member do you suggest? Carly? Dad and Mom have discussed it, but Carly already works at Deception and Club 101. With the divorce and all, the last thing she needs is to take on something else.”

“Well, what about Liz?” Michael asked. “I mean, she worked there most of her life.”

“Do you think after seven years of working there that Liz would really go back to it?”

“Well, it’s not like she’d be waitressing,” Michael pointed out. “She’d be managing the place.”

“True.” Lu pursed her lips. “I should suggest it to Dad. You know he’s always trying to find a way to remind Liz she can’t get away from being a Spencer.”

“There are worse things in life than being a part of your family,” Michael replied.

“You sure?” Lu asked. “Because we’ve got the Cassadine branch and if you ask me, they’re pretty nuts.”

“Well, Helena’s dead and Stefan’s in Greece. I think the insane branch of the family is definitely buried.”

“I guess.” Lu eyed him. “You haven’t talked about it much.”

“What?” Michael asked.

“The lunch with AJ, what’s been going on with your family.” Lu shrugged. “I just figured you’d bring it up when you were ready.”

“I don’t really know what to think,” Michael said. “I mean, on the one hand, Sonny has been the only father that I really remember. Yeah, Jase has been great and I know Mom says that I was around him for a whole year, but I don’t remember any of that.” Michael stared away, towards the old picture of Helena Cassadine that Luke had never taken down. “I know that my parents always had a volatile relationship but I thought they really loved each other—that it would always work out, you know? And now, they’re getting divorced, Mandy’s getting surgery, I’ve got this other sister who’s not really my sister since Sonny’s not my father. And that’s not even mentioning AJ and his family.”

“It’s a lot to take in,” Lu agreed. “How did the lunch go?”

“Fine,” Michael answered. “Better than fine actually. Whatever AJ was like sixteen years ago when I was born, it’s obvious he’s grown up and he’s responsible now. I look for that horrible person I was raised to see and I don’t…I don’t see that anymore. I see someone who’s a great guy and could have been a good father, given the chance.”

“Do you feel like you were cheated?” Lu asked.

“Sort of,” Michael repeated. He took a long swig of his soda. “I mean, I love Sonny—don’t get me wrong. But I’ve got to wonder. What would I have been like if AJ had been a part of my life?”

Lu shrugged. “What’s the use in thinking about things that won’t ever happen?” she asked. “I mean, you could have gotten worse. You’ve had a lot of people in your life that really do love you. Jason, Sonny, Carly, your old nanny Leticia, your siblings, Liz…now you’ve got AJ to add to the list.”

“Mandy’s in surgery right now,” Michael said quietly. “But I didn’t go to the hospital. I thought Sonny might be there.”

“You’re never going to call him Dad again are you?” Lu asked quietly.

“No,” Michael answered. “I don’t have a father. I’ve got two men who fought over me when I was younger and I don’t think either one of them won.”

“Are you going to see AJ again?” Lu asked.

“I think so,” Michael answered. “I had a good time with him. I think I understand him—that I understand a lot of his actions, no matter how bad. I want to get to know him.”

“Then go to the hospital,” Lu told him. “I think your mother would appreciate the support.”

Michael nodded. “You’re right. I think I will.”

“Good,” Lu said. “You want me to come with?”

“Aren’t Em and Lucky meeting Nikolas and Gia today?” Michael asked.

“Oooh, you’re right.” Lu checked her watch. “The plane probably landed already. Call me tonight, okay?”

“Sure.”

Christie’s Room

Alexis pressed a kiss to Christie’s forehead. “It’s going to be all right, sweetie.”

“I know,” Christie yawned. “I’m sleepy.”

“Go to sleep, darling.” Ned smoothed her hair back. “Your mother and I will be right here when you wake up.”

“I love you, Daddy,” Christie said. She shifted and her eyes fluttered shut.

