UNEDITED
Chapter Nine
Walmart's Basement Boutique
Sam walked into Jason's penthouse with a large smile on her face. She walked directly up to him and gave him a passionate kiss. He was taken aback.
- "What was that about?"
She smiled at him.
- "I just had a very nice dinner with my family."
He was always happy that she finally got the family that she never had growing up.
- "Where did Alexis order from?"
- "Ah, and that's where you're going to be shocked! My mother actually made dinner!"
Jason rubbed his chin.
- "Do you need anything? Pepto? Maalox?"
She slapped him on his chest.
- "Will you quit it? She was so proud of herself! I mean, I even ordered food from that new Indian Restaurant downtown—"
- "The one you've wanted to try?"
- "Yeah. I ordered from there because I was sure that she was going to either burn the food or it would be inedible!"
Jason smiled at her.
- "And it was good?"
She nodded.
- "Yea! I mean, minus the egg shells—"
- "Egg shells?"
- "Well, she made spaghetti and meatballs. Anyway, it was pretty decent!"
He laughed and shook his head.
- "Wow, who knew that Alexis would be able to pull something like that off? That's amazing."
- "That it was. You should've seen the look on her face!"
He leaned in and kissed her. She smiled.
- "I guess it's my turn. What was that for?"
- "I don't know; it looks like Alexis isn't the only person who was proud."
She walked over to the couch and sat down.
- "I guess I was. Anyway, that wasn't the only thing that made me happy. My mother and I talked."
- "What did you two talk about?"
She bit her lip and played with a pillow on the couch.
- "Well, Maxie and I decided that we should probably set up our parents."
Jason sighed and sat down on the arm of the couch.
- "You want to set up Mac and Alexis? Why?"
- "Look, my mother hasn't been in a relationship, rather, a stable relationship in a really long time. I would say that Ric was probably the most stable of a relationship that she had, but—"
She looked down; she was still ashamed over what she had done to her mother. The mistake that she had made with Ric was something for which she would never forgive herself. Jason sensed her discomfort.
- "Sam."
She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. He wiped the stray tear that escaped and rolled down her cheek.
- "Alexis forgave you for that."
She nodded her head.
- "I know, I just haven't forgiven myself for it. I have done some despicable things in my life, and yet the two things that I still can't allow myself to get passed were forgiven by the two people who mean the world to me."
He moved over and sat down on the couch; he knew that the other thing she was referring to was when she allowed Jake to be kidnapped by a mentally unstable woman.
- "Look, I know that I can't tell you how to feel, Sam, but I do forgive you for that. Your mom forgives you too."
She sighed and looked at him.
- "Look at this! You have me crying! I was telling you about my great day—"
There was a knock on the door. He kissed her tenderly before getting up to answer it; it was Alexis.
- "Hi Jason, is Sam—"
He stepped aside and pointed to the couch. Alexis stepped in and smiled.
- "Well, either you're inviting me in, or my daughter is here."
He looked back at the couch; it was empty.
- "She's here."
Alexis snapped her fingers and pointed amusingly at him.
- "She's hiding."
Jason crossed his arms and waited for the impending explanation; he did not have to wait long.
- "Sam's grounded."
- "Grounded?"
She took her jacket off and dropped her purse onto the couch.
- "Yup, for failure to believe in her mother's abilities."
- "You grounded a thirty year old—"
- "Twenty-nine year old, and yes I did."
- "Does that matter? Sam's an adult."
Alexis stared at him.
- "No it doesn't matter; I'm her mother."
Jason knew better than to argue with Alexis about that. She made herself comfortable on the couch.
- "SAM! I'm NOT leaving here without you!"
Sam was hiding out in the kitchen; considering her mother's incredible feat from that evening, it would not have shocked her if Alexis walked into the kitchen to prove to Jason that she did in fact make the spaghetti and meatballs. Because she knew that her mother would not have hesitated to undercook, if she even knew what that was, or add something awry into the meatballs, to make Jason sick for a few days just so he could not come near her, Sam decided to come out.
- "Hey Mom."
