Note: Welcome to this latest meeting of Minxaholics Anonymous. So I guess by now we've all heard the exciting news of an All My Children reboot…yeah hah, they're coming back the babes are coming back….Muse stop bouncing like that you're gonna hit…yeah hah! Minxisexiness is coming ouch aouch sh1t my head…told you so! Now let's calm down a little, getting too excited isn't always a good thing….spoil sport…realist…buzz killer…pragmatist…ah come on Ela this is great news….yup it is but that's all it is right now just news so let's wait till we get something solid before we go banging our heads against the ceiling….duh now you tell me, there's an egg sized bump on my head Ela! …whoops sorry about that. Ok folks here be chapter 25 please enjoy!

Chapter 25

On Monday afternoon Marissa Tasker was trying to use the break between client meetings to catch up on paperwork. There was so much to be done that her small desk was littered with it; the knock that sounded on her door made the lawyer almost sigh with relief. Until she looked up and seen who it was that entered.

"David."

David Hayward ignored the resignation in his daughter's voice and walked on into the office taking a seat in front of her. Hazel eyes began to glint dangerously but David ignored that too.

"You didn't leave me much option Marissa, you won't take my calls and you refuse to return my messages. What else was I to do but come see you?"

"There was always the option of taking the hint and leaving me alone."

To Marissa's astonishment David did nothing but smile. The lawyer rolled her neck in an effort to dispel the tension that was beginning to gather there, her eyes dropped to the mounting paper work and then back to the man opposite her. David Hayward did not take the hint, instead he continued to do nothing but smile.

"David if it wasn't obvious already, I'm very busy so could you please just say what you have to say so that I can get back to work."

"Thank you."

The man's smile was beginning to annoy Marissa.

"For what?"

"For not telling me to get out. Thank you."

Marissa glared at the man who was her biological father. He was just so infuriating the way he did that; smiled at her like she lit up his life when really he didn't care about her. Marissa had learnt the hard way that David Hayward cared about no one but himself.

"Your gratitude is a little premature, there's still a very big chance that once you finish talking I'm still going to tell you to get out."

David grinned.

"And I would completely understand. The very fact that you would give me the choice first shows how different you are from your parents."

Marissa made to interrupt but David continued.

"I should say your biological parents, that's how you like to term it but to me there is no distinction. I might not have been at your birth, I didn't see your first step or hear your first word, I don't know who your first kiss was or which posters adorned your bedroom walls as a teenager but none of that changes how much I love you. And I do love you Marissa, you and AJ are my salvation…."

The lawyer refused to be pulled in by the sentimentalism.

"Your salvation? And what did we save you from David?"

Marissa wasn't prepared for the tears she seen glistening in her father's eyes.

"From myself."

The words settled in the room like a thick fog, one Marissa could too easily lose herself in like she always did when it came to the two people who had created her. Krystal Carey and David Hayward were Marissa's Achilles heel; no matter how prepared she was to cast them from her life for all of their misdemeanours, of which there were plenty, she was always weakened by an inherent sense of family. Family was what the Taskers had taught Marissa always to love and trust, always to believe that no matter what they would be there for her but then they had died. And suddenly she had be left all alone with no-one but herself and her memories of Roy and Lydia Tasker to get her through.

Marissa took a breath trying to ease the ache that had formed in her chest at the memory of her parents. Roy and Lydia would always be her parents, the people she would first think of when she used the words Mom or Dad. David and Krystal were different and Marissa was slowly learning that that would probably always be the case. Her biological parents were nothing like her adoptive ones who had never had to lie, obfuscate or inveigle to get Marissa to love them. The lawyer's mind processed that last thought again and she gasped softly. The Taskers had lied to her, a lie of omission when they didn't tell her that they were not her birth parents.

"Marissa? What is it? What's wrong?"

David Hayward's natural instinct was to get up and come round to his paling daughter but history had taught him that Marissa did not like to be cajoled in situations like this.

"Why does everyone have to lie?"

The sadness in Marissa's voice ate into David's soul.

"Not everyone does, you don't and Bianca doesn't."

It was the right thing to say, the words took the haunted look from Marissa's eyes and replaced it with a smile. The lawyer took a deep breath remembering Kendall's words from weeks ago; there was always hope.

"Why did you lie when I asked you about Erica?"

David frowned.

"I know you aren't going to like this but technically I never lied to you. I didn't know where the real Erica was just that she was safe."

Marissa sighed heavily; David was doing it again, avoiding the truth.

"I didn't lie Marissa, I promised you I wouldn't lie to you again and I didn't….."

