Written in 67 minutes.

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Sunday, September 29, 2024

Quartermaine Estate: Gate House

Willow hesitantly knocked on the open door of the small office Michael kept on the first floor. “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”

“No. No.” Michael closed the top on his laptop. “I’m sorry. I lost track of time. We were supposed to go to the main house for lunch or something, weren’t we?”

“That’s why I came to get you. The kids are ready—” Willow paused. “You should tell Jason that Danny needs to be more careful if he’s going to sneak onto the estate to see Scout.”

Michael stopped, frozen still, half bent over his desk. He straightened, met her eyes. “What?”

“Yesterday. Drew wanted me to pick Scout up from Trina — and Danny was there. I’m not going to  say anything,” Willow added, folding her arms when Michael winced. “I’m not going to apologize for telling Drew about Rocco and Danny doing drugs and drinking with Scout in the next room, but I also don’t think keeping Scout from her brother is the right decision either. I’d tell Drew that if I thought he’d listen.”

Michael let out a careful, measured breath. “I keep hoping Drew will go back to normal after the election, but he’s obsessed with optics right now. I didn’t know Danny was here yesterday.”

“I got the feeling that Cameron organized it.” Willow smiled faintly. “That doesn’t surprise me, actually. The year I had Aiden in my class, he constantly talked about his big brother.”

“He’s always been a good kid.” Michael tipped his head to the side. “You’re not telling Drew Danny was sneaking around?”

“No. No one is getting hurt. I’m sorry if you’re still angry with me about that—” Willow paused as Michael came towards her, then walked past her to leave the room. “Michael—”

“I don’t know what you want from me,” her husband said, turning back to face her. “I trusted you, and it was a mistake. If you think I knew Danny was here and wasn’t telling you, well, I didn’t. But I wouldn’t have told you.”

“Michael—”

“Jason raised me every much as my mother or Sonny,” Michael added. “Maybe more. His kids are my family. I haven’t always been able to be there for them or Jason, but he came to me for help, and I couldn’t do it. Look what happened, Willow. Scout was ripped from her home, Dante and Rocco moved out, and Sam lost both her kids—”

“I think assaulting Elizabeth probably had something to do with it—”

“Because Scout and Danny were already gone. Danny — that’s different. But Scout?” Michael shook his head. “That’s on you. Because we both knew what Drew was going to do. So, thanks for not snitching on Danny yesterday. It was literally the least you could do. What more do you want from me?”

Webber House: Living Room

Elizabeth picked up a pillow from the ground, and frowned when she saw Cameron exiting the kitchen with a bowl of cereal in his hand. “Are you sure you want to eat before we leave for the airport?”

Cameron hesitated,  stopping just before he reached the stairs, and behind him, Jake nearly crashed into his back. “Hey, what the—”

“About the airport.”

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes, dropped the pillow to the sofa. “What about the airport?” she said in a tone that could have frozen a tropical rain forest.

“I’m not going.”

Jake slowly stepped back, deciding the best place for him was out of his mother’s sight. He knew that look. He knew that the sound in her voice.

“Yes, you are.” Elizabeth lifted her chin. “Go upstairs and get your things.”

“I’m not going,” Cameron repeated. He set the cereal bowl on the shelf by the stairs. “I’m not twelve, Mom. You can’t make me.”

“Cameron Steven Webber.”

“Elizabeth Imogene Webber.”

Before Jake could appropriately process that his brother had just used his mother’s full name in response to his full name, the door behind them opened, and Jason came in, followed by Danny and Aiden.

“Hey, sorry, we’re late,” Jason began, then stopped when he sensed the tension in the room and stand off between Cameron and Elizabeth. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing. We’re leaving for the airport in fifteen minutes, Cameron.”

“It’ll be a wasted trip,” Cameron replied pleasantly. “I cancelled my return ticket.”

“Oh, damn,” Aiden breathed, his eyes wide.

“Go upstairs,” Jason told the younger boys who’d come in with grocery bags. “Just leave them there—”

“But—” Danny began, but Aiden just shook his head. He set his two bags on the ground, and, with his head bowed, hurried across the room. Danny reluctantly followed suit, and their footsteps thudded up to the second floor.

