Against the Grain-- Chapter 5
~5
“I’m going to kill Sonny!” Carly said through gritted teeth as Dani drove Bobbie’s car, back to the brownstone.
“He’s just coming to diner at Bobbie’s.” Dani said grinning.
“Yeah, but he also took my son with him, causing me to run around the penthouse like a chicken with my head cut off because I didn’t know where he was!” Carly said making animated gestures with her hands.
“I know I was there.”
“And then it took me five whole minutes to get out of Johnny that Sonny took Michael to Bobbie’s!”
“I take it that Johnny Doorman usually tells you everything.” Dani said skeptically.
Carly shrugged. “Well yeah, usually all I have to do is ask him and smile at him, and for your information his last name is…” Carly stopped, searching her brain for the answer. “Actually I have no idea what his last name is.”
Dani shrugged. “Johnny Doorman works for me.”
Carly laughed at Dani. She was surprised at how well they had connected in the space of an hour. Carly had mentioned that she should go pick up Michael before she went to Bobbie’s, and Dani had offered to give her a ride if Carly would provide the directions. Carly told Dani about her current problems and Dani had told Carly all about her mother and how she’d found out that Luke was her father.
“I don’t even understand why he would want to be there.” Carly grumbled as she looked out the window at the passing scenery.
“Well Caroline he is the father of that child you’re carrying, it makes a little sense that he’d want to be involved in your family. And besides, isn’t Sonny a friend of Bobbie’s?” Dani said reasonably. She knew the opinions of Carly’s abilities as a mother were wildly varied, but after witnessing even those five minutes where Carly thought Michael was missing Dani knew where her opinions lied.
“You don’t know Sonny, he can barely stand me let alone have a family dinner with me. No he’s just doing this to annoy me.”
Dani rolled her eyes “If you hate each other why are you living together? And for that matter why did you sleep together in the first place?”
“Well that was kind of why we slept together.” Carly said with her face scrunched up in a grimace.
“Because you hated each other?” Dani asked incredulously.
“Well it was complicated.” Carly mumbled. “One moment we’re yelling at each other and then the next we’re upstairs ripping each other’s clothes off.”
“Sounds like it.”
“And now Jason won’t even let me try and explain!” Carly said pouting.
“Well you did sleep with his best friend, not to mention having his baby. I think the guy might have the right to be mad for awhile.” Dani said dryly.
“But he forgave Sonny!” Carly said, pain filling her voice.
Dani looked over at her cousin with sympathetic eyes. “And in time he’ll forgive you. You just have to give him space and then concentrate on getting back that great friendship you said was so important to you.”
“It was important to me, it is important to me!” Carly said defensively.
“I know that. But do you want a fresh opinion on this or not? Someone who hasn’t known you or Jason or Sonny through all the times that you’ve all screwed up?” Dani said smiling comfortingly.
Carly took a deep breath and closed her eyes, steeling herself for the worst.
“What you and Sonny did was wrong. But it wasn’t done out of malicious intent.” And Dani held up her hand to stop Carly’s protest. “As much as you think Sonny tried to trick you into hurting Jason, I think you’re wrong.”
Carly raised an eyebrow doubtfully.
“I know, I’ve been here for all of an hour, but from what you told me I don’t think he planned anything.”
“It might not have been planned but that was the reason he did it.” Carly spat.
“Or maybe that’s just what he told himself afterwards.” Dani said quietly as she pulled Bobbie’s car into the garage behind the brownstone.
~*~
Carly and Dani walked through the front door and Carly turned immediately into the living room and found Michael on the floor, playing with Lucas. She rushed over to him, and picked him up, still feeling a bit of her earlier fear.
“Hey there Mr. Man, are you having fun with your Uncle Lucas?” Michael giggled happily in response and Carly smiled at him. Carly turned to Lucas and ruffled his hair affectionately “How ya doing Shorty?”
Lucas smiled at her. “I’m great Carly. Hi Dani!” Lucas said looking past Carly at Dani.
“Hey buddy.” Dani said smiling.
