Dream a Little Dream

Chapter 7

Sunshine streamed into the Quartermaine parlor. Alan and Monica gave rapid-fire orders to the staff.

“Cook, make sure you have a fresh batch of doughnuts in the jar,” Alan began.

“As if my kitchen would ever be without fresh doughnuts!” Cook haughtily interjected.

“My apologies,” Alan said. “Are you set for dinner tonight? Jason wanted your chicken piccata.”

Cook nodded, looking aggrieved at such insolence.

“Alice, his room is ready?” Monica asked anxiously. “I know you've taken care of it every week, but...”

“You want things to be perfect,” Alice said equably. She was not so easily offended as Cook, and had more empathy. Monica smiled.

“Yes,” she said. “As perfect as things can be in a house full of Quartermaines.”

“Don't worry,” Alice said. “The room is ready. Fresh sheets are on the bed, everything's dusted and vacuumed and aired.”

“Thank you, Alice, for everything,” Monica said. “Thank you, all of you. You have made this day much better for us.”

“We have been praying for this for a long time,” Cook said.

“Thank you,” Alan said. “Now I'll have the car brought around. It's time.”

This was the day the Quartermaines prayed for, but feared would never come. Jason was coming home. As if made to order, the weather was flawless. The parlor was filled with fresh flowers. Alice had put a mixed bouquet of Lila's roses on Jason's dresser.

AJ, Carly, Ned, Skye, Brooke Lynn, Tracy, Dillon and Justus filed into the parlor. Lois was also there, flying in from a recording session in New York for the happy event. Leticia had taken Michael and Morgan to the playground, where they could work off their nervous excitement from the whirlwind going on at home before meeting their uncle. Carly had thought of that, and Monica was touched by her thoughtfulness.

AJ leaned over and kissed Monica. Alan pulled them both into a hug, and beckoned Emily to join them.

“We'll be back soon,” he whispered huskily. “It's a new beginning for all of us. Thank you everyone for helping us get to today.”

Tracy nodded, an odd lump in her throat.

“You go on,” she said. “Let's get this show on the road. The sooner you leave, the sooner this fuss will be over with.”

Alan kissed her.

“I love you, Tracy,” he said.

She brushed off his emotions playfully.

“Don't get mushy yet,” she said. “The day's just beginning. Keep this up, you'll be a soggy mess before you even leave the hospital.”

* * *

Jason waited in his hospital room for his parents to come and bring him home. He'd been chafing at the bit for this day. His only excursion off hospital grounds had been the time Kevin took him to the library after he woke up, to show him what he thought he'd remembered was just a dream.

He was also a little scared, and that angered him. He was scared of the changes he would see when he got home. Jason wasn't stupid enough to think everything would look the same. And there would be no welcoming kiss from Lila, or hug from Edward. He'd be meeting strangers that he was supposed to look on as family – Skye, Brooke Lynn, Dillon, Carly, Michael and Morgan.

And he was supposed to begin living his life. While in the hospital, he'd been able to mostly focus on the present as he rebuilt his body in physical therapy. Now, what? What would he do while everyone else went to work or school?

Kevin Collins walked into the room.

“Hi, Jason,” he said. “Ready?”

Jason looked up, his face a blank.

“I guess,” he said. “I know I don't want to stay here any longer, no offense.”

“None taken,” Kevin replied with a laugh. “I'd be worried about you if you did.”

He sat down on the bed and looked at Jason for a moment.

“You're facing a lot of changes, Jason” he said. “I'm proud of you for wanting to face them head-on. But it will be hard at times. You have a lot still to figure out about how you feel about everything and everyone. I want you to know that I'm here for you, and that I won't tattle to your parents. Don't try to bottle everything up; it'll only make things harder for you. Feel free to call or drop in anytime. I know Lucy would love to see you, too. So come by when things calm down. We're still out at the old lighthouse.”

“Thanks, Kevin,” Jason said, shaking Kevin's hand. “You've been a big help.”

“Anytime,” Kevin said.

