Kayla- Thank you for the compliment on my work! Mac has apparently started
to look at Damian in a different light, or at least he appears to have
begun the process. How far he gets is anyone's guess.
Joy- I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, it's certainly a focal point for the angst ridden ways of Port Charles, and since I love writing me the angst, it just came naturally. But in addition to the angst, there was that relationship between Damian and Maxie that was at the center of everything in the chapter. I agree with you, Maxie is very lucky to have someone like Damian who will stand by her and try his best to understand her, even when he doesn't entirely agree with the steps she is taking. I think that Mac is now beginning to see that he helps her in ways that no one else ever could, and that maybe Damian is more important to Maxie than Mac ever thought.
Story-
Corinthos Household, Friday Morning-
Damian didn't lie to her. He didn't lie to Maxie. He knew that she and her mother didn't have the relationship that he had with his. But there was still a part of him that didn't like the fact that she couldn't stand to be around Felicia. He was too much of a mama's boy to accept that Maxie could hate her mother that much. Felicia didn't really do anything wrong. She hurt Maxie emotionally, yes, but that wasn't enough. Felicia was a human, she was allowed to make mistakes. She was also allowed the chance to fix the mistakes that she made. Maxie had apparently given her the chances that she was willing to give, and each time Felicia didn't take them. That didn't mean that Maxie should have just given up on her mother, did it? Those questions plagued him over the night, and they were still bugging him when he woke up.
He sat on the couch, he had been up for a long time, and had just been thinking about the situation since then. Although he was sad about Maxie's choice, he still loved her. He wanted to help her find a place where she could be at peace with her mother, but he wasn't entirely too sure that it was his place to do something like that. He wasn't family, he was just her boyfriend. He understood that there were limits to his relationship with Maxie and the rest of her family. He'd never even met Felicia. He couldn't even recall seeing a picture of her.
Another big question for him was Mac. What happened there? Did they have a clean slate? No, Mac would never overlook the fact that Damian was Sonny's child. He couldn't, and why should he? If Damian had been in the reverse position... would he behave any differently? Probably not. Did that make him a hypocrite? He wasn't going to stop caring about Maxie, even though he knew that his family life could bring her into the path of danger, as it already had done before. Damian wanted answers, and he wasn't getting anything that he wanted. All he had were more questions.
"Morning," Sonny walked down the stairs and saw his boy sitting on the couch. Damian didn't respond to him. Sonny thought that he had done something to irk his child again, but he couldn't think of any reason. "Damian?"
Damian turned his head and smiled at his father, "Sorry, dad. I was thinking about something."
"You were thinking pretty hard, you didn't even hear me when I walked down."
"I've just got a lot of things on my mind right now, I guess," Damian muttered.
Sonny walked over to one of the other seats and spoke, "Did everything go well last night? Is that what you're thinking about? Did something go wrong? Did they make the food bad, because if they did I can find a way to make sure they never work again..."
"Everything went fine, dad," Damian said. "And even if it didn't... there wouldn't be any reason for you to get anyone fired."
"First dates should be perfect. Especially for my boys."
That comment made Damian smirk. Sonny was a complex person. The way that he could shift modes from warm father figure to calculated crime lord... Damian would never find a way to get used to that. "We had a lot of fun, dad."
"So what's the problem then?"
"Her mother was in an accident yesterday," Damian wasn't too sure he should be telling his father anything about Maxie's life, but he didn't want any lies to be between them anymore. He needed to be honest, so he was. "She took it really hard. Not because it was her mother and she cared about her, but because it was her mother and she didn't care. I was able to help her, but I'm still worried about everything."
"Don't worry about Felicia," Carly walked down the stairs. "Any woman that can survive some time with Luke Spencer can survive anything that the natural world can throw at them. She'll make a full recovery."
"If you're worried about your girlfriend why don't you give her a call?" Sonny asked.
"If only it were that simple," Damian stated with a heavy sigh. "I think, in this situation, I only hurt her more than I help her. She looks at me and sees how much I cared for my mother and then she looks at herself and she sees that she never had anything like that. Her mother is still alive and she can never have the things that I had with my mother. I'm like a reminder of this happy dream that she used to have but can never come true. It would probably be a whole lot better for her if I stayed away for a little while. I want to give her the time she needs to adjust with everything."
"Your mother was a very selfless woman," Sonny said. "Just like you."
