Chapter 23

Bobbie saw a dazed Monica leaning against the wall near the elevators. She approached her and asked if she was all right.

"Yes," Monica said, shaking her head as if to clear it. "I just saw the strangest thing."

"What?"

"I could have sworn I saw A.J. get into this elevator with a woman and a young girl. Alan's right. It must be time for a vacation."

"Weelll," Bobbie said, "I do have some news for you."

"What? You saw A.J., too?!"

"No, but I did see someone from the past earlier."

"Who?" Monica demanded, her nerves frazzled.

"Keesha. And she was with her lovely teen-age daughter."

"Keesha! That's who A.J. was with. Unless my eyes are playing tricks on me, but it makes sense now. What are they doing here? Are they together?"

Bobbie shook her head. "I wish I could tell you more, but Keesha wasn't very forthcoming, and I didn't want to push. A.J.'s name never came up, but I can tell you that Keesha did not look well. If you saw her daughter, Monica, I believe you would definitely see a resemblance to your son."

"Are you serious?" Monica asked, her eyes wide with curiosity and wonder.

"I am."

Monica looked once more to the elevator. She thought about chasing after them but realized how futile that would be.

"He's kept his distance this long," she told Bobbie. "I wonder if he plans to contact us at all?"

*~*

After A.J. dropped Keesha and Julianna off at Dara and Justus' house, he returned to his hotel room and after checking his e-mail, he telephoned Skye.

"Can you get away for lunch?" he asked.

"Sure. Where are you?"

"In my hotel room. I'll order room service. It'll be here by the time you arrive. What do you want?"

"Order me a Chef's salad and an iced tea. I'm on my way."

*~*

At his grandmother's house, Michael was pleasantly surprised when Lucas arrived for a visit.

"How's it goin'?" Michael asked, after handing Lucas a soda and popping open a can for himself.

They sat in Michael's room.

"Great. I heard from Dad that you went to him for advice about a girl?"

"Yeah."

"Talk to me."

"I feel kinda silly now. I'm not even sure she wants to meet me."

"Details, bro, I need details."

"You really wanna hear this?"

"Yes!"

"Okay. Well, after I went through all that crazy stuff when my mom died, I spent a lot of time online. I found this one Web site that catered to teen-agers who have only one parent. There was a quiz you could take to see how well you matched up with others. Several people were recommended to me based on my answers, but only one of them really clicked with me."

"This girl you now want to meet," Lucas guessed.

"Yeah. We became fast friends. It's been so incredible. She's going through a lot of heavy stuff now, but when we first started chatting, she was there for me. I want to be there for her, but I don't really know how to do it. We were fine when we were e-mailing and chatting with our Web cams, but I found out that she moved here because of her mother's illness. Is that wild or what?"

"Very wild. How come you don't know more about her if you guys are such good friends?"

"We wanted it that way. We were just going to be cyber pals, with no strings attached. But I've fallen for her, Lucas. I can't help it. She's funny, she's intelligent, she has a great heart, and she's beautiful. I really want to meet her."

"But she doesn't want to?"

"I'm not sure. She freaked out when I told her I live in Port Charles. We can't communicate by Web cam while she's here, but we said we'd e-mail."

"You haven't heard from her?"

Michael shook his head.

"Why don't you send her a note?" Lucas suggested. "Let her know you're thinking about her and her mom. Maybe mention a neutral place where the two of you can meet."

"Like where?"

"How about the restaurant near the PCU campus? I doubt you would run into people you know."

"Yeah," Michael said, his mood brightening. "Thanks, Lucas. That's a great idea."

"But if she turns you down or gives you the brush off," he warned, "I don't think you should push. Let her set the pace. Hopefully, she'll keep in touch with you, but if she doesn't..."

"I know," Michael said, feeling dejected again. "I think that's why I haven't written to her. If she doesn't respond, then I'll know for sure she's not interested."

"Or she could just be really busy settling into a new place. Don't write her off too quickly, okay?"

"I won't. I'll send her an e-mail tonight after I think about what I want to say. Thanks for helping me!"

Lucas smiled. "Any time."

*~*

"I wondered when I was going to hear from you," Skye said to A.J. after they shared an affectionate embrace.

"Things have been a little hectic," he said as he led her to the table where the food had been arranged.

"Are you finally going to tell me what's going on?" she asked, after taking a bite of her salad and a swallow of her beverage.

"Yes."

She waited intently for him to begin.

