Since thirty people were a few too many to fit comfortably at the table in the formal dining room, tables had been set up in the Ballroom for Quartermaine Sunday Brunch. Amidst a sea of concerned eyes Hugh Lars Quartermaine took a bite of Spinach Quiche without really tasting. His cousin Celia had placed a filled plate in front of him and he was eating because he knew he needed fuel even if he had no appetite.
Lost in his own thoughts, Hugh Lars barely noticed the transition to quiet when Ned Ashton entered the room.
"Here, Ned, let me fix you a plate," Dr. Alan Quartermaine offered as he quickly got up and made his way over to the buffet where he started filling a plate.
Ned accepted the plate and then sat down at their table along with Celia and her father. "I'm sorry to hear about Marla. If there is anything I can do to help, please let me know," he offered as he sat down.
Hugh Lars nodded. "Thank you. I know you've had a lot on your plate lately. How is Carly?" he asked.
"She is resting. Dr. Meadows wanted to see if the fever broke with some Tylenol. Beth was kind enough to sit with her while I came down for some sustenance.
Hugh Lars just nodded again and put more food in his mouth. What else could he say?
XXXXXXXX
Brenda Barrett set down a box of decorations on one of the couches along the ballroom perimeter wall. Lugging everything up from the ground floor was likely an exercise in futility since she sensed that Carly's on again, off again, on again, off again, on again Baby Shower had shifted back into the off again position. "I guess AJ went to pick up Carly's friend from the train?" she asked Keesha.
"He did. Her train is supposed to arrive at 1:05 and he had to get all the way over to Western Boulevard. Plus, he wanted to be there at least fifteen minutes early in case it arrived early. We figured that stranding guests at a train station was even worse than cancelling the shower at the last minute. Of course, it looks like we may be doing that as well. On that note, were you going to ask Ned about that?" Keesha asked.
"Yeah, I guess I should do that," Brenda said. She took a deep breath and made her way over to the table Ned was at with most of the Utah Quartermaine contingent.
"Hello, Brenda," Celia Quartermaine said as soon as she sat down beside Ned.
"Hi," Brenda mumbled. Apparently, Ned and Celia had grown up together and had a strong cousin connection whatever that meant. That was yet another thing Brenda just couldn't understand. She thought she had been closer to her Uncle Pierce than her father, but his only child had been born in between her and Julia chronologically and kidnapped as an infant about seven years before Brenda's birth. Then there was the issue that Celia reminded her a lot of her sister Julia and that just felt awkward, almost as awkward as Julia herself made her feel.
"How is Carly?" Brenda asked Ned.
"I was just about to go back upstairs, to check on her, and relieve Beth. I'm hoping the fever broke so she is able to rest," Ned said.
"I hope she feels better. I guess just let us know what she wants to do about this afternoon," Brenda said.
Ned looked confused for a minute but then he said. "Oh, about the Baby Shower. So, I think that our best course of action is to let Carly in on the plan because I'm not sure she needs any more surprises and I think I'm meant to support her doing what she thinks is best there. If that look is because you feel like I never did that where Lois was concerned you might be right, but I can't exactly go back in time so maybe I can just learn from my mistakes."
"I didn't say that, Ned!"
Ned's face softened. "I'm sorry, Brenda, it's not an excuse but I've had a lot on my mind."
"I know, and I think you're right that you should tell Carly about the shower. She knows how she feels and is the best judge of whether she is up to that. For the record, Lois is one of my best friends, and I don't think even she would say you never supported her," Brenda said.
"Unfortunately, that may be more of testament to Lois's sense of integrity than my husbandry, but I guess I'll take it," Ned said.
"And then there are people who defy all attempts at support," Hugh Lars said bitterly.
Brenda winced. Of all of the Utah Contingent Quartermaines, his wife, Marla, was the one she knew the least well. She supposed that was partly because so often Marla had some commitment that precluded her coming to Port Charles and because on the rare occasions when she did visit, she filled her days with personal trainer sessions at the hotel fitness center alternated with spa sessions. Then there was the issue that she seemed to make Brenda feel even more uncomfortable than Celia ever could.
"Unsolicited advice?" Ned asked.
Hugh Lars shrugged his shoulders. "At this point, what do I have to lose?" he asked.
"I know you love her but right now it may be very hard for her to believe that because of everything else. So just keep loving her and try to ride this out with her," Ned said.
"Is that what you're doing with Carly?" Hugh Lars asked.
"I'm trying, and I'm terrified that I'll mess it all up so I guess I really shouldn't be giving anyone advice," Ned said.
