Mary met Michael at the door, "can’t go inside. Ned and Lois are here as well as Dylan and Emily and Lucky are here with their brood."
It was too late as Lucky spotted Michael, "hey Morgan, get over here!" he bellowed good naturedly. Michael winced as Mary rolled her eyes and reluctantly closed the door behind him. The two walked towards Lucky and Michael shook his hand, "how’s it going? How’s my cousin and her husband?"
"Uh, Mom and Dad are fine, Spencer too."
Lucky beamed at the mention of Spencer, "man, gotta love that name!"
Suddenly a small flash of brown hair rushed past Mary and flew towards Lucky.
"Daddy! Ethan is chasing me again, make him stop!" Lila squealed as Lucky picked the five year old bundle up. Lila frantically looked around her as she clutched onto her father. Ethan soon emerged from behind the door, unaware of Lila’s safe position. He stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of his father’s disaproving frown.
"Ethan, Lila. I don’t want to see you running inside the house," Lucky said quickly before lowering himself to their level and pulling Ethan closer, "besides, there’s a lot of expensive things here, we can’t break anything of Grandma and Grandpa Quartermaine’s okay?"
Both Lila and Ethan nodded seriously as Lucky released Lila and the two wandered back into the living room. Lucky rose and shook his head ruefully, "twins, don’t have them," he advised Mary and Michael.
"Mary! Michael, how are you?!" Emily called out as she descended the stairs, with baby Luke in her arms. Kissing both warmly on the cheek she gazed at her nephew and niece. "It’s been quite awhile," she said as she handed Luke over to Lucky.
"Yeah, Luke was just a newborn when we last saw him right?" Michael inquired as he smiled at Luke.
Emily nodded, "how are your parents and Spencer?" Michael recognized that tone from anywhere, she was forever concerned about Jason’s business, "good, everything’s fine."
"Hmmph, I’m sure!" came a grumbling voice, unmistakeably of the patriarch of the Quartermaine family. Edward Quartermaine hadn’t changed much in the last twenty years. A few more wrinkles, the use of a cane and reading glasses, but his winning personality was in tact, as always.
"What is that criminal father of yours doing these days? Stealing from the Girl Scouts?"Edward eyed Michael suspiciously.
Mary’s eyes widened slightly, a disaster was approaching at rapid speed, she had to act fast.
"We were just leaving Grandfather," she said as she yanked open the front door and dragged an enraged Michael after her, "bye!" she called cheerfully.
"Did you hear him, that old man has some nerve!!" he yelled as he stalked down the pathway towards the waiting car.
"I know, I know, but do you really expect CHANGE in him?" Mary observed dryly. Michael’s response was interrupted by the shrill of his cell phone.
"Hello?" he asked, still angry by his encounter with Edward.
"Whoa, it’s just me making sure your coming over tonight, you okay?"
Michael sighed as his expression immediately softened. Mary rolled her eyes slightly, Andrea, she thought as she got into the car.
"Sorry, I’m just having a bad day, I’ll be there by six babe," Michael said quietly, his eyes closed as he leaned against the car.
"Babe?"
Michael laughed, "sorry, hangin’ around my Dad too much. I’ll be there by six Andrea."
Andrea Collins leaned back in her desk chair and frowned slightly, "are you okay? You sound really edgy," her voice was filled with concern.
Michael took a deep breath, "it’s okay, I just need to relax, I’ll see you tonight?"
Andrea smiled, taking a framed picture of her and Michael off her desk, taken two months earlier at the Nurses Ball by a photographer, the only one his father had allowed.
"Six o’clock, love you."
Michael closed his eyes, taking her words in. God he loved her.
"Love you too."
Michael hung up and jumped into the seat next to Mary a determined expression locked onto his face.
"I wanna do this as soon as possible. Get this off my mind and on to better things," he urged.
Mary nodded, "I’ll do what I can, but we’ll get it done. Promise," she said more forcefully, and she meant it.
*****************************
Later that night
"Mmmm, someone’s going somewhere special tonight. Care to share his name?"
