Chapter 12

"You have a lot of nerve showing up here." Audrey voiced as she opened the door.

Ignoring her snide comment, "Uh… Is Elizabeth home?"

Audrey rested her hand on her hip, "Don't you think you have done enough damage to my granddaughter? For years you have strung her along and managed to wrap her up in your…"

"Grams!" Elizabeth called.

Audrey stepped back from the door and revealed Elizabeth walking up behind her. Her eyes were red, "What's going on?" she asked then nervously laughed.

"Elizabeth, I-"

Elizabeth held up her pointer finger, prompting him to stop. "I was just about to get Cameron together and head over to the new house. Some of the furniture is being delivered today so I have to be there and wait for it… wanna go for a ride over?"

"Uh, sure."

She looked over her shoulder and saw Audrey standing a few feet behind her, "Go ahead and wait in the car, we'll be out in a minute."

The car ride was quiet, at least Jason and Elizabeth did not talk to each other. Cameron, on the other hand, jabbered non stop. He was truly excited about the new house. "And mama said I can help her paint the room for the new baby." He cheered as they walked into the house.

Once they were in the house, Cam started running around and exploring, giving Jason and Elizabeth a few minutes to talk.

"I'm sorry Elizabeth. I don't know how that reporter found out about everything."

She shook her head, "Don't be sorry, you didn't do anything. I mean, yesterday morning, it was just yesterday morning. It had to be someone that works at the courthouse that tipped the paper off."

"I already called Max on the way to Audrey's house. He is looking into it for me."

Elizabeth sighed, "I'm the one that should be apologizing. I'm the one who wanted you to adopt Cameron and now you have to deal with the fallout."

"I told you before that if I didn't want to do it I would have said no. Something like this was bound to come out eventually." He looked over at the stairs when they heard Cameron's feet on the floor above them. "Wha-what about Cameron? What if he hears people around him refer to me as his father?"

Elizabeth's eyes filled with tears, "Oh my god, what have I done? This is all going to confuse him, he won't understand. I should have just left things alone."

He hooked his hand over her shoulder and pulled her body into his. He rested his chin on the top of her head, "We'll figure it out. It would have gotten confusing for Cameron anyway when the baby starts talking and calling me daddy. We will deal with things as they come… together."

Elizabeth relaxed against him and let her arms snake around his waist. With one word, he set her at ease, together. For a moment she allowed herself to let go and allow him to ease her worry. It, however, was short lived as she started thinking about the fallout. She had taken advantage of Jason's kindness. No matter how much he insisted that he cannot be forced to do something he didn't want to do, she was sure it was something he would have never done on his own and probably never would have even thought about adopting Cameron.

With it now being public knowledge that Jason had "adopted" Cameron, there was a good possibility that people would be referring to Jason as Cameron's father, possibly in front of him. That was something sure to confuse the you boy and that definitely worried her. In all the planning, she had never thought about Cameron finding out so soon. Eventually it was inevitable that Cameron would discover the adoption but she had hoped he'd be old enough for her to explain the circumstances to him. She felt as though she was now forcing Jason into a role he did not sign up for. Technically he did but not under these conditions. He had his own life, his own girlfriend…

She tipped her head up to look at him, "Oh no… what about Sam, she is going to freak out."

"Actually, she is the one that pointed the article out to me. She freaked about the adoption."

Elizabeth took a step back from his hold and he immediately missed the feel of her against him. "Wait… you didn't tell her?"

He shook his head, "I…"

"Mama?" Cameron called as he came barreling down the stairs. "When is the nurture gonna be here?"

"You mean the furniture sweetie." Elizabeth looked out the window, "Actually I see the truck pulling up, so some of it is here now."

Over the next few hours, various trucks pulled up in front of the house and unloaded furniture from the different stores she had bought things from. When Jason asked her why she didn't buy it all at one store she simply answered that she clearance shopped so the selection was minimal at each store. They all had free delivery so it didn't matter to her how many different places she had to go to get all of it. One truck delivered a kitchen table and a single bookcase. Another truck delivered her bed as well as a bed for the spare bedroom. The rest of the day was much of the same with the last truck delivering the sofa and Cameron's bed.

