I am really excited to get the reviews that I got! Thank you so much, I'm so proud of myself! LoL I'm happy that you all like the story and I'm happy that I am able to open some of you guys up to the idea of JoSam. Thank you so much! Please read and review!
FreeBird
Chapter 3
Waking up to an empty bed always made her feel empty inside as well, but the little note he'd left on her pillow made her smile and partly made up for the loneliness. It simply said I made you soup. On the nightstand next to his side of the bed she saw the thermal that hadn't been there the night before and her smile turned into a full-fledged grin. It was the thought and effort that he always put into loving her that made her feel so lucky. Sam was sure that he was out going crazy over the Cassadine thing. He'd been tossing and turning all night, she knew he barely slept worrying about their safety. And she also knew what else was bothering him. The man who had been her everything not too long ago. He was here and Johnny was struggling to fight with the loss he was afraid of facing. The loss of everything he'd worked for the past few years. Her, Danny...she knew that one of his worst fears was the thought of them being taken away from him.
She glanced down at her phone, shivered while pushing it back in her coat pocket and knocked a third time on the door of her mother's house, a little harder this time and then she rattled the locked knob for emphasis. It was early but she had a cold and she was impatient. She had a lot to do today and this was her first stop-picking up her son. Maybe she could have come a little later but she missed him and wanted to see him now. Johnny had dropped him off with Alexis and Molly late last night before picking her up from her visit with Jason.
Molly finally unlocked the door, her hair thrown up in a messy bun and her pajama pants light pink with panda bears all over them. She had on an over sized white shirt and she rubbed her eyes, completely annoyed and glaring. "Why are you here so early?" The teen whined.
"Because, I have things to do. And shouldn't you be getting ready for school?" Sam pointed before she slid past her and into the quiet house.
Molly groaned and closed the door. "School doesn't start for another two hours." She followed her sister to the living room and waved towards the hall when she turned around to face her. "Danny's asleep in my bed."
"Ah, that explains why you're so grumpy." Sam pinched her sister's cheeks before taking off down the hall. "Is Mom still asleep?" She asked right before masking a sneeze in the crook of her arm.
"I don't know and I don't care." Her attitude was bad when she was up too early.
Sam made it to Molly's room and tilted her head to adore the sleeping boy on her bed. She smiled and made her way to him, sitting beside him and stroking his face lightly. He stirred in his sleep and turned over. "Was he much trouble?"
Molly couldn't help but smile softly as she crossed her arms, despite her bad mood. "No. He just sleeps like a crazy person." She complained harmlessly. "But he went right to sleep as soon as Johnny dropped him off last night." She frowned. "What was the emergency?"
Alexis appeared in the doorway, her hair wrapped up in a green towel and her body wrapped in a thick white robe. "Sam, what happened last night?" She sounded worried as she walked into the room, but her voice was a hushed whisper as she padded closer with her fluffy pink slippers.
Sam sighed and rested her hands in her lap as she folded one leg up on the bed. "You won't believe it." She started and they stepped closer, beginning to look even more worried. Her smile was light and her brows rose as she finally told them, "Jason's back."
Molly's mouth fell open as her arms dropped from across her chest to her sides and Alexis gasped, putting a hand to her heart. "What? Oh my god, Sam…" Alexis didn't know whether to congratulate her or not.
"Is he okay?" Molly wondered, sitting at the edge of the bed. She too, was devastated by his disappearance. Despite everything that he and Sam had been through, she loved Jason and he had always been an important part of her life.
"He's fine. I mean, physically. I went over and we just caught up on everything. He's been through a lot." She smiled softly and glanced at her son. "I told him the truth about Danny."
Molly covered her mouth with her hands, still shocked by the news. "Oh my god. Where is he staying?"
"For now he's at Patrick's. Robin brought him back." She was going to leave out the other details. After all, they did have a connection themselves to the Cassadine family and she knew how her mother overreacted. Discretion would be impossible if her mother got a hold of the news.
"Robin? How? How'd she find him?" Alexis was already hounding her daughter with questions.
"I'm not sure about all of the details, I just know that Jason's back and he's fine." She stood up and held her arms out in finality.
"And what about you?" Alexis asked softly. "Are you fine? I know this has to be hard for you." Her eyes inspected her daughter, trying to see past the casual facade.
"I'm doing better than I thought I would." Sam said after a while.
"How is Johnny taking it?" Molly was concerned for him, too. Although she loved Jason and was thrilled that he was alive and well, Johnny had become her new brother-in-law and she loved him dearly.
"Better than I thought he would." She shrugged one shoulder. "He was a little iffy about it at first but we talked about everything and we're fine." Her hand covered her mouth as she coughed. Her throat was bothering her again. It had stopped briefly after downing the soup he'd left for her, but the cold weather outside had instantly brought back her symptoms.
"I want to go see Jason after school." Molly was suddenly in a better mood. She even grabbed all of Danny's discarded items and went over to him, proceeding to redress him in his sleep. She slipped on his little red hat first, smiling when he smiled in his sleep.
Sam watched her dress him for a little while. "You should come with me later. I'm taking Danny by to visit with him and Emma." She suggested. "I can pick you up."
