Monday morning bright and early Zander had mentioned
to Emily it may be a good idea to make an appointment with Dr. Meadows...just
as a precautionary measure. The stress of the last month or so has
been tremendous on both of them, Emily especially. Emily agreed she
would make an appointment with Dr. Meadows today, but first she wanted
to see Grandmother. She hadn't seen her in a long time, so she was
way overdue for a visit. Emily made a phone call over to the house
and spoke with Reginald. She gave him notice that she was coming
over to see Grandmother and asked if he would tell her she was coming.
Zander stood in the foyer waiting for Emily to
gather her keys before heading out to see her family. He took her
arm and pulled her close to him as he leaned down and kissed her lightly
on her glossy lips. Emily had just added a few touches of lip gloss
and now Zander was wearing some as well. She giggled at the sight
of Zander wearing lip gloss as she turned towards the door. Antonio
was posted outside the door and was instructed to take Emily to the Quartermaine
mansion to see her folks. He nodded in agreement with Zander's instructions.
He watched the two of them head for the elevators that were at the end
of the hallway and reassured himself she would be okay out and about by
herself. Zander had given strict instructions to the drivers as well
as the guards to keep their eye on her...this late in the pregnancy anything
could happen and knowing their luck it probably would.
Antonio walked closely to Emily and opened the
passenger side door to the limo for her. She stepped in and made
herself comfortable for the short ride to the mansion. She noticed
that the streets of their little town were sure busy today. She thought
a moment and guessed because it was a Monday morning traffic in Port Charles
would be fairly heavy with people going to work. They made their
way to the edge of town and veered off into the long driveway that led
up to the mansion. She was getting those butterflies again and didn't
really understand why. She had done this so many times before, but
she guessed because this would be the first time without Zander along.
He had been so protective of her when it came to her family.
Antonio parked the car at the front door and once
again opened the car door for her. He assisted her as she stepped
out onto the blacktop drive. She told him she could be all afternoon
that he could wait in the side employee quarters with the rest of the drivers
if he wanted. She would have Reginald come get him when she was ready
to go home. He nodded in agreement as he led her to the front door
of the mansion. She knocked casually on the door a few times and
it only took a few moments before Reginald opened it. He was so happy
to see her, he gave her a hello hug to welcome her back home. Reginald
was so sweet and cared very much for her.
"Hello Reginald...can you tell Grandmother that
I am here to see her.." Emily said as she placed her bag on the chair in
the foyer. "Sure...I'll be right back." he replied as he started
to walk away. "Reginald...is the rest of the family here.." she asked
not knowing why in the world she did. "Your father and grandfather
are in the living room..I'll tell Lila you'll meet her there.." he replied
as he scooted up the stairs.
Emily took a deep breath as she entered the living
room where her Grandfather was sitting comfortably on the large chair,
while her father has sitting on the sofa looking over some papers.
"Good morning.." she announced when she walked into the room. "Emily...what
do we owe this pleasure?" her grandfather replied as she walked over to
him and embraced him. "Grandmother. I figured I hadn't see
her in a long time...I thought I'd better stop by and visit." she replied
as her father rose from his seat. "It's good to see you..Em." he
said as he leaned in and kissed her cheek. Emily was pleasantly surprised
by their welcome..normally they have some snide comment about Zander being
a deviant or a criminal and how she shouldn't be involved with him...but
this time, this time seemed odd. She didn't question it, because
she didn't want to start another argument.
Reginald walked in and whispered to her that Lila
would like to see her upstairs in Lila's room. Emily excused herself
from the room and followed Reginald up the stairs to the bedroom.
Lila sat with one of her assistants waiting for her. Emily quickly
rushed over and kissed her grandmother on the cheek as Lila reached out
her hand for her to come sit with her. Emily did so as she pulled
a chair from the corner and sat down beside Lila's wheelchair. "Emily,
my dear...there is much we need to talk about." Lila said as she held Emily's
hand. "Alright, what do you want to talk with me about." Emily replied
listening intently to what her grandmother had to say. "First, how
are you and the baby?" Lila asked as Monica peeked her head in the door.
