Ch. 6

It had been a long and silent car ride home. GH was fairly close to where the families lived, but it didn't feel that way. Courtney and Carly didn't stop crying. Jason shed many tears too and even Sonny cried. Now they had to tell the other children and boy, were they dreading it. Jason wondered how he was going to tell them when he hadn't really told himself. He knew Matthew was gone, but to hear "dead" seemed unbelievable. A part of him expected to see Matthew sound asleep in his bed playing a big practical joke on everyone. If that were true, Jason wouldn't even be mad at his son. No punishment. Instead, he would be grateful. Oh, if the world was like that…

Inside the house:

Logan: Ok, so what do you think this news is?

Caroline: I don't know exactly, but it's big

Logan: How do you know that?

Caroline: They left for the hospital late at night and are coming home even later. If it wasn't a big deal, they would just tell us in the morning. But they can't wait that long. Something's wrong Lo. I can feel it.

Then, the college kids walked in.

"Hey girls" Emme said as she walked over to her sisters and gave them each a hug

"Hi Emme" Caroline said emotionless.

"Hey Emme" Logan responded in the same tone. Then looked to her big sister's right and found Blake the Bodyguard. "What is he doing here?"

"He has a name, and he was with me when I got the call so he said he'd come too" Emme stated

"And what were you two doing so late at night together?" Logan continued

"None of your business"

"Well we all know what that means" Lo whispered to Caroline.

"Oh shut up" Emme yelled at both Logan and Caroline

"It's ok Em, I don't care" Blake spoke up. He was just like Jason, only speaking when he had to

"Aw how cute. Here that Lo? It's "ok". And he calls her Em… now that is just adorable. I love nicknames... So EM, what's your nickname for Blake?" Caroline asked her sister. She knew it was torturing Emme and it's a big reason of why she kept doing it. Caroline needed to get this whole "announcement" from her parents off her mind and this was the way to do it. It was helping Logan too, and for that both girls were grateful.

"Ok, cut it out you 3. Or 4 including Blake who apparently I need to talk to after this about him and my cousin" Morgan said as he stared at Blake." So you girls were obviously told to stay up. Any idea why?" Morgan questioned

"No, but Carr and I decided it has to be something big. I think it's about Matthew" Logan confessed

"Wait, where is Matthew?" JJ wondered

"That's the problem. We don't know. He hasn't been home since this morning. Something's up guys" Caroline reasoned

"Let's not jump to any conclusions. Maybe Matthew's with our parents and that's why he's not here" Michael tried to tell them. He was the oldest so he thought he should be the most reasonable

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see. But Caroline and Lo… I think you might be right" Emme confessed.

"Ready Jason?" Courtney asked, squeezing his hand

"Yeah, let's go in"

"Carly, do you want to tell all the kids at once, or you want to tell yours and we'll tell ours, or tell the older ones, then the younger ones or"

"Court, whatever you want to do."

"I really have no idea"

Sonny spoke up "How about we go get Adella, and we'll tell everyone at once. We're all family and we're all going to need each other. The kids might find more comfort with having more people around"

"That sounds good. Go get Adella, and we'll be waiting inside"

Jason, Courtney, and Carly stepped up to the front of the house and nodded at the guard. Courtney grabbed Jason's hand and he squeezed it to assure her he was with her. The finally walked in

Courtney: Hi everyone

Caroline: MOM!

Logan: Dad! Ah you guys are finally home. We've been freaking out about what's going on. So what is it? What happened?

Courtney: Hold on one second Lo. Uncle Sonny just went to go get Adella and then we'll all talk

Caroline: All of us being talked to together is not good. Something's up, we know that. So someone's hurt or we did something. Logan and I haven't

JJ: How would you know what Logan's done?

Caroline: We're sisters, we tell each other everything and I can tell when she's lying. So, Lo and I haven't done anything, Emme never does anything

Emme: Thanks Carr

Caroline: Welcome. Everyone else is probably fine too, since Logan and I are always the only two to do anything "bad" besides… Matthew. Where is he mom?

Sonny and Adella then walked in. Adella took a seat next to Logan and Sonny stood behind Carly and placed a hand on Courtney's shoulder to let her know he was there and with her. She appreciated it.

