Written in 53 minutes.

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August 2007

Spencer House: Master Bedroom

She had dreamed of living in this house once, as love-struck teenager who thought that the Spencer family and the home where they lived represented the epitome of love and devotion. Even after Luke and Laura Spencer’s marriage had crumbled—this house and the sanctuary it had always represented featured in a dream of her future.

Today, Elizabeth Spencer finally accepted that the dream she’d created for herself as a terrified, broken, and fragile girl had ended a long time ago. She and Lucky had just been clinging to the wreckage like two people adrift on a sea. Who were they when they weren’t Liz and Lucky, Lucky and Liz? They had tried to find out once before, but they hadn’t been brave enough to stick it out. They’d drifted right back, too comfortable to see that their love had died in a fire long ago.

She emptied another drawer from the dresser into the suitcase, dumping the mixture of socks, bras, and panties in before going to the next for t-shirt and sleep shirts. It only took her a half hour to pack the things she’d brought to this house, this dream she’d wanted so badly for herself and her boys.

Now, standing in the wreckage, Elizabeth could only admit to herself that the dream she’d woven for them all had rested on foundation of lies, secrecy, fear, and jealousy. She couldn’t begin to hope for forgiveness from anyone involved—she’d started on this path months ago when Jason Morgan had looked at her and told her it was for the best that he wasn’t the father of the child she carried.

She closed her eyes. For so long, she’d been able to hold on to that moment as evidence that the road she’d chosen was the right one. The slice in her gut as he’d spoken those words, the memory of knowing her own parents had never really wanted her, that she’d ruined her mother’s bright medical career simply by existing—

She’d let herself drown in those memories, the childhood that had made her lash out and demand attention from anyone who would look at her—and she’d let it take over. Jason would be a good father, but maybe it would come at a cost, and he’d always look at their beautiful child and think of everything it had cost him.

Elizabeth couldn’t hold onto it anymore and if she allowed honesty in her heart for once, she hadn’t been able to since the elevator. Since Jason had made it clear that he wanted the baby and to be a father—

And she’d cruelly taken advantage of him, of his grief, and fear for his child to steal that from him.

On a shaky breath, Elizabeth went to the nightstand to clear out the bits and bobs—a forgotten bracelet, a pack of tissues—

She’d ripped away the illusion only a few days ago, and had finally done what she should have from the beginning.

“So I have to ask, Mrs. Spencer, is it possible that Jason Morgan, the man on trial for the murder of Lorenzo Alcazar, is the father of your little boy?”

She had nearly denied, nearly let the words that had so easily fallen from her lips for months, be said. Of course not, Mr. Lansing. My husband is his father.

But she’d looked at Lucky, at the doubt that was already in his eyes, at Jason, whose eyes always told more than the rest of the world could see.

“Yes. Jason Morgan is the biological father of my youngest son.”

And with those words, the life she’d tried to stitch together—all of the holes she’d tried to patch over and tape up—ended.

Elizabeth closed the suitcase, zipped it, then it on the floor next to the other two suitcases and a box with the contents of her vanity table. She had to pack Cameron’s room and Jake’s nursery next —

There were footsteps on the stairs, then down the hall. She turned to find Lucky in the doorway, the first time they’d been in a room together since that terrible day. His hand gripping the white frame, his eyes dark with a mixture of resentment, pain, and grief. He hadn’t come home after the trial, and she’d worried—had he gone to Courtland Street? Had the truth done what she always feared and driven him back to the pills?

Then Emily had quietly informed her that Lucky had gone to Wyndemere, that he was with Nikolas, and that when he was ready, he would contact her.

“You’re packing,” Lucky said. The Adam’s apple in his throat bobbed, and he exhaled. “You waited until Jason was acquitted, didn’t you? Is that—” His hand curled into a fist. “Is that where you’re going? Where you’re taking the boys?”

“No.” Elizabeth laced her fingers together. “I’m going to my grandmother’s. I wanted to wait until the trial was over because of the press.” She cleared her throat. “You’re a cop—”

He nodded. “They didn’t have the address to harass you,” Lucky finished. He dragged a hand through his hair. “And now the press is bothering the DA and Jason, I guess. Smart.” He paused. “But you’re still packing.”

“I don’t think we need to keep lying to each other—” She winced. “I don’t think I can keep doing it,” she finished. “I’ve been trying so hard to make this work that I didn’t stop to ask myself why.”

“Yeah.” Lucky wandered into the room, stopped at the dresser with nothing but a framed photo of their wedding day and from his parents’ wedding the year before. “This—” He tapped it. The vision of Luke and Laura, smiling as if his mother wasn’t going to slip back into catatonia within weeks. “This is why you came back to me. You let my mother think we were still a family.”

“It’s—” Elizabeth folded her arms. “I’ve loved you since I was fifteen, Lucky. I didn’t know how to stop. Or let go of what I thought my life was supposed to be.”

“You loved me at fifteen,” Lucky murmured. He turned to face her. “We’re not kids anymore. Making promises we can’t even understand in some church. We made new ones.”

“We did.”

“I wanted to blame you. I did—I do,” Lucky corrected. “And that first night, I was furious. Nikolas had to talk me down. I went to him because it’s an island. And I knew if I were in Port Charles, I knew that I might want to make it go away.” His voice tightened. “You might have ruined our second marriage, but I destroyed the first.” His mouth stretched into an ugly smile. “I guess we’re even.”

“I’m sorry isn’t enough,” Elizabeth said. “I’m ashamed of the things I’ve done. The lies I’ve told.” Tears burned her eyes. “This wasn’t how this was supposed to end.”

“Yeah, well—” He took a deep breath. “The boys. I want them. They’re still mine. And I don’t think I deserve to lose them because you lied.”

“Cameron, yes. You’re the only father he’s ever known,” Elizabeth said. “But—” Her chest ached. “Jake wasn’t mine to give to you. I hurt you, I know that. But I hurt Jason. He didn’t know at first. Not until the Metro Court. I told him when we were in the elevator. And he wanted to be part of Jake’s life. I asked him to give Jake up.”

“You—”

“We wanted him to have a family and safety—” Elizabeth laughed harshly, then pulled her hands through her hair. “Safe. A four letter word that’s never brought me anything but pain and unhappiness.”

“For a year, I’ve believed that was my little boy. Before he was born—” Lucky growled, some of the anger drowning out the grief that had dominated the conversation. “You have no right to take him away—haven’t you done enough to destroy my life? You can’t do this—”

“I have to do this—” Her voice broke. “The only way to keep you in Jake’s life would be to take him from Jason. I can’t keep hurting him to make you happy—”

“Don’t act like you’re some sort of goddamn saint,” Lucky bit out. “You did this—you started this lie, and now it’s gone out the door and around the world! I’m a fucking laughingstock at the station—” He hissed. “And now you’re telling me I can’t even have my son—”

“If it’s a choice between hurting you and hurting Jason—” She closed her eyes. God, how easy it would be to just give in. To stop the argument, to stop explaining over and over again how this was all her fault and—

But she was done with lies. Done with being the villain in this story.

“I’ve chosen you too many times,” Elizabeth said softly. “And today, I’m finally making the right one. We can talk about custody of Cameron, but Jake is out of the question.  He was never mine to give and take. I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, we’ll see about this. You’re going to pay for what you’ve done to me and my family—to my sons. Get out of my house by the end of the day or I’ll have you arrested for trespassing.” He stormed past her, down the hall, thudded down the stairs, and then she heard the door slam.

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

It had taken longer than Jason Morgan had wanted to before his release from custody was finally processed. If he hadn’t been in jail on the bail violation, he’d have been free to go the moment the jury had given him his freedom—

But Ric Lansing had held him until the last possible moment. By the time he was out, the last thing he wanted to do with go with Carly to dinner or talk business with Sonny. He wanted to go home, take a shower, and then call Elizabeth. He was free. The world knew Jake was his son.

And it went without saying the absolute last thing Jason wanted in this world was to open the door and hear the blast of an airhorn and an explosion of confetti.

“Welcome Home, Stone Cold!” Damien Spinelli chirped as he threw another handful of  the confetti. “You have been granted your freedom from the The Dastardly DA—”

“Uh, Spinelli, I don’t think this is a good idea—” At his side, Georgie Jones, took the tech by the elbow. “He doesn’t look all that thrilled—”

“Nonsense! He’s been locked up for weeks! The Jackal thinks he deserves—” Then Spinelli focused on Jason’s irritated face, blew the noisemaker in his hand one more time. “The Insightful One might have a point.” He flashed Jason a rueful grin. “Welcome home.”

“Sorry about this,” Georgie said, making her way past the door. “He was going to do this with or without me, and I figured with me—”

“There’d be less chance of a marching band,” Jason said dryly. He stripped off his suit jacket. “Yeah, you’re not wrong. Thanks.”

“Welcome home,” she said, then dashed out the door.

“Have I overstepped, perchance?” Spinelli set the noisemaker down. “I knew you would not let Mr Sir or the Valkyrie properly celebrate  this momentous occasion, but we are all so happy to have walking among the free and the brave—”

“Yeah, yeah—” Jason found his mouth twitching, a sensation that was uncomfortable but normal around the tech. It was difficult to keep a straight face at times. “Thanks.” He rubbed the side of his face. He dragged out the bag of effects that had been returned to him upon his release and dumped out his cell phone. Dead, of course. He plugged it in, then went over to the desk and the phone.

“Great idea. We can call for pizza—”

“Spinelli—” Jason held the receiver against his chest. “Clean this up. Go get your own pizza. Thanks for the welcome, but I have things to do.”

“Ah—” Spinelli stuck up his hand. “You must see to the Wee One. The Stone Cold Special—” Spinelli pursed his lips. “I’m still testing this one.”

“Go away.”

“Going.”

Jason punched in Elizabeth’s cell phone number, hoping that it wouldn’t go to voicemail. Hoping that she would want to talk to him—it could haven’t been easy these last few days since her testimony and he couldn’t do a damn thing to help—

“Jason.”

Her voice was breathless as if she’d rushed to answer the phone. “You’re home,” she continued. “I didn’t—” He heard her suck in a breath. “I didn’t know it would be this soon. I tried calling Diane to find out, but—I’m sorry. I’m sorry. You called me.”

“I did. I need—I need to talk to you.’

“Me, too.” She waited a moment. “An hour in the park? I have to finish—there’s something I need to finish, but at the park, near the old gazebo?”

“Yeah, I’ll be right there.”

Port Charles Park

Jason forced himself not to pace the length of the gazebo, and old wooden structure that had been in disrepair for several years. He knew why she’d suggested it — it was tucked away in the corner of the park where few people went.

But why she’d need secrecy when the whole world knew everything—his stomach clenched. What if she still didn’t want him in Jake’s life—

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry—” Elizabeth’s voice reached him first. He turned, and then just stared. “It took forever to get the stroller—” She stopped at the base of the gazebo, then locked the wheels. “It got stuck—” Her voice was still breathless. “I thought—” Her eyes met his. “I thought you’d want to see him. Um, because you know—you can do that now. Any time you want. As much as you want.”

When Jason still remained locked in place, staring at the infant in the stroller, Elizabeth stepped forward. She lifted Jake in her arms, then handed him gently to Jason. “I mean, I guess I don’t really know what you want. That’s why I asked you to meet me here. In case—I don’t know.” She folded her arms, stepped back. “But I’m done making the choices for you. I want to know what you want.”

Written in 58 minutes.

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Kelly’s: Courtyard

Emily Quartermaine retrieved her debit card and picked up the brown bag with her lunch. “Thanks, Penny,” she told the waitress behind the counter. She made it all the way to the door before turning back to look at the trio at the table.

“Honestly, Georgie, I think you’re right to be a little suspicious,” she told her. “A bouquet of flowers just showing up in your dorm?”

“I think it’s sweet,” Georgie’s friend, a pretty brunette, said with a shy smile.

“Creepy,” Spinelli muttered, picking up his orange soda.”

“It wasn’t even addressed to me,” Georgie reminded her friend. “It could have been for you, Chels.”

“Oh, no—” Chelsea’s eyes widened and she looked at Emily. “It’s totally for Georgie. She’s the friendly one—”

“Let Spinelli see if he can find something out,” Emily suggested. She patted the tech’s shoulder. “He’s going to do it anyway, so at least give him permission.”

Spinelli hunched his shoulders. “Was only gonna poke a little,” he muttered.

“Thanks, Em.”

“Let me know how it turns out—” Emily pulled open the door and then walked straight into Lucky. “Oof! I didn’t see you there—”

“Yeah, a lot of that going around,” Lucky growled. She grimaced and gently pushed him away from the entrance, back towards the courtyard. “Em—”

“I haven’t seen you in a few days,” she reminded him. “I wanted to make sure you were okay—”

“Okay?” He laughed derisively. “How am I supposed to be okay? I’ve been humiliated in front of the whole world—”

“I know it hurts right now, and it’s not  the way you should have been told. If Elizabeth had any idea that’s what she be asked on the stand, I’m sure—”

“Oh, you’re sure she would have told the truth? That’d be a first—”

“Lucky—”

Lucky shoved his hands in his pockets. “Did you know she was packing up today? Used me to avoid the press, and now she’s taking my kids—”

Emily bit her lip. “Have you talked to her? About custody. I know you were hoping you could find a way to stay in their lives—”

Lucky’s jaw clenched. “She shut me down. After a year of lying to me, it’s that simple for her. Everyone knows the truth, so Jason gets the kid he walked away from without having to do a damn thing.” He slapped a hand against his chest. “I’m the one that’s been there for him. Fed him, put him to bed, changed him—but she gets to give him away like none of that means anything—”

Emily exhaled slowly. “There are no easy answers in this situation, Lucky. What was she supposed to do? Keep lying? Keep Jason away from his son?”

“He’s my son—”

“Not biologically,” Emily said gently. “I don’t pretend to know why it went on this long — but better when Jake is three months old and not six. Did you really want her to keep this secret forever?”

“I wanted it not to be true!”

“I get that, Lucky, but that’s not on the table. It is true. You can go for another paternity test, but there’s already the one on file at the hospital.” Emily set her bag on the table. “I’m sorry, Lucky. I am. I don’t want it to be like this either. I don’t want those boys to lose someone who loves them. Is Liz shutting down all visitation with them?”

“No—” Lucky took a deep breath. “No. She’s fine with me and Cam, so I guess there’s that. But it’s a no on Jake.”

“Maybe it’s a no right now,” Emily said. “Jason got released this morning. They haven’t even talked about it yet. And Lucky, you don’t even know why he said yes to giving Jake up all these months. Maybe he didn’t want it either.”

Lucky went over to the table, jerked out a chair and sat down, putting his head in his hands. “She said something like that,” he muttered. “That she couldn’t keep hurting him to make me happy.”

“Yes, Elizabeth created this situation by not telling the truth.” Emily sat next to him. “But in order to resolve it, either you or Jason have to be hurt. And she’s  been hurting him for almost a year. Even if he didn’t know it. Lucky, do you remember what was happening last fall? What happened when you found out about the baby—”

“Do you think it makes me feel any better to know that she lied to keep me clean?” Lucky bit out. “Do you think I like knowing that my wife only stayed with me out of pity and fear? That I guilted her into all of this?” He leaned back, tilted his head up, his voice hoarse. “I knew something was wrong. Months ago. During the kidnapping. I knew she didn’t love me anymore. I killed that a long time ago.”

“I’m asking you to think about the boys here. Cameron adores you. You are the only father he has ever known—”

“I don’t think—”  Lucky shook his head. “I can’t do it. I can’t be around Cam and not think about Jake. And know what I’ve lost. It’ll hurt too much. It has to be both of them—”

“That’s—” Emily bit back her quick words, but he frowned at her. “That’s not fair. Cam is innocent. He didn’t ask for this—”

“Elizabeth should have thought about that before she did this. She started this lie. She’s going to have to deal with it.” He jerked to his feet and stalked out of the courtyard.

Emily sighed, picked up her order, and followed. This was going to get so much worse before it got better.

Port Charles Park

“It must be a relief to be free,” Elizabeth said, handing Jason a bottle from the diaper bag so that he could feed Jake. She sat next to him on the bench.

“It wasn’t so bad. I got to do those night shifts at the hospital for a while,” Jason reminded her. He smiled down at Jake. “He’s getting so much bigger.”

“I know. He’s sleeping so much better now. Or he has been. I’m hoping that won’t change now that we’re at my grandmother’s.” Jason frowned, looked at her. She continued, “I waited to leave the house. Lucky’s address is protected because he’s a cop. I knew the press couldn’t find me. I figured waiting until the trial was over would give things a chance to die down. And your acquittal was bigger news.”

“Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense.” Jason pressed his lips together, then asked, “Was Lucky okay with that?”

