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When Cassadines Fall
Rest in Peace
Edward has the limo drive him to the airport. Emily is arriving this morning on the Quartermaine jet. The service is set for eleven for Maddy's mother. Edward paces impatiently. Lila told him that everything had settled down at the Mansion. But it was getting to the point that the next time Monica threatened to kick him out dangit he was going to go. And everyone thought he was the trouble maker HA! "I've been working my butt off for years to keep peace in the family!" Edward mutters to himself. Lila was sending down a change suits for the funeral among other things. "I married a saint. Why couldn't Alan have followed my lead? Spineless apologist. At least AJ knew what he was doing. Finally the jet pulls in and Edward is distracted from his thoughts. Emily is first off the plane but an older man with a comb over follows after her. "Who is that?" Edward frowns.
Emily tosses a garment bag over her shoulder and looks around for a familiar face. "Grandfather!" She waves a hand and hurries down the stairs.
"Whoa, whoa! You be careful there; you just got out of that cast. Last thing you need is to end up back in one!" Edward fusses.
Emily throws her arms around him and hugs him close. When she pulls back she looks at Edward. "How is Maddy?"
"Nerves of steel that girl." Edward pulls her close and hugs her again.
When Em pulls back this time she introduces Edward to her traveling companion. "Grandfather, this is Benny Abrams. He is a friend of Maddy's who works for Jason."
"We met at the Michael's christening, Mr Quartermaine." Benny extends a hand that Edward takes reluctantly. "Much happier circumstances then."
"We have some time before the services. Lets go back to the hotel so I can get changed."
"Grandmother sent flowers-- they are still on the plane. Where should they be delivered?" Emily asks. Edward gives her the address. "Give me a second then." Emily hands him the garment bag and runs back up the stairs to the plane and gives the address to the stewart to make the delivery. "Okay we can go now. Any chance of seeing Maddy before the service?"
"She's closed up with her Aunt Dara over at her Granny Sophia's place. They are all planning on going over to the services together."
"Granny Sophia?"
"Great woman. Madeliene's mother's neighbor. She was the one who called the police when that nasty business happened. She's been a rock for Madeliene. The open house after the service will be at her place." Edward explains.
"Excuse me, Mr Quartermaine, Miss Emily. I have an errand I have to run before the services. I'll meet you at the church." Benny excuses himself and goes to where the cabs are waiting.
"Where does he think he's going?" Edward mutters.
"He has to check in with Poppi first thing." Emily explains. She threads her fingers through Edward's free hand.
Edward brings her hand to his lips and gives it a smack. "I missed you, sweetie."
"I should have come down with you." Em laments.
"No, I know it eased Maddy's mind that you were taking care of business for her. But now it's time for you to remind her of her obligations back in Port Charles. When we leave tonight I want Madeliene on the plane with us."
"Grandfather...." Em shakes her head a warning in her voice.
"You wait and see. I'm right about this."
Windsor Court Hotel.
Stefan is on the phone in the suite making sure that the delivery of the insurance funds will be properly timed. He absently adjusts the cuffs of his shirt beneath the dark suit. If there was anything positive about being a Cassadine-- there was no shortage of attire suitable for funerals.
Nikolas comes out of the bedroom straightening his tie. As the Heir he'd been to his share of funerals both personal and those of family obligation. Stefan hangs up the phone. "Mrs Lansbury would be relieved to see you are finally wearing a tie."
"I'd be happy if I never had to wear one again." Nik complains.
"This town seems to have some... unique traditions. Do you have any idea what we are letting ourselves in for here?" Stefan inquires.
Nik shrugs. "I don't think that Maddy even knows what is going to happen. Pete handled this whole thing. Maddy said her goodbyes at the hospital."
"True. What happened yesterday... you seemed disgruntled when you arrived back at the suite."
"Billy Bob's relatives arrived to make trouble, followed by the NOPD to make trouble and then Robideau's son was also there to make more trouble."
Stefan winces. "I should have been there."
"Maddy and Miz Sophia handled things but the sooner that Maddy is out of here the better."
