Familial Affairs

By Kali

Author's notes: I've been watching GL lately, and I've been sort of bothered by how plot-driven vs. character-driven it's been in regards to Alex's return. Subsequently, I wrote this scene because I firmly believe that Alex would try to talk to Phillip about Gus first, not just do that "ex-wives club" thing first.

"Gus, killed someone when he was younger. I mean, why on earth should I have a problem with that!" Phillip said sarcastically.

"So? So did Lizzie, and Beth."

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me! Both of those instances involved highly dangerous, physically abusive men. It was self-defense!"

"And it might have been in Gus's case as well, you just don't want to consider that possibility," Alex responded.

"We're talking about a guy who went to extremes to get what he wanted. Which included perjuring himself on the witness stand! Aunt Alex, now, you know that I wasn't always very fond of Lujack..."

"That's an understatement," Alex commented coldly.

"Yeah, I know. But, Gus has shown far more ruthlessness in the short while he's been here, than Lujack ever did."

"Oh, please, Phillip. You're hardly one to judge. What has he ever done to you?"

"You mean, like using Spaulding Enterprises in his little Santos vendetta?"

"What?"

"Oh yeah, he set Danny and Michelle up, and used Spaulding to try and do it."

"He was an F.B.I. Agent. Sounds to me like he was just trying to do his job."

"We're talking about a man who tried to destroy the life of my best friend's sister."

"The poor girl made the mistake of marrying into the mob. That's the price she had to pay."

"Oh? It's funny how Gus is protecting Eden now. Jeez, what a hypocrite! Or, like when you married Roger Thorpe."

"My mistake with him has nothing to do with this."

"Oh, it doesn't, does it? Aunt Alex, all this talk of me becoming like Alan, and Brandon and "stealing" Harley's son from her... Have you forgotten that Roger tried to kidnap Blake from Holly? And Edmund, you know that... that guy that I just saw you flirting with... Oh my God, I can't believe that I just saw that..."

"What about Edmund?"

"He tried to smother Reva's baby!"

"What?! What baby? Her children are practically grown!"

"Oh, it's not Marah or Shayne. No, you see, because of him, Reva lost her and Richards son, forever."

"What?"

"Edmund wasn't very happy about his brother and Reva having a baby, so he tried to take care of it permanently, via a handy crib-side pillow."

"Oh my God."

"Oh! And that "nasty, selfish" Olivia, that you despise so much, saved the baby from Edmund."

"But she kept the truth from Reva. Didn't she?"

"Yes, but..."

"Uh, uh. No buts..."

"Okay, that doesn't really matter. Getting back to Edmund, he was also the one responsible for the plane that Beth, Jim, and me were on, crashing in San Cristobel. He was trying to kill Richard at the time. It was sort of a common theme of his. He had a construction site in his own country sabotaged, injuring hundreds of his "own people". He tried to have me, Richard, and Cassie killed while we were trying to escape from his dictatorship. He developed ties to the mob. Particularly, Carmen Santos. And you know, speaking of her, why on earth Gus didn't have a mad-on to nail her, I don't know. Instead Gus worked with her to nail Danny. I'm telling you, Aunt Alex, Gus is capable of being as ruthless as any Spaulding. And you wonder why I don't like him."

"Okay, so maybe things aren't as black and white as I thought they were."

"Oh, they never are."

"But, dear, the same holds true in reverse."

"Aunt Alex..." Phillip commented sadly, shaking his head in dismay.

"I thank you for opening my eyes regarding Edmund, but, I still say that you are wrong in your opinion of Gus."

"Am I? I don't think so. You've been gone awhile, Aunt Alex. Things have changed around here, people have changed, like Beth."

"You're just saying that because she's no longer with you."

"Um, Aunt Alex, Harley hates her. Have you ever wondered just why Harley hates her? Especially, since years ago they used to have so much in common? Of course, then again you used to think of Harley as nothing other than a trashy gold-digger."

"You just had to bring that up, didn't you," Alex sighed.

"You're questioning my judgment of Gus's character. It's only fair to remind you that you misjudged Harley all those years ago."

"Dear, if my recollection is correct, you originally worked with me to break up her and Alan-Michael."

"Thats not the point, and you know it."

"Okay, tell me about how Beth has "changed". You might as well."

"Well, she tried to break up me and Harley after she first returned from Arizona. When that didn't work she tried to seduce Matt Reardon away from Vanessa. And now, now she's shacking up with Vanessa's son! God only knows what Vanessa must think of that. Later on, after the incident on the plane..."

"When you cheated on Harley and got Beth pregnant?"

