What Happened to Forever?

Chapters 67-68

~*~Chapter 67~*~

Luke is in his office, reviewing the inventory lists, when there’s a knock on the door.

“Yeah, come in!” he yells.

“Hey dad,” Lucky greets as he enters the room, followed by Nikolas.

Luke grins when he sees his sons. “How was the vacation?” he asks slyly.

“It was good,” Nikolas says. Luke grins even wider.

“Oh, knock that smile off your face, dad. Nothing happened. It was perfectly innocent!” Lucky says, exasperated.

“Well, what am I supposed to think? Two teenage boys alone in a luxurious house with their girlfriends for an entire week, no adult supervision....I must have been crazy to let you guys do that!” He laughs, knowing that he could always trust them to do the right thing.

“You know, we came here to tell you we were glad you’re okay, but now I’m not so sure...” Lucky teases.

Luke stands up and walks over to his sons. “I’m glad I’m okay too. You know I only tease you cause I love you guys!”

Nikolas looks up at him strangely. Even though it was said indirectly, that was the first time Luke had said that he loved him. Luke caught his look and smiled. He wasn’t quite ready to actually tell Nikolas directly how he felt, so he pulls him into a hug instead.

Lucky stands by and smiles. When he first found out that his father was also Nikolas’s, he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to handle seeing them together, but watching them hug right now only made him feel proud of his father for overcoming his old hatred for Nikolas.

“Hey, I’m feeling left out over here...” he says jokingly.

Luke grins and hugs Lucky as well. “Thanks guys. You know, you probably saved my life the other day.”

“We’re just glad that you’re okay,” Nikolas says, pulling back from their hug.

“Hey, I’m not about to die yet. I’ve got too much left to do. Speaking of which, I hear that Lucy managed to get you to perform at the Nurses Ball, Cowboy.”

Lucky smiles. “Yeah, Elizabeth really wanted to do something for it, so I agreed.”

“Well, what are you two going to do?” Luke asks eagerly.

Lucky shakes his head. “It’s a secret, you know that! Lucy doesn’t like the audience to know ahead of time what the numbers are going to be.”

Luke nods. “I know, but you can’t blame a guy for trying, can you?”

They laugh, and excuse themselves so that Luke can get back to work.

~*~

(later that night)

Elizabeth is trying to fall asleep, when the phone by her bed rings. She smiles, knowing that there’s only one person who would call her at this hour.

“Hi, Lucky.”

He chuckles. “Am I that predictable?”

“No, I just knew that you were the only one who would call me this late.”

“I didn’t wake you, did I?” he asks, concerned. He hadn’t realized what time it was. He had stayed up talking with Nikolas for a while, and hadn’t really looked at the clock.

“No, I was actually having trouble sleeping. I think I got used to you being next to me.”

“Me, too. I thought maybe if I heard your voice again before I went to bed, that I may be able to sleep better. Do you want me to come over there until you fall asleep?”

She smiles. He’s so sweet. “I’ll be okay. I have to get used to sleeping alone again sooner or later, anyway. No need dragging it out, right?”

“I suppose, but don’t get too used to it. You won’t be sleeping alone forever, you know! At least, not if I have anything to say about it,”

She laughs. “I know. It gives me something to look forward to.”

“Well, it’s always good to have goals. I should go. You’re not going to get any sleep with me yapping in your ear.”

“Okay,” she says sleepily. “Good-night Lucky.”

“Good-night Elizabeth. Dreams of Gold.” They both hang up, and Elizabeth lays back on her pillow, staring at the ceiling. She couldn’t believe how much her life had changed over the past few years. Just a year ago, she thought she’d never see Lucky again, and now he was back, and they were more in love than ever.

She sighs happily, and curls up under her comforter, trying to get comfortable. After a few minutes of tossing and turning, she hears a familiar sound at the window. She looks up and sees Lucky grinning at her from the other side of the glass. She smiles and goes over to open it.

“I thought I told you to stay home!”

He shrugs. “I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to give you a good-night kiss, and that’s kind of hard to do over the phone.”

She kisses him quickly on the lips. “There you go. Good-night.” She starts to walk away from the window, knowing that he will follow her.

“You call that a kiss?” he asks teasingly, grabbing her around the waist and turning her to face him. She looks up at him innocently and he smiles. “This is a kiss!”

He brings his lips crashing down on hers and kisses her with such passion that her knees almost give out on her. If it wasn’t for his arms around her waist, she would have probably fallen to the ground. When he finally pulls away, she’s speechless.

“Now, was that so bad?” He grins, seeing how the kiss had affected her.

She looks up at him and smiles. “How do you expect me to go to sleep after that?!”

He laughs, “Well, I already know that I won’t be able to sleep tonight, so I figure it’s only fair....” He pulls her close for another kiss.

“Okay, Lucky. You better go before Gram comes in. I’ll see you at rehearsal tomorrow morning.” She’s afraid if she doesn’t make him leave now, she won’t be able to later.

He sighs. “Fine, I’ll go. You sure you don’t want to come back to the cottage with me?”

She laughs. He never gives up. “No! Now go before I change my mind.”

“All right, all right. I’ll see you in the morning. Good-night.” He climbs out the window and blows a kiss at her. She smiles and waves to him as he leaves.

