Stefan hung up the phone and sat quietly at his desk. He replayed the
conversation he'd just had over in his mind:
"Stefan? It's Alexis. We have a situation..." Alexis paused trying to
figure out just how to approach the subject.
"Does it have to do with Mother?"
"Actually it's the blood test we had decided on. Carly has come up with
another solution. Instead of a blood test, we're going to need a DNA test.
We'll need a sample from Stravos's body." Alexis said in a rush.
"Fine." Stefan said simply. He could tell that his swift reply had stunned
her because it took a few moments for her to reply.
"Fine?" She repeated. "You understand that we would have to...we would have
to disturb his grave in order to do this?"
"Of course I do. I assume it should be done as soon as possible. One of us,
either you, me or Caroline should fly out to Greece and supervise the
procedure. After that we must get samples from the boy and I'm sure Laura
will want to be tested as well. In all we should know the results by when?"
Alexis stammered. "Uh…uh, according to the research I did, it takes about
four to six weeks but I'm sure we can get a rush on it and be done in three
to four weeks instead. Stefan, I must say that you are taking this much
better than I had expected."
"We have to do what must be done." He told her in a clipped tone.
"I would go to Greece for you but my doctor said it was best that I didn't
fly. And Kevin would kill me if I tried. He doesn't even know I called you
about this. I'm supposed to be resting. Would you like me to ask Carly to
go when I talk to her tomorrow?" Alexis suggested.
"No. I will make the arrangements and fly out to the island myself." Stefan
told her before hanging up.
Barbara found him sitting at his desk. She could tell by his look that he
was deep in thought. She ran her hands down his arms. Her fingers danced
across the back of his neck and came to a rest in his hair. She breathed
into his ear. "What happened now?"
"I have to return to the island in a few days, preferably tomorrow." Stefan
told her.
"Oh? This is rather sudden. What is this trip about?"
"Something I do not want to discuss at the moment."
Barbara paused then offered. "Would you like me to come with you?"
"No, this is something that I have to do alone." Stefan stood and crossed
the room, moving swiftly away from her.
She raised her eyebrow and stared at him. "Stefan, what is going on?"
"I have something very difficult to do—"
"I can tell. I just want to help you. God, you're just like Carly
sometimes. So stubborn and not able to let anyone do a single thing to
help *you*." She swore, taking her frustrations about not being able to
connect with her daughter on him.
"Barbara, please, not now." He said wearily. He had neither the time nor
the patience for this conversation right now.
"Then just let me—"
Stefan whirled around. "I am going to the island in order to remove a
sample from my dead brother's body. Are you now satisfied?"
She rushed across the room and grasped his face between her hands. "I
didn't know. I'm so sorry. Here I am ranting at you for no good reason."
Stefan covered her hands with his, gently removing them. "It's all right,
Barbara."
"It's not all right." She spat out, placing her hands on her hips. "No one
should have to go through that. This is all because of your mother. I just
want to...sometimes I wish I could just kill that woman."
A small smile appeared briefly as Stefan said. "Sometimes we all do. Of
course killing her is a bit trickier than just wishing it so."
"I'm being serious." She told him.
"And so am I." He took a deep breath. He cupped her face with one hand. "I
won't be gone for long. I will be probably be back in two days."
She nodded. "Is there anything you would like me to do?"
"Don't antagonize Caroline." He warned her.
She frowned. "So now I can't even talk to my own daughter?"
"Right now? No. I know that you want to forge a better relationship with
her all of a sudden. However now is not the right time for that. She is
under enough stress. Anymore from you will push her right over."
Barbara restrained herself from rolling her eyes. Instead she asked. "Is
there anything else that I should or should not do?"
Stefan narrowed his eyes. "Stay away from Helena while I'm not around to
protect you."
~*~*~
Carly was walking towards her office the next morning when her secretary
quickly stood up and rushed over to meet her. "Mrs. Collins called twice
and your father is waiting for you in your office."
Carly raised an eyebrow. Alexis must have talked to him about the Stravos
situation. She could only guess that he wasn't too happy with the idea and
would need further convincing. She nodded absently in Elizabeth's direction
and moved forward. She placed a polite smile on her face as she entered the
office. Stefan sat comfortably in front of her desk.
She began immediately, "Now Father, this is something that simply must be
done. You know that. I know it's weird but—"
Stefan held up a hand silencing her. "Caroline, I've already agreed to it."
She let out a sigh of relief. "That's good. That's great. That's probably
why Alexis left a bunch of messages."
He nodded then stood up and walked over to her. "I came by to tell you in
person that I will be leaving this afternoon to oversee the operation."
She raised an eyebrow. "This afternoon? That's awfully soon."
"The faster this is done, the better."
Carly studied her father closely. She could tell that this was bothering
him. She suggested, "You know what? I could probably push a few things
around, get Elizabeth to cancel a couple of appointments...I could go to
Greece instead. You can stay here and do whatever it is you and my mother
do together."
