Chapters 52 & 53
Chapter 52 Good Intentions
Cassidy watches Lucky with amusement as he emerges from the bathroom.
"Couldn't you have found a two-room suite?"
Lucky checks his fake mustache in the mirror and smiles. "We're Luanne
and Larry Coe, we have to act the part. That wig isn't bothering you; is
it?"
Cassidy pats her red wig gently. "It's a little warm, but I'm getting
used to it. So, hubby of mine, where do we start?"
He attaches some sideburns to his face to complete the look, and then
puts on his glasses. "How do I look?"
She giggles at him. "Like someone who didn't realize the 80's are over.
OK, I think I know what warehouse we're supposed to go to. This is
strange though-- I mean the person is leading us there. Doesn't it seem
a little too easy?"
He shrugs his shoulders. "Maybe the man upstairs is finally ready to
give us a break. I gotta find my brother. My entire family has been on
an emotional roller coaster since he was taken. I don't know how much
more Mom and Stefan can take."
Lucky feels an array of emotions topple him as her hand rubs his
reassuringly. He takes a long look at her and for a moment he is
breathless-- so entranced with her beauty he can't speak or move. He
shakes it off and then smiles at her. "I forgot to ask, how's Cari?"
She grins broadly and reaches into her purse. "She was sleeping, but
Lady Jane says that Carida and Sonni are having a great time together
with their grandparents. Here are the newest pictures."
Lucky looks at the pictures of Carida and laughs. "She looks like she's
a handful." He comes across of a picture of Sonni and smiles a sad
smile. "How's Sonni? Jax called to tell me she started therapy."
Cassidy smiles at him warmly. "You care about her; don't you? She's a
very special little girl. Brenda's death has been hard on her, but Jerry
spoke to Jax and it appears she is doing much better. It's a good thing
he remembered to call you. That must have been difficult for you
though."
He takes her hand and leads her to the door. "Let's go get my brother,
and I'll discuss this with you on the plane home."
Kevin and Lucy walk to the door of the lighthouse, as Lucy opens the
door and is about to walk in, Kevin stops her. "I believe we have a
tradition to go through with first." He picks her up and carries her
into the room laying her gently on the couch. "Welcome home, Mrs.
Collins."
Lucy pulls Kevin to her and kisses him deeply. "I'm glad to be home,
Doc. I love you so very, very much, and I've never been happier in my
whole entire life."
They're interrupted by erratic quacking. Siggy waddles into the middle
of the room quacking loudly. Kevin looks at Lucy concerned. "I think
he's upset that we left him here."
She nods sadly. "We didn't have time to explain everything to him. But
then no one explained everything to us either. So, should I tell him or
should you?"
He sits next to her and picks up the duck. "Sigmund, you mother and I
have something we need to discuss with you."
Siggy quacks and flutters his feathers.
Lucy coos to him. "We know you're mad we left, but we have the greatest
news! Your daddy and I got married!"
Siggy quacks and then hops from Kevin's lap. Kevin watches as the duck
waddles out of the room. "I think he's happy for us."
She takes him by the hand and leads him upstairs. "Of course he is. Now,
I think it's time we let our bedroom know that we got married too."
He follows behind her quickly. "I like the way you think."
Scotty Scanlon sands the box his grandfather built. He concentrates as
he sands it to perfection. Once done, he turns to his grandfather. "All
done."
Scott smiles at the little boy and takes the box. He examines it,
clearly impressed with the young man's handy work. "Perfect. Good job,
kiddo. You ready to work on the other one?"
He nods and takes the box. "Mom and Serena are going to like these
jewelry boxes, Grandpa."
Joe walks into the room and chuckles. "Just what those two need, more
jewelry boxes, which means they'll want more jewelry. You're creating
two shopping monsters, Dad."
Scott looks up from the chair he is refinishing and laughs. "Good for
the economy. So, you here to work, or to make witty remarks?"
Joe walks over to the chair and whistles. "That is nice work. You sure
you still like practicing law? You're one hell of a carpenter."
His bright blue eyes dance with amusement as he hands a sander to his
son-in-law. "What do you want and how much is it going to cost me?"
The younger man grins as he begins to sand another chair. "It'll only
cost you time. Karen and I want to move back to Port Charles
permanently. I've found this great house not too far from here, but it
needs work. Frank's willing to help, but we could use a master
carpenter."
Scott pats him on the back. "So, you want me to help you with a house
that'll keep my daughter and my grandkids near? I'd be glad to. Will you
hand me that drill please?"
Joe reaches for the drill and then looks at it thoughtfully. Scotty
notices and comments. "Thinking about Audrey?"
He scowls as he hands the drill over to his father-in-law. "Actually I
was thinking about moving home. I'm glad to be back."
Scotty smiles at him. "Glad to have you back, now shut up and get to
work."
Chapter 53 Goodbye Love, Hello My Friend
Lucy approaches the door and takes a deep breath. She fights the urge to
run and manages to knock on the door. Relief floods her as Karen answers
the door and smiles at her. "LUCY!"
She reaches out and hugs her tightly. "Congratulations! Serena told me
about the wedding!"
Lucy smiles at her warmly. "I suppose Scotty isn't here? Oh well, I can
come back later, say ten... twelve years, yeah that sounds good. Thanks
for the congrats, it really means a lot. Serena isn't upset about
missing the wedding; is she? We didn't even know we were getting married
and suddenly we're on a jet heading for Hawaii."
Karen laughs. "Okay, in order, yes, Dad is here. No need to avoid him.
I'm really happy for you and Kevin! No, Serena isn't upset. She's off
with Joe and the kids at Frank's house though. So, since I'm heading out
to see my mom, you and dad will have the house to yourself."
