#I can't decide if he is a child that Renault cared for

[ma-gic-gay]

The next day, they show up to court on time, as expected. There's a large gaggle of reporters in the room and an even larger group of witnesses. Most are for Carly, of course, but a few are probably for Cyrus. After all, you don't make it this long in the business without having any friends who will back you in court.

Court starts fairly quickly, opening statements passing dully before the first witness, Elizabeth, is called to the stand. "Mrs. Baldwin, you were the nurse to treat Mrs. Corinthos right after her rape and kidnapping, correct?" Diane asks.

"That is correct, yes."

"Now, can you describe to me what you saw when she was brought in, in terms of injuries and just how she looked?"

"She was beaten up pretty bad; you can still see some of her bruises. Jason was carrying her in, but she was still snarking with me, so I could tell she was distracting herself. She seemed like she was processing what happened to her still. Now, I don't know much about how she acts in most situations in general, but I could tell something had happened and it wasn't good from her body language and from the way she seemed a lot more... Fragile."

Carly scoffs from her seat in the courtroom, "Fragile?"

"She's testifying for you, Carly. Play nice." Robert whispers.

"This is nice," she shoots back before redirecting her attention to the testimony.

"Now, you and Carly don't get along very well, do you?" Diane questions.

"Understatement."

"Then why did you volunteer to testify?"

"Because this is something that's bigger than the fact that we can't get along. This is a traumatic experience for her no one deserves to go through. So I put aside my own personal feelings for her and volunteered to testify." Elizabeth answers, smiling at the blonde, who actually manages a real smile back. A minor victory, but he's counting it as one.

"I retire this witness," Diane says before sitting down at her chair again.

"Now, Mrs. Baldwin, you discussed your dislike of Mrs. Corinthos a minute ago, did you not?" Cyrus's lawyer, who's name is Addison Helstrom, questions her.

"We don't get along, yes."

"But you have a child with her best friend, correct?"

"That is correct; Jason and I have a little boy named Jake."

"And did you and Mr. Morgan ever engage in a romantic relationship?"

"Objection, relevance. Asking witness about her relationships has nothing to do with this trial, on any count." Robert objects.

"I'm merely trying to establish a relationship with Mrs. Corinthos here."

"Overruled. You may answer."

"Yes, we were in a relationship at one point." Elizabeth answers uncomfortably.

"Did this contribute to your dislike of Mrs. Corinthos?"

"Objection, relevance. We're not having their feelings on trial here, we're having the charges against Mr. Renault. As far as I can tell, questioning Mrs. Baldwin about her social life isn't affecting that." Diane objects.

"Trying to establish a relationship between them."

"Overruled. You may proceed."

"My relationship with him didn't affect my feelings about Carly, if that's what you're asking. I'd already had the dislike for years by that point."

"Now, do you believe that someone could hate her enough to kidnap her?"

"It's happened plenty of times before."

"A yes or no will suffice," Addison says sharply.

"Yes, I do believe people could hate her enough to kidnap her. It's happened before."

"Do you believe that Mr. Renault could kidnap someone?"

"There's not much he could do that I wouldn't believe. Kidnapping Carly and raping her, that doesn't strike me as something he wouldn't do, along with the rest of the charges against him."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, he's done or arranged a lot of things in this town since he's been here. Even if he's made it so that you can't trace it back to him, we all know that it's his fault that overdoses have gone up, along with a whole other slew of crimes he's had other people commit."

"So, speculation in town has helped this? Mrs. Baldwin, you're a town gossip. Are you sure that you should be talking here?"

"Objection, harassing the witness."

"Sustained."

"I retire this witness," Addison says before sitting down again as Michael's called to the stand.

Flashback

"Carly, enough! Yes, alright, I'm Jake's father. Happy?"

"No. You lied to me, for over a year, about being his father! Me! I'm your best friend! And you lied to me because why, because Liz told you to?"

"Stop badmouthing her!"

"No! Jason, you're not telling me things because of her! You're keeping secrets, you're acting like she's the most important thing in your life. You've let her manipulate you into thinking you don't deserve to be Jake's father! I remember how you were with Michael when he was a baby and he turned out great," Carly shouts at him, hurt and betrayed.

"Jake's not safe with me as his father," he defends his decision to her angry laughter.

"Really? That's your defense? He isn't safe? Jason, you'd give your life in a second for any of the people you care about so don't give me that bullshit. Lizzie really does have you wrapped around her finger, doesn't she? I mean, god, what does she mean to you?"

"She's the mother of my child."

"I found out from Sam that you're Jake's father, Jason! Sam! Who else knows about this? Who else did you trust with this more than me? Who else did you decide got to know that you became a father while I sat there, thinking that kid was my cousin's? Please, tell me who means more to you than me. Give me a list." She shouts, tears streaming angrily down her face and making this conversation a lot harder.

"It's not like that-"

"The hell it isn't! You became a father and I had to find it out from Sam, of all people. Sam, who hates me. So who else matters more than me, who else deserved to know this more than me? Sonny?"

