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Chapter 17

"Would you mind if I spent the morning working on my dress?" Liz asked over breakfast. She hadn't done any work on it at all yesterday and now she was behind. If she spent the morning in her make shift studio then she could hopefully finish up. Her hand was slowing her down some.

"Sure. Do you need me to take off?" Jason was sitting at the table drinking his coffee and enjoying the view of her pretty face.

"No, just stay out of the room while I'm sewing." Liz gave him a look.

"I'm not curious by nature." Jason put his mug on the table and leaned on his elbows so he was closer to Elizabeth. "I do want to know what this dress looks like. You've been very pretty in everything I've seen so far."

Liz blushed a light pink as she leaned forward too. "I think you will like this dress as well." She let him know. This close up his eyes were even more stunning. "So what will you do while I'm occupied?"

"Can I plan what we do today?" Jason wanted to know.

"Absolutely." Liz knew that he would pick something fun. "Since you've won the bet already you can plan everything we do for the rest of the trip." She said laughing. "The door will be closed so just knock and let me know what time I need to be done by."

"We'll leave when you are finished." Jason told her.

"At some point you're going to have to set boundaries for me. Otherwise I'm just going to run amok." Liz had seen that even before they started dating Jason had a hard time to telling her no, or that she couldn't do something. That made her careful to not take advantage of him.

"You only need boundaries when you are around someone who means you harm." Jason covered his hand with his. "I'm safer with you than I've ever been in my life." He kissed her palm and watched pleasure come into her eyes. "Go work on your dress. I need to make some plans with the guys. Do you want me to call Max to come sit with you?"

"You'll just be down the path?" Liz's stomach was jumping already, but she thought she was ready.

"Just down the path. I can be here in three minutes." Jason knew what she was about to say.

"I'll be fine." Liz wasn't going to be alone. Just in the bungalow alone. There was nothing to be afraid of.

"Okay." Jason kissed her palm again since he was still cradling her hand in his. "If you need me, call." He would leave it at that.

"I know. That helps." Liz would give him that.

"I'll clean up and get going." Jason reached for her plate. He had made French toast for her.

"I'll do it." The cleanup would help her to settle before she started on the dress. Liz grabbed her plate and coming around the table dropped a kiss on his lips. "Have fun with the guys."

Jason nodded before walking to the doorway of the kitchen. He turned and watched her for a few seconds. She was pushing, but he trusted that she knew when she could do so. With a small smile he headed to the front door. Locking up behind him he went down the path and knocked on the door.

"Hey, I was expecting you to call before coming over." Max said as he answered the door and admitted Jason. The guys were in the living room watching sports because they had already finished breakfast.

"Elizabeth said she was okay on her own this morning." Jason said grabbing a seat.

"You believe her?" Johnny asked his friend.

"I believe that she is strong enough to handle anything life throws at her." Jason said with complete conviction.

"What fun and whacky things does Liz have planned for us today?" Renaldo figured if they kept Jason busy he wouldn't stress over his girlfriend. Much. Renaldo still had days where he worried that Leyla wasn't doing well.

"I planned today's outing." Jason told the crew. "We will be in several different locations over the course of the day." He said getting the meeting underway.


Instead of loading up the dishwasher, she cleaned everything by hand. While Liz was washing the plate she used, the utensils, the pan Jason used, and their mugs she concentrated on taking steady and even breaths. She started with the pan to give herself time to stop shaking. By the time she got to the glass that she had her orange juice in she was steady.

"On to my sewing." Liz said drying her hands. She had to take off her brace to do the dishes and opted not to put it back on. If her hand started to hurt she would take a short break. The pinning would be the hardest part because the machine would do the stitching with minimal guidance. Sewers had come a long way since the days she was sitting in front of her gram's machine.

She brewed some tea and then made the short trip to her studio. On the other side of the window were the most beautiful flowers. Before leaving she would be snapping some pictures. There were definitely going to be some floral patterns in the line she was designing now, but what she really wanted to take from this trip were the colors. A call to Diane might need to happen. Liz would love to be able to bring some of these plants home, but it was probably illegal.

Putting down her mug she turned to look at the pieces of fabric that had been cut. They were beautiful. She was planning to return to the fabric store and getting a bolt of it because she wanted that to be featured in her line as well. The form had half the dress on it already. The skirt because Liz liked to work from the bottom up.

