It was truly a beautiful day, Stefan thought as he looked around the
island. The sun was shining. A cool breeze came through every now and then.
The sky was blue with a few scattered clouds. The grass beneath his feet
was shiny and green. In the distance, the ocean twinkled at him. Stefan
turned his gaze back to the grave he stood before.

He knelt down and whispered, "Forgive me brother."

He stepped back and nodded towards the local men he'd hired that morning.
"Please, begin."

He forced himself to watch as the workers began shoveling. The dirt piled
up high around them. Finally they came to the casket. Stefan pressed his
lips together in a thin line as the top was opened. Now he had to turn
away. The sight of his brother's body was too much for him. While he looked
away, one of the workers, using a sharp knife, extract a small sample. He
placed it into a plastic bag.

He waited until the others had closed the casket before calling out in
Greek to Stefan.

Stefan looked back, thankful to see that the casket had been closed. He
took the plastic bag from the man and placed it into his pocket without
looking at it. He then walked away leaving the men behind to put things
back in order. He had a visit to make.

~*~*~
Karen buried an urge to squeal when she spotted the private investigator in
the waiting area. In his hands was a large brown envelope. She was almost
there! Her hands itched to grab the envelope from him.

Even though she knew the answer she couldn't help but ask. "Is that them?"

He smiled at her, flashing a gold tooth. "Yup. Some of my best work I must
say."

She greedily accepted the envelope and tore into it. He said, "Hey slow
down. Make sure no one's watching. Those shouldn't be flashed around for
everyone to see."

"I see what you mean..." She said breathlessly as she looked them over. She
flipped through each of them. She laughed at one. "Well, well, well Miss
Cassadine. I didn't know you did *that*." Another she turned over and over
trying to figure out the angle. "Or that you could bend like *that*. Oh
that is a good clear one of Mr. Corinthos...*Hello* Corinthos!"

The P.I. looked over her shoulder. "Pretty good, huh?"

"Very good and exactly what I wanted." Karen stuffed them back into the
envelope. She pulled out her wallet and took out his money. He reached out
his hand to take the money but she held her hand back. "Is this all of
them? Duplicates? Extra pictures?"

"Yeah, yeah, that's all of them." He told her, shifting his weight from one
foot to the other.

Karen stared him down. She wasn't buying it. She cocked one eyebrow and
repeated. "Is this all of them?"

He sighed. He pulled out another envelope from his jacket and handed it
over to her. She narrowed her eyes and snatched them from his hand.

"They were some bad shots." He tried to explain.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever." Karen slapped the cash into his hands.

As he counted it out, he told her. "It was a pleasure doing business with
you. And anytime you want me to take pictures of Carly Cassadine...you let
me know." He winked.

"Thanks but I won't be needing you ever again." Karen murmured.

They two then went their separate ways. The P.I. went to the elevators
while Karen sat down on a couch in the waiting area. She checked out the
new pictures.

"That sneaky bastard," she muttered, "these are the best ones."

Now what am I going to do with these, she thought to herself. It would
serve Carly right if I sold these to a tabloid. On the other hand that
would embarrass Jason and the last thing I want to do was hurt Jason. No, I
have to keep this to just the three of us. Going to Carly first and
blackmailing her is out. It'll just give her time to get to Jason first. He
would believe her if she said I was lying and that I doctored the pictures
somehow. So the only thing left to do is to go Jason himself.

Karen nodded to herself. Going straight to Jason as soon as possible is the
only answer.
~*~*~

Stefan arrived at a small house later that day. It was easy to find where
the woman lived. She'd never moved in forty years she'd worked for his
family. Her address was still on file. As he walked up to the house he saw
a little girl sitting outside of the house playing with a doll. He flashed
her a quick smile. The girl stood up and ran inside calling for her mother.

Her mother emerged from the house. Her eyes widened as she recognized
Stefan. "Mr. Cassadine."

Stefan nodded at his mother's former maid. "Irena Markopoulos. You know why
I am here."

She slowly approached him. "Did something...did something happen to my
son?"

"No. He is fine for now."

She visibly relaxed. She mouthed a thank you to God. "Please, come inside."

"I don't have much time. I came here for a few answers and I know you can
help me."

Irena looked at the ground. "I told Nikolas that nothing but trouble would
come of his search for his mother."

Stefan narrowed his eyes at the use of the name. "His name is also
Nikolas?"

Irena looked at him puzzled, "What do you mean?"

