Next Chapter. Thank you all for the great reviews.

Rated: M

Disclaimer: I don't own them, I just like writing about them.

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There You'll Be

Chapter Eight

In the end, Jason didn't hurt Nikolas Cassadine, though his hands certainly itched do so.

Only because it would have upset Elizabeth and she had already been hurt enough by her so called friend, the last thing he wanted was to add more stress. When he returned to the cottage that night, he had been in shock and kicking Cassadine's ass hadn't been an issue. Nikolas and Emily spent the night, mostly so Cam felt secure, though the little boy had been unable to hide his worry for his mother. In the end, they both ended up sleeping on the couch downstairs and going to pick Elizabeth up the next morning. When they returned, Nikolas and Emily were gone, leaving only a note apologizing for getting Elizabeth upset and that they would speak to her when she returned to Port Charles.

Thanksgiving was interesting, since he was in charge of cooking the meal with Elizabeth supervising. He was still a little shocked that he and Elizabeth were going to have twins. She had good-naturedly endured his hovering, he knew he was hovering he just couldn't seem to help himself. The doctor had suggested she take the next week and stay off her feet as much as possible, to assure that her blood pressure remained normal.

Afterwards, she was to rest at least once a day for an hour or more. Elizabeth had readily agreed, including cutting back her hours at work to part time. She protested when he asked to move in to the cottage, but he promised that they would explain to Cameron that he was only there to help out. Then he was forced to tell her that he would have to leave soon. He would stay for the week Dr. Allen wanted her to rest, but putting off his return would only ask for trouble and more unwanted visitors.

The last thing he wanted was for Quartermaines to descend on them. Or worse, Carly.

Besides, he needed to return for the ELQ board meeting anyway. And he wanted to be the one to break this news to Sam. She deserved to hear it from him first and not through rumors or Sonny.

Cam was disappointed, but Jason tried to reassure him that they would be seeing each other soon. Despite this, Cam was still sad, and Jason understood why Elizabeth had tried to protect him. It wasn't fair to give the little boy an illusion of normalcy and then snatch it away from him. What he never expected was his own sense of sorrow that he had to return to Port Charles. Leaving, he was forced to acknowledge Elizabeth's words as they sat on the porch swing their last night together. Decisions would have to be made, it was the reason she had come up here to think in the first place.

"When you return, Lucky will probably have come back from rehab," he said, adjusting his arms around Elizabeth as he rested his chin against the top of her head. She lay between his legs, both of their hands over the babies, babies, and he rocked them gently with his foot. The night air was chilly, but sitting out here was so nice that neither of them wanted it to end so soon. "He'll be better, or at least better than he was that night of your argument. His head will certainly be clear and he'll want to apologize for the way things happened between the two of you."

"And," she murmured, shifting slightly as she found a more comfortable spot, "It doesn't change anything. I still filed for divorce. Will I forgive Lucky, yes, if he's sincere and seems more like himself. It's too late to go back, and quite frankly, I don't want to. In the back of my mind will always be the question of how he truly feels about Cam, about these babies. I love Lucky, but I don't want to be with Lucky. Not anymore."

"If he hadn't said that," he ventured gently.

"I still don't know. I still hadn't forgiven him for getting hooked on the pills in the first place. He let his pride get in the way of what was best for our family and we all had to suffer the consequences of his actions. And I can barely stand to think about Maxie. So even if he hadn't said those cruel things, there were still major issues that we were facing."

She was silent for a moment and the instant he felt her tense he knew the question she was going to ask. Everyone seemed to tip toe around the subject of him and Sam. "What are you going to do? She's going to be hurt Jason, there is no escaping that, which will make it more difficult for the two of you to work through your problems."

"I don't know if there are solutions to our problems." He sat up, turning her around so that he could see her face, "Maybe if we hadn't slept together, or if I didn't have these feelings for you, it would be simple. In my head, I get why Sam slept with Ric. In time, we probably could overcome that. But I can't ignore the feelings I have for you."