"You don't think that's too much for him? The guy barely came back." Alexis put her two cents in. "And he might want to spend some alone time with Danny." Not that she fully agreed, but she had learned better than to argue against her daughter. It would turn into a never ending argument.
"Mom, I doubt Danny's just going to be completely comfortable with a total stranger. And I'm sure he won't mind seeing Molly, you know how Jason is about kids." If Jason was still the same Jason that Sam had always known, he would be happy to see Molly and how she'd grown in the past few years. He used to tease about all of her annoying romantic gestures but he did adore the girl, nonetheless.
"If you say so." Alexis stood up with a sigh, easily backing down.
"I'm going to meet up with Maxie for breakfast," Sam told her mother, "You should come. I have news for you." She teased lightly, walking in front of her mother.
"More news?" Alexis playfully retorted. Her eyes rolled as she pretended to think about it. "I have to go to the office first. Diane has been calling me all morning, which now I probably know why." She waved a hand at Sam, referring to Jason's return.
"Why would she call you if Jason's back?" Sam asked curiously.
"To have access to things that were left to you with his disappearance. He probably had money hidden away or has entitlement to certain things. I'm guessing that they need to sort out what's what." She mumbled as she walked towards the door. "After I talk to her, I'll meet up with you."
"Okay, I'll be at Kelly's." She called as her mother exited the room.
Molly was smirking from ear to ear at her sister as she walked back towards her. "I know what the news is." She singsonged.
"What?" Sam challenged.
"You're having a baby." She whispered, just in case her mother could still hear her.
Sam was impressed. "How the hell did you know that?"
Molly answered her with the famous Davis' eye roll. "Sam, I can practically tell. The only reason Mom probably can't is because she's so wrapped up in Julian right now."
Sam cringed. She was not on speaking terms with her father, even though he was dating her mother. They said the occasional hi and bye, but she would never have a relationship with him. "Still?"
Molly too, was obviously disgusted. "Yes." After a quiet while, she rolled her eyes again. "Okay, and Johnny kinda told me last night when he dropped Danny off."
Her eyes narrowed and she mentally told herself to kill him. "He just can't keep his mouth shut." Sam kissed the top of her sister's head. "I'll pick you up from school, just call me when you're out of practice."
"Cool." She watched her sister lift Danny into her arms and frowned slightly. "Should you be doing that?"
Sam snorted. "I'm pregnant," she hissed softly, "not disabled."
Laughing softly, Molly waved. "I'll see you later."
"Bye." Sam threw quietly over her shoulder before exiting the room.
Maxie couldn't believe her ears. She blinked and sat her drink on the table, leaning closer thinking that she'd probably misheard everything that her friend was telling her. "I'm sorry, did you just say that Jason is back?"
Sam nodded. "Yes." She whispered and glanced over at Danny who was concentrated on coloring in the Cars coloring book in front of him. "I went to go see him last night."
Her perfectly manicured brow arched. "Really? Should I cover Danny's ears so you can tell me what happened?" A mischievous smile crept on her lips as she playfully covered his ears, receiving a small laugh and a flail of his arms from him. She made a silly face at him before diverting her attention back to her friend.
Sam rolled her eyes. "Nothing happened. Nothing like that, anyway." She corrected. "We talked and we caught up."
"And Johnny was okay with it?" Maxie asked disbelievingly.
"He understood. We trust each other. And we have an understanding."
"He must be going crazy. Because you and Jason are like this epic power couple and-"
"Johnny and I are, too." Sam defended them.
"Yeah, I know, but," she sighed and gave up. "Nevermind." She mumbled. Her friend was entirely devoted to Johnny and that was that. "So where's he been this whole time?"
"It's a really long story, but Robin saved his life." Sam gave her the rundown.
"Robin?" Maxie questioned.
Nibbling on the end of a fry from her plate, Sam frowned. "Yes, Robin. You didn't know she was back?"
"Oh my god, no!" Maxie was excited and hurt at the same time.
"She's probably still locked up in the room with Patrick." The brunette smirked. "I've been calling him all morning because I was supposed to go over there today. He hasn't so much as texted me back." Her complaining sounded more like bragging as she smiled at the happiness her friend was most likely feeling, being reunited with his wife.
Maxie's frown seemed to soften. "Yeah, you're probably right. I would lock myself in a room with him, too." She winked.
Sam chuckled but gave the girl a side look. "Uh, what's that phrase again...too much info?" She said before sipping her milk.
Maxie eyed the coffee-less coffee cup her friend was drinking from and narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "You're drinking milk. Not a beer and not coffee." She pointed to the cup as her friend sat it back down on the table like it was a foreign object.
"And?" Sam shrugged.
"And...that is completely out of the ordinary."
"It's warm milk. I'm sick." She tried. "My throat has been itching like crazy." She didn't meet the girl's eyes.
Maxie looked on knowingly. "Okay really, what gives?" She waited for an explanation.
After a brief moment of silence and Maxie's blue orbs boring into her, she rolled her eyes in defeat. "I'm pregnant."
Maxie's mouth snapped closed and a wide grin spread across her face. "Sam, oh my god!" She clapped once and pressed her hands together excitedly. "I get to plan the baby shower, right?" She never gave Sam time to answer. "Of course I do, who else would?! I need to start making calls, scouting venues…" She paused from pulling her phone from her large, pastel blue tote. "Oh my god, we can use one of the beach houses you guys own. A beach theme. We'll have it in May."