Stefan shook his head. "No, I will go."
"Then...then let me come with you." She said quickly. "You shouldn't go
alone."
"I'm going, alone, and that is final." He said sternly but softly. He
placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. He started to walk towards the door,
talking over his shoulder. "I will be back in two days. I want you to talk
to the boy and Laura about this DNA testing."
Carly nodded as she went to her desk and sat down behind it. "I've already
talk to him, surprisingly he agreed to it. Then again Helena wasn't around.
Our best bet is to separate the two of them. Laura, I visited the other day
and we kind of got into it. Before we could come to an agreement, we were
informed of Lucky and Lesley Lu's accident. I'm going to call her right
now."
"I will call you as soon as I'm on my way back." He promised. He opened the
door was almost out when Carly called out after him.
"Father, wait." She said worriedly. "Are you sure you should do this alone?
Why don't you take..." God, this was going to kill her to even suggest it
but..." why don't you take Mother with you?"
Stefan stared at her in shock. Carly waved her hands. "Never mind, never
mind. Chalk it up to a moment of insanity."
Stefan laughed lightly. "Of course."
As soon as he was gone, she dialed up the Spencer homestead. Lulu answered.
Carly cheerfully asked after her health. The little girl was doing fine but
her parents had nixed the idea of a puppy. So she asked her "most
favoritest cousin" to get her one instead. The urge to spoil the little
girl was there but Carly knew that Luke and Laura would kill her. Instead
she asked to speak to Laura and waited as Lulu ran off to get her mother.
"Carly?" Laura said when she finally picked up the phone. "What do you
want?"
Carly narrowed her eyes. Not again, she thought. This time she wasn't going
to play nice. She told her, "We're going to do a DNA test instead of a
blood test. This means we won't need your help but we are offering you the
chance to find out for sure."
Laura thought it over. She was sure, deep in her heart that Nikolas was her
son. But everyone around her was positive he wasn't. Perhaps agreeing to
the test would be a good thing. It would just help prove that she was
right.
Laura had taken so long to answer her, Carly wasn't sure if she was still
on the line. "Laura? Are you there?"
Laura shook her head, clearing it. "Yes, of course, sorry."
"So do you want to be involved or not?"
"I want to be tested." Laura said firmly.
"Oh? Really?" Carly smirked to herself. Looks like someone isn't as
trusting of her "feelings" as she claimed to be.
"Don't start, Carly." She snapped.
Carly snapped back. "Look, in two days, we're going to do the testing at
General Hospital. I'll call you later and give you the specifics." She
promptly hung up and closed her eyes. She couldn't wait for this to be
over. And when it was over she was going to wring her grandmother's neck
for causing this.
~*~*~
Barbara was stepping off the launch when she saw her coming across the
docks. She knew that the smart thing to do would be for her to go in the
opposite direction and not acknowledge the woman's presence. But she
couldn't. Deep inside of Barbara Spencer Cassadine still lived Bobbie
Spencer and nobody messed with Bobbie's family. She immediately set off in
her direction.
"Stop right there Helena." She called after her.
Helena looked over her shoulder to see her son's plaything coming after
her. Andreas glanced in her direction. "Madam?"
She shook her head. "I do not have time for this."
"You're going to have make time." Barbara stopped in front of her. "I have
had it up to here with you."
"That's so nice to know." Helena smiled condescendingly at her. "Is that
all?"
"I am sick and tired of you messing with not only your granddaughter's life
but your own son's as well. I've tried and tried to understand what you are
but I can't. How you call yourself a mother I have no idea."
"Maternal criticisms from you?" Helena laughed. "You abandoned your own
daughter not once but twice. And you wonder why she can't stand the sight
of you."
"She knows I love her. You, on the other hand, are incapable of love. If
you weren't, your children wouldn't have been raised in fear of you."
Helena sighed. "Is there a reason for this tirade or not?"
"I want you to stop this. All of it. You are trying to destroy my
daughter's life and I won't let you."
Helena faked a yawn. "Anything else?"
Barbara knew there was no reasoning with Helena. "You are killing Stefan
with this. Stop trying to bring Stravos back from the dead. He's six feet
under, where he belongs. The man was disgusting and he should just stay
dead."
Barbara wasn't prepared for the slap. She stood there stunned and slowly
raised her hand to her stinging cheek. Her mouth dropped open as she stared
at Helena.
Helena hissed. "You stupid cow. Never ever speak of my son again."
Carly came around a corner just in time to hear her mother growl and launch
herself at Helena. "What the hell?"
She ran down the stairs but luckily Andreas was there. He caught Barbara
before she could push Helena off the docks. "Are you okay Madam?"
She brushed her hands down her suit. She stared down Barbara who glared
back defiantly. "For now."
"What the hell is going on here?" Carly demanded.
