Mr. Immigration Man II, Chapter 8





Bobbie was on her way out to see Alicia when she saw Laura at the door.

" Laura."

" Bobbie. May I come in?"

" I have an appointment, Laura."

" Bobbie, please."

" Alright, make it quick."

They go into the living room. Neither one bothers to sit down.

" Bobbie, this has got to stop."

" THIS? What is THIS?"

" This separation of you from Luke. Bobbie he misses you. He needs you. And I know that you need him too."

" Laura Webber knows what I need. Well isn't that special. So. Tell me. Were you in on it from the beginning. The Lies. When I came over to your house crying about my 'dead' daughter, did you get a thrill laughing about me behind my back?"

" NO, Bobbie, GOD NO! I didn't know anything about this."

" How could that be? I thought you and Luke told each other EVERYTHING. But, I guess, since Luke found out about your Nikolas secret, all the rules went out the window."

" That's not fair."

" FAIR? My brother betrays me in the worst way imaginable, and you're going to sit here and preach on the platitude of FAIRNESS? Don't think so, Laura. Your weepy eyes and heartfelt pleas are wasted. Tell Luke to stop wasting his time. I told him that he was no longer a part of my life, and I meant it."

" You can't mean that, Bobbie. You could no more cut Luke out of your life than he could cut you out of his."

" Oh, but he did, Laura. The day he told me you had died. Or rather the day he told me that I had helped Stefan kill you. He was willing to do it then. And what I failed to realize that Luke would do so much more. You see, unlike you, Laura, I did not want to turn my back on my child. I did not abandon her due to some threat by an evil woman. It was just one of the altruistic things about giving a child a better life. The difference between you and me, Princess Laura. YOU abandon Nikolas repeatedly, and he's still wants some sort of a relationship with you. Me, I just try and give the kid a life, and well...Life's a bitch, isn't it? And now, due to my brother's protection, I'm in a pretty deep nightmare here. And nothing anyone is going to say can erase that fact. Do YOU have some insight that can wash all this pain away?"

" No. Just that THESE are the times that you should draw on Luke's love and strength to help you."

" I am strong enough for myself. That's been my problem all along. Letting Luke think that I could not handle my problems on my own. And allowing him to get into this pattern of where he thought that whatever he believed was best for my life was what ought to happen. But, no longer. I take care of myself. And make my own decisions."

" No one can go through life all alone, Bobbie."

" I am not alone, Laura. And I think that this conversation is over. You can go back to Luke, being the wonderfully supportive wife that you've always been, and he can tell you how great you are. And that 'poor Bobbie' will come around sooner or later."

" I don't think of you as 'poor Bobbie'."

" Laura, please. You've ALWAYS thought of me as 'poor Bobbie'. I have to go. So, can I see you out?"

Bobbie and Laura leave the Brownstone.

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Carly is sitting in the apartment when Tony returns. She has been handling her wedding dress, which is sprawled out on a chair.

"Toe-Nee...you came back."

" I couldn't stay away forever....what the hell do I call you?"

" Anything you want."

" I want some answers."

" Ok. I will tell you what you want to know."

" Who is Carly Roberts?"

" She was my best friend in high school. We did everything together. One night, soon after she got her drivers license, Carly, me and two friends went out for a drive. It was nothing, just us riding and having fun. And we were having fun, when..."

" When?"

" Out of nowhere a truck came and plowed into us. I was the only one who walked out of the crash alive. Later on, we found out that the driver was drunk."

" Which is why you don't know how to drive."

" No. I refused to go to PE. I would not even take the driving lessons that they gave in school. When Carly died, it was like a part of me died. She and I were inseperable, and so..."

" When you came here, you just decided to become her?"

" Yes. I needed a cover, so I used Carly. I felt safe with her."

" DO you love me, Caroline...that's your name?"

" Yes, Toe-Nee. I love you. You're the best thing that ever happened to me. You and this baby are the best thing that ever happened to me. I want you two so much. You are my dream come true. I need you Toe-Nee. I can't handle this baby by myself. We are so good together. If you give us this last chance, I won't mess up. I promise. I know that you don't believe me, but if you would please please please give me this chance, I won't blow it. I swear to you."

" I've thought a lot about this. I would love nothing better than to walk out of here and from you. But, I can't. Because I cannot possibly let anyone else know what an absolute complete idiot that I have been. And because we are having a baby. And because I have no chance of being with my son. It's you and this baby, or nothing. So, I choose you and the baby. The wedding will proceed. But, after the wedding, we come home to separate bedrooms. We will function as a couple to the outside world, but inside the walls of the house, we will lead different lives. We will share the baby, but that is all. And you WILL become a good mother. It is the LEAST that this baby is owed. I will have Justus draw up a pre-nuptual agreement. In it, it states that you get no alimony, and no child support. Because in the case of us getting a divorce, I get custody of the baby. Is this agreeable to you?"