* * *

Jason was distracted on the ride home, looking out and seeing everything as if for the first time. Alan and Monica kept conversation to a minimum.

The limousine turned into the curving driveway of the Quartermaine estate.

“Here we are!” Alan said brightly.

Jason let out a small sigh of relief to see little had changed. Some of the landscaping was different, but the house stood strong and massive. It was a comfort. He got out of the limousine, breathing the fresh air until he was almost dizzy.

The front door opened and Emily led the charge out, leaping into Jason's arms.

“Easy there!” Alan said, laughing. “You should know better than that – he's just out of the hospital. Give him a few days before you tackle him.”

AJ's embrace was next. Jason submitted to it, not ready to reveal his true feelings.Ned was next.

“Welcome home, Cousin,” Ned said, with a trembling voice.

Tracy pushed her way into the circle and looked at Jason critically.

“Hmph!” she said, ruffling his spiky crewcut. “The hair's different, thank God.”

“It's good to see you, too, Tracy,” Jason replied. “You haven't changed a bit.”

Carly hung in the background, quietly watching as Justus and Lois moved in for their hugs. Brooke Lynn and Dillon were introduced, Jason looking at them in shock. Seeing his cousins, barely out of the crib when he left, as teenagers was another stab of loss.

Jason looked at the red-haired woman standing next to AJ.

“You must be Skye,” he said, offering his hand. She shook it, looking at him closely.

“Hello, Jason,” she said. “It's wonderful to finally meet you.”

So this is St. Jason, Carly thought. Hmmm. I hope I can handle him.

AJ held out his hand to Carly, and brought her over.

“Jason, this is my wife, Carly,” he said with pride. Jason's head reeled.

He remembered his dream, where he had been Carly's best friend. They'd been through everything together. He could look at her and know when she was dreaming or scheming. But her eyes revealed nothing to him now.

“Hello, new brother-in-law,” she said, smiling. Jason stood there, arms at his sides.

“Hello, Carly,” he said flatly.

What the hell is his problem? Carly thought. That was a cold welcome.

The family trooped into the house, where the staff was waiting. Some, like Alice, had to be introduced. Cook, in a rare display of affection, wept as he embraced Jason. Soon, the family had settled in the parlor. Jason sat in Edward's old chair, and felt loss ripping through him again. He looked up at the portrait of Edward and Lila over the fireplace.

Monica followed his gaze.

“They're very happy right now, too,” she said. A silent moment followed as everyone remembered Edward and Lila.

Jason turned his attention to Dillon and Brooke Lynn.

“Wow,” he said. “Those are some changes.”

Dillon and Brooke Lynn laughed. Usually, that was something you heard from grandparents or great-aunts, not a cousin so close in age.

“Yeah,” Dillon said. “I just finished at Port Charles High. I'll be going to film school in the fall --”

“That hasn't been decided yet, young man,” Tracy barked.

“It has, just not by you,” Dillon shot back.

“Nice to know good old-fashioned Quartermaine bickering hasn't gone out of style,” Jason remarked wryly.

Brooke Lynn chortled.

“Here? Never!” she said. “We wouldn't want to be boring, like the Barringtons.”

Jason couldn't help but grin at Ned's daughter, with her punk-hippie clothes and attitude to burn. She grinned back.

“I see a lot of your mother in you,” he said.

“I hope that's a compliment,” Lois said.

“Maybe,” Jason teased. He was surprised how easily he slipped back into the Quartermaine conversational style.

Just then, a tinkling version of “Smoke on the Water” reverberated in the room.

“Dammit, Ned, I thought I told you to turn that thing off!” Justus said as Ned reached for his cell phone.

“Sorry, this is business,” Ned said. “I'll take it in the front hall. No, don't worry, Junior,” he said to AJ. “I'll handle things today. You stay with the family.”

He left the room quickly before the ringing brought any more remarks.

“That was his phone?” Jason said. “More changes, I guess.”

The door opened again a little while later as everyone was chatting. Alice wheeled in the tea cart.

