A/N – Thanks for the comments! Guest – RE: the ring. It's basically a physical representation of intent to marry. If Liz was ready for an engagement, he would have asked. She's not. Jason is trying to be a better man. Part of it is making sure Liz trusts him and his commitment and he wants her to get used to the idea. * skatiefan – Thanks!

Chapter 33 – The Dinner

The rest of the day, everyone was coming up to Liz to check out her ring. Her face hurt from smiling by the time her shift was over.

Sarah walked into the locker room. "So, let's see it. You are the talk of the hospital right now."

Liz smiled and held out her hand.

"It's amazing."

"Thanks. It was unexpected."

"That he wants to marry you?" Sarah asked as she grabbed her purse out of her locker.

"Well, it just we hit a bump and although we're back on track….I don't know, maybe I'm just still in cautious mode. Kristen is still out there and it's hanging over our heads."

"Jason's not falling back into old habits right?"

Liz sat down on a bench. "No. He's been busy but not like before."

"Do you want to marry Jason?"

"I love him so much Sarah and I know that he loves me. I want us to get in a groove and to not do it for the wrong reasons. I just need a little more time to wrap my mind around everything," Liz said softly.

Sarah nodded. "I get it, just don't go thinking up problems where there are none. Jason really does love you. That is a fact. He's doing what is necessary to have a life with you."

Liz slightly smiled. "I know. Since when are you such a Jason cheerleader?"

Sarah chuckled. "I've seen him pretty bad off and his love for you is very intense. I just want you to be happy. Don't worry about what other people will say or anyone else's expectations. Do what feels right for the both of you."

Liz stood up and hugged her sister. "Thank you for saying all of that," she said pulling back. "Trust me, I won't take his love for granted.

Sarah left and Liz ordered some food to be delivered and then Cody took her back to the penthouse. She was tired but looking forward to their evening.

Taking a quick shower, she got dressed and went downstairs. Johnny and Jason walked inside and she gave Johnny a hug and Jason a kiss.

"The food should be here any minute," she said starting to go get their beer but was stopped by Jason.

"You sit down and put your feet up," he said before disappearing into the kitchen.

"How was your day?" Johnny asked.

"It was good, really good actually," she said holding out her hand.

"That is beautiful." He knew that Jason gave her the ring and was glad she was happy about it.

"Thanks."

"So everything with the baby is going well?" he asked.

Liz nodded. "I get tired pretty easily."

"I can only imagine. You are carrying baby Johnna."

Jason stopped in his tracks and frowned which made Elizabeth laugh.

Cody knocked on the door and brought the food in. He had set up a portable table and chairs for them and he placed it on there.

There was a knock on the door and he ran back and answered it.

"Hi," Kelly said. "May I speak to Elizabeth?"

Cody looked over his shoulder and Elizabeth smiled.

"It's fine. Come in Kelly."

Kelly walked past him and for a moment her and Johnny's eyes connected. "Hi, sorry to interrupt but you left your phone in the locker room and I didn't think you'd want to be without it." She looked down at Liz's hand and smiled. She had seen the ring at the hospital and thought Jason had great taste.

Liz smiled. "You're a life saver. Why don't you stay for dinner? We have plenty and it's my way of saying thanks."

"I don't want to intrude," Kelly said looking over Johnny who gave her a slight smile.

"You guys don't mind do you?" Liz asked turning to look at the guys.

Jason had to bite his lip so he didn't laugh. The little minx was playing matchmaker. "It's fine with me."

"I'm good," Johnny said. "Let me go get an extra chair."

Cody cleared his throat. "I'll get it." It wasn't far because Elizabeth had already clued him in. He ran upstairs and got out it out of one of the spare rooms. He set up and then went back into the hallway.

Elizabeth had ordered from Eli's. There was salad and ribs, corn, and mashed potatoes. "Alright, this is all for me. What are you guys eating?"

Johnny laughed. "Johnna must be really hungry."

Kelly chuckled. "So, you have naming rights?"

Jason shot him a look and all of they laughed. "My daughter will not be named after you. We'd both be traumatized."

"Please. She'd be the most popular girl in school," Johnny said before biting into a rib.

"That might not be a good thing. Besides, I think we'll home school her and she'll never be allowed to leave the house," Jason said.

Liz rolled her eyes as she wiped some sauce off her face. "Are you home schooling her then?"

Jason chuckled. "Uh, I thought you would."

She gave him a funny look and Kelly laughed.

"There's a lot of cute guards around here, maybe home schooling her isn't such a great idea," she said.

Jason thought for a moment. "All girl's boarding school then."

Liz groaned.

"Hey, it's Kelly's fault not mine," Jason said.

Kelly grinned. "Let me tell you, that last scenario is probably worse than her being around guards."

Liz rubbed her belly. "Don't worry baby, mommy will make sure that daddy doesn't send you away."

Jason sighed. "Well when you put it that way, it makes me sound mean."