"You can't build a good relationship based on children," Elizabeth's shook her had sadly. "If you love Sam, then you owe it to yourself to try to make it work."

"And my feelings for you? I should just set them aside?"

"Maybe its just nostalgia, wondering what could have been."

"Wondering what could have been doesn't make me want to kiss you," he said baldly. They tried to ignore this, maybe that was the problem. Ignoring things never made them go away. If decisions needed to be made, the truth needed to be accepted.

"I made love to you, hell, I still want to make love to you. Telling myself that it's wrong, or that I'm hurting Sam doesn't make those needs go away. I like being with you. I've always liked being with you. Even when we were all screwed up, with me wanting you and you still hurting over Lucky, or me screwing up or you sleeping with Zander, I always needed to be with you."

"But Jason," she started and he silenced her with a finger over her lips.

"I've always known I could trust you. You have had my back so many times when I needed you and you always came through. That winter I was shot, or when I came back and you let me stay in your studio and kept it a secret even though it went against your need to tell Lucky the truth. Even now, when you stole that file from the PCPD and shredded it and could have gotten in serious trouble for it."

He frowned and tried to vocalize what he was feeling, which had never been his strong point, "Yes I love Sam. Yet, I have feelings for you that I can't deny. They started a long time ago when I got to know you, respected your strength, and could have been love but somehow we just never made the right step. I buried those feelings, and I'm glad we managed to stay friends."

"So am I," she smiled, "But if you love Sam."

"We have something Elizabeth. Those feelings I buried, came rushing back the night we made love. Circumstances seem to be telling us it's time to explore those feelings, don't you think?"

"I'm," she looked away, so he cupped her chin, lifting so that he could see into her eyes. "I'm scared." She said finally and just the thought of her being afraid of anything tore at his insides. "I'm afraid to take that risk, that if we try to be more than friends then we might lose that friendship. I don't want us to be two bickering parents, angry and hurt over a broken relationship, with our children stuck in the middle. I want to know that I can always come to you when I need you and you'll be there. I want to know that if you ever need me I'll do everything I can to be there for you. What happens if all of that changes?"

"That hasn't changed so far," he pointed out. "We've hurt each other before. When I lied about Sonny, Courtney. When you slept with Zander, Lucky. Yet we always seem to find our way back to here when we need each other the most." He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, touched a finger to that little clef in her chin, unable to resist touching her. "I'm not saying things will be easy. There are still problems, like my work, but not only do we owe it to our children to see where this could take us, we owe it to ourselves as well."

"And if we do this and you regret not taking the chance to make things better between you and Sam?"

"It will be my decision. There won't be any regret because despite everything, no matter how this ends between us, I know we'll always have friendship between us."

"You say that now," she blinked, a sad smile curving her full lips. "This could go so wrong but," she sighed slowly, "I'm willing to take a chance. I have feelings for you too Jason." She admitted, "Maybe you're right. Maybe it is time to see where this will take us."

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"I said that when I adjusted the final estimates I would call you," he growled into the cell phone, severely annoyed by the Quartermaine barking in his ear, "Don't rush me, I'll do this my way and if you can't take it, you shouldn't have come to me for help in the first place."

Jason pressed the end button and tossed the cell onto the desk on top of the files scattered before him. He scrubbed a hand over his face, wondering not for the first time why he agreed to help Edward. The man was a pest on good days, and drove him to drink on others. He drew in a deep breath, inhaling the fresh scent of paint and wondered why he was working over here and not in his own apartment. Then the door flew open, with the number one reason he had risked paint fumes for a little privacy.

"Jason, what is going on? And what are you doing over here in Sonny's old place?" Carly stormed inside, shutting the door behind her and started removing her coat. She had draped it on her arm and was getting ready to start in on one of her usual diatribes when she frowned and really took a look around. He didn't wonder at her confusion, instead of the old place she was used to, all the furniture was gone with drop clothes everywhere, except this desk he kept over for his own use, but would remove when everything was done. "What the hell is going on here?"

