Chapter 16
“There you go, Spitfire,” Caroline whispered to the Arabian horse, as she closed
the gate to his stall.
“Are you done?” Shane asked, coming up behind her when he had finished with his
horse.
“Yeah. I'm hungry though. Where do you want to go for lunch?”
“I all ready have lunch taken care of,” Shane answered, leading her to a grassy
area near a large tree. “Stay here.”
A few minutes later, Shane came back with a large blanket and a picnic basket.
“Well you certainly come prepared,” Caroline remarked as she watched Shane
spread the blanket.
“Yeah, well I like to have the advantage” he said with a grin.
“The advantage, huh? Now what to you think I owe you for this?”
“A kiss would be nice.”
Caroline smiled, wrapped her arms around Shane's neck, and slowly began to kiss
him. The longer the kiss lasted, the hungrier they became. Shane let his fingers
trail up and down her body, enjoying the taste of her.
When the kiss was finally finished, Caroline put her finger on his lips, and
traced the outline of his mouth. “You know, I would have given you two kisses,
if you had asked for it” she whispered.
“Two kisses. That's exactly what I meant,” Shane replied quickly, leaning
closer.
Caroline put her finger back on his lips, to stop him. “Too bad, you had your
chance. Food first, desert later” she said with a teasing smile. “I'm starving!”
Caroline sat down as she watched Shane unpack the plates, napkins and straws.
Her eyes widened as she saw what Shane had packed for lunch. “Pizza! Oh wow, I
haven't had pizza since before Tony's trial” she exclaimed.
Shane looked at her. “You went that long without pizza? Why does Jason have
something against fast food?”
Caroline looked down. She had been dreading the moment when she had to tell
Shane about her shooting Tony, and the results of her mistake. She looked up
again, and started to speak quietly.
“There's something I haven't told you yet. You never asked about Tony's trial
since you came, and I guess you just assumed that he was convicted.”
“Well, yeah. Isn't that what happened? The day before you were supposed to get
the verdict, you told me that Tony was going to jail for sure.”
“Well, it didn't happen. Somehow he got off with “Custodial interference”, or
something like that.”
“WHAT? Are you telling me, that the bastard walked?”
“Not exactly. He had to do volunteer work, and was fired from General Hospital.”
“He kidnapped… KIDNAPPED… a baby, and he just got FIRED? Does the judicial
system not work in Port Charles?” Shane said angrily.
“Well, it certainly worked for me” Caroline said bitterly.
“What do you mean?”
Caroline took a deep breath, and looked away from him. “When I first heard the
verdict, I froze. He had been caught… hell he ADMITTED it… but he got away with
it. I couldn't believe it. I still can't. All I could think of was Michael… and
Eleyna. Losing Eleyna was the most painful experience I ever had to go through.
When Michael was missing, I was so scared that I would have to go through it all
over again. I remember sitting in the courtroom, starring in shock. I don't even
remember what I was starring at. I remember seeing Tony grinning at me.
GRINNING! I guess I lost it. I started to run toward him, but an officer grabbed
me, trying to calm me down. I don't really remember it, but the cop had a gun,
and I took it, then fired without thinking. I had shot Tony. He had almost died,
but he pulled through.”
Shane put sown a paper plate, and moved towards her. He lifted her chin, forcing
her to look at him in the eyes. He felt shocked, but at the same time mesmerized
by what his childhood sweetheart had just said. “You shot him?” He whispered,
stunned.
“Yeah. I don't know if I wanted to kill him, but I guess at the time, some part
of me wanted him dead. Maybe I still do. I don't know, I just don't want to see
him,” Caroline said, with tears running down her cheeks. “Do you hate me for
it?”
Shane looked at her, like a little child crying and helpless. He kissed her
cheeks, tasting the salt from her tears. He suddenly found himself crying also.
“Do I hate you for it? God Caroline, of course not. I'm not going to say what
you did was okay, because we both know it wasn't. I will say, I know why. When
Eleyna died, we were both lost. When you first called in the middle of the night
to tell me that Michael was missing, I wanted to come and be with you. The only
reason I didn't, was because you said that it would be better if I didn't. But
every day that he was missing, I felt for you… and for Jason. I was so relieved
when you called to let me know that Michael was okay. I'm so glad that you got
him back. I guess I know that you were just trying to protect Michael, when you
shot him.”
Caroline nodded, without saying anything.
“Did Jason help you get away with it?”
“Kind of. I got sent to two mental institutions instead of jail. Jason got his
lawyer to plead temporary mental insanity. I was there for months. I actually
got out a few days before you came.” She looked into his eyes, waiting for a
response.
Shane put his arms around her, and pilled her close. “It's over, and its okay.
I'm glad that you told me, now instead of later,” he said, stroking her hair.
Caroline bit her lip, then buried her face into Shane's chest. He still didn't
know about AJ, and she didn't know how he would react. He already knew that she
had slept with Jason and Tony, but had no idea about AJ. She almost decided to
keep him in the dark, then changed her mind. She had to be honest with Shane,
because he had always been honest with her. “Shane, there's something else you
should know.”