"Which is a gazillion months away!" Sam warned. "This is just a baby shower, not a ball."
"Not just any baby shower, it's your baby shower. Which means I don't have a lot of time." She was already pulling out her phone, a pen and a notepad.
Sam smirked at Maxie as she offered a few of her visions to see what Sam thought of them. Sam nodded at a few and frowned at a few more for about ten minutes before Alexis came bustling through the door, stacks of papers under one arm and her leather bag under the other. Her glasses were on, slipping down the tip of her nose and Sam knew that meant business.
"Mom, you look busy." Sam noticed as the woman plopped down next to Danny.
"Grandma!" He screeched, dropping his crayon on the table and lifting his arms to her.
"Hey baby." She cooed, kissing his head and hugging him after plopping the papers on the table and her bag on the floor next to her.
"Look what I did." He showed her the scribbled picture he'd done.
"That is beautiful." She lied. "Can I have it?"
"It was for my mom," he said indecisively and then shrugged, "but I guess so."
They laughed and Sam noticed that her mother was winded and as she played with Danny, she could tell something was off. "Mom, what's wrong?"
She turned to her daughter with her forehead wrinkled. "Sam, we have a huge problem."
"What?"
"Diane needed a few files for Jason. Apparently, he has money in a few offshore accounts and some other small savings accounts. But in order for him to get access to these things, I need your divorce of absentia paperwork." She opened the file before her and looked down at it, hoping that it would be there.
"Okay so, do you need my consent to give it to her or...?" Sam didn't understand.
"No, I need the actual paperwork." She paused as she dropped her head, looking at her daughter over the rim of her glasses. "But it's nowhere to be found."
"What do you mean it's nowhere to be found? I spent like a week doing it." Sam remembered vividly because it was one of the hardest things she ever had to do.
"I'm pretty sure you did do it. But either it was lost or it was never filed." Alexis informed. "In fact, I thought maybe I misplaced it, because I should have noticed that I didn't have it. But I checked with the divorce department and they confirmed that it was never filed."
Sam was confused and shook her head, waving her hands in front of her as she tried to understand. "Wait, wait, what do you mean it wasn't filed?"
"After you filled them out, what did you do with them?" Alexis asked, her serious tone hushed so that the people around them wouldn't hear it. "Do you remember who took them for you or who you spoke to?"
Sam closed her eyes and dropped her head in her hands as she struggled to remember. "When I was finished filling them out, I remember I was too distraught to file them myself." Her head shot up and she pointed to her mom. "I couldn't file them myself, I couldn't bring myself to do it. It was just so hard. And I..." She trailed off, remembering the emotions she felt at that time about divorcing a husband that she didn't even think was dead.
Alexis nodded, happy they were on to something and happy to cut off her sad memories. "Okay, good. So you couldn't do it, now who filed them for you?"
At that moment, Maxie scooted her chair from the table and shot up. "I should get going, I have a lot of things to do and I'm already running late so..." She chuckled nervously as she gathered her things.
Sam's mouth dropped open in sudden realization. "Maxie! I gave them to Maxie!" She pointed to her friend accusingly. "You came by and you offered to take them in for me. I had completely filled them out I just needed you to turn them in. Maxie, what happened?"
"Okay, can we please just take into consideration that this was almost a year ago. How am I supposed to remember what happened a whole year ago?" The blonde rambled defensively.
Alexis' head was already resting in her hand, she knew this was bad and that the papers were probably laying in a Gucci shoebox somewhere in the back of her closet. Sam gulped. "Maxie, you need to remember, did you file the papers?"
Putting a finger to her chin, she tilted her head and looked up at the ceiling, in serious thought. "Okay, let me see, it was the winter of last year and every winter light colors are in so I probably had one of my pastel colored purses." She recited like it was crucial information. "Last year...I was obsessed with Prada's pink line…" She talked to herself and then her face twisted in disgust. "You know what? I'm sure I can go the the court building and explain this whole misunderstanding…"
"What happened to the papers?" Alexis nearly boomed, yanking her glasses from her face.
Biting on her bottom lip, she sunk back into her seat. "It might have slipped my mind. I mean, I caught a cab and the court building is on the exact same street as the Prada store downtown so I might've accidentally gone in there and lost track of time."
"Oh my god." Sam let out a huge breath as she covered her face in her hands, trying to contain her anger. "So you never turned them in?"
"Sam, you know me! I have the attention span of a newborn! You probably would have been better off sending Danny to file them for you!" She waved her hand at the little boy who looked up and giggled in return.
"Maxie, but I asked you if you did it and you said yes!"
"Because I intended on doing it the next day!" And every day, she would put it off until the next until eventually she switched purses and forgot all about it.
Sam looked to her mother, the panic in her beginning to rise. "Mom, what does this mean?"
Alexis slowly replaced her glasses and sighed. "Honey, it changes everything."
"Everything? How?"
"A person is not legally declared dead until they've been missing for seven years, which would have ended your marriage by default. But Jason was only gone for three so without that paperwork," she lifted her glasses and rubbed at her tired eyes. "Legally, your marriage to Johnny would be null and void."
