Chapter 20: A Fool was Living in Paradise
Spinelli was signing the mountain of paperwork with an ADA when he heard the new police commissioner talking to Mac Scorpio. "So at least he will no longer be my problem."
"The kid needs help, maybe after the Feds are finished with him, if he survives he can get some mental health help." Mac was certain the kid needed it.
"Speaking of that... there was an incident between a patient at that clinic in Switzerland and Carly Jacks. It apparently got ugly and Mrs. Jacks' voice box was injured in the fight."
With a sad chuckle, Mac said "I only wish someone had figured out a way to shut Carly up years ago. What did they do with her?"
"Transferred her elsewhere." he said. "I heard that Jasper Jacks was on a trip to Rome with his kids when he got the message."
Hearing someone calling out his name, Abbott saw Jagger Cates gesturing for him to come over. "That little SOB tried to make it look like Jason and Sam got married last year in Florida while working on tracking down Zachara for Raynor. I have to go and fix things in Florida, I am taking your sister in law with me, Scorpio."
Both officers turned to watch as Elizabeth Webber and Diane Miller entered the station together. Wondering if she had heard, Mac had no doubts when she demanded to speak to Spinelli. Seeing the geek grinning as he was lead to the interrogation room yet again, Mac moved in closer in case Elizabeth needed support.
"Hello Damian. Nice message you sent to Sam too bad all you did was make Jason into a bigamist." she tossed out as an opening salvo just as they heard Diane demanding to speak to Abbott about the lies that Spinelli had told.
"Why would marrying Fair Samantha make Stone Cold a bigamist? He was willing to marry you for Jake, but in the end, his heart wasn't in to it and couldn't follow through, he couldn't betray his great love with Sam." said the computer geek smugly.
"Spinelli, do you know why it bothered me so much when Jason seemed to be getting back with Sam, because I was angry that after the promises we had made to one another that he would cheat on me with that skank." she said watching his face turn red at the insult. "That Jason would commit adultery with her off all people."
"It wasn't adultery, Jason isn't married." he said. Then quickly added "Except to Sam."
Taking out the paperwork, Elizabeth was very glad that Gail Baldwin was in town with all of her contacts in the legal world, because even if Spinelli were to get access to a computer to check this, it would look very legitimate.
Spinelli watched as she unfolded a very worn square piece of paper. When it was completely open she said "I will hold, you read."
Spinelli read what it said and turned white before beginning to sputter. "Y-you faked that, you hussy you. Y-you somehow got a copy of the license that Stone Cold used to back down the evil Mob Princess and are trying to use it to control my Master."
"No, actually I am not. See Jason and I knew, well, in the end we knew that we would always love each other and this was our way of making a commitment to one another that no matter what we would have in our memory." Elizabeth discovered Lizzie buried deep down as she spun her web of lies.
"That is an outright horrible falsehood, I would know, my computer gives me notices of all public records for him. I have it running on all sorts of people including you so even if it had missed Stone Cold, your name would have popped it up."
"I won't even comment on how illegal that is, but I will say this. Do you really think that with your big mouth, Jason and I would trust you to keep our marriage a secret, we hated that you knew the truth about Jake. We went to Dr. Baldwin, yes she is related to Scotty. I am surprised you haven't met her yet. She is your new doctor. Anyhow, her husband was best friends with my grandfather."
"So. The license still has to be put into a computer. And it wasn't. So Stone Cold probably gave into your nagging and played you. And if you were married why would you get engaged to Lucky?" he said very sure of himself and his skills.
" Because I was mentally ill, I didn't realize what I was doing. We were married, by Father Mateo, then Lee Baldwin had them do a handwritten document, I am sure that the State if New York has a record of our marriage, but locally no. We wanted to keep you away from it." she said standing. "Now, right now Diane Miller is giving Abbott proof of this and then I am sure someone is going to come and talk to you. I would get your story straight."
"They will believe me, after all I made sure that the records were accurate. This Agent Cates will know that I am not lying. You, you are the liar and it is a matter of public record." he spit out.
"Do you know why Jagger agreed to help with this case, did you bother to research him?" she inquired.
"He hates Sonny Corinthos for his brother's death." he said.
With a chuckle she said "Let me guess the wisdom according to Maxie, or Carly or one of the other women who have used you since you came to town. No, actually you are partly right but he hated Sonny long before Stone."
Seeing him roll his eyes she said "Scott Baldwin had a daughter named Karen, Sonny had her stripping and got her addicted to painkillers and a few other drugs then began sleeping with her. She had dumped Jagger because she was ashamed of something she had recalled. Didn't believe he would stand by her. Jagger found her, rescued her before Sonny put her out on the streets as a hooker. Then with the help of one of Karen's ex-boyfriends got her through withdrawal. That boyfriend was Jason Morgan Quartermaine."
