In his office, Luke leaned back in his chair and propped his booted feet on his desk. His emotions were a strange mixture of joy that his son was alive, and a feeling of discontentment, like there was something just out of his reach and he couldn't quite grab it. But he felt like if he could take hold of this thing, his life would be complete.
His thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock on the door. When he got up to unlock it, Felicia stepped into the office and took his hands in hers. "Luke, is it true? When Mac told me, I could hardly believe it...Lucky's alive? And he's okay?"
Luke nodded. "Yeah, he seems fine. I still can't really believe it myself."
"Oh, Luke, that's wonderful!" she cried, and hugged him tightly.
When she pulled back and looked up at him, Luke looked into her big blue eyes and felt...nothing. Well, almost nothing. He felt a friendly affection for her, but that was all. It was as if she had come in and partially filled a hole in his life that was left when Lucky was taken from him. But now that Lucky had come back the hole was almost as good as new...almost. At that moment he realized what the thing was that he hadn't quite been able to reach. It was his family, whole again. His son and daughter and....the wife he still loved more than life itsself. Luke laughed out loud then, and swung Felicia around. She shrieked, and he apologized and put her down.
"Sorry, babe. Hey, it was great seeing you, but I gotta be getting back home." He was leading her out of the club as he talked, and she was looking at him strangely. He hugged her again quickly. "Thanks, Felicia. Thanks for being there for me and giving me something to live for there for awhile when I didn't think I really wanted to live anymore." Before she could answer, he kissed her quickly on the cheek and was gone.
Felicia watched him go, a dazed look on her face. But then she slowly smiled and tears filled her eyes as she lifted her hand in a little wave. "Goodbye, Luke," she said softly.
Emily Quartermaine rang the Spencer's doorbell, wondering why Liz would want to meet here. Elizabeth answered the door herself, and when Emily saw her, she immediately knew that something had happened. Liz's face was lit up with a radiant smile, and Emily hadn't seen her looking so happy in months, not since Lucky had died. "Okay, what's going on?" she asked as Liz led her into the house.
"Emily, you're not going to believe it. It's amazing, it's wonderful, it's....well, it's beyond words." She took her hand and led her into the kitchen. "There's someone here you need to see."
Emily laughingly let Liz pull her into the kitchen, then stood stock-still when she saw who was in there. Her mouth dropped open and she whispered, "Oh my--Lucky?" Then she gave a little shriek and threw herself at him. Laughing and crying at the same time she hugged him tightly, then pulled back to look at him again. "Where have you been?!" It sounded so much like a scold that she blushed as Lucky and Liz laughed. "Sorry," she said, smiling widely and rolling her eyes. "I'm sure you have a perfectly good excuse for being presumed, well, you know, for almost a year. She sobered then, remembering all of the heartache they had all been through.
"I'll tell you the whole story, don't worry," Lucky assured her, giving her another quick hug. He got sodas for all of them out of the refrigerator and they went back to the living room and sat down.
Lucky explained everything that had happened, leaving out the details of the torment Faison had put him through. He looked over at Elizabeth and caught her gazing at him thoughtfully. He smiled reassuringly at her, and knew that she was going to want him to tell her more about his time with that monster. He wasn't sure if he would be able to tell her how Faison had used his love for her to torment him, or how he had so often awakened in the middle of the night screaming her name.
At that moment, at Wyndemere, Laura was doing some explaining of her own. Stefan was staring stonily at her as she tried to make him see that it was good for Luke to be staying with them for awhile. "Lucky needs his family together, Stefan. Try to understand."
"Well, of course it's your decision, Lasha," he said at last. "How long do you think Luke is going to be staying with you?"
"Well, I don't know." Secretly, Laura was enjoying having Luke there. It was almost like...she gave her self a mental shake. She wouldn't, couldn't let her thoughts go in that direction. "Right now, I just want to make Lucky as happy as possible. Who knows what all he went through? Between Faison and your mother, it's a miracle he survived all in one piece."
"I can't believe he was at Wyndemere," began Stefan, but broke off when he saw Laura staring at him.
"Stefan," she said, striving for control. "I havn't told you yet that Lucky was at Wyndemere."
Stefan knew he couldn't lie his way out of this one. "Lasha, I--"
"How long have you know that my son was alive?" Laura asked, her voice rising along with her anger.
"I did it to protect you," said Stefan, reaching for her. I've only known for awhile, and I was going to free him myself, but he escaped on his own. I didn't want to put you in danger of my mother if you came here and tried to find him yourself. Please understand, Lasha!"
Laura jerked away. "You knew that my son was alive and under your own roof, and you didn't tell me! How could you??" She swiped angry tears off her face and grabbed her coat and purse. "It's over Stefan. I can't have a relationship with someone who is constantly dishonest with me. Goodbye, Stefan."
Stefan didn't try to stop her. He knew that there would be no talking her out of this, and he knew that he had been wrong. His motivation for keeping the secret had been plain selfishness. He wanted to be the one to present Laura with her son, not Luke. So, silently, he watched the woman he loved walk out of his life forever.