"I'm fine and the baby is fine...I'm planning on seeing Dr. Meadows for
a check-up." Emily replied reassuring Lila she was staying healthy. "Come
in Monica..." Lila said as she noticed Monica standing in the doorway.
"I didn't mean to interupt.." she replied as she walked into the room.
Emily enjoyed every minute she spent with her grandmother. She was
the only one who had supported her through it all and she took to Zander
right away. "Your mother and I have decided to give you something
special for the baby." Lila said as Monica drew closer to the conversation
and took a seat on the edge of the bed. "A surprise...I love surprises!"
Emily said elated about getting a something special. "You and your
mother will have to go and get down from the attic. I'll have Reginald
show you where it is." Lila replied as she noticed the excitement in Emily's
eyes. "No need to call Reginald..we'll find it..." Monica said as
she rose from her seat. Monica assisted Emily from her chair and
they walked towards the door. Monica closed the door behind them
as they walked to the end of the hall to the door that led to the attic.
It had been years since Monica was on the attic but she wanted so badly
to give the christening gown to Emily, it was well worth the trip up another
flight of stairs.
Monica and Emily began searching the many trunks
that were scattered around the attic. Many had old clothes and blankets
that Lila had stored away for many years. Emily and Monica decided
to split the room in half so each had their own half to search. As
Monica searched the one half for the gown through many boxes, Emily's side
had quite a few old trunks to look through. As Emily searched through
the old trunk she had opened, she was surprised to what she had found.
"Mom....look." Emily said as she held a stack of letters that were tied
in a ribbon that looked to be red at one time. The letters were obviously
old, they had watermarks and the paper had faded with age. "What
are they?" Monica asked as she examined the envelopes. "They appear
to be love letters, Mom..from grandfather to grandmother." Emily replied
as she untied the ribbon. "Emily....you shouldn't..." To late Emily
already had the top letter open and reading it before she even got her
complete thought out. Emily read a portion of the letter to herself
as her eyes welled with tears. Monica noticed her eyes started to
fill with tears. "Emily, are you okay?..." her mother asked her as
Emily turned to her. "Read this...." she said as she handed the letter
to her mother. Monica took the letter from her hand and started to
read it. "Oh, how sad..." she gasped at the words written in black
ink that were barely readible. "Could this be true?.." Emily asked
as Monica folded the letter back up and gently placed it back in the envelope.
"I don't know...I mean..I never seen these before.." she replied as she
examined the post mark on the envelopes. "It seems these were written
back in 19...1944.." Monica added hesitantly because the the postmark was
faded so badly she could hardly read the date. Monica left it at
that as she began searching once again for the christening gown.
She turned her back for a brief moment and Emily scurried down the attic
steps. "Emily..." Monica shouted as she noticed the letters were no longer
in the trunk.
************************************************************************************************
Zander had made a few business calls while Emily
was out and than decided to meet up with Sonny to get the scoop about what
had happened with Sorel. He had never really told Zander the whole
story, and Zander got curious. He was about to head out the door
when the phone rang. "Hello.." Zander said as he initially held the
receiver to his ear. "Alexis..how are you?" ... "Okay, I'll be there
in a few minutes.." With that he hung the phone up and grabbed his keys
from the table and walked out the door. He took the elevator down
to the lobby and said pleasantries to the door man as he stepped outside
in the fresh air of the morning. It had been cloudy for a few days,
but this morning the sun was shining and there were very few clouds in
the blue sky above. He stood there a moment and took a deep breath
of fresh air. He was sure counting his blessings right at this moment.
It wasn't far to Alexis's penthouse, he'd walk.
