A/N – Thank you so much for taking this ride with me. I appreciate all your

Chapter 51 - Epilogue

Johnny quietly makes his way into Nicole's bedroom and takes a shower. Ronnie is dead and while he's relieved, he also wished he had more time to make the man suffer. They had gotten word that Sal would never be heard from again, and Francis was asked to take his place, an honor he didn't refuse.

Nicole stripped and then joined him. When her fingers skimmed down his back, his eyes slammed shut and he let out a puff of air.

"Let me take care of you."

For the next ten minutes, she washed every inch of his body, leaving him with a raging hard-on.

She rinses him and then sits on the edge of the tub and takes him into her mouth.

"Baby…"

"I'm fine, just enjoy it."

Her mouth does things to him that makes his knees weak before long, he is blissfully coming.

"Thank you." He wants to make love to her but jarring her in any way is going to make her headaches worse.

"You can make it up to me in a few days."

"Count on it."

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A week later, Blackie rolled over to face Emily. They had fallen asleep after watching a movie.

"What time is it?"

"It's 5:30, why?"

Her eyes grew wide. "I have a dinner date and need to get dressed."

His mouth dropped open. "You're going to cheat on me already?"

She grinned. "Relax, it's a prank."

He stood as she rushed around the room, gathering what she's going to wear.

"Am I invited?"

"No! I have to be convincing."

His eyes narrowed. "You're going to make me kick someone's ass, aren't you?" He has fun with Emily and for the first time in his life, he was taking it slow and can tell she is worth it.

"You can't touch him. He's still recovering from an injury."

He looks completely dumbfounded. "You're killing me right now."

She grabs his face and kisses him. "You need to sneak out of here. I promise I'll call you in a couple of hours."

"I'll do it, but I don't like it."

"Use the window."

"What?"

Her hand finds her hip. "Are you scared of heights?"

"No."

"Then climb down the trellis. I used to do it every night."

Warily, he approaches the window and opens the window. No one is around, so he eases himself out as he mutters under his breath and makes it almost to the ground and then Emily hears a thud and runs to see what happened. Blackie is on his back looking up at her.

"You owe me."

She blows him a kiss and shuts the window and then runs into the bathroom.

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Jason and Elizabeth move into the dining room.

"Oh Jason, it's so good to see you," Lila said.

He gives her a hug.

"Hello, Elizabeth. How are you, dear?"

"I'm great. You look good."

Lila smiled. "Thank you. Have a seat. We're just waiting for Emily and her date."

Jason had to bite the inside of his mouth not to grin. Evangeline is hiding out down the hallway.

Just as Alice is putting food on the table, Emily enters the room holding Manny's hand.

Edward's mouth drops open as his eyes peruse them. Manny is dressed in jeans and a wife beater, his tats on full display.

"Hi everyone," she wraps her arm around Manny's waist. "This is Manny and I think I'm in love."

Tracy choked on her drink, Monica is confused because she had seen Manny with Eva when he was in the hospital, Dillon is grinning from ear to ear as he snapped a few pictures, and Lila's hand is over her heart while Alan isn't sure what to think.

"What's up?" Manny said, almost making Jason laugh.

"Emily Quartermaine, what is the meaning of this?"

"What do you mean?" she said as she sat down next to Jason and Manny got comfortable.

"Are you really serious with this—"

"Watch what you say next, grandfather. Manny is a good man."

He smirked. "Thank you, babe."

She slightly blushed and then blew him a kiss.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Tracy said.

When Manny started to shovel food in his mouth, Emily almost blew her cover and Liz had to excuse herself and ran to the bathroom so she could laugh.

Edward hasn't eaten a bite because he is staring.

Lila isn't buying it for one minute. Emily is definitely up to something.

"I'm scared to ask what you do for a living," Alan said.

Jason hid his grin in a napkin.

"I'm a businessman."

Edward's eyes narrowed. "What kind of business?"

"This and that," Manny said before drinking some water. "Do you have anything stronger than this?"