" Yes, Toe-Nee. Whatever has to be done. You just wait. We will be able to work through this."

" 'THIS?' You have been lying from the get go. You say the sky is blue, and from now on, I have to go to the window and check and see if it is the truth. But mark me, Carly. IF you lie to me one more time, I will make you pay in ways that you cannot even imagine."

" No more lies...I promise. We can work through this. You'll see."

" Well, I have to go."

" Where? Aren't you staying here?"

" Not that it's any of your business, but I will be staying at the Port Charles Hotel. It will be a while before I can move my things into the house. I cannot stay at the Brownstone due to Bobbie's injunction. I went over in the middle of the day and got some of my things. I don't know if I will see you before the wedding. Don't call me at the Hotel. If I don't call you, we have nothing to discuss. Am I understood, Caroline?"

" Perfectly. "

" Goodbye."

" Bye."

Toe-Nee left. Carly sat on the couch, clutching her veil and crying.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bobbie and Alicia are in Alicia's Office. Alicia is reviewing the Marital Contract that Stefan has messengered over to Bobbie.

" Well, what do you think?"

" Bobbie, this has to be one of the most interesting pre-nup agreements that I have ever seen. I am impressed with your negotiation skills."

" Thank you. I must say that I was surprised by Stefan's offer. It's generous."

" VERY Generous. So much money, up front."

" Yes.. almost TOO generous."

" You suspect something is amiss?"

" Stefan is a Cassadine. He always has a plan. But, I cannot figure out what he would have to gain by marrying me."

" I hate to be blunt, but does it really matter? I mean Bobbie, you have just negotiated a $24 million dollar deal?"

" $25 million. Remember the million he gave me when he propsed."

" Well, even better. You could, in theory, marry Stefan on Monday, get the check for $24 million, make sure it clears, and then by Saturday, be setting up residency in Reno for a divorce. And there's nothing that Stefan can do about it. With THAT kind of money, you could take Lucas anywhere in the world, and Tony would be helpless to fight you."

" Don't think that I have not thought of doing just that. It's just..."

" What?"

" I don't want Lucas to be on the run. Going from place to place. I have seen what that has meant to my nephew. And I want more than that."

" Are you telling me that you are considering a real marriage between you and Stefan?"

" I am saying that whatever Stefan's faults are, and they are numerous, that even when things were falling apart between us, Stefan made sure that Lucas was insulated from that. One of the parts of our original marriage agreement to which he was most faithful was taking care of and protecting Lucas. When the original custody papers were originally filed, he was of great help. And I have no doubt that he would be so again."

" Well, you know that I think that your chances for dictating the direction of Lucas' life would be almost certain if you were married."

" I know what you think about marriage. You have made that quite clear."

" I was wondering about this fidelity clause. Ownership of General Hospital?"

" Yes. I thought you'd appreciate that. Most of Stefan's power and influence in Port Charles comes from the fact that he is the CEO of General Hospital. It was his entry to the power elite of Port Charles. Take that away from him, and he becomes just another wealthy citizen of not too much importance."

" And he agreed to this?"

" Yes. Without hesitation, I might add."

" And you are worried about fidelity?"

" Let's just say that Stefan has promised that he has ended things with his Sex Kitten. I am not saying that I don't believe him, but I will not have any blemishes, like a mistress, that Tony can come into court with and fight me for Lucas. Stefan may want his blonde bedwarmer, but he wants his power more. This should be able to keep him in line long enough for me to secure permanent custody of Lucas."

" And then?"

" And then Stefan can bed his favorite Kitty every night of the week for all I care. Just keep it away from the children."

(Alicia laughs) " Well. They call ME cold. But Machiavelli himself couldn't have put a shiver down my spine as you did just now."

" I am not a woman someone should mess with at this point in time."

" Do you want me to look things over and messenger this back over to Alexis Davis?"

" No. This is a copy. I sent the original to the attorney that handled the divorce."

" I don't understand."

" Alicia, you are a crack attorney. And I know divorce and custody issues are your specialty. But, the fact remains that you were initially hired by the Cassadines during the custody fight."

" Yes..."

" Well, let's just say that the less Stefan knows about what I need from this marriage, the better. If he knew that I was involved with you, he might believe that he has a stronger power position than he thinks now."

" So, you get legal advice from me on the side. And I just show up around custody battle time, and not before?"

" Exactly."

" Fine. As long as you keep your eyes open.."

" Oh, Alicia. Make no mistakes. Where Stefan Cassadine is concerned, my eyes are WIDE open. He wants..no, needs something from me. I cannot think of any other reason for the proposal. And I have to find out what that is."

" And when you do?"

" I'll make sure that he DOESN'T get it."