"Fine, you want to know who else knows about this? Lucky and Sonny. That's it. They're the only people we told," Jason shouts back. "So yes, your cousin knows that he's not Jake's father."

"Is this a bad time?" Elizabeth asks, walking in. "I can go."

"No, please, stay, Elizabeth! Clearly, you're worth keeping one of the most important things to happen in his life from me, so I'll go and leave you two to it. Maybe you can make another kid and hide that from me for a year!" Carly says. "I'll go. Clearly I'm not wanted."

"Excuse me?" Elizabeth asks, confused. "What the hell is she talking about?"

"She knows about Jake."

"Oh."

"Oh? That's all you have to say for yourself? You managed to trick him into thinking he shouldn't be a father to his son! Because, you love him, but you hate his dirty life, right? This is the way for you to keep your claws in him and distance the life you think is too low for you to deal with. God, Elizabeth, this is working out so fucking perfectly for you! You get to keep Lucky and you get to keep your claws in Jason at the same time. Congratulations!" Carly says sarcastically.

"Look, the adults who matter in his life have already decided this is for the best." Elizabeth counters. "And you're right, I do love Jason."

"Not enough to be with him! Not enough to let him be a father to his child! Not enough to even think of ruining your perfect little saint act by admitting to yourself that the reason you hate him is the thing that sustains him. So don't you dare start fucking preaching to me."

"Carly, stop!" Jason says, standing between the two fighting women. "This is exactly why I didn't tell you!"

"You know what? I'm not even mad at you, Elizabeth. I'm beyond angry you managed to get him to agree to not take fathership of his own child, but you're not the one who hurt me here. You did, Jason. How do you become a father and hide that from me? The biggest thing to ever happen to your happens and you didn't tell me but you told Sonny. You told Sam. You decided that Sonny, Sam, and Elizabeth are the most important people in your life. I'm no longer on that list. When did that happen?" Carly asks, half sobbing by this point.

"What are you talking about? You're my best friend. Of course you're one of the most important people in my life," Jason asks, confused.

She laughs, but it's absent of any humor and full of hurt. "I'm your best friend but you hide this from me. You hid this from me. The single most important thing to ever happen in your life happens and I'm not on the list of people who get to know. No, but Sonny is! Sam is!"

"Sam knows because Jake's why we broke up. And Sonny knows because I needed to talk about it with someone."

"And that someone couldn't be me?" Carly asks, voice breaking. "You had to talk to someone and the person you talked to couldn't be me, your supposed best friend. No, you talked to my ex husband about this. When did I lose my place in your life, and when did he fill it? Or, did Elizabeth," the name comes out venomous, he's half sure she's going to kill someone with it, "take it? Please, tell me when I lost my best friend to fucking Elizabeth Webber."

"You didn't lose me."

"Like hell I didn't! You hid this from me!"

"Because it's what's best for my son!"

"Is it? Or is it what's best for Elizabeth? You agreeing to pretend not to be Jake's father means that she gets to keep her perfect reputation and you, what, you just pretend you don't have a son for the rest of your life?" When he doesn't respond, she laughs again, still full of hurt and absent of humor. "Just tell me this, were you ever going to tell me about it?"

"I don't know." He admits slowly, watching as she practically dissolves into hysterics.

"You don't know? You were going to keep this a secret for the rest of your life? You would go to the grave without telling me about this, about your son?" Carly asks, sobbing by now. "How would you feel if I did that to you?"

"I'd be pissed," he agrees.

"Then why the hell did you do it? Why did you hurt me?"

"I didn't mean to hurt you."

"Well, you should've thought of that before you hid from me that you're a father," she responds sharply, wiping her tears and collecting herself. "You know what, I'm going to leave."

"Carly, you don't have to go," Jason offers.

"Yeah, yeah I do. I've got to go somewhere that doesn't remind me of the fact my best friend just betrayed me." Carly says before walking to the door. "I guess I should've known better than to go anywhere near this mess. Then again, I always thought you were the only person who'd never lied to me."

With that, she walks out the door. And, as far as he knew, out of his life forever.

"Well, for once, I agree with her," Elizabeth sighs, smiling. "She shouldn't have stuck her nose where it doesn't belong."

"Stop, Elizabeth."

"What? I'm not lying, she had no business inserting herself into this-"

"I've got to go find her."

"Why? Because she's mad? Carly's a big girl, Jason, she can deal with being mad every now and then. She needs to understand that we made the right decision for our son."

"Because she's my best friend and I'm pretty sure she's as close to hating me as she's ever been. I need to fix this."

End of flashback

"Thank you," Carly thanks Elizabeth.

"I just told the truth." Elizabeth smiles before leaving the courtroom for work.

"I never thought I'd say this, and this doesn't make me a fan of hers by any means, but she definitely helped our case. I don't know if I'd be able to do it if I were her." Carly whispers to Jason, who just smiles to himself in response. "I'm still not buying her whole saint act though."

"Mr. Corinthos, you've had your fair share of spats with Mr. Renault over the past couple of years, correct?"

