Disclaimer: You know the drill�no affiliation to ABC, Disney, GH, Rick, Becky, or the other
characters�I only wish that I were.
Summary: Elizabeth returns to Port Charles after five and a half years away with a surprise for
Ric.
Author�s Note: Okay, This is assuming that Elizabeth finds out all about Ric and his agenda after their date to the art museum on the night they made love for the first time. She left town without so much as a good-bye to anyone. She hasn�t kept in contact with anyone, and she changed her last name to Hardy so no one could find her.
~*~
Elizabeth peered into the window at Kelly�s. She shouldn�t have told her grandmother that she
would sneak her in an apple turnover. She wasn�t ready to face the people at her old job. Of
course, she really didn�t expect Penny and Courtney to still be working here. It�s been over five
years.
She slowly opened the door and went inside. The place was pretty full. She did a quick scan and
didn�t recognize anyone. She decided to stay. As she made her way to the counter, Courtney
Matthews came running out of the back to answer the ringing phone.
�Kelly�s.� She said into the receiver with the same sugarcoated voice Elizabeth remembered and
hated. �Oh, hey honey�Yeah, I�ll be off in twenty minutes�A surprise?�You know I hate
surprises�Okay, I�ll be there in�� Courtney�s voice trailed off when she saw Elizabeth sitting at
the counter. �Actually, I think you should come pick me up�yeah, I have a surprise for you,
too�You�ll see�Okay, Bye.� Courtney hung up the phone and walked to Elizabeth. �Long time
no see.�
�Yeah, but you didn�t have to tell Jason to come see me. We weren�t really friends when I left.�
Elizabeth wasn�t ready to deal with either of them. Especially them together. They�d probably
gang up on her with an �I told you so� speech about Ric. She wasn�t in the mood.
�Well, you don�t have to worry. It wasn�t Jason.� The look Courtney gave to Elizabeth conveyed
everything she was feeling. Obviously Jason turned out to be exactly what Elizabeth told her he
was.
�Oh.� She decided against an �I told you so� look. Instead she gave her a knowing smile. �So who
was it?�
�Lucky Spencer.� Courtney�s face flashed a smile. A familiar smile. Elizabeth knew it quite well.
Courtney was really in love.
�Well, someone has a thing for my ex-boyfriends.� Elizabeth joked. �So how are you?�
�I�m great. Getting married next week.�
�To Lucky?� Elizabeth was surprised. It was weird to think of Lucky with someone else, let alone
marrying someone else. �Congratulations. Lucky�s a great guy.�
Courtney smiled. �I know.� She bit her bottom lip and continued with caution. Elizabeth had been
expecting this. �So I heard about what happened with Ric and Sonny the night that you left.�
�Yeah. I bet everyone has by now.� Elizabeth wondered how long the gossip about her sudden
disappearance went on.
�Ric said you didn�t stay long enough to hear his side of it.�
�You talk to Ric?� Courtney hated Ric. She was constantly trying to get Elizabeth to stay away
from him. Why would she be conversing with him about something so personal?
�Well, he�s kind of like my brother. Well, we have Sonny in common anyway. We�re all like
family now.� Courtney gave a tentative smile.
�But I thought Ric wanted Sonny dead.� Elizabeth really should have talked to Ric a little more
before he stormed out.
�Well, he did. He blamed Sonny for their mother dying. It�s a long story. I don�t really know it
all.� Courtney paused. �Have you seen Ric, yet?�
�Yeah, he was at the hospital when I went to see my grandmother.�
�Oh. What happened?� Courtney pressed.
Elizabeth didn�t want to get into this. �We didn�t talk much. He got mad at me and left.� Uh oh,
she thought. She should have left the last part out. Now Courtney was going to ask more
questions.
Courtney smiled at her, understanding she didn�t want to talk about it. �He loves you.�
Elizabeth smiled. She knew that. He�d told her that. It�s weird. Before she left, they�d never
mentioned love. She knew that she loved him, but she wasn�t sure about his feelings. They both
must have thought it was too early. They didn�t want to scare the other off.
�Hey Courtney, where�s my surprise?� Elizabeth turned around when she heard Lucky.
�Elizabeth?� He ran to his friend and pulled her into an embrace. �What are you doing here?�
�Well, my grandmother��
�Is in the hospital. I know. How is she? I haven�t been by to see her yet.� Lucky let her go so he
could look at her face.