Carly put Michael back on the floor and smiled sweetly. “Now I’m going to go talk to your Uncle Sonny.” She said in a too sweet tone that would make anyone who wasn’t two years old slightly afraid of what she was going to do. Carly stood up and walked slowly towards the kitchen.
Dani looked nervously Carly’s retreating back. She didn’t like the look of that gleam in her eye. “Lucas, why don’t you take Michael upstairs?”
Lucas had the same look on his face as Dani did. “Yeah.”
Dani hurried to reach Carly before she made it into the kitchen, but she caught up with her just as Carly had spotted Sonny wearing an apron and copping lettuce.
“Whoever said you could take Michael wherever and whenever you wanted?!” She yelled.
“Well hello to you too Carly.” Sonny said, not even blinking an eye.
“You scared me to death! I was about to call the Richmond Clinic to make sure I knew where Tony was!” She said making animated gestures with her arms.
Sonny chuckled at her antics. “Bobbie called me to ask if I could bring a bottle of wine when I came to dinner, and she was surprised to find out that I had no idea about the dinner.” Sonny said with an innocent looking smile on his face.
“Why would I tell you?” Carly asked angrily. “It was a family thing.”
“Well you are living with him.” Bobbie pointed out. “I only assumed he was coming.”
Carly rolled her eyes. “Just because he locks me in a penthouse does not mean he gets to follow me wherever I go!”
Sonny rolled his eyes at Carly’s comment and walked around her and stood in front of Dani. “Apparently I’m Sonny the barbarian. Nice to meet you.” He said flashing his dimples.
Dani laughed, partly at Sonny’s comment and partly at the look on Carly’s face. “Dani Edwards.”
“Dani is Luke’s illegitimate daughter.” Carly smirked.
“Carly!” Bobbie said astounded.
“What?! It’s true.” She said as she looked over to make sure Dani knew she didn’t mean anything by it. Apparently Dani was okay with it, she was laughing at the confused look on Sonny’s face.
“Don’t worry about it Bobbie.” Dani said still trying to control her laughter. “It is true.”
“Luke has a daughter this beautiful?” Sonny said smiling and flashing his dimples. “I mean Lulu’s cute but she’s also five, they’re all cute at that stage.”
Carly rolled her eyes and ignored the twinge of jealousy she felt. Carly stalked into the kitchen and opened the fridge.
Dani saw Carly walk away and leaned into Sonny.
“Sonny you really freaked her out when you took Michael over here.” Dani whispered.
Sonny rolled his eyes. “Carly’s good at that.”
“I know I’ve known Caroline for all of an hour, but that woman cares about her kid. She might have tried to make light of Tony, but she was terrified that either him or AJ or Edward had actually taken him.” Dani whispered fiercely.
Sonny nodded. “Okay, I know she still a little afraid of what AJ might still do. I didn’t mean to scare her and I did try to call her but her cell phone was off.”
Dani smiled. “Yeah I know, we found that out after Johnny told us where you and Michael were.”
Sonny laughed incredulously. “Then why in the world is she still mad at me?”
“She was scared Sonny, she has to be mad at someone.” Dani said laughing and shaking her head as she walked into the kitchen. She walked to where Carly was standing in front of the refrigerator munching on a carrot stick while a few more were in her other hand.
Dani snatched one of the carrot sticks out of Carly’s hand and took a bite.
“Hey watch it!” Carly said pointing a carrot at Dani like a weapon. “Don’t mess with a pregnant woman’s food!” She warned. Then she raised her voice so that it carried to the living room, and more importantly to Sonny. “Since Sonny took all of my junk food, this is the closest thing I can get to candy!”
Dani suppressed a laugh while Sonny and Bobbie rolled their eyes. Carly smirked and walked out of the kitchen, but when she walked past Sonny he put a hand on her arm and stopped her.
“Carly, I didn’t mean to scare you.” He said softly.
She froze slightly as her skin tingled under his touch. She bit her lip and bent her head slightly. “I know, I guess I just freaked out.” She said quietly.
