Title: Summer Full of Strangers
Author: Megs
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from All My Children. I do however stake a claim to the story they are being borrowed to star in.
Rating: PG-13
Author's Note: This story is AU directly related to the plot of The Stranger Series where Maggie finds out that her biological father is in fact Alexander Cambias Sr. This is a story depicts what would have happened if Alexander went back and helped Gwen raise Frankie and Maggie. It is also the Third Story in The (Alternate) Stranger Series. You do not have to have read the first two stories in this series to understand what is going on in this story.
Pairings: Gwen/Alex, Vanessa Bennett/Palmer Courtland.
Friendship: Bianca/Maggie, Bianca/Frankie
Plot: Maggie and Frankie Cambias spend three weeks of their summer vacation with their Aunt Vanessa and their new Uncle, Palmer Cortlandt, while their parents tour Europe. While living in Cortlandt Manor they meet one Bianca Christine Montgomery.
The (Alternate) Stranger Series
"What if Gwen had contacted Alexander Cambias about her pregnancy with Maggie and Frankie and he returned to help raise them. What if when Alex returned to help Gwen raise Maggie and Frankie his relationship with Michael improved while his relationship with AJ, Alexander Junior (Zach) deteriorate. -Stranger Calling
When Alex returned and married Gwen what kind of relationship would Maggie and Frankie have with each other and their older half-brothers? When he went back to Gwen would Alex have given up his career to raise Maggie and Frankie with Gwen? Or would he have learned how to balance building a business empire while still being a loving father? What if Gwen and Alex relocate away from Green Bay. Would Maggie have ever met Billy Allan that day in the park? -Don't Talk To Strangers
If Alex returned and Gwen never started to drink or abuse Maggie and Frankie would Frankie ever travel to Pine Valley to con Erica? If Frankie didn't go to Pine Valley to help Vanessa con Erica and gotten in with her crazy aunt then Maggie never would have gone looking for answers in her murder and neither would have met Bianca Montgomery. Or would they? -Summer Full of Strangers
Would Michael still attack Erica, Kendall and rape Bianca or would he have never even followed in his father's footsteps because Alexander gave up his career aspirations to raise Maggie and Frankie with Gwen? If Michael didn't follow in his father's footsteps, and tried to destroy the Cambias name, would he have ever met Kendall and returned with her to Pine Valley? If Michael didn't meet Kendall and move to Pine Valley would he ever find his way to Pine Valley?
Part 1 of
-July 4, 1997-
-Pine Valley-
Spending the beginning of their summer vacation with their crazy Aunt Vanessa was not how Frankie or Maggie Cambias wanted to start their nine weeks off.
Who would?
There was a reason she was called their crazy Aunt Vanessa. So, like any true blooded teenager they begged, pleaded and groveled to their parents to send them anywhere but to their mentally unstable aunt.
They had limited choices to put out for their parents consideration. Their eldest brother Alex hadn't spoken to them, ever, and their Uncle John Stiles was away on vacation with his own children. That left Michael. So, knowing that their parents trusted Michael to take care of them, they'd refused to let them disregard the fact that he'd take them. He had to.
Michael, to their parents, and Mikey or Mike to them and Michael Cambias, Vice President in Legal Counsel of Cambias Industries, to everyone else.
But that was beside the point.
Mike was thirteen years older than them and living with his girlfriend and was okay with them staying with him. He had even said he wouldn't mind looking after them…twice!
But no…
Their parents didn't want to trouble him. He is after all a very busy man.
But trouble?
The only one of them that would be trouble was Frankie.
Maggie wouldn't cause trouble.
She had too many things going on in her life to be grounded for acting out when all she really wanted to do this summer was swim and hang out with her friends. She had no friends by her Aunt Vanessa's. She had friends in New York, where she and her family lived, and she even had a few friends in Florida where Michael lived. While Frankie could make friends anywhere they went.
Frankie was not afraid to go up to a stranger, a cute stranger, and start up a conversation. Maggie on the other hand tended to stay away from people. She was just fine reading a good book out in the sun. She didn't need many friends, but having some friends in the area she would be staying would be nice.
Besides, Michael had lived with them for eight years. He knew how to undermine any of Frankie's schemes.
It wasn't hard, not really.
The only ones that seemed to have trouble with stopping her pranks were the teachers in their school.
