Chapter 3- Investigations
Kristina stood outside the conference room at General Hospital, staring through the window. People had already started filling the circle. She recognized no one. Why did she let her mother talk her into going? She only agreed if she would get off her back about the surrogacy.
She went in and took an empty seat. Moments later, Maxie Jones walked in.
"Hi Kristina." She sat beside her. "I usually don't see anyone I know at these things."
Kristina scrunched her face. "How come you're—?"
"Oh, I was supposed to be Lulu's surrogate 13 years ago."
"Oh, right. I remember that," Kristina said. "I'm still confused by it though."
"Well, Lulu couldn't get pregnant, and I wanted so badly to help her," Maxie explained. "She was my best friend and I hated seeing her not having the baby she wanted."
"But the baby turned out to be yours and Spinelli's?" Kristina asked.
"Well at first Dante's and Lulu's embryo fertilized in me, but I lost the baby," she said sadly. "Then Spinelli and I were together, and I got pregnant. I didn't have the heart to tell Dante and Lulu."
Kristina stared at her. "So, you passed your baby off as Dante and Lulu's?"
"At first I did. Oh, boy. If you could've seen the inside of my head at that time. There was a huge battle going on. My anxiety was through the roof."
"So, you didn't want to be an egg donor?"
"I wasn't going to be," Maxie said. "It was originally Dante's sperm and Lulu's egg. But when I found out I was pregnant with mine and Spinelli's baby, I was prepared to give our baby to our friends."
"What changed?" Kristina asked.
"My baby and me. Your body changes as your baby does. Even when I lost Dante and Lulu's baby, I felt like a part of me died. And I wasn't the biological mother. Then when I carried Georgie and gave birth to her, I couldn't live with myself when I gave her to Lulu. I even hallucinated my sister's ghost. I realized as much as I love Lulu, I love my baby more. Surrogacy is a huge sacrifice. That's why if you're going to be a surrogate, it's better when it's for a stranger. Otherwise, there's too much of a conflict. It's even worse when it's your own egg. It's your flesh and blood. It changes you. And once you realize you can't give up your own baby, it also hurts your friends who you planned to surrogate for."
Kristina took in Maxie's words as the session began.
GHGHGH
Felicia kissed Robert's cheek when they met at Kelly's. "Happy New Year!"
"Happy New Year, Felicia." Robert sat across from her. "Have you heard from Mac?"
She nodded "He should be home at the end of the month. How was Christmas in California?"
"Good." He smiled. "Little Noah is huge now. And Emma is enjoying university."
"That's great. And how's Robin?"
"She's great," Robert said. "Working all the time. Saving lives."
"I miss her every day."
"Me too. So why did you want to see me?"
Felicia cleared her throat. "I need your help investigating something. Well, someone…."
"I thought you gave up P.I. work."
"I did," Felicia said. "Sort of. But this is personal. It affects Mac."
"Did something happen when I was away?" Robert asked.
"No. Well, yes. But Mac is fine. This involves Cody Bell."
Robert rolled his eyes.
"You remember that he and Mac had a DNA test done a few months back?" she asked.
He nodded. "I remember."
"Well, I suspect that Cody didn't tell the truth."
He scoffed. "Well, it's his character to lie, lie, lie. But he can't be Mac's son." He scrunched his face. "Can he?"
"You should have seen him at Christmas," Felicia said. "Even before the holidays. He fits right in with our family."
"That con artist fits in with your family?"
She sighed. "He's so good with Maxie and the kids. Especially James. James adores him. And I don't know… his mannerisms. His humour. He reminds me of Mac."
"Even if he is his son, you're all better off without him!"
Felicia took a deep breath. "I think he just needs a family to call his own. I don't think he's that bad."
He tilted his head back and looked at her. "What do you want me to do?"
"Well, I want to be careful. I don't want Cody to be mad at us. But I'd like to know the truth before Mac comes home."
"He'll probably be mad no matter how you do this," Robert said. "You might as well go all in and run your own test between me and Cody."
"Would you mind?" Felicia asked.
"Yes, I mind," Robert said. "But I'll do it for you and Mac."
"Thank you, Robert."
The door swung open and Laura walked in. "Oh, hello Robert and Felicia. Happy New Year."
"Happy New Year," they both greeted.
"I was actually going to call you, Felicia," Laura said. "Are you still doing P.I. work by any chance?"
Robert snorted.
Felicia shot him a look. "Well, not officially. Things didn't go well a few months ago so I promised Maxie and Mac I would cut back."
"Oh, okay," Laura said. "Thanks anyway. I'll talk to Sam." She started to walk away.
