Chapter 10 The Family Dinner

Harry smiled happily and placed the last fork on the table next to Elizabeth's plate. He had just finished setting the table for their dinner. The teen looked up and watched his father finish unpacking their food from the Port Charles Grill containers he had Francis pick up for them. Despite Sonny's multiple offers, Jason was determined to take care of dinner himself – even if it was to take out.

"Is it done?" Jason asked his son with a smile as he threw away the last of the boxes.

"Yes! How long is it until she gets here?" Harry asked.

Before Jason could answer, there was a knock at the door and Francis leaned in so that he could announce Elizabeth. Excited, Harry directed his wheelchair out into the main area of the penthouse with his father right behind him.

"Hi Elizabeth!" Harry greeted.

Elizabeth's blue eyes danced with mirth as she smiled down at Jason's new son. "Hey Harry, are you hungry?"

"Starving." Harry chuckled.

"We're glad you could come." Jason said softly as he approached her.

Elizabeth's eyes softened even more and she turned her gentle smile on the man who had come to mean so much to her. "I'm thankful that you invited me." She replied.

Jason's eyes roved over her like a starving man eyes a glass of water in the desert. "You look beautiful."

Elizabeth glanced down at her blue sundress and sandals before grinning up at the taller man. "Thank you. You look very nice yourself." Then she turned to incorporate Harry into her gaze. "I'm very lucky to eat with two such handsome men." She winked at the teen.

Fighting a slight blush and grinning at the obvious attraction between Elizabeth and his father, Harry chuckled. "The food is ready." He offered.

Jason startled at the announcement. He couldn't believe how much he had missed Elizabeth now that she was in his home again. He knew that they needed to take things slowly, but all he wanted to do was carry her up to his room and keep her there until she agreed to never leave him again. Instead, he followed the object of his affection and his son into the kitchen for dinner.

"So then Jason rattles off this information about the yearly rainfall in Ethiopia. Next thing I know he's demanding a fact about Uzbekistan! How in the world I was supposed to know anything about that country I have no idea." Elizabeth exclaimed.

"So what did you say?" Harry grinned.

"Yes Elizabeth, tell Harry what you said." Jason's eyes twinkled with mirth.

Fighting a blush, Elizabeth muttered her answer so low that Harry couldn't hear her.

"What?" Harry asked again.

"I told him that it rains there when you forget your umbrella." Elizabeth declared grudgingly.

Harry collapsed back into his chair in laughter. "You didn't!"

"Oh yes, she did." Jason assured him. "The she started turning the globe again to find another country."

"Well for your information Mr. Geography Man; Uzbekistan, a landlocked country dominated by the Qizilqum desert, is Central Asia's most populous country. The highest point in Uzbekistan is Adelunga Toghi. So there!" Elizabeth rattled off and then sat back with her arms crossed over her chest in satisfaction.

Harry and Jason stared at the woman, but for very different reasons. Harry's eyes were wide as he realized how much Elizabeth must care about his father to memorize this information about a country she would most likely never see just so that she could give him the facts that he asked about so long ago. Jason, on the other hand, was having a very male reaction to the way Elizabeth's crossed arms were emphasizing her chest.

Harry cleared his throat and turned to see his father staring at Elizabeth with both love and lust swirling in his eyes. He smiled slightly, knowing that he was making the right decision.

"Well Dad, will that answer suffice?" Harry asked.

"Ye – Yes." Jason had to clear his dry throat to get the word out.

Elizabeth was not immune to Jason's reaction to her, and was having a difficult time staying on her side of the table. She wanted nothing more than to rip his shirt off and explore him at her own pace and to her heart's content, before she moved lower.

"Dad?"

Harry's voice once again cut into his own fantasies of Elizabeth in his bed.

"Yeah?" Jason asked, tearing his eyes away and looking down at his son.

"Is it okay if I go on to bed? I'm pretty tired." Harry requested.

"Oh! I should probably go…" Elizabeth started.

"NO!" Both Jason and Harry shouted before blushing and Harry spoke up.

"No, you guys visit. It's still pretty early, I'll just go to bed and leave you two alone." Harry disagreed.

"Let me help him and I'll be right back." Jason assured her.

Elizabeth nodded and watched as the two Morgans left the kitchen and went towards Harry's room.

