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Chapter 27

"You didn't have to come in." Jason said looking up from his desk. The knock on his door was unexpected, he figured he would be up here alone. He was only in his office to clean up his desk a little. On the weekends things were quieter in the executive suites.

"I was home alone, and we all know that never ends well." Johnny said grinning before taking a seat. "Georgie is heading over to Robin's and then they are going to see Maxie."

"How is Georgie today?" Jason asked putting down his pen.

"Worried about her sister. This is a new low for Maxie. She's done some reckless things in the past, but last night she could have actually died." Johnny said shaking his head. "My wife is also tired of the drama, which is making her feel guilty. She's tired of being her sister's keeper."

"What is Maxie's problem anyway?" Jason wanted to know.

"I have no idea." Johnny said disgusted. "The only real issue she ever had was her heart condition, and I get that making you angry. But it's not a new thing. She's had that since she was little, not last year. I think the adults in her life let her coast on her transplant for too long. They constantly cleaned up her messes and let her get away with very bad behavior."

Jason just let his friend vent.

"Georgie and Robin are guilty too." Johnny said being honest. He and his girl had plenty of arguments about her enabling her sister. It was a pattern of behavior Georgie needed to stop, something she realized last night. "The goal of the visit is to get Maxie to agree to move to Texas."

"You don't think that will work?" Jason heard that in Johnny's voice.

"No. Felicia and Mac don't pay Maxie attention, which is the point. Maxie wants everyone to drop everything and run to her side. If it doesn't benefit her, she doesn't do it." Johnny said taking a deep breath. "Do you think my not making her go away would be an acceptable Christmas gift?" He wouldn't ever hurt Maxie, but he could most certainly scare her into leaving.

"I'm gonna say no." Jason just laughed getting that Johnny was just blowing smoke. "We could do for her what Sonny did for Carly?"

"What do you mean?" Johnny wanted to know.

"Sonny bought Deception to keep Carly busy. I could buy a business, in another location and let Maxie run it. Something fashion based, she's actually pretty good at all that stuff. I remember Kate talking about it over dinner at Greystone." Jason would do that for his friend.

"That is so tempting." Johnny said smiling. He had amazing friends. "My staying out of this is the smartest course of action. There's always one in-law you don't like, right?" He theorized.

"What does that make Robin?" Jason wanted to know. When he married Elizabeth he was going to get a slew of in-laws he wouldn't like. However in his case the only one he might see was Steven. If he and his sister worked things out.

"I can ignore her. She's a bigger pain for you than me." Johnny said getting to his feet. "I'm going to go clear off my desk some. When are you leaving?"

"I told Elizabeth I'd be back home by lunch. The boys are still with Monica, so Christmas shopping might happen." Jason explained his schedule.

"You know that's wrong don't you? Shopping before Thanksgiving." Johnny liked to wait until the last minute to go out. The race against the clock made it more exciting. Georgie was all about cyber Monday.

"Elizabeth doesn't like crowds." Jason figured taking two kids out in that mess couldn't be fun.

"Can't blame her for not wanting to take the boys out in that mess. People get nuts looking for the perfect gift." Johnny said echoing his friend's thoughts. "What are you getting the rugrats? And will you leave anything else for the rest of us to buy?" He asked laughing.

"Everything I can get away with is the answer to the first question, and no is the answer to the second." Jason wasn't even pretending he was going to show restraint.

"Okay then." Johnny would just do what he always did and ask Liz what to buy. "Take Marco when you go shopping, he can protect you from your fiancée."

"He will throw me under the bus. He will protect me from the other shoppers though." Jason told his friend.

"True enough. Okay I'm going to go be productive." Johnny said heading to his office. He would leave when Georgie called to say she was heading home.

After getting through all his paperwork Jason called his girl and they met at Kelly's for lunch. He had to share her with a few folks from the hospital who wanted to stop and say hello. He resisted the urge to pout about having their alone time interrupted. He could be selfish when they got home. They also laid some ground rules about the shopping trip.

All of which he was about to break.

"You called ahead and had the owner close the store so we could shop?" Liz asked as they walked through the door. This was the only clue she needed that her talk at lunch had fallen on deaf ears.

"I did." Jason said with a boyish grin. Behind them both Marco and Cody were laughing.

"Did you have to agree to spend a certain dollar amount to be extended this courtesy?" Liz wanted to know.

"No." Jason said looking around. It wasn't like he had bought out a huge toy store, this was an independent business on Main Street. They carried all the big toy items, and at the same time they carried educational items as well. "Let's start in the Chuggin Charlie aisle." He said as he got out his phone to look at his list.