Alexis turned around on the couch and smiled at her daughter.
- "Ah, there she goes my prison escapee."
Sam rolled her eyes.
- "Mom, this is ridiculous."
Alexis put her hands on her hips.
- "You ordered out when you knew I was cooking!"
Jason jumped into the conversation.
- "Could you blame her? YOU were cooking. What made you cook in the first place?"
She glared at him for his interruption.
- "I wanted to see what it felt like to fry balls."
Jason put his hands up and walked out of the room. Sam shook her head at her mother.
- "You're kidding about grounding me, aren't you?"
- "Would I have risked my life coming to this place if I was kidding? Nope. Come on kiddo."
Sam could not believe her mother was holding her hostage at the house for the night.
- "Can I at least say bye to Jason?"
Alexis nodded her head.
- "Yes you may, but I would suggest you do it quickly; the pots and pans are getting sticky!"
Sam rolled her eyes once more.
- "Just for ordering take-out, something you've taught me to do for the past I don't even know how many years! You're always saying how we should never trust your cooking of anything outside of popcorn. My goodness, I won't even drink your coffee! YOU won't even drink your coffee!"
Alexis was not really mad at her daughter; she actually just wanted her to, for once, spend a night with her family, especially since she was spending the following day with her. In addition, Alexis did not want to have to clean the kitchen after she slaved away cooking in there; she decided that if cooking would entail such a burden she would not ever attempt it again… unless, of course, Sam was over; she could always count on her daughter to do something for which she could be 'grounded.'
- "Well, that's beside the point! Hurry along; the kitchen is awaiting your return, Cinderella."
Sam walked out of the room to find Jason. She gave him a passionate kiss, passing her hands along his chiseled chest; she hated to leave him.
- "I've gotta go."
He was disappointed.
- "Why?"
She shrugged her shoulders.
- "I know that she can't really ground me—"
He gave her a look.
- "How'd you get here?"
- "Let's just say by way of my pumpkin chariot... also known as a cab."
Alexis called out for her.
- "SAM!"
Jason pulled her into another embrace.
- "Well, try your best to get her a broomstick to ride tomorrow."
Sam smacked him hard on the chest.
- "HEY! I think you've been hanging around Maxie too long."
She winked at him and gave him a peck on the lips before turning to leave.
- "I'll see you tomorrow night."
He smiled.
- "Unless your mother grounds you again for the stunt you're about to pull."
She shrugged.
- "That's the chance I'm willing to take."
She walked out of the room and toward her mother.
- "I'm ready warden."
Alexis gave her daughter a kiss on the top of the head.
- "How'd you get out of the house anyway?"
- "The window."
Alexis laughed to herself; she imagined that had she raised Sam, that would probably have been her chosen method of sneaking out of the house.
- "I seriously am going to have to put bars on your window!"
Sam shockingly looked at her mother, hoping that she was not being serious.
- "Mom—"
- "I'm just kidding. Although, you can tell Jason that whatever broomstick he thinks I'll be riding tomorrow, will be nothing like the one he'll—"
Sam stopped and stared at her mother.
- "MOM!"
She put her hands up innocently.
- "I'm just saying; prison's a tough place."
Sam rolled her eyes as they walked out of the apartment.
Maxie called Robin incessantly.
- "Come on Robin! You like this kind of stuff!"
Robin continued to decline becoming involved in her cousin's and Sam's plan of setting their uncle up with Alexis. She wanted to, for once, prove Patrick wrong about his opinion that she liked to meddle in other people's affairs.
- "Maxie, for the seventy first time, I'm not getting in this!"
- "WHY? This is SO unlike you! I'm totally disappointed!"
Robin shrugged her shoulders.
- "I guess you are."
She hung up the phone.
Maxie screamed at the phone; that had been the fifth time Robin hung up on her. She was going to have to step up her mode of persuasion.
She grabbed her purse from the chair and left the apartment in a huff.
The next morning, Alexis woke up refreshed and feeling great; there was nothing like waking up and having all three of her girls under one roof. She rolled over and looked at the clock; it was ten o'clock; Kristina and Molly were already at school. She and Sam had plans to spend the afternoon together, but since she made her daughter spend the night, she had a better plan.
