His night was long and tense as he waited for his lawyer to get him out of the police department. They didn't have any real evidence, they never did, and it was a waste of his time being there. Although, this time he was actually glad he was arrested because it gave him the chance to see his son. Granted he would have rather it were some place more pleasant, but it was a chance he'd gladly take again.

He has tried for years to create a relationship with his son and daughter, but it never took. Too many things got in the way and before he knew it, too much time was lost and too much distance created. Elizabeth gave him so many chances to get to know them, but something always came up with the business that he just couldn't take the risk. Then the truth came out and he tried to protect them, only for Elizabeth to tell him to shove it. He didn't blame her and he tried to get through to her, but nothing worked.

So he kept to his life while they kept to theirs. Eventually he grew to accept things the way they are and focused on the family that he still had. Now, to find out that Elizabeth was battling breast cancer and her children having to take care of her, he just wanted to help. Even if she wouldn't accept his help and his son apparently would rather sit in jail than accept something from him, Jason had to find a way to help ease their burden.

Getting home, Jason shrugged out of his jacket and poured himself a glass of whiskey. His daughter, Robyn Samantha Morgan, was most likely washing up for her bedtime with his wife, which gave him time to unwind from the tension his body found itself in. Once he was sufficiently relaxed, Jason walked up the stairs to his daughter's room, finding his wife brushing out the tangles in his daughter's curly blonde hair.

"Daddy, can you do it?" Robyn questioned, wincing as her mother brought the brush to her hair again. "Mommy doesn't know how to do it right."

"Hey, I'm trying my best." Sam says, getting the brush to the tips of her hair. "Its not my fault your curls like to wrap around the brush."

"Why don't I take over?" Jason smiles slightly, walking over to them. "That way you can go relax."

"Okay." Sam hands the brush to Jason. "I'll be downstairs."

"Love you, mommy." Robyn calls out as she's walking to the door.

"I love you too, munchkin." Sam smiles before walking downstairs to the living room.

Jason positions himself behind his daughter and slowly brushes out the tangles by starting at the tips. He learnt the hard way about starting at the top and making his way down. Moments like these had Jason thinking about his other daughter. Lily's going on fifteen in the coming year. Jake's already sixteen. Lily was more accepting of Jason at first, but then she shut him out just like Jake had. He didn't blame his children, he didn't blame their mother either, they just had too many questions that Jason didn't have the answers to. Even questions he did have answers to weren't the right answers they were looking for.

"Daddy?" Robyn says softly, feeling that there were no more tangles in her hair. "Its untangled already."

"I know." Jason chuckles, setting the brush down. "Where would you like to go tonight?"

"Um..." Robyn tapped her finger on her chin for a moment. "Italy. The pictures are beautiful."

"Italy it is." Jason grabs the guidebook from the shelf before laying down with her. "Ready?"

"Yes." Robyn smiles expectantly. "I'm going to be an artist when I grow up."

Jason overlooked that information and began reading Italy for the umpteenth time that week. It seemed that his daughter was just as fascinated with Italy as Elizabeth was. They got through half the book before his daughter was fast asleep beside him. Waiting a few moments, Jason untangled himself from her grasp before turning out the light and making his way downstairs. Once he hit the last step, he found his wife waiting for him with a couple glasses of whiskey.

"You look like you can use this." Sam explains, holding out the glass to him. "What happened tonight?"

"Jake was arrested." Jason concedes, downing the glass of whiskey. "Mac says that it was for getting into yet another fight with Spencer Cassadine."

"Oh my gosh." Sam gasped, surprised at the revelation. "Is he okay?"

"He was released with a slap on the wrist." Jason shakes his head, plopping down on the club chair. "Mac takes it easy on him."

"Then what has you like you are?" Sam questions, eyeing him intently. "You look like you've been gutted."

"Other than the fact that my own son hates me..." Jason sighs, running a hand down his face. "Elizabeth's fighting breast cancer."

