Try to Remember-Chapter 6

 

"I could really use a cigarette right now," Carly complained as she continued pacing the room and rubbing her swollen stomach.

"Well, you can’t have one," Jason informed her.

She looked over at him and rolled her eyes, "I know that. I’m not stupid you know."

He raised an eyebrow and regarded her for a moment before responding. "You could’ve fooled me. So, are we going to get this test done or not?" he demanded as he stood from the couch. "I don’t have all day, you know."

"Okay, all right, hold your horses," she said as she snatched her coat down from the coat rack near the door. She sighed and covered her face. "I’m so scared. I hope this doesn’t hurt the baby."

"It won’t. The doctor has already told you the risks, and they are low for the baby to be hurt. You got everything you need?" he asked as he pulled on his leather jacket.

"Yeah," she said holding up the small zip locked bag with a sample of Tony’s hair in it. "Just think, after today, I will really know whose baby this really is. How do I manage to get myself into these things," she said with a laugh.

Jason shook his head as he opened the door and motioned for her to precede him out. "I don’t know, but do it better than anyone else ever could."

"Aww, you charmer," she said as he closed the door.

*****

Port Charles, she mused, it looks like a nice enough place. She looked around at the park that surrounded her. It was pretty cold, to be honest. She couldn’t believe that Marcus wanted to come out here so they could get a cup of hot chocolate and walk around. She could see that they weren’t the only ones out there. This place must definitely have good hot chocolate considering the amount of people she saw walking around with cups.

"Here you are, little sis," he said handing her a cup of the steaming liquid.

She took it from him gratefully and took a sip. "This really is good. Thank you, Marcus," she said as he sat down near her on the bench. "This seems like a lovely place," she commented.

"Yeah, Port Charles is a nice place to live. For the most part, it is safe, but we do have our bad element," he told her.

She smiled and nodded. "And, it’s your job to get rid of that bad element, right."

"Yeah, we’ve had some successes, and I hope we will have many more. But, enough about that, I want to hear about you. What have you been doing for the past few months? Living the exciting life?"

She laughed and shrugged. "You could say that. I must say that I’ve been living in a place a lot warmer than this. I’ve been in Puerto Rico," she told him.

"Wow, I must say that is a lot different than the weather here," he said laughing. "You’ve always wanted to live there. Are you going to make it permanent?"

Shrugging, she answered, "I don’t know yet. I want to hold out for other prospects and offers."

"That’s my baby sis, always holding out until something better comes along. But, you do deserve it. If anyone deserves it, it’s you."

"What about you Marcus? You deserve it, too. And Mama and Gia. Speaking of which, as Mama figured out what she’s going to do with that girl?"

He laughed. "No, those two are still like oil and water; they just don’t mix. I think it’s because they are just too much alike, and they don’t see it. I thought I would invite them out here for Thanksgiving this year. I hope to count you in that as well."

"Of course I’ll be there, Marcus. Who knows, maybe I’ll be here until then. I do want to go to Brooklyn and visit them though. It’s been a while since I’ve seen them. Perhaps you’ll come with?"

"Sure," he said with a smile that did not quite reach his eyes. The last thing that he really wanted to do was go there, but if she wanted him to go, then he would.

She sighed. "I’m sorry, Marcus," she said placing a hand on his arm. "I really didn’t think. I guess you don’t really want to go back to Brooklyn, huh? That’s fine, I can go it by myself."

He shook his head. "I’m sorry, everything was, maybe not fine, but at least getting better. But, I ran into someone that brought back all those memories of Brooklyn and the past."

"Really, who would you have known here in Port Charles that would have brought back memories of home?" she asked very curious.

"You probably wouldn’t know him, but his name is Sonny Corinthos," he answered her.

Almost choking on her hot chocolate, she quickly recovered from her shock. "Sonny Corinthos," she repeated.

"Yeah. Ever heard of him?"

She nodded. "Yeah, actually, I went to one of his casinos down in Puerto Rico. It is kind of hard to be there and not know him. He’s not a nice man, I gather," she said. This was better than she thought it would be. Marcus might be able to give her all the insight on the man she had been living with that she needed.

"That is an understatement. He is a part of the bad element I’ve been trying to fight here."

"But, he’s not here anymore," she pointed out.

"Yeah, he’s not, but his little minion is, Jason Morgan. Hey, enough about that," he said laughing and waving all of that away. "The last thing I want to do is talk shop with my little sister who I haven’t seen in a long time."

"Detective Taggert," Keesha said in way of greeting as she came upon them on the bench. "I see I’m not the only one crazy enough to be out here in this kind of weather."

He laughed and agreed, "No, you’re not. I would like for you to meet my sister, Cassandra Campbell," he said introducing her.

Keesha smiled and shook the other young woman’s hand. "It’s nice to meet you. Are you visiting Port Charles for a while?"

She shrugged. "I don’t know yet. From what Marcus has told me so far, it is a very interesting place. How do you know my brother," she said fishing around.

Seeing where she was headed, both Keesha and Marcus laughed. "I make it my business to know all the beautiful women in town."

"Thank you, that is quite a compliment." Her eyes searched around the park.

"Looking for somebody?" he asked.

"No, not really, I was just kind of hoping I would run into somebody here, that’s all. I’ll leave you two alone. It was really nice to meet you, Cassandra," she said before walking off.

"She seems nice," Cassandra noted and looked pointedly in his direction. "Maybe you could be that someone she’s looking for."

"Hey, look who’s talking. Why don’t you try and set yourself up instead me."

