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Chapter 36
Two years to the day that they left Port Charles Jason and Elizabeth returned. They didn't make a big deal of the trip. In fact only four people knew they were coming. From the airport they drove straight to see three of them. Lila was in the front room when they walked through the terrace doors. "Welcome home darlings."
"Grandmother, it's good to see you." Jason walked over and gave her soft cheek a kiss.
"Mrs. Quartermaine." Elizabeth bent and did the same.
Lila looked them both over. They looked happy which is the only thing she wanted. The picture they sent with Johnny was in her office so that she could look upon them every day. "Our other guests will be arriving shortly. In the meantime, tell me what you two have been up to." Since the danger was passed Lila had received postcards from every place they traveled starting with Rome. "I believe you most recently went to Spain?"
"Yes, it was beautiful." Elizabeth sighed remembering it. "I sent you some pictures before our flight this morning." That was another thing they did. Sending Lila pictures through email.
"I saw them. You have such a gift for capturing beauty. I was the first person in line to buy your books on Canada and Amsterdam." Lila told the young woman she thought of as a granddaughter. After their trip to Italy Jason had returned to Ireland and set about building his publishing empire.
Morgan Publishing had been operational for one year now and was already a success. The first thing they had published was the book for the Japanese Garden and National Stud. It had been an international best seller with lots of praise for Elizabeth's photographs. Her first two books had done just as well. "The next book Elizabeth has coming out is on Venice." Jason shared with his Grandmother. She refused to let them just send the books instead purchased them to support their joint venture.
Elizabeth's books were not the only thing Jason's company published. He had five best-selling authors in his catalogs.
"I will be sure to pick it up. I enjoyed the pictures of your garden." Lila had been pleased when Elizabeth called her to request advice on what to plant. The two women had spent several phone conversation discussing soil acidity and moisture. Sunlight strength and direction as well as blooming schedules.
"It's coming along nicely. I've had a few failures." Elizabeth admitted. The roses had not done well. Lila had a few suggestions for this coming spring that might work.
"That comes with the territory my dear. I cannot tell you how many plants I've killed." Lila said laughing at herself. "You are still trying and that is what counts."
"I'm having more luck with vegetables and the fruit trees." Elizabeth loved the fact that she could grow things for them to eat. "The apple trees are the best so far." Jason loved apples and having them right outside encouraged him to eat them. It also encouraged Elizabeth to can them.
"Now that is one area I never had any success in." The two women were trading stories and Jason was enjoying the conversation. He looked over and the smile on his face widened. "Hi." He said standing up and opening his arms.
"I've missed you so much." Emily said hugging her brother hard. "You too." She said embracing Elizabeth. "You look amazing."
"So do you." Elizabeth said looking her best friend over. "How do you feel?"
"Relieved that it's finally over." Emily told them both. It took seven months to find Faison and the man had not been thrilled about having to reverse what Helena had done. In fact he was terrified that they would lead Helena to him, since he had barely survived her last attempt on his life. It took Nikolas assuring him that the old bitch was dead before he set about removing the triggers.
The process turned out to be harder than anyone expected. They had to wait until the baby was born and finally after six months of working with Emily they had cleared them all out, but it came with a price. Mind splitting headaches were not uncommon. In time they should pass but for now she had to live with them. As far as Emily was concerned the pain was a small price to pay. Helena hadn't won, that was what really mattered. "Nikolas?" She called out.
"Coming." He called back. "Someone needed to be changed." He walked in smiling holding their seven month old son Dimitri.
"Oh. He's beautiful." Elizabeth accepted the sleeping little boy.
Jason leaned over and smiled at his nephew. "You gonna share?" He asked his girlfriend.
"Nope." She said cooing at the infant. She looked up and saw Emily was crying.
"I wasn't sure we would ever get here." Emily confessed. "I am so sorry for helping to hurt you."
"It wasn't your fault." Elizabeth carefully handed the baby to Jason and moved to sit next to Emily. "I'm sorry for not realizing that something was wrong. I was so angry and hurt. If I had stopped to think about it I would have known something was wasn't right."
"I didn't even notice something was wrong." Nikolas told Elizabeth. He would always harbor guilt that he allowed his Grandmother to so cruelly use the woman he loves. That he hadn't protect Emily as well as he should have because he was too busy trying to earn his mother's love.
"Neither one of you is at fault. To this day I have no idea when Helena even started brainwashing me. I have no memory of her visiting before the wedding." Emily admitted. "The important thing is that I'm doing better. We all are. How long are you here for?"
"About a week. I have somethings to do. Plus Jason and I have some places to visit." Elizabeth deliberately kept it vague. "There will be plenty of time for us to catch up."
