Written in 52 minutes. There were supposed to be two more scenes, and I probably could have written one more — but I didn’t want to be left with one scene for this day because then I either cut it or have to come up with more scenes to pad out the next part. This way, I just need, like, one more scene instead of 2-4. ANYWAY. See you tomorrow.
Monday, September 23, 2024
Penthouse: Living Room
“You don’t look like you have bad news,” Sam said, stepping back to allow her mother entrance into the penthouse. “Is the custody case or Kristina’s hearing tomorrow?”
Alexis set her briefcase on the desk, then turned to look at her daughter. “Danny was in a fight in school today.”
Sam jolted, shook her head. “No, that’s not—no one called me—” She looked at the landline, then at her mother. “Diane’s very thorough, isn’t she? As soon as Jason got that custody order, she made sure the school knew. That’s why they didn’t call me—”
“Yes, but honey, Diane’s required to do that notification. I know you don’t like this—”
“Gee, Mom, am I supposed to be happy that my two loser ex-husbands are using this opportunity to pretend they’re some kind of perfect fathers?” Sam demanded. She stalked past Alexis, returning to the sofa and coffee table where she picked up a glass of water, took a sip. “How bad was the fight?”
“Bumps and bruises, Diane said. No real injuries. Sam, Danny started the fight, and it was with Rocco.”
“Rocco—” Sam set the glass back down on the table with a thud. “That can’t be. They’re best friends—”
“Not right now. Rocco’s angry that Danny gave up his location on Friday, and I guess it just went from there—Sam, if it had been anyone but Rocco, we might have been able to use this to our advantage on Wednesday. If Danny’s still acting out, still getting into trouble when he’s with Jason, then Diane can’t argue your home is a danger — and you’ve signed the consent form so we’d be in clear.”
“But it was with Rocco. And it doesn’t matter that Rocco’s not here right now.” Sam sank onto the sofa, clasped her hands together, resting her elbows on her thighs. “I can just see it now. My home is dangerously unstable because Rocco had weed on the premises, and now he and Danny are violently arguing.”
“When you add that together with Saturday—” Alexis perched on the edge of the armchair. “Sam, it’s my job to make sure you’re prepared for this hearing. Based on this fact pattern, there’s a more than good chance that the custody order will be made permanent, that you’ll be ordered to attend anger management, with Danny to continue in therapy.”
Sam pressed her clasped hands against her forehead, squeezing her eyes closed. “And visitation?”
“Supervised. Whether we can get the court to allow Jason to choose the supervision or they order family services—I don’t think Jason’s doing this to hurt you—”
“Yeah, well, you didn’t see him on Saturday. He’s decided our entire relationship was a mistake, and Christ, he’s right. From the start. Just one massive mistake with Danny the only good that ever came of it.”
“Sam—”
“Supervised visitation. Anger management. For how long? How long can he keep my son from me?”
“We can ask them to reconsider in six weeks, but it’ll be more likely three months. It depends on if Diane will add parental alienation to the petition or bring it up.”
“Parental—” Sam’s head snapped up, and she scowled. “Are you kidding me?”
“Sam—”
“Because he came back from the dead—a choice he made to let his boys think he was dead—and I didn’t immediately let Danny move in with him, I’m going to take the heat for that? That’s bullshit, Mom, bullshit.”
“I agree. But the official story is that Jason was working undercover for the FBI. You’re not going to get very far with that. And I wouldn’t recommend pushing Diane on this. We both know she has an opposition file on you dating back decades.”
“So this is what it’s come to. After fifteen years of taking care of Danny almost entirely on my own, they’re going to pretend I’m a bad mother because he drank and got high on my watch, and I slugged the woman trying to take my place. This is bullshit, Mom. You have to fight this—”
“And we will. But, honey, the facts are not on our side. I told you last week — if you forced Jason to go to the courts to get the consent to treat on therapy, it was going to start a fight we could not win.”
“That’s your answer?’ Sam demanded, shooting to her feet. “‘I told you so?'”
