Seasons change and our love went cold
Feed the flame ’cause we can’t let go
Run away, but we’re running in circles
Run away, run away I dare you to do something
I’m waiting on you again
So I don’t take the blame
Run away, but we’re running in circles
Run away, run away, run away
– Circles, Of Monsters and Men

Thursday, February 5, 2004

 Lake House: Front Porch

Though the air was cold enough to see his breath, Jason didn’t want to take the chance that the call would wake up Elizabeth.

Her good day on Tuesday had cost her — she’d woken yesterday feeling sluggish. Then this morning, she’d needed the oxygen tank between the bed and the sofa. He’d left her dozing to call his mother.

“The vitals are still in the normal range?” Monica wanted to know as Jason related Elizabeth’s condition. “The oxygen resolved the problems?”

“Yeah, but—”

“Jason, we talked about this. We knew there would be days where she felt like her old self, and then days when she would be too tired to move,” his mother reminded him patiently. “I’m sure it’s upsetting to see her struggling for energy, but as long as her blood pressure doesn’t drop and she doesn’t lose consciousness, there’s nothing the hospital or a doctor can do.”

“I know that. I just—” Needed to hear it again? Wanted a different answer? Jason didn’t really know why he’d called Monica —

Or maybe he did. So few people knew how severe Elizabeth’s condition was—he needed to talk to someone who understood what he was dealing with.

He curled his hand into a fist, resting it against the side of the house. “How do we know if it’s a crisis? I mean, when should I be taking her in—”

“If you’re looking for something other than blood pressure, Jason, I don’t have it for you. We’re going to do a full exam when you come back. If her oxygen levels drop, we’ll have to change treatment.” She paused. “She isn’t talking about moving up delivery, is she?”

“It’s a nonstarter,” Jason muttered. He wasn’t sure Elizabeth would change her mind even if her condition changed. As long as the baby was still healthy—he sighed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have bothered you.”

“Of course, you should,” Monica said staunchly. “That’s what I’m here for. You did the right thing keeping her out of Port Charles. She can rest and relax. Of course, now you have more time to worry about her and the baby.”

“Cameron,” Jason corrected softly.

“What’s that?”

“Elizabeth—and I—we picked his name. Cameron Hardy Morgan.”

“Cameron Hardy,” she repeated. “That’s a good name. Steve and Audrey would be pleased.”

“Sonny didn’t come back to the hospital, did he?” Jason asked. “After Tuesday, I mean?”

“No, at least, he hasn’t come back to me. If he’s tried Bobbie or Justus again, I wouldn’t know.” She paused. “I’d suggest you not worry about that, but I know it won’t do any good.”

“No, it won’t.” He said goodbye to her, then peered through the window—Elizabeth was still resting, her eyes closed, so Jason made another call.

“Jason?” Carly’s voice was surprised, and a bit worried. “What’s up?”

“I wanted to check in with you—”

“Jason, I told you, I wanted you to enjoy your honeymoon. Please don’t worry about me—”

“I’m not—” Jason took a deep breath. “I just wanted to know if anything happened. After Tuesday. With the PCPD. Justus said he didn’t know anything—”

“Oh. Nothing yet. Lucky said he’d go over to talk to Sonny, but he said it might be a few days because it’s unofficial. I’m not pressing charges, but I still wanted a report so I can use it—” She hesitated. “I’m going to file for divorce, Jason.”

Jason closed his eyes and let his forehead rest against the house. He’d known this was coming—he’d expected it a long time ago. “Okay.”

“Please don’t worry,” she repeated. “You’ve spent too many years cleaning up after me. You have a family now. I have Mama here, and Uncle Luke is sticking his nose in—actually, there he is right now.” She paused. “I love you, Jason. You’re happy, right? You’re not letting what happened on Tuesday mess things up for you?”

“No,” Jason said finally. “Tuesday isn’t messing things up.”

“Good. I’ll see you when you come home. Have a great time and give Elizabeth my best.” The phone went dead, and Jason stared down at it.

Carly was going to file for divorce. Jason had known it was coming eventually, but he’d fooled himself into thinking he had more time. Sonny was going to completely lose it, Jason realized. Carly might be ready — but Justus and Bernie—the organization—could it withstand another confrontation with Sonny?

“Hey.”

He blinked, looking back up to find Elizabeth in the doorway. “You shouldn’t be on your feet,” he said instantly. He shoved his phone in his pocket and strode forward.

“I’m feeling a bit better,” she promised but didn’t protest when he put an arm around her waist and steered her back towards the sofa. “You were on the phone. Everything okay back home?”

“Yeah. No news. I just wanted to check in while I had a minute.”

She stopped him just as he started to lift her legs onto the sofa. “I’m okay,” Elizabeth repeated. “I don’t feel out of breath, and I only feel a little bit tired. Probably from, you know—” She rested a hand on her belly. “I promise, Jason.”

“I know.” Jason sat down. “I’m sorry,” he said after a moment. “I just—”

“Can’t do anything about what’s going on in my lungs, so you’re going to try to fix everything outside of it. I know.” She reached for his hand. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Brownstone: Living Room

Carly frowned when she entered the living room with Morgan perched on her hip. “Uncle Luke, what are you doing here?”

“He came over to check on the security,” Bobbie said. “I’ve been telling him that Jason was careful which guards he put on the house—”

“I know all that, Barbara Jean,” Luke cut in. “I know he picked guards that he thought were more loyal to him than Sonny, but that doesn’t mean a fresh eye can’t do you some good.”

“It’s not like he broke into the house,” Carly said, already exhausted by the conversation and people constantly checking in on her. It felt like she wasn’t capable of taking care of herself and her children on her own.

Then again, maybe they were right. Sonny hadn’t broken in, but she hadn’t really let him in either. And it certainly hadn’t been Carly who had made him leave— it had been her brother and his boyfriend. It hadn’t been Carly who had freed herself when Sonny had locked her up—that was Jason and Elizabeth.

Jason and her mother—and now Luke, Lucas, and Felix—were all running interference, protecting her. It had to stop.

“Carly—”

“Mama—” Carly fastened Morgan into his swing and turned it on. “Ever since I left the penthouse, I’ve just been—” Shoving her head into the sand, hoping it would all go away. “I’ve been drifting,” she continued. “Waiting for something to happen. For Jason to get through to Sonny or for Sonny to figure things out on his own—” She turned to face her mother and Luke. “I can’t do it anymore. I can’t pretend this isn’t happening. I have to make a change.”

“All right,” Bobbie said slowly, trading an uneasy look with Luke. “What change are you thinking about?”

“Jason just called me,” Carly continued. “With everything he’s dealing with—and I know there are health problems with Elizabeth or the baby he’s not telling us yet—with all of that, he called me from his honeymoon because he doesn’t think I can do this on my own.”

“I’m sure that’s not true—”

“No one thinks that—”

Carly sliced her hand through the air, cutting Bobbie and Luke off mid-sentence. “I didn’t think so either, so I don’t blame him. And in his defense, Jason has been taking care of me for a very long time. You’ve been taking care of me, too, Mama. Now I got Lucas, who doesn’t even like me—” She took a deep breath. “I’m stronger than this. I’m better than this. Sonny could go get help tomorrow, and it wouldn’t change anything. I can’t go back. I’m a mother, and I have to start putting Michael and Morgan first. So I’m going to contact a lawyer and file for divorce.”

Luke lifted his brows as Bobbie bit her lip. “Are you sure you want to do start all of that with Jason out of town? What if Sonny gets wind of it?”

“This is the best time to do it,” Carly insisted. “He and Elizabeth are both out of firing range. Sonny can’t contact them. He can’t make this Jason’s problem, and neither can I. I don’t want you to worry about me. Either of you.”

“Well, that’s just impossible,” Bobbie declared, “but you’re making the right decision. Isn’t she, Luke?”

“Oh, yeah, no doubt about that.” Luke put his hands in his pockets and rocked back and forth on his heels, studying Carly. “Can I ask what kind of divorce you’re going for? He came here, spitting mad over the boys—”

“And I’m sure what I’m going to ask is not going to make things easier. I don’t want his money. I don’t need it. The clubs do fine, and I can make more money.” She paused. “But I’m asking for full custody of Morgan, and I’m going to revoke Michael’s adoption.”

Luke whistled low. “You’re playing with fire, Caroline—”

“I have repeatedly asked him to get help for his problems. Michael isn’t his biological son, and Sonny has really only been in his life for a few years.” Carly bit her lip. “I’m also hoping,” she admitted, “that doing this will shock Sonny. Taking the boys, refusing him access—it hasn’t gotten through to him. Taking Michael away—that’s the last card I have, Uncle Luke.” She looked at Bobbie. “Mama—”

“If you’re sure this is what you want to do,” Bobbie said, “then I’ll support you. Do you know who you’re going to contact?”

“Yeah, I do I just hope she’ll take my case.”

PCPD: Squad Room

“Am I reading this report right?” Detective Andy Capelli demanded as he approached Taggert’s desk. “You have Corinthos dead to rights on trespassing and assault? Why isn’t he in lock up?”

Lieutenant Marcus Taggert glanced up from his paperwork with a frown. “Why are you sniffing around my cases?” he retorted. He yanked the incident report from him. “How many times do we gotta do this—”

“How much is he paying you to sweep this under the rug?” Capelli shot back. “Everyone knows you’re Corinthos’s butt boy—”

“What did you just say to me?” Taggert demanded. “Listen, asshole—”

“Taggert, Capelli.”

The cold slice of the British accent from behind them had Taggert wincing. How many times was the commissioner going to catch him and Capelli going at it before one of them got written up?

He turned to face the irritated Anna Devane. “Anna—”

“You wanted proof Taggert was on Corinthos’ payroll, here it is.” Capelli snatched the report back and shoved it at Anna. “He’s covering up a felony—”

Anna didn’t bother to look at the report. “Detective Capelli, are you looking for another write-up?”

“But—”

“I am aware of this report.” Anna smoothed out the paper and handed it to Taggert. “Bobbie Spencer is a close, personal friend of mine,” she continued, “and I’ve spoken to her about this incident. You can be assured that the decision not to arrest Sonny Corinthos did not come from Taggert. If I were you, I would get out of his face before he writes you up for insubordination. He’s still your ranking officer.”

