A/N: I know alot of you were concerned as to why Jason didn't come back, but you won't know for a while. Not for a really, really long time. LOL. But you will find out eventually, I promise. And in all honesty, he doesn't really need to have a reason cause he's Jason Morgan. He's the enforcer, he's busy. And if you remember Elizabeth was only in the hospital for a day or two so...yeah.
Thank you for all of your wonderful feedback to the last chapter! I am so glad that everyone is enjoying this story as much as I am! Click on the banner for previous chapters.
For Jilly Bean and Kris. smile
Chapter 9
Elizabeth stepped off the elevator with her arms full. In one arms she had her son and her purse and in the other she had two bags full of enough baby things to last her through the night. Behind her, Johnny was carrying a box that held the bassinet Jason Patrick would be sleeping in until she bought a crib. She had no idea how he was carrying the large box, but then again she also wondered how she was carrying all of things she currently was without her arms falling off.
She nodded at Max as he opened the door for her. She dropped the bags and her purse on the floor as Johnny walked up the stairs to assemble the bassinet just as he promised he would the moment they got home.
"Elizabeth." Jason stood from the couch, eyeing her curiously. "Why did you bring Carly and Sonny's baby home with you?"
"Because he isn't their baby." Elizabeth took a few more steps, slowly making her way over to the couch. "He's our son, Jason."
"What?" Jason's eyes widened in surprise.
"I know." Elizabeth nodded her head in understanding. "Believe me, I know. I wasn't expecting this either."
"He's ours?" Jason towered over her, staring at their son. "He's mine?"
"Yes, Jason. He's ours." She lift her arms up motioning for Jason to take him. Once he did, he sat on the couch and Elizabeth plopped down beside him. "He's ours."
"I…" Jason continued to look at the baby in his arms. This was their son? He had a son? How? "He's ours?" Elizabeth nodded at him again. "H- How?"
"Dr. Meadows said that I was already pregnant when the insemination happened so obviously Carly and Sonny's baby never took since I was pregnant already."
Jason glanced up at her before looking back at their son and sizing him up. Apparently he really was theirs. "So, there is no mistake right? He's ours?"
"Look at his eyes Jason, he's ours."
"He hasn't opened them yet." Jason had just finished his sentence when baby JP opened his blue eyes that were identical to his father. Jason sat there astonished for a moment. His son had his eyes, he smiled. "Wow."
"I told you." Elizabeth's eyes filled with tears as she watched her husband and son bond for the first time. Jason pulled his son against his chest and hugged him protectively. Elizabeth smiled through her tears as Jason closed his eyes, breathing in the scent that only his son seemed to give off.
"Did- did you name him?"
"Yes, I did." She wiped away the few tears that had fallen with the back of her hand. "Jason Patrick Morgan."
"Patrick?" His brow lifted slightly as his gaze met hers.
"Yeah, he was a friend of mine when I was away. He was a womanizer and a total flirt…but he reminded me of you actually. He would just sit there and listen to me ramble for hours on end." She paused and let out a tiny chuckle. "You two would probably get along. I want to call him and tell him about JP since he knew how much I was dreading giving him up."
"You didn't want to give the baby up?"
"Of course I didn't. Do you know how many times I dreamed that this baby was ours and not Sonny and Carly's?" The words came out so fast Jason barely had time to comprehend them before she spoke again. "Does it make me a bad person for being so ecstatic that the baby is ours? I feel so horrible that he isn't theirs, but Carly is pregnant and…" She paused and sighed.
"It doesn't make you a bad person." Jason whispered to her as he rocked a now sleeping JP "It makes you human, Elizabeth." Just then a thought occurred to him. "Did you call him JP?"
"Yeah, I decided that that can be his nickname." She smiled. "You don't mind that I named him, do you? We can change it if you want."
"No, no I like his name. I was just surprised that you named him after me. I figured you would have wanted to start with something fresh and new."
"Oh yeah? Like what?"
"I don't know. Something different like James or Adam." His eyes bet hers. "And I know you like the name Matthew, why didn't you name him Matthew?"
"I don't know." She shrugged. "The nurse asked me for a name and it just spilled out. I didn't think about it or anything. It was…natural."
Jason closed his eyes for a moment, still absorbing all the new information. He still couldn't believe it. He opened his eyes and looked down at his son. His son, he kept repeating it. How could it be true? Sure, he had dreamed that the baby was his and Elizabeth's, but that didn't mean he was really expecting it. He had a son, he smiled down at him again.
He was a father.
He, Jason Morgan, was a father. Him, Sonny's enforcer. Why would God be so willing to hand over a child to him of all people? It wasn't as if he deserved it. Naturally he would love his son, he already did, but people like him just weren't the family type.
"Yes, you are."
"What?" Jason stared up at her in confusion.
"You said that people like you weren't the family type. Yes you are, Jason. You're my husband, JP's father, you are the family type. And you do deserve us, you deserve the world Jason – don't ever settle for less."