"No, you're good. I just needed to get out of my pity party and realize that you're right I just need to figure out how to persevere with Marla because I do love her and that means loving her through the hard times," Hugh Lars said.
Brenda didn't say anything, but she wondered if Ned was reflecting as much on how things had ended with Lois as he was on the current situation with Carly. She suspected he was.
XXXXXXXX
Carly Ashton opened her eyes in an unfamiliar room. It her a few moments to remember she was in some random guest suite in the West Wing of the Quartermaine Mansion. She had convinced Ned that she could rest there just as well as home.
"Hey, you're awake! How are you feeling?" Beth Quartermaine asked as she came over to sit on the edge of the bed.
Carly debated how to answer that question. Her head was throbbing, and she still felt exhausted and weak. Despite that she thought she did feel better than before. That was disconcerting and she couldn't remember the last time she had felt well. Beth probably didn't want to hear that though, so she struggled to take a breath and then said, "I'm feeling better."
"But you still aren't really feeling well?" Beth asked.
Carly shook her head and then regretted that because once again everything seemed to spin. In her head she heard her mother calling her out for her melodramatics. If her mother knew she was pregnant she was sure she would just lecture her about how women got pregnant every day and it really wasn't a big deal. But how would Virginia really know? She had never been pregnant!
"Ned just went downstairs to eat but he wanted me to get him if you woke up and needed him. I can do that," Beth offered.
"As long as you're not also starving on my behalf, it's ok," Carly said.
Beth laughed. "Mark and I are in the habit that one of us eats really quickly while the other gets Kensi set up and then we trade. So, we did that and then I just ate very quickly before I came upstairs. Now, we may be keeping Mark from raiding the dessert section of the buffet, but he'll survive."
Despite how awful she still felt Carly smiled at the teamwork. Beth, Mark, and Kensi really were a sweet little family, the kind that she would have probably mocked a few years ago but in moments where she let herself dream, she wanted to believe she could figure out how to work with Ned and give Michael that.
XXXXXXXX
Twenty-six-year-old Rika Price exhaled with frustration as she stepped into the North Elevators. When she had taken the job at Port Charles General Hospital a year earlier, she had accepted that she would be responsible for doing initial substance abuse evaluations at least two weekends a month. Many times, that just meant being available to do evaluations but not actually going into the hospital and doing any. But sometimes there were requests for evaluations on weekends and that was fine. It was her job after all. Plus, it would be highly hypocritical for her to not understand that sometimes evaluations were time sensitive, especially since she believed that if only Kerry had been transferred from the hospital directly into a medical detoxification program, he never would have gone out to get more drugs, miscalculated his tolerance and overdosed.
So generally, she just took a deep breath and did the evaluation and then reached out to either Dr. Harris if the patient needed additional medical detoxification or reached out to one of the hospital social workers if the patient was ready to go to a longer rehabilitation unit. That had been her original plan, especially since Dr. Monica Quartermaine had written in her note about how the patient would likely require further medical monitoring and might still require dialysis if her kidney function didn't improve. Then she had met the patient in question and that plan fell apart in short order.
Katherine Bell was the epitome of an entitled white woman incapable of personal accountability. After thirty minutes Rika had tired of hearing the woman's tales of woe about how everyone else had ruined life for her. She had managed to segue the topic to her substance use at that point, but it had just been more of the same song in a similar verse. Despite being intoxicated enough to fall down the steps of Pier 52 and sustaining a traumatic head bleed, and her current admission with amphetamine toxicity the woman couldn't even begin to see that either situation had anything to do with her own actions. She was still claiming she had clearly been pushed and the PCPD was incompetent and apparently, she had some heart arrhythmia that the incompetent doctors had missed, and the drug test was wrong because the lab was also incompetent.
Rika had given up at that point. She had written up her evaluation, diagnosed Ms. Bell with Substance Use Disorder NOS but added that she was pre-contemplative regarding treatment so referral for substance abuse treatment seemed inappropriate. Then she had taken a deep breath and decided to treat herself to a late lunch at
Café Decadence. She was on her way there but somehow frustration still permeated her mood. Then the frustration turned to anger, and she found herself thinking of how everything had ended with Kerry. It had been almost four years since his death and if she was honest nothing had brought her closure. Despite that most days she was ok. It was just some days, and some patients reopened the wounds.
XXXXXXXX
"I'm guessing you don't want Snarl Children stories?" Beth Quartermaine asked as she removed the mother of pearl barrette from Carly's hair and started to brush it.
"What?" Carly asked.