Before leaving Brunswick, he had questioned where Elizabeth was going to live when she returned to Port Charles and she had told him at her grandmothers. As much as he respected Audrey Hardy, it just wasn't safe for Elizabeth and Cam to live there. When the truth came out about her carrying his children, she would need guards. The look on her face told him exactly how she felt about it, but, unfortunately it was going to be a fact of their life from now on. He knew she wouldn't want to live with him, so he suggested Sonny's old place.

Now that look had been priceless.

"No offense Jason, but Sonny's old apartment is kind of tacky," Elizabeth had smiled to take some of the sting off the remark after wrinkling her nose.

He told her he could take care of that, if she would consider it. So she had reluctantly agreed to think about it and he had been forced to live up to his promise.

The second afternoon he was back in Port Charles, he reluctantly called Monica and asked if she knew anything about fixing up an apartment. She had seemed surprised, but said nothing, just gave him the number of someone she thought was good. If he thought that part was hard, actually walking into the woman's office surrounded by all that fabric and stuff, was like traversing through hell. He was forced to prop himself up in an uncomfortable chair for the next ten minutes while he waited for this Stephanie Tyler woman to finish with her client. He had been ten seconds from leaving when she stepped out of her office, a petite woman dressed in a sharp dark green suit and her hair pulled back so tight he wondered if it made her head hurt. The office she invited him into, in that crisp no nonsense voice, did a lot toward making up for his previous discomfort.

He sat down on the couch, and she placed black rimmed glasses on her nose, and stared at him over the top. When he told her that he had a penthouse he needed redecorating, she had picked up a tablet and started shooting questions at him like bullets. Who was it for? How many rooms? Did she have any children? What kind of woman was she?

That had hit a little too close to personal in his opinion and he had almost lost his temper. She slid those glasses off her face, crossing her legs all business like and explained herself. "Is she gentle, delicate, feminine? Or, no nonsense? Does she like pretty things or that doesn't really matter to her?"

"She's an artist," he blurted out, unable to come up with anything else. Was Elizabeth gentle, yes of course she was. Sweet, generous, loving, look at how she was with Cam. Loyal to a fault. Proven by how she stood by Lucky for so long. No nonsense, yeah she was that too, because she had the ability to make the best of any situation.

The interior designer nodded then, a clean smile softening her features, "So she likes and knows how to make use of color. That's good."

Then Jason remembered the morning they woke up in Brenda's room, how beautiful she had looked as the morning light came through the windows, her sleep mused hair against the pillow and he had pressed a kiss to her mouth, making love to her again. Soft and slow. They had moved in sync like familiar lovers coming together in need of pleasure and not the result of some one night stand filled with regret. He glanced around the room, his eyes finally hitting what he was searching for, and he stood walking over to the table, picking up the swatch of material. "This." Was all he said, "This color is Elizabeth."

That had begun this madness that he was surrounded by now. He told the woman he didn't care about the cost, or what she bought, as long as it was ready the week before Christmas and it was a place where a child would feel he could run around without fear of breaking anything.

"Jason, what are you doing to Sonny's penthouse?" Carly asked and he leaned back in his chair to stare.

Sonny hadn't wanted to sell him the penthouse, was for some reason upset that he wasn't trying to fix things between him and Sam. In the end, he agreed, because Sonny didn't have a legitimate reason to hold on to the place except spite. The contractors came in the next day and had been working on the place for the past four days. "What does it look like Carly?" He asked and set aside his pen, knowing this confrontation was going to take awhile. Besides, since she was here, he wanted to tell her about Elizabeth. He was just surprised sonny hadn't already done so.

"I know what it looks like but why?" then she glared at him, "Is Sam moving in over here? That's why you're doing this? I would think you would move her back into your place instead of across the hall," she shrugged, "but what do I know."

"No, it's not for Sam. It's for Elizabeth."