"Ask the woman who accosted me." Helena said. "She's lucky I won't have her
brought up on charges."
"Well don't count on me turning the other cheek. I'm going to have you
arrested for assault." Barbara sneered, pointing at her bruised face.
"You're not going to do anything, Mother." Carly told her. "And
Grandmother, you're going to take boy toy here and go home. Now."
"Tell your father to put a leash on her. Otherwise the next time I see her,
I won't be as understanding." Helena threatened.
"Touch my mother and die." Carly said with a grim smile.
The two women stared each other down. Carly told her silently with her eyes
that she meant it. Finally Helena nodded. "Come Andreas."
Andreas obediently followed her across the docks.
Carly waited until the pair was gone before turning on her mother. Barbara
was smiling at her. Her daughter had actually defended her, in a way, to
Helena. Carly scowled at her. "What did you think you were doing? And why
are you grinning like an idiot?"
She quickly lost her smile. Carly obviously found her to be a lesser evil
than Helena. "She slapped me. No *one* puts their hands on me."
"What were you doing even talking to her?" Where you trying to make things
worse on purpose? Father is going to have fit when he finds out about this.
Not only does he have to worry about me and this Nikolas guy, now he'll
have to worry about *your* safety. What were you thinking?"
"I was thinking I would try to help you and Stefan out." Barbara snapped.
She had already broken one promise to Stefan; she might as well break the
other. "Whether you like it or not, I'm not going to sit back and let that
women destroy your life."
"She is not going to *destroy* me. I won't give her that power. And what
can you do? Nothing."
"I'm your mother and that means I'll do anything I can to protect you."
"Once again you pull the mother card when it suits you."
"And you pull the abandoned child card when it works for you." Barbara said
bitterly.
"I *was* abandoned." Carly cried.
"You were left in the lap of luxury with a father who adored you. At the
time it seemed to be the best thing for you."
"No." Carly shook her head frantically. "It was the best thing for you. You
had father's money and no responsibilities. I was left behind thinking my
own mother didn't want me."
Barbara covered her mouth with one hand and reached for Carly with the
other. Carly stepped away from her as she tried to compose herself. "No,
no, I'm not going to do this."
"Carly..."
"Don't." She said sharply. "Just leave me alone. And stay out of Helena's
way. I don't want to have to plan your funeral on top of everything else."
Barbara watched helplessly as her daughter hurried away from her. She
whispered to herself. "Damn."
~*~*~
Nikolas stared nervously at the door. On the way over, it had seemed like a
good idea. Go the Spencers's house. Try to talk to your mother one last
time before the lawyers and the blood tests and Helena get further in the
way. But now...What if she turned him away? What if, like last time, she
was scared of him? What if...
He shook his head, trying to get rid of the negative thoughts. No, he told
himself. Now that she knows about me, this time will be different. He took
a deep breath and then without any further hesitation, rang the bell.
A little dark hair girl opened the door. Nikolas found himself smiling at
his sister. He whispered, "Lesley Lu."
She frowned up at him. "Who are you?"
He started to crouch down to her height but she looked at him warily and
backed up, putting half of her body behind the door. She narrowed her eyes
at him, "Wait, I know who you are."
He raised his eyebrow. He was surprised. He'd thought they would keep her
from finding out about him. "Since you know who I am, is it okay if I come
in and see my—our mother? Tell her it's your big brother." He smiled.
"You're not my brother. Lucky said so." She told him, her tone making it
evident to him that if Lucky said it was so then it was true.
"Can I please come in anyway?"
She shook her head. "Daddy says not to let strangers in the house."
He tried to protest. "But I'm not a—"
Lulu turned her head and yelled into the house. "Daddy! That guy from TV is
at the door and he won't go away!"
Great, not Luke, he thought. Just his luck. The man was going to kill him
if he found him on his doorstep. "You know what? I'll come back another
time ok?"
But it was too late. Luke was already on his way. "What did you say
princess?"
Lulu pointed at him accusingly. "The bad guy from TV. He's here."
Luke stared Nikolas down, causing him to shrink back. He drawled. "Well so
he is. What do you want?"
"He wanted to talk to Mommy." Lulu told him.
"And you didn't let him? That's my girl." He smiled broadly and laid a
protective hand on her shoulders.
"If Laura's not here, I think I'll just go."
"Go and don't come back." Luke glared at him.
He straightened up at the order. "Is she here or not?"
"Mommy went to see Grandma." Lulu told them.
"Which is a good thing because I don't want you coming around here
upsetting my wife and my family anymore than you already have." Luke said.
"We don't want you here."
"Yeah." Lulu spoke up, causing Luke to grin and Nikolas to frown. She saw
what this man was doing to her family. Everyone was fighting and no one was
happy. If he went away then maybe everything would be good again.
"Why am I being painted as the bad guy? All I want is to know my mother."
"You can keep repeating the lines that Helena feeds you all you want, boy.
Nobody's buying it." Luke sneered.
