A/N: Hey guyzas, here's another chapter for ya. I've been so pleased with the number of reviews lately that I've decided to get cocky. Extremely cocky. So the magic number for this chapter is 18. I want 18 reviews before an update. I know it's a high number, but I have faith in you all. And, being that I'm me, I doubt I'll really wait to get 18 reviews. But we'll see. Also, I am posting the prologue of my new story tonight as well. To remind you all, it's called Sometimes Wishes Come True. It's Journey, but I still have my JaSam story, and my JasonOC story. Don't expect rapid updates with SWCT just yet. I'm thinking about once a week or so it'll be updated. Anyway, long note, but keep reading for the thanks.
Seth Cohen's girlfriend- Don't hate, you don't want to put that out in the world! Although yes, I will admit that Jax, Sam, and Carmen are being wrotten little beotchnits (not sure if I spelt that right).
Eaglesgirl- I'm so sorry, but I did not get the little riddle thing. I was kinda confused, but don't feel bad, cause I usually am. But thank you for your review. I think. Lol.
Journeylover062- Thanks for reviewing. Keep reading to see when the shit hits the fan!
luvthemorgans- We all like to torture Jason. There's something about him that just makes him so cute when you can take him in your arms and comfort him (in fanfiction world of course. Because as much as we'd all like to own him in real life, we don't). Glad you liked the chapter!
jordananne- I used to love the Court/Carly friendship too, but lately, Carly has been acting all weird. I dunno, I think I just miss Tams, so that's who I've been envisioning in my story as portraying Carly. We just all need to get used to Jennifer.
emmalee05- I could totally have gone to prison and been out in time to get into GH and start writing fanfiction. If you knew me, you'd be on the floor laughing right now. I'm such a goody-twoshoes, I would never go to prison. Anyway, thanks for the review, and I'm glad you too enjoy torturing Jason. Look for more Jason torture in this chapter.
tydavislover- Congratulations on guessing that Jax was in on it. I hope I wasn't that predictable though. Keep reading and reviewing.
britchic- You may be on to something. Could someone just be a red herring? Hmmm. Not going to say anything else. I think everything becomes a lot more clear in this chapter. And feel better, drink plenty of fluids!
CrazyJay- miracle children are awesome. You said holiday. Are you British too? That is too cool. People miles and miles away are reading my story! I'm glad I gave you plenty of reading to catch up on. Keep it up!
SuzieQ8487- Thank you for not making that much fun of my cheesy jokes! I don't think what I just wrote made sense, but you get the idea. I'm glad you're on the edge of your seat, keep reading and make sure you don't fall off! (That corny joke was written especially for you).
middiegurl08 - Thank you for trying to make me feel better. My nose has swelled down a little bit. I didn't mean to confuse your emotions with my writing. But it's ok to have a love/hate relationship with a line!
anon14- I'm glad you like my Courtney/ Carly interactions. Keep up the reviews!
Chapter 17- Big Decisions
Courtney awoke early the next morning. Sleep was something rare now, but with the baby, she was tired all the time, so it made it a little easier. Normally, she would spend at least a half an hour in bed once she was awake, but without Jason there to hold her in his arms, she didn't feel the need to do that. Getting up, she took a long hot shower, and then headed downstairs. She ate some breakfast, and had an apple because she knew it would make Jason happy. If he knew that she was pregnant, and if he was there with her, he would want her to eat lots of fruit and vegetables. So that was what she would do.
After breakfast, Courtney tried to move on with her daily routine. Stepping out into the hallway, she brought in the newspaper and began to read it. Unfortunately, the second she opened it, she was greeted by a huge picture of Jason being led away in handcuffs. Skimming the article, she nearly burst into tears. Jason came across as the devil himself, not the kind, sweet, gentle man she had come to love. Giving up on the newspaper, Courtney tossed it aside and instead decided to take a walk. She made it to the lobby of the towers before reporters came at her, desperate to know what was going on. Max, who was accompanying her, brushed them off, but by that point, Courtney was done. She just wanted to go back upstairs and crawl into bed. But even that would be comfortless. Without Jason, everything was more painful to do.
