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Chapter 38

By the time she came downstairs dinner was ready. "Sorry I slept so long." But it had felt wonderful.

"Not a problem." Jason came over and gave her a soft kiss. "Have a seat." He said holding out her chair.

"Hi mommy." Cameron was already at the table.

"Hi baby. How was school?" Elizabeth said shaking off the last of the sleep.

"We made letters." Cameron pointed to the refrigerator. He really liked going to school every day like his cousins did. It made him feel like a big boy.

"Very nice." Elizabeth said smiling. It was amazing to her how big he was already.

"Ma!" Jake said wanting his share of attention.

"Hi baby." She leaned over giving him a kiss and her youngest son smiled. He had his father's grin which just melted her heart.

"Beef stroganoff." Jason said putting the plate in front of her.

"Yum. Thank you." She dug in and cleaned her plate in no time.

"You ate fast mommy." Cameron said laughing.

"I did." Elizabeth said blushing a bit. "The babies were hungry."

"They like noodles too?" Cameron asked looking at his mom's stomach.

"Yes." Her son hadn't noticed the change from the to they. Elizabeth answered trying to decide if she wanted more. That's when it dawned on her that she hadn't gotten sick this afternoon.

"What?" Jason asked at the look on her face.

"I wasn't sick." She shared with him. "This afternoon."

"Maybe its passing." Jason hoped so, according to his reading his wife was still underweight. With twins she needed to start taking in more calories. She was also going to have to change her work schedule even more.

"That would be nice." Elizabeth looked at the stove. "I think I'd like some more please." She must have worked up an appetite after lunch.

Jason got up and gave her a second serving. "I'm going to do some work for a bit." He didn't want to leave Francis doing everything.

"Okay. We'll hang out in the basement and play some. How does that sound?" Elizabeth asked her boys.

"Would you mind if I walk you up and down?" Jason had been doing good controlling his hovering urges. The steps from the first to the second floor were big and carpeted. The ones into the basement were a bit narrow and wooden. He made Cameron and Jake go slow and hold the railing. Maybe it was time to get them redone.

"No, I don't mind." Elizabeth gave it some thought. "How about if this weekend we do a bit of remodeling. We can swap out the playroom and the den?" With the basement finished she didn't feel like she was putting Jason in a dungeon. "That way you won't worry, and I can be in the playroom with the boys. We can go full on man cave downstairs."

"That sounds great." Jason liked the sound of that.

"I'll do clean up, and you take Cam to deal with the dogs." It was time for a walk.

"When I'm out late do you put them in the yard?" Jason hadn't really thought about the dogs when he'd been cursing over the schedule.

"The first night I took the boys out so that dogs could run. Milo had a cow and made me come back in the house." Elizabeth told her husband.

"I will have to thank him." Milo now stayed until Jason called from the gate to say he was home. "It's too cold for you to be out at night walking the dogs."

"That's what he said." Elizabeth said grinning. "After that we let them out back."

"Cameron get the dogs." Jason told his son.

"Jake come with mommy. We'll do some blocks." She took his hand after Jason took him out of his booster seat. The little guy babbled a mixture of the words he knew as they walked down the hall.

Jason took a break to do bath time. He took Jake, because more lifting was involved, and Elizabeth took Cameron. Stories were read and when the boys were out they headed back downstairs. "I need to do a bit more work."

"I understand." Elizabeth said giving him a kiss. "I'm going to put my feet up and watch some television. I'll probably fall asleep." She gave him a rueful grin. "I think tonight I'll dream about not getting sick again tomorrow."

"I'll be in later, if you are asleep I'll carry you upstairs. If you aren't I'll ravish you on the couch." He said laughing.

"Backlog?" She wanted to know.

"Absolutely." Jason said heading to his office.

An hour later he was done for the night and walking out of his office he heard noise coming from the kitchen. "What are you doing?" Elizabeth was in the pantry moving things around.

"I could have sworn we had cashews." She said looking on the next shelf.

"I ate the last of them the other night while watching basketball." Jason told her.

Elizabeth wrinkled her nose at her husband. "I wanted some. I saw a commercial and they looked really good. I'll stop by the store tomorrow."

It wasn't that late and she should have a snack. In fact Jason could use this to his advantage. "Hold that thought." He pulled out his phone. "Mom, do you guys have any cashews?" He laughed. "Yeah, it's a craving. Good. I'll be down shortly." He said before ending the call. "I'll be right back. You sit on the couch and get comfortable."

"Jason, you don't have to go out. There is plenty for me to snack on. I'll have an orange." Elizabeth protested.

"I need to talk to my mother anyway." He gave her a kiss and covered her with a blanket when she sat down. "Be right back." It would be closer to thirty minutes but she knew what he meant.

At the mansion Monica was in the living room with a container of the nuts. "Cashews for my pregnant daughter. I thought Cook was going to murder me in my own kitchen, but I said they were for Liz and all was forgiven."

"Thanks. I need to talk to you as well." Jason told his mom.

"Alright. Have a seat, but you don't want to keep Liz waiting too long." Monica said laughing. "Pregnant women can get mean if their cravings are not satisfied. What did you need?"

"Don't ask Elizabeth to help you ditch your guards again." Jason started there.

"Emily said it caused a fight between the two of you. For that I am sorry." Monica had tried to apologize to Elizabeth, but her daughter said it wasn't necessary.

"But you're not sorry for making the request." Jason picked up on what she left unsaid.

"I'm your mother Jason, you don't get to know what I do in my private time. I expect the same respect I give you." Monica told him.

"Because you are my mother it makes you a target." Jason needed her to see that. "You were in my territory, but out of the country. Someone could get to you easier."