“I already emailed my professors,” Cameron continued, “and they know I’m missing classes. It’s fine. I’m only missing one lab and my grade can handle that—”

“We’ll get another ticket at the counter.”

“Mom, it’s not happening. I’m staying—”

“Cameron, we had an agreement,” Jason said, his tone quiet but firm. “Every other weekend—”

“That was before I found out about Tuesday.” Cameron folded his arms, watched Jason’s expression tense, and his mother’s mouth twitched but she didn’t look away.

“What’s Tuesday?” Jake asked, brow furrowed.  “Your hearing, right? The motion to dismiss. The one Diane said—” He went still. “The one Diane said weeks ago she’d be able to win. Is—is that not happening—”

“It doesn’t matter,” Elizabet interrupted. “I asked you for one thing, Cameron. To stay at school and finish out the year—”

“Yeah, and I was willing to do that when I thought we were all being honest with each other. We’re not.” Cameron looked at Jake. “I was at the Quartermaines yesterday. Joss said the FBI was at the crime scene again. And Mom and Jason were talking about Tuesday like it was the end of the goddamn world yesterday morning. The FBI found something, didn’t they?”

Elizabeth closed her eyes, pressed both hands to her face. “Cameron.”

“That’s a yes. You don’t have to tell me what. I don’t actually care. It’s bullshit since you’re not guilty. But the feds don’t give a shit about that. Are they going after your bail?”

“What? They can’t do that,” Jake said before Jason or Elizabeth could. “She’s doing everything they asked—”

“If they think she’s going to run—they can petition to revoke. Which means Mom goes back to jail for months. Until the trial.”

“Cameron—” Elizabeth pressed her lips together. “I don’t think that’s going to happen, but I’ve been making plans in case this goes badly, I promise. I told you—you and Jake — your futures stay on track. Stanford graduation in May, Spain—” she looked at Jake. “None of that goes away.”

“Except you’re in jail and I’m three thousand miles away from my brother. And don’t tell me Jason’s here to take care of things,” Cameron added before Elizabeth could say anything. “I like you, and I’m glad you’re here now, but you’ve been here before,” he told Jason. “Jake and Danny didn’t stop you from faking your death and splitting for two years. I’m not trusting you with my brothers’ futures.”

“Cameron,” Elizabeth said sharply, and he looked back at her, his eyes sober and serious.

“I love you, Mom. You know that. But I’m not a kid anymore. You want to give Jason guardianship of Aiden, that’s fine. But you’re putting me as the back up.”

“No, I’m not—”

“You are. Because if Jason doesn’t stick around, Aiden ends up with Grandma Laura who thought trying to free the sick psycho who tried to kill Trina was a great idea. Or with his worthless father. That’s not happening. You want me to go back to Stanford? Fine. Put me as Aiden’s second choice for guardian and I’ll go back after your hearing on Tuesday.”

Penthouse: Living Room

Sam paced the length of the penthouse, rubbing her arms. “I don’t know what to do, Mom. Dante said Rocco wants to move back in—” She looked back at her mother, sitting at the dining table with Sam’s custody paperwork sprawled across the surface. “And I want him back home. But I don’t know if that’s the right choice with Rocco’s history.”

“Or the fact that Rocco expressed a distinct and intense dislike for you.”

“Don’t remind me.” Sam stopped at the doors to the balcony, watching the rain fall outside. “Dante thinks it’s guilt about Lulu. And how I handled Jason’s return.” She made a face. “You probably agree with Rocco about the way I treated Danny.”

“My opinion on that isn’t relevant,” Alexis said. “But I think any change in your living status has to be weighed appropriately. The judge was concerned about the tension between Danny and Rocco. Has that changed since then?”

“I don’t know. Neither of them have been in school, remember? Danny’s supposed to go back tomorrow.” Sam picked at the cuticle of her thumbnail. “And Rocco’s suspended another week. I don’t think they’ve even spoken to each other.”