Karen pulls her inside and calls out for her father. "Dad, I'll be back
later, Lucy is here to see you!"
She walks out the door quickly and Lucy yells after her. "I'll get you
for this!"
She turns from the door to face a very sullen Scotty Baldwin. "Scott, If
this is a bad time I could come back later."
Scotty walks to the bar and pours himself a drink. "You want soda or
something?"
She shakes her head and takes a seat on the couch. "So, Karen's in town
with the kids! You must be having a blast right now."
He downs his drink in one gulp and immediately pours another one. "The
kids are great. Karen is Great. Serena is great. I, however, am anything
but great! You lied to me, Lucy. You told me you weren't getting married
for a few more months!"
Lucy watches him with sad concern. "It wasn't a lie, pal. I thought Doc
and I were waiting, but Scotty, the day I married him was not important.
I had no intention of ever leaving Kevin again."
Scott looks at her with raw pain brewing in his eyes. "I wanted us to be
a family. I had plans for us. I came back for you, Lucy. Can't you see
that I came back for you?"
She rises from the couch and walks toward him. Gently she reaches out to
touch his shoulder and is stunned when he recoils. Scott moves away,
walking to the other side of the room. He picks up the picture of him,
Serena and Lucy and holds it to his chest. For a moment he says nothing,
oblivious to her presence in the room. He cradles the picture as the
memories of their life together flood him, the dreams of what could have
been weigh him down and he leans on the wall for support. Lucy, while
moved by his pain, decides to maintain her distance from him. He's
already recoiled from her touch once; it's best to just stay at a
comfortable distance. Watching him as he looks at the picture, Lucy
fights with herself to not say anything. Her heart wants to scream-- you
had me and left me, but her mind tells her to take it slow.
He turns to her and his eyes plead with hers. "Do you still love me? Do
you still think about us? Lucy, we were so happy before. We can have
that again."
She shakes her head as tears fall over her cheeks. "No, no this isn't
happening again. You have the nerve to ask me if I love you? If I think
of you??? I left the one man who loved me unconditionally for you! We
were beyond happy for a few months, and poof you were gone. Don't you
see this isn't about you? Damn it, why does everything have to be about
you? Your wants, your needs, how you feel! A part of me will always love
you, Scotty, but I'm in complete and utter love with my husband. Our
time together as anything but pals is over. It died the moment you left
me. I'm not the same person that you want me to be. I've grown up, I've
matured--evolved, and I've decided to put myself first!"
He watches her carefully and thinks back to his talk with Karen. Karen's
words were coming out of Lucy's mouth. The realization of the pain he's
caused Lucy brings him to his knees. He kneels on the floor and looks up
at her. "I blew it. Lucy, I never meant to hurt you! I swear to you,
hurting you was never on my mind. I was just so consumed with Serena's
well being that I didn't think about you. But Kevin would have thought
about you."
She crosses over to him and kneels beside him. She places her hand on
his shoulder, and this time he doesn't recoil. "You're a good man,
Scott and an extraordinary father. You were one of my most beloved
lovers, but you have the sensitivity of pond scum."
He looks up at her wounded. "Thanks Luce."
She chuckles through her tears. "You are my best friend, and the father
of my daughter. We'll always be bonded, but face it, Scotty; we were too
much alike to make it work. I know you love me, but I don't complete
you. Kevin and I are soul mates. When I hurt, he hurts and vice versa. I
have unconditional love with him, and I don't have to worry about waking
up without him beside me. I never wanted to hurt you either. We never
mean to, but we always end up doing that. I hope one day, you'll realize
this wasn't a rejection. It was fate. We're meant to be the bestest of
pals, but we aren't meant to be together romantically."
Scotty looks at the picture and then hands it her. "Pals? That wasn't a
part of my plan, but I think I can accept it. You were the first person
I fell in love with after Dom died. There were other women, but I didn't
feel for them like I did for you. I'm trying to hold on to that
feeling."
She takes the picture and kisses his cheek gently. "I'm always here for
you, Pal. I know how hard losing Dominique was for you. We have her
spirit in Serena though. You'll fall for someone again, Scotty. And I'm
betting she'll take your breath away. I never did that for you. You'll
know when you meet her, and I hope she realizes just how lucky she is."
He pulls her to him and hugs her tightly. "I love you, Luce."
She squeezes him tightly. "I love you too. I love you too."
Lucy allows him to pull her up and takes a seat on the couch. "Well, I
guess we do what we always do, bicker, banter, and look out for each
other. I really want to be a part of Serena's life again. I'm hoping
she'll be part of both mine and Kevin's life."
He scowls at the mention of Kevin. "Don't push it." She hits him with a
pillow and he laughs roughly. "I know Serena likes Kevin. You
understand-- it's a matter of pride that I hate him; he's living my
dream."
She blushes slightly. "Still the charmer. Now, I see Karen is back. Is
she back for good?"
Scott grins broadly. "Yeah, Joe asked me to help him fix up the house
they found. Serena is ecstatic."
Lucy laughs at him. "As is Grandpa Scott. Wow, Grandpa, when did we get
old?"
He shoots her a look of disgust. "We aren't old; we're in our prime. I
love the idea of having the kids close by. In fact, we're having a
bar-b-q here tomorrow night. Why don't you bring the old ball and chain
and join us? Karen, Serena and the kids would love it. I suppose I can
tolerate your presence for their sake." His eyes dance as she pouts at
his last remark.
She walks to the door. "We'll be here. Welcome home, Pal; I really
believe our lives are changing for the better now."
As the door closes behind her, Scotty closes his eyes. "Goodbye Lucy."
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