"I tell Kensington stories when I brush out the tangles. It distracts her," Beth said. When Ned had explained about the baby shower, Carly had decided she felt up to, or perhaps felt obligated to attend. So, Beth was supposed to be helping her get ready for that while Mark had taken Kensington outside to play on the huge play set in Alan and Monica's backyard.
"That's cute, but I'll try to hold still without," Carly said.
"Yeah, it's definitely much easier to do this when my target isn't moving," Beth said.
"Thank you for doing this," Carly said.
"Of course, we became family when you married Ned, but I hope you're starting to consider us friends and you know I want to help you if I can."
"I appreciate that, really," Carly said.
Beth heard the insecurity in Carly's voice. "I wish things were easier for you with this pregnancy, Carly. Just know that you have family and friends who care and want to help," she said.
Carly seemed to take a very measured breath and nodded her head.
XXXXXXXX
Simone Torres slid into AJ Quartermaine's BMW. "I'm sorry, guess I should have taken an earlier train. I didn't imagine it would be ten minutes late," she said.
"No apologies! It will only take us about fifteen minutes to get back to my parents' house. The shower doesn't start until 2:30 and I'm pretty sure that both Peggy Lansing and Priscilla Longsworth were included on the guest list so they can rival who can be the fashionably latest along with whatever other battles they are engaging in this week," AJ said.
"Am I supposed to know who these people are?" Simone asked once AJ had gotten into the car.
"No probably not, unless you're also part of the Port Charles Junior League or you spend a lot of time reading the society pages," AJ admitted.
"Does Carly even know half of the people invited to her shower?" Simone asked.
AJ laughed as he pulled out of the parking space. "Now that is a good question. I think it depends on how you define know. I believe that Keesha and Brenda invited people from the Women's Bible Study Carly has been attending and the Port Charles Junior League she and our grandmother are involved in. So, I suspect that Carly will be able to name everyone at her shower she may just not know some of them very well," he said.
Simone wondered if Carly knew any of them very well. She suspected she did not as AJ pulled out of the train station onto Western Boulevard. "If you say so," she finally said.
AJ appeared to focus intently on the road. Simone wondered if he was just a cautious, conscientious driver or if he was trying to avoid further comment.
AJ stopped for a red light and signaled to turn onto Federal Avenue Extension. He turned towards Simone. "I know you're Carly's best friend, and I can imagine that she may have suggested that marrying into the Quartermaine Family has been a pretty uphill battle. I'm not trying to discount her feelings, I guess I just hope that she can also see that we all want her to find her way and help her in any way we can," he said.
Simone considered his words as she reflected on her last conversation with Carly.
October 20, 1997
Simone Torres listened to the phone ring after dialing Carly's number. She supposed that she shouldn't exactly expect Carly to be waiting by the phone especially since she hadn't been super hospitable when Carly had called the last few times. She felt badly about that, and she thought Carly had said something about another ultrasound at the end of last week, so she had decided to call.
"Hello," Carly finally picked up on the seventh ring.
Carly sounded like she had been sleeping but it was four o'clock in the afternoon. "Hi Carly. Please tell me I'm not waking you up!" Simone said.
Carly sighed. "You are, but if you want to weigh in on what a craptastic mom I'm going to be, take a number!"
Simone felt badly. "Hey, I've never thought that. What's going on?"
"Never mind, and umm sorry, it just hasn't been a great day!" Carly said.
"Anything you feel like talking about?" Simone asked.
"Not really! How goes the job search?" Carly asked.
They had chatted a little more and then Carly had apologized about how much pregnancy was exhausting her and gone back to sleep. Simone had hung up the phone still worried for her friend. The next day she had received the invitation to the baby shower and realized she had to go if for no reason other than to ensure that Carly had at least one person securely in her corner. Her conversation with Ned had been a bit reassuring or at least convinced her that he was unlikely to be the person who presumed she was going to be a craptastic mom. But that had left her presuming that someone else in his family had been the culprit.
"If your whole family really wants to support Carly then perhaps you could refrain from telling her what a craptastic mom she is going to be," Simone said as the light turned green, and AJ turned onto Federal Avenue Extension.
AJ appeared more shocked than chagrinned or smug. "I'm pretty sure that no one in our family told Carly she was going to be a craptastic mom because no one thinks she will. I can't promise that no one said something that she interpreted that way and I'm sorry if that happened," he said.
"But it's really all Carly's fault for being oversensitive?" Simone pressed.
