This is a short story based on characters that I do not own and references to established works.

"Open Your Eyes"

"Your brother thinks that I'm a good mother, Ace. I think I'd call that progress, wouldn't you?" Esme said to Ace as she placed him down for his nap. As she thought about Spencer's words to Valentin about her, as well as their impromptu photoshoot, Esme's smile grew wider. "Now, we just have to find a way to get him to spend even more time here, rather than with..." A knock at the door interrupted her thinking.

She went to the door and opened it. "Have you put Ace down for his nap?" Spencer asked.

"Yes, I just got him down and I think he'll be down for a while. Posing and taking pictures seemed to really tire him out," Esme giggled.

Spencer gave a slight laugh as he looked over at Ace resting peacefully in his crib. Once he looked in Esme's direction, his expression was blank.

"I just wanted to make sure that he was good before I left," Spencer said.

Esme was unable to keep a frown from coming across her face-especially after the little "talk" that she had just had with her infant son.

"Where are you going?" she asked, before she could stop herself.

Spencer gave her a curious look before he responded with a curt, "Out."

Realizing her mistake, Esme quickly tried to cover. "Oh, I just wanted to know if you might be going to a store. Ace is out of..." She had to think of something, anything. "He needs shampoo. When he wakes up, I want to wash his hair, but I realized that we're out of his shampoo."

"Are you sure?" Spencer questioned, not really sure if he believed her or not.

"Yes, I'm sure," Esme responded, trying to sound as believable as possible.

"Alright, then. A trip to the store wasn't a part of my plans, but I can swing by on my way back," Spencer replied.

"Uhh, do you think that you'll be back by his bath time?" Esme questioned, again, before she could stop herself.

"Esme, I'll bring the shampoo, ok? And, if it's not in time for his bath, I'm sure you can wash his hair tomorrow. Now, is there anything else, Esme?" Spencer asked, this time clearly irritated.

"No, that's it. Have a nice time," she said, trying her best to avoid sounding desperate.

Spencer closed her door and after a few moments, Esme heard the front door close.

"Well, I don't have to be a genius to know where he's going or should I say WHO he's going to? Trina," Esme thought as she rolled her eyes in disgust. "We were having such a perfect day, too. Who knows, if he had stayed, we might have been able to have a quick bite to eat together?" She began to pace around the room, until she remembered something. She went over to Ace's changing table and reached for a half-full bottle of baby shampoo. She went to the sink, turned on the water, and slowly poured the contents of the shampoo bottle down the drain. Afterwards, she put the now empty bottle in the trashcan, making sure to bury it beneath the trash that was already inside the can.

"Hey gorgeous!" Spencer said, as he approached Trina in the park. She was sitting on the bench where they had agreed to meet.

"I was so happy to get your text saying that we could meet today," Spencer said, as he and Trina embraced.

Trina was absolutely glowing as Spencer held her in his arms. She was quite hesitant to leave the comfort that his arms provided. It was there that she felt safe and happy. Spencer could feel that Trina needed to be held, so he would not let go until she released him first.

In time, she did release him-slowly. They sat down together and snuggled before Trina finally spoke.

"I'm really glad that you could get away today. My mom is meeting with a physical therapist from the rehab facility today, so I knew that we would have some time to meet up."

"Trina, I told you that I'm always going to be there for you whenever you need me," Spencer said reassuringly, as he placed a tender kiss on her forehead.

"So, how has your day been?" Trina asked.

Spencer wasn't quite sure how he should respond. On the one hand, he wanted to be completely honest with Trina about everything. But, on the other hand, he knew that by telling her about Esme and the pictures Trina might feel a little put off by the situation.

"Valentin came over," Spencer started the recap of his day's activities on a safe, as well as completely honest, note.

"Oh, is your grandmother home, too?" Trina asked hopefully. Laura and Kevin being back home would finally put an end to Esme playing house alone with Spencer and Ace-something that Trina wanted to happen sooner rather than later.

"No, unfortunately not. She and Kevin are still on the hunt for my runaway coward of a father," Spencer said, clearly disgusted.