Picking up a piece of scalloped lace she quickly pinned it in place. Next she selected one section from what was eventually going to be the bodice and lined that up as well, using pins to keep it in place. There wasn't a need for a lot of thinking for this part, it was more a matter of muscle memory. Of letting her hands do what they knew needed to happen. It was at moments like this that she felt her grandmother's spirit close. She could still hear her gram gently helping her younger self make corrections to the garments they made.

She did have to take a break, but in just under an hour the entire dress was on the form. Now came what would be the longest part of the process. Certain segments needed to be hand sewn before she could move to her sewer. Grabbing the chair from the desk in the room, Liz adjusted it to the proper height and bent to her task.


"Is this okay?" Elizabeth came out of the bedroom and showed off her outfit. She had been wearing a sundress earlier. When he came home Jason said that she would probably be more comfortable in shorts for what he planned, so she went to get changed. He had also changed from his jeans and t-shirt. Now he was in athletic shorts and a sleeveless athletic top. And looking mighty fine.

"That should be good." Jason nodded at the denim shorts and light green crochet topped. She had also changed into the slip ons that she wore out on Sonny's yacht which would be perfect for the outing.

"So where are we heading?" She wanted to know.

"The resort." Jason replied holding open the door. "We are going to be there for a few hours. Have lunch and then move to a different location."

"You are being mysterious." Liz smiled at him from the passenger seat. "I like that."

"You'll have fun." He was positive about that.

"I read about the resort on the flight down. You and Sonny offer a lot of activities." Both on and off the property. "Golf, tennis, horseback riding. I saw zip lining excursions. Hiking excursions. Kayaking. Parasailing. Cooking workshops. Art classes. There is yoga, and of course there is the casino." Liz said going down the list and naming the things she remembered. "I was impressed reading it."

"We charge a lot of money so folks should get something for that." Jason usually stopped in the general manager's office to read customer reviews when he was down here. If something wasn't working it got addressed immediately. It was the same way at the resort on Sonny's island. "During one of our many future trips down we can stay on the resort grounds." There were two owner's suites.

"I'm going to take you up on that at some point. I think it would be a fun experience." Liz wouldn't probably do that until she had a few trips under her belt. The bungalow was really nice and relaxing.

"Cody mentioned that Nadine was thinking of having a bachelorette party weekend down here. If she does that you'll most likely stay at the resort then." Jason passed along, but the ladies could use the compound if they wanted.

"She mentioned that, it would be a way to celebrate her getting on a plane for the first time. Nadine doesn't want to be a wreck on her flight to their honeymoon, so she wants a practice run. Cody might have his bachelor party down here as well." Liz responded as Jason got on the private road to the resort. "I was excited about the possibility of coming down. Now I'm excited about the possibility of returning."

"I did offer to send you last year for your birthday." Jason reminded her. "You said it was too big of a gift."

"I'm glad I waited, I'm enjoying this first time down here being with you." Liz smiled at him as they reached the security check point. He drove them to the main shopping area before parking. The guys were on either side of them. She noted that today the crew was dressed similar to Jason. "We're shopping?" She asked surprised.

"Gear is required." Jason said continuing to be cryptic. His items were in the back of the SUV. The guys had their stuff too. Only Elizabeth needed to be outfitted. "Renaldo." He turned to his friend.

"Come on Liz." He said holding open the door to a sporting goods shop.

She was guessing they were going golfing. Jason occasionally played with his grandfather. Sonny also played. It wasn't something Liz was itching to learn, but she wasn't opposed to a day out on the course either. She would need to pick up a hat. Only they walked right past all that equipment. "Wetsuits?" She asked when they stopped.

Renaldo nodded and smiled. "I'm a certified scuba and snorkeling instructor." Leyla wanted to learn and she didn't feel comfortable going out with a strange man. So Renaldo took the classes to get certified that way he knew the correct way to help her learn.

"Scuba and snorkeling." Liz repeated surprised. "You just have all kinds of skills."

"That I do, and I'm prettier than O'Brien." Renaldo poked fun at his friend. "Today we're going to go snorkeling. After getting you outfitted we have one of the indoor instruction areas booked and we are going to spend a couple of hours in the water getting the basics down. Then if everything looks good we'll go out into the open water so you can see some fish." If she wanted to learn scuba he would give her the name of an instructor in Port Charles, because that took a lot longer to learn.

"Okay." Liz turned and smiled at her boyfriend. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Jason smiled back. He wasn't sure she would have suggested this.

"First thing you need is a wetsuit. I recommend that over a swimsuit, it just provides more protection. We won't be doing anything dangerous, but it's better to be safe than sorry." Renaldo took her over to the appropriate rack. "Shorts or long pants is up to you."

