Fast Forward In Time - Chapter 9

Friday April 27th, 2007
Webber Home

Elizabeth poked her head around the door of the kitchen about an hour later to see what was going on. Lucky was still sitting on the coffee table across from his parents and they both looked angry. Luke suddenly jumped up from the couch and started pacing.

"IF SHE WASN'T ALREADY DEAD I'D KILL HER!" he shouted.

Nicolas heard him and went into the livingroom, "So would I." He looked right at Luke, with tears in his eyes, "I am so sorry for everything that my screwed up family has done to yours."

Angela and Elizabeth had joined them in the livingroom.

Lucky got up from where he was sitting and walked over to his brother. "I know I never told you this but," he swept his arm across the room, "these people, myself included, are your family. We…," He took a shaky breath, "We love you."

Nicolas shut his eyes tight while everyone else in the room softly cried. He opened his eyes again and looked right into Luckys', "I love you too."

They smiled at each other and then hugged quickly. When they separated Lucky turned to his parents, "I know that there are a lot of things you want to know, and there are plenty of things that I need to tell you, but none of us have had any sleep in almost two days. I think we should get some rest. Besides," he started crying again, "I want to see my baby sister before I completely pass out."

"She's gone to a soccer camp until Sunday." Laura said. "We'll go get her."

Lucky thought for a moment. "No. Wait until tomorrow. I think it would be better for her if she heard about me from you before she sees me."

"Are you sure?" Luke asked him.

"Yeah," he said a little disappointed, "this way I can get a good night sleep."

Elizabeth turned to him, "Are you going home with your parents?" she whispered in his ear.

Lucky looked at her, "Do you want me to stay here?"

Elizabeth then turned to Luke and Laura, "Would it be okay if I stayed over to your place tonight?" She hesitated before continuing, "With Lucky?"

Luke and Laura looked at each other and then back to Elizabeth. "Of course you can, you know that." Luke answered.

Nicolas walked towards Angela and took her hand, "We better get going. We're pretty tired and we want to be there tomorrow when Lu-Lu gets her "other" brother back."

They began walking towards the door, "Why don't you stay over to the house." Luke said placing his arm around Laura. "After all we are a family, and we should be together tonight. Even if it is just to sleep."

Nicolas looked at Angela who nodded, "Okay then. Thanks Luke. We have to go home and get some things and then we'll meet you back there," he glanced at his watch, "in about an hour?"

Lucky looked at him smiling, "We'll see you then."

After they had closed the door behind them Lucky turned to his parents, "Why don't you guys go on and we'll follow you in a few minutes. Elizabeth can drive us in her car."

Laura walked over and hugged him. "Okay," she said stroking his face.

"Don't be long." Luke said as he opened the door, letting Laura go through it first.

When the door was shut Lucky kissed Elizabeth full on the mouth. "Thank-you for making it possible to spend tonight with my parents and you," he said as he hugged her.

"There was no way Laura was going to let you stay here and I don't ever want to spend another night without you." She said taking his hand and heading up the stairs.

"You don't have to worry about that ever again." He said as they entered her room.

"I know. You do realize that now that you're back I am never letting you go," she said kissing him. "You are stuck with me from now on," she said looking deep into his eyes.

"Okay," was all he said before they kissed again.

>>>>>

As Lucky and Elizabeth walked up over the steps of his parents house, he became overwhelmed with memories. He saw his life here pass before his eyes.

"Are you okay?" Elizabeth asked him when she felt him tighten his grip on her hand.

Lucky took a deep breath. "Yeah. I'm fine." He said opening the door.

"Hi," Laura greeted them as they came in. She was still in shock that Lucky was alive and home. "Are you guys hungry?" she asked trying to sound casual.

"No, just really tired," Lucky said.

"Lucky, you said a little while ago that you were hungry," Elizabeth said removing her jacket.

"I have some leftover tuna casserole that I could reheat." Laura said.

Lucky was about to protest but Elizabeth cut him off, "That sounds great."

Laura quickly went to the kitchen. When the door had closed behind her Lucky said, "She shouldn't be waiting on me."

"She needs to do this for you," Elizabeth said sitting on the couch and looking up at him. "She felt like she let you down after you left. This is a small way for her to make it up to you. Let her."

"Alright," Lucky said sitting beside her. "It just feels weird. But if it'll make her happy," he laid his head back and looked at her, "and you, then I'll let her."

"Thank-you," she said leaning in to kiss him.

Luke came down over the stairs with a photo album in his hands. "Ahem."

Elizabeth and Lucky pulled away from each other and turned to look at him, "What do you have there?" Lucky asked him.

"I thought you might want to see some pictures," Luke said handing Lucky the book.

Lucky began flipping through the pages and listening to stories from both his father and Elizabeth. They were laughing over the crazy candids that were there. They had taken lots of pictures through the years, and Lucky noticed that Elizabeth was in almost all of them.

"You spent a lot of time here after I was gone," he said to her.

Elizabeth just smiled as Luke said, "She's a part of this family. We always felt closer to you when she was around." Luke looked from Lucky to Elizabeth, "Besides, she's really cute."