"They told you?" Sam asks, her heart sinking a little.

"You knew?" Jason's eyes shoot up to look at her. "You knew and you didn't tell me?"

"She didn't want you to know." Sam defends. "I overheard Jake talking about it and it wasn't my place to tell you."

"You're my wife!" Jason snaps, taking a deep breath to calm himself. "You should have told me."

"I am your wife." Sam says softly. "But I have no business telling you something that doesn't have to do with me or our daughter."

"I hate this." Jason states, pouring himself another glass of whiskey. "I can't even imagine what they've been going through these last few weeks."

"Months." Sam corrects. "She's had cancer for months."

"Months?" Jason chokes out. "How many moths?"

Sam isn't sure she wants to divulge that piece of information, keeping quiet as she tries to think it through.

"How many months?" Jason raises his voice slightly.

"Six." Sam finally divulges. "She's been going through treatment for five of the six months."

Just then, Jason's cellphone started ringing, saving him from saying anything else. Answering it, he listened to Sonny before ending the call and grabbing his jacket and gun. He didn't want to stay there regardless, not wanting to say anything he'd regret. Kissing her goodbye, Jason walked out of their home and got to work on the task that Sonny needed done.

"Mom?" Cameron say softly, walking into his mother's room to check on her like he did in the middle of the night every night. "Mom?"

Turning on the lights, Cameron found his mother as pale as a ghost, her breathing shallow, sweat running down her body. Cursing everything in the world, Cameron grabbed the phone from the side table and called up the hospital to let them know he was on his way. Waking up his brother, Cameron made sure that he was going to watch after Lily while he drove his mother to the hospital. Carrying his mother to the car, Cameron strapped her in and drove as fast as the car could take him to the hospital.

"Lay her on the gurney." Epiphany directs Cameron once he bursts through the double doors.

"Her pulse is really weak and her breathing is kind of shallow." Cameron tells the nurse as a doctor examines his mother. "She just started a new cocktail yesterday."

"She'll be okay." Epiphany assures. "We'll come get you once she's stabilized. You did good, Cam."

"Just get her back to normal." Cameron says before walking over to the waiting area and getting comfortable, knowing that this meant the cocktail was wrong again.

"Cam?" his uncle questions, walking over to him. "I just got the page. What happened?"

"Bad reaction to her treatment." Cameron concedes. "I'm just waiting for the doctor to come back out."

"Need company?" Steven asks, knowing that his nephew was getting used to this.

"No." Cameron shakes his head. "I'll be fine."

"Okay. I'm going to check on your mom." Steven clasps his shoulder. "She'll be proud of you for this."

"I don't want her proud." Cameron states. "I want her alive and healthy."

"We all want that." Steven assures. "I'll let you know what's going on once I find out."

Jake was sitting on the couch in the living room, waiting for his brother to call. He'd be pacing the floor if he wasn't worried about waking his sister. The last thing any of them needed was his sister freaking out about whether or not their mother would be okay. He'll let her sleep the rest of the night through while he sat waiting and silently freaking out. He almost jumped out of his skin when there was a soft tap on the window. Walking over to the door, Jake pulled it open to see Emma on the porch.

"What the hell?" Jake blurts out. "What are you doing here and in your pajamas no less?"

"My parents got called in to consult on your mom's case." Emma says softly. "I figured you'd might need a friend."

"Sure." Jake steps aside to let her in. "Cam drove her to the hospital himself. He didn't want the sirens to wake up Lily."

"I'm sure he didn't want to wait for the ambulance either." Emma shrugs out of her coat, hanging it up by the door. "How about some hot cocoa? That usually helps you calm down."

With a shrug, Jake follows Emma into the kitchen, glad that there are phones in every room of the house except Lily's. He wasn't that surprised that Emma was there. She always seemed to pop up whenever he truly needed her. It worked both ways. He always seemed to know when she needed him when her mother had a scare with her HIV. Her friendship is the only friendship he has that he's too afraid to lose. The rest of his friends were replaceable, but not her. They've been through way too much together for him to ever want to live a life without her in it.

