Chapter Twenty Seven
The next morning
With so little time left before the holidays, Elizabeth was getting caught up as after her shift she went home to wrap presents. Lately Jason had had a tendency to distract her from her household chores. Oh, he usually helped her get them done, but with the holiday season she had several more than were normal.
"Thanks for letting me come over and do this, Elizabeth." said Nadine who was wrapping her own gifts. "Jax more than likely won't think to look for me here and my roommates are driving me to distraction. Not that Kelly and Lainey aren't great because they are, its just..."
"Hard to get things done." she said in understanding as she wrapped the last of her gifts and heard the timer on the over going off at the same time. Removing her last batch of brownies, she said "I just have to let these cool and move them to the containers and I will be done."
"I can't believe you got this all done today." said the blond astonished as she looked around the room as she saw the containers with brownies and the packages wrapped in gaily colorful paper.
"Well it helps that Cam slept all the way through." she said with a laugh as she looked at where her son was sound asleep in his playpen. "Jason usually has him though."
"Does it bother you, that he said da da first?" asked Nadine curiously. "I mean, I know you were raising him on your own at first because of your grams."
"No, I am fine with it, I just hope he says ma ma soon, the pitiful looks I am getting from people are starting to bother me." she confessed with a slight shrug. "Besides, I think it is great he said da da first. Jason and he have spent a lot of time together since we were able to tell the truth."
"I know, I have heard several of the nurses say that their uterus have flipped when watching Jason with Cam." she said with a laugh. "He is so adorable with him."
"Ssshh." said Elizabeth with a grin as she looked around in pretended fear. "Don't let him hear you say that."
"Are you two going to have another ceremony for those people in your lives?" she asked."I heard Emily being asked by that odd old man."
"No, and Edward had better get over that before Jason finds out. I thought he was playing manipulative grandfather wanting an heir with Steven and Emily. He must have given up." she said with a groan.
"I have to admit, I am glad he stopped offering to introduce me to his grandson AJ. He had the nerve to ask how I felt about being a mother and if I minded a ready made family." she said with a huff as she pushed back her curls. "When I told him I am seeing someone, he said that it wouldn't last long that Jax would go running after that Brenda woman Jax told me about."
"Don't mind Edward, he is trying to cause trouble." said Elizabeth as her eyes narrowed."I will be right back."
With that, Elizabeth went upstairs and called Lila Quartermaine. "Its about Brenda Barrett"
"Oh dear, how did you hear already?" she asked while nodding at Alice who was wheeling her to stop. She was sure that Edward was up to his shoulders in the middle of this mess.
"Hear what?" asked Elizabeth with a drop onto her bed as she got the feeling Edward had done something that he would end up regretting.
"Brenda is in town, she showed up here with her luggage, a huge bag of presents given to her by her so called admirers and just left to go track down Jasper Jacks." she said shaking her head at the nerve of the young model.
That isn't good. Elizabeth listened as Lila spoke then after a few more minutes got off the phone then called Jason. "Your grandfather is acting out. He brought Brenda to town."
"I know." he said in a tight tone not wanting to worry her but knowing when he told her what was going on, she was not going to be very happy.
"How?" she asked then continued as she figured it out. "She is there, isn't she?"
"Yes." he said then told her he would be home for dinner in about an hour. "I have some old and annoying trouble to deal with."
Jason hung up and looked at the crying model standing in front of him. "So let me get this straight, Robin calls you and tells you that Sonny committed several crimes, that I let him go to jail and you are here for what?"
"Jason, Robin has to be wrong. She is all confused, she told me that Sonny hurt your wife?There is no way she is right. Just tell me, tell me it isn't true." she pleaded with him. "You know Sonny, you know that sometimes he does the wrong things for the right reasons."
"Right reason? What possible right reason could there be for him to attempt to kidnap my wife and try to force her to leave town with Lucky Spencer who had a target on his back for killing the son of one of the more ruthless crime families in the country? There is no right reason. Brenda, he did it because he wanted her out of my life and I wasn't..."
