Chapter 25

It was almost mid morning before Jason returned to the penthouse and Sam was beside herself with worry. She had picked up the phone a hundred times to call him but knew that she shouldn't. It wouldn't be wise to have him distracted by a phonecall at an inopportune moment that could get him killed or injured. She would wait…but nobody said she had to wait patiently, so she had however, called Sonny several times, who assured her to keep calm, reminding her that Jason knew what he was doing. Finally and exasperatedly after her fifth call, Sonny told her he'd go check on things himself and he'd call her with an update soon. It was a couple hours after that Jason showed up, looking exhausted and frustrated as he walked through the door that Sam opened for him.

"What happened? What did you find out?" She rambled off the questions as she took his hand and led him over to the couch, cringing a bit as she stepped over the area where she'd cleaned up the intruder's blood off her floor before Danny got up.

"Come here." Jason pulled her into his arms before they sat down, squeezing her to him for a full minute as he relaxed knowing they were safe. He kissed her on the head and asked, "Where's Danny - is he okay?" He felt her head nod against his lips and he breathed easier.

"He didn't hear anything and he's upstairs playing. Molly wanted to come take him to the park this afternoon but I don't know, Jason - I don't think I should let him out of my sight right now." She still shuddered when she thought about what could've happened if she hadn't woken up when she did.

"It's gonna be okay, Sam - neither one of them will be back here and the man who sent them won't be able to try it again - I made sure of it."

Sam really didn't like the sound of that but she couldn't deny the relief that hearing it brought her. "Who were they working for?"

"Some low-level player out of Beechers Corner who thought he would make a name for himself by coming after my family. Sonny and I put a lock on their attempt to flood Port Charles with drugs years ago and they thought they had a new way in when I disappeared and Sonny got sent to Pentonville. They've been moving in a little at a time until your boy Simeon saw me recently and assumed that I was working for Sonny again and would bring them heat."

Jason's voice got cold when he relayed the next part of what he'd learned. "He was sent here to kill you in your bed where I'd find you and get the message that they were taking over." He looked at her with such pain as he continued, "They knew that hurting you would break me and get me out of the game, or so distracted that they could easily take me out." He pulled her into his arms, squeezing her so tight when he realized how close he'd come to losing her again. Once again his old life had touched her because of how he felt about her - everybody knew how he felt about her and it put her in danger.

Jason remembered a time when that realization had driven him to push her away. He also remembered the ensuing nightmare that both their lives became because of it and he knew he would never try to live without her ever again.

He'd spent the morning making sure that the threat to her life was eliminated with no doubt to the outcome of another attempt to harm her - him and Sonny's crew dumping the dead bodies on the steps of the so called Don, then he and Sonny presenting to head of the families that they were prepared to go to war again in answer to any retaliation against them. They were assured that no hit on the Corinthos' or Morgans had been sanctioned in the first place and they were enjoying the peace between them all and intended for it to continue, even as Jason reminded them that he'd returned to Port Charles, not to the life, so they had no quarrel with him and his family and they would be wise to keep it that way. Sonny assured them that despite Jason not working with him anymore that it was business as usual and peace would prevail if everybody kept to their sides of the streets. Jason Morgan was a civilian and intended to remain that way, unless they forced his hand in any way.

Jason brushed that stubborn loch from her eyes and kissed the side of her lips, "It's gonna be okay baby, everything's been straightened out." He kissed the same spot again, lingering this time as his tongue darted out to taste it, then pulled back to look in her eyes, rejoicing in the reciprocated lust that he saw there. Bending his head again, Jason kissed her lightly on the lips, feathery at first then full force when she responded by looping her arms around his neck and pushing her body closer into his on the couch. He grunted as he tasted her tongue that came out to ram his mouth hungrily, her lips smashing his as she opened to him. It felt like forever since he'd last kissed her and the taste of her went to his head as he wrapped eager arms around her waist and pulled her onto his lap where she straddled him hotly, changing the angle of her head as his heated lips left hers to burn a trail down her very kissable neck.

"Momma, I need juice…pleeaaaase?"

Sam leapt out of Jason's lap as their son descended the stairs innocently, lighting up when he saw his father. "Daddy!" He still liked to run to his father's arms whenever he saw him and it still gave Sam a thrill every time he did, even after months of him doing it.

Jason swung him up into his arms and started moving towards the kitchen to get his juice, the hot look he gave Sam telling her that they would be picking up where they left off…very soon!

