Oops (General Hospital)

Father's Day 2042

June 15th 2042

     Kenny screams gleefully and runs to her sisters, wrapping her arms around both of them. Marti and Layla squeeze her back. "I've missed you two so much. It's been way too long." Kenny says, on the brink of tears. Layla and Marti glance at each other, then back at Kenny.
     "Ken, what's wrong?" Marti asks, holding her cheek.
     "I'm just so emotional right now. I miss Mom and it's Dad's first father's day without her in this new home. And I haven't seen you bitches in forever. How's big city living?"
     "Everything we hoped and more." Layla beams.
     "Yeah, that more is that Lay has a boyfriend." Marti says, dodging a smack to the arm. "He works with us and he looks like a younger Wesley Wong."
     "Zach doesn't work with us, he works for the building that the fashion company we work for rents a floor in. He works along side us, but not with us. Damn it, you made me give away my deepest, darkest secret."
     "Those a couple bitches I hear?" A man behind them asks. They turn around and hug him.
     "Tommy, you are one of us bitches." Marti laughs, punching his arm.
     "And you don't hear much." Layla teases.
     "I hear better than you." He retorts, turning his head to them, showing the new hearing aid he's sporting. "It's not on the market yet, I'm testing it. I can hear like anyone else and I don't feel it. It's like I'm not deaf. In that ear. I'm still completely deaf in the other."
     "You sound amazing." Kenny says.
     "Speech therapy. I'm tired of clients and investors saying they didn't know I was deaf. Obviously I'm deaf, why would I be testing my own hearing aid design if I wasn't? People are so stupid."
     "And you're a literal genius. That's why you make like six figures a year."
     "More if it's a good year. When this design is approved, I'm going to buy a big house and asks Finn to marry me." Tommy says. "And Kenny, I'm gonna invest in Charlie's. I know it's been hard."
     "It's for Dad. It's his life's work, some of his life's work. He'd kill me if I let pub go under. Thank you, Tommy. You're the best." Kenny says, giving her brother another hug.
     A toddler runs and joins their hug. "Hi, Auntie Kenny. Hi, Uncle Tommy. Hi, Auntie Marti. Hi, Auntie Layla."
     "Oliver!" Leo calls, running and catching up to his son, lifting him back into his arms. "You can't run away from me."
     "But I saw them."
     "I know you did, but you still can't run off."
     "I sorry, Daddy."
     "I know." Leo rubs Oliver's head, putting him back on the ground. "Where's everyone else?"
     "I don't know about anyone else," A new man's voice behind him says, "but I'm here."
     "Uncle Derek!" Oliver cheers, bouncing into his arms.
     "Hey there, little buddy." Derek greets. He looks to his siblings. "S'up bitches?"
     "Das a bad word." Oliver says, turning to his father. "Uncle Derek said a bad word."
     "Yeah, he did." Leo crosses his arms.
     "Sorry, oh mighty commissioner." Derek says, sticking his tongue out at Leo. "Colleen not coming?"
     "She's with her parents." Leo says.
     "Yeah, Mommy's with Nonna and Nonno. We gonna has dinner wit' them." Oliver adds. "Daddy, can we go see PopPop now?"
     "Just a minute, Buddy. We're waiting for Liam."
     "No we aren't!" Liam shouts, running to join the group, completely out of breath. "Sorry," he pants, "had to finish something. The work of a paralegal is never done, even when you work for your mom."
     Kenny looks around, her eyes landing on Tomas. "Should we wait?"
     Tomas shakes his head. "No, we'd be waiting forever. He's not showing up."

