Faith

Chapter Eighteen

© 2003

“…..I now pronounce you husband and wife. Jason, you

may kiss your bride,” the priest smiled as Jason

leaned forward to kiss Courtney’s lips. They then

turned to face their guests, “May I present Mr. and

Mrs. Jason Morgan.” Jason and Courtney’s smiles lit up

the entire church as they walked down the aisle

together, finally husband and wife. Once they were

safe inside one of the private rooms of the church,

Courtney launched herself into Jason’s arms.

“I can’t believe we did it. We’re married.”

“I know. It seems so surreal,” he smiled into her hair

as he held her tight. “You’ve made me so happy

Courtney.”

“I love you Jason,” she pressed her lips against his

again, just as Sonny and Carly walked inside.

“Hey, hey, save that for the honeymoon.” Sonny

grinned. Jason and Courtney pulled away from each

other with amused smiles on their faces. “I’m so happy

for you guys. I really am.”

“Thank you Sonny, for everything you’ve done for us.”

Jason gave him a quick hug.

“You’re welcome, but if you recall I spent the

majority of the time trying to keep you two apart.”

“But if you hadn’t done that, we might not be here

right now, and Jason and I might not be having a

baby.”

“Everything happens for a reason,” Carly smiled.

“I guess that old saying is true,” Courtney laughed.

“So, what’s going on now?” Jason asked, tugging at his

bowtie. Courtney laughed softly as she watched him,

knowing just how miserable he was in that tux but he

was making the best of it to make her happy.

“The guests are making their way to the Cellar for the

reception. We have to take pictures, then we head over

there too,” Carly explained, just as someone knocked

on the door. Sonny opened it to find Emily and Nikolas

standing on the other side.

“Hey,” she smiled. “Is it okay for me to hug the

newlyweds?”

“Of course,” Jason smiled as he pulled his sister to

him in a warm hug. “I’m so glad you were here today

Em.”

“Where else would I be? You and Courtney are so lucky

to have found each other Jase. I only hope that I find

the happiness you’ve found in each other.”

Jason looked over Emily’s shoulder and watched the

expression on Nikolas’ face as he looked at her. He

could see it in his eyes. He loved his sister, “Who

knows? Maybe you’ve already found it.” Emily blushed

slightly as she turned to give Courtney a hug as well.

Jason turned to Nikolas and extended his hand to him.

“Thanks for coming.”

“Thank you for having me.”

Jason stepped closer to Nikolas so only he could hear

what he was saying, “Emily loves you Nikolas. Treat

her right or you’ll answer to me.”

“I love her too Jason. I would never do anything to

hurt her.”

“You better make sure of it,” Jason’s stern expression

broke as a smiled spread across it once more. “Now,

let’s get these damn pictures over with. The quicker

we get them done the quicker I can get out of this

uncomfortable thing.” All the girls rolled their eyes

at him, not surprised by his comment. Half an hour

later, they finally arrived at the Cellar to receive

their guests. Everyone congratulated them, giving them

hugs and well wishes. Even Edward kept his snide

comments to himself for a change, but that was only

because Lila had given him strict orders not to cause

any trouble on Jason’s wedding day.

The day had been a dream come true for Courtney.

Everything was going perfectly. She was Mrs. Jason

Morgan and soon she was going to be giving birth to

their first child. For the first time in her life, she

felt like nothing in the world could take away her

happiness.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Elizabeth sat at the bar at Jake’s, drowning her

sorrows in yet another drink. She downed the rest of

her whiskey, “Hey you….again.” Coleman walked over to

the tiny girl with a smirk on his face.

“Darlin’ I think you’ve had enough.”

“Don’t tell me I’ve had enough. I can’t believe he’s

marrying that whore. I’m the one who really loves

him.” Coleman stared at her confused, not really sure

who she was talking about. Elizabeth continued her

rant, “Now she’s going to have his baby. Well, I can’t

let that happen. If it’s the last thing I do Courtney

will pay for taking Jason away from me.” She wiped the

tears from her cheeks as she finished off yet another

drink. Coleman stared down at her, not really sure

what to think. So Elizabeth blamed Courtney for

ruining her chances with Jason, and now it sounded

like she was planning to do something to Courtney in

retaliation. To top things off, Courtney was carrying

a child. Despite the fact that he stalked Courtney for

her loser ex-husband AJ, Coleman did have a soft spot

for her. He knew he really should just stay out of it

and mind his own business, but the other part of him

didn’t think he’d be able to live with the guilt if

something happened to Courtney and her unborn child.