They were laughing at that when Laura came back into the livingroom to set the table. "What's so funny?"

"I was just showing Lucky some pictures." Luke said as he moved towards her. "Did you want some help with that?"

"No thanks," she said not looking up from what she was doing, "I've got it." She turned and headed back into the kitchen.

Lucky looked at his father and then got up and followed her. "Mom," he said opening the door, "Are you…" He stopped when he saw her leaning over the counter. He could tell by the way her shoulders were shaking that she was crying.

"You should be in those pictures with us," she said without turning around.

Lucky walked up behind her and gently turned her to face him. "I know and I'm so sorry that I wasn't," he said shedding his own tears.

Laura cupped his face in her hands. "I missed so much of your life because of them, not you. You have nothing to feel sorry for. Do you hear me? It isn't your fault," she said through her tears.

He closed his eyes and placed his hands over hers. His tears were falling fast as he said, "Thank-you, I needed to hear you say that." He opened his eyes and looked at her, "For so long I felt guilty for not trying harder to escape, but I was so afraid that they would hurt someone I love."

She pulled him to her and held him tight. The microwave buzzed letting them know the casserole was heated. They both laughed lightly as Laura went to take it out.

They walked back into the livingroom. "It's ready," Laura said as she placed the dish in the middle of the table.

Elizabeth and Lucky ate in silence as Luke and Laura watched their son from the couch. They were marveling at how he had he changed yet stayed the same. He wasn't a little boy anymore, he was a man. They saw him and Elizabeth stealing glances at each other and it made them smile. When they were finished eating Nicolas and Angela showed up.

Elizabeth tried to lighten the mood, "Don't you guys have some news you would like to share with your family?"

Angela looked at Nicolas and nodded.

"Well," he began nervously, "We, actually Angela, had suspected for a while, and today we had it confirmed that, we are um…" He reached over and took Angela's hand, "We're going to have a baby."

"Congratulations!" Luke said as Laura got up and hugged them.

She looked to Luke and then Lucky as she began to cry. "We get our son back and a grandchild all on the same day." She turned back to Nicolas and Angela, "I am so happy for you."

Nicolas looked at Lucky who didn't seem shocked by the news. He misread his expression, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cut in on your first night home."

"No! God, I'm really happy for you," he said realizing that no one knew he already knew. He decided to explain as they all turned towards him. "When you," he motioned to Elizabeth and Angela, "were at Faisons' in his livingroom I could hear and see you." He turned to Elizabeth, "I was on the other side of the mirrored wall."

"Oh my God!" she said remembering how drawn she had felt to the glass. "I could feel you."

"I know," he said taking her hand and kissing it. He turned towards Angela, "I heard you telling Elizabeth that you thought you were pregnant." He walked over to Nicolas, "I'm very happy for you," he said smiling.

"Thank-you," Nicolas said smiling back. "That means a lot."

Luke slapped his hands together making everyone look his way. "You guys, especially you," he pointed to Angela, "should be getting some sleep. It's getting late.'

Lucky looked to his mother. "So," he cleared his throat, "Where are we sleeping?"

Laura looked at Luke nervously and then at Lucky, "Well, I thought I'd put you two in your old room. We had it made into a spare bedroom."

Lucky knew his mother was feeling guilty. "Mom, it's okay." He said kissing her cheek.

"Are you sure you don't mind us, um…" Elizabeth stopped.

"We think you guys have spent enough time apart. Go on! Get to bed." Luke said noticing her discomfort.

Lucky grabbed their bags and led Elizabeth up to his old bedroom.

Luke looked at Nicolas and Angela. "I hope you don't mind sleeping in the spare room in the basement?"

"No," Nicolas said as he walked towards the kitchen. "Thanks again for asking us to stay over."

"You're family remember?" he said as he turned out the lights and walked up over the stairs with Laura smiling in front of him.

>>>>>

Lucky came back from the bathroom and saw Elizabeth sitting up under the covers. He took a deep breath and got in beside her wearing a t-shirt and a pair of shorts.

"Hi," Elizabeth said lying on her side facing him.

"Hi," he said mirroring her actions.

They stayed there staring at each other for a few minutes before Elizabeth leaned over and kissed him.

"I love you," she said staying close to him.

"I love you too," he said touching her face.

After another few minutes of them staring at eachother Elizabeth asked, "Are you going to close your eyes and go to sleep?"

"I'm afraid to," he said as his eyes filled with water. "I'm afraid that if I go to sleep when I wake up this whole thing will of been a dream and I'll be back there again."

Elizabeth moved closer to him and touched the tip of her nose to his, "When you wake up tomorrow morning you will be right here, with me. I promise."

Lucky kissed her lips and wrapped his arms around her holding her close. She turned around in his arms so that her back was against his chest and closed her eyes. Lucky lay there for a few moments with his forehead against the back of her head breathing in her scent. He felt a peace come over him as he drifted off to sleep.

As they slept Laura watched them. Needing her own reassurance that her baby was home, safe and in the arms of the women he loved.