A/N: And so, we come to the end of Hide & Go Seek ... I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it! Which translates to -- I hope you'll check out the "Coming Soon" section of my profile to see what comes next for our lovely couple in the sequel I'm planning! It's called "Peek-a-Boo" and I'm very excited about it! So check it out, and please, let me know what you think! Oh, and if you usually lurk (which I understand because I have lurking tendencies myself), this is the perfect time to pop out of lurking mode and let me know what you thought of this story ...

Yes, I am a feedback addict, and I am shamelessly seeking fixes! LOL!

FNF 33: Fairy Tale Ending

Prompt: Heart Attack

Four months later

When Elizabeth woke up, the first thing she heard was Jason, talking softly to their new daughter. "Now, Rose," Jason was saying softly, "There are some things you should know right away." She opened her eyes, and her heart melted when she saw the way he was looking at the baby. "First of all, I'm your dad. You can call me Daddy, as soon as you're ready to talk. Now, let me just tell you right away, I'm not much of a talker – " Could've fooled me, Elizabeth thought, content to listen silently as Jason bonded with their daughter, " – and your mom is much better with words than I am. She's right over there, sleeping," he tilted his head toward Elizabeth without taking his eyes off his baby girl. "You kinda wore her out, and she needs some rest. I'll tell you a secret, though – you got really lucky when she turned out to be your mom. She loves you so much, and so do I. And we're gonna give you the best life we know how, I promise. And your mom says I'm a good listener, so even if I don't talk much, I promise you can tell me anything." He paused, then added seriously, "As long as it's not about boys. I think I should warn you now, so you won't be caught off guard when you're a teenager, that I'm probably never gonna be ready to let you date. I'm sorry about that, but I just don't think I can handle it. I know too much about what guys are like. But it's okay, 'cause you'll have lots of family and friends to keep you busy."

She must have made a sound, or maybe he just felt her watching him, because suddenly, he looked at Elizabeth and grinned self-consciously. "Hi," he said, walking over and giving her a gentle kiss. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired," she said, "but happy." She couldn't resist teasing him, just a little. "Jason, you do realize that she has no idea what you're talking about, don't you? Which is probably a good thing, since she's not ready to start arguing with you about boys quite yet."

He grinned. "She understands plenty, Elizabeth. She knows that I love her, and that I love her mommy. And she'll always know that the only man in her life is gonna be her daddy."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "Keep dreaming, Jason. Keep dreaming."

Emily opened the door and caught Elizabeth's comment. "About what?" she asked. "You up for visitors? 'Cause I'm dying to hold my niece."

"Sure, come on in. You can hold her if you can get her away from Jason. He seems to think he's gonna be able to keep her from dating – forever." Emily had called Elizabeth a couple of days after Jason had arrived in Vegas, and they had cleared the air between them. Emily had apologized for not being a true friend when Elizabeth needed her most, but Elizabeth had insisted that everyone had made their share of mistakes and the best thing for all of them would be to move on and leave all that in the past. Over the months in between, they had resumed their close friendship, and on the rare occasions when Elizabeth and Jason argued, Emily had steadfastly refused to take sides, always encouraging them to talk to each other and work it out sooner rather than later.

And Emily had become their most frequent guest. She had arrived for her first weekend visit a week after Jason, and she had come for at least a long weekend each month since then. Her current visit had lasted a week already, because she insisted that she didn't want to take a chance on missing her niece's birth. In that week, she had filled the spare room with toys and books for the baby, insisting it was her right and duty as an aunt to spoil her niece rotten. Since she was staying another three weeks to help out with Rose, Elizabeth figured they would soon run out of space.

Now, Emily rolled her eyes, just as Elizabeth had, at Jason's plan of keeping Rose away from boys forever. "Yeah," she snorted, "He better enjoy that little fantasy while it lasts." She held out her arms to her brother, and he reluctantly handed over his daughter. "So, did you finally decide on a name?"

Elizabeth smiled. "Rose Emma Morgan, for Lila's favorite flowers, and for Rose's favorite aunt – and godmother?"

"Really?" Emily squealed, then lowered her voice quickly when Rose started to stir. "You want me to be her godmother?"

"Well, who else would we ask? You're her father's sister and her mother's best friend!" Elizabeth exclaimed, then she, too, lowered her voice so as not to wake her daughter. "So, will you do it?"

"Well, of course I will," Emily declared in a stage whisper, eyes dancing. Elizabeth giggled, realizing that Emily was dying to dance around and hug everyone, but wasn't willing to relinquish the baby to do so.

The door opened slowly behind Emily, and Elizabeth waited for the nurse or doctor to appear, wondering if they were going to want yet another blood sample. But it wasn't a doctor. Nor was it anyone else she might have expected – Andrew or one of her co-workers wouldn't have been a shock. The new arrival didn't immediately say anything, and it took Elizabeth a moment to find her voice.

