Chapter 11
Dante stood outside the cabin and watched as the boy inside played video games like he had no fears in the world. When the boy grabbed the soda next to him and took a swig, Dante pushed open the door. "You have really no clue the world of trouble you are in do you?"
Looking up and seeing Dante standing there, Michael sneered and said "Look, it's the child my dad threw away. What? You think you are going to bring me back? I will claim you kidnapped me and this was all to get Sonny's attention."
With a quick laugh, Dante sat down on the other chair and looked at the boy with pity in his eyes. "No, I am just your keeper until your jailor arrives."
With a snort, Michael said "Uncle Jason will just apologize for the way he has been treating me and take me home to my mother."
"Mr. Corinthos, my name is Algernon Smith, I work for the Department of Child Protective Services. I am your caseworker." said the large man in the doorway. Looking at the kid, he said "I am here to take you to your residence." His father had agreed that Michael would stay at home under tight supervision including visits from the caseworker everyday.
"Who? Look, I am not going with you, I will just wait until my uncle Jason arrives." he said going back to playing his hand held game.
"Young man, you are either going with me, or with the police officer here." said the large man. "I will give you five minutes to gather your things. Then we will be leaving whether you are ready or not."
Jason arrived home to see Elizabeth and Cam fast asleep. When he asked Johnny why he was outside and not in, the younger man said "I am avoiding deal with Elizabeth. She is upset with the way I dealt with something."
"Georgie Jones?" he asked with some sympathy recalling what he had been told earlier that day.
Wincing, Johnny said "Yes. Trevor is dead, a car accident and we had Anthony committed. I am free, so you might want to step up this romancing of your lady love. I would like to be free soon so I can fix my own mess."
With a quick grin, Jason said "You are going to have to hang on a little longer. I have something in the works but it has to happen the night of the fundraiser."
Entering the gatehouse, Jason woke up his family and offered to take them out for a quick bite to eat. "I was thinking we could try that new pizza place?" he offered knowing how much Cam liked pizza.
"Let me change." said Elizabeth glaring at her top. "Things keep getting a little tight."
Hiding his grin from Cam, Jason walked over to help her up then said "You look fine just like that, but we men will wait, starving while you go change your clothes."
Cam tugged Jason down on the sofa, then asked quietly. "Mommy said you loves me, just as I am. Dos you really want me?"
Pulling the little boy into his arm, Jason said "Do you remember the other night when your Mommy told you that your last name would be Morgan soon?"
The little boy nodded, so Jason said "That mean I do want you to be my son. See Morgan is my last name and when your Mommy marries me, that will be her last name. This way we are family, all of us. No matter what."
"But what about the baby? Will my brother be a Morgan too?" he asked only for Jason to lift him to his lap and give him a tight hug.
"Yes, your brother will be a Morgan and any other children we have, maybe even a little sister some day." he said as Elizabeth came down still glaring at her chest.
As they left the gatehouse, Jason missed seeing the small woman slipping around to the side door and letting herself in unaware that she had set off the silent alarm. Going to the fridge, she saw the soy milk and opened the packet in her side pocket.
Dumping in the drugs, she left as quickly as she had entered, sure that she would soon have everything she ever wanted. Jason, his love and his child. All she had to do was get the man stealing whore out of the way.
Mentally thanking the geek who had found the unlicensed pharmacist for her, she soon drove back to her new penthouse and looked around at the furniture. Everything was just like it should have been at the Towers.
As the week passed, Sam haunted GH when not working on getting her show back. She kept a close eye on Elizabeth's friends since she couldn't get close to the woman in question thanks to that Zachara kid. She saw Robin find out she wasn't pregnant and then the subsequent fight with Patrick Drake.
She saw Skye Quartermaine flirting with a young doctor. She even saw Maxie Jones and her boss arriving for meetings with the hospital board, but what she didn't see was Elizabeth collapsing in pain and going into labor. Instead the bitch just kept walking around all hale and hearty.
Wondering if the drugs were faulty, she went to her backup plan. Making a few calls, she was pissed to find out it would take a couple of weeks to get what she needed. Grumbling, she left the hospital, never seeing the guard following her and writing down everything she did or said then calling Sonny who said "Keep a close eye on her. Make sure she doesn't get to Elizabeth's house again."
