Two Weeks Later:
"Carina the bus is going to be here in five minutes and Courtney is waiting!" Claudia screamed from the kitchen.
Ever since the incident two weeks ago, Carina seemed to move slower. She was always watching her mother closer. Claudia smiled as her daughter ran out of her room in her school uniform. Carina hugged her mother and grabbed her lunch box.
"Bye, mom, love you."
"Have good day! Love you too!" Claudia yelled as Carina closed the door.
Claudia unlocked the door that connected her and Carly's rooms. It was a cycle they had created so that they could see each other before they started their days. Claudia was still running Zacchara-Corinthos shipments through the piers, while Carly was still running the MC. Carly came through the door.
"Coffee, please." Carly told her.
Claudia set the coffee and a plate of pancakes in front of her, because by now she knew that Carly could not cook. Claudia always made their breakfasts in the morning.
"Pancakes! You know me too well. Thank God you can cook or else we'd be screwed."
"Yes, we would be. Should I call Sam and then we can all go out to lunch. I only have an early shipment to bring in today."
"Sounds good to me, I'll just sit here and enjoy these wonderful pancakes."
Claudia pulled out her phone and scrolled down her contacts list until she found Sam's name. After the phone ringing three times Sam picked up.
"Claws, what's up?"
"Well Carly and I are just sitting here and we were just wondering if you wanted to do lunch at MC's restaurant?"
"Yeah, I'd love to! We haven't done lunch in awhile. What time would be good? I'm free at say one-ish?"
"Yeah, that works perfectly. Talk to you later Sam."
Claudia hung up the phone and walked back to the kitchen. Cleaning it obsessively. Then she went to the living room and put away all of Carina's toys. Carly noticed how anxious her friend was and went over to her.
"Claudia, what the hell is wrong with you? I've never seen you so OCD about cleaning before. Did somebody say something to you?"
"No, it's just that everything has been going great. My kid is happy and healthy. And Izzie is coming home soon for break, which is going to be great. I guess I'm just waiting for the other show to drop. It always has before." Claudia explained with a frown.
"Don't you say that. You can't live life if you're constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. What you have to do is make life so worthwhile that you don't even remember that the first shoe ever dropped." Carly told her with a smile.
Looking closely at her watch, Carly took one more bite of her pancakes and ran to the door.
"Time for my day to start. I'll see you at one." Carly said, running out the door like a mad woman.
Claudia laughed before going and picking up after Carly. The remaining pancakes went into the trash can, the coffee was poured down the sink and she set the cup down. She was just about to go to the piers when Diane showed up at the door.
"Diane! What are you doing here? Did Sonny finally have the divorce papers signed?" Claudia asked.
"No, not exactly." Diane said uncomfortably.
"Why are you here then? Not that I mind the visit, it's just I really want those papers signed."
"Claudia, I hate to do this to you. I do and please don't get mad at me. I have to do what Sonny asks me to do as his attorney. Sonny is suing you for full custody of Carina."
Claudia's eyes widened as she heard the news. Anger washed over her, then hurt did. How could Sonny do this to her? How could he try and take their daughter away from her?
"And you can't be my lawyer, right?"
"Sadly, no. Sonny signs the checks. I'm sorry, Claudia. Here are the papers and I'll see you in court."
As Diane walked away it took everything in Claudia's power not to go over to Sonny's house and rip the papers into bits and pieces. She threw them on the counter. Then, she grabbed the keys to her car and went to go see the shipment in.
Carly and Sam sat at the table waiting patiently for Claudia. Every ten to twelve seconds they would check their watches and look at the door. She was around ten minutes late and that wasn't like Claudia. She liked to be exactly on time or fashionably early. So when Claudia came running through the door, both women breathed a sigh of relief.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry I'm late. I had to file paper work and the I was looking for good lawyers online and I got caught up in that. Again, I'm really sorry." She said out of breath.
"It's okay, Claudia. But why the hell were you looking for a lawyer?" Sam asked.
"Because without a lawyer I'm going to lose my daughter. Heck even with a lawyer I'm going to lose my daughter. No one ever wins against Diane Miller." Claudia told them, tears filling her eyes.
"What did he do now?"
"He's suing for full custody of my daughter and Diane can't represent me because she's Sonny's lawyer. And I don't know what to do."
"What about Alexis, she is at the same level as Diane. I know you two don't get along, but she's fought the same battle when Krissy was little. She knows how to win." Carly suggested.
"But Carly, she hates me and my kids."
"But she's gone through the same thing, Claudia, she knows how to this and she'll win this case."
"Sam, talk to her for me. Please." Claudia begged.
Sam nodded and pulled out her phone. It rang a couple of times, before Alexis picked up.
"Hey, mom…..I need a favor. Well really would you be willing to represent one of my friends?…..Which one? Claudia…..Mom, she didn't do anything bad…….Sonny's trying to take Carina away from her, and Diane can't technically represent her. Mom she needs you…..Really?! Thanks so much….Yeah, she'll come by tomorrow….Love you, too, mom."
"She'll do it?!" Claudia asked.
"Yes, she'll do it, but she needs to see you tomorrow to build a case." Sam told her.