"Agreed. But it has to seem as if it is Madeliene's idea. Otherwise Maddy will look for her own way and make it as complicated and difficult as possible."
Nik smiles wryly. "I think Granny Sophia said the exact same thing."
Benny walks the final steps up to Pete's house and rings the bell.
"Yes?" Pete answers the door. He hadn't recognized the name that was given at the gate and had asked for further explanations.
"Mr Robideau. My name is Benny Abrams. I'm friends with Maddy but also bring you the condolences of Mr Corinthos and Mr Morgan. They would have attended but didn't want to draw unwanted attention at this trying time."
"But you came."
"Maddy's been a good friend to me. She arranged by anniversary party for me and my wife. Picks out the presents for my great grandchildren. She's been a godsend up in Port Charles."
Miz Sophia answers the door at the first ring. "Yes?"
"Delivery for Madeliene Reynolds and family?"
"Yes, thank you." Sophia reaches for her folger's can in the kitchen.
"No, Thank you ma'am, it's been taken care of." The delivery person hands Sophia the floral arrangement. Sophia kicks out and shuts the door with her foot as the guy leaves. She sniffs the arrangements.
"Maddy?!"
Maddy comes out of her room still pulling her hair back on the top of her head. She wears a black dress with a very small floral pattern on it that hits her at about mid calf. "Yes Granny."
"I think your Miz Lila is thinking of you. She says on the card that she picked each one thinking of you."
"Oh they're beautiful." Maddy sniffs the arrangement. "They must have come out of her greenhouse."
Sophia even with her black thumb recognizes the blooms-- a combination of purples and yellows with greenery thrown in. Purple roses, hyacinth and pansys, yellow dafodils, daisys and chamomile. The greenery is an interesting blend of ferns, cypress, a branch of weeping willow and one of yarrow. "It's very unique. I don't think I've ever seen roses that color."
"Miz Lila loves her roses. She wins awards for them up in New York. She and Granny Rosa would have compared notes." Maddy runs a hand over the blooms and reads the card.
Dara comes out of the bathroom dressed in a black suit. Coming back to her southern roots she is wearing a stylish black straw hat with the netting up over the top of the hat for now. She sees what has Maddy and Sophia so distracted. "Oh that's by Lila isn't it?" She comes over to admire the arrangement. "Nobody combines things the way that Miz Lila does. She takes the oddest things and makes them work together."
"Kind of like her family?" Maddy looks up at Dara.
"Exactly like that." Dara had got as close to the Quartermaines as she wanted to be back when she was dating Justus. Lila was the only one she missed. Heck missed her more than she missed Justus. "We should go to the funeral home. People will begin arriving soon."
Sophia goes over to the coat tree and grabs her black full length wool coat and buttons it to the top wrapping a scarf around her neck and then grabbing a hat from the tree plops it on top of her head pinning it to her bun with a quick thrust and grabs an umbrella just in case. "I'm ready. Lets go." She strings a hand through Maddy's arm. "You stick with me, baby. I'll get you through this." She offers her other arm to Dara. "You too. We're in this together."
At the funeral home, Pete stands at the front talking to the director. Ricky tugs on his collar. One of the things about being in the business-- Dad wanted him at every single funeral to know exactly what he was getting into even if it wasn't work related. He looks over at Jerry and grimaces. Jerry winces sympathetically but keeps moving around the room to check things out. He stops infront of the closet casket and stares at the picture of Lisette on the top. Jerry can see pieces of Maddy in the studio portrait of Lisette-- the eyes and the cheeks but there is also something familiar about her. He is distracted when Edward arrives with Emily. He goes up and gives the kid a hug. "Taking a little R&R from the trenches?"
"Actually I'm hardly home." Emily knows exactly what he is talking about. "And when I'm home I'm with Grandmother and Reginald. Dad and I meet for coffee every day at the docks kiosk."
"Well what's your take on it.... She picked the fight to get out of a Quartermaine Thanksgiving."
Em grins at him not saying a thing. "I should say hi to Poppi." Em walks off leaving Edward and Jerry standing there.
"She did it on purpose." Edward grumbles.
"Yep." Jerry agrees.
"Monica isn't even going to be there. She and Emily are going to Italy."