“Coffee and sweets for anyone who wants them,” she said. “Jason, Cook made these cinammon doughnuts especially for you.”

Jason dove for them. They were just as good as he remembered. Some things don't change, thank God, he thought.

“Oh, man, I've been dying for this,” he said, his mouth full of doughnut.

Alan laughed joyously.

“We could think of nothing better to welcome you home with, Son,” he said. He saw Jason was looking a bit tired, and maybe overwhelmed. He looked at AJ.

“Everyone, scoot,” AJ said. “Give Mom and Dad some time alone with Jason. He's had enough of the Full Quartermaine treatment for one morning.”

Tracy, Dillon, Brooke Lynn, Lois, Justus, Skye, AJ, Emily and Carly left. AJ had promised his sponsor he would go to a meeting that day, so he left, giving Carly a hug. Carly went up to the suite she shared with AJ. Maybe she could do some observing.

Tracy went to work, accepting a ride from Justus. Ned had already left. Lois took off for L&B's offices. Brooke Lynn and Dillon left to meet Georgie, Maxie and Lucas at Kelly's. Emily took advantage of everyone being distracted by Jason's homecoming to make an excursion to Wyndemere.

* * *

Nikolas Cassadine sat at the heavily carved desk in the office at Wyndemere, reading prospectus reports from various Cassadine holdings.

Once, all those papers and all those numbers were frightening to the young Cassadine prince, taking over the family empire after Helena had died. Stefan had seen him through the first days, reminding him of his tutelage in such matters over the years. Then Stefan left on his long trip, leaving Nikolas alone to find his own way. It had been a hard time for Nikolas, he felt very alone and overwhelmed at first. But his mother and Alexis were there with guidance, and even Edward Quartermaine came over to the island to offer advice.

“Cassadine holdings are an important part of the Port Charles economy, young man,” he said when Nikolas expressed surprise that a business competitor would offer him advice. “You muck this up, it affects us as well as you.”

Nikolas didn't muck it up. He took his responsibilities – not just to the Cassadine family but to everyone who worked for them – seriously. Too seriously, Alexis and Laura sometimes worried. He had a hard time turning it off at the end of the day, making him more brooding and isolated. Lucky dragged him out as often as he could. Alexis made sure he came to her house for dinner once a week. He got invitations from old friends Elizabeth Webber and Robin Scorpio for coffee and dinner, sometimes accepting them. He had seen little of his former fiancee, Gia Campbell, since she returned to Port Charles. That relationship seemed like it happened to someone else, someone not the leader of a global business empire.

Then Emily happened.

He'd seen her occasionally when she'd returned from Stanford to start medical school at Port Charles University. But she was with Zander, so Nikolas thought of her as just a friend. She'd sometimes come to Wyndemere to visit. One day, she came and she'd been crying. He thought it was just a fight with Zander or another Quartermaine spat.

It wasn't. She'd found a lump in her breast. By the time she finished telling how she'd found it, she was nearly hysterical with fear over having breast cancer like her mother, Paige, and dying of it. He held and comforted her for a while, and finally persuaded her to go to the doctor.

“I'll take you there myself,” he said. “If you won't go, I'll go to your family.”

That strong, masterly treatment worked wonders on Emily. They told no one, and swore the doctor to secrecy. Fortunately, the lump turned out to be benign. But it was the beginning of a bond between the two. She came more often, sometimes with Zander or Elizabeth, but mostly alone.

Then came the night of the Costume Ball last year. It was a fundraiser for the hospital's scholarship program. Nikolas came as a pirate. Emily came as a princess. Zander was out of town.

Nikolas saw Emily in her costume and it him him. She was a princess, and he wanted her as his princess. Emily saw Nikolas in a new light that night as he was courtly and devoted to her. He took her to Wyndemere afterwards for drinks. They ended up dancing, which led to a kiss that turned Emily's eyes starry. She thought of Zander, and ran away. Nikolas caught up with her at the boathouse, begging her to stay, but she wouldn't.