Monica's head tilts. "Maybe after dinner?"

Manny grinned. "Thanks, beautiful."

Alan's eyes narrow and Jason isn't sure how much more of this he can take before exploding.

"Are you okay with your sister dating this man?" Edward asked.

Jason shrugged. "People get to make their own choices. Besides, if he hurts her, he'll never be heard from again."

Manny shoots him a look for effect and then rattles some Spanish off and Jason fires back.

"If Jason starts shooting, I'm pushing Monica in front of me and diving under the table," Tracy whispers to Alan.

"Noone is shooting anyone," he muttered.

"Not until I least finish my meal. It's so delicious and Cook worked so hard on it," Lila said.

"If anyone is shooting anyone, it will be me!" Edward said before pounding his fist on the table.

"Chill pops. I have nothing but respect for your diversity of funds and portfolio. I threw some Franklins at your stock and damn, I made some serious bank."

Edward blinked a few times and Jason pretended to cough and then escaped to the study.

"What's going on in there," Eva asked.

Jason laughed and told her some of the conversations and she cracked up. "I need you to storm into the room and get your man before Edward goes and gets the shotgun."

She grinned.

"Give me a minute to get back in there. I can't miss it."

He hurried back, hearing the din halfway down the hallway. Edward's face is red as he yells at Manny to get out because he told the patriarch that he should get a tat because he knows he has to be a playa.

Eva stormed into the room, stunning everyone. "I follow you here and you're cheating on me with this—debutante?" Her hands find her hips and Manny sighed.

"Sweet cheeks, I thought I told you to stay in the motel room."

Eva glared at him.

"Who is she, Manny? I thought we had something special," Emily whined.

Manny cupped her face.

"Hands off her, you cretin!" Edward shouted.

"Don't you call him names," Eva said loudly.

Lila started to giggle at the absurdity and everyone stopped to look at her. She can barely breathe she is laughing so hard.

"Lila, what on earth do you find funny about this situation?" Edward asked.

She almost snorted, making Jason grin.

"Oh my, Emily, I cannot believe that you did this to your grandfather."

Edward nods his agreement.

"I mean, his heart can't take much more of this. Please put him out of his misery."

Now, Edward frowns.

"You're not going to marry this reprobate, are you?"

Emily grinned. "Gotcha, grandfather. "

Edward's mouth drops open as Alan breathes a sigh of relief.

"You should have seen your face when we walked in. It was priceless."

"Don't worry, I snapped a picture," Dillon said.

Edward's eyes narrowed. "I'll deal with you later. Emily! You were joking?"

"Yup. This is Manny Ruiz and he works with Jason. He's very nice and helped Nicole when she was hurt. Evangeline really is his girlfriend."

Manny stood. "Mr. Quartermaine, I am friends with your grandson and have the utmost respect for Emily. I'm in love with Evangeline and while I know my tattoos can be intimidating, they don't define me. I hope you can forgive me and Jason for teasing you a bit."

"You were in on this too?" Alan asked.

Jason smiled. "Yes. We were joking around about it and when I told Emily, she was game."

Edward shook his head. "You children are going to be the end of me."

"Evangeline, you should sit," Lila said.

Emily got up and gave Eva her seat and she sat next to her grandfather. "Forgive me?"

He grumbled. "I guess."

Tracy got up. "I need more alcohol."

"Get me something too."

Jason snickered and that just made Liz and Emily crack up and the laughter was contagious. The rest of the meal went well and Edward ended up liking Manny after some deep conversations about family and business.

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One month later

Elizabeth waits at the airport. Jason is coming home from training and she misses him so much.

When he steps outside and starts down the steps, she starts to run and he looks up just In time to catch her and they kiss wildly.

Johnny smirked. "They might need some oxygen."

Francis nodded. "I'm giving him two seconds to let go of my sister before I take him down."

Piph rolled her eyes. "You will do no such thing. Look away if you can't handle it."

The two-part dreamily. Her hands travel down his rather large biceps.

