Being snowed in had its perks and horrible downfalls. Cabin fever was a big one as 72h stuck in the house, not by my own choosing, felt like torture and was therefore the worst downfall. Boredom set in quickly. So, as usual, Batel gave me a ONE SHOT prompt. #DavisGirls.
I had a first draft that I hated, and actually went back and reread it to create this second longer draft... that I have NOT read. Of course, since #GH is incapable of following through with anything or having meaningful conversations, I've put an S on my Chest and have written how I believe a couple of conversations would have played out on our screens.
Enjoy and please take a moment to leave a review. Thanks.
Snowed In
"What do you mean you're stuck at the hotel," Alexis rolled her eyes as she looked out the kitchen window.
It was snowing. Heavily. Under normal circumstances she would not have encouraged driving in such poor weather conditions, but she was lonely in that big house alone. One of the reasons she had not rebuilt the lake house after the explosion was because she knew that with her kids all of out the house - with the exception of Molly, whom she had hoped would never leave her - she could not bear to see all of those empty rooms and hallways. So, she bunked with her eldest with whom she always loved sharing accommodations; it was a second chance to an experience that they had never shared as she grew up. She took whatever she could get.
But then Sam moved out to be with Patrick, then Julian bought this big beautiful house to accommodate their growing family. Her children all came home for the holidays as she always loved which made the last couple of weeks absolute bliss; nothing was more satisfying and rewarding to a person who had grown up without a true family than to be surrounded by the love of the woman she had created. She was happy... until this very moment.
"Julian, come on! This is upstate New York, we get snow all the time. It's as common as a mob war on the pi-," she stopped. "Okay, fine, you're right. That wasn't funny and it was probably in poor taste. I'm just... I'll miss you tonight. With you stuck at the MetroCourt, Molly off in the dorms, Sam back in her penthouse, and Kristina spending her last couple of nights with Sam, this is the first time in a really long time that I have a house to myself. I think the empty nest syndrome is starting to kick-"
"Mom?!"
She smiled widely at the sound that came from the living room. "Okay, so about that empty nest syndrome, forget about it for now, honey," she said ecstatically. Hearing her eldest daughter's voice, followed by footsteps she was able to distinguish as belonging to Danny, Kristina, and Molly, she put down her wine glass and made her way out to the living room. "My babies haven't abandoned me," she told him. "Yes, I am laying it on thick for you," she laughed into the phone, while easily scooping her grandson up into her arms with her free hand. She pressed a kiss onto his tiny lips. "While you're over there bored out of your mind in what had better be an empty hotel room," she rolled her eyes when he joked that Olivia was actually not at the hotel that evening. "That was not even remotely funny considering what happened the last time-" she stopped. "Apology accepted. Anyway, please be careful out there when you come home tomorrow." Feeling Danny's unevenly distributed weight in her arm, she carefully lowered him back onto the floor and knelt to help him remove his coat. "I love you too, honey. Here, Danny wants to tell you hi." She held the phone out to him.
"Hi Grandpa," Danny excitedly greeted the man then promptly handed it back to his grandmother. He ran over to his toybox. "Bye Grandpa!"
"Man of few words," Alexis laughed. Noticing that he had disconnected the call, she threw the phone onto the couch and approached her daughters. "I'm so happy to see you, babies," she held her arms open for the girls. "But do I want to know how you four got here?" she asked once she released them only to take hold of each of their faces from youngest to oldest and press kisses onto their foreheads. When she reached Sam, she shook her head. "Since you're the only one with a truck, let me guess? You drove through a blizzard."
Sam rolled her eyes. "Dad texted me when we were on our way over here from Mario's. He said you would be alone since he's stuck at the MetroCourt." When the woman raised an eyebrow, she continued. "Mom, seriously, it wasn't that bad coming over here. We left the pizza shop just when the snow storm really started."
"But honey, your apartment is far closer to there than here," she sighed. "I would've hated if you guys had-"
"Geez, Mom, relax," Molly poked her in her side. "The storm is coming this way. We didn't drive through it; we drove away from it. I mean, it's obviously snowing heavily out, but Sam's place, like the MetroCourt was already starting to get pummeled. We totally just missed it."
"Okay fine," Alexis resigned. "At least you're here and in one piece. That's all that matters."
"Plus we with the pizza, we brought wine and popcorn," Kristina noted as she made her way toward the kitchen to retrieve the bottle opener. She stopped and placed the bottles onto the dining room table. "The Davis Girl trifecta."
"And let's not forget milk and cookies for the kiddies," Sam joked before ducking to miss Molly's smack to the back of her head. "You know, I liked it better when you were shorter than me." She walked away with a chuckle, but not before goosing the teen. "You were cuter then, too."
