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Chapter 16

Downstairs in the kitchen Jason leaned against the counter and watched as Elizabeth made hot chocolate. He had packs in the cabinet, rip one open and add hot water. That wasn't how she did it. Elizabeth made hot chocolate from real cocoa powder. He looked at the tin, Dutch cocoa powder and added real mini marshmallows, not the dried ones.

She saw him lean forward. "I hope you don't mind that I got Dutch cocoa powder. It's more expensive, but it's really good." She didn't want him to think she was trying to take advantage.

"Is it better than the regular powder?" Jason wanted to know.

"It is. I can get some of the regular powder and make you some cocoa, if you like that better we can stick with that." Elizabeth offered.

"No, if this is better than lets go with it." Jason loved how she looked standing there. "I've never seen it made this way. Not that I remember." He amended the statement.

"The recipe is on the tin." She turned still stirring and showed him.

"You can use this to make brownies too." Jason wasn't even trying to pretend he didn't want some.

"I can do that tomorrow when we get home, we can take them next door for dinner. You should always bring something." She removed the pan from the heat and poured the dark liquid into the waiting mugs. Reaching into the bag she plopped six marshmallows into each cup.

Jason walked up behind her, standing so that she was between him and the island. He reached into the bag and deposited a handful of marshmallows into his mug. "I need more than six." He said only smirking a little.

"Sweet tooth?" She looked up and over her shoulder. He was very tall compared to her. It made her feel dainty.

"Not one cavity." He said smiling. Lifting the mug he took a small sip of the hot drink. "Wow, that's really good. I may never drink the powdered stuff again."

"That stuff is crap." She said laughing. "This is my treat after a hard day. It's got like a million calories and on the days I had it I earned every single one."

Jason took that as an opening. "Where were you before Port Charles, and after Portland?"

"Canton, Ohio." Elizabeth said shivering a bit.

Jason wrapped his arm around her waist pulling her into his heat. It wasn't even a conscious move. She needed comfort and he was going to provide it.

"We stayed in this run down motel for three weeks while I healed some. Cameron was terrified the entire time. I looked a mess, but I kept us safe." Elizabeth closed her eyes. "We had to live off of the flight fund and by the time we got to Port Charles I was almost broke. I had enough for two weeks at a Cortland Street motel while I waited for my first paycheck, and I plan to never go back there."

"Did anyone hurt you?" Jason would find them if they had.

"No, but I think it was a near thing." Elizabeth had moved the dresser in front of the door every night. "I spent the entire paycheck and just about the last of our funds on getting that apartment. We had to eat cereal for two weeks while I waited to get paid."

Jason squeezed her gently. "I'm sorry."

"There's no food bank in Port Charles. Other cities we stayed in I could go to the food bank and get stuff for us to eat but there isn't one here." She looked up at him.

"I'll make sure to change that." He didn't want anyone else to suffer like she had. Between him and his family they could start and sustain a food bank. Lila would help him.

"Thank you. I was still injured when I started working." Elizabeth admitted. "Lucky busted up my ribs and for the first three weeks I worked they were still pretty sore. I remember that first night going home and when Cameron was asleep I screamed into a pillow." Needing more contact she turned in his arms and let him hold her tighter.

"Never again, baby. I promise you that." Jason just rocked her slightly. Even if something happened to him she and Cameron would be cared for. "I'm sending someone to Colorado on Monday." They finally had all the information there was to get. "We'll start tracking Lucky from there. Odds are that he'll try something here, but if we can catch him from that end we'll bring him here and I will deal with him."

She didn't say anything just held him tight. After a bit she turned again. "It should be cool enough to drink."

"It's really good. I may need you to make this for me every night." He got her silent request to let it go for now. It was probably going to be like this from here on out. She would need to talk, so she'd tell him what was on her mind. He would listen and hold her while she got it out. Sunday after mass he was going to the range and blowing off some steam.

"Million calories." She reminded him taking a sip.

"There is a gym two floors below us." He told her stepping back to give her space. And to keep his body in check. Listening to her talk about being hurt and hungry had killed his hard on but it wouldn't take much for it to come back.

"Emily said she would show me how to use any equipment I was unfamiliar with." Elizabeth was looking forward to getting regular exercise. Her job kept her fit but she enjoyed the exhaustion a good workout could bring on. "Also Cameron and I are looking forward to using the pool." Mug in hand she turned and leaned against the island so that she was facing him. His arm around her had made the butterflies take flight.

"Does he have many books?" He would put them on safer ground. Thinking about her in a swimsuit was dangerous.

"No. Just five." Elizabeth told Jason.

"We'll get him more. I'm guessing there is a line of Chuggin Charlie books." Jason sipped his drink.

"There is a line of Chuggin Charlie everything." Elizabeth said laughing. "It a merchandising bonanza. He has the one train that I got him a few weeks ago."

Jason would call Alan and let him know that he could get that for his new grandson. If he hadn't already bought something else. If that was the case Jason would go get them. "While we were watching the show, they were advertising DVD's." Something else the little boy would be getting.

"He really loves trains, like Ben and dinosaurs." Elizabeth smiled. "Emily said you took Ben to the museum in New York City."

