Written in 33 minutes.

Molly jolted when she felt hands rest on her shoulders, but she relaxed when she realized it was TJ. “You scared me,” she said, pressing a fist against her heart.

“Sorry, you just looked so far away.” TJ followed her gaze to the table that sat by the terrace. His uncle Curtis was teasing his aunt Stella about the place setting. By the television, his grandfather Marshall was watching the game with, of all people, Molly’s father Ric. “You all right?”

“Remember our first Thanksgiving after we moved in together?” she asked, leaning back against him. He slid his hands from his shoulder to wrap around her in a backward hug. “In our tiny apartment?”

“I do. But I don’t mind having a bigger place.” He kissed her temple. “We can still call your mom.”

“I don’t know if it would be a good idea for us to be in the same room. We’re starting depositions next week.”

TJ was quiet for a minute. “I know you hoped your mother would back off—”

“She will. She has to.” Especially as Molly had scheduled Elizabeth and Jake to be deposed first. Her mother’s entire case depended on proving Jason as an unfit father. Who better to weigh in and make her mother see how doomed it was than the mother of his son? And his son?

“What if she doesn’t, Mol? When if it gets to having Danny and Scout see a therapist?”

“It’s my worst nightmare, but it’s not me doing this, TJ. It’s not Jason. Mom always thinks she has the right answers. I don’t know what gives her that kind of delusional confidence.” She took a deep breath. “But that’s the last time I talk about her or my sister. Let’s go see if anyone needs help in the kitchen.”

—

Despite her long friendship with Emily and history with Jason, Elizabeth hadn’t attended any Thanksgiving dinners before today. It was a little nerve-wracking, she thought, circulating from the sofa where she’d been catching up with Ned and Lois to the fireplace where Monica was holding court, sparring with Tracy. Jason’s mother had spent most of the last year ill, and unable to get around much. It was good to see her up and part of the family again.

As Elizabeth approached, she saw Tracy shoot Drew a fulminating glare and turn her back to the new Congressman. Her brows lifted at the coldness, but she kept her mouth closed, focusing on Monica. “I can’t tell you how much we miss you at GH. It doesn’t…it doesn’t feel right not to have a Quartermaine on staff.”

Monica sighed, and Elizabeth winced. “I’m sorry, I never meant—”

“No, no. Of course.” Monica patted her hand. “It’s the first time in more than fifty years. It’s…the reality.” She looked towards the foyer. “But perhaps someone will take up the mantel. Jake…he’s set on art?”

“He is.”

“A shame. His father was a talented, intelligent young man.” Tracy sniffed, lifted her glass of wine to her lips.

“I hear Cameron is pre-med, though,” Monica said, ignoring her sister-in-law. “Steve would be so proud of you both for carrying on the Hardy legacy.”

“I hope so. I had very big shoes to fill as head nurse.”

“Still not a Quartermaine, but Quartermaine adjacent. I’ll allow it,” Tracy decided, then clenched her jaw. “A better representation than some others who carry the name,” she muttered.

Elizabeth didn’t even have to look to know who Tracy was glaring at. “I feel like I’ve missed something. Everyone is a bit…” Frosty.

“It’s a little awkward,” Monica explained. She touched her chin. “It hasn’t been long since, ah—”

“Let’s just say the only quality Drew inherited from my brother is being an absolutely unfaithful alley cat. Sorry,” she added as an aside to Monica. “Though you were hardly better.”

“You either,” Monica challenged.

Elizabeth started to press for more, but saw Michael pull away from Brook Lyn and Chase and head down the back hall to the kitchen. “I’ll…I’ll be back.”

She left them, followed Michael, calling out his name just before he reached the threshold of the kitchen. He turned and smiled at her. “Hey. I was hoping to get a minute to see you.”

“Same.” She kissed his cheek. “Do you have a few minutes? Can we talk somewhere?”

“Yeah, sure—” Michael gestured to another hall, leading her down to one of the sitting rooms near the front of the house. “Is everything okay? With Jason’s case? I got the subpoena. I think I’m supposed to be deposed sometime next week.”

“Oh.” Elizabeth blinked. “I didn’t realize that—but that makes sense. Molly said she wanted to start the depositions strong. I’m on Monday.” She pressed a hand to her belly. “I know it’s silly, but I’m nervous. It’s so important that these go well and that we get Alexis to back down before it goes as far as ordering Danny or Scout to talk to someone. They’ve been through so much. It’s bad enough Jake is up after me.”

Michael made a face, then scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Yeah, I hate the idea of that, too. Danny’s…you know, he can probably hold his own. But Scout…she’s just a kid. Kids—” He looked past her, his eyes slightly unfocused. “Kids shouldn’t be weapons.”

“No, they shouldn’t. And Michael—” She waited until he looked at her. “No matter what happens with you or Willow, I know you won’t let it happen to yours.”

“That’s the plan, but it’s harder than it should be.” He shook his head slightly. “So what did you want to talk to me about if it’s not Jason’s case?”

“Well, it is, but—” Elizabeth bit her lip. “A few days ago, Jason came over to talk to Danny and ran into Drew. Drew threatened to get involved with the custody case. Maybe even cooperate with Alexis.”

Michael pressed his lips together. “That’s bullshit—”

“I’m worried that a judge might think differently if Drew lets Scout stay with Alexis. Or just generally make all of this worse.” Elizabeth paused. “Your uncle didn’t want you to know this. But I can’t let Drew just throw around threats like this.”

Michael sighed, perched on the arm of a chair. “He didn’t want me to know because I’m pretending nothing is wrong. Pretending that my wife—” He closed his eyes. “Protecting me could cost him his son. Why would—”

“That isn’t how he looks at it. He doesn’t, Michael. Hey—” she touched his arm. “He doesn’t see it as an even exchange, and neither do I. We see it as Drew being a terrible person who isn’t afraid to hurt people to get what he wants. The only person putting you in the middle is him. Because we both know why Drew would want Jason to lose custody.”

“I could make his life uncomfortable,” Michael muttered. He looked at Elizabeth. “I’ve thought about it. Bankrupting him, going after Aurora, I don’t know, something. Anything so that Willow stops seeing him as a hero.” He took a deep breath. “I’ll talk to Jason. I can keep your name out of it—”

“Don’t worry about that. And I didn’t tell you because I think you should do something about the case. Jason can handle it, and I’m there if he needs anything. I told you because you needed to know what Drew is doing.”

Michael managed a faint smile. “I’m glad you’re back in my uncle’s life. You know? That he’s…he’s okay. After the way he came home—” He shook his head. “He’s lucky to have you in his corner.”

“I’m in your corner, too, Michael. What you’re dealing with…there are no easy answers. No simple ways out. I trust that you’ll find something that works for you. I just don’t think Drew should get away with pretending he’s applying for sainthood in the meantime.”

—

Jake tossed down the video controller with some disgust. “This is rigged. No way you got that good since I went to school.”

Next to him, Danny shrugged, tossed his own controller aside. “Haven’t had a lot to do except play.” He switched off the console, then rose and stretched. “Maybe we should go downstairs. See if dinner is happening.”

“Or if it’s pizza.” Jake got to his feet. He’d done his best to keep his brother distracted from thinking about how Thanksgiving was supposed to include Dante and Rocco. Though his mother had encouraged, Dante hadn’t felt right about being there without Sam. They came to the Quartermaines because of Danny’s connection, not Dante’s. They’d gone to Jake’s other grandmother instead.

