Chapter 1
The Spencer-Jax household was filled with noise. It was Bobbie and Jerry's
fourth wedding anniversary and even though Bobbie said she just wanted a nice
quiet dinner alone with her husband, Carly and Lucas insisted that there be a
party. So Bobbie's brownstone was packed with family and friends. There was
Lucas, Carly, Michael, and Carly's boyfriend Alex Garcia. There was Jax, his
wife V, and their daughter Jessica, Luke, Laura, Lulu, Lucky, and Lucky's
girlfriend, Samantha. Nikolas and Elizabeth Webber were there and so was Emily
and Sly. Mac, Felicia, the girls and the newest addition to the Scorpio family,
Robert, also know as Robbie, were there too.
Bobbie was rushing back and forth from the kitchen to the living room refilling
the punchbowls and the snack trays when Carly caught her and stopped her.
"Mom!" She grabbed the bowl of pretzels from her hands. "This is your party.
You should be enjoying yourself, not working to death."
"I am." Bobbie insisted. "I just wanted to make sure the party runs as smoothly
as possible."
"Leave the worrying to me, okay? Go over there and grab that handsome husband
of yours. Now!" Carly pushed Bobbie into the direction of where Jerry stood
holding Jessica and laughing with Luke and Jax over some joke that shouldn't
have been told in front of a three-year-old.
Bobbie took off for them as Carly just shook her head. Her mother always just
had to take care of everything. Just then a pair of arms wrapped themselves
around Carly's waist and she was pulled back against a strong chest. Carly let
out a soft gasp then relaxed as she realized it was only Alex. She could
recognize that spicy cologne anywhere.
"So you think Jerry is handsome? Should I be jealous?"
Carly laughed and leaned back into his embrace. "Don't worry. He's not my
type."
"And I am?"
"You know it." Carly smiled up at him.
"Right answer. You win the prize." Alex leaned down and kissed her gently.
Michael stood in front of the refreshments stuffing his face. Next to him stood
Lulu who watched in semi-amazement as Michael stuffed one pig in the blanket
after another into his mouth. The six-year-old looked over and saw his mother
and her boyfriend kissing.
"Yuck!" He said with his mouthful. "They're kissing."
Lulu looked at them and smiled. "*I* think it's romantic, don't you?"
Michael quickly swallowed and tried to redeem himself in the eyes of his older
cousin. Michael looked up to Lulu and would do anything she asked. "Yeah, yeah,
it's romantic but they're *always* kissing."
Lulu ignored his quick turn around. "I wish Brook Lynn could have been here.
*She* would have thought it was romantic."
"She's still sick." Michael mumbled around a handful of crackers.
"I know that." Michael, Lulu, and Brook Lynn were known as the Three Musketeers
to their family. Ever since Lois moved back to Port Charles so that Brook could
be nearer to her father the three cousins had become best friends. Even though
Lulu was the oldest, Brook was clearly the leader and the one who usually lead
them right into trouble.
Michael shrugged and reached for more food.
~*~*~
Nikolas walked back over to where Elizabeth, Emily, and Sly stood. He handed
Elizabeth a glass of wine. "Here you go."
Elizabeth thanked him with a smile. "Thank you."
"Look at Bobbie and Jerry." Emily pointed them out. "They look so happy."
Bobbie had taken Jerry over to a private corner and they were talking softly and
looking deep into each other's eyes. It was if they were they only ones in the
room.
Emily sighed. "I hope that when I get married, my husband and I will be that
much in love." She glanced over at Sly.
Sly immediately raised his hands. "Whoa! Hold up there. I hope that's not some
sort of hint."
Emily lightly punched him in the arm. "If I wanted to marry you, I'd come out
and say it, okay?"
"Okay, you don't have to get rough." Sly joked and rubbed his arm.
Nikolas cleared his throat. "Ah, Elizabeth?"
She turned to him with a questioning look. "Yes?"
"Can we go somewhere? Private?"
"Right now? Nikolas, can it wait until the party is over?"
"Well, I…" Nikolas cleared his throat again. "Yes, it can, sure, it can wait."
"Are you okay?" Elizabeth placed her hand on his arm with a concerned look.
"I-I'm fine. It's just important, that's all but it can wait." Nikolas tried to
assure her.
"All right." Elizabeth said but she wasn't convinced.
"Um, Lucky had wanted to talk to me earlier. I think I'll go find him." Nikolas
quickly walked off. They all watched him go.
"What's up with him?" Emily asked.
Elizabeth shrugged. "He's been acting weird all night. Do you know what's
wrong with him?" She asked Sly.
"Don't look at me." He said. "He never tells me anything, you know that. You
better ask Lucky, he tells him everything."
~*~*~
Nikolas dragged Lucky out of a conversation with Samantha and dragged him into
the hall.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
"Everything!" Nikolas threw his hands up in frustration. He started pacing
back and forth.
"Tonight's not going the way you wanted it to, huh?" Lucky guessed as he watched
him pace.
Nikolas paused and glared at Lucky. "Hmm, why would you think that?" He said
sarcastically.
Lucky tried to swallow his laughter as Nik resumed his pacing. "Okay, man, first
thing. Stop pacing! You're making me dizzy. Second, I told you before, you
picked the wrong night to do this."