She saw the moment that Spinelli realized he had gone to far. "Yes, Jagger wanted to use you to take down the mob, but he doesn't like you. My guess is you are going to end up collateral damage someplace."
Once at the door, Elizabeth turned and said "You Damien Spinelli are a sad pathetic mess and even when we gave you one more chance, you screw it up. By the way, Sam never got the message, Maxie instead told her father. She is over you, my guess is that you were a long pit stop on her way to mourning Georgie. Well Georgie is alive and she doesn't need the crutch anymore."
Mac watched as Spinelli seemed to shrink into himself. Just walking away as the man called out his name, Mac went over to the Commissioner and asked what Diane had wanted. "To file paperwork over the fake marriage why?"
Abbott looked at him and said "No, she was hear to inform me that her weekly poker game had been moved to her house.
Laughing as he realized Elizabeth had played Spinelli, he called Bobbie when Abbott was pulled away to deal with the prank pulled on the councilwoman this morning. "I heard about Carly how is she?"
"She might be better if Jax hadn't been visiting Brenda Barrett when he got the news." she said tired beyond belief.
"What happened?" asked Mac as he tried to work up some sympathy for Carly.
"Carly was being Carly and pissed off a patient, she accused the woman of working for Jason and trying to hurt her. Turns out the woman is a Rothschild and filthy rich. The family wants Carly removed from the clinic so Jax had her transferred to one in Germany."
"Do you think Jason is out to get her?" he asked hoping that the answer was no.
"I only wish, then it would mean he cared one way or the other. But no, I visited Carly the day she was taken, Jason was never there but she kept insisting he was trying to kill her. Unfortunately I think it is a set up, to get to stay here. Jax won't let that happen, he thinks she needs isolation."
"How is Michael doing?" he asked wanting to get off the topic of Carly.
"They don't let him make calls, he can't e-mail anyone, no contact with anyone other than AJ for the first month." she said wishing she had insisted on staying with Carly herself. Jax had subtly suggested that helping Michael would be the better choice but she couldn't help feeling like she had once again abandoned her daughter.
Seeing Ethan and Lulu entering the Brownstone, she told Mac she had to go then asked them "What has you two so angry?"
"Lucky had some money that Carly gave him to help search for Jake, it's gone from the place he kept it hidden. Sam claims to not know where it is and there is no other person who it could have been."
"There is Nik, have you asked him about it?" she asked gently.
The two quickly thanked their aunt and left never seeing her shake her head worried about what was to become of the two of them.
Arriving on Spoon Island, Lulu saw the staff was crating up various items and loading them onto the new cargo boat. "Nik, what is going on? Are you moving these things to town?"
Looking at his sister, Nik said "No, I am moving to the Cassadine Estate in Greece. I have had an offer on Spoon Island."
"Nik, I hate to ask but did you take the money that Lucky got from Carly?" asked Ethan. "We know that there was almost a million dollars left."
"No, I have no idea. What money?" he asked then when they left told Alfred to get Spencer, "We are leaving tonight. Tell the nanny to bring him to the airport at nine. I have to go to the hospital to deal with something before I meet her."
Jason was searching for Tom Hardy and soon found the man talking to Gail Baldwin. "Do you have some time?"
Looking at Jason, he said "Sure, meet me at my mothers, we can talk there."
When Tom arrived, he saw Jason looking out the window watching the snow falling. "What happened?"
With a sad laugh, Jason said "Elizabeth is upstairs asleep. We had one hell of a day. The boys are at the Quartermaines."
"What happened?" he asked sitting down and letting Jason talk.
"She had a confrontation with Spinelli but that isn't what has me worried. The other night, Elizabeth asked me if I would sleep upstairs with her. I said no, but gave her the ring I told you about. I knew we weren't ready and..."
"We weren't or you weren't?" he asked wanting to clarify what happened.
"Neither of us, Elizabeth is still jumpy around me, still expecting me to leave her yet again. I know she had cause to feel that way, but I am hoping or was hoping that I would be able to prove I was staying. Then she called me on something when we talked today. She is right, I still see Nik kissing her, it hurts." Jason hated to feel that way, but he did.
"You do know that she feels the exact same way about Sam, about what happened in the past between the two of you?" Jason got that, he just wished he knew how to get passed it.
"Yes, which is why it makes it even more irrational that I was so hurt that she had slept with Nik at the studio, stupid, isn't it?" he said with a angry laugh.
