Joy- Hope you had fun in Mexico. And I REALLY hope you didn't drink the
water. But, since you're well enough to review I think it is a very safe
assumption that you didn't drink the water. I am also happy that you have
been enjoying the twists and turns of my mellow drama. Damian and Sonny's
path towards a much more permanent relationship as father/son will be a
long one, but at least it looks like it can happen now whereas before it
was something that seemed an almost impossibility, right? As for Ric, yeah.
I really just wanted SOMEONE to call him 'Uncle Ric' because I like Ric a
lot and think he deserves a small amount of recognition for being Sonny's
brother. When the show won't do something for you... write a fanfic and do it
yourself! I liked the date a lot. It was funny because earlier they were
like 'when we do go out we won't do anything over the top,' but they had
been through so much that I felt they deserved something private and
pretty. Damian's piano playing was planned from the beginning. I knew when
they actually DID go out, he'd play the piano. I'm so devious, ain't I?
Yes, another cliffhanger. Soaps have them all the time, so it would be more
appropriate for soap fiction to have them as well, wouldn't it? Let's see
if you were right...
Which you were. Did I make it too obvious that it wasn't going to be who it wasn't and it was who it was? Did that even make sense? I think I laid enough foreshadowing with the previous chapters (even from the very start, like in the first 10 chapters) that something was going to happen. For the record this twist in the story was planned long before Felicia's return was even announced. So let me state that I had the idea and am in no way trying to pay off on her return to the show. I actually have watched like one episode with her in it, and I have no real idea how to write her. So she will probably never be in the story except as an off camera character. One of the only things I know about her is the fact that she's almost never there for her kids, which saddens me as a person but I realize it's a soap and such things should happen on a soap. Which would explain Mac and Georgie's reaction. Real people probably wouldn't react that harshly, but in Port Charles... they don't act very rational. Ever. For the record I don't even know how it will work out yet. I'm not that far ahead in the writing. I'm glad that you actually missed Damian, it shows how fond people are of him. I know people like him and all, but I still sometimes feel bad for forcing him on my readers.
Story-
Elsewhere, Port Charles-
Maxie staggered along, alone in the night. She had done it many times before, she knew Port Charles very well. With the exception of a few times, the town had always been her home. Those exceptions came when she decided to give her mother another chance and try to rebuild, or rather actually being to build, the relationship that Felicia claimed she always wanted. Felicia threw that chance away almost as soon as Maxie had granted it to her, and she never truly forgave her mother for it. She could attempt to fool herself into thinking that things would be different, but her mother always had a way of making sure that no matter how hard Maxie tried to forget she would always be forced to remember. She had her heart stomped on by so many people in her life. Worst of all was the fact that her mother was the person at the top of that list, and the one who had done it the most frequently. She was supposed to protect Maxie's heart, not break it.
Her heart...
The tears flowed down Maxie's face. She knew where she was going to go.
General Hospital-
Although Georgie's shift had ended as a candy-stripper at the hospital, she was still there. Damian had requested that she stay there, and she would heed his request. She didn't know why she called him. She liked Damian, she knew that he was a good person for her older sister, but she wasn't entirely sure that she trusted him enough to do something like look for her sister. It was too late to take that back now, though. She made the call, it was her decision. Besides, more than likely he would be of some help, and she couldn't expect him to come to the house. Mac would be even more irate than normal if Damian had been a part of the 'search party.' Georgie would deal with that in due time. All she really wanted was to know that Maxie was okay. She'd do whatever it took to get her sister back. If that meant making a deal with people like Sonny Corinthos and Lorenzo Alcazar then so be it! She wasn't quite ready to go that far, and with Damian around she would at least have a better chance at getting Sonny to help.
Bobbie stood at the Station, as she had done many times in the past and would continue to do in the future. She had seen Georgie grow up from a needy little girl into a self-assured and beautiful young lady. She had the chance to see her own daughter grow up like that taken away from her, so she treasured being able to see Georgie and Lulu grow up in ways that she could only imagine. One thing that never changed about Georgie throughout the years was how much she cared about Maxie. It wasn't something that was strange. It was only natural for them to have a bond. But they had a much stronger bond than most sisters did. It was likely because they had to rely on one another in times that they needed a mother, when Felicia couldn't be there for them. They adjusted well to the situation. Or at least Bobbie had thought so. But there was no question as to why Maxie had gone on her own, it had something to do with Felicia.
