Chapter 42- Carly and the Chocolate Factory

Nina wanted to check in on Nelle before Willow's appointment on Saturday. Michael came by early to have breakfast with Willow and Wiley before he took the kids to the chocolate factory. Nina had visited Nelle every day since they brought her to Shadybrook. She got on it right away and had a DNA test run. Ava had to sign off to give permission for Nelle to have her cheek swabbed. She was more than pleased to do this because she didn't want to be Nelle's guardian for long. Nina tried to put a rush on the results because she was hoping to apply for guardianship before Morgan. She had run into him a few times when visiting Nelle but didn't utter a word to him, so she didn't know if he had applied yet or not.

Nelle still didn't seem very happy at Shadybrook, but she told Nina she hadn't come across anymore bullies at least. And she even started calling her Mom already, which was music to Nina's ears. Though she still seemed to think Nina raised her and Nina wasn't sure if and when to break the truth to her. She also really didn't know what she would do when she got guardianship of Nelle. She wanted nothing more than to run out and buy a house so that both of her daughters and grandchildren could live with her. But Willow made it perfectly clear she and her children would have nothing to do with Nelle. Nina wondered if maybe Willow would be stronger and be able to get a place of her own by the time Nina could bring Nelle home. However, that would mean Willow and the kids would probably never come to Nina's apartment to visit. It was a no-win situation.

When Nina arrived in Nelle's room, she was sitting in a rocking chair staring at the wall.

"Good morning," Nina said. "How did you sleep last night?"

Nelle brightened up when she saw her. "Hi Mom. I didn't sleep last night."

Nina frowned and pulled a chair closer to her. "Why not?"

"I have dreams every night and I just couldn't bear it last night."

"Dreams? What kind of dreams?"

"It's always the same. I'm holding a newborn baby, then I'm giving him away. Then I'm playing with him when he's bigger, but then I'm losing him again."

Nina's heart sank. "Do you remember what he looks like in the dream?"

"Yes, he has blond hair and the most beautiful brown eyes. But when I wake up, I feel so empty."

Nina felt herself fighting back tears. Nelle was clearly remembering Wiley and he seemed to be her only memory from before the fall. Should Nina encourage her to remember or respect Willow and not say anything?

Nelle shook her head. "But Bertha said it was probably just my longing for a child of my own."

Nina balled her hand at the mention of Carly discouraging her from remembering.

Nelle stared at her lap for a bit and Nina didn't know what to say about the dreams. Finally, Nelle spoke up again, "When can I see my sister?"

Nina sighed. "You see… your sister. She… before your fall…." Nina looked into Nelle's anxious eyes and she just couldn't say the mistakes Nelle made and the fact that her sister hated her. "Your sister, Willow… she has cancer. She's still recovering so it's hard for her get out too much right now."

"Oh. Is she Bertha's friend that I gave my bone marrow to?"

"Yes. You did give your bone marrow to Willow and I'm so grateful that you did. It's still very early, but I'm actually taking Willow for her check up this afternoon. We should find out if your bone marrow is helping her."

Nelle folded her hands in front of her face giddily. "I will ask the spirits to heal her!"

Nina smiled.

"If she can't come here, can you take me to see her?" Nelle asked.

"Uh, well, I think you have to stay here a little longer."

"Oh," Nelle said sullenly. "Okay."

GHGHGH

Nikolas, Spencer, and Trina stayed at a hotel in Santa Monica. They connected with the police for help in finding Ryan and the baby. They still hadn't heard anything new and they couldn't find any sign of Ryan. Portia kept calling Trina complaining that Spencer was such a bad influence on her and that she was missing her classes. Trina tried explaining how important it was for her to help him because he rescued her.

Laura and Alexis also kept calling Nikolas and Spencer, but more just to check in to see if they were okay and if there was any updates on the search. Ava called Nikolas a few times as well and filled him in that she is now Nelle's temporary guardian.

"You agreed to that?" Nikolas asked.

"I did it for Nina," Ava said. "Nelle is a completely different person now. It should only be temporary before Nina… or maybe Morgan… gets permanent guardianship."

She assured him that Nelle wouldn't be coming to Wyndemere with them, so that made him feel a little better about it.

Spencer and Trina would spend a little time on the beach together, but only for short periods. Spencer wanted to be dressed and ready to go at any minute to rescue baby Laura. But Nikolas kept encouraging them to have a little fun and he would alert them if there was any lead.

Spencer laid his towel down on the sand and took his shirt off before lying down.

Trina swallowed hard at Spencer's abs, then she stripped down to her bathing suit and laid a few feet from him on her towel. Spencer kept stealing a glance at her as he laid under the hot sun.

"Did I… uh… thank you for coming with us?" Spencer asked.

"Yes," Trina said. "A few times actually."

Spencer smiled. "Maybe when we find Laura, would you like to be her godmother?"

Trina grinned. "Really?"

"Yeah, I wouldn't want anyone else. I also want Cam to be the godfather. Laura will be lucky to have both of you."

