Chapter 28

Julianna woke up late the next morning. Dara and Justus had already left for work when she entered the kitchen to cook breakfast for Keesha and herself. When she carried the tray into her mother's bedroom, Keesha asked her if she was feeling better.

"Yes," she said but her voice belied her answer.

"Are you ready to tell me what happened?"

Julianna nodded as she sat on her mother's bed and spread strawberry jam on a piece of wheat toast.

"I didn't tell you everything I had planned yesterday," she began. "Mama, I've been chatting with someone online who I found out lives in this town. His name is Michael."

"Michael?" Keesha repeated, her dark eyes scrutinizing her daughter's face.

Of course, there was more than one Michael in any town, even Port Charles. However...

"Yes. And it's the Michael you're probably thinking it might be. Mama, I know pretty much everything, I think."

Keesha let her fork clatter onto the plate.

"Who told you everything?"

Her tone demanded an immediate answer.

"A.J. and Michael. Mama, I had no idea until Michael and I met and started talking. I never knew any of his history when we chatted online. I freaked out when he told me. I wanted him to tell me the story because I'm sorry, but I trust him more than A.J., but he said I needed to go to my father. So we did. Michael and I confronted A.J. in his hotel room yesterday."

Keesha let her head fall back against the pillows as she closed her eyes and tried to absorb her daughter's words.

"I'm dazed at your revelation. You and Michael showing up unexpectedly at A.J.'s hotel room must have almost given him a heart attack. Your father must have been astounded," she whispered.

"He did almost faint at the sight of us," Julianna admitted.

Keesha took a moment to try to put herself in A.J.'s position. She inwardly cringed as she thought about what he might have endured.

"I hope you let him talk once he recovered from the shock," she said, when she finally opened her eyes. "And I also hope you gave him the courtesy of listening very carefully."

"I did. I wanted to know the truth. But I...I couldn't stomach a lot of what I was hearing. Mama, I have to ask you. Why did you ever get involved with A.J.? Why would you want to be with someone like him? I don't understand."

Their food almost untouched and forgotten, mother and daughter stared at each other for a long moment before Keesha attempted to answer Julianna's questions.

"I need to establish something here," she told her daughter. "Whatever you may think of your father, he is not a monster. When we were much younger, we had a lot of good times together. We were friends. The drinking and how much it ended up costing A.J. bothered me. I'm not going to lie about that. But there is so much more to your father than the fact he is a recovering alcoholic. We loved each other once upon a time. Circumstances intervened, and we both made choices, but I don't regret the time I spent with him. I need you to understand that. There is a lot of good in your father, Julianna. A lot of good."

"Were you and Michael's mother friends?"

"No," Keesha answered without hesitation. "When Carly first came to town, I thought maybe we could be friends, but I quickly changed my mind. I'm sorry she's dead, but I'm not going to canonize her. She was a very unhappy woman who caused a lot of trouble for a lot of people. She made your father's life hell. I hope he told you that."

"I sorta knew that was the case. Did A.J. love Carly?"

"He had feelings for her. He probably did love her. But she didn't love him. She wanted him out of her life. Permanently."

"A.J. said you helped him figure out Carly's schemes."

"I did and, Julianna, I would've kept on helping A.J. if I had stayed in Port Charles. Carly viciously taunted him about Michael. She used that poor baby as a pawn in her lies and her schemes. I had absolutely no reason to doubt him when he said if Michael was his son, he wanted to be a father to him. I was ready to help him gain custody of Michael. I felt that strongly about how Carly had used and abused your father. He tried to be a friend to her. She treated him horribly. I was on his side one hundred percent, and I don't regret anything I did during that time. His persistence when it came to Michael made me struggle that much more with the decision I had made not to tell him about you. Julianna, the last sixteen years have not been easy ones for me. But watching you grow up is what has made my life worthwhile."

"Mama, you made the right choice. A.J. ended up marrying Carly!"

Keesha closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, she spoke patiently. "I know he did. And it ended in disaster. Not for Carly, but for your father. He lost Michael, who he thought was his son. I admit that knowing he had married Carly and that he had Michael with him made my decision easier. I believed I'd made the right choice based on what I knew, but I also realized A.J. had a right to know about you."

"He told me about his own situation when he was born. He said he didn't want Michael to suffer the way he has throughout his life. He said he wouldn't have wanted me to suffer either."

"A.J. has not had an easy life, Julianna. Can you at least acknowledge that much?"