“He and I didn’t speak after the testimony. He went directly to Spoon Island until this morning. That’s something else I guess we need to talk about. Um, he came to the house while I was packing. I thought we were going to—” She picked at the cuff of her sleeve. “I thought we were going to be able to just walk away. Not happy or anything, but just accepting it was over. He gets to be angry with me. So do you—” she said, softly, meeting his eyes. “You should both be furious with me—”

“I’m not.”

She didn’t believe that. Couldn’t. “You can tell me how you feel. It’s not going to change my mind about Jake—”

“I made the decision, too—”

“I made it for you. You know that. I asked you on the day you buried your father—” Her throat tightened and she looked away, tears distorting the greenery that surrounded them into green blobs. “I shouldn’t have done that. I can never make up for it.”

“You’ve apologized—”

“I haven’t. I am sorry, but it won’t be enough.” She brushed at her tears with the back of her hands. “Anyway. Lucky told me he wants both boys.”

Jason tensed—he could see the way his hold on Jake tightened. “Both of them.”

“I told him no. It’s not even up for debate. It was hard because I’ve already hurt him, and I know the way it came out made everything worse, but I can’t keep choosing him. It’s not fair. To you, to Jake, and it’s not fair to Lucky. He doesn’t see that now, but he might.” She cleared her throat. “I need to get an attorney and file for custody. Um,  there might be stuff you need to do. I don’t know how to get a birth certificate changed. Or if that’s—I don’t know. It’s a huge mess, and I created it, so I have to fix it. I just don’t know where to start.”

Jason gently stroked Jake’s back until the infant burped. “Diane is general practice. You can have her.”

“Have her?”

“She’s on retainer with me,” Jason said, “so—”

“I can’t—” Elizabeth exhaled, looked up at the roof of the gazebo. “I can pay her—”

“Jake is my son. You told the world that. And you wanted me to be involved,” he continued. “We’re not married—”

She flinched and looked away, thinking of the elevator, of the repeated proposals he’d made. Just marry me. What if she’d said yes to that insane idea all those months ago?

“So I want to support Jake. And it’s in my best interest that you have an attorney who can get you custody. Diane is the best attorney that’s ever worked for me.”

“I don’t want your money—”

“I know you don’t. But Jake deserves my support, doesn’t he? It’s not for you. It’s for him.”

She made a face, then looked at her lap. “Yeah. Okay. That—that’s okay. Um, I don’t know what things are going to look for the next few months. I have to see if the hospital will let me end my maternity leave early. I took six months, but it was going to be unpaid for part of it. And Lucky’s going to make this as painful as possible. But I promise — I’m not going to break this time. I’m not going to let him or anyone else—including myself—guilt me into letting Lucky stay Jake’s father.”

“Okay.”

“I’m going to make better choices,” she murmured. “I don’t want to be afraid all of the time.”

Jason frowned. “Afraid? Was it—the job? Because if that still—”

“No. And we are absolutely never  having that conversation again.” Irritated, she flicked her eyes back to him. “I swear, if you so much as say the word dangerous again to me, I’m going to scream.”

“Elizabeth—”

She shoved herself to her feet. “We had this argument in 2000. I won it, then. And then again in 2002. I won it again. I am done fighting this battle, Jason. Because I never get to win the war, and it’s exhausting, so I promise you, if you try to use your job or the danger to walk away from our son—”

Jason stood, mystified. “I didn’t. I wouldn’t. Even if I wanted to, it’s too late. The world knows—but I don’t want to. I never did.” When she flinched, he sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to make you feel bad—”

“No, you have every right—I didn’t—I just—” She folded her arms. “I’m just not interested in having the same conversation we’ve been having almost since we met.” She checked her watch, winced. “I have to get back to my grandmother’s. It’s almost time for the boys’ naps, and Gram needed to go somewhere.”

Reluctantly, Jason handed the baby back to her. “I’ll call you with Diane’s information and let her know you’ll contact her.”

“Thanks. Um, we’ll figure out some sort of schedule with Jake. I want you to see him as much as you want. Gram knows that,” Elizabeth added. “We’ll work it out. I’m going to make this right.”

Wyndemere: Family Room

Lucky was still furious when he reached Spoon Island—he’d hoped the launch from the pier to the island would give him time to calm down—but the conversation with Emily had ignited everything he’d been trying to ignore—

Nikolas was sprawled out on the floor, watching as Spencer played with his toys. Lucky stared at the scene, at his brother with his son. Nikolas hadn’t known about the paternity for months. Jax and Carly had lied about it. Nikolas would understand what Lucky was going through, wouldn’t he?

“Hey—” Nikolas kissed his son’s forehead, then got to his feet. “Keep playing, Spence.”

“K, Daddy.”

“How’d it go?”

Lucky went over to the mini bar, but only poured himself water. His hands shook slightly—and for a brief moment—he wanted the high. Craved the oblivion it would offer. To let everything fall away, to fade. To give him peace.

“Disaster,” he muttered. “She’s not going to let me near Jake.”

“Is that what she said?”

“It boils down to it. I get it. I know it’s right. I know it’s the only to fix this. To just—tell the truth, and Jason gets his son, and I get to keep Cameron. Jason probably doesn’t want me playing daddy anymore than I want him to do it—”

“Okay—”

“But I can’t. I can’t. I have to fight for Jake. He has to know that I love him. Blood doesn’t matter. I don’t care that he’s not biologically mine.” He turned to his brother. “If she’d told me the truth, I could have found a way to deal with it. I’m not my father. Okay? I can love a kid that’s not mine. I do it with Cameron, don’t I? That’s what went wrong with my parents. Dad could never accept you. Never  bend enough to understand. And you always felt like Mom could have loved you better—”

“Lucky, it’s not that simple.”

“I love him. It’s not fair to ask me to walk away like this. To split the boys like this. How do I go to pick up Cameron, and see Jake and not get to have him?” He set the glass down, terrified he’d through it. Or that it would break in his hand. “What if Jason and Elizabeth end up together? You know. They get married, and Cam has him all he time, and starts to resent me?”

“Lucky—”

“I have to fight for my kids. You get it, don’t you?” Lucky took Nikolas by the shoulders. “I love my boys. I don’t care about the blood.”

“Okay. Okay. I know you do. I just—you’re setting yourself up for grief down the road. I don’t know a judge that’s going to give you custody of Jake.”

“I’ll cross that bridge when it comes to it. But I need to fight. I didn’t fight last year. Not enough. If I hadn’t relapsed, she wouldn’t have stopped loving me. We’re done, me and Elizabeth. But my addiction—it can’t cost me the boys, too. I won’t let it.

Kelly’s: Diner

Jason grimaced when he pulled open the door and found Spinelli and Georgie inside, joined by a third person he didn’t know. Spinelli beamed when he saw Jason, jumping to his feet. “Stone Gold! My sensei! You will have the answers we seek!”

“We don’t have any noisemakers,” Georgie assured him. “I made him throw those out.”

Jason sighed, accepted Spinelli’s enthusiastic hug. “What answers?” he wanted to know.

“Faithful Friend has a dilemma that she refuses to let me resolve—”

“I don’t know if it’s my problem or Chelsea—oh, Chels—” Georgie leaned back. “Chels, this is Jason. Jason, this is my roommate and best friend, Chelsea Rae.”

Jason didn’t know why Georgie was introducing him to someone as if his face hadn’t been in all the papers, but whatever. “What’s the problem?”

“We live together in a dorm on PCU. We’re doing  summer program,” she added. “And this bouquet of roses showed up outside our room. No name — I don’t know if it’s mine or Chels—”

“It’s yours,” Chelsea insisted.

“Spinelli wants to hack into the PCU security to get footage,” Georgie continued. “I told him it’s not a big deal. If they’re not going to leave their name, why do I care who they are?”

Jason looked at Spinelli who scowled. “If she says don’t do it, don’t do it. No means no.”

“Okay, but what if I hack in and get the footage, but I don’t watch it,” Spinelli suggested. “Then, if you want to know later—”

“You will never, in a million years, not watch that footage,” Georgie said with a roll of her eyes. “Chels, do you care?”

“Um—” Chelsea bit her lip. “What if he gets the footage and gives it someone who won’t let him look? We might want it later, Georgie.”

“I’ll give it to Stone Cold. He will be the keeper of the files.” Spinelli nodded. “This is a most excellent compromise. I knew you could do it, Stone Cold.”

“I did nothing,” Jason said, then went to the counter to order dinner.

Hardy House: Nursery

 Elizabeth tucked Cameron in and smoothed the curls away from his face. Then, she went to the crib to make sure there was nothing for Jake to grab and hurt himself with. He wasn’t asleep yet, but was quietly laying there. Looking back at her with his daddy’s eyes.

“I’m going to do so much better for you, my sweet baby. No more running. I promise.”

Written in 62 minutes.

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Hardy House: Living Room

Elizabeth walked carefully down the stairs, holding Jake in one arm and one of Cameron’s in the other as the three-year-old carefully navigated each step with his short, stubby legs.

“Oh, let me take him—” her grandmother strode across the living room and met Elizabeth halfway to take Jake.

“Thanks, Gram. Cameron keeps rushing up and down the stairs,” she said as they finished their descent, “and I’m trying to show him how to slow down.”

“Mommy, zoom!” Cameron jumped off the last stair and onto the landing, his sneakers hitting the wooden floor with a dull squeak. When Elizabeth released his hand, the toddler began flying around the room, darting around sofas and tables. “Zoom, zoom!”

“Goodness—” Audrey laughed. “When did this start?”

“He got a miniature motorcycle for his birthday,” Elizabeth said, watching her son with amusement. “Just a little one—that fits in his hand—but now he wants to ride on a real one and keeps trying to convince me he’s old enough.”

Audrey bounced Jake in her arms, the infant reaching for her necklace. “A motorcycle? I remember another Webber who liked to zoom on those.”

Elizabeth’s cheeks flushed and she looked away. “Gram—”

“Gave me a heart attack, your mommy did,” Audrey told Jake who made another grab for the necklace with Audrey avoided with the skilled practice of a woman used to babies. “I’m so glad she grew up to have a little one just like her.”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, then moved to a side as Cameron began another lap. “Thanks for hanging with him for a little while today. I’ve got an appointment with Bobbie to start the paperwork to end my maternity leave.”

“I think it’s a shame you’re not going to finish the full six months,” Audrey told her. “They’re only little for so long—”

“Gram—” Elizabeth went into the kitchen, and her grandmother followed. “We’ve talked about this. I only got six weeks paid as it was, and the last six weeks were unpaid. It was one thing when Lucky and I were still together. He and I budgeted for all of that, and we could make it on his income—” She poured a glass of orange juice. “It’s just me. I need to get back to work.”

“Seems to me,” Audrey said, stroking Jake’s back. “That you have other options—” Elizabeth sent her a dirty look. “But I know all about independence,” her grandmother continued. “Have you spoken to Jason yet?”

“Yesterday.” Elizabeth bit her lip. “Is it going to be a problem? I mean, I don’t exactly know how much Jason is going to be around. Or what it’s going to look like, but he wants to be Jake’s father.”

“And how did Lucky take that news?”

“Not well. He expected things to go on the way they were—with the boys. I told him Cam is one thing. You know, he’s always been there, since Cam was born, and Cam thinks of him as Daddy. But Jake—” Elizabeth touched Jake’s soft blonde hair, and the infant turned to offer his mother a smile. “Jake’s three months old. If I’m ever going to fix the mistake I made, this is better. He’s angry.”

“He’s right to be, but—” Audrey said as Elizabeth made a face. “I think you’re making the right choice. As hard as it is right now, it’s better now than three years from now. I do hope Lucky can find a way to be at peace with all of this.”

“Thanks, Gram. It means a lot to me that you’re okay with all of this.”

“It’s not the path I hoped your life would take, but you know very well that you’ve made bad choices. It does no good to pile on to the guilt you already feel by expressing disapproval. You’ll get enough of that from the world,” Audrey continued. “I’m just hopeful that it will get easier from here.”

“You and me both—”

Cameron zoomed into the kitchen and began laps around the table. Elizabeth laughed and went to stop him before he got dizzy or fell.

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

“You should be proud of me.”

Jason raised his brows, curled his fingers around the edge of a door. “Good morning, Carly.”

“Good morning,” the blonde said, striding past him. “Hey, Spinelli,” she said to the tech, sitting on the sofa, hard at work on the laptop in his lap. “That looks important,” she said to Jason. “What’s he working on?”

“Something for Georgie. Why am I proud of you?”

“Because it’s been a whole day since you got released and this is the first time I’m showing up on your doorstep.”

Jason closed the door. “You called me twelve times yesterday, and it’s been sixteen hours since I got released. Not a whole day.”

“You’re always so literal.” Carly dismissed the correction, then clapped her hands together. “Okay, so where do we start?”

“Start?” Jason repeated. “What are you talking about?”

“Have you called Diane yet? Because she should be our first call. She’ll know exactly what we have to do. It might be an uphill battle,” Carly continued, “because you know, that whole pesky murder charge, but Diane got you off that, so I just know she can win this—”

“Win what?” Jason squinted. “Carly, what are you talking about?”

Carly scowled. “You know what. Custody. Everyone heard Elizabeth tell the truth on the stand.” She huffed, folded her arms. “I can’t believe she lied to us all!”

“Did she, though?” Jason asked pointedly. “Did she tell you Lucky was the father? Did she tell Sonny? Did she say the words—”

“Damn it. She got to you already, didn’t she?” Carly threw her hands up. “You have such a blind spot for that manipulative bitch—”

“Carly—”

Spinelli’s head popped up at the anger in Jason’s tone, and Carly stared at him with irritation. “What? She spent a year lying to you! You went to jail to get that little boy back and she didn’t even have the decency—” Then Carly closed her mouth. “You knew. Didn’t you? Is that how she got you to jump bail?” She slapped his arm. “That’s why you got involved with finding Jake! I knew something was weird with all of that! It was upsetting and all, but—”

“I’m going to say this exactly once,” Jason said, and the tightness in his tone had Carly closing her mouth, mid-sentence. “Jake is my son. Elizabeth is his mother. That has nothing to do with you. And if you and Sonny had stayed out of it—we wouldn’t be in this mess—”

“That’s not fair—”

“I’ve already talked to Elizabeth. We’re working out what to do next. But that has nothing to do with you.” He opened the door. “And Carly, if I find out you’ve gone near Elizabeth to harass her about this—”

“You’ve always been too nice to her,” Carly muttered as she went past Jason. “She’s already stolen months from you—”

“Mothers get choose, remember, Carly?” Jason said, and Carly snapped her mouth shut, her eyes burning. “Or does that only apply to you?”

“That’s not fair—”

“Neither is jumping to conclusions and rushing over here to tell me that I’m not going to be a father—” Jason shook his head. He’d listened to her, hadn’t he? He’d believed her. And had told Elizabeth that it was for the best Lucky was the father before she’d even had a chance to open her mouth. “Stay out of it.”

“For now.” Carly stabbed a finger at him. “But if she tries to pull any fast ones—”

Jason closed the door in her face, and looked back at Spinelli who was wide-eyed. “What?”

“Uh, nothing. Nothing, Stone Cold.” Spinelli set the laptop side. “I just don’t remember ever hearing you speak to the Valkyrie in such a—” He hesitated. “Well. Like that.”

“Carly hasn’t annoyed me like that in a while.” Jason grabbed his keys. “I’m going out for a while. Elizabeth is coming over this afternoon with the boys. You can be here,” he added. “I just wanted to warn you.”

“Oh, sure, sure.” Spinelli sat back down. “I’m still working on the university mainframe. They’ve updated since the last time I hacked.”

“Don’t get arrested.”

General Hospital: Nurse’s Station

“Oh, no.” Emily sighed as she stepped off the elevator and saw Elizabeth at the counter with paperwork in her hands. “Man, I thought I talked you out of this last week—”

“Unless I won the lottery somewhere—” Elizabeth went over to the sofa in the waiting area to begin filling it out. “Not all of us have trust funds, Em.”  She winced. “Sorry. That’s not fair.”

“No, but it’s accurate.” Emily sat next to her. “But you said you talked to Jason, and that he’s going to help you with Diane. I thought that meant you’d worked out some sort of support.”

“Yes, because it’s in Jason’s interest that I get full custody of Jake,” Elizabeth said, flicking the top on the pen. “But I supported Cameron on my own before Lucky and I moved in together. I make good money—”

“But—”

“Em—” Elizabeth set the clipboard down. “This isn’t me thinking I can’t ask or that Jason wouldn’t do it. I know what kind of money he has. Okay? I know that if I asked him to make it so I never have to work, he’d do it and he probably wouldn’t even notice. I don’t want that.”