Trina looked over at Spencer. "I would be honoured to be her godmother."

Spencer beamed.

"Say, what's that on your shoulder, Spencer?"

Spencer lifted his chin to check. "Where?"

"There!" Trina scooped some sand and tossed it at him.

Spencer laughed. "Hey, now." He scooped some and threw it at her.

She ran along the beach, and he chased after her. She bent over to scoop up some muddy sand and threw it at his chest.

He caught up with her and wrapped his arms around her. "You've been a naughty girl."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.

GHGHGH

Drew and Scout picked up Elizabeth and Aiden at 1:30pm. They had registered for the 2:30 tour at the chocolate factory and wanted to make it there in good time in case it was busy. When they arrived, they told the reception desk they were there and they ended up going to the gift shop while they waited.

Aiden and Scout scurried through the shop checking out all the items on the shelves and watched the workers box chocolates for all the customers.

"They seem to get along great," Drew said as he and Elizabeth watched the kids.

Elizabeth smiled. "Yeah, they've crossed paths a few times when Danny and Scout would visit Jake, but they've never had a play date for just them. Though play date might be a juvenile term for them at this age…."

Drew smiled at her. "Well, I'm glad we could do this. We should do it more often."

GHGHGH

Michael pulled into the parking lot at the chocolate factory and helped Wiley and Amelia out of the car. He strapped Amelia into the stroller, and they made their way over to the building.

"Will they have lots and lots of chocolate, Daddy?" Wiley asked.

"You bet they will," Michael said. "Just try not to eat too much at once."

Michael glanced over as a familiar-looking Honda pulled into the parking lot. The next thing he knew, Carly and Donna hopped out.

He gaped at them.

"Grandma Carly!" Wiley hugged her when they came over.

Donna wrapped his arms around Michael's waist. "Hi Michael!"

"Hi…." Michael looked up at Carly. "What are you guys doing here?"

Carly smiled. "Josslyn said you mentioned bringing the kids here today. I thought we'd surprise you. Then I get to spend time with my grandkids and Donna gets to see you."

Michael clenched his jaw, then looked down at his little sister smiling up at him.

"I've never been to the chocolate factory before, Michael," Donna said. "I'm so excited."

Michael nodded and glared at Carly. "For Donna's sake, you may join us."

GHGHGH

Morgan arrived at Shadybrook with a single red rose—Sonny gave him a little more money to tide him over, but he also encouraged him to find a job.

He found Nelle sitting in her rocking chair and he kneeled in front of her.

"Hi, Isla." He smiled. "I brought you a rose."

She shifted nervously in her chair. "Thank you, Luke."

He sighed. "I'm going to do anything I can to be your guardian. Nina doesn't deserve you. None of them deserve you. We need to get out of this town and find another commune."

"But… I want to be near our family."

He shook his head. "Is Nina getting into your head? You can't listen to her. They're all evil people here. We need to stay away from them. Don't you miss the peace we had at the friends?"

She nodded. "Yeah, but why can't we live at Nina's commune?"

He threw his hands in the air and raised his voice. "Don't you get it, Isla? Nina doesn't have a commune. None of them do. They just live out their selfish lives and cause problems for everyone. They're bad people."

Nelle's eyes welled with tears.

"Why are you acting like this?" Morgan demanded to know. "Ever since you saw Nina again, you're acting scared of me. What did she say about me?"

"Nothing," Nelle said softly.

"Tell me… what did she say about me? Is she turning you against me?"

"No…."

"Great, now you're ashamed of me." He rose and kicked her bed. "All I've ever done these past couple of years has been for you. No one here cares about you. They all hate you. I'm the only one that loves you."

Tears streamed down Nelle's cheeks.

"Say something, dam-mit!" He lifted her table lamp and hurled it at wall.

Nelle buried her face in her hands and cried.

"Enough!" Sonny had just walked in the doorway. "Get out here now, Morgan."

GHGHGH

Nina sat with Willow in the examination room at the hospital. Willow fidgeted nervously on the table while they waited.

"I'm sure we'll get good news today," Nina assured. Though she was nervous about the results herself.

Willow nodded but remained quiet.

"Are you okay?" Nina asked.

"Just… a little nervous. I want this over with."

Nina reached for her hand and gave it a soft squeeze.

Finally, Terry walked in with Willow's chart.

Willow swallowed hard. "Did the transplant work?"

"It's still too early to know," Terry explained. "Sometimes we see new blood cells starting to return to normal count this early, but unfortunately we aren't seeing any new ones yet."

Willow lowered her gaze.

"When will we see them?" Nina asked.

"Every patient is different, but usually if the transplant worked, we will see a small improvement within the first six weeks. It's only been one week since the transplant, so it doesn't always show this early."

Nina turned to Willow. "But we will see an improvement, we will."

"I'd like to see you again next Saturday, Willow, for more tests," Terry said. "But if you have any questions, call my office or you can ask Britt."

Terry left and Willow burst into tears.

"Oh…." Nina squeezed her arm. "It's okay. Terry said it's still very early."