“You had every right to panic, I’m sorry.” Sonny said meeting her eyes with his.
Carly smiled slightly. “Thanks Sonny.” She walked into the living room quickly and began to pick up the toys that were left there by Michael and Lucas. She looked up puzzled when she heard the front door open and shut.
“Bobbie, I brought the brownies!” Elizabeth said as she rounded the corner into the living room.
“What the hell are you doing here Gidget?” Carly snarled.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes; she was not up for this. “I was invited Carly.”
“Oh no.” Carly said shaking her head in disbelief. “Bobbie!”
“What is it Carly?” Bobbie said coming into the living room, but as soon as she saw Elizabeth she went to her and hugged her. “Elizabeth I’m so glad you could make it, thank you for bringing the brownies.”
Elizabeth laughed. “I was happy to do it, it’s the only thing I can make anyway.”
“Well you’re ahead of Carly then.” Sonny teased, his eyes dancing in amusement as Carly glared at him.
“So did you get Jason to give you a ride here? I hear that’s your favorite thing to do, or maybe your second favorite.” Carly said nastily.
“Actually Jason offered to give me a ride, but I figured I better walk since it’s kind of hard to carry a tray of brownies on a motorcycle.” Elizabeth said ignoring Carly’s comment in forced politeness. She was determined not to let Carly get to her tonight.
“Elizabeth I have someone I want you to meet.” Bobbie said quickly changing the subject. She motioned Dani to come over to her from the doorway where she was standing. “Since Luke isn’t here yet to do introductions, I’ll do it. Elizabeth this is Dani Edwards, Luke’s daughter.” Bobbie said acting like it was the most normal thing to say.
Elizabeth stared in open-mouthed shock at Dani and Bobbie.
Carly leaned over with a playful, devious, smirk on her face. “Close you mouth there Gidget.” She snickered.
Elizabeth closed her mouth and cast a brief glare over her shoulder at Carly. “Has Luke always known this?”
Dani smiled. “No he just found out. It’s a long story and I’m sure it will be explained in depth over dinner.”
Elizabeth laughed. “Okay I guess my curiosity can wait.”
“Here let me help you with those brownies.” Dani said taking the tray and walking with Elizabeth to the kitchen leaving Carly glaring after them.
“I heard a lot about you from Lulu today.” Dani said with a smile.
Elizabeth smiled fondly, thinking of Lulu. “She’s such a great little girl. I bet she loves having a sister."
“Probably about half as much as I love it. Besides from what I hear she already has a sister.”
Elizabeth laughed at that. “So I guess this makes us sisters huh?”
“According to Lulu.” Dani paused thoughtfully trying to find the right words that wouldn’t cause Elizabeth any more pain. “Um, Elizabeth I really wanted to ask you something.”
“Shoot.” Elizabeth said smiling.
“Well I came up here to get to know the family I never knew I had and I’d really like to get to know them, all of them.” Dani said hesitantly.
“You mean Lucky.”
“Yeah, I was wondering if you’d tell me about him. I’d like to get to know my brother at least a little. The last time I saw him was he was 11.”
Elizabeth smiled. “I can just picture him at that age, adorable and causing trouble left and right.”
“Exactly!” Dani said laughing.
“Dani, I’d love to tell you stories about Lucky.”
“Thanks Elizabeth. We better get back out there before Caroline and Sonny kill each other.” Dani said grinning.
“Well if he doesn’t I might have to kill her!” Elizabeth groaned.
Just as they walked back into the living room the front door opened again and Jerry entered followed closely by Jax and Alexis.
Carly rolled her eyes. “Oh look it’s my mother’s beaui-hunk.”
Sonny snickered, but Jerry just walked right up to Carly and gave her a big smacking kiss on her forehead. “I love you too Carly.” He drawled.
Carly groaned and Bobbie rolled her eyes as Jerry walked over to her and kissed her softly. “Hello wife.”
Bobbie smiled. “Hello husband.”