“Well, I wasn’t saying he should give you that much, but child support—”

“When I get back to work and my finances figured out, I’ll be in a position to figure out how much Jake needs. Then Jason and I can talk about it. But if I start letting him take care of everything—” Elizabeth exhaled slowly. “I want to stay at home. I wanted to take six months. Lucky and I were barely going to be able to swing it, but we were making it work. But I’m the one who lied to put Lucky in that position, and then I’m the one that blew it all up again on the stand. I don’t think I get to benefit—”

“You’re being too hard on yourself,” Emily said softly. “And I don’t think you should link your maternity leave—”

“Most women only get six weeks. It was a privilege and a luxury to have three months, Em. I had three months with Cam before I went into the nursing program. I’m okay with this.”

“Okay. Well—I ran into Lucky yesterday,” Emily told her. “He told me that he’s asking for custody of Jake. Or at least visitation. I guess moving out didn’t go well.”

“No. I don’t know what I thought he’d do. Maybe I hoped he’d…” Elizabeth bit her lip. “I hoped he’d let go so that I wouldn’t have to make the harder choice. But I deserve this, too. I hate that I’ve hurt him. He did everything I wanted him to, Em. He got clean. He stayed clean. And he was done with Maxie. He was a good husband. A good father. I just—I lied to him. And I don’t love him anymore. He didn’t deserve what I did to him.”

“Maybe not, but I know how hard it was last year. I wish I could have made you feel safe enough to tell me the truth,” Emily said, squeezing her hand. “There’s one other part of the conversation we should talk about though.”

Elizabeth tilted her head. “What?”

“It’s about Cam.”

Kelly’s: Diner

Sam leapt up from the table when she spied Lucky coming through the courtyard. Days of staking out the diner during the lunch rush had finally paid off. “Lucky—”

Elizabeth’s estranged husband  brushed past her. “I don’t have anything to say to you—”

“Wait—”

He stopped, turned to face her. “You knew, didn’t you? That’s why you wouldn’t help us in June to get him back. You wouldn’t let us go on your show—”

Sam winced. “It was—Okay. It was part of it. I did know, but not that long,” she added in a rush. “I found out right after Jake was born, and it really messed me up, okay? I struggled. I nearly told you the truth. Remember? At the station—”

“You almost told me, but you didn’t. What, do you want a cookie for that?”

“No, but—” Sam grabbed his arm as he turned away again. “It’s just—look—you and I both know what’s going to happen now that the truth is out and we’re out of the picture.”

Lucky closed his eyes, the pain washing over his face. “Yeah. Yeah. We do. I should have realized it was deeper when she kept lying to me to go see him in jail—I should have—I’m so damn stupid—”

“You trusted your wife just like I trusted my fiance,” Sam cut in. “We had a right to trust the people we loved. That’s why I didn’t tell you. Because I knew if Jason went public with being Jake’s father, it would be the beginning of the end. Elizabeth wouldn’t have a reason not to use that baby to get Jason back. And now we’re gone. The truth is out. What’s stopping them?”

Lucky shook his head. “Nothing.”

“Why does she get to win?” Sam asked softly, and Lucky focused on her, frowning. “She gets to humiliate and hurt you—and me for that matter—she manipulated Jason into lying for her, and then to forgive her—and you just know she’s going to use Jason’s money to get custody and screw you in the divorce—” Sam stepped closer to her. “Why does she get to walk away with everything she ever wanted while you and I suffer? Does that seem fair?”

“No.” He cleared his throat. “No. And she’s not going to. I’m not just giving up on my sons.”

“You shouldn’t. And I’m going to help you keep them.”

Harborview Towers: Lobby

Jason stepped off the parking garage elevator and went around the corner to the private elevator for the penthouse, an involuntary grin spreading across his face as he spied Elizabeth waiting, Jake in a stroller and Cameron running circles around her, his arms spread out.

“Zoom!’ Cameron cried as he spied Jason and changed directions to run right at him. Jason lifted him in his arms. “Zoom, zoom!” he chanted. “I zoom really fast. Tell Mommy—”

“Really fast,” Jason agreed as he joined Elizabeth and Jake. “Hey.”

“Am I early?” Elizabeth wanted to know. The doors opened, and they all stepped inside the car. “You’re just getting back from somewhere—”

“No, I went out for a ride on the bike, and lost track of time.”

“A ride?” Cameron’s eyes brightened. “Bike? Mommy! Mommy! He has a bike! I’m old enough,” he turned back to Jason, with a serious and sober face. “Very fast. I can drive.”

Elizabeth closed her eyes, and Jason grinned. “You are definitely your mother’s son,” he told Cameron. “She used to ask me that all the time.”

“Gram said she hoped I had a kid just like me,” Elizabeth said, her cheeks flushing. “I’m no sure this is what she had in mind. Cam, Jason never let me drive—”

“I did once and you closed your eyes,” he reminded her.

“Mommy, that’s bad,” Cameron told her. “Open eyes.” He looked at Jason. “I keep them open. You let me?” he asked, hopefully.

“Uh, we’ll talk to your mother,” Jason said, not wanting to let him down or disappoint him. “But you’re not really old enough for my bike.”

Cameron made a face. “Big brother. I’m old.”

The doors opened, and Jason set Cameron down to fish out his keys in case Spinelli had gone out. Then helped Elizabeth get the stroller over the seam between the hallway floor and the elevator.

Cameron was bouncing up and down. “I wanna see the bike. Can I see it?”

“Later,” Jason promised. “I’ll walk you guys down when you go,” he told Elizabeth. “He can sit on it, and maybe he’ll realize how far from the ground he is.”

“We can only hope,” she said with a laugh as he tested the door, and found it unlocked. “Then again, pretty sure my feet didn’t reach the ground either and you still me drive that once.”

“Never made that mistake again, did I?” Jason said, and she playfully hit him in the arm.

Cameron darted through the doorway and immediately started another round of zooms around the living room. Jason waited until Elizabeth and the stroller were inside, then closed the door. “He never slows down, does he?”

“No, I’m pretty sure he has pure sugar running through his veins.” Elizabeth unfastened Jake from the stroller and handed him to Jason. “Cam—”

Jason stroked Jake’s back, took in the sweet, fresh scent of his son, marveling at how simple it was. That she’d brought him for a visit, and he didn’t have to worry about anyone seeing him. Jake was his now. And no one could take him away.

Then he frowned, looked around the living room. “Spinelli?” he called, going to the stairs. “Are you here?” The door had been unlocked—

Spinelli’s footsteps thudded, then thundered down the first set of stairs to the landing. “Stone Cold!” He declared cheerfully. “And the Maternal One! Little Cam! And is that Baby Stone Cold?”

“That’s a new one,” Jason offered as Spinelli came down the last set of stairs.

“We’re still in testing. Faithful Friend is helping,” Spinelli said to Elizabeth. “You made it just in time! I made a surprise!”

Jason clutched Jake more tightly. “A surprise. What kind of surprise?”

“Come, come.” Spinelli went back to the stairs, and ran up them.

“Uh—” Elizabeth pursed her lips. “Should you be scared?”

“Maybe.” Jason handed Jake to her, then grabbed Cameron as he passed by. “Let’s go find out.”

Spinelli wasn’t in his room, but in the last guest room which had been left empty and devoid of furniture. Until now.  Jason stepped into the room, with Elizabeth on his heels.

Cameron’s eyes  grew wide at the sight of one of the bigger toys, and pushed to get down, running straight for the minature motorcycle. “Mommy! They come in my size!”

Spinelli had turned the room into a bedroom — a nursery, Jason realized. With a crib, changing table. And a toddler’s bed. And toys for both sets of ages.

Spinelli stood in the middle of the room, grinning. “I knew Little Cam and his brother would be here more. As soon as Maternal One made her declaration,” he nodded at Elizabeth. “Georgie helped. We wanted them to feel at home.”

Honestly can’t tell you how long this took. My keyboard was such a bitch — lagging every five seconds. Probably around 70-80 minutes, tbh.

---

Morgan Penthouse: Guest Bedroom

The miniature motorcycle was actually a tricycle which delighted Cameron. He fit his tiny feet to the pedals and it rolled forward. Jason reached out to close the door before Elizabeth could even think — but of course Cameron would make a beeline for the long hallway, and the stairs didn’t have a gate.

The entire penthouse felt like a death trap now and Elizabeth clutched Jake more tightly in her arm, looking around the room again, taking in all the details —    the bed with racing cars that Jake wouldn’t need for at least a year. The tricycle Cameron rode, the Lego sets carefully tucked on shelf next to a row of plastic figures—Spiderman, Batman, Superman, and other superheroes she didn’t recognize.

On the other side of the room sat a crib with padded bumpers, a changing table, and a toy box filled with stuffed animals. Spinelli stood in the center, a huge grin stretched across his face, eyes bright. He’d been so excited to show off his surprise——

“Thank you,” Elizabeth said. She handed Jake to Jason and hugged the tech. “You and Georgie obviously have good taste,” she said as Cameron zoomed around them, though he struggled to go very fast across the carpet. “How did you know he was obsessed with motorcycles right now?”

“Well, Noble Emily might have given us some pointers,” Spinelli admitted.

“Uh, thanks,” Jason said. In his arms, Jake started to fuss, screwing up his little face, then emitted a cry. He gently rocked the infant, but it didn’t help.

“Oh, he’s ready for his bottle,” Elizabeth said. “Cam, we have to go downstairs so Jake can eat—”

“Mom! He’s got Biderman!” Cameron clutched the red and blue figurine to his chest, his blue eyes wide. “Can’t I play?”

“The Insightful Georgie made sure we got these—” Spinelli handed Elizabeth a square device the size of a paperback book. “They’ve got video and audio. I wanted to open them up to see if I could make the picture better, but Georgie said maybe not this set. I bought my own to play with,” Spinelli informed her. He switched it on, and a black and white picture popped up, aimed at the crib. “And the little dude can press this  button to talk to you. It’s like an intercom.”

“You, uh, really thought of everything,” Elizabeth said.

“I’ll hang out with him and make sure he’s okay so Little Stone Cold can get his munchies on.”

“Thank you,” Elizabeth said again. “Cam, you okay to stay up here with Spinelli?”

Cam thrust a plastic figure at the tech. “You be Batman.”

Elizabeth followed Jason down the stairs, still trying to understand the itch between her shoulders and the general discomfort she felt over the room upstairs. She unzipped the diaper bag to pull out the container of formula and an empty bottle.

“I can do that,” Jason offered, rubbing Jake’s back in slow circles to keep him calm.

“No, no, it’s okay. You—” She forced a smile. “You’ve got him sort of quiet—I’ll do this.” She hurried into the kitchen to mix the bottle, then stared in confusion at the bottle warmer on the counter. What—

“Elizabeth, is everything—” Jason stopped as he saw it as well. “I guess the surprises weren’t just upstairs,” he said.

“No, he really thought of everything.” She switched it on, then set the bottle inside. “It was really thoughtful of him.”

“Are you sure? You seem…I don’t know. Like it bothers you—”

“No. No,” she repeated with force, turning to face him. “It’s not—okay, a little. I don’t know why. I knew we’d have to get things for Jake here so he could spend as much time as you wanted, but—”

“Did you want to do it yourself? Because—”

“I must sound like an insane person,” Elizabeth muttered, dragging her hands through her hair. “No. Everything Spinelli and Georgie did was perfect. And I appreciate Emily helping, too. Maybe it’s—” The bottle warmer beeped and she retrieved the bottle, tested it on her wrist, then handed it to Jason. Jake immediately settled as his father adjusted him in his arms, laying him in the crook of his elbow. His tiny hands tried to rest on the bottle but he wasn’t strong enough to hold it himself.  Elizabeth exhaled slowly. “It’s Cam,” she murmured. “Spinelli made sure he’d be welcome here and feel at home. And it doesn’t bother me. It just—it’s this conversation I had with Emily earlier.”

“I haven’t been able to get a hold of her since I got out,” Jason said. “Is she—”

“Obviously very supportive, considering she helped Spinelli. She talked to Lucky. I told you that he still wanted custody of Jake, and she tried to talk him out of it,” Elizabeth continued. She folded her arms. “He told her he can’t imagine staying in Cameron’s life if he loses custody of Jake.” Her throat tightened. “And I know she’s confused because Jake isn’t his biological son either. But the difference is that Lucky thought he was. He always knew Cam wasn’t.”

“I don’t understand. Lucky—” Jason squinted. “He’s been in Cam’s life since the beginning.”

“Just about. Um, we got engaged a few months after Cam turned one, but Cam was already in love with him, and Lucky was so good with him. Cam’s first word was mama, but dada was his second, and he’s always seen Lucky as his—” She swiped at her eyes. “He’s doing this to hurt me. He has to be.”

“I can understand his wanting to stay in Jake’s life,” Jason said slowly, forcing the words out. “I wanted that with Michael. I tried it. But Cam has nothing to do with any of this.”

“No. He’s not yours. And Zander is dead. There’s no one out there who can ever come between them. So either he’s been lying to me all this time about loving Cam as his own or—” She rubbed her chest. “He thinks this will break me. That it’ll make me change my mind.”

“That you’ll back down on me being in Jake’s life,” Jason said. “To let Cam keep his father, you’d have to let Lucky stay with Jake.”

“I don’t want to think it’s that cold. That he’s using Cam this way. I know he’s hurt. I know I made this giant mess and that I can’t just make it go away by telling the truth one day. I can’t make it not true.  I did this. I lied. And I asked you to lie. And it was cruel to both of you—”

“Elizabeth—”

“But Cameron shouldn’t be the one to pay for it. Because he’s the one that has to live with it. Even if a judge gives him visitation the way you got with Michael—” She shook her head. “We can’t go back. We’re not going back to how it was. I don’t want to. You deserve to have your son. He deserves to have you.”

“I wish there was something I could do to make this go away,” he told her. He set the empty bottle on the counter, then adjusted Jake on his shoulder, patting his back until in the infant burped. “But I’m not giving Jake up.”

“And it’s not on the table,” Elizabeth said firmly. “All I can do is tell a judge that I was scared, I made a mistake, and I’m trying to make it right. Lucky’s the one who’s going to have to explain why Cameron’s custody should have anything to do with what happens with Jake.”

Wyndemere: Study

Lucky scowled when he saw Nikolas’s aunt standing in the middle of the room. He glared at his brother. “You said you found me a lawyer—”

“Before we start down this road,” Nikolas said, leaning against the desk and folding his arms. “I thought you might want a second opinion. Before papers get filed and you can’t take this back.”

“I don’t—” Lucky clenched his jaw, then looked at Alexis. “I plan on asking for joint custody of the boys. Both.”

“Okay,” Alexis said with a nod. “There are some pitfalls there—”

“Both,” Lucky repeated. “Or none.” He folded his arms. “I can’t stay in Cameron’s life as a part-time father, watching Jason raise my son. I don’t care what the paternity results are. Anyone can make a baby. I’ve been Jake’s father, and I want him.”

“Jason will likely be a part-time father as well,” Nikolas pointed out. “They don’t live together—”

“Not yet, but don’t be stupid,” Lucky bit out. “He broke up with Sam after the kidnapping. They were probably planning to go public if he beat the murder charges—”

“Whether or not any of that is true,” Alexis said, “that doesn’t give you anything to work with. You understand that you have very few options. You’re not Jake’s biological father, and the court will likely look very hard at Elizabeth for lying about it. With Jason in the picture — and as someone who was deprived of his paternal rights, most family courts are going to side with him.”

“But—”

“In fact, if Elizabeth wanted to play hardball, you could lose even your limited access to Cameron,” Alexis continued. “You’re not his father. You didn’t adopt him. Stepparents generally don’t get a lot of power. Your one saving grace is that there is no biological father in the picture. If you want my advice, Lucky, drop Jake from your plans. File paperwork to adopt Cameron so she can’t use that against you.”

“I—” Lucky couldn’t. He couldn’t just give up on Jake. He wouldn’t. “I can’t. I can’t watch Jake grow up with someone else and not fight for that to be me. That’s your advice, fine. But how do I win my case? It can’t be impossible—”

“You’d have make Jason disappear. Make him an unfit father,” she added. “But that’s another uphill battle. He’ll have plenty of character witnesses about his time with Michael—”

“Another time he lied—”

“Jason won visitation rights,” Alexis said. “You weren’t here for that, but I secured that case for him. He could have stayed in Michael’s life, but he surrendered them for Michael’s sake. That would likely impress a family court judge. And you can’t even use the criminal record against him – he’s been legally exonerated of the charges. Lucky, this case would be difficult, close to impossible to win, and it would drag on for months—”

“But what about Elizabeth? Can’t I get anything for what she did to me? She lied. She lied on his birth certificate. On medical records. Christ, in the kidnapping investigation — she was asked point blank if there was anything that could have made Jake a target—”

“Lucky, that’s not why Jake got kidnapped—”

“I know that’s not why Maureen Harper says she did it, but maybe it was to get back at Sam — Jason’s girlfriend. Can’t I use any of that to talk about her being an unfit mother?” Lucky demanded.