"That's one way to put it, yes."

"Can you explain that answer?"

"He's presented a serious threat to my family since he stepped foot in Port Charles, so we've been in several arguments. The biggest came when my wife, Willow, who was pregnant at the time, somehow got kidnapped and was found, tied up, in one of his warehouses. Mr. Renault's doing what he did to my mother a few nights ago hurt my entire family." Michael explains calmly. He's a good testifier, very calm and assured while also not being too cocky. Probably comes from all of the testifying he's done.

"You believe he would kidnap your mother, correct?"

"Yes. My mother's been one of his chief enemies, second only to my father and Jason Morgan."

"Now, do you think he has an obsession with your mother?"

"I try to spend as little time as possible with him, but yes, I believe he's probably got an obsession with my mother. After all, he had one with Willow before he kidnapped her."

"Have you ever seen Mr. Renault harassing your mother? Loitering at areas she's at, things like that."

"Yes, numerous times. My mother can handle herself, so I don't step in, but yes, he does harass her regularly."

"I retire this witness."

"Mr. Corinthos, you're close with Mr. Morgan, correct?"

"Yes, Jason's like a second father to me."

"And you love your mother, correct?"

"Of course I do."

"Do you believe that they would concoct a story of a kidnapping and rape in an effort to hurt him?"

"No. Never in their lives would either of them lie about a kidnapping or rape. Especially not when there's evidence both took place."

"So you believe they're good people?"

"Objection, relevance."

"Sustained."

"I retire this witness."

Flashback

"I come with the boys."

"I think the proper greeting is hello."

"Whatever. Come on, you are going with us to the park. It'll be fun."

"Carly, I have-"

"Work and, lucky for you, it can wait. You know what can't? The park. It's beautiful outside and you are going to go play with my boys outside to take your mind off of everything." Carly insists. "Come on, let's not keep them waiting. They're rowdy enough as it is."

"You can't just storm in here and-"

"Too late, I have. Come on, Jason, it's gorgeous outside and the boys really want to see you."

"Fine," he sighs, giving in.

"I knew you'd cave."

In lieu of a response, he rolls his eyes and they leave the office to the presence of two very loud boys. "Jason!" They yell excitedly, running over to him.

"You see, I don't get a greeting like this every time they see me. I think they like you better." Carly jokes.

"Didn't you say something about the park, Carly?"

"Just change the subject, it's fine," she sighs. "Alright boys, to the park we go!"

The boys chatter excitedly the whole way there, talking about everything from their latest school projects to the video game they just got to pretty much anything having to do with them. That's one trait they got from their mother.

When they finally arrive at the park, the boys run over to the jungle gym excitedly, leaving them to themselves. "Things any better on the Sonny front?"

"Nope. He's still with Emily."

"Well, you do know you're doing the right thing, right? Fighting him on it, even if he doesn't see it now. Emily is going to get hurt and you, better than anyone, know that."

A few minutes pass and Michael walks up to them. "Jason, how come I look more like you than my dad?" He asks. "And how come I haven't always been a Corinthos?"

Jason and Carly exchange a glance before sitting down and gesturing for him to sit in between them. "It's a long story, bud. You sure you want to listen to it?"

"Yeah."

"Alright. Well, you know how Sonny's your dad, legally and emotionally and stuff? Well, biologically, your dad is actually my brother, AJ Quartermaine. For the first year or so of your life, you lived with me and your mom."

"So I'm a Quartermaine?" He asks, confused. "Like Emily?"

"By blood. And legally, for a few months." Carly answers. "Michael, when you were born, AJ couldn't be a good father to you. He threatened to take you from me. So I had Jason take care of you. I practically begged for him to say he was your father because Tony Jones, a doctor who I'd also been involved with, wanted you too. I knew if I didn't have someone on my side, preferably him, I'd lose you."

"And he agreed to help you out and say I was his. So wait, I was a Morgan?"

"For a while, yeah. AJ, though, he found out you weren't mine, you were his, and he was going to sue Carly for full custody of you. So she married him to save herself and he changed your name to Quartermaine."

"So I went from a Morgan to a Quartermaine to a Corinthos?"

"Yeah. Your dad and I, we got together and I got pregnant."

"With Morgan?"

"No, that, uh, that baby didn't make it. I miscarried him. But your dad and I stayed with each other and we got married to keep him out of jail. Eventually, though, we really fell in love so we renewed our vows and he adopted you. So that's how you became a Corinthos."

"That's complicated."

"Yeah, yeah it is."

"So wait," he asks, turning to Jason, "you were my dad for a year?"

"Yes I was."

"Cool. So is that why I look like you?"

"Well no, you look like me because I guess AJ and I look alike."

"Not really."

"Well, then it must be that the combination of your mom and him made you look like me, Michael."

"I guess," he says, shrugging your shoulders. "Are you sure you're not my dad biologically?"

"Yes, we are."

"Alright. Well, I'm going to go swing."

End of flashback

To be continued when I wake up or something idfk

@ryleighjosephine