Chapter Twenty

Cam stared at his mother before his eyes swung to the man sitting next her. "If you are my father, why did you leave us? Did you not want me?"

John reached over and placed his hand on Elizabeth thigh when she went to talk, effectively cutting her off. "It wasn't that, Cam. I wanted to be there when you were born more than anything. But things happened and I listened to the wrong people. I made mistakes that I cannot take back." John swallowed the lump in his throat. "I really want to be here now. The time that we have spent together was amazing."

The young boy leaned back in his chair and studied his father carefully. Not everyone gave Cam enough credit. With all that he had been through in the last year, the little boy was better at reading between the lines than he should have been. "You were tricked away, weren't you?"

Elizabeth's eyes widened and she bit her lip. "He was," she confessed sadly. "John would have never left you otherwise, Cam."

"And you? What about you, Mom? I don't want another father that is going to yell all the time like Lucky did. He was mean and made you cry all the time." The anger filled eyes met John's. "Are you going to yell at my mom?"

"Never. We may not always agree, Cam. No one does all the time. But I care very much for your mom." John paused and shrugged his shoulders. "I am not going to be living with you, your mom, and Jake. However, I would love to be a father to you. I want to get to know you as my son."

"And Jake? I won't leave him behind."

Smiling at the way that he was so protective of his newly returned brother, John nodded. "Jake is more than welcome to join us at anytime, Cameron. I know that you don't want him to be left out, and I care a lot about you and him."

The first impish grin appeared on his face since he had sat down at the table. "Good. But you can't leave without telling me. Promise?"

Relieved that their son was handling so well, John stuck out his hand to shake Cam's. "I do promise to never leave you again, Cam. Nothing will ever take me away again."

"Cool. I guess that instead of John, you are Dad, huh?"

Laughing as John's face brightened, Elizabeth stood and hugged her eldest, kissing him on top of his curls. "He certainly is. I love you, baby."

Frowning, Cam shook his head in disgust. "I am not the baby, Mom. Jakey is the baby. But I love you too."

Watching with tears brimming in her eyes, Elizabeth released a sigh as the two went to join Jake in the living room where a motorcycle race track had taken over the space. Feeling the familiar presence behind her as she looked out the back door, she flashed a grin at Johnny. "He handled it all so well. I am relieved. He easily accepted John."

"Cam is mature for his age, Liz. He has been through a lot and has adapted to the changes. He also spent a couple weeks around John and got to see exactly what kind of person he is without any pressure." He placed his arms around her waist and kissed her neck. "He is a great boy. Smart too, just like his mother. When are you and Jason telling Jake?"

"Day after tomorrow," she answered with a small sigh. "He is so young that I don't know if he will really understand. And with everything that he has been through, I just hope that it is not too much too soon."

"He will be fine. That little boy is a perfect mixture of you and Jason." Johnny flashed her a reassuring look as he released her to pour himself a cup of coffee. "It will do him some good to know that Lucky was not his father too. Even if he won't talk about it, you know that it still has to bother him that the man he thought was his dad hurt him so badly."

"I messed up so bad," she whispered as tears escaped from her eyes.

"No," he argued as he pulled her to his side. "You were taken advantage of. Spencer knew exactly how to control you throughout the years. It is in your nature to trust, Elizabeth. It makes you who you are. He used that against you."

They were standing in each other's arms when Emily entered. Looking sheepish, she started to hurry through the room when Elizabeth stopped her and stepped away from the comfort of Johnny's arms.

"Wait, Em. How did your visit go with Monica? I know that you are concerned about her."

Shrugging out of her coat, she smiled and accepted the hot chocolate that Johnny handed to her as they all sat at the table. "She is still ranting about you, to be honest. I just don't understand why she thinks that everything was your fault, even after reading the files that we gave her," Emily confessed. "It makes no sense."

"She may have finally reached her breaking point, Emily," Johnny said softly. He had wondered too why the woman had not faced that she was wrong yet. "After everything that she has been through, she might have snapped."

Depressed at the thought, Elizabeth shook her head. "But Monica was always strong. She will eventually pull through this."

"I'm not so sure." Emily leaned back in the chair and stretched out her legs. "She is refusing to accept that Jake is back and alive. She is saying that you stole Sam's baby and are passing it off as yours." At Elizabeth's incredulous look, she cracked a small smile. "I know, I know. Enough about Mom though. I will deal with her. Grandfather is hoping that you will allow him to meet Jake and Cam. He is anxious to spend some time with them."

"Both of them?" Johnny asked skeptically.

