Together: Epilogue: At Peace

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Thank you, as always, to the wonderful reviewers! All right, everyone realizes what this is, right? It's the end of the Shot/Together Universe! I know that I said there would be a three-part epilogue, but I think that plan would have just prolonged what I wasn't sure how to end. I've worked that out now, and so this is the last chapter.

I can't believe it! It certainly took me long enough, and I really want to thank everyone that's read and reviewed both stories!

--General Hospital

Jason stared down at the two little wrapped bundles with ill-disguised awe. He'd held babies before, he'd loved Michael, he had even played at being a father, but now, to see these two children held tightly in his arms...

He hadn't been able to speak for nearly forty minutes. At first, that had been a problem, considering Sonny and Carly's presence and Elizabeth's consciousness. Now, however, he was alone with the babies and Elizabeth was cashing in on her well deserved rest. It had been a hectic two days, to say the least.

Elizabeth had declared a week before the babies were due that she was going to name one of them and Jason would have to name the other. She claimed that if they picked names together he would just agree to whatever she liked and so this was her way of making sure he had a big role in the naming. He had promised her that he would say something if he didn't like the ones she picked, but in his heart he knew that he'd love anything she wanted for their children. She was probably right, but that didn't make this naming business any easier. Carly had offered suggestions and Emily had brought him a huge book of baby names, but nothing they said helped him any.

With Michael it had been so simple. If Jason had a son, the boy would be named after his best friend, no hesitation, but now he could hardly name his son the same thing as his nephew. Michael had big plans for his new cousins, so naming them the same thing would be stupid. Jason could tell that Carly felt a little bad about that. If she had named her son herself, he most definitely wouldn't be Michael, and so the name would still be open for him.

Elizabeth, knowing this, had offered to name their son for him and let him name their daughter. It was a nice gesture on her part, since he knew she already had a girls name picked out. Even worse than that, was his fear that she would name the boy Jason after him, and that wasn't anything he wanted.

He watched as his daughter yawn, opening her blue eyes. Elizabeth had already declared her to be Lila Wind Morgan to a few raised eyebrows. Lila was fine with Jason, but Elizabeth had said that they would call her Winnie for her childhood at least, just to keep things separate. Emily had suggested giving the boy a word for his middle name too, to keep the trend, but Jason wasn't sure about that. Winnie was nice and the symbolism had made him smile, but names and words are really two different things. He wasn't sure how he felt to mix them.

"Jason," Elizabeth said quietly from where she sat on the couch, "I didn't want to worry you before, but I think I've been in labor for a few hours now."

He sighed, wishing he could pinch the bridge of his nose to help keep off the headache he could feel building. His hands were full, however, and he couldn't be annoyed by that. He'd hold these kids safely against him forever if he could.

Elizabeth, Emily, Carly, Bobbie and even Monica had warned him that first births were often slower going than later ones and that he should prepare himself for something longer than a day even. That had turned out to be more than true; Elizabeth had been in labor for nearly thirty hours with the twins.

He reluctantly pulled his eyes away from his daughter's to watch Elizabeth sleep. She had a look of peace on her face now, not that horrible mix of pain and determination she'd had before. His wife was strong, to say the least, but he hadn't been able to help his worry before. How could he think anything less of her when she'd already proven herself to be more than he'd ever thought possible?

That horrible moment in the warehouse months ago was imprinted in his memory still. Elizabeth's pale face, shaking arm, her hand clenched around the gun she'd used to end another man's life. There had always been some sort of disconnect in Jason's mind that allowed him to eliminate threats or carry out Sonny's orders without feeling virtually anything about the acts. Elizabeth was different though and really, he hadn't been sure how to help her.

"Elizabeth," Jason nearly gasped, out of shock and near exhaustion.

Jason stood despite his body's shaking and walked towards his wife. She seemed to be staring both straight at him and at something past him. Her hand still held tight to the gun, but she let go when Jason pulled it away from her. He dropped it on the floor next to them and literally snatched her up in his arms. Her still extended arm folded in against his chest and the trembling spread to her whole body.

"I'm not sorry." She whispered. "I'm not sorry, I don't regret it."

She still didn't, but Jason did.

He shook his head to clear it of those thoughts. There was no point in dwelling now over what he'd run over in his mind a thousand times already. Elizabeth might never regret what she had done and Sonny had made sure that there were no legal repercussions, but she'd still paid a price for it and Jason hated himself for that.

As if sensing his dark thoughts his daughter, Winnie, made a noise and all those things he'd learned from Michael came rushing back. He made small nonsense noises back at her and did his best to rock her without disturbing his son.

"Have you had any ideas yet?"

Jason looked up to smile at Elizabeth. "You should be resting." He admonished lightly.

She grinned back at him and let her eyes drift to the babies. "I'm tired, but I feel good. I can't even describe it. It's like...I'm more alive than I've ever been before."

Jason nodded, accepting that vague description. "No." he said, in reference to her earlier question.

Anyone else wouldn't have understood what he meant, but Elizabeth did. She didn't ask what he was saying No to and Jason felt a rush of something. "No thoughts at all?" She asked.

"None." He admitted, "I can only think of names I would never use."

"I'm still open to Jason." Elizabeth offered, only half teasing.

Jason shuddered at the thought. "Never." He empathetically stated. "I'll have to come up with something different."

Elizabeth accepted that. "I had half a mind to suggest Freedom for a middle name, since that's what we were to eachother at first, but I thought that Wind and Freedom might be too hippy-ish."

Jason shook his head. He still thought that symbolism was nice, but didn't want words. He wanted something Elizabeth would love, since she had chosen Lila for him. He wanted to do the same for her. Mentally, he ran over all those names he'd read over in Emily's book. Finally, something came to him.

"Luca." He said, quietly.

Elizabeth was startled, he'd obviously been lost in thought for a while. "What?"

"I know that Lucky and Luke still mean something to you. And you picked Lila for me..." He trailed off, uncertain how to explain himself.

Elizabeth gave him a strange look, "You don't have to name him something you're uncomfortable with just for me."

He winced, that wasn't what he wanted her to think. "No, I don't mind that. Besides, it means, um, light, I think."

"Luca." She said, trying the word out on her lips. She liked it, he could tell. "Luca what?"

This was easier, Jason thought. He thought again of that night at the warehouse and felt a different twist of regret run through him. "Luca Francis."

Elizabeth didn't say anything, but she gave him a bittersweet smile. "I like it." she whispered, not asking him for any more than what his eyes admitted already.

Neither said anything for a moment, but rather they watched the babies. Winnie had fallen asleep again during the course of her brother's naming and Luca's little lips were parted just a little, making Jason think that he'd wake up hungry soon. Finally, Elizabeth spoke, "We should call a nurse. They'll want to know what we've chosen. That is...if you're sure?"

Jason nodded and Elizabeth smiled. She pressed the call button and whispered their names again to herself. "Luca Francis Morgan and Lila Wind Morgan. God, I think I'm going to cry."

He smiled at her, knowing she meant happy tears instead of the kind that made him nervous. He looked back down at his children as he heard his wife sniffle just a little.

Gunshot wounds were hardly a good way to start a relationship, but he'd carry the scars on his body proudly. After all, they'd brought him to this moment.

I'm not sure how I feel about this ending, but it feels finished to me, and I don't want to add even a word. I think, actually, that anything I wrote for this would feel not quite right, considering how long this has been in the making. I've spent pretty much all of my teenage years writing for this storyline and finishing it feels strange. I hope you all think the ending's alright. I hope it is!

Please, for old time's sake...REVIEW!

Thank you all.