Ric Lansing was dead.

Jason looked down at the body, and as the adrenaline began to wear off, the only thing left behind was satisfaction. Ric was dead, and would no longer be able to hurt anybody that Jason loved.

With no desire to be caught, or to tip anyone off too quickly to the D.A.'s demise, Jason picked up the body and hoisted him over his shoulder. The docks were deserted, and Jason knew the shortcuts and back alleyways like the back of his hand. Ric's body went into the back of the SUV and he drove it to a predetermined location out of town where he had another car waiting for him. He changed his clothes, stripped off his bloody gloves, and made sure that things were squared away. He'd had a lot of time to plan and set this up, and he'd made sure he thought of every last detail. He wasn't leaving anything to chance, not when he already had attempted murder charges hanging over his head.

Once everything was taken care of, Jason drove the non-descript sedan back to Port Charles and parked it behind Greystone. Then he hopped the back fence, passed the patrolling guards and slipped into his friend's house. It was late, but he knew Sonny would be up. Jason left a message for the older man, and knew he would be waiting. Somehow he didn't think Sonny was going to like what Jason had to say. Frankly, Jason found he didn't care.

There weren't many lights on in the living room, but he could see his friend sitting in the chair, a glass of water in one hand, the lighter he sometimes toyed with in his other. "Sonny."

The other man stood and turned to face him. "Jason. What's happened? Why are you here? I told you it wasn't safe for you to show up here while I was trying to get Ric to drop the charges against you."

"Ric is dead," Jason said flatly.

"He's what?" Sonny asked. "What did you do?"

"What I told you I would do," he answered, just a hint of edge coming into his voice. "I would do anything to protect my family, to protect my child. That meant Ric had to be eliminated and I wasn't going to wait for you anymore."

Jason could tell that Sonny was unhappy, but he didn't care. Jason wasn't happy either. "I waited, Sonny, like you told me to do. But what were you doing?"

"I was trying to clear your name."

"How?" he shouted. "By chasing after Carly, antagonizing Jax, using Michael and Morgan against her? What about me? What about my family?"

"Your family?" Sonny asked with a shake of his head. "You mean that Elizabeth's baby is yours?"

"Yes," he fairly spat with rage at the other man.

"But how...she didn't tell me."

"Why would she?" Jason asked with a disgusted shake of his head. "She wanted to tell me first. She said that she told you she needed to talk to me and you told her you'd tell me. But you never did, Sonny. You never did!"

"I thought that I could get the charges cleared up in a few days and then you could come back," his friend tried to explain. "You could talk to her then."

"And when you didn't get the charges cleared up?" Jason pressed. "Why didn't you tell me? I talked to you. You...you told me that Carly said that the baby wasn't mine. That she'd run into Elizabeth in the hospital."

"That's what she said," Sonny nodded his head. "Carly figured that the baby must be Lucky's because she was still working. Otherwise she would have come to me and told me."

"Why would she tell you?" he asked in bewilderment. "You weren't the father. She wanted to tell me first. But you and Carly were constantly hounding her, and then telling her that I wasn't ready to be a father, that it was better that I wasn't the father. How would you know that? And why would you say something like that to Elizabeth?"

"I was trying to help," Sonny offered. "When she read the results, she didn't say anything. I thought she was quiet because of me, since you and I are friends. I thought she'd tell me."

"No," Jason huffed out. "She told me that she would tell me before anybody else. That's why she told you she needed to talk to me."

With sigh, his friend rubbed his forehead and his shoulders slumped. "I'm sorry, Jason. I really am. I..."

"Was only thinking about yourself," he said with disgust. "You didn't want to press too hard on Ric because he's your mother's son and you didn't want to live with the guilt. It was all about your feelings. You were too busy focusing on Carly and Jax to really try to help me. I was out of town, I was safe, and you'd get around to it eventually, right?"

"Now listen, Jason," Sonny cut in. "I understand you're upset."

"No, I'm not upset, Sonny," he said, his voice as sharp as a knife's blade. "I'm furious. You said you'd look out for Elizabeth, but you haven't."

"I-"

"Figured that the baby wasn't mine so there was no need to keep an eye on her," he finished the sentence in disappointed anger at his friend. "Right?"

"I'm sorry."

"So am I," Jason shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry for ever believing that you'd keep your word."

Sonny's eyes flinted hard with indignation at the charge and he puffed up to refute them, but Jason waved him silent. "You only focus on yourself, and I've always known that. I just thought that maybe once, when it was my family on the line, you would take care of them the way that I always take care of yours. I was wrong. That's why I took care of this."

"By killing Ric. You know that you'll be a suspect," Sonny chastised him.

"His body won't be found. Hard to prove a murder when there's no body. I'm not in town, I haven't spoken to Sam since I left and she's going around letting everybody know with her complaints."

"Why haven't you spoken to Sam?" Sonny asked. "She keeps asking me where you are."

"I haven't spoken to her because I was protecting Elizabeth," Jason said. "Because you weren't. When I hadn't heard from her, even after you told me you'd seen her and she got the results back, I called her. And she told me the truth."

"She did?" his friend was surprised. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because I thought that being your friend, being your business partner would be motivation enough for you to clear my name. The way you said you would. I wanted to see if you would really do it. And you know what I realized? You just didn't care enough," he said with an angry sneer. "You'd rather toy with Ric, let him taunt us, raid our business knowing we wouldn't strike back, and you let him keep pushing and pushing. It was time to end it. You've let Ric get away with too much for too long."

"I call the shots around here," Sonny challenged.

"Not when it comes to my family," he refuted. "You gave up the right to tell me how to take care of my family when you proved that you would do nothing for them. When I talked to Elizabeth and she told me how you weren't around, how you weren't checking on her, how you weren't keeping an eye on Ric and letting him harass her and threaten her, that's when I knew I had to do what I had to do."

"Why didn't she come to me?" the older man asked. "If she had just said something."

"Why should she have to run to you when you promised me that you would take care of her, that you would look out for her?!" Jason barked. "You knew I didn't want to leave town because I wanted to find out the results. You knew that if the baby was mine that I would do everything I had to do to help Elizabeth. But as soon as you thought the baby was Lucky's you just didn't do anything. You never saw that your brother was following Elizabeth and harassing her. You never heard him telling Elizabeth that he would drop the charges against me if she promised to stay away from me and help him raise Molly when he got custody of her away from Alexis. You were too busy trying to get what you wanted to care about anybody else."

"Jason," Sonny tried.

"Shut up," he sliced his hand through the air. "I don't want to hear it. I gave you chances to do things, Sonny. I would ask about Elizabeth, ask if you'd seen her, hoping that would prod you into action and you'd see what a twisted person Ric really was and realize that you couldn't let him get away with it anymore. You'd told me not to kill him, and I tried to respect that. I thought that if you saw what he was doing to Elizabeth, then you'd do something. But you never did. You told me that she was fine, that you'd seen her in passing at the hospital or Kelly's or some other place, but you never stopped to talk to her."

He turned and stalked across the room, his hands fisted at his hips. "So that's when I planned. I was careful; it wasn't going to be like the garage. It wasn't going to be led by emotions or be sloppy, I was smart this time. I wanted to wait, but tonight I had to move. Elizabeth called me and told me that Ric found out the paternity results and was threatening to tell Lucky. So I had to do something."

"You killed him."

Jason wasn't going to apologize for it and said, "Yes. I did. And I'd do it again to protect Elizabeth."

"So...so what happens now?" Sonny asked. "In your grand plan?"

"Now, I leave and set things up for Elizabeth and Cameron to join me."

"Join you?" his friend puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that Elizabeth, the baby, and Cameron are leaving. And won't be coming back."

"You're going to set them up some place?" Sonny asked. "What about your baby? How will you see your baby?"

"I'll see my baby every day," Jason smiled. "Because I'm going to be with them."

"Jason?"

"Lucky's gone back on drugs," Jason said with disgust. The man was too weak to resist, despite all his promises to Elizabeth. It had killed her when she found out, found him on the docks one night making a buy, and then discovering that Mac kicked him off the force when he failed a drug test. "Elizabeth is divorcing him."

Rolling his neck to the side to relieve the tension that had built up during his talk with Sonny he continued on. "I've already begun making arrangements. She's packing up hers and Cameron's stuff, telling her grandmother she's putting it into storage. But I've hired men to take it, set it up for us. In a couple of days, she's going to tell everyone that she needs a break, that between the divorce and Lucky going back on the pills, the stress is just too much and she needs to get away for a little bit. She'll send Cameron ahead to the plane, I'll have a man guarding her and she's going to tell Lucky that he's not the father. She's not going to tell him I am, she's just going to say that she slept with someone and Lucky's not the father."

"People will know," Sonny pointed out.

"You, Carly, Sam, Emily and Nikolas," he agreed. "Someone will probably tell Lucky the truth, but by the time they do, Elizabeth, Cameron and I will be gone."

"So that's it?" Sonny asked. "You're just going to leave? Turn your back on us and walk away from the business?"

"I'm going to take care of my family," Jason vowed. "Just like I said I would. Nobody else is going to put Elizabeth and her children first; I'm the only one who will."

"Jason," Sonny's tone was slightly petulant, but Jason wasn't going to be swayed.

His friend had broken his promise, and Jason realized while he was gone that the only person he could rely on was himself. Nobody else would care as deeply as he did about the people most important to him, and nobody else would put his family first. Elizabeth, her children, they were what was important. He knew it would hurt Sam, and he was sorry for that, but he knew he couldn't turn his back on his child, and he wouldn't abandon Elizabeth.

"I'm sorry, Sonny," he said sadly. "But this is the only way I know that my family will be protected."

"You're really going to walk away?"

"For now," he said. "Maybe later we'll come back. If Elizabeth wants to. When my name gets cleared and I'm not a suspect in Ric's beating, or his disappearance."

"I'll do it this time," Sonny vowed.

"I hope so," Jason told him. "Because I've used your selfishness against you this time. If Ric's found, there will be enough circumstantial evidence on the body to make you a suspect. I figured the only way to get you properly motivated was to give you a good incentive. Keeping yourself out of jail should be enough."

He turned for the door, leaving the stunned older man standing in the middle of the room. At the terrace, he stopped and looked back at Sonny. "At least I hope it is. Otherwise I'll be back to take over the territory when you're sent to prison."

Elizabeth Spencer, hopefully soon to be Webber, thought she was going to be sick. And it wasn't just because she was pregnant. It was nerves that had her stomach twisted into a pretzel and caused bile to rise in her throat. Nerves that something would go wrong tonight and everything would fall apart.

"Soon, Little One," she murmured as she caressed the slight swell of her stomach where her baby resided. "Soon."

So far, things had gone according to plan, but at each step Elizabeth feared and waited for the proverbial shoe to drop. She had packed up hers and Cameron's belongings from the apartment she'd shared with Lucky. Even though she hadn't lived there in months, there still had been things left behind and before she left town, she was going to make sure she had everything out. Nikolas had come along with her, providing her some bit of a buffer should Lucky show up unexpectedly. Now that he was kicked off the force she never knew what his schedule would be like. Emily and Cruz tried to help out, by inviting him to meet them somewhere, but Lucky was reluctant to make plans with them.

He was too busy trying to pretend he didn't have a drug habit again, and when he wasn't doing that, he was trying to score pills. Maxie Jones was a constant appendage at his side, despite Mac's vocal disapproval, and Elizabeth wasn't sure where exactly they were living although she suspected it was mostly in Maxie's room above Kelly's. But given that neither one of them had a job, and Lucky was spending what little money he did have on drugs, it wouldn't be long before they were kicked out of there. Nikolas refused to give his brother money unless Lucky went back into rehab, and Mac promised he'd help Maxie out, as long as she left Lucky. With the whole world against them, the messed up pair was banding together resolutely.

It pained Elizabeth to see what had become of the boy she had once loved, but she knew there was nothing she could do now. She had tried to save him, had let him believe another man's baby was his own all to give him a reason to go to rehab and get better. She had sent her son away and tried to help him go through detox on his own, only to have him continually lie to her. She had tried to support him through rehab without giving him too much false hope, even though his entire family, save Nikolas, expected her to just welcome him back with open arms because she was his wife. Never mind what he'd done to her, she owed it to him. The Spencers were there own brand of crazy narcissism and she refused to be bullied by it any longer.

Let them help Lucky out, or let him flounder. She couldn't save him. Not this time. Not when she had two children she needed to focus on. She just couldn't do what everyone expected of her. Besides, there was Jason to consider.

He hadn't told her what happened with Ric, but she had a pretty good idea. He was missing, hadn't been to the D.A.'s office, hadn't been seen at home, hadn't been seen anywhere, in days. Ever since the night Elizabeth had called Jason in frantic desperation and said that Ric had come to her with the knowledge he'd hacked into the DNA lab's computer system and had found out that Jason was the father of her child. He threatened to tell everyone, and would never drop the charges of attempted murder against Jason, if she didn't agree to get back together with him and let him raise the baby. She'd claimed she needed a little time to think about it and confident that she would eventually see reason and capitulate, he agreed.

Instead, she called Jason and told him everything that had happened since they last spoke. His voice had gone hard as flint, a lethal sharpness entering it and she knew Jason would take care of it. While once it might have bothered her to in essence condemn another man to death, she was not going to let Ric have that kind of power over her or Jason. She was not going to let Ric anywhere near her or her children again. And she didn't particularly care what Jason had to do to ensure their safety.

So when Jason told her that she and Cameron were going to have to leave town and let everyone think it was just a vacation, she'd agreed. She'd requested vacation time at the hospital. Epiphany had immediately agreed and gone to bat for her, pushing through the request by getting Kelly Lee to say that she needed it for the health of her pregnancy and child. Her grandmother thought she was just packing up belongings and moving it into storage simply for easing the clutter that was spread out everywhere. And since she and Cameron were going on vacation, over-packing the majority of their clothes didn't really raise her suspicions.

Everything had worked out well so far, but still she worried. She felt that any moment someone was going to question the timing of her vacation and Ric's disappearance. People were wondering whether Jason had snuck back into town and finished the job he'd started in the Harbor View's garage, but there was no proof of anything. The cops immediately suspected him, but given the overwhelming lack of evidence, they could do nothing more than bluster around wasting energy and tax payer's money.

Jason's friends were protesting his innocence, but that wasn't entirely new. Carly would always defend anyone attempting to slander her best friend. Sonny would always claim he didn't know where Jason was and would assure everyone Jason had done nothing wrong. Sam...Sam was more of a wildcard now. She was living with her mother and sisters, but she was making a lot of noise over the fact that Jason hadn't contacted her. He hadn't told her he was going out of town, he hadn't called her, and she was alternating between stalwartly believing he'd come back to her soon, and accusing Alexis of ruining her life by not helping her clear Jason's name because the older woman wanted Jason to have to stay away. Nobody really thought to ask if Elizabeth knew.

And that worked perfectly into Jason and her plans. Nobody really questioned why Elizabeth wanted to leave town for a little while. Lucky's drug use was by now common knowledge, and so was his ongoing affair with Maxie Jones as well as the teenager's pregnancy. Everyone knew Lucky had been fired from the police force. They also knew, thanks to Lucky's visits to the hospital while strung out, that he was refusing to grant her a divorce. He claimed that eventually she'd forgive him and they'd raise their baby together, so he wasn't going to sign the papers.

Lucky was just certain that the baby would eventually make Elizabeth change her mind. Which was why Elizabeth was meeting him tonight before she left. She could no longer let him believe a lie. Plus, she didn't want him to create troubles for her and the children, by looking for her like Lorenzo Alcazar was searching for Skye and insisting he had a right to do so because she was carrying his child. She didn't relish the thought of hurting Lucky, despite all the pain he'd recently put her through, but she had to make this break.

Some people would figure out the truth regarding the baby when Lucky inevitably, and unwittingly, filled them in. She didn't expect him to believe it right away, she figured he'd wonder who the father was. He might even go so far as to confront Patrick Drake. A part of her wondered if she should warn the man who had been kind and supportive towards her when she found out about Lucky's addiction, but she knew he'd be able to hold his own against Lucky. Besides, warning him might inadvertently tip off someone else before she was out of town, and she just wasn't going to take that chance. There were people who might tell Lucky the truth, and therefore make it common knowledge, but what happened after she left town...well, she just couldn't worry about it anymore.

"Elizabeth."

Lucky called out to her as he came around the bend of the park's path and she looked up. The guard Jason had assigned to her was camouflaged among the trees out of sight, but she liked knowing he was there. Especially when she could tell by Lucky's unsteady gait that he was under the influence.

As he approached her, his face broke out into a smile that made his glazed eyes appear a bit desperate. He stopped when she held out her hands, afraid that he might try to hug her or something, and frowned briefly before allowing the smile to once again claim its position. "I knew you'd call me."

"It's not what you think, Lucky," she shook her head. "I'm leaving town tonight and I wanted to talk to you before I left."

"Leaving?" he asked with a frown. "You can't leave. What about the baby?"

"I'm leaving for the baby," she told him sharply. "Kelly says I need to get away for a little while and relax. I've been working too many hours, I've been under too much stress, and my blood pressure is up. I need to take care of myself."

"I'll take care of you, Elizabeth," he swore, sounding like Cameron when her little boy promised that he'd pick up his toys later if only she'd let him play now.

"You can't even take care of yourself, Lucky," she shook her head as tears filled her eyes. It pained her to see the state he was in.

"But I'll get cleaned up; I swear it this time. I'll get clean for you and this baby. I can get through anything as long as I know you're going to be there."

"I won't be there, Lucky," she informed him, her voice gentling. "I can't. I can't be your reason for getting better. You have to want it for yourself, and you don't. You'll promise and you'll break the promises and then look for more pills to drown your guilt. I can't live like that, Lucky. I won't. That's why I want the divorce. Please just sign the papers."

"No," he vigorously shook his head. "I'm not letting you go, Elizabeth. I'm not letting this baby go."

Elizabeth sighed and squared her shoulders, shoring herself up for the moment that had come. "This isn't your baby."

Lucky's head snapped back slightly and he looked at her, blinking in confusion. "What?"

"This isn't your baby," she repeated, her words growing stronger as she finally gave voice to the truth.

"What do you mean?!"

Elizabeth took a step away from him, her arms crossing in front of her. "I mean just that, Lucky. The night I found you and Maxie together, again, in our bed, in our home...I slept with someone else. This is his baby."

He was shaking his head in denial and for every step he took forward, she retreated one step. He'd already thrown her down once and shot at her another time while he was high; she wasn't going to get close to him. She knew Jason's guard would step in if it got too much, but she wanted to get out of town without Lucky automatically knowing it was Jason.

"You're lying."

"No," she shook her head. "I...I did a paternity test because I didn't know."

"I didn't take a test," he denied desperately.

"I didn't need you to. He gave a DNA sample and either he matched, or he wouldn't, and then I'd know. He matched." She placed her hand on her stomach. "This baby is his. That's why I won't be here for you, and you can't get sober for this baby, Lucky. You have to do it for yourself, or for Maxie's baby. But I can't save you."

She reached into her purse and pulled out the divorce papers, "So will you please sign the papers? Just let it be over with, Lucky."

"No!" he shouted. "You're lying. I want a new test. I want to see it. This...you're just trying to punish me. You'll say anything to get what you want, but it's not..."

He paused and looked at her, his eyes hardening and she took another step back on the path. "You cheated on me. All that time you were mad at me for Maxie and you did the same thing. You've been cheating on me all this time with Patrick, and every time I confronted you, you denied it. You lied to me. You've been with him for months, haven't you?"

"It's not Patrick," was all she said. "I didn't sleep with anybody until I saw you with Maxie, again."

Elizabeth took another step back, and was relieved when Lucky didn't advance after her. "I'm leaving town, Lucky. Please sign the papers while I'm gone."

Then she turned and fled from the park while Lucky seemed rooted to the spot in stunned disbelief. Her hands were shaking as she reached the entrance and her stomach was tied in knots and she wasn't sure how she was still standing, but she forced herself to keep going, not stopping until she reached the cab that was waiting for her, driven by one of Jason's men. The driver was standing by the side of the car and the moment he saw her, he opened the door for her and took her elbow to help her inside. Weary, exhausted, but also relieved, she slumped back against the cushions as the car pulled away from the curb and headed towards the airport where Jason was waiting with Cameron on a plane.

She didn't know what was going to happen now, but Elizabeth was relieved the truth was finally out.

Nikolas looked up in surprise when Lucky stumbled through the doorway of the study the morning after. Lucky had meant to come here last night, but after Elizabeth left him standing in the park, he had wandered in a stunned haze until he found himself on the docks. He waited until he saw his dealer and then bought a few pills to take the edge off the pain that had settled into his heart and soul. He didn't remember walking back to Kelly's, but he'd woken up this morning in bed, naked, next to Maxie who had been only too happy to see him. After taking solace in her comfort, he remembered what had transpired the night before and untangled himself from the twisted sheets and forced himself out of bed.

Maxie hadn't been too happy when he told her where he was going and why, she claimed that she knew Elizabeth wasn't the perfect little angel everyone made her out to be and it wasn't any surprise to her that Elizabeth wasn't pregnant with Lucky's child. After all, she didn't love him the way Maxie did. She insisted that the baby had to be Patrick's because friends didn't act the way that Patrick and Elizabeth did, and Elizabeth was just lying to Lucky so as to spare the father of her baby. She encouraged Lucky to just forget about Elizabeth and her bastard child and focus on her and their child.

But Lucky had left anyways, and made it over on the launch to see his brother. He believed Elizabeth was lying, but not about Patrick not being the father. She was lying about him not being the father. He didn't doubt that Elizabeth had been unfaithful to him, but he knew he was the father of the baby she was carrying. And she was lying just to try to get him to sign the divorce papers. Well, he wasn't going to do it. He wasn't going to let her go, not now, and especially not when she was carrying his baby.

"Lucky," Nikolas stood from his desk and stepped towards him. "What's wrong?"

"Elizabeth left last night," he told his brother. "You've got to help me."

"Elizabeth went on vacation," Nikolas said, his voice not concerned at all. "I can't say that I blame her."

"You don't blame her?!"

Unfazed by Lucky's yelling, his brother shook his head. "She's been under a lot of stress. She's been working double shifts to pay off your hospital bills, and then after this summer with your pills and Maxie constantly getting in her face every time Elizabeth turns around, she needs to get away. Emily told me Dr. Lee ordered her to take some time off to take care of herself and the baby because Elizabeth's blood pressure was too high and you know that's not good for the baby."

"You don't understand," Lucky ground out. "She left me."

"Lucky, you've been living with Maxie Jones for weeks."

"She said the baby wasn't mine."

That made Nikolas pause. "She said that?"

"Yes," he said, relieved to finally be getting through to his brother. "She claimed I wasn't the father just so that I would sign the divorce papers. Said she'd been with another man the night she saw me and Maxie together and it was his. She claimed it wasn't Patrick, and she wouldn't tell me who it was, so that means she's lying. The baby is mine and she's trying to make me believe it's not."

He shook his head wildly and declared emphatically, "Well, I'm not going to let her go. Not when she's having my baby. She'll forgive me, she always does and we'll get back together and be a family again. So you have to help me find her. Find out where she went on vacation so I can go and talk to her. Help me sue for custody of the baby so that she has to come back. Anything, Nikolas, I'm asking for your help."