"Of course, not! Sometimes Grandfather says things without really thinking them through enough, so if that is what happened I'm sure everyone feels badly about that. I probably shouldn't ask but do you know what he said to Carly? I'm sensing this was something he said one on one, because otherwise Ned, my parents, or Grandmother would have called it out, I'm sure. I'm sensing Carly was too kind to mention anything to Ned, but I would hate for her to keep feeling uncomfortable and Grandfather likes Carly so although she may not believe this, and you have no reason to believe this, even he would feel horrible about this."
It was Simone's turn to be a little chagrinned. "I actually don't. I spoke to Carly last week and she was upset. She mentioned that if I thought she was going to be a craptastic mom I could take a number," she said.
"Hmm, I'm guessing it wasn't Grandfather that upset her then," AJ said.
"Why?"
"Craptastic isn't exactly part of his vernacular. Anyway, Grandfather really didn't see Carly last week. He intentionally stayed away from the hospital because he didn't want to upset her or Ned. He sent flowers, but he made Keesha and Brenda help him with the card."
"Carly was in the hospital?" Simone asked.
This time AJ did look chagrinned. "Umm, I think maybe Carly wanted to update you on everything in person," he said. He stopped for a light outside on Federal Avenue next to the Federal Annex Building and turned to look at her still looking very uncomfortable.
"Is Carly, ok?" Simone asked with trepidation.
"She was released from the hospital Saturday evening. Between you and me, she looks anything but ok but please don't tell her I said anything," AJ said.
Simone considered that as they drove down Federal Avenue past a picturesque town square full of well-manicured garden beds, pristine paths, and stately buildings. "Because you don't want Carly to be mad at you?" she asked.
"More because I don't want Carly to be uncomfortable or make things weird for her with Ned," AJ said.
Simone sensed there was something else he wasn't telling her, but she decided to let it go, at least for the moment. She said nothing as AJ stopped at the final light on Federal Avenue.
AJ made a right onto Main Street and briefly headed in the direction of Port Charles General Hospital but then made a quick left and proceeded down Lilac Drive past Lilac Park until he turned and drove through the open wrought iron gates. As he drove up the inlaid stone driveway a large brick colonial came into view. AJ shifted into park in front of the marble front porch and turned to fully face Simone. "I think Carly may be upstairs resting but I can bring you inside and introduce you to Brenda and Keesha who are setting up for the shower," he said.
Simone followed him inside and tried not to gawk. She knew that Carly's husband and his family were wealthy, but their home exuded more than wealth.
"Simone, I would like you to meet my father, Dr. Alan Quartermaine," AJ said as they entered the Grand Foyer. "Dad, this is Simone Torres, she is one of Carly's best friends and was her maid of honor," he added.
Dr. Alan Quartermaine extended his hand. "It is very nice to meet you, Simone, welcome to our home. Monica had to go back to the hospital and do an emergent TEE, but she is hoping to be home soon," he said.
Simone accepted his hand nervously. "Thank you. I think AJ was going to introduce me to the women hosting the shower so I could help with the set up," she said.
"Of course, unless you would like something to eat or drink first. I understand you have had a long trip," Alan said.
"No, I'm fine. I had a sandwich on the train, and I think Ned mentioned something about dinner after the shower," Simone said. She noted the way the confusion on Dr. Quartermaine's face which he quickly tried to hide. She sensed he had been about to suggest that Carly would hardly be up to dinner out but didn't feel it was his place to say that.
"Ok, then, why don't you come with me, and I'll introduce you to Brenda and Keesha. I'm sure they must still be in the Ballroom finishing setting up," AJ said. He led her through the foyer and down a hall to their left past a very formal living room with a baby grand piano, and then into what appeared to be the ballroom.
Simone followed AJ inside and glanced around the room. There were half a dozen tables set up with blue linen tablecloths, and a long buffet table against the far wall and then a grand piano in the adjacent corner. "Do you actually host your own Debutante Balls?" she asked.
"Those usually happen at the Country Club, but my grandparents enjoy entertaining. Sometimes they even let my parents have some say in the guest list," AJ said.
From Brenda and Keesha's laughter, Simone sensed it was an inside joke she wasn't meant to understand. She was wondering if Carly had also felt so out of the loop when a petite girl with very black curls and mocha skin stepped forward from where she had been assembling a balloon archway.
"Hi! I'm Keesha Ward. Carly and I have volunteered together at Ward House, you must be Simone. Ned mentioned you were taking the train up this morning. I'm sure Carly will be thrilled to see you," Keesha said.
"Yes, I'm Simone Torres. So, what can I do to help?" Simone asked with much more enthusiasm than she felt.