Seething, Capelli stalked out of the squad room. Anna sighed and looked at Taggert. “You can’t give in to him—”

“I wasn’t even on this call,” Taggert muttered. “Spencer and Falconieri both said Carly and Felix DuBois declined to press charges. It’s a mistake,” he continued, “but it’s theirs to make.”

“I know that.” Anna folded her arms. “I thought Spencer was going to talk to Sonny about this. They apparently have history.”

“Yeah, Lucky said he’s having trouble getting in to see him, but it’s unofficial, Anna, so his hands are tied. He’s trying to pull some favors. If Carly doesn’t want charges from this, I’m not forcing her hand.”

Anna picked up the report, scanned over the details, her brow furrowed. “Do we know how long Jason Morgan is supposed to be out of town? Doesn’t he usually keep Sonny on a pretty tight leash?”

“He does,” Taggert said, “but—” he paused. “Something is going on here. I don’t know what it is, but Sonny’s out there, running wild, breaking into houses, and creating chaos — and Morgan still isn’t back. I thought he would be when he heard about the Brownstone.”

“Well, didn’t you and the mayor tell me you were hoping there was finally some daylight between Corinthos and Morgan?” Anna asked. “He was willing to inform on Lansing to Ned. Perhaps he’s weary of cleaning up after his boss.”

“Maybe.” Still, it troubled Taggert. He knew something was up with Elizabeth—had seen something in her expression the day he and Scott had gone to see her about the wedding invitation. “I think Bobbie told me it’d be another week.”

“Well, at least someone is getting a break from this. Taggert, I respect Carly and Felix’s right to make this decision, but I also have to think about the big picture. The next time Sonny Corinthos commits a crime, you arrest him and sort it out later. Is that understood?”

“You don’t have to tell me twice.”

Corinthos & Morgan Warehouse: Justus’s Office

Justus kissed his wife’s cheek as he accepted the bag of food she’d brought him. “I don’t like you coming down here,” he complained.

“You told me it was safe.” Tamika Ward just lifted a brow. “You said so when we moved here. Safe enough for you, safe enough for me.” She pointed at the desk. “I needed a break from the store.”

“Or a break from Portia,” he muttered as he took his seat and started to unpack the containers of food.

“Don’t start. You love my sister. She’s got Kimi with her, which is why we can have a minute to ourselves.” Tamika removed the container from her soup and twirled a spoon. “How are things around here since…well, since.”

Justus sighed. “Not great,” he admitted. “Morale’s in the gutter. Sonny barely shows up except to yell at people. Johnny’s doing what he can, but honestly — Jason should be here.”

“Jason has a right to his honeymoon—” She pursed her lips. “Then again, I was surprised when Emily said it was for two weeks. That feels like a long time with everything going on.”

“I know—” Justus tipped his head. “He did that for Elizabeth.”

“I’m surprised she suggested it. She seemed to know what was going on with Sonny—”

“No, she—” He paused, shifting. “She’s sick, Mikki. It’s pretty bad.” He wiped his mouth, feeling his stomach swirl with nerves and worry. Every time he thought about what Elizabeth was going through, he thought of his own family. How would he have handled things if Tamika’s health had been so fragile—if there was a chance their precious daughter wouldn’t make it?

“Justus—”

“Last summer, she got these blood clots because of that asshole with the birth control,” he continued. “She ended up with this condition in her lungs — there was scar tissue in the blood vessels. They want her to deliver the baby early.”

Tamika stared at him. “Oh my God. How early?”

“If the doctors had their way, Jason said, this week or next. The kid would be in the NICU, probably with all kinds of complications. Elizabeth wants to wait as long as she can—”

“I’d do the same—”

“Right. But the longer she waits, the more stress it puts on her heart and lungs. Jason took her out of town to get her away from this circus. So, yeah, he should be here. He can’t. He made a choice between his family and this job. I’d make the same one.”

“Of course, you would, baby—”

“I’m just worried about what comes next. There’s another week before he gets back— and even when he does—what happens if Sonny lets loose on Elizabeth? He’s done it before, you know. Back in December. At the wedding—”

“Justus—”

“I can’t see a way out of this that doesn’t make it worse,” he continued. “And I’m afraid Elizabeth or the baby will pay the price.”

Harborview Towers: Hallway

It had taken Lucky nearly two days and all the favors he could manage to get admitted to the penthouse floor. He wasn’t entirely sure how his father had done it, but maybe Luke still had some friends in the organization after all these years.

“What are we even going to say to him?” Dante demanded, following Lucky out of the elevator. “Don’t harass your wife? Do you think we’re the first to say it—”

“No, but at least we can say we tried everything,” Lucky replied, wishing he had left his cranky partner in the patrol car. “Hey, Max.”

“Hey, Lucky.” The guard shifted uncomfortably. “Listen, Francis said he owed your old man for—” he slid a glance to Dante “—for something, but maybe you tell Mr. C I had no choice.”

“I got you, Max. Thanks.”

The guard knocked on the door then opened it. “Mr. C—”

“What the hell do you want?” Sonny demanded, shoving himself off the sofa. “Who let cops past the front desk?” he shot at Max.

“I told them that you either talk to me now unofficially,” Lucky said easily, unruffled by Sonny’s volatility, “or we’ll come back with an arrest warrant.”

“On what grounds—”

“Trespassing and assault,” Lucky cut in. “Carly and Felix didn’t press charges because I said I’d come to talk you. You throw me out, that changes things.”

Sonny clenched his jaw. “So talk, then get out.”

“You’re going to be served in the next day or two with a temporary restraining order. You can’t go back to the Brownstone, Sonny, or you’ll be arrested.”

“She should be arrested! How about that? I want to press charges against her!” Sonny said, striding towards them. Dante fell back a step, but Lucky didn’t.

“On what grounds?”

“Child endangerment! She refuses to let me protect the boys. I tried to keep her safe, but she didn’t want to listen—”

“I don’t think that’ll stand up in court,” Lucky said slowly, “but—”

Sonny grabbed him by the collar and dragged him forward. “You tell that bitch that if she doesn’t give me my kids—”

Lucky wrapped his hands around Sonny’s wrists and shoved him back. “I’m going to ignore that, okay? Stay away from Carly.” He jerked his head at Dante. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Don’t come back without a warrant!” Sonny called after them.

Lucky jabbed the button for the elevator and frowned at Dante. His partner looked pale and shaken — almost like he’d been the one that had been pushed around. “What’s up with you?”

“Nothing. Nothing. I just hate these domestic calls,” Dante muttered. “The guy always finds a way to blame the woman. It bites.”

“Yeah, okay.” Lucky wasn’t sure that was actually the issue, but he let it go. They had bigger problems to worry about because he didn’t think Sonny would take the restraining order seriously.

Port Charles Municipal Building: City Attorney’s Office

Carly folded her hands again and looked over at the secretary busy at her desk, trying to pretend Carly wasn’t there — which did not bode well for Carly getting through to the city attorney.

Alexis Davis was Carly’s only hope — one of the few women in Port Charles who would not only understand what Carly was going through but help get her to the other side. If only Alexis would let her through the door.

“How much longer?” Carly asked the other woman, who flashed her an absent smile.

“I don’t know. You know, Ms. Davis is very busy—”

Carly shifted uncomfortably. She didn’t want to force Alexis’s hand—she didn’t want this to feel like blackmail, but desperate times called for desperate measures. “Maybe it would help if you told her why I’m here,” she said. “I have some medical information for Kristina—about her father.”

The secretary peered at her curiously, then picked up the phone. “Can you let Ms. Davis know that Carly Corinthos is still here and says she has some information about Kristina’s father?” The woman’s eyes widened. “Ah, yes. I’ll send her right in.”

Carly nearly smiled but suppressed it. Some things would never change. She rose from the seat to head for the door, but it was yanked open before she reached it, and Alexis was there, glaring at her. “Get in here,” she hissed.

“Now that’s not very discreet,” Carly murmured as she passed Alexis and settled herself in the visitor’s chair. Alexis closed the door and rounded her desk, her jaw clenched.

“What do you want? Why are you here? How did you find out—”

“You know, I’m surprised you managed to keep the secret this long,” Carly said, forcing a casualness she didn’t really feel. “You’re not good at playing it cool. And you know how I found out.” She hesitated. “I never believed the story about Ned. Remember? I knew you were pregnant, and I told Sonny. He went to talk to you—”

“And I told him Kristina is Ned’s daughter—which she is—” Alexis paled. “You never—he didn’t—”

“Sonny believed you,” Carly assured her. “As far as I know, he still believes you. I doubt he’s thinking about Kristina right now anyway. He’s—he’s out of control. That’s why I came to you. Because I get it now. I get why you didn’t want Sonny to be involved—” She paused. “It wasn’t just the job.”

Alexis took a deep breath. “Carly, I don’t know what’s going on—”

“I’m filing for divorce,” Carly interrupted. “And I need custody of my kids. Sole custody. I’m not—” Her heart twisted. “If I win this, Alexis, if you win this case—it would help you do the same if the truth about Kristina came out.”

“Why would it?” Alexis returned to her desk, standing behind it as if it gave her some comfort or security. “No one would ever need to ask—”

“Because this is Port Charles, and the truth always comes out.”

“Carly, this is outside my practice right now—”

“You’re a good lawyer,” Carly darted in front of Alexis even as the other woman moved to the door as if to usher Carly out. “You got Jason visitation with Michael when that was a long shot, right?”

Alexis hesitated, curling her hand into a fist at her side. “Carly, I’m not in private practice right now. If I took your case, it would be suspicious—”

“I know, I know. I thought about that, and I just—” Carly spread her hands out at her side. “I don’t have an answer for you. I don’t know. I just—” She bit her lip. “You heard about the other day at the Brownstone.”

“Yes.” Alexis folded her arms. “But—”

“He’s out of control,” she repeated. “The other day, it was the Brownstone and forcing his way in, punching an innocent bystander. At the wedding, he and Jason nearly got into a fistfight—” She squeezed her eyes shut. “And last December, he had some sort of break and locked me in the bedroom.”

“He locked you—” Alexis took a step back. “In the bedroom.”