“We’d better get her to the OR,” the doctor said. He patted Alexis on the arm. “It’ll be okay, Mrs. Ashton. We’ll take good care of her.”

Ned put an arm around Alexis as Christie was wheeled out of the room. “How long before she hates me?” Alexis murmured.

“Christie will never hate you,” Ned assured her. “And we’re telling her now. Not waiting until she’s older and has the ability to really hate us.”

“You mean like Michael,” Alexis said.

“If we go about this the right way,” Ned said, “then we won’t lose her.” His words were confident and reassuring, but his tone told a different story.

One day his baby girl might wake up and know that Sonny Corinthos was her biological father. Ned might lose one of the most important people in his life.

“Let’s go to the waiting room,” Alexis suggested. “I want to know how Amanda is doing.”

Ned nodded and they left the room. When they got the waiting room, Alexis stopped in her tracks.

Sonny was sitting next to Carly and they were talking quietly. Elizabeth saw Alexis before they did and she stood to cross the room.

“Did Christina go in for surgery?” she asked softly. Jason stood just behind her.

Alexis nodded. “Yeah. She just went.” She looked over Elizabeth’s shoulder at Sonny and Carly. “How is Amanda?”

“She’s in recovery,” Jason answered. “They’re just waiting until they can go see her.”

Sonny caught sight of Alexis and stood. He crossed the room and Alexis held her breath.

“I hope Christina will be okay,” he said stiffly.

Alexis nodded. “Yes. Thank…thank you for letting Amanda be tested and donate.”

“It was the least we could do,” Carly said, coming to stand beside her husband. “We couldn’t not do it.”

“Right.”

Michael entered the waiting room then and shifted, seeing his parents. Sonny turned and saw his son for the first time since he’d left the penthouse. “Michael.”

“Hey, Mom. Sonny,” Michael said. Sonny winced a little at the use of his given name.

“Hey, baby,” Carly murmured, kissing her son on his cheek. “Mandy’s in recovery. We’re going to see her in a little bit. You want to come with us?”

Michael nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I do.”

Sonny let out a long breath. “Well, let’s go then.”

Jason watched his best friend and his family head towards the elevators. Maybe not everything was lost.

Elizabeth slipped her hand in his. “You want to stick around or go home?” she asked.

“Why don’t we go home?” Jason suggested. “We could pick up the kids and have that talk.”

Elizabeth nodded. “Sounds like a good idea to me. Let’s go home.”

This entry is part 12 of 13 in the Fiction Graveyard: True To Your Heart

Just a few words too many
In my head
A few words too many
In this bed
A few words too many
Left unsaid
Oh I wish that we were strangers
We could start again
Start again
All over
— A Few Words Too Many, Billie Myers

“Well, this is weird,” Michael said finally. They’d made halfway through lunch without speaking—neither had spoken up until now.

AJ chuckled. “Just a little.”

Michael set his fork down and leaned forward. “Look, I’m not really sure what I want to do. I know that I’m pissed at Sonny, I’m feeling sorry about Carly and I’m damn confused about you.” He grimaced. “I was raised to hate you.”

“Yeah, I know.” AJ shifted in his chair. “I was pretty stupid for a long time. I did dumb things, I hurt a lot of people and I spent most of my younger years drunk.”

“And now you’re better,” Michael said, his voice showing mixture of disdain and skepticism.

“I’m trying. I’ve got a very supporting wife and two great kids who love me. It’s difficult to keep telling people my brother is out to get me.” AJ flashed an embarrassed smile. “I also used to think everything Jason did was to annoy and beat me.”

“Jase isn’t like that,” Michael said automatically.

“I know that now. But growing up, Jason…Quartermaine, that is…he could do no wrong. He was the golden child and everyone loved him. Every time I turned around, my parents were telling me that I should be more like Jason. I started drinking to drown out their voices.”

“Not a smart thing to do,” Michael said.

