Written in 48 minutes. I knew if I started another scene, I wouldn’t finish it, so this was a good spot to leave it. Plus it was all the scenes I’d hoped to get to in this part, so —

See you sometime this week — maybe Tues/Wed for another update.

---

Carly stood there with that smirk on her face, a smirk she’d directed in his direction for more than two decades — the smirk that said she already knew how this conversation would end — that the choice she’d presented was nothing more than a lie. She’d given him no choice, and he’d have to tell her something if only to make her go away.

It was a routine they had repeated so often that he nearly fell into it again without thinking, a habit he wore like a second skin, and he’d already opened his mouth to reluctantly give her a morsel of truth when he caught himself.

What he just told Elizabeth that day? That he was going to stop reacting, stop sitting back, stop doing and saying enough not to make waves—

Jason shook his head, then walked away from her, heading for the stairs to the second floor. She must have been more surprised than he’d expected, because he didn’t hear the clatter of footsteps following him until he was nearly at his room.

“Jason Morgan! We were in the middle of a conversation—oof—” The door nearly hit her in the face when she tried to follow him into his room. She slapped a hand against the door. “Hey! Watch it!”

“You were in the middle of the conversation,” Jason said, still gripping the door knob. “I wasn’t.”

“What has gotten into you?” she demanded. She folded her arms, huffed. “First, you go after Drew for whatever insane reason, and now you’re stomping around, yelling at Sonny, walking away from me—I don’t understand what’s going on!”

“None of it concerns you,” Jason said. “So if you really want to know, go find Sonny. I don’t have time to talk to you.” He wanted to call Molly, check on her since he knew her notice of representation had been filed this morning, he wanted to think about how to present all of this to Jake and Danny —

He did not want to explain any of it to Carly.

“See! See, that’s how I know something is wrong!” She jabbed a finger in his direction. “You always make time for me—”

“No, you always take time,” Jason interrupted, and her lips parted in surprise. “There’s a difference, Carly. I don’t—”

“Okay, let’s try this another way. You’re supposed to be my best friend. I’m supposed to be yours. You just had a horrible argument with your other best friend—the man you love like family, and I’m not supposed to be worried?”

He grimaced, exhaled in a huff. And this is why she’d always won every confrontation between them. She just talked him into circles until he felt vaguely guilty for having not said anything in the first place. Until he was too tired to keep fighting.

“You really want to know why I’m angry at Sonny?” Jason said. “Fine. He told Jake that Elizabeth lied to me about his paternity.”

“He—” Carly actually fell back a step. “He what? Why? That is absolutely insane! Why would he do that? Why would he bring that—” She furrowed her brow. “No. There has to be more. It’s not even a secret that the whole world thought Lucky was his father—”

“This is why I didn’t want to have this conversation in the first place. I told you what the problem is—”

“I have no doubt that Sonny did this. And I can even imagine he wasn’t that delicate about it. But for you to cut him off—” Carly pursed her lips. “I don’t understand why he did it. Where? When? Why?”

“None of that matters—”

“Oh, I am sure that the delivery of the information has to have something to do with it.” Carly lifted her brows. “Like I said, I’ll go ask Sonny, and you know I’ll drag it out of him. You really want me to hear his side?”

“You don’t care what I want. You never have,” Jason snapped and she blinked. “I told you I don’t want to talk about this, but you don’t care about that, do you? You think you know what’s best for me. That’s what Sonny thought, too. That’s why he went over to start a fight with Elizabeth, and instead of shutting his mouth when the boys came in, he deliberately told Jake half-truths about what happened so he’d hurt Elizabeth. He didn’t care about my son, didn’t care what that information might to do with him. As long as he got the last word.”