It was stupid, Jake thought. They were all connected. Why bother with two separate meals and make people choose? But it wouldn’t have changed anything. Because last year, Danny hadn’t been living at the Quartermaines.

He’d been with his mother.

Danny looked around the room, frowning. “Scout was here, wasn’t she? She was gonna watch us play.”

“I guess she got bored. Maybe she went downstairs.”

“Maybe.” Danny’s stomach rumbled, and he rubbed it. “I’m gonna go down, find something to eat.”

“Yeah, let’s go.” They headed into the hallway, but Jake stopped after a few feet, realizing the nursery door was slightly open. “Hey, you go ahead, I’m gonna see if Scout is still up here and grab her.”

“Tell her not to wait too long or the sweet potatoes will be gone,” Danny suggested. He disappeared around a corner, and Jake headed towards the nursery.

His intuition was right on the mark — Scout was sitting in the window seat, curled up, and looking out the window. He leaned against the doorframe. “Hey, kid. You wanna go down and get some appetizers?”

She looked at him, and he realized with a start there were tearstains on her cheek. He was looking after Danny the best he could, and he’d just assumed Danny was looking out for his sister—

But Danny shouldn’t have to, Jake decided. He was dealing with enough. “You want to be alone? I could put on the television for you or—”

Scout shook her head, then buried her head in her drawn up knees, her shoulders shaking. Jake shoved his hands in his pockets and crossed the room, perching on the edge of the window seat, pushing aside a few teddy bears. “Can I do anything?”

Scout looked up, her eyes splotchy. “I want my mom. You can’t fix that.”

“No, I can’t.”

Her lips trembled. “And Danny’s going to live with you. He said I can’t come.”

Jake cleared his throat. “He’s coming to live with his dad. And I’m going to stay, too. But you’re going to have an adventure. A whole new city, and school. Lots of friends to make.”

“D-don’t wanna make friends. Daddy says I have to stay with him. That I have to be a g-good girl and brave.” The last words were barely audible, more of a hiccup sob.

“It’s not easy to be in a new place,” Jake told her, lowering his voice. “When I was your age, I came home after a long time away. I didn’t know anyone, not even my mom or my brothers.”

Scout’s eyes widened. “You didn’t?”

“It was scary, but I…” Had managed it. Cam had been there to look after him, and his mom had never flinched, even when Jake had made trouble. Or accidentally blown up their house. But Scout wouldn’t have a Cam or Mom.  Or Danny.

She’d have Drew.

“We’re going to write you all the time. And call as much as your dad lets us. Danny says every day, and I’ll make sure he doesn’t forget. And you know my dad will bring him to see you as much.”

“B-but w-what if—” Scout took another heaving breath. “What if I mess up? What if I say something? Daddy will be mad and he might send me to school. Danny can’t come see me.”

“Say something?” Jake echoed. He tilted his head. “What does that mean?”

Scout shook her head fiercely. “Can’t tell anyone. Can’t say. It wasn’t real, and Daddy says I can’t tell lies. Mommy would be so mad at me. I d-don’t want Mommy to be mad.” Her face crumpled and she started to cry, and rock back and forth. “Can’t tell anyone.”

“You can tell me,” Jake told her. “You tell me what’s wrong, and I won’t tell anyone. No one,” he repeated.

Scout lifted her head, looking miserable and wretched. “You promise? Really, really promise?”

“Yeah, of course. We’re cousins, right? And you know what? Our dads are twins, so we’re, like, super cousins,” Jake told her. “That’s almost as good as siblings. You tell me, and I won’t tell anyone. Not even Danny. It’ll be our secret.”

“O-Okay.” Scout dragged a hand across her face. “I-I s-saw Daddy kissing Aunt Willow. He says I didn’t, but I know I did. And not like friends. Like Brook Lyn and Chase.”

+34

Written in 59 minutes. See you next Tuesday!

Jake stood at the threshold of the kitchen, watching his mother clean up the dishes from the quick breakfast they’d thrown together before Aiden had been picked up by his father for Thanksgiving with the Spencers. Aiden was still on the outs with his father, but he loved his grandmother enough to put it aside for now.

As for Jake, he’d been invited, too, but it felt weird to him right now to be part of the Spencer family, even in an honorary fashion. He’d decided to go to the Quartermaines instead, and his mother had agreed to go, too. There had been a weird tension between his mother and Lucky, so she’d probably been relieved to have a reason to duck out of obligations with Grandma Laura.

Elizabeth turned around and jolted when she saw him there, clutching the dish towel to her chest. “Oh, God, I didn’t even hear you come down the stairs.” She tossed the towel on the counter. “Did you want to head over to your grandmother’s early?”

“Uh, maybe a little but not yet.” Jake slid his hands into the back pockets of his jeans, then crossed his arms for a second before moving them a second time. He didn’t really know what to do with them. Or how to have this conversation.

A conversation they really needed to have.

“Um, I just wanted to say…you know Dad found a place, right?”

“Yeah, he left a message last night,” his mother said, but she was walking past him and he couldn’t see her face, couldn’t make out  her expression. “About a block away, so that’s…that’s nice, I guess. For you. Familiarity.” She kept moving, straightening magazines that didn’t need it, refolding a blanket that had already been neatly laying on the sofa.

“Yeah. And for you. Because I know you don’t really want me to go.”

Elizabeth hesitated, pressing the throw blanket against her chest, then looked at him. “I don’t know what you want me to say to that.”

“I don’t know either. I, um, just…” He paused. “I think maybe I just wanted to make sure you know I didn’t agree to this because of…how things are. I mean, it’s part of it, but it’s not…” He dragged a hand through his hair, then cupped the back of his neck. “And it started that way. But it’s not why I’m going through with it.”

“Jake—”

“Because things have been frosty the last few days, mostly because I didn’t know what to say. To you. Or to Aiden. I, um, I’m sorry. For telling him anything about his dad. Cam would have kicked my ass if he knew what I did.”

She sighed, dropped down to the sofa, the blanket now laying across her lap. “You thought you were doing the right thing—”

Jake sat in the armchair, then shook his head. “Under no circumstances is telling my brother the dad that abandoned him was a drug addict who had an affair — that’s not the right way to handle it. And then Lucky made it worse because he ignored Aiden’s calls, and got in my face about how Dad told the story, and then I started poking at you about anything that might have happened when Aiden was a kid—” He grimaced, looked down at his hands. “I thought it was the right thing. But it wasn’t. And I did it because I was upset. I was angry. And I didn’t really care who I hurt.”

“It’s okay—”

“It’s not. You need to know that I know it’s not.” He lifted his gaze to his mother. “I guess Dad told you what we talked about in the car last week. When he brought me home from the Qs. Before I told him about Drew.”

“Your father and I don’t compare notes, Jake. Anything you say to me or to him, we don’t share it. Not as a rule. And no, I think what you said about Drew distracted him enough. He just said he thought things were a little better. Not great, but better.” She bit her lip. “Is not—was he wrong?”

“No. Not really. I still—” Jake stopped, trying to articulate his thoughts. “I’m still angry. I don’t know how you stop being angry about your dad playing dead for two years. But I get that he regrets it, and I guess it helps that as soon as he could, he came to see me. And he’s…he’s trying.” He waited, but his mother said nothing. “The thing is going to see Danny…it just…it just put things in perspective. I thought I was scared last year when we might be split up, but it’s nothing compared to what he and Scout are dealing with.”

