Spencer Home

Emily was unsure of what to do, the last time Jason, Carly and A.J. got into a room together, it hadn't been pretty. Catching Lucky's eye, she motioned for Jason and he nodded, turning to Jason.

"Whatever's going to happen here, this is my home, my children and nephew are sleeping upstairs and so I need your piece Jase," he said calmly holding out his hand to Jason.

Jason slowly removed his glock, tucked firmly behind his back and handed it to Lucky, his eyes never leaving Michael's. After quickly frisking all three, Lucky locked the weapon in a desk drawer in the hallway.

"I want to know what is going on, and I want to know now," Emily said firmly as her eyes flickered from Jason to Carly to Michael and finally to A.J.

Nobody spoke and Emily frowned, things were much worse despite her knowing nothing about the situation. There was no trace of the usual yelling and shoving that went on, the room was so quiet one could actually here a pin drop.

"Michael?" she asked, turning to her nephew, hoping he would shed some light on the situation. His eyes flashed at the mention of his name and his face turned to Emily, giving her a small, hollow smile.

"Ever been lied to your whole life by people you love and trust the most?"

Emily's eyes widened as Carly stepped forward, "Michael, please let's talk about this," she pleaded.

Michael's face pained at his Mother's voice, "sure, why not, let's lay out the entire story for them, I'll start. You see sixteen years ago, before I was even born, my Mother did a lot of hideous things to good people. A.J. was one of those people, he slept with her in one drunken needing-to-get-laid evening and you know what Aunt Em? That night of hot sex made me, but see A.J. nearly got his sobriety ruined by my Mom because he was tired of her lying to him and he said that if I was his, he would take me from her. She panicked and informed Jason,"Michael emphasized angrily, "and he helped her lie to everyone about who my real father was. Flash forward sixteen years and here we are, me finding out and them bumbling around trying to justify their selfish choices."

Michael crossed his arms and turned to look at Jason and Carly, a sour expression on his face, "did I miss anything?"

Emily stood open mouthed, completely shell shocked, there was no way in hell that this could be true could it?

She turned slowly to Jason and only Jason, "is this true?" she whispered, her voice thick with disbelief and fear, her eyes pleading Jason for the reassurance she desperately wanted.

Jason had been unaware of his heavy breathing, leaving his entire mouth and throat dry but still, he managed to nod once to Emily and with that, she began to shake, her face crumpling as one hand came up to cover her mouth. Lucky rushed to her, pulling her into a tight embrace, trying to soothe Emily as she began to weep in his arms.

"I want you to leave, now," Michael said softly to Jason and Carly, "you can't do damage control or talk your way out of this."

"We need to talk Michael," Carly said more forcefully, mustering every strength she could to stop herself from rushing to him to comfort him. The past few days for her could only compare to the days when he was just a small baby, when Tony had kidnapped him and she was going out of her mind. Things were different though, she knew where he was but what made it worse was the very real possibility that Michael would never come home and the way that he looked at her now, would never change.

"No, no, no, no," Michael's voice trailed off as he thumped into a chair, "please, just go." It was more of a weary demand than a request. Without bothering to retrieve his piece, Jason took Carly's arm and left the house, never even registering A.J.'s presence.

A.J. stood rigid, unable to move, let alone stop Jason from leaving. He swayed slightly as Jason brushed past him. He wasn't ready, he was barely able to look at both Jason and Carly, how on earth could he begin to express his feelings? A.J. put up no resistance as they left, there would be time later, when he was ready.

"Wait!" a grief stricken Emily stood, her face red and blotchy from tears and she rushed after them outside. As she stood face to face with Jason, her pain, anger, betrayal coiled into a ball of pure rage and with one decisive slap across his face all the tenderness, happiness and loving moments between them were erased.

"Now you can leave," she said coldly, turning her back on them and stalked back to the house slamming it shut behind her. Lucky greeted her at the door, a somber expression on his face.

"I don't believe this," Lucky said, his voice heavy as he handed Emily a steaming cup of Earl Grey tea as the two settled together on the couch opposite to A.J. Emily glanced around the room, "where's Michael?"

