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Chapter 27
"Another of your dresses?" Jason wanted to know when his girlfriend came out of the bathroom.
"Yup. That's kind of the theme for the weekend." Liz said with a small smile. "Normally I'm not that egotistical, but I felt like that's how it should be."
"I like this one. What's the color?" Jason was watching her. Last night, or early this morning, had been rough. Elizabeth had a couple nightmares, but there hadn't been any screaming. She had settled down and gotten some sleep but he was thinking there would be napping later today.
"Peach." Liz didn't own much in this color, but when she did her spring/summer line last year the hue had been sprinkled throughout the collection. This was a perfect day dress for summer brunch. The garment had thin spaghetti straps and white crocheted lace along the hem. She had on her favorite white wedges along with her jewelry to finish the look.
"You look good in it." Jason walked over and kissed her shoulder.
"I'm enjoying your outfit too." Liz smiled wider as their eyes connected in the mirror she was standing in front of. "A dress shirt with jeans is a good look for you." His shirt was black and open at the throat.
Jason kissed the side of her neck before saying anything. This was a level of dressing up he didn't mind. So it wouldn't be painful to add button down shirts to his wardrobe and wearing one a couple of times a week. What would make it a really easy transition was that his girlfriend didn't need the change. "We don't have to stay very long."
She turned in his arms and gave him a smirk. "Lila is hosting everyone to celebrate my new boutique. So leaving early would be rude."
"My grandmother adores you. If you want to leave ten minutes after arriving she would let you." Jason pointed out.
"That's because I'm irresistible." Liz said before laughing.
"You are." Jason agreed before kissing her lips. "That was why I couldn't stop myself from falling in love with you."
She couldn't help but blush as her heart filled. He so effortlessly gave her every part of himself. "I love you too. I keep trying to find the words to let you know how much, and I keep failing. So I'm doing my best to show you so that you feel it."
"I do feel it." He didn't know she was worrying about that. "Every day, all the time, I feel how much you love me. In big ways like you dropping everything to take care of me when I'm hurt. Or smaller ways when you remind me to eat lunch. You spoil me." Jason said grinning. "I've never had anyone do that before."
"Have I ruined you for anyone else?" Liz liked hearing that he knew how much he meant to her.
"Totally." Jason kissed her again. "We should go." He was very much aware of the bed that was behind them.
"Yes we should." Liz leaned up and kissed him. "You gotta let me go so I can grab our bag."
Jason reached over and snagged the garment bag that Elizabeth carried into the gatehouse last night when Max dropped her off. "What else do we need?"
Liz laughed out loud and gave him another kiss. "You're going to be a handful."
"Which means you should stay close to keep me out of trouble." Jason said with a wicked grin.
"Shameless." Liz tried to come across annoyed and failed miserably. "Let's go, your grandmother is waiting for us." Even though it sucked she stepped back and out of his arms. If she didn't then they would miss brunch. That wasn't an option because of the surprise she had planned. "Let's go."
"Okay." Jason said following her to the bedroom door. "This afternoon it's you and me in the penthouse with no one else."
"Deal." Liz said before opening the door to their room. It was time to go hang out with their friends.
"Hi!" Liz smiled at Carly who was on Emily's phone. "How is London?"
"Fabulous!" Carly responded smiling wide. "If I didn't have you guys back in Port Charles I would seriously consider moving here full time." AJ loved the European capital and they came at least four times a year. Generally they didn't stay as long as they would this time. The doctors didn't want Carly flying until they got a better handle on her blood pressure issues, Dr. Meadows was in full agreement. So they would be in England until she got the all clear.
"When are you guys coming home?" Liz wanted to know.
Carly was laughing too hard to answer because Nadine was standing behind Liz making faces. "We should be back in time for the grand opening of your shop! Congrats!" She was proud of her friend. She had offered Elizabeth space in the hotel last year, but she had said no thank you. Liz turned Carly down because the rent would be too much and the designer wouldn't accept a discount. Carly got the need to do something on your own, however she had wanted to lock Liz in a closet until she changed her mind.
"Thanks." Liz said smiling. "Work starts tomorrow. I'm going to try to not drive by every day."
"I know that feeling." Carly nodded knowingly. "At least with the hotel I have a reason to be there on a daily basis. So I have to make myself stay out of the work areas." Normally that would be hard, but with the baby to think of Carly was behaving herself. "Emily said you got something new that I needed to see."
"Believe me I wasn't going to let this call end without me showing you this." Liz put her hand in front of the phone.
"Yes!" Carly said doing a happy dance. Since she was on her computer she had to get up. "When is the wedding?"
"Slow your roll missy." Liz was laughing at her friend. "This is not an engagement ring. This is Jason wanting me to know that he loves me ring."