The elevator opened and Damian walked into the hallway. Bobbie smiled as she saw her 'step-grandson.' She knew that he had been through a lot in the past few days and actually hadn't seen him since then. She was thankful that he was still alive.
Damian saw Bobbie and walked up, "Hi, Bobbie. Where's Georgie?" It fascinated Damian when he thought about how easily he could talk to Bobbie, despite the fact that she was Carly's biological mother. There was very little to be said about the mother passing on the personality traits to the daughter. Of course, looking at himself, there was very little to be said about the father passing his traits onto the son. Perhaps it was because Carly and Damian had each grown up without that particular birth parent. They had so much in common, yet it seemed as if they were fated to be enemies, perhaps eternally. As long as he had good people in his corner, like Bobbie, he could stand up to Carly as long as needed. It didn't get any easier, though. Bobbie moved her eyes to her side, Damian followed her eyes and saw Georgie sitting on the couch, looking distressed. "Thanks."
As he approached her, Georgie felt nervous. She still didn't know if she had done the right thing. "I shouldn't have called you..."
"Why do you say that?" Damain asked. "Maxie's nowhere to be found and I want to know that she's okay as much as you do!"
"Mac won't like you helping out..."
"I don't care what Mac wants, Georgie!" Damian had to keep his temper in check, but it was hard. He was getting very weary of everyone telling him that Mac didn't approve of him being around Maxie. He was very well aware of that fact. There was no way to avoid it when the point was being driven into his skull every time he turned around. "If he cares about your sister as much as he claims to, he'll take all the help he can get!"
"You don't understand how he works, Damian," Georgie said softly.
"You're right, I don't." Damian forced himself to curb his anger, but it wasn't easy. He was acting more and more like Sonny, which was alarming both him and Georgie. "Tell me what happened, please."
"Our mom... she was in an accident. She's been living with her grandmother in Texas and taking care of her because she can't do a lot of things by herself. I don't really know what happened, Damian. Someone called my dad and told him. He told Maxie, and Maxie came over here to tell me."
"That doesn't explain why she'd take off without telling anyone," Damian knew there was more.
"Maxie and our mother have a very... complicated relationship. Maxie feels abandoned by her because she's always running off from us. I don't disagree with her, but I never thought that she would hate our mother so much that she would just flat out refuse to see her. She wants us to go over there."
"Maxie doesn't want to go?" Damian asked. He was stunned by the revelation as well. He didn't understand how anyone could hate their mother so much. He didn't even hate his for leaving him all those years ago. Hating the woman that was responsible for birth... the very thought sickened him. But he didn't understand everything about the relationship between Felicia and Maxie. Not everyone had as close a relationship with their mother as Damian did.
Georgie's phone rang. It was still in her hand. She looked at the screen and sighed, "It's Mac." She flipped open the cover and spoke, "Hello, dad?"
"I've looked through most of the park and I haven't seen her," Mac said as he continued to walk around at a quickened pace. "Do you think that she could have went to see Damian?"
Georgie looked up at the boy in question, "No, I'm pretty sure that she didn't go to see him."
"How can you be so certain?"
"Because he's standing in front of me, daddy," Georgie said.
"What is he doing there?" Mac's voice was already beginning to sound upset.
"I told him what happened," Georgie winced the moment she delivered the news. She was going to get it. She knew she was going to get it.
"Why would you do something like that?" Mac's voice was so loud that Damian heard it. He sighed. This wasn't the time to do something like argue. "You know I don't want him involved with my daughter, and I certainly don't want him around when I'm busy worrying about Maxie's safety."
"I thought he might know something."
"Then why is he there?" Mac asked. "If you know he doesn't know anything about Maxie, and actually believe him, why bother involving him further?"
"Georgie... give me the phone."
Georgie looked up in horror and shook her head. She covered the receiver, "Don't make this any worse than it already is!"