"No, just human. What about the penthouse, you must have slept with other women there, didn't you?"
"The penthouse is just a place, were I lived. Nothing more. The studio... it's hard to explain." Then he said "Elizabeth seems to get that, she loathes my bike right now. We talked about it, I asked her is she wanted me to sell it, she said no at first then confessed that she did want me to get a different one. That is something easy to fix, a new bike, a new studio. How do we fix the underlying problem of our jealousy."
"How about this, why are you jealous?" he asked. "You were fine with Lucky but not Nik, why?
Sitting back Jason said looking down at the ground and whispering. "She didn't love Lucky, hasn't for years but felt a sense of obligation to him. With Nik... I guess I was worried she was in love with him."
"So it is okay with you for her to be miserable with Lucky but not happy with Nik?" he asked skeptically.
Jason walked over to the sofa and said "Yes, in a way. I was being selfish."
"About damn time." said Tom. "That is a big problem with both of you, you sacrifice yourself for others. I think if you had been the real you, you might not have slept with Sam, but you would have still allowed her to hang around which would have slowly killed Elizabeth. Would we have ended up here, who knows, but I think you need to look deep inside of yourself and figure out why that bothers you."
Jason knew why, but hated to admit it out loud. Looking back at Tom he said "I am a bastard, aren't I?"
"Did you discuss anything else?" Jason took a deep breath and covered the rest of it. "So is she right? Do you feel like you couldn't kill this woman because of your past with her?"
"Yes, no, no." said Jason firmly. "I just,... as to the other stuff, the stuff with Ric. I have wanted to give that bastard a beat down since the first moment I saw him with Elizabeth. Then what happened with Carly and what he did to Elizabeth, who loved him...." Jason watched his hands shake. "I knew Sam lied about being raped, that Ric hadn't seduced her, but I finally had an excuse, one that Sonny would buy so I did it. I got to do what I had longed of for so long."
"Going back to your habit of covering up others and hurting Elizabeth." Tom said, then seeing Jason glare pointed out "Your words not mine. Anyhow, if you knew it hurt her why do it?"
"I honestly don't know. I think some small part of me is still angry for her choosing Lucky in the park all those years ago. I knew it wasn't for love, and I think that is why it still hurts."
"Have you ever asked her about it?"
"She said she was in love with me, that just made it worse that she still chose to rescue him." Tom saw the pain in his eyes and knew that he had finally hit Jason's deep seated hurt.
"I talked to Elizabeth about that and you know what, she said it was only partly out of obligation to Lucky. That you were sending her mixed signals. She didn't know if you wanted her to go along as your girlfriend or just as more than friends. Then you didn't give her time to even think."
Looking back Jason had an epiphany. "I was setting her up to fail. My relationship with Robin had been so screwed up, my god... I ..."
"Yes, you did. Jason the two of you have been at cross purposes combined with the hurts in each of your pasts for so long... Elizabeth likes to blame it on timing. I don't. I blame it on so much more. And something that is very fixable. You are on the right path, these fights, they were helping the two of you realize all the pain and anger and resentment that there is between you. Welcome to an adult relationship. I would have to guess, your first one."
Glaring at the man, Jason said "It just hurts, I hate arguing with Elizabeth. I hate the idea of making her cry."
"So you hold everything in. Your doubts, your fears and your love, using danger as an excuse to push her away. The thing is Elizabeth is an expert at seeing through them. Talk to her, argue with her and then compromise with her. Don't put it all on her, tell her your opinions, Jason."
"The thing is, most of the time, in the past. My opinions with most people didn't count when it came to my life." Elizabeth was often the only person to ask his opinion, but he could never bring himself to say how he truly felt. That no, he didn't want to let Lucky raise Jake, that no, he didn't want her to leave him that morning.
"Then work on that. You already doing that now." said Tom. "Now if I can make a suggestion, go upstairs, and join Elizabeth. Just test yourself." Before leaving Jason brought him up to date on Elizabeth and Diane's plan to deal with Spinelli and admitted that he only wished he could have been there to see his reaction.
Jason called his mother to see how the boys were and was told they were playing with Dillon and Brooklynn. "Are you sure that is wise?"
"They are fine." she said watching as Cam and the future movie director argued the merits of Jimmy Neutron verses Phinnes and Ferb. "Actually I think that Cam might be the more mature one in this quartette."
Standing outside the door, Jason kicked off his boots and tiptoed into into the room as the winter sun shined in on Elizabeth's hair, moving his eyes lower, he saw the dried tears as she curled around her pillow, Jason sat down in the same chair as from the night before. Pulling his phone back out, he made sure to turn it on vibrate then slipped into the bed, being careful not to touch Elizabeth.
