Queen of the Elven City- Maybe you should do a little bit of both? That's my suggestion, at least.

Story-

Kelly's-

Morgan was fussy, as was expected with a child of his age. Many people who had come into the restaurant were entranced by the sight of the little baby that was so carefully placed safely in open view. Even with Mike busy in the back frequently cooking up the many orders that were filled, Elizabeth was always there. And Mike knew that she would not allow her newly reacquired nephew by marriage to have any harm come to him. Mike always wished, from the moment he met Elizabeth, that the child she was going to have would not have met the fate that it did. He was fully aware of the fact that the child was also going to be Ric's, but nobody could be faulted for who their parents were, and Elizabeth, of all people, deserved some chance at happiness in her life. While Mike was still very surprised that she attempted to find such happiness once more with a man who had only brought her much pain he realized that it was not his call to make, because if it was his call to make there would likely be no chance in hell that he would have allowed her to be with Ric again. It was sad that Elizabeth's parents weren't in her life as much as they should have been. Audrey was there, and even she had just allowed Ric to infiltrate their lives once again so casually, but Mike had made a mess of his own family once before, it really did not give him much room to talk about other people, and he understood that. It didn't keep him from having an opinion, it merely kept him from vocally expressing it very much.

One other thing that had changed Mike's perspective of Ric was the way that Damian would always defend him. The way that the boy would go out of his way to try and make sure that the black sheep of their twisted little family wasn't put out so far into the open area to be shot. Mike would never forget the way that his grandson looked when he finally made a stand against all the potshots that were taken at Ric by him and everyone else. The way that he pleaded with them to at least be civil about him, to treat him like a human. Damian fully understood Ric's faults, even if he wasn't there to see them. Had he been there he might have thought differently. Had Damian been there… maybe things would have turned out better. Family was so important to the boy, on some levels even more important than the idea of family was to his own father, who lived by it like it was gospel. That infectious type of family yearning might have rubbed off on all of them and saved them a world of hurt. But it didn't go that way, and there was still so much pain in all their hearts. Damian's zeal for togetherness may have rubbed off, but it was not in any way a white-wash.

Mike returned out of the back to see Morgan, who was still looking like he was upset about something. Mike thought about what it could have been and when he tried the usual suspects and came up with nothing he found himself at a point in his life where he didn't really know what he needed to do about it. But Mike knew what was going on, or at least thought he did. Morgan was a smart child, just like his brothers, and babies always had a way of knowing what was going on, even if they weren't able to truly comprehend it. He missed his mother, and he was worried about her. Mike could completely relate to the second feeling, because he also worried about Carly.

Carly was a strange woman, Mike always knew that, but she was not a bad person, despite the claims that many had made. She was just confused and hurt and she was the type of person who would do something that was completely idiotic just to prove a point. Together those qualities were often things that were bad, but in Carly, Mike saw something else. Mike saw what Carly truly was. Just a child who was looking for the love that she had lost when she was a little girl, looking for some sort of acceptance. Mike may not have been a little boy, but in some way he was doing the same thing with Sonny, trying to move mountains in order to bridge the gap that had been left in the wake of Mike's singular mistake in life. The one thing that could never be forgotten, taken back in any way. In a lot of ways, Mike understood Carly better than most, even Sonny on some level.

"I know you're worried about your mother, Morgan. But you have to have some faith in mommy right now, okay? And you have to remember that no matter what she's going through she will always put you and Michael at the front of her heart. You make her who she is, you help her through everything. Keep on doing that and I know you're going to be fine." His words were laced with that inwardly inherited quality that came when a man became a grandfather, that sort of blind trust that was placed in a man, especially when a child was young. Sonny had that trust once, and it had been betrayed. Mike was determined not to let that happen again, even if it meant losing everything that he once considered worthwhile, like his gambling habits and the various other vices that threatened to consume him.

"Here you go, Morgan," Elizabeth handed the bottle over to him and smiled. "I managed to grab some of the orange juice we had left over from earlier today, and I remember how your big brother told me how much you loved orange juice…" when the baby placed his mouth to the teat of the bottle, Elizabeth's smile widened. Morgan meant a lot to her, in ways that she didn't really understand. Part of it was because of what she could have had, both with the baby, had Ric's plan succeeded, and what she lost with her own child. Even in the end, however, Elizabeth knew in her heart that she would not have allowed the child to stay with her, had she ever found out. Carly may not have been her favorite person, but she never should have been denied such a chance to nurture her own child. Elizabeth had apparently blocked out the part of her memory that would have reminded her that the plot called for Carly to be killed.

"You really are great with him." Mike observed.

"Babies are pretty easy to please, at times. I mean, I haven't been around a lot of babies in my life, most of my friends are still single, or at least they don't have kids, but sometimes I would see people with babies, especially when I was younger, my parents' friends, and I would watch. I always knew I wanted to be a mother…" that final admittance seemed to open a door that she would have rather stayed locked, but she kept it hidden well. The only demons she needed to confront were her own, and she knew how to handle them. "I just wish I knew where Carly was… that was so odd of her to just dump the poor kid on you. Inconsiderate, too."

"She was talking to Bobbie, and I know that they've needed to talk for a few days… maybe something that was said ruffled some feathers. I haven't even spoken with Bobbie recently, either. I didn't even see her once Carly left."

"Still… she shouldn't have done that. Who would abandon such a wonderful little child like this?"

"I could have sent him with his brother… but everything that happened…" Mike wasn't even around for the fight, he was in the back, in the freezer, where the sounds were muffled. "Morgan must have been so scared."

