Ch. 34

"Dante. Dante!" Dante was being awakened by a gentle but insistent nudging of his shoulder. Frowning, he opened his eyes halfway and tried to focus on Val, who was leaning over him. "Mmm, good morning," he whispered to her, adding, "What's wrong?" before seeming to slide back into sleep. "Hey, Dante, seriously, wake up!" "Whatsa matter, Val?" "Your phone keeps going off—I think someone's trying to get in touch with you." "Ok," he murmured and then turned on his side away from her. Exasperated, Val bodily rolled Dante onto his back and shook him, asking, "Why can't you wake up? Did you hear what I said at all? Someone is trying to get your attention, and they keep calling you."

Finally fully opening his eyes, Dante stared at the ceiling as he tried to gather his wits. "I was up with Rocco a couple of hours ago—it took me a while to get him to go to sleep again. I guess when I came back to bed I just crashed out. Whew. What time is it? You said someone's been calling me? Did you see who it was?"

"It's a little after seven, and no, I didn't check your phone. It woke me at first but when it kept ringing and you didn't get it, I thought I'd better wake you up. Who is it?" Checking his caller ID, he said, "Oh, looks like Lulu called me. Three times. Hmm. Crap—Lulu!" He bolted upright in the bed, running his fingers through his hair in agitation.

"What's wrong with that?"

"I was supposed to meet her so she could take Rocco back with her this morning!"

"Ok?"

"At the loft, Val. I was supposed to meet her at the loft! She's probably there now, wondering where we are, since she doesn't know-"

"Oh. She doesn't know how much time you two have been spending over here. Well, you've got two choices at this point—either you wake Rocco and race across town to meet her at the loft, or you tell her where you are and have her come here." Dante held up his hand for silence as he listened to the messages Lulu had left. Eventually he uttered, "It's too early in the morning for this. She wants me to meet her at Maxie's with Rocco. It seems the super at my building told her I haven't been there in a while, and she wants to 'discuss things' with me. Damn. I'm not in the mood for this, at all."

"Hmm. I see. She probably wants Maxie to keep an eye on Rocco while you two talk."

"I get that, but I hate having to explain myself. I'm sure she's gonna be all pissed off about me letting Rocco stay over here with us."

"Well, she's his mom, but you're his dad. Be firm but don't back down. You haven't done anything wrong."

"I'll bet you anything she won't see it that way, though. Listen, I've gotta go deal with this. I don't know when exactly I'll be back, depending on how things go with her, ok?"

"Take your time—I'll be here." Val thought it was interesting that he was speaking as though explaining how he might be late coming home. Whether or not he knew it, he was beginning to think of the penthouse as his place, too. Leaning over to give him a kiss on the cheek, she told him, "Go. And good luck."

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Met at the door by Maxie, he was told, "Don't bother taking him out of the stroller; I'm taking him to the lake to see the ducks. Lulu's waiting in the living room." She took the baby bag he had on his shoulder and rolled Rocco away, telling him in her high pitched way that they were going on a fun trip. He watched them walk to the elevator and then, sighing, he opened the door and entered the apartment. Lulu rose from the couch where she had been sitting to face him, unknowingly crossing her arms. "I see you finally got my messages," she began. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. Rocco woke up early this morning and it took a while to get him back to sleep—I guess when I went to bed again, I went out like a light. I didn't even realize you'd called until-" He stopped himself in time from mentioning that Val was the one who alerted him to the phone calls he had missed.

"I went to the loft, since that's what we'd arranged. I knocked and knocked but no answer. I was kind of freaked out, Dante, when you didn't even answer your phone. That's why I went to get the super. I didn't know what was going on, and then he told me that you probably weren't even there. So I'm trying to stay calm here. He said you've been spending more time away from the loft lately. When you're with my son, I need to be able to get in touch with you, ok? Where were you?"

"I was at the penthouse, Lulu. And you're right—no excuses. You should have been able to reach me. I'm sorry I overslept and missed your calls. It won't happen again."

"What won't happen again? You being at the penthouse, or you ignoring my calls?"

"I didn't ignore your calls, I missed them. Not the same thing at all. I overslept. As soon as I realized what I'd done, I got us here as fast as I could. I'm sorry that you were worried."

"What were you doing at the penthouse? What was the super talking about, that you're hardly ever at the loft anymore?"

"I didn't know anybody was tracking my movements… It's kind of obvious what I was doing at the penthouse, isn't it? I was with Val, that's where she lives, so-"

"I don't want my son over at that penthouse with Valerie! That's not what we agreed to, Dante!"

"Wait a minute. Yes, he's your son, but he's mine, too, ok? Our agreement had nothing to do with where either of us is with Rocco—we both have custody of him. Whether he's at the loft or at the penthouse or somewhere else, when he's with me, he's in my custody. When he's with you, he's with you and when he's with me, he's with me. That's all."

