Chapter 13
“Caroline,” Bobbie said, “How do you expect to start a relationship with
someone, if you're in love with someone else?”
Before Caroline could answer, the door opened, and Shane appeared. Bobbie turned
around to look at the handsome stranger, who had made Caroline's face light up.
Caroline walked toward Shane, hugged him, then kissed him softly on the lips.
“Bobbie, meet Shane Roberts. Shane, this is Bobbie Spencer, my biological
mother,” she said turning around.
Shane smiled at Bobbie, walked towards her, then gave her a kiss on the cheek.
“Hello Ms. Spencer, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Now I know where Caroline gets
her ravishing beauty from.”
Caroline rolled her eyes, and tried to sniff a laugh. Shane was a nice guy, but
he wasn't the type to suck up to anyone, and she had no idea why he was laying
it on so thick.
Bobbie looked at him, up and down, then smiled in spite of herself. “Hello
Shane. It's nice to meet you two. Oh, and please, just call me Bobbie.” Bobbie
raised her eyebrows and smiled at Caroline. “Damn! I wanted to be objective
about him. Why the hell does he have to be so polite and drop dead gorgeous? Oh
well, two points for Shane. Mama's gonna keep score,” Bobbie thought to herself.
“Shane and I were going to go horseback riding. Back in Florida, it used to be
one of our favorite things to do,” Caroline announced.
Bobbie looked at her daughter surprised, and a bit concerned. Caroline had said
that she was “starting over” with Shane. Doing activities they loved to do in
the past was okay, but Bobbie thought that they would at least wait and spend a
few days getting to know each other again. Bobbie also thought that Caroline
would want to take things slow, considering her feelings for Jason. “I hope
Caroline is realizing what she's doing, and not trying to pick up from where she
and Shane left off,” Bobbie thought.
“That's great. Virginia used to write letters to me on and off, and mentioned
your love for horses. Maybe I should mention it to Jerry, and see what he does
about it,” Bobbie said with a laugh.
“Jerry?' Caroline asked with a blank look.
“You know, Jerry Jax. We're kind of dating, and he gave Lucas a pony for his
birthday.”
“A PONY? You're dating a man who gives your child a PONY? Well if that's the
case, maybe you should mention to your boyfriend that I like yachting,” Caroline
said with a grin.
“Very funny. Besides, I have made it perfectly clear to Jerry that expensive
gifts are not the way to my heart. Spencer women cannot be bought.”
“You're right about that. It didn't take much to get your daughter to fall in
love with me. When we were four, I made her a mud pie, and she was mine
forever,” Shane said with a smile.
“Shane honey, you got it all wrong. It wasn't the mud pie; it was the flowers
you picked from my lawn. Of course I was too young to realize that dandelions
were weeds…” Caroline trailed off.
Bobbie laughed. “You two are two much. I would have loved to see the two of you
as children.”
The three of them turned around when they heard Robin, Jason and Michael coming
down the stairs.
“Hi there,” Bobbie said to Robin, who she hadn't seen since she arrived. She
went over to Jason and took Michael from him. As Bobbie held her grandson, she
noticed Jason visibly stiffen. She looked up at his eyes and saw him staring
coldly at Shane. When she turned to look at Shane, she saw him returning the
same look. “If this doesn't stop soon, they're going to bore holes into each
other. Good Lord, the testosterone level in this room is mighty high,” Bobbie
thought as she watched them in silence.
Caroline too, noticed the staring contest, and cleared her throat noisily. “I
was thinking, maybe Michael should come with us. I'm not going to put him on a
horse or anything, but Renaldo can come. Michael could stay with him, and look
at the animals. There are also cows, chickens, pigs, and goats there.”
Shane smiled. “I think that's a great idea. I'm sure Mikey would love to see the
horses,” he said as he went over to Michael and Bobbie. “May I?” he asked
Bobbie, and Bobbie handed him her grandson.
“Mikey, don't you think that's a good idea?” Shane asked the baby. Michael
squealed and tried to tug at Shane's light brown hair, realizing it didn't have
the same effect as his mother's.
“His name is MICHAEL, and I don't think that its a good idea,” Jason said. He
personally thought that Michael would love to see the animals; he just didn't
like the idea of Michael going anywhere with Shane. When he saw Shane, Caroline
and Michael, he saw a family, and he didn't like it.
“Oh yeah? Why's that? Have you forgotten that Michael is Caroline's son also,
and that she could take her son wherever she wants?”, Shane asked icily.
Before Jason could answer, Caroline spoke up. “Jase, is there something going on
with your business? Is that why you don't want Michael to go? You're concerned
for his safety?”
“No… it's just that a whole day outdoors may be too much for him,” Jason said,
looking at the wall. Caroline sighed as she studied Jason. Even though he had
lied to AJ, she knew he wasn't really good at it. She knew that there was
something more, but decided not to press the matter. “Maybe you're right”, she
said reluctantly.
Bobbie was silent as she watched the exchange. Jason was protective of Michael
and Caroline, but she didn't expect his open hostility to Shane. “Could Jason be
jealous?” she asked herself. “No, he can't be. He has no reason to be envious of
Shane. He loves Robin, and only thinks of Caroline as a friend,” she tried to
convince herself. But as she watched Jason glare at Shane with contempt, she
began to wonder what Jason was thinking and feeling.
