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When Cassadines Fall
Nikolas paces the study watching the unmoving
van. Stefan puts away the chess pieces. "Nikolas, your
sister."
"Oh? Right." Nik comes over to the couch. "I think
it's bedtime, Princess. Tomorrow's a big day, your first day of
school here in Port Charles."
Lulu grimaces knowing there is something going on. And if there's
something she hates more than people talking behind her back,
it's people talking over her head like she isn't even there.
"Who is the man who came to see Maddy? And why did he talk
funny?" Lulu walks with Nik from the study and up the stairs
to her new room.
"That is Ricky. He is a friend of Maddy's from New Orleans.
Do you know where that is?" Nik asks as they walk the last
few steps to Lulu's room.
"Down in Louisiana. Daddy has friends down there that help
him get cigars. He either goes there or to Florida." Lulu
gathers her bedtime things and goes into her own bathroom. She
gives Nik his answer through the bathroom door.
Now Nik is the one grimacing. "Right. Cigars." He turns
down the bed.
"Why was he mad?" Lulu comes out of the bathroom
already dressed in her PJ's.
"He always talks like that." Nik doesn't mind if he
makes Ricky the bad guy. He pats the bed. Lulu jumps on it and
then crawls under the covers. She pulls them up to her neck and
Nik makes a minute adjustment to make sure she is warm and safe.
He picks up the phone next to her bed. "Okay-- this is
actually an intercom. If you hit one then the phone will ring in
Lucky's room. If you ring two then it'll ring in my room."
Nik checks the nightlight.
"Why aren't you number one on the phone?" Lulu asks.
"It's your house."
"Cause I never call myself. I call Lucky. And Lucky never
calls himself. he calls me or Elizabeth on the intercom. So one
is for the apartment and two is for the house. Since it is my
house, number one got to be where I'd be calling the most often."
"Do I get a number?" Lulu demands.
"If you want. Talk to Lucky tomorrow and he'll program it
for you. Now enough chatter. You have school tomorrow." Nik
leans over and gives Lulu a kiss on the forehead. He walks over
to the door ready to turn out the light. "I'm glad you're
here, Lulu."
"I wish Mama were here too." Lulu replies.
"As soon as she is out of the hospital she'll be coming back
to Port Charles." That's a promise he can keep.
"Yeah, that's what Daddy said too when he called. Night
Nikky."
"Night princess." Nik turns out the light leaving only
the dim light of the nightlights in the bedroom and adjoining
bathroom and shuts the door leaving a fraction of an inch open
and silently retreats back to the study. "Is she back yet?"
"No." Stefan answers shortly. The lights of the van had
come on only when the doors were opened. Nobody inside the van
had switched on the interior lights. Only the floodlighting of
the back area let them know that the van was still there. "Why
is young Robideau here? Has something happened with Larkin or
with Maddy's Aunt?"
"I wish I could say he would've just told her what it was if
it was Larkin or Dara. Course Ricky being Ricky.."
"Indeed. But you believe it is something else."
Nik grimaces. "Something else is going on."
"Whatever set Maddy off last evening."
"It would better if it came from her."
"True. But it appears instead I'll be blindsided by thugs in
training, like young Robideau."
"Jerry Jacks' mother told Maddy he's her father." Nik
blurts out. "That's why Jerry and Bobbie showed up here
Friday."
"Interesting." Stefan crosses one hand across his chest
and with the other arm resting on that one brushes a
contemplative hand over his beard.
"Interesting?! Interesting?! That is all you have to say?!"
Nik sputters in disbelief.
"It will do until I find something more interesting than the
bomb you just dropped. Jacks. Jerry Jacks, you say?" Stefan
seeks verification.
"That's what his mother told Maddy. According to Lucky, when
Maddy needs to get her head straight she goes dancing. That's
where I found her last night. Also with Ricky."
"Inter."
"Don't say it." Nik interrupts. "It is not
interesting; it is infuriating!"
"Yes, I see where it would be so from your vantage." In
his own version of good news bad news, Stefan asks the next.
"Would you prefer I first find the silver lining or go
straight for the cloud?"
"You think there is a silver lining?" Nik crosses his
arms. "This I have to hear. Please by all means find it."
"It could be worse. It could have been Jax.
who has ties to your grandmother."
Dressed in an easy comfortable cotton pullover and flannel
bottoms, Jax kicks back in V's apartment. The flowers are already
on the table. The wine is chilling. He'd picked up some new
candles. In the meantime he, he starts catching up on the
international business news on his laptop. The markets were bout
ready to open over in Europe and there were a couple of irons he
had going over there. A couple of things Thaao has been involved
in and is trying to rope him into. Course Thaao was still holding
a bit of a grudge that the "contessa" hadn't succumbed
to his charms.
There is a click of a key in the lock. Jax races to the door to
open it. The door falls open and she practically falls into his
arms tripping on the small area rug right on the inside of the
door. "Whoa! Catch that!" V exclaims.
Jax juggles the bags. "What is all this?"
"This is my grandmothers at it again and my great aunts got
into it as well this time. They are all extremely proud,
competitive. and nuts." V starts pushing the box that had
been at her feet into the apartment.