“Yeah, well, I was pretty dumb. The more I drank, the louder and more frequent the voices became,” AJ said. “You’d think I would have gotten the point—drinking wasn’t going to solve my problems.” He shrugged and leaned back in his chair. “Meanwhile, Jason is flourishing. He’s getting ready to go to medical school, he’s got a great girlfriend he’s crazy about. And you know want to know the disgusting thing? Jason, the guy I was jealous of and hated…he was the only person in my family that believed I was any good.”

“So, Jason made it his mission in life to save me,” AJ continued. “He got in the car, thinking it would stop me from driving.” He raised his glass of water in the air before taking a sip. “I think we know how that turned out.”

“Yeah…” Michael looked down at his plate. He’d gone through three different fathers in his life and right now, the mob enforcer was looking the prettiest. “Look, I know the story. I’ve been brought up by your misdeeds, and I think I finally get why Sonny was so anxious for me to hate you.” He met his father’s eyes across the table. “He didn’t want me to want you in my life.”

AJ fought to keep his opinion of Sonny to himself. Bashing the only father the kid could remember was not going to endear himself to his son. “I suppose that makes sense,” AJ said finally. “I just feel like I have to explain myself, y’know? All of the dumb things I did…it led to me ultimately losing you. My crazy jealousy of Jason is the reason I set fire to the warehouse and it’s the reason ultimately I signed away the rights.” A grimace crosses his face. “I’m sorry for that.”

“Like I said, I don’t know how I feel about anything,” Michael said again. “I’m just trying to keep my options open.”

“I understand,” AJ said. “And I’ll admit—I’m pathetic. I’ll take whatever you want to give me.”

“My mother’s going through a tough time right now,” Michael said. “I’m going to spending a lot of time with her, supporting her. I want you to know that.”

“Okay,” AJ said. “I hope Carly works it all out.”

Michael studied him for a minute before saying, “You know, I think you actually mean that.”

AJ frowned. “Yeah, I think so. Weird.”

Sonny looked up from a pile of folders, startled as Carly strode into his office at the warehouse. “Get out,” he snarled.

“Not a chance,” Carly stated. She sat down and glared at her husband. “I’ve given you time to lick your wounds and calm down. Now we’re going to talk.”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Sonny stated. He looked down and returned to his work, intent on ignoring his wife.

Carly narrowed her eyes. “All right. Then I guess I should tell Alexis Davis to file the papers.”

Sonny’s head snapped up. “What?”

She shrugged. “You said it yourself. There’s nothing to talk about. So, how are we going to work custody of the twins?”

Sonny stared at her in disbelief. “What?” he repeated.

“Hey, catch up here,” Carly replied. “I figure you can get Mandy and Drew every other weekend. I’ll take them the rest of the time. Oh, Mandy’s going to—”

“What in the hell are you talking about?” Sonny asked, closing the manila folder with a loud thump.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Carly said. “So I’m going to get Alexis to file for divorce.”

“You’re not filing for anything,” Sonny said.

She glared at him. “Oh, what? You’re the only who gets to make decisions in this marriage?”

“Damn it, Carly. This is not what you’re supposed to do. You’re supposed to fight me. Convince me to change my mind.”

“Why should I have to?” Carly demanded. “You either love me want to work this out or you can’t wait to get rid of me. There’s no middle ground here anymore, Sonny. I’m not going to try and tell you that it’s all right to kick me out and expect me to do all the work in the marriage. I’m not your door mat, so get over it. Now, damn it. What the hell are we going to do here? We’ve got two kids, Sonny. We can’t just live like this anymore.”

“Three kids,” Sonny corrected. “Michael is still legally my son.”

Carly snorted. “I am not going to force Michael to do anything he doesn’t want to do. Right now he’s pissed as hell at you. You haven’t even asked how Mandy and Drew are, or God forbid anything about Christina. No, as usual, it’s all about you. Grow up. The world does not revolve around Sonny Corinthos.”

Sonny took a deep breath. “Fine. How are the kids?”

