July 2009

Morgan House: Guest Bedroom

Jason leaned against the doorjamb and watched his wife soak the paint roller in the light pink paint and begin to roll it over the white coat that currently adorned the walls. “What exactly are you doing?”

Elizabeth glanced over her shoulder and smiled. “I’m painting.”

“I can see,” he replied soberly. “What made you get up this morning and decide to paint?”

“Well…” Elizabeth soaked the roller again and continued plying the wall. “I won’t be able to paint it once I’m actually pregnant. Paint fumes and everything.” She wrinkled her nose and he grinned. She looked like a little kid, dressed in a pair of paint-stained overalls and a tight black tank top. Her dark hair was swept off her face in a messy bun and a bandana was wrapped around her head to keep the paint from dripping into her hair.

“I can hire someone to do it,” Jason said. “Or I can get Morgan over here. You know, Cam wouldn’t mind attempting to help. He’d probably get a kick out of it. They’re both old enough to help out.

“But I want to do it,” Elizabeth insisted. “I couldn’t do it for Cameron or Jake, I was too stressed and I wasn’t sure about my marriage with either of them. This baby will be conceived and nurtured until birth in the best environment possible.” She set the paint roller down and crossed to him, wrapping her arms around his waist. He was going to be covered in pink paint when she pulled away but he couldn’t care about that now. “I love you so much and I just know our next child is going to grow up so happy, from the very start. She’ll know who her mother is, she’ll know who her father is and there will never be a moment of doubt in her head.”

“I can’t argue with that.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “So why are you sure it will be a girl? You’re not even pregnant yet.”

“I know.” Elizabeth pulled away and resumed her efforts. “But I just know it’s going to be a girl. I can feel it. I love my boys and you know I’d love another boy with all of my heart, but I really want a girl.” She inched up on her tip toes to reach the top of the wall. “I’m going to name her Juliet and her middle name will be Emily. I think Emily would prefer that I didn’t give her first name to our child. It wouldn’t be fair to ask our baby to live up to that.”

“Sounds like you’ve got it all planned out.”

“So, I’m going to finish the base coat by the end of the week, I think,” Elizabeth rubbed her nose, smearing pink paint across her cheek. “And then I want to stencil some designs, as like a border, you know? I can’t decide if I want to do teddy bears, ballerinas or maybe some fairies.” She pursed her lips in thought. “What do you think?”

“I think the baby won’t know the difference,” Jason answered honestly. Elizabeth rolled her eyes.

“You are so literal,” she sighed with a smile. “And you’re right, of course. I think I’ll do ballerinas. I can always paint it again.” She finished the wall and moved to the next. “Maybe I can paint some trucks and cars in Cam’s room. And then some puppies and kittens in Jake’s. He loves puppies.”

“I think you’ve got a lot work cut out for you if you want to get that done before you get pregnant.”

Elizabeth laughed. “I have the rest of my life to paint my children’s rooms. Now, are you going to stand there or are you going to help me?”

Wednesday, July 3, 2024

Cameron’s Car

Cameron pulled up to the Davis home and turned his engine off, intending to go up to the front door and knock politely. Alexis Davis was known for being protective of her daughters and boys who honked their horns from the street did not date Davis girls.

Before Cameron could push his door open, the passenger side door opened and Molly slid in. “Let’s go.”

“Ah…” He blinked. “Are you sure your mom—”

“My mother is in her office, she doesn’t even know I’m going.” Molly buckled her seat belt. “So if we want to make a clean getaway, you’d better split.”

This was their third date in the last week and Cameron had yet to make it to the front door. If he didn’t know how Molly and Alexis felt about each other, he might start taking it personally. He backed the car out of the parking spot and started down the street. “Another movie?”

“Nah,” Molly blew a bubble with her gum and then popped it. “Let’s go up to Vista Point.”

What had once been a family picnic spot, Vista Point had been adopted by his generation as the make out destination. There was a grassy area near the observation area that teenagers used for parking. Cam had spent a great deal of his high school years up there (he’d had a thing for older girls with driver’s licenses even as a freshman) but you usually didn’t hit the Point until you’d been seeing each other more than a week.

“All right,” Cameron shrugged. He wasn’t going to argue if she wanted to fool around a little. She was over the age of consent, nearly nineteen – and she knew why people went to the Point. “You argue with your mom again?”

“Please,” Molly rolled her eyes and leaned forward to adjust the radio. “She wanted to have a discussion about my future earlier. I’m so sick of hearing about my future. If she talks about Kristina starting law school in September one more time, I swear to God, I’m just going to scream.” She flicked her eyes at him. “Your dad force you into college or was it your choice?”