“You could try, and with the right judge, it might get you something. But it’s a maybe, Lucky. You have an excellent chance of keeping Cam in your life. Take it—”

“No. No. I can’t. I can’t just give up like this. I can’t let Elizabeth take my son from me like this doesn’t matter—” He took a deep breath. “You can’t take my case because of Jason. But you know who would, don’t you? You can give me a recommendations.”

“I can, but I’d be surprised if it went anywhere.” Alexis shook her head, then looked at Nikolas. “I’m sorry. I tried.”

Harborview Towers: Parking Garage

After Jake’s bottle and a nap, Elizabeth reluctantly decided it was time to pack the boys up to return home. “We can try overnight visits if you want,” she offered as the elevator opened on the parking garage level. “And—and I don’t want you to feel like you can’t have him alone or anything, um, if you want Diane to make, like an arrangement or something—”

“She actually wants to talk to us both before she takes your case,” Jason told her. He set Jake into his stroller. “I know you’re trying to make up for the time we’ve lost—but I’ve also been in jail for most of his life,” he reminded her gently.

“Only because of the kidnapping—which wouldn’t have happened if we’d—if I’d told the truth,” she corrected. “I’ve had a lot of time to think about that—you were waiting on bail. Wouldn’t you have assigned Jake a guard or something?”

Jason grimaced. “Elizabeth—”

“I’m just—he’s not just mine. Not anymore. You don’t have to ask me for permission or-or—” She sighed. “I just want to make this okay, and that’s not going to happen in a few days or visits.”

“It’s okay right now,” Jason told her. “For me, anyway.” He scooped Cameron in his arms as they turned a corner. “I made you a promise,” he told Elizabeth’s son whose eyes were so wide at the sight of the Harley Davidson parked next to an SUV.

“That’s yours?” Cameron asked in a hushed, awed whisper. “Mommy, it’s a real bike.”

“Yes, it is.” Elizabeth smiled as Jason set Cameron down on the seat, holding him at the waist. “It’s bigger than the one upstairs.”

Cameron slid his hands down the handlebars, then dangled his feet. He made a face, then looked at Jason. “Maybe not big enough yet.”

“Not yet,” Jason agreed. “It’ll be a while.”

“Yeah. I play with my size,” Cameron said with a firm nod. “I can play with yours?” he asked him.

“It’s your bike,” Jason told him as he lifted Cameron off the motorcyle. “It’s just going to be at my place. For when you and your brother come over.”

“Grammy not like my zooming,” Cameron said, accepting this with a shrug. “Mommy—”

Jason looked at Elizabeth. “They’re brothers,” he told her. “And I like the way things are right now. With you bringing them both. I don’t want Cam to feel left out, and if you’re serious about going back to work, you should get to have all the time with Jake you can.”

“Okay.” Elizabeth nodded. “Okay. Then we’ll meet with Diane, and we’ll keep things this way.”

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

After Jason reluctantly strapped Cameron into his car seat and said goodbye to Jake, he went back up to the penthouse where  he found Spinelli back on the sofa on the laptop. “Thank you,” he said.

Spinelli looked up, then grinned again. “He liked the toys, right? Georgie said we did too much, but—”

“No, it was good.” Jason sat in the armchair next to the sofa. “Why did you include Cam?” he asked. “You know—he’s not—I mean, he’s not—”

“Not a blood relation, Stone Cold, sure. But he’s the Wee One’s big brother. And you like his mother. Fair Elizabeth will be here a lot. Little Dude is part of the package.” Spinelli paused. “And—” he made a face and his expression turned solemn. “I was at Kelly’s,” he reminded Jason. “I heard Lucky Spencer tell Emily that if he can’t have Jake, he doesn’t want Cameron. It’s wrong. And the Little Dude deserves the best. I know you feel the same, so when Detective Dingus loses Jake, he’ll turn his back on a little kid who didn’t ask for this to happen.”

Jason’s chest tightened, and he forced himself to exhale. He couldn’t understand how Lucky could tie them together. How he could stomach giving up Cameron just to hurt Elizabeth. He knew Lucky was hurt, and Jason could give him some space on that—but Cam—Cam had nothing to do with any of this.

“So, when Little Dude loses the dingus,” Spinelli continued, “it’ll be okay. We’ll be here, and maybe toys don’t make up for that kind of thing, but belonging does.” He stared at his laptop. “Belonging is nice. Everyone should.”

“Yeah, they should.” Jason got to his feet. “Thanks for helping me get this place ready for Jake and Cam. They’re going to be here a lot, so there’s still more we need to do. But this was a good start.”

“Oh—” Spinelli reached into his pocket and drew out a thumb drive. “I forgot—the security footage you promised to hold secure for my Faithful Friend and her roommate. In case they want to know the identity of the creepy admirer.”

Jason took the drive. “You didn’t look?”

“Of course not.” Spinelli sniffed. “But if we need it, you’ll have it. Thanks for being our guardian of the drive.”

Jason shoved it in his pocket, then went to set up the meeting with Diane.

Written in 60 minutes.

---

Corinthos Coffee: Office

Sonny scribbled a few notes, then handed it to Bernie before turning his attention to Jason. “Good to have you back.”

“Yeah.” Jason slid his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “I’ll take care of the shipment tonight, but, uh—” He paused. “I need to make sure things stay flexible. I know that’s a lot to ask when I’ve been gone for a few months—”

“We’ve got it handled—” Sonny tipped his head. “What’s up? Is it Jake? I figured since Elizabeth came clean—”

“No. I mean, yeah, but I’m not the one with the issues. I don’t think so anyway,” Jason added. “Diane is meeting with us both today—but the way Alexis explained things back during the custody fight over Michael—all I have to do is file for paternity and get declared Jake’s legal father. Lucky can fight it, but—”

“But he wouldn’t win. So what’s the problem?” Sonny flipped through some paperwork.

“Lucky told Emily that he doesn’t want custody of Cameron if he can’t get visitation with Jake, too.” A statement that didn’t make any more sense today than it had the day before when Elizabeth had told him.

Sonny scowled, his full attention back on the conversation. “What kind of bullshit is that? They’ve been together for years—I know he’s not the biological father, but—”

“But he’s the only father Cameron knows,” Jason finished. “Yeah. Elizabeth thinks he’s trying to force her into a custody agreement—to push me out and let Lucky stay in.”

“What the hell happened to that kid?” Sonny wanted to know. He got to his feet, rounded the desk. “I get that he’s angry, okay. And you know my feelings on this whole paternity crap. She never should have lied—”

Jason clenched his jaw. “Sonny—”

“But at the end of the day, the truth is the truth. And it’s only been a few months.”

“I know.”

“What Diane say about all of this?”

“I don’t know,” Jason said. “That’s why we’re meeting with her today. I don’t know if she can represent us both, but I can find another lawyer to handle my side of it. I want Elizabeth to have the best representation. So I need to make sure things are flexible.”

“I’ll do you one better.” Sonny reached for the phone. “I’ll get Francis up from the island. He’ll handle the shipments. Until this custody crap is done, you stay on this side of the law. Lucky’s going to throw the murder trial at you, but you’ve been acquitted. The only way to get you now is new crimes—and financial ones which are federal and none of the PCPD’s business.”

“You don’t have to—”

“Are you kidding? This pathetic excuse for a father is threatening to abandon his kid because he can’t have what he wants. Stomping his feet like the toddler he’s shoving out—” Sonny dialed. “You need to be as clean as possible.”

“Thanks. I’ll take care of tonight—”

“No, I’ll get it—hey, Mickey. I need Francis in town. Yeah. Thanks. Appreciate it.” Sonny hung up, looked at Jason. “It’s done. Go get your kid.”

Hardy House: Living Room

“Um, thanks—” Elizabeth stepped back so that Nikolas could step inside the house. “I appreciate you coming by. I would have come to you—”

“But Lucky is currently staying with me. Even though you’re out of the house,” he told her. “I think being alone would be a bad idea.”

“Yeah. No, that makes sense. And I’m glad that he’s doing that. I want him to be okay, Nikolas—”

“Do you?” he asked, almost pleasantly. She closed her mouth, stared at him. “I mean, look, obviously, it’s a good thing that the truth is out there. And, of course, I get why you did it. I really do. But that doesn’t mean I’m on your side.”

“I never thought—”

“I’m not exactly on his side either,” Nikolas admitted. “But I think he’s got more of a right to be angry than you do. You could have told me the truth, Liz. We would have a figured out a way to make this okay. Emily and I were right there with you last year. I loaned you the money the divorce attorney—”

“Loaned,” Elizabeth said, then nodded. “Yeah, okay. At the time it was a gift, but now it’s a loan. I didn’t just lie to Lucky, I lied to Jason. Telling you, telling anyone meant it would come out to the world—”

“You’re the one who slept with Jason Morgan, so that makes it your problem. You decided to make it Lucky’s—”

Elizabeth held up her hands, her eyes burning. “Just stop. Stop. I didn’t ask you here so you could attack me. I know I made a mistake—”

“I don’t want to fight with you, Liz, but what do you expect? He got blindsided in that court room — not only did you have an affair with a criminal on trial for murder, but you had his child and made Lucky responsible for it—you let him fall in love with that little boy, and now you’re telling him that’s over. Just like that. He has to stop being Jake’s father. And you think he’s the bad guy in this?”

“No. When it comes to Jake, I understand. I do.” She swiped at her tears. “I hate that this is happening. I wasn’t even going to lie. I wasn’t,” she insisted when Nikolas scoffed. “I had the test done, didn’t I? If I wanted Lucky to be the baby’s father, I could have just ignored the possibility of Jason all together. It just kept going wrong. Lucky checked into rehab because of the baby, and then Ric went after Jason, and Carly thought she knew the results, so she told Jason Lucky was the father, and Jason—” She closed her eyes. “He said it was for the best. That it was better this way.”

Nikolas exhaled slowly. “You thought Jason didn’t want the baby.”

“I thought he’d…I don’t know. I knew he’d love the baby, but maybe he’d resent it or me one day because it would mess things up with Sam, and then Lucky would be back on pills, and I just—I just—I didn’t really lie, Nikolas. Everyone decided they knew the truth, so I just went along with it.”

“For months. I get it in those first few weeks, but it’s been almost a year—”

“I know! Don’t you think I know how terrible I am?” Elizabeth dragged her hands through her hair. “I kept making mistakes, kept choosing the wrong things, and the lies just kept getting out of control, but it was like an avalanche—I didn’t know how to turn it back. I didn’t know how to make it stop.” She sucked in a sob. “And then Ric asked me point blank. Which no one ever had. Maybe I would have told the truth all along if someone had just asked me—”

“Still blaming everyone else—”

“You don’t get to sit in judgment of me like you’ve done nothing wrong in your life—” Elizabeth whirled around. “I am not blaming Lucky. Or Jason. Or, God, even Sonny or Carly for making me feel like my son would be a burden. I blame me for giving a damn what anyone else thought. I blame me for being scared and weak—” She took a deep breath. “I blame me. At the end of the day. For lying about Jake. For hurting Lucky. And for hurting Jason. But tell me how I stop this, Nikolas, without hurting one of them. Do I let Lucky stay Jake’s father and keep Jason out? When he never did anything to deserve that? How do I end this lie, this terrible thing I’ve done—you have so many damn answers, Nikolas, how do I fix this so that I’m the only one who gets damaged?”

Nikolas grimace, looked away. “I’m just trying—”

“Maybe I’m the one who should lose. Maybe I should give my sons to Lucky and Jason, and let them split custody. Right? Would that solve everyone’s problems if I just disappear—”

“No. No,” Nikolas repeated. “Of course not. I know there’s no easy way out of this. I just—you wanted me to help with Lucky and custody, and I’m telling you I can’t.”

Elizabeth closed her eyes. “He’s going to lose custody of Jake. He just is. Jason’s going to file for paternity, and the court favors blood relatives. I haven’t met with my lawyer  yet, but I can’t imagine it’ll go another way. Maybe he’ll get visitation, but it won’t be as his father.”

“I’ve tried to tell him that—”

“I am so tired of Cameron not mattering to him.”

Nikolas closed his mouth. “He loves that little boy—”

“Not enough. Never enough. He didn’t check into rehab for me. He didn’t do it for Cameron. He didn’t love us enough to get clean, to stop screwing around with Maxie. He did it for this baby. For his own child. Because he might love Cameron, and Cameron might call him Daddy, but in his heart—” The truth was so hard to say, but it had to be done. “Lucky never saw him as his own. He couldn’t have. He wouldn’t be threatening to walk away if he did.”

“I don’t know how to make this okay for you and the boys. I’m glad you ended the lie, Elizabeth,” Nikolas told her. “But you don’t get to walk away from the damage you’ve done. You want to be angry that Lucky doesn’t see Cameron as his son? You’re the one that took Cam from him last year. How much did he get to see him while you were separated? You made it clear that was your son, and Lucky was along for the ride.”

Elizabeth went over to the door, opened it. “Lucky was high on pills most of the time last year. He was screwing Maxie wherever he could, and I don’t know what he’s told you, but he never asked to see Cameron. If I hadn’t been pregnant, we both know Lucky wouldn’t have tried so damn hard to make things work. But you knew all of that. You just don’t care. Go ahead and take Lucky’s side. Pay for his lawyers. I’ll be sure to drop a check in the mail for last year’s help—”

“I didn’t mean it that way—”

“You did, Nikolas. It’s always been Lucky first with you. As soon as I get back to work, Nikolas, I’ll pay you back. And then you and I are done. Get out.”

Kelly’s: Courtyard

“Mom means well,” Sam said, sipping her milkshake. “But you can still win the case.”

“I know.” Lucky picked up a French fry but used it to push others around the plate. “It’ll just be hard. I guess I just have to decide if I want to fight.”

“Mom did give you one piece of advice, right?” Sam set the shake down, leaned forward. “If Jason’s not in question, then you get to stay Jake’s father.”

“Am I supposed to kill him or something?” Lucky said weakly. “He’s here—”

“Make him disappear from the custody suit. If he were still on trial for murder, he wouldn’t be filing for paternity. It’s why he lied so long, Lucky. Because I couldn’t have kids, and he didn’t think he’d around to watch you raise Jake. He thought he was going to jail. He’s not, so he’s coming for Jake. But that doesn’t change the fact that if we put our minds to it, we can make him look like an unfit father.” Sam sat back. “And if you go after Elizabeth, you’ve got an even better chance—”

Lucky winced. “I don’t know. I mean, Jason was exonerated. And he’s always had a good reputation with kids. How do I make him look unfit? And Elizabeth—whatever my problems are with her—” He crumbled up a napkin. “She’s not a bad mother.”

“Not a bad mother? Really? She hangs out with Jason, doesn’t she? She lied repeatedly to go to see him. Didn’t she steal your badge to do it? And the kidnapping—she didn’t tell you about Jason. What if you’ve started to look at Jason’s life? Maybe you would have found Maureen Harper faster.”

Sam stared at her  lap, dismissing the spiral of guilt that twisted through her. She could have stopped all of that, she could have told the truth—but it would have just made everything end faster.

It was over. Now it was her turn for revenge.

“She didn’t, no,” Lucky murmured. “She protected Jason and herself. Her lies. While she was judging me, angry with me, because I had to investigate the possibility she’d done something.”

“Good mothers don’t lie when their babies are missing. You deserve your boys, Lucky. I promised you I’d help you get them. This is how we can do it—”

“Can I get the check for you?”

Surprised, they looked up to find Georgie standing there, an empty tray perched against her hip. “What?”

“The check,” Georgie repeated, gesturing at Sam’s nearly empty shake, and Lucky’s mostly eaten plate. “Or did you want something else?”

“No. No. The check is fine. Thanks, Georgie.”

“Be right back.” Georgie went inside the diner, glancing at the duo over her shoulder, then went to ring them up. Her hands were shaking as she considered the conversation she’d overheard.

No one ever noticed the waitresses.

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

“Thank you for meeting with me at the same time,” Diane said, setting her brief case on the table, her smile softening as she saw Jake cradled in Jason’s arms, dozing lightly. “And I guess I don’t have to ask if Jason wants visitation.”

“We can draw something up,” Elizabeth said immediately. “I offered, but—”

“This is working right now, and I don’t see a reason to make things legal if we don’t.” Jason went to set Jake down in a bassinet that had magically appeared that morning — another one of Spinelli’s surprises, obviously.