Lucky jerked his head up, "said he was tired, I offered him Ethan's room but he said he'd sleep on the couch in the den."

Emily turned to A.J. who had remained quiet and still the entire encounter with Jason and Carly. He looked weary as he rested his head back on the recliner, his eyes half closed.

"A.J., what happened?"

A.J. sighed, "Michael's version of the story is a more blunt summary but it has all the basic elements of what happened. It started out as a favor to Carly for Jason but then, it turned into Jason becoming Michael's father and when they married, it sealed the truth up nice and tight."

Lucky shifted in his seat and leaned forward, "so how did this come out?"

"A court ordered paternity test, it was in some of my old boxes from years ago, the kids found it by accident and pursued it," A.J. sighed.

Emily frowned, "kids? Who else knows about this?"

"The rest of the family, I'm surprised you can't hear their yelling here, uhh, Justus, one of Mary's friends, the Collins," A.J. threw his hands up slightly, "hell, just about everyone, but that's not really my concern."

"I just, I can't believe this," Emily said, shaking her head, "why would they do this? All the times I defended them and supported them, condemning Grandfather for trying to take Michael from his father with Jason right there in the room! I feel like such a fool," Emily said, clenching her fists in anger.

"Aw baby they fooled everyone, including themselves. You lie about something for so long, you eventually see it as the truth, I mean, after awhile, it never even occurred to them what they were doing," Lucky said.

***********************************

Wyndemere

Jerry sat quietly by her bed, he watched silently as Jewel slept soundly, her body, curled up into a small ball with Norman, the brown bear she'd had since birth, the last gift from her Mother. A purchase made in Paris, at a small boutique. Deanna had seen it and her sparkling blue eyes lit up.

"Jerry! Look at that, isn't it the sweetest thing!" she delighted, clutching it to her chest as Jerry observed it.

"Aren't you a little old to have these things?" he teased as a smile played about his mouth.

Deanna frowned and swatted him with the bear, "it's perfect for the baby, she'll love it."

Jerry's eyebrows arched, "she? Could be a Jerry Jr. in there you know."

"If it's a boy, we're going to be a little more original than Jr., not that I don't already like the name," Deanna teased as she focused her attention back to the bear.

"Well, he'll be too young for a toy bear just yet," Jerry said pulling Deanna close as he place his hand over her round belly.

"I mean later, something that she can have forever, since before she was born."

Jerry relented slightly, "darling, she'll have us and the family."

Deanna became absorbed in the bear as her voice became light, "not forever she won't, I want her to have something from us that she'll have her whole life, that she can pass on to her own children."

"Out of everything precious that we own or will come to own, this bear does it for you?" Jerry dead panned.

Deanna turned and kissed Jerry's nose, and nodded.

"Well then, I guess we'll have to get it, since you're on such a prophetic vibe won't we?" Jerry said as the two headed to the front.

Jerry smiled briefly at the memory, touching Norman's worn ears thoughtfully. Three weeks later the accident occurred and just as Deanna had said, the bear had become Jewel's security blanket, never parting from it. He had watched for days after her birth, a vigil, never leaving her side for fear of another attack until the 5th day when Dade had come and told him the hit had been issued by Jason Morgan, his long time partner. They had suffered a strain in the business partnership, Jerry had felt that perhaps he should pull out of organized crime once the birth of his child had come and Jason had not taken the news well and had hinted that the organization would never allow it.

A week after the tense parting, Jason's wife Carly and their two young sons had been targets of a drive by shooting outside their building. Carly had been pregnant with their third child, and had miscarried after the scare. Jerry had not learned of the attack until several days later, while in Paris. He and Deanna had returned home and given their condolences to Jason and Carly and two days later, decided to take a trip on the new Jacks yacht. The explosion and Deanna's last moments were still fuzzy in Jerry's memory but his rage towards Jason Morgan had not changed one ounce since the day Dade informed him who was responsible for her death.