"Well then I guess Carly doesn't win, does she?" Jerry slaps Edward upside the shoulder. "But I should warn you the only pizza she likes is the frozen kind. Carly actually likes those cardboard crusts." Jerry looks over Edward's shoulder and sees that Maddy and Granny Sophia have arrived. Edward turns to see what the distraction is. Edward and Jerry walk over to the women offering their condolences and then walking the women to the front pew. Maddy sits on the aisle, Granny next to her and Dara on the other side of her.
Emily comes over and gives Maddy a hug and then takes a seat behind her in the second row. Edward takes a seat next to her. Jerry stands along the back row. There is still something off. Something nagging. The Cassadines arrive. Nik and Stefan offering a hand to the ladies and then taking seats on the other side of the aisle. Seeing a break in the mourners Benny comes up to Maddy and gives her a kiss on the cheek and then discreetly offers a pair of envelopes. Cards of condolence from him and also from Sonny and Jason. Maddy opens the one from Sonny reading it quickly and then passing it to Granny who passes it to Dara.
Dara is initially furious at Sonny's presumption but sees the note at the bottom that a donation in memory of Lisette had been made to the Ward House Battered Woman's shelter. She shakes her head. Well at least his dirty money was going to a good cause. The church fills with people who knew Lisette, who know Pete or people who know or have dealt with Maddy. Neighborhood people. Stefan looks around and nods at a man in a well pressed suit with frayed cuffs-- Maddy's chess partner. As everyone settles into their seats the minister walks to the front of the church taking his place next to the casket.
***********************
Six burly guys carry the casket from the church bringing it down the aisle. Maddy, Sophia and Dara follow. Nik can't resist leaning over to Stefan. "What now?"
"Unknown." Stefan replies tersely. The people were filing out following the casket. Rising to his feet he follows everyone outside. In the time it had taken for the service a horse drawn carriage appeared at the front of the church and of all things a brass band. As soon as Lisette's casket is placed on the flat bed of the carriage, the driver sets out at a slow pace. The band falls in behind beginning to play a mournful dirge. The mourners follow the band. Within a few steps, they automatically fall into a step in tune with the music. It's impossible to ignore. Following a prearranged path to the cemetary, the procession begins to draw a crowd as people come from their homes watching and listening as the funeral goes by.
The procession comes to a halt outside one of the houses of the dead. The minister says a few more words as Lisette is brought inside and laid to rest- finally at peace. Maddy flinches as the door is slammed and sealed after her mother is interned. Sophia rubs her back murmuring softly to her. The minister nods to the band leader who starts into a lively rendition of When the Saint Go Marching In and starts winding away from the cemetary past the places where Lisette or Maddy were known. Leading the party back to Maddy's house where the reception would be. As with the dirge on the way to the cemetary the music is infectious. The mourners following the band start moving with more spring in their step. Jerry reaches up and loosens his tie. He grabs Emily's hand and twirls her around.
"I don't get it. I don't understand." Emily leans in to tell Jerry. "It's a funeral, for God's sake." She hisses under her breath.
Jerry shrugs. "It's a tradition and a celebration."
"But why."
Pete hears her question and leans in to answer her question. "It's a New Orleans thing, a black thing if you will. It dates back to the days of slavery when dying was a way to be free, most of the time the only way. And being free should always be celebrated."
Nikolas who had been wondering the same questions as Emily had asked listens to the explantion with interest. He looks around at the crowd who is gathering along the sides. This had taken on the carnival atmosphere of a parade. People were rocking and singing along with the band. Tourists were snapping pictures. Nik does a doubletake at someone he sees along the side. A man in a three piece suit, dressed too warmly for the weather also taking pictures. The man's focus is on Maddy but only in part. He seems more interested in snapping pictures of Pete.
