Scorpio Household-

Sleeping was hard, but when was that not the case? Even before she got involved with Damian, Maxie would always have some reason for staying up late and losing sleep. It may have been because of the guilt that she felt, knowing that she had survived where her cousin had not. Or because Mac wasn't back from his job yet and it was late at night and she didn't know if he was all right or if he was about to get shot and leave her. There were many nights when Maxie was kept up because of the anguish that came with her mother, with that feeling of being unworthy of Felicia's love and time. Plus, there was Kyle, and all the problems that came along with that. It seemed that there was always something that bugged Maxie. It had become a part of her life, but it wasn't a part of her life that she enjoyed.

She had checked up on Morgan a few times during the night, never once going in because of the fact that Carly was there. They didn't like each other, or at least she didn't like Carly. Maybe Carly didn't so much hate her, but that wouldn't stop Maxie from loathing a woman that had done nothing but forced her sweet, innocent, well-intentioned boyfriend a world of pain. Was she being a bit vindictive? Yes. Did she care? No. Because if Damian wasn't going to stand up for himself, then who else was going to do it? Carly had everyone else in that family wrapped around her finger. Even when they knew she was wrong, even when they called her on it… there was nothing that came from it. Like a slap on the wrist. That was exactly what Carly got from her family. If none of them were going to stand up to Carly, then it fell to her. She'd heard the stories, and Maxie didn't care.

But Maxie did care about Morgan, and even felt sympathy for a woman that she should have cared less about when the baby was sick. She might have loathed every fiber of Carly's being, but she never wished Carly the pain of seeing her child in pain. Nobody deserved that, not even Carly, or, for that matter, Felicia. Why would it matter? Her mother wouldn't have come around even if she or her sister were hurt. Maxie knew that for a fact. Felicia's life was far too important to be bogged down with the troubles of being a mother. Just like Frisco.

Finally getting up out of bed, hours later than she had expected, Maxie walked over to her dresser and sat there. The dry remains of her runny mascara could be seen. She wept for that baby, one who probably didn't even know who she was. He was still so young, so innocent. Nobody deserved to be taken like that. Especially a baby.

Her eyes diverted themselves to another part of her mirror. The lower corner, where her pictures were. She picked one up, one that she would always cherish. The first picture that they took together. It wasn't with Santa, because she knew that he didn't want to take it with a mall Santa, but it was shortly after Christmas. Sort of like another Christmas present that he got her, in addition to the bracelet and the letter. She still thought that he spoiled her too much, but he didn't mind.

Picking the picture up, removing it from the spot on the mirror where it had been since she got it into her room just a little while after it had been taken, Maxie smiled. They looked so happy. And they were happy. They were still happy, even at that moment. At least with each other. But she realized how frail life was, and how the happiness that was shared could be shattered in an instant without any sort of reasoning.

Placing the picture back where it belonged, Maxie grabbed her bathrobe and headed into the bathroom. Georgie was gone, she had been awoken for a moment while she heard her sister leave, but maybe her dad was still home. She'd check when she got out of the shower.

Mac would never say anything, but he missed her. He missed Felicia. Even though she had done a lot of things to hurt him, from the lies to having relationships with other people, he still loved her. To think that it all started with a wedding that they didn't even want to really happen until the very end. He understood and respected Felicia's choice to be with her grandmother while she was ailing, knowing full well just how much Felicia's grandmother meant to her, but that didn't mean that he liked it. He didn't like the way that she handled her parenting responsibilities, as in not handling them at all. Still, it was Felicia's life, and nobody could lay claim to it except for her. There were plenty of times when people probably should have, but she was stubborn as ever. A trait shared by her daughters, who had also inherited Felicia's weakness for bad boys. From Frisco to Luke, and maybe even a little bit of Mac himself… it only mirrored on the girls. Georgie with Dillon. Maxie with Lucky and then Kyle and finally Damian. That could have very well been the reason why Mac tried so hard to keep them away from such people, because he didn't want to see the girl's that he had loved with all of his being fall under the same routine. He'd seen it happen with Robin. To see it again would be crushing.

Taking a sip from his coffee mug, Mac's ears heard the sound of someone knocking on his door. Curious as to who was the person doing so, he got up and looked out the peephole, a wide grin appearing on his face when he saw who it was. An old friend. "Lois!"

"Mac!" Lois hugged him tightly. Mac and Felicia had been good to her. Lois only regretted that it took her so long to see Mac, although she knew that she wouldn't be seeing him with Felicia. "How's my favorite Commissioner?"

"I've been well, and if the way that you look is any indication, so have you." Mac opened the door, "Please, come on inside."

"I don't mean to disturb you, if you have somewhere that you need to be, if you have to leave, please, go ahead…"

"I'm not expected in for a few hours," Mac liked it when he didn't have to leave so early. Even though Georgie had left, he still had time to spend with Maxie, and in truth she was the one who worried him more of the two. Dillon was a problem, but he wasn't as bad as Damian. "I heard that you were back in town."

"Yes, although I wish that the reasons were better than they ended up being. I heard about Lila's death after it happened, so I didn't get the chance to say goodbye like I wanted. I didn't even give Brook Lynn the chance to truly meet the most wonderful woman that has ever graced my presence. Don't let my mother know that I said that, she would kill me."

"It's true, though," Mac nodded. "Lila Quartermaine was something else, a class all her own. We were all stunned when we heard that she was gone. Nobody expected it."

