Six months later...

"Cameron, Matt, dinner!"

Elizabeth stood in her sunny kitchen, watching as Aidan banged a spoon against his glass, waiting for her other two boys to make their way to the table. In two short weeks, she would officially be a doctor's wife. Life had progressed quickly, happily, and she was on the verge of having a family she thought might actually last. Matt was the most steady, dependable thing she had ever found, and she just happened to be madly in love with him. It didn't hurt that the boys adored him either, especially considering he adored them just as much.

"Smells wonderful," Matt murmured as he came in, pausing to kiss her on the forehead while Cameron crawled into his customary seat across from Aidan. "Cameron and I put a pretty big dent in his reading homework. I told him that he should probably save the art project for Mom. I think you're a little more qualified in that department."

"Got it," she grinned, handing him a large bowl of salad. She followed closely behind with a freshly baked lasagna. "We'll finish the art project tonight so that you don't have any homework to do when Daddy picks you up tomorrow." Cameron grinned as Aidan clapped at the mention of their father. Lucky was doing better these days and had even started seeing a cute stenographer he met a couple months ago when he had to testify. They had all four had dinner last week while the boys stayed with Audrey, and Elizabeth had told Lucky privately later that she seemed great. The whole co-parenting dynamic was actually working out.

"What are you going to do while we stay with Daddy?" Cameron asked as Matt scooped a small portion of lettuce onto his plate. "You can't do the baskets until we get back Sunday night, Mom. You promised."

Cameron had become obsessed with helping plan the wedding. She had promised him that it would be a day for all four of them, a real family event. Lucky was going to come with his girlfriend, and Jason and Sam had RSVPed positively a few weeks back. Maxie was bringing Spinelli, Matt told her last week, and Robin and Patrick were going to stand up with them. It would be an intimate affair followed by a two-week sojourn in St. Barts. Elizabeth was looking forward to the extended vacation but not to missing her boys.

"We'll wait," she promised. "Now get to work on dinner."

By the time Monday morning rolled around, Cameron was back at school and Elizabeth was starting her last week at work for awhile. She had taken a month off to finish up wedding details, enjoy her honeymoon and then spend time with the boys during Cam's fall break. Matt would be off for the wedding and the honeymoon but hadn't elected to take any other days. There were big surgeries scheduled for the week prior to their wedding, and he was making a big presentation on Friday that would release some of the latest results from his research. Elizabeth had read the summary last night and was quite impressed. She couldn't wait for the rest of the world to know just how brilliant her soon-to-be husband actually was.

"Nurse Webber, you're not off duty yet. You still have five days here at the hospital, and I expect you to spend your time tending to patients and not daydreaming," Epiphany reminded her as she dropped a stack of charts on the counter. "Mr. Alexander in 201 is waiting for his medication, Ms. Hobbes in 219 needs to have her vitals checked and Mr. Howard in 212 has an IV that needs to be changed."

Elizabeth ducked her head sheepishly and headed off to work. She had just finished changing out the IV on Mr. Howard when Matt caught her around the waist and pulled her into a nearby supply closed. "Hey, Beautiful," he whispered softly, tucking a strand of chestnut hair behind her ear. "You look good enough to kiss."

"Do your best, Doctor," she replied sultrily, licking her lips in anticipation moments before Matt pressed his mouth to hers. She hummed her appreciation happily as he pulled away, allowing her arms to remain locked behind his neck. "You know that Epiphany will kill both of us if she catches us in here again, right?" There had been an unfortunate incident two weeks ago that resulted in a firm lecture from the head nurse. Elizabeth hadn't had the courage to tell her that it was completely worth it. "But seriously, I probably should get back to work. I have a lot I need to get done before I leave."

"About that..." Matt trailed off. He was nervous and had been thinking about his prosposal for awhile. "Look, with this research, I'm making a lot more money than I was last year. In fact, it's enough where you wouldn't have to work if you didn't want. Now, I'm not telling you to quit, but I thought that maybe you could take those art classes you were talking about last month. You would have the time – and the space – to really work on your painting. You don't have to answer now, but I hope you will at least think about it."