The two Cambias twins were set on spending their vacation with Michael while their parents toured Europe. Without them. Now, had they been invited to go along with their parents or even believed for a second they could convince their parents to take them, they would have tried. Sadly, they knew there was not even an inkling of hope to convince their parents to bring them with them. This was, for all intents and purposes, their parents' only honeymoon.
So the sad fact of the matter was that they were going to have to spend three weeks with their crazy Aunt Vanessa instead of with Mike. At least if they spent the three weeks with Mike they knew they'd have fun and survive.
Michael lived in Miami, Florida.
Frankie could get into as much trouble as she wanted with Michael's supervision, and Maggie could spend as much time at the beach as she desired.
But no...
While their parents, Gwen and Alexander Cambias, toured Europe together for three weeks, they were stuck in bumblefuck Pennsylvania with their crazy Aunt Vanessa.
They both decided as the limo dropped them off in front of their new Uncle's manor—Uncle Palmer Cortlandt—that this summer was going to suck.
It wasn't even like they could hang out with their cousins!
David, Ben, and Leo were all almost fifteen years older than them. David was already a grown man with a flourishing career in medicine and Leo was now working for their new Uncle Palmer at his electronics company. Both men were too old and 'cool' to hang out with their fifteen year old cousins. Even if Frankie thought it would be cool to talk to David about all he did as a cardiologist and Maggie was fascinated to know more about Courtlandt Inc. from Leo.
Frankie, although the somewhat wild child of the family, was already showing a great interest in becoming a doctor or on the off days a lawyer like Mikey and her Uncle John. Maggie, well Maggie already had an aptitude for business that seemed to be a natural talent that Alexander Cambias was doing all he could to fortify.
"Well…at least the place is big." Frankie comments as she looks out the window of the limo that is parked outside the large mansion.
"Yeah, but how long is she going to be married to this one?"
Frankie thought about it, "Three years."
"You willing to put money on that estimate?" Maggie asks with a gleam in her eyes.
Frankie might be the trouble maker but Maggie was a gambler, plain and simple. She liked calculating the odds of winning or losing and more times than not she was correct with her guesses.
Her father wasn't a 'gambling' man but he did—on a whim—put money down on a horse race after Maggie had calculated the statistical outcome of the race proving that the third favorite was going to win the race.
Shockingly—or not as surprisingly shocking as Alexander Cambias would make it seem—Maggie had been correct. The money that Alexander had put down on the race would pay for Maggie's college education all the way through to her getting a graduate degree in the top Universities.
Since then though, Maggie hasn't been allowed to talk to her father about races. Her mother had found out—she always did—and her father had slept on the couch for nearly a week after the argument they had. It had been a stressful week. After it was over Alex told her in no uncertain terms that they couldn't talk about the races anymore. So they hadn't.
Now, Maggie didn't talk to him about the races anymore. She talked to him about the benefits or the cons of acquiring specific companies for Cambias.
It was a lot better than talking about the races because Maggie got to spend time with her father in his office in Manhattan. Maggie would leave school and travel to the business district of Manhattan while Frankie went to work at a local ice cream parlor a few blocks away from their school. Thankfully Gwen is still is under the assumption that Maggie is Alex's secretaries assistant not his statistical advisor.
Neither Maggie nor Alex has yet to tell her otherwise.
One day…though, one day Maggie wants to take over her father's business as CEO of Cambias Industries. Cambias Industries the top industrial company the world has ever seen.
Maggie knows that her father has done everything in his power to make sure that when the time comes she'll be ready to take over the reign of the company. Maggie can't wait.
"Hmm…" Frankie meets Maggie's gaze with a smirk. "I bet you a hundred dollars that Aunt Vanessa will divorce Uncle Palmer in three years."
Frankie knows her sister's aptitude for guessing certain things—her natural intuition—and her ability to calculate the statistics of any given event but what Maggie lacks is an understanding of people.
Numbers, numbers Maggie is wonderful with. People…well Maggie's a little shy and people challenged while Frankie excels with interacting with other people. It's why they balance each other out so perfectly.
"I take that bet and say that Uncle Palmer will divorce Aunt Vanessa in four years."
"Really!" Frankie asks surprised. "You think that he'll divorce her?" That was a new one.
In all the marriages that their Aunt Vanessa has been in she has always been the one to petition for a divorce.