"Elizabeth?" her eyes widened with astonishment, "Why would Elizabeth be moving over here? She's married to lucky. When he gets home from rehab, she will come back to Port Charles and they'll live happily ever after in that little two room cubby they share over on the other side of town." She shivered, "I don't know why they lived in that place. She's a nurse, he's a detective. I know they can afford better."

When Carly opened her mouth, sometimes he was truly amazed at the things that came out of it. "There's something I need to tell you." He started slowly, standing to place his hands on his waist and figuring the more times he said it, the easier it would get. "Elizabeth is pregnant."

She took a quick sharp breath, then rolled her eyes, "Jason, I know it's in your nature to want to protect her, though I have no idea why, it's Lucky's job to provide for his wife and their children."

"The babies are mine."

Caught off guard, was it the admission itself or the plural form of the word, Carly just gaped blank, amazed and speechless for probably the first time in her life. She blinked several times and opened her mouth as if to say something, only to shut it again. Frowning she pushed her hair away from her face, then pointed at him, opening her mouth again, only to snap it shut as she turned away still quite stunned. Finally she managed, "Babies?" in a wispy squeak.

"Twins," and despite everything, he couldn't resist the small smile of pleasure.

"Well," she glanced around, then a bright loving smile broke across her face, "When you do something, you sure don't do it half way," and threw back hr head and let out a great peal of laughter just before she threw her arms around his neck. "Oh Jason! Babies? Your babies?

He didn't know what he had been expecting, anger, disbelief, but not this happiness. She leaned back with tears in her eyes and pressed a quick kiss to his mouth, laughing probably at his stunned expression, then wiped a hand over his mouth. "Look at your face?" She hugged him again, squeezing tight once more, then stepped back, "I'm so happy for you."

"Thanks," he offered cautiously.

"What?" her mouth quirked.

"Well, I guess I just wasn't expecting this."

"Come on, Jason, this is priceless. I mean, if anyone deserves to be a father it's you. Look how wonderful you are with Michael and Morgan. So not only do you get one baby but twins?" she shook her head, wiping away the tear that slipped down her cheek, "It's great, because," then she squinted as if the rest of the declaration had finally registered. "Elizabeth?"

He sat back down in the chair, nodding slowly. "Yes, and before you say anything, count to ten." He warned.

"One, two, ten," she huffed, "When the hell did this happen?"

"Back in August."

He watched her nimble mind put two and two together, "Back when Sam and Ric slept together?" Then he saw the sympathy, "You knew didn't you. You've always known. This crap about the business being too dangerous for her, that's why the two of you never got back together because you knew she slept with Ric."

"That's part of the reason, but only part Carly."

"You had sex with Elizabeth?" she whispered, still shocked.

"It wasn't just sex," he demanded, that made it sound cheap, like it meant nothing. His children were not conceived that way. There was affection between him and Elizabeth. Even Carly couldn't deny that he had always cared for Elizabeth.

"Touchy much," she snarked and he rolled his eyes. Ignoring him, she went on, "SO you and Elizabeth were together, she's pregnant and you're moving her into Sonny's old place."

"My place," he contradicted.

"Really?" she lifted an eyebrow, "And what about Lucky? Her husband?"

"They're getting a divorce."

"Hmm, and you're getting married?"

"No," he shook his head, and that seemed to surprise her as well. "We're going to take things slow and see where we go from there."

Carly crossed her arms over her chest, "and you and Sam? Does this mean you're finished?"

He had been saying it for months now, but as he stood her, he realized that maybe he had been holding on still. He glanced around the room, noting the paint he had chosen for the walls for Elizabeth and finally closed the door on that relationship once and for all. He wasn't bringing that guilt into what he was trying to build with Elizabeth. "Yes. Sam and I are finished."

For the second time, Carly surprised him. There were no smart comebacks, no laughter, and no potshots at Sam. She just nodded once, and walked over to the desk to sit on the edge. Glancing down absently at the papers, she lifted one, frowned, "Why do you have financial statements from ELQ?"

