Chapter Two

"Well, this… this is it."

Elizabeth held the door open as her four year old nephew slowly made his way into her one bedroom apartment. William still hadn't said a word since they left the courthouse earlier that afternoon. He stared into his lap on the car ride to her aunt's house where they picked up some things while Lisa, Sarah and Elizabeth's aunt, was told about the child's new living arrangements.

William had been living with Lisa since Sarah and her husband, Jack, was killed in a car accident four days ago. It was thought to everyone that the aunt would have custody of William and so, to avoid any confrontation, Elizabeth had picked up some of Williams belongings while her aunt wasn't there.

The last thing Elizabeth needed was for another run in with her disapproving Aunt Lisa.

Elizabeth hadn't paid any attention to the fact that the usually energetic child was quiet while she was packing his things. She wanted nothing more than to get out of her aunt's house before the woman came home. But, on the ride back to her apartment, she began to notice that William hadn't said a word. She tried to get him to talk in the car by asking him questions, but he only shrugged his shoulders or shook his head.

He walked past her into the living room which held her expensive leather couch and matching love seat. He looked around, and, once finished with his observation of the room, just stood there.

"I know it's not much." Well, it was pretty damn good, actually. She was renting from one of the best apartment complexes in Port Charles, and, though her apartment wasn't the biggest, it was considered a deluxe apartment. Shutting the door, Elizabeth grimaced on her next statement, hating that she was going to have to leave such an amazing place. "We're not going to be staying here long. You'll need your own room and, well…" she stopped once she realized that William wasn't even paying attention to what she was saying.

Elizabeth had no idea what to do with the kid. She glanced at her clock, realized that it was well past dinner and remembered that neither of them had eaten since before their meeting with Richard.

Walking into her kitchen, she opened the top drawer next to her phone. Pulling out every take-out menu, she walked into the living room to see William still standing in the same place. "Are you hungry?" He shrugged. She gestured to the couch. "Why don't you sit down and get more comfortable? Alright, well, we have a lot of choices here. Do you like Chinese?"

A shrug.

"Ok, how about Italian?"

Another shrug.

"Mexican?"

Shrug.

"You have to help me out here, William." Elizabeth said more forcefully than she intended. Sighing, she softened her tone. "I'm sorry, but I need to know what you want to eat. You have to eat something."

"Can I have kicken?"

Elizabeth never thought she would be so happy to hear that little voice. "Sure, anything you want."

"And french-fries?" He asked, some excitement entering his words.

Elizabeth smiled down on him, ran her hand through his brown curls. This was much better than his quietness. If she knew all she had to do was get him a Happy Meal to make him happy, than she would have done it hours ago.

"How does McDonalds sound?"

If she never saw the inside of a McDonalds again she would be able to die a happy woman. Kids were everywhere. Running around with food in their hands, screaming on the top of their lungs, and the parents just sat there doing nothing about it. It was the most stressful experience Elizabeth had ever encountered at a food joint.

After she allowed William to play in the playground for a bit and almost died of a heart attack when she thought she lost him in a sea of plastic balls, Elizabeth decided it was time to go home where she could take four Advil's to relieve her headache.

William changed into his Spiderman pajamas and crawled onto the couch where she was setting up his temporary bed. His little feet hung over the side of the couch as he watched her tuck a sheet into the corner of the couch.

Elizabeth looked over, saw him staring at her and smiled. "You ready for bed?"

"No."

She stopped and frowned. "What else do you have to do?"

William sighed as if she had asked the most obvious question. "I gotta say my pa-whas."

"Alright, just let me finish making your bed and then you can say your prayers."

Elizabeth tucked the sheet into the last corner and spread a blanket over the couch. She moved over to her loveseat and began to pick up the many throw pillows she had thrown over there when she began to make William's bed. She scattered them all around the floor, not wanting the boy to fall off the couch in the middle of the night and break his neck. She bit her bottom lip as she stared at the numerous pillows that now covered her floor next to her couch wondering if they were enough.

She just got the kid; she didn't want to break him.

Sighing, she placed her hands on her hips. "Your bed's ready for you. You know where my room is incase you need anything, I'll leave the door open, ok?" She didn't wait for him to answer. "I'll leave the hallway light on for you." Awkward, she leaned down and kissed him on his forehead. "Goodnight."

Turning, she began to walk to her room when William called out to her.

"What 'bout your pa-whas?"

"You want me to say them with you?"

"Mommy always did."