"Yep." Maggie seems sure of this and Frankie wonders if she should have bet against her sister.
The money…well their family has more money than god and Frankie can admit on a good day that she and Maggie have been spoiled. They have been. It's true, but their mother has always helped them understand how lucky they are. She's kept them level headed about their wealth and to be thankful for the privileges they have that others don't even while surrounded by the glamorous and fabulous.
They still have their own chores and have to earn their own money. Frankie has a job at an ice cream shop and Maggie works at Cambias. If they want to buy something they have to do so with their own money, the money they earned, or discuss with their parents taking the money from their trust funds.
If the twins had to pick which was easier, they'd have to go with earning their own money because convincing their parents to give them the money from their trust funds is harder than a days work.
"Well…we'll see." Frankie informs as she opens the limo door and smiles as she steps out into the heat.
"We will. Thanks, Jim." Maggie says to their driver with a bright smile. Jim has been their driver since they were nine. He's become like a part of the family.
"You're welcome, Ms. Cambias." He winks as he knows how Maggie hates him calling her that.
The sisters walk together up the walk to the front door and ring the doorbell.
Taking one look around the mansion and how dark the surrounding area was Maggie sighed. There wasn't a beach for miles. The only type of water that she'd be swimming in was a Lake. A Willow Lake that if she recalled correctly from the only Christmas she had spent with her Aunt Vanessa and her older cousins, was haunted by a monster that ate children.
It was, of course a myth, but Maggie still wouldn't step foot in the water. Not when the bottom of the Lake was slimy and covered in moss.
No thank you.
"This summer is going to suck." Maggie informs as she pulls on the strap of her backpack.
Frankie looks around the front yard and the stone wall with a smile. "I don't know about that…"
Maggie rolls her eyes. Of course Frankie wouldn't mind spending their vacation here. Frankie could find something to do anywhere. Frankie could make friends anywhere, even here. She'll be surrounded by people by the end of the week Maggie is sure, and she'll be left to hang around this dark and dreary manor by herself with her mentally imbalanced Aunt. It'll be great…Maggie rolls her eyes…for everyone but her.
Maggie just hopes that Frankie won't cause too much trouble with the locals. Frankie likes to cause trouble and she also likes garnering the attention of both boys and girls, so knowing her sister, there is going to be some trouble at some point in their stay.
They were going to be juniors this year and if they had any hope of convincing their parents to let them go on the school field trip during Spring break to the Bahamas with their friends and classmates they needed to behave while with their Aunt.
Even if she was a crazy old bat.
That means Frankie can't cause any trouble and that is going to be a hard thing for Frankie to do and an even harder event Maggie will have to stop.
"Just don't do anything to jeopardize our chances of going to the Bahamas. Okay!"
Frankie laughs as she looks at Maggie, her hands lightly pressed up against her chest in a simple 'who me' gesture.
Maggie rolls her eyes, "I mean it."
"Fine…fine. Ruin all my fun why don't you."
"Whatever…" Maggie turns to the door and internally sighs as her Aunt Vanessa makes a fuss about ushering them into the house.
Pine Valley, Pennsylvania.
To one Mary Margaret Cambias she might as well be in the middle of nowhere.
"Hi Aunt V…" Maggie greets with a fake smile, wouldn't her father be proud, and tries not to gag at the overpowering smell of her aunt's perfume.
When released from the woman's arms Maggie takes a deep breath of clean air, thankful that the mandatory greeting hug will only be followed by the mandatory goodbye hug at the end of their stay.
Maggie watches as her aunt hugs Frankie.
When the exuberant woman leads them into the forayer of the mansion, Frankie makes a gesture as if wiping the air clean of a bad smell. Their aunt is too engrossed with telling them all about what Mr. Cortlandt, her latest husband, did for a living to notice or pay attention to Maggie's covered snickering.
The twins did have to admit as they were shown around the mansion that it is a very nice home. The library is incredible! Maggie knows that now that she is here and there is not a beach in sight she will be spending a lot of time in the library reading whatever books she can get her hands on.
"And we have a pool…"
Maggie's ears and eyes perk up at her aunt's announcement. "Really?"
Vanessa laughs at the glee about her nieces' faces. "Yes, of course, darlings."
"Great! Where is it?" It was a good thing she had packed her bathing suit just in case. She'd have to call and thank Mike for bugging her to pack it even if she insisted she wasn't going to need it.
