Author's Note: I'm editing this myself god help us all. My lovely editor is celebrating her bday. And yes I could have waited but the reviews and the pm s had me rolling. Thank you to all. Please be kind. There's a reason I have an editor. But here it is and like I said there's a reason for it all. I have taken liberties like any other fan fic writer. Enjoy and review. I am now off to write Carly, and Sam. How much trouble can they get into too? Review they truly make any author write faster.

Chapter 3 Part 2

All Too Well

"Cancer. My boy had cancer? And what Sam didn't think it was important enough to tell me? What the fuck else is she fucking keeping from me, is there something else that everyone else thinks I don't have the damn right to know about my son? How about my damn wife? "

Jason was livid how dare she! He thought of all people, Sam was different, guess he had been wrong. He was so angry and so damn tired. His brain was like a giant puzzle, so many pieces that fit together, and pieces that didn't. Things that made sense, and then there were these pieces that were confusing,

The conversation he had with Sonny had managed to fill in the gaps. He had been so happy earlier, before Max's outburst. He had yet to ask about the box in the safe, if there truly was one. He was thrilled at remembering so much it was a miracle. So many happy memories but also not so happy ones. That troubled him. Some of what he remembered was horrible, like Sam getting shot, then they had been on the balcony, dress up, him saying "run to me". That memory was confusing a mixture of two events. Confusing till Sonny had explained it to him.

Her inability to not have the child they had both so desperately wanted, the surgery she had, had to make Danny a possibility . The blackout and conception of Jake, he had remembered it, had seen it play out in his brain. Not like the romantic, sweet, perfect night Liz had described. It had been the total opposite. It had been a night of anger certainly not love, far from it.

He had seen Sam with Ric of all people, hurt he had just turned to the first person who just happen to be Liz. One night had begun a chain of events and lies, that had affected so many. He remember their break up, the confrontation he had with Sam. The thugs, the kidnapping, and his reaction towards the one woman who always had accepted him for who he truly was. Who never demanded more. Was happy with whatever he could give her and never ever complained when he left her to help out Carly or anyone else that needed him. Cold, and aloof, he had stood in front of her, had uttered a sentence filled with malevolence, vindictiveness. A command that if she didn't do what he asked of her, he would kill her.

He remembered each word, he saw himself standing in front of her threatening her, forgetting the love he had for her and she had for him. Forgetting it all. His words, each syllable was cold with no regard for her feelings. What a selfish bastard he had been. And yet by some miracle she had forgiven him and taken him back. Not only that but she married him, and given birth to their son. There was no excuse to what he had done to her. The flashes of her hurt and disbelief on her face made him sick to his stomach. And Sam with Lucky. The damn cop that everyone thought of as Jake's father. Who was on his birth certificate. Who had raised him and witnessed all of his son's firsts . His first word, his first steps, all of those special once in a lifetime moments. That had been should've been his penance. But no, Spencer not only had his son but he had Sam. He saw red at the thought of him with her, just like he did when he thought of Drake. The thought of another man's hands on her body unnerve him.

Lucky Spencer, the total opposite of him. A cop who didn't brood, who treated her like she deserved. Who made her happy, made her his priority . He remembered watching them so many times, he had felt like a stalker. Scenes of Sam and Lucky flash through his brains, little pieces he had witness that no one ever knew about. Laughing, kissing, dancing. The recognition on Sam's face of peace and love. It had hurt him. He thought had she ever been like that with me?

Lucky had offered her a different life, one where there were no guns or danger. Just like Patrick Drake had offered her till recently, not only for her but for Danny. The white picket fence, the house, the perfect family. Throw in the damn dog and Sam's life was like a 50's sitcom. He remembered how selfish he had been.