Alexis frowned and turned to Jax. “Isn’t that our line?”
Jax was about to laugh at her comment, but frowned when he saw Sonny standing behind Carly.
Alexis felt Jax tense behind her. She turned around and put a hand on his arm. “You want to leave?”
“Nah, I’m all right.” Jax mumbled as he saw Sonny saunter over to them.
“Counselor nice to see you as always.” He said pointedly ignoring Jax.
“Sonny could you get arrested again? I have my eye on this wonderful necklace.” Alexis said straight-faced.
“Aw, Candy Boy doesn’t buy you presents? How sad.” Sonny said sarcastically.
Alexis rolled her eyes and quickly dragged Jax over to Jerry and Bobbie before he could say anything.
At that moment Luke walked in, took in the scene before him, and said loudly, “Oh look two Jacks, a Cassadine, a whole mess a Spencers, and a Corinthos. This should be a fun dinner.”
~*~
They were half way through dinner and so far it had been pretty quiet except for a few comments on the excellent cooking. But Dani did think it was funny when Jax complemented the salad dressing and Sonny said that he made it.
“So Dani, did you really find out that Luke is your father from a letter?” Alexis asked lamely, trying to break the awkward silence.
“Um… yeah. My mom left both me and Luke letters.” Dani answered awkwardly.
Bobbie smiled. “Grace, Luke, and I all grew up together in Florida. Ruby was like a mom to all of us.”
Luke smiled fondly at the memories running through his mind. He shook his head and tried to concentrate on the present. “So Caroline, how’s that bun in the oven doing?”
Carly rolled her eyes. “Oh don’t worry Uncle Luke, Sonny’s doing a good job of making sure I don’t eat anything that tastes good.”
Sonny tried to look hurt. “Hey, you liked that salmon omelet.” He accused.
Alexis scrunched up her face in disgust. “Ew.”
“Thank you!” Carly exclaimed gesturing to Alexis. “See Alexis even thinks it sounds gross and she lives with Jasper health nut Jacks.”
Alexis shrugged. “Well at least he doesn’t make drink those disgusting protein shakes.”
“They’re good for you!” Jax complained.
“But you still liked the omelet.” Sonny said flashing his dimples and ignoring Jax.
“That’s not the point!” She returned lamely and Sonny laughed.
“Well it’s good to see that you two aren’t driving each other crazy.” Luke said chuckling.
“Well he sure has experience.” Jax muttered under his breath.
“What was that Surfer Boy?” Sonny said dangerously.
“Jax don’t.” Alexis pleaded, knowing where this was going.
“No I think Carly deserves to know what she’s getting into.” Jax said never taking his eyes off of Sonny. “Be really careful when you get into his car Carly.”
Sonny jumped up to lunge at Jax and Carly was almost dragged out of her seat when she tried to pull him back down. She looked across the table and saw that Alexis was in the same situation.
“Hey, both of you.” She said pointing to Jax and Sonny. “You are not going to fight in front of my child.”
She turned to Lucas and smiled. “Could you take Michael upstairs?”
“Yeah sure.” Lucas took Michael and ran up the stairs like a rat fleeing a sinking ship.
As soon as they had disappeared, Carly turned hard eyes on Jax. “You need to back off Jax.”
“I just don’t want you to end up like Lilly or Brenda.”
Carly rolled her eyes. She glanced at Sonny, but he already had that dark look in his eyes. “Okay, 1: since when do you care what happens to me. And 2: I don’t think you should be talking about Brenda, if I recall correctly you were the one that was there when she died, not Sonny.”
“Sonny left her and nearly drove her crazy!” Jax yelled.
“Wasn’t that much of a push.” Carly muttered under her breath. “And that happened a year before she died and as far as Sonny leaving, you should be thanking him. That was the only reason she went back to you in the first place!”
“Carly!” Bobbie, Alexis, and Jerry all said simultaneously.
“Hey! He attacked Sonny first!” Carly said defensively.
Sonny reached over and put his hand on Carly's arm. "It's ok Carly, don't stress yourself out."
