Author's Note: Hope every one is having a great summer! Happy reading!
Jason arrived back home to find Monica and Kellie in the kitchen.
"I wasn't expecting to see you here," Jason said.
"I wasn't exactly expecting to be here today," Monica said, "Until Francis called and said that Kellie couldn't get away from the house this morning. Although he didn't say why? If it was a childcare issue, Kelsey would have been more than welcome to come over."
Kellie and Jason looked at each other which Monica noticed.
"What's going on?" Monica asked.
"Michael and I aren't exactly good terms right now," Kellie said, "After he was over here this morning, Francis decided we probably needed space from each other."
"Michael, can't still be upset at you for his side business using ELQ was found out," Monica said, exasperated.
"Well he is," Kellie said.
"I'm sure Jason can talk some sense into him," Monica said, "He needs to leave your whole business with Sonny alone."
"I was just with Michael," Jason said, "It doesn't seem like I made any progress with him."
"That is not a good sign," Monica said, "If anyone was going to be able to talk Michael out of his obsession with getting back at Sonny, it would be you. I hate to see him waste his time being angry and vengeful. And for what, his mother and Sonny got divorced again?"
"I will definitely try again after Michael has some time to hopefully cool off," Jason said.
"I wish I could say I thought it would help," Monica said, "But I don't know that I've ever seen Michael this angry. At least not since Sonny shot and killed A.J. That at least made sense. Don't you even think of defending Sonny for that."
"I wasn't going to," Jason said.
"I don't want Michael mixed up in Sonny's business," Monica said, "I really don't want any of you mixed up in it. Drew when he thought he was you was able to walk away. Is there any way you could even consider that, Jason? You have to see how much Sonny and his business have put not just your life at risk, your family's life, including your children, and innocent bystanders."
Kellie quietly made her way out of the room, feeling anything she said at this point wouldn't make the situation any better.
"The only reason Drew could walk away as me was because Sonny in power at the time," Jason said, "Sonny also tried to make a deal to retire at the same time and it didn't work out."
"So Sonny can let you go again," Monica said.
"Sonny is not as feared as he was," Jason said, "That deal wouldn't work and not when there are so many outsiders gunning for him, myself, anyone that could take Sonny's place on our behalf."
"Then let them have it is it really worth your life?" Monica asked.
"I know this is hard for you to understand," Jason said, "The way this works is the people that are going after Sonny's territory only see one way to do it. That's with us dead even if we walked away. Kellie was out of town, nowhere near the business and they still went after her."
"Is Sonny even capable of protecting you, his daughter, the rest of his family," Monica said, "Or are we just waiting until well Sonny's enemy attack and kill one of you again?"
"Those aren't questions I can answer for you," Jason replied, "All I can tell you is I'm doing everything I can to make sure that doesn't happen. You probably still won't like the outcome."
"I hope you can do it quickly if you're sure there's no other way," Monica said, "There's been more than enough bloodshed because of Sonny and his associates."
An uneasy silence settled between Jason and Monica.
"I really should be going," Monica said, looking for Kellie.
"I think she thought it best if we had a moment to talk alone," Jason said, "Do you still need to discuss Charles's funeral?"
"We've planned most of it and divided up whose doing what," Monica said, "Well Charles planned most of it. He left instructions."
"That doesn't surprise me," Jason said, "He did seem to think of everything."
"That he did," Monica said.
"I can get Kellie if you still need to discuss the funeral," Jason said.
"I think I have probably worn out my welcome," Monica said, "I know there's not exactly love lost between Kellie and Sonny, but I do try to hold my tongue with her. Especially now when I know how much she blames herself for Charles's death. So I will see myself out. Please tell her I'll be in touch with details on the funeral arrangements and give that adorable granddaughter a hug from me."
"Did you get to see Kelsey?" Jason asked.
"I did," Monica said, "She's napping now. I will be going. And Jason, I really hope that you can figure how…actually I've already said enough. I'm not going to finish that thought."
Jason escorted Monica out and went looking for Kellie. He found her watching Kelsey sleep.
"You okay?" Jason asked, quietly.
"As I can be," Kellie replied, "What about you?"
"I'm not sure what you mean," Jason responded.
Kellie sighed, looked at Kelsey, and looked back at Jason. She motioned for him to follow her. Jason followed Kellie down the hall to their bedroom.
"I know you and my father go way back," Kellie said, "And I'm not unaware of the Quartermaines animosity towards him for hiring you following your accident. Granted I wasn't here when your brother A.J. was killed, I'm aware of the accusations my father killed him. Your mom tries really hard not voice some of her opinions to me, even if I undoubtedly deserve to hear them."
"Her issues with Sonny and with my choices are with me, not you," Jason interrupted.
"I'm still the reason…." Kellie started to say and fell silent.
"Still the reason what?" Jason asked.
"I was going to say that Charles is gone," Kellie said, "But Kristina said somethings and I can't quite…."
"What exactly did Kristina say?" Jason asked.
"That I take too much responsibility for things related to Dad and the business," Kellie said, "And that she doesn't see my involvement in the business as increasing my risk of being a target any more than her risk or our other siblings. That even I'd never been involved in the business, your associates and enemies still might have come after me and killed Charles."
"She has a point," Jason pondered, "As much we've tried to keep Kristina, Michael, Morgan, Avery, Donna out of the crossfire, it still happens. It would have been the same for you."
"I don't know that I'd never feel responsible for Charles," Kellie said, "But I guess…"
"What Kristina said might help you sleep better at night," Jason said.
"Maybe," Kellie said, "I guess I'm still sorting it out. I never thought of it that way. I don't think it makes it less true that my choices, my role in the business impact that risk."
