AN:

Damn you guys were hard on Mac. As for Maxie I would say 'Trust me I have a plan' except I don't. LOL!! But don't worry I will deal with her eventually.

And yes I know this chapter is short but the next few chapters make it worth it.

~Kelly~

PS

Thanks to Chyna the energizer bunny of betas.

Chapter Nine

It was a perfect summer day. Elizabeth wasn't surprised given her mood. It felt as if the world was mocking her. The last few weeks had been almost surreal. Even so Elizabeth thought she was handling things well. That was until her talk with Mac.

Elizabeth had been blindsided by the man's findings. She had no idea Lucky was on drugs. Even less of an idea where he could have gotten them. The situation was driving her insane. All she wanted to do was scream at Lucky, to ask him what he was thinking. However that wasn't a possibility. Lucky was dead and this time he wasn't going to come back. The only thing Elizabeth could do was move past it. While it still hurt she refused to give Lucky any more power over her life.

Suddenly Cameron yelled Jason's name causing Elizabeth to look up. It seemed like Jason always appeared when she needed someone. Her Grams had tried to help but had a hard time believing Lucky would do drugs.

On the other hand Elizabeth wasn't entirely surprised. Lucky was after all Luke's son. The older man practically lived off booze. It didn't come as a shock Lucky would follow the same path.

"Hey." Elizabeth said as she watched Jason pick Cam up. It was amazing to watch Cam with Jason. Even though they barely knew each other Cam felt connected to him. "I never expected to see you in the park."

"It's a short cut to the warehouses."

"Ah. Of course it is."

"Play?" Cam asked wiggling to be let down.

"Honey I'm sure Jason has to...."

"It's fine, Elizabeth. I don't have any plans." Jason said laughing when Cameron jumped up and down with excitement. The young boy ran off towards the swings. Jason waited until he couldn't hear and said, "Maybe after I play with Cam you can tell me what's wrong."

"How do you do that?" Elizabeth asked slightly surprised by how well Jason could read her. She didn't know why. Jason had always been the one person who really saw her.

"Do what?"

"Know when I am pretending?"

Jason shrugged before saying, "Because I know you, Elizabeth."

"Jaaaason!" Cam yelled from across the park.

"Go on Cam's waiting. Well talk later." Elizabeth promised knowing Jason wouldn't let her forget.

Jason hesitated for a moment and then joined Cam by the swings. He spent the next half an hour pushing the toddler. In that time Jason discovered two things. One Cameron had his mother's laugh. The other was, like Elizabeth, Cameron had worked his way into Jason's heart.

As Cam laughed Jason couldn't help but join him. It felt like forever since he had laughed or smiled. Jason's life was usually so serious especially lately. Having Cam and Elizabeth around made his day better.

Instead of examining the emotion Jason slowly brought the swing to a stop. Cam looked up at him pouting. He squatted down to look Cameron in the eyes. "How about I take you and Mommy to dinner."

"Cookie?" Cam asked almost immediately.

"Well we have to ask your mommy but I think you can have a cookie after dinner."

"Yay!" Cam yelled running to Elizabeth.

"What did you promise my son?" Elizabeth asked in a teasing tone. Jason was one of the few people she trusted completely with Cameron.

"Nothing." Jason said somewhat mysteriously. "How about I take you to dinner?"
"I don't know, Jason. I know you have more important things to do."

"Not really. I want to do this. Think of it as payback for the other day. Besides we still need to talk."

"I guess dinner it is then."