When Kellie got to the car, she found Max on the phone and Jason looking serious.
"What's going on?" Kellie asked, noticing they were short cars, "Wait.. did you already send the kids home?"
"Sonny's missing," Jason said, "I thought it was better to get the kids home with Johnny and Francis. I sent Dev with them. Dev was insistent on helping look for Sonny. I put him on guard duty with the kids as a compromise."
"He did well helping us when Cyrus tried to kidnap Kelsey," Kellie said, "Good place to start if he's serious about wanting to work for you or Sonny or give him time to decide he wants to pursue other options. So when's the last time anyone saw Sonny?"
"The car broke down after he left the church," Jason replied, "He walked off while Trent was trying to get the car running or get help. The guys in the second car which also broke down found Trent knocked out cold no sign of Sonny."
"Ransom demand?" Kellie asked.
"Nothing yet," Jason said.
Kellie let out a deep sigh.
"The PCPD is checking into it," Max said after getting off the phone, "Trent is at the hospital getting looked over."
"We really should get going," Jason said, "I don't want you exposed any more than you already are if someone's coming after us."
"Let's go," Kellie said, knowing Jason wasn't going to say anything more until they were in the car. Max opened the car door and Kellie and Jason got in to the back seat. Kellie curled up against Jason as Max got in the driver's seat and started the car.
"You won't have to take over the business," Jason said, "Sonny's no longer has access to well anything aside from his own funds."
"So you're in charge now," Kellie said, "Was Sonny aware before he went missing?"
"No, I made the call to finalize the arrangements after Sonny showed up at the church," Jason said, "I didn't tell him and I doubt he had the opportunity to figure it out."
"Did you call Diane yet?" Kellie asked, "You know how this is going to look once it gets out you ousted Sonny. Even though I know you wouldn't have had Sonny go missing to pull it off."
"She's at the station with Sonny's guards," Jason said, "I told her to have the PCPD schedule a time tomorrow if they want to talk to me."
"You should probably still play it like you might have done it," Kellie said, "Don't admit to anything obviously, but leave doubt for the other families if you did or not. Give the perception you were possibly willing to remove Sonny even if it's temporary."
"I don't like it," Jason said, "But we'll need every advantage we can get, especially if whoever has been coming after us took Sonny."
Kellie didn't comment further.
"How are you? With Sonny missing?" Sonny asked.
"Numb," Kellie said, "Maybe I should care more right now. I just don't have it in me after everything else today."
"There's nothing wrong with that," Jason said.
"What about you?" Kellie asked, "I know it wasn't easy for you decide to take over."
"No, but it's what needs to be done," Jason said, "I can't sit back and watch Sonny do whatever the hell it is he's been doing. It's the same thing over and over again. He says he'll do better, then doesn't or refuses to listen to reason. How often did I want to take care of Shiloh even before we knew his connection to Garrett because of Sam and Kristina. Sonny kept saying no it wasn't the right time. And then Kristina was almost initiated into the cult. He keeps saying that he has everything under control, but he hasn't. You and the kids should have been safe on the island, but Sonny kept dragging and dragging it out. I hate what you're going through with losing Charles like this. When Sonny showed up at the church today and listening to him throw out more excuses for not respecting you or my mom's wishes, I don't know. I just realized he was going to keep making excuses like he's always done even before Nixon Falls."
Kellie waited as Jason took a breath.
"I could have lost you in that shoot out, could have lost my mom, one of the kids," Jason said, "All because Sonny refuses to learn. I already lost months with you and the kids being on the island. You would have thought I'd have learned after Emily was killed. She and Sonny were dating. He let the guards go again. Manny Ruiz kidnapped her and she got caught in the cross fire dying from both Sonny's and Manny's bullets. I can't keep covering for Sonny like this. I just wish I'd seen it sooner."
"You did quit working for Sonny after Emily died," Kellie said, "You were so mad you worked for my uncle for awhile."
"But eventually I went back and did the same thing," Jason said.
"Some of that was because of me though," Kellie said, "I'd taken over for Sonny when Luis tried to make it look like he killed Tyler. You stepped back into help transition the business back to Sonny and I could eventually back. But then Michael got shot and I just left town."
"I would have ended up back working for Sonny at that point, regardless of what you decided," Jason said, "He'd left things vulnerable in all of that too. I took completely over when he wanted out for Kate anyway. And you needed to figure out who you were, who you wanted to be outside of all this."
"Some days I think I'm still trying to figure that out," Kellie said.
"I think that's only natural after how much your entire life was upended the last few years," Jason said, "Not only did you lose Tyler, you uprooted your entire life right after to protect the kids from Garrett. You lost the foundation you created in trying to balance your proximity to me, Sonny, the business. Not to mention we were barely figuring out our relationship with each other when we got married to protect you from the other families. Then we had Kelsey on top of that which was a complete surprise. Now Charles is gone and he was a big part of your life. You might still be figuring that out for awhile."
"I kind of hate that you're right," Kellie said.
