Chapter One

The silence of the hallway brought an uneasy feeling to Elizabeth Webber as she sat on the uncomfortable chair outside of the lawyer's office. She leaned her head back against the cool concrete wall as she stared up at the leaking ceiling above her. She grimaced when a small piece of the ceiling fell and landed at her stiletto encased feet.

She brought her attention to the little boy who sat perched on the chair next to her when he shifted for the third time in under one minute, causing the chair to creak. He was wearing a pair of black slacks and a button-down white shirt that Elizabeth how no doubt had to be uncomfortable for the four year old. Kid's his age should be outside with their nanny playing in the sandbox, not sitting in the stuffy courthouse hallway all afternoon.

Elizabeth glanced down at the boy, only seeing the top of his curly hair. He was glancing down at his feet that swung well above the floor, his shoulders were slouched, and Elizabeth was sure that if she could see his face, there would be tears in his eyes.

Taking in a deep breath, suppressing the urge to cough the stiff air back out, Elizabeth turned her attention back to the ceiling that was literally falling apart in front of her eyes. She had no idea what to do. One minute her life was ideal. She was living the life she had always dreamed of. Which, she added proudly, hardly anyone could ever say the same.

She lived by her own rules when it came to living and working, especially since she owned her own gallery. Her romantic and family life might not be ideal to the outside viewer, but she was damn well happy with exactly where her life was.

And then, in the next minute, everything fell apart.

"When are you ever going to take responsibility and grow up, Elizabeth?"

"Excuse me, Sarah, but I have plenty of responsibilities. You obliviously haven't had to run your own business before. It must be real hard staying home everyday while your husband works and takes care of everything, right?"

"Do not even go there." Sarah McArthur hissed at her sister. "You have no idea what its like to be a stay at home mom. You may think that your gallery is hard to run, but you don't know what its like to have people depend on you. You need to settle down and have a family in order to understand that."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes at her sister. Somehow, someway, every conversation that occurred between the siblings ended in a lecture about Elizabeth needing to settle down. "I am way too young to have a family. Stop trying to make me into something I'm not. I'll never be you, Sarah. I won't have the perfect child and husband and home with the white picket fence. I love the way my life is. There is nothing wrong with the way I live."

Sarah's voice held her obvious disagreement. "Do you honestly believe that? Going on the way that you do, sleeping with someone who will never settle—"

"Would you listen to me?" Elizabeth interrupted. "I don't want to settle down! I am perfectly happy with the relationship that Patrick and I have."

"You know that if mom were alive she would be so ashamed of you right now."

"You know what Sarah, I don't need this." Elizabeth threw the plastic bowl she had been washing throughout the entire conversation into Sarah's kitchen sink. "Can't we just have one damn dinner without you trying to run my life? Mom's dead, and even when she was alive, she always let me know how ashamed she was of me. I don't need you to rub it in every time I see you."

"I'm not rubbing it in." Sarah's voice lowered as she stared at her sister with hurt. It was never her intention to put her sister down. She just wanted Elizabeth to experience the happiness she had with her family.

"Sure as hell could have fooled me."

Elizabeth was snapped out of her memory as a door slammed further down the hall. That had been the last conversation she had and would ever have with her sister. It killed Elizabeth to know that the very last things she said to her sister were hurtful and she would never be able to take them back. Sarah, in her own and annoying way, had always tried to take on the role of mother to Elizabeth since their own hardly paid attention to the younger sister. It was because of their mother that Elizabeth had always pushed herself to do things that seemed impossible, like running her own art gallery. And it was because of their mother that she tried in every way possible to be the exact opposite from Sarah.

Since Sarah knew all of this, she tried more than anything to help Elizabeth see that a family life was not full of pain and regret. But she never succeeded, and she would never have the chance to try again.

Elizabeth could feel the burn of tears forming in the back of her eyes and the tightness of her throat closing. She couldn't cry here. She was able to hold off her tears when the door to the lawyers office opened, summoning her inside.

Standing, Elizabeth smoothed her skirt, wishing for the fourth time that day that she hadn't gone with such a short one, and reached her hand out to the four year old still sitting in the chair that was next to hers. His head was still down, his little legs kicking back and forth.

"William." Elizabeth called softly and managed a small smile when he looked up at her. His light brown eyes matching those of his mothers. "It's time to go."