"Are you sure he isn't right, I mean look at Courtney, if this wife is anything.." Brenda just knew that there was something wrong with this, there was no way Sonny would do this, no way he would hurt a woman unless they hurt him first.
Jason came around the desk, backed the now scared model up to the wall and said "My wife is none of your business and if Robin told you..."
Sniffling, Brenda reluctantly said "No, Robin said your wife was beautiful and nice and kind. But Jason, there is no way, none that Sonny would betray you, of all people."
"Brenda the door is right there, take it and leave. Get out of here or so help me, I will wring your neck. Sonny is getting what Sonny deserves." he said evenly. "Oh, and don't come back here again."
"I came because Monica said I can't stay at the mansion." she pouted as she asked what she really wanted. "You said I would always have a room at the penthouse."
"I don't own the penthouse anymore and there is no way in hell if I did that I would let you near my wife or my children. Get out, Brenda. If you want to console Sonny, try Pentonville prison, I believe he was transferred there today." he said glaring at the delusional woman. What the hell was in the water, Sam, Courtney, Brenda and especially Carly were all beyond delusional.
"How on earth... I mean we all know Carly owns your balls, What, are you cheating on your wife and giving it to her on the side, like you did to Robin. Is that why she isn't here all up in arms about what you did to Sonny?"
"You had better leave now." Jason said. Taking out his cell phone, he called Mac. "I need to speak to Robin and you had better be there if you don't want me to wring her neck. Brenda Barrett just paid me a visit."
At home a half hour later, Elizabeth heard a knock on the door and let in the model, expecting her to be looking for Nadine. Jax had called the blond and warned her he had tried to gently let down his ex but that she had been all over the place.
"Brenda Barrett Morgan, I am here to see Jason's wife." she said walking in and then around before saying. "Is there anyplace to sit that isn't covered in paper or presents?"
"Hello Brenda, why are you here?" asked Elizabeth bluntly as she moved towards the annoying brunette.
"I came to see the woman who destroyed Jason's friendship with the one person who has always, always had his back." she said looking her over in an insulting manner. "You are not what I was expecting."
"Good, I would hate to do the expected." she said with a raised eyebrow at Nadine who was now laughing at the woman she had been so worried about. Brenda was about her height and much too thin. The layer of makeup and the tightened skin made it very clear she wasn't aging well. But the botox was truly the cherry on the sundae.
"What do you have to say for yourself? I can't believe..."
"Brenda, you are being rude. Let me introduce you to my guest and since we have never been formally introduced, myself." said Elizabeth who heard another knock on the door. Opening it she groaned when she saw Laura Spencer standing there.
"Relax, Elizabeth."she said with a laugh as she entered. "I am here for one reason only, something I found that I should have given to you ages ago."
Putting down her folder, she looked at Brenda in surprise. "I didn't know the two of you knew each other."
"Oh, we don't. Brenda showed up to tell me how I am a bad person for ruining the perfect bromance between Jason and Sonny." said Elizabeth amused in spite of herself. "Laura, however she has never actually been introduced to me, would you please do the honors."
"Certainly." said the blond getting the bad blood even if she didn't get where it came from between the two women. "Brenda, this is the woman who I had planned to replace you as the face of deception until she walked away from the job. Elizabeth Webber, you know her grandparents I believe, Steve and Audrey Hardy and of course, her godmother, Monica Quartermaine."
That got Elizabeth's attention. Seeing her surprise, Laura winked then said "She is also the artist whose work is hanging in Jasper Jacks new hotel. Speaking of your ex, have you had the pleasure of meeting his girlfriend, this is Nadine Crowell, yet another nurse at General Hospital."
