"Reclaiming Forever"

"Reclaiming Forever" Part 16

2009-07-27T19:25:00.000-07:00

Lorna straightened from where she had her ear pressed to the door of the storeroom of The Paradise. "Well, they're not yelling," she said. "That's good, right?"

"I think it's very promising," Paulina replied in an effort to reassure Lorna.

"I only ever saw them argue once," Lorna continued. She appeared to be looking off into the distance, and her eyes looked sad and far-off at the same time. "And that was bad. Maybe it would be better if they were yelling like that. I don't know."

"They needed to talk," Frankie said, and Lorna returned to the present and looked at Frankie, standing next to Cass. "You've given them that chance, Lorna."

Lorna turned to look at the closed door once more, as Frankie and Cass, and Paulina and Iris, exchanged looks. "I just hope it's enough," she said. "I just hope that it's enough."
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Inside the storeroom, Felicia and Luke were looking at each other intently. "Fanny--" Luke began.

But Felicia cut him off. "No, Luke. It's true. I'm a drunk."

"Stop saying that!" Luke exclaimed. "You are NOT a drunk, Fanny!"

"I'm an alcoholic," Felicia replied. "It's the truth, Luke." She looked down for a second, but then she looked at Luke again, defiance glowing in her eyes. "You always thought I was so strong, such a survivor."

"You are!" Luke insisted.

"No, I'm not! After I thought you died, I crawled into a bottle and I wanted to just stay there!" Felicia exclaimed. "I wanted to die! I almost did, more than once. And I hurt everyone who was still left who still loved me--Lorna, Jenna, Dean, Cass, Frankie, Rachel. I lost my talk show. I lost my contact with Cory Publishing. I couldn't help Jenna when she was losing our first grandchild because I was too drunk. Lorna and Cass and Rachel, they hosted an intervention for me, and all I did was lash out at each of them. Especially Lorna. She told me that my drinking was breaking her father's heart because I had said that she had your heart. She reminds me so much of you, Luke. She always has. Would a woman who was strong and who was a survivor become a lousy, stinking drunk?"

"If she did, then she would find the strength and the courage to get the help she needed, and to mend fences with everyone she hurt, and that's what you did, isn't it?" Luke asked.

"Yes," Felicia replied, "but--"

Now it was Luke who cut her off by gently touching his fingertips to her lips. "No 'buts,' Fanny," he said. "You did it. You ARE strong, you ARE a survivor. If you weren't, you wouldn't have made it through that."

"You already knew?" Felicia asked as the realization dawned on her.

"If anyone is to blame here, Fanny, it's me. You started drinking because you thought I was dead," Luke insisted.

"I knew it! I KNEW you would blame yourself!" Felicia exclaimed. "It is NOT your fault, Luke! I was the one who was weak! I was the one who couldn't handle life without...without anesthesia! I had choices to make, and I made the wrong ones!" Felicia stopped, paused, and then spoke again. "This is crazy! I'm blaming myself, you're blaming yourself, but that isn't going to change anything, Luke!"

"Well, I don't blame you, Fanny!"

"And I don't blame you, Luke. It just...It was what it was, and we can't change the past."

"No. No, we can't." Luke looked at her intently. "But I want to make up for it, Fanny. I want to make up for the lost time with you and our daughters, and I want to go on from here together. If you'll let me. If you still love me, I mean."

"You idiot," Felicia replied, but with a smile on her face and no anger. "IF' I still love you'? I know you don't like hearing my romantic past in between when we were kids and when we found each other again, but I did have three divorces and one period of widowhood before you, Luke Castigliano, and the only one of those men that I could never truly live happily without was you. It was always you, and it always WILL be you. 'IF I still love you'? I can't tell my lungs to stop breathing in and out. I can't tell my heart to stop beating. And I can't live and NOT love you. And you said that's why you came back: to reclaim your forever with me."

" That's right, I did," Luke replied. Then he asked, "How's the foot?"

Felicia blinked, confused. She had to stop and think, because during her whole emotional conversation with Luke, she hadn't given even a passing thought to her injured foot. "Better," she replied.

"Good," Luke replied, moving to Felicia's feet and gently lifting her foot to lift his jacket. Once he had her foot stretched out on the floor again, he began fumbling in the pockets of the jacket. "This is the last time I'm going to do this," he said as he searched the pockets, "and I'm going to do it right." He removed his wallet from the inside pocket of the jacket, opened it, and, as Felicia watched, unzipped a hidden compartment. Luke removed something from the hidden compartment, but Felicia didn't catch what it was; she did, however, notice that the corner of what looked like a photograph was sticking up out of the compartment when Luke laid it and his jacket aside.

"Fanny Grady," Luke began. He got up on one knee, and opened the hand he'd been holding closed to reveal the ring made from a cigar band that he had given Felicia on the night of their wedding...the same ring that she had slipped onto his finger in the hospital room before he had been taken away from her five long years before. "Felicia Gallant... Would you be my wife again?"

This time, the tears pooling in Felicia's eyes were tears of joy, and this time she didn't even try to hide them. "Oh, Luke," she breathed.