"Ugh, you're so annoying sometime," Molly hissed. When she went to retaliate against her older sister whose back was now to her as she retrieved the two pizza pies from the ledge, she felt her mother grab hold of her arm. "Mom!"
But without responding to her, Alexis merely pointed a warning finger, then moved to wear her grandson sat on the floor quietly playing; she ruffled his hair. He was such a good boy. Watching him, she always wondered if his temperament was anything like Sam's when she was his age... or would have been like had she raised her. The girls loved to joke that Danny was a miniature Jason in that he was his spitting image and he was incredibly quiet, but secretly she prayed that was not the case; she did not want her grandson to be anything like Jason Morgan. She could accept Jason Quartermaine, as the man had been brilliant and kind; the mob enforcer was... he was not the person she wanted her grandson to become.
Of course, she realized how hypocritical she was being given that she was engaged to her grandson's grandfather, the former head of the Jerome Family. But, like her feelings for Jason's more homicidal characteristics and proclivities toward all things illegal, she did not want her grandson to take from Julian anything that would lead him down the road the man had to take. She did not want the violent world of which their family was a part to influence him in any way - except, of course, it was toward good.
She wanted nothing but the best for this little boy. She wanted everything that she would have liked to have given to Sam to be given to him. She wanted him to attend the best schools, to have the best opportunities available to him, and to have a heart that is filled with love and gentleness rather than the hate and thirst for vengeance that was concentrated in his Cassadine-Jerome-Quartermaine blood filled veins. This little Davis Boy, as he was referred, would be greater than them all, she decided.
"How is my most favorite little bo- grandson in the whole wide world doing today?" she asked him.
"Good," he said with a smile.
She loved this child with every fiber of her being and she was not afraid to show it; she spoiled him and tended to his every need. He had her wrapped so tightly around his little finger, she was certain he knew he could get away with just about anything with her. Unfortunately, given that Leo now existed in their lives, she found that she needed to curb the hyperbolic speeches she made when it came to doting on her grandson. Calling him the best little boy or the greatest little Davis boy that ever lived when his uncle was a baby who would soon begin to understand her, was not fair; she did not want to make Leo feel inferior in anyway. He was her fiancé's beautiful baby boy; regardless of her feelings toward his mother's very present and intrusive existence, she had quite easily chosen to open her heart to him.
"So Dan, how would you like Grandma to make you some hot chocolate?" She cooed into his ear.
But well-versed in the disaster that was his grandmother's and his mother's cooking, Danny shook his head in response. "Is Grandpa coming home?" he asked. "I like his hot chocolate better."
"Grandpa is actually not going to be able to come home tonight, buddy. He's stuck at work because of all this snow. But Grandma is-"
"No, thank you," he nonchalantly replied as he resumed playing with his cars.
"Well, if you change your mind, you know Grandma is right here," she tried once again. She leaned behind him and blew a raspberry into his cheek. "She'll even taste the chocolate before giving it to you... if you change your mind." She pursed her lips at the snickering that came from the couch where Sam, Kristina, and Molly were piled. "Enough from the peanut gallery," she pointed a finger at them. "The last time I checked none of you were Julia Childs in the kitchen."
"That may be so, but some of us in this room are able to boil liquids without starting a fire," Kristina dryly answered the woman while making a very pointed gesture with her chin toward her older sister whose cooking skills rivaled their mother's. "I'm just saying-"
"Oh, we know what you're saying, Kristina," Sam said with a roll of her eyes. "But I'll have you know that not too long ago I made a delicious truffle risotto for-" she stopped. She did not want to mention Patrick's name in front of Danny. Her son was still getting accustomed to living back at the penthouse and not seeing the man. Bringing him up would only confuse him. "Well, for P-A-T-R-I-C-K and my first-" She stopped and bit her lip. "You know-"
Never shy to making her sisters and mother blush, Molly leaned over Kristina to poke at Sam. "Romp in the sack? Steamy lovemaking? Back-breaking-"
"Ok, enough out of you," Alexis said with a playful swat to the teen's bottom. "There are little ears in this room..." She leaned over her baby. She pointed to herself. "Mine."
"Hey, the least you can give me is my imagination since I'm never having S-E-X," she called out to her mother as the woman exited through the kitchen door
"Considering what I walked in on between you and TJ, let's see how long that little vow lasts, Mol," Kristina muttered lowly enough for only her sisters to hear. It was well known to the girls that their mother's hearing was similar to that of a bat. And regardless of how modern and understanding the woman purported to be that her girls were all adults (or at least at the age of consent), the idea of her baby becoming a woman would have no other reaction than to cause her to hyperventilate. "You'll be howling like a -"
"Don't finish that sentence, Krissy," she whispered she said as she smacked her sister in the arm.