Mary turned around in her room to find her Mother, Keesha leaning against her doorway, her arms folded in front of her and a wide smile. Still wearing her power suit from a hard day at work, it was evident as to why Keesha was one of the most influencial people in Port Charles. Her no nonsense attitude, quick wit, intelligence and grace had won over many people and earned the respect from all, but it was her passion, dedication and determination from her charity work that left an image in people’s minds. Although she was in her early forties, save for a few silver hairs in her shoulder length black hair and few wrinkles, her beauty was just as captivating as it was twenty years ago.
Mary smoothed her black dress and turned back to look at herself in the full length mirror.
"Do I look alright?" she asked critically.
Keesha crossed the room and gently placed her arms around her daughter, smiling reassuringly at her through the mirror.
"Baby, you’ve been beautiful to all since day 1."
"You’re supposed to say that stuff Mom, I want your honest opinion," Mary insisted as she adjusted the spagetti straps on her slender shoulders.
"Well," Keesha said as she turned Mary around and gave her a look over, "you are showing more skin, leg and curve than your father and I both would like, but you are as beautiful as God intended you to be."
Mary smiled, reassured by her Mother’s warmth, "thanks, I feel better."
"Is he picking you up?"
Mary shook her head, "I’m meeting him at seven at the Rose Garden Restaurant."
Keesha’s eyes widened, "my, my, he must really want to impress you!"
Mary blushed, but she too felt the excitement and nervousness growing inside her by the second. The two left the room and descended the stairs where Mary gave herself a final look over in the hall mirror and grabbed her coat from the closet. Checking her purse for money, phone, keys, breath mints, perfume, and pepper spray, Mary snapped it shut and grabbed for the door when Keesha touched her shoulder lightly.
"Here, take my car," she said holding out the keys. Mary’s eyes widened, "you’re letting me take the Mercedes?"
"Just don’t make me regret it, clear?"
Mary nodded before leaning over and hugging her Mother tightly.
"Thanks, I won’t be too late, love you."
"Love you too baby."
*************************************
Michael checked his hair and popped two breath mints in his mouth before getting out of the car. Turning to Richard, he smiled "I look okay?"
Richard nodded and smiled slyly, "knock em’ dead buddy."
Michael rolled his eyes, "very funny, later."
Michael jogged up to the Collins front door but before ringing, the door swung open. Andrea smiled brightly at him, "hey handsome, come on in, dinner’s almost ready."
Michael entered and shut the door before pulling Andrea close to him, his arms wrapped firmly around her waist. The two kissed passionately, but briefly, "I missed you," he murmured in her ear causing her to shiver with pleasure.
"Michael! You’re here! Doc, Darric, Michael has arrived, front and center!" Lucy Coe Collins announced as she made her way over to the couple. Michael and Lucy hugged warmly, hugs from Lucy weren’t unusual, it was a requirement around her but Michael loved them, Lucy had always been like a second Mother the past few years.
"Michael, how are you?" Kevin greeted him warmly as the two shook hands. Darric, the Collins youngest sauntered into the room, clearly unimpressed with the get together tonight. The eleven year old slumped into his chair at the table and sighed, completely bored.
"Come on, come on, everyone sit down, they’ll be plenty of time to chit chat after dinner," Lucy ushered everyone to the table, before rushing into the kitchen with Kevin. Michael took Andrea’s hand, squeezing it gently. Andrea smiled and rubbed the top of his hand lightly with her thumb. Darric observed and released an enormous sigh, it was going to be a LONG night.
"You okay Michael?" Andrea asked, her clear blue eyes piercing into his, her expression worried as he looked away, feeling guilty.
"Yeah, everything’s fine now," he said, but not too convincingly, his eyes finally meeting hers. Andrea resisted the urge to push, perhaps he would talk later.
**************************************
Mary walked into the chic restaurant and was immediately greeted by the host.
"Do you have a reservation Ma’am?" he asked courteously.
Before she could respond, a deep voice spoke up, "yes, we do, two under the name Cassadine."
Mary turned, half delighted, half scared at the sight of Dominic. She was delighted that he actually came but was slightly terrified in her attraction to a man she barely knew. His dark eyes roved over her, "you look sensational," he said, completely awed.