"Whatever it is-- it smells great." Jax starts to the
kitchen and sets down the bags. "How much stuff did you
bring back?!"
V puts on a thick Polish accent. "V, baby, you too thin. do
you eat at all in that horrible city? You take, take. we make
plenty."
"Yeah, they did." Jax agrees starting to go through the
bags. "What is this?" Jax holds up a small jar.
"Grzybki Marynowane." V tells him.
"God Bless You!" Jax teases as if V had sneezed.
"You asked." V shrugs. For as long as she could
remember it had been open season on the Poles. People would
stress over being politically correct but unless the Pole was
also Jewish there was no common protection from the ridicule.
" It's just what it looks like. It's pickled mushrooms."
"And this?" Jax holds up a bigger jar.
"Homemade barley soup."
"Barley soup how boring. What is it really? Come on tell me."
Jax urges with a grin.
"Krupnik." V says reluctantly.
Jax mock groans and sets the jar on the counter behind V blocking
her against it. "Oh Venus, my goddess of love.." He
nuzzles on her neck. "You make me so hot when you speak to
me in Polish. and oh ecstasy. of Polish food."
"You idiot." V doubles up her fist and lets Jax have it
right on the gut.
"Ow." Jax backs up and rubs his stomach. "You
didn't pull that one."
"You're making fun of me. I'm allowed to make fun of me and
of my family. You are not-- especially not my family." V
ducks away from him and goes back to the box just inside the
front door. She slams the door and lifts the box up.
"I'll get that." Jax comes over to get the box.
"I got it up from the car. I got it." V insists turning
her back on him.
"Baby, I'm sorry." Jax comes up behind her as she sets
the box on the counter. "I'm a jerk."
"Yes, you are."
"I missed you." Jax says softly. He wraps his hands
around her waist.
"I missed you too." V mutters even more softly. She
allows herself to be turned around so that she is facing Jax. He
runs his hand along her chin tilting it up so that he can plant
his welcome home kiss.
"Do over?" Jax offers. He kisses her again. "Welcome
home, V. How was your Thanksgiving?"
"Hectic. How was yours?"
"Typical." Jax shrugs.
"That's not what it sounded like on the phone. It sounded
kinda crazy.'
"Yeah, typical." Jax agrees. He steps away and goes
over to the fridge. V starts unpacking the items that need to go
into the fridge and setting them next to him to put away. When
they are all put away he pulls out the bottle of wine he'd been
chilling and grabs the two glasses. He uncorks the bottle easily
and pours a bit for each of them. V grabs one of the packages
from the bag and goes over to the couch. Jax comes over and sits
next to her handing her the glass of wine.
She opens up the package. "This one I know you'll like."
"Oh man. Kolackys. I love these cookies." Jax groans as
V feeds him one.
"Yep, made with either homemade apricot or blackberry
fillings." V runs her tongue over her thumb to get the stray
crumbs.
"I didn't know these were Polish."
V shrugs. "Guess you'll be thinking twice before dissing on
my grandmothers' cooking again."
"Never again." Jax mumbles around another mouthful of
cookie.
"How is Mrs Spencer? How is your brother?" V cuddles in
next to Jax after shedding her coat and kicking off her shoes.
"I brought Laura's kids back with her mum yesterday. Sounds
like Nik Cassadine wants to get things ready for his mum when she
can be moved."
"It's so sad. Her little girl is just a baby."
"Yeah. But it looks like her boys are really stepping up.
Luke and I were only down there for a few hours before the boys
arrived."
"And your brother? You said you couldn't talk about it on
the phone."
Jax takes a deep breath. "Well the cat seems to be out of
the bag all over the place. This is between you and me, V. I know
I can trust you." He makes sure there is clear eye contact
between the two of them.
"No pressure there."
"Lady Jane announced after Thanksgiving dinner over at
Bobbie's that she believes that Madeliene Reynolds is Jerry's
daughter."
V leans up and sets her glass of wine down. There is a long pause
growing longer. "Wow. That's big. That's really big. I don't
know Maddy but I know of her because of everything that is going
on with Dara. Wow."
"Yeah, that seems to be the general consensus."
"So why is Lady Jane convinced Maddy is Jerry's and not
yours?"
Jax spews wine back into his glass and winces as V starts
pounding him on the back. "Well thank you for that vote of
confidence. I've always been very careful."
"And Jerry hasn't? Is this another slam on Jerry? Him being
the black sheep of the family?"
"No, of course not!" Jax protests. "I was out of
the country. I was down in Australia when Madeliene was evidently
conceived."
"Oh that's right. Miranda." V does the mental math.
"And the topper why Jerry would be finding out now rather
than then is because he was kidnapped and then he was cleaning up
my mess down in Australia. This one is all my fault." Jax
mutters morosely.
"Okay, blowing up the mine wouldn't have been the way I
would have handled a labor/management problem. But they didn't
let you know Miranda was hurt. They told you she was dead. You
would have been there, Jax. Jerry didn't have to do it. You both
lost, Jax."
"The irony of it all, V. Jerry's actually know her for years
and never knew she was. or might be his daughter. Because they
have friends in common down in New Orleans. And then having Maddy
move here.."