�She�s being strong.�
�That�s Audrey.� He looked at Courtney. �Did she tell you our good news?�
�Yeah. Congratulations.�
�So, what about you? Any lucky men in your life?� He gave her a mischievous grin.
Elizabeth laughed. �Erica doesn�t really give me much time to date.� She kept shoving her foot
into her mouth. She needed to stop letting people know about her daughter. The more people that
knew, the more likely Ric would find out before she could tell him.
�Erica?� Lucky raised an eyebrow to her.
�Um, yeah. My daughter.� Elizabeth searched their faces for a reaction.
�You have a daughter?� Courtney blurted out.
Elizabeth smiled. �Yeah.� She didn�t add more.
�Were you with someone?� Lucky looked concerned. Obviously wondering why she wasn�t with
the father.
She couldn�t tell them that the child was Ric�s. Atleast not until she told Ric. �A long time ago.�
~*~
�Taggart, you have no evidence.� Ric said in his lawyer tone. He hated having to make Taggart
look like an idiot every other day. It made his job hard. The detective was a good guy, but Ric�s
loyalty was with his brother, which meant he had to defend his enforcer as well. Of course he was
almost positive Morgan was responsible for the explosion of a warehouse belonging to Marius
Leoni. He was the latest of Sonny�s principal enemies. No matter how many they got rid of,
Sonny always had someone that wanted him dead.
�Mr. Lansing, doesn�t it start to ware on your conscience that you keep getting this low life
criminal off of these charges.� Ric looked at Jason. It really did bother him. He hated Jason. Why
should he defend him?
Jason just stared at the desk. He didn�t even try and defend himself because he knew Ric would
take care of it. He should stop being so damn cocky. One of these days Ric might not be there to
bail him out.
�Actually Taggart, knowing that I prevent you from pinning everything bad that happens in Port
Charles on Mr. Morgan, it helps me sleep at night.� Not really. He�d love nothing more than
seeing Jason rot in prison for all of the crimes he�s committed. But this was for his brother.
�You think you�re so slick, don�t you?� Taggart glared at Ric. His anger didn�t just stem from the
fact that Ric was Sonny�s brother and defender. Ric had also slept with his sister a few times a
couple of years ago. He was pissed when Ric started to blow her off and supposedly broke her
heart. Whatever. She knew it was just for fun. She was a big girl.
�Actually I think I�m right.� Ric just smiled back at him. �So will you take the cuffs off of my
client?�
Taggart looked from Ric, to Jason, and then back to Ric. He was defeated. �Morris,� He hollered
to the man at the front desk. �Take the cuffs off of him and sign the papers for his release.� He
looked back at Jason. �The Harvard man was here to protect you this time, Anger boy, but one of
these days, we�ll getcha.�
�Was that a threat, Detective Taggart?� Ric raised an eyebrow to him.
�It was a promise.� Taggart walked away from them.
Morris came and let Jason loose of his arm restraints. He got up and followed Ric outside. �Are
you going over to Sonny�s for dinner tonight?�
�Um, I don�t know.� Ric answered. �I told him I would, but I�m not really in the mood to deal
with people tonight. Not even family.� He started to walk away.
�Are you okay, Ric?� Jason asked, concerned. �You seem a little�I don�t know, down.�
�I�m fine. Just an old ghost coming back to haunt me.� Seeing Elizabeth really threw him. He
hadn�t expected it. He got the number of the receptionist at the hospital, but he didn�t think he
could call her. Not with Elizabeth in town. Something felt wrong about it.
�You want to talk about it?� Jason said while climbing on his bike.
�No, I�m fine.� Not that he would tell Morgan anything about his personal life. Especially that
Elizabeth was back in town. He�d probably try and go after her to get back at Ric for sleeping
with Brenda when he knew Jason was in love with her. But what did he care? Brenda and he were
happy now.
�All right. But I�d reconsider dinner. Sonny�ll kick your ass if you skip.�
�I�ll think about it. Later Jason.� He waved before Jason took off in the direction of his penthouse
on his bike.
Ric looked at his watch. 5:30pm. He was supposed to be at Sonny�s by 8pm. Maybe he would go.
It�s not like he had anything or anyone better to do. He pulled his coat around him and started
walking to his apartment. He needed to prepare himself for his family.
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