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Chapter 23

The caterers showed up at nine, and with another glare at his grandfather, Jason moved the puppy down the hall to the laundry room. It was a smaller space but later when everyone was gone the creature would have run of the house. Dusty didn't seem to mind because she curled up on the blanket Elizabeth put down and went right to sleep. Tomorrow they would need to go get some things for the pet. Right now all they had was the leash and a small bag of puppy food.

Emily arrived with Matt and grinned at her brother. She proceeded to tell him that the dog liked to eat shoes, which let Jason know where the dog had been for the past few days. Matt simply moved into the den to see what games were on. He wasn't getting in the middle of that one. The sibling glared at one another before Emily snorted and walked off. Jason didn't scare her. Emily headed upstairs to bug Elizabeth. "I'm here." The doctor said walking into the room.

"That sweater is hideous." Elizabeth said laughing at the red and white snowflake nightmare that was her sister.

"I know." Emily grinned flopping down on the bed. "Matt gave it to me. You should see what he's wearing." The couple took great joy in finding ugly sweaters for one another.

"I can't wait." Elizabeth said pulling on her red cashmere sweater, sans snowflakes. "Did you know about the dog?"

"That shoe eating beast has been living in my house for the last three days." Emily passed along. This morning she gave it to a guard to bring up to the house. "Grandfather will be forking over some cash before the day is over. Did you have a good Christmas morning?"

"I did." Elizabeth said putting on the requested earrings. "I have something for you."

"Giving me my gift already?" Emily grinned. Later there would be gifts exchanged among the adults.

"No. Come here." Elizabeth held out her hand.

"Grandmother's earrings." Emily said smiling when she came over. "They look wonderful on you. Grandfather gave them to you?"

"Not exactly. Jason, and Edward, gave me the Morgan family jewelry. Which included some pieces that we saw Lila wear. Like this one." Elizabeth held out her hand on which the butterfly rested.

"I loved her in that piece." Emily said letting the memories come. It was one of Lila's favorite items. "I still miss her."

"Me too." Elizabeth looked at Emily. "This is yours."

"Mine?" Emily said surprised. "Elizabeth you don't have to give this to me. I think Lila would be happy that you have it." There was no jealousy between the two women.

"I would be happy if you had it." Elizabeth said pinning it onto the truly hideous sweater. "Someday you'll pass this down and tell your daughter about her great-grandmother."

"Thank you." Emily said gently touching the wings. She would treasure this piece of her grandmother.

"It's a stunning piece, but even it can't help that sweater." Elizabeth said laughing. She twisted her hair and pinned it up so that the earrings were on display. Edward was going to get his wish. "Was anyone else downstairs when you came in?" Jason was the greeter.

"No, we were the first to arrive." Emily relayed. "How many are coming?"

"Nine." Elizabeth said slipping on her shoes. "Which means everyone is taking food home, because I planned the menu for a lot more people than that." She also sent a matching amount of food to the food bank, and both meal centers that were feeding the homeless today.

"I'm not going to argue. Neither Matt nor I have time to cook these days." Emily said looking Elizabeth over. She looked happy and rested. And yeah she was glowing. This baby was getting a shower. Elizabeth had refused one for Jake, saying no one had a shower for a second baby. Emily was going to get her way this time.

"We should get downstairs." Elizabeth said stepping away from the mirror. "Jason makes Sabrina nervous so I want to be the one to let her in."

"Is she here for anyone in particular?" Emily wanted to know.

"Are you asking me if I'm matchmaking?" Elizabeth feigned surprise at the idea. "Me?"

"Yes you." Emily just gave her fellow brunette a look.

"Milo is interested." Elizabeth said before holding up a finger.

"I won't say a word. They would make a cute couple." Emily liked the pairing. "I think he'd make her smile more. That whole situation with Robin was rough."