"And now you'll have time to figure that out," Jason said, "You won't have to worry about whether or not you'll need to take over the business."
"I'll still be on guard though," Kellie said, "It's never as simple as we make it out to be."
"That's all it should be for you," Jason said, "You can work with Kristina's casino venture if you want or anything else you want to do."
"I'm just providing funds and mentoring" Kellie said, "Other than that I think Kristina just needs to be able to make it work on her own. She needs the chance to make something of her own."
"I'm sure she'll appreciate that," Jason said, "Not to mention I think the two of you might end up butting heads at the end of the day."
"It's also why I've had her shadow Zach Slater and see how his casinos are run," Kellie said.
"Is there any possibility you could be more involved in the foundation like you used to?" Jason asked, "Once things die down here. They're going to need someone to step in with Charles gone."
"I don't think so," Kellie said, "Charles handled a lot of the legal stuff for the foundation. That's not my wheelhouse. Everything we thought I might still be able to do related to rescue missions didn't really happen the way we thought. I couldn't really be available as much as they needed when I was pregnant with Kelsey and afterwards. They needed to hire people to do those jobs. My availability has still been hit and miss with everything that's gone on. I've consulted on a few things there and there."
"They got used to working without you," Jason said, "What about the studio?"
"It's a specific niche of classes," Kellie said, "targeted to a specific market. I teach some classes, but also have hired experts to teach the rest as well as private lessons. I had to even more after Peter shot me."
"You're incredibly good at outsourcing the work that needs to be done," Jason said, "No matter what you do."
"I'm apparently able to organize myself out of a job," Kellie said.
"How much work will the shipping company be for you?" Jason asked.
"My silent partner mostly runs it," Kellie replied.
"You realize I'm pretty certain Lorenzo is your silent partner," Jason said, "And that he owned 100% of the company for years before you bought into it or he gave you controlling interest."
"My silent partner is none of your business," Kellie said.
"Neither one of you are actually denying that," Jason said.
"We're almost home," Kellie said, "We probably have more urgent things to discuss like my dad being missing again. Do we need to call my siblings or anyone else?"
"Johnny and Francis were going to make those calls," Jason said, "I'll call Carly here in a little bit. I want to be sure you're okay first."
"It'll be awhile," Kellie said, "Thank you for what you said to Alyssa tonight. You have no idea how much it means to me that you treat like their yours as much as Kelsey, Danny, and Jake."
"They make it pretty easy," Jason said, "You and Tyler raised some really great kids. I know I promised Tyler I'd watch out for you and the kids. But when we got married, I knew that trying to fill Tyler's shoes even in a small capacity was a tall order. Especially when my track record with Danny and Jake had been spotty for a while. When I left the Russian clinic, I wanted to be a better dad to Danny and Jake. I really wasn't sure how I was going to do it. Watching you with the kids on the island after Tyler's death and when you came back to Port Charles, you helped me see how to do it with our lives the way they are. When we got married, I watched you open up your life to Danny and Jake and make sure they were included. I could only hope Alyssa, Jamie, and Jared would at least be able to accept me as a stepdad. Even though Alyssa didn't intend to refer to me as "Daddy Jason", it means a lot that I'll always know on some level that she accepts me a father figure in her life."
"It surprised me when she said it," Kellie said, "Considering that how upset she was when we got married because she thought you were trying to replace Tyler."
"It just makes it mean that much more," Jason said, "I know that she and Tyler were really close."
"She is a daddy's girl," Kellie said, "She will definitely try to keep you wrapped around her finger. Her voice when she went to plead with you to make Max stay for smores, it was the same whine she used on Tyler."
"I think I've got a pretty good idea of her ideas and methods by now," Jason said, "Same with the boys. They all take after you in different ways. Jamie has your head for fighting your way out of trouble. Jared has your logic and reasoning for finding loopholes. Alyssa has your penchant for trying to talk people around to your way of thinking. Although Alyssa's approach to that is different than yours."
Kellie gave Jason a look that seemed to be a mixture of annoyance and resignation, knowing Jason was right.
"I'm never sure whether to be relieved or concerned some of the ways the kids take after me," Kellie said as Max pulled the car into the driveway.
"They're all good traits," Jason said, "You've been teaching them to how use them for the better and how to use those traits to protect themselves. We both know that's unfortunately more necessary than either of us would like."
"I know," Kellie said as she and Jason didn't move to get out of the car right away.
"Don't wait up for me tonight," Jason said, kissing Kellie's forehead, "I'm going to be awhile."
"Is there anything I can help you with?" Kellie asked.
"No," Jason shook his head, "This is on me. You've had a long day already. I just wish that I could be certain I'd could stay home with you and the kids tonight."
"It's okay," Kellie said, "You're doing what you need to do to protect our family. Especially with Sonny missing now, you'd have to make that call anyway."
"It's messier than I was planning on," Jason said.
"We'll get through it," Kellie said, taking Jason's hand, "Together."