Michael opened the door to his room and was greeted with a musty smell as he shut and locked the door behind himself. Turning on the light, he grimmaced slightly at the condition of his room but decided that for what little cash he’d had on him, it was better than he expected and he couldn’t go home. Not now at least. Going home meant looking his father in the eye and calling him "Dad", with everything he knew, and he just couldn’t. Throwing his coat on the edge of his bed he kicked off his shoes and wandered into the bathroom. He was cold and tired, placing his hands on the corners of the sink, he stared at himself hard, as if trying to recognize A.J. in his face. Shaking his head he turned the shower on and crawled in. The hot water felt good, it relieved his aching muscles, almost washing away his pain until he remembered and once again, began to sob, sinking to the bottom of the shower, huddling in a ball as the water washed over him.
***********************************
Dominic and Mary made their way up the elevator and nodded to Renaldo, who in turn, opened the door to a near war zone. Several men in suits were on phones,others rushing about while Justus was in deep talks with Jason. Carly and Spencer were nowhere in sight. Jason caught sight of the two and a surprised but hopeful expression came over him as he motioned them over.
The four headed down into Jason’s study, Mary and Dominic sat on the couch and Jason on the coffee table in front of them, his clear blue eyes showing a real fear for the first time. Justus returned with Carly, whose puffy red eyes indicated she’d been crying, she took a seat next to Jason, gripping his hand in hers and Justus stood behind both.
"You said you had some information about Michael," Justus began and Mary nodded.
"A few days ago, Michael and Spencer came over and we were poking through things in the attic. We came across some of my Dad’s old stuff and one of those things was a court order for a blood test for Michael, issued two days before his birth."
Mary noticed Carly suck in her breath but Jason remained still, "go on, " he urged quietly.
"We didn’t know what to make of it but Michael, he wanted to know, to be sure, he was curious I guess. So we broke into the files at GH and we found the truth," Mary said, her nervousness growing, her hands began to shake but Dominic took them in his own, giving her the courage to continue.
"I hate to be the one to tell you this, but Jason, Michael is not your biological son, he’s my Dad’s. I’m really sorry."
Mary’s eyes slowly rose to see their reaction, but she quickly grew confused. Carly’s head was in her hands and Jason remained quite still. Mary expected tears, anger, denial, an explosion of some kind, but here was nothing. She turned to Dominic but he too, showed a similar confusion. The reaction came from Justus.
"What!" he shouted angrily, "that’s ridiculous, I’m calling the hospital, someone’s been tampering with the files," he growled as he stomped out of the room. There was an odd silence before Jason finally spoke.
"Do you know where Michael is now?"
Mary shook her head, "what? Did you not hear what I just said? Aren’t you going to say anything about that Jason?" she asked confused. "Carly?" she begged for an answer, but received only silence.
"Do you know where Michael is now?" Jason repeated and Mary rose in her seat, "wait a minute! I drop a bombshell on you two and you just breeze past it? Doesn’t it bother you , cause it sure as hell rocked Michael. I don’t know where he is, he took off, that’s why we’re here."
Mary thumped back down in her seat and watched as Carly rose and slowly paced the room while Jason stood by the window, in seemingly deep thought. Mary frowned, this was altogether unusual, but perhaps this was how they were dealing with it. Far be it for her to judge a parent’s reaction to the news that their son really wasn’t their son. Sensing their prescence as intrusion, Mary cleared her throat and motioned Dominic to head towards the door with her.
"If we hear anything, we’ll call. Again, I’m really sorry you had to hear this from me."
Seeing no reaction, Mary bowed her head and left the study with Dominic.
Jason was the first to speak.
"He knows, he knows I’m not his biological father," Jason said, still hardly believing the recent news.
Oh, Jason, you ARE his father, he knows that, we’ll get through this when he comes home," Carly said numbly.
"Sixteen years, and in one moment, it’s all over. I’m different now, Michael and I are different. You and Michael are different. God, even he and Spencer are different. Everything we had, everything we built, together, as a family is in question."
