Not Yours

Lee drove seamlessly through the busy Boston city traffic. It had been a few years since he and Rosie had lived there, but the layout of the city was still ingrained in his head as if it was yesterday.

"Now I remember why I was so excited to move out of the city. This is insane. I mean look at that," Lee pointed to the intersection ahead of them. "Those police cars are fighting to get through. Hope it's not a time sensitive emergency they're running to because they aren't getting there fast."

Elizabeth nodded silently and continued to stare out the window. She hadn't said much of anything in the last 45 minutes. Her mind was circling around the task at hand.

"You going to be alright, Bethie?"

"Bethie?" She smiled. "You haven't called me Bethie in a long time." It had been his term of endearment for her when they were growing up. Since then, the last time he used it was when her marriage exploded.

"Yeah, I guess it slips out when I'm worried about you."

"You don't need to worry about me. I can handle this. Just not sure how I'm going to do it." She sighed as she stared back out the window.

"I'll be with you the whole time. You don't have to be alone with him."

"I appreciate that, but I think he and I should talk this over between us. That being said… maybe wait close by?"

"You got it. Besides, I promised Jack I'd take care of you." Elizabeth smiled brightly at the mention of Jack's name. "Man, you really love him, huh?" he teased.

"He's amazing, Lee. I can't stop thinking of a future with him. It's all I want."

"Good. Then don't let Charles take that from you."

"I won't."

Lee pulled into the last guest parking spot at Charles' hotel a few minutes later.

"You ready?"

"Yes. I can do this. I think..."

"Yes, you can." Lee squeezed her hand and followed her into the lobby.

The lobby was a bit busy, full of people enjoying the lounge area that sat outside the hotel's 5 star restaurant.

"Does he know we're coming?" Lee asked, noticing Elizabeth looking around, a bit lost.

Elizabeth looked guilty. "I sort of forgot to let him know… I was so focused on fixing this, I forgot that important detail."

Lee just laughed, "That's fine. We'll just check in at the front desk."

They walked up and got the room number from the woman behind the front desk. Charles was staying on the 6th floor. They took the elevator up. It seemed to take forever as they passed each and every floor.

They found his room. Elizabeth softly knocked on the door, suddenly wishing she had stayed home.

"Beth, Lee. This is a surprise." Charles wasn't sure whether to be happy or on his guard when he saw them. "Would you like to come in?"

"I'll be right out here." Lee's words were directed to Elizabeth, but his tone served as a warning for Charles.

Elizabeth walked into Charles' room as the door closed behind her.

"Is everything okay? Lee's not here to punch me again, is he?" Charles laughed.

"Why does your mother think we are back together?" She decided there was no point dancing around the issue.

"What do you mean?"

"She called me today. I was in the middle of something so I didn't answer but her message was pretty clear. She was grateful that I'm forgiving you and putting that silly thing that happened behind us."

"Really?" Charles scratched his head, trying to think of something. "You know how mothers are. She's always liked you."

"Charles, we aren't together."

"I know," he held his hands up. "Not yet."

"Not yet? Charles, I think I made it very clear where I stand!"

"You did, and I heard you. But Beth let's be serious here, we have two kids together. Doesn't that stand for something?"

"You're seriously going to use the kids as leverage? The kids you've barely seen in the last 3 years! Charles, you didn't even meet Asher till he was 3 months old!"

"Things are different now," he growled, not liking the direction this was going.

"Why does your mother think we are together? She didn't just come up with that on her own. Did you tell her something?"

"Beth..."

"I know you need us to reclaim your place in the company. Remember, Lee told me after the birthday party that the offer was still on the table."

"Damn it, Lee."

"Don't you dare blame him! This is all on you."

"It's not all about that and you know it! I care about you and the kids. Can't you see that? Or are you too wrapped up in your little fling to see that?" His temper was coming out now.

"My little fling?"

"With that cop. I'm sure he's fun and all but you can't be serious about him." Her nostrils flared at his comment, he knew he'd hit a nerve.

"You don't know anything about Jack and I, Charles. We have a real relationship, real love."

Charles shook his head and laughed. "It may seem like that now, but I guarantee you this thing will be no different than you and me."

"You're wrong!"

"He's a cop right? Oh no, sorry, a detective," his voice was almost mocking. "You know what that means don't you?"

"Oh, please enlighten me, oh wise one," she mocked.

"Nice one, Bethie!" Lee yelled through the door, listening in.

Charles huffed and continued. "His life is his work. Just like mine is. But with him it will be even worse. It's easy now for him to make you think you and OUR kids are his priorities, but in time, when he knows you aren't going anywhere, he'll drop that act."

"It's not an act!"

