November 2010

 Morgan Home: Living Room

 Jason wasn’t entirely sure how his wife handled all three children every morning without help. It was the first time since Juliet had been born that he’d been alone with the trio, Elizabeth having left nearly three hours ago for her first shift back at General Hospital. She’d been reluctant to leave her daughter but excited to return to work. Usually, Elizabeth was home with the tribe while he was at the warehouse, dealing with the day to day business of running a coffee business. Today, they had switched places.

Jason was trying to juggle changing Juliet’s wet diaper and keeping an eye on six-year-old Cameron and three-year-old Jake who were playing with dump trucks a few feet away. They were relatively safe but Jake had recently developed a tendency to jump off furniture and try to fly. He’d already had three stitches over his eyebrow after a flight attempt from the coffee table had failed to launch as planned.

“Jake,” he warned, as the toddler started to climb the sofa. “Stay on the floor.”

Juliet giggled and kicked her legs, ruining his attempt to pull her pants back on. The bright red pants slipped back over her chubby legs and she kicked her feet free, elated to be rid of the thick material. She giggled again and waved her arms at her father.

“Yes,” Jason remarked his tone sober but his face amused, “you’re a very talented kid. But you can’t go around without your pants on. It’s not a habit I’d enjoy later in life and your mother would have my head, in any case.”

He ignored the ringing telephone, assuming that it wasn’t anything important. After all, most people called his cell phone if they needed him. It was usually telemarketers that bothered with the land line.

He finally had Juliet dressed and hoisted in his arms. “Hey, Cam, do you think you can keep your brother on solid ground so I can put Juliet down for her nap?”

“I can try,” the child said, heaving a very put-on sigh, “but I make no promises.”

“I’ll be down in just a minute,” Jason replied.

The phone was ringing when he returned downstairs a few minutes later. He knew Juliet was still fussing her crib—she never liked to be away from the action but she’d eventually fall asleep. Concerned that someone might actually be trying to reach a live body, Jason reached over and grabbed the phone. “Yeah?”

“Hey, it’s Robin at the hospital,” Robin Drake greeted him. “Listen, I guess Liz forgot she was supposed to come back today and Epiphany is having a cow here. Can you tell Liz she’d better get here fast before Epiphany fetches her?”

Jason frowned and glanced at the clock. It was almost noon. “Robin…Elizabeth left for work at eight-thirty. Her shift started at nine, right?”

“Yeah…” There was a long silence. “You’re sure she was on her way to the hospital?”

“Yeah. Did you call her cell?” Jason asked. He patted his back pocket for his own phone. It wasn’t there and he remembered that he’d left it in his bedroom when he’d heard Juliet fussing in her crib earlier that morning.

“A few times, but I figured she’d given it to Jules again.” Robin paused again. “She really left?” Her voice was worried now and Jason was sliding into panic himself.

“The house is less than ten minutes from the hospital,” he said. He dragged his hands through his short hair. “If she’d broken down, she could have either come back home or gone to the hospital anyway.”

“Yeah…Jason, do you want me to call my uncle? I can call him and he’ll put an APB out. Maybe Liz broke down and is staying with the car for some reason.”

“No, no don’t call Mac.” Calling the police meant Elizabeth might be in trouble and he just wasn’t prepared for that. There was a simple and logical reason why his reliable wife had never made it to work. “I’ll get someone here to watch the kids and I’ll ride along her usual route. I’m sure she’s just broke down and maybe she’s too tired to walk.”

“I’m sure it’s something like that,” Robin said, but he could tell she didn’t buy it and neither did he. “Keep me posted, okay? And seriously, if you don’t find her, I’ll call my uncle.”

“Okay.” Jason set the phone down and forced himself to breathe calmly. Life was not without its dangers. They had never found the assassin responsible for Michael’s death but the last year or so had been tranquil thanks to the truce between the Morgan and Zacchara factions. Even Johnny’s killing of Sonny hadn’t broken the truce.

No one would have snatched his wife out of thin air, he assured himself. Everyone knew and loved Elizabeth. She was fine, wherever she was, and he was sure there would be a simple explanation for it all.