Nikolas was quiet for a moment and then crossed his arms over his chest. "How many pills have you had today, Lucky?"

"I'm not high!" he declared, "I don't have a drug problem. I have pain, and the pills help. Why doesn't anyone understand that?!"

"Lucky," his brother shook his head in patronizing disdain, "you need help. But not with Elizabeth. You need to get sober and take care of your baby with Maxie. If Elizabeth says that the baby isn't yours-"

"What?!"

Both men turned to see Sam framed in the doorway, one hand pressed against her stomach in stunned pain. "What did you say?"

"Elizabeth is lying to me, saying that the baby isn't mine so that I'll sign the divorce papers. I need Nikolas to help me fight her."

"I don't believe her," Sam seethed. "She...how dare she!"

"Sam," Nikolas shook his head, his voice full of warning. "Maybe you can come back later and we can talk about whatever it is that you need."

"Oh no," she shook her head vehemently. "I don't think so. She's going around claiming she's having Jason's baby just so that Lucky will divorce her. Well, I know she's lying, Carly told me Elizabeth's baby wasn't Jason's and I'm not going to let her change her mind now that she knows what a loser your brother is. She knows that Jason will take care of her and that's what she's counting on."

Lucky's head was spinning as he listened to Sam, his ears ringing with words that he couldn't fully process. Jason? Sam believed the baby was Jason's and not Patrick? Elizabeth slept with Jason? She was claiming to have his baby?

"Do you mean that Jason seduced my wife?" he demanded. "When? The blackout? He took advantage of her and ruined our marriage?"

"He didn't take advantage of her," Sam denied. "She took advantage of him! She found Jason when he was vulnerable and she figured it was her perfect chance to get what she'd always wanted. She'd found her drugged out husband in bed with his barely legal mistress and she used it to her full advantage. And now, oh-so-conveniently, she's claiming to be pregnant with his baby. Well, I won't let her."

"She took advantage of him?" Lucky scoffed. "Jason has always been after Elizabeth. First when she was my girlfriend, and now when she was my wife. And wait..."

Lucky had a moment of clarity, his anger chasing away the fog of the pills. "The night of the blackout. You slept with Ric that night."

"What?" Nikolas asked.

"I overheard Ric and Alexis fighting at the station the other day in his office. They were arguing about the charges against Jason and custody of Molly and Alexis said that no judge in town would give him custody when they heard how he'd slept with his adult step-daughter in the living room of the house where little children played."

"You slept with Ric?" Nikolas demanded of Sam, his princely anger surfacing. "Did Jason know before or after he slept with Elizabeth?"

Sam looked down and shook her head, but Nikolas stepped forward and demanded she answer the question. "Before," she burst out. "He saw me."

"So that's why you and Jason were in a bad place?" he asked with scoffing scorn. "You forgot to mention that, Sam, when you came over here whining about the fact that Jason and Elizabeth slept together and she could be pregnant with his child."

"You knew?" Lucky demanded angrily of his brother. "You knew she'd slept with Jason and you didn't tell me?"

"You were promising to go to NarcAnon meetings," Nikolas said dismissively, still focusing his anger on Sam. "You didn't tell me you'd slept with my aunt's husband, Sam. No, you just wanted a pity party for yourself. Did you even think about your sisters and how you were ruining, how you've ruined, their lives?"

"Nikolas," she tried to plead with him, but he wouldn't listen to her.

"Get out. Get out, Sam. Whatever it is you need, it will have to wait, or you'll have to find someone else to help you. I need to help my brother, and then I need to help my aunt."

Sam fled the room, her wounded sobs trailing behind her, and Lucky watched her go before turning his wrathful gaze back on his brother. "You knew?!"

"You were sleeping with Maxie and using pills," he countered angrily. "You shoved Elizabeth down and then shot at her. Don't act like you have the moral high ground here, Lucky. And if Elizabeth said the baby isn't yours, then I'm inclined to believe her. I actually think it's a good thing you aren't the father, because look at you. So, no, I won't help you look for Elizabeth. Go to your father...and ask for help from that stellar example of parental involvement."

"I will," Lucky declared emphatically. "Thanks for the help, brother."

He walked out of the study and down the hall towards the outside. He'd ask his father, but first, he decided when his fingers encountered the empty pill bag, he just needed to make a quick stop.

"Where's Jason?"

Sonny looked up when he heard the front door of his home slam open and Sam's voice call out before he even saw her. She stormed into the living room, coming to a stop when she saw him sitting at his desk and demanded, "Where is he?"

"Jason?" he asked, taking note of her hands fisted against her hips and her eyes sparking with fury. "What happened?"

"Where is he, Sonny? I know you have to know where he is, I'm sure he's talked to you. Of course, he never called me, but I'm sure he's called you."

"I've spoken to him," he confirmed with a dip of his head. Five nights ago in this very living room in fact, but he wasn't about to give Sam that information. Something had made her angry, and while he had his suspicions, he was going to wait for her to explain it all.

"Yeah. He's probably spoken with Elizabeth too," she said with a sneer. "Talk to the slut who's having his baby, but doesn't call his girlfriend."

Sam stalked further into the room, angrily pacing behind the couch. "Elizabeth took off, supposedly on vacation because she needed to take it easy. But she's with Jason, I know she is. She told Lucky the baby wasn't his, but didn't say whose it actually was. I heard him and Nikolas talking and I told him. If his tramp of a wife is going to try to steal my boyfriend, then I figured he should know the truth."

"Sam," he cautioned her as he stood and walked around his desk. "Tread very carefully. If you do something that endangers Elizabeth or her children, do you really think Jason is going to forgive you for that?"

Laughing bitterly, she flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Jason's not going to forgive me. He may have claimed he was going to try to forgive me, but he wasn't. He was only biding his time until he could have his perfect little Elizabeth. And now that she's claiming she's having his baby, he's never going to forgive me. After all, why forgive the woman who slept with her stepfather and his worst enemy, when he can have a baby with the woman whose been chasing after him for years."

She slumped down onto the couch and right on cue, her eyes filled up with tears. She was getting very predictable lately, including overlooking the fact that the only reason Jason slept with Elizabeth was because he'd seen Sam sleeping with Ric. He knew he'd pressed Jason to try to forgive Sam, but now...now he was beginning to see, and accept, Jason's side of things. He had found it very hard to forgive Carly for sleeping with Alcazar, and sometimes it was still something he struggled against. Sam had slept with Ric to deliberately hurt Jason and Alexis.

"I love him so much, Sonny," she said, peeking up at him. "I know I made a mistake and I was willing to forgive him for his as well, but he...it was like he didn't want to. And he never called when he left town...now I know why."

"He didn't want to put you in a position to have to lie for him, Sam," Sonny offered, but the excuse was hollow and they both knew it. "Because of your connection to Alexis and Ric."

"I've done that before," she shook her head. "He didn't call because he was focused on Elizabeth. He had everything he wanted and I wasn't needed anymore. It was easier to just toss me aside while he was out of town than it was to say anything."

Sonny remained quiet as he ran a hand over his face. He knew there was nothing he could say to Sam that wouldn't upset her, or cause potential problems with Jason and Elizabeth. After not doing right by his friend before, he wasn't going to ruin things for him now. He'd give Jason plenty of time to cover Elizabeth and Cameron's disappearance and set them all up somewhere. He believed Jason should have called Sam, but he also understood why the younger man hadn't. Sam wouldn't have kept quiet if he'd told her the truth about Elizabeth and the baby and that they were leaving. So far there was only speculation about why Ric wasn't around; Sam running her mouth off because she was hurt about Elizabeth's baby and Jason leaving her would only make the situation worse.

He knew that with Lucky Spencer knowing the truth now, word would get around. And he didn't believe for a moment that Sam would keep quiet either, she'd cry long and loud to anyone who would listen how Jason had wronged her and it was all Elizabeth's fault. Enough noise being made could cause the police to look a little deeper into Ric's disappearance and it could lead them to Jason, or to Sonny. If Jason did, indeed, do what he'd claimed, Sonny's own neck could be on the line. He wouldn't be sympathetic towards anyone who caused more problems for him.

"So I need to talk to him," Sam begged. "Please, Sonny, I have to talk to him. I need to convince him that just because Elizabeth is having his baby, that he doesn't have to leave me."

"Sam," he said, "If Jason leaves you, it won't be just because of Elizabeth's baby. Maybe he just can't get over how you betrayed him with Ric."

"I should have known you'd turn on me too," she lashed out at him. "You and Jason will always stick together and I'll be left out in the cold."

She stormed from the room as angrily as she'd blown in, and Sonny sighed, wishing for a drink but settling for a bottle of water instead. Then, he picked up his cell phone and dialed Jason's number. It went straight to voicemail, as it had done ever since he'd left town.

"Jason," he sighed into the phone. "I just thought you should know that Lucky Spencer knows about you and Elizabeth and you being the father. Sam informed him, and she stopped by here wanting me to put her in contact with you. She left when I refused."

He rubbed his forehead and sighed once more. "The police are wondering where Ric went, but so far there's nothing solid. I'm still working on things here...this time I really am. And I'll call you as soon as anything changes."

Then Sonny hung up and rolled his neck in discouragement. It was true that he was working on things, but unfortunately he wasn't having much luck.

Cameron Webber was definitely his mother's son.

It wasn't so much the destination that mattered to him, as the process of getting there. He had been enthralled when the limo stopped at the airport and the bodyguard who had ridden in the back with him so he wouldn't be scared, opened the door. When he saw Jason climb inside to unbuckle his car seat, his awed wonder at the big car faded into delight at seeing his mommy's friend. He had seen the little boy once since he and Elizabeth had made plans to leave Port Charles, just so that he wouldn't be frightened when she didn't accompany him to the airport, and because Jason was the only person the little boy knew in a sea of new faces, he'd clung to him tightly. Cameron refused to be put down, and truth be told, Jason didn't want to set him down; he carried him with him onto the airplane and then held him while talking to the pilots.

They'd then had to wait for Elizabeth to arrive. It had been hard for Jason because he couldn't help worrying that Lucky wouldn't take the news well. He knew Elizabeth had a guard watching her, but until Elizabeth walked up the stairs onto the plane and scooped Cameron up into a crushing hug, Jason didn't breathe easy. And even then, he was tense. The talk with Lucky had not gone well, it was evident in Elizabeth's body language and her wary, tired eyes; she wouldn't say anything, though. Not in front of Cameron.

So Jason had turned his focus to the little boy and answered all the questions he had about their trip. He played cars and motorcycles with Cameron, stretching out on the floor of the airplane and letting his legs be used as ramps and jumps. Elizabeth sat on the couch behind them, and when Jason would look back inquiringly at her, he could see liquid emotion filling her eyes until she would look down. Distracting Cameron wasn't nearly distracting enough for Jason and he'd never been so impatient for a flight to be over in his life. The sooner they got to where they were going, the sooner the little boy could go to bed, and then he and Elizabeth could talk.

It was great in theory. In reality, Elizabeth fell asleep on the plane and had been difficult to awake. Jason would have let her rest, but Cameron was unsettled by the change of environment and he knew that the little boy needed his mother, and Elizabeth would insist that he wake her. Bleary-eyed they arrived at their destination, and Jason assisted Elizabeth in getting Cameron ready for bed. The little boy fell asleep rather easily, but only after eliciting a promise from his mother that she would stay with him. Jason knew that he couldn't be selfish; and so their talk was postponed.

He was up early the next morning, following his usual habit of rising with the sun. He wandered around the house quietly, feeling restless and striving for patience. He thought about calling Sonny, but refrained. He didn't want to inadvertently tip anyone off to where they were, especially since he didn't know how long until Lucky or Sam found out the truth about the baby and then started searching for Elizabeth or him. Contact with Port Charles had to be sporadic, despite the best of technology he and Sonny paid for. Besides, Jason wasn't entirely sure of what to say to the man he had considered his friend, but yet hadn't helped him like Jason had thought he would. He needed time to sort through his hurt and his anger, and he also planned to focus on Elizabeth and Cameron.

Once mother and son awoke, the day was filled with activities and talking that centered around the little boy. He was confused as to why they'd left and wouldn't be going back to see their friends and family. Elizabeth told him that the baby she was carrying, his little brother or sister, wasn't Lucky's, but was Jason's. It hadn't made sense really, and Elizabeth had sidestepped issues as to whether Lucky or Jason was Cameron's father now, and Jason had done his best to help ease the tension and confusion of the day. He took Cameron for a walk and played with him outside, they went out for lunch and ordered dinner in and Jason didn't push to include himself in the boy's life, but he wanted Elizabeth's son to know that he was there and that he liked him and not just the new baby. By the end of the day he wasn't sure whether he had succeeded or not, but he also told himself that it was too soon to declare failure.

"Jason?"

He turned at the sound of Elizabeth's voice and smiled as she stepped outside onto the porch that wrapped around the house. She had pulled a light sweater on to ward against the early morning chill and she rubbed her hands lightly over her arms.

"Hey," he smiled at her. "Is Cameron up?"

"He's still asleep," she shook her head and a wistful smile floated across her face. "I think you wore him out yesterday with all your playing. Thank you for helping out with him."

"He's a good kid, Elizabeth," he told her as she stepped up to the railing beside him and leaned her hip against it. "I know this is confusing for him and I just want to help make him feel comfortable."

"I know," she sighed as she crossed her arms over her chest and looked out into the yard. "I feel bad that he's so confused. Lucky...Lucky was the only father he knew, and he didn't understand why I had to send him to my grandmother's and then why we weren't living with Lucky. And he doesn't understand that this is your baby and not Lucky's and I just...I don't know what to say to him."

Jason reached out and softly brought his hand to rest on Elizabeth's shoulder, lightly comforting her. "I know. It's not easy right now, but kids are resilient. They adapt to change easier than we do. Michael doesn't remember the time he spent with me or A.J., all he remembers is Sonny being his father. Cameron's older, but he'll adjust."

"I hope so," she breathed out as she stepped closer to him and rested her head against his chest. "I don't want to hurt him by this."

"You won't," he told her, certainty filling his voice. "Because you love him and he knows that, he feels that every time you're near him. You'll help him get through this, and I'll try to help him as well."

She looked up at him briefly, her eyes shimmering with tears in the morning, "Thank you, Jason. For everything. For contacting me even though Sonny didn't tell you to, for looking out for me and the baby when Ric was coming around, and for getting Cameron and I to a safe place. I am so glad that I didn't have to do this on my own."

Anger burned low in Jason's gut; fury over Sonny not fulfilling his promise and leaving her vulnerable when she'd needed help the most. But it was hard to keep that feeling when Elizabeth was standing next to him with her arm around him. Everything felt so right at the moment that he hated to shatter it, but he wanted to get everything out in the open so that they could put it behind them and start moving forward.

"How...how did your meeting go with Lucky?"

She stiffened and he tried not to mirror the action, instead he forced himself to focus on smoothing his hand over her back.

"I knew it wasn't going to go well, and it didn't," she admitted sadly. "He...he's living with Maxie, he's back on pills and he thinks that I would eventually take him back, just because he thought I was having his baby. And I guess...I guess that's my fault because I always do seem to go back to him. But I just, how can he think that I would agree to stay married to him while he was living with another woman and taking drugs, even if this child had been his?"

"He wouldn't sign the divorce papers?"

"No," she shook her head against his chest. "He said I'd take him back, that we'd work things out. He wasn't going to let me or our baby go. So that's when I told him the baby wasn't his."

"How did he respond?" Jason asked quietly, almost afraid of what her answer would be.

"He accused me of lying, of saying anything to try to get him to sign the papers." She sighed softly and stepped back, slipping out of his arms. Jason didn't want to let her go, he wanted to keep her close, but he kept his hands at his side and just watched her. Once more her arms wound protectively around herself and she wouldn't look directly at him as she continued. "Then he got angry. Accused me of sleeping with Patrick all this time. He...I could tell Lucky had taken pills before he arrived in the park and all I wanted to do was try to convince him to sign the papers and when he wouldn't do that, I just wanted to leave. He isn't the person I thought he was and I've known that for a while, but it..."

She trailed off and shrugged. "It's hard to see that, and to accept that. I thought I could help him; do for him what he once did for me. But I realized I can't do that. I wasn't being fair to myself and I especially wasn't being fair to Cameron or this baby."

She turned to face him, her eyes soft and filled with sorrow and compassion, "I also wasn't being fair to you. This is your baby and I can't believe I once thought that this baby could save Lucky, that it would hurt him to find out the truth. He has to want to save himself and he doesn't, and there's nothing I can do about that."

Jason didn't want to hear about Lucky, but he knew that Lucky was a part of Elizabeth's life. Just like Sonny and Carly would always be a part of his life, even though they hurt him in the past. Elizabeth didn't always like them, but she kept it to herself; he needed to do the same thing right now. Walking up to her, he put his hand on her back and was relieved when she sighed in relief and then stepped back against him.

"So I just wonder how long until the truth comes out," Elizabeth mused, "and what everyone's response to it will be. Like...like Sam's."

Jason swallowed and closed his eyes, then released a tired sigh. "She'll be hurt."

"I'm sorry, Jason," she whispered.

"I am, too," he admitted. "I didn't want to hurt her; I never did. But sometimes things can't be helped. I had to protect you and the baby from Ric. I thought I could rely on Sonny to do that, but when I saw that he wasn't doing what he promised, I knew that I had to act."

"Do you regret it?"

He peered down at the top of her head in confusion. "Regret it? Ric?"

She shook her head. "Not being able to tell Sam? Do...do you wish that you had? Or do you-"

"Elizabeth," he stopped her. "In a perfect world, I would have told her myself. But it didn't happen, and I can only guess how she'll respond. I didn't call her while I was out of town and Sonny told me she was upset. I didn't know what to say to her because she would have wanted me to come back, or try to see her, or find a way for her to see me, and I...I couldn't deal with that. I couldn't think about that; I knew this was my baby and I had to protect the two of you and Cameron. I wouldn't be able to give her what she wanted, and I can't do that now."

"I'm sorry that I ruined things for you, Jason. I never wanted that."

"I know," he assured her.

It was why she hadn't said anything about the baby possibly being his until he'd asked her. It was why she hadn't said anything to Sonny. It was why she had insisted that she would raise Cameron and this baby as a single mother and wouldn't expect anything from him. If Ric hadn't started making unwelcome overtures and then found out the paternity, thereby forcing Jason to act, he had a feeling Elizabeth would have continued to say that she didn't expect anything from him so as not to mess up his life with Sam.

But as Jason had been away from Port Charles and had too much time on his hands and was forced to think about the situation, he came to the realization that he didn't want to be a part-time parent to his child. He especially didn't want to watch Lucky claim his child. Thankfully he would not have to find out what his response would have been if Elizabeth had asked him to let Lucky continue to believe he was the baby's father. Jason wanted to be a father to this child, in all ways. He wanted to provide for it, as well as Cameron and Elizabeth. He wanted to be involved in the pregnancy, and then after the baby was born. He wanted to read stories, change diapers, give baths and feed the baby bottles. He knew Elizabeth would let him do that, but Jason had found himself wanting to be so much more than just a father; he wanted them all to be a family. The four of them. He wanted to show Cameron just how much loved the little boy because he was a part of Elizabeth. He wanted to show Elizabeth how much he cared about her. He didn't know if it was love, if what he did feel for Elizabeth could turn into love, or what exactly would happen.

He just knew, with everything inside him, that he wanted the opportunity to find out. He had told Elizabeth he would marry her, whether the baby was his or not, and she'd turned him down. But not before she'd asked what they'd be, roommates, lovers, co-parents? He didn't have all the answers, or maybe they just weren't the ones Elizabeth wanted to hear right away, but he hoped she would listen to him and give him the chance to find a way that made this work for all of them. Because Jason wanted that more than he'd ever wanted anything in his life.

At 7:15 PM, three weeks after she and Cameron had left Port Charles to join Jason, Elizabeth Webber's heart broke a little bit more. Day after day, watching the way Jason interacted with her and her son, her heart had ached and it felt like a hole was slowly growing, but on that day, it all became a little bit more. The pain a little more sharp. They had all finished eating dinner together, as they did every night, and she was not looking forward to cleaning Cameron up. She had made spaghetti, one of the things she could cook without fearing for the house or their digestive systems, and her little boy had dove in to one of his favorite dishes. Cameron didn't eat spaghetti with a fork; he ate it with both hands. Which meant that it got everywhere.

His hands, face, hair, clothes...everything was covered with the extra sauce he insisted he had to have. Spaghetti night always meant bath time followed immediately afterwards, which was why she hadn't wanted to make the pasta tonight. She simply wasn't feeling up to it. She was tired, and her feet were sore from having been on them a good portion of the day, and all she wanted to do that evening was have dinner and then relax. Not have to wrangle one very active preschooler into his bath.

But Cameron had begged, complete with his puppy dog eyes, and she couldn't deny her little boy. Anymore than she'd been able to deny him earlier in the day when he insisted that they had to go out and get a Christmas tree because the holiday was only a couple of weeks away. They had to have a tree so he could put up his baby ornament that she'd bought the year he was born, just like he would have to put up his stocking on Christmas Eve so Santa would know where they were living now. He'd been so excited and so eager that she hadn't been able to say no. Despite the fact that she felt a little nauseous after taking her glucose test that morning at the lab and she just wanted to take it easy for the rest of the day, she'd slipped her coat back on and headed back out the door with Cameron and Jason in tow.

They'd scoured lot after lot of pine trees in the city because Cameron would declare he hadn't found the right one yet. Even when Jason tried to talk the little boy into getting a tree, he would stubbornly refuse to concede, and on they would go. Jason offered to continue the quest with Cameron on his own and allow her to go back to the house, but her little boy insisted she had to be there. In the end, they went back to the first lot they visited and Cameron proved he was her son when he passed up the blue spruces and Douglas firs that were tall and full and perfect, and picked a straggly, little tree in the corner because it needed them to take it home and make it happy.

Jason had laughed, Elizabeth had cried, and the tree had gone home with them; in an eerie echo of the first Christmas she and Jason had spent together. Cameron didn't understand their reactions, all he knew was they had a tree and they had to make sure to get all the boxes with their decorations out of the attic and decorate it. And so they had. Jason had strung lights, helped Cameron place the decorations and it all had been done under Elizabeth's watchful gaze from the couch. Because Jason had finally overrode her son and insisted that she sit down and put her feet up to rest.

But when dinner time came, her son had once again proved stubborn. He insisted that he wanted spaghetti for dinner and Mommy had to make it, because she made the sauce right. Jason didn't know how to make their sauce. He could watch and learn, but this time Mommy had to do it. Feeling guilty that she hadn't helped out more during the decorating time, Elizabeth had told Jason she was fine and she could do it, even though she really hadn't quite felt up to it. He was already doing enough for them, the least she could do was cook dinner for them once in a while. Especially since it was one of Cameron's favorites.

