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Chapter 2

Jason shifted his mother in his arms and entered the mansion. Looking around all kinds of memories flooded his brain. He remembered how the entryway was always decorated for the season when his grandmother was alive. He remembered tracking mud into the house after going sledding with AJ. He remembered Emily standing here looking a bit lost the first morning she woke up as a member of the family. He could stand here for hours thinking of all the times he'd come down those stairs and walked out the door. Especially the last time he'd done so as Jason Quartermaine.

"Mr. Jason?" Alice couldn't believe her eyes.

"My mother fainted." Jason said looking at the maid.

"Put her in the living room." Alice said as if dead men stood in the foyer every day. But this was Port Charles, and people had a habit of not staying in the ground. Mr. AJ was proof of that, although only a select few knew that he hadn't died that night in the hospital.

"Okay." Jason said nodding.

Alice walked into the dining room and looked at the assembled guest. "Uh." She wasn't quite sure where to start.

"Where are the pizza?" Michael asked. He was with Cameron, he was hungry.

"Mr. Jason is here." The maid told everyone.

"What?" Elizabeth said looking at Alice. While the maid was nice, she wasn't known for having a sense of humor. Even if she was, that wouldn't be funny.

Alice pointed over her shoulder indicating the living room. She wasn't surprised when no one moved. "Dr. Quartermaine fainted, and he took her into the living room."

"Are you insane?" Tracy asked the maid. "Why on earth would you make something like that up?" Looking over she saw that Elizabeth had gone pale. "Sit down." Tracy told the heavily pregnant woman. "Michael pour Liz some water. I'm going to find Monica." Tracy was also going to see that Alice got fired. She made it to the doorway before stopping in her tracks. "Oh my god!" Tracy backing up.

"Uncle Jason?" Michael said dropping the glass.

"Uncle Jason?" Morgan echoed his brother.

Edward sat down heavily in his chair.

"Jason!" Cameron said happy, he ran across the room and found himself scooped up in his friend's arms.

He heard everyone but the only place Jason could look was at Elizabeth. She was standing their statue still with her hands cradling her stomach. Her eyes were wide with shock and she was trembling. For the last six months hers was the only face he wanted to see. His arms had ached to hold her. He had dreamed of all the ways he would beg her to forgive him for being so weak and walking away. He had dreamed up countless scenarios for asking her to allow him to be a father to both their children. She had been the reason he never gave up hope that a rescue would come.

"I thought you were with the angels?" Cameron said not really paying attention to the adults and older kids in the room. "Momma said you were in heaven."

"No buddy, I wasn't with the angels." Jason said in a raspy voice. His eyes scanned every inch of the little boy's face. He had told the plane's captain, the person he spent the most time with over the last six months, that Cameron was the son of his heart. Truer words had never been spoken. "My plane crashed." Jason explained looking up at Elizabeth once more.

Why hadn't he remembered just how beautiful she was? Some nights when we woke he swore he could smell the vanilla that lingered on her skin. That he could feel how soft she was and how she fit against him during that one weekend away. She, the little boy in his arms, and the baby she carried were all that mattered. The Jason who left in June might not have had his priorities correct, but this Jason did.

"Is it really you?" Edward asked thinking he was seeing a ghost. He had regretted every harsh word he passed with his grandson. At the funeral he finally understood the opportunity he'd wasted by constantly trying to change Jason into something he wasn't. The lost years had weighed heavily on him these last six months.

"Hello Grandfather." Jason knew there was a lot of work to be done to earn his family's forgiveness but he was willing to start right now, if they were willing to let him.

Edward seemed even more shocked at the greeting. Jason hadn't called him grandfather in years. Looking into his grandson's eyes he saw a difference. These eyes weren't as cold and he wondered exactly who was standing in front of him.

"I need to call mom." Michael said pulling out his phone.

"Don't." Jason ordered his nephew.

Michael seemed surprised by that. "You don't want her to know?"

"I will call and talk to your mother and Sonny." Jason wasn't sure where they fit into the new life he planned on building. Changes were coming and he expected some opposition. He had things in place because Sonny was going to be a problem, and well Carly never listened so he had something ready for her as well. Port Charles had not been the first place back from the dead Jason had come. He might not be fully Jason Morgan anymore, but he still knew how to handle a potential threat.

Now he wanted, needed to talk to Elizabeth. Before he could step forward Monica walked into the room. "I didn't dream you?" She said in a shaky voice. "You're really here."

"I am." He said smiling at her. "I didn't mean to make you pass out." He said with a small smile. He'd barely been fast enough to catch her.

"Where have you been?" She asked reaching out and touching his face. One miracle was more than she ever expected in this lifetime. AJ's return from the dead had been all she thought to get. He wasn't in Port Charles and might not ever be able to return, but Jason was and did.

"I need to speak with Elizabeth." Jason told everyone. His eyes went over to the small woman who hadn't moved or said a word since his arrival.

"Of course." Monica was afraid to let him out of her sight. There was a part of her that was convinced this was all a hallucination.

"Mom. Can we use dad's office?" Jason wanted to talk in private.

