Chapter 36


When Victor opened the door, he was obviously delighted to see Lucy.

"How are you?"

"Confused."

"I have to tell you, that was Kevin at your house earlier. He called here quite upset after he left you."

"I know. Well I didn’t, but I figured it out. I know I said some horrible things to him."

Leading her into the living room, Victor shook his head. "It’s about time you give him what he’s had coming for a long time for the way he’s treated you."

"Lucy!" Mary saw her from the door to the kitchen. "We’re going to have dinner in a few minutes. Are you hungry?"

She was starving, but she didn’t want to intrude. "I should have called.That’s always been a problem with me. Ask Kev-" Stopping herself, she shook her head.

"I’m not Kevin, and I don’t care if you show up at 3AM without calling. You want to see us, you come over. Got it?" When she smiled and nodded, he continued. "Now, are you hungry?"

"I am starving." She paused before continuing. "Actually, I came over here because I wanted to tell you something."

"Well?" Victor looked at her.

Lucy glanced at Mary, who stepped towards the kitchen. "I’ll leave the two of you alone."

"Actually, no." Lucy was surprised by the fact that she wanted to tell Mary. "I’m kind of glad you’re both here. I mean, I’ve been wanting to tell someone, but I’ve been afraid. I mean afraid to find out, not afraid to tell anyone. As soon as I found out, you two were the first people I wanted to tell. I just need to figure out what I’m going to do. I mean, I know what I’m going to do, but there’s some things I need to figure out before I-"

"Good lord, girl. You’re making me dizzy. Take a deep breath, and just say it. It can’t be that bad." Mary walked to them and smiled.

"It’s not. Well, in a way it is, I mean-"

"Lucy! I’m an old man, I’m not going to live forever."

She smiled at him. "I’m pregnant."

Mary grinned and put her arms around Lucy’s neck, but Victor stared at her. "There’s more to this, right?"

In that instant, Lucy went from hugging Mary to crying on her shoulder.

"It’s Ryan’s!"

"Honey, it doesn’t matter. You’re going to have a baby, that’s what matters." Mary sat with her on the sofa, handing her a tissue.

"It does if Ryan finds out." Victor sat on the other side of her.

"That’s what you’re afraid of, right?"

Nodding, Lucy wiped her eyes. "All I’ve ever wanted was a baby. I’m going to make sure nothing threatens this pregnancy. But I wanted to tell you that you’re going to be a grandfather. I know how much you looked forward to it. I also know this isn’t exactly how you thought it would happen."

"I agree that Ryan finding out would be the worst possible scenario. What are you doing to protect yourself?"

"Not telling many people about the baby right now. I’ll figure out something before everyone figures it out."

Mary, always being the nurse, took Lucy’s hand. "You need to not worry about Ryan to the point it stresses you too much. It’s not good for the baby. Now, what are you doing? Vitamins? Exercise?"

The confused look Lucy gave her made Victor laugh. "Mary likes to mother people. You’ll get used to it."

The thought of being mothered both fascinated and terrified Lucy. Either way, it would be a new experience.

When they sat down at the table, Mary put an extra helping of vegetables on Lucy’s plate. "One for you and one for the baby."

One again, the totally speechless look on Lucy’s face made Victor laugh.

Through dinner, Lucy kept looking at Mary like she was going to bite.

Victor was highly amused, and kept laughing to himself. The upcoming months were going to be amusing.

Chapter 37

After dinner, the three of them sat in the living room. Mary had realized she was actually scaring Lucy, and backed off a bit.

Putting her head back, Lucy found herself completely relaxing for the first time in ages. Victor looked at her. "You look like you’re about to fall over, Lucy."

"I feel like it. I’m exhausted."

"You’re welcome to-" A knock on the door interrupted Victor.

Opening the door, Victor was shocked, and not entirely happy, to see Kevin. Oblivious to Victor’s expression, Kevin walked past him rambling. "I had to get out of the house. I can’t get what she said to-" His voice died out when he saw Lucy staring at him.

Kevin sighed. "Okay, this wasn’t a good idea either." He started to leave.

"Kevin, wait." Lucy stood and walked to him. "I guess I took everything out on you today. I’m just trying to decide what…. Who…. I’ve got a lot on my mind. And you really caught me at a moment I just couldn’t take one more thing."