"So, as soon as I finished the tour that I was doing, I took my daughter and brought her on the first plane back to America. We spent a few days with my family, because I wanted to make sure that they were all okay, then we came here. On Christmas Eve."

"Ned must have loved that."

"He did," Lois remembered the way his face lit up. Even though they weren't married any longer, she was still glad that she could do something to make her Eddie smile like that. "I shouldn't have kept Brook away from her family like I did. I know that now, and I'm trying to make up for the mistakes that I've made."

"So, you're planning on staying?"

Lois bit her lip, "I don't really know, Mac. Port Charles has a lot of memories, but I'm not going to try and lie to you, saying that they're more good than bad. The good memories are great, but it's the bad ones that keep me up at night as I try not to cry thinking about everything that's happened here."

"The same would happen anywhere else, Lois. There are good and bad things in life, that's the way it works out."

"You always end up coming up with the logic, don't you?"

"Part of my job."

She placed her hand on his cheek momentarily before taking it away, "I just wanted to see how my old friend was doing. I've seen your daughters, they're both very beautiful, and I'm sure you raised them to be the best kids that they could be."

"You obviously haven't seen who they're dating…"

"Actually, I have." She thought back to the hospital. "Georgie's dating my ex-brother-in-law. They're such a cute couple."

"No comment."

"Now, Mac, I know the way you are with those girls. You can't keep them sheltered from the world around them forever. They're not five anymore. Besides, Dillon's a good kid, I can tell. I can also tell that he loves your daughter very much. What more could you ask for?"

"Someone with less of a criminal record, maybe?"

"He's a teenager. They get into trouble, its part of the requirement."

"You can stop trying to talk some sense into him," Maxie, dressed and ready for the day, came walking down the stairs. "Dad's never been one to listen when he's tried to make up his mind about something."

"He's always been like that," Lois agreed. "Men… they can be so pigheaded."

"Standing right here…" Mac commented.

Lois was quick to spin one of her patented retorts, "Then maybe you should try paying attention for once, since you can obviously hear what's going on."

"We've done just about everything but give him diagrams and pie-charts pointing out how the people that we care about are who we want to be with. He's gotten better, though," Maxie had to admit that Mac had warmed up, at least slightly, which, by his standards, was considerable, to their relationships. "I mean, he's not trying to arrest Damian and Dillon for just looking at us."

"Damian?" Lois couldn't believe her ears. "You're going out with Sonny's boy?"

"Ironic, isn't it?" Mac muttered. "My daughter going out with the crime lord's son."

Lois could only roll her eyes. She'd gotten into the discussion about Sonny and his merits with Ned, but she wasn't going to tell Mac off, especially in his own house. "Has he played the piano for you, Maxie?"

"A few times…"

"He doesn't get that from his father, let me tell you," Lois thought back fondly on their time growing up. "Sonny tried to learn how to play the flute… I think he just ended up breaking it against the side of the wall. Luckily it was a plastic flute, wasn't even real. But Sonny and music… they've never really gone together. From what I've heard, he's quite good."

"I love it when he plays the piano." Maxie remembered how touched she was the first time it happened. The way that he said that he hadn't done it for years, but then he had a reason to again because of her. It was enough to make her misty eyed.

"Do you know how Morgan's doing?" Lois asked, the mention of Sonny being quick to bring up the concern that was only barely a few layers below the surface. "You work at the hospital, I figure you might know."

"He was doing all right last night, but I don't know if anything's changed."

"What happened to Morgan?" Mac hadn't heard any of the information, to him it was all fresh and new.

"He caught a virus of some sort, dad," Maxie didn't really feel like telling him, but since he already knew it wasn't like she could get away with holding the information from him. "He needed some blood, and Damian was the only one who could give it to him. Damian saved his little brother's life. I'm sure a horrible person would have just let the baby die."

Mac didn't appreciate the comment. He didn't want people thinking that he would rather a baby die, because that was a lie. "Maxie…"

"I'm sure your father is just doing what he can to make sure that you're safe, Maxie," Lois tried to play the mediator, something that she was quite used to. Although the struggles that the 'Q's' as she so fondly called them were a little bit different from whatever Mac and his daughter were going through. "The best way to end this feud is for you to prove him wrong."

"You're right, Lois," Maxie nodded. "I've been trying to do that, and I'm going to keep on doing it."

"Now you're just going and helping her with her relationship," Mac sighed. He cared about Lois, but he didn't want her getting in the middle of things that didn't concern her. Not that he could stop her. It was part of what made Lois who she was.

"Mac, your little girl is all grown up. Let her make her own choices. The best thing that you can do is be there for her when she needs help. Maxie, you still know that you can come to him whenever you need him, right?"

"Of course," Maxie looked up at her father, "I'll always know that I can count on you. It might be the last thing I want to do, but if I need you, I'll come. But right now I'm going to see if everything is all right with Morgan. Bye."

Lois watched Maxie walk out the door. "You know, I like to think that I'm a good judge of people… and I can almost guarantee you that Damian Corinthos is never going to put your daughter in any sort of danger."

"At least not intentionally, I know that much. But it's what could happen simply because of who he is that worries me." The primal fear, one that Mac knew well. One moment, his daughter could be laughing, happy as she had ever been, the next, used in a ploy simply because of her association with Sonny.