A story I’ve decided for various reasons not to deal with. There are two plot sketches. One is my first pass at the overall picture and the second is my more detailed synopsis–my first attempt to break it down scene by scene. The second one isn’t done, so it just breaks off mid synopsis.

I haven’t done anything with any of this in month so take that for its worth. I also haven’t spellchecked it or reread much for typos.

If you’d like to use any of this in your own work, please let me know–particularly if you utilize any the individual scene ideas. I don’t care much because I’m not writing it, but it’s a courtesy thing 🙂

Big Picture Outline

Robin arrives on Cassadine Island, finds Jason, Helena, and Stavros on ice. After a few months of struggle, she spies a boy playing in the gardens, and is struck by how much he resembles Jason. She manages to strike up a conversation, and is stunned to learn he is Jake Spencer, presumed dead years earlier.

Robin confronts Victor on his next visit, who admits that before Helena’s death, she believed Jake to be Lucky’s son and was waiting for an opportunity to carry out the plan she had concocted for Lucky all those years earlier, only to start earlier from childhood so that the brainwashing would stick. Victor isn’t sure how Helena managed it, might be similar to Katherine Bell’s dive off the parapet and survival, but the boy who Robin and Patrick operated on and donated his….(liver, kidney?) to Josslyn Jacks was not Jake Spencer.

Victor discovered Jake’s existence after learning of the cryogenics, and didn’t see the hurry in reuniting Jake with his family. He sweetens the pot — she may spend time with the boy, tell him the truth, and if she manages to wake up Jason and his family, he’ll allow Jason to take Jake home.

Robin concentrates on all three, but focuses her energy on reviving Jason. She finally manages to do so after a year on the island. When Jason awakes, he is confused and disorientated. His last memory is falling into the water. Robin explains what’s going on in PC. Victor has allowed her secure web convos with Patrick and Emma once a month. She tells Victor that her strides in reviving Jason will make Helena and Stravos more easily, and agrees to stay on if he allows Jake and Jason to go home.

After securing Victor’s agreement (but Jason must keeps mouth shut about Robin and the Cassadines), Robin tells Jason about Jake, whom she has been spending time with, talking about his parents. Jason, struggling with all the news at once (that it’s been three years since his resurrection, that his first-born son is alive, that Sam’s son is actually his, that Sam remarried to Silas, etc.)

He decides to tap into the funds that no one else knows about and go back to Port Charles on the down low. He rents a house under an assumed name, and sets up shop there with Jake, trying to figure out how to break the news to Elizabeth and Sam. He finally arranges for Robin to contact Elizabeth to come to the house so she can grab some paper work. When Elizabeth arrives, she sees Jason and begins to panic, thinking she is reliving the same delusions she had after Jake’s death. As Jason is trying to calm her down, Jake becomes impatient and comes in, calling Elizabeth Mommy. Recognizing her son, though four years older, Elizabeth passes out.

When she wakes, she is still panicking, but Jason manages to convince her that it’s real. Elizabeth joyfully reunites with her son and begs Jason for answers. He tells her that as a condition of their freedom, he can’t say anything. She’s frustrated, but wants to reunite Jason with the rest of his family, particularly his son, Danny.

Elizabeth visits Sam, and breaks the news gently. Sam is rocked with guilt. She had believed him alive for so long, but had finally been forced to give up when there was no word. She immediately tells Silas, who tries to take news one day a time, fearful of losing Sam after everything else they’ve gone through.

Sam hurries to bring Danny to visit with Jason, while Elizabeth seeks out Carly and Michael to relate the same news. Michael, too excited, lets the news slip to AJ, who is afraid with Jason back in the picture, he’ll lose his son again.

Jason and Jake’s resurrection quickly makes the rounds. Sam is torn, confides in her mother. She loved Jason so much, but she’s moved on with Silas. She loves him, too. Alexis recommends she talks to Elizabeth, who went through a similar situation.

Sam tells Elizabeth that she is overjoyed to learn that Jake is alive, and that with the news in the open, he and Danny can be brothers. As to Jason v. Silas, Elizabeth cautions Sam about feeling obligated. She wasted so much of her life, feeling obligated to love Lucky the way she had before he died, that she drove herself insane. They fell in love again years later, but she could have handled it so much better. She should be honest with herself, and the men she loves, and to not feel guilty about moving on.

Jason struggles to find his place in the world again, with Sonny having replaced Jason with Sean and Duke. Sonny is relieved to have his best friend back, but wonders if Jason should return to the life. He talks to Carly about his problems, and wonders what he should do in his life, beyond the organization and his sons.

Carly recommends he find something that he loves, and relish this chance to live a normal life.

AJ visits with Jason, trying to figure out how to make amends. Jason is shaken at finding his brother alive, and that he had dated Elizabeth briefly. He’s disturbed that Michael has a relationship with him, but Michael assures him that AJ has been sober for nearly a year, since he was cleared of Connie’s murder.

Sam tells Jason that she loves him more than anything in the world, and she is so happy to have him home, that he knows Danny is his, but she cannot lie to herself. She tells him that she’s going to stay with Silas. Jason is disappointed, but understands her decision.

Cam and Aidan are excited to have their brother back, but are disappointed that Jake and Danny have Jason as a father, while they haven’t heard from theirs in years. Elizabeth has been trying to contact Lucky for months to tell him the good news, but cannot find him. Luke eventually tells her that he’s blocking her attempts. He told Lucky when Jake came home, but Lucky still wasn’t ready to come home, and asked Elizabeth to stay away from him.

Destroyed that her betrayal has cost her sons their father, Elizabeth tries to accept the decision, but tells Luke that the Spencer abandonment gene has clearly been passed down, and that Luke should remind Lucky of his promise to be nothing like his father. Annoyed, Luke agrees.

Jason decides, if nothing else, he’ll open a garage for bikes and cars. He liked doing the manual work, and doing the books will keep his mind busy. He buys a home of his own, allowing Sam to retain the penthouse. He starts to rebuild his life, with visitation rights to his sons.

Christmas 2015 rolls around, and Elizabeth still hasn’t heard from Lucky. She is planning a big family Christmas, but Jake wants his father there. Reluctantly, Elizabeth extends the invitation to Jason, who agrees.

Just before Christmas, Jason hears from Robin. She’s unfortunately resurrected Helena and Stavros, so Victor says she can return home. She is disgusted with herself for bringing them back, and losing another two years with her family. When she comes home, she wants to talk to him about doing something about the Cassadines for good.

Jason finally admits to Elizabeth that Helena Cassadine and Cesar Faison were behind faking Jake’s death and holding them both captive. Elizabeth is enraged. She goes back to Luke, and fills him in. Helena let him believe he murdered his own grandchild, and was actually responsible for the death of another child. He tells her Helena is dead, there’s nothing to worry about. Elizabeth, leaving Robin out of it, tells him that Helena and Stavros are alive, and who knows what they’re planning next. Maybe revenge will be enough for Lucky to come home.

Luke heads off to let his son know. Nikolas, who had been living in London after leaving Britt, returns at the news that his crazy family is alive. Robin arrives home, to the relief of her daughter, but Patrick hands her divorce papers. Two years is two years too long. He kept his mouth shut, even when Jake returned home, but he wants out of the crazy WSB life. It’s cost him too much.

Nikolas confronts Robin about resurrecting his family, but finds it hard to argue with his reasons. He goes to Elizabeth, who isn’t interested in talking to anyone related Cassadines or Spencers. She’s just so angry that four years with her son was stolen from her because Helena didn’t know Jake’s real father. She’s angry with Jason, too, because while the initial decision was hers, he never wanted to come forward, leaving Jake vulnerable.

Lucky finally returns home, and goes to Elizabeth. He received the message from her about being like his father, and wants to re-establish himself with the boys. Elizabeth tells him too little, too late. They barely ask about him any longer, and she’s not sure it’s worth it since he’ll probably take off again. Lucky acknowledges that, throws her affair back in her face, he’s never felt like any of their fathers, since he believed Nikolas to be his Aidan’s father, and her other two bastards belong to other men.

Elizabeth throws him out, annoyed at her entire life.

Victor checks in with Robin. Stavros and Helena are under house arrest, and he wants to know if the Spencers are out for revenge. Robin hangs up on him. She wants nothing to do with the man her cost her life. She’s back to working at the hospital, trying to delay the divorce so maybe Patrick can forgive her somehow.

Jason tells Elizabeth that he’s talked to Sonny about going after Helena, but Elizabeth tells him she doesn’t want him, too. That’s how it keeps going. Retaliation for retaliation, it will never end. Jason reluctantly agrees, and they begin to build a better friendship, particularly after he learns how Lucky has treated Cam and Aidan. He begins to ask if they can join Jake when Jason has Danny, so that they can grow up together and become friends. Elizabeth agrees.

Luke, Nikolas, and Lucky have taken off to go after Helena and Stavros, but everyone else in Port Charles has decided to move on. After almost six months of being at home, Patrick agrees to go to therapy rather than divorce. Better for Emma. They can rebuild their trust. Sam and Silas are happy together, considering having another child. Jason and Elizabeth are towards another go at their relationship, brought together by their boys.

Detailed Synopsis

Main Story: Jason & Jake Are Alive

Setup:

Robin goes to the island

Fallout:

Sam is married to Silas

Jason is alive: What about now?

Jason can’t tell the truth

Lucky won’t come home

Robin returns home. Patrick wants divorce

Jason tells the truth. Time for Spencer vs. Cassadine

1. Robin Goes To the Island

Against her husband’s wishes, Robin heads to Cassadine Island in the Mediterranean. She begins work on Jason, Helena and Stavros, surreptitiously focusing on Jason. After few frustrating months, in which she has been able to write Patrick and Emma and only have one Skype chat, she spies an eight -year-old boy playing in the gardens. She thinks he looks familiar.

As she grows closer to reviving Jason, Victor arrives and Robin asks about the boy. Victor has been saving this news—the boy was kidnapped from General Hospital by his sister-in-law, much the way Helena had stolen away Katherine Bell, and she planned to use him the way she had failed to use Lucky Spencer all those years ago—she thought starting younger might be a good idea. That doesn’t answer her question, Robin presses. Victor replies that he is Jake Spencer, and that Helena did not know his paternity at the time, had thought he was Lucky’s biological son. The truth only came out after Jake’s “death” so Helena just held him captive, waiting for him to be useful.

Robin is horrified, but Victor tells her if she succeeds in reviving Jason, he’ll allow him to take his son home. Robin gets back to work. Eventually, her work is fruitful. Jason is disorientated, he only remembers falling into the water. He is stunned to learn that he has been in a type of coma for almost two years (Robin succeeds in Fall 2014). Robin tells Victor that the process with Jason was less complicated, as he was not cryogenically frozen. She begs for Jason to be allowed to go home—he’ll keep his mouth shut about Robin’s work, and in exchange, she will stay. Victor agrees. Then, Robin tells Jason about Jake, that for the last six months, she’s been telling him stories about his parents, and how she’s going to get him back to them. Jason reunites with Jake and promises they’ll go home together.

Robin also fills Jason in on the changes in PC. Sam had married Silas earlier that summer, but Danny is Jason’s son. Elizabeth is raising Cam and Aidan, without Lucky, who still hasn’t returned home. AJ is alive, and is struggling with sobriety after Ava Jerome killed Connie and framed him. Sean and Duke Lavery work for Sonny against Julian Jerome and Ric Lansing. J

Still feeling disoriented, Jason makes preparations to get back to Port Charles with Jake under the radar.

2. Jason Returns to PC

He checks into a motel outside town, and thinks about his next move. He wants to see his son, but with Sam’s new marriage, it might be better to approach Elizabeth first and reunite her with Jake. He sends her a text, asking her to meet him at Vista Point.

Elizabeth, who has been struggling since Nikolas married Britt, and then learned Britt had known all along about Lulu and Dante being the biological parents, left her and took Spencer to London, receives the mysterious message and decides that she might as well. The last time she was at Vista Point was Jason.

At Vista Point, she sees Jason standing there, and she begins to panic. She thinks she’s having the same hallucinations she had after Jake died, but Jason manages to convince her that he’s alive. Over joyed, Elizabeth embraces him, begging him for details. He can’t give her any right now, but he wants her to come back to the room where he’s staying.