Carly was being handed the manila envelope with her name on it as she left the station. "Where is he?"
"Who?" asked Jordan. "Your ex-husband, he took Morgan and the girls to the park." She was amazed herself at all the time Sonny was spending with Alexis' daughters.
"Where is Jas- never mind, I don't give a crap what you know." she said walking to her car and driving to the hotel. Arriving at her office, she saw Nik telling someone to clear out all the junk. "What the hell do you think you are doing?"
"Carly it is Saturday. I now own seventy-five percent of this hotel. You are now the junior partner. As such you may not live here any longer. I dropped your stuff off at Bobbie's." he said then turning to the man he said "I want all decisions she makes cleared through me, otherwise nothing gets changed. Do you understand me?"
Turning, Nik looked at her and said "I heard Michael is home, good maybe you can start doing the job the hotel pays you for again. Now if you will excuse me?"
Stunned, Carly sat down and watched unmoving as they removed her plaque saying she was the owner. Leaving the hallway, she went up to her suite and used her owner's key to find it was empty. Calling down to the boutique she ordered them to bring her up some clothes in her size.
"I am sorry, Ms. Corinthos, I can't do that without your credit card number." said the woman. Carly spat the number out only for the woman to call back and said "I am sending up the outfits. I do apologize for the inconvenience but Mr. Cassadine says we can't comp anything anymore."
Shaking, she walked down to the garage just in time to see her car being towed away. "What are you doing?"
"Mr. Jacks ordered us to account for all Jax enterprise cars. He was shocked to find out you still had one." said the man in the greasy overalls as he pulled out of the garage. Calling a cab, Carly tossed her last twenty at him when he arrived at her mother's house. Walking in, she saw Lulu making out with a blond and said "Where is my mother?"
"Oh, hey Carly. Nik brought your clothes over like you wanted." said Lulu. "I hope you don't mind but I borrowed a dress."
Gritting her teeth, Carly went upstairs to shower and dress then called around trying to find Jason. Finally reaching Max, she was pissed when he hung up on her saying. "I am sorry, Mrs. Corinthos, but I can't help you any longer."
Max touched the bruises on his face, well aware that he deserved them. It had been very clear that he was on very thin ice and that having any contact with Carly would have a detrimental affect on his being able to have more birthdays.
Jason was standing in the middle of the remodeled penthouse combination in awe as a very pregnant Elizabeth directed the various workmen as to where she wanted everything. "Jason?"
Looking down, he saw Cam holding out his hand with a great big grin. "Have you seem my bedroom? Mommy did me a really neat bedroom."
Checking on Elizabeth, and seeing her directing them men now instead of trying to move pieces herself. He followed Cam up the stairs to the second floor and admired the the room with the blue denim walls and red accessories. As he watched Cam flipped the switch sending the train around the upper part of the walls. "Wow, your mommy did a really good job, didn't she?"
"Yup, did you hear the sound on clock?" he said giggling as he made the foghorn sound. "I have boats and trains, but Mommy forgot the motorcycles, she said they have to stay in the playroom."
As Cam and Jason came down the back stair case next to the kitchen and medical center, Jason saw a shadow just outside the secondary outside door and reached out to grab the person there. "What do you think you are doing here?"
Spinelli stuttered then said "I just came up to- to say thank you for your attorney helping me out."
"Cam, would you please go into the living room with your mother?" Jason asked the little boy who stuck his tongue out at the man who had been rude to his mommy. Once his son was gone, Jason looked at the kid and said "Start telling me the truth, or I will have Diane call Mac and have the charges reinstated."
"The goddess and I were curious. She had heard that you were having furniture delivered and I said I would come over and visit my master." he said with a goofy grin on his face.
"The goddess was already warned and now I am telling you. Stay away from here, stay away from my family." said Jason then went over to see why the guard had let the kid in only to find out that he had been too busy tossing Sam out to notice the kid.
The safety precautions being turned back on so that no one could access the top floor couldn't happen soon enough for Jason who was rather curious as to how they found out what day the furniture was being delivered.
