Just a few words too many
In my head
A few words too many
In this bed
A few words too many
Left unsaid
Oh I wish that we were strangers
We could start again
Start again
All over
— A Few Words Too Many, Billie Myers
“Well, this is weird,” Michael said finally. They’d made halfway through lunch without speaking—neither had spoken up until now.
AJ chuckled. “Just a little.”
Michael set his fork down and leaned forward. “Look, I’m not really sure what I want to do. I know that I’m pissed at Sonny, I’m feeling sorry about Carly and I’m damn confused about you.” He grimaced. “I was raised to hate you.”
“Yeah, I know.” AJ shifted in his chair. “I was pretty stupid for a long time. I did dumb things, I hurt a lot of people and I spent most of my younger years drunk.”
“And now you’re better,” Michael said, his voice showing mixture of disdain and skepticism.
“I’m trying. I’ve got a very supporting wife and two great kids who love me. It’s difficult to keep telling people my brother is out to get me.” AJ flashed an embarrassed smile. “I also used to think everything Jason did was to annoy and beat me.”
“Jase isn’t like that,” Michael said automatically.
“I know that now. But growing up, Jason…Quartermaine, that is…he could do no wrong. He was the golden child and everyone loved him. Every time I turned around, my parents were telling me that I should be more like Jason. I started drinking to drown out their voices.”
“Not a smart thing to do,” Michael said.
“Yeah, well, I was pretty dumb. The more I drank, the louder and more frequent the voices became,” AJ said. “You’d think I would have gotten the point—drinking wasn’t going to solve my problems.” He shrugged and leaned back in his chair. “Meanwhile, Jason is flourishing. He’s getting ready to go to medical school, he’s got a great girlfriend he’s crazy about. And you know want to know the disgusting thing? Jason, the guy I was jealous of and hated…he was the only person in my family that believed I was any good.”
“So, Jason made it his mission in life to save me,” AJ continued. “He got in the car, thinking it would stop me from driving.” He raised his glass of water in the air before taking a sip. “I think we know how that turned out.”
“Yeah…” Michael looked down at his plate. He’d gone through three different fathers in his life and right now, the mob enforcer was looking the prettiest. “Look, I know the story. I’ve been brought up by your misdeeds, and I think I finally get why Sonny was so anxious for me to hate you.” He met his father’s eyes across the table. “He didn’t want me to want you in my life.”
AJ fought to keep his opinion of Sonny to himself. Bashing the only father the kid could remember was not going to endear himself to his son. “I suppose that makes sense,” AJ said finally. “I just feel like I have to explain myself, y’know? All of the dumb things I did…it led to me ultimately losing you. My crazy jealousy of Jason is the reason I set fire to the warehouse and it’s the reason ultimately I signed away the rights.” A grimace crosses his face. “I’m sorry for that.”
“Like I said, I don’t know how I feel about anything,” Michael said again. “I’m just trying to keep my options open.”
“I understand,” AJ said. “And I’ll admit—I’m pathetic. I’ll take whatever you want to give me.”
“My mother’s going through a tough time right now,” Michael said. “I’m going to spending a lot of time with her, supporting her. I want you to know that.”
“Okay,” AJ said. “I hope Carly works it all out.”
Michael studied him for a minute before saying, “You know, I think you actually mean that.”
AJ frowned. “Yeah, I think so. Weird.”
Sonny looked up from a pile of folders, startled as Carly strode into his office at the warehouse. “Get out,” he snarled.
“Not a chance,” Carly stated. She sat down and glared at her husband. “I’ve given you time to lick your wounds and calm down. Now we’re going to talk.”
“There’s nothing to talk about,” Sonny stated. He looked down and returned to his work, intent on ignoring his wife.
Carly narrowed her eyes. “All right. Then I guess I should tell Alexis Davis to file the papers.”
Sonny’s head snapped up. “What?”
She shrugged. “You said it yourself. There’s nothing to talk about. So, how are we going to work custody of the twins?”
Sonny stared at her in disbelief. “What?” he repeated.
