The Port Charles Airport was surprisingly busy for such a small town. The short flight distance to larger hubs in the state meant it was frequently used by bargain hunters who didn't mind driving a little bit longer to pay a little less for their flights. While it was normally crowded, the after Christmas rush of travelers returning to their real lives made every available space packed with throngs of people.

Elizabeth stood on the top of a chair in the area just before the security checkpoint, scanning the crowd for the familiar curly head. Steven was scheduled to leave in a few hours and if she knew nothing else about her brother, he would be ridiculously early for his flight. Part a desire to get through security with plenty of time, part an anal retentive trait inherited from their mother, one that had skipped Elizabeth entirely.

Her grandmother had been her only family member to even attempt to contact her on Christmas, a fact that stung deeply. Elizabeth could appreciate their needing time before coming around to the news, which was why she had her plan in the first place. But there was still time to work on her parents and sister. They weren't scheduled to leave before the New Year. Laura had called repeatedly, but Lucky had insisted on sending her calls to the answering machine. He had convinced Patrick to stop by on his way to Christmas dinner and take Cameron, but he had remained firm in not going. But Steven was leaving today to talk to that French director about a possible job. There wasn't time to let him get over his shock and decide to support her. She was going to have to force him to talk with her about this.

She hadn't told anyone where she was going, driving over to beat the early morning crowd. Steven's flight to New York was scheduled to leave at 8:30, with another flight out of La Guardia at 10. By the time his direct flight to Paris landed it would be another day and he would have twenty-four more hours to create ways to make this situation worse. She hadn't expected the crowds to be so numerous so early in the morning, but she guessed she should have figured it out. The earlier you left, the better chance you had of making your connecting flight on time.

The familiar dirty-blonde curls caught her eye first. She checked for the rest of typical flight outfit to make sure it was really him. Black jogging pants. T shirt emblazoned with his current favorite band, this month being his Linkin Park concert t-shirt. No iPod but a regular CD player held in his hand. A neon orange backpack safely hoisted onto one shoulder, a gift from her so no one would ever confuse his bag with their own. Even though she was still mad at him, she couldn't help the smile as she finally looked at the face of her big brother.

Carefully she made her way toward him, making an effort to tap him on the shoulder when she got close enough. True to form, she could hear snippets of his CD the closer she got to him. Just yelling his name wouldn't have been enough to catch his attention. Feeling her touch, Steven grabbed off the headphones and turned in her direction. "Steven," she greeted hopefully.

His normally kind eyes flashed with disappointment. Now that she had told everyone, he couldn't help but focus directly on her stomach, noting the swell she had hid from him. Elizabeth had never been able to hide anything from him in the past. She was a horrible liar and more times than not far too proud of whatever it was she did to keep quiet for long. Maybe that was what was hurting him the most. It was the one thing she had kept from him and it was life changing. "Elizabeth." He said, managing to keep his voice even.

"Can we talk please?" she asked softly, pointing to the chairs she had just come from.

"I have to make it through security. It's going to be extra tight because of the holidays."

"You're three hours early. You have time." She could see him stiffen his shoulders and Elizabeth felt her heart break as the realization washed over her that he was determined to leave without talking to her. "Please Steven. Please don't leave this way." She whimpered.

If there was one thing he couldn't stand, it was to hear his baby sister whimper. It didn't matter how stupid the idea was, if she whimpered, he most likely would end up going along with her brilliant plan. With a defeated sigh he motioned in the direction she had pointed. "Fine. But you aren't making me miss my flight."

"I'd never do that." Elizabeth swore, leading them both over toward the chairs. Sitting down, she seized her brother's hand. "Steven, you can't seriously be mad at me about this."

"Maybe I am and maybe I'm not, but I can be mad at him," he grumbled under his breath.

"His name is Lucky, which you know, and it wasn't just his decision. I was there too."

"Ok you know what? Changed my mind. We really don't need to talk anymore." Steven tried to stand up and make his way back to the line, but Elizabeth's hand on his arm stopped him.

"Running away isn't going to change this. In five months you will be an uncle." He turned and met her eyes, which were starting to well with tears. "I want my child to know his or her uncle. At this rate, the only other family he or she will have is Patrick, Robin, and Grams."

Reluctantly Steven sat back down. "Low blow."

"It worked didn't it?" She sniffed. "Talk to me Steven. I know you aren't thrilled with me being pregnant."

"And not getting married." Steven added quickly. "Don't forget that point."

