Author's Note: Sorry I've been out of touch guys, so I wanted to drop 2 chapters for each of my stories!

Chapter 6: Company's Big Move Causes Major Complications

"Carly!" a voice exclaimed happily. "I'm so glad you're finally here!" The older woman swept Carly and Joss into her arms as soon as they stepped over the threshold.

"Stephanie!" Carly squealed in return. "It is so good to see you! What are you doing here? I thought I wasn't seeing you until later."

Stephanie pulled back. "Oh, well, I was planning to have Steffy pick you up at the airport, but she said she missed you guys. So I decided I would just have to be your welcome wagon," she stated. "Now, how was your flight? Although knowing you, you took a private jet and it was lavish."

"Shut up!" she laughed. "First of all, when is the last time you flew commercial?"

"Touché," Stephanie laughed.

"And secondly, I cannot believe little Steffy is old enough to pick us up from the airport," she laughed.

"You're one to talk," Steph smirked, nodding behind me.

Carly spun around noticing Michael had entered behind her. "Sorry, Mr. Man," she chuckled. "Stephanie let me introduce you to my kids. Here is my eldest who is the bravest, most wonderful young man you'll ever meet. Michael, this is Stephanie Forrester, one of my oldest and dearest friends. The brilliant & handsome teenager who is over by the door ready to check out the beach is Morgan, but for the purpose of this adventure, he prefers Spencer. And this gorgeous little angel is Josslyn."

Morgan hurried forward to shake Stephanie's hand, as did Michael. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Forrester," they said.

"None of that 'Mrs.' nonsense. Just call me Stephanie." she grinned merrily at the boys. "Not to be confused with my gorgeous, accomplished granddaughter, Steffy, who would be about Michael's age now."

"Grandma, I tried to find your friend and her family at the airport, but—" came the voice seconds before the young woman swept through the front door almost tripping over the bags by the front door. "Oops!"

"There you are!" Stephanie exclaimed, stepping forward arm outstretched to draw the young woman closer. Michael turned to look at the intruder and almost swallowed his tongue. She looked away from Stephanie and her eyes locked on Michael's.

"You!" Michael and Steffy said simultaneously.

"How do you two know each other?" Carly and Stephanie asked almost in chorus, jolting them back to reality.

"We don't," Steffy said.

"But we saw each other," Michael offered trying not to look at the brunette beauty.

"Briefly. We looked up and saw each other through the crowd," she rushed to explain. "If I'd known who Blondie belonged to, I would have come right over."

Blondie? he thought. That's a first. "I still don't know who you are, Bright Eyes," Michael retorted letting the rumor show as he looked at her.

She grinned up at him her eyes sparkling. "Well, we can't have that," she mocked tongue-in-cheek. She extended her hand to me. "I'm Stephanie Forrester, but my friends and family call me Steffy."

"Well, it's nice to finally meet you, Steffy," he acknowledged taking her hand. "Michael Corinthos, Jr."

When their hands met, their eyes locked and it was like the rest of the world fell away again. It was unlike anything he'd ever felt before. Morgan bumped him. He felt like he had been drowning in her eyes and touch, but now he was suddenly coming up for air. As his surroundings came into focus, he caught sight of something that chilled him to his core. Michael noticed his mom was staring at them with a gleam of calculation in her eyes.

Simultaneously, they snatched their hands away from each other.

"Great meeting you," he muttered in a rush. "This is my little brother, Morg—uh, Spencer and our little sister, Josslyn. I hope you'll excuse me. I have to call my girlfriend, Annie… uh, Aggie… Addy?"

"Abby," his mom offered a little too helpfully.

"Right, Abby," he confirmed. "Abby, my girlfriend, whom I'm in love with… Bye."

Michael rushed out the doorway to the sound of his mom and her friend, Stephanie's laughter.

As Carly watched her firstborn scurry off toward the back of the house, she felt her heart warm. She glanced over at Steffy appraisingly. "I miss the days when I had that kind of affect on a man."

"Something tells me those days aren't nearly as far gone as you would have me believe," Steffy quipped with a wink and a confident smirk to hide her nerves. "Not that I have any idea what you're talking about."

While Carly gave her dear friend's granddaughter a look, Stephanie guffawed.
"She's got you there, Car."

Carly had to fight to smother her laughter and when she felt herself losing the battle, she stuck her tongue out at both of them.

"Oh, that's mature," Steffy chuckled before turning to Morgan. "So do you surf?"

"Not as much as I'd like to," he mentioned looking at her with a mix of shyness and hope.

"Well, then your mom has found you the perfect place," she replied with a laugh. "Come on. Let me show you the swells."

"Ok," he agreed with a slight sense of awe tingeing his voice as he followed her through the house. "Later, momma!"

Carly only held her laughter until the door had closed behind them. "I think your granddaughter has another conquest," she smirked.

"Well, can't fault their taste," Stephanie beamed proudly.

"No," Carly replied. "As much as I don't mind her bewitching my boys, Abby, Michael's girlfriend, might have an issue with it."

"How are you really, Caroline?" Stephanie rested her hand comfortingly on her shoulder. Caught off guard, Carly took a deep breath and snuggled Josslyn closer as she tried to regain some sense of equilibrium.

"I can take her now, ma'am," Lupe offered upon entering the foyer from their left. "I'll get her settled in her room."