“We can revisit that later. I wanted to meet with you both because I think the best chance for each of your cases is to provide a united front. Lucky’s lawyer might argue a conflict of interest, but it’s going to be crucial to drive home the fact that your interests are intertwined.”

“That’s what I thought,” Jason said.

Elizabeth folded her arms. “Neither one of us have filed. Is it better if one of us files first or—”

“If it were just a custody and divorce issue, I’d say we wait for other party. To see what their argument is. However, I’m suggesting a two-pronged approach. Jason will file a paternity suit in family court, asking to be declared Jake’s legal father and terminate Lucky’s rights. That will give us leverage in a custody case. A judge might hear the cases together, but it still gives you—” Diane said, pointing at Elizabeth, “—a stronger argument. You’re going to take the hit on lying—”

“I know—”

“But as you explained on the phone, things were difficult last year. You didn’t plan a pregnancy, you used protection. You were separated from Lucky at the time, and he was the one having an affair during the marriage. He had a drug addiction which is on the record. All of these things will help a judge understand how we got here. And the fact you came clean to avoid perjury—this helps your credibility.” She looked a Jason. “And you need to keep your nose clean while this is going on. Your arrest record can be used against  you in family court, but without a conviction it doesn’t get you far. You get dragged in again—”

“That won’t be a be a problem,” Jason said.

“All right.”

“Can I win?” Elizabeth wanted to know. “If we do it this way—”

“I might have said Lucky might get some measure of visitation with Jake but you’ve told me he’s doing an all or nothing approach. I can tell you that a family court judge is not going to look on Lucky with kindness for leveraging custody of one child against another. Particularly a child without another legal father ready, willing, and able to step up.”

Jason opened his mouth, then closed it. This was not the time to suggest to Diane that Cameron did have someone ready to step up if Lucky took a walk. He hadn’t even thought his mind was drifting that way until Diane had said those words, and they’d felt like a lie.

Elizabeth cleared her throat. “It could backfire then,” she said softly.

“Lucky will be seen as a vindictive parent punishing you for a lie where you’re going to have the sympathy. You had a cheating husband addicted to pain pills who had refused to get clean until you turned up pregnant. You felt the pressure to keep him clean and thought learning the truth would cause a relapse. I could win this case in my sleep,” Diane told her. “However, if by the time Lucky files, he’s dropped that argument—well, we might have a different fight on our hands. So I think we go first. I’ll file for paternity on Jason’s behalf, and then the divorce, with a custody agreement only mentioning Cameron.”

“Which will mean he has to either file for both boys, or just Cameron.” Elizabeth nodded. “All right, I guess that works.”

“We’re going to call his bluff,” Diane said, picking up the briefcase. “I’ll get the paperwork started. Let’s see if he has the guts to tell a family court judge that if he doesn’t get both boys, he’s going to walk away.”

PCU: Lewis Hall Dorm

Georgie adjusted the strap of her backpag slung over her right shoulder, wincing at the weight of her books. It had been her choice to enroll in summer classes so she could graduate early, she reminded herself, even if it meant she didn’t have much of a social life.

She turned down the hallway to her dorm room, her steps slowing as she saw the vase sitting outside her room. Just as it had a few weeks earlier — only instead of a cluster of fresh red roses—

These were dead.

Georgie stared at it for a long moment, then twisted the knob on her door and pushed it open. Inside the compact room, Chelsea was laying on her side in the bed, a textbook next to her, the stereo on the dresser blasting Carrie Underwood carving her name into leather seats.

She looked up at Georgie’s entrance, shifting into a cross-legged sitting position. “Hey. You’re back already?”

“Library closes at five on Thursdays,” Georgie reminded her. She tossed her bag on the bed, then dug in the bottom drawer of her dresser.

“What are you looking for?”

“These—” Georgie plucked out a pair of gloves. “I always keep a set of winter stuff because the weather is so weird in the fall.” She slid them on, then picked up the vase. “How long have you been home?”

“Uh—” Chelsea squinted at the watch on her wrist. “Got back from the dining hall at like one. No one knocked or anything. Not that I heard—” She stared at them. “Those are dead.”

“Yeah.” Georgie set the vase on the top of the dresser. “Which is weirder than someone sending fresh ones.” She closed the door and Chelsea switched off the music. They stared at the vase for a long moment in silence.

“Maybe Spinelli should get today’s footage,” Chelsea suggested. “And we, um, should look at the other one. He got it, didn’t he?”

“Yeah. He pulled it the day after we talked. ” Georgie sat on her bed, kicked off her sandals, then slid back on her bed. “I’m sure there’s no problem. Frat brothers pulling their usual pranks.”

“Right. Right.” Chelsea smiled weakly, tore her eyes from the dead flowers. “Um, speaking of Spinelli, did you tell him about last week at Kelly’s? What you heard? You said you didn’t know if you were gonna, but—”

“No. I don’t want to be involved.” Georgie unzipped her bag to pull out her notebook and laptop. “What if I have to tell other people what I heard? Lucky and Liz are going to family court, my dad says. He’s been asked to testify as a character witness.”

“Oh. That would mean you’d testify on the other side if it came to it.” Chelsea twirled a piece of her springy brown hair around her finger. “But, like, it’s kind of terrible what you heard. I don’t know any of these people outside of the papers or whatever. I know you do—”

“I’ve known Liz most of my life,” Georgie admitted. “And my sister—” She exhaled slowly. “You know about Lucky and Maxie. Maxie was really mean to Liz for no reason. Lucky was on drugs last year, and he didn’t get clean until he found out Liz was pregnant. After all of that, he’s talking about making her an unfit mother? It just…I don’t want to be involved. It’s not my business. But it sucks.”

“Yeah. And you said Spinelli, like, worships Jason. You helped him get the penthouse ready for Jason to hang out with his kid.” Chelsea tilted her head. “Georgie—”

“I know,” she muttered. She let her head fall back against the wall. “I need to tell Spinelli so he can tell Jason. I’m not having that conversation with Jason unless I have to. Spinelli says Jason’s been with both boys, like, every day. He’s so happy, and Spinelli is, too. And I feel bad knowing this thing that could mess that up.” She plucked her phone out of a pocket in the backpack. “I’ll text him. I need to ask him about the security footage anyway.”

Miller & Associates: Diane’s Office

“And sign here—” Diane slid yet another piece of paperwork across the conference table to Elizabeth.

“Which one is this?” Elizabeth asked, her eyes crossed from all of the legal print she’d already absorbed.

“The petition to have the divorce bifurcated into two parts. One, the legal dissolution of the marital relationship and, two, the custody situation. This would allow your divorce to move forward uncontested and declare you legally single without tying the custody situation into it.” Diane adjusted her glasses. “The custody battle could drag on for months, Elizabeth. You’re not asking for any property or spousal support so there’s no real issue ending the marriage.”

“I didn’t know—” Elizabeth sighed. “This is all so much more complicated than last year. Lucky didn’t fight anything. Jake wasn’t  born yet, so my lawyer told me Lucky could come  back at me when that happened—”

“Lucky didn’t fight for custody of Cameron,” Diane said, with a nod. “Yes, that’s been noted in our custody petition.” She sighed. “I know it’s difficult, but there’s a chance a judge will review all of this paperwork, and you’ll walk away with both boys. Are you prepared for that possibility? If Lucky doesn’t get visitation, a judge isn’t going to order child support for Cameron.”

“That’s fine. I can take care of Cam on my own.” Elizabeth tapped her pen. “And whenever Jason and I settle child support for Jake, anything extra is going into his college fund. I can support them both on my salary.” It would be tight for a while, she acknowledged, but she could do it. She signed the petition, returned it to Diane who had more papers ready.

“This is the last set. It’s Jason’s paternity suit,” Diane explained as Elizabeth flipped through it. “You’re filing in support along with authorization to use the paternity test performed last year. The judge might order a new one if Lucky and his lawyer insists which would drag the whole thing out another six weeks, maybe longer. For the results to come back and set a new date,” Diane added.

“What happens while the paternity suit is pending?” Elizabeth wanted to know. “Does Lucky get to ask for visitation?”

“He can.” Diane paused. “How long since you separated?”

“Hard to say. Um, I testified on August 8. Lucky didn’t come home that day, and I didn’t hear from him until after Jason was acquitted. That was almost a week,” Elizabeth said. “I mean you know that, but—um, I knew where he was staying, but I figured since he didn’t come home, he should be the one to contact me. I didn’t know if he even wanted to talk to me.”

“Fair enough. So you spoke for the first time about two weeks ago. Lucky didn’t ask to see the boys? Even through someone else? Emily or Nikolas?”

“No. And we only spoke once. I waited to move out until after the acquittal to avoid the press. Lucky came over while I was packing. We argued, and he told me to be out by the end of the day.”

“So for the last three weeks, Lucky hasn’t asked to see the boys once.”

“No. That’s—I mean, that’s going to hurt him, isn’t it?”

“It might.” Diane paused. “And Jason? Is he spending a lot of time with Jake?”

“Since he’s been released, as often as I can manage it. Nearly every day. I take the boys over to him, and today—he has them while I’m here.”

“So you and Jason already have an informal custody arrangement—”  Diane made some notes. “He has Cameron as well?”

“It’s just…I guess it’s easier right now. Why should I get another baby-sitter when Jason offers to look after Cameron? Is that going to hurt me? Letting Cam spend so much time with Jake’s biological father?”

“It can be spun either way. Lucky’s lawyer likely will point to you hedging your bets with Jason until he was single and legally exonerated. He’s wealthier than Lucky, of course, which he can point to. You’re giving Lucky’s children to him.”

“I’m not—” Elizabeth huffed. “It’s not that. Cameron loves his little brother. He likes to help me rock Jake to sleep for a nap. And he likes to feed him—he shouldn’t lose any of that because of what’s going on. And he’s always liked Jason—” She stumbled to a stop when she saw Diane smile. “What?”

“In my experience, in cases like these,” Diane said, “the opposing party centers themselves in the narrative. If Lucky means what he said to you, what you’ve heard from others, he’s only talking about he’ll feel if he loses custody of Jake. He isn’t thinking about Cameron. You are. You’re absolutely right. Cameron’s relationship with Jake should be preserved as best as possible. If Jake is going to spend time with his father, and Jason is all right with including Cameron, it’s beneficial. Particularly when the only other father Cam knows isn’t reaching out.”

Elizabeth exhaled slowly. “Jason was right. You really are good at this. I’m glad you’re on my side.”

“I do like to earn that hefty retainer. Let’s finish this paperwork so I can file it. I’m very interested to see how Lucky and his lawyer will react.”

Wyndemere: Study

The lawyer Alexis had recommended hadn’t sounded much more positive than she had, but at least Lincoln Frazier painted a slightly optimistic picture.

“There’s been nothing filed since Diane Miller filed her notice to appear,” Lincoln said briskly, as he opened his case and removed a folder. “I filed my own notice this morning, and I think, as long as we’re agreed, we should do our best to file first.”

“I don’t understand how Diane can represent Elizabeth,” Lucky said, leaning against Nikolas’s desk, his jaw clenched. “Isn’t she Jason’s lawyer? Didn’t you tell me Jason had to file his own thing?”

“I could argue a conflict of interest,” Lincoln said slowly, “but she would argue their interests are united. Elizabeth has indicated that she supports terminating your rights and declaring Jason as the legal father. Even with your suggestion that you would surrender rights to Cameron, she’s held firm.”

Lucky made a face. He’d really thought Elizabeth would back down if he threatened his role in Cameron’s life. He loved Cameron, but it would be too much to lose Jake and still have to watch him grow up.

“So we just let it go?”

“For now.” Lincoln slid on his reading glasses. “Now, for the divorce, you’ve indicated you want to file on grounds of adultery. She admitted in court that she had an affair, and you think that affair has continued.”

“Yes,” Lucky said tightly. “And it’s still going on. I have a friend who’s told me she’s over there almost every day. With the boys. They were just waiting for him to get acquitted.”

“All right. As for custody, we’re asking for joint custody of both boys.” Lincoln hesitated. “You understand that you have no legal right to Cameron as his stepfather. You never had yourself declared his father through adoption.”

“Didn’t see the point.”

“It just means you have a little bit less of a legal standing to use him as leverage,” his lawyer told him. “Fortunately, there’s not another legal father out there—” He made a note. “As for the paternity suit, the only way to prevent a judge from declaring Jason the boy’s legal father is to have him declared an unfit parent. I know you had hoped to do the same with Elizabeth, but it’s not going to work.”

Lucky exhaled, taking that in. He hadn’t really been enthusiastic about throwing Elizabeth under the bus as a terrible mother. She hadn’t been a good wife—not this time around, he allowed himself. “All right. I guess.”

“You made some good points about her not volunteering information for Jake’s paternity during the kidnapping,” Lincoln said. “But I think that would only work if Jake had been missing longer. It might have felt like a lifetime, but it was a matter of days. Other than that, a judge isn’t going see lying about paternity as evidence she’s unfit.”

“Okay. But Jason?”

“We have a little more to work with, but not much. He’s clean legally. We can introduce his lengthy arrest record, but without a conviction—” Lincoln shook his head. “There’s not much.”

“What if…” Lucky pressed his lips together. “What if he never files? If I can keep him from filing a paternity suit, I’ve got a stronger case in family court, don’t I?”

“Yes. As the boy’s legal father—” Lincoln peered at him over the glasses. “Do you have reason to think he won’t?”

“I don’t know if I can keep him from filing, but he can always drop it before it goes to court. You said Elizabeth and I would be required to do mediation before the hearing. At that hearing, we give options right?”

His lawyer frowned. “What kind of options?”

“If Jason doesn’t go after custody of Jake,” Lucky said slowly, “then I won’t make a police report detailing what I know about Manny Ruiz’s death last summer. The official record says I killed him in the line of duty. But the autopsy report doesn’t support it. Jason killed him. If he drops his paternity suit, I won’t push for an investigation.”

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

Spinelli scowled. “What do you mean, the flowers were dead this time?” He launched himself off the sofa. “I told you—”

“Hey, we agreed it was weird, right?” Georgie put her hands up in mock surrender. “I told you to get the security footage. And now, here I am, a week later, saying that we need to get more and look at it.”

Spinelli made another face, but sat down, yanking his laptop into lap. “I’ll get the thumb drive from Stone Cold.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing.” Georgie sat next to him. “Really, Spinelli. But thank you for being worried.”

“The Jackal looks after the people who matter.” He tapped some keys. “And Faithful Friend matters.”

Her smile dipped a bit at the nickname of Faithful Friend, but it wasn’t his fault she liked him and he didn’t share those feelings. Just like Dillon, Spinelli only seemed to have eyes for blondes who talked too much. “Oh. Um, there was one other thing I needed to tell you. About something I overheard at Kelly’s.”

Greystone: Living Room

Sonny raised his brows when Max announced Jason, and his partner came in carrying Jake with Cameron racing in behind him. “Uh, you could have told me you had the kids today.” He moved out of the way as Cameron started a lap around the sofa.

“It’s fine. I, uh, didn’t think it’d be that much work with both of them,” Jason admitted. “Cam—”

“Zoom—”

“Hey, Cam, you know I got a kid your age,” Sonny told him, grabbing the three-year-old on his next lap and lifting Cam into his arms. “He’s got a huge play room upstairs. He’s not home, but you can play up there if you want.”

Cameron pursed his lips. “How big?”

“Gigantic.” Sonny grinned at Jason. “I’ll take him up and grab the monitor in case he needs anything. Next time, let me know. We can hook him up with Morgan. They’re the right age to be friends.”

“Uh, okay—” Jason exhaled with a bit of relief as Sonny disappeared upstairs. He checked his cell phone, but Elizabeth was still with Diane.

“Kid’s got more energy in his pinky than I had all of last week,” Sonny said, returning a few minutes later with a white monitor in his hands. I got lucky, I guess. Michael was older than Morgan and basically self-sufficient.”

And Sonny had always had a nanny, but Jason didn’t offer that. “Elizabeth makes this look easy,” he admitted. “She’s always bringing both of them to see me, and I didn’t think—”

“It’s good, though, that you’re getting Jake on your own,” Sonny said. “I know it’s good you and Liz to do this parenting thing together, but you won’t always have her in the room.” He hesitated. “Both boys, you said. I didn’t realize—”

“I told you what Lucky’s pulling with custody. And there’s no reason Cameron can’t come over. Why should he have to sit at home with someone else when Elizabeth could have both of them together? Cam likes to feed Jake sometimes—”

“You don’t have to justify it to me.” Sonny squinted. “It’s just—you know—if Lucky loses the way he should, you got a kid without a father who’s watching you be a dad to his brother. You’re not worried he won’t start to see you that way?”