Carly rolled her eyes and shrugged his hand off. "I'm fine."
"Um Dani... What were you doing in Florida before you found out about Luke?" Elizabeth said quickly in an effort to change the subject.
"I got my business degree last spring and I was running a nightclub down there." Dani answered glancing thankfully at Elizabeth.
An awkward silence fell over the group, all of them afraid that anything they said could start a fight, and Luke searched his mind for something to say, unfortunately the one thing that came out of his mouth was the one thing he didn't want to talk about. "Natasha could you come by my office sometime tomorrow so we can talk about... um what we were talking about earlier."
Alexis nodded knowingly. "Yeah, sure Luke."
Jax frowned. "Since when are you Spencer's lawyer?"
"Well she says she's not my lawyer either, but she's over at my penthouse often enough." Sonny smirked.
Jax glared at Sonny and Alexis quickly jumped in. "I'm not Luke's lawyer, he just wanted to kill Helena again. I turned him down." She finished when Jax frowned doubtfully at her.
The rest of the group looked at her with confused faces. Alexis looked around nervously and stood up.
"I think it's time to go Jax." She said pulling him out of his chair.
Jax got to his feet and nodded. "Yeah you're probably right. Thank you for the dinner Bobbie, it was excellent." He said smiling at Bobbie and then turned to Dani. "It was nice meeting you Dani."
Dani just nodded and smiled politely.
Alexis quickly dragged Jax out of the house calling her good-byes.
Luke glanced at Jax's retreating back and then at Sonny and Carly. "You know I might not like Lurch, but he does have a point. You be careful Caroline."
"I can protect my family Luke." Sonny said quickly.
"Just like you were going to protect my family?" Luke said standing up abruptly causing the chair to tip over. He turned and walked out of the house. He knew that stuff with Sonny was old and buried and that the fire wasn't Sonny's fault, in fact he didn't even know why he brought it up. He guessed all the talk about divorce and Dani coming to town was just making him bitter about what he's lost, and as always when he lost something he had to blame someone.
Dani quickly got up and followed him out.
~*~
“Luke wait up.” Dani said, catching up with him on the porch.
Luke turned around and smirked at her the dark look in his eyes from before seemingly gone without a trace. “So are ready to catch the first plane, train, automobile, or donkey back to Florida yet?”
“It’s not so bad here.” Dani said with a small smile.
“Even with those crazy people as family now?” Luke pointing to the house.
Dani laughed. “I don’t know, I kinda like it. I never had to deal with any crazy family when I was younger. It’s nice.”
“Well I think the Spencers are a little more than your average crazy family. I mean, we’re no Quartermaines, but we hold our own.” Luke deadpanned.
“Really? I would think having Caroline alone would automatically put us in a category above the Quartermaines.” Dani said trying not to laugh.
“You would think so wouldn’t you?” Luke said smiling. “Well it’s a good sign that you haven’t run away screaming yet.”
“No I haven’t. And actually I was wondering if that job offer was still good.” Dani said trying to keep her voice light.
Luke rubbed his chin and pretended to think about it for awhile. “Well you know, in the two hours since I talked to you about it I’ve gotten a surprising amount of impressive resumes.”
Dani rolled her eyes. “Very funny.”
Luke laughed. “You start tomorrow. And you can skip the usual oral exam on music taste, since you so obviously inherited your music taste from me.”
“Well, I appreciate that.” Dani smirked.
“You’re welcome.” Luke said smiling and looking very proud of himself. “I’m gonna go to the club and tell Claude I found his replacement so he can hit the road. I’ll be back sometime tonight.” And with that he disappeared down the steps and into the darkness.
Dani ran her hands through her hair. She took a couple of deep breaths and sat down on the steps. The cool night breeze felt good on her skin, it wasn’t the same as the breezes that came off the ocean late at night in Florida, but it wasn’t still comforting. She started slightly as she heard footsteps. She looked up and saw the same man that Carly was arguing with, or at, outside of Kelly’s.