"Spinelli, give your goddess a message, if Elizabeth or our sons so much as sneeze and I think it is connected to her, I will make her wish I had left her in that hurricane down in the glades, got it?" asked Jason as he pushed to kid out into the elevator then called to find out all the stores had their lists on computer.
Calling down, he asked the doorman what the hell was going on only to be told "Sir, he locked down my systems. We haven't competed the upgrade yet."
"Get that done, my family and I are moving in soon and I don't want a repeat of this incident." said Jason. Calling the Zachara kid, he said "Can you arrange for Sam McCall to be brought to that safe house like we discussed."
"When?" asked Johnny knowing that it wasn't ready yet.
"The night of the fundraiser. Wait until she leaves, then have your people grab her." he said.
Johnny hung up the phone and watched as Georgie entered Kelly's to pick up her take out order. Following her to the counter and standing behind her, he asked "Can we talk?"
"What did you find out that most of the skanks at Jake's tend to have illnesses that you need penicillin to treat?" she sneered in a cold tone. "Go away, Johnny."
"I'm sorry, please just listen to me." he asked. Only for her to glare at him and say "No."
Taking her order, she turned then stopped to say "You know, I have always thought the best about people... well at least you tried to warn me. I got the message I am too young and I will take my dreams of babies and what else was it picket fences?"
Seeing him just looking she said "Don't worry, Johnny you are safe from the grasping hands of this little girl. I do have to ask, when did I say I was interested in marrying you, let alone having kids? Your oversized ego came up with those thoughts all on your own."
Georgie walked out the door keeping her head held high, as she repeatedly blinked to keep from crying at the loss of what? She honestly didn't know and that was what bothered her so much.
Tossing down the money for the food he ordered, Johnny walked down to the docks forgetting all about meeting Claudia who had been on her way into the diner when she saw the confrontation. Thinking on what Dante had told her, she thought about it then made a call.
"I will be at the mansion. Jason and Liz are moving into the Towers today and I am on Edward duty." said Skye as she kept an eye on her grandfather for Monica.
Claudia saw the tech guy entering the diner and said "I want you to tell me who my brother is paired with. Now."
When the dark haired woman tried to press him yet again, Stan looked at her said "Nice try, but you don't intimidate me, have you meet my mother?"
"Besides, Morgan has already been on my case about Elizabeth, and so has every single woman in town. I have never been this popular." he joked then after a very quick trip to the Q's against his will, told Skye that he had addressed the Spinelli problem.
"How? That little cretin better not ruin this." said an entering Robin who tossed down a file. "Kid tried to access Liz's hospital files yesterday. We had planted false information in them, and someone got a hold of it."
"What is in it?" asked Skye who laughed when she read what they had done. If anyone were to read the files they would find out Elizabeth was having triplets. All boys. "Really? Are you serious? Someone actually believed this?"
"Yes and I have had it. Stan how are you protecting the names?" she asked while pouring herself a glass of water. She had found out she wasn't pregnant but Robin realized she wanted to be a mom so she was going to start taking better care of her body now.
"Like I said, Spinelli has already been tracking the information too bad it isn't the real files. I used the program to give him a bunch of random pairings but listed them as their best. He altered Jason's already along with Dante's as well as his own."
"Who did he change them to." asked Claudia so she knew who to go after.
"Lulu Spencer, Carly Corinthos, Sam McCall and the best part he changed Elizabeth's as well."
"Explain again, for those of us coming off a forty-eight hour shift?" asked Robin.
"Okay, I will use Jason. His listed Maxie Jones as his soul mate, then Kate Howard and Diane Miller. Carly was like number six. Anyhow, he changed it to Lulu in third, Kate Howard and then Sam to what to him looks like his soul mate." said Stan as he showed them the altered files. "The real pairings are on a computer that doesn't have wireless access and is written in code."
"So are we all set at the club?" Claudia asked Skye who said "Yes, there are private tables, with no way of anyone finding out and altering who is where. All the women will have randomly assigned groups, at least that is what they will think."
"We are doing a lot of skulk and dagger for a simple fundraiser." said Robin lifting her head.
