Chapter 8

11 months later…

"Are you joining us later?" Carly asks as she and Leaticia makes their way downstairs, Michael is sitting on Carly's hip, on the other shoulder she has the diaper bag and behind her Leaticia is bringing up the rear carrying the stroller. Carly likes to use it upstairs to wheel Michael back and forth when he is fussy and teething.

On the coffee table is a packed picnic basket for the day's excursion.

"Maybe." Jason shrugs. "Depends on how long the meeting lasts."

Carly walks over to kiss him on the cheek, before she and Leaticia makes their way out the door.

Jason smiles, then sits down at his desk.

Something about today makes him feel a little melancholy. He was never someone who thought about the past, but these past few months, he has found himself doing it more often than not. Whether it is part of the side effects alluded to in Valentin's books, or the results of reliving memories of things that haven't even happened yet every night when he sleeps, or perhaps a combination of both, or just the fact that his current strategizing involves thinking about the past, he doesn't know.

It's almost a year now, since he and Carly got stuck in their own pasts. And they have survived. In fact, they have thrived. To anyone else it may some like just a normal couple of months, but they know what happened during that time, to them, it is like the paradise version of reality.

Jason knows at some point, he will be bringing Sonny back here, and have been preparing. He bought out the entire top 2 floors, and bullet proofed all the windows. Justus is still in his penthouse, and Jason figured that if he can keep Justus alive longer this time around, he will likely have to take another one on the floor. Virginia is staying on the floor below them where Carly and Leaticia are no doubt at this very moment, to pick her up for the picnic in the park. Things between Carly and Bobby isn't quite what it will be in future, but they are getting closer and both Carly's moms will be joining the picnic today. To any outsider this may seem normal, but to them, this is infinitely better than the first time around.

Jason had 2 guards on Carly and Michael and when Tony decided to pull his kidnapping trick, they were ready. When he got off with community service, Carly glowered at him from the courtroom bench and like a good girl, kept her hands off of Taggart's gun.

Without him leaving the business, and no distractions with Robin, the business is stable, Merino is well behaved and since Sonny started the Coffee business around this time, he has started the preparations for that. The dock strike went ahead the same way it did the previous time, except he called it, not Carly and his people took out the hit man that fired at Jax before it happened, so he had no police interference on that end.

He also got hold of a psychiatrist down in Puerto Rico, explained to her that he thinks his friend is Bipolar but that he cannot see him being open to either treatment or evaluation. She went in to meet him, befriended Sonny, no doubt became yet another of Sonny's conquests, although she never said anything on the phone, but managed to diagnose and convince Sonny of treatment. The last time she phoned to say that Sonny is fine and will be seeing another doctor, she sounded, well, like so many women have sounded after breaking up with Sonny, leading him to believe that there was an element of more than friendship. He kept Carly in the loop. Carly obviously knowing exactly how befriending Sonny works, despite Jason never mentioning his own suspicions. In the end, Sonny is both single and on his meds. Jason counts it as a victory.

Now he is planning a surprise for Carly.

He needs to discuss his plans for the coffee business with Sonny (or rather Sonny's plans, he just doesn't know it) and Christmas is coming up. He decided, they will spend Christmas in Puerto Rico. Michael will enjoy the beaches, Sonny and Carly can "meet" under less volatile circumstances and him and Carly can finally set their eyes on the man they initially meant to save.

Jason's new cell phone has a speaker function, and whenever he calls Sonny with Carly in the room, he puts it on speaker, just so she can hear his voice again.

The novelty has worn off though. Just the day before, he was about to phone Sonny as Carly was about to leave to take Michael for his check up, he offered to wait until she came back, and she declined. He thinks back to the incident.

"It's okay, Jase, he isn't really my Sonny." She shrugged, then gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"I'll see you later."

As Carly leaves the room, Jason cannot help but feel this strange kind of lightness, almost a joy.

Now, thinking back, he feels guilty. That is the other part of why he thinks it's time for them to go to Puerto Rico and get the Sonny and Carly saga started. He spends all of his time with Carly outside of the business. He once told Carly that the day she asked him to be Michael's dad, was the day he started living. It is still true, but now, he is reliving it. And it scares him how quickly him and Carly had fallen back into being a family. And they still have another year before the 2-year mark is over. He has always been too attached to her, to the detriment of even Sonny and his own wife and kids. He cannot afford to get even more attached to her. Cue Sonny.

