Thank you everyone for the reviews! Loved all of the suggestions. Due to popular demand, I'm going to include Sam and Elizabeth a bit. But like I said before, I'm not focusing on their romantic history with Jason, the focus is on Jake and Danny's lack of relationship with their father, so their role in this is maternal. But maybe I'll have Sam and Elizabeth go all Mama bear on Jason, we'll see 😉
And I apologize, I forgot this site doesn't allow asterisks, which is why there were no page breakers in chapter 1. I will fix it.
Enjoy!
Chapter 2- Coping Mechanisms
Scout was quiet the next morning. Danny was too, but he assumed for different reasons. He barely slept a wink that night. All he could think of was Dad marrying Carly. Sure, he enjoyed visiting at Greystone, but that was when Sonny and Carly were married. But as he got older, he started noticing if they ever had a problem, Dad would literally drop everything, including Danny, to go to them.
Mom poured both of them some cereal and gave them a pep talk about the new school year. Danny just played with his cereal and Scout stared at hers. After a few moments, Scout threw up on her lap.
Mom jumped up and grabbed a tea towel and placed the back of her hand against Scout's forehead. "You feel a little warm, honey." She wiped up what she could from her lap, then helped her stand up. "Come on, I'll start the bath for you, then you're going back to bed."
Danny watched them head to the bathroom, and he pushed his cereal aside. He had too many confusing thoughts to eat.
He plopped himself down in the living room and switched on the TV. Just as he was going to switch to the Disney Channel, Donna's picture came up next to a reporter.
"Two-year-old Donna Courtney Corinthos went missing late last night," the reporter said.
Danny sat up straighter.
"Her mother, Carly Corinthos, headed out of the house frantically with fiancée, Jason Morgan last night, but would not comment."
"Did she say Carly and Jason?" Danny whipped around to find Mom standing there.
He switched it off and shrugged. "Donna's missing."
Mom swallowed hard. "Why don't you stay home with me and Scout today?"
"Nah, I better go. I—I got a quiz today."
"On your second day back?"
He nodded. "Just a review on our math lesson yesterday."
"Okay, well I'll walk you to the bus stop."
"I'm fine. You gotta stay with Scout. The bus stop is right across the street and besides, the security guard will be there."
"I can bring Scout down with us or ask one of the neighbours to sit with her a few minutes," Mom suggested.
"No, I'm really fine," Danny insisted, then muttered under his breath, "Dad's enemies will only focus on his new kids anyway…"
"Danny?" She knelt beside him and stroked his hair. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Danny repeated but avoided looking her in the eye.
Mom sighed. "Okay. Well, I'm going to watch you from the window and give the security guard the heads up you're going down. I need to get Scout out of the tub. Don't leave yet, okay?"
"Kay."
She kissed his forehead and winked at him before heading back to Scout.
Once she was out of sight, he made his way upstairs and into Mom's room. He'd witnessed Dad get his several times when he thought Danny wasn't looking, so he knew where they kept them. He even knew where they hid the keys.
He pulled open the drawer of the end table and pulled out the second book from the top. Flipping through to chapter 4, he discovered only one key left. Mom only had one gun that Danny knew of, and Dad took the rest with him.
Danny cranked his head over his shoulder when he heard the water stop. Mom must be getting Scout of the tub now. He still had time.
He made his way into the closet and dug through the boxes of all of Mom's shoes. Finally, underneath was the black safe. He used the key to get the lock off, but then he needed to figure out the code.
He tried Scout's birthday first. Unsuccessful, he tried his next.
"Do you want your unicorn jammies or your monkey jammies today?" he heard Mom say.
"My monkey ones," Scout responded.
He tried Mom's birthday next. No success. Dad's. Grandma's. Aunt Krissy's. Aunt Molly's. Uncle Lucas'… Would she do Dante's? He had no idea what his birthday was.
Maybe it wasn't a birthday. He randomly tried six-digit combinations, but still, nothing.
Maybe he was being stupid. He slunk back against the wall and buried his face in his hands. How he could think that he'd be able to—Wait!
He bolted up and pushed in the numbers: 11-08-04 and he heard a click.
His older sister's birthday—of course! Mom took Danny and Scout to her grave every year on her birthday, why didn't he think of that before?
As he opened the safe, goosebumps went up his arms. Very carefully, he lifted the silver gun and tucked it under his shirt. Then he also grabbed the bullets.
After he put the safe and the key back in their places, he crept through the hallway and to his room. He hid the gun in his backpack and by the time he made it back to the hallway, Mom walked out of Scout's room.
