Secrets Revealed
Chapter 11: The One You Love


The hospital in El Paso

It’s been ten hours since the doctor updated them on Maxie’s
condition. Jason hasn’t left. He’s ignored the curious glances Mac and
Felicia have thrown in his direction and the not so subtle remarks Luke
has made. He knows that he shouldn’t be here. But when he thinks
about leaving, every instinct in his body tells him to stay. He can’t
shake the thought that if he’s not there she will simply slip away.

It’s stupid he know. But its how he feels, so he stays, waiting
outside intensive care in the waiting room. He is so deeply withdrawn
into himself that he doesn’t notice Felicia standing in front of him.
When he does, he finds himself uncharacteristically nervous. Almost
shy. The resemblance to Maxie is startling.

“Do you want to sit with her?” Felicia asks. It is the last thing Jason expected her to say. He is about to protest, when she stops him.

“Mac went down to the police station to check on the
investigation. I know that you were there when she was shot. You’ve
been sitting out here since we arrived. What I want to know is why?
What is the relationship between you and my daughter?”

A cool mask comes over Jason’s face. “Your daughter saved
my nephew’s life. That is the extent of my interest.”

“You’re lying you know. It’s okay Jason. I know why you are
here. It’s because you still love her.”

Jason is in shock. Did Maxie tell her mother about that
Christmas in New York? Did Felicia know that her daughter had been
his lover?

“I know that you still love Robin. You’re still looking out for
her family.” Felicia continued.

Jason breathed again.

“If you want to see her, you can. She’s still unconscious, but
she can hear you.”

He’s prepared to say no. He means to say no. But somehow he
finds himself saying yes and entering the intensive care unit.

Felicia watches him go and sighs. Jason Morgan was in love
with her daughter. Her instincts had been right. God knew how she
would prepare Mac for this bit of information. But first she would wait
for Maxie to recover and find out for herself how her daughter felt
about the mob boss.


The private jet of Nikolas Cassadine
Somewhere over the Eastern Seaboard

Lucky sighs with frustration as he watches Stephanie sleeping
quietly on the couch on the other side of the cabin. Despite the fact
that it was her idea to leave her father behind in El Paso, Stephanie
had broken down and cried when they had said goodbye to Nikolas at
the airport. The parting between himself and Nikolas had been tense
and uncomfortable and left him feeling stressed. He had no clue what
Nikolas was going to do now that he knew the truth about Jonathan.
Added to that, his attempt to talk to Emily over the phone had been
futile. She had been overjoyed at his news that he was bringing
Jonathan back to Port Charles but evasive when he had asked how she
was.

That was when he knew with a certainty that something was
very wrong. He had always been able to tell when she was hiding
something. He and Jonathan were fine. She would be worried about
Nikolas’s reaction, but she wouldn’t keep those fears from him. So it
had to be the baby. Something was wrong with the baby. He didn’t
want to lose another baby. The first miscarriage had almost torn Emily
apart. Don’t let anything happen to Emily or the baby he silently
prayed.

He felt Jonathan’s hand on his and looked up. “Mom will be
okay.” Jonathan whispered.

Lucky smiled. “How did you know I was worried about your
mother?”

“Because you have that look on your face. The same kind of
look she gets when she worries about you.”

“You have pretty sharp eyes for a kid,” Lucky ruffled
Jonathan’s head affectionately.

Jonathan sobered up. “Not sharp enough. If I had been paying
attention that morning on the beach they would never have caught me,
Diablo would still be alive, Stephanie’s grandparents would still be
alive, and we would be safe from Nikolas Cassadine.”

Lucky looked at his son sharply. “First, you are not to blame
for what happened at the beach. And I’m very proud of how you kept
it together through everything. I don’t think I could have done so well.
Second, what did you mean about Nikolas?”

Jonathan’s eyes were glued on his feet. “You told him didn’t
you? He knows I’m his son. I could tell by the way he kept looking at
me. I don’t like him. I don’t like the way he treats Stephanie. Did you
know he doesn’t let her go to school? She has to be tutored. How can
a kid like Stephanie make friends if she’s not allowed to go to school.
It sounds cold and creepy to me.” Jonathan said defiantly.