"Business trip. Johnny brought Ben and Emily. I arranged a night time visit to the History museum so that Johnny and Em could have a date night. It was fun. We can take Cam to New York. Has he ever been on a plane?" Jason finished his drink and put the mug in the dishwasher. It was full, another way his life had changed. It took him days to fill it up before.

"No, we did take the train from Portland to Canton. I couldn't handle the bus." The ride would have killed her. She handed over her mug and Jason started the dishwasher. "I should get some sleep, you too. Cameron is going to be very excited about our trip. In the morning I'd like to see if he'll let you ride with us."

"If not it will be fine." Jason was going to be patient and count his blessing. Cameron had let him read him a story, hopefully that would be a regular occurrence.

Jason walked Elizabeth upstairs. Outside her door he gave her another gentle kiss. "Good night Liz." He said softly.

"Night Jason." She gave him a small smile before entering the room and closing the door behind her. She was going to have really good dreams.

"So guess what." Elizabeth said as she and Cameron finished breakfast. Today it was oatmeal. Jason made them steel cut oats which they both really liked. "Jason said he would take us to the train museum today."

The little boys eyes got wide and he looked over at Jason before looking back at his mom.

"You want to go?" Elizabeth asked her clearly excited son. The little boy nodded quickly. "Would it be okay if Jason rode in the car with us?" She was using the trip as a bribe but sometimes you had to play dirty.

Cameron looked at her, then at Jason and then back to his mom. He nodded.

"Good. Go brush your teeth." Elizabeth said smiling wide. When he was gone she looked over at Jason who was smiling too. "Try not to curse or get upset while driving." She had no idea what he was like behind the wheel.

"I won't do anything to scare him." Jason knew this was another test. He would take as many as were necessary to earn Cameron's trust.

"I'm going to go brush my teeth too, are we leaving when I get back down?" Elizabeth asked him.

"Yeah, I'll met you in the living room." Jason wanted to finish his coffee and calm some. His heart had been beating hard waiting for Cameron's response.

While they were upstairs Jason took the opportunity to make some calls. First up was his dad. "Good morning."

"Jason, how are you?" Alan walked out onto the terrace. The front room was loud because Tracy was on the phone arguing with Dillon, again.

"Good." Jason chuckled he had heard his aunt in the background. "Have you and mom gone shopping yet?"

"No." Alan said frowning. "Yesterday was a mess." Meetings and several emergency surgeries took up their day. "We are going this morning, since neither one of us is in today. Emily said Cameron likes trains."

"Chuggin Charlie to be more precise." Jason wanted to make sure his dad got the right thing. "He only has Charlie. Don't get the DVD's, I'd like to do that."

"Okay. There are other trains for kids his age." Edward was a train buff, he would know what to get. Alan would ask him when he went back in. "May we get those too? We can keep them here at the house. I was thinking we could move Ben's playroom to one of the bigger rooms here on the first floor so there is room for Cameron and his things." Alan knew the boys would want to be together.

Jason started laughing he couldn't help it. "Try not to get carried away. I'm not sure when Cameron is going to make it over to the mansion."

"He can take his time. When he's ready call your mother, she'll make sure the way is paved." In other words when Cameron came over the only people here would be him, her, mother, and father. Monica would probably tell Edward to behave or get tossed out too.

"Will do. I need to make more calls so I'll talk to you later." Jason said hanging up. He called Francis next. "Hey, I need some shopping done do you think Maxie will help me?"

"More clothes?" Despite it being Saturday Francis was at the office.

"No books." Jason cleared up.

"Your best bet would be Georgie." Francis wasn't sure Maxie knew where the book store was. "You could just download them to your tablet."

"There for Cameron, I think Elizabeth would like for him to have real books." But they did make kid friendly tablets. Ben had one, Jason would call Spinelli and get him started on that. "Chuggin Charlie and Dr. Seuss." The latter were classic and Jason wanted his son to have them. "The whole set for both."

"I'll call Georgie and see if she's free." Francis figured she wouldn't mind. "Also, I'm supposed to tell you that she doesn't have any night classes this semester." She was free to babysit.

"Good to know." Jason would wait for Liz's approval. "Thanks Francis. Tell Georgie she can get some books for herself too." He knew she wouldn't take any money for doing him this favor.

"Yup." The lawyer said before ending the call.

Jason had time to make one more call. He was putting his phone away when Liz and Cameron walked back into the kitchen. "We are ready to go." She announced. Upstairs Cameron had talked excitedly about the trip. It took him twice as long as normal to brush his teeth.

"Do we need to bring anything?" Jason asked as they grabbed their jackets.

"There are snacks and games in the car. The ride is an hour right?" Elizabeth couldn't take Cameron before because you needed to drive to get there.

"Yeah, on your next day off I want to have a DVD player installed in your car." Jason knew Emily's car had one. It was helpful on long drives. "My car already has one, do you think Cameron would mind riding in it?"

"Cameron, would you like to ride in Jason's car?" Elizabeth asked the little boy. Cameron shook his head no. "Not today."

"Not a problem." Jason assured her. Looking down at his son who was behind his mother's legs he smiled so Cameron would know he wasn't upset. In the garage he got out first and they followed. Once again Cameron stopped to look at the bike before getting in the car.

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