Trina took Spencer's hands in hers as a way to provide comfort. She knew that, despite what he was saying, he missed his father and wanted a chance to reconcile things with him. "I'm sorry that they haven't located him yet. Hopefully, they will before they come back," she said encouragingly.

"We'll see. Father has the habit of appearing when he and only he wants himself to be revealed," Spencer replied.

Seeing that this was a subject that was upsetting her boyfriend, Trina decided to refocus the conversation. "So, what else did Valentin have to say?"

"Well, he talked about the Cassadines having the chance to basically "reinvent" ourselves now that Uncle Victor is dead. He even included Aunt Alexis and my cousins," Spencer said, his voice sounding much more upbeat.

"I also thanked him for his help in Greenland, especially as it related to keeping you safe," Spencer continued as he smiled at Trina.

"I think that getting closer to your family, through a "reinvention" would be great for you, Spencer," Trina responded.

After a few moments of quiet, Trina reluctantly asked about Ace. Reluctantly, not because of Ace, but because of Esme, who came as a part of a package deal with Spencer's baby brother.

"How's Ace?" she inquired.

Realizing what he needed to do, Spencer pulled out his phone and said, "Rather than tell you, why don't I show you?" Spencer asked as he brought up the photos that he'd just taken a little while ago.

Despite Esme being in the picture with Ace, Trina couldn't help but smile and talk about how cute Ace looked and how much he was growing. Spencer smiled as Trina delighted in seeing his baby brother.

"Oh my goodness!" Trina squealed as she came across the pictures of Spencer and Ace. "I can't decide which of the two of you is the more handsome brother," Trina said teasingly.

"Hey, now!" Spencer said, as he pulled Trina in for a kiss.

Afterwards, Trina got back to the pictures.

"These are just so..." her voice stopped suddenly.

"Do our good looks just leave you speechless?" Spencer asked playfully, completely unaware that Trina had moved on to the last set of pictures of him and Ace-and Esme.

Trina readjusted her position on the bench by easing out of Spencer's arms and straightening herself up on the bench. It was only then that Spencer looked at his phone and saw the image that brought such a change to his girlfriend's demeanor. As a result, he, too, straightened himself up and readied himself for whatever was about to come.

Trina appeared to take a deep breath before speaking. "Spencer, what is this? Or, let me rephrase my question. Why are you in this picture with Esme? I understand the pictures of Esme and Ace-that's his mother. I understand, and love, the pictures of you and Ace-the two of you are brothers. But the picture of Esme, Ace, and YOU? That, I don't understand. That's a picture of a nice young family to anyone who sees it!" Trina said, as her voice grew increasingly louder.

Even though he knew it was coming, Spencer still wasn't prepared with a strong response.

"Well, Spencer?" Trina repeated her question.

"I think I just got carried away with taking the pictures. Ace was having a blast. One minute I had him and then Esme was taking him back and then I continued taking pictures. But, by no means Trina, do these pictures represent a happy family. They represent my brother and I, along with his mother. Trina, you've got to believe me. Esme means nothing to me. My missing, cowardly father is the reason for all of this. If he was here, I would be Ace's loving big brother. But because Father is not here, I'm forced to play a role that puts me in close contact with someone that I can't stand. I'd give anything for things to be different. I hope you know that Trina. Please, tell me that you believe me! I need to know that you do!" Spencer said urgently.

"Spencer, I do believe you. But, look at this picture. Take a good look at Esme. This is not the face of someone who thinks of you as her child's brother. This is the look of a woman who wants to be with you and her son-together, as a family," Trina said.

Spencer's mouth dropped open. "Trina, you can't be serious."

"Spencer, open your eyes. Esme sees and wants you as more than her son's brother. She finds excuse after excuse to interrupt us when I come over to see you. She's taken to referring to you both as "Spencer and I". I've also noticed how she looks at you when you're with Ace. It's a lot more than gratitude," Trina continued.

"Well, then, I'm just going to have to remind her that if she's envisioning anything else besides me as Ace's big brother that she is delusional," Spencer said.

Trina stood up from the bench and reached for Spencer's hand.

"I've got an even better idea. I still have time while my mom's with the therapist. Let's both let her know that she is delusional," Trina said, as she led Spencer away.