Carly pressed her lips together, some of the righteous indignation fading from her eyes. “That…that is disappointing,” she said finally. “Especially given that he knows what Michael went through when AJ came home. How hard it was for Michael to know things about…before. I…it’s hard for me to believe that he’d do that to Jake—I believe you, I mean,” she added hastily. “I just—”

“I never would have done that to him. No matter how angry he ever made me. Or you. The kids were off limits.”

“No, you loved our kids like your own.” Carly exhaled a slow breath. “And he and I haven’t been as loyal to you. You don’t have to tell me that, Jason. I’m sorry. I’m sorry he did that. How’s Jake?”

“Angry. Hurt. Confused.” Jason dragged a hand through his hair, a bit rattled that she’d so easily capitulated. That she’d seen his point of view—or agreed with him. “He’s been struggling with what I did, the last thing he needed was to have doubts and anger towards his mother.”

Her lips twisted. “I’m sure Elizabeth is properly devastated.”

Just when he thought Carly had turned a corner— “And what does that mean?” he asked, his shoulders tensing.

She wrinkled her nose. “Nothing. Just that Elizabeth plays the martyr better than anyone I know.”

“And that’s where this conversation ends—” Jason stepped back, reaching for the door. “You never let me down, Carly—”

“Oh, don’t take it that way. Elizabeth and I are at peace, okay? I’m sorry Jake got hurt, but maybe it’s time he remembers that people are human. If he can forgive Elizabeth, he’ll forgive you, too. And Elizabeth is hurt, well, good. She should have thought of that before she lied to you.”

—

Jake heard the words leaving his mouth, but it was like they belonged to someone else. Like this entire conversation was happening between two other people —

“Maybe everyone should just take a deep breath,” Aiden said, stepping between the two of them. “We’re all upset. I don’t even know why anymore. Okay? Nothing—” he swallowed, looked at his mother. “Whatever happened back then, maybe I’m curious. Maybe I wanna know, and I won’t apologize for it. And you shouldn’t either,” he said to his brother.

“I—” Jake started.

“But you gotta knock this off, man,” Aiden continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “Mom’s still Mom. She’s been here every single day I can remember. When I was sick or upset, or whatever, she was there. My dad never wanted to be.”

“Aiden—”

“Mom—” Aiden shook his head lightly. “Don’t defend him. Just don’t. He doesn’t love me the way you love me. He chose not to be here. Chose it. Over and over again. He didn’t come home when you needed him. When I needed him. Ever. I guess maybe I wanted to know why. Why he doesn’t love us.” He was quiet for a minute, his throat working hard as he swallowed, then looked back at Jake. “Your dad loves you. He came here the second he could, remember? Got released from jail, and came right here.  Dad was in town for days before I saw him. But whatever, you get to be pissed at him. But not at Mom. Not like this. You’re better than this, dude.”

“That doesn’t make—” Jake exhaled slowly. “I’m sorry,” he said in a dull voice. He stared down at the carpet, the shame roiling through him like red hot lava. “I’m sorry,” he said again. “I can’t make it stop.”

“There are no magic words to make what happened right,” his mother said. Her voice sounded thick, like she was on the verge of tears and Jake just knew he couldn’t look at her, couldn’t see that he’d made her cry.

Just like everyone else.

“I made a terrible, awful mistake and what’s worse, I made it over and over again. For a long time. I had reasons, and they felt right at the time, but they never were. None of it was right, Jake. I can’t understand why your father forgave me, I’m only grateful that he did. But I understand if you need time to get there. Or to get somewhere close to it.”

“Yeah. Yeah. I’m going—I need—” His voice crackled, and Jake turned, walked quickly to the stairs, charging up them before he’d found the words to fix what he’d broken.

When his door slammed upstairs, Elizabeth pressed the heel of her hands to her face. “Aiden—”

“You don’t have to tell me anything about when I was born. You don’t. Not if it makes you upset. Or makes you cry. It’s not important—”

The tears did spill then. Her sweet baby, made of sugar and light. He’d always tried to make everyone happy. “I just—it’s too big to talk about. Not like this. Your father and I need to talk. I will—” She lowered her hands, took a deep breath. “I will fix this. I will. But for right now, can we let it go?”