“It sounds like the Cassadine method of raising a child,” Lucky
agrees. “And yes I did tell Nikolas that biologically he is your father
because he deserved to know why his daughter was missing and his
in-laws were killed. But I also told him that in every way that really
matters you are my son. I love you. I love your mother. We are a
family. And we will remain a family.”

“Will he let us? His grandmother kills people because she wants me. She doesn’t care who
she hurts to get at me. Maybe he’s the same way.”

“Nikolas is nothing like Helena. Nothing. I don’t know what
will happen now that he’s learned about you. It wouldn’t surprise me
if he wanted to get to know you better. Maybe the three of us can
spend some time together when he gets back to Port Charles”
Lucky suggested carefully. He had seen first hand how a child custody
case could tear a family apart with Michael’s case. The last thing he
wanted was a Spencer-Cassadine feud to erupt over Jonathan.

But he also was not giving up his son. Not even to his brother.
Maybe if Nikolas can have a role in Jonathan’s life, they could all
have what they wanted.

Jonathan says nothing but leans against his dad’s shoulder.

“What happens if Helena comes after me again? She’s still out
there isn’t she?”

Lucky nods and Jonathan continues. “Do you hate me for
being her great grandson? For being a Cassadine?”

Lucky’s reply comes without hesitation. “I love you. Every
part of you. And if you think being a Cassadine is scary, wait till you
meet the Quartermaines.”

Jonathan giggles.

Lying on the couch across the cabin with a blanket pulled
around her, Stephanie Cassadine lies quietly, her eyes wide open and
listening carefully.


Port Charles
The Airport

“You know they’re going to stick us with babysitting?” Ruby
Spencer adjusted her headphones as she looked at her cousin.


“God Spencer, you’re doing it again jumping to conclusions.
All your mom and my grandmother asked us to do was pick Lucky
and the kids up from the airport and take them to the hospital. What
are you complaining about?”

“Jesus Michael, you must be the most trusting Quartermaine I
know -it’s almost unnatural. I only hope Edward knows what he’s
doing when he leaves the company in your nimble fingers.”

“Please don’t remind me. I’ve spent most of my life trying to
convince the old man that business is not a genetically inherited trait.
Who knows, maybe now that he has a new great grandson to throw
into the ELQ lion’s den he’ll let me escape.”

“Please don’t remind me,” Ruby glared at Michael, “ of the
newly ordained brat. I’m already tired of hearing his name. Mom even
made me put new sheets on the spare bedroom so that Jonathan
doesn’t have to sleep on old sheets. It’s bad enough the grown ups are
keeping us out of whatever is wrong with Emily, now they are going
to make us spend the rest of the day babysitting the newest Spencer
and Stephanie.”

“Ruby Spencer- I do believe that you jealous.”

“Jealous? Me?” Ruby sputtered the words.

“Greener than a pickle Spencer. It makes sense. All of these
years of being the youngest and now suddenly there’s a Spencer child
to give you competition.”

“That’s ridiculous. I’m no more jealous of Jonathan than I am
of Stephanie.”

“But Stephanie is not a “Spencer” and Nikolas keeps her on
that island of his most of the time anyway. You’re jealous that
Jonathan is a better Spencer than you are.”

“I am not.”

“I mean I could see why you would be worried. The kid’s
spent most of his life on the run which is definitely a Spencer thing to
do. And he’s been raised by Lucky who knows the vaunted Spencer
rules. And I heard my mom say that it was Jonathan that escaped from
Helena and saved Stephanie. Very Spencerish. And all you do is play
pranks at school that get you suspended. Somewhat Spencerish.”

“I am not jealous.....” Ruby begins but is interrupted by a
familiar voice.

“Ruby!” Ruby turns around and finds herself caught in a hug.


“Welcome home again big brother,” Ruby whispered. Lucky
held her at arms length. “You know the other day I didn’t really
notice, but you are the living image of mom.”

“Too bad she doesn’t have Laura’s sweet nature or ability to
cook,” Michael says gleefully.

Ruby elbows him in the stomach. Lucky pretends not to notice.
He turns around to the two children standing behind him.

Ruby smiles at Stephanie. “Hi kiddo.” Stephanie gives Ruby a
hug.

Lucky pulls Jonathan closer to Ruby and Michael.