"I know, but Jason has plans for Elizabeth and him afterwords." said Skye. "There is someone else we need to do a little work on. Robin would you fill Claudia in on what you know about what is going on with the quad idiots, I have a meeting with Alexis in the study. I didn't want Tracy to know about it."
Leaving them, she saw the two young girls and said "There is a television in the game room."
Kristina and Molly were heading there when they eavesdropped on Claudia and Robin and decided to help. Grinning they called Morgan and said "After school on Monday meet us at the water fountain."
Spinelli was eating his dinner when Sam slipped into the chair across from him. "Are you ever going to tell me what happened when you went to the penthouse?" she asked.
"I don't know how to do it, Fair Samantha. " he said with a sad look on his face. "Stone Cold was there with the home wrecker and they were having furniture delivered. He caught me before I could enter the abode, I was told that if you or I were ever seen there again, he would make us pay."
With a scornful laugh she said "Trust me, once this kid is born, she will be out and I will back where I belong. Just keep an eye on things, Jason doesn't love her, he couldn't. He only chose to be with her AFTER finding out she owns property that Sonny wants. That is what Jason does, he pleases Sonny."
Spinelli said 'Fair one, I am afraid that the interloper is working her wiles on Stone Cold and that he is becoming ensnared in her clutches."
"Spinelli, relax. I know how Jason reacts to a pregnant woman, I was one when I stayed with him. Once the baby is born, things will work out. I will be back where I belong and I promise you will not be left out." she said rubbing his arm. "We are family."
Removing his copy of the list, he regretfully handed it over, worried that she wasn't taking the threat from the maternal one seriously. "I hope for your sake, you are right."
Georgie had been talking to Jax, who had suggested she go straight to Sonny. "I am not his biggest fan, but I doubt he will take a hit out on you for refusing to accept it." he said with a straight-face.
"I guess so, it's just... with the Michael situation, it feels weird." she said. "But at the same time, I can't accept it, even if I HAD been dating Dante."
As she was putting on her coat, Carly tried to slip past the brunette only to find Georgie grabbing her arm. "I don't think so, Carly."
"I need to speak to Jax and if you don't want momma pissed at you, stop interfering in my relationship with him." she said smugly, she knew that her Mother was upset with Georgie over abandoning the restaurant even if she didn't say anything.
"If Aunt Bobbie gets mad over this, I could care less. I am doing my job. Carly, don't you think it is a little pathetic to be begging for money?" asked Georgie. Then seeing her tense said "The door was open and you have a big mouth. Now Jax ordered me not to let you in ever again. Do I have to call my father and have him arrest you?"
"Please, like Jax would press charges." she said. "I need his help. He made promises to me."
"Carly, leave on your own, now." said Jax from his doorway. "Georgie, I am going to lunch with Kate Howard, she asked me what color you wanted that purse in?"
Grinning the assistant said "I don't care. I just love the style. Would you tell her thank you for me again."
As she left, Carly bitched out the younger Jones girl the entire elevator ride down but just as they were about to exit, Georgie looked at her and said "You know, I have never liked you. You seem to forget that Tony was my Uncle and what you did to your mom. You were not a victim in that mess, you were the cause of it. Fifteen years later and you are still acting like the world owes you something, it doesn't."
When the girl had walked away, Carly vowed to add Georgie to the list who she would take down once Jason was back at her side.
Georgie was in a pissed off then scared mood as the guard led her into Sonny's study while she carried the shopping bag. "Sir, Mr. Corinthos..."
"You have babysit my younger sons and worked with my father. I am friends with Robin, do you think you can try saying Sonny or would it hurt?" he asked amused at how polite she was.
"I uh, I can try, uh, Mr. er, Sonny." she said her face flushing. "I uh... here." she said thrusting the bag into his arms. "I really can't accept that. I mean, I appreciate the thought behind it, but it really isn't appropriate."
Opening the bag, he sat the basket down on the coffee table and said "So I was told, by Alexis then later by my son. I guess it was my way of saying thank you for being his friend."
"Don't take this the wrong way, but my friendship can't be bought. Ever after the fact." she said with a slight grin.
"I get that, I am sorry if it offended you." he said while being mentally reminded of a young Elizabeth Webber. "I have no use for the stuff and since you refuse to accept it, why don't we donate it to the fundraiser."
