Part 20

"Why didn't you tell me Zander was the father of Carly's daughter?" Emily demanded of her brother AJ. "Didn't you know?"

"I knew. I just didn't think it really mattered," was the answer. "How did you find it out?"

"I visited Bobbie and Carly," Emily said.

"Oh, well be careful over there, because Zander lives right there in the brownstone. You're just recovering. You don't need the stress of running into him."

"No," Emily said.

Later, Emily was walking along the docks and stopped, seeing Zander below, standing by an empty stroller, holding the baby, talking to Brenda Barrett.

There was Brenda Barrett again, Emily thought.

"One-tenth of a point handicap for the wisdom of age, another tenth of a point handicap for new fatherhood, and I still win 3.4 to 3.1. 3.4 to 3.3 with your handicaps."

"You're brilliant," Zander said, as he smiled down at Brenda.

Emily could not fathom what all this meant.

"We are beat, Ginny," he said to the baby. "For now. I'll study harder."

"She couldn't care less," Brenda said. "She loves Daddy, regardless of his grades. Isn't that so, Ginny?"

Ginny made a noise that sounded like agreement.

"See?" Brenda said, "And I love you too, regardless of your grades."

"You love me when my grades are lower than yours. But let's see what you say when they are higher."

Brenda caressed the baby's cheek, then his. She laughed.

"I love you whether your grades are higher or lower," he said, looking at her with passionate eyes.

She smiled up at him.

Ned was meeting Emily to take her to dinner, and he came upon her just then.

"Yeah, I don't understand either," he said, reading Emily's face. "Brenda can do so much better."

"Isn't that what you said when she was with Sonny?"

"Yes. She doesn't know how to pick 'em. No offense to you, you were a young girl under an evil influence, but with Brenda, well, by now she should know. But she gets worse instead of better. She should have stuck with Jax, of course, he was perfect for her, but she let him get away."

"I think a woman like that could have anybody, and could find somebody perfect again, even if she let Jax get away."

"Yes, you would think that a woman like that could do that rather than hang out with some kid ten years younger who got himself a baby to boot!"

"How long has she been with him?"

"Around a year, it seems. Plus she's had to deal with his father, and his mother, and well, they are no picnic either, it looks like. All I can tell is she has stuff in common with him there. Her parents are like his, is the impression I get from her."

"I don't know anything about his parents. Aren't hers dead?"

"Her father is. I'm not sure about her mother."

"I guess she'll be moving on sometime. She always does."

"Of course. I hate to see her waste her time, though."

Donna Lewis checked into the Port Charles Hotel. She called David Hayward and told him she was there. She called Alexander to tell him she was there. She got voice mail and left a message. She called Brenda Barrett on the chance she might be in the hotel and might want to go to dinner, but got voice mail also. She left a message. Then she went downstairs for dinner.

She had just sat down, when she felt someone looking down on her. She looked up to see Cameron.

"May I sit down?" he sneered.

She got up instead and walked into the hallway, but he followed her. There were only a few people there, but she felt cornered, as though alone. "I don't want to talk to you," she said. She was nervous. She didn't want to make a scene in the lounge or somewhere – she knew he wouldn't, but was afraid he might get her upset.

"I see you're up here again," he said. "How many times have you been to Switzerland?"

"You've been there!" she said. "Over and over. Why can't I try to balance that out?"

"You don't care about your son who was shot and paralyzed?"

"Yes, I do. You don't care about your son who accidentally shot his brother and is devastated by that?"

"As it happens, I have been here."

"Making yourself even more unwanted, I understand," Donna said, boldly. "Why can't you show any affection, any understanding for your own son?"

All of a sudden, it seemed, Brenda was at her elbow. "Good question," she said, to Donna. "I got your message when I stepped out of the shower. It must have been about a minute after you left it."

"I can try," Cameron said, going on with their conversation as if Brenda had not come up. "But it's kind of hard to do, you understand. As it should be for you. When he shot my son!"

Donna froze in terror, thinking that, phrasing it like that, he must know. How could he have found out and how long he had known was running through the jumble in her mind when she saw Brenda step up to him and hit him. She slapped him right across the face.

Donna was stunned, but sort of glad too. She'd never had that kind of spirit.