"The only one making things worse right now is Mac. Please, Georgie, let me talk to him."
Georgie looked to Bobbie for support, but Bobbie only nodded her head. She had a feeling Damian knew what to do. Deep down, so did Georgie. Georgie handed the phone over to Damian, "Try not to get us all in trouble, would you?"
"I can't make any promises..." Damian took a breath. Dealing with Carly was one thing, but dealing with his girlfriend's father was another matter entirely. "Mac?"
Mac knew the voice, "Did you steal my daughter's phone?"
"No, I asked her to give it to me."
"With a gun to her head, I'm assuming."
"Mac, this isn't the time for us to be arguing with each other, you know that. I only want to help."
"You can help by staying the hell away from Maxie!" Mac ordered. "And give the phone back to Georgie."
"Mac, stop acting so selfish. Right now you need to put your daughter's safety in front of your petty desires to keep her away from me!"
"Keeping you away from my daughter is part of me keeping her safe, Damian," Mac pointed out as he searched the park some more. "Give the phone back to Georgie, now!"
"I'm not going anywhere, Mac. I'm going to help find Maxie regardless of if you like it or not. I care about her too much to do nothing. No matter how much you try tell yourself otherwise, I care about her." Damian, angered like never before, handed the phone over to Georgie.
"Daddy?"
"Don't 'daddy' me," Mac muttered. "If I wasn't so worried about Maxie right now I'd be very upset with you, young lady!"
"He only wants to help, dad," Georgie defended Damian.
"I don't want his kind of help! If you find anything, call me," Mac made sure that the 'you' was emphasized. He wasn't about to accept any help from Damian Zuniga.
"I'm sorry," Georgie apologized. "I know how bad he is with people that are trying to get close to either of us. He pushes them away. But when he's scared he's even worse."
"I'll worry about having hurt feelings after I find your sister. Do you have any idea where she could have gone?"
Georgie shook her head, "Maxie knows Port Charles really well, she could have gone anywhere. God, I'm so stupid."
"Georgie, you didn't do anything!" Damian pointed out.
"Damian, I told her that I thought she was a bad daughter! The only thing I could have done to her that was worse than that would be to call her... heartless..." Georgie stopped herself as she thought about that word. Heart. Maxie's heart.
Damian saw that she was thinking about something. "Georgie?"
"B.J..." Georgie murmured.
Damian didn't understand, "What are you talking about?"
"I think I know where she is!" Georgie exclaimed. "The cemetery... our cousin's grave..." Georgie grabbed her things and hurried to the elevator. "Come on!"
154
Which you were. Did I make it too obvious that it wasn't going to be who it wasn't and it was who it was? Did that even make sense? I think I laid enough foreshadowing with the previous chapters (even from the very start, like in the first 10 chapters) that something was going to happen. For the record this twist in the story was planned long before Felicia's return was even announced. So let me state that I had the idea and am in no way trying to pay off on her return to the show. I actually have watched like one episode with her in it, and I have no real idea how to write her. So she will probably never be in the story except as an off camera character. One of the only things I know about her is the fact that she's almost never there for her kids, which saddens me as a person but I realize it's a soap and such things should happen on a soap. Which would explain Mac and Georgie's reaction. Real people probably wouldn't react that harshly, but in Port Charles... they don't act very rational. Ever. For the record I don't even know how it will work out yet. I'm not that far ahead in the writing. I'm glad that you actually missed Damian, it shows how fond people are of him. I know people like him and all, but I still sometimes feel bad for forcing him on my readers.
Story-
Elsewhere, Port Charles-
Maxie staggered along, alone in the night. She had done it many times before, she knew Port Charles very well. With the exception of a few times, the town had always been her home. Those exceptions came when she decided to give her mother another chance and try to rebuild, or rather actually being to build, the relationship that Felicia claimed she always wanted. Felicia threw that chance away almost as soon as Maxie had granted it to her, and she never truly forgave her mother for it. She could attempt to fool herself into thinking that things would be different, but her mother always had a way of making sure that no matter how hard Maxie tried to forget she would always be forced to remember. She had her heart stomped on by so many people in her life. Worst of all was the fact that her mother was the person at the top of that list, and the one who had done it the most frequently. She was supposed to protect Maxie's heart, not break it.
