A/N: This chapter is dedicated to Mosey... read the explanation after finishing the story. :)

Sitting on the edge of her bed, Courtney sat and stared at the cream-colored sheets, her eyes full of fear. Once again, she had woken up, sweating and screaming from the dream... the horrible nightmare that had haunted her since the night she had spent in the hospital a few days ago. She couldn’t breathe and she could barely think... and all she could do was feel. Feel the awful pain and guilt that was tormenting her every thought. Sometimes during the day she could control it, push it to the back of her mind and forget about it like she had tried to do with so many of her other problems. But when sleep came, it was all she could think about. Her thoughts were mixing up again, as she fought back the tears that threatened to spill down her hardened cheeks. She was furious with herself for allowing herself to feel like this... but all rational thoughts ceased as she realized that she no longer wanted to think, or to feel anything...

“Somebody help me,” she thought, “before I lose control and lose everything.” She feared that she was about to hurt someone... or maybe even herself.

~*~

Jason had begun to settle himself into the penthouse, starting with explaining things to his parents, who had been very understanding. He’d been enjoying himself for the last few days and had been shocked to discover the drawer full of money in the front room. In fact, he still couldn’t quite get over the figure that Sonny had given him when he’d asked how much money he had. But the one thing that Jason wasn’t used to was sleeping in the strange place. Most nights he tried to go to sleep in his bedroom, but after two hours of lying awake, he’d end up playing pool or watching a movie, only to fall asleep on the couch or in a chair. This night was no exception as Jason lay sprawled across the couch, thinking of nothing... nothing but her.

~*~

Her body was shaking, and Courtney felt extremely cold, though the summer air had been warm around her. Was she doing the right thing? It wasn’t fair to Carly to bother her like this in the middle of the night... but Courtney was scared, scared of what she was feeling and of what was happening to her. Her body directed her mind as she found herself on the elevator in Harborview Towers, heading up the twenty-five floors to the penthouses.

~*~

Jason still lay awake on the couch when he heard movement in the hallway. Surely neither Sonny or Carly was up at this hour... he tried to ignore whoever it was, until he heard the faint sounds of stifled crying outside of his door.

~*~

Courtney tried to brush away her tears and rub the redness away from her eyes, but she couldn’t hold back the sniffling as she prepared to knock on Carly’s door. Now that she was there, she felt ridiculous... knocking on her sister-in-law’s door in the middle of the night... with no explanation except that she was having a bad day. Courtney knew that it was more than just a bad day. She sat down and leaned her back against the wall until she felt ready to knock.

~*~

There was no mistaking the sounds now, Jason realized as he walked toward the exit of his new home. Something inside of him felt strange... and even though he hadn’t yet seen the figure that sat near his door, Jason already knew who it was.

~*~

Courtney pulled a tissue out of her purse and looked around knowing that coming to see Carly had been stupid. What had she been thinking, bothering Carly in the middle of the night? As she stood up and pressed the button on the elevator that would take her back downstairs, she failed to notice the quiet sound of a door opening behind her.

Jason gazed at Courtney and knew that she didn’t realize he was there. He watched her for a few seconds, contemplating what to say. He wanted to take away the pain that had caused her to come to Carly’s door, nearly sobbing, but he wasn’t sure that she would let him. Finally, he gathered enough to courage to speak her name.

“Courtney,” he whispered softly.

She felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up as she turned to face him... there he was. Standing right in front of her, with his eyes full of gentleness and caring.

“Do you want to come in?”

She didn’t know what to say as she locked her eyes with his. Though she had been able to hold most of her tears in that night, she felt a familiar wetness begin to form in her eyes. She looked down at the floor and tried to stop herself from getting upset again when she felt Jason take her in his arms, lift her off her feet, and carry her through the doorway. She allowed the tears to flow freely then as she buried her face in his chest and felt the beating of his heart.

He could feel her body trembling as he held her close to him and carried her to the couch. He gently set her down and settled comfortably on the couch, moving her head into his lap and gently placing his arms around her. He ran his fingers through her beautiful long blonde hair and listened to the sound of her crying. Occasionally he would brush his finger across her face and wipe away her tears, hoping that the small gesture would show her how much she meant to him.

She looked up at him for a moment with her eyes full of fear and watched him look at her with those beautiful blue eyes of his, trying to read her heart in a way that she thought was impossible. But she began to shut him out again... closing off the doorway to her soul.

"It’s okay to cry," he whispered tenderly, holding her closer.

He felt the slight awkwardness in her movements, but she let him take her... take her far away to a place where there she felt no pain and no sorrow. Her eyelids began to droop after a while, but she struggled to hold onto the comforting feeling of being in his arms and to keep herself from falling into an endless sleep. For when she knew that when the sleep came, the dreams would come also.