The next day, she came back with firm resolve to tell Nikolas that they must be just friends, that the night before could never happen again. She took one look at Nikolas, looking haunted in his love, and fell in his arms.

Emily felt any guilt melt away in the heat of Nikolas' passion. She'd wanted to break up with Zander right away, and shout their truest love from the parapet at Wyndemere. But Nikolas was concerned about his family's reaction, particularly Stefan's. When he was growing up, he'd drilled into Nikolas that the only women for him were of royal or noble blood. Some things may not change despite all of Stefan's other changes, he feared. And if Stefan's views hadn't changed, he might punish Nikolas by taking the Cassadine empire back from him. So he persuaded Emily to wait until he had a solid grip on the family businesses before doing anything.

It wasn't an easy double life for Emily. She was busy with her medical studies, and trying to juggle two men made things difficult. It was easier during the school year, when Zander was busy with his MBA studies and Emily could plead a heavy course schedule for getting out of many evenings. She didn't know that the family and Zander noticed her distracted ways lately. But everyone put it down to a busy school schedule.

The doorway to the secret passage creaked open. Nikolas looked up and smiled.

“This is the best thing that's happened all day,” he said, drawing Emily into his arms. She lost her breath in his soulful gaze.

“I couldn't stay away,” she cooed.

“What about your family?” Nikolas asked. “I thought you'd be with them all day on Jason's first day home.”

“He was getting tired by all the people,” Emily said. “So we left him alone with Mom and Dad for the afternoon. We'll have a big family dinner tonight. So I can't stay too long.”

Nikolas plucked a rose out of the vase on the mantle. He scattered the petals on the couch, and gently pushed Emily down on it.

“Let's not waste any time, then,” he said.

An hour later, they were getting dressed.

“I'll miss you,” he said.

“I'll miss you more.”

“No, I'll miss you more.”

Just then they heard the doorbell ring.

“Damn!” Nikolas said as he heard Stefan greet the maid. Emily scooted to the passageway door.

“See you soon, beloved,” she said, blowing a kiss. Nikolas quickly picked up the scattered rose petals and hid them in his wastebasket. He straightened his clothes and sat at his desk.

“Hello, Uncle,” he said as Stefan entered the room. “What brings you out here today?”

Stefan sat in the chair opposite the desk.

“I'm here to discuss the possibility of Cassadine International helping to underwrite the expenses for the Nurse's Ball this year,” Stefan said. “If you can cover those, we can go a long way towards making the ball the most successful one yet.”

“You don't have to say any more,” Nikolas said. “Consider it done. It's not just because you asked, but because it is important. Every time I see Robin Scorpio, I'm reminded of that.”

Stefan smiled broadly.

“That is the best thing you could have said, Nikolas,” he said. “It shows that, despite my overly Cassadine ways, you learned a great deal about doing good for others.”

He looked around the office that had once been his. He missed it not one bit. He noticed a plastic Port Charles University ID card on the floor. He went over and picked it up.

“Emily Quartermaine was here?” he inquired.

Nikolas remained cool.

“Yes, she dropped by a little while ago to tell me that Jason came home,” he said. “She said something about a party for him sometime soon. I'll call her later and let her know where her ID is. I'll have one of the men bring it to her tomorrow.”

Stefan nodded. He saw something else, but said nothing. There was a tiny smear of shimmering pink lipgloss on the inside of the collar of his unbuttoned shirt, with some on his neck, too. He and Nikolas chatted about business and the possibility of a family dinner at Wyndemere soon with Alexis, Cameron, Kristina. “And Zander, of course, if he's around,” Stefan said.

“Of course,” Nikolas said carefully. “Let's do it in the next few weeks.”

Stefan took his leave. On the way back to the docks, he felt tears in his eyes.

He had long given up the idea of marrying Nikolas off into a “proper family.” He wanted Nikolas to have the freedom to follow his heart, as he himself had so long been denied. He had welcomed Gia Campbell into the fold when she and Nikolas were engaged. But that fell apart. All he wanted for Nikolas was a strong, good woman who could stand by him and make him happy.

