Chapter I: Love the Way You Lie
With Ellison and Tessa having left with Michael, AJ and Eliana were left on that General Hospital floor. Eliana goes to leave, but AJ grabs her by the arm. "What do you want?" AJ challenges. Eliana pulls her arm away and scoffs.
"I could ask you the same thing. Since you and I both know that the DNA test my children ran shouldn't have matched with you." AJ remains silent. Eliana looks around and leans in closer to AJ. "It should have matched their real father, Jason Morgan." Eliana points out. AJ lets out a breath.
"Okay." He says. Eliana grins at him.
"Okay what?" Eliana questions. AJ glares at the woman.
"I made sure that the test results said what I wanted them to say." AJ explains. Eliana chuckles, causing a grin to appear on AJ's face. "Then again, that begs the question, why did you lie to your children about me being their father?" AJ challenges. Eliana runs a hand through her hair.
"Because, I figured if you wanted to be their father so bad then there must be a reason. I'm just curious as to why." Eliana explains. AJ nods. Eliana looks at the time on her phone and smiles at AJ. "Well, the night is still young. How about you take me to a nice restaurant so that you can explain." Eliana suggests. AJ gives her a light smile.
"The Metro Court has one of the best restaurants in the city." AJ explains. Eliana points towards the elevator.
"Then by all means, you lead the way." Eliana offers. AJ nods and the two leave.
Ellison and Tessa walk in behind Michael. An older woman with brown hair and clear blue eyes walks in with a confused look on her face.
"Michael, who are these two teenagers?" The woman asks. Michael greets her with a smile.
"Hey Aunt Tracy, this is Ellison and Tessa Scott. These are a couple of teenagers who came here looking for their father, who turns out to be my father." Michael answers. Tracy laughs.
"So wait a minute these two are AJ's kids?" Tracy asks. Michael nods. Tracy seems to inspect the two children.
"So, two mysterious Quartermaine heirs appear just as AJ is ousted from ELQ?" Tracy ponders. Michael looks at his aunt and sighs.
"They came looking for AJ, not the other way around." Michael points out. Tracy looks the two up and own before taking stance in front of them.
"Well, the girl I could see how your father expected to pass off as his daughter, but the boy not so much." Tracy admits. Ellison scoffs.
"What can I say? Look like my Mom." Ellison defends. Tessa steps forward.
"Also, we got a DNA test done that says we are in fact AJ's children." Tessa tells Tracy. Tracy looks to Michael.
"DNA Test?" She asks. Michael nods in confirmation. Tracy looks at Tessa and shrugs. "You do seem to have a Quartermaine's eyes." Tracy comments. Tessa looks to the older woman and sighs.
"I understand that you must be hesitant…." Tessa begins. Tracy nods.
"To say the least." Tracy chimes in. Tessa lets out a deep breath and nods.
"Yes. I get it, two kids come into town and just happen to be related to someone who lives in such a beautiful house as this." Tessa stops to admire the beauty of the Quartermaine Mansion before returning her gaze to Tracy. "I promise that AJ being our father was just as much a shock to us as it is to you." Tessa assures her.
The always cynical Tracy Quartermaine kept her eyes narrowed at the teens before letting them soften. "What do you think Michael?" Tracy asks her grandnephew. Michael sighs.
"They seemed shocked by the news, and they were planning on leaving, it was my Dad who offered that they stay here." Michael admits. Tracy gives one last look to Ellison and Tessa before returning her gaze to Michael.
"Have Alice set up temporary rooms for these two. I have to get to bed." Tracy decides. Michael nods and leaves to find Alice. Tracy starts to walk up the stairs and stops and eyes the twins. "I hope you two know what you are getting yourselves into. I wouldn't want AJ letting you down in any way." Tracy warns before walking upstairs.
AJ sat across from the woman that he had to admit, was rather attractive. The waiter had just put down their plates of food and they were just about to dig in when AJ caught Sam as she walked through the door. Sam saw him too and walked to him.
"Hey AJ, have you seen Ellison and Tessa?" Sam asks. Eliana looked to Sam and cleared her throat. Sam looked to Eliana and offered smiled. "I'm sorry, was I interrupting?" Sam worries. AJ shakes his head to deny this, but Eliana nods.
"Yes, AJ and I were just about to have dinner." Eliana snaps. Sam narrows her eyes at the strange woman.
"I'm sorry, and you are?" Sam questions. Eliana stands up to meet Sam's gaze.
"Eliana Scott. Which begs the question, what are my children's names doing in your mouth?" Eliana challenges. Sam scoffs and crosses her arms.
