CHAPTER 21

"Why are you asking about Todd Manning?" Carly asked, baffled by the question.

AJ sat down next to her. "I had a conversation with Jax and Sam. Both of then noticed how close you got to Todd. It almost seemed to them that you were coming to rely on Todd like you always relied on Jason, the guy you went to to help you out of the messes you tended to get up in."

Carly thought for a minute. "I guess I did," she admitted. "You know, everyone always said to me to leave Jason alone, he had his own life, he had a wife. And even though he and Sam weren't together after they thought their son had died, I did try to stay away. And Todd was new in town, he didn't really have many friends, the only person in his family that was speaking to him was his daughter, so yeah, I I guess maybe I did start to do some transference to him."

AJ nodded to her, understanding, at least, where she was coming from. Now came the big thing for him. "In spite of the fact that he was responsible for Danny being taken from Sam and Jason?"

"Whoa, I didn't know that at the time," Carly said, her defenses going up. "I had no clue…and I asked him and he said he had nothing to do with it, that it was all Heather Webber's idea."

"But he still was a participant in it," AJ said. "Sorry, but the Carly I knew would have gone gunning for anyone who hurt Jason. I know I would have, despite our differences."

Carly's eyes narrowed. "Why are you so worried about Todd Manning?"

AJ looked at her hard. "I guess I wanted to find out if that relationship was strong enough to have you go running to him if things got bad between us. I wanted to know how much of a Jason replacement he was."

"You don't trust me," she stated.

"And I bet you don't trust me either," AJ said.

Carly stood up. "You do know, I was the one who finally broke it off with him. He was just too crazy. Jason…Jason was always the one with the cool head on his shoulders. He generally talked me down from my crazy ideas and worst impulses." She turned and saw a skeptical look on AJ's face. "Okay, a few times. But Todd…the only times I ever saw a calmness about Todd was when he was around his ex-wife, Blair." Carly sat back down, lost in a memory. "Their daughter Starr was the opening act on the Haunted Star and Blair came to see her perform. Todd and she…I hadn't seen him that serene. And after the concert was over, I arranged for a romantic dinner for them. Todd said it went well, until he proposed to Blair. She told him she was already engaged. After that…he was all over the place. Sometimes manic, most times mopey. Then, I saw them together again when Todd found out something and went to stop the wedding."

"You went with him?" AJ asked.

"Skye and I. We saw a picture in the news announcing the engagement. The guy Blair was marrying was a dead ringer for Lorenzo Alcazar. We told Todd and he was dancing around his office at the thought of stopping the wedding. And when we got there, he would just stare at her, even as she was railing against him, thinking he had set up some nefarious scheme. He looked like a man who saw an oasis in the middle of the desert around her."

"But you two still got involved," AJ stated. "You never seemed to be the type to settle for being second with anyone."

"But I did," Carly admitted. "We slept together New Year's Eve. And afterwards, you know what he asked me? 'Can we go steady?' Like we were in junior high. And all he could talk about was Blair. But, I guess I was so lonely, I didn't even question it." She let out a laugh. "He said that if Blair showed up, right then and there, he wouldn't take her back. But even I knew he was lying to himself."

Carly looked away for a minute and AJ smirked. He reached for the top sheet in the folder and slipped it to Carly. "I know how you love being told you were right, so…"

She looked at the page. The top read 'Commonwealth of Pennsylvania' and as she continued looking it over, she saw both Todd and Blair's names on it. "They got married? Yesterday?" Then a smile brightened her face. "I'm happy for them."

"Really, Carly?" It was a side he had never seen of Carly. Usually, she'd do everything she could to get what she wanted. And if was a man, heaven help the woman who stood between Carly and him.

"That surprises you?"

"I seem to remember you not reacting well to when Jason and Elizabeth were friends and you had plans to torpedo our marriage and run back to him," AJ reminded her.

"Well, that was different. Jason…Jason was the guy I knew I could run to, who would bail me out of my problems. But Todd, well, I think he had a lot of issues himself," Carly replied.

