Chapter 21
Francis stayed the night, bunking down in the spare room and Elizabeth felt as safe as if Jason was in his own room and not down in PCPD lock up. Though unsettled with that idea, she had slept surprisingly well and woke up looking forward to the day. She had no doubts Jason would be out soon, because she knew Jason and Sonny would never deal drugs.
Bobbi had arrived just before lunch during Michael's nap time and she had helped Elizabeth with her study. She also explained that Elizabeth would be sitting five exams the following week as part of the accelerated nursing program to assess her level and how to progress with her training. They studied and then Bobbi quizzed her. When Michael woke they broke for lunch, with Bobbi commenting that Elizabeth was more than ready for the exams ahead of her. After lunch, while Bobbi got to know Michael better, Elizabeth went in search of a one of several boxes she'd packed back in Colorado that contained baby photographs of Michael. Bobbi had asked to see some and Elizabeth was happy to show them to her. For an hour they sat together on the sofa pouring over pictures, some with Carly in them. Bobbi gazed at one of Elizabeth's favorite photos of Carly and Elizabeth sitting side by side on the old sofa in Elizabeth's apartment back in Denver. Elizabeth was holding Michael sitting up leaning against her chest. Carly's left arm was around her holding her close, and Michael had latched on to Carly's fingers. Bobbi stroked a finger over Carly's face.
"Why did she do it Elizabeth? Why did she abandon her son?" Bobbi asked in a pained whisper.
"Post natal depression" Elizabeth replied quickly "but she didn't abandon him, she left him with me." Elizabeth added as if that negated the idea that Michael was abandoned. "She had a lot of guilt over Michael being born prematurely and so sickly. She blamed herself, she was under a lot of stress, not knowing how she'd look after him by herself not wanting to come back here and stir up the wounds. She only agreed to come back once I said I would come with her and Michael"
"She leaned on you a great deal didn't she?" Bobbi asked.
"Yes! But it was mutual. She was more than a friend, she was a like a sister to me. She meant more to me than Sarah ever could. I loved her and she loved me the same way." Elizabeth paused. "She told me some of what happened when she was here and we had words about it. I can't fathom that it was the same Carly that I know. Yes she was always wild but she was never ever deliberately hurtful. I just couldn't understand and told her so. She was pretty hurt you know, I've never judged her before. But it was hard not to in what she did to your life. She apologized over and over to me, but that made me angrier since I wasn't the one she wronged. She promised me she'd send you a letter and apologize. Did she?" Elizabeth asked.
"Yes she sent me a letter" Bobbi replied.
"You never read it, did you?" Elizabeth asked.
"No I didn't." Bobbi replied swiftly "and I didn't throw it away if you are wondering"
"Maybe someday you'll feel like you can read it" Elizabeth suggested hopefully.
"Yes someday I think I will be able to" Bobbi smiled faintly.
"I know Tony has been posturing around the hospital that you and Jason are unfit to raise Michael and that he is threatening to sue for custody." Bobbi stated "I think he has some crazy idea that getting custody of Michael will bring us closer or back to where we were. Like he can replace BJ or make up to me having the affair with Carly. But it won't, no baby deserves that kind of burden. Plus I don't agree that you and Jason are unfit to raise him. What Jason does for a living means nothing to me. What is important is that Michael is happy and healthy and clearly thriving with you and Jason, and neither have you have tried to keep him away from family. I won't support Tony, Elizabeth."
"Thank you Bobbi" Elizabeth cried, hugging the woman close.
Down at the PCPD, Taggert and Garcia had gone to the holding cells to bring Jason and Sonny up to the squad room. Sonny smiled and Jason was his usual stone cold self when they were greeted by Justice, a broad grin on his faces.
"Remove the cuffs from my clients please gentlemen, there is no need for that when we now know the powdery substance found in the sacks of coffee beans was powdered sugar" Justice taunted. Both Sonny and Jason's head snapped around to glare at Taggert.
"You telling me it took all night to figure that out? You couldn't do a preliminary test on the spot?" Sonny roared.
"Oh we did it!" Garcia replied and then in turn glared at Taggert "I was told it was inconclusive"
"OOPS Sorry boys, guess I messed up. Honest mistake!" Taggert replied with a smirk.
Justice chuckled "Lets see you smirk once I officially lay a complaint against you and demand an investigation over your treatment of my clients"
"Do you worst man" Taggert replied with a sneer.
"I intend to" Justice promised "Now uncuff my clients and let them go"
Garcia uncuffed Sonny and then watched with annoyance as Taggert made a game of unlocking Jason's cuffs. Frustrated with his games, Garcia shoved Taggert out of the way and unlocked Jason's cuffs telling them to go as Taggert got in Garcia's face.
"Don't EVER shove me like that again"" Taggert growled.
Not shaken or cowed in anyway, Garcia pulled himself up straight and got straight back in Taggerts face.
"DON'T YOU EVER MAKE A FOOL OF ME AGAIN. YOU are worse than they are" he gestured with a pointed thumb over his shoulder at Sonny and Jason "They are more honest than you are at times, they never pretend to respect the law. But YOU do."
