CHAPTER 30

"Don't call the doctor right away, Helena," Lucky said as he saw her reach for the phone. "I need some time alone, to process all of this."

"Take your time, Lucky. I won't make any decisions without consulting you first. I give you my word." Helena said in a soft voice and with something in her eyes that, if he didn't know better, Lucky would interpret as tenderness.

"I need to get out of here!" Lucky exclaimed before he ran out of his wife's room.

Helena looked at the ceiling for a long time, trying to repress the incredible feeling of victory she was having. This feeling was too powerful and, if she wasn't careful, it could lead to her demise, as it did her darling Mikkos. Lucky had reacted exactly the way she had planned, but she needed to stay focused and in control of her emotions. The door opened and her eyes snapped to the grim looking woman as she walked in.

"Mrs. Cassadine, I really need to talk to you," the nurse said as she walked closer to the bed. "

Helena hid her smile as she nodded to the woman to continue. She already knew what the woman would say. 'We're sorry but your child didn't survive'. Her shock was genuine, though, when she heard what the woman was saying.

"This is inexcusable, be assured that we are doing everything we can to rectify what happened, we are going to find her, but for now, we don't know where the baby is." The nurse said lamely.

"What do you mean, you don't know where the baby is?" Helena asked curtly.

"I was alone to tend to the babies, and Valona was going to her supper, when I was paged. I went into the office next to the nursery and, next thing I knew, a stranger was taking a baby and running with it. I checked and the baby was the Spencer baby. The security team is looking for her as we speak. I don't doubt that we will find her but..."

"You worthless idiot!" Helena snapped. "Do you realize what you've done?"

"Yes, I do. I know that I will be fired as soon as we find the baby. It was entirely my fault. The director said that I will probably be charged with negligence, too. But I assure you, Mrs. Cassadine, we will find the baby."

"You better hope that my husband doesn't find out about this," Helena said and saw the confusion dawn on the woman's face. "That's right. As long as I don't say it's ok, I don't want this news to reach my husband. He will just chew this hospital down along with your excuse of a career!"

"Yes, I understand, but what are we to tell him when he comes to the window to see his baby girl?" The nurse asked, unsure of what to think of the strange request.

"He won't be. I'll tell him that there was some complication with the girl and that she is in intensive care. I'll think of something. As long as you find the baby within 2 days, he won't know about it."

The nurse nodded, and apologized again before Helena dismissed her. How could Faison let something like that happen? Wasn't he suppose to kill the damn baby? How would she keep Lucky from knowing his baby was missing, and who the hell had the baby?

"The problem is taken care of," Faison said smugly as he walked into her room.

"And just how it is taken care of?" Helena hissed. "The baby was kidnapped!"

"What? That's impossible! When I left her she was barely breathing!" Faison said indignantly.

"Well, someone snatched her right from under the nurse's nose! She just came here to tell me. Someone walked in and walked out with the baby! Do you realize what we are in for if that someone is on Lucky's side?"

"How can that be, Helena. The only person looking at the baby was your boy toy. I don't think that he would betray you like that!" Faison answered honestly.

"Call for Ari!" Helena growled. "I want to see him right now!"

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

"How is that possible?" Luke asked as Stefan walked to him after he barged in the room. "Isn't it too soon?"

"It appears that the baby did not think so," Stefan replied as he packed his stuff. "The hospital would not tell me whether or not the baby was born or not, but Helena is definitely in labor."

"Call your pilot. Tell him that we are leaving immediately!" Luke said as he reached for his suitcase. "We will not give her time to give birth and disappear on us again!"

"Luke, she isn't going anywhere," Roy reminded him, trying to buy time. "We have to make a plan, to make sure that she won't slip through our fingers again!"

"Who's side are you on, man?" Luke growled at his friend. "She's in a hospital bed, man! We walk in, we kill her, walk out with Lucky and the baby! It's as simple as that!"

"No, it isn't that simple, you idiot!" Roy answered back. "Don't you think the hospital has security? What about her two goons that follow her everywhere? Don't you think that they are watching out for us? If we mess this up, she will walk away again with Lucky and the baby!"

"I hate to say this, but he is right," Stefan agreed. "We need to make sure that she will not know we found her and are out for her blood."

"Well, stay here with do that stupid plan, I'm going after my son!" Luke said as he walked to the doo r.

"My son," Stefan reminded calmly.

"MY SON!" Luke nearly shouted. "Listen to me, Cassadine, Lucky will always be my son, you hear me? He's a Spencer! He will always be. I don't care about the filthy blood in his veins!"

"And you listen to me, Spencer!" Stefan said back, raising his voice a notch. "Lucky is a Cassadine! He is MY son! My blood flows in his veins and I will not let you risk his life by rescuing him before we are ready!"

"Watch me!" Luke said and walked out before they could add anything else.

"Now you've done it, little brother. You've just antagonized him for life by reminding him that Lucky wasn't his biologically." Roy said as he shook his head.