"Ladies, this is Brenda Barrett former model, former music producer. What are you doing for a living now, Brenda?" she asked. "I haven't heard much about you lately unless it is in the tabloids for your rather messy love life. Let me guess now that you were dumped by that fake Count who took you for all those millions your father left you, you came home looking for steady Jax and my guess Sonny who has never hesitated to pay you money for your attention."
Brenda choked at the words coming out of Laura Spencer's mouth and turned to see that both of the women were not trying very hard to hide their laughter. "Well, how dare you?"
"Brenda, my son was idiotic enough to first of all kill someone, then to attempt a prison break with Sonny's help then compounded his original stupidity by trying to force Elizabeth to go along with him. Why would he do that? Why not just run? Let me tell you why." she said harshly. "See, Lucky is like his father was, all about saving his own skin. Grabbing Elizabeth, that was because Sonny said he should. So now my son who was already facing prison time ended up with a life sentence. So you don't get to come here and say that that man was innocent. He wasn't, isn't and never has been."
Brenda looked at Laura and started to speak when the blond held up her hand and said"Enough. Sonny is in jail, like he deserves. I don't know why you are in town, other than the fact you are broke, but don't go messing around in things that don't concern you anymore. See, the time of Sonny and his women feasting on the decaying carcases of Port Charles is done. Carly is learning it the hard way, you, well hopefully you are smarter than she is."
Opening the door, Elizabeth said "Well that was a little more harsh then what I was thinking on saying, but I think you get the point. Brenda, I don't know why you came back or what bill of goods Edward offered to you, but you might want to rethink t his visit."
"She will." said a short brunette standing in the doorway looking at Brenda in shock. "I told you you were wrong. Why are you here and why did I have to hear about it from a furious Jason who seems to think I brought you to town?"
"Robin, I just don't believe what you were telling me. I had to see it for myself. How can you stand there, acting like I am in the wrong." she asked completely bewildered. "I thought you were Sonny's friend."
"The Sonny that once lived here, the man Stone knew, yes." she said then continued on"The man living here now, no. He is a stranger to me. I came to town for one reason, no two reasons. First because I wanted to introduce my family to Patrick. The second was to talk to Alan Quartermaine about a plan I had to ask him to reinstate the Nurse's Ball. I changed my mind on that when I found out that the hospital's AID'S research had received a multimillion dollar endowment from someone calling themselves Santa Claus."
Elizabeth knew who had done that and why. Georgie's influence was written all over this plan.
"Then why are you still here, if not for Sonny." asked Brenda.
"Can you to take this out of my house, my son is asleep and the cold air is coming in."Elizabeth asked as politely as possible.
"We will and Elizabeth, I am sorry for the attack she more than likely did."said Robin as she got Brenda's arm. You should know, I still think Jason owes me an apology but I would never have let her get away with this."
Nodding, Elizabeth waited until they were outside then looked at Laura and said "I don't want to sound rude, but why are you here?"
Sitting down, Laura made a point of removing her coat and gloves then said "Just some things I found while going through my stuff that belong to you."
"Well, would you care for some tea or coffee?" she asked feeling a bit odd. Seeing Nadine getting ready to leave, she thanked her friend for her help with the brownies and was thanked in turn for a quiet place to wrap presents.
"Not so quiet after all." she said ruefully then saw Nadine to her car. Returning, she repeated her offer of a drink only to be turned down. Laura looked at her then silently handed her the folder she had had with her.
Opening it, Elizabeth's eyes went wide then looked at the blond "What is this?"
"When I was married to Scott, I think some of his papers ends up in the middle of mine."she said with a shrug. "Those belong to Jason from his mother but I don't think that he would care to see me. I felt you were the best person to pass them on."
Sitting down, Elizabeth said "Thank you. I will be sure he gets them."
"I would appreciate that. I have completely pruned what I had stored here. Lulu is in school in England, I am moving there myself to Cornwall at the end of the month. Nik told me his part in the mess, I am very sorry for the damage that both my sons created. I don't know if you heard, but Lucky, well he is in now life without the possibility of parole. He tried to blame Jason for what happened, but the warden showed me the footage of it. It was clear that my son started the fight."