A Couple Carpools Later

     Layla and Marti loop their arms with Kenny's. "Hey, sis, you alright?"
     "Yeah, I'm just getting lost in thought. I'm thinking about Dad. It's his first father's day since Mom died and his first one in this new place. And he's been off recently, you know, kinda mopey."
     "Is it as bad as when we last saw him?" Marti asks.
     "No, it's different. He was so foggy and confused when he first moved in, but I think he's getting better. He remembers more and he's a lot more alert, he's just mopey. I try to visit him every day, but it's so hard to make time every day for the drive and the checking in and the finding him at a good time and then I wanna get home at a reasonable time and see James, it's all so much."
     "If you ever need help, we'll come running." Marti promises. Kenny smiles at them. They make their way into the apartment complex and to the sign in desk. "Hi, we're here to see Julian Jerome. We're his kids. Some of us."
     "Which ones aren't his kids?" The receptionist asks, her voice monotone and uninterested
     "We all are, we're just not all of the kids he has." Kenny explains, looking back at the group.
     The woman looks around the group. "Do you have his code?"
     "Zero, one, twenty-four, twenty."
     The receptionist picks up her phone, not breaking eye contact with Marti. "Hello, Mr. Jerome, I have a group of seven, wait, eight, people here saying they're some of your children... I'll send them in." She hangs up. "He's in common area three, the one with the window wall to the pond."
     The heads in, making their way down the hall, following the maps. They get to the common area, moving towards the circle of couches in the center. Julian looks up at them, grabbing the shoulder of the man sitting next to him. The man turns around, his familiar face making everyone stop. Tomas steps forward. "Abel?"
     Abel smiles. "Hey, Tommy."
     Tomas runs and hugs him, cupping his cheeks. "I missed you."
     "I missed you too." Abel says. The rest of the siblings greet him one by one, greeting Julian too. Eventually they settle into the couches, Oliver on Julian's lap, Abel to one side, and Marti to the other.
     Kenny smiles at her father from across the coffee table. "Did everyone else visit or make plans to visit?"
     Julian nods. "Danny and Georgie stopped by with Sophia and Connor earlier, Sam and Christopher did too, Oscar and Dakota had coffee with me this morning, and Scout video called me from overseas. Nicole and Tate are with Brad and Lucas, but they're all stopping by later. Then Oscar is coming back and we're going to visit Mom. You should all come too."
     "Dad, we know about the plans to visit Mom, we made them. Do you remember that?" Derek asks.
     "Of course I remember." Julian barks. "I was just reminding you guys. I know some of you are forgetful."
     Kenny glances over at Marti and Layla. They nod in response. Julian swallows and looks down at his hands. "So, what are my gifts?"
     Oliver looks over at Leo. "Daddy, we didn't get PopPop a present!"
     "It's okay, Ollie. They aren't objects. Don't you worry about it, I got something. And since I'm already talking, I'll go first." Leo says. "My gift to you, Dad, is that Colleen and I have decided that we're ready to expand our family even more, and we're going to be trying for a baby."
     The siblings start to congratulate Leo, hitting his shoulders. Leo looks back at Julian, who's smile is almost overshadowed by the sadness in his eyes. "I'm very excited, but you may wanna get working on that soon, I wanna meet the kid and the rope tightens every day."
     There's an awkward silence among the group, no one knowing quite what to say in return, even Julian. Abel clears his throat. "Dad already knows this, but I've been clean and sober for six months now and I have a steady job. I'm getting my life back on track."
     Julian squeezes his shoulder. "I love you, son, and I'm proud of you."
     Marti looks over at Layla, a questioning look in her eyes. Layla nods. "Lay and I actually did one thing together. We got our recent designs approved, so they'll be produced. We designed a line of clothes."
     "And not just that, but we get a big promotion. We can transfer and we've talked about it, we're transferring closer here." Layla adds.
     "I'll get to see you two more?" Julian asks. They both nod. "I am very happy about that. And I'm so proud of you two for the designs. Congrats, babies."
     Julian turns to Derek. The oldest of the youngests sits up straight. "I'm starting med school in the fall, I'm gonna focus on orthopedics. I wanna follow in Mom's footsteps, but not exactly cause I'm not going to be an OB. But I figured, Mom and other doctors have done so much for me, I wanna help people like I was helped."
     "Your mom would be beyond proud. I can't even describe how proud I am of you. I'm enjoying this. Who's next?"
     Liam raises his hand. "Mine's a lot like Der's. I'm starting law school in the fall. I'm following in my mom's footsteps too, literally, I have to follow her around most of the time."
     Julian let's out a little laugh. "Yeah, you're basically her coffee bitch."
     "Bad word!" Oliver scolds.
     "I can say that, I'm old." Julian says, staring to laugh. "Do you guys remember that vacation we took to Niagara Falls when you were about fifteen or sixteen? I was going to take a picture of Mom and all eight of you in front of the falls and she didn't want anyone to get cut out, so she goes, 'Get on the ground, Camera Bitch.'"
     The kids laugh, mostly at Oliver's pure disgust. The laughing dies down, leaving Tomas and Kenny staring at each other. Eventually Tomas folds under his sister's gaze. "I actually lied to you guys earlier, my design was already approved and I'm getting the money soon. I'm going to give you another son-in-law soon. I'm gonna ask Finn to be my husband." He pauses for the brief congratulations, and continues. "And I'm buying the house, your house. And I want you to come live with us."
     "Really?" Julian asks.
     Tomas nods. "Of course. We all grew up in that house. Kenny was literally born in the house. It's where Mom died. That house is too important to our family for it to be forgotten and moved into by some Joe Schmoe. And I know you wanna be back there, it was just too much on your own. Oh, and I'm starting a new knee implant project."
     "Overachiever." Kenny mutters. She takes an envelope out of her purse, passing it along to Julian. "My gift isn't done yet, that's just to tell you what it is." She waits until he has it open before she smirks. "My gift won't be done for another few months."
     "'Happy father's day, Grandpa. I'll see you soon.' Holy shit. You're pregnant?"
     "Thirteen weeks."
     He wipes the tears from his cheeks, looking down at Oliver, who's still got a very stern look on his face from the swearing. "You're gonna be a big cousin."
     Oliver smiles and looks back at Kenny, who's already being swarmed with congratulations. He looks back at Julian. "I get it now, the presents. I have a loose tooth. It got hit when I was playing. It's gonna come out soon. See?"
     "I do see, and it very cool." Julian says. He clears his throat. "I have something I need to say, and I need to say it before i start crying. First off, you're all absolutely insane. I do the no real gifts so you won't do anything crazy and you still do, that's not the point. You're all amazing." He pauses, looking at Kenny.
     "You had something you needed to tell us before you started crying."
     "Oh, yeah." He takes a deep breath. "The night before my whole sleeping with the town spree, I asked God for a family. One that wouldn't turn their backs on me, one that I could truly be a part of. A couple weeks later I had half a dozen custody deals to work out. I was so stressed I ran myself into the ground a couple times, literally once or twice. Over the years I've seen you all grow into amazing people, yes, all of you. You are the best things I've ever done. And to think, I thought you were all mistakes. That was my real mistake, not realizing you're all exactly what I asked for. Oops."

The end.

Thank you all for joining me on this adorable and often emotional journey. I'll have more about my thoughts and some behind the scenes coming out too, but as for the story itself, it's finished.
I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did coming up with and writing it.