Johnny grinned. "Uh, to most people, you are mean. Look, Uncle Johnny will make sure some little asshole doesn't put the moves on Johnna. You have my word."

Liz grinned as Jason just shook his head.

Jason had always been an enigma to Kelly. It was kind of weird seeing him all relaxed when usually the man looked like he could crack a diamond with his butt cheeks.

"So, are you two dating?" Jason asked, trying to start trouble.

Liz gasped and shot him a look while Kelly blushed and Johnny started laughing.

"Damn Jason, just get right to the point," Johnny said before looking over at Kelly, "Well, are we?"

Kelly bit her lip for a second. "I'm game."

Johnny smiled. "Good because so am I." He turned to Jason and smirked, "Happy now busybody? You're worse than a chick now."

Liz chuckled.

"I'll have to run a check on her but if everything checks out, I'll give my blessing." Jason quipped as Kelly choked on her drink.

"Jason Morgan," Liz said as she patted Kelly's back, "What the hell has gotten into you?"

Jason smiled. "Nothing, I was just curious."

"Since when?" she asked.

Jason shrugged. "I'm just kidding by the way," he said to Kelly, "Well, sort of…."

Johnny laughed. "For your information, I've already had it run."

Kelly's mouth dropped open.

"Just kidding."

Jason and Johnny grinned at each other as the women rolled their eyes.

"I'm gonna put both of you on a time out," Liz promised. "And take your hand off that last rib Johnny or you'll never shoot a gun again."

Johnny looked shocked. "Dayum."

Kelly grinned. "Never get in between a pregnant woman and her food. Have a piece of corn, it's safer."

Jason smiled. "My baby is hungry."

Liz nodded as she bit into the rib and Jason chuckled at the sauce that was stuck to her face. She looked so cute.

They finished eating and sat down in the living room. Johnny pulled Kelly onto his lap and Jason and Elizabeth sat on the couch.

"I'm stuffed," Liz said almost groaning. "It's not like I ate a lot."

Johnny laughed and Liz glared at him.

"You are on thin ice and frankly, if she charges, you're on your own," Kelly said.

"I thought you had my back," Johnny said pouting a little.

"I do but I'm not getting in between that."

"Don't worry, I'm in no condition to take him down. That's why I have Jason here," Liz said smiling. "You'd kick Johnny's ass for me if I needed you to right?"

Jason sighed and tried to look pathetic. "It would hurt me to the core, but yes, I would sacrifice for you."

Liz smiled. "Thank you honey," she said kissing him lightly.

Johnny rolled his eyes. "Please. Do I look scared?"

Jason stood up and moved so fast, it caught Johnny completely off guard. He jumped up with Kelly in his arms, who was squealing at this point. As Jason got closer, Johnny threw Kelly at him and of course he caught her.

"Wus," Jason said as he gently placed Kelly on the ground.

Johnny scooped up Elizabeth and went behind the couch.

"Seriously?" Jason asked.

"You know he's going to kill you for this right?" Liz said as she tried not to laugh.

Johnny grinned. "You are forgetting one thing."

"What's that?" she asked.

"That Jason loves him some Johnny. I am the true reason he gets out of bed in the morning and…."

Johnny stopped and his face got pale, and for a second Jason was nervous that he was going to drop Elizabeth.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Johnny gasped as Elizabeth grinned. "Johnna kicked me twice."

"That's because even she knows you're an ass," Jason quipped as he glared at Johnny, "Put my woman down."

"That is so trippy. What does it feel like to you?" Johnny asked, still holding Liz in his arms.

She had her hands wrapped around his neck. "Kind of like my stomach shifts. It doesn't hurt. It's just weird," she tried to explained.

"Enough," Jason said taking Elizabeth into his arms. "You okay baby?"

Liz smiled. "Don't kill him. He can't be the baby's godfather if he's dead."

Jason's eyes narrowed. "So let me get this straight. If something happens to us, you want Johnny responsible for our child?"

Johnny grinned. "That is exactly what she's saying," he said before giving Kelly a kiss.

"You're in trouble for throwing me," she said.

"Baby, I knew he'd catch you," Johnny said. "I'll make it up to you later."

Kelly grinned. "You better."

"I think I'm going to be sick," Jason said pretending to gag.

"So, I'm the godfather?" Johnny asked smiling.

Jason sat on the couch with Elizabeth still in his arms. "Are you sure about this?" Jason asked.

"Yeah. Johnny would never let anything happen to this baby. You can pick the godmother."

Jason sighed. "Do you mind if it's my sister?"

Liz smiled. "No. I think that would be great."

"You know, that means that Jax would be around your kid," Johnny said grinning.

Jason moaned as the girls chuckled.

"Jason Morgan, we're going to have dinner with Jax and Emily and you are going to have to find a way to deal with him for Emily's sake," Liz said.

Jason signed. "Fine."

Liz winked at Kelly.

Johnny saw Elizabeth yawn. "Alright. We're going to go. I have some making up to do."

Jason looked over at his friend and mouthed, "Thank you."