"He said the words?" Carly said sitting back down. Jason had yet to say those three words to any woman he wasn't related to. Nor had he ever given any of his exes a ring.
"He has." Liz assured her friend.
"Okay. I can wait for a wedding then. I'll be sure to take my vitamins so I can wrestle Emily for the matron of honor position." Carly said with a huge grin.
"Emily would be a maid of honor." Liz said mainly to irritate her friend.
"She'll be a lovely bridesmaid." Carly replied as a comeback. "I'm really happy for both of you. I know this is what that both of you have wanted for a while now. We'll celebrate when AJ and I get home." She said getting serious for a moment.
"Thanks. The timing was what it needed to be. Even though we were driving you guys crazy." Liz ended on a laugh.
"Who else can I talk to?" Carly wanted to catch up with her friends and the time change meant she was going to have to go soon. They were going to a friend's country estate for dinner. She needed to get ready, and then they had a one hour drive.
"Hold on." Liz looked around and spotted Georgie. "Carly."
"Thanks." Georgie said smiling at their friend.
Liz walked over to where Jason was sitting. "Did you reach him?" Sonny wasn't here yet and the guys didn't know why. He wasn't answering his phone, and Ritchie kept saying that the mob boss was still in the house.
"Yes." Jason stretched out his legs and when he sat back up he snagged his girlfriend pulling her onto his lap. "He said something came up and he is heading over now."
"If you need to handle some business its fine." Liz wanted him to know.
Jason looked at the clock. It was twelve-thirty and brunch had been going on for almost an hour now. His partner was one of the reasons the blonde mob boss was so aware of the time. Sonny was never late for things. The other reason was that that Elizabeth's parents were not here yet. For some reason Edward was upset with the Drs. Webber. Jason knew his grandfather was trying to hide that from Elizabeth. "He said it was personal and that he would explain when he got here."
"You think something is wrong?" Liz ran her arm up and down her boyfriend's arm. He was a little tense.
"Something is up for sure." Jason said giving her a smile. "I don't think it's anything bad though. If he was in trouble he would say something."
"I agree with that statement. He would come to you if he was in trouble." Liz leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss. "Is he still picking up Alexis?" The attorney wasn't here either. Sonny had offered to bring her.
"I would assume so, since he volunteered and she isn't already here." Jason looked at his girlfriend. "If he was having a personal problem he might have wanted to talk about it with Alexis. To get advice. I didn't ask Ritchie if she was over at Greystone."
"Ms. Liz?" Alice came into the room. "Sorry to interrupt."
"Hi Alice." Liz really liked Lila's housekeeper/companion. She just wished the woman wouldn't call her Ms.
"You have a visitor." The housekeeper really liked Ms. Liz, and she was glad that it looked like she was sticking around.
"Thank you." Liz knew who that was. "Do me a favor please?"
"Sure." Jason didn't know that Elizabeth had invited anyone to brunch. He knew she would have cleared it with his grandmother first.
"Go get Johnny and drag him into the foyer." Liz said standing up. "Thanks." She gave Jason another kiss and walked from the parlor. "Hi."
"Hi." Karen said smiling. "Thanks for the invite, and the upcoming introduction."
"You're welcome on both accounts." Liz had dressed Karen for his meet and greet. Johnny's favorite color was blue, so that was what she put the model in. Liz looked over her shoulder and saw the guys coming this way. "Here he comes." The two ladies stood there smiling.
"Ladies." Johnny said stopping suddenly. Surprising him was hard, really hard. It was one of Francis's ongoing missions in life to surprise Johnny. So far only Jason had managed to pull it off. Now Liz could add her name to the list.
"Johnny, this is Karen Wexler. Karen, this is Johnny O'Brien. Now I'm going to go." Liz said extracting herself from the conversation. She grabbed Jason's hand and pulled him into the parlor. "Let's give them a minute."
"Did you see Johnny's face?" Jason asked laughing. "You didn't tell him she was coming?" His friend's face said that much.
Liz just gave her guy an angelic smile.
"I'm going to have to watch you." Jason wished he had snapped a picture of Johnny's face.
"Enjoy the view." Liz said walking over to where the ladies were sitting.
"Hi." Johnny said recovering his balance. "It's nice to meet you." Suddenly he felt a little like a perv. He couldn't say that he saw her on the site and thought she was hot. Standing here in front of him with less makeup on he thought she was stunning.
"It's nice to meet you as well." Karen shook the hand he extended. "Liz has said some really nice things about you." When Elizabeth offered to make the introductions Karen didn't hesitate to say yes.
"I'll have to thank her for that." Johnny said grinning. "She hasn't told me a thing about you. Wait that's not true, she told me a little, none of which included that you were coming today."