Damian smiled warmly, "Thanks."
"Everyone is awake!" Michael's dash downstairs made all three adults turn and look at the stairs.
"Shouldn't you be getting ready?" Carly asked her son.
"I just wanted to tell Damian something before I did," Michael told his mother. "Can I tell him first, mommy? Please?"
Carly was quick to succumb to his pleading. What harm could it do? "Okay, but after that you are getting ready!"
"What is it, Michael?" Damian asked. The dynamic between Carly and Michael was so much different from the one that he and Carly shared. Although they both cared about Michael it didn't do much to act as an animosity detour between the two. They both cared about everyone else in their family as well, but it still didn't do anything for their relationship directly. Damian still held out hope that eventually they would find a place where they could be comfortable with one another. Maybe even friends.
"I didn't have any more nightmares last night!" Michael proclaimed proudly.
It was amazing how the littlest and most trivial things could mean so much to a child. Nonetheless, Damian was happy that his little brother had found a new inner strength. "Good job!"
"I just wanted to tell you that and say thank you again," Michael admitted, still beaming in the way that only he could.
"You don't have to thank me," Damian proclaimed. "I'm just happy that I could help you with them. But now you really do have to get ready."
"I know," Michael said as he turned around. "I'll be back when I'm ready!"
Carly waited for Michael to be far enough away before she spoke. "You helped Michael with his nightmares?"
"I came home last night and neither of you were home. He was really worried about something..."
"We went out, too," Sonny said. "We hadn't had a night together, just the two of us, since before..."
"Before you came," Carly finished the statement for Sonny.
"I would have stayed to help with the boys if you had told me that you two needed some time alone," Damian said. "I've watched my cousins from time to time. I can take care of them."
"We have Leticia to take care of them. We pay her to take care of our boys." Carly noted.
"What Carly means is that Leticia is supposed to be here just so that we don't have to put people out of their way just to take care of our sons," Sonny smoothed things over for Carly, even though he was pretty sure that she didn't mean it like he said that she did. Maybe the two of them would need to have another talk.
"He said that he wanted to talk with one of you, he wanted one of you to help him with his nightmares because Leticia wasn't good enough for that problem." Damian looked up at Carly, "I was only trying to help. What was I supposed to do? Keep him up until you got home? How long would that have been?"
"We have cell phones in case our children have a problem and we need to be contacted. You know both our numbers."
"You can't hold your child over a cell phone, Carly," Damian said firmly but calmly. "And that was what Michael needed last night. Someone to hold him in their arms and tell them that everything was going to be just fine. That's what I did. I know how much you want to be there for your child at every possible moment in his life, and I really do respect your right as a mother to do that, but you couldn't do it since you weren't here. You should know me well enough by now to know that I'm not going to let anyone stand around and be afraid or hurt if I can stop it."
"Because you're such a kind person," Carly was spiteful. Damian took it upon himself to act as a parental figure to her son?
"If he wouldn't have gone to me he would have just went down the hall to Aunt Courtney or Uncle Jason," Damian said.
"They know how to help Michael."
"So do I," Damian was trying as hard as he could to not let this turn into something that he could possibly regret, but he had reached his breaking point. "Are you telling me that I'm not good enough to help your child, my little brother?"
"I'm just used to doing it myself," Carly admitted. "I always want to be the one that helps Michael with his problems when he has a bad dream or when he has a stomach ache."
"You can't always be there for him, Carly," Damian said. "You need to realize that there are going to be times when you can't help Michael with every little problem that he has. I know you love him, but so do I. If you had been here I'm sure he would have went to you before he went to me, or even dad. But you weren't, and you need to accept that."
"I've got to accept a lot of things," Carly noted. "I'll go help Michael and check on Morgan." Carly walked up the stairs, not even glancing at her husband or her step-son.
"You think he heard any of that?" Damian asked.
"You two kept it down enough. I think he's going to be kept in the dark about that particular scuffle."
"I was only trying to help him, dad."
"And you did," Sonny said. "I'm sure somewhere deep down Carly is thankful that you were around, she just has a really unique way of showing her gratitude."
"As in not showing any at all," Damian threw his head back on the couch.
"If it makes you feel any better... having a fight with Carly and not having her yell is just one of the signs that she's actually starting to adjust to the new situation that we're all in."
"You're just telling me that to make me feel better."
"Maybe," Sonny grinned. "Did it work?"