Elizabeth felt the sting of tears hit the back of her eyes but fought it off. Walking over to the couch, she kneeled on one of the pillows and waited for William to slide off the couch and kneel next to her. He hopped off the couch, landing on his bottom on the pillows and giggled, knowing that he was going to have to do that again.

William kneeled next to Elizabeth and placed his elbows on the couch, clasping his small hands together. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. He recited the prayer he and his mother had said together since the moment he learned to speak, ending with his personal blessing's his mother always encouraged him to add.

Elizabeth was having a hard time holding back her tears listening to William say the exact poem her mother used to say with her and Sarah when they were children. Those were the good times, the times Elizabeth could remember feeling like she was actually a part of her family. But when William began to ask God for blessings, the tears began to fall.

"And pawease bwess mommy and daddy in heaven."

Turning her face away to hide her tears, Elizabeth swiped quickly at her cheeks before she turned back to William. She gave him a smile before helping him onto the couch and tucking him in. She kissed his forehead once more, lingering, wondering how she was going to be able to do this. Pulling away, she tapped his nose. "Goodnight."

"G'night!"

Elizabeth retreated to her bedroom feeling so tired she knew she was going to fall asleep the moment her head hit the pillow. Pulling down her covers, she sighed as she crawled into her queen-sized bed, trying with all her might to let the stress from the day leave her body.

She was definitely going to need to attend an extra yoga class this week if she wanted to relieve all of her stress. Her sister had to have been under the influence of something to want to make her the guardian of William. Sarah knew how irresponsible Elizabeth was when it came to other people. She lived a life that had no room for kids. And, because of the change of a will, her life was now going to be turned upside down.

Elizabeth could have sworn that she had just fallen asleep when she heard the soft shuffling of feet by her bed. But when she looked at the clock she knew that she had been asleep for at least three hours. She frowned when William spoke, a tinge of fear in his lisp.

"Aunt Ewizabit?"

"Hmm, what… what's wrong?" Her body was so weak with sleep she was having a hard time sitting up so she could talk to him.

"I wet myself."

On her leather couch!

That got her up. Elizabeth sat up quickly in bed and threw the cover off. William was standing in front of her, his lower lip trembling as he shifted from one foot to the other, clearly uncomfortable in his wet pants. Her anger was quickly gone at the sight of his pitiful expression.

"Let me get you another pair of pajamas, ok?"

He nodded his head, following her when she walked over to one of his bags. She quickly pulled out a pair and led him to the bathroom. Wetting a wash cloth, she set it on the counter. "Wash your legs before you put on the new pants. I'll be in the living room cleaning up."

She left the door open, making her way to her couch. Right in the middle of her couch was a huge wet stain. If she thought about how expensive the sheets were or how her couch might be ruined, she would cry. So she didn't think about it at all. Just yanked the sheets off, rolled them into a ball and walked them into her room to place in the laundry basket. She finished off by cleaning up the couch as best as she could.

When she made her way into her bedroom it was to find William standing at the foot of her bed, waiting for her. His eyes were downcast, his lower lip was stuck out, sure that he was going to get yelled at. Elizabeth knew that William was potty trained, but with children who experienced tragedies such as losing both parents and being moved from one house to the next, they tended to regress.

"Hey, don't worry about it. It was an accident."

William nodded slowly. Elizabeth glanced at her bed and back out to her hallway that led to the living room. "Would you like to sleep in my bed with me? It's big enough for the both of us."

William was already running to her bed and reaching up to grasp onto the blanket in order to pull him up before Elizabeth even finished. She laughed silently at his continued failed attempt to climb onto her high bed but when she went to help him, he shook his head. "I can do it."

It took him three more attempts before he finally wiggled his way onto the bed.

Climbing onto the other side, Elizabeth pulled the covers over both of them and was about to say goodnight again when she heard the soft, almost non-existent snoring.

She almost got up to get a towel and place it under him in case he had another accident, but didn't even finish that thought when her own slight snoring filled the air, matching William's.

Elizabeth woke up the next morning with a crick in her neck and an almost plunge off of her side of the bed. She had woken up several times during the night to move William back to his side of the bed after he had managed to slide right next to her side. But after every time she moved him, he would always end up right next to her and pushing her over closer to the side of the bed each time. She had finally given up and fell asleep with William practically on top of her.

Rolling slowly onto her back, trying to ease her stiff muscles, Elizabeth came to a start when she noticed William was no longer in bed with her and her apartment was way too silent.

