Special thanks to Silent Me, Liasonfan1, Sparxx27, PaulineJ and Mtj18ej. Thank you guys for your endless support I wouldn't have made it this far without you. Believe it or not I was going to end the story on the thirteenth chapter but decided to keep it going. I have to agree with you mtj18ej, I am so tired of them stuffing Sam down our throats. You know when she first got there I actually liked her and even liked her with Jason but she's gotten so clingy and compared to Liason…well she just don't stand a chance:D anyway on with the chapter!

Disclaimer: Don't own them but would love to say I did.

Chapter 13

It had only been a few weeks since she'd first moved in with Jason and she had expected time to pass her by slowly but in truth it was almost like a whirlwind. She'd expected awkward silences, uncomfortable moments and a strain on their friendship like there had been before but really everything had been going so perfectly that Elizabeth found herself waiting for the shoe to drop. She hadn't seen hide or hair of Lucky since their brief encounter when she'd first found out she was pregnant. Nikolas and most of the Spencer clan made it a point to stay clear of her and though she missed the dearly she couldn't help but feel just the tiniest bit of grateful. She loved the Spencer's dearly and Emily and Nikolas but she didn't know if she could stand their judgmental looks and their possible snide comments but worst she didn't know of she could take them trying to push her with Lucky if they still believed that was best for both of them.

She never thought she'd say it, but what was best for her was to be wherever Jason was. Since the night of the black out Jason had once again become her rock, her saving grace and her voice of reason. He was so wonderful, always making sure she wasn't stressing herself out too much at work but making a point not to hover and the sight of him playing with Cameron…it still had the power to bring her to tears. Lucky had always been a wonderful father to her little boy, up until he started abusing drugs, but there was an ease in the way that Jason handled Cameron that Lucky had never been able to conquer. She'd always feared that when Lucky looked at Cam he saw him more as another mans child he was raising and less like Cam was his own son. She knew that was unfair to think but there were times when she could almost swear it was true.

Not with Jason though. Jason never once made her feel like him taking care of Cameron was an obligation. There was always a wonder in his eyes when he was playing with Cam, or answering one of his thousands of questions that left a sweet ache in her heart. It had only been a few weeks since she'd moved herself and Cameron into the penthouse but she could already easily tell that Jason Morgan had fallen completely in love with her son. The thought brought a smile to her face as she moved about the nurse's station pulling charts and checking the doctor's notes. She was momentarily distracted when a shadow fell over her charts and she could feel a pair of eyes zeroed in on her. Glancing up she almost groaned to see Ric Lansing standing there looking at her with and expression she'd seen on a lot of peoples faces lately…disappointment.

"Can I help you Ric?" Elizabeth tried to make her voice kind she really did but she was growing tired of everyone putting his or her nose into her business lately that she wanted to scream. All she wanted to do was get this shift over and done with and go home to her son so he could tell her all about his day with Michael and Morgan. At first she'd fought Jason's suggestion of letting Leticia take care of Cameron during the day but he'd worn her down with those persuasive blue eyes of his, plus she'd been banking on Carly to object to letting her children play with hers but of course Carly always did like to go against what Elizabeth wanted and expected. Instead Carly had championed the idea and before Elizabeth knew it Cameron had two new best friends and she was having to spend more time with the stubborn blonde than she could almost bare. She had a strong suspicion this was Carly's way of punishing Elizabeth.

"Actually you can Elizabeth. You can tell me what you were thinking moving in with that scumbag Jason Morgan and taking your innocent son with you. I mean really Elizabeth; I understand your hurting after Spencer's affair and his downfall with drugs but to go crawling back to Morgan? I thought you were over him." Elizabeth almost laughed at that, cause frankly she'd thought so too. She didn't laugh though, instead she brought both her hands up to press two fingers in each of her aching temples and closed her eyes. Why had she decided not to run off to Italy when Jason had offered again? Sighing she opened her eyes and narrowed them at her ex husband.

"Ric regardless of what you might think I don't have to explain anything I do to you. I chose to move in with Jason because I wanted too, because he offered me a place to stay with my son that didn't have judgment looming over my head. Sort of like your doing now." With that she grabbed some of her patient charts and moved out of the circle nurses station and tried to go to the sanctuary of one of the patient's rooms but Ric caught hold of her arm before she'd barely moved away from the station. Her eyes narrowed upon the hand that encased her small arm and then slowly moved them up to the angry face of her ex husband. In that moment she wondered how she could have every believed he was anything more than the ruthless monster everyone had warned her about. The sneer on his face at that moment was almost evil and despite herself Elizabeth began to taste the first lick of fear.

