CHAPTER 10

"-Stefan! I can’t believe you just said that! Said Elizabeth. Robert, I’m so sorry, sometimes his mouth gets ahead of himself

-Kinda reminds me of you, doesn’t it? Asked Robert. Except it was your head more than your mouth, wasn’t it?

-And you know what else? Asked Stefan

-Hey now that’s enough! Said Elizabeth. If you say one more word, you’ll be in your room for the rest of the week."

Stefan turned to his mother with the biggest smile, and Robert chuckled at what he said.

"-It’ll be worth it mom.

-Come on Elizabeth, let the boy speak his mind. Don’t worry, I don’t offend easily

-You asked for it Spencer. I mean, Jackson

-Go ahead Stefan

-Thank you. First of all, I know everything there is to know about you. Mom talks about you all the time. Since I’ve been born I heard about Lucky Spencer. It was Lucky this and Lucky that. Even my father talked about you all the time. I think it’s not healthy to live in the past, but it’s their choices. Let’s just say I could ace a Lucky Spencer test with my eyes closed. Lucky hated lies right? He used to say lies destroy. He was estranged from his family because of the lies and yet, Robert’s whole life is a great, big lie.

-Now hold on just a damn minute! Said Robert"

Elizabeth was about to say something when Kelly’s door opened, quieting everyone. Luke was standing in the doorway. No one talked. It was as if the king had entered the ball room. Everyone’s eyes went from Robert to Luke, then back to Robert. Kiara was holding her breath, Stefan’s eyes were wide open, Elizabeth’s hands joined together to prevent them from shaking. Robert was looking at Luke. All the emotions he was going through were reflecting on his face. Surprise, fear, hurt, miss, and finally, love.

"-Stefan, go inside. I’ll take it from here.

-But gran-

-Now Cowboy"

Stefan looked at his mother to plead his case but she showed him the door with her chin. Lesley Lu took Kiara by the shoulders and took her inside. This wouldn’t be pretty, everyone knew it. Years of pain and anger would fly. Luke looked at Elizabeth, asking her with his eyes to leave, but she stood there, acting as if she didn’t understand what he wanted. Luke took his attention on his son. They were looking in each other’s eyes in a silent duel, waiting to see which one would cave in and talk the first.

"-You look--

-Good to--"

They said at the same time. Another embarrassing silence filled the air, until Luke opened his mouth.

"-Mind if I go first?

-Be my guest

-Ok. Luke let out a big sigh and stayed silent.

-Well? Asked Robert after a while

-Hold your horses there Cowboy, I’m not as young anymore, I have to think long and hard before I talk.

-And the difference would be....

-Smart ass. Laughed Luke. They were both nervous, making small talk. Ok, I got it now. WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?

-What? Asked Robert in disbelief

-Do you have any idea what your mother and I went through? Do you have any idea what SHE went through? He asked, pointing Elizabeth. Did you know she nearly lost her son because of the pain? She was so stressed out she nearly had a miscarriage. Did you know she had no other choice but to marry your OWN BROTHER so she could give a decent life to YOUR child? When you came back 15 years ago, you didn’t bother to ask what we all went through, you wanted to pick up where you left off, but you were so pissed that we moved on and learned how to live without you that you just took off again, depriving your mother and I of the pleasure of knowing we had a granddaughter!

-Dad--

-And another thing, Do you think you could just waltz back in our lives and tell us to stay the hell away from you? It doesn’t work that way Lucky! Wether you like it or not, you’re a Spencer. You are a part of us, a part of this family. So is Kiara. And I’ll be damned if I’m gonna let you walk out of our lives again!"

Luke sat down, suddenly exhausted. He wasn’t as young and his heart was racing. He looked at his son, his eyes full of water.

"-We thought you were dead. He said in a soft voice. I thought I lost my only son because of my stupidity. I stayed up countless nights, just looking out the window, wondering why God didn’t take me instead. I was the one who screwed up. It was eating me alive Lucky. I even put a gun to my head, just to stop the pain. But then I thought about the kind of pain Laura would go through, and I decided against it. You died for a reason, and that was to punish me. If I had killed myself that night, you would’ve died in vain. All the pain Elizabeth and Laura were going through would have been in vain"

Luke broke down and cried, putting both his hands in his face. He was looking straight in front of him when he started talking again.

"-And then Lucky was born. I swore to myself that I would do with him what I couldn’t do with you, keep him safe and happy, but then my club burned to the ground and it all went downhill after that. I cut myself from them, and I ran. When I came back, Elizabeth told me she had a feeling something had happened the day of the fire. She felt something inside her that told her you were still alive. I started to look for you. I looked everywhere. Wanna know when I stopped looking?

-Yeah, answered Robert in a whisper

-When Lucky told me he found the love of his life. He told me to let go. Life goes on. He had found the woman he was going to marry and --how did he put it-- the great circle of life was rolling again. He said he would do what his father wasn’t able to and that way, what was meant to be would still be. I finally made peace with your death that day. And then you showed up again. Lucky, I need to know where we stand here. I’m not as strong as I used to be."

Robert sighed and sat down. They had forgotten about Elizabeth only feet away from them. She was listening and she sucked her breath in as she saw Robert kneel down before his father.

"-Dad, I’m sorry. I guess I never stopped to think about what you must be going through. I mean, when I got my memory back, I knew you must have been hurting. And I wanted to take that pain away. That’s why I came to town. But then I saw Elizabeth with her kids, I thought "Great, she moved on, who am I to disturb her life now" so I didn’t show myself. But then I thought about you. I went to see you, at the club but I chickened out. That night, I was watching the TV, Kiara was only feet away from me, when they said about the fire. I was there dad. Only minutes before it went up in flames. I swore to myself that night that I would never put Kiara in that kind of danger. I swore to myself I would never be Lucky Spencer again. So I did the last thing I could do as Lucky. I ran."

Luke finally understood what went on in his son’s head. He whispered "oh Lucky" before his hand went behind his son’s neck to pull him closer. Robert didn’t resist, he let Luke take him in a tight embrace. It took a few seconds before he responded, but finally, Robert threw his arms around Luke. Elizabeth silently went into Kelly’s, to tell the other what went on.

Kiara was listening to Elizabeth and her heart missed a beat. Did that mean she would be able to see her family, Lucky included? Did that mean her real father would be back from now on? So many questions and no answers. That was driving her insane.

Kelly’s door opened to let Robert and Luke come in. They were both smiling. Luke went over to Kiara and gave her a hug.

"Welcome to the family baby doll. We have a long road ahead of us, but I think we’ll be able to bring him back. He whispered in her ear."

Lucky entered the restaurant and everyone was quiet. The teenager looked at everyone, uneasy. He walked up to his mother and smiled. He finally understood. His father was there and they were all waiting to see how he would react. He hugged his mother and sister, before he did the same with Tammy, Luke and Lesley. He looked at Robert and smiled.

"-Sorry man, I only give hugs to women and senile old men, better luck in a couple of years.

-I’m not senile! Said Luke. I still wear my underwear UNDER my pants. Well, most of the time anyway."

Robert laughed. His father was the same man. He looked at his son, wondering how to act towards him. What did Lucky want from him? What about Kiara? And Elizabeth? Now, it wasn’t the time to think about Elizabeth. They were over and done with. He was over her.

If so then why did his heart skipped a beat when she turned around and smiled at him right now?