She got out of bed, and walked into her bathroom to brush her teeth. Once she was done, she went to Sam's room. She let herself in; Sam was, of course still asleep. She passed her hand along her daughter's cheek.
- "Sam, honey, wake up."
Her daughter groaned in agitation of being awoken.
- "Mom, I cleaned the kitchen already!"
Alexis smiled; Sam had cleaned the mess in the kitchen for about two hours before going to bed.
- "And I'm going to assume you did a great job."
Sam opened one eye.
- "What do you mean you're gong to assume I did a great job? Don't you plan on going in there sometime, you know, to check to see that the work you made me do in there was up to par?"
Alexis shook her head.
- "Nope. I'm done with the cooking. All I need is a microwave for my popcorn and leftovers, and a fridge for drinks."
Sam covered her head with her pillow.
- "Go away."
Alexis bent down and lifted the pillow slightly.
- "That's a shame, honey, I thought you would be interested in a day at the spa and shopping. I know that you have tomboy tendencies, seeing as you don't carry a purse… ever… but I thought you'd enjoy a day of pampering. Oh well, I guess I was wrong."
Sam looked at her mother with raised eyebrows.
- "I like the spa."
Alexis feigned a shocking expression.
- "Really? Because I figured that you would prefer a day at the batting cages or something."
Sam hit her mother with her pillow and got out of the bed.
- "I'll be ready in twenty minutes."
Alexis laughed at her daughter as she watched her head into her bathroom.
- "FOR WHAT?"
Sam turned back and glared at her mother before smiling back.
- "Thanks Mom."
Alexis picked the pillow up from the floor tossed it onto the bed.
- "You're very welcome, honey."
- "I cannot believe you're making me do this."
Robin and Maxie walked into their childhood home; they needed to make sure that Mac looked his best for the date.
Maxie put her purse down on the couch and looked at her cousin.
- "What are you talking about? You're the one who's ALWAYS trying to hook people up!"
Robin took her jacket off and hung it on the hook before making her way up the steps to her uncle's room.
- "Will you be quiet and come help me find something for him to wear?"
Maxie squealed in delight.
- "I love it when you're cooperative!"
- "You didn't give me much of a choice, Maxie! You kept calling, and you wouldn't leave my house. Patrick told me that if I didn't go to this dinner, he would."
Maxie was confused.
- "What would have been so bad about that?"
- "That would be suicide Maxie! Mac is not going to be happy with what we're doing; do you really think he'd want my husband, whom he already doesn't particularly care for to be a part of it? I want this to be a success, but I don't want to be a widow in the process."
Maxie rolled her eyes and began rummaging through Mac's closet.
- "Please, Mac wouldn't hurt him."
- "Mac wouldn't hurt whom?"
The girls turned around to find Mac standing in his room.
- "Uncle Mac—"
- "Daddy—"
He shook his head and pulled Maxie away from his closet and clothes.
- "What are you doing in my room? And why are you searching through my stuff?"
Maxie jumped in to answer her uncle's questions.
- "Well, you remember that you're taking us out to dinner tonight right?"
- "Yes."
- "Well, we just wanted to make sure that you look your best when you do so."
He eyed his daughter suspiciously.
- "Are you trying to say that I look like a slob when I go out?"
Robin jumped in before Maxie said something ridiculous.
- "No! No, Uncle Mac. I think what Maxie is trying to say in her snobby fashionista kind of way is that this restaurant is pretty top notch, and um, she wants to, as junior editor of Couture, make sure that you look more handsome than you normally do. You know, because you just never know what paparazzi is going to take a picture of her—"
Mac crossed his arms in front of him; he was incredulous of their excuses. Since the day before when Maxie first asked him to dinner, he had a feeling that she was up to something; now he was more than certain that Robin was in on it too.
- "Paparazzi?"
Maxie nodded her head in agreement.