Carly shook her head, unwilling to give in, "no, we are STILL a family. The four of us, remember? Biology isn’t everything, blood isn’t everything, the love we have makes us strong, together as a family and THAT is what will keep us together."
"He’ll come home and he’ll want the truth from us and I can’t lie to him Carly. I can’t look Michael in the eye and lie."
"We’ll find a way Jason, we’ll tell him everything, he’ll understand our reasons, he’ll be angry and bitter at first, but he’ll understand, I know it," Carly said firmly.
"God, I hope so, I pray he’ll come home wanting comfort and reassurance and what we give him can get him through the night to face the next day stronger and as a family, but, I just don’t know," Jason said weakly as tears began to form in his eyes. Carly sat on the couch next to him and the two huddled together, for warmth and comfort and to ward off the fear of unknowing the future for the first time.
****************************************
Dominic pulled into the Rose Garden Restaurant parking lot. The night had gotten much cooler in the last couple of hours and Mary shivered as she stepped out of the car, wrapping her coat around herself tighter. The two walked silently towards Mary’s car, still unsure of what to make of the astounding evening.
"Well, thank you for dinner,"Mary began and Dominic smiled good naturedly.
"Listen, I understand what happened tonight, things are not what they seemed to be at first and now, everything is just in a disaray, but I promise you Mary, they will get better," Dominic said, standing so close to Mary that she could smell his cologne in a powerful wave.
"Do you realize what this means?" Mary started quietly, "I mean, what that test means to me? To the family? To Michael? To his family? It’s like a bomb and it’s just gone off and now people are just trying to survive it, make some kind of sense. God, my Dad DOESN’T EVEN KNOW!" Mary was pacing, as the realization set in, her voice began to rise, "Dominic, I have a BROTHER NOW!! A brother I once believed my cousin is now a brother! How do you deal with that so suddenly?!"
Mary grabbed the edge of the car for support and began gasping for air, as suddenly pain began setting in. Dominic approached her, becoming alarmed as the gasps for air manifested into painful sobs and Mary’s knees gave way and she slid to the ground. Dominic caught her by the elbow and quickly but gently pulled her up and walked her over to a bench where he sat her down, taking the seat beside her and Mary burst into tears, turning to Dominic for comfort, she laid her head in the crook of his neck. Dominic became overwhelmed with a fierce sense of protection and wrapping his strong arms around her, he pulled her close. Rubbing her back gently with one, he rested the other hand gently at the back of her neck as he murmured comforting words to her, desperate to calm her. After a few minutes, the tears subsided but Mary remained in Dominic’s arms, she felt oddly safe in them and so she stayed.
"I just don’t understand," she whispered.
"I know, I’m sorry this happened, I wish I had the power to erase the pain its caused to you and Michael as well as what will happen when others find out," Dominic said sympathetically.
"Thank you Dominic, for just being here, I don’t know what would have happened if-," Mary choked as the tears spilled onto her cheeks again and Dominic winced at her pain and pulled her closer.
"We’ll just stay here, okay?"
"Okay."
*********************************
Michael tossed and turned but it was no use, he wasn’t in his bed and the room was unfamiliar, it wasn’t his. Everything in this room was foreign to him and all he wanted was comfort. He immediately thought of his Mother and her sweet, gentle smile and the reassurance it brought him. How he longed for it now, or his Father’s solemn face but gentle voice and how it always calmed him, making him feel forever safe and protected. Even Spencer’s goofy smile would be enough, but he couldn’t call his family. Michael rolled over in the bed and snapped the lamp on, shielding the brightness from his eyes for a moment. There was still another he could call. He picked up the phone and quickly dialed the number, and on the second ring, a voice answered.
"Hello?" Andrea’s voice rang with worry.
"Andrea? It’s me, can you talk?"
"MICHAEL!" Andrea whispered loudly, "where are you, are you alright?"
"I’m fine, really, I can’t explain this over the phone," Michael explained.