"We want to have you over to our house for dinner." They had sold Spoon Island. Emily did not ever want to return there and Nikolas agreed. Instead they had bought a house called Greystone.
"We accept." Elizabeth said speaking for her and Jason. "Okay, give him back." She held out her arms for the baby.
"I'm not done." Jason instantly protested.
"You've had him forever." Elizabeth wasn't backing down.
"I had him for like a minute." Jason wasn't backing down either.
"Actually we wanted to talk to you guys." Emily was laughing at the two of them. "We wanted to know if you'd be Dimitri's godparents?"
"Yes." They both said at the same time.
"Thank you." Nikolas smiled at his wife. He could feel her relief. She had been afraid that they would say no.
"We expect you to bring him to Ireland when you get cleared to fly. He can meet our horses." Willow had been joined by Juniper, a beautiful Palomino, who was Jason's horse. They often enjoyed an evening ride, sometimes being joined by Johnny and Chloe.
"I can't wait to come visit." Once the headaches left Emily wanted to see first-hand the place her brother had settled. She had hoped that with all this over they would return to Port Charles. Looking at how happy they were Emily decided they made the right choice.
"Are you staying for dinner?" Jason asked his sister. Tonight for the first time since walking away from the Quartermaines, Jason was eating with the family. He wasn't sure how that was going to go, but for his Grandmother he would try.
"Of course we are." Emily knew Jason needed the support. The baby fussed and Emily took him back. "Someone's hungry. I'll go upstairs." For the night they were staying at the mansion since Jason and Elizabeth were, assuming there was no bloodshed at dinner. "Want to come?" Emily asked Liz.
"Sure." She followed her friend up to the same room they spent hours in as teenagers. "How does it feel? To be a mom?"
"Amazing and terrifying." Emily said bringing her son to her breast. "I freaked when I found out I was pregnant. I was only seventeen, I thought for sure my parents were going to kill me. But Nikolas promised he'd be with me the entire time. Are you guys talking about kids?" They had lost so much time. Emily had dreamed of having her best friend at her wedding, and of Liz being there for the birth of her children. None of that had happened.
"We are. We want to get married first, and Jason said I had to promise not to have any girls until I had two boys." Elizabeth laughed at the puzzled look on her friend's face. She explained and soon they were both laughing.
"I can't wait to tease him about that." Emily missed this. "So that's not an engagement ring?" She nodded at the sparkling Claddagh ring.
"No, but I think its coming." Elizabeth wouldn't rush Jason. They had a good life whether they were married or not.
"Are you going to talk with Audrey while you are here?" Emily suspected that was the whole point of the trip.
"Tomorrow morning. She doesn't know that we are here, but there are things I need to say to her. If she lets me in the house." There was a very real possibility her Grandmother was going to slam the door in her face.
"I think she misses you. I've seen Audrey at the hospital." Emily volunteered there. "She seems older somehow. We don't talk, but I think she regrets what happened." Emily didn't remember most of the night in Jason's villa. Nikolas told her about Helena, Lucky, and Luke after Dimitri was born. Emily was still coming to terms with what she had helped bring about. Weekly therapy sessions were helping. "Sarah was here for a few months."
"Really? How did that go?" Elizabeth wondered out loud. It felt odd to have to hear about her family from a second hand source.
"Not well. Sarah came to pretty much tell Audrey that you had chosen a life with a criminal over your true family." A good number of the hospital staff had been witness to the ensuing argument.
"What did my Gram say?" Elizabeth was almost afraid to hear the answer.
"She told Sarah, that if the family had treated you better than you wouldn't have needed to turn to Jason for anything. When the argument was over Sarah stormed off. Grandmother had Audrey over that night, I don't know what she said, but your Gram hasn't said a negative thing about Jason since." Emily took that as a positive sign. "Maybe she's ready."
"Maybe." Elizabeth wasn't getting her hopes up. "If not I have you guys."
"Yeah, you have us." Emily said with a smile. She burped her son and the two women headed back downstairs.
Elizabeth's talk with her Gram was not the catalyst for the trip. Visiting Lila was, but Jason acknowledged that is was time he tried to do better with his family as well. So while they were in the States he would test the waters. That was what tonight was all about.
Upstairs in the guest suite, Lila made sure they did not stay in his childhood room, he was stretched out on the bed when Elizabeth stepped out of the bathroom. She was taking one last look in the mirror. "Nervous?" She knew him well.
"Terrified." Jason wouldn't admit that to anyone but her. "They found me lacking before, what's different this time? I'm still not the Jason they are looking for."
Elizabeth came over and sat down taking his hand in hers. "Lila wouldn't invite you back so that they could hurt you. She loves you too much. Things went well with AJ last month." His older brother was in Europe on business. Lila called and asked them to meet with AJ. Dinner had started out awkward. But by the end of the night they were doing better.
