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Chapter 20

Emily was standing in the foyer of the mansion waiting for the front door to open. This morning her dad had come home and he was upstairs sleeping. In a few minutes her two sisters were going to be here as well. This could seriously be one of the best days ever.

Alice walked by Emily and grinned. It was good to see the younger woman smiling. "They are parking now." The maid enjoyed moments when the family was happy. When the Qs were in disagreement it got ugly pretty quickly. They went right for one another's jugulars. The only fly in the ointment right now was Dr. Monica and Alice was guessing Mr. Jason was going to nip that behavior in the bud where Mrs. Elizabeth was concerned. Hopefully Dr. Alan would follow his son's example with Mrs. Skye.

"Hi!" Emily said smiling wide as she opened her arms.

"Hi." Skye said embracing her little sister in a great big hug. Coming to Port Charles to find her father had been terrifying for Skye even though she did her best not to show that. From the beginning Emily had been welcoming and happy to have her here. Her little sister alone made the move worthwhile. "I have missed you."

"I've missed you too." Emily said blinking back tears. They Skyped at least once a week but it just wasn't the same. "Where is my niece?"

"Right here." Francis said coming through the door.

"She's so big." Emily walked over and gave the little girl a kiss. "I can't wait for my first invitation to a tea party." Skye said her daughter had them regularly. "Where are you guys staying?"

"Penthouse two for now, and you are welcome to visit any time you like." Skye wanted her sister to know. "We bought Kate's house and will be moving in after a few changes are made."

"That house is lovely. At least from the outside." Emily said clapping. "Dad is upstairs if you want to go visit."

"Is Monica with him?" Skye asked first.

"No, she's at the hospital." Emily thought her mother was hiding from Jason. "So the coast is clear." She wanted to tell her sister that last night their father had told Monica her behavior towards Skye was no longer acceptable. Something in his tone made Emily believe he intended to make sure Monica listened this time.

"I'll go up and see if he's awake." Skye said heading for the stairs.

"I'll show you which room Mrs. Skye." Alice said following the younger woman up the steps.

"Grandmother is in the parlor." Emily told Francis who nodded and headed deeper into the house. "Welcome home!"

"Thanks." Chloe said waddling into the warm interior. "It has gotten cold."

"I ordered this weather just for you, don't you like it?" Emily said being a smartass. The first truly frigid front had moved into the area yesterday. Hopefully the weather would warm up in time for trick or treating.

"Ha ha." Chloe said getting a hug while Johnny hung up their coats. "Where is Lila?"

"Parlor." Emily said getting a hug and a kiss to the check from Johnny. "How is she?"

"Cranky." Johnny said grinning. "Liz has been keeping an eye out."

Emily just nodded, she was going to resist the urge to hover. Chloe had a wicked throwing arm. "When is her next appointment?"

"Two weeks." Johnny passed along. That should have been the week after they returned from vacation. Jason had promised his friend that this week no one would call so that they could finish up their time off.

Emily nodded to her cousin. "Go in, you don't want to be out here for what is coming."

Johnny just snorted. Actually he did, but headed for the parlor anyway.

Jason walked in holding Liz's hand in his and Emily leveled her best glare at them. Her brother gave her a grin and Liz was trying not to laugh. So not what the situation called for. They could at least look a bit repentant. "You have something to tell me?" The young doctor wanted to know.

"We got married." Jason said smiling wider.

Emily sniffed in mock annoyance. "Congratulations. Give me my nephew." Just saying that gave her a thrill. Cameron was already her godson, and this was just icing on the cake.

"You better hand him over before she hurts us." Elizabeth told her husband as she took Cameron's coat off.

"Listen to your wife." Emily said not cutting them any slack.

"We got you a souvenir." Jason said holding out the bag.

Emily took it and dug through the tissue paper pulling out a thermal mug. "World's Best Aunt." Was emblazoned on one side, and on the other was a picture of Cameron and Lila Rae. "Okay, you're forgiven." She said smiling wide. "We're sisters now!"