“He was suffocating me with security after Ric disappeared, and I tried to leave him. He locked me in that room, and I couldn’t get out. I begged him to get help, Alexis. I’ve tried everything, but it’s not working. I don’t know anyone else who would understand how much I need to protect my kids the way you would.”

“Carly, if you file this kind of case—it means you and Sonny in court, going after each other. You can’t take this back. You’ll be telling the world Sonny isn’t fit to be a father—”

“He isn’t. Not like this. He’s barely been around Morgan, and Michael is terrified of him.” Carly paused. “This isn’t blackmail, Alexis. If you turn me down, I’m not going to tell the world about Kristina.”

“What if I lose—”

“I’m trying to get my kids away from Sonny. Why would I ever put your daughter in danger? She won’t ever know Morgan,” Carly said, “but I know they’re family. I’m asking to you protect Kristina’s brother, and I promise you — I will protect Morgan’s sister.”

Alexis closed her eyes, took a deep breath. “All right. Let’s talk about what’s next.”

Lake House: Master Bedroom

“I just got off the phone with Justus,” Jason said that night as he came in and dumped the phone and his wallet onto the dresser. “Things are fine—”

“Are they, or is he just covering so he doesn’t worry you?” Elizabeth asked. She bit her lip. “Or are you trying not to worry me?”

“I wouldn’t—” Jason sat on the bed, then stared at the dresser, avoiding her eyes. “I told you Carly is filing for divorce, but that paperwork might not be ready right away—”

“These last few days have been great, and I’m glad we did this,” Elizabeth told him, “but I really think we should think about cutting the trip short—”

“No—”

“Jason, staying here isn’t going to change the fact that things are going to get worse back home. Maybe the divorce won’t be filed right away, but didn’t you say Carly was going to get a restraining order? Won’t that complicate things? And—look, I don’t want to ask about the warehouse,” Elizabeth continued, and he jerked his head around to look at her. “And I’m not, but I can’t imagine things are great there with Sonny the way he is and you not there—”

“You don’t have to worry about any of that—”

“Telling me that doesn’t change the fact that I do worry. I don’t want to make things worse by staying away another week—”

“Staying here isn’t making things worse,” Jason said shortly. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore. You need more rest and less stress. I told you, if I thought we could get away with not going back until the baby was born, we’d be doing that.”

He got to his feet and went over to a drawer to drag out a pair of sweats. “You wanted to wait until the last possible minute to have the baby. I’m just trying to make that happen.”

And at that, she closed her mouth. They were both right—things at home were probably falling apart faster and harder than they would if Jason were there. But as long as she refused to deliver early, she was adding to Jason’s problems, making him dig in his heels even harder about staying away.

“Okay,” she said softly. “I’m sorry.”

He exhaled slowly. “I’m doing the best I can,” Jason said, his voice low and pained. “I need you to trust me.”

“I do.” She pushed aside the comforter and padded over to put a hand on his back, wincing at the tight muscles. She wished like hell she could make this better for him, but she wasn’t willing to give up hope that their little boy would be born healthy. She couldn’t stand the idea of him struggling for breath in the NICU when Elizabeth could give him a better chance.

“You know what I really want to do right now?” she asked, pasting a smile on her face. “I mean, I can’t do what I actually want to do,” she continued, relieved when Jason’s lips curved into a slight smile, “but I love when you read to me. It helps me fall asleep.” She took his hand in hers and led him back to the bed.

+7

Lost my mind thinking it through
The light inside has left me too
Now I know what empty is
I’ve had enough, had enough of this
I’m tired of barely holding on
To something that’s already gone
I’m tired of being the one who’s in this all alone
– Had Enough, Lifehouse

Tuesday, February 3, 2004

Lake House: Living Room

Elizabeth set down a pair of books on the sofa, then lowered herself next to Jason. “We have work to do.”

Jason frowned at her, put aside his travel book. “We do?”

“The baby needs the name.” She picked up a book, Names Through the Ages. “We can start here. Go find some paper and something to write with. I’ll tell you all the names I like, and then we can narrow it down from there.”

Jason grinned, reached over to tug down the edge of the book so he could see her face. “We’re not seriously going to go through every page of this, are we?”

“Listen, it’s the middle of winter in upstate New York, we can’t go a lot of places, and I can only manage sex once a day,” Elizabeth told him with mock seriousness. “We can talk about baby names, or you can have sex. But choose wisely.”

“Well—” He made a show of looking at the clock on the wall. “It’s only about nine in the morning. Seems a little early if I only get to have sex once.”

“That’s what I thought.” She opened the book again. “Now, the reason I made Emily get this book is that it had all kinds of old names—”

“Elizabeth—”

“This is the name our kid is going to have the rest of his life—” She pretended to glare at him. “If you tell me names don’t matter, we’re gonna have our first fight.”

“Well, I know how much you like your middle name,” Jason said, reaching for the other book. “We’re naming our first daughter after you. Imogen Morgan.”

“Don’t even joke about that—” Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “My parents just wanted to make sure Great-Grandma Imogen Martin wouldn’t leave them out of the will. They tried to suck up at the end.”

“Did it work?”

“Nope. Which does, in hindsight, make me happy. Don’t distract me. We’re not doing daughters yet.” Elizabeth took a deep breath. “Boys.”

“These are all fine—”

“Jason Morgan—”

“I mean, what’s the difference between Brian and Mark?” Jason asked.

“Brian was a kid in my first grade class who tripped me. That’s why I have that scar on my knee.”

Jason nodded sagely. “Of course. That makes sense. Mark?”

“Sarah had a ridiculous crush on Marky Mark, and I’d never be able to look at our kid without thinking about it.” She snickered when Jason just stared at her with confusion. “Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch? Oh man, you know, you’re lucky to have that memory wiped. Anyway. Brian and Mark are out. So are…” She ran her fingers down a list. “Michael, Jeffrey, Alan, Edward—”

“Yeah, we only need one Edward,” Jason agreed.

“And it has to sound right with the rest of his name, okay? Because I have a middle name picked out.” She flipped a page. “Ooh, Scottish names.”

“What about…” He frowned. “Kevin—no. He was my doctor after the accident. And Carly’s.”

“See, that’s what I mean—”

“You did this to me,” he told her. “I never would have thought about it—”

“Right, until the day we had baby Kevin in the park and ran into adult Kevin, and then he’d be like, whoa, weird, you named your kid after me—” Elizabeth shook her head. “Nope. I am not setting my son up for failure.”

“This seems more complicated than it needs to be.” Jason sighed but now looked more closely at the book in front of him.

Elizabeth grinned at him, pleased. “This is why I love you.”

Jason looked at her, arching a brow. “Because I let you talk me into being ridiculous?”

“Yes.” She nodded. “Because you don’t mind when I talk circles around you and drag you into my silliness—”

“I just like seeing you like this,” he said. He leaned forward and kissed her. “Happy.”

“Me, too.” She sighed against his lips and let the book fall to the ground. Jason wrapped his arm around her waist and lowered her onto her back. “You know, today is a good day,” she murmured. “Maybe we can manage it twice.”

“Well…” Jason raised his head to meet her eyes, still dancing with laughter. “You could just lay back and let me do all the work.”

“You have the best ideas.”

Corinthos & Morgan Warehouse: Bernie’s Office

Bernie Abrams set down the phone staring at the hunk of black plastic, his brows drawn together before looking across the desk at Justus Ward “This doesn’t make any sense.”

“What’s up? What did Frank want?”

“Lansing passed through Atlanta a few days ago, but it was under the radar. He only found out about it from one of his boys during an accounting thing.”

“Lansing in Atlanta.” Justus cleared his throat. “He was supposed to have been in Miami last week.”

“And Puerto Rico before that.” Bernie grimaced. “I don’t know about this. These sightings—they’ve felt wrong from the start.”

“No one ever sees him in person, except Puerto Rico. That one seemed legit,” Justus admitted, “but it’s never anyone directly, you know? Someone is always telling someone else—”

“I know we put the syndicate on the alert,” Bernie said slowly, “but all of the sightings have been internal. On our side. Didn’t Jason tell you that the PCPD had the international authorities on this?”

“Yeah. That’s the part that doesn’t feel right. The FBI, the WSB, and Interpol haven’t had so much as a whiff of Lansing since he disappeared, but our guys are seeing him left and right?” Justus shook his head. “This feels like a setup.”

“Setup or not—” Bernie craned his head to the door. “I think we can both agree that we don’t need to take this to Sonny. When Jason calls today, you pass it on to him, but I don’t trust this any more than I trusted Javier Ruiz in Miami. None of this smells right. Everyone owes a favor to someone else—”

“Yeah, wasn’t something between his family and Manhattan?” Justus asked. “Maybe—”

The door behind them crashed open, and Sonny stalked in. Behind him, a red-faced and irritated Cody Paul followed, with Max at his side. Cody, usually Elizabeth’s guard, had been temporarily reassigned to the warehouse while she was out of town, and he didn’t look happy about Sonny forcing his way in.

“Sonny.” Warily, Bernie got to his feet, as did Justus. “I wasn’t expecting you in the offices today.”

“I bet,” Sonny snarled. “How long have you known about Atlanta?”

Justus saw the flare of surprise in Bernie’s eyes before the older man shut it down, and Sonny sneered. “You trying to hide it from me like Puerto Rico and Miami?” he demanded. “This is my business! My organization!”

“No one is keeping anything from you,” Justus said, stepping in front of Bernie. “We literally just got off the phone with Frank. We’re just surprised that you know already—”

“Yeah, well, I heard it directly from the Babe,” Sonny sneered. “At least he knows who’s in charge around here—”

“The Babe?” Justus echoed. Anthony “the Babe” Pellacosta was as old school as they came,  part of a branch of the Gambino family, transported to the south. “The Babe doesn’t call anyone—”  And he’d never given Sonny or Jason the time of day before. Why the hell was he calling Sonny personally?

Sonny shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. The bastard is back in the country and clearly making his way back to New York.” He held out his hand. “Give me the damn number.”

Neither Justus nor Bernie needed to ask which number Sonny was demanding.

“I’m not going to do that,” Justus said. “I’ll call Jason, but there’s nothing he can do where he is—”

“That’s not your call to make—”

“Jason made it my call,” Justus retorted, cutting Sonny off. “And if you don’t like it, take it up with him when he gets back. Bernie and I will send some guys down to Atlanta to look into it, but this is gonna be just like Venezuela and Puerto Rico. It’s going nowhere.”

