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Last Train Home Ch. 5

Jason watched Courtney's retreating form enter Carly and Sonny's penthouse before entering his own. He could feel Liz's penetrating stare as he made his way into the kitchen.

"How come you didn't tell me Courtney was coming into town?" She asked from behind the open door of the fridge.

"I didn't think it was a big deal," he lied as he found what he had been looking for.

"She's your ex wife, Jason," Liz answered irritated.

"Yea, ex," he said slowly as he cracked open a beer. He could see the look on her face was becoming more and more agitated. He knew that she would be very upset if she had been warned about Courtney's arrival in Port Charles. For whatever the reason, Liz felt this overwhelming need to protect him from all women, especially his ex wife.

"Well?" She asked her voice becoming shrill. Jason just looked at her confused. "Do you still have feelings for her? What did you think when you first saw her?"

"You're out of your mind," he mused.

"I'm serious! I want to know," She prodded.

"Look, Courtney is Courtney. We went through a lot together and I'm always going to have feelings for her," he answered honestly. The tears that had been in Liz's eyes began to spill over and he immediately felt bad for being so candid. "Just because they're there doesn't mean anything is going to change. I don't really even know her anymore. Courtney is just…" he strained himself to think of a way to explain it to Liz without hurting her. "You have nothing to worry about, ok? Courtney and I are never going to be together again," he finished and she just nodded.

"I don't like her, Jason. I think that she will do whatever she has to, to take you away from me," Liz whispered.

"Courtney's not like that. And I'm not going anywhere," he mumbled pulling her into a tight embrace.

The Next Day…

"Aunt Courtney! Aunt Courtney!" Peeking open her right eye, Courtney saw a very excited Michael and Morgan bouncing on her bed.

"Hey, kiddos," she mumbled still half asleep.

"Oh man! Mom wasn't lying, it really is you!" Michael exclaimed taking a seat next to her head. He had grown up quite bit. His face seemed wiser, if that was even possible for a ten year old. She looked over at Morgan who had a mischievous grin on his face. He was the spitting image of Sonny, right down to the black hair and mysterious eyes.

"Come on, guys! I told you to let her sleep a little while longer," Carly scolded as she entered the room and offered an apologetic look to Courtney.

"It's fine, Carly. I should be getting up anyways," she replied sliding out of bed. "So what's up, guys?"

"Not too much. Me and Morgan got you something," Michael said running out of the room. He returned with a small package wrapped in newspaper.

"You two didn't have to get me any…"

"Open it!" Morgan interrupted clapping his little hands together. Courtney obliged ripping at the newspaper to find a cardboard box. Opening it, she found a set of makeshift earrings. Morgan clapped excitedly as she held them up.

"I made one and Morgan made the other," Michael explained.

"I love them!" She said taking both boys into her arms. "I got you two something as well." She began rifling through her bags until she came across what she was looking for. She handed it to Michael, who held it between him and Morgan. "Your mom told me that you were big fans of baseball," Courtney explained.

"Ma, do you see this?" Michael hollered.

"I do, Mister Man," she said grinning.

"It's signed by Derek Jeter! Did you really meet him?" Michael asked his eyes as wide as saucers.

"Yup, last spring. He stopped into my work for a cup of coffee," she explained.

"I have to go show Dad and Uncle Jason!" Michael said before grabbing Morgan and scrambling downstairs.

"I think you just made his year, Court." Carly laughed. "I'll meet you downstairs?"

"Yea, I'll be down in a few," Courtney confirmed. She began her normal morning routine of showering, brushing her teeth, ect… Hopefully by the time she was finished Jason and Sonny would be gone.

****

She found that she had no such luck, because Jason and Sonny with the added bonus of Liz were gathered around the kitchen table. They were all pretty focused on Michael, who was still showing off the baseball. She found Carly behind the stove trying aimlessly to make pancakes.

"You need some help?" Courtney asked taking the spatula out of her hand.

"You're a life saver." Carly replied, happy to let Courtney take charge of breakfast.

"Well, you never really were much of a cook." Both women laughed causing the four other people in the room to take notice.

"What's so funny?" Sonny asked.

"Well, you see we were just discussing my expertise in the field of culinary art," Carly said trying to keep a straight face. Sonny just rolled his eyes.

"Carly, you are a woman of many talents, but cooking is not one of them. You can't even handle flipping pancakes," Sonny gestured toward the area behind the stove that Courtney now occupied.

"Hey! I will learn to cook someday." Carly answered with determination.

"Well you know Carly, I could help you out." Liz offered, but Carly just gave her a frustrated glare.

"I'll figure it out on my own," Carly replied curtly. "Ok, let's see, what is on the agenda for today." She made her way over to the calendar on the fridge. "You three and Morgan have to go to the tux shop at three." Carly said pointing to Jason, Sonny, and Michael. "And Court, our fittings are at four."

"Got it," Courtney said flipping another pancake on top of the stack she had already made. Carly just looked at her.

"You've already made all those?" Her voice dripping with envy and was met with a nod. "How?"

"Well you see it's top secret diner trick," Courtney explained.

"And what's that?" Carly asked her interest piqued.

"You make sure you have the stove on," Courtney whispered with a laugh and Carly's face went bright red.

"Never mind teaching her to cook. First, we have to teach her how to use the appliances," Jason laughed, only to be met with Carly's hand hard on the back of his head. He turned around with an angry glare, which caused Carly to burst into a fit of laughter.

"Oh come on, it didn't even hurt," she said in a giddy voice.

"You're lucky I am in a very gracious mood this morning," he replied.

"Hmm…I wonder why that could be?" Carly asked looking over at Courtney, who seemed to be focusing all her attention on the pancakes instead of Jason and Carly. Elizabeth wrapped her arm possessively around the young man's shoulders, which elicited a snort from Carly. "Maybe, you should give him a little room to breath, Liz," she growled before walking across the kitchen to grab the stack of pancakes and place them on the table and then doubled back to join Courtney behind the stove.

"Stop being so mean," Courtney whispered in her ear.

"This is how I always act towards her. It's a love-hate type of thing. I love to hate her," Carly whispered back.

"Your such a bitch," Courtney laughed under her breath.

"Only if you cross me and Liz Webber has done so many times," Carly replied. Before Courtney could get an explanation out of Carly, Michael was waving over the two women to the table.

"If you two don't stop squawking, you're going to miss out on all the food," Michael insisted. Which caused two huge grins on Sonny's and Jason's faces and a look of anger on Carly's.

"He has a point," Sonny defended his son.

"You know he gets that from you," Carly barked. Sonny shrugged his shoulders and patted the seat next him for Carly.

"You going to join us?" Sonny directed to Courtney, who still stood firmly detached from everyone else.

"Sure," she said turning off the stove and taking the last seat at the table. Everyone went into his or her own separate conversation while Courtney observed. She felt like an outsider intruding in on their breakfast.

"I told you that we missed you," Jason murmured. She was a little surprise that he had even dared to speak to her in front of Sonny and Liz.

"Thank you," she replied a small smile playing on her lips. He said we. We would include himself, Courtney thought happily to herself before digging into her breakfast.