His phone rang on the way back from the kitchen and it was Diane, letting him know that she'd garnered an emergency hearing in Judge's chambers later that week and to meet her at the courthouse at three. She then told Jason that one of the preliminaries to suing for custody was that he needed a recent paternity test to show claim to his child and that she'd gotten a writ for them to conduct one that very afternoon.

Sam still wasn't comfortable letting Danny out of her sight and she needed to be there for Jason too, so they took their son with them to GH. Seeing Elizabeth and Jake waiting outside the lab they decided to check in at the desk and wait across the room, not wanting to have any interaction with her at all, but Danny spotted his brother and yelled out his name.

"Jake! Look Daddy, Jake's here!" he said fondly as he pointed to his brother.

Hearing his name Jake looked over to Danny and took off running in their direction, his mother yelling at him to come back.

"Jacob, you come back here right this instant!"

Jake kept running, shouting, "It's Danny, I'll be right back, Mom!" He saw his brother squirm out of his father's arms to head over to him too. The parents watched as the two met in the middle of the room and immediately struck up a conversation about who knows what.

Jason smiled as he said to Sam, "He didn't even notice me - did you see that? No, hi Dad, how you doing Dad…just went straight for his little brother who couldn't get out of my arms fast enough!"

Sam laughed as she playfully swatted his arm, "I'm sorry, but it looks like you'd better get used to it!" She walked into his arms, throwing her head back as she laughed up into his face. "Imagine when they're together full time - they'll have no time for their old man," she teased him lovingly.

"Don't hold your breath! You'll never take my baby away from me - I promise you that!"

Both Jason and Sam closed their eyes and took a deep breath, resting their foreheads together. Through her teeth, Sam snapped, "Is there no getting away from her, ever?" Then she sighed loudly and faced the nurse asking, "Did you notice how we're waiting all the way over here, away from you over there? Can't you just take a hint and die already?"

"You started this mess!" She was looking at Jason as she addressed Sam. "Tell your boytoy to leave me alone and I'll leave you alone!"

Sam looked to Jason and smiled as she mouthed, "My boy toy! Mmm - I could take that places!" Taking Jason's hand she led him over to the boys in the middle of the room, leaving the woman to her miserable self.

"Hey, Jake! How you doing buddy?" Sam was glad to see him so happy, despite his horrid circumstances.

"Hey, Sam! Dad, can I sleep over tonight?" Before Jason could answer the nurse came over to tell them he was ready for Jake and Jason would be next.

Sam breathed a sigh of relief as the nurse took Jake's hand and left, her stink eye not even registering as Sam ignored her and reached for her happy baby.

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Two days later Sam and Jason turned up at Diane's office before they headed over to the courthouse. "Why are we going to the office - didn't she say meet her at the courthouse before?" Sam was curious.

Jason was just as lost as she was, "That's what she originally told us but this morning she said to meet at her office instead - I have no idea why - her assistant would't say."

The top lawyer was lounging by her desk as Jason and Sam were shown in, peering over her glasses at an open letter in her hand. She looked up when they knocked.

"Sam, Jason - there you are!"

"Why are we here, Diane?" Jason got right to the point.

"Okay, first of all don't shoot the messenger." She was still holding the letter as she removed her glasses and walked towards the couple standing in front of her vast oak desk. "And I do mean that literally," she added as she handed the letter to Jason. "We've got the DNA results back and…". She purposely trailed off as she watched him read the paper she handed him.

Sam saw Jason's pallor change and she looked at Diane, confused. "What?" she asked with her hands open before she rested them on Jason's arm and turned to ask him instead, "Jason, what is it?"

He couldn't answer her, he just handed her the letter as he sank into the chair behind him, not uttering a single word. Taking the letter from his hands, Sam read the totally unexpected, unimaginable words, CONCLUSION: DONOR A, ONE JASON MORGAN, IS EXCLUDED FROM BEING THE FATHER OF THE MINOR CHILD, JACOB MARTIN SPENCER, BY A DETERMINED MARGIN OF 99.99% PROBABILITY.

Sinking into the chair next to Jason, Sam was speechless as she read and reread the damning document, finally looking up to Diane when she realized that the lawyer was hammering on…

"I don't know what's going on here but in all my years as an attorney I've never known DNA to lie - it's medically proven to be infallible. That being said, there could have been a mixup at the lab, which is why I had them run the test again, then for a third time before I asked you here this afternoon. The result has been the same every single time."