Mary blushed but managed a smile, "thank you, you look pretty fine yourself," she said, admiring the fact that his cream sweater fit him nicely, revealing a well built chest. Mary sucked in her breath slightly as Dominic placed his hand lightly around her waist and following the host, escorted her through the restaurant to a private booth, with a window over looking a beautifully lit rose garden.
The two quickly placed their orders before settling into their seats. Dominic gazed at Mary for a few moments before speaking.
"I’m glad you came Mary," he began, his voice soft, "it gives us a chance to get to know one another better. Do you mind me asking about you?"
Mary shook her head, "as long as it goes both ways. I’ll go first, born and raised here, my Father same, my Mother moved here about 20 years ago with her grandmother and cousin. I’m an only child and belong to a very large and disorganized family. You?"
Dominic grinned at her before beginning his tale, "let’s see, my Mother is the daughter of Kristen Bergmann, she was a famous opera singer, my Grandfather is Mikkos Cassadine, but he died many years ago. My Father passed on when I was about 7, but I do have other family. My Uncle Stefan, my cousin Nikolas and his son Raphael. There are others but I rarely see them."
Mary nodded, "I know where you’re coming from. The huge corporate family, belonging to one of the richest in the world," she started.
"The expectation that you will join the family business as soon as possible," Dominic finished. He leaned forward, "sounds like we have more in common than we realized."
Mary nodded nervously, his gazing made her SO nervous, "we have a lot of family history as well."
Dominic nodded, "mostly unpleasant, but that won’t interefere here will it?"
Mary shook her head, "no, I forbid it," she said seriously.
Dominic simply laughed as the waiter brought them their meals.
****************************************
"That was really great, I’m completely stuffed," Michael insisted as he wiped his mouth. Lucy frowned slightly as the entire family nodded their heads in agreement.
"You can’t be stuffed," she admonished, "my apple pie is still in the oven. Nobody is leaving until it’s eaten."
"Lucy, let’s take some of these dishes into the kitchen," Kevin said, diverting her attention from the pie.
"Excuse me for a moment," Andrea said as she headed to the bathroom down the hall.
Darric eyed Michael suspiciously, "so, your Dad’s really a mobster?"
Michael groaned inwardly, but forced a relaxed smile, Darric was only a child, "he’s got a lot of business, I know that, but that’s about it, he’s really a regular guy."
Darric frowned, unimpressed, "I heard he does illegal stuff."
"Oh really? Who’d you here that from?"
Darric shrugged, "people, I won’t give you their names in case your Dad has to ‘take care’ of them. He does that stuff right?"
"Just drop it, alright Darric?" Michael grimaced.
Darric’s eyes widened, "sure, I wanna stay on your good side, right? In case of your Dad?"
Michael jumped from his seat and reached across the table, grabbing Darric by the collar, "listen, I asked you to shut up about my Dad already, so do it!" he growled.
"MICHAEL!" Andrea’s voice said angrily, "let him go right now!"
With that Michael released a terrified Darric, whom with wide eyes, rushed into the kitchen to the safety of his parents. Andrea pointed to the door, "outside right now! We need to talk!" she said sharply.
"Look I’m sorry, I’m just really tense right now," Michael explained, "let me go back inside and apologize to Darric."
"Listen!" Andrea insisted, "if you’re having problems with whatever, tell me, don’t be afraid, I won’t laugh or anything. But if you choose to release your anger on a small child, which happened to be my brother, you have crossed a very fine line!" Andrea was completely livid, "now I love you very much, but I cannot have this fine one minute, out of control the next going on. It makes me feel like I don’t know you and that scares me a lot."
Michael sighed as he thumped onto the front step, burrying his head in his hands, "I’m sorry, I don’t want you to feel that way Andrea."
Andrea sat down next to him and gently wrapped her arms around his shoulders, her head leaning towards his, "what’s going on with you? You can tell me," she asked softly.
"I-I’m not ready," Michael said finally. Andrea pulled back slightly, but kept a firm grip on him.
"Okay," she said shakily, "when you are ready, you know where I am right?"
Michael nodded without looking up. Andrea turned his head to face her and gently kissed his lips.
"Goodnight then, I love you Michael."
Michael rose and dusted off his pants, "I love you too. Tell Darric and your parents I’m sorry will you?"