"I know. I get how Patrick feels on some level. He never expected his dead wife to return, so he moved on with his life." Elizabeth peeked into the kitchen to see how the caterers were doing. "He opened his heart to love again and just after he proposes Robin turns up." They moved into the living room.

"Patrick doesn't even speak to Sabrina anymore." Which Emily thought was wrong.

"What would he say? Other than I'm sorry." Elizabeth leaned back on the sofa. "Robin hasn't exactly be Ms. Sunshine where Sabrina is concerned."

"No she hasn't." Emily concurred. Their friend had come back different than when she left. There was a bit of coldness to the petite doctor. "It will be good for Sabrina to date. Where are my nephews?"

"Cameron is probably in the laundry room, and Jake is most likely watching football with the guys." Elizabeth knew all her boys well. "Let's talk about that candy cane." She arched an eyebrow at her sister.

"It wasn't even the biggest one there." Emily said in her defense.

"Really?" Elizabeth had a hard time picturing that.

"Really. I figure you would break pieces off and give them to Cameron over the next few months." Emily grinned. "If Matt babysits he will certainly eat some." Her guy had a raging sweet tooth.

They were laughing when the doorbell rang. Elizabeth opened it to find a smiling Epiphany, Stan, and Zoe. "Come on in." Coats were hung up and hugs exchanged.

"Elizabeth, I'd like for you to meet Zoe." Stan said making the introductions.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. Emily and Maya both talk highly of you." Elizabeth said smiling in welcome.

"Thank you. It's nice to meet you too. Maya said you were super friendly at dinner. You have a lovely home." Zoe was only a bit nervous about meeting the rest of her family.

"Thank you." Elizabeth said moving everyone into the front room. She wanted to put Zoe at ease. She thought the young woman and Stan made a cute couple. It was clear Piph was happy with Stan's girlfriend. "The game is on in the back, which is where the guys are, but ladies are certainly welcome. Can I get anyone a drink?"

"I'm good." Piph said taking a seat. Her guy couldn't make it today.

"Me too." Zoe said sitting as well.

"I'm going to check out the game." Stan gave his girl a kiss, and his mom too before heading back. He'd been here on multiple occasions and knew where the guys were.

"Why is it no matter how old we get, the girls always end up in one room and the guys end up in another?" Emily had to ask. All the ladies laughed before moving onto a different topic.

Sabrina arrived next and joined the ladies in the front room. The doorbell rang twenty minutes later and it was Milo. "Let me see." Elizabeth said taking his coat. He looked good in the sweater.

"Is she here yet?" He whispered.

"In the front room. Come in and I'll introduce you to Jason's cousin." Elizabeth said tilting her head before walking off. "Milo's here."

"Hey." Emily said to the guard who had become a friend over the years.

"Emily." Since he was off duty first names were fine.

"I think the only people here you don't know well are Zoe and Sabrina." Elizabeth said to the group trying to not be obvious.

"I met Zoe the other day." Milo said smiling.

"We met when Stan was helping me pick out a tree." Zoe explained to the room.

"We know each other some from the hospital." Sabrina said smiling. He was cute. Before Patrick made it known that he was interested she thought that Milo was, but the guard never said anything. Of course that could have been because every time they saw one another they were both working.

He wanted to say she looked nice outside her scrubs but he didn't want to come off like he was staring at her while she was working. "Where is everyone else?" Milo asked his hostess.

"Watching the game." Elizabeth said pointing over her shoulder.

They heard footsteps and turned to see Jason and Jake. "Hey, I was just coming down to check to make sure no one needed anything." He just remembered his host duties.

"Ma!" Jake held out his arms seeing his mother.

"There's my sweetie." Emily swooped in a grabbed her nephew. The little boy laughed, and gave her a wet kiss.

"I know you aren't planning on hogging that baby." Piph said making faces at Jake which made the little boy laugh harder.

"It's a good thing I brought him out, I don't think his ego was getting stroked enough with the guys." Jason said laughing. "Milo."

