Lily Montgomery Lavery

Posted by Aldo Pusey on Tuesday, July 16, 2024

Suffering from Autism, Lily, came to live with Jackson Montgomery when he and Lily's mother, Laurel Banning became involved. Jackson treated Lily like a daughter and later adopted her, and assumed full responsibility for her upon the death of her only living biological parent. Lily was frequently seen as she was away at a special school.

As Lily grew into a young woman, Jack made a decision to bring her home and enroll her in regular school in Pine Valley. She now had an extended family that included an adopted stepbrother, Reggie, and a newfound older sister, Greenlee Smythe. Lily was excited about her venture until a trio of girls at Pine Valley High School took advantage of her disability by making fun of her, tricking her into drinking alcohol, and spray-painting her red, the color that sends her into a fearful frenzy.

On one traumatic occasion, Aidan Devane came to Lily's rescue and became her first "crush". When Lily rambled about her feelings for Aidan, Jackson became enraged and confronted Aidan about his intentions. Everything was quickly solved when Aidan told Jack that he had only accepted Lily's invitation to be her friend, nothing more. Unfortunately, adolescent hormones drove Lily to want to kiss Aidan, but instead she saw him sharing a tender moment with Anita. Hurt and confused, Lily ran away and hid in a barn at Wildwind, and unexpectedly witnessed the murder of Edmund Grey. The murderer set fire to the barn, and Lily would have been killed had Aidan not rescued her.

Lily withdrew, not talking to anyone. She knew who the killer was but wouldn't divulge a name. Many suspected that Zach Slater was the culprit, but eventually Lily recovered from her traumatic state and pointed a finger at one of the Lavery brothers.

Jonathan turned out to be 'the' Lavery Lily saw, not Braden as evidence led most to believe. Jonathan subsequently took Kendall, Greenlee and Lily hostage and held them in a cave where he had stashed Braden's dead body. There was an explosion in the cave just as the girls escaped, and Jonathan was presumed dead.

Lily recovered from stress once again, and met Sam Grey, Edmund's son. Although she had never allowed anyone to touch her, she let down her wall of fear long enough for Sam to deliver her first kiss. Sam liked Lily's unusual outlook on life and enjoyed her company. She made him forget about losing his dad.

Lily was stunned when Jonathan turned up very much alive. His personality had changed and he seemed almost "simple minded." When he explained that his erratic behavior had been due to a brain tumor, and it had been removed, Lily began to trust him. Sam found out and broke off his relationship with her for having anything to do with the man who killed his father. Jonathan, however, was cleared of all charges against him, and he and Lily became romantically involved, secure because of their differences from the rest of the world.

Jackson was irate and swore that he would do everything in his power to break Jonathan and Lily up. They eventually married and moved in together, but everything was purely platonic with no sex or touching. When Jonathan suffered a blow to the head and became "normal" again, he continued to act as he had to keep from losing the wife he truly loved.

Jack overhead Jonathan having a 'normal' conversation with Erin and told Lily that Jonathan had lied to her all along. She believed him and left Jonathan because she couldn't fathom being married to someone who wasn't like her. Lily moved back home and began exploring the internet. She connected with someone calling himself "Asperger Boy." Since she identified with his condition, she set up a time and place to meet with him.

Her computer friend turned out to be a predator who preyed on young girls, and Jonathan saved Lily from being raped. Jack was eternally grateful to Jonathan and apologized for splitting the pair up. It took a while for Lily to overcome the stress and fear of what had happened, but she and Jonathan were finally able to talk and straighten things out. Lily decided that staying apart was the best thing, and a dejected Jonathan turned to Amanda Dillon for consolation.

Lily learned she had a lookalike sister, Ava, and was immediately taken in by her. Ava, however, was using Lily for money and a place to stay. Everyone saw through her act except Lily; this caused Ava to make a change and she and Lily developed a very deep friendship.

When Ava fell for Jonathan, Lily was hurt but she came to grips with the relationship. She took a job with Zach Slater and soon decided it was time to move on. She left for school at MIT in 2008.

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