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The Triumph Of AJ Quartermaine
Chapter Fifty Nine
Open House.
AJ arrives home, kisses his grandmother's cheek and tries to take Michael from Lila. Michael starts tearing up and holds his little hands out to Lila. "Vroom." he cries pitiously.
"Vroom?" AJ questions Michael.
"Yes Dear, Varoom." Lila holds her hands out again for Michael. "Come along with Nana, Michael." AJ places Michael back in Lila's lap Lila turns her wheel chair around and heads to the living room accompanied by Michael's 'vrooms'. Lila calls over her shoulder. "Jason and Carly are in the kitchen, Dear."
"Really. " AJ quirks a brow and heads to the kitchen. There are no sounds as he nears the door and pushes it open. Jason and Carly stand on opposite ends of the kitchen in total silence but for the chopping of the vegetables and whir of the mixer. "Hey Bro, I wasn't expecting to see you."
"You invited me." Jason replies.
Just then Cook and Johnny arrive at the back door. Johnny is surprised to see Jason there chopping vegetables. "Hey Boss."
"Johnny." Jason replies continuing to chop. Cook comes up behind him.
"You're done. Get out." She orders Jason. Jason just raises a brow.
"Yes, thank you for the help, Jason. Cook and I can handle things from here. AJ, why don't you show Jason your study." Carly starts pushing and tugging on AJ and Jason trying to get them out of the kitchen. Finally they leave. "What about him?" Carly asks Cook tilting her head in Johnny's direction.
"Check out the buffet and see what needs to be done." Cook orders her son.
"Ma?!"
"Give me two minutes here, okay?" Cook says impatiently. Johnny shrugs and goes out into the dining room. The door is still ajar when he hears his mother say. "You got the stuff?"
"Yeah, right over here." Carly notices that the door isn't completely shut and walks over to it slaps it firmly shut ignoring the OUCH on the other side. "Try this." Carly dips a carrot stick into the finished veggie dip. "What do you think?" Cook nods crunching on the carrot and gives a thumbs up. Carly goes over to a drawer in the kitchen and pulls out two cards already copied for Cook. "This is my mother's dip and this..." Carly fans herself with the recipe card. "is the baklava recipe I called you from Australia about." Carly teases Cook with the card briefly before giving it over. " I brought some back with me; it's already out on the table."
Out in the dining room Jason pours himself a cup of coffee and watches the kitchen door like a cat watches a mousehole. He straightens then relaxes as Johnny comes out pausing at the door. He smiles secretly when the door is slammed in Johnny's face. Johnny comes over to the buffet and does a professional assessment. His focus remains on the the table as he tells Jason quietly. "I think Carly is dealing to my mother."
"Excuse me?" Jason laughs. "Carly doesn't use."
"I didn't say that she did. All I heard was 'you got the stuff' and then someone slammed the door."
"You heard what you were suppose to overhear." Jason reassures Johnny shaking his head. Sometimes Johnny could just be so gullible.
Johnny looks at his watch, the two minutes were up, and heads back to the kitchen. Carly comes out with the veggie platter and the dip. She turns straight around after dropping it off and goes back to in the kitchen moments later she comes back with a tray filled with little crystal bowls of nuts and candies that she sets out around the house ignoring Jason and going into the living room where AJ, Lila and Reggie are playing with Michael.
"Well I've been kicked out of my own kitchen." Carly claims wryly taking a seat next to Lila and Michael.
"Cook has arrived then." Lila nods. "She's-- tempermental."
"Really? I hadn't noticed." Carly grins. I thought that Mama and Jerry would be here by now."
"They were stopping to pick up Lucas early from school." AJ informs Carly.
"Oh HELL." Carly pops up from her chair and heads to the kitchen.
"What's the matter, Dear?"
"I have to catch Cook before she puts *congrats on kicking Tony's ass* on the cake!" Carly races from the room and her "STOP!" is heard all over the main floor.
AJ, Reggie and Michael all start laughing and even a small titter can be heard from Lila. "Reggie, perhaps you should write Emily another note. Have you used family emergency yet?" Lila suggests.
"I'll go pick her up." Reggie rises from his seat at Lila's right hand side.
"Thank you, Dear. I don't think that she'd want to miss any of this." Lila grins. The doorbell rings and AJ rises to answer it. It is Bobbie with Lucas, Jerry and her lawyer.
"Come on in." AJ invites throwing the door wide. He takes everyone's coats and hangs them in the closet. "Carly is checking on something in the kitchen but most everyone else is in the living room. Coffee is on in the dining room for anyone in desperate need." AJ escorts them to the dining room where the buffet table is starting to fill up with goodies. Johnny's cook had dropped off the quiches and the fish dish.
"Wow." Bobbie says. Jerry heads straight for the baklava and grabs a piece for him and Bobbie. "This is great. How did Carly pull it together like this so fast?"
"You daughter is getting used to pulling together last minute shindigs... did I tell you about the party she pulled together in Darwin? She can smooze with the best of them." Jerry sort of answers. Carly comes out of the kitchen and drops off another dish.
"Hey Everyone. Congrats Mama. Lucas, I have someone that I want you to meet. She's a friend of mine." Carly takes Lucas' hand and leads him into the kitchen. "Cook, this is my little brother, Lucas. Lucas, this is Cook. She is saving my bacon today." Carly mouths over Lucas' head so that only Cook will see. "Diabetic." Cook nods.