“Hey, catch up here,” Carly replied. “I figure you can get Mandy and Drew every other weekend. I’ll take them the rest of the time. Oh, Mandy’s going to—”
“What in the hell are you talking about?” Sonny asked, closing the manila folder with a loud thump.
“There’s nothing to talk about,” Carly said. “So I’m going to get Alexis to file for divorce.”
“You’re not filing for anything,” Sonny said.
She glared at him. “Oh, what? You’re the only who gets to make decisions in this marriage?”
“Damn it, Carly. This is not what you’re supposed to do. You’re supposed to fight me. Convince me to change my mind.”
“Why should I have to?” Carly demanded. “You either love me want to work this out or you can’t wait to get rid of me. There’s no middle ground here anymore, Sonny. I’m not going to try and tell you that it’s all right to kick me out and expect me to do all the work in the marriage. I’m not your door mat, so get over it. Now, damn it. What the hell are we going to do here? We’ve got two kids, Sonny. We can’t just live like this anymore.”
“Three kids,” Sonny corrected. “Michael is still legally my son.”
Carly snorted. “I am not going to force Michael to do anything he doesn’t want to do. Right now he’s pissed as hell at you. You haven’t even asked how Mandy and Drew are, or God forbid anything about Christina. No, as usual, it’s all about you. Grow up. The world does not revolve around Sonny Corinthos.”
Sonny took a deep breath. “Fine. How are the kids?”
“Mandy is checking into the hospital tomorrow.”
“Why?” Sonny demanded.
“Uh, duh,” Carly rolled her eyes. “She’s match for Christina. So, we’re doing the transplant.”
“Like hell you are,” Sonny replied angrily.
Carly stared at him, stunned. “What are you talking about? Of course we are. Our daughter is going to save a life. Mandy’s thrilled about it. She loves Christie.”
“You introduced her to that girl?” Sonny asked, startled.
“That girl?” Carly repeated. “Are you on drugs? That girl is your biological daughter.”
“That you never told me about!” Sonny replied angrily.
“And I still stand by my decision!” Carly retorted. “It was okay for AJ not to know about Michael—you were fine about that. But man, when the shoe’s on the other foot…you’re such a hypocrite.”
“That’s different. AJ would have taken Michael from you, Carly and you know it.”
“And you wouldn’t have tried to get custody of Christina?” Carly asked, stunned. “Are you serious? You said as much the day you found out Alexis was pregnant. I don’t blame Alexis for not telling you. Sonny, she was afraid for her child. My god, her sister was killed because of a mob war!”
“That wasn’t my fault,” Sonny yelled. “Alcazar blew up that warehouse and you know it!”
“You’re damn right he did, but Alexis made a decision. She didn’t want you to know. And I was not going to go against what I believe just so you could throw me out of the damn house. If she wanted you to know, she would have told you,” Carly replied. “I hated what Robin did to me and I swore I was never….ever going to do that to another woman as long as I lived.”
“Robin was wrong. She betrayed Jason when she told AJ.”
“And that’s what would happened to me if I’d told you,” Carly replied. “I would have been Robin. You think that just because you’re in AJ’s spot now that it’s any different? It’s not. Alexis is Christina’s mother and she had every right to raise that child as she saw fit.”
“I can’t believe I’m hearing this!” Sonny raged. “After everything I’ve done for you, Carly—”
“What about me?” Carly demanded. “I have been the perfect wife for ten years. I have had your children. I have raised them to be well-adjusted and happy, despite the odds. I don’t ask you questions you can’t answer and I leave the room when you want me to. Your life has run smoothly for ten years because of me and now because you don’t like something I did ten years ago, you’re going to throw that away? Fine! I don’t need this anymore! My children deserve better. I deserve better!”
Sonny glared at her. “Then it’s a divorce you want?”
“Face it, Sonny. You will never trust me,” Carly said, trying to keep a rein on her anger. “I just never saw it before. I thought you trusted me, I thought that I’d earned it. I know I did the unforgivable when I turned you in, but we got past that. I thought we were on an even keel again, but we’re not. You will never trust me. And I can not and will not live like that.”
