Sitting in the local bar, Johnny pushes his bottle of beer back and forth between his hands. He has been sitting there for the last two hours since he left Elizabeth in the hospital, staring at the same bottle of beer he ordered since he walked in, but hasn't drank.
There used to be a time in his life where Elizabeth meant nothing to him. She was simply a face in a crowd that held no meaning or merit. As he sits there thinking back over the last ten years, Johnny wonders if he'll be able to walk away if Jason is the one she wants again.
It was kind of ironic to think that his first love was the one that put them together. When Lulu asked him to take Elizabeth's family on, to protect them from Jason's enemies, Johnny thought she had completely lost her mind. After hearing her out and realizing just how deep Elizabeth was, Johnny decided to throw caution to the wind and set up a security net in order to keep the nurse and her family safe. He asked her beforehand, of course, and it took some convincing before she let him implement his security team.
He couldn't remember when their, whatever you could call it, turned into something more, but, if he had to pinpoint a specific encounter, it would be that day he found her crying on the bench. He was heading down to the warehouse on the Elm Street Pier when he spotted her in tears on the bench. He could remember that day as if it were yesterday.
"Elizabeth?" Johnny says cautiously, walking over to her. "What's wrong?"
"What's right?" she counters, shaking her head. "My son hates me. I tried to explain...I tried to make him understand...but how can he? Its all my fault and now Jake hates me."
"I highly doubt that." Johnny sits beside her when she makes room for him. "Jake loves you. I'm sure he just needs time to process it."
"No. You didn't see the look in his eyes." Elizabeth's bottom lip started to tremble. "I knew it would hurt him if he found out the truth...now he hates me and I don't know how to get through to him."
"At least you told him the truth when he asked." Johnny points out. "It would be a lot worse if you lied."
"I know." Elizabeth takes a deep breath, trying to steady her nerves. "I just spent the entire weekend trying to explain a very complicated past and now...now that he knows everything...I just don't know how I'm ever going to fix things with him."
"You'll find a way." Johnny slowly reaches for her hand, taking it in his and giving it a reassuring squeeze. "You're an amazing mother. Your son will see that you're only human and you make mistakes. When the dust settles, he'll see that you were the one that stuck around. Through everything, the good and bad, you are there for him."
"I hope so." Elizabeth sighs, staring into his eyes. "I can't live with him hating me forever. It'll break me."
"He doesn't hate you." Johnny assures. "You're his mother...he could never hate you."
"In case I haven't said it before, thank you." Elizabeth places her other hand over his. "I can't put into words just how much everything you've done has meant to me."
"As long as you and your kids are safe, its thanks enough." Johnny leans in, placing a soft lingering kiss on her forehead before hugging her. "Its going to be okay Liz. Trust me."
"I do trust you." Elizabeth says without hesitation. "I just hope you're right."
"I am." Johnny says with conviction. "You'll see."
Johnny came around more after that. Talking to the boys and playing tea parties with Lily. From that point on, things gradually changed between him and Elizabeth. He was no longer the guy protecting them, but a friend, he hopes he's close to being family, but he wouldn't push his luck. Taking a deep breath, Johnny picked up the bottle, attempting to drink it, but setting it down again. Why was it so hard for him to just drink? It used to come so easy to him, but now its damn near impossible for him to put alcohol in his system. Ever since he and Elizabeth talked about Lucky's addiction problem and alcoholism, he just couldn't stomach the taste of it.
"How did I know I'd find you here?" a voice spoke to him, prompting a small smile to touch his lips as she touched the bottle and chuckled. "Its already warm."
"Still can't stomach it." Johnny concedes, turning to look at her. "What're you doing here Lulu?"
"A little birdie told me that a certain father figure is back in action." Lulu shrugs, plopping down on a bar stool. "I wanted to see how you're doing with that."
"I'm fine." Johnny says firmly. "Its her kids I'm worried about. Jake's already prone to losing his temper and Lily...I just don't want them hurt."
