A/N: This chapter is a roller coaster of emotions (or at least I think so when I read it). So hold on tight when you read it—and please try not to send me hate mail. ;) Until next time—Merry Christmas, Happy Belated Chanukah, or Happy Kwanzaa—or whatever it is you might celebrate—PCGirl.
Andrew took in a deep breath before walking in the Gym—the place was busy today, and it seemed like he couldn't find Eddie or Rafe anywhere. He did recognize the girl at the juice bar—Elizabeth had been the name Rafe had called her when they found her, but Kate had called her Lizzie the other times she spoke of her. He could tell she wasn't enjoying herself at all so he approached with caution, "Hello."
"Hi—can I help you?" she asked, off in her own world before realizing she'd met him before. "You're Andrew—right?"
"Yeah, I'm here for a visit and I wanted to see if your dad or brother were around."
"They are in a big self defense class at the moment, but my mom and sister are upstairs if you want to talk to Kate—I'll let them know when they get out. Just go up the stairs and it's the apartment with the door opened, most likely."
"Thanks," he said as he took the steps quickly and could hear a radio playing in one of the rooms, though the door was closed. He leaned in to hear the conversation inside before knocking.
"You know—the last time we painted this apartment was when I was pregnant with you. It was Valentine's—Jasmine and I painted until Livvie stopped by," she said as she continued to paint the extra apartment for Kate. Her and Rafe had talked about it last night amongst each other and announced it to Kate in the morning—who was more than thrilled to get her own place.
"Livvie wasn't helping?"
Alison laughed, "Livvie and I learned long ago to never get around each other with paint brushes."
"Oh no—do I want to know?" she grimaced while still smiling.
"Let's just say we'll never look at chocolate chip muffins again," she laughed as she continued painting and stopped as she heard a knock on the door.
"I'll get it," said Kate as she sat down her paint brush and opened the door.
Andrew smiled at seeing her with paint on her cheek and her hair pulled back and covered by a blue bandana, "Hi."
"What are you doing here?" she squealed as she hugged him tightly. "I can't believe you are here—why did you come?"
"I—brought you this. You left it," he said as he dug through his knapsack and pulled out her pink sweater.
"You didn't have to do that, Andrew—there is a thing called the post office," she laughed at him as she motioned for him to sit it on a chair that was out harms way from the paint.
"I know—I just wanted to see how you were doing for yourself," he said as he noticed the woman behind her. "You must be Alison."
"And you must be Andrew—thank you for what you did for my daughter, and for Tara also."
"Well, I wish I could have been more of a help with that."
"Don't beat yourself up over that—there's enough of that going around already," laughed Alison as he gave a half smile and then looked back at Kate. "You know what—I bet you've had a long flight and are hungry—why don't we take a break and go into Eddie's apartment and see what we can find," she said as she put down her brush and led them down the hall to the other apartment.
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"Christina sends her love," smiled Livvie as she placed the phone down and went to sit on the end of the chaise, patting Tara's blanket covered feet.
"Are her and Danny engaged yet? Did she give you details?" said Tara, her smile getting bright.
"She told me it was sweet and romantic—he did it at sunset."
"How romantic," she sighed with a smile.
"You are feeling better today—did talking to Kate yesterday help some?" asked Livvie as she pushed the hair out of her daughter's face.
"It did—and I know I haven't said it out loud yet, but I know I'm a vampire, Mom," she said as she looked at her hands and back up to Livvie with tears in her eyes.
"Oh sweetheart," said Livvie as she moved in to hug her.
"It's ok. Because I already know what I'm going to do. I'm going to make sure I drink my water, and eat—and I'll get stronger, and then in a few weeks maybe I'll be strong enough to go to the springs, and this whole nightmare will be over with," said Tara as she messed with her blanket some.
"I'm glad you aren't letting this get you down, Tara. You've always been strong when it comes to overcoming anything."
"I'm just worried if you and dad will be disappointed that I'm not wanting to stay a vampire. This just—it's not who I want to be—I know I can still be anything I want to when I'm a vampire, I just think the thought of drinking blood is—,"
"Icky?" laughed Livvie. "A part of me thought that once too—and I could never ever be disappointed in you, Tara. I know you don't want to be a vampire—I figured that out when you were pretty young. It is a person's choice to become like your father and I—it's not something that can be forced onto you. If it is—and the person is forced to be that, well I think they would turn hard on the inside as they fought to accept something that wasn't meant to be."
