Kellie entered the townhouse to find Tyler getting food from the kitchen, putting it in the basket of his walker. She watched him shakily move about, resisting the urge to help because she knew he wanted to do it himself. Kellie got herself a meal and they both sat at the dining room table.
"Kellie Girl," Tyler said, "Dr. Ryan has a new medication for me to try. It's part of a trial."
"What do they hope it will do for you?" Kellie asked.
"Time," Tyler said, "It's not a cure, only something to slow things down. I'm advanced enough that they're not sure how it will work on me."
"Side effects?" Kellie asked.
"The usual," Tyler said, "But if the research helps someone else, then it will be worth it. Who knows maybe it will do more than we think."
Before Kellie could reply, Jared, Jamie, and Alyssa came home from school.
"Mommy," Alyssa said, attaching herself to Kellie's legs.
"Did you get the bad guys?" Jamie asked as Kellie bent down to hug them.
"Some of them," Kellie replied.
"And the girls, did you rescue them?" Jared wanted to know.
"Yes, my team and I did," Kellie said, "How do you even know?"
"They wanted to know where Mommy went and more about what she does for a living," Tyler said, as Alyssa crawled up on his lap.
"How come Mommy has to rescue them?" Alyssa asked, "What about the police?"
"I work with the police to rescue them," Kellie said, "You know that Mommy's work mostly gives kids and people resources to change their lives, have better lives. We primarily go on those rescue missions to meet the people being rescued. To let them know they're safe and that we're here to help them."
"Grandpa Sonny was on the tv," Jamie said.
"Oh was he?" Kellie asked, "Why was he on tv?"
"Aunt Sam got kidnapped and some one crashed through a skylight," Jared said.
"Did you have to rescue Sam too? I overheard Dad saying you went to see Grandpa Sonny," Jamie asked, "Can you crash through skylights?"
"No, I did not have to rescue Sam," Kellie said, "There were plenty of other people to do that."
"Why do you and Grandpa have so many people?" Jared asked, "What exactly does Grandpa Sonny do for a living?"
"He's in the coffee business," Tyler said.
"Like Starbucks stores on every corner," Jamie asked.
"But how does he make so much money?" Jared asked.
"Coffee can make people a lot of money," Kellie said, trying not to grimace, "Now I think it's time for an after school snack and then you can do your homework."
"We don't have homework," Jamie said.
"Yes we do," Jared said, rolling his eyes.
Kellie settled the kids around the kitchen table with snacks and homework.
In the living room, she and Tyler continued their discussion.
"I thought we had a couple more years before they started asking questions about my father's business," Kellie said.
"The look on your face when Jared asked why you both have so many people," Tyler said, "was kind of funny."
"It reminded me no matter how far away I am from him, no matter that I don't use his last name anymore," Kellie said, "There will always be a danger because of what he does for a living."
"The kids are happy and healthy and we're doing what we need to keep them safe,"Tyler said, "Other than Liv Jerome and Helena, we really haven't had a problem there. I'd say our track record is pretty good. I want to hear about this second Jason you couldn't tell me much about on the phone."
"I encountered him in New York," Kellie said, "He had stowed away on the ship we rescued the girls from. At first I thought he was one of the guys we were trying to capture slipping away."
"And you went after him," Tyler said.
"And found ourselves in the middle of a gunfight," Kellie said, "There were people after him. We took care of them and told everyone he was one of our people planted on the ship. He needed his shoulder patched from a graze. Jason took off before I could get answers."
"Let me guess he was trying to keep you out of it," Tyler responded.
"Yeah," Kellie said, "I had to wrap up the mission. I called Uncle Lo and he started digging. The next thing I know I'm getting a phone call that the Metrocourt had been held hostage, Sam was kidnapped. Someone crashed through the skylight. I headed to Port Charles to figure out what was going on and tell Dad I saw Jason and that the guy we thought was Jason wasn't."
"What did you find when you got to Port Charles?" Tyler asked.
"The usual, Jason being put in a squad car for questioning," Kellie said, "He'd found Sam. I talked to Dad, Jason had already told him about New York."
"Did Sonny understand why you hadn't said anything," Tyler asked.
"He got it," Kellie said, "Especially since we all thought this other guy was Jason."
"So who's the other guy," Tyler asked.
"No one knows," Kellie said, "But I think he honestly believes he's Jason."
"How did you know the guy in New York was Jason, the real one?" Tyler said.
"Because he was Jason," Kellie said, "I don't know how to explain. If you saw him, you'd get it in an instant. The voice, the mannerisms."
"I believe you," Tyler said, "What happens next?"
"My dad, the police, Jason, Uncle Lo are trying to figure out what happened and prove who is who," Kellie said.
"Five years of Jason's life, just gone," Tyler asked, "How's Sam?"
"I only saw her briefly," Kellie said, "From what I could tell, she doesn't know what to think."
"I can understand that," Tyler said, yawning, "I didn't put the pieces together with you for so long and when you told me the truth about your death in Florida, it was like the ground shook and slipped out from under me."
At that moment a ruckus started in the kitchen.
"Mommy, Jamie's trying to have extra cookies," Alyssa yelled.
"The children are rioting," Tyler said, nuzzling Kellie.
"I got this," Kellie said, kissing Tyler, heading to the kitchen. By the time, she reprimanded Jamie and sent them to their rooms to finish their homework, her phone rang.
"Oh good you answered," Carly said when Kellie picked up, "Here, Jason."
"Carly I don't need to discuss that with Kellie," Jason said.
"Discuss what…actually never mind?" Kellie said, "And why are you making Jason discuss something he doesn't want to discuss with me."
"Jason's having bad dreams," Carly said, "i thought maybe he should talk to you because I thought you might relate after Ethan…." Her voice trailed off.
"Carly, I can't go there," Kellie said, "Not even for Jason."
"Kellie, you were sedated like Jason and probably had dreams to deal with" Carly said.
"Carly, no, it's nothing like Jason's sedation," Kellie said, interrupting her "I was sedated but not enough to put me out. It took me a long time to put those dreams and memories behind me."
"But," Carly said.
"Carly, enough," Jason said, "Neither one of us are putting Kellie through that. It was one dream."
Carly continued to argue her case and Kellie hung up.
Later that evening, Jason called Kellie.
"I'm sorry about Carly," Jason said, "She means well."
"She just doesn't always think," Kellie said, "I know. But you don't need to be apologizing for Carly."
"Carly doesn't get that I'm just glad to be home," Jason said.
"She wants to slay dragons for you," Kellie said.
"Yeah," Jason said, "How's Tyler?"
"Same," Kellie said, "There's a new trial the doctors want to try. Not a cure, just time."
"That's good right," Jason asked.
"Yes, no, I don't know," Kellie said, "I'm afraid to get my hopes up at this point. Today I could almost pretend that things were normal."
Before Jason could respond, the sound of crashing and a scream could be heard upstairs.
