General Hospital Relationship Timeline: Ned And Olivia
Ned Ashton (Wally Kurth) and Alexis Davis (Nancy Lee Grahn) really gave their relationship the college try on "General Hospital." Ned had proposed to Alexis, but because he was also a rock star named Eddie Maine at the time, she couldn't deal with his groupies, so Alexis left him at the altar. After later trying to fix things, both parties realized their relationship wouldn't work out, although when she got pregnant by gangster Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard), Ned pretended to be the father to keep everyone away from Sonny's mob world.
Ultimately, their plan failed, and Ned and Alexis went their separate ways. Although he eventually tried to get back together with Alexis, Ned was too late because by that stage she was romantically involved with Julian Jerome (William deVry). Olivia Falconeri (Lisa LoCicero) was dating Sonny when she struck up a friendship with Ned. When Sonny had a one-night stand with Ava Jerome (Maura West), getting her pregnant too, Olivia kicked him to the curb. Drowning her sorrows, she later ended up having a one-night stand with Julian and got pregnant too.
Similar to Alexis, Olivia feared Julian's mobster life would pose a threat to her unborn child, so Ned stepped up again and pretended to be her baby's father. After Olivia gave birth at the Nurses' Ball, she and Ned pretended the baby died, so to later explain why she had another baby, she claimed she adopted little Leo.
Ned had an affair with Alexis
Julian soon learned the baby was his, so Ned took the child out of town. He eventually returned and proposed to Olivia. She turned him down, but after an encounter with gunmen, she reevaluated her life and ended up proposing to him. Ned didn't want to be associated with his father, the scoundrel Lord Larry Ashton (Hugo Napier), so he changed his last name to Quartermaine. The couple married in 2017, and Olivia moved into the Quartermaine mansion. Julian and Olivia had made peace by this time, and after a while, she let him have access to Leo.
In 2019, Olivia asked Robert Scorpio (Tristan Rogers) to take her to see her older son, Dante Falconeri (Dominic Zamprogna), who was recovering from PTSD in Geneva. After Dante refused to see her, she helped Robert on a mission in Monaco. Ned was furious that Olivia ran off with Robert, and assumed the worst. He commiserated with Alexis, and the two got drunk and ended up sleeping together. When Olivia returned to Port Charles and explained everything, Ned tried hard to keep the tryst a secret.
But then, in a profoundly ill-advised move, Ned confessed that he slept with Alexis to his aunt, Monica Quartermaine (Leslie Charleson). And, when Ned's mother, Tracy Quartermaine (Jane Elliot), came back to Port Charles, she was able to squeeze the information about Ned and Alexis out of Monica.
Ned eventually adopted Leo
Tracy wanted to save Ned and Olivia's marriage, so she offered Alexis a job in Amsterdam. Alexis refused the offer and also felt she should confess to Olivia about what happened. Tracy then framed Alexis for drunk driving, getting her arrested. However, the truth came out and Alexis was exonerated, but Tracy skipped town to avoid being arrested herself. Dr. Austin Gatlin-Hold (Roger Howarth) had met Leo and suspected he might be autistic. Olivia denied it, but Ned felt the child should at least be tested.
Angry that he would even consider it, Olivia demanded a divorce. To make it up to her, Ned funded a special art show that had nature pictures that Leo would enjoy. Leo disappeared after looking at a painting of an octopus, and although Olivia was frantic, Ned kept a cool head after he learned that autistic children are drawn to water. They later found Leo unharmed at the docks, and it was then that Olivia finally acquiesced and acknowledged that the little boy was autistic.
Olivia and Ned later renewed their wedding vows, and Ned adopted Leo in April 2022. Sometime later, Olivia was dismayed that Ned was putting business ahead of their family, straining the couple's relationship, and he worked hard to prove her wrong. Ned was subsequently blamed for informing the SEC that Carly and Drew were involved in insider trading. Ned is clearly innocent, but Olivia's had a hard time believing it, and their marriage continues to be rocky.