~*~Chapter 68~*~

“Whew. That Lucy sure is a slavedriver!” Liz exclaims. They had been rehearsing all morning, and no matter how well they did their number, Lucy always found something that they needed to improve. Finally, she decided to call it a day, and Liz was exhausted.

Lucky laughs. “Yeah, well, she wants everything to be perfect. This thing is her baby. It wasn’t that bad, was it?”

“I guess not. I’m just not used to practicing for so long. It’s tiring!” She takes a drink from her water bottle and gathers her stuff together.

“So, what do you want to do now?” he asks, picking up his stuff.

“Well, I actually have plans to go dress-shopping with Emily.” She notices the disappointment on his face and smiles. “Why don’t you spend some quality-time with your brother?”

“I spend enough time with him. I wanted to spend time with you,” he pouts.

“I’m sorry, but I need a dress for the ball, and no offense, but Emily’s more fun to shop with. You hate shopping, and it shows.”

He shrugs, realizing that she has a point. “All right, I’ll see what Nikolas is doing today. Will I see you later tonight?”

She smiles and kisses him quickly. “You can bet on it!” With that, she skips out of the room, off to find Emily.

Lucky goes over to a phone and calls the cottage. Nikolas answers after a couple of rings.

“Hey, Nikolas, it’s Lucky. It seems that our women are off shopping, so I was wondering if you wanted to do something.”

“Like what?”

“Well, they’re doing girl stuff, so I figured we could do guy stuff.”

Nikolas laughs. “Sure, you’re on. What did you have in mind?”

Lucky thinks for a moment. “Have you ever been to a baseball game?”

“No. I’m not really much of a sports person.” Nikolas answers reluctantly.

“Well, if you’re going to be a Spencer, then that’s going to have to change. Put on something casual, and by thtat I mean jeans and a t-shirt, if you even own any! I’ll be home in a few minutes. I’m going to take you to your first baseball game!” He hangs up, chuckling to himself, thinking about how funny this was going to be. He couldn’t picture Nikolas at a sporting event, but if he was going to be a Spencer, he was going to have to learn about sports!

Many hours later, Elizabeth and Emily are sitting in the cottage, talking, when the door opens, and Lucky and Nikolas come in, laughing. They’re both wearing Yankees caps, and Nikolas as a pennant in his hand. Liz and Emily look at each other, amazed.

“Okay, Lucky, who is this guy and what did you do with Nikolas?” Emily asks, laughing.

Nikolas smiles. “He took me to a Yankees game. It was fun. Is that so hard to believe?”

“You and baseball? Yeah, it’s a little strange. You better be careful, people might start to mistake you for an American!” Elizabeth says.

“Nah, that’ll never happen,” Lucky says, grinning. “He had no clue what was going on. I had to explain everything to him.” He may have been complaining, but the two girls could see that Lucky had loved every minute of it. Him and Nikolas were really bonding.

“Well, get over here. I missed you today!” Elizabeth says, holding her arms out. Lucky walks over to her and kisses her. Taking this as their cue, Nikolas and Emily do the same.

Emily looks at Nikolas, smiling. He looks cute in the baseball cap. “So, you really went to a baseball game! If I wasn’t seeing it for myself, I wouldn’t believe it!”

“You know, if you guys keep this up, I might get offended! I can’t help the way I was raised, you know.” He tries to act hurt, but they aren’t buying it.

“Oh, lighten up, Nikky. We’re just teasing you!”

Nikolas sighs. “Lucky, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?”

“Why do you think I do it?” Lucky laughs, and Elizabeth hits him playfully.

“Oh, be nice to your brother!” she scolds.

“Yes, ma’am,” he says, giving her a mock salute. She shakes her head. There’s no reasoning with him when he’s in this kind of mood.

Deciding to change the subject, she clears her throat. “So, what do you guys want to do tonight?”

“No Ouija boards!” they all yell.

~*~

“Excuse me, I need to make a phone call.” Stefan says to the warden. He was convicted of the conspiracy to kidnap charges, and is serving a prison term of 5-10 years, although his lawyers are working to shorten the time.

“Yeah, whatever. Come on.” The warden opens his cell and leads him to the phone.

“Some privacy?” Stefan asks haughtily. Even in prison, he treats everyone like servants. The warden grumbles something and walks away.

Stefan dials and waits for the person to answer.

“Hello?”

“It’s Stefan Cassidine. Do you still have the envelope I gave you a few months ago?”

“Yes, it’s still here.”

“When I gave it to you, I left specific instructions for you not to open it unless I give the order, correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I am giving that order now. Open the envelope and carry out the orders inside. If you succeed, I will make sure you are paid well. If you do not succeed, well, let’s just say you will be paid for that as well, so if I were you, I would make sure to carry out the orders to the letter.”

There’s a slight rustling on the other end, as the man reads through the contents of the envelope. “When am I to do this, sir?”

“Whenever you can. Just make sure that it is done properly. I will not tolerate any mistakes!” With that, he hangs up the phone and returns to his cell.

The man on the other end hangs up slowly and looks over the contents of the envelope carefully. This wasn’t going to be easy.