The restless nights at the penthouse, not being able to sleep, wondering what Sam was doing with Spencer. He thought back to one night in particular, it had been late. He had spent another night tossing and turning. Not able to gain any peace, he had jumped onto his bike and found himself in front of her apartment building. He knew he had no right to be there but that night for the first time ever he hadn't cared. He wanted to be selfish. Who cared about her happiness, he wanted Sam, to grab her, and take her somewhere they could be alone. Nothing matter they had both made mistakes. They could work it out. He was about to burst into her apartment, when he looked up and saw her at the window. She had looked so beautiful, staring at the stars. Then he had seen Spencer come from behind her. His arms around her, a smile on his face. He had watched as Spencer had whispered something in her ear causing her to break out into the biggest grin he had ever seen on her face. He hadn't stayed. He had left as he rode his bike he knew, that despite how badly it hurt, he had to let Sam go.

He regretted the entire blackout situation. One night full of a lifetime of ramifications. But he didn't and would never regret the product of that night with Liz, Jake his son.

The truth of the matter was despite every obstacle thrown in their paths, from what he was able to piece together, his memories, and the explanations provided by Sonny, Sam and him had overcome every obstacle thrown their way. There had been a lot of things that had pulled them apart, but in the end they had found their way back to each other, each obstacle had made them even stronger, their love greater. But at that precise moment he wasn't thinking about that, he wasn't thinking of all the things his mind had shown him, Sam shooting him, their trip to Mexico, their wedding. None of those thoughts were even a factor. His brain and his body were filled with anger and rage. His son had cancer, and no one had thought he should know.

"Not knowing about a toy or how Danny sleeps is one thing, but cancer is huge. My son had cancer. I'm his father how could she neglect to share that bit of information. What else has she not told me ? What else was is she hiding? Is she planning to just replace me with another man, like that smug asshole Drake to be Danny's father? Has the shopping for a new bed partner started yet?"

If at that moment, by some miracle of god, Sonny had been able to get up from his wheelchair and grab Jason by the throat and beat the living shit out of him, he would have, friendship and brotherly love be damn. He was losing his shit, blinding him towards the progress he had made these last few days. His anger and rage were making him act like a despicable asshole but Max beat him to it. He grab Jason, threw him against the wall. Max's hands wrapped around his neck, Jason eyes bulging out of his eye sockets.

"Don't you even dare utter another syllable. We may have been friends once upon a time but at this moment all I want to do is shoot your stupid, selfish ass! That woman that you are married too will not now or ever be disrespected by you or by anyone not in my presence, if that person wants to live to see another day.."

Max looked at Jason with nothing but pure and utter hatred. The blood running through his veins was ice cold, all he felt was anger, his hands were firmly gripping Jason throat with just enough pressure to make it difficult for the other man to breathe. He knew he could do more damage, but at that precise moment all he wanted was to shut the asshole up, not kill him.

"She is your wife that is your son, you may not remember or your memories are miraculously now returning" Max said coldly as Jason struggled to breathe. "But it's no excuse to utter one nasty word against her. Even before you died you weren't Mr Perfect! Who the hell do you think you're fooling. You put her through hell. And as for Elizabeth Webber the only respectful thing I will say about her is that she is Jake's mother. Wanna talk about who is shopping around for a new daddy for her kids, it's sure as hell not Sam. We all know it, we always have. We know just who Liz is. You are the only one that saw her through rose color glasses. The rest of us watched as she played your stupid, ignorant ass like a damn fiddle. "

"Easy Max!" Sonny snapped as Max finally let Jason go. Who landed on the ground coughing, and gasping for air.

"Fire me Mr C but I won't let him disrespect Sam. I know we all agreed not to push him. Sam wanted him to remember on his own, to not stress him out. But no way will I allow him to speak that way about her."

Sonny needed to gain some sort of control over the situation, and fast. Jason was just as deadly when the situation arose as Max was. Images of a shoot out in his living room flashed right before him. Carly, she would freak out, not that she would have stopped Max, he could see his wife punching and giving her best friend the biggest chew out of his life. Jason reaction had been disgusting. He had never been as glad as he was that Carly had chosen that night to hang out with Lucas and Sam.

"Max let him go, Jason sit your ass down"

Jason was angry and looked ready to go head to head with Max, the coughing finally stopping. Both men were involved in the ultimate stare down. It was Jason who finally broke the stance. He walked over and sat down on the couch, next to Sonny. Max walked over to the bar and grabbed the bottle, refilling all three glasses with whiskey.

