3.
Mornings at the Lovett residence were usually filled with laughter, jokes, and crazy stories. This particular Monday morning however, was eerily quiet. Kristina had slept in the guest bedroom last night. Her conversation with her husband on repeat in her head. No matter how Ethan tried to reason with her, she could not shake the feeling of betrayal. Risking his life was one thing; at this moment she didn't give a damn what he did with himself. But risking their children, the family they had gone to great lengths to protect was mind boggling to her.
Ethan hadn't slept at all since Kristina had left their bedroom last night. Knowing his wife didn't even want to be in the same room with him was tearing him up inside. Yes, she had the right to be angry. He could have exposed their children to the evil that could no doubt still be waiting for them in Port Charles, but he'd been careful. For 3 years he'd successfully maneuvered around the obstacles to check in with Luke. His biggest mistake was checking in on Luke with Aviana waiting in the car.
Aviana's mind was filled to the brim with ideas after the message she received this morning when she checked her Slosh account. Aiden Spencer had heard of her father and he wanted her to come to Port Charles so they could compare notes! But how? She couldn't drive, and even if she did find a ride to Port Charles how would she even pull off getting there without either of her parents figuring it out? It was 2 hours away, she was sure her mom would start keeping a close eye on her now especially so this was going to be a difficult task.
Alex was completely silent. He'd been woken up in the middle of the night to his parents fighting. It happened very quickly but he cracked his bedroom door open and watched as his mom went to the guest bedroom to sleep. He'd hacked into Aviana's Slosh account when she was in the shower that morning and saw that Aiden Spencer asked her to come to Port Charles. If his sister ran away, his parents would only get angrier at each other. Three of his classmates had parents who were divorced. He feared he would be joining their club very soon.
"I have to get to work," Ethan said suddenly breaking the silence that filled their breakfast table. He grabbed his barley touched omelet and took it to the sink. Kristina ignored him keeping her head down as she stabbed at her own eggs.
"Kids you need me to drop you off at school?" Ethan asked wiping his hands.
"I'd rather take the bus thanks," Aviana told him coolly as she brushed passed her father to put her own plate in the sink. She was still angry at him for the way he'd reacted to her following him to the hospital. She headed upstairs to her bedroom to gather her books before she missed her bus.
"I'll go!" Alex said hopping down from his seat at the table.
"Alex don't forget your book report," Kristina reminded him. Alex smiled at his mom. Giving her a hug and kiss he nodded.
"I won't, I promise." He told her running back upstairs to get his book bag leaving Ethan and Kristina alone in the kitchen.
"Must have been one hell of a presentation for you to pull an all-nighter." Ethan told her once the kids were both upstairs.
"You know I really don't think you have any right to use that bitter sarcastic tone with me right now." Kristina said to him clearing her and Alex's plates from the table.
"I don't have a right? Last night you basically told me I ruined your life. I'm so sorry that we fell in love, got married, and raised a family together. Forgive me for loving you."
"Stop it right now! I never said I had any regrets over being with you!"
"Sure sounded like it," He replied.
"The only regret I have is believing that you would keep our family safe."
"Kristina I explained—"
"Your explanation wasn't good enough!" She yelled slamming the plates down in the sink sending pieces if ceramic dishware flying everywhere.
"Whoa," They escaped the lips their kids, They turned to find Alex and Aviana staring wide eyed at them. Their parents never fought. Most of the time they walked around as if they were lovesick teenagers.
"Let's go Alex," Ethan said not even looking at his wife as he and his son exited the kitchen. Kristina shut her eyes as she heard the front door slam shut behind them. Her hands were trembling. This wasn't her, she didn't raise her voice, and slam dishes in the sink, and scare her children. That was classic Sonny Corinthos. She felt sick to her stomach just thinking about how similar they were even after all these years.
"Mom?" Aviana called softly, she wasn't sure how long her daughter had been by her side.
"Mom?" She called again, damn near whispering it this time.
"Yes Avi?"
"I didn't mean to make you and dad fight." Oh God, Kristina thought in horror as she looked into her daughters sorrowful brown eyes, she thinks this is her fault.