Jason waited to see what she would do. Finally, she said tentatively, "Grams? I … um … I didn't expect … um, I thought you wanted … well, I thought you said you wouldn't … um …" She couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that her grandmother had traveled all the way from Port Charles to see her after everything she had said all those months ago.

"Elizabeth, darling," Audrey began tentatively, stepping fully into the room and allowing the door to close quietly behind her, then holding up a box. "I brought the baby a christening gown." She watched Elizabeth, and when she got no response, she said. "I owe you an apology, Elizabeth. I just love you so much, and I hate the idea that you might be in danger because of the choices you've made." Before Elizabeth could take offense, she added. "You have to understand, Elizabeth, that to me, you will always be the three-year-old who needs me to kiss her bruises and make them better, or the five-year-old who needs me to put a band-aid on her scrapes, or the teenager who needs me to soothe her pain when her parents fail her again. I will always want to protect you from the big, bad world like I did when you were a child. But you aren't a child anymore, and now you have a baby of your own, and I hope you'll forgive me for forgetting that you have the right, and even the responsibility, to make your own choices, whether I happen to agree with them or not." She crossed the room and brushed a stray lock of hair back from Elizabeth's cheek. "And I hope you'll also give me a chance to protect and to love your daughter the way I always tried to protect and love you."

Elizabeth swiped at her eyes. "Oh, Grams," she whispered, reaching out to grab her grandmother into a tight hug, "Of course I will. I love you so much, and I can't believe you came all this way for me."

"Sweetheart, where else would I be?" Audrey asked. "I always wanted you to be happy, and I'm sorry that it took me so long to see past my fears and prejudices and recognize that you are." She turned to Jason. "I finally realized that you wouldn't have kept trying to get me to reconcile with Elizabeth if you didn't really love her. I will probably never understand or agree with the choices you've made in other areas of your life," she gave him a sheepish smile, "But I have to admit, you have wonderful taste in women. I hope that we can get along, and maybe even be friends, for Elizabeth's sake, and for the sake of my great-granddaughter."

"I'd like that," Jason said simply. "We have a lot in common, you know. We both want them to be happy."

"Yes, we do, don't we?" Audrey said thoughtfully. She turned to Emily. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to let me hold my great-granddaughter?"

Emily sighed dramatically, "Well, I suppose I could share her with you. Audrey Hardy, meet Rose Emma Morgan," she added, placing the baby in Audrey's arms. "Just remember, you aren't allowed to outdo me in the spoiling department."

Audrey smiled. "Well," she said lightly, "this is going to be one spoiled baby, then, because you aren't allowed to outdo me, either." Her expression softened as she looked at the baby. "Hello, Rose, I'm your great-grandmother, but that's a mouthful, so you can call me Grams, just like your mother does."

Elizabeth couldn't believe this was happening. She had not allowed herself to hope that her grandmother would ever forgive her, and here she was, begging for Elizabeth's forgiveness. Now, if only her other friends would also come around …

Even as she had the thought, the door swung open again, and Elizabeth couldn't suppress a gasp as Nikolas walked in, carrying a Tiffany's box. Probably a silver spoon, Elizabeth thought irreverently, then turned her attention to her new visitor. "Elizabeth," he said, hurrying to her side and kissing her cheek, "I'm sorry I was such a jerk. I allowed my concern for my brother to get in the way of our friendship, and that wasn't fair to you. You can't help who you love, and I shouldn't have let the fact that I didn't like your choice affect a friendship that's always been important to me. I hope you can forgive me."

"Nikolas," Elizabeth said. "I can't believe you're here. Um, yeah, of course I forgive you. I'm sorry that Lucky got hurt – that was never my intention. I just – I could never love anyone but Jason. I hope Lucky will find the right person some day, but I always knew it wasn't me."

"I know," Nikolas said. "And Lucky is doing okay. He said to send you his best wishes and congratulations. He couldn't get away right now – he's been dating someone, and she's really irrational when it comes to you." He rolled his eyes, and Elizabeth got the sense that Nikolas wasn't very fond of Lucky's new girlfriend. That impression was confirmed when he added, "But hopefully, either he'll come to his senses and move on, or failing that, once Sam sees that you're committed to Jason, she'll get over it." He turned to Jason, holding out his hand and looking relieved when Jason shook it. "Congratulations, man," he said.

"Thanks," Jason replied. "And thanks for coming. It means a lot to Elizabeth – to both of us – that you're here."

The door opened yet again, and Sonny poked his head in. "Is this a private party, or can anyone join?"

"The more, the merrier," Elizabeth said, smiling.