She was aware of his quiet affection as he gently tucked a piece of long blonde hair behind her ear. He pressed his lips to the top of her head, feeling her tremble at the small gesture. He wanted to take the pain away, to lift her up and allow her to fly away... free. She knew he'd never hurt her, but memory of the pain was still etched into her mind.

"Just hold me," she murmured softly, wishing that she could let go of the suffering. And so she settled back, letting her body mold against his, as though they were made for each other and for that moment.

~*~

It startled Jason to hear the sound of another person’s breathing as he began to wake up, but the change felt right to him, as though Courtney had been what was missing from the penthouse. He gazed at her face and watched her sleep peacefully, as she began to let go of the grief that had plagued her for so many days. Her chest steadily rose and fell… keeping in rhythm with the rest of her body… a constant pattern.

Courtney awoke with a start and grabbed onto the nearest thing to her, which also happened to be Jason’s arm.

“Hey,” Jason said quietly, “It’s okay.”

“Jason?” she asked, confused. Slowly she realized what had happened, but more questions filled her mind. “What am I doing? Oh god, Jason, I’m sorry.”

“What are you apologizing for?” he asked as she sat up next to him. He reached over and pressed his fingertips to her face. “Do you want some breakfast?”

Courtney moved away from his touch and stood up. She shook her head and replied, “I-I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t have bothered you. I can’t keep doing this to you, Jason. It’s not fair.”

“What’s not fair?” he asked, keeping his voice calm.

“It’s not fair to you!” Courtney spat out. “I need to go home.” She grabbed her bag from off the table and quickly walked toward the door. She had nearly reached it by the time Jason had composed himself enough to react.

“Courtney, wait,” Jason said, rushing over to her.

“Why?” Courtney asked, swinging the door open. “You don’t want me here. I shouldn’t be here.”

“Courtney!” Jason called as she walked into the hall, though he tried to keep his voice down. He stepped toward the hallway, only to be met by the slamming of the door. He stared at the door for a few seconds, attempting to process all that had happened. What was it about Courtney that he just couldn’t understand? What was he doing wrong?

Courtney had slammed the door… and now she felt awful. She was shutting him out of her life, but she had good reason to. It wasn’t fair to him to lead him on, to allow him to stay by her side.

“Courtney?” Carly spoke, coming out from her penthouse.

“What?” she snapped.

Carly looked surprised to see Courtney looking so vicious. “What’s going on?”

“Does it matter?”

“Yes. Something’s wrong, I know it.” Carly gave Courtney a sympathetic look before inviting her inside.

Courtney shook her head and stayed quiet for a minute. “Sorry that I snapped at you,” she said meekly.

“Court,” Carly began, “I know something’s up with you and I wish you would let me help-”

“No. I have to deal with this on my own.”

“Courtney, please.”

Courtney glared at her sister-in-law. “I need to get home to the loft.”

The doors to the elevator opened and Courtney stepped inside as Carly looked on helplessly.

As soon as the doors closed, she walked into the penthouse that was opposite hers, only to be nearly hit with a flying glass.

“Jason?” she yelped.

“What the hell do you want?” he cried, tossing another glass around in his hand.

“To help.”

“Courtney already left. A little too late for helping, aren’t you Carly?”

“Only if you don’t tell me what happened.”

Jason set the glass down on the pool table’s green felt. “When you figure it out, let me know.”

“What did you say to her?”

“I didn’t say anything,” Jason retorted, “Just ‘Do you f-king want some breakfast?’”

One glance at Jason’s face told Carly that there was much more going on… “Maybe you should start with why Courtney was here last night.”

“We didn’t sleep together.”

“I didn’t ask that. So Courtney just shows up here in the middle of the night?”

“Yea.” He sighed as he said the word, what was going to make this right? “She was-she was pretty upset about something. And I think she wanted to talk to you, but then, I… well she was just, sitting out there and…”

“She came in because she was afraid of bothering me?” She shook her head and wished that Courtney had come to her first… it sounded like Jason hadn’t helped much.

“I guess.” He rubbed his hands across his cheeks and walked around the couch to sit down. “She let me hold her and fell asleep, peacefully… and I thought I had finally gotten through to her.” Looking up at the ceiling, Jason thought for a moment. “And this morning she gets up and starts apologizing for bothering me. She kept saying something about how it wasn’t fair to me for her to be here.”

Carly looked at Jason strangely, before replying. “I know that I keep telling you that Courtney is hurting, and that she needs time to heal, but I think she needs you and needs to know that you care about her.”

“I don’t-I don’t get how I’m hurting her,” Jason said simply.

“It’s not about what you’re doing, and the only thing that will help Courtney is if you find her and help her through the pain.”