"Laura..." she didn't know what to say, she felt for the woman but in truth knew that part of Lucky's problems were created by this woman.
"No, no, there is nothing for you to say. I just... I guess well I wanted to say goodbye." with that Laura stood, then leaned down to hug Elizabeth."Be well and take good care of t his family of yours."
"I will." she said then watched as Laura pulled on her coat.
"You know, I will always regret you didn't end up my daughter, but for your sake, I will be glad. Marriage to my son would have eventually destroyed you. He would never be happy, never be satisfied, just like his father."With that, Laura left leaving behind her regrets and hoping for the best for the woman she felt her family owed so much to.
Robin was not happy when she got back to the hotel with Brenda. "I told you, I told you you had no idea what was really going on here. Now, now do you believe me. Sonny did what he is accused of doing."
"But why?" she asked her friend as they got into her hotel room. "Why would Sonny hate Elizabeth Webber and why do you find that wrong. I mean..."
"Okay a few home truths." Robin said sitting her down. "Sonny acts like a jealous lover around Jason. It is why he ended up with Sonny's sister a few years ago. Sonny and Carly pushed him into it to keep Elizabeth away."
"Then how do you know she isn't trouble." she asked stubbornly.
"Carly hates Elizabeth because Jason is in love with her. Carly hates, I mean HATES Elizabeth because she is the mother of Jason's child. She is no longer first and she has always known that when Jason and Elizabeth got together that would happen. Brenda, Jason puts Elizabeth and their son over MICHAEL. Now do you get what Carly's issue is. As for Sonny, he has changed, you yourself told me that when we talked in Rome last summer."
"But Robin, none of this makes sense." she said.
With a sigh, the short doctor said "Yes it does, you just don't want to face it. Go back to the Quartermaines. Lila got Monica to let you move into the gate house. However if you see one of Jason's guards there, you are to stay away because that means Elizabeth and/or Cam are there."
"They are my family, I have known them... well since Jason was a Quartermaine." she huffed.
"Brenda, think, I mean really, really THINK! Elizabeth is the mother of Jason's child. Who do you think Edward, Alan and Monica will chose if a choice needs to be made." she said as patiently as she could. "I assure you, it won't be you and leave Jax alone. He isn't interested and from what I heard involved with someone."
"Robin, I need his help." she said "Jax will help because that is what he does."
Jason left the mansion, after a long talk with Edward who was now convinced he had screwed u p. "So dear, now that your meddling has created an even bigger mess, how do you intend to fix it?"
The old man gulped at the fire he saw in his wife's eyes then looked up to see the oversized maid shaking her head no and just said "Don't you have some work to do."
"Now, Edward, remember, Santa is checking his lists twice, you had better put an end to this bad behavior. You will end up with coal in your stocking." said Lila as she road away.
"With the price of coal nowadays, I would almost prefer it to the tie I always get."he grumbled as he went back to his desk and tried to figure out what to do with the now unwanted guest.
Jason meanwhile had received a call on the guard he had watching Carly and groaned at what the man was telling him. "She is doing what?"
"Sir, she is using Courtney's credit cards and has moved into one of the rooms at Jake's." said the man. "What do you want me to do?"
"Unless she approaches my family, I don't care. Your job is to keep her away from Elizabeth and Cam, otherwise if you see her committing a crime, have her arrested." he said as he got into the truck. Rubbing his forehead, getting his first migraine since marrying Elizabeth, he said "Wait, don't. Let her do what she is doing, then when she has passed the point of no return, turn her in."
Seeing John Zachara waiting for him back at the warehouse, he said "Make it quick, I am having lunch with my family."
