The day the Quartermaine family died
"Huh. I really thought Edward would go first." Emily replied, after Monica told her about Tracy's passing.
"Everyone did but apparently Tracy could have been more honest about her health. Her autopsy showed a severe case of heart disease. She was taking medication but treatment is more intensive than just a pill per day." Monica explained. Although the condition was genetic, she hadn't considered that diagnosis.* She forgot how great of an actress Tracy could be when she wanted to be.
"Including fewer hours at the office, which I imagine is the only thing she had left going for her." Emily commented.
"I don't know about that but in Tracy's view, work was probably better than taking care of Edward and having time to think of the wealth and privilege she once had." Monica reflected, adding some insight into Tracy's decision.
"That's true as well but I was thinking more along the lines of Ned and Dillion. Her children more or less didn't want anything to do with her. With good reason, of course," Emily mentioned.
"Tracy was too selfish of a person to be able be a good mother. Not that she'd ever admit that." Monica responded, "I guess I wasn't the best mother either."
"At times no, but at least you feel sorry about it and can admit it." Emily pointed out. It may seem small to others but it allowed the child to see that their parents aren't perfect and they make mistakes. It could alleviate the situation somewhat.
"Pride is a dangerous sin," Monica agreed. "Luckily, Alan seems to have learned that. It makes him more tolerable actually." Monica added in, unsure of how Emily would respond to the change of subject. It was a tight issue.
"Did he? He never used to be so prideful." Emily noted, uncommitted. As always, Emily's control was noted and strong.
"No, you're right. It was a trait he picked up within the last couple of years I believe." Monica agreed. "It's only when you look back that you realize how much one can change." A bit of that could be said about herself too.
A pause of silence occurred after the comment. Both mother and daughter were thinking of the reasons that led to his affair, reasons that still brought some hurt despite the decision to accept them and move on with their lives. It'd probably never be right anyway.
"Have you heard from Lucky recently?" Monica asked, changing the subject again. No matter what happened to those two, it seemed they'd always be friends.
"I talked with him last week. He's actually quite glad to be back to Port Charles. For the longest time it was the place of his troubles but he's now seeing the light in the dark." Emily told her. Lucky decided to take a self-possessed trip to visit Emily last month when he was having troubles with his relationships. It had allowed him to relax and review the situation, away from the tense atmosphere.
"That's great. Who knew Elizabeth would turn into a home wrecker. I mean when you and her were teenagers she misbehaved but those were just juvenile and hormonal stunts." No one knew who Elizabeth was sleeping with anymore these days. One person would see her with Lucky, another with Jason, and yet another with Nikolas. It surprised Monica that all of them hadn't caught on sooner. She was waiting to see how the situation would end but it guaranteed to end badly in any case.
"Elizabeth is more complicated than she makes herself out to be. Regardless, we don't have a relationship anymore. When we were teenagers we knew we'd change but no one could guess just how much." Emily explained. She had been idealistic and less apprehensive then. She still wondered if that was a good thing, that maybe if someone or something would have opened her eyes to the real world, she'd be better off.
"That's true. The last thing I expected was for you to give up relationships. Back then you'd just give up on one and try again." That was the hardest thing for Monica to see. When it came to important things like jobs and school, Emily always persevered but recently, when it came to trivial things, and romance, she accepted them as gone and admitted defeat. It was a most surprising thing for a mother, who wanted happiness for her child.
"Mom, I explained this to you before." Emily replied, sighing and resigning herself to explaining it once again. "I'm no good at relationships. It isn't like teaching yourself skills from those self-help books. You can learn trigonometry but you can't learn how to make a relationship work, no matter how many times you've tried."
"I know, I know but I thought the same thing. Then I met Steve." Monica argued. Steve was a newly retired hospital administrator from Boston and had moved to Port Charles to get a slower pace of life. At first Monica was hesitant but had grown to like him. Yet she was still hesitant to call him her boyfriend.
"Technically, I've never met Steve so I'm still judging him." Emily pointed out, finding a piece of faulty logic in Monica's argument and holding onto it.
"Well, then you can meet him if you choose to come home for Tracy's funeral." Monica was equally quick to point out. She really did want Emily to meet Steve as he already knew a lot about her and felt that if Emily liked him, she'd feel more comfortable in the relationship.
"You really want me to come don't you?" Emily asked, annoyed with Monica's too perfect and conveniently added references relating to her coming back to Port Charles.
"Sweetie, I know Port Charles represents everything that went wrong but you won't know if you are really over it until you face it again. Besides, don't you have other business to attend to here?" Monica inquired, remembering what Emily told her earlier that week.
"Unfortunately yes," Emily admitted. She had tried taking care of it by phone and internet but personal contact seemed to be the best way to attend to it. She'd have to do that but that also didn't mean she'd have to like it. It was just another one of those things where you do it and then forget about it.
"Besides, I wanted you to show you some properties. Given the economy, there are many businesses closing down. The properties are cheap and the owners are willing to sell. A clinic would do much good currently and I'm not getting any younger." Monica additionally persuaded.
Monica was realizing that it took more effort to do her current job at the hospital and while she wasn't ready to retire, she'd also like a slower, less busy medical environment. When Emily once put the idea of opening a clinic out there, Monica had jumped on the idea even though Emily wasn't entirely serious about it. Emily was just feeling apprehensive about her future at the time.
Emily sighed, giving in to Monica's nudging. "I'll think about it." Emily told Monica.
"Good. Call me when you decide okay? I have an extra bedroom and I can pick you up at the airport." Monica responded, already planning Emily's accommodations.
"Pressure much?" Emily asked irritably.
"I'm sorry, I just really miss you. You seem so far away at times." Monica apologized, feeling the loss more since she actually admitted it.
"I am far away." Emily answered. It was where she had wanted to be but that seemed to be coming to a close anyway.
Whether she admitted it or not, she was going to have to start again. The transfer job she had accepted was on a temporary basis as the hospital was seriously underhanded due to employment condition changes. At the time, it was exactly what she needed: to get away and figure out her life. She wasn't any closer to an answer though as she expected herself to be. She needed to figure out where Port Charles stood with her.
Giving a heavy sigh, she asked "Am I gonna have to act like I actually care? In my opinion, she had it more than coming."
Author's note: You know I believe this has to be one of the most informative chapters yet. We learned that Emily's future is once again unknown, Monica has a potential boyfriend, and that there's an interest in starting a clinic together. Then there's all that drama of course.
*In reference to the heart disease reference in Tracy being genetic, I'm not sure that's entirely true. It's just that Edward has an extensive history of heart attacks (fake and real) and I heard that is commonly due to heart disease so I just went with it. Good thing this is AU, huh?