Authors Note: I am so sorry for the bars as dividers for this story. But I needed to separate the scenes somehow! Enjoy!

The Middle – Part 2/2

"Okay, we're here." Elizabeth sat on the blanket beside Emily with a still groggy Cameron in her arms. He had woken up when she pulled him out of his car seat so she doubted he was fully aware of his surroundings yet. Especially since she knew how much her son loved the park. If he were totally awake he would be giggling and moving his watchful eyes all around the playground, staring at the other kids.

"Did he just wake up?" Emily laughed at her godson's expression.

"Yeah." Elizabeth nodded.

"Can I hold him?"

"Sure."

"Aw, Cameron I love your little outfit." Emily cooed.

"It's his favorite." Elizabeth winked at Emily. "After all his favorite Aunt did buy it for him."

"Oh." Emily shrieked. "Is this one of the ones I got him?"

"One of them, yes." Elizabeth grinned. "Emily, I know there is a reason you asked me here so let's just get it out of the way."

"Elizabeth." Emily frowned. "Can't I just want to hang out with my best friend and her son?"

"Emily, I know you too well to know that this isn't a spur of the moment social call. Come on…out with it."

"I- I just wanted to know if you told Jason your pregnant yet?"

"What?"

Emily and Elizabeth's head snapped up at the surprised voice.

"Lucky." Elizabeth sighed.

"You're pregnant?"

"I- yes." There was no use in lying about it, it was the truth.

"And it's Jason's? Jason Morgan's?"

She groaned. "Yes."

"So I wasn't wrong was I? You were having an affair while we were married, weren't you?" He snarled. "I may have had the person pegged wrong, but it still counts doesn't it?"

"Lucky, I never had an affair…"

"The hell you didn't!"

"I didn't sleep with Jason until after the divorce was finalized."

Lucky gave her a once over, trying to decide whether her believed her or not.

"I don't care whether you believe me or not, Lucky. I know the truth and so does Jason. It doesn't really matter what you think anymore."

"I- Elizabeth." He sighed, still staring at her. He didn't have time to speak again since two seconds later his cell phone started ringing. "Spencer. Yeah? Are you sure? Okay. Yeah. Yeah, I'll get right on it. Okay. Bye." He closed his phone, ending the call. "I have to go." His gaze met Elizabeth's. "This isn't over."

"Okay, Lucky." She rolled her eyes, watching him walk away.

"For someone who wanted the divorce as much as he did, it seemed like he was jealous there." Emily piped up once he was out of view.

"Yeah." She shook her head. "He's still convinced I was having an affair."

"Ignore him. That was just the drugs talking." Emily shrugged. "So did you tell Jason yet?"

Elizabeth shook her head again. "No...not yet. We spent almost the entire day together yesterday and I was thinking of bringing him and Cam here for a walk today before we went back to the house. I'm going to tell him tonight."

"Are you sure you're ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess. It's too late now anyway – I called him earlier to finalize our plans."

"Well…" Emily looked up at her friend, meet her gaze. "I guess this is good luck then."

"Thanks. It looks like I'm going to need it…"

"Hey." Jason smiled and waved when he saw her up ahead, picking up his own pace to get to her and Cameron quicker.

"Jason." She nodded at him, continuing to push Cameron's stroller in his direction.

"I don't mean to rush you, but what is it that you need to tell me? I have to get back to the warehouse. I kind of left in the middle of an emergency to come meet you." He grinned sheepishly.

"Oh." She frowned. "Well then get back to work, we can talk later."

"Are you sure?" Jason looked down to meet her stare.

"It's fine. Go."

"Okay." He leaned in for a hug, holding her close for a moment. "I'll stop by the house in about an hour, okay?"

"Alright."

Sure enough an hour later Jason Morgan was knocking on her front door, seeking entrance.

"Hey Jason." She smiled at him, opening the door wide enough for him to enter. "We're going to have to keep our voices down, I just put Cam in bed."

"Oh, okay." He made sure his voice was only an octave above a whisper.

"Well, you don't have to be that quiet." She chuckled. "Would you like something to drink?" She made her way through the living room and all the way into the back of the house where the kitchen was.

"Whatever you have is fine."

"Um…" She opened the refrigerator. "Is Kool Aid alright?"

"That's fine."

"Okay." She grabbed the pitcher and set it on the counter while she fished for two cups. This was going to be good, she smiled – Jason Morgan drinking Kool Aid. If only his enemies could see him now…

"Here you go." She handed him a glass three quarters of the way full with the red substance.

"Thank you." He accepted the glass, taking a large gulp of it immediately.

Elizabeth put away the pitcher and took a sip of her own drink as she made her way over to Jason.

He placed his cup on the counter behind him. "Something's bothering you. What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She shook her head.

"Elizabeth, there is nothing I can do to help you if you won't tell me the problem."

"I- It's nothing. I'm fine now…it's alright." What's wrong with you? You're supposed to be telling him the truth and not avoiding him, she yelled at herself.

"You're still not very good at lying."

"Jason." She warned him, the anger rising in her voice. "…Leave it alone."

"Why can't you just tell me what the problem is? I know that something is wrong, Elizabeth. So just tell me. What is the matter?"

"Nothing, okay?" She snapped. "There is nothing wrong."

Jason sighed, trying to keep his anger in check. This was so not what he needed after the day he'd had. "Elizabeth, last chance – what's the matter?"

"Let it go, Jason. I'm fine."

"You know what?" His eyes drew into slits, his voice dropping low – almost lethal. "I'm going to go home. When you decide that you're ready to tell me what's really going on here you know where to find me."

And before she had the chance to get in a word, he was gone – slamming the door behind him.

