Samsonlove- I think the thing that makes the fans love Maxie, or at least the Robyn Richards version of Maxie (the true version, in my eyes) is the fact that she was instrumental to the Barbara Jean Heart Transplant storyline which many consider the pinnacle of emotional storylines in the history of General Hospital. Yes, Adella, to my knowledge, has never been seen before or mentioned more than anything in passing, but she is very important to the histories of both Sonny and Ric, so I believe that she should be, at least in spirit, considered as a character that has a little more weight than the people who write the show now seem to give her. One thing about the show is that it doesn't respect its own continuity, and that is highly disappointing.
Port Charles-
"What did Leticia say?" Courtney asked as she and Carly sat at a table at one of the restaurants, their day not even close to being done. There was something to be said about being the wives of Jason and Sonny respectively, they never had to worry about needing to be on a reservations list, especially in Port Charles. And, while they both may have been from the lesser roots as opposed to some of the other people that were around the area, Carly and Courtney fit in, which just went to show that even people who had once been of the 'low' class did not need to be afraid of what could happen to them, that they didn't need to feel like they always had to stay at that low class, because they could eventually get above in life, just like Courtney and Carly. True, some people would make fun of the way that they managed to get the notoriety that they now had, but would they do such a thing to their faces? That was another question entirely, and it wasn't one that would be given an easy answer. After all, who would want to talk badly about the wives of two of the most powerful men in Port Charles?
"Morgan just got done taking a nap, so he's walking around in his walker around the nursery right now. I heard him laughing as he hammered down on his walker with one of the toy mallets that he loves." Carly smiled, beaming like a proud mother. She may have missed Morgan's first steps, but Leticia told her about them, and, in the moment, Carly felt the same kind of pride that she would feel had she been there, or had she seen tapes of the event. Nobody could tell her that she was a neglectful mother. Yes, she did leave a lot of the mothering to Leticia, but, when push came to shove, Carly was there for her children the moment that they needed her, no questions asked. For some, motherhood was a shackle that they were willing to be burdened with. Carly was not one of those people. Her children would come first, but she didn't feel the need to let herself give up everything that she had simply to fit the typecast that society had given her.
"He looks so cute in that little walker, doesn't he?" Courtney asked, beaming with a pride that was similar in many ways, but could not be the same. After all, there could be only one true mother to Morgan, and Carly would always be that person. Courtney was fine with that. After all, Carly was the one who pushed Morgan out of her body, the one who went through all the pain that she went through to make sure that he had a chance at living.
"Yeah, he does." The two best friends shared a moment together, and then it changed. Carly noticed it, in those bright beautiful eyes of Courtney as she let out the faintest glimmer of grief and regret, hidden behind the happiness that was there. Not a fake happiness in the least, but not entirely true. Carly knew what it was that had caused the darkness that had crept forward: Courtney was reminded of her own child, the one that she had lost. The one that would have been raised alongside Morgan. Cousins that would be as close as blood siblings, because of the connection that their parents had with one another. Morgan would protect the child, the same way that they protected each other. All those dreams were gone, and they didn't even know how much they wanted those dreams to come true until the chances were taken from them.
"Don't look now… but we've got a visitor…"
Carly couldn't help but look behind her shoulder to see the man that she didn't want to see. John Durant was standing there, staring at the two of them, staring at Carly in particular. "Do you think we should go?"
Courtney shook her head, "Why should we leave, Carly? We have every right to be here, this is our town, John Durant belongs in New York, Port Charles is our home, we have nothing to hide."
"You're right… but I don't want to be here with him."
"If you want to leave, we'll leave, but I'm telling you right now that I do not want to leave because I don't want him to know that he is having that kind of impact on us. If we show him that we're even a little frightened, he's going to think that he has the two of us where he wants us, and I won't give him that satisfaction without knowing for sure that you don't want to be here."
Carly thought about it. Something about the way that Durant was looking at her made her skin crawl, but her best friend had a point: if she let herself be afraid of him, then that was it, it meant that he would win, and if there was one thing that she didn't want it was to give him the satisfaction of knowing that he had gotten to them. He would enjoy that far too much. She didn't want Durant to enjoy himself, because he wasn't letting them enjoy themselves. "You know what? To hell with him, we came here because we wanted to get something to eat… and we're not going to let him make us feel like we're bad people when we're not."
"That's a good way of thinking about it." Courtney smiled once more as she got up from her chair, passing a dirty look over to Durant before she looked down at Carly, "I need to use the restroom really quick, though. Are you going to be all right?"
"Courtney, I realize that you're the more capable of the two of us when it comes to defending yourself, but I'm far from helpless. I know where to aim, just in case people get a little too rough. And, trust me, if Durant got in my way, if he enticed me, I would not bat an eyelash at hitting him where it counted."
"That's the trailer park in you, girl."
"And don't you forget it."
"You're sure?"
"Yes, Courtney, I'm sure. Go, go use the restroom before you burst, because then I would lose my appetite."
"No you wouldn't."
Carly scoffed as Courtney walked away. That was what she loved about having a friend like Courtney, just someone that she could gab with and not worry about offending. Girls were infamous for having such problems, and she was glad that she had found someone who wasn't like that.