“Mandy is checking into the hospital tomorrow.”

“Why?” Sonny demanded.

“Uh, duh,” Carly rolled her eyes. “She’s match for Christina. So, we’re doing the transplant.”

“Like hell you are,” Sonny replied angrily.

Carly stared at him, stunned. “What are you talking about? Of course we are. Our daughter is going to save a life. Mandy’s thrilled about it. She loves Christie.”

“You introduced her to that girl?” Sonny asked, startled.

“That girl?” Carly repeated. “Are you on drugs? That girl is your biological daughter.”

“That you never told me about!” Sonny replied angrily.

“And I still stand by my decision!” Carly retorted. “It was okay for AJ not to know about Michael—you were fine about that. But man, when the shoe’s on the other foot…you’re such a hypocrite.”

“That’s different. AJ would have taken Michael from you, Carly and you know it.”

“And you wouldn’t have tried to get custody of Christina?” Carly asked, stunned. “Are you serious? You said as much the day you found out Alexis was pregnant. I don’t blame Alexis for not telling you. Sonny, she was afraid for her child. My god, her sister was killed because of a mob war!”

“That wasn’t my fault,” Sonny yelled. “Alcazar blew up that warehouse and you know it!”

“You’re damn right he did, but Alexis made a decision. She didn’t want you to know. And I was not going to go against what I believe just so you could throw me out of the damn house. If she wanted you to know, she would have told you,” Carly replied. “I hated what Robin did to me and I swore I was never….ever going to do that to another woman as long as I lived.”

“Robin was wrong. She betrayed Jason when she told AJ.”

“And that’s what would happened to me if I’d told you,” Carly replied. “I would have been Robin. You think that just because you’re in AJ’s spot now that it’s any different? It’s not. Alexis is Christina’s mother and she had every right to raise that child as she saw fit.”

“I can’t believe I’m hearing this!” Sonny raged. “After everything I’ve done for you, Carly—”

“What about me?” Carly demanded. “I have been the perfect wife for ten years. I have had your children. I have raised them to be well-adjusted and happy, despite the odds. I don’t ask you questions you can’t answer and I leave the room when you want me to. Your life has run smoothly for ten years because of me and now because you don’t like something I did ten years ago, you’re going to throw that away? Fine! I don’t need this anymore! My children deserve better. I deserve better!”

Sonny glared at her. “Then it’s a divorce you want?”

“Face it, Sonny. You will never trust me,” Carly said, trying to keep a rein on her anger. “I just never saw it before. I thought you trusted me, I thought that I’d earned it. I know I did the unforgivable when I turned you in, but we got past that. I thought we were on an even keel again, but we’re not. You will never trust me. And I can not and will not live like that.”

“Fine.” Sonny stood. “Have Alexis contact my lawyer. We’re done.”

“I’ll be staying with Jason until I can close on the cottage,” Carly said. She stood. “I’m sorry it had to end this way, Sonny.” She stared at him for a beat and then turned and walked out of the office.

Sonny sank back in his chair and put his head in his hands.

“Mmm,” Elizabeth murmured, leaning back against Jason’s chest and staring out over the town of Port Charles. “I’ve always loved coming here.”

“I know,” Jason said. “You feeling better?”

She shrugged a little. “I think so. I mean…this is an improvement. I’m not sitting in bed, staring at the ceiling.”

“I think we need to talk to the kids when we get back,” Jason said. He dropped a kiss on the top of her head. “They’ve been kind of confused about the situation.”

She sighed. “Yeah, I know. I’ve been kind of MIA lately. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I know it’s been tough,” Jason said. “But we’ll get through it.”

She twisted in his arms and smiled up at him. “We always do, don’t we?”

“Yeah…well, you’re kind of stubborn,” he teased.

Elizabeth laughed and pushed him. “Coming from you? I’ll take that as a compliment. A girl’s gotta be stubborn when it comes to you.”