He looks at the clock, then rises to go and meet with the 5 families for the annual progress meeting. If it ends early, he will join the soiree at the park. Its probably better if he doesn't but… he knows he will.

"We shouldn't stay too late, there is already a chill in the air." Virginia states, pulling her cardigan tighter over her shoulders.

Carly looks down at her watch, then puts her hand back under Michael's arm, steadying him as he wobbles trying to give another step. He isn't exactly standing without assistance yet, but stubbornly wants to graduate to walking. She smiles. She missed so much the first time around. She was hoping Jason will be joining them.

"It's only three. It only gets to Michael-needs-to-go-inside temperatures around four." Carly answers.

"You're just hoping Jason joins us." Bobby accuses.

Carly rolls her eyes, but doesn't argue. One, it's true and two, Bobby and Virginia assume that she and Jason are a couple, and they both decided to leave the elder woman to their assumption. Carly is starting to regret it though as Virginia launches into her usual speech.

"When are you guys making it official Caroline?"

"Carly, Mama." Carly automatically corrects.

"Caroline." Virginia stresses, before continuing. Bobby just rolls her eyes. "Despite his occupation, Jason is a fine young man that treats you like a princess, except where it matters. I didn't raise you to be a kept woman, Caroline."

"After all the things I've done, that's what bothers you?" Carly counters, her eyebrows raised.

"Childish things, you are all grown up now. A decent, responsible young woman. And I am so proud, but this living together thing…" Virginia pauses, as Bobby puts a hand on her arm, pointing with her eyes. Carly looks around and her eyes light up.

"You shouldn't be shushing me Bobby, it's about time he hears it." Virginia grumbles.

"Look Mister-Man! Daddy's here." Michael looks up at the words and starts mumbling a jumble of words with the word "dada" the only recognizable in the bunch. Carly battles to keep him steady as he tries to move towards Jason, eventually she gives up as he falls forward and starts crawling.

Jason scoops him up with a smile, hugging him to him. Sometimes even he forgets that this little boy is the same one that he went to prison for, that anything bad could ever happen to him. He feels an arm on his shoulder and looks up into Carly's eyes. They are sparkling with joy.

"You made it." She states the obvious as he hugs her to him with one arm, she pulls away slightly, looking into his eyes. To the two older woman it looks like the pair in front of them are lovingly staring into each other's eyes.

"How'd it go?" Carly asks, her eyes telling him she's asking about the current state of affairs in Port Charles, not just the meeting.

"Good, everything's good." Jason's eyes are saying that everything is stable, and there are no threats on the horizon.

"Good." Carly smiles, pulling back so they can re-join the two elderly woman. She suddenly feels cold without Jason's arm around her.

"Virginia, Bobby." Jason greets them, as he sits down, cross-legged with Michael standing on his calves, held up in strong hands.

"Done working for the day?" Virginia asks.

"Mostly." Jason shrugs.

"I was wondering…" Bobby starts, "if you and Carly and Michael will be joining us for Christmas? You too, Virginia."

"That sounds awesome, doesn't it Jase?" Carly answers immediately, then frowns when she looks at him. He looks like he wants to decline. 'Unless, we already have plans with the Quartermain's?" she asks. Jason has spent some time over the last year mending some fences with Alan and Monica. They aren't exactly where they could be, and Jason is still Jason, so there isn't exactly heart-to-heart conversations going on, but he has allowed them a bit more space in his life.

"No, no plans with the Quartermain's but… oh well, cat's out of the bag." Jason frowns, then shrugs, looking up at Carly, "I was planning a trip for you, me and Michael. To Puerto Rico." He sees the light dawning, then a bit of fear in Carly's eyes, then determination.

Jason can read her from a mile away. She fears meeting Sonny and the instant rejection, if history is any indicator.

Carly smiles, not forced enough for the mothers to noticed, but just enough for him to notice.