"No you just withheld pertinent information so that you could manipulate the situation to your own advantage."

The resignation in Marissa's voice was hard to miss, David sat up a little straighter when he heard it.

"I manipulated the situation to everyone's advantage not just my own. I needed the hospital resources so that I could work on a research project that can mean so much to so many people. Yes it was underhand and yes I regret that I couldn't tell you the whole truth but I did it with the best of intentions Marissa. I did it because I want to be the father you can be proud of again, someone like Roy Tasker that you can look up to."

Marissa looked startled by the words; David had never liked referring to the man who had taken his rightful place in her life.

"What?"

It came out as a choked whisper but it was loud enough to spur David on.

"All I have ever wanted was to have a family, to have a child who could love me the way I loved my father. He had been a good man, a strong principled man before Vanessa poisoned his soul and destroyed his will to live. I never wanted history to repeat itself, I never wanted to be someone consumed with a need to avenge like my mother was. I had hoped to be just like my Dad, someone I respected and adored. He was the kind of father I wanted to be but I failed at that too. Maybe if Krystal and I had stayed together and brought you and Babe up things could have been different, we could have been a real family but life never works out the way we hoped. I'm trying to get back to the person I wanted to be Marissa, a good man, a good father. I know I've hurt you, I'm so sorry for that. I know I don't deserve either your forgiveness or the hope of a second chance but please don't give up on me. Please."

Marissa wondered if what she was seeing now in David's eyes were crocodile tears.

"Roy Tasker was a lucky man because he got to have what I would give anything to have. He died too young but he still got to live my dream."

Tears threatened to rush to Marissa's own eyes at the desolate words. David shifted in his chair wanting again to comfort the child he had come to know about much too late in her life. How he wished that could have been different.

"You mentioned once that you could help Angie Hubbard."

David was surprised that his daughter remembered their conversation from the hospital fundraiser ball, he hadn't thought Marissa was much interested in anything he had said that night.

"I can, I have."

"How?"

The doctor's face began to brighten, his enthusiasm for medicine lighting up his eyes.

"Gene therapy. I found a more sustained way to manipulate those mutated genes that have caused Angie's blindness."

Marissa was no medical student but she was sure she had read that there were enough potential problems associated with gene therapy to make getting FDA approval difficult. The thought made her take a closer look at David.

"Is it legal?"

David Hayward pursed his lips giving Marissa all the answer she needed, she threw her hands up in exasperation.

"Why does it always have to be like this with you? Can't you work within the confines of the law David? This God complex you have will be the undoing of you."

David grinned.

"The law is your mantle honey not mine, medicine shouldn't be confined or restricted or censored. It is life or death and should be treated with the respect it deserves. And I don't have a God complex but I would like to hope that he or she or it would appreciate the help in ridding people of that which ails them."

Marissa rolled her eyes at his preachy tone.

"Does Angie Hubbard agree with you?"

David nodded.

"Angie deserves to be practicing what she was born to do. If I can help her get her sight back then Pine Valley stands to regain a wonderful doctor. It's a win win situation."

Marissa liked and respected Angie Hubbard, she knew the doctor wouldn't be taking such a risk if she didn't believe in David. The man may not have been much of a father to Marissa but there were few who didn't rate him as an amazing doctor.

"So you kept the knowledge of Jane's true identity a secret because you knew the real Erica would never agree to helping you."

David nodded.

"Although the Erica that came to my office last week might have agreed."

Marissa's confusion showed and David rallied to ease it.

"It would appear that Erica's kidnap has altered her perspective somewhat, she's no longer the little spitfire we all knew. Seems her time away has mellowed her a little."

"I really hope that isn't pride I'm hearing in your voice David because Erica being more mellowed does not justify you keeping the truth of Jane's identity from us and it certainly doesn't justify the pain you put Bianca through."

David looked chastened.

"I never said that it did and I'm sorry that Bianca got hurt by this, it was never my intention to hurt anyone. I want to help not hurt. I'm trying to be a better man Marissa."

Marissa didn't know if she could believe that or if she could adopt her lover's approach to life by believing in hope; hope that this time David had changed, hope that this gene therapy he spoke of would give Angie Hubbard back her vision, hope that all would be right with the world. Marissa wasn't a cynic by nature but it was becoming increasingly easier to be one with Pine Valley and the antics of its citizens slowly chipping away at her optimism.

"I'll go talk to Bianca, apologise for the pain I caused. I'll do what you need me to do to make things right between us Marissa. I love you and I want you in my life."