"What could possibly be left to get?" Elizabeth wanted to know as they moved deeper into the store.

"Several trains have come out since I had Cameron's room decorated." Jason said looking on the shelf for the items he needed. When they were located they were put into the small cart Elizabeth was pushing. "Okay, superheroes next."

"How many items are on that list?" Liz wanted to know, he hadn't mentioned it at lunch.

"A few." Jason said cryptically.

Liz watched as her fiance started pulling items down. "Jason, the cart is only going to hold so much." She wasn't going to ask Cody or Marco to push one.

"Good point. Plus this will take a while." Jason said nodding. While this was fun he didn't want to spend all afternoon here. "Marco can you go get the manager please?"

"Sure thing boss." The enforcer said moving off.

"Can I help you Mr. Morgan?" The manager asked coming over. He was only a little nervous having this customer in his shop. This was not a man you wanted to upset. Plus the owner was waiting for a report on how this trip went.

"If I point items out can you just add them up for me? I'll pay and then send someone to pick them up." Jason wanted to know.

"Absolutely. Let me go get a scanner." The manager said moving off.

"There is a part of me that thinks I should run now." Liz muttered under her breath, but Cody still heard her.

"My car is out front." He offered.

"Okay, what did you want?" The manager asked returning. "Should I start with what is already in the cart?"

"Yeah." Jason said and when that was done he started pointing to things on the shelves in various aisles. Action figures, buildings blocks, electronic toys that would teach the boys things like math and reading while entertaining them, art supplies, and ride on toys all got zapped. The only place Liz put her foot down was in the stuffed animal aisles.

"Is that everything?" The manager had never seen a bill this high in his life. Morgan's kids were going to have a great holiday.

"I think that's enough." Liz said arching a brow at her guy.

Jason had gone overboard and he knew it. There was only one way to keep his girl from putting him in the dog house. Being an expert planner he had prepared for that. "For now. I have an additional order." He said handing over an envelope. "My assistant will be in on Monday to pay for this. That second order needs to be ready two weeks before Christmas. We can pick it up from your warehouse if that is easier." He let the manager know. Since the typed list was easily three times as big as what they just picked up.

"For the hospital?" Elizabeth guessed her heart melting.

"Monica mentioned that with Jax gone the gift fund was a little light this year. If I hadn't stepped up she would have covered it, now she doesn't have to. There are enough toys on the list that Mercy and County Hospitals will get donations too." He told his girl.

"Thank you." Liz said blinking back tears. She knew how much those gifts meant to the patients.

"Greatest save ever." Marco said grinning.

"He's so ready for marriage." Cody chimed in.

Jason just shook his head at his guys before turning back to Elizabeth. "After this we can head home." Now all he needed to do was find the perfect gift for his girl.

"If we always shop like that I won't ever complain." Jason said as they walked into the house.

"I will admit that your way saves time." She said taking off her boots. "But this is the only Christmas you get to go this overboard."

"I make no promises. If we have a girl that doll aisle will be tempting." Jason said as they headed into the living room.

"That's very gender specific of you." Liz said sitting on the couch and patting the spot next to you. "I wasn't into dolls as a child. I liked Steven's old army men."

"If we have a girl, then I'll get her whatever she wants. Dolls or trucks." Jason corrected.

"Better. So I have a couple of things I need to tell you." Liz said getting ready to confess how she spent her morning.

"Okay." Jason said leaning into the couch. His girl had decorated the house so they could be comfortable.

"I blackmailed Kate into hiring Maxie back, and then I blackmailed Maxie so that she would accept the job offer and leave Port Charles." Liz said making her first confession. She would start here because what she said next Jason was definitely not going to like.

"Really." He was surprised to hear that. "What did you blackmail Kate with?" Although he had a clue.

"The money she took." Liz told him. "I called Spinelli after you left and was planning on sending him on a fishing expedition, but I didn't have to. I don't plan on making a habit of blackmailing people but this needed to happen. Maxie needs to go."

"Yeah she does." Jason completely agreed. "Although I'm not sure how Georgie will feel if she finds out."

"Georgie will take it better if I do it than if Johnny does it." Liz knew her friend well, it was only a matter of time before he blew.

"What did you blackmail Maxie with?" Jason couldn't figure that part out.

"I told her I would bring to light that Mac covered up the fact that she was stealing drugs for Lucky." Liz skirted the rest for now. "She loves Mac, and she was willing to leave to keep him out of prison. Kate is going to go see Maxie sometime soon and make the offer to return to Crimson."