"It's just outside the patio doors in the back yard…" Vanessa points in the general direction and is surprised when both girls rush away. "Be careful…" Vanessa shouts out after their retreating backs before mumbling "…you little brats! Wouldn't want you to trip and hurt yourselves…" Vanessa grumbles under her breath before going to check on dinner.
The cook had better have gotten the recipe right this time.
"So, girls…" Palmer tries for conversation.
The sound scraping of utensils against the glass plates and of ice clinking against the sides of the crystal set that surrounded the diners left a stifling tension hanging in the air.
"…what do you have planned for the tomorrow?" Palmer looks to his two new nieces with a small smile.
He can easily see how uncomfortable the two young women are. He also notices that they are both sitting up straight in their chairs slowly picking at their food. They've thanked each server that has brought them anything and even given each of them a smile as they walk away. The two seem to have been brought up to be very polite.
Something that honestly surprises him.
Vanessa has told him nothing of their manners and a great deal about how rude and strange they are.
Palmer had worried about taking on the responsibility of watching after his new brides two nieces. He had only met them at the wedding several months before. They had seemed like lovely young women but the stories that Vanessa shared with him left him fearful of their arrival. Vanessa assured him that she could handle them. That staying with them would do the two girls some good. That they could whip them into shape. Palmer did wonder what his wife expected him to do, surely she did not expect him to raise a hand to the two girls. He wouldn't dream of hitting a child, his or anyone else's.
So far, the two had been nothing but polite and well mannered. They had even tried to start conversation but stopped when Vanessa seemed unwilling to listen to their chatter about school. Palmer was almost appalled but he figured his wife had her reasons for silencing the two twins.
"Well, I was hoping that you could show me around your library." Palmer looks to…Margaret?...surprised.
Palmer takes a moment to try and assure himself that he has in fact correctly assumed the young woman looking at him with a hopeful gleam in her eyes is in fact Mary Margaret.
"I thought about lounging by the pool." Frances mentions.
Yes, yes it is Frances. Mary Frances has the streaks of blue in her hair while Mary Margaret has the darker dirty blonde locks that hand just below her shoulder while Frankie's rest just above her shoulders and is curled.
"That sounds like a lovely idea…" Vanessa informs from her seat as she smiles at her nieces.
Palmer nods his head, yes it seemed like a great idea for the two. He is curious however… "The library…I'm afraid is limited in its selection. I have many books about historical events and persons in history that might interest you however." He watches in fascination as Margaret's eyes widen and her smile brightens.
"Oh no, now you've done it." Palmer looks to Frances slightly confused by her sighed exclamation.
"That'd be wonderful. I just recently finished reading a book about the last three Pharaohs of Egypt."
"Have you?" Palmer smiles as he begins to realize he might have found a kindred spirit in Margaret.
"Yes, it was a wonderful read. Would you like to read it? I brought it with me."
"I'd love to take a look at it." Palmer informs and watches in awe as Margaret's smile brightens all the more.
"Our mother is a high school history teacher. Her love and fascination for history has rubbed off on me."
"Too much if you ask me." Frances comments around a forkful of rice.
"No one did ask you." Margaret bit out as she glares at her sister for a moment before turning to Palmer once again.
"You like to read medical texts, is that right, Frances?" Vanessa asks trying to stem off her nieces from getting into a fight in front of Palmer. It wouldn't do for the two girls to make her angry in front of her husband.
"Yes, she is. Do you have any?" Margaret asks as she looks at him.
"I think I have a few. They are rather obscure though…"
"That's alright!" Frances looks to him with a small smile her excitement plain. "I'd still like to take a look at them if you wouldn't mind."
Palmer shook his head, "No it is not a problem at all."
"Great." Both twins exclaim as they look to him and then turn back to their dinners the tension in the room thankfully absent as they all become silent once more.
Palmer smiles as he looks to his wife and her two nieces. He had nothing to worry about after all. The twins are nothing but polite and obviously very mature for their age. Palmer wonders for a moment why his wife would try to insinuate they were anything that they obviously are not.
Palmer shrugs it aside for now. He has a lovely meal to finish before he can take his two new nieces to his library and offer them the knowledge that the books upon the shelves contain.
Perhaps this summer won't be as much trouble as he feared it would after all.
End Part One