"No problem. I just wanted to tell you, the warehouses you were interested in, all but two are free." he stated then told him the rest. "My father arranged for dinners to go to low income families and the various hospitals, emptying out most of the warehouses. Unfortunately, I can't access six and nine. Those two my father has locked up tighter than a drum."
"Okay, contact my accountant and tell Diane to come up with a fair price." he said"Have you discovered where you father is going?"
"No and I am getting nervous, but I agreed to respect his choice." said Johnny who then went to visit his girlfriend. Arriving in time for dinner, he sat through the most uncomfortable meal of his life and having had meals with Trevor Lansing that was saying something.
"Brenda, would you please get on a plane, a train, heck a grayhound bus and leave us alone?" asked Maxie glaring at the former model. "I swear you have become the most self centered person I have ever met in my life. You know, the rest of us have lives too."
"Really, well I am sorry that I am boring you." she stiffly retorted. "Well, we are waiting what could possibly be more interesting than Venice."
Hearing the door, Georgie said softly to Johnny. "Thank god, with dad here, Brenda can't keep going on and on about Sonny. I mean she does realize that the head of her so called gestapo is my father. The police commissioner."
"Truthfully, I doubt it." he said with a wary glance at the woman. "Promise me, no botox or whatever it is she did to her face and lips."
Shuddering, she saw her father entering along with her mother and hopped up saying. "Thank goodness. Mom, Dad have you met Patrick Drake yet. Patrick's dad used to work as a surgeon here in Port Charles, years and years ago, isn't that nice?"
Seeing his daughter's forced smile, Mac was expecting to find that Robin had aggravated everyone, instead it was another long gone member of Port Charles."Brenda, nice to see you."
When she stood and said"Well I wish I could say the same.. I mean how do you..."
Maxie stood, fed up and grabbed the other woman's arm, dragged her to the closet and tossed her leather jacket at her. "Thank you for coming over, I wish I could say it was nice of you to visit, but hopefully the door will hit you on the way out, either way, don't come back."
"Maxie, that is..."Slam! Felicia was a bit surprised to hear clapping from the two men in the room as Maxie took a bow. "What did we miss?"
"Dad, whoever the doctor was that said Brenda was sane a few years ago, you might want to ask Alan Quartermaine to check their credentials, because they are wrong." with that Maxie said "We saved food for you, well not really, we were all just too disgusted to eat. If you will excuse me, I might be able to make it to Kelly's in time for a bowl of chili and a grilled cheese."
With that, the blond went towards the door, opened it to see Brenda still standing there on the phone with someone. "Jax, I need a ride please."
"I can't believe you."she huffed then said "Any port in a storm, right Brenda? You are so needy. I hope Jax has the sense to tell you no."
"He is on his way."she said then told Maxie she had no right being rude to her.
"Hey, that is my dad's house, you don't get to treat him that way in his own home. Go back to wherever you came from Brenda." she said shivering but sticking it out, wanting to make sure she left.
When the limo pulled up and the driver got out, Brenda felt her smugness disappear when the driver said "Ms. Barrett I am from the Port Charles Limousine and Charter service. A man named Jasper Jack told me to come and pick you up. He said you had some luggage to get then I was to take you straight to the airport."
Brenda let him take her to the Quartermaine gate house, then said "I am staying right here. Good night, please be here in the morning, I have a lot of running around to do."
Entering she saw a shape in the dark and gasped when she saw it was Ned. "Ned, you scared me."
"Really?" he mocked."I would have thought nothing scared you. Where is the car you drove off with this morning?"
"I uh, I don't know."she confessed.
"I do, Jason arranged for it to be brought back to the estate. Brenda, I know what happened and that you came home to lick your wounds. You are going to be allowed to remain until Boxing day, but no visiting Jason and his family, no trying to rescue Sonny and absolutely no plotting with Edward." he said standing. "Grow up Brenda, stop acting like you are nineteen. Time has passed on and frankly you are looking a little hard. Find some man to take care of you. Don't be picky and get the heck out of Port Charles."
TBC