"Guess he's meant to find out."
Nikolas meets Maddy at the back door. He wraps her in a warming
hug running his hands along her back. "Are you alright?"
"Fine. Where is everyone?" Maddy pulls away.
"Stefan and Mrs Lansbury went back to the island." Nik
watches as she paces momentarily gathering her thoughts and
physically and emotionally retreating from him.
"I saw them leave." Maddy recalls absently.
"Grandmother and Lulu are asleep."
"Great." Maddy nods and goes over to the fridge. Too
late for coffee, she reaches for a juice. She crosses to the
kitchen table and has a seat reaching for her business books.
Nik sits down across from her, picking her feet up from the chair
and resting them across his knees. "So what happened?"
Nik's resting grip on her feet is casual but Maddy wouldn't find
it so if she attempted to retreat from him again.
"The Jacks problem just got bigger."
"Ricky knows? How the hell did he find out? Is Jacks using
that small plane of his for skywriting or something?"
"Ricky wouldn't name his source which was real big of him, I
think." Maddy says sarcastically. "This is going way
too far. I don't know who started this crap but this is not the
time. Look what Larkin is doing to Aunt Dara just cause she is
related to me!" Maddy looks right at Nik and says slowly and
clearly. "I do not. will not have a father. And I have one
question for you."
"What's that?"
"Does Mr C hate Jerry Jacks enough to bring Larkin down on
him and his family?"
Lesley answers from the door. "He's capable. Stefan is
capable of just about anything. But I was with it enough to know
that Stefan plays his deadly games with adults. not children. You
say Larkin the way others would say the devil or the plague.
Stefan would not visit a plague on Lucas Jones."
"Your son in law wouldn't agree, Grandmother. Not after what
happened with you and Lucky." Nik has no blinders where Luke
Spencer's opinion of his family is concerned.
"You mean Lucky following the video game?" Lesley
continues after Nik's nod. "Well I had plenty of time to
think about that one as a drooling catatonic who could hear but
not communicate. Stefan went chasing after Lucky into that bog,
pulled him out. You think he would have done that if it had been
Luke in the bog?" With that she grabs a Pepsi from the
fridge and heads back to her room.
Maddy looks at Nik. "Okay, well probably not Stefan. But it
has to be somebody who knows my troubles with Larkin. They could
be going after Jerry or they could be going after Poppi through
Jerry and me. That limits the field."
"Or it could be true." Nik suggests quietly.
"It's not true." Maddy insists.
The bottle of wine is down to the last half glass. Jax and V are
pleasantly mellow. V had gone into the other room to change from
her traveling clothes when there is a knock on the door. Jax
glances over to the clock on the wall. It's too late for callers.
There is another knock on the door. More insistent this time. V
comes out of the back and looks at Jax questioningly. "Are
you expecting anyone?"
"No. You?" V shakes her head and takes up a position by
one of the drawers in the butcher block island. She opens the
drawer and rests her hand in it. There is a soft click as she
disengages the safety of the loaded nine millimeter in the drawer.
Jax goes over to the door and opens it after checking the peep
hole first then opens it. "So are you delivering late night
pastries this time?"
"I saw your car out front." Ricky focuses on Jax. But
glances over at the foxy redhead who has a clear view of him.
"I want to talk to you. privately."
"Anything you want to say you can say in front of V."
"Including your brother's business?" Ricky hints.
Jax straightens. "Including my brother's business."
"Fine." Ricky says in disgust. Too many people know
this damn rumor. There would be no containing it. "Then I'm
here to deliver a warning. It would be healthier for your brother
and his family to stay away from Madeliene Reynolds."
"Are you threatening my brother? Me?"
"I don't have to. Shut your mother up before she gets
someone you care about hurt." Ricky looks over to V. "Maybe
you should be explaining to your man what happens to the
relatives of Madeliene Reynolds. Or did you like jail, Mr Jacks?
You think your father could survive it one more time?" With
that cryptic warning, Ricky leaves the way he came.
"Who the hell is that guy?! And who does he think he is to
threaten my family?!" Jax fumes ready to go after Ricky and
do a little lesson in manners on his punk ass.
V puts the safety back on her handgun and shuts the drawer.
"Well that was interesting."
"Interesting!" Jax says in disbelief. V's cool comment
had distracted him enough for him to just shut the apartment door
and slam home the deadbolt.
"I think you need to have a chat with Lady Jane and tell her
to shut up."
"Excuse me?!" Jax turns on V his jaw dropping.
"You can not like what he said. or rather the way he said it
but look at it, Jax. Maddy Reynolds is the target of a dirty cop.
A dirty cop who is using the system to drag Maddy's Aunt through
the wringer to get to her. You and Jerry just got back your
trading rights. Jerry and your dad were up to their ears with the
mob. It would be very easy to set them up again. And if someone
did to them what's being done to Dara. the presumption would be
guilty as hell. We're talking twenty years minimum. Carly's
unborn baby would be a sophomore in college before Grandpa Jerry
got out of prison and your dad. well. He'd be dead." V says
bluntly.