“I don’t know,” Cameron said, thinking about it for a minute. He pulled up to a red light. “No, not really, I guess. He didn’t remember going to college and my mom went haphazardly, I think, until she went back for the nursing program after I was born, so he knows you can do it without college. It was just something that was kind of understood, I guess. You got out of high school, you did your time in college and stuff. I think Morgan’s mom pushed him hard though. She wants him to be like his stepfather.”

“Well, he can’t be like his own father,” Molly replied. “I mean, I hear a lot about Carly Jacks’ ability as a mother, but I can totally get why she’d rather he take after Jax.” She tapped her fingers against the bare skin her short skirt revealed. “Our parents are so fucked up. I never see my dad, my mother is so damn uptight. Your dad is just…stuck in a time warp and…” she shrugged.

“My mom is missing in action,” Cameron finished. “Yeah, I get you. I do think my dad would rather wake up and do the whole thing over again. Maybe figure out what he did wrong that led to someone messing with her.”

Molly bit her lip and looked at him. “Do you think she’s still alive?” she asked quietly.

Cameron didn’t answer her at first but finally, he shook his head. “No,” he replied. “I want her to be, but I know better. Other people might think she got fed up with my dad and just took off but I remember her more than Jake or Jules does and I remember she loved us.” He saw the turn for the Point and flicked his turn signal on. “Even if she didn’t love my dad anymore, she would have taken us with her.”

“You’re lucky,” Molly said after thinking about that. “I mean, not lucky in the sense that she’s gone, but you know, that you can have that kind of definite feeling. You know your mom loved you. I wonder sometimes about my dad.” She shrugged. “I get the expensive gifts at the appropriate times. He calls once a week and I go down to New York to see him every couple of months but it’s like…I’m a reminder of a life he wishes he’d never led.”

“There’s a lot of that going around,” Cameron mentioned. He pulled onto the grass and switched off the ignition. “Jake said that Amalia Zacchara is driving herself nuts about her parents. She blames herself for their problems.”

“Of course she does,” Molly said. “She’s not an idiot. She knows that Johnny Zacchara would never have looked twice at Nadine Crowell if he hadn’t gotten drunk in a bar and knocked her up. She was too sweet, too nice for him. He was definitely more suited to that trashy Lu Spencer. Li knows that they got married because of her and that the only reason they weren’t able to get rid of each other after the divorce is because of her. At least I can say my parents are civil to one another. Hell, they’re friends. Johnny and Nadine? They go at each other like it’s some kind of sport.”

Molly shook her head. “Parents. They try to run your life when they were hardly stars at running their own. The hypocrisy is alive and well in Port Charles.” She took her gum out of her mouth and dropped it into the cigarette ashtray. “Just once I’d like to look my mother in the eye and tell her that she was such a star at her own life that she’s never had real relationship, never been any good at connecting with her daughters and that the only reason Diane Miller has stuck around so long is because they love to one up each other.”

“So why don’t you?”

Molly pursed her lips. “Because I know it’s not really true. That the reason she’s never lasted with anyone is because she has bad taste in men and after my father screwed his stepdaughter, she’s got humongous trust issues that are well deserved. And that the only reason we butt heads so much is because she would die for her kids and she wants a good life for them. And of course, Aunt Diane stays around because they’re like sisters.” She blew out a frustrated breath. “But she just makes me so angry that I forget all the things I love about my mother and concentrate on the stuff that drives me crazy.”

“Well, at least you know that,” Cameron said. “Jake just goes after my father all the time. Now that Dad’s brought Mom out into the open and Jake’s able to voice his opinion about Dad causing her death, it’s a constant battle between them. He’s so angry at Dad that he says these things that I hope he doesn’t mean but I don’t really believe it. I think he believes Mom is dead and it’s our father’s fault.”

“Your brother’s an idiot,” Molly said. “Maybe your dad went way too long without talking about your Mom, but Jason Morgan freaking loved Elizabeth Webber and you don’t just get over that. She vanished without a trace, without warning and he doesn’t know if she’s alive or dead.  And despite that, he still raised you guys pretty decent.” She hesitated. “When my mom is really ticking me off, I look at her sometimes and I think…Thank God, she’s here to piss me off. I’d rather be arguing with her for the rest of my life than to spend it not knowing where she is.”

She rested her hand on his denim-clad thigh. “I always felt so bad for you guys, Cam, because you didn’t have a mom to argue with. That Jules is going to go through life never knowing how completely freeing it can be to just have a screaming match one second and the next, paint each other’s toenails. I hope one day, you guys find out what happened to her and who did it to her.”

“I’d give anything to know,” Cameron answered honestly. He met her eyes. “But even if I don’t, it’s okay. I know my mother loved me and a lot of people can’t take that with them.”