She did teach Jason the secrets of her sauce; Cameron would eat zucchini and squash if it was cut up into small enough pieces and cooked into the sauce. It was one of the few ways she'd been able to get him to eat his vegetables, because French Fries didn't really count. When Jason praised her on her ingenuity she blushed and shook her head; the credit went to her grandmother who told her that was the only way Elizabeth's own parents had been able to get her to eat her vegetables. But he shook his head and said that she may have gotten the idea from someone else, but she had learned what Cameron would and would not eat, because she knew her son. And she would be the same way with their child.

When he said things like that, it made her heart ache. Because it seemed so natural, so easy, and it was everything Elizabeth found herself wanting. But she knew that she couldn't let herself get swayed into believing things that really weren't there. They were all existing in a bubble, isolated from the world, and so because something seemed one way didn't really mean it was reality. Jason hadn't chosen to be with her and raise their child together along with Cameron. He'd been forced to because Ric had threatened her and the baby. He'd been forced to abandon Sam, the woman he loved and wanted to build a family with, and had been thrown into this situation with her. Of course he wouldn't leave Elizabeth alone to fend for herself, she was carrying his baby and Jason always was responsible and took care of people. But that didn't mean he was always happy with the situation, even if he tried to act like he was.

She hated herself for warming to this cozy home life, and wishing that it were real in all aspects, because she knew that it wasn't really fair to Jason. This was what she had been afraid of from the beginning when she learned she was pregnant and Jason had used Enduros. If he turned out to be the father, he would turn his life upside down like he had to done to help Carly and Michael, because he was a good and responsible man. But it wouldn't have been the life he would have chosen for himself. The life he wanted was with Sam. He wanted a family with her, not Elizabeth. And while at times she felt a little jealous about that fact, more than anything, Elizabeth wanted Jason to be happy. He was her friend, he supported her, she supported him, she wanted him to be happy, and happiness was with Sam. When she'd read the paternity results, and Sonny was right there telling her that Jason wasn't ready to be a father and it was for the best that the baby was Lucky's, she'd briefly considered letting everyone believe the lie.

But she wouldn't do that to Jason. She knew how much he loved children, how it had killed him to give up Michael all those years ago, and she would not be responsible for keeping him away from his child. While she would never regret the night she spent with Jason or that he was the father of her child, she did regret that she had messed up Jason's life that he was trying to rebuild with Sam. She felt somehow to blame for everything, even though she'd never asked him to do any of the things he did.

So that was why she went to bed and every night told herself to remember what the situation really was. Jason was noble, he was protective, and he would never abandon his child, but that didn't mean the situation was an idyllic Norman Rockwell painting. Jason was only here because of the baby, and because the situation in Port Charles was too dangerous for him to be there. If it wasn't, they would probably be back in town, and they'd be trying to work out a schedule that would accommodate Cameron, her, Jason and Sam. Jason wouldn't be around every night to fix dinner for them, or watch Cameron while she fixed dinner, he wouldn't be reading her son stories and putting him to bed when she was tired, he wouldn't be going to her doctor's appointments with her.

But that wasn't what had made that night so painful. It wasn't because when she'd looked at Cameron and cringed at the thought of getting him down the hall and into the bath without him smearing spaghetti sauce on the walls Jason had stepped up, picked up her little boy as if he weighed nothing at all and tossed him over his shoulder, not even caring that the sauce from Cameron's shirt had gotten onto his. It wasn't because when she stood and reached for the dinner plates Jason had fixed her with a pointed look and told her to leave them and go out into the living room to rest. He would take care of clean up after Cameron was done with his bath and in his pajamas. She'd fixed dinner; he would clean it up while she read her son his bedtime story. It hadn't been any of that which had lanced through her heart and made it ache with longing for this life to continue on always with Jason.

The pain had come from the large envelope that had been waiting on the couch for her. Jason stood paused in the doorway, with Cameron giggling at his side, and watched her pick it up. When she looked up questioningly, he merely nodded with resoluteness, and then disappeared down the hall. Elizabeth had been glad she was sitting down when she undid the metal clasp on the envelope and pulled the papers out which were residing inside. Divorce papers. Put together by a lawyer she didn't know and was sure she couldn't afford, new divorce papers had been served, Lucky had signed them, and they'd been processed with due diligence. She was no longer Elizabeth Spencer; she was once again Elizabeth Webber.

There was no doubt in her mind that Jason was responsible for this. He'd found the lawyer, he was responsible for persuading Lucky to change his mind, and he was reason it had been processed so quickly. He was why she was now totally, and finally free of Lucky. There would be no claims made to this baby, Lucky couldn't claim that his wife had abandoned him and taken their children; it was all over. And it was because of Jason.

And her heart broke with love for him that she knew could never be fulfilled. He would never love her the way she loved him, he would never long for her the way she ached for him with ever fiber of her being, and it killed her to know that she was living the life she wanted, but it wasn't really hers. It was all just an illusion built for the security of her unborn baby and a fantasy for her son. If she wanted, she could probably tell Jason she thought they should get married; for the sake of the baby. But she couldn't do that. Because she would love him, and he would consider her nothing more than his more than a friend who was having his baby. While her heart was breaking now, it would shatter completely if she wedded herself to an utter fantasy and lie.

That was why she was glad Jason hadn't brought up marriage again since they'd been here, and why she really hoped he didn't bring it up now. Now she would no longer have the excuse to hide behind that they couldn't get married because Lucky wouldn't give her a divorce. What excuse could she give them now? They were living together already. Cameron was certainly comfortable with Jason and enjoyed being around him. Jason seemed to adore her son and interacted with him in a way Lucky hadn't done in months, even before the pills. She knew that Jason would be a wonderful father once their child was born, so how could she come up with a plausible reason to say no when they seemed to be cohabitating wonderfully already? If he asked, she was afraid she might not be strong enough, for Jason's sake, to say no.

So all she could do was hope that Jason never brought up the subject again. Because she had no idea what she would say if he did. And she didn't think that her heart could afford for her to do something foolish like say yes.

It was hard for Sonny to admit this, but he was actually glad for Sam and her inability to be quiet. Since the day she'd blurted out the truth about Jason and Elizabeth's baby to Lucky, things had finally begun to turn around for him and his quest to clear Jason. The inept PCPD was too busy running around town putting out proverbial fires to actually focus on what he was doing.

They were still investigating Ric Lansing's disappearance, but they were also now distracted. Lucky and Luke Spencer were stirring up troubles on a weekly, if not daily basis, in trying to get back at either Elizabeth, Jason, the Quartermaines or Nikolas Cassadine. The Quartermaine family was alternating fighting off Luke Spencer and then searching for Elizabeth so they could welcome the Prodigal Son's baby into the family fold. Sam was spiraling out of control, sinking into a booze bottle and causing more trouble than she was worth for Alexis. Nikolas had washed his hands of both his cousin and his brother and was concentrating on supporting his aunt through her chemo. But because most everyone involved was a narcissist, nobody was willing to accept the fact that Elizabeth was gone and wasn't coming back and that the truth of the matter was, her baby was indeed Jason's.

General Hospital had filed charges against Luke and Lucky because they had attempted to break into Central Records, Kelly Lee's office and the hospital's computer system. Edward was trying to bully the police and the mayor into searching for the woman carrying his great-grandchild. And more than once, Sam had destroyed some dive down on the waterfront because she'd tried to drink her sorrows away.

This had left Sonny with the ability to quietly work behind the scenes to clear Jason's name for attacking Ric in the garage, and to make sure that nobody realized Ric was dead. Sonny didn't want to go to jail for that crime, and he was determined not to let Jason go away for it either. With the PCPD's attention pulled in multiple directions, Sonny had gone to work. With Bernie and Stan's assistance, they had created a false trail for Ric's whereabouts. His credit cards had been used in various places up and down the Atlantic Seaboard, and then in major cities across the U.S. Now he was currently making his way around Europe and pretty soon he'd move onto Latin America.

Sonny's lawyer Diane Miller had pushed for the case against Jason to be heard. A normally unprecedented move for them, but all part of his strategy. With Ric obsessively looking for Elizabeth - his renewed interest in her before her vacation was well-known around town - he didn't make the court dates for Jason's case. Without him, and without the flimsy evidence that Sonny had removed from the PCPD, it was pretty hard to try a case in abstentia and convict Jason. Diane was about to get the charges dismissed, and then Jason would be free to come home. Sonny would be able to tell his friend that he had come through this time and fulfilled his promise. He was looking forward to that day, because he didn't want Jason to try to turn up the heat by leaking evidence on Ric's murder that would throw suspicion on him. He wasn't entirely sure that Jason would do that, but he didn't want to give the younger man any reason to.

"Sonny!"

He sighed at the sound of the door slamming shut and the shout echoing through the house. The one person who wasn't going around causing problems for the police but was firmly a thorn in his side had once more arrived. Setting down his pen, he looked up from the paperwork on his desk when his ex-wife stormed into the room and stopped in front of his desk. Carly fisted her hands on her hips and stared down at him and he knew he was in for another round of Elizabeth Webber ruined my life.

"Where is he?" she demanded, her voice shrill and needy.

"I've told you this before, Carly," he sighed. "I don't know where Jason is."

"You're lying to me," she insisted. "You know where he is, you just don't want to tell me. Because you're banking on the fact that I won't get married to Jax without Jason here and you don't want me to get married to Jax so you refuse to tell me so Jason can come home where he belongs."

There was a time when that argument might have been true; Sonny didn't want Carly to marry Jax, but he wasn't deliberately keeping Jason away. Sonny had no idea where his friend was because the younger man had hidden his trail so well that even Bernie and Stan couldn't find him. He only called in when he felt like it, and when Sonny later tried to trace the call, they would find that Jason had routed the signal through a complicated relay system that Stan couldn't crack. Sonny knew there was no way Jason had done that, and wondered who he'd found to set it up.

"Carly," he shook his head. "I know that this is hard for you to understand, but Jason has different priorities now. I didn't want to accept it, but I learned that if I want Jason in my life, I needed to."

"Different priorities," she scoffed and tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder. "You mean Elizabeth Webber and her brat?"

"Careful," Sonny warned with an arched brow and a tilt of his head. "That brat is Jason's child."

"So she says. If that was true, then why was she still working? That day I saw her, she didn't say anything to me, so I knew that she'd lost the baby lottery and it was my worthless cousin's kid."

Shaking his head in disbelief, he stared at her. "See, Carly, that's your problem. You ascribe your thought value to Elizabeth, and that's never been the case. She doesn't think of her children as winning the lottery and she doesn't use them to secure her fortune. I made the same mistake in thinking that she would tell me that the baby was Jason's or wasn't, and I learned from that mistake. It nearly cost me my best friend."

Carly narrowed her eyes at him and pressed, "What do you mean? Jason wouldn't walk away from you."

If she only knew; Sonny, however, had no intention of telling her. Because like Sam, Carly didn't know when to keep her mouth shut. And if she knew that Jason had killed Ric Lansing and was threatening to frame Sonny for the crime as retribution for him not taking care of Elizabeth like he'd promised, she would go ballistic. His ex-wife hated Elizabeth, and anytime she thought, real or imagined, that the other woman was coming between her and Jason, she lashed out. She would blame all of this on Elizabeth, claim that she had demanded Jason kill Ric and frame Sonny, and would never believe that Jason had done all of this on his own. Contrary to what she and Sonny sometimes believed, Jason could think for himself and he would do whatever need be to protect his family and those he cared about.

"Jason has a family now to think of," Sonny told her. "Elizabeth is having his child and she became his priority. Her well-being and her safety. He didn't think I was taking care of her." He sighed regretfully, "And he was right. I wasn't. I didn't pass along her message to him that she wanted to talk to him; I didn't look out for her or stop Ric from harassing her, even when Jason would ask me about her. I didn't work to clear him of the charges for beating up Ric. I was distracted in trying to get you back; I was too focused on myself and didn't do what I promised Jason I would."

Sonny stood and crossed the room, grabbing a bottle of water off the cart. "Jason knew the baby was his and he didn't tell me because he was trying to get me to follow through on my promises without the knowledge that it was his baby. I left Elizabeth exposed and alone, when I should have been protecting her like Jason always looked out for my family."

"Jason knew the baby was his?" she repeated in willful disbelief. "Why didn't he say anything to you? To me?"

"Why should he?"

"Because we're his friends," she pointed out loudly. "We're his family."

"Elizabeth and their child is his family now."

"For how long?" Carly demanded. "Until she grows tired of him and tosses him aside, refuses to let him be with his child? I don't see why he should have to be with her, he could have had a child with Sam and then he would have been happy."

"You mean you would have been happy," Sonny shook his head. "Would you really expect him to turn his back on his child just to please others? That's not who Jason is, and you know it."

"She'll never let him come back," his ex huffed angrily. "She'll try to keep him all to herself and make him miserable."

"I know this is a hard concept for you to understand, Carly, but Jason is happy with Elizabeth. He made all the arrangements for her to leave town. She didn't ask him to, he did that all on his own. He didn't give Sam a second thought, especially when he heard what she was saying to anybody who listened because he hadn't called her. When I talk to him, he sounds happy and excited about the baby. He takes Elizabeth to her doctor's appointments, he's heard the heartbeat. He's got the one thing he's always wanted and thought was out of his reach, a family."

"He should be having a family with Sam," she persisted.

"Sam is about to become a liability," Sonny stated. "She's going around getting drunk, ranting against Jason and me. She knows things about the business that she could decide to tell people. I don't care if she's Kristina's sister, I won't let her bring us down just because she's petty and hurt."

That finally seemed to make Carly pause. Even though Carly was crazy and stubborn and reckless at times, one thing remained constant above all else; she was fiercely loyal to him and Jason. She would never want either of them to go to jail. No matter what happened in their personal lives, Carly would never stand by and let someone threaten the organization and by extension his or Jason's freedom. If Sam started to think that she could trade her information for revenge against Jason, then Sonny wouldn't hesitate to deal with her. She'd learn that her former relationships with him and his friend would only get her so far. He just hoped it wouldn't come to that, but was prepared in case it did.

"Should I talk to her?" Carly asked, her anger towards Elizabeth temporarily put away.

"No," he stated, and hoped that for once she'd listen to him. "Let me deal with her. If you go see her, you might stir her up again. I've...talked to her already. It was friendly, but full of warning. Don't go stirring her up."

Carly was about to say more, but the phone rang and he held up his hand to silence her. He crossed the room, and placed one hand on his hip as he grabbed the receiver, "Yeah?"

"Sonny, it's Diane. I wanted to let you know that the judge has ruled in Jason's case."

Sonny continued to listen as he raised his eyes towards Carly. His ex-wife was hanging on his every move, his every facial feature as they were surrounded by silence, undoubtedly hoping for a clue as to who was calling. She probably hoped it was Jason so she could talk loudly enough in the background that Jason would give in and talk to her. But Sonny remained silent and let his lawyer speak.

"The judge has ruled to dismiss all charges in light of the lack of evidence and D.A. Lansing's absence. Apparently, if he was well enough to travel around the world, then he must not have been hurt that badly, or cared enough about the case. Your friend is free to come home."

The charges against him had been dropped.

As Jason stood in the darkened living room with his cell phone pressed to his ear, the words rolled around in his brain like a marble. He pressed the replay button and listened again to Sonny's message as his friend told him the lawyer had gotten the charges against Jason dismissed. Ric hadn't made it to any of the court dates Diane had pressed for because he was too busy traveling the world looking for Elizabeth as part of his growing obsession with her. Since he was doing that instead of showing up for court dates, the judge had agreed with Alexis Davis - once again the District Attorney in Port Charles - that the charges against Jason should be dismissed.

Then Sonny ended his message with, "So you're free to come home. If...if you want to."

And that was the crux of the matter. He was free to return to Port Charles; if he wanted to. But he didn't. At least not any time soon.

Because he knew that Elizabeth wouldn't want to return. And he had no intention of going anywhere without her. It sounded like Sonny anticipated that might be his decision, and was okay with that. But Jason knew there would be others in town who would not be happy with that decision.

"Jason?"

He lowered his phone and closed it, turning to face Elizabeth who was standing in the doorway of the hall, her robe on, but not belted. Fuzzy purple slippers that Cameron had given her for Christmas were on her feet. She looked beautiful, even when she would claim she wasn't.

"Hey," he smiled as he spoke softly into the night. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she assured him. "I woke up and then couldn't get back to sleep, so I came out here."

"Why?"

"I thought I'd try to bore myself back to sleep with stupid late night television."

"No," he said with a small laugh, "why couldn't you sleep?"

"Heartburn," she said succinctly with a grimace, walking towards the couch. "I don't know if it's because dinner isn't agreeing with me, or because I'm hungry, but I need to sit up. And the couch is a lot more comfortable than my bed with pillows propped up behind me."

She sat down and he automatically stepped forward to pick up her feet, place a pillow on the coffee table and then settle her feet down onto the cushion. She smiled appreciatively, and sheepishly, up at him, and his heart warmed, knowing that he could make her feel more comfortable as she was entering her fifth month. He sat down on the couch, close enough to be near, but not crowding her.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"I...I'm not interrupting you, am I?" she asked. "I saw you were on the phone."

Jason immediately shook his head. "No. I was just listening to a message from Sonny."

He paused and swallowed, running his hand over his mouth. "He was telling me that his lawyer got the charges against me dropped."

"For Ric?" she asked, her eyes looking large and luminescent in the dim room.

"Yeah," he nodded. "For the attack in the garage."

"Oh," she said softly, twining the belt of her robe around her finger. "Has there been any word on his...disappearance?"

"He...he hasn't disappeared," he said, not looking directly at her. "He's traveling around...probably looking for you."

She looked over sharply at him and he sighed, turning to meet her gaze. "Sonny...Sonny arranged it. People know that Ric was talking to you a lot, almost harassing you. When you left..."

"But he...he's not really looking for me, is he? I thought...," she trailed off and drew her bottom lip in between her teeth, worrying it raw. She released it and soothed it with a quick, nervous swipe of her tongue. "I thought that you...you told me he wasn't a problem anymore."

"He's not," he assured her, reaching out and stilling her frantic hands. "Elizabeth, I know you were married to him-"

"I don't care if he's dead or not, Jason," she interrupted. "I just don't want you to be arrested for it."

"I won't be," he shook his head. "People might suspect me, but there's no proof. And Sonny's been working on it this time."

"This time?"

"It's not important." He didn't want to tell her how he'd blackmailed his friend into action. Not right now, anyways. "He just wanted me to know that the charges have been dropped. And that I could return to town, if I wanted to."

Her hands stilled immediately. In fact, her whole body seemed to freeze, and she looked steadfastly away. "Oh," she breathed out. "I see."

"I don't want to," Jason said softly, and Elizabeth's wide gaze flew to his. "I'm exactly where I want to be."

She swallowed, looked away, darted her eyes back to him, and then stood, walking into the kitchen without a word. Letting out a breath, he stood as well and followed her. She was randomly opening cupboards, pretending to be searching for something, all so that she wouldn't have to look at him, or talk to him. He let her get away with it for a few minutes, and then stepped closer to her.

"Can I help you find something to eat?"

Her hand stilled under his, and she tried to pull away, but he wouldn't let it go. "Elizabeth."

"What do you want from me, Jason?" she whispered, her voice tight and pained.

"I want you to be happy," he told her.

"I am," she insisted and he wondered if she truly believed that, or if she was trying to convince both of them.

"You're not," he pressed, releasing her hand and letting her turn, but not moving away. He trapped her between him and the counter and he could tell she was desperate for escape, but he knew this conversation needed to happen. In the morning, when Cameron was awake, she would retreat into her role as his mother and keep her little boy between them so as to avoid talking about what needed to be said.

"Jason," she pleaded, her eyes wide and desperate.

"Elizabeth," he returned, "I know you're not happy. I can see it in your eyes. You smile, and when you're with Cameron, or you're talking about the baby, you are happy. But other times, there is such a sadness that surrounds you and I just want to help you."

"You can't," she shook her head, her eyes hidden behind her lids. He could see tears gathering in the corners and it tore at him because he felt responsible for them, but didn't know how to fix it.

"I can if you let me," he insisted.

"Jason, please. You've done so much. You took care of Ric, and you're taking care of me and Cameron. You gave us Christmas, and you found the one toy that Cameron really wanted and I will always remember the look on my son's face when he came out Christmas morning and saw Charlie sitting under the tree. You're here and you do everything you can to make sure we're alright. You left town and your family and your friends and...behind and-"

"I left Sam behind."

Her mouth snapped shut and her shoulders rounded forward, just a little bit. But Jason saw it. And he knew that's what this was about. At least in part.

"That's what you wouldn't say. I left Sam behind, right?"

Her mouth twisted to the side and she swallowed, he could see the tension in her neck as she did so. But she didn't answer, and she wouldn't look at him. Reaching out, he gently touched the side of her face, turning her so she could look at him. If her eyes had been opened.

"You think I want to go back to Sam."

Another swallow. A soft, sad sigh she couldn't repress. And still she wouldn't open her eyes.

"I don't." The statement was finally out there, and it hung oppressive between them, waiting for her to acknowledge it one way or another.

"Jason, you don't-"

"Elizabeth," he interrupted her, gently lifting her face with his hand on her jaw. "Look at me...please."

Slowly, reluctantly, her eyelids fluttered open and he was assaulted with her doubts, her insecurities, and her pain, all plainly expressed in her shimmering eyes.

"I am where I want to be. Here, with you and Cameron, as we wait for the baby to come. This isn't just about the baby, and I don't want to be with Sam. I...I thought we could get past what happened, but sometimes you can't."

She swallowed and he could see her understanding in her eyes. She had tried to make things work with Lucky, but even if the baby had been his instead of Jason's, there wasn't any guarantee that the two of them would have worked past Lucky's drug addiction and cheating. Finding out Elizabeth's baby was his had changed everything for Jason. And being away from town had cleared his perspective. He couldn't forgive Sam for what she'd done, or how she'd acted when he had to leave, and the longer he was away, the more right that decision felt. He wasn't longing to be with her, he didn't wish she was pregnant; he was happy exactly where he was.

"We changed, and it's not just because I found out I was the father of your baby. Something happened that night and I can't forget it, and I can't fix it. At least with Sam. But you..."

"Me?" she asked, her voice shaky and uncertain.

"But I want to fix it with you. I want to have a family with you, not just be a parent along side you. You, me, Cameron and our baby. I want us to be together."

Tears slipped past her lashes and slowly made their way down her cheeks. "I...I don't know what to say..."

He shook his head and placed his thumb over her mouth to silence her. "Don't say anything right now. I'm not pressuring you, if you need time to think about it, I understand. But I wanted you to know, and I'm not going to get discouraged and I'm not going to give up."

"But the phone call," she tried.

"Sonny said if I want to go back, and I don't. He'll understand, or he won't...that's not important. You, our baby...our family, that's what is important. And I don't plan on going anywhere."

Then he drew her close and placed a kiss against her temple, letting his lips linger there as he breathed in her scent. He heard her breathing change, heard her gasp echo in the quiet kitchen. "Goodnight," he murmured against her skin. "I'll see you in the morning."

Then he left the kitchen and went to his room, hoping that maybe, Elizabeth would finally understand.

