A/N – Thanks for the comments! I'm so glad that you stuck with me on this journey. I enjoyed writing it. The next Liaison story is called This is Us and starts around the time Elizabeth found Jason in the snow. I went back and looked at a lot of videos and I love their teasing and banter. Aside from rape year, and right after Lucky "died", Liz has a vibrant personality, and she was emerging again during that time. She also brought more of Jason's personality out too. The other main couple is Georgie and Johnny O. It's weird having that younger set (Maxis, Georgie, and Dillon) be around Liz's age, but that is the couple you wanted. There is some drama (or it wouldn't be me), but it's more with other peeps. I'm still writing it but have a chunk done. I may post an Evason story in between, but I'm not sure. I'm going to take a few weeks off. I need it. I'm so exhausted from work. I may start correcting the Ruse soon, since I'm behind moving my old fics to my site. It takes time to re-write/correct them, but I always update the story here and there, so don't read ahead if you choose to re-read as I post. I hope you all have a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. Take care and please be safe.

Chapter 76

A sleepy Cam is stunned when he opens the door to find his mother there. "Why are you here? Is dad okay?"

She points behind her as she pushes by him. "He's right there. Where is your wife?"

He looks stumped but then Emma calls to her.

"I'm in the kitchen. Hurry!"

They rush to her and Cam screeches to a stop when he spots the puddle. "Emma? Why didn't you tell me?"

"You haven't been sleeping and when we get to the hospital, you won't get any, so I called mom. I figured we have time."

He ran to get the bag and then threw it to Jason who is leaning against the car. As he ran away, Jason called out to him.

"Cam!"

"Yeah?"

"Breathe…"

He disappeared into the house as Jason chuckled.

Cam helped his wife to Jason's car and then Liz drove theirs. There was no way Jason was going to let Cam drive his grandchildren to the hospital when he's so nervous.

They got there in record time and rushed Emma inside.

Jake ran up to them.

"Her water broke," Cam explained.

"Good luck," Jake said watching them disappear down a corridor.

"How is Sophie?" Liz asked.

A doctor approached them. "Mr. Morgan?"

"Yes?" Jake said.

"Your wife's water broke, so a nurse will bring you back so you can get prepared."

"Okay." He can barely breathe.

Liz stepped in front of him. "You can do this. She needs you. Soon, those precious babies will be in your arms."

Jake hugged her. "See you soon."

Liz smiled and then wiped a tear away. "We're going to be grandparents by tomorrow afternoon."

"I feel so old."

She laughed at her husband. "Our girls keep you young."

"That's true." He hugged her. "We are so blessed."

"That we are…"

By the next day, they had three grandbabies. Cam and Emma named their son Alexander Jason Morgan. When he had started getting serious with Emma, he had a long talk with Jason and his mother because he didn't want to marry under the name of March. After some soul searching, he decided to go with Morgan instead of Webber which made Jason very happy. Aidan had changed his last name to Spencer in high school which had pleased his father. Later, Sophie gave birth to Ariana Elizabeth and Mateo Giovanni.

Mateo has Lila's eyes and light brown hair while Ariana looks like Sophie and has a shock of brown hair.

The first time Jason and Liz held them, they had tears in their eyes. Their family has been so blessed. Drew and Larissa have a boy and girl that everyone spoils as much as they can.

IiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIi

Ten Years Later

There's a knock on the door and Jason answers and immediately glares. "Who are you?"

The sixteen-year-old boy standing in front of him didn't have the sense to be scared. His shoulders straightened as he eyed Jason cockily.

"I'm Leo."

"Why are you at my house? We didn't order anything."

"I'm here to take Emily to the—"

He's cut off when Emily pushes past her father.

"Hey."

Jason blinks a few times as Elizabeth moves to his side and grips his arm, knowing this is going to go south fast.

"Hey. You ready?" He eyes her lustfully, forgetting her parents are observing.

"Ready for what?" Jason chimed in as Liz bit her lip. Lila is studious and doesn't pay much attention to boys. She thinks they're stupid. Emily, on the other hand, is like Liz and her Aunt Emily rolled into one which means she's in trouble often.

"Dad…"

"Don't dad me. I don't know him from Adam."

"Who's Adam?" Leo said.

Jason pinched the bridge of his nose. "Emily, go back inside."

She crossed her arms and stood her ground. "No." While she loves her father, he is so strict compared to her friends' dads which means she is missing out. As soon as she became a teenager, he had slowly started to get more serious about everything.

