Brides Watch Over Thee

Chapter Seven
CFFC#7: Christmas is doing something a little extra for someone. ~ Charles Schulz

He hated weddings, and parties, and anything public that involved dressing up. Jason made no bones about the fact. But, for some reason, there just seemed to be an added element of torture to Robin's wedding, and he couldn't wait to escape.

Not that escaping was going to happen anytime soon.

He had given his word, something that, despite his less than honorable behavior as of late according to his friend, he still took extremely importantly, so there was simply no way around the fact that he had to remain for the duration of the entire event. Unfortunately, everything was already running behind, and, even worse, he knew that the delay was all on his behalf.

While the ceremony was supposed to have started more than an hour before, Robin had just now walked down the aisle. Jason had been surprised to see Robert on her arm. After hearing that the agent had undergone chemotherapy and radiation, he had, on his own, come to the conclusion that the older man would not be physically capable of doing such a simple task. But, then again, Robert Scorpio wasn't his sister, so it wasn't fair of Jason to judge every cancer patient by just how weak and sickly his sister had gotten with her debilitating, almost fatal case of the disease.

If he really thought about it, he was sure that he probably had noticed Robin's dress, and her hair, and just how beautiful she looked on her wedding day, but, unlike normal, his mind wasn't on his surroundings. He was distracted, a thoroughly unsafe approach to his life, but, with all the decisions waiting not-so-patiently at his feet for him to make, it was hard to think of anything but the business and how his next step as one of Port Charles' mob bosses would affect those he loved the most.

Shuffling his feet, he widened his stance, clasping his hands together tightly in front of his tense, standing form. He had refused to take a seat at the wedding, preferring, instead, to linger unobtrusively in the very back corner of the church. While he had used the excuse that the position gave him a better angle so as to watch out for and protect all those in attendance, that wasn't the only thing that had motivated him to remain upright during the ceremony. The truth of the matter was that he didn't feel worthy of sitting with the other guests. While his heart yearned to be with Elizabeth and her children, sitting with them and giving off the impression to the rest of the wedding attendants that they were the family they should very well be together, his head knew such a move would be a mistake.

Until he made his final, inflexible decision on how he would move forward with his organization, he had no right to drag the woman he loved and her two boys back into his life only to uproot himself from their presence once more. He had already gone in and out of their lives too often, not only tugging at both his and Elizabeth's heartstrings but also confusing Cameron and teasing Jake with the life the four of them could have together if just given the right opportunities.

And he would not do that again. That was one promise Jason Morgan was adamant he would keep.

However, he knew better than to think he would always be able to stay away from Elizabeth. There had been absolutely no reason for him to stop, pick up the boys, and talk to her when he had first arrived at the church over an hour ago, but he didn't even pause for a second to contemplate his actions when his son held up his little arms, requesting to be picked up. And when Cameron had done the same thing, his heart had nearly swelled to completion with just those two simple, yet genuine gestures. The only thing missing had been the boys' mother, but then she had crossed the room to come to stand before him, and, in that moment, he was lost. There had been absolutely no way he could have pulled away from any of them.

He didn't want to think about what he might have done if Spinelli hadn't of interrupted them, and, though he chastised the younger man for his revealing words, the truth of the matter was that Jason had been annoyed with himself. If his enemies thought that Elizabeth, Cameron, and Jake were his biggest weaknesses, they were completely correct. He craved their presence in his life more than he craved strong, black coffee, motorcycle rides, and quiet, solitary games of pool. Hell, if he could have the three of them with him permanently, he would give up every single other thing in his life that he enjoyed and loved. He was that selfish when it came to his family, that desperate, and, apparently, everyone around him was aware of that distraction as well.

But Elizabeth was stronger than he was, always had been in fact, and, after Spinelli finished with his panicked, baffling confession, she had taken control of the situation, reclaiming her children and separating them so that they could handle the computer hacker's dilemmas independently and discreetly. While she had sent him in one direction, she had taken herself and the boys off in another, and, as soon as they had disappeared from his sight, Jason started to miss them.