"Sure it is. Can't you see he's giving you exactly what you want? Everything I failed to do the first time. I'm sure you've told him all about me and how I screwed up before. He's trying to be the anti-Charles. It's cute. For now. Oh, another thing, he's in the guard too, right?"

"Yes…" she growled. She stood her ground, arms crossed.

"So it's not just the police you will share him with but the Army too. All they have to do is order him to go and he will have to leave. He'll have no choice. I bet he'll even want to go. Honor and all that."

"No Charles. The difference is he will leave if he has to. You CHOSE to leave and let's not forget about the woman you ran to when you did."

"You'll never let that go will you?"

"Charles it's not any one thing! You left, yes. There was the affair, yes. But then you didn't come back! I waited for you to come back, left that door wide open for almost a year! You didn't even think about trying until your grandfather dangled a carrot in front of you. Now you see me moving on and you can't have that, can you?"

She wasn't wrong. Seeing Elizabeth with Jack made him burn with jealousy. Seeing Mya adore the man like a father didn't help. He knew he should have a similar feeling when it came to Asher but he didn't. Things were different there.

He felt he needed to remind her of the good that had been in their relationship. Maybe then she'd be willing to consider.

Charles took a couple steps closer to her, until he was standing just in front of her.

"I know one thing." He reached a hand up to her cheek, "I never should have left you." As she tried to take a step back, he pulled her in close and kissed her lips.

She quickly pushed away, and in a mix of anger and shock she slapped him across the face. "Get away from me!"

Lee came bursting in the room. "Elizabeth, you alright?" Lee looked at the red handprint gracing Charles left cheek.

"Back off, Lee!" Charles scolded. "This is between us."

Lee ignored his order, "Elizabeth, are you ready to go?" She nodded.

As she reached the doorway she turned back to Charles, "I'm not yours, Charles. Not anymore."

"They're still my kids. Not his."

"Prove it."

She closed the door behind her and took off down the hall, making Lee have to fight to catch up.

"Elizabeth, what did he do? Bethie, wait!" He took hold of her arm to stop her just before the elevators.

"I'm fine. He just… kissed me." She wiped a few stray tears from her eyes.

Lee muttered a name he had for Charles and took off back down the hall towards his room.

"Lee don't!" He stopped to face her again. "It's not worth it." He sighed and hugged her tight.

"I shouldn't have left you alone with him."

"I'm fine."

"Sure you are, but Jack is going to kill me," he teased playfully, trying successfully to make her smile.

"I'll protect you, don't worry. Let's go home."

They'd just made there way back down to the lobby. Lee reached into his pocket before turning back to Elizabeth.

"Huh, my keys aren't in this pocket."

"Really? Shoot, let's go look."

"I got it. You wait here." She agreed and took a seat in the busy lobby.

Once out of sight, Lee took off back towards Charles room, ducking into the opened elevator back to the 6th floor.

He took a deep breath as he stood outside the room again. "Here it goes." He knocked on the door, stepping just out of sight of the peephole.

When the door opened, he moved back in front of the door, taking a firm hold of Charles's arm.

"I was nice to you before. No more. You touch her again, I will make sure you regret it."

"Fighting Captain America's battle are you, Lee?" Charles glared.

"Consider yourself lucky. I'm just giving you a warning. I don't even wanna think what he would do knowing you put your hands on the woman he loves." Lee shoved him back into the room and walked back towards Elizabeth.

"It's not over, Lee." Charles yelled down the hall. Lee just kept walking. Knowing if he did turn around, he'd show Charles just how angry he was.

He got off the elevator back in the lobby and hurried off to find Elizabeth. She was sitting in one of lobby's big armchairs on the phone when he found her.

"Is that Jack?" He asked. She nodded. "Does he know what Charles did?" She nodded. "Can I talk to him?"

"Hey, babe, Lee wants to talk to you…. Okay, Love you."

Lee took the phone, "Hey, man."

"So you lost your keys?" Jack laughed, "Maybe right outside a certain man's room?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Lee laughed. "Look, man, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left her alone."

"Relax, Lee. You're fine. Though I'm ready to punch Charles…"

"I don't blame you," he sighed. "We're heading out now."

"Thanks, see you soon."

…..

Jack hung up and went back to the table with the kids.

"Where's Mama?" Asher asked with a mouth full of pizza.

"She and Uncle Lee are on their way home. She should be home to say goodnight."

"Okay. Where'd she go?"

"She had something to take care of."

"Oh ok." Despite his ear pain, Asher was eating well, which was making his color come back some. The drops were doing the trick and he was more like his old rambunctious self.

"Uncle Jack, what are we doing after dinner?" Mya asked.