"But he hurt you. That's what I can't forgive. I'm sorry, but I can't. You didn't deserve to be so callously tossed aside once you left Port Charles. A.J. should have thought about you, Mama!"

Keesha reached for her daughter's hand and clasped their fingers together. "Julianna, I need to tell you something. A.J. did not hurt me. Jason was the one who broke my heart, baby girl, not your father."

Julianna's hazel eyes clouded with confusion.

"I don't understand."

"I'm trying to tell you, sweetheart. A.J. and I were friends. Yes, there was an attraction there, more so on his part than mine in the early days, but the one I fell hard for was Jason. We were together, and we were in love. We were young, but we knew what we were doing. He was my first lover, Julianna. I wanted to spend my life with him."

"But then he got into the accident with A.J."

"That's right. He had no memory of me. I could've lived with that, but he took it too far. He dismissed me as if I meant absolutely nothing to him. I realize he didn't know who I was, but he didn't have to be so cruel. He never tried to find out who I was, the very important part I played in his life, what we had meant to each other. He woke up a different man, and he broke my heart. He wasted no time getting involved with a friend of mine, Robin Scorpio. I could've lived with that, too, if I'd had some closure, but Jason never gave me that. Your father was the one who was there for me, Julianna. He helped me just as much as I helped him. I came to love him, but I was also very protective of my heart. A.J. knew that and respected my needs. When he stopped drinking, we reconnected on a very deep level. We were older, we'd both been through a lot, and we were ready for some happiness and love.

"I'll give you an example. One day I'll never forget was my birthday in 1998. I'd had a horrible day. I'd had arguments with people at the hospital, I'd had a heated run-in with Jason about some things that were going on that I didn't approve of. By the time I finally left work, all I wanted to do was climb under my covers and forget it was my birthday. I lived in a room above a popular diner named 'Kelly's,' and I couldn't figure out why it had closed so early in the evening. When I walked in, Julianna, I saw what your father had done for me. He had rented the entire restaurant for just the two of us. So we could celebrate my birthday. Together. By ourselves. With no outside interference. Beautiful decorations hung everywhere, music was playing, and when he stepped into the dining area from the kitchen, my heart soared. I couldn't stop smiling. He amazed me. I had no idea he was going to acknowledge my birthday in any way. And then to make it so special. He knew how to please me, Julianna. We talked, we laughed, we toasted. He even poured me a glass of champagne with no problem, and then he poured himself a non-alcoholic beverage. We ate, we danced, and we kissed. He was trying, really trying, to put a lot of bad things behind him. He said he was ready to make a fresh start. With me. He wanted us to try again. I wanted it, Julianna. I wanted it so much. I was so ready to be with him. I'd been wanting to be with him, but I wasn't going to compete with Carly because, frankly, she was not worth it. Her name never came up. We just talked about us and our future. It was one of the most beautiful and special birthdays I'd ever had. I fell in love with your father that night, Julianna. I wanted to be with him. Only him."

"Thinking about that night is making you happy. I can tell. Mama, are you still in love with A.J.?"

Keesha considered her words before she answered.

"I care about him a lot," she said. "So much time has passed, and we haven't been together. But when I started reading about how wonderfully he was doing, I wanted to see him, Julianna. I wanted to tell him, in person, that the A.J. I've been reading about is the one I always believed he could be."

"You had more faith in him than he had in himself, didn't you?"

"I guess I did. I'm very happy for him, Julianna. I still need to see my fondest wish come true, however. Someday, baby girl, I want *you* to be happy and proud that A.J. Quartermaine, Jr., is your father. Am I getting any closer to having that wish come true?"

*~*

Bobbie didn't have to be at the hospital until early afternoon, allowing her and Michael to spend some quality time together.

"You were busy yesterday," she said to her grandson as they ate waffles at the kitchen table. "I didn't see you at all."

"I know. Sorry 'bout that."

"Were you with your father or Lucas?"

"No. Grandma, I have something to tell you."

Bobbie prayed it wouldn't be something bad.

"Go ahead," she said, her voice wary.

"I know that you met Keesha and Julianna Ward at the hospital the other day."

Surprise registered on Bobbie's face.

"How would you know something like that?" she asked. "And how do you even know who they are?"

"Grandma, I've been talking with Julianna online for over a year. But I never knew who she was, and she didn't know who I was. We finally met yesterday."

"That's amazing," Bobbie said. "How could you not know who she was?"

"We decided to keep things simple between us," Michael explained, "so we didn't talk about our families. It just seemed like an easy thing to do."