"How dare you talk like that?" Brenda asked. "As if he's not your son too?"

Donna, having an ally, felt emboldened. "And as if he's not Peter's brother, that Peter loves?"

"Peter is good, kind, and responsible," Cameron said. "More than me. That's why he forgives him, and would let him get away with it."

"It was an accident, Cam!" Donna cried, appalled that he would talk as if it wasn't.

"Of course it was," Cameron went on. "That irresponsible, impetuous, fool wouldn't pay attention to what he was doing"

"You really believe all this?" Brenda asked.

"I know my own son," he said.

"Then how come you let him have a gun?" Brenda asked. "You knew all this, yet you got him into a dangerous sport like that? Maybe you're the greater fool."

"Don't try blaming it on me!" Cameron yelled.

Brenda could see that she had gotten him "Why did you get your kid into a sport like that, when you knew he was impetuous, irresponsible, and all those other delightful adjectives?" Brenda pressed the point.

"He was trained in all the safety rules!"

"Then it was either an accident that could have happened to anybody, or it was you who didn't get that one training session wasn't going to change your son's entire personality and that's irresponsible, and - "

"Stop!" he thundered. "Enough from you, you - "

"Enough for you?" Brenda laughed. "Too bad. I'm supposed to feel sorry for you? What a laugh! You don't stop when you're past enough for Zander, you keep it up."

"Why did you do that, Cam?" Donna asked. "Put Alexander in that position and then let him leave home, when he'd just done a thing like that?"

"Where were you?" he sneered.

"That's not the point," Brenda said. "Is it?"

He walked off.

Brenda knew she'd gotten to him, though.

"That must be eating at him," she said to Donna, still watching him walking off, "for years. He made the mistake."

"He'll never be able to deal with himself making a mistake," Donna said.

"Let's go," Brenda said. "Get something to eat. We can talk about him as long as we want."

"I have to admire you, Brenda," Donna said, when they had sat down in the Port Charles Grill. "I think you shut him up. I've never seen that done before. You drove him away. He always has the last word. He's always right."

"He's insufferable!" Brenda exclaimed. "But I didn't do it alone, in fact, he's always had the last word with me too, or if I did, I only got it walking away."

"I've made so many mistakes," Donna said.

"Don't be hard on yourself. The way he talks is inexcusable! Really, I can't get over it!"

"I should've realized," Donna said. "I thought it was best for them both - and for Peter that I stay with Cam."

"You thought of leaving him when they were children?"

"I did. I was sure he'd take Peter – you know, get custody, and with my history, he could have."

"But you think he'd have fought for custody of only Peter?"

"Yes," she said. "I'll explain it more, later."

Brenda was curious. But she didn't press it, since Donna said she'd explain it, and trying to press her now might move her farther away from wanting to talk.

"You can tell me whatever you want to, Donna."

Donna took her hand. "Thank you, dear," she said.

There was a knock at Carly and Bobbie's door. "Hi, Zander, come in," Bobbie said. He often dropped by when to see the baby whenever Carly was staying with Bobbie.

He had his backpack. He set it down.

Carly was coming into the room with the baby just then. "Letitia took Michael to the park," she said, conversationally. "I just changed Ginny. You always have such perfect timing, don't you?" She smiled, though, and handed Ginny to him.

Carly sat on the couch, and watched Zander – he put Ginny on the floor under her mobile toy, watching her bat at the shapes that hung from it. He lounged on the floor next to her, easily, relaxed, and Carly thought again how there were advantages to young fathers. They could jump up and down and run around easily.

"Your father was here again," Bobbie said, willing to be the bearer of bad news rather than Carly.

But Zander didn't get too upset. He watched Ginny's kicking legs. "He makes it all so negative," he said, still watching her. "Like she's a bad thing to have happened. How can anybody think she's a bad thing? Maybe it is because he doesn't see her." He thought for a minute. "Nah, he's too toxic. Seeing her wouldn't shut him up."

"He said something about how he won't sue us in court," Carly said.

"Which means he will."

"You think so?" Carly said, her voice rising a little.

"Maybe the two of you can go see that lawyer," Bobbie said. "Why go on his word about what he can do in court?"

"That's a good idea, Bobbie," Zander said. He looked at Carly.

"OK, I'm for that," she said.