Show: General Hospital

Title: Change is Good 2

Disclaimer: I own them all... really I do! Hmm... I guess it's also time to admit I'm a pathological liar.

PLEASE READ A/N!

A/N: Just when I thought I had it all figured out and had resigned myself to writing a pro-Carson story, I get emails from readers begging me not to write a pro-Carson storyline. So, what's a gal to do, huh? I'll tell you what… you the readers have all the power – you will decide if Sonny and Carly should have a little romance or not. It will be based on reviews/comments from you, so please include your preference. As I hail from a peaceful democratic nation, the preference with the most votes will be written. Power to the people; hit that little blue button and make your comment worthwhile. Read and enjoy!

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CHAPTER 4

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Port Charles, July 2008, PH 2

When a man is told he's about to be a father, there are certain socially acceptable responses:

a.) He is filled with delirious joy

b.) He is stunned into silence, before being filled with delirious joy

c.) He is angry, which then gives in to delirious joy

Jason never claimed to want or need social acceptance but he was filled with the shock, the delirious joy and then some as he swooped up his wife's body and took her mouth with his in the most reverent of kisses. What he had proceeded to do had been anything but reverent but, even then, he'd tried to be careful to protect the baby, a concept that was as damn near impossible as trying to get molasses to flow uphill when Elizabeth forced him on his back and started to ride him.

When the sweat had dried from their bodies and their breathing had calmed and deepened, Jason rolled them to their sides and tucked Elizabeth to his chest and kissed her hair as she drifted off to sleep. He'd been filled with a slue of emotions too difficult for his brain to sort through. He was filled with a sense of excess energy, he couldn't stay in bed and, as much as he hated to, he gently extricated himself from his wife, careful not to disturb her, got out of bed and hurriedly dressed.

He was going to be a father!

He needed to talk to someone.

X-X-X-X-X

General Hospital

It was two a.m. and Monica Quartermaine was exhausted. She'd slipped out of Joanna's party around eight, just after when the cake was cut and she'd had to go on call from nine... till yes, nine the next morning. Twelve-hour shifts were brutal; twelve-hour graveyard shifts were torture because there was usually only one senior doctor on call so she needed to respond to every page. She'd just come back from a Code Blue on the pediatric ward; the boy was stabilised for the moment, but she had a feeling he might crash more than once before morning.

Monica pushed open the door to her dark office, hoping to catch a few moments of sleep before she did her rounds. Imagine her surprise when, as she closed the door, the lamp on her desk snapped on, illuminating the handsome face of her younger son. "Jason!" she started, her hand flying to her chest. "Don't do that!" she said. "You just took ten valuable years from my life."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

Monica smiled. Sometimes, Jason really didn't know how to handle a joke. "I'm just pulling your leg." She frowned now in concern. "It's after two, Jason," she pointed out to her son. She went to her desk and sat down on it since he was occupied in the leather chair behind it. "Is something wrong?"

Jason looked at this woman who'd given birth to and lost one son and who had tried so hard to get to know this son. It had taken some time but he'd finally begun to trust Monica Quartermaine. He might not be able to call her 'Mom'... yet, but he found that he could talk to her in a way that he couldn't talk to Emily or Lila or Sonny or even Elizabeth. He took her hand in his, smiling at the pleasure she took from having her son simply take her hand.

"I wanted you to be the first to know. I'm going to be a father."

A beatific smile spread across Monica's face and she practically leapt across the table and folded Jason in her arms. "Oh, Jason, I'm so happy for you!" Jason smiled as she gripped him by the shoulders. "Are you certain?"

"Well, Elizabeth is."

The smile widened. "You've no idea how long I've waited for you to tell me this. 'I'm going to be a father.'" she repeated those words like they were the directions to the Holy Grail. After a few seconds passed she cocked knowing blue eyes at her son and deduced shrewdly, "You didn't leave your beautiful wife in bed at two o'clock in the morning just to tell me she's pregnant, did you?"

Sometimes he wondered if she was psychic. On the rare occasions now when she stated her motherhood she simply said it was, "Mother's intuition". Emily had teased Elizabeth about it countless times before and Monica's was in full gear now. His blue eyes found his mother's, "No."

With the patience she'd learnt to adopt where her very skittish son was concerned, Monica kept silent and waited.

"I'm confused...."

"Confused?"

"I'm happy, of course, but I've got all these other feelings running around inside of me. I mean, a twelve-year old man is going to be a father!" Jason heaved a sigh and looked at Monica. "How do you think he would've reacted? Jason Q I mean."