He headed down the street and turned the corner to head towards the PC
Hotel. He was met by the doorman as he opened the large glass doors
of the hotel. Zander headed for the elevators and signaled for one
to take him up to the penthouse. He was always aware of his surroundings
and who was standing close to him. It was a habit and it was hard
to break. He noticed a younger man on the telephone who was standing
behind the registration desk and also an older women sitting in the lounge
reading the morning paper. He stepped onto the elevator pressed PH.
The elevator soon came to a stop and the doors
opened with Johnny there to greet him. "Hey, Johnny...how are you?"
Zander said with a pat on the shoulder as he turned and walked to Alexis's
door. He knocked a few times before she answered...he wondered if
she was even home. The last time he was standing at Alexis's door
he had heard bad news about Sorel, so he was prepared to hear the worst
once the door opened. Alexis opened the door and he noticed she was
on the phone. She motioned for him to come and take a seat on the
sofa. He did as she closed the door behind him. She was only
a few moments on the phone and he waited patiently for her. She hung
up the phone and grabbed a file folder from the desk and came to sit down
on the chair next to him.
"Is there aproblem?" he asked hesitantly...not
knowing if that was a good question to ask his attorney. " No, not a problem...just
a glitch." she replied as she opened up the folder on the table in front
of her. He didn't like that word either...gliche, problem, wrench
in the works...none of them were popular in his vocabulary. "What
kind of glitch?" he asked. "Well....you tell me?" she said as she
sprawled the papers across the manilla folder they were in. He looked
down at the papers on the table and noticed they were photographs of people...people
he knew...people from his past...people he would like to forget.
There were many things that he didn't reveal to anyone during the past
two years of living in Port Charles...not even Emily. His past was
buried and he wanted to keep it that way.
"Alexis..where did you get these?" he said as
he gazed at the photographs. "Never you mind where I got them...I
want you to explain them to me..." she said in a forceful tone. He
felt so consumed with guilt at that moment. He never wanted any of
his past to come out...he had left it behind in Florida and he just wish
it would stay there. He was running from his conscience, and running
as fast as he could. The news of these photographs could put a wedge
between he and Emily and he didn't want that to happen. They had
worked so hard to be together...these secrets would be the end...or at
least a major problem for them to work through...if they could work through
it.
Zander picked up one of the photographs and slid
his finger across the face that stared back at him. He hadn't seen
her in almost 3 years...it felt like it was just yesterday. Zander
started to remember his time spent with her before he took off for places
unknown. He would never forgive himself for running away from his
problems..but it was either them or me. He ran to protect those he
cared about, he ran to save their lives. And he ran as far as Canada
to protect them. He never intended to forget them or to neglect his
responsibilities..he would never do that..he wasn't like that...but it
got a little too close for comfort with dangerous people and he needed
to skip town fast.
"Zander...talk to me...who are they and how do
you know them?" Alexis asked as she noticed he was in another world.
"Where shall I start..." he asked. "Start with the truth.." she replied
as he rose from his seat. "Alright...about 5 years ago, I met this
girl...I was a football player in high school and she was the most popular
girl..." he began. "Continue..." Alexis replied as she leaned back
against the cushion of the chair. "I had gotten into some trouble
with betting on games and I lost big...I mean big money. By this time I
was a senior in high school and getting ready to graduate. Steph
and I had been seeing each other about 2 years and it was getting serious.
Very serious. Serious enough to sleep with her." he replied as he
rubbed his hand against his forhead. "You didn't..." Alexis replied.
"Yes we did....the night of graduation. The best night of my life...I
knew that night that I was in love with Steph and that we would be together
for a long time." he replied as he poured himself a glass of water from
the pitcher on the counter. He never in a million years thought he
would be reliving his past...especially with his attorney. "And..."
she questioned as she urged him on to continue with the story. "And...I
was in debt up to my eyeballs. I was dabbling in alot of things back
then...alot of things. And none of the any good. But Steph was like
Emily...she didn't care she wanted to be with me...and at that time I didn't
care either...oh God she was..." "Go on..." Alexis said clearing
her throat. "Well needless to say I got hooked up with the wrong
crowd after high school and got in deeper. By this time, Steph was
3 months along." he said as hesitated. "Zander...she wasn't...how..."
