Chapter Thirteen
Elizabeth was worried.
She sat on the leather couch anxiously nibbling away at her bottom lip. She had paced the length of the room before she caught sight of Lil's concerned expressed and decided to sit down. She had unpacked her bags as well as Lil's. She had unfolded and refolded their clothes. They now sat in their rightful drawers and hung in the spacious closets of the penthouse. The penthouse was spotless. Lil had been fed. Dishes were washed. Lil was bathed and ready for bed. And Elizabeth was restless in apprehension.
It had been four hours since the private Jet had landed in Port Charles. Three hours since Jason had left for a meeting with the five Families. He didn't have to tell her that he was going to sit down with the most powerful mob families on the east coast. His outfit and demeanor before he left had answered the identity of his associates. The only time Jason ever wore a suit was when someone forced him into one—namely Emily and Brenda—for special occasions, or when he and Sonny had a meeting with the five heads of notorious mob families.
Elizabeth was fully aware of the fact that Sonny and the Four Musketeers would be joining him, but a sickening feeling danced around in her heart. She never cared what he did for a living. She knew it was dangerous, but it didn't define who he was and she knew for a fact that he would always protect those that he loved.
In the past, she had been concerned to see him walk out the door, but now the feelings had simply intensified. In a few days she would be leaving and if anything happened to Jason, Lil would be…Elizabeth forced the thought from her mind. She was overreacting, but she couldn't help it. She cared about Jason and on the island they had grown close. And she couldn't bear to see him hurt or worse.
On the plane ride back and even after they had reached Port Charles, they had barely spoken. Returning from the beach earlier in the morning, they had joined the frenzy of the other villa to leave on time. They were still two hours late. Jason had sat with the men on the far side of the plane, reviewing things, while she had sat on the other end with Emily and Brenda. Her best friends had yammered away about this and that. She had been vaguely aware of what passed their lips for her attention had been riveted on the man sitting on the opposite side of the plane.
They had almost kissed. She would be lying to herself if she said she didn't want to kiss him. His lips had hovered over hers. She had felt his breath against her lips. They had been within her reach when Lil had popped out of nowhere with her very intriguing question. Elizabeth couldn't blame the young child for her bad timing, but she had no idea what she had walked in on.
Sighing, the young nanny leaned back on the couch and released her tutored lip. Looking straight ahead, her eyes fell on Lil. The four year old sat comfortably in her blue pajamas with stars on them. She sat cross-legged on the floor, using the coffee table to color in her coloring book. Her velvet blue bunny sat on the glass tabletop, propped up against Lil's pink knapsack. Elizabeth watched her with a soft smile. Lil had been amusing on the plane ride back, making faces for Della to laugh at. The child was full of energy and a moment was never uneventful with her.
Pausing, Lil looked at Mr. Floppy for a moment before setting her crayons a side. Shifting her body, she faced her nanny and peered up at her with interest.
"Are you sleepy?" Elizabeth asked sitting up.
The four-year-old shook her head and her ponytail swung back and forth with the movement.
"Ready for your milk and cookies?" She tried again.
Again Lil shook her head no. "I'll wait till Daddy gets back."
Elizabeth looked her over for a moment. Something told her that the child had something floating around in her head. "Suit yourself," she stated. "But once it's eight, bedtime lady."
She nodded her head in understanding.
The nanny couldn't help the quirking of the corners of her lips. It was one of those moments that Lil resembled her father. They were rare. Lil did it all the time with her concern for people and her endless need for knowledge, but right now her softened features and electrifying blue eyes filled with question did she truly remind people of her father.
"Liz, how do people get married?"
All of Elizabeth's worries took a backseat as she gawked at her charge in utter shock. "What do you mean?" she asked, bewildered by the question.
The four year old rose from her place on the rug and reached for her knapsack. She pulled out what looked like a thick book and grabbed her treasured stuffed animal before joining her nanny on the couch. Shifting until she was comfortable, Lil then placed the book on her lap and Elizabeth stifled a groan of horror.
The cover was simple; a photograph zoomed in on a woman's side. A bouquet of what looked like greenery and unblossomed calla lilies dangled in her hand. A pale white gown fluttered besides the hand holding the flower arrangement. The title in elegant letters was the main reason for Elizabeth's sudden discomfort. In Style: Weddings. The brunette nanny watched warily as the young child flipped the book open.
"Honey," Elizabeth asked, her eyes running over the cover. "Where did you get that book?"
"Aunt Brenda said I could have it," she replied, flipping open the book.
