While Carly was telling Jax of their impending divorce, the harsh winter wind whipped around Jason as he turned onto the shaded street that led to Elizabeth's new cottage. He had thought about heading back to the penthouse first to exchange his motorcycle for the SUV but decided against it. For the first time in a long time, he didn't want to prolong the inevitable. Hungry to get the confrontation with his son's mother over, he was already longing for the warm safety of Carly's embrace. The past twelve hours had been overwhelming but held such promise. When he had left Elizabeth's yesterday, he felt as if his world had been shattered. Now, as he prepared to return, he felt like everything was finally right.

Pulling into the private driveway, Jason killed the engine and yanked off his black helmet. He wasn't at all surprised to see Elizabeth appear at the backdoor, their son on her hip. She had always reacted instinctively to the sound of his motorcycle. He could remember a time five years ago when she had looked at him the same way that she was gazing at him now. They had tried to make it work back then, but like now, something was always in the way. In those days, Elizabeth's surprising devotion to Zander had stopped anything before it ever really started. Now, it was Jason who was going to end things with Elizabeth long after they should have said goodbye.

Pulling his phone from his pocket, he switched the ringer to vibrate and motioned to one of her guards. "Do not let anyone disturb us unless it's an emergency," he instructed as he headed up the back stairway. Elizabeth had switched on the porch light, casting a pale glow into the small backyard. Pocketing his phone, he took his son gratefully from her arms while she held the door open for him. "Hey, sorry I didn't call first."

Elizabeth shook her head. "You don't have to call to see your son," she smiled. "Or me." Jason immediately understood the insinuation to her words but chose to ignore it for the moment. Cradling his son protectively to his chest, he smiled softly as the infant fell back into a peaceful slumber. Burying his nose in the downy softness of Jake's hair, Jason inhaled deeply. Of all the scents in the world, this was by far his favorite. He could remember first falling in love with it ten years ago, the very first time he ever held Michael. Back then, he couldn't have ever imagined love anyone so selflessly or deeply. Now, he was blessed to have three young boys that he would walk through fire for. He loved each of them equally as his sons.

Settling into the wooden rocking chair next to the fireplace, Jason began the task of quietly rocking his son. Elizabeth perched on the edge of the sofa, looking on with an adoring affection that only a mother could pull off. If he had been a different man, Jason would have found a way to forgive her for the sake of his son. He would have made a compromise and publicly named himself as Jake's father with Elizabeth proudly at his side. However, the man Jason was refused to live a lie any longer. Not only was he going to take his rightful place as a parent, he was going to do it with the woman he truly loved by his side. Just as Jake deserved his father, Carly deserved her soulmate.

"I think he's asleep again," Jason told Elizabeth. "Why don't I go put him in his crib and then come back down so that we can talk? There are some things that we need to discuss." The wholesome brunette nodded her permission as Jason headed for the staircase. Inside the nursery, he took an extra moment to watch over his sleeping child in the crib. Even in his sleep, there was no denying that Jake was the spitting image of the Quartermaines. Jason couldn't believe that more people hadn't figured it out before now. There were going to be so many people to tell, and his biological family was near the top of that list. Though he would do anything he could to protect Jake from the stresses that came along with the family's name, Jason knew that finding out about their newest member would mean so much to the Quartermaines. In a year that had seen the deaths of both Alan and Emily, they deserved some happiness. More than anything, he wanted to give this to Monica.

When he came back into the living room, Elizabeth was curled up on the end of the couch, her legs tucked beneath her like an adolescent girl. She had a knit blanket strewn across her pajama-clad lap and fumbled anxiously with an unraveling strand of yarn. "Hey," she greeted him softly as he sat down in the chair opposite her. "I'm sorry that Lucky interrupted us yesterday. I tried to look for you after he left, but you were already gone. I would have left here, but the boys were asleep."

Jason nodded thoughtfully, indicating that he understood. If they had this conversation last night, his response would have been filled with anger and hurt. This morning, however, he felt eerily calm. Carly had promised that they would get through this together, and knowing that was helping him go through the motions. "That's actually why I'm here," he admitted. "I heard everything that you said to Lucky. You agreed to let him keep posing as Jake's father."