"You could start by having a little more respect for the law."

David smiled.

"I will, from today onwards I will respect the law a little more."

Marissa narrowed her eyes at his tone.

"And you can lay off the sarcasm."

"Ok no sarcasm. Do these conditions mean that I have a chance of being your Dad?"

The word made Marissa winch a little.

"I don't know David, right now I'm still trying to work through my anger with you. I don't doubt that you are an amazing doctor but that doesn't give you the right to ignore the emotional impact of your actions. Bianca was hurting, she needed Erica and you were the only one to recognise that the woman masquerading as her was a fraud. You could have given Bianca solace yet you didn't."

David shook his head.

"Coming forward with the truth wouldn't have given Bianca solace Marissa, knowing that her mother was still missing wouldn't have helped her, not back then not after what Ricky Torres had done to you both. I'm not making excuses when I say this but not telling her back then was the lesser of two evils."

Marissa considered the words and had to agree that he had a point.

"Maybe but you had ample opportunity to come forward after that and you didn't. And it begs the question, would you ever have?"

David nodded.

"Yes I would. All I needed was a little time to run some experiments and that was easier done at PVH."

The problem was that Marissa couldn't say for sure whether she believed him or not. Trusting David Hayward was something that would take time. Marissa got to her feet.

"I've got to get back to work, I have a client coming at four."

David looked at his watch, Marissa had given him more time than he'd hoped, it was already going 3.45pm. His daughter walked him to the door.

"Thank you for listening."

Marissa nodded.

"Maybe I could give you a call and you might pick up the phone this time?"

The lawyer smiled at his hopeful tone.

"Maybe."

/

"Hi sorry I'm late."

Bianca give Marissa a quick peck on the lips before dropping into the seat opposite her. They were in ConFusion a more central place to meet for an after work drink.

"Hi how was your day?"

The brunette shrugged.

"I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in disliking Mondays. What about yours? You looked pensive when I came in, is there a complex case in your workload?"

Marissa sighed heavily.

"That would be a novel yet somehow appropriate way to describe David."

"Ah."

Bianca had wondered when the topic of Marissa's biological father would crop up again.

"He came to my office because me not answering his calls and messages were not a big enough hint that I didn't want anything to do with him."

There was no real conviction in Marissa's tone and when Bianca met her gaze she could see no malice there either. Marissa might want to hate David for his actions but she was not that kind of woman which was one of the many reasons why Bianca loved her so much.

"And how did his visit go?"

Now it was Marissa's turn to shrug.

"Apparently he's working on a project that can give Angie back her vision."

Bianca was surprised by the news, she hadn't realised that blindness was reversible, especially not in Dr Hubbard's case. Surely if it were possible then Angie would have availed of it by now.

"You look about as convinced as I was but apparently David has made advances in gene therapy that will allow him to correct the genes that have caused Angie's blindness."

Bianca smiled.

"Ok well that's a good thing right?"

Marissa sighed again.

"For Angie yes."

Bianca waited but Marissa seemed to get lost in her own thoughts.

"Sweetie talk to me."

The endearment brought a smile back to the redhead's lips.

"I love when you call me that."

Bianca reached to soothe her lover's hand.

"And I love you. Now talk to me."

Marissa's pensive frown returned.

"I can't trust him. I know he is a great doctor, that he can work miracles in an OR but I still can't trust him."

"Do you want to trust him?"

Marissa looked shocked by the question.

"Sweetie you have to want to trust him. If you're coming at this with a negative attitude then trust is never going to come to you."

"How can I come at it in any other way? He's lied so many times that I can no longer judge when he's telling the truth."

Bianca entwined their fingers squeezing gently to offer support.

"I know and that makes it harder but not impossible. Before Kendall and I buried the hatchet with each other she had been the queen of liars. She could spin them faster than I could draw breath. And they were always so believable, there were so many times when I give her the benefit of the doubt only to have it turn round and bite me in the ass."

"Ouch."

Bianca smiled.

"Yeah ouch. But I don't believe in holding grudges Marissa, it takes too much energy. Kendall was carrying around so much anger and hatred back then, she was a mess. And I wasn't much better…."

"I don't believe that for a second."

"Maybe not but it's still true. I was so defensive, I guess it came from being pushed into the limelight because of Mom. People always wanted something more than just me and that hurt. So I got defensive about things. Kendall was an expert at triggering all my defences. But lashing out was her way of doing exactly what I was doing - being defensive."

Marissa still couldn't wrap her mind around the idea of Bianca and Kendall being anything but the great sisters that they now were to each other.

