Written in 56 minutes.

Already having second thoughts about driving over to Harborview Towers, Elizabeth entered the lobby with a slight hesitation in her step. She had no idea how security had changed since Jason had last lived there. She was vaguely aware that Sonny had moved back into his own penthouse. Would he have updated the security list for the top floor?

She headed for the security desk, then noticed the elevators down to the parking garage sliding open and Jason stepping out. He spied her almost immediately, furrowing his brow. They met in the middle of the lobby.

“What are you doing here?” he wanted to know.

“Jake sent me a text,” Elizabeth said, following him over to the residential elevators. “It was vague, just a 911 text and said to come as soon as possible—did he call you?”

“No, Danny did.” Jason’s mouth was pinched as he jabbed at the elevator button. “Drew said he’s selling the penthouse. Scout apparently ran upstairs, locked herself in her room, and Danny called me.”

They stepped on to the elevator and Jason punched in the access code for the top floor. She watched the numbers climb as the elevator rose. “I imagine that’s why Jake called me. Maybe he was worried what you might do.” She flicked a glance at him. “It’s not really a mystery where Drew’s bruises came from.”

“I’m not going to punch him again,” Jason muttered. “Not in front of the kids.”

“No, of course not, but Jason—” She touched his arm. “Let me be the one to fly off the handle if we have to, okay? You be all calm, cool, and logical. The you used to be with Taggert.”

“Yeah, Taggert was a cop. Can’t punch a cop every time they piss you off.”

“And Drew’s an elected member of Congress. Can’t punch him whenever you want either. No matter how much he deserves it,” Elizabeth added.

The doors opened, and Jason headed around the corner, leaving Elizabeth barely enough time to catch up with his longer strides. He shoved the door open to find a red-faced Danny glaring at Drew, his hands fisted at his side.  Jake was standing at the base of the stairs, Drew just a step below him.

“Dad, good. You’re here.” Danny scowled, jabbed a finger at Drew. “Tell him he can’t sell the penthouse.”

“He can’t, not on his own,” Jason said, stepping between Drew and Danny. “Which is what Molly told you when we filed an injunction.”

“And Alexis and I are handling that.” Drew looked to Elizabeth and lifted his brow. “Why am I not surprised to see you trotting after him?”

Elizabeth ignored the obvious bait, looked to Jake. “Where’s Scout? Is she okay?”

“My daughter is just fine, and if your son would let me go upstairs—” Drew shot Jake a dirty look, and to Elizabeth’s relief, Jake just rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, now that you’re pissed at me, I’m her son, but five minutes ago, you were all, we used to be a family—” Jake shook his head, pulled out his phone, made a show of scrolling through it as if he were bored. “You got that politician bullshit down.” He lifted his gaze to his mother. “She’s upstairs, locked in her room. You know, the one she hasn’t been in since her mother died,” he said to Drew with a sneer. “In case you forgot why we were here.”

Drew scowled. “You have no right to bar me from my own daughter, and the only reason I haven’t pushed you out of the way is because of our past relationship—”

“Emphasis on past, right? And don’t try to lie. You know if you put a hand on me, my mother will kill you, and my dad will hide the body.”

“Is that a threat?” Drew demanded. Before Jake could say something else, Jason stepped quickly between them, climbing two steps to do so.

“Back up. Now,” Jason said, and Drew must have recognized the tone or the murderous glint in his brother’s eyes because he obeyed. Jason pushed Jake gently to one side, looked at Elizabeth. “Take the boys, go upstairs and check on Scout.”

“Gladly,” Elizabeth said, ushering Danny in front of her to use the small pathway Jason had created.

Jake looked like he wanted to argue, but then made a face and followed after his mother, tossing another glare at Drew just before he went around the corner of the landing.

When they were gone, Jason climbed another step to put a bit of space between them. “You know you can’t legally sell this place without my signature on the papers. Why would you tell the kids anything else?”

“Because Alexis and I will outvote you. We may not agree on custody of my daughter,” Drew said backing down a few steps of his own until he was back on the floor. He folded his arms. “But we both agree that there’s no point in leaving this penthouse empty. Scout’s moving to DC with me, and Danny will have all the room he needs at her place—”

“And I can tie you up in court until Danny is eighteen and old enough to make his own decisions,” Jason interrupted. “What the hell is wrong with you? They just lost their mother. They haven’t even been back here, and you’re talking about selling the place?”

“It’s called being a realist. Sam is dead. This place is gathering dust. Alexis agrees with me—” Drew broke off. “I don’t know why the hell I’m explaining myself to you. I’ll deal with you in court. I’m getting my daughter, and we’re leaving.” He waited, but Jason didn’t move. “Get out of my way or I’m calling the police.”

Jason didn’t want let him past, but knew he didn’t have a reason to hold him anymore. He reluctantly stepped aside, but as soon as Drew was out of sight, he pulled out his phone to call his lawyer.

—

Once they’d gone upstairs, Danny directed them to the room at the end of the hall. Elizabeth reached it first, lightly tapping. “Scout? It’s Jake’s mom, Elizabeth. I’m out here with Danny. Can we come in?”

There wasn’t a sound at first, and Elizabeth looked at Danny. “Can you—”

Danny knocked a bit more roughly. “Scout? Let me in, okay? Or I’ll tell Elizabeth where to find the key—”

They heard the click of the tumblers, then a little sliver of light when the door cracked open. “D-Danny?”

“Hey, kiddo.” Danny pushed it all the way open, and Scout moved backwards, crawling back on her bed, clutching a large teddy bear and a black sweater tightly in her arms, her big brown eyes looking miserable, her cheeks tear-stained.

“Hey, honey.” Elizabeth sat next to her on the bed. “I’m sorry this is so hard.” She touched the sweater. “Is this something special you left here?”

“It was Mommy’s.” Scout held it more tightly. “It smells like her.” Her face crumpled and she started to cry again. Elizabeth slid closer, and Scout didn’t make a protest when Elizabeth gathered her in her arms, the little girl’s sobs only growing louder.

“I should have punched him,” Danny muttered pacing the room angrily. “Dad can’t let him take Scout!”

“He won’t have a choice,” Jake told him. When Danny just shook his head, Jake grabbed his arm to keep him one place. “Hey. I don’t like it, but Dad can’t do anything. Scout’s his niece, not his daughter. And Drew hasn’t done anything but be a massive asshole. It’s not illegal.”

“But—” Danny started. “He—” He looked at at his sister. “He doesn’t even care that Mom is gone.”

“I don’t—” Jake grimaced. “I don’t know if that’s true, but—” They heard the thudding footsteps too late. By the time Jake got to the door to close it, Drew was already coming through it.

“Scout, we’re leaving. Now. We’ll come back for your things later.”

Scout burrowed into Elizabeth’s side, hiding her face, crying harder. Elizabeth stroked her hair, then glared at Drew. “Can’t you just give her some time to calm down? What is wrong with you?”

“I don’t think you have any right to ask me that question.” Drew came forward, and for a horrible minute, Elizabeth thought he was going to rip Scout of her arms, but he seemed to stop short. “Let her go.”

“I’m not letting her go like this. Just give me a minute to calm her down, okay? She’s devastated—”

“She’s not your daughter, damn it, and you don’t have a right to keep her from me.” Drew reached for Scout’s arm, started to pull. Reacting without thought, Elizabeth slapped at his hand.