"You can't expect me to believe that you don't know that your son is in
America posing as my dead brother's heir, with the help of my mother,
*your* former employer."

She shook her head fiercely. "I didn't know. Nikolas discovered that he was
adopted about a year ago. We told him his mother's name and that she was
from America. He left here several months ago to find her and my husband
and I haven't heard from us since. He was very angry with us when he left.
And what do you mean 'posing'? He is the real heir."

Irena had spoke with such conviction that made Stefan wonder at what she
knew exactly. He stared her down. "Tell me everything you know. Starting
from the beginning."

"You want to know how my husband and I ended up raising the Prince?"

"Yes."

"I was there for his birth. After the baby was delivered your brother's
wife passed out from the strain. Mrs. Cassadine told everyone in the room
that as far as they knew the baby was delivered stillborn. No one dared to
correct her."

"Of course." Stefan murmured.

"Mrs. Cassadine then turned to me. She told me she was entrusting into my
care her greatest possession after your brother. I was to be honored that
she found suitable and I was to tell no one. I couldn't tell her no so I
agreed. I was to watch over the child until she could get rid of the wife.
Once she was gone, Mrs. Cassadine would bring the child back into the
family."

"Did she mention my brother in this plan?" Stefan asked.

Irena nodded. "He knew about it. Apparently he was growing bored with his
wife. Instead of doing something about it though he decided to let his
mother handle it."

Stefan muttered. "My God, Stravos." Stefan remembered comforting his
brother at the baby's funeral. And all along Stravos knew the child wasn't
dead.

"For about a month he would come to my house to visit the baby. He would
play with him; he even feed him and changed him once. Once." Irena smiled a
little at the memory. Her expression suddenly darkened. "And then one day
your mother came. She was so upset. She said that he was dead. I was to
keep Nikolas until she sent for him. She would send money and provide for
him but he was to never have any contact with her or the family until she
said so."

"Or until he was about to come of age." Stefan said, more to himself than
to her.

Irena continued. "But Nikolas accidentally found out a year ago. When his
mother...left the island, I was in charge of packing away her things. I
kept some of them for Nikolas so that when he did find out about his real
parents he would have something of theirs. Nikolas found them and began
asking questions. And that's the whole story."

"Hmm."

"You don't believe me."

"Actually..." There was something about the way she spoke, the way she had
stared into his eyes the whole time. He had a feeling that she was telling
the truth. That didn't bode well for him and Caroline. "You have been very
helpful. Thank you."

He started to leave. She stopped him by reaching out and grabbing his arm.
"Please, tell me. Is he okay? Really? I worry about him. He is my son in
every sense of the word."

Stefan spoke softly. "No harm has come to your son. And no harm shall."

She closed her eyes. "Thank you."

"I must go." Stefan said. She quickly released his arm. "And thank you
again for telling me your story."

~*~*~
Emily and Monica were sitting in the Quartermaine den, flipping through a
bridal magazine when Jason came in. Monica gladly tossed the book aside and
went over to greet him. "Jason, hi, what are you doing here?"

He kissed her on the cheek. "I haven't been around so I thought I'd stop
in, say hello. What are you guys up to?"

Emily picked the magazine up and waved it at him. "Just getting some ideas
for the wedding. You know flowers, invitations, my dress stuff like that."

"Yes, unfortunately." Monica muttered. The more Emily went on about her
wedding to Lucky Spencer, the more upset Monica became. Her little girl,
getting married! She was just way too young for it. Marriage was such a big
responsibility. And in her opinion neither Emily nor Lucky was mature
enough for it.

"Would you like the name of the wedding consultant we're using? Carly
swears by her." Jason said helpfully.

"We already have it thank you." Monica said sharply. "Will you be staying
for dinner? If I can get to Cook early enough, she might be persuaded into
making your favorite."

Jason shook his head. "I can't, I'm meeting Carly at her office. We're
having dinner together."

At Monica's disappointed look, Jason said, "I can stay for a light snack or
something."

Monica smiled. "Great, I'll go talk to Cook right now. I'll be right back."
She quickly left the room.

Jason went over to the bar and poured himself a drink. Emily came up behind
him. "You just made her day, you know."

"She's still not used to the idea of you and Lucky, huh?"

Emily sighed. "I don't think she will ever be. If I get the 'you're too
young' speech one more time..."

Jason hugged her and laughed. "She's just trying to look out for you."

