Written in 64 minutes.
Sunday, September 29, 2024
Webber House: Street
Unless you don’t trust me to stay either.
Elizabeth turned her head to look at him, found his eyes on hers. “You know it isn’t that simple.”
“I think maybe it is,” Jason replied. “Otherwise, why not give Cameron the paperwork he wants, and send him back to school? Yeah, he’ll miss a few classes staying through to Tuesday, but he’s not threatening to drop out.”
“Not yet.” Elizabeth scrubbed her hands down her face, then exhaled. “Cameron…has had to pick up the slack for my poor choices his entire life,” she said slowly. “You and I both know that I haven’t had the best judgment in men,” she added, and didn’t look at him for his reaction. He probably wouldn’t say it out loud, but he’d be thinking it. “For years, Lucky raised him like his own son, and then one day —” She flicked her wrist. “He went to Ireland, and the only son he showed even a little interest in was Aiden. And that’s suggesting Lucky has any real interest in Aiden at all. Cameron was old enough to remember that. He’s old enough to remember the way people talked about my affair with Nikolas. When you were coming around that last summer…”
Elizabeth looked at him. “And Drew — when he was Jake Doe, before he had any memories of his own, he was planning to adopt Cameron and Jake. But he found out I’d lied, and he only cared about Jake after that. I’ve had men in and out of his life promising they’d stay, and they never do. Not a parade, it’s not like I brought home every man I dated, but it was enough to teach my little boy that he couldn’t rely on the choices I made to look after his brothers. This isn’t about you, Jason. Not entirely. It’s about me and my mistakes.”
“Then let me call Diane, and have her write up something to add Cameron to Aiden’s guardianship paperwork. We’re not going to need it,” Jason added. “You’re not going to jail—”
“You don’t know that—”
“I do know that,” he corrected, and she grimaced, looked out the window again. “You’re not going to jail,” he said again, “and I’m not going anywhere. Right now, Cameron doesn’t trust either of those statements. Let’s give him peace of mind, Elizabeth. So he can go back to the life you want him to live.”
Webber House: Kitchen
Jake watched his brother dump out the now soggy ruined cereal. “Are you trying to make things worse for Mom? Dad’s not going to walk out on Aiden if he’s promising to stay—”
“That’s not what you were saying when I was here in August.” Cameron turned, lifted his brows at his brother. “Back then, it was all, ‘Why spend time with him, he’ll just leave again.’ What happened to that?”
“What happened to being okay with my dad being around?” Jake retorted. “You’re the one that told me and Aiden they were back together. You liked the idea—”
“Sure. I like the idea. But that was two weeks ago when these charges seemed like something stupid that would go away. It’s all so stupid I was sure that everyone would figure it out, and this would be over. That Mom would be here if and when Jason took off again to save some other idiot who gets himself in trouble. But you didn’t hear the way they were talking yesterday. They’re worried, Jake. Mom’s in real danger—”
“Then we deal with that,” Jake interrupted. “You’re not the only adult in the room, Cam, not anymore. I’m eighteen in May. Mom’s trial is months away—”
“You’re going to Spain. Mom’s right. You’re applying for this program, and you’re going. You’re not going to get stuck here—”
“Why, so you can be the damn martyr? Maybe I’ll take Aiden with me, okay? We’ll both go to Spain.”
Cameron’s smile was faint. “No, because I’ll be home in June, Jake. I got into the medical school here at PCU. Early decision. It was a lock anyway with the Hardy/Webber connection, but I’ll be here to take care of things. It’s your turn to go out in the world, Jake.”
Jake huffed. “Well, congratulations, asshole. But that doesn’t fix this problem—”
“We don’t have a problem. Mom has my terms. I’ll go back after the hearing if they make me Aiden’s guardian.” Cameron folded his arms. “And now Jason knows exactly how I feel. Mission accomplished.”
Webber House: Aiden’s Bedroom
Danny scowled, lifted his ear away from the vent. “I can’t hear shit—”
“No, mostly because Mom and Jason left,” Aiden said. “I told you, Jake and Cam know better than to argue in the kitchen. Who do you think showed me that you can hear the living room this way?”
Danny sat at the desk chair. “Why do you think Cameron isn’t going back?”
“I don’t know.” Aiden slid back on his bed, folded his legs, and picked at a loose thread in the comforter. “It’s probably hard to be that far away with things happening here. I wanted to go to Mom’s hearing on Tuesday, and she’s like, no, I have to go to school, like I’ll be able to concentrate anyway.”