"Then in January they will go to California together." Jason finished the thought. "Assuming Maxie can keep from killing herself between now and then."

"According to the staff she scared herself pretty badly." Liz passed along. "She didn't think a few drinks would have this effect. So when she does do something reckless again it won't involve alcohol. And hopefully she'll be in California." Liz figured Maxie wasn't going to take advantage of this opportunity she had been given to grow up although it would be nice if she did.

"No more blackmailing people." Jason said looking at his girl. "I don't want you in prison, or worse." Her two targets were pretty much guaranteed to fall in line, the next time she might not be so lucky. People could react dangerously when cornered. "And no more going to my tech guy for information."

"I promise to abide by both those rules." Liz didn't think she'd ever have a reason to do anything like this again. "I have something else I need to tell you."

"You knock over a bank?" Jason asked joking.

"No." Liz said shaking her head. "Cody wouldn't go for that. He was on the door when I was talking to Maxie and overheard me say something. I asked if he was going to tell you and he said only if I didn't. Before you say anything I know the guys aren't there to report what I say and do, but this is different." She told him.

"Okay." Jason could sense his girl was getting tense. "You can tell me anything."

"I know I can. Just like I know you aren't going to like what I have to say." She warned.

"I've already figured that out." Jason said being honest. "Tell me so we can talk about it."

"Do you remember when Lucky left for rehab and I moved out of the Spencer house?" Liz asked Jason.

"Yeah, the crew that moved you guys was one of mine. Em called and asked me to send them." Jason had secretly been thrilled that Liz was leaving Lucky. That was when he decided that if they got a divorce he was going to try to get Elizabeth's attention. Later that same year they created Jake. "I wondered why you didn't call."

"I knew I could. I wasn't in any shape to make the phone call." Liz started slowly. "Lucky and I had a fight that day." She kept going before Jason could ask any questions. "He came home and was clearly stoned. I had reached my breaking point and I told him that. The argument escalated from there. We were yelling at one another while Cameron was upstairs napping. I told Lucky I was done, that we were done. His response was to pull out his gun and tell me I wasn't leaving. I didn't even know he had it on him."

"He pointed his gun at you?" Jason asked feeling his blood go cold.

"I was standing there thinking that he was going to kill me and the gun went off." She quietly confessed.

"He shot at you?" Jason's mind went blank at the realization that he came too close to losing Elizabeth.

"Not intentionally. Jason, I truly believe that the gun discharging was an accident. Lucky was angry and he was shaking from the pills. Still I couldn't take the chance that anything like that would happen again." Liz told him. "When the gun went off Cameron started screaming and I was terrified that he had been hit even though the gun wasn't pointed anywhere near Cam's room. He was fine, we both were but I couldn't stay. I called Em, she called Nikolas and then you. Nikolas's lawyer drew up the divorce paperwork and Lucky signed it that night before leaving for rehab." To this day she still didn't know what Nikolas said to his brother to make that happen.

"Why didn't you say anything before now?" Jason asked, if he had known Lucky would have died a lot sooner.

"Because of the thought that just went through your head. Lucky was a cop and killing one is big deal. I didn't want you to take that step. Especially not while Ric was the DA." Liz knew Ric would have been rabid in going after Jason.

"Did Lucky hurt you at any other point?" Jason had watched from a distance as the detective spiraled out of control.

"No." Liz promised Jason. "Are you angry at me?"

"Yes." Jason said being honest. "You should have said something."

"I didn't see how that would have helped anything." Liz said defending her choice. "Lucky and I barely spoke to one another after that. Once he got clean and sober it didn't seem fair to make him pay for something he did while an addict. Emily wanted to tell you." Her best friend had not been in the mood to offer forgiveness.

"Did you stop her?" Jason wanted to know.

"No. Nikolas did." Liz had been a wreck, she remembered her two friends arguing but didn't learn about what topic for a few months.

"Figures." Nikolas was someone else Jason had no use for. "Anything else I should know?" Being angry at a dead man sucked because you couldn't get resolution.

"No that covers it." Liz said before falling silent.

"Don't keep anything like this from me again." Jason said looking over at her.

"Nothing like this is going to happen again." Liz knew that she and their boys were safe now.

"I love you." Jason said leaning over and giving his girl a kiss. He needed the contact.

"I love you too." Liz said softly.

"I'm going to go use the gym." Jason let her know. He just needed to level out some so he was in a good mood later.

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