“Don’t touch her!”

“Let her go—” Drew switched to Elizabeth’s arm, yanked her arm and she fell off the bed.

“Hey, don’t touch her!” Jake came forward, but Elizabeth was already on her feet, shoving at Drew to force him away from her. And maybe in another minute, the situation would have calmed down—Drew might have taken a breath and thought before he moved again.

But Jason was in the doorway just as Elizabeth was pushing Drew away, trying to get him to let her of her arm, and then Drew was gone, shoved up against the wall, with Jason’s first wrapped around his throat.

Elizabeth gestured frantically at Danny who moved like lightning to scoop up his sister and get her out of the room before Scout could really understand what was going on. Drew’s eyes bulged when he saw Scout being moved from the room, still crying.

“Let him go, Jason. Please. It was—” Elizabeth took a deep breath. “It was all just a mistake, okay? Drew, right?” She looked at him, the man she’d known so well once. The man she’d thought she knew. “We’re okay. The kids are okay.”

“He was threatening Jake, putting his hands on you, trying to drag his own kid out of the room-” Jason forced himself to lower his hand, let Drew’s feet hit the floor, his brother shoved him hard. Not expecting it, Jason fell back a few feet and might gone for the other man again if Elizabeth hadn’t flew between.

“Stop it. Stop it,” she hissed at Drew, who finally seemed to realize the situation was out of control. “Jason didn’t put a hand on you until you were threatening a woman and your own daughter, so don’t you dare think you can use this against him.”

Drew rubbed his throat, glaring malevolently at them. “Still defending him, huh? A violent thug who only knows how to hurt people—when I tell the cops about this—”

“It’ll be your word against everyone else’s,” Jake said, and all three of them looked over, almost as if they hadn’t realized he’d remained behind. “And the only person who might take your side, Drew, is Scout.” He tipped his head. “And you know, a little kid like that? She gets confused about what she sees right? Isn’t that you told her?”

Drew’s hands went to his side, and his face changed. Seemed to lose its colors. Elizabeth looked back to her son before looking at Jason, who seemed mystified.

“What are you talking about?” Drew said carefully.

“I’m talking about how little girls don’t always know what the truth is, right? And they need to be really careful what they say and to who. Because people will be mad if she lies.” Jake’s tone was almost careless, but his eyes were cold, his entire body taught with tension. “It’s a really shitty thing to do to your own kid, make them think no matter what they say, they won’t be believed.”

“Jake—”

“You’re going to walk out of here right now. You’re going to leave Scout here. My parents will calm her down, and we’ll take her home or to her grandmother’s. But you’re going. Right now. Or I’ll keep talking.”

Drew fisted his hand, then released it slowly. “You don’t know what you’re doing right now—”

“You heard him,” Jason said, stepping in front of Jake. “I’ve already called Molly. I told her to contact Alexis. They’ll be here any minute—” He paused, and they all heard it at the same time — the rush of voices, the sound of Scout crying, Alexis’s panicked voice. Then footsteps on the stairs.

“This isn’t over,” Drew said. “This—” He stopped when Molly appeared in the doorway, slightly flushed.

“We came as soon as we could. Is—” Molly looked from Drew and his flushed face to Jason and Elizabeth standing by the closet, her gaze honing in on the red mark left on Elizabeth’s arm from her brief tussle with Drew. “Is everything okay?”

“Where’s my daughter?” Drew asked, looking from Jake to Molly. “I’m taking her home now—”

“She’s upset, Drew. Let her stay here with Alexis a little longer,” Elizabeth said, and Drew looked at her. “With her mother’s things. There’s no harm in that. Jason and I—we’ll take the boys and leave. Or maybe Danny will want to stay here. The kids are what matters. Okay?” She touched Jason’s arm. “Right? We’ll all leave if Drew will give Scout and Danny the time they need here.”

“Yeah.” Jason cleared his throat. “We’ll go.”

“I think that’s a great idea,” Molly told Drew. “You know Scout will be in great hands with my mom, and we—” Her eyes swept over the room, and it seemed to change the air a little. “It’s hard, Drew. Being here. For me, and I’m an adult. Sam and I painted this room when we found out she was pregnant again. She wanted a little girl so much, and now—” Molly picked up a picture from the night stand, of Sam and Molly at the beginning of the school year. “Let her have some time here. We’ll take bring her home tomorrow.”

Drew closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then nodded. “Yeah. Yeah. I’m not a monster,” he muttered. He dragged a hand through his hair, then left the room. When he was gone, Molly looked at the trio, then carefully set the picture back on the night stand.

“I think you’d better tell me what happened. And don’t leave anything out.”

+7

Written in 68 minutes. Sorry, me and my keyboard are having a fight right now, lol. Took longer than I wanted.

Jake swirled the spoon in his bowl of cerea, watching with some interest as Aiden packed up some baking materials in his bag. “Just what do you and Tobias do all day? Make cookies?”

Aiden smirked, and started to answer just as his mother swept into the kitchen, which made him close his mouth. “Hey, Mom.”

“Hey, honey.” Elizabeth kissed his cheek, then looked at Jake. “I know what Aiden’s doing today, but, ah, are you…” She touched her neck, always a clear sign she was a little uncomfortable. “Are you packing? Or maybe, um, you never unpacked?”

Jake made a face, shifted his seat. “I didn’t, no, but I have to go find my winter stuff. Winter in Barcelona isn’t the same as winter here, you know?” He tipped his head. “You know, Dad found a place like a block away, Mom. I’m not going far.”

“I know.” Elizabeth wiggled her shoulders a little, as if shaking off whatever she was feeling. “I know. And I’m in favor of this, you know that. I think this will be good for you and your dad. And for Danny. But it will be strange to have you in Port Charles and not at home. Not at my house,” she corrected.

“Yeah, but I’ll get the run of the house back,” Aiden said with a grin, and Jake flicked a Cheerio from his spoon at his brother.

“Well, I’m having lunch with your grandmother—Laura—” Elizabeth added, stirring sugar into her coffee. “You’re welcome to tag along.”

Jake shook his head. It was a relief to have an actual reason to continue to avoiding his grandmother. “Danny told me that Drew’s taking Scout over to Harborview today to get a few things. He decided to tag along, and I invited myself.” He dumped the remains of his bowl in the sink, switched on the faucet. “He’s worried about her, and I’m worried about him. It’s first time since…”

“Ah.” Elizabeth rubbed his back, between the shoulders for a minute. “Well, that’s good. Call me if you’re out too late, and we’ll think of something for dinner. Maybe Eli’s.”

“I never turn down ribs.”

—

Jason swept his gaze across the other side of Charlie’s Pub, scanning the bar for any sign of Kristina. Judging from the way Molly spoke about her sister, Jason knew she was on Alexis’s side in the custody fight, and the last thing he wanted to deal with today was someone else weighing in on his fitness as a parent.

Satisfied that Kristina was nowhere to be found, he sat across from Michael and picked up the menu, skimming it.

“You all set to move into your place this week?” Michael asked, idly flipping through the bar menu.

“Yeah, signing the lease on Monday. Jake’s coming later this week, and Danny not until after the holidays.” He didn’t mention why Danny was delaying the move — Michael already knew, and Jason had no interest in bringing Drew up as a topic of conversation.