Once they arrive back in the motel room, Jason tells her that he can’t tell her where he was, or who helped him, but the same person found someone else where Jason was held hostage. He opens the door to reveal Jake sitting on the bed. He’s three years older than when he supposedly died, but with his bright blond hair and blue eyes, she knows him immediately. Elizabeth is overwhelmed at having her baby back, and Jake is happy to meet the woman his father tells him is his mommy.

After a reunion, Jason reluctantly asks Elizabeth if she can help him spread the news. To Sam and Danny, to Carly, and to Sonny before they make any decisions on what to do next. She doesn’t want to leave her son, but knows that the sooner everyone knows Jason is alive, the sooner she can bring Jake home to his brothers.

Elizabeth goes to the penthouse first to tell Sam. At first, Sam thinks Elizabeth is having a breakdown—she knows it’s been a tough year, but Elizabeth insists. She shows her pictures on her phone of Jason, standing with Jake, in a motel Sam knows was built after Jason’s death. Elizabeth gives her the address and room number, and leaves to tell Carly and Sonny.

Stunned, Sam tells Silas she has to find out if it’s true. Silas agrees, but wonders what it means for them and their new marriage. Sam hurries to the motel and does find Jason and Jake waiting. She doesn’t know what to say, she’s torn between incredible happiness and immense guilt. She tells Jason about Danny—he already knows, and she wants them to meet as soon as possible. She offers to get him now, but Jason knows it’s getting late, and suggests tomorrow. He’s expecting Sonny and Carly any moment now.

Elizabeth has had some difficulty convincing Carly and Sonny, but her pictures give them hope, and they both hightail it to the motel. While Elizabeth continues to keep her sights on Jake, Carly, Sam, and Sonny reunite with Jason.

When everyone but Elizabeth leaves, Jason knows that news will spread from there. He looks at Elizabeth, and they wonder what to do next. Elizabeth suggests she and Jake go home to the boys, but Jake panics at leaving his father. Upset that her son doesn’t seem to want to be with her, she hesitates, but asks Jason to stay with them in the guest room until they figure out what to do, so Jake can get back to his own life.

Jason agrees, and they head back. Jake seems uninterested in reuniting with his brothers, neither of whom remember him a lot, though Cam knows who he is. Elizabeth puts them all to bed, lingering over Jake, before returning to Jason.

They talk for hours. Elizabeth presses him to talk about Sam, and how he feels about. What he thinks his next move might be, should he go back to Sonny. Elizabeth admits she dated AJ for a while, which Jason finds only slightly annoying, but he knows AJ is sober and that Michael loves him.

The next morning, Elizabeth wants to take the boys to school, so they can get Jake placed in a grade, unsure of his education while he was away. Jake balks at leaving Jason behind, who plans to head over to the penthouse to see Danny and see about any of his belongings. Uneasy with how much Jake refuses to go anywhere with Elizabeth alone, Jason decides to accompany them to drop Cam and Aidan at school, enroll Jake, and then go to the penthouse.

At the penthouse, the air is tense. Jason and Jake talk with Danny, while Sam and Elizabeth sit uncomfortably across the room. Jake is much more interested in his father’s other son than he is in his mother’s other sons. When Jason suggests Jake hang back here with Elizabeth while Sam takes him down to the storage locker where she’s put his clothes and promises his bike is in the garage, Jake refuses to leave his side. Sam, seeing how upset Elizabeth, gives Jason the key and tells him the location. He takes Jake with him.

Elizabeth tells Sam that she’s having a hard time, because Jake doesn’t remember her, that she’s a woman named Mom, without any sense of the meaning, and that Jason was the one who brought him home. She’s reminding herself to be grateful, that the situation will eventually adjust. Sam admits to her own problems. Silas slept in the guest room the night before, and she’s not sure what she should do. She and Jason divorced before he was declared dead, so her marriage is legal, but she feels guilty she moved on, Elizabeth confides her experience with Lucky and Jason, and says the best thing Sam can do is be honest with herself.

 

And yeah, that’s how far I got. Again, it’s fair use if you want to adopt the concept but just let me know and give me some credit 🙂

A couple of things: This plot sketch is not something I go back and check for spelling or typos, so they’re messy by nature.

This is what I sent to Cora for outline thoughts.

Set October 2006. Elizabeth and Jason have had the initial paternity test discussion in which he asks her to marry him regardless of the results. She has rebuffed him. Lucky is away in rehab, she has contemplated filing for divorce but has not yet done it Jason and Sam are not together, have not broached such a subject.

Elizabeth takes the test at Mercy hospital, worried that the Quartermaines or someone else she know would have access to the results. Two weeks until the test results come in. A day or so later, Epiphany informs Elizabeth she’s been suspended due to suspicion that she funneled drugs to Lucky — meds are missing after all. Elizabeth is horrified, but is confronted by Ric in the parking garage. If she wants this suspension and possible termination to go away, she needs to testify at a grand jury he’s empaneling to investigate Jason and Sonny. She refuses, and then Ric insinuates that not only will she lose her job, but possibly face legal repercussions for stealing the meds. Maybe she might lose custody of Cameron.

Horrified, Elizabeth sits in her car for a long time. She knows she has to tell Jason about the threats but worried that contacting him would be an admission of guilt, so she goes to the Quartermaines to visit Emily. She begs to borrow Emily’s phone, knowing a call to her brother would be relatively routine. Emily balks at first, wanting to know why she’s so upset, but Elizabeth isn’t explaining. Emily agrees, and Elizabeth calls Jason, arranging to meet out at Vista Point.

Emily still presses her, particularly on the suspension, trying to remind Elizabeth Jason’s having problems of his own with Sonny’s illness and the breakup with Sam. Elizabeth fends her off and heads out for the meeting.

She tells Jason about Ric’s threat. She’s pretty terrified if they force her to testify, there’s a lot of little things she probably knows that might be the nail in his coffin. They’ve known each other nearly a decade, after all. Lucky used to work for him as a courier. She’d been kidnapped and accosted by men like Sorel and Roscoe, even Manny. Jason recognizes the threat—they don’t know particularly what fishing expedition Ric might be on, but the net is wide considering how much Elizabeth has, even accidentally, been privy to. He’s also worried about the missing file from that summer—he doesn’t want her to have to answer any question about it. If she doesn’t testify, Ric might be able to railroad her into taking the fall for Lucky and his pills. She suspects Maxie but there’s no evidence. God knows, Elizabeth has a history of covering for Lucky and his issues, going back to the brainwashing.

Jason agrees it’s a problem. How long did Ric give her? A week. He asks her for one day to talk to Diane, to figure out options. He’s not going to let her end up in trouble for him. They’ll figure out what to do next.

The next day, he calls her from a different cell number so it’s not immediately traced to him. They meet again at Vista Point. After discussion the generalities with Diane, the best way to keep Elizabeth from being compelled to testify is if they fly to the Dominican Republic, where she can have a divorce from Lucky in twenty-fours, and they can get married. He starts to explain they’d need Lucky’s consent for it be valid in New York, but she’s still mostly stuck on step two of the plan. Get married? Haven’t they already been down this road before?

Jason eventually convinces her, and already has the paperwork Lucky will need to sign. She’s not sure how she’s supposed to get that dealt with, but since it’s already Saturday, and she only has until Friday morning, she agrees to let him know as soon as she can get it signed so they can go. Kind of dumbstruck and still not entirely convinced, Elizabeth goes home, but Ric is waiting is waiting at her apartment when she gets home. He just wants to remind her that Cameron’s safety is at stake here. If Elizabeth is proved to have provided her husband with the meds, why would they leave a small child with her? Add to the fact that she has yet to file for divorce—

Elizabeth tells him to get out or she’s going to call the police. Once inside her home, she calls Nikolas. She wants his help to go to the rehab tomorrow so she can get paperwork signed for an uncontested divorce. She’s hoping with Nikolas’s encouragement, Lucky will sign it and not realize she’s having the divorce done in the DR. She figures it’s best to present as a fait accompli.

Nikolas agrees to help her, but wishes she would give Lucky a chance. Elizabeth explains that the hospital has suspended her, pending investigation into the loss meds, ommiting Ric’s involvement. This is her best chance to retain her job and health insurance. She has a son and one on the way to worry about. He gets it, and suggests they frame it to Lucky that way — surely he’ll understand that she needs to cut ties with him for the moment.

Lucky is having a good day and readily agrees to the divorce. He’s full of apologies, he hates what he did, he had no idea Maxie would steal the drugs. Elizabeth doesn’t necessarily want Maxie involved, but appreciates the offer to sign an affidavit that Elizabeth has nothing to do with it. She’s confident she’ll be exonerated.

The paperwork in hand, Elizabeth grabs Cameron and tells her grandmother she’s leaving town for a few days to take a breather. Audrey agrees. She arrives at the airstrip to learn Sonny has become involved. He wants this to look as good as possible for all their sakes — Robin is coming along as maid of honor, he’ll be best man. After the divorce is final, they’ll head to the island for a private beach wedding. Elizabeth is extremely uncomfortable with that, but agrees.

Robin tells her that Sonny didn’t ask Emily because of the connection to Lucky. In private, Elizabeth fills Robin in completely — Lucky and Maxie, the one night with Jason. The possible baby. Robin is concerned. Have they even discussed what might happen if Lucky turns out the father? Elizabeth isn’t sure. Mostly because, she’s hoping it will be Jason’s child. He’s the better father all around. Robin agrees, but they should address the situation.

Once Elizabeth attains her divorce, Sonny surprises them with that beach wedding, down to outfits and photographers. Jason doesn’t seem to argue with it, and Elizabeth suppose it’s all for the appearance, but shortly before the ceremony Jason tells her he knows this is overwhelming, and wants to make sure she’s okay with everything. They haven’t really settled any details for what comes after. She acknowledges she’s a little apprehensive. What if the baby is Lucky’s, for one thing? Jason is less sure about that, but promises if she wants him to, he raise the child as his own. Elizabeth is not on board with that—Jason doesn’t deserve that to happen to him again. It doesn’t bother him—but it bothers her. If Lucky stays clean, and she hopes he will, she doesn’t want to cut him out of his child’s life. Jason can understand that and they agree to table that for now. She feels better that they’re at least talking about what’s next.

The wedding itself is actually really nice, and Sonny has timed it for just before sunset. Robin tells Sonny later if she hadn’t known they were both in serious relationships, she would have thought the ceremony was real. Sonny agrees.

There’s an awkward tension in the villa they’re sharing, but Elizabeth decides to go for it. They’re married, she tells him. They were both free before and it’s not like they’re not attracted to one another. They sleep together and it’s kind of acknowledging their marriage is going to be real.

Once they return to PC, it’s Thursday. The next day, Elizabeth is due to receive the results of the paternity test and it’s also Ric’s deadline. Sonny had their apartment packed and moved into Jason’s penthouse, something that did not go unnoticed by Nikolas and Emily. They confer on it and Nikolas reveals Elizabeth’s quick divorce. Emily has a feeling she knows what’s up, but doesn’t say anything to Nikolas.

Elizabeth doesn’t seek Ric out, knowing Sonny put a wedding announcement in the paper scheduled to run that morning. Instead, she goes to pick up the results, resolving not to read them until she and Jason are together. She runs into Emily who’s waiting outside Cam’s preschool and has seen the paper. She had suspected it, but wonders why her friend didn’t tell her. Elizabeth really isn’t in the mood, particularly since Emily had continually encouraged her to stay with Lucky and give him chances. After ditching Emily, she grabs the results and heads back to the penthouse.

Where she finds Sam shaking the newspaper in Jason’s face and crying. Elizabeth attempts to just get out of the room so Jason can deal with it, but Sam begins to light into her as well with some choices names, causing Jason to step in and tell her to knock it off.

They’re in the middle of this when Cody announces Ric is on his way up with a detective. Great timing. Luckily, Sam doesn’t really care for Ric so she decides to hide out in the kitchen. Ric comes in and snarks at Elizabeth about her decision — this is how she’s going to shore up losing her job by marrying money? Elizabeth remains silent while Jason tersely tells him that if he has anything else to add, he should contact Diane. Ric storms out, obviously annoyed with being thwarted.

