Chapter 3

Laura sat across from her son, drinking in
the sight of him after six years. She was extremely
grateful to have him back. She was also extremely
puzzled. What was he doing with Emily Quartermaine?
They were obviously “involved” if the linked hands
and the concern on Lucky’s face as he watched her
was any indication. Had they met in Europe? What
was going on here?
Lucky watched his wife carefully. He wished
he could make all of this go away from her. He knew
she was scared about Jonathan’s abduction. And he
knew she was nervous about telling his mother the
truth. He prayed his mother reacted the way he
hoped she would. She, above anyone else, should
understand what it was like to have to protect your
child from Helena Cassadine. But if she didn’t,
there was no doubt in Lucky’s mind where his
loyalties were.
“Emily,” Lucky leaned forward to brush a
strand of hair away from her face. “Are you okay?
Do you want something to drink?”
“I’m sorry. Where are my manners?” Laura
said. “I’m sure both of you must be exhausted.
Would you like some refreshments.”
Emily shook her head. A combination of nerves
and afternoon sickness made the thought of food
appalling. She couldn’t believe how incredibly
nervous she was. How come no one had ever warned
her that mother-in-laws could be as terrifying in
their own as Helena Cassadine? Maybe more so.
Just then, Luke walked in and stopped short
in shock.
“Cowboy,” He smiled, a big broad smile that
lit his face. “Damn good to see you, Cowboy.”
“You too, Dad.” Lucky replied. After a minute
of just looking at each other, the two men moved
forward to embrace. Emily watched them with a
smile that grew bigger when she met Laura’s gaze.
Half shrugging with embarrassment, Luke broke
off the embrace. He smiled at Emily.
“Come here sweetheart,” Emily let herself
become engulfed in Luke’s embrace. She had
forgotten until she saw him again how much she owed
him for everything.
“Looks like you’ve been taking pretty good
care of Cowboy over there,” Luke said teasingly. “I
do believe the boy has an air of happiness
surrounding him.”
“What ?”Laura broke in. “You know the two of
them are together.?” Laura was beginning to feel
that she had walked in halfway through the movie.
Luke ignores the question for the moment.
“You two are back,” he says happily. “Which means
that Jason must have finally got rid of the bitch.”
Luke can tell immediately that he has
guessed wrong. “Or ‘nt. He looks around. “Where is
Jonathan?”
Emily turns to Lucky and buries her head in
his shoulder.
“Cowboy?” Luke asks deathly afraid of the
answer he is about to hear.
“Helena has him. She took him this morning
from where we were staying in the Virgin Islands.”
“Jason?”
“Is already working on it. He setting up
guards around the perimeter of this house. In the
meantime we gather information, supplies, and wait
for one of Jason’s informants to come through. Or
Helena to show her hand.”
“We’re going after him right?”
“As soon as we can. Emily and I have a few
details to deal with first.”
“Wait a minute,” Laura intervened feeling
totally confused by now. “What are you talking
about? Helena? Helena Cassadine? And who is
Jonathan.”
The three conspirators looked at Laura and
then at each other. There was a moment of silence.
“Jonathan is your grandchild. My son.” Emily
blurted out.
“Our son,” Lucky corrected her.
“You mean you and Lucky have a child....”
Laura’s voice trails off.
“No. At least not yet.” Emily shakes her
head. “Jonathan’s biological father is Nikolas,
which is why Helena Cassadine kidnapped him. And
why she tried to kill Lucky and I six years ago.
And why the three of us have been on the run for
the last six years.”
Laura looks at them. Her husband, her son,
and the young woman claiming to be the mother of
her grandchild.
Laura does the only thing she can do in the
circumstances.
She faints.

Ten minutes later, Emily is standing to the side as
Luke tends to Laura who is slowly regaining some
kind of thought process.
“I think she took that fairly well,” Lucky
remarks as he comes to stand by Emily.
Emily glares at him.
“Look at it this way,” Lucky gently teases
her. “All you have to do is face my mom. I still
have to face the entire Quartermaine contingent.”
“Okay,” Laura pushes away from Luke.
“Somebody has to explain what is going on.”