"No." He let out a deep sigh. Had he been speaking out loud? Apparently. "I don't deserve to have either of you in my life. Yet here you both are." He pulled his hand off of JP's back and ran a hand swiftly through his short golden locks. "I don't deserve to be happy, but I am."
"This is about your job isn't it?" She shook her head in disbelief at him. He could be so pig-headed sometimes. "Jason, regardless of your job you are still human. You deserve the opportunity to be happy."
Jason didn't answer her; instead he stood up with JP in his arms and walked up the stairs to check on Johnny's progress with the bassinet. He could hear movement in the back room so he continued his journey until he reached the last room at the end of the hall.
Inside, Johnny and a man Jason didn't recognize were assembling a crib. Jason stood in the doorway watching the two men work as quickly as they possibly could and yet still have enough efficiency to show for it.
"I though you were putting the bassinet together, Johnny." Elizabeth spoke up from behind Jason as she side-stepped around him and entered the room that would now be JP's.
"I did, it's in your room at the end of your bed." He winked at her. "I though that's where you would want it. We are almost done with this crib and then we are out of here."
"Thank you. Johnny." She smiled at him
"You're very welcome, Elizabeth."
Elizabeth frowned as she eyed the other man in the room. "When did he get here? I didn't even hear or see anyone else come in."
"He was right in front of us when we walked into the penthouse." Johnny eyed her carefully. "Didn't you see him?"
"I must not have been paying attention." She turned to look behind her at Jason and JP.
"No, I guess not." He murmured as he watched the heated glances Jason and Elizabeth were bestowing on one another.
Jason tilted his head slightly upward at Elizabeth, his way of saying "let's go" before he turned around and padded his way down the hall to their room where he placed JP into his bassinet.
Elizabeth followed him inside and watched him with curiosity as he watched their son sleep. "Jason."
Jason's gaze turned on her immediately and he walked over to her and grabbed her hand, pulling her across the hall to her studio. "Let's talk in here."
"Okay…"
"I didn't want to wake him up."
"Oh." She nodded in understanding. "Jason. Are you going to answer my question?"
He sighed. "Yes, it is about my job." His eyes met hers. "I'm Sonny's enforcer, Elizabeth. I don't work a normal forty hour work week like the rest of the world. My job is complicated and-"
"…And I knew all this when I married you." She interrupted him. "I know what you do, Jason. I'm not blind, I do have eyes too. And I don't care about your job. A job doesn't necessarily define a person. Sonny is a mob boss, but he doesn't act like a huge monster all the time does he?" She paused.
"He can be a monster though…"
"Jason." She sighed. "That's not the point. The point is, I know that he would never hurt me. Sonny is a good guy and so are you. So what if you guys are in the mob? Newsflash – there are a lot of people in the mob. You guys aren't the only ones, you know." She paused again and took a step towards him so she was close enough to touch him. "I love you, Jason. If I didn't I wouldn't have married you."
"And I love you too, but-"
"No. Listen to me for a moment." She placed her index finger over his lips to shush him. "I know that you will do your best to protect us and that is all I expect you to do. I love you regardless of your job or the crazy hours you work. I love you, Jason Morgan. I fell in love with you, not your job." She lifted her finger from his lips and let it linger on his chest instead. "I would never ask you to give up your job because I know how much you love it and I don't expect you to either. We are a family Jason and you can't just back out because you get cold feet."
"I know."
"Do you? Because ever since we began a relationship all those years ago, even when we were friends, you have constantly tried to push me away because of your job." She reached her other hand out and placed it on his chin so he would look at her. "Do you love me?"
"You know I do."
"Would you ever ask me to give up my art or something else that I loved?"
"I would never make you do that, you know that."
"Then let me love you enough to be with you in spite of your job. Let me make my own decisions, Jason. If I couldn't handle your job I wouldn't be here and I wouldn't have married you. I wouldn't have said I wanted to have children with you if I didn't think I could handle it. And I definitely wouldn't have wanted to create a family with you if I didn't think you could protect us."
"I understand what you are saying, I do. But-"
"No, you don't." Her eyes glittered in anger. "I love you Jason and you love me. We just had a son and now you are reverting back to your old ways – spouting off reasons why we can't be together. What do you want from me?" She took a step back from him as she began to pace. "Do you want me to tell you that I hate that you are gone a lot of nights? Because I do. I like sleeping beside you in our bed at night and that doesn't always happen does it? No, but I learned to accept it. I accept you Jason. I accept all of your decisions; I put my life in your hands when I married you. Why can't you just accept my choice to be with you? Is it that hard to grasp that maybe I love you enough to be with you in spite of your job?" Her anger took control of her hands as she waved them in the air furiously. "Why do you always have to do this? Sometimes I really feel like I don't know you at all."