Instead, Nikolas was betraying someone who believed him a friend. Because Zander was Alexis' stepson, Stefan had gotten to know him and was quite fond of him. He'd hoped Nikolas would snap him up for Cassadine International when Zander finished his MBA next year. He was appalled that Nikolas would be so duplicitous, and would find someone who was obviously duplicitous, selfish and deceitful a good match. He worried over the reprecussions of this. Zander, he knew, was deeply in love with Emily and was building his future with her at the center of it. Stefan trembled at the thought of what this would do to him. He had so much potential, but depended so much – too much, Stefan had long thought – on Emily for his self-worth. Alexis would be crushed. And both she and Stefan would be caught in the middle.

The boat landed. Stefan stepped off the boat and called for a driver to take him to General Hospital. He looked back at Wyndemere.

“My God, Nikolas, what have you done?” he whispered.

* * *

Jason looked around his old room. Besides tidying up and keeping the place clean, nothing had changed. His old lacrosse trophies were still used as bookends on the shelves. A lacrosse stick leaned in the corner. His posters of Syracuse University lacrosse stars Gary Gait and Casey Powell were still on the walls, along with his framed high school diploma and academic awards. Even the bedding was the same.

“Wow,” he said, turning around slowly. Monica cleared her throat.

“We weren't sure what to do,” she said. “So we decided to leave things as they were and let you make any changes you want.”

Jason nodded.

“Thanks, I appreciate that,” he said. “It's nice to see something unchanged.”

Alan nodded.

“Today hasn't been easy, as happy as it has been,” he said.

Jason sat down on the bed.

“You're right, Dad,” he said. “By the way, Alice seems like a nice lady. But where's Reginald?”

Alan and Monica looked away as they remembered an unpleasant time.

“We had to fire Reginald,” Monica said. “There was an issue of insubordination.”

“He was always insubordinate,” Jason said. “What did he do that was so bad?”

Alan told of how Emily, in her junior year of high school, took up with a boy named Juan Santiago. He was Miguel's son, the one Lily had given up for adoption. He came to town to find out about his parents. Lily had already died in a car bombing meant for her new husband, Sonny. Sonny had married her hoping to take control of her family's organized crime operation in Puerto Rico, and to stick it to Brenda, who had since moved on to Jax. Miguel, under L&B's direction, had become a Latin pop star. Sonny, feeling guilty over Lily's death, took the boy in. He'd also given Juan a job in his organization.

The family fretted over Emily being with someone involved in something so dangerous. She turned defiant, sullen and lying, sneaking out to see Juan. Her grades began slipping, so she was grounded. She tried to run away with Juan, turning to Sonny for help. He met them on the docks. Suddenly, gunfire erupted. Emily was unharmed. Juan was hit in the arm. Sonny was wearing a bulletproof vest.

The terror of that incident led to a family conclave. Edward had to take his nitroglycerin, he was so shaken. It was decided that they had to lay down the law with Emily, that she was no longer allowed to associated with Juan as long as he worked for Sonny.

That went over poorly. Emily was red-hot in her fury. She turned to Lila for support.

“Mother, God love her, had a weak spot for the underdog,” Alan said. “She couldn't see at first what a danger this Juan boy was because of his ties to Corinthos. So she sided with Emily. Father actually rebuked her – something I never thought I'd live to see.”

But Alan and Monica had their trump card. Emily could either drop Juan and accept that she would be under strict grounding indefinitely when she came back, or she would be leaving that night for a two-month long Outward Bound trip. No phones, no e-mail, no car, no way to get to Juan.

Emily decided on Outward Bound, declaring anything would be better than being stuck with “you preppie jerks.” Alan and AJ escorted her to the Outward Bound site on a remote island in Maine.

Reginald sided with Lila, and refused to do any work for the rest of the family. He was insolent and rude to everyone except Lila. He then threatened to go to Sonny and turn him on the family. Lila was horrified at such behavior, and ordered him to obey Monica as head of the house. He refused, and Monica fired him on the spot. He never followed through on his threat. No other family in town would hire him, so he ended up moving to Buffalo to work at a Wal-Mart.