"You didn't make us fight sweetheart. None of this is your fault."
"Then why is it so important that Alex and I stay away from Port Charles?"
"Aviana, please not now."
"If not now when? It didn't look like a bad place! Everyone seemed friendly…a little freaked out by Dad being there…but nice." Aviana explained hoping her mother would stop keehadn't caught her slip up.
"Not now." Kristina said firmly.
"Don't you have family in Port Charles? I think it's really weird that my mom won't tell me if I have aunts or uncles or cousins! What about a Grandma or a Grandpa or-"
"Aviana Natasha that is enough!" Kristina screamed not even able to control her temper anymore. Her daughter mirrored her image, her own dark eyes squinting in anger.
"I'm so tired of being lied to!"
"You are a child who needs to stay in a child's place. This isn't any of your business."
"You and dad are both big fat liars! I hate this family!" Aviana yelled back grabbing her books and house key as she too slammed the front door making her way to the bus stop.
Alone in an empty house Kristina called her job and let them know those 2 months of vacation time that she had accrued needed to be used immediately. The tone of her voice concerned her supervisor. Kristina had been working for them for the past 8 years; she could count on one hand the number of times she'd called off from Tannin Cosmetics. She genuinely loved working in their marketing division, and it showed through her dedication and commitment to the company. But Kristina could feel it in her bones that everything was not alright.
She walked into her bedroom shutting the door behind her. She pulled open her walk-in closet standing on her step stool as she moved her shoe boxes aside grabbing a small wooden chest that she kept tucked away. It was the few things she had remembered to pack with her before she left Yale. Little trinkets, her friendship bracelet from years ago that Ethan had given her. A diamond hair pin Molly had given her for good luck Christmas 2011.
Her most cherished item in the chest however was a picture of her, her mom, Molly, and Sam. She caressed the picture of her mom and sisters. God she missed them. She wondered how Sam and Jason's son looked, how Molly must look at 28, what type of grave her sister's had picked out for their mother. Kissing the picture she let the first of many tears fall. Her life was in shambles.
Cameron Spencer woke up on the floor of his bedroom with a faint headache. He must've cried himself to sleep. What a mature thing for a 23 year old man to do. He thought to himself sarcastically as he sat up and rubbed the line imprint on his face from the hardwood floors. He sniffed the air and couldn't help but smile. Freshly brewed coffee was Aiden's peace offering. He rose to his feet and opened the door to find his younger brother at the kitchen table with a bowl of cereal and a large mug of coffee.
"Mornin," Aiden said in between bites. Cameron grunted him a dry hello walking past him to get to the coffee pot.
"Look I know you're mad at me—"
"Mad, disappointed, irritated, you have no idea how many different adjectives come to mind." Cameron said as he pulled out a mug filling it the brim with the steaming hot liquid that could revitalize him.
"I'm really sorry about last night. I swear to you I wasn't doing anything wrong." Aiden promised. He would never admit to Cameron that he heard him mumbling something about Jake last night. Yes, he was irritated that Cam thought he could run his life, but making him upset enough to have another Jake breakdown made him feel like crap.
"That doesn't matter. You were still out past curfew and—" He stopped when he noticed the look on his brother's face. It was going in one ear and out the other.
"Never mind. It's a new day so let's just start the day fresh, okay?"
"Ok. Thanks Cam…for the advice and for letting me crash here." Cameron gave him an encouraging grin ruffling his hair as he walked past him into the living room. Sometimes behind the hard-faced façade he could still see his baby brother in there.
"I'll always look out for you Aiden, remember that." He told him flipping on the local news that showed a whole lot of nothing. Crime rate going down, the weather was going to be in the high 60's, Metro Court was having another fundraiser, blah blah blah.
"Same old same old." Aiden said snatching the remote out of his hand and changing it to the sports channel. "Nothing ever happens in this town. I don't know why they even waste time putting this on the air."
"Believe me nothing happening in Port Charles is a good thing. This town hasn't always been so safe," Cameron told his little brother.
"Back before Sonny Corinthos retired?"
"Sonny Corinthos wasn't the only bad guy in this town. But yes, him retiring was one of the reasons our city's crime rate decreased dramatically."