“In this case? Yes. I did. I warned you. And you decided to play with fire. Are you ready to take my advice this time or are we going to have this conversation again in a few months?”
Sam scrubbed her hands down her face. “What’s the advice?”
“Agree to anger management. Agree to supervised visitation with a custodian that Jason chooses. Don’t fight either order, and maybe we’ll get this back on the docket before the holidays.”
“And for Drew? I’m supposed to just let him waltz in here and take my daughter? Mom.”
“I lost custody of Kristina for almost the entirety of her first year,” Alexis said. “I won’t pretend not to understand how terrible this is. But we are where we are, Sam. Drew’s custody situation hearing will likely go the same way.”
Sam didn’t answer right away, just looked at her mother for a moment, then reluctantly nodded. “All right. Fine. Fine. It can’t get much worse than this.”
“I’m sorry, Sam. I am—”
“I know. It’s not like I haven’t had to deal with the consequences of my actions before,” Sam muttered. “You told me to stop going after Shiloh, and I lost them for six months. At least I won’t be in prison this time.”
“See? You’re already talking sense.” Alexis put an arm around her daughter’s shoulders, kissed the top of her head, hugging her lightly. “Tell you what. Get your mind off of all this. Kristina and I are going to Syracuse for her dismissal hearing. Come with us.”
“All right. It’ll be nice to see someone win for a change.”
General Hospital: Locker Room
Elizabeth closed her locker, then let out a startled gasp when Willow was revealed to be standing right behind her. “You scared the crap out of me.” She dropped onto the bench to tie her sneakers. “Done for the day?”
“I have a few more hours, but I saw that you were clocking out and I wanted to talk to you for a minute.” Willow dipped her fingertips into the pockets in her scrub top. “I was wondering if you could tell me what happened on Saturday. With you and Sam.”
Elizabeth jerked her head up to meet the younger woman’s gaze. “What?”
“If you were trying to keep it quiet, it didn’t work. Rocco told Laura, and she came over to talk to Monica — and Monica and Tracy were—”
“I get it.” Elizabeth pressed her lips together, then released a huff of air. “What version did you end up with?”
“That you were at the penthouse, and Sam didn’t want you there so she hit you.”
“Not—” Elizabeth pursed her lips. “Not entirely what happened.” She squinted. “You asking out of curiosity or looking for intel to slip to Drew?”
“Does it matter?”
“A little bit. I’m not interested in helping Drew’s bogus custody case—” Elizabeth got to her feet, sliding her purse over her shoulder.
“Is it so bogus?” Willow called, stopping Elizabeth from turning away towards the door. “Maybe Drew started this because of the campaign and the optics. Fine. But can you honestly that say that little girl should be in that household right now?”
Elizabeth bit her lip, dropped her gaze, then sighed. “I don’t know. I don’t,” she insisted when Willow scoffed. “It’s different. I was with Danny in the lobby, and Sam and I have a very long, very bad history with each other. I think if I’d been anyone else, she wouldn’t have started that fight—”
“So she started it.”
“Technically, I guess. But I went there, didn’t I? I stayed in the lobby, and I told myself that if Danny went upstairs alone, then it wasn’t a problem. But I knew Sam didn’t want me anywhere near the penthouse. Or her son. I already knew she thought I was trying to—I don’t know—take her place as Danny’s mother. I’m not, but I knew she was insecure and angry.”
“And she didn’t care Danny was there. Or that Danny cares about you,” Willow challenged. “Because she’s possessive about Danny. You don’t think she’d be just the same way with Scout?’
“I don’t know.”
“I know you don’t like Drew, and that’s fine. But if Danny shouldn’t be there, why should an eight-year-old have to be in the middle of all that? I’m just asking — if Drew wanted you to be a witness for his case—”
Elizabeth wrinkled her nose. “If he forced me to come in, I would testify honestly, Willow. That’s all I can promise. But I’m asking him not to do that. Jason’s hearing is first. He’s asking for full custody with supervised visitation and anger management, with an option to revisit the situation in two months. If he gets any of that, Drew’s case gets easier, doesn’t it? He could get the same deal as Jason. The kids love their mother. They’re supposed to come first. Jason gets that. I don’t know if Drew does.”