There was no way to deny the facts any longer. Jason Morgan was...in love with her. He hadn't said the words, but this time Elizabeth didn't need them. She'd once told him that she didn't know how he felt about her because he never said the words. She'd been confused and scared and she accused him of deliberately being vague and never telling her how he actually felt. Now, over four years later, she was still confused and scared, but she also had taken the blinders off. And while at times she didn't want to believe it - because it was less of a risk to her heart that way - she knew the truth.

Jason loved her. He didn't play with Cameron just to placate her or her son, he genuinely liked her son. He treated her little boy with such tenderness, kindness and love - all for him, not just because he was her child - that Elizabeth knew the emotion was real. Lucky had been fickle in his regard towards Cameron sometimes, her ex-husband didn't always consider him his child, despite the lip service he paid. Cameron certainly hadn't been good enough for Lucky to go to rehab for, but once he'd heard about the baby, the one he thought was his flesh and blood, then Lucky promised to change. She'd told Jason how angry that made her, but now, she saw it as another sign that she'd made Lucky up in her head. It shouldn't have mattered who Cameron's father was; it certainly didn't matter to Jason and he had even more reason to resent Zander.

Cameron could definitely sense the difference in their lives. He didn't shy away from Jason any more. He didn't ask Elizabeth where Daddy was, in fact, he no longer asked about Lucky. The one time he did, he said 'my old daddy', which made Elizabeth wonder if he now considered Jason his new daddy. Jason hadn't been around to hear that, and she didn't bring it up to him, because she wasn't sure how to breach it. She had no doubts that he would claim Cameron as his own child, just as he had Michael, but she didn't want to be unfair to him and ask something of him that she didn't have a right to. She would not be Carly and play musical fathers with her child.

But it wasn't just how Jason interacted with Cameron, or went to every doctor's appointment and read books about the baby and what she was going through, it was the way he talked to her. They talked about things that didn't relate at all to their child, and it was often at his initiation. When she would bring up something about the baby, he was of course always interested, but he would then turn the conversation around to her. She was equally as important to him, and it wasn't just because she was carrying his child. He didn't make her feel like Lucky had, that she was only an extension of the baby and that's all that mattered. He made it important to learn her new likes and interests, talked about the ones he remembered, and it felt like they were getting to know each other all over again. It tugged at her heart and little by little, day by day, she no longer felt that Jason was only doing this because of the baby. He was doing this because of her, because of him, because of Cameron, because he really did want them all to be a family.

The thought thrilled her and terrified her. Because every time they had been on this precipice before, something had always messed it up for them. They had, instead of soaring into the sky, crashed and burned on the rocks below and it was a long, hard climb to get back to the beginning. Now, there were even higher stakes. They had a child together, and they would always be connected as parents. If they tried romance and failed, could they deal with each other as parents and not be bitter and resentful? Would their child pick up on that? Was it worth the risk, or should they just be content with what they had already?

If there wasn't the specter of Port Charles looming over them, Elizabeth knew she would be more inclined to proceed forward. But Port Charles was there, and Elizabeth knew, deep inside, that someday they were going to have to deal with it, or go back. The night their baby had been conceived, Elizabeth told Jason that when it was just the two of them, they were good. But their problems always came from other people coming between them. Port Charles was full of people who could come between them, and it terrified her beyond belief. It wasn't that she thought Jason would go back to Sam, and she knew she wasn't going to go back to Lucky, but there were other factors to consider. The Quartermaines would try to use her and the baby to manipulate Jason, her grandmother would feel entitled to put her two cents in every time Elizabeth turned around, her friends and co-workers would add their comments, and then there were Jason's friends. Sonny and Carly would be a big part of their lives, because they were a big part of Jason's. With all of those forces against them, some telling her that he was no good for her, and some telling Jason that she was no good for him, would they be able to stand together, or would they begin to resent the other person for the headache and hassle?

It was enough to make her want to curl up into a ball and sleep, except that she couldn't. Because at eight-and-a-half months pregnant, she could no longer curl up, and she couldn't find a decent night's sleep to save her life. She was tired, she was uncomfortable, and she wanted to just turn her brain off for a little while, but it seemed stuck on a permanent loop cycle where over and over and over her thoughts just tumbled around and she couldn't find any order or resolve to them.

"Elizabeth?"

She turned slowly, awkwardly, on the couch and looked over at the hallway. Jason was dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt and it was clear he'd been asleep only moments before. He really shouldn't look so good after just waking up, or in the dim lighting. It wasn't fair.

"Are you alright?" he asked as he walked around the couch and sat down beside her.

"Couldn't sleep," she shrugged and tossed the TV remote on the coffee table. "And nothing good's on tonight."

Jason leaned forward and lifted her legs and she was surprised when he didn't set them on the couch, but instead shifted her, pulling her feet into his lap. His hands started a gentle sweep over her feet and up to her calves which were puffy and swollen. The feeling was heavenly and she moved, settling back against the couch and resting her head on the high back.

"What are you doing up?" she asked him.

"I woke up to check on you," he stated simply. "You normally wake up at night and so I've gotten in the habit of waking up and checking on you."

She stared at him in mute silence, awed by his admission. Thinking back on it, there were quite a few nights when she found him out here, or he would wander out sometime after she did. Some mornings she would wake to discover a blanket had been draped over her after she'd fallen back asleep on the couch. She hadn't really thought about it, had figured it was just part of Jason and his natural ability to not need a lot of sleep. She hadn't realized he was coming out deliberately to check on her.

"Do you do that every night?" she asked, her cheeks flushing slightly with embarrassment.

"Pretty much," he admitted, concentrating on the delicate arch of her foot. "Sometimes you're still in your room and I go back to sleep, sometimes I can tell you're about to wake up and I wait for you. Other times you're already up and so I sit up with you and sometimes you've fallen back asleep so I watch over you for a little while and then go back to my room."

Her eyes filled with tears and her heart felt like it was about to burst at his tender admission. "Oh, Jason," she sighed and he looked up, his brow furrowing slightly when he saw the tears clinging to her lashes. "I...I had no idea. It's no wonder I love you."

Jason's hands stilled and now he stared at her in mute surprise. A moment later her brain caught up with her heart and she realized what she'd just admitted. Flustered, embarrassed, desperate to get away, she tried to draw her feet back, but she was big and couldn't move gracefully and it didn't take much effort for Jason to trap her legs with his broad hands and hold her in place.

"You...you love me?"

She couldn't speak, and instead nodded her head. She was so afraid he would let her down gently. She was afraid he would tell her he felt the same way. She was afraid...of so many things that had just shifted in that moment, and yet she also wanted him to say the words in return to so badly that she found herself clenching her hands into fists at her side.

"I..." he paused and swallowed, the muscles in his neck bunching and releasing thickly, "I love you too, Elizabeth."

The words were soft, yet choked with emotion and they were immediately filed in the most amazing phrases she'd ever heard in her life. They took up residence beside 'You're so beautiful' that he'd told her the night their child was conceived, and 'You have a son' that the doctor in Napa had told her when Cameron was born. She would remember this moment forever.

Jason shifted her legs, moving closer to her, while at the same time pulling her towards him. His hand moved towards her face, hesitated just a moment, and then gently caressed her skin, feathering over it with the softest friction. He had touched her this way only once before and she'd felt cherished and loved, and a miracle had occurred that night. Tonight she felt the same.

"I love you," he repeated, bolder this time in his words.

"I know," she told him with assurance. "I've felt it for months; it's not just because of the baby. I love you, too."

He leaned towards her and then hesitated. Deciding to help them both, she leaned towards him, darting her tongue across her lips. It was all the encouragement Jason needed, and he met her for a short, chaste, but so profound a kiss that when he released her lips, she felt like she'd run a marathon.

Wrapping his arm around her shoulder, he helped Elizabeth resituate herself so that she rested against him. They sat together, his hand straying up to brush over her hair, just taking the time to revel in the discovery and admissions they'd made.

"I told you once that I would marry you," he said softly. "And you told me that it wouldn't be fair to either of us since we both cared for other people. Do you...do you still feel that way?"

Elizabeth's breath caught in her throat and she stared down at her hand which was resting in Jason's. "Marriage to you has always been a dream," she said softly at last. "One that I never thought was possible. I know back when I first told you this could be your baby that I turned down your proposal, and I still think it was right then. We needed, in our own ways, to let go of the past."

"And now?"

"And now," she sighed. "I don't know."

"I love you, Elizabeth. And I want to raise our child together, in a family."

"We are," she told him. "You don't have to marry me to prove that."

"I want to marry you," he told her. "I want us to raise our child and Cameron together, as a family that no one can question or come between."

Elizabeth pushed herself to sit up so that she could look at Jason. She didn't want to hurt him, but she needed him to understand. "This is all so sudden," she said. "I just barely admitted to myself that you could love me for me and not just because of the baby, we just said the words to each other tonight...I just..."

"It's too soon to talk about marriage," he said softly. "I understand. But I want you to know that I want that. And it's not just so we can raise the children together, it's because I want that, Elizabeth. I want to marry you."

"What about Sonny?"

"Sonny will be happy for us," he said, his brow furrowing slightly.

"I mean, what about Sonny and everyone else in Port Charles. Jason, what about Port Charles? Do you want to go back?"

"It's not a question of what I want, Elizabeth," he shook his head. "It's a question of what you want. Sonny...the night I told him Ric was dead and that I was taking you and Cameron out of town, I made it clear to him that my priority was to you now. And it still is. If you don't want to go back to Port Charles any time soon, or never, that's what we'll do. I'll work things out with Sonny, but it's up to you."

Her eyes widened, and she felt a weight of responsibility, and dread, settle onto her. How could she tell him to never go back if that's what he wanted? She knew that the business and Sonny and the boys were important to him, and while at times she never wanted to step foot back into that miserable place; she also knew that it wasn't feasible or practical to run away forever.

"I don't know," she said with a weary and heavy sigh as she shifted to lean against him once more. "I just..."

"You don't have to decide now. The baby's going to be born soon, and then you'll have to recover and we'll all adjust to the change to our family." Jason's hand soothed over her hair, his gentle touch helping calm and dispel the tension that had descended on her. "Right now, let's focus on the baby and Cameron becoming a big brother. And in a couple of months, or more, we'll talk about this again."

"I have a son."

Those were the first words Jason spoke after Sonny picked up the phone and it took a moment for his brain to catch up to the words. He walked around and sat down at his desk, leaning forward. "Jason?"

"Yeah," his friend breathed out. His voice was filled with wonder and didn't sound at all like him. "Hey, Sonny."

"Elizabeth had the baby?" he questioned, just to make sure he was on the same page as the other man, and also hoping to entice more information out of him. "When? How is she doing? How's the baby? How are you?"

"Yeah," Jason answered, his breathing regulating and his voice sounding more like Sonny was used to. "He was born a few days ago.

Jason then went on to give the details and when Jason described waking up and walking out into the living room to find Elizabeth passed out on the floor and bleeding, Sonny felt his heart pause and then speed up. He knew it probably didn't even come close to matching how Jason had felt at that moment, but listening to him talk about calling the ambulance, the neighbor to come watch Cameron, and watching from the operation's observation room as the doctors and nurses worked to deliver his son by c-section, Sonny could feel the emotions bleed through the phone as his friend relived them.

"I didn't know where to look, Sonny," he admitted. "The baby wasn't breathing, but Elizabeth flat lined and I stood there, looking back and forth, willing them both to live. I didn't know how I would survive if I lost either one of them, let alone both."

A lump welled up in Sonny's throat and he found he couldn't speak. Which was probably just as well, because he wouldn't have heard the other man's declaration.

"I love her so much, and when I walked out and saw her lying there, and all the blood. I was so scared. I covered her up and waited, trying to keep Cameron calm when he woke up to the noise. It was the worst thing I've ever experienced."

It wasn't entirely surprising to Sonny that Jason admitted he loved Elizabeth Webber. While it was the first time his friend had voiced it out loud to him, it was something that Sonny had suspected for months. Why else would Jason have killed Ric? Why else would he have left town without a word for anyone else? Why else would he have stayed gone even when the charges against him were dropped? Jason hadn't given Sam more than a cursory thought, he ignored all requests that Sonny passed along from Carly for him to call her, and when he did talk to Sonny - which wasn't often - he talked about Elizabeth, Cameron and the baby in a way that filled Sonny with the knowledge that his friend was in love and extremely happy where he was.

At times Sonny was angry at the situation. Jason wasn't in town. While that wasn't new, Sonny had always known that if the situation was bad, Jason would always come back. Now Sonny had no idea if his friend ever planned to return. It wasn't something they talked about. Sonny knew that Jason loved children. He'd raised Michael for the first year of the little boy's life, and he always made time to spend with Michael and Morgan, but Sonny knew that the situation had changed now. Jason had a family of his own. His own child - children actually, because Sonny had no doubt that Jason didn't discriminate between Elizabeth's children just because of biology - to think about now.

The other man's priorities had shifted. They had ever since that late October night when he walked into Sonny's living room and informed him that Ric was dead and Jason wasn't going to apologize for it. When he left town, leaving Sonny to clear his name and make sure that the D.A.'s body wasn't found, he'd given a message to his boss. Jason wasn't going to just follow orders, he wasn't going to wait for Sonny to make decisions, he had a family now to protect and he'd do whatever it to keep them safe, even if Sonny didn't like it. At times Sonny didn't. But he was working hard to be understanding.

Yes, he wanted his friend back. Yes, he wanted his enforcer at his side. But Sonny was beginning to realize that it might not happen. Jason sounded content, happy, relaxed wherever he was, and Sonny knew that if the situations were reversed, he wouldn't be in a big hurry to return.

"But they're both okay now, aren't they?" he asked quietly, out of friendship and love for the man he considered his brother.

A sigh of pure relief came over the phone line. "Yeah. They're doing much better. Jake...he...you should see him, Sonny. I loved him from the moment Elizabeth told me the test results, but seeing him..."

"I know what you mean," he said, a smile of remembrance crossing his face. He remembered when he'd come to love Michael and signed the adoption papers, and he remembered holding Morgan and being awed by him.

"I'd forgotten how tiny they were," Jason laughed. "But he's doing so well; it's hard to remember that he wasn't breathing when he came out."

"And Elizabeth?" Sonny asked when his friend fell silent.

"We had a scare with her," he said, his voice thickening and turning rough. "She woke up after the c-section and I handed her the baby. We were talking about names and decided on Jacob and she said she was tired. I took Jake and put him back in his bassinet and then...then the monitors started to sound.

"She was hemorrhaging and they had to rush her back to surgery and I was standing in the room with Jake and I just..." He trailed off and took in a shuddery breath. "I prayed, Sonny, so hard. I couldn't lose her."

"But she's alright now, right?" he pressed. He had to believe that. Somehow he knew Jason would be much more devastated if she wasn't, but until he heard the words, he would worry.

He liked Elizabeth and he felt bad that he hadn't taken better care of her. He'd let her and Jason down and left her to the mercies of Ric who harassed her and threatened her and put her under unnecessary stress. If he hadn't been so quick to jump to conclusions and tell her that it was better that Lucky was the father, she might have felt she could come to him. He could have done better by her and Jason's child, and not put Jason in a situation where he considered Sonny someone to fight as well. He also remembered the way that Elizabeth had been there for him in the past and while he hadn't returned the favor in kind, he never wished for any harm to come to the young woman.

"She is," Jason answered. "They stopped the bleeding and she's recovering. They kept her in the hospital for several days and released her to come home yesterday. I'm just glad to have my family all together again."

His friend continued to talk, giving weight and height on the little boy, talking about how Cameron was excited to be a big brother and already promising to share his trains when Jake got bigger. It was such a scene of domestic contentment that his friend described that it made Sonny envious. His boys lived in Carly's house, away from him. She was planning a wedding to Jax and Michael and Morgan were accepting and welcoming to the man who would soon be their stepfather. Sonny hated feeling shut out of his family's life, and a tinge of resentment flashed through him that Jason had everything he didn't. But he pushed it back and told himself that it wasn't Jason's fault that Sonny had messed things up with Carly.

He had never treated his ex-wife the way she deserved. They fought, and he disregarded her over the smallest of things when Sonny would do worse. But he always excused his own behavior, while looking for reasons to attack hers. Lainey had talked about it in their sessions a lot, and Sonny realized that if he had taken care of his bi-polar years ago, then he might still have Carly and his children by his side. But it was clearly a case of not knowing what he had until it was gone, and he was just glad that Jason had gotten a second chance with Elizabeth and for a family. The pair had parted years ago and while they remained friends, of sorts, their relationship had always been a bit strained. Now, Jason and Elizabeth were together again, and they were a family.

Sonny was happy for his friend. He truly was, even if it was hard at times to bear. He would never diminish Jason's moment right now by letting envy or resentment show.

"I'm glad for you, Jason," he told the younger man. "I really am. Is there anything that I can do for you, anything I can help you with? Can I...can I send something for the baby and Cameron? I...I'm not asking for your address, just a place I can send a package and it will get forwarded to you."

"I'll give you the address," Jason said after a long moment of silence. "But, Sonny..."

"Yeah?"

"Do not let Carly know you have this address."

"I won't," Sonny promised. Jason was trusting him, was letting him back into his life, was the first person he'd called after the birth of his son, and he was not going to let his friend down now. If he ever hoped for Jason to come back to Port Charles some day, he had to step up and prove that he could be the friend he'd never been before. That Jason could count on him and trust him and that he wouldn't let him down.

With that assurance, Jason gave him their address. It didn't surprise him that they weren't in the States, but he wondered why they'd chosen Italy. Maybe one day Jason would tell him, or maybe it was just something that his friend preferred to keep to himself. Whatever the reasons, Sonny would respect them.

"I should go," Jason said. "Elizabeth is resting, but Cameron will be waking up from his nap and I need to get a snack ready for him. He's so happy Elizabeth is home, but he doesn't understand she still needs her rest."

"Alright," Sonny said with a smile. "I'll let you go. Give my best to Elizabeth."

"I will. I'll...I'll talk to you later."

Then the other man hung up and Sonny sat in silence for a little while at his desk. It was the first time Jason had talked about calling him back. Usually he just said good-bye or that he had to go and hung up and Sonny was always left wondering if that was the last time he would ever speak to his friend. He felt that maybe, just maybe, things were finally getting back to a good place for them. But he knew that their relationship, at least for a while longer, would be on Jason's terms. Jason would call when he felt like it, and if they ever returned to Port Charles, it would be because Jason and Elizabeth decided to.

He was already thinking about what he could get to send to the new family. Cameron liked trains, apparently, so Sonny was already thinking along those lines. Elizabeth deserved pampering, and chocolate. And Jacob, who Sonny doubted was called anything except Jake, probably had all his basic needs covered, but Sonny had a few ideas for him, and his father.

At the sound of the front door opening and Michael and Morgan yelling to announce their arrival, Sonny stood and grabbed the paper with Jason's address. He put it inside his pocket and decided not to say anything to Carly about Jason's phone call. He wouldn't get any peace once she knew Elizabeth had given birth, and Sonny just wanted to spend this time with his boys without any fighting or a headache because of their mother. And he wasn't going to leave Jason's information out where Carly could find it. He'd made a vow to Jason, and this time he was definitely going to keep it.

"Daddy!"

Jason jerked awake at Cameron's first scream. His hand immediately went to the bedside table; years of habit had him searching for his gun until he remembered. With Cameron and Jake in the house, his gun was in a lockbox on the closet shelf. Elizabeth hadn't asked him to do that, he had done it on his own. He didn't take his gun out in front of Cameron, even to clean it. He was not going to put his children in jeopardy, and Cameron was too inquisitive right now to be trusted not to want to inspect the weapon.

"Daddy! Daddy!"

Elizabeth stirred beside him and he reached over, soothing a hand over her arm and said softly, "I'll go. You barely got Jake back to sleep."

She mumbled something incoherent and then her head collapsed back onto the pillow. Jake was growing rapidly, but was still adjusting to being outside the womb and while Jason sometimes fed him a bottle at night to allow Elizabeth to sleep, sometimes the only way the little boy would go back to sleep was to fall asleep nursing. Tonight had been one of those nights and Jason knew that Elizabeth was exhausted.

Sliding out of bed and checking Jake's bassinet in the corner and smiling in love and relief that the baby was still asleep, Jason then headed down the hall to Cameron's room. His Chuggin' Charlie nightlight illuminated the room and revealed the little boy was sitting up on his bed, eyes wide with fright and tears streaming down his face. As soon as Jason stepped into the room the little boy whimpered and once again called out for 'Daddy.'

"It's alright, Cam," Jason said softly as he crossed the room and sat down on the bed. "It's alright."

The little boy launched himself into Jason's open arms and held on as tears fell without stopping. Tremors racked his small frame and Jason did what he could to calm the little boy. He didn't care that Cameron was calling out for Lucky; that was the only father he knew and it was natural that when frightened by a bad dream he would call out for someone familiar. Lucky probably did what any father did and went in to banish monsters and slay the dragons of nightmares and for something to scare Cameron this much, he reverted back to habit. He didn't often ask for Lucky; Elizabeth had explained that Lucky was no longer going to be a part of their lives and after the first month or so, he no longer asked when they would see him again.

Jason loved the little boy as much as he loved Jake and Elizabeth and he did all that he could to make Cameron feel included and welcome. He wanted Elizabeth's son to feel cared for and loved, not just by her but by him as well. He didn't separate the boys as his son and hers...Cameron and Jake were his boys and he loved them equally. Even if Cameron didn't know or understand. He wanted to one day adopt Cam and make them all a family, but Elizabeth - who knew his wishes - didn't seem inclined to discuss it and he didn't press the issue.

"It's okay, Cam," he stated again as the boy began to calm and his sobs turned to sniffles. "You're alright. It was just a dream. Your mom is just down the hall and I'm here. Nothing can hurt you."

The sniffles eventually faded into the occasional hiccup and Jason gently pulled back from Cameron slightly so he could look down at the boy. He brought his hand up to wipe the tears from Cameron's eyes and erase the wetness from his cheeks. The boy's nose needed wiping, but Jason didn't have a tissue and so he left it for the moment. Cameron looked up with wide, trusting eyes and Jason smiled down at him tenderly.

"It was just a bad dream," he assured the boy. "Your dreams can't hurt you."

"Mommy says that, too," he sniffled.

"Your mom's right," Jason's smile deepened just a bit. "Do you want a drink of water? Do you need to go to the bathroom?"

Cam shook his head.

"Do you want me to read to you?" he asked. "I'll stay here until you fall asleep so you won't be scared."

"Can you lay down with me, Daddy?" Cameron asked, his voice soft a bit hesitant.

Jason's voice froze in his throat and the only thing he could do was nod mutely at the little boy. Cameron scrambled to one side of the bed and Jason slowly lowered himself into the offered space. Immediately his son curled up in his arms and Jason tightened them around him in a hug while he tried to pour out all the love he was feeling.

Cameron hadn't been calling for Lucky...he'd been calling for him. He called Jason Daddy. Jason hadn't expected it, would have never asked the little boy to do so, but the simple, honest emotion behind it filled him with such wonder. He had felt the same when Elizabeth finally admitted she loved him. And now her son had recreated it once more.

"Goodnight, Cam," he said softly to the little boy ensconced in his arms.

Situating his stuffed lion between them, Cameron yawned and his eyelids dropped. "Night, Daddy."