He frowned. “Oh, really?”

“Uh huh. Not only that, but she’s got to have like amazing perception because you never say what you mean,” Elizabeth kidded. “You’re the only man I know that would rather talk in circles than say things straight out.”

“I do not,” Jason protested.

“Oh really?” Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “Do you remember when we came up here that one time and you told me you couldn’t be the friend I thought you were? You knew I’d take that the wrong. Typical Jason. Trying to tell me the truth and pushing me at the same time.”

“It was true,” Jason insisted. “I could just sit and listen to you talk anymore. I wanted to be with you.”

“And you could have just told me that,” Elizabeth said, exasperated. “Nope. You had to make it difficult.”

“Yeah, well, you weren’t helping. I was trying to push you away and you just kept coming.”

“Well, I’d finally decided what I wanted,” Elizabeth murmured. She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled. “And you know how I can be when I’ve made up my mind.”

Jason groaned and leaned his forehead against hers. “Yeah. Stubborn.”

“Damn straight. You were so sure we wouldn’t work. I love proving people wrong.
“It’s getting late,” Jason said, pulling away. “Dee and Davie are probably home from camp.”

“All right. But you know what this means,” Elizabeth teased.

“You’re not driving,” Jason stated.

Elizabeth dangled his keys in front of him, her blue eyes filled with mischief. “Wanna bet?”

Emily shifted the phone from ear to another. “So, you’ll be at the airport at five tomorrow?” she asked. “Yeah, Wyndemere is almost ready.” She nodded. “All right. See you tomorrow, Nikolas.”

She hung up and massaged her temples. She felt a fluttering in her abdomen and smiled. “That’s right. Uncle Nikky and Aunt Gia are going to be here tomorrow.”

“Ms. Quartermaine?”

Emily looked at up at her assistant. “What is it, Calla?” she asked wearily. “I’m just about to head out.”

“Mr. Spencer is waiting,” Calla replied. “Should I show him in?”

“Yeah. All right.” Emily stood and started putting some files in her briefcase. Lucky walked in, a sheepish smile on his face.

“Hey, Em.”

“Hey, Lucky,” Emily greeted. “What do you want?”

Lucky sighed. “I deserve that. Look, I’ve been acting like a jerk and I know that’s why you didn’t return my calls all day.”

“I was out for the most of the day,” Emily said. “I went to see Christie in the hospital. I only came back to finish some paperwork.”

“I’m sorry, Emily, but it’s just…you sprung this whole break up on me pretty spontaneously. I wasn’t prepared for it—”

“Lucky, I’ve been trying to broach the subject since you started talking about marriage,” Emily said. “But you never wanted to hear it. You insist it’s not true—”

“It’s not,” Lucky said firmly. “I thought about it and I decided that you had a point but it’s not true. Elizabeth and I are—we’re done. We’ve over. I know that. Yes, at first I was hoping she’d leave Jason again, but I got the point a long time ago. Do you know what I think the problem really is?”

“What?” Emily asked, despairingly.

“You don’t want to marry me because you don’t love me,” Lucky said.

Emily stared at him in surprise. “What?”

He nodded. “You’re not in love with me, so you don’t want to marry me. We were together because we didn’t want to be alone. I told you—I thought about it and this seems to be the best explanation. Because you want to know something, Em?”

“What?” she asked, warily.

“I’m not the one in this relationship still in love with someone. It’s you.”

“Me?” Emily asked, shocked.

“Does Zander Smith ring a bell?” Lucky asked. “I don’t think you ever really got over him.”

Emily sat down and stared at him, her mouth wide open. She’d never considered it before. She’d been so adamant when she moved home that she and Zander were too different, she’d never given it a second thought once Zander had moved to Florida.

She looked up at Lucky. “I think…I think you’re right,” she said softly. “I can’t…I am. I’m still in love with Zander.”

