Walls Will Crumble
Carly and Jason
Chapter 12
March 2007
Standing outside the door, dressed in a suit with Carly's hand in his, Jason said "This is a mistake. Lets get out of here."
Carly grabbed his arm as he tried to walk away. She gently patted his chest and then fixed his tie. "You wouldn't have told Emily yes unless you wanted to be here. You never agree to anything you don't want. This will be fine."
His sister had invited him to a family dinner. Ever since his father's death Edward had been fretting about not having the family be closer. He had even called Ned to bring himself home from New York City for this dinner. He would also bring along his teenage daughter Brook Lynn. Skye would join them with her infant daughter Lila Rae. Dillon still lived at home so he would be expected to be there that night too. The rest of the guest list would be Monica, Tracy, Luke and Lulu.
Jason had made himself a promise to try and get close to the Quartermaines again so he wasn't filled with regrets one day when his mother died, like he had been after his father's death. He didn't want to waste away his days spending them worrying more about his fears than being around the people he loved who loved him.
Letting out a short breath he steeled himself for the night ahead and told Carly "Lets do this."
She smiled at him and then knocked on the door. Right before it opened he said "I'm sorry in advance."
"It won't be that bad, I'm sure," she said.
Just then they heard screaming as the door was pulled open. Brook Lynn came barreling at them "I'm out of here!"
Carly grabbed her. "Not so fast! If we're stuck here then so are you!"
Jason gave Carly a look that said it was cruel to put the kid through this kind of torture.
Brook said "My Granny is trying to cheat me out of my rightful inheritance!" She looked at Jason. "You too! She wants all of Uncle Alan's money for herself and she changed the will. She just won't admit it but everyone is onto her." Brook yelled back into the house "I'M ONTO YOU!"
Tracy yelled "You are behaving as uncivilized as your guttersnipe mother! This is what happens when you are raised in a slum."
Brook rushed back inside "Don't talk about my mother! You just hate her cause she's onto you! You want to control everyone but you can't CONTROL ME! I want my inheritance and I will get it to even if I have to take you to court!"
Monica tried to intervene "Okay, okay, ENOUGH! This is supposed to be a NICE FAMILY DINNER SO SHUT UP BEFORE I THROW YOU ALL OUT OF MY HOUSE!"
"Its not your house!" Tracy yelled.
Jason looked at Carly, his eyes wide. "I'm not going in there."
"If you do," she then whispered in his ear the sexy things she would to him later back at his Penthouse.
Jason let her drag him inside.
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Jason sat stiffly at the dining room table. He took a sip of his water. The family had stopped bickering but now there was an uncomfortable silence in the room.
To make matters worse his adopted sister Skye had brought her boyfriend Lorenzo with her tonight.
The only sound in the room for a couple of minutes was silver touching plates until Edward asked "So, Jason, please tell me that you do still plan to marry that nice girl that you were living with? She seemed so eager to give you an heir. You wouldn't let foolishness come between you two, would you? I'm sure you are smarter and wiser than that, considering your blood line."
Jason cleared his throat. "Sam and me...that's done."
Edward said "That is a shame! She seemed made for you!"
Tracy said "Daddy, please, she was a conniving con artist who was with him only because its easier to lay on her back then to work a nine to five."
"Tracy!" Emily cried. "You know less than nothing about Sam so I don't think its appropriate to make judgements about her. I know she did love Jason very much. Sometimes things just don't work out."
Tracy asked Jason "What happened? Did you ask her to sign a pre-nup and she bolted for the door to find another millionaire? Perhaps she can be on a reality show to find her next Mr. Right and Wealthy. She seems the perfect candidate for that kind of genre."
Skye asked "I heard she actually does have a production deal to star in a new televison program. From what I understand she will host a show about how to be heroic in everyday situations. After how she risked her life last month in the hotel I suppose she garnered attention from the right people and that's how she got this deal."
"Do not mention that hostage situation in this home!" Tracy snapped at Skye. "I would think you would have more sense than to bring up the way you were part and parcel in the murder of my brother, who was unfortunate enough to think of you as a daughter after your lying mother foisted you off on us."