"Wow, you got even bigger and I like your hair longer." He looks so sexy.

"They worked me hard."

There is something different about him and after a few minutes, she realizes it's the way he is carrying himself. His stride is smoother and he's more agile.

Jason shakes hands with Johnny and Francis and then hugs Piph.

"You are looking mighty fine, Morgan."

"Epiphany!" Francis said.

Jason smiled. "I missed you."

"I missed you too."

"You ready to get to work?" Manny asked.

"Hell no!" Elizabeth grabbed him by the hand and dragged him to an SUV as the group laughed. "He'll call you in a couple of days. I mean it! If his phone rings and interrupts us, someone is going to die."

Francis grinned. "Talk to you in five minutes, Jason."

She glared. "Bite me."

Johnny cracked up.

"Stop teasing her, Francis," Piph said tugging him towards a town car.

"But it's fun."

Jason and Elizabeth headed home and neither was heard from until a few days later.

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Three weeks later

Piph collapses onto her back. "Dear Lord, if I'm not pregnant yet, that did it." They had decided to try. Having another child wasn't something that she ever thought she'd do again, but Francis had changed a lot of things.

Francis grinned. "I love you, baby."

"I love you too. You ready for tonight?"

It's the day of the wedding and everyone is excited.

"Yes. It's good seeing my sister so happy."

"It is. Edward caught Blackie and Emily making out and threw a fit after the rehearsal dinner last night." Francis got called away before then, but he did get to practice walking down the aisle. He is Johnny's best man and Jason, Blackie, and Manny are the rest of Johnny's groomsmen. Elizabeth is Nicole's maid of honor and Emily, Piph, and Evangeline are the bridesmaids.

Nicole had finally started working for Edward and is loving her job, so she had invited the Edward and Lila.

"I was thinking that maybe we could renew our vows around Christmas."

"I would marry you again any day of the week."

"I'll start planning it."

They kiss reverently, savoring the moment until Piph jumps up.

"I have a spa date with the bride."

He watches her saunter to the bathroom and then decides to ambush her in the shower for good measure.

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Frank walks his beautiful daughter down the aisle. The lacy dress hugged her figure but is still very tasteful.

Johnny holds his breath as she moved forward. "Beautiful," he mouths making Nicole grin.

"Breathe," Francis whispered.

The groom took a deep breath and by the time she reaches him, with Eva softly singing, his eyes are full of tears.

"You are stunning."

"Thank you. You look gorgeous."

"This old thing?"

She and the priest chuckled.

The rest is a blur until finally they kiss and applause erupts.

Ali calls out to her mommy and Nicole turns and waves to her.

When they finally get to the reception, they are enveloped by family and friends as they are lovingly congratulated.

After so much drama and angst, a celebration is a welcome event and everyone plans on enjoying the lightness.

Frank watches his daughter dance with misty eyes.

"She's beautiful," Francis said.

"I've never seen her look as happy as she did today." Walking her down the aisle was a highlight and he loves that they have grown so much closer. In fact, the family is thriving. Blackie is working for Francis, learning the trucking business. Johnny is doing well running the Corelli warehouses in the heart of Port Charles and Jason is practically a new man. Gone is the insecurity and people are sometimes learning the hard way that he should be feared. Elizabeth is starting nursing school and Evangeline and Manny are closer than ever. They had finally sealed the deal and Eva is definitely in love with her man.

Jason and Nicole swayed to the music. She is glowing and he can't help but smile.

"Can I tell you a secret?"

He nods and then leans closer and Nicole whispers in his ear.

"Wow!"

"You think he'll be happy?"

"Yes. If he isn't talking about the business, he's talking about you. Congratulations."

She blushed. "I'm going to tell him tonight." They are flying to Canada for a short honeymoon and will take a longer one later.

"Can I tell Elizabeth?"

"She knows. I told her when I was getting ready because I got sick, but I wanted to be the one to tell you because I'm pretty sure you and Elizabeth are going to be the godparents."

"It would be an honor. Does Ali have them?"

