Family Secrets

~ 1 Year Later ~

"I'm coming!" Carly yelled, making her way down the stairs. The doorbell rang again and she groaned loudly. "Jesus Christ, I said I was coming!"

She opened the front door and flicked her eyebrow up in surprise. "What the hell are you doing here?" she asked icily.

The melancholic looking man sniffed somberly and stuffed his hands in his pants pockets. "I’m here to see Michael."

Both of Carly’s eyebrows went up at his comment and she laughed humorlessly. "You have no claim to my son and therefore you don't need to see him."

"Carly, he's my kid too."

Carly clucked her tongue in irritation. "Since when? Michael only has one father and it sure as hell isn't you."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "I want to see him."

She licked her bottom lip and shook her head. "He's in school."

He nodded. "Then I'll wait till he gets home. Shouldn’t be that long right?"

He moved past her and she slammed the door shut. "Last I checked you needed to be invited inside in order to enter someone's house, so get the fuck out."

"Is that any way to treat your ex-husband?"

"If that ex-husband is you, then yeah."

He laughed softly and sat down on one of the couches. He looked her over as she crossed her arms over her chest. "You look good."

"You don't," Carly replied icily.

He nodded and looked around the large comfortable room. He leaned back against the cushions and picked up a small white cloth that was lying next to him. He held it up and saw that it was a baby's onsie. His focus went to Carly and didn't notice any difference. He looked around the room again and took note of the small toys scattered about and the bassinet in the far corner of the room.

"A baby?" he asked quietly.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Get the hell out of my house!" she shouted as she pointed towards the front door.

He stood quickly. "You think I'm gonna leave now? If you think for one second that you're gonna pull that shit you did with AJ, you're wrong. You're not keeping me from my kid, you slut."

"He's not yours, Sonny.”

Sonny turned around quickly and saw Jason come from a back room. Sonny shook his head and laughed humorlessly. "Oh, fuck no. You're sure as hell ain't gonna pull that on me either. You tried to pass off Michael as your own for a year and fuck if I'm gonna let you pull that off with my kid."

Jason walked up to Sonny and got in his face. "I'm gonna say this once and only once. Carly had my baby, not yours."

Sonny clenched his jaw. "Had? That only proves it's my kid."

"It doesn't prove shit, Sonny."

"I don't believe you."

"I don't give a fuck if you don't believe me. You and Carly got a divorce over a year ago. Do you really think that he could be yours?"

"I believe it before I believe you’re the father."

Jason shook his head. "He's not even three months old, Sonny. The baby is mine."

"Are you sure about that? She could of fucked some other sap before you and after me."

At that comment, Jason punched him in the jaw. "You ever say anything like that again about my wife and I will end you."

Sonny rubbed his jaw and narrowed his eyes at him. "Your wife?!"

"This isn't your territory anymore, Sonny. I suggest you go back to wherever it is you came from and don't look back."

"That's not gonna happen, Jason. I came back for good and I came back for what’s mine."

"You don't have anything here, Sonny. You've been gone for over a year, the territory belongs to me now and that's how it's going to stay."

"You really think I'm gonna let you and this whore get away with this?"

Jason punched him again, this time in the stomach. As Sonny bent over in pain, Jason elbowed him in his back where his kidney sat and Sonny unceremoniously landed in a heap on the floor.

"Don't fuck with me, Sonny," he hissed. Jason straightened up and looked at Carly. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said as she waved him off. "What're you gonna do, Jase?"

"What I should of done years ago," Jason sighed.

At that moment, Johnny came in through the front door. He noticed the body on the floor and raised his eyebrows as he stood next to Carly.

"Did he eat Carly's cooking?"

She smacked him in the stomach as he laughed.

Jason shook his head and smirked at him. "No, you asshole, it's Sonny."

"Sonny? What the fuck is he doing here?"

"Trying to claim my kid as his own."

Johnny laughed again. "Fucking moron." He looked at Jason. "You're call, but I say kill the fucker."

Jason simply nodded. He looked at Carly again. "You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah," she rolled her eyes. "Believe me I'm fine. I just wish I never opened the damn door."

Jason narrowed his eyes at that. "How the fuck did he make it to the door in the first place?"

"It wasn't Manny," Carly immediately offered.

Johnny shook his head. "No, Manny is --"

"Hey, what's goin' on?" Manny asked as he came from the kitchen, apple in hand. He took in the small crowd and saw the body on the floor. "Oh, damn, Carly, I thought you said you weren't gonna cook anymore."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I was wrong. It was Manny."

Jason and Johnny both chuckled. "You fucker, that's Sonny," Johnny informed him.

"Sonny Corinthos?"

"No, Sunny Delight, you dumbass."

"Now why's it gotta be like that, you fucker?"