"Wait! What do you need help with?"
Robert shook his head, stifling a laugh.
Laura turned back to them. "There was a break-in at Wyndemere late on Christmas Day. Curtis isn't working right now, and I know Sam and the PCPD are swamped. I was going to ask if you could investigate it for me. This is also a bit personal too. I've grown to care about Ava. And I'm also worried that this could put Spencer and Ace in danger too."
"Was anything taken?" Felicia asked.
"That's the odd thing," Laura continued. "Nothing is gone. Only a window broken, and a red glove left behind."
"That is weird," Felicia said.
"And Esme and Ace just moved out on their own a few weeks ago," Laura added. "I can keep tabs on Spencer more, but I'm worried about Esme and Ace on their own."
Felicia pondered it for a moment. "We don't want them to be in danger, no. I'll do it."
Laura smiled. "Oh, thank you, Felicia."
Robert smirked when Laura walked away. "Given up P.I. work, huh?"
Felicia took a deep breath. "I don't know. I just feel like I need to do this. I can't explain it. But it's something I need to do."
GHGHGH
Nina bundled up and took a stroll through the park on her lunch break. She hadn't gotten much work done that morning. In fact, she was behind for weeks. Drew was sure to fire her over it. Then again, she'd probably lose her job anyway once everyone found out she reported him and Carly.
But that would pale in comparison to losing Sonny and Willow. She couldn't lose her daughter again. It would destroy her. She loved Sonny, she really did. But losing Willow would be so much worse. There'd be no point in continuing on.
"Grandma!"
She glanced up at the little voice. Wiley was running towards her. Instinctively, she scooped him up and embraced him. "Oh, Wiley!"
"Grandma, I miss you," Wiley said.
"Hi Nina." Willow smiled, pushing Amelia's stroller towards her.
"Hi Willow." Nina set Wiley down and started to hug Willow, when she caught Michael walking up behind them, glaring at Nina.
Nina pulled quickly away from Willow. Her heart panged to see the hurt look on Willow's face.
"Mommy, can Grandma Nina come to the playground with us?" Wiley asked.
Willow smiled again. "I think that's a great idea. What do you say, Nina?"
Nina's eyes lit up for a split second before seeing Michael's clenched face.
Nina frowned. "I wish I could, buddy. But… but Grandma has a lot of work to do. I should get back to the office."
Wiley pouted.
"It's okay, Wiley." Willow prodded him along. "Nina's busy."
Tears flowed from Nina's eyes. Never was she just Nina to Wiley. Her breathing sped up as they started to walk away. "Wait, Willow!"
They turned. Michael's eyes looked on fire.
"I need to tell you something," Nina said. "Something important. I should've told you a long time ago. But I was afraid…."
"Afraid of what?" Willow asked.
"Of losing…." She kept looking between Michael, Willow, and the kids. "Of losing my half of the Metro Court."
Willow raised an eyebrow. "I thought you wanted to give up your half, so you'd have more free time?"
"I did. I mean, I do." She shook her head. "I'm not making any sense."
"You never make sense, Nina," Michael said. "Come on. Let's go."
"I just mean, I didn't want it to get in the wrong hands."
"I'm sorry, Nina," Willow said. "But I'm not following."
"What I should've told you is that the reason I'm taking so long to sell my half, is because I want it to go to the right person. Carly won't take it back. I've had offers but they don't seem qualified. But my goal is to find the right buyer so that I will have more free time." She looked over at Michael again. "And then I hope that means I can spend more time with you and the kids."
Michael shook his head.
"Oh." Willow nodded. "That makes sense. I hope you're able to. The kids and I miss you."
When Michael, Willow, and the kids disappeared down the path, Nina buried her face in her hands and cried.
GHGHGH
Elizabeth kept checking the time on her phone. No messages. No calls. No answers when she tried calling Jake and Aiden. Sam nor Valentin had heard from them. Where were they?
Finally, the door opened, and Aiden walked in with Danny.
Elizabeth threw her arms around her youngest. "What happened? Are you okay?"
"I'm sorry, Mom," Aiden said. "My phone died. We can't find Jake and Charlotte."
"It's okay," Elizabeth said. "Tell me what happened."
"We were by the docks and Charlotte wandered off again," Danny spoke up.
Aiden nodded. "We tried to find her together. Jake thought we should split up. Danny and I searched forever, but now Jake is gone too."
"We saw some sketchy guys by a warehouse," Danny said. "But it could've been a coincidence."
"Or Charlotte's up to something again," Aiden suggested.
"Okay, I'm calling the police." Elizabeth pulled her phone out again.
