A/N: As much as I love this story, I find that I've lost the taste for writing about Elizabeth Webber. I'm really sick of that useless, pointless character, whose sole purpose on the show is to give JaSam grief (she doesn't seem to exist outside of them), so I'm wrapping this one up quickly in the next couple chapters. As always, I really appreciate the awesome feedback and that so many of you enjoyed it as much as I did. Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment and thank you also for reading, even if you didn't have anything to say…I appreciate all of it.

Chapter 26

Jason and Sam sat with Diane outside the Judge's chambers, waiting for him to wrap up in a courtroom. From where she sat Sam eyed Jason as he anxiously paced the hallway, trying to work off the nervous energy they were both feeling. There was nothing Sam wanted more than to find Elizabeth Webber and break her neck for what she did to their lives, but the demented nurse had to wait. Getting Jake away from her was more important.

"Jason…" Sam motioned to the seat next to her when he stopped pacing to answer to his name, "Sit with me." She held her hand out as he came to her, grabbing it and squeezing as he sat and turned on the bench to face her.

"I'm sorry, I know I'm not being the best company right now." He raised her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it before resting it on his lap, engulfed in his own.

"Stop that! You don't need to think about me right now, it's okay, Jason. Concentrate on keeping calm until we get your son home, we'll deal with the rest of it later." Sam looked down at their joined hands shyly, "Speaking of home…" she trailed off as Jason looked at her, giving her hand a squeeze in urge to continue. She raised her head and looked him in the eye. "Jake needs a proper home, you can't move him into an hotel - it could count against you in there if you can't show that he'll have a solid base, so I think you and Jake should come live with Danny and me."

Jason's breath caught in his throat. For months he was hoping that Sam would give him another chance and eventually invite him back home but for that whole time she wasn't ready and he didn't push. She had just recently decided to give them another chance so he really wasn't going to push about the living situation but here she was, asking him to accept his own dream? He blinked as though to make sure he wasn't really dreaming. "Sam, are you sure? Is that what you really want?"

Sam nodded as she confirmed what her heart wanted her to do. "You can stay in the guest room while we work on our relationship and Jake can bunk with Danny - they'll both love it and you will be there with both your boys, Jason." She looked down again as she jostled their joined hands, "Besides, the penthouse has always been your home. Now that you have your memories back I'm sure it's been kinda weird for you to have to knock when you come over and everything."

He smiled for what must have been the first time that day. "Do you even know how much I don't deserve you? Because I do! I don't know what I ever did in my life to justify you loving me, Sam but whatever it was I'd do it over a million times right now, and I hope you never figure out that you're too good for me!"

She smiled radiantly back at him, "Is that a yes?"

He shook his head as if to convey wonder, "Was that really ever a question? Hell yes, I'll move back home - I'd sleep on the couch if you wanted me to, for as long as you'd let me!" He drew her into his arms and squeezed her body into him as he whispered softly, "Thank you, God!"

A few minutes later Elizabeth showed up with a Cassadine lawyer, both looking smug as though they knew something that the rest weren't privy to and they'd already won. Leaving Jake outside with his sitter, they all moved into the Judge's chamber to start the hearing.

Dianne had advised them that they couldn't have asked for a better Judge. She was a huge child advocate with a known reputation for putting the child's needs above propriety and didn't practice the old adage of never separating a child from a mother, not when the mother was not the best fit for a child's needs. The Judge got started the moment they sat down, addressing Jason's lawyer.

"Miss Miller, you asked for this emergency hearing - why is your client trying to separate the minor child from his mother?"

Diane crossed her Cartulo pumps as she sat up in her chair to answer, "Your Honor, my client has reason to believe that his young son is living in a situation that is dangerous and neglectful and he's here in the best interest of young Jacob to ensure that he gets the proper care needed. From what we understand, young Jacob is bounced quite often between the home he shares with his mother and two other siblings and the home of his great grandmother, an elderly lady who has trouble moving around and is well up in age, not really a suitable caregiver and primary guardian for three rambunctious young boys who require constant supervision. We've been made to understand that these boys spend the majority of their time with the elderly grandmother, and hardly any time with their mother as she is usually seen chasing some man or other around town or getting into mischief in an effort to upset the lives of my client and his wife."

