A/N: It's been awhile. Sorry about that. Here's the next part... hope you like it!
Part VII
"Carly?"
She wasn't sure how she wanted to react. She had been alone in the park with her thoughts and now they were being intruded upon. So, she clutched the swing chain tighter in her good hand.
"You shouldn't be here this late. You need to be at home." Carly rolled her eyes.
"It's none of your concern, Sonny."
"Where are the boys?" Carly glared at him, but didn't let her anger get the best of her.
"They are sleeping safe and sound at the Brownstone. Bobbie's looking after them."
"Shouldn't you be in bed? Resting?" he asked, stepping closer to get a better look at her pale face.
"Last time I checked, Sonny, you weren't my doctor, my father or my husband." The mobster nodded once and looked around the deserted park.
"Speaking of husbands…" Carly decided to cut him off before he started.
"He's in Montreal. Business emergency," she said.
"But shouldn't he be here with you if he loves you so much?" he asked. Carly tightened her jaw and looked away from her ex-husband.
"You know all about business emergencies, so don't you dare deign to judge." Silence fell at her admonishment for a few awkward moments before Sonny ventured into previously verboten territory.
"You kept Jason from jail," he noted. Carly squeezed her eyes shut realizing that she wasn't going to be able to avoid this long-time ignored conversation.
"Yes. I did." Sonny nodded, expecting the answer.
"Would you have kept me from jail?" he asked. This time, Carly looked straight at him.
"The last time you shot me, it was in the head. I was incapable of anything."
"Jason shot you too. And his was for revenge."
"You shot me because of your selfish jealousy…"
"I was trying to save you," Sonny said, pleading with his dark eyes for her to understand the difference between bullets. Carly held up her good hand.
"Wow. Let's stop with these kindergartner games. Yes, Jason shot me. But when compared to your list of sins, he looks like a choirboy. Jason has always been there for me. You? You have not." Sonny was silent for a moment as he studied her.
"You do love him. More than you ever loved me," he concluded. Carly turned away from her ex with a dry chuckle.
"Love him? No…" Sonny started at the statement, but before he could say anything, she continued. "… I live for him. Make no mistake. I loved you. I really did. But loving and living? Which would you choose?"
"They could occur together," Sonny said. But Carly shook her head.
"No. With Jason, living surpasses loving." Silence fell again.
"So you've forgiven him," he stated.
"No." To say he was shocked would be an understatement. Carly was about to say more, but approaching footsteps stopped her. When she looked back, her face relaxed into a soft smile.
"Jax," she said. He smiled at her as he came closer to her.
"I got away as quickly as I could manage," he said, sparing Sonny a quick, cursory glance before helping his wife stand. "We should get you home. You'll make yourself sick out here." The Aussie placed a light kiss on Carly's lips and took her good hand in his.
"Goodnight," Carly said to Sonny before letting her husband guide her home. Sonny watched with a heavy heart as the two left. Then he realized he wasn't alone.
"Jason…" The other mobster stepped out of the shadows and Sonny caught a quick glance of pain in the light blue eyes as they looked to where Carly had stood moments before.
"Jerry's a danger to her," he said before looking at Sonny. The dark haired mob boss nodded.
"I know."
"Then why wouldn't you let me kill him?" Sonny sighed.
"Did you see that smile?" he asked. Jason looked back to where Carly had sat on the swing.
"She hasn't smiled at either one of us like that in months, maybe even years," he said. Sonny nodded.
"Exactly. See why I couldn't have Jerry killed? And if you were the one to do it, she'd hate me more than she already does. And she'd hate you just as badly, if not more," he said. Jason let out a breath as he ran a hand over his face. Then he looked at his one-time mentor and asked a question that he didn't want to know the answer to.
"You still love her?" Sonny smiled, albeit painfully.
"You ever stop?"
If Sam McCall would have predicted where she would be at this particular moment, she never would have guessed Port Charles, New York. She'd have guessed perhaps in the middle of the Caribbean, captaining her own pirate ship of sorts looking for some elusive treasure. Instead she was here.
Here, she'd found Jasper Jacks. Here, she's fallen in love with Sonny Corinthos and briefly been a mother to his child. And here, she'd fallen in to a relationship with Jason Morgan and thought that he'd been the center of her universe and vice versa. If only she'd known that this was how things were going to end up, she'd have gladly given up everything for that pirate ship. She'd even give up knowing the identity of her birth mother… With a sigh, Sam let her forehead fall into her palm as she let the sound of the water rushing under the docks sooth her emotions.
The approaching footsteps didn't alarm her, but they did put her on guard. On a normal day – hell, about 5 hours ago – she would have expected those footsteps to be Jason's. But she was certain they weren't. Sam didn't flinch as the person sat down next to her and settled back. With a quick glance to her right she saw a guard scoping the area.
"Ms. McCall…" a smooth voice greeted.
"Mr. Alcazar," she said back, sitting up straighter. "What brings you to this particular place tonight?"
"Why, you do, Ms. McCall."
"What would little old me have to do with you?"
"Carly Spencer." Those two words caused Sam's eyes to angrily fly to Lorenzo's.
"Carly Spencer…" she repeated. Lorenzo smiled as he watched her reaction.
"Who else?" he asked.
"What does she have to do with anything?" she hissed, looking back out at the water.
"You threatened her this evening," he said.
"So? The woman is a terror. What does it really mean to threaten her? What does it matter?"
"It means you've made an enemy of me. That's why it matters."