Jason looked at him, then went over to the desk to set down the diaper bag and retrieve a blanket to set down on the floor for Jake. He set the infant on his belly, put a few soft toys within reach.

“Oh, I get it.” Sonny smirked, folded his arms. “That’s the plan, isn’t it? How long after the divorce is finalized before I get an invitation?”

“It’s not—” Sonny made it sound calculating. And it wasn’t. “It’s not like that. Elizabeth and I are figuring things out. I don’t—” Jason stopped. “Diane said something about there not being anyone out there to step up for Cameron, so Lucky could get visitation by default. And I guess—I know it’s what Elizabeth wants. I just—” He shook his head. “He’s willing to walk away from Cameron after all this time. Just to hurt Elizabeth.”

“I’m not arguing with you,” Sonny said. “Idiot doesn’t deserve the kid. I’m just saying, if you’re hoping to back your way into being something more permanent, you might want to run that past Elizabeth. You don’t want her feeling like she has to settle for Lucky just so Cameron has someone in his life. Make sure she knows you’re an option.”

Written in 57 minutes.

---

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

Jason was almost relieved to see Elizabeth on the sofa with Spinelli when he returned from Sonny’s that afternoon. He really didn’t know how she transported two children around all the time, especially since Cameron never seemed to stay still for more than ten minutes at a time.

He no sooner pushed open the door then Cameron raced for the stairs and likely the toys upstairs. Elizabeth got to her feet. “I’ll go up and close the gate behind him,” she said. “Otherwise, he’ll ride that bike right down the stairs.”

“Little Dude definitely has the need for speed,” Spinelli said, cheerfully. He set his laptop on the table. “He’s why parents leash their kids.” The smile on the younger man’s face didn’t match the tone of his voice, Jason realized as he lifted Jake from the stroller and crossed the room a playpen that had mysteriously showed up next to the television. He checked the toys and left Jake chewing on the long ear of a stuffed bunny.

“Is everything okay?” Jason wanted to know.

“Uh, yeah. I guess. Maybe. Do you still have that thumb drive I gave you last week? The Jackal requires it.”

Jason frowned, opened the desk drawer and retrieved it. “Did something happen?”

“Faithful Friend and Fair Chelsea had another delivery. Dead roses.” Spinelli’s mouth was pinched as he took the drive and shuddered. “Creepy to the maximum.”

“Did Georgie tell Mac?” Jason asked, leaning against the desk.

“No, but the Jackal will relay that suggestion—” He smiled grimly as Elizabeth descended the stairs. “I, uh, also have some information for you and Fair Elizabeth.” He tucked the thumb drive in his laptop bag. “The Insightful One overheard a troubling conversation while working last week. She didn’t want to get involved, so she said nothing. But she felt as though it should be shared.”

“Spinelli—”

“Detective Dingus and The Departed One were discussing the divorce and custody,” Spinelli mumbled.

Elizabeth drew her brows together. “Detective—”

“Lucky and Sam,” Jason bit out, then focused on the tech. “Discussing how?”

“Uh—” Spinelli rubbed the back of his neck. “Questioning the best way to ensure Detective Dingus maintains his role as the paternal—”

“Spinelli.” Jason knew that the kid was uncomfortable with confrontation, and had always used nicknames and hyperbole to cope with that, but he was running out of patience—

“Right.” Spinelli swallowed. “Georgie didn’t get all the details, but they were brainstorming how to make Fair Elizabeth and Stone Cold look like unfit parents to tank the paternity and custody.”

“They—” Elizabeth’s eyes widened. “Me? Unfit? And Jason—” She exhaled in a heavy sigh. “Okay. Thanks. I’ll let Diane know.”

“Thanks,” Jason added, his fists clenched at his side. Why the hell had Sam decided to weigh in on any of this? It wasn’t her business anymore—

“I’ll, uh, head out. I need to go to PCU.” Spinelli looped the bag over his head and headed for the door. “I’m sorry,” he said. “It sucks.”

“It does,” Elizabeth murmured. She closed her eyes, dragged her hands through her hair. “What is he thinking?” she wanted to know, looking back at Jason. “I know Sam must be angry, but you’ve been broken up for a while now—”

“She knew,” Jason said quietly. “She found out after Jake was born. I didn’t know that,” he added when Elizabeth just stared at him. “Not until Jake was kidnapped. It came out then.”

“She knew Jake was your son,” Elizabeth repeated. “She knew before Maureen Harper kidnapped him.” She rubbed her chest, then laughed—though it was short, choppy, almost bitter sound devoid of humor. “Well, that explains her visit to the house the day after. When she said she wanted to help, and instead—” She sighed. “Never mind.”

“What did she do?” What had Sam said to Elizabeth, knowing where Jake was and who had him? Damn it. He’d thought he was protecting them all by not revealing the role Sam had played, but—

“I think maybe she was trying in the beginning,” Elizabeth murmured. She wandered over to the terrace doors, peering out at the view of the harbor. “Trying to tell me she understood what I was going through. Because of the baby she’d lost. But I was angry. Jake wasn’t dead—I still had Cameron,” she said. “We were the same, the two of us. We’d both lost a child. I could even have another baby. Like Jake could just  be replaced.”

“She—” Jason scrubbed a hand down his face, taking that in. With full knowledge of who had his son, Sam had tried to plant the seeds in Elizabeth’s head. She would never have told the truth. If Maureen Harper hadn’t revealed her part in it all— “I’m sorry.”

“It just—I guess it gives that conversation a different meaning now that I know she knew all along. Maybe she wanted it to be true.” Elizabeth made a face, turned back to him. “That’s not fair. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t—Don’t apologize for her. She doesn’t deserve it.” And now Sam wanted to go after Elizabeth again? Pushing Lucky, trying to get them both declared unfit—

“I can’t believe Lucky really thinks he’s going to go into a court room and point to you as an unfit father,” Elizabeth said with a scowl. “He’s the one with the record of drug abuse. And his affair with Maxie—everyone knew about then when she faked the pregnancy. He did drugs around my son. He can’t win this. It’s impossible.”

“I just got acquitted for murder,” Jason reminded her. “And I’ve got an arrest record—”

“No convictions,” Elizabeth said. “And zero record of endangering kids. I just hate that he’s even considering it. The last thing you and Sonny need is more of this—”

“You let me worry about that.” Jason crossed to her, reached for her hands. “Remember what Diane said. There’s no chance I’m going to lose the paternity suit. And once I’m Jake’s legal father, Lucky’s rights go away.” He hesitated. “And if it looks like it’s going wrong—you tell me how you want this to work out, and I’ll make sure it happens.” He’d get Spinelli working on the family court roster, he decided. There was always something—

“You just got out of jail,” Elizabeth said, but her lips had curved into a smile now because she understood what he was offering. “Let’s just…let’s see what he has to say. Diane is filing today, and we should get something back from Lucky and his lawyer. I just hate that this is happening.”

“So do I. But we’ve got warning,” Jason reminded her. “Diane can prep for any attack on you or me as a parent.” He thought about what Sonny had said, and wondered if Lucky would push too far and lose Elizabeth’s support for joint custody of Cameron. Jason worried if he told her now he’d step up, she might feel guilty enough about everything else to accept the offer even if it wasn’t what she wanted.

Better to wait for Lucky to throw the first punch, because it sounded like he was stupid enough to play dirty.

And Jason had someone else who needed to be dealt with.

Lewis Hall: Georgie & Chelsea’s Dorm

Georgie flopped back on her bed. “You can’t see anything!”

“Well, we can,” Chelsea said, trying to be helpful. “We know he’s not very tall. And he—” She squinted at the figure in the grainy black and white footage. “He likes hats.”

“And long jackets in the summer,” Spinelli said. The same figure had delivered both the fresh roses as the dead ones — but all that meant is that it was some of average height who kept his back to the camera. No face shots.

“You should call your stepdad,” Chelsea told Georgie. “Isn’t it a little weird that he didn’t look at the camera?”

“It could just be a florist delivery. They let delivery guys up to the rooms all the time,” Georgie said. “Maybe this isn’t even the guy.”

“Maybe—”

“It’s probably just some dumb joke.” Georgie studied the vase of the dead flowers on the dress. “The frats are starting early—”

“But—”

“And it’s not like it was addressed to either of us,” Georgie reminded her. “If someone wanted to scare us, why not write notes?”

“I guess.” Chelsea chewed on her lip, looked at Spinelli. “What do you think?”

“I think,” Spinelli said slowly, “that better safe than sorry. Give the Commissioner everything—”

“He’s going to think we’re silly.” Georgie got to her feet and crossed to the dresser. “Maxie is already driving him nuts with Cooper and all that crap she pulled last week. She picked the vase up and dumped it in the trash. “We’re not probably not even the only people that are getting pranked.”

Sam’s Apartment

Jason heard the footsteps behind the door and waited — knowing that she was peering through the peephole. If she didn’t answer the door —

Finally, the tumblers shifted and he heard the locks clicking. Sam opened the door, draping one arm along the edge, the other braced against the frame to block him from coming in. She arched a brow and smirked. “Lonely after all those weeks away?”

“Not for you,” he bit out, and her eyes widened. She fell back a step. Good, he thought. He’d been too kind to her, felt too guilty about the fact she couldn’t have children, that he’d kept the truth about Jake from her — but he wasn’t going to let her push him around for the rest of his life in return.

While he knew her medical issues were ultimately because of her connection to him, he reminded himself that Sam had known the risks of being around him. She’d chosen them. And she’d chosen to watch as his newborn son was kidnapped. Chosen to keep that knowledge to herself. Chosen to torment Elizabeth with thoughts of Jake’s death—

He was done with the guilt.

“What do you want?” Sam demanded.

“If you want to talk about this in the hallway,” Jason said, “we can do that. I’m thisclose to calling Diane to tip off the police that someone else was part of Jake’s kidnapping—”

She hissed, let her hand fall away from the door, and stepped back so he could enter. “You have a lot of nerve—”

“No, you do.” Jason stalked into the apartment, then turned to face her. “You knew where my son was and said nothing—”

“I told you—”

“Yeah, and I swallowed that bullshit  about you being paralyzed and scared. I let myself believe you. But you didn’t stay scared, did you?” Jason asked, stepping close to her — Sam was forced to tilt her head up to maintain eye contact. “You went to Elizabeth to make her think Jake was dead.”

“That’s—” Sam swallowed hard. “You’re making it sound deliberate—”

“Because it was. You wanted Jake gone. You wanted me to lose my son when I was already facing a lifetime in prison—and you did it, you said, because you were scared. You weren’t scared. Or paralyzed. You were happy for Jake to disappear, weren’t you?’

“Why are you here?”

“There was a time I loved you,” he said, and she frowned, likely confused at the change in topic. “A time when I wanted my future to be with you.”

“You—”

“I felt guilty because I stopped wanting that at some point and I didn’t know how to tell you. I didn’t know how to end things without hurting you. And I’ve continued to feel that guilt. Do you think you’d be protected from prosecution if Elizabeth knew what you did?”

Sam licked her lips. “You never—”

“I never told anyone. Because I felt responsible. But today? I see who you really are. Spiteful. Vindictive.”

“How dare you—”

“You have nothing to do with my life anymore. Nothing to do with Elizabeth or her boys. You’re going to stop filling Lucky Spencer’s ears with your bullshit. If I find out you’re still trying to hurt Elizabeth or the kids—”

“What? You’ll have me arrested?” Sam sneered.

“You decided to make yourself a threat to my son the minute you kept your mouth shut about his kidnapping. Maureen would have given him back within hours, but you enjoyed hurting me, hurting Elizabeth—”

“No!”

“Stay away from me. From my life. From my son. Or you’ll see exactly who I am.”

Sam’s cheeks paled and she stepped back. “Are you threatening to kill me?” she asked, her voice trembling. “How could you—”

“Do you want to find out?” He took a step towards her, and she backed up hastily, against the door. She reached for the knob, twisted it. “I didn’t think so.”

“Get out.” But the sneer, the arrogance was gone, and there was fear in her eyes. Good.

He left, hearing the door slam behind him. He didn’t know if she truly believed him, and Jason didn’t even know if he believed himself —  but if Sam caused Elizabeth one more moment of pain —

They’d both find out what he was capable of.

Written in 62 minutes.

---

Miller & Associates: Conference Room

For the last week, Elizabeth had met with Diane every daily, going over her marriage in painstaking—and even humiliating—detail. Diane wanted no surprises in this meeting, and Elizabeth knew that everything she said would remain confidential, even from Jason. But it didn’t make it any easier to answer questions like, “Why did you continue the lie after Jason wanted to be a father?” and “Why did you keep involving Jason in your child’s life?”

Questions that reminded Elizabeth how much damage she’d caused, how much hurt and pain she’d inflicted on Jason who had never done anything except say one wrong thing the day he’d learned about the test the results. Sure, Jason could have refused — but she’d known he wouldn’t. Had she taken advantage of that? Diane had asked. Used her history with Jason, his role in Michael’s paternity and belief that Carly had the right to choose for her son?

Not on purpose, Elizabeth had attempted to explain. It sounded so callous. Cruel. Calculating. But it all amounted to the same thing, and was why she was taking a seat next to her lawyer, watching Lucky do the same. His lawyer unpacking his briefcase, retrieving a thick file.

Had Lucky had those same conversations with this man? Did Lincoln Frazier now know every intimate detail of their marriage, every piece of Lucky’s thought process? Between the two lawyers, they should surely know every piece of information. Maybe they could explain to Elizabeth how a marriage that begun with such happiness that day in October 2005, as she’d stood in front of Lucky, her first love, with love and kindness radiating—before plunging into the terrible fights just a year later—and now this—

She hadn’t wanted this — but it felt like every she’d taken that day after leaving Jason’s penthouse—every choice—had led them here.

“Good morning, Lincoln,” Diane said with a breezy smile. “How are you?”

“Not nearly as well as you. Are those new shoes?” the other man asked.

Diane beamed. “So nice of you to notice. You always had an eye for such things.” She picked up her pencil, the sharpened tip poised over her yellow legal pad. “We filed in superior court last week, so I’m sure you’ve had a chance to review our initial proposals.”

“Yes. Your client seeks a dissolution of the marriage with no property or financial entanglements. They both walk away with what they entered the marriage — custody to be determined later.” Lincoln’s dark brows raised. “You’re asking to bifurcate the custody arrangements?”

“With the family court docket being what it is, we anticipate some delays in getting some of our hearings on the docket,” Diane said. “I see no reason why Mr. Spencer or Miss Webber should have to wait to be declared legally single.”

Lincoln nodded. “Yes, my client did anticipate that his wife was eager to be single again for the purposes of other hearings.”

Elizabeth frowned, looked at Diane whose bland expression did not change. “Whatever the motivations, does your client have any problem with that?”

“Yes. The financial situation will take some time to deal with. There is serious credit card debt in Mrs. Spencer’s name—”

Elizabeth’s fists clenched in her lap, but Diane was ready. “Yes, there was a very large charge a year ago to a credit card belonging to my client — a card on which Mr. Spencer was an authorized user.” She picked up a copy of the bill and her reading glasses. “Ah, Promises Recovery and Rehab. Mrs. Spencer is willing to forgo fighting over that charge in order to streamline the dissolution of the marriage—”

“As I said, there are financial issues that I think bear closer study. At this time, we are not looking to join the petition for bifurcation. Mr. Spencer would rather wait for all aspects of this marriage to be litigated before final dissolution.”

Elizabeth exhaled slowly, looked at Lucky who just met her eyes with a sullen glare. She looked back at Diane.

“All right, we’ll let a judge handle that.” Diane set that paperwork aside. “As for the financial situation, we’ll be employing Harris & Son as financial auditors to prepare a report as to what Mrs. Spencer’s share of the marital assets and debts would be so that we can make a proper recommendation to the judge.”

“We’ll make everything available from our side, so long as our financial auditors have access to your documents.”

Auditors digging through her records. Refusing to let her just walk away — Oh, God, Lucky was really going to make this difficult, wasn’t he?

“The marital home on Charles Street belongs to the Spencer family,” Lincoln began.

“Mrs. Spencer is already waiving any claim to it. She understands that it was loaned to them for the duration of the marriage and that it remains in trust for Laura Spencer and her children.” Diane slid that waiver across the table. “It should have been in the original filing, but in case you overlooked it—”

“Of course.” Lincoln paused. “I bring up the subject because it allows for a segue into our most important concern. Custody of the minor children. Mrs. Spencer took the children from the marital home without any discussion of visitation. My client is the legal father of Jacob Martin Spencer and stepfather to Cameron Hardy Webber. He would like to arrange for joint custody, with a fifty-fifty share. One week with him, one week with their mother. That would eliminate the need for child support.”

