Chapter 3

"Where did you go?" Sam asked as Jason walked into the bedroom and immediately kicked off his boots.

Jason shook his head, "I had to take care of something." He looked up at her and immediately followed with, "Business." Ending the questioning. He was not exactly ready to share the news he'd just received, especially with her. All she talked about lately was having a baby and he just didn't want to deal with her jealousy that Elizabeth was giving him the baby that she wanted to give him. The thought of telling Sam made him want to run for the Canadian border.

He normally kept his personal life simple, or at least tried to. Drama was just something that did not fit into his day and it seemed like lately drama and Sam went hand and hand. He cared about her, that was a given, but it had only been a few months and if he was honest with himself, he wasn't over the fact that she had slept with Ric. It was a self-destructive move on her part, he knew that… but Sam knew that his sleeping with Elizabeth was not about revenge. It was so much more and he couldn't figure out if his limited intimacy with Sam was because of her and Ric or because of Elizabeth, or both.

"Are you coming to bed?" Sam asked in a sultry voice.

Jason shook is head, "I have some work to do downstairs." His eyes met hers and saw the disappointment and rejection but ignored it, hoping she would no make a big deal out of it. Climbing into bed with her right now was not something he wanted to do. Eventually he'd have to deal with the mixed feelings he was having about their relationship but tonight there were more important things on his mind.

He was going to be a father. Regardless of the fact that Elizabeth had hidden the truth, ignoring the fact that had he not remembered the night in the church she may not have ever told him… beyond all that it came down to one thing. He did the math in his head and figured it to be just under six months that he had to prepare to be a father. He tried to remember what the date was that she had told him she was due but just couldn't.

Elizabeth was currently staying with her grandmother and Jason could not have that. If she was having his child she needed a home with security. He could provide that in the Penthouse but it was not a good place for Cameron, it does not have a yard and there were few other small children in the building for him to play with. Plus he certainly could not move Elizabeth in with Sam living there if he wanted to remain living. So, the first thing he needed to do was find a house for Elizabeth and set up security. He spent the evening making mental notes of what needed to be done before the baby arrives.

By the time Jason drug himself up the stairs Sam was sound asleep, snoring once again. He'd made himself a list of things that would take months to take care of before the baby comes and would need to get started right away. In time he would deal with the fact that Elizabeth lied to him, for now he needed to move into action. He'd give both himself a few days, in a few days he would go see Elizabeth and then they'd start making plans.

"Jason, what is with you?"

He hadn't realized that he had been staring off at the wall for a few minutes until Sonny shook him from his daze. "What were you saying?"

"It doesn't matter. There is something on your mind, what is it?" Sonny asked placing his pen on his desk and leaning back in his chair. When Jason didn't immediately answer him, he asked again, "What is going on?"

Jason shrugged then thought that talking to Sonny may help shed some light on the situation, "Actually, you saw Elizabeth the day that she got the paternity test back, do you remember what exactly she said to you?"

Sonny rubbed his forehead, "Geez, that was a couple months ago."

"What do you remember of the conversation?" Jason asked. "It would help if you remembered what you said to each other."

Sonny sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, "Uh, she looked at the results and said that they were what she expected then we talked about Lucky getting clean."

Jason looked at Sonny confused, "Wait, she didn't say that Lucky was the father?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that everyone just assumed…" Jason trailed off.

"What are you getting at? Do you think the results were wrong?" Sonny asked.

Jason quickly shook his head, "No, it's not that they were wrong but…" Jason turned to make sure the door to the office was still closed. When he was assured no one could hear their conversation he continued, "The thing is that Elizabeth never told anyone that Lucky was the father, everyone just assumed it. Carly did the same thing, she is actually the one that told me." Jason leaned forward in his chair and wiped his hand down his face. It was all making sense, "Then Elizabeth came to tell me but Carly had already told me that it wasn't mine." He continued his thoughts to himself. He had told Elizabeth that it was better off just as everyone else had said to her. The anger he felt for her lying to him subsided slightly.

"Jason?" Sonny stood from his desk and grabbed a fresh bottle of water. "I don't understand what you are getting at, are you worried about Lucky raising his child while he is still recovering?"

"No… no, that's not it. Uh, Lucky isn't the father." Jason said in a low voice.

"Did she get another paternity test?"

Jason shook his head, "No, that was the results of the first one. I am the father."

Sonny stepped back behind his desk and sunk down in his chair. Jason could tell that he was processing their conversation and putting the pieces together himself. "Wow, and everyone just assumed, whoa." Sonny paused briefly then looked up at Jason and flashed him a dimply smile, "Congratulations."

Jason looked at Sonny and realized that he hadn't had the chance to realize that he hadn't really thought about the fact that he was going to be a father. For three days he had been planning on the process of having a child but never really sat down and thought about the fact that he was going to be someone's dad. There was going to be a small life that depended on him and loved him. There was going to be diapers, bottles, small hands, and innocent eyes looking at him. "I… I need to go. I'll call you later to finish going over the shipments." Jason quickly stood up and left the office.

On his way to his SUV he called Elizabeth, knowing she'd be at work because she always seemed to be there. Of course she answered the phone, "Eighth floor nurses desk, this is Nurse Webber."

'Webber?' Jason thought to himself before talking. "Elizabeth."

"Jason, hey…" she started but did not continue. He could tell she wanted to say more but didn't know what she should say.

"I was thinking that we should meet to, uh, discuss things."

"Ok." Elizabeth said and nodded her head against the phone.

Jason climbed into the driver's seat and continued "What time is your shift over?"

"Not until six but I can come by after."

"Probably not a good idea because Sam will probably be home by then. We can meet or I can come by your place."

Elizabeth chuckled, "Probably not a good idea either, I'm staying with my Grams and… well it's just not a good idea to open that can of worms until I have to." Elizabeth paused. "OH! How about my studio?"

"Perfect… around six thirty then." Jason clarified then hung up his phone. He immediately flipped the phone open again and dialed another number. He knew Sam did not keep her cell phone on her at work and did not want to talk to her anyway. When her voicemail picked up he left a short message, "Hey, I have a few things to take care of tonight and will probably be a little late. Go ahead and have dinner without me and I will call you if plans change."

He sat in his truck and let the engine warm up. He felt a nervousness and it was not a feeling he was accustomed to. Small butterflies fluttered along the walls of his stomach when he thought about being a dad. It had never been real until Sonny congratulated him. All the way back to the day that he found out Elizabeth was pregnant and there was the possibility of it being his, he had been looking at it systematically but this was his child that she was carrying, a life he would be responsible for over the next eighteen plus years.

For the beginning of Michael's life, he had been his 'father' but that was different. This was going to be his biological son that he will support for the rest of his life. He did not remember his childhood with Alan and although things were not great between them now, he wondered if he was a good father. Jason did not have the memories of playing ball or spending time with his father when he was younger. All of his memories of Alan were recent, darker ones. It was easier a few days ago when he was critiquing the quality of father that Lucky would be. His choices will now effect the life of another and that thought scared him.