"Is that a yes?" Luke asked, holding the ring at the tip of her left ring finger.

Felicia nodded. "Yes," she whispered. "Oh, yes, that's a definite 'yes.'"

Luke slipped the ring onto Felicia's finger, and Felicia wasn't surprised when a tear fell from Luke's eye and splashed on the back of her hand. When he looked up from the ring into her beaming, teary-eyed face, she reached out and gently wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes. "I love you," she whispered, pulling him into her arms.

"I love you too," Luke whispered back as his arms went around her in the second before their lips met in a kiss that quickly turned into a series of kisses that released all of the pent-up love and longing for each other Felicia and Lucas had both carried in their souls for such a long time.
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The group gathered outside the storeroom door at The Paradise was so intently watching that door that none of them noticed when Jake McKinnon arrived and came in the back way, ducking behind the bar to pick up a bottle of pineapple juice. When he spotted his wife gathered with the group in the alcove, he smirked to himself, took a hefty swig of pineapple juice before setting the bottle on the bar, then sidled up behind Paulina and pinched her behind. Paulina, of course, jumped and yelped, "JAKE!"

Jake just smirked unrepentantly when Paulina turned to glare at him, and all of the others, except Lorna, who was still staring at the closed storeroom door, also turned to give him dirty looks. "What's with Lorna? Is she testing her x-ray vision?" he asked.

"Where is Mack?" Paulina asked her husband.

"He's at Rachel's," Jake replied. "She was thrilled to have some granny time, and I figured I'd surprise you and maybe we could steal a couple hours together before the dinner rush, but I guess that's out." Then he looked more closely at everyone gathered in the alcove. "The way you're all starin' at the door, you'd think somebody was locked inside." When Iris's jaw dropped at Jake's remark, Jake's smirk returned and he realized he was onto something. "You mean you DO have someone locked in there?" he exclaimed, amused. "Oh, this I gotta see!" He snaked the key from Paulina's pocket and pushed through the crowd to the door.

Lorna finally acknowledged Jake when he tried to elbow her aside to open the door. "And just what do you think you're doing?" she asked him.

"I'm gonna find out who you've got locked up in there," Jake replied as he moved to fit the key into the lock.

"You touch that door, and I'll drop you where you stand," Lorna warned Jake.

Cass checked his watch. "Lorna, it's been almost three hours," he said, looking from his watch to her. "We have to open the door sometime."

"But what if it hasn't been long enough?" Lorna wondered.

"You gave them the chance to talk," Frankie added. "The rest is up to them."

"Frankie's right," Iris chimed in. "We can't stay out here forever, any more than they can stay in there forever."

"Well--" Lorna began, but before she could say anything more, Jake shoved the key into the door, twisted it, opened the door, and stepped into the doorway of the storeroom.

Felicia and Lucas were lying on the floor in each other's arms, their clothing rumpled, kissing passionately.

"I'm sorry! Should I come back later?" Jake asked loudly. Felicia and Lucas, startled, jerked apart, looked at Jake, looked at each other, looked back at Jake, and then slowly sat up.

"Jake?" Felicia asked, puzzled as to why he was the one standing in the doorway.

"Hey, Felicia," Jake replied with a grin. "Lucas. That shade of lipstick is you, man. It really is." His smirk returned after this comment.

Luke wiped at his mouth then asked, "Is our oldest daughter out there somewhere?"

"I believe I saw her, yes," Jake replied. Then he looked over his shoulder and called, "Oh, Lorna! Your parents would like to have a word with you!"

"You'll pay for this, McKinnon," Lorna gritted out through clenched teeth.

"Fanny, can you stand?" Luke asked as he got up and then held out a hand to help her to her feet.

Felicia gingerly tested her weight on her injured foot. "I--I think so," she said. "But I'm not putting those shoes on again."

"I'll carry you to the car," Luke replied as he slipped his sports jacket on again. Then he smiled. "It's good practice."

Felicia and Luke emerged from the storeroom of the Paradise to find Lorna standing in front of a group of their friends and family that included Cass and Frankie, Iris, Paulina and Jake. Lorna put on her best smile as she greeted her parents, "Hi, Mom, hi, Daddy."

"Is that ALL you have to say to us?" Felicia asked, raising an eyebrow.

Lorna sighed. "All right, look, before you say anything else, this whole thing was my idea," she began. "They," she gestured to the others, "only went along with it because I couldn't pull it off by myself and they care about you too." She ran a hand through her hair, brushing her bangs off her forehead. "The two of you are so damned stubborn! It's no wonder I'm so stubborn, I got a double dose of it coded into my DNA from the two of you. You needed to talk, and you weren't doing it on your own, so yes, I barged in and arranged for the two of you to be locked in the storeroom there so you would have no other choice but to talk to each other. But if you're going to get mad and yell at anybody, get mad and yell at me, because I'm the one truly responsible for this. Leave Cass and Frankie and the others out of it."

"Awww, even me?" Jake asked. "OW! PAULINA!"

"If you don't shut up right now, I'll stomp on your other foot!" Paulina warned her husband.

