Chapter 54- Ace's Birthday

"Wow, I can't believe Cameron would stab you and Spencer in the back like that." Carly handed Josslyn a cup of coffee and sat on the couch with her.

"Yep. Taking Esme's side, of all people."

"Well, I know you can do better than both Cameron and Dex," Carly said. "Try not to fret. Someone will come along."

"I hope so. Oh, by the way, I asked Spencer to meet me here. I thought maybe you could give him some advice about Ace."

She nodded. "I'd be happy to."

"Are you feeling any better?" Josslyn asked.

Carly looked at her seriously. "I think I might be pregnant."

Josslyn's eyes widened. "Really?"

Carly nodded. "I have all the symptoms. Just like all my past pregnancies."

"That's great! You're such a good mom. If more people had a mom like you, maybe they'd have better moral compasses. But… you said you broke up with Drew. I hope he doesn't cause any problems."

"I don't know if Drew is the father or not," Carly said.

"Who else could be?" Josslyn asked.

"Sonny."

"Wow…. I mean, in the past I'd be happy. But he really hurt you and how do we know he won't go back to Nina?"

"That's what I'm struggling with," Carly said. "I'm already dealing with Wiley and Amelia being forced to live with Nina. I wouldn't be able to handle Nina playing stepmommy to another one of my children. It was enough watching her with Avery and Donna. But the other option is Drew who took Sam's side over mine."

Josslyn shook her head. "That is a tough call. And from everything you've told me, I'd be afraid Drew would love Scout more than your baby."

"I don't even know for sure though if I'm pregnant," Carly said. "Maybe I'm worrying over nothing."

They turned when there was a knock on the door.

"I'll get it." Josslyn got up and answered. "Oh, hey, Spencer."

He walked in. "Hey Joss. Hey Carly."

Carly smiled at him. "I hear you need some advice."

Spencer nodded and sat on a chair. "I'm going for custody of my baby brother. It's something I should've done the moment he was born. But everyone advised me not to. Now, we're in this mess. It's gotten so bad that I'm not even invited to his birthday party that is starting very soon. Grandmother has forbidden me to show up. And Jordan says if I approach Esme and Ace again, I will be arrested."

"I'm very sorry to hear that you have few people on your side," Carly said.

"Not even a few. Only Josslyn at this point. Though I'm sure Uncle Sonny still would be."

"Well, I'm on your side for the record," Carly said. "Esme should have gone to prison. I think it would be a mistake though to crash Ace's birthday party. I know you want to be there and you should be there. But you'll be arrested and Esme will use that against you in court."

"It's just crazy," Spencer said. "I am his big brother and I should be there. Especially after Esme dropped Ace yesterday."

"Josslyn told me about that. And I think that will be your main angle to win custody. Diane will need to prove that Esme isn't mentally stable enough to care for Ace and that she is a danger to his well-being."

"I think it should be easy enough to prove." Spencer sighed. "Except for the fact that I'm not allowed near them."

"I don't think you need to be near them to prove it," Carly said. "Esme will do that all on her own in time."

"As long as Ace doesn't get hurt in the process. And Josslyn suggested I marry Trina, but she wasn't having it."

"That was going to be my next suggestion," Carly said. "I have experience with custody battles and marrying Trina would've been perfect for you. I'm going through something similar with Michael. He and I are fighting Willow for custody of Wiley and Amelia because she's endangering them around Nina. I've considered helping Michael find a new wife, but I can't think of a good candidate."

"That sounds challenging."

"I've always been good at reading whether someone is fit to raise a child or even to be around them," Carly added. "I feel called to protect children from the evils in this world. I've been doing it for years. Sometimes I've been successful, other times not so much. You were one of those children, Spencer."

He bit his lip. "Father did tell me that you and Jax kept me from him when I was a baby."

"And I would do it all over again to protect you from the Cassadines, except I would do it better and ensure that Robin never found out. I also tried to protect Willow from Nina but failed. But I won't fail in protecting Wiley and Amelia and helping you protect Ace. Neither Nina nor Esme are fit to be around children."