Sam comes back in from the kitchen, slightly more calm. She apologizes, she thought they had continued their affair, but obviously they’re just protecting Jason. When she leaves, Jason apologizes for her behavior and that she left with the wrong impression of the situation, he just didn’t want to make things worse. She ignores that for now because she’s not really sure she wants to know what he thinks the right impression would be, so she changes the subject and pulls out the test results. She’s scared and Jason finally asks her what does she want it to say. Of course she wants him to be the father, Elizabeth replies as if it should be understand. After surviving the summer with Lucky, who put her son in such danger with his drug habit, she knows Jason is the better father and even before this complication, she wanted to give him a child, because she remembers how much he loved Michael.

And it goes without saying, it would be easier if the man she was married to would be the biological father of the child she was carrying. With that in mind, she hands him the envelope. Jason takes it and reads it out loud, pausing at the news that he is declared the father with a 99.93 certainty. They’re both more relieved than either had realized and reach for each other. Looks like their marriage of convenience is convenient for a lot of reasons.

Afterwards, Elizabeth asks if maybe they could pick Cameron up from preschool and grab lunch at Kelly’s. It would probably be good to be out in public, she tells him, and she wants Cam to be comfortable with. Jason agrees, and while in the car after picking up Cam, Jason receives a phone call from Sonny. He has an inkling of Ric’s next move and wants to meet with him. Jason tells him he’ll be there after lunch with Liz and Cam. Sonny tells him he’ll join them.

While at Kelly’s, Elizabeth is a little annoyed Sonny is going to join them, but understands it. It’s a good show of solidarity. Sonny tells them that source in the DA’s office has heard rumblings about a grand jury being empaneled even though Elizabeth would not be a voluntary witness. She’s confused—wasn’t the marriage supposed to protect them? Sonny responds that he’s setting up a meeting with Diane on Monday to discuss options. There’s no way a grand jury can be summoned fast, so they’ve got time to see what might be happening. He chats for a bit with Cam, suggests maybe hooking him up with a playdate with Kristina, Morgan, and Michael before leaving.

Elizabeth decides she doesn’t want to deal with any the drama over the weekend. She just wants to settle into their new home and into their new life. Jason agrees since he knows it might be the last bit of downtime they get. The weekend is relatively light though Elizabeth does get an annoyed phone call from Emily, doesn’t appreciate being avoided, and an angry one from Lucky who threatens to contest the DR divorce. Elizabeth ignores both for the moment — Emily is always annoyed, and she’s sure Diane’s paperwork for the divorce was good.

On Monday, they drop Cam at preschool before meeting Sonny at Diane’s office. Diane has done some digging and has some rough news for them. Yes, marital privilege applies — but only to what what is said between them. Elizabeth can still be compelled to testify since the matters Ric may be referring apply to before the marriage. Most of the time, prosecutors elect not to press it as it can get dicey and depends usually on the judge to apply it. In that case, communications may be privileged but what she saw or did is not protected.

So Diane needs an accounting of what Elizabeth may have told Ric at any time about Jason or Sonny. Elizabeth says almost nothing. Looking back, she figured Ric initially targeted her because of that connection, but he was subtle. She wasn’t really that receptive but things with Lucky and Jason were difficult and then things with Courtney had blown up, so she’d gone ahead and started to date. But Ric’s questions were just…what normal people ask. About previous relationships. It really came up when Ric started working for Sonny, because Elizabeth mentioned she knew Sonny, and Ric referred to hearing a rumor about her dating Jason. But she never told him anything specific, much less anything that might incriminate them.

Sonny’s patience is wearing thin and he kind of snaps at her. Even when you were demanding I leave him alone? When you were protecting him while Carly was his hostage? You never talked about the things she’d seen. Elizabeth is annoyed by this, but Jason tells Sonny to back off. Elizabeth says that she had come forward when she realized Carly was in the house. It’s hardly her fault if Sonny never had Ric arrested for kidnapping or taken out. Diane hates that term, but Sonny just retorts well she married him despite all that, so what the hell.

Elizabeth is truly pissed off. She tells Sonny that even though he mostly forgot her existence when she wasn’t doing him a favor or useful to him, she took her friendship honestly, and fuck it, she had too much going on in her life to give a damn about him. She’d had a miscarriage, her marriage was never stable for a minute, her blood pressure was through the roof by the time she left Ric. Diane calls for a time out. She honestly feels Ric is going to go on a fishing expedition, which is why he’s not bringing general charges. He’ll keep badgering Elizabeth with the very little he does know until maybe something slips.

Jason wants to know their options, he doesn’t want to hear about the past anymore. He’s confident Elizabeth never said a word to Ric, even if Sonny isn’t. Sonny apologizes and Elizabeth accepts. Diane says her first move is to get Ric taken off any case relating to Sonny, Elizabeth . Being the ex-husband, it’s a huge conflict of interest. With any luck, that will be the end of the matter. Sonny again apologizes, more sincerely. He’s just angry about the situation, that Elizabeth is being targeted again by Ric simply because of her relationship with Jason. He’d hoped it would go away. Elizabeth responds more sincerely as well. Ric is a lousy human being who’s been terrorizing them all just a little too long in her her opinion.

After they give Cam dinner and put him to bed, Elizabeth admits she’s worried Diane won’t be able to stop Ric from putting her in front of a grand jury. Because she thinks he might contact other people who might give him information, particularly people who’ve known them forever and might not be happy with them. Like Lucky. She thinks even Emily might be forced to testify. If Diane can’t get Ric off the case, there’s no telling the damage he might do. Jason recognizes the risk, and they’ll do what they can to minimize it, but it’s not good to think about things that might not happen at all. She agrees, and they table it. Yet another thing they’re procrastinating about.

Nikolas visits Lucky in rehab and learns his brother is pissed about the ruse Elizabeth pulled. Nikolas, realizing Elizabeth had also duped him, doesn’t feel much better. Lucky begins to make threats about Elizabeth’s child, not having made the connection that the marriage might put the paternity in jeopardy. He confers with Emily, who thinks maybe that’s why the marriage was hurried for the sake of the baby. They wonder whether to intimate that to Lucky, but decide it would affect his recovery.

A few days pass and there’s no developments. Emily catches Elizabeth at Kelly’s and asks, tentatively about the status of her job. Elizabeth hasn’t thought much about it, she’s been unpacking and dealing with things at the penthouse, particularly refining th/e security detail on herself, the apartment and Cam. As far as she knows, the investigation is still ongoing. Relieved Elizabeth isn’t blowing her off, Emily asks how she’s feeling, re the baby and all. Elizabeth tells her as well as can be expected. And then Emily goes and asks is the baby the reason they got married? Elizabeth decides she might as well come clean and admits yes. She’s not sure if or how to tell Lucky. She hadn’t intended on telling him about the baby at all until things were settled, but matters forced her hands. Emily agrees waiting would be best, but with the marriage to Jason, it might not be feasible. Elizabeth figures she might be right.

Almost two weeks after the meeting with Diane, she calls Jason and Elizabeth back to her office. She has filed a motion to recuse Ric from all matters relating to Sonny, Jason and Elizabeth. Scott Baldwin has been appointed special prosecutor in his stead. Though Sonny has a complicated past with Sonny due to his daughter, Karen, it’s tenuous at best. Elizabeth feels slightly better — she doesn’t even know Scott that well so he likely won’t harass her. Diane wants to have her optimism but isn’t feeling it.

Lucky’s sixty day rehab is up and he goes home to apartment, seething that Cam and Elizabeth’s things are gone. He’s lost his job, wife and son, but he’s going to keep his kid. He storms over to the penthouse, demanding entrance. Elizabeth, bolstered by the fact Jason and Sonny are across the hall in an office talking about business, allows him in. He starts ranting about her abandoning him and that he’s going to sue for custody of Cam and the new baby, she won’t keep him out of their lives. If she fights, he’ll tell anyone who will listen Elizabeth stole pills for him.

Any thought of trying to ease into the truth flies out the window. Elizabeth tells him the baby is Jason’s, and that he never legally adopted Cam so he can go to hell. She tries to kick him out, but he doesn’t go right away. The guard on the door interferes and there’s a scuffle, which draws Jason and Sonny from across the hall. Sonny decides what the hell, and calls the police. The guard finally gets the upper hand and Lucky is arrested for assault and trespassing. Once he’s gone and Sonny and the guard go to file the charges, Jason lights into Elizabeth for letting him in the penthouse. She’s really not in the mood and storms out, angry Jason thinks he can control her.

While Elizabeth is blowing off steam, Diane calls Jason. She’s finally got a lead on what Scott is planning and says to get Elizabeth home. She’ll be right over.

Elizabeth returns and things are still tense when Diane arrives. She says that the investigation into Jason’s missing police files from the summer has been reopened. She fears that this, in addition to the pill charges, is the leverage over Elizabeth to flip on Jason and Sonny. Elizabeth is now legitimately scared — the pills are a bogus charge, but she and Jason both know she’s guilty of stealing and destroying Jason’s file. Does Diane know what evidence they have for either charge? Diane isn’t sure, but Scott would have to show his hand if he thought he had the pressure. She’ll keep them informed, but she’s not sure where this is going.

Once she leaves, Elizabeth tries to talk about what they’re going to do. Jason is pissed that the authorities intend to go after his pregnant wife to get to him, but he’s not sure if they need to act at the moment. If they’d had any evidence Elizabeth destroyed that file, they would not have waited all this time to use the charges. He again tells her not to get stressed over something that might not happen. She blows up because she’s tired of not stressing about things that might not happen. He didn’t want to talk about how to tell Lucky and then hated how she handled the situation, he doesn’t want to talk about how to get rid of their legal troubles and they sure as hell aren’t talking about the baby and their future together. Why bother since she’ll probably be giving birth in jail?

Kind of stunned at this new explosion, Jason doesn’t immediately follow when Elizabeth flees, but sends a guard. She picks Cam up at preschool and checks into a hotel. She’s just…frustrated and wants a moment. She’s not thinking how it’ll look.

While Elizabeth is gone, Sam shows up. She wants to talk about getting back together now that Ric has been removed as prosecutor. Surely whatever he was doing to Elizabeth is a moot point. Maybe they can do something, and Jason is kind of annoyed because he didn’t think he’d have to have this conversation. He tells Sam that Elizabeth is pregnant, that its his child and that they’re actually married. She’s kind of…slow to understand what he means by that final thing, and just thinks it’s for the baby, which she gets, but—and then it hits her. She demands to know if they’re sharing a room. Jason doesn’t understand why she’s pushing this. They broke up almost six months ago and she slept with her stepfather, so…Sam tells him it was mistake, but he really doesn’t want to hear it. He thinks she should leave before Elizabeth gets home. She’s truly pissed now and storms out.

Carly, having been informed Elizabeth booked a room, goes to see her. She wants to know what the hell the problem is but stops before freaking out completely because Elizabeth is exhausted and Cameron is whining. She picks Cam up, and cuddles the three year old on her lap, showing him how to color in a book he had thrown. Once Cam is calmed down, she takes pity on Elizabeth, who is too tired to fight. She tells Carly about the last few months, including why she and Jason are married, and their possible legal troubles. Carly says she was stupid to destroy that file, but hell she probably would have done the same thing if given the opportunity. She can appreciate why Elizabeth blew up. Pregnancy and all that, but walking out is the wrong way to deal with it. Jason’s partially right — there isn’t much they can do until Scott shows his hand, but don’t let him dismiss her concerns.

Elizabeth takes Cam home and apologizes to Jason for blowing up, and he admits they’re not handling the situation well. He didn’t think things through — figuring that spousal privilege had protected Sonny and Carly all those years before, and it had protected him and Brenda after Alcazar’s murder. He didn’t know the ins and outs of it, didn’t realize how things could get complicated. She asks if he’s sorry, if he wishes they weren’t married. He immediately rejects that. One, he doesn’t like to think about what ifs, and two, he’s satisfied with how things are. Satisfied is such an anemic word but Elizabeth lets it go for the moment. He’s a good father, and he’s a good husband. He wouldn’t cheat on her or take pills. Her standards are low these days. If sometimes she wished they were in love, well, that was a fantasy for a woman who wasn’t about to become a mother again. She tells him to have Sonny drop the charges against Lucky. Christmas is in a few weeks, and she just…wants to pretend things are normal. He agrees.

Christmas Day passes peacefully. Jason and Elizabeth decorate and try to make the day special for Cameron. He’s happy in his school, happy in his situation, and really starting to be attached to Jason and to the idea of being a big brother. They go to Sonny’s for dinner, where he’s been allowed to have all three of his children for a change and the three of them completely avoid any talk of legal troubles though they know, in this case, no news is probably bad news.