Alexis questioned as he sat back down and picked up one of the photographs.
"Alexis, I honestly don't know...it wasn't planned..hell, I was only 18
and so was she...we were not ready to be parents...Anyway, after the baby
was born..we started receiving threats and started getting harassed by
the crowd I had thought were my best buds. They threatened her and
the baby and I couldn't take the chance of having them get hurt..." he
replied as he placed his head in his hands. "So...what you left...?"
she asked a little confused as to why he would do such a thing. "There
wasn't anything else to do...Look, it was either I leave or they get hurt...Alexis
those were my choices. I didn't want to, God knows I didn't want to...but
I made the only choice I could." he replied in desperation. "You
could of took her with you..or at least sent for her..." she said as she
moved and sat next to him. "Alexis I tried that...she didn't want
to leave Florida and I couldn't stay. She had family there and besides
when I called her to give her the option, I found myself talking to someone
who I didn't know anymore." "So you left your girlfriend and child
in Florida to fend for themselves while you took off for places unknown....is
that about right?" Alexis asked forcefully. "No..that's not right...she
had moved back with her family who were mega millionaires...she was welcomed
back with open arms now that I was gone and she had the baby. I was
crushed that she would keep my child away from me...my child!" he cried.
"Zander, look..I appreciate your honesty with me..I really do...but she
is back. And she is wanting you to take the responsibility of Alexandra."
Alexis replied as she tried to comfort him. "Now, she wants me in
her life..now she needs me. I wasn't any good to her 2 years ago..but
now I am. Man...! How do you know this...?" he asked as he turned
and looked at Alexis. "This came with the photographs..." she handed
him a letter that was hand written. Zander took the letter from Alexis
and rose out of his seat. He knew it was Steph's hand writing, he
could just tell by the little funny hearts she used to dot her "i"'s.
As he read the letter Alexis examined the photographs and stared at the
face of Zander's daughter that stared back at her. She looked just
like him, the dark hair and his dark eyes...she was his child through and
through. Zander walked around the penthouse in a daze, not knowing
what to do or what to say. He couldn't believe this. After
all he and Emily had been through, his past has returned to haunt him.
He tried so hard to explain it away. He wasn't like that anymore...back
than he was a total jerk and a jock to boot. He was a follower than
and did what everyone else wanted him to. Because of Emily he now
was the leader. The leader of his own life.
**********************************************************************************************
Emily scurried down the spiral staircase and into
the living room where Edward and Alan sat still conversing about ELQ business.
"Em..what's the matter?" Alan replied as he noticed her rushing into the
room in panic. "Grandfather, I would like a straight answer from
you...." she said as she stood in front of him with the love letters hidden
behind her back. "Okay..about what?" he asked curiously. "About
Zander....I want to know the honest truth why you hate him so.." she inquired.
"Emily....I don't like him because he hurt you..he kidnapped you, and he
is a drug dealer, he worked for Sorel...shall I go on?" Edward replied
as he rose from his chair. "No...the real reasons...I've heard those
excuses before...I want to hear the truth...dammit.." Emily replied forcefully.
With that Edward's blood pressure was rising at the thought of his precious
Emily speaking to him like that. As they stood in the living room,
Monica walked in and attempted to speak to Emily. "Mom...don't...I'd
like to hear Grandfather's explaination. "Where is this coming from?"
he questioned. "From these....I want to know about these.." she replied
as she showed him the love letters she found. Edward was shocked to see
the letters she held in her hands. He hadn't seen them in fifty years...and
he was flabbergasted at the thought of them.
