Spencer House. Morning.
Luke was in a mood. Laura was gone. She'd said good-bye to the kids, the grand-kids -- she'd probably said good-bye to the grandkids' toys -- and hadn't said good-bye to him. Which would have been enough to send him over the edge. But that wasn't all. Laura was missing. She hadn't gone back to France. She'd just, well, gone. And no one was concerned but him. Lucky had even muttered something about her needing "alone time" before the kid had gone off to work.
In the middle of his grand tantrum -- which was being ignored by Lulu, who was the only Spencer kid within earshot -- he realized something. He didn't know where Laura was because Laura didn't want him to know where she was.
He sat down on the couch, silent. Laura had finally had enough. Enough of another wife, enough of a kid he'd gotten by cheating on her, enough of him.
***********************************************
Wyndemere. Nikolas' bedroom.
Sam sat on the couch watching Nikolas pack.
"You're sure you're fine with this?," he asked.
"Absolutely. Nothing more important than keeping my cousin's baby safe while he's gone."
"I'd be careful about calling him a baby. He's getting to the age where that's cause for a tantrum."
"Hey, I'm at the age where I don't need a cause for a tantrum. Maybe he should be worried. Where did you say you were going again?"
"I didn't."
"And you don't want me to know because..."
"Because the less people there are that know, the safer it is for everyone."
"You're not...?" Sam shook her head as if to clear it. No. Nikolas would never be that reckless.
"What?"
"You're not going to Russia, are you? Alone? Because that would be --"
"If I ever go to Russia, you'll be the first to know."
"Good."
"I'm heading into work, and then I'll be leaving from there, so I probably won't get a chance to talk to Alexis before I leave. Tell her I'm not going to Russia."
"Will do."
Only two more trips to go, Nikolas thought. But first, a visit to General Hospital.
***********************************************
GreyStone. Claudia's bedroom.
Claudia looked through a catalogue of nursery furniture. She'd already been through a stack of them, circling whatever caught her eye.
She needed to do this quickly. Pretty soon she wasn't going to be agile enough to do what needed to be done.
There was a knock on the door. Sonny cracked the door open and looked in.
"I have meetings outside today. But I'll be back in time to take you to your appointment."
"Fine," she said. "What do you think of this?" She held up a photo of a crib.
"You can do better," he said.
Claudia crossed out the crib photo. Sonny left the room.
*************************************************
Johnny's Garage.
A car honked outside, and Johnny looked outside the window. A black full-size luxury Jaguar was in his driveway.
Johnny did not seem surprised.
He opened up the automated car entrance door. The Jag limped inside. With Nikolas Cassadine at the wheel.
Johnny lowered the door back down.
Nikolas turned off the car engine and got out of the car, slamming the door shut.
"What happened to you?," Johnny asked.
"Someone slashed my tire," Nikolas said. He held out a folded piece of paper. "And this was left under my windshield." Nikolas unfolded the paper. It was a flyer for Johnny's garage.
Johnny's straight face only lasted for a moment, and then his face went into full-on smirk.
"Any idea who could have done this?," Nikolas asked sarcastically.
"No," Johnny answered. But his laugh was barely contained.
"Do you have a new tire that will match?"
Johnny looked at the tire. "I could have one in a week."
Nikolas folded his arms and gave Johnny a no-nonsense look.
"You don't expect me to come out to the Island, do you?," Johnny asked. "That would raise all sorts of little flags for the Corinthos empire. This seemed like an easy compromise."
"This isn't funny, Johnny."
Johnny turned serious. "No. It isn't."
"What do you want?"
Johnny leaned against the hood of Nikolas' car. "Claudia thinks she's going to die. Do you?"
"No."
Johnny didn't say anything, but he was visibly relieved.
"I'm going out of town for a little while," Nikolas said. "I'm hoping Claudia never finds out I was gone, but if she does, let her know that I'm safe, Spencer's in town and no, I did not go to Russia."
John nodded, looked away, and then looked Nikolas in the eye. "I have to ask."