Shortly after the beginning of the new year, Diane calls. Scott would like to sit down with Elizabeth and Jason to discuss a few matters. They can refuse, but this is their opportunity to see what’s up his sleeve.

Scott begins the interview by stating that they intend to charge Elizabeth with possession of narcotics and intent to distribute and obstruction of justice in tampering with evidence—the latter of which may be upgraded to a federal charge. Diane tells Scott this is all nonsense, but Scott thinks a jury will buy that Elizabeth kept her husband drugged up, hoping he wouldn’t notice her affair with the local mob enforcer, whom she protected from jail by destroying crucial evidence. The pills went missing on her floor, on her shifts, her husband acknowledged an addiction for which he’d been fired, and Elizabeth was in the squad room when the evidence went missing. Coupled with her hasty divorce and remarriage, Scott is confident a jury would connect the dots.

Diane snarkily asks if he’s so sure, what the hell are they doing there. Elizabeth is sheet-white and Jason is stone silent. Scott admits it’s not Elizabeth he wants and certainly doesn’t relish putting her in jail. Elizabeth begins to stay something, but Diane quiets her. What exactly does Scott want? Scott doesn’t want Elizabeth to flip on Jason. No, he wants Jason to flip on Sonny. If Jason agrees to testify and provide evidence against his boss, then his wife and unborn child will be spared the stress of an arrest and trial.

Elizabeth is horrified. Of course that’s not going to happen, but Diane again quickly quiets her. Diane tells Scott he has no case, and shames him for attempting to scare the bejesus out of a woman who had already suffered two miscarriages. Scott tells them that he’s not in a hurry. He’s confident when Jason has time to think it over, he’ll come to the the right decision. After all, isn’t Elizabeth in this position because of him?

Diane hustles her clients out into the car, and explodes. Of all the nerve. Jason quietly asks Diane what exactly the options are this point now that Scott has shown his hand. Diane’s not sure. She would petition for discovery, to learn exactly what evidence Scott has, but that wasn’t possible until charges had been filed. Elizabeth is upset that she’s put Jason into this position. They married so she would be protected from Ric, and now her own actions, her own previous marriage threatened to jeopardize Jason. This was not what she wanted.

Diane tells them she’s going to keep working, hoping to get more information about Scott and his sources. She’s not going down without a fight.

Once at home, they table conversation until Cam is in bed. Elizabeth is very scared now. The way Scott laid out the charges, she’s worried a jury would convict her without strong evidence, and hell she was actually guilty. Jason tells her not to worry. She did it to protect him ,and he’s not going to let her be punished for that.

Emily and Nikolas have lunch and reflect on the fact they’re so far apart from Elizabeth. Emily is sure something is going on, but Elizabeth is just not talking. She knew Robin knew something, but the other doctor had remained mum and Elizabeth hadn’t really been keeping in touch, the investigation at GH still being conducted. Nikolas is frustated because he’s pretty sure Lucky is using again but he can’t prove it.

Jason meets with Sonny, but Sonny doesn’t have much to offer. It’s a shitty deal no matter what and they’re both worried about the stress on her pregnancy. Scott hasn’t made a move yet, but Jason doesn’t know how long he’ll have.

Elizabeth meets wih Diane separately. She wants to start guardian ship paperwork for Cameron in case the worst happens. Diane agrees, but wishes she’d have more faith. Elizabeth is just out of it.

After two weeks of radio silence, Scott makes another move. He contacts Diane to guage how Elizabeth is feeling. Would she be up to another meeting, by herself? Diane balks. Can’t flip on the best friend of the husband without the husband being there. She’s not even confident Scott’s case is good—

So Scott, as a courtesy, sends over copies of his files. Diane is troubled and calls Jason and Liz in for a conference. The pill charges are shaky — really just that the timing matches and Lucky’s addiction, but the evidence is much stronger against her in the file theft. Elizabeth signs in for the crucial ten minutes in the squad room and at least three detectives are willing to testify she was close enoug to Alexis to overhear the damning information. Hospital security files show her standing in front a shredder for nearly five minutes, though no idea what she’s doing. Diane remarks it’s possible she might have been on the computer, but it might be a tough sell. The PCPD isn’t thrilled, seeing her as abandoning a brother in blue for a criminal.

In other words, Elizabeth asks dully, Scott actually has a case. Diane admits he does. Elizabeth asks about a possible plea agreement—which Jason tries to veto immediately, but Diane says its not much of an option. She could get ten to fifteen years if convicted of both at trial, though she could, under normal circumstances, plead it down to a misdemeanor which might lead to a fine and suspended sentence. But Scott has hinted that he is not open to a plea agreement, and if she just plead guilty, she’d be at the mercy of a court.

A plea is completely out, Jason tells her. She is not having their child in prison, she’s not doing a damn minute of time. He’s the one who breaks the law, not her. He’s not letting her pay for his crimes. Elizabeth is almost hysterical since she’s actually being accused of at least one crime she did do, and she says she’d do it again to protect him. She doesn’t want to go to jail, but what’s the alternative? Diane leaves them to duke it out.

She’s so tired anymore, tired of waiting for the second shoe to drop and learning it’s an avil. What is the alternative? Jason can’t flip on Sonny, that’s not even on the table. Forget the friendship, it would be suicide from their enemies—Jason would always be labeled a snitch. It’s got to be her. Jason tells her they’ll keep dogging Diane for other options. He’s not letting her be the sacrificial lamb. They’re only going after her to get to him, and he’s not going to let it happen, no matter what he has to do. She’s too tired to continue to fight, so the topic gets shelved.

Jason meets with Diane. He wants to know if Scott would take a plea from him. He’d cop to something on his own, something mid-level. He would do the time. Diane thinks this is the dumbest idea in the history of world, but agrees to put the feelers out to Scott.

Emily visits Elizabeth, but is rejected at the door. Elizabeth is feeling ill, she’s told. Stung, she reports to Nikolas it’s like she doesn’t even know her friend anymore, the way she just abandoned Lucky. Nikolas thinks something else is happening.

Jason learns from Diane Scott isn’t interested in him. He wants Sonny. Sonny and Jason have been making calls of their own, and Sonny says that they should let Elizabeth go on trial, and they’ll just buy the jury. Jason isn’t so sure it’s worth the risk. Sonny remarks that Jason could probably get Witness Protection for him and his family if he were to flip completely on Sonny. Jason angrily tells him to fuck off. How dare he think he’d sacrifice Sonny’? Sonny tells him he’s going to have to make a choice.

In the midst of this drama, Jason and Elizabeth have an ultrasound and learn they’re having a boy. At home, Elizabeth tells Jason she’s drawn up guardianship papers for Cameron in case she ends up in prison after all, which only makes him angrier. Why can’t she trust him to make this go away? Because making it go away isn’t an option, isn’t that clear to him by now? And wouldn’t it just make his life so much damn easier? He wouldn’t be saddled down with a wife he didn’t want, just her kids. He could even get back together with Sam—

At this point, Jason is strung so tightly that he punches a hole in the wall with Elizabeth’s pronouncement. He knows this isn’t going away, and why the hell is she even bringing up Sam? She’s not even the radar. Elizabeth, their family, this life, it means everything to him and he’s not going to let Scott use her to break him apart. He admits he tried to plead guilty on his own, but Scott refused.

Mostly stunned by the last five minutes, Elizabeth focuses on that last part. What the hell, you bastard. How dare you think you going to jail can be the answer here? Doesn’t he know how much she needs him? How absolutely vital he is?

And of course, they both kind of stop because they know there’s nothing left to say. They’ve admitted the strength of their relationship, their connection and the impossibility of the situation. And there’s still no answer to this situation. Cam’s guard brings him home from school, so they stop dealing with it.

The next day, while Cam is at school and Elizabeth naps, Jason goes to Sonny. Sonny wonders if Jason is here to give him warning. Jason isn’t sure. He tells Sonny he tried to make his own deal, but Scott wants Sonny and no one else. He can’t let Elizabeth pay because she protected him, and she’s certainly not guilty of the drug charges. Sonny admits he’s not happy about things. Diane just dumped him as a client to prevent conflict. She can’t tell Elizabeth to tank another client, after all. And maybe Sonny should do time. Jason hates that option, he doesn’t want to turn on Sonny, but this is his wife, the mother of his children. Before the conversation can go further, Jason receives a frantic call from Diane. A source at the PCPD says Elizabeth there in a room with Scott and waived all privilege. Jason and Sonny rush to PCPD, where they’re prevented from stopping the interrogation.

Inside, Elizabeth tells Scott she’ll plead guilty to the evidence tampering, but not the drugs. She didn’t do that. Scott tells her there’s no plea agreement. She could do five years, at least for the charge. And he won’t pull any strings to delay her sentencing until after the baby’s birth. Elizabeth accepts that, and Scott tries to play her a bit. How it must feel to know her husband would let her go to jail rather than turning on a friend. How little she meant to him after everything she’d done for him. Elizabeth isn’t fooled. She knows how this is tormenting Jason and she’s worried Jason would end up choosing her. She did the crime. She’s not going to let Scott go after her husband when she’s guilty of that at least.

Scott is really annoyed. This is not the confession he wanted, not the defendant, and now he’s faced with actually putting a mother in jail. A woman with no history, into a prison with violent offenders.

She looks like Karen a little, with her fierce expression and the tilt of her chin.

Scott rips up the confession and tells her to get out. They’re done. She leaves the room, and Jason and Diane are frantic. Scott tells them all to get out.

Diane is satisfied with Elizabeth’s explanation — that she had gambled with a confession, knowing Scott didn’t really want her. Once he had walked away from her confession, he had tied his hands. He could never go after her again for those charges with explaining why he’d let her go.

When they return home, Jason is pretty livid that she risked everything without even talking to him. She apologizes but she knows he never would have allowed it. She knew that Jason was at Sonny’s possibly discussing Jason turning in Sonny. He admits they had begun to talk about the possibility. She would never forgive herself and any hope for a future would have been poisoned if he’d betrayed himself that way, turning on Sonny, particularly to protect her from something she had actually done. She thought this would give them their best chance. He’s relieved her gamble worked, but he doesn’t want her to take chances like this again. This is their life, and they’re in it together. Hard to argue with that.

Epilogue: Elizabeth gives birth to Jake, and it’s a special moment. Jason tells her how much he loves her, and their sons.

Cora responded with some thoughts and ideas:

Great setting for the story. Almost all the MOC stories I’ve read have taken place during the 2002/2003 time period so it’s nice to see one that is in the later half of Jason/Elizabeth. The timeline works well for the setting of the MOC.

I like that there is a semblance of a friendship between Sonny and Elizabeth. I always did enjoy the scenes where they are actually friends. I also like that they have a blowout scene where Liz gets to yell at him for being a jackass to her during the LiRic storyline.
I enjoy how you are using Carly in this storyline. It’s refreshing that she’s not Liz’s adversary but actually helps her.
I love the turn of events in the storyline (Scotty is going after Sonny and not Jason). It’s a new twist that not many people write about. I also like how the case is built up against Elizabeth. It’s completely logical and the character’s reactions to the events are on point. (Jason trying to make a deal with Scotty to get Elizabeth off the hook). I can easily picture this story playing out on the TV screen.
It’s nice that Sonny actually considers letting Jason flip on Sonny. It shows that Sonny cares for Jason and is willing to go down to protect Jason and his family after all the times Jason has protected Sonny’s family.
I like that they keep tabling the conversation about their problems. Classic Liason.
I think it’s a great plot point to have Elizabeth confess to Scotty and having him doubt his actions and think of Karen. I love any throwbacks to the past. haha. I don’t think you need to have the trial to make the story compelling. While it would be a good plot point to bring in other characters (Audrey, Robin, etc) it might drag the story out. On the other hand, if you do decide to write in the trial it could be a good way to resolve the Emily/Nikolas questions I mention below.
I wonder if you can bring in some flashbacks from Jason/Elizabeth’s conversations from their ONS/NOP in this story. For instance, they talk about how life always gets in the way and timing is everything and their’s suck. I believe it was 8/15/2006. You could use that perhaps in the scene where they realize the marriage of convenience is not just to protect each other from testify but it allows them to build a life together.
Several questions to consider:
How does Elizabeth agree to marry Jason? During the NOP and reiterated in Elizabeth’s scene with Cameron on 9/12/2006, Jason lives a dangerous life and she can’t bring her child into that world. I think a scene that explicitly shows Elizabeth considering this thought and changing her mind (and why she does) is needed. I understand she wants to be protected and protect Jason from Ric’s investigation but it seems a bit weird that she’s apprehensive about it but then decides a MOC is okay.
I’m interested to see how the wedding scene plays out. Do they discuss safety/security concerns for the family during these scenes before they consummate?