"What did you know about him?" he asked. Off the look he was getting from Carly, he said, "Come on, Carly, I know you. You had to have looked into the guy."

She shot him a glare but answered, "He's the illegitimate son of Victor Lord and from an inheritance he was left, started his own newspaper. At least, that was what I learned about him when he came back to Port Charles."

"That's all you learned?" AJ was surprised. Usually, Carly would have gotten to know every detail about someone she wanted to learn about.

"Well, he told me he had another kid besides Starr, a son who hated him and that the rest of Llanview didn't particularly like him, including his sister," Carly added. "And he had two ex-wives. Blair, the first one, was actually very nice. The other…well, I liked the first one better."

AJ looked down at the file he was holding. It was everything Sam had dug up on Manning, from when he had first come to town. "Sam did an investigation on Manning after she thought her son was dead." He handed it to Carly. "This is everything she learned, up to the present day, which is that marriage license."

"So why go through all this?" she asked.

"Paranoia, pure and simple," AJ told her. "Hey, better this than the bottle. I thought you'd go running to him if things went south with us. I wanted to know everything there was about him as a precaution." He gathered the paper up and asked her, "Have you ever wondered how we would be now if we had stayed together?"

Carly laughed at that thought. "One of us would be in jail for killing the other."

AJ thought about that. "Really, because, you do know, my dad tried to kill my mom a few times over the course of their marriage. And I don't think we'd have been that far off from them."

Carly raised an eyebrow at that. "Alan tried to kill Monica?"

"Oh, yeah," AJ confirmed. "Tried to drop a roof on her and Rick Webber. He didn't think I was his son and we wanted to get back at her."

Carly seemed to consider this. "Note to self," she said, mischief in her tone.

"Speaking of my mother," AJ said, "I think we should go visit with her." At that suggestion, Carly gave him a sour face. "And that's the reason. She doesn't trust you at all."

"You didn't trust me much a little while ago," Carly reminded him. "And probably still don't either, not that I blame you."

AJ just gave her a look. "And I think a visit with her may help to smooth things over. I am determined to make this work somehow. Even if it winds up being a two household family. And I think you visiting the Quartermaines may help that out."

"Bobbie comes too," Carly demanded.

AJ thought about it and agreed. "They, at least, are still friends and can mediate, if needed."

"I'm sure it will be needed," Carly muttered. She got and went to retrieve her purse. While she was digging around, she found the picture Lucas had given her at the check-up.

She was staring at so long that AJ had a hard time trying to get her attention. "Sorry, it's just, looking at this, it's so real."

He came over and took the scan from her. "Our son or daughter," he said. "Are you sure you don't want to know?"

"Part of me does," she said. "And part of me…" She shook her head. "Have you put any thought in about other names?"

"No," he answered. "I'm still surprised you don't want to name it Jason if it's a boy."

"Well, if you haven't figured out from this whole conversation, there's only ever going to be one Jason," she replied. "I would guess, though, if it's a girl, you'll want Lila, right?"

"You are right about only one Jason. The same goes for one Lila. Though, as a middle name, it's an idea," AJ said. "By the way, I wanted to run something else by you. It's just a suggestion, but what if Morgan helps you out around the hotel. At least through the rest of your pregnancy? It'll ease up on you…"

"And it may be a good idea to give him something to do other than hang around here all day," Carly concluded. "I'll see if he's up for it. He's going to be starting school soon, so that may cut in on his availability, though." She nodded her head. "But it's a good idea."

"Well, you are welcome," AJ said with a smile.

Carly had to laugh. "Look at the two of us, have a conversation about the way we could work together, and as a family. Seems…"

"Weird," AJ concluded. "But it is kind of nice."

"Yes, it is," she said. When she saw the smile on his face, she amended her answer. "It is weird for us to be like this." That response didn't seem to dampen his expression. "I have to get some things done upstairs," she said, quick to escape. Because, the truth was, it was actually nice to have someone with her, no matter their reasons. And no matter that it was AJ Quartermaine.