"I'M TELLING YOU I DON'T WANT HIM AROUND HER! In case you're missing it, that's what I'm saying! I obviously can't stop what you do since you can't seem to leave her alone, but I don't want my son anywhere near her! I have no problem with him being at the loft with you, but I don't want him over there with her!"

"We're gonna have to compromise here, then. All I can offer you is this—when he's with you, he doesn't have to be near her. When he's with me, sometimes, she's gonna be in the picture. That's it, Lulu. The court agreement doesn't say anything different-"

"Then maybe I settled too soon," she muttered under her breath. "Excuse me?" he asked her. "I said maybe I settled too soon, then. Maybe I should have been more definite about this but I didn't think I had to be. Maybe we should have that put into the agreement—who we felt safe having him around."

"Safe? Are you kidding me? Val isn't a danger to Rocco, Lulu, and you know that. Don't let your personal beef with her let you get this thing twisted."

"She wrecked his whole life! In my opinion, she's been nothing but a danger to him ever since she showed up in town!"

"Ok, listen. You're getting off track here. Val didn't ruin Rocco's life. If anybody did that, we did. His parents did that. We're the ones who lied, who didn't trust, who cheated. You still need to hold her responsible for the part she did play. I get that. I'm not gonna try to take that from you. What I am tryin' to tell you here is that we're gonna have to compromise about her involvement in his life from here on. When he's with you, you don't have to worry about him bein' with her. When he's with me, though, she'll be there. Look, I don't care if Quartermaine's around him. As long as Rocco knows who his father is and as long as this guy doesn't try to take my place and he treats my son with respect, I don't care who you have around him."

"I've already told you Dillon's just a friend—the rest is something you've built up in your head to justify being with Valerie. There's no issue with Dillon being around Rocco. This woman has been nothing but a destructive force in my life since we met. I'm asking you to consider my feelings about her and keep her away from my son. I don't want to have to go back to court over this. I don't even want to fight about it. I'm asking you to respect the fact that I don't want her near him!" Dante frowned as he looked at Lulu incredulously. There didn't seem to be any way to reason with her but he had to try. "Lulu," he ultimately stated, "I think you're being unreasonable right now. I get that you don't like Val. I'm sayin' I understand that. But the rest of it isn't gonna work for me. Val's in my life and Rocco isn't just your son; he's mine, too. I'm tryin' to reach a compromise here, somethin' that'll work for both of us, ok? I don't think either of us want to end up back in court, do we? Did you forget how that was, what we went through with the custody drama with Maxie? I don't think either of us wants to go through that again. Havin' our private business dragged into the open for strangers to paw over and judge-"

"You mean private business like covering up a murder for a supermodel? That kind of private business?" "Whoa," Dante said softly as he slowly nodded his head, "Business exactly like that. I can't believe you went there. Yeah, that kind of stuff. Or like you 'self-defensing' a guy to death." Staring at him in total disbelief, Lulu exclaimed, "I was in fear of my life and you know that! Everybody knows that now! Logan was trying to kill me, and it was me or him!" "I know that but that doesn't make it sound any better. I'm sayin' we've been through this before and it was brutal. We don't wanna have to go there again, especially for somethin' we can agree on here and now. I don't wanna be bringin' up the past, Lulu, but if I have to, I will."

"Somehow, that sounds vaguely like a threat, Dante. I don't think any court would condemn me for defending my life if that information ends up getting mentioned again."

"Fair point. How about the fact, then, that with the exception of Lucky, who's off 'fightin' his darkness or somethin', your immediate family has either spent time in Shadybrook or is a Cassadine? Madness and instability all over the place. You don't want me goin' there any more than I do. Don't give me that look," he said, noticing the anger and borderline disgust in her eyes, "You're the one bringin' all this up. You're the one who mentioned goin' to court, just because you don't like my relationship with Val. Somehow, you thought all you had to do was tell me you want her to stay away from Rocco and I'd give in, I guess because that's what I always used to do. When that didn't work, you brought up goin' to court."

"Because I thought you'd be reasonable about my feelings, my concerns about my 'so-called' cousin. As much as I'd like to, I'm not demanding you stay away from her. It's obviously too late for that. Fine. I just don't want her around my son, and I'm asking you to honor my wishes."

"Once again, Lulu's way or the highway, huh? Listen to me, hear what I'm sayin'. There're only two answers here—we either compromise, or we go to court. And it's your choice. Val's not tryin' to take Rocco over or have any other place in his life than as the woman by my side. She doesn't want to be his mother or anything like that. I'm tellin' you that as long as he's with me, there's a possibility that she'll be there, too. What I'm also tellin' you is I don't wanna fight with you, but I will if you take us there. And I won't fight clean, Lulu, not this time. This is too important to me. I'm not losin' custody of my son because you've got issues with the woman I'm seein'."