His head tilted as he eyed her and then Leo made a fatal mistake and snickered and then said, "Emily, let's go. We'll be late."

In a nanosecond, Jason had him up against the car before Liz and Emily could react.

"You think this is funny, you little shit?"

"I—no."

"Did I ask you to talk?"

"You asked me a question."

Emily tugged on her dad's sizeable bicep. Curious, Francis, who had spotted them, ran over.

"You are going to get back into your car and never come back." He is in full enforcer mode.

"Daddy!" Emily said as tears pricked her eyes. She had never seen him look so scary.

"Emily, you should have asked permission first," Liz said. "You know we have rules about dating."

"We're just going to the carnival."

Liz is tired of her daughter's antics and is not pleased by her defiance.

"Why are you still here?" Jason asked the now frightened boy.

"You—you're still holding me."

Jason let him go. "Run…"

Leo sprinted around the car and took off as Emily screamed her frustration.

Lila laughed as she watched from the window. "If she didn't try to sneak around, it would have probably been fine." For as smart as Emily is, she just doesn't seem to realize that if she just followed the rules, she could do what she wanted. Besides, she is convinced that her father has eyes in the back of his head and her mother has superhero hearing; not much gets by them.

Alana smiled. "She's going to be punished for life."

"Glad it's not me."

Jason turned around to meet Emily's glare. "Go to your room."

It's not often that Jason punishes them, so it threw Emily for a loop. Usually, she's tangling with her mother.

"I can't believe you embarrassed me like that."

"You did that to yourself." Just the thought of that little punk's hands on his daughter is making him murderous.

She stomped her foot, just like her Aunt Emily used to do. "I hate you!"

The moment it left her lips, she saw how the words cut like a knife because her dad winced and paled. Lila and Alana can't believe she said it and backed away from the window like Jason's expression had scorched them.

Liz is stunned and when Jason turned and walked towards the fields, she eyed her daughter. "I can't believe you said that to him."

Emily burst into tears. "I didn't mean it. I was mad."

"You can't have your way all the time. Actions have consequences and words have power. You need to think about what you're going to say before you say it."

"Why can't I see boys?"

"Because of this kind of behavior. If you want to be trusted, then you must earn it." Alana and Lila returned to their perch to listen. "Your father has sacrificed and would do anything for you. He is tough regarding boys because when I was fifteen, I was raped."

The three girls were floored.

"Mom… I didn't know." Her bottom lip quivered.

"It was horrible and violent, and it affected my life in ways I didn't understand until after I moved here. Your father doesn't want to see that happen to you. His family is everything to him. He's scared that one of these boys will take it too far and I don't think he'd survive that let alone how badly it would scar you."

Her shoulders fell. "I screwed up."

"What are you going to do about it?"

"I'll find him and apologize." She can be a brat at times, but she was wrong and will own it. Johnny and Francis always stressed that.

"Let him explain where he is coming from, okay? Just listen."

Emily ran into her mother's arm crying her eyes out and hating that someone had hurt her mom so badly.

"Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I don't think about it much. God gifted me with this family, and it healed so much. I'm happy and healthy and it's not something I dwell on. Your father and I talked about it recently and thought I should tell you soon."

"I'm sorry." Now, their heavy-handedness makes a lot of sense.

"Me too," Alana and Lila said before they gave Liz a group hug.

"We'll do anything to protect all of you. I need you to be smart and picky about who you let in and always have an escape plan. If you are someplace unfamiliar, know where to run. Some boys will say anything to get what they want and won't take no for answer—you can always say no."

Lila pulled back. "Uncle Johnny and Francis told us how to fight."

Francis moved forward. "That's right."

Alana hugged him needing comfort.

"I better go find him," Emily said wiping her face. She'll never forget the look on his face and she never wants to see that expression again.

"I think he's under the big tree." There is one in the middle of the field.

"Okay."

IiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIi

Jason looked up and then averted his gaze when he saw it was Emily. She plopped beside him and leaned her head on his arm.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

"It hurt."

"I know. They won't come out of my mouth again. I don't know why I'm acting out lately. I'm just so angry and sometimes it just bubbles over." Her mother keeps telling her it's her hormones or growing pains.

"I'm not trying to make you angry. I'm trying to keep you safe."

"Mom just told us about the rape."

Jason cringed. "I never want that to happen to you. It almost destroyed your mother."