"Jase, that's awesome. Sunshine, beach, warmth… in the middle of December! It sounds awesome!" The 2nd addition of awesome tells him she is less than enthusiastic but again the mothers don't notice.

"Oh, what a wonderful idea. I'll miss you at Christmas Carly, but this sounds too good to pass up." Bobby enthuses, the idea of a warm, sunny, beach filled afternoon sounding like the best things she had heard of while being faced by the dry, cold, pre-snow afternoon they are currently experiencing.

"Yes, I agree Caroline. And perhaps you will come back with some… good news for your mother." Virginia winks.

Carly rolls her eyes.

Jason suppresses a smile. Carly has told him about Virginia's favorite topic. He smirks as he imagines coming back with Carly presenting Virginia with a big diamond ring on her finger. The poor woman would die happy… His smirk disappears as he looks at the frail woman in front of him. She is definitely living longer than the previous time, but she still had a smaller stroke during the year, and she likely doesn't have that long. Perhaps he should get Carly a ring, make the older woman happy while she's still around. It's not like he hasn't gotten Carly a ring before. They can just tell Virginia it will be a long engagement. He shrugs. He'll discuss it with Carly when they get home. May not be the best idea for her to be wearing his ring when she meets Sonny.

Carly is quiet when they get back to the penthouse. After kissing Michael and handing him off to Leaticia, she grabs a blanket and covers herself on the couch, staring into the fire.

Jason frowns. Is it a mistake to go down to Puerto Rico? He thought she would be happy. Nervous, but happy.

He heads over to the couch and sits down next to her, then pulls her into his arms so she can lay back against him while still looking into the flames.

"What's wrong with me Jase?"

Jason looks confused.

"Nothing. What do you mean?"

"I'm just thinking. Sonny didn't like me when we first met. Hell, he hated me." She pauses and more softly, like what she is saying is sacrilege, "And I hated him. How the hell did we end up together? Jax. Same thing. We hated each other, if it wasn't for Spencer… we probably would have kept hating each other. I've never married a man that I didn't hate initially. What does that say about me?"

Jason shrugs. There have been many times that Carly has opened up to him that he didn't understand but could make some sense of what was bothering her. Right now, he is at a loss.

"Why does it matter?"

Carly shrugs.

"I don't know, just does. It's like it's the only way I can relate to a man."

"I never hated you, you never hated me." Jason offers. Its not the same, they were never married but… he feels guilty for even thinking it… if that night never happened, they may have gone there. Why does the thought make his heart twist painfully?

"No… I never hated you. But you hated me, even if it was just for a few days."

Jason frowns, confused.

"I never hated you. When?"

He tries to think of a time that they fought so bad, he could have hated her, or she could have assumed he did.

"After… Sonny."

"Oh." Jason pauses for a second. "No, I never hated you. Not even then. I don't lie Carly. Did I say I hated you?"

"No."

"What did I say?"

"That you loved me, but that it didn't matter anymore." Carly is quiet for a few seconds, "That was last night's memory."

They have established that they both have these random memories. Every night. Sometimes it is something random and mundane, but other times it is more significant, more emotional. They will likely have them forever. There is no way to know.

"And yet it happened a lifetime ago, let it go, I have." Jason murmurs, hugging her closer.

Carly wants to take comfort in his words, but right now, being back here, knowing what she knows, she wonders if she was alone and young Jason was here, if she ever would have done what she did. It scares her. She had always been way too attached to him. Any man in her life, including Sonny and Jax, knew that Jason is non-negotiable, the one person she will never give up for them, the one person who she will always side with, even against them. But these last few months… she isn't sure she will be able to let go of their family again.

And yet, she has to. For two very important reasons. Firstly, her kids, Morgan and Donna and secondly, Sam. Eventually Sam will come to town and by then, she needs to be fine with… sharing him, instead of making enemies with Sam. It took years for her to accept Sam and count her as a friend. And she knows, this time Jason may not be as patient with her trying to hold on to him, he knows that she knows, how things will go. She needs to remember that.

"What's wrong?" Jason asks, feeling her tense.

She relaxes, shakes her head.

"Doesn't matter. I'll deal."

Jason doesn't feel convince but chooses to let it go.