"Boss." The young guard responded.

"Jason, this is Zoe." Elizabeth knew the two hadn't met.

"Welcome to Port Charles." Jason said putting an arm around his girl's waist. "If you need anything you can call me."

"Thank you." Zoe said trying not to be nervous. She knew that her cousin was Stan's boss, and a mob boss. While she didn't feel threatened, it still made her nervous. "Maya is planning on coming. She is working a shift at the hospital."

Matt came out next. "If I go in the kitchen to get a drink will the caterer kill me?" Cook at the mansion didn't allow anyone in her kitchen.

"Yup. I'll get it, what did you want?" Jason asked his brother in-law.

"Soda is fine." Matt said coming over to smile at the ladies. "Jason broke him out of the baby jail."

"It's not a baby jail." Elizabeth said poking Matt with her elbow.

"It's a plastic containment cell." He said rubbing his side. "You can barely see the kid past the sides. I swear he was banging his Sippy cup against the walls. Who bought that for you anyway?" What Matt was talking about was an interlocking plastic play gate that sectioned off part of the den. It gave Jake a safe area to play unsupervised in. It was lightweight and could be moved anywhere in the house.

"We did." Emily said to her husband.

"We are baby jailers." Matt said shaking his head, as Jason came back with a cola.

"I'm heading back, you want me to take the kid?" He said pointing to their youngest son.

"Do you want Piph to hurt you?" Elizabeth asked laughing.

"Nope." Jason said giving her a quick kiss. "Johnny called he's running behind." Work stuff was left unsaid. "Milo you coming back?"

"Sure thing." He wanted to stay with the ladies, but that would be a bit odd. Hopefully there would be more time to talk with Sabrina later.

"Is Cam okay?" Elizabeth asked checking on their eldest.

"He is sitting with Edward trying to figure out how to get a dog for Jake." Jason told his wife. That wasn't happening. "I told them both to quit while they were ahead. One dog is enough."

"You got a dog?" Sabrina loved dogs.

"Yeah." Elizabeth said smiling. "Chocolate lab courtesy of Edward."

"I thought you said no pets." Epiphany looked from one parent to the other trying not to laugh. "How did he get that past you?"

"Emily? Would you like to take that?" Jason said looking at his sister.

"I was coerced." Emily said watching Jake look at her butterfly.

"Yeah right." Jason wasn't buying to for a second. The house phone rang and he answered it. "What? Did you check it out? I'll be right up."

"What's wrong?" Elizabeth could feel the tension rolling off of him.

"There is a courier with a package." Jason wasn't expecting anything, and he knew Elizabeth wasn't. "I'm going to go up and see what it is."

"Let me go." Milo said moving to the door. He had his gun, and the guys at the fence would be armed as well. "You stay with your guest."

"We'll go together." Jason didn't ask his guys to do anything he wouldn't do himself. "Stay in the house." He said to the ladies who all nodded.

"I'm sure it's nothing." Elizabeth said hoping so. "This time of year all kinds of things come."

"We'll be back." Jason said as they headed to the door.

Fifteen minutes later the door opened and Milo came back in first. He was trying to keep a straight face. "The boss is coming now."

Not five minutes later Jason came in carrying a bundle of fur. He was less than pleased. "This is for Jake. From Tracy."

Elizabeth had to cover her face to hide the grin. "It's adorable. Look at that face."

"What is it?" Sabrina wanted to know. It looked like it was smiling.

"It's a black lab." Jason said handing Elizabeth the note and the puppy.

"You have two kids, you can't have one dog. Cameron can have the one from daddy. Love Tracy." Elizabeth said trying to contain herself. The dog immediately licked her hand.

"I'm going to watch the game." Jason muttered. He was a crime boss and couldn't even get his family to obey the rules he laid down. If another ball of fur arrived he was going to shoot someone.

"Welcome to the family." Elizabeth said to the dog, who promptly licked her again.

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