"Are you sure?" she asked stunned. There were some very expensive pieces of electronics in it.
"Yes, I know that this is skewered towards the younger crowd." he said. "You should know that Morgan asked if he could come to watch. He thinks it sounds like fun."
Thinking on her fears about being paired with someone like Edward or even worse her own dad Georgie said. "I think he is the only one. Most of us are a bit scared. I worry about being paired with Edward Quartermaine who felt he had to enter since he is on the board."
"I just donated a very large sum of money and my wife to the cause." he said then seeing Claudia entering, went to introduce them only to find they knew each other.
"I was hoping for a few words, if you don't mind." asked Claudia only for Georgie to glare and say "As long as none of them are Johnny or brother unless you add the words jerk and sleazeball to the comments."
Hiding her grin, Claudia said "I guess that doesn't leave us too much else to say. I do have to ask did the Pepto Bismo help?"
"That was you?" she asked recalling how she had drank pretty much the whole bottle after eating that dark chocolate bunny. "I thought Robin did that."
"No, my wallowing of choice is a whole extra large pan of homemade pizza with scotch chaser." she said to the laughter of the other girl while Sonny had no idea what they were talking about.
"Men." said Georgie who found herself forgetting who he was when glaring at Sonny then the guard on her way out the door.
"What did I do?" asked Sonny not getting it when Claudia sat down and laughed.
"That was a general all men are the scums of the earth." said Claudia who asked "When is dinner?"
Sonny had to be amused about that, Claudia was turning out to be a very appreciative wife when it came to his cooking. "I will tell you if you tell me what that was about?"
"My brother, he likes her, she likes him. He stuck his size tens so far down his throat while trying to protect her from my family they are wiggling out his backside." she said then looked at him rather expectantly.
"As soon as Morgan returns from practice." said Sonny. His son had been excited to get to play t-ball but had asked for his new guard to come with him explaining to his father that he couldn't toss the ball right.
Jason checked on Cam then asked Elizabeth if she was ready for her surprise. When she nodded yes, Jason opened the door to the kitchen letting in Francis who was standing there with his arm in a cast. When she had hugged the guard then burst into tears, Jason grinned and said "I think that means she is glad I brought you up."
Turning around, Elizabeth threw herself into his arms and kissed him to the amusement of Francis and the woman who had come down on Jason's request. "How about we head out for a little while? Monica is going to stay with Cam and Francis is here to stay."
While Elizabeth went to get her coat, Jason ruefully told Francis, "I have to say it is a bit off putting to know that she gets that excited and kisses me for bringing you home but store bought presents get a very polite thank you."
"I always knew that she liked me better." he said with a soft chuckle when the brunette returned and let Monica know what was going on with Cam. "He should sleep straight though."
Helping her into the truck, Jason drove them out to nowhere, then stopped at the small cabin. As they entered, he showed her around and said "I just wanted a place for us that we can use to get away from it all."
Sitting down on the sofa, Elizabeth asked about some of the furniture they had just seen. Like the bed from Brenda's room, the pool table and a certain old leather sofa.
"I wanted to keep that bed, it was … well... where we ..." Jason stumbled around not sure what to say to her that didn't sound like what he was really thinking. He had kept the pieces he had always dreamed of sleeping with her on or had slept with her on. The rest had gone to the nearest rubbish heap.
"Where more than likely this baby was conceived." she said pulling him down next to her as she thought about that night. Then thinking on their son and the name problem they were having admitted. "We do need to talk about names."
"I can't seem to find one I like." he stated then added "I do have to ask about this middle name thing, though, I am not sure it is a good idea."
"I know, it would be easier if it was a girl, the middle name thing is a tradition in our family." she said. "Cam's is Steven not for my brother but for Grandpa."
"So you want to name our son after Edward?" he asked doubtfully.
"No, I was thinking Alan though, if you didn't mind. We just skip a generation." she said.
"We still have to come up with a first name, are you having any luck?" he asked.
"None. I don't like most of the names, I actually asked Skye for help the other day." she said. "She was no help either." She had come up with some pretty outrageous names that didn't fit Jason or her's ideas.