“It’s a long story,” Luke warns his wife. Her
eyes narrow as she glares at him.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“It’s not my story to tell.” Luke looked at
Emily who came closer.
“No, it’s mine.” Emily said. She looked at
Lucky. “Why don’t you and your dad go find Jason
and start planning what to do next, while your mom
and I talk.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes,” She smiled up at him.
“I love you,” he whispered gently.
“Me too,” she replied.

Laura waited until Luke and Lucky had left
the room. Then she turned to Emily. “I think you
owe me an explanation.”
Emily nods. She reaches into her backpack and
pulls out Jonathan’s passport. “This is what
Jonathan looks like today. I wish I had baby
pictures to show you. He was incredibly cute when
he was a kid.”
Laura looks at the passport. The picture is
of a young boy who is a miniature Emily.
“The passport is a forgery of course. So is
the name.” Emily begins. “But you knew that from
your own experience on the run from Frank Smith all
those years.”
“Emily,” Laura’s voice is gentler. “Tell me
about Jonathan. About Nikolas.”
“I want you to know that I’m not proud of
what I did. It was incredibly stupid. But I’m not
sorry about Jonathan. I love my son.” “I’m sure
you do,” Laura says softly. “And it’s apparent that
you love my son too. So why don’t you just tell me
what happened.”
“It was t after Stefan died. Do you remember
how worried we all were about Nikolas? He was
drinking so much.”
Laura shudders. She doesn’t even like
thinking about the effect his father’s death had on
her eldest son.
“One night, Nikolas was drunk at Mike’s bar.
Mike tried to reach you or Lucky, but he couldn’t
so he called me. I went to get Nikolas and I took
him home.” Emily stops wishing for a moment that
she hadn’t set Lucky away. “He started kissing me.
Touching me. I had this huge crush on Nikolas when
I was younger. But I guess you knew that. I think
the National Enquirer knew how I felt about
Nikolas. When he started kissing me...I didn’t stop
him. I didn’t tell him no. We had sex that night.
It was my first time.” Emily looks at Laura. “It
wasn’t what I dreamed about.”
“Emily..”
“No, let me finish. This is really hard for
me to talk about. I left before Nikolas woke up the
next morning. A few weeks later, I realized that
Nikolas didn’t remember anything about that night.
By the time I realized I was pregnant, Nikolas had
gone to Greece and fallen in love with Kimberly. I
hesitated to tell him I was pregnant.” Emily sits
back down on the couch. “But I would have. I would
never have kept his son from him if Helena hadn’t
intervened.”
“Helena discovered you were pregnant?”
Emily nodded. “I don’t know how. But suddenly
everywhere I looked, Helena was there. She started
sending me notes, cards, calling me at home. She
wanted my child to as the latest pawn in her quest
to take control of the Cassadine empire. I was
terrified. So I went to Luke and when he told me
that Helena had killed Stefan and tried to kill you
and Lulu..”
“What?” Laura is shocked.
Emily nodded. The fire wasn’t an accident. By
then I knew what I needed to do, I had to keep my
child safe from Helena Cassadine. So Luke gave me
some money, a crash course on survival, and some
new identification and I left Port Charles.”
“They were the hardest years of my life. I
was young, terrified, and alone. I drifted from
place to place, sometimes barely staying ahead of
Helena’s men. I did whatever I needed to do to
protect my son.
“Then I made a stupid mistake. I came back to
Port Charles for my grandmother’s funeral. I left
Jonathan in a safe place. I thought I’d be in and
out. But Lucky spotted me. So did Helena’s men. I
was shot and nearly killed. Lucky helped me find a
place where I would be safe long enough to recover
from my injuries, but no place is really safe from
Helena. She found me, kidnapped me, and tortured me
until I told her where Jonathan was. If it hadn’t
been for Lucky, Jason, and Luke’s rescue, I don’t
want to think about what would have happened.”
“But there was a price paid for my safety.
Sean Donnelly was killed trying to protect
Jonathan. Lucky was shot. Twice. And my six year
old son had to kill a man. He still has nightmares.
I think we all do.” Emily shudders.
“And you and Lucky?”