Durant looked over at Carly, transfixed with the knowledge that he had learned. Could it be true? Could she really be his daughter? She looked so much like his great-aunt, the resemblance was almost impossible to ignore. He would have thought about it before, but, unfortunately, he had never really paid much attention to Carly Corinthos, as she was never in the papers as much as her husband. If Carly was the type of person that her husband was, if she was a petty criminal like Sonny, then John would have seen her picture before, and he would have known.
With Carly's best friend out of the way, John worked up the courage to go and talk to her. His jaw still ached from their prior confrontation, but he would manage. After all, there was a good chance that he was going to talk with the woman that was his daughter. "Do you mind if I take a moment of your time."
"Yes, I do."
"I promise that it won't be about your husband."
"I don't care what the topic is, you bastard, I don't want you around me. You're here for one reason and one reason only, and don't even try and make it seem like you're not here to do anything more than take away my family from me."
"Carly…"
"Don't address me like we matter to each other, Durant. We don't. You mean absolutely nothing to me. Now, I know that I can't do anything about you being here, since this is a public establishment, and while you may tend to try and take away the rights of innocent people the law still stands…"
"Your husband is anything but innocent."
"No jury has ever convicted Sonny."
"Because he scares them."
"The same could be said about you, though," Carly replied, showing no fear. Indeed, it was hard to be afraid of someone that she had so much hate for. Why would she be afraid of someone that she just wanted to tear apart into little tiny pieces? There was no real reason. "You scowl at them, hoping to bend them to your ways. I'm sorry, but you won't do the same thing to me or my family."
"Family is a funny word, isn't it?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
John walked away as soon as he saw Courtney returning from a rather quick retreat into the restroom. So much for how much time women spent inside such a room. "I think you should give it some thought, Carly. I'm sure we'll meet again."
"Not if things go the way that I want them, they won't." Carly glared at Durant as he walked away and out of the eatery. Anger swelled up inside of her and she grabbed the glass that had been filled with water, taking a drink and hoping that it would cool down the fire that was burning inside of her. It didn't.
"What was that all about?"
"I don't know, he was trying to psyche me out. It won't ever work, though. I know what he wants to try and do, but I won't let him get inside my head like that."
Outside, Durant turned around the corner and leaned his head against the lamppost as people walked by. It was true, wasn't it? No matter how much he tried to deny it, there really was no way of getting around it. The only person who could tell him one way or the other was Bobbie, and he would find a way to make sure that she talked to him. He would find a way to be certain, one way or the other, if Carly Corinthos was truly his daughter.
Port Charles-
Jason banged on the van that was discretely parked around the corner. It was one of their many little tricks that they used. A delivery truck that was parked by the business in question, the owner being paid a lucrative sum to let Sonny and Jason operate around that area. There were many such vans inside of Port Charles, all located around various hotspots, used whenever they were needed. With the particular problem that they were going through at that moment, the van that was closest to the PC Hotel was the most logical choice.
Stan opened the back of the van as quietly as possible, watching as Jason quickly hopped inside. Stan was one of Sonny's more trusted operatives, and one of the most useful as well. Unlike the hired help that Sonny employed, Stan wasn't the type of person who would go through the rigors of violence. Far from it, Stan was something of a pansy when it came to violence. Brave enough to stand up for himself when it was necessary, not foolish enough to actually put himself into the fray. But, while his methods may have differed from Sonny and Jason's, they still had a common bond, and it wasn't just because Jason and Sonny paid him. He believed in what they did. Maybe not their motives, maybe not their operation, but the fact was that, as far as mobsters went, Jason and Sonny were actually some of the better ones. He was glad to be working with them. Even when he failed, he didn't need to worry about his life being in danger.
"What have you found?" Jason asked, his voice sterner than usual, which was something to take note of, because Jason had a naturally soft voice, even if it belied the job that he did and the cold aloofness that he had made his signature through the years.
"Nothing, really."
"Stan, I don't want an answer like that. Give me whatever it is that you have. I have you looking for any information on John Durant that we can use against him, either in his past, or while he's here."
"I'm tell you, Jason, Durant has combed his record so clean that it seems like it came out of a Disney movie complete with dancing animals and birds flipping the pages with their beaks. On paper, he looks like a Saint."
"Nobody is that perfect."
"Yes, I know that, but you want me looking for something that I can't find. You know that I'm one of the best there is at this particular job, but there are limits to what I can do."
"Then find a way to make those limits go away… until then, tell me what you've gotten from the bug that you had one of the bellboys plant I his room."
"Again, a whole lot of nothing. He seemed to be looking at something, though."
"Something?"
"Yeah, take a listen to this," Stan pressed play on the tape that had been recorded only a few hours before. Durant was not speaking, but he was making noise, as if he was contemplating something. There was a sound that could be heard as well, faint, but when Stan focused on it, it was obvious that the sound came from someone turning the pages of a book. "Do you hear it?"
"I don't hear anything out of the ordinary. Maybe he was looking at a magazine or something."
"No, the way that the pages turned, the sound that they made, too heavy for a regular magazine. A folder or something… maybe he has some information on Sonny, because, whatever it was, it caused him to rush out of the room before he got any food to eat."
Jason listened to the tape more intently than before. Was Stan right? Was there a folder that he had, a folder that could be used against Sonny and against him, or worse, against the people around them, the innocents who they put in danger every time they were around them?