Liz pulled an all black suit with long pants out. "This is nice." Honestly there wasn't much variety in terms of styling. Color was a different matter though. The entire rainbow, and then some, was represented.

"Can I talk you into something with color? The brighter the better." Renaldo saw a yellow and black suit. "Like this. It makes it easier to spot you in the water."

"How about this instead?" Liz pulled down a suit with pink on it. She had been wearing a lot of yellow already. She didn't want to overdo it with the bright hue.

"That's good too." Renaldo thought the yellow would be better, but wasn't going to force the issue. "You need to try that on. After you get suited up I need to see you so that I know the suit fits correctly." It needed to be form fitting but not tight. "All your gear is going to be the same color as your suit. That way it's easily distinguished from everyone else's because we all have different color suits."

"Not a problem." Liz took a couple different sizes and went to the fitting rooms.


"I like your suit." Jason told his girlfriend as they sat on one of the benches on Sonny's yacht. The lessons had gone well and Renaldo said they could come out.

"I didn't want to force more yellow on you." Liz told him. "Not that I'm dressing for you, but variety is nice." The long sleeved wetsuit with shorts certainly fit the requirement of being bright.

"I like you in yellow. I wear the same thing most days, I'm not going to turn into a fashion critic." He let her know.

"Even if you were sick of it, I would have gotten this suit because it was the only one that worked." She said trying not to roll her eyes. She had to get shorts, or postpone the activity, because all the suits with long pants were too long. She also had to shop in the kids section because she was too petite for adult sizes. This suit had been the largest in the junior's area and was a perfect fit. "I really like your suit." He was in black with blue accents. Like earlier he wasn't wearing sleeves and his biceps were on display.

"Max isn't diving?" Liz wanted to know. He was the only one not suited up.

"Max doesn't like being in the water for extended periods of time. On a boat is fine though." Jason told her. "We couldn't all go down anyway. It's just not safe, we need to have someone on the ship in case something goes wrong while the group is in the water."

"Smart." Liz looked around. "Where are we diving?"

"Off the coast of Fajardo. We will be roughly an hour away from Dorado." He stretched out his legs. "It's a prime snorkeling spot, and one of the places where Renaldo prefers to go. It's more popular with the locals than the tourists. We won't be the only ones in the water though, but we will be away from most of the other folks."

"Thank you for this. It's the perfect activity for us to do." Liz leaned into him.

"I know you love the water, and this is a new way for us to experience it together." Jason had a lot of things he wanted to share with her. He wanted to show her the world, including Italy the place she wanted to see most of all. They would get there, hopefully sooner rather than later.

"Okay, we are about twenty minutes out." Renaldo came out of the wheelhouse. He and Max were the only ones in there, the rest of the crew was out on the deck. "Everyone gear up. I'll do a check before we go in. Liz make sure you stay within my line of sight." Jason would be close too, but Renaldo was her dive partner since she was a newbie.

"Okay." She said getting excited. Grabbing her fins she started getting ready to get in the water.


"You guys can look first." Renaldo handed over the camera to Liz who was sitting with Jason. They had been out of the water for almost thirty minutes and everyone was in the process of getting clean. Liz had been in one cabin, and Jason was had been across the hall. While his friends were doing that Renaldo had been going over the photos he took underwater so that Liz would have some souvenirs from the dive.

"Those fish looked almost unreal they were so colorful." Liz commented as they scrolled through the images.

"The first time I went snorkeling I think I stayed in the same spot the entire time because all I was doing was looking at the different fish." Jason was nodding his understanding. "The amazing thing about snorkeling down here is that each spot you go to has something different for you to see."

"Renaldo mentioned going back to Caja de Muertos or visiting La Paguera. He said that there are reefs at that last spot." Liz would love to see that.

"Either spot is not a problem to get to with the ship." Jason let her know. They wouldn't be going out with an unknown guide. "They would be day trips and we could do one or both before leaving for home."

"I may take you up on that." Liz could easily see herself going snorkeling each time they came down. "I might look into scuba lessons when we get back home. Would you be interested in tagging along?"

"I would. So would Em. She's been talking about that off and on for years." Jason figured they could get a group together and all go.

"We could explore the deeper waters with scuba gear." Liz imagined that there was a lot they didn't see today. "Look." She turned the camera so that she could show him a photo of the two of them together. Her suit would be the focal point that let Jason figure out the image on his own. "I'm going to ask Renaldo to forward this one to me." It was going in a frame on her wall.