"Well I'm thinking maybe a bath. Especially since Asher is wearing his pizza about as much as he's eating it…" The kids laughed. "And then after Asher's medicine we can do story time."

"Horse Diaries!"

"Paw Patrol!"

They each yelled out at the same time.

"You can both pick out some stories, don't you worry."

Jack had had a great afternoon with the kids. Asher was super cuddly, and Mya behaved picture perfect. After the movie they had started before Elizabeth left, Jack grabbed the double stroller out of the garage and took them and Rip for a walk around the neighborhood. They had adventures in the backyard and drew many wonderful pictures for Elizabeth and everyone else in their family. All that would have made it better would have been to have Elizabeth with them.

….

Lee and Elizabeth made a quick stop at Taco Bell on their way home. There wasn't one in Hope Valley and it was Lee's weakness and Rosie's least favorite.

"Oh man, this is heavenly!" Lee praised as he took a large bite of his burrito.

"Rosie would have a heart attack if she saw you eating all this grease," Elizabeth laughed as Lee's face looked concerned.

"You're not going to tell her, are you?"

"Gosh no! This is a sibling thing! Besides, its my favorite too and I don't need her to tell me about how this food does nothing for my complexion or waist line."

"She thinks she's being helpful, you know?"

"Oh I know. That's why I haven't smacked her for it yet." They both laughed.

Lee watched her carefully eat her taco. "You okay?"

"With what happened? I guess." She took another bite. "You going to tell me what you did when you pretended to lose your keys?"

"I didn't hit him. I wanted to, though. I just gave him a warning."

"Thanks, big brother."

"Always."

Elizabeth visibly shivered, "Him kissing me, it was… he's lucky I just slapped him."

"Just? Bethie that red mark on his face is going to be there for a bit. It was a good hit. Heck, I heard it from the hallway."

"He deserved it!"

"No argument here!"

"His kiss was nothing like Jacks. When Jack kisses me, it's like a warm breeze, he makes my whole being feel loved. Charles, it was like he was trying to prove something."

"Well, he sure proved one thing." Elizabeth looked up at him. "That he's a moron." She laughed.

"He tried to get under my skin. Wanting to place doubts in my mind about Jack."

"I heard. You know it was all crap right? I mean, sure Jack is in a demanding line of work, but he loves you guys. That's huge."

"I know. He's nothing like Charles. For him to even suggest that they could be was just infuriating!"

"I can't tell you how glad I am you have Jack. He's great. Brave too."

"Brave?"

"You left him with alone with the kids tonight. That's a brave man."

Elizabeth laughed, "You're right. Maybe we should hurry home before they drive him crazy."

"After my next taco!"

…..

After dinner, Jack walked into Mya's room. She was busy playing with the latest lego home she'd built.

"This is pretty cool, angel. What is it?"

"It's our home."

"Oh I see. So this is your room, and Asher's and there's Mom's?"

"No, not our home. OUR home. The one we'll all live in together someday."

"You want us to all live together?" Jack smiled.

"Yeah. Someday it would be nice. See this is my room, there is Asher and Rips, they share."

"Oh, I see."

"And this is yours and Mommy's. Uncle Lee and Aunt Rosie share a room. I guess you two could too."

"That would be nice," Jack laughed. "And what's this?"

"Our horse barn. We have 9 horses."

"9?! That's a lot!"

"I know, but I'll help take care of them."

"Well, you'd have to," Jack laughed. He heard Ashers thundering footsteps down the hall. "Bath time, Asher!"

Asher came running and stopped right outside Mya's bedroom.

"Look, Uncle Jack! I naked!"

"Um, great… okay Asher lets go to the bathroom quick before you…." It was too late. The little boy peed right where he stood.

"Asher! NO! Not outside my room!" Mya yelled.

"It's okay, angel, I'll take care of it," Jack said as he picked up the boy and ran him down to the bathroom, placing him in the tub.

"But now I'm stuck in here!" Mya cried out.

"Well you were playing with legos anyway. I'll clean it up and then it will be fine." He shook his head and laughed. The night could be interesting. He looked through the bathroom and found the carpet cleaner and a rag. He hurried down the hall cleaning the wet spot on the carpet.

"All set, Mya."

"Good cause that was gross."

"I know… what was that?" Jack asked when he heard a noise from the bathroom. He ran back down the hall to the bathroom. "Asher! No, bud!"

Asher had managed to turn back on the water and the handheld shower sprayer, spraying water all over Rip and the rest of the room. Jack turned off the water and took the sprayer away from the little boy.

"Rip need bath too," Asher said innocently.

"Oh man… are you supposed to play with that?" Jack said as he ringed out his shirt.

"Nope," he giggled.

Jack grabbed a towel to dry off Rip, but stopped when he noticed something on his fur, "Asher, did you put soap on Rip?"

