Chapter 4
Author's Note: In my fanfics, Nikolas is always played by Tyler Christopher
Lucky sat by himself at the counter, eating his reheated chili. Even warmed up in a microwave, Ruby’s chili was much better than any other kind he’d ever had. The bell jingled again, and he turned around, forgetting his sunglasses this time.
“Do my eyes deceive me, or is that my little brother?” Nikolas asked, shaking his head and laughing.
The little girl who had been holding his hand squealed, “Uncle Luckeeee!” and launched herself at him as he stood up.
“Hey, Nikky,” Lucky said, knowing he still hated that nickname, as he squatted down on the floor to catch his niece. “Hey, princess, how are you?” he asked her.
“Good. Daddy’s taking me to the park today!” she said excitedly, her blond curls bobbing up and down.
“The park seems to be a popular place today,” Lucky mumbled, remembering Jason’s earlier visit. He still couldn’t get the image of Elizabeth kissing him out of his head.
“Did I hear my favorite little goddaughter?” Liz asked cheerfully, coming out of the kitchen. She stopped and put her hands on her hips. “Dominique Natasha Cassidine, you better come over here and give me a hug right now!” she scolded jokingly.
Dominique giggled and wriggled out of Lucky’s arms, then ran over to Liz. She stooped over and scooped her up. “That’s better. I was starting to feel jealous for a minute. So, what is your daddy doing with you today?” she asked, looking up and smiling at Nikolas.
“We’re going to the park,” she said, smiling adoringly at her father. Nikolas was her entire world, and she worshipped the ground he walked on. Her mother, Katherine Bell, had died shortly after she was born, so Nikolas was the only parent she had ever known.
Nikolas had raised Dominique on his own for the past five years, with a little help from Laura, Luke, Stefan, Alexis, Bobbie, and Elizabeth, whom he had dated briefly one of the summers she was home from art school. Raising Dom by himself hadn’t been easy, but he loved her dearly and would never trade a moment of her life for anything. No one knew exactly how Katherine had died, but most people were pretty sure Helena was behind it. In a way, he was almost thankful for it, because they had just gone through a nasty breakup when she found out she was pregnant. He couldn’t imagine her as a mother, and believed that Dom was better off without having known her.
“The park, huh? Well, it’s a beautiful day for that!” Liz said, setting her back down on he floor. Dom rushed back to her father’s side and grabbed his hand.
“Yeah, maybe they’ll run into Jason and Michael,” Lucky muttered, a note of bitterness in his voice. He stood up and went back to the counter. Liz looked at him strangely for a moment, then shrugged.
“Maybe. They just headed over there a few minutes ago,” she said to Nikolas, turning her back on Lucky. A minute later, he came back and handed Dominique a cookie.
“Here, princess, have a cookie,” he said, handing it to her before turning to Liz and smirking. “On the house.”
Liz rolled her eyes at him, then turned to smile as Nikolas and Dominique left. When they were gone, she turned to glare at Lucky. “What was that all about?”
“What? I can’t give a cookie to my favorite niece? It’s not like Kelly’s is going to go under because of it, right?” he asked, throwing her earlier words back in her face.
“That’s not the point. You’re just a customer here, you have no right to do something like that!” she shouted.
“In case you forgot, my family owns this place, Elizabeth. I probably have more of a right when it comes to this that you do!”
Liz was thrown for a moment. No one ever called her Elizabeth anymore, Lucky had always been the only one. She hated to admit it, but she liked the name, especially the way Lucky said it. She cleared her throat quickly and turned to go back to the kitchen, as the door opened again.
A tall, thin brunette stood in the doorway and slowly removed her sunglasses. “If it isn’t Lucky, the famous singer!” she joked, grinning.
Lucky laughed. “If it isn’t Emily, the famous model!” He walked over to her and they kissed each other on both cheeks.
“Oh Lord, this is Port Charles, not Hollywood!” Liz grumbled, going back into the kitchen. Seeing Lucky and Emily gush to each other about their fame and fortune was just not on the top of her to-do list that day. Plus, seeing them just kiss each other like that made her feel slightly jealous, which she hated.
Once Liz was back in the kitchen, Emily frowned at Lucky. “What crawled up her butt and died?”
Lucky laughed and led her to a table. “Me, probably. We aren’t exactly the best of friends, remember?”
“You mean, after all these years, you two are still holding those stupid grudges for each other?” she asked in amazement
“They’re not grudges, Em. We just plain don’t like each other! Look, I didn’t come home to talk about Elizabeth. Which reminds me, what are you doing here? I thought you were in Eurpoe doing some big shoot for Cosmo.”
“It ended early, so I got some time off. I figured I should come back and see my family.” She made a face and laughed. “As crazy as they are, I miss them when I’m gone like that. Plus, Grandmother hasn’t been well lately.”
Lucky nodded. “I’m sorry to hear that. I know what you mean, though. I’ve been touring for a year now, and even though I try to call home as much as possible, it’s not the same. I miss my parents, Lulu, hell, I even missed Nikolas a little bit! He was just here, by the way.” He smirked at Emily, knowing the huge crush she used to have on his brother.
Emily rolled her eyes. “Thanks, but I got over Nikolas a long time ago. Something about seeing him in bed with Katherine Bell at my birthday party just ruined the whole thing for me. I do miss him as a friend, though. How’s Dominique?”
“She’s as adorable as ever. Hey, do you still talk to your brother?”
“AJ? No, he’s in rehab...” she began, but Lucky interrupted her.
“No, Jason.”
“Oh, yeah, all the time, why?”
“Just curious. He stopped by right before Nikolas, and I don’t know, seemed awfully chummy with Elizabeth,” he said, trying to sound casual.
Emily chuckled. It looked like Lucky was still hung up on Liz after all. “Well, that’s probably because they’ve been going out for the past few months. Michael adores her.”
“Hmph,” Lucky grunted, not sure what to say. “I hope someone warned her to be careful around his cars.”
Emily glared at him. “Hey, that’s not fair. That only happens to people who are involved with Sonny!” She was referring to his first wife, Lily, and his former fiancee, Hannah, who were both killed by car bombs.
“Em, are you forgetting the time Robin almost died walking to Jason’s car?:
“Oh, right. Well, he swears he’s gone legit for Michael’s sake. He’s just doing the coffee thing now.”
Lucky shrugged and leaned back in his chair. “Maybe he did. Don’t get me wrong, Jason’s a great guy and a good friend of mine, but I just don’t believe that anyone can get out of that business once they’re in it. Not unless they’re leaving in a body bag.”