Her heart...
The tears flowed down Maxie's face. She knew where she was going to go.
General Hospital-
Although Georgie's shift had ended as a candy-stripper at the hospital, she was still there. Damian had requested that she stay there, and she would heed his request. She didn't know why she called him. She liked Damian, she knew that he was a good person for her older sister, but she wasn't entirely sure that she trusted him enough to do something like look for her sister. It was too late to take that back now, though. She made the call, it was her decision. Besides, more than likely he would be of some help, and she couldn't expect him to come to the house. Mac would be even more irate than normal if Damian had been a part of the 'search party.' Georgie would deal with that in due time. All she really wanted was to know that Maxie was okay. She'd do whatever it took to get her sister back. If that meant making a deal with people like Sonny Corinthos and Lorenzo Alcazar then so be it! She wasn't quite ready to go that far, and with Damian around she would at least have a better chance at getting Sonny to help.
Bobbie stood at the Station, as she had done many times in the past and would continue to do in the future. She had seen Georgie grow up from a needy little girl into a self-assured and beautiful young lady. She had the chance to see her own daughter grow up like that taken away from her, so she treasured being able to see Georgie and Lulu grow up in ways that she could only imagine. One thing that never changed about Georgie throughout the years was how much she cared about Maxie. It wasn't something that was strange. It was only natural for them to have a bond. But they had a much stronger bond than most sisters did. It was likely because they had to rely on one another in times that they needed a mother, when Felicia couldn't be there for them. They adjusted well to the situation. Or at least Bobbie had thought so. But there was no question as to why Maxie had gone on her own, it had something to do with Felicia.
The elevator opened and Damian walked into the hallway. Bobbie smiled as she saw her 'step-grandson.' She knew that he had been through a lot in the past few days and actually hadn't seen him since then. She was thankful that he was still alive.
Damian saw Bobbie and walked up, "Hi, Bobbie. Where's Georgie?" It fascinated Damian when he thought about how easily he could talk to Bobbie, despite the fact that she was Carly's biological mother. There was very little to be said about the mother passing on the personality traits to the daughter. Of course, looking at himself, there was very little to be said about the father passing his traits onto the son. Perhaps it was because Carly and Damian had each grown up without that particular birth parent. They had so much in common, yet it seemed as if they were fated to be enemies, perhaps eternally. As long as he had good people in his corner, like Bobbie, he could stand up to Carly as long as needed. It didn't get any easier, though. Bobbie moved her eyes to her side, Damian followed her eyes and saw Georgie sitting on the couch, looking distressed. "Thanks."
As he approached her, Georgie felt nervous. She still didn't know if she had done the right thing. "I shouldn't have called you..."
"Why do you say that?" Damain asked. "Maxie's nowhere to be found and I want to know that she's okay as much as you do!"
"Mac won't like you helping out..."
"I don't care what Mac wants, Georgie!" Damian had to keep his temper in check, but it was hard. He was getting very weary of everyone telling him that Mac didn't approve of him being around Maxie. He was very well aware of that fact. There was no way to avoid it when the point was being driven into his skull every time he turned around. "If he cares about your sister as much as he claims to, he'll take all the help he can get!"
"You don't understand how he works, Damian," Georgie said softly.
"You're right, I don't." Damian forced himself to curb his anger, but it wasn't easy. He was acting more and more like Sonny, which was alarming both him and Georgie. "Tell me what happened, please."
"Our mom... she was in an accident. She's been living with her grandmother in Texas and taking care of her because she can't do a lot of things by herself. I don't really know what happened, Damian. Someone called my dad and told him. He told Maxie, and Maxie came over here to tell me."
"That doesn't explain why she'd take off without telling anyone," Damian knew there was more.
"Maxie and our mother have a very... complicated relationship. Maxie feels abandoned by her because she's always running off from us. I don't disagree with her, but I never thought that she would hate our mother so much that she would just flat out refuse to see her. She wants us to go over there."