He snatched the paper from her hand, "None of your business," hating that his usual it's business tone, it sounded like he was hiding something. Well he was but Carly was the last person he wanted to know that.

She didn't protest, just glanced around the penthouse, the desk, then back at him and with a deliberate folding of her arms over her chest said, "Jason Morgan, soon to be father and working with the Quartermaines for once? What is this world coming to?"

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She missed him.

It was as simple as that and now that she admitted it, she wanted to move past it. If only it were that simple. She missed their long talks, how he was always there to listen to her.

Now more than ever, she wished he was here for her to talk to. It was why she had come today. Couldn't bear a day longer away from him. She raised her fist and knocked on the door three times and waited, her hands fidgeting slightly, biting down on her lower lip. What would he say when he opened the door? Things had been left in the air between them but now she knew exactly what she wanted.

She wanted him.

When the door swung open, she was a little taken aback to see the smile on his face. Then one spread across her lips as well, maybe this was the right decision, coming to him.

"Jason," her husky voice sounded unsure, so she took a breath, "Can I come in?"

"Sam?" now the look in his eyes didn't seem so welcoming, and she felt like she was intruding. "Sure," he stepped to the side and she entered the apartment, remembering what it had been like to live here. "I was actually going to come see you tomorrow."

She was staying with Sonny since her blow-up with Alexis, but she hadn't even known that Jason was back in town. Sonny told her that Jason went out of town on business, but he had been gone for almost a month, the longest she had ever known him to be gone. "Am I interrupting something?" His desk was covered with papers, the lap top he used for work open and turned on making her remember all the times she had helped him before.

"I was just reading some e-mails," he shrugged toward the computer, turning that intense blue focus on her for the first time since he found out she slept with Ric. In the beginning, he had barely been able to look at her before pain flickered in those eyes and he turned away. Gradually, that changed, but it was never the same as when they were together. Now seeing his eyes completely on her, she realized how uncomfortable it made her. "Is something wrong?"

"No I just," maybe this was a mistake, she thought to herself. "I wanted to see you. Jason can we talk?" A bell rang on his computer announcing he had an instant message, and they both turned in its direction just as the screen opened up and a picture flashed on making her breath catch. Pain twisted in her chest, but it wasn't as bad as it had been in the beginning. The tears she felt rim her eyes didn't spill over, but that didn't stop her sadness. This was why he was so happy.

Jason hit a key, minimizing the window and turned back in her direction with a frown. "I didn't mean for you to find out that way." He didn't bother to deny what she had seen, what seemed like yesterday but was truly several months ago, she had smiled over a picture just like this one.

An ultrasound.

There was only one woman who could be sending Jason pictures of an ultra sound. Liz Spencer.

"Yours?" she asked, gesturing to the screen. It would make sense. Why would Jason disappear at exactly the same time as Liz? The thought had always been in the back of her mind, that he had gone to her. She had tried to focus on Alexis, but now she didn't even have that to distract her from missing Jason.

"Yes." He said simply. Just like Jason. No excuses, no explanations, nothing. If she wanted to know something, she was going to have to ask.

She nodded, "And what about us Jason?"

"Sam," the expression in those blue eyes that had looked at her once with so much love, now was gentle but resolute. And that's when she realized it was finally over. Even with his hurt over her sleeping with Ric, even when he was trying to push her away for her own good, there had been hope. Now there was none. Elizabeth was giving him something that she hadn't. A child.

Before he could speak, she shook her head, unable to stand to hear an apology, "No," she murmured, "No, Jason don't." She turned back to the door, opening it so that she could escape away from this pain, then turned back because she needed to know. "Is it because she's pregnant?"

"No," he answered quietly. "And it's not because of what happened between you and Ric either," he said surprising her. "I'm sorry I hurt you, I never meant that."

She believed him, but it didn't stop the pain, "Then why? Why Elizabeth? Why now?"

"Because," he stopped, took a breath, and in a voice so soft she almost didn't hear it said, "Because I believe this is where life was leading me all along."