Long after the little boy fell asleep, Jason lay beside him on a bed too small for his large frame. His muscles were protesting the cramped conditions and aching for him to move, but Jason refused. His son was in his arms, a boy that he loved and who had whispered up an 'I love you' just before he drifted off, and Jason wasn't ready to relinquish that yet. He had been given something he wanted, and hoped for, but wasn't sure if it would happen. Cameron was truly his son. He didn't think of Lucky, he thought of Jason. The night Jake was born would always be in his heart, and this night had taken up residence right beside it.

A soft touch on his arm roused Jason slightly and he shifted, reaching out his hand to comfort Cameron who had whimpered several times in his sleep. Instead of finding the little boy, he found cool sheets. Opening his eyes, he saw Elizabeth's bemused face as she looked down at him contorted in Cameron's train bed.

"Where's Cam?"

"Having breakfast," Elizabeth informed him. "He came into our room this morning to tell me he was hungry and that you were still asleep in his bed."

Jason stretched out and winced as his muscles protested the movement and blood flowed back into cramped extremities. It hadn't been the most comfortable night, but he wouldn't change any part of it. Looking up at Elizabeth, he clasped her hand and drew her gently down to sit on the bed. "He called me 'Daddy' last night."

"He did?"

Her voice was neutral, but her eyes gave her away. She was worried about his reaction to the word. With a smile blossoming on his face he nodded. "He called me 'Daddy' and asked me to stay with him."

"Are you okay with that?"

Lifting his hand, he brushed her hair back behind her ear and lifted himself up on his elbow to be closer to her. "Elizabeth, I love Cameron just as much as I love Jake. They're both my sons. I just...I didn't want to force the issue with you or especially him."

Her mouth softened and her eyes filled with tears as she gazed at him with so much love and warmth. His thumb swept over her cheek and he smiled when she instinctively leaned towards his touch.

"A few months ago, before we admitted we love each other, before Jake was born, he referred to Lucky as his old daddy. I was afraid to ask who he considered his new daddy because I didn't want to add another layer to this situation. I was still afraid you were only doing this because I was pregnant with your child and I didn't want you to feel like I was asking you to be a father to my son if you didn't want to be. But Jason..." She trailed off and the first tear spilled over her lashes. "You have shown him so much love and made him feel like he was important to you every day. It's no wonder he called you Daddy."

"I love him, Elizabeth," he told her softly. "He is such a wonderful little boy and I just...I couldn't love him any differently than Jake."

Pausing, he dropped his hand and brought it to rest over Elizabeth's. "I want to be his father," he told her.

"You are," she assured him. "If he called you daddy...then it means he considers you his father."

Jason raised his eyes to meet hers. "I want to adopt him."

"You do?" Her voice was a tremulous whisper.

"Yes," he answered earnestly. "I want to adopt him, just like I want to marry you. I want us to be a family."

"I know," she said softly through her tears. "You've said this before, I just...sometimes it takes me a while to process it all."

He sat up and drew her to him, his hand caressing her back as she leaned into him. "I love you, Elizabeth and I want to marry you."

"Yes."

He paused and closed his own eyes. "Yes?"

"Yes."

"Do you mean it?" he asked. It was the first time they'd spoken of it since that night before Jake was born. Their son was almost a month old now and while he believed she meant it, it still didn't stop him from asking.

She wasn't offended by the question, however, and she smiled at him so lovingly as she answered. "I want to marry you, Jason. I...I turned you down all those times because I didn't want you to regret a hastily asked question. I didn't know if you loved me, I thought you wanted to be with Sam. And I didn't want it to just be about the baby. And even after I knew that you loved me...I guess I was waiting for a sign that Cameron would be alright with all of this. Him calling you Daddy was that sign.

"When he came in this morning to our room...he said that Daddy was still asleep in his bed and I," she sighed. "That's why I came in here. I wanted to see what he'd said to you last night, to tell you what he'd said to me. I wanted to see if you were okay with him calling you that."

"I am," he told her, bringing her back against his chest. "I am. I want to be his father and I want to be your husband."

"I want that, too."

"When?" Now that it was settled, he didn't want to wait. He'd call the attorney he'd used to get the house in Italy and that had drawn up the papers for Elizabeth's divorce from Lucky. He'd already mentioned to the man that he wanted to adopt Elizabeth's son, but he hadn't set anything into motion yet. The lawyer had told him that if he were married to Elizabeth the adoption would be easier to process.

"Do you want a church wedding?" he asked her.

With a shake of her head, she said, "I don't need anything fancy, Jason. I just need you and our boys. I...sometimes I wish that our friends and family could be here, but I just...I don't know what to think about any of them back in Port Charles. We just left, and I can't imagine that anyone is really going to be happy for us and I don't want to fight with anyone. I just want to marry you."

"Then that's what we'll do. I'll call the lawyer and get started on the paperwork. As soon as he can get it processed, we'll get married."

"That sounds good to me," she smiled brightly at him. He brought his hand up into her hair and tugged her forward to capture her mouth in a kiss. When she pulled back, her eyes fairly twinkled at him. "Do you want to tell Cameron?"

He stood and then helped her stand. She was healing, but she was still sore at times from the c-section. Plus, he never really passed up an opportunity to touch her.

"Let's go have breakfast with our son," he smiled at her. "And give him the good news."

By all accounts, this should be the happiest time of Elizabeth's life. Her sons were happy, content, and most of all loved; she was living in Italy, and she was married to the man she had dreamed of sharing her life with for so many years but had thought he was out of her reach. And she was happy. But there was a lingering feeling in the pit of her stomach that just wouldn't go away, no matter how hard she wished it.

A few weeks after she accepted Jason's third proposal, she married him in their backyard. Cameron, Jake, their nanny and Sonny were there as witnesses. Jason slid a beautiful, elegant and simple ring onto her finger and kissed her with such love and tenderness that she knew it was a good thing they'd waited to get married until her six weeks were up. They had a beautiful dinner fixed by Sonny as part of their wedding present, and then Jason's friend and the nanny watched the boys while she and her husband spent their wedding night at a beautiful bed and breakfast. The next day they returned home to spend the rest of their honeymoon with their children.

Sonny slipped out of Italy as quietly as he'd arrived. He apologized to Elizabeth for not passing along her messages to Jason and not watching out for her. He told both of them he was happy for them, and he cooed over Jake and Cameron and brought presents with him to add to the already obscene amount of gifts he'd sent for both children after Jake was born. When Jason tried to ask about business and things back in Port Charles, Sonny had shook his head and said that this wasn't the time, and that's not why he came. He came to visit his friends, to watch them get married, and to celebrate. He wasn't going to upset the new bride by taking her husband away.

Yet, Elizabeth knew it was going to happen anyways.

Cameron was now officially Cameron Webber Morgan and he openly and gleefully called Jason Daddy. Jason reveled in it, and took to fatherhood with such serenity that Elizabeth fell in love with him all over again every day. He played with Cameron and helped draw out her quiet, shy little boy, so much so that sometimes Elizabeth had to send him out into the backyard just to get a few moments' peace from his rambunctiousness. Jason would often join him and sometimes the two of them would come in covered in dirt and grass stains and she couldn't find it in her heart to be upset because her son was happy.

Then Jason would shift gears and be so calm and tender with Jake. When their youngest son was fussy and didn't want to sleep, Jason would give him a bath with lavender baby soap, swaddle him up tight in his blanket and softly talk to him until the little boy fell asleep. Jason played peek-a-boo, changed diapers, and was so amazing that Elizabeth could understand why Carly had chosen him to be Michael's father and had hated Robin for blowing the secret apart. She now understood better the pain he had when he talked about giving Michael up and she was so glad that she had never asked Jason to give up his son.

When the children went to bed and they knew that Jake would sleep for about five hours before waking for his next feeding, Jason would turn his attention to her. They'd slip into bed together and talk, not just about their children, but about other things. People they'd talked to in the village, something they read in the paper, and about their feelings for each other. It seemed to awe both of them that this was their life now; that they were married, that they were a family with two little boys they loved so much.

The feeling of dread would grow in Elizabeth's stomach during these times. Because she knew things weren't entirely perfect, and they weren't entirely settled, and they weren't going to be until they went back to Port Charles. And as much as she hated the thought of it, she knew it needed to happen. And she knew she was going to have to bring it up, because Jason never would.

"Jake's in his crib," Jason said as he came back into their bedroom and made sure the receiving end of the baby monitor was turned on before stripping off his shirt and climbing into bed. "And I covered Cameron back up; he'd kicked all his covers off again."

She smiled at the thought of her son who slept so hard and so sound that he always had to be covered up before they went to sleep and then woke up in the morning once again uncovered. All children did it, which was why she always bought pajamas with feet in them for the winter time in an attempt to help keep him warm. Jason settled back onto his pillow and looked over at her, curious that her light was still on. "Are you going to read?"

Shaking her head, she took a breath. "No, I wanted to talk to you."

He looked at her curiously, but turned onto his side and waited silently for her to talk. She slid further under the covers and turned on her side to face him, reaching out to twine her fingers with his. His thumb lightly traced over her wedding band and a shiver traveled through her at the love in the simple gesture.

"I think..." She trailed off and sighed, chewing on her bottom lip. This was harder than she thought it was going to be. "I've been thinking about Port Charles."

"Port Charles?" he questioned, his brows drawn together. "Why?"

Her gaze dropped to the bed, and she studied the pattern of the sheets so she wouldn't have to meet his eyes. "I think...I think we should go back."

He was silent, and hesitantly she raised her gaze to meet his. She had obviously stunned him with her suggestion, because his eyes were a bit wider, his eyebrows drawn up slightly. "Elizabeth? I...why? You think we should go back? Do you want to?"

"Not really," she admitted with a shake of her head.

"Then why?" He was trying to catch up to her thoughts, and struggling in the process.

"Because I think we need to, Jason," she told him. "We just walked away from our lives."

"Are you unhappy here?"

"No," she answered immediately, reaching out to touch his face. Seeking both to assure him and ground herself. "No, Jason, I love being here with you and our children. But there's...it feels like a fantasy still. We left Port Charles and we don't talk to anybody except Sonny. Our families are there, our old friends, and we just walked away from them and never contact them. It's like...we're hiding because we're scared."

He stayed quiet, but brought his hand up to rest on her arm, comforting her with his touch. With a sigh, she continued. "I know why we left. You were in trouble, and I wanted to get away from the stress and the pressure from Lucky. We stayed gone because we had to. But that's different now."

"Elizabeth, there isn't any need to go back," he shook his head.

"I think that there is," she told him softly. "We need to settle things there."

He peered at her and she sighed heavily. "Jason, I know that you love me and the boys. You've shown us that we are your family and your priority. You've...you've fixed things with Sonny, and he's respecting your time here. But I also know you, Jason, and I know that Sonny is important to you. You think about Port Charles and the business, don't you?"

He paused for a moment and then he admitted that he did. But he quickly added, "But that doesn't mean I'm going to leave you and our children."

"I know," she smiled lovingly at him. "I know that. And I think that Sonny understands that we are important to you. And if you told Sonny that you wanted to stay here forever, he probably wouldn't say anything. But I also know that it would start to weigh on you, and you'd think about Sonny and if he was alright and if there were troubles. And if something were to happen to him, you'd blame yourself. And I'm afraid that eventually you'd start to blame me."

"No," he said with immediate forcefulness. "I would never blame you, or resent you."

Her eyes filled with tears of love at his declaration, but she knew that she had to press on. "I believe you. But I don't want to take any chances; I don't want us to one day look back and think we shouldn't have just cut everybody off."

She took a breath and moved closer towards him. "I think that there are things we need to deal with back in Port Charles. I need to talk to my grandmother; she's going to be hurt and I don't know if she'll forgive me. You have Emily there, and Carly and the boys. And..."

She trailed off and swallowed, licking her lips. "And whether we want to or not, I think we need to deal with Lucky and Sam. I don't want to feel like I'm hiding because I'm ashamed or embarrassed by what we did. I'm sorry that I hurt people, but I won't feel like I'm ashamed that I love you or that I had your child, or that you're the father of my children. As long as we stay gone, it will always seem that way."

"I don't care what anyone else thinks, Elizabeth," he told her, his hand cupping her face and his thumb brushing over her cheek. "I know how you feel and I know how I feel, and that's all that matters to me."

"That matters to me, too," she agreed, "and in a perfect world, that would be the only thing that matters. But we don't live in a perfect world. What if something happens to someone back home and we decide to go back. If we wait until a crises, then we have to deal with that on top of everyone talking about Jake and us. I just...I don't want to go back, but a part of me feels like we won't be really settled until we deal with everything."

She could see that he understood what she was trying rather awkwardly to say, and she saw the moment agreement flickered through his eyes. "I guess I can see what you're saying. I...maybe it's time to deal with it."

Even though she'd been the one to suggest this, her heart still sank at his words. When it was just the two of them, or now, their family, things were good. But like she'd told him the night Jake was conceived, when other people got involved, that's when their problems started. She didn't doubt Jason's love for her, and she didn't doubt his love for their children. But she wasn't so naïve as to believe that when they got back to Port Charles that everything would be like it was here in Italy. People were going to feel like they had the right to comment on their lives and pass judgment on their actions, and it could definitely get ugly.

She didn't want that ugliness to affect her children, and she and Jason promised each other, as they talked about when to go back, that they would do everything they could to protect their boys from scenes that might arise. The one thing Jason promised that she never asked him for - mostly because she was afraid to - was that they would keep the house in Italy and they would return to it as often as they could. Maybe they'd come back permanently and just visit Port Charles on occasion. As Elizabeth lay in Jason's arms trying to fall asleep, she hoped that he would be able to keep that promise. And if he wasn't, then she hoped it wouldn't cost them too much as he tried to do so.

"Jason?"

He paused, and then pivoted on his heel, turning back to face the woman who called his name. He was surprised to see her here; certainly hadn't expected to run into anyone this early in the morning, especially not her.

Elizabeth and the kids were still asleep in a safe house just outside of Port Charles, having gotten in in the middle of the night from Italy. Jason had woken up and been unable to go back to sleep, so he decided he'd run into town and grab some breakfast for them all to enjoy because he was certain Elizabeth and Cameron would wake up hungry. Both mother and son shared a distinct preference for breakfast.

"E-Emily," he said haltingly. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," she said, her tone mildly accusing. "Nobody knew you were coming back to Port Charles. Of course, nobody knew you were leaving either."

He sighed and the bag holding bagels, juice and coffee hung limply from his hand by his side. It was almost too early in the morning, even for him, to take this kind of confrontation. And he had no doubt that his sister intended for this to turn into a confrontation.

"We needed to get away. It was for the best."

Her brow lifted ever so slightly. "For the best. For whom? You? Elizabeth? The people you professed to care about? Who was it the best for?"

"For Elizabeth," he said, "and me. We both had our reasons."

"Is she alright?" Emily asked, her voice softening slightly, becoming a bit hesitant. "And the baby? She's had the baby by now, right?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Elizabeth is fine. Once she left, her blood pressure went down and the rest of her pregnancy went well. The delivery...there were some complications, but she pulled through. And so did Jake."

"Jake?" The corners of her mouth twitched slightly, almost forming a smile.

"Short for Jacob."

"I have a nephew." The smile was in full bloom now. "Do you have any pictures?"

He did. Elizabeth wanted pictures to mark his growth and while they took plenty of candid, family shots, they'd taken some professional photos of the two boys. She asked him if he wanted a picture for his wallet, and then smiled in delight when he said yes. Nodding, he reached into his pants' pocket and pulled out his wallet, flipping it open the plastic holder.

"Oh," she sighed. "He's beautiful. And Cameron's gotten so big."

She handed his wallet back to him and then twisted her fingers nervously in front of her. "Are...did you come back alone, or-"

"Elizabeth and the boys came back as well," he answered. "We're staying a little ways from here. We got in last night and Sonny and I have a place not far from here, it was close to the airport. I didn't want to go to the penthouse and I didn't want to get a room at the Metro Court and have Carly know we were coming back."

"Do...do you think I could see you and Elizabeth?" she asked, almost hesitantly.

"Emily, what's wrong?" he asked. This side of town wasn't near the hospital, or the Quartermaines, and it definitely wasn't near the harbor and Spoon Island. So to see her here, this early in the morning, and then to have her acting so nervous, he was concerned for her.

"Lucky's gone missing, again," she sighed. "And Nikolas is worried so we split up and are looking for him. He...he sometimes buys drugs out here and I-"

"Emily," he broke in, tempering his voice when it came out harsh enough to make her flinch. "You're looking for Lucky out here when he might be buying drugs?"

"Nikolas is worried."

"Nikolas has plenty of employees who can search for his drugged out brother; you shouldn't be out doing that. It's not safe."

When she wouldn't look at him, he sighed and rubbed his free hand over his face. "Has he been doing a lot of drugs?"

She nodded weakly. "Ever since Elizabeth told him she was leaving and that the baby wasn't his. When Sam told him that it meant the baby was yours and he realized that the two of you slept together and that Nikolas and I knew...he was furious. He took off with Maxie and Mac tracked them down in Texas. Maxie had her baby and Mac brought them back home, and Lucky followed. But Mac is furious and won't let Lucky around Maxie or the baby and he's been arrested for drug possession so many times. It's a mess, Jason."

"It's not Elizabeth's fault."

His sister's eyes went wide and she shook her head immediately. "No, no, I never said that. I never thought that. Nikolas doesn't either. Luke and Lulu, well, they think that Lucky's only like this because he's torn up about Elizabeth and the baby, but..."

She trailed off and shrugged her shoulders. "They don't want to admit that Lucky has a problem and it's not because of Elizabeth and it's not her responsibility to fix him. He won't even get clean for Maxie's baby and she's disappointed in him and... It's probably better that Elizabeth avoid any encounters with Luke or Lulu."

"Thank you for telling me." Jason would make sure that Elizabeth had a guard with her at all times, maybe even two. Especially when she had the boys with her. And he would make sure all the guards understood that they were not to let anyone harass Elizabeth, especially the Spencers.

He looked down at the bag in his hand and asked, "Do you want to come to the house? Elizabeth will probably be waking up soon, along with the boys." A grin tugged at his lips, the same one that appeared whenever he talked about his sons, "you can meet Jake and say hi to Cameron."

She looked torn, but only for a minute. Then she nodded as she reached into her purse and pulled out her phone. "Yeah. I'll call Nikolas and tell him that I can't find Lucky and that I'm not searching for him anymore. He'll understand that I can't look for his brother because I'm spending time with mine."

"Maybe I should have waited back at the house."

Jason paused, letting go of the door handle and settling back into the seat. He looked across the car at Elizabeth and the corners of his mouth turned down. "What? Why do you think that?"

"Well, you and Sonny might have business to discuss and I don't want to be in your way," she answered, drawing in her bottom lip briefly before she seemed to register what she was doing and released the plump flesh.

He leaned across the car and placed his hand on hers. "Elizabeth, you won't be in the way. Listen to me, you're my wife and Sonny understands that. I know that things in the past weren't so good, but it's different now. Because I won't let them get as bad as they were."

"I'm worrying too much, aren't I?"

"It's alright," he assured her. "Sonny likes you, he likes the boys and this is just a lunch for all of us."

"All of us?" she asked. "Who else is going to be here?"

"I think it's just us," Jason shrugged. "He didn't say he was inviting anyone else."

"Alright," she sighed and then straightened her shoulders. "I'm being silly, aren't I?"

"No," he smiled at her. He once more reached for the door handle and opened it, coming around the car to open the door for Elizabeth. Then he opened the back seat and helping the boys out. Cameron walked next to Elizabeth, holding onto her hand shyly as they walked towards the front door where Jason pressed the door bell.

Once he would have walked in without knocking, but things had changed. He hadn't been here since he slipped in the back one night and announced to Sonny that he'd killed Ric. Back then he had been so angry with Sonny, ready to walk away and never look back. Elizabeth and their son were his main concern and Jason didn't really care if he had to implicate Sonny in Ric's death; he was not going to let anyone hurt his family ever again.

While he and Sonny had gotten past all of that, he found he wasn't completely at ease. He understood why Elizabeth felt they should return; there were things and people here they needed to deal with. But this didn't feel like the place he belonged. His home was with Elizabeth and their boys, and he felt like he was just coming for a visit here. This was only a temporary situation, not some place he would ever be completely comfortable in anymore.

Only a few seconds passed after Jason knocked before Milo opened the door and smiled at Jason. "Hey, Mr. Morgan. Welcome back. Mr. Corinthos is in the living room."

"Thanks," he nodded at the guard as they stepped into the foyer.

"Mrs. Morgan," Milo smiled at Elizabeth. "It's nice to see you again as well."

"Thank you," she said softly, and then took a deep breath as Jason opened the door.

Sonny looked up from the couch as they walked in and he stood quickly, a broad smile on his face. "Hey, guys. I'm glad you're here."

They stood there a bit awkwardly, until Sonny worked hard to put them at ease. He offered them drinks, told them there was a playpen upstairs if they needed to put Jake down for a nap, pointed out some toys of Morgan's that Cameron could play with and did all that he could to make Elizabeth comfortable.

"I set lunch up outside," he told them as Cameron sat on the floor with a robot dinosaur. "I thought Cameron might like it. I kept the meal simple. I wasn't sure what he'd like, but all kids seem to like chicken strips and I keep some on hand for Morgan."

"He loves them," Elizabeth told Sonny, a smile teasing the corners of her mouth as she started to relax. "Thank you for thinking of him."

"Let me just go check on it and then we can eat soon," he said, standing up and heading towards the kitchen.

"Cam, honey," Elizabeth said, scooting forward on the couch, "let's go wash your hands."

"I'll take him," Jason told her, reaching out and scooping up the little boy. "I know where the bathroom's at and it'll be easier than trying to tell you where it is."

"Alright," she laughed, "I'll get Jake's bottle ready since you know the minute we sit down to eat he'll start fussing. I think he sees us eating and thinks he should be having his lunch, too."

By the time Jason and Cameron returned to the room, Sonny was sitting in a chair, holding Jake and feeding the little boy his bottle. He looked up as he friend entered the room and grinned. "You two have been feeding him well," he laughed. "I can't believe how much he's grown since your wedding. I was about to put lunch on the table when I saw Elizabeth taking Jake out of his carrier."

"Here," Jason said, reaching out for his son. "I'll finish, and then we can sit down to eat. Cameron's getting hungry."

"Are you?" Sonny asked him, leaning down to the boy's level. When he nodded back tentatively, the older man clapped his hands together. "Then I better get your chicken strips. Can't have you waiting for your lunch. Go ahead and sit down out there, I'll be right out."

"Come on, Cam," Elizabeth said and swung the little boy up and walked over to the terrace doors. As she sat him down on a chair and scooted it up to the table, she looked up at Jason. "He's trying really hard, isn't he?"

"He just wants us to feel comfortable," he said. "The last time I was here...that's when I told him I was leaving. I think it's weird for him for me to be back."

"Is it weird for you?" she asked, seeming to understand what he hadn't said.

"A little," he admitted. "I know that we've talked, but...I was so angry with him the last time I was here. I was ready to let him go to jail if that's what it meant to protect you and the boys."