“Well, we better be going,” Caroline said to Shane.
“I want Renaldo to go with you,” Jason quickly interrupted.
“I really don't think that Caroline and I need a chaperone,” Shane replied. “And
I rented a car, so we don't need a chauffeur either.”
“Caroline is to be guarded at all times. If you want privacy, fine. Renaldo will
follow you in the limo. If you are concerned for Caroline's safety at all, you
will do as I tell you.”
“HOW DARE YOU question my love and concern for Caroline! I'm not the one dodging
bullets day and night. And furthermore…” Shane broke off as Caroline touched his
arm. “Let it go,” she said softly.
Shane stayed silent, but was furious inside. He couldn't understand how Caroline
could love, let alone live with someone who put everyone around him in danger
Caroline had been torn when their daughter died, and he didn't know how could
she put her son in danger, and risk losing him also. “Well you two have fun
horseback riding,” Bobbie said, trying to be cheerful, as she took Michael from
Shane.
“Thanks,” Caroline murmured, taking Shane's hand and leading him to the door.
But before she got out herself, her eyes met Jason's, and was surprised at what
she saw. She knew Jason so well, and knew that there was only tree types of
looks which his eyes possessed. They were like ice when he was angry, loving and
full of warmth, when he was with Michael, and an in-between or “normal” look at
every other time. But this was a look that she had never seen before, and she
didn't know what to make of it. His eyes weren't cold, but they weren't exactly
loving either. They were a mixture of some sort, as if he didn't know what he
was feeling either. Caroline looked away and went out the door, trying to forget
Jason.
******************
“Reginald! What is this vile liquid inside my coffee cup?” Edward called.
“I believe its coffee, Mr. Quartermaine,” Reginald answered, coming into the
room.
“Oh no! This can't be MY coffee! What is this garbage… DECAF?”
Reginald was stunned. The commercials on television implied that nobody could
tell the difference. Oh well he should have known that store bought coffee
wouldn't go over well at the Quartermaine mansion. They only ate and drank
overpriced items from faraway lands. “I'll make you another pot, if you like,”
he offered.
“Oh no Reginald, don't worry dear. The coffee is fine, isn't it Edward?” Lila
answered, looking at her husband.
Edward grunted, but didn't say anything. Across the table, Emily and AJ rolled
their eyes at each other. They knew that when Edward started his morning off
agitated and upset, he would most likely be like that for the rest of the day.
Everybody looked up as Ned came in holding an adorable little girl. Following
him was his ex-wife. Emily jumped up, and ran to them. “Lois, what are you doing
here?” she asked, giving hugs and kisses to both Lois and Brooke Lynn.
“Well, Brooke Lynn wanted to see her daddy,” Lois said, returning the hug.
“Well, why don't the three of you come join us for breakfast. I would really
love to spend time with my great granddaughter,” Lila said.
“We should also spend time with our great grandson, but that lunatic that we
used to treat as our own keeps him locked away in that guarded fortress,” Edward
muttered.
“Well, Jason probably doesn't want the family to rub off on Michael,” Lois said,
sitting down.
At the mention of Michael, AJ looked at his watch. In a couple of hours, he had
to be at he courthouse, to pick up the court order for the paternity test. As he
watched Ned hold Brook Lynn, he silently cursed Jason. If Michael really was his
son, he had missed so many moments that a father should witness, and would never
get them back. He continued to eat for a while, joined it the usual Quartermaine
bickering, and then looked at his watch again. To his dismay, only half an hour
had passed. He sighed, then tried to focus on what was going on around him.
“Reginald! Get me some Aspirin! I have an impossible headache, and its probably
due to that damn coffee,” Edward said, rubbing his temple.
After a few minutes, Reginald came back empty handed. “I'm sorry, but we're out
of Aspirin, Tylenol, Advil and Excedrin.”
“WHAT! If I remember correctly, we have two doctors in this house, and you're
trying to tell me that we have NOTHING for headaches?” Edward asked.
Lois dug into her purse. “I might have something. Here,” she said, handing
Edward a small box.
“MIDOL? What's this? I've never heard of this before,” Edward said, reading the
label. “For abdominal cramps, bloating, discomfort… ails all symptoms of pre-
menstrual syndrome. I don't have PMS!”, Edward said, dropping the box.
“Are you sure?”, Lois responded under her breath.
“I have some painkillers,” Alan offered, speaking for the first time that
morning.
Edward looked at him, sighed loudly, then picked up the Midol box. He opened it,
took out a tablet, and swallowed it down with some coffee. “Next thing you know,
we'll be using sanitary napkins at the dinner table,” he muttered.
AJ spit out his orange juice, Ned almost choked on his croissant, Monica rolled
her eyes, Alan knocked over his tea, Emily started to giggle, and Lois yelled at
Edward for saying something so tasteless and immature.
AJ then got up from the chaos at he table, and started to walk out of the room.
He looked back at his family, and wished for the hundredth time that they
weren't so dysfunctional. “If Michael turns out to be my son, I swear I'm moving
out,” he vowed, as he walked out.
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