That was the second time he called her mom. That was when she looked at him. Really looked. Jason was in khakis and had moccasins on his feet. Not jeans or motorcycle boots. He was wearing a leather jacket, but it was brown and not black. His hair was neat, but not as short as he'd been wearing it when he left. Even the way he was holding himself was different. He wasn't the Jason they had lost all those years ago, but he wasn't the Jason they had lost six months ago either. "Should you go to the hospital?"

"No." Jason said looking at Elizabeth. He wasn't going anywhere until he talked to her. "Will you come with me?" He asked her.

Elizabeth had shakily gotten to her feet when Jason walked in the room. For months after the crash she had held out hope that he would be found. That he would come home. She told herself that if that happened, if she was granted that miracle she would fight for them. That she wouldn't let him just decide that they couldn't be together. But time passed and the reality that he wasn't coming home set in.

They had a memorial service and when she got home Elizabeth had replayed their last conversation in her mind in an unending loop. The one where he said it wasn't safe, that they couldn't be together. That she, Cameron, and this new baby didn't belong in his world. When he said it was over, she had meekly agreed. Why fight the inevitable? Everyone left her. It was just how things were. Starting with her parents, and ending with Jason. She simply wasn't enough. So his walking away then seemed kind somehow. When the door closed behind her as she left his home, she told herself that life would go on. It always did.

Then Sonny had walked up and told everyone her personal business, in that moment Elizabeth learned just what it meant to have family. Had learned that she wasn't alone after all. Over the last six months with the support of her Grams and the Q's she had pulled herself together. She had people in her corner and two children to care for. Staying here wasn't a permanent solution. After the baby was born Elizabeth was thinking of leaving Port Charles and starting over somewhere else.

Now this happened, and she had no idea which way was up anymore. Jason was standing there, holding Cameron and saying he wanted to talk. In private. Did he want to tell her that what he said before still stood? That there was still no place in his life for them. Because if he did she might just take the paperweight on Alan's desk and bash Jason's skull in. Life never gave you a second chance, and she had no intention of wasting this one.

"Okay." She heard herself say.

"Thank you." Jason had been holding his breath waiting for her response. He turned to Monica and handed her Cameron. "Don't let Michael or Morgan call Carly." He whispered.

"But Jason-." Monica started.

"No." He told his mother. He didn't want to hear about how his best friend would be overjoyed he was home. Carly was about to have some boundaries set for her. Ones that if she didn't obey meant she would find her on the outside of his life.

"Alright." Monica backed down. "Can I call your sister?" And brother she mentally added.

"Not just yet." Jason wanted to keep his presence here as quiet as possible for at least the next twenty-four hours. "We can talk about when." He said his eyes on Monica's.

"I'll wait for you to say that it's okay." Monica agreed. She was still taking her youngest son in. Something was definitely different.

"Thank you." Jason could see the questions in her eyes, but he couldn't give her any answers just yet. "Ready?" He asked Elizabeth.

"Yes." She said walking slowly across the room until she was standing beside him. Up close her eyes scanned his face, and she in his eyes she saw the man she knew. As well as something more. There was a spark in his eyes she'd never seen before.

With a nod to the rest of the room Jason escorted Elizabeth down the hall.

Michael pulled out his phone again and before Monica could walk across the room Tracy snatched it out of his hands. "You heard Jason, he doesn't want you calling your parents."

"Give that back, they have a right to know he's home." Michael immediately protested. His parents had been devastated by Jason's death. Even now his mother still missed her best friend. She should be here.

"Uncle Jason said he would call them." Morgan told his brother. Michael was a lot like their mother in that he had a hard time following instructions. "Here grandmom." Morgan gave Monica his phone. "Michael will just try to take it." At seven he was used to his brother taking his things when he wanted them.

"You can't keep me from calling them." Michael said determined to make his call. There were like a million phones in the mansion.

"Alice." Monica said as the maid put the pizzas on the table.

"Yes." The maid had caught the entire exchange.

"Keep an eye on Michael." Monica instructed. "If he get to be a problem, lock him in a closet."

The twelve year old eyes widened at what his grandmother just said. "You can't do that."

"I think the basement would be a better call." Tracy said with an evil grin.

"Which one?" Alice asked totally serious. Michael was a good kid most of the time, but occasionally he was a self-entitled brat.

Monica just shook her head as she walked down the hall to her office and locked both phones in her desk. She had no idea why Jason didn't want anyone to know he was home. But she would respect his wishes. Alan's office was right next door to hers and the urge to put her ear to the wall was strong. She figured that Elizabeth would be the first person to get the entire story, and that was how it should be.

Hopefully they could find their way back to one another. Monica was willing to do whatever was in her power to help them. Jason was her only hope of keeping Elizabeth and her grandchildren in Port Charles. With Alan and Lila gone Monica wanted the pieces of her family as close as possible. It was time to start laying the groundwork for AJ's return. In fact AJ coming back would take some the pressure off of Jason. She knew her youngest son would not be comfortable being the focus of everyone's attention.

Picking up her phone Monica started making some calls.

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