Jason had finished cleaning Harry up and getting him into his pajamas. His son was lying in the bed looking up at him with determined eyes.

"What is it?" Jason asked.

"You can tell Elizabeth everything." He said softly.

"What do you mean?"

Harry sighed. "She doesn't really know how I came here or even what we are."

"That's your story to tell." Jason protested.

"I know, but I don't want to tell it again. I relive seeing Cedric die and Vernon attacking me when I tell someone. I don't want to do that. I don't want the nightmares it brings. But Elizabeth needs to know. I saw the way you two were looking at each other, and if you do have a relationship, she needs to know all the facts. I just don't want to be in the room when you do." Harry insisted.

Jason ran his fingers over his son's head. "I'm sorry that you've been suffering like that."

"It's not your fault. I don't want you to think that!" Harry protested.

"I should have made sure that you were okay with it." Jason disagreed.

Harry pushed up to his elbows. "Dad, you've been amazing to me! You're the best father I could have ever asked for. It's not your fault if I don't tell you there's a problem. You don't exactly know legilimancy!"

Jason looked at his son in confusion. "What's legilimancy?"

"It's where you read someone's mind." Harry explained.

"That would be a useful skill." Jason muttered.

"Yeah, but you don't know it yet, so you can't expect to know what I'm thinking if I don't tell you." Harry continued his argument.

Jason stared down into his son's emerald green eyes. "Then you will have to start telling me."

Harry sighed and nodded. His father had a good point.

"I'm not letting this go, Harry. Promise that you will tell me if something's wrong." Jason continued forcefully.

"I promise." Harry agreed softly.

Jason kissed the top of his head. "Thank you. Now go to sleep and I'll tell Elizabeth the adventures of Harry Potter."

Harry rolled his eyes and grinned before lying back against the pillow. "Good night Dad."

"Good night Son." Jason replied softly as he closed the door behind him.

Elizabeth had been busy while Jason and Harry were talking. The kitchen was cleaned up and she was sitting in the living room on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate in her hands.

"There's coffee on the counter." Elizabeth informed him as she took another sip. "I kind of helped myself."

Jason grinned. "It was your hot chocolate anyway. Thanks for making coffee."

A moment later, Jason was settling next to her on the couch with a cup of coffee in his hands. He was silent for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts. "I need to know something." He started.

"Okay." Elizabeth replied hesitantly.

Jason looked deep into her sapphire eyes. "Are we really going to try again? Are we going to be a couple?"

Elizabeth turned to face him. "I want to." She replied simply.

Jason nodded and sighed. "Then before we do, there're some things that you need to know about both Harry and myself."

"Okay." Elizabeth agreed.

Jason took a deep breath. "Do you believe in magic?"

Elizabeth's immediate response was going to be no, when she hesitated. "I don't know. I guess I've never really thought about it. I always figured that fairy tales were someone's imagination. Why?"

"Because magic is actually real. There are certain people who have the ability to manipulate the magic that dwells within them to accomplish amazing things." Jason explained.

"I'm assuming that Harry is one of them." Elizabeth stated breathlessly, trying to wrap her mind around the possibilities.

Jason nodded. "Yes, but so am I." He confessed.

Elizabeth's gasp filled the room. "You're magical?" She whispered.

"I'm a wizard, yes." Jason admitted.

Elizabeth looked down into her mug with tearful eyes. "Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I didn't know before." Jason informed her.

Elizabeth's eyes widened and she jerked her head up to look at him. "What?"

"I just found out a few days ago." Jason admitted. "It's part of the story. Harry asked me to tell you about himself so that you would understand what you were getting into by having a relationship with me – if you still want to after you hear everything."

Elizabeth sat up straight and stared into the face of the man she's loved since she was a teenager. "Then tell me and we'll decide from there." She stated.

Jason nodded and launched into how Harry's parents died and the war against the dark wizard Voldemort. He told about the abuse Harry suffered from his aunt and uncle and about how the wizarding world did nothing to remove him from the situation or protect him. She learned of Harry's adventures at Hogwarts and the danger he faced there before the last year and the resurrection of Voldemort. Finally, Jason told her about finding Harry beaten and broken in that closet at his relatives and the experiences they both faced in attempting to restore Harry to full health. Jason even told her the history of the Morgan family and their feud with the Flamels. He finished by informing her that both he and Harry would be training together to defeat Voldemort and how David fit into the situation. When he finished, Elizabeth had tears flowing down her cheeks.