Jason stopped when he saw her sitting on the steps. His stoney face took on a hint of confusion and he looked up at the number above the door as if to check if he had the right house.
Dani chuckled and stood up. “You must be Jason.”
Jason stared at her coolly and narrowed his eyes slightly. “And who are you?”
Dani smiled slightly and leaned back against the porch railing. “Dani Edwards, I’m Luke’s daughter.” As much as calling Luke her father was still a little weird, she was certainly going to get a kick out of seeing the look of surprise on everybody’s faces. Well Jason didn’t seem to look very surprised, but Dani could have sworn that she saw a small flicker of shock in his steely blue eyes.
“How’d you know who I was?”
“I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Jason raised an eyebrow. “Well usually when people have heard a lot about me they don’t stay around too long.”
Dani shrugged her shoulders. “All depends on where you get your information.”
“And where did you get your information?” Jason said, a small smirk crossing his face.
“From Caroline.”
Jason frowned in concentration for a moment. “Carly?”
Dani nodded.
“Not many people call her that.” He observed.
Dani shrugged. “Yeah I know. I guess I inherited Luke’s need to be original.”
“Well if you got your information from Carly, you either like me or you want to hit me, depending on her mood at the time.” Jason said, smiling slightly.
Dani chuckled. “Well I think I can safely said both.” Dani gestured to the brownstone. “So why are you here. You’re a little late for dinner, but around here it’s better known as a circus.”
“I’m here to pick up Elizabeth.”
Dani smirked. “And you wonder why Caroline thinks you’re sleeping with her.”
Jason frowned. “It’s none of your business or Carly’s but I’m not sleeping with Elizabeth.”
“Oh I know that.” Dani said dismissively. “Elizabeth is still in love with Lucky. But you don’t have any problem with Caroline thinking it’s true do you?”
Jason just shook his head and walked into the building.
~*~
About 30 seconds after Jason walked into the brownstone, the door opened again and Carly came out. She was trying to get her arms in her jacket and slam the door at the same time. She finally achieved both tasks and gave the door a hard kick just to make sure it stayed closed. She spun around and grabbed the first thing she saw, which was a potted plant and flung it in the direction of the sidewalk where it made a very satisfying crash when it hit the cement.
Dani cocked her head sideways and a bemused expression crossed her face. “Feel better?”
Carly was still breathing heavily, and she blew her hair out of her face. “Yes.”
“Dani smiled. “Good, let’s go for a walk before Sonny comes out and yells at you for exerting yourself.”
Carly’s face broke out in a grin and she put her arm around Dani and walked with her down the steps.
~*~
When they had heard the crash outside Sonny had immediately ran to the door, but he came back only seconds later.
“What was that?” Bobbie asked equally as worried about Carly as he was.
“Oh Carly smashed one of your pots, but then she left with Dani.” Sonny said grinning slightly.
“Well I’m glad she’s with Dani.” Bobbie said ignoring what he said about her pot.
“Oh I don’t know. I’ve heard stories about the scams and stunts you and Luke pulled off when you were younger and somehow the idea of your daughter and Luke’s daughter together when one of them is mad doesn’t exactly comfort me.” Sonny said raising an eyebrow at Bobbie.
Bobbie looked at Sonny apprehensively. “Uh oh.”
~*~
Luke walked into his office not bothering to turn on the light. He threw his jacket on a chair and sat down at his desk. His eyes drifted to the smiling picture of Laura and as tears began to sting his eyes he reached over and put the picture face down on his desk. His fingers drew across the legal papers that he had signed just hours before. How did this happen? He thought to himself. How did I lose it all?
Not expecting an answer, he asked aloud to the air around him, “Why?”
“Why are you asking me?” A soft voice came from in front of him.
Luke lifted his eyes and smiled sadly at the sight in front of him. “Hi Grace.”
A bemused expression crossed his face. “You don’t seem to surprised to see me.”
“Well if you’d been seeing the things I’ve been seeing, you wouldn’t be surprised either.” Luke said laughing humorlessly. “Death looks pretty good on you.” He said smiling.