"Maxie doesn't want to go?" Damian asked. He was stunned by the revelation as well. He didn't understand how anyone could hate their mother so much. He didn't even hate his for leaving him all those years ago. Hating the woman that was responsible for birth... the very thought sickened him. But he didn't understand everything about the relationship between Felicia and Maxie. Not everyone had as close a relationship with their mother as Damian did.
Georgie's phone rang. It was still in her hand. She looked at the screen and sighed, "It's Mac." She flipped open the cover and spoke, "Hello, dad?"
"I've looked through most of the park and I haven't seen her," Mac said as he continued to walk around at a quickened pace. "Do you think that she could have went to see Damian?"
Georgie looked up at the boy in question, "No, I'm pretty sure that she didn't go to see him."
"How can you be so certain?"
"Because he's standing in front of me, daddy," Georgie said.
"What is he doing there?" Mac's voice was already beginning to sound upset.
"I told him what happened," Georgie winced the moment she delivered the news. She was going to get it. She knew she was going to get it.
"Why would you do something like that?" Mac's voice was so loud that Damian heard it. He sighed. This wasn't the time to do something like argue. "You know I don't want him involved with my daughter, and I certainly don't want him around when I'm busy worrying about Maxie's safety."
"I thought he might know something."
"Then why is he there?" Mac asked. "If you know he doesn't know anything about Maxie, and actually believe him, why bother involving him further?"
"Georgie... give me the phone."
Georgie looked up in horror and shook her head. She covered the receiver, "Don't make this any worse than it already is!"
"The only one making things worse right now is Mac. Please, Georgie, let me talk to him."
Georgie looked to Bobbie for support, but Bobbie only nodded her head. She had a feeling Damian knew what to do. Deep down, so did Georgie. Georgie handed the phone over to Damian, "Try not to get us all in trouble, would you?"
"I can't make any promises..." Damian took a breath. Dealing with Carly was one thing, but dealing with his girlfriend's father was another matter entirely. "Mac?"
Mac knew the voice, "Did you steal my daughter's phone?"
"No, I asked her to give it to me."
"With a gun to her head, I'm assuming."
"Mac, this isn't the time for us to be arguing with each other, you know that. I only want to help."
"You can help by staying the hell away from Maxie!" Mac ordered. "And give the phone back to Georgie."
"Mac, stop acting so selfish. Right now you need to put your daughter's safety in front of your petty desires to keep her away from me!"
"Keeping you away from my daughter is part of me keeping her safe, Damian," Mac pointed out as he searched the park some more. "Give the phone back to Georgie, now!"
"I'm not going anywhere, Mac. I'm going to help find Maxie regardless of if you like it or not. I care about her too much to do nothing. No matter how much you try tell yourself otherwise, I care about her." Damian, angered like never before, handed the phone over to Georgie.
"Daddy?"
"Don't 'daddy' me," Mac muttered. "If I wasn't so worried about Maxie right now I'd be very upset with you, young lady!"
"He only wants to help, dad," Georgie defended Damian.
"I don't want his kind of help! If you find anything, call me," Mac made sure that the 'you' was emphasized. He wasn't about to accept any help from Damian Zuniga.
"I'm sorry," Georgie apologized. "I know how bad he is with people that are trying to get close to either of us. He pushes them away. But when he's scared he's even worse."
"I'll worry about having hurt feelings after I find your sister. Do you have any idea where she could have gone?"
Georgie shook her head, "Maxie knows Port Charles really well, she could have gone anywhere. God, I'm so stupid."
"Georgie, you didn't do anything!" Damian pointed out.
"Damian, I told her that I thought she was a bad daughter! The only thing I could have done to her that was worse than that would be to call her... heartless..." Georgie stopped herself as she thought about that word. Heart. Maxie's heart.
Damian saw that she was thinking about something. "Georgie?"
"B.J..." Georgie murmured.
Damian didn't understand, "What are you talking about?"
"I think I know where she is!" Georgie exclaimed. "The cemetery... our cousin's grave..." Georgie grabbed her things and hurried to the elevator. "Come on!"
154