"Thank you for seeing that," Spencer said.

"My final piece of advice…." She looked at Josslyn. "Is to marry my daughter. She will help you look good and she would be a much better mother to Ace than Esme will ever be. A judge has to see that."

GHGHGH

Felicia pulled the juice boxes and soda cans from the fridge.

Mac walked in. "Hey, let me carry those. Try not to do too much. You're still recovering.

Are you okay?"

She sighed. "I'm trying to be. I want this party to be special for Esme and Ace. I want them to feel special. I never got to throw her even one birthday."

"It will be and they will feel special. Is your stomach hurting?"

"No, nothing like that," Felicia said. "I'm just worried about the girls."

"Yeah. Me too."

"Some days Georgie seems like she's improving and the next she isn't. Her body is so frail. And what happened at the pool yesterday… Esme didn't want to talk about it, other than the good parts. I hope she's not closing off to me again."

"Georgie will grow stronger," Mac assured. "She's gained a few pounds already and is finally able to eat a few more things. Robin seems happy with her progress. And I'm sure Esme will open up to you again. Maybe she just wants to focus on the party today. And that's probably a good thing."

"I hope you're right. But I'm also worried about the party because Esme didn't seem happy that I wanted to include Maxie. I don't blame her. But I want them to get along. And unlike Spencer and Josslyn, at least Maxie is remorseful."

"I'm sure in time they will be fine. Come on, let's get ready."

GHGHGH

"When will Mommy be home?" Wiley asked after Nina laid Amelia down.

"In a few hours," Nina said. "What would you like to do while we wait?"

"Can we play with my cars?"

"Of course we can, Wiley."

Wiley squealed in excitement and pulled out his box of cars from the cupboard and poured them onto the living room floor. "Let's build some tracks for them, Grandma."

Nina sat beside him and lifted two pieces of the tracks but sighed when Amelia started crying, so she put them back down. "I'll be back, Wiley. Your sister is teething."

Wiley started building while Nina checked on Amelia. She lifted her in her arms and rocked her. "Shh… shh… it's okay, Amelia."

"Grandma." Wiley appeared in the doorway. "Come play with me."

"I'll be there in a minute, Wiley."

Amelia began screaming.

Wiley returned to his tracks and before he knew it, he used them all up and frowned. His stomach rumbled so he returned to Amelia's room. "Grandma, I'm hungry."

"Just a minute, Wiley."

Wiley went back out and plopped on the couch. He covered his ears to block out Amelia's cries and screams. What felt like forever, he was super hungry, but his grandma didn't come back out. "I'll feed myself." He ran into the kitchen and pushed a chair against the counter. He pulled himself to a standing position on the counter and opened the door. He smiled when he saw his favourite Goldfish crackers. He grabbed them and whipped around in excitement, but his socked feet slipped and he fell forward, missing the chair, and dropping head first onto the tiled floor.

GHGHGH

Esme held Ace on her lap and sat on the couch with Georgie as Mac and Felicia welcomed the guests. Cody arrived first and brought a huge, blue-wrapped box for Ace and set it on the table with the other gifts before sitting with Georgie and Esme. Next, Patrick, Robin, Emma, and Noah arrived and sat around the living room.

Cody made silly faces for Ace and he giggled.

A few minutes later, Laura arrived with Rocco and Aiden and Felicia brought them over to Esme.

Laura smiled at them. "Hi Esme. Thank you for inviting me. Happy birthday, Ace."

Esme stood up and smiled back. "Do you want to hold him?"

"I would love to hold him." She squeezed Esme's arm gently, then took Ace and kissed his cheek. Ace smiled up at her. "Ace, do you remember your cousins Rocco and Aiden?"

"I made you a smash cake, Ace." Aiden held it up for him.

Laura sat down with Ace while Aiden and Rocco set the cake and their gifts on the table.

Felicia wrapped her arm around Esme.

Esme relaxed a bit but then stiffened when Mac let Maxie and the kids in. James and Bailey hugged everyone, including Esme, and then they carried a gift over to show Ace. Little Georgie joined Rocco and Aiden, while Maxie came over to Felicia and Esme.