Like their mother, she did not want to think about her baby sister having sex. She could barely wrap her mind the fact that the teen was in a long term relationship, living on campus, and had a life independent of whatever the rest of their family was doing. Molly was her baby sister; the teen did not know a time when they were not siblings, and Sam could not remember a time not caring about the girl's well-being.
"Keep talking and I'll tell Mom about-"
"Snitches get stitches, Sam!" Kristina hissed. "That's the rule!
"And you're sitting between two sisters who are more than willing to give you some if you set Mom on a full scale neurotic diatribe about S-E-X in front of your nephew," she hissed back. "Neither Molly nor I want to spend the next few hours of being snowed in reviving her after she hyperventilates. So please..."
"You know I have a lot on you that I can tell her," she bluffed.
Leaning back against the couch, Sam ran her fingers through her hair as she rolled her eyes. "It never ceases to amaze me how you continue to think that I'm anywhere near your age, Krissy," she shook her head. "Besides, anything you have to tell Mom about me, she probably already knows."
Molly smirked, "It's amazing how much freer you are to share information with Mom when you're not tied to her bank account for your livelihood, Krissy." She paused. "I wonder how she'd feel about your school troubles and the money she's doling out each semester on you? Now that would be an interesting conversation."
Kristina took a moment to cut her eyes at Molly before turning her attention back to Sam. "So, you're fine with her getting all of that out, but I can't say anything about her having sex with TJ?!"
"Molly is actually making sense while you're just being a brat," Sam countered. "Quit putting your nose into her personal business, and maybe then she wouldn't have to remind you that your life isn't on the best of tracks right now."
"Nice," Kristina shook her head. "You two ganging up on me, real nice."
Alexis exited from the kitchen with the plates and the warmed up pizza. She would have asked them for help setting the table, but she could not help but to notice that the girls were in the middle of a tête-à-tête. Experience had taught her that was never a good thing. From the looks of things, it appeared to her that her eldest and youngest had joined sides while her middle child, ever the provocateur, looked angry and ready to burst..
"Geez," she muttered to herself with a roll of her eyes. She wished she could imitate her grandson who continued to play with his toys, completely unbothered and unaffected by the raging hormones mere feet from where he dragged his cars all over the floor. Alas, she could not. Placing the plates onto the table, she snuck behind them, leaned over the couch and whispered, "What's going on?"
"Jesus, Mom!" Molly jumped. "Don't do that!"
"Do what?" She smiled..
"Sneak up!" the teen rolled her eyes. "And I don't know why something always had to be going on? We're just having a sisterly chat."
She locked eyes with each of daughters. They all looked guilty and up to no good as far as she could tell.
"Hmm, I'm sure you were," Alexis winked. "Let's eat, huh? I'm certain the electricity is going to go out before the end of the night. I don't think Danny would appreciate the ambiance of dining by candlelight as much as the rest of us."
"Alright buddy, let's get you into your pajamas and into bed, huh?" Sam walked over to her son. "Let's put the toys away and say goodnight to Grandma, Auntie Krissy and Auntie Mol."
Doing as his mother had asked, and with her help, Danny dropped his cars into the box, then ran over to his two aunts to give them hugs before launching himself into his grandmother's arms. "'Night Grandma," he whispered into her ear.
"Good night, baby," Alexis smiled. She pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Sleep well, I love you."
"Love you, too," he replied as he gave her another hug.
Putting him down, she watched as he ran past her daughter and up the stairs. "Come on, Mommy!" she heard him squeal. Her heart swelled with pride at the sight of the two of them. She was beyond happy that Sam was able to experience the joys of motherhood. It pained her to think of the years that Sam had suffered after the death of her first child, and the pain in thinking that she would never have another one. The cards life had dealt her child were cruel and unfair. As she looked at the love she shared with Julian and the regrets they both had in not recognizing their connection as more than a teenage romp in the back seat of his car, she knew that they could have give their daughter the life that she had deserved. They could have fought the obstacles of teenage pregnancy and parenthood amidst the dysfunction of their respective families because the love that they shared for this child was greater than anything they had ever experienced. If she could have turned back the hands of time...
"We'll get the popcorn on before you come back, honey," she called out to the woman.
"Okay Mom," Sam called back. "Don't burn it!"
Kristina laughed aloud at the irony of the comment. It was not that Sam, who could not cook, was making fun of their mother's cooking; it was that popcorn happened to be the only thing that both women were any good at making. In fact, they were quite competitive in their styles and continuously provoked one another as to whose was best. For the sake of their own sanities, neither Kristina nor Molly would entertain their battles.
"I almost want to skip the popcorn if you too think you're going to argue all night about it," she warned.