But then Michael made a face, and set the menu down. “Yeah. I know. Drew’s big move to Washington. Can’t happen fast enough.” He rubbed his face. “I guess he feels pretty confident about the custody situation if he’s already making plans to take Scout there. Willow—” He took a deep breath. “She told me he’s been asking her about private schools in the area.”

Jason wasn’t entirely sure how to respond to that comment. Drew’s custody situation was different, and he wasn’t really interested in it beyond how it affected Danny and Jake. But he didn’t like the idea that Drew was still interacting with Michael’s wife.

“I can practically see the thought bubble above your head,” Michael muttered, picking up his water glass and taking a long drink. “Why are you letting your wife anywhere near him? Why aren’t you handling this?”

“That’s not what I was thinking—”

“Well, I was.” Michael set his glass down with a thud on the wooden table. “It’s not like it’s a secret. My entire family knows they fooled around over the summer. You know about Halloween. Elizabeth saw them together at the hospital, and—” he dipped his head. “Scout. She saw them somewhere. Jake told me on Thanksgiving.”

Jason hesitated. “Jake?”

“Don’t—” Michael shook his head. “Don’t say anything to him. Scout made him promise not to tell anyone, but Jake did enough hinting that I figured it out. He told her to not to tell anyone, Jase. That she didn’t see what she saw, and that even if she did—she was just confused. What kind of man does that? Lies to his own kid? Messes her up so bad that Jake finds her crying? And he’s just gonna drag her away from everything and everyone he knows—” Michael broke off, shook his head. “I know what I should do. I know what I should have already done, but I just…”

“It’s not easy,” Jason said, and Michael scoffed. “It’s not. It’s not just you and Willow. It’s a family.”

“I just keep—” Michael picked up a napkin, began to rip it into small pieces. “I keep thinking about the first time I really remember going to court. When they broke up after Morgan was born, remember? They were arguing all the time, and they kept threatening to take me away. Dad would stop Mom from coming into the penthouse, and she’d get us back, and keep him away—I hated it. I guess I’m glad Morgan was too young to remember—”  He looked at his uncle. “I remember telling the judge I wanted to live with you. And Aunt Courtney. You guys were getting a divorce, too, but it was better at your place. Then they got back together for a while, but it was even worse then. I don’t want that for my kids.”

“I know. You don’t have to explain it to me—”

“I have to explain it to myself,” Michael muttered. “I wake up every morning in a bed with the woman I promised to love, the one who promised to love me, and man, I know I’m not perfect. I know I slept with Sasha after I found out about the kisses—” He sat back. “I have to end it. Before it’s Wiley or Amelia who sees them together next.” Michael looked at Jason. “I’m calling Diane after Christmas. I just…I want more holiday. One more for them. Do you think that’s stupid?”

Jason shook his head. “No. I’m not really into the holidays, but I know they’re important to kids. Especially at Wiley’s age. There’s nothing wrong with waiting, Michael.”

“Yeah, I guess—” Michael looked past Jason, through the window behind his uncle, and winced. “Listen, I promise I made sure that she wasn’t supposed to be here today, but—”

“What?” Jason began, but the door opened behind them, and he saw Kristina in the entrance. Sonny’s daughter saw the two of them, narrowed her eyes, and headed straight for them.

——

Jake had once been a regular visitor at Harborview Towers, considering it a second home. First when Drew had been living Jason’s life, before the twisted memory experiments had been revealed, and then later, after his dad had moved back into the penthouse. Before his breakup with Danny’s mother. And Jake always been there to visit Danny in the years since.

It was strange now, to wait for his brother in the lobby, flicking through his social media, and realize that he’d probably never come back here. His dad hadn’t even considered coming back here — Sam had continued living in the penthouse after all, and it wasn’t really Jason’s home anymore. But with Danny’s mom gone — the penthouse remained empty. No one lived there now, and Jake couldn’t imagine Danny or his sister ever wanting to come back permanently.

The circular glass doors in the lobby began to move, and Jake spied Danny and Scout followed by Drew making their way in. Drew hesitated, his mouth pinching when he saw Jake waiting for them.

“Jake. I wasn’t expecting you.”

“Sorry to intrude,” Jake said, shoving his phone in his pocket. “I just wanted to be here if Danny or Scout needed anything. Or help them.”

“I asked him,” Danny told his uncle. “I didn’t think you’d care.”

“I don’t,” Drew said with an obvious forced smile. “Let’s get this over with.”

Scout looked around the lobby, her brown eyes already glimmering with tears. What was it like for her, Jake wondered, to return for the first time in almost a month — to know this wasn’t home anymore?

“Scout?” Drew said, turning back when he realized his daughter hadn’t begun to move towards he elevators. “I told you. I can get someone to do this for you—”

“No, I wanna—I wanna go.” She slid her hand in her brother’s. “I want to get my dolls.”

Drew gestured for them to go in front. “After you princess.”  He shot Jake an irritated look, then followed them.

Jake plucked his phone out of his pocket, his fingers hovering over his dad’s contact info, then sighed, and put it back. What was the worst that could happen?

—

Almost from the moment Elizabeth sat across from Laura at the Metrocourt Hotel Restaurant, she wished she’d turn down this invitation.

“I’ve tried everything,” her former mother-in-law said with a sigh. “But he’s determined to go.” Laura leaned forward. “I was hoping that you could do something. Say something—”

Elizabeth reached for her iced tea, wishing it was something much stronger. “Laura, I’m not  getting into this with him again. He decided a decade ago that he wanted to spend his time running around other countries helping anyone he wasn’t related to. Lucky came home to help Lulu. He’s done that now. Or at least he’s waited long enough for her recover. What he does now is up to him.”

“How can you say that? You have a son together—”

“One that Lucky hasn’t been around to raise, Laura. At least Luke can say he was sort of involved with Lulu at the beginning and end of her childhood. Lucky hasn’t been a father to Aiden in any way that matters since he was almost five, and you know that.” Elizabeth sighed. “I’m sympathetic, I am. And I know it’s been a hard year, with losing Spencer and seeing Nikolas…” She winced when Laura fell silent. “I’m sorry, I am. But the benefit of not being Lucky’s wife anymore means this isn’t my problem. I’ve raised Aiden without him, and I don’t need him to finish the job.”

“I just don’t understand. I know Luke and I raised him like crazy nomads, but we tried to instill the importance of family.” Laura just shook her head again. “He was such a good father.”

How would you know, you were unconscious for most of it— But Elizabeth swallowed the petty retort. “Another benefit of divorce, Laura, is that he’s not my mystery to solve. I wish you luck, I do, but if he wants to leave Port Charles, I can’t—I won’t stop him. My son deserves a father who’s here. Who wants to be here, and doesn’t need to be shamed into staying.”

—

The last time he’d left the penthouse where he’d lived all his life, his mother had been alive. If he walked in there now, if he went inside, and saw all the pieces of his mother he’d been protected from seeing—

Danny stopped at the doorway, swallowing hard, his throat burning. “Maybe I could come back later. I—I’m not leaving the Quartermaines for weeks.” He looked at Drew. “We don’t have to do this now, do we?”

Drew turned the key in the lock and shoved the door open. “You and Jake can wait in the lobby. And Scout, if you don’t want to do this, that’s fine. I’ll pack things for you. But we’re already here—”

Scout’s small sob stopped him, and suddenly the little girl ran past them both into the living room. Draped over the arm of the sofa was a black cardigan sweater. Scout scooped it up and buried her face in it. “Mommy.” She raised her eyes, looked at her brother. “It’s Mommy’s. I can smell her perfume.”

