The Way It Should Be
Part 4
Jason blinks to keep the tears away.
"I, Jason, choose you, Elizabeth, as my everything. I vow to love you through sickness and health, through the good and the bad, through richer and poorer. You are everything I need, and at this moment I know that all my prayers have been answered and that all of my dreams have come true. This is the moment I have waited my whole life for. I promise to give you my all and I know that I could not ask for more from you. I love you and always will. This is my solemn vow."
Elizabeth takes a deep breath and gently squeezes Jason's hands.
"I, Elizabeth, choose you, Jason, as my everything. I vow to love you through sickness and health, through the good and the bad, through richer and poorer. You are everything I need, and at this moment I know that all my prayers have been answered and that all of my dreams have come true. This is the moment I have waited my whole life for. I promise to give you my all and I know that I could not ask for more from you. I love you and always will. This is my solemn vow."
She smiles at him.
"Jason and Elizabeth, do you have rings?" Father Coats asks.
"Yes," they both say.
Both turn around. Spinelli hands Jason, Elizabeth's ring and Robin hands Elizabeth, Jason's ring.
They take turns repeating after Father as they take turns placing each other's rings on each other's fingers.
"I give you this ring to wear with love and joy. As a ring has no end, neither shall my love for you. I choose you to be my (wife / husband) this day and forevermore."
"Elizabeth and Jason, it is with great pleasure that I now pronounce you, husband and wife."
Elizabeth's smile is so big that she can't help but get emotional and she and Jason lean into each other for their first kiss as a married couple.
"I love you," he whispers when they pull apart.
"I love you, too," she whispers back.
"Friends and family…I present you with Jason and ," Father Coats says with enthusiasm as he starts the applause.
Elizabeth and Jason turn to face the small gathering of their friends and family.
~*~
"Hey," Elizabeth says, startled from sleep.
She sits up and looks around. Lucky sits next to her on the couch.
"Hey," he says. "You fell asleep on the couch. I didn't mean to startle you. I just wanted to get you up to your bed," he whispers.
"Oh," she says, groggily. "I must have fallen asleep watching TV. What…what are you doing here?" she asks, rubbing her eye.
"I was just checking on you. I saw the light from the TV glowing from the window so I used my key…you didn't use the dead bolt."
"I always lock that when I go up to bed," she yawns. "Well, thanks for waking me up, my neck will be happier about it in the morning," she tries to joke.
She starts to get up but Lucky's body is in the way. She hadn't realized how close he was sitting to her.
"I've missed you, so much," he says, staring at her intently.
She shifts back a little.
"Missed me? You just saw me this afternoon," she tries to joke.
"I try to think back to what went wrong. What made us get to the point where we cheated on each other?"
He starts to gently rub her leg.
"Lucky.." she starts. "Do we have to analyze this now? I'm really tired."
"I just wish I had been able to fix things…"
"That's in the past," she says, patting his hand. "Now, please, can I go to bed?" she teases.
A slow smile forms on his face. "Oh sure…sorry," he chuckles.
"That's okay….hey, did something happen at work tonight?" she asks, wondering why he was so suddenly sentimental.
"No."
"Oh, okay. Good night," she says, waiting by the front door.
When he doesn't move, she says, "I want to lock the dead bolt, but I can't do that until you're gone."
"Oh….right." He gets up and goes to the door. "Good night, Elizabeth."
He leans down and kisses her cheek.
"I'm getting the kids from daycare tomorrow, right?"
"Uh, there is no daycare, remember?"
He chuckles and rubs his forehead. "Right. I'll pick them up from here, then?"
"Yeah…right, tomorrow is your night to have them. Yeah, just call before you come over, I have some errands I want to run."
"Sure. Bye."
"Bye," she says before shutting the door and locking both locks.
~*~
Elizabeth slowly walks toward the door to her Studio. She hadn't been here since Jake had been kidnapped. She clasps her hands together so that they don't shake.
Taking a deep breath, she unlocks the door.
Her eyes scan the room. It's exactly how she left it. She wasn't sure if she thought it would have magically been cleaned up.
She shuts and locks the door behind her. When she walks into the room, her hand covers her mouth when she sees the ripped up canvas, still sitting in the trash can.
Her mind flashes back to when she took a knife and started to destroy it. She remembered feeling so confused. Her love for Jason was so strong, but yet, because of him, their son had been taken away from her. How could she want to be with someone like that?
She shakes her head and takes a deep breath. The tears, welling in her eyes. She takes a few deep breaths to calm herself.
"What was I thinking?" she whispers as she looks around the room.
Grabbing a smaller canvas, she sits down on the couch and studies it. Her finger traces the lines of the sketch. It was a sketch she started the day after she and Jason had decided to try to make things work…to make their family work. Even though he stood her up that night, when she found out why, she came to the Studio and started to sketch what she was feeling.
Her joy and happiness….how scared and somewhat apprehensive she felt because he told her someone was trying to kill him. All of those emotions, rolled into one.
And then, he came to tell her to get out of town. Her head fell back against the couch. He wanted her and the boys to go to a safe house…with guards, but Lucky insisted on a remote cabin – up in the woods. With no cell phone reception.
She rubs her forehead, trying to push away the developing headache.
What would have happened if she had gone to the safe house, like Jason had wanted?
Would Jake have been kidnapped? Probably not. She would have been protected and safe.
Safe.
In a safe house with bullet proof glass and a couple of armed guards outside the door.
But they would have been safe.
Jake probably wouldn't have been kidnapped and where would she be right now?
Making plans with Jason? For their family?
Would he have moved in with them or would they have moved into the Penthouse?
Now she rubs her temple because the headache was more of a reality.
If only she would have listened to Jason instead of Lucky…..