"Oh, so it is all right for him to remind me again and again that I was not the one who raised my son, but I am wrong when I remind him of the same thing?" Stefan shot back. "If you want to stay here and fight by yourself, then be my guest, but I am going after him."

"To do what?" Roy asked

"To stop him from getting Lucky killed by his foolishness!"

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

"How can this have happened?" Lucky asked as he walked near the end of the property, where he had his secret place. He sat down on a rock and listened to the water not far from him. "How could my life have gone from being a promise of happiness to this never ending pit of despair?

"Why did You give me a baby, God, to take it away before I even had time to know her, to see her, to hold her?" Lucky asked as he looked up to the sky. "How can You be so cruel? What have I done to You to deserve such harsh punishment?"

"Lucky?" He heard from behind him. He didn't even turn around. He didn't have to recognize the voice that talked to him to know it was Ari. Only Ari knew of this place. He was the one who had shown it to Lucky, after all.

"I'd like to be alone, if you didn't mind." Lucky asked him without turning around. "My baby died," Lucky explained, although he knew that Ari already knew. Why else would he be here with him, instead of at the hospital with Helena? Tears started falling down Lucky's cheeks, before he put his face in his hands. "My baby died." He said again brokenly.

"Turn around, Lucky," Ari said in a soft voice, placing himself directly behind his best friend. "There is someone I'd like for you to meet."

"This is not the time, Ari!" Lucky snapped without looking up. "Can't you see that I'm grieving, here? Since when have you become heartless?"

Ari didn't even wince at Lucky's tone. He knew that his best friend didn't mean anything he was saying. "I'm not heartless, my friend," Ari assured. "I'm just holding someone who's becoming quite heavy, if you ask me."

Lucky's head snapped around. Not because of what he said, but because of the baby's indignant cry at being called heavy. "What?" Lucky asked, confused.

"They were killing her, Lucky" Ari said as he knelt down in front of his friend. "Faison was suffocating her when I went to see her. I did the first thing I could think about, and it was to get her out of there."

"But why would they do something like that?" Lucky asked as he looked down at his pouting daughter. "Why would they want to kill her?"

"I've been asking myself that same question," Ari admitted. "I don't know why, other than the fact that Helena has no use for a daughter."

"But that doesn't make any sense!" Lucky said, unable to take his eyes off of his daughter. "Why would she make herself pregnant with my baby when she knew the risk of getting a daughter was a 50/50 chance if she didn't want one?"

"Beats me." Ari replied honestly. "But don't just look at her! Don't you want to hold her?"

"I'm afraid I'm going to break her," Lucky admitted sheepishly. "She's so tiny!"

"Yeah but she's strong, let me tell you that. She has a nice set of lungs, too, my ears can vouch for that."

Lucky chuckled as he slowly reached for his daughter. The baby girl whined when she was being picked up from her source of heat, before she snuggled into her father's arms with a sigh. "She likes me," Lucky said with a smile as his eyes locked with his daughter's.

"Looks like it to me," Ari grinned. "She knows what she wants, that's for sure, and she isn't shy at letting you know what it is, trust me."

"What now?" Lucky asked curiously. "What about Helena?"

"My guess is that we shouldn't let her know that you know the baby is alive. I bet she will try to hide the fact that the baby is missing to you. Why would someone take a dead baby?" Ari said thoughtfully.

"But how can I pretend that my baby isn't alive?" Lucky asked, gazing down at the perfect little bundle of life in his arms.

"I don't know. But I think that we should keep her a secret until we know why Helena was so set on having a boy and what she wishes to accomplish by telling you that your daughter died."

"Where will I keep her?" Lucky asked. "I don't want to be separated from her, not when I came so close to losing her!"

"I already figured that out," Ari said with a smile. "Leave it to me, and you can visit her any time you want. What are you going to name her?"

"I don't know," Lucky sighed. "I want her to have something of my two fathers, you know. And you, since you saved her life. My last name is still Spencer, so I guess she should be one, too."

"So you want to name her like Luke and Stefan and have the last name Spencer? How are you going to do that?" Ari asked curiously.

"Well, since she will be named Spencer, that will be my gift to Luke. Stefany should do the trick for Stefan, don't you think?" Lucky grinned. "Your name is giving me problems, though. Ari isn't cute for a girl. She also has to have a name that starts with an L, so Arianna is out of the question."

"You don't have to name her after me, you know." Ari told him honestly. "It was my duty and my pleasure to save her life."

"I know you didn't do it for a reward, my friend. I know you better than that. But my child will have a name that will remind her of you, her savior, and her Godfather, as well." Lucky said with a tender smile as he looked down at his now sleeping daughter. "Larissa." He finally decided. "Larissa Stefany Spencer."

"Hello, little Larissa Stefany Spencer," Ari cooed, looking down at the baby. "Don't worry, child, between me and your father, nothing bad will ever happen to you again. This I promise you."