"When do you leave to go back to school again?" Alexis asked in jest.
Molly looked up from her phone. She raised an eyebrow at her sister. "Yea, Kristina, when do you go back to school?"
The young woman cut her eyes in the teen's direction. "Far sooner than when you'll have sex," she rebuffed.
Alexis frowned at the two girls. "Okay, this is the second time in less than an hour that you've been fighting, or at the very least in the middle of something that I walked in on," she noted. "Now, what the hell is going on with you two?! Kristina?"
She turned to look at Kristina, her miracle baby. Much like Sam was, she had popped up like a surprise and nearly made a mess of her life. Instead of having a controlling father who purported to be her controlling and overbearing cousin taking over her life and pregnancy, she had the lie she told to keep this new baby safe; the lie which had cost her sister her life. It was a level of secret guilt she lived with every day of her life. Her miracle baby had survived a premature delivery, abduction by a lunatic, childhood aplasty anemia, emotional trauma (ironically mere months after reuniting with her first baby), and finally physical abuse from a boyfriend that she practically pushed on the then teen. Watching how much her daughter had grown since that last incidence into a strong young woman often made her eyes well with tears. She wanted nothing but the best for this child of hers whose life had thrown rocks and stones at her.
"Is there something going on with school?" She asked hoping that the fears she had were false. She had not been oblivious to the fact that her daughter had skillfully (or not as skillfully as the young woman believed) dodged every question that had been asked of her pertaining to school; the gift of diversion was one her children all had. It was inherited from her. "When do you go back, Kristina?"
Kristina sighed and rolled her eyes. "Geez Mom, I'm going back on Sunday night," she lied. While she knew her time was limited, she was going to ride this lie for as long as she could. So long as Sam did not let the cat out of the bag, and Molly did not continue to antagonize her, she was certain she could make it through the next week. "I already told you that classes don't start until Monday. With everything that's been going on, I would rather be home as long as possible."
Alexis smirked. Rather than get into an argument with her lying daughter, she figured she would enlist instead her own sleuthing skills to get to the bottom of the Wesleyan drama. Under normal circumstances she would have asked Sam for her assistance, but knowing her children, her eldest undoubtedly already knew what was going on and was covering for her sister. There was nothing she could do about it; Sam was an adult who cared deeply about her sister. If something truly harmful was occurring, Alexis was certain Sam would have told her.
"Alright then ladies, help me clean up and then we can put the popcorn on - and I don't want to hear any more comments on the matter, Kristina-"
She let out a breath, "No comments over here," she smiled. "Consider the peanut gallery closed!"
"Wonderful," she clapped her hands. "And let's make it our business not to fight this time over which movie we'll be watching, huh?" Unfortunately, just as the words came out of her mouth, the electricity went out. "Shit." Thankfully she kept an emergency box filled with flashlights, batteries and candles in every room. Grabbing from the sideboard cabinet the box, she handed two flashlights to Kristina and one to Molly. "Kristina, please bring this up to Sam. Ask her to grab the lanterns from the garage - she knows where they are. We'll keep the hallway lit; if in case Danny wakes up, I don't want him falling and hurting himself."
"That's just great," Molly groaned in annoyance. Throwing the flashlight onto the couch, she grabbed her cellphone; her phone's battery was at 10%. "Power's out and my cell is soon to follow!"
"So, that means you'll actually have to talk to us, Mol! How sad for you," Alexis sarcastically commented. Grabbing the cell from the girl's hand, she used her other free hand to pull her up from her seat. "Now, let's get these plates into the sink since the dishwasher is clearly not going to be working for us any time soon." She grabbed the discarded flashlight from the couch. "Here baby, don't forget this. I'd hate for you to bump into the wall now that you don't have your cell illuminating your way."
"I'm glad you're enjoying this," she sneered as she walked out of the room.
"I always enjoy a pleasant teen disconnected from her lifeline, darling," Alexis scoffed as she lit a few candles and placed them around the room.
Molly was her baby. She was the one that had it easier than the other two. She had a normal childhood when compared to Sam and Kristina. While the family she had had with Ric had begun to fall apart long before that one night she preferred to never think about, Molly was relatively unaffected by the mob - she had never been kidnapped, Ric had moved out of State and seemingly ended his vendetta against Sonny thus leaving her to raise the girl on her own. Her youngest was also quite healthy - apart from the few incidents that led to hospital stays, and where both Sam and Kristina had had issues with men, Molly had been in a very healthy relationship with her first boyfriend for a few years. Alexis had never had any worries about the girl. Except perhaps in regard to whether or not she would survive past these teenage years.