He focused on Carly once more. “And where do I find her?”

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Yes,” Jason answered vehemently. He wasn’t going to lose Courtney without a fight.

~*~

Her blonde hair was still messed up from sleeping on Jason’s couch, but Courtney didn’t care as she gazed at herself in the bathroom’s full-length mirror. She was wearing dark-blue sweatpants and a loose white T-shirt, which read ‘Race for the Cure.’

“Hey,” she said softly, “Everything’s going to be okay… as long as I remember that it’s not fair to drag him into this.” She continued to think to herself as she headed out of the bathroom and flopped into one of the kitchen chairs. Not having the energy to move, there was no way that Courtney would be making herself breakfast.

A light knocking on the door caused her to start. She considered ignoring it, and hoped that the person would leave her alone, but something inside of her pushed her into getting up and opening the door. She was greeted by the last face she expected to see… the face she had grown to know so well and to read so well. “Jason?”

“Can I come in?”

Courtney didn’t respond, but moved out of the doorway. “How did you find me here?” It was Jason’s turn not to respond. “Carly?” she guessed. Jason nodded.

Courtney smiled cruelly at the irony of it… she and Jason had gotten the loft to be alone together and to be away from the rest of the world… and now the only thing she wanted was for him to leave and for anyone else to take his place. “You don’t have to take care of me,” she said, looking at him. Jason tried to say something, but no words were forming. “I bet you just came here so that you could pretend to love me. Make me feel better, right?” she asked, raising her voice a little.

“No,” he responded. “Courtney, that isn’t what this is about and I don’t understand why-”

“Why?” Courtney asked angrily, “There is no answer to that question. Things happen, Jason. We deal with them and we try to move on.”

“I want to be with you,” Jason replied his voice shaking a little with fear of rejection. He walked near her and reached out to touch her-to feel that connection between them and to try and understand the reason behind her actions. Instead, he felt her flinch the moment his hand brushed across her skin.

“You shouldn’t want to be with me,” Courtney yelled, her eyes beginning to fill with tears once more. “What’s best for you is to stay as far away from me as possible.”

“What about you want?” Jason demanded, looking her straight in the eye as his face began to turn red with anger.

“It’s not about what I want!”

“Why are you saying that?”

Courtney looked away from him as tears ran down her cheeks. “I don’t want to be with you!” she finally shouted, thinking that the louder she shouted, the truer it would become to her. “Can’t you just accept that?”

“What did I do to make you mad?” Jason yelled, becoming angrier as the minutes wore on. “Why are you pushing me away?”

“Because!” Courtney suddenly screamed as her body shook and tears streamed down her face, “I’m pregnant, and it’s not your child!”

A/N: Why is this dedicated to Mosey? After reading the first chapter of this story way back on June 1, she figured out what I was gonna do with it. <_< I thought for a little bit about not making it into a pregnancy story because of my other fan fic... but since discontinuing that one, I decided to do what I had always planned to do from the moment that this story popped into my head.

A/N: Just a reminder-I’m not exactly sure about the timing of everything, so I’m kind of making it up, but it’s been about 8 weeks since Jason got into the accident, making Carly about 13 weeks pregnant and Courtney 8 weeks pregnant

Courtney looked away from him as tears ran down her cheeks. “I don’t want to be with you!” she finally shouted, thinking that the louder she shouted, the truer it would become to her. “Can’t you just accept that?”

“What did I do to make you mad?” Jason yelled, becoming angrier as the minutes wore on. “Why are you pushing me away?”

“Because!” Courtney suddenly screamed as her body shook and tears streamed down her face, “I’m pregnant, and it’s not your child!”

The words echoed through Jason’s mind as he struggled to grasp their true meaning. Everything inside of him was exploding and his mind couldn’t fully comprehend her words. Jason watched helplessly, his eyes growing extremely wide, while Courtney began to sob uncontrollably and collapsed into the couch. She tried to cover her face, to shield him from her pain, but when she looked up at him, their eyes met. Her eyes were full of fear and regret… his with confusion and love. She looked away and he took a step towards her, concentrating on his breathing. He couldn’t let himself shut down… Courtney needed him.

“You weren’t supposed to find out,” Courtney sobbed, furiously trying to wipe away her tears. “I’m sorry that I told you this way, it just came tumbling out and-”

Jason shushed her as he moved closer to her. He stretched out his arms timidly, afraid that she would reject him once again. But she didn’t stop him as he hugged her and tried to comfort her. He held on tightly, hoping that Courtney would let him support her. Finally, he spoke. “It’s going to be okay…” Searching his mind for the right words, Jason pulled away slightly and gently placed his hand on Courtney’s chin. He tilted it upwards so that he could look directly into her beautiful blue eyes. “I’m glad that you told me.” She nodded, still trying to recover from the fact that she’d blurted out her unexpected news so quickly. They sat in silence for a few minutes, each thinking about the impact of her words. As Courtney closed her eyes and tried to drift off into a world where she could escape her problems, Jason took her hands in his and lightly massaged them.