"I was going to invite you to join us for lunch if Keesha called me. I told her I'd like to see them again. I thought about you when I met Julianna. She seems like a lovely girl. Is she?"

"Oh, yeah, Grandma, she is. She definitely is."

"Wow. You and Keesha Ward's daughter are friends. I didn't even know she had a daughter until I saw her at the hospital. Are they living here?"

"They're staying with Justus and Dara, but it's just temporary. Grandma, if I tell you a couple of really important things, will you promise me that you won't say anything to anyone. Not even Dad or Lucas. And especially not Jerry Jacks. Please?"

"Of course. I *can* keep a secret, Michael."

"I know. I just want to make sure that I don't blow this for Julianna and Keesha. Grandma, Keesha is here in Port Charles because she needs a liver transplant. They're hoping she'll be able to have one at GH."

"How awful," Bobbie said, concerned. "Keesha didn't look that well when I saw her, but she didn't say anything, so I didn't ask any questions. She and Julianna must be going out of their minds with worry."

"They are worried, but Grandma, for the most part, Julianna has it together. I haven't met Keesha, but I know she's got to be a great lady."

"She is. Is Keesha married? I've been thinking about that since I saw her."

"No, she isn't. That's the other secret I wanted to share with you. Julianna and I shocked each other yesterday when we started talking. Grandma, Julianna's father is A.J. Quartermaine."

Bobbie sank back in her chair. "You know, I had a feeling that was a strong possibility. Oh my. Is he here, Michael? Is A.J. in Port Charles?"

Michael nodded. "We saw him yesterday. Julianna has so many questions and fears. I really feel bad for her."

"You two must have shocked that poor man into next week!"

"We did. I was the one who opened my big mouth and mentioned his name. Julianna demanded answers from me, but I thought she should get them from her father."

"Julianna knows about your mother?" Bobbie asked, her voice low.

"Yes, Grandma, she does. But A.J. was cool. He didn't diss Mama that much at all. He wants to be in Julianna's life."

"She doesn't want that?"

"Not in the same way A.J. does."

"I wonder what Keesha thinks of all this."

"Julianna was going to talk to her. When we left A.J.'s hotel room, she asked me if I would like to meet her mom. I said I would, but when we reached the house, Julianna was out of it. So, I told her I would meet Keesha some other time. I hope I hear from her soon."

"You really like this girl, don't you?"

Michael gave her his boyish grin. "I do, Grandma. I like her a lot."

"Was A.J. happy to see you after the shock wore off?"

Michael smiled. "Yeah, he was. We didn't talk when Julianna was there because I told her I wouldn't defend A.J., even though I had to bite my tongue several times while they were talking. But after I left Julianna, I went back to see him. He wanted to know how we met, so I told him."

"You know what this means, don't you?"

"Well, I think a lot of stuff is going on, but what are you referring to?"

"Monica and Alan. Michael, they have a granddaughter. Do you think they'll ever get to meet her?"

"I honestly don't know."

"Do you realize how incredible this all is?"

"Yeah, I do. I could hardly sleep last night. I'm sure Julianna was the same way."

At that moment, their conversation was interrupted by the ringing of Michael's cell phone. He hoped it was Julianna, and it was.

"Hey," he said, moving away from his grandmother so he could have a little privacy. "How are you?"

"I'm okay," she said. "I told Mama everything this morning."

"I was just telling my grandmother about it. I told her she had to keep the news to herself. She promised me she would."

"Thank you. I appreciate that. I'm sure my mother and A.J. appreciate it, too."

"How did your mom take the news?"

"Pretty well. She explained her feelings to me. My mother really cares about A.J., and I know you do, too, Michael. Maybe I just need to spend more time with him."

"That sounds like a good idea. Are you going to see him today?"

"Maybe later. I haven't talked to him. Michael, I'd like to see you. Can we get together?"

"Sure. You tell me when."

"Can you believe I haven't really eaten anything since yesterday morning. I tried to eat breakfast today, but once my mom and I started talking, the food was pretty much forgotten."

"I know a fun place we could go to for lunch. Would you like me to come get you? Maybe I could meet your mom."

"I'll have to ask her if it's okay to leave her alone for a while, but yeah, Michael, why don't you come by? I would like you to meet my mom. She remembers when you were baby. I know she'd like to see you again."

"Great. I'll be there in a couple of hours."

"Sounds good."

"Jule?"

"Yeah?"

"Call A.J. Okay? I know hearing from you would make his day."