All My Children Update Monday 12/23/02
By Lori
Pictures by Juanita
Liza is fixing up the tree when Adam comes in to tell her that he has to go out for a while. He is dressed to the tee and looks very handsome in his tuxedo. She is dressed casually for the house and is putting items on the tree. He is after all, a man of the people and so he has to go out and make an appearance at a special Christmas function for his company. Liza would like him to know that she is sorry that the company has taken so many hits. She feels responsible for everyone of them. He doesn’t want to hear that from her anymore. He has forgiven her for all that she has done and she has forgiven him for his shortcomings, and so he would like it to be over. He would like her to come to the party with him so that people can see that they are still a couple and a force to be reckoned with but Liza doesn’t care to do that. Liza wants to stay home as she promised Colby that she would wrap presents with her. Adam understands that excuse and leaves her alone to spend time with their daughter. Colby comes downstairs asking about her Aunt Mia. Why isn’t she around anymore? Liza has no answer for her. What can she possibly say to her daughter on this subject? She can’t tell her that she thought that her sister was sleeping with her husband and so she pushed her out a window. How can she address this? Colby suspects that Mia is staying away because of the things that her mother has done to her. Liza looks at her daughter in horror. How can she know anything of the things that Liza has done to her sister? What should she say now?
The holidays at the shelter are going ahead great. Jamie and JR are both there helping out with their girlfriends and they are enjoying the experience. JR is there helping his girlfriend with serving the homeless. Doing that really means something to him. JR is into Christmas and he has made it the best Christmas ever for his girlfriend and she appreciates that. They have shared so much lately and she feels so close to him. She is afraid of running into her dad at some point. Her dad enters the shelter to peek around. He still has a bandage on his head. He spots his daughter kissing that Chandler boy.
Edmund is hoping that Maria gets her memory back when there is someone at the door. It is the security wanting to search the premises. Edmund is on the phone with Mateo and he hopes that Mateo’s Christmas surprise works.
Maria gets a visit from a woman that is happy to see her. Maria doesn’t recognize the woman, but Aidan tells her that the woman is Julia. Maria knows that she has a sister named Julia, and she is embarrassed that she didn’t recognize her at first. She is holding a pitchfork on the woman but drops it as soon as Aidan confirms who the woman is. That is Julia’s cue to run to her sister and hug her like never before.
Julia tells Maria that she has missed her and that she really is her sister. Maria ignores her and goes to Aidan. She knows that her sister is in the witness-protection program and so this woman can’t be him. Julia swears that she is telling the truth. She tells Maria that Mateo was the one that sent her over there. Maria has a picture of the 3 kids and Maria wants to know which one is the woman before her. Maria soon realizes that the woman isn’t lying to her. She starts crying and wishes the woman Merry Christmas. Julia knows that this isn’t her fault. She knows that Maria has always been a little feisty. Julia is there as this place used to be their place. They used to share their dreams together. They were really close. They were best friends and told each other everything. They can still do that. Julia would like to know who the man in the room with them is and why Maria is hiding from her husband.
Edmund is by the tree when he is assured by his security that the premises are safe. Edmund knows that Maria should be having her family reunion now and he doesn’t want to miss that. He gets his coat and heads to the door.
Frank tells Mia that he is sorry for the trouble that Mia went through having a child on her own. Frank’s whole focus was making movies and he couldn’t deal with a child and he can’t now either. He knows that he shouldn’t have blown up on Mia before and that he has no right to destroy a family. Mia was right. She did the best thing that she could for William. Frank had broken up with the woman that he loved and he took it out on her. Frank knows that he hasn’t the right to take William from his family. That makes Mia feel a whole lot better. His mind was changed by Simone who gave him a pretty good talking to. The one that really changed his mind though was Liza. She made Frank see that Mia had a hard time giving up her baby but still she found the guts to do it. Frank realizes that Mia didn’t give up on William. She gave him a future instead. Mia finds it hard to believe that Liza befriended her in their conversation. Frank assures her that she did the right thing for the baby and for him. He is sorry that he didn’t see what he does now. She was smart and did the right thing for them all. He wishes her a Merry Christmas. He opens the door to go and finds Jake there. Frank leaves and Mia tells Jake that Frank has decided not to go after William. Jake is surprised to hear that. Simone was the one that changed Frank’s mind as well as Liza.
Liza wants to know how her daughter knows that she was the one that hurt Mia. Colby had overheard adults talking and that is how she found out. Colby thinks that if Liza tells Mia that she is sorry, they can go back to their lives together. She runs and gets the phone to get her mother to call Mia now.
At the shelter, the teens are helping out. JR tells how he is not religious as that has been the way that his parents have raised him. Adam arrives and is greeted with clapping as he is the one that has provided the food for the festivities. JR comes out and hears Adam talking about giving to others and how he used to be poor. JR listens as his father talks about his past. His girlfriend sets about serving the poor and bumps into her father. “What are you doing here missy?” he asks her. She looks up at him in total surprise. Mr. Lewis doesn’t want his daughter there taking handouts from the Chandlers. He sees Adam and thinks that the man is just slumming. Adam introduces himself and Mr. Lewis introduces himself too. Adam suggests that they take a picture together and when the picture is snapped, Mr. Lewis freaks out. “What the hell do you take me for?” He turns to Adam in an attempt to hit him.
Liza makes Colby understand that she isn't going to call Mia at this time. Colby runs upstairs and once Liza has left the room the little girl comes back down the stairs and grabs the phone to make a call.