"Do you know how worried your family is right now? Your Father has called here three times in the last hour and there’s a guard in a car in front of our house here in case you show up," Andrea quickly gave her Mother a reassuring smile as she closed her bedroom door.
"Can you get out and meet me?"
"Without being followed I gather?"
"Yeah, is it possible?"
Andrea craned her neck outside her window, "I think so, everybody’s going to bed soon, so I can slip out my window and take a cab from a couple of blocks away. Where are you?"
"The Blue Star Motel off route 10, room 306, how soon can you be here?"
Andrea glanced at her clock, "about 45 minutes, can you wait?"
Michael nodded, reassured she could come, "yeah, just come over, I’ll explain once you get here."
******************************************
Dominic sighed as he entered Wyndemere, it had been a long night and all he wanted to do was sleep. Unfortunately, those wishes weren’t in the cards.
"Where on earth have you been Dominic?" Alexis’s voice rang out from behind him. Dominic turned just in time to be engulfed in a fierce hug by his Mother.
"It’s alright Mother, I’m fine, what’s wrong?"
Alexis looked at him still keeping a firm grip on his shoulders, "Michael Morgan is missing and his family is very worried, they called about 45 minutes ago and said you might have seen him, did you?"
Seeing that Jason Morgan had obviously not released vital details of the evening for one reason or another, Dominic had no choice but to lie, "no, I just had dinner with Mary and we talked afterwards, we didn’t meet up with anybody."
Alexis gave Dominic a fearful look, "I wasn’t able to reach you on your phone."
Dominic nodded, "I turned it off, I must have forgotten to turn it back on, I’m sorry to have worried you so much Mother."
Alexis gave Dominic a suspicious look but accepted his answer, "alright then, you look tired, you should get to bed."
"Mother, can I ask you something completely off topic?" Dominic broached the subject as the two sat together on the chesterfield, just as Stefan reached the outside of the study door. For some reason, he decided against entering the room and remained in the shadows.
Alexis gave Dominic a curious look, "certainly, what’s on your mind?"
Dominic took a deep breath, "Father, he’s on my mind. I was wondering if you ever regret not telling him at first about me."
Both Alexis and Stefan sucked in their breath with surprise at the comment. Alexis thought carefully for a moment before giving her answer.
"I’ll always regret not informing him about you. I waited three years and at the time I didn’t even consider the great pain it would be causing in the future, even just three years, at least not until I saw the pain manifest inside your Father, that’s when I realized the damage I’d caused both him and you in my secret."
"Why did you do it?"
"I’d done some things I wasn’t too proud of and still not and was on the outs with the family when you were born. I was alone, scared and had no support system and as you know, your Father was from a wealthy family who could have, if they had the opportunity, taken you from me. I honestly believed that you might have been taken from me for good. Maybe I acted out of fear for what could happen, or out of protection because you were the only thing I had, or perhaps because deep inside, I knew that I could lose you based on my own foolish actions. It was probably a combination of the three, but that still didn’t make it right. After all, you’re still here with me aren’t you? You and your Father lost though, three precious years, so instead of seven, he only had four with you, watching you grow and play, be a child. I’ll never forgive myself for taking that from you both."
Alexis took a deep breath and gave her son an exhausted smile, "why do you ask?"
"I just wanted to know, that’s all," Dominic replied, before hugging his Mother and giving her a gentle kiss on the cheek.
"Goodnight Mother."
"Goodnight Dominic."
In the hallway, Stefan’s breathing became ragged as Alexis’s confession to Dominic haunted him. He’d always convinced himself that he’d done the right thing in concealing Nikolas’s paternity, but he’d never considered the unchangeable pain and suffering it could cause. Stefsan’s body shuddered fiercely, now he could.
Quartermaine Mansion
Mary carefully entered the front door, removing her shoes and coat and tiptoeing towards the closet. She wasn’t surprised that the house was generally quiet, unlike the Morgan home, Jason and Carly never made the point of contacting the Quartermaines when it concerned their sons. Spencer and Michael were always permitted to visit and spend time with them, but even that had taken years of patience and convincing to get that far. When Spencer had nearly died from an asthma attack a few years ago, the Quartermaines only found out through Amy’s gossip, three days after he’d been admitted to Mercy. And now this, Mary shook her head, she’d tell the family, but she couldn’t say everything, not even about the truth. Mary sighed as she put her coat away and headed for the stairs.