"But I was hoping for good news," Willow said. "I just want to back to normal. I want to be able to take care of my kids. I can't even breastfeed Amelia because of my condition."

"It's okay. She's getting formula."

"But it's not the same. What if I don't survive this?"

"Look at me." Nina said a tad angrily. "You're going to beat this. I've never seen you back down from a fight, and most of those fights were against me. So, you're not backing down from this one."

Willow buried her face in her hands.

Nina sat on the table beside her and wrapped her around her. Willow leaned on her and cried on her shoulder.

GHGHGH

"Hello, and welcome to the Port Charles Chocolate Factory," a short, stubbly man with a white apron and a hairnet greeted everyone. He couldn't have been much taller than 5 ft.

Aiden and Scout each picked out a t-shirt from the gift shop and wore them. They stood on their tiptoes to see around the crowd.

"My name is Willy—I mean…." He laughed and said in a silly voice. "Billy Bonka!"

All the kids chuckled.

"And I will be your tour guide," Billy said. "Oh, there's the rest of our guests! Come, please join the group."

Drew and Elizabeth turned as Michael, Carly, Wiley, and Donna joined them.

"Uncle Drew!" Wiley hugged him. "We're gonna see some chocolate!"

Drew smiled at him, then looked up awkwardly at Carly.

"Right up here we have our very own Oompa Loompas who slave away to feed Port Charles' sensational appetite for chocolate." Billy waved at the staff behind the window who were stirring chocolate in large bowls.

Carly eyed Drew whispering something to Elizabeth and she raised her eyebrow.

GHGHGH

Spencer and Trina held hands as they made their way back to their towels. Spencer checked his phone but there were no messages.

Trina's mouth dropped. She nudged Michael and pointed to a young woman sunbathing.

Spencer gasped. "It's Esme."

GHGHGH

Sonny pulled Morgan into the hallway and closed the door. "What's going on, Morgan?"

"Your new girlfriend is turning my wife against me, that's what's going on!"

Sonny shook his head. "That's not true. Nina told me that she is angry with how you handled things, but she's being very careful with what she says to Nelle. She doesn't want to overwhelm her."

"Oh, so you're taking her side."

"I'm not taking sides. I love Nina, yes, but you're my son and I love you more."

"What are you ashamed of me? I just keep screwing up, unlike Michael."

"Don't compare yourself to Michael," Sonny said. "You're different people and there's nothing wrong with that. I'm not ashamed of you."

"I should never have left Nelle alone, then we'd still be back in Denver. Or I should've just forgiven Josiah for hitting Nelle."

"Hey, hitting a woman is never okay."

"But don't you get it, Dad?" Morgan threw his hands in the air. "We were happy at the friends. We were at peace."

"At peace? Without your family? Do you get how much that hurts to hear you say that? And what about Nelle? She wants to know her family."

"But Nelle doesn't get it," Morgan said. "Things were perfect at the friends. And you know who ruined it? Mom did. You know, she is evil incarnate. She's self-righteous and she ruins everything. She's worse than all of you and I'm going to make her pay."

GHGHGH

Billy Bonka led them further into the factory and they passed a room with a gigantic tank of melted chocolate being poured onto trays moving along a conveyor belt with no staff in the room.

He led them down the hallway and opened the door to another room. "All, young and young at heart, this is the chocolate-flavoured bubble gum testing room. I want to see a line up, youngest to oldest."

Aiden, Scout, Wiley, and Donna lined up. Michael stood off to the side with Carly and the stroller. Carly kept trying to talk to Michael about how he keeps ignoring her phone calls, but he just stared off annoyed.

"You know, this was supposed to be my visit with the kids, not a time to hear you complain," Michael said.

Carly set her hands on her hips. "And who's fault is that? Willow is the one keeping them from us. I think if we call Diane, she'll help us build a good case so that we can have the kids full time."

"There is no we," Michael said. "I already told you. I won't take the kids away from Willow."

On the other side of the hallway, Elizabeth tugged on Drew's sleeve. "Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?" She pulled him inside the first room with the tank and they moved to the other side so no one would listen. "Why does Carly keep looking at us that way?"

Drew sighed. "I think she's jealous."

"Jealous?" Elizabeth asked.

In the hallway, Carly noticed Drew and Elizabeth sneaking off into the first room. When Michael wouldn't listen to reason, she decided to see what her ex-boyfriend and Elizabeth were up to. She quietly opened the door.

"Is there something she should be jealous over?" Elizabeth asked.

Drew grinned. "I don't know, is there?"

Carly leaned against the machine to listen more closely.

"Well, I have enjoyed having you around lately," Elizabeth said. "Kind of reminds me of old times."

"I feel the same way," Drew said. "You know, I still have your entire face memorized."

Elizabeth blushed.

"If you'll have me, I'd like to give us another shot," Drew said.

"I want that too," Elizabeth said.

He kissed her.

Carly leaned in closer and accidentally pressed a button on the machine. The tank rotated towards Carly and the melted chocolate poured over her, drenching her from head to toe and she screamed.