"Molly's teenage mood-swings getting to you again?" Sam asked as walked down the stairs and past the woman toward the garage door. Having taken advantage of being in her room, she had managed to change into a pair of sweatpants and t-shirt. She was quite comfortable in spite of the technical difficulties they were experiencing. "I told you to ignore her when she gets like this. She's going through network withdrawal right now."
"Or you can do what I've been doing, Mom," Kristina said with a raise of her glass. She poured herself another drink and moved to the fireplace mantle. "Thank God Julian was smart enough to buy a house with a gas operated fireplace," she continued as she flipped the switch to turn it on. "Just a flip of a switch! I can see why Olivia wants him-"
"Olivia does not want him," Alexis sighed.
Pointing to the rather large picture of the woman, Julian, and their son Julian in matching sweaters that sat on the mantle, she looked at her mother as she held her glass to her lips. She took a sip. "So, how does one explain that?" she countered. "I mean, I like Olivia and everything since she's my brother's mother and all, but seriously, what's her deal? Didn't she like, lie about Leo being Julian's by saying he was really Uncle Ned's? I mean, didn't you do that too, Mom? With me? It's like, always a bridesmaid - or groomsman, in this situation - never a groom with him. Although, he could've been a groom, but you ran out on that wedding. I hope you don't do that to Julian because that would definitely suck."
"Kristina-" Alexis shook her head. She did not want to think about that moment in her life. Had she told the truth, perhaps her sister would have still been with her for then she would not have had a reason to go to the warehouse looking for Sonny.
"Sorry, but seriously," she continued. "What's the deal with him taking responsibility for other people's kids? Or does that only work when the father is a mobster? It's really weird that something like that can happen to someone twice in a lifetime."
Walking back into the room holding two lanterns in one hand and her flashlight in the other, Sam heard the latter half of her sister's spiel. "I think you've had your share, Krissy," she said as she placed both lanterns onto the coffee table, grabbed the glass of wine from her sister's hand and drained it. "How about you have another slice," she ordered as their mother brought the untouched box to the coffee table. She took hold of the woman's wrist. "But to Kristina's point, Mom, you really need to say something to Dad about this. He's gotta man up and tell her that while he's grateful she's stopped lying about Leo's paternity-"
"And don't forget his mortality-" Kristina added between bites. "Leo rose from the literal ashes thanks to you, Mom."
"A little less colorful, but yea, that too," Sam noted. "He needs to see that it's bothering you how much she's tried to push her way into your relationship. I mean, what the hell is that?" She pointed to the picture on the mantle.
Alexis rolled her eyes. "Your sister already asked-"
"Well, then why is another woman on your mantle in your house with your fiancé, Mom? And why the hell are they dressed in matching sweaters? Why would he take a picture with her like they're some kind of family?"
"Because Julian is selfish and completely out for self-" Molly scoffed as she flopped herself onto the couch beside Kristina. Where Julian was concerned, she gladly shared her two cents.
"And you're redundant, sweetheart," Alexis said with a point of her finger at the teen. "How about you have another slice and think of a way to be nicer to your sister's father at least for the next eight hours."
"Well, to be fair, Sam isn't that nice to my father, but that's none of my business-"
"That's because your dad is a pri-"
"Sam!" Alexis warned. "Let's not go there, okay?"
"Sorry," she muttered like a scolded child. Taking that moment to remove herself from the conversation of why Molly hated her father, Sam took the extra lantern that she had grabbed from the garage and quickly ran it up the stairs to place in the hallway.
Alexis turned to look at her youngest. She understood the reasons behind it as Julian's lies had caused her baby months of senseless pain and mourning. His lies had nearly destroyed her own relationship with her daughter. It took some time to mend that; some days, she was not quite certain they had truly healed from that difficult time. But he had truly changed. He had been remorseful, left the mob, begun honest and legitimate work, and even sought the girls' approval before proposing to her. He wanted this family as much as she wanted him and to have him in the family. She hated that in spite of it all, they were still unable to mend fences. She hated it more that she was stuck in the middle and the feeling that her happiness was coming in spite of her child's. But Molly was no longer a child. And she could not put her life on hold any longer.
"Look, I know you have many reasons to dislike Julian, but he's really trying here, Mol. Can you just please give him a chance? Meet him in the middle?" she asked once again. "Or at the very least, stop acting like a brat. Hmm, can you do that for Mommy? At least until after the wedding?"
"Is Olivia invited to the honeymoon, Mom?" Kristina winked. "I mean, since you've kinda allowed her into your home. This sexual reawakening you've had-"
Alexis squeezed the bridge of her nose. Three girls with three different but similar personalities was always a juggling act, especially when they tag-teamed her. "You ladies are making me regret having you here."
"We all have keys, Mom," Sam noted from the stairs. "And we came on our own free will."