"I have mace, a taser, and can fight."

"And even with all that, someone can still get you if they want to or even use their friends to help. If I could shut out all the ugliness in this world to keep you safe, I would." Italian men are more touchy-feely than American men. Jason hates it. They are more affectionate with strangers which has led to awkward moments for him.

"I get what you're saying, but I can't live in a glass house for the rest of my life either."

"I know that. If he disrespected me by laughing and ignoring my wishes, it's not a far stretch that he'd do that to you."

Her father had taken them on dates and doted on them, so she knows what it's like to be treated well and she still goes for the bad boys. He's right, Leo is cocky and would eventually do something stupid.

"You were a bad boy. Why did mom give you a chance?"

"I listened to her and made her feel safe. I earned her trust. She knew that I'd never hurt her like that man did. She always saw the good in me. Are you sure that Leo wouldn't hurt you?" He needs her to think and not just react.

"No."

"I'm strict because I love you. If something happens to you, I'd be devastated. It still kills me that I wasn't there to save your mother from all of that pain, and I didn't even know her then."

She has the best father in the world and it's time she starts acting like it. "I love you, Daddy. I'll be smarter. I promise and I heard everything you said."

He kisses the top of her head and tries not to smirk. "You're still grounded for a week."

She sighed heavily. "Okay." After what she did, she knows she's lucky it's not for a month.

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Ten Years Later

Jason studies the man standing in front of him. Emily had been smarter, but Jason was devastated when she fell in love with Vincenzo's youngest son, Liam. Luckily, he was only involved in their trucking business, which is legit, but it still could put her in the line of fire. However, the man was persistent and won Jason over and he had just given him consent to marry his daughter.

Lila has a boyfriend but isn't ready to go there yet. Alana is single and she and Lila are inseparable and are going to the same college. Lila is studying accounting to help with the business and Alana wants to be an interior decorator. Emily is majoring in business and wants to help with the winery too.

It makes Jason feel good that the second generation wants to be involved. Brenda's son has been shadowing Francis and is doing well. Jake and Sophie had another little boy named Gianni Francis while Cam and Emma added a little girl named Arabella. Danny had graduated with a degree in agriculture and is working on taking over his father's duties so Drew can travel. Emiliana had married and brought their kids over from time to time. She's happy and glad that Cam is happy too.

A year later, Emily and Liam were married in a lavish ceremony at Vincenzo's estate. The Giambetti's had attended. Milo has two boys and Tess and Max had added a girl and a boy to the mix.

Monica had passed away eight years prior. They had found her in her bed. Jason didn't speak to anyone for a few days and took it hard. Finally, he opened up to his wife and poured out his emotions. They had lost Tracy the prior year. Michael is married and happy with three boys and they reside at the mansion. ELQ is still doing very well.

Jason danced with his wife in the middle of their living room. They are alone in the house which is still a rarity. It's their grandchildren's favorite place to be.

"What's our next adventure, beautiful wife?"

She smiled. "Well, I was thinking that maybe we could go somewhere cold."

"It's snowing up north. We could rent a cabin or stay at a spa, whatever you want."

"A cabin would be nice."

"Then I'll work on it. Just don't tell the kids because they will invite themselves along." The winery is doing well. Before Isabella and James passed, they came to see it again and had a great time. It is becoming the legacy Jason had hoped for.

"My lips her sealed."

His brow quirked. "I hope not that sealed." She still looks younger than her age and barely has a wrinkle to be found. He on the other hand hasn't fared as well due to all the time he spends in the sun, but she still looks at him like he hung the moon.

"Never…"

Her hand traces his face and then settles on his bicep. "Who knew when our worlds converged that we'd end up here?"

"If I had known how happy I'd be, I would have moved heaven and earth to be with you. Sorry I made you wait."

"Ditto…"

Her head pressed against his chest and Jason closed his eyes. Little did they know, they had an audience. Cam and Jake, who had been trying to sneak some brownies, are standing in the kitchen with a big smile on their face until their parents kissed.

"That's still disgusting," Cam said.

"I can't argue with that," Jake added.

"Cameron Alexander Morgan!"

Jason, Cam, and Jake chuckled. Some things never change.

Their love flourished until the day they took their last breath. The kids were devastated, but often told stories to their children and grandkids about their parent's great love.

The End

A/N – I truly hope you enjoyed this story. I know it was rough in the beginning, but you know I always have a game plan. Happy Holidays, everyone. I'll be back soon!