~*~Chapter 87~*~

The next morning, Liz wakes up and smiles, gazing around the familiar room. She rolls her head to the side to find Lucky sleeping soundly next to her. She lays there for a few minutes, admiring his perfect features. He looks so peaceful, she doesn’t want to wake him, so she gently slips out of bed, grabs her robe and tiptoes out of the room, shutting the door softly behind her before making her way to their makeshift nursery in the guest room.

They had set up Emily’s extra crib the night before, and Luke and Laura had stopped by with some other baby stuff that she had found later. They were planning on transforming the room into a more formal nursery at some point, but for now, it was serving its purpose well enough.

After Luke had been put down for the night, Lucky had ordered ribs and cheese fries from Eli’s and they made themselves a romantic, candlelit dinner. Once they were done eating, they had retired to their bedroom and made love for hours. She had been afraid that, knowing what happened with Sergei, Lucky wouldn’t want anything to do with her, physically, but he had proved her wrong. She can feel her face grow hot as she remembers how passionate he had been, then quickly pushes the thought from her mind as she enters the nursery.

“Hey, little Luke,” Liz coos, reaching into the crib when she saw that he was already awake. “You must hungry, huh?” She quickly changes his diaper, then brings him out to the kitchen to warm up some formula, something else Luke and Laura had the foresight to bring over. While it’s heating, she wanders around the living room, re-acquainting herself with her home. Lucky hadn’t done anything to change it, the only addition is a photograph of Nikolas, Emily, and Bethie, that looks like it was taken right after she was born.

She straightens up the room a little, then hurries back into the kitchen to retrieve Luke’s bottle. Seeing that it looks like a beautiful day outside, she gathers him in her arms, grabs the bottle with her free hand, and goes out to the garden to feed him. She sits on one of the benches, cradling him in her lap, then gazes dreamily around the garden while he drinks. Once again, it’s just as she remembered it, almost exactly how she had it painted back on the island. She can remember so vividly the first time she saw the garden, when Lucky brought her to the house before their second wedding. It was the most perfect garden she had ever seen, and ever since, she always loved to sit in it, especially first thing in the morning, when there was dew all over the flowers, and the world was still waking up.

~*~

“Mmm,” Lucky mumbles, stretching as he slowly wakes up. His arm hits the empty pillow next to him and he looks over in confusion. When he sees that the bed is empty, he begins to panic, afraid that the previous day had all been a dream. He jumps out of bed and throws on his robe, then hurries out of the room, looking around frantically.

He sticks his head in the guest room and sees the crib and other baby things there, so at least nothing was a dream. Unfortunately, the revelation doesn’t ease his mind as much as he’d like it to, because Liz is still missing. As fear creeps into his chest, he rushes out into the living room and sees the empty pot on the stone, which hadn’t been there the night before. Curious, he creeps over to the patio doors leading to the garden and smiles in relief when he sees her outside, sitting with their son on one of the benches.

Lucky watches quietly through the glass for a moment as Liz gazes wistfully around, smiling to herself as Luke sucks quietly on his bottle. Unable to stay away any longer, he slides the door open and steps out into the garden.

“Hey,” he greets softly, not wanting to disturb her or the baby.

Liz looks over and smiles at him, her face lighting up. “Morning, sleepyhead,” she teases. He chuckles and walks over to join her on the bench.

“I woke up and you weren’t there. I was afraid for a minute that yesterday was all a dream, and I was alone again.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you. You just looked so peaceful, I didn’t want to wake you up, so I came out here to feed Luke. I had almost forgotten how beautiful it is out here in the morning. It’s so calm and quiet,” she breathes, looking up at the sky. “I missed this so much.”

“Well, this house wasn’t quite the same while you were gone, but today, it feels right again.”

“It feels good to be home,” she says softly, leaning over to kiss him. “So, what are we going to do today?”

Lucky sighs and looks around, trying to decide what was most pressing. “Well, I guess I should go over to Sonny’s and get the rest of my stuff. You know I’ve been living with him, right?”

Liz nods, looking down at Luke lovingly. “Yeah, someone mentioned it yesterday, I’m not sure who. I’d like to go with you, if it’s okay, I wouldn’t mind seeing Sonny again, it’s been so long.”

