Written in 56 minutes.

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Quartermaine Estate: Family Room

After getting the call that the house was mostly clear of mourners, Jason and Elizabeth headed over to the mansion with both boys. Jason left Elizabeth to remove Cameron’s coat in the foyer and went in first, with Jake in his arms.

Monica, seated on the sofa, jumped to her feet, her eyes almost desperate though she smiled. “You’re here. I wasn’t sure—I almost thought—” She glanced around him. “Where’s—”

“Elizabeth is behind me. We, uh, told Cameron,” Jason said. “I don’t know how much he understands. He might ask for her—”

“Oh. Oh.” Monica clasped her hands, looked at Edward who had also risen to his feet. “All right. We’ll handle that—is this—” She pressed a hand to her mouth. “Oh, Jason. He looks just like you.”

“That’s what Elizabeth says.” Jason rubbed Jake’s back. “Jake, this is…” He glanced at Monica. “Do you want to be Grandma or—”

“Anything is fine. I’ll—” Monica nodded. “Anything.”

“Okay, this is Grandma Monica,” Jason said. He set Jake in his mother’s arms. The infant fussed for a moment until he realized his father wasn’t going anywhere, then he turned and focused his blue eyes on the woman holding him.

“Oh, Edward, do you see?” Monica beamed, looked at her father-in-law. “Just like Jason. And those are—”

“Lila’s eyes.” Edward nodded. “He’s beautiful,” he told Jason.

“I know—” Jason thought Jake actually looked more like Elizabeth, but he might be biased. He turned when he heard footsteps. Elizabeth appeared, holding Cameron by the hand. He’d cried for a while when they’d been at home, but then he’d seemed to bounce back.

“Hey, buddy.” Jason lifted Cameron in his arms, and Cam immediately ducked his head down, pressing against Jason’s chest, a little more shy than he usually was around strangers. Elizabeth came to his side, stroked her son’s back.

“Hey, Cam. We wanted you to meet people who are very important to me and Jason,” Elizabeth said.

“Important?” Cameron repeated. He peeked out to Edward. “Why?”

“This is my mother—” Jason pointed at Monica. “And that’s my grandfather.”

“Grandfather,” Cameron repeated. “Like grandma Audrey?”

“Yeah. Like Grandma Audrey. That’s your mother’s grandmother.” Jason hesitated. “This is Aunt Emily’s mom and grandfather, too.”

“Aunt Em.” Cameron rubbed his eyes, looked at Edward. “You know Aunt Em?”

“I do—I did,” Edward said, correcting himself. “She talked about you a lot. It’s nice to finally meet you, Cameron.”

“I Cameron Hardy Webber. Mommy says I named for my grandfathers,” Cameron reported.

“That’s a fine name. A good strong one. Your mother chose your name well.”

“Mommy very smart. Aunt Em is the wind now. Mommy said. And Jase says we can’t see her anymore.” Cameron paused. “I don’t like that.”

“Me either.”

“That’s my brother.” Cameron pointed at Jake. “Jase’s his daddy. Not mine, though.” He furrowed his brow, looked at Jason. “Where did my daddy go?”

“He had to work,” Jason said, a bit roughly.

“Oh. Yeah. My daddy had to go to work forever. Did Aunt Em have to go to work? Is that why she’s the wind now?”

Jason inhaled sharply, traded troubled glances with Elizabeth, hating that Cameron was pushing Lucky and Emily together in his head.

“Sometimes people have to leave us,” Edward said. “And we don’t always know why. It’s not fair, is it?”

“No. I don’t like it.”

“Neither do I.”

Cameron sighed and laid his head back against Jason’s chest. “I okay. Jase said I got him. And I got Mommy and Jake. And Aunt Em is the wind, and it’s always windy, so she always there. Right, Mommy?”

“That’s right.” Elizabeth gently took Cameron into her arms. “And I have a really good idea, Cam. A way for you—for all us to keep feeling like Aunt Em is with us. She was Jason’s little sister. Just like Jake is your brother. You know that?”

“Yeah.”

“And Jason’s family is Jake’s family,” Elizabeth continued. “I think, if we ask really nice, you and I could be part of that family, too.”

Cameron frowned at her. “Yeah?” He looked at Edward, then at Monica, still holding Jake, then finally at Jason. “You want me and Mommy?”

“More than anything,” Jason said. “You already are my family. I want to share mine with you both.”

“Oh.” Cameron considered this. “Yes. Okay. What do I do?”

“Nothing. You just have to be you, and let us love you.” Jason said. He took Cam back from Elizabeth. “This is my grandfather, so he can be yours, too. And my mother can be your grandmother.” His throat tightened. “And maybe, if you want, I could be your dad.”

Cameron furrowed his little brow. “But daddys go away, don’t they? Do you have a daddy?”

“I did.” Jason took Cameron over to the mantel where there were several photos, including one of Alan. “That’s my dad. He died a few months ago. He’s with Aunt Emily now.”

Cameron studied the photo. “He went away. Just like my daddy.”

“Sometimes you can have two. Monica—” Jason turned, so Cameron could see her. “She was my second mom. I don’t remember my first one. She had to go away. Sometimes people do. And then if we’re lucky, someone can come and help love you.”

“I got a good mommy. Don’t need a second one.”

“No, of course not.” Jason winced. This hadn’t been the right time for this conversation. “And we don’t have to—”

“But I don’t got a daddy now,” Cameron continued, and Jason closed his mouth. “You Jake’s daddy, right?”

“Yes.”

“And he’s my brother.”

“Yes.”

“Okay.” Cameron leaned back against Jason’s chest. “I say yes. Mommy and I pick you.” Jason tightened his arms around him. “Can we pick Snelli, too?”