She ran out of her room and came to a dead stop when she saw William in her living room, playing with a figurine on her coffee table. She was so grateful to get her heartbeat back to normal that it took her a moment to realize that he was playing with a one of a kind sculpture.

"William, put that down!" She had scared him by screaming so loud that he spun around and dropped the sculpture out of his tiny hands. Elizabeth cringed as she watched the sculpture fall to her floor but patted herself on the back for placing all of those pillows there the night before. She examined the sculpture and when she found that nothing was wrong with it, she sighed in relief.

She placed it on the highest shelf and when she turned around she let out a gasp at the state of her apartment. Toys from his bag, art pieces that she had for display and papers were scattered around her entire apartment.

She looked at William, saw his lip tremble and cursed her soft heart. She was never going to be able to discipline him.

But one thing was for sure, they were defiantly going to have to get a bigger place.

"Come on, let's get ready."

"Fo' what?"

"We're going apartment hunting."

"Ya know what?"

"No, what?"

"I dunno, I forgot."

Elizabeth sighed as she begged for a little more patience. They had been shopping for an apartment all morning and into the afternoon and she had still found nothing. And to top it off, William had picked the very aggravating day to return to his normal, talkative self.

They walked into what Elizabeth swore would be their last apartment building they visited for the day. She grabbed a hold of Williams hand when a group of very large and very nicely dressed men walked past them. She nodded her head in approval. Several businessmen were a sign that the apartment building had respectful residents.

After speaking with the leasing manager, another big man in a business suit, he showed her an empty two bedroom apartment. The apartment was perfect. The rooms were spacious, the living area could probably fit two of her living rooms, and the kitchen—even though she didn't cook—was made for a chef.

The building was in a good part of town, close enough to the pre-school William was registered for and her gallery. It was ideal, perfect, and way too much money.

"Thank you so much for your time but I don't think I can afford this."

The look on the handsome mans face showed his disappointment. Elizabeth couldn't figure out why, though. She smiled her thanks, but it quickly turned into a frown when the man just stood there, staring at her.

He wasn't the most informative leasing consultant; tended to fall over his words quite often, especially when looking directly at her. After some thought, she concluded that he must have been new to the job and disappointed that he wasn't able to sell the apartment to her.

Elizabeth grabbed William's small hand and began to walk to the entrance of the apartment building.

"Are we going to live here?" William asked.

"No."

"I like it."

"I know you do, I do, too." The disappointment of having to walk away from such an amazing apartment was clear in her voice.

"Then why can't we live here?"

"I don't have enough money."

"Then get more."

Elizabeth laughed at the simple logic of a four year old. It wasn't that she was poor or couldn't afford the apartment; it was just that she couldn't see herself spending that much each month. She looked down at William as she pushed open the door. She was about to explain the importance of money and how it was not easily obtained when she ran into a hard body.

A brick wall to be exact.

She stumbled back into the lobby of the building, pulling William with her. "I am so sorry, I wasn't looking where… I… was…going."

Elizabeth had to practically force the words out of her mouth once her gaze landed on the brick wall she ran into. He was the most gorgeous man she had ever laid eyes on. Well at six-feet, his body filled the entrance of the door, his crystal blue eyes locked with hers, and his spiky hair seemed almost white as the sun behind him cast a halo around his head.

"Are you ok?" Oh God, his voice was even sexy. Husky and low, sending chills up her spine.

"Yeah… yes, I'm fine." She shook her head, trying with all her might to clear her haze. She must have hit her head against his rock hard chest too hard. William tugged on her hand, bringing her attention to him.

"I'm hungry."

"Ok." Looking back up at what had to be the sexiest man alive, Elizabeth smiled her embarrassment. "Again, I'm so sorry." She stood there for a moment, her embarrassment growing as he stared at her. William's grip on her hand tightened as he pulled on her arm. She gestured to the door, "Excuse me."

He blinked a couple of times, as if just realizing that he blocked her way and moved to the side, tipping his head at her as she passed. Elizabeth gave a small smile which seemed to grow bigger as she passed his friend that was standing behind him. The man held the door open for her, his dimples so deep and his smile so big, she couldn't help but smile in return. "Thank you."

"My pleasure."

Once they were down the sidewalk away from the building, Elizabeth looked down at William. "Ya know what?" She asked, using his favorite phrase he used many times on her that morning.

"No, what?"

"I think we might have found our new home." Suddenly, the price just didn't seem that important anymore.