Karen gave him a smile. "Liz mentioned to me that she told you who my ex was. We don't have contact anymore so Jagger should not be showing up and trying to get you to back off." Her knee to the cheating man's groin had been her parting comment. The few calls he made to try to explain she had simply let go to voicemail before deleting them. "I've seen you around. Mostly at Kelly's."
"I must need my vision checked because I don't remember seeing you." Johnny let her know.
"I didn't go in." Karen admitted trying not to blush. "I looked a mess."
"I doubt that's possible." Johnny said flirting. She was confident in herself because she was maintaining eye contact during their conversation. He also got that she was nervous meeting him. Whether that was because she was worried about getting her heart broken again, or because of who he worked for Johnny wasn't sure. Whatever the root cause, he hoped to put her at ease soon.
Karen just smiled wider. She liked a guy who took the time to flirt. Johnny worked for Sonny and Jason, and really all she knew about them was what Stone used to say. Plus what Liz currently said. Which was all good things. So despite what people said about them Karen was going to let Johnny prove whether or not he was a good guy.
"Liz also mentioned that you started college recently. After that she didn't say anything else." Johnny wanted it clear what they had talked about.
"I did. I think I may go for a degree in nursing. Maybe I'll become a nurse practitioner." Karen wasn't sure yet. "I've also been looking into maybe becoming a forensic nurse."
"Both are good professions. My friend's fiancée is a nurse practitioner. She's in the parlor. I can introduce you, after I show you the buffet." Johnny said being a good host.
"Okay." Karen knew it was early yet, but she had a good feeling about Johnny O'Brien.
"Right this way." Johnny escorted Karen to the dining room. He would make sure they stayed around everyone else so that she felt safe, but he was hoping to snag a private corner for them to continue this conversation.
"Okay, spill it." Jason looked at the three people who were in a huddle.
"Spill what?" Monica wanted to know.
"I've been watching him." Jason pointed to his grandfather. "He's been watching Elizabeth. Now the three of you are huddled together all shooting looks at my girlfriend. What's up? And does it have anything to do with her parents not being here yet?" It was just past one now.
"What makes you think that this has anything to do with Jeff and Carolyn?" Alan said trying to keep a blank face.
"Because I'm better at this than you are." Jason said point blank. "Where are they?"
"They should be coming at some point." Edward wasn't going to try to bluff Jason. "I imagine close to when brunch is wrapping up. They won't want a lot of Elizabeth's friends here."
"Why?" Jason wanted to know.
"I can't tell you." Edward really hated that. "It's tied up in hospital board business." Which meant he had to stay silent until the official announcement tomorrow. "What I will say."
"Father." Alan didn't want the hospital to get sued.
"What I will say is don't let her talk to them alone." Edward wasn't going to be stopped.
"I don't particularly like them and I'm guessing that isn't going to change after today." Jason said pinching his nose. His brain was trying to find a clue in what Edward had just said. How would hospital business upset Elizabeth? Unless one of her parents was being terminated for doing something inappropriate. That could also make them want less witnesses. "Thank you for the warning."
Edward just nodded. "Sonny and Alexis are here."
Jason turned and just blinked in surprise. The silence that was settling over the room said that everyone else had noticed the late arrivals as well. A very slow smile started to spread over his face and he looked over at his girlfriend who shook her head no. Meaning she had no idea. Since no one else was moving Jason did. "Congratulations." He said sticking out his hand.
"Thanks." Sonny said shaking it.
Liz walked over as well, she was temporarily hosting because Lila was out of the room. "Hi. Congratulations." She gave out hugs to Sonny and Alexis. "When is the baby due?"
"Five months." Alexis said placing her hand on her stomach. This was what had caused them to be late. She had woken up this morning with bump that nothing in her wardrobe would hide. In the baby books they described how in some women this happened. Alexis knew that they couldn't hide this forever, and they had been planning on having everyone over this weekend to share the news. Only the belly beat them to it. "I had a wardrobe crisis."
"Liz is a designer, she probably could have helped you with that." Diane called out from across the room. She hadn't even suspected that a baby was the reason Alexis had been feeling poorly.
"Elizabeth doesn't make maternity clothes." Alexis shot her partner a look. Diane was going to have a lot of fun with this over the next few days. Alexis and Sonny had done everything they could to not let anyone know they were seeing one another. Enduro had failed and now they were going to be parents. Alexis was going to strangle her nephew when she saw him again. Cassadine Industries should have issued the recall sooner. Fortunately she and Sonny were in a good place, so this baby was bringing them even closer instead of causing them stress.
"Both of you are good?" Elizabeth steered her friend to the couch to get her off her feet.
"The first semester was a little rough, but we managed." Alexis looked at all the smiles. Everyone was happy for them. "We wanted to wait until I cleared the twelve week mark to make the announcement. We also wanted you and Jason home."
"Why didn't you say anything on Friday?" Diane wanted to know.