June 2024

Morgan Home: Front Walk

Nadine Zacchara considered it a day well spent when she didn’t have to converse with her ex-husband. She worked very hard to keep their interactions at a minimum and confined to one word answers—two if it were absolutely necessary.

Today, however, that was not the case. Johnny had called to tell her that her rebellious and out of control daughter had run out on him at dinner and had then hid from him. By the time he’d called people out to look for her, Amalia was long gone and he was sure she’d called someone to pick her up.

Like she usually did, Nadine sighed, remembering that interesting portion of the conversation. Apparently, this was not the first time her daughter had run out and disappeared but it was the first time she was hearing about it. Johnny never did like to admit defeat and admitting that he couldn’t control a mere fourteen year old girl probably drove him crazy.

Nadine knew that if she wanted to find Amalia, she’d need to look no further than the Morgan place. Jake Morgan was a newly licensed driver that her daughter had always managed to wheedle favors out of and there was no where else her daughter would have made a beeline for than her best friend Juliet.

She rang the front bell and arched an eyebrow when Jake pulled the door open. “I think you picked something of mine up off the road today.”

“Uh, yeah,” he admitted sheepishly. He rubbed a hand through his thick blond hair. “She’s upstairs with Jules. I just couldn’t let her wander around by herself.”

“She upstairs with Jules then?” Nadine asked.

“Yeah, yeah,” Jake stepped aside to let her in. “You know where it is.”

Amalia and Juliet were sitting on the bed, scribbling away in notebooks. Pieces of crumpled up paper were strewn around on the cotton candy pick carpet. Amalia looked up at her mother’s entrance and jumped up guiltily. “Mom, how did you know I was here?”

“I had a phone call from your father,” Nadine said. She folded her arms under her chest. “So you can imagine what mood I’m in right now.”

“I can explain,” Amalia began.

“Save it. We’re going home and you’re not going to spend the week with your father. He’s fed up and tired of you running out on him every other day.” Nadine raised her eyebrows. “Which is something else we’re going to discuss when we get home.”

“Mom…” Amalia started towards her and dropped her voice to a hush. “Jules is having a really tough day. Her dad found all her clippings about her mom and is really upset with her. I don’t think she should be alone right now.”

Nadine hesitated, as she always did and for the first time, noticed the little gleam of triumph in her daughter’s dark eyes. Amalia had always resembled her father more than Nadine, but for the first time, Nadine realized that her daughter was a dead ringer for Johnny’s older sister, Claudia. Her blood chilled. “Amalia, I’m going to tell you one more time and then we’re going to seriously talk about that boarding school.”

Amalia huffed. “Come on, Mom, you know Jules needs me more.”

“What Juliet needs has nothing to do with you,” Nadine said. “Get in the car now and maybe you’ll see your cell phone and the light day in a week rather than a month.”

Amalia recognized she could only push her mother so far and rolled her eyes. “Jules, I’ll call you later,” she muttered, scooping up her purse and exiting the room.

Nadine approached the other girl and sat on the edge of the bed. “Li’s not going to be calling you tonight, Jules.”

“I kind of figured,” Juliet replied. She bit her lip. “She’s really upset, Mrs. Zacchara. I think she’s kind of tired of being pulled between you and her dad. It’s why she acts out the way she does. She doesn’t mean to be a pain—” she stopped. “Well, okay, yeah, she does. But she doesn’t feel like she has any other choice.”

“I know,” Nadine admitted. “And I’m working on changing that, but it’s not going to happen this week. I wish I could let her stay here and keep you company, but it’s not an option, okay? If you really need to talk to someone, you can give me a call. You have my cell.” She reached for and embraced the girl that had always felt just a little bit like her own.

“Thanks,” Juliet said with a shy smile. “But I’ll be okay. Lia already cheered me up mostly. Tell her I said bye, would you?”

“Sure thing,” Nadine agreed. She patted Juliet one more time on the shoulder and left.

Drake Home: Mal’s Bedroom

“Man, that sucks large.”

