Chapter 9:
No POV
"Jason, Elizabeth has finally crossed the line. Her son is in the hospital and she hasn't even bothered to come see him, even though he's been missing for almost a month." Sam complained as she and Jason walked down the hallway.
"I know. I'm going to talk to Diane tomorrow about the custody trial and see if we can move it up. I talked to Lucky earlier and he said the last few times CPS has been to Liz's house, she wasn't there, but Cameron was home alone and they brought him to Lucky's."
"Oh my God, those poor boys. I can't imagine ever leaving our daughter alone. No wonder why Jake calls me mommy when him and Emmy are talking."
Jason glanced at her. "How did you know?"
"What do you mean?"
"How did you know he calls you mommy when he talks to Emmy?"
"Jason, my daughter tells me everything." Sam giggled, thinking about the conversation she had with her daughter just hours ago. "Including a birthmark she found on her belly."
Jason smiled. "She is pretty adorable isn't she?"
"Yep. And she's all ours."
No POV
"Before you were conceived, I wanted you. Before you were born, I loved you. Before you were an hour old, I knew I would do anything for you. I love you so much, baby girl." Claudia said as she layed Chloe down in the hospital bassinet.
"Emmy, wait!" she heard Sam yell.
"But Mommy, I wanna see Auntie Claudee!" Emmy whined. She ran into Claudia's hospital room. "Auntie Claudee! Chloe!"
"Shhh, Chloe just fell asleep."Claudia told her. She was wearing the outfit she had gotten her for her birthday and she looked adorable.
"Sorry we came later than we thought. Robin made me fill out all the release papers." Sam apologized as she came in, dropping a black duffle bag that had Emmy's stuff in it on the chair in the corner.
"Where are Jake and Jason?"Claudia wondered.
"They already left. Jason and I drove separate today because we knew that Emmy would want to come see you, so we prepared for it."
"How are things with You-Know-Who?" Claudia questioned, referring to Elizabeth.
"Mama, can I make Chloe a picture?"
"Sure, baby. Your coloring book and crayons are in the bag."
"Okay!" Emmy ran over to the bag.
Sam looked at Claudia to answer her question. "She never came to the hospital, never called, nothing. Jason talked to Diane and she got the court date pushed up to next week. Hopefully, we'll be able to get custody."
Chloe started to fuss. Claudia swung her legs around to try and get up, but Sam stopped her. "I'll get her."
Sam reached down and lifted up the newborn. "Hey there, Chloe. You're even prettier today than you were yesterday." She kissed her forehead and sat next to Claudia on the bed. Emmy was sitting on the floor near the bed, coloring a picture of a princess.
"Auntie Claudee, guess what!"Emmy said.
"What, sweetie?"
"I get to go home today!"
"You're so lucky! I wish Chloe and I could go home."
Emmy abandoned her picture and crawled up onto the bed (with Sam's help) to sit between the two women. She stared at the baby in her mother's arms.
"Is Chloe a good baby?"
"Yeah, but she missed you."
"She did?" Claudia nodded. "Can I hold her again?"
Sam looked to her friend, who gave her permission. She handed the baby to her mother, lifted Emmy onto her lap, and then allowed Claudia to pass her back to the four year old.
"I can't wait 'til you get bigger so we can play. And wif Jossy and Jakey too."
"I bet she'll love playing with you when she's older. But for right now, all she does is eat, sleep, and poop."Claudia told her.
"Weally?" Emmy asked.
"Yeah, and cry."
"Oh. But you can still dress her up!"
"Uh-huh, just like how you dress up."
"Yeah." She paused. "Auntie Claudee?"
"What, baby?"
"I love you."
Claudia stared down into the big, blue eyes that were looking back up at her. She had a little dimpled smile on her adorable face.
"I love you, too, Emmy. Always and forever." She watched her baby girl yawn. "And so does Chloe."
"I love her, too." Emmy kissed the baby's forehead.
"And Uncle Sonny?"
"Yeah! And Mikey, and Mo, and Auntie Car Car, and Auntie Maxie, and Unca Spinny, and Auntie Krissy, and Auntie Mowwy, and Nana, and Mama, and Daddy, and Jakey!" she let out a breath. "That's a lot!"
"It sure is! But we all love you too." Sam told her daughter. "You ready to go?"
"Yeah." Emmy leaned over and hugged Claudia, then kissed Chloe's cheek.
Sam lifted Emmy onto her hip and grabbed the duffle bag in her hand. "We'll come see you guys soon."
"Okay. Have fun at home."Claudia was obviously bitter about staying in the hospital.
Sam laughed. "It'll go fast."
"Yeah right."
"Yeah, probably not." Sam smiled and walked out.
Carly's POV
"When did you get here?" Carly asked, busying herself with adjusting Josslyn's coat and blankets so they could go home.
Jax sighed from the doorway. "The day after you were taken. Maxie called me."
"It would have been nice to get a phone call or something. You know, to check on your daughter. I left you voicemails, emails, everything!"
"Carly, I don't know what you want me to say. I had to go away for business."
"So you're saying business is more important than our family? Let's forget the fact that you abandoned me and our daughter. What about my boys? You came into their life, telling them that you would always be there, especially when Sonny couldn't be. He's been busy with Claudia and the baby lately and you know what? They need you. When we got married, you promised me that would consider Michael and Morgan before you did anything."
"I'm sorry. I love those boys, and Josslyn."
"Don't say her name." Carly spat. "You don't have the right to talk about her. She's my daughter, not yours." She grabbed the handle of the carrier, draping a blanket over it to protect her daughter, and started walking out of the room.
"Carly, wait. I have something to tell you…"
"Save it. I don't care." Carly exited the hospital, taking Josslyn with her.