Danny went to his sister, kneeling down and reaching for the sweater. How many times had his mother pulled this on last year? It was old and worn in some places, the threads at the cuff fraying. The kind of thing you only wore at home where no one but people you loved would see you.

His vision blurred as tears slid down his cheeks. He pulled his sister close to him, kissed her cheek. It was like all of this hadn’t happened, like she might come down the steps any minute and pluck the sweater from their arms, smiling at them. Asking them what movie they wanted to watch, or if they had homework—

Danny looked up, almost expecting to see her in the landing of the stairwell. But there was nothing. No sound, no life. Nothing in the entire penthouse.

The coffee table beside them had been untouched — a thin layer of dust over the wood. He swallowed hard. Because no one had been living here since Halloween. Since his mother had died.

At the door, Drew made another face. “I knew this was a bad idea,” he muttered. He snagged his phone from his pocket, began to scroll through his contacts. “Should have just left the whole thing for the professionals.”

“What’s your damage, dude? You leave your heart in Pentonville?” Jake demanded, and Drew snapped his head up.

“What did you say to me?” Drew straightened.

“I said you could cut them some slack. They lost their mom and this was their home their entire life. You used to love Sam, too, you know. Or maybe they beat it out of you when you got kidnapped. Whatever happened to you,” Jake muttered, looking ahead to his brother and Scout. “I don’t even recognize you anymore.”

“I’m sorry that I didn’t run my plans past a teenager who’s opinion doesn’t matter,”‘ Drew said coolly. He turned his attention to Danny and Scout. “Look, if you don’t want to do this, I told you. We can wait. They’ll be packing this place up in a few weeks anyway.”

Danny climbed to his feet, scowling. “What does that mean?” he demanded. “Who is they?”

“The movers. We have to clear out the personal effects,” Drew said. “Look, I’ll make sure all your things get boxed up. We won’t throw anything away. Or your mother’s—”

“No, you won’t because you’re not touching anything,” Danny shot back.

Scout shook her head. “I don’t understand. Danny?” She tugged on his shirt. “What’s going on?”

“What’s the rush?” Jake started but Drew walked past him, cutting him out of the conversation. He grimaced, pulled out his phone.

“I thought your grandmother would have said something. Or your father. He got the same papers I did. You can’t just let this place sit here,” Drew said. “It’s worth millions of dollars. That money will do much better in your trust fund than going to waste—”

“You’re not touching anything!” Danny shot back. “This is my mother’s penthouse! You can’t—”

“Your mother isn’t here anymore,” Drew cut in and Danny closed his mouth, stunned. “I’m sorry for that, God knows I wouldn’t want it this way. No one did. But your mother is gone. She’s not coming back, and there’s no point in all of us living like this—”

Scout shoved him hard, then took off running towards the stairs. Drew hissed, then headed after her— but a few seconds later, they heard a door slam shut, then angry knocking. “Emily Scout! Open this door right now!”

Danny scowled. “I’m calling Dad. He’ll stop this.”

Or get arrested kicking the shit out of Drew again, Jake thought, but he had his own phone out. Because if Danny was calling in reinforcements, they were going to need a mediator.

He flipped open a new text message.

hey mom 911…

+25

Written in 61 minutes.

For the first time in living memory, Thanksgiving dinner made it to the table at the Quartermaines. The family crowded around the large dining table, and maybe by some silent agreement, even Tracy kept her opinions to herself. After all, there was always after dinner.

“I’m actually kind of disappointed,” Danny said, following Jake into the foyer with a wrinkle of his nose. “I wanted the distraction of smoke alarms or one of the dogs getting to the turkey.”

Jake smirked, but some of his amusement faded as he watched Scout sit on the bottom step, her head in her hands again. Through the open double doors to the front sitting room, Drew was standing at the mini bar with Willow.

If Scout was to be believed — and Jake did — she’d seen her father kissing the much younger and very married wife of his own nephew. And then Drew had basically manipulated his own daughter into doubting herself to keep her quiet. Jake struggled to merge the image of the man he’d loved as a father for so long with a predatory older man seducing his own niece-in-law and gaslighting his daughter. Had prison rotted his brain?

And should Jake really keep this to himself? He’d promised Scout, but this really felt like something he should escalate to a higher being. Keeping the secret from Michael felt dirty, even wrong, especially after his cousin had been so supportive after everything had gone to hell.

“Jake, you almost ready?”

He turned to see his mother with her coat over one arm. His father stood slightly behind her, his own jacket already on. “Uh, actually—” He looked at Danny. “I was thinking if you want, I could stay and we could take another shot at that COD mission. We almost have it.”

Danny’s eyes lit up. “Yeah, that would be cool. If that’s okay,” he said to Elizabeth. “I know Jake was gone for a long time and you missed him.”

“No, it’s great,” Elizabeth said, fishing in her purse. She retrieved her keys. “If you want, why don’t you take the car, and Jason can give me a ride home.” She looked at Jake’s dad. “If that’s okay?”

“Sure.”

Jake retrieved the keys. “Thanks, Mom. Really. What time are you going in tomorrow?”

“One, so be home in time.” She kissed his cheek and squeezed Danny’s arm. “Have a good time.”

“That’s the plan,” Jake said, tucking the keys in the pocket of his hanging jacket. He looked over at Scout, then at Danny. “Hey, before we play though, maybe we could do something with Scout. I think she was really upset before dinner.”

“Yeah, Drew signed the lease for a place in DC.” Danny made a face. “They’re going after the holidays, and he wants to her to pack. They’re going to the penthouse this weekend to pack her room.”

“Oh…has she…have either you been back…” Jake trailed off when Danny looked at the ground. “Sorry, stupid question.”

“No, it’s…it’s just a place, you know. But it’s…the last time I left home, I was gonna see my mom, and we were planning for her to come home.” Danny crossed his arms, then uncrossed them, leaving them dangling at his side. “Just…doesn’t feel right to go there without her.” He looked at his sister. “But I should go with Scout. When she goes, you know? I’m her brother. I should have realized she wasn’t feeling good today.”

“You’re dealing with this, too,” Jake told him. “That’s what I’m here for. To support you both. C’mon, let’s go see what Scout wants to do.”

—

Their feet crunched over the gravel-lined driveway as Elizabeth followed Jason to his SUV. “Sorry to just volunteer you as my chauffeur,” she said, reaching the passenger door. When she heard the beep of the remote locks, she tugged on the door.

“It’s fine.” Jason switched on the ignition, but didn’t change the gears, waiting for her to sort herself—place her purse on the floor, fasten her seatbelt. “But we should probably look into something for Jake. Unless—” he paused, looked at her. “I know he’s been rough, I mean behavior and attitude—”

“That’s part of the reason I wanted to drive with you.” She reached over, squeezed his forearm. “Whatever you said to him last week, after you guys talked to Danny, thank you. We talked this morning, and I really felt the difference, you know? He’s still upset and a little confused, but I don’t…the anger seems to have faded. Or maybe he’s hiding it better. I just felt like I was talking to my son again today.”

