Dance with the Devil: Chapter 40

When the doorbell rang at the Manning home the next morning, Todd was up and in sweatpants as he went to answer the door.  He knew who it was when he opened it, and sure enough, Carly Jacks stood on the other side.  She had to smirk at his appearance.  “Didn’t we have this conversation already?” she asked, point to his chest.

He reached behind his back and threw on the t-shirt.  “Is this better?” he retorted jovially.  Then he turned his chair around and rolled into the study.  Jack was there and he had already pushed the couch back.  “Jack’s going to help out this morning, since Blair‘s back in Llanview.”

Carly nodded and smiled at Jack.  “What’s she doing there?”

“Ah, she needs to pack some things up, Sam’s toys, personal items, that sort of stuff.  And there was some other business she needed to look into for me,” Todd explained, as vaguely as possible.  “She should be heading back in the afternoon.”  He smiled at Carly again as he maneuvered himself down to the floor and they went to work.  “So last time you came for a session, you got the lowdown on Blair and I.  What’s your story?”

Carly gave him a cautious look.  “Well, you know I was married to Sonny.  I was also married to Jasper Jacks and we have a daughter together, Josslyn.  Sonny and I also have another son, Morgan, but he’d been through so much with his dad, he wanted to go away to school,” she told them.

“He wanted to go to boarding school?” Jack asked incredulously.

“Well, he’s had a few hard years and he needed a change of scenery.”  Carly then continued saying,  “As to the rest of my story, well, I was adopted as a baby and I came to town looking for my birth mother.”

“Did she turn into some psycho-bitch who kidnapped you and kept you from your family for eight years?” Todd asked, only half-joking.

Carly’s smile faded.  “No, she was a nurse and when I found her she was married with an adopted son.  Very respectable.  She had me when she was just a teenager and she knew she had to give me up,” Carly said.  “And my adoptive mother was wonderful.  We struggled to make ends meet, especially after her husband left but she always loved me.”

“That’s the thing about adoptive mothers.  They’re always the ones who love you and cherish you.  The fathers, not so much,” Todd murmured.

“Sounds like you’re talking from experience,” came Carly’s reply.

Todd was lost for a moment in the memory of Bitsy leaving him as a boy.  “My adoptive father was an abusive misogynist who only kept me around because he was getting paid to.  When his wife left him, I know she wanted to take me and that may have made me more normal then the way I turned out.  But I guess normal’s not allowed for any of the Lord kids.”  He looked back at the blonde.  “You and your biological mom, you have a good relationship?”

“Well, after she got over me stealing her husband, yeah we do,” she finished. 

“Oh, really?  Well, that’s a way to grab her attention” Todd leered.

Carly tilted her head as she gave him a look.  “It’s not something I am proud of now, looking back on it.  But I was expecting to find someone who was still struggling and when I what she had made of herself and that she had eventually become a mother via adoption…”

“You kinda blew your top and went looking for revenge.   I can see that,” Todd agreed.

“Did you want to get back at Victor Lord for getting rid of you?” she asked.

“I wanted to revenge on my father, but not for what he did to me.  For the torment he put my sister through and probably for turning my mother into a lunatic who wound up switching me for my twin brother,” Todd replied.

They finished up their session as Carly asked, “Any word on when you’ll be having the surgery?”

“Well, we did seem to find a doctor who’s highly recommended and I have an appointment with him at the end of the week.  His name is Matt Harmon,” Todd said.

“Matt Harmon, yeah I have a vague memory of seeing him around the hospital and at the Nurse’s Ball for a few years,” she said.

“What’s the Nurse’s Ball?” asked Todd as Carly and Jack began moving the furniture back into place.

“It was an annual charity event for the AIDS wing of the hospital.  Basically a glorified talent show.  They stopped it a few years ago when the economy got tough,” Carly informed them.  “Sonny was a big donor for it, as he was for the Stone Cates Memorial AIDS wing.”  She thought for a minute.  “I do think I heard Monica mention something about looking into starting it up again at the cocktail party.”

Todd made a mental note of that as he trailed Carly to the door.  When she opened it, they both found Alexis and Molly on the other side.  Carly threw Todd another smirk, as she recognized the lawyer’s expression.  She left with just a goodbye and the mother and daughter came in.  “Jack, you’ve got a guest,” Todd called out.

Jack came into the foyer and smiled when he saw Molly there.  “Hi, nice to see you.”

Molly smiled but in a much more guarded manner.  Todd’s eyes shifted from his son to his friend and finally to her mother.  “Uh, Jack, why don’t you go get us some coffee with Molly.  I think I need to talk to her mother.”  He watched as Alexis’ eyes flashed.  Before the woman could say anything, though, Jack and Molly scampered to the kitchen.  Todd turned back towards the study and Alexis followed him.  “I’m going to guess you want to talk about my son and your daughter,” he said.

“Mr. Manning--” Alexis began.

“Todd, please, Alexis.  I can call you Alexis, right?” came the response.