"I know that but she's driving me crazy. And Dad...Dad doesn't say anything
about it. He'll just *look* at me sometimes and I just know what he's
thinking. It's like he's disappointed in me."

"You only have a short while and then the wedding will be here and it'll be
all over." Jason promised.

Emily sighed again. "I guess. Or then there will be a whole new set of
problems."

Jason led her back to the couch. He sat facing her. "You worry way too
much."

Emily smiled weakly, "In this situation, I can't help it." She shook her
head. "You know what? I'm sorry for laying all my problems on your
shoulders."

"I don't mind. If you can't come to your big brother about your problems,
who can you go to?" He grinned.

"Well never mind about me and my wedding, what about yours? Things running
along smoothly? You and Carly aren't going crazy yet are you?"

"No, things are..." Jason hesitated and looked down at his glass. "Things
are good."

Emily noticed his hesitation. She laid her hand on his arm. "Is everything
okay with you and Carly? I talked to her the other day and she didn't
mention anything."

"I don't know, there's something...something off about her. I wish I could
blame it all on this whole Nikols thing but it's not that. It's been going
on for a while. She's distant one moment, clingy the next. And with our
schedules lately, we barely have time for each other. It seems to me that
she's working more and more to avoid me. I don't understand it."

"Maybe it's pre-wedding jitters." Emily shrugged. "Have you asked her about
it?"

"Not yet. I was hoping that maybe she'd tell me first what was bothering
her."

"Ask her." She said. "It could be just nervousness."

"Carly? Nervous?" He laughed lightly.

Emily smiled also. "It's probably nothing. Don't worry about it."

"Worry about what?" Lucky said from the doorway.

"Nothing." Emily shook her head. "I didn't know you were going to come
over. You can help pick out the color of the invitations."

"Oh God no." Lucky shuddered. He looked over at Jason for sympathy. "Is
Carly doing this to you too?"

Jason laughed. "Someone else is helping Carly with all those kinds of
details."

"That's what I need, someone to take my place and help with the planning."
Lucky joked.

Emily pouted, "So you don't want any kind of say in your wedding? What, you
just don't care at all? Cause Lucky, this is supposed to be about the two
of us, not me and some wedding planner."

"No, no, that's not it." Lucky hurried to correct her. "I care about this
wedding too but these little details are just driving me crazy. I care more
about the big picture, about the two of us, finally being together."

Emily leaned over and kissed him softly. "You always say the right things."

As the young couple continued to kiss, Jason silently rose and left the
room. Lucky stroked her cheek and gazed into her eyes. Emily smiled back.
This was good, she thought. This was how things were supposed to be. No one
coming between the two of them. No Nikolas—Emily glanced down. Damn it, she
wasn't supposed to be thinking about him at all. And she still hadn't
decided how to tell Lucky about Nikolas.

Lucky pulled back. "Something wrong?"

"No, I uh, just remembered that I forgot to do something." Emily lied.
"Have thing settled down at your parents yet?"

Luck shook his head. "No. Things are tense over there. Battle lines have
been drawn in my house. My mother feels as if we're all ganging up on her.
Me, Dad, and Lulu against just her."

"Even Lulu?" Emily asked astonished.

"Dad, in his own twisted way, is kind of proud of that. He came over to the
house yesterday."

Emily didn't have to ask who 'he' was. "He did?"

"Yeah, Lulu answered the door, saw it was him, and wouldn't let him
inside." Lucky grinned. "Mom was pissed when she found out but Dad kept
telling her he didn't want the guy in the house and that Lulu did the right
thing."

"This has got to be hard for Lulu though." Emily pointed out. "Do you
really think she understands?"

"All she knows is this guys is causing our family to fight and she hates
it. But it'll be all over soon, thank God."

"What's going on?"

"Tomorrow morning, they are doing DNA testing at General Hospital. Stefan's
got some sample of his brother, Nikolas agreed to it also, and Mom wants to
be tested also. Carly called just as I was leaving the house to confirm."

"And then you'll know for sure."

"Yup and I can't wait."

~*~*~
"Miss Cassadine, this just came for you by messenger." Elizabeth told her
as she placed the package on her desk.

"Thank you." Carly barely looked up from her computer. Elizabeth nodded and
went back to her desk. Carly finished up and picked up the package. Just as
she'd hoped it was the information on Karen Wexler that she'd asked for.