“I didn’t—”

“Don’t even say you didn’t do anything,” Elizabeth interrupted. She released his arm, folded her hands in her lap, leaning her head against the back of the chair, exhaled on a slow breath. “It’s been such a nightmare, dragging all that back. Having the same arguments with Lucky, reliving those awful decisions.” She looked back at him. “I know you forgave me, but I just…I have to say it again. I have so many regrets in my life, but that day in the penthouse, it’s number one. Followed by the day I asked you to give him up. It was so wrong to even ask it.”

“It was wrong to agree,” Jason said. He looked straight ahead, out into the darkness of the trees that bordered this side of the Quartermaine property. “I had my reasons, but agreeing to it, letting it continue, it just made you think I didn’t love him. That I didn’t want him.”

“I—” Elizabeth paused, tried to consider her words carefully. “I won’t say I didn’t doubt it. Especially at first. That day in the penthouse. Of course now, I can look back, and I can remember the way you looked, the way you sounded, and how it was just you making things all right for me. Like you always do—”

“You started to tell me a hundred times,” Jason told her quietly, and she stopped, their eyes meeting. She had, of course, nearly worked up the nerve so many times. “And I always said something that stopped you. Or you were interrupted by something else. We put this all to bed a long time ago, Elizabeth. It doesn’t—” He curled one hand around the steering wheel, his voice turning slightly gravelly. “It doesn’t do any good to look back, think of what could have been different. What should have been different.”

“I know.” She closed her eyes, feeling the familiar prick of tears. “I really thought I’d forgiven myself, you know. But it’s hard when Jake looks at me, and he asks these questions I just can’t answer. That I don’t want to answer. But he deserves to know, I think, a little bit of it. Maybe not all of it, but some.”

“I…thought I’d forgiven myself, too,” he said slowly, and she looked at him again, surprised. “For what happened after Michael was shot. That’s what I told Jake that day. For the choices I made when he was a baby, before he was born, for the choices I made two years ago.”

“We were scared,” she said. “We did the best we could—” she sighed, looked at the windshield. “I can’t say I regret how things turned out. I have Aiden, and you have Danny.”

There was a moment of quiet, and she thought he’d put the car into reverse and start the drive home. But he didn’t.

“We would have had more kids.”

Elizabeth turned her head to look at him, found him watching her. The corner of her mouth curved up. “Oh, probably. How many?”

“How many did you want?”

Thinking that maybe he was just trying to lighten the moment, talking about the dream children that would never exist, she forced herself to say something equally light-hearted. “Oh, dozens. To start with. You?”

“Whatever made you happy.”

Their eyes held for a long moment, and something seemed to happen, something in the air, a shift, something that sent her pulse racing, had her breath coming just a bit faster. Finally, he looked away, shifted the car out of park.

And they didn’t speak again.

—

After watching a movie with Scout, then playing Call of Duty for several hours, Danny crashed, but Jake couldn’t sleep.

He crept down the back staircase to the kitchen, hoping to raid the kitchen and find some of the leftover from dessert that night. But he wasn’t the only one with that plan—

Michael was at the counter, unwrapping the same pan of tiramisu Jake had in mind. His cousin paused, knife in hand, and grinned. “Oh, thank God. I thought you were Sasha. She hates when I get into the kitchen after she’s cleaned up for the night.” He tipped it towards Jake. “You wanna get a fork? I’m feeling hungry enough to finish what’s left.”

Jake was uneasy about being around Michael on his own, worried that the secret he was keeping was emblazoned across his forehead, but avoiding him wasn’t going to help Jake sleep any sooner. “Yeah, sure.”

When they were settled at the table with the pan between them and forks in hand, Jake asked, “So you come all the way up from the gatehouse a lot?”

“Since Sasha took over, yeah. Beats cooking for yourself, and she’s one of the best.” Michael shifted in his seat, took another bite. “I’m glad you’re hanging around Danny—and Scout. They need the distraction, you know?”

“Yeah. And we didn’t get a disaster shutting down dinner this year.” Jake swirled his fork in the pan. “You’re, like, a CEO, right? So you have to make hard decisions a lot.”

“I guess.” Michael tipped his head. “Why? Everything okay?”

Jake considered his words carefully. “What if you promised not to tell someone something before you found out what it was, and now that you know—you think maybe this is the kind of thing you shouldn’t be in charge of knowing?”

“You mean, is it ever morally right to break a promise if your intentions are to help the person?” Michael asked.

“Yeah, I guess that’s a good way to put it.”

“It depends. Is this person going to be hurt? Are they in danger?”

“Physically, no. Emotionally, maybe. And this thing—” Jake pressed his lips together. “It affects other people. And it makes me mad. I wanna do something stupid. Like pop tires. Or sugar in the gas tank.”

Michael’s fork stilled, and he looked at Jake. “But you’re not gonna do those things.”

“I said they were stupid,” Jake muttered. “You said that just like Cam would have.”

“Older brothers who have been there and done that. I’ve done some stupid things in my life—a lot of stupid things that I thought were a good idea at the time.” Michael set his fork down. “And I had a younger brother who was impulsive and did a lot of things without thinking.”

Right. Morgan. Jake hadn’t thought about him in a long time — he’d been just a kid when that had happened. “Sorry. I wasn’t thinking—”

“I didn’t bring him up to make you feel bad. It’s just—I know how easy it is to give in to the anger. To the need to hurt someone else. My parents did it, so did my brother. I did. And I know my sister’s done it a time or two. I’m hoping I raise my kids better than that. And that I steer my little cousins in a better direction.” He folded his arms. “Now, this thing that makes you mad and might hurt other people. What happens if you tell the truth?”

“The person who told me won’t…they’ll be angry that I broke my promise. And maybe they won’t trust me or anyone else again. I don’t want them to feel alone.”

“Is this about Danny? I know he’s had a really hard time, especially since Alexis started all of this custody stuff. He’s trying not to talk about it, but—”

“It’s not Danny.” Jake took a deep breath. “It’s Scout. I found her crying earlier. Before dinner, sitting all alone in the nursery.” He looked down, missing the way Michael flinched at the mention of that room.

“It’s going to be really hard for her, going to DC. Danny has you and his dad, and all his family. Scout will be on her own. I wish…I wish Drew would leave her here, but—” Michael grimaced. “That’s a nonstarter for a lot of reasons.” He paused. “But something’s wrong, and you can’t tell anyone. It’s more than moving? More than her mom?”

“I guess all of that is part of it. Or making it worse.” Jake twirled the fork again. “Her dad did something pretty awful, and he’s making Scout lie about it, but it’s a really fucked up way. He told her she didn’t see it. But she did.”

Michael’s mouth tightened, and he dipped his head for a long moment. “And what she saw? This is the thing you don’t want to tell me? That will hurt people?”

“It’s what I promised to keep secret. But I think—I think she made me promise because of what Drew said to her. That she was bad if she lied, that maybe her mom would be disappointed in her, and that’s so messed up, you know? Maybe I should tell you because he’s an asshole, and shouldn’t get away with it—”

Michael held up his hand, and Jake stopped talking. “I think,” his older cousin began painfully, “that maybe you don’t have to tell me what she saw. She saw Drew, didn’t she? With someone else?”

There was a pit in his stomach, and Jake slowly nodded. “Yeah. You…you already know?”

“Yeah. I already know.” Michael dragged his hands down his face. “This is a goddamned nightmare,” he muttered, more to himself than to Jake. “They’re not even trying to keep this a secret. Are they trying to get caught?”

“Michael.”

“Where did she see them?” Michael wanted to know, dropping his hands. “She saw Drew with my wife, right? Where? When?”