“Fine.” Sonny stood. “Have Alexis contact my lawyer. We’re done.”
“I’ll be staying with Jason until I can close on the cottage,” Carly said. She stood. “I’m sorry it had to end this way, Sonny.” She stared at him for a beat and then turned and walked out of the office.
Sonny sank back in his chair and put his head in his hands.
“Mmm,” Elizabeth murmured, leaning back against Jason’s chest and staring out over the town of Port Charles. “I’ve always loved coming here.”
“I know,” Jason said. “You feeling better?”
She shrugged a little. “I think so. I mean…this is an improvement. I’m not sitting in bed, staring at the ceiling.”
“I think we need to talk to the kids when we get back,” Jason said. He dropped a kiss on the top of her head. “They’ve been kind of confused about the situation.”
She sighed. “Yeah, I know. I’ve been kind of MIA lately. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. I know it’s been tough,” Jason said. “But we’ll get through it.”
She twisted in his arms and smiled up at him. “We always do, don’t we?”
“Yeah…well, you’re kind of stubborn,” he teased.
Elizabeth laughed and pushed him. “Coming from you? I’ll take that as a compliment. A girl’s gotta be stubborn when it comes to you.”
He frowned. “Oh, really?”
“Uh huh. Not only that, but she’s got to have like amazing perception because you never say what you mean,” Elizabeth kidded. “You’re the only man I know that would rather talk in circles than say things straight out.”
“I do not,” Jason protested.
“Oh really?” Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “Do you remember when we came up here that one time and you told me you couldn’t be the friend I thought you were? You knew I’d take that the wrong. Typical Jason. Trying to tell me the truth and pushing me at the same time.”
“It was true,” Jason insisted. “I could just sit and listen to you talk anymore. I wanted to be with you.”
“And you could have just told me that,” Elizabeth said, exasperated. “Nope. You had to make it difficult.”
“Yeah, well, you weren’t helping. I was trying to push you away and you just kept coming.”
“Well, I’d finally decided what I wanted,” Elizabeth murmured. She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled. “And you know how I can be when I’ve made up my mind.”
Jason groaned and leaned his forehead against hers. “Yeah. Stubborn.”
“Damn straight. You were so sure we wouldn’t work. I love proving people wrong.
“It’s getting late,” Jason said, pulling away. “Dee and Davie are probably home from camp.”
“All right. But you know what this means,” Elizabeth teased.
“You’re not driving,” Jason stated.
Elizabeth dangled his keys in front of him, her blue eyes filled with mischief. “Wanna bet?”
Emily shifted the phone from ear to another. “So, you’ll be at the airport at five tomorrow?” she asked. “Yeah, Wyndemere is almost ready.” She nodded. “All right. See you tomorrow, Nikolas.”
She hung up and massaged her temples. She felt a fluttering in her abdomen and smiled. “That’s right. Uncle Nikky and Aunt Gia are going to be here tomorrow.”
“Ms. Quartermaine?”
Emily looked at up at her assistant. “What is it, Calla?” she asked wearily. “I’m just about to head out.”
“Mr. Spencer is waiting,” Calla replied. “Should I show him in?”
“Yeah. All right.” Emily stood and started putting some files in her briefcase. Lucky walked in, a sheepish smile on his face.
“Hey, Em.”
“Hey, Lucky,” Emily greeted. “What do you want?”
Lucky sighed. “I deserve that. Look, I’ve been acting like a jerk and I know that’s why you didn’t return my calls all day.”
“I was out for the most of the day,” Emily said. “I went to see Christie in the hospital. I only came back to finish some paperwork.”
“I’m sorry, Emily, but it’s just…you sprung this whole break up on me pretty spontaneously. I wasn’t prepared for it—”
“Lucky, I’ve been trying to broach the subject since you started talking about marriage,” Emily said. “But you never wanted to hear it. You insist it’s not true—”
“It’s not,” Lucky said firmly. “I thought about it and I decided that you had a point but it’s not true. Elizabeth and I are—we’re done. We’ve over. I know that. Yes, at first I was hoping she’d leave Jason again, but I got the point a long time ago. Do you know what I think the problem really is?”