She knew that her mother did not like conflict and confrontation, but the more Olivia interloped into the woman's relationship, the angrier she became with her father. She hated how blind he was about how bothered her mother was.
"And back to the topic at hand, if you don't say something to Dad, then I will," she threatened.
"Sam, I'm handling this!" Alexis groaned. "It's not that easy."
"It doesn't look to me like you're handling anything!" Taking a seat on the floor opposite to where her mother sat, Sam made a face at the focal point of the room. "That picture is just... it's tacky and inappropriate. After everything that came between you two, I will not let Olivia ruin your happiness, even if her intention isn't to come between you two. And if I'm being completely selfish here, I won't let her ruin my chance of seeing my parents get married!"
Alexis smiled widely at her daughter's final comment. This relationship, the engagement, and soon to be the marriage was everything that should have happened... been allowed to happen. But better late than never, she decided. Had things happened any differently in their lives, Julian would not have had Lucas, she would not have had Kristina and Molly, and Sam would not have been the person she was. In spite of the pain, mistakes and the regrets, she loved and adored the woman who sat across from her. She would not have had Danny. Alexis did not want to live in a world where her grandson and her children did not exist.
"Well, I can assure you that will never happen, my love," she reassured her. "Your father and I are getting married. Rotten eggs thrown at us be damned; this is happening."
"I'm just..." she stopped then continued. Her mind went to Jason and the interloper to her relationship. He was the love of her life had returned from the dead and for months, she kept it from them all. She would not allow the pain she felt to be inflicted upon her mother. "This relationship, Mom... it isn't something that happens to most people. You don't just get second chances like this!"
"She's right, Mom," Kristina jumped in. "It's not often that the random man you lose your virginity to at a bar turns out to be your soulmate who finds you again like thirty five years later." She laughed at the exasperated look on her mother's face. "I'm not even trying to be funny here! I mean, seriously. You gave Sam up for adoption, only to end up living in the same small town together where you were reunited twenty-two years later. And then, that nameless teen who boinked you in the back of his car, thus creating Sam," she dramatically gestured her hands toward her sister.
"Ladies and gentleman, it's Vanna White," Sam muttered with a roll of her eyes.
"Ends up saving your grandson's life! If that isn't a love story to tell the grandkids, I don't know what is," Kristina smiled widely. "Stuff like this only happens in soap operas!"
"You're in rare form tonight, aren't you?" Alexis rhetorically asked the girl as she grabbed the glass of wine Kristina attempted to refill. "As your sister already mentioned, you've had enough. Like Sam, I'm doubtful I'll be in the mood to tend to your hangover in the morning."
"You know, I'm beginning to wonder if this is part of Helena's curse on our family," Sam said with a shake of her head. She could not take her eyes off the picture.
"Don't even joke about that, Sam," Alexis warns her. "That woman was insane."
"I'm not joking!" she argued. "I mean, how else can this be explained? She's gone nuts. First she took over Thanksgiving, then Christmas, now this picture? And let's not even talk about how she practically pushed you into the wall at the Floating Rib so she could sit across from Julian. I didn't believe it then, but I'm really beginning to wonder."
"Sam's right! And I would say calling Helena insane is an understatement, Mom," Molly scoffed. "She's a sociopath who murdered your mother in front of you and then taunted you for years about it. It's no wonder you're neurotic."
"Thank you, my darling," Alexis replied as she raised her glass to the teen. "I see tonight is 'Crap on Mom' Night. It would've been nice to have advance warning about that otherwise I would've gladly gone to bed." She turned her attention back to Sam. "I really wish you would have told me before you left that you were going to Greece."
"You would have told me not to go-"
"And you would've gone anyway," Kristina countered. Her mouth was filled with pizza, so her statement came out far more muffled than she had intended. She swallowed. "You aren't exactly known for following the rules."
"Oh, do you really want to have that conversation right now, little sister?" Sam replied with a raise of her eyebrow. Kristina blanched. It would take but two words to turn the garrulous young woman's world upside down: Academic Suspension. Of course, she would have never done turned on the girl; but the ability to shut her up with the threat, was all the power she needed. She smirked. "That's what I thought."
"So, there's the confirmation I needed to show that Sam is in on whatever you're hiding, Kristina." Alexis remarked. "I'm really trying to be less intrusive now that you girls are older and all out of the house, but the more transparent you're being about the fact that you're trying to hide something, the more annoyed I'm getting. And if you think there won't be hell to pay when I do find out what exactly is going on, you're all going to be woefully sorry."