"So what's the other reason? Ethan Lovett?" Aiden probed he watches as his brother's back straightened.
"Seriously Cam what's the deal with this guy? Was that really him yesterday? I thought he'd like run away and killed one of Corinthos' kids or something? Molly's sister, right?"
"Aiden please," Cameron said not even wanting to start up this discussion. He and his mom had a long discussion after the odd hospital run in on whether or not they should sit down and explain to Aiden what happened but decided bringing up the past wasn't going to help anything.
"What? I mean you and Mom won't tell me anything. That's the legend that he like beat the crap out of her and then fell in love with her and then him and old Helena Cassadine murdered her and ran away."
"Seriously? Ethan didn't kill Kristina Davis. Is that really a rumor? Kids these days, do they even know what a newspaper is?"
"So what did happen? I know there's way more to the story. And don't say you don't know. You remember Jake dying, and being in a bus accident but you can't remember what happened to Ethan Lovett?"
"No I don't. I was like 10 Aiden and—"
"You're lying! The same way mom lies whenever I ask her about it. The only one who ever gives me straight answers is Grandpa Luke."
"Gramps is going through enough right now Aiden. Don't worry him with old skeletons."
"How about Molly? I'm sure she knows what—" Cameron sprang up from the couch and was in his face in a flash.
"Don't ever talk to Molly about Kristina. She's been through enough in the past and she doesn't need a little twerp like you to remind her o fit." Aiden pushed his brother away from him.
"I see I've hit a nerve." He said with a smirk. It was no secret that Cameron had been following Molly Davis around like a puppy dog since their high school days.
"Molly's my friend,"
"Yeah right! You're like in love with her."
"Go get a shower and get dressed for school. I have plenty of clothes you can fit into." Cameron said to him pushing him roughly as he took his coffee back to his bedroom. Aiden sprang towards Cameron's door blocking his way.
"Wow you like really love her? You probably go to bed fantasizing about her. Oh Molly! Oh Molly!" Cameron gritted his teeth trying to ignore Aiden's childish antics.
"Shut up," He told him calmly. Aiden got the hint, quickly dropping the act shrugging his shoulder.
"Alright I'm getting in the shower," He told him moving out of the way so Cameron could get through. "By the way, I'm going to find out about Ethan Lovett whether you like it or not."
Cameron grabbed him by the back of his shirt collar. "I'm warning you if I find out that you said anything to Molly I will beat you to a bloody pulp. Just because I'm on the right side of the law doesn't mean I'm a nice guy. I know how to use my gun Aiden Spencer so don't tempt me." Aiden brushed his brother's cryptic warning off him as he closed the bathroom door…he'd never admit how scared he was. He'd heard stories of Cameron's real father being a little off in the head. He wondered how much of his dad's genes did Cam really have?
"How much do you love me?" Aviana asked as her best friend since kindergarten Kaley took a sit beside her on their school bus.
"What did you do now?" Kaley asked pulling out her bag of makeup that she hid from her very conservative mother.
"For once, this wasn't really my fault." Since she'd received the response back from Aiden Spencer Aviana had been wracking her brain trying to figure out how she could travel out of town without her parents realizing it.
"Kaley, can you keep a secret?" Kaley rolled her eyes at her.
"I keep all of your secrets."
"You remember when I told you my parents never talk about their past? I don't know my dad's family, my mom's family, nothing."
"Yeah I remember. They don't like talking about the town they're from."
"My dad took me there. Well to the hospital there, he told me to wait in the car, but you know me, so I followed him, he found me, I told my mom, they argued. It was bad." Aviana told her summarizing her family's weekend.
"Your parents are like perfect, they never argue."
"Exactly. I've been dying to know what happened to them. Trying to figure out what made them leave."
"And…"
"I now have an inside person in Port Charles. This guy named Aiden, I ran into him and his mom at the hospital and his mom recognized my dad and like freaked out. So I found him on Slosh and he wants to meet up in Port Charles to compare notes." She told her pulling up the Slosh page from her phone.
"He's hot," Kaley said eyeing the brown eyed guy with the chestnut colored hair smirking in his profile picture.