Jake and Mia talk before his tree. She is limping around with a cane wondering how they came undone. She used to be a part of Liza’s family and she couldn’t believe it. She thought that she was lucky to find her sister and the family that she missed out on. Jake tells her that she has him and she shouldn’t worry. They have each other and she can be a part of his family anytime. That wasn’t what she pictured though. She thought that she would be having Christmas with the Chandlers. She really misses Colby. That makes her cry thinking of the little girl over there and away from her. Jake reminds her that Liza pushed her out of the window and she can’t forget that. The phone rings and Mia heads over to it and answers. “Aunt Mia!” Mia recognizes the girl’s voice. That is when Liza enters the room and takes the phone from her and asks who is there. Mia tells Liza that it is she.
Maria tells Julia all about how she got close to Aidan. He is the only person that sees he for who she is and not who she isn’t. Aidan has been hurt and Maria is worried that he may end up dead. Julia thinks that Maria should tell Edmund the truth. Maria is determined that Edmund never know about this.
Edmund enters the hiding place and Maria, Aidan and Julia hear them talking. They are near the ceiling of the hiding place. A ladder is the only way that they can get up and down from where they are. The security man with Edmund asks about the ladder and where it goes. Maria and Julia hear the question that the security man poses and they panic that one or both of the men may come up there and find them in their hiding place.
Julia runs down the ladder before Edmund or the other man can walk up there. Edmund is so glad to see Julia and he hugs her. Maria comes down the ladder too and Edmund remarks that Julia is their second miracle for Christmas. Julia and Maria are questioned as to what they were doing in the area. Julia tells the men that this place used to be their secret place when they were kids. Edmund takes everyone back to the main house and Aidan is left alone to deal with his pain.
Liza apologies on the phone to Mia for Colby calling. Mia is glad that Colby called. Liza wishes Mia a Merry Christmas. Mia wishes her the same. She hangs up and Colby hopes that her mother will not be mad at her. Liza misses the woman too.
Mia tells Jake that Liza sounded different. She didn’t sound like she wanted Mia dead. Liza sounded just like she should have sounded. She sounded like Mia’s sister. Jake is not so quick to believe that Liza has changed. He would like Mia to continue to press charges. Jake tells her that they shouldn’t talk about Liza for the rest of the night. He would like to focus on Christmas. The phone rings again and Mia answers. It is Jackson. He would like to talk to her. She learns that he needs her decision on the case with Liza.
Mr. Lewis smells like booze and his daughter runs to his rescue. He says that he is fine. Adam has no idea what is going on. Mr. Lewis tells him that he has downsized his life. He would like to leave but his daughter would like to stay. Mr. Lewis not about to leave his daughter there with the Chandlers of all people. He roughly grabs his daughter by the arm to drag her out of there. That is when JR runs to her rescue. Mr. Lewis demands that he get out of his way. JR tries to make Mr. Lewis see that this isn’t the way that things should go. Mr. Lewis isn’t going to listen to this punk. His daughter can see that her father isn’t going to go quietly and so she leaves with him. She can tell that he has been drinking. She is angry as he promised that he would go to the AA meeting that night. He says that the meeting was cancelled but she knows that if he shows up drunk for a meeting, he can’t go in and that is probably what happened. He sees the gift that JR gave her and he pulls it off her clothing breaking it.
Mia ends her call with Jackson and she tells Jake that Jackson wants a decision after Christmas on what is to be done about Liza. Jake is glad to hear that as he would like to go on from her and get on with his life with Mia. He leaves her to shower and change and she goes to the tree. She looks at some presents and reads the card on one. “To Colby…” She isn’t sure if she will even get to give the child the gift. She makes a decision and gets her coat and the gift and leaves the apartment.
Maria offers the police agent some egg nog. She would like to get him out of there. He sees that she is urgent in getting him out of there, but he assures her that he will be spending the holidays with them. He would like to go out to the grounds and check around again but Maria can’t see why he would like to do that.
Maddie comes down and learns that there is a present for her. He introduces her to Julia. Maddie knows who she is right away. Maddie and Julia hug each other. Maria thinks that this is a good time to get away and get back to Aidan but Edmund sees her trying to sneak off and he calls to her, stopping her in her tracks.
JR is angry with his father for coming to the shelter and telling his stories of when he was poor. Adam is there because this party was his idea. JR thinks that Adam is only doing this to get his picture in the paper. Adam feels that JR has struck a cord.
JR leaves the room and finds Mr. Lewis alone. He learns that the man’s daughter has left. Mr. Lewis gives JR the gift that he took off his daughter and tells him that the girl doesn’t want that.
Mia shows up at the Chandler house and Liza opens the door to her…
Aidan looks down the ladder from where he is and he sees that no one is there for him. He wonders where Maureen is now. He needs her. “Where are ya?” he looks under his shirt at his wound and sees that the blood is coming through the bandage. His condition is getting worse.
Sam comes down to meet Julia and he bows before his Aunt Julia. They hug and hug and hug. Maddie has been told in the past that she looks like her aunt. Julia thinks that Maddie looks just like her mother. Maria tries to focus and be a part of the party and she sits with the family and looks closely at the both Julia and Maddie. Suddenly, Maria remarks that Julia’s scar is almost gone. Both Julia and Edmund look back and forth at each other. What is the big shock Maria has to wonder. Edmund remarks that she is starting to remember as she wouldn’t know about the scar if she hadn’t remembered.