Thanks for all the reviews everyone! I know it sounds trite, but they really make my day. I have them all saved, and whenever I need to be cheered up, I just look at them and get all giddy..Um..not that it's..you know..I'm not like, DEPENDENT on them or anything..heh heh..I can stop anytime I want..You know, just not yet..AHEM- Anyway, I felt guilty for giving you such a tease of an update before, you I rushed on to bring more joy to the lives of my fans. Enjoy! (and then.. ah.. I just need a couple more reviews, and THEN I'll stop).

Just to clarify some storyline issues, in case it isn't obvious (as I suspect it isn't) Liz and Zander did not sleep together. I don't really want to continue a story that vilifies him (as I adored him, and never let it be said otherwise) but I'm trying to construct this story in the framework given to me by GH, suck though it may. Also, in complete disregard for everything I just said, I'm aging Lulu to 13, because it suits my purposes to do so. I trust you wont mind to much.

Chapter Ten

It was several minutes later before it occurred to Liz that maybe Jason didn't want her sitting in his lap, clinging to him like some sort of limpet. She cleared her throat awkwardly and started to take her arms away, only to be stopped by Jason's quick capture of her hands. They sat like that, him holding her arms at his neck, frozen. She looked into his face and tried desperately to remind herself why she shouldn't kiss him. Her mind remained stubbornly blank though, and she found herself leaning in, slowly, giving him time to stop it, but his hands just tightened on hers, and he moved forward, with every intention of making her remember his place in her life, even if he didn't know what it was.

Fury exploded into his brain as they were interrupted by a hiccupped sob. Elizabeth launched herself of his lap, swinging around to see Courtney standing in the door, her key still in her hand. While once the look of stunned betrayal would have made him do anything to fix her pain, now he felt only resentment at her extremely untimely arrival.

Liz looked at the blond woman, mortified that she had just thrown herself at a married man. Courtney wasn't her favorite person, but it was no excuse.

"Courtney, I am so sorry. It's entirely my fault. I made a move, not him and-"

"Stop it, Elizabeth!" Jason's voice cut her off. "You don't need to make excuses for what happened." He faced Courtney, "We're separated. What are you doing here?" Liz looked back and forth between an aghast woman and a determined man, and quickly decided that she could hear her mother calling her.

"Look, I'm just going to get out of your way." She picked up her purse and coat, continuing to talk as she inched around Courtney. "No, Jason, just, ah, talk to your wife. You love her. I'll just take a walkÉ." She stopped talking as soon as elevator doors closed in front of her. She breathed a sigh of relief. Uck! Apparently losing your mind didn't protect you from hideously awkward situations. Hopefully with her gone they would be able to clear the air. She wondered idly if she was going to have to move, but since there was nothing she could do about it at that moment, she purposefully pushed it aside. As she stepped out of the building, she took a deep breath, already looking forward to walking around town.

***

She had been gone before he could stop her. He cursed mentally. She shouldn't be wandering around by herself when she was so fragile. He sighed, wondering if there was some way to avoid the rapidly approaching confrontation.

"How could you? In our home! With her? All those times you told me there was nothing between you, and I believed you, and now I find you making out with her on my couch?"

He pinched the bridge of his nose. Nope, guess not.

"I know we're separated Jason, but god, it just hurts me to see you with someone else, especially her-

He cut her off. If they were going to do this, fine, but he had things to say as well. "Look Courtney. I'm sorry if it causes you pain, but we're separated now. We will be divorced any day. This is what you wanted. You've moved out. You said you had moved on. Forgive me if I sound callous, but I don't think my life is any of your business, and that includes Elizabeth's place in it.

"But Jason-" She tried to interject, her eyes welling with tears.

"No. I'm sorry, but you don't have any right to come in here and pass judgment. It's not your couch. It's my couch, and if I want to make out on it, I will. Now, I think it would be best if you gave me back that key; there's no reason for you to have it."

She looked at the key in her hand with disbelief. "Fine!" She flung it at him. "Goodbye Jason, I hope you're happy with a woman who will leave you for a snake as soon as her memory comes back!" She slammed the door as she left, leaving Jason alone with her last stinging barb. He collapsed on the couch. Man, what a day! He had finally, irrevocably broken things of with Courtney, nearly kissed an old flame, had a panic attack, and, oh yeah, found out he was going to be a father. He wondered if there was any precedence at all for telling a woman you were the father of her child, when she didn't even know you had slept together. Perhaps Emily Post would have some helpful hints: Ôso you're pregnant: proper guidelines for telling the mother!" He sighed again. Some how he doubted it.

***

"Elizabeth! What a surprise! Are you feeling better?" Liz was embraced by Bobbie the instant she stepped into Kelly's. Liz returned the hug with fervor, happy to receive some motherly care. "Sit here, and I'll bring you some coffee and a slice of your favorite pie." She was ushered to a seat and promptly abandoned; Kelly's being a madhouse in the midst of its lunch rush. Liz sat there, enjoying the bustle around her, when Carly sat down across from her.

Liz groaned. "Look, Carly, I could not be less in the mood to listen to you bitch at me. Please, go away. If we really have to do this, sometime next week would be so much better."

Carly considered taking offense, but instead she asked curiously, "Why next week?"

Liz looked taken aback at her mild tone, but answered. "Because next week, I'll either have my memory back, or I'll be vaguely used to being eight months pregnant, and able to form coherent thought.

Carly laughed, "No one gets used to being eight months pregnant." She grew serious. "Elizabeth, it's no secret that you and I don't get along. For the record, I want to say that I am sorry for how your life is going. I know waking up to find Ric holding my hand would be my worst nightmare, and I'm sure it wasn't peachy for you either. In addition, it's no secret that Courtney and I do get along. I love her like a sister, and I don't want to see her get hurt; but Jason has made it more than clear to me that they are over, and that he cares for you. That said, if you hurt him again, I will hunt you down and skin you alive, understood?"

Liz, though reeling from the news that Jason had told Carly he "cared' for her, never-the-less smiled. "I think that's the most you've ever said to me without slipping in an insult. I don't think Jason cares for me like you think he does, but if it makes you feel better, I'd cut off my right arm before I would intentionally cause him pain."

"It does, thank you." Carly nodded. She looked thoughtful for a moment, as if debating with herself, and then insisted, "Liz, I'm right about this. He really, really, um, really cares for you."

Liz shook her head, "Carly, I really think your mistaken-

"She's really not." The words were firm, and Jason became the sole object of Elizabeth's attention.

(dum dum dum) Until next time

Oh, um, review!