"What?"
"A few months ago, you were chasing your dead wife's twin around. And all of a sudden you care for my sister?"
"A few months ago, I was chasing a ghost. Claudia is in the real world. Claudia is not a shadow. She's not a substitute for someone. She's the person who brought me back to life as it's happening now."
Johnny still looked suspicious, but he didn't put up a fight, which was an improvement. Instead, he asked, "Is there anything I can do? To help Claudia?"
"Actually, there is. Do you think you can find a private garage, suitable for hiding a large vehicle?"
"I already have one. At Crimson Pointe."
"Good." Nikolas pulled out his wallet. Nikolas handed Johnny three crisp one hundred dollar bills. "That's for the tire. It was a pretty good idea." He pulled a dozen more hundreds out of his wallet. "Why don't you get a few more tires to keep on hand? Just in case."
***********************************************
General Hospital. Fifth floor. Late afternoon.
Nikolas looked over at the Nurses' Station.
Nurse Johnson was having a heated discussion with the nurses on shift. It was what Epiphany called "a meeting" and what the rest of the hospital called "a pile on."
Nikolas took advantage of everyone being distracted and slipped inside the first obstetrics exam room. Once inside, he went into the bathroom and waited.
***********************************************
Examination room. A short time later.
Sonny and Claudia waited for Dr. Lee in silence.
Sonny sneezed.
"You sick?," Claudia asked.
"No."
Silence. Long and painful.
Dr. Lee entered. "So we're here for an ultrasound and blood work, right?"
"Yes."
"How've you been feeling?"
Before Claudia could respond, the hospital fire alarm went off.
"What's that?," Sonny said, trying to be heard above the din.
"Fire drill," said Dr. Lee. "If you'll just come with me, Mr. Corinthos."
"We're leaving Claudia?"
"Hospital procedure. We'll be back soon."
"I'm not leaving her."
"This is a quarterly drill, Mr. Corinthos. If you don't leave now, we could be doing this on the day your baby is born. Would you to prefer to leave her then?"
Sonny leaned in close to Claudia and whispered, "Don't move. Don't try anything."
He left, followed by Dr. Lee.
**********************************************
Fifth Floor Hallway.
Sonny stood outside Claudia's door.
Nurse Johnson came over. "Mr. Corinthos: out."
"What do you mean, 'out'?"
"You need to leave the hospital. This is a drill and we have never failed one on my watch."
Sonny went to the elevator and pressed the button.
"Mr. Corinthos."
"What?"
"Stairs. You can take the elevator back up."
Sonny shrugged, muttering, went into the stairwell, and went down the stairs.
**********************************************
General Hospital. Claudia's examination room.
Claudia was alone. Strangely peaceful. No Sonny or any of his flunkies nearby.
"Hello."
She smiled and turned around. Right before he'd spoken, she'd sensed him there. Nikolas.
She kissed him, pulling away briefly to say, "Hi," and then pulling him toward her again. She began to unbutton his shirt, kissing his neck. He pulled her hands away from him, and then couldn't help himself. He snaked his arm around her waist, pulled her against him, and kissed her again. Starved of each other for so long, now that they were finally together, they couldn't get enough of each other.
When they broke apart to catch their breath, she said, "I'm not talking to you."
"You said 'Hi,'" Nikolas pointed out.
"Besides that," she said. "I'm not talking to you."
"Can we talk about that later?"
"Okay," she said, pulling him toward her.
"Wait," he said. He stepped back and pulled the examination table between him. That should hold them both. Claudia made a sound that was almost a growl. "We have to talk. We don't have a lot of time."
"What is it?"
"I did something," he said.
"What?"
"I'm changing your doctor. And your due date."
Claudia took that in. She was a little impressed, since that had been her plan A in the beginning, until she realized that even if she was able to manipulate the hospital staff and charts -- "It doesn't change the fact that no matter when it happens, Sonny's going to be glued to my side."
"Really? Where is he now?" Claudia narrowed her eyes at him. He smiled. "For now, I need you to act outraged about both things. Doctor and due date."
