First off I'd like to say a big thank you to AllyG5, LiasonFan2, and Silent Me for their wonderful reviews you guys inspired me to bring this to you at a quicker pace than I usually do. Thank you for your kind words and please keep the reviews coming and let me know how I'm doing okay? After all this is my first fanfiction lol.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, but I wish I did ;)

Chapter 8

Elizabeth awoke to the sensation of fingers soothing over her brow, eliciting a feeling of comfort she hadn't felt since she was a small child. Struggling to remain in that moment she fought the feeling of wakefulness that threatened to steal the comfort away. Burrowing deeper into the warmth of the covers leaving only her brow exposed the last bit of sleep disappeared when she heard the quiet sound of male amusement. Blinking she tried desperately to remember just where she was and just who was stroking her so tenderly but in a rush everything about the previous night rushed back to her brutally and she caught her breath on a gasp, tears welling in her eyes.

Jason heard the gasp beneath the comforter and hastened to draw the covers away and one look was all it took to figure out what had caused the tears to glitter on her long dark lashes. He drew her up and into the shelter of his arms and she clung to him, her only lifeline in a world that had turned upside down on her. One hand stroked her hair while the other made comforting circles over her back.

"I'm sorry Jason, it just…all hit me at once." She sniffed and tried to come away from him but he wouldn't allow it, keeping her firmly to him as he brushed his lips against her temple. He hated that she felt she had to apologize for crying. The little woman in his arms had been through hell for the past few months and she deserved to cry, he was just happy that it was his arms that she went to.

"You don't need to apologize Elizabeth, you have every right to cry. Besides I needed a salt bath." He teased hoping to ease her troubles with a little bit of humor. Funny thing, he never felt the need to be funny for anyone else, not even Sam, but he'd be a clown if he had to be just to bring a smile to her face. What he got was even better, her laughter. It flowed through him like warm honey. She moved slightly away from him then and he allowed her simply because he wanted to see the smile on her face.

"I seem to be giving you a lot of them lately. I hear they're supposed to be good for your skin." She teased back but then a sadness once more entered her eyes and Jason knew she was about to apologize again so he shook his head and raised a hand to gently tuck a chestnut curl back behind her ear, his ice blue eyes showing a tenderness in them that only Elizabeth could bring out in him. He didn't have to tell her he didn't want to hear her apologies, the silence that came over her told him she understood without the need of words, just like she always had. She could read him so easily sometimes that seven years ago it had frightened him but now, now he took comfort in the fact that someone on this planet knew him so completely.

Elizabeth reached up and took his wrist bringing his hand to her lips where she pressed a gentle kiss to his palm. He was right of course, she shouldn't apologize for crying, hell she could have a breakdown and she knew no one could blame her but that didn't mean she had to like it. Forcing her self to push her troubles away for just a little while longer she looked at him with teasing in her expressive blue eyes.

"So did you cook me a wonderful breakfast?" She laughed brightly when he groaned and hung his head, shaking it lightly. She leaned forward, releasing his hand to cup his head, her lips brushing against his spiky blond hair. She knew she'd promised him she wouldn't mention his cooking again but it was one of the very few things she had that she could tease him about.

"I thought we had a deal…" he trailed off as he felt her lips travel to his temple. She was playing a dangerous game and he wasn't so sure that he wanted her to stop. He lifted his head just enough to maneuver his lips to meet the next stroke of hers only to have her jerk away with wide eyes and a hand immediately coming to cover her lips. He was going to ask what was wrong, afraid he'd made the wrong move but before he could say anything she was pushing the covers completely off her and scrambling out of the bed hightailing it towards the bathroom. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was wrong and a stab of guilt shot through him. It was because of him she was going through this.

Jason sighed as he rose from the bed and followed the path towards the bathroom. He remembered these moments from his times dealing with a pregnant Carly and Sam. No doubt she wouldn't want him anywhere near her but he needed to be there, to help her as best he could. He paused at the closed door and wrapped his knuckle on the door once in warning befor he made his way inside. The sight of her huddled on the floor, over the toilet didn't help his feelings of guilt any. He tried to force himself to remember that Elizabeth had gone through this with Cameron but it wasn't working. Reaching for the rag hanging on the towel wrack he held it under the faucet and ran cool water. She didn't scream at him to leave so he figured that was a good sign. Settling on the floor beside her he pulled her into the V of his legs, allowing her to lean on him for support as he gently brushed the damp cloth over her face.

"It's really not that bad Jase, I promise. Actually so far its not even as bad as when I was pregnant with Cam. Maybe our little one here knows Mommy can't handle much of this right now." She lowered her head back against his shoulder, grateful for the tender administrations he gave her. She knew he was feeling guilty, not from anything he said or did, but because she simply knew Jason, and it warmed her heart like nothing else could. She paused in her thoughts when she noticed his silence and worried she went to raise up and look at him but he kept her still as he tried to think of the best way to put words to the desire she'd just roused in him. Jason didn't want to scare Elizabeth. He knew that no matter how strong she pretended to be, inside she was barely holding on and making her feel uncomfortable with him was the very last thing he wanted to do. But being here, right now in this moment, he knew he'd never be able to live with himself for making her go through this one minute more on her own.