He took care of Sonny, though, first before roaming the church in search of his family. Before confronting the near hysterical mob boss, he had found Lainey Winters, and, between the two of them, they had convinced Sonny to go home, lie down, and take his medicine. By the time they had freed him of the small confines of the confessional booth, the older man was on his last frayed nerve. In fact, he had been so upset, it had never crossed his mind to even ask how he had gotten trapped in the first place, something Jason was sincerely thankful for. After all, the last thing he needed was for Sonny to find another reason to hate Spinelli, but he also knew it would have been impossible for him to lie to his former partner and friend, not because of their onetime unbreakable connection but because Sonny simply knew all of his tells.

By the time he found Elizabeth once more, using the excuse that he was simply securing the church and not actually searching out the woman he loved, he found her in a spare, empty office, hastily trying to wipe off and clean her dress to the best of her abilities. However, her angry, frustrated actions were simply setting the dark stain in even deeper, so he had wordlessly crossed to her, taken the rag from her hands, and resumed the job for her. Without words being shared, she had relaxed under his touch, the children continuing to play quietly in the corner with a couple pieces of paper and some spare crayons she had found them.

She had told him about Maxie flying off the handle when she had discovered her ruined silk, bridesmaid dress. Despite their combined best efforts, she and Spinelli had been unable to remove or even mask the orange soda marks from the crimson gown, and Maxie had literally caught them red handed with the ruined garment. In her rage, she had taken the lukewarm cup of half finished coffee she was holding and tossed it onto Elizabeth's own dress, not waiting for an explanation before losing her temper. Furious herself, especially to think that she had tried to help the hateful blonde, Elizabeth had simply glanced in the young computer genius' direction before picking up her kids and leaving the room and the two self-proclaimed best friends behind.

As she had relayed the events to Jason, she had been unable to tell him what Maxie had ended up saying to Spinelli or what had been decided about her dress, but, frankly, he hadn't been concerned with the annoying woman and her antics. She was always barging into his place, distracting and toying with Spinelli, and, since her dress had been destroyed by an innocent mistake, if she was the mature adult she claimed to be, if she was the loyal friend she professed to be, then she would have simply forgiven Spinelli and moved forward, and she never would have attacked Elizabeth out of some empty quest for revenge.

However, there had been a silver lining to the girl's antics. Because she had thrown a fit, he had been able to spend more alone time with Elizabeth, and he had been given the opportunity to tell her about the FBI's offered deal. Even after talking to her, though, he still had no idea what he was going to do, but he was resolved that he would make his decision by the New Year. The two of them had already wasted so much time together and so much time with their son, and Jason was determined that another year would not pass by without him somehow stepping up and doing what was right by his family. If only deciding what exactly that was, though, was as simple.

Releasing a deep breath of frustration and tension, he tried to look as though he was engrossed in the events before him, but, frankly, the only wedding he would ever be interested in would be his own. To Elizabeth. But, instead of standing beside him, swearing their vows to each other, she was off sitting several rows away, Jake in her lap and Cam by her side… where he was supposed to be.

Hell, Jason wasn't even sure where part of the ceremony the priest was at. Had Robin and Patrick exchanged rings yet? What about their vows? He knew better than to hope for the whole thing to be over soon. Life simply wasn't that kind to him. It didn't really matter, though, because even when the wedding itself was over, he had to go and endure hours of the couple's reception. Music, and dancing, and forced, pleasant conversation, just the mere idea of the entire situation made his glower darken and his posture become just that much more rigid.

"If anyone can show just cause why these two should not be married, speak now or forever hold your peace."

When those words left the priest's mouth, Jason almost hung his head in defeat, for the ceremony was only just really beginning, but, before he could rebel in his tiny display of dissatisfaction, there was a commotion, and he glanced back up to see what all the fuss was about.

There he was, little, mischievous, adorable Cameron Webber, so much like his mother when Jason had first met her, standing up and interrupting the wedding. The child, scrambling quickly away from his mother's desperate, embarrassed grasp, stood up on the pew and yelled for the whole church to hear. "Mister," he addressed the religious official. "I don't know what you're talking about, but I've waited forever, hours and hours and hours, for my cake. Mommy promised me cake, and I want cake. Chocolate cake. Do you know where it is?"