Sam felt her heart drop. "What?" She couldn't believe her ears.
"And technically, you're still married to Jason."
The words crushed her like a bulldozer and she sat there in shock.
Maxie cringed in guilt. "I'll throw you the best baby shower in the world." She offered apologetically to compromise.
"Baby shower?" Alexis looked over at her daughter surprised. "Honey, you're pregnant?!"
Sam smiled but it didn't reach her eyes. She put her hands up and wiggled them unenthusiastically in the air. "Surprise." She sang with little eagerness before sliding a ruthless death glare towards Maxie. The blonde cowered under the stare.
Sam's large SUV pulled up in front of her house and she sighed heavily when she saw the car of who she'd thought was her husband for the past few months in the driveway. He was probably busy or on his way back to work because when he was home for good, he would pull into the garage and Danny got so excited when he heard the garage door opening, he always ran to greet him. She looked back at Danny sleeping in his carseat and smiled softly. He was so precious.
Her phone vibrated in her purse and she grabbed it from the passenger seat, digging through it and hoping it was Patrick. She felt her body lighten with relief when she saw his name across the screen and she answered it hurriedly.
"Sorry about not answering earlier." Patrick said immediately and she could feel the smile on his face. "But I was doing some much needed catching up with my wife."
She heard Robin in the background say something that she couldn't make out and they both laughed. Sam couldn't fight the smile that spread across her face at the happiness Patrick felt. He deserved it more than anyone she knew. "Don't apologize. I understand."
Still with a hint of laughter in his voice, "So have you talked to Jason?" She heard Patrick whisper for Robin to bring her something.
"No, not since last night. I was going to take Danny over there right now so Jason could meet him." She told him.
"Jason's not here." Patrick's tone turned serious. "I thought he was with you."
Her head snapped up as she looked confused. "No, he's not. I told him that I'd be by today to bring Danny over." She remembered her conversation with her mother earlier. "You know what, I think he went to go see Diane because my mom said something about sending her paperwork regarding him."
"What kind of paperwork?" He wondered.
"I don't know but my mom told me some disturbing news earlier."
"What kind of disturbing news?"
"The kind of disturbing news that would make me legally married to Jason and not legally married to Johnny." She laid it on him thick.
He gasped and waited for her to tell him she was joking, but she never did. "How the hell did that happen?"
"Let's just say that I trusted Maxie with important papers." She gave a wry smile as if he was right in front of her.
He knew that equaled a disaster. "What are you going to do?" He sounded on the verge of panic.
"I don't know, I haven't figured anything out yet." She sighed.
"I see you don't sound so torn up about it." He noted from her calm voice.
So caught off guard by the comment, her mouth snapped shut before she could think of a quick reply. "I am...torn up...about it." She sounded unconvincing and even. "My shock has already come and gone. Now, I just need to come up with a plan."
Patrick knew better but decided not to press her. "How did Johnny take it?"
Sam watched as the man in question walked out of their front door, looking down at his cell phone and struggling to operate the touch screen with his leather gloves on. He had on a white shirt, which she always thought looked great against his naturally tanned skin and a long, mid-shin length peacoat with the collar lightly flipped up around his neck. His heavy leather boots sunk into the unplowed snow on their lawn as he blindly walked forward. She knew that he'd been having a stressful day because his hair was all over the place, which usually meant he'd been brushing his hands through it in frustration.
"I'm about to find out." She said lowly.
"Good luck." He felt for her. "Call me and tell me how it went."
"I'll be over there in a bit." She informed before they mumbled quick goodbyes and hung up.
She opened the door and when he looked up, finally spotting her, their eyes met. His phone quickly fell to his large side pocket as he rushed over to her, surprised to see her home so early in the day. She was usually out and about but on this particular day he was happy that she was here. He wanted to give her a recap of what was going on.
"Sweetheart." He put a hand carefully on her waist as he leaned down to meet her in a kiss and then he glanced at the car. "Where's Danny?"
"He's inside, asleep. He had a long morning with my mom baby talking his ear off and Maxie giving him fashion advice." She crossed her arms over her chest as they smiled at each other.
"Poor guy." He sympathized, glancing through the window of the vehicle just to get a peek at the other love of his life. "Why do you put him through that?"
"You'd be surprised how much he asks for Grandma Lexy and Maxie." She said in mock shock that he was accusing her. When the laughter died down, she stepped closer. "Are you busy right now?"
"Yeah. But actually, I need to talk to you before I head out. It's important." His brows wrinkled. "I looked into the Cassadine thing and you were right. Stavros and Helena are very much alive." He shifted from one foot to the other and leaned against her car. "And I couldn't understand why they were being so sloppy but I think there's more to it. I think they've been planning this for a really long time and I think some of the Russians I do business with could be spying for them."
Her eyes widened with worry for him and for what this could mean for their family. "Do you have any idea who it could be?"
"I got some of my guy's checking up on it right now." He ran a hand through his hair. "But I'm almost sure that's whats going on."
She did the same gesture as him, flipping her hair away from her face. "Wow. If the Cassadine's pulled that off that would be really," she tucked her hands into the pockets of her leather coat as she nodded, "smart."