Maxie smiled. "Hi Mom. Hi Esme. I love all the balloons."

Esme sat back down between Cody and Big Georgie and crossed her arms.

Maxie's smile faded.

Felicia touched her shoulder. "Just give her some time."

Lastly, Mac brought Cameron and Jake into the living room. "Okay, I think that's everyone."

GHGHGH

Nina finally got Amelia back to sleep and returned to the living room. "Wiley? I'm sorry that took so long." She checked his room next and felt her chest go heavy when he wasn't there. She stepped into the kitchen and screamed when she saw him lying unconscious on the floor.

GHGHGH

Esme took Ace back from Laura and sat with Cameron, Emma, and Jake after they finished eating.

"How old are you now, Jake?" Emma asked.

"I'll be 18 in May."

Emma sang, "It's gonna be May!"

Cameron and Jake laughed. Esme just listened.

"I remember that meme," Jake said.

"I turned 18 in November," Emma said.

"I'm 21," Cam said. "How old are you, Esme?"

"20."

"Should we start presents now?" Felicia asked.

"I want to help, Grandma," James said.

"Me too," Noah said.

"Me! Me!" Bailey raised her hand.

"Okay, you guys can carry the gifts over," Felicia said.

Esme returned to the couch with Ace, and Felicia sat with them. Ace received books, toys, clothes, puzzles, a magnetic drawing board, a push toy, an activity cube.

James handed Esme the next gift. She looked at the card and saw it was from Maxie and the kids. She paused before opening it to find a piano mat, shape sorters, and more clothes.

"Here's another one from me." Felicia handed her a small gift.

Esme unwrapped it to find a golden picture frame that said 3 Generations of Love.

"I want a picture of the three of us together." Felicia handed Cody her phone. "Can you take a picture of us?"

"Sure thing." Cody stood in front of them and held out the phone.

Felicia wrapped her arm around them and Esme's eyes welled with tears, but she beamed.

Cody snapped the picture and handed the phone back to Felicia.

"That's perfect," Felicia said, looking at the photo.

Esme hugged her. "Thank you, Mommy." Felicia kissed the top of her head.

GHGHGH

Wiley finally woke up in a room in the ER and started screaming.

"Wiley, Wiley, it's okay." Nina held his hand. "It's okay."

His screams diminished into cries.

Soon, Willow rushed in. "Wiley…." She pulled him into her arms. "Are you okay, buddy?"

"Hurts, Mommy. It hurts."

"The doctor said he has a concussion," Nina said. "Willow, I'm so sorry. I was tending to Amelia. I think he climbed onto the counter, because one of the chairs was against it. I found him knocked out on the floor."

"I was hungry, Mommy."

"It's okay, Wiley. Where's Amelia?"

"One of our neighbours is watching her," Nina said.

"Okay, can you call Michael?"

Nina nodded and stepped out.

GHGHGH

After everyone left and Mac and Felicia started to clean up, Esme went to put Ace to bed, but stopped outside of the den when she heard a noise. She peeked inside and saw something printing from the fax machine.

She stood there for several moments. "Could that have to do with Grandma's P.I. work, Ace?" She went inside and lifted the paper.

Felicia,

Could this be the location?

Let me know your thoughts. I'll be out of town for a few days, but we can explore it when I return.

Spinelli

Underneath was a map of Rochester, New York. The Sherwood Hotel was circled.

Esme stared at it. "Ace, Mommy's going to prove she can be more like Grandma than like Ryan. I'm going to help her with her work to make her proud of me."

She folded it up and slipped it into her pocket, then took Ace upstairs.

GHGHGH

Nina sat with Willow and Wiley while they waited for the doctor to return. But instead of the doctor, Carly and Michael rushed in.

"Daddy…."

"Oh, buddy." Michael hugged him. "Are you okay?"

Carly held his hand, then looked between Nina and Willow. "Don't worry, Wiley. Grandma and Daddy are going to make sure this doesn't happen again."

Nina and Willow exchanged worried looks.