The ball was dropped on the Emily/Nikolas/Lucky aspects of the story. Does Emily/Nikolas ever find out what Elizabeth was keeping from them? What was their reaction to the fallout about what happens to Elizabeth? Did Lucky fall off the wagon? Is he back in rehab? Does Robin make any other appearances in the story?

Is their going to be a scene where Ric gets all huffy and puffy with Diane or another character for getting recused from the case?

And my responses to her:

I was thinking maybe of having Elizabeth explain her reasoning to come out during the conversation with Robin. I’ve always seen that part of the scene as a defensive tactic – Elizabeth walking away before Jason could. I’m not sure she would have been able to imagine Jason wanting to continue seeing her, so she said what she thought he might be thinking. So when Jason suggests this plan, she doesn’t quite jump at it, but she doesn’t pull away from it either. I remember that her refusal to that first proposal didn’t stem from the violence (in fact, at no point does that come out as a reason to hide the paternity until February — Elizabeth’s original reason for keepnig the scret was not to wreck Jason’s life). Elizabeth almost appeared to consider it until Jason didn’t really know what kind of marriage it would be. So I’m kind of working from that concept, but yeah I’ll definitely have to address that.
And I think there has to be an element of that in the scene before the wedding. Because everything’s been a blur up until that point, it’s been fear and desperation for her boys and that instinct of wanting to protect Jason ,but not sure she could and do what she needs for her own family. So Jason’s plan offers her a way to do that, she agrees, but then she actually has her quickie divorce in her hand that it’s starting to feel real. Sonny’s explaining this wedding plans, she sees the dress. She starts to freak because she’s starting to accept the fact that her love for Jason has just been buried, never gone and it’s there again, but what does that even mean? So I think she’ll instigate the conversation, because she’s having cold feet. What does this mean for the future? The paternity aside, there’s Cameron to deal with, and how long would something like this last. I want Jason to give her answers to reassure her, but nothing quite definitive, so I’d have to play with this.
As to the rest of it, it’s just a matter how much to put other characters in. I’m trying hard to write a straightforward story with main storyline almost in the the line of A Few Words, but that had some Sonny and Carly stuff in there, dealing with their guilt. I want to use other character to enhance it without taking away from it. So I know I have to put a bit more Robin in there. I want to do more Emily, but I also want it be about Elizabeth finally taking stock of her friendships. Emily was not all that supportive of Elizabeth during the drug storyline — and she, along with Nikolas, factored into the guilt I think Elizabeth felt about not really having her heart in her marriage, worried that her night with Jason would send Lucky over the edge again. Once she realizes how Lucky has put her at risk (through the drugs and being suspended). So while I have to deal with Emily/Nikolas, I do want a distance to be created.

As for Lucky, I don’t want him to be the villain. He’s angry initially because he feels like Elizabeth tricked him into the divorce, and maybe it could feed into his old insecurities about Jason — she’s leaving him for Jason like he always thought she would, and maybe it hadn’t been Patrick, but Jason. Elizabeth’s paternity test and pregnancy is not really well-known, but during that confrontation, when Elizabeth tells him the truth about the paternity and points out Cam hasn’t been adopted, I have to figure out if I want Lucky to just deal with it, be pissed, but walk away or still make trouble somehow. I really don’t want him to be the villain, because he’s going of going to be in Broken Girl, and I would rather not repeat myself more than I have to considering I’m dealing with the same time period.

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I left in some hints for another story I’m working on set during the same timeframe 😛

So that’s the first approach at All We Are. I think, for the most, I kept most elements. Cora pushed me on Lucky/Emily/Nikolas, which I’m so happy about because I think the resolution of all three of those relationships with Elizabeth worked well.

I didn’t end up going with some of the Liason conflict I planned, though I wrote the scenes. I realized it didn’t need to be a conflict and it villanized Lucky more than I was comfortable with.

I also didn’t tie up all the loose threads — I never dealt with Elizabeth’s job at the hospital or whatever Ric might cook up to get them back. I did that on purpose. You never tie up loose ends in a soap opera 😛 You never know when you need them down the road for another story.

I hope you guys like the look at the plotting process. I take my writing very seriously which is why I often have trouble. I like to know what I’m going to do and why and utilizing the character backgrounds to drive more story.

Note: If you’ve not read A Few Words Too Many, this outline will give away major details. I would read the story first. This is just for shits and giggles for those of you’ve read the story.

 

This is the original plot sketch when I sat down to plan the rewrite in late February. It’s shorter than my usual plot sketches, which meant  I had reoutline later. If you’ve read all of A Few Words, you can see where I deviated from my original plans, mostly because the story always takes a different shape once you start writing it.

The ending is different, I changed the name of Elizabeth’s daughter, and maybe the biggest changes are Carly’s role in the story and the Liason relationship. Had I written it this way, you guys would have set me on fire.

So Take One.

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Elizabeth learns she is pregnant by Ric. She lets herself into his apartment to tell him the news only to overhear him in his bedroom with Faith Roscoe. She leaves without telling him, and goes back to her studio, upset. She knows Faith is Sonny and Jason’s enemy and wonders if they should know Faith is mixed up with Ric, but fears what might happen with her baby, so she keeps mum. She avoids Ric’s calls, but confides in Emily regarding her pregnancy, without telling her about Faith — just that she’s worried about telling Ric because he’s been different lately. Emily encourages Elizabeth to tell Ric—she thinks he’s good for her, and it’s good that she’s moved on like Jason has. Elizabeth still remains silent.

Ric corners Elizabeth on the docks to find out what’s been happening. She tells him that she doesn’t want to see him anymore, but he’s not taking that for an answer. He asks her if it’s about Jason, she denies it but he can tell she’s not telling him something. He becomes irate, and Jason chases him off. Elizabeth considers telling him about Faith, but stays silent. She thanks him and goes, but he’s concerned that Ric is sliding over the edge.

Ric goes to Emily to try and ferret out what’s wrong with Elizabeth. He manipulates her into telling him just enough to learn Elizabeth is pregnant. Emily is regretful that she told Ric the truth, and forwarns Elizabeth—but she’s glad, because she should have told him in the first place. Elizabeth is panicked and starts working on a cover story.

Sonny tells Jason that Ric has been embezzling money from one of the Five Families, and they’ve got a bounty on his head. Concerned Elizabeth might get caught up in the crossfire, he heads to her place to warn her, maybe offer a guard or sent her out of town for a while. He finds Elizabeth on the docks, and Ric is cornering her, demanding answers about her pregnancy. Elizabeth tries to distract him with news that she knows about his affair with Faith, but he continues to press her about the baby—family is important to him, he tells her. Panicked by his uncharacteristic aggressiveness, she tells him it’s not true, but he doesn’t believe her. Just as Ric grabs her arm, Jason pulls him away and tells him to stay the hell away. He claims the paternity of the baby, and tells Ric that’s why Elizabeth didn’t tell him. But now he knows. He tells Ric that the Family he embezzled from is looking for him. Understanding the threat, Ric goes away.

Shocked, Elizabeth starts to demand to know what he’s about, but Jason takes her back to the penthouse to keep her away from any eavesdropping. He apologizes for jumping in, and tells her that he hopes Ric will just slink out of town, between the threat of the Families, Sonny’s annoyance after the Vineyard incident, and hopefully believing Elizabeth isn’t having his baby. However, if Ric makes a stand and becomes an issue, Jason wants to help.

Elizabeth doesn’t think that Ric is going to be a problem—she agrees he’ll probably head out of town, and wants this claim to stay between them to minimize any damage. Should they discuss what happens if Ric keeps after her? Will Jason press the paternity. Jason agrees to stand by his claims, and tells her that no one should know the truth except for them—everyone should believe the worst, due to what happened with Michael since so many knew the truth. Elizabeth understands, and reluctantly agrees, hoping it isn’t needed.

Unfortunately, Ric does go under radar, but he takes an opportunity of seeing Carly and Courtney at Kelly’s as he’s packing his bags to tell them the good news—which is in the middle of Kelly’s. Soon, practically everyone knows that Jason is supposed to be the father of Elizabeth’s child. Ric heads out, while Carly and Courtney head over to harass Jason. Jason, annoyed at the turn of events, stays true to his word about the paternity, but goes to Elizabeth’s studio to report the new development. Elizabeth is hesitant about continuing, but Jason tells her Ric is too dangerous to mess with. She agrees to keep the charade going.

Courtney is pissed, but Sonny doesn’t buy it. He corners Jason, who remains mum. Sonny gets what’s going on, but stays silent. With Ric as his half-brother, Elizabeth’s child has made her part of the family and he tells Jason he’ll protect her. He hopes Courtney will move on, as she wasn’t really suited to this life.

Emily freaks out on Elizabeth, convinced that this newest development is another sign Elizabeth is a selfish bitch, after sleeping with Zander the the previous summer. Some friend she is that she led Emily to believe Ric was the father, not Jason. Elizabeth is upset, and feels alone with Emily not speaking to her, and Lucky and Nikolas in London with Laura and Luke. At a hospital appointment with Dr. Lee, she meets Nadine, a nurse on the maternity ward who gives her a tour of the area. Nadine overheard Emily’s issue, and feels bad. She buys Elizabeth a coffee and confides in her about her serial killer sister.

After a tense shift at Kelly’s, Elizabeth and Courtney close for the night. In the parking lot, a guard Elizabeth didn’t know about, botches a kidnapping attempt. He calls Jason, who picks up Elizabeth, and Sonny heads off to question the man responsible. Elizabeth is in shock, and learns that the man is one of Faith Roscoe’s soldiers. Jason decides that Ric isn’t giving up his belief in the baby’s paternity, and has teamed with Faith. Ric was obsessive about family before (Sonny situation) and supposes it’s not surprising he’s latching on to this. They’re going to have to step up her protection and his claim to be the father. Elizabeth agrees for the safety of her child, and agrees to move into the penthouse.

This development peeves Carly and Courtney, who aren’t privy to the kidnapping event. Elizabeth asks Nadine to help her move her things, enjoying the company of someone who doesn’t judge her. She tells her the basic details, and Nadine understands—she’s not innocent of the mob life. She used to live in Crimson Pointe, and dated Johnny Zacchara for a while before taking a new job.

The next two months pass in relative peace. Elizabeth and Nadine become closer, she and Jason manage to get into a routine—neither of them mention the baby and Carly is suspicious that Jason is so uninvolved after moving Elizabeth in. She questions Sonny, but he’s not talking. She keeps her concerns to herself, Elizabeth learns she’s having a girl.

With no sign of Ric or Faith, Elizabeth wonders if they’re gone, but Jason isn’t ready to give up the ghost. The Families understand that Sonny is to be kept apprised if anything comes up, and they can’t find him either. He’s so underground that it’s unnerving. Elizabeth struggles with being alone in the pregnancy, and the taunts from Courtney that Jason cares so little about their bastard child that he’s only letting her live with him out of guilt. He never comes into Kelly’s to see her, and bets he never goes to the doctors.

Carly confronts Jason finally with her suspicions. She doesn’t want to know the truth, but if there are people who are supposed to believe that Elizabeth is having his child, then Jason should start acting like it. Doctor’s appointments, getting the penthouse ready for a baby. Acting like he gives a damn about the baby’s mother.

At the same time, Elizabeth’s pregnancy hormones have kicked up her libido. She tells Nadine, who encourages her to talk to Jason about it. Jason tells Elizabeth he needs to be more involved with the baby, which makes Elizabeth irrationally angry—that rather than wanting to be there because they were friends , he has to be told by someone else to do it for appearances sake. She accuses him of only helping her when he feels guilty or obligated. They begin an argument, which ends up with them in bed.

Afterward, Elizabeth is contrite, knowing how much help he is giving her. She apologizes and tells him about the hormones. Jason apologizes for not being there more, he was just unsure of the boundaries. An uneasy truce has been struck, and somehow they fall into the routine of sharing a bed and room, even if they don’t make love every night.