"When the DNA tests come back and prove who I am—"
"When the tests come back all they'll prove is that you're a fraud. Now get
off my porch." Luke stepped back, taking Lulu with him and slammed the
door.
~*~*~
Once again Carly walked through the Paradise club. She was glad she agreed
to see Sonny that night. After her run in with her mother she needed a
Sonny break. She needed him to help her forget.
In the background loud club music played as a dancer stood on stage taking
it all off. Carly glanced in the direction of the stage and wasn't too
surprised to see Hannah up there bumping and grinding to the music. She
wore a cop's hat and the smallest bikini Carly had ever seen with a fake
police ID pinned over one breast and a pair of handcuffs dangling from her
bottom. Carly shook her head. The things women do for money. She came to
Sonny's office. The usual guard was standing outside of it.
"Mr. Corinthos would prefer that you wait for him outside in the limo." He
told her.
"Is there something wrong?" She asked.
"He's in a meeting that's running a little late. He'll meet you in the
limo." He said.
"Okay, whatever. He better not keep me waiting for too long." Carly warned.
She turned around and headed for the front door of the club again.
Unbeknownst to her, a small nondescript man followed her.
A half-hour later Sonny emerged from his office. He shook hands with Zander
Smith and faked a smile. This was step one in his and Luke's plan to bring
Moreno's nephew over to their side. They needed him so Sonny couldn't rush
him along when the young man started to chitchat about anything and
everything under the sun. Carly was going to be pissed off. He swore
silently. All he had to do was get the kid out of there and then he could
go see how ticked off she was.
He was almost home free when Zander turned to him. He jerked his thumb
towards the stage where Hannah was finishing up. "That one? Is there any
way for to you arrange a meeting for me?"
"Hannah?"
"Yeah, my girlfriend's away on another one of her modeling shoots and…well
you know how it is." He grinned broadly.
"Yeah, you want to meet her? Just go right up. But none of my girls are
required to say yes." Sonny told him pointedly.
Zander looked back at Hannah who was disappearing behind the curtain. "You
know what, forget it. I'll see you around."
"We'll talk soon." Sonny nodded. He waited until Zander was gone before
speaking to his guard. "Where is she?"
"She's out in the limo waiting. Fifteen minutes ago she had a bottle of
wine taken out there but that's it."
Wine was good. She was probably in a good mood because of it. Sonny made
his way out of the club and to where the car waited. He waved away his man
when he went open the door for him. He opened it himself and climbed in. He
stared at her for a moment before breaking out into a grin.
Carly was stretched out on the seat sipping from a glass of wine, naked.
She propped herself up on one elbow and waved her glass at him. "I got
bored...Wine?"
~*~*~
"Oh, Dr. Wexler. There's a man on the phone for you." Nurse Vining called
out to Karen as she passed by the nurses' station the next afternoon.
Karen frowned. Who would be calling her here? She glanced over her
shoulder. "Can you see if I can call them back? I'm little busy."
"He said it was *very* urgent." Amy stressed the word and looked at her
expectantly. She waved the receiver in front of her. "I didn't know you
were seeing someone new."
"I'm not." She muttered. She grabbed the phone from Amy. She waited for her
to move but she stood there, waiting to listen in. "Could I get some
privacy *please*?"
"Well excuse me." Amy huffed. "I have patients to check up on anyway."
"Then go do that." Karen snapped. Once Amy was out of earshot she spoke
into the phone. "This is Dr. Wexler, hello?"
"I have the information you wanted."
Karen gasped. It was the private investigator she had following Carly.
"Really? So soon?"
"They were together last night."
"Did you get pictures? Good ones? Ones that can't be explained away
easily?"
"I've got lots of pictures. I've just developed them. When do you want to
pick them up?"
"I can't pick them up until late tonight. Unless...Could you bring them to
me at the hospital?"
"It'll cost you extra."
She rolled her eyes. Of course, why wouldn't it? "Sure, fine. Meet in the
fourth floor waiting area."
"I'll be there in an hour."
Karen hung up. She stood by the phone smiling smugly. It was almost all
over for Carly and Jason. She had all the proof she needed. There was no
way for Jason to deny her.
Chris came up. "Why are you smiling like the cat that swallowed the
canary?"
"Because I'm about to have all my dreams come true."
He looked at her warily. "What did you do Karen?"
"*I* didn't do a thing." She said evasively.
"If this has to do with Jason and Carly..."
"And if it does? What are you going to do? Tell on me? I haven't done
anything yet."
"Karen, I'm your friend and I can't stand to see you making a fool of
yourself over Jason. He's in a relationship. Transfer your attention
somewhere else. You'll be a lot happier."
Karen smirked. "Pot and kettle, Chris, pot and kettle. When you get a life
outside of Eve Lambert then you can tell me what to do with mine."