"Because that was Liz and Jason's night." Alexis wasn't stealing anyone's thunder. "We were planning something for this week. We still are because today is about Elizabeth's new boutique."
"Yeah because we are just going to ignore the bump." Cody said with a smirk. They were going to leave Alexis alone, but Sonny was another story. Looking at his boss the enforcer could see that the older man already realized that.
Sonny just shook his head. "If Alexis says ignore the bump. Then ignore the bump." That was for the guys. There was no way the ladies were going to listen. "Who is Johnny's friend?" She looked vaguely familiar.
"Karen Wexler." Johnny said making the introductions.
"Stone talked about you." Sonny shook her hand.
"I can say the same. Thank you for being so good to him." Karen knew that Jagger never said those words even though he should have.
"He was family." Sonny said letting the topic drop. "I'll fix you a plate." He told Alexis.
"Start with dessert." Alexis said grinning. She was craving sweet things and Sonny was driving her nuts with his healthy meal plans.
"Congrats, we need a due date, so we can start planning a shower." Emily said getting out her phone and pulling up the calendar.
"Can I talk to you?" Sonny asked since his girlfriend was busy.
"Sure." Jason followed his friend to the patio. Francis, Johnny, Cody, and Max invited themselves along. "Want me to send them back inside?" Jason wanted to know.
"It's fine. They might be able to help." Sonny was fighting off a blush as he made his confession. "I've been trying to get Alexis to marry me since the stick turned blue. She keeps saying no."
"Did you ask before the stick turned blue?" Jason immediately saw what the problem was, and he was guessing that Sonny knew it as well.
"No. I know she thinks this is about the baby, and part of it is. I want my child to grow up in home with two parents. I love her. I said that before the baby, so she knows it." Sonny explained his position. "I wouldn't marry her if I didn't love her."
"How long have you two been seeing one another anyway?" Johnny wanted to know. He had completely missed this pairing.
"Six months before the baby." Sonny grinned, they had managed to keep their relationship in the dark for half a year. "Alexis didn't want to deal with the press. I agreed. Living my life in the spot light has not worked out so well for me in the past. I was ready for a mature and adult relationship." He looked at his friends. "I don't want to mess this up. Alexis is the one."
"Wait until the baby is born." Francis told his boss. "Not right after." Because that was what Sonny would do. "Maybe not until your child's first birthday."
"I don't want to wait a year." Sonny said frowning.
"Between now and then make Alexis your priority along with the baby." Johnny told Sonny. "Your actions will show that she isn't just an obligation. Show her you want to get married."
"Just don't lose your temper." Jason warned his partner. "You still occasionally have a hard time with the word no. Pushing is going to make her resist more. Your girlfriend is stubborn." He said grinning. "Which you know because she won't marry you."
"Is she still living at the Metro Court?" Alexis didn't want a unit in the Towers and now they could all guess why. She probably would have felt like a kept woman.
"Not as of this morning. I got her to agree to move into Greystone." Sonny told them. "She's also getting a guard. I figured Milo." Right now the youngest Giambetti brother wasn't assigned to anyone.
Jason shook his head. "Johnny. Alexis is pregnant so she gets an enforcer. After the baby is born we can discuss switching him and Milo." They wanted to send a clear message that Alexis was not just Sonny's mistress.
"We get along well." O'Brien would be fine with this assignment. "Cody should be with Jason then."
Again Jason shook his head. "No. Cody needs to be with Sonny. As a boss you should have had an enforcer as protection before now. Milo will be with me, until the baby is born."
"What about Ritchie?" Sonny wasn't going to argue with Jason, but he didn't want to insult his long time guard either. Ritchie was outstanding at his job.
"I'll put Ritchie with Emily." Jason knew that was still a very high profile assignment, and one the guard would be excellent at. He also knew that Ritchie wasn't going to be upset. The guys didn't take these assignments personally, because Cody made it clear that they could change at a moment's notice. The former solider actually liked moving the guys around because it kept them sharp. "It's time to officially promote Marco."
"I hate to point this out, but you are a boss as well." Francis said with a grin. "So by your own logic you should have an enforcer with you."
"I was an enforcer." Jason explained why he didn't really need Johnny or Cody. "Sonny never was." It was no slight to his partner. It was just that Jason had skills Sonny didn't. "Milo is an excellent guard. So it's not like I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel. I had Milo on my short mental list to guard Elizabeth until Johnny suggested Max." Jason looked at the big guard. "You were on the list with your brother." He wanted him to know.
"I get it." Max didn't need his ego stroked. "But thanks." He did appreciate knowing Jason respected him.
"Thanks for the advice." Sonny was grateful for his friends. "I need to make sure my girlfriend is eating her vegetables." He said walking into the parlor.
"This is going to be fun." Johnny said smiling wide.
"Yup." Jason agreed laughing as they went back inside.
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