"Fine. And we aren't getting married. And I get that having it blurted out in the middle of a town wide Christmas party is not the best way to hear about it. But it's still me. And you've never questioned my decisions like this before. I expected Mom, Dad, and Sarah's reaction, but yours? Steven that wasn't you."

He could see the hurt in her eyes and hear it in her voice. She had been counting on him, obviously, and he had let her down. Biting the inside of his lip, Steven dropped his head and looked at his hands. "Explain it to me."

"Explain what?"

"Just..." Sighing, he rearranged himself on his chair so he could look his little sister in the eye. "You told me you loved him. Is that still true?"

"Yes."

"And you really see this pregnancy as a good thing?"

Unconsciously she rubbed her stomach. "After I stopped freaking out, yes."

"And he's told you he's going to stand by you and support you?"

"Yes Lucky has." She overemphasized his name just to annoy her brother. Her grandmother had once promised her someday her brother would realize she was no longer six years old. Elizabeth had just assumed that day would occur before she got pregnant.

"Then why aren't you getting married? That's what I don't understand. You say it's your idea, but I don't get it."

Biting her lip Elizabeth paused as she tried to find the right words. She had realized she was going to have to defend her decision, but it didn't make finding the words any easier. They hadn't been easy to say the first time and she doubted the explanation would get easier each time she had to explain. Blowing out a breath, she tried to begin. "If I had called you up and said I was getting married to a guy I had known for seven months, what would you have said?"

"When are you due?"

"Steven, be serious."

"I am. I would assume you were knocked up and had to get married."

"What a nice way of putting it. Thanks so much." Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "And when I said no, you would have asked if I was crazy."

"Yes and then when you told me you weren't, I would still say you're crazy."

"So how is this any different?"

"Elizabeth." Steven gestured toward her stomach. "Come on. Hello!"

"Steven. It's the same thing. We aren't ready. And it's not just us we have to consider. There's Cameron too. It's not fair to him if we got married because of the baby and then something happened...Cameron's been through enough."

"Now that you mention him..." Steven kicked his backpack under his seat. "Look it's just odd that Cameron's mother is nowhere around. You don't mention her. She's just not there. It's like she doesn't exist." He paused and reached out to squeeze Elizabeth's hand. "I know you keep saying that whatever happened between those two won't happen to you, but I don't want to see you cut out of your child's life like Cameron's mother obviously is."

"You don't understand the situation. That's not going to happen to me."

"That you know of. All that boyfriend of yours has to do is sic his legal team on you and you'll be bounced out of your child's life so quick your head will spin."

"That's not what happened."

"That's what he told you. You don't know for sure that's not what happened."

"No I do know Steven." Elizabeth shook her head softly. "Jess wasn't kicked out of Cameron's life. She died."

"What?"

"I don't know all the details. But Jess and Lucky were sharing custody of Cameron. They were broken up when she found out she was pregnant. Anyway Cameron was just a few months old and she was hit by a drunk driver. Cam was with Lucky at the time. Jess died and Lucky was granted custody of his son. There was no plot to drive Jess out of Cameron's life. And the reason we didn't say it the other night was Cameron's too young to know all the details. And that was definitely not the time or place to start explaining them to him."

Steven sat back in shock. Elizabeth leaned forward to him and held his hand in both of hers. "I love that you worry about me, but Steven you have to trust my judgment on this one. Lucky isn't going to try to drive me out of this child's life. And I'm not getting married when I'm not ready just so you feel better about this."

Steven fell silent, trying to process what Elizabeth had just told him. It certainly changed his perspective, but his concern was still there. Just because it hadn't happened before, didn't mean it wouldn't. And there was still the part of him that believed if you were pregnant, you got married. On the other hand, this was the first time his sister had felt this strongly about a guy to stand up to him. And he had to admit she did seem happier than he had seen her in awhile. "I'm not going to like this overnight you know." He warned.

"I wouldn't expect you to."

"I heard what you said. But I still think you are full of crap."

"Thanks for your support." Elizabeth said wryly.

"However I promise I will try to work on being more open-minded. Apparently my niece or nephew is going to need someone with a lick of sense to tell them what's right and wrong."

Steven stood up intent of rejoining the line to get through the checkpoint. Elizabeth joined suit and followed him. "Does this mean you'll be talking to me again?"

"How can I convince you I'm right if I don't talk to you?"

"Thank you for listening to me." Elizabeth sighed as she went to hug him hard.

Closing his eyes, he returned the hug. "Promise you're happy."

"I promise."

"And if you ever become unhappy?"

"I'll call you to come kick some butt." She laughed into his chest. "But I am happy with this Steven."

"I guess that is all I can ask for."