“How the hell do you know that—”

“You don’t think it’s strange that someone is always mysteriously catching sight of Lansing without any damn proof?” Justus charged. “Either they’re screwing with us, or they’re trying to get you to give them favors—”

“What the hell do you know—”

“There’s nothing Jason can do here that we’re not already doing,” Bernie said, his tone softer, a bit more conciliatory. “We’ll send the guys. We’ll check over the security on the Towers and the Brownstone—”

“So you’re not giving me his number?” Sonny said to Justus, narrowing his eyes. “You’re going to disobey a direct order?”

“I don’t take orders from you, Sonny.”

Sonny looked like he clearly wanted to argue that, but then he huffed. “Fine. I’ll get it myself.” Then he stalked out, Max hurrying after him.

“I’m sorry,” Cody said. “I’m supposed to stop anyone coming in, but—”

“It’s fine. With Sonny, it’s better just to let him go. We’re not women he can push around,” Justus muttered. He reached for his phone. “Let me leave a voicemail for Jason and give him the heads up. He’ll let me know if there’s anything he wants handled.”

Kelly’s: Dining Room

Lucky Spencer couldn’t decide if finding his mother sitting at a table with his girlfriend was a good or bad thing. There were a lot of stories that he didn’t necessarily want Kelsey to hear from his mother.

His mother beamed when she saw him in the doorway. “Lucky! Come on over! I stopped in for some lunch, and I ran into Kelsey.”

Kelsey’s smile matched his mother’s. “She said she found some pictures of my dad from the old days.”

Kelsey’s father had died in a car accident when she was thirteen, and Lucky knew she’d been happy to learn that Oliver Joyce had once been friendly with Laura during her marriage to Scott Baldwin. In fact, Lucky had been surprised to learn that Luke had known him, too.

“After dinner a few months ago,” Laura said, “I just knew I had some things in the attic. I haven’t looked at some of that stuff in years.” She cleared her throat. “I brought over a lot of things when we first moved back to Port Charles,” she told Lucky. “Remember? Ruby had stored some of it for me.”

“Yeah. You went through it when Grandma came back,” Lucky said, which was a mild way to refer to Lesley Webber’s return from the dead after years of being hidden away by the Cassadines. “You found some things with her dad?”

“Photos from law school mostly. And, of course, Ollie was at the wedding.” Laura hesitated. “To Scott,” she added. “He was never much of a fan of Luke, though I can’t really blame him for that. He was such a cutie back then. You’ll have to come by the house, and I’ll give them to you.”

“Oh, but they’re your memories—”

“Lucky can scan them, can’t you?” Laura asked. “I’ll happily take the digital to save myself some space. I have those memories in my head, you should have the photos.” She squeezed Kelsey’s hand. “I wish Ollie and I hadn’t fallen out of touch after the divorce. He and your mother—they were happy?”

“To me, yeah. She couldn’t live here without him,” Kelsey continued, “and she’s never come back. It hurts too much, she says.” She shifted. “I went by our old house when I first moved here, and it brought back a lot of good memories. I think it might do her good to come back and be part of it.”

“Well,” Laura said, eying Lucky, who had a feeling he knew where this was going, “maybe she’ll have a good reason soon enough.”

Kelsey’s cheeks reddened, and she looked at Lucky, who quickly cleared his throat. “Let’s order,” he suggested. “I have to be back on duty in thirty.”

General Hospital: Nurse’s Station

“Oh, look at this one—” Bobbie sighed, pulling another picture out of the stack she’d had developed. “Look at how adorable Michael looks with Jason—”

“That’s one of my favorites,” Monica murmured. She didn’t really get to see Michael all that often, and the little boy barely knew her as his grandmother. But if Carly stayed away from Sonny—maybe Jason would see a way for her to be part of Michael’s life.

“Did you get one of Jason when Elizabeth started down the aisle?” Emily wanted to know. “I gave my camera to Lucky, but his thumb was in the way—”

“Lu grabbed a few—you can have one of my doubles.” Bobbie handed it to Emily. “It was such a beautiful wedding. You did a great job of planning it.”

“Well, it was Elizabeth’s vision. I just took care of the details. The food ended up being pretty good. Kelly’s should cater more often,” Emily said.

“It would have made Ruby proud to see her chili on the menu, but I wish I knew why Elizabeth did it at the last minute—” Bobbie caught the exchange of glances between mother and daughter. “Oh, is this related to those tests I’m not supposed to know about?”

“Worst kept secret,” Monica muttered. “Yes,” she admitted. “I’m sure it was. I think Elizabeth will fill everyone in when she and Jason get back. She just—”

“She wanted everyone to be happy at the wedding,” Emily added. “You know, concentrating on the good stuff. She didn’t want to leave you out, Bobbie, I practically forced it out of her—”

“I’m not mad,” Bobbie assured them. “I’m just worried. I’m glad Jason made time for a honeymoon, even if it is just a few hours away.”

Monica opened her mouth to respond, but the elevator doors slid open, and Sonny stalked out. She grimaced. “Here we go,” she muttered.

Bobbie quickly stowed the wedding photos. “Sonny—”

“I’m not here to argue, I’m not here to make trouble,” he said flatly. “I know Jason gave one of you his contact information. Give it to me, and I’ll go.”

Emily lifted her brows. “I thought Jason gave his number to Justus. Why didn’t you ask him for it?” She smirked when Sonny’s scowl deepened. “If Justus doesn’t think Jason needs to be called—” She shrugged, grabbed a chart, and sauntered off.

“Go to hell,” Monica said shortly and followed her daughter. Sonny’s eyes tracked after them before turning back to Bobbie.

“I need to talk to him—”

“I’m sure Justus will pass on anything he needs to know.” Bobbie picked up a chart of her own. “I don’t owe you anything, Sonny. You’ve traumatized my daughter and made her life a living hell for months. I’m not going to let you intrude on Jason and Elizabeth’s honeymoon.”

“Fine.” Sonny gritted his teeth, then went back to the elevators, jabbing the button. When he was gone, Bobbie sighed and pulled out her phone to leave a message for Justus just in case.

Brownstone: Living Room

“Hey, Michael—” Lucas sat next to his nephew and reached for his Playstation controller. “Felix and me are gonna play Silent Hill. You want to watch? You can help us with some of the puzzles.”

His seven-year-old nephew frowned, then put down his comic book. “Okay. Maybe I could try playing.”

When Lucas might have resisted because he’d been working on this game save for a good month, Felix elbowed him. Michael was a good kid in the middle of a nasty separation and divorce. Lucas knew all about that, didn’t he?

“Yeah, sure. We could try it.”

Lucas clicked through a few menus, and within a few minutes, they were all intently watching as his character walked through the dark, eerie streets of the video game world.

The doorbell rang, and Felix got up to go answer it. He looked through the peephole and winced. He turned to Lucas. “It’s Sonny.”

Michael flinched and curled up on the sofa, drawing his legs up under his chin and wrapping his arms around them. “Is he gonna try to make me go with him again?”

“No.” Lucas touched Michael’s shoulder. “Not a chance.” He ruffled Michael’s hair and got to his feet as Sonny pressed on the doorbell again, then started knocking. “Michael, do me a favor? Go find your mom, okay? Tell her your dad is here.”

Grateful to have a task, Michael rushed down the back hallway to his mother’s bedroom. Lucas took a deep breath and prepared to face his brother-in-law.

“Maybe we should wait,” Felix said, but Lucas shook his head and pulled open the door, angling himself so that Sonny would have to shove him out of the way to get through the door.

“What do you want, Sonny?” Lucas asked.

“Where’s my wife?” Sonny demanded. “My sons?”

“Does Carly know you’re coming?”

“I don’t need an appointment—” Sonny’s nostrils flared. “Who do you think you are?”

“Sonny, you need to call ahead—”

“I got this, Lucas,” Carly said quietly as she came up behind Lucas and Felix. She sent him a grateful look. “But thanks. Sonny, what do you want?”

“Lansing’s getting closer. They saw him in Atlanta a few days ago—he might already be here—”

“I have guards,” Carly said, even as her face leeched color. “We went over this at the wedding, Sonny. Jason checked the security on the Brownstone. Taggert lives upstairs, and Lucas and Felix have the apartment across the hall.”

Sonny glared past at her at Lucas and Felix, who hadn’t left the foyer. Lucas wasn’t particularly close to his sister, but she didn’t deserve to be left alone with a screaming maniac. “You think these two….” He wiggled his fingers. “You think they can take on Ric?”

Carly narrowed her eyes. “What, exactly, are you suggesting?” she demanded hotly. The knuckles her hand whitened as she clenched the door more tightly. “Is there some reason two men who are younger and stronger than Ric can’t kick his ass?”

“Wait, is he saying we can’t because we’re gay?” Felix hissed. “I—”

“—will stand down because he’s Sonny Corinthos,” Lucas muttered, tugging his boyfriend back.

“You know, I agree with Jason,” Carly said. “I don’t think there’s anything to worry about. This Atlanta thing is just like all the others, isn’t it? Some guy he doesn’t trust thinks he saw Ric — that’s been the story for six months, Sonny! I’m done! I am done letting Ric Lansing control my life! You either start accepting that or—”

“Or what?” Sonny retorted. He shoved the door back, and Carly jumped, startled by the sudden movement. “Where are the boys? I’m taking them with me now. You can do whatever the hell you want with your life, but my boys—”

“Get out, Sonny! Don’t make me call the police!” Carly shoved him back.

“Go ahead and try it! Those are my kids!” Sonny snarled. “Michael!” he called, raising his voice and starting for the foyer. Carly grabbed his arm and tried to drag him away—

Then Sonny shoved her away—Carly fell backward, hitting the column that separated the foyer from the living room. Her eyes were wide, her face even paler. Sonny didn’t even seem to notice—he just kept heading back towards the bedrooms—

“That’s it—” Lucas overtook Sonny before he could start throwing open doors. He shoved the mobster back. “Get out!”

“You’re going to stop me?” Sonny snorted. “What are you going to do?”