As he slowly found himself taking a nap for the first time he could ever recall, Jason wound up curled around the woman he loved. "We are going to fight, but we will get there, I promise you that."
~~*~~
Carly woke up wearing a straight jacket and awkwardly stood going to the small window. Banging on the door, she saw a woman wearing a lab coat come into her room after unlocking the door. Opening her mouth to demand for her to remove it, she found she couldn't speak.
Trying again, she could feel the pain and found herself remembering what had happened.
The doctor saw the woman was struggling to speak and got her attention. "Mrs. Jacks, I am your new doctor, my name is Marie Achmeyer. Your husband had you transferred here after an incident with a patient at your last clinic. You are in Bonn, Germany."
Carly's eyes got wide as she realized she was in the middle of nowhere. Trying to speak again, she was told to relax and that an orderly would be in to remove the jacket in a half hour. "We have much to discuss before then. Your voice box was damaged in the attack. We are going to have to speak by writing or I could get a personal notebook computer and you could type out our sessions, would that work for you?"
Seeing her nod in excitement, the doctor left while Carly plotting on trying to find Spinelli as soon as she got the computer. Trying to recall that stupid nickname that the geek was always spouting, she sat down and when the orderly arrived, he mistakenly thought that maybe they finally had a calm patient who wasn't catatonic.
Handing her a notebook and paper he said "Dr. Achmeyer said she will get you a lap top here as as soon as she can. In the mean time, she would like you to write out your side of the incident in which you got hurt."
Seeing her reach for the paper and write something quickly he said "Yes, he did. He had to return to his hotel to spend time with your children. Their Nanny called him saying your daughter was fussy." the man felt bad for patients like this, they were sick and often lost all contact with their families while in the clinic.
When Jax returned he stopped in to see Carly and refused to give in to her written pleas to let her come home. "No, you need to get well, for your kids."
Carly saw him talking to the doctor then hand her the laptop before the woman looked down at her with a frown and a shake of her head. As they walked closer, she heard her assuring him that Carly would have no access to the Internet.
Sure she could get someone to help her, she was being led to her room when she heard someone saying. "Next time you see your friendly orderly, ask him the Nanny's name. Ask for a description of the woman playing mommy to your kids. One more thing, Morgan sends his regards."
Carly hurried into her room and shut the door herself ignoring the knocking on the door until the orderly peaked his head in to say "We are serving dinner in ten minutes, you have to come."
Seeing her grab her notebook, he sighed expecting a question about that subject only to read the note and look confused. "A brunette, dark tan. Brown eyes, she seemed to get along with the kids very well, you have nothing to worry about."
"Name?" she wrote.
"Uh, I think it was Beth, Ber, no, it was Brenda." Five minutes later, the orderly was walking from the room with the doctor as she was asking what had caused the patient to freak out like that. "I don't know, I just mentioned her kids."
~~*~~
Elizabeth heard the sounds of the boys coming up the stairs and realized she had slept soundly for the afternoon. Seeing an indention on the pillow next to her, she saw the boots next to the chair and gave a soft smile. Jason had stayed with her.
"Mommy, Mommy, guess what?" asked Jake as he rushed into the room before flying onto the bed to hug her. "We's had ice cream and wa-watch Cars and Ferb."
Cam filled in the rest while Jason stood in the doorway watching as Elizabeth and the boys talked their day out. "Daddy, Uncle Dillon said he was Miss Tracy's son. Are you sure?"
Wondering what Tracy had done to get Cam to wonder, he sat down on the foot of the bed absentmindedly playing with Elizabeth's feet while saying "Yes, he is her son."
"Okay, if you are sure." he said. Then hearing his Mommy giggle, he looked at her and saw Jake laughing too. "What's so funny, I want to laugh too."
Trying not to giggle as she answered, she finally restlessly moved her feet away from Jason and said "Stop before I return the favor."
"What?" he asked then saw his hands reaching for her feet again, then with a wicked grin said "Cam did you know your Mommy is ticklish? Want to try?"
Before she knew what happened, Jason had her feet and both Jake and Cam were trying to make her laugh, that was the scene when her father entered the room and stood in the doorway watching. Realizing they had an audience, Jason put a stop to the torture Mommy session and said "We have company."
"Oh, don't let me interrupt." he said with a smile. "But you are missing the best place. She has very ticklish ears."
"I know." said Jason his mind on the day he had nuzzled her neck then kissed his way up it only to start her laughing when he reached behind her ears.
