Note- Apparently they're bringing Maxie back to the show at the end of May. However, don't jump up and down yet, because Robyn Richards is not returning to the role. Instead, it is going to Kirsten Storms, Belle from Days. This does not please me, because I love Robyn. I have nothing against Kirsten, I'm actually quite fond of her, too, but she is not the Maxie I desire. That said, much like Carly, any involvement of those characters from me will be with the actors who are, or have, portrayed them as of 2003.
Journeylove- I wish Jason and Dillon would have more scenes together. They make me happy, I quite literally throw my arms in the air and squeal. But, I must make do with what I am given… or make my own dreams come true, which I do. Honestly, Carly's plan is more for amusement rather than malice. So it could turn out better. Not saying it will, but it could. I actually enjoy the show very much right now, more than I have in quite some time. I'm depressed to all hell that Tamara is leaving, but I'll manage. The Michael storyline has a huge amount of potential in my eyes and I really do hope it's exploited. I'm actually a little afraid of the summer, because that's when they do stupid things. The panic room, Dillon's gender bender, the erectile dysfunction (honestly, Scott Clifton gets shafted…), etc. Of course, summer brought Lila's death, which was easily the greatest thing I've seen on the show, ever. Not because she died, but because it was so beautifully handled. There are no plans for Sonny to find out about Carly's actions and the ramifications that they had on Damian, at least at the moment.
Quartermaine Mansion, Exterior-
Lois gingerly ran her index finger across one of the roses that were in the garden. Even though it was wintertime there were still some of the flowers in bloom. Whoever was working on the garden was having a hard time keeping all of them alive. Lila didn't have a hard time keeping them alive at all. Her spirit was enough to bring life to everything, even in the bleakest of hours. That was the type of person she was… radiating nothing but goodness, even when swarmed by the darkness that came from being a member of her family. She loved them all so much, through the good and the bad.
Lois didn't try and hide the tears that were streaming down her face as she looked at each of the individual flowers. The last time she had seen the garden everything was so beautiful, now there was almost nothing left of the splendor. It was very much like the life of the mansion. There was still something there, but without Lila… it just felt cheapened.
"Brook?"
Lois turned around, hiding her tears from her ex-husband. She knew that she couldn't keep her voice completely monotone, but that didn't stop her from trying. "Brook's not out here right now…"
"I don't know where she is, do you?"
"No, I don't."
"Okay," Ned could sense the uneasiness that was between them. They were divorcee's, there would always be that unspoken friction that would keep them apart, but they were also parents… and Ned knew that even though Lois and Brook didn't appear to always get along Brook did care about her mother deeply. So did Ned. That had never changed, no matter what Lois used as her last name. "Lois… are you all right?"
"I'm fine, Eddie…" she silently cursed at herself for using the pet name. "I mean… Ned."
"You're not all right," Ned put his briefcase on the table and walked over to her. "Did you have another fight with my mother?"
"Tracy's never been able to make me feel like this… I could just care less about what that woman's opinion of me is. She seems to have a low opinion of everyone…"
"Everyone except Lila…"
"Even a heartless demon like your mother has to love her own mother. Nobody who knew Lila. Who let themselves be touched by Lila could have anything but love for that woman… even Tracy."
"She loved you, too. You know that, right?"
Lois felt more tears come down her face, "I didn't need to hear that…"
"It was a compliment."
She laughed slightly. "I know, Ned… I know. Lila cared about me, and lord knows how much I cared about her. There were plenty of times that I thought about setting up a little time when I could just talk to her, after Brookie started talking I was thinking that I could have her talk with Lila, too. I really should have. Brook may have never been old enough to really remember her great-grandmother… but that doesn't mean that she should have been deprived of her voice. Lila's voice was so soothing."
"Nobody blames you for keeping Brook away from this family. Not Lila. Not even me… I understand why you did it. You know how many times I've tried to get away from here, Lois… but I can never do it. These people, no matter what, they're my family. They're really all I have."
"There was a time that you just needed a guitar and a band… that was everything you wanted, everything you had."
"I'm not that person anymore…"
"I know," Lois faced Ned and put her hand on his cheek. "It's like I'm looking at a mirror and seeing the person that I fell in love with… but I know that deep down that person can never come out again."
"If I could…"
"I know you would do it in a heartbeat." Lois closed her eyes, trying to stop the tears. "But it doesn't matter, does it? Hoping doesn't do us any good. All we have are the facts, and the facts are that you can't do that anymore…"
"I still love music."
"The day you no longer love music is the day that I'm willing to believe that the apocalypse is upon us… sadly, I think that it's a little more likely than your mother being a nice person. No offense."
"None taken," Ned said with a small smirk. Before he knew it more words came out of his mouth, "Lord… I've missed you so much. Your humor, your laugh, your smile…"
"You made the choice…"
"And I've always thought that I made the wrong one."