"Only a little bit," Damian replied, bringing his head up so he could gaze at his father. They had the same smile.
163
Joy- I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, it's certainly a focal point for the angst ridden ways of Port Charles, and since I love writing me the angst, it just came naturally. But in addition to the angst, there was that relationship between Damian and Maxie that was at the center of everything in the chapter. I agree with you, Maxie is very lucky to have someone like Damian who will stand by her and try his best to understand her, even when he doesn't entirely agree with the steps she is taking. I think that Mac is now beginning to see that he helps her in ways that no one else ever could, and that maybe Damian is more important to Maxie than Mac ever thought.
Story-
Corinthos Household, Friday Morning-
Damian didn't lie to her. He didn't lie to Maxie. He knew that she and her mother didn't have the relationship that he had with his. But there was still a part of him that didn't like the fact that she couldn't stand to be around Felicia. He was too much of a mama's boy to accept that Maxie could hate her mother that much. Felicia didn't really do anything wrong. She hurt Maxie emotionally, yes, but that wasn't enough. Felicia was a human, she was allowed to make mistakes. She was also allowed the chance to fix the mistakes that she made. Maxie had apparently given her the chances that she was willing to give, and each time Felicia didn't take them. That didn't mean that Maxie should have just given up on her mother, did it? Those questions plagued him over the night, and they were still bugging him when he woke up.
He sat on the couch, he had been up for a long time, and had just been thinking about the situation since then. Although he was sad about Maxie's choice, he still loved her. He wanted to help her find a place where she could be at peace with her mother, but he wasn't entirely too sure that it was his place to do something like that. He wasn't family, he was just her boyfriend. He understood that there were limits to his relationship with Maxie and the rest of her family. He'd never even met Felicia. He couldn't even recall seeing a picture of her.
Another big question for him was Mac. What happened there? Did they have a clean slate? No, Mac would never overlook the fact that Damian was Sonny's child. He couldn't, and why should he? If Damian had been in the reverse position... would he behave any differently? Probably not. Did that make him a hypocrite? He wasn't going to stop caring about Maxie, even though he knew that his family life could bring her into the path of danger, as it already had done before. Damian wanted answers, and he wasn't getting anything that he wanted. All he had were more questions.
"Morning," Sonny walked down the stairs and saw his boy sitting on the couch. Damian didn't respond to him. Sonny thought that he had done something to irk his child again, but he couldn't think of any reason. "Damian?"
Damian turned his head and smiled at his father, "Sorry, dad. I was thinking about something."
"You were thinking pretty hard, you didn't even hear me when I walked down."
"I've just got a lot of things on my mind right now, I guess," Damian muttered.
Sonny walked over to one of the other seats and spoke, "Did everything go well last night? Is that what you're thinking about? Did something go wrong? Did they make the food bad, because if they did I can find a way to make sure they never work again..."
"Everything went fine, dad," Damian said. "And even if it didn't... there wouldn't be any reason for you to get anyone fired."
"First dates should be perfect. Especially for my boys."
That comment made Damian smirk. Sonny was a complex person. The way that he could shift modes from warm father figure to calculated crime lord... Damian would never find a way to get used to that. "We had a lot of fun, dad."
"So what's the problem then?"
"Her mother was in an accident yesterday," Damian wasn't too sure he should be telling his father anything about Maxie's life, but he didn't want any lies to be between them anymore. He needed to be honest, so he was. "She took it really hard. Not because it was her mother and she cared about her, but because it was her mother and she didn't care. I was able to help her, but I'm still worried about everything."
"Don't worry about Felicia," Carly walked down the stairs. "Any woman that can survive some time with Luke Spencer can survive anything that the natural world can throw at them. She'll make a full recovery."
"If you're worried about your girlfriend why don't you give her a call?" Sonny asked.
"If only it were that simple," Damian stated with a heavy sigh. "I think, in this situation, I only hurt her more than I help her. She looks at me and sees how much I cared for my mother and then she looks at herself and she sees that she never had anything like that. Her mother is still alive and she can never have the things that I had with my mother. I'm like a reminder of this happy dream that she used to have but can never come true. It would probably be a whole lot better for her if I stayed away for a little while. I want to give her the time she needs to adjust with everything."
"Your mother was a very selfless woman," Sonny said. "Just like you."
Damian smiled warmly, "Thanks."
"Everyone is awake!" Michael's dash downstairs made all three adults turn and look at the stairs.
