Foreward: I should probably explain that the events leading up to this story are NOT the same as what's currently showing on Guiding Light. In this version, pretty much everything up to Lizzie and Sarah's reunion is the same. After that, Lizzie and Jonathan gradually made peace and figured out how to co-parent, but never tried to get married. They're just friends. Bill and Ava's relationship ended differently than it did on the show, too, but that'll be explained in a few chapters. So don't get confused by how Bill's not remembering Jonathan proposing to Lizzie or anything- it just didn't happen in this version of the story.

Disclaimer: This is purely a work of fiction, written for fun, not profit. I have nothing to do with Guiding Light, and no share in the ownership of it.

CHAPTER THREE: DELAYING THE INEVITABLE

Lizzie was still worried about Bill the next morning, but when she got to Cross Creek and saw her little girl she set those worries aside for awhile. Even after five months she still sometimes feared that having Sarah back was just a dream. But her daughter was alive, and had Lizzie- along with half the town- wrapped around her little finger. Lizzie suspected that Sarah knew it, too.

"Hi, Lizzie," Reva said cheerfully when she opened the door, giving Lizzie a quick hug. "No Bill? I thought he was coming with you."

"So did I, but he has plans," Lizzie said with a sigh, then rushed over to her daughter and scooped her out of her seat, kissing her cheeks. "And how's my little girl doing this morning, hmm?" she cooed, beaming when Sarah smiled and babbled back.

"Your little girl was all set up in there," Jonathan complained as he walked into the room.

She rolled her eyes at him. "I can put her back. It's not that hard." She kissed the tip of Sarah's nose and whispered, "Men," in a tone of mock-disgust, delighted when Sarah giggled.

"She definitely has my intelligence," she declared, settling her back in her seat.

"I don't want to know," Jonathan muttered, rubbing Sarah's dark hair.

They just watched their daughter adoringly for a few minutes, making faces and playing with her until Reva served the pancakes.

Then, just after they'd all started eating, Jonathan just had to ruin the nice mood.

"So, Bill couldn't make it- what a shame," he commented in a tone that made it clear that it was anything but.

Lizzie rolled her eyes. "Like I said, he's busy. He'll come with me next time."

"Oh, goody," Jonathan said sarcastically.

"I thought parenting was supposed to mature people."

"Have you looked in the mirror lately?"

"Children, please," Reva interrupted impatiently, swatting Jonathan's shoulder. "Not at the table. Some of us are trying to eat."

Lizzie sighed and went back to her food. "He might be meeting with Alan or something," she commented. "Ava was talking to him about it yesterday- or something like that, anyway." She glanced at Reva. "I swear, when she visits it's like the-" she quickly covered her daughter's ears, "sluttiness soaks into the walls or something. Any idea of what to do about that?" She let her hands drop, touching Sarah's cheek before focusing on Reva.

"Nice, Lizzie," Jonathan said dryly.

She rolled her eyes. "Did I ask your opinion?"

Reva looked like she was struggling not to laugh. "Well I've had to deal with that when Olivia drops by, so I'll see what I can do to help."

"Thanks," Lizzie said, and laughed quickly. "I'm just glad she's not after Bill anymore. She even seemed mad at him yesterday."

"Not after Bill?" Jonathan's eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, she and Bill kind of had a thing for awhile when he came back to town," she said with a dismissive hand wave, trying to sound casual. "It pretty much ended right after you came back, actually. It didn't really mean anything, and he hasn't talked to her much since then, so-"

"How do you know? He let her into your room, didn't he?"

"Jonathan, it's not like that," she said defensively. "Really. They were just talking about business."

He looked less than convinced. "Bill said that?"

"Yes."

"And you believed him?"

Lizzie tried to ignore the twinge of doubt in the back of her mind. "Of course I do," she insisted. "I trust him. He cares about me, and he never cared about her. I know that."

"Yeah, because he's such a stand-up guy. He's never lied to you or hurt you- oh, wait."

"Jonathan, it's Lizzie's choice," Reva pointed out.

"Yeah, it is." His sharp eyes met Lizzie's. "I just don't see why she won't choose to do better."

Sarah had been looking back and forth between them, growing more agitated the more they let their civil facades slip. Before Lizzie could respond to Jonathan's latest remark, Sarah burst into tears.

She quickly stood. "I'll get this," she muttered, not looking at Jonathan.

"If you want, I can-" Reva said quickly.

"No, it's fine, I got it."

"Lizzie-" It was Jonathan's attempt at a pacifying tone, the one that always drove her nuts. Like she was the one overreacting.

"I'm not that hungry, anyway," she said sharply, pulling off Sarah's bib and quickly cleaning her hands with a napkin. That taken care of, she settled her daughter on her hip and headed for the living room.

Jonathan, never one to give up easily, started to stand up but Reva grabbed his arm to hold him back. Lizzie could hear them speaking in hushed, terse voices as she exited the room.

She sat down on the couch, rocking Sarah back and forth. The little girl quieted quickly, as usual. Lizzie sighed, pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

"I know you're still hungry, but let's just sit here for a minute, okay?" she asked softly, rubbing her daughter's back. Sarah tucked her head against Lizzie, and she couldn't help gathering her close.

"Bill cares about me," she murmured, smiling down at her daughter. "He does. Daddy just doesn't like him, so of course he wants me to think the worst. But Mommy's smarter than that, isn't she?"

But she couldn't help remembering how strangely Bill had been acting after Ava had left. There's nothing going on, Lizzie, she told herself. If he wanted to be with her, he would tell me. He never had a problem with hurting me before, so he'd do it now. He hasn't, so it's okay. There's nothing to worry about.

Right?