"Yeah… so did I. You making the wrong choice, I mean. But you're not the only one who needs to feel guilty, Ned. You're not the only one who made stupid choices. I kept our daughter away from her family, away from you and the rest of the Quartermaine's… thinking that they would always be there when I thought Brook was ready… but it looks like I was wrong. I don't even think that if Lila had died I would ever be ready. I was just fooling myself… giving my actions some sort of justification in my mind. Something that would make me feel all right with depriving you people of a part of your life."
"Members of our family have done much worse…" there were way too many instances of the family doing the most horrible things to each other, but they eventually got over it… or at least managed to find some way to make peace.
"And yet you still welcome them back with open arms… even the ones who aren't Quartermaine's by blood."
"Those are the ones who we need to welcome the most," Ned said sarcastically. "People like you and Monica are the real troopers. It takes a certain type of person to actually want into this family instead of just being burdened with being born in it."
"Sometimes I wonder if you have to use humor to just keep on with living…"
"Sometimes I wonder the same thing. I've had years of exposure to them, Lois… my poor little brother was just thrust into this family after never knowing any of us… he never adjusted."
"Which might be a reason why…"
"Don't say it. Please, don't say it…"
"I've seen him, Ned… I've seen him and I've seen Jason. What you're thinking doesn't make any sense."
"Dillon wanted to do something to keep him away from the Quartermaine lifestyle… at first he wanted Jason to welcome him with open arms, but it didn't work… so he went and started doing odd jobs for Lorenzo Alcazar, who, I might point out, was murdered."
"Lorenzo Alcazar, from what I've heard… wasn't exactly the type of person who you would want around anyway… and Dillon wasn't involved with him at that point."
"No, but he was involved with Jason… what if Dillon had been around when Alcazar was murdered? What if Dillon would have been caught in the crossfire? What if I would have been forced to head over to the morgue and identify the body of my teenaged brother?"
"You're thinking about this too much…"
"Or you're not thinking about it enough."
"We're not going to get into this discussion again, are we?"
"What discussion?" Ned asked. "The one where I tell you that you need to stop being so blind to Sonny and the way he works his life?"
"That would be the one, yes…"
"I don't see how you can just turn around and think of him as this great person…"
"Because I know him better than you do. What you see is…" she threw her arms up, "we're not getting in to this…"
"Because you know I'm right."
"Because I'm not going to waste my breath listening while you try and break apart the person who I think is my best friend. You've always hated Sonny, Ned… and I never once accepted that you did… but I lived with it. Why can't you do the same?"
"I don't have to. We're not married anymore…"
"Is that how it is?" Lois asked sadly. "We're not bound together by law and by love… so you can't respect my choices as an individual? You know… the reason I left was because I knew you were becoming too much like the Quartermaine's for my own good… maybe I should have stayed away."
"When you leave, are you going to take her with you?"
"She's my daughter!"
"She's my daughter, too! And because of you I never got to see her grow up. None of us did."
"Enough!" Brook walked in from the family room. "Both of you… I'm tired of listening to the two of you argue… which is kind of funny when you think about the fact that I'm used to only spending time with one of you…"
"Princess…"
"Don't 'princess' me, dad!" Brook's anger flared. "The two of you can't even just agree to try and get along with each other for a little while… what are you going to do if you decide to stay here?"
Ned's eyes grew wide, "What do you mean?"
"Brookie… now isn't the time."
"No, it's the perfect time," Brook didn't want to keep secrets from her father. She hated keeping anything from him. "Ma's been thinking about sticking around Port Charles for a little while… giving me a stable home for the first time since I can remember, letting me enroll in a real school where I can make actual friends."
"I thought you were just kidding…"
"Well I wasn't," Lois turned her blue eyes to Ned once more. "Even though you drive me crazy, Ned Ashton, you are still Brook Lynn's father and you have the right to be in her life. I denied it to you for too long."
"So you're staying almost completely out of guilt?"
"I might be staying because I realize now that doing what I did was of no help to you or to my daughter. I don't want to wake up one morning and know that I robbed Brook of knowing you or anyone else in this family. One time was enough."
"Maybe I don't even want to be here," Brook lamented. "Not if the two of you are always going to be at one another's throats. Look, I love both of you… but if loving both of you means that the two of you have to stay away from each other then I guess that's what I really want in the end."
Ned and Lois were stunned by Brook's statement. Ned called out to her while she was leaving, "Where are you going?"
"Anywhere but here…" Brook was out of sight a moment later.
Lois threw her head back and groaned, "Teenagers…" The woman had no clue what her decision was going to be, but she didn't want to continue making mistakes. She meant what she said… one time was enough.