Authors Note: This is chapter is more Kellie and Jason talking through a few things. I do have more romance planned for them in the next chapters.
"I really should go downstairs before my fries get cold," Kellie said, sprawled on top of Jason afterwards, "But damn…"
"I left your dress on as promised," Jason smiled and kissed Kellie's forehead.
"Smart man," Kellie said, "It'll pay off later. But you left most of your clothes on too."
"Well that dress looks very, very sexy on you, Mrs. Morgan,"; Jason said, whispered in Kellie's ear, "I left the fries and burgers in the oven to stay warm. Just in case."
"That's Corinthos-Morgan," Kellie said, kissing Jason.
"Actually it's Corinthos Alcazar Scott Morgan," Jason said.
"Now you're must making me sound pretentious," Kellie said, as Jason kissed her neck, "Especially when you throw Alcazar in there. It wasn't even legally my mother's name being as that she was adopted."
"I always wondered something about your last name growing up," Jason asked, looking up at Kellie.
"What about it?" Kellie asked.
"You introduced yourself as Kellie Riley when you first came to town," Jason said, "That was the name on all your foster system records growing up. But when we finally found your birth certificate your last name was listed as Corinthos. How is it that no one ever figured out Sonny was your father?"
"I'm not sure what name my mother was legally going by when she died," Kellie said, "I knew her as Haley Riley. I kind of suspect between the drugs, johns, and leaving a couple of towns at the drop of a hat, whatever legal documents she had might have had were probably lost and she fell off the grid. The letter my mom left about Sonny was clearly marked, "For Kellie…when she becomes an adult."
"The system had to hold on to that for you unopened until then," Jason said, "Instead you ended up in the foster system."
"Yeah," Kellie said, her hand consciously going to her belly as she got lost in thought.
"What is it?" Jason asked, brushing Kellie's hair out of her face with one hand and placing his other hand on her belly alongside hers. Jason saw the tears threatening to spill from Kellie's eyes.
"Perspective I guess," Kellie said, "When I think about my shitty childhood with my mom and a rough shake in the foster system, it makes me realize no matter how much I hate the danger that my life has brought to my children and how angry I am about being dragged into the Cassadine manipulations, at the end of the day my kids don't have to experience anything like I did. Most of the time they come home to a safe place where they know they're loved. At least I hope they feel that way. For everything I haven't been able to give them, I can at least give them that."
Jason wiped the stray tears that had trickled down Kellie's cheek, "You're doing that. Don't ever doubt that. You're a fantastic mom. You do everything you can to make sure your kids are protected and loved."
"I always worry what if it's not enough?" Kellie said.
"That's what you have me and our families and whole private army of guards for," Jason said, "You're not alone in this."
Kellie bit her lip, "Charles called me out on that today. The whole lone ranger bit I pulled when I was pregnant before. I drove Tyler up the wall. Now I've been doing it do you."
"You've always been naturally self-sufficient and independent," Jason said, "Your childhood with your mom and the foster system probably instilled that you in. Now that we're talking about it, I'd guess that being pregnant brings a lot of that back up for you whether it's subconsciously or consciously."
"I guess I never thought about it that way," Kellie said, "I just know pregnancy makes me feel really vulnerable. I assume it's worse knowing my pregnancies overall is just rough across the board for me. Between the barrage of morning sickness that requires anti-nausea drugs the entire time and how awkward and uncomfortable I feel as the baby gets bigger…I um…"
"What can I do to help you feel less vulnerable right now?" Jason asked.
"I don't know," Kellie said, "The truth is I have to let my guards and what not do what I pay for for and resist any instincts I have to run head first into a situation. It's never been easy for me to do that even I know I should. That's even when I'm not pregnant."
"On one hand, I love knowing that no matter what happens, you'll fight like hell and think your way out of any situation, "Jason said, "But on the other hand, it can be frustrating when you won't let me help you. I hate seeing you stressed out this way. I want you to know that you're not alone in this. You and our child are the most important people to me right now. I'll do everything I can to make sure you're both safe physically and emotionally. That extends to Jared, Jamie, and Alyssa too."
"I want that," Kellie said, "I know I haven't made it easy for you."
"Remember when we were on the island last year," Jason said, "You let me take care of the security arrangements when we left. Did you feel like you vulnerable or unprotected in anyway?"
"No," Kellie said, "You kept me loop which free me to get the kids ready since we left in a hurry."
"We did it together," Jason said, "That's all I'm asking; to do this together. I'm not exactly sure what happened since the island, but there's nothing that dictates we had to stop relying on each other like we were after you lost Tyler and I came back."
"Well when you put it that way," Kellie said, "I just didn't think I should keep relying on you. I didn't want to take advantage of you any more than I already have"
"You're my wife, Kellie," Jason said, "and not just on paper. We obviously need to discuss that and we will. I know I've said this before, but I'll say this however many times it takes for you to believe that. You're not taking advantage of me at all. I'm exactly where I want to be with you. I love you, Kellie. I hope that's what you want too."
"Yeah, and I love you to," Kellie said. She paused and then continued, "What did you mean when you said we need to talk about me being more than just your wife on paper?"
"You need to be patient," Jason said, "You're not the only one with plans to tonight."
Kellie looked slightly surprised, "Okay."
Kellie sat up and grabbed her milkshake off the night stand. She thought for moment as she sipped it.
"As long as we're being honest," Kellie finally said, " There's one other thing we should probably talk about. If I'm being stubborn about something that's important to you, you have to speak up more."
"What exactly are you talking about?" Jason asked.
"Did you feel like it was important that you go see Charles about Helena with me today?" Kellie asked.
"I told you it was," Jason replied.
"No, you didn't," Kellie said, "You suggested you come with me which I interpreted as you just doing your Alpha male thing. You didn't actually say it was important to you to go with me."
"I guess you're right," Jason admitted.
"If I'm having one of my I have to prove I can handle everything myself moments, unless you tell me it's important I'll probably brush it off like I did today," Kellie said, "You kind of have a tendency to not speak up about what's important to you and let other people dictate what goes on. I don't want to be one more person that just expects you to go along with whatever I'm doing. I know I'm the easy person to tell something that's different from the track I'm on, but I want to try. I care about what's important to you.
"Fair enough," Jason said, "As much as I hate to say it you're right."
"Good," Kellie said, biting her lip, but waiting to see if Jason had more to say.
"You're thinking about dipping those fries in your milkshake aren't you," Jason asked.
"Guilty," Kellie said, "It is your fault though. You did provide them."
"Come on," Jason said, taking Kellie's hand and pulling her to stand up off the bed with him.
Jason led Kellie out of the bedroom and downstairs.
At the bottom of the stairs, Kellie stopped suddenly. Jason looked at Kellie, questioningly, and noticed her hand was cradling her belly gently.
"She's….or he's….moving again," Kellie said.
Jason pulled Kellie closer to him, resting his hand along side hers.