Grace smiled at him like she missed that sense of humor. She sighed heavily and leaned forward a little in the chair she was sitting in. “Thank you for taking care of Dani. She needs you more than she’ll let on and you need her too.” Grace said softly.
“Why didn’t you tell me Grace?” Luke asked, his voice filled with pain. He’d been asking himself that question since he found out about Dani.
Grace lowered her head guiltily. “At first I thought it was better for everyone if you never knew, but after Joey died then I just got scared.”
“Scared of what?!” Luke said, his voice rising a little.
“Of you.” Graced raised her head and met his pain filled gaze “Of how you would react, what you would think of me. Scared of what it would do to you and the life you were building. Scared of what my daughter would think of me. I was afraid you would both hate me Luke.”
“I could never hate you Grace.” Luke said smiling sadly. “I just wish you would have told me.”
Tears pooled in Grace’s eyes and her voice strained. “I know, and I’m sorry.”
“Grace I grew up without a father, and you saw what that did to me and Bobbie. I swore I would never let one of my kids grow up with out a father. For God’s sakes Grace you were there!” Luke said desperately tears pooling in his own eyes.
The tears made streaks down Grace’s cheeks that seemed to shimmer.
Luke looked at her thoughtfully for a long moment. He knew it was cruel to ask his next question, but he had to know. “Were you punishing me?”
Grace let out a sob and more tears streaked down her face, but she didn’t answer.
“Were you punishing me for not loving you?” He repeated slowly.
Grace took a deep shuddering breath. “At first it was, that was why I married Joey. For an instant that night I thought you wanted me as much as I wanted you. And when you didn’t I wanted to hurt you so badly.” She choked back a sob and she had to take a few deep breaths before she could speak again. “But that lasted all of a week. I could never stay mad at you. After that I didn’t want to punish you Luke, I just didn’t want to ruin your life.”
“How do you know what wouldn’t or would’ve ruined my life! I would have at least liked the chance to try!!” Luke screamed as he let the bottle on his desk fly and it crashed with a satisfying sound against the wall. Grace sat very still in the chair not even flinching.
“Why would you think that you and Dani would ruin my life. Why didn’t you at least tell me when Joey died.” Luke
asked fiercely.
Grace wiped her eyes and amazingly looked as if she hadn’t been crying only seconds before. “You were happy Luke. You brought Laura and baby Lucky down and you were happier than I had ever seen you. Happier then I could have ever made you. I didn’t want you to loose that.”
“Why couldn’t I have had both. You and Dani and Laura and Lucky, what rule said that I couldn’t have known about my daughter then!” Luke yelled.
“Luke it’s done. I can’t change it. I wish I could, I wish more than anything that I could change what I did, but I can’t.” Grace said passionately.
“But I’ve lost so much. I’ve lost so much time with Dani, I’ve lost time with Lulu, I’ve lost Lucky, and I’ve lost Laura.” Luke’s voice was full of pain and anguish.
Grace walked around his desk quickly and kneeled in front of him taking his hands. “Luke, it’s not all lost. Be there for Dani now; give her the family she’s always craved. You’ve already started giving her that. And make up for time with Lulu, she loves her daddy more than anything. And Laura, you haven’t lost Laura. You never will. Don’t you know that you’re meant to be with her?” Grace said with a smile.
“Tell that to her.” Luke said with a bitter laugh. “And what about Lucky.”
Grace smiled sadly. “There’s hope Luke, you just have to believe me.”
Grace leaned up slowly and brushed her lips lightly across his, so light that he hardly felt her. Maybe that’s why, when he opened his eyes and she was gone, he thought that it was all a dream.
~*~
“I just don’t get what he sees in her.” Carly exclaimed.
“Who?” Dani asked turning to Carly in confusion. They had been walking for a while now and they had ended up near the docks, but Carly hadn’t said a word until now.
“Jason and Elizabeth!”
Dani laughed. “Caroline they aren’t together.”
