Chapter 37

A/N: Okay. I have a confession to make: I have completely jumped on the CBS wagon. I am officially Y&R's BITCH. I love this show like I loved GH during the Fab 4 days … and that's a lot of love. So, go ahead. Call me a traitor! Send me spam! BUT, I still heart my favorite blue-eyed couple. SO, with that being said, here is the next chapter. Sorry it's taken forever to update. No, really. I am.

Courtney pulled the covers from over her head and looked at the clock. 4:31 PM. She groaned. This plan to sleep for the rest of her days wasn't going as well as she had planned.

She slowly pulled her left hand from underneath the soft lavender blanket and stared at the ring on her wedding finger.

It was thick and platinum and encrusted with far too many diamonds to even begin counting. It was gorgeous. It was romantic. It was depressing as hell.

"Why, Jason?" she said to herself.

Why on earth would he want to get married to her again? Especially after everything they had been through before?

His lifestyle wasn't any different and he sure as hell wasn't going to change now.

"You want to marry me?" Courtney asked, nearly wanting to pinch herself. "Why?"

"What? You think I already have a wife or something?"

"That's not funny, Jason," she said. "You realize what you're asking, right? You're asking me to become your wife. To become Marie's mother."

Yeah, Jason definitely understood what he was saying. Which is why he sat there, waiting for an answer until Courtney finally gathered something to say.

"This is a really, really big step, Jason …"

"Nothing we haven't done before."

He watched as she shifted uncomfortably, still staring at the ring.

"A week."

"Excuse me?" she said, turning to him.

"I'll give you a week to give me an answer."

That week had shriveled into exactly 3 hours and 43 minutes. For the past few days, she had kept to herself –literally. She hadn't left her apartment and her cell phone was nowhere in sight.

Of course Carly had barged in, complete with threats about finding new friends who could find time for her.

But not even an answering machine message from Mike asking for a lunch date could pull Courtney out of bed.

Her only movement consisted of cracking her toes, trying to untangle her hair that hadn't been combed for days and, of course, reaching for the phone then dialing Jason's number and then proceeding to hang up by the first ring –something she had done 5 times already.

And then suddenly she thought of Jason and his odd yet undeniably charming way of proposing –if one could call it that. Sure he hadn't gotten down on one knee in a brand new tuxedo with candles lit everywhere. But it was Jason and she couldn't expect anything more. Not that she really wanted to. Jason had his own way of doing things and that was one of the things she loved most about him.

She smiled at the thought of him in a jewelry store, hesitant to ask a female employee for help and maybe a few suggestions. He was a bit weird in that sense to everyone else. But Courtney found it strangely … endearing.

Perhaps that was what finally pulled her out from under the covers and threw her into the shower as time began to wind down.

Courtney smiled as a young waitress came from inside of Kelly's and sat down a bowl in front of her.

"Thank you," she said quietly before peering down at her watch.

She had a little over twenty minutes left and had yet to make a decision.

"You shouldn't be out here alone," Courtney heard a voice say from behind her.

She turned around and smiled. "Don't you ever get sick of saying that?"

"No," Jason said sitting down in front of her. "Are you okay?"

She shrugged. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Jason motioned towards the bowl in front of her. "Cause whenever you're down about something to come to Kelly's really late, eat vanilla ice cream outside and read Gone With The Wind."

Courtney forced out a laugh as she glanced down at the thick book on her lap. "I guess you're expecting an answer."

"I guess I am."

"The deadline's not here yet." She straightened up. "So technically we can talk for a little while."

A slight grin appeared on Jason's face. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Everything," Courtney answered with a sigh. "I mean, we both know how big of a deal this is. And I just want to make sure that you're –we're, in it for the right reasons … that is, if I say yes."

"And I know you're not doing this just because you want a mother for Marie," Courtney continued as Jason was about to talk. "I know that you would never do that. But when this marriage happens –if it happens, I would love every minute I had with her because she'd be my daughter. And we'd take her on trips and I'd put her in the cutest little dresses and …"

"Courtney--"

"And when you're not working, we'd try to spend every minute we had together and every Saturday morning we'd eat breakfast in bed and talk about the most random things like we used to when we were married before …"

"Courtney." Jason grabbed her hand and laughed. "All I need is a yes or a no."

"Fine," she replied with a smile. "You want your answer? Well, here it is, Morgan…" She looked down at her watch and waited until the last 7 seconds ran out.

"Yes," she said with a laugh. "I'll marry you."