"I wanted to help you. Not hurt you."

"I know. I just couldn’t find a way… I almost told you…" Looking at Victor, Lucy went on a total rant. "I should tell him, right? I mean, family and all that.

He’s… he’s a part of this too. To a point, I mean, not in the sense that… I guess I’ll tell him. He’d figure it out, anyway, right? Then he’d want to know why I didn’t tell him. But I don’t know why I didn’t. I almost did."

"Lucy!" Kevin’s voice came out sharper than he intended, and, when she looked at him, he finished, quieter. "Whatever it is, just tell me. I did something? You want me to stay away from you? What is it?"

"I’m pregnant!" Once again, Mary was holding Lucy while she cried.

A completely speechless Kevin stared from Lucy and Mary to Victor.

"She’s…"

Victor nodded.

"It’s…."

"Ryan’s." Victor’s voice was quiet.

The implications of the situation hit Kevin, and he sat down. By then, Mary had calmed Lucy to the point she could look at Kevin.

"You know Ryan can NEVER find out."

"Gee, Doc, you’re quick."

Once again, he’d said the wrong thing. "Are you okay? Have you seen a doctor?"

"Yes. And yes. The only thing I’m worried about is Ryan. I’m not telling many people about this until I figure out what I’m going to say about the father. But, this baby is Victor’s grandchild, and your nephew. So... here I am." She looked at her watch. "And I need to go. I’m tired. Kevin, I won’t be so mean to you next time. Victor, Mary, thank you for dinner. It was great."

Victor hugged her again before she left.

Chapter 38

Scott was in the kitchen when the doorbell rang. He heard Serena scream Lucy’s name, and he ran into the living room.

On her knees at the door, Lucy was holding Serena, trying not to let the child see how hard she was crying.

"Why haven’t you come to see me?"

"Honey, it’s so complicated. I don’t know how to tell you."

"One of those adult things, right?"

"Yep! You are so smart!" Lucy looked up. "Scott."

He didn’t answer. Serena was so happy to see Lucy. She didn’t really understand why Lucy had moved out of the firehouse, but not seeing her had made her so sad.

"Guess what? I have a new house. And I want my favorite pumpkin to come see me."

"Really? When?" Serena’s eyes lit up.

"Soon. Okay? I really need to talk to your daddy for a minute, okay? I’ll come up and say goodbye before I leave."

After Serena was gone, Scott glared at Lucy. "What the hell do you think you’re doing?"

"Scott, we are going to talk about this. I hurt you. I’m sorry. But I’ve been punished enough. I want to see her. I want her to come see my house."

"Your house with Kevin? Quite frankly, I don’t want to hear about it. So go say goodbye to Serena, and get out of here."

"No! When are you going to let me see her again?"

"I don’t know." Grabbing her arm, he pulled her to the stairs. "You’re lucky I’m letting you see her now."

"Stop it! Scott talk to me!"

"I don’t want to talk to you, Lucy. I want you to get out of here!" He got a little rougher with her and she started to pull away from him. "Let go of me!"

"I’m going to drag you up those stairs, then I’m going to throw you out. The next time you want to see Serena, you call first. Got it?!"

Feeling Scott drag her up the stairs, she had a sudden flashback of another staircase. Scott. And a baby. A baby she lost when she fell down the stairs. "Scott! Let go! No!"

When she shrieked, Scott let go of her and backed away. The sound of panic in her voice was something he couldn’t mistake. "What?"

"I’m pregnant." Her voice was quiet, and Scott backed away from her, suddenly feeling guilty for grabbing her.

"That was quick."

"You don’t know the half of it." Suddenly she was crying again.

Really not wanting to buy into this, but unable to turn her away, Scott stared at her. "Let me guess, Kevin’s not ready to start a family this soon?"

Crying harder, she walked away from him.

"Lucy, this is not the sound of a happy woman, who has everything she wanted."

"Scott, you’ll probably get a laugh out of this. At least an I told you so. Again." Sitting down, she told him the whole story.

For a few minutes after she finished, Scott said nothing. It took a while for everything she’d told him to sink in. When he finally spoke, his voice was quiet. "The baby is Ryan’s, right?"

She nodded.

Pushing a piece of hair off her face, Scott looked at her. "What are we going to do with you?"