"You look like a Hot Chocolate Man to me." Cook declares. "Carly, where do you keep the hot chocolate for your special guests."
Lucas preens at being special and the center of attention. "I know where Carly keeps it." He races to his cupboard that Carly had set aside with stuff just for him and pulls out the hot chocolate.
"Good, now do you know what a potluck is?" Lucas shakes his head no watching fascinated at Cook's sure movements as she prepares two cups one with hot chocolate and the other with tea. She sets it on a sturdy tray. "Potluck is when everyone pitches into help; kind of like the story about stone soup? Have you ever heard that one before? No, well I'll tell you later or Johnny can-- he was raised on that one." Johnny grins and nods. "So here is what I want you to do. Take this tray into the living room and give the cup of tea to Mrs. Quartermaine, she's the lady with the really cool set of wheels. And you are in charge of making sure that Mrs Quartermaine gets whatever she wants, okay? But it's hot so be careful." Cook hands the tray to the serious Lucas who bites his lower lip as he takes it.
"I'll take care of it." Lucas states postively.
"Good Man. I knew I picked the right guy for the job." Cook taps him on the shoulder and sets him in the direction of the living room.
As soon as the door closes behind him Carly says, "Now you know why we had to change the lettering on the cake."
"Yep, kids don't pick their parents. At least not usually." Cook shows Carly the sheet cake that has the more generic lettering. *One Big Happy Family*
Carly starts laughing. "It's perfect. Thank you."
"Now you go play hostess. I'm almost done here." Cook demands.
"Okay fine but you HAVE to be out in front when we do the toasts, okay?" Carly shakes her head and then stands up straight putting on her game face. She walks out past the front door as the bell rings so she answers it. "Alan! and monica, great. Come on in everyone is in the living room. Can I take your coats? Monica, what a lovely coat! AJ convinced me to put mine up though... something about having to be old to wear a fur." Monica starts turning red. Alan gets between Monica and Carly as he hands Carly both their coats.
"Down girl. -- it's a party remember?"
Carly reaches up and pats Alan on the cheek wrinkling her nose at him. "You're absolutely right. Thanks for today by the way. I'm sure that you kept me out of jail."
"I'll pay him back for that later." Monica mutters. Carly just glares at Monica and stringing a hand through Alan's arm walks with him to the living room.
Once in the living room Bobbie corrals Carly into a quiet corner as everyone else socializes. "Well what happened?"
"When? Which time? Jakarta or this morning?"
"Let's start with this morning and then go from there."
"The judge kicked me out." Carly shrugs. "I think he likes me. I mean he could have put me in jail or something. I wonder if AJ invited him?"
"What?" Bobbie's jaw drops.
"I asked him to invite the judge over. I mean everything is settled now. No reason we can't be friends."
"CARLY!" Bobbie says suspiciously.
"Mama?!" Carly retorts. Jerry walks up behind Bobbie.
"So you regaling her with tales of your adventures down under?" Jerry wraps an arm around Bobbie.
"I don't have any tales about down under. You and AJ made sure that I didn't have any fun at all." Carly sticks her tongue out at Jerry.
Jerry just rolls his eyes and laughs. "Right-- and I wasn't the one that was trying to drink the head of Heineken Asia under the table. And then the next day the one that was looking a the new Minister of Foreign Affairs' throat like you were ready to have him for lunch."
"Carly! You didn't!"
"Mama, the man needed to get drunk. He'd been watching his factory burn down over and over CNN. It was one of those times that being a Spencer came in handy-- I think that we have a drinking gene or something. Goodness knows AJ couldn't do it. And Jerry was being a stick in the mud. All he wanted to do was get in a fight with AJ's head of security. I thought that we were going to have to take bets."
"Jerry, you didn't!" Bobbie exclaims changing her refrain for once.
"I'm going to get you for that, Caroline."
"You started it." Carly says smuggly. She hears the front door and excuses herself to answer it. "Ned, Edward-- what a surprise; you waited for an invitation this time."
"Now Carly, I wanted to talk to you about that." Edward mutters.
"Can I take your coats. Everyone is in the living room." Carly ignores Edwards comments still resisting the temptation to punch him in his overfed gut.
"Carly..." Edward says plaintively.
"This is a party for my Mother for her triumph over the evil Tony Jones; you remember him- your coconspirator in kidnapping? Now if you are planning on staying, I suggest you get over there and congratulate her. You might even offer Lucas a savings bond or something. I'm not going anywhere, Edward. You and I will have plenty of time to settle things. Now I think that you should be trying to get out of the dog house, don't you?" Ned starts to follow Edward into the living room but Carly grabs him by the arm. "There is one rule in this house." She states flatly. "Nobody badmouths ANY of Michael's parents inside these walls. You want to spar with AJ; it can wait until you're in the office. It's not going to happen here. you start any st...uff with AJ, and you'll be in the middle of a storm that you can't ride out. Are we clear?"
"Would I start something? Please, you misunderstand me." Ned grins his ladykiller grin.
Carly smiles right back showing all her teeth. "I'm so glad that you don't misunderstand me. And if you think I'm kidding why don't you ask AJ, or even Tony what I do to men that cross me? Stay out of the study. I don't want your blood on my carpet."