“Jonathan,” He says to the boy. “I’d like you to meet two very
important people. This is my youngest sister your Aunt Ruby. And this
youth who is close to getting as tall as his aunt is your cousin Michael
Quartermaine. Your mother and his father are brother and sister.”

“Hi!” Jonathan says somewhat hesitantly.

“You look just like my Aunt Emily,” Michael says coming
forward to greet his cousin warmly. “Emily told us some of the
adventures the three of you had. It sounds like a blast in more ways
than one.”

“And you should have seen the way he saved me in Texas,”
Stephanie begins nervously. She wants Ruby and Michael to see how
great Jonathan is. She wants her brother (he is her brother if what she
overheard on the plane is true) she wants him to have so many friends
and like Port Charles so much that he won’t ever want to leave it or to
leave her. Because sometime after overhearing Lucky and Jonathan
talk, Stephanie promised herself that she had said her last goodbye
ever. She had lost her mom, her baby brother, and now her
grandparents. She wasn’t going to lose Jonathan. “We jumped off the
roof and into the tree house and the men were shooting at us as we
ran. Then he tapped into a bank’s computer and got us money and
he..”

“I think that’s enough Stephanie.” Lucky said smiling at his
son. “Considering that red isn’t naturally the color of Jonathan’s skin,
I’d say that you were embarrassing him. So why are the two of you
here to pick us up? Not that I mind seeing you two, but I was looking
forward to seeing my wife.”

Ruby and Michael exchanged glances.

“Ruby?” Lucky’s heart stopped beating.


“Mom asked us to pick you up. They didn’t want to leave
Emily alone at the hospital and.”

“Hospital? Emily’s at GH? What happened?” As he speaks
Lucky is holding fast to Jonathan’s hand and leading everyone through
the airport.

“She collapsed at the house yesterday. She stopped breathing.
Monica Quartermaine was there and she did rescue breathing and
called the paramedics. She’s okay now but....” Ruby stopped as she
realized her brother was no longer listening to her.

“Where’s your car?” Lucky begins looking around the
crowded lot. “Forget it,” He says after a minute grabbing the nearest
Taxi instead. “You two take Stephanie back to Mom and Dad’s and
watch her. Jonathan and I are heading straight for the hospital.”

A minute or so later, Ruby watches the taxi speed away.

“I told you we would end up babysitting.” She said to Michael
as they made their way to Michael’s car.

“I am not a baby,” Stephanie said.

“Of course not,” Ruby replied. “You just act like one a lot.”

“I do not.” Stephanie began but Ruby interrupted her. “Forget
it squirt. I’m glad you’re home and I’m glad you’re safe.”

“So what did you think of your nephew Aunt Ruby,” Michael
asked as they followed Stephanie. “I liked him.”

“He was okay- for a Quartermaine.” Ruby replied.

“Don’t sweat it Rubes- you’re still my favorite Spencer.”

Ruby didn’t reply, her mind was already thinking about what
Stephanie had said about Jonathan’s tapping into the bank computers.
If the kid was good at computers, maybe they could use him to break
the code on that disk they stole out of Katherine Bell’s warehouse. So
far she and Michael had been unsuccessful in unlocking the security
code.

“So Stephanie,” Ruby says to her niece as they get into
Michael’s car. “Tell me some more about Jonathan.”

The hospital in El Paso

She looked more dead than alive Jason thought as he looked at
Maxie lying on the hospital bed, almost lost in the mass of tubes, IV’s,
and monitors that connected her to the bank of machines surrounding
her. Only the steady rhythm of those machines told Jason that Maxie
was still in there. Still fighting.

He pulled up a chair next to her and reached for her hand,
noting the paleness of her long slender fingers. He remembered what
those fingers had felt like caressing him. Touching him. Loving him.
Slapping him.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered the words softly as he fought for
control. “I’m sorry that Katherine Bell hurt you. I’m sorry that I didn’t see her in time to stop
her. God Maxie I’m going crazy worrying over you. I want you here. I need you here. I need
to know that you are
somewhere in this world even if we can never be together. I can’t
make it without knowing that you are living the life you were meant to
live.”