“In the nursery—”

His face went white. “Oh, God, not the night her mother died. Tell me Scout didn’t see them that night.”

“I don’t—” Jake swallowed hard. “I don’t think so. She made it sound recent. Oh, oh, man. Michael, I’m so sorry—”

“Recent. So after the hospital where your mother saw them, and after the nursery when the nanny cam—” Michael stopped, took a deep breath. “Okay. Okay. I’m going—don’t worry. I already knew. Scout never needs to know we had this conversation.”

“Michael—”

“Thank you. For telling me. Or working your way around it.” Michael got up, his hands trembling slightly, gripping the chair so hard, the knuckles were white. “You’re a good kid. A good brother. You don’t have to worry about this anymore, okay? I’ll take care of it.”

He left then, through the terrace leading outside, and Jake just stared after him, then looked at the soggy mess in the tin pan on the table.

He should have stayed upstairs.

+37

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.”

+30

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?”

+42

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.”

+35

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.”

+29

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.

+27

Written in 54 minutes.

Elizabeth switched off the kitchen faucet, dried her hands, and reached for her phone, scrolling through the notification that had caught her attention. She grimaced at Lucky’s tersely worded call me we have a problem and debated ignoring him entirely.

While still making that decision, she heard the thud of footsteps on the carpeted steps, and looked towards the threshold of the kitchen, realizing it was more than one set. She’d tried very hard not to think about the conversation happening upstairs, knowing this needed to be Jason’s conversation to control, but it hadn’t been easy.

Elizabeth tossed her phone aside when Jake and Jason stepped into view, Jason hanging back behind their son a step or two, though she wondered if he realized how they’d mirrored their stances. The resemblance between them had only grown as Jake had matured, his features chiseling, the angles on his face sharpening until. They were both dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, Jason’s shoved above his elbows. Both had their hands tucked into the pockets, legs set apart.

Jake took a deep breath and slowly raised his gaze until it met his mother’s. “Uh, I guess you know why Dad came over.”

She stepped from behind the island, folded her arms because she didn’t know what else to do with them. “I do.”

Jake opened his mouth, closed it, made a face, then tried again. “Did…did you call him because of what I said?”

Elizabeth furrowed her brows, tilted her head. “What?”

“About…about not wanting to be here. Do…” He let out a rush of breath. “Do you want me to live with Dad because I called you a liar? A-and that I didn’t want to be anywhere near you?”

Behind him, Jason scowled but remained silent, and Elizabeth sighed, rubbed her temple. “I called him because I knew he wanted to talk to you about living with him, and with Danny, and well, you don’t seem very happy here right now. But if you’re asking me if I don’t want you here — if I called him to get rid of you, the answer is no.”

“Oh.” Jake pressed his lips together. “I know I should say I’m sorry. And I guess I am. But it’s…I don’t know how to make it not true.” His eyes glittered with resentment. “You are a liar.”

“Jake—” Jason stepped forward, but Elizabeth held up a hand to stop him.

“That situation exists with or without the question your father asked you. You need space and having me around right now isn’t making it easier, so that’s a bonus. But that’s not why your father asked you or why I agreed.”

“Don’t tell me you care about Danny,” Jake said with a roll of his eyes. “You wanted me to abandon him and go back to Spain, okay—”

“That’s not—” Elizabeth stopped, shook her head. “There’s no point in having this conversation with you. Everything I say just makes it all worse, so do whatever you want.” She turned away, scooped up her phone, and replied to Lucky’s message. We have nothing to talk about.

—

When her father had suggested Kristina take over Charlie’s pub, and return to running the bar, she’d agreed without hesitation. Something else to think about. To fill her hours, her head, and maybe eventually, her body would forget what it felt like to be pregnant, to carry a life, to—

Her sister dropped a phone on the bar and slid onto the stool, but nothing about the look in her dark eyes suggested Molly was in a good mood. “You left a message for me to come by. You said we needed to talk.”

Kristina nodded, reaching for a wine glass and setting it in front of Molly. “Yes. Yes. I know—I know we’re not—we’re not handling anything of right. You and me. Since I woke up in the hospital—”

“Since before that. Since I found those papers,” Molly said flatly. “When it was clear you were making plans to cut me and TJ out of Irene’s life.

Irene. What a horrid name for a little girl. Just more proof that Molly wouldn’t have been the mother her precious angel needed, but Kristina swallowed that. She was the big sister now, the oldest who had to take charge. Sam was gone, and there was no one else to stop Molly from screwing up her life.

“We’re not going to agree on what I wanted. You have your perspective, and it’s not changing,” she said carefully. “I want you to think about what you’re doing to Mom—” She poured her sister’s favorite white wine into the glass. “It’s been awful for her, what happened to me and—and the baby. And then those charges, and the—”

“Charges she wouldn’t have to deal with if you hadn’t stolen your father’s gun,” Molly interrupted, and Kristina nearly snarled in response, but swallowed it.

Big sister. Have to make her see reason.

“Losing Sam dropped the bottom out of her world—”

“And she’s the only one?” Molly asked, ignoring the glass Kristina slid towards her. “No one else is living with the Sam-shaped hole in our lives? Me? Danny? Scout?”

“She’s doing her best—what’s best for Danny and Scout. Can you see Drew and Jason actually being fathers?” Kristina snorted, turning away and not seeing the fury flash across Molly’s face. By the time she turned back, Molly had organized her features back into neutrality.

“Yes. I can. Drew was amazing before the Cassadines kidnapped him. And he’s done his best since he came home from prison. And Jason rebuilt a relationship with Danny. I know he’s working on it with Jake. He’s done that before — after the Cassadines kidnapped him, too. Both of them have had years stolen from them, Kristina. By Mom’s family. By our blood. And you want me to step back and forget everything Jason and Drew have done for us?”

“You’ve always had a hero worship,” Kristina said scornfully. “You think you’ve come so far from the silly girl who wrote romance novels—”

“I think that Jason and Sam nearly died to save you from the mess you got yourself into with Shiloh. Sam sacrificed her freedom for you.” Molly slid off the stool, her lips pressed together. “They lost time with their kids because of you. For you. Sam’s dead. She wanted her kids with their fathers. What right do you or Mom have to break her wishes? To say she was wrong? To steal more time from Jason or Drew? Haven’t you stolen enough from all of us?”

Kristina gripped the wine bottle more tightly. “There’s no talking sense into you. You’re going to break Mom’s heart and you’ll lose any way. Mom knows what she’s doing.”

“Mom hasn’t practiced law in years. I have a solid case, and I have right on my side. Legal and moral.” Molly lifted her brows. “Don’t worry, Krissy. Pretty soon you’ll have Mom all to yourself.”

Kristina scowled, watching her go. “Ungrateful brat,” she muttered, moving down the bar to refill another drink, hesitating when she recognized Lucky Spencer. “Oh. I didn’t know you were here. Did you want another one?” She asked, gesturing at the empty bottle.

Lucky shoved his phone down, then looked at her. “Yeah, might as well. Not like I’m going anywhere.” He picked the phone up again, flicked at the screen. “It’s probably not a good idea to tell someone to call you or you’re going to show up on their doorstep anyway, is it?”

“Depends on who it is.” Kristina tipped her head. “Who’s avoiding you?”