“You’re so different than the guys I usually date,” Molly said, changing the subject. She flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Most of them would have tried to get under my shirt the second the ignition was off.”

Cameron grinned. “I like to distract them so they don’t know it’s coming.”

“Well, that can work,” Molly said. “But I like to be in charge.” With that, she rendered him speechless by climbing over the gear shift and straddling him, pressing her knees outside his thighs. “Does that bother you?”

“I am a free-thinking modern man,” Cameron managed. She grinned and leaned down to kiss him.

Thursday, July 4, 2024

Morgan Home: Backyard

Juliet set the bowl of potato salad on the picnic table and climbed over the bench to take a seat. She loved their Fourth of July party – everyone who might even have a connection to their family gathered there. Carly and Jax were there, of course. Carly was currently keeping a very close eye on her daughter, Cecily, who was in the pool with Mal Drake. They were dunking each other, but every once in while, CeCe would wrap her legs around the boy and Juliet knew Carly was about five seconds from picking her daughter up by the hair and tossing her in a locked room.

Jax was trying to ignore the scene by talking with Morgan, Nikolas, Johnny, and Patrick Drake. One eye was always on his daughter, though, and Juliet could almost see the vein in his neck throbbing. Once a Daddy’s girl, always a Daddy’s girl.

It was the one event that Johnny and Nadine both attended, mostly because Nadine was always at the family functions and Johnny and Jason were still partners and it was just a matter of respect. They no longer argued in public but Juliet could remember a few occasions when she was a kid that they hadn’t been so civil. When Juliet was eight, Nadine had pushed Johnny into the pool.

Today, Nadine was sitting at the same table as Carly and Robin and attempting to keep the peace between the two. It was her yearly ritual but Juliet noticed a lot less drinks being thrown from there. Maybe Robin and Carly were finally growing up.

Amalia was in the pool, too, playing volleyball with Jake, Cameron, Molly, Spencer and Kristina. Juliet usually joined them but she’d volunteered to help her dad with the cooking this year. She loved to cook and earlier her father had said that he wasn’t sure where she had found this love—he cooked only when necessary and her mother could really only make brownies.

That was the best part about her life since the talk two weeks ago. Her dad was forever volunteering pieces of information about Juliet’s mother. It was like Jason Morgan had finally been able to open the door to his memories and now he didn’t bother closing it.

Amalia climbed out the pool, adjusted the bottom of her bathing suit and wandered over to the table where Juliet was arranging dishes. “So, Jules, can I borrow you later? After we eat? I want to run something by you.”

“Ditto,” Juliet agreed. She eyed the pool where Molly dunked Cameron and he shot back out of the water, grabbing her by the waist. He lifted her slightly and then dropped her with a loud splash. “I think they’re having sex.”

Amalia glanced back and nodded. “I think so, too. I don’t think Mal and Cece are. You can kind of tell because he keeps grabbing her in certain places and she’s laughing and pulling away. Good to know she’s not a complete idiot. You should never give it up before you’re at least sixteen. People tend to say things about girls like that.”

“You’re going to have a tough time waiting for my brother then,” Juliet said with a small smile. She tightened the plastic wrap overt the potato salad. “He’ll be nineteen by then.”

“Please…” Amalia tossed a wet lock over her shoulder. “Your brother is blind. He’s letting our stupid age difference get in the way. What an idiot.”

“You know very well if Jake were to ask you out now, your dad would have him fitted for cement shoes by the end of the night,” Juliet replied. “We’re only fourteen and just barely. Don’t you want to give it some time before you reel him in?”

“I give it much more time and one of those skanks at school will snap him up.” She shook her head. “No, I’ve just got to rethink the master plan. So, later, after dinner? Upstairs?”

“You got it,” Juliet promised.

After a boisterous dinner, during which Jax tried to dump the potato salad in Mal Drake’s lap no more than five times, Nadine accidentally spilled her water over Johnny’s head, and Alexis and Molly got into a heated argument about the merits of a career plan, Amalia convinced Juliet to leave the clean up to the boys and dragged her upstairs.

“This must be important if you’re passing up a chance to flirt with Jake some more,” Juliet laughed.

Once seated on their bed, Amalia dragged her wallet out of her purse and pulled out the clipping. “Check this out. I found it a couple of weeks ago but didn’t get a chance to show it to you before I went to my dad’s.”

Like Amalia, Juliet was a little surprised to find that such a picture existed. She wasn’t stupid, she knew where babies came from but living in this town, she also knew that you didn’t have to give a damn about each other to make a baby and for that reason, she’d always lumped Johnny and Nadine into that category. But this picture told a different story.

“I think your mom took it,” Amalia said. “Because it’s at the hospital waiting room, you know. And not many people were around my dad back then. Your mom was because of your dad, and Mom always said she and Elizabeth were close because of them both being pregnant at the same time.”