“Do you ever think about that weekend in New York? That
Christmas when you woke up in my arms. You have no idea what an
incredible gift you gave me. You made me live again. You made me
feel again. You gave me a reason to hope again. And then I destroyed
it. I destroyed whatever we could have had together with my stupid
accusations. I didn’t mean them. I didn’t believe them. Not then and
not now. You may have lied about your name but everything else
about that time was real and honest. And it scared me. It scared me
because I knew that my loving you would have destroyed you
eventually, just like it destroyed Robin.”

“I’m not who you deserve Maxie Jones. And you are so much
more than I deserve. You deserve the best. You always have. And the
best isn’t me. You deserve someone who still has hopes and dreams
for the future. My dream at the moment is to find Helena Cassadine
and make her pay for hurting Emily. Then I’m going to find Katherine
Bell and make her pay for hurting you. That’s what I do Maxie. I run a
business where people are killed. At my order. By my hand. It’s my
world. It shouldn’t be yours.”

Jason sighs. “I will never say this when you are awake. I will
never even allow myself to think it again. But I wish things were
different. I wish I could be the man you spent your life with.”

The only response is the steady hum of the machinery that
echoes through the room.



Port Charles
GH


Lucky spots his mother and Monica almost as soon as he gets
off the fifth floor elevator talking to Tony Jones. He guides Jonathan towards them.

“Mom? Where’s Emily What happened?” He demands.

Laura looks up at her son’s voice and then finds her attention
focused on the tall and gangly youth standing beside him quietly. Her
grandson. Nikolas’s son. No, she thought as Lucky put his arm around
the boy, Lucky’s son. The boy Luke had lied to her to protect. The
child Emily had sacrificed everything to keep safe. The pawn that
Helena wanted to use. Jonathan. Her grandson.

For Monica, it was like being taken on a trip back through
time. She was looking at Emily as a child. The same eyes. The same
height. The same facial expressions. But the confidence. The ability to
look the world in the eye. Emily had never had that as a child. It was a
look that said I can cope with anything I have to cope with. It was the
same look she had seen on Emily’s face when she showed up at the
mansion the other day.

Jonathan walked up to the two women. “Are you my
grandmother?”

Laura laughed with delight. “We both are. I’m your Grandma
Laura and this is your Grandma Monica. You are very lucky because
you get to have two grandmothers and we are very lucky because we
get to share you.” Tears formed in her eyes. “I am so sorry that I
missed watching you grow up.” Jonathan finds himself enveloped in a
joint hug between his two grandmothers.

Feeling like he is about to be smothered, Jonathan is grateful
when his father interrupts.

“Where is Emily?”

Laura looks at her son sadly, then turns back to Jonathan.
“Would you like to see your mother? I’m sure she wants to see you.
She’s been talking about how brave and smart and wonderful you are.
Why don’t I take you to see your mother while your dad talks to the
doctor for a moment?”

“Can I Dad?” Jonathan asks. Lucky nods and waits until Laura
and Jonathan have walked away, before turning to Monica and Tony.

“Now somebody had better tell me what’s wrong with my wife
and they better tell me quick.”

“Let’s go into my office,” Tony says.

Trying hard not to let his fear show, Lucky follows Tony into
his office.

Fifteen minutes later, a very subdued Lucky quietly opens the
door to the private room his wife is staying in. She is sitting up, her
back against the headstand, her son pulled quietly into her lap a feat
that Jonathan’s size makes difficult but Emily manages anyway. Her
head is downcast, her sable hair falling in front of her face. Her hand is gently stroking
Jonathan’s back.

Lucky stops in the doorway, overwhelmed with emotion. She
is the woman he loves. He knows every inch of her body, every dream
in her soul, and every thought in her mind. He loves her in ways that
he never imagined he could love somebody. It would destroy him to
lose her.

It would destroy her to lose their child.

There has to be another way. There has to be.

He moves silently to her side and pulls up a chair. She finally
looks up, her eyes full of love and gratitude.

“I think he fell asleep.”

“He’s had a tough couple of days.” He reaches for her hand
and closes his eyes, feeling that old sense of connection that they’ve
always had.

“Thank you for bringing him back.”

“I told you that I would.”

“I know and I didn’t doubt it. But I was so scared for you and
for him. I love you.”

“God, you have no idea how badly I needed to hear you say
those words. As worried as I was about Jonathan and what Helena
would do and how Nikolas would react, I missed you almost every
second. I missed your smile, your touch, your warmth, all of it. I love
you so damned much” Lucky’s voice broke on the last word.