Jason took a swig of the amber liquid that burned as it made its way down his throat.

"Sam drinks whiskey, it's one of her favorite. Tequila too and some imported beer I can't remember the name of, it has chinese letter I think? I remember sitting with her one night and we were drinking it. "

"It's Reeb!" Max said softly. "She drinks Reeb, I use to pick it up for you guys when you had take out. I don't get the appeal. I'm a …"

"Budweiser. You drink Budweiser."

"Yeah I do. We both did when we use to watch the games. Spinelli always and still drinks orange soda."

And just like that the situation between the men was diffused. Sonny saw the guilt stricken face on Max as he held the crystal glass. He couldn't quite read the other man's expression.

At that moment the happiness that had Jason was feeling when he had arrived at Sonny's earlier was long gone, replaced by so many other different emotions. There was anger mixed with so much guilt, and now even more questions. He had snapped. Why was it so hard for him to think before he spoke? To control his words? He wasn't sure why but he was seeing red and was fuming one minute, the next he wanted to hold Sam in his arms and never let her go.

What had she been through while he was dead? What else had happened that caused Max to say he was far from being" Mr Perfect." while he had been alive? He felt something. Something his brain was blocking deep inside him and he knew, he had done something terrible to Sam, something he had yet to remember, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to know, but he had too. No matter what, he needed answers, he had sworn to himself he wouldn't go to Sam till he knew everything.

Sonny knew he needed to calm him down. He could read Jason like an open book. He was confused, angry, and felt like he had been lied too. Not a good mixture of feelings. He had been in Jason's shoes one too many times. And it had been Jason who had talked him off the ledge. Not only regarding Carly, Kate but Brenda.

Twice Jason had saved him from himself when Brenda had shredded his heart. It had been Jason who had dealt with the fallout after he had left her at the alter. It was now his turn to do the same. No way was he leaving his house and God forbid go to Sam's ranting and raving. Sam would either shoot him on site or things would be said that would be regretted later on, words she would not easily forgive, pushing any progress the two had made out the window. The damage over Danny and Christmas was bad enough, no more fuel needed to be added to the fire.

Then there was Elizabeth Webber, if Jason chose to go to Elizabeth to get her version of events. She would make everything worse. She would fully take advantage of the situation, painting herself as Mother Teresa and Sam as the devil incarnated . Sonny knew he had one chance to try and fix the situation. He knew Sam was not pushing her husband to remember, that she hadn't told him anything unless he asked her. He also knew that it was time Jason heard some cold, hard, facts. Not everything had been roses and tranquility between the passionate duo.

"Look Jason, Danny's illness, it's not a subject we discuss and honestly I don't know how you don't know about Danny considering that Elizabeth was one of the nurses that took care of him. She was there right along with the rest of us when Danny was in the hospital. The head nurse on the case."

"She knew too? Wow so everyone knows about my son but me? How many times do I get played and be the fool." his friend said softly in total disbelief as he stood up, and started to pace. Grumbling something he couldn't make out under his breath but both he and Max clearly, did hear Sam's name.

Sonny saw the left vein on Max's neck start to pop out. If he didn't do something it was going to get ugly fast, again. He stared at Max who understood that the last thing they needed was for him to lose it, again. So Max stood down, for now.

"Sit down and I'll fill you in you may not like what you hear. Your memories are on point but there's still a lot of things you don't know and God only knows what Liz has said and what she chose not to tell you. I really think this should come from Sam but judging from your reaction I rather be the one that tells you."

Jason counted to ten. He had seen Danny with Sam. She adored him and was an excellent mother. Things were coming to light, the way Monica had been with Danny on Thanksgiving. How Sam seem to be overly cautious with the young boy. Now he understood. Danny had been very sick, he had almost died. His son with Sam had been stricken with a deadly disease. Sam had to struggled with not only losing her husband, but had had to face the possibility of losing their son.