"What do you hope for when you think of David?"

The redhead pondered the question only for a few seconds.

"That he'll be the person that I know he can be."

Bianca grinned.

"Then I guess you're half way there."

"But that's just the problem Bianca, I never know where I am with David. He says one thing then does the other, he tells me what I want to hear but not what he truly thinks. Nothing is ever what it seems with him."

"He's certainly one of Pine Valley's more interesting characters but then so is Mom. Life would be a little boring if we were all the same."

Marissa rolled her eyes.

"Well I'd settle for a little boring where my biological parents are concerned. It's been one drama after another with them. Boring sounds like a holiday."

Bianca laughed.

"You're talking to the daughter of Erica Kane here Marissa, you don't know drama until you've lived with my mother."

Marissa laughed too.

"Ok you win on having the most dramatic parent between us."

Bianca bowed her head in acceptance of the win making Marissa laugh more but when she finally sobered her eyes grew pensive again.

"How did you survive it all without becoming cynical Bianca?"

"Who says I'm not cynical?"

Marissa smiled.

"I do as would most of Pine Valley."

Bianca grinned.

"But you're biased."

"True but the citizens of Pine Valley are not. So accept it already and answer my question."

"My feisty little lawyer."

Marissa give her lover a mock glare that was enough to get the brunette talking.

"The short answer would have to be therapy."

Marissa sniggered.

"I'm more interested in the long answer."

Bianca let go of Marissa's hand to signal to a passing waitress.

"Well that could take a while so let's get a drink."

Once the drinks were ordered and served Bianca sat back and give a little half shrug.

"How did I survive life without becoming cynical? That's not an easy question to answer but it's origins did stem from therapy. I had Anorexia as a child, a coping mechanism for all of the drama that was unfolding around me. One therapist suggested that my inability to control those outside forces that created the drama was channelled into me controlling my intake of food. The more drama there was the less and less I ate. I had to learn to accept that my life was a very small piece of an intricate jigsaw and that although I had no control over all of the many millions of other pieces I could at least make my part in the puzzle more worthwhile."

Marissa was impressed.

"You thought like that as a teenager?"

Bianca smiled.

"Not initially no but rehab was a blessing in disguise. In there I wasn't Erica Kane's daughter, I was another victim of a disease that could and would kill me if I let it. Thankfully it didn't and I walked out of there a stronger and more stable person."

"With no cynicism at all?"

"Have you ever considered that maybe cynics are just lazy?"

Marissa smiled.

"No I can't say that I have."

"Think about it, they don't like something so they moan about it instead of getting up and changing it. And yes I'll accept that there are some things that can't be changed like the weather in winter, but why sit around moaning about snow when you could be out building a snowman?"

Marissa laughed.

"Oh I don't know maybe because it's cold and wet and annoying."

"Says the woman who had an exhilarating snowball fight with me last winter."

The couple laughed at the shared memory of that fun day.

"It's not always easy to be hopeful though."

Bianca shook her head.

"No it's not but I'd rather believe in the possibility than live my life without it. Did you know that Martin Luther King said that "everything that is done in the world is done by hope?"

Marissa marvelled at this wonderful woman sitting in front of her.

"No I didn't know that but I do know that you're the most amazing person I've ever met."

"You need to get out more."

Marissa laughed.

"I am out."

Bianca smiled as the redhead leaned across the table to kiss her.

"Yes I can see that as does most of ConFusion's other patrons."

Marissa groaned against Bianca's lips as the sound of her ex-husband's voice filtered through her happy buzz.

"Hope."

It was a whisper that carried from Bianca's lips onto Marissa's as she slowly pulled away from their kiss. Marissa gazed at the smiling brunette who greeted JR Chandler in a cordial tone.

"Hi JR how are you?"

The Chandler tycoon tried to smile but failed.

"Hello Bianca. Marissa I wanted to have a word with you about AJ's schedule."

Marissa was tempted to ask him to call her later but before she could Bianca pointed to a chair.

"Why don't you join us?"

JR's shock was obvious. Marissa eyed her lover in question and seen smiling lips mouth that same word again; hope. The redhead considered it for a moment and then turned to look up at her floundering ex.

"Please join us JR, have a coffee and tell me what's up with AJ's schedule. I thought it was working out well."

Bianca and Marissa waited to see how JR would respond, neither expected much but both hoped that maybe this could be a turning point for the three parents. JR glanced at his watch and then all around him before finally pulling out the third chair. Marissa smiled at her lover in gratitude; maybe hoping wasn't so hopeless after all.