"...One may be done with the past…but the past may not be done with you..." Rick Hearst
He'd been served. It had to be one of the funniest things to happen in a very long time. Not that it would be difficult, Ric sobered. Fire, leukemia, kidnappings, abject insanity, betrayals, train crashes, epidemics. His family had suffered too much.
What did they get for their suffering? Blackmail, deception, death, disillusionment, separation, terror and manipulation. Oh, and Molly and togetherness. Out of suffering they – he, his wife, his brother – were fighting each other and the world to create family.
And now his own family would shrink just a bit. He smiled softly and flipped through the adoption papers. Clearly Lucky had a thorough lawyer. At least he knew Elizabeth would be happy and Cameron would be loved. No reason not to sign.
Nonetheless, he tucked the document into his coat and watched Kristina hold Molly as they went down the slide for Alexis's camcorder.
Family. His family.
Family. That's what defined a man.
If he never believed in anything else, he believed in that.
Jason set the pale pink roses on her headstone.
They had been family, briefly. But the had not believed in each other.
He felt sad that he could not be more sad. Courtney had left a son behind. He should at least be sad for his sake.
Perversely, though, he reasoned that her death was her own choice. At least the child had lived this time.
For Sonny, could he be sympathetic to Sonny's loss? No, not if Sonny didn't grieve. And Jason could not, would not trouble himself to feel sorry for Jax or Nikolas.
"Maybe I feel sorry for myself," Jason whispered to the engraved angel. "Sorry that you made it so hard to care, sorry that I was not able to care more."
He had never cared this much before. And he would never care this much again.
Those were the only two things Jax was sure of as he watched John sleep.
This baby boy was dependent on him for everything and Jasper Jax refused to fail. He would do anything, hadn't he already proven that.
"Who have I become?" he whispered to his son. His son? One more lie, one step further from the man he had been. A man who could be a good father, who his father would have been proud of.
By giving her son his father's name, Courtney had finally affected Jax as she always hoped too.
To be John's father, Jax was determined to turn over a new leaf.
But how could he base an honest self on what he knew was a lie?
It didn't matter, Jax reassured himself as John shifted in sleep. Nothing else matters.
"Good to know I don't actually matter," Patrick muttered.
"Something wrong Doctor Drake?" Elizabeth asked.
Doctor Drake the younger forced himself to stop pretending he was reading a chart. "Can I ask you something, Nurse Webber?"
She smiled genially but there was no friendship implied. He could tell he was reminded he wasn't speaking to a Nurse's Station groupie. Not only was this woman married, she was friends with Robin and Emily. Good.
"You love your parents, right? Would do anything you could to help them? So why do you think they might have a problem with that?"
"I think you're asking the wrong person." Nurse Webber had lifted her right eyebrow, and her eyes laughed at him.
"No, no," Patrick nodded and shoved his prop chart away. "No, I think you must be the perfect person to ask. You are a compassionate individual who is both child and parent. If anyone in this hospital understands, you'd be at the top of the list."
Nurse Webber squinted at him suspiciously. "Clearly you don't gossip as much as you are gossiped about."
"What?" Why does everyone in this town insist on talking in circles?
"My parents and I are not close," Nurse Webber busied herself with organizing the desk as she spoke. "I am relatively close with my grandmother, but compared to not having spoken to my parents in three years," she paused and looked directly at him with a fiery, if indiscriminant, gaze. "They've never even met their grandson!"
Patrick knew he was wide-eyed, but he couldn't form a response.
Nurse Webber collected herself. "Doctor Drake, I'll give you what advice I can – as a mother." She stopped fidgeting and looked deep into his eyes. "Every parent who bothers to push their child away cares. They just don't know how to, and they probably think they would do more harm than good."
This was how life should always be, Sonny decided as he surveyed his family room. Toys scattered the floor around an entrenched game of LIFE. Morgan giggled as Michael apparently landed on a space for twins.
Having Emily here meant Leticia had the night off. And it meant he would have the night on, Sonny couldn't stop the thought. Nor could he stop the shame that had him returning to the kitchen before anyone could notice he was there.
Not only was she his best friend's little sister, she was vital to his life. Sonny had begun to realize that Carly and Jason had been right. This had the potential, and very real likelihood of blowing up in his face.
Time had allowed him to think clearly. He and Emily need each other, but they were filling the need the wrong way. She made him feel younger than he knew himself to be, to say nothing of desired and important in a time when he'd begun to doubt himself.
Carly was over him. Maybe not entirely, but he would never be entirely over her either. They could not go back again, though. Not as the people they were destined to be. Sonny hurt Carly, and Carly hurt Sonny. Those were some of the basic truths in the world. And neither of them had the patience to find out how to not hurt each other.