"Shouldn't you be getting ready?" Carly asked her son.
"I just wanted to tell Damian something before I did," Michael told his mother. "Can I tell him first, mommy? Please?"
Carly was quick to succumb to his pleading. What harm could it do? "Okay, but after that you are getting ready!"
"What is it, Michael?" Damian asked. The dynamic between Carly and Michael was so much different from the one that he and Carly shared. Although they both cared about Michael it didn't do much to act as an animosity detour between the two. They both cared about everyone else in their family as well, but it still didn't do anything for their relationship directly. Damian still held out hope that eventually they would find a place where they could be comfortable with one another. Maybe even friends.
"I didn't have any more nightmares last night!" Michael proclaimed proudly.
It was amazing how the littlest and most trivial things could mean so much to a child. Nonetheless, Damian was happy that his little brother had found a new inner strength. "Good job!"
"I just wanted to tell you that and say thank you again," Michael admitted, still beaming in the way that only he could.
"You don't have to thank me," Damian proclaimed. "I'm just happy that I could help you with them. But now you really do have to get ready."
"I know," Michael said as he turned around. "I'll be back when I'm ready!"
Carly waited for Michael to be far enough away before she spoke. "You helped Michael with his nightmares?"
"I came home last night and neither of you were home. He was really worried about something..."
"We went out, too," Sonny said. "We hadn't had a night together, just the two of us, since before..."
"Before you came," Carly finished the statement for Sonny.
"I would have stayed to help with the boys if you had told me that you two needed some time alone," Damian said. "I've watched my cousins from time to time. I can take care of them."
"We have Leticia to take care of them. We pay her to take care of our boys." Carly noted.
"What Carly means is that Leticia is supposed to be here just so that we don't have to put people out of their way just to take care of our sons," Sonny smoothed things over for Carly, even though he was pretty sure that she didn't mean it like he said that she did. Maybe the two of them would need to have another talk.
"He said that he wanted to talk with one of you, he wanted one of you to help him with his nightmares because Leticia wasn't good enough for that problem." Damian looked up at Carly, "I was only trying to help. What was I supposed to do? Keep him up until you got home? How long would that have been?"
"We have cell phones in case our children have a problem and we need to be contacted. You know both our numbers."
"You can't hold your child over a cell phone, Carly," Damian said firmly but calmly. "And that was what Michael needed last night. Someone to hold him in their arms and tell them that everything was going to be just fine. That's what I did. I know how much you want to be there for your child at every possible moment in his life, and I really do respect your right as a mother to do that, but you couldn't do it since you weren't here. You should know me well enough by now to know that I'm not going to let anyone stand around and be afraid or hurt if I can stop it."
"Because you're such a kind person," Carly was spiteful. Damian took it upon himself to act as a parental figure to her son?
"If he wouldn't have gone to me he would have just went down the hall to Aunt Courtney or Uncle Jason," Damian said.
"They know how to help Michael."
"So do I," Damian was trying as hard as he could to not let this turn into something that he could possibly regret, but he had reached his breaking point. "Are you telling me that I'm not good enough to help your child, my little brother?"
"I'm just used to doing it myself," Carly admitted. "I always want to be the one that helps Michael with his problems when he has a bad dream or when he has a stomach ache."
"You can't always be there for him, Carly," Damian said. "You need to realize that there are going to be times when you can't help Michael with every little problem that he has. I know you love him, but so do I. If you had been here I'm sure he would have went to you before he went to me, or even dad. But you weren't, and you need to accept that."
"I've got to accept a lot of things," Carly noted. "I'll go help Michael and check on Morgan." Carly walked up the stairs, not even glancing at her husband or her step-son.
"You think he heard any of that?" Damian asked.
"You two kept it down enough. I think he's going to be kept in the dark about that particular scuffle."
"I was only trying to help him, dad."
"And you did," Sonny said. "I'm sure somewhere deep down Carly is thankful that you were around, she just has a really unique way of showing her gratitude."
"As in not showing any at all," Damian threw his head back on the couch.
"If it makes you feel any better... having a fight with Carly and not having her yell is just one of the signs that she's actually starting to adjust to the new situation that we're all in."
"You're just telling me that to make me feel better."
"Maybe," Sonny grinned. "Did it work?"
"Only a little bit," Damian replied, bringing his head up so he could gaze at his father. They had the same smile.
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