"Objection! Inflammatory and unsubstantiated!" Elizabeth's lawyer was quick to cut off the nurse who had been sitting open-mouthed at the accusations but was about to accost Diane for making them.

The Judge was cool as she answered, "Miss Baxter, this is not a trial, there are no objections. Miss Miller has the floor - you and your client will get your turn to rebut her argument." She waved at Diane, "Please continue, Miss Miller."

"Thank you, your honor! My client believes that his minor son will benefit from living with his younger brother in a stable environment with two loving, constantly present parents with the means to support both their children. My client also believes that if left in the care of his mother, young Jacob will be further subjected to maternal neglect, abandonment, emotional abuse, and a questionable upbringing!"

"What? I have never abused my son! How dare you judge me when you murder people for a living?" The nurse was on her feet, glaring at Jason who returned the glare with that impressive self control that he'd reminded himself to have during the hearing, remembering that the fate of his son depended on it.

"Miss Webber, control yourself and take your seat! Miss Baxter, advise your client that another outburst like that will not be tolerated in my presence and if she cannot control herself she will be escorted out."

"Sorry, Your Honor!" The lawyer said as she physically guided the nurse back down to her seat. "My client is distraught Your Honor, because not only is Mr. Morgan trying to take her son from her using lies and innuendos, but he knows that he has no grounds for this hearing. It was revealed to Mr. Morgan today that he's not the biological father of Jacob Martin, so we're not even sure why we're here wasting Your Honor's time!"

Diane spoke up with dry sarcasm, "Yet another example of Miss Webber's lack of character that will not serve a young child well, Your Honor! Mr. Morgan was led to believe, since before young Jacob was born, that he was the biological father, a lie told to him by Miss Webber in her desperately needy attempt to drive a wedge between Mr. Morgan and his then fiancé. For years my client and everyone else were vindictively led to believe that he was the child's father and was even conned out of five million dollars that he believed he was placing in a trust for the welfare of his son, when all the while Miss Webber knew the truth."

Standing to hand the Judge a document, Diane continued before she could be cut off by the opposition, "Your Honor, this is a copy of the DNA test results that was given to Miss Webber when the paternity of young Jacob originally came into question, results that were seen by her alone at the time. My client believed her when she told him that the results proclaimed him to be the father, which as you can see here in black and white, was a downright lie, an abominable falsehood which only came to light today…years after my client has bonded with the child! Test results do not negate the fact that my client has loved that child since before he was born and has been a father to him in the last year, with Miss Webber's blessing and encouragement, until most recently when my client made an attempt to reconcile with his wife - a reconciliation necessary, I might add, due to scheming and deceit that was orchestrated and manipulated by a desperate, conniving woman trying to hold on to an amnesiac man who'd shown her under normal circumstances and on more than one occasion that he did not want her."

Miss Baker rose to her feet as well, "Your Honor, Miss Miller is taking up the court's time with dramatics and soap opera that has no bearing on our reason for being here. The fact remains that Mr. Morgan has no legal claims to Jacob Spencer…he signed away legal rights to the minor years ago and was never a part of his life, but would now like for us to believe that his trusted mother is a danger to him? Mr. Morgan's extensive police record would declare otherwise, showing him to be the unfit parent, even as we know that he's not even that as he has no ties to this child whatsoever."

Sam looked over at Jason and squeezed his hand in reassurance. She knew how much it was killing him every time they said Jake was not his.

"Mr. Morgan's record is not on trial here your honor, if it were I would point out that most of those charges were dropped in light of proven police harassment and singling out of my client with false accusations placed against him! If it were, I would also find it necessary to point out that those accusations are a thing of the distant past, but that presently, Miss Webber is facing a lifetime in prison for Attempted Murder and Corporate Espionage, charges which were not fabricated as evidence exists with the nurse herself proclaiming her knowledge of the murder plot and corporate takeover, neither of which she thought to notify the police about. However, since an alleged criminal past is not what is being argued here today I stand by my argument that Jason Morgan is the father that Jacob knows and loves, given that Miss Webber's other raffle contestant has vanished from the face of the earth and gives no regard to the upbringing of Jacob or his other sons. After being abandoned by the man who promised to raise him and give him a home, this poor child has now been pawned off on his elderly great grandmother, who will most likely be forced to provide full time care when Miss Webber is convicted and sent to prison very soon…although, given how much time he already spends there, it already appears to be a permanent situation, with irregular visits to his mother. Little Jacob deserves a stable home of his own and to stop getting bounced around at his mother's whim and current man fancy, Your Honor!"