"I never said that I didn't accept your choices, Elizabeth. If I didn't, I wouldn't have married you in the first place." He took two large steps to that he was standing in front of her. "I love you and I want to be with you. But sometimes…sometimes, I just wonder why you chose me. Why you chose this life. You could have been married to Lucky by now with a nice house and the picket fence – the American Dream. I just get curious why you traded all that in for me. Me, the enforcer. Me, with my bullet proof windows and the danger that comes along with my life. I just-"
"Because I love you, Jason!" She exploded, letting her anger get the better of her. "I love you, that's why. I don't love Lucky anymore, not the way he deserves to be loved. I married you because I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. If I ever doubted that, I wouldn't be here…would I? When I fell in love with you Jason, when I married you – I accepted you and your life. I accepted all of it, not just bits and pieces. When you love someone, you love all of them. You love them unconditionally." The tears that had been building up in her eyes when she began her tirade spilled over now as the little droplets fell down her cheeks. "I love you Jason. No matter what you do or what your job is – I love you."
"I love you too." He pulled her into his arms, holding her close as her tears spilled down the front of his shirt, making him want to cry himself. "I love you too, Elizabeth. And I'm sorry for what I said. I just – It's still hard to believe you chose this life over the safe and easy one you could have had with Lucky."
"Oh, but don't you know?" She pulled back far enough to look into his eyes. "I like to do things the hard way. I like complicated and messy…easy just isn't me."
"Well, I for one am glad for that." He let out a little chuckle as he embraced her again before pulling back so he could look her in the eye once again. They were still glossy; he frowned as he brushed her tears away. "I understand your choices and I understand why you made them. I get a little lost sometimes when trying to figure out what I ever did to deserve someone like you."
"You didn't have to do anything to deserve me, Jason. I often find myself pondering what I did to deserve you." She gave him a smile filled with happiness and love. "And you know what my conclusion was?" He shook his head. "We didn't have to do anything to deserve each other Jason. You don't have to do anything to deserve your soul mate, it's just what is. We are equals, Jason. Nothing more, nothing less."
She reached up and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "Now, no more talk of this deserving crap, okay? I love you and you love me. I don't care about your job or any of the things you've done. Alright?" She gave him a pointed look. "I love you and I am not giving you up. That's all there is to it."
"Okay." He leaned down for another kiss. "I love you too, sweetheart."
"Good, I'm glad you see things my way." Her grin encased her triumph.
Jason stared at her for a moment before a wicked smile found itself pasted across his face. "Elizabeth." His eyes glittered with mischief. "Why don't we call him Jay instead? It sounds more masculine than JP."
Elizabeth shook her head at his antics for a moment before tilting her head back and letting out a throaty laugh. God, she loved this man.
"Michael, daddy and I have something we need to talk to you about." Carly kneeled down in front of her son and exchanged glances with Sonny before speaking again. "Mr. Man, the baby isn't coming home with us. He – He isn't – He-" God, she couldn't even say the words. They wouldn't even form.
"Michael." Sonny decided to explain since he knew Carly was having a hard time. "You know that we went to the hospital because Aunt Elizabeth had the baby right?"
"Yes." He nodded his head.
"Well," Sonny started as he turned on the couch to face Michael easier. "The baby isn't mine and mommy's, he is Uncle Jason and Aunt Elizabeth's."
"But," Michael started as his confused eyes turned on his father. "I thought the baby was yours and mommy's."
"The doctor made a mistake and there was a mix up. Your brother or sister won't be born for another few months." Sonny placed a hand on Michael's shoulder. "But, your cousin is just across the hall if you ever want to see him."
"I- okay." Michael frowned, still confused. "The baby Aunt Elizabeth was carrying is her baby?" His father nodded. "And my brother or sister is in mommy's belly right?"
"Right." Sonny nodded.
"But, how can we be sure that the doctor didn't get a mix up again?"
"The doctor is sure." Sonny assured him.
"But that's what the doctor said about the baby in Elizabeth's belly too. And they were wrong about that." He pointed out.
"Yes, but this time they are a hundred percent sure." Carly interrupted the duo.
"How can you be sure?" Michael fixed his eyes on his mother.
"I'm sure, Michael. I promise – this time next year you will have a little brother or sister."
"You promise?" His face glowed with happiness and hope. "Pinky swear?"
"Pinky swear." She pledged as they made it official by connecting their pinky's and shaking.
"Okay." Michael's happy voice bounced against the penthouse walls as he stood up from the couch and ran up the stairs to his room.
"Well." Carly sighed as she sat beside Sonny on the couch. "That was easy."
"Yeah, it was." Sonny agreed. "But, kids are resilient. As long as they have food in their belly's, a roof over their heads and some toys…they are happy."
"Yeah." She agreed. "If only life were so simple."
"If only." Sonny commiserated with his wife as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. Things would be okay, they had to be. He assured himself that one day things would be perfect again. They had the new baby to look forward to, they were fine.
Sonny heard Elizabeth's laugh from across the hall and he sighed. She and Jason were probably cooing over the baby and smiling. The baby that was supposed to be theirs, he reminded himself.
Who was he kidding? The little voice in Sonny's head yelled at him as a melancholy thought crossed his mind. Maybe Carly was right. Maybe nothing really would ever be the same again.