Emily smiles for the first time since she
began her story. “We fell in love. But I left him.
I wasn’t going to ask him to live the kind of life
Jonathan and I had to.” Emily sighs. “The crazy
thing is he loved me enough to follow me. And I
needed him enough to let him stay.
“A fact for which I’ve thanked God every day
since,” Lucky broke in as he and Jason and Luke
walked back in. Lucky reached for Emily and she
walked into his arms, grateful for the security of
his presence.
Laura looked at Luke. “My grandson, You kept
my grandson away from me. You lied to me.
Repeatedly. I remember when Sean died. I asked you
specifically what happened and you fed me a pack of
lies. And my son’s life was in danger and you
didn’t think I deserved to know. God Luke, this is
all beginning to sound dangerously familiar.” The
anger in her voice is evident to all.
“Laura,” Luke began, but Emily interrupted. “
Mrs. Spencer,, please don’t be mad at Luke. He kept
this secret to protect me. I was afraid. I was
afraid that if you found out that you wouldn’t be
able to keep the truth from Nikolas. And I knew
that once Nikolas discovered the truth he would
want his son in his life. Here in Port Charles. And
I knew that staying in Port Charles with my child
would make it very easy for Helena to get at him.
Nikolas can’t stop her. I didn’t even trust Sonny
or Jason to stop Helena. The only way to keep
Jonathan safe was to keep him hidden. If you want
to hate anyone for keeping this secret, then it
should be me.” Emily finished.
“Nobody hates you Emily, “ Lucky’s eyes dare
his mother to contradict him. “We all understand
what you went through.”
Laura looks at the distraught young woman in
front of her. How could she blame Emily for lying
to protect her family when Laura had done the same
thing for so long? She, of all people, knew what it
was like to go up against Helena Cassadine. They
were both fortunate enough to be alive. And judging
from the look in Lucky’s eyes if she said one thing
against Emily than she would lose her son as well
as her grandson. And hadn’t Emily said something
about another child? Giving Luke a look that
clearly says they have more to discuss, Laura turns
to Emily. “Welcome to the Spencer family.” Laura
says softly as she opens her arms.
With a relieved sigh, Emily walks into her
mother-in-law’s arms.

One hour later, Jason, Emily, and Lucky pull into the
Quartermaine estate.
Lucky turns to Emily. “Are you sure you want to do this
now?”
Emily nods with determination. “The sooner we tell our
families the sooner we can focus our attention on getting
Jonathan back Besides Ned and AJ have connections with the
Cassadine Empire. Especially Ned. Your father says that even
though they split as a couple years ago, Alexis and Ned are still
friends. Maybe she can pick up some trace of Helena since she
is the head of the Cassadine family still.”
“Okay,” Lucky says reluctantly. “But one sign of a
Quartermaine quarrel and I take you back to my parent’s home.
Without protest.”
Emily is about to agree when Jason interrupts. “ I think
you’re overreacting Lucky. Mom and Dad will be so grateful to
have Emily back they’ll flip. Even Edward has mellowed
considerably since Lila died.”
Emily turns to her brother. “Mom? Dad? Not Monica?
Alan?”
Jason grins a little sheepishly. “I’ve been spending a lot
of time with AJ and Michael lately. It’s become a habit to call
them what AJ calls them.”
“Miracles, big brother. You calling Monica and Alan
mom and dad. Plus spending time with AJ. I’m not sure I can
handle all of this change.”
“You’d better handle it because you are responsible.
You were the one that told me to keep on eye on the family for
you.” Jason says as he opens the door to the Quartermaine
mansion.
The three of them walk into the living room. Jason has
called earlier and asked everyone to meet them at the mansion
for a family meeting.
A sandy haired teenager comes into the foyer. “Hey
Uncle Jason. They’re all gathered in the living room just as you
requested. Got to tel you though that Ned is a little upset that
you called him away from work but Grandma just told him to
be quiet and behave in that tone she uses with me so it should
be cool.” He looks at Emily and Lucky and then back at Emily.
“Do I know you?”
Emily smiles. “You did once. I used to help take care of
you when you were a baby. I’m your Aunt Emily.”