Andrea nodded, giving him a sad smile before closing the door behind her.
Michael sighed as he trudged slowly to the car. This was doing more to him than he thought. A determined minset came over him, he needed to do this, and soon.
****************************************
"It’s obvious you love your family very much," Dominic observed as the waiter took their empty plates away. Mary nodded as she took a sip of her water, "they make me crazy most of the time, but, they’re a decent bunch."
Suddenly, Mary’s phone rang from her purse. Blushing with embarassement she quickly snatched it.
"Sorry, it might be an emergency," she said and Dominic nodded easily.
"Hello?"
"Mary! It’s me, are you busy right now?"
Mary’s eyes bulged slightly, "Michael!" she squeaked, "why are you calling me?"
"My dinner with Andrea and her family went bad tonight. I freaked at Darric, this paternity test stuff is really affecting my life. We need to do this sooner," Michael insisted.
Mary was overwhelmed, "Michael I can’t! I don’t have access to any files, I don’t know where they are even kept and people know me at the hospital, it would look pretty suspicious."
Dominic’s ears pricked up, he didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but he felt he should intervene.
"Mary?" he reached across the table and touched her hand gently. After getting her attention, he smiled, "I can help you and your cousin," he insisted.
For a moment Mary was completely tongue tied, but then she resumed her conversation with Michael, "Michael there might be a way we can do this, where are you?"
"Andrea’s, on the front path."
Mary frowned, "what about your driver? Won’t he notify Jason?"
Michael pondered as he looked around, "no wait! He can’t see me from here, these cedar bushes block the view! If I double round back and hustle, I could meet you on Sparrow Crescent, a couple of blocks away. For all he knows, I’m still having dinner here!"
Mary nodded as she grabbed her coat and purse, Dominic quickly signaled the waiter for the check.
"Okay, ten minutes, we’ll pick you up."
Mary hung up her phone just as the waiter arrived.
"Here," Dominic said, fumbling for the cash and handed him a crisp $100 bill before grabbing Mary’s hand as the two rushed out of the restaurant to Dominic’s car, leaving the waiter standing by their table, his mouth wide open.
Sparrow Crescent
"There he is, right there!" Mary pointed out the lurking figure among the trees. Dominic quickly pulled along the sidewalk as Michael jumped into the car.
"Let’s go, I don’t have that much time!" he urged as he tried to catch his breath. Michael’s pulse was racing and his heart beating a mile a minute, but not from his recent sprint, from the simple fact that this was the first time he was going somewhere without a guard, an exilirating yet at the same time frightening feeling.
Dominic quickly grabbed his car phone and expertly dialed a number as he raced down the roads. Mary turned in her seat and smiled at Michael.
"Hey, this is Dominic Cassadine, he’s gonna help us get what you need."
Michael simply nodded as he sat back in his seat.
"Jack! Dominic Cassadine, I need to call in that favour. Can you meet me in the labs of the east wing on the sixth floor, say in ten minutes?"
Dominic smiled widely and winked at Mary, confirming success, "beautiful! Don’t say anything and do it quietly alright?"
Dominic hung up the phone and extended his right hand to the backseat.
"Dominic Cassadine, your Michael Morgan, Mary’s cousin."
Michael reached up and the two shook hands, "yeah, thanks for this, not many people would be willing to help complete strangers."
Dominic smiled as he expertly manoevered through traffic, "well, I’m not like many people," he said slyly and Michael chuckled, he liked Dominic immediately, noting why Mary did too.
"Okay, here we are," Dominic announced as the black Jaguar pulled into GH parking lot. The three quickly made their way to a back entrance and carefully entered the hospital.
Dominic motioned for them to follow him and they nodded as he opened the fire escape door. Seeing that no alarm went off, Dominic gave them a charming smiled as the three entered the dark stairwell.
"Okay, I know this place pretty well, like with that door. We’ll have to hoof it six flights but the fire escape door is right across from the laboratory okay?"
Mary and Michael nodded and the three quickly made their way up the stairs to the sixth floor. Dominic opened the door carefully and looked around before ushering the other two out. Dominic quickly unlocked the laboratory door and the three entered unnoticed.