"With the woman you're seeing. Wow. There it is, huh, all out in the open? You two are a 'thing' now? And you won't fight clean? Meaning what exactly?"

"Yeah, we're a 'thing' now. She's in my life and she's not goin' anywhere. Deal with that or not—that's up to you. And I won't fight clean means I've tried real hard to stay away from Sonny's business and the stuff he does to get what he has. He is there, though, and he does know people. I don't wanna involve him at all but I will, in order to keep my son."

"Ordering hits now, huh?"

"Don't be ridiculous! I don't mean anything like that! But he knows people—judges, lawyers, et cetera. And some of those people owe him favors. And in order for me to keep my son in my life, he'd be willing to call in some of those favors if I ask him to. I'm askin' for you to be reasonable. Don't make this have to get ugly, ok? You do you, I'll do me. I'm not gonna move on this because Val isn't a danger or a threat to our son, and you don't get to tell me who I can and can't have in my life. That's it. You decide where we go from here." Standing there looking at her ex-husband, Lulu suddenly realized that her current tactics weren't going to get her anywhere. Mentally changing gears, she thought that in order to get what she wanted, she was going to have to change her strategy. It really was easier to catch flies with honey than with vinegar. Shaking her head, she said, "Ok. You win. I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to tell you how to live your life. I don't want Valerie near my son, but that's my problem, not yours. I don't want us to end up in court telling the intimate details of our lives to strangers, either. I was hoping you could understand where I was coming from about Valerie and respect that, but you can't. I don't want to fight anymore, Dante. I'm not happy about any of this but there's nothing I can do, so I'm backing off."

Maxie was walking back into the apartment with Rocco when Lulu was adding, "So please, at least answer my phone calls, ok? I was worried, that's all. About both of you. We can agree on that, right?"

Dante was suspicious about her sudden about face but he chose not to call her on it. Nodding his head, he answered, "We can totally agree on that. I'm sorry that you were worried and that it seemed like I was ignoring you. I wasn't. I'll try harder in the future to make sure it doesn't happen again."

"That's all I can ask. How was he at Sonny's place? He wasn't upset or fussy?" Even more confused at the change in tone, Dante replied, "He was fine. He seems to like it there so he settled in pretty quickly."

"Where'd he sleep? I didn't think Sonny had anything set up for a toddler in the penthouse—not since Michael and Morgan were little."

"He had some furniture sent over—a whole nursery set up. So far, Rocco's been enjoying his room there. You know how Sonny is. He must have sent over every toy known to man!"

"That's good, then. If he's got to be there, I want him to be comfortable and happy, Dante. That's all I want. I'm sure we're on the same page there, right?"

"Of course, Lulu. We both want what's best for Rocco. If we work together, we'll be able to make sure he gets that."

"I agree with you." Lulu began walking to the door, signaling the end of their discussion. Dante lifted Rocco up and gave him a hug and a kiss before telling him, "I love you, Buddy. You be good for Mama, ok? I'll see you later." Looking back at Lulu he asked her, "So we're square, right?"

"Totally." Putting Rocco down on the floor he murmured, "Good. I'm glad we could work this out, Lulu, I really am." To Maxie, he added, "Thanks for watching him so we could talk, Maxie—I appreciate it." "Well I did it to help Lulu, but you're welcome." Nodding again, Dante finally left the apartment.

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"Wow. I was expecting to have to help you mop up the blood from the bloodshed but you guys seemed almost calm. So were you right? Was he with Val?"

"Oh, yeah, he was with her, all right. All nice and cozy over at Sonny's penthouse."

"Did you get him to agree to keep Val away from Rocco?"

"No. He wouldn't budge on that, even when I brought up going to court to get the custody agreement amended. For now, she wins. For now."

"What does that mean? I thought you weren't going to quit until you got him to agree to keep them apart?"

"I wasn't at first, but I decided to change my battle plan—redirect it."

"How do you plan to do that?"

"I intend to get my husband back. I got him once, I can do it again. All I have to do is remind him why he fell in love with me in the first place. And after I do that, that skank won't be an issue for us anymore." Maxie was slowly shaking her head as she listened to Lulu's words. She finally remarked, "I don't think this is a good idea, Lulu. I think you're setting yourself up for some more heartache. Why would you want him back, anyway? He cheated on you, remember?"

"Because I'm not gonna let her get away with this. She destroyed my life and she needs to pay for that. She might have won the battle, but she won't win the war. I'm gonna get my husband back and then—let's just say I don't think she'll want to stick around after I get done with her."

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