“Already did,” Elizabeth promised. She kissed the back of Cameron’s head, and smiled at Jason with  tears in her eyes.

Cameron nodded. “Good. Snelli is very good,” he told Edward. “Plays good games and drinks orange soda. Shares his pepperoni.”

“Sounds like some fine traits.” Edward cleared his throat. “Why don’t you come over and we’ll get to know each other? After all, Christmas is coming. You must have some idea what Santa should bring you and your brother.”

Jason nearly snorted as he set Cameron the sofa and he clambered over to sit next to his new grandfather. Trust Edward to cut right to the chase.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know if I should have—” he said to Elizabeth, but she shook her head, touched his shoulder.

“No. No, it was perfect. Emily was already his family. And I know it’ll make it easier for you,” Elizabeth said. She leaned her head against his shoulder, watching Cameron explain all about Spiderman to Edward, and Monica sitting in the armchair, counting Jake’s toes. “This was the right idea. I know it was awkward at first. But it’ll get easier.”

“Yeah. Though we’re going to have to keep an eye on Edward. He’ll have Cam in Harvard before dinner.” And on the fast-track to ELQ by sunset, Jason thought, but the idea just amused him. A few years ago, it would have made him furious. But he knew better now. He’d spent a decade running from his family — so fast and so far that he’d lost the chance to fix it. There would never be more time with Lila or Alan, but at least Emily knew how much he’d loved her.

He didn’t want those regrets with Monica, and he’d learn how to love Edward again. To hold on to Emily, he’d try almost anything.

“I’m going to tell them,” Jason said, suddenly. He reached for Elizabeth’s hand, brushing his fingertip over her ring. “It’ll make her happy. Is that okay?”

“I think that’s a great idea.”

Jason cleared his throat, and both Monica and Edward looked up. “Uh, I wanted to—I mean, Elizabeth and I—I told you I was adopting Cameron, but we also—before—on Halloween,” he added awkwardly.

Deciding to give Jason a break, Elizabeth lifted her left hand and wiggled her fingers so that the ring caught the light. “Jason asked me to marry him,” she said. “And I said yes.”

Monica smiled, her entire face radiating with happiness as she looked at Jason. “Really? Oh, that’s wonderful.” She rose to her feet, carrying Jake over to them so that she could hug Jason. “What lovely news.”

“Congratulations. Steve would be so excited.” Edward kissed Elizabeth’s cheek. “Audrey must be over the moon.”

“More than I thought she would be,” Elizabeth admitted. Cameron clapped his hands, grinning — he probably didn’t really understand but he always responded to the energy in the room.

Monica handed Jake to Edward so she could hug Jason more tightly. “Thank you. Thank you for this.”

“I wasn’t sure if this was the right—”

“No. No—” Monica’s eyes were damp with tears. “No. Emily loved you. She loved you both. And she loved those boys. And this is a good thing. A reminder that life will continue. I needed this. I needed to remember that there’s a future. It’s not right that she won’t be part of it, but you—sharing yours with me—” She hugged him again, and he felt his mother tremble in his arms. “It gives me hope.”

“I love you,” he murmured, and she pulled back, framing his face in her hands. “I know I don’t say it—”

“You don’t have to. You’re a parent, so you know. You love your children, and you send them off into the world.” Monica closed her eyes. “They’ll disappoint you. Make you furious. Worry you. Devastate you. But you always, always love you. Alan never stopped loving you, Jason. I hope you know that.”

“I wish—”

“He’s with us, you know. Always. Just like Emily. And Lila. We’ve just received a brutal mind that life isn’t just short — it’s also not guaranteed. We’ll make the best of what we’re given. No regrets,” she declared. She stepped back, squeezing his hands. Then looked at Elizabeth. “Thank you for sharing your beautiful children with me. For loving my son. For being the best friend my daughter could have asked for.”

“Thank you bringing her to Port Charles.” Elizabeth hugged Monica. “For giving her a second mother to love as much as she’d loved her first. She loved you so much.”

“You’ve chosen a good woman,” Edward told Jason as he came to stand next to Jason. He watched Monica examine Elizabeth’s ring. “I don’t have to tell you that, of course, but it can’t be left unsaid. She was Steve’s favorite.”

Jason frowned, looked at him. “Her grandfather?”

“Yes. He probably never told her that,” Edward admitted. “Steve always played fair, and you don’t mean to have favorite grandchildren. You can love them equally, but—well, there’s something about a granddaughter. Whenever Steve talked about Jeff’s kids, he just brightened when he talked about his little Lizzie. His dreamer who was going to paint the world and bring joy.”

Jason wondered if Elizabeth knew that — her family was such a sore point with her — especially her parents and her siblings. “Emily always defended you,” he found himself saying. “Even when you made her mad, she always told me you meant well. She spent years trying to explain you.”

“I wasn’t sure about Monica and Alan adopting her, bringing her into the family. Giving the Quartermaine name without any blood?” Edward made a face. “Wasn’t to be done. But then she was here, and you learn — well, it’s not about what’s in the blood, is it? She and Lila didn’t share a bit of DNA, but weren’t they the same? The joy, the love, the spirit — she was ours.”

“She was,” Jason murmured. And now she was gone. “That’s what I want for Cameron. The way we loved Emily. How Monica treated me—”

“That’s what we’ll have. Congratulations.” Edward extended his hand, and Jason shook it. “You’ve built a beautiful family. I hope there will be years of happiness ahead of you.”

 

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This was a bit shorter than the other parts, but some of the conversations took a bit longer to write, so I decided not to rush anything. This was also a scene I wasn’t planning to write, but I thought we needed a bit of a break from all the sadness. See you Monday!

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