"Hey, over here," came an urgent whisper. The three ushered over to Jack, a tall blond haired man. Dominic slapped him gently on the back once all four were inside a private lab room, complete with a top of the line computer.
"Okay, we can talk normal in here, but security comes by in about 15 minutes from their rotation so we need to be out before then."
The three nodded as Michael sat in the seat next to Jack.
"Okay," Jack explained, "this computer is like most others in the hospital. It has access to all patient files, whether you’ve been here once for stitches or regular for ongoing treatment. These files contain everything about the patient. Their medical history, medication, birth defects anything, even DNA records."
Michael nodded, growing slightly impatient, "I’m looking for A.J. Quartermaine, is he here?"
Jack typed in the name and a moment later the screen lit up with information. "Okay, not much, his last visit was to donate blood about three years ago from that huge blood drive the Quartermaines had to find a suitable donor for the Zucher girl, remember?"
Michael nodded, "my family donated, most people did. Now can you bring up his DNA records?"
Jack laughed gently, "I’ll take a section of the DNA strand commonly used by hospital and police, otherwise it would take forever."
"Now can you split screen them with Michael Morgan’s?"
"To see if they match?"
Michael nodded, "yeah."
Jack nodded as he typed up for the requested information, "what kind of match up are we looking for?"
"Paternity," Michael said steadily.
Mary held her breath as she clutched onto Dominic’s hand for support as Jack typed in the critical information.
The silence was unbearable as they waited for the results. Michael tried to reassure himself, this was for his own curiosity, the strands wouldn’t have any kind of match, not of a father and son kind anyway.
"Hey, waddya know, they match!" came Jack’s cheerful voice.
************************************
Richard shifted uncomfortably in his seat and glanced at his watch again. This didn’t feel right, dinner and socializing don’t take THIS long. He quickly exited the car and made his way up the narrow path, eyeing the large bushes uneasily before rapping on the door. Kevin opened and gave Richard a surprised look.
"Can I help you?"
"Sorry to bother sir, I’m Michael’s driver, I’m just seeing that everything is in order."
Kevin gave Richard a confused expression, "Michael? He left about a half hour ago, right Lucy?"
Lucy appeared beside Kevin, a concerned expression on her face, "he wasn’t himself tonight, he and Andrea had a fight but he left awhile ago, don’t you know that?"
Richard’s eyes widened with alarm, "thank you," he mumbled as he raced back to the car. Jumping in, he quickly gunned the engine and tore out of the driveway and down the road as he dialed quickly into his cell phone.
"Yeah, Morgan here," Jason answered.
"Boss, there’s a situation happening!," Richard shouted into the phone as he raced through traffic.
Jason immediately sat down, "what is it?"
"It’s Michael, he’s had unknown whereabouts for upwards of thirty minutes!"
"What?!" Jason shouted angrily, "you’re supposed to watch him Richard!"
"He dissapeared on the front step, I kept my eyes on the place the whole time, he must have slipped around back!"
"Michael didn’t leave, he knows how dangerous that is!" Jason’s head was throbbing but he calmed down enough to relay instructions.
"Get some of the guys going, call in all favours and talk to snitches, we need to find him as quick as possible," Jason barked.
Jason hung up the phone and paced the study angrily, finally he picked up a lamp and hurled it across the room where it crashed into a bookcase.
"Hon?" Carly’s anxious voice filtered through the door as Jason cursed himself and opened it to Carly wide eyed face.
"Carly, Michael’s missing, about 30 minutes, I’ve got guys working on this,we’ll find him," Jason reassured her as Carly’s eyes filled up with tears, her hands flew up to her mouth, "oh God Jason! It’s happening again!"
***************************************
"Match?" Michael said weakly.
"Yeah, see, families even large ones will all carry similar genetic material that identify them but as the bonds get stronger like father to son, mother to daughter, brother to sister and so on, the amount of similar genetic structure increases," Jack explained.
"So, father and son would be pretty close?" Mary inquired.
"It would be half, children get their genes from their parents, half from the father and half from the mother."
"So why wouldn’t, for example, brothers look the same?"Mary asked, keeping her eye on a silent Michael.