"Or stupid." He offered. "Because the minute I find out someone's doing that, I'm taking all of them out." There was no way he'd leave room for someone to threaten him or his family.
His eyes darkened to a lethal hue and his voice got colder than the wind hitting her cheeks. She'd seen this Johnny only very few times but she knew that it meant business when he did get this way. She grabbed his hand caringly. "Do you need me to do anything?"
"Yes. I need to you stay alert and stay safe. Possibly stay inside as much as possible. That would ease my mind a lot." He pulled her to him to warm her with a giant hug. "If I'm right about all of this, they're probably privy to the fact that I'm looking into it."
"Okay, but I meant do you need me to help with anything productive. Like look into some backgrounds, look at accounting records, see if things are adding up…?" She knew that helping in any physical way was out of the question with her pregnancy.
He looked down at her and reluctantly nodded. "I guess you can do that."
"I can. I'll get started as soon as I get home." She confirmed and leaned up to kiss him, but she pulled away before letting it linger.
He frowned at the hastiness. "What was that?"
"Well, I don't want you to get sick." She wiped at her nose.
His mouth lifted in a crooked smirk as his head dropped back down to kiss her. "I don't care about getting sick." He deepened the kiss hungrily, he needed it today. He had been stressed out and missing her all morning, so seeing her car on his way out was like a breath of fresh air. "Did you eat my soup this morning?" He brushed hair out of her face.
"Yes, it was delicious. When did you make it?" Her arms snaked around his neck.
"I couldn't sleep last night." He told her quietly. "And you kept coughing and sniffling in your sleep." He brought his hand up to her red tipped nose, brushing a thumb along it. "No wonder I couldn't sleep." He muttered.
She mocked an offended glare. "Whatever." Her word was muffled when he pressed his lips back to hers.
He was the one that had finally pulled away for air, resting his head on hers with a small, satisfied smile. These were the moments that made his life worth while. "Let me take you to dinner tonight." He whispered raspily. He always asked her out on dates even though she was his wife now-or at least she thought she was-which she thought was quite interesting. He would go as far as picking her up from the house and ringing the doorbell when he got there.
"I don't know, I have to check my schedule." Her smile shined as she looked up at him, backing away teasingly at his attempts to kiss her.
"I'll pick you up at nine." He insisted, letting his lips land on her neck.
"Alright." She shrugged, pushing his mouth from her skin with a giggle. "Now," she started, focusing on fixing the front of his coat, "Go back to work before you get sidetracked." She patted her hand on his chest when she was satisfied with the adjustments she'd made to the material.
"You're right." He stole a quick kiss with his hands on her hips. "Be careful, please. And try not to go anywhere."
"I'm just going to Patrick's." The awkwardness of that was only there because he knew who was there now, but she'd always gone to Patrick's when he wasn't working. "He's taking some time off of work because Robin's back and I thought maybe...Danny could, you know…" She swallowed and nodded.
Johnny couldn't say the fear of losing Danny wasn't there. It had been haunting him so much that he could barely sleep last night. And it wasn't only the fear of losing him, but the fear of watching how confused he would be when he found out that Jason was his real dad and he was just...his stepdad. "Jason." He nodded once in approval. "Okay." He gave a weak smile before kissing her cheek again. "Just be careful."
"Yeah." She mentally decided that she was going to tell him about their marriage later. Right now didn't seem like the right time to do it.
"I love you." It was more of a reminder than anything else.
She put a hand to his face with a soft smile. "I love you, too."
He grabbed her hand and kissed it before trudging to his car and driving away, but not before giving her a quick wave as he zoomed by. She watched his car disappear before going to get Danny out of the car. She wanted to change and pick him up a few toys that he wanted to take to Patrick's before heading over there.
The hot chocolate cascaded down her itchy throat like a savior, soothing the irritation she'd had there since last night. She closed her eyes briefly, revelling in the eye roll worthy feeling. When she opened her eyes, Patrick sat across from her on the couch, smirking at her like she was an alien from a different planet.
"Robin," she said, looking behind him and ignoring his crazy grin on purpose, "This is probably the best hot chocolate I've ever had."
Glancing over her shoulder, the girl grinned as she moved dishes from the small dining room table they'd just eaten lunch on. "I'll be sure to inform Nestle."
Patrick refrained from laughing as he put his cup on the coffee table. "It's the hot chocolate in those little packets. Even you can make it." He nudged her leg and smiled sweetly at her death glare.
"If you must know, I've always made a disaster out of those things." She took another gulp before setting the half empty cup on the table in front of her. Her eyes drifted across the living room to where Emma and Danny sat at their little kiddie table in the corner playing with some form of play-doh. When Danny's eyes met hers, he held up a crazy shaped object that was a mixture of about five different colors.
"Mommy! Look it!" He yelped excitedly.
She looked at him with an impressed raise of her brows. "Wow, what is it?"
He looked at it as if he had to guess himself. "A doggy!" He decided.
"What a nice doggy." She praised him. "You should make me a cat. I love cats." Her smile widened as she watched him get directly to work.
"I can make you a cat, too, Aunt Sam." Emma chimed in, glancing over.