Instead of retaliating, Jerry had simply taken Deanna back to Australia and buried her at the family plot. For fear of his young daughter's precious life, he had retreated into the outback for several years, raising Jewel on his farm, away from the family and business, teaching her about the wilderness and constantly reminding her of her Mother, as if she had always been there.

Jerry touched the bear's arm lightly before gently pulling the blanket up to cover him. Jewel stirred slightly and pulled Norman closer, a small smile forming across her face as she snuggled deeper under her blankets. Jerry stared at her tenderly before quietly rising and leaving the room.

******************************

Spencer Home

Michael tossed in his bed for several minutes before resigning himself to another night of insomnia. He trudged down the hallway and just before he made his way down the stairs, he heard a whimper from one of the rooms. Michael crept back down the hall and opened the ajar door to Luke's bedroom. He peered across the room, it's only source of light being a night light near the far window. Michael glanced at the crib and his heart sank. Luke was standing, his hands holding himself steady against the railing as his mouth appeared to be sucking on the edge of the railing. His eyes widened at the sight of the stranger and as Michael entered the room, he whimpered again, this time his face crumpling slightly. Michael's eyes darted back behind him and he checked the hall, hopeful that Emily or Lucky had heard the whimpering of their youngest child. They hadn't.

Michael approached Luke cautiously, "hey buddy, are you awake while everyone else is asleep? Huh pal?" he crooned, his voice barely whispering. Luke stared back, still unsure of what to do. As Michael got to the edge of the crib, Luke automatically held his arms out. Michael struggled for a moment but obligingly picked up the small boy. "You know, I can't sleep either, got a lot of stuff on my mind but I doubt that's why you're not sleeping."

Luke peered around the room and finding that he still didn't recognize anybody, became alarmed and began to cry.

"Oh, no no, don't do that, you'll wake everyone up and make me look bad," Michael fretted as he began to rock Luke in his arms and move around the room, slowly rubbing Luke's back as the child cradled comfortably in his arms.

***************************

Quartermaine Mansion

A.J. shut the front door behind him and noting the darkened home, crept quietly to the staircase.

"A.J?" Keesha's voice urgently whispered from the den as she quickly appeared, her face filled with concern.

"Yeah, just me."

Keesha approached him, her face cautious as she studied his ragged face. Taking his hand gently, she gave him a small smile, "where is he?"

"At Em's, Jason and Carly showed up after he did, there was a big blowout," A.J. just shook his head as his voice trailed off.

Keesha nodded silently for a moment before deciding to speak again, "do you want to talk about it?" she asked gently.

A.J's eyes rose to meet hers before his hands reached up to cup her face. He kissed her lips gently before brushing them with his left thumb and shook his head. "I just wanna fall asleep in your arms."

Keesha squeezed his hand before turning to the stairs, "then let's go."

*****************************

Michael rocked back and forth and it seemed to work, although it was hard for him to check to see if Luke was sleeping or not. He gently shifted Luke from his right shoulder to his left and to his disappointment, found Luke was still wide awake.

"Man, I thought Geometry was hard. Babies are a whole different level huh?" he mused to Luke, continuing the rhythmic rocking as he deliberated waking Emily or Lucky or to just hope for divine intervention into knocking Luke back into dreamland.

"Hey, are you into singing Luke? Your Mother sings pretty well, I'll bet she sings to you sometimes. My Mother is a good singer too, she doesn't sing very often but when she does, it's like you stop doing whatever it is your doing and you just listen, it's beautiful stuff," Michael said, his voice growing soft as he reflected. "She used to sing to me when I was little, when I had nightmares or couldn't sleep. My Dad would just talk me to sleep but she though singing calmed me better." Michael chuckled softly as he remembered fondly his father's long talks about the economic situation in the far East or how to put a motorcycle's engine together. "Anyway, she used to sing to me two or three little fairy tale songs to get me sleepy. It worked on my brother Spencer too, would you mind if I tested it on you?"

Getting no reaction from Luke, Michael took a deep breath before starting the song softly.