Kristina discreetly shook her head at Sam, who, for a former con, looked as though she could break at any time; when it came to Alexis Davis, the best liars (former liars, in this case) trembled. It certainly did not help that she already knew her sister did not support her decision to keep from their mother the truth that she had been suspended from school... for offering sex in exchange for a passing grade. While Sam had given her a temporary reprieve, an eight hour interrogation on her already uncertain position could just lead to Kristina's premature downfall. She had to make this stop.
"How about we stay on topic," she quickly turned the conversation back onto her sister. "Sam had to go to Greece because Nikolas has gone total Cassadine on us and betrayed her. The only way to find out what else he was hiding was to go right to the source."
"Well, unfortunately, that source supposedly 'died'," she used air quotes to describe the overdue demise of Helena Cassadine, "and provided little real information before kicking the bucket," Sam sighed.
Alexis moved to sit next to her. Wrapping an arm around her daughter, she pressed a kiss against her templed. "Unfortunately, Helena never stays dead for too long, babe," she reassured. "And anything she does, it always finds a way of coming out... normally by her own set time and place."
"I just... I can't believe Nikolas would do something like this to me," she shook her head. Her eyes welled with tears. She loved her cousin. While admittedly they were not as close as she was with her sisters, for as small family as their family was, they were always there for one another. This betrayal was a blow to her heart. "Why would he let me think - let Danny think - that Jason was dead all this time only to let Elizabeth walk around town with him like prized poodle? I mean, when I confronted him about stealing ELQ from the Quartermaines, he said it was because Cassadine Industries was in such horrible financial situation because of Helena and Victor. But my God, to think how deeply he went to stealing the company? Mom, he basically kidnapped my husband and kept him imprisoned with that bitch Elizabeth just so he could keep his shares. Isn't that illegal?! Isn't that fraud?!"
Alexis could not believe that her nephew had betrayed his family as he had for want of money. This was not the man she had watched grow up before her eyes. Even before she knew that he was her nephew, rather than a distant cousin, she had loved him like a son. As she would have for her children, she would have walked through fire for the man. Despite his mother's reappearance in his life, her love for him had never wavered. And when her brother, the man who had raised him, had taken his own life, her love only grew for she understood the pain of being alone in the world. So, she continued to be a constant presence in his life well after he needed her.
"I'm so disappointed in him," she admitted. "Stefan would be disappointed in him. There was nothing your uncle believed in more than family. Above all else, family came first to him and betrayals to your family, regardless of the reason, was..." she paused as she took a sip from her glass. "Well, it was unforgivable."
"I don't think I can ever forgive him for this," Sam whispered. She picked at the pineapples from the quarter of the pie she knew her sisters and mother would not touch. "It's one thing to not like Jason and to think I'd be better off without him in my life, especially after Patrick and I got together, but that's my choice. And it's Danny's right to know his father is alive. What gave him the right to take that way from him? Who made him God?!"
Neither Kristina nor Molly had any words to say on the matter. They too were disappointed in their cousin and the way that he had divided their family. He had to have known that his actions would have caused him to lose them. Perhaps he simply did not care.
But Alexis did. She cared very much about her daughter's hurt and the ways in her nephew had not only perpetuated that hurt, but worsened it. It disgusted her how after Jake's identity had been revealed, how Nikolas had tried to defend his actions to her face without fully admitting what he had done. He had even attempted to make her admit that Sam's life was better without Jason in it and that Patrick was a better man for her. While she believed it to be true, for she had wanted nothing more than to see Sam walk down the aisle and solidify the bond she and Patrick had had, she knew that the ultimate decision belonged to her daughter. And even still, regardless of that decision, her grandson had a right to know that his father was alive and living mere blocks from him.
"I've terminated my relationship with Cassadine Industries," she announced to shocked gasps in the room. Working for her family's corporation had been a constant in her life since she had graduated from law school and passed the Bar. Leaving it felt like leaving a piece of brother, the man who had given her the job in the first place, behind. "It was hard enough staying with the company after Nikolas initially acquired the shares from ELQ, but it wasn't illegal - at least not that we knew at the time. He had played dirty, but he didn't do anything that was outright illegal since he obtained the shares from each shareholder by their own free will." She locked eyes with Sam. "But knowing that to obtain Jason's shares - rather, the shares that Danny had received because of Jason's death, that you hd given to Tracy - he knew that he was alive, and kept it secret because it worked to his benefit-"
"No Mom," Sam rolled her eyes. "You mean, it worked to the benefit of our family as a whole. At least that's how Nikolas saw it," she scoffed. "Do you know that when I confronted him for stealing ELQ right from under Michael and how Jason would have not allowed him to get away with this, he said he was lucky Jason was dead and couldn't stop him! That son of a bitch knew what the hell he was doing and he lied right to my face!"