“I hate that this happened. They were so happy. Sam, Dante, all three of the kids. It’s…there’s been too much death,” Elizabeth said with a sad sigh. “And unfortunately, I…I can tell you that there’s no miracle here. There’s no Cassadine in the wings to pay off the staff. Helena used the transplant team to cover up kidnapping you, Jason’s body was never found, but…”

“But you were there. When his mom died.”

“Yeah. I…” Elizabeth closed her eyes, took a deep breath. “I pronounced it. And was with her family. With Jason when he found out. It was a terrible day, Jake, and it keeps rippling out. While I’m not happy with how you did it, I am proud of you for coming home. For seeing that your  brother needs you.”

“Even if I can’t go back to school for whatever reason, it doesn’t matter. I need to be here. But seeing Danny, hearing Dad have to explain to him that there’s nothing they can do to keep him with his sister, it was awful. Scout’s upset, and it’s…they never get to see their mother again. And I’ve been horrible to you. You’re my mom. If something—” Jake stopped, shook his head.

“Honey.” Elizabeth left the sofa, came to perch at the edge of the coffee table, in front of her son. “We’re going to fight. Especially now. You’re nearly an adult, making big choices that effect the rest of your life. This is such a crazy time in your life, and mistakes will be made. You’ll hurt people. That’s just how it goes.”

Jake nodded. “Yeah, I get that, it’s just…” He stayed silent for a beat, considering his next words. “Dad said…he said that you were like this when you were younger. That sometimes you got hurt so you…were…I don’t remember how he put it, but that you, like, would try to hurt someone else. Or that person—” He winced. “He didn’t say it to be mean—”

Elizabeth rubbed Jake’s knee, smiling slightly in a way that told Jake she was almost amused, which eased the tightness in his chest. “He said it as someone I’ve hurt. And I did hurt your dad. More than once. We hurt each other, and he’ll tell you he never kept score. Which is probably why he still talks to me.”

“W-Why? Why did you—why am I like this?” Jake wanted to know. “How did you fix it? How did you stop?”

“You’re not going to like this, baby, but time. Time and experience. Maturity. It’s not something you can do overnight. You have to let go of the tiny satisfaction you feel when you know you’ve landed a blow. When you see that other person wince or flinch, and you think—” She pointed a finger. “There. Now you know how I feel. It feels good in the moment to score that point. But you always regret it. Always. Words won’t leave physical wounds, but they cut all the same.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Jake exhaled in a slow breath. “Anyway. I just thought you should know I’m not mad the way I was. But I still…don’t know how I feel about any of it, Mom. I see you and Dad, and you guys get along so well. And you clearly think he’s a good father. You’re always defending him. And Lucky’s awful. He’s been awful to Aiden for years. How could you pick him?”

“Isn’t that the million dollar question?” Elizabeth murmured. She sighed, then rose to her feet. “Jake—”

“And I get it. I get it. It’s not my business. It happened before I was born, and I guess it shouldn’t change things. But it does for me. I know Dad keeps telling me it’s not your fault he wasn’t my dad for the first few years, and I know he believes that. I know he blames himself—”

“I blame us both,” Elizabeth said, folding her arms. “I blame us for being too afraid after Michael’s injury, I blame myself for not pushing harder or finding the right words, and I blame your father for not saying no to me. For believing that a mother had a right to choose who she wanted in her child’s life. We made mistakes, Jake. But it started with me, Jake. If I hadn’t lied, if I hadn’t been too scared to tell him the truth that first day—” She looked away, her eyes slightly unfocused. “So many mistakes,” she murmured, more to herself than to him. Then she looked back, smiled thinly. “If you’re not careful Jake, you can let your regrets, whatifs, and maybes drown you. I made my choices. Your father made his. There’s no time travel to change any of it.”

Jake nodded—his father had said much the same thing, and there was no point in arguing any different. “I just think maybe I need time. To deal with it. That’s why I’m gonna go live with Dad for a while. Not forever, I guess. But he asked, you know? And that matters. He never did before. It was never a question where my home was. But he doesn’t really have one now, and neither does Danny. Maybe it’s okay if we make a new one.”

“I think that’s a lovely idea, and it’s why, when your father asked me—no, when he told me he was going to ask you, I was on board. I love you, and I missed you every day that you were gone. I’ll miss you every day that you live with your father. But…” Elizabeth straightened the collar of Jake’s shirt, then smiled up at him. “You were always going to leave me, you know. Cam, you, and some day Aiden. We can’t stand still, Jake, and we can’t go back. I know that you and your dad will find a way to help Danny move forward.”

—

Alexis grimaced at the phone in her hand, willing Molly to reply to the message that she’d left for her hours ago.

Across the room, at the dining table, Kristina dropped the take out bag from the Chinese restaurant. “I don’t know why you’re looking at that thing like its the Holy Grail, Mom. She’s not going to call.”

“She might.” Alexis rubbed her forehead, trying not to think about the year before. The house had been filled — Molly and TJ, exuberantly planning their surrogacy journey, Kristina bubbling over, trying to help with them.

Sam at the dinner table with her children, rolling her eyes and smiling at her sisters.

The house had been noisy, messy—

Today, there was no one but she and Kristina. Molly and TJ had gone to the Ashfords — it was their turn, Alexis reminded herself, though it didn’t help much. Molly had been alternating holidays for years, and it was just a coincidence that this year, Molly hadn’t even talked about maybe doing dessert.

And Sam—

Sam was dead. Buried six feet under miles away.

Alexis closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then went over to the table. She touched the paper bag. “Noodle Buddha. This…it was your sister’s favorite.”

“I thought it was a way we could have Sam with us today.” Kristina set a container of food on the table. “Next year, when Danny and Scout are here, it’ll be better.”

“Yes. It will.” When Sam’s children were together and with her, it would be better. Molly would see that it was the best place for them. “Let’s eat.”

—

It still felt strange to walk through the front door of the mansion when he’d used the terrace door in the library for years, Jason thought. He closed the door behind him, laid a hand on the wood, thinking of those days. Of the time he now regretted throwing away with the family he’d never made peace with. He’d spent so much time avoiding Alan, Monica, and Edward, sneaking in to see Lila or his sister—

“Already making a run for it?”

The thin, weak voice startled Jason and he turned to find Monica in the doorway, sitting in an electric wheelchair not unlike his grandmother’s, her hand hovering over the control. All that she needed was a devoted family servant like Reginald to wait on her.

She was rarely well enough to come downstairs these days, and Jason did his best to visit once a week in her suite upstairs. But to see her, dressed for the day, smiling at him—

He took a breath. “No, I think I’ve run enough, don’t you?”

“I never blamed you,” Monica said, then winced. “That’s an awful lie. I did blame you, but it’s all right.” She held out her other hand, and Jason reached for it, wrapped it between his own.

He remembered another homecoming, another realization of the time he’d lost. When he’d come home for good twenty years earlier to find that his grandmother had lost some of her spirit. That she’d begun to fade away, that she was nothing more than a mortal human who would be gone one day.

And still, Jason hadn’t prioritized his grandmother or bent at all. He’d buried her, and continued his life, running after Sonny and Carly, then later Sam. His father had died, and then his sister—

“It’s not,” Jason said, and she tilted her head at him. “But that was a long time ago. I’m glad to be home now.”

She smiled, and her eyes sparkled. “Having you around these days—” She stopped when the door opened again, and Jake came through, then held the door for his mother.