“Fine, Todd.  Yes, you may call me Alexis.  I spoke to my ex-husband last night about you and your family.  Because of that, I think you can understand my reluctance in this friendship our children have developed.  I am well aware of your son’s record involving Gigi and Shane Morasco, as well as your own, shall we say, colorful past and while my daughter is a very intelligent young woman, she tends to go off on romantic notions that blind her to facts.  So it is because of that fact that I personally would not like them anywhere near each other, as much as that is possible.”  Todd was starting to reply when Alexis continued.  “However, my daughter has a very bad habit of taking after me and pointed out how unfair that would be, since he is new in town.  She also pointed out that people here tend to continually judge others by their past actions and assume that they are responsible for every little bad thing that happens in Port Charles.  So, that leaves me in a quandary.  I want to protect my daughter but I quite honestly, don’t want to look any more of a hypocrite than my children already think I am.  So, I have informed my daughter that she may purse a friendship with your son under certain ground rules.  The first of these ground rules being--”

“Ms Davis,” Todd had to practically shout in order for her to come up for air.  He narrowed his eyes at her as he said, “God, is that a lawyer thing?  Cause I feel like I’m talking to my ex-wife.”  Todd paused and then continued as he realized he was being allowed to speak.  “I also had a talk with Jack yesterday and we actually covered some of your concerns.  Look, regarding the Morasco cases, my son did some cruel things and he has owned up to them and he does regret them.  Haven’t you ever made some terrible mistake that the only way you saw out was wrong, say like, faking a mental illness?” Todd asked.  When he saw Alexis’ attention become even more focused, he knew he had her.  “I think we can both admit our choices have never been the best.”

Alexis’ mouth hung open.  “That’s emotional blackmail!”

Todd merely shrugged his shoulders.  “Look, I just wanted to show that we are on a similar footing in the influence department.  My son has, sadly, made some of the same stupid decisions in his life that I have made in mine.  But he’s also young enough for them not to totally screw him up forever.  Molly, I would guess from talking to her a few times, still hasn’t even gotten to those choices yet.  And I truly hope she never does.  Look, Jack is well aware of his family history and it is guiding him in his friendship with Molly.  And that is truly how he is seeing her, as a friend.”  Todd thought it wise not to tell Alexis about the kids’ smooch at the Quartermaine party.  “I gave him two pieces of advice-be truthful in any relationship, and the best ones between the opposite sex start off as friendships.”

Alexis pursed her lips.  “I’m still uncomfortable with this,” she huffed.

“She’s still your little girl.  I get that.  But the more you say no, the greater the temptation will be for them.  My daughter got involved with a boy who my brother, who thought he was me, didn’t approve of but they refused to be separated.”  His eyes were downcast.  “That was how I became a grandfather.”  Alexis gave to a perplexed look, which he waved off.  “I give you the whole story at our kids’ wedding,” he teased her.

She was about to offer him a nasty retort when the teens returned with coffee mugs, milk and sweeteners.  As Jack handed out everything, Alexis began again.  “Todd and I were just discussing this…situation.”

“Yeah, we agree that you can hang out together, but there will be some ground rules.  Um, Alexis, why don’t you go over those,” he deferred as he took a sip of the coffee.

Alexis shot his an understanding glance but began anyway.  “When you hang out, here or at the lakehouse, you can go no further than the den or kitchen together.  You can only talk on the phone when your homework is done for the night.  If you hang out outside of your homes, it can only be with someone like your sisters.  And finally, and this one is the most important Molly Lansing-Davis.  You are not allowed, under any circumstance, to go to Wyndemere on your own.”

Molly looked crestfallen.  “But I promised Jack I would give him a tour!”

Alexis looked from Molly to Jack.  She turned to Todd, who asked “What’s Wyndemere?  Oh, is that that pile of rocks out in the harbor?”

“It’s a Victorian estate that my cousin Nikolas owns.  That’s the library where I brought you those books,” Molly explained.  “Please, Mom, I do actually need to return some of them and get out more.”

Alexis let out a sigh.  “Fine, I actually do need to find some papers over there.  We can go out there later and Jack can come with us.”

Jack raised his eyebrows.  “Um okay,” came the dull response.

“Oh, don’t worry, it’s not haunted,” she said as she stood.  “Well, too much anyway.”

“You’re going to a haunted house, Jack?” said a young voice.  Sam Manning wandered in and climbed onto his uncle’s lap.  “Can I come?”

“You sure you won’t be scared, little guy?” his big brother asked.

Sam crossed his arms.  “Was I the one that was hiding under the covers when we were watching movies last night?”

Jack’s face turned bright red as Molly let out a laugh.  Todd chuckled as his nephew blew the teen’s cover in front of his friend.  Finally Jack, with a nod from Molly let out with a “Yes, you can come,” he said as he picked up Sam.  Then he whispered.  “Just never embarrass me like that again.”

“Sorry,” Sam answered. 

Molly set a time to pick up Jack and the mother and daughter left.  Sam went back upstairs to get washed up.  Jack walked back into the study and collapsed onto the couch.  “I do promise I’ll stick to the rules.”

“Ah, look, one thing Mannings and well, Lords as well I guess, do not have a great track record on sticking to the rules.  While I will agree with her on the rule about hanging out in the house, if you are left alone at, say Kelly’s or wherever else the teen scene hangs out in this town, I wouldn’t come down on you for those.  And who’s to say you may need help with your homework and she can offer it.  Just be careful and remember two things.  Her father is a lawyer and her uncle makes people disappear.  Understood?”

Jack nodded and headed up to shower and get changed.  Todd scratched his head and made his way over to the desk.  He grabbed his cell and found the number he wanted.  “Lansing…get your ass over here.  We need to have a talk.”  Before he even got a response, Todd ended the call.           

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