“He’s going to kick your ass if you put your hands on Carly again,” Felix said. Sonny turned to lift his brows at the other man. “And when he’s done, I’m next. No one is going to shove a woman around in front of me—”

“Guys—” Carly said weakly. “It’s—”

“Do you know who I am?” Sonny demanded, dismissing Lucas and glaring at Felix. “Do you know what I could do to you?”

“You think you scare me?” Felix retorted. He smirked. “You’re not even the scariest asshole I’ve met this week. I’m a gay, Black man dating a white boy. What are you gonna do to me that the rest of the world hasn’t tried?”

“Sonny, I’m calling the police,” Carly said. She grabbed the landline on the end table. “This is your last chance—”

“I’m not leaving without my kids!” Sonny shoved Lucas out of the way and started down the hallway. “Michael! Morgan!”

“You’re not getting near those kids!” Lucas charged after him. Carly nearly dropped the phone, but Felix snapped at her to finish the call and followed.

Lucas grabbed Sonny’s arm before he could open the first door. He yanked and swung the older man until Sonny slammed into the wall. Lucas pushed him back towards the living room. A baby’s shrill cry came from the back bedrooms.

Sonny swung at Lucas, who sidestepped him, letting Sonny crash into another wall. When Sonny went for Lucas again, Felix grabbed his arm and shoved him back, but then Felix tripped as he was trying to get out of the way, and Sonny’s next fist landed on Felix’s jaw. Felix sprawled back, hit Lucas, and both men went tumbling to the floor.

“The police are on their way!” Carly cried as she tried to wade in. “Sonny—”

Sonny scowled at Lucas and Felix, who got back up again to block him. Then, he whirled around on Carly. “You’re going to get them killed! Why can’t you just listen to me!”

“Carly, get out of the way,” Lucas said. “Go back into the living room—”

“I’m leaving,” Sonny retorted. “You think I’m gonna let you have me arrested? You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” He glared at Carly and just waited. Maybe for Carly to say something back, to go at him—

Instead, she stared at him like she’d never seen him before. When she continued to say nothing, Lucas shoved past Sonny and planted himself in front of his sister.

“Get out before Michael has to see you being arrested. You’ll be lucky if I don’t press charges for trespassing. Or maybe Felix can press charges for assault. We can pick the crime—”

“I’m out of here!” Sonny shoved past them both. A few minutes later, they heard the door slam shut.

Carly just stood there, the cordless phone clutched in her hand. She stared straight ahead at nothing at all.

Lucas ignored her for a minute, going to check on his boyfriend. “You okay?” Lucas asked. He touched Felix’s jaw.

“Yeah, he’s got a weak left hook,” Felix muttered. “Look, go take care of your sister. I’ll check on the kids, get them calmed down.”

Lucas grimaced — he’d rather switch the roles, but he turned back to Carly, who had started to breathe again. She met his eyes. “I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I’m just….” She took a deep breath—

Then her shoulders started to tremble as she dropped the phone and pressed her hands to her face. “I’m sorry,” she continued to repeat. “I’m sorry.”

“Okay—” Lucas took her by the shoulders and steered her towards the living room. “Sit down—”

“I freeze sometimes,” Carly said finally. She wrapped her arms around herself. “I—since the—since the panic room—sometimes—” She looked at him. “I’m sorry. I keep messing things up.”

Lucas frowned — because this was not the woman he’d known most of his life. This was not the woman who had waltzed into his life and destroyed his parents’ marriage, driving his father over the edge.

“Carly—”

“I’m okay.” Carly closed her eyes, took another deep breath. “I have to remember to breathe. I have to—”

“I’ll call my mom—”

They heard the police sirens outside. Carly winced. “Oh, God, what am I going to do?”

“We’ll deal with it,” Lucas told her. “Let’s just—” He got to his feet as Felix came out, cradling a calmed down Morgan, Michael trailing after him. “Hey.”

“Mommy, is Daddy gone?” Michael asked, his voice ragged from sobbing. “I don’t want to see him anymore.”

“He’s gone,” Lucas assured his nephew when Carly couldn’t answer. He took Morgan from Felix when the doorbell rang. “Go let them in.” He turned back to his sister, relieved to see color in her cheeks. Michael had crawled next to her on the sofa and burrowed into her side. “Carly,” he said, “do you want me to handle this?”

“I—” Carly bit her lip. “No.” She kissed Michael’s head. “No. But thank you. I—” She managed a thin smile for him. “I’m fortunate to have you. Both of you,” she told Felix as he returned to the living room, Lucky and Dante in tow. Carly stood up to greet them.

“Uh, hey,” Lucky said, his eyes sweeping the room. “What’s up?”

“Sonny came over,” Carly said, and Lucas frowned as he saw Dante flinch. “He forced his way inside even though I asked him to leave. Lucas and Felix tried to stop him, but he nearly got down the hallway to the kids.” She looked at Lucas. “Then—I don’t know—I was calling the police—”

“He took a swing at me, missed, and then the second time, he hit Felix. He left when he knew you guys were coming.”

Lucky exchanged a troubled look with his partner, grimacing and looking at the floor. “Okay, uh, do you—are you pressing charges?”

Felix looked at Lucas, who turned to Carly. “Do you want to press charges?” he asked her.

Carly looked down at Michael, who had also stood and was now clutching her waist. She ruffled his hair, then looked at Lucky. “It’s not that I want Sonny arrested,” she said after a long moment. “But I—I need a police report. For my lawyer. Can—” She shot Felix an apologetic look. “Unless—he hit you—”

“I’m not out to make this harder for you, Carly,” Felix told her. “Whatever you need.”

Carly scrubbed her hands over her face and then squared her shoulders. “I don’t want Sonny arrested. He wouldn’t—he wouldn’t do great in jail. Can we just—can I get a police report? And maybe, I don’t know—can someone talk to him?” She bit her lip. “I don’t know,” she repeated.

“We’ll write up an incident report,” Lucky said, frowning when Dante remained silent. “We’ll make it official, take all the statements. And I’ll go see him. I’ve known him forever. I’ll tell him you’re not pressing charges as long as he doesn’t come back.” He hesitated. “You might want to think about a restraining order.”

Carly smiled wanly. “Thank you.” She reached over to take Morgan from Lucas. “Let me know if you need anything else from me.”

She went down the hallway, followed by Michael.

“How bad was it really?” Lucky asked Lucas and Felix. “Was it—”

“Pretty bad. Sonny was trying to take the kids—he also shoved Carly, but I don’t think she’s registering that yet.” Lucas pressed his lips together, looked at Felix. “After the panic room last summer, Mom said she had some problems. Processing it all, I mean. And there was some other stuff before she came back here.”

“Sonny shoved her away from the door, then when she tried to stop him from going down the hall—” Felix shook his head. “You think a restraining order is going to help?”

“Will it stop him?” Lucky asked. “Probably not.” He looked at Dante. “What do you think?”

“What—” Dante blinked. “Oh. Yeah, well, no, most of the time, restraining orders are violated within twenty-four hours. But it makes it easier to arrest him. You can call the next time he shows up, and you won’t have to wait for him to commit assault or trespassing.” He cleared his throat. “I’ll, uh, go to the car and get the forms. To start their statements.”

Lucky looked after him frowning. Lucas raised his brows. “What’s his problem?”

“That’s a good question.”

Lake House: Bedroom

Elizabeth grinned as Jason walked in, his cell phone in hand. She spread out the baby name book in her lap. “I found it. The perfect name.”

“Yeah?” Jason climbed back into bed, stretching his legs out over the rumbled bedspread. “You sure?”

“Yep.” She hesitated, the smile dimming slightly as she took in his expression. “You checked the voicemails, didn’t you?”

“Yeah. Don’t worry about it right now. Tell me—”

“Jason.” She closed the book and set it aside. “What happened—”

“Nothing we can do from here,” Jason argued. “And I promised you—”

“You promised me that we’d have two weeks free from Sonny.” She leaned forward to kiss him. “And we’ve had a few days. Today was a good day, Jason. The first day in weeks I’ve felt like myself again.” She threaded her arms through his and leaned her head against his shoulder. “When was the last time we could spend the whole day in bed?”

“It’s been a while,” Jason admitted. He rested his hand on her knee, letting his fingertips drift up and down her thigh. “I’m glad you’re feeling better. And that’s because we’re keeping them out—”

“But the world is still turning. I won’t break, Jason, so tell me what’s going on.”

Jason nodded. “There was a call from Justus. Someone thinks they saw Lansing in Atlanta, but it’s not any different than the others. No proof. They’re going to send someone to look.”

“They don’t think it’s serious?” she asked, scrunching her nose. “But it’s the third one in the last month—”

“Yeah, but I don’t like the way they’re coming in,” he continued. “Bernie pointed out that the only people seeing Lansing are from our side. I don’t think much of law enforcement,” he admitted, “but they haven’t been able to pick up any trail. Not even once.”

“Okay. Well, if they’re not worried, and you’re not worried—” She paused, tilting her head. “Then why do you look like the world is still on fire? What else happened?”

“Bobbie and Monica both called,” Jason admitted. “Sonny found out about Atlanta, demanded my number. Justus refused to give it to him, so he went to the hospital. When Bobbie and Monica refused —”

“He went to the Brownstone,” Elizabeth murmured.

“Yeah.” Jason scrubbed a hand down his face. “He forced his way in, pushed Carly out of the way. Then he ended up in a physical fight with Lucas and his boyfriend because he was trying to get to the kids. The boyfriend ended up getting punched.”

Elizabeth closed her eyes. “Damn it.”

“Yeah, Carly called the police. She filled out a report but didn’t press the charges.” Jason exhaled slowly. “Bobbie says things are calmed down now, but Carly wants to call Kevin and schedule a session. And she wants Michael to talk to someone because he heard all of it.”

Elizabeth’s hand slid down to her belly where their son kicked firmly, her heart aching for the little boy that would always be a little bit Jason’s. “She hasn’t talked to Kevin in months.”

“Yeah, well, it’s a lot, Bobbie said.” He looked at her. “She’s okay—”

Elizabeth sat up and reached for the phone in his hand. He let her take it without a word. She pressed a speed dial then handed the phone to Jason. “You’ll feel better if you talk to her.”

Jason sighed but took the phone just as Carly answered, her voice a bit hesitant. “Hello?”

