Chapter 109
Lucky sighed contentedly as he woke up the next morning and looked down at Liz, who was still sleeping in his arms. He smiled as the events of the previous evening came back to him, almost unable to believe it all had really happened.
As if sensing that he was awake, Liz started to stir, slowly opening her eyes and smiling up at him. “Hey.”
“Hey,” he whispered back, kissing her forehead. “Did you sleep well?”
“Mm, like a baby. How about you?”
He chuckled softly. “Never slept better. I think you wore me out last night.”
Liz blushed and pulled back enough to slap at him, laughing. Lucky grabbed her hand and rolled them over so that he was on top of her, pinning her to the bed. She looked up at him, her eyes sparkling playfully.
“Now what are you going to do?” he taunted, still holding her down. She grinned and raised her head enough to kiss him, distracting him into releasing her arms. As soon as she was free, she reached around and grabbed him by the sides, tickling him mercilessly. He rolled off of her in surprise, trying to escape her torture, but she followed, rolling with him until she was leaning over him. She finally relented, both of them out of breath.
Lucky gasped and reached for her arms again, but she was ready for him, and she grabbed his instead. holding them against the bed, smiling down at him triumphantly.
“That wasn’t fair,” he teased in between breaths.
She laughed and shook her head. “Sorry, I play dirty.”
“I noticed. But you know what?”
“What?”
“Two can play at that game.” He grinned and wrenched his arms out of her grasp, quickly tickling her as she had done earlier. They wrestled with one another for a few minutes, giggling like crazy, until their eyes suddenly locked and their mood shifted.
Lucky looked up at her, suddenly aware of the way their bodies were pressed together. He smiled and brushed some hair out of her face. “You win.”
Liz laughed lightly, leaning down closer to him. “I always do.” She then closed the gap between them, meeting his lips in a lingering kiss. As she started to pull back, he reached up and held her head in place, deepening it. They were about to make love again when the telephone rang, breaking them apart.
“Shh,” Lucky whispered, holding her so she couldn’t reach over for it.
“It’s the phone, Lucky, it’s not like they’ll go away if we’re quiet,” she giggled, disappointed that they had been interrupted.
“Yeah, but if we’re talking, we can’t hear the answering machine,” he replied. After the fifth ring, the machine in the hallway picked up, echoing through the silent house.
“Lucky, Liz? I was hoping to catch you, but I guess you’re out already,” Laura’s voice rang out. “Lulu wants to see you guys soon, she misses her brother. We’ll be here all day, just stop by whenever you get the chance. Bye.”
As the machine beeped and shut off, Lucky looked up at Liz and sighed. “There’s nothing like hearing your mom’s voice to ruin the mood.”
She grinned and leaned down to whisper huskily in his ear. “I’ll just have to make you forget you heard it, then.”
He shuddered slightly as her warm breath tickled him. “Keep doing that and I might forget more than her voice.”
“Oh, you like this, huh?” she whispered again, nibbling gently at his earlobe. He moaned softly and turned his head to kiss her neck, rolling on top of her again, his mother’s phone call immediately forgotten.
~*~
Liz reached for the doorbell, but Lucky pulled her away before she could ring it, turning her around and kissing her fiercely. She melted into him for a moment, then broke away, smiling.
“What was that for?”
“No reason,” he said dreamily. “I just wasn’t ready to go in yet.”
“Well, we can’t stand out here all day.”
“Why not?” He wrapped his arms around her waist and grinned down at her, but before they could kiss again, the door opened behind them.
“I thought I heard a car pull up,” Luke said loudly, startling them both. “Were you two ever going to come in, or were you just going to make out on my doorstep all day?”
“We hadn’t decided yet,” Lucky joked, pulling Liz into the house. “Mom called and said Lulu wanted to see us?”
“Yep, she hasn’t stopped talking about you all day. She wanted to go to the concert last night, but we didn’t want her out that late.”
“Lucky! Lizzie!” Lulu shouted, bounding down the stairs excitedly. Lucky grinned and stooped over to pick her up.
“Hey there, princess, how are you? I haven’t seen you in a while!”
“Not since camp,” she said, throwing her arms happily around his neck. Lucky and Liz exchanged a small smile at that, thinking back to their trip, and how it had changed their lives forever.
“So how was camp?” he asked, walking into the living room with her. He sat down on the couch and Liz sat next to him. Luke ducked into the kitchen to give the three some time to catch up.
“It was fun, but it was too long,” she complained, wrinkling her nose. “Daddy said you got married!”
Liz laughed and nodded. “Yeah, we did.”
“See, I told you,” Lulu said to her firmly, causing them both to frown in confusion.
“Told me what?”
“That you love him. And that he loves you.”
They both laughed at how proud she seemed and Lucky hugged her before setting her down on the floor. “I guess you did tell us. We were just too stubborn to admit it back then.”
“Daddy said that’s cause you’re Spencers, but then Mommy told him it was because he was pushing too hard,” she explained matter-of-factly.
“Really?” Lucky asked, sensing that there was more to the story. “What else did Mommy say?”
Lulu thought for a moment. “She told Daddy he was crazy, and said she would kill him if it backfired.”
“If what backfired?” Liz asked, her curiosity piqued.
“I don’t know. She just said that if you found out, you’d be really angry with them, and that he’d be sleeping on the couch for real this time.”
“Oh, she said that, did she?” Lucky mused, starting to see what was going on. He remembered calling home from New Jersey, and his mother telling him she’d make Luke sleep on the couch for setting them up. Now, he was starting to think she was in on the whole thing from the beginning.
“Yeah, and then Daddy said that it would work, because you were meant for each other, that all you needed was a push. He said that he was breaking you down. He told her that if she had seen you in jail, she’d agree. Why were you in jail?”
“Um, it was just a misunderstanding,” Lucky mumbled, looking over at Liz. “Elizabeth, are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
She nodded. “I think so. Lulu, did they say anything else?”
She shook her head. “Not then, but I heard them talking last night after the concert. Daddy said that it was about time, that he was running out of things to do. Then Mommy told him that if the concert hadn’t worked, that it would have been all over, because of the divorce. I don’t know what that meant, though.”
“Divorce? How did they know...?” Liz asked, frowning.
Lucky shrugged. “I don’t know. The only time we talked about it last night was in my dressing room!”
“They were listening,” Lulu cut in, smiling proudly.
“They were what?” Liz asked, shocked.
“At the door, they were all listening. Daddy told Mommy that he was proud of her for joining them instead of staying at the table. He kept asking her what she heard, but she wouldn’t tell him. She just kept saying ‘he’s my baby, I don’t want to think about that.’ What does that mean?”
Lucky blushed, realizing what she must have heard. “Um, I don’t know, Lulu. What did you mean, ‘they were all listening’? Were there more people there?”
“I think so. He said something about Caroline and Natasha...and that other lady, the one that came with you.”
“Charisma?” he asked, stunned. She nodded quickly, recognizing the name.
“Yeah, her. He kept calling her his partner. I thought she worked for you, not Daddy.”
“She does,” he muttered, letting everything sink in. Liz looked over at him, drawing the same conclusions. Their eyes met for a moment, then Lucky cleared his throat and shouted into the kitchen.
“Mom! Dad!”