"They won't be hurt." Lulu assures. "You'll be there. You'll protect them. And even if its too late, you'll be there to help pick up the pieces."
"I guess." Johnny starts pushing the beer between both of his hands once again. "You've checked on me, I'm fine, you can go now. I'm sure the twins need you more than I do."
"Dante can handle taking care of Dominic and Laura until I'm done." Lulu waves away his concern. "Right now I'm being your friend, whether you like it or not."
"I'm fine." Johnny says, wishing she'd take the day off as his friend. "I have no feelings one way or the other about it."
"You care about Elizabeth." Lulu points out. "I know that you must feel something about Jason popping back up."
"Look." Johnny pushes the bottle away, turning to face her. "Elizabeth and I...we've talked about all of this. I trust her and she trusts me...there's no ifs, ands, or buts about it."
"Good to hear." Lulu takes the bottle of beer and hands it to Coleman. "Because you guys worked really hard just to get to this point with each other."
"We did, didn't we?" Johnny smiles slightly at that. "I didn't think we'd ever get to this point."
"Honestly, me either." Lulu admits. "I just couldn't see you two as a couple, but you are now. Even if Jason is back, don't you dare make it easy for him."
"Thanks Lu." Johnny stands up, pulling her into a hug. "You're still the one true best friend I've got."
"Its nothing." Lulu pulls away, smiling at him. "Just be you and do what you've been doing. Jason may be their father, but you've been there."
"I'll do that." Johnny grabs his jacket. "Now can you go home to your family?"
"Yes." Lulu shakes her head. "Come on, I'll walk with you to the parking lot."
The moment the sun rose, Elizabeth was more than ready to get out of that hospital. In a week they'll start her on the new treatment, hopefully it'll work. Then again, knowing Robin the way she does, it was almost guaranteed to work. When noon came, she decided to prep herself for being discharged. Taking a deep breath, Elizabeth pulled herself out of bed, removing the monitors from her body. Just as she was about to remove the IV, Patrick came walking into the room.
"How did I know you wouldn't wait for a nurse?" Patrick teased, walking over to her. "May I?"
"Sure." Elizabeth smiled, sitting down on the bed as Patrick took her hand in his. "How's life?"
"Same." Patrick shrugged. "The better question is how are you doing with Morgan being back in your lives?"
"He's trying." Elizabeth knew what he meant, but wouldn't comment on it. "Jake's having the hardest time with it."
"I can imagine." Patrick removed the IV and bandaged it up. "He and Emma have been spending a lot of time together lately."
"Do you think..." Elizabeth arched her eyebrow curiously.
"I don't know." Patrick placed her hand down softly. "I prefer him to Spencer that's for sure."
Elizabeth couldn't help the laughter that bubbled up out of her. "I can understand that." she shook her head. "Nikolas has been having such a hard time with him."
"Yeah, well, I'm just glad that Emma is over the kid." Patrick took off his gloves and tossed them in the waste bin. "So who's taking you home?"
"That would be me." a voice speaks from the doorway. "But I'm pretty sure we're going shopping before then."
"Johnny." Elizabeth smiles, standing up from the bed with Patrick's help. "You're early."
"It's almost eleven." Johnny counters, checking his watch to be sure. "Is she strong enough to be discharged?"
"Yes." Patrick assures. "But don't let her overexert herself."
"Hello...standing right here." Elizabeth says, eyeing them both intently. "I'm a nurse remember?"
"I'll take care of her." Johnny promises, watching as she signed the discharge papers. "Ready?"
"Yes." Elizabeth hugged Patrick, thanking him before linking arms with Johnny and walking out of the hospital.
Jason double checked the guards that are stationed around the park before relaxing with Robyn. Their alone time always had them both feeling better, no matter what's going on in their lives. Jason was pushing her on the swing when his breath got caught in his throat at the sight of Lily and Cameron. The tears that filled his daughter's eyes as she locked eyes with him, it broke something inside of him. As he stood up, Lily shook her head and walked off with her brother.
