Chapter 31

Lucky sat down at his desk and looked around for Elizabeth, but she wasn’t there yet. He hadn’t spoken to her since he left her room Sunday morning while she was sleeping. He had slept until the middle of the afternoon that day, and spent the rest of the night being teased by his dad.

“Hey,” Liz greeted as she hurried into the classroom and dropped her books on the table.

“Hey,” Lucky responded. “You look tired.”

She shrugged and smiled. “This weekend kind of screwed up my sleep patterns and I was awake half the night. I think I slept too much during the day. Which reminds me, when did you leave? And how did I end up in my bed?”

He chuckled. “Well, after going on and on about what an awesome movie Titanic was, you fell asleep halfway through the second tape, so I carried you up to your room. I wasn’t sure if you’d want Audrey to find you sleeping on the couch. I took a quick nap on your floor and left around 8 in the morning. You were still out of it, so I let myself out your window.”

“You actually carried me up those stairs?!” she asked in shock. He nodded as though it was nothing, and she shook her head. “You know, you could have just woken me up and I would have walked there myself.”

“I know, but I was afraid if I woke you up, you wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep later. It’s not like you weigh anything, anyway!”

She blushed slightly. “Well, I’m sorry I fell asleep like that, but you really didn’t have to do that.”

He started to respond, but the bell rang and the teacher began taking roll. When she was done, she stood in front of the classroom and smiled. “I’m sure you’re all on the edge of your seats wondering what the next part of the project is, right?”

Everyone groaned and rolled their eyes, but she ignored them. “There comes a time in every marriage when a couple must discuss starting a family. Well, that time has come for all of you. Congratulations, you’re all having a baby!”

“What?” the class asked loudly.

She laughed. “For the next month, you must plan for the arrival of a baby. I’m not going to make the girls actually act pregnant, so don’t worry. Just remember that having a baby is a lot of work. I suggest you start by talking to people who have actually gone through it. You parents would probably be a good start. As always, the more realistic the better. We’re doing this the old-fashioned way, so you won’t know the baby’s gender until it’s born. I’m going to hand back your last assignments, and give you the rest of the class to discuss the new one. Have fun!”

Lucky and Elizabeth looked at each other. “She’s kidding right? Please tell me she’s kidding,” Liz said.

Lucky shook his head. “I’m afraid she isn’t. I guess you’re having my baby.” He chuckled. “The honeymoon must have been a success.”

She groaned and hit him in the shoulder as Ms. Kraft approached them. “Good job, as always.”

Liz took the folder from her while Lucky rubbed his shoulder. She opened it and sighed. “I guess the streak’s over. We only got a B+ on that one. Oh well, that’s still good, right?”

He nodded, still wincing from the pain in his arm. “You know, you didn’t have to hit me so hard! Speaking of pain, how’s the burn?”

She looked down at her arm, which still had a small bandage on it. “It’s better. It doesn’t hurt anymore, at least.”

“That’s good. So, I guess we have a busy month ahead of us now. I can’t believe she’s making us do this.”

“Yeah, and the worst part is that we’re going to have to ask your parents for advice!” Liz said, laughing when she saw the pained expression on Lucky’s face.

“Oh, this is just going to be a barrel of laughs, I can see that right now. I just hope once the kid’s ‘born’, she doesn’t make us carry around an egg or anything!”

“Oh, God, you’re right! If she does, you’re not making me carry it all the time!” Liz said.

He laughed. “Hey, didn’t we discuss this already? Doctors are too busy for that kind of stuff. Hire a nanny or something.”

“Oh, so a cook’s too expensive, but a nanny’s okay? I’m sorry, but no kid of mine is being raised by another woman!”

“What’s wrong with that? A lot of people I know have been raised by nannies. Nikolas, AJ and Jason Quartermaine, well, the entire Q family, probably, except for Emily....”

She laughed, interrupting him. “Lucky, think about what you just said. Those people are all nuts now. Well, maybe not Nikolas, but you said yourself that when he first came here he was too stuffy and proper. If that’s what a nanny does, I want no part in it!”

Seeing her point, he smiled. “Fine, no nanny. Anyway, the kid’s not born yet, so I think our concern is with the initial stuff like thinking of names and picking out furniture for the nursery. At least, that’s what I remember my parents doing when my mom was pregnant with LuLu.”

“I guess that means we should talk to her soon,” Liz suggested, scribbling down some notes.

He sighed. “Okay, but can we make sure we do it when my dad’s not around?”

“Whatever,” she mumbled. “So, what do you think about the name Gabriel?”

“Gabriel? You mean for our kid? Uh-uh. See, there’s this tradition in my family, in case you haven’t noticed, that everyone’s name starts with the letter L. I’d kind of like to keep that going.”

“What about mine? It starts with an E.”

“Yeah, but most people call you Liz, don’t they?”

“Everyone but you, actually,” she said quietly.

“I’m sorry, would you rather I called you Liz?”

She shook her head. “No, I like Elizabeth. It’s just that most people would rather shorten it, so I don’t argue. Okay, so why not just name the boy Lucas Lorenzo Spencer the Third?”

“Shhh, don’t say that so loud!” he whispered. “You know how much I hate that name, why would I want my kid to have it too?”

She shrugged. “Like you said, it’s a family tradition. Just think about it. We’ll think of alternate names in case you decide against it. What about if it’s a girl? How about Lily?”

“No, that was the name of Sonny’s wife. She died in a car bombing. It would seem too weird to name her that. What about Lu, like my sister?”

Liz made a face. “Nah, might get too confusing. I don’t suppose your mom has a book of baby names at home?”

“Maybe. I never noticed one, but I never looked for one, either. I guess we can ask her that later.”

“Okay, then let’s put off the names until then. Don’t we have to pick godparents?” she asked.

“How about Nikolas and Emily? He’s my brother, so it would make sense, and they’re our age. Unless you had someone else in mind. What about your sister?”

She shook her head. “I would never give my kid to Sarah. No way. Okay, Nikolas and Emily sound fine. Do you think they’d be good parents?”

“Sure. Emily is already Michael Morgan’s godmother, so she’s already used to it. Nikolas is great with LuLu, so I’m sure he’d be fine, too.” Lucky chewed on the end of his pen thoughtfully, trying to figure out what else they would need to do.

“I guess we can worry about the nursery stuff later. I can get some baby furniture catalogs and cut out pictures for it. What about money? Should we redo the budget for this? Does she want us to pick which brands of baby food and diapers we’re going to use? How realistic does she want us to get?”

“As realistic as we can,” he said, making some notes. He looked up and grinned. “Maybe you should start wearing a pillow under your shirt, and have mood swings and stuff like my mom did.”

She frowned and hit him again, hard.

He grimaced and rubbed his arm. “Okay, forget the mood swings. I don’t think my arm can take any more.”

“Oh, that wasn’t a mood swing. That was just me,” she said, grinning devilishly as the bell rang. They got up and gathered their books. “So, when should we talk to your mom?”

“My dad’s not going to be home tomorrow night, so how about then?”

“I’ve got to work. What about Wednesday?”

He thought for a minute, then shrugged. “I guess I can figure out a way to get him out of the house. Okay, Wednesday night then. You might as well just stay for dinner. My mom will probalby insist anyway.”

She smiled over her shoulder at him as she walked away to her next class. “Okay, I’ll be there.”

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