Courtney decided it was time to call Dr. Meadows and set up an appointment. At this point, Courtney was around 4 or 5 weeks pregnant, depending on which day of her island getaway with Jason their baby was conceived on. Courtney set up the appointment, and after swearing Max to secrecy about where they were going, he snuck her out of the penthouse and over to GH. He didn't know about her pregnancy though.
Courtney was now sitting on the examination table, swinging her legs back and forth, back and forth. Finally, Dr. Meadows walked in.
"Congratulations Courtney" said Dr. Meadows as she walked in. "I'm sorry about Jason though" she said somberly.
"I don't want to think about that right now. I just want to focus on our baby" said Courtney.
"Alright, now you know that this is a very high-risk pregnancy. So, you are going to need to stay away from stress. Although, with the current situation at hand, I can see how that is going to be difficult. We are going to do a number of ultrasounds and checkups over the next nine months. We can actually do the first scan today" said Dr. Meadows.
"How is that possible, I'm only a few weeks along" said Courtney.
"It's not going to be a conventional ultrasound. It's going to be a transvaginal ultrasonography" said Dr. Meadows.
"That sounds scary" said Courtney, one hand protectively flying to her abdomen.
"It's slightly invasive, but nothing too bad. It is simply a scan that we take through the vaginal tract. Did someone bring you here today because you might be more comfortable having a hand to hold" said Courtney.
"No, just Max, my bodyguard. And I don't think he would want to be in here" said Courtney.
"Is there anyone you would like to call?" asked Dr. Meadows.
"Do you know if Monica Quartermaine is on duty today?" she asked.
"I'm pretty sure she is, give me a second and I'll page her" said Dr. Meadows, leaving the room.
A few minutes later, Monica walked into the room.
"Dr. Meadows explained everything to me Courtney. And I'm truly honored that you would think of calling me" she said, smiling at Courtney.
"You are the grandmother" said Courtney with a smile of her own. But it wasn't a sincere smile. Her truly beautiful smile was lost without Jason there to bring it on.
Monica held Courtney's hand as the examination began. It wasn't exactly comfortable being poked and prodded down there, but soon a heartbeat was heard in the room.
"That's your baby" said Dr. Meadows. "And he or she is doing great" she said with a smile.
"I can't believe it" said Courtney as she looked up at Monica.
"That's Jason's baby. That's my baby. We're having a baby" she said, tears glistening in her eyes.
After the test, Courtney returned home. Dr. Meadows had been able to give her the baby's first picture. Looking down at it, she glanced at her stomach and said "you have your daddy's nose baby" with a little laugh. Of course it was too early to tell anything like that. But Courtney couldn't help but wish it.
Courtney's thoughts started to wander on to her baby's childhood. She had grown up without a father, and now the baby would do the same.
'It's different' she mentally reminded herself. 'Jason would want to be with our baby. It's not his fault that he can't be'.
Courtney started to think about her baby's first birthday. All of the pictures and smiling faces, and cake. But one smiling face wouldn't be there. She thought of countless other things. If he was a boy, who would teach him to throw and catch, to play outside, to roll around in the mud? If she was a girl, who would she turn to when she needed the comfort that only a father could provide? It wasn't fair that this Carmen Pareña girl was destroying not only her and Jason's lives, but the life of her unborn child.
Carmen brushed the hair off of her face. She hated playing dead. Especially in the house of the cute Australian and the sluttly brunette. Glancing at the paper, she saw a picture of her own face staring out at her. Oh yes, she was the innocent victim whose everything was stolen from her by the big bad Jason Morgan. She thought back to the night that he had kidnapped her. She almost hoped he would try something, he was awfully cute. She remembered the cold looks he had given her as she flirted with him. She remembered offering to make his night more pleasurable. But no, he had pushed her off. He had told her that she was the captive, and he was in charge, so she should shut up. As she continued to push, she had found out about his precious wife. Sonny Corinthos' sister. When she was finally let go, she walked away with her pride. She had given him a hard time. She had scratched him, and hit him, and made him regret ever messing with her. It wasn't until later that her father approached her with the plan. The plan to frame Jason Morgan. Sam and Jax had leeched on after, and their help was needed. And then he escaped from prison. It was the perfect opportunity to make things worse. The perfect opportunity to pretend to be murdered. With Jax's money covering any trail of her family's involvement, Carmen was whisked away until after the trial, when she would be brought back to Mexico and have her perfect life. If only she didn't have to spend any time with these people. They were insane. She just wanted to get back to her life. How hard was that?