Towards the end of Elizabeth’s sixth month, Nadine approaches Carly about having a baby shower for Elizabeth. She wants to do something fun for her, but doesn’t know a lot of Elizabeth’s friends. Carly, annoyed by the whole situation but clearly knowing what’s going, agrees to help surprise Elizabeth. She gets Jason’s approval, and the day of the party, Elizabeth is overwhelmed by the idea, but is upset when Emily doesn’t show up. After the party, she realizes that the baby stuff now overwhelms the downstairs, and wonders what she’s supposed to do with it. She starts trying to put it in a corner of the penthouse, but Jason catches her doing it. He tells her to pick one of the guest rooms, and they’ll have it decorated. Though Elizabeth knows it’s practical, she’s troubled at the idea that this is going to continue for so much longer.

Courtney tells Emily she’s dating again, and wishes she could reach out to Elizabeth to put everything behind them. Emily has also been feeling regretful, and thinks they should ask Elizabeth out for coffee sometime. Courtney wishes they could do it away from everyone else — it just feels so embarrassing. Emily has seen her at the hospital. Her guards are usually at the elevators, rather than outside the room. Maybe they could try there? Courtney agrees.

Laura gave Elizabeth a book of baby names, which Elizabeth suggests they look through for a name. Jason tells her he doesn’t really have an opinion, and he’s going to meet her at the hospital, since he’ll be late. Taking this as a sign that Jason isn’t really invested in the entire thing, Elizabeth decides she isn’t going to bring it up again.

After the doctor’s appointment, which Jason misses entirely, she begins to have doubts about continuing to live with Jason. Surely he could set up security somewhere else. She confides in Nadine, who encourages her to think about life after the baby is born. She can’t work at Kelly’s forever. She considers enrolling in the nursing program, and maybe sharing a house with Nadine down the road. Nadine is walking her to the elevator, when they pass the emergency stairs. Someone jumps out, knocking Nadine down, and starting to drag Elizabeth towards the stairs. Nadine grabs a fire extinguisher and starts beating the man with it. He lets go, and flees. Elizabeth’s guard hustles the women out.

Jason is upset that his meetings kept him from Elizabeth’s appointment, and she was nearly kidnapped again, but Sonny points out that Elizabeth’s doctor schedule isn’t something just anyone could access. How did they know where Elizabeth is? Jason heightens Elizabeth’s security and tells Nadine how grateful he is.

Emily learns about the attempt from hospital gossip and is stricken, remembering her conversation with Courtney. She can’t possibly believe it might be true, but all the same starts to keep her distance from Courtney.

The last three months of Elizabeth’s pregnancy pass, without another word from Ric. Three weeks from her due date, Jason and Sonny learn Ric was sighted in Puerto Rico. Jason reluctantly decides to go and look into the allegations, trusting Sonny to keep things good at home. Elizabeth keeps it to herself that she’s upset he’s leaving town so close to the baby, but she’s convinced he’s not interested in the baby. She suggest to Nadine about the nursing program and sharing a place. Nadine is in.

Elizabeth, in soap opera form, goes into labor as Jason is flying home. Before he can get to the hospital, Elizabeth has a little girl. He apologizes to her, but she isn’t interesting in hearing it. She’s made her decision about the future.

They take her home, but Elizabeth is having trouble naming her. Carly suggests Audrey or Lila, but Elizabeth wants her to have her own name. Carly asks for Jason’s opinion, but he again has nothing to add. Elizabeth thinks of Sofie, and Carly loves it. After Carly goes home, Elizabeth asks Jason if it’s possible to secure somewhere else for her to live. Jason is troubled, and tries to tell her to put it off a little longer, but she doesn’t want to. The longer they live together, with Jason supposed to be Sofie’s father, the more it becomes apparent how uninterested he is, and she doesn’t want her daughter to spend one more minute with a father who doesn’t love her. She understands it, Sofie isn’t his daughter, they both know it, but the rest of world doesn’t.

Jason has no answer for it, nothing that she’ll understand, so he agrees that they can start searching for somewhere else. A few days later, he comes home to find Nadine baby-sitting Sofie. Elizabeth is at the hospital filling out admissions for the nursing program, and Nadine brought the baby home for her nap. She gives Jason instructions, and then leaves—after all, Jason is the baby’s father. For the first time, he’s alone with the baby. He tells her that he’s sorry, that he thought he could do this, but he can’t bring himself to fall in love her, not after what happened to Michael.

Before he knows it, three hours have passed and Elizabeth isn’t home. Concerned, he calls her cell phone and gets nothing. He calls her guard, who says she got on the elevator with the guard on the evening shift two hours ago.

Panicked, Jason brings Sofie to Sonny’s apartment, hands her to Carly, and they start trying to figure out what happened. Cameras show that Elizabeth got on the elevator, but never got off. Sonny sends their tech guy to figure out what happened on the elevator, but Carly is confused — why grab Elizabeth when she’s no longer pregnant? To get to Sofie.

A day later, Jason calls Nadine to care for Sofie while they’re looking. Emily comes with Nadine, and tells Jason about her suspicions during the last attempt. Jason reluctantly tells Sonny, who questions Courtney. Courtney attempts to play innocent, but finally admits that Faith Roscoe contacted her months ago. Courtney didn’t tell her much, except the thing about the hospitals, and the names of Elizabeth’s guards. Pissed, Sonny puts her on a plane to the island. Suspicion falls on Elizabeth’s guards, and they learn that two must have flipped — her guard on the hospitall, and the one downstairs.

With the word out on the street for the guards, one of them comes to Sonny, giving them the address of a warehouse.

At the warehouse, Elizabeth is pleading with Ric to do the right thing. Even if Sofie were his daughter (and she’s not giving an inch), he could never be any good for her. He waited for her to be born to take Elizabeth, hoping that Jason and Sonny would shift their focus to the search, and loosen the grip on Sofie’s security. Jason sneaks up on Ric, but Ric hears his footsteps. He turns, there’s a shootout that leaves Ric dead, and Jason seriously wounded. Sonny unties Elizabeth, and they start struggling to get Jason into the car for the hospital, but he’s trying to tell her that he’s sorry, that he tried so hard not to love her, but he does, he was just scared…he passes out before he can explain.

At the hospital, Jason is in surgery for hours, clinging to life. Elizabeth goes back to the penthouse, and nurses Sofie. She watches her sleep. Alexis comes in, apologizing, but she has instructions for this kind of thing. She tells Elizabeth that Jason updated his will after Sofie was born, leaving half of his assets to Elizabeth, and the other held in trust for his daughter. She tells Elizabeth that she and Jason also discussed Sofie’s guardianship in the event that something happened to Elizabeth, and that Alexis drew up adoption papers to protect Sofie. He never filed them because he needed her signature. Stunned, but starting to understand Jason’s distance, she takes the unsigned papers and returns to the hospital, having left Sofie with Nadine.

As Jason comes out of anathesia, she tells him that she understands why he hasn’t been involved with Sofie—that no matter what the world believed, he knew he wasn’t her father, and that like Carly, Elizabeth might change her mind, and he’d be out of her life. He was protecting himself against Michael. He knows Elizabeth wouldn’t, but so that they both feel comfortable, if he wants…they can quietly file the adoption papers to make Sofie legally his.

After I wrote Chapter Nine and realized Jason and Elizabeth were not going to do anything I wanted them to do, I had sit back and reoutline the rest of the story. This one is a little disjointed and odd, as I was kind of thinking as I wrote, trying to work out what was weak in the original outline. It picks up with Part 2 of the story.

For the most part, this is the outline that ended up being used, but things got shifted around. The major deviations are, again, the ending, which I planned to keep almost until I had to write it, and then secondly, the way Elizabeth and Jason’s relationship developed. I told you guys when I posted that had I written it as it was outlined, you’d want to kill me. I wasn’t going to resolve anything until the last chapter. Haha. I made notes in italics throughout. Hope you enjoy my thought process.

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STATE OF THE STORY

Part I: Setting up the Lie

Part II: Bringing them together

Begins with Elizabeth moving into the penthouse. What’s happened so far? Lots of arguing. Some stuff figured out. Sexy, sexy good times. Little baby steps.

Have to nail Nadine’s voice or eject her from the story. Sprinkle in some more of Aunt Rayleen. Adjust Kelly.

Needs more Emily? Hard to tell. Should Liz call Lucky or Nikolas?

Need to keep tension about the baby, but not insanely. Can’t come to a head until baby is born. Need to do some more with the mob, but dude if I don’t actually understand how the damn mob works. What the fuck is in the shipment? Maybe gambling. Smuggling. Freaking Disney mafia.

Ends with Jason leaving for Puerto Rico before baby is born.

SO!! Next chapter, Jason and Liz in bed. Several weeks (maybe a month later? Get the story moved forward?) He’s been busy. Cops raided the warehouse, another shipment is missing. Money is missing in Puerto Rico. He’s only home for occasional meals, sleeps at home though, so sexy sexy good times continue.

Liz and Carly have a pow wow. Not friendly, but not hostile. Carly presses her on the baby, Liz doesn’t want to deal with it.

Where to go? Need more tension. Need to continue building Liason, but not sure how much to push it. Need more Courtney, that’s for sure. To establish her eventual betrayal.

So…next chapter: Jason/Liz; Liz/Carly; Jason/Sonny? Maybe there are problems in Puerto Rico with the casinos. Jason knows he’s usually the first suggestion to go, but he really doesn’t want to. Sonny decides to go. Jason walks in on a phone call between Liz/Lucky. Nothing tense, but Lucky is sending his best wishes and updating Laura’s recovery. He’s excited for her to have her daughter.

Next chapter: Liz/Carly at Kelly’s. Liz has had doctor’s appointment, but Jason didn’t go. Too busy with business, which she gets. Besides, she’s getting the extra support at home now. He’s busy, but they spend every night together (second trimester libido), and he tries to make at least one meal a day, even it’s just quick from Kelly’s. Security has been relaxed a little, but just that Carly and Liz can leave the penthouse more. Liz and Carly are talking about the baby, Carly’s pushing about the nursery. Courtney sees this closeness and freaks out. Stealing brother, stealing friend, stealing boyfriend and whatnot. Liz tries to remain silent, but her guilt at the situation has lessened. She and Jason are in a good place (even if they’re not talking about the future) She’s annoyed that Courtney, who dated Jason for five minutes hasn’t gotten past it since April. (It’s almost September, which means horsebitch has had five months). Carly is also annoyed, and seeing less and less reasons why she found Courtney amusing. But Courtney strikes a few darts — that Jason didn’t leave Courtney until Elizabeth was pregnant, which means he didn’t really give much a damn about her. Elizabeth knows the truth, but she also knows she and Jason haven’t really spoken about Courtney and Ric. Their discussions all seem to stop with him swearing he wasn’t interested. Also, Courtney brings up the doctor’s appointments. He’s only been to one that anyone’s seen, and they’re still not together in public, due to security.

Perturbed, Carly goes to Jason. She says that for the most part, people have accepted the story, and that Courtney is just seen as scorned other woman. They’ve sold the paternity, particularly since Liz has been living with him for three months. However, Liz herself is another story. She accuses him of keeping Liz dangling on a string, which will just make the two of them miserable in the end. She’s due in just over three months, but she has no concrete plans for the baby. No name is chosen, no room picked out for the nursery, no godparents. Nothing. Carly divulges the confidence that she knows Jason is uncomfortable with the baby. Carly thinks she knows why, but she also knows what Liz suspects. If Jason wants to fix this, and keep Liz in his life, he’s going to have to start preparing for the future and get past his own issues.

Jason knows this is all true. It’s not that he is actually detached from the baby, despite how much he tries. He and Liz are together most nights, which means he sees her nekkid. She’s beautiful, and blossoming and her health has sprang back because she’s just…mostly happy now. He’s felt the baby kick. He sees the baby books. He didn’t know Liz was hiding random baby things under the bed in the guest room. So he decides to fix the problem he can first. He tells Liz that they need to start thinking long-term. They think Ric is behind the territory problems they’re having, but they’re still not sure they can wrap this up soon. He tells Liz to pick one of the guest rooms for the nursery. The men will clean it out, and she can decorate it for the baby. Liz is touched, but still thinks he’s doing it because it’s practical.