"I've actually grown quite fond of your children over the past few weeks. I mean, we got along while trying to uncover a secret that you kept hidden from them for months." Sam jabs at the twin's mother. Eliana rolls her eyes while trying to think of a response.
"I did what I thought was best. Anyway what business is it of yours?" Eliana counters. Sam bites her lip in frustration before running a hand through her long mocha hair.
"I am Jason Morgan's wife. AJ Quartermaine is the father of Ellison and Tessa and Jason's brother. I am Ellison and Tessa's aunt whether you like it or not." Sam explains. Eliana sneers.
"Jason is dead, therefore you are nothing to my children." Eliana mocks. Sam looks at the woman in shock. AJ stands between the two and laughs uncomfortably.
"Okay Ladies, let's play nice. Now Sam, to answer your question, they are at the Quartermaine Mansion. Why?" AJ interjects. Sam let's out a breath and sighs.
"Because I was invited by Derek Wells to the Jerome Gallery for an event. I thought it might be nice for them to come with me before they leave to go back to Brooklyn." Sam explains. Eliana scoffs.
"Like hell that's happening." Eliana mocks. Sam glares at the woman. AJ smiles.
"Well, actually, the twins are staying, their mother thought it might be best if they get to know me, so if you ask them, I'm sure they can decide whether or not they want to go." AJ answers. Sam smiles at AJ.
"Thank you. I'll leave you to your dinner." Sam assures them before starting to leave.
"You do that." Eliana snaps as a final jab. Sam stops in her tracks. She wanted to punch the woman, but she didn't want to cause a rift between herself and the twins. Instead, she walks out of the dining area and takes her phone out.
She calls Spinelli. Spinelli picks up right away and gives Sam a fantastical greeting as per usual. Sam smiles at his sweet nature, but right now, she needed his technical expertise. "Hey Spinelli, can you look into Eliana Scott?" Sam requests.
Spinelli inquires his friend on her interest in the mother of the twins. Sam sighs. "She talked about Jason earlier with familiarity. Not to mention she knew he was dead. Granted AJ might have told her, but something just feels off about her."
Sam explains. That seemed to be enough for the technical sleuth as he said his goodbyes before hanging up. Sam put her phone away and thought about the kids. She hoped she was wrong about Eliana, because if she was right, the kids had more pain in store for them.
Ellison and Tessa waited with Michael in the Quartermaine living room as Alice had a few spare rooms set up for them. A knock on the door caught Michael's attention and he left the two alone. Ellison looked to Tessa and let out a sigh.
"I'm exhausted; it has been such a long day." He comments. Tessa nods, her mind still preoccupied. Ellison looks at her worriedly. "You said at the hospital that you still felt empty, what did you mean by that?" Ellison asks. Tessa looks at her brother and sighs.
"Look Ellis, all I meant by that was that it has been a long couple of years, and the end result was just…" Tessa trailed off. Ellison nodded.
"AJ wasn't what you were expecting." Ellison concludes. Tessa nods. Ellison hugged his sister. "Well, maybe if we get to know him, we will find that he was worth waiting for." Ellison suggests. Tessa shrugs. Though she still felt wary, she would give it a shot.
Just then, Michael walked in Sam by his side. The twins excitedly got up and hugged her.
"Sam, what are you doing here?" Tessa asks. Sam smiles at the two.
"I was invited by Derek Wells to Ava Jerome's art gallery and I was just wondering if you two would like to come with me?" Sam offers. Sam stops to look at Ellison. "Doctor Silas Clay will be there." Sam informs. Ellison glares at Tessa, who smiles at him. Ellison lets his frown turn to a smile and looks to Sam.
"I would love to." Ellison decides, with Tessa nodding to confirm.
Eliana placed down her glass of wine after hearing AJ's explanation. "So, you are hoping to convince my children to put their shares in you so that you can take back control of ELQ?" Eliana sums up. AJ looks around nervously so that no one would overhear.
"It is a little bit more complicated than that, but yes." AJ admits. Eliana takes another sip and shrugs.
"Then why didn't you just let the truth out and try to convince them as an uncle figure?" Eliana points out. AJ shakes his head.
"No, you see everyone has turned against me since Connie Falconeri's death. If they think they are my kids, they might feel more loyalty towards me." AJ explains. Eliana sighs.
"Well, you can rest assured that I won't blow the whistle on this crazy plan." Eliana decides. AJ looks at her excitedly.
"So you will help me?" AJ asks. Eliana leans in and kisses him again; catching AJ off guard. AJ's eyes widen. Eliana breaks the kiss and chuckles at him.
"Only if you help me." Eliana answers. AJ looks at Eliana nervously as a devilish grin appears on her face.