Nikolas stopped pacing. "And I told you, it has to be tonight. Three years ago,
Elizabeth and I started dating officially on this night. But every time I try to
get her alone, she starts in about how great the party is or something."
"So wait until after the party. How hard is that?"
"But I don't want to wait. I want to do it now, I want to…"
"Get it over with?" Lucky finished for him. "Listen, this is the last piece of
advice I'm giving you tonight: Wait until the party is over. Now, if you drag me
away from Samantha again, she's going to kick your butt and I won't stop her."
Lucky warned him with a smile.
Nikolas laughed at the thought of Lucky's petite redhead girlfriend threatening
him. "Okay, okay. But thanks Lucky, I just needed some time to calm down."
~*~*~
Later That Night
The party was over and Carly and Alex were cleaning up a little before going to
her apartment. Carly had sent Michael down to bed already. Just then the phone
rang and Carly ran to answer it.
"Hello?"
"Barbara Spencer. Please." Said an accented voice.
"Hold on a second." Carly went to go find Bobbie. She found her packing for
the weekend getaway that Jerry insisted they go on. "Mom, the phone's for you."
Bobbie put down the shirt she was folding. "Thanks. You know you and Alex don't
have to clean up. I can do it."
"Mom," Carly began.
"Carly, don't start. You must be tired; you've been doing everything all night
just so that I wouldn't have to. Now goodnight and I'll see you in the morning
before Jerry and I leave."
"Well, I am a little tired." Carly sighed. "Fine. I'll see you tomorrow
then."
Bobbie went to get the phone while Carly told Alex they could leave.
Bobbie picked up the phone. "Bobbie Jacks, hello?"
"Barbara Spencer?" asked an accented voice.
"Yes, this is she." Bobbie frowned as she tried to figure out why the voice
sounded so familiar. "Do I know you?"
The voice laughed. "Don't tell me you've forgotten all about me after all these
years. Barbara, I'm hurt."
"No, it can't be." Bobbie tried to deny it. "They said you died in prison!"
"Well, sometimes people get things wrong. I'm back Barbara. I'm back for our
daughter and my grandson."
"What? No! You can't."
"Barbara, Barbara, Barbara. Don't forget who I am, don't forget what I can do.
I'll be in touch. Happy anniversary, by the way." The line went dead.
Bobbie stared at the phone in horror as she realized that Victor Cassadine was
alive.
~*~*~
Carly unlocked her door and tried to stifle a yawn.
"Tired?" Alex asked.
"Very." Carly said around another yawn.
"Poor baby." Alex slowly massaged her shoulders. "Maybe I should stay the
night."
"Alex, I'm very tired."
"I just wanted to stay the night, Carly. I wanted to be able to hold you close
while you slept, that's all."
"Oh, Alex, I don't know what a sweet guy like you sees in me," Carly began but
he stopped her.
"I wish you wouldn't talk about yourself like that. You are perfect."
Carly smiled a little. "In you eyes maybe. You never noticed my flaws."
"So does that mean I can stay?" Alex asked hopefully.
Just as Carly opened her mouth to let him know, his beeper went off.
"Damn." He checked the number. "I have to go. I'm sorry."
Carly nodded. "I know duty calls. You be careful, all right?"
"I will." He gave her a quick kiss. "I'll see you for dinner tomorrow."
Carly waved goodbye as he took off and closed the door. Five minutes later her
doorbell rang.
"Did you forget something?" She asked as she opened the door. "Sonny! What are
you doing here so late?"
"I thought Garcia would never leave." He said instead of answering her
question. He walked past her and took a seat in her armchair.
Carly bit her lip and folded her arms as she tired to keep a leash on her
temper. After she and Sonny had broken up, they had decided to stay friends for
Michael's sake but there were times when she'd gladly strangle him and this was
one of them.
"Sonny, what are you doing here so late?" she asked again.
Once again he avoided her question. "So I see you and Garcia are still at it but
things don't look as hot and heavy as they used to be. How a man could leave
you at your door with just a peck is beyond me."
"You were watching-" Carly stopped herself. If she dwelled on that, she'd start
yelling and Michael would wake up. "Sonny, it's late, I'm tired…"
He interrupted her. "The party tucker you out? Poor thing."
Carly gritted her teeth, placed her hands on the arms of the armchair, and
leaned her face in close to his. "This is the last time I'm asking you this,
why are you here?"
Sonny reached up and grasped the back of her neck with one hand. His eyes
glittered as he slowly smiled. Then he brought her down for a long, thorough
kiss. Then he let go and said, "That's why. I miss you Carly."
~*~*~
Nikolas pulled into a parking spot in front of the apartment building where
Elizabeth and Emily shared an apartment.
Elizabeth looked over at Nikolas. "Emily said she's going to stay at Sly's
tonight, so I have the place to myself. Do you want to come up?"
"Yes, maybe, it depends." Nikolas said.
She looked at him in confusion. They sat in silence for a few minutes. Nikolas,
gathering his thoughts so he wouldn't sound like a fool again and Elizabeth,
trying to figure out what was going on with Nikolas.
"Nikolas? Is there something wrong?" She asked suddenly.
"No, there's nothing wrong. I just wanted to do this right so badly that I just
screwed up the whole thing."
"Screw what up?"
Nikolas sighed. "Aw, hell. Will you marry me, Elizabeth?"
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