Elizabeth's eyes went wide as she realized that she had been caught. She had suspected it when Jason had departed so suddenly, but she had still hoped that he didn't know. "With everything that is going on, I don't want to put Jake's life at risk. We've talked about it, and I know that you understand," she retorted. "We just lost Emily. The last thing I want to have to worry about is something happening to our son."

A flash of cold anger passed through Jason's eyes, chilling Elizabeth to the bone. She had seen him fix a similar gaze on numerous people over the years but never her. Stupidly, Elizabeth had believed that she was immune to that side of Jason. In reality, she knew that the only people who had never been on the receiving end of such a look were Emily and Carly. With that single stare, their entire relationship had just shifted. "You're done making all the decisions," he informed her icily. "I am going to take my place as Jake's father. You will have primary custody of him, but I will have very liberal visitation rights with my son. We will make all parenting decisions together."

"Come on, Jase," Liz implored desperately. "You agreed to do what was best for Jake. Your lifestyle isn't safe for children. You've said it yourself on more than one occasion. Look at what Emily's death is doing to Michael. He is just like Sonny, looking for revenge. Do you want the same thing for Jake? Lucky can love him and keep him safe. Not that many people know that you're the father. If we do this, there is no going back."

"First of all, do not presume to know what is going on with Michael. You do not know him," he said a little more harshly than he intended. "I'm tired of how judgmental you are of other people's choices. You pretend to be so saintly; I just can't believe I never saw through it until now."

"Where is this coming from?" she cried, unshed tears welling up in her eyes. "You sound just like Carly!"

Jason exhaled loudly, letting the anger seep into his breath. He watched her react visibly, certain that she understood what a fine line she was now walking. "I will do whatever I have to do to protect my son. We can increase security on you and the boys. I can have a system put into your house. The guards will sweep your cars for explosives. There are precautions that we can take. I will do anything, but the one thing I will not do anymore is lie. I won't lie to the people in my life and I won't lie to my son. I am Jake's father, not Lucky Spencer."

Wracking her brain for a compromise, Elizabeth was frantic to find any logic that would discourage his seemingly rash behavior. "Michael, Kristina and Morgan were kidnapped two years ago because of Sonny's business. Michael went into a nearly vegetative state shortly afterward. Kristina saw your ex-girlfriend shoot the son of your enemy in a warehouse. Carly was shot by Sonny while giving birth to Morgan. The people in your life are forever in harm's way. I don't want that for my son."

"First of all, A.J. was behind the kidnappings. He wanted to get to Michael, in case you forgot that," he pointed out. "As for my ex-girlfriend, I believe that your ex-husband is currently dating her. In fact, if my sources are correct, they are going to move in together. Sam has a way of getting herself into plenty of trouble all on her own, and something tells me that didn't end when we broke up. And the Carly thing was an accident and completely isolated from Sonny's business and you know that."

"Maybe," Elizabeth relented, "but the people around you and Sonny always end up getting hurt. I don't want Jake to be another casualty of your lifestyle. You walked into it willingly, you had a choice. Jake doesn't have that same luxury. You need to think about how this would affect his life and not about how it could hurt you."

"The only thing I have thought about for the past ten months has been my son!" he spat. "If I was thinking about myself, I would have stepped up as his father the day that you told me in the elevator. Instead, I agreed to lie to keep him safe. I respected your choice because you were his mother. You never even gave me the option of being the one to make the decision. Elizabeth, you act as though I've been selfish, but what about you? Our roles as parents are equal. Why should you get to make this choice?"

Turning away from him, she trailed her fingertips through her long chestnut hair. "I don't understand where this is all coming from so suddenly," she muttered. "After last night, I really thought that we had come to an understanding and were going to find a way to make this work. You overhear a conversation with Lucky that I've had a million times, and you freak out suddenly. Why now? Why are you so set on being his father now? Do you want us to be a family?"

It took all that Jason had to stop himself from scoffing. Instead, he stood up from the chair and pinched the bridge of his nose. "The only family that we will ever be is parents to Jake. I can't be with someone who would ask me to lie about my son," he answered. "I am going to meet with Diane in the morning to have her draw up papers. They will be more than fair, and you can have Alexis look over them if you would prefer. I'd like to keep Jake on Friday night since Carly has Michael and Morgan. Mercedes, the boys' new nanny, will be there to help out just in case."