"That's fine." Claudia said looking down at her phone for the time. "Carly it's time to pick the girls up. Do you want me to do it. I'll drop Court off or they could even work on homework together."
"Nah, Court is actually staying to help the teacher with the class pet."
"Aww, that's so sweet of her. But I have to go, because my daughter will kill me if I'm late. I'll see you guys later." Claudia told them.
Carly and Sam both hugged their friend, before she walked out of the restaurant. She knew she couldn't let them see the tears that were blurring her vision in the car. She couldn't lose her daughter, she would give her life before losing her daughter.
"So how was your day, Carina?" Claudia asked as she opened the door to their hotel room.
"It was okay, I guess." Carina said, sadly.
She sat down on the couch and turned on the TV, trying to block her mother out and avoid telling her about her day. Claudia noticed how un-talkative her daughter was so she sat down next to her and turned off the TV.
"What happened, Carina. You're never this upset after one day of school. Did someone say something bad to you?"
"No, it's just that…..you know what? Never mind." Carina said, walking to her room.
Claudia followed her there, too. She closed the door behind her so that Carina couldn't go somewhere else.
"Carina Dominica Zacchara-Corinthos, you need to tell me what happened."
Carina knew her mother meant business, she knew she had to tell her. But she didn't want to ask.
"I wanted to invite one of my classmates over to play, I told her where I lived and she said she was going to ask her mom. Well today she came over to my desk and said that her mom said she wasn't allowed to come over, because this place houses the mob. And that the mob was something they didn't want to be around." Carina said with a frown.
"Oh, baby." Claudia said, hugging her.
"Mom, this is such a stupid question, but what is the mob. I mean I know dad is a mobster and you're a mob queen. But what is the mob exactly."
"They're people who don't always do the right things. But they aren't bad people, they just made choices early on in their lives that they can't get out of now."
"But you're out of it, right momma?"
"Pretty much, I still do basic things, but I'm not a target anymore. Baby, I need you to know that just because daddy and Uncle Jason are mobsters and sometimes they do bad things it's okay to love them. People don't understand them, because they judge them automatically without getting to know them. But we know them and they're good people."
"I know that mommy. So we talked about my day, but what about yours?"
"Well, honey, there's actually more we need to talk about something and then you can go to work on your homework."
"What is it mommy? Did something happen to Courtney or Aunt Carly or Aunt Sam or Uncle Jason or daddy or Michael or Mo or Molly or Izzie or Kris-"
"No Carina nothing bad happened. It's nothing like that, I promise."
Claudia swore she felt Carina's grip on her tighten, like she was some sort of lifeline for her daughter. A tear ran down her cheek. This is why she could not lose her daughter. She needed her and the feeling was mutual. Claudia kissed her daughter's head, lightly.
"What's wrong then mom?" Carina asked, pulling away.
Claudia swore she saw a bit of Izzie as a child in there. That always amazed, Claudia. How similar both her children were.
"Your dad thinks that you would be better off if you stayed with him, well really if you lived with him instead of me-"
"He's suing you for full custody of me." Carina answered.
"How'd you know that?" Claudia asked stunned at her daughter's infinite knowledge.
"When you told me you and daddy were getting a divorce I looked online to see what the process would be. This is usually what happens."
"Baby girl, you are way too smart. Do you need me to explain anything to you?"
"Who's representing you?"
"Sam, Krissy, and Molly's mom. She good, baby. I'm going to fight as hard as possible for you. Promise."
"Will I have to talk?"
"Not if I have anything to do with it. I'm not going to make you choose. Now go do your homework before dinner."
"Yes, ma'am."
Carina ran into her room, dragging her oversized book bag with her. Claudia smiled, realizing the task of telling daughter of the custody battle could've gone a lot worse.
Claudia kissed the top of her head and then pulled the blanket up to her daughter's chin. Everything leading up to bedtime was always the most fun, mainly because they got to spend so much time together.
"Goodnight, sleep tight, and I love you." Claudia told her.
"Love you too momma."
With that, Claudia closed the door and grabbed her keys. She knocked on Carly's door that connected their rooms softly.
"I need you to watch her for like an hour, please."
"Where are you going?" Carly asked suspiciously.
"Jake's. To get wasted."
Carly grabbed the keys out of her hands and threw them somewhere Claudia could not see.
"You are not going to get wasted. You're having a hard time, but I'm not letting you ruin the chance of you winning your daughter. Being seen at Jake's would be a turnoff for any judge Claudia."
Claudia and Carly both let out deep, exasperated breaths.
"Fine, I'll go to bed and nurse a hangover when I'm not fighting for my daughter. But, God, Carly, who knew you were such a killjoy?" Claudia joked.
"Uh huh, sure. Good night. I'll see you tomorrow, over here. Make more pancakes though, they were good."
"I will, goodnight."
Claudia walked over to her room and laid down in her bed. Her head was spinning and all she wanted was her mom. But she couldn't have her. She died the day Carina was born. How could one good day be such a terrible day at the same time? Claudia couldn't help but wonder if Sonny was proud of himself. Making her scramble like she was. She never knew he could be this cruel, until now.
Her head kept on spinning before long though her thoughts lulled her to sleep.
I will admit, not some of my best work, but it's here and it's an update. Hope you guys enjoyed!!!