As with every mention of the lost son's name, Monica's mouth tightened. The eyes, which Jason had inherited, misted over, but she answered the son she'd gained truthfully. "Jason Quartermaine was a boy. Of course, according to the law, he was twenty, he was an adult, but he was so achingly naive; he believed in the best of everyone. He would have done his duty; he would've been a good father, as good a father he could be considering he was a child himself.

"You'll be a wonderful father, Jason," she reassured him. "You already are," she pointed out. "Look at how wonderful Joanna is." She stroked her son's spiky blonde hair and smiled. "You might be remembering a little bit of Jason Quartermaine but, as you've told me countless times before, you're not Jason Quartermaine, you're Jason Morgan. You're a man; don't think about what kind of father a boy would've been."

He knew her words made sense but then, he thought back to yesterday before Joanna's birthday party and how all the children had cancelled. "I am Jason Morgan..." he looked his mother in the eye, "but for the first time yesterday, I regretted that I wasn't Jason Quartermaine when I saw my wife cry because our daughter's birthday was ruined because no one wanted their child to go to a party hosted by a Mob Enforcer!"

Monica didn't flinch when he talked about his job anymore. He was who he was; they couldn't change that.

"They wouldn't have broken that little girl's heart if I'd been a Quartermaine," he said softly.

"How do you know that, huh?" she asked her son.

"I know..." as much as it pained him to, he continued, "the Quartermaine name is respected." Monica snorted. "They wouldn't have broken her heart," he repeated.

Monica frowned. "I think you give your step-daughter too little credit, Jason Morgan. You can't change what people think. People respect the Quartermaine name and we all know we're a bunch of loonies." Jason smiled and she smiled with him. "I never took you for one to care what people thought, Jason."

"I don't. But it doesn't just concern me now, does it? It's about Elizabeth and Joanna and now this baby."

She cupped her son's face in her hands and bade he look up at her. "You can't change what people think, Jason. They'll believe whatever they want. Don't change who you are to please other people... that's something a Quartermaine would do and you're not a Quartermaine." She pressed a gentle kiss to her son's brow. "Embrace who you are, Jason Morgan. Everyone else can go to hell."

Jason closed his eyes, enjoying the closeness of this woman and the calm that she instilled in him now. "Thank you, Monica."

"No, thank you. Now go home to that wife of yours."

He nodded and stood up. "What time do you get off?"

"Nine."

"Could we have lunch together with Grandmother?"

"Of course." She relished it when he pressed a soft kiss to her cheek and let himself out of the office. Still staring at the spot where his body had made an indentation in the leather she smiled: This time she would get the chance to actually be a grandmother.

She closed her eyes and sat back in the chair.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

The infernal thing on her hip started beeping even louder just as the page went up, "Paging Dr. Monica Quartermaine! Code Blue on pediatric ward!"

Monica groaned but pulled herself out of the chair and pushed her weary muscles to make it to the elevator. No rest for the weary grandmother apparently.

X-X-X-X-X

Wyndemere

"So, how was the party?" Nikolas Cassidine asked.

Back in PH2 Elizabeth poured milk in her tea and stirred gently. "It was great; Joanna had a wonderful time." And she had, despite no children being around - she'd relished in the attention the adults had showered on her.

"I'm sorry we couldn't make it. The flights out from Beantown were all delayed and we didn't get in 'til four this morning."

"Four? Wow, you two must be exhausted."

"That's putting it mildly. Gia's dead to the world."

"How come you aren't in bed?" asked Elizabeth blowing lightly into the mug so that she wouldn't burn her tongue when she took the first sip.

"I slept on the plane. And in the airport." Nikolas grinned when he thought back to how Gia had teased him mercilessly that he'd drooled on her shoulder. He was climbing the stairs and padding down the hallway to his bedroom.

Elizabeth giggled. "I guess the old adage about royalty and their sleeping habits isn't true 'cause, for a prince, you could sleep through being whirled around in a tornado."

"Very funny," Nikolas rolled his eyes. "Listen, when G rises from her crypt, we'll come over and give Joey her presents."

"I heard that," came a muffled voice from under a mountain of blankets.

"Ohhh, somebody's in trouble," she giggled. "Your aunt took Joey and Krissy to the park for the day, so gift-giving'll have to wait 'til tomorrow... providing Gia doesn't kill you today," Elizabeth joked.