“Sorry we’re late,” Jake said. He grinned at his grandmother. “Hey! I didn’t know you were coming downstairs, Grandma. I was gonna smuggle dessert up to you.”

“Well, when I found out all my grandchildren would be here today, how could I stay away?” Monica looked past Jake. “And I hope Elizabeth brought her brownies. We’ll need something when the turkey goes wrong.”

“I can’t wait to see how dinner gets ruined,” Elizabeth said, hanging up her coat and coming up next to Jason. “Maybe this year will be different.” She looked at him, smiled hesitantly. “You never know, right?”

+47

Written in 65 minutes. I’m not wild about the ending, but it’s close enough to what I need. See you tomorrow!

After finishing the movie and saying goodbye to Danny, Rocco, and Scout, Jake nearly called a ride-share to take him home, but it felt like chickening out. Jason had told Jake to call for a ride, and after the run-in with Drew, it didn’t seem as important or easy to find the simmering resentment he’d had for both his parents.

The journey between the Quartermaine Estate and his mother’s brownstone probably wasn’t more than ten minutes on a normal day, but they hit a pocket of rush hour traffic downtown, doubling the time and making the silence in the SUV even more palpable.

Jake propped his elbow on the window, resting his first against his forehead, watching the crowds traveling the sidewalks of Central Avenue, and thought about going home to his mother. About packing his things again to move in with his dad—

About Danny and Scout being split up. About Drew’s veiled threats—

“If you hear me say anything rude to my mother—” Jake paused to look at his father, found Jason watching him, one hand on the steering wheel. “I want you to knock me out.”

Jason furrowed his brow. “I don’t think that—”

“Because sometimes I forget,” he muttered, turning his attention back to the window, staring out at nothing at all. “It all just rises so fast in my throat, and I start saying things, and I called her a liar, and it was stupid and it was mean, and I hate myself for it. But I don’t know if I can stop it. So you’re my dad. I need you to make me stop.”

The light ahead of them changed to green and the cars started to move finally. Jason didn’t respond right away, and Jake figured he’d agreed. Which was good. Exactly what he wanted.

“Your mother was like that, you know,” Jason said, and Jake frowned now. Jason flicked his eyes over to Jake for a moment before returning them to the road. “If she was hurt, she’d lash out. To make the person who hurt her feel as bad as she did.”

Jake tipped his head. “That’s the first time you’ve ever criticized her. Did you know that?”

“First, I’m not criticizing her, so you still haven’t heard it. I’m stating a fact. Second, I know it frustrates you that sometimes we defend each other to you, but you know…” Jason hesitated. “I watched Michael go through Sonny and Carly’s divorce. He was old enough to know what was going on. They…were vicious. Their arguments, the stunts they pulled to get Michael to pick one of them — he was miserable. He knew they hated each other. I don’t do it on purpose, and I’m sure your mother doesn’t either. It’s just…” He flexed his hands on the wheel, grimacing when they hit another red light.

“You guys are nicer to each other than some people who are actually married,” Jake said. “But I guess I get your point. A lot of my friends have divorced parents, and they play them like violins, you know? Getting more money,  or more freedom — but I knew I never could do that. You always check with Mom, and she always—well, when she could, she checked with you.” Something eased in his chest and now Jake stared forward, out the window. “Mom could be really mean? Like…like I was? But she’s not like that now—”

“She can still pack a punch if she needs to,” Jason said, and Jake decided he was probably right. She’d whipped out the Charlotte card pretty damn fast, hadn’t she? “And maybe she and I just communicate better now so we don’t hurt each other the way we used to.” He paused. “It’s how she protected herself, and I understood that most of the time. But it didn’t mean it didn’t hurt, Jake. When she lashed out. Even if I deserved it.”

The light changed to red, and they didn’t talk again until they came to another light.  Jake didn’t really know what he wanted to say, how to formulate his thoughts. There was something interesting in what his father had said, something that almost unwound the ball that had been tightly wrapped in his belly since that horrible day with Mr. Corinthos.

“Danny will never argue with his mother again,” Jake said, and he heard his father’s soft sigh. “I don’t want to be like this. I don’t want to be angry all the time. How—” He looked at Jason. “How do I stop that? How did you stop being angry that Mom picked that loser to be my dad and not you?”

Jason smiled thinly, shook his head slightly. “You’d have to know how long that, uh, loser, had been in her life. The way she’d built her identity around him. The way other people in her life had reduced her to being someone who was in his life. Lucky’s girlfriend, Lucky’s wife, the girl who buried him, the girl who left him at the altar—” He stopped. “She was very young when they fell in love. Teenagers. It took her a long time to let go of what she  thought her life was supposed to be.”

Jake tested that information in his mind, rolling it around. He thought about Charlotte who had nearly died the year before, so angry at her father and taking it out on Anna. She’d ended up lashing out, terrorizing Anna in ways Jake knew she regretted. And even now, knowing who her father was and what he was capable of, she was on the run with him. Had turned away a normal, happy life to have her father.

They finally made it out of downtown, and Jason turned towards his mother’s street. “You’re really not mad at all. Even a little a bit,” Jake said, and his father sighed. “I’m sorry, I know you’re tired of talking about it, it’s just—”

“You just learned about it, and it’s not as easy for you to turn the page. I get it, Jake.” Jason pulled into the driveway behind his mother’s car, and switched off the ignition, then looked at him. “I get it, and your mother does, too. She just…for obvious reasons…doesn’t want to talk about this. I’m not sure she’s forgiven herself, no matter what I say. She’ll always blame herself for the years we lost.”

“And you don’t?”

“I blame me. I’m the one who had the power to stop it,” Jason said. Jake met his father’s gaze. “I was too scared of what might happen to you if I changed my mind. And for a while, once he was clean, Lucky was a good father, Jake. That was important to me. He was in your life, in Cam’s life. Actively playing a role. You were happy, and I thought that it meant I’d made the right choice.” He looked straight ahead, towards the garage door, swallowing hard. “Then the accident. I couldn’t—I couldn’t hide how I felt. The truth was out, and I thought all I’d ever have are regrets.”

Jake pressed his lips together, stared at his hands. “It’s…Helena took me because she thought I was a Spencer. All of that happened to me because of that lie—”

“Helena chose to kidnap you. To fake your death and steal you. To play games with your mind. But, Jake, if you’re going to be angry with your mother for it—” Jason waited for Jake to met his eyes again. “You have to be angry with me, too. We both made the choice. It was a mistake. And we regret it. But that’s all we can do. There’s no changing the past. I can’t go back and make a different choice. Not eighteen years ago. Not two years ago.”

“Would you?” Jake cleared his throat. “Would you still have left us? Let us think you were dead—”

“No. I wouldn’t.”

Jake nodded, then reached for the handle of the door. “I don’t know if I’m still angry,” he said, not looking back at his father. “But I don’t want to walk around like the worst thing in the world happened to me. Because I get to go inside and see my mother. Danny never gets to do that again. So I’m gonna figure this out, I guess.” But now he did look back at Jason. “But I think Mom’s right. I think moving in with you and Danny is a good idea for all of us.”

“So do I. We’ll get him through this, Jake.”

Jake pushed the door open, then hesitated again, looked back at his dad. “Uh, by the way. Drew…I sort of overheard part of your conversation at the house.”

“Jake—”

“I think he’s gonna mess with your custody battle.”

—

Michael switched on Wiley’s night light, then carefully backed out of his room, closing the door and leaving it slightly ajar.  He met Willow exiting Amelia’s room just across the hall, and tried to find a smile. “She out?”