“They look happy,” Juliet said, “they even look like they like each other.” She frowned at Amalia. “Do you think this means Jake was right? About the gossip, I mean?”

“I definitely think so. I’ve been thinking about it and it doesn’t make sense that they just got married because she was pregnant. They got married in December 2009 and I was born in May 2010 and I was supposed to be due in April, so Mom was like five months along by the time they tied the knot.”

“You think maybe you were the reason they got closer?” Juliet pondered.

“Maybe. Maybe Mom told him she was pregnant and they fell in love.” Amalia took the photo back and carefully folded it to put it back in her wallet. “They were arguing and Mom said something about him sleeping with Lulu Spencer.”

Juliet gasped. “You mean he cheated on her? Well, then I can’t blame her for walking out and being so mad.”

“Me either.” Amalia paused. “When I was at my dad’s last week, I was playing the piano—which you know I never do there—and he heard me playing that piece I learned for Mom. The Beethoven. So he comes in, and we start playing it together. He tells me that he used to play it for my mom when she was pregnant with me.”

“Wow,” Juliet said. “That’s the one he wrote for the woman he fell in love with but couldn’t marry, right? Your dad played it for your mom? That’s so romantic!”

“I know!” Amalia nodded. “So then he tells me how he was scared to have a daughter but that my mom knew she was going to be really good at it. And when he was talking about her, it was like he was he was thinking about those days and he had this distant look in his eyes.”

“Like your mom when she hears that song?” Juliet prompted.  “That’s a good sign.”

“I think that they were in love then and they’re in love now,” Amalia declared. “That’s why Candy and Bambi—”

“Candace and Bailey.”

“Whatever. That’s why they didn’t last long and why my mother never dated seriously.” Amalia nodded. “So I’m going to find out why they got divorced and fix it so they can be together again.”

Juliet pursed her lips. “I’d say that’s impossible but since my own goal is just about as far-fetched as yours, I won’t disagree.”

“You want to find your mom, right?” Amalia said.  “You’ve always talked about it.”

“But now I don’t have to worry about my dad finding out I’m asking questions,” Juliet said. “I don’t really know where to start but I think maybe my dad thought it was connected to his job.”

“Well, yeah, duh. Can you blame him?”

“No, but I think he investigated that pretty thoroughly.” Juliet shoved off her bed and crossed to the wall near her window. “You remember last year when I wanted to paint my room and he kept putting me off?”

“Yeah.” Amalia glanced around at the cotton-candy pink room with the border of ballerinas dancing in a thick line about halfway between the ceiling and the floor. “You thought your room was too babyish.”

“My mom painted it,” Juliet said. “He told me how she was so sure her next child was going to be a girl that she painted this room the summer before she got pregnant and knew she was going to name me Juliet Emily, for my aunt.”

“I’m surprised painting over it wasn’t his first priority,” Amalia said thoughtfully. “He boxed everything else up.”

“Because he knew how much my mother loved me and how hard she worked to have this done before she got pregnant. He left this one little piece of her here even though he knew he was going to have to look at it every single day. I want to find my mother, yeah, but it’s not just because I need her or because Cam and Jake need her.” Juliet sank back on her bed. “But it’s because he needs her.”

“What if she’s dead?” Amalia asked gently. “Chickie, you have to know that a woman who clearly loved her family and friends so much…she doesn’t leave without a word for all these years.”

“I know that,” Juliet admitted. “And I think mostly I’m pretty sure that I’m just going to confirm that but we can’t keep living like this, Li. We all have to know. If she’s out there, if she had a good reason to go away or if she’s not still alive…then we need to have that closure. She deserves a service and to be buried with my aunt Emily.” She smiled weakly. “But for obvious reasons, I’m going to prefer for now, to believe she’s okay.”

“Me, too, Jules.” Amalia leaned forward and embraced her best friend. “Positive thinking is always good.” She drew back. “Where will you start?”

“I think I’m going to ask Lucky Spencer about her,” Juliet replied. “They used to be married and I heard somewhere that he was the first person that she met here, so they were friends the longest. If my mom knew anyone who wanted to hurt her before she met my dad, I bet Lucky Spencer would know.”

Amalia tapped her chin. “Research the subject. That’s an excellent idea. I shall also do a little digging. I’ll write my aunt Claudia to see what she knows and maybe I’ll ask your Lucky about his sister. Got to work up to the big guns. I don’t want to confront Lulu Spencer without some kind of plan.”

“My dad used to talk about Aunt Carly’s plans,” Juliet said thoughtfully, “and last year, when we were getting in trouble for sneaking to New York, he talked about your plan to sneak onto the train in the same way. He may have had a point.”

“Bite me.”

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