“Sure.” He smiled at her, shoved his hands in his pockets. “I’m gonna go upstairs and play some video games. Call me when we’re talking dinner, okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah, okay.”

When his door had closed as well, Elizabeth reached for the phone.

—

“Elizabeth didn’t start the lie, did she, Carly?” Jason retorted, and his irritation only escalated when she rolled her eyes. “Who told me Jake wasn’t my son first?”

“Oh my God, are you still blaming me? Man, you say I don’t clean up my own messes, but you’re not much better, are you?” Carly planted her hands on hips. “You need to blame me for the mess she started and you let happened, whatever, Jase. But it doesn’t matter what I said. She still kept her mouth shut for months, and then when you did know the truth, you let her guilt you into keeping it. Or you didn’t want her enough to make a life with her, I don’t know. Pick whatever truth keeps you warm at night. But I didn’t give your son to another man, did I?”

Jason opened his mouth to snap back, then closed it when he had nothing to say. He knew she was wrong, knew that she was doing what she always did — turning him in circles until he agreed with her. But she’d stumped him for the moment.

Because maybe Sonny and Carly had guilted Elizabeth into thinking the baby would make Jason’s life difficult — but Carly wasn’t wrong. Elizabeth had been the one who’d crumpled under that weight, and he hadn’t been paying enough attention to see she was drowning until it was too late to do anything about it.

Fortunately, the vibrating of his phone saved him from having to say anything. He jerked it from his pockets, not even checking the notification. “Yeah?”

“Hey. It’s me. Can you come?”

—

Maxie opened the door, scowled and immediately slammed it.

Lucky sighed, then knocked again. “Maxie, come on—I know Aiden was here earlier—”

She jerked the door open three inches, with only her face visible. “What the hell is going on? Why was he here? Why is he asking questions?”

“Because Jason Morgan has a big mouth,” he muttered, and her eyes widened. “We need to talk—”

“No! No! I made a mistake, okay? Like three times, I made that mistake, and I was nineteen years old, Lucky! I grew up! I have a right for all of that to be in the past! I did nothing wrong! You were the one who was married!”

“We made that mistake more than three times, Maxie. And let’s not pretend I seduced a virgin,” he retorted. Her face was red. “You and I can come up with a story, or you can shove your head in the sand. Make your choice—”

“No! You tell your nosy kid to stop asking me questions and come up with your own story! This has nothing to do with me!” She slammed the door.

—

Elizabeth was waiting outside in the driveway when Jason pulled the SUV to a stop, her arms wrapped around herself, the fading twilight casting her expression into shadows.

“What happened? What’s wrong?” he asked, hurrying up to her. “I meant to call you, to tell you what happened at the diner—”

“Oh. Something—” Elizabeth nodded. “Well, whatever it is, it explains the mood Jake came home in. You can catch me up on that, but I—I think if you want to talk to Jake about living with you, about Danny too, now is your best chance. He’s upset at me, but also mad at himself for…it’s not important.”

It was, but Jason would come back to that. “Are you sure?”

“I don’t think there will be a better time.”

Written in 67 minutes, sorry, I got hung up on the ending.

---

This was a terrible idea.

And she knew it, even as Willow let herself sink into Drew’s embrace for just a moment, losing herself in the thrill that rippled beneath her skin, at the memory of their night together—

But then her hand snagged on something as her fingers slid towards the buttons on his shirt—her ring.

Her wedding ring.

Willow flattened that same hand against Drew’s chest and shoved. Hard. “What are you thinking?” she hissed, wiping the her mouth with the back of her hand as if that would erase what she’d done —  “Don’t touch me—”

“Willow—” Drew raised his hands but Willow didn’t stop to see what he might try to do with them next. She fumbled behind her for the door knob, found it, and fled, almost tripping in her haste to rush towards the stairs, towards home, towards freedom.