"Stay here with me. We can go get Cameron, get your things and be back in time for dinner." He paused because he felt her tense in his arms and knew that she was going to argue. Still holding her against him he tightened his hold on her, not to keep her hostage in his arms, but to keep her from not letting him finish. "I know that night, we both made it clear why we'd never work. I couldn't risk you or Cam getting hurt and neither could you. My jobs not changed and it won't for any forseeable future, but your at risk now Elizabeth, whether you want to admit it or not, whether I want to admit it or not. You just being pregnant with my child, being my friend, has put you in danger now and the safest place for you is here. I know you don't want to raise Cam or this baby in this kind of life but it can't be helped now."

Elizabeth immediately shook her head in dinial but she knew what he said was the truth, after all Jason couldn't lie. Knowing he was right was scarey enough, but the feeling of want that welled up insider her at the thought of living here again with Jason, making a family with him, that was what was most frightening for her. Yet despite the desire to simply say yes the rational side of her mind was screaming at her no. Maybe he was right about being in danger but there were other things they could do than her move in here with him and what about Sam, where did that leave his fiancee? Where would that leave them? "Jase I just can't." Once againe he stopped her from going on by gently turning her around to face him, her legs were placed around his waist and his hands gently cupped her face, telling her in touch just how much he cherished her.

"I want to be there for you ever step of the way. I don't want to wake up in the mornings and wonder if anyone is bathing your face with a damp cloth when morning sickness hits you. I don't want to worry if your getting sleep at night, if your eating properly. I want to know for myself. I want to see it for myself. I want to be the one that bathes your face, watch over you while you sleep, make sure your eating like you should. Not your grandmother, not Nicolas not even Emily. You can have Brenda's old room and Cam and the baby can share the spare. You can decorate this place any way you want to and I won't even make you stop working." Elizabeth reached up then and gently caressed the side of his face. He sounded like he was almost pleading with her at the end and it broke her heart a little to see him this desperate. She wanted nothing more than to say yes but she had Cam to think about and how to explain to a little boy that the man that he thought of as his father wasn't going to be around anymore, and the thought of then having to explain why she'd moved him directly in with another man who she was going to have a baby with...

"Jason, you have no idea just how badly I want to say yes right now, but what about Cam, how would I explain everything to him? He's just a little boy he won't understand. And what about Sam? How do you explain that your moving in your friend, who happens to be pregnant with your baby, and still try and make it work with her? She'd be heartbroken Jason, and I couldn't live with the thought of giving her any more pain. How do we explain all this to all our friends and family?" Elizabeth had expected him to back down once she mentioned Sam, knowing that despite everything that had happened between the two of them, he was still in love with Sam. Jason wasn't the type of man that would willingly hurt anyone and she knew that if they were to do this, Sam would be absolutely devostated. She didn't like the woman, in fact she hated her really, but that didn't mean she wanted to be responcable for that kind of pain. Jason on the other hand didn't back down at all, instead he seemed to have an answer for every doubt she had and Elizabeth wondered just how long he'd been thinking about all this.

"We'll tell Cameron the truth, or as much of it as we can. You know that I'll do whatever I can to make it comfortable and easy for him but don't you think he'd be happier here, than with your Grams with you two constantly at odds over all of this. Here the two of you can work on moving on with no pressures. As for Sam, you remember how she was yesterday. She feels like she's the one that was betrayed and maybe she's right, not because of us but because of the way I pushed her away. I made her feel like she could trust me. I let her believe that we had a chance for a happily ever after but I shattered those dreams in an attempt to keep her safe. And I know its hypricritical of me but I can't forgive her for what she did with Ric. Right now all I want to consentrate on is you, Cam and this baby." He lowered one of his hands from her face to rest it on the flatness of her stomach. His hand caressing their child just as tenderly as he caressed her, making sure they both felt cherished.

Elizabeth sighed and shook her head with a wry smile. How could she ever tell him no when he had that look in those gorgeous eyes as he offered her everything she not only wanted but needed. Leaning forward she brushed her lips against his before whispering her thoughts. "You make it very difficult to tell you no Morgan." Hearing her agreeance Jason pulled her closer and hugged him to her enhaleing her own paticular scent and though most of the times she smelt of flowers and her, this time she smelt of something that brought a smile to his lips and a wash of memories to his mind.
"You smell like snow." He heard her soft laughter and the splash of a tear on his neck which told him she was remembering that long ago december as well.

"Snow doesn't smell."

"Oh yes it does."