Not sure he liked the loaded way his grandson's father answered the question, Jeff said "Elizabeth, there is a young woman downstairs wanting to talk to you. Her name is Robin and she said you promised to fill her in then that you stood her up."
Looking at her clock, she groaned and then looked at Jason. "I overslept. Robin is going to boil me in oil."
"No, I won't. Sorry, I heard the noise and had to follow it." she said entering the crowded room. When Jake and Cam had hugged her then called out that they were going to play, Elizabeth said "We can do it here if you don't mind."
"I will be in with the boys." said Jason quietly before surprising Elizabeth by kissing her on the lips. "I sort of promised Dillon and them pizza for dinner."
"Wait, Dillon is coming?" she asked.
"He is bringing over a present for the boys, that is all I know. Next thing I knew I was agreeing to pizza for dinner."
"Ice cream for lunch, pizza for dinner. Those boys, I am going to have to start paying better attention to what they are eating." she said sitting up. "No wonder Cam is outgrowing his clothes. Speaking of clothes, what happened with the green velvet dress with the crinoline and ruffles?"
Robin sat down, and the two women got up to date on each others lives. The young doctor, reached out to hug her friend for forgiving her. "I am so sorry, I can't believe I let myself forget who Sam was."
Jeff followed Jason in to the boys room and they played with his grandsons for about a half hour, then quietly talked while the boys were playing on their own. The doctor had been watching the younger man with his daughter and knew he was partly at fault for their problems. "I told Elizabeth I am sorry for the mess I created by being how I was in her childhood, I owe you an apology as well."
Looking at him, Jason said "No you don't. I knew how fragile Elizabeth is in the trust department, I screwed up long ago by not being clear with her, not telling her that yes, I wanted a future with her, but that is because I myself have a few of the same issues."
"I do have to ask if you loved my daughter, why these other women, why do that?"
Seeing Cam and Jake were not listening Jason said "Loving Elizabeth terrifies me at the same time that it gives me this incredible sense of pleasure at the idea of us as a family. The problem is that I have always looked at her as breakable. When she isn't, at least not in regards to the things I was worried about."
"That doesn't answer the question." he said quietly. He had already asked his daughter the exact same question in regards to Ric, Zander and Lucky. Nik he left alone since he was well aware she wasn't in her right mind then.
"Courtney was a rebound, I pushed Elizabeth away, actually at first it was unintentionally but then I decided she should have so much more than I could give her. So I settled for a woman that I knew was stuck in my world. She did play me, but I allowed myself to be played because I didn't want to be alone. Then Sam, well, she was pregnant with Sonny's kid."
"So you decided to be a daddy yet walked away from your own?" he asked doubtfully.
"Sam was threatening to abort the baby. I gave her money and a place to live. I saw what I thought was a woman bonding with her child then losing her. I think she saw that baby as a chance to live a different life, then losing it... bonded us, mainly because I knew loss. I have lost Michael, then Elizabeth. I would see her around with Cam, she was so happy, so excited to be a mom in spite of all of her financial troubles, I remember my sister's wedding... she caught the bouquet and I caught the garter."
Seeing him smile at the memory, Jeff just kept quiet certain there was more to the story. "But we didn't dance. I would have but Sam was out of it, I saw that Lucky wasn't happy and I didn't want to do anything that might harm her happiness." he said sadly. "So I took Sam home, she was drunk and said I love you. I just accepted that I had someone to take care of. I think looking back, I wanted her to replace Elizabeth for me. She was small, had dark hair. But she was never right." he said softly. "I was such a coward, but I did care for who I wanted her to be. She tried, I tried but in the end the implosion was bound to happen because we were both playing a role."
"I do get what you mean by a role. I know about your injury and don't know how much of your mother's past you know, but I was married to Monica when we first came here." Seeing his surprise, Jeff said "Yes, we were married, it was a mess. I had my own ideas of marriage and that since I was finished with med school it was time to get married. Monica had lost her boyfriend, he was thought dead. She was pressured by her family to marry so we did. We didn't want each other, we wanted the idea of each other. Then Rick came back, we weren't happy to begin with then finding out my wife was in love with my brother around the same time as finding out I was not my father Lars son."
Looking at Jake, Jason couldn't help regretting the time he had let Lucky Spencer play dad. "No different situation. Well, anyhow, we should have ended but we didn't. About a year later we did and she met your dad." said Jeff. "I fell in love with a nurse here at GH. But we had issues and I slept with Heather Grant, Steven's mom."
"That story I know from when I investigated Heather, she sold Steven didn't she?" he asked only for Jeff to nod.
