A/N: It's been a fun ride, hasn't it? Thanks for all your great feedback and encouragement along the way. Hope you enjoy this last part ...
Part 9
Jason's phone rang as he pushed open the door to the home he shared with his family. He pulled the phone out of his pocket and, seeing who it was, took the call.
"Diane? What's up?" She started to speak, but he couldn't make out what she said, because at that moment, two missiles – otherwise known as his sons – launched themselves at him.
Jake came first, and Jason caught him and lifted him with his free hand. "Daddy!" Jake yelled in excitement. "You're home!" He started to tell Jason something about Cody's motorcycle, which Jason had noticed in the driveway, just as Jason realized that Cameron was airborne as well.
He dropped the phone and caught Cameron, who was chattering excitedly about his class trip to the aquarium. Then, settling a child on each hip, he said, "Hold on tight, guys, we dropped the phone."
They shrieked with laughter as he squatted to pick up the phone. He heard Diane calling, "Jason? Jason, did you hear any of that?" As he stood back up, he thrilled the boys with his exaggerated groan, and realized that soon, they would be too big for him to lift both of them at the same time. He thought about the chaos his life had become in the two years since he had married Elizabeth, and marveled at the fact that he wouldn't trade it for anything.
Sighing, he realized that with his two little monkeys quite literally climbing all over him, he would have to turn on the speaker phone if he wanted to attempt to figure out what Diane was trying to tell him. He said, "Diane, sorry, the boys attacked me just as you started talking. Hang on a minute." He turned to Cameron, who was still excitedly telling him and a captivated Jake about the sharks he had seen at the aquarium. When Cameron paused for breath, he asked, "Where's Mommy? Or Andy?"
Jake made a face. "Mommy's changin' Audrey's diaper. Audrey's no fun, Daddy. She doesn't do anything. Can't we give her back?"
Cameron chimed in. "Yeah, Daddy, she doesn't do anything. Just cry and poop." Jake erupted in laughter, apparently finding that hilarious.
"No, we can't give her back," Jason replied patiently, jostling both of them and making them giggle again. "You weren't much fun when you were six months old, either, and we didn't give you back, did we?"
"I guess not," grumbled Jake. "But I sure hope she gets to be more fun soon."
"Yeah, me, too," added Cameron.
"Jason?" Diane's voice interrupted. "Are you sure you don't want to call me back? It's costing you a lot of money to talk to your sons at the moment. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. This conversation, or lack thereof, has already probably earned me an adorable little Coach bag I've had my eye on."
"Just a second, Diane. Guys, where's Andy?"
"Did I hear my name?" Andy sounded breathless, and she looked flushed, which Jason wouldn't have thought anything of except that Cody walked in right behind her looking inordinately pleased with himself. Jason made a mental note to ask Elizabeth about that later. "Sorry they got away from me," she continued. "They heard your bike and there was no stopping them." Jake started squirming, so Jason kissed his forehead and put him down.
"Hey, Jason," Cody said. "I, um, stopped by to talk to you about something. It's kind of important."
"Okay, give me a few minutes. I've got Diane on the phone and I haven't even had a chance to take my jacket off."
"Sure thing, boss." Cody headed toward the porch, saying, "I'll wait outside." Andy started trying to persuade Jake to go back upstairs with her, but he wasn't interested in leaving if his big brother and his Uncle Cody, not to mention his father, were staying.
Diane said, "Jason, are you sure you wouldn't rather just call me back when things settle down?"
"Things don't settle down, Diane," Jason replied, almost cheerfully. "This is about as good as it gets."
Elizabeth walked in carrying Audrey, who launched herself at Jason as Elizabeth came near. He caught her with the arm Jake had just vacated, dropping the phone again in the process. Elizabeth stretched up and and gave him a lingering kiss, to a chorus of "ewwwww!" and "gross!!" from the boys. As she stepped away, she gave him a cryptic smile. He absently wondered what that was about before returning his attention to Cameron, who was now squirming to get down, and Audrey, who was pulling on his ear. He gave Cameron another squeeze and set him on his feet. Cameron yelled, "C'mon, Jake, let's go play shark!" He raced out of the room, his brother hot on his heels.
Elizabeth retrieved the phone and, instead of handing it back to him, she turned off the speaker and said, "Diane, it's Elizabeth. Is this business or do you want me to give Jason a message?"
Jason nuzzled Audrey's neck, making her giggle, then handed her to Andy when she said, "Maybe you should go talk to Cody now."
"Yeah, okay."
He started toward the door as Andy headed in the direction the boys had gone. He paused when he realized Elizabeth was wrapping up her conversation with Diane. She said, "Okay, Diane, thanks … yeah, it really is a relief …okay, I'll tell him the good news and we'll call you if we have any questions … okay, thanks again for all your help … okay, bye."
She disconnected, turning to smile at him, and he savored the sudden quiet now that it was just him and Elizabeth. He pulled her close for another kiss. "What was that about?" He kept his arms loosely around her waist, enjoying the physical contact as much as he always did.