Skye teared up slightly. "I had nothing to do with Alan's death and you damn well know it, you bitter, dried up bitch!"
"Whoa," Ned said "I think that is more than enough out of both of you. Grandfather simply asked for one quiet family dinner. Try and control yourselves or just leave."
Edward said "I still haven't heard the reason why you would let that lovely woman go, Jason. You need to get serious about your future. You allowed your wife to move to another country when she was your ideal mate in every way-"
Carly said "He doesn't even like Brenda!"
Jason gave her a look that said there was no use trying to reason with these crazy people.
Edward went on "And then you allowed your second wife to move on to another man without fighting for her. Once again, your marriage did not produce an heir. You put working for a gangster above your duty to this family and I, for one, hope you do not plan to continue on with that same destructive pattern. You need to think about your future. I would like to see you produce a child in my lifetime but if you remain on this path I do not see it happening. Samantha seemed very smitten with you and I'm sure you could convince her to come back to you if-"
"Look, my personal life is my business," Jason said, as he set his napkin down "and I didn't come here for this."
Monica said "Now look what you did! You've chased him away!"
Jason let out a frustrated breath. "No, I'm not going anywhere. I said I would come over for dinner and I will stay till the meal is over. Can we just have dessert now?"
Emily stood up. "I'll go ask Cook to bring it in."
"Ask nicely," Ned reminded her, because Cook was very temperamental. "You know what? I'll go with you. I remember trying to rush Cook once and it didn't end well."
Carly said "You all have some nerve telling Jason how he should live his life when I look around this table and don't see one person in a happy, healthy relationship."
"Caroline," Luke said with a smirk on his lips "I hope you brought your whip for this lion's den."
Tracy said to Carly "And just what are you even doing here? This is a family dinner."
Jason glared at Tracy as he reached for Carly's hand. "I want her here. She's my family. Do you have a problem with that?"
"Actually, I do. That woman has brought nothing but hell down on-"
Edward broke in "Ignore her! We have no problem with Carly. She's always welcome here. As Michael's mother, she is family and if you want to bring her to our next dinner then you are more than welcome. I can't tell you how nice it is to have you here again, Jason. Alan would approve."
Jason let out a shaky breath. Though the Quartermaines could drive him crazy he was determined to make this work. Running away wouldn't get him anywhere. This time he had to stand his ground.
XXXXXXXXXX
After dinner Jason asked Monica to step outside with him. They stood on the patio. She smiled at him "Thank you for joining us tonight. I know that you dislike these kind of-"
"Its fine. I wanted to be here."
"Good. We love having you here."
After a moment he said "I have some news."
Her eyes went soft. "I'd love to hear good news."
"Its about Carly...we're dating now."
"You and Carly?" she asked in surprise. "Wow. I never thought you two would...I suppose it makes sense though. You've always been so close and now she's divorced. You two have quite the history. How is it navigating that now that the nature of your relationship has changed?"
"We're just trying to look toward the future but the past can't be forgotten or ignored. It simply doesn't matter as much as the future to us, though."
"That's wonderful. Its toxic when two people who love each other can't stop keeping score and bringing up old hurts. I'm glad you two are able to let the past stay where it belongs."
"I just wanted to tell you about this. I wanted you to know that I'm okay. I'm happy." He touched her arm. "How are you doing? Are you sleeping okay?"
She teared up. "Its terrible to be in that big bed alone. I hope you never know this feeling."
He pulled her into a hug.
XXXXXXXXXXX
Jason followed Carly into his apartment. He slipped off his jacket and took off his gun. "That was hell on earth."
She laughed. "That's your family."
"Don't remind me."
"They may be rough around the edges and drive me half crazy but they can't not be all bad if they made you."
He just shook her head at that logic. "All I know is, when the time comes, we're eloping cause I am not having those people mess up our wedding." He turned to look at her and she flew into his arms, thrilled that he had mentioned them getting married.
Jason smiled. Their lips found each others in a kiss filled with heat and promises. They could get through anything as long as they were together.