“As it pertains to Cameron Webber,” Diane said, “my client is in support. Cameron loves his—” She paused and with the slightest sneer in her tone, “stepfather as Mr. Spencer is the only father figure he’s ever known.” She slid another set of papers across the table. “As for the younger son, Jacob, this is an unfiled copy of the paternity suit Jason Morgan will be filing in family court if we cannot mediate the issue today. He will be presenting evidence of paternity and petitioning for Mr. Spencer’s legal status to be terminated. Mr. Spencer is well aware of this fact as Miss Webber already informed him—and the world—of this fact.”

Lincoln did not pick up the papers. He looked at Lucky, who just nodded. The lawyer returned his attention to Diane. “We did anticipate that possibility, and we’ve prepared an answer for that. While Mr. Morgan’s alleged biological connection may add a wrinkle to custody negotiations, in answer to that paternity suit, Mr. Spencer will be ready to defend himself as the child’s legal father.”

“A court—” Diane began.

“Blood relatives are preferred, but not guaranteed,” Lincoln cut in, and Diane closed her mouth. “Mr. Morgan knew of this child’s paternity months ago, according to your client. He also knew it was a possibility before the baby was born. He sat for a paternity test. A fact that no one informed my client about. Mr. Morgan’s failure to provide for his son has given my client serious pause to investigate his fitness as a father.”

Elizabeth clenched her jaw. So Georgie had heard correctly. Lucky was going to attack Jason—

“Mr. Spencer and I have been reviewing his knowledge of Mr. Morgan this last week, and, well, Diane, I must admit I’m bit confused as to why Mrs. Spencer would want this man anywhere near her or the minor children. His arrest record, the recent trial—”

“All irrelevant as Mr. Morgan does not have have an actual criminal record,” Diane said coolly. “As  law enforcement officer, Mr. Spencer is well aware of that fact.”

“Yes, well—my client has a proposal to make. He does not wish to cause anyone any more undue pain or embarrassment or legal trouble. There are some facts Mr. Spencer is aware of that would put Mr. Morgan’s fitness as a father into stark contention—and Mrs. Spencer’s fitness as a mother, as well, since she is quite aware of these facts.”

Elizabeth frowned, shook her head. “What—” She closed her mouth as Diane looked at her.

“Please, enlighten us, Lincoln, as to the facts you think my client is ignoring.”

“As you know, last year, my client became addicted to the pain medication subscribed to him after an injury—an injury sustained as he attempted to rescue Mrs. Spencer from the clutches of a villain who had kidnapped her. As a result of that addition, Mr. Spencer made some mistakes I’m sure you’re going to bring up. And one of those mistakes,” Lincoln said coolly, “was allowing Mr. Morgan and Mrs. Spencer to convince him that Manny Ruiz died as a result of Mr. Spencer’s heroic actions. However, Mr. Spencer is quite aware that it was Mr. Morgan who inflicted the deadly blow, and Mrs. Spencer acted as an accessory after the fact.”

Diane stared at him for a long moment. “I’m sorry. Are you attempting to argue that your client participated in the cover-up of a murder and that somehow makes my client look like an unfit mother?”

“I am previewing the case I intend to make before a judge in any paternity or custody hearing,” Lincoln said. “Mrs. Spencer convinced her husband that Jason Morgan had nothing to do with Manny Ruiz’s death. That Mr. Spencer was the hero, for which he was celebrated for in the press. She did this to cover up the murder committed by her lover — the affair that you plan to use to prove paternity also corroborates Mr. Spencer’s events. She took advantage of an officer with a tragic addiction to pain pills to keep her lover out of jail. The same lover who was recently on trial for a different murder. Who has a long arrest record for felonies and misdemeanors. That is the argument I’ll be making to a family court judge as to why Jacob Spencer should remain in the legal custody of Lucas Lorenzo Spencer, Jr., with supervised visitation from his mother—should she not be charged with any crimes relating to these incidents. Questions?’

Wyndemere: Study

“I don’t know why you’re even bothering with this conversation,” Nikolas told Emily as he went around his desk, took a seat. “Lucky isn’t going to listen to you anymore than he did me.”

“I still have to try,” Emily said with a sigh. “I understand how angry and hurt he is — I’m not making excuses for Elizabeth. I wouldn’t. She should have told me last year — I mean, I knew about the paternity test. I just didn’t know the results.” She rubbed her arms. “I can understand what she did. How things unraveled last year, and I hate to think I put any pressure on her—”

“She likes to put herself in the center,” Nikolas muttered, and Emily turned to look at him, confused.

“What?”

“All the weight for Lucky’s recovery — she puts it on herself. The baby—which she carried—got him clean. As if Lucky didn’t do the work—”

“That—” Emily shook her head. “That’s not what she means when she talks about the pressure. Lucky’s the one that linked his recovery to the pregnancy. He didn’t even check in until he found out—”

“Still. She didn’t even try to talk to either of us,” Nikolas said. “We would have been there for Lucky—”

“Maybe. But maybe it wouldn’t have helped. We were there for him before that, weren’t we? That didn’t seem to stop him from relapsing, continuing the affair with Maxie—God, Nikolas—why are we arguing about this? It happened. We can’t fix it. We can’t take it back or change anything. All we can do is try to get them through this next part—”

“And that’s what I’m doing. Lucky deserves the best representation,” Nikolas said. “I saw that Diane Miller is taking Elizabeth’s case. He needs someone to stand up for him—”

“What about what he’s asking? Is he really going to drag them all through court just to hear a judge say the same thing we’re saying now? You think it’ll be better for him if it takes six months for a judge to take Jake away?” Emily demanded. “Don’t you think that puts him a greater risk for the relapse?”

“Maybe. But he says this is what he needs—”

“He’s being selfish—”

“To hold on to his own child?” Nikolas snorted. “Blood doesn’t matter, Emily. You’re adopted, that doesn’t matter—”

“Really? If blood doesn’t matter so much, why is he threatening to walk away from Cameron?” she wanted to know. “You and I both know that the only difference between those two kids is that Lucky thought Jake was his biological son. He’s fighting to hold on to the baby he barely knows and ready to throw out the child who adores him.”

“That’s not fair—you know he loves Cameron—”

“He loves him the way you do. The way I do. As an adorable child we’ve watched grow up. He doesn’t feel any kind of sense of belonging. If he truly saw Cameron as his own, he wouldn’t be using this way. You know that. He’s using that precious child as leverage — banking that Elizabeth will push Jason away so that Cameron doesn’t get hurt.”

Nikolas exhaled slowly. “Maybe that’s true,” he said, “but—”

“No matter how much this hurts, we have to do what’s right. What’s good for everyone, including those boys. Lucky is going to lose Jake. You know that. But he’d rather put Cameron in the middle. What kind of father does that?”

“A desperate one—”

“You’re a fool if you support him in this.” Her eyes burned with tears. “You’re no better than the man I divorced two years ago. You and your brother are alike. You run from reality and find something else to fill the pain. He used pills, you used another woman—”

“That’s not fair—”

“I’m not interested in fair,” Emily bit out. “I don’t have the luxury for it. I only care about what’s right. And Lucky’s gamble is going to fail. It deserves to. He’ll lose them both, and you know what he’s not even taking into consideration?”

“What’s that?”

“Cameron is barely three years old. If he keeps pushing this, if he keeps hurting Cameron, Elizabeth has options. Does Lucky even think about that? Jason is right there, stepping up for Jake. Do you think he’d walk away from Cameron? Really? Lucky’s going to lose, but you know what? He deserves to.”

“It’s all about Jason with you. Just like it is with Elizabeth—”

“Because my brother is the better man. And you and your brother have hated him for years because of it.” Emily’s lips curved into a sick smile. “Or did you think I forgot that Christmas party when you announced to the world he was sleeping with Elizabeth? Go to hell. You and your brother.”

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

It was getting easier to handle both kids, Jason reflected as he descended the stairs after putting Jake down for a nap and watched Cameron loop around the pool table again on the miniature bike he’d carted down from the playroom that morning. Even if Cameron never ran out of energy.

“Zoom!” The toddler chanted as he raced past Jason again, but then the corner of the bike caught the desk and it tipped over. Cameron fell off with a thud, then sat up with a scowl.

“You okay?” Jason knelt down, righted the bike and checked Cameron for bumps. “You need to go a little slower,” he told him.

Cameron grinned at him. “Slow sad. Happy fast.” He climbed back on the bike and continued the lap as if nothing had happened. The resilience of children.

The door opened then, and Diane came in, followed by Elizabeth, and Jason’s smile faded as he got to his feet. Neither of them looked happy.

“I guess it didn’t go well,” Jason said, his heart pounding. Diane had made the mediation sound like nothing—just an annoying box to tick off as they marched towards custody and paternity hearings.

“That depends on your definition of well,” Diane said. She looked to Elizabeth. “I’ll draw up another waiver of conflict of interest. The previous one only protected us in civil court. It’s different wording in  criminal—”

“Criminal—” Jason echoed, not even feeling the pinch as Cameron’s bike rolled over his foot.  “What happened?”

Elizabeth folded her arms, smiled grimly. “Well, Georgie definitely heard correctly. Lucky’s going after both of us. He claims you—” She took a deep breath, lowered her voice so that Cameron couldn’t hear her. “He claims that you killed Manny Ruiz, and I helped you cover it up by convincing Lucky, my poor, tragic, pain addicted husband, to take the credit. If we file a paternity suit, Lucky’s going to tell everyone that it was the fall from the roof that killed Manny, not Lucky’s bullets. And—”

“And the autopsy reports Alexis buried support that,” Jason finished.

“The only way to avoid all of this,” Diane said, “is if we drop the paternity suit and agree to Lucky’s custody demands.”

In other words, if Jason wanted avoid jail and keep Elizabeth from being charged as an accessory, or hell, even an accomplice—

He’d need to give up his son.

Again.

Written in 57 minutes.

---

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

Elizabeth exhaled slowly, watching as Jason processed the news. “I think I should get another attorney,” she began, and Jason focused on her. “If this is going to come back to criminal charges, you’re the one with more exposure and you need Diane to be concentrating on you—”

“He’s threatening you, too,” Jason pointed out. “And Diane just said we can do a waiver of conflict—”

Elizabeth just shook her head. “I don’t think this—” Her voice faltered, and she took a deep, bracing breath. “It’s almost time for Cam to take a nap. I’ll put him down and you can talk about it with Diane—”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Jason began, but stopped as she lifted Cameron into his arms. He’d argue with her later. First he wanted to know exactly what was going on. He waited for Elizabeth to disappear around the corner before looking back at Diane. “Talk.”

Diane pursed her lips, set her briefcase on the desk, and opened it. She removed a legal document, handed it to him. “A preview of the response to the paternity suit—”

“We didn’t file that yet—”

“No, but our claims were going to be pretty standard. Lincoln Frazier was very careful today to make this sound like a preview of his case rather than the threat it was. The only want to avoid this being filed in family court is to not challenge Lucky’s petition for joint custody of both boys.”

Jason grimaced as he flipped through it. “Lucky can’t think this is going to work?”

“If we pull a judge who takes this seriously, he’s honor bound to report evidence of a crime to the criminal court.” Diane studied Jason carefully. “Right now, I represent both of you, so anything you say to me is confidential. Is there any truth to what Lucky is saying?”

“He’s making it sound—” Jason set the paperwork on the desk. “It all happened fast. Manny shot me, and we were fighting on the roof. Lucky took a shot, and Manny went over the edge. When I got downstairs, Manny was dead. But there was no gunshot.”

“How was that missed?” Diane wanted to know. “There was a medal ceremony—”

“I was in surgery for most of the aftermath,” Jason reminded Diane. “I barely survived. There was no cover-up, Diane. Elizabeth wasn’t even involved other than being at the hospital and being on my case. By the time I woke up, Lucky was already being celebrated. Later, I knew the autopsy report didn’t agree with the press, but I figured Alexis didn’t care. Manny was dead.”

“Okay.” Diane touched her throat. “Here’s the part where I give you legal advice. I should tell you to drop the paternity suit. Let this go. Let Elizabeth get her divorce, and settle joint custody—”

“Diane—”

“Later, down the road, you two can get married, and you’ll have your son part of the time—”

Jason just shook his head. “That’s not—”

“I should tell you that,” Diane continued, “but—” She bit her lip. “I’m not going to. I need to talk to Alexis. Find out what the hell is going on. And if there’s still an autopsy report that backs up Lucky Spencer.”

“Diane—”

“Elizabeth has a point. Right now, when it’s just about custody, you two have united interests—” Diane closed her briefcase. “But in a criminal case, if you end up on trial again for this, Elizabeth will be offered a deal to testify against you—”

“There’s nothing to testify—”

“I can’t represent the both of you because it would be in her best interest to take that deal—”

“Which I would never do.”

They turned to look at Elizabeth as she stood on the landing. “We still have a common interest,” she continued. “I would never take a deal to testify against Jason. Even if I knew something—which I don’t. Nothing I could testify to. Lucky knew last year he hadn’t made the shot. It made him crazy and upset. He’s the one that told me. Not Jason. Spousal privilege would protect that in criminal court. I could never testify to it.”

“You two never spoke about this?” Diane asked. “I’m supposed to believe that?”

“It doesn’t matter if we talked about it later. My knowledge doesn’t come from Jason. And Jason wasn’t conscious for most of it. God, Diane, they were planning the medal ceremony almost before he woke up! He almost died! And even if he did shove Manny over the roof, it was self-defense—Manny just kept coming after him—he was never going to stop—”

Diane held up a hand. “All right. All right. If you’re determined, then we’ll sign another waiver. I just wanted you both to think through the possibilities.” She nodded at the paperwork Jason had left on the desk. “As to the paternity suit, do we go forward?”

“What do you want to do?” Jason asked Elizabeth.

“Me? I’m not the one risking everything. You’re the one who the PCPD would go after—”

“They’d go after you, too,” he said roughly, already hating the idea of her being dragged in for questioning, charged as an accomplice.

“I don’t—I don’t care about that. I’m the one who did this, okay? If anyone deserves what’s happening, it’s me—”

“No—”

“I didn’t tell the truth. I deserve it—”

“It sounds like neither one of you want to back down,” Diane broke in, drawing their attention back to her. “You can argue about guilt and blame later. All I want to know is do I tell Lincoln Frazier and his client to go to hell and file the paternity suit?”

“Yes,” Jason said. “File it. If Lucky wants to bring up Manny Ruiz to make us look like unfit parents, I’ve got some stories I can tell, too. He nearly shot her last fall, high on drugs, while trying to kill me.”

Diane blinked. “Well, that does give me something to work with.” She lifted the briefcase. “I’ll be in touch.”

Jason opened the door to let her out, then turned back to Elizabeth. “It’s going to be okay.”

“It just never stops,” she murmured. “There never seems to be a moment where I can just breathe. I’m going to be paying for this lie for the rest of my life. Lucky will make sure of it.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “This is my fault, and I hate that you’re putting your freedom on the line—you just got it back—”

Jason went to her, put his hands on her shoulders to turn her towards him. “If the PCPD wanted me for Manny, they’d have done it. Alexis buried that report because I’d saved Sam’s life and Manny was a threat. You’ll have the official report against the word of an admitted drug addict—”

“I’d give anything to take it back.” She scrubbed her hands down her face. “I’d give anything to just live that moment one more time and not be scared. Not be weak. This never would have happened if I hadn’t lied. If I hadn’t asked you to keep lying.”

“We can’t keep going over this,” Jason said. “Yeah, you asked, but I said yes. This is on me—”

“No, no. Don’t pretend that I didn’t hurt you, okay? I can’t stand when you let me off the hook. You always do.” Elizabeth shrugged, his hands falling away. “I say and do terrible things. I hurt you, I know I did. A thousand times, and you just keep forgiving me. Why don’t you ever get mad at me?” she demanded.

Jason exhaled slowly. “Because I could never hate you. And you’re angry enough for the both of us.” But he could tell that answer hadn’t made her happy. He never knew how to make her happy. “What do you want me to do? Yell at you? Scream? Blame you? I’m not Lucky.”

“No, you’re not.” Elizabeth leaned against the arm of the sofa. “I don’t know. I just—I don’t understand why you’re not more angry. You shouldn’t have to fight this hard for your own son, and I’m the reason you have to—and I hate it—I hate myself—”

“You’re not the one threatening to accuse me of murder. That’s Lucky. He had a choice, Elizabeth. He could have accepted the truth and walked away. He’s the one making this hard for everyone, including himself. Even if I got investigated for Manny’s death, it doesn’t have anything to do with me being a parent. He wants to scare us into backing down. I’m not going to. So be mad at him. Not me.”

“I’m not mad—” Elizabeth frowned at him. “I’m not mad at you.”

