Jake sits on the cement bleachers in the skate park, his mind playing over his day with his...with Robyn. Its been a couple days since he's seen her and Jake just didn't know if he really wanted to truly get to know her. He had nothing against the kid, but her mother was another story entirely. Sam McCall-Morgan gets on Jake's nerves and the thought of being related to someone with her DNA coursing through their veins...Jake just wasn't happy about it.
All his life he has despised Sam McCall and her daughter in conjuncture. How was he supposed to put all that hatred aside to get to know her? It didn't even take much for him to snap at her. The mere mention of his mother from her lips had him seeing red. He's trying because, for the most part, she's innocent in the whole thing, but it still wasn't easy for him to detach the girl from her mother. Popping open a gatorade, Jake downs half of it, just watching the skaters nailing their moves.
"Hey you." his girlfriend hops up beside him. "Figured I'd find you here."
"Thought you were having lunch with your parents." Jake counters, passing her a drink. "Snuck away?"
"Not really." Emma shook her head. "Maxie's at my house."
"Ah." Jake knew what she meant by that. "You can crash at my place if you want."
"Already told my mom." Emma smirks, downing half her drink. "My dad sort of read me the speech on not sleeping in your room."
"You never sleep in my room." Jake points out. "Why would that change?"
"That's what I told him." Emma shrugs, covering her drink and putting it down. "Your mom's appointment is today, right?"
"Yeah." Jake takes a deep breath to keep calm. "Johnny's with her. He said he'd call if anything."
"My mom's really confident in the protocol." Emma says, hoping to reassure him somehow. "And my dad says that if its a success, they'll be able to operate to remove it completely."
"It has to work first." Jake reminds her. "I'm not going to get my hopes up."
"It'll work." Emma takes his hand in hers. "It has to."
Back in the hospital for the umpteenth time, Elizabeth lays in bed with Johnny sitting by her, holding her hand. Robin and Patrick are personally seeing to her treatment, monitoring the drugs as they start to travel through the IV line and into Elizabeth. Everyone in that room wants this protocol to work, but all are keeping an open mind to the fact that it might not. Elizabeth learnt from the start that anything can happen and she'll accept either outcome, good or bad. Once they are sure the chemo is being administered correctly, Robin and Patrick leave the room to give the two some time alone.
"I'm not sure if I told you or not, but I'm having the Christmas dinner catered." Johnny says, taking her mind off the treatment. "Sonny's joining us with Michael and his family."
"Good thing our house isn't small, huh?" Elizabeth laughs softly, trying her best to ignore the toxins entering her system. "Starr called me, I just wasn't sure if they'd make it back in time."
"They're going to spend Christmas Eve with Starr's family before making their way here." Johnny concedes with a slight smile. "Michael was planning on spending Christmas day with his mom, but she took Jocelyn out of town to visit Morgan and his family."
"Having it catered is smart." Elizabeth agrees, just imaging how her home will be on Christmas day. "You put all the gifts in the safe right?"
"Even changed the password." Johnny confirms, loving that she still makes Christmas something to anticipate for her kids even though they're grown. "They won't get to them before we want them to."
"So...what did you get me?" Elizabeth arches her eyebrow teasingly. "Do I get a hint?"
"One." Johnny shakes his head, smirking. "Its something we've talked a lot about."
"That's not fair!" Elizabeth pouts. "We've talked about a lot of stuff."
"I know." Johnny shrugged. "That's the only hint you're going to get though."
"Fine." Elizabeth looks at him intently. "I won't tell you what I got you then."
"I'm okay with that." Johnny says sincerely. "You are the one with an overactive curiosity."
Sam is looking at Jason like he has lost his mind. On what planet did he think that she would be okay with spending Christmas with Elizabeth and her family? She could hear the words coming out of his mouth, but she could see the look in his eyes. This was the one thing she was afraid of. She's been waiting for the other shoe to drop and it looks like it finally has. With that look in his eyes, she was certainly never going to have his heart again. After twelve years, she still hasn't been able to get into his heart like she did before.
"Robyn can chose what she wants, but I'm going to spend Christmas with my children." Jason says firmly, seeing that she wasn't liking it. "You can either be there or not...it won't change my mind."