Malcolm Anthony Drake, more affectionately known as Mal, reclined in his computer chair, his cell phone surgically attached to his ear. “Your mom has really flipped out over that music room thing.”

“I know,” Cecily said. “You’d think she never did anything like that when she was my age. Total repression going on there. So I’m not going to be able to sneak out tonight after all. Can we hook up tomorrow maybe? I can get permission to go to the movies and Pauline will invite her boyfriend without my mom knowing. We can split after the movie starts and do whatever we want.”

Mal opened his mouth to agree but found his father standing in the doorway. Patrick Drake did not look happy and his son had a pretty good idea why. “Ah, listen, I’ll call you back about that, okay?”

He flipped his phone shut and tried for a charming smile. He should have known better – Patrick had invented that combination smile and dimple routine before Mal had been a thought in the wind.

“So your final report card showed up,” Patrick said, holding it up in his hand. “Funny how your mom found it in Jeff’s toy box.”

“Hmm,” Mal murmured. “I don’t know how it ended up in there.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve been nominated to read you the riot act because your mom is tired of doing it.” Patrick glanced at the paper again. “So you’re going to be spending some time in summer school.”

The front of Mal’s chair came smashing down. “What?” he demanded. “No I’m not!”

“Well, your mom and I don’t see any other way to get these grades up. You’ve got a lot of C’s, and I can see in English you barely scraped by with a D. You’re never going to get into college with grades like these.”

“College,” Mal rolled his eyes. “That’s forever away.”

“It’s really not.” Patrick set the report card on Mal’s desk. “So, here’s the way it’s going to work. You’re going to take three of these classes again this summer. Your mom already signed you up. She is going to drive you to school, I will pick you up and she’s already asked your teachers to call if you aren’t present for the entire class.”

“Are you kidding me?” Mal whined. “That’s insane. You and Mom are totally paranoid!”

“It’s not paranoia if everyone really is out to get you,” his father said dryly. “Do you want to go away to military school?”

“You’re joking,” Mal narrowed his eyes. “This is just a way to keep me from CeCe, isn’t it? Mom is totally insane with hatred about CeCe’s mom and doesn’t want me anywhere near her—”

“Chill out, Romeo. Forgive your mother and me if we’d rather see you in college than making minimum wage at a gas station. You’d never move out and I would never get my peaceful life back.”

“Your peaceful life,” Mal sneered. “You think that I don’t know what that’s code for? Your life before you knocked Mom up, right? When you were single and didn’t want kids?”

“What are you talking about?” Patrick demanded.

“You think people in this town don’t talk?” Mal shot to his feet. “You think I don’t know that you never wanted kids and you and Mom only slept together because her cousin died? You think I don’t know I was a total accident?”

“Mal—”

“You’re not going to run my life,” his son snarled. “You’re just pissed off because you ended up with three kids and a mortgage when you wanted to be single and you think I’m stupid enough to repeat your mistakes?” He shoved his bewildered father out of his way and charged down the hallway.

Eleven-year-old Anna stuck her head out her bedroom door as Patrick passed by to chase after Mal. “Dad!”

Patrick stopped short. “Not now, Anna,” he started to tell her.

“Dad, I have ballet in twenty minutes,” she said. He stared at her for a moment.

“Okay,” he said slowly. “That’s good.”

Anna sighed. “It’s your turn to drive me. Mom said you would.” She held out her duffle bag. “You can carry my bag to the car. Last time I tried, I tripped down the stairs.”

Patrick took the duffle bag. “Listen, you go wait in the car, I’m going to try to—” He heard the screech of brakes in the driveway. He pushed past his daughter and peered out the window to see his son jumping into a car. Of course, his usual partner in crime—Molly Lansing—was sitting in the driver’s seat. The car peeled down the street and Mal was gone.

He pulled his head back in the window and leaned against the wall for just a minute to regain his balance. There was a sliver of truth in Mal’s words. This had never been the plan for his life. Even after Mal was born and he had married Robin, Patrick had somehow thought she’d be happy with one kid living in an apartment downtown.