"Ew, I'm not flirting with the guy. He could have vital information on my parents and who they were in the past."
"Won't that make your mom and dad argue more?"
"Maybe…probably but this is important! I have to go there."
"You're really going to go to Port Charles? How?"
"Yes, and I'm going to need your help."
"Oh no, Avi…"
"Look just give me a couple hours to come up with a plan. I promise I won't get you in trouble. If anything you'll just have to pretend I'm staying the night at your house or something."
"Are you crazy?"
"Yes!" Aviana answered giggling.
"Look, I need to polish over the details. I could tell my parents I'm staying over your house tomorrow, and then Wednesday is the field trip to the Planetarium so my parents wouldn't have to know anything! It's fool proof!"
"Yeah but you'd be missing from school, they'll call your house."
"I can sound just like my mom on the phone. I'm gonna call myself into school sick, as long as I'm back before the 3rd day I don't need a doctor's excuse." Aviana explained as their bus stopped in front of Flowerton Middle School.
Ethan threw down the fact findings report on one of his best poker dealers the Mala Suerte Casino had seen in years. After several different odd mishaps at Rocco Montero's table, Ethan was forced to run an investigation on his good friend and was more than displeased by the findings. Apparently, when Rocco was hired, they hadn't done a thorough background check on the man formerly known as Enrique Colon who'd spent 3 years in a Texas prison for being one of the masterminds behind a billion dollar card dealer scheme in Texas casinos.
This was turning out to be a horrible day. Not only had he gotten the cold shoulder from his wife and daughter this morning, but his son had been giving him nervous glances the entire ride to school. On top of the mini war that was brooding in his home, he was now keeping a very close lookout for anything mob or Cassadine related.
He couldn't get his conversation with Kristina out of his head. In all the years they'd been together, she'd never used that tone of voice with him. The hurt and betrayal and disgust, he deserved it all. We made a vow that we would never let our past affect our future, he remembered her saying. He'd broken their most sacred promise, a promise that had kept them safe up until yesterday.
May 19, 2012
You've reached the Davis residence. If you're calling for Kristina, try her cell phone. If you're calling for Molly she is grounded. If you're calling for me, you're probably a bill collector or an annoying salesperson or Diane I'm avoiding you. Have a good day!
Kristina sighed as she listened to her mother's voice on the other answering machine. It was her 3rd attempt to contact Molly or Sam after the incident. Sam's cell number was disconnected, and the lakehouse number went straight to their voicemail. She knew Ethan had attempted contacting Johnny, with no luck.
"Still not picking up?" Ethan asked. She jumped at the sound of his voice. She figured he'd follow her to the train station where she was trying to collect her thoughts so she snuck out of their shared motel room as quietly as possible just a couple minutes earlier. They'd finally made their way to California. At the time, it seemed like a good idea. Kristina was in a state of shock after witnessing what had happened to her mother. She hadn't even had time to process what was going on before they had to leave town. He thought the Golden state would cheer her up in some way. But it hadn't, there was no amount of cheering up that could erase witnessing such a devastating loss.
"No," Kristina answered quietly as Ethan took a seat beside her on the cold bench.
"It's probably not a good idea to go wandering around by yourself."
"I didn't go very far, and it's not like anyone knows who we are here." She answered staring out blankly at the bare train tracks.
"Still, you remember what happened in Ohio. Those guards for Helena came out of nowhere. They could be tracking us right now, planning to murder us as we speak. We have to be very careful love," He replied. He fought the urge to pull her into his arms. Their relationship for the past couples weeks had been a strained one. Their first night away she fell asleep crying into his arms, he would've given his own life in place of Alexis's if it would have erased the pain Kristina was feeling. By the time they woke up the next morning Kristina had tried her damndest to avoid him she barely spoke to him in full sentences.
He knew how it felt to lose a parent. He remembered the days after his parents passed, the numbness, the empty feeling that he believed would never go away. Finding his biological parents softened the blow, yes, but Holly and Luke…or Holly and Robert hadn't raised him. They weren't there for his first steps, or when he was learning how to ride a bike, his first day of school, and his first heartache. Those memories belonged to the Lovett's.