"No, but you'd have to fight Luella if you want that gig." The older woman is in love with the baby and comes to visit whenever she can.

He laughed and then Francis cut in.

"Not so fast," Piph said grabbing Jason's hands. They slowly begin to sway.

"You look beautiful in that dress."

"Thank you."

"Have I ever told you what a great friend you are?"

She smiled. "I feel the same about you. Did you ever think it could be this good?"

"No, but I love it."

"I'm so proud of you. Against all odds, you turned your life around and fell in love with a wonderful woman."

"You helped me get there and I'll always appreciate and love you for it."

"I will always be there for you."

She wiped away a tear.

"Are you making my girl cry," Francis asked as he moved closer.

"He can't help it that he's so fine."

"Epiphany!"

Nicole giggled. Some things never change.

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Six months later

Liz gazes at the ring on her finger. It's their one year anniversary and Jason had just proposed the night before and she is lying in his arms as he sleeps. Her life had taken a profound turn during her stint as Jason's nurse. So much had happened good and bad, but in the end, everything had worked out and their love had survived.

"Are you okay?" he whispered.

Her gaze snapped to his. "Yes. I was just feeling very thankful."

Right before their trip, Piph had confessed that she is pregnant and then sent them off on their dream vacation. Liz had finally made it to Italy and it is everything she had dreamed of.

The trip is just what Jason needed. The takeover was finally in a groove and the business is flourishing. It is nice to just relax and make love to his fiance. Besides, watching her face as she finally gets to see the travel book come to life makes him so happy.

"Jason, did you have a time in mind to get married?"

"I'd do it right now."

She rolls her eyes. "Our families would kill us."

"I'll protect you."

She gave him a quick peck. "I know you guys are Catholic, but would you be opposed to having it at Piph's church?"

"Not at all…"

"Good. It's on the smaller side, but I figured we can get married in front of our close friends and than the reception can be bigger."

"That sounds like a plan."

"Is it weird that I've been dreaming about it?"

"No." He wishes he could.

Her stomach growls and he chuckled.

"Come on, future Mrs. Morgan. Let's get you something to eat."

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By the time the wedding occurred, Manny and Eva are engaged and Diane is married and pregnant. Jason and Elizabeth had decided to wait until Elizabeth's graduation and had a December wedding. It was a beautiful and joyous occasion.

Ali was a flower girl. While the Johnny and Nicole's son Josh was too young to participate, Michael was a sport and led Ali down the aisle. Carly is doing well and temporarily living at the mansion.

Epiphany had a baby boy they had named Tomas a few weeks before the wedding but still managed to get her matron of honor duties done.

As Jason's eyes his wife dancing with his father, he's almost overwhelmed with emotion. His wife… God, she is so beautiful and completes him in so many ways. The life he never thought he could have is now something he has obtained and he'll never let go. As he said in his vows, Elizabeth is his first, last, and always.

"You look lovesick."

He turned and shot Johnny a look. "Like you're one to talk…oh, Nicole…"

Johnny grinned. "Damn, we are lucky. Our girls are gorgeous."

Jason nodded.

Manny handed them a beer and then sighed when he spotted his girl dancing, making Jason and Johnny chuckle.

"We're all so far gone," Johnny said.

"As it should be," Francis said. He is so over the moon over his son and wife. Stan and Francis had gotten closer and he thinks of him as a son too.

They held up their drinks.

"To love and family."

A year later, a married Eva and Manny had a little girl they named Grace and later, two boys. It would take another year before Elizabeth got pregnant and got the shock of her life when it's twins—a boy and a girl and then three years later another boy. Piph had one more child, a girl, and their family was complete. Johnny and Nicole had another girl and Diane and Lorenzo adopted a boy. Blackie and Emily eventually split and Emily got married to a doctor. After much scheming, the women hooked up Blackie with a nurse at the hospital and they tied the knot three years later.

No matter what the group encountered, they watched out for each other. Love binds them together, a bond that no outsider could break and it's the glue that makes them a family.

The End