“And Scout’s removal was predicated upon Rocco and Danny’s substance abuse. Danny’s taking steps to mediate that with counseling. What about Rocco?”

Sam made a face. “I don’t know. I didn’t ask.”

“You—” Alexis stopped, then slid her reading glasses back on, turning her attention back to the paperwork. “I don’t know what advice to give—”

“Say what you were going to say.”

“What?”

“Don’t play stupid with me, Mom. What were you going to say about Rocco?”

Alexis sighed, looked at her daughter with weary eyes. “I wasn’t. I was going to say it about you. This is a child who has lived in your home for nearly two years. You were in a stepmother role to him. He’s suffered a similar to loss of a parent that your son did. And you know that he’s been acting out, lashing out just like Danny. And your only concern for Rocco is how it affects you.”

Sam huffed. “Oh, okay. So it’s another round about what a selfish bitch I am. That’s great.”

Alexis removed her reading glasses and slid them back in her case, then began to gather her paperwork. “Well, if the shoe fits, you ought to get used to it. Because it’s the truth.”

“Excuse me?”

Her mother got to her feet. “You’re being a selfish bitch,” Alexis said. “Stop it. Or you’re going to end up staying the way you are now. Alone and miserable.”

Webber House: Living Room

With Cameron’s ultimatum still lingering in his ears, Jason stepped forward, a hand held up as if it would stop mother and son from continuing to rip into each other. “I don’t think this is solving anything—”

“There’s nothing to solve. Cameron’s going back to California tonight. If he wants to have a conversation about his brother’s future, he can do that. Next weekend,” Elizabeth added when Cameron scowled. “Because you might want to think you’re grown, having this conversation with me right now but waiting until the last minute because you’re going to force it to be your way isn’t exactly convincing me you’d be the right person to look after your brother. If it became necessary, which it won’t. Go upstairs and get your things. Now.”

“I’m not going, Mom. There’s no conversation that’s going to change my mind.”

Elizabeth opened her mouth to retort, and Jason put a hand on her forearm. “Let’s just take a few minutes to talk, okay?” he asked. He looked at Cameron and Jake. “Put away the groceries. We’ll back.”

He pulled open the front door, and Elizabeth stalked past him, going down to the curb and yanking open the SUV door. Jason hesitantly followed, climbing into the driver’s side.

“I’m not having this argument in public. You have no right to get in between me and Cameron—”

“Normally, no, and you know I wouldn’t,” Jason interrupted her. “But his problem is with me, and you can’t ignore that.”

“Oh, so I’m a bad mother, now?”

“No one’s —” Jason flexed his fingers on the steering wheel. “Don’t do that. Don’t jump six feet ahead to something no one said.  Nothing Cameron said was wrong, and you know it. There’s a very real chance they’re going to try to put you back in jail after the hearing.”

Elizabeth looked away, but he could see her lip trembling in the reflection of the window. “He’s going to screw up his whole future—”

“He won’t. He’s worried that he can’t count on me to take care of Aiden. And he’s right to worry.”

“What?” Elizabeth’s head whipped back. “How can you say that—”

“Because for his entire life, Cameron’s been listening and watching me make promises to him and to you that I haven’t kept,” Jason said quietly.

Elizabeth pressed her lips together, then stared straight ahead, out the windshield. But she remained silent.

“And he’s right. I threw away years with Jake. Not just the last two. But all the ones I lost believing he was better, safer away from me,” Jason continued. “Cameron doesn’t have a problem with me, but he doesn’t trust me. I don’t get to run from the mistakes I made. I have to deal with them. You’ve forgiven me, but we both know you shouldn’t have.”

Elizabeth shook her head, flicked at an errant tear. “You don’t get to tell me what I should do. You know better.” She leaned her head back against the seat rest. “I can’t let him give up his future to take care of his brothers. It’s not his job. Or his responsibility.”

“He won’t have to. You heard him. He’ll stay for your hearing on Tuesday, and you’ll make him a backup guardian for Aiden. He’ll go back if you do that, Elizabeth. It’s up to me to make sure he doesn’t need to worry about it. Unless you don’t trust me to stay either.”

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