Max took at look at the man and saw how broken he was. He was slowly realizing why he had been so angry, he, himself had been angry at the world when Diane had told him Danny needed a bone marrow transplant. Both he and Milo had been tested, it seem to them both that Sam was being punished by the gods and it wasn't right. So he did to a point understand Jason's reaction. Part of him wanted to leave the two men. But he was partly to blame for the current situation and he wasn't leaving Mr C to deal with it alone.

"Look Jason dude I'm sorry for throwing you against the wall and choking you but I will not allow you to disrespect Samantha, your wife. You may not realize or remember things but that's no reason to treat people like shit. But I do feel bad. I tend to react first then think."

Jason scoffed at the man's words. He was already feeling the pain from Max's massive hands that had almost choked him to death. He had a hard time believing the man felt bad.

"And who have I treated like shit according to you Max? Who do you think i've been so goddam unfair too?"

"Well besides your wife and son how about your lawyer, my girlfriend. Who got you out of jail so you could spent time with your two sons?"

"Can we get back to the fact that my wife kept my son's health from me!" Noting that he owed Diane an apology. He had been a massive jerk to the woman. She had after all gotten him out of jail on Christmas Eve.

Jason stubbornness was starting to piss off Sonny who kept thanking god Carly wasn't there. Deep breathes Sonny told himself. Jason had come to him for answers. This was good progress. Sonny decided to just trust his gut.

"Did you even think to ask? Can you honestly stand there acting like the injured party? What do you know about Danny?" Sonny asked.

Jason got quiet, it was the third time in a twenty four hour span that he had been reminded of his neglect towards his youngest son, and he hated it. He said nothing, just waited to hear what else Sonny had to say.

"The truth is that no one ever kept Danny's cancer a secret, you just never asked about him. The truth hurts, I know because I've been in your shoes more than once. I felt that rage, that anger against everyone. Like everyone had lied to me, everyone was against me. But you always prove to me I was wrong for thinking that. So now it's time for you sit down and listen."

Jason sat and heard every word Sonny said. His son had cancer, had needed a bone marrow transplant. Sam had stayed next to their son the entire time. Everyone had been tested, and a man by the name Julian Jerrome had been a match. He had turned out not only to be one of Sonny's biggest enemies but also Sam's father, his father in law. His boss at the garage. Sonny had gone into great detail, explaining it all to him. He never felt such a sense of relief than when Sonny had said his boy was healthy.

"Are you sure Sonny?"

"Yes i'm sure. Sam is on top of it. He has regular check ups"

"Thank god" Jason had said his hands shaking as he took a drink of whiskey. "I'm sorry I shouldn't have lost it like that. It's hard for me to control my emotions."

"Understandable regarding the circumstances. But bit of advice man, you can't lose it like that with Sam. She didn't want to pressure you or push you. She would have told you anything you want to know not only about a Danny, about your lives, all you had to do was ask."

"Yeah I know Sam doesn't lie! But I have some more questions what did you mean about being Mr. Perfect Max? I get a sense I did something to Sam, I feel like my brain is blocking it out."

Max looked at Sonny who gave him a nod. It was his turn to spill his guts. There was no way around it.

"You know about Franco and the so call rape right?"

"Yes I remember our honeymoon and Sonny has filed in the blanks. What am I missing? Was I unfaithful to Sam?" He ask as vile crept up in his throat.

"No you weren't unfaithful though Liz tried many times to get you to be and had no qualms making Sam believe you had been."

Jason closed his eyes. This damn woman Elizabeth Webber was his biggest nightmare and he was tied to her forever because of their son. "What did I do Max? What horrible thing did I do to Sam, my wife?"

Softly Max finally answered him. "You asked her to abort your son Danny, when you thought it was Franco's. Or give him up for adoption that was the choice. You spent months pushing her away. You told her to put up the baby for adoption when she refuse to get the abortion. That you two could have another child. She spent her pregnancy alone. Yeah she had her mother and sisters with her but she needed you. You were unwilling to raise the child of her rapist. You both were fooled into thinking he was Franco's. And when Sam picked the baby over you, she left you. She gave birth at some motel during a storm."

"What? Jason said horrified as Max's words register in his brain. Sonny took pity at his friend and continued the story.