"Alright, you guys are too smart and you know something's going on, so I'm just going to tell you" Courtney began. "Tonight, Matthew got into a car accident"

"Oh My G-d, is he ok?" Emme asked

"He was speeding with one of his friends from the soccer team. Matthew lost control of the car and hit the guardrail and later the electrical box. His friend, Kyle, pulled him out of the car where he was conscious." Courtney began to almost lose it, but she held herself together. She just needed to say it. Her kids had a right to know. "Then he lost consciousness. He was brought into the Emergency Room at General Hospital, but it was too late. I'm so sorry guys, but Matthew's gone"

"G-gone? What do you mean gone? Like from GH? Gone from Port Charles? Gone from what? What do you mean?" Caroline almost shouted

"He's dead. That's what I mean"

"No, no, he's not. He's not dead. Matthew can't be dead" Caroline cried.

Courtney pulled her daughter into her chest and they both cried. Emme also started crying along side her twin JJ and they both held on to each other. She was tempted to go to Blake, but right now she really needed family, and her best friend, her twin brother was the most logical shoulder to lean on. Besides, revealing her feelings for Blake right now would not be very smart.

Logan, the girl who prided herself on being independent and grown-up, suddenly became the little girl everyone knew she still partly was and ran over to Jason to cry with him. Adella ran to Sonny and Carly while Morgan, Michael, and Kristina sat there astonished, not even realizing all the tears that were freely flowing.

"I can't believe this. Why did this happen? He was so young, and he was going to do so many good things in this world. This isn't fair" Caroline cried to Courtney

"Oh baby I know. I've been saying that all night, but I don't have an answer to why and I never will" Courtney told her

"Daddy?"

"Yeah Logan?"

"I miss him so much already"

"I know baby, so do I"

"I guess it's true that you don't realize what you've got until it's gone"

"That's not all true. You've always loved your big brother and appreciated him. For brother and sister you two got along really well" Jason told her

"I loved him and looked up to him so much. He's supposed to come to my soccer game tomorrow. Matt told me he would skip practice to see it, no matter what the consequences between he and his coach were. I loved that about him."

Jason looked at his little girl and realized she was exactly that: a little girl. And if it was up to him, she was going to stay that way forever. Jason then turned to see his oldest little girl balling her eyes out into the arms of his oldest son. Logan could see that he needed to go see her siblings, so she let go to walk towards Adella. Jason walked towards Emme and JJ when Emme ran into his arms when he opened them.

"Adella, I can't believe this" Logan told her cousin, best friend, and twin sister without really being her twin sister

"Me neither Lo. Matthew was like a big brother to me. I hate that he's gone. A part of me doesn't really believe it. Like, he was so young and had so much ahead of him and it's all over? That doesn't seem possible"

"Tell me about it. Della, I miss Matthew. I only found out about this a few minutes ago and I already have a big empty hole in my heart. My brother's dead. My big brother, the kid, because he was just a kid, whom I looked up to, is gone and he's never coming back. I don't know if I can live with that"

"I know, I know" Adella told her cousin, best friend, and twin sister without really being her twin sister, then pulled her into a warm embrace. They stayed that way for a while, not letting go for fear one of them would disappear if they did. One loss was more than enough.

"Look, I don't mean to ruin the whole mood here, but I've got to ask" Caroline began. She was taking this all pretty hard. She and Matthew were especially close.

"Ask anything you want" Courtney told her while tucking a piece of Caroline's platinum blonde locks behind her ear.

"You said it was a car accident, but did this have anything to do with the business?"

"That is a completely reasonable question Caroline, but we don't know for sure. BUT, we don't think it was" Jason told her

"So it was just Matthew being an irresponsible teenage driver? Another teenage statistic? I thought he was better than that" Logan said as she pulled away from Adella

"Look, Matthew shouldn't have been speeding, no doubt about that. But don't be angry with him Logan. I know that there is a part of in all of you that is angry with him, but you can't be. We just need to celebrate the life that he had and stick together. We'll get through this as a family, I promise" Sonny assured his young niece.

"You can't promise something like that Uncle Sonny" Logan spit back

"I can do whatever I want. You should know that by now" Sonny said while winking at her. Logan walked over to him and Sonny pulled her into a hug. Logan had always been a 3rd daughter to him. He was close with Emme and Caroline of course, but Logan he always had a connection to. Maybe it was because of Logan and Adella, or maybe it was something else. But he was going to protect this little girl and the rest of the family as an honor to Matthew. Another Corinthos-Morgan child would not be lost; Sonny would make sure of it. And Logan was wrong… he can make that promise.