Webber House: Kitchen
Danny slunk into the kitchen where his father was putting a pot of water on to boil. “I’m sorry,” he muttered, sliding onto the stool and staring down at the counter top.
“For what?” Jason asked.
“For you know—” Danny gestured at his face. “Breaking Rocco’s face or whatever. I shouldn’t have done it.”
“Looks like we had the same idea,” Jake said, slipping onto the next stool. “Mom seemed pretty steamed at me, and I’m guessing you’re not happy either.”
“You’re applying for colleges, Jake. Do you think getting suspended helps?” Jason wanted to know.
Jake made a face. “Since when do you know or care about any of that?”
His father scowled. “Why do you think I wouldn’t? You wanted to go to that program in Spain. Your mom and I have talked about it. I remember Cameron applying to schools—she was worried when he got into trouble for the weed that it might screw things up. You think I can’t care about things that aren’t important to you because I never went to college?”
“Well, you did,” Danny said, and Jason looked at him. “You just don’t remember it, but Grandma showed pictures and stuff. You were in medical school when the accident happened.”
“Yeah, and Mom told me about that time you sliced Uncle Nikolas’s neck open so he could breathe, so you know stuff.” Jake paused. “And you’re right. I need a clean record, and I messed up today. Mr. Bryan just ticks me off, and you know, I don’t think.”
“Well, you need to. Both of you do.” Jason folded his arms, leaned back against the counter. “Look, you know about my accident. When I woke up, I had a vicious temper and zero ability to control it. I didn’t think about how harsh some of the things I said were because I figured they were the truth. I said what I wanted when I wanted to who I wanted. And I punched anyone who I thought had it coming.”
Jake folded his arms, leaned forward. “I know. Mom always tells me that not every situation requires my opinion, and sure, she’s right, but it’s not fun to always keep my mouth closed.”
“And some people do need punching,” Danny muttered. “Especially when they don’t keep their mouth closed.”
“Here’s something I had to learn — people are always going to bait you. You said Rocco wouldn’t shut up about your mom, and I get defending her. Even when things aren’t great right now, she’s still your mom. And if you’d gone to a park or a backyard and slugged him, I’d shrug and tell Rocco to suck it up,” Jason said. “But you weren’t in the park. You were at school. Where there’s a different discipline code. Rocco wanted attention, and he probably wanted you in as much trouble as he’s in. And guess what?”
“Shit.” Danny made a face. “He won, didn’t he? God damn it.”
“People want a reaction from you. They want to see you lose your cool,” Jason continued. “I thought it was satisfying to give them what they wanted. And it was.”
“In the moment,” Danny said. “Liz said something about that, you know. When she and Mom had their fight — Liz said the fight felt good, but all the stuff that came after — it wasn’t worth it, I guess.”
“Exactly. Yeah, Rocco opened his mouth and disrespected your mother. But you gave him what he wanted. How much more crazy would he have been if you’d just ignored him? Gotten him worked up and annoyed? Maybe he throws the first punch,” Jason said, and Jake grinned.
“Bait him into making it self-defense. Diabolical.”
“I like that better,” Danny agreed.
“Or don’t give him what he wants and he goes away. Stops trying. Because he knows he can’t get to you. You can’t control other people,” Jason told them. “They’re gonna do what they’re gonna do. But you can and should be able to control yourself. That’s what I expect from both of you. Especially when it comes to school. You were both raised better than that.”
“I guess that’s fair.” Danny touched his bruised eye slightly. “And that really works? Not giving in?”
“Most of the time.”
“What do you do when it doesn’t?” Jake wanted to know.
“Nice try,” Jason said dryly. “Go do your homework.”