"Yup! It's Mama's, it smells pretty."

"Yes… but its not for dogs."

"Oh. Oops."

"Well Rip old boy, looks like you're getting a bath tonight too. But you'll have to wait your turn."

Asher giggled and took a large cup full of water and tossed it on Rip and Jack.

"Asher!" Jack yelled.

"You said soap not for doggies."

Jack just sighed.

Mya walked up to the doorway and laughed. "Uncle Jack, I think you're doing it wrong."

"Trust me, angel, I know I'm doing it wrong." He laughed, what else could he do.

Mya sat with Rip while Jack finished Asher's bath. Once he was dry and in his PJ's, he rinsed and dried Rip as best as he could before putting him on the back yard. Asher sat in the hallway playing with his toys while Jack helped Mya with her bath. Mya was much easier than Asher. By the end of it all, the bathroom was dried and most of the towels Elizabeth owned where downstairs in the wash.

The three stood in the bathroom getting ready to brush teeth when Jack noticed Asher whimpering and rubbing his ear again.

"You okay bud?"

"Ear hurts," he pouted.

Jack worried he may have made it worse with the bath, though he tried really hard not to.

"Okay, bud. Let's brush your teeth and then we'll give you another round of drops okay? That should help."

"I don't like drops." He crossed his little arms over his body and stuck his bottom lip out.

"I know, but remember when we did before?"

"Read stories?"

"Yeah, I can do that again for you."

"Okay."

….

The night sky was dark and filled with stars when Lee pulled into Elizabeth's drive. It was about a half hour past bedtime. They should have been there an hour earlier but a traffic jam on the interstate changed that.

"Thanks for coming with me, Lee. Tell Rosie I said hi."

"I will, and any time you need me just call."

"I will."

She stepped into the house quietly. The downstairs was dark and quiet. The kitchen was cleaned and all the toys seemed to be in their place. The washer was going. She checked it, finding it full of towels and laughed.

"Something tells me there's a story here." She heard Rip scratching at the back door and let him in. "Hey Rip," she knelt down to give him some pets and caught a whiff of his fur. "Why do you smell like vanilla and lavender?"

Rip huffed and trotted off to his bed that lived in the living room.

"Yup, definitely a story here."

She walked up the stairs, hearing Jack's soothing voice singing to the kids. She peeked into Mya's room first, but saw no one. Next she looked in Asher's room and found them. Asher in his bed, Mya on a sleeping mat, in her sleeping bag on the floor, and Jack in the middle singing. She leaned against the hallway wall, just listening.

"Through all of the words

The mean and the kind

Through the strings that unravel

And the ties that bind

From the crazy and the different

To the more of the same

From the coast is clear

To a hurricane

Yeah, I'll be right beside you

On a roll or off the tracks

To the ends of the Earth

To the moon and back

To the moon and back"

When he paused, she looked into the room. Both kids were just about sleep. Jack's face lit up when he saw her. He kissed both kids and walked out into the hall, closing the door behind him.

"Hey there, handsome," she whispered.

"Hi," Jack whispered quickly before grabbing her and pulling her in for a kiss.

It was a real kiss, one rooted in true love, and desire. Their lips danced together for a while, each savoring the presence of the other.

"Wow," she gasped. "Now that's a kiss."

Jack smiled, kissing her tender lips once more. "You okay?" He asked cradling her face in his hands.

"I am. Especially now that I'm here with you." She took his hand and lead him back downstairs.

"Did you eat? There's some pizza left."

"No I'm good. We stopped at Taco Bell."

"Really?" He laughed. "Rosie hates that place."

"That's why we stopped," she giggled.

Jack poured two glasses of wine before they retired to the living room, curling up on the couch together.

Jack told Elizabeth all about their day and their bath time adventures, making her break into a fit of giggles.

"I'm so sorry, Jack. I owe you for this."

"Nah. I have your love right?"

"Of course!"

"Then you owe me nothing." He kissed her temple again as he pulled her close.

Being close was starting to get hard for each of them. They promised each other they'd wait, but Jack was beginning to wonder if he'd ever feel physically close enough to her.

"What were you singing when I came home?"

"Upstairs? Oh, just a song I've been working on."

"Working on for what?"

"For you."

She turned to face him. "Can I hear it?"

"Someday," he smirked.

"No special treatment for me? Even after today?" she laughed.

"It's part of a surprise."

"Does this have anything to do with our trip later?"

"It does."

She smiled at him, knowing how important their trip was to him. "Alright then. I'll wait."

"Thank you, babe." He leaned in kissing her, his passion flowing like a river for her. "I love you so much, Elizabeth."

"I love you too, Jarrick."