Felicia and Luke looked at each other. "She thinks we're mad," Luke said. "Are you mad?"

"I'm not mad," Felicia replied. "Are you mad?"

"No," Luke said.

Lorna dropped her hands to her sides and her face shone with hope. "You're not mad!" she exclaimed as it hit her all at once. "Does that mean..." She trailed off, and her eyes lit up even more when she noticed something else. "You have your arms around each other!" she exclaimed, pointing at her parents. "You're standing...You...You're..." She swallowed hard and then said, "Please tell me this means what I think it means."

"What do you think it means?" Luke asked.

"Daddy!" Lorna exclaimed, exasperated. "Come on. I need to hear you say it. One of you, both of you, somebody say it. Please."

Luke and Felicia looked at each other and then looked at Lorna, who was looking at both of them with such hope and such fear mingled together in her entire being, radiating from her in waves.

"Your father and I are back together," Felicia replied.

Lorna's hands flew to her mouth, and Felicia and Lucas were both startled when tears began streaming down her cheeks. "Lorna?" Luke asked anxiously.

Lorna took her hands from her mouth and shook her head. "I'm fine," she said shakily. "I'm fine. This...I've waited my whole life for this. My mom and dad are together!" Unable to restrain herself any longer, Lorna flew at her parents and hugged them at the same time, one arm around Luke, the other around Felicia. They each hugged her back with one arm and looked at each other behind her, wondering if they would have to peel her off the ceiling when she learned they were getting married again.

Jenna, Dean, and little Lucas arrived at the Paradise then, and little Lucas spied Felicia, Luke, and Lorna first. "They're here, they're here!" he exclaimed from his perch on his father's shoulders.

"Where?" Jenna asked.

"Maybe we should call you 'Eagle Eyes' instead of 'Little Man,'" Dean said. "They're over there, Jen." Dean gestured with one hand, keeping a tight grip on little Lucas with his other hand. "Are you ready?"

"I'm ready," Jenna replied. She headed toward the group gathered in the alcove in front of the open storeroom door, Dean and little Lucas following after her. She wondered for a moment why both of her parents were hugging Lorna at the same time, but she also knew that she would lose her nerve if she didn't say what she needed to say to Lucas. "Is this a private party, or do you have room for three more?" Jenna asked by way of greeting.

Everyone turned to look at Jenna, Dean and little Lucas. "Jenna," Luke said. He and Felicia released Lorna, who swiped at her eyes before turning around to face the rest of her family.

"Before you say anything, I need to say something to you," Jenna replied.

"Jenna--" Lorna began.

"Lorna, let your sister have her say," Luke said, not taking his eyes off Jenna.

"But Daddy..." Lorna said. She then looked to Jenna, and it was the first time Jenna could ever remember seeing a look of pleading on Lorna's face.

"Lorna, trust me," Jenna said. "I really...I need to say this before I lose my nerve."

Felicia squeezed Lorna's shoulder, then looked to Jenna. "Go ahead, Jenna," Felicia said, letting her hand rest on Lorna's shoulder.

Dean and little Lucas stood behind her, and Felicia and Lorna stood behind and to the side of Luke, with Cass and Frankie, Iris, and Paulina and Jake forming a loose circle around the family.

Jenna focused in on her father, took a deep breath, and began. "When you first came back, I couldn't get past the fact that you had left. I didn't take the time to think about why you left. I accused you of abandoning me like Gloria did." She paused, and then met Luke's gaze. "But I was wrong. I know that you love me...and Mom, and Lorna. I believed that Gloria loved me because she was my birth mother, but giving birth to a child doesn't automatically make you a good parent. Gloria did what she thought was best for me. And I can't regret it, because if she hadn't left me to be raised at the convent, then I wouldn't have ended up with you and Felicia for parents when she died. You and Felicia are my true parents.

"You had a good reason for leaving. You never would have left us if there was any other way for you to keep us safe. I understand that now. You left because you loved us, not because you didn't," Jenna concluded. "We can't do anything about the last five years. But you're my dad. You're the only dad I'll ever have. And I know that we can work this out. That is, if you still want to."

"Of course I still want to," Luke said.

Jenna closed the distance between herself and Luke and then stretched up on her tiptoes and hugged him. Luke wrapped his arms around and hugged her back.

Jenna turned her head and rested her cheek against Luke's shoulder. "Oh, you dropped this," she said, releasing her father and bending to pick up his wallet. She noticed the piece of paper sticking out and opened the wallet to tuck it back into its place, but she stopped short when she saw just what the piece of paper was. She gasped softly, then looked from the piece of paper to Luke. Then, as she began to cry much as Lorna had earlier, she threw her arms around Luke and hugged him again.

The others exchanged puzzled looks. "Jenna?" Dean asked. "What is it?"

Jenna released Luke again and then returned to Dean's side, still holding Luke's wallet. "Dean, look," she said as she held the open wallet out to her husband so he could see the piece of paper sticking out of it.

"That's our wedding picture...the one that was in Rolling Stone," Dean said.

"You had it laminated," Jenna said. "You've had this in your wallet all