"You know your mom's going to be okay right?" Emma questions, sitting down on the opposite end of the couch, facing him. "She's way to strong to just give up."

"She's the strongest person I know." Jake agrees, taking a gulp of hot cocoa. "I don't know where I'd be without her strength all these years."

"So what happened when you were arrested?"

"I was thrown into a room with the idiot." Jake states. "I swear, every time I see him I just want to..."

"Kick his ass?" Emma supplies. "Maybe you should."

"The last thing my mom needs is for me to be arrested for sending my father to his death bed." Jake shakes his head, downing more cocoa. "If I were to hit him, I wouldn't be able to stop."

"You never did tell me why you hate him so much." Emma says carefully. "You said your mom explained everything, even her part in it."

"My mom may not be innocent." Jake says seriously. "But at least she was here. She is the only one that has owned up to her crap. All he does is tell me how complicated things were."

"And we all know how much you hate that."

"I've learnt something a long time ago." Jake states, setting the cup down before he breaks it. "Complicated translates into stop asking because you won't like the answers."

"Your mom seems to have forgiven him." Emma points out. "Why can't you?"

"I don't want to talk about this." Jake seriously hates it when Emma is fishing for information. It never bodes well for him. "Can you drop it?"

"No." Emma says firmly. "I know that you didn't fight with Spencer just because of your mom because you were gearing up for it way before that."

"I'm not talking about this." Jake says angrily, getting up. "I won't talk about him."

"You have to." Emma stands up, taking his hand in hers. "You'll never let go of the anger if you don't."

"What do you want me to say?" Jake says in a low deadly voice. "I've forgiven my mother, but I will never forgive him!"

"Why?" Emma holds his hands tightly, stopping him from pulling away. "Why do you hate him so much?"

"Because he didn't choose us!" Jake nearly shouts but keeps his voice low when he remembers his sister is asleep upstairs. "He chose that child endangering psycho! My mother was pregnant when he left her! He can't be with me and Lily, but he can have a daughter with that bitch?"

"I'm sure its more complicated than that." Emma can see he's fighting the tears. "I'm sure he loves you."

"If this is what its like to be loved by that bastard, I'd rather he hated me." Jake shuts his eyes tightly. "If I never see him again for as long as I live, it'll be too soon."

"Jake, he's your father." Emma says softly. "I know you...I know you're hurting because of this."

"No. I'm not." Jake states, removing his hands from hers. "My mother may have made mistakes, but she's never abandoned me. I can't say the same for that person."

"Jake..."

"Lily gave him a chance." Jake says bitingly. "She opened her heart to him and he pretty much slammed the door in her face. I'll never make that mistake."

"He was protecting her." Emma points out. "There was a new threat in town. He tried again once it was neutralized."

"He hurt my sister." Jake takes a deep breath. "I don't care what his reasons were. No one hurts Lily and expects to be forgiven."

"I understand where you're coming from, but he's still your father." Emma says softly. "I just don't want you to regret wasting so much time when he's gone."

"I won't regret anything." Jake says with conviction. "His daughter can keep him for all I care. Hell, she's had him for eleven years, she can keep him for the rest."

"Jake..."

"Why are you pushing this so hard?" Jake cuts her off. "You know why I hate him, let it be enough and drop it."

Knowing when to stop, Emma shook her head before sitting down, watching as he downed the rest of his hot cocoa and plopped down on the couch. She hated that this was tearing him up inside because, no matter how much he denied it, Jake wants that acceptance from his father. He wants to be the one that's chosen, but he'll never let himself have that. The hurt ran too deep for that. So, instead of pushing Jake further, Emma took the empty cup from him and went to make him another one. No doubt about it, it was going to be a long night.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews!

Let me know what you think. Have suggestions, lay it on me, I'll try to incorporate them as much as possible.

-ROCkER