"What do you want our son's name to mean?" he asked trying to work on the situation and distract himself from kissing her senseless.
"I don't like that, I just want a good solid name that means something to us." she said. "I know that Michael was named after Sonny, Morgan after you. Cam was for Zander's dad."
"I don't know any of our family names." he said regretfully.
"And we can't name him no where or studio." she said just joking. "Nor Italy. What else is there, Kelly?"
"What about Jake?" he tossed out then thought about it and found he really did like that idea. "Jacob Alan Morgan."
Stunned, she said "That is perfect. I like it." she said hugging him and when she felt his hand which were wrapped around her touch the sides of her breasts, caught her breath hoping he would make some sort of move.
She wanted him but was afraid he would laugh if she were to try to seduce him as big as she had gotten. Moving her head slightly to the left she did kiss his check never realizing she had disappointed him. He had been hoping she would kiss him on the mouth.
Coleman looked up to see the blond handing Lulu Spencer the drink. Walking over he asked them both to leave then called the station. "Det. Harper please."
Giving the man the message, he said "I will talk to her aunt. I appreciate that you are trying to keep things clean, Coleman."
Hanging up the bartender saw the dark haired man who had been coming in lately and sitting at the corner booth drinking a bottle of beer then soda after soda. "Care to tell me your troubles?"
Johnny looked up and then said "No. I do want to know what my sister hired you for a few weeks ago, though."
Coleman thought about the wrecking job he had pulled on Sam McCalls penthouse and said "Nothing, she just wanted local color."
As he turned he saw the McCall woman coming in late again to pick up someone. Seeing her with the newest regular, he couldn't help wondering... he knew she didn't sleep with these men so what was she up to. Paying attention as they left, Coleman signaled the bartender to keep an eye on things then followed her.
Seeing her roll the men for the money they had, he winced then considered how to handle it. When he saw the two no-necks with the man, he realized Morgan's people were aware what was going on and helped the man. Watching as one of the men followed her, Coleman thought about it then went in to make a call.
Alexis sat in her living room after the phone call from Ric and didn't know what to think. He had gotten married less than a week after moving to Martha's Vineyard to a woman named Marianna and had been asking her advice on what to tell Molly.
She had had to keep herself from telling him about Sonny but knew that it was his secret to tell when and if he wanted to. She only hoped he got over what ever was keeping him quiet. When the phone that was still in her hands rang, she hit the button and listened to what Mitchell Coleman had to say.
As thoughts of her eldest daughter added to her pensive mood, Alexis came to a couple of conclusions. One, she had to deal with whatever Scott was up to, two she had to cut her eldest out of her life for the sake of the two younger girls who would need her.
Looking at the clock, then thinking about what she had been told, Alexis made the call. "Are you still looking for a partner?"
"Yes, but I thought you weren't interested?" asked Diane.
"Give me until the end of summer, by then I will be free." she said then hanging up called over to talk to Mac Scorpio. "Sam is up to her old tricks of conning men. And I figured out what Scott did but now I don't know if we can do anything about it."
Carly sat there stewing in anger. She had been ordered to spend time with Lainey Winters, was now attending classes and she still was required to have supervised visitation with her youngest son while Michael was being kept from her completely.
She tried to figure out how to fix this, all she had was finding a way to talk to Jason without Elizabeth Webber being there. She had to make him realize what he had given up, what he was losing by choosing Elizabeth over his true friends.
Looking at her list, Carly knew she needed more than just that, what she really needed was to get Nik Cassadine out of her hotel. She was certain that Jax had sold him his shares knowing what a penny pinching jerk he was. She kept trying to figure a way in, there had to be a way to get the man to relax and trust her with the hotel.
Jason couldn't sleep and was wandering the halls of the gatehouse when he saw the light under Elizabeth's door. Treading softly in case she had fallen asleep, he instead got another earful and grinned as he walked back to his room recalling what he had just heard.
"I just don't know, Skye. I mean, I thought he did it on purpose, I thought this push and pull were over then he apologized. He was lucky I didn't push him back onto the sofa and start stripping him naked."
" Don't know how much more I can take. I mean, I am ready to crawl out of my skin."
"I can't. Do you have any idea how big I am. I had to exchange my dress that I bought for this thing, I am busting out of my tops."