Carly pulled out the report and flipped idly through it. Later when she had
more time, she would read it more closely. So far most of it was boring
stuff about Karen's childhood, things Carly couldn't use against her. As
Carly flipped through something caught her eye. During high school Karen
worked as a stripper. Hmm, she thought to herself, interesting. Did her
high school sweetheart Jason know about that? Or the fact that she had been
addicted to pills.

Elizabeth buzzed her, pulling her out of her thoughts. "Yes?"

"Dr. Quartermaine is here to see you."

Carly checked her watch. He was just on time. "Send him in."

Carly put the file away in a drawer so that Jason couldn't see it. As he
came in, she shut off her computer and began to gather up her things. She
smiled brightly, "Hi there."

Jason pulled her to him and kissed her, long and hard. Carly pulled back
slightly when he let her come up for air. "What was that for?"

"I missed you." He said simply.

Carly wiped her lipstick away from his lips. "You just saw me the other
day."

"I was hoping to see you last night."

"I told you, it was a business thing, I couldn't get out of it." She lied.

"I know, I know." Jason ran his fingers through her hair. "It just feels
like every time I push to be with you, you come up with some excuse to not
be with me."

"You're being crazy." She shook her head.

"Carly, if you didn't like the way things were between us, you'd tell me
right?"

"Of course, Jason, you know me. Where is all of this coming from?"

"Sometimes I wonder..."

"You," she pointed at him, "think too much." She gave him a quick kiss on
the lips. "I love you and things between us are just the way I want them to
be."

Jason narrowed his eyes slightly. To him, something still felt off. But for
right now, he would push those feelings aside. "How was your father's
trip?"

"He didn't say much when he called from the plane today. He just said that
he had the sample and he told me to set up an appointment for the testing
tomorrow. I called Laura and I sent a messenger to the boy. But Jason, he
sounded...there was something strange going on. I'm worried about him. He
wasn't supposed to be back until tomorrow. So I'm going to Spoon Island
after dinner."

~*~*~
Later that night Stefan was waiting in his office in Wyndemere when Alexis
came in. He stood up and helped her into a chair. "Would you like me to
have Mrs. Landsbury bring you some tea?"

Alexis shook her head. "No, I'm fine. Did Carly get here yet?"

"No, thankfully."

Alexis frowned. "Why? Is Barbara around?"

"No, she is working a night shift at the hospital. The reason I'm happy
that Caroline is not here is because I have a story to tell you."

"Did something happen at the island? With the..." Alexis trailed off
delicately.

"That went fine, I suppose. Very quickly." Stefan told her. "What I am
about to tell you, no one is to know."

"Not even Carly?" Alexis lifted an eyebrow.

"Especially her." Stefan said. He then quickly recounted the story that
Irena Markopoulos told him. When he was done Alexis stared at him
wide-eyed.

"You don't believe it do you?"

"She wasn't lying, Alexis. She can't be that great of an actress."

"But still, Helena could have known that you were going to the island and
told her to tell you that."

"No, it was the truth." Stefan swore. "I don't want to believe it either
but it sounds to much like Mother for it to not be real."

"Then I can see why you don't want Carly to know. It would send her into a
panic. Are you still going to go ahead with DNA test?"

"Yes, just so we can be sure. In the weeks it'll take before the results
are back, the two of us are going to have to figure out a loophole that
will help Caroline just in case."

"I'm sure the illegitimacy can work against Helena. Laura and Stefan
weren't legally married. Laura's marriage to Luke was still valid." Alexis
pointed out. "While you and Barbara were married when you had Carly. The
heir has always been born within marriage."

"However there could be a loophole that gets around that. We must make sure
that Caroline's inheritance is protected."

There was a short knock at the door before Carly came in. She eyed the two
of them warily. She could tell that something had happened right before she
came in.

"What's going on?" She demanded.

"We were just discussing Stefan's trip." Alexis said quickly.

"Normally I would ask, how was it, but I can tell just from looking at
you." Carly said as she sat down next to Alexis. "You shouldn't have gone."

"It's too late for that." Stefan told her.

"You weren't supposed to be back until tomorrow. Something happened."

Irena's story had spurred his decision to come back early. "I did all that
I needed there and I felt that sooner I came home, the sooner the testing
could be done."

"Speaking of the test, I made an appointment for eight o'clock tomorrow
morning. Laura's going to be there."

"Good," Stefan nodded. "The sooner this is done…"

"The sooner my life can go back to normal." Carly concluded.