Lucas took Chase home and fixed him dinner and spent a few hours with him, and explained to him that he had to leave but would return the next day to pick him up from Loren's house. It was after 9:00 when he arrived at the small house on Maple Street and rang the doorbell.Elizabeth answered the door, holding a sleeping Loren in her arms. "I was beginning to think you had changed your mind."
"No, it's just hard to leave him. I delayed it as long as possible."
"I know that feeling. Please, come in. Loren has been waiting for Chase, but she fell asleep just a few minutes ago. Why don't we put them down together."
"That's fine, Chase is pretty tired, aren't you cowboy?" Chase nodded and buried his face in his father's neck.
"Cowboy, that's an interesting nickname."
"I don't even know why I call him that. It just came out one day and it's stuck."
She nodded, knowing that he called him "Cowboy" because that was what his father, Luke, had called him. She hoped one day soon he would remember that and so much more. "Follow me; the bedroom is upstairs."
They put the two children to bed and she watched as Lucas tucked Chase in, leaning over to kiss him and whisper to him as he did. He stood up and glanced at Elizabeth, "I think he should go right to sleep."
They reached the door and Chase called out, "Daddy? I love you."
"I love you, too, Chase. I'll be home as soon as I can."
Lucas and Elizabeth walked downstairs together and she led him to the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator door and pulled out a bag and handed it to him. "I took the liberty of fixing you some food for your trip."
"You didn't have to do that."
"Well, I know how men can be; they don't always remember to eat when they should."
"That's very kind of you. Thank you."
She looked at him for a long moment, "You're a wonderful father, you know."
"Thanks. I love Chase so much it hurts sometimes. Is it that way with you and Loren?"
She nodded. "What happened to Chase's mother?" When he didn't respond and only looked at her with a bewildered look, she mistook it to mean that the question had upset him. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to pry. It's just that Chase is such a sweet child, and I wondered what had happened to his mother." Lucas ran his hands through his hair. He wished he could remember Chase's mother. Had he loved her or mourned for her when she left him? He simply could not remember very much about her. "Don't be sorry. She died when Chase was a baby. We weren't together at the time, but she named me as his legal guardian."
Elizabeth nodded and understood that his vague answer meant that he did not remember much about Chase's mother either. What had happened to him? She longed to know what had happened to him.
"I really should be going."
"All right. Don't worry about Chase, I'll take good care of him.
"I know you will, Elizabeth."
"Thank you, Mr. Stevens." She smiled at him. "You know, I don't know your first name, and Mr. Stevens sounds too formal."
"My first name is Lucas."
"Lucas. What's your middle name?" She smiled again, "I have this thing for needing to know people's full names."
"It's Lorenzo; Lucas Lorenzo Stevens." Even as he spoke his name it sounded foreign to him, especially his last name. He couldn't even be sure now that that was his real name.
Elizabeth could not speak for a moment, then said quietly, "Do you want to know my middle name? It's really awful."
He regarded her for a moment as if deep in thought. "It's Imogene. Your middle name is Imogene."
She felt the tears well in her eyes, ecstatic at this small sign that his memory had not been completely lost. She whispered, "Yes it is."
He looked confused. "How do I know that? I don't understand. It's not exactly a common name."
"Let's just say it was a lucky guess." She smiled to herself at the irony of her statement.
He nodded and headed for the front door. He turned to her, his hand on the doorknob. "I don't know how to thank your for this. I don't really know you, but I know I can trust you, just like I can Sonny."
She nodded and put her hand lightly on his chest. "I'll take good care of Chase."
"I'll be going then." At that he instinctively reached toward her and put his arm around her waist, pulling her to him as he kissed her lightly on the lips. Elizabeth was dizzy from the emotions this act stirred in her. He had done this very thing a thousand times In the past.
Lucas pulled away as if he had been burned. "I'm sorry; I am so sorry, I don't know why I did that…it just felt…I'm sorry, Elizabeth."
She fought the urge to cry, to put her arms around him and tell him that he was Lucky, that what he had just done was the most natural thing in the world for him to do. But she remembered Sonny's warning, to take it slowly, to let him remember in his own time.
"Lucas, please, it's okay, really."
"But I had no right…"
"I rather enjoyed it, actually, so please don't give it another thought."
But another thought was just what he would give it. In fact, it would be in his thoughts for a very long time, just as the look that had passed between them earlier at the day care center would be with him.