"The power of dominant and recessive genes. One son may look a lot like his father and the other like his mother. They may have the same eye color as the father and hair color as the mother. It’s almost like luck of the draw."
"Put up Jason Morgan and Michael Morgan in a split screen," Michael requested, his voice sullen.
Jack expertly typed up the request, "ahhh, yes, here is a perfect example of family ties."
Michael’s head jerked up, "he’s my father?"
Jack, having suddenly realized the situation, shook his head, "no, sorry, here let me show you what I mean."
Jack typed some more to create a three way split screen identifying each one by name. "See here?" he indicated on Jason’s and A.J.’s. "These sections match perfectly, but the other half is different, so I know these two are half-brothers. And here," he said pointing to A.J. and Michael’s, "these match, now if I had the other half, I could show you what I meant."
Mary spoke up quickly, "try Carly Roberts or Morgan."
"Okay, now we have a four way split screen and you can see how these two halves, here and here, make a whole, half from the mother and the other from the father making this one," Jack said tapping on Michael’s screen. "I know it’s complicated and if you had several hours, I’d explain it but we only have about five minutes left."
"Now, this is certain, 100% full proof, nothing tainted," Michael asked, his voice growing increasingly desperate. Jack took a step back but nodded, "yeah, do you want a print up?"
"Please," Mary said as Michael slowly left the room. He walked numbly to the door and into the hallway, back into the fire escape and dropped onto the cold cement. Mary started after him but Dominic shook his head, "give him a second."
Michael sat on the stairs, stairing at the wall for a moment before dropping his head, his eyes catching his hands. He held them up, examining them closely, did these match A.J.’s too?, he wondered. He’d gotten his hair from his mother, along with Spencer but his eyes were dark, A.J.’s were dark too, but he’d always assumed he’d gotten them from his mother but maybe he didn’t, after all, Spencer’s were blue like his father’s. Michael stopped short, Spencer, his father, his mother, they would all be crushed to learn the truth. He wasn’t his father’s son, not anymore, he wasn’t a Morgan, he was a Quartermaine. The realization hit Michael, but it was only the beginning as sixteen years of wrong life came rushing at him like a freight train. Michael grabbed the railing for support as hot tears spilled onto his cheeks as he gasped for breath in between deep sobs that wracked his body, making him shudder with fear and pain.
**************************************
"Do you think they knew?" Mary asked Dominic as the two sat in a waiting area, not too far from where Michael was.
Dominic shrugged, "I’ve never met them, what do you think?"
Mary let out a deep breath, " I don’t know, I mean my Dad and Jason have always been hostile with one another and with Carly, there was just this deep sadness with him. I always felt that there was more to them that what we saw, but I never expected this," she said waving her hand in Michael’s direction. "God, what if they don’t know!"
Dominic frowned, "you mentioned that among your father’s things was a court order for a paternity test. Was it ever done?"
Mary shook her head, "I don’t believe so, I wonder why? I mean my Dad must have at least been in the running for it, what made him stop?"
"Were there any other, how shall I put this, candidates?" Dominic asked delicately.
"Three, I’m guessing, Tony Jones, he was Carly’s boyfriend at the time, Jason Morgan whom Carly said was the father and Dad who never told anybody what he believed." Mary shrugged her shoulders, "Tony Jones had a test done, he found out pretty quick he wasn’t Michael’s father, why didn’t Dad?"
Dominic shook his head, "that’s something we definitely need to figure out."
Mary nodded in agreement, "come on, let’s get Michael."
The two rose and entered the stairwell, finding it empty, "where is he?" Dominic asked as the two quickly searched around.
"Michael! Michael! It’s us, where are you?" Mary called, her only response being her echoes.
Mary’s eyes widened with fear, "Dominic, he’s left, the state he’s in!" she began.
"Come on we have to find him before he hurts himself."
Dominic’s Car
"He’s not answering his phone!" Mary said as she frantically scanned the streets.
"Well, he couldn’t have gotten far," Dominic said, trying to calm her.
Mary resigned herself to her seat, "we have to tell his parents what happened. They have to know the truth."
Dominic nodded, "it might be best," he said as he turned towards the Morgan residence.