The day Rick Webber and Monica Quartermaine gave into their great passion at General Hospital, they didn't realize what they were setting in motion.

Just prior to her arrival at General Hospital, Monica, then Monica Bard, had been engaged to Rick Webber. However, he had broken up with her and gone to Africa, where he was involved in a civil war and presumed dead. Of course, this is General Hospital, so he wasn't really.

Monica, however, didn't realize that and married his brother, Jeff Webber.

When Rick showed up alive, it became a real mess. Rick wasn't about to go after his brother's wife; instead, he started a relationship with Lesley Faulkner and wanted to marry her. Monica and Jeff's marriage was on the rocks; he cheated on her with Heather Grant. Heather became pregnant.

Monica and Lesley: A Bitter Rivalry

The jealousy between Monica and Lesley was worse than anything Carly and Brenda ever had. As far as Rick, ultimately, Lesley won when she and Rick married. By then Rick and Monica hated one another. They were both asked to work on a new wing at General Hospital with Dr. Alan Quartermaine. Monica and Alan soon became an item, and she became Mrs. Alan Quartermaine.

One night, while working on a case together, Rick and Monica made love. Monica wanted them to tell their respective spouses immediately, but Rick wanted them to be sure. The timing was wrong: Laura, Lesley's daughter, was in a car accident, and Lesley needed Rick's support.

He decided to stay with Lesley. Monica by this time was separated from Alan, but Lila Quartermaine counseled her to stay with him. Monica took her advice. She reconciled with Alan, and soon discovered that she was pregnant.

Monica Quartermaine: Who's the Daddy?

Monica intended to keep her night with Rick at General Hospital quiet and pretend there was nothing questionable about the baby's paternity. However, when a malpractice suit was filed, Rick and Monica had to give a deposition and admit their affair. The papers were sealed -- but since when has that stopped anyone?

Monica was put on bed rest as she was close to giving birth. The night of a blizzard, Monica went into labor. She was alone in the house but is visited by Lesley Webber because her friend Gail encouraged it. Monica's birth was a breach, and, near death and delirious, she told Lesley that the baby, named Alan J. Quartermaine, Jr. (A.J.) was Rick's.

Monica at that point had no will to live. Lesley told Rick that Monica needed help. Rick declared his love to Monica. Monica survived, but forgot what she had told Lesley. She also knew that Alan loved her and that she needed to stay with him.

Alan Makes Deadly Plans

All might have been well (though it's doubtful) except that Alan saw the deposition containing the information about Rick's affair with Monica. Alan's rage was so profound that he was unable to think of anything but revenge. He built a nursery in the mansion on the top floor, and he had plans for it.

Little A.J. developed a heart problem, which Rick corrected with surgery. A.J., as might have been predicted, needed a transfusion. Alan was paged to give blood. It turned out that A.J. Quartermaine and Rick Webber had the same blood type. Alan was more determined than ever to have the nursery roof collapse when Monica and Rick were inside.

The day of A.J.'s christening, Alan was set to have the roof fall in. However, Lee Baldwin was suspicious of him, so Alan chickened out. Instead, he emerged a hero when he saved his NON-favorite couple just as the roof came down. Not that Alan didn't want them dead - he did.

Divorce Him, Divorce Hers, Murder Them

Rick Webber wanted to claim A.J. as his. Lesley filed for divorce so that he could marry Monica. He admitted the affair to Alan and that A.J. was his son. Alan acted shocked and asked for time to absorb the information.

Now Alan decided to catch his wife and Rick together, kill them, and plead temporary insanity. He stalked them all over Port Charles. Finally he stealthily climbed the stairs of their meeting place, holding a gun. Before he could kill them, there was a gas explosion in the building.

No one was hurt, but Monica knew what Alan was doing there. Alan played tough. A.J. was legally his, and no matter what Rick and Monica did, he would fight them. Then Monica had the shock of her life. She noticed that A.J. had a birth mark on the underside of his arm that was identical to Alan's! Lila saw it and stated that it was a Quartermaine trait. Monica asked that the blood test for A.J. be repeated. A.J. was Alan's after all! He had Bombay Phenotype Syndrome, explaining the difference in the previous test. Usual blood tests will show BPS babies as a type O, Rick's blood type.

Monica Resorts to Blackmail

Monica said nothing; instead, she got Alan on tape admitting that he had wanted to kill her and Rick. She then forced him to agree to a divorce. It didn't work. Monica had paid off the hematologist who did the blood test, but he had told Alan the truth anyway. Alan refused to go through with the final divorce, and a despondent Rick left town.

Monica moved back with Alan again. They would fight, love one another, fight, separate, and love one another again before Alan finally passed away.