GHGHGH
TJ relieved Felicia with baby Scarlett after an hour to check her vitals (even though the baby had been physically fine). Scarlett's mother had finally woken up but was still critical. Felicia approached the young woman's bed and sat at her side.
Long, brown hair, tubes in her nose, IV set up, casts on her neck, arms, and legs, she couldn't have been much older than 20. Felicia cleared her throat and the young woman's eyes shot open.
"I'm sorry," Felicia said calmly. "I didn't mean to startle you. My name is Felicia. I've been helping to care for your baby."
"Scarlet… Scarlett… okay?" the young woman was breathless.
Felicia nodded. "Scarlett is fine. What's your name?"
"L-Lily."
Felicia smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Lily. I've been assigned to be your health aide. I'd like to do anything I can to help."
Lily just stared at her.
For the next twenty minutes, Felicia tried talking to her, but Lily didn't say much. Felicia felt useless and the most she could do was get her some water. Her shift over, Felicia left and headed through the emergency room to go home for the night. She halted, however, when she heard a frantic, crying, voice.
"Please, you have to do something!" Esme Prince cradled her baby boy in her arms.
"I'm sorry, miss," the receptionist said. "We'll call your number soon."
"But we've already been waiting an hour. He was-he was sick over Christmas. He's gotten worse. He needs a doctor now!"
"I'm sorry," the receptionist repeated.
Defeated, Esme plopped down in a chair, crying with her son.
Felicia turned to leave but the sobs of both the young mother and baby kept paining her ears. She had to help them.
"Esme?" Felicia approached her.
Esme sat up, eyes wide, pulling Ace closer to her protectively.
"It's okay, you don't need to be afraid." She sat next to her, and Esme shifted over to the next seat. "I don't know if you remember me, but I'm Felicia Scorpio."
Esme bit her lip and stared on ahead.
"What's wrong with your little boy?" Felicia asked.
"His name is Ace," Esme rasped.
Felicia smiled a little. "I've seen you around town a bit." She remembered back to their moments with Ryan, and she shuddered a little. "Ace is adorable."
Esme nodded.
"I know waiting is hard, especially when your little on is sick," Felicia said. "What number are—Oh I see you're number 30." She glanced at the desk. "Only four away. You should be called soon."
"Not soon enough," Esme muttered.
"I know." Felicia nodded. "I can wait with you, if you'd like?"
Esme eyed her suspiciously.
"I remember when my daughter, Maxie, was sick when she was a little girl," Felicia said. "Waiting was the worst. Especially having to watch her in pain while waiting."
"26!" the nurse called.
"Three away," Felicia said. "How old is Ace?"
"Almost 11 months…." Esme said.
"I remember my girls at this age," Felicia said.
Esme scrunched her face. "I thought you only had one daughter."
Tears sprang to Felicia's eyes. "Losing a child… I wouldn't wish that on anyone."
"27!"
"I'm sorry," Esme said.
"Thank you. Motherhood changes a girl. Doesn't it?"
Esme lowered her gaze.
"I know it changed me," Felicia said. "I would do anything for my girls and to have them all with me. But I've made mistakes through the years."
Esme scoffed. "Yeah, right."
"28!"
"I have," Felicia said. "Everyone does at one time or another. It's what we do with those mistakes that count. Are we going to learn from them or repeat them?"
Esme's eyes moved to her for a second, then looked away again.
"And it's also important to surround ourselves with people who want to help us learn from them. Not people who will encourage us to repeat the same mistakes."
"29!"
"I hope Ace is okay," Felicia said softly. "I can tell you're really good with him."
"Not everyone thinks so," Esme said.
"It doesn't matter what they think. It matters what Ace thinks."
"30!'
Felicia gently squeezed Esme's shoulder. "Good luck in there. Ace will be okay. He has his mommy."
Esme slowly turned to her. Without another word, she followed the nurse.
Felicia watched her disappear through the doors, hoping it was a good thing for Esme and Ace that she waited with them.
GHGHGH
When Molly couldn't find TJ in his office, Carolyn directed her to a room. Molly slowly walked in and saw TJ rocking a baby girl in his arms.
He turned when he heard her. "Oh, hey, Mol. What time is it?" He looked at the clock. "Oh my gosh, I'm sorry. I lost track of the time."
"It's okay." She approached them. "Who is this little girl?"
TJ smiled. "Her name is Scarlett. Her family was in a car accident a week ago. The dad didn't make it. The mom is barely holding on."
"That's terrible." She looked down at Scarlett, whose big brown eyes gazed up at her. "She's beautiful."
"Do you want to hold her?" TJ asked.
Molly nodded and took Scarlett into her arms.