“It’s me,” Jason said, remembering that he was using a different phone and she wouldn’t have recognized the number.

“You aren’t supposed to be calling me,” Carly said, but Jason could hear the forced cheerfulness in her voice. “How’s the honeymoon?”

“Good,” Jason told her. “Uh, Elizabeth says hi.” He hesitated. “I listened to the messages—”

“Yeah, I figured you weren’t calling to chat.” Carly was quiet for a moment. “I’m okay,” she said. “I mean it. It was a bad day, but I was lucky. It turns out there are people I can rely on when you’re not around, and—well, you know, that wasn’t always true.”

“I know. But I just—I don’t know. I wanted to check on you for myself.” He looked at Elizabeth, and she smiled at him. He already looked a bit brighter. “Is there anything I can do?”

“I can handle it,” Carly told him. “The only thing I want you to do is to concentrate on your new wife, that baby she’s carrying, and having the time away from this you deserve. I’m glad that you weren’t home—that Elizabeth wasn’t across the hall.” She paused. “I’ll be okay. I promise.”

“I know.”

“I love you, Jase. Thanks for calling.” Carly hung up first, and Jason stared at the phone for a long moment.

“Everything okay?” Elizabeth asked.

“Yeah. Yeah.” He set the phone aside. “Thank you for making me call her—”

“She’s your best friend, and she’s been through hell. If it’s bad enough she’s reaching out to her therapist—” Elizabeth shook her head. “Then she needed to hear your voice. And you needed to hear hers.”

“Yeah.” He lifted his arm to put it around her shoulders so she could snuggle into his side. “So, before we talk about dinner, what were you saying about the perfect name?”

“Oh, I was thinking Cameron.” She beamed up at him. “Cameron Hardy Morgan. What do you think?”

“I think it sounds great.” He kissed her again. “You hungry?”

“Oh, yeah.” Elizabeth’s grin turned sly as he slid out of bed again. “We’ve worked up an appetite today.”

+11

You swore and said we are not
We are not shining stars
This I know
I never said we are
Though I’ve never been through hell like that
I’ve closed enough windows to know you can never look back
– Carry On, fun

Sunday, February 1, 2004

 Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

 Elizabeth Morgan studied the pile of luggage stacked at the bottom of the stairs, squinting before turning towards the man sipping his coffee on the sofa. “I think I overpacked.”

Jason Morgan, her husband of exactly sixteen hours and twenty minutes, stared at her for a long time. “I’m not taking any of it back upstairs.”

“Oh. No.” Elizabeth smiled brightly and sat down—wincing slightly as her lungs protested. She had woken that morning feeling better than she had the night before, almost like her old self. She had allowed herself to forget just for a moment why Jason was taking her out of town for two whole weeks despite the insanity going on around them.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, I just moved too fast,” she assured him. She reached for her tea, then wrinkled her nose when he kept his hand on her wrist, pressing two fingers against her pulse. “How many times do you think you’ve done that since July?”

He ignored that question. “It’s fine—”

“I told you—I just moved too fast. Sometimes I feel good. And I forget.” Elizabeth paused. “Monica said I might have a lot more good days than bad, remember? And so far, that’s been true. Before yesterday, I hadn’t needed the oxygen all week.”

Jason nodded. “I know,” he admitted, “but she also said that could change if we’re not careful. I hate that you’re dealing with this at all,” he added when she just sighed. “I wish we didn’t have to think about your health all the time—”

“I’m officially in week twenty-eight,” she reminded him. “We only have six more weeks—” Elizabeth scowled. “Don’t make that face, Jason. We talked about this—”

“Is that what we did?” He got to his feet to cross to the desk when the phone rang. “Yeah? Thanks, Wally. Send him up.” Jason turned back to Elizabeth. “Cody is downstairs. He’ll help me pack the car.”

“Don’t change the subject.” Elizabeth got to her feet, folded her arms. “You’re still mad, aren’t you? Kelly wanted me to have the baby next week—” To deliver at twenty-eight weeks with all the added complications and survival rate plummeting to eighty percent— “I don’t want the NICU, Jason—”

Jason said nothing, his lips thinning as he pressed them together. He took a deep breath. “I’m not mad—”

“Really?”

“I’m not,” he insisted. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

Elizabeth bit the corner of her thumbnail, studying him. “But you’re thinking it.” When he said nothing, her stomach rolled. “You’re just not saying anything because you don’t want to upset me.”

“I think,” Jason said carefully, “that if you’ve made up your mind, then it doesn’t do us any good to talk about it. Not right now when you’re feeling okay, and Monica says everything is stable. I don’t want the baby in NICU either, Elizabeth. Michael had to have heart surgery when he was born, and I was terrified the entire time. That was before I knew anything about babies or being a father. I—” He hesitated. “I understand why you think it has to be this way.”

“Then—”

“And if it were me—” Jason crossed the room to take her hands in his. “If I were the one who was pregnant, I’d probably be doing the same thing.”

“Okay.” She closed her eyes in relief. “Thank you.”

“But if things change—”

“I know. Emily said the same thing,” Elizabeth said with a sigh, but she smiled and leaned up to kiss him. “I love you.”

“I love you—”

The door behind them burst open, and Jason spun around, instinctively spreading his arms out to protect Elizabeth. “What the—”

“You’re still going on this stupid trip?” Sonny Corinthos demanded, chest heaving, face flushed. “Max told me you’re leaving in thirty minutes—”

Standing behind Jason, Elizabeth could feel his muscles tensing, turning to stone. “You knew I was going—”

“Two weeks?” Sonny cut in. “With Ric back in the country? You don’t give a crap about Carly or my kids anymore? You got your own family, so mine can go to hell?”

“No,” Jason said shortly. “Johnny’s coming up to take over for me. Justus and Bernie are briefed on everything, and Justus has my contact information.” He paused. “I’m not taking my cell phone.”

Elizabeth’s eyes widened. “Jason—” she began, but he turned his head and shook it quickly. She closed her mouth.

“And why aren’t you going upstairs?” Sonny demanded. “We’re talking business—”

Elizabeth bit her lip, then picked up her lukewarm tea. “Uh, I can go into the kitchen, but—”

“Not good enough—”

“Not your business,” Jason interrupted. “And I didn’t ask you to come over, Sonny. Elizabeth isn’t going upstairs.”

Not when one of Monica’s most important recommendations was to climb the stairs only once a day. Elizabeth didn’t want to waste her energy here at the penthouse when she was feeling good enough to reclaim her wedding night.

But none of that was Sonny’s business since she knew Jason hadn’t told him about the CTEPH diagnosis, so Elizabeth wasn’t going to argue.

“I’ll go into the kitchen,” she repeated.

“How the hell can you leave without your cell phone?” Sonny’s voice echoed as she went into the kitchen, but she’d only just set the cup in the microwave when the door slammed.

A minute later, Jason came in, his mouth pinched. “I’m not taking my cell phone,” he said flatly. “And neither are you. I have a burner phone. Bobbie, Justus, and Monica have the number. That’s it.”

Elizabeth nodded. “Okay.” She waited a beat. “Jason, I understand why you’re insisting on two weeks, but I don’t know why your phone has to be an argument. Take it—”

“No. If Sonny can call me, he’ll be doing it every day,” Jason told her. “And if I don’t answer, he’ll call you. The whole point is to get you away from this for two weeks. I’ll check in with Justus. You’ll check in with Bobbie and Monica. You can call Emily, too,” he added.

Remembering how tired he’d looked the day he’d told her about this trip—knowing that she was already giving him enough to worry about, Elizabeth nodded. “Okay. If you think that’s the best way to handle it, we’ll do it. I just—” She chewed on her bottom lip. “I guess I’m worried about who Sonny’s going to yell at if we’re not here.”

“I know,” he admitted. “But I asked Luke to look in on Carly and Bobbie. I hope that’s enough.”

“Me, too.”

Spencer House: Living Room

 Luke Spencer intended to make sure that he would be enough to protect his sister and niece from the hostile and angry man he’d seen at the wedding.

No one in Port Charles had known Sonny Corinthos longer than Luke. He knew exactly what Sonny was capable of when thwarted from what he wanted for too long. Luke wasn’t about to let that be unleashed on his sister if he could stop it.

“I don’t understand,” Laura began, sitting down with a cup of tea in hand. “How exactly did Sonny end up locking Carly in the bedroom?”

“No one wanted to get into the gritty details, and I don’t really know what Caroline was up to this summer. I know about the kidnapping because of what Lucky and Kelsey have said,” he added. “But Sonny and I haven’t been close in years.”

“I know, and I’m sorry for it in some ways,” Laura admitted. “We broke over the garage fire, and it wasn’t even his fault.” She hesitated. “But Jason was your friend, too. He asked you for help.”

“He did—” Luke glanced over at the light knock, smiling when his sister came in. “Hey there, Barbara Jean. What brings you to our humble abode today?”

“Oh, Lulu left a few things in the car last night when Lucas dropped her off.” Bobbie set down a pair of shoes and a jacket. “I volunteered to drop them off.”

“Good. I was gonna make my way to your place, but this saves me the trip. You want some coffee?” Luke got to his feet, but Bobbie shook her head.

“No, and I’m sure I know why you were coming over, but Luke, it’s not my place—”

“Morgan asked me to look out for Carly while he’s gone,” Luke declared. “I haven’t been all that great at taking care of you these last few years—”

“I don’t need you—” Bobbie began hotly.

“But with Morgan taking Elizabeth out of town, that’s two less people for Sonny to scream at.

“Bobbie,” Laura began gently, “we just want to help. Would it hurt for Luke to know a few things? Just so he can be ready? Jason wouldn’t have asked him if he didn’t think it was necessary.”

“I’m sure he did that out of guilt.” Bobbie made a face. “He’s taking Elizabeth away for two weeks, and I think only a few people have the number. Something’s wrong,” she muttered, “but he won’t tell us.”

“The baby?” Laura asked. She rose to her feet. “Is this about last summer? Lucky said Elizabeth had been ill—”

“Never-ending complications from the birth control pills Ric Lansing repeatedly shoved down her throat,” Bobbie said bitterly. “First it was the embolism, then a heart attack, and now—I don’t know what it is now,” she continued, “but I’m sure it’s related. I know Sonny’s been a problem.” She hesitated. “Carly had difficulty recovering from the panic room. Mentally, I mean.”