"I know she wouldn't, but that doesn't guarantee that they won't do it. I don't want you hurt." Jason said sitting up. He knew if the family said negative things about him Elle would take it personally.
"Me?" Elizabeth was surprised by that. "I'll be fine." She assured him, and she'd bite the head off of anyone who said one cross word. "We should head down."
"Okay." Jason stood up still holding Elle's hand. "You look beautiful."
"Thank you." She was in a green column dress. She wore the color because she knew he liked her in it. "If things get rough just reach for my hand."
"I know you'll always be beside me." Jason said kissing her knuckle above his ring.
They arrived at the dining room as the rest of the family was coming down the hall.
"You've decided to join us." Edward remarked.
"Hello Edward it's good to see you too. Before we go into the dining room we need to get something straight." Elizabeth could tell she had surprised the family with how sharp her tone was. It was very much intentional. "Lila invited us for dinner and that is why we accepted. We are also looking forward to catching up with everyone else and to being guests in this house. But please believe me when I say anyone who says anything rude will deal with me." She was looking right at Edward. "Understood?"
"Completely." Monica answered shooting Edward a look. They were getting a second chance, and she was not going to allow anyone to blow it. "Anyone who gets out of line will be moving out in the morning." It was after all her house.
"I like her already." Tracy said grinning. She didn't remember Elizabeth being so outspoken, time away from the Spencers had served her well.
"Behave Mother." Ned was here because he was one of the few family members Jason liked. He planned on running interference if it became necessary.
"Why don't you sit next to me?" Edward invited Elizabeth patting the chair. He always did like her.
"No thank you Edward, I'll sit next to Jason." Emily took her brother's other side ready to back up Liz if it became necessary. Lila was the last to join them and Jason stood forcing all the other guys to as well. Elizabeth just smirked, the night was already off to an interesting start.
"So where is home these days?" Monica wanted to hear about their life.
"Kildare, Ireland." Elizabeth answered, she would do most of the talking, and Jason would join in when he felt like it. "We have a lovely cottage."
"Not the city?" Alan asked and immediately wanted to kick himself. He didn't want them to think he was criticizing. Like Monica he badly wanted a second chance.
"No, not the city." Elizabeth smiled as she answered trying to set Alan at ease. Everyone was tense.
"Fine, if no one else is going to ask it I will." Tracy could be counted on to be blunt. Harsh even at times. "When did you two get married?"
"We didn't." Elizabeth told the family. "We wear rings as our sign of commitment to one another."
"The ring is beautiful." Lois, Ned's wife commented. "I love emeralds."
"It's a diamond." Elizabeth explained. She always had to explain.
"Green diamonds are rare. I hope you got that certified." Edward said eyeing the jewel.
"Elizabeth is rare as well, she deserves the best and that's what I give her." Jason answered his Grandfather. The whole table went still. That was the most anyone had heard him say in years.
"It's good that you know quality." Edward was proud of his grandson, not that he would say that out loud. He knew Jason wouldn't believe him. "What are you doing with yourself these days?"
"You know very well what I'm doing." Jason knew his Grandfather kept abreast of changes in the business world. The name Morgan made headlines.
"I don't know." Emily did because Nikolas told her, but her asking would spare her parents from having to do so.
"I do various things. Mainly publishing. But everything I do is legal." He shot his Grandfather a challenging look. ELQ skirted the line frequently. Edward's chuckle was clearly heard around the table.
"He published both of my books." Elizabeth told them.
"You write?" Tracy asked the young woman she remembered mostly from sleepovers. "I thought painting was your medium."
"I still paint. I have a showing at a gallery next month. I meant my books of photographs." Elizabeth cleared up.
"Amsterdam." Monica said smiling. She had passed a lovely afternoon looking at the book after Lila brought it home. "You publish under a different name."
"Yes, Elle McCarthy." Outside of her art that woman no longer existed anymore.
"Elle?" Alan asked the young woman. He had seen the book on Canada.
"It's what Jason and few close friends call me." Elizabeth explained. "McCarthy is to keep me private." McCarthy was the name she used for painting as well.
"You're very talented." Ned chimed in. "I saw the three books that have your pictures."
"Thank you. Jason encouraged my love of photography and things went from there." Elizabeth said looking over at Jason who was smiling at her.
From the foot of the table Lila smiled at the young couple. Jason's homecoming was going well. At some point someone would say something they shouldn't and she knew that Elizabeth would handle it, but this was the first of what was going to be many visits. Hopefully in the future those visits would include great grandchildren. Her family had regained its missing piece. They would continue to move slow, and next time AJ would be home, but she knew the brothers had already began their way to reconciliation. Elizabeth looked down the table and nodded. Lila nodded back.
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