Audrey and Nadine visit Carly to discuss a baby shower for Elizabeth. They want to have it in the Towers, but they know security is a deal. Carly can’t believe this is her life, but agrees to start dealing with it. She tells them she’ll get details from Liz about the baby so gift shopping can be done. (Carly does not know that Audrey, Nadine and Bobbe are doing a dual baby shower for both of them, since Bobbie wasn’t involved with Michael, and Carly, haha, has been so good to Liz). (I ended up cutting this idea because I just didn’t feel up to writing it.)

Liz tells Carly she’s picked out the room, and it’s being painted a gorgeous soft yellow. She’s planning on pink and cream borders. Carly approves. How about names? Liz hedges. She’s been dealing with names, but it’s so hard. She tells Carly she has some picked out, but isn’t able to choose. She’s torn between Cadence Audrey, Olivia Charlotte, Mackenzie Grace and Juliet (no middle name in mind for that). Carly says they’re all nice, but she doesn’t think Mackenzie goes with Morgan. Double alliteration sucks. She looks to Jason, whose in the room. Asks for opinion. He says he has none, and leaves. Liz is discouraged, but Carly is just annoyed her best friend is a god damn moron. She tells Liz that this kid’s last name is going to be Morgan, so might as well factor that in. She personally likes Cadence. Elizabeth agrees. Nadine and her grandmother liked it as well, so she’s named her daughter.

Sonny comes home from Puerto Rico after nearly a month. He’s annoyed because the problems in the casinos were way more complicated than they needed to be. He thinks some of the tables were fixed, but he couldn’t prove it at first. Finally, he found the dealers, and it was the casino manager at fault. He wants to link it to something larger, but he can’t. How are things on the homefront? Carly has told him about a baby shower. Jason knows nothing about it, does not want to discuss it. Things are quieting down. Maybe it wasn’t Ric, but one of the Families who was testing the waters and didn’t get anywhere. He wants Liz and Carly to have smooth remainders to their pregnancies, but can’t help but think the other shoe is going to drop. There’s no been no attempt on Liz since the kidnapping in June. It’s September now.

Courtney comes to Emily and says she thinks they’ve been too hard on the situation. Courtney retained her bitterness because she thought Jason still loved her and she saw Carly and Sonny becoming cozy, like Liz was stealing her life, but she has to face facts. Elizabeth and Jason are together now, they’re having a child and there doesn’t seem to be anything Courtney can do about it. Emily agrees. She had thought Elizabeth would mess around, break Jason’s heart, but what little she’s seen of him since their fight leads her to believe he’s happy with the situation, and Elizabeth is stable. Maybe Elizabeth just needed Jason all along, and Jason’s going to have the baby he’s always secretly wanted. Courtney wants to apologize but she never sees Elizabeth alone long enough to do so. Emily thinks about it. Sometimes Liz is alone in Kelly’s, her guards outside, but usually in the hospital her guard is situated at the elevator because Nadine walks her to the elevators and hospital security is relatively tight.

Carly comes over to kick Jason out for the baby shower so she can decorate while Nadine and Audrey keep Liz occupied. She hopes he’s starting to open up to the baby, because Cady is going to be here before he knows it. Jason is confused, and now Carly is ready to toss him over the balcony. He wasn’t paying attention during the conversation about the names, and clearly he never asks Liz about the baby or goes into the painted nursey, because her damn name is on the wall. She asks him if being with Elizabeth makes him happy. He’s annoyed that she’s butting in, which she takes as a yes and tells him if he doesn’t straighten his shit out, loving him or not, Liz is going to walk out the door.

Jason goes to Sonny’s while the baby shower is happening, and Sonny is also trying to probe how Jason is doing with the pregnancy. Jason tells him to drop it and leaves the building all together. He wants to murder the Corinthos.

Liz is startled at the baby shower. Bobbie, Audrey, Nadine, Kelly, Marissa and Penny from Kelly’s, Carly are all there. Carly is touched that she’s got gifts and what not as well, since Bobbie figured Carly would decorate with her tastes. The women enjoy their dual showers, and talk about how excited they’re going to be when Morgan Stone arrives in November, and Cadence Audrey comes in December. Everyone wants to see the nursery Liz has set up. Carly gives her a Wyndham’s credit card and tells her if she doesn’t buy furniture from her and Sonny, then Carly will do it herself, and she might as well get what she wants. (I remember why I cut this now…I shifted the baby shower to write the confrontation Liason scene, which seemed to work better after Morgan was born, before Jason went to Puerto Rico.)

Jason comes home after the shower to find Liz in the nursery sitting in a rocking chair her grandmother gave her. Her grandfather bought it when Liz’s father told him Sarah was born, and when Jeff would visit with the kids, Audrey and Steve would rock Sarah, then Elizabeth in it. She’s holding a beautifully knitted blanket Carly had made. Jason is apprehensive. Cadence is a reality to him now that hasn’t been. There’s a room in his home waiting for a little girl. He wants to ask her more, but he just can’t bring himself to do it. Liz is sorrowful, because she’s beginning to realize that her time with Jason is going to limited. Once Cady is born, the romance will probably fade, and once Ric is gone, she’ll let the friendship fade. This time, she’s determined to let Jason go with fond memories, and not be disappointed or angry he couldn’t accept her daughter.

Carly senses a new sense of purpose in Liz, and wrongly decides she and Jason have discussed the future. She stops bringing up Jason’s relationship with the baby, and starts focusing on her own. She tells Sonny she’s worried about PPD coming back. She misssed so much of Michael, she doesn’t want to miss a moment of Morgan. (This stayed in my storyboarded scenes right up until I went to write it and it just didn’t fit, because I had shifted the timeline of the baby shower to be after the kidnapping.)

At a doctor’s appointment that Jason misses, Elizabeth and Nadine are discussing Elizabeth enrolling in the nurse’s program. She thinks it’d a be a great idea, and she wants to have a stable job for her daughter so they can be supported and independent. Nadine asks if that means she doesn’t plan on raising Cady with Jason, or even being involved. Elizabeth still isn’t positive how it’s all going to unravel (Jason may change his mind once Cady is here, and she realizes she’s clinging to that). She wants her options open. Before they can speak much more, a man jumps out of stairwell and grabs Elizabeth. He starts to drag her away, but Nadine starts kicking him and whacking him with Elizabeth’s chart. She manages to slow him down long enough to grab a nearby fire extinguisher which she bashes him over head. By this time, help is arriving. The man runs for it, but Elizabeth is free.

Sonny and Jason rush to the hospital. Kelly has admitted Elizabeth briefly, just to check the ultrasound and her vitals. She’s shaken, but okay. Jason is pissed, but realizes this wouldn’t have happened if he kept his promise to go to the doctor’s with her. He tells Nadine that he can never repay for her for protecting his family.

Emily learns of the attempt and is shaken, remembering her conversation with Courtney, but decides it’s just not possible. She calls Nikolas to talk to him about the situation, but Nikolas has no solutions for her. She’s the one that has to live with her decision. She decides to remain silent, because Courtney is her friend and would never turn on her brother this way.

Back at the penthouse, Jason apologizes for letting someone get that close to her, but Elizabeth tells him it’s all right. They don’t know where the loopholes in her security are until something happens, and going for her in the hospital was pretty desperate. The hospital has amazing security because of a baby kidnapping a few years earlier, and her guard was around the corner. She doubts he would have gotten her out of the building without being seen. Still, Jason is unhappy with himself because his personal need to stay separate has interferred with Elizabeth and Cady’s safety. It’s not going to happen again.

Jason and Elizabeth visit Carly in the hospital and Elizabeth sees how happy Jason is for them, how he holds Morgan. She wants that for herself, for them, but she’s starting to feel the distance between them again. She’s not sure if Jason is doing it, or if she’s starting to protect her heart. They still spend a lot of time together, but the conversations are so much more superficial and there’s no discussion beyond what’s for dinner.

Elizabeth’s due date is two weeks away. Sonny tells Jason that they’ve had a break—there’s trouble in Puerto Rico again, but this time Stan found evidence that Ric was there. Jason says he’ll go, which shocks Sonny. Elizabeth’s due date is so close, she could go into labor at any point. Jason tells him it’s more important to make sure she’s safe and Ric is out of her life. But Sonny knows what’s happening. He tells Jason he’ll have to tell Elizabeth himself, unless he really wants to push her away forever, in which case he could just leave and let Sonny be the one to tell her.

Jason is ashamed how tempting it would be just to leave and not personally tell her. He is conflicted, because he knows he’s in love with the baby already but thinks to protect himself by not being there when she’s born. If he can clear Ric away, then the threat will be gone. He reluctantly tells Liz the news. Elizabeth is devastated, but tries to hide it. She’s been clinging to the ideal that Jason will change his mind, but to know he’s willing to miss the birth of a child the world believes is his on the possibility to end the situation, she knows now where he stands. He starts to apologize, but she doesn’t want to fight. He’s leaving in the morning, and she knows that this will be the last time they’re in a room together without this situation having been blown up. She tells him she understands, and there’s no point in arguing. He’s doing what he’s promised to do all long. He never promised her more. They eat a quiet dinner and spend the night together. He wakes her up before he leaves to say goodbye. He tells her he’ll see her later, but as he leaves the room, she murmurs Goodbye.

Part III: Fixing their shit.

Begins: Liz in labor. Kicks Jason out of room. Nadine at work. Carly standing in. Cadence Audrey Caroline Morgan born.

Liz and Carly are in the penthouse with Nadine. They’re talking about nonsense, cooing over Morgan. Carly is annoyed that she actually likes these people. Nadine notices that Liz is wincing. Girl is labor. Carly tells Elizabeth to call Jason. Her contractions are 15 mins apart. They have time. Reluctantly, while Carly brings Morgan to Leticia and Nadine fetches Liz’s bag, she calls Jason. He tells her he’s on his way home already, he’s in flight. He’ll be in PC in two hours. (I wanted Elizabeth to start getting upset about Jason not loving Cady, and I thought Nadine being there would be too awkward. Plus, Sonny’s part in this scene ended up far surpassing anything Nadine could have brought to it. so I shipped her to New York for the day)

Jason arrives at the hospital to find Sonny and Carly in the hallway. Audrey is in with Liz right now. Knowing that people see him there, he has to go in. He goes in, Audrey gives them a moment. Jason tells her he’s sorry he almost missed being here. Liz asks who is he acting for? They’re the only ones in the room. Jason is confused, but explains to her they almost nailed Ric but he got away. He promises to keep her daughter safe. Overwhelmed from the pain, she tells him to go. She wants Carly. Nadine is on shift, can’t be there.

Upset, Jason fetches Carly. Sonny asks what happened, and Jason reluctantly admits that Sonny was right about the Puerto Rico trip. It was the final straw and he thinks she’ll really leave him this time. Sonny asks him what he’s going to do about this, but Jason has no answer.

Inside the room, Liz tells Carly that Audrey will be there, but Liz wants Carly, because Carly knows the truth, and that Cady is Morgan and Michael’s cousin. She knows Carly will love her daughter because she’s part of Sonny’s family. She wants Cady to come into this world with people who love her, not people who have spent months ignoring her arrival. Touched and upset on Jason’s behalf (and annoyed as fuck, because what the hell, this is muffin!) Carly agrees. Audrey is confused, but Carly tells her moms do what moms do.

Cadence is born, and Carly loves her immediately. She and Audrey hold her, and tell Liz how perfect she is. Liz loves her daughter and resolves that she will never let her feel like less than the perfect treasure she is. From now on, her life is to make Cady happy. She tells Carly that she’s naming her Cadence Audrey Caroline and thanks her.

Audrey says it’s time for Daddy to meet her. Reluctantly, Elizabeth agrees and asks Carly to go get Jason and Sonny.

Outside, Carly tells Jason, in a low voice, Elizabeth didn’t want him in the room because she knows he doesn’t love Cady, and she didn’t want Cady’s first moments to be with a father who doesn’t give a damn, like Liz has had her whole life. Upset, Jason asks if he should go in. They don’t have a choice, Carly admits. So he better knock this shit off.