“What?” Emily asked, despairingly.
“You don’t want to marry me because you don’t love me,” Lucky said.
Emily stared at him in surprise. “What?”
He nodded. “You’re not in love with me, so you don’t want to marry me. We were together because we didn’t want to be alone. I told you—I thought about it and this seems to be the best explanation. Because you want to know something, Em?”
“What?” she asked, warily.
“I’m not the one in this relationship still in love with someone. It’s you.”
“Me?” Emily asked, shocked.
“Does Zander Smith ring a bell?” Lucky asked. “I don’t think you ever really got over him.”
Emily sat down and stared at him, her mouth wide open. She’d never considered it before. She’d been so adamant when she moved home that she and Zander were too different, she’d never given it a second thought once Zander had moved to Florida.
She looked up at Lucky. “I think…I think you’re right,” she said softly. “I can’t…I am. I’m still in love with Zander.”
Lucky nodded. “I’m actually pretty proud of myself,” he said. He sat down and leaned forward, resting his hands on his thighs. “Hey, listen, no hard feelings. I totally understand where you coming from. I considered it and I can understand why you thought I was still in love with Elizabeth. Hell, maybe I am and I’m still in denial. But I’m not going to push marriage anymore. We don’t need to get married to parents to this child.”
“You still want to be in his life?” Emily asked, shaking her head to clear her mind. “I thought you said—”
“Well, I’m a selfish jerk. I think we already established that.”
Emily gave him a weak smile. “You want to come with me to the airport tomorrow to welcome Nikolas and Gia back home?”
“Sure thing. You need a ride back to the mansion?” Lucky asked.
“No thanks. I’ve got the limo waiting. Come by tomorrow about four and we’ll head to the airport, okay?” Emily stood up and took her briefcase. She stopped in front of Lucky. “For what’s it worth, I’m sorry it didn’t work out.”
“Yeah, me, too,” Lucky said quietly. “Hey, you know what?”
“What?”
“Whatever did happen to Zander?”
Elizabeth and Jason entered the house to find Dee and Davie sitting on the couch with Carly, reading.
Elizabeth smiled. “Hey, Carly.”
Carly looked up and gave the other woman a brief smile. “Hey, Liz. Good to see you out of bed.”
“It’s good to be out of bed,” Elizabeth replied. She sat down next to Carly and pulled Davie onto her lap. “Hey, baby.”
“Hi, Mama,” Davie greeted, resting his head on her shoulder. “Aunt Car was just readin’ Snow White.”
“Aunt Car is tired,” Carly murmured, rubbing her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Jason asked, taking a seat in the armchair adjacent to the couch. Dee climbed down from the couch and headed to her father. Jason picked her up easily and sat her on his lap.
“Sonny and I decided a divorce is the best course to take,” Carly said. “He was so angry with me—he wouldn’t listen to reason.”
“I’ll go see him tomorrow. Maybe I can talk some sense into him,” Jason said.
“You’re the only one who could,” Carly said. She closed the book and set it on the coffee table. “I’m going to go to bed. I’ve got to get up early to take Mandy to the hospital.”
“Where’s Michael and Drew?” Elizabeth asked.
“Michael came back from a successful lunch with AJ and took Drew to the movies. Mandy’s already asleep. Listen, could you make sure Drew gets to camp tomorrow?” Carly asked.
“Sure,” Elizabeth agreed. “I’m taking Dee and Davie myself anyway. If you want, I’ll stop by the hospital and wait with you.”
“I’d like that. Night,” Carly said.
Once she was up the stairs, Jason stood with Dee in his arms and took a seat next to Elizabeth. “That went well.”
“I think Carly and I are finally past the bumps in our friendship,” Elizabeth said quietly.
“Friendship?” Jason asked, almost teasingly.
“I use the term loosely,” she replied. She looked down at Davie who was sleeping already. “I guess the talk will have to wait until tomorrow.”
Jason stood again and Elizabeth did, too. Dee was half asleep, kind of mumbling things in her half-state. “We’d better put them to bed,” he said.
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