“Thank you,” Courtney said softly, “For accepting me and not walking out on me when I thought I wanted you to.”

He ran the pad of his thumb across her cheek and brushed a piece of hair behind her ear. “You accepted me first for who I was. The first one to come and visit me and not expect any recognition.”

“Yea…” her thoughts were wandering again.

“Courtney?”

“Yea?” she asked, coming out of the memory.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes… I’m sorry that I was pushing you away,” she said, “but when I found out at the hospital, the only thing I could think of doing was protecting you from the knowledge and the responsibility.”

“You don’t need to apologize.”

“Yes I do.”

Jason was trying his best to comfort her, but one thought was stuck in his mind… if the child wasn’t his, then who was the father? “Courtney, you don’t have to answer this now because I know you’re under a lot of pressure but-”

“-You want to know who the father is?” she finished. Even now she could read his thoughts… just like how things used to be. “Look, Jason, biologically, the child is yours.”

The beat of Jason’s heart quickened as his brain processed the words… Courtney was carrying his child.

“But what I meant is that I don’t expect you to feel responsible for him or her or to take care of them. I mean, you don’t remem-”

“-but what if I want to?” he interrupted.

She had prepared herself for all reactions-except this one. He wanted to raise the child that, emotionally, wasn’t really his? “What?” she was nearly speechless.

“It’s a baby, Courtney,” Jason said, a smile growing on his face. “Our baby. How could you think that I would let you go through this alone?”

“You really mean that?” Courtney questioned shyly.

“Yes,” he replied, placing his hands on her stomach. “There’s a baby inside of you… right now?”

“Yea.” She smiled as she looked at Jason. His eyes were so full of love… “Why are you so wonderful?”

“Because I have you,” he answered, “and now we have a baby.”

“Yes, yes we do…” Now more than ever, the idea of being pregnant was more real to her. Saying the words had made her realize that things happen, but she could get through them… and Jason was going to be there with her every step of the way. And then suddenly, she felt like everything seemed too perfect, like she was living a dream. “Would you still want to be with me even if I wasn’t carrying your child?”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Jason replied confidently, “Yes, Courtney, Yes I would…” he paused, thinking to himself for a moment. “So does this mean that we’re together?”

She gave him a shy look. “You tell me.”

“I hope so,” he grinned.

“Then yes, yes it does.”

He was looking at her intently, and realizing for the first time that Courtney was more than just a friend to him… she was everything to him. And he couldn’t imagine how he would have survived if he’d allowed Courtney to push him away and to bear what had once been a burden alone. No, Jason decided, he would be there to laugh and to cry with her and to hold her and comfort her. And he’d be there to see their child born and to see him or her grow up to be as wonderful and beautiful as their mother. His eyes rested on her lips as he sat on the warm couch with her… and a new feeling washed over him. He wanted to tell her how he felt, but he couldn’t find the words to adequately express his feelings… and so he leaned into her body and placed his lips gently against hers, unsure of what he was doing, but so sure of why he was doing it.

The gesture both surprised and delighted her as Courtney responded to Jason’s kiss. She ran her fingers through his brown hair and felt the warmth of his kiss as it made her body melt. She parted her lips as his tongue found hers and they seemed to be dancing together… forgetting everything else in the world except each other. The passion of the kiss intensified as their souls became connected, sharing their feelings through the kiss rather than words.

They pulled away for a moment, with their foreheads touching and their breathing heavy.

“We should stop,” Courtney whispered as she found herself lost in Jason’s eyes. He nodded reluctantly, still focused on the memory of that blissful kiss. Her lips had been so gentle and loving…

She felt something inside of her change as she reflected on that kiss.

“Jason?” she said softly as her breathing began to return to normal.

“Yes?” he whispered, brushing his fingers across her soft skin.

“I can’t wait until we can feel the baby moving.” She smiled and placed his hands on her stomach. “You’ll be able to feel him or her kicking.”

Jason stared at her stomach lovingly as Courtney ran his fingers through his hair. “Are you happy?”

Jason nodded and replied, “Now that I have you… and the baby of course.”

“Like a little family,” Courtney said.

Jason repeated her words softly, “Our little family.”

“I think the baby wants some lunch,” Courtney said, her cheeks turning a little pink.

“You mean the baby’s mommy wants some lunch?” Jason joked.

Courtney swatted him across the chest. “Now that you know I’m pregnant, that means you have to do everything I say.”

“Ok,” he said surrendering himself to her, “Where shall we go?”