"It's more likely the truth is somewhere in between the two," Jason said.
"Maybe," Kellie said, thinking. Then she looked back hard at Jason.
"What?" Jason asked.
"You avoided my question," Kellie said.
"What exactly was the question?" Jason replied.
"How are you given everything that's going on with Sonny," Kellie said, "And the things your mom brought up."
"It's nothing I haven't heard before," Jason said.
"That doesn't mean it still can't strike a nerve," Kellie said, "I don't know that we've ever talked about how your brother died. Not that we have to. It's just occurred to me that A.J. died when we thought you were dead."
"When Faison shot me, I'd already thought A.J. was dead," Jason said, "This might sound harsh, so maybe that's why I haven't talked about it. But A.J. being dead didn't change for me when I came back. For me, my brother died years before he actually did. I think it was actually before you even came to Port Charles. I guess I tried not to think about it much. I know for my mom, Michael, and other family members, A.J. was back….Did you ever cross paths with A.J. when you'd visit Port Charles then?"
"I don't think I actually met him," Kellie said, "I was in California. I'm sure I was back in Port Charles for something during that time. Actually, I might not have been. I'd only had Alyssa a few months before you'd disappeared and then I'd heard your brother was alive. After that, I don't even think we crossed paths when I was here."
"What exactly do you know about A.J.'s death?" Jason asked.
"Just that Sonny shot him, supposedly defending Ava from him," Kellie said, "It seemed to be mixed up with Kate's death, but I'm not sure how. Maybe they thought your brother killed Kate.
"That was kind of the gist of it," Jason said, "Sonny said it was all just one big misunderstanding."
"Or my dad had one idea in his head and he wasn't going to be listen anything that might be different?" Kellie said.
"I guess it's possible," Jason said, "I try not to think about it. A.J. and I were never on the best terms."
"Still," Kellie said, and just let the silence speak for her.
"Part of the reason I try not to think about it is because if asked too many questions, I'm not sure I could defend Sonny or Ava," Jason said.
"A.J.'s death is between you and Sonny," Kellie said, "Whatever you do with that is up to you. I'm just worried about you after the conversation with Monica earlier."
"I appreciate it," Jason said, "Maybe I should think about that a little more. Was Sonny that careless all that time I was in the Russian Clinic?"
"I wasn't here, so I can't exactly speak to it," Kellie said, "I'd maintain he's always had some degree of carelessness or recklessness. I can be the first to admit I'm definitely biased too. Especially after Michael was shot and then Olivia Jerome set up snipers outside my home in California."
"Fair enough," Jason said, "But he was still able to hold on to the territory."
"He was still here," Kellie said, "But this time, he was the one that was gone. Memory or not, he chose to stay away."
"He did," Jason said, "I can't help but wonder if he'd at least tried to figure out where he came from and show back up, if our enemies would have been less likely to come after us."
"But he didn't even do that," Kellie said, "It sent a message to them whether he would have wanted it to or not."
"It sent the wrong message unfortunately," Jason said, then turned away from Kellie, "I really shouldn't be discussing this with you. Not if I'm going to do a better job of keeping you out of the business. You shouldn't be caught between myself and your dad, no matter how you feel about him."
Kellie grabbed Jason hand and turned him back towards her.
"Maybe that's exactly the kind of stuff we need to talk about," Kellie said, "I know it's not easy. But I'm not sure how else we figure our way together through this if we don't talk about this stuff no matter how hard it is."
"What do you mean?" Jason asked.
"It's just that it's felt like we've been trying to muddle our way through a lot of things separately when it comes to the fallout from Sonny disappearing to the Nixon Falls and his return," Kellie said, "I think we're both trying to respect our relationship with my father. If he was who he used to be and willing to understand what he needs to be doing now, that would be fine. But…."
"If we don't start talking about it," Jason said, "It's as if we're acting like it's business as usual and it's not. It hasn't been for awhile. I knew that. I still didn't do what I should have regarding the business and Sonny sooner. Whatever decisions, I want us to be on the same page, same track."
"Which means we have to talk about the business and what it means for us as family," Kellie said, "You can't always shield me from it."
"I know that," Jason said, "But I need to do a better job of shielding you from things like having to run the business."
"And I still want to have your back, whatever goes down," Kellie said, "Even if I'm not running the business and don't take the seat at the table, the world needs to know I'm with you on this. You need to know it's not all your burden to shoulder. I don't know how that looks
"Then I guess we'll figure it out as we go along," Jason said, "Function more like a team and make decisions for our family that don't rely on Sonny as we knew him to be."
"So what's next?" Kellie asked.
"There's some business arrangements to make," Jason said, "Max and Trent are getting those things set up. Then I have to decide on timing. Do I give Sonny the opportunity to make his case at the next meeting or just move forward and it's done."
"Do you think he'll do anything to address our concerns if you give him the time?" Kellie asked.
"No," Jason said.
"I know you might not want to hear this," Kellie said, "But your position, your authority will be perceived as stronger if you don't wait."
"I want to give Sonny the chance," Jason said, "But I know that you're right."
"It's still going to take time to set things up any," Kellie said, "It's just something to think about."
Jason nodded and then wrapped his arms around Kellie almost as if he was leaning on her for support.
They stayed that way for a few moments before Jason started nuzzling her neck.
"I can think of better things to think about," Jason said, nudging Kellie to the bed.
"I'd love nothing more than to continue this, but Kelsey should be up from her nap soon," Kellie said as Jason pulled her down to the bed with him, "And the kids will be home from school soon. Jake and Danny too."
"Right," Jason said, continuing to kiss Kellie, "But that sounds more like a challenge, Mrs. Morgan."
"Let's see if you're up for it, Mob Boy," Kellie said, giving in.