"Amy? Could you send these charts to Radiology for me?" Bobbie asked as she entered the station. Amy's mouth dropped open slightly and swiveled around, a shocked expression on her face. Obviously she hadn't seen Bobbie approach the station.
Bobbie was taken aback by Amy's odd demeanor, "Amy, are you all right?"
Amy blinked a few times before closing her mouth, "oh Bobbie, I just didn't expect you'd come in today considering everything."
Bobbie arched her brow, "considering everything? What are you talking about?"
Amy closed her eyes briefly, as if chastising herself, "oh God, sometimes I just really talk too much."
Bobbie frowned, she was worried by Amy's suddenly mournful demeanor, "Amy, what is going on?"
"You-you don't know do you? About your grandson Michael?"
Bobbie's heart leapt with fear, "what about Michael?" she asked, her voice becoming shrill.
Amy shifted uncomfortably as she clutched the files to her chest, "Michael left home yesterday, I think it has something to do with the Quartermaines, Monica looked terrible this morning and Alan canceled all his morning appointments."
As if on cue, Monica Quartermaine strode off the elevator, determined to get through the next few hours before heading home early. Upon seeing Bobbie, her step faltered as her eyes locked with Bobbie's. A sour expression overcame her face as she stormed over to Bobbie.
"Monica, what's going on with Michael?" Bobbie asked, her voice now frantic with worry.
Monica tilted her head thoughtfully for a moment, as if choosing her words carefully. "You know Bobbie, through the years of our friendship, I have always respected you. I may never have liked some of your choices but nevertheless, I was impressed with your guts to support your daughter no matter what heinous act she committed upon this community. Now it stops, because our friendship will end right here if you support her for this."
Bobbie stood still, not quite believing the rage seeping from Monica's voice, "what's going on Monica?" she asked, almost afraid.
Her voice cool and low, Monica's expression hardened as she spoke, "Michael is not Jason's son, he's A.J.'s. Carly and Jason agreed to keep Michael from A.J. and our family since before Michael was born and he found out and has left home because of it."
Bobbie staggered slightly, as if she'd been sucker punched and was now reeling from the shock and impact of the blow. She felt a wave of nausea rush through her and after that, an odd feeling of guilt. Almost like this was possible, in the psyche of who her daughter was, Bobbie was beyond shock but was aware enough to realize at how she was not surprised.
This was Carly and Jason after all, expect the unexpected, and then some.
"I-I don't know--" Bobbie stuttered as Monica crossed her arms in front of her.
"Don't know what to say? I understand, it's not like we can begin to undo almost seventeen years of damage but I do offer a suggestion. Why don't you take the day off, go home and cry for several hours. That's what I did, just went into my bedroom and wept and then I realized quite clearly who my son had become, the rose colored glasses were gone and all the hopes and dreams I had about reuniting became worthless. It's a healthy thing Bobbie, cutting the apron strings, because when it came to Jason, his were starting to strangle me."
With that, Monica turned on her heel and marched past Bobbie.
"Bobbie? Are you okay?" Amy asked timidly as Bobbie stood still a few moments later.
"I have to go Amy, you understand don't you?" Bobbie's voice shook quietly as she reached behind the desk, grabbing her coat and purse, and walked aimlessly towards the elevators. Amy said something to her but it was all muffled along with the general noise from the busy nurses station as Bobbie entered the elevator and mechanically pressed the main floor button, barely noticing the chattering doctors beside her. Shuffling her feet along, Bobbie exited the ER doors and walked into the cool air and warm sunshine and got into her car. Putting her hospital ID in her purse, Bobbie's hand drifted over her wallet and she slowly pulled it out. She carefully opened it and was immediately met with the family picture of Jason, Carly, Michael and Spencer, taken only a few months earlier. Her finger gently traced the outline of Carly's face.
"Oh Carly," Bobbie whispered, the picture becoming blurry as tears formed. "Why? Why did you do this?" In that instant, the rage came.
"WHY?! WHY?! WHY?! WHY?! WHY?! WHY?! WHY?!" Bobbie screamed, pounding her right hand against the steering wheel with each cry, stopping only when her grief became to strong to ignore and the rage passed and all that was left for Bobbie to do, was cry.
************************
Spencer Home
Michael walked into the kitchen where Emily was sitting quietly, reading the newspaper. Noticing the movement, her head rose to where Michael was standing.
"Good morning, or actually afternoon," she said smiling warmly, "you hungry?"
Michael shook his head as he helped himself to a steaming cup of coffee and took a seat from across her. "Where is everyone?" he asked, noting the unusual silence of the house.
"Oh, well, Lucky decided to take the kids to the park, they left a few hours ago."
Michael's eyes widened, "ALL of them? Yikes, can he handle that?"
Emily smiled wickedly, "yes, well, Lucky has always enjoyed a challenge, he's just not used to them being in the form of giggly, wriggly children. He'll manage, besides, we thought you might need some quiet today."