“Kelly’s.”

“Kelly’s it is,” he replied, grasping Courtney’s hand and helping her off the couch.

“But that doesn’t mean I’m helpless!” She rolled her eyes as Jason tried to help her towards the door. “Seriously, Jason, I can walk by myself.”

“Yea, yea, I know,” Jason said, “I just want to make sure you’re all right.”

“I am.” She pressed her lips together and gave him a defying look.

“Good.” Jason leaned towards Courtney and lightly brushed his lips against her cheek. “Let’s go.”

~*~

Courtney walked into Kelly’s with Jason right behind her. He was playing with her hands as they moved toward a table and sat down.

“Carly’s probably here,” Jason said, smiling. “She’s going to be excited to hear the news.”

“Um…” Courtney looked away from Jason. “Is it all right if we keep the part about the baby to ourselves for a little while?”

“Yea,” he replied, “Of course, I should’ve thought that we would want to keep this to ourselves for a couple of days, I mean… after Carly finds out, you know how crazy she’ll go.”

Jason looked up and Courtney turned around at the sound of a chair being dragged towards their table. “Once I found out what?” Carly asked, giving Courtney and Jason an accusing glare.

“Uh,” Jason wasn’t sure how to respond and looked to Courtney for help.

Courtney beamed as she looked at Carly, “Well… I guess it’s okay… Jason and I… we’re together now.”

Jason rolled his eyes as Carly squealed and pulled her best friend into a hug. “Carly, chill out,” Courtney said with a smile as Carly finally let go of her.

“I’m just, you know, so happy for you two!” Carly exclaimed. “I can’t wait to tell Sonny about this!” Courtney glanced at Jason as Carly went on and on.

“Um, I think we should be going now-” Jason said, as Courtney gave him the thumbs up, though it was hidden from Carly’s view. “See you later Carly.”

“Okay, okay,” Carly replied, as she pushed Courtney and Jason out of the restaurant, “I wouldn’t want to be imposing on you two lovebirds right now.”

Courtney giggled as she and Jason finally escaped Carly. “I love Carly and she’s my best friend, but sometimes, she just overdoes it.”

“Yea,” Jason said, rubbing his palm across his forehead, “Still hungry?”

“Starving.”

“Then how about we go back to my PH and I’ll make you a sandwich.”

“Sounds yummy to me.”

~*~

The brown leather of Jason’s couch felt cool against Courtney’s skin. She was wearing a pair of jean shorts and a black strapless top, which hugged her body in all the right places. “Jason?” she called towards the kitchen. “Are you sure you don’t need any help?” He’d gone back into the kitchen to clean up after their sandwiches nearly 10 minutes ago.

“I’m sure!” Jason responded, but he seemed a little distracted.

Courtney got up from her spot on the couch and walked toward the kitchen. She peeked into the kitchen, but her eyes were met with a complete disaster! “Jason!” she said. “What are you doing?”

He turned around sheepishly with flour smeared on his face and chocolate all over the front of his shirt. “You’re not supposed to be in here!”

“And you’re not supposed to have chocolate and flour all over you!” Courtney laughed at the sight of him, though she couldn’t help thinking that he looked cute no matter what. “Can I help?”

“But they’re supposed to be for you.”

“What are?”

“Well… pregnant women are supposed to love chocolate brownies,” Jason said, a grin on his face, “but as you can tell, I’m having a little bit of trouble.”

“A bit?”

“All right, Courtney,” Jason said, “I confess, I’m having a lot of trouble so come help me before I totally ruin them!”

“Okay.” She grabbed an apron and tied it neatly around herself. “First things first, where’s the recipe?”

“Right here,” Jason said, handing her the back of a chocolate chip bag.

Courtney glanced into the bowl, which was supposed to have the batter in it… but it looked more like lumpy flour with chocolate pieces. “What did you do?”

“I followed the recipe!”

“And the recipe calls for 5 cups of flour?”

“It says right here!” Jason said, pointing to the recipe, “Oh, umm…”

“Yea, that’s what I thought,” Courtney laughed, “how about that little dot before the 5?”

“Right.” Jason said. He loved the way her smile lit up her face and made her eyes sparkle. She was saying something to him… but all he could do was look at her gorgeous smile.

“Jason!” Courtney teased, “You’re not even listening to me.”

“I’m too busy watching you smile,” he responded. Jason placed his hands on Courtney’s hips and pulled her closer to him. “You’re so beautiful when you smile.”

Pink spread across Courtney’s cheeks as Jason spoke to her. The brownie batter lay forgotten as Jason leaned in and kissed her for the second time. His lips caressed hers as he pushed her up onto the kitchen counter, knocking a dirty spoon over and into the sink. “Jason,” Courtney whispered playfully, “You’re getting flour all over me.”