Elizabeth's eyes widened slightly at his words. He had never told her the full extent of his conversation with Sonny; she hadn't pressed and he didn't know exactly how to say that because Sonny hadn't looked out for her and Jake he would have sent his friend to prison. It wasn't something Jason was entirely proud of, but he would do anything necessary to protect his family.

But before she could say anything, Sonny appeared at the door, a tray of food in his hands. As he set things down on the table, he turned to Jason with a look of regret. "Carly called and she wanted to bring the boys over. She...she doesn't know you're in town and I couldn't think of a reason to tell her so she didn't come over. I...I told her I was having an important lunch so she at least waited a bit. It's up to you if you want to see her now...or leave before she gets here."

Sonny paused at the top of the stairs and rubbed the back of his neck as he looked at his friend sitting on the couch, a bottle of beer clasped loosely in his hand. How different was this scene from the last time Jason was in this room. Then, Sonny had been certain that a breach had irreparably formed between him and Jason, and if he wasn't careful, he would soon find himself on the wrong end of a murder charge.

At first, he had been angry. Incensed, actually. How dare Jason act without his orders and then actually threaten him. Would the younger man actually pin a murder charge on him and stand back and watch him go to prison simply because he had been a little negligent in watching out for Elizabeth Webber? But once the initial cloud of emotion had worn off, Sonny had come to realize that Jason's accusations had been correct. He hadn't looked out for Elizabeth, despite Jason asking him to, and asking about her during every subsequent conversation. Sonny had been too focused on himself and his own wants, busy pursuing Carly simply to win once more over Jax.

It was in that moment that everything shifted for him. He stepped back and gave up his pursuit of Carly. He no longer interfered with her relationship with Jax; he no longer taunted her and teased her, flirted with her and tried to seduce her back into his bed. He listened to what she said and agreed to her boundaries. Of course, it wasn't entirely altruistic towards her, he had a genuine fear of what would happen to him if he didn't clear Jason's name of the assault on Ric.

However, he'd never told Carly why he suddenly stopped going after her. He let her believe that he finally respected her relationship with Jax and was conceding defeat. While Sonny didn't believe that his ex-wife could truly be happy with the Australian businessman, he realized that it wasn't his place to make that decision. As long as his boys weren't mistreated, he really couldn't interfere in her life. And a funny thing happened when he was no longer pursuing Carly, she began coming up with more and more reasons on her own to just drop by and talk him ostensibly about Jason and his absence from Port Charles. But sometimes whole visits went by without her once mentioning her best friend, and the focus of the conversation was on them.

Normally, Sonny would have been amused. He'd even have worked the situation to his advantage. But he was focused, this time, on clearing Jason's name and deflecting any suspicion on his friend, and himself, regarding Ric's disappearance. Besides, any time the conversation did actually turn to Jason, invariably Carly began venting about the absence of Elizabeth Webber from Port Charles and how she was just certain that the conniving little schemer had somehow wormed her way into Jason's life. Especially when it became common knowledge, thanks to Sam and Lucky, that Jason was the father of her baby.

Their conversations after that became more adversarial, and Sonny was reminded of the woman Carly had been back before he'd fallen in love with her. The woman who Sonny knew was wrecking his best friend's life, and whom he had taken great delight in tormenting, and then seducing, the night she'd come to his penthouse demanding what he knew about Elizabeth Webber. Carly would always hate the other woman and would never forgive her for being there for Jason when the younger man had turned the two betrayers away from him.

The knowledge that Elizabeth was pregnant with Jason's baby was just a blow to Sonny's ex-wife that she was having a hard time recovering from. It was just too much for her to deal with that Elizabeth would always have a place in Jason's life, a place that Carly would never occupy or be able to usurp. His ex-wife had begged, pleaded, demanded, threatened, and tried to pilfer any information Sonny had on Jason's whereabouts. He was certain she would try to call Jason, or even show up, and dissuade him from getting involved with Elizabeth. She'd tell Sonny that it didn't matter that Elizabeth was having Jason's baby, Jason didn't have to get involved with the little twit.

Sonny, though, had honored Jason's request and had never given Carly any information. He didn't tell her when he'd spoken to the younger man, he hid the contact information he had for Jason, and while he did tell her that Elizabeth had had the baby, and that it was a boy, he didn't reveal any other details. He certainly also hadn't told Carly that Jason had married Elizabeth, adopted Cameron and the four of them were family that exuded such peacefulness and serene happiness that Sonny was jealous of the situation.

So it was going to be an interesting moment when his ex-wife arrived with their children, saw Jason in the house, learned that his wife and children were upstairs, and there wasn't a single thing she could do to change the situation. Except, in true Carly fashion, offend Jason. Because Sonny had no doubt that she'd be unable to actually look at their friend and see that he was happy, that fatherhood suited him well and it was a role he relished in. Carly would make the moment and the situation all about her, and wouldn't support him; she'd demand he change his life to suit her whims. But Jason wouldn't do that, and Sonny feared that if she wasn't careful, Jason would pack up his family and disappear back to Italy. This time for good.

While Sonny knew that the business relationship between the two of them had changed, he hoped that he would be able to maintain a better friendship with Jason this time around. One that wouldn't always require a mental calculation of the time zone differences before he picked up his phone. He hoped that Jason might at least spend part of his time in Port Charles, but Sonny also planned to wait a while before voicing that thought to the younger man and his family.

"Are you ready for what's to come?" Sonny asked, as he descended the stairs and crossed the room, pouring himself a glass of water.

Jason rubbed the back of his neck, his shoulders looking tense and stiff. Evading the question, he asked, "Is everything alright with Elizabeth?"

Sonny waved his hand, "Yes. Jake didn't wake up at all when she laid him down and Cameron is lying down on Morgan's bed, barely able to keep his eyes open. Elizabeth was beside him, telling him a story and I wouldn't be surprised if she fell asleep beside him."

A wistful smile floated across Jason's face. "Both the boys had a hard time making the time changes; she took the brunt of it. It...it might actually be better if she did fall asleep. Carly isn't-"

"Going to react very well?" Sonny teased with a smile. "That's probably putting it mildly."

A labored sigh crossed the room as Jason breathed out, "Yeah. Something like that."

"Well," Sonny said as he heard the tell-tale signs of his children's approach outside, "we're about to find out."

The door opened and the guards didn't bother to announce Carly and the children. Michael and Morgan blew into the room and both boys stopped short at the sight of Jason sitting on the couch. Morgan looked uncertain, perhaps not quite remembering the older man, but Michael's face lit up in delight and he streaked across the room, throwing himself onto the couch and into Jason's arms.

"Jason!" he cried. "You're back!"

"Jason?!" Carly entered the room and her face held a mixture of surprise, disbelief, joy and anger. "You're here?!"

She raced over to where Jason now stood and Michael had the good sense to step aside before he was crushed by his mother as she hugged Jason tightly. "You're really here! Why couldn't you have shown up three months ago when I married Jax. I hated that you weren't there to stand up beside me. You promised me you'd be there, but I finally decided I just had to get married without you."

"I'm glad you did," Jason told her. "I never meant for you to wait, but I just wasn't able to come back."

"But your name was cleared months ago," she protested. "Of course you could have come back."

"No," Jason shook his head. "I couldn't leave Elizabeth and Cameron."

As he quietly stood to the side, watching this scene unfold, Sonny had to admire Jason. Jason didn't beat around the bush, or evade the heart of the matter; he cut straight to the chase. He brought up Elizabeth, which would bring up the baby, and that would inevitably bring Carly's wrath.

Sure enough, his ex-wife's lips thinned into a tight line and she huffed through her nose. "Of course, can't leave precious Elizabeth behind. I'm surprised she let you away from her side long enough for you to come here. I'm sure she's threatened that if you're not back in a couple of days she'll take your child and disappear."

Jason's jaw worked quietly as he swallowed visibly and his voice was a bit tighter as he answered. "Elizabeth doesn't make threats, Carly. And she doesn't have to. I didn't leave her; she and the boys came with me to Port Charles."

"Elizabeth is here?" Carly asked, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Where?"

"Actually," Jason answered, "they're upstairs. The boys are napping, and Elizabeth is probably lying down with them. They haven't slept well with the time zone changes."

"Where are you living?" she pounced on that opening.

Jason shook his head and Sonny knew he wasn't going to answer that question. Sonny didn't blame him, the younger man needed to keep a few things to himself.

"How's married life?" he asked instead.

"Oh no you don't," Carly shook her head. "You're not going to evade my questions. What about your son. Sonny told me you had a boy, but didn't give me any other information. The man's been tighter than Fort Knox."

Jason cast him an appreciative look, and Sonny smiled slightly before hiding it behind his glass. "Yes, Elizabeth had a boy. We named him Jake, short for Jacob, and he's...he's doing really well. Growing and smiling...he's amazing."

Sonny was watching his ex-wife closely while Jason spoke in reverent paternal pride about his son. Carly's eyes dimmed, and a sadness seemed to creep over her. It was obvious, even to a woman who tried to deny it, that Jason was happy about his child with Elizabeth. It had to be killing a part of her to see that. Because Jason had once been that way about Michael, and she'd taken that away from him.

"Will I get to see him?" she asked, her voice softer this time.

"If you're still here when he gets up from his nap," Jason answered.

"Uncle Jason?" Michael joined the conversation. "You have a baby?"

"I do," he smiled, sitting down on the couch beside the boy. "His name is Jake. He has an older brother named Cameron who's a little younger than Morgan."

"Is he your son, too?"

"Yes," Jason nodded.

"What?" Carly demanded, sitting on the couch behind Michael and looking at Jason pointedly.

"I adopted Cameron when I married Elizabeth," Jason stated calmly.

Carly's eyes widened to almost unnatural proportions. "Married?! You married her? Why?! I knew it...I knew she was going to sink her claws into you. She probably couldn't wait to drag you down the aisle and-"

"Carly."

The one word was spoken softly, but full of pointed warning. "We got married after Jake was born, and I married her because I love her."

She looked like she'd swallowed something bitter.

"Cameron is as much my son as Jake is, just like Michael is Sonny's son. So don't start anything," Jason commanded.

Sonny watched Carly carefully, wondering how she'd react to all this news and his warning. Somehow he suspected it wasn't going to be easy. Carly was used to a certain place in Jason's life and having the ability to call on him at any time she needed him. That had changed when Jason left town, first because he had to, and then stayed gone because he wanted to. To now learn that Jason had married Elizabeth, adopted her son and had formed a family with the one person that Carly couldn't push out of Jason's life, his ex-wife wasn't going to handle that information well.

The question was, how bad the battle would become and who was going to get hurt in the skirmish of wills that was sure to follow.

She woke up to shouting. Confused for a moment, Elizabeth blinked and looked around the room. Then it returned to her. She had brought the boys upstairs to put them down for a nap before Carly and her sons arrived and she must have drifted off while lying down beside Cameron to coax him to sleep in a strange bed. But now, based on the shouting drifting up through the floor, Hurricane Carly must have arrived and she wasn't happy.

Gently she eased off the bed, careful not to wake Cameron who was curled up on his side on Morgan Corinthos' bed. Port Charles was almost a memory to him and he certainly hadn't been to Sonny's house before, so he had been uneasy about falling asleep someplace new. He was sound asleep now and she knew he would remain so for at least another hour. She checked on Jake, asleep in an old playpen from when Morgan was younger, and adjusted the blanket over her youngest son, then slipped out of the room, making sure to close the door quietly behind her.

As she neared the stairs she could hear Carly and she hesitated just for a moment. She knew Jason could handle the other woman, and she was secure in his feelings for her and their family, so she didn't fear that Carly might badger Jason into returning to Port Charles if he didn't want to. Elizabeth just didn't want to walk into a fight that she knew was going to happen. She was certain that Carly would some how, some way blame all of this on Elizabeth, and she didn't know if she had the energy for the fight.

Plus, she didn't want to get into something ugly in front of Carly's children while her own were upstairs asleep. But she wasn't going to hide out and leave Jason to face this whole thing by himself. While she knew her husband wouldn't blame her if she'd stayed away, he would probably think she was asleep with their sons, it was time to present to the entirety of Port Charles that she and Jason were a united front. And who better than to start with than Carly?

When she appeared on the landing, she saw Jason's head turn slightly and a small smile grace his lips. Carly was still yelling at him and didn't realize her presence yet, and so Elizabeth was able to descend the stairs unnoticed by the blonde. But when Sonny shifted and smiled at her, and the two little boys watching their mother turned their attention on her, Carly finally realized she was there. And turned the full force of her venom on Elizabeth.

"Well, well, if it isn't Little Miss Muffin," she sneered. "I bet you feel like you won the lottery, didn't you? Found out Jason was the father of your baby and you just couldn't wait to run and tell him so that he could help you dump my loser cousin and take care of you and your brats."

"That's enough," Jason said on a low growl that made Michael and Morgan's eyes widen and pierced a bit of Carly's self-centered shell. "I already explained this to you, Carly. Elizabeth is my wife, Cameron and Jake are my sons, and you're just going to have to accept that."

Carly whirled back around to face Jason and shook her head, "No. Don't you see what she's doing, Jason? She made you leave town. She's kept you away from your family. She wants to use her children to replace Michael and Morgan so you'll forget about them. You're Morgan's godfather and you haven't been in town for close to a year. You promised me you would always look out for my boys and be there for them and you're not! Tell me whose fault that is?"

"It's nobody's fault," Jason said in a tone that conveyed he was struggling to hold onto his temper. "I left town because Ric was trying to arrest me and then I had to protect Elizabeth and our children. We didn't come back after Jake was born because there were complications with the birth and we wanted him to be bigger before we traveled.

"But if you want to know why we're back in Port Charles," he continued on, "that's Elizabeth's doing. She was the one who said we should come back and see the people we left behind. If it was up to me, we wouldn't be here."

Elizabeth saw that Carly's eyes widened at that statement, and she could see that the other woman was desperately trying to deny it to herself. There was no way that Jason would ever stay away from Port Charles and her, and there was no way that it would be Elizabeth that suggested they return.

"You're part of the reason I stayed gone so long," Jason bit out and Elizabeth found her eyes widening at the statement.

She placed her hand on his arm gently, but just enough to pull him back slightly and looked at Sonny with a quick tip of her head towards the boys. "Jason, the boys are asleep upstairs."

Some of the tension immediately deflated out of him and a look of regret crossed his face as he glanced at the stairs. Elizabeth looked at Michael and Morgan and then said, "And maybe we shouldn't discuss this in front of Sonny and Carly's boys."

"Why don't you two go out back with Max," Sonny suggested, stepping in to shepherd the two boys outside. Once they were out of the room, he walked back towards the three adults and stood halfway between the facing combatants. "Why don't we all just-"

"No," Carly snapped. "I want to know what Jason means."

"I mean that because of you Sonny wasn't working to get my name cleared in the charges Ric brought against me," Jason explained, his voice calmer now but still tight. "I asked him to keep an eye on Elizabeth, see if she needed anything. But he playing games with you and wasn't focused on anybody else."

"That's not my fault," Carly declared. "I could have used you here to talk to him, to get him to leave me alone and stop causing problems with Jax."

"I know," he admitted. "But I had to look out for Elizabeth and our children. I won't apologize for that. And when Ric threatened Elizabeth, I had to act."

"That's when you killed Ric." Carly said it with such simplicity, such absolute acceptance that it startled Elizabeth a little. While she knew who Jason was and knew what he'd done to Ric, she had never mentioned Jason killing someone like she was talking about her phone bill. For all her problems with the other woman, Elizabeth knew that Carly absolutely accepted what and who Jason was.

"Yes," Jason admitted reluctantly. "And that's when I got Elizabeth and Cameron out of town and told Sonny that I might not be coming back unless he did what I wanted him to."

"Jason told me that unless I got his name cleared for the charges against Ric, the murder would be pinned on me and Jason would come back and take over the territory."

"What?"

The word slipped out of Elizabeth's mouth and was echoed mere seconds later by Carly. They both stared at Jason in disbelief. He had never said anything about this to Elizabeth, but she also hadn't asked. She knew that he'd killed Ric to protect her and she knew that things were strained with Sonny because the older man hadn't passed on Elizabeth's message to him and wasn't watching out for her like he'd asked his friend to do, but she had no idea he'd actually threatened to pin Ric's murder on Sonny.

Ignoring Carly's spluttering, Jason sighed and turned to Elizabeth. "I was upset because Sonny hadn't told me you needed to talk to me; he hadn't passed on your message. He believed Carly when she assumed Lucky was the father and he figured that whenever he got around to clearing the charges against me and I came back would be fine for you to tell me. He thought that if the baby was mine you would have told him."

"I would have told you first," she said a little indignantly.

"And you did. But I asked Sonny to look out for you and you were telling me he wasn't. I was upset. After all the times I had looked out for Carly and the boys, he wouldn't look out for my family when I asked him to. I talked to you, but he didn't know that. And when Ric hacked into the hospital database and found out that the baby was mine and then was trying to blackmail you and threatening you, I snapped."

"But you would have framed your best friend for murder?" she asked him, still not comprehending the fact that Jason had done all of that to Sonny, because of her.

"At that moment, nothing was more important than the safety of you and our children," he said unapologetically.

"But to...to frame Sonny for...murder?" she stammered. How would she ever look at the older man again? How could he look at her? How did he not hate her? She shook her head, "Jason, I could never...he's your best friend."

"Oh, geez," Carly scoffed. "Give up the goody-goody act. You're probably rejoicing inside that Jason chose you over his real family."

Angrily Elizabeth turned and snapped, "Shut up, Carly! I have never once asked Jason to turn his back on either you or Sonny, and yes, I was mad that Sonny never passed on my message to Jason and that I had to call for days leaving messages before Jason could finally call me back so that I could tell him he was going to be a father. But I never...I never expected him to turn on his best friend."

She looked over at Sonny, swallowing and said, "I...I..."

The older man shook his head slowly, regretfully. "I was mad," he admitted. "But I also know that I didn't pass on your message, I didn't look out for you even though every time I spoke to Jason he asked about you. I...it was because of me Ric was able to get close to you. And I'm sorry for that."

She didn't want him to feel like he had to apologize to her. They hadn't been close, and she hadn't told him that her ex-husband was talking to her, even though she knew she could have.

"So that's why you suddenly stopped coming after me?" Carly asked, apparently needing to be the center of attention. "It wasn't because you listened to me or respected me; it was because you were trying to keep from going to jail?"

When Sonny admitted the truth, she huffed. "It served you right. Geez, Sonny, how could you be so selfish that you would neglect your best friend? After everything that Jason's done for you, you weren't even working on clearing his name. It was only when your neck was on the line."

"Oh admit it," Sonny smirked at his ex-wife, "You liked it when I was chasing after you. You only married Jax because I stopped showing you attention and Jason wasn't here for you to meddle in his life. Candy Boy lets you spend his money and you work at his hotel and he flies you off to Montreal all the time. You love being the center of attention and when I stopped giving it to you, you took it from Jax."

"I love Jax," Carly protested and Elizabeth sighed at the argument that seemed to be growing.

She tugged on Jason's arm and backed up towards the door. With a glance at the stairs, she hoped the ex-spouses didn't wake up her sons, but she had to get out of the room. Once outside on the terrace, she leaned against the stone railing and took a deep breath.

"Are you alright?" Jason asked, his hand gently resting on her back.

"I just couldn't listen to Carly and Sonny fight," she said with a shake of her head.

"No, I mean with...what you heard."

"I was surprised," she finally said after a moment. "I...I hadn't realized things were that bad with Sonny. No wonder you didn't want to go back and you never seemed to want to talk to him for very long."

"Yeah," he said softly, looking out over the lawn where Michael and Morgan were running around kicking a soccer back at Max who was playing goalie between two saplings. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and his face hardened just a bit. It was a look he'd had often whenever he got off the phone with Sonny in the early months they'd been gone. Now she understood it and she felt bad for him that he felt like he'd lost the one person he'd always counted on in his life.

"I'm sorry I caused so many problems," she said softly and slid her arms around his waist.

Jason looked down at her in question, and then his arms came around her, tugging her close to him. "You didn't cause any problems," he shook his head. "Sonny couldn't stand losing to Jax and he was only thinking about himself."

"But you've forgiven him now, right?"

"We worked past it," Jason said. "But things have changed, Elizabeth. I like our home in Italy and I like the relative freedom we have there with the boys. I don't want to just give that up."

It soothed her to hear him still talk about going back to Italy. Granted they hadn't been in Port Charles more than a couple of days and they'd only encountered a handful of people, but somehow Elizabeth had a feeling that most of the encounters were going to be like the one today with Carly. As opposed to Emily's ecstatic reunion and warm welcome home. Maybe Jason was feeling the strain of it just like she was and couldn't wait to get out of here and back to Italy.

"So what do you want to do?" she asked Jason, her cheek resting against his chest. She watched at Michael scored a goal and did a victory celebration with his brother.

"I want to get our boys and go."

"What about Michael and Morgan?"

She felt the sigh resonate through him and his arms tighten around her. "Carly's not going to go as long as we're here and I think it would be best to talk to them when she's not here. I'll let them know that Cameron and Jake haven't replaced them, but that I may not always be there like I was before. And I'll introduce them to Cam and Jake; let them get to know each other.

"But for now," he sighed, "I just want to spend time alone with my family. I've had enough excitement for today."

For a moment Monica was frightened when she heard a sound on the patio moments before the French doors opened. But even before she saw Jason step inside, she'd remembered Emily mentioning to her that Jason was back in town with Elizabeth and their children. And that he promised his sister he would stop by and see their mother. It was a good thing Jason hadn't been here when Emily said that because tears had graced her eyes; Jason had called her his mother, and he said he would stop by.

"Jason," she smiled as she stood to welcome him and his family inside. Her face was lit up with a smile so broad she feared she would scare him off, but he didn't run.

Instead he walked towards her, holding a little baby in his arms while Elizabeth walked a little behind him, guiding a little boy who was looking around at everything in awe. "Hi...Mom," he said softly. "Emily's probably-"

"She said she saw you," Monica nodded. "I'm glad you were able to come."

"I'm sorry I left town without saying anything," he said, slightly uncomfortable. "But things happened...and I needed-"

"You're here now," she shook her head, trying to put him at ease in a house he'd never felt comfortable in after he woke up all those years ago. "That's all that matters. Hello, Elizabeth."

"Hi, Dr. Quartermaine," she smiled tentatively.

"Please call me Monica," she offered. "After all, Emily says you're part of the family now."

"We got married," Jason confirmed. "And these are our sons. This is Cameron," he introduced the shy little boy clinging to his mother's leg. "I adopted him after Elizabeth and I got married."

"Hello, Cameron," she smiled at him, bending down slightly in an attempt to comfort him. He returned her smile shyly and whispered 'hi'.

"And this," Jason said, and Monica stood and looked at her son, "is Jacob. We call him Jake."

"Hello, Jake," she said to the little bundle ensconced in Jason's arms. Tears filled her eyes as she looked at her son and his family, "They're both beautiful boys."

"Would you...would you like to hold him?" Jason offered.

She couldn't speak for the lump in her throat and she nodded as she reached out to take her grandson from Jason. "Oh," she cooed softly. "Hello, Jake."

She sat down on the sofa and looked over at Cameron, still shyly looking on from by Elizabeth's legs. "Cameron, would you like to sit beside me?"