"Who says that I need setting up?" she asked coyly. "I do just fine in that department by myself."

He held his hand up and laughed, "I think that you’re about to give me too much information about things I don’t like to think of my baby sister doing."

She shrugged, "Well, then I will just keep details to myself. Speaking of which, is there anyone special you would like to tell me about?"

"You never change, do you," he said laughing and shaking his head at his sister. He had to admit it was wonderful having her back.

*****

"Fancy seeing you here," she heard behind her and almost jumped until she realized who it was.

Turning around, she said, "You almost gave me a heart attack. Don’t sneak up on me like that,"

"Well, hello to you, too luv," he said smiling at her less than friendly greeting. Her manner was going to be some getting used to. She was certainly unlike any of the other women he dated in the past that almost fawned themselves over him. "I wasn’t expecting to see you out here in this cold."

"I could say the same for you, as well. I just wanted to walk around a bit. Get out of the hospital for my lunch break," she shrugged. "A walk always does me some good."

"I suppose," he mused. "I’m here to meet with Robin."

"Really," she said. "I can guess what that meeting would be about. Doesn’t she realize that you are no longer Brenda’s keeper? I mean, why does she have to come to you with this stuff?" she asked almost pouting as she crossed her arms.

If he didn’t think that she would get very angry, he would have laughed. The jealousy pouring off of her was amazing. "Keesha," he said placing a hand gently under her chin and turning her head so that she could look at him, "don’t worry. I will make sure that Robin knows that she cannot continually keep coming to me about Brenda’s problems. I will continue to care about her and be her friend, but she is not the top priority in my life anymore."

She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch. "Jealousy, I am afraid, does not become me," she said softly. "I’m sorry. It seems that I just cannot get past this thing with Brenda. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. It’s not like I have the monopoly on your affections or anything."

So, he thought, that was the problem. She was insecure. All the while she was saying that she didn’t want or wasn’t ready for a serious relationship, she was lying to herself and to him. "I’m going away on a little trip. There are some things I need to tie up with a deal, and I need to go back to Australia for a couple of days. I would be delighted if you were to join me," he informed her taking one of her hands in his. He didn’t care who saw them at this point.

He was asking her to go away with him. She wasn’t sure if she were ready for that kind of a thing yet. She mentally shook her head; there she was again being sensible Keesha. It wasn’t like she hadn’t already slept with the man. "I can’t just take off from work like that, Jax," she began her case against going.

"You are going to have to give me a better excuse than that, dear. You can get off work, and you can come with me. Just agree to it; it will make things a lot easier. I want you to come with me. You can meet my family."

"Meet your family?" she asked wide-eyed.

"Yes, they are a nice people, just like me," he said smiling.

"Jax, don’t you think that we’re moving things a little too fast," she began.

He laughed, "I’m only asking you to come on a trip with me and stop in on my family while we’re there. How fast things move, are totally up to you. I am game for anything."

Was she hearing him right? Everything was totally up to her. "So, if I were to say let’s get married right now, you would?"

"That is what I said, although I do not think that you would say anything like that."

"I don’t know," she said smiling, "You might be surprised." She looked away and down the path and saw Robin coming. "It looks as though your appointment has arrived," she said beginning to draw her hand away from his.

He held onto her hand, however, and brought it up to his lips for a kiss. He had to know that Robin would see the gesture and question him about it, but it really didn’t matter. "Will you come for dinner? I want to repay you." She nodded her head. "I will expect you around eight."

"Hi, Keesha, Jax," Robin greeted them. She was looking between them. She wondered what was going on between them.

"Hello, Robin," Keesha finally managed as she tore her eyes away from Jax. "Um, I have to go. I’ll see you later," she said as she left.

"Okay," Robin started as she turned her attention away from the retreating Keesha to Jax. "Did I just miss something?"

"That depends," he said as he led her to a bench to sit down. "What did you want to talk with me about?" he asked getting right to the point.

Realizing that she wasn’t going to get an answer to her question, she sighed and launched into her story about Brenda. "I’m worried about Brenda. She says that the therapy is going well, and I can see some improvements, but she is still hung up on you."

"I know that, but there is not much I can do about that. I am trying my best to be a good friend to her, and just a friend. I know that I cannot just cut myself completely out of her life, but I don’t know how to help her deal with this."

"She wants to spend more time with you. You are a very important part of her life right now. She needs stability," she informed him.

"But, I cannot do that. It’s not fair to either one of us for me to spend more time with her. I will not get her hopes up for a reunion with us. I just don’t see that happening."

"Really," Robin said nodding her head. "Is that what that was about with Keesha? Is she the reason you’re not spending more time with Brenda?"

"If she is, what does it matter? Brenda and I are no longer together. She made that decision a long time ago, and I have learned to live with it. Yes, Robin, I have moved on."

"With Keesha," she finished. "I have to say, I didn’t see that one coming."

"Well, it did, and we are together. I don’t want to surprise Brenda with this, neither of us do. For Brenda’s sake, we are keeping our relationship private. I would like for you to respect that."

She put her hand up and shook her head. "You don’t have to worry about me telling her anything. I don’t want to be the one that destroys her hopes."

Jax suppressed a sigh. Robin was not going to make this easy. "Thank you, Robin."

"Well," she said standing up and checking her watch. "I have to meet with Mac, so I guess I’ll see you later."

He nodded. "Robin, whether you understand it or not, this is for the best. Brenda needs to and deserves to be able to move on with her life."

She nodded, "I agree, but, will she be able to." She shook her head one last time and walked away.

 

 

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