“Like a light.” Willow rubbed her arms and followed him down the hall to the master bedroom. “I, uh, heard Jake was up at the main house today. Jake and Jason.”

Michael perched on the edge of the bed to toe off his shoes. “Yeah. Jason said they’d come by today, but I missed them.”

Willow sat next to him—but kept almost a foot between them. “About Danny?”

Michael looked at her curiously. Since when did she care about any of that? But since she’d asked, and it wasn’t a state secret, Michael nodded. “Yeah. He told me that he’s getting a bigger place. For Danny and Jake to come live with him.”

“Jake, too? But he lives with his mother. Hasn’t he always?”

“Yeah, I guess.” Michael got up, went to the closet, removing his shirt and tossing it in the hamper. “Jason mostly did weekends. Some holidays. I don’t know. I never asked, but it didn’t feel like there was a formal order. My uncle probably let Elizabeth set the schedule most of the time. It’s his way.”

Willow made a face. “I couldn’t imagine being separated from my babies. Being in the cancer ward while I was recovering was hard enough.” She bit her lip. “What about Alexis?”

“What about her?” Michael looked at his wife, wondering if she’d been thinking about being separated from their children when she’d been fucking his uncle on the floor of the nursery. He cleared his throat, shoved the image from his brain.

He didn’t want to be separated from his kids either. Not after the long, miserable year he’d thought his son was dead.

“I…heard that Alexis is filing for custody.” Willow twisted the hem of her shirt. “Drew, um, asked me to testify for him. As a character reference.”

Michael stared blindly down at the carpet. “Do you think that’s a good idea?”

“I know you don’t want me to be around him, but it’s not like I can avoid him—”

“Not avoiding him and testifying that he’s a good father is something else.” Michael finally turned, looked at her. “Alexis and Ned have always been close. How do you know he hasn’t or won’t tell her?”

“I—” Willow closed her mouth, her cheeks flushing. She looked back at her hands. “I didn’t think about that.”

“Well, you should. It’s bad enough my family knows. Family court records are sealed, but I promise you, that will get out.” Michael watched her, but she wouldn’t look at him. “Is that what you want? For people to know?”

“N-no, but—” Willow cleared her throat. “It’s…don’t you think it’s best that Scout stay with her dad? Shouldn’t we be thinking of her?”

Had Drew been thinking about her that night? Sleeping down the hallway? Damn it. Michael scrubbed his hands down his face. “Yeah. Well, I wouldn’t worry about Drew’s character references. My uncle’s lawyer says his case is good, and he’s got a felony on his record. Drew will be fine.” He paused. “But you do what you want, Willow. This isn’t my choice. It’s yours.”

“But you don’t want me to do it.” She lifted her gaze to him. “You think it’s me choosing him over our family.”

She’d already done that, and if it weren’t the kids sleeping down the hall, Michael would have told her so. But he couldn’t do it. Couldn’t give his kids the same life he’d had. “I think I’m telling you that you’re the only one who can make this choice. If you want to testify on Drew’s behalf, do it. I’m not going to divorce you over it.”

“I don’t know. I guess I want to think about it. Scout’s just a little girl, Michael. She deserves the best life we can give her. I don’t think separating her from her father is the right choice.”

“Like I said,” Michael said, dropping his watch onto the bureau with a clunk. “That’s your decision.”

—

Drew was the topic of conversation elsewhere that night, as Jason had been troubled enough by Jake’s bombshell that he’d followed his son inside and interrogated him further, hoping for some sort of sign of what Drew planned.

But Jake didn’t know more than he’d already said, and had gone upstairs to play video games with his brother after dinner while Jason remained in the kitchen with Elizabeth, continuing to worry.

“It’s not like you to dwell on things you can’t control,” Elizabeth said, drying a plate and stacking it on the counter. “Drew and Alexis can’t really do that much damage, can they?”

“Alexis is bound by confidentiality,” Jason said after a minute. “But Drew…still has the memories Maddox planted in his head, doesn’t he?”

Elizabeth wrinkled her nose. “Well, yeah. But the last time he mentioned it, they’d faded a lot. And the statute of limitations —”

“Doesn’t go away for some things,” Jason said, and their eyes met, held for a minute, before he dropped his gaze.

She hesitated, then finally said what had been on her mind all evening. “You need to talk to Michael. He knows Drew better than anyone. They’ve been working together for years. He’ll know how to get him to back down.”

“I hate putting Michael in the middle of my problems.”

“I know. But he’s not a little boy anymore, Jason. He’s told you over and over again he wants to help you. Let him.”

+37

Written in 49 minutes. I don’t think I would have finished another scene, and my elbow is starting to get a little sore. See you on Friday!

Don’t hit him.

Drew’s face might look appealing enough to rearrange, but no one would win if Jason gave into this particular impulse and knocked him out cold.

Instead, Jason said nothing and started towards the doorway, not stopping even as Drew’s smile fell and he hastily backed up, clearing the way for Jason to leave the room.

“Would it kill you to say excuse me?” Drew demanded, following him back to the entrance hall. Jason rubbed his temple, and turned back to face him.

“Do you have something to say to me or can I go?” he demanded. “If I go out the door, are you gonna follow?”

“Don’t think that I’m gonna help you with your case,” Drew sneered. “I might not agree that the best place for my daughter is with Alexis, but there is one thing she and I agree about—you’re not fit to be a father. You never were.”

Useless. Waste of time, Jason thought. He turned away, reached for the door.

“Jake can already barely stand the sight of you. It won’t be long before Danny feels the same.”

Jason just slammed the door in response, and a few minutes the sound of a car ignition could be heard.

Drew grinned, turned and stopped dead when he saw Jake standing there. “Uh, Jake. Hey. Hi. How—”

“Don’t bother.” Jake folded his arms. “You know, when Dad first came home from Russia, I hated him. I wanted you to stay my dad.”

“I know—”

“But you weren’t interested in that. You stopped coming around long before you dropped off the face of the Earth.”

Drew hesitated, cleared his throat. “I have a lot of regrets, Jake. There was never enough time with any of you. We found out about Oscar, and—”

“My dad’s not perfect. Far from it. But you don’t get to use me or my brother in whatever fight you’re having. Me, Danny, Scout, all of us. We’re not pieces on a chess board, Drew. If you do anything that hurts them—”

“Jake, I’m sure you think you’ve got the whole story, but you really don’t know everything. There’s a lot about your father you don’t know.”

“Sure. Like why he kicked your ass the night before the funeral.” Jake smirked. “But I bet you deserved it. Dad doesn’t usually throw a punch otherwise. Like said, keep me and Danny out of this.  You’re not my father. You never were.”

“That’s not far, damn it.” Drew reached for Jake’s arm as the teenager brushed past him. “I was there for you—”

“For five minutes. I don’t give a damn. The man I knew, the man I thought you were—” Jake pressed his lips together. “I don’t see him anymore. Let me go.”

“Hey, Jake, did you find—” Rocco leaned over the railing, then hesitated when he saw the scene below him, Drew’s hand wrapped around Jake’s arm. “You good, dude?”

“Yeah. I’m good.” Jake wrenched his arm out of Drew’s grip. “You think I’m some dumb kid and you don’t have to listen. But I’m not going to let you hurt my brother. Stay out of my dad’s custody fight with Ms. Davis, or you’ll regret it.”