But Robin wanted a better school district, so they’d moved near Jason and Elizabeth. And then Robin thought Mal would be lonely as an only child and he had mostly agreed that it was a lonely existence so they’d planned Anna.

Jeff had been every bit the surprise his older brother was and now Patrick was a soccer dad, living in the suburbs with a wife, three kids, a mortgage and two dogs. He liked his life most of the time and he loved his kids more than he’d thought possible, but there were times he missed that peace and quiet a single life could have offered.

“Dad!” Anna stomped her foot. “Ballet!”

“I’m coming,” he said. Maybe he was heading for a mid-life crisis.

Nadine Zacchara’s Home: Driveway

Nadine frowned as she pulled into her driveway. Parked in front of the house was her ex’s convertible. She could count on one hand and skip five fingers how many times Johnny had been in this house since the divorce had been finalized.

“What’s Dad doing here?” Amalia asked suspiciously.

“I don’t know,” Nadine said. She turned off the engine. “Listen, you know your father and I love you.”

“Right,” Amalia scoffed.

“But,” Nadine said, annoyed, “we don’t get along well together in the same room so if you would rather be spared that, I’d appreciate it if you would just go straight to your room. We’ll discuss your punishment later.”

“Fun,” Amalia sighed. She followed her mother into the house where Johnny was standing in the living room, pacing restlessly.

“It took you long enough to find her,” Johnny snarled. “Amalia, go get in the car. I’ll take you back to my house.”

Nadine folded her arms. “I thought we agreed I’d ground her at my house. Especially since you can’t manage to keep her from pulling these disappearing acts in the first place.”

“Don’t start,” Johnny told Nadine. “I’m not in the mood. Amalia, do as you’re told.”

“Um…” Amalia eyed her mother warily. “I’ll just be in my room. Let me know when you decide what I’m going to be doing.” She disappeared up the stairs and Nadine waited until she heard the door shut.

“You’re losing it, you know?” Nadine said. “She’s not going anywhere and I have half a mind to call Alexis and sue for residential custody. At least she’s not running away from me every five seconds!”

“Oh, yeah, like you haven’t told her that’s okay to make my life miserable every single time she’s there,” Johnny shot back. “This is all your fault and I’m going to ask Diane to sue for residential custody. We’ll see how she acts when she’s away from your influence!”

“You are not going to take my daughter away!” Nadine surprised him by planting her hands on his chest and shoving him a full step. “None of this is my fault! Do you think I wanted to raise her in a broken home with parents w ho despise each other? This is all your fault!”

“I’m not the one who walked out,” Johnny said scathingly. “You walked out on our marriage and now you’re going to blame me for what’s happened because of it? That’s real mature, Nadine. Way to be an adult.”

“I just left a house, you’d walked out months ago,” she accused. “And now you use our daughter like a weapon to punish me with. You can’t stand that I left you, can you? No, it’s got to be Johnny doing the leaving, Johnny making all the decisions!”

“That’s bullshit and you know it. We wouldn’t be in this situation if I had been in control of anything! Who’s the one who swore she was on birth control, huh?”

“Oh, that’s rich,” Nadine laughed harshly. “Blame me for getting pregnant. No one forced you to marry me, you ass. I told you I didn’t need anything from you but you wanted to be a father, you wanted to take responsibility!”

“What choice did I have?” he tossed back. “Damn it, Nadine, you’re not going to put me through this anymore. That kid is more and more of a brat every time I see her!”

“Maybe because every time you see her, you’re pushing her to be someone she’s not! Maybe because you keep bringing home random stepmoms and expecting her to like them for the five seconds they’re around.”

“I’m not doing this with you anymore,” Johnny said. “I am tired of arguing with you because it gets us nowhere. You drew the line ten years ago and I am done trying to cross it.”

“Please!” Nadine threw up her hands. “You never made any effort in our marriage and you blame me because I was tired of being second best? Why don’t you go find another blonde bimbo to make you feel better? Or better yet, I hear Lulu Spencer is back in town. Why don’t you go sleep with her?” Her eyes narrowed. “Or do you only do that when you’re married?”

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