Smirking, the mob boss rubbed the side of his jaw so that no one would see his amusement. Especially Elizabeth, because he knew she wouldn't find her son's behavior to be funny at all. But the poor kid was right. He had heard her promise him cake when they had first arrived at the church, and, knowing how much Cameron loved anything and everything chocolate, just like his mother, the hour and fifteen minutes that he had now been waiting for his dessert had probably just about driven him crazy.

"I'm sure they'll have cake at the reception, young man," the priest answered Cam's concerns kindly, politely, with a hint of his own grin lighting up his otherwise stoic countenance. "Now, if you could just sit down for a few more minutes, please, we'll…"

"No," the toddler insisted, going so far as to stomp his foot in contradiction and refusal.

"Cameron Alexander Webber," Elizabeth threatened him, but the child simply ignored her, moving further away from her grasp and coming to stand in the middle of the alter. All eyes were on him, so, when Robin spoke up, addressing the child, everyone's heads quickly swiveled towards the alter once more.

"Cam, would you like to come up here and stand with us. That way, when we leave, you can be the first one to go to the car. In fact, if you want, you can even ride with Patrick and I to the reception, and I'll personally cut you your piece of cake as soon as we get there."

"Robin, really, please," Elizabeth insisted. "Don't humor him. He knows that he's being a bad boy, and you giving in to him is just going to compound the problem. No," the woman he loved argued, moving her own way towards the church's aisle, Jake still in her arms. "I think the best thing to do would be for me to take my boys home. I'm so sorry for interrupting and ruining your wedding."

Under her breath but still loud enough for the entire congregation to hear, Maxie whispered, "I think that's the first good idea you've had in years."

If there had been even a ghost of a smile still left on Jason's face, it surely disappeared with maid of honor's words, rather causing him to glare and grimace once more, the brunt of his resentment being directed, again, to the pesky blonde's direction.

"Absolutely not, Elizabeth." This time it was Patrick who spoke up. "You are our friend, and Cameron and I are buddies as well. Robin and I, we want you here and at our reception. And our wedding isn't ruined. In fact, I thought it was getting kind of boring. Compared to the last one, we needed something eventful to happen in order to make this ceremony just as interesting, so…" He turned and winked at the unhappy little boy who just wanted his cake. "Thanks, Cam."

"Do I get cake now?"

"No, not yet," the neurosurgeon told him, laughing softly. "But, like Robin said, if you want to, you can some stand up here with us. In fact, we don't have a ring bearer, so we actually need you to help us out. Can you do that, buddy?"

Jason watched from his far back corner of the church as Cameron silently thought over his options. Anyone who was looking at the five year old could see the wheels turning in his impish little head. After several moments, he glanced back in Jason's direction, his soft, brown curls bouncing slightly with the movement. Back and forth his eyes sprung until, finally, he took off sprinting in his decided direction.

Seconds later, the supposed hardened, cold, unfeeling mob boss felt a tiny, warm hand fold into his own much larger one, and he could have sworn his heart skipped a beat. Cameron immediately settled down as soon as he came to rest beside Jason, all his former complaints dying quickly only to be forgotten by all at the picture the innocent child and the full grown, world weary man made together. Elizabeth settled back down in her seat, hastily wiping away an errant tear, Robin smiled to herself, pleased with the picture behind her, and Spinelli fairly gloated, his pleasure translating into an inability to sit still in his pew any longer.

But Jason paid them no mind. All he could think about was the trust and love Cameron Alexander Webber had just shown him, and he knew, no matter what, he would return that trust and love to him. He would somehow find a way to show and tell the little boy just how much he meant to him, and he would find a way to do this for the rest of his life, no matter how long his life would be. Sonny or no Sonny, FBI or no FBI, danger or danger, the only thing that mattered was his family – Elizabeth, Cameron, and Jake. It had taken him almost two years to come to that realization, but it was better late than never, and, now, all he had to do was come up with a way to keep his unspoken promise to the child standing beside him.

Sighing, Jason shook his head slightly in self-disappointment. It was going to take a Christmas miracle to accomplish such a goal… and he didn't even believe in such things.