"Yes. He said that Cam is still family because he is Jake's big brother."

Elizabeth laughed. Edward was always spouting off on the importance of family. It looked like he really meant what he said. "Of course he can see the boys. I just wish that Lila was here to see them."

"She is still watching over them, I can guarantee you that," Emily told her softly. Her eyes wandered to the closed door where she could hear the kids playing. "How did Cam react to John being his father?"

"He handled it better than I ever dreamed," Elizabeth told her with a soft grin. "He is growing up so fast. It seems like yesterday that he was just a baby. Now he is handling situations that adults have trouble accepting."

"He is yours, Liz. You always dealt with things maturely too," Emily told her with a small laugh. "At least after you out grew your Lizzie stage."

Picking a napkin off of the table and tossing it at Emily, she scowled at Johnny as he chuckled. "Lizzie was not that bad, you guys."

"Not at all," Johnny agreed. "She was a firecracker, spitfire, and brat all rolled into one with a side of sarcasm."

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Carly stared at Jerry and Jax in stunned silence, letting what they had told her sink in. She turned back to Jax and went easily to him when he held out his arms.

"We couldn't tell you, Carly. If anyone had found out that Elizabeth was Lorenzo's daughter, she would have been a major target. When he saved Jerry years ago, we both kept watch on her and reported any dangers to him. It was the least that we could do after he risked his own life for my brother's."

"I understand," she admitted quietly. "I am just stunned. Too think that Elizabeth is the heir to the Alcazar holdings. All the times that I accused her of being weak and scared. Then she held it all together while learning all of this and finding out that Lucky had faked Jake's death."

"She is way stronger than anyone gives her credit for," Jerry agreed. "Fragile was never a word that I associated with her, unlike most of Port Charles. But she is actually not the heir to Lorenzo's holdings. O'Brien took over the Alcazar and Zacchara holdings on behalf of Elizabeth and her son."

"Zacchara? Why would her kids have any say with that business?" Carly asked with confusion.

"Because Cameron is actually John Zacchara's son. Zander lied to protect the kid from his grandfather that would have killed him and Liz." Jax smiled as his wife just shook her head. "He is back and going to help raise Cam now. O'Brien and Elizabeth are slowly moving toward a permanent relationship."

"But I figured with Jake back and Sam gone, that Elizabeth and Jason would get back together. He deserves to know his son."

Jerry frowned at the insistant tone. "Carly, why on earth would she go back to him? He defended Sam after everything that she had done to the mother of his son. No woman in their right mind would let that go. But she and Jason are telling Jake the truth. She has no problems with him being a father to his son."

Still floundering for words at all that she had learned, Carly just shook her head again. Nothing made sense anymore. All her claims that Elizabeth Webber was not right for the world of danger that Jason lived in had just been blown out of the water. She was Lorenzo's daughter, the mother of a Zacchara, and the mother of Jason's child. "I was so wrong," she muttered.

"You were," Jax confirmed as he patted her hand. "But you need to accept that and move on. Elizabeth needs time to adjust to all the changes. Lorenzo is being buried tomorrow along with Francis. That will be very hard on her."

Jerry stood and flashed his smile. "I need to go and have a chat with A.J. He owes me an explaination that I am not willing to let him put off anymore." He paused and looked back at Carly. "Is he going to have to take you to court to get rights to Micheal or have you opened your eyes enough to see that you were wrong there too?"
Frustrated to have misjudged her past choices so badly, Carly exhaled loudly. "He can see him, but it needs to progress at Micheal's pace. He's been through so much, Jerry."

She waited until they were alone before looking back at her husband. "Did you know when you called Jerry and Lorenzo that all of this would happen, Jax?"

"All of this, do you mean Sonny's death, Carly? No, I did not. I did know that they would take care of any threats. I won't apologize for protecting a woman that needed it, Carly."

"It's no that, Jax. I always thought that he was better than everything than you told me." Tears brimmed in her eyes. "I messed up so badly."

"Just back off of Elizabeth, that is all that Jerry wants. Johnny O'Brien will not take anyone attacking her right now."

"I buried my hatchet with her after I thought that she had given Joss a second chance at life. That still stands, Jax. She had no idea that the little boy was not her son. She was still going to save our daughter. I am forever grateful to her."

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A/N: As I near the end of this one, it get harder to write what I want. I am starting chapters and deleting them just as fast because I am unhappy with what I have written. LOL.

Thank you to all the readers that have read the story so far. The comments and reviews help to make me want to write. I enjoy knowing that people are liking the story. Hang in there with me, I am almost to end of this one.