"Just watch yourself, okay Karen? Carly Cassadine isn't the type of woman
to give up her man without a fight."
conversation he'd just had over in his mind:
"Stefan? It's Alexis. We have a situation..." Alexis paused trying to
figure out just how to approach the subject.
"Does it have to do with Mother?"
"Actually it's the blood test we had decided on. Carly has come up with
another solution. Instead of a blood test, we're going to need a DNA test.
We'll need a sample from Stravos's body." Alexis said in a rush.
"Fine." Stefan said simply. He could tell that his swift reply had stunned
her because it took a few moments for her to reply.
"Fine?" She repeated. "You understand that we would have to...we would have
to disturb his grave in order to do this?"
"Of course I do. I assume it should be done as soon as possible. One of us,
either you, me or Caroline should fly out to Greece and supervise the
procedure. After that we must get samples from the boy and I'm sure Laura
will want to be tested as well. In all we should know the results by when?"
Alexis stammered. "Uh…uh, according to the research I did, it takes about
four to six weeks but I'm sure we can get a rush on it and be done in three
to four weeks instead. Stefan, I must say that you are taking this much
better than I had expected."
"We have to do what must be done." He told her in a clipped tone.
"I would go to Greece for you but my doctor said it was best that I didn't
fly. And Kevin would kill me if I tried. He doesn't even know I called you
about this. I'm supposed to be resting. Would you like me to ask Carly to
go when I talk to her tomorrow?" Alexis suggested.
"No. I will make the arrangements and fly out to the island myself." Stefan
told her before hanging up.
Barbara found him sitting at his desk. She could tell by his look that he
was deep in thought. She ran her hands down his arms. Her fingers danced
across the back of his neck and came to a rest in his hair. She breathed
into his ear. "What happened now?"
"I have to return to the island in a few days, preferably tomorrow." Stefan
told her.
"Oh? This is rather sudden. What is this trip about?"
"Something I do not want to discuss at the moment."
Barbara paused then offered. "Would you like me to come with you?"
"No, this is something that I have to do alone." Stefan stood and crossed
the room, moving swiftly away from her.
She raised her eyebrow and stared at him. "Stefan, what is going on?"
"I have something very difficult to do—"
"I can tell. I just want to help you. God, you're just like Carly
sometimes. So stubborn and not able to let anyone do a single thing to
help *you*." She swore, taking her frustrations about not being able to
connect with her daughter on him.
"Barbara, please, not now." He said wearily. He had neither the time nor
the patience for this conversation right now.
"Then just let me—"
Stefan whirled around. "I am going to the island in order to remove a
sample from my dead brother's body. Are you now satisfied?"
She rushed across the room and grasped his face between her hands. "I
didn't know. I'm so sorry. Here I am ranting at you for no good reason."
Stefan covered her hands with his, gently removing them. "It's all right,
Barbara."
"It's not all right." She spat out, placing her hands on her hips. "No one
should have to go through that. This is all because of your mother. I just
want to...sometimes I wish I could just kill that woman."
A small smile appeared briefly as Stefan said. "Sometimes we all do. Of
course killing her is a bit trickier than just wishing it so."
"I'm being serious." She told him.
"And so am I." He took a deep breath. He cupped her face with one hand. "I
won't be gone for long. I will be probably be back in two days."
She nodded. "Is there anything you would like me to do?"
"Don't antagonize Caroline." He warned her.
She frowned. "So now I can't even talk to my own daughter?"
"Right now? No. I know that you want to forge a better relationship with
her all of a sudden. However now is not the right time for that. She is
under enough stress. Anymore from you will push her right over."
Barbara restrained herself from rolling her eyes. Instead she asked. "Is
there anything else that I should or should not do?"
Stefan narrowed his eyes. "Stay away from Helena while I'm not around to
protect you."
~*~*~
Carly was walking towards her office the next morning when her secretary
quickly stood up and rushed over to meet her. "Mrs. Collins called twice
and your father is waiting for you in your office."
Carly raised an eyebrow. Alexis must have talked to him about the Stravos
situation. She could only guess that he wasn't too happy with the idea and
would need further convincing. She nodded absently in Elizabeth's direction
and moved forward. She placed a polite smile on her face as she entered the
office. Stefan sat comfortably in front of her desk.
She began immediately, "Now Father, this is something that simply must be
done. You know that. I know it's weird but—"
Stefan held up a hand silencing her. "Caroline, I've already agreed to it."
She let out a sigh of relief. "That's good. That's great. That's probably
why Alexis left a bunch of messages."
He nodded then stood up and walked over to her. "I came by to tell you in
person that I will be leaving this afternoon to oversee the operation."
She raised an eyebrow. "This afternoon? That's awfully soon."
"The faster this is done, the better."
Carly studied her father closely. She could tell that this was bothering
him. She suggested, "You know what? I could probably push a few things
around, get Elizabeth to cancel a couple of appointments...I could go to
Greece instead. You can stay here and do whatever it is you and my mother
do together."