- "Yup. You know those people who follow celebrities like me around with cameras. Daddy, I really think that you should try and do something like that because I have to say that it isn't—"
Mac tried to interrupt her.
- "Maxie—"
She continued.
- "Safe."
She smiled innocently at her father, making sure to bat her eyes. Robin, on the other hand, squeezed the bridge of her nose, and sighed.
- "Uncle Mac, you know how self-centered Maxie is; can't you just entertain her? For tonight? Please?"
He noted the sense of pleading in his niece's voice. Robin had never really given him too much trouble, so he knew that whatever Maxie got her involved in, she was doing so out of coercion.
- "Fine. Maxie what have you chosen?"
Maxie went back into his closet looking disapprovingly at his attire; she needed to make sure that her uncle was more handsome and polished than he normally was.
- "I haven't chosen anything from these cheap suits."
Robin smacked herself on the forehead; it was astounding to her that her cousin, who was 'married' to a guy who worked for the mob, had not yet gotten herself killed with that big mouth.
Mac did not bother saying anything to his daughter; he was used to her perpetual diarrhea of the mouth.
- "Since I clearly got my suits at the 99 cents store and Walmart's basement, why don't you—"
Maxie was already on it.
- "Don't worry, Daddy, I'm going to get you something. While I do that, Robin's going to take you for a haircut."
- "I am?"
Maxie glared at her sister.
- "Yes, you are."
Robin covered her face; she did not know what she ever did to deserve such a crazy cousin.
- "Okay fine. Uncle Mac, let's go get you a haircut."
Mac scoffed and shook his head.
- "Ooooookay. Maxie, we'll be back."
She held her hand out; he looked from it to her.
- "What?"
- "Daddy, I need money! Suits aren't free!"
- "I know. I wear one everyday for work."
She pouted.
- "Daddy!"
- "Maxie, I'm not giving you any money. Either you make do with what I've got in my closet, or you figure something else out."
She crossed her arms against her chest and rolled her eyes.
- "FINE! You want to look like you've spent your entire day fighting sex offenders and murderers, that's fine! You want me to look bad in front of the many people who'll be undoubtedly waiting to see me at the restaurant and ruin a wonderful career before it's started, that's just fine, Daddy! I'll just move back home and live in my room forever."
He walked over to her and reached into his pocket. Her face lit up, but quickly dimmed when she saw that all he was pulling out of his pocket was a packet of tissues.
- "Oh sweetheart, you don't know how happy I would be to see you move back home and away from that thug you call a 'husband' Spinelli."
He took a tissue from the packet and wiped his crocodile tears.
- "It really does bring tears to a proud father's eyes. Thank you for that."
He kissed her on the top of the head and walked out of the room. Robin laughed and shrugged her shoulders at her sister.
- "Sorry. I'll be sure to give the paparazzi a false lead on your whereabouts before you leave the house. We wouldn't want them following you to take a picture."
Maxie scowled.
- "You're paying me back for half of his suit, Robin."
Robin laughed.
- "Sure! Just charge it to my, 'No way in hell' account."
With that, she followed her uncle out of the room, leaving Maxie to rummage through her father's closet for something for him to wear.
Sam and Alexis had a very pleasant afternoon of pampering at the spa. Sam made sure that her mother got her hair, nails, and feet done. By the time they left the spa, Alexis, while always stunning, looked like a million bucks. Sam smiled at the prospect that by day's end, her mother would be on the fast track to dating the police commissioner.
Alexis saw the smiled on her daughter's face.
- "What are you so happy about?"
Sam looked at her.
- "I just had a really good day, that's all. Thanks, Mom."
Alexis wrapped her arms around her daughter as they walked to the car.
- "You're welcome, honey. I had a great time hanging with you as well."
They got inside the car and headed back to Sam's apartment; she needed to pick up an outfit for dinner.
- "Why are you squirming?"
Alexis had been shifting back and forth in her seat since they got into the car, and more so when they hit a bump in the street.
- "Um, I think there might be some wax—"
Sam made a face.
- "Mom! Seriously? I did not need to hear that."
Alexis rolled her eyes.