Courtney knew that she had waited too long to tell Jason. He needed to know that he had a baby on the way. It might give him some comfort, knowing that although he wouldn't be on this earth much longer, his name would be passed down and he would have someone to carry on his life. On the other hand, it might depress him even more. The idea of having this child, but never being able to hold him or her. Not seeing them grow up. Courtney thought back to her last miscarriage. Her mistake was not telling Jason about her baby. She decided that she wouldn't make the same mistakes twice. She needed to see Jason, and she needed to tell him about their baby.
"Sonny" she yelled, walking into his penthouse.
"Courtney, what is it? I'm surprised you're even speaking to me" he said, walking down the stairs.
"Sonny, I need to see Jason, and I need to see him today"
"Courtney, you know I can't do that"
"Yes, you can. I need you to arrange it. I have something very important I need to tell him"
"What is it, I can probably get the message relayed" said Sonny.
"No, Sonny, you don't understand. I need to talk to him in person. This is something just between me and Jason"
"Courtney, I don't know how you expect me to do this"
"Sonny, please, I am begging you. Jason needs to see me, and he needs to know what I'm going to tell him. Please try and arrange it. Tell me that you can arrange it" she begged.
Sonny put one hand on his chin and the other on his waist, pulling back his suit jacket. He looked at his baby sister, his only sister. She was standing there, looking so sad and helpless. He hated seeing her like this. He liked to see her when she was with Jason. She was happy. He was happy. Everyone was happy. But now she was sad, and he was on death row. And where did that leave Sonny?
"Alright, I can arrange it" he said.
"Thank you" she whispered, trying to suppress the tears that were threatening to fall.
"It's not a problem for my baby sister" he said, embracing her.
But Courtney wasn't ready for a hug from him and she pulled away.
"Sonny, I appreciate what your doing, but we're not ok yet. As long as you still believe in Jason's guilt, I can't stand here and pretend like everything's ok between us"
"I'm not asking you to. I'm just asking you to try and move past this. You need me right now Courtney; this is a very trying time"
"Sonny, don't you think I know that! It's my husband who will be executed, and no one else's. Who do you think is going to get burned the worst in all of this? Me! That's who. So Sonny, just do what you have to do to get me in to see Jason, and then please, back off and give me some space. Because nothing is just going to go back to normal. It's going to take time and healing. And I don't see that happening any time soon" she said, turning on her heel and leaving.
Courtney raced back into her penthouse and collapsed on to the couch. She put one hand over her eyes and tried to close them, blocking out the horror show that had become her life. Courtney got up and went over to Jason's desk where her purse sat. Reaching in, she pulled out the picture of her baby and stared at it again. She wished it was Jason holding her hand at that appointment. She wished it was Jason smiling with her as their baby was revealed. She wished more than anything that Jason was there with her. She tried to tell herself that she would see him soon. But it was all too difficult. Why did it have to be so difficult?
Jason had gotten into his first prison fight that morning. Some guy had heard of his reputation and didn't think that the mobster was that tough. He had decided to try taking him on. Jason was easily able to take the guy, but there was the small fact that this guy had taken ten of his biggest friends along on the beating for moral support. Jason's face hurt. It hurt to move too much. He couldn't tell without looking in a mirror, but judging on the tenderness of his skin around his eyes, he could presume that he had two shiners. He could feel developing bruises all over the rest of his body, and he was able to run his tongue over his split bottom lip. Jason sighed. He missed Courtney. He missed her taking care of his bruises. Sometimes he liked getting bruised up because it meant Courtney would take extra special care of him. But he didn't like it now. There was no Courtney; there was only Mo, the man who worked in the prison infirmary. And he didn't have the same comforting touch as Courtney. But no one did. Jason sighed again. It was going to be a long rest of his life.
A/N: 18. That's eighteen written out. Diez y Ocho in Spanish. Something else in French, Italian, Japanese...w/e, you guys get my point. REVIEW! I can promise you all that you're going to want a tissue box for the next chapter. I decided to make it as sad as I possibly could. It's sader than a three legged puppy. If you want to cry your eyes out, remember to review. And get your friends to review. And read my other story(ies). Wow, I certainly am a demanding person!