He looked up briefly at his parents, and then climbed up on the couch beside her. Monica smiled at him and asked, "Is this your little brother?"

The little boy nodded eagerly. "Jake."

"Do you like being a big brother?"

Again he nodded and reached out to touch the little baby's head. Monica looked over at Jason who was sitting on the arm of the chair beside Elizabeth and saw the smile he had on his face for his children. She knew that Cameron wasn't Jason's by blood, but she also knew enough about her son to know that didn't matter to him. Just as it had come to not matter to her after a while that Jason was actually Susan Moore's son. She loved Jason just as he knew he loved these little boys.

"Emily didn't say if you two were planning to stay...and I'm not trying to make you uncomfortable," she said, trying to put Jason at ease. "But I'm sure Alan would like to meet these two little boys. He's in a board meeting at the hospital this afternoon."

Jason was silent for a moment, and then said, "Maybe we can arrange a time to come by when he's here."

"He'd like that, I'm sure. You can decide if you want Edward here or not."

By the slight grimace on Jason's face, Monica had the feeling he probably would be more comfortable if Edward wasn't around. While her father-in-law might bluster and blow, Monica wasn't going to let him badger her son and do anything that would cause him to stay away. When the news had gotten around town that Jason was the father of Elizabeth Spencer's baby and that he'd disappeared along with Elizabeth and her son Cameron, Edward had hired private investigators to find them all. He was determined to bring Jason and his child into the ELQ fold and groom the next generation.

Alan had finally told his father to give it up because they'd never find Jason, and he would certainly not come back to work at ELQ. But that hadn't stopped Edward from changing his will and giving the child portions of ELQ in trust. Alan had been happy as well to learn that his son was finally gaining a family of his own, and she had seen how pleased, yet certain Jason wouldn't want anything to do with him, when Emily told the two of them she'd seen Jason in town and had seen Elizabeth and the baby.

"I'd like it to just be Alan," Jason said. "I...I'd like my sons to meet my father."

Monica blinked rapidly, trying to keep the tears back. Her heart burst with love for her son and her husband and she hoped that Jason repeated what he'd just said to his father. She knew that if he did, it would mean the world to him. Maybe fatherhood had changed Jason, and he would be more willing to reach out, but Monica would try to ensure they didn't push him. The fact that he'd stopped by and let her hold her grandson was truly enough for now

"Daddy!"

"Cameron, don't get too far ahead."

Lucky looked up when he heard the familiar voices in the park. He turned his head and scanned the area, smiling when he saw Cameron running towards the swings, Elizabeth following along behind him. He stood, running a hand through his hair and smoothing down his wrinkled shirt and took a step towards the two of them.

Cameron and Elizabeth were back in Port Charles. Cameron had seen him and called out for him. He didn't know where the baby was; Jason probably decided he didn't want Elizabeth and just wanted the brat, but that was okay. He would convince Elizabeth to take him back and the two of them would be a family once again with Cameron.

"Daddy!" Cameron called out once again, rushing not towards Lucky, but towards someone else.

Lucky froze, and watched as Jason Morgan turned around, bent down and accepted Cameron's full-force run into his arms. The other man stood, carrying Cameron up with him and smiled as he hugged the little boy. Elizabeth joined them then and that was when Lucky saw the stroller to the side. The stroller which presumably housed Jason Morgan's child. The child he had stolen from Lucky, just like he'd apparently stolen Cameron.

Lucky had been Cameron's 'Daddy'. He was the one that helped tie Cameron's shoelaces, who read him stories and played Tickle Monster with him. But that had all been stolen from him by his unfaithful wife and the man who had always been after her. Jason's men had come to Lucky and told him to sign the divorce papers Elizabeth had sent him. She wasn't coming back, the baby she was carrying wasn't his, and Elizabeth wanted the divorce. So they were there to help persuade him along. He would have continued to refuse if Maxie hasn't shown up then and joined in with their arguments.

He'd signed the papers to shut her up and make her think he'd done what she wanted, but mostly he signed because he didn't want to get hurt. He had no doubts Morgan's men would have beat him, and since Maxie was on another one of her kicks of no drugs because she didn't want them around the baby, it would have been painful. After he'd signed and Maxie was happy, she let up on her vigilance and he was finally able to score once more.

"Lucky."

He continued to stare at the people by the swings, and ignored his brother. Nikolas would talk enough for the both of them; there was no need for him to say anything. Besides, he had nothing to say to his brother. The prince was still trying to get him to go to rehab and sending people to look for him when he left, which made it harder and harder to get what he needed.

"Lucky," Nikolas said once more, sounding exasperated as he reached his side. "I've been looking for you. Maxie called and said you left early this morning and she can't reach you. Lucas is out of diapers and you promised her you were going to get some."

"I forgot," he mumbled, continuing to watch Morgan play with the family that should have been his.

"Lucky," his brother sighed, sounding so high and mighty that Lucky just wanted to snap. "Mac's not going to let you visit if you keep this up. He doesn't like you coming over to his house, but he knows you have a right to see your son. But when you promise you're going to help out and then spend all your money on drugs and leave it up to him to take care of your child, he's not going to let you come anymore."

"Why don't you just take some of that money you'd pay for my rehab you keep trying to send me to and give it to Maxie?" Lucky grumbled. "That'd be a better use for it."

"Lucky," Nikolas tried once more, stepping in front of him. "If you just got clean, you might get your old job back and then you could help Maxie out and get to spend more time with Lucas. Grandmother's offered you the house your parents lived in, but you need to get clean."

Lucky just rolled his eyes. None of them understood. Lucky needed the pills to help him. How was he supposed to cope with the pain of losing Elizabeth and his children without it? And now, seeing Elizabeth across the park with Jason, rubbing his nose in her happiness and what she'd taken away from him...his fingers were trembling with the need to reach into his pocket and get a pill.

"Look at her," he whispered. "She's over there...looking so happy. That should be me."

"Lucky," his brother shook his head. "Maxie is at Mac's."

"Not Maxie," he shook his head. "Elizabeth."

Nikolas' eyes widened and he spun around looking. Lucky could tell the moment he saw her, because his brother stilled, and then he sighed. "It looks like they brought the boys to the park."

"The boys?" Lucky asked, stepping closer and forcing his brother to look at him. "She had a boy?"

The imperial prince nodded just once. "Yes."

"How do you know?" he demanded.

A mournful sigh, or maybe that was guilt, slipped out of his brother's mouth. "Emily told me a couple of days ago. She...she ran into Jason when she was looking for you and he invited her to come see Elizabeth and the boys."

Nikolas paused and then squared his shoulders. "They got married after Jake was born. And...and Jason adopted Cameron."

Lucky felt like he'd been punched in the gut, and he actually took a step backwards. "She married him? He married my wife? And he took my children?! How come you didn't tell me this?!"

"Because she's not your wife anymore," Nikolas pointed out. "She filed for divorce, Lucky, and you signed the papers."

"Because Jason sent goons to threaten me. I didn't want to sign them. I want my family back."

"You have a family," his brother said harshly, actually shoving Lucky back a pace. "Maxie and your son...they're your family. But you're standing here hoping Elizabeth will come back to you when it's never going to happen. She's moved on. She had Jason Morgan's child, she married him. You cheated on her, you lied to her, you got another woman pregnant...even if she'd never gotten pregnant, why would she stay with you?"

Lucky turned away in disgust. "Nice to know whose side you're on, brother"

"This isn't about sides," the other man huffed out. "This is about you facing reality. Elizabeth isn't going to come back to you. But you have someone who needs you, Lucky. Your son. He needs you to get clean so that you can be the father he deserves to grow up with. Be better than Luke. Luke was always gone, or he was in the bottom of a bottle and you hated it. Prove you're the better man, and get clean so you can be a father to Lucas."

"Leave me alone," Lucky shook his head, yanking his arm away from his brother. "I'm sure you already bought Maxie a case of diapers, so why don't you back to Wyndamere and leave me alone."

"Come with me," Nikolas encouraged. "Don't go over there, Lucky, and make a scene. Jason's not going to let you near his children while you're high and he's certainly not going to let you yell at Elizabeth. You've got to let her go and move on."

This time it was Lucky that shoved his brother away. "I'm not going anywhere with you. And stop being so high and mighty and telling me what to do."

Without another word, he turned and stalked down the park's path. Once he was around the corner and was sure that Nikolas wasn't following him, he changed direction and cut across the grass, heading back towards the swing set. He needed to see Cameron, to see his boy. He needed to have the toddler to come running into his arms, to call him 'Daddy'. That would show Morgan he couldn't steal his family and make Elizabeth think about what she was doing to Cameron.

He just needed to make them see.

"Daddy, look at me!"

Elizabeth smiled as she watched Cameron squeal with delight as Jason pushed him on the swings. Their little boy was holding tight to the chains as he soared through the air and laughed each time Jason gave him another push forward. Glancing over, she saw that Jake was still asleep, and her smile grew at the sight. It helped ease some of the tension she felt sitting here.

Cameron and Jake, used to their home in Italy and the large backyard, had been lacking fresh air and sunshine lately. Staying in Sonny's old penthouse with its small balcony and bullet proof glass wasn't like the large, open spaces they enjoyed back home. Cameron had been feeling cooped up and so after leaving the Quartermaine house where they'd had lunch with Alan and Monica, she and Jason had decided to stop at the park. Monica had offered to let them go to down to the lake, but besides Cameron not knowing how to swim yet, they hadn't wanted to stay in case Edward arrived home.

They could have made the little boy wait until they went to her grandmother's house for dinner tonight, but that wouldn't have been fair to him. And Sonny had told them they could come over and play any time they wanted with Michael and Morgan's toys in the back yard, but they had decided not to today. Michael was a bit sullen the last time they were there, almost acting jealous of the time Jason spent with his sons, and while Elizabeth would never tell him not to be around Carly and Sonny's boys, he had told her he wanted it to just be their family today.

She knew that with the guards around them, her family was safe, but Elizabeth was still on edge sitting out here. There were people in Port Charles that they hadn't met up with yet; ones Elizabeth knew would not be pleasant to encounter and she didn't want those meetings to happen today and ruin their outing.

"Let go of me," an angry voice shouted just out of sight. "I'll call the police; I have a right to be in the park."

Elizabeth's eyes widened and she looked over at Jason who was grabbing hold of the swing and slowing Cameron down. The little boy was disappointed that his fun had stopped, but he accepted it when Jason picked him up and held him to his side. Elizabeth was standing as well, now, and was holding onto the handles of Jake's stroller after making sure the sleeping infant was securely strapped in.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Morgan," Pablo said as he escorted Lucky towards them, not letting go of her ex-husband's arm. "He was trying to sneak up on you guys and wasn't happy when I stopped him and told him to leave. He insisted on seeing you."

"It's alright," Jason said, coming to stand beside Elizabeth, and keeping a firm hold on Cameron.

Lucky looked even worse than he had the night Elizabeth left him in the park after telling him Jake wasn't his baby and that she was leaving town. He was rumpled, looked like he hadn't showered in several days and his breathing was much faster and shallower than it needed to be for just a simple walk through the park, or even an encounter with Pablo. Her ex-husband was high, and Elizabeth didn't want him anywhere near her children.

"Hi, Cameron," Lucky smiled broadly when he saw the little boy. "It's Daddy."

At the word Daddy, Cameron turned and buried his head in Jason's shoulder. He automatically tightened his arms around the little boy and rubbed his back lightly. The actions weren't lost on Lucky, even in his strung-out state, and he narrowed his eyes.

"What do you want, Lucky?" Jason asked. His voice was firm, but not harsh enough to scare the child he was holding.

"I wanted to see my son," he said.

"Cameron isn't your son," Elizabeth spoke for the first time. "Jason adopted him, and he's happy now. He's not confused, or scared. Jason doesn't ignore him. So please leave, Lucky."

For the first time since Pablo escorted him to where her family was enjoying the day, Lucky turned his gaze on Elizabeth and her heart broke for the waste she saw in his eyes, the drugged glaze that had become all-too-familiar to her before she and her son left, but she also shivered at the anger directed at her.

"Pablo," Jason called to the guard, "you and Carlos take Cameron and Jake to the car and wait with them."

"Of course, Mr. Morgan," he instantly stated as he and his fellow guard came forward to collect their charges.

Carlos moved towards Elizabeth and looked down at Jake. "I'll try not to wake him as I transfer him to the car," he told her as he took hold of the stroller.

"Thank you, Carlos," she smiled at him.

"Come on, Cam," Pablo grinned at her oldest boy, reaching to take him from his father's arms. Jason let go rather reluctantly, but finally did so, assuring Cameron with a rub of his back. "Let's go get buckled in the car. Your Mom and Dad will follow us in just a minute, okay?"

"We'll be right there, Cam," Jason promised him and then turned his cold gaze on Lucky as the boys were led away from the confrontation.

Elizabeth waited until Cameron was out of sight before she rounded on Lucky. "What are you doing here?"

He blinked at her, that slow, lazy, confused blink that indicated he was clearly high and it sickened her that he'd shown up near her children like that. "I...I came to say hi to my son."

"You're not getting anywhere near Cameron again," Jason told him, his voice low and even, but full of deadly promise. "Leave now, Lucky."

"You're going to stand there and let him tell me I can't be near my son?" Lucky asked Elizabeth in disbelief.

"He's not your son," she told him. "You only call him your son when it's convenient for you."

"That's not true," he protested. "I helped you raise him. I accepted him even though he was someone else's."

"Just like you would have accepted Jax's baby?" she challenged. "You hated that situation and the only reason you tolerated Cameron is because Zander was dead. I'm not going to fight you, Lucky. We're divorced, I'm married now and Cameron has a father who doesn't treat him like second best."

"I never did that."

"I worked double shifts and hardly saw my little boy, I sent him to my grandmother's in an attempt to help you beat the pills and you didn't even care that he wasn't around, you brought drugs into the house that he was living in, but as soon as you heard I was pregnant with what you thought was your child you promised me you'd go to rehab. When I told you I was leaving, you didn't care that I was taking Cameron, as long as I didn't leave with your baby." She stopped and took a deep breath, trying to control the anger making her shake. "Jason has never done that to him, and he never will, and that is why Cameron calls him Daddy. That's why he called him Daddy even before we got married and Jason adopted him."

Elizabeth stepped back, closer to Jason and twined their hands together. "You have a family, Lucky. A little baby who needs his father, not a drug addict who's chasing after something that was never his to begin with and will never be his again. Get clean for your child, Lucky, and focus on him. But don't ever come near my family again."

She turned and looked at Jason, imploring him to leave. She knew they would, but she also read in his eyes that he wasn't done with Lucky yet. Her husband stepped close to her ex and dropped his voice to a threatening pitch. "If you come near my wife or my sons again, you will find out just what true pain is. So forget that Elizabeth and Cameron ever existed and I'll let you live."

Then Jason put his hand on the small of Elizabeth's back and guided her from the park. She didn't look back, she didn't pause, she left Lucky standing there and walked away. While she would always be grateful for the boy who had helped her when she needed him, she had finally left that portion of her life where it belonged. In the past in the park and she wouldn't revisit it. She had a family and a future to concentrate on.

"So will you and the children be leaving town again, Elizabeth? Or will you be staying here?"

Elizabeth sighed as she looked out over the backyard she'd spent so much time in and then looked over at her grandmother. "I don't know, Grams. It all depends on what Jason needs to do."

"I see." The older woman's lips pinched into a thin line and Elizabeth barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "So it doesn't matter what you want at all, does it?"

"He's my husband, Gram, and the father of my children. Our family will be together."

"You didn't think about your family when you slept with Jason."

It was a good thing that Jason had the boys inside, cleaning them up after dinner. Jake was tired and Jason had volunteered to gather up their stuff so they could go. It appeared that the confrontation her grandmother had, in her passive aggressive way, been hinting at all night was about to come to pass.

"My family, Gram?" she asked. "Do you mean Lucky? Lucky, who was addicted to pills the entire summer and accusing me of having an affair with Patrick Drake? Lucky, who was having an affair himself with a barely legal teenage girl; his boss' daughter? Lucky, who wouldn't get clean for Cameron and instead willingly let him get sent away from his home to live with you so that I could coddle and baby my husband like the little boy he is instead of owning up to his responsibilities and being a man? Lucky, who brought his mistress into my home and my bed, the one that I worked double shifts to pay for because Lucky was spending our money on pills and wouldn't take on extra hours himself? You mean that family, Gram?"

Elizabeth scoffed and stood, stalking to the end of the porch. "That family was over, Gram. In my mind, my marriage was over. I didn't seek out Jason in order to sleep with him; I needed a friend, someone who was on my side. Someone who didn't tell me that I needed to forgive Lucky for all that he'd done because it wasn't his fault, it was just the pills. I needed someone who would listen to me and support me, and that was Jason."

She rounded on her grandmother, "Because it sure wasn't you. You have never listened to me whenever I've brought up Lucky's problems. It's always He loves you, darling and you can help him and all sorts of other crap. When did Lucky become your favorite over your own granddaughter?"

"That's not what this is, Elizabeth," the older woman said with a shake of her head as she stood. "But Jason Morgan is a criminal who could get you and your children killed."

"Lucky nearly killed me," she told her grandmother bluntly. "Twice. He was high and trying to set Jason up and heard me walking up and turned around and fired blindly. He was cleaning his gun in our home and it went off. Thankfully Cameron wasn't there. He could have killed my son when he left his pills lying around and some fell in Cameron's toy box. He grabbed me and I fell to the ground when I was pregnant because he was so high and refused to let me go even though I'd found him with Maxie, again."

Elizabeth could tell the older woman didn't really have a reply for that, based on the shocked expression on her face. "So don't tell me, Gram," she continued on, "about how much better Lucky is. How much safer he is. He wasn't safer physically, and he wasn't safer emotionally. Jason has never neglected our children. He has never treated me like a possession or a doormat. And if you refuse to see or understand that, then I can't help you and I won't keep fighting you on it.

"I don't know if we'll stay in town, but if we do, you have to learn to accept my husband, or my children will only get to know the Quartermaines as their grandparents, because I am not going to have them come over here and let you poison them against their own father." Elizabeth looked pointedly at her grandmother and then finished softly. "I hope you'll be able to love me enough to support me, because I do want my children to know my grandmother. But I won't apologize for who I love and who I married, not even to you."

"Elizabeth, dear," her grandmother began, but Elizabeth wasn't in the mood to listen to lectures on how Jason was dangerous or how she should have given Lucky just one more chance. She was sick of never getting support from the one person she thought should have loved her unconditionally.

"I'm sorry, Gram," Elizabeth shook her head, interrupting whatever the older woman might have said. "I just don't have it in me to fight with you anymore. It leaves me too upset and too drained and I won't cheat my family like that by wasting my time here."

She turned for the door that would lead her back into the house and to her family and said, "We'll still be here for a little while. I don't know if we're staying or going, but I'll let you know. But from now on, it's up to you how involved you'll be in your family's lives. I'm tired of being stepped on for not living up to your perfect little ideal for me. When you're ready to accept me, all of me, I would love to hear from you."

Then she walked inside and her heart melted at the love and concern she saw in Jason's eyes. He had the boys ready to go and he wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head as she anchored herself to him. When she pulled back, he looked at her in question but she shook her head. "We'll talk later."

"Alright," he accepted. "Let's go."

Then they gathered up the boys and left her grandmother's house, not looking back even though Elizabeth was certain the other woman stood in the back doorway watching them go.

"Jason."

He stopped on his way into the coffee shop and slowly turned to face the woman who'd spoken his name. She smiled as she walked towards him, putting an extra swing in her hips, but he stood there, arms crossed across his chest as she approached.

"I didn't know you were in Port Charles," she said, as she came to a halt a few feet from him. "When did you get back?"

"A couple of weeks ago," he answered succinctly.

When he didn't elaborate or ask about her, she decided to just pretend like he had, or that they weren't standing there awkwardly. "I've been out of town the past month. I have a new job."

"What do you want, Sam?" he asked, his voice low and disinterested. He didn't want to talk to her, but he knew that it was inevitable. And no doubt it would turn into a confrontation. He wanted to avoid all that, especially since he was supposed to be meeting Elizabeth at Sonny's so they could go look at property, but he also believed it was better to have this conversation with Sam when it was just him instead of his wife being present as well.

"I can't say hi?" she asked, raising her eyebrows in hurt and surprise. "You just left town without a word, Jason and now you're back and I wanted to say hello."

"Hello," he said, and then uncrossed his arms and tucked his hands in his pockets. "Excuse me, I need to go."

"You're going to walk away from me?" she demanded. "I guess that shouldn't surprise me; after all, you did that in October. Just left town, didn't say good-bye; left me behind even though I was supposed to be your girlfriend. Do you know how humiliated I was when everyone knew you'd helped your little tramp leave town, but you forgot about your girlfriend?"

"I think you got over it pretty quickly," he told her. "Sonny told me what you were saying around town. How you blamed me for the break-up and the fact that you can't have kids."

He leaned forward and his eyes narrowed, causing hers to narrow. "He also told me what you were saying about Elizabeth and our child. Somehow, in all your blame and accusations, you seemed to have forgotten what you were doing that night, Sam. Elizabeth didn't climb fifteen flights of stairs with the intention of seducing me, and she wasn't using me. She'd just found her husband in bed with the teenage mistress who was supplying him drugs and I'd just found you having sex on the floor of your mother's house with your stepfather."

Sam swallowed and opened her mouth to speak, but Jason cut her off. "No, I shouldn't have broken up with you in the hospital, but I was trying to protect you. I couldn't stand there again and watch you get shot in my arms with a bullet meant for me. I may have done it wrong, but I pushed you away with the best intentions. You slept with Ric because you knew it would be the worst thing you could do to hurt me. You wanted to make me pay. You may have been drinking, but you weren't drunk; you knew exactly what you were doing.

"Elizabeth and I came together after that, finding comfort when we were hurting over what others had done to us. I don't regret that night, because our son was conceived." His voice lowered and he took his hands out of his pockets, clenching them into fists. "So don't think you can stand here talking to me like nothing's changed when I remember every word Sonny told me you were saying about me, about Elizabeth, and about our son. So what do you want?"

Her eyes filled with tears as he hissed the last sentence to her and she swallowed harshly. "You...you have a son?"

"I do."

Jason could see the moment her hurt turned to the desire to inflict pain on him. She looked around mockingly and raised her eyebrows while holding her arms out in question. "Well, where is he? I'm not surprised that Elizabeth took him and ran; she took your child from you didn't she? That's why you're here by yourself."

"Jake and Cameron are with Elizabeth at Sonny's. They're meeting me there so we can go look at houses to buy. My children need room to grow, a backyard where they can run around, and we want something besides the penthouse for when we live here in Port Charles."

"You and Elizabeth are moving back?" Sam asked. He could see the information hurt her, despite trying to hide it.

While Jason no longer felt any love towards Sam, he wasn't settling for Elizabeth, he truly did love her, but he didn't want to Sam to be blindsided with the news about his life. To that end he informed her, "We're buying a house. I don't know if we'll stay here all the time. But when I need to come to Port Charles, my family will come with me."