“What?”
Caroline took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled. “Jason isn't Michael's
father.”
“What? Does he know that?” Shane said, pulling away from her.
“Yeah, he knows. Jason and I haven't slept with each other for years. Tony isn't
Michael's father either.” She waited for Shane to say something, but when he
didn't, she continued.
“One day, I got into a fight with Tony, and went looking for Jason. Jason always
seemed to make me feel better when Tony and I fought. Anyway, I didn't find
Jason, but I found his brother AJ. We both started drinking, and we had sex.
When I found out that I was pregnant, I knew that the baby could have been his,
but I didn't tell him. He had been so drunk, that he didn't even remember that
night at first. He eventually remembered and realized that Michael could have
been his. When Tony and I broke up, I had two men telling me that as soon as my
baby was born, I would lose him. I couldn't let that happen, so I went to Jason.
I told him everything, and he agreed to let everyone think that the baby was
his. I don't think that he knew what he getting himself into at the time, but
its amazing how good he is as a father. I think that I made the right decision.
Maybe I could have done some things differently, but I'm glad that Michael has
Jason.”
Shane looked away, not knowing what to say. He knew AJ meant nothing to
Caroline, but he was still hurting. He knew that Tony was just a phase, or a way
of getting back at Bobbie, and that Jason was someone who probably gave her
comfort. He didn't like the fact that Caroline had slept with both of them, but
he accepted it. Even though AJ was a one-night stand, it was a one-night stand,
which produced a baby. A baby Shane wished HE had fathered. He didn't know why
Caroline hadn't come back to Florida. He would have agreed to be the baby's
father in a second.
Caroline read Shane's silence as rejection, and started to cry harder. She got
up, and started to run. She didn't know why she was running; she just knew that
she couldn't face Shane's response.
Shane immediately followed her, and ran to catch up with her. He reached her,
and grabbed her arm. Caroline tried to get away from him, but Shane pulled her
toward him. Caroline started to sob in his arms, not knowing what to do, or say.
Shane put his arms around her, and held her tight.
“Caroline,” he said hoarsely. “I'm not going to judge you. Whatever you did… and
with who you did it with… has nothing to do with us. It hurts that you slept
with other men, but I accept it. I wasn't there. Maybe if I was, things would be
different. I don't know. What I do know, is that you matter more than anything
else. Whatever happened, is in the past. I love you, and nothing, NOTHING you
have done, or will do, is going to change that.”
Caroline sniffled, and started to hiccup. “Thank you” she whispered.
“Shane kissed her softly. “You have nothing to thank me for. If I didn't have
you, I wouldn't have anything.”
*************************
Jason sat at his desk trying to go over Luke's record books. He couldn't seem to
concentrate, due to a beautiful blond, who seemed to be stuck in his mind. Jason
finally gave up, and closed the book. He sat back in his chair, and looked on
his desk. His eyes caught a small object near the edge. It was a small keychain.
A Christmas gift, from Caroline. He picked it up, and started to play with it,
in his hands. He hadn't expected a Christmas gift from her, but then again he
had learned not to expect anything when it came to her. Their whole relationship
was one surprise after another. Their hot, passionate sex had been great, but
after Caroline had threatened to tell Robin, Jason had been sure that he would
never have anything to do with her again. But he had been wrong. Somehow, he had
always found himself going back to her. In a way, it was like his relationship
with Robin. They tried to be apart, but they got back together. The only
difference was that Jason and Caroline never really were together. Jason sighed,
and began to think of what would have happened if they had been.
********************
AJ got off of the elevator and started to walk towards Jason's apartment. As
soon as Renaldo and Johnny saw him, they rushed forward to block his path.
“Mr. Morgan gave us strict orders not to let you in. So why don't you turn
around and leave, before we are forced to do our job, and hurt you.”
“Hurt me? Is that a threat? Can you say “assault and battery”? Did they teach
you that in you that in your Mob relations handbook ?”
“Sure, we can say that. But if you don't leave here now, you won't be able to
say that again. Ever,” Renaldo said stepping closer.
AJ looked at the two bodyguards and realized that he wouldn't be able to get
past them on his own, so he decided to take a different approach.
“JASON! JASON! GET OUT OF THAT PENTHOUSE NOW! I HAVE SOMETHING FOR YOU! JASON!
GET YOUR ASS OUT NOW!” AJ shouted at the top of his lungs.
From inside Jason rolled his eyes, as he listened to AJ shout. “Damn, he
probably has the court order” he thought. Jason got up and walked to door. He
was going to get served with the papers sooner or later, so it was better to get
it over with now. “All I have to do is make sure that the paternity tests are
fixed”, he said to himself as he opened to door.
When AJ saw Jason open to door, he smiled triumphantly. “I have a little present
for you”, AJ said, separating himself from the bodyguards.
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