Fast Forward In Time - Chapter 3

Sunday, April 22nd, 2007
Port Charles

Luke and Laura had gotten back together on her wedding day to Stephan Cassidine on October 6th of 2004. It had all come about because Luke finally realized that he and Laura were and are two equal parts of one whole. He had burst into the small ceremony and screamed about how stupid he had been and that he still loved her. He told her, while she was standing on the altar with Stephan, that if she could tell him that she didn't love him anymore he would never say another word about it. She was outraged at first. Screaming at him about how it had taken so long and why he would pick now to tell her. The entire time she was yelling he kept repeating, "Tell me you don't love me," over and over. When she stopped she looked at Stephan and said, "I'm sorry, I can't," with tears in her eyes. With that Luke had thrown her over his shoulder and taken her to his apartment above ‘Lukes'. All they did for the next few months was talk. About their marriage, their past, Lu-Lu and Lucky, and then finally their future. They weren't sure that they could fix the damage they had both caused but they decided to try. No one had been really surprised by the reunion, not even Nicolas. At first he had been angry, but after seeing his mother the happiest he had ever seen her he had agreed that it was best. Stephan had left Port Charles shortly after that. He couldn't handle the humiliation or the pain of knowing his Lasha was gone. Elizabeth had not wanted to go to the wedding but she was glad she had. She saw so much of Lucky that day in his father. It had made her happier than she had been in a long time, and she knew that if Lucky knew, he was happy too.

Laura was watching her daughter through the kitchen window as she played soccer in the yard. "Lu-Lu sweetheart. Come inside and get cleaned up for dinner. Everyone will be here soon." "In a minute!" Was the only response she got.

Every other Sunday there was a family dinner at the Spencers. Laura insisted on it because of everyones hectic lives. They ate, talked and laughed just like normal families do. Only theirs was anything but normal.

"Leslie Lou Spencer! Get your but in this house immediately." She then turned her attention to Luke, " That daughter of yours is so headstrong. I wonder who she gets that from?" Laura sarcastically asked Luke as they put the finishing touches on dinner.

"Now wait a second. Since when is she only my daughter, and what ever gave you the idea that she gets that trait from me?" he asked his wife while he picked at the turkey.

She laughed. "Luke get away from there. If you keep nibbling on everything there won't be anything left." she said slapping his fingers.

He started laughing and put his hands up to his face. "OH NO." He turned towards her. "Then we'd have to order a pizza. What would our guests think. We'd have to move for sure. Imagine the shame. We'd never live it down." Luke teased while wrapping his arms around her. "The kids will eat anything, you know that. Besides, I haven't nibbled on everything. Yet." He leaned in and kissed her.

It's hard to imagine they were ever apart, but when they were everything had seemed so off. Like them being together was needed to keep the world spinning. The love they have for each other is so real, so there, that everyone around them feels better because of it.

As Lu-Lu came up behind them, and saw them kissing, she knew how Lucky must have felt. Lizzie had told her about his embarrassment of the constant displays of affection. But she also knew he must have felt pride as well. Having your parents still together, even if you're only twelve years old, is not very common these days. "Ahem," she cleared her throat to get their attention. "HELLO, ONE IGNORED DAUGHTER BY THE DOOR," she yelled.

They broke free from each other and stared at her. She was growing up so fast. Luke spoke first. "You know, I can still remember when you were very young and we practically had to drag one word out of that little face of yours. Now, you never seem to stop yelling." He crouched in front of her, "Please tell me what you did with that sweet little girl."

"Please!" She said while moving around him. She suddenly stopped and turned to face him while he was still crouched on the floor. "You know, I can still remember when you had a full head of hair and your gut sat behind your belt buckle and not over the top of it," she rubbed her hand on his head, "Please tell me what you did with that handsome younger man." Laura had her hand over her mouth to hide her laughter and Luke was smiling from ear to ear. He suddenly grabbed Lu-Lu around the waist and began to tickle her, "Why you little rat." Was the last thing he said before she erupted into a fit of giggles. As Luke was leading Lu-Lu up over the stairs the doorbell rang.

Elizabeth was always the first to show up. As she rang the familiar bell she could hear Lu-Lus' laughter and she smiled. Lucky would be so happy to know that she spent so much time with his family. Really they were her family as well. The only one she had ever truly belonged to.

Every time Laura saw Liz she felt so close to Lucky. She knew that Liz was still hanging on to her memories, and although she hoped that she would one day find love again, she dreaded it as well. She doesn't want to see Liz with another man. That would be too painful.

"Hello Laura," Elizabeth said as Laura pulled the front door open, "What's going on? I could hear Lu-Lu laughing as I was coming up over the steps."

Laura pulled Elizabeth into a hug and said, "She and her father are having another battle of wits. Please come in."

The first thing Elizabeth saw was the portrait she had painted of Lucky all those years ago on the mantle above the fireplace. She had given it to Lu-Lu as a gift when she knew she was old enough to take special care of it. She hadn't expected to see it down here. It was normally hung above Lu-Lus' bed.

Laura noticed her standing there staring at it and quickly apologized as she walked towards it. "I'm so sorry Elizabeth. Lu-Lu wants her room repainted so we packed everything in boxes until it's finished except this," she walked over to the portrait and gently picked it up, "She said that Lucky would have been furious for packing something you made in some dirty old box." While she was staring at the painting, lightly running her hand down his face she said, "Isn't it weird that she barely had time to get to know him yet she knew him so well?"