"I know." Liz said hugging her best friend tight. "We recorded the ceremony, and next year we are having something bigger. You'll be my maid of honor right?"

"Of course." Emily said as she picked up Cameron who ran over. "You look stunning."

"Thanks." Liz loved this sheath style green wrap dress. It was a versatile look that would never go out of fashion. She paired it with cutout heels, and another pair of dangling earrings that she picked up on the island. The diamond hearts had called to her when she saw them.

"Let me see the ring." Emily shifted Cameron to her hip as Liz held out her hand. "Very nice. Grandmother is waiting for us in the parlor with snacks. We can look at the wedding footage in there."

"'Are mom and dad home?" Jason wanted to know.

"Dad is upstairs." Emily told him. "Skye is visiting." Since their sister hadn't come back down yet that meant their dad was awake. "Mom is at the hospital catching up."

"Steven must be relived." Liz said as they headed to the parlor. Jason was behind them, he would go upstairs when Skye was done.

"Not exactly, there have been some changes in your absence." Emily handed Cameron back to his dad and Jason entered the parlor. "Steven is still in charge, and it's going to stay that way."

"My brother is the Chief of Staff. Officially?" Liz asked gob smacked. "Alan is retiring?"

"He is. Dad made it official the day before he was discharged. Right now he is just going to work on getting healthy. There is talk of him joining the staff of PCU when Leo says it's okay to go back to work." Emily thought that would be a good move for her father.

"Why wasn't Monica promoted?" Liz wanted to know. That would be the expected move.

"Off the record it's because she has been unprofessional in her dealings with the staff over the past few months." Emily told Liz. "The official reason given was that Monica didn't want the job."

"Monica wasn't promoted because of how she was treating me?" Liz asked stunned once again. "I'm leaving the hospital so that move wasn't necessary." She couldn't help the guilt that was setting in.

"Did you forget who sits at the head of the hospital board?" Emily said grinning.

"Lila does." Liz said quietly.

"Yeah, and grandmother gave my mom a chance to save face by turning the job down. They had a really long talk in grandmother's office the day Alan served notice." Emily passed along. Honestly she thought this move was for the best. Her mother needed to pay for her behavior. "Why are you leaving? After that I have news to share too."

Elizabeth smiled slowly. "I've decided to stay home with our children."

"Cameron is going to have siblings." Emily liked the sound of that. She smiled and then took a closer look at the gleam in her newly minted sister's eyes. "No."

"Yeah." Liz said laughing.

"Oh my god!" Emily yelled before doing a happy dance. "I'm gonna be an aunt again! I'm seriously going to sit the two of you down to discuss keeping secrets."

"I'm not twelve weeks yet." Liz explained and watched Em nod.

"I will keep quiet then." Emily said hugging Liz. "Everything is good?"

"Everything is good." Liz promised. "What's your news?"

"I'm leaving the surgical program." Emily dropped her bombshell.

"I'm never leaving Port Charles again." Liz was stunned for a third time in under ten minutes. "Why?"

"I don't want to be a surgeon. I never wanted to be a surgeon." Emily confessed. "My parents wanted that for me, and I caved to their pressure. I'm going to follow my dream. I'm going to specialize in hematology and oncology."

"Emily you will be amazing at that." Liz was happy for her friend.

"I will. I officially start my new residency in January. It's a good thing that all interns work the same program at General Hospital so I don't have to take the boards again." Emily explained how this would work. "The hours are a lot better too so I'll have more time to prove that I am the world's best aunt." She said grinning.

"I just want you to be happy." Liz told her friend.

"I am. I'm also dating. Well I had one date. With Dante." Emily knew they had to go into the parlor, everyone was waiting for them, but she also wanted this small bit of private time.

"Are you off this weekend?" Liz wanted to know.

"I am." Emily said nodding, with her leaving the surgical program there was no need for evening and weekend hours right now.