"The night of Danny's birth, you sent two of our men to beat up a cop named Mcbain. He had delivered Danny, which you didn't know about at the time. He had gone to get the car. He was beaten up pretty badly. He couldn't make it back to Sam. There was a storm that night. When Mcbain didn't come back, Sam wrapped up your son, and walked to the hospital. She had complications. She put the baby in a safe place and pass out on the ground. You found them both. The baby was dead. You didn't know it at the time but Heather Webber took the baby and switched it with a dead one. "

" Oh my god"

"Sam once again went through hell and back. She was sure her baby was alive. You trusted your instincts and join forces with Mcbain. Danny was living in another town with another woman. Heather Webber was his nanny."

"The name Webber is starting to sound like the devil"

Max laughed. "You don't even know the half of it. You took the baby's pacifier and ask Elizabeth to run a DNA test on it. She knew from the test that the baby was Sam's but chose to keep the information to herself. You two were spending time together. Sam of course thought the worse and Elizabeth fed into her insecurities. Her guilt finally got the best of her. She blamed it on losing Jake but she finally told you the truth and once again you gave her yet another free pass. Then you got Sam baby back. And the rest you know."

Silence and uncomfortable silence filled the room.

"She should hate me. Why did she marry me? All I brought her is pain."

Sonny took Jason's hand. "You two love each other. You bring out the best out of each other. Yes at times it was hard, there were things that kept you two away from each other. Not of your own doing. But that woman mourned you. She got into the water after I told her, you had been shot. She refused to give up. She knew that you were alive when we all gave up hope. So now look at me and answer me this. Do you love her? Can you imagine spending your life away from her? Away from Danny? Or watching her with another man, living the life you were meant to with your wife and sons?"

It took him less of a minute to answer Sonny.

"I love her. I don't want to waste another minute away from her. I want a life with her and Danny. I only care about her, Danny and Jake. The rest can go to hell."

Both Max and Sonny were grinning like two fools. Sonny then remembered that Jason had come to ask him a specific question.

"What did you want to ask me. You said something about my safe?"

"Yeah I saw a shooting star and I remember a robin blue box I asked you to keep in your safe? You, Max and Milo were laughing at me?"

"Oh my god!" Max said bursting into laughter right along with Sonny. "Yes, the push gift. When you found out Sam was pregnant she was a bit temperamental. She woke you up in the middle of the night, craving my clam sauce. You told her you would get it the later. Not the right thing to say to an over emotional pregnant woman. You showed up at my house three am. I always have some frozen. Max and I laughed at you, since Sam called Max and told him to tell you not to come home without the clam sauce."

"Clam sauce? You're kidding right?"

"No I'm not. I believe Sam threw a candle at you. She can be a tad bit feisty. Something you might want to store in your brain for the future. Anyway you were complaining. And Sam told you all the horrors she would endured carrying your son but how happy she was to endure them, so the least you could do was ride over and get her the clam sauce she was craving. You were confused and asked me for advice."

"We did laugh at you for days" Max contributed to the convo.

Sonny wheeled himself over to a picture of him and Kristina. He pressed the side of it and it popped open revealing a safe. "I told you back then that the only way for a man to survive temperamental women like our wives was with expensive jewelry, after they gave birth to our children. All men know this and it's call a push gift."

"The next day you knowing Sam is a snooper showed up and while Max, Milo, and I laughed, you told me to hang on to this for you. Now for some reason I have never given it to Sam. It didn't feel right. I came close a few times but something told me to hang on to it a little bit longer."

A blue robin box with the word TIFFANY'S was taken out of the safe, handed to Jason. He open the box and found a black velvet box inside it. Jason held his breath and open up the box. A pair of very large solitaire earrings stared back at them. A memory came rushing back to him. Then a bunch more.

"They sparkle like her eyes. I said that to the jeweler. I remember buying these. I remember giving them to you. I remember. Oh my god I remember."

And just like that Sonny knew that for the first time since Jason's return, with certainty Jason, Sam and Danny were well on their way to becoming a family. He was a betting man, and gave it less than forty eight hours. He couldn't wait to tell Carly.