Lucky nodded. “I’m actually pretty proud of myself,” he said. He sat down and leaned forward, resting his hands on his thighs. “Hey, listen, no hard feelings. I totally understand where you coming from. I considered it and I can understand why you thought I was still in love with Elizabeth. Hell, maybe I am and I’m still in denial. But I’m not going to push marriage anymore. We don’t need to get married to parents to this child.”

“You still want to be in his life?” Emily asked, shaking her head to clear her mind. “I thought you said—”

“Well, I’m a selfish jerk. I think we already established that.”

Emily gave him a weak smile. “You want to come with me to the airport tomorrow to welcome Nikolas and Gia back home?”

“Sure thing. You need a ride back to the mansion?” Lucky asked.

“No thanks. I’ve got the limo waiting. Come by tomorrow about four and we’ll head to the airport, okay?” Emily stood up and took her briefcase. She stopped in front of Lucky. “For what’s it worth, I’m sorry it didn’t work out.”

“Yeah, me, too,” Lucky said quietly. “Hey, you know what?”

“What?”

“Whatever did happen to Zander?”

Elizabeth and Jason entered the house to find Dee and Davie sitting on the couch with Carly, reading.

Elizabeth smiled. “Hey, Carly.”

Carly looked up and gave the other woman a brief smile. “Hey, Liz. Good to see you out of bed.”

“It’s good to be out of bed,” Elizabeth replied. She sat down next to Carly and pulled Davie onto her lap. “Hey, baby.”

“Hi, Mama,” Davie greeted, resting his head on her shoulder. “Aunt Car was just readin’ Snow White.”

“Aunt Car is tired,” Carly murmured, rubbing her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Jason asked, taking a seat in the armchair adjacent to the couch. Dee climbed down from the couch and headed to her father. Jason picked her up easily and sat her on his lap.

“Sonny and I decided a divorce is the best course to take,” Carly said. “He was so angry with me—he wouldn’t listen to reason.”

“I’ll go see him tomorrow. Maybe I can talk some sense into him,” Jason said.

“You’re the only one who could,” Carly said. She closed the book and set it on the coffee table. “I’m going to go to bed. I’ve got to get up early to take Mandy to the hospital.”

“Where’s Michael and Drew?” Elizabeth asked.

“Michael came back from a successful lunch with AJ and took Drew to the movies. Mandy’s already asleep. Listen, could you make sure Drew gets to camp tomorrow?” Carly asked.

“Sure,” Elizabeth agreed. “I’m taking Dee and Davie myself anyway. If you want, I’ll stop by the hospital and wait with you.”

“I’d like that. Night,” Carly said.

Once she was up the stairs, Jason stood with Dee in his arms and took a seat next to Elizabeth. “That went well.”

“I think Carly and I are finally past the bumps in our friendship,” Elizabeth said quietly.

“Friendship?” Jason asked, almost teasingly.

“I use the term loosely,” she replied. She looked down at Davie who was sleeping already. “I guess the talk will have to wait until tomorrow.”

Jason stood again and Elizabeth did, too. Dee was half asleep, kind of mumbling things in her half-state. “We’d better put them to bed,” he said.

This entry is part 23 of 23 in the Fiction Graveyard: Mad World #1

So at the time I abandoned Mad World, I had started Chapter Twenty-Three, and outlined the story through to Chapter Twenty-Six where I had decided to end it in favor of a sequel to carry on Brianne and the East Side Rapist, but if you’ve gotten to this point, you’re probably as ready to strangle to Jason and Elizabeth as I am and you’re way less interested in all the other moving pieces.

So the rewrite is going to take back the original story and make it a true ensemble piece — with less annoying Jason and Elizabeth nonense.

Until then, here are the original scenes and outlines for the final four chapters of Mad World.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Friday, December 10, 2004

Kelly’s: Dining Room

Once you make the decision to throw yourself into something–to really put your heart on the line and go for what you want, you’d be surprised at suddenly how easy it all really seemed.