"How has he survived?" Elizabeth whispered tearfully.

Jason shrugged. "How did you survive? He picked himself up and kept going. Until now, he's been virtually alone, but not anymore. I'm going to make sure that Harry stays safe, and when the time comes I'm going to be right beside him."

Elizabeth reached out and lovingly caressed Jason's face. She looked deep into his determined azure eyes and then leaned forward, barely brushing his soft lips with her own. She leaned back and stared into those loving eyes.

"Neither of you will be alone." She told him softly. "I may not be able to fight, but I will be there for both of you."

That was all Jason needed before he pulled her into his arms and claimed her lips in a searing kiss that sent electrical pulses down her spine. Elizabeth moaned in ecstasy and pulled at the tail of his t-shirt in a desperate effort to touch his skin. Jason cut the kiss short just long enough to lift his shirt over his head before he went back to exploring her mouth with his tongue. A low growl permeated from the chest that Elizabeth was busy memorizing with her artist's hands.

Suddenly, Jason pulled back and stared down into Elizabeth's own lust-filled eyes. Both of them were breathing heavily.

"Is this too fast?" Jason asked quickly, praying that it wasn't.

"No, we've waited too long as it is." Elizabeth shook her head.

Jason smiled softly and nodded. He stood up and pulled Elizabeth into his arms. She draped her hands behind his neck and let him carry her up the stairs and into the bedroom. Once there, he laid her gently on the comforter and then followed her down.

Jason held Elizabeth in his arms afterwards and stroked her long chestnut hair. Elizabeth was lazily brushing her fingertips across his chest as they both settled back into normal breathing. Closing their eyes, they were both soon asleep.

Harry smiled. It was a beautiful morning and for the first time he had slept the entire night with no nightmares to disturb him. It was as if a peace had blanketed over the penthouse. Yawning, Harry pushed himself up to a sitting position. He glanced over at the clock on his nightstand – 8:00 am. Wow! It was much later than normal!

Usually his dad was in by about 7:00 am to get him up and ready for the day. Granted, Harry was normally awake before then due to his nightmares. Jason didn't know how much sleep his son really lost due to the night terrors, but Harry didn't want to worry him.

Concerned with how quiet it was, Harry reached over to press the button on the intercom when he stopped. If he was going to be in that wheelchair for an entire year then he should probably learn to do some things himself. Determined, Harry picked up his wand and summoned his wheelchair. He slowly shifted himself until he was barely sitting on the bed. Then he hefted himself into the chair. He almost had it, but the chair shifted and Harry crashed to the floor.

"Ow." Harry muttered softly. He had landed on his side and his arm was very sore. Now he was stuck. He couldn't reach the intercom to call his dad for help, and the wheelchair was too tall for him to lift himself into it.

Jason startled awake when he heard a thud come from downstairs. He slid out from under Elizabeth, who was still asleep, and slipped on his jeans. He buttoned them up and grabbed his gun from the nightstand drawer. Slowly he made his way down the stairs, keeping to the shadows. He glanced around the main room before moving into the kitchen – nothing.

Finally, Jason moved towards his son's room. He wished he hadn't left his wand upstairs. Slowly, ever so slowly, he pushed open the door with one hand while preparing to aim his gun with the other. The sight that met his eyes was not one he was expecting. Instead of an intruder, Harry was on the floor looking up at him bashfully.

"Um, hi?" Harry greeted tentatively.

"Harry? Are you okay?" Jason asked, shoving the gun into the back of his jean's waistband and leaning over to pick up his son.

Harry sighed. "I'm fine. I just bruised my arm I think."

"What were you doing?" Jason asked as he examined Harry's arm.

The teen dropped his eyes. "I was trying to get into my wheelchair."

"I could have helped you, why didn't you call?" Jason released the arm after deciding that Harry was fine.

"I was trying to be a little more independent." Harry admitted.

Jason nodded. "I can understand that, but there is a flaw with your plan."

"What's that?"

