Written in 58 minutes.

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Jason gestured towards the archway leading into another part of the house — a large open floor living room and kitchen space that was as empty as the foyer. “Uh, I didn’t really—there’s no where to sit—” He gestured at the stools by the counter that separated the kitchen from the rest of the space. “I guess that’s…”

Elizabeth set her purse on the counter, then looked at him, and it was almost a relief to see his own uncertainty reflected back at him. He knew Michael was right. He knew that the only way forward was a conversation, open and honest, about her suggestion, and what he wanted to do with it. And that usually wasn’t an issue for them—

Except when the topic of the conversation was their own feelings or their possible future. They did not have a great track record where that was concerned, and Jason was unsure how to stop them from repeating old mistakes.

No way to go but straight ahead, he thought. “I, uh, went to Alexis’s office. To talk to her alone.”

“Without Molly?” Elizabeth frowned. “Was…was that a good idea?”

“I know Alexis is representing herself, but I thought—” Jason paused, trying to think of the best to articulate his intentions. “I thought after this weekend, after what happened, Alexis might be willing to agree that I’m not the enemy. That she and I—we both love Danny and we can work together to figure out what’s best for him. She…was not willing to compromise.”

“Nothing except full custody?” Elizabeth asked. When he nodded, she folded her arms, looked at the floor. “Well, that’s not surprising. Alexis doesn’t back down easily. Not when she thinks she’s right.”

“No. And she’s not willing to consider anything that isn’t full custody of Danny and Scout. So we’re right back where we started.”

“Ah—” Elizabeth looked up, her arms still tightly crossed, but there was tension in the thin smile she offered. “So the visit to Alexis was trying to get out of what I suggested. And now I’m the last resort—”

He winced, held up one hand. “I know it might seem that way, but can you let—let me explain, okay? Before you—” When Elizabeth dropped her eyes, he clenched his jaw. “Please don’t do that.”

Startled, she lifted her gaze to his. “What? What did I do—”

“You decided what my intentions were before giving me a chance to explain, and now you’re already off and running. I can see you thinking, Elizabeth, and we’ve done this before. You’re jumping to conclusions, and if this—if this has a chance, we can’t do that. Okay? We have to—” He gripped the edge of the counter. “We have to be able to trust each other. We used to do be able to do that.”

“I—” The tightness eased from her expression, replaced by a flush of red rising in her cheeks. She bit hard on her bottom lip. “You’re right. You’re right. I do that. I—I think the worst, and I start preparing myself for it, and it’s not fair. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” He stepped just a little closer, though they were still separated by almost a foot, and she lifted her chin higher so that she was still meeting his gaze. “Yes, I made an attempt to resolve this with Alexis because it would be better for Danny and Scout. But I also—” He looked down at his hand, focused on the edge of the counter that he still held because it was important that he find a way to explain this. Everything hinged on Elizabeth understanding why he’d done this.

“Also what?” she asked when he didn’t say anything.

He looked at her. “Because I didn’t want you to feel obligated.”

“Obligated—” she echoed, bewildered. “What?”

“Because I know—” He scratched the edge of his brow, shifted the weight of his body from one foot to the other. “I know we’ve been talking about what happened when Jake was born, and the regrets, and I know you carry a lot of guilt for how it got started, and I know that doesn’t change because I don’t blame you. You don’t think you deserve my forgiveness for that, and I haven’t been able to convince you otherwise. So, yeah, I guess I don’t want you to make a sacrifice because of you think you owe me something.”

Elizabeth exhaled slowly, looking away, her gaze focused on the bay window overlooking the street, the fading sunlight. “You think I’d be making a sacrifice,” she murmured finally. She brought her eyes back to his, and he was surprised by the slightly amusement he found there. “That marrying you would be a sacrifice. Something I should dread.”

“I—” Jason cleared his throat. “No, that’s not—I mean, yes. But—it would be. We’d—it’s not as simple as signing a certificate to make Alexis back down. A judge would expect us to—”

“To be married?” she finished, and he nodded. “Yeah, that was kind of the point of my suggestion. We’d have…figure out where to live, and how to tell the boys, and a lot of other things, but—I don’t know.” She chewed on her bottom. “I don’t see any of that as…a sacrifice. But…you do. And I don’t want that—”

“Wait—that’s not—”

“It’s the same, isn’t it? You’d have to give up something. I mean, you wanted to live with Jake and Danny—I don’t want you to feel obligated to me because you feel like I’m making a sacrifice. So I don’t know where—”

“I didn’t want you to marry me because you feel obligated,” Jason interrupted, and she closed her mouth, confused. “That’s not…that’s not why we should do this.”