"I found my son and tried with the woman raising him, but Diana, well we were wrong for one another and then Heather's mother killed her. I felt guilty for years and made some screwed up decisions. But one of those gave me Elizabeth. I will never regret that. Yet, I still can't help wondering what if..."
"What do you mean?" Jason knew that if Sam's baby had lived he wouldn't have regretted being in it's life but he also knew that Sonny would have stepped up as her father. That he had been willing to have that half life, to accept what little he had been planning on with Sam, made him want to figure it all out.
"Heather teamed up with another nurse, Bobbie Spencer and they tag teamed Annie until we were too far apart, I actually took Heather back for a while." he said. "Then I found out that Annie had a miscarriage, the baby was mine and Heather was responsible. Strangely enough, it was Bobbie who told me. She had married a doctor named Tony Jones and felt guilty for her past."
"Have you ever wished her dead?" asked Jason.
"Oh course, that is human nature but I get the feeling you are not talking in the hypothetical." he said cautiously.
"I have threatened Sam. I do find myself wishing her dead, but in the end, I was the one who should have done a better job of protecting my family. I knew she was capable of things, but I let her wander around free. She did so many things yet at the same time, when I saw her coming out of that building with Jake, I told her I forgave her for the past."
"You what?" asked Jeff in shock.
"For about five days." said Jason. "I was so grateful to be able to return my son to his mother, to know that he was safe. Then I started to wonder, she is a screwup, yet this time, she was successful in doing something?"
"You thought she was involved." he said.
"Yes, I still know she was some way, I just can't prove it." he said frustrated. "Elizabeth is angry that I didn't kill her, accused me of not doing it because of my past with her. I have been thinking on it and that is partly true. Just not for the reason Elizabeth believes. It isn't because of how I felt for Sam, it was because of how I felt for her baby. Sam is obsessed with having a child and it was my fault she can't yet I do, I have two sons."
"Jason, did this woman know what you life was about when you got involved? From what I heard she did, she actively participated in it. Something I am sure you discouraged. What ever happened to her, I would guess she was partly responsible."
"I know, but at the same time, I feel guilt and she plays me on it." he said. Hearing footsteps walking away, he got up and said "Excuse me."
Walking down the hall, he saw Elizabeth in her room. "How long were you there?"
"Long enough." she said quietly. "Jason, Johnny O'Brien and I once had a discussion, this was after the whole Ric thing. He told me that Sonny ordered you to kidnap me, you refused at first but then agreed maybe."
Wincing he said "I said that to get him to back off and not send someone else to do it."
"But if push came to shove, to protect Carly, we both know that back then you would have done it." she said. "I know that you would have kept me safe, but you would have grabbed me."
Stunned, Jason said "No I wouldn't have."
With a sad smile, Elizabeth said "And that is why I am not angry that you didn't kill Sam, because you loved her once and you couldn't do it in spite of everything."
Looking at her, he sat down in the armchair and then pulled her down to the end of the bed. "No, see that is the part that is scary. I could. The only reason I didn't was I couldn't find the proof, if I had, she was gone."
"Jason, you misunderstood what I was saying that day. I get that you find it hard to hurt those you once loved, I mean, I find that a good thing. I just... until Italy, I have never felt like the boys and I were your priority. And what happens after we work through this... Carly is gone, Sonny is gone... what happens when you wake up and blame me for costing you the people you consider to be your family."
Kissing Jason, she said "I was talking to Robin and I realized something... I want to have fights with you, and make up afterwords."
"Are you sure?" he asked not certain where this sudden jump from Carly and Sonny to wanting a chance for them was going.
"Yes, because I also realized that Carly and Sonny are gone. That Lucky is gone, that all that is keeping us apart is us." she said. "We are both still scared. And that is a good thing, at least right now."
"Why right now?" he asked.
"Because in the end as we keep clearing the air, it will be us. You, me and the boys." she said. "I was always afraid to live life, to be happy. I know we are going to have issues, but Jason... I think we can work through them." she said.
Pulling her over into his lap, Jason used his right hand to pull back the curls that were loose and looked her in the eyes and said "I agree. I do have to ask... will you be able to let go of the past. I am going to, we both made mistakes, can we move on from them?" he said tugging her head down to softly press a kiss on the corner of her lips. "We get a new bike, a new studio. A new home, one we live in as a family."
"Yes." she said pressing a kiss on his cheek. "We talk to one another, we don't hide from our problems and no more using danger as an excuse to run away from one another."
"I agree." he said kissing the opposite corner. "I do want to ask one more thing, would you mind terrible giving me a little girl?"