"You're the idiot that asked, bitch."

"Okay, that's enough!" Carly shouted. The loud crying coming from the baby monitor silenced everyone. She glared at the three men. "Okay which one of you fuckers is gonna go feed my baby?" They all remained silent. "Assholes," she muttered as she walked up the stairs.

All three men chuckled as she ascended the stairs. "You’re gonna pay for that one, Jase," Johnny laughed.

"Fuck off," Jason replied as he sat on the couch. He rubbed his face with his hands and looked at Sonny's unmoving body lying on his living room floor. "Manny find out who the fuck was supposed to be watching my wife and kids and get rid of 'em."

"No problemo," Manny shrugged.

"Johnny, call Sonja and let her know she's got a special appointment in a few days."

"Days?" Manny and Johnny both responded.

"Yeah. I don't know what I'm gonna do with my good pal Sonny yet."

"Lock him in a dark closet for a couple days," Carly offered as she carried the baby in her arms down the stairs.

Jason grinned at Carly and shook his head. "You're evil," he teased her. "Do what the lady said, Johnny."

"I don't see any lady," Johnny smirked.

Carly smiled and flipped him off as she sat next to Jason. "Bite me, bitch," she said sweetly.

Jason shook his head as he looked at the two men in front of him. "Looks like we're in for some fun boys," he grinned.

~~~~~~~~~

Blair Manning sat on the living room floor as she played with her two-year-old son.

"Whose mommy's big boy?"

"I's is," Jack said happily.

"Yes, you are."

She began to tickle him and he started to laugh hysterically. "Mommy stop," he cried happily.

They both heard the door slam shut and Jack got up quickly and ran into the foyer.

"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" he cried.

Todd crouched down and picked up his son who was clinging onto his leg. He smiled lovingly at the little boy and ruffled his dirty blonde hair.

"Hey, little dude, whatcha been up too?"

"Play mommy!" he said as he wrapped his little arms around Todd’s neck.

"Really?" Todd said happily as he carried him back into the living room. "You think Mommy will want to play with me later?"

"In your dreams," Blair responded with a smile.

"In my dreams and in real life, babe."

He went up to her and kissed her softly on the lips.

"No kissy!" Jack shouted as he smacked both of their heads.

Todd set him down and Jack looked up at him, a small pout on his face.

"Go play," Todd told him.

He kicked Todd in the shin and ran back to his spot on the carpet.

"Dammit!" Todd hissed.

Blair laughed softly. "Starr taught him that."

"Remind me to yell at her when she comes home from school."

She rolled her eyes at Todd. "Yeah, you'll yell at her and then she'll yell at you and then you'll make up and it'll be like nothing every happened."

"So?" he offered as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"No, kissy," she said with a smile.

"Yes, kissy."

Todd lowered his head and they began to kiss, but the knocking at the door tore them apart.

"What?!" Todd yelled as he flung open the door.

"M--Mr. Manning?" the young man asked.

"Yeah, who are you and what the hell do you want?"

The man handed him a thick manila envelope and ran back to his car. Todd slammed the door shut and handed Blair the envelope. "Mrs. Manning, that's you."

Blair lifted an eyebrow and took the thick envelope. "Wonder what it is," she mumbled. They walked back into the living room and Blair sat down on the black leather couch as she began to open the envelope.

"No, play me," Jack shouted.

She looked up at Todd and smirked. "You're turn to play with him daddy. He already wore me out."

Blair pulled out the contents from the envelope and furrowed her eyebrows. They were photos of a young woman with long blonde hair. She was alone in some, with a man with blonde hair in others, and a few with two children. Nothing was written on the back of the photos and no note was enclosed. She frowned trying to think of who and why someone would send her the photos. She stared at one of the pictures for a bit. She knew she recognized the woman from somewhere, but couldn't quite place her face.

Todd looked up from the floor and raised an eyebrow. "Anything interesting?"

"Yeah," she muttered. She went over to Todd and crouched next to him on the floor. "Do you recognize these people?"

He took the photos from Blair and studied the first one carefully. "Yeah. Yeah, I do."

He stood up and walked over to the desk and flipped open his laptop. Blair followed him and looked over her shoulder where Jack continued to play with his trucks.

"I'm watching you young man," she told him.

"I’s ‘atch too," he replied.

She chuckled softly and she focused her attention to what Todd was typing.

"Port Charles?" she asked. "That's in New York right?"

"Yeah."

He pulled up the Port Charles Herald website and began to browse the archives until he found what he was looking for. A few seconds later the same picture of the woman appeared on the screen.

"Who is she?" Blair asked curiously.

"That is Carly "Caroline" Roberts Benson Spencer Quartermaine Corinthos Morgan."

Blair snickered quietly. "That's just as bad as 'Blair Daimler Buchanan Manning Manning Cramer Buchanan Manning'." Blair bit her bottom lip. "Corinthos? Wasn't he some mob guy or something from a couple years ago?"