Jason was amazed by Elizabeth's energy. She was bouncing from room to room, directing the delivery men on where she wanted each piece of furniture. Jason kept a close eye on the strangers as they adjusted the items they delivered. In the end, he was actually glad that he was there because the idea of her and Cameron alone in the house all day with various strangers, regardless of the guard outside, left him feeling uneasy. In a few cases, Jason even helped them carry in the furniture when it was bulky or if he just wanted to get them out of there fast.

"You look exhausted." Elizabeth said to Jason while they walked back into the house as the last truck backed out of the driveway.

Jason chuckled, "I'm fine."

"Thank you for helping today but I don't believe you… I can take this from here."

Jason stopped at the door and closed it behind them. "Are you saying that you want me to leave?" He asked with his head cocked.

She laughed, "No, I'd love for you to stay but… you really do look tired and I'm sure you have other things you need to do. I told Cameron that I'd help him put together his room first and I'm sure you don't want to stick train decals on his wall."

There was no way he was going home, he was either staying a bit longer or checking into a room at the Metrocourt… he could also go to the coffeehouse but he'd slept in that chair before and it was not very comfortable. He'd go home but he wanted to wait as long as possible, hoping Sam would be gone by the time he got back. "I'd like to stay and help."

Elizabeth grunted, "You are stubborn. Fine but humor me, I have this beautiful new couch, while I am upstairs with Cameron will you at least rest for a few minutes. If you aren't tired and don't fall asleep, then fine but please, humor me."

Jason smiled, that sexy grin that gave her butterflies, "Yes ma'am."

"If you took care of yourself like a big boy I wouldn't have to go all mommy on you."

Jason sat on the oversized couch and looked up at her. He blinked so slowly that it almost looked like he was looking over her body, "Believe me, I would never think of you as my mom."

She felt her entire body blush, from her face all the way down to her toes. Smugly, Jason sat back and found the couch to be surprisingly comfortable. He picked his feet up from the floor and rested them on the box in front of him. Once Elizabeth disappeared up the stairs to find Cameron, he closed his eyes.

When Jason opened his eyes again, it was dark and a blanket had been placed over him. He didn't remember seeing any blankets or any other linens in the house when he'd gone through earlier. They were not moving any of that in until tomorrow.

He stretched his legs and stood from the couch. After peeking into Cameron's room, he found it completely finished, his bed was assembled and made, his walls decorated and a train shaped rug laid in the middle of the room. Moving to the next room, the master bedroom, he found them. The sound of Cameron's giggle echoed through the room and he watched as Elizabeth shook out a sheet over her bed and let it fall over Cameron. He giggled as she tightly tucked the sheet under the mattress, making the bed with Cameron giggling under the sheet.

"Cameron? Cameron? Where did you go?"

"I'm under heeeerw" Cameron giggled from under the crisp, white sheet.

Elizabeth lifted the sheet from the end of the bed and peeked under, "How did you get under there?"

"Mama, you silly." He laughed and he stood under the sheet, lifting it from the bed with him. Elizabeth snapped the end of the sheet and it slid off him. "Jason!" Cameron yelled when he looked past Elizabeth and saw Jason standing in the doorway behind her.

She looked over her shoulder. "You weren't tired though, huh?" She teased, arching an eyebrow.

Jason rolled his eyes, "What time is it?"

"Dinner time, I was just about to order a pizza. I was going to stop at the store while we ran back to my Grams to pick up some things but it started snowing again and I didn't want to drag Cameron out of the car."

"You ran home?"

Elizabeth smirked, "No, I ran to my Grams and grabbed a few things so Cam and I can stay in our new home tonight. Would you like to stay for some pizza with us?"

"I'd like that."