Arriving back at the house-- the band stays outside giving an impromptu jazz concert as everyone else moves about in Granny Sophia's apartment. Neighborhood people have brought dishes of food by setting up a buffet. On the coffee table is a scrapbook of pictures of Lisette from birth on. Some are pictures with Dara when they were both girls. Some are with Maddy. Some are of Lisette solo dressed up in Mardi Gras finery over the years. There is a nice portrait of Lisette on the mantle in the living room very similar to the one that had been at the funeral home. Lisette's apartment is opened up for the overflow of guests. Some might have gone in their ghoulishly expecting to see a death scene but instead find only a spotlessly clean and empty apartment that smells slightly of fresh paint.
Granny takes her seat in her favorite chair catching her breath from the trip from the cemetary and listening to the boys in the band out front. Dara takes off her hat and is stopped on her way back to the bedroom by somebody who remembers her from high school. Nikolas walks over to the arrangement of flowers taking center stage on the dining room table. Emily comes up behind him.
"What does it say?" Emily asks him.
Maddy who had been passing by pauses in her tracks. "Say?"
"Grandmother says flowers have a language all their own. Grandfather could probably tell you what each one means. But Nikolas knows too. He's fluent in flowers."
"I never claimed...."
"Come on tell me." Emily prompts.
Maddy watches as Nik seems to almost braille the arrangement. "The purple roses and the hyacinth-- sorrow. The chamomile-- strength, yarrow-- heals wounds. Cypress and willow-- mourning. Pansy-- memories, loving thoughts." He blushes slightly and steps back from the arrangement. "That's all I know. I guess you'll have to ask Lila when you get back to Port Charles."
Maddy looks at the arrangement with new eyes. Before it has just been a thing of beauty but now she understood the note that had accompanied it. That Miz Lila had picked every bloom herself. "Thank you."
"For what?" Nik asks still a little embarassed.
"For translating for me." Maddy takes Nikolas' hand and gives it a squeeze and then impulsively gives him a kiss on the cheek. "I need to check on the others." She rushes away before he can stop her.
Jerry takes a seat on the couch and reaches for the scrapbook on the coffee table. He starts flipping through the pages grinning when he sees the early pictures of Dara. Maybe she hadn't been as straight and narrow as they've been telling Pete. There is a whole section made up of Lisette dressed up for Mardi Gras over the years. Evidently it had been a big thing to her. Each picture had a year under it and comments about where she'd gone. Some napkins from clubs and bars, a few of the favors thrown from the parade floats. "I remember this year."
Pete sits down next to him. "Oh yeah." He grins. "That's the year we ended up here after getting the crud kicked out of us down at that bar in the french quarter. Mere patched me up and sobered up the both of us."
"I can't believe that you got the crud kicked out of you." Ricky leans over his father's shoulder looking at the pictures.
"They had superior numbers." Jerry admits. "And your dad let his detail have the night off so everyone could cut loose. Your grandmother was so ticked. You were off with your mum in Rio or something doing the Carnival thing down there."
Ricky winces. "Right." Sitting in a hotel room with a babysitter who was totally ticked at not being at the festivities while his mother did her social butterfly thing. The year after that he'd volunteered for private school back here so he wouldn't have to spend the quality time with the babysitters around the world.
"I didn't realize it until the trip down here... but Maddy was there that night wasn't she?"
"Holding the flashlight while Mere gave me stitches." Pete agrees brushing a thumb over the scar at his jaw. "She spent most Mardi Gras with one or other of the Grannys while Lisette was out painting the town. It happened to be Mere's turn that year." Pete flips back a few years. "This is the first Mardi Gras that Lisette really attended; the year Maddy was born." Pete does the mental math. "Dang she was young. She graduated from high school that year too."
"Four months pregnant." Dara looks at the picture standing behind the couch and looking over Jerry's shoulder. Interrupting the men's reminiscenes. "Believe me I got a call from Mama about that one. She was hot. I graduated from Michigan the same weekend and had been accepted to Yale for law school. Lisette must have hated that. From the time we were kids, Mama always played the Dara card. She never seemed to realize that we were two different people with different strengths. Lisette was so creative. I always had my head stuck in a book and she'd be designing trousseaus for her Barbies. Mardi Gras was a showcase of her talent. She was drawing and planning costumes from the first time we saw a parade she came back with her head filled with the color and the sparkle. Maddy gets her sense of style from Lisette." Dara acknowledges sadly.