"Thank you, Lupe," Carly responded handing Josslyn over to her new nanny.

"No problem, Mrs. Morgan," she replied with a smile. "Terrance was in the kitchen and he'll be out to take the bags up momentarily. Everything else should be in your rooms and set to your specifications, ma'am."

"Car," Carly blurted. "All of the 'Mrs. Morgan, this' and 'ma'am, that' is gonna drive me nuts. Please, just Car or Carrie or Caroline or Caro or—hell, I'll even accept Leigh or Lina."

"Yes, ma—Car," Lupe replied shyly. "I'll advise Terrance of the same."

"Good," Carly nodded. "Stephanie and I will be in living room if anyone needs us."

Lupe nodded and took Josslyn to her room while her boss and her friend moved to the living room to talk.

Upon entering the room, Carly walked over to the window and stared out. "I've always loved the beach, you know. The view here is beautiful. Thank you again for finding us this place."

"It was my pleasure," Stephanie replied. "Now I asked you a question and I am still waiting on an answer. Cut the crap, Caroline."

Carly burst into almost hysterical laughter, resting her forehead against the cool glass as tears filled her eyes. "Where have I heard that before, Mom? Lord, that was a favorite of both of my moms. Although, my mother Virginia always tried to be the gentile Southern lady so she'd often try 'Cut the act, Caroline' first."

"Car—" Stephanie warned sadly.

"What do you want me to say, Steph?" Carly raged whipping around to face her friend oblivious to the tears pouring down her face. "I feel like a part of me is broken and empty and dying a little more with every second that passes. And I hurt. God, I hurt. And the pain is worse than anything I've ever felt. And do you know what makes it even worse? It's knowing that it's not all mine.

"I can feel his pain and fear and loss. I hurt for him even now, after everything, Steph. And regardless, all I want to do is run to the airport and take the next flight to Port Charles and love him past his pain… but I can't do that because if I did and he wrecked me yet again, I'd have nothing left—not even for my kids. And they need me, but God, Steph! I fight with every breath not to go to him—to just stay sane through it all… without him by my side. Is that answer clear enough for you?"

Stephanie went to her friend as Carly's knees gave out and she began crumbling to the floor. "It's gonna be ok. I swear it will."

Resting her head on Stephanie's strong shoulder, she finally let go of the last of her control and gave in to the need to break with the deep, ravaged, broken cries of an wounded animal in pain. Carly cried out everything she had held inside for so long—she sobbed mournfully for the loss to her family, for what could have and what should have been, for her kids, for herself, and, of course, for Jason.

"Hey Abby," Michael sighed into the phone. "Sorry about the time, but I just wanted to call and tell you we landed. And that—" His throat closed on him as he tried to say the words that used to come so easily. "—that I love you. Later."

Michael sighed as he ended the call and turned off his phone. He balled his hand around the phone and tapped his head with his fist in frustration. He had been so relieved when he'd gotten her voicemail. For some reason, he felt guilty and confused and he wasn't ready to face talking to his girlfriend, when he couldn't force the image of her face from his mind.

When suddenly he felt her again, he knew he wasn't prepared, but she and Morgan came rushing through the patio doors off the kitchen anyway.

"Hey Michael!" Morgan called out seeing him immediately. "Steffy is so cool! We're gonna go surfing! You should come."

"I don't know," he hedged trying to avoid making eye contact with Steffy by looking toward the horizon.

"Come on," Steffy urged rolling her eyes. "You can call your girl later. It's probably to early, which means she won't answer until lunch. I mean, unless her job allows her to take personal calls."

"Actually, I already called and left a voicemail," he admitted hesitantly showing his cell phone.

"Then you have no excuse. You boys go get your trunks and then join me down at the beach! Unless you're afraid of being shown up by your little brother and a
girl." She chuckled, her eyes flashing with a playful gleam of challenge.

"Ooh, Michael," Morgan snorted merrily. "Now you have to do it in order to defend the Spencer honor. You know what mom would say."

"Yeah, yeah. Spencers never back down from a challenge. So I guess that means you're on, Steffy!"

"Cool! While you boys change, I'll get everything set up on the beach. I'll ask Terrance where your stuff is."

"Terrance?" Michael asked in confusion.

"Yeah," she responded. "The guy in the kitchen that your mom hired to be the butler/cook?"

"Oh." Michael nodded pretending to be aware. "He wasn't in there yet when I came through. Let's go, Spencer. We need to show this Forrester what the Spencers and Morgans are really made of."

Jason rubbed his jaw, spit out blood, and looked up at his old friend and employee. "You do realize anybody else would be dead right now, right?"

Johnny tilted his head in acknowledgement. "I live to be special. You don't seem too surprised to see me anymore." He reached down to help Jason up.

Jason took the opportunity to leg sweep him and using his forward momentum, pulled him down to the floor. He then quickly twisted his arm behind his back. "AH!" Johnny groaned in pain.

"How long you remain special will depend on why you're here and whether Carly and my kids are safe." Jason growled in his ear. "Only three things would bring you out of hiding where I had you running Puerto Rico: Sonny's death, Carly in danger, or Carly requesting your presence. It better have been the third because if you allowed her to leave here while in danger, so help me God, your life will become nothing more than a long-term form of stress relief for me—friend or no friend."