"Good, you can come over to the house for some girl time." Liz said sharing the last bit of her news. "We are moving into my grandmother's house."

"You love that house." Emily said linking her arm with Liz's as they got moving again. "Our lives are taking shape in the best possible way."

"They are." Liz agreed as they walked into the parlor.

They had a wonderful afternoon. Johnny and Chloe left first because she was having trouble keeping her eyes open. Traveling had left the designer dragging. She was going to sleep well tonight. Jason was the next to leave, he started by going to visit Alan and then heading over to hospital to track down his mother. Then he would met with John. Jason would talk with his grandmother about business tomorrow. Liz left next because Cameron was starting to flag. Lila Rae was nodding off too, and Emily offered to take the little girl upstairs for a nap because their grandmother wanted to talk to Skye and Francis.

"I'm so happy that the two of you are returning home. You have been missed." Lila said starting the conversation.

"We missed it here too, especially the family." Skye said sipping her tea.

"Your timing is very good for me in particular." Lila said getting down to business. She imagined the younger couple was ready to go home and start getting settled.

"Did you need something?" Francis wanted to know.

"Yes." Lila said smiling. "I need the two of you to come work for me." She laughed at the identical expressions of surprise they were wearing. "I have asked around and neither one of you has a job yet, so I thought I would use this time to get my bid in first."

"What were you thinking?" Francis hadn't expected this.

"Let's start with you Francis. Ned is ready to get back to his real job." Her grandson's tenure as ELQ's CEO was always intended to be temporary. Lila had been on the hunt for his replacement for months now, because giving the business to Tracy wasn't going to happen. Edward had been correct about their daughter being unsuited to run things. "I'd like you to take the position."

"You want me to run ELQ?" Francis said looking at his wife. They would need to discuss this later.

"You are more than qualified and the company would be in great hands. I like the thought of a family member in control." Lila explained why she was making the offer.

"Skye and I will need to talk about it." Francis stated. "Can I ask why you aren't offering the position to my wife?" Who was just as capable as he was.

"Because I want Skye to take over running my company." Lila told them.

"I was thinking of part time work. Your relish company is extremely successful and needs a full time CEO." Skye told Lila.

The older woman hoped that meant they were considering more children. "I would be willing to discuss running the company together until you want to take over full time. Or until you decide that this isn't right for you." Lila had to consider that as well.

"We will have a lot to talk about tonight." Skye said laughing. "Thank you for the offers." Lila's trust meant a lot to both of them.

"I can't have two of the brightest minds in Port Charles working for someone else. Skye I would also like for you to consider taking my seat on the hospital board when I'm ready to retire. More than likely next year." Lila put that out there as well.

"Liz would probably be a better choice for that." Skye didn't want to be Monica's boss.

"With Steven accepting the position of Chief of Staff, Liz might not want to take my seat." Lila said thinking out loud. "However she would be a marvelous fit." She was going to have to see if she could convince the young mother of that. Liz had mentioned that she would be serving notice when she returned to work, so this might appeal to her.

"Ask her, and if she says no I will consider it." Skye told her grandmother. "What is happening with your charitable foundation?"

"Chloe has been overseeing that as my co-chair since September." Lila told them. They hadn't made a big fuss over the change because Chloe had been involved with the foundation since moving to Port Charles. "I am hoping that when I retire Emily will fill that vacancy." Her youngest granddaughter very much enjoyed doing good work for the community. "I've held you up enough. Go wrestle your daughter from Emily." Lila said laughing.

"We will have answers for you in a few days." Francis said standing up and placing a kiss on Lila's cheek.

"That will be fine." Lila said smiling at him. He was a good addition to the family.

"I'll be back tomorrow for tea." Skye figured Chloe would be joining them.

"Lovely." Lila said smiling. Having more of her family close would be wonderful. Now she would go to her office and get some work done because tomorrow morning was set aside for Jason.

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