"Would it be that bad?" Kristina asked suddenly, meeting his gaze for the first time.
"Sorry?"
"Them tracking us down and murdering us. Would it really be that horrible?"
"Kristina—"
"What the hell do I have to lose Ethan? I have nothing to live for."
"Don't say that,"
"It's the truth!" She yelled chocking out a heartbreaking sob. "My mom is gone. My sisters blame me for what happened,"
"You don't know that they blame you,"
"Molly does, you didn't hear her screaming at me for baiting Helena. Sam probably blames me too but would never admit it to my face. I'm so tired of being responsible for so much death."
"What happened to Alexis wasn't—"
"If it wasn't for Sam's miscarriage I would've been dead years ago," Kristina continued not even listening to what Ethan had to say.
"So technically my first niece's death was my fault. Claudia's baby, Claudia, Keifer, Mr. Bauer, my mom. Maybe Helena should just end it now, the world would probably be a better place without me in it." Ethan knelt on the ground directly in front of Kristina.
"Don't you ever say that. You are the strongest woman I've ever known. You may not have had the most ideal childhood, neither have I, but Krissy you are a survivor. It may look like your entire world is over right now, but there will come a day when it won't hurt as much. You'll always miss your mom, but it's going to get better."
"It will never get better."
"Yes it will. Let me tell you love, this world would not be a better place if you weren't in it. I know I wouldn't be able to handle myself if something happened to you. Right now you are my life Kristina, and I need you. We're in this together,"
"What are we gonna do Ethan?"
"I don't know, but what we aren't going to do is give up." He told her wiping the tears from her eyes. It was in that moment that he knew. Everything Kristina had told him in the past about burying his true feelings for her were absolutely positively correct.
"I'm so afraid," Kristina admitted.
"Don't be. I love you way too much to let anything happen to you," He watched her eyes widen at the word 'love'.
"I love you too," He smiled at her as he planted a gentle kiss on her forehead.
"Let's go home," They walked hand in hand back to the dingy Lancaster, California motel room they had been staying in for the past week. Both wondering what their proclamations of love meant but neither wanting to probe the subject further. Kristina reached for the hotel key in her pocket when Ethan stopped her. His eyes were focused on their motel door. It had been kicked open.
"Wait here," He whispered stepping inside the room. The room had been tossed, their belongings thrown everywhere. He could faintly hear a scuffle in the bathroom that set his alarm bells off. He backed out of the room and reached for Kristina.
"What's—"
"We have to go now."
"Our bags—"
"Come on Kristina—" She ignored him running inside and quickly snatching a small cedar box from pile of clothes scattered. As she made her way back out of their room Ethan guided her by the small of her back as they ran down the stairs. Although he regretted it at the time, he was now thankful for switching cars in New Mexico. He sped out of the lot Kristina's tiny hand in his.
"They're tracking our calls aren't they?" She asked quietly.
"Most likely," He replied. Kristina slipped her hand out of his pulling her cell out of her pocket. She reached down in the cup holder grabbing Ethan's phone and then rolled down the window tossing them both out.
"We're really on our own now, aren't we?" She asked him. They both knew the level of terror Helena was capable of. If they kept playing this cat and mouse game with her, people they loved were going to start getting hurt instead of them.
"It looks like it."
"So where do we go from here?"
"Somewhere unexpected, if we maintain a low profile we should be okay."
"We could start our lives over and in a couple years, probably return to Port Charles, right?" She asked him hopefully.
"Right," He told her driver faster towards their next location.
He wished they could have kept that promise. Months later when they discovered they were going to be parents everything changed. Going back to Port Charles now wouldn't just risk their lives, but their child's life. Together, they made the painful decision to raise Aviana outside of Port Charles. Vowing that as long as the threat of Helena Cassadine still existed they would never return.
"Mr. Lovett?" His assistant Renee called giving a gentle knock on the door.
"Yes?"
"You called for Mr. Montero, he's in the waiting area." She informed him.
"Please send him in," He told her, popping two pills into his mouth for the migraine that was slowly creeping into his head. What a horrible day indeed.