"Goodbye, Elizabeth." Nikolas terminated the call and padded over to the bed. Kneeling beside it, he pulled the sheets slightly back, uncovering its occupant's face. Her eyes were still shut, but her breathing was shallower and from the sarcastic comment she'd hurled, he knew she was awake. Knowing she couldn't prolong it any longer, Gia opened her eyes and, as usual whenever she looked at her prince, her heart started racing.

Nikolas smiled gently and leaned forward, kissing her lightly but lingeringly before reluctantly pulling away. Gia licked her full lips and sighed. "Good morning," she said softly.

"Good morning." Nikolas gently pushed the hair back from her face and stroked her cheek.

Gia smothered a yawn and, looking out the window asked, "Is it still early?"

Nikolas glanced at his watch, "It's just after eight."

Gia's smile was slow and devilish. "Feel like coming back to bed?"

Knowing what she had on under the sheets... or didn't have on, Nikolas grinned and ripped back the sheets.

Gia giggled as Nikolas pressed kisses along the ticklish spot on her neck, "I know... stupid question!" The giggle dissolved into a moan when his hand slid up her thigh and brought her closer.

Good God, she liked stupid questions.

X-X-X-X-X

PH2

Jason padded down the stairs; he'd woken up alone but he was hoping to find Elizabeth in the kitchen. Sure enough, she was seated at the breakfast table sipping her tea and sifting through the morning paper.

"Morning," he said, pressing a soft lingering kiss to her mouth and a light hand to her stomach.

Liz smiled at her husband's antics. "Morning."

Jason went over to the counter and poured himself a cup of coffee - Elizabeth hated the stuff, but old habits died hard and there was always seemingly an endless supply of fresh ground coffee in the Morgan household.

Elizabeth sipped her tea and nibbled her dry toast, trying to settle her stomach, actions she'd been hiding from Jason for the past month since she'd realised she was pregnant. She cocked a knowing eye at her husband. "Where'd you go last night?"

"What?" confusion furrowed Jason's brow as he leaned against the counter and sipped his coffee, looking at his wife.

"After I told you... I woke up and you were gone," she said pointedly.

Inwardly, Jason grit his teeth. He hadn't expected her to wake up; he didn't want her to know about the confusion that had plagued him; he didn't want to lie to her, either. "I needed to get some things off my chest... I went to see Monica."

Every visit with his mother filled Elizabeth with an emotion she couldn't quite name. She was in love with one man, but married to two. She supported him wholeheartedly in trying to come to terms with his unique standing but sometimes it was difficult. "Oh?" she said nonchalantly.

"I told her... I hope you don't mind."

"Of course not, she's your mot--" She started to say 'mother' but broke off. He was still coming to terms with the fact that he had family outside the Corinthos' and Spencers.

"You don't have to watch your mouth, Elizabeth."

She knew she didn't, but the concept was still hard to grasp; after all, the Jason Morgan she'd known would have chewed off his own foot than willingly talk to a Quartermaine outside of Lila and Emily.

Jason set his cup on the counter and knelt by Elizabeth's chair. Her sapphire blue eyes were clouded with confusion. "I'm sorry."

Liz stroked his hair. "What for?" she asked. His silence told her everything she needed to know; times like these were what made it so difficult to be married to two men. She heaved a sigh and cupped his cheek. "I wish you would talk to me about it sometimes."

Jason looked away.

"I love you... that's all that matters, Jas."

"They made you cry, Elizabeth," he said softly.

Liz smiled softly. "Blame it on the hormones."

"Liz-"

Before he could say anything, they heard footsteps bounding down the stairs and they knew Joanna had rejoined the land of the living. Jason stepped back from his wife and both of them schooled their features into a sea of smiles as she practically skidded around the corner into the kitchen. "Mornin', Mama!" she greeted. "Jason," she rushed to him and he lifted her up to the counter where she bestowed upon him her daily Eskimo kiss.

"Mornin', Joey," Jason said softly, smiling as she hugged him.

Elizabeth smiled at the sight. Because of his job, people's perceptions might always be a bother but, looking at him now, her husband was a damned good father; so what if a few ignorant short-sighted housewives had made her shed a few tears?

"Can I have Cheerios for breakfast?" Joanna was asking her stepfather as her short legs dangled over the counter.

"Sure thing."

Yup, it most definitely was the hormones that had made her cry, those housewives could go to hell.

"Mama?"

Elizabeth turned to her daughter who had crawled into her chair just as Jason set her plastic cereal bowl and spoon before her. "Yes, sweetie?"

"Don't forget I'm going to th' park wi' Krissy an' Aunt 'Lexis."