She’d made that phone call on Tuesday night and by Wednesday morning, Jason was sitting in the living room and they were talking. Really talking–not skirting issues or denying anything but being completely honest in ways they hadn’t been months ago when she’d come home from California with Cameron to tell him the truth.

Not everything had been solved and it would probably never be completely perfect, but she could never say she hadn’t given it everything she had. Jason wasn’t moving in but they were going to see each other. There would be dinners, and there would be bike rides–if the snow ever stopped–and of course, there would be the kissing. She had really missed that.

After two days of hashing everything out and coming to a conclusion, she and Jason were ready to start what they had decided would become their routine. They would meet for breakfast before each of them had work and Jason would get to start his day with his family.

They had only just ordered when Carly approached them, plopping into an empty chair as though she had been invited. “I’m telling you that kids are exhausting,” she sighed, signaling for a cup of coffee.

“Carly–” Jason began, intending to inform his friend that this was a private meal but Elizabeth waved a hand at him, indicating it was all right.

“Well, a small boy with as much energy as Michael and a baby Morgan’s age, I’m surprised you’re still standing,” Elizabeth remarked not without sympathy. “What did you in this morning?”

“Math homework,” Carly said, disgusted. “You would not believe the world war we had to have before Michael would finish it. Sonny is gonna have to crack down on him and insist to see the homework instead of just taking Michael’s word for it, because Michael always just tells us it’s done.”

“Yeah, that’s how I handled it with my parents,” Elizabeth said. “I was such a brat that poor Cameron is never going to get away with anything because anything he can think of, I’ve already been there and done that.”

“Exactly,” Carly nodded. She thanked Mike as he set down her coffee. “So what brings PC’s resident Romeo and Juliet together this morning?” she asked, dumping sugar into her coffee.

Jason just blinked at her and Carly decided he wasn’t going to give her any information so she turned her attention to Elizabeth who just raised her eyebrows at the blonde. Carly huffed. “You two aren’t any fun at all.”

PCPD: Conference Room

“Bri, we received some information,” Mac sat across her, a folder in his hands. “It’s about what we expected but it opens up some interesting possibilities.”

“And it also leads to a possible conflict with your prosecution of Diego Sanchez,” Ric remarked.

Brianne frowned and looked from one man to the other before turning her eyes to Lucky. “What did you say to them?” she demanded.

“Bri—” Lucky shook his head. “Our concern here is making sure Diego does the maximum and catching the pig that did this to you.”

“What does one have to do with the other?” Brianne demanded. “I know that Diego claims to know information and happened to know a few…” she swallowed hard. “A few details, but—”

“We have proof that Diego knows more than he’s alluding to,” Mac told her. “He sent you the flowers.”

Brianne blinked. “W-What?” she asked, her heartbeat accelerating. “How can you…why would he…?”

“In addition to you, three other victims of the rapist also received flowers,” Ric told her. “The phone calls scheduling the deliverie—including the ones made to Brook Lynn—were traced back to a motel that Diego was staying in.”

“How would he know that kind of information?” Brianne asked. “I’ve moved since the attack, I imagine the other women have as well. I don’t understand—”

“That’s what concerns us,” Lucky said. “It means our perp has access to that kind information—and the fact that he can get the whereabouts of an ADA…”

“We think Sanchez has had direct contact with the perp,” Mac finished, “and that the perp has been keeping track of his victims. We worry that this recent bout of activity might mean that he has started to target new girls.”

“Or that he might try to attack the old victims,” Brianne said softly. She was silent for a minute. “You think I would make a deal with Sanchez because I was a victim and he could help me put the guy away.”

“It’s crossed my mind,” Ric admitted. “But any deal would have to come through me and as much as part of me would like to make a deal, Sanchez’s terms are a full walk. That’s not an option even if Brook wasn’t a Quartermaine. However, her being a member of a family that basically put the mayor in office makes this a sticky situation. I don’t think I could make a deal at all and not have them come down on my head hard.”