So, Carly didn't want him, didn't need him. Jason's brain trauma had proven that there would always be a part of Jason that resisted Sonny. The two men could cherish their mutual decisions to overcome obstacles and themselves to be friends and protect their loved ones, but it hurt to realize that his protégé didn't need him anymore either. If anything, he needed Jason now.
Being needed by Emily made him feel good.
And having someone who wanted her seemed to be what Emily needed.
Her rape, the circumstances of her divorce, both had apparently affected her more than anyone had taken time to notice.
What could he do now, now that they were becoming dependent – he on being needed, she on being wanted? What do you do to stop something you can't control?
Unpredictability had its assets, Luke believed. No one rushes to go looking for you if they don't expect to find you.
Of course if you have someone like Alice to keep you fully stocked and then distract the wife, you were especially well off.
He had earned the break, anotherprinciple in Luke's belief system. When you save the world, or even just the 'little' town of Port Chuck, you have earned a rest. If along the way you have to confront your former pal and the broad who could still stop you both cold, then you've earned a drink, too. Probably more than one.
On the other hand, he'd gotten another kid out of this deal. Luke smirked as he heard Lulu and Tracy storm by the door to his hideout. Something about a brat, a shrew and going to school. So having another kid wasn't all bad.
Lulu could be the light of his life, Luke knew that on some level. On that same level he had also actively chosen to not believe he would ever be a part of his daughter's life. The best laid plans…
Little Lesley Lu was her mother's daughter. She could smile at him and he'd run a marathon. Or try to be a better man.
Thankfully she was also her father's daughter, so her requests, while frequently outlandish and provocative, were not beyond his abilities.
Lucas Lorenzo Spencer was domesticated once again. Under the Quartermaine roof, no less. At least it wasn't by a Quartermaine.
Now the only thing he had to worry about was his errant son.
He knew they had done a bang up job with that kid, literally. Between dragging the kid around and teaching him to con before teaching him to drive, and then breaking his heart in adolescence Lucky had gotten a rough start from his parents. Add on kidnapping and brainwashing at the hands of the devil herself, it's been a wonder Lucky wasn't dead.
Becoming a cop may have been the best thing he ever did for himself. Becoming an undercover and possibly dirty cop was another matter altogether.
He could only wonder where on earth he'd ever gone right in life. Clearly it was the going right at some point that had created the need to wonder where he had gone wrong.
"Women are treasures," his father had always said. His mother would then stage whisper, "The kind of treasure that's likely to up and walk away if you aren't good to it."
That's what Jesse tried to keep reminding himself as he tried to eat lunch at Kelly's. His parents were probably talking about women more than girls. Or at least that's what Jesse was starting to believe.
"You're being absolutely ridiculous!" Maxie admonished Georgie across the table. That set off a brand new bickering match.
Dillon obviously had the right idea, Jesse noted. The young man across from him had never engaged himself in the argument, choosing instead to engage in a double cheese burger.
"Don't you agree with me, Jesse?" Maxie smacked his shoulder.
Jesse schooled his features and tried to figure out the right response. His phone saved him by buzzing with a text message.
'You Owe Me. – Dill'
Jesse frowned at the phone. "Sorry guys," he stood and noticed the cellphone sitting innocently in Dillon's lap. "It's work."
"Oh, Jesse," Maxie furrowed her brows but didn't try to stop him.
"Later," Dillon smirked. Jesse didn't have time to worry about what owing Dillon might mean if he hoped to get out quickly.
Mac was just around the corner from Kelley's, though.
"Jesse," Mac greeted evenly.
"Mac!" Jesse panicked. "Don't go to Kelley's!"
"Why not?" Mac displayed his annoyance readily.
"Maxie and Georgie are there. Arguing." Jesse couldn't think of anything else to say.
His boss looked him up and down as though figuring how far the young man would fly if thrown. But all he did was nod. "Right. Bye."
Jesse started to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Wait, Jesse."
The air got stuck in his throat. This is what he got for dating the boss's daughter.
"What have you heard from Lucky lately?"
Jesse frowned at Mac's question and ignored Ric Lansing's arrival.
"I don't know what to make of anything," Jesse finally said. "He's still bringing us stuff that could lead to convictions. But seems to be sitting on something. And not necessarily for the good of his cover."
Mac sighed now. "Let's get back to the station and you can brief me. Did you actually eat before fleeing?"
Jesse was tempted to grin, but had been burnt by that feeling before. "No."
"We'll order Chinese."
"Come on, Uncle Ric," Kristina darted up and grabbed his hand.
Lucky? Ric wondered about the man who had taken up his old family.
"Momma said to get a table while she calms Molly down," Kristina led the way to Kelley's.
Was it still his place to need to protect Elizabeth and Cameron? Did they need him? Was he just having second thoughts about life being too perfect?
That's the thing about family, he watched Kristina climb into the chair against the wall. From there she could see everyone. Once you have family, and you know family, you can't make yourself stop caring. You either do or you don't.
When you care about family it is the most unstoppable force known to man.