Juan continued to work for Sonny. He decided Emily wasn't worth the trouble, and gave the Quartermaines a “Dear Jane” letter for her that cut Emily to the quick with its cruelty. Lila, seeing how wrong she had been, had humbly apologized to Monica and Alan for siding against them. Juan ended up getting caught in a raid, and was sentenced to ten years in prison. Sonny, who felt Juan had screwed up too many times, did not think he was worth risking his empire to protect. Emily came home from Outward Bound chastened, with a thorough loathing of nature, and sour on men for a long time. She threw herself into her schoolwork, and had no serious relationships until Zander.

“Whoa,” Jason said. “That must have been a scary time for you.”

“It was,” Monica said. “I was really scared that we were going to lose Emily – if not to violence if she continued carrying on with that boy, maybe to her just walking out on us. Thank God that Juan dumped her the way he did. It was a hard thing for her, but for the best, as time has shown. At least now she's with someone nice.”

“You rest now, Jason,” Alan said. “You may be out of the hospital, but you still have to take it easy. Dinner is at six.”

Jason blinked, nodded and blinked again. Alan and Monica went out, and shared a long embrace in the hallway.

“We have the rest of the afternoon to ourselves, Dr. Quartermaine,” Alan said. “What do you propose we do?”

“Take full advantage of it,” Monica said with a wicked grin as she held out her hand and led him to their suite.

* * *

Jason woke from a brief nap. He looked around his room, so comforting in its sameness, but so odd in it, too. He didn't feel quite the same person who had left it nine years ago. He got up and sniffed the vase of Lila's roses. He would give anything to have her here right now. She was always the rock of sense when things got too insensible in the family. But AJ got the benefit of that these last years instead of Jason.

Alan and Monica had put new clothes in the closet. Jason had bulked up some in physical therapy. He put on a t-shirt, a pair of shorts, and a pair of sneakers. Way back in the closet was his old reindeer sweater. How could I ever have thought that was cool? he wondered.

There was plenty of time before dinner, so Jason decided to wander around and get re-acclimated. His and AJ's old playroom was now the domain of Michael and Morgan. Blocks and picture books were on one side. A computer desk, a bookshelf filled with books and youth lacrosse trophies, and a toy chest were on the other. He went downstairs, helping himself to another doughnut in the kitchen as Cook, busy chopping garlic, beamed at him. That won't last, Jason thought. Within two weeks, Cook will be ordering me out of the kitchen at fork-point.

He went into the parlor. It was empty. Alan and Monica were upstairs, and everyone else had gone out. He stepped onto the patio, and looked over Lila's rose garden. It was still a place of peace. Jason sat on the short stone wall for a while, breathing in the fragrance.

A loud splashing noise and childish laughter reached him. Someone must be in the pool, he thought, and walked towards the back of the house. He stopped before a tall cast-iron gate – that was new – watching shyly behind a hedge.

He could see a little red-headed boy, about eight years old, bobbing in the pool. A much younger boy with brown hair sat at the edge of the pool, inflatable water wings on his arms.

“Come on in, Mom!” the older boy yelled. “I'm coming, let me get my shoes off first,” said Carly, hidden from Jason's view by the hedge. Then she appeared, walking towards the diving board at the other end. She was wearing a turquoise blue bikini. Jason watched her intently. Her hair was a rich deep golden blonde, brushing her shoulders. Her figure was lusher than it had been in his dream recently. She dove gracefully into the pool.

“Woo-hoo! That feels good!” she called over to the boys, and swam over to them. She held up her arms and picked up Morgan, setting him gently in the water while keeping a firm grip on him. Michael lay on his back in the water and began kicking and splashing.

“Hey, watch it!” Carly said. “Don't scare your brother.”

Jason opened the gate, and stepped onto the walkway around the pool.

“Hi again,” he said, smiling at Carly.