Lucky’s lips tightened into a thin line. “Elizabeth. She started a huge mess and now she won’t help me clean it up. Well, she’s gonna regret it when I tell Aiden just what she did—” He exhaled in a low breath. “Except I can’t. Jason will put me six feet under if I even bother.”

Kristina stopped half-listening, and focused. “Wait. What’s that about Jason?”

—

Why couldn’t he ever say what he wanted to say? Why did the wrong words always exit his mouth?  All his mother was trying to do was help and be nice about the asshole things Jake had said, and what had Jake done?

Made it worse.

And he really didn’t want to turn around and see the look on his dad’s face who had made it pretty damn clear if he kept his mouth going around his mom, he was gonna regret it.

“That wasn’t a fair thing to say,” Jake mumbled, and Elizabeth looked up, her brows lifted. “About you…not caring about Danny. I know it’s not right. I know you do. You didn’t like his mom much, but you made it work. You both did so that me and Danny could be together.”

“Sam and I love our boys more than we ever hated each other,” Elizabeth said softly. “I was upset when you came home the way you did. You didn’t talk to us, didn’t run it past us. Especially when your father spent a lot of money on tuition and board—”

“I don’t care about any of that,” Jason started, but Elizabeth gave him that look again, and his father stopped talking. She was good at that, Jake realized, and again, he wondered at their relationship, at the truths his father had shared with him.

“But I will regret for the rest of my life that I was too scared to hold on to you. That we lost all those years.”

Did his dad regret that he hadn’t held on to his mom, too? Was she part of that we?

“I know you don’t, Jason, but money doesn’t grow on trees. And we don’t throw it around like it doesn’t matter. Maybe you can pause your attendance, but that’s a year of tuition wasted, Jake. Without a conversation. Without consideration. I didn’t raise you that way.”

Heat crawled up Jake’s neck. “I didn’t—I didn’t think about it. I just—” He looked at his dad, who had no reaction. Money really didn’t matter to Jason, Jake thought, but maybe because he’d always had it. But he knew his mother hadn’t. That if Cam hadn’t had scholarships to Stanford, things would have been harder. That if his dad hadn’t stepped forward, his mother would have taken out loans that Jake would be paying back for years. And there’d been times when money had been tight, he remembered. Especially when his dad had been gone, and her hours had been cut at the hospital.

“I’m sorry. I should have talked to you guys. I don’t know if any of that can be fixed now. I didn’t think about any of it. I just—” His eyes blurred. “I remembered when you got sick last summer, Mom, and we had to go stay with Grandma Laura. When she didn’t have enough room for us and Ace and Esme. Grandma Monica wanted me to come stay with her, and maybe you wouldn’t get better. Maybe we would have been separated.”

Elizabeth’s lips parted. “I didn’t know about any of that.”

“You were sick?” Jason asked. “What happened?”

“Later,” she said, almost absently. “It’s too much to—it’s too much right now. Jake—”

“Danny’s doing that now, only it’s worse. Me and Aiden, we were—we were old. But Scout’s just a kid. And she was supposed to be my sister. I was supposed to protect her, but I can’t because she’s not. And I know she’s my cousin, but she and Danny are gonna be separated. Not just by a stupid lake or a couple of miles. By states. They’ll never live together again. I didn’t think, Mom. I just came home. I had to.”

“Of course, honey.” Elizabeth came forward, and Jake didn’t even flinch when she wrapped her arms around him, and he felt the familiarity, the warmth of her hug. She stroked his back, then cupped his jaw as she stepped back, her eyes glimmering with tears. “You’re such a good kid, Jake. You always were. You took every hit the world threw at you, and just got right back up. Of course you should be here with Danny. This is going to be so hard for him, and I’m sorry we can’t find a way out for both of them.”

“It’s no one’s fault, I guess. Even if Dad hadn’t kicked Drew in the teeth or whatever, he’d still be moving away.” Jake took a shaky breath. “So I’m gonna live with Dad and Danny because he needs me.”

“I’m glad.” Elizabeth stroked his face one more time, then stepped back. “I really am. This is going to be great for you. All of you. I’ll miss you, but you’ll be in town, and hopefully—” She folded her arms again, forced a smile. “Well, you’ll decide how much you want to see me.”

Jake opened his mouth, then closed it. For a minute, she’d been his mom again, and the rest of it had fallen away. But it had passed, and he couldn’t force the words out.

“I’m asking Diane to find somewhere close,” Jason said, and Jake looked at him. “You’ll want to see Aiden. And Cam will be home for the holidays, maybe.”

“Yeah. Right. Right.” Jake cleared his throat, looked back at his mother. “You’re right. This is what is right for all of us. Thanks. For knowing that. For making Dad come over tonight. And I’m sorry. For what I said.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Elizabeth squeezed his hand, then turned away, not before he saw the tears on her cheeks. “I’m so glad this worked out. That you two are going to be there for Danny. Everything is going to be just fine. I know it.”

+29

Written in 58 minutes. Conversation took a direction I didn’t mean it, too so the part is a bit shorter than I planned because I wanted to get it right.

Jason hesitated in the hallway outside of Jake’s room. A few hours ago, he’d stood with Elizabeth at Vista Point, confidently telling her what he wanted and bracing himself for her reaction. He’d been sure what he wanted to do was the best way forward, but uneasy about hurting her. She’d been dealt enough blows the last few days.

But now, Jason realized that had been the easiest step. Because he knew that with Elizabeth’s generous nature, the moment he’d what he wanted, she’d support him. Giving people what they wanted, what they needed — hadn’t that always been her weakness?

Now he had to face the son that was unhappy with both his parents, maybe with some good reasons, and find a way to make peace. To convince Jake that living with Jason and Danny might be the best thing for all of them.

He knocked lightly, and waited. A moment later, Jake’s voice could be heard. “I don’t want to talk, Mom.”

“It’s not your mother.”

There was silence then, and Jason wondered if Jake might just ignore him altogether. He’d come back or maybe just wait him out. Jake would have to leave the room eventually.

But then the knob twisted and Jake pulled the door open, his eyes unreadable. “What?”

Jason lifted his brows. “Can we talk?”

Jake heaved a heavy sigh, but stepped back, jerking the door all the way open. The room was just a little bare, evidence that it had been mostly deserted since he’d gone to Spain in August. A suitcase lay by the suitcase, clothing spilling out of the unzipped top. Some of the shelves were empty, and the desk was bare.

But there was a table tucked over by the windows with a large sketchpad open, pencils laying strewn over the surface, and chunks that looked similar to the charcoal Jason remembered from Elizabeth’s studio once upon a time.

Jake’s hands were a bit dingy, and he hurried over to the desk, flipping the pad shut. “Did Mom send you up here to talk to me?” he muttered.

Jason shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “That depends. Would she have a reason to?”

Jake grimaced, flopped on the edge of the bed, then stared at the carpet. “That’s a trick question, and I’m not that stupid. If she didn’t send you, then why are you here?”

“She did call me,” Jason said, sitting carefully on the desk chair after turning it to face Jake. “Because she knows I wanted to talk to you about Danny, and thought maybe you might be in the right mood to have the conversation.”

Jake snorted. “Why? I’m already pissed off, so whatever crap you’re gonna say won’t make it worse? Whatever.”

Jason waited a long moment, just long enough for Jake’s cheeks to flush, for him to raise his gaze to his father’s before he spoke again. “I know you’re not happy with me for reasons I deserve. And that you’re angry with your mother. Whether or not she deserves that — you and I aren’t going to agree on that.”