"It's official. Ric pleaded guilty on this latest stalking charge and the violation of the restraining order, and Diane says Alexis pushed for jail time. He'll do at least six months, and then he'll probably have to get treatment as a condition of probation."
"Oh." Jason digested that and said, "Good." Unsure when he would have another opportunity, he changed the topic. "What was that look about when you walked in?"
She smiled radiantly, but said only, "I'll tell you later, when we're alone."
He gave an exaggerated look around the room. "We're alone now, if I'm not mistaken. You should probably tell me now, before chaos erupts again."
Her smile widened, then she gave him a lingering kiss. When she pulled back, she said, "I hope you like chaos, Jason, because in about seven months, we're gonna have even more of it."
Just as he processed her meaning and started to smile, Jake came tearing back into the room. "Daddy! Mommy! Guess what? Andy's gettin' married, an' I'm gonna carry the rings."
Cameron flew in, yelling, "Nuh-uh! I'm carryin' the rings! And anyway, it was s'posed to be a secret, dummy!"
Andy once again followed them into the room. "I guess the cat's out of the bag, huh?" she sighed. She walked over to the door, opened it and said, "Cody, you might as well come in – the boys just announced our engagement." She turned around and as Cody stepped up behind her, she said, "I should've known better than to explain what the ring meant." She held up her hand and showed Elizabeth, who shrieked with delight and ran to hug her.
"Oh, that's so great! I'm so happy for both of you!" She kissed first Andy's cheek, then Cody's. "And I hope you'll be just as happy as Jason and I are." She glanced over her shoulder at Jason and winked. "Just do me a favor and wait till after the baby's born. I don't want to look fat in all the pictures."
"Baby?" Andy exclaimed. "You're pregnant? Eeeeeeee!" Her shriek caused all the males in the room to wince. "Ohmigod, when are you due?"
Throwing one last glance over her shoulder, Elizabeth took Andy's arm and led her into the living room. "Seven months. So you can get married anytime after, say, mid-February." Their voices faded away, and Jason and Cody stared after them for a long moment, then shared a very male look that said, Women!
Cody spoke first. "That was what I wanted to talk to you about. I hope you aren't offended that I didn't tell you myself."
"Don't worry about it. Secrets never last very well in the chaos of this family," Jason replied ruefully. "I'm surprised I didn't know you were seeing each other, but really, the only way you could have made sure I heard it from you would be to tell me before you actually asked her, which probably wouldn't have gone over very well with her." He walked over to the refrigerator and silently offered Cody a beer.
Cody nodded and chuckled softly, "No, I'm guessing it wouldn't." They fell silent for a moment, opening their beers and sipping them. Then Cody asked cautiously, "Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure."
"Do you ever worry that your family might get hurt? Because of the business, I mean?"
"I used to worry about that all the time." He sighed. "And I'm still aware that it's a possibility. But the thing is, I was lucky enough to fall for a woman who refused to be ruled by her fear, or to let me be ruled by mine. So, I do what I can to keep the people I love as safe as I can, and I make sure they know what they mean to me, and I hope that it's enough. Because, frankly, the alternative is to live without them, and that's no alternative at all."
Cody said, "So you think I'm doing the right thing?"
"Are you asking for my opinion?" At Cody's nod, he said, "It's your life and ultimately your decision – you have to live with it either way. But I'll tell you this. I tried to stay away from Elizabeth for years, and it never worked. Eventually, she took matters into her own hands, and arranged it so that I pretty much had to jump in with both feet. And I don't regret it, and I'd like to think that even if the unthinkable did happen, I still wouldn't regret it, because it was her choice to take the chance, not just mine. Living in the world of 'what if' isn't living at all. I missed the first two years of my son's life, and all that accomplished was to leave him vulnerable and to make me lose time with my family that I'll never get back."
Cody thought about that silently for a while, sipping his beer. Finally, he said, "Andy threatened to dump me if I wasn't ever gonna marry her. I couldn't stand the thought that she might really do it, but the thought of something happening to her …" His voice trailed off.
After a moment, Jason chuckled softly and said, "Well, look at it this way … at least she didn't write a book about it." They both laughed, then went back to sipping their beer in silence.
XXXXXXXXX
Hours later, Elizabeth lay half across Jason in their bed. She yawned sleepily, feeling exhausted but happy as she listened to his steady heartbeat and even breathing. He always seemed so peaceful when he slept.
She thought back over the past two years – the ups and downs, the joys and sorrows, and all the little moments that made her life exactly what she wanted it to be. Suddenly, she had an urge that she hadn't had in more than two years.
Unable to resist, she quietly slipped out of bed and headed downstairs to the study. Booting up the computer and opening the word processing program, she stared at the blank page for a long moment, considering what to call it, before she centered the cursor and began to type.
Hours later, she pulled the first chapter off the printer and re-read the title page with satisfaction: "Safe Places and Joyful Hearts: A Memoir of Life and Love by Elizabeth Webber Morgan."
She smiled to herself and headed back to bed.