The bantering went on for the next forty minutes with Diane combatting every point brought up by Elizabeth and her attorney, including Sam's past as a con artist and the alleged endangerment of the nurse's sons years before. Soon it was brought up that Jason was unmarried and lived in a hotel and that was not the ideal situation for young Jake. It was the answer to that allegation which set off the real fireworks, Elizabeth not taking the news well that Jason was moving back home with Sam and Danny. It was then that Elizabeth exploded and seemed unable to take anymore, jumping to her feet and screaming at Jason, "You should've just stayed dead! We were better off with you in the grave!"

Then in the next second she was breaking down and crying up a storm, changing her tune instantly, "Why did you have to remember anything? You were finally out of the bitch's clutches and I had you all to myself! We were happy - we had our son and we were happy - why did you have to go and ruin everything?" She quickly became inconsolable, crying uncontrollably and throwing herself at Jason's feet, "Why couldn't you just love me and our son and forget about her and that little spawn of rape? Whyyy, Jaaason…whyyyy?" Her gigantic sobs and slurred words were a pathetic sight to see. "Lucky didn't deserve him, he was supposed to be ours, it was supposed to be our time…our time, Jason!" Suddenly the tears seemed to dry up and she was raving animately as she clung to his leg and stared at him with bugged out, wet eyes, "You are my destiny, Jason don't you see that? Don't you see that we were meant to be together forever?" She urgently clung to his leg even while he tried to flash her off and her lawyer tried to help her to her feet, the Judge repeatedly shouting for her to contain herself.

"Miss Baxter I've had just about enough theatrics from your client. Please remove her from my chamber immediately or the Bailiff will!"

"I apologize Your Honor! My client is not feeling well - we've spent a grueling two days preparing for this hearing as well as unfair and unsubstantiated claims in another matter and it's clearly taking a toll."

The Judge dismissed them all and called Jake in to speak to him privately. While they waited, Elizabeth's lawyer took her to wash her face and gather herself while Diane waited outside the chambers with Jason and Sam. Watching them walk down the hallway, Diane was curious, "That one's a little cuckoo for cocoa puffs, isn't she? Has she always been like that?"

It was Jason who answered. "Who knows anymore? She's been pretending so long it's really hard to tell who the real one is." Then just like that he changed the subject. How much longer, Diane? This has to be hard on Jake."

"The Judge just wants the opportunity to hear little Jake and find out which parent he'd prefer to live with. It's not the defining factor but Judges like to take the child's mind frame into account in cases like this. It really shouldn't be much longer." She was right as fifteen minutes later they were all called back into the chamber where the Judge handed down her decision to give Jason and Sam temporary custody of Jake, with immediate effect. She cited that despite the DNA tests, Jason had been told he was and had been acting as Jake's father, providing for him and loving him and he had a right to continue that bond as it obviously benefited Jake who appeared to be happy and felt safe with him and Sam. She pointed out that Elizabeth Webber was unstable and ought to seek psychiatric help, as well as make other arrangements for her other two children. She couldn't factor in the upcoming trial as the nurse had not yet been convicted of anything but she was gravely concerned about the choices that she was making for her children and wouldn't subject young Jacob to anymore of her questionable parenting. She advised Elizabeth's counsel to get her treatment and to launch an earnest search for the father of her other children, or to get capable relatives to give them safe haven.

"Miss Webber, it is my order that you relinquish guardianship of young Jacob Martin Spencer immediately to the care of his father, Jason Morgan. It is also my order that you seek treatment from a reputable psychiatrist immediately and submit his findings to this court at a date to be set six months from today, at which time the permanent custody of Jacob Spencer will be determined by the court. I further order that during the time of temporary custody you will be allowed supervised visitation only with the minor child."