"Mary? How was your date?" A.J.’s voice rang out from the study. Mary’s eyes widened with fear. She couldn’t face her father NOW. Biting her tongue and mounting her courage, Mary slowly turned around and headed back to the study.
"Oh, fine," Mary started but stopped as she entered the room. Monica and Alan were chatting quietly with Edward, while Keesha was going over some papers, but upon hearing Mary enter the room, they all stopped and smiled at her.
"What’s going on?"
"We have some wonderful news, sweetheart," Monica said happily. Mary sat down beside A.J., she stared nervously around the room. They had wonderful news while she had exactly the opposite, she groaned inwardly.
"Ned, Lois and their children are coming by tomorrow for a visit," Monica continued and Mary couldn’t help but smile.
"Really, that’s great! I miss them so much, I haven’t seen them in years!!"
"They’ll be staying a few weeks, maybe Jason and Carly will bring the boys by. Ned and Jason always got on well, it would be a nice family occasion."
Mary’s heart dropped at the mention of Jason and Carly. Here, everyone was so happy about Ned and Lois and she had to ruin it by mentioning Michael’s disappearance.
"Guys, there’s something I have to tell you," Mary said seriously. A.J. and Keesha immediately focused their attention to their daughter as the family quieted.
"Michael is missing," Mary said gently, her head bowed slightly.
Monica’s eyes widened, "what?" she asked breathlessly.
"I spoke with Jason and Carly, he was having dinner with the Collins family and he just disappeared a few hours ago."
The room was silent as the information was taken in and processed by each family member. Monica was the first to reach the phone.
"Oh, my God, they must be frantic, I have to call Bobbie!" Monica said frantically as Alan sat back in his chair, his hand over his eyes, his head slightly bowed and Edward remained quiet as he left the room to inform Lila. A.J. sucked in his breath sharply before speaking.
"I’ll call Ned, maybe they can get here sooner."
Keesha nodded but said nothing as she pulled Mary close, grateful that her child was safe in her arms at least. For the first time in many years, Keesha’s heart went out to Jason and Carly, but especially Carly, no mother should suffer this kind of pain.
***************************************
The Blue Star Motel
Michael sat nervously on the edge of his bed, jumping slightly as the door rapped sharply. Michael glanced through the side window and opened the door, relieved as Andrea entered with a backpack. Locking the door behind them, Michael motioned for her to sit on the bed. Andrea said nothing but complied as she sat, putting her bag on the floor beside her feet.
"Thanks for coming, I know this is really confusing for you, I’m glad you trusted me enough."
Andrea nodded slowly, waiting patiently for him to continue.
"I’m just going to come right out and say it okay?"
Andrea nodded again, giving him a small smile for encouragement.
"Tonight, I found out that my Dad is not my biological father. A.J. Quartermaine is."
Andrea’s eyes widened as her mouth opened slightly with shock, "oh my God! Michael, how?"
"I was at the Quartermaines house with Spencer and Mary and we found a court order for a paternity test for me. We dismissed it, but I wanted to find out myself, so Mary and one of her friends and I went to the hospital and found out. I don’t know what to do, I mean, I can’t go home, not right now."
Andrea shook her head slowly, "oh, Michael, so this is why you’ve been acting so strangely?" she asked and Michael nodded, the tears and sadness began to well up in him again as Andrea took his hand gently.
"I’m so sorry this happened. What do you need from me, I’ll do anything."
Michael closed his eyes as the tears fell, "just stay with me for a bit, I don’t want to be alone right now," he said hoarsely.
"Oh, Michael," Andrea said softly as she embraced him as Michael’s face crumpled. He turned to her, hugging her fiercely as if she was his only lifeline as the sobs became louder.