"Should I drop the bombshell on you or would you rather have all the particulars first?"

"Considering the way I just dropped into your life unannounced with a major chip on my shoulder, I think you owe me a bombshell. Go ahead. I can handle it."

"Are you sure?"

She nodded. "I'm sure."

"A few weeks ago, I found out I have a fifteen-year-old daughter."

Skye almost choked on her iced tea. When A.J. tried to help her, she waved him off. After composing herself, she stared at him, a hundred questions swimming through her mind.

"You have a fifteen-year-old daughter whom you knew nothing about until a few weeks ago?!"

"That's right."

"Okay," she said, pushing away her meal. "Now I need, no, I *demand* the particulars."

"Keesha Ward, a woman I was involved with here in Port Charles, left town in 1998 to care for her ailing father. She found out she was pregnant..."

"With your child," Skye said, wanting to make sure she was following every detail.

"Yes, with my daughter. Julianna."

"And you just happened to find this out, how?"

"Keesha wrote and asked me to come to Philadelphia. She said she had something very important to tell me."

"And this something very important was the news that you have a daughter?!"

"Yes."

"You mean to tell me you had no contact with this woman for fifteen years?"

"No, I didn't."

"And she never thought to contact you?"

"She did contact me or at least she tried to, but she knew I had started drinking again. She also knew about my subsequent marriages to Carly and Courtney."

"Incredible. Absolutely incredible. Why did she decide to contact you now?"

"Because she is very sick, and she wanted my daughter and me to meet while she was still alive."

"She's dying?" Skye asked, her voice low and serious.

A.J. nodded. Some things began to make sense to Skye.

"The liver transplant information," she said. "Keesha needs a new liver."

"Yes, she does."

"And now you've brought her here to GH?"

"Their program is very good."

"What about your daughter, A.J.? I can't believe I just spoke that sentence. What kind of a relationship have you been able to form with her?"

"A very tenuous one at best," he admitted.

"Does she acknowledge you at all?"

"As someone who is trying to help her mother, yes. As her father, no."

"Give her time, A.J. I can relate to how hard it is to come into your father's life or have him come into yours so unexpectedly."

"I plan to give her all the time she needs. I just don't know if there will ever be enough time. Sometimes, I think she's ready to accept me into her life, and then other times, I tell myself it's never going to happen. She resents me, Skye, because of the fact I never contacted Keesha after she left town. Julianna has a very valid reason for not wanting me in her life, and I have to respect that."

"Why didn't you ever call Keesha? You must have cared for her."

"I did," A.J. asserted. "I still do. Keesha was one of the best things that ever happened to me."

"So you just let her walk away and never looked back?"

"Yeah," A.J. said, his voice filled with sadness and regret. "That's exactly what I did."

"Why? Why would you do that? Tell me, A.J. I want to know. I need to know."

"Because I wanted to drink. Drinking meant more to me at that time than anything."

"Not Michael."

"Don't you see the irony in this situation, Skye? I couldn't have Michael so I drank because of the rotten deal I thought life had given me. If I had just thought beyond the bottle, for once, beyond my own selfish needs, beyond my stupid plans for revenge, I might have been a part of Keesha's life and our daughter's life way before now. But I never stopped to think. I never took the time to think about the one woman who had stood by me and supported me the way no one else had. I just wanted to be miserable and wallow in self-pity, and I was and I did."

"Have you explained any of this to Julianna?"

"Some. She came to me with questions, and I gladly answered them. That's when I thought we were growing closer, but I still see the doubt and the uncertainty in her eyes. I believe she wants to trust me and on some level wants to accept me, but she's wary, and I don't blame her."

"It sounds like you just need to keep the lines of communication open. Something will happen that will make her see you as her father. I'd love to meet her, A.J. I still can't believe you have a daughter. After all you went through with Carly and Sonny, I'm thrilled you have a child of your own. I'd love to meet Keesha, too."

"Thanks. I'm not sure I deserve to have a child, but Keesha has done an amazing job of raising her. If the time is ever right, I would love for you to meet her and Keesha."

*~*

For the remainder of the afternoon, Michael thought about the e-mail he would write to Julianna, so when he went online that evening, he was surprised to see that Julianna had sent him one. She apologized for not writing sooner and told him what had been happening since they'd arrived in Port Charles. Her last sentence filled him with hope. She wrote that she wanted to meet him and since he was the resident, asked him to choose the time and the place.