"Yeah. Look, I'm not proud of that. I wanted to tell Harley the truth, but, Beth blackmailed me, saying that she would have an abortion if I told the truth. "

"What?!"

"And it gets better. She wanted to deny me of my rights as the baby's father. After everything I went through with Alan and Justin, she wanted to deny me that! She knew how much it hurt it me to find out the truth about my parentage. To find out that Jackie was my birth mother, after she had died. She knew that, and she still wanted to deny me of my son. After the baby was born, and the truth came out, Beth and Jim tried to get me to sign away my paternal rights. My God, even Ross was on their side. All that talk of me becoming cold and cruel and stealing Harley's baby away from her. What a laugh! She can see Zach whenever she wants. Beth and Jim wanted to rob me of my son, and move out of Springfield!"

"People move, Phillip. It happens all the time. You could have seen the boy whenever you visited Lizzie."

"Oh, sure. Normally, there's no problem. But, Jim... Jim had this huge chip on his shoulders in regard to our family. He despised me from the moment he stepped back into Springfield. And it's not because of anything that I did. No. It's because of what you did!"

"What?!"

"The bribe, in regard to Alan-Michael's little kidnapping of Susan."

"Oh."

"Yeah. And because of that, Jim didn't want my son corrupted by the "evil, diabolical" Spauldings. He had every intention of keeping the boy from me. And Beth was a willing participant."

"Phillip, it isn't the same."

"Oh, it isn't? Why? Because I'm the father, and not the mother?"

"Oh, Phillip."

"That's it, isn't it. There's some bizarre double standard in regard to parental rights. You know, it seems to me that you felt differently in regard to Marah's parentage, all those years ago. You ended up feeling that Josh had the right to know."

"Phillip, that was different. Will Jeffries altered the paternity test, and Alan knew about it!"

"And the fact that you wanted to break up Dad and Reva had nothing to do with it?"

"Now hold on. Just what are you getting at, Phillip?"

"Don't you know? Dad and Reva, Alan-Michael and Harley, Nick and Mindy... You objected to their relationships, and tried to break them up, because you greatly disliked Reva, Harley, and Mindy at the time. In other words, Aunt Alex, you are just as guilty of what you accuse me of. "Carbon copy of Alan", my ass. I know that I'm too much like him in some ways, and I hate that. But for me to be just like him, I'd have to commit attempted murder, accidentally shoot my own son, fake someone's death, poison my children's mind with lies about their potential step-father who is a pillar of the community. Mike Bauer, not Gus. Commit numerous shady business deals, and so on. I mean, Alan really was out to separate me and my... Elizabeth. He kept her letters from me. Im not doing that to Harley. Im not doing this to hurt her. Dad was out to destroy Elizabeth. Me? I really just do not want my son growing up in the same house as Gus. Its very different."

"You're right, you would still have quite a way to fall to be a "carbon copy" of brother dear. Why on earth do we keep on forgiving him?"

"I have no idea. Its one of the mysteries of the universe."

"Yeah. We keep on kicking him out of Spaulding, only to let him back in."

"Yeah. Makes no sense in retrospect, does it?"

"Love is a funny thing sometimes."

"No kidding."

"So Beth has changed, gotten a little gumption, misdirected as it may be."

"I wouldn't call it that. A few months after Jim died, she got involved with Edmund."

"What?! Didn't she know about Edmund's past?!"

"Yep," Phillip nodded sadly.

"And she still? Oh my God, Beth really has changed. Poor dear."

"She took Lizzie and James to an unstable country led by a dictator that she was romantically involved with."

"Is that what this is all about?"

"Huh?"

"Your mistrust of Gus. Is it really about him, or is it about Edmund, and to some degree Jim? You say that they tried to keep you from your children."

"They did!"

"I don't doubt that, darling. But, perhaps you are getting all bent out of shape about Gus, because you fear that he will try to do the same thing?"

"No, it's not..."

"Let me finish, dear. You've become wary of who the mothers of your children date. So wary that maybe, in some cases, you're seeing wolves when in fact they are actually merely sheep."

"Aunt Alex..."

"Just think about it, please? You and Harley were friends for so long, before you got married. Don't ruin that permanently by jumping to conclusions about somebody you hardly know."

"Even though you've done that yourself?"

"Touché. What you were feeling in the situation with James, is pretty similar to what Harley is probably feeling right now."

"I'm not trying to take our son away from her."

"You may truly feel that way, but, does she really know that? No. I think she feels much the way that you did. And much the way that I did when Brandon stole my son from me. Just think about it, darling. That's all I ask."

Disclaimer: GL belongs to P&G Productions. This little fic is meant as pure, harmless fun, and as such no profit is being made from it.