"Why? Why is this happening to me? What did I do wrong?" Michael weeped as Andrea attempted to soothe him, rubbing his back gently.
"Let it out honey, just let it all out," she whispered into his ear as her own tears began to fall silently, his pain was her pain and she’d do anything to relieve his.
**********************************************
Carly slowly opened the door to Spencer’s room and quietly wandered over to him. She knew he was there, but she needed to check, one last time. She sat gingerly on his bed and watched his peaceful face sleep as the moonlight filtered through the window into the dark bedroom. Carly gently reached out and traced the outline of his face. He stirred slightly as it tickled him, but he didn’t wake up. She lovingly brushed his light hair on his forehead before turning to see Jason standing beside her. She smiled at him, her lower lip quivering as Jason held out his hand for her to take. Taking it, she rose as Jason led her to Spencer’s desk chair, near the foot of his bed. Jason carefully placed it beside Spencer’s bed and sat down, pulling Carly into his lap. Carly rested her head on his shoulder, his head in turn rested gently against her head. Jason wrapped his arms firmly around her waist as Carly rested her hands on his forearm. The two sat quietly, holding each other, comforting each other without uttering one word as they watched their youngest son breathe deeply and sleep soundly through the night.
*******************************************
"Will you stay with me tonight?," Michael asked softly as Andrea gently brushed his tears away from his cheek.
Andrea nodded without hesitation, "I left a note for my parents saying I’d call and for them not to worry. I think they kind of expected me to come to you. They’ll be mad when I do go home, but I’m not going to worry about that right now."
Michael smiled, relieved, glad that she’d stay. "Thank you," he said as he stroked her face gently.
"You look tired, you should sleep."
Michael nodded as he laid back down onto the bed. Andrea clicked off the lights and quickly kicked off her shoes and coat. She laid down quietly next to him, so they were face to face on the bed. Through the darkness, Andrea began gently stroking his cheek as she murmured soothing words to him. Within a few minutes, Michael fell into exhausted sleep and not too long after, Andrea joined him.
****************************************
The next morning
Mary thumped sleepily down the stairs, it had been a long and restless night. As she entered the living room, she could tell she hadn’t been the only one to suffer a sleepless night. Bobbie had come by after seeing Jason and Carly and was sitting with Monica and Alan, trying to reassure their fears. Mary wandered to where Cook had laid out some breakfast snacks and grabbed some orange juice and a bagel. She munched on it hungrily, her thoughts drifting to Michael’s unknown whereabouts. Unlike the others, Mary knew very well Michael hadn’t been kidnapped as everyone else suspected, still, she worried for his safety. Mary’s thoughts were quickly interrupted by the doorbell.
"Got it!," she called as she gulped down the last of her juice and headed to the door.
Mary’s eyes bulged at the sight before her.
"Ned! You came!" she shouted excitedly. Ned’s eyes twinkled as he gave Mary a tired smile before giving her a warm hug.
"Mary, you beautiful thing, how are you?" Ned struggled with some bags as he entered the house as the remainder of the family rushed into the main hall.
Mary craned her neck around Ned, "where’s Lois and the kids?"
Ned whirled around, "Lois is grabbing Robert out of his seat but the girls were right behind me."
"Girls!" Ned called, "Front and center!"
Out of nowhere came a loud shriek and was immediately followed by loud wailing. Ned sighed, his shoulders sagging as Lois quickly followed with Robert, hand in hand as Monica quickly hugged Lois and swooped Robert in her arms.
"Lois, you look wonderful and Robert looks exactly like Ned, right down to the dimples!" Monica gushed as the family greeted the newly arrived Ashtons.
Ned turned to Monica worried, "Brooke’s away in France on some exchange with her school, but she sends her love. Girls! Oh Lord, they’ve probably disappeared, I’d better not find them in Grandmother’s rose garden like last time."
"Morgan! Rayven! Natalie! Let’s go!"
Morgan was the first to appear, sullen with dark eyes carrying her favorite possession, her journal as she wandered up the front step, brushing past Mary.