“Emily?” The glass of tea that Monica is holding in her
hand drops on the foyer floor and shatters. “Emily? My God it
is you. Oh my God. Alan, AJ, Ned, Edward, Reginald get in
here quick. Emily is home. Oh thank God Emily is home.”
Monica walks up to Emily whose tears now match her
own. “Thirteen years. For thirteen years I’ve lived with the fear
that you were dead or hurt. Everyday my first thought would be
a prayer that God would send you home that day. Finally my
prayers are answered.”
Emily hugs her mother and doesn’t bother trying to stop
the tears running down her cheek. “I love you Mom. I’ve
missed you so much. There is so much to tell you.”
“You can tell us later. Right now I just want to hold my
daughter in my arms again.”
“Emily?” Alan races into the foyer.
“Dad!” Emily gently breaks away from Monica’s
embrace and runs into Alan’s. Not wanting to be left out,
Monica joins the embrace which quickly grows to include
Edward, AJ, Ned, and Reginald.
Standing to the side, Lucky turns to Jason, a look of
satisfaction on his face at seeing Emily happily reunited with her
family. “Did you ever think you would see a Quartermaine
group hug?”
“Don’t think they’re going to let her off the hook that
easily. Any minute now the shock will wear off.”
As if on cue, Edward breaks from the pack and demands
“Young lady where the hell have you been for the last thirteen
years? You’d better have a damn good excuse for scaring your
parents like this?”
Emily looks at the family she loves so much. Even after
13 years, they are a sight for sore eyes. She smiles happily at all
of them “I promise I will tell you everything. And I do have a
good reason for being gone grandfather. And I, I mean we,
really need your help.”
“But first I have something important to tell you. I’m
married.” Emily blurts out.
“Who to?” Edward asks as the other family members
echo the question. “Not that Cassadine boy I hope?”
“Sorry to disappoint you” Lucky steps forward and puts
his arm around Emily’s waist. “Emily is married to me. “
“Oh God,” Edward mumbles. “ A Spencer. That’s
worse.”


Miami International Airport
Jonathan walks sandwiched between Katherine and the
two guards as they head down the escalator stairs. In order to
attract the least attention, Katherine had to untie him so that he
could walk. Jonathan isn’t sure why they didn’t take a private
plane from Puerto Rico to Miami, but he’s not about to
question his good luck. With his hands and feet untied, Jonathan
decides that this is the best chance he has to escape. The two
goons with them are less likely to shoot with all of these
witnesses and security guards hanging around. All he has to do
now is wait for his chance to come along.
It does a few minutes later as the grab the escalator
down to first floor. The jostling crowd behind them distracts the
two goons behind by knocking them off balance on the moving
steps. Acting on instinct, Jonathan shoves Katherine as hard as
he can so that she falls into the person ahead of her setting off a
domino effect. In the confusion, Jonathan jumps off the
escalator and starts running up the stairs back to the gates. He
hears his captors screams and yells, but knows that his size
mixed with the crowd give him an advantage he intends to use.
As he heads back down to gates, he passes a gate where
last minute boarding is taking place before. He races down to
the gate and starts to get on.
“Wait a minute. Where are you going,” The stewardess
asks him.
Jonathan gives him the look of totally innocence that
never quite fools Lucky or his mother. It works on the
stewardess. “My parents are on that plane. I had to use the
bathroom before we took of and I hate using the airplane
bathroom. It smells too much.. Please. If you don’t let me get
on, my parents will be on their way home and I’ll be stuck here
without anybody I know. Their on the plane. I swear. You can
talk to them yourself. They’ll show you my ticket. Come one,”
he begins to drag the gate attendant down the boarding ramp.
The attendant considers the time and effort it would
take to check out the boy’s story. Besides why would a kid this
young make up a story like that? “No need, I’ll trust you. But
hurry up.”
The attendant lets him down the boarding ramp. On the
plane, the stewardess starts to ask for his ticket stub but
Jonathan waves her off. “I have to go find my parents in
coach.”
Busy getting ready for the flight to start, the stewardess
merely nods.
A few minutes later, Jonathan is on the plane on his way
to El Paso Texas.