“You mean, you thought I was going to go alone? Oh no, I’m not letting you out of my sight again!” he jokes.

She turns to him and grins. “Good, because I’m not letting you out of my sight, either. Come on, let’s get ready to go. I’d like to stop by and see Chloe today, too.”

“I think it’s a little late to give her those fabric samples,” he says with a silly grin, referring to what she had been doing when she was kidnapped.

Liz laughs and smacks him lightly on the shoulder. “Oh, very funny. I see you haven’t lost your sense of humor!”

He chuckles and stands up, reaching out for his son. Liz hands the baby to him, then stands up as well, following him into the house. “Should we bring Luke with us, or drop him at your parents’ house first?” she asks, going into their bedroom to get dressed, while Lucky puts Luke down for a nap.

“Whatever you want to do,” he calls out. Liz finishes getting ready and steps out of the bathroom, noticing that Lucky still hasn’t come into the bedroom. She wanders down the hall, stopping in front of the nursery ands miles. He’s inside, standing over the crib, watching Luke sleep.

“Hey,” she whispers, walking in and wrapping her arms around him from behind. She leans her chin on his shoulder and peers over it at the baby. “You should get dressed.”

“I know,” he replies softly, his eyes still fixed on Luke. “I just can’t stop looking at him. I still can’t believe I actually have a son. Look at him, he’s so....perfect.”

“Just like his daddy,” she murmurs in his ear, nibbling on it a little in the process. He smiles and turns around, wrapping his arms around her waist.

“Watch it there, or we’re never going to leave the house,” he says, his eyes shining with desire, as he leans down to kiss her.

“Mmm, as wonderful as that sounds, I just spent the past year being locked up in a house, I need to get out, feel free again. Not that I wouldn’t love being trapped anywhere with you, but I want to see some of the people I missed.”

Lucky sighs and lets her go, still smiling. “All right, you win, we’ll go.”

“Hey,” she calls out as he disappears into the bedroom to change. “Just remember, I’m all yours tonight!”

~*~Chapter 88~*~

“Are you sure we shouldn’t have called first?” Liz asks as Lucky rings the doorbell. “I mean, just dropping the baby off like this is sort of an imposition, isn’t it?”

“Elizabeth, my mom will be thrilled to have the day with him, trust me,” he says with a slight laugh as the door opens.

“Liz! Lucky! What a surprise,” Laura says happily, stepping aside so they could enter the house.

“Yeah, cowboy, we didn’t think you two would actually leave the house today,” Luke adds with a sly wink.

Lucky groans and rolls his eyes at his father’s remark, then turns to Laura. “We have a bunch of things to do today, and were hoping you wouldn’t mind watching the baby for us.”

“Are you kidding? We’d love to, right Luke?”

Luke stands up and walks over to them. “Of course. It’s never too early to start teaching the kid how to be cool like his namesake.”

“Um, on second thought...” Lucky jokes, pretending to change his mind. Liz laughs and hands the baby to Laura as the kitchen door opens. They all look up at the new arrival.

“Hey, Nik-” Lucky starts, then cuts himself off as he remembers that he has a twin now.

“Sergei,” Liz greets, somewhat reserved, still slightly uncomfortable around him.

“Elish- I mean Liz,” he responds, smiling, pleased that she could tell him apart from his brother.

“How did you know...?” Lucky asks quietly, looking over at her in surprise.

She shrugs. “He was the only person besides Helena that I saw on that island, I guess I started to notice the differences between him and Nikolas.”

“Really? I haven’t been able to find any,” Laura says, amused. “They look exactly the same to me.

“No, there are a few subtle things, although nothing I could put into words. I guess I can just tell. I’m sure Emily could do the same thing, tell Nikolas apart from him right away.”

Lucky frowns. “But that’s because Emily is his wife1” he exclaims, trying to repress his temper at her making such a comparison.

“I know, that’s why she’d be able to tell them apart. Like I said before, I saw him all the time, I got used to him, I guess, like someone does when they’ve been married for a while.” Seeing that his temper isn’t dying down, she takes him arm. “Come on, we better get going before Sonny goes out for the day.”