Stefan shook his head. "No, I will go."
"Then...then let me come with you." She said quickly. "You shouldn't go
alone."
"I'm going, alone, and that is final." He said sternly but softly. He
placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. He started to walk towards the door,
talking over his shoulder. "I will be back in two days. I want you to talk
to the boy and Laura about this DNA testing."
Carly nodded as she went to her desk and sat down behind it. "I've already
talk to him, surprisingly he agreed to it. Then again Helena wasn't around.
Our best bet is to separate the two of them. Laura, I visited the other day
and we kind of got into it. Before we could come to an agreement, we were
informed of Lucky and Lesley Lu's accident. I'm going to call her right
now."
"I will call you as soon as I'm on my way back." He promised. He opened the
door was almost out when Carly called out after him.
"Father, wait." She said worriedly. "Are you sure you should do this alone?
Why don't you take..." God, this was going to kill her to even suggest it
but..." why don't you take Mother with you?"
Stefan stared at her in shock. Carly waved her hands. "Never mind, never
mind. Chalk it up to a moment of insanity."
Stefan laughed lightly. "Of course."
As soon as he was gone, she dialed up the Spencer homestead. Lulu answered.
Carly cheerfully asked after her health. The little girl was doing fine but
her parents had nixed the idea of a puppy. So she asked her "most
favoritest cousin" to get her one instead. The urge to spoil the little
girl was there but Carly knew that Luke and Laura would kill her. Instead
she asked to speak to Laura and waited as Lulu ran off to get her mother.
"Carly?" Laura said when she finally picked up the phone. "What do you
want?"
Carly narrowed her eyes. Not again, she thought. This time she wasn't going
to play nice. She told her, "We're going to do a DNA test instead of a
blood test. This means we won't need your help but we are offering you the
chance to find out for sure."
Laura thought it over. She was sure, deep in her heart that Nikolas was her
son. But everyone around her was positive he wasn't. Perhaps agreeing to
the test would be a good thing. It would just help prove that she was
right.
Laura had taken so long to answer her, Carly wasn't sure if she was still
on the line. "Laura? Are you there?"
Laura shook her head, clearing it. "Yes, of course, sorry."
"So do you want to be involved or not?"
"I want to be tested." Laura said firmly.
"Oh? Really?" Carly smirked to herself. Looks like someone isn't as
trusting of her "feelings" as she claimed to be.
"Don't start, Carly." She snapped.
Carly snapped back. "Look, in two days, we're going to do the testing at
General Hospital. I'll call you later and give you the specifics." She
promptly hung up and closed her eyes. She couldn't wait for this to be
over. And when it was over she was going to wring her grandmother's neck
for causing this.
~*~*~
Barbara was stepping off the launch when she saw her coming across the
docks. She knew that the smart thing to do would be for her to go in the
opposite direction and not acknowledge the woman's presence. But she
couldn't. Deep inside of Barbara Spencer Cassadine still lived Bobbie
Spencer and nobody messed with Bobbie's family. She immediately set off in
her direction.
"Stop right there Helena." She called after her.
Helena looked over her shoulder to see her son's plaything coming after
her. Andreas glanced in her direction. "Madam?"
She shook her head. "I do not have time for this."
"You're going to have make time." Barbara stopped in front of her. "I have
had it up to here with you."
"That's so nice to know." Helena smiled condescendingly at her. "Is that
all?"
"I am sick and tired of you messing with not only your granddaughter's life
but your own son's as well. I've tried and tried to understand what you are
but I can't. How you call yourself a mother I have no idea."
"Maternal criticisms from you?" Helena laughed. "You abandoned your own
daughter not once but twice. And you wonder why she can't stand the sight
of you."
"She knows I love her. You, on the other hand, are incapable of love. If
you weren't, your children wouldn't have been raised in fear of you."
Helena sighed. "Is there a reason for this tirade or not?"
"I want you to stop this. All of it. You are trying to destroy my
daughter's life and I won't let you."
Helena faked a yawn. "Anything else?"
Barbara knew there was no reasoning with Helena. "You are killing Stefan
with this. Stop trying to bring Stravos back from the dead. He's six feet
under, where he belongs. The man was disgusting and he should just stay
dead."
Barbara wasn't prepared for the slap. She stood there stunned and slowly
raised her hand to her stinging cheek. Her mouth dropped open as she stared
at Helena.
Helena hissed. "You stupid cow. Never ever speak of my son again."
Carly came around a corner just in time to hear her mother growl and launch
herself at Helena. "What the hell?"
She ran down the stairs but luckily Andreas was there. He caught Barbara
before she could push Helena off the docks. "Are you okay Madam?"
She brushed her hands down her suit. She stared down Barbara who glared
back defiantly. "For now."
"What the hell is going on here?" Carly demanded.
"Ask the woman who accosted me." Helena said. "She's lucky I won't have her
brought up on charges."