“Of course. You don’t simply bounce back from that,” Laura said. “Sonny hasn’t been supportive?”

“He was until it interfered with what he wanted. Carly saw Kevin for a while to get a handle on it,” Bobbie said. “She was doing fine until Ric jumped bail. Then, Sonny lost his goddamn mind and never got it back. When she tried to leave him, he locked her in the bedroom.”

“Christ, that master bedroom doesn’t have windows. I’ll never understand why Sonny chose it with what he went through.” Luke grimaced. “How did she get out?”

“Carly was screaming so loud Jason and Elizabeth heard her. It’s part of the reason Sonny has taken so much out on Elizabeth,” Bobbie added. “He knows—” She paused. “Ric was alive to jump bail because Elizabeth and Carly wanted to testify against him. Jason supported them, but Sonny never did. He blames Elizabeth.”

“Of course he does,” Laura muttered. She folded her arms. “No wonder Jason wanted Elizabeth away from all of this. Luke, you said there’s some evidence this Ric Lansing is back in the country?”

“Some. Morgan isn’t really sure. He wouldn’t leave Carly if he thought there was a serious threat.” Luke slid his hands into his pockets. “If another one of these sightings comes along while Morgan’s gone, Sonny will head straight for Carly.”

“Jason put security at the Brownstone, and we have the guards. I don’t know what you think you can do about this, Luke, but I appreciate the thought.” She checked her watch. “I have to head in for a shift.”

Laura went to the window to watch as Bobbie returned to her car. “I don’t like this,” she declared, looking back to her husband. “It might not be enough to keep an eye on Carly.”

“I was thinking the same. I’ll try to talk some sense into Sonny if I can.” Luke paused. “Don’t be too worried about Elizabeth. You know Morgan has that covered.”

“She went through so much for us,” Laura murmured. “For Lucky, for Nikolas. I should been there more—”

“Laura—”

“But you’re right. Jason can be trusted to take care of her. I feel terrible for Carly. Being trapped in that room—” She paused. “It must have felt like being locked up in her own mind. I know what that’s like. How terrible that her own husband did that to her.”

Luke swallowed hard, looking away. He knew Laura didn’t blame him for her problems, but he sure as hell did. A lifetime of trauma, the doctors had said.

He’d inflicted some of that trauma, and he hadn’t done much to help with the rest of it. He would spend the rest of his life making amends for things that could never be forgiven.

Seneca Falls, New York

Lake House: Living Room

“That is the absolute last set of steps I want to tackle today,” Elizabeth said with a sigh. She touched her belly, absently rubbing it as she walked off the last of the cramp in her leg from sitting in the SUV.

“I’ll finish bringing in the luggage.” Jason kissed her and started to pull away, but she fisted her hand in his shirt to keep him close. “You okay?” he murmured. He brushed his knuckles down her cheek.

“Better than. It’s so beautiful here, and I’m glad we decided to get out of Port Charles for a while.” She kissed him again. “Go bring in our stuff, then get the blood pressure cuff. You’ll feel better if we take care of that. I’ll call Monica and let her know we got here.”

He handed her the burner phone. “You okay to walk around, or do you want to sit?”

“No, I want to stretch.”

She watched him as he left the cabin and headed through the thin crunchy layer of snow to their SUV. Elizabeth then wandered over to the large picture window overlooking Lake Seneca.

“Elizabeth, is everything okay?” Monica demanded. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to alarm you.” Elizabeth turned as the door opened, ushering in a gale of wind. Jason set down two of her suitcases, then went back for the last two — she had three, and of course, he only had one.

Men.

“I wanted to let you know Jason and I got to the lake all right. He’s getting our things from the car, but I didn’t want you to worry.”

“Oh.” Monica sighed. “I’m sorry. I’ll try not to act like an insane person when you call—”

“A few more weeks of this, and we can all stop assuming the worst,” Elizabeth told her. “Jason is going to take my blood pressure when he’s done, but I’m sure I’m fine. He stopped about a half-hour ago so I could stretch my legs. I didn’t sit for long.”

“I know you’re taking this seriously, so—” Monica hesitated. “Try not to think about it as much over the next few weeks. You’re away from the usual stressors. Just concentrate on each other and that baby.”

“That’s the plan.” She smiled as Jason set down the last of their bags. “Here’s Jason—” She held out the phone.

“Hey. Yeah, the view is—” He looked at Elizabeth. “I guess it’s okay. There’s a lake.”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes as she started to walk around again. She kicked off her shoes, sinking her toes into the plush carpet. Jason and Monica talked another minute or two before he handed the phone back.

“Thank you for suggesting we call her. She still sounds happy when I do,” Jason admitted.

She wound her arm through his, laying her head against his shoulder. “You’re not just letting the Quartermaines in because of me, are you?”

“Not just because of you, no.” Jason kissed the top of her head. “We’ve been through a lot since the summer. It just feels different.”  He frowned, looked down at her. “Why?”

“I just don’t want you to do things to make me happy, that’s all. I’m glad you’re doing better with them. They’ve been so kind to me these last few months.”

“Which makes me think better of them,” Jason told her. “Elizabeth—” He frowned, turning to face her fully. “What’s the problem?”

“Nothing, it’s just—” Elizabeth bit her lip. “We both know there’s a chance—a small one— that I—” She looked away. “Well, that something might happen to me. Even if we do everything right.”

“Elizabeth—”

“And with everything that’s going on with Sonny, I just want—I want to make sure you have people you can depend on. Who put you first. Carly might try, but she’s going through a lot—”

“I really don’t want to talk about this—”

“I know you don’t, but that’s why—” She scowled as Jason pulled away from her, went back to the luggage. “Jason—”

“I should put these away and take your blood pressure.” He looked back at her, met her eyes. “I’m sorry. I know you want to talk about what might happen. We will. I just—” He stopped, looked down at the ground, and said nothing else.

“We’ll talk about it some other time,” she said softly, not wanting to push it. Not today. “Let’s get unpacked and get some dinner. I’m starving.”

Kelly’s: Dining Room

Lulu Spencer tied on her apron and wrinkled her nose. “I don’t know why you think I’m going to be any good at planning a surprise party for Georgie,” she told Maxie Jones. “You usually hate my ideas.”

“That’s because your ideas are uncultured trash,” Maxie said with a bright smile. “But that’s okay. I’m the ideas person here.” She pointed at Lulu. “You’re the grunt work.”

Lulu rolled her eyes and went to check the coffee. “You’re just overcompensating because we were mean to Georgie for like three weeks.”

“Three months, but no, that’s not it.” Maxie rested her chin on her fist. “I just need to see how much your dad would charge to rent out Luke’s for the night. You know, because that’s where she was born.”

“Really?” At a table nearby, Cruz Rodriguez’s ears perked up. “Georgie was born at Luke’s?”

“How’d that happen?” Dante Falconieri wanted to know.

“Mom went into labor earlier than she thought and didn’t get to the hospital in time. I thought it might be fun to celebrate her birthday where it began. So, Lu, I need you find out how much your dad will charge me and then get it cut in half because I’m a college student with zero cash.”

“Oh, so this is me doing a favor for you.” Lulu folded her arms. “The last time I did that, I ended up in jail.”

“You’re being dramatic.” Maxie looked at Dante and Cruz. “We didn’t even get booked, and they only thought we were hookers until they saw my ID and realized Mac was my dad. You thought it was funny at the time,” she reminded Lulu.

“Not the point—”

“But you’ll do it, right?” Maxie batted her eyelashes. “My best friend in the whole wide world—”

“Maxie, your best friend is Lucas. You told me that the last time we had a fight—”

“Oh my God, do you remember everything? Ugh. Fine, I’ll do it myself.” Maxie huffed and went over to join Dante and Cruz at their table. Lulu just snorted and went into the kitchen. “So—”

“You want me to ask Lucky to rent the club to you at little to no cost,” Dante said.

“I like a man who doesn’t need directions.” Maxie beamed at him. “Yes. Will you?”

“I can ask, but, uh, you know Lu is going to do it, right? She’s just screwing with you.”

Maxie glanced back at the kitchen with slitted eyes. “Yeah, but she’s unpredictable. I need some reassurance.”

“She’s going to do it because it’s for Georgie, and she really does feel bad.” Dante picked up his coffee. “But, yeah, I’ll drop a word in with Lucky on it, too.”

“You’re the best.” Maxie pursed her lips. “When’s your birthday? I need to put it on the calendar so we can celebrate accordingly.”

“I think that might be the most terrifying thing you’ve ever said to me,” Dante said. “It’s April. But that’s all you’re getting.”

“See, now it’s a challenge.” Maxie looked at Cruz. “What about you? When’s yours? I can already bet Dante doesn’t like big parties—”

“Absolutely not—”

“But you—” Maxie pursed her lips. “You’re a mystery.”

“A mystery?” Cruz echoed. “How do you figure?”

“Well, you’re around and we like you but you never, ever talk about yourself. And before you say anything—” Maxie said, throwing Dante a warning glance. “I sometimes shut up about myself long enough to listen to other people.”

“This is why I like you,” Dante told her. “You handle both parts of the conversation.”

“Part of my charm.” Maxie preened, but then focused on Cruz again. “So, spill. When’s the birthday? How do you celebrate it? What did your family do back home—wait where are you from again?”

“It’s in June, and I don’t do much,” Cruz said. He cleared his throat. “We don’t need to acknowledge it.”

“Oh, but—” Maxie started but Dante kicked her lightly under the table and she frowned at him. “Okay, fine. Two mysteries to solve. You just wait until April, Dante Falconieri.” She flashed him a smile. “Now, for Georgie’s party — should I put you down for a plus one or are we going to stop pretending you’re not just biding your time until you ask out my best friend?”

“Lucas isn’t my type,” Dante said.

“Ha. I have a class or I would stay to annoy you more.” She stabbed a finger at Cruz. “Don’t think this is over. When I adopt people into my circle, they never get out.”

“Like a hostage situation?”

“Exactly.” Maxie got to her feet and went back to the counter for her coat and bag. “Stockholm Syndrome. Eventually, you all stop fighting it.” She flounced off, and they watched her go.