"Elizabeth explained that, and she also explained that Johnny's guys would take over. Your guys were there to keep me safe, but they were also there to tell you what I was doing with Howie." Monica saw the flush creep up his cheeks. "This isn't the medieval times where women have to answer to their sons if their husband is dead."

"Yes ma'am." He had overstepped. "AJ and I worry."

"For no reason. Howie is a good man, if he wasn't you wouldn't let him around your kids. You are however correct. I shouldn't have involved Elizabeth. Emily said you made her cry." Monica gave her youngest son a pointed look.

"That wasn't my intention." Jason still felt guilty about that.

"Elizabeth said it was probably the baby hormones." Monica said letting him off the hook. Since he was here it was time for her big news. "Howie and I are moving in together." Monica thought it was best if her sons heard this from her.

Jason's mouth dropped open. "I don't think so." He said when he could finally talk.

Monica just shook her head. "Yes, I will tell AJ tomorrow." His reaction would probably be the same. "We bought your sister's loft. When she moves out we'll make some changes and move in."

"Are you getting married?" Jason wanted to know.

"Not at the moment, possibly not at all. We will let you know." Monica said with a smirk. She couldn't wait to see what roadblocks Jason and AJ tried to throw up. "You should take the cashews home."

Jason stood up and looked at his mother. "We'll talk more about this when I have the time. I love you." He said kissing her cheek.

"I love you too. Tell Liz I said hi." Monica said trying not to laugh. She would go up to her room and call Howie. He should be warned that the boys were in the loop.

Jason started his car, and hit the phone app.

"Quartermaine." AJ answered on the first ring.

"Mom is moving in with Howie." Jason told his brother. "They bought the loft Emily and Matt live in."

"Son of a bitch." AJ was in his office and Meg was asleep so cursing was allowed. "How did you find out?"

"Mom told me. She said she's telling you tomorrow." Jason informed his brother. "I went to the mansion to get cashews."

"When are they moving?" AJ was already planning. It was entirely too soon for his mother to be living with Howie.

"When Em moves into your place then mom is having work done on the loft and they will move after that." Jason had an idea. "Can you stall leaving your house?"

"I can try, but Keesha is on team mom. She is going to try to counter anything I do." AJ knew Jason was in the same boat. "We don't want to screw up our marriages over this."

"Agreed." Jason was driving slowly back to his house. "The hospital is considering expanding in two areas. Neurology and Orthopedics. As head of the board I can announce plans to build a Neurological Institute at the hospital." It would benefit Patrick which sucked, but they did have the top two neurosurgeons in the country. May as well showcase them.

"New building?" AJ said grinning.

"New everything. Building, equipment, OR, and labs. It would give us another area where we can teach as well as perform state of the art procedures." It was already on the horizon. "Mom would need to be directly involved as Chief of Staff."

"That's only going to slow them down." AJ pointed out.

"I'm fine with that. They haven't been dating long enough to talk about living together." Jason wouldn't let a daughter of his move this fast, so his mom didn't get to either.

"When can you bring it up to the board?" AJ would be happy to help with fundraising.

"End of next week at the scheduled meeting. The ladies are going to try to come up with a way around this." They needed to think defensively.

"Carly is on the board. She will let the other's know before she leaves the building." AJ warned. His ex-wife might have matured, but she could still play dirty with the best of them.

"We will be ready." Jason grinned. "I'm home I have to go. We should meet for lunch and talk more."

"Let me know when." AJ said ending the call.

Elizabeth was in the hall waiting for Jason when he walked inside. "I would have brought the nuts into the living room."

"A wife can't greet her husband when he comes home?" Elizabeth said sweetly as she reached for the canister. She turned heading into the kitchen to get a bowl. "Want to share?"

"Sounds good. What would you like to drink?" Jason said getting down glasses.

"Water is fine. How is your mom?" Elizabeth said putting the jar in the pantry. Monica had sent out a text letting everyone know she told Jason her big news. Based on the time the message went out, and how long it took Jason to make the drive, AJ knew as well. Which meant the brothers were going to try something.

"Good, she's moving in with Howie." Jason said pouring the beverages.

"She said there was no point in wasting time since they weren't getting any younger." There was no need to deny knowing. "She was moving anyway."

"Why?" Jason asked following his wife into the living room.

"She didn't want to be underfoot when Keesha moved in. It will be her house, and Monica wants Keesha to feel that way. Not like they are moving in with her husband's mom." Elizabeth shared.

"If she didn't want to stay in the mansion there are other houses on the grounds." Jason said grabbing some cashews.

"She shared that space with Alan. I think your mom wants something fresh with Howie. I thought you were okay with them being together?" Elizabeth asked arching a brow.

"I am." Jason answered slowly. "I just didn't expect them to move this fast."

"At least they are staying here." Elizabeth said sitting next to Jason. "Monica has been toying with retiring, if she does they could move somewhere warmer." Elizabeth planted that seed. Keesha was doing the same thing at her house.

Carly had been the one to suggest their next move and it was simple but effective. If the boys wanted to play dirty they were about to learn how it was done. Tomorrow the architect was going over to look at the two lofts. During their next days off Emily and Matt were moving out, and into the cottage on the grounds of the mansion, so that work could start right away. Monica and Howie would be the first to move. Emily and Matt could stay at the cottage until the work on the farmhouse was done. So if AJ tried to keep them in the house longer, which would be the logical first move, he would be inconveniencing his sister. Of course no one expected this to be the only thing AJ and Jason came up with. No they would do something big, it was in their blood. Now the ladies needed to sit back and find out what.

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