The whimper she had held back this time passed her lips, going unnoticed by the child beside her. Between the guards and her best friends, Jason and she would always have enough alarming questions being fired at them by Lil. All the questions that a teenager would ask not a four year old.
After a few moments, Lil paused towards the middle of the dense book. "Like this?" she asked, pointing at the couple sharing their first dance as husband and wife.
A feeling of longing seeped into Elizabeth's heart as she studied the photograph of the couple. The blushing bride in a gorgeous wedding gown and the groom in a sharp tuxedo, gazing at each other with love shining in their eyes as they danced under the twinkling lights with family and friends watching them.
Shaking herself out of her trance, Elizabeth focused her attention on the four year old. "Lil, you've been to a wedding before."
"I know," she muttered. "But I want to know how people get married."
A look of total confusion covered Elizabeth's face as she stared at Lil. They had recently been to Brenda and Sonny's second wedding. The couple had renewed their vows and an entire ceremony had been held from the walk down the aisle to the reception and bouquet tossing before the entire Corinthos clan drove away for a week out of town. Lil had been the flower girl and present for the entire occasion, which only puzzled Elizabeth about the young blonde's question. Lil was known for knowing more than an average four year old. The child took in every moment around her and acquired knowledge and quickly processed it into memory.
"Did you forget Uncle Sonny and Aunt Brenda's wedding ceremony?"
Lil shook her head. "I remember that," she murmured, flipping the pages again. "I remember the flowers, the blue dresses, the…" she paused for a moment looking for the right words. "The vows," she said, her face brightening up at remembering the word. "Daddy's faces," she giggled. "And how he looked at you. I remember it all."
Once again, Elizabeth was dumbstruck. "What do you mean how he looked at me?" She was scared of what Lil's answer would be.
"He looked at you a lot," she replied. She continued to turn pages, going back and forth, searching. "Whenever you weren't looking, Daddy was looking at you."Before Elizabeth's mind could fully process Lil's words, the child was pointing at another page of the book. "Like this?"
Looking down, the nanny found herself staring at a stunning antique engagement ring. The center stone was a diamond, but the straight angle of the camera on the ring gave the stone a deep blue touch. Simple clear diamonds surrounded the band. It was elegant and breathtaking.
"What do rings like those have to do with weddings?" the four year old asked. "Aunt Brenda and Uncle Sonny had different rings."
"The rings that Aunt Brenda and Uncle Sonny have are called wedding bands." Starting to understand what Lil was searching an answer to; Elizabeth pulled her onto her lap along with the book. She gestured to the open book. "Well, these kinds of rings come before the wedding," she started to explain. "They're called engagement rings."
"En-gage-ment rings," Lil sounded the word out. "What are they for?"
"After a couple has been together for a long time, the man in the relationship can ask the woman to get married and if she says yes then she wears a ring like that," she pointed at the page. "On the ring finger of her left hand. And that's when they're engaged. They've promised to marry each other."
"You don't have a ring on your finger," the young blonde pointed at the ring empty finger on Elizabeth's left hand.
"Because I'm not getting married."
"Is it because someone didn't ask you?"
"Yes," Elizabeth answered, feeling a pang of pain pass through her heart at the thought.
"Do you want to be asked?"
Elizabeth paused before answering the question. At one point in her life, she had dreamed of the whole nine yards. The white picket fence, 2.5 kids, a golden retriever. All of it, but now it had simply become a forgotten dream. "Maybe."
"Does the man have to always ask the lady to marry him?" Lil scrunched up her face asking the question.
"It's tradition for the man to ask."
"How does the man ask the woman to marry him?"
"Depends on the man," the nanny answered thoughtfully. "It's traditional for the groom to first ask the father of the bride for her hand in marriage. If the father approves he then gets down on one knee in front of the woman he loves and asks her to marry her."
"What if she doesn't have a Daddy?"
"Then he can ask the brother or mommy."
"Where does the groom ask the bride?"
"It's up to the groom," Elizabeth specified. "If he wants to make it romantic he can ask her after a dinner together, in front of family, or go to a place that is special to them and ask her there. Or he can be silly and ask while she's eating. It's up to the groom."
"Can the lady ask the man?"
"If she wants to yes. Lil—"
"What do you want?" the four year old cut her off.
Elizabeth frowned in confusion. "Sweetie, what do you mean?"
"Do you want to be asked or do you want to ask?"
"To get married?"
The child looked up at her with expecting eyes as she nodded her head eagerly.
Elizabeth smiled wistfully. "I would want to be asked."
"What kind of enga—" she trailed off for a moment. "Enga—engagement ring would you want?"