No POV
"You guys are both okay with watching this, right?" Sam asked Jake and Emmy as she settled on some cartoon. They nodded enthusiastically. "Okay, I'm gonna go talk to Daddy in the office. Come get me if you need anything." She walked down the hallway, pushing open the door to Jason's office.
He was sitting at his desk, typing something on his computer. Sam went over and sat in front of him, straddling his lap so he would look at her.
"Tell me more about Brenda." She said, wanting to get answers. She wasn't going to let this woman hurt her relationship, or her best friend.
"There's not much. She's an Italian model who I married only because she thought she was going crazy and she needed someone she trusted to make her decisions. Sonny fell in love with her and they were together a long time ago. She and Carly have always hated each other. She has a son, and they live in Rome."
"Huh. She used to date Jax, right?"
"Yeah, they were engaged."
"What happened?"
"She called off the wedding. Then he fell in love with Carly, and she left town."
"Ha ha. Jax dumped her sorry ass."
"Sam."
"I know, I'm sorry." She said with a pout. He leaned forward to kiss her. She broke it apart after a few minutes. "I'm going to meet up with Carly at the hospital later to see Claws, so I have to shower."
"Okay, but are you taking the kids? I have to get some work done." She knew he was swamped because they had put everything off to work on finding everyone.
"Maxie and Spinelli are going to watch them. They're coming here."
"How wonderful." Jason sarcastically said.
"What's wonderful?" Maxie asked, walking into the office.
"Oh, just Jason being Jason."Sam waved her hand dismissively and climbed off his lap. "Just ignore him. The kids are watching TV."
"Yeah, Spinelli went to help them get a couple of toys. Tell Claudia and Carly I said hi."
"Oh my God, I'm going to die."Jason groaned. "Carly and Maxie are bad enough alone, but as friends? We're all in for it." He said with a smart ass smile on his face.
"Shut up!" Maxie punched him in the arm. "Anyway, tell Carly I will be stopping over tomorrow night."
"Okay. I'm gonna go get in the shower." Sam went upstairs.
Maxie entered the playroom. "Hiya, munchkins!" she greeted.
"Shhh! You're gonna wake baby Chloe up, Auntie Maxie!" Emmy whisper-yelled.
"Oh, sorry." She sat on the floor next to Emmy. "Can I play too?"
"Yeah. We're playing house. I'm Auntie Claudee, Jakey is Unca Sonny, and Unca Spinny is Daddy, so you can be Mama! This can be the new baby." She gave her a baby doll as she explained the game.
"Don't you guys wanna watch a movie instead?" Maxie asked, seeing how miserable Jake looked.
"Which one?" Jake quickly called out, standing up and dropping the bottle in his hands.
"What about…" Maxie looked through their movies (they had practically every kid movie) until she found one of her favorites. "Finding Nemo!"
"Okay." Emmy replied. "Auntie Maxie, guess what!"
"What, Em?" Maxie wondered as she put the movie in. Spinelli said he was going downstairs to help Jason with something, so she was now alone with the kids.
"Jakey's birfday is in 2 weeks!"
"Really? Wow! Jake, you're gonna be five! Are you excited?" Maxie said, trying to get the shy little boy to open up to her.
"Yeah, I can't wait! Daddy said its gonna be at Aunt Carly's house cause she has a swimmin' pool!"
"That sounds like so much fun. Can I come?" she already knew she was invited, but wanted to know if Jake wanted her there.
"Yeah!"
"Who all are you going to invite?"
"Um, Daddy, Mommy- I mean Sammy, Emmy, Mikey, Mo, Joss, Baby Chloe, Aunt Claudia, Uncle Sonny, you, Uncle Spinelli, Cam, Lucky, Aunt Emily, Uncle Nik, Spencer, Uncle Ethan, Aunt Becca, baby Caleb, Nana, and…oh, and Aunt Molly and Aunt Krissy! I think that's it."
"Wow, that's a lot of people." She sat down on the bed, satisfied when she saw the movie menu pop up. "Are you inviting your mom?"
"Only Sammy."
"Not Elizabeth?"
"No. Just Cam."
"You don't wanna invited your mom?"
"No. She didn't care about me in the hopistal."
"Of course she did." Maxie said, even though she didn't think Elizabeth really cared about anyone but herself.
"Nuh-uh. She was workin' and she didn't even say hi to me. She looked at me…a-and…and…turned a-a-around." He whimpered, starting to cry.
"Come here, baby." She pulled him onto her lap. "You know Sammy and Claudia and Carly and me and everyone else you invited to the party loves you so, so, so much. You know why?'
"Why?"
"Because you are special and adorable!"
"Yeah, Jakey. I love you lots and lots. And so does Mama." Emmy added. "We can share my mama if you wanna."
Jake smiled. "Really?"
"Yeah! You're my brofer. I love you!"
"Thanks, Emmy." He hugged her.
"And you can call me mommy anytime." Sam said, hearing the tail end of the conversation. Jake jumped up and ran over to her, Emmy joining him. She lifted up both of them, putting Emmy on her right hip and Jake on her left.
"Okay, thanks Mommy!"
"No problem, buddy. You know I love you, right?"
"Mmhmm. I love you too." He accepted her kiss and hug.
"And I love you, baby girl." She kissed Emmy. "Be good for Aunt Maxie, okay? I'll see you later." She put them both down. "Aunt Carly and Josslyn are coming over for dinner later. Maxie, you can Spin can stay too."
"I-I don't know." She stuttered.
"I didn't cook."
"Phew, okay. We'll stay."
Sam rolled her eyes. "My cooking's not that bad!" the looks on Maxie, Emmy, and Jake's faces told her otherwise. "Okay, maybe it is. Bye."
"Bye!" they all yelled in unison. She left.