Drew watched Willow go with a grimace, then dragged a hand through his hair. It was probably for the best, he thought. The last thing he needed was a scandal as he began his political career — though an extramarital affair was hardly the killer it had been even a decade ago. It probably wouldn’t even make the headlines in Washington.

But the effects would ripple out in other, closer ways, and Drew was just going to have to live with the terrible timing of it all.

He turned away from the door, then froze when he realized — for the first time — he and Willow hadn’t been alone in the nursery.

His daughter was curled up on the window seat, her dark eyes wide, her little mouth pinched, looking strikingly like her mother right before Sam would go in for a kill shot.

Shit.

—

Jason watched Lucky’s car peel out of the lot, wondering if he’d talked some sense into the other man or if the Lucky would continue to fall into terrible habits. When he’d first found Lucky in Africa, Jason had thought Elizabeth’s ex-husband had grown up — or that they’d finally turned the corner on their complicated history. They’d been almost friends once, Jason thought, before Lucky’s return from Cassadine captivity and Jason’s relationship with Elizabeth had made that impossible.

He should have bit his tongue and been more careful when talking to Jake the other day, should have found a way to keep Lucky out of it. But if Lucky thought that Jason’s screw up meant it was open season to bring up everything, Jason wouldn’t hesitate to throw him to the wolves.

He’d tiptoed around Lucky Spencer one too many times, but he’d be damned if he’d do it again.

Jason shoved the diner door open, then winced when he saw a familiar face emerging from the kitchen and talking to someone behind the counter. Maybe he could back out before she saw him—

“Jason! Oh, I’ve been looking for you! And calling you!” Carly’s voice drew interested stares as she sailed across the diner, her eyes lit with a trouble mixture of concern and glee. “Why aren’t you returning my calls?”

Jason sighed. It was too late to run now. “What did you need?” If she’d gotten herself into more trouble—

Carly whacked his chest lightly. “Why do you always sound like that?” she complained. “I’m worried because Sonny said you’d gone postal on him, and I didn’t know if it was real or like last summer—”

“I don’t want you involved—”

“Too late buddy, I’m in it. So you can talk to me, or I can bug Sonny until he caves.” She arched a brow. “Your choice.”

—

Alexis folded her arms and leveled a glare at Diane. “This is your fault.”

“I’m sure it is,” Diane said, removing her coat and setting it on top of her briefcase. She nodded at Kristina by the dining table, then focused on Alexis standing in front of the fireplace, a legal brief in her hands. “I warned you that this would be a bad idea, Alexis. It’s hardly my fault if your foe found a worthy ally—”

“He  hired my daughter, Diane. How would he even know she’d take his case?” Alexis demanded. “What did you tell him? Did you tell him there were issues with Molly—”

“Oh, hardly—”

“Jason didn’t go to Molly, Mom.” Kristina rolled her eyes, approaching the back of the sofa. “You saw her that day when we were talking about the case. You know she was angry, and she wasn’t all that supportive—”

“I know you and your sister are having issues, but she wouldn’t—” Alexis exhaled on a huff. “I filed a petition to keep her from taking the case. Conflict of interest—”

“Am I here for any other reason other than blame? Because I had other plans,” Diane said with a sniff. “You’ll lose that petition, Alexis, and you know it. It’s family court. Molly isn’t a legal partner. Family members are on opposing sides all the time. If I were you, I’d think about settling or withdrawing—”

“I will do no such thing. We can do this. I can do this,” Alexis repeated, almost to herself. “Jason might have been a good father once upon a time, but he’s lost his way. He’s nothing but a tool for Sonny and Carly to point in whatever direction suits them. He’s was in Danny’s life a handful of years, and Jake?” she snorted, then shook her head. “Diane, you’re his friend, not just his lawyer—”