“Tell me the truth,” Jake challenged, his eyes glittering. “Did you even get mad at her for a minute when she told you she lied? Or did you do what you always do, what she always does for you and start making excuses? She likes to say she didn’t try to make me feel bad for being mad at you, but I knew she wanted me to be happy you were back. Danny wanted me to be happy, and—” He shook his head, looked away. “I don’t understand either of them. I don’t understand you, either. How can you let people walk all over you—”

“Jake, the night your mother told me you were my son, we were trapped in an elevator at the MetroCourt,” Jason interrupted, and Jake closed his mouth. “The lobby had just exploded, and it was the best I could do to get her to safety. I couldn’t get her out. I couldn’t—” He took a deep breath. “A man took the entire lobby hostage by gunpoint, including your mother. My sister was there that night. Sonny and Carly. Robin was shot and nearly died. My father had a heart attack that he died from later in the hospital. It was a long, terrible night, during which your mother nearly went into early labor. You almost didn’t exist, Jake.”

Jake swallowed hard, but didn’t look away. “Are you trying to make me feel bad?”

“No. You asked if I was angry with her. And I’m explaining why anger wasn’t the first thing I felt when she told me. We were in that elevator, waiting for help. And she felt you move. For the first time in hours, you started kicking, and she was—” Jason had to stop, take a moment, the memory of that night rushing back, the relief that had flooded his body when she’d looked at him, the joy in her eyes when she realized her baby was still alive.

“I can’t make you understand or accept how I handled the situation. Maybe I should have been more angry. I think it would be easier for your mother if I had been. She knew how to handle anger better. She expected it. Expected me to be disappointed in her. Everyone already was. When I told you about Lucky’s problems, I didn’t—” Jason leaned back, realized Jake was still listening, that he hadn’t tuned him out.

It wasn’t why he’d come here today, but if Jason could do anything to ease the tension between mother and son, it’d be worth it. “I didn’t tell you so he’d be the villain. Lucky got clean after that, and has been ever since, at least as far as I know. That matters, Jake. He got hurt in the line of duty, got addicted, and it got ugly. But he got help.”

“I guess that’s good, but—” Jake paused. “I don’t get it. If Lucky was such a bad guy, why would Mom want me to be his kid? Why wouldn’t—didn’t she think you’d be a good dad? I don’t understand. She always defends you. But not then? It doesn’t make sense to me. It doesn’t…it doesn’t fit who I thought she was. And now I keep looking at other things—”

“Other things don’t matter. And I’m not going to speak for her. Why she made the choices she did. I didn’t used to believe in regrets. You make your choices, and you stand by them, good or bad. Even when they were mistakes.” Jason leaned forward, clasping his hands his between his legs. “You know I haven’t always lived a good life. That I was on trial for murder just after you were born.”

“They brought it up when Franco died,” Jake muttered. “But you were acquitted. You didn’t do it.”

“I was acquitted,” Jason agreed, ignoring the rest of the statement. “But I was arrested shortly after you were born. Any thought I had of claiming of you, of labeling you as my son, putting that weight around your neck—” He paused. “You could be a cop’s son or a murderer’s bastard. I’ll stand by the choice I made that summer, Jake. When I thought I might never be free again, the best place for you was in a home with two parents and your brother.”

“So you don’t regret it?” Jake asked. He furrowed his brows. “You said—”

“Later. Later, I made the choice for a different reason. Your safety—not just you. All of you. Cam, your mother, you—I couldn’t stand the thought of any of you hurt. After my sister was murdered…” Jason had to look away now, at the sweet thought of his beloved sister, gone now for longer than she’d been his little sister. “We almost changed our minds. Your mother and I. We…I asked her to marry me.”

Jake pressed his lips together. “Mom…she said something the day Mr. C was here. That Michael…he got hurt.”

“It was like the world reminding me I had no right to a life,” Jason said. He looked at Jake. “Your mother wanted us to be a family. There’s nothing I wanted more than to have all of you with me. To adopt Cameron. It’s all I thought about. I proposed to her, and then five minutes later, the phone rang. Michael had been shot in the head, a bullet that had been meant for Sonny. Michael had the bad luck to be standing next to him. After that—” Jason shook his head. “I couldn’t…it was never going to happen. We…we eventually had to stop even being in the same room. For almost a year, I couldn’t even look at your mother without remembering.”

“But…you—” Jake swallowed hard. “You got married to Danny’s mom. You had Danny—”

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

“Maybe all that’s true,” Jake managed. His hands, resting in his lap, clenched into fists. “You threw away two more of those years, so—”

“It was never supposed to be two years. If I had known it would take that long, I wouldn’t have done it. I thought it was the right choice, but it was a mistake. I’ve made a lot of them.  I tried to put someone else first, tried to do what I thought was right for them. But it was wrong for me. For you and your brother. I can’t go back, Jake. None of us can. I want us to go forward. But if you’re not ready, I can accept that. It’s my fault. And if it were just that, I would give you all the time you need. Whatever boundaries you needed to set, I’ll respect them. But there’s more at stake right now.”

“You want me to stop being an asshole to Mom, don’t you? I knew you were here for her—”

“If you’re being disrespectful to your mother, yeah, I want you to stop that,” Jason interrupted and Jake made a face. “You don’t have to like what either of us did, but she and I buried it. We forgave each other, Jake. You don’t have to like it, but it’s a fact. I’m not going to apologize for not meeting your expectations of anger or resentment. But that’s not what I was here to talk about. I’m here about Danny.”

“Oh. Right. You—” Jake exhaled in an irritated sigh. “You said that. I guess you want me to stop being a dick in front of him—”

“He isn’t going to be able to stay with Scout,” Jason said, and Jake stopped again, surprised. “He isn’t ready to hear that. He thinks—he thinks I can find a way. And maybe if things were different with Drew, I could. But Dante and Rocco are already making plans to move out of the mansion. Drew’s moving to D.C. after the holidays. He isn’t going to leave Scout here, and even if he would, it wouldn’t be with me.”

“No, not after you kicked his ass,” Jake muttered. Jason lifted his brows and Jake flushed. “Everyone knows, Dad. Did you at least have a good reason?”

“Yeah.”

“Do I get to know it?”

“No.”

Jake made another face. “Worth a shot.” He was quiet for a moment. “I guess I always knew you wouldn’t be able to, and it’s not your fault. I was just…really mad at you. And at Danny. For not being mad at all. But I knew it’d be like this. That’s why I came home.”

“I know. Your mother wanted you to go back to school, but I understand why you’re here. And I’m glad. If you can really put Spain on hold, then you’re right. Having you here will help Danny adjust.”

“Oh.” Jake narrowed his eyes. “There’s a catch. Somewhere. You’re letting me off the hook too easy for being a dick, and—”

“You know how I feel about the situation with your mother, and if you do it in front of me, you’ll hear it again,” Jason said, and Jake dipped his head. “But there’s no hook, Jake. You have a right to how you feel, and I can’t change it. But we both want Danny to be okay. He’ll come live with me. I’d like it…I’d like it if you did, too.”

Jake lifted his head again, met Jason’s gaze and frowned. “What? You mean like on weekends again, like we used to? Sure.”

“No.” Now or never, Jason thought. “I want you and Danny with me full-time. Together.”

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