“You are just a dumb kid if you think you can threaten me, Jake. I’m a Congressman—”

“Whatever.” Jake rolled his eyes and headed up the stairs. Drew watched him go, his mouth unsmiling. The last thing he needed was some snot-nosed kid with an attitude watching his every move.

He might need to do something drastic before it all fell apart.

—

Alexis scowled, then slapped a hand on Sonny’s desk. “I don’t understand why you’re refusing to help me!”

“Not refusing, Alexis. Unable to help.” Sonny got to his feet. “Jason hasn’t returned a call since the funeral. And every time I try to catch him at the warehouse, somehow he’s never available. I told you, he’s ticked off at me.” He shrugged and left the office, heading for the bar where he poured himself a drink. “And what do you think I’m gonna do? Call him and tell him to get another lawyer? Even if he’s being difficult, I still think what you’re doing to him isn’t fair.”

Alexis pressed her lips together. “Jason has never been a full-time father for more than a few weeks. Not since he gave up custody of Michael, and that was nearly thirty years ago, Sonny. We both know he’s incapable of putting anyone first but you and Carly. Sam left him because of that—”

“Sam left him because Danny was nearly blown into little pieces at the Floating Rib. By your ex-husband and her father, by the way, so not entirely sure how that was Jason’s fault. But she did play hypocrite—”

“Don’t talk about my daughter that way—”

“I’ll talk about Sam any damn way I please, Alexis. She was an adrenaline junkie who only made it as long as she did because Jason saved her over and over again. He was stupid enough to make a baby with her, and now you’re going to make him pay for it.” Sonny shook his head, took a long sip of bourbon. “Worst mistake I ever made bringing her home. Should have paid her off.”

Alexis narrowed her eyes. “Are your meds being screwed with again? How can you talk about Sam like this? My daughter is dead!”

“And that makes her a candidate for sainthood?”

The door opened behind Alexis before she could manage a comeback, and Carly came in. She  made a face at Alexis, before looking at Sonny. “Don’t tell me you’re so mad at Jason you’re switching sides.”

“She wants me to talk to Jason about getting a different lawyer.”

“Oh. Well, that won’t work.” Carly dumped her purse on one of the bar chairs, draped her coat over the back of it. “Jason won’t talk to Sonny.”

“Why? What happened?”

Before Sonny could open his mouth, Carly held up a finger to stop him, before looking at Alexis. “You’re out of your mind if you think either one of us is going to help you take Jason’s son from him. And if Molly’s determined to help him, you should ask yourself why your daughter hates you so much she took this case.”

“I—” Alexis took a deep breath. “I’m thinking about my grandchildren. You know you would feel the same if something happened to Michael or Joss and they had children. Danny and Scout have been through enough. I’m trying to stop them from being separated—”

“Then convince Drew to leave Scout in Port Charles so she can be with her family. She can stay with Monica, and I can almost guarantee Jason would let Jake stay at the mansion. Hell, he might even move in. This isn’t on Jason, and you know it, Alexis. Danny loves him. He’s not the one moving hundreds of miles away.”

“Drew won’t listen to me, and even if he would—”

“It’s not good enough because you still wouldn’t be in control. Shocking.” Carly rolled her eyes, looked at Sonny. “Don’t do anything stupid that pisses Jason off even more. You’re already on his shit list.”

“He’ll get over it,” Sonny muttered, taking another swig of bourbon. “I’m letting him cool off and realize I did the right thing—”

“Really? Hey, Alexis—” Carly focused on her nemesis. “How do you think Kristina would feel finding out that you lied about her dad for two years, and lost custody of her when you faked DID for murdering Luis Alcazar, so she had to live with Ned for months? A man who wasn’t her father, and now barely acknowledges her existence. You think Kristina would find that interesting?”

Alexis looked at Carly for a long moment, then looked at Sonny. “What did you do?”

“I am not the villain in this story,” Sonny complained. “All I did was tell Elizabeth that she needed to encourage Jason to go after custody since it’s her fault Jason doesn’t believe he should have kids. She started this, it’s on her to finish it.”

“So lucky Jason let you live,” Carly muttered, shaking her head, and looking back at Alexis. “No one is going to help you, Alexis. Your daughter took Jason’s case because it’s the right thing to do. Because it’s what Sam wanted.”

“When have you ever given a damn about what my daughter wanted?” Alexis demanded.

Carly furrowed her brow, considering the question. “Probably never. But hey, better late than never, right?”

“You two are insufferable and impossible. I don’t know why I even bothered with either of you.” Alexis snatched of her purse, and slammed the door behind her so hard it rattled in its frame.

Carly sighed, then looked at Sonny. “You really screwed up, you know that, don’t you?”

“If Jason can’t handle the truth about Elizabeth, then—”

“Hey, if this was about insulting Elizabeth Webber, he’d already be over it. I’ve been doing it for….well, more years than I’m going to count. You know that’s not why he’s pissed, Sonny. You did whatever you did in front of Jake.”

Sonny sighed, then dragged a hand down his face. “Yeah, I know. I just—I wasn’t thinking.”

“He never, in a million years, would have done that to you with Michael or Morgan. Or any of your kids. Or any of mine. You screwed up,” Carly repeated. “And until you really get it, there’s no chance you can fix it.”

—

Elizabeth checked her watch again, wondering how long the conversation with Danny would take, or if she was wasting her time waiting for Jason at Bobbie’s. Maybe he wouldn’t come right here afterwards. They should have set something up—

“I’ve been trying to talk to you for two days,” Lucky said, plopping into the seat across from her in the deserted courtyard. She sighed, then leaned back. “You’ve been ignoring my calls. So has Aiden.”

“I never told him to do that. And you and I have nothing to say to each other,” Elizabeth said, swirling her straw in her water. “I warned you Aiden had questions, and you decided not to handle it—”

“No, thanks to Jason, Aiden found out everything—”

“You aren’t going to blame Jason for this. I told you Jake knew something. You chose to ignore Aiden’s questions—”

“He wouldn’t have had questions if Jason hadn’t—” Lucky hissed, then broke off. “It doesn’t matter. There’s no point in blaming each other. Damage control is necessary.”

“So do it—”

“I’m not going to doing this alone. Aiden’s your son, too. He knows about Maxie, damn it.”

Elizabeth sighed. “He asked me something about that, but I didn’t engage in the conversation. And I’m not happy Jake told Aiden anything. I don’t even know how he’d find out about Maxie. There’s not really a lot of people left that would even remember that.”

Lucky flushed. “It doesn’t matter how he found out. He did. And Maxie’s pissed—”

Elizabeth lifted her brows. “Waiting to hear how this is my problem. I do whatever I can to ignore Maxie’s existence, and she does the same for me. It’s worked wonders for two decades, Lucky. I don’t see why we can’t keep doing it. Aiden’s not going to scream it to the mountain tops — or tell Maxie’s kids. What damage control are you worried about?”

“Well, Aiden’s asking questions about his birth,” Lucky said. “Don’t you think we need to figure out a story—”

Elizabeth tipped her head. “What story do we need? It was none of Jake’s business what happened, and it’s none of Aiden’s. Am I supposed to tell Aiden what Helena did to those paternity tests? I didn’t knowingly lie about him, and you damn well know it.”

“It doesn’t really matter in the end, does it? I was lied to, and missed almost a year of Aiden’s life—”

“And you were so broken up about it, you went on to miss another eleven.” Elizabeth tossed some money on the table. “If you’re threatening to tell Aiden about Nikolas just so you feel like we’re even, I can’t really stop you, can I?”