Slowly, William stood from his chair and reached out his small, chubby hand to place it inside Elizabeth's. He grasped onto her fore and middle finger as he pushed his small body into her side, his head barely reaching her hip. He wouldn't look at anyone, just at the ground, as he and Elizabeth walked into the lawyer's office.

Richard Lansing, the lawyer who was in charge of the case, gestured to the two plush chairs that sat on one side of the desk as he took his seat in his large chair that sat on the opposite side. Elizabeth guided William and gave him a boost into the big chair before sitting down. She looked around the lawyer's office and couldn't help but notice the distinguished difference from outside in the hallway. This office did not belong in this building; that was for sure.

"First, let me express my sympathies for your recent loss." As Richard spoke, Elizabeth turned her gaze from his collection of books that sat on a rich bookshelf and focused on the lawyer. His eyes, as they gazed at her from the top of her head to where one leg crossed over the other at the knee didn't show any of the sympathy he just recently expressed. The sleaze was actually checking her out.

"It's been a rough couple of days."

Again, his eyes roamed over her body, bringing back that uneasy chill that ran through her body earlier.

Richard cleared his throat and snapped his gaze away from hers at her blatant glare. He shuffled through some papers before gazing back up at her. This time, the look in his eyes was professional. "I called you in here before everyone else because your sister wanted me to discuss some things with you in private before everyone else learned of the new arrangements." Elizabeth glanced down at William who was staring at the floor yet again. When her eyes turned back to Richard, the lawyer read her the question in her gaze. "The arrangements concern the child; it's why he is here with you."

A strange, dreadful feeling began to form in Elizabeth's stomach. "Ok?"

"When you sister and brother-in-law had William, they came to me to change their will several times. They both came to me about two months ago to change it yet again."

Elizabeth nodded her head slightly to indicate she was following along when Richard paused.

Hesitantly, Richard continued. "Your sister and her husband changed who should receive custody of William should anything happen to both of them." He paused, cleared his throat in his unease at the panicked look appearing on Elizabeth's face. "Because of their recent accident ending in," he glanced at William before turning back to Elizabeth and whispering, "their death. It is their wish that you receive full custody of William."

The breath was knocked right out of Elizabeth in that moment. Her? They wanted her to take care of their son? She couldn't do that, she couldn't raise William. Hell, she was still growing up herself. "I don't understand… no, that can't be right." Richard grimly nodded his head and gave a sympathetic look at William who was now giving his aunt his full attention. "No, no, what about our mom's sister, she was supposed to have custody if anything happened. Sarah had told me that last year."

"Like I said, Sarah came and changed her will several times, the custody being one thing she changed on one of her visits."

"But… she can't possibly want me to raise her kid." Elizabeth cried in her panicked state. Had she been thinking clearly, she would never have said anything in front of William, but the entire thing was such a shock. She had come thinking that their aunt was going to have custody of William, and now she was going to be leaving that courthouse with a child to take care of?

She was fun Aunt Elizabeth who brought him cool toys, she wasn't meant to be a mother figure!

"What about our Grams?"

"She's eighty-three, Elizabeth. She is in no condition of taking in a four year old child."

She knew that, but dammit, she was grasping at straws. Her life did not fit having a child. She was never home, and… great! Her home was no place for a kid who would most likely break every thing in sight. That was one of the reasons she always ended up going to Sarah's house. She didn't want kids running around in her place.

"Mr. Lansing—"

"Please, call me Ric."

She ignored his interruption. "I have no right taking care of a child. My sister… how can I put this? She was out of her mind when she chose me to be William's guardian."

"Elizabeth, I know that all of this is being dropped in front of you out of the blue, but your sister wanted what was best for her son. Her last wish was for you to take William in and be there for him since she's not going to be able to. It was a tragic accident that took your sister and her husband's life, but at least they were prepared in knowing what they wanted for their child and making sure they got it by making a will. Most parents don't think to make a will and when things happen, ugly custody battles usually come about."

"That's Sarah for you, always prepared." Rubbing her forehead with the tips of her fingers, Elizabeth closed her eyes. Opening them, she turned her gaze to William. The look on his face tore at her heart. She knew that face, had worn the same expression for many years when she was a child.

Rejection.

One side of her mouth lifted in a small reassurance, the least she could do after she was the one who caused such a sad expression to appear on his face. Elizabeth reached out and covered his hand that was resting on the arm rest and gave it a little squeeze. Taking in a deep breath, she looked at Richard. "What do I have to sign?"

And just like that, Elizabeth Webber became an instant mother.