“Oh they’re together all the time believe me.” Carly said rolling her eyes.
“They just friends.” Dani said still laughing.
Carly frowned. “So you’re going to be one of the ones that take her side, huh? Fine, you know I thought I found a family member who actually liked me, but no, everyone likes the saints better…” She ranted until Dani took her by the shoulders and shook her a little.
“Caroline! I’m not on anyone’s side. There are no sides!” She exclaimed tying to get Carly’s attention. “Elizabeth is still in love with Lucky.”
“You can love someone and sleep with someone else, I should know.” Carly said ruefully.
“If you don’t want to believe it then fine, but they’re not sleeping together.” Dani said trying to convince Carly. She took a deep breath and smiled at Carly gently. “I want to get to know you cause, well I haven’t ever had a cousin who liked me either, and so far I kinda like it. And Elizabeth is one of the strongest connections to the brother who died before I got the chance to know him, and so far I like her. Can’t I be friends with both of you?”
“Not legally.” Carly grumbled.
“Elizabeth is not all that bad. She’s nice and sweet, but she also hasn’t backed down from you, and you have to give her credit for that.” Dani said, thinking that trying to reason with Carly was like trying to stop a stampede; you might get killed in the process.
“Yeah, so she’s not spineless.” Carly allowed.
“And don’t you regret not getting to know Lucky?” Dani asked gently.
“Of course I do!” Carly started defensively, but she took a deep breath to calm herself and continued. “First Ruby died and then Lucky, I felt like I was being punished for not trying to get to know them.” Carly said sadly.
“Well then don’t you want to try to get to know Lucky a little through Elizabeth?”
“Don’t push it.” Carly warned.
Dani laughed. “Okay, okay, but at least come with me the next time I see Lulu.”
Carly nodded in agreement. “Okay, as long as I don’t have to see Saint Laura.”
“Oh don’t worry about that, I probably want to see her even less than you do.” Dani groaned.
“Oh, so not everybody thinks she’s the ‘Angel of Port Charles’.” Carly said grinning.
“The woman just doesn’t like me.” Dani said innocently, but then a sly smile crossed her face. “The feeling’s mutual, but that’s beside the point.”
“Well everybody thinks I’m evil incarnate so I’m guessing that might be why she doesn’t like me.” Carly said, smiling almost proudly.
“Well you were a little mean to Jax tonight.” Dani offered with a mock stern look on her face.
Carly winced. “Yeah well he was making Sonny do that dark, tortured thing with his eyes and I had to do something!”
Dani held back a laugh. “Uh-huh.”
“Don’t ‘uh-huh’ me.” Carly said sternly.
“What’d I do?” Dani said innocently.
“You used that tone. That ‘yeah sure, that’s the reason you defended Sonny’ tone.” Carly said accusingly.
“You said it, I didn’t.” Dani said smiling slyly.
Carly was going to respond but she froze when she heard voices ahead on the docks. She pulled Dani behind a building and motioned for her to be quiet.
“What’s going on?” Dani whispered.
“Shh, listen.” Carly hissed.
“Mother, the plan is in motion. Laura has begun divorce proceedings. I think it is time to bring Lucky into the picture.”
“Be patient Stefan. Believe me it’ll take more than just a divorce to keep Luke and Laura apart. You need to get Laura into Wyndemere and get her to pursue full custody of Lesley Lu.”
“Mother, Laura was quite intent on being alone.”
“Well then convince her Stefan. It’s called charm, get some.” Helena said tiredly.
Stefan rolled his eyes. “If I bring Lucky back to her she’ll be mine forever.”
“Lucky is our trump card and we won’t play him until the time is right.” Helena said with an evil smile crossing her face. “When I bring Lucky back into their lives I want Luke on his knees!”
Both girls were shocked still for a moment when they heard this. Carly broke out of her daze first and took a couple of steps towards Helena and Stefan ready to give them a piece of her mind for kidnapping her cousin, but Dani caught her just in time and drug her back to the wall and clamped her hand over Carly’s mouth to quiet her
protests.
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