Mine (General Hospital)

Chapter 3: Siblings

June 22nd 2019

     "Alright, a turkey and swiss for Lucas, a grilled cheese for Leo, a chicken wrap for Alexis, mashed sweet potatoes for Mr. Wiley, and a salad with chicken for me because I ate a half a dozen doughnuts for breakfast this morning." Julian says, putting the plates in front of his family.
     "Why can't I have Captain Crunch but you can eat all those doughnuts?" Leo asks.
     "Cause I'm an adult." Julian claims, poking his nose. "And trust me, it was a really bad decision."
     Alexis loops her arm with his as he sits. "Can we just tell them?"
     "I was gonna let everyone start eating first." Julian laughs, turning his eyes from her to his sons and grandson. "But I guess since you mentioned it I kinda have to tell them now. I wanna take the family to Disney World. All of us. Alexis, my boys, Brad, Wiley,Kristina and Molly, even Sam and her kids. Ava's already said she's not coming unless we do it like next week, she doesn't wanna travel past twenty weeks and she's already seventeen. But I wanna just bring the family to relax and have fun. I think we all deserve it."
     Leo bounces in his seat. "I wanna go! I wanna go! I wanna go!"
     "Your mom already said yes, as long as you don't miss more than four days of school. That's why I wanna do this soon, or not for several months. The summer is busy and unbelievably hot but if we wait until fall or winter we've got the babies to consider. I know I can just leave mine with Carly for those days but I can't leave Ava alone with three babies for two weeks."
     "What if we do go next week? Yeah, it'll be hot and really busy, but that way Ava gets to go." Lucas says.
     Julian smiles. "Let's do three weeks starting next week."
     Leo keeps bouncing, getting Wiley to start. Lucas pauses his excitement for a second. "Where is Ava?"
     "Oh, she had a thing with Scott Baldwin."
     "You won't need to worry about Ava being alone if her and Scott keep going at this rate." Alexis comments.
     "They're just friends." Julian claims.
     "If I had a friend like Scott is to Ava, would you be okay with that?"
     He goes silent and starts to eat his salad. They all settle to eat, except for Lucas who attempts to get Wiley to eat his mashed sweet potatoes, despite his insistence on a bite of Leo's grilled cheese. "Lucas, would you mind if I fed Wiley?" Alexis asks.
     "Of course. I love him to the moon and back, but sometimes it's nice to eat a meal while it's warm." Lucas laughs, passing his giggling son over to her. "Honestly, I still feel like I'm about to lose him sometimes."
     "You aren't, son, you aren't. No one has a claim on him except you and Brad, and you're amazing dads." Julian says.
     "It's just crazy to think that three women had three sons at the same time. To think that Willow's Wiley died just after Jonah was born and seconds after she traded him to a homeless woman, it's a lot of coincidences but at this point I don't care. As long as it's over. I have my Wiley, Michael has his Jonah, and Willow has no say in my life."
     "I'm very happy for you, Lucas." Julian says. "Leo, you must be happy having Jonah in the house now. You getting use to having a baby around?"
     Leo shrugs. "I don't know, he cries a lot. He doesn't like to play like Wiley does. I don't think he likes me."
     "I'm sure he does, he's just lived a very different life until now. I'm use he just needs time." Julian says, reaching across the table and touching his son's cheek. Leo goes back to eating his grilled cheese. Julian turns to Lucas. "Is there something going in with Sonny? He's been decent to me lately?"
     "He's on new meds. They mellow him out. You should see him about a half an hour after he takes them, it's like he's stoned." Lucas explains. "It was that scare he had with his liver a few months ago."
     "That makes sense. I almost feel bad for him."
     "Don't. These new meds have made him feel so much better. He's made real improvements."
     "Daddy," Leo starts, "I don't feel good."
     Julian goes to his side. "What kind of don't feel good?" Leo whispers in his ear. Julian lifts him up and carries him to his office.
     "How long before Olivia final gets Leo tested to see if he's lactose intolerant?" Alexis asks.
     "Too long. But I don't think it's that. Leo goes to summer camp, and I heard that a bunch of kids have been getting pretty sick."
     "That's no fun." Alexis says, looking back at Wiley. "You like your lunch? Grandpa was very excited to try his new blender."
     "It finally came in? He's been talking about it for weeks." Lucas laughs. "Oh, and we're not calling him Grandpa, he's gonna be Pop."
     "That's precious. Was it your idea or his?"
     "Mine. We were talking and he kept calling his dad 'Pop' and how he wanted his kids to call him that too but it doesn't fit well anymore and makes him feel old. So I said what if his grandson calls him that and he started sobbing, which was a yes. Now we call him Pop around Wiley."
     "I'm so happy you two are back in each others' lives and that Wiley's in there too."
     "I agree wholeheartedly. And soon you'll be have him back fully too. It'll be like these last three nightmare years never happened."
     "What do you mean, 'have him back fully?'"
     "Come on, you're saying this trip to Disney isn't part of his plan to ask you to marry him?"
     Alexis blushes. "I don't know anything." She glances down at her phone. "One of my clients wants to meet, I have to go."
     Julian comes out of his office. "Leo is in my bathroom and I don't think he's coming out any time soon. He says goodbye and he loves you all."
     "I actually have to go." Alexis says, passing Wiley to Julian and kissing them both. "Pop will finish feeding you, he needs the practice."
     "Guess it's just us three." Lucas comments, still working on his lunch.
     "Guess it is. Although, I'm going to need to keep running back to check on Leo. He has his tablet and I told him to text me if he needs me."
     "He has his tablet in the bathroom?"
     "He knows not to touch anything."
     "Good." Lucas laughs. "So, tell me the truth, is Disney just part of the plan to ask Alexis to marry you?"