"Send it to me as well." Jason didn't have a lot of pictures around, but he wanted some of them together.

"So where to now?" Liz realized that they weren't heading back to shore. Max was driving and he was taking them further away from the Seven Seas Beach which Johnny had pointed out to her when they dropped anchor.

"Wait and see." Jason dropped her a wink. "We won't be there for about an hour, how about a quick nap?

"I am a little tired." Liz hadn't slept poorly last night, but she didn't exactly sleep peacefully either. Getting up she took the camera over to Johnny who had just come up from showering before following Jason down to one of the cabins.


They ended up on the Isla de Vieques. It, and the Isla de Culebra, were also known as the Puerto Rican or Spanish Virgin Islands. They were located to the east of the main island. Vieques wasn't very large, in fact it only had one main city Isabel Segunda. The area was most famous for being a naval bombing range, and for the protests that took place eventually forcing the navy to leave.

For an island that wasn't very large, only twenty-one miles long and with just over nine thousand people, there was a good amount to do. Including a wildlife preserve where the bomb testing site once was. They also had their pick from several gorgeous beaches. They sat on the Blue Beach and watched as the sunset. Just more beautiful colors to add to the palette that Puerto Rico offered.

Dinner was eaten family style at a local restaurant, and the meal was filled with laughter. Johnny was an amazing storyteller and he kept them in stitches with stories of his childhood in Ireland. When they were done the group was shuttled to another part of the island, the place Jason had brought Elizabeth to experience.

"Mosquito Bay. That sounds a little ominous." She said laughing. "We're getting back in the water." Liz remarked as she took a life vest. "I could have brought my wetsuit."

"On the water, not in it." Jason put on the safety equipment. "In kayaks." He took a belt clip of bug repellant and placed it onto his girlfriend's belt loop before doing the same for himself. "That will keep you from getting chewed up."

"Thanks." Her curiosity was almost getting the best of her. From the building they were standing beside she couldn't even see the water. She could see a grove of trees and figured they were not going in that direction.

"We need to go sign all the waivers and then we can get going." Jason took her inside the medium sized structure where they did indeed sign papers saying that they wouldn't sue if someone drowned. Then they were invited to go back outside and select a kayak.

The guys all had individual kayaks, but she was sharing with Jason. "What types of trees are these?" Liz asked because she had been wrong earlier. The grove was clearly their destination. Lee and Max had already paddled into the cover of trees.

"Red mangroves." Jason was paddling to the right side of the kayak while Elizabeth was on the left. "Are you warm enough?"

"I am." Liz said as they passed under the trees. She felt like they were going back in time for some reason. "Tell me a little about the area." She hadn't even known this island was here.

"This bay was created by the Spanish when they colonized the island about four hundred years ago. Historians think it was an attempt to isolate the bay from the ocean. It didn't work, there is a small channel of water still coming in, but something else did happen." Jason told her as they went further into the bay and the shadows deepened. "Close your eyes for me."

"I can't paddle with my eyes closed." Liz looked over her shoulder.

"You don't need to." Jason had the situation under control.

His smile looked like he was anticipating something. Liz closed her eyes and immediately the sounds of the bay took over. The birds and insects seemed to be singing in harmony. She could smell the water and fell the very slight breeze that was keeping them from becoming overheated.

"I'm going to tell you to open your eyes in a second. When you do, look down into the water." Jason instructed as he took his paddle out of the bay. They would drift for a while. "Now."

Elizabeth lifted her lids, then looked down before gasping in delighted surprise. "Oh my." She said softly. "That is incredible. The water is glowing neon blue." It was so beautiful she just didn't have any words.

"Micro-organisms that live in the water are glowing. Dinoflagellate." He told her their name. "Whenever the water is disturbed it causes them to glow which lights up the bay. Because the trees surround the bay, keeping it in shadows, the glow seems even brighter. The Spanish settlers who created this bay thought the glowing was the work of the devil." He filled in more of the history.

Liz was listening to him as they floated and the light seemed to surround them. "I never even imagined something like this existed." She said looking over at him. "It's just…" She said trailing off and looking at the water once more.

"I know." Jason said before he settled into silence as well. He had been waiting to share this with her since they arrived. Him trying to describe it would not have done it justice so he just let her experience it for herself. It was the correct choice.

"How long can we stay?" Liz wanted to know. This would be another spot they visited on future trips.

"As long as you like." Jason let her know. They could float for the rest of the night.

Smiling Elizabeth settled in and let nature's light show wow her.


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