Note: While I've never done this before, I feel the need to do it now. I am taking an extended sabbatical from posting the story as of today. Why? Because I once had a 100 page lead when I started posting, and, due to my own lack of interest and drive, I have allowed that lead to shrink down to just ten pages. This shows me that I need to make sure that I do some mad catching up and give myself time to do some plotting that will allow me to get everything back in order. I don't know when it will go back up, but do not expect it to get back up before New Years. I do apologize for doing this, but it needed to be done.

Queen of the Elven City-

Sorry about not responding to your second to last review, I was in a hurry. Yeah, there's plenty of times that you just are forced to love Dillon, because he is the best.

Story-

Corinthos Household-

It was a big day for Michael. He had his huge math test that he had been worrying about for so long, and it would finally be over once the day was complete. Michael had spoken to just about everyone about it, telling them of his worries, about how he was afraid that he was going to fail and that he would be forced to stay behind in 4th grade. Everyone told him the same thing: that he was just worrying too much and that he would do fine. Sometimes, Michael wondered if the people around him merely told him such things in order to appease him, and then he remembered that they were the people that loved him the most, and that they wouldn't tell him something just to get his confidence up unless t hey were certain that he could do it. With the faith that he had in himself and the faith that they had in him, Michael believed that there was almost nothing that he couldn't do… except find a way to make sure that his family didn't have so many problems. But no amount of power, no amount of wishing could make his family's problems go away. It seemed like every time there was something that was going right the next time he turned around there was that overwhelming feeling of sadness that loomed in the distance. And every time he tried to find out what was going on they would push him away.

"Mr. Man!" Carly shouted for Michael from downstairs, "Come on, I need to talk with you for a little while before you go to school!"

"All right, mommy, I'm coming!" Michael, dressed in his uniform, ran down the stairs, dragging his backpack behind him. "What's up?"

"Nothing, my precious baby boy, I just wanted to spend some time with you before Max took you to school. You know how often you go to school without me even getting to talk with you about everything that's going on in your life… sometimes it happens for so long that I don't even know what you're doing in school. I want to make sure that doesn't happen again…"

"Mommy, I don't get hurt when you don't ask me how school was. Maybe I get a little disappointed, but I can't help it. I want to know that you care about what's going on in my life… but even when I don't feel like you do, deep down I know that you'll always love me."

"Baby…" Carly hugged Michael as soon as he sat down on the couch next to her. "I am so sorry for doing everything that I've done to you. I'm so sorry for neglecting you like I have… I don't want to do that anymore, Michael, I don't."

Michael wrapped his arms around his mother, "You don't need to lie for me."

Carly was surprised and pulled herself away from him, the look of shock obvious on her face. "What did you say to me?"

"I said that you don't need to lie to me about everything. You never did. I know you don't have everything under control, even though you want to make me think that you do, but there's so much going on in your life, there always is. I've managed to understand what's going on, at least a little bit…"

"I don't know if I should be proud of you or angry at myself…"

"Don't be mad at yourself, mommy," Michael begged her. "You and daddy have a lot of things that go on in your life, like when the bad man took you, or when Morgan got sick, and a whole lot of other things that I don't even know about or want to remember. Before it would bother me, a lot… but now it doesn't."

"When did you get so mature?"

"When you told me that you would always love me no matter what," Michael smiled. "I never forgot that, and even when there are days that you look at me and you want to say something but you don't, or when I want to do something with you and you can't… I know that the love isn't something that can go away, love isn't something that you'll ever stop feeling for me."

"I still want to change…"

"Then tell me what I want to know," Michael replied. "Tell me why you wanted to see me so badly. I know that it wasn't because you're upset about not being able to spend time with me before I go to school. I saw you staring at me last night from my bedroom door. You thought I was asleep, but I had my eyes opened just enough to see you. I saw the tears in your eyes, mommy…"

"Baby, there's just a lot of things going on in my life right now. There's a lot of things that don't make sense… and…"

"And I wouldn't understand, right? It's always the same story, every time. I'm too young to understand what's going on in your life, too young to help you… but I know a way to help you, a way that will always help you."

"How's that?"

"By doing this," Michael leaned against his mother's shoulder, wrapping his arms around her waist, "You're my mom, that's all that matters. Nothing is going to change that, nothing is going to make you feel less special in my heart."

"I love you so much right now…"

Damian had come out of his room. Although his emotions were still very erratic he knew that he couldn't stay in his room forever, and, although the shower did not ease his torment completely, it helped soothe his nerves to the point where he could stand up without looking like he was going to collapse. He stayed silent, watching the two of them. Even when he and Carly were at each other's throats, Damian knew that she loved her sons so much. It reminded him so much of the way that he and his mother were, that overwhelming amount of trust and the way that when she said something to him it made everything seem just a little bit better, no matter what was going on in the world around him. Damian wanted that back, but he could never have it again.

Carly did think about telling her son about his grandfather, about how she had finally found the man that was her father, but she knew that Michael put up a brave front so that he could make it seem like things weren't bothering him, so he could try and protect his family. He was so much like his father in that way that it was scary. But, Michael had a big test, she knew that, and she wasn't going to put thoughts in his head that would allow him to fail. "So, Mr. Man… you've got a big test today, don't you?"

