Ch. 16

Moments before she swept into his home office, Max tried to give Sonny a head's up with, "Yo, Boss, tornado at twelve o'clock." Sonny could see Olivia was agitated; some delicate handling would be necessary, he supposed. "Hey, Olivia, how you doin'? It's good to see you back-" Olivia threw her purse on the couch, exclaiming, "How do you think I'm doin', Sonny? I come home from my trip to find our son wreckin' his life! I got all these messages from Lulu and I talked to Dante myself—these kids are in a mess, and I wanna know why you aren't doin' more to help them!"

"Ok, first off, I'm not tryin' to interfere because this is their business-"

"Sonny, this isn't some little argument they're havin'! They're talkin' about divorce! You shoulda been talkin' Dante out of this! What have you been doin'?"

"Look, I know sometimes when you're grievin' you want to focus on anything that will distract you from hurtin', I get it. But I think you're makin' a mistake focusin' on this, Olivia, ok? You've gotta let the kids handle-"

"Of course I'm upset! This is the last thing I want for my son, or his wife! I was there when they got married—I heard the vows they made! They're makin' a huge mistake—one I think they'll regret! We need to stop them!"

"Actually, I was talkin' about you losin' your little boy." That stopped Olivia in her tracks. She'd forgotten that no one knew Damiano was still alive. She was going to have to get her points across while behaving like a grief-stricken mother to protect both of her sons.

"Yeah, well," she finally responded, "I'm dealin' with losin' him the best way I can, day by day. But that doesn't mean I can't try to intervene with Dante, talk some sense into him! Lulu told me you offered to let this Valerie stay in your penthouse. That Dante asked you, and you gave permission. Why on earth would you do that? It would have been better for you to let her leave town if she didn't have anywhere else to go!"

"Why should this girl have to leave town like she's the only one who did somethin' wrong? I didn't think that was right, Olivia. Plus Dante asked me to help, and he never comes to me for anything, so I didn't see any problem with givin' him what he was askin' for."

"What's your angle here, Sonny? What's in this for you?"

"Why's there gotta be an angle?"

"Because with you, there always is. What are you getting' out of all this?"

"Ok. I like this girl. I met her, and I like her. She seems like a nice kid. For whatever reason, ever since she's been around, Dante's been reachin' out to me more. Maybe a coincidence, I don't know, but it's just somethin' I noticed. He actually came to me and asked me to watch Rocco for him while he went out of town. He came to me for advice. He asked me for a favor with this penthouse deal. It's usually like pullin' teeth to get him to take anything from me—now he's seekin' me out. If Val bein' around is the reason, then it's in my interests to keep her around."

"So you're usin' her to get to Dante?"

"It's more like, whadda call it—quid pro quo, yeah. She's gettin' somethin' and I'm gettin' somethin'. She's gettin' a place to live, and I'm gettin' a relationship with my son. Win win."

"And what about Lulu and Rocco in all this? Are you thinkin' about them at all?"

"Yeah, I'm thinkin' about them as much as Dante is. In my opinion, Lulu set this whole thing in motion from the beginnin' when she lied to Dante. And Rocco is young—as long as he has both parents lookin' after him, he'll be fine. Look, Dante's made his decision, right? He feels like the marriage is broken. I'm supportin' whatever he decides. And Lulu doesn't like me. Even though Dante claimed she wasn't keepin' him away from me with her attitude, now that she's slowly bein' taken out of the picture, he seems to be comin' around more. That works for me. Financially they'll be taken care of—emotionally isn't my problem, it's Dante's. And he's made his choice."

"That's cold-blooded, even for you! You'll help your son destroy his life just to get closer to him? That's twisted, Sonny! There's nothin' right about what you're doin'! You should be encouragin' him to stay with his wife and son! They need to work this out and save their marriage, and that's what you should be tellin' him!

"Olivia, Dante's a grown man, ok? He's come at this thing from every angle, and this is what he's decided he wants to do. What he needs to do. What he thinks is best. I'm gonna support him, end of. Our kid is just like us when it comes to doin' the 'right thing'. He's gonna do whatever he thinks is best regardless of what anyone else says. Just like you."

"Meanin' what exactly? That we shouldn't even try to steer him in the right direction? Just let him make this mistake and ruin three lives?"

"Their lives aren't ruined, just on a different track from the one they thought they'd be on. It happens. And doin' what's right is subjective, isn't it, dependin' on what we really want to do. For instance, I've got nothin' for Julian Jerome. I think he's one of the biggest scumbags out there. But even believin' that about him, I think he has the right to raise his kid."

"Is that supposed to be some kind of joke? If it is, it's disgustin', even for you!"

"No, it's not a joke. Where's the kid now? With Ashton? Where've you got him stashed?"

"I can't believe what you're sayin'! My baby's gone and you're makin' jokes-"

"Stop it! Stop it now. I've lost more than one child myself! That ain't somethin' to be makin' light of, Olivia! You shouldn't even be able to think it, much less say it out loud! You talk about the right thing. The right thing for you to do would be you bringin' your boy home and lettin' him get to know his father! You didn't learn anything from keepin' me and Dante apart?"