He paused for just a moment, knowing this could get ugly and told her, "Elizabeth and I got married and I adopted Cameron."

His ex-girlfriend blinked and took a breath. "You married her? You married her? How wonderful for her. She has your baby and gets the ultimate prize. You. She probably couldn't wait to demand you marry her, could she?"

"We got married after Jake was born," he informed her quietly. "Because we love each other."

"I loved you. You used to say you loved me," she accused him. "Was it all just a lie? You thought you couldn't have Elizabeth so you settled for me? It sure didn't take you long to fall into bed with her and then leave me once you found out she was pregnant with your child. Was the blackout really the first night you two slept together, or was it all just a lie?"

"You should know me better than that," he told her. "I was with you; we were making a life together."

"Until you tossed me aside after Manny shot me."

"You know why I did that."

"I know why you said you did it. But now I really wonder. I begged you, Jason. I begged you to give us a chance, to be together. And you slept with Elizabeth and gave her a baby. You knew I wanted to have your baby and you gave it to her."

"It wasn't like that, and you know that," he said quietly. "I went to Alexis' house that night to tell you I was wrong, I wanted to see if you would move back in. But you decided to make me pay and you slept with Ric. Anybody else I could have forgiven, but you deliberately set out to not only hurt me, but your mother and your sisters. You blew their lives apart, Sam, just because you didn't get your way."

He shook his head, knowing that they had been over this before and no matter how many times he told her, she wouldn't believe him. She would only believe what she wanted to believe because it was easier to blame someone else for everything that had gone wrong in her life instead of taking responsibility for her actions. Looking at her now, he only felt sorry that he had hurt her by not telling her he had to leave and not telling her in person the truth about his child, but at the time it couldn't be helped. And her actions afterwards showed to him exactly who she was and helped him get over some of the guilt he carried about her being shot and being hurt.

"Elizabeth and I didn't plan to have a child, but I'll never consider Jake a mistake. And I'm sorry you got hurt, but I can't change that. I hope you're enjoying your new job and you're doing well." Then he stepped back, tucked his hands into his pockets and turned to leave.

"So I guess this is it," she said with a huff. "You get your perfect little life with Elizabeth and I'm left with nothing."

"What do you want me to say, Sam?" he asked.

"I want you to tell me you're sorry!" she shouted at him.

"Sorry for what?" he shot back. "Sorry for sleeping with Elizabeth? I'm not. I didn't plan to sleep with her, and I didn't sleep with her to hurt you. Not like you did when you slept with Ric. Or do you want me to say I'm sorry for leaving you?"

He knew that was it and he finally saw what this was all about. She wanted him to regret his choice. To say that he made a mistake by leaving her, that he wasn't happy with Elizabeth and his children. If he said the word, she would take him back in a heartbeat and then she'd try to get him to fight Elizabeth for custody of Jake.

Shaking his head in disgust he told her, "I'm not. I'm not sorry for leaving you, and I'm definitely not sorry for being with Elizabeth. I am sorry if you can't accept that, but I can't change it and I'm not wasting any more time on this. My wife is waiting."

Then he turned and left. He had planned to get some hot chocolate and coffee for him and Elizabeth to have while they were out driving, but after this encounter with Sam, he simply turned back towards the car. Now he understood better why Elizabeth had asked if they could look for a house for whenever they stayed in Port Charles. She didn't want to live in the Towers, either his old penthouse or Sonny's; while she'd claimed that she wanted the boys to have a backyard to run around in like they had in Italy and like they enjoyed at Sonny's, he had a feeling there was more to it. She wanted a place that was all their own, without old memories of other people haunting the corners.

A house was just a place to Jason, but this was the only thing Elizabeth had said, let alone asked for, when he told her that now that they'd returned to Port Charles, they couldn't stay away all the time. Because of that, he wanted to give it to her and would do everything he could to ensure it. Jason was in the process of working things out with Sonny, carving out a new role for him in both organizations, because Jason wanted to have more freedom. Elizabeth loved Italy and seemed to thrive in the absence of all the tension Port Charles brought, and her love of art was returning. Cameron was learning Italian and had made friends there, and Jason knew Jake would be the same way.

They had family and friends in Port Charles and Jason knew that business would bring him back on occasion. He wanted Elizabeth to have a place she could be happy in, a place that would help her deal with leaving the home she had made for their family in Italy. That meant buying a house. They didn't want a place like Sonny's, but Jason knew that security was essential. While money wasn't an issue, somehow Jason felt the search could take a while, because they wanted to get this right.

He didn't want his family to dread coming to Port Charles. But if it ever happened, Jason knew what he'd do. Jason would stay in Italy permanently because he would choose them over his job. He just hoped it wouldn't come to that and they'd be able to find a compromise.

Most of all, though, he hoped his wife wasn't upset with him because he was late.

"He's going to leave, isn't he?"

Sonny looked up at his ex-wife as she breezed into his house without being announced. Their boys were at school, and he was surprised to see Carly there. However, given that she apparently wanted to talk about Jason, he now understood why she'd decided to come over in the middle of the day.

She sat down on the couch and looked at him expectantly as he sat behind his desk. "Isn't he? He's going to leave town again? Take his family and go back wherever it was they were living before they showed up. Why did he go to the trouble of buying a house here if they were only just going to leave again?"

"Because Jason and Elizabeth were happy there, and their children were happy. And you know what it's been like since they've been back here."

Carly rolled her eyes. "Yes, poor little Elizabeth, she's been called out as the lying tramp she is, and she can't handle people looking cross-eyed at her."

Sonny put his pen down and stood from his chair, rounding the desk and stopping in front of it. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the heavy wood structure. "You'd better not let Jason hear you say that about his wife," he cautioned. "Regardless of you being his friend, he wouldn't let you get away with it."

"Oh come on, Sonny," she huffed. "You know that I'm right. Elizabeth Webber is no longer the paragon of virtue she made herself out to be and this whole town was snowed into believing she was. Her halo slipped and she can't handle having everyone seeing her for who she really is."

Sonny counted to ten, and then counted to twenty. When he felt slightly calmer, he said in a tight voice, "First of all, it's Elizabeth Morgan, whether you want to admit it, like it, or what have you. Second of all, Elizabeth has never claimed to be a saint, everyone always made her out to be one and everyone turned on her when she wouldn't do what they wanted her to do. If you're suddenly feeling family loyalty to the Spencers on behalf of Lucky, then you're nothing more than a hypocrite, Carly."

Her eyes widened and she gasped, but Sonny continued on. "You've never cared about the Spencers unless it can fit your agenda. So you've become friends with Lulu in recent months. She was a kid during most of Lucky and Elizabeth's time together and she's only gotten her view of history from your warped, little family. Lucky has treated Elizabeth like crap for years, and he was cheating on her last summer. He was addicted to pills, he could have hurt her child, he could have hurt her, and he got his mistress pregnant, after having sex with her in the home he was sharing with Elizabeth. She thought her marriage was over and she found comfort in a friend who was hurting too."

Leaning back against the desk, Sonny said, "It made more sense for them to come together, and they did it from a better place, than you did when you came to me that night in December."

"How dare you!" Carly hissed out as she stood.

"I'm just reminding you," Sonny pointed out, and feeling slightly bad about reminding her of that one bad night when they'd shared so many years together afterwards. "You couldn't stand me, I couldn't stand you, and we slept with each other to hurt Jason. Not unlike Sam sleeping with Ric. Jason and Elizabeth were friends for years; you just hate to remember that fact. They slept together once, and they created a beautiful little boy, and the entire town feels that it has the right to judge them and condemn them when they seem to conveniently forget what Sam and Lucky were doing that night as well.

"I'm not going to stand by and let you do that as well." Sonny shook his head sternly. "Jason has found happiness, he has a family, and his priorities have shifted. If he plans to leave, I'm not going to berate him and his family. I nearly lost Jason because I wasn't willing to see he deserved to have a life of his own, I'm not going to make that mistake again."

"Alright, fine," his ex-wife sighed. "He can have a life, and for some reason he's chosen to have it with Elizabeth. But why can't he have that life here?"

"They're not really happy here, Carly," Sonny pointed out. "His family has been welcoming, but Edward's already tried to scheme a way to use Elizabeth and her boys to get Jason to come to ELQ. It was only when Alan threatened to side with Tracy and oust him from not only the house but the company that he backed off. Elizabeth's grandmother is cold, on a good day, and the Spencers are all treating Elizabeth like it's her fault Lucky is the way he is."

"She took his baby away," Carly stated.

"He has a child with Maxie Jones, and he hasn't done a thing for that child. He hasn't gotten sober for that child, he hasn't lifted a finger to help that child; Lucky is acting like a spoiled child who's upset because some other kid took his toy," Sonny growled out. "Elizabeth isn't a possession, but that's the way Lucky's treated her. If he was upset about a child, why isn't he doing more for Maxie's child?"

The blonde looked away and Sonny nodded. "Exactly. He's only upset because Elizabeth was with Jason. But he's forgetting that he's the one who drove her to Jason's arms in the first place by cheating on her and doing drugs. Why should Elizabeth, or her children, have to stay in a place where everyone feels they have the right to attack her for something that isn't her fault? It's not fair to her, and it's not good for her children, and I don't blame either one of them for wanting to get away from here and leave this all behind."

Sonny crossed the room to get a bottle of water and sighed, "And let's not forget what Sam's been doing."

It was the first time Carly actually seemed upset at someone other than Jason or Elizabeth, but that's probably because Sam was targeting Jason instead of Elizabeth. "I can't believe Alexis is trying to make excuses for her psycho daughter."

"Bobbie's made a dozen excuses for you," he pointed out. "Mothers try to help their children. But Sam's crossed a line that no amount of motherly protection can spare her from."

"What did she do?" Carly asked in surprise. "I mean I know she's followed Jason and Elizabeth all over town getting in their faces and making a general pest of herself, but what happened?"

"She hired some people to confront Elizabeth and the boys in the park, with guns."

Carly's eyes widened, "She did what?!"

"The guards were there, they drew their weapons, the men actually fired shots, and the guards tackled Elizabeth and the boys to the ground and covered them while returning fire. Jason tracked the men down and they said that Sam hired them."

"That...that-"

"Yeah," he agreed with her unspoken statement. "I went to Alexis last night and told her what Sam had done and told her that she could help her daughter by providing a good defense. Out of respect for Kristina I wouldn't eliminate Sam, but she's going to jail. An anonymous tip led the police to the men, they gave up Sam in return for a plea bargain and Sam was arrested this morning on the set of her show. That's when Jason decided they were going to leave; they're getting their stuff ready now."

"So that's it?" Carly asked, her tone softening slightly. "He's really going to leave."

"He's doing what he feels is best for his family, Carly," Sonny told her. He wasn't completely insensitive to what she was feeling; Jason was his friend, too, and he was going to miss the younger man. Italy was a long way away, and Jason was creating a new life there. Jason had bought a home here, there were times he would have to come back for business or family, but Sonny didn't think he'd be seeing his friend any time soon. Unless maybe Sonny went to Italy. "I can't order him to stay when he's doing what he is for his family. I'd lose him forever if I did that."

"So Elizabeth won."

With a roll of his eyes Sonny sat down in the overstuffed chair. "It's not a matter of winning, Carly. And if you treat it like that, you're going to drive Jason away for sure."

"He's turning his back on his family, Sonny. On us. The boys, you, me; how is that fair?"

"How is it fair to ask him to give up his children, Carly?" he asked softly. "I know you're going to miss him; I will, too. But he has a family, a wife and children, and they're his first priority. We have to respect him enough to accept that, because if we try to force him to choose...we'll lose."

Reluctantly she agreed. "I know. It's just...Michael and Morgan will miss him. Michael already feels like he's lost Jason because he has a family now, how am I supposed to tell him that Jason won't even be living in town anymore?"

Tilting his head to the side, Sonny peered at the mother of his children. "Is that really how Michael feels, or is that just you saying that? Jason has had Michael and Morgan come over to his house, they've played with Cameron, and Jason came to Michael's thing at school because Michael asked him. Do you really think our son expects Jason to give up his own child just to make him happy?"

She looked away and Sonny decided to let the obvious lie and ploy go. He just didn't want to fight anymore with her on this. No, if truth be told, Sonny didn't want Jason to go to Italy. He wanted Jason in town, helping with the business and being there when he needed him. But he had learned the night Jason stood in this very room and informed him he killed Ric and would pin the murder on Sonny unless he got him cleared of the charges, that Jason's priorities had shifted.

At first, Sonny was mad. He blamed Jason and especially Elizabeth for this mess, but soon he realized he had no one but himself to blame for this mess. If Sonny had worked harder and taken better care of Elizabeth, then maybe Jason wouldn't have felt pushed to killing Ric. It was when he went and saw Jason and Elizabeth in Italy for their wedding that Sonny finally saw his friend and what Elizabeth did for him. Elizabeth gave him a family, one that could never be taken away. She gave him peace that Sonny hadn't even realized Jason lacked, and she gave him something besides work and other people's families to live for.

There wasn't any way Sonny could, in good conscience, fight Jason on that. Not when his friend had done so much in the past to give Sonny all of that. This was Jason's time, and Jason was making these decisions in his life. Elizabeth wasn't issuing him ultimatums and wasn't making demands of him. And while Sonny knew that he would miss having his friend around, he also knew that he'd survived before when Jason was gone. At least now Jason was more willing to call and keep in contact and Sonny knew that if an emergency arose, Jason would return.

There wasn't any way Sonny could keep Jason here in town and not have Jason come to resent him. It had been a miracle that he forgave Sonny for his selfishness in the past, especially since it had hurt Elizabeth, but there was no way it would happen again. Jason, if forced to choose between Sonny and his family, would always choose his family. He'd already done it, Sonny knew it wouldn't change. The only thing left for Sonny to do was be the best friend he could be, and allow Jason to go. It was the only way to ensure that Jason would want to come back.

"We have to accept it, Carly," Sonny said softly. "Jason will still be our friend, but we can't depend on him for everything. You're married now, and I've had to learn to accept it. You told me that you had the right to live your own life. You need to let Jason do the same. If you try to hold onto him too tightly, he's going to resent you and he's not going to want to come back."

Running a hand through her hair, she sighed, "I know."

"And, Carly," he suggested, "I'm not saying you need to become her best friend, but maybe you should try to find a way to accept Elizabeth in Jason's life. He's married to her, he has two children with her, some day he may have more. He obviously loves her, and every time you fight with him on it, it only makes him pull away from you."

She wrinkled her nose, but finally nodded. "I'll try. But only for him; I'm not doing it for her."

"I'm sure that's all Jason would ask," he smiled at her with a chuckle. Some things would never change with Carly.

"Well," she sighed heavily. "If he's determined to leave, then at least we can throw him a going away party. Let him know that we'll always be here for him."

With another laugh Sonny told her to go wild. She wouldn't listen to anything else, and even if he suspected that Jason and Elizabeth would rather forgo a party, he knew Carly would insist on giving them one anyways. In that way, Sonny knew she would never change. But at least it would keep Jason and his family in town for a little bit longer; long enough for Sonny to hopefully get used to his best friend leaving town once again.

Jason stepped out onto the back porch and walked over to Elizabeth as she sat on the porch swing, a cup of coffee in her hand, staring out over the moonlit backyard as one bare foot absently pushed against the wooden floor. He stopped at the railing, leaning his shoulder against the post and looked at his wife who seemed oblivious to his presence. She had been quiet ever since their return to Italy; she helped get their boys ready for bed with quiet, small movements, and she barely met his eye the whole while. Then when he stepped into the den to look through the mail, she disappeared outside.

Quite frankly, it unnerved him. He didn't know what she was thinking, or why she was so quiet. He thought she would have regained some of her spark once they left Port Charles, but instead she'd almost become melancholic.

"I have to be honest," she spoke, even though she still hadn't looked at him, and hadn't stopped pushing herself on the swing. At least he knew she realized he was there. "I half expected to never see this place again."

The corners of his mouth turned down as he asked, "Why?"

"I really figured we'd get sucked into staying in Port Charles," she admitted.

Pushing off the post with his shoulder, he sat down beside her on the swing, and was relieved when she shifted, dropping her drawn up leg so she could lean into his side. He closed his eyes and felt the knot in his chest loosen as he brought his arm down around her, turning his head to place a kiss on the crown of hers. She wasn't pulling away from him and he found immense relief in that.

"I told you we'd come back here," he said softly. He wondered if she'd doubted that when they left Italy all those weeks ago, and he found the idea hurt slightly.

"I know," she answered, lowering her head towards his chest. Her breath fanned over his skin, warming it through his shirt. "But after we were in Port Charles and were around everybody, I just...I wondered if it would really be that easy. If we could just tell everyone that we weren't staying there, that our home wasn't there anymore."

He pulled her closer, bringing his other arm up around her. "I understand. I wondered if I'd really be able to tell Sonny that Italy wasn't just a temporary thing and have him understand. When I had to leave town because of Ric, because I had to avoid charges, he understood. I couldn't be in Port Charles. Then it was easy for him to believe that I was staying away because I couldn't leave you alone when you were close to giving birth, and then we didn't want to travel when Jake was so young."

"But we came, and it's harder for him to understand that you didn't want to come back," she said in perfect understanding. "You were afraid he'd make it difficult, or that he'd make you feel guilty."

While she said it in understanding, and without malice, about his relationship with Sonny, he did hear the fear and uncertainty she'd carried all that time and hadn't told him about. While Jason knew that Elizabeth loved him, and he didn't for a moment believe that she would have taken Cam and Jake and left town, he now realized that she'd been afraid they'd get sucked back into living in Port Charles. No wonder she seemed so exhausted now. The tension and fear she'd held inside all that time was now fully melting away. It was draining to be that tense and then suddenly release it.

"I'm sorry, Elizabeth," he murmured into her hair before placing a kiss on the soft tresses.

She sat up, pulling out of his arms and turning to face him. The swing shuddered with the movement and he braced his feet against the deck to steady them. Leaning forward she grasped his cheeks in her hands and kissed him. He was surprised by the movement, but it certainly didn't keep him from responding.

When they pulled back, Elizabeth looked at him very seriously and said, "Jason, it is not your fault. I know you didn't want to stay in Port Charles. I know that this is our home and this is where we want to raise our boys. But I also know that some things are beyond your control. There was no way to predict how Sonny was going to react."

She let go of his face and held out one hand, "Would he be the man who came to our wedding and baked us a gourmet meal and watched our boys?" Her other hand came up and she see-sawed the two appendages. "Or would he be the man who ignored my repeated requests to talk to you, who didn't look after me when you were out of town and let his brother get close enough to threaten me and our unborn child?"

She sighed and leaned back against him. "When Sonny is a true friend, I miss him and I understand your loyalty to him. But when he's acting selfish and dictatorial, I can't stand him. But I also know that when he's acting that way, it's hard to reason with him and make him see that other people have wants and ideas and lives of their own. He could have made this so difficult for you and that's what I was worried about."

They fell silent and only the low creak of the metal against the wood as the swing moved back and forth was heard. Finally she let out a sigh and said, "Our place is with you, Jason, unless there's a threat where you think we're safer away from here. And if you'd had to stay in Port Charles longer, then we would have made that house there our home, but..."

"But it wasn't what you wanted," he completed her thought. "It wasn't what I wanted either. Not just for you and the boys, but for me as well."

He looked up at the sky, not really seeing the stars as he said, "I'll never be able to completely leave the business. There may be times when I have to go back to deal with a situation. When someone needs to realize that I still stand beside Sonny and will protect him. But I wanted to be removed from it."

Her hand skimmed over his chest and he looked down, focusing on the glint of her wedding rings as they caught the moonlight. "I didn't want you and the boys to be targeted and used against me. I didn't want to live in a town where people would constantly be attacking us or trying to use us for one agenda or another. It wasn't just business, it was our family and friends as well."

"I want our boys to know their roots," Elizabeth said, "but, yeah, I didn't want them to have to run into Sam or Lucky all the time, or have my grandmother show her disapproval for my sons' father, or have your grandfather try to get me to convince you to come back to ELQ. Maybe in another year two people won't be so overbearing, or I'll be able to handle it better...but I like that nobody really bothers us here in Italy."

"I like that you're happier here," he told her, running his hand through her hair. "You're so relaxed, and that's all I ever wanted for you, Elizabeth."

She let out a sigh and Jason wrapped his arm back around her, hugging her close to him. The stress and the tension were ebbing away and he finally felt connected to Elizabeth once again. While he knew they'd never be able to completely leave Port Charles behind, he was glad they hadn't stayed there longer than they had. He and Elizabeth had formed a new life here, their family was happy and content, and most importantly, he and Elizabeth were happier here. They'd both been tense in Port Charles and Cameron and Jake had picked up on that; he didn't want his boys to live like that.

Pushing his foot against the porch, he sent them into a gentle swing. He'd missed this ease and closeness with Elizabeth. There had always been somebody around, or some place they needed to be, and they hadn't been able to really just be by themselves, a husband and wife, parents, friends, lovers. They had that back in Italy.

"Cameron was asking about Christmas on the trip home," Elizabeth said, breaking the silence that had surrounded them.

"Already?" he chuckled. "It's still months away. He must get that holiday excitement from you."

"He wondered where he should tell Santa we'd be for Christmas this year," she explained. "I told him that Santa would know, but that we'd be here. He seemed to like that answer."

Cameron hadn't been upset to leave New York when they boarded the plane. While the little boy had remembered playing in the park and had developed a friendship with Morgan, he'd been excited when Jason and Elizabeth told him they were returning to Italy. He'd turned to Jake as the baby played on a blanket and said, "Did you hear that, Jake, we're going home?"

In that moment Jason admired the resiliency of little children. Cameron had been shuttled around from home to home more than a little boy should in his life, but it had finally settled down the October night Jason took him and his mother out of New York. They'd slowly built a home here, built a family together, and Cameron had clearly adapted well to it. He hadn't asked about Lucky in the park, he hadn't missed the man who had once tucked him into bed. Instead, he crawled up in Jason's lap and asked him to play motorcycles with him and Jake because Jake only chewed on the toys.

Their family was at home in Italy, and Jason hoped that never changed.

"Come on," Jason said as he untangled himself slightly from Elizabeth. He stood and then leaned down to swoop her up into his arms.

She giggled as she clung to him, "Jason! What are you doing?"

"It's late," he stated. "The boys are in bed, unpacking can wait, everything can wait. Who knows when the boys will wake up, but it's a safe bet to say it will be shortly after sunrise."

"They definitely get that from you," she grumbled as she helped him by opening the door for them.

"Maybe they'll sleep in," he said with not a lot of hope. "But if they don't, we'll need to be ready for it. Which means sleep."

Elizabeth looked at him and lifted an eyebrow. "Sleep?" She leaned forward and kissed the underside of his jaw. "You actually think we're going to sleep?"

"Behave," he chastised her laughingly as she leaned her head against his shoulder and continued to assault his neck. "Or I'll drop you on the floor."

"No you won't," she corrected him. "Because that would wake Jake and Cam and then we'd never get any sleep tonight."

He stopped in front of their door and turned his head to capture her lips. "Sleep is overrated."

She smiled against his lips as he crossed the threshold and kicked the door closed behind him. "I couldn't agree more."

The End