Carly walked towards Jason's apartment. She hadn't seen or heard from her friend in a couple of weeks. She was both concerned and annoyed.

Carly didn't bother knocking when she reached Jason's door. She never had at the penthouse, so she certainly wouldn't start with his new place. She walked inside, fully prepared to berate Jason if he wasn't hurt. What she found, however, made her smile. Jake and Danny looked up from the couch where they were playing video games.

"Aunt Carly!" Both boys said before running to her.

Carly hugged them both. She was surprised to see Jake there. The last she knew, Jake was still uneasy about spending time with Jason, afraid it would mean he would lose Drew. Apparently that had changed. "Hey, guys. You're spending the weekend with your dad?"

"Danny is. I live here now," Jake said.

That caught Carly completely off-guard. She didn't expect to hear that Jake was living with Jason. That was a complete turnaround from what she last knew regarding Jake and Jason. "What?"

"Mommy says that Jake's mommy can't take care of him right, so Daddy Jason made it so Jake will stay with him now," Danny said.

Jake looked away sadly.

Just then, Jason came out from the kitchen. "Hey, guys. Go get ready to go. We have to bring Danny home soon."

Both boys ran off to their bedroom.

Carly looked at Jason in shock. "What the hell is going on? Jake's living here now?"

Jason nodded. "A lot's happened in the last couple of weeks. I had to tell Jake about Franco. He was asking questions and he wasn't going to be put off, like Elizabeth wanted. I had to tell him before he found out for himself."

"And he took it badly," Carly guessed.

"Yeah. He had already started distancing himself from Franco when he realized there was more to why Sam and I hated him than he thought. When I told him the truth, he was devastated. He wanted nothing to do with Franco. He's afraid of him. He asked to live with me. Given how he felt a few weeks ago, I'm sure you can guess how significant that is," Jason said.

Carly nodded. "I'm assuming Elizabeth didn't just hand him over."

"No, I got a temporary custody order."

"And I'm also guessing she's still with Franco after hearing Jake's fear. You know, I can't really judge Elizabeth for choosing Franco. I did the same, but if my kid was afraid of him, it would've ended. How can Elizabeth look at her son's fear and stay with the man?" Carly asked in disgust. She never liked Elizabeth. Everyone who knew her was aware of that, but this was a new low. "Well, now I know why we haven't heard from you."

"Yeah, things have been hectic. I'm just trying to make Jake feel safe and happy. This weekend was the first time he has been. Hanging out with Danny has helped to distract him," Jason said.

"If you need help, let me know. I will be happy to testify for you," Carly said with a big grin.

Jason smiled. "Yeah, I know you will. We're at least a few weeks away from that. We all have to see a shrink first."

"I know you're not looking forward to that," Carly said.

"No, but I'll do what I have to for Jake. I'm actually thinking it might be good for him," Jason said.

"Yeah, maybe. Listen, Jake is going to get through it. You're doing the right thing. Jake is better off with you. You know, I know I'm not one to talk when it comes to making parenting mistakes, but Elizabeth has not made life easy for that little boy. After being kept away from everyone who loved him for four years, he was already really messed up, but Elizabeth made it worse. She didn't get him any help for months," Carly said.

"She may not have thought he needed it," Jason said. He wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. He wasn't there, so he didn't know what Elizabeth might have been thinking at the time.

"Maybe. I mean, I don't know how I would've responded. Maybe she just didn't want to accept that her child wasn't okay. I can understand that. But that's not where it ended. I don't know what Sam's told you, but I'm pretty sure you know by now that Elizabeth lied about Drew. She was the first to think he was you and tried to hide it. The thing is, Jake also knew. She found some way of getting him to keep quiet," Carly explained. Sam had told her about it right after the 'truth' came out. She had been outraged, especially considering all Jake had already been through.

Jason was surprised to hear what Carly had to say. He had tried not to judge Elizabeth, but now he was hearing that she'd forced his son to be a part of her lie. What had happened to her? When did she get to be so selfish? Was she always that way? Maybe he just didn't see it until the Franco situation came up. "You're sure Jake knew about Drew?"

"Yeah. Sam told me. Jake's behavior was actually partially how she figured out that Elizabeth had known the whole time. I think it's a very good thing that Jake's going to be living with you. Elizabeth has proved over and over that her kids are never going to come first," Carly said.

"Thanks for telling me. I'll have to talk to Jake about it and find out what exactly happened," Jason said.

"Of course. I hope this helps you with your custody case. Let me know if I can do anything else to help. I should go for now. I just wanted to make sure you were okay," Carly said.

"I'm good. I'll call you later," he said.

Carly nodded and headed for the door.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Sam opened the door to find Drew standing there with Scout. "Hey. Come on in."

Drew walked in and placed Scout's diaper bag on the desk.