"People are worried about it. My friend Matt, he doesn't think that he's going to pass it, and he's worried about what his parents are going to do if he fails…"

"They're going to be there for him if he does, I'm sure that Matt's parents love him just as much as I love you… well, maybe a little less, because nobody can love anyone as much as I love you and your brother… you know that, right?"

"I've never forgotten," Michael finally pulled himself away from her to look and smile. "See? I told you that I could cheer you up…"

"Yeah, Michael, you're the best person in the world when it comes to cheering someone up…"

"You're not going to tell me what's bothering you, are you?"

"Nothing's bothering me right now, Michael. Honest." She wasn't lying, because, at that moment, the only thing that mattered to her was the fact that her little boy was becoming such a little man. "Now, what's eighty-four divided by seven?"

"That's easy, it's twelve!" Michael didn't need a calculator, or even scratch paper, he could do division in his head, as long as the numbers weren't too big. "You can do better than that…"

"I just wanted to show you how smart you were, baby, right before you got ready to leave."

Morgan, who was in a baby seat on that was placed on the chair nearby began to get fussy. Carly turned over to see her other child. She wanted to spend some time alone with them, just in case something happened. Did she expect herself to get caught up in the web of Durant's? No, she didn't. She didn't think that her father would really put her in jail, but there was no doubt that he would try and do something to stop her from keeping his real mission from being fulfilled, and, if that happened… what would happen? If Michael found out would he hate her?

As Carly stood she looked over to see the looming figure in the hallway. "Damian? What are you doing here?"

Michael pulled his head up from the couch and saw that it was indeed his big brother. Without hesitation, Michael rushed over to his brother, "I thought that you had to work until tomorrow!"

"I managed to get the shift off… I needed some time to recover… when you work as hard as I do you can get burned out really easily, so, listen to me kid, when you get my age, when you decide what you want to do, no matter what it is, don't throw yourself into it without any hesitation… take your time, enjoy life… all right?"

"Are you all right?"

"Michael… nobody is expecting you to fix everyone's problems, besides, you're going to need all the energy you have for that test. I don't think all the questions are going to be as easy as the one that your mom just gave you…"

"She's trying to hide something from me, I know it. The way that she's talking to me…"

"Is just the way that mother's talk to their children, especially when they love them as much as Carly loves you. Don't think that your mom has some hidden agenda, because she doesn't. She's your mother, she watched you grow up, she watched you become the person that you are right now… if she wants to spend a little bit of time with you then you really should let her do it. Trust me, you'll miss the moments when you get older…"

"Are you thinking about your mom?"

"I always think about her," Damian said with a smile that tried to hide his pain, but failed. "Again, it isn't your problem, and its better to think about her in a way that makes me sad than to not think about her at all, right? Because, if I stopped thinking about her, then it would mean that she didn't matter to me anymore… and your mother should always matter to you, no matter who you are."

Michael nodded, "I'm going to have Max take me to school now, if I get there a little earlier I can get some studying in with my friends. Are you going to be here when I get back?"

The young man could only shrug, "If I'm not I'll make sure to give you a call and ask how the test went, how's that?"

"I'm going to hold you to that!" Michael laughed as he walked towards the door, but he stopped and looked over at his mother. She smiled and mouthed the word 'goodbye' to him, but he walked over and hugged her once more, "I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable…"

"You never could… not you." Carly kissed him on the forehead and sent him on his way. Morgan, who was still in her arms, had stopped being fussy, and she put him back down in the carrier. "Thank you, for what you said…"

"I just said what he needed to hear, I only told him the truth…"

"No, you saved me from something that I didn't want to talk to him about."

"That might be true, but that's your right as his mother. Carly, I don't know what's going on in your life, and I'm not going to pry and try and get you to tell me your deepest, darkest secrets. I don't think that you would ever tell them to me if I did. All I know is that you're his mother, that's all I need to know."

"I found my father."

"Excuse me?"

"My father… you said that you don't know if I trust you enough to tell you about my problems, well, guess what, I do trust you enough. You've been great to me, even when I wasn't so nice to you. You've tried to be understanding when I wanted to push you away… you're keeping a secret that you shouldn't need to, just so that I can be a little happier…"

"I'm not talking about that… I'm talking about your father. You found him?"

"Yeah… you're not going to believe it, but the guy who helped make me is John Durant…"

Damian gulped, "That… that really is pretty surprising." She had found out? So soon? Damian knew that John knew, but he was also pretty sure that Bobbie would have found a way to make sure that her daughter never found out who her father was. "How did you find out?"

"I was going to talk to my mother again, I was going to try and get her to tell me what she had been hiding, and then he came up and said that he was my father. I didn't want to believe him, but when I asked her she couldn't deny it… so now I know, and I know that she knew the whole time."

"What else do you know?"

"I don't need to know anything else. Someone that I trusted betrayed me, and I don't know if things will ever be the same between me and my mother again." Carly grabbed the end of the carrier, "I'm going to put him back upstairs for his nap… thanks again."

"No problem, Carly." Damian watched her go up the stairs and he was visibly shaken. She didn't know about his involvement in the whole ordeal… but would she find out?