“Fine,” Jason said, pretending to be hurt as he pulled away from her. “I guess that means I’m not allowed to kiss you then.”

“Nope, not until the brownies are done and you’ve washed up,” she teased.

Jason was going to make Courtney lose at her own game. “That’s too bad, really… I was just starting to enjoy it too… It’s gonna be a long… long time until those brownies are finished.”

“Yes… a long… long time…” Courtney responded, biting her lip. She knew she was losing and Jason was enjoying it. “Maybe just once… before we finish the brownies…”

Jason needed no further invitation as he pulled her into him and placed his lips firmly against hers. He parted her lips with his tongue as she allowed him to explore her mouth. The kiss was full of passion, and hunger… and an undeniable sense of longing and needing.

He pulled away to catch his breath. “What is it about you that makes me need you so much?” he asked softly.

“I don’t know,” she answered, “All I know is that I want to be with you forever.”

“Forever.” The word crossed Jason Morgan’s lips as he stared into her sparkling blue eyes. “I want to love you forever.”

A/N: Thank you all for reading this and taking the time to leave feedback... it really means a lot to me. :-)

“I want to love you forever.”

She wasn’t expecting, in any way, to hear these words come out of Jason’s mouth, but the moment she heard them, she knew that Jason wasn’t lying to her. And she felt it too. She felt the connection, the spark, between them that she’d tried to suppress. She hadn’t wanted to believe in love after Jason Morgan… but here it was staring her right in the face, and she could no longer deny it. “I love you too.”

Jason leaned in once again and planted a gentle kiss on her lips. “I bet you didn’t imagine that you’d ever confess your love to someone who had flour all over his face.”

“Nope,” she replied, licking her lips, “but that just makes me love you more.”

An idea sprang into Jason’s mind and on impulse, he blurted it out. “Courtney,” he began, “I know it might be a little soon… but do you want to live with me here?”

Courtney smiled and tucked a piece of blonde hair behind her ear. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Jason answered. “I mean... there’s an extra bedroom down the hall for you… and the baby when it comes.”

“Already planning then?” she asked.

He nodded. “Of course!”

Courtney stared calmly into his beautiful blue eyes, before suddenly remembering that she had an appointment with Dr. Meadows. “Jason!” she said abruptly, breaking the serenity of the mood, “I forgot about my first appointment with Dr. Meadows!”

He looked eagerly at the beautiful blonde. “Is it right now?”

“Yes! Hurry!” She lightly jumped off the kitchen counter where she’d been sitting for the last several minutes. Jason quickly followed Courtney out of the kitchen and grabbed his keys from the small wooden table in the front room of the PH. He smiled at her before taking her hand and leading her out of the penthouse.

~*~

The smiling couple exited the exam room an hour later after talking with Dr. Meadows.

“So she said that everything looks healthy, right?” Jason asked for what Courtney thought must’ve been the fiftieth time.

“Yes!” she said. “I’m going to be fine!”

“Ok. Ok.” Jason replied, pulling her closer to him and placing a kiss on her forehead, “I just want to be sure.”

“I know,” Courtney whispered. “And I’ve got all this stuff to read.”

“Yea,” her baby’s father replied, surveying the pamphlets Dr. Meadows had provided Courtney with.

“Hey Jason!” a woman’s voice called from down the hall. Jason, who still had his arms wrapped around Courtney’s waist, looked up at the brunette who was making her way towards him.

“Hey,” he said as he watched Brenda’s reaction to the way he was touching Courtney.

Brenda couldn’t help feeling a little bit caught off guard... obviously, many things had happened since she’d last talked to Jason. “Hey, Jason, hey Courtney.”

“Hey,” Courtney responded, giving a warm smile.

Brenda smiled at the image of Jason and Courtney... yes, things had worked out for the best. “I was here visiting a friend when I saw you two.”

“How are you doing?” Jason asked as he let go of Courtney, though he kept an arm around her waist.

“Oh, you know same old, same-” Brenda stopped as she glanced at the words written across the top pamphlet Planning for Your Baby. “-Oh my God.” Courtney noticed too late that she’d left the pamphlet in view. “You’re-you’re pregnant?”

Courtney could feel herself beginning to blush as she glanced at Jason. “Yes,” she said quietly.

Brenda couldn’t get over her shock. Courtney was having Jason’s baby! And furthermore, Jason probably didn’t even remember... but they seemed to be happy enough about it. “This is really-really unexpected.”

“Yea, we know,” Jason smiled, “but we’re happy.”

“Congratulations!” Brenda said sincerely as she reached out and hugged Jason tightly, then Courtney. “Have you started picking out names or anything?”

“Oh, no,” Courtney replied, “We haven’t even told anybody yet...”