"Carly has Sonny, Jax and Jason to look after her. You certainly don't need to. In fact, I thought you two hated and barely talked to each other," Sam noted. Lorenzo just smiled again.
"Contrary to popular belief, I don't hate Carly. Nor do I believe she hates me. It just works better for both of us if we pretend we do and stay out of each other's way. I loved Carly. I still love Carly, although not in the same way," he explained. Sam frowned.
"How can you still love her? You were just a place holder," she told him. Lorenzo let out a small sigh.
"Just like you were?" he asked back. When Sam flinched, he stood up. "Ms. McCall, you and I, Sonny and Elizabeth… anyone else… we were just speed bumps in a greater story. And that is why I am grateful for any time I was able to spend with Carly and have her in my arms, loving her. It's now time for me to find my own great story. I suggest you do the same. If you threaten Carly again, I can tell you now that you will regret that you hadn't taken my advice," he said as he straightened his suit coat. With a nod to the guard, Lorenzo turned and walked away from the docks.
The next day – The Brownstone
Jason Morgan was frustrated. And what didn't help matters was that he had no one to vent these frustrations to. Sonny would be no help to him – it had been a long time since Sonny had been a help to him.
He knew he was way beyond wanting to talk to Sam. After he'd heard of her taking her anger out on a freshly conscious Carly, all urges to see her whatsoever had been killed off.
The only mother figure he'd really counted on in this town – well, he'd shot her daughter. And said daughter… to say she was acknowledging him would be a gross overstatement. Ever since the conversation on the docks, she'd barely registered his presence. He'd heard the conversation she'd had with Sonny last night and it had hit him hard to remember and be faced with the devotion she'd always had for him. And thus, this is where the majority of his frustration stemmed from. To know that the devotion was still there yet to be left out in the cold as if it weren't… it was beyond what he knew. It was uncharted territory to have her not forgive him.
And since this frustration was something he was going to have to live with until he could figure out a way to make it up to Carly, his next best bet was to relax. And that was why he found himself where he was.
As the door opened, he was met with a happy grin.
"Jason!" Michael cried as he launched himself into the mobster's arms. Little Morgan, excited by his brother's greeting, picked himself up off the floor and ran to embrace Jason's legs.
"Hey guys," he said. Michael pulled away and looked at Jason with eyes wiser than any child's should be.
"What's going on?" he asked. Jason just smiled.
"Nothing, buddy. I just wanted to spend time with my two favorite guys in the world," he said. Morgan's eyes went wide, but he didn't let go of Jason's leg.
"The whole world? Even Egypt?" he asked, having been regaled by his brother's tales of the place that Jason had told him so much about. Jason chuckled as he reached down and picked the youngest of Carly's children up.
"Yeah, kiddo. Even Egypt," he said. Morgan grinned. When Sonny's dimples peeked through, Jason's heart flipped a little bit knowing that Morgan could have been his son if only he'd let the past go and loved what was his to love.
"Can you read to us about Egypt?" Morgan asked as Michael tugged Jason over to the couch.
"Of course. Where's your book?" he asked. Morgan pointed his finger up to the ceiling to indicate that it was upstairs. Jason smiled as he set the young boy on his feet.
"Well, you go get it, and I'll read it to you," he said. Morgan took off running for the stairs to find the desired object. There was silence for a few moments as Michael settled himself on the couch.
"Uncle Jason?" he asked finally. Jason winced only slightly at the title. Lately, he'd been doing that a lot when either Michael or Morgan called him 'Uncle Jason'.
"Yeah, buddy?"
"Can I talk to you?" Michael asked. Jason frowned as he took the empty spot next to him on the couch.
"Anytime, Michael. You know that…"
"Remember when you said that we needed to make sure Mom was happy?" Not sure where this was heading, Jason leaned forward so that he was eye level with Michael.
"Of course I do. We talked about that before your mom married Jax," he said. Michael didn't look up from where his eyes were focused on his hands.
"Mom's not happy," he said. Finally, the young redhead raised his eyes to meet Jason's in a very serious gaze.
"What are you talking about?" Jason asked. Although he knew one very big reason why Carly wasn't happy. Michael sighed.
"She's not as bad as she was with dad," he said. Jason knew how hard it was for the boy to admit that. "But she's still not as happy as she should be." Jason frowned. Was there something else he missed? Besides the obvious? Carly seemed happy when it came to anything else but him.
"You want to know how I know?" Michael broke into his thoughts.
"Yeah, Michael. I do," he said honestly. He was genuinely curious to know.
"Because the only times I've ever seen her really happy has been when she's with you. Even when you guys are fighting, she still seems happy," he explained. Jason looked away from the young boy, partly because of guilt and partly because he needed to process what he'd just heard from the boy he considered a son. Any other thoughts were interrupted as Morgan's little feet could be heard clomping down the stairs. As he launched himself to land between his uncle and his older brother, Bobbie cleared her throat from where she stood watching them.
"My grandson is a very astute little boy, Jason Morgan," she said. Jason nodded as he looked down at the top of Michael's busy head.
"I know."
"Don't you think that 10 years is way too long to wait before fighting for your family again?" she asked. Jason's eyes shot up to Bobbie's and she gave him a small smile before turning and going back to the kitchen. When he looked down again, it was to see Michael staring at him with a thoughtful gaze. Only when Jason opened the well-worn travel book did Michael's attention waver away from him.
A/N: Hope that was decent… Until next update, let me know what you thought!