Edward sat down in his seat fearing he would pass
out from the shock of seeing the love letters he had written to Lila so
many years ago. "Emily...where did you find them?" he asked as she
knelt in front of him. "I found them in an old trunk in the attic
and I want you to explain them to me." she replied as he brushed back her
auburn hair. He took a deep breath as he contemplated the thought
of telling his grand daughter the real reason why he hated her husband
so. "Alright...I'll tell you." he said as he took her hand in his.
"Many years ago, when I was courting your grandmother, her family didn't
like me much to say the least. I was not the typical young man they
wanted for their daughter." he said as she sat there listening intently
to his words. "Her parents did everything to keep us apart.
And I mean everything. The family had much more money than mine did,
and so they sent her away from home to school so she wouldn't be tempted
by me." he said as she thought of the similarities of she and Zander were
scary. "Go on.." she replied. "Well, we had made plans to run
away one summer and get married despite her family's objections.
Lila got caught leaving the house and she snuk out and left me a note to
tell me what had kept her away that night. Her family's objections
went on for years. I had enlisted in the service before the war and
had gotten my orders to ship out a week later. Her family was overjoyed
with the fact that I would not be able to take her away from them.
During the time I was away, I wrote to her every chance I got. Unbeknownst
to us, her parents had intercepted a few weeks worth of letters." he said
with a look of sadness. "Aw...grandfather that is so sad..how did
the two of you get together than?" Emily asked as she noticed her grandfathers
well up with tears. "After the war was over, I returned home to find
Lila engaged to another man, at the request of her family. Lila was
not in love with this man, she was in love with me. So, we planned
for us to elope one night. We met at our spot and just ran.
Ran as fast as we could. It was all we could do to be together.
The family left us no choice." he replied as tears fell from his eyes.
"Can you tell me why you signed the letters as you did?" she asked as he
opened one of the letters she was holding. "Lila and I both signed
our letters the same way..it was like code or something so we knew they
were from each other."..he replied as he read the letter and noticed down
at the bottom of the letter he signed it "Love, me."
Emily knew it took alot of her grandfather to
tell her the story, and she appreciated his honesty with her. "So
you don't like Zander because?" she inquired. Edward looked
up at her and replied..."I don't like Zander..because..well, I guess he
reminds me so much of myself." Emily shocked to hear that from her grandfather
and stunned at the emotional state he was brought to by telling the story
that obviously was painful for him back then. She had lived in the
mansion for 8 years and all of those 8 years, she had never once seen her
grandfather shed a tear. Yet today, she saw for the first time the
man who she knew he was. A good man who loved his family and love
his wife. A man who had to defend himself to everyone because they
didn't like what he did or who he was.
Alan and Monica sat shocked at the story they
just heard. Alan never knew the story about his parents until now.
He was surprised to know how much they went through to be together.
It brought the situation with Emily in a whole new light for him.
The story just told had certainly changed his mind about his daughter's
relationship with this man who loved her so deeply.
Emily and her grandfather embraced as she tried
to comfort him as he would do for her. She spent a few more moments
with the family before heading home.
******************************************************************************************************
"Alexis..what am I going to do about this?" Zander
asked as he paced her floor. "Zander...first thing you have to do
is tell Emily....tell her everything." she replied as a look of concern
came over him. "Alexis this is gonna hurt her deeply..." he replied.
"Probably will, but you have no choice but to face it now...Emily is a
good person, she is an understanding person...she loves you Zander.." she
said as she embraced him trying to comfort and soothe his aching heart.
Alexis gathered the photographs and placed them back into the folder they
came from. "Here, take these along and talk to her. Tell her."
Alexis said as she handed Zander the folder and brushed his jawline with
her hand. Zander knew she was right. There was no running from
this anymore. He had to tell his wife about his child he had with
another woman. There was no turning back the clock and no more running
from responsibilities. Zander left Alexis's penthouse and wondered
how he was going to tell his wife about the past that came back to haunt
him.
Chapter
13