He was weighing his options when Elizabeth suddenly

stood to leave. She stumbled as she headed to the

door.

“Elizabeth, do you need me to call you a cab?”

“I can take care of myself,” she snapped back. Coleman

just shook his head. At least he knew she wouldn’t be

driving home. He smiled in satisfaction as he twirled

her car keys around his finger before placing them in

the safe behind the bar. Now all he had to do was

decide what he was going to do with the information

Elizabeth had given him.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A few hours later, Courtney and Jason began to say

goodbye to their guests. They still had to change out

of their wedding attire before they headed to the

airport to leave on their honeymoon. Despite

Courtney’s many attempts to coerce Jason into telling

her where he was taking her on their honeymoon, she

still had no clue.

“You two have a wonderful time on your honeymoon. Take

lots of pictures,” Carly rambled as they said their

goodbyes.

Courtney whispered in her ear as they hugged, “Do you

have any idea where Jason is taking me?”

“Sorry. They didn’t trust me to keep it from you,” she

rolled her eyes as Courtney laughed. She should have

known better.

“You better take care of my sister, Jason.” Sonny

grinned

“There’s nothing more important to me than Courtney

and our child. You know that.”

“I know. If I had doubted it for one minute I would

have never given you my blessing. You show my sister a

great time on your honeymoon and don’t worry about

anything here.”

Jason looked over at his beautiful new bride, his

heart bursting with pride and the love he felt for

her. He turned back to Sonny with a smile, “As loyal

as I am to you Sonny, I don’t think you have to worry

about my mind being on my work.”

Sonny chuckled, “You’re probably right.” He walked

over and gave Courtney another tight hug. “I’m so

happy for you sis.”

“Thanks Sonny.”

“You two better get out of here before someone else

corner’s you and you can’t escape,” Sonny said as he

wrapped his arm around Carly’s waist. They quickly

made their exit, heading back to their penthouse to

change and get their luggage. Courtney was dying to

know where they were going. She figured it was

somewhere tropical since Jason had told her to pack

her bathing suit, shorts, and sundresses. She was

almost positive he wasn’t taking her to the island. He

knew how much she wanted to go somewhere she’d never

been before. As they waited for take off, she decided

to try to get it out of him once more.

“Jason,” she began sweetly. “Please tell me where

you’re taking me.”

“Is not knowing bothering you that much?”

“Yes!” she exclaimed. “Pretty please Jason, with a

cherry on top.” She smiled as he chuckled at her

antics.

“Can’t you wait just a little while longer?” Courtney

began to pout, sticking her bottom lip out as far as

it would go, looking up at him with her big blue eyes.

He just couldn’t take it anymore. Truth be told, he

was anxious to tell her too. “Okay, okay. I’m taking

you to Greece.” Courtney squealed in delight and threw

herself into his strong arms.

“Oh my God! Thank you so much. I’ve always wanted to

go there. I just know it’s going to be beautiful. Oh,

Jason. You’ve made this the best day of my entire

life. I love you so much.” She pressed her lips to

his. He held her close, then began to pull away.

“I love you Courtney. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do

for you or our child.”

“You’re going to be a wonderful father, do you know

that?”

Jason laughed nervously, “I’m not so sure about that,

but I’m going to do my best.”

“I know you are. I can tell by the way you love with

so much passion and power. I see it when you’re with

Michael. Our baby is going to be so lucky.” Jason

placed his hand on her slightly rounding belly with a

small smile.

“It still amazes me that I helped create something so

wonderful.” He looked up at her, his eyes so soft and

filled with love. “Thank you for everything you’ve

given me.” She placed her hand over his.

“We love you so much Jason.” She leaned her head on

his shoulder. They were both so happy, and they just

knew nothing was going to take it away from them.