"Hi, baby. Did you have a good time with Daddy?" Sam asked as she put a hand on her daughter's back.

"We had a great time. Did Jason bring Danny home yet? I was hoping I could say hi?" Drew said.

"Not yet. You can wait if you want though. They should be here soon. This way you can see Jake too," Sam said.

"That would be great," Drew said before walking over to the playpen and putting Scout down in it. "It actually works out. I wanted to talk to you."

"Okay. What is it?" Sam asked.

"I Owe you an apology. I shouldn't have said what I did when I found out you were letting Jason take Danny," Drew said. It didn't take long for him to realize he was out of line for the way he spoke to Sam, and for questioning Jason's right to spend time with Danny. Drew didn't like it, but Jason was Danny and Jake's father, not him.

"Drew, I know that this has to be really hard for you, but Danny needs to spend time with Jason," Sam said as gently as she could. She felt bad for Drew, but she couldn't put his feelings above everyone else's anymore. It was wrong for her to ever try. This situation affected many, including her son.

"I know, and I know he loves it. I think that was always the problem. I knew from the way Danny reacted to the truth that he'd love Jason," Drew said sadly.

"And you were afraid that he wouldn't love you anymore. That's not going to happen, Drew. Danny adores you as much as he does Jason," Sam said.

"For how long. I know Danny and Jake will always love me, but it won't be the same. Danny's already started calling Jason 'Daddy'. It won't be long before Jake starts calling him 'Dad', especially now that they live together," Drew said sadly.

"Danny calls you 'Daddy' too," Sam pointed out.

"'Daddy Drew'. How long do you think it'll be before he drops the 'daddy' part? It'll happen, Sam. I think you know that, especially now that I won't be living here anymore and Jake will be living with Jason," he said.

"Drew, I'm…"

"Don't apologize, Sam. I didn't say it to make you feel guilty. It's not your fault. None of what has happened is your fault. Deep down, I know it's not really Jason's either," Drew said. That didn't mean he didn't blame him. He couldn't help but feel like everything he was losing was because of Jason. It wasn't rational, but it was how he felt. "Don't feel bad. You can't help that you love Jason more."

"I never said that. I said I needed time," Sam said.

"Be honest with me, Sam. Do you think there is any amount of time that could make you stop loving Jason?" Drew asked.

"No," Sam said after a few moments. She could not picture any time in the future where she would not love Jason the same as she did now. "But I love you too."

"I know, but I think you love me the way you did Patrick. You were drawn to me because I had Jason's name and memories. You wanted to be with him. I think you fell in love with me for me, but I think some part of you always knew I wasn't him, and when he came back, you remembered how much stronger that love was than what we had," Drew said sadly. It hurt so much to say these things. He loved Sam so much, but he had to face that her heart belonged to his brother. "I tried to stay because you felt guilty. I let you, and I shouldn't have done that."

"I really am sorry, Drew," Sam cried.

"Me too. I'm not sorry it all happened though. I wouldn't trade having Scout or being a family with you and Danny for anything. I have loved being Jake and Danny's father, as well as your husband. Even if I'm going to lose it all, I don't regret it," Drew said firmly.

"You won't lose Jake and Danny. They love you. They think of you as their dad," Sam said.

"But I'm not. Jason is their dad. It's important they see him that way," Drew said.

"They can see you both that way," she said.

"I don't think they can. Even if we all keep telling them it can be like that, it can't. It'll confuse them, especially Danny. And even if it doesn't, they'll start to feel like they have to choose. I think Jake already feels like that. He feels like he's hurting one of us if he likes the other, and he's not wrong. It does hurt to watch them with Jason. I can't let them feel torn like that. It wouldn't be fair," Drew said.

"What are you saying, Drew? That you're just going to walk out of their lives? That would kill them," Sam said.

"No. I don't think I could ever do that. It would crush me. I'm saying that I have to start distancing myself from a little bit though, until they've gotten used to just Jason being their father. Then I can be 'U…Uncle Drew'," Drew said sadly. That last part killed him to say, but he needed to. He had to accept the fact that he wasn't going to be their father anymore.

"You don't have to do this," Sam cried.

"Yes, I do, for my sake and theirs," Drew said.

Just then, Danny opened the door and walked inside, followed by Jason and Jake.

"Daddy Drew."

"Dad," the boys said at the same time as they ran to Drew.

Drew pulled himself together and hugged both boys. "Hey guys. Did you guys have fun with Ja… your d…dad."

"Uh huh. We had pizza and stayed up late watching movies last night," Danny said excitedly.

"It was really fun," Jake agreed.

"Good. I'm glad you guys had fun," Drew said, forcing a smile onto his face.

Danny looked at his mother, who had tears in her eyes. "Mommy, why are you sad?

"Oh, I'm not, honey. Everything's fine," Sam lied.

"Well, it was good to see you guys, but I have to go," Drew said.