Without waiting for a response, Emily rose and headed to the phone, "oh yes, Lucky said Andrea phoned this morning, she wanted to know if she could come by later," Emily reported as she read the next message scrawled by Lucky earlier. "So did her Mother, Lucy and Mary phoned also."
Michael nodded, but sighed, slightly disappointed, "nothing from A.J. or my Mom?"
Emily smiled sympathetically, "despite everything that's happened, I know one thing. A.J. is a very patient man, he'll wait until you're comfortable, he doesn't want to push you, which means you can stay here as long as you need, we can take things slowly."
Michael felt a bit better, but still couldn't keep his Mother out of his head, "but nothing from, the Penthouse?"
Before Emily could respond, the phone rang again.
"Hello? Oh yes, just a moment Andrea," Emily said pleasantly before handing Michael the phone. Giving him some privacy, Emily headed to the laundry room with a basket of dirty clothes.
"Hello?"
"Michael, it's so good to hear your voice!" Andrea said happily before pausing, "listen, I'm gonna get right to it, what happened last night? You just took off, it really scared me seeing you scramble over the Quartermaine front gate last night." Not wanting to sound to anxious but still wanted her concern to be heard, Andrea pulled her feet up onto her bed and crossed her legs.
"Yeah, it was a little, suffocating last night. I told A.J. everything and he took it pretty hard, but we connected a bit, we hugged."
"That's great! Right?" Andrea asked.
"Well, yeah but we told the rest of the family and it just kind of blew up and people started yelling but that wasn't what made me leave. Monica was the only one who wasn't yelling. She looked dazed, but really hurt, like she'd been kicked in the head or something. She looked at me and, I don't know, it was like watching a huge part of her soul get ripped out and stomped on and I felt like it was my fault and I kind of panicked and then the walls started closing in and I just had to get out."
"Wow, that sounds pretty intense."
Michael sighed as he took a sip from his coffee, "it gets worst. I show up at my Aunt Em's house and before I can say anything, my parents show up and then A.J. shows up," Michael said.
Andrea gasped, "oh my God! Tell me nobody got hurt!"
Michael shook his head, "nobody got hurt, but I told Emily and Lucky the truth and Emily started to cry and then she slapped my Dad outside. She was really shook up. A.J. didn't say anything, he just left too, after talking with Emily and Lucky. I went to bed and that was it."
There was silence on the other end as Andrea processed everything Michael had told her. It was almost unbelievable and she shook her head in amazement. "How are you doing though? I mean, do you want to talk?"
Michael slowly and steadily let out a huge sigh, contemplating what to do, "well, I think I just want to be around you. Think maybe you could go for lunch with me?"
Andrea smiled, "I'd like that, umm, Mary called and was hoping we could all get together today, I actually invited her and Dominic over, is that a problem?"
Michael shook his head, "it'll be nice to be around friends for awhile. I'll be there in an hour okay?"
"Okay, and Michael? I love you," Andrea said tenderly.
Michael closed his eyes and Andrea's face flashed through his mind, "I love you too."
***************************
Wyndemere
Mary wandered the Conservatory quietly, examining things and touching them with delicate care as if she was in a museum. She'd never been inside the Cassadine home before, she'd seen in countless times and when she was younger, had taken a boat with Michael and both had explored the more neglected parts of Spoon Island. Although Jason was protective of his sons, almost to a suffocating point, he always allowed special privileges with his niece, Mary and so none of Jason's men ever went on their boat trips around Port Charles. They'd heard the stories about the Cassadine family and had always viewed Wyndemere in an awestruck fashion, knowing how close they were to one of the most powerful and rich families in the world. Now here she was, years later, inside the looming mansion.
"I assume you're here for Dominic?" came a low voice from behind Mary. She quickly turned around, startled by the voice.
"Umm, yes, I'm a friend of his, Mary Mae Quartermaine," she said uncertainly as she stared at the man with a wide eyed gaze, but still trying to stand tall and proud, refusing to show that fear.
Stefan Cassadine couldn't help but smile inwardly at the young girl. She was familiar, he knew her face before she confirmed it. The dark eyes, beautiful bronzed skin and a fierce determination radiated from her.
Most definitely a child of Keesha Ward-Quartermaine.
"Welcome to our home Mary Mae, Dominic should be down in a moment," Stefan said pleasantly, indicating to the dark chesterfield.
"Thank you and call me Mary, everyone but my Great Grandfather does," Mary said as she sat, noticing the dark side chairs to go with the dark chesterfield. Dark, dark, dark she remarked to herself, feels like someone is celebrating Halloween a little too early she said to herself, nearly giggling as she caught sight of Stefan's dark suit.
"Mary, I'm sorry I'm so late," Dominic said, breathless as he thumped down the staircase towards her. As she stood he sucked in his breath as he caught sight of her. Her attire was casual but he couldn't ignore how nicely her jeans fit her nor her snug long sleeved shirt that revealed only a tiny sliver of her stomach. Realizing that he was dangerously close to gawking mode, he snapped his eyes to his coat. "Uh, ready to go?"
Mary nodded as she picked up her coat also, trying hard to stop her cheeks from flushing after receiving his appreciative stare, knowing full well what happened the last time she looked a little too long.