"I know I was," Elizabeth had known Maxie for a long time, and she had never seen the girl so consumed with rage and hatred. It was understandable, at least on some level. Elizabeth was fully aware of Brook's intentions in stealing Damian away, and, with the two of them broken up Maxie needed some sort of catharsis, even if it wasn't all that healthy. "It took me a few minutes to calm him down, but I had to deal with making sure that nothing was broken here…"

"I still think you should have let me talk to Maxie. I mean… we're connected to each other, at least through him."

Elizabeth had not broken her vow to Ric, and by default to Damian, by telling Mike what had transpired in the relationship between his grandson and Maxie, but she had wanted to. She felt that Mike had a right to know, although the right to know did not fall upon her to tell him. "At times like that it's often best just to let the person be alone and deal with their own thoughts for a little while. They might need to take some time and adjust to everything that they've done and said. She was better off alone. Trust me."

"I do trust you, Elizabeth. I just wish that I could have done something to help…"

"You never know, you might get your chance."

At that moment another person walked into Kelly's, it was Sonny, who was busy dealing with his own problems and wondered why he had missed so many calls from his father in such a short amount of time. Eventually, he decided to just go over instead of calling, figuring it was better. "Mike… what's up?"

"I need you to pick up a package that was sent here…"

"Why would anyone leave a package for me here? They know that they can just drop it off at the Penthouse, or even the warehouse where the coffee is." Mike and Elizabeth parted like the red sea, revealing the very noticeable child that was in the carrier. Sonny stood there, dumbfounded for a moment, before he spoke again, "Why is my son here? Is Carly here, too?"

"She was… earlier…"

"Mike, don't give me any cryptic answers right now. If there's something wrong with my wife you need to tell me!"

"I don't know what's wrong with Carly, Sonny. If I did it would solve a lot of problems, believe me…"

"So what happened?"

"She just came in here and announced that she needed to be alone for a little while. She begged me to take care of Morgan, Sonny. I tried to tell her that I couldn't, but she kept on pressing it on me over and over. Sonny, the way that she looked at me… those eyes… it was obvious that something was wrong. I couldn't just say no to someone who obviously needed some help, especially someone I cared about."

"How long ago was that?"

Mike looked at the clock, "At least six hours ago. I've been trying to call you ever since she dropped Morgan off, but you haven't been answering your phones, both your home and your cell. Is everything all right?"

"I've just got a lot of things to deal with…" Sonny may have demanded that he did not have a cryptic response to his questions, but he was not above doing such a thing to his own father. After all, to Sonny, Mike had given up many rights to actually be an active part of his life. "But I came… and that's what is important."

"Can you take him back to the penthouse with you?" Mike asked. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I love having time to spend with my grandson, but right now I'm a little too busy working here… I can't give him the attention that he deserves. Elizabeth was a big help, though."

"I couldn't just ignore someone as cute as Morgan," she replied. The smile had faded when Sonny came, and it didn't return when she complimented the baby. They didn't hate one another, but Elizabeth had become intimidated by Sonny, even more so now that she was once again connected to him through a marriage. One that Sonny probably didn't even want to have take place. But Sonny did not rule their lives, and he never should have.

"Thank you, both, for doing this…" Sonny walked between them and picked up the carrier. "Hey there, champ. I'm sorry that you had to stay here where you don't have anything to play with, but I'm sure your mother had a good reason for doing what she did…" Sonny prayed that Carly did, because if she just casually abandoned their child for the hell of it he was not going to be pleased. That was not something that Carly would have done, though. No matter what state of mind she was in, Carly always made sure to let people know that she loved her children with all of her being.

"Do me a favor, Sonny," Mike began, "when you find out what happened to Carly please tell me. Please. I want to know if there is anything that I can do to help my family."

"I will…"

Mike looked at Sonny and those deep brown eyes that he had gotten from his mother. Courtney had gotten Mike's eyes, and they were much easier to read. But Sonny's eyes had moments where Mike could tell what was going on inside the head of the son who had been lost to him in a lot of ways. The Quartermaine's had it easy, Jason didn't really remember any of the times that he spent with them. Sonny did, and he could never forget. But, in that moment, Mike saw something that he thought he would not see ever again, he saw honesty in Sonny's eyes, as if he was saying that he would make sure to do what was asked, even if it wasn't for his most favorite person on the planet. "Thank you. I need to take care of something." Mike leaned over and kissed his grandson on the forehead, "Bye, Morgan. I love you."

Sonny was left alone with Elizabeth. They also shared a glance with one another, but they said nothing. Sonny didn't know what to say to her, what he could say. He would be indebted to her for everything that she had done for his son, both as a friend and as a protector, but there was still so much between them that made them completely different people. Without anything to be said, Sonny found no reason to stick around. Instead, he walked along and out the door.

Elizabeth waited for a moment and, upon seeing that there was nothing that needed to be taken care of immediately, rushed out the door to be near him again. "Sonny!" She called out, seeing him turn around, "Wait, please!"

"What? Do you know something?"

"About Carly? No." Even if she tried, she would never understand Carly, she doubted that anyone could. "I just… I need to tell you something…"

"What?"

"He's going to need you, Sonny. He's going to need you to be his father. He's going to need you to help him understand why things happen the way that they do. You need to make sure that you do your best to help him see that there isn't going to be some sort of end of the world, that he is strong enough to beat what is being thrown at him. You need to show him those things, you're the only one who can."

"Elizabeth… what are you talking about?" If she was talking about Morgan then she was obviously out of her mind. Morgan didn't need anything that was being explained to him, not a single thing. He was too young to understand anything.

"Just make sure that you're there for him, Sonny. Because I mean what I said, you're going to need to be there for him no matter what." Letting her words sink in, Elizabeth ventured back into Kelly's. She had done what she wanted to do without breaking her word, and, for Elizabeth, that was very important.