Chapter 9

Liz woke, waved to the guys, stopped in the loo and then started to join the guys in the living room.

"I'll start making dinner," she said, veering away towards the kitchen.

"Elizabeth," he said and she turned to look at him.

"We could order in, so you wouldn't have to."

She stood there a minute, waffling.

"If you want, I guess, I mean it's no trouble…"

"Let me give you a break. You decide what you want and that's what we'll have."

She grinned, "Even if I want stuffed squid basted in ink sauce?"

"Hey, I've eaten roast guinea pig in Chile, I'm good with it as long as I don't have to kill it myself."

"We'll Eli's still has the best ribs and they deliver. I'll make sure I get extra sauce and wet naps. I have salad stuff in the fridge, so there will be some nutritional value."

"Sounds good."

Liz placed the call and then actually sat with the guys on the couch.

"So you two had fun?"

"We had a great time. There was laughter, demolishing, and then peeing in my face."

Liz laughed.

"You have officially been baptized into parenthood. We have monthly meetings every third Tuesday of the month, we'll waive the fees since you helped make this one, make sure you take a brochure on your way out," she said, barely controlling her glee.

"Is it that funny?"

"Well, you were the guy who said, 'I built houses in South America, what's a dirty diaper'."

Jason just grimaced.

"You are not the first person Cameron has peed on. And I get the feeling you forgot to cover his winky and then the cold air made him spontaneous shoot. Get used to it. You need to hear the story about Emily and the catching of the poop."

"No, she didn't."

"Yes, she did. He was laid out on her new comforter and she tried to change him quick, when, pow, poop. Caught it in her hand."

"That just makes me look at her in whole new way. That's just all kinds of wrong."

"Let's talk about wrong, Jason. How about the first time I changed his diaper, he peed in my hair. You learn fast, bob and weave, can't be a stationary target."

"So, it's not enough that he'd filled his diaper with this weird green, noxious stuff, I gotta start catching it, too?"

"Good to know he's working that asparagus…"

"Elizabeth, motherhood has changed you."

"Yeah, I've completely lost my filter."

He looks at her with a strange combination of anxiety and fascination.

Liz squirms just a bit, pushes her hair behind her ear and says, "What?"

"Marry me."

"Uh, random? And no."

"Why not?"

"Because we've only been reacquainted for," she looked at her watch, "Not including my nap, oh, about half an hour."

"But we have a child together."

"Yes, we do. Very good. We have a child. That's not a good enough reason to get married. What if we rush into this and then in the future we hate each other, you think I'm obnoxious, I think you're a pain in the ass? Stranger things have been known to happen."

He looks at her pleadingly, puppy dog eyes.

"Don't look at me in that tone of voice." She softened. "We need to take the time to get to know each other, like you had your time in South America. You know, go on a date or two or five. We could go to a movie, a gallery, play pool, eat in a restaurant that doesn't have a clown theme, or maybe, you know, we could go for a ride on your motorcycle. You know, grown up, getting to know you stuff. I know we started out ass backwards, but I think we need to put it in rewind and start at the beginning."

Jason considered for a moment.

"I will accept your rejection of my proposal, temporarily and agree to your counter offer of dating."

"That was very Jason Quartermaine of you," she said, giggling.

"He's still in here, poking out every now and then."

"Well, Jason Morgan, our food is here and I'm starving. You get the door, I'll get the baby and grab his stuff. Let's eat."

They organized themselves at the kitchen table.

Liz looked at Jason with a serious expression and said, "Let's flip a coin to see who feeds him."

Jason laughed and finished setting the table.

Snippets-

Time passed and things bore out pretty much how Liz wanted them. They were dating, Emily as their regular sitter.

They did date-y stuff; dinner out, high class establishments as well as pub grub down at Jake's. They danced at the local club, well Liz danced, Jason watched and asserted his dominance with any guy that tried to dance with her. Movies, clubs, art shows, theater, things Jason just kind of put with, in that man way. You know, how they do all that stuff, in the hopes of nakedness. Jason is a man after all.

They did home/parental stuff together as well. Pacing the floors during Cameron's illnesses, doctor appointments, play dates, baby gym, basically sharing the load. Except for Jason would take off with Cameron for three days of Daddy/Baby time while Liz, who suffered from, let's just say menstrual stress, would relax on her own. She wasn't homicidal or anything, everyone was just happier apart for those days. Jason and Cameron would bond and Liz would take out her hormones on the house.

Jason's construction company was slowly taking shape. He hired men and accepted small jobs to get his foot in the door. Liz took on a new theater project, auditioning students and tweaking the script.

When they were alone Cameron was the perfect contraception. Besides the fact that Jason could only stay until eight, while awake the toddler was a bundle of energy, making quiet moments of lusty making out few and far in between.

One afternoon, Jason and Liz were spending a day in, relaxing, hanging out as a family, when they heard the boy babbling to himself.

"What is he saying?" Liz asked.

"I'm not sure. It could be-"

Suddenly Cameron was a lot more clear.

"Jay, jay, jay, jay, jay, jay, jay…" he sang quietly, but his volume steadily increased. "Jay, jay, jay, jashon." He turned to his parents on the couch. "Jashon. Jashon. Jashon."

Liz looked at Jason laughing hilariously.

"He's talking to you."

"Why doesn't he call me dad?"

"Well, he doesn't hear anyone calling you daddy."

"I guess you should start calling me daddy," he said, slyly.

"Despite how dirty you made it sound, I probably should start calling you daddy in front of Cameron, so he gets the idea."

"How does he know to call you Mommy?"

She let out a breath and said, "I was in his little face for over a year going, 'I'm your mommy, mommy, mommy, call me mommy.' That and making 'Ma' sounds and pointing myself. He got it quick. He's a smart boy."

"I guess I could deal with you calling me daddy."

"Jason," she paused, looking at him playfully, "Stop."

"What? Too much?"

"Not really, I just… This is a bad time…"

"Do I need to pack a three day bag for Cameron and head up to the fishing cabin?"

"You are hilarious, Jason. But no, it's just if you're going to start the sexy talk, I'd really rather not do it in front of Cameron."

"We could always drop him off at Emily's."

She sat and considered.

"I think she's out with Nikolas. So, no, we can't."

"Well, what are we going to do?"

Liz thought some more.

"Well, it's been about a month, which is longer than we waited last time. How about… How about we break the eight o'clock rule just this once?"

"You sure? I don't want to break the no panties rule."

"Jason I don't know if you were celibate in South America, but I have been, for two years. I think it's time to break the panties rule." She looked at him smolderingly, "Not to imply that I'm wearing panties." He raised an eyebrow. "What? It's laundry day, no panties."

"You keep talking like that, Cameron's going to bed early."

"You try that, tell me how that works out."

"Huh?"

"I just got him on the eight o'clock schedule. Otherwise he lays there and yells."

"Okay, eight o'clock it is."