"Are you ready for school?"
Danny nodded.
When he walked out of the building, the security guard nodded at him. Danny looked up and saw Mom wave at him from the window. He had to do this very carefully.
He waved back to her and ran across the street and waited with a couple other kids in front of Walgreens. Mom and the security guard wouldn't take their eyes off him.
Finally, the bus arrived.
As the other kids boarded, Danny couldn't see around the bus to the guard or Mom or even their building, which meant, they couldn't see him either.
He crouched down slightly and ran into Walgreens.
He peeked out the window as the bus took off and he placed a hand on his backpack. "Donna, I'm coming to find you before Dad does."
GHGHGH
The entire ride to school, Jake leaned against the window watching the blurry trees go by. Mom dropped off Aiden at PC Elementary and then Cam at PCU. Jake didn't have the energy to ask why she dropped Cam off first, considering PCU was further than Jake's school. But he finally spoke up when she parked a couple blocks away.
"Uh, Mom?" Jake lifted his head from the window, but his shoulders were still low. "What are we doing?"
She took off her seat belt so she could turn to him in the back seat. "I thought it might be easier to talk without your brothers here."
"About what?"
"I heard you crying last night and when I went in to check on you, you pretended to be asleep."
He leaned against the window again.
"Why were you crying?" she asked. "Did something happen at school?"
"No."
"I noticed you were extra quiet when I brought dinner home, and when I invited Joss to join us, you excused yourself to your room. Did Joss say something to upset you?"
Jake didn't respond.
Mom frowned. "Did she tell you about your dad and Carly?"
He finally turned to her. "You knew?"
"We ran into Monica at Kelly's yesterday. She told me. I wish you didn't have to hear it from Josslyn."
"I just don't get why Joss is more important than I am," Jake muttered. "It feels like everyone is. Dad was even spending some time with Cam this past year."
"Well, I don't think the time he spent with Cam was planned, but I understand how you feel."
"Cam thought he killed Franco, but I never did. Didn't seem to matter though."
"Your dad was very happy to see you when you visited him in jail."
Jake shrugged. "Sure, he always seems happy when I go see him. But it's usually me going to him."
Mom frowned. "I know."
"Since he came back a few years ago he seems like he cares about Danny more than me." His eyes started to well up. "But when I hung out with Danny a few weeks ago, he said he's only seen him twice since he and Sam broke up. But no matter who he dates or who he marries, he always has time for Sonny and Carly's kids."
She reached for his hand and gave it a soft squeeze.
"I just wish he cared enough to tell me about Carly. I didn't even know he liked her that way. Now she's probably going to monopolize his time even more… if that's possible."
"I'm so sorry, buddy," Mom said. "But you have to know that your feelings are very valid. You have every right to feel this way. But none of this is your fault. One thing about your dad, he's very trapped in the life that he lives. And Carly… I don't want to turn you against her if she's going to be your stepmother… but she's a part of that life which makes it easy for him to… to help her with a lot of things she needs help with. And now, I guess, to be with her. Anyone outside of that life he has trouble connecting with."
"Then why doesn't he just get out of that life?" Jake asked.
She sighed. "Like I said, he's very trapped. Or rather… feels trapped. It's hard for him to get out. But I do know he loves you."
"Yeah, right…"
"He does."
"Can you just take me to school, please?"
"Jake—"
"I want to go to school. Please."
Jake was quiet the rest of the car ride. Mom tried talking about lighter things, but Jake wasn't in the mood. After an "I love you" from Mom, Jake shut the door and looped his backpack over his shoulder.
"Psst… Jake!" Toby was leaning against the building with a cigarette hanging from the side of his mouth.
Toby went to school with Jake since kindergarten. They were friends up until he ditched him in middle school.
Jake turned his head side to side. "What? You haven't talked to me in like three years…"
"I heard your dad owns this town now." He dropped the cigarette on the ground and squished it with his shoe.
Jake shrugged. "So?"
"Still don't see him much?"
"What do you want, Toby? I have to get to class!"
Toby crossed his arms. "You could go to class… or you could come with me to the docks."
"What would we do there?"
Toby smirked. "I can score us some crack."
Jake's eyes grew wide, and he started to walk away but Toby grabbed his arm.
"Come on, man, we used to be buds," Toby said. "Trust me. It'll make you forget all your troubles. Much better than sitting in boring class."
Jake chewed his bottom lip.
"What do ya say?"
Jake paused in thought, then nodded. "Okay, yeah."