They stood there staring one another down until Olivia finally broke the silence. "How'd you know? Did Dante tell you?"

"So Dante knows he's alive, too? No, he didn't tell me. You did. I suspected it, and you just confirmed it. How'd I know? Lemme tell you somethin'. I know you. You are straight fire, a real dynamo. That's just who you usually are. But when you're hurt, down-to-the-bones hurt, you're just the opposite. You're quiet, in-tro-spec-tive. Subdued. That's the only time you are quiet! If you were really grievin' the loss of your son, you wouldn't have blown in here the way you did. Your come-across would have been totally different."

"What do you plan to do with what you know? You gonna tell Julian?"

"Right now, it ain't my business to tell."

"What does that mean, 'right now'?"

"Look, Olivia. Dante's goin' through enough with all this stuff. He doesn't need you naggin' at him when he's already doin' what he thinks is the right thing. I'm sayin' leave him alone, and just support whatever he decides to do."

"Sounds like some kinda blackmail—either leave Dante alone to do what he plans to do, which is divorcing Lulu, or you might tell Julian about the baby. Is that what you're sayin'?"

"I'm sayin' we all have an idea of what the 'right thing' is. I'm tellin' you you should let Jerome be a part of his kid's life, but you're not gonna let that change your mind, are you? You're doin' what you think is right. So is Dante. So leave him alone."

"Still sounds like a threat to me."

"You call it a threat—I call it levelin' the field. You don't mess with Dante; I won't rock your boat with Jerome. I think that's fair. You don't have to be his conscience, Olivia. Just be his mother."

Somehow, this discussion hadn't gone anywhere close to the way Olivia had intended it to. Angrily, she snatched her purse off of the couch with an audible snort of fury before she began stomping out of the room. She had to concede the field this time; there was more at stake than Dante's and Lulu's marriage—she had Damiano to consider.

"Hey Olivia," Sonny stopped her before she stalked away.

"What?" she said as she whirled around in frustration.

"It's always good to see you. Welcome home." The only answer he got was a slammed door. He chuckled to himself as he sat down behind his desk. "Round one to me, I think." His smile faded as he thought about this new information, and what, if anything, he should do with it.

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Across town, Valerie was having a confrontation of her own, with her conscience. She considered herself to be a responsible person for the most part, but she was afraid of what she was admitting by doing what she was here to do. She was sitting in the waiting area on the OB/GYN floor of General Hospital, her leg bouncing in her nervousness as she hoped that the Saturday hours would mean less traffic. Less of a chance someone here would recognize her. "I'm just trying to be careful, to be mature and sensible. It would be better for me to take care of this now than to get caught up and make another mistake." In the middle of her musings, Dr. Lee's receptionist approached her, saying, "Dr. Lee is ready to see you now." The receptionist guided her to Dr. Lee's examination room.

Leaning slightly forward, Dr. Lee extended her hand as she said, "So you're Valerie. I'm Dr. Lee. It's good to meet you. You told my receptionist you thought you might need a pelvic exam. Have you been noticing any problems lately?"

"I wanted to get a prescription for birth control—I thought I would need to have an exam first."

"Not necessarily. Let's talk about your medical history, the different types of birth control available, see what's right for you, ok? Are you currently sexually active?" Valerie was at a loss how to answer. What should she say? That she had been, that she currently wasn't but that it felt like it was only a matter of time? What was it about answering these kinds of questions that made her feel like she should be sitting in an interrogation room with bright lights shining in her face? She was uncomfortable but she was going to do the responsible thing if it killed her. Taking a deep breath, she prepared herself to respond to Dr. Lee's questions.

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Dante was walking up and down the various aisles in the local drug store, after having come to a decision of his own. Every now and then, he would pick up something he didn't need and place it in his basket. He had barely stopped himself from grabbing a tin of cat food when he decided he was being ridiculous. He was a grown man. He was being responsible and protecting himself and Valerie. This thing between them wasn't going away but was gaining traction and getting stronger. He didn't want to be caught off-guard with her again. He wanted to be prepared. So why was he standing here feeling like some middle-schooler attempting to lift his first beer? He finally found himself in the aisle with the various types of condoms. Too many choices. It had been a long time since he'd needed them. There also seemed to be some new and different options since he'd last made a purchase. While he was contemplating his choices, a man he didn't know came up and started perusing his options. With a sheepish nod to Dante, the man snatched a box from the rack and hurriedly walked away. "That's it," Dante said to himself in disgust. He went to each of the previously visited aisles, putting the items he hadn't needed back on the shelves. "I came in here to get condoms and condoms alone. I'm buyin' them like a man, not some sneaky little kid." Finally making a selection of his own, he made his way to the register at the front of the store and placed his selection with boldness on the counter. "Hey man," the kid behind the register inquired, "This do it for you?" "Yeah, that's it." "Fifteen ninety-nine." Dante paid the kid, took the package and left the store, exhaling in relief. "There. Was that so hard?" he asked himself. "Yeah," he answered within, "it kind of was." Buying condoms again after years of not needing them or having a root canal—which was worse? The way he was feeling right now, he really couldn't say.

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