Shocked Elizabeth pulled back but Jason just pulled her right back so they could feel each other breath. "Not this very minute, but soon."
"I like that idea." she said. "What if it is a boy?"
"We keep trying." he said with a wicked smile. "I just want a little girl who looks like her mommy."
"That could take even longer." she said with a small laugh.
"True, we also might need a bigger house than the one we looked at." he said.
"Or we could just expand it if it becomes necessary." she said then leaned in to press a kiss to Jason's left cheek. "I just have one question for you."
"Anything." he asked as he eased his remaining arm around her waist to pull her in even closer.
Trying to ignore the magnetic pull, Elizabeth asked "How are you going to like being a house father to all of those children?"
Raising his eye brows he said "Well, since I intend to keep you tied to me with babies, I figure we will both be home taking care of them."
"I worked hard for my nursing degree, I am still going to want to work." she said. "Are you okay with that?"
"Yes, are you okay with me..." he asked leaving it open.
"Will I be scared, you bet your rear, but I trust you to keep us safe from harm." she said. "We do need to talk about one more thing."
"What? He asked more interested in kissing her, it had been so long since they had been like this in a romantic way.
"Do you realize that we are going to have to wait until we get our own place to do what we want to be doing right now?" she said groaning as she buried her head into his neck.
Pulling back back with his hands on her waist, he said "We can be really, really quiet after they fall asleep."
"My grams bedroom is right next to this one, Jason." she reminded him.
Thinking on it, Jason said "I swear we will find someplace."
"Look hard." she said then knowing it had to be addressed, she asked "Jason, what changed. I thought you wanted to wait."
"Honestly, jealousy. I want to wipe all thoughts of any one else out of your head." he said blushing.
She looked down at first feeling pain for the past, but then saw his hand reaching for her chin and looked up. "Don't, we agreed. That is the past. It happened it is over. We move on together. Now, we had better go relieve your father."
Standing while still holding Elizabeth, he dropped her on her bed then said "What should I order on the pizza for the boys?"
"Just make sure to get one with only extra cheese for Jake." she replied as she tried to stand on her lust weakened legs.
~~*~~
Georgie was listening to Maxie as she told her every single thing she had missed in the past few years. "Maxie, we have lots of time, you don't have to get me up to date in one night."
"But, there is so much more." she said as they entered Kelly's to see Johnny Zachara. When he joined them, he had to help Georgie stop Maxie from once again filling her in on everything. "Maxie, take a breath, will you."
Looking at him, she said "I just want her to know what is going on."
"Good, but she asked you to give it a rest. Why don't you ask her what she is going to do, or discuss what your dad is up to or even freaking talk to her about why you are so neurotic." he snapped.
Getting up to go, he said "Georgie my garage is down by Jake's if you change you mind about that job." he said teasing her just as he got to the door.
"Uh, thanks, I think I will stick to working for Diane, thanks." she said.
Moving back to the table, he said "When did this happen?"
"This afternoon. It is only temporary, my dad asked me to come work for him once he gets the club opened back up."
"What club?" he asked.
"Dad used to own a nightclub called the Outback and ran his detective agency from an office above. He invited me to come work for him once it is set up."
"Doing what?" he asked a bit worried for her.
"Helping him. I will be doing research, manning the phones, that sort of thing." she said. "Plus, I can help in the club a bit."
"Well,, if you change you mind and decide that you want to get dirty, come see me." he said as he walked out the door.
"Okay, what was that about and why didn't dad tell me about any of this?" asked Maxie petulantly.
Georgie said to her "When were you home today?"
"I kinda wasn't." she said. "But I talked to him on the phone."
Georgie couldn't help it, she hugged her sister and said "I sure missed you."
More seriously, Maxie said "I missed you, too. You have no idea how much."
~~*~~
Spinelli was sitting in his cell, thinking on all that he had heard that day. Hearing footsteps, he jumped up startled, then saw Jason. "What, you come to tell me how you don't like me anymore?"
"I never liked you, that was Morgan. I pitied you a bit." said Johnny. He had signed himself out of GH, needing to do this, but intending to head back that night. "I just wanted to let you know, since I do feel bad for you about your feelings for Sam. She is being sent a rehab center where they are going to warehouse her for the rest of her life."
"Jason should be taking care of her, he owes her." he said bitterly.
"No, actually he doesn't. I just wanted to say goodbye." with that Johnny left the jail, glad he had an alibi since the real Jason was home with his family. Right now, Nik Cassadine was leaning that one didn't mess with anyone Jason cared about.