The brunette looked guiltily at them. “Oops.”

“No, it’s okay, we just didn’t want everyone to find out just yet...”

“I can imagine... but no worries, Brenda Barrett can keep a secret.”

Jason grinned. “I hope so.”

~*~

“Sonny!” Carly called as she entered her home. She looked around the mostly-brown room, but Sonny was nowhere to be seen. “Sonny!”

“Yes, wife?” he asked as he came down the stairs.

“I have the best news!”

Carly’s husband could tell from the look on her face that she was bursting to tell her secret, so he avoided the subject. “Oh really? Well first, let me tell you about my day. First I went to the warehouse, where I worked for a couple of hours. I sat in a bunch of boring meetings and then I went to Bobbie’s to pick up-”

“No, no, no.” Carly interrupted, she couldn’t wait to tell him. “You have to listen to this!”

Sonny continued as though he hadn’t heard her. “-Michael and then Michael wanted to go to the park, so we played on the swings.”

“SONNY!” Carly interjected, “Jason and Courtney are together now!”

“Huh?” Sonny wasn’t sure that he’d heard her right. “Are you sure?”

“Yes! I saw them together at Kelly’s and they looked absolutely perfect and content.”

“Well, that is good news... I’m glad that they worked things out.”

“Yea, me too,” Carly grinned, “which is why we’re inviting them over to dinner tonight, okay? It’ll be like... a family dinner again.”

“Okay, but does this mean I get to cook?”

“Would you rather me cook?”

“I’m cooking!”

~*~

The pregnant woman lounged on the comfy sofa of her new home as she watched Jason talk on the phone with Carly.

“Ok, Carly... Tonight?... Yes, we’ll come... No, I don’t want to bring anything... Are you sure?... Bye... Ok, bye, Carly... Yes, I will... BYE!” Jason hung up his cell phone and rolled his eyes, making Courtney giggle.

“What did she say?”

“Typical Carly. She wants us to come over for dinner tonight.”

“Right... Listen, now that Brenda knows about-about the baby,” she said slowly, “don’t you think we ought to tell Sonny and Carly?”

“Yea,” Jason answered, rubbing his palm across his chin. “Tonight?”

“Yea...” Courtney replied. She wasn’t sure how her brother and best friend were going to react... and in fact, she was a little scared to find out. “How are we going to tell them?”

“We’ll find the right time.”

~*~

Courtney had returned to the loft alone to find something to wear for that night’s dinner. She finally decided on a cute knee-length jean skirt with a white strapless top, and white flip-flops to match. She looked down at her watch, which read... 6:35. She only had ten minutes to pack up a few things which she would need if she was going to be living at Jason’s, at least until she could move all of her stuff to the penthouse. She grabbed a few things and stuffed them into a black duffel back. She came out of the bathroom where she’d grabbed her toothbrush, in time to hear a knock at the door. Dammit, Jason was five minutes early! “Coming!” she yelled, hurriedly slipping her flip-flops on. She spoke impatiently as she opened the door. “You’re five minutes-” her breath caught in her throat as she looked at Jason... something about the way he looked was particularly sexy, despite the fact that he was still in his favorite pair of jeans and a plain black T-shirt. “Hey,” she said softly, nervously tucking a blonde wave of hair behind her ear. Tonight was the night that she and Jason were going to make their big announcement... the question was, how would her sister-in-law and brother take the news?

“You look beautiful,” Jason told her, looking deeply into her crystal blue eyes.

“Thank you.... let me grab my stuff and I’ll be ready.”

Ten minutes later, after Courtney applied one last layer of lip-gloss, she and Jason headed out the door and to the car which awaited them.

They rode up the elevator together, each nervously contemplating how things were going to go at dinner. “Do we tell them before or after dinner?” Courtney finally asked.

“We’ll know.”

“Jason, are you sure? I don’t want everything to be awkward...”

“Yes, I’m sure,” he said, squeezing her hand.

The elevator doors opened and they stepped out into the dimly lit hall. Before Jason could knock on the door, Carly had already opened it. “Hey!” she said, embracing Courtney, who she noticed seemed a little nervous for whatever reason... “You look gorgeous!”

“You do too!” Courtney replied, looking over Carly’s simple, yet elegant outfit. She was wearing black pants with a cute wine-red top.

Jason disappeared into the kitchen with Sonny, while Courtney and Carly flopped onto the couch. “So,” Carly began, looking Courtney up and down, “What’s eating you?”

“Nothing.” Courtney said, eager to change the subject. “How’s everything with the baby?”

“Just great, actually! I went to see Dr. Meadows a couple of days ago and she said I’m about 13 weeks along and everything looks healthy.”

Pregnancy talk was not what Courtney needed... or she might accidentally slip the news and she didn’t want to reveal the truth without Jason.