"You're never going to love me the way you love her, will you?" Sam voices, tears filling her eyes. "She's with Johnny and you still can't let her go."
"This has nothing to do with her." Jason says sternly, his jaw twitching that she'd bring up Elizabeth. "My children are expecting me to be there. I won't let them down again."
"I don't care what you do. Robyn will not be going over there." Sam says angrily. "She is my daughter!"
"Our daughter." Jason snaps. "Unless you're willing to tell her the truth."
"Never." Sam states. "But that doesn't mean I want her spending Christmas with them!"
"You can't make her stay away." Jason points out. "Sonny will be there. Michael and Starr are coming in with the kids. The house will be full enough that you and Elizabeth don't have to interact."
"That's not the point!" Sam exclaimed. "You are not taking Robyn over there."
"That's not fair!" Robyn blurts out, standing on the stairs. "I want to go. Jake's going to teach me a few more tricks on his half-pipe. I have to go!"
"What?" Sam looks at her confusedly.
"She's learning how to skateboard." Jason explains, handing his daughter her jacket. "Jake's going to teach her on the half-pipe he built."
"And you're not going to stop me!" Robyn says before storming out of the penthouse to go to her art lesson.
Lily's sitting in her bedroom, flipping through her scrapbook that her mother put together when she was just a baby. She couldn't help the tears that filled her eyes whenever she flipped it to a page that had pictures of her father holding her. Why couldn't she have that always? So many lost moments between them, so much wasted time, and all she wanted to do was be where he is. Even after all these years, she just wants her father.
"Lil'." Jake says from the doorway. "You okay?"
"Sure." Lily shrugs, closing the scrapbook. "Have you heard from mom or Johnny?"
"Not yet." Jake walks over to sit beside her. "What's with the waterworks?"
"Its nothing." Lily shakes her head. "Just the same old stuff."
"Him." Jake sighs, putting the scrapbook away. "Want my advice?"
"Please." Lily turns her body to face him. "I feel like I'm going to snap any second."
"You've got great instincts Lil'. Trust them." Jake leans over and kisses her forehead. "And know that we've got your back."
"I know." Lily hugs him tightly. "Is it wrong that I want him in my life too?"
"Its not wrong." Jake assures, pulling away to stand up. "Its okay if you don't trust him. Trust you...I do."
"Thanks, Jake." Lily smiles slightly. "Means a lot."
"Lunch's on its way." Jake says, walking to the door. "Give it about fifteen minutes."
"I'll be down." Lily stands up from her bed. "That girl...what's she like?"
"Too soon to tell." Jake turns to look at her. "I love you, you know that?"
"I know." Lily assures. "Love you too."
"See you downstairs."
Jake could see it in his sister's eyes that she was truly conflicted. He wanted to help her, but he could only do so much before he hits the point where its up to her. She's just like their mother and he knows that she'll figure it out for herself. Walking downstairs, Jake takes a deep breath to steady himself. Seeing his sister in tears never did well for his anger. Every time she cries over their father, Jake wants to pound his face in so bad, but he couldn't.
"How is she?" Emma asks when he plops down beside her on the couch.
"Same as always." Jake slings an arm across the back of her. "She'll be okay."
"So, have you given any thought to the New Year's tournament?" Emma questions, turning to face him. "I know you've been wanting to get back into it for a while now."
"With everything that's going on...I'm not sure."
"Your mom would want you to do what you love and you love to skate." Emma points out. "There's going to be a scout there. You can really win this thing."
"You're not going to let me back out are you?"
"Not on your life." Emma says seriously, pulling out a registration form. "You can do this. I know you can."
"Okay." Jake takes the registration into his hands, grabbing the pen from the side table. "Here goes nothing."
Lily's looking around her room. Her heart and her mind are currently in battle and she just wanted to come to a decision before she completely loses it. She starts to pace in front of her cellphone, not really sure what she's supposed to do, but knowing what she wanted to do. Taking a deep breath, Lily stops pacing and picks up her cellphone. Dialling the number she called days before, Lily waits anxiously as the phone rings.
"Yeah?" her father answers, prompting a slight smile to touch her lips.
"Its me." Lily says carefully. "I'm free for lunch if you want to cash in that rain check."
"Tell me where and I'll be there."
A/N: Thanks for reviews.
Let me know what you think.
-ROCkER