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"Don't worry about anything, Grayson—I'm pretty sure he'll be back home before anything happens with Marius. Maybe this is—I don't know—a vacation he feels like he has to take," said Rafe as he looked up to see his wife leaning against the doorway watching him. He'd come upstairs twenty minutes ago to tell Grayson Andrew was here in Port Charles, and hadn't gotten off the phone yet.
"I'm sure he's fine there—I just don't understand why he'd abandon his post the way he did."
"I'll talk to him if it'll make you feel better. Just know that he's in capable hands here—and seems to be enjoying himself. I'll call you after I talk to him."
"Thanks Rafe. I always knew I could count on you," said Grayson as he hung up the phone.
"Grayson was worried?" asked Alison as she watched him hang up the phone and scratch the back of his head in thought.
"Yeah—Grayson will never admit it, but he sees Andrew as his son. He's a good kid."
"Yeah, he is. I was watching him while I was downstairs—I think I know why he came here. He likes Kate—a lot."
Rafe felt the back of his neck get warm, "No. Definitely not."
"Why not? I think it's cute," she grinned.
"Yeah, you thought it was cute when Lizzie had a crush on Alex a few years ago. Thank God that ended quick."
"Rafe—this isn't Lizzie or Alex we are talking about. This is your eighteen year old daughter that someday soon is going to find the man of her dreams and fall head over heels for him. Why can't it be Andrew?"
"Because—he's too quick to react to anything, he doesn't think of the consequences sometimes. And he has this grudge with a vampire that's going to get him killed if he's not careful. He thinks with his heart rather than his head—I mean look at the fact that he came here on the spur of the moment--."
Alison tried to hold in the laughter but it finally caught the best of her and filled the room quickly, "Rafe—you just described yourself twenty years ago. Andrew is exactly like you when you were his age."
"Yeah? And I was dead at his age too—I rest my case."
Alison bit her lip and ignored the glare he was giving her. She came over and took his hand slowly, "Someday Rafe—both of your little girls aren't going to be little anymore, and they won't need you for protection—I think the past few weeks have brought that into focus more. And when the day comes that they walk in that door with their eyes glistening with love and excitement at introducing you to the one—I hope you can find it in yourself to shake his hand without breaking it and welcome into the family."
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Caleb hung up the phone and set it down—the man he had asked to keep an eye on Marius now had lost him—said that sometime during the night Marius had left. He could be anywhere between Germany and here by now. He gave a loud sigh as he looked up to see his brother standing in front of him, "What are you here for?"
"I think the question is what have you done Caleb?" asked Michael as he ran his fingers over the books on the shelf and stopped to pick a specific one out.
"I don't know what you are talking about—and anyways, you are nothing more than a figment of my imagination so will you please leave—NOW!"
"I come around when you are worried about something—like you have a plan that begins to backfire in your face, perhaps? Just confess what you've done, Caleb—I am, for some reason, a Priest in your eyes—I'll pray for your soul for what you've done."
"I will not confess anything—because there is nothing to confess," he said with a wicked grin. "You see—to confess fault means you have done something wrong—what I did, what I had to do was my right as a father."
"It is your choice to change your child's life forever? I don't believe I've read that in the bible before."
"You read and see what you want to see. I will tell you this, no child of mine will be taken away from me again-not by Marius and not by your so called merciful God."
"You did this because of Amelia?" asked Michael, surprised and not that surprised honestly.
"You wouldn't understand—nobody but Olivia and I understand what it's like to lose a piece of you the way we did."
"It saddens me to realize you have not changed at all Caleb. You are still ruthless in your pursuit of what you believe belongs to you."
"Tara belongs to me—she's my flesh and blood—and if you don't believe that then you are worthless."
"Tara is nothing but a child--."
"She's no longer a child—she's a vampire, and she will learn to accept this, just as I learned to accept it when I was turned."
"Against your will—I might add."
"And in the end, I realized why my father did what he did—and with time, she will realize the same."