"Well don't count on me turning the other cheek. I'm going to have you
arrested for assault." Barbara sneered, pointing at her bruised face.
"You're not going to do anything, Mother." Carly told her. "And
Grandmother, you're going to take boy toy here and go home. Now."
"Tell your father to put a leash on her. Otherwise the next time I see her,
I won't be as understanding." Helena threatened.
"Touch my mother and die." Carly said with a grim smile.
The two women stared each other down. Carly told her silently with her eyes
that she meant it. Finally Helena nodded. "Come Andreas."
Andreas obediently followed her across the docks.
Carly waited until the pair was gone before turning on her mother. Barbara
was smiling at her. Her daughter had actually defended her, in a way, to
Helena. Carly scowled at her. "What did you think you were doing? And why
are you grinning like an idiot?"
She quickly lost her smile. Carly obviously found her to be a lesser evil
than Helena. "She slapped me. No *one* puts their hands on me."
"What were you doing even talking to her?" Where you trying to make things
worse on purpose? Father is going to have fit when he finds out about this.
Not only does he have to worry about me and this Nikolas guy, now he'll
have to worry about *your* safety. What were you thinking?"
"I was thinking I would try to help you and Stefan out." Barbara snapped.
She had already broken one promise to Stefan; she might as well break the
other. "Whether you like it or not, I'm not going to sit back and let that
women destroy your life."
"She is not going to *destroy* me. I won't give her that power. And what
can you do? Nothing."
"I'm your mother and that means I'll do anything I can to protect you."
"Once again you pull the mother card when it suits you."
"And you pull the abandoned child card when it works for you." Barbara said
bitterly.
"I *was* abandoned." Carly cried.
"You were left in the lap of luxury with a father who adored you. At the
time it seemed to be the best thing for you."
"No." Carly shook her head frantically. "It was the best thing for you. You
had father's money and no responsibilities. I was left behind thinking my
own mother didn't want me."
Barbara covered her mouth with one hand and reached for Carly with the
other. Carly stepped away from her as she tried to compose herself. "No,
no, I'm not going to do this."
"Carly..."
"Don't." She said sharply. "Just leave me alone. And stay out of Helena's
way. I don't want to have to plan your funeral on top of everything else."
Barbara watched helplessly as her daughter hurried away from her. She
whispered to herself. "Damn."
~*~*~
Nikolas stared nervously at the door. On the way over, it had seemed like a
good idea. Go the Spencers's house. Try to talk to your mother one last
time before the lawyers and the blood tests and Helena get further in the
way. But now...What if she turned him away? What if, like last time, she
was scared of him? What if...
He shook his head, trying to get rid of the negative thoughts. No, he told
himself. Now that she knows about me, this time will be different. He took
a deep breath and then without any further hesitation, rang the bell.
A little dark hair girl opened the door. Nikolas found himself smiling at
his sister. He whispered, "Lesley Lu."
She frowned up at him. "Who are you?"
He started to crouch down to her height but she looked at him warily and
backed up, putting half of her body behind the door. She narrowed her eyes
at him, "Wait, I know who you are."
He raised his eyebrow. He was surprised. He'd thought they would keep her
from finding out about him. "Since you know who I am, is it okay if I come
in and see my—our mother? Tell her it's your big brother." He smiled.
"You're not my brother. Lucky said so." She told him, her tone making it
evident to him that if Lucky said it was so then it was true.
"Can I please come in anyway?"
She shook her head. "Daddy says not to let strangers in the house."
He tried to protest. "But I'm not a—"
Lulu turned her head and yelled into the house. "Daddy! That guy from TV is
at the door and he won't go away!"
Great, not Luke, he thought. Just his luck. The man was going to kill him
if he found him on his doorstep. "You know what? I'll come back another
time ok?"
But it was too late. Luke was already on his way. "What did you say
princess?"
Lulu pointed at him accusingly. "The bad guy from TV. He's here."
Luke stared Nikolas down, causing him to shrink back. He drawled. "Well so
he is. What do you want?"
"He wanted to talk to Mommy." Lulu told him.
"And you didn't let him? That's my girl." He smiled broadly and laid a
protective hand on her shoulders.
"If Laura's not here, I think I'll just go."
"Go and don't come back." Luke glared at him.
He straightened up at the order. "Is she here or not?"
"Mommy went to see Grandma." Lulu told them.
"Which is a good thing because I don't want you coming around here
upsetting my wife and my family anymore than you already have." Luke said.
"We don't want you here."
"Yeah." Lulu spoke up, causing Luke to grin and Nikolas to frown. She saw
what this man was doing to her family. Everyone was fighting and no one was
happy. If he went away then maybe everything would be good again.
"Why am I being painted as the bad guy? All I want is to know my mother."
"You can keep repeating the lines that Helena feeds you all you want, boy.
Nobody's buying it." Luke sneered.