"Daddy?" Robyn looks up at him. "Who was that? She looked so sad."
"She probably is." Jason kneels down in front of her. "Do you think we can stop playing for a little while? There's something we should talk about."
"Okay." Robyn hops off the swing, taking his hand as he guides her to the picnic table.
"There's something I need to tell you and I hope you won't be too mad once I have." Jason takes a deep breath. "That girl you just saw...she's your sister."
"My sister?" Robyn looks at him like he's crazy. "She's older than me."
"Yes. She's my daughter." Jason explains. "Her mommy and I used to be together before me and your mom got back together."
"Oh." Robyn shakes her head. "So her mommy's not my mommy?"
"Right." Jason confirms. "How do you feel about that?"
"I don't know." Robyn admits, shaking her head. "I have a sister."
"And a brother." Jason concedes. "He's sixteen."
"Wow." Robyn really didn't know what to say. "Can...can I meet them?"
"I don't know." Jason shakes his head. "Their not really happy with me right now."
"Because you're not with their mom?"
"That and because I wasn't there for them." Jason admits. "I'm going to try and fix things with them so you can meet them, but its going to take a while."
"Is that why she's sad?" Robyn questions. "Because you don't tuck her into bed and play with her like you play with me?"
"Yeah." Jason can see a sense of understanding in Robyn's eyes. "But I'm going to be their dad now."
"And mine too?"
"Yes." Jason says with conviction. "I'm still your dad...just with more kids."
"Okay." Robyn shakes her head. "You're the best dad in the whole world. They'll find that out too."
"I'm glad you think so." Jason hugs his daughter. "I love you, princess."
"I love you too, daddy." Robyn squeezes him tightly. "Can we go play now?"
"Sure." Jason helps her off the table. "We can go play now."
Lily walked into the diner with Cameron, truly disappointed in herself for crying, but her brother wouldn't let her dwell on it. They sat down at a table, ordering their lunch while they waited for Jake. It was one thing to know that her father had another daughter that got all his attention, but it was another thing entirely to see them together. You'd think that she has seen it up close before, but she never has. Seeing them together while her mother was fighting cancer and her wishing her father was around, Lily just couldn't help the tears.
"Its okay to cry, but he's not worth your tears." Cameron takes her hand in his. "You're too beautiful to be crying like that, Lil'."
"Why can't I be the daughter..." Lily scoffs, shaking her head. "Forget it. What if are so overrated."
"I know its hard, but you have us." Cameron says sincerely. "Us Webbers stick together."
"That's right." Jake says as he plops into a seat beside Lily. "So leave the waterworks for the water park and lets eat."
"I ordered your usual." Lily says, leaning against Jake's shoulder as he slings his arm across the back of her seat. "How's mom?"
"She's good." Jake assures. "Johnny took her shopping for Chirstmas presents."
"I wonder what she'll get me." Lily smiles, thinking about Christmas. "What do you think you'll get?"
"Who knows?" Cameron shrugs. "Mom always surprises us."
"Enough talk." Jake accepts his plate from the waitress. "I'm starving."
They were halfway through with their meal when Jason came walking into the diner with Robyn. Jake and Lily immediately stiffened up at the sight of him, while Cameron waved over the waitress to have their food packed up for them to leave. Jason convinced Robyn into sitting at the counter while he approached his kids. The three of them stood up, standing together, as Jason stood in front of them.
"What?" Jake says firmly, holding Lily's hand.
"I just want to talk." Jason says cautiously. "Lily...can I have a minute?"
"You're not going to play with my sister's heart." Cameron states, Jake being too angry to speak.
"Its okay." Lily shakes her head, giving Jake's hand a soft squeeze. "We can talk outside."
"Not alone." Jake finally speaks, grabbing her jacket and handing it to her. "I'm coming with you."