"Yeah, he was. But the current head is Jason Morgan."

"Carly Morgan?" Blair said softly. "Her current husband."

Todd nodded as he typed some more. Another screen popped up and it was a photograph of Jason and Carly.

"Local mob boss Jason Morgan and on-again off-again moll Caroline Benson were wed September 12th in a small private ceremony at Queen of Angels Roman Catholic Church," Blair read from the caption.

She shook her head and straightened up looking behind her where Jack continued to play quietly.

"I don't get it, Todd. Why would someone send me all these pictures of her? I don't even know her."

Todd slammed the laptop down and turned to her. "Don't know," he offered.

She rolled her eyes at him and handed him the pictures. "Don't you think that's a little weird?" she asked.

"Well, yeah," he said as he went through the photos. "Anything we can use for The Sun?" he asked curiously.

"No," she said softly, her mind working overtime. "Nothing incriminating or inappropriate. They're just family pictures."

Todd grunted and handed the pictures back to Blair. "Weird," he shrugged.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Blair began to slowly stir out of her deep sleep and her hand instinctively began to run up and down Todd's stomach as her head lay on his broad chest. Her eyes began to flutter open and she smiled as her eyes darted above to see Todd sleeping soundly. Her eyes adjusted to the semi darkened room and the alarm clock glared at her from Todd’s side of the bed – 3:45 AM. Blair bit the corner of her lip as her thoughts switched to the pictures sitting on the coffee table. The whole situation left her uneasy and curious. She began to pull herself out of Todd’s grasp, but his arm around her waist tightened as he hugged her to him. Blair lightly kissed his chest and successfully pulled herself away. Todd grumbled disapprovingly in his sleep with the loss of contact, but turned over to his side just as quickly.

Blair quietly made her way downstairs and stretched her arms over her head as she entered the living room, rolling her head trying to work the kinks out of her neck. Jack had been sick for the past few days and she had been working from home keeping a close eye on him. Todd had been staying home as well and yesterday was his first day back at The Sun. She was itching to get back there herself. She glanced towards the foyer of the house. Jack was getting better and she'd probably be able to make it into the office tomorrow morning. Things were on track with Melador and nothing urgent was waiting for her there.

Her eyes traveled to the pictures that were sitting on the coffee table. She was certain the woman, Carly, looked familiar but was convinced it was because of The Sun. She bit her lip and went over to Todd's laptop. The Port Charles Herald site was still up so she began to search the archives.

An hour later, Blair chuckled softly as she read one of the headlines "Mob Boss Moll Marries Millionaire". This Carly had gotten herself into a lot of trouble the past few years. She had as much luck in the press as Blair did. Blair was convinced she had seen Carly’s image from somewhere previously and the new realization that Carly was half owner of Deception made her mind reel.

Todd entered the living room a few minutes later. "Hey," he called sleepily.

"Hey," she responded not looking up from the screen.

"You coming back to bed or what?" he asked with a yawn as he made his way towards her.

"Yeah, in a sec. I was just reading up on this Carly Morgan."

"Anything good?"

"Well yeah," Blair said as she turned to Todd. "Seems like she's had as much luck in Port Charles as I've had here in Llanview."

"That bad, huh," he smirked.

"Yeah that bad," she smiled. "But it looks like she finally married the right guy and just had her second child."

"Like you."

"Yeah like me," she said softly. She closed the laptop and turned back to Todd. "Todd, she’s half owner of Deception.”

"Deception?" he yawned again. "What the hell is that?”

She rolled her eyes at him and rose from her seat to stand in front of him. "It’s a cosmetics company based in Port Charles."

He narrowed his eyes at the information, his sleep fogged mind now gone. "I swear, Blair, if this witch is trying to scare you or something . . ."

"I don’t think that’s it, Todd," Blair interrupted.

"How do you know that?"

"It doesn’t make any sense. If she were trying to freak me out or something, why would she send me pictures of her and her family?"

Todd continued to watch her untrusting of the information. She could tell he was falling into his protective mode.

"Sweetie, think about it," Blair continued. "If you were trying to scare someone over at The Banner, would you send them pictures of us and the kids?"

The corner of his mouth began to curve upwards and he reached out for Blair. "Maybe that scary one of you when your hair was—"

"Shut up," she laughed as she smacked his arm. "So? Am I right or am I right?"

Todd shook his head at her. "I don't know, babe. I’ll make a couple of calls and we'll see what comes up tomorrow."

"Thanks, honey."

"Yeah, whatever. Let's go to bed."

She laughed softly and followed him up the stairs.