"Shoot me and put me out of my misery?"

"You know, it was bad enough you left me for the shrink. I mean, taking the back seat to the love of your life was hard enough. But for a real nut-case? Lucy, that’s a little hard for me to swallow."

When she started to cry, he stepped closer to her. "I’m kidding. Bad joke. I’m sorry." Pulling her to the sofa, he sat next to her. "Okay, I’m going to tell you something. You killed something in me when you left. But you didn’t kill the fact that we’ve been friends for more years than I’m willing to count. What are you going to do?"

"Well, for starters, I moved into Brenda’s cottage. I waited to decorate one of the rooms until Serena could pick out what she wanted. I want her to come stay with me sometimes."

"I guess I can live with that." Scott sighed. God, her smile was beautiful. "What else do you need? Bodyguards? What are you doing to make sure he doesn’t find out about this?"

"I haven’t decided yet. I’m not that far along, yet. Once I get past the first trimester, I’ll have to think about something."

"Let me know if I can do anything."

"Just don’t hate me. That’s all I want from you. I know you have every reason to. I would hate me, if I were you."

Scott finally really laughed. "If you were me, you’d hate you, and if I were you, I’d hate me."

After taking a few seconds to think about it, she laughed. "You know I love you. You’re my pal."

"If this is how you treat you pals, please, do me a favor. Hate me."

Chapter 39

When she answered the phone, the silence on the other end made her actually stop breathing.

"Lucy."

The way he said it, she wasn't sure. "Yes?"

"Had a hell of a time getting your new phone number. Wanted you to know I was still out here."

Lucy began to tremble. "Ryan."

"Still out here. Still thinking of you. Do you think about me?"

"Well, I'm not having nightmares anymore. It's a start." The anger she was feeling surprised her. Not thinking about it, she put her hand over the baby and sat down.

"You know, I started this to get to Kevin. To give him everything he deserved."

"I guess what you did to me was just a bonus point."

Ryan was quiet for a moment. "What I did to you… I guess he came running to your rescue."

After debating for a moment, she decided it was better for her if he thought someone had come running to her rescue. So she said nothing.

"You know, Lucy, you're definitely interesting. I haven't met very many people that interested me before. One minute I wanted to kill you, and the next, I wanted to marry you myself."

She shivered, but still said nothing.

Ryan was quiet for a moment. When he spoke, his tone was so soft that Lucy had to strain to hear him. "Did he finally notice how much you love him?"

Suddenly she was afraid to answer him. His tone puzzled her, and she couldn't figure out what answer he was looking for.

"Come on, Lucy. You can tell me. Does he want you, now that I've had you? Did he make it all better?"

Her skin was crawling, and her eyes filled with tears, but she still didn't answer him.

It didn't matter. He went on as if he didn't realize he was carrying on a conversation alone. "Did you always love him like that? I mean, my God, you are so…." His tone grew louder. "Pathetic about him. He's not worth it, you know. I know he likes to pretend, and he wants everyone to think he is so much better than anyone else, but… See, I know better. And I thought you would, too. Now. I mean, before I thought you were this total airhead with a killer body."

"What changed?"

Ryan realized he'd said more than he intended to. "Nothing, really. You do have a body. I know that better now. You're a little smarter than I thought you were."

Now she was confused. "I'm smarter than a lot of people think I am. Maybe I don't want people to know how smart I am." She wanted to know what he was thinking.

"Nah. You still have a thing for Kevin. You lose IQ credit for that."

"Ryan, you can't objectively judge who you love. I mean-"

"You have no idea how right you are, Lucy." His tone was quiet, almost thoughtful again. Then he seemed to recover. "Well, that's all for now. Just wanted you to know I was thinking about you. Don't bother tracing. I'm calling on your cell. Good-bye."

After he hung up, Lucy took a minute to breathe. When she finally stopped shaking, she called the first person that came to mind. Victor.

Ryan sat on the chair, staring at the phone. She would have it disconnected now. Why had he called her? Simple. He called her because he couldn't get her out of his mind. He hadn't felt this way about a woman since Felicia. He'd seen Felicia a few times while he was watching Lucy. She was still the woman of his dreams. But, if that were true, why couldn't he stop thinking about Lucy?

No matter how hard he tried not to, he knew that sooner or later, he would have to see her again.

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