"No, but then I think of Sam and feel nauseous at the idea of his liking the larger me." she said looking down at her chest.
Jason almost walked in and told her the truth, but wasn't certain how she would take knowing that Sam's main asset had been that she was quite happy to give a guy oral sex without wanting sex in return. She would obediently roll over and go to sleep if told he wasn't interested in anything else. He had tried, but it had been work instead of excitement, something that should have been his first clue how screwed up things were.
Looking back, Jason winced at how selfish he had been in his past two relationships. He had been all about getting them off as quickly as possible so he could get what he needed. It had never been loving just for the sake of being there with the person.
Even at the height of what feelings he had had for them, he had enjoyed the sex but that that all it had been was sex. It had taken the past few months for him to realize that he had been a bastard to Courtney and Sam. He had given them just cause to be angry but they were too egotistical and selfish themselves to realize the real reason he couldn't give them what they want.
They both had tried to blame Elizabeth but in truth, if he had been any kind of man, he wouldn't have tried to use them as substitutes for what he had really wanted. With Courtney it had been freedom, because he had believe he was trapped, with Sam it had been a family, but in both cases they had just been available and willing to be in a relationship with him.
Elizabeth had always been there, buried underneath the pain, the attempts at living a life without her. He couldn't help remembering the night that they had created their son and knew that he had finally found the way to tell her what she and that night had meant to him.
Thinking on his plans for May 1st, Jason wondered if he had forgotten anything and thought over his plan. The last piece was scheduled to arrive the next day and he was a bit worried about something going wrong but he knew he had to take a leap of faith.
Skye entered the country club and checked the tables then told the manager "Everything looks wonderful. I like the various tones, I was a bit worried they would be a little too feminine."
Each of the round tables was set far enough apart that no one would hear what was going on at the other tables and they all had screens around them to shield the couples so they could talk honestly. She had given security a thorough checking even going so far as to have Jason's people check on the men.
"Skye, this looked great." said Claudia entering with the grumpy Robin. "Why were you worried?" she asked as she checked out the moss green table clothes with the vases. Moving in she saw the various flowers and asked why such a variety?
"To set up the various groupings. I arranged the names into flower groups, Lilies, Roses, Orchids and the Tulips. People I don't like ended up in the Rose group. They will think it is connected to my grandmother Lila but I think she would appreciate what we are doing tonight." said the red head with a grin.
"Who is going to be at the door?" asked Robin. "We know there is going to be trouble, after all Carly is coming along with Sam."
"We have a couple of the men taken care of it. Women will be escorted to their tables by our special guests courtesy of Kate Howard." said Skye with a grin. "I will let that part be a surprise to all the women but trust me, more than a few of the women are going to want to go home with them tonight instead of their 'dates."
"Well I certainly hope the married ones go home with their spouses." said an amused Alan as he looked around. "I received a call from your accountant. He gave me some numbers. So far you are at one hundred thousand dollars, how did you make so much already?"
"We had a few men pay to get out of this and a few that tried to bribe Stan. We took their money but made no promises." admitted Skye with a grin. "We have twenty three women and a few more men than that. There will be hosts and hostess' wandering around to keep people from being bored. I have a jazz band playing in the ballroom for afterwords and we all share dinner. It is a sit down but the desserts are a buffet as men chose what to bring to their dates for the half hour."
As they got prepared, several of the dates were a bit surprised to find they were involved. Elizabeth was putting on her necklace when her phone rang and she got an earful from her brother. Laughing, she saw Jason entering and as he fixed her necklace she said "I would say I am sorry, but I had no idea that grams put your name into this."
"I might believe you if you weren't laughing so hard." said Steven as he glared at his unrepentant grandmother who made it clear she was taking this serious when it came to his love life.
Hanging up, Elizabeth thanked Jason then leaned up to kiss him. "How do I look?"
Swallowing his tongue as at that moment Jason was reacting like any red blooded man to his woman standing there looking like she did and then said without thinking "A little too good, we could just stay in."
Blushing at the very obvious reaction she was causing, Elizabeth smiled then said "Do you really think they would let us get away with that, it would take an awfully big donation to get past your father."