Johnny stood up and let Kelly slide down his body. "Let's get out of here. Thanks for dinner."

Jason got up and put Elizabeth down. She hugged Kelly and then Johnny.

"Seriously, thank you for trusting me. I do consider it an honor. You both mean a lot to me and this baby will be no different. I might joke around a lot, but there is nothing I will take more seriously than my duties as a godfather. You can count on that," Johnny said sincerely.

Liz's eyes filled with tears. "Thank you Johnny."

He kissed her on the forehead and then patted Jason on the back. "Later."

Jason nodded. "Later."

He put his arms around Elizabeth as he heard the door close. "Are you alright?"

She wiped a tear away. "Hormones."

"I'm not upset about you picking Johnny. He's my best friend and some day, I think that he'll make an excellent father. Just don't tell him that I said that."

Liz smiled. "Hmmmm. I'll agree to your terms, but it's going to cost you a foot rub."

Jason smirked. "How about a whole body rub?"

"Only if it's your body that is doing the rubbing," Liz said wickedly.

"I think that can definitely be arranged."

She yawned again and then yelped as Jason picked her up.

"You're tired and going to bed. I'll rub you in the morning," he said nodding for her to turn off the light before taking her upstairs to bed.

IiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIi

AJ stared up at the ceiling. He was doing a lot better but his broken ribs were still making it hard to move around without extreme pain. His body ached and he still had loud ringing in his ears. And even through all of that, in the grand scheme of things, he was thankful. He wasn't in prison and soon, he'd finally get payback.

Kristen watched AJ via the camera from his room. So far, he had just accepted that she rescued him and hadn't questioned her loyalty. He always treated her like she was stupid, so it was no surprise that he thought that she wasn't on to him. Another few days, and hopefully he'd be ready for the next step in their plan.

IiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIi

Jason followed Elizabeth and Carly around a boutique. Carly had invited herself along for the ride and while that took some pressure off of him, he was still asked his opinion several times and he quite frankly never knew how to respond. While he loved looking at Elizabeth when she was dressed up, he preferred her au naturel. He smiled to himself at the vision and Elizabeth looked at him curiously before getting pulled towards a dress by Carly.

"This is the one," Carly said. "It will fit her perfectly, and it's sexy without being slutty."

Liz grinned. "I think your right and the color is perfect." She looked at the price tag and frowned.

"What?" Jason asked. As far as he was concerned, they had found a dress and they were done shopping. He wanted to know what the problem was so he could solve it—fast.

"It's double what Patrick wanted to spend."

Jason whipped out his wallet. "Here."

Liz's mouth dropped open. "Jason. I can't take that."

"Yes you can. It will be an engagement present from us. Besides, Patrick doesn't need to know. Buy the shoes and whatever else you need with his card and put the dress on this one."

Carly chuckled. She could tell that Jason was quickly losing her patience. "That sounds perfect," she said with a knowing smile.

"See," Jason said.

Liz grinned. "Alright, since I can tell your heads about to implode, I'll agree."

He leaned over and kissed her. "Thank you."

She went and paid for the dress and then Carly found some shoes and a purse to go with it.

"Are we done?" Jason asked.

Liz chuckled. "Yes baby."

He smiled. "Good."

Walking over to the counter, he whispered something to the saleswoman and she grinned.

"I'll take care of that for you Mr. Morgan."

"I'll come by later to pay for it," Jason said quietly.

She smiled and watched them leave the store and then grabbed the dress that Jason thought Liz would look perfect in and put it inside a bag for safekeeping.

IiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIi

They dropped off Carly and then Elizabeth looked over at Jason. "Don't make any plans for dinner."

"Are we going out?" Jason asked.

Liz smiled. "Yes, with Emily and Jax. She just texted me."

Jason groaned.

"Jason, seriously, is Jax that bad?"

He thought for a moment before speaking. "I'll let you make up your own mind but I'm sure you'll like him."

"Then what is the problem?"

"He hates me for one thing. And trust me, the feeling is mutual." Jason said firmly.

Liz wasn't quite sure what to say. "Do you want me to cancel?"

"No. I don't get to see Emily much and I know you want to get to know her a little better," Jason said solemnly, "I'll deal."

Liz was quiet. "I just don't want you to be miserable."

"I won't be." He said before pulling into the garage.

Liz got out of the car and stopped for a second and used the door to balance.

Jason ran up to her. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. She's just on my bladder right now." Liz said.

Jason scooped her up and carried her to the elevator.

"I'm sure I'm getting too heavy for this." She said softly.

"You're fine. You barely weigh anything to begin with," he said.

He took her into the penthouse and put her down on the couch. Without saying a word, he disappeared for a few minutes and then came back with some water, fruit, and sandwich. "You need to eat," he said putting the tray on her lap.

"Thank you," she said smiling.

"I have to run some errands. Do you need anything?" he asked.

"Nope," she said before biting into the sandwich. Shopping had definitely worked up her appetite.

He smiled and kissed her on the forehead.