“She’s going to know my entire life history in about eight minutes, isn’t she?” Cruz asked, furrowing his brows. “Maybe she should be a cop.” Shrugging it off, he turned back to Dante.  “Didn’t Lucky already give you the green light on Lu?”

“I didn’t need—” Dante hesitated. “He did, I think. But—”

“Then what’s the problem? You’re not getting any younger.”

“Nothing.” Dante glanced over at the counter where Lulu had emerged, coffee carafe in hand. “Nothing. Just—biding my time.”

“You keep biding that time and she’ll be off the market.”

“First, she’s not a car, and second—” Dante studied Cruz. “You thinking about putting in a bid?”

“Oh, hell no.” Cruz wiggled his shoulders. “Definitely not my type. But you should go for it. Put us all out of our misery.”

He did like Lu—not just because she was hot, but she’d been a good friend to him and knew she’d taken some heat from Dillon over it. He wasn’t going to think about Sonny Corinthos being his father anymore. Only a handful of people knew, and Dante wanted to keep it that way.

Maybe it was time to start looking forward—and why not with Lulu Spencer?

Corinthos Penthouse: Living Room

When the knock came, Sonny barely looked up from the sofa, nursing a tumbler of bourbon. “Who is it?” he demanded.

“Uh, it’s Mr. Corbin,” the guard offered. Sonny frowned at that, twisting on the sofa to see his father walking in.

“Mike,” Sonny said, narrowing his eyes. “What do you want?” Probably here to ask for money or help from a bookie. “I thought you were in Buffalo.”

“Came in for the wedding,” Mike said. He tipped his head. “I saw you yesterday, but you didn’t stay at the reception long.”

Sonny snorted. “No point,” he muttered.

“Uh huh. It was nice to be invited.” Mike sat on the arm of the chair next to the sofa. “I thought Elizabeth looked beautiful.”

“You’re not even mad that he was supposed to be marrying my sister six months ago?”

“No, and neither are you, Michael.” Mike waited for Sonny to look at him. “I always had my doubts about Jason and Courtney, and this worked out for the best. Your sister’s doing well in Buffalo, not that you care. She’s dating again, too.” He paused. “I noticed some tension with you and Jason. Everything okay?”

“Don’t act like you care—”

“I’ve done my best to make you see that I do,” Mike cut in. “And I thought we’d come further than this. I don’t know what happened while I was in Buffalo, but you—” He paused. “What happened with Carly? Why are you and Jason at each other’s throats?”

“Mike—” Sonny got to his feet, ready to toss him a scathing set down. Over his father’s shoulders, he saw his mother and Lily. Adela. The woman Mike had abandoned to Deke Woods, and Lily, the woman who had died instead of Sonny. He closed his eyes.

They weren’t there. They weren’t real.

“Oh, mijo.” He felt his mother’s hand on his shoulder. Her light, gentle touch. “He’s your father.”

“No, he’s not,” Sonny retorted.

“That’s right,” Lily said with a tilt of her head. “He was there the night you killed me and our son. He’s the reason you didn’t join us. He stopped you. You should have died with us.”

“Michael?”

Sonny blinked, then looked around. Lily and Adela were gone. They hadn’t been there, he reminded himself.

They were dead.

Women who had died instead of him.

“Michael?” Mike repeated. “What’s going on—”

“Nothing.” Feeling a bit shaky, but more in the moment, Sonny took a deep breath. “Nothing,” he repeated. “Jason and I aren’t seeing eye to eye on handling Ric Lansing. Carly—” Another woman who was gone because of him. Not dead. Just gone. Couldn’t protect her if he couldn’t see her—couldn’t keep her safe if she wasn’t in the room why couldn’t she just see that why was everything a fight why did she make everything so hard—

“Michael,” Mike said sharply, and again Sonny snapped back.

“Carly took Jason’s side,” Sonny finished. “Thanks for stopping by, Mike. But I didn’t need you when I was a kid, and I don’t need you now.”

“Michael—”

“Max.” Sonny raised his voice until the guard opened the door. “See him out.”

And with that, Sonny went upstairs, putting his father out of his mind once again.

The Cellar: Bar

Carly Corinthos narrowed her eyes at the whiskey inventory behind the bar, then glanced at her list. “Hey, Frankie, we’re missing a bottle of Jim Beam. Can you do another count in the stock room?”

“Sure thing, Mrs. C.” She heard the bartender leave, then turned at the footsteps near the entrance.

“Hey there, Caroline.” Luke ambled over and sat at the counter. “Taking a look at my competition.” He glanced around, nodding. “Looks good in here.”

“We’re hardly competition,” Carly said but smiled at the thought. “My place is a bit more….”

“Sophisticated,” Luke offered. “I know it. And we do live music. Still, you did nice for yourself. Barbara Jean said you were going to buy back into Club 101.”

“Signing the papers next week. Starting my own empire.” Carly pursed her lips. “Is this a social call, Luke, or—”

“I can be friendly,” Luke said a bit defensively. “I’m a proud, adoring uncle—” When she just lifted a brow, he sighed. “Yeah, okay. I know Morgan’s out of town—”

“Luke—”

“He asked me to look in on you and my sister. After what I saw yesterday, I think it can’t hurt to have another body in on this. Especially since I think we both know he’s got a whole lot on his plate right now.”

Carly considered that, then nodded. “Yeah. I guess you’re right. I don’t mean to keep adding to it. I know that’s hard to believe because that’s all I’ve ever done—” She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “I guess it’s just my lot in life to be someone people have to clean up after.”

“How do you figure that, darlin’?” Luke asked. “The way Barbara Jean tells it, you were clipping along just fine last year. You and Sonny were happy, expecting that baby. The club launched successfully. Did you ask for Ric Lansing to shove you into a panic room for a week?”

Carly closed her eyes. “No. But—”

“So we wanna blame anyone, we can blame him. Or we can blame Sonny for shoving you into another locked room.” He paused. “Your mother gave me some of the background. I’m not asking for details, Caroline. I’m just—I’m just trying to help. Morgan’s not here to turn to.”

“I appreciate it, Luke, I do. But I don’t know what you can offer at this point—”

His cell phone buzzed in his pocket, and Luke drew it out. “Well, let’s find out. Hey, Mike. How did it go?” He listened for a long moment, then nodded. “Yeah, I didn’t think it would work, but it was worth a shot. Thanks, man. I’ll keep you in the loop.”

“Mike? What did you have him do?”

Luke set the phone on the bar. “Just drop in on Sonny. He has a better excuse than I do,” he added, “since me and Sonny ain’t exactly copacetic these days.”

“Copacetic, huh?” Carly sighed. “Sonny isn’t going to tell Mike anything.”

“Didn’t go there for intel. Don’t need it. Just wanted to get a sense of Sonny’s mood since he blew up at the wedding, and I know he wasn’t thrilled about Morgan going AWOL for two weeks.” Luke paused. “He’s drinking, and Mike couldn’t tell if he was drunk or just drifting. You know what I’m saying, don’t you?”

Carly didn’t want to feel bad. Didn’t want to worry about him. “You’ve seen him in those moods before, I guess.”

“A time or two, yeah. But he’s gotten worse over the years. Losing Lily and that baby, then Brenda. Jilting her, her dying—don’t make no difference she’s not dead, you hear me? Then I cut him out, blaming him for that fire.”

“We lost our baby,” Carly murmured.

“Exactly. He’s getting worse. He’s pushing everyone away. I’ve seen him do it before.” Luke scratched his temple. “Trouble is we can’t force him to get help, so all we can do is minimize the collateral damage. He’ll hit rock bottom at some point.” He got to his feet. “I just don’t want his rock bottom to include my sister, you, those kids, or Elizabeth. So, you got my number. Call me if you need it.”

Lake House: Bedroom

Elizabeth sat on the edge of the bed to kick off her shoes, then looked down at her hands. At the wedding ring nestled next to the ruby engagement ring. It was just a simple plain gold band, similar to the wider one she’d slid on his finger the day before.

“You all right?”

She glanced up to find her husband walking into the room, setting the burner phone on the dresser. “Yeah, I was just looking at my ring.”

Jason hesitated. “It’s all right, isn’t it? Emily said—”

“It’s perfect.” She rose to her feet and crossed the room to him, sliding her arms around his waist. “I love that my engagement ring is what I see first.”

“Why?” Jason asked, his hands gently trailing up and down her back.

“Because, other than the leather jacket you got me that first Christmas,” she said, “that glass was the first present you ever gave me. And I—” She sighed, rested her head against his chest. “I broke it.”

“I know. You told me.” They stood there, swaying, nearly dancing to nothing more than the sound of their own breathing. “It’s all right.”

“It’s not. I knew you were telling the truth even when I said you were lying. You picked that ruby because I told you how sorry I was for not believing you. For breaking it.”

“I didn’t even buy that glass for you,” Jason reminded her. His cheek rested on top of her head—she could feel his breath rustling her hair. “I gave it to you because I had it, and I thought you’d like it. You don’t have to feel sorry about breaking it. I never blamed you.”

“I loved that shade of crimson,” Elizabeth murmured. She held out her hand, wiggling her fingers so that the ruby caught the dim light in the room. “The way it caught in the light and sparkled. I remember the day you gave it to me. When we stood at the window.”

“I remember that, too.” He closed his hand over hers and brought it to his mouth. “I wanted to kiss you that day. When you looked at me.”

“I wanted you to kiss me, too. Which scared the hell out of me,” she admitted. She drew back so that their eyes met. “So many times I wish you would have just done it, but now, I know why you didn’t, and it makes me love you more.”

“Yeah?” With his free hand, he tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, trailing his fingers down her jaw.

“It needed to be my decision, and I think you wanted it to be mine. You needed that from me, and I couldn’t do it. Not then. I wasn’t ready. You always found a way to put me first.”

“Not always.”

She shook her head. “We’re not going to do that, not tonight. I’m not even blaming myself for not being ready. I just wanted to tell you that I knew what you were doing and that I love you for it.”

“I love you, too.” He dipped his head down to brush his mouth against hers. Her hand fisted in his shirt. “We should go to bed.”

“We should, but first—” Elizabeth kissed him again, nipping at his lips as she drew back, then smiled at him. “I want my wedding night.”

+7