Lucky sighs and goes along with her, knowing she’s just trying to keep him from making a scene. Once they’re outside, he turns to her and shakes his head. “I don’t understand you, Elizabeth. You said yourself that he pretty much raped you, how can you stand to be in the same room with him, let alone be nice to him!”

“Lucky, that happened at the very beginning, he was following Helena’s orders. I’m not saying it was right, or even that I forgive him for it, just that I learned to live with it. Like it or not, he’s part of your family, he’s your brother. He was good to me on the island, he left me alone most of the time, he brought me CDs, one of which, might I add, was yours. If it wasn’t for him, I may still be there right now, and you would still be running away from Kimber. He was good with the baby, and when push came to shove, he stood up to Helena and probably saved us all. I’m not asking you to accept him with open arms, just give him a chance to prove himself.”

Lucky climbs into the car and waits for her to do the same. “Do you remember after Tom raped you, when you would say how you couldn’t understand how my mother could marry her rapist, that you could never do that?”

“Of course I do, but maybe now I can understand more. It’s still not the same as her situation, but while I’m not forgetting that what Sergei did was wrong, I think I got to know him well enough to know that it’s not normal behavior for him. Look, can we please not argue about this right now? It’s my first full day back, and I’d like to be able to enjoy it.”

“Yeah, sure,” he grumbles, turning into the driveway of Sonny’s building. They both climb out of the car and walk inside in silence, neither sure what to say anymore. In the elevator, Lucky sighs and turns to her. “I’m sorry, I don’t want to fight with you, I’m just having a hard time understanding things, that’s all.”

“I know, and I don’t blame you, really. I just want to get through the day without arguing about Sergei. Can we just forget about him for a few hours?” she pleads. The elevator stops at the penthouse floor and they step off, heading for Sonny’s.

“Sure, I’ll try,” he promises, resting his hand lightly on her back as they approach his door. “Hey, Johnny, how’s V?” he greets the bodyguard, a sly smile on his face.

Johnny nods, opening the door. “She’s good, welcome back, Liz.”

“Thanks, Johnny.” They walk into the penthouse and she looks curiously at Lucky. “Why did you ask him about V?”

“Oh, they’re going out now,” he answers, laughing at the shocked expression on her face. “They’re actually kind of cute together.”

“Liz!” Sonny calls out, coming down the stairs. “Welcome home!”

“Hey, Sonny,” she says, grinning as she hurries forward to hug him. “It’s good to be back.”

“So, I take it this means I’m losing my roommate?” he teases, looking up at Lucky, smiling when he sees how happy he looks.

“Yeah, sorry about that, but he’s coming home with me now,” she says, walking back over to her husband and wrapping her arm possessively around his waist.

“Well, that’s good, he was getting in the way,” Sonny jokes, winking at Lucky as he walks into the living room. “Come on, sit down, I want to hear all about the big rescue. I wanted to be there but the Feds are watching me too closely right now, so I have to stay put.”

“Really? Are you okay? I mean, they don’t have anything, do they?” she asks, worried. Sonny quickly shakes his head.

“Nah, he’s fine. Anyway, aside from finding out that Nikolas has a twin brother and I have a son, you didn’t miss much,” Lucky says, laughing as Sonny stares at him in shock.

“Whoa, back up, what did you say?”

Laughing, Liz tries to fill him in. “When Laura had Nikolas, she actually had twins, but Helena hid one away, and no one ever knew about him, not even Laura. His name is Sergei, and he was on the island with me all this time.”

Lucky frowns, then tells Sonny what happened, about Helena’s plan to make history repeat. Sonny listens to it all in a stunned silence, looking back and forth from Liz to Lucky as they filled in each other’s gaps. When they’re done, he shakes his head in disbelief.

“So, this kid you had, is really Lucky’s?”

“Yeah, he’s the spitting image. We changed his name to Lucas Lorenzo Spencer III as soon as we got away from the island. We’re calling him Luke, for short.”

“Oh, the old man must love that one!” Sonny laughs, looking over at Lucky. “His very own namesake to mentor. I hope you know what you’ve gotten yourselves into here.”

“Yeah, I know. He’s already starting,” Lucky sighs. “He’s going to be the most spoiled kid in Port Charles.”

“I don’t know about that, he may have some competition with your niece,” Liz argues.

“Not with us as parents, he won’t!”

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