“Alexis, I’ve tried to be kind. I’ve tried to be hands off—” Diane tipped her head. “But you’re fighting a battle that can’t be won. Danny is old enough to say where he wants to live. He’ll choose his father. He doesn’t hold Jason’s absence against him—”

“He’s a child. I never knew what was right for me at that age either,” Kristina argued. “I’ll talk to him. I can—”

“Alexis. You can’t win—”

“Yes, I can. Molly is young, inexperienced. She’s never worked in family court.” Alexis headed for the table where legal documents had spread across the table. “I’ve been putting together my case, and I’m going to make it clear — Jake and Danny are wonderful children despite their paternity. Jake might be a bright, well-adjusted artist in a world renowned art program — but that’s entirely his mother. Look at Elizabeth’s children!”

“Cameron’s on a scholarship at Stanford,” Kristina reminded Diane. “And I saw that Aiden is in all Honors classes—”

“Yes, well, be that as it may—” Diane rubbed her temple. “Alexis, this is madness—”

“Madness would be letting my grandchildren be split up and separated hundreds of miles apart by selfish, absent fathers who left their children, who abandoned them — Sam would want them together. She would want me to do whatever she can to keep them together—” Her voice broke and she turned away.

Diane pressed her lips together, then looked at Kristina. “I know you’ve both been through a lot these last few months. What you’ve lost cannot be measured. And perhaps you’re right. Perhaps Sam would want them together. But she was a realist, Alexis. Like it or not, Danny and Scout have different fathers. Who loathe each other at the moment. Sam had a chance to write her wishes down, didn’t she—”

“She never thought she’d have to use that will. Damn it, Diane, who’s side are you on?” Alexis demanded.

“There are no winners here, Alexis. You go through with this — if you force Danny and Scout into court after they’ve lost their mother, everyone will lose.” Diane picked up her briefcase and coat. “And you might be remember this, the both of you. You don’t have the market cornered on grief.”

Kristina bristled. “What does that mean?”

Diane tilted her head. “You’ve been walking around since August as if you are the only one who was injured that day. As if your sister and her partner didn’t lose their child, their hope, their futures. And Molly also lost her sister. But she doesn’t matter to you, does she?”

Kristina’s cheeks went white. “How dare you—”

“I’ve never lied to you, Alexis,” Diane said, dismissing the middle Davis girl and focusing on her old friend. “Not even to make you feel better. You will regret what you’ve started here.”

“I think we’re done here,” Alexis said, tightly. “You can go.”

“With pleasure.”

—

Drew cleared his throat, and took a step towards his daughter. “Hey, princess. How—” He paused. “How long have you been there?”

Scout’s lower lip trembled. “You were kissing Aunt Willow.”

“I—” He pressed a hand to his chest, then looked behind him as if searching for someone else, then looked back at Scout. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You did. You were kissing Aunt Willow like—” Tears glittered at the corners of her eyes. “Like Mommy and Dante.”

Damn it. “Friends kiss sometimes, honey.” He fastened a smile on his face, then crouched down in front of her. “It’s okay to kiss your friends.”

Scout pressed her lips together, then shook her head. “But I watched on TV and that’s not—you kiss on cheeks—”

“I did kiss her cheek,” Drew said. “You were all the way back here, weren’t you?” He patted her knee. “And I’m so much taller than Aunt Willow. I think you just got confused.”

Her lips parted, but no sound came out. All right, progress had been made. “It’s important that you don’t make mistakes about what you see and hear, isn’t it? We always have to tell the truth.”

“We—yes. But—”

“Because lies hurt,” Drew took both her hands, wrapped his much larger ones around them. “Lies can make a lot of trouble, can’t they? And we don’t want to hurt Aunt Willow. Or Uncle Michael. You love him, don’t you? And your cousins. You love little Amelia like one of your  baby dolls.”

“Aunt Willow lets me brush her hair,” Scout said in a tiny voice. “And braid it.”