“I didn’t say—”

“But that’s what you’re trying to get to, isn’t it?” Elizabeth got to her feet. “We need a story, you’re telling me. But we don’t need anything. Aiden’s already backed down. He flew a little close to the sun, and decided he’s better off not knowing anything. Or whatever scene the two of you had here last week was enough for him. Let it die, Lucky.”

“You think it’s fair that my son thinks I’m some worthless drug addict? It’s not right.”

“Well, it’s a good thing Aiden has so many great memories of you to balance that out—oh, wait. He doesn’t.” Elizabeth looped her strap over her shoulder. “You walked out on him a decade ago, Lucky. How or what he thinks of you is not my concern.”

“If you’d been a faithful wife—” Lucky started, and she looked back at him.

“I was. I was faithful, dedicated, and devoted until it almost destroyed me. You had an affair, Lucky. You chose drugs and that woman over me and Cameron, and all of that happened before that night at Jake’s. You kept choosing drugs and Maxie until the moment you thought you were going to be a father. A real father. Because obviously, Cam and I weren’t enough. The only mistake I ever made was thinking you were good enough for my boys. For me. We’re down now, Lucky. If you want to be vindictive and tell Aiden about Nikolas, I can’t stop you. You’ll have to live with it.”

+32

Written in 59 minutes.

Stopping by after school to talk. Jake’s coming with me.

Danny read the text from his dad three more times, but the words didn’t reveal anything new, anything groundbreaking. Just the same ten words. It was a good sign, wasn’t it, that Jake was coming with their dad?

“It must mean that they’re good again,” Danny said to Rocco as his sort-of stepbrother sorted through a stack of laundry and dumped some into the open suitcase. He ignored the implication of the suitcase, the reminder that this situation was temporary. That Rocco and his dad weren’t planning to live at the Quartermaines.

“Yeah, maybe. Or whatever your dad has to say is bad enough Jake wants to be here anyway.” Rocco sat on the bed, glumly. “Like my dad signing a lease on the place downtown. He’s doing that right now.”

Danny folded his arms, swallowed hard, looking down at the thick cream carpet. “I don’t know why we can’t all stay here. Your dad, mine —”

“I asked Dad, and he’s like—” Rocco jerked a shoulder. “His mom lives here, but that doesn’t make it their house. I don’t know. It’s stupid. And your dad, well, he gave Drew a black eye, so—”

“Drew didn’t like him before that,” Danny muttered. He wandered over to the window, trying to find the lake beyond the trees. “But yeah, it doesn’t help. Still we should all stay, and Drew should leave Scout here. We should be together.”

“That went out the door when your mom died, Danny. You know that. We don’t have any choices here. We’re the kids, no one gives a damn about us.”

“Yeah—” Danny stopped when he saw Scout peeking around the corner. “Hey. Hey. I was gonna come check on you. How was school?” He went to the door, ushered her into the room. “Do you have homework?”

“No.” Scout wrinkled her nose, then climbed up next to Rocco. “We’re out of school for a whole week ’cause of Thanksgiving. I hate it. I wanna go back. I don’t wanna sit around this stupid house for a whole week.”

“We’ll try to make it fun,” Danny said. “We’ll watch movies or go out into the garden before it gets too cold—”

Scout looked at Rocco. “I was downstairs, and your dad was telling Uncle Michael you guys are leaving. Why do you gotta leave? Uncle Michael said he can stay. You should stay.”

“I’m not charge of this, okay? No one asked me if I wanted to move. They never do.” Rocco flopped onto his back, stared at the ceiling. “Dad didn’t ask me if he wanted us to move to the penthouse or here and now he doesn’t care if I wanna go to some stupid apartment. He doesn’t care about any of it. Just like your dad doesn’t give a damn about you.”

Danny jolted at that. “Hey, don’t tell her that—”

“Tell me I’m wrong—” Rocco said, jerking back to a sitting position, his dark eyes hot. “He’s dragging her to DC, isn’t he? New school, new friends. It’s like he doesn’t even care Sam died. Does he even talk to you, Scout? Did he ask you if you wanted go?”

Her mouth trembled, and tears welled up. “I’m a good girl. He said if I was a good girl, we could stay.”

Danny furrowed his brow. “What?”

“Stay where? In PC?”

Scout pressed her lips together and shook her head. “I’m not supposed to say. Daddy said I can’t tell any lies, even if I don’t think they’re lies. They might be and that’s enough. Lies hurt people. So I’ll be a good girl and we can stay. He promised.”

Rocco opened his mouth, but Danny sent him a dark look. They weren’t going to talk about this with Scout any more. She was only seven. “Okay. Then he promised. Let’s go find something to watch on TV.”

“Yeah, do that. I’ll come find you guys after my dad leaves,” Danny said following him out of the room. “We’ll figure this out, okay? I know it.”

“Sure,” Rocco said, but rolled his eyes and they parted ways with Rocco and Scout heading for the upstairs TV room and Danny for the entrance hall.

He knew his dad would figure this out. He’d find a way to fix things. And then Danny would figure out what the hell his sister was talking about.

—

Kristina jogged over to the door, wincing only slightly when she pulled it open and found TJ standing on the other side. She and her sister’s partner hadn’t been in the same room since Adela’s funeral, since that horrible scene at the graveside. She sort of remembered TJ coming to Sam’s services, but they hadn’t spoken.

And now he was here, in front of her. “Uh, I guess you were looking for my mom. Not me.”

TJ took a moment to answer, and she wondered if he was swallowing a more insulting reply. “Yeah. I know things are…not going well with Molly right now, and well, I wanted your mom to hear it from me. Or I guess you should since you weren’t at the hearing today.”

“Hearing?” Kristina’s heart skipped a beat. “They couldn’t possibly have a hearing in family court yet — Mom only just filed, and Molly just got the case. I talked to her two days ago!”

“Not—not the custody situation. Ava. The motion for a continuance?” TJ prompted, and Kristina froze.

Ava. The woman who had murdered her child. How could Kristina have forgotten— “I didn’t—”

“It was granted. The trial won’t start until March.”

“March—that’s—” Too far away. Too long for a woman like Ava to walk the streets. Kristina tightened her grip on the door. “Why the hell did the judge allow it?”

“I didn’t—the DA’s office didn’t fight it, so I guess there must be a good reason.” TJ made a face. “Well, I came. I told you. You can pass it to your mother or not. I guess you were all too busy for the hearing—”

“Hey—” Kristina reached out, snagged TJ’s arm as he was about to leave. “Don’t you dare suggest I don’t care about what Ava did. She did it to me, remember? I’m the one who went flying out the window, I’m the one who nearly died.”

“And it was my daughter who died, but sure, let’s talk about you. It’s your favorite topic, isn’t it?” TJ snapped, turning back to her. “You don’t want to start with me, Kristina. You really don’t.”

“Why? You gonna throw my daughter’s death in my face the way my sister does?” Kristina demanded. “Ava pushed me, TJ. She killed that little girl before she ever took a breath—”

“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about Irene, about what she’d be doing if things had been different. But you don’t care about my relationship with my daughter. You were going to sue me for custody—”

“I—” Kristina took a deep, careful breath. “I was doing that to protect her. To protect the baby—”

“To protect Irene, Kristina. Not the baby, not your daughter. Use her name when you talk about her, damn—” TJ dragged his hands down his face. “I can’t do this. I can’t believe I thought I could come over here and find some common ground—”

“Why? Molly having second thoughts about betraying my mother? About taking the side of a deadbeat father over the woman who’s been with Danny and Scout for their whole lives? No, Molly knows exactly where she can find us if she wants to make peace. She chose to take Jason’s case instead of advocating for Sam’s kids.”