"How about you make Aunt Sam a bunny?" Robin came from the kitchen and sat next to Patrick, her own cup of chocolate in hand. "You make really nice bunnies." She rubbed her hand on Patrick's knee.
Emma smiled excitedly. "Okay." She quickly got to work.
Sam tore her eyes away from the two adorable kids and at the loving parents before her. "So Robin," she was grinning at the brown haired woman, "How does it feel to be home?"
"Amazing." She gripped her husband's knee as she sat her cup on the table and the couple smiled at each other. "It feels even better than I had ever imagined." Patrick leaned in and kissed her cheek and she accepted it graciously. "I hated being away from them but I had to try to save Jason. He never gave up on me so I knew I couldn't give up on him." Her smile softened to apologetic after looking at Sam for a while. "I'm just sorry that I couldn't tell you…"
Sam shook her head. "It's okay."
Patrick grabbed Robin's hand and laced his fingers with hers, then he gave Sam a wary look. "So how did Jason handle it when you told him that you were pregnant?"
Robin stopped mid-picking-up-her-cup and looked to the woman with wide eyes. "I...you're pregnant?" Honestly, she still had hope for Jason and Sam, he was one of her best friends and she always wanted the best for him. But she knew that this would hurt him. She smiled, truly happy for her. None of her reservations could be spotted.
Sam blushed lightly as she pulled a tissue from the box that Patrick had placed beside her and wiped at her stuffy nose. "I thought Patrick would have told you."
He wagged his finger between them. "That was my way of telling her." He informed quickly, ignoring how Robin gazed at him like he was the rudest guy on earth. "But how did he take it?" He wanted the scoop.
Sam looked down at the ruffled paper in her hand. "Well, I haven't told him yet."
"Why?"
"Why would I? Should I have just blurted it out the moment I saw him?" She argued softly. "How was I supposed to say it?"
"If it was any other ex, I would understand that. But this happens to be the ex. The one that you married and you thought was gone forever." Patrick elaborated.
She rolled her eyes and decided to look over at her son, who brought her peace. "I know." Everyone was quiet until she looked back at her friend. "Have you guys heard from him?"
"Not at all." Robin answered.
"I think he probably went out to get some things together. He hates not having his own space." Sam explained briefly.
"I know what you mean. That's Jason for you." She laughed and opened her mouth to speak but the phone rang, the shrill sound echoing throughout the house. She placed the cup she had just picked up back down and muttered to be excused as she dashed off towards the phone.
Patrick waited until Robin was out of earshot before letting out a breath. "Okay, tell me how Maxie screwed up your entire marriage to Johnny and how did Johnny take it? God, I couldn't imagine being that guy. He's getting bad news back to back."
"You're not helping." She bit her lip apprehensively. "And I didn't tell Johnny yet."
He dropped his head in his hands briefly. "You are really bad at telling your husbands crucial information." He half joked.
Narrowing her eyes, she pushed his shoulder. "Shut up."
"So do you think Jason knows that you're still his wife?" He asked softly.
Her eyes widened. "Of course he knows. He's basically the reason I know."
Patrick sighed and watched her for a while. "So you're going to ask him for a divorce?"
"I have to."
"I just don't see you doing that." He gave his opinion. "I don't think you can."
"Patrick, don't even start." She covered her mouth as she coughed. "I'm living with and pregnant with Johnny's child. Do you think I'm going to just go with Jason and pick up where we left off? Be his wife again after all this time?" She scoffed at the ridiculousness.
He shrugged. "I don't know. I just think you're not taking this hard-at all. If I woke up and found out that Robin and I weren't really married...I would be going crazy."
"It's just a piece of paper." She assured him. "I know where my heart is." She said the words but her voice held a hint of uncertainty.
A few hours later, Sam glanced at her phone and cringed at the time. Robin had gone to General Hospital to handle some business about getting her job back and she stayed and hung out with Patrick all day. It was thirty minutes until Danny was supposed to be in bed and she could tell he was getting restless. He'd just crawled into her lap and rested his head against her chest, signaling that he was tired. She'd stayed there all day, waiting for Jason so that he could hopefully meet Danny but something obviously had come up. She still had to get ready for dinner with her husb-Johnny, and tell him that he really wasn't her husband. She shuddered at the thought of what he was going to say and how he was going to react. She knew that Jason being back was hard for him, but to now find out that he wasn't even married to her and Jason still was-she was sure with the stress from this and the stress from work, he was bound to topple over the edge soon.
She looked away from some doctor show rerun that was playing on TV and turned to her friend. "Hey, I'm going to head home."
Patrick, who was dozing off himself, brought his head up and widened his eyes. Emma was asleep across his stomach and he briefly glanced down to make sure the heaviness he felt on his body was indeed his daughter. "Are you sure?" He yawned out the words.
"Yeah. Just tell Jason to call me if he shows up so we can make specific plans." She stood up with her son in her arms.
"Alright. Drive safely." He called like always as she walked to the door. "Bye Danny." He waved as the boy waved from over his mom's shoulder.
She called her goodbyes over her shoulder and focused on carrying the almost-too-heavy boy to her car. She was able to zip up his coat and strap him up into his carseat without much of a fuss. Right before she closed the door, his little hand lifted as he sleepily blinked.