"What have I done?" She muttered to herself. "I'm supposed to be telling him I'm carrying his baby, not picking a fight." She cursed herself as she raced out of the kitchen and through the house, opening the door and leaving it wide open as she ran down the porch steps. "Jason!" She yelled.

She wasn't sure if he had heard her or chose to ignore her, but he took off on his motorcycle, speeding down the street as if his pants were on fire. "Jason!" She yelled again. But he was long gone.

She shut the door after reentering the house, locking it behind her.

She had to tell him the truth. He was going to be a father – and soon. But how was she going to do that now? There was no doubt that he was pissed at her. She doubted he'd even let her into the penthouse.

But you have to try…otherwise you'll be spending the rest of your life wondering what if.

I have to tell him, she decided, her mind made up. And she had better do it now while she still had her nerve. She scrambled around house, preparing to leave as she called Emily in the process, begging her to baby-sit Cameron for a little while. It wasn't as if she had to do anything while she was gone, Cameron was already out for the night anyway.

Ten minutes later Emily was knocking on her front door. One moment after that, Elizabeth was closing it behind her, a certain destination in her mind.

Jason entered his penthouse more confused than anything. She had invited him to the park earlier because she said she had news to tell him. And then he went over to her house because she hadn't told him yet. He went over there to get some answers and now…now he was just as confused as he was before he had arrived.

What did she have to tell him? What was the news that she had changed her mind about and decided not to tell him of? Better yet, what was so bad that she couldn't share with him of all people? He knew she had picked a fight with him to get the heat off of herself. But why? He liked to believe that they were once again close enough to share secrets with each other. In the past year they had built their friendship back up and he liked to think that even if they weren't at the place they were before…they were striding to it at a steady pace.

Jason decided to just let it go for tonight and instead decided to take a shower and maybe come back downstairs to play some pool afterwards. He made his way up the stairs and into his room in no time, making a beeline for the bathroom.

Fifteen minutes later, a calmer Jason was racking up the balls to play a leisurely game of pool. But before he could even make his first shot, there was a knock on the door.

He made his way over to the door in a few long strides. Upon opening it he was surprised to see a meek Elizabeth Webber on the other side. "Come in." He sighed as motioned for her to enter.

She walked past him and immediately began pacing back and forth in front of the couch.

Jason shut the door and turned around, staring at her curiously as he made his way over to her. "Are you alright?" The words were out before he could stop himself.

"I- I-" She stuttered as she glanced up at him. "There's something I need to tell you."

"Okay…" He waited for her to continue.

"I didn't mean to wait so long before telling you, but I needed time. Time to figure out how and when to tell you. I knew I couldn't just call you up and tell you, so I had to plan. And planning does take time you know. I mean-"

"Elizabeth." Jason's voice stopped her. "You're rambling." He smiled.

"Look, Jason…" She sighed. "I'm just going to blurt it out, okay? Because I don't know any other way of telling you."

"Alright." He nodded.

She took a deep breath. "I'm pregnant."

Jason's eyes bulged out as he opened his mouth to speak, no words coming out.

She stopped him, placing a finger over his lips. "And before you ask, it's yours. The doctor says I'm about three months."

Jason stared at her in shock for a few minutes before allowing one word to slip past his lips. "Christmas."

"What?"

"The baby. It's due in Christmas, right?"

"Yes…" Where was he going with this?

"It figures that our baby would be born around Christmas time." He chuckled. "I wouldn't expect anything less."

"Wh- You're not mad?"

"Why would I be mad?" He frowned at her. "You're pregnant with my baby, it's not the end of the world." So this was why she had flipped out earlier, he chuckled to himself. She had no idea how to tell him she was pregnant. She was confused. He could understand that, sympathize even.

"Well, no…"

"And since it's mine I can't have you living at your grandmother's house. You and Cameron will just have to move in with me. And of course, I'll be adopting him…I don't want him to think he's any different from any of the other kids."

"Other kids?" This time it was her who was in shock. "As in more than one?"

"Of course." He smiled. "I had always planned on having at least three or four. And we'll want to be married before the baby comes so we'll have to get started on the wedding arrangements right away…"

"Jason."

"Of course we'll want to do it before you are too far along, too. I mean, let's face it – you aren't going to be in any condition to be walking down that isle in a few months."

"Jason." She tried once again to capture his attention, and failed.

"You'll be showing soon, so we'll want to get it done as soon as possible. Maybe in a month or so if we can."

Hey, don't write yourself off yet.
It's only in your head you feel left out or
looked down on.

That damned song was back, Elizabeth cursed.

"And I'm sure Sonny will be my best man. I don't really need any other groomsmen. You can have as many bridesmaids as you want, of course…"

"Jason!" She yelled, making him lose his train of thought.

"What?" He looked down at her.

Just try your best, try everything you can.
And don't you worry what they tell themselves when you're away.
It just takes some time, little girl you're in the middle, it'll up the ride.
Everything will be just fine, everything will be all right.

"Are you going to continue making plans without me or do I get an input?" She glared at him. "What are you going to do? Just pat me on the head and order me around like a dog? I think I get some kind input here. The baby is mine too." What was going on inside his head? She told him she was pregnant and he started making plans for them to spend the rest of their lives together? Who knew that Jason Morgan was so domestic, she smiled to herself.

Hey, you know they're all the same.
You know you're doing better on your own, so don't buy in.
Live right now.
Yeah, just be yourself.
It doesn't matter if it's good enough for someone else.

It wasn't even on the radio and it was still taunting her. Damn song. Damn radio. And damn her good memory too.

"What am I going to do?" He pondered the question thoughtfully. "Well, I supposed I could do this…"

"Do wh-"

He didn't even give her the chance to finish before his lips came crashing down on hers.

It just takes some time, little girl you're in the middle of the ride.
Everything will be just fine, everything will be all right.

Song Credit: The Middle by Jimmy Eat World