“Tell me about you and Jason!” Carly finally burst out. She couldn’t handle it any longer, not hearing what had happened from Courtney’s perspective!

Courtney rolled her eyes before answering. “You’ve been wanting to ask me that since the minute I stepped in the door at Kelly’s, huh?”

“Yes,” Carly said sheepishly, “but I made it this long! Aren’t you glad?”

Courtney grinned and shook her head. “Well... Jason found me at the loft and we talked and um, we realized that we wanted to be together.”

“That’s all?” Carly asked, eyeing Courtney suspiciously.

“Yes!” Courtney promised, though she knew there was just one tiny detail that she was leaving out....

~*~

Jason watched as Sonny moved effortlessly around the kitchen. He couldn’t even make a batch of brownies and here was Sonny whipping up some gourmet meal. “Uh, do you need any help?”

“Nah,” Sonny replied, “Well, here, take this out of the oven.”

Jason reached into the oven and pulled the chicken out.

“Carly tells me that you and Courtney are together now,” the dark-featured man started.

“Yea,” the younger of the two replied.

Sonny looked up at Jason and stared at him for a second. “You realize that if you hurt her, I’ll kill you, right?”

Jason smiled, though a bit uneasily since he wouldn’t put it past Sonny. “Don’t worry.”

“Good.” Sonny carried the chicken out to the table, where Courtney and Carly were already seated. He motioned with his hand toward an empty seat next to Courtney for Jason, and seated himself next to Carly. Sonny dug into the chicken and passed the servings around as the four family members began to chatter. The food was gone in a relatively short amount of time, but Sonny, his wife, sister and best friend stayed seated at the table where they conversed for what seemed like hours.

Jason noticed that Courtney had begun to look a little tired, and knew that they needed to be wrapping things up... and to make their announcement. Jason made eye contact with Courtney... and they both knew that it was time. Jason nodded, letting Courtney know that it was her right to make the announcement.

“We should be going soon.... but before we do-” Jason took Courtney’s hand under the table and gave it a squeeze. “Jason and I have an announcement to make.”

Carly beamed, wondering what they were about to reveal, while Sonny looked on, interested.

“Um...” Jason squeezed her hand a little harder, making Courtney smile. “We’re-we’re having a baby.”

Carly, who had just taken a sip of her water, nearly choked and barely managed to hold back from spitting the water all over the table. Meanwhile, Sonny’s eyes had flown open at the word ‘baby’ as his face grew a little redder. “You’re what?!” they asked in unison.

Courtney bit her lip, as Jason tried not to laugh at the shocked looks on Carly and Sonny’s faces. “It was a... bit... unexpected for us too.”

“A baby?!” Sonny still wasn’t comprehending all this. “You got my sister pregnant?”

“Well,” his sister responded slowly... “It happened before Jason’s accident, but Jason... he’s insisted-”

“The child isn’t any less mine and I’m not going to let Courtney try and raise a child by herself.”

“Oh. My. God.” was all that Carly could manage to say. And then it suddenly dawned on her that she and Courtney would be pregnant together! The thought brought a smile to her face as she realized how much closer it would bring them. “Well, congratulations!”

“Take care of her Jason,” Sonny simply said, acknowledging his acceptance of the situation.

Carly squealed in delight as idea after idea popped into her head. “I can’t wait to decorate your nursery!”

“Carly, slow down!” Courtney said. She could feel her body begin to grow more tired, the longer that she listened to Carly talk.

Jason noticed the expression on Courtney’s face and decided that it was time to leave. “Thanks for dinner Sonny... and Carly, but we’d better be going.”

“Of course, but one more question, when are you going to tell Michael?” Carly questioned.

“Well, we hadn’t thought of that...”

“Tell you what. If you want, you and Jason can begin practicing for parenthood tomorrow and take Michael to the park, and tell him there.”

“Sounds great!” Jason said, taking Courtney’s hand and helping her up.

“We’ll catch up later!” Carly called after them as they left.

“Bye,” Sonny said as he watched them walk across the hall.

Courtney followed Jason inside the penthouse across the hall and up the stairs which led to the bedrooms. She went into her room and put on her pajamas before walking down to the bathroom, where she ran into Jason.

“See you in the morning,” he said softly, brushing wisps of hair off her face. He brought her face closer to his and kissed her, saying goodnight in a way that was much better than words.

“Good night,” she murmured as Jason broke the kiss. “I love you.” She turned and walked down the hall toward her own room, feeling exhausted, but extremely relieved that Carly and Sonny had accepted the announcement of the baby... though they’d been as shocked as she had expected them to be. She turned once more before entering her room and smiled at Jason who was watching her. Things were going well... and everything was the way it was meant to be.