Jason shrugged. "Your uncle didn't just injure your back, he starved you and that caused you to weaken. You're not capable of lifting yourself. When you are, I plan to get you a tutor who will teach you to do more things for yourself. The exercises that we do each morning don't just keep your legs limber, but if you recall we work on your arm strength as well. You are getting stronger Harry it's just going to take some time."

Harry sighed and nodded. "I'm not the most patient person."

Jason chuckled. "Neither am I. How about we get you dressed and ready?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, and you can tell me how Elizabeth took the news last night."

"Jason? Are you down here?" A familiar voice asked from the doorway.

Harry smirked when he saw Elizabeth standing there in her clothes from the night before. "Never mind, I think I can figure out how it went."

Elizabeth blushed slightly when she heard the teen's comment. "Are you upset?"

"Why would I be upset? You two obviously like each other and I'm glad that Dad has someone." Harry shrugged. "Especially someone who doesn't hate me."

"Who in the world could hate you?" Elizabeth asked in surprise.

Harry looked at her sardonically. "Would you like the list sometime this year? It might take that long."

Elizabeth waved her hand with a dismissive air. "It just goes to prove there are a lot of stupid people out there." She scoffed. "What's the plan for today?"

"Do you have to work?" Jason asked.

"Just the lunch shift and then I'm off." Elizabeth replied.

"I know what I want for lunch." Harry volunteered.

Jason chuckled. "I'll bet you do."

Elizabeth winked at the teen.

"Actually I was wondering if Hermione could come over." Harry spoke up.

"That sounds fine to me as long as her mom is okay with it. I know that she and David were talking about getting together." Jason nodded.

"Do you have to work today?" Elizabeth asked.

"Not really, there's some paperwork that I need to go over for the coffee warehouse, but I can do that here." Jason informed them.

"I'll go call Hermione!" Harry exclaimed, wheeling towards the phone.

Elizabeth and Jason watched him go.

"You're a great dad, Jason." Elizabeth commented softly.

"It's easy to be Harry's father. I've never met a more laid back teenager. There are times when I look into his eyes and he seems like a fifty year old man who's seen nothing but pain all his life. Then he'll see something or someone that sparks his interest and it's like watching a five year old exploring the world for the first time." Jason shrugged.

"After everything that you've told me I can see why. Still, you're there for him without smothering him. Harry's very lucky to have you." Elizabeth pointed out.

"I'm the lucky one. Harry's amazing. I can't believe how much I love him already." Jason shook his head.

"Have you told him?" Elizabeth asked.

"Told him what?" Jason was confused.

"Have you told him that you love him?" Elizabeth clarified.

Jason sat for a moment and thought about it. "You know, I don't think I have."

"You should. I think it would mean the world to Harry. He's had precious little love in his life until now." Elizabeth suggested.

"I will." Jason agreed.

The two adults looked up as Harry wheeled back into the room. His face was lit up with excitement. "She can come. Her mother is coming too. They'll meet us at Kelly's for lunch and then we can all come over here." Harry paused. "It is alright if they come over here, right? I didn't even think to ask. Maybe I should call them back."

"Harry!" Jason interrupted his son's fretting. "It's fine if they come over. David should be here this afternoon as well."

"Oh good. I'm sorry I didn't ask." Harry apologized.

"This is your home, Son. You can invite who you want." Jason assured him. "Just let me know who and when their coming."

"Thanks Dad." Harry smiled and hugged his father.

"Let's get you cleaned up so that we'll be ready for lunch." Jason suggested. "Then we'll have a small breakfast."

"That sounds brilliant." Harry grinned.

"I need to get home and ready for work myself." Elizabeth spoke up. She smiled at Harry. "I'll see you later."

"Bye Elizabeth. Thanks for coming." Harry grinned.

"I'll walk Elizabeth out and be right back. No starting without me." Jason ordered.

Harry gave him a sharp nod and a wink. Jason chuckled and shook his head at his son's antics.

When they reached the door, Elizabeth turned to Jason and they shared a searing kiss. "I'll see you later?" Elizabeth asked.

"Definitely." Jason agreed in a husky tone.

With a smile, Elizabeth was gone. Jason stared at the closed door for a moment. It didn't seem possible that he could be this happy. With that last thought, he turned to go back into his son's room and help Harry get ready for the day. No, life couldn't get much better than this.

TBC…