Her lips parted and she crossed her arms again. “I don’t know if I’m hearing things, but…um, that almost sounds like…that sounds like you think we should.”

Relieved that for once, they seemed to be on the same page. He stepped closer again, leaving the distance between them only a matter of inches. “Yeah. I do.” Standing this close to her, he could see the pulse in her neck fluttering, her breathing was just a little faster.

“Oh.” Elizabeth licked her lips. “W-Why?”

He couldn’t stop himself, not this time. He just wanted to touch her, see if her skin was still as soft as he remembered. He cupped her neck, his thumb brushing over that racing pulse point, and her arms fell to her side.

“Because I haven’t been able to think about any thing else since you walked out yesterday,” he murmured, pulling her towards him, just close enough to feel her breath on his lips. How many times had he done that over the years, torturing himself just enough to see if she’d give in or pull away—

But this time was different. Her hands slid up his chest until they rested at his collarbone, and then she leaned in, brushing her mouth against his lightly, as if unsure of her welcome—

It was all the encouragement he’d needed, using his other arm to slide around her waist, pulling her against him hard, briefly trapping her hands against his chest, but she freed them, slid up, into his hair, the scrape of her nails sending sparks down his spine. He’d missed the way she’d touched him, the silky weight of her hair tumbling over his fingers, the soft curves of her body, and how they always fit against him perfectly—

She broke away from him, panting, clinging to him, then kissing him again, the nip of her teeth on his bottom lip. He pinched her butt lightly, and she laughed against his mouth, the curve of her smile intoxicating. He’d always been able to lose himself in the way she looked, smelled, the way she’d felt, and he’d had to put it away, to lock it up, and forget, the only way to survive losing her.

Jason lifted her slightly onto the nearby stool just so that he could part her denim clad legs. She wrapped her arms and legs around him like a vine, bringing the center of their heated bodies into contact—

He broke away—cupping her flushed cheeks in his hands, the glazed look in her beautiful eyes. “Is that a yes?” he murmured, before trailing lines of light kisses along her jaw, down to her neck, pressing his lips to her pulse, still racing.

Her fingers tightened in the fabric of his shirt, then slid down to his shoulders to push him away slightly, forcing him to lift his gaze to hers. “I thought I was the one asking this time. It’s my turn, isn’t it?”

“Well, if you want to get on your knees, I’m not complaining,” he said, and she threw her head back and laughed, long and full, her cheeks still flushed when she looked at him again.

“No, you never did.” Elizabeth stroked his cheek, her eyes soft. “Are we crazy? This feels crazy.”

“Maybe.” Reluctantly releasing her, he reached into his back pocket, and pulled out a black box. His fingers were almost trembling as he tried to flip it open. “It’s not—it’s not traditional—”

“Neither are we—” But her voice died when he turned the box around and she saw the ring with the emerald at the center, the gold twisted around it little emeralds laced through like leaves. “Emerald and Ruby. That’s…”

“Their birthstones—”

“You—” Her voice faltered and she lifted her shimmering eyes to him. “You included Aiden. Not just…Jake.”

“Yeah—I thought—I mean, it’s all of us, isn’t it?” he asked her, taking the ring from the box, setting that aside. “If we really want to make this work…I want you to be in Danny’s life. What you said yesterday—about what Alexis sees in you—she’s not wrong. You’re an amazing mother, and you’ve raised three incredible sons. I mean, it’s not just—I don’t just want you for Danny. I—” He forced himself to finish. “I want you for me, too, it’s just—”

“You’re a package deal.” Elizabeth’s smile was so brilliant he was almost blinded. “That’s—that’s—that’s what I want. All of us.” She held out her hand. “I didn’t even know how much until you….until right now.”

He slid the ring on her finger, and she wiggled them, the gems catching the light from above them. “It’s perfect.” She slid her arms around his neck, pulling him back against her. “I love it, and—”

She was cut short when a familiar, but unwelcome sound interrupted her.

His cell phone rang.

Jason shook his head. “I’m not answering—”

“You have to.” She took a deep breath, and when he didn’t reach for it, she slid her hand into his front pocket to retrieve it. She furrowed her brow. “It’s…I know that number. That’s Chase.”

“Chase?” he echoed. He took the phone from her, stepped back and answered. “Yeah?” His face tightened and he looked at her. “I’ll be right there. Tell him not to say a word.”

“What is it?” Elizabeth slid off the stool, already reaching for her purse. “Is it Michael or—”

“Danny.” Jason clenched his jaw. “He was arrested for assaulting Drew.”

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You’ll never know how close I came to just ending this part with “And then the phone rang.” But I decided I did not want to be chased down with pitchforks. Toodles 😛

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