Jake walks past Jason to open the door for his sister before walking out after her, prompting Jason to follow suit. Robyn sat at the counter, watching the interaction with curiosity and confusion. Once they were outside, Jake stood firmly by Lily's side, not saying a word.
"I'm sorry about everything." Jason says, seeing that she was fighting off the tears. "I never meant to hurt you."
"But you did." Lily counters. "More than once."
"I know." Jason fights off tears of his own. "I can't even begin to tell you how much I hate myself for that."
"Good." Lily states. "You should hate yourself because you were wrong."
"I can't take away or change the past, but I want you to know that I'm here." Jason takes a deep breath, seeing the skepticism in her eyes. "I know my words don't mean much, but I'm going to prove it to you...to both of you. I'm not going anywhere this time."
"You're right." Lily states, a tear escaping her eyes, trailing down her cheek. "Your words mean nothing. I guess you're going to have to prove it."
Lily walked away with Cameron, but Jake stood firmly, giving them the nod that he'd catch up. He knew that this would happen. He knew that his father would approach Lily first and that she wouldn't be able to tell him to back the hell off. That left him to make the threats that needed to be made. To open his father's eyes to the kind of damage he caused and the kind of fight he was going to be in for.
"Why are you trying so hard?" Jake voices, his hands clenched in fists, trying his best to control his anger. "We don't need you anymore than we needed you before...why now?"
"I know I can't make it up to you, Jake." Jason says seriously. "But I'm not going anywhere...no matter what you say."
"Do you even care what we went through when you turned your back on us?" Jake spoke as if he didn't even speak at all. "Cameron and I, we've been arrested more times than we care to count for fighting with other kids. Lily, she cried herself to sleep for months, but she never gave up. She wrote you letter after letter...one a day for three years! She tried to make us believe that you would come back, but we knew you wouldn't."
"I'm back now." Jason manages to get out, his throat tightening as his heart ached for what he was being told.
"Lily is soft hearted." Jake says sternly. "She'll only push you away for so long before she caves. I don't care that you're our father...if you hurt her, I will put an end to you. Trust me on that."
"I'm not going anywhere." Jason says with conviction. "I love the three of you and I don't know how, but I will prove it to you."
"Save it for Lily." Jake spat. "You weren't the one that had to explain to a ten year old why her father wasn't acting like all the other dads. Mark my words, if you hurt her, I will put an end to you."
Walking away from him, Jake met up with his brother and sister before heading home. Their mother would probably be out shopping for another few hours, giving them time to talk. No matter what he feels for his father, Jake wanted to be sure that his sister understood where they all stood. Getting home, the three of them sat around in a circle, like they did a lot over the years, each holding a cup of hot cocoa in their hands. They truly are their mother's children.
"You know how we feel about him." Jake says after taking a long gulp of cocoa. "What we want you to know is that you can accept him in your life if you want that."
"Why would I do that?" Lily counters. "He never accepted me in his life."
"His life is complicated." Cameron concedes. "You're not the type to hold a grudge and we don't want you doing changing who you are because of us."
"You both want me to give him a chance?" Lily eyes them intently. "Why?"
"We don't want anything one way or the other." Jake shakes his head. "We just want you to follow your heart and be the sister we know and love."
"Whether you give him a chance or not...do it because its what you want to do." Cameron says seriously. "We're Webbers...whatever you choose, Jake and I will be right behind you."
"I don't know what I'm going to do." Lily admits. "But it helps having you guys support me either way."
"You're our sister." Jake says firmly. "Just because we'd rather he stayed gone, we won't stop you from giving him another chance."
"I love you guys." Lily hugged her brothers. "I have to be the luckiest girl in the world."
"We love you." Cameron says sincerely as they pull away from each other. "Just be careful...if you give him a chance, don't put your guard down completely."
"I may be a huge softy." Lily admits. "But I'm not stupid. I am our mother's daughter after all."
A/N: Appreciate the reviews!
Let me know what you think.
-ROCkER