"You sure it didn't have to do with you little one night affair that got you knocked up with a criminal's baby? Oh you're surprised I know? You shouldn't be. The whole town of Port Charles can talk of nothing else. Little Lizzie Webber got herself pregnant by Sonny's mob enforcer who was engaged to another woman. Have you seen Sam lately Elizabeth? She's a mess, she can barely even function without Morgan by her side but you don't care do you? Too busy playing house with a killer…" He was about to go on but Elizabeth had heard enough. She used all the strength she could and jerked her arm from his painful grip sure that she'd have bruises come morning and she didn't look forward to explaining them to Jason.

"Who the hell do you think you are? Have you looked in a mirror lately because you are the last person on this planet who can judge Jason or me for that matter. You locked a woman in a panic room that you built in our house with the intentions of killing her and stealing her baby. You tried to blackmail your brothers sister into marrying you just to get to Sonny, you married the mother of your brothers child just to use that child against him and then you sleep with your wives daughter, how dare you even think to judge me. You're a monster and I can't believe I ever thought I loved you." With that she turned to leave only to feel his hand on her arm again trying to stop her.

"Let her go Ric." At the sound of the angry voice behind her Elizabeth almost felt weak with relief. Immediately Ric released his hold on her and Elizabeth took a few hasty steps back to come and stand beside her savior. Glancing up into dark eyes filled with furry Elizabeth was more happy now than she'd ever been that she'd never made him that angry. He looked as if he would kill Ric where he stood and Elizabeth was shocked to find a part of her wished he would.

"This isn't over Elizabeth, someday there won't be anyone around to keep us from finishing this conversation." Elizabeth could do nothing more than gasp at the unveiled threat that Ric had just issued towards her. Somehow for some reason she'd always thought that Ric would never hurt her, no matter how he'd proven otherwise in the past but for him to openly threaten her…she shook her head and closed her eyes against the wave of sorrow the knowledge of how wrongly she'd judged him washed over her.

"And if you ever threaten my sister-in-law again Sonny and Jason will be the very least of your problems." Nikolas Cassidine threatened in a low deadly tone of voice that Elizabeth had only heard once before. Ric seemed to get the hint though and turned to storm off towards the elevators leaving her alone with Nikolas for the first time since before she found out she was pregnant. "If he ever threatens you again let me know. Married to my aunt or not I won't allow him to talk like that to you. Are you alright he didn't hurt you did he?"

Elizabeth shook her head as Nikolas gently took her arm and traced the angry red marks with the tips of his fingers barely even a whisper of a touch on her skin. Elizabeth realized he wasn't looking at her but rather the marks so she had to speak to reply. "No, well yes but its nothing Nikolas I promise. Thank you, for that. If you hadn't come along I don't know how much more I could have taken." Looking up at him she almost sighed with relief when his eyes met hers and they held none of the previous anger to be directed towards her. "Nikolas…" she began but he held up a hand to halt her.

"Don't. Look I'm not going to pretend I understand why you moved in with Jason but I do know that whatever happened between you and my brother isn't your fault. Lucky's the one that chose to do drugs, he's the one that had sex with Maxie and you were the one that had to deal with all of it. I'm not one to cast stones on cheating but I want you to know that I don't consider what you did with Jason cheating. I don't understand why your with him other than being pregnant and I'm not going to deny that I still hope someday you will find your way back to my brother but you won't hear any judgment from me." He smiled kindly down at her and Elizabeth gave into the urge to release the tears that had been building up since the beginning of his speech. She moved into his open arms and felt the familiar feel of her best friends arms around her giving her comfort when everything seemed such a mess.

"I can't believe your still working but I guess even the powerful Jason Morgan can't get through your stubbornness." He teased causing her to laugh and shake her head as she raised a hand to wipe at the tears that had left a watery trail down her cheeks. She had fooled herself into believing she didn't need this mans acceptance of the changes in her life but she'd been fooling herself. Nikolas was one of the most important people in her life and with him and Jason in her corner she suddenly felt that perhaps that proverbial shoe wasn't going to drop after all.

"Actually you'd be surprised at what he can get me to do. I honestly believe he's more stubborn than I am." She laughed and was rewarded with the sound of his deep chuckle. It felt so good to laugh outside of the penthouse. She'd begun to believe that outside of their home she'd never find it in her to laugh and be happy again but with just one small meeting with Nikolas she'd been pleasantly proven wrong, it was a gift she'd never be able to thank him properly for.

"Well then maybe he's not that bad after all, so long as he's taking care of you and Cam that's all that matters to me." He stated before glancing down at his watch with a sigh. "Look I promised Em I'd meet at Kelly's or I'd stay longer and get the details of how you're doing. Maybe I can call you later?" at her nod he grinned and bent forward to press a small kiss to her forehead. "Just take it easy Liz, alright?" With her nod as a promise he gave her a quick hug then made his way to the elevators. Taking a deep breath Elizabeth looked down to the charts in her hands and then to the watch on her wrist and actually smiled. Thirty more minutes and her shift was over and she'd be able to go home and be with her son and she had to admit she was looking forward to some alone time with her blonde enforcer.