“She wants everything to be normal, I think. That’s not a bad thing.”
Aiden scoffed. “None of this is normal, Danny. My mom’s charged with murdering a guy she didn’t even really know. She wears an ankle bracelet and can’t even leave the city. Your dad’s been appointed to be, like, her baby sitter. They put her in jail, Danny. Okay?”
“At least you got to stay in your house,” Danny retorted. “My mom went to jail, and Dad dumped me and Scout with Grandma Monica. But everyone’s arguing about how to make sure you get to keep your life exactly the same.”
Aiden opened his mouth to snap back, then closed it. Because Danny had a point. “Okay. Yeah. But you were, like ten, when that happened. I don’t know why your dad did what he did—”
“He was still working for Sonny,” Danny interjected. “He doesn’t now. But it still sucked. It’s like, he couldn’t figure out which part of his life was important. It should have been me. And then, he, like died a year later, except he was never dead. What’s going on with your mom is awful and I hate it, but it could be worse, you know. And my dad’s not going to let her go to jail. He wouldn’t let Carly go either, remember? That’s how this whole dumb thing started. That’s what my mom said. He faked his death to keep Carly out of jail.”
Aiden furrowed his brow. “So…what, your dad’s gonna do something to keep my mom home? Like what? He can’t fake his death again.”
“No, but everyone’s like — they want your mom to flip on my dad, right? The Feds don’t know our parents are, like, innocent or whatever. There’s nothing to know. They just want my dad. So maybe my dad is gonna…” Danny made a hand gesture. “Take your mom out of it.”
“Oh.” Aiden weighed that realization. “Oh, well, that’s dumb if they’re both innocent.”
“Adults are stupid, what else is new.”
Kristina’s Apartment: Living Room
At the knock on her door, Kristina slapped the top of her laptop closed, and jolted to her feet, her heart pounding. She wasn’t expecting anyone—
“Mom.” She pressed a hand to her heart, stepped back to let her mother through the door. “You scared me.”
Alexis frowned as she passed her, set her case down on the chair. “I knocked.”
“Yeah, but—never mind.” There was really no way to explain the edge Kristina was living on. She knew that security footage was being subpoenaed from her apartment building that would make her alibi non-existent, that they were expecting more footage and data from Elizabeth’s neighborhood — she was almost sure she wasn’t on any of the cameras, but almost wasn’t absolutely.
At least it was Spinelli and Diane looking into the footage. They’d most likely discard her as a suspect, but that didn’t mean Kristina wasn’t trying to do research on her own. Could they find out when a trunk was opened on a car? Damn it, she should have used the key, and not the remote. And she should have found another way of planting the gun on Elizabeth, it was just — when she’d seen the keys that morning, it had felt like an opportunity falling from the sky.
But now Kristina realized it had been an impulsive move, and she didn’t know to clear the path that might lead right to her door.
“What brings you by?” she asked, pasting a cheerful smile on her face, and looking at her mother. “I thought you’d had enough of me after all the time we used to prep my case.”
“Well, I was on my way home from Sam’s and thought I’d pop in.” Alexis tipped her head. “You said you were looking for ways to keep yourself busy, and your sister could really use you this week. She has a parent session with Danny’s doctor.”
“Oh?” Kristina folded her arms. “What does that mean?”
“Well, it should mean that Jason and Sam attend a session with the doctor to talk about the progress and any concerns the doctor has — without revealing specifics. But—” Alexis pressed her lips together. “It has to be separate sessions since Sam isn’t supposed to be anywhere near Elizabeth right now.”
“What does Elizabeth have to do with any of this?” Kristina demanded. “She’s not Danny’s family—”
“She’s Jason’s partner,” Alexis corrected. “Danny is living in her home. She’s his stepmother in all but name. I think Dante’s planning to go with Sam.”
“Oh.” Kristina pursed her lips. “I guess that makes sense. But I really think Jason should be leaving Elizabeth out of this. He knows how Sam feels about her. Isn’t involving her just going to aggravate Sam more?”
“It probably will, but your sister is going to have to learn how to share. Take it from me —” Alexis lifted a brow. “I worked very hard to keep Sonny out of your life, and he worked just as hard to stay in it. Who won that argument?”
“Mom—”
“I had my reasons, and I still believe in them. Mostly,” Alexis added. “But I never worried about the women Sonny brought home. You never saw Carly or Connie or Nina as mother figures, did you?”
“No,” Kristina said. “But that’s different. They knew they weren’t my mothers. Elizabeth is taking advantage of the situation.”
