Chapter 33

Lucky groaned and looked at his father. This was not going to be fun. He sighed and started to explain. "The next part of our project is to plan for a baby."

Luke chuckled, his eyes dancing. "I guess that means the honeymoon was a big success!"

"Luke..." Laura warned, trying to hide her own smile.

He put his hands up in the air defensively. "Sorry, I couldn't help myself. So, how far along are you?"

"Luke!" Laura said again, laughing this time.

He chuckled at the horrified expressions on the kids' faces. "You know, you guys are going to ruin my reputation. I'm not old enough to be a grandfather yet!"

"LUKE!" Laura shouted, hitting him on the shoulder.

"Okay, okay, I'll stop," he said, still snickering as he retreated into the kitchen.

Laura just shook her head and smiled apologetically at Lucky and Liz. "I'm sorry about that. I'm sure you expected it, though."

Lucky nodded slowly. "Yeah, that's why I wanted to do this when he wasn't around!"

Laura laughed. "Well, I'm sure it's out of his system now. I better go start dinner. You're still staying, right, Liz?"

Elizabeth smiled and nodded. "Of course. Do you want any help?"

"No thanks. You stay out her and work on your project. I'll let you guys know when it's ready." Laura went back into the kitchen and smacked her husband as she passed him.

"What? What did I do?" he asked innocently, still laughing.

"You know very well what you did, Luke! You tease those two way too much!"

He shook his head. "There's no such thing. Anyway, they've come to expect it from me by now. I couldn't let them down, now could I?"

"Well, Liz is staying for dinner again, so please be on your best behavior?" she pleaded.

"I'll try, but I can't promise anything."

~*~

"Man, I can't wait for this semester to be over," Lucky muttered, reading over his notes.

"Why, so you can be rid of me?" Liz asked sarcastically.

"No, so my dad will finally get off my back."

She chuckled. "Something tells me that he'll always be on your back about something, project or no project."

Lucky nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right. It's what he does best. I just hope I never do that to my kids!"

Liz looked at him strangely, then chose not to say anything. They continued to work in silence until Laura stepped in to announce that dinner was ready. They got up and walked into the kitchen, sitting down at the table. They ate for a while, making small talk with one another, until finally, Luke couldn't take it anymore.

"I can't help noticing your rings there," he commented, pointing to their hands.

Liz and Lucky both blushed and looked away from each other, causing Luke to chuckle. "It's just that the Cowboy here wears his all the time, and I always wondered if his wife did too. I guess I was right."

"Dad..." Lucky growled, hoping he would quit.

"So how long do you have to do this baby part?" Luke asked, hoping it would calm down Lucky a little bit.

"Until the end of the month," he answered, wondering what his dad was up to.

"You hear that, babe, they've got until Halloween!" he said, winking at his wife. She glared at him in warning. The last thing they needed was for Lucky and Liz to find out about their bets. Luckily, the two teens were too embarrassed to notice anything.

They continued to eat in silence for a few more minutes before Luke spoke up again.

"I hear you two had a little sleep-over the other night...Hey, maybe that's when this baby came along! You think?" He turned to Laura and grinned, ignoring the look she was giving him.

Lucky and Liz looked like they wanted to crawl under the table and die. "Dad, will you please drop it! This is just a school project, it's all pretend, okay? Whatever you think is going to happen isn't, so just give it up!" He stood up from the table and threw down his napkin, motioning for Liz to do the same. Normally she would have stayed to help Laura, but she was too embarrassed, so she excused herself and followed.

Once they were gone, Luke chuckled. "Guess I took that a bit too far, huh?"

Laura rolled her eyes. "Yes, you did, and you probably just caused yourself to lose that bet, too. You saw the look in Lucky's eyes. He's even more determined than ever to prove you wrong! Maybe I should just take that money off your hands right now."

He stood up to help her clear the table. "Oh, no. They've still got a month left. A lot can happen in that amount of time. No ma'am, this ain't over yet!"

~*~

Once they were safely in Lucky's room, Liz sat down and sighed. "No offense, but remind me never to eat dinner here again!"

Lucky chuckled and sat next to her on the bed. "Don't worry. I wish I could avoid him, too. At least you can go home. I'm stuck here!"

"Poor baby. Stuck here in this nice house with both of your parents who adore you and are still majorly in love with one another. However do you handle it?" she said sarcastically.

"Whoa, where did that come from?" he asked, looking over at her.

She shrugged. "I don't know. I guess sometimes I think about how my parents are in another country and I'm stuck here with my grandmother. Don't get me wrong, I love her to death, but it's not the same. I mean, my sister and I don't get along, and I haven't spoken to her once since she went away to college. My parents don't call me either, because it's too expensive."

"Hey, it's not like things here are that wonderful, either. Having them around all the time can really get annoying. I sometimes wish I could just move out on my own, get away from them. I know they mean well, but sometimes it's just too much. Kind of like tonight. My dad just doesn't know when to stop sometimes."

She looked at Lucky and shook her head. "How can you say that? You've got it perfect here! Your family is so close. You even get along really well with Nikolas, even though he's supposed to be your enemy! Face it, you're lucky."

He smiled. "That's my name, don't wear it out."

She rolled her eyes and groaned. "Forget it. I should have known better than to try to have a serious conversation with you. I better head home before it gets too late." She stood up and threw her bookbag over her shoulder, heading for the door.

"Hey, come on, I was just kidding. Anyway, how could you make a comment like that and expect me to pass it up? After all, I am my father's son!"

She laughed quietly and shook her head. "Okay, fine, but I really do have to go. I'll see you at school tomorrow."

Lucky walked her to the front door and locked it behind her. He turned around to find Luke smiling at him and groaned. "Dad, you went too far tonight."

"Sorry, Cowboy, I just couldn't help myself. Don't worry, your mom already reamed me for it. I'll watch it next time, I promise."

"You better, or else she's going to stop coming over here!"

Luke grinned. "Oh, so now you want her here? Sounds to me like you're falling for the girl!"

Lucky rolled his eyes. "I am not! I just meant that she won't come here to work on the project anymore, which could make things difficult, since I'm the one with the computer. Man, do you ever think of anything else anymore?"

Luke laughed and shook his head. "Nope, can't say that I do. Trust me, I'll be saying 'I told you so' any day now."

"Don't bet on it," Lucky grumbled before stomping up the stairs.

Once he was out of earshot, Luke chuckled. "Too late, Cowboy, we already have," he muttered to himself, heading back into the kitchen to find his wife.

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