Garcia threw his keys on the desk and stalked out, leaving a seething Taggert watching him walk away.
In the limousine Sonny turned to Justice "Did you get a chance to talk to Taylor?"
"Yeah he said it was an anonymous tip off that came directly through to Taggert's desk phone" Justice replied.
Jason growled "I'll get Stan to see if he can hack in to the PCPD phone records and find out any information."
Sonny nodded "Johnny was going to start looking at the surveillance tapes first thing today" Sonny paused "Adela's first night home and I spend it in lock up over some bogus tip off"
Jason looked over at Sonny "I just want to get home and see Elizabeth and Michael"
"I understand. Give me a few hours to spend some time with my wife and kids, smooth things over. Then bring Michael over, we'll mind him while you take Elizabeth out for a while."
Jason nodded "Thanks Sonny. I'm going to start on the investigation tomorrow. This afternoon I'll spend with Michael and then I'll take you up on that off to watch Michael. Elizabeth and I could use some time alone, and Francis deserves a break"
"No problem man"
Sonny and Jason stepped out of the elevator simultaneously and split heading to their own Penthouses.
"Don't forget we are baby sitting" Sonny tossed over his shoulder.
"I won't and thanks" Jason replied as he shook hands with Francis.
"Hows things?" Jason asked
"Good man and she's fine Jason. Concerned for you, so much so she wanted to visit you with food last night" Francis reassured him
Jason chuckled "That's a relief. Thanks for staying the night Francis, take the rest of the day and I'll see you back day after tomorrow"
"Who is going to guard her tomorrow?" Francis asked with a frown.
"Me" Jason replied.
"Okay let me know if you need me though" Francis smiled as he headed for the elevator.
"Thanks again Francis" Jason replied as Francis waved him off.
Jason opened the door of his Penthouse and stepped inside to see Elizabeth curled up in her favorite spot on his sofa. The baby monitor was sitting up on the coffee table in front of Elizabeth, meaning Michael was taking a nap. Jason moved toward the sofa and called her name softly.
"Elizabeth?"
At the sound of his voice, Elizabeth raised a tear stained face to his and a little sob escaped like a hiccup. He rushed to her side but before he sat down noticed the photographs strewn over the coffee table and on the sofa beside her. He scooped up a handful and dumped them on the coffee table making room to sit beside her. He sat down and tugged her unresisting body in to the circle of his arms.
"Elizabeth? GOD what is it?" he crooned. She turned her head in to his shoulder and sobbed a little harder, "Elizabeth? Please tell me"
"I miss her Jason, I miss her so much and it hurts that Michael will never know her" Elizabeth whispered between sobs.
"This is about Carly?" Jason asked, seeing real honest grief in her eyes.
"Yes" She sobbed "Bobbi was here and I remembered Carly promised me she'd send Bobbi a letter explaining herself and saying sorry." She stopped pulling back to look at him. "It reminded me that the day of Michael's christening, Carly was writing a letter. When I asked her if it was the letter she promised to write to Bobbi she said no it was a letter to me but she wasn't going to give it to me until we got to Port Charles. I forgot about it Jason, but when I remembered today I went looking for it and when I found it I read it" she finished and immediately the sobs over took her again. Jason couldn't bear her heartbreak for a moment longer. He twisted slightly and slid an arm under her legs, lifting her so she lay in his lap. He cupped her chin with his hand and held it firm as he dipped his head and leaned closer to kiss her softly. His rubbed his lips backwards and forwards against hers soothingly, his tongue snaking out to stroke her lower lip. Then he gathered her close and held her tight, letting her cry out her sadness and grief. After a while when she'd stopped crying, Jason pulled back to look at her.
"I bet I look a sight" Elizabeth mumbled.
"You look beautiful" Jason replied.
"Even with swollen, puffy tear soaked eyes and a red nose" She asked with a smile.
"Especially then" he smiled back. She raised a hand to stroke his cheek.
"You are such a wonderful man Jason Morgan, will you read my letter?" She asked.
"Yes if you want me to" he replied as Elizabeth handed him the letter.
He took it and started to read out loud.
Dear Elizabeth,
Today is the day we christen Michael and you become his Godmother. I can't tell you what it means to me that you'll be standing up with Michael today. In every way that matters you are his true mother. It is something I am deeply grateful for and hope that someday I can be worthy of being called his mother too. I search daily for ways to tell you and show you what mean to me and Michael, but I never seem to get it right. You have supported me and loved and protected my baby when I couldn't. I will never be able to repay that or tell you what it means to me. To know that you gave up your studies for me and my baby just blows me away. I love you more than I can ever say. You've helped me through everything I've faced. Sometimes I feel cheated that you and I weren't born sisters, I think it was some cosmic error that was only semi put right when your family moved here and we met and you became my best friend and constant companion. Knowing that you are coming to Port Charles to help me and Michael start a new life and to be a part of it, makes me brave. I can do anything with you and Michael to help me. I don't ever want to disappoint you again or be a mother Michael is ashamed of. I know you will be there for me, to offer support and love and I will happily give you my love and support in return.