“Even if that were true, Sam is playing right in her hand by making the situation more difficult. Kristina—” Alexis put up a hand. “I’m not here to debate who gets to be involved in Danny’s therapy. I just thought you might want to check in on Sam a little more this week. I have no idea what the doctor is going to say, but your sister is very sensitive right now. She needs someone more sympathetic to lean on. And that’s not me right now.”
“It’s so insane that we’re even considering Elizabeth as a maternal figure in Danny’s life. She’s been accused of murder!”
“Falsely,” Alexis said. “Even so, it doesn’t concern the court. Her charges aren’t about endangering children—”
“The kids were like a hundred feet away!” Kristina retorted. “You could hear them!” When her mother frowned, she added, “I’ve been to the boat house, Mom. I know how close it is to the house.”
“Either way, it does not matter. She’s innocent,” Alexis added. “I made it clear to Sam I was never going to use that as a reason to keep Elizabeth out of Danny’s life.” She picked up her bag. “Just check in on your sister, please? I need to go. I’m meeting Diane for an early dinner.”
Kristina followed her to the door. “How can you talk to Diane after she took Danny away from Sam?”
“Because Diane is my friend,” Alexis said, almost impatiently. “We’re in the same practice, and we both have Danny’s best interests at heart. She’s got her hands full with this ridiculous murder case, and I’m going to spending as much time as I can helping her prepare for this motion to dismiss on Tuesday.”
Kristina opened the door. “Why? Is she worried she won’t win? I thought everyone said the case was flimsy.”
“Flimsy doesn’t mean what it should. And there’s always the chance the feds will try to revoke bail. They threatened you a few times, remember? So Diane wants an extra eye on the briefs. Kristina—” Alexis looked at her daughter. “I want you to be there for your sister, but don’t play into her worries about Elizabeth—even if you personally believe them,” she added when Kristina opened her mouth. “Because those worries aren’t admissible in a court of law. The judge didn’t care about them last week, and that’s not going to change. It does no good to dwell on them. Elizabeth is in Danny’s life, and we’re all going to have to accept it.”
Kristina spent a long moment staring at the closed door after her mother’s left, considering Alexis’s final words. Elizabeth is in Danny’s life, and we’re all going to have to accept it.
She sat down at her sofa, and flipped her laptop open. “Not if I have anything to say about it,” she muttered.
Webber House: Kitchen
Elizabeth walked into the house, straight past the kitchen, and went up the stairs. When they heard a door slam above them, Cameron winced slightly, then looked at Jason who came into the kitchen. “If you’re looking for an apology—”
“For what?” Jason wanted to know. “Are you sorry for anything you said? Do you take any of it back—”
“No, and I wasn’t going to apologize anyway—”
“I didn’t ask for one. And neither will your mother.” Jason waited a moment. “I’m not going to pretend that I understand or know everything about you and your brothers after being around for a few months. I made bad choices, and I made them over and over again for years. I knew they were the wrong choices, and I still made them. I didn’t know or see that I had other options.”
“And you do now, and now you and Mom will live happily ever after,” Cameron retorted. “Right?”
“Cam—” Jake said with a roll of his eyes, but his father held up his hand.
“I want that to be true, but you don’t have to believe me. I don’t expect it. Either of you,” he added, looking at his son. “It wasn’t that long ago that you were angry at me for what I did. And I know there’s still a part of you that still is.”
Jake said nothing, dropped his eyes. Jason looked back to Cameron.
“I can’t make anyone believe me when I tell you I’m not going anywhere. I’ve earned your lack of trust. The only way to undo that is just to keep my promise and accept you might not ever stop waiting for me to leave.”
Cameron swallowed hard, and now he had to look away for a moment. “It’s not that I want you to go,” he muttered.
“I know. But you don’t trust me, and your mother has asked me to look after your brother. A man you don’t trust. So I’m going to call Diane, and we’re going to put your name on the guardianship contract.”
“You—” Cameron’s eyes widened slightly. “You’re really going to do that? I mean, I figured Mom would never—”
“She wants you back at Stanford, finishing your degree. She told you both weeks ago that this—this isn’t going to stop either of you from being the people you’re supposed to be. Because that would mean who ever is doing this to your mother wins. And none of us want that.” Jason folded his arms. “If you’d come home and you’d had this conversation with her — if you’d told us you overheard us talking about the hearing, we would have talked to you. She might have even accepted you staying for the hearing. But you didn’t want to do it that way. You wanted to force her hand. To take away her choice. And for that, you do owe your mother an apology. She raised you better than that.”
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