"When the DNA tests come back and prove who I am—"
"When the tests come back all they'll prove is that you're a fraud. Now get
off my porch." Luke stepped back, taking Lulu with him and slammed the
door.
~*~*~
Once again Carly walked through the Paradise club. She was glad she agreed
to see Sonny that night. After her run in with her mother she needed a
Sonny break. She needed him to help her forget.
In the background loud club music played as a dancer stood on stage taking
it all off. Carly glanced in the direction of the stage and wasn't too
surprised to see Hannah up there bumping and grinding to the music. She
wore a cop's hat and the smallest bikini Carly had ever seen with a fake
police ID pinned over one breast and a pair of handcuffs dangling from her
bottom. Carly shook her head. The things women do for money. She came to
Sonny's office. The usual guard was standing outside of it.
"Mr. Corinthos would prefer that you wait for him outside in the limo." He
told her.
"Is there something wrong?" She asked.
"He's in a meeting that's running a little late. He'll meet you in the
limo." He said.
"Okay, whatever. He better not keep me waiting for too long." Carly warned.
She turned around and headed for the front door of the club again.
Unbeknownst to her, a small nondescript man followed her.
A half-hour later Sonny emerged from his office. He shook hands with Zander
Smith and faked a smile. This was step one in his and Luke's plan to bring
Moreno's nephew over to their side. They needed him so Sonny couldn't rush
him along when the young man started to chitchat about anything and
everything under the sun. Carly was going to be pissed off. He swore
silently. All he had to do was get the kid out of there and then he could
go see how ticked off she was.
He was almost home free when Zander turned to him. He jerked his thumb
towards the stage where Hannah was finishing up. "That one? Is there any
way for to you arrange a meeting for me?"
"Hannah?"
"Yeah, my girlfriend's away on another one of her modeling shoots and…well
you know how it is." He grinned broadly.
"Yeah, you want to meet her? Just go right up. But none of my girls are
required to say yes." Sonny told him pointedly.
Zander looked back at Hannah who was disappearing behind the curtain. "You
know what, forget it. I'll see you around."
"We'll talk soon." Sonny nodded. He waited until Zander was gone before
speaking to his guard. "Where is she?"
"She's out in the limo waiting. Fifteen minutes ago she had a bottle of
wine taken out there but that's it."
Wine was good. She was probably in a good mood because of it. Sonny made
his way out of the club and to where the car waited. He waved away his man
when he went open the door for him. He opened it himself and climbed in. He
stared at her for a moment before breaking out into a grin.
Carly was stretched out on the seat sipping from a glass of wine, naked.
She propped herself up on one elbow and waved her glass at him. "I got
bored...Wine?"
~*~*~
"Oh, Dr. Wexler. There's a man on the phone for you." Nurse Vining called
out to Karen as she passed by the nurses' station the next afternoon.
Karen frowned. Who would be calling her here? She glanced over her
shoulder. "Can you see if I can call them back? I'm little busy."
"He said it was *very* urgent." Amy stressed the word and looked at her
expectantly. She waved the receiver in front of her. "I didn't know you
were seeing someone new."
"I'm not." She muttered. She grabbed the phone from Amy. She waited for her
to move but she stood there, waiting to listen in. "Could I get some
privacy *please*?"
"Well excuse me." Amy huffed. "I have patients to check up on anyway."
"Then go do that." Karen snapped. Once Amy was out of earshot she spoke
into the phone. "This is Dr. Wexler, hello?"
"I have the information you wanted."
Karen gasped. It was the private investigator she had following Carly.
"Really? So soon?"
"They were together last night."
"Did you get pictures? Good ones? Ones that can't be explained away
easily?"
"I've got lots of pictures. I've just developed them. When do you want to
pick them up?"
"I can't pick them up until late tonight. Unless...Could you bring them to
me at the hospital?"
"It'll cost you extra."
She rolled her eyes. Of course, why wouldn't it? "Sure, fine. Meet in the
fourth floor waiting area."
"I'll be there in an hour."
Karen hung up. She stood by the phone smiling smugly. It was almost all
over for Carly and Jason. She had all the proof she needed. There was no
way for Jason to deny her.
Chris came up. "Why are you smiling like the cat that swallowed the
canary?"
"Because I'm about to have all my dreams come true."
He looked at her warily. "What did you do Karen?"
"*I* didn't do a thing." She said evasively.
"If this has to do with Jason and Carly..."
"And if it does? What are you going to do? Tell on me? I haven't done
anything yet."
"Karen, I'm your friend and I can't stand to see you making a fool of
yourself over Jason. He's in a relationship. Transfer your attention
somewhere else. You'll be a lot happier."
Karen smirked. "Pot and kettle, Chris, pot and kettle. When you get a life
outside of Eve Lambert then you can tell me what to do with mine."
"Just watch yourself, okay Karen? Carly Cassadine isn't the type of woman
to give up her man without a fight."