“You sure about that? Are you mad that I said yes? Because that’s what it sounds like. You wanted me to fight you, to refuse to let Lucky raise Jake. Maybe a part of you is angry with because I said yes. Maybe you think I don’t love Jake enough—”

“No—No—” Elizabeth shook her head. “No, I didn’t—” She dug her fingers into her scalp, took a deep breath. “No. That’s not what I wanted,” she said softly. “I knew you loved him. I knew you wanted him. I never doubted that.”

“Then what? What should I have done differently? I gave you what you wanted—”

“I never wanted it,” Elizabeth said, then closed her mouth, her eyes widened as if she hadn’t meant to say it. But then she took a deep breath. “I never wanted it,” she repeated. “But I was scared.”

“Scared of what? My job? You keep telling me that it doesn’t bother you—”

“Scared that you’d give my dream to her,” Elizabeth said, her voice so soft that he almost didn’t hear it. She swallowed hard. “I wanted it, and I knew I couldn’t have it.”

Jason tipped his head, stepped closer to her. “Wanted what?”

“The dream.” She closed her eyes. “New Year’s, when I had the accident. I had these dreams. Dreams of telling you and you were so angry at me. And then these other—I dreamed that you knew. That we were sitting here.” She turned, looked at the sofa, with a nearly blank expression on her face. “I was pregnant. And we were a family. You were reading to Cameron. And I wanted that so much.”

Jason’s voice tightened. “I asked you to marry me.”

“I wanted to say yes,” she said, still not looking at him. Still looking at the sofa as if the ghosts of the dream she’d described could still be seen. “I had to bite my tongue to stop.”

“Why?” he demanded roughly. “Why didn’t you?”

“Because you didn’t love me.” Elizabeth finally turned, met his eyes as tears slid down her cheeks. “That’s it. That’s my confession. I asked you to give up Jake because I knew if I told the truth, I’d be alone, and you’d give my dream to Sam. She’d get to have that family, and I would have nothing.” She sucked in a deep breath. “That’s the truth, Jason. I’m not mad at you for letting me keep lying. I’m mad because you didn’t love me. And because of that, I’ve ruined all our lives.”

Kelly’s: Courtyard

Spinelli checked his watch, wondering if he should head back to the penthouse or give Stone Cold and the Fair Elizabeth more time alone. He didn’t fancy himself a matchmaker, per se, but he figured if they were alone together with the boys, then surely they’d work things out.

“Got a hot date later?” Georgie wanted to know, setting down his burger and fries. “You keep checking your watch.”

“Oh.” He flushed. “No, no. The Jackal just wonders how long he should stay away from home.”

“You know, I think you’ve already done a lot to help Jason with the kids.” Georgie sat down to take her break. “It’s really up to him and Elizabeth now.” She tugged her phone out, frowning at the missed calls that had racked up while she was working. “Someone keeps calling me on a blocked number,” she said with a frown. “And no voicemail.”

Spinelli narrowed his eyes, and she sighed. “Don’t start. It’s not like the flowers—”

“No, it’s worse,” he muttered. “Georgie—”

When he slid past nicknames and used government ones, Georgie knew his concern was real. “Fine. I promise, I’ll tell Mac about the calls.”

“And the flowers.”

“And the flowers.” She patted his arm. “Eat your dinner, then take another ten minutes and head home. That should be enough time.”

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

She wanted to disappear, to melt into the floor—anything to make this moment over and never speak of it again. But of course this was reality, and Jason was just staring at her like she’d sprouted an extra head—

She might as well have — what made her think this was a good time to drag all of that up? Elizabeth folded her arms nervously. “I should check on the boys.”

“Wait, wait—” Jason caught her arm as she started past him. “We need to talk about this—”

“Talk about what? What an insane person I am? The terrible things I did because I was scared and selfish?” She pulled away. “None of that is news to me—”

“I should have told you,” Jason cut in and she closed her mouth, drawing her brows together in confusion. “A thousand times, I should have told you. I wanted to. But it all got complicated, and I didn’t know if it was even fair—”

“Wait. Told me what?” Elizabeth stepped closer to him, her heart pounding wildly because surely he wasn’t—

“I love you.”

His words hung between them for a long moment — he had nothing else to offer, and she couldn’t force any words over the lump in her throat. Because she wanted so desperately to believe him, but it was too good to be true—she didn’t deserve to hear those words, for them to be true, not after everything she had done—after all the hurt and pain, she wasn’t supposed to get what she wanted—

“Elizabeth—”

“I—” Elizabeth took a deep breath. “You wouldn’t just say that if you didn’t mean it,” she said softly, more to herself than to him, wanting to reassure herself.

Jason grasped her elbow, drew her closer. “No, I wouldn’t. I didn’t know how to tell you before. It didn’t seem fair,” he admitted. “And I was engaged to another woman. Someone I didn’t want to hurt. And I thought you wanted Lucky. So I tried to give you what you wanted.”

“You—back then—you’re—” She couldn’t make sense of any of this. Couldn’t make the world stop spinning for just a moment— “I—”

“For years,” Jason continued, framing her face with his hands, his thumbs brushing tears from her cheeks, “I put what I felt for you in a box, and I buried it. Because I couldn’t have what I wanted. But last year, that night, I let it all out, and I didn’t know how to put it back. I didn’t want to.”

Her lip trembled. “I told myself so many times that it was just comfort, just friendship, but I put you away, too. Then you looked at me, and it was like none of that had happened. Like we were just starting all over again. I messed it  up—”

“No,” he murmured. “We’re not doing that anymore. Okay? It happened. It’s over. And now we’re standing here. Tell me,” his breath warm against her mouth. “Give me the words so I can give them back.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.” And then he kissed her, and the world went away.

Written in 59 minutes.

---

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

Jason thought it would be months before they’d be back in this place, before he felt like he could tell Elizabeth how he felt — he’d thought about it every day since she’d testified in court, since she’d looked at him and then back at Ric and told the truth.

He’d felt it growing between them for months, even as he tried to fix things with Sam and Elizabeth had married Lucky once again. After the kidnapping, when he’d  brought Jake home to her, and she’d held their son in her arms, and he’d picked Cameron up — he understood what she meant about wanting the dream.

Because for those few moments before Lucky came in and reclaimed his family, Jason had let himself want it, too.

And now, if he was careful not to push too hard or too fast, the dream could be theirs.

Jason slid his hands through her hair, the strands like silk. Her fingers twisted in his shirt, tugging him closer. How could he have let an entire year pass without holding her in his arms, the scent and taste of her seeping into his veins—He touched the hem of her shirt, his fingers brushing the skin underneath—

There was a click of a tumbler in the door behind them, the only warning they had before the door opened, and Spinelli stepped in. His head was down and he had headphones on—Jason and Elizabeth broke apart, her cheeks were flushed, her mouth still slightly open, her breathing shallow. He swallowed hard, then focused on his roommate.

Spinelli tugged off his headphones and grinned at them. “Hey. Fair Elizabeth, you’re still here. Awesome sauce. I was gonna suggest Stone Cold get pizza tonight. The Jackal had a burger at the diner, but I’m still hungry. You in? Little Dude probably loves it, right?”

“Um—” Elizabeth took a deep breath, crossing her arms over her chest. “He’s napping, but—” She darted a look at Jason. “We don’t usually eat for another hour. Maybe two.”

“Stay,” Jason said gently. Forever would be fine, but he’d settle for dinner. “Cam can finish his nap, and Spinelli—pizza’s fine. We’ll just wait.”

“No worries, the Jackal can feast on cheese puffs and orange soda. Just let me know what the little dude likes.” Oblivious to the tension in the air, Spinelli went past them towards the sofa, winding the cord around his headphones. “I have a project to distract me.”

The monitor on the coffee table made a sound, and Elizabeth went to it, picking it up. “Oh, it’s Jake. Um, I should get him before he wakes up Cam. Cam’s really cranky when he doesn’t get at least an hour—”

She nearly flew up the stairs, and Jason wondered if maybe he’d already pushed too hard. He cleared his throat, looked at Spinelli. The tech had tugged out the omnipresent laptop, his brow already furrowed as he bent over the keys. “You’re not doing anything that’s going to get you arrested, are you?”

“Only if the Jackal gets caught—” Spinelli said absently. He scowled. “Why aren’t all cell phones registered? I should be able to track a blocked number.”

“Don’t get caught,” Jason muttered. The last thing he needed was to be accused of harboring a fugitive. He looked towards the stairs, argued with himself for a minute, then gave up and started for the second floor.

Morgan Penthouse: Nursery

Elizabeth had reached Jake before he’d really started to fuss, and Cameron remained blissfully unaware, sprawled out on his race car bed. Elizabeth scooped Jake out of the crib and cuddled him against her still racing heart.

What the hell had happened downstairs? How had they gone from arguing about being investigated to murder to—

Elizabeth kissed Jake’s soft, silky head, closing her eyes, gently swaying in the infant, trying to wrap her min around the reality. Jason loved her. He’d said the words, and he’d kissed her.

Or had she hallucinated that?

She heard the soft creak of footsteps outside the door and turned to see Jason in the doorway. They stared at each other for a long moment before he stepped inside the room, then he stopped and smiled. Not at her, but behind her.

At Cameron laying on his stomach in bed, his arms and legs spread out like he’d been dropped from a height. The thin top sheet she’d tucked around him earlier kicked off, half on the bed, half trailing on the floor.

“He sleeps just like he does everything else,” Jason murmured, stooping to toss the sheet back on the bed, but not covering Cam again. “Full throttle.”

“He’s always been a good sleeper,” Elizabeth said, wistfully. “Even when he was a baby. I feel like I hit the jackpot with him. All mothers should get such a sweet baby for their first. It makes it less scary.”

“Jake’s making up for that, I guess.” He crossed to her, stroked Jake’s back. The infant turned at the movement, slowly twisting his head to find his father, a smile spreading across his face. He cooed, and one of his arms reached for Jason.

Elizabeth handed him over without protest, some of the twisting tension fading. She’d made so many mistakes and forced Jason to lose months of being a father, but at least the damage wouldn’t be long-lasting. Jake already loved his father.

“We should talk,” Jason said, his voice little more than a whisper. He tipped his head towards the door. “Come on.”

She wasn’t sure she wanted to, but she followed him anyway, closing the door behind her. Instead of going downstairs, Jason led her down the hallway into the master bedroom — where there was another white baby monitor. This one didn’t have the video like the downstairs one, but she was moved by the evidence of how invested Jason was in being with Jake. Not only did the bedroom have a monitor, but there was a playpen with stuffed animals and an activity blanket spread out nearby.

“I wish I could take credit,” Jason admitted. “I would have put things in here—” He looked at her. “We talked about overnight, and I wanted to be ready, but then—”

“Spinelli the Fairy Godfather struck again,” Elizabeth said. “He’s such a sweet kid, Jason. I’m so glad you have each other.”

“He’s definitely not what I expected,” Jason admitted. “I didn’t think he’d still be living here, but it’s just…”

“It feels right. And I’m glad he has a home. A place to belong.” She exhaled slowly. “He was kind when Jake was kidnapped. He came by a few times, offering to go over every detail with me. I thought you’d sent him.”

“No, I didn’t. But I would have if I thought it would help.” Jason hesitated. “I was going out of my mind stuck in jail.” He stroked Jake’s back again, then set the infant down on his back on the activity blanket, underneath the plastic arch with dangling toys. Jake immediately batted at them, his legs kicking. “I wanted Spinelli to help me get out.”

“Get—” Elizabeth frowned at him. “You mean escape? Jason.” She exhaled slowly. “I know you were just as scared as me, but I didn’t realize—” She bit her lip. “I guess I was freaking out enough for all of us.”

“You were getting enough from everyone else,” Jason reminded her. “The interrogations, the looks—” His mouth twisted. “Anyway. Spinelli talked me out of it. I’m glad. If I hadn’t waited for bail, I never would have been at the studio when Amelia talked to Maureen and heard crying.”

“Thank God for Spinelli.”

They stood in silence for a long moment, watching Jake as he played with his toys, then rocked back and forth, trying to roll over. He didn’t really have a lot of room, so he went back to playing.

Elizabeth sat down, her back to the edge of the bed and just wanted their son. Jason sat next to her, their shoulders brushing. He stretched out his legs.

“Downstairs—” Jason began then stopped, as if unsure where to go from there. Elizabeth looked at him and their eyes met. “I don’t want to push you. I know it’s been…there’s been a lot going on. And it’s not going to change in the next few months.”

“You never push me,” Elizabeth said. She leaned her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes. He lifted his arm, wrapped it around her to hold her closer. “Even when you should.” She didn’t say anything else, just soaked in the moment—this lovely, quiet moment of two parents watching their son. A piece of that fantasy she’d never dared to believe would become reality.

“I know we have to be careful, to take things slowly. I don’t want to do anything that will make the divorce or custody harder,” Jason said. “So whatever Diane says to do, that’s it. But I need you to know that I want the same thing. The dream you had—it’s mine, too.”

“I thought you didn’t dream,” Elizabeth said, tipping her head up, smiling so he knew it was a joke. But his eyes remained serious.

“I don’t. But I like to believe in yours,” he said, echoing the answer he’d given her all those years ago. “Being with you, being a family — it’s a good one. And I promise, if you’ll give me a chance, we’ll make it real.”

Lewis Hall: Georgie and Chelsea’s Room

Georgie’s stomach dropped when she saw the third blocked call of the day. She glanced over at Chelsea who was studying for their chemistry final — the last one of the summer program. “Hey, didn’t you say you were gonna ask Robbie about the hazing?”

“What?”  Chelsea blinked. “What?”

“Robbie. You were going to ask him if Sigma Alpha was doing initiation early.”

“Oh.” Chelsea straightened, stretched her arms over her head. “I did. He said no, that they don’t do anything until rush week later next month. He said there weren’t a lot of members on campus anyway. Not until this week when moving in for fall starts.”

That wasn’t the answer Georgie wanted as she stared down at the cell phone. At the blocked call. “Maybe some of the older guys are testing out ideas.”

“That’s possible. I mean, they get watched really closely by the admin,” Chelsea said. “So they’re probably trying to brainstorm new ways not to get caught hazing. Sigma’s throwing a big party on Friday. I can ask Robbie then if you want.”

“Yeah. I guess I’d just feel better if we were sure the flowers were a prank.”

“Haven’t had any since, so probably.” Chelsea flipped a page in her book. “It’s not a good one, maybe they didn’t like the reaction.”

“Hopefully,” Georgie muttered. She turned off her cell phone and went back to studying.

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

Spinelli set the pizza boxes on the coffee table then sat next to Cameron who was practically vibrating with excitement. “I love pizza,” he told Spinelli for the third or fourth time since he’d learned they were staying for dinner and dinner was pizza.

Elizabeth laughed from the other end of the sofa, bouncing Jake in her lap. “And we got your favorite—”

Spinelli lifted the top on the first box, steam rising from inside. “Yum, pepperoni!”

“Yay, roni! And no green stuff.” Cameron looked up as Jason stepped around the sofa, setting down paper plates, napkins, and a bottle of orange soda. His eyes were wide. “I have soda?”

Elizabeth made a face, but the joy in her son’s expression was impossible to resist. “Just a little.”

“Little Dude is an orange soda fan?” Spinelli offered him a high five. “My kind of kid.”

Jason set down an empty sippy cup with Spiderman emblazoned on the side. “This just appeared in my kitchen,” he told Cameron.

“The Fairy Godfather strikes again?” Elizabeth wanted to know as Cameron almost bounced of the sofa. Jason poured a little of the soda into the cup, twisted the top on and handed it to him.

“This is the best day ever. Soda and roni.” Cameron sighed happily, beaming at Jason. The toddler turned back to Spinelli who handed him pizza. “Best day,” he repeated.

Jason couldn’t disagree with that sentiment. He sat on the arm of the sofa, next to Elizabeth, and watched Cameron tear into his slide of pizza—carefully cut into small pieces because Spinelli somehow thought of everything. He’d have to find a way to show the kid how much he appreciated making Elizabeth and the boys feel at home here.

He hoped that one day, not too far away, it would be their home. He knew that Elizabeth would pack the boys up after dinner and take them to Audrey’s. It was far too soon to talk about staying — and Jason wanted to make sure that Cameron was included in any overnight visits with Jake. Just as much as he’d wanted to be with his son—how he found himself hoping Lucky pushed Elizabeth too far, that the time would come when Jason could tell Elizabeth that he wanted Cameron, too. He wanted them, all.

But rushing her would only backfire, Jason decided. If he was careful and patient, he would be able to make her dream a reality.

Elizabeth smiled up at him. Their dream, he corrected himself. It was theirs now. And he wasn’t going to let Lucky Spencer ruin it.