“Aunt Willow loves you, honey. And I love you. I know your mother taught you to be kind. She’d be so sad if you said you thought you saw something and hurt everyone who loves you.”

Her lower lip quivered and a tear slid down her cheek. “Mommy’s in heaven. Watching over me. Danny said.”

“He did. He’s such a good older brother. You’re so lucky to have so many people who love you here at the Quartermaines. We’re lucky to live here,” Drew continued. “I hope we get to stay here. But we can only do that if you’re a good girl. Can you be a good girl for me?”

“Okay, Daddy.” Scout wrapped her little arms around his neck and he sighed in relief, accepting her hug. Crisis averted.

Kids were so gullible.

—

Elizabeth heard the slamming of car doors in the driveway and went to the window to look, her heart pounding when she saw Jake and Aiden coming up the walkway.  She stepped away from the door when they came in.

They all stared at each other for a long moment. And then —

“Did Dad have an affair with Maxie Jones?” Aiden blurted out. Behind him, Jake winced and closed the door.

“What?” Elizabeth demanded. “Where on Earth—” She pressed her lips together. “Have you been talking to your father?”

“I don’t think you can count what happened as talking to him,” Aiden muttered. He flopped onto the sofa. “He was too busy trying to talk to Jake.”

“I—” Elizabeth turned to her middle son. “Jake? What’s going on?” When he said nothing, pretended to be very busy hanging up his jacket, her nostrils flared. “Jacob Martin Webber—”

“You gave me his initials.”

She stumbled to a stop. “What?”

Jake looked at her now. “You lied about my father to everyone, but you gave me his initials. That’s so weird. Why even bother?”

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes. “Oh, don’t even try to distract me. You get to be angry at me, that’s fine. But now your brother is involved—”

“Any lies about his paternity he should know about, or—” Jake looked at her expectantly, and her heart caught. “I can see you thinking how to answer that so the answer is yes, isn’t it?”

“Mom? Is he right?”

Elizabeth’s head to started to spin and she pressed two fingers to each of her temples. How had it all spun out of control so fast and was she ever going to be able to slow it down, to bring it back?

“Is this what you want?” she asked, letting her hands fall to her sides. “Tell me, Jake. Is this what you wanted? You must have told your brother what your father said—”

“Did you want me to lie to him, too? I guess you’re the only one who gets lie in this house, huh?” Jake said with a snort. “Rules for thee and not for me—”

“No, Jake, you’ve told your own share of lies, haven’t you? I suppose it might be genetic,” Elizabeth said, and Jake stared at her, startled. “Do you remember all the times you covered for Charlotte so that she could torment Anna? Trash her hotel room? Spray paint her home?”

Jake’s face was gray. “That’s not fair—”

“Oh, so you can dish it out, but you can’t take it?” Elizabeth folded her arms. “You want to wade into the big pool, Jake, you’re going to have to learn to swim in the deep end.”

“Mom—”

“I’ll deal with you in a minute,” Elizabeth snapped at her youngest son before looking back at Jake. “It doesn’t feel very good, does it? To have your entire life boiled down into your worst moments? I made a terrible, terrible choice a long time ago, before you were born. I hurt your father, I hurt Lucky, I hurt myself, and yes, some of it ended up hurting you. And it’s not the only mistake I’ve ever made. I’ve lived a long, complicated life and made choices that I am ashamed of. But you will not stand here, in this house that I have paid for, wearing the clothes I bought you, and treat me like this. I am your mother, and you don’t have to like me, Jacob Weber, but I have done my best by you. It wasn’t always good enough, but damn it, I did my best. So if you have nothing but smart ass remarks to throw at me, you can go to your room and stay there.”

Jake lifted his head. “And I don’t?” he demanded.  “What if I don’t want to be anywhere near you—”

“Then you’ll have to find somewhere else to live. But it won’t be under my roof.”