The hairs on Elizabeth's neck stood up at the mention of her nemesis' name. It became clear to her why Jason didn't want a family with her and the boys. He already had one with Carly and her sons. Now, he wanted to bring his own son into the fold. "And what does Jax have to say about this cozy little picture?" she questioned.

"Well, I'm not really sure that he gets much of a say about what I choose to do with my family," he replied honestly. "Unlike Sonny or you, he doesn't have any sort of concrete connection to Carly. However, like Sonny and you, he doesn't have any say in whom Carly chooses to be with once they officially separate."

"You're with Carly now? Just like that?"

"Oh, come on, we both know that it isn't a sudden thing," he chuckled humorlessly. "See, Carly has a way of accepting me for who I am. She knew the dangers of being with me ten years ago, and she has never once blamed me for the things that have come her way. Unlike you, she doesn't blame me for her own choices. In fact, she didn't even really blame me for lying about my son to her. I want you to realize that, Elizabeth. I did lie for you. I lied to my best friend in the entire world because I wanted Jake to be safe, or at least that's what I told myself until last night. Now, I realize that I was also lying to protect Carly. Well, the façade has fallen away and the lies are over."

Anyone who had ever known Carly or Jason knew that their bond was undeniable and their reunion was inevitable. Elizabeth had long wondered when one of them would wake up and realize that their torch for each other was still burning strong. "I don't blame you for the night that we spent together," she attempted. "We were both in pain. That wasn't our fault. Lucky and Sam had hurt us. The condom was faulty. The repercussions of that night were beyond our control and completely in the hands of fate."

"See, that's the difference between you and me. You take our will completely out of the equation and blame higher powers on the choices that we made," he shook his head. "It's not Sam or Lucky's fault that we ended up in bed together. We could have manifested the hurt in so many other ways. Maybe we couldn't have predicted a bad batch of condoms, but every other decision was ours to make. I take full responsibility for that."

"That's not what I meant," Liz argued. "I meant that our son was meant to be. Everything happened the way that it did to give us Jake. We got our second chance that night. Are you really sure that you want to walk away from that? Do you want to go and ruin everything that we have fought so hard to have?"

Jason shook his head sadly. "I'm not walking away from anything, I am walking toward everything. I am walking toward falling back in love with my best friend. I am walking toward helping her raise two boys that I have always considered to be my sons. I am walking toward finally becoming a father to my own child. I was walking toward the life that I would have chosen every single time if I could have picked anything in the world. You had your chance last night to pick me, but you didn't. She did."

"So, if I had made a different decision last night, things would have been different?"

"Maybe for awhile," he answered truthfully. "But we both know that eventually, you would have left me out of fear. And if that didn't happen, I might have left you because being with you would be wrong. We could try our entire lives to make this into a family, but it would always be a lie. No matter what, I would never be able to love you the way that you deserve. It's more than just night. Carly would still be there. She is in my life, in my heart. We would have found our way back eventually."

"I don't want her anywhere near my son."

"Like I said earlier, you aren't the only one making choices anymore," he reminded her. "Carly is going to help me raise Jake. She could never take your place as his mother, and she would never even try. However, she is the woman that I am choosing to live my life with, and there is nothing you can do to stop that. He will be a brother to Michael and Morgan just as he is to Cameron. Please, don't fight me on this. You owe me this much. You owe our son."

Elizabeth knew that she could argue with him some more. She could hire Alexis to drag his name through the dirt and prevent him from ever seeing Jake again. She could pull out all the stops, try to run away from Port Charles without ever looking back. She could go to Nikolas and have him pay someone off to forge another paternity test. However, in the end, all her attempts would fall short of Jason's power. In the end, he would always find a way to rightfully claim what was his. He would find a way to tell the truth. Standing up, she led him through the kitchen and to the back door. Holding it open so that he would leave, she looked at him like a stranger as he stepped out onto the stoop. "Have Diane call Alexis tomorrow afternoon," she instructed callously before slamming door in his face.

He stood there stunned for a few moments before a wide grin broke across his chiseled face. Clapping the unsuspecting guard on the back, he nearly jumped off the porch as he sprinted toward the motorcycle. Jason slid the key into the ignition and pulled his phone from his pocket. "I'm on my way back to you," he promised to Carly over the line. "I'm on my way home."