“You say no deal, no deal,” Brianne assured him. “I want to see him behind bars for what he did to her as much as anyone else and I promise you I won’t let anything compromise that. You can’t take me off this case, Ric. I’ve done nothing to deserve it.”

“It’s not a matter of punishing you, Bri,” Lucky huffed. “This case puts you in the spotlight. That’s the last thing any of us wants.”

“That’s not my problem,” Brianne argued. “I’ve worked hard not to be a victim. You can’t make me into one again.”

“All right,” Ric agreed reluctantly. “You’re still on the case but I want Lucky to continue in his current capacity after the trial. If that’s all right with you, Spencer?”

“No problem,” Lucky pledged. “I’ll do whatever’s needed.”

General Hospital: Nurse’s Station
Robin asks Patrick to the wedding.

PCPD: Commissioner’s Office
Ric and Mac discuss East Side rapist, Brooke and his wedding.

Brownstone: Carly’s Apartment
Sonny comes by. His divorce from Carly has been filed and is now final.

Gatehouse: Living Room
Ned and Lois talk about Lorenzo. Lois wants to take Brooke back to Brooklyn.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Saturday, December 19, 2004

Port Charles Hotel: Bridal Room
Alexis and Elizabeth have a moment before the ceremony.

Port Charles Hotel: Lila Quartermaine Room
Carly is there with Steven and Sonny is there with Sam.
Audrey and Jason briefly discuss Elizabeth and Cam.

Port Charles Hotel: Lobby
Patrick and Robin spar, he remarks she’s nothing like her father.

Port Charles Hotel: Lila Quartermaine Room
Brooke and Lucas dance, she wants to be just friends for a while. He agrees.
Alexis throws the bouquet and Brianne catches it.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Friday, December 31, 2004

Port Charles Hotel: Lila Quartermaine Room
Brianne is nervous about the case. She and Elizabeth bond.
Sam and Jax discuss her plan, he is intrigued.
Robin wants answers: How does Patrick know her father?
Steven thinks he and Carly should define their relationship. She balks at commitment.
Lucky, Nikolas, Emily and Elizabeth share a moment. They catch up.
Sonny and Ric share a civil moment.
Brooke and the rest of the teens commiserate about being underage.
Lorenzo brings Maria to the party. Lu takes her under her wing and the teens accept her.
At midnight, all couples kiss: Dillon/Georgie, Lucas/Brooke (cheek), Jason/Elizabeth, Nikolas/Emily and Brianne surprises Lucky by planting a kiss on his cheek.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Wednesday, January 5, 2005

Wyndemere: Conservatory
Jason discusses his job with Nikolas. He’s willing to give it six months before making his final decision.

Kelly’s: Dining Room
The teens have a tense breakfast. It’s Brooke’s first time back. Lu shares some good news.

PCMB: Brianne’s Office
They arrive to find two dozen roses on her desk with the usual attached. Brianne refuses to let it bother her.

Elizabeth’s Cottage: Living Room
Jason takes Cameron for the day, Elizabeth is going to the trial. They discuss moving in together but table it for a while.

Port Charles Hotel: Jax’s Office
Jax calls Sam into his office. He likes her idea, he thinks they should do it together. Sam hesitates but agrees.

Port Charles Courthouse: Courtroom B
The trial begins. Jury selection goes quickly, Brianne opens her case and Lucky, Mac, Mike, Ned, and Steven all testify before lunch.

Kelly’s: Dining Room
Liz joins Brianne and Lucky for lunch.

Port Charles Courthouse: Courtroom B

Brooke testifies. Hartman has only Diego for a witness, who gives the expected testimony. Both lawyers make their closing arguments. The jury goes to deliberate.

PCMB: Brianne’s Office
Brianne barely has time to sit down before she gets the call the verdict is in.

Port Charles Courthouse: Courtroom B
He’s guilty.

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