Whoa, Carly thought. Maybe this morning was something else and not me. I'll give him another chance. God knows he must have been overwhelmed by the whole family.

“Hi,” she said, turning on her most dazzling smile. “How are you feeling? Hope we weren't bothering you with the noise.”

Jason shook his head. “Not at all,” he replied. “I was up and didn't feel like resting anymore, so I decided to have a look around.”

Carly remembered the boys. “Come on, boys,” she said. “There's someone for you to meet.”

Michael had been looking at Jason curiously, detecting who the strange man was right away. He scrambled out of the pool and ran over to Jason. He was exactly as Jason had dreamed him. Red hair – he must have gotten that from Bobbie, Jason thought – and twinkling brown eyes.

“You're Uncle Jason,” he said, holding out his hand. “Hi, I'm Michael. Your nephew. Everyone's been real excited about you coming home.”

Jason crouched down to be eye-to-eye with Michael, and shook his hand.

“It's great to meet you Michael,” he said, trying not to wince at the memories of his dream, where he was Michael's best buddy and champion. Now, they were strangers. “I'm really looking forward to getting to know you and your brother.”

Carly set Morgan down in front of Jason. “And this is Morgan,” she said. “Say 'hello' to your Uncle Jason, Morgan.”

“Hewwo, Uncle Jason,” Morgan said. Jason stared at him for a moment. He was nothing like he remembered Morgan in his dream, the Morgan who had been Sonny's child. The hair was brown, but Morgan's eyes were a sweet, clear blue. Like his own. Like Lila's.

“Hello, Morgan,” he said, shaking the little paw. Morgan giggled, and flung himself at Jason, giving him a wet kiss. Jason laughed heartily for the first time since waking up. Carly stroked Morgan's hair.

“He has your eyes,” she whispered. “Your's and your grandmother's. Lila was delighted to see that.”

Jason looked down, then back up at Carly. She was even prettier than in his dream. Softer, somehow.

“I've been wishing she was here since I got home,” he said.

“I miss her, too,” Michael said. “She was the only one who could go in the kitchen and get cookies for me without Cook making a fuss.”

Jason laughed and ruffled Michael's hair. “She was the only one Cook was scared of,” he said.

“Come swimming with us, Uncle Jason!” Michael said. Carly shook her head.

“No, boys. It's time for you two to go upstairs and get cleaned up for dinner.”

“Aw, Mom!”

“You heard me,” she said. “Uncle Jason will see you at dinner. You have lots of time to talk. Now take your brother upstairs.”

Michael took Morgan's hand. “See you later,” he said to Jason.

“See you later,” Jason said back, smiling broadly. He watched Michael keep a firm grip on the toddling Morgan as they headed into the house.

“They're ... amazing,” Jason said. Carly beamed. Maybe things won't be so bad after all. If she could be friends with Jason, maybe she could keep him from hurting AJ.

“Thanks,” Carly said reaching for a towel to dry her hair. “They really took to you.”

Jason sat down on a chaise, feeling the sunshine soak into him. “Ahhh, this feels good,” he said.

“I'll bet,” Carly said. “You must have been going stir-crazy in the hospital after a while.”

“Exactly,” Jason said. “I've been looking forward to getting home and being normal again. As normal as a Quartermaine can be, anyway.”

Carly laughed.

“I always heard that you were the most normal one of the bunch,” she said.

Jason flinched, wondering if he'd ever feel normal again, but Carly was drying off her hair and didn't notice. She sat down on the chaise next to him.

“So, how are you feeling after today?” she asked.

“Fine, I guess,” he replied. “I'm just trying to get used to all the changes. Grandmother and Grandfather gone, Reginald not here, people I don't know here, and Brooke Lynn and Dillon almost grown-up. It's weird.”

Carly reached over and patted his hand.

“Don't worry, you'll figure everything out,” she said. “And come to me if you want to talk. I'll be glad to help in any way I can.”

“Thanks, Carly,” he said. “I'm glad you're here.”