The young nanny's eyes drifted to the open book for a moment before she sighed longingly. "A simple one that's not too big or too small." She combed a gentle hand through Lil's thick locks. "Something without pegs so that paint won't get stuck in them. It really wouldn't matter as long as I'm happy."
Shifting her head, Lil smiled up brightly. Her blue eyes were wide open in delight. "How would my Daddy ask someone to marry him?"
The soft smile on Elizabeth's lips fell at the question. She felt a pang of jealously at the thought of Jason proposing to a woman. She knew that he had never been married and from what she could tell never planned to tie the knot, but if he did…Her eyes locked with Lil and Elizabeth's heart constricted painfully. The woman would be Lil's mother and Jason's wife.
Shaking her, Elizabeth forced the thoughts out of her mind. She didn't need to be thinking of them. She had no say in their life, especially since she was leaving. "I don't know," she answered Lil honestly. "You're Daddy is his own person and he would have his own ideas of how he would want to propose."
Flashing her signature lopsided grin, Lil Morgan looked away before her brows furrowed as a look of deep concentration fell across her young features. She closed the book on her lap and tapped her chin thoughtfully. Her nanny watched with interest as the wheels began to turn in the young fair-haired's head. Angling her head to look into her caretaker's deep blue eyes, she studied her for a bit before the front door opened and both their eyes flew towards the movement.
"Daddy," Lil squealed in joy, jumping off of Elizabeth's lap and straight into her father's arms.
"Hi angel," he greeted, twirling her around.
Her soft laughter filled the living room. A boyish grin graced the young father's lips.
Catching her breath, the four year old looped her arms around her father's neck and studied him intently. "How would you ask someone to marry you?"
A look of complete disbelief and confusion filled his face before his sharp gaze flickered to Elizabeth. Hers were solely on the father and daughter.
His steady gaze on her Jason answered softly, "I would tell her how I feel about her. That I want a life with her and my daughter."
Lil smiled sheepishly before giving her father a warm hug. "Will you have cookies and milk with me?"
Jason dropped a quick kiss on the tip of his daughter's nose before placing her back down on sock clad feet. "Chocolate chip or Oreos?" he asked with mock seriousness.
"Oreos," Lil declared gleefully, breaking into a run for the kitchen, Mr. Floppy swinging in her arms.
Elizabeth watched him smile at her retreating back before he switched his attention to her,
Rising onto her bare feet, she regarded Jason with calmed eyes. The hard angles of his face were softened. His shoulders were no longer rigid. His hands loosely fell to his sides, unclenched. His lean body was at ease and his mood improved from earlier.
On their own accord, her eyes traveled leisurely over his body. His black suite molded taut over his well-built body, complimenting his broad shoulders, narrow waist, and tall frame. The simple white t-shirt he wore beneath his suit jacket was a touch of his rebellious side. No stubble was visible on his handsome face yet and his golden hair remained tamed. The man looked gorgeous in a suit or his usual attire of a t-shirt and jeans. He always took her breath away.
Licking her suddenly dry lips, Elizabeth took a step towards him. All her worries faded away at the sight of him standing safely before her. The heavy pressure she had felt press down on her chest since his departure lifted and she felt she could inhale air normally again.
Coming to stand before him, barely reaching his chin, she stared up into his electrifying blue eyes. They changed depending on the light or his mood. At the moment they grew from a light hue to a dark beckoning midnight blue. Witnessing the transformation in his eyes as he watched her, Elizabeth took in a deep breath before grasping the nape of his neck and pulled his head down for his chiseled lips to meet hers.
Gently, she ran her lips over his, waiting for him to take over. Growing bold, she traced the outline of his lips with her tongue while wrapping her arms securely around his neck. A tingling sensation spread through her body as she pressed herself fully against his hard body. Finally he responded, opening his mouth for her tongue to enter and his hands gripped her hips under the short green silk camisole she wore.
Angling her head back, he deepened the kiss, taking control of the kiss. Tangling his tongue with hers, he pulled her closer on a groan. His thumbs caressed her hips as her hands unclasped and began to trail over his wide chest. Breaking away for air, she skimmed her lips over his once, twice, three times. Never deepening the kiss again. Brushing her lips against his one last time, she lingered before pulling back.
Inhaling sharply, she remained in his arms for a moment enjoying the feeling of his body against hers, uttering, "I'm glad you're okay," in a raspy voice. Breaking away, Elizabeth dashed up the stairs not waiting for a response and leaving a very stunned and breathless Jason in her wake.