- "Look, you're the one who forced me to get a Brazilian! Other than the sheer pain of being ripped bare, I'm a little sore right now, and there might be some wax still… well you know. God, why'd you make me get one anyway?"
Sam smiled as she looked down at her hands.
- "Um, well, you just never know when… Well, you just never know, and CLEARLY that was established the other night with Mac."
Alexis blushed.
- "Don't remind me. And thank you VERY much for the tip, honey! I HAVE had one or two done in my lifetime, I just don't like to put myself in that kind of pain unless I'm sure that it would be for some good cause. Today was just a waste."
Sam looked out of the window so her mother could not see the large grin on her face.
- "It's never a waste, Mom."
Alexis pulled up to the apartment.
- "Give me just five minutes, you don't have to come up."
- "Okay."
While Sam ran upstairs, Alexis decided to call Diane; her best friend picked up rather quickly.
- "Hey Lex, what's up?"
- "Sam's acting pretty funny right now. Has she said anything to you?"
Diane smiled on the other line; Sam had in fact called her and told her about her plan for her mother.
- "Nooo! What's the gossip? Is the little con-artist up to something?"
- "Diane."
- "Lex, you know I'm only teasing. No, she hasn't said a thing to me. I mean, it's not like she and I have gabfests. I like your daughter and all, but seriously, we don't have much in common other than the fact that she's sleeping with the mob enforcer whom I defend, graciously! I wear designer suits, she wears what I assume to be designer jeans. I wear pumps and stilettos, and she wears gladiator open toed boots. You know, I NEVER understood the point in shoes like that! It's really just insane why anyone living in Port Charles, or ANYWHERE in these here parts of the good ol' U.S. of A would ever purchase shoes like that! Oh well, I guess it's all in the name of fashion."
Alexis laughed.
- "This here parts of the good ol' U.S. of A, Diane? You don't like a hillbilly! What in the world has gotten into you?
Diane began tying a knot in the lasso she was playing with.
- "Um, let's just say that Max and I have dressed up for Halloween, and you've caught me in character."
Alexis' stomach turned at the image.
- "Ok, I'm going to hang up now. You, you have fun—"
She heard a 'Yee-haw' in the background.
Diane had accidentally dropped the phone since Max had tackled her.
- "It's time to ride the pony cowgirl!"
Diane pushed him away from her.
- "I'm sorry, dear fella, I only like horses!"
She grabbed the phone.
- "Sorry Lex, I have to go."
Alexis looked at the phone in utter disgust.
- "BYE!"
She hung up the phone; she was highly disturbed by her friend's sexual proclivities.
Sam opened the door; Alexis was startled.
- "Sorry! I didn't realize you were lost in thought."
Alexis put the car in gear and pulled off toward the lake house.
- "Yeah, I just heard more than I needed to on a phone call."
Sam laughed aloud.
- "Did you call Diane?"
- "And what clued you in on that!"
Both women laughed at the ridiculousness that ensued in relation to Diane Miller. In fact, the entire car ride to the lake house was filled with laughter as the women talked about the great day they had had together.
When they pulled up to the lake house, Sam looked at her watch and smiled. Alexis looked at her daughter again.
- "Okay, what's going on?"
- "What?"
Alexis stepped inside of the house.
- "You've been eying the time all day! You made me get a mani-pedi and my hair done—"
- "Isn't that what you do at the spa?"
- "Yea."
- "So? How's that me acting weird?"
Alexis scratched her chin; there was something her daughter was keeping from her.
- "I don't know, but I know you, Sam, you're hiding something."
Sam shrugged and walked toward her room.
- "I have no idea what you're talking about. Now, you should probably take a shower and clean the wax out of your—"
Alexis put her hands on her waste.
- "Sam!"
Sam put her hands up innocently.
- "Your ears, Mom!"
Alexis shook her head and pointed at her daughter.
- "I don't know what I'm going to do with you! But, I WILL find out exactly what you're up to!"
Sam winked at her mother.
- "Okay! Just go take a shower and handle your sticky situation!"
Alexis laughed and walked the opposite direction towards her bedroom.