"Mommy, my cuppy."
She looked down in her oversized bag and shuffled through it, finding the purple cup and pulling it out, taking the protective lid off of it for him and placing it in his hands. Chances were, he would barely drink it. He would probably fall asleep before she even pulled away from the house. She closed the door and sighed, pulling her phone from her pocket and texting Molly that she was going to pick her up. Her younger sister had agreed to a change of plans, she was going to spend the night at the house while Johnny and Sam went out for dinner.
Molly replied, telling her that she was ready and then Sam's phone rang before she could get comfortable in the seat of her car. She answered it. "Hey."
"Hey." Johnny mimicked her. "Are you getting ready?"
"I'm actually just leaving Patrick's." She told him carefully. "But I'm going to swing by and pick up Molly because she's going to look after Danny at our house while you're wining and dining me."
"I'll pick her up. Just get home and get ready." He ordered playfully.
"Alrighty," she smiled, "so did you find out anything?" She started the car, the phone pressed between her cheek and her shoulder and she carefully pulled away from the curb, making a turn off of the small residential street.
"Not much. I think we narrowed it down to a few dozen of Russian businesses we work with, but whoever might be working for the Cassadine's has to be doing a hell of a job at blending in." His voice got a little more serious. "But I'll tell you more over dinner."
"Okay." She wanted to help him, she heard the worry in his voice. "Well, I'm already driving down the street." She glanced in her rearview before switching lanes, faintly noting the truck behind her that did the same thing. "I'll see you in a little bit."
"Okay." He almost hung up but called out to her before he did. "Be careful. The roads are kind of slippery."
"I know. Love you."
"Love you." He hung up and she sighed, placing the phone next to her in the passenger's seat.
The road was a lot more still and empty than usual. Only about four cars were even on the road with her and all but the gray truck behind her zoomed ahead of her because when she had her son she drove especially slow and cautious-even more so when there was snow. A little less than halfway home, she drummed her fingers on the steering wheel as she waited for the light to switch to green. This light was known for taking forever and she contemplated just running it until the large truck that had been waiting behind her got over and slid to a halting stop next to her.
She glanced at the driver. He looked to be a man in his early forties, his dark hair was overgrown and messy. He was looking directly at her and she knew he wasn't one of those pervs that made sickening hand gestures and hand motions at her. As soon as she saw this man's seedy, dark eyes, she immediately felt like something was wrong. She was good at sensing these kinds of things and for some reason she got that feeling in the pit of her stomach that something was about to happen. Without making it obvious, she leaned forward, pretending to be intrigued with something on her dashboard and then obsessed with wiping it off. As she slid her hand down, pretending to have completed the task, she slipped open the glove compartment so that her gun was at easy access. She never wanted to get into a shooting match with her son in the car, but if she had no other choice then that was exactly what she was willing to do.
The light was still red and from the corner of her eye she could feel the gaze of the driver's eyes trained on her. Her mind was racing and she didn't know what to do exactly. Initiating a high speed chase would be crazy, only if she was forced into that situation. But a big part of her knew that she needed to let it be known that she was in this situation. Swallowing hard, she inconspicuously reached over to the seat next to her dialed the last number that called her on her phone, which was thankfully Johnny and pressed speaker pretending to grow restless at the relentless red light, for the entertainment of her audience.
"Yes?" He answered the phone knowing it was her.
"Hey Babe," she said, struggling to look casual through the window, raking a hand through her hair. "Um, do you think you could meet me on Walnut Road?"
The light finally turned green.
Johnny instantly picked up on the waver in her voice. "Why, what's wrong?"
Sam was looking down, pretending to be totally enthralled with her cuticles, but she noticed that even though the light had been green for about four seconds, the man was not driving forward. Now, she was certain that something was wrong. "I don't know, there's this weird truck next to me, I think he's following me…" She thought she heard Johnny's tires screech when she said that.
"Weird?" His asked hurriedly. "Why is it weird?" Before she could answer, he cursed. "Fuck, I'm all the way by the pier!" His voice quivered with dread.
When she opened her mouth to talk, the quick gleam of something shiny flickered past the corner of her eye and when she turned to look at the man, she saw the gun pointed at her and threw the car in reverse, speeding backwards just in time to miss the bullet, but her window shattered into a thousand pieces. Her arm flung over the back of the passenger's seat as she looked back, skillfully steering backwards. Quickly, her mind went into overdrive. The PCPD was closer than her house and she didn't want to go back to Patrick's with this mess, so that was her destination. But the truck in front of her began making a very illegal U-turn to get to her.
"Sam, what's going on?! What the hell was that?!" Johnny yelled from the other end of the line. "Sam!"
"He just shot at me!" She yelled helplessly, still watching out of the back window as she drove backwards. Glancing at her son, she was surprised that the loud crash of the broken window didn't wake him. "I'm gonna go to the PCPD, meet me-!" She was cut off by the surprise of the speed that the truck had gained coming towards her when she looked back out of her front windshield. "Shit!" She hissed.
"Sam?!" Johnny had never been so full of fear and rage at the same time as he sat helplessly on the other line, at least twenty minutes away from where she was. "What's happening?!"