"But I want you to stay," Danny said with a pout.

"I'm sorry, buddy, but I've gotta go to work. I'm really happy I got to see you and your brother before I left," Drew said. This was killing him, but he knew it was for the best. The boys needed this. He would still see them, but he'd have a different relationship with them.

"We're glad too. We wish you could stay," Jake said.

"I do too, but I'll see you guys soon," Drew promised. He would. He would still be around whenever they needed him.

"Bye, Daddy Drew," Danny said before hugging him again.

Drew hugged him and then hugged Jake before saying goodbye to Scout and heading for the door.

"Uh, Boys, why don't you take Scout up to Danny's room for a little bit?" Sam asked.

Jason went over picked Scout up and handed her to Jake. "You got her?"

"Yep," Jake said before carrying up the stairs. Danny was right behind him.

"What's going on?" Jason asked Sam once they were gone. He'd known as soon as he walked through the door that something was wrong. Sam and Drew were both really upset, and Drew had pretty much ran out of the house.

Sam filled him in on her conversation with Drew in regard to his decision about Jake and Danny.

"Why's he doing this? No one is trying to force him out of the boys' lives. They need him. This is going to hurt them," Jason said. Most in his position might be glad about Drew's decision, but he could only see that it would hurt his sons.

"Because he thinks it's in the boys' best interests. I think he might be right," Sam said. As much as she didn't want this to happen, she could understand Drew's logic. "Jake already feels torn between you and Drew. He was afraid to like you because he worried about hurting Drew."

"Exactly! This was his fear, that he would lose Drew, and he's already lost so much," Jason said.

"But he hasn't lost Drew. Drew still wants to be in their lives. He just thinks it's better that he takes a step back to let you be their father," Sam said.

"Why can't they have both of us?" Jason asked.

"I think it's for the same reason you walked out of Michael's life for a while when he thought you were his father. You knew it was what was best for him," Sam said.

"That's different. AJ was in the picture, and we were fighting too much. Plus, Michael was a baby. I knew he'd forget me," Jason said.

"It's not much different. Drew resents you, Jason. He knows it's illogical, but he can't help it. He doesn't want to put the boys in the middle of it, and he doesn't want them to feel like they have to choose," Sam said.

Jason sighed. There wasn't much he could do about it. Drew had made his choice. Jason couldn't say for sure that he was wrong for, but he didn't want his kids to suffer anymore. Jake was already dealing with enough as a result of Franco.

"Jason, while you're here, there's something else I wanted to talk to you about. Your custody hearing. I had every intention of offering to testify for you, and I'd like to, but after thinking about it, I don't think you should," Sam said.

"I'd never ask you to do that. I would mean reliving everything Franco did to you," Jason said. He was already planning to leave her completely out of it.

"It's not that Jason. I want to tell the court what Franco did to us, so that Jake never has to live with him again. The problem is that Elizabeth is going to use whatever she can against you, and that includes me. She'll bring up Jake's first kidnapping. I'm not saying this to protect myself. I'm afraid that the fact that you married me after what I did to your son will damage your case," Sam said. Talking about this made her hate herself all over again for what she did to Jake. She may not have harmed him, but sitting by while someone took him was no better. She would never forgive herself for that moment, and she'd hate herself even more for it if it cost Jason Jake.

"You don't have to worry. I'll take care of it," Jason promised. The fact that Elizabeth might use Sam's worst moment against her had also crossed his mind. He had a plan for it.

"Jason, I'm not concerned for myself. I don't want to cost you your custody case," Sam said.

"You won't. I'll make sure it never comes up," Jason said. He would make sure Elizabeth knew that it wouldn't end well for her if she brought that up. She had her own very similar skeletons, and he would remind of it if need be.

"Jason…"

Jason interrupted before she could say anything else. He could see the look on her face. She was feeling guilty. "Sam, it was ten years ago, and I know you regretted it almost right away. Other than Jake, no one was innocent in that entire situation. Elizabeth and I started that sequence of events with our lie. I'm not saying that makes what you did okay, but you made up for it."

"You know how much I regret what I did, right? I wish I could take it back," Sam said guiltily.

"I know. You weren't the only one to make a mistake, Sam," he said.

"Nothing you or Elizabeth did justifies what happened," Sam said. When it first happened, she did use their actions as an excuse, but she realized many years ago that she made her own choices.

"No, but like I said, you made up for it. Let it go, Sam. I forgave you a long time ago," Jason said.

Sam only nodded in response.

"Like, I said, I will make sure this doesn't come out at the custody trial. Now I'm gonna go get Jake and say goodbye to Danny," Jason said.

"Actually, would you guys like to stay for dinner? That way the kids can spend a little more time together. I know Jake misses time with Scout," Sam said.

"Okay. That would be great. Thanks. I'll go tell the kids," Jason said before heading up the stairs