Sam looked from Jason still sitting in complete shock, to the lawyer and offered, "Maybe they messed up the samples. That's been known to happen, right? This could still be human error!" She grabbed his hand and squeezed in reassurance. "We'll go over to GH and give another sample, that's all! We'll get this straightened out, Jason."

He wasn't looking at her, just staring straight ahead in stunned disbelief. Sam turned to Diane as the lawyer spoke up again, "I thought of that too, so I had young Jacob's blood tested against Mr. Morgan's samples on file and those tests produced the same results." She added cautiously, "There's more…"

Jason looked at her disbelievingly but still said nothing. It was Sam who asked incredulously, "What more could there possibly be?" She honestly didn't know how much more Jason could take before he exploded out of control. She instinctively knew that his calm was the brewing of a mighty storm.

The stylish lawyer moved to the middle of the desk and leaned against its middle, crossing her legs and hands in front of her as she faced them full on. "When these recent results didn't match what was thought to be the original one, the hospital revisited that first test and…", she paused as she studied both their faces, knowing what she was about to say would undoubtedly change their world. "It turns out that you were misled to begin with."

Jason sprang to his feet and grabbed the chair he'd been sitting in, sending it flying into the wall, shattering it to pieces. Sam and Diane both jumped a foot off the ground, startled by the sudden resounding crash. Sam moved to him and took Jason's hand, attempting to calm him while she sought more answers, "What the hell do you mean by that, Diane?" The tears started brimming her eyes when she realized what was being said. "No! No, I don't believe that! I don't believe a word of that!" But the look on the lawyer's face told her all she needed to know.

Sam released Jason's hand and staggered back down. No, this had to be some humongous, cruel, sad joke. The entire course of so many lives had changed based upon those original results, their lives had basically imploded because of it, how could they have been wrong? It was not possible that they had endured so much pain and life changing, physical and mental suffering because of a misleading test. No, none of it was true - it just couldn't be!

Jason clamped restless hands down in his hair, twisting and pulling from the roots, moving towards the window in anguish and pain. No, there was no possible way. There was no way he was purposely misled to believe something so sacred as he was a father, misled to love a sweet little boy like his firstborn son, misled to devastate the woman he loved more than his own life, all based on someone's wicked lie. No way had he had to put up with dealing with the banshee from hell for the sake of his son, when he really wasn't even his son! Why? Why would this be happening? How could there be this kind of cruelty in one person? How twisted and deranged did a person have to be to do that to other people, to affect so many lives so cruelly…and for what? There had been no big love between them, no undeniable fire that burned in them for each other, so what was her motivation? What would drive that kind of evil selfishness in a person? How could his son not be his son? The devastation stormed through Jason as he tried to rationalize and make sense of any of it. Then he felt Sam holding his hand again…

"Jason." She swiped at the tears pouring out of her as she pleaded with him, "Baby, this changes nothing! She's still a dangerous, sick influence upon that sweet little boy - you have to get him away from her!" She turned to Diane, "He's still Jake's father - he's been a father to that little boy since he came back and he was led to believe for years that Jake was his son - she told him so herself! We need to still sue for custody to give him a fighting chance!" She turned back to Jason in her animated state, "Jason, he needs you now more than ever and a test does not change what he means to you!"

"Sam, what are you saying? It's a lie - it was all lies…and she did this! She did this to all of us!"

"Yes, she did…but this isn't about her right now! This is about your son, Jason, and he is your son - in every way that truly counts, that little boy is your son!" She grabbed his face between her hands and pleaded with her love, "Loving a child has nothing to do with DNA, remember? Nothing!" She watched his eyes soften and knew she was reaching the man she loved, "He needs you baby, and you will not forgive yourself if you turn your back now. We have to fight for him!"

Unable to help himself, Jason locked his lips on hers, bringing his hands up to the side of her head, holding her to him, drinking her in. He loved her so much, this selfless, unpredictable, loving, unbelievable woman who he would lay down and die for - she was the love of his life and she just gave him one more reason to worship her forever.

Diane wanted to look away but she just couldn't - the love between those two was so palpable she could almost reach out and touch it. She had always admired what they had and it just seemed to get stronger the longer they were together. "Okay you two," she scampered around the desk to get her briefcase, tossing files in as she continued, "We have to get to court!" She followed them out the door adding, "I have a shoe sale to get to by five!"