"If Alan saw that dress, he would agree." said Jason who finally looked her in the eyes instead of at her body. The dress was long but the long soft green material draped in such a way that made him want to remove it and see what she was wearing underneath. Seeing her laughter he said "Do you solemnly swear I won't end up with Sam or Carly?"
With a smirk she said "I could but who knows maybe the computer thinks you are soul mates."
"I will break Stan's fingers if it does." he was mumbling under his breath as he helped her on with her coat. "Are you sure you are okay with letting Sonny and Mercedes keep Cam." he asked knowing she hadn't been too thrilled at first.
"Yes, Alexis called me earlier about the event tonight. Viola is going to be there with the girls as well." she said. "I was shocked Sonny didn't enter this thing."
Jason had been as well, but just put it down to the rather weird reactions that Sonny had been having to things lately. When they arrived at the country club, he reminded Francis what Sam looked like and asked if he would be able to handle dealing with Carly.
"I never liked her, I told you before. You just were determined not to see it." said Francis. Looking around, he checked the table Elizabeth had been assigned while keeping an eye out for the two women as well as anyone else who could annoy or upset Elizabeth.
Jax saw his assistant talking to Diane Miller and Kate Howard. Walking over, he gave her the tickets that the doorman had handed them. "What were you ladies talking about with such interest earlier?"
"Nothing." said Diane while Kate added the weather. Neither wanted to admit that they were rather eager to find out who the computer paired them with as well as admiring the perfectly fit and handsome men who were acting as the hosts this evening. Stan had given them all their individual profiles earlier that evening and they had been intrigued by what the program had come up with.
Georgie on the other hand was trying to avoid her sister and cousin as they had been rather eager to share their own profiles. She didn't agree with hers and had rejected it only for Stan to show her her answers. She still didn't see herself as a thrill seeker. She went out of her way to avoid thrills.
When Elizabeth saw Sam's smug grin, she had to resist smiling right back at the woman. Skye had told her what Spinelli had tried to do and what they had done to thwart the hacker. She didn't know if she was paired with Jason, she certainly hoped so, but to her this evening was going to be about having fun no matter who she spent time with because at the end of the evening, she was going home with Jason.
Carly was working the room, trying to find a way in when she saw Jason talking to a blond man. Walking towards them, she moved back out of the line of sight when she saw it was Francis, Sonny's former guard. The man had not hidden the fact that he didn't like her and she didn't want to have to deal with him while trying to get back into Jason's good graces.
Just as she started over to talk to the computer geek who looked like he was wearing someone else's suit, they heard the ringing of a bell. "If I may have your attention please?"
Seeing Alan standing up front with Robin, Elizabeth and Skye, everyone moved closer. "Now first I want to remind everyone that tonight is about fun. I really doubt any of you are going to run off and marry the last man you are paired with this evening.
"As you know, this grew out of a practical joke played on Elizabeth and Robin by a member of the hospital staff. Now I will turn it over to my daughter."
Skye stepped up and said "Each woman will have their own table which is numbered and placed within floral groups. The computer put each of you within these four, Lily, Tulip, Orchid and Rose. Then the men will sent to each woman with a chosen dessert, but they won't know who they are meeting only their personality traits. For instance. Rose group, table 3 might get a candies apple or cotton candy. Or they could end up with chocolate covered strawberries."
"Now there are five men to guide each woman to their tables after we eat dinner. Please find your dinner table, we have arranged them by each groups family connection to GH." she said. "But before we do that, I believe that Robin Scorpio has an announcement."
Robin stepped up and took the mic then said "So that there is no doubt at the authenticity of the matches, you should know that each woman was assigned a number and each man the same. I don't even know who my dates are this evening and I assure you I tried to get Stan to tell me. He just kept asking if I had met his mother..." she said while hospital staff chuckled.
"Anyhow, we also took the additional step of having the pairings kept off the Internet so there could be no tampering. Each date, each pairing isn't necessarily your love match, more like someone you should get to know as you have a lot in common with them. So good luck and have a good time this evening."
Lulu moved over to Spinelli who assured her that he had reworked things so she was paired with her true mate. "I have better be." she sniped on her way to the dinner table.
TBC