Stopping to talk to Diane and Alexis he asked why they were there? "We had dinner together. Congratulate us, we just went into partnership."
"Does Jason know?" he asked thinking about the ramifications of Alexis working with Diane.
"Yes, I talked to him earlier, he is fine with it. We have to go and track down Mac Scorpio, we have an offer for him." said Alexis as they all walked out just as Nik staggered up to the station. "Nik, what happened to you?"
"I was beat up, someone attacked me." then looking at Jason he sneered. "More than likely someone who works for you."
"This is Johnny." said Alexis, "Not Jason."
"Or more likely those men you made that deal with." he said to the Greek. "Don't you know better than to make a deal with loan sharks with bad goods. We heard the rumors, I just didn't give a crap enough to warn you."
"What is going on here?" asked Alexis as she helped Nik sit down in the hub since Johnny still looked like he should be in the hospital.
"Ask your nephew. When he first started having money problems, he made a deal using something as collateral, something that turned out to be counterfeit." Johnny looked at the man and said "You should have just paid your bills."
"Stay out of my business.' he snapped.
"You are my business, and I am sure that the reason for the beat-down was the jet on the tarmac. You were planning on fleeing without paying what you owe." he said. Turning to Alexis, he said "He owes about five million and got ten million from the sale of the Island. Then ran."
"Nik, what were you thinking?" she asked when the medics arrived. Nik let them clean him up then rejected all efforts to keep him there.
Arriving at the airport, he saw the long Lincoln town car next to his jet. Getting out, he saw two men with no necks waiting for him. Going to the trunk of the car that had Spencer in it, he took out the duffel bag and threw it at them.
"Nice doing business with you, your highness." chuckled the one as Nik patently ignore them as he climbed up to the door of the plane. Once seated, he took Spencer's suitcase full of toys and dumped it. Underneath was all that was left of the once great family fortune.
Ten million dollars in diamonds and the rest of the money that Lucky had hidden. Landing in Greece he regretfully watched the jet as it took off for the last time then went to catch the boat to the old family estate. "Alfred, we are going home."
"Yes sir, we are." he said as he watched Nik carry Spencer aboard the boat.
Jason answered his phone then said "Cancel the check."
"I already took care of that. What do we do with the island?"
"Have the house torn down then tell our people to plant trees, lots and lots of trees."
"What about the real diamonds?" asked Johnny.
"Return them to the vault." he said before heading upstairs to suffer for the night. Looking at Elizabeth coming out of the bathroom wearing a pair of low riding pajama bottoms and a thin t-shirt, he leaned against the door and said "I had no luck, except to get a room at the Metrocourt."
Looking down, she said "It will only take a minute to change."
"For tomorrow night. They are all booked up for a wedding that is taking place tonight." he said his head hitting the door. "So how about tomorrow night, we get dressed, go out to dinner and celebrate."
Hiding her smile, she said "How about a small change. We don't get dressed, we go to Nowhere in your truck and then after a long talk and maybe a few kisses we go to the Metrocourt and slip up the stairs to whatever room you got for us."
Moving into the room, he held up the bag that was behind his back and said "Sweats and a t-shirt."
"Hurry up." she said with a smile. Soon, they were curled up in bed, only to hear a knock on the door as the wind swirled around outside. "Mommy, can we come in too?" asked Cam.
Jason went to the door and opened it, "Lets just have a sleepover."
Giggling, the two boys climbed into the bed with them, as the couple smiled at one other. They both knew that with the boys in there they wouldn't get much sleep but they were both well aware that they wouldn't have gotten much without them there anyhow.
~~*~~
Jagger went into the cell blocks, the officers had Spinelli on a suicide watch and it was his turn to check on the geek. Going over to the cell, he saw the note that was crumpled up in his grasp and called out to the watch commander to let him in. Entering he saw the kid didn't move and reached down to take his pulse.
Not finding one, he arranged for the medical examiner to come and pick up the body. Reading the note, Jagger just shook his head in disgust, sure that Mac would never want Maxie to hear this note.
"It looks like he didn't finish his last one." said the examiner using a pair of tweezers to take out the last pill. "Where would he get these?"
Looking at the visitor list, Jagger saw that between Johnny O'Brien's visit and his checking on the kid was a name he didn't like seeing. "Commissioner, why would Agent Raynor have been here visiting my prisoner?"
"He wasn't." said the man behind the counter. Then looking at the time stamp went back to the video, then with wide eyes showed his boss. "Uh, sir I think you should see this."
Jagger groaned then said "How the hell did Jerry Jacks get out of custody and then walk into the police station as plain as day?"
TBC