"Speaking of bitches," Kristina interrupted. "Why would Laura let him do something like that? I mean, didn't Helena make her think Lucky was dead for a bit? Why would she help Nikolas be anything like her?"
Alexis shook her head. "I don't know what was running through her head except perhaps wanting to protect her son," she reasoned. "I can only hope that she was trying to get him to tell the truth without betraying his trust, but I don't get it. I really don't."
"Well, she obviously felt guilty about it since she tried to tell me about it when she came to Patrick's house," Sam reminded them. "She obviously changed her mind. She wasn't feeling that guilty and she certainly wasn't empathizing with Monica or me by keeping the secret. She really was just conspiring against the Quartermaines alongside Nikolas."
"More like after the fact," Alexis corrected her. "But I've decided to work with Tracy to help her get her shares back. Actually, it's more than that," she hesitated. "I've decided that I'll need to turn Nikolas in for Corporate Espionage and Fraud."
The girls all gasped once again, but Molly spoke up first. "Are you sure you want to do that, Mom?" she asked. "He could go to jail! What about Spencer? That's really going to drive a wedge in our family."
"No more than the wedge Nikolas already drove, Molly," Sam rebutted. "He deserves to pay for what he did. He can't get away with this-"
"I'm highly doubtful Nikolas will see a day in a prison cell." Alexis put a hand up to stop her girls from arguing. "Look, we don't have any proof that we can use to show that he had known Jason was alive, but nevertheless continued to fraudulently pursue the shares-"
"I have proof-" Sam argued.
But Alexis knew better. "Honey, that information was obtained illegally," she calmly replied. "You hacked into his computer to get it."
"So they'll get a warrant for his computer," Kristina suggested.
"Sure, that can be done, but do you really think that the information is still there for the finding?" Alexis countered. She then locked eyes with Sam. "Look, I don't want my nephew to go to prison. I know what he did was deplorable and unforgivable, at least in the near future, but I do believe that he needs to be punished. He cannot be rewarded for his bad acts by keeping his position at ELQ. The shares need to be turned over and the Quartermaines deserve to resume leadership of their company."
"What does that mean for Cassadine Industries?" Sam asked.
Alexis knew that what Nikolas had said about Victor and Helena depleting the company's funds over the last few years had been true. She also knew that the company was on the brink of bankruptcy, but not to the extent of a complete ending to her father's legacy. It simply meant that the Prince, who had everything handed to him his entire life, would, for the first time in his life, have to work for something he truly wanted.
"It means that like the rest of us, Nikolas will need to learn the value of hard work," she said with a click of her tongue. "And perhaps from there, he'll learn the value of family, loyalty, and humility because he certainly won't be able to do it alone." She looked at each one of her girls. "He chose to turn his back on his family. He'll need make a decision if he wants to do this alone or not." Taking her eldest daughter's face into her hands, she held her gaze. "When it comes to family, nothing is truly unforgivable."
Sam bit the inside of her cheek for a moment and downed the rest of her glass of wine. She could not deny her mother's words to be true. Neither spoke of the incident that had occurred sixteen years earlier, but both knew that even the worst offenses could be forgiven with atonement from the guilty party. Unfortunately, at that very moment, and while that woman continued to fight her for her husband rather than let the man attempt to find his way on his own, forgiveness was the last thing on her mind.
"I'm going to bed," she muttered before pressing a kiss to the woman's cheek. Stumbling slightly to her feet as she realized that she might have been a bit more tipsy than her seated position had allowed her to realize, she bent forward and gently wrapped her arms around her mother's neck. "In light of everything and this conversation of forgiveness, I have your wedding present," she whispered into her ear before standing back up. She moved toward the fireplace, got onto the tips of her toes, and barely reached the picture.
"What are you doing?" Alexis shrieked. She attempted to move toward her, but Kristina grabbed her by the waist and pulled her onto the couch. Nevertheless, she continued to stretch in the hopes of reaching for the back of her eldest's sweats to pull her away from the picture. "Sam! Come away from there!"
"A little help Mol!" Kristina called for the youngest who quickly obliged and blocked their mother from their sister's reach.
"Girls! What are you doing?!"
Taking advantage of her sisters' cooperation, she jumped slightly to grab the picture and quickly unfastened the back; she easily pulled the picture from the frame. "You'll thank me for this tomorrow, Mom," she assured the woman as she carefully tore the picture around Leo's face, and tossed the discarded portion featuring Olivia and Julian into the the fire. "Here," she placed Leo's picture onto the coffee table. "Tell Dad that the next time he wants to have a family picture, he should include with this little baby, the people in this house, Lucas, and himself. You're his family, Mom. Not her. There shouldn't ever be a picture on that mantel that doesn't include you in it."
16 of 16