Sonny is already inside, and he loves his niece. She’s perfect. He tells Elizabeth that she’s family. She always has been, but this just cements their connction. Audrey is pertubed by this, because well…yeah mobsters. Carly brings Jason, telling Kelly and Audrey that Jason was just nervous. He’s never held a girl before. Sonny hands Jason Cady and he does. He absolutely falls in love with this little girl and understands that despite all his avoidence and reluctance, he loves her. She’s part of Elizabeth, but she’s so obviously her own person, and he knows that he missed his chance to be her father. He was too scared to talk to Elizabeth about his fears and insecurities, and she’ll never believe him now.

Carly and Sonny go home to their kids, and Carly is overcome with emotion. She’s so upset for Jason and Elizabeth, because it’s clear that they love each other, and she just knows Jason loves that baby. Why does he always get in the way of his own happiness? Did she do this to him because of Michael? Because of the two of them together, and Robin? Sonny just doesn’t know.

Emily visits Elizabeth at the hospital, to see Cady. She begins to tell Elizabeth that for reasons she can’t go into (perceived guilt at Elizabeth’s kidnapping) she started to speak to Lainey Winters about her anger towards Elizabeth, which had been building for years and finally exploded with Zander and Jason. Elizabeth is hurt, but Emily tries to explain that she unfairly blamed Elizabeth because Lucky never came back the same. She loves him now, but he was so difficult the first two years she was home, her best friend was gone and she didn’t think Elizabeth was doing enough to get him back. She kept getting distracted by Jason, and it just made Lucky worse. Emily thought Elizabeth was the selfish one, to be thinking of herself when they all needed Lucky so much, and then when Jason left town in 2001, she blamed Elizabeth. The Zander and Jason situation last summer just exacerbated her anger. Elizabeth doesn’t know what to do with any of that, but Emily tells her she’s been working through the anger. She knows now it was irrational, that Emily was being the selfish one. She should have been there for her friend through this, for her brother. She’s happy they’re together now and they have Cady. Elizabeth asks if their friendship is going to be contingent on Jason being happy with her, and Emily tells of course not. She understands now that Jason made mistakes too. She knows it’ll take time for them to work through this, but she wants to.

Jason brings Cady and Elizabeth home. He doesn’t know what to do next. He thinks Elizabeth is done with him, so he doesn’t want to make it worse for himself. He throws himself back into the search for Ric, because he wants them to be safe. He tells Sonny that they’ve wasted enough time. It’s time to end this. Sonny is concerned but agrees.

Elizabeth asks Nadine if she’d be open to being roommates. She’s thinking of moving out with Cady soon. Nadine agrees, but she thinks Elizabeth should really talk to Jason about it. She was so happy this summer.

Elizabeth talks to Carly about her feelings, because she knows the truth about Cady’s father. Carly is annoyed Jason is keeping his mouth shut, but absolutely knows that her meddling will likely make it worse. She’s been trying for months, but Jason hasn’t listened to her. Carly tells Liz that she needs to do what’s right for her kid, but she personally thinks Jason is what’s right, and maybe she should have some patience with the poor bastard. He’s a man, and they’re inherently the dumbest creatures on Earth. Elizabeth reluctantly agrees to give the situation more time.

Emily, Nadine and Elizabeth get together at the penthouse, trying to restore normalcy to their lives. Everyone is absolute alt over Cady, but Emily sees that Cady’s eyes are turning brown. She says nothing, because she knows enough now after Elizabeth’s kidnapping attempts that what’s going on is to protect Cady. Nadine leaves when Jason gets home and Elizabeth puts Cady to bed. Emily tells her brother that she loves him, and supports him no matter what. He’s been given an incredible opportunity to be a father again and she just knows that because Elizabeth is the mother involved, that Jason is going to be able to keep Cady. Jason realizes Emily knows the truth and tells her he wishes that were true.

A month has passed, and nothing has changed. Elizabeth is doing all the work with Cady, which she doesn’t mind because she adores her, but there are moments she’s exhausted and lies in bed in the middle of the night, wishing Jason would get up just once. She tells Nadine, Audrey, and Emily over lunch she’s enrolling in the nurse’s program.

Liz has paperwork to sign for the program, so she asks Carly to baby sit. Carly brings Morgan over, and realizes Jason is home. She’s super annoyed about this, and once Liz leaves, Carly has absolutely had it with this nonsense. Cady is a beautiful little girl that Jason should be raising. She knows for a fact that this is breaking Liz’s heart, and it’s only because Carly suggested she stay that Liz hasn’t made a move towards going. The fact that Liz is thinking about seems to affirm Jason’s decision, but Carly throws something at him, which surprises him. She starts to cry, because she thinks she broke his ability to trust because she gave him Michael, and then ensured Jason lost him by going to the Quartermaines, and then sleeping with Sonny, and giving Michael to Sonny. She’s hysterical because he has been so amazing to her, he’s the only reason she’s happy, that she has her sons and all Carly has ever done to him is cause him pain and it’s her fault that Jason’s losing this chance at a family. Jason is stunned. He doesn’t know what to do with this Carly. He tries to tell her that it’s not her fault, but realizes…it is. In a way. He tells Carly that he knows Elizabeth would never intentionally take Cady away, but the fact remains he thought about Carly, and he thought that about Robin. He loved Robin as much as he’s ever loved anyone, and she took Michael away in an effort to protect him from Carly. Robin never realized that Jason would have been happy to have Carly use Michael as a weapon if it meant he got to stay with him. (Even though in the actual version Liason had fixed their shit by this point, I thought it was important for Carly’s character to have this scene, so I finagled it to keep it.)

Carly begs Jason to talk to Elizabeth about this. She knows Liz loves him, she knows he’s stupid for her, but however bad he thinks it might be when she walks out the door, it’ll be worse when it actually happens. He has to do something about this, he cannot just stand back and let it happen. Jason, wanting to make her feel better, agrees.

That night, Jason and Elizabeth are in their respective rooms. He knows how tired she is from her long day at the hospital and their tense dinner. He knows Cady wakes around 2, so he sets his own alarm and goes in before Cady can start crying over the monitor. He takes Cady downstairs and starts to feed her one of the prepared bottles Liz keeps in the fridge. Liz wakes anyway—she’s used to it at this point, and becomes concerned when Cady isn’t in her crib. She goes downstairs and finds Jason at the window, with Cady, feeding her and talking to her about Rome.

He hears her footsteps and sees her on the stairs. Elizabeth is confused, because it looks like he’s…loves this baby, so what the hell is going on? Jason finally admits that every time he began to think about a family with her and Cady, he’d see Michael and remember that he used to be his father. Even though he’s still in his life, it’s not the same and he doesn’t want to one day be the uncle Cady is fond of. Liz is now confused and pissed, because there were things they could have done to deal with this. She totally gets this fear, remembers him when he lost Michael. Even if Jason isn’t sure of them, and she can’t ignore that, because she wasn’t always, there was always adoption. There were things. She’s torn between being relieved its actually a fear within Jason, and not the external factor that Ric is the biological father. She tells him that they don’t work if he’s not honest with her, and this is the absolute last time she’s going to tell him that. He agrees. They leave it up in the air for the night, but Liz comes back to sharing his room that night (no physical, just comfort since it’s only been a month).

Next day, Liz is at orientation for nursing program. Jason is watching Cady, getting used to her routine. Carly stops by, wondering why Liz never met her for dinner. Jason is confused and calls her guards. Cody says he turned her over to the guard on the door about five. She was going to change, grab her evening guard and Cady, and then meet Carly and the boys. It’s almost seven now. It’s two hours—Liz never came upstairs. Jason tells Carly to stay with Cady. He goes to Sonny’s. Elizabeth is missing. He needs the techs on the elevator and cameras. He calls Nadine, and asks if she’s seen Liz, Nadine says Liz left the hospital about 4:30 to go home to change for dinner. Concerned, Nadine mentions the phone call to Emily, who knows she can’t keep her suspicions to herself now.

At Sonny’s, Jason is trying to keep calm while they organize what they know. The cameras show that Elizabeth left Cody in the parking garage, got on the clear elevator, which then stopped on the fourth floor, where she was grabbed. They know there must be guards in on this, but Liz’s personal security detail looks to be clear. Carly comes in, wheeling Cady’s bassinet. She knows what’s going on now. They grabbed Elizabeth now because Carly figures they want to divide focus. She thinks Ric never bought the paternity story, but waited until the baby was born. The rumors flying around town about Jason being uninvolved told Ric that maybe Jason wanted Liz, but he didn’t necessarily want the kid. So if he takes Liz, Jason will be so focused on getting her back, Cady’s security might be lapsed. Jason knows that Carly has a point and feels sick that his own actions might contributed. Cady is to stay in the penthouse, protected with Michael and Morgan.

Emily rushes in at this point. She’s so upset, she should have said something months ago. After Liz’s kidnapping attempt in the hospital, Emily remembered her conversation with Courtney about her being alone sometimes at the hospital. Sonny is wrecked, but arranges for Max to bring his sister in. Courtney is initially defiant — what the hell are they talking about? But Sonny realizes that in order to pull this off, Ric and Faith had to know which guards were which. Courtney, afraid of Jason and Sonny, eventually admits what she did. She was so angry that Elizabeth had stolen her life that when Faith approached her to get Liz out of Jason’s life, Courtney agreed. She passed information on the guards and the info that Emily gave her, but she swears that’s all she did. She’s so sorry, she just wanted Elizabeth to pay for what she did. Disgusted, Sonny sends her to a room, until they can figure out what to do next. Knowing how it was done doesn’t change anything. They’re searching all Faith’s properties, but they don’t know what to do.

They put the word on the street that the two guards are to be brought to Jason and Sonny as soon as they’re seen. One of them, realizing the price on his head, comes to Jason and Sonny. He helped, he gives them a warehouse address and begs for them to make it quick. Sonny tells him it’s up to Jason. Jason tells him that they’ll deal with him later, to make an example to the other guards of what happens when they mess with his family. He goes to Cady and tells her that he loves her, and that even if it means he won’t come back, he will bring her mother home.

At the warehouse, Faith is arguing with Ric that they need to clear out immediately. It didn’t work. Security on the dumbass kid is as tight as ever and she’s tired of waiting around to ruin Corinthos and Morgan. Ric keeps putting her off, saying it hasn’t been long enough. Morgan isn’t frantic enough. Faith decides to cut her losses, and heads out of town, abandoning Ric and telling her men to draw back. Psychos with personal agendas and no head for business are worthless. Elizabeth pleads with Ric to let her go. Ric refuses. Jason and Sonny show up with their men, but before they can overpower Ric and rescue her, there’s a shootout, and Ric ends up dead while Jason is wounded badly.

Elizabeth and Sonny rush to the hospital. Jason is in surgery, it’s touch and go. Emily tells her he’ll be in surgery most of the night repairing the damage. She should go home, see her daughter. Elizabeth agrees. She’s at the penthouse, rocking Cady when Alexis arrives. She was under instructions from Jason to visit her in the event something like this happened, if Jason were in danger of dying. Elizabeth tells her Jason isn’t going to die, but Alexis still has her instructions. She tells Elizabeth that Jason has left something to Carly’s kids, his sister, etc. but the bulk of his estate has been left to Elizabeth and their daughter, with Cady’s portion in trust until she’s twenty-one and Elizabeth is in charge of that. Shaken, Elizabeth asks when he made these arrangements. Alexis said he started them in May, after Elizabeth learned she was pregnant and adjusted them after Cady was born to reflect that she was not an unborn child, but a living one. And Elizabeth asks if that was the language he used — their daughter, his daughter, not hers. Alexis says those were his words. She also tells Elizabeth that she knew Jason wasn’t the biological father, and had advised Jason to draw up guardianship papers, and adoption papers in case anything happened to Elizabeth. Alexis did so, but Jason never filed any of them because he didn’t know how to talk to her about those things, whether she’d want those things.

Elizabeth asks if Alexis brought any of those papers. Alexis gives her the copies that Jason drew up, but they’re unsigned and unnotarized. She takes Cady to Carly and Sonny’s and goes back to the hospital.

When Jason finally wakes up, Elizabeth is there. She thanks him for saving her life, for saving their daughter. She tells him that she loves him. She gestures to the papers. As soon as he’s well enough to sit up and sign his name, she’s bringing in a notary and they’re signing and filing this. She never wants him to doubt his place in their live. Jason tells her he wishes he had talked to her about this months ago, that he’s wasted so much time, but he loves her so much. He asks her to marry him.

Epilogue, after Cady’s christening, Elizabeth is opening presents and finds the champagne from Faith and her promise to be back.