Elizabeth watched as the mother of the love of her life missed him. She waited a few seconds before she said, "Yes, yes it is weird."

Laura turned to her with a look she had seen so many times before on herself. That far away, I wish I could go back for just one more day, look. Laura walked toward her, who was still standing by the door, placed one hand on her cheek and said, "I know it's still so hard for you," Elizabeth dropped her eyes to the floor as Laura continued, "You can tell me anything you know, anything at all."

Elizabeth raised her eyes to meet Lauras' again. She wanted to tell her that no matter what anyone said she knows Lucky is still alive but she knew she couldn't. Laura would think she was nuts. So, just like always, "I'm fine, really." was all she said.

"Lizzie! Lizzie!" Lu-Lus' screams interrupted their moment.

"Hey sweetie, how are you?" Elizabeth asked as she hugged the young girl when she had reached the bottom step.

"I'm great!" She started to drag Elizabeth up the stairs as she said, "Come on. I want to show you what mom is letting me do to my room. It's gonna be so cool!"

Laura stood watching as they went up over the stairs. She knew that Elizabeth still thought Lucky was alive. She found that both alarming and comforting. Alarming because Liz would never find happiness if she kept holding on and comforting because sometimes she felt the same way. She always had a sense about things like that. After his death she had been racked with so much grief that her feelings couldn't break through, but as the years went by and she faced her pain head on, the feeling that he was still out there somewhere got stronger. She had never told anyone, not even Luke. They would dismiss it by making comments about her being his mother, and of course she would think he was still alive. Even the unfortunate mothers of children who go missing give up hope. She even saw what they called "his remains" and yet she couldn't help the feeling.

Luke had come down over the stairs after he said hello to Elizabeth and saw Laura as she carefully placed Luckys' portrait in the closet beneath the stairs. She had her back to him but he still knew that she would look sad and distant when she turned around. He slowly walked up behind her after she had closed the closet door and placed his hands on her shoulders. She turned around and looked him in the eyes. There was an understanding between them. Neither one of them said a word as they held eachother. They both still missed him so much.

As Nicolas approached the door he could see Luke and his mother through the window and decided to wait a few more moments before he rung the bell. He could sense what they were doing, standing there, and holding each other. They were missing their son.

"Why aren't we going inside?" Angela asked him before she noticed them herself. "What? Did you..." she stopped when she saw them. When Angela had met Nicolas' mom and Luke they had already rebuilt their home. She had been so amazed at the obvious love between them. She knew all of the Spencer / Cassidine history and she couldn't believe it was true. She couldn't fathom a time when they had hated each other with so much venom. Nicolas told her that the death of his brother had started the changes. From what she had been told of Lucky, she knew she would've loved him. For Elizabeth to still be in mourning meant he must've been an amazing guy. Almost as amazing as Nicolas. "Come on. Let's go sit on the swing." She said while taking his hand.

Nicolas and Angela had met while he and Katherine Bell were still sleeping together. He had thought that he and Katherine were in love back then. But the first time he had met Angela while she was on assignment in Tokyo the same as him, he had known he was wrong. She had these bright green eyes that looked just like a cats', long wavy brown hair, and the most incredibly sculpted body he had ever seen. She was petite but had more fire than anyone, and her confidence in herself was something he admired. No one walked over Angela Philips. Shortly after he had returned from his trip, he told Katherine it was over and never went back on his word. They had called and E-Mailed constantly when Angela still lived in New York. She was a talented photographer from a wealthy family that had their own business. They had bonded over their dislike of their families trying to control their lives and their love of the arts. She had helped him reawaken his love for taking pictures and he had taught her about friendship. They had started out that way at first. She had moved to Port Charles against her families' wishes and started doing freelance work. But as their friendship grew so did their feelings for eachother. He had never felt closer to his brother then when he realized that he was in love, truly in love. That was when he had finally understood what Lucky and Elizabeth had shared. It was so pure, so natural, and so incredible. They had only known each other for nine months when they got married on the 14th of December 2005. Angelas's 22nd birthday.

They hadn't said anything for a couple of minutes when Nicolas turned to her and said, "Come on. Let's go inside."

"Are you okay?", Angela asked him as they stood up from the swing hand in hand.

"Nothing's wrong that seeing my little sister can't cure." he replied. She knew he wanted to talk but now wasn't the time for mourning his brother, so she didn't pursue it.

Elizabeth and Lu-Lu were setting the table when Nicolas and Angela came through the door. "Nikky, Angela. Come upstairs and see my room. I can't wait until it's finished." Lu-Lu screamed when she saw them.

Laura walked through the kitchen door, "Lu-Lu at least let them take off their coats first." she said to her as she walked over and hugged her son and daughter-in-law.

Lu-Lu looked at her mother like she was nuts, "Why, Lizzie still had her coat on. What's the big deal?"

And so it goes every other Sunday. They ate, they laughed, and they watched as Lu-Lu became more and more stubborn by the second and grew up right before their very eyes. When it was time for Elizabeth, Nicolas and Angela to head home, Luke, Laura and Lu-Lu wished them a safe trip to Madrid and hugged and kissed them good-bye.