Stefan simply rolled his eyes as the two exchanged an all knowing stare he'd seen between Nikolas and Gina years earlier. "Dominic, I trust you won't be late this evening?"
"Uh, okay, I'm going to the Collins's house with Mary and her cousin Michael Morgan but I'll call Mother later, I haven't seen her at all, did she leave for the office early?"
Stefan frowned, if Dominic had become friendly with Michael Morgan, this might put a damper in Jerry's plans. As for Alexis, it bothered him immensely that she had not surfaced from her room all day. Dade was meeting with a client at the Port Charles Hotel and Jerry had taken a nap after being up all night. "She's occupied with some work Dominic but I'll inform her of your impending call."
Stefan watched as Dominic and Mary left the room before heading towards Alexis's room. He knocked gently before calling. "Alexis, are you there?"
"Yes, just hang on," came the muffled reply before the door opened and Alexis stood, wrapped tightly in her robe.
"Are you all right?" Stefan frowned, "it's nearly 3pm, and you haven't emerged from your room."
"I couldn't sleep so I stayed up all night working on some case files. Is everything all right, is Dominic all right?" Alexis asked, her tone growing concerned.
"Yes, he's just left with a friend." Stefan looked Alexis once over again, he wasn't satisfied with her answer but he'd let it go for now. "Will you be joining us for dinner?"
Alexis nodded quickly, "oh yes, I'm just about to take a shower now, I'll be down shortly," she said, indicating towards the noise in the background.
Stefan nodded, "very well, I'll see you this evening."
"Bye," Alexis said brightly before shutting the door behind her, locking it for good measure. Switching on the stereo, she turned the volume up and waited a moment to ensure Stefan had left.
"Okay, it's all clear," she whispered loudly and Dade emerged from her bathroom, clad in nothing but a white towel and soaking wet. He grinned mischievously at her as he leaned against the bathroom doorway his arms crossed in front of his well built chest.
"Good thing when I had to jump in the shower, the water was nice and hot," he noted as Alexis approached him, "otherwise we'd of had a lot of explaining to do."
Alexis stood in front of him and sighed, "I'm just not ready to tell him, and it's only been one night."
Dade's eyebrows arched, "one night? After all these years of separation, and we can't bear to be apart for more than a few hours? I understand your discomfort with telling others, but are you sure you want this for yourself?"
Alexis looked into Dade's dark eyes and nodded as she placed her hands gently on his hips, "I'm sure of few things in my life Dade and seeing you now again, you are one of those sure things."
Dade smiled gently as he leaned forward and kissed Alexis, his hand roaming down the front of her robe and gently tugging the knot free. The robe opened up revealing Alexis completely nude. Alexis wrapped her arms around his neck and opened her mouth, deepening the kiss as Dade's hands traveled inside the robe, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close to his chest.
"Hey, you're all wet," Alexis protested feebly as her hands rested on his muscled chest before descending to the towel, secured nicely around his waist.
Dade smiled wickedly, "you're right, we'll just have to change that," he said, pushing the robe off Alexis's shoulders easily before sliding his fingers down her slim arms to her hands and grasping hers in his, began to back up towards the steaming shower. Alexis giggled gently as she playfully pulled from his grasp, snagging his towel lose instead.
"Oh now you've done it," Dade warned seductively as the towel dropped to the floor. Pulling her against his body, Alexis nearly sagged as her knees became weak as Dade's skin made contact with hers and the two met in a searing kiss. Dade fumbled with the shower curtain as the two entered the shower, breaking the kiss only when the hot water hit their bodies full force and the only sounds that could be heard from outside Alexis's room, was that of water running and Janet Jackson's "Again" playing softly in the background.
*****************************
"Just a sec'!" Carly called as she rushed down the stairs and across the room towards the front door, hoping that it was Michael. Flinging the door open, her face fell as she eyed the person standing in front of her. Renaldo appeared almost instantly, an apologetic look on his face as Carly glared at him.
"I'm sorry Mrs. Morgan, she insisted upon seeing you..." Renaldo's voice trailed off, realizing how feeble his excuse sounded, "I'll be right here if you need me."
Carly's eyes flashed from his to the pair before her, "what do you want?"
Keesha Ward-Quartermaine's expression darkened even further upon hearing Carly's voice. Choosing to ignore her, she strode past her into the penthouse and swiveled around a few feet from Carly. Carly turned, outraged at Keesha's gall. "How dare you walk into my house without my permission?"
Keesha approached Carly slowly until she was a mere few inches from her, "honey, I haven't even started so you better shut that door right now because I am NOT leaving until I tell you my piece. Clear?" she warned. Carly debated having Keesha thrown out but decided against it and shut the door.
"Again, what do you want?"
Keesha smiled coldly at Carly, "nothing from you, I'm in a giving mood today sweetie and I've got a whole lot to with you, so you're best bet is to sit down and shut up," she said, her voice tight and angry.
After nearly twenty years of knowing Carly, Keesha was finally going to give her a piece of her mind.