Mary gave Ned a curious look, Ned simply rolled his eyes, "she didn’t want to come and visit, she’s going through some phase."
Rayven appeared looking guilty, her blue eyes pleading innocence as the loud crying followed close behind. Natalie came around the bush, her face red and full of upset tears. Ned frowned, "what happened, Rayven?"
Rayven’s eyes lit up in surprise, "I don’t know what happened Dad, she’s just being a cry baby," she said defensively as Natalie shook her head vigorously.
"She pushed me! I fell and hurt my elbow!" Natalie accused Rayven angrily as she clutched onto her father’s hand for protection.
Rayven narrowed her eyes at Natalie, "tattle tale!" Natalie responded by sticking her tongue out defiantly.
Ned squatted in front of Rayven as he pulled his youngest daughters close, "listen girls, you know how Mommy and I don’t like it when you play rough. People get hurt, so I don’t want to see any of that from now on okay?" Both girls nodded before Ned continued, "Rayven, you’re ten, you know better than to push Natalie, even if she made you mad, she’s only six." Rayven nodded, biting her lower lip.
"Sorry," she said in a small voice, keeping her head down. Natalie gave her a watery smile before wiping her tears.
"Thank you Rayven, now why don’t you take your sister inside for something to eat okay?" Ned rose as Rayven reluctantly took her sister’s hand and the two wandered into the house.
"Man, how do you get away from that?" Mary asked Lois in awe.
Lois gave Mary a wry grin, "easy, rollerblades."
*******************************************
Michael woke with a start, which in turn woke up Andrea. The two were now lying spoon style, Michael with one arm secured over Andrea’s waist, his hand laced in one of her’s. Andrea shifted slightly in her place to turn and grin at Michael sleepily. Michael, keeping his arm around her, propped himself up with the other and gazed down at Andrea.
"Hey," she said softly.
"Hey, what time is it?" Michael asked.
Andrea checked her wrist watch and gasped, "Michael, it’s almost noon!"
Jumping out of bed, the two quickly gathered their things together before taking quick showers. Andrea emerged from the washroom, combing her slightly damp hair when Michael came back into the room with coffee and some fruit.
"It was all they had, we missed the continental breakfast," he said apologetically as the two sat at the small table.
"So, what next?" Andrea asked a few minutes later as the two ate hungrily.
Michael sighed, "I guess I should go home," he said reluctantly as he gulped his last bit of coffee.
"What about Mary? Maybe you should talk to her first."
Michael nodded slowly before grabbing the phone and dialed the familiar number.
"Hey Mary, it’s me."
"Michael!! Where are you?" Mary’s eyes bulged as she quickly exited the main entrance and wandered down the front path for privacy.
"I’m okay and I’m with Andrea, I’m sorry I didn’t call sooner. What’s up on your end?"
Mary sighed with relief, "good, Andrea’s with you. Kevin Collins came by a few minutes ago, he looked ready to explode, he wasn’t too happy. Anycase, Ned and Lois came early and their going by your parents place in a few minutes."
Mary turned and glanced around her as she sat on the stone bench to ensure secrecy, "Michael, I already told your parents the truth, tell me you’re not TOO pissed," she asked, preparing for the worst.
"It’s okay, I’m actually glad someone else did it instead of me, how’d they take it?" Michael bit his lower lip anxiously.
Mary frowned slightly from remembering the night before, "I dunno, they didn’t really react to it, I guess maybe they were in shock but Justus FREAKED! You parents are really worried about you though."
Michael’s mouth dropped slightly as a confused expression washed over him, "they didn’t say ANYTHING?"
Mary shifted in her seat, "no, not really, maybe they just weren’t hearing me or something. I thought it was weird, but maybe that’s just me," Mary said uneasily.
Michael shrugged as he tried to put his nagging suspicions out of his mind, "okay thanks. I think I’ll probably head home, face the music."
"You want me to come with?"
Michael shook his head, "nah, I’ve got Andrea with me but thanks anyway. I’ll call you tonight okay?"
Mary nodded slowly, "okay, take care Michael."