Shortly after breakfast, Jonathan walked Lizzie back out to her car, bringing Sarah with him. Alan hadn't been a threat for a long time, but Jonathan had spent almost a year as Sarah's sole caretaker- well, except for the brief time that Aubrey had been around to help out, too- and he still kept her close whenever he could. Not that Lizzie could comment, since she tended to do the same thing.

"Look, I'm- I'm sorry about breakfast," Jonathan finally said, though she could tell that he was forcing the words out. "But I still don't see why you'd bother with him after he-"

"You and I don't exactly have a great history, but we gave each other another chance," she pointed out.

He rolled his eyes. "That's different. We have Sarah. We have to get along. Besides, we're not dating."

"You don't need to sound so happy about it," she teased.

"Aren't you? We might have Sarah, but if we actually tried to make it work between us we'd probably end up killing each other. You get so jealous-"

"I get jealous?" She gaped at him. "What about you? Whenever guys so much as looked at Tammy you'd freak out."

"I wasn't jealous, I was protective," he informed her loftily. "There's a difference."

"Whatever. Look, Bill hurt me. I know that. But we care about each other, so I gave him a chance to do better, and so far he has. Isn't that what happened with you and Tammy?"

He looked down, staring hard at the ground. "She deserved better," he muttered.

"She needed you," Lizzie said softly.

"So you need Bill?"

She paused, tilting her head thoughtfully. "I don't know," she finally told him, "but I do know that I want a chance to find out."

He sighed. "Well it's your funeral. But if there is something going on with him and Ava, tell me, okay? I'll deal with it."

She smiled wryly. "Jonathan, I'm a Spaulding. I think I can get my own revenge. But thanks." She leaned up and kissed Sarah's cheeks, then briefly squeezed Jonathan's hand. They traded quick smiles before she slipped into her car and drove away.

Three days later, Lizzie wasn't feeling any better about Bill. On the contrary, she grew more worried than ever.

She sat at her meeting with Billy, drumming her pen against her notepad and listening half-heartedly to what her mentor was saying. Most of her mind was worrying about Bill. He'd been quiet again when she had seen him in his office, like he hadn't really been paying attention to her.

"Lizzie," Billy said abruptly, startling her out of her reverie. She glanced up at him, eyes wide, and found him frowning at her. "Darlin', you haven't heard a word I'm saying. What's the matter?"

"Nothing… maybe… I don't know…" She tapped the pen even harder, then tossed it aside. "It's Bill. He's driving me crazy!"

"What's my boy done this time?" he asked with a long-suffering sigh.

"Well, it's just…" She bit her lip, "sometimes he gets so quiet and out of it, you know? It's like he doesn't even notice I'm there, and when I try to ask him what's wrong he pretends like everything's normal. And then- like yesterday he got me all those roses, remember? At work, and at home- everywhere I went it was like there were more. And he took me out to dinner the day before that, and-"

"Uh-oh, roses and dinner?" Billy teased. "That sounds terrible."

"I'm serious, Billy!" she exclaimed indignantly. "He wasn't being romantic. I've seen him romantic, and that wasn't it. He seems… I don't know, sort of desperate, like he's trying too hard. I'm really worried about him, Billy!"

"Sssh, darlin', it's okay," he said gently, getting up and going over to her. "I'm taking this seriously. I am. Do you want me to talk to him?"

"No, it's okay." She waved a hand dismissively, wished that she could really take it so lightly. "I'll take care of it. I just… I needed someone to talk to, I guess."

"Well you know I'll always listen."

She smiled. "I know, Billy. Thank you."

"I should be the one thanking you," he said lightly, putting his hand on her shoulder. "You're the one who's been so good to my boy, even when he didn't deserve it."

Lizzie shrugged a shoulder. "Nobody's perfect, right?" she said with an embarrassed laugh. "Besides, I… I know what it's like to hurt people because they won't give you what you need. I'm so glad neither of us are like that anymore. We're both- we're more mature now, and we're together, and we'll be okay, no matter what's going on with Bill." She wished that she could say all that without needing someone else to confirm it for her.

Bill was supposed to be looking at plans for one of his latest projects, but he kept getting distracted by thoughts of Lizzie and Ava, like he had ever since Ava had told him about her pregnancy. He was no closer to figuring out how to tell Lizzie now than he had been when he himself had first found out. He'd been trying to do all the nice things he could think of for Lizzie over the past few days, like any of it could make up for getting another woman pregnant. He knew it was futile, but couldn't help hoping that when Lizzie found out she would realize that all those gifts and acts meant that he did care about her and want her in his life, no matter what, and that no baby could change that.

It won't change how she feels about me, either, he tried to reassure himself. It couldn't. I know how much she- well, maybe not loves yet, but she definitely cares about me. She can handle this. She knows Ava means nothing to me, so she won't worry about that, and she… she won't leave me. He tried to shake off that thought and momentarily wished that he could go back to when he had first arrived in town and Lizzie was nothing but competition for the spot he'd thought he deserved at the company. That had been so much easier than how vulnerable she'd made him now.

His office door opened, catching him off guard, and when he glanced up he saw that Ava had strode into his office and was glaring at him. "Don't you know how to knock?" he asked, too caught off-guard to really think about his words.

She looked disgusted. "You've been ignoring my calls for three days," she snapped. "That's not going to make this go away, Bill."

"I need time to deal with it," he insisted, standing and folding his arms over his chest.

Ava marched over to his desk, matching his posture. "Well, guess what? You don't have time, and neither do I. We're going to be parents, and the sooner you accept that-"

Bill heard a gasp. He quickly looked towards the doorway, eyes widening when he saw who was standing there…