All my love,
Your sister Carly.
Jason folded the letter up and handed it back to Elizabeth, who had started to cry all over again.
"Tell me about her" Jason asked quietly.
For the next hour, Elizabeth entertained Jason with stories of herself and Carly. How they met and became friends. How Carly would never let Sarah or her friends pick on Elizabeth. How they rescued a stray dog and talked Carly's father in to letting her keep it. How they learnt to make brownies and lemonade together. How Carly instructed Elizabeth on how to practice French kissing using a clenched fist, imagining the thumb was a guys bottom lip. How Carly gate crashed Elizabeth's first official date because she'd heard a rumor that Sarah had put the guy up to it. When Elizabeth ran out of stories, Jason tilted her face to his and kissed her softy on the lips.
"I can see why you loved her. She was a different person in Colorado to the one we all met here. The Carly you describe is nothing like the one I knew." Jason sighed.
"You can't hate her Jason" Elizabeth begged.
"No! How could I? She brought you and Michael to me" Jason reassured her. "Besides we had a funny kind of friendship. I did see some of what you describe in her. She was loyal in a peculiar kind of way."
As they had talked Jason had cradled Elizabeth in the crook of his arm. He was holding her close, and although the way he held her started off as comforting at some point it had become more intimate. Jason had been alternatively stroking her hair from her face or stroking the curve of her shoulder with his free hand. Absently, Elizabeth was tracing tiny circles with the tips of her fingers over the spot where Jason's heart beat. She watched in fascination as Jason's eyes dropped to her mouth. With his eyes fixated on her lips, her tongue snaked out to moisten them in anticipation and she heard Jason groan softly. She was compelled to look at Jason's own mouth then. His lips, slightly parted and getting closer, Elizabeth knew he was going to kiss her again. Elizabeth's hand travelled from his chest to the back of his head to pull him closer and speed up the slow decent of his mouth. Their lips touched, tentatively at first and then Jason groaned again, gathering her close to deepen the kiss. He shifted, so that he could lay her down on the sofa, but made sure his lips never left hers. He followed her down and then moved so that his own body was lying close to her and leaned over her to deepen the kiss even more. As they kissed, lips nipping and tasting, tongues entwining and duelling, Jason's hands explored. His hands stroked down her back, over her neat behind and paused to squeeze and test the shape of buttocks, and then travelled down to stroke the outside of her thighs. Then his hands moved up to span and shape her ribcage, moving down to stroke over her flat stomach, to then follow the indentation of her waist before repeating his exploration again. Elizabeth hand's stroked through his hair and down his back. Just as her hands found their way under his t-shirt a baby squeal and giggle emitted from the baby monitor, causing both Jason and Elizabeth to jump away from each other. Only Jason's quick thinking stopped Elizabeth from toppling off the sofa. He put some distance between sitting apart from her on the sofa as they both tried to steady their breathing.
Jason turned to look at a dishevelled Elizabeth and smiled in satisfaction. She returned his smile and fanned her face with her small delicate hand, making Jason's smile broaden.
"I'll get him" he told her as he pushed himself off the sofa "By the way Sonny has offered to babysit Michael while I take you out to eat" he paused "and I think we'll take a bike ride too".
"Great!" She smiled as she watched Jason walk slowly up the stairs
Two hours later with a washed and fed Michael in her arms, Elizabeth walked hand in hand with Jason to Sonny's door. Johnny was there and opened the door straight away.
"He's got a visitor" Johnny told them as he stuck his head inside the door to announce them.
"They're here boss"
Jason was smiling at Elizabeth as he tugged her through the door way. The scene that greeted him was the last he expected to see. He dropped her hand immediately, guilt engulfing him as he stared in shock at the brunette who was standing up from her seat on Sonny's leather couch. She smiled knowingly at Jason.
"Jason! Good you're here early. Just in time to meet Sam Mccall, our new ship's captain" Sonny drawled.
Jason frowned as Sam smiled provocatively in Jason's direction. She stuck her hands in the back pockets of her too tight jeans, the action thrusting her chest in Jason's direction.
"No need for introductions Sonny. Jaysen and I know each other very well" she purred
"You know her Jason?" Sonny questioned a now annoyed but still silent Jason.
"mmhhm from Jakes." Sam answered for Jason her gaze never shifting from Jason's face. The emphasis on the word Jakes was obvious to everyone and the implication was clear. She and Jason had "hooked up". Jason's stupor evaporated and he scowled at her. Sonny looked at Elizabeth and seeing her shell shocked expression, raised a hand to rub his eyes in annoyance.
Jason turned to look at Elizabeth who had moved perceptively away from him. But Jason reached for her arm and pulled her closer.
"Sam this is my son Michael, and his mother Elizabeth" he paused for effect as he looked back down in to Elizabeth's eyes "my girlfriend".