"Mommy?" Danny stirred in his sleep.
Sam's foot slammed mercilessly on the brake, one hand leaving the steering wheel to pull up the emergency brake and causing her car to start spinning in a circle so that she was pointed down a different street. Immediately, she hit the gas, barely missing the barreling truck hitting the back of her by just a hair. Tears wanted to cloud her eyes when the big vehicle spun around again to face her. All of this left her no choice. "Johnny, shit! I'm going to have to shoot." She said desperately, grabbing the gun as she flew down the street.
"Sam…" He didn't know what to say or what to do. "Try to hold out, I'm on my way." Hearing Danny's little voice in the background while she was going through this was absolutely frightening.
"Okay, hurry!" She answered distractedly, looking through the rearview as she drove quickly. The truck was gaining on her with record speed so she pressed harder on the gas.
"Don't hang up!" He yelled frantically.
"I'm not!" She yelled back, turning a corner quickly-too quickly, she lost control and swiveled wildly before the SUV leaned on two wheels and then tumbled down the street, flipping at least five times before sliding to an upside down stop on the far side of the icy road.
The truck whizzed past the wreckage without a second look, speeding away from the scene as quick as possible. Danny wailed loudly and it was almost the only sound that could be heard in the quiet, cold night despite the whistling sound of the growing wind. His loud scream echoed in the darkness, pleading for his mommy as a car slid to a stop next to them only minutes after the incident.
The boots tapped against the ground as the person approached the mangled vehicle, leaning down to look inside where the baby was screaming. "Ssshh, hey little buddy, you okay?" The boy struck him as familiar and he didn't know why. He was barely paying attention, he was upside down and reaching for his mother. He tried to detach the straps of the carseat the best he could but it was difficult to do upside down. But with the determination that he had to get the scared little boy from the car, he ripped the straps from the seat and was able to grab him and pull him from the car.
"My mommy." Danny cried, holding onto the strong arms that had just rescued him.
Blue eyes finally caught sight of the woman unconscious behind the wheel and his heart almost flew out of his chest. This was his son, and the woman there was Sam with her hair cascading all around her and blood dripping from a cut on her cheek. Trying to keep his composure, he carried the boy to a safe spot on the side of the road.
"Hey," he said, holding onto the boy's shoulders. "Do you think you can stay here while I go get your mommy out?"
Danny nodded. "Yes."
"Good. Are you okay?" He raked his eyes over him quickly, checking for any harm but he found none.
Danny nodded again. "Yes."
"Okay, good. I'm going to go get your mom out now, alright?" His voice was light and reassuring.
"Is she okay?" Danny asked, on the verge of more tears.
"Yeah, she'll be fine." He assured, rubbing a hand through the boy's blonde hair. "I'll get her out." Instantly, he ducked back to the car at the driver side, scoping out the entanglement and mentally devising a plan to get her out. He tugged at her seatbelt but nothing happened. Cursing under his breath, he leaned in, despite the glass cutting his hand and used his other hand to reach the buckle. Before he pressed the button, he positioned himself on his knees so that when he freed her of the restraint, she would fall into his arms instead of on her head.
It all executed as planned and he pulled her out quickly, hoping to avoid her sliding through the broken pieces of glass beneath them. He carried her to where Danny was and laid her there, holding her head up with one of his hands cupping the back of her head. He brushed her hair out of her face and lightly shook her head, grabbing her chin and almost getting lost in the beauty of her.
"Sam…" He tapped her face with the tips of his fingers. "Sam, come on, wake up."
Even Danny looked up at the man, hearing the desperation in the stranger's voice. She lay there lifeless with his eyes beginning to well more than they already had before. "Is she gonna wake up?"
Jason's heart dropped at the helplessness he heard in the small boy. He would give anything to just watch the bond that the kid had grown with his mother over the years. He'd always wanted that for her. "Yeah," he said unsurely. "She'll wake up. She has to."
As if she heard him, her head moved slowly from side to side and she groaned, a look of pain shooting across her face. "Jason…" She mumbled, her eyes cracked open as she looked up at him. And then just like that, she was out again.
Jason panicked inside and stood up with her limp body safely coiled in his arms. "We're gonna take your mom to the doctor, okay?"
Danny nodded, following after him closely. "Okay." His little voice shook.
He opened the back seat and laid her down in the brand new car that he'd gotten that very day. He'd been working with Diane all day to get a lot of the things that he didn't have like a car, a place to live, money. He felt useless without assets, like he couldn't help anyone and he didn't like relying on Robin and Patrick for a place to stay. As soon as he was done with Diane, he went to check with old contacts about the Cassadine's but came up short, so he was on his way to Robin's to tell her about everything and possibly meet Danny when he'd spotted the overturned car.
"You get to sit up front." He picked the boy up, surprised how comfortable he felt in his arms.
Danny perked up in the slightest way at that. He hardly ever got to sit in the front unless his dad was moving his car from the front of the house to the garage. "In the big boy seat?" He questioned, his voice still shaky. That's what his daddy called it.
"Yeah. The big boy seat." Jason was trying to hide the panic in his voice as she slid into the driver's seat and placed the boy on the seat next to him. He quickly strapped the his son in, started the car and drove off.