"Of course not. She called this morning and she said she'd come for you around ten."

"Is it ten now?" she asked.

Jason smiled as he poured her cereal and milk. "It's ten when that long hand reaches that number," he said pointing to his watch.

"Is it ten now?" she asked, when the seconds' hand ticked past the Roman numeral for ten.

"No, sweetie. Eat your breakfast; you'll know when it's ten when I tell you," Elizabeth said.

"You pwomise?"

"Of course."

"I gotta go," Jason announced, draining his coffee cup.

"But you didn't eat breakfast," Elizabeth frowned.

"I'll grab something from Kelly's on my way to the warehouse." He pressed a kiss to his wife's cheek and Joey's forehead. "See you later."

"Bye, Jason," Joey called as he hurried from the kitchen.

They heard the front door close and Joanna shoveled a spoonful of cereal into her mouth, whilst looking up at the kitchen clock. The second hand ticked past the number 10. "Is it ten now?"

Liz rolled her eyes. "No, sweetie."

X-X-X-X-X

"I'm thinking of selling Wyndemere."

The statement was so random that Gia's mouth fell open. "Seriously?" she asked, turning to her boyfriend.

He took his eyes off the road for a moment and looked at her. "Yeah," he said softly.

"But, you love that house, Nikolas," she pointed out, gently.

"I do... but it's so impractical," he spoke the word like it was nasty and awkward on his tongue. "I can't afford the upkeep of it, and we could use the money," he replied logically.

"It hadn't mattered before, Nik." She knew that finances had been hard on him but he hadn't had to sell the house. If she only knew....

"I want to, Gia. I could invest some of the money, put the rest in the bank...."

Inwardly, Gia smiled. Who would have thought? She was proud of this purse-pinching Nikolas. But she was still concerned. He was very attached to that house; it was more than a house - despite all the bad memories that had happened within those walls, he had quite a few good ones as well. "Are you sure...?"

"I am. It's more practical. We live in Boston, anyways. We could save up and buy a decent apartment there, and probably rent the cottage from Jax whenever we come back here."

There was the practicality again. "Who're you trying to convince of this being a good idea? Me or yourself?"

Nikolas smiled sheepishly. "Both.... Wyndemere will become more of a liability than an asset if we keep it," he said, his mind thinking of the fading grandeur and half-empty rooms.

"Don't act so hastily, Nikolas. I mean, I'm finished with law school and I'm starting my new job in the fall. You'll be finished with your MBA this time next year. I'll be making enough to support us until then... we can wing it, Nik, and you'll still get to keep your home," Gia said softly.

The old Nikolas would have balked at the idea of having his girlfriend support him, but he was a changed man. He couldn't afford to be misogynic.

"Promise you'll wait for a while?"

Thinking about the state of his finances, he was a little hesitant, but he looked into her earnest brown eyes. "A while."

"Good."

Nikolas turned off the road and into the parking lot of Kelly's. It was half-filled with the cars of persons no doubt grabbing a late breakfast like them. He chivalrously opened the door for her and Gia thanked him with that smile that turned his insides to jelly and they made their way hand in hand towards the diner.

Gia was struck with a sense of how much she'd missed Port Charles. New York City was her hometown and she'd always feel the hum in her veins, Boston was a wonderful city and she still relished in the shock of everyone there that she, a former supermodel and Face of Deception, had gone to Harvard Law School on full scholarship, but it didn't have the same quaint qualities of this small little town. Or a certain gorgeous brown-eyed Prince, she thought with a smirk.

She was so lucky to have found him again, she thought as she watched him. He was so beautiful and she thought of all they'd had to go through to get to where they were. She was thinking, life couldn't get any better than this when Nikolas opened the door to the diner.

Obviously, she'd spoken too soon.

Time stood still as their eyes met. No, her mind cried. For some reason her mind flashed back to the first episode of 'Dead Like Me' when the main character George was about to be beaned by a flaming toilet-seat. It was like that, except the 'Oh, shit!' reverberating in her mind was not the least bit funny.

For the first time in more than four years, she was face to face with Ms. Emily Bowen-Quartermaine.

TBC...

A/N: Well, what did you think? Hope you enjoyed. Don't forget to drop me a line with your comments as well as your preference (if you even care) – Carson or not. To one of my readers: liasonfan1, there was no mention of Liz's pregnancy in previous chapters because I'm trying to make this an ensemble fic, so I'll be focusing on a variety of characters/pairings, not just Liason. By the way, what is TC? Tell me more, please.

Cara