“And the longer I talk to you, the more I know she was right. You and your mother if she goes through with this, you’re being nothing but selfish and arrogant,” TJ retorted. “But that’s nothing new for you. We have nothing to say to each other.”

“Damn right we don’t.” Kristina stepped back and slammed the door.

—

Jason had picked Jake up at Elizabeth’s after Danny’s school had finished for the day, and the ride to the estate on Harborview was a silent one. He didn’t know what to say to his son, not about all the things that had happened since Jake had come home, or about the conversation they needed to have with Danny.

Danny was waiting in the entrance hall for them, his eyes lighting up when Jake came in after Jason. “Hey. It’s so good to see you guys together. I knew you’d figure things out, didn’t I say it would be okay?” he told Jake.

“Yeah, we’re…” Jake offered his father an unreadable look. “We’re figuring it out. But we need a quiet place to talk. Is that possible in this place?”

“Yeah, yeah, come on back to the—” Danny gestured, and they followed him down the short hallway to the library. It was one of the few rooms in the mansion that hadn’t been heavily redecorated in the last few years, Jason thought, one of the last ones that still resembled what it had looked like after the accident.

How many tense confrontations and arguments had this room seen? He didn’t know if he had any good memories in here, other than with his grandmother. Or his sister, both of whom were long gone from this house.

“You guys look like—um, well, you don’t look like you have good news,” Danny said, watching Jake close the door. “What’s wrong?”

“Let’s—” Jason gestured to the sofa. “Let’s sit—”

“I wanna stand.” Danny swallowed hard, folded his arms. “Are you leaving again?”

“What?” Jason asked, thrown. “No—”

“Because the last time you looked like that, you were going to leave again. In July, remember? Before Aunt Carly was arrested—”

“You were going to leave again?” Jake demanded, coming back into Jason’s view. “What the hell?”

Jason grimaced, dragged his hands down his face. “It was going to be for a short time,” he told Jake. “And it wasn’t like before. It wasn’t going to be like before,” he reminded Danny. “I told you that. It would have been like Africa.”

Jake clenched his jaw, shoved his hands into his pockets. “Just fantastic,” he muttered. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked his brother.

“You were gonna leave for Spain, I figured you didn’t need another reason to be pissed at Dad, though I guess I gave you one anyway,” Danny said, heaving a sigh. He dropped into the old armchair. “Whatever. Tell me whatever you need to tell me. But it’s gonna be that me and Scout can’t stay together, isn’t it?”

Jason exhaled slowly, then perched on the edge of the coffee table, waiting for Danny to look at him. “That was never going to be a possibility, Danny. I know what you wanted, what you hoped. But that was never something in my power to give you.”

Danny pressed his lips together. “Why didn’t you just say something? Why didn’t you say it before?”

“Maybe I should have. But it’s…none of this is easy, Danny. This was never the plan. Your mom…she’s supposed to be here.”

Danny swiped at his eyes, looked at Jake. “You happy? This is what you wanted, isn’t it? Dad didn’t save the day.”

“If you mean I wanted you to be unhappy, no.” Jake dropped onto the sofa, leaned over. “And maybe I was an asshole about it, but I didn’t want you to get your hopes up. I wanted to avoid this. This sucks.”

“At least you still have your mom,” Danny said, his chin dipping until it touched his chest. “You get to go home to her and I never do. So you don’t know anything, okay? You don’t get to say this sucks.”

Jason hesitated, trying to think of the best way to continue. “We need to talk about what happens next. You can and should stay here until Scout…until Scout isn’t here. You should have each other as long as you can. But I’m looking for a place for us. If you want to be involved, have a say, then we can do that. But it won’t be just you and me.”

Danny furrowed his brow, looked at Jake, then back at his dad. “I don’t understand.”

“I’m staying. At least until next fall,” Jake said. “Dad asked me to come live with you guys. So I’m gonna be there, too. I know it’s not as good as Rocco or Scout, but we…we haven’t ever gotten to live together. It might…it be cool, right?”

Danny was quiet for a long moment, and Jason wondered if maybe they’d rushed this conversation. Or maybe he’d committed a fatal mistake when he hadn’t been up front with Danny days ago.

“I don’t want anything to change,” Danny said finally, his voice shaking slightly. “I just want my sister and my mom. But I don’t get to have that, do I? I n-never get to have it again.” His lips trembled. “It’s not fair. It’s not fair. Rocco’s mom is alive, but she’s in a stupid coma, so it wasn’t even worth it. She should have died, and my mom should be alive. It’s not fair.”

“I said that when Dad…when we thought Dad was gone,” Jake said, and Danny looked at him. “Remember? Our moms sat us down to tell us he was gone in Greece, and they told us he’d been trying to save Drew and Dr. Westbourne and a lot of people in those tunnels. And I was pissed. I said it should have been that doctor because I didn’t like her. And then she died anyway, so what was the point, right? Now they were both died, and if she died back then, I’d still have my dad.”

“It’s not the same,” Danny muttered. “Our dad is here—”

“Rocco’s mom might wake up one day. That still doesn’t make it fair that you lost your mom. Or that Dr. Westbourne ended up dying anyway. But you love Rocco. He’s like your brother. Do you want him to go through what you’re going through? Is that fair?”

“No. No. I just—” Danny swiped at his eyes. “I just want my mom. I don’t wanna live anywhere she’s not.” He sat up, his cheeks red, maybe from the embarrassment of crying in front of his father and brother. “But I don’t get to have it. Life’s not fair, Mom always said that. So if I can’t have my sister and my mom, I guess…I guess it’ll be cool being you both. But—” He looked at Jake. “You gotta stop being an asshole to Dad.”

“Danny,” Jason started, but Jake just shook his head.

“Whatever you need. That’s why I came home, so we could figure this out. I’m sorry about Scout. Maybe Drew will change his mind and let her stay here. I’m sure Grandma Monica wouldn’t mind.”

“Well, we got a couple of a weeks to work on him.” Danny sighed, got to his feet. Jake and Jason followed suit. “But I don’t gotta go until she does, right?”

“Right. You can stay here with Scout until she leaves. She’ll need her brother for as long as she can have you. And we’ll visit. I’ll—I’ll find a way to make that okay,” Jason said, though it was pained. Maybe Elizabeth would be able to help with that. Or someone in the family.

“Yeah. And we’ll video call,” Jake told Danny. “Where is she, anyway? I wanna catch up with my little cousin.”

“Upstairs watching TV. Can you—can you stay? For a while?” Danny asked.

Jake looked at Jason, who nodded. “Call me when you need a ride,” he told Jake. “I’ll come back out and get you.”

“We gotta talk about me getting a car if I’m gonna be back home,” Jake said, but he always already heading out the door with Danny.

Jason sighed, then looked around the room, at the many photos of his family. He went to the  desk where Monica had kept their last family portrait, taken before the accident. He picked it up, looking at the familiar faces.

He didn’t remember being the man in this photo, with his smiling face and arm slung around his older brother’s shoulders, but it wasn’t so hard to admit to being him anymore.

“Remembering everything you threw away?”

The taunt washed over Jason like acid, and he bristled, turning to find Drew in the doorway.

+32