"Done. When does all this happen?"
"A few weeks from now."
"And Sonny won't be suspicious because..."
"Because he'll go to Robin Scorpio. And your new doctor is one of Robin's mentors."
"Does Robin know about...?"
"No. Robin has a history of telling other people's secrets." Nikolas checked his watch. Three minutes to go.
"This is illegal, Nikolas."
"So?"
"I told you I wasn't going to drag you down with me. And by the way, working with my Uncle Rudy? Not such a hot idea."
"It will be," he said.
"If you keep this up, I'm going to kill you."
"I look forward to it." He moved the examination table out of the way and moved toward her. "You really are glowing," he said. He held her face in both hands and then moved in slowly and kissed her.
"This is dangerous," she said, as they parted briefly. She pulled him back to her and kissed him again, sinking her hands in his hair.
"I should go," he said, pulling away.
"I know," she said. She touched his cheek. "Shirt," she said. "Lipstick."
He buttoned his shirt back up. Wiped his mouth with a tissue. She re-applied her lipstick. She was now pointedly not looking at him.
"Claudia?," he said.
"Yeah?," she said, still not looking at him.
"Look at me."
She looked at him.
"You will see me again. This is all going to work out."
He went to leave.
"Wait," she said. She went to her purse and pulled out the pen. She removed the flash drive and handed it to Nikolas. "This is the first part of you getting custody. Keep it safe."
He tucked it into his shirt pocket and kissed her again. He stepped back. She wiped his lips with a tissue. She nodded.
He left.
Within 30 seconds, the room was bustling with staff and Sonny again. It was as if Nikolas had never been there.
********************************************
Claudia's Examination Room. Minutes later.
Dr. Lee rested her hand on Claudia's belly, about to spread the conducting gel when all of a sudden she laughed. "You have a real kicker here," she said.
"Tell me about it," Claudia said. "This kid is either Beckham or Nureyev."
"Yeah?," said Dr. Lee. "Which are you hoping for?"
"Healthy."
Claudia felt Sonny staring at her. She looked up at him. What was his problem? It occurred to Claudia that Sonny hadn't felt the baby kicking. Well, that's what happens when the parents keep both feet on the floor and a safe distance between each other. She reached out for his hand. Hesitated. Then grabbed it and brought it to her belly. She moved it around, until --
"You feel that?," she asked Sonny.
"Yeah," he said, eyes welling up a little.
"He's a fighter," Claudia said and then she dropped Sonny's hand.
Dr. Lee spread the gel. She'd actually been nice this visit. Claudia wondered what was going to happen to Dr. Lee.
********************************************
The Cassadine Jet. Evening.
Nikolas buckled his seat belt. This was the trip he was least prepared for. He spoke the language, but he had no idea what kind of people he'd be dealing with.
********************************************
GreyStone. Living Room. Night.
Sonny sat at his desk, looking for a pen. He was a little disturbed. Not about the pen, but about the fact that for a few minutes there during the ultrasound, he and Claudia and the baby had felt like a real family.
Jason entered.
"Hey," Jason said.
"Hey."
"How'd things go at the hospital today?"
"Fine, fine. She's in good health. The baby's developing normal. I got a new picture, do you want to --"
"Nikolas and Claudia met today," Jason interrupted. "During the fire drill."
Sonny got up and went to the bar. He poured himself a bourbon. He threw the glass, bourbon and all, against the wall violently, and then turned to Jason. "You sure about that?"
"Yeah. You wanted him tailed. I had him tailed. That's what happened. What do you want me to do?"
"I don't know. Keep the tail on him."
"This isn't good."
"I know that. I gotta find out what it means."
Jason nodded. "I've got to get back to Dante. You going to be all right?"
"Me? I'm fine," Sonny said.
Jason left.
Sonny went to the credenza. Stared at the photo of Spencer. Claudia came down the stairs.
"Just getting some milk," she said when he looked up. She continued on her way.
Sonny stared after her.