Quitting work and painting full time had always been a dream for Elizabeth, starting all those years ago when she used to waitress at Kelly's. But she had come to love nursing and couldn't see giving it up completely. "What if we compromise and I work part time? I am sure Epiphany could set up a schedule that would have me at the hospital in the mornings so that I could take classes in the afternoon and still be home in plenty of time to pick Cameron up at the bus stop. We could see how that goes for awhile and then reassess after Christmas."

"Whatever you want to do, my dear, I just want you to be happy."

"Then show up on Saturday afternoon and marry me," she replied. "That's all I really need."

So six days later, Matt made good on that and kissed her soundly in front of her sons, her grandmother, her siblings and half of Port Charles in the midst of fallen leaves and cool October air. They danced the night away on the makeshift dance floor, old country songs the perfect soundtrack to their unconventional outdoor wedding. They held the boys close the entire night and Elizabeth only cried a little when Lucky brought them to the limo to say goodbye before heading to the airport.

They spent their entire honeymoon being completely relaxed, and Elizabeth couldn't remember ever feeling more at peace. They made love and ate good food and drank expensive wine. They shopped in little villages and swam naked in the ocean and stopped in every art museum she could find. They picked out souveniers for the boys and sent postcards to their family and took too many photographs to count. She would sketch and he would draw and they would dance together in the moonlight. It was perfect, but she missed the boys terribly. As much fun as she had while she was gone, nothing felt better than holding her two sons when she stepped off the plane. There was nothing she loved more than coming home.

Four weeks later, Elizabeth sat alone in her bathroom, leaning against the counter as she looked down at the plastic applicator. The plus sign told her all that she needed to know, and when Matt knocked on the door, she held it up just in time for his face to breakout into the biggest grin he'd ever known. They waited a few weeks to tell the boys and then Grams before having a conversation with Lucky about it. He hugged his ex-wife tightly and congratulated Matt, telling them both he knew firsthand what a great mother Elizabeth was. She continued to work at the hospital and take her classes, not slowing down too much thanks to very little morning sickness.

By the time the third trimester rolled around, Elizabeth had finished up most of her classes for the spring semester and took a leave of absence from the hospital. Matt bought her a case of non-toxic paint so that she could decorate the nursery in pinks and lavendars, the first time she'd get to set up a room for a daughter. The boys doted over her constantly, trying their best to never fight and to pick up their toys and just be good for her. They talked constantly about their baby sister and made suggestions for names. Aidan had proposed Ruby after his favorite cartoon, Max and Ruby, while Cameron was obsessed with naming her Susie after Cars.

On the hottest day of the year, right in the middle of July and two weeks overdue, Elizabeth's water broke, and she was rushed to the hospital to finally give birth. Audrey Emmaline Hunter was born within a couple hours, healthy as could be and as beautiful as all get out. Cameron stood on his tip toes while Lucky held Aidan up so they could see their new sister in the nursery. Matt waved to them from the other side of the glass as he fed his daughter her first bottle. Elizabeth nearly cried when she saw her sons with their sister for the first time, and Lucky exchanged a knowing look that told her he missed Jake too.

After the chaos died down and Audrey was in the nursery for the evening, Elizabeth curled up with her husband in the dark hospital room and gazed out at the sky full of stars. She thought about her son and her grandfather and all the losses she had incurred. She thought about Matt's mom, how she should have been there for this and about her own mother, who couldn't have been bothered to show up. And then she tucked herself under Matt's arm and whispered her prayer of thanks to God. Matt kissed her forehead and mumbled a prayer of his own before looking into those green eyes that started all this nearly two years ago.

"I love you, Nurse Webber," he murmured.

"I love you, too, Dr. Hunter."

Fin.