He came into the room, carrying a giant teddy bear with a pink bow around its neck, and paused to get a look at the newest member of the Morgan family. When he looked up and caught Elizabeth gaping at the teddy bear, he said, "Don't shoot the messenger – Carly picked it out." She couldn't help laughing when he rolled his eyes and added, "Can you imagine what it did to my reputation, walking around with this thing?" He leaned down to kiss her cheek in greeting. "Congratulations, sweetheart. She's a real beauty."

Like Emily, Sonny had actually visited them several times in the months since Jason had moved here, so she was getting to know him rather well, and although he certainly had his faults, she liked him. At first, she had worried that he would try to get Jason to come back to Port Charles sooner than they planned, but he had quickly allayed those fears. "Don't worry, Elizabeth. He wouldn't be any good to me, anyway, if he was worrying about you all the time. I just like to bounce stuff off him now and then – he keeps a cooler head than I do, so I value his opinion. Plus," he had grinned charmingly, showing off his dimples, "I gotta report back to Carly on whether he's forgiven her yet." She had laughed, feeling relieved, and after that, they had gotten along famously. She even looked forward to his visits, because he always commandeered the kitchen and made something wonderful for all of them to eat.

Now, looking around the room at the assorted visitors, all of whom would be an important part of her daughter's life, she marveled at how fortunate she was. She had everything she had ever wanted – everything she had never let herself dare to dream of.

Jason took advantage of everyone's focus on Rose to slip over and kiss her. "A penny for your thoughts," he said quietly near her ear.

"I was just thinking how life keeps on surprising me," she whispered back. "Who knew that I would end up grateful that Lucky kissed me all those months ago? At the time, I just wanted it not to have happened. But if he hadn't kissed me, I wouldn't have kissed you, and none of this –" she gestured at the room's occupants, "– would have happened, either."

He smiled. "Yes, it would have," he said confidently.

"Jason, you didn't even know I existed until then," Elizabeth argued, but without heat. "You don't have to pretend you ever would have noticed me. The important thing is, you did, and here we are."

He kissed her lingeringly again. "I know you think that's true, sweetheart, but I'd like to think I'm smarter than you're giving me credit for. I mean, maybe I hadn't really noticed you yet, but as soon as you kissed me, I realized that I was always subconsciously aware of how beautiful you are. I'd like to think that if it hadn't happened that way, something else would have happened at some point, and it would have opened my eyes, and I would have seen what was right in front of me. And we would still have wound up here." At her astonished look, he shrugged. "We belong together. I would have found you one way or another."

She smiled at his reasoning. "Well, can we at least agree that things happened sooner than they otherwise would have?"

He smiled back. "I guess I'll give you that. Even though I was probably just a day or two away from figuring it out, anyway."

She laughed at his certainty, and said, "And if you hadn't, I'm sure I would have found some reason or another to kiss you. It was so embarrassing, having the hots for my best friend's older brother."

He laughed, too. "Imagine how I felt, having the hots for my little sister's best friend!" Suddenly, eyes widening, he announced, "That's it! I've got it!"

"Got what?" she asked, perplexed.

"I figured out how to keep Rose safe from guys like me."

"Jason," she began, but he was still talking.

"We just won't let her have any friends who have older brothers, and we'll send her to all-girls schools for her entire life."

Elizabeth pulled him down for another lingering kiss. Finally pulling away, she held his gaze. "I happen to want our daughter to find a guy like you, Jason. If she doesn't, how will she ever have a moment like this?"

He sighed. "Well," he said reluctantly, "I guess you're right, sweetheart. But it's a good thing I have a few years to get used to the idea." He gave her a warning look. "And don't expect me to let anybody hurt her."

"I promise," she teased. "You can even keep your gun handy. But you can't shoot her boyfriends – just scare them a little so they behave."

He sighed with mock disappointment. "Well, I'll try, for you. But no promises."

She laughed again. "Jason, you always give me everything I want, so even if you don't promise, I'm not worried."

He sighed. "I should have known you would figure out that I can't deny you anything."

She patted his hand. "Well, that's the way it works, Jason. It's kind of like a fairy tale. You give me everything I want, and I give you everything you want, and we live happily ever after."

XXXXXXXXX

Hours later, after everyone had left, Jason woke up, stiff from dozing in the chair by the bed with his feet propped up on it. Realizing Elizabeth was whispering to Rose, he strained to catch her words, and he almost laughed out loud when he registered what she was saying, "Now, baby, Mommy's gonna tell you a story. It's like a fairy tale, only it's better because it really happened. Once upon a time, in a place called Port Charles, there was a princess named Elizabeth, and a prince named Jason, and they knew each other, but they didn't realize they were supposed to fall in love and be together forever. They didn't even start to figure it out until one day, when Princess Elizabeth was sitting on a bench talking to Prince Jason about her friend, Sir Lucky…"