Emily looked at her husband in dawning realization. “They told
you didn’t they?”

Lucky nodded. “I just left Tony Jones’ office.” He traced a
finger up and dawn her arms in a caress that linked two bodies where
two souls were already connected. “I’m sorry that I wasn’t here for
you yesterday.”

“You were with our son. And you are here now. That’s all that
matters.” A pause. “I’m sorry. Sorry that I’m sick. Sorry that I’m
forcing us to make this decision. Sorry that..”

“Shhh,” Lucky wiped a tear with his finger and then kissed the
cheek. He slides next to her on the hospital bed and pulls her close,
careful not to wake up the still sleeping Jonathan. “I would give
anything to make this better, but I’m not sorry for any other part of
our lives together. I would chose this moment with you, with our son,
over anything else or anyone else this world has to offer. From the
moment I saw you at Lila’s funeral, you have been my soul, my heart,
and my very essence.”

“How are we supposed to make it through this? How do we
make a decision like this?” Emily says heavily.

“The same way we’ve made it through everything Helena
throws at us. The same way we will make it through whatever
Nikolas says or does. The same way we make it through everything.
As a family. Loving each other. Talking to each other. Trusting each
other.” Lucky voice was gentle and loving. “We’ll be okay as long we
love each other.”

“What did I do to deserve you Lucky Spencer,” Emily’s voice
took on a drowsy note as the familiar warmth of her husbands arms,
the soft breathing of her son, and the stillness of the room conspired to make her drowsy. That
and the fact that she hadn’t slept very well last night.

“You saved me Emily Bowen Quartermaine Spencer. You
took away the loneliness, the bitterness, and the misery and replaced it
with love, faith, happiness, and a family.”

Lucky’s answer is a gentle shift as Emily draws closer to him
in her sleep. Lucky smiles and knows again what he has known for six
years. Home isn’t a place. It’s a person. Three people actually. Emily,
Jonathan, and his unborn child are his home. There has to be a way to
keep all three of them safe.

God he hopes so.

El Paso-Texas
The Law Offices of Scribner and Hamilton

Joseph Scribner, senior partner, looks at the man sitting in
front of him. He doesn’t know what good fortune has brought Nikolas
Cassadine to him for legal advice, but he is determined not to lose his
chance at gaining the attention of such a powerful and influential
client. Scribner and Hamilton is one of the best and most respected
law firms in the state of Texas. With Nikolas Cassadine as a client,
they could be one of the best in the nation if not the world.

“If you’re facts are accurate,” Scribner reviewed his hastily
taken notes. “Then I’d say you have an excellent chance at being
awarded partial custody and open visitation with your son. The boy’s
mother and stepfather conspired to keep his existence a secret for
more than a decade. No judge is going to let them continue to keep
you out of your son’s life.”


Nikolas sat back, satisfied with the answer. Then he leaned
forward. “And what are my chances if I want full custody of my son.”

“Again, I’d have to say excellent. Mrs. Spencer has a history of
drug abuse and ties to a well known mob figure. From what you’ve
told me, we could easily persuade a judge that the Spencers have not
provided a stable home environment for your son.”

Nikolas nodded.

“Do you want me to file the paperwork to begin a custody
motion. I could easily fly to Port Charles and take care of the matter
for you.”

Nikolas shakes his head. “I will need to think this over. I will be in touch.”

Nikolas walks out of the lawyers office. Full custody. He could
have full custody of his son. His son. A boy to follow in his footsteps.

A boy who might just hate him for taking him away from his
home. Would the risk be worth it? Might Jonathan eventually learn to
love him? He had so much to offer.

He had to think carefully about what his next step would be.


From across the street Luke Spencer watched his stepson.
Those were not the lawyers handling the Stewart estate. Something
told him that the meeting Nikolas had with those lawyers was not
business, but personal. His eyes narrowed. He had grown to tolerate,
almost like, Nikolas over the years. He was a good father to his
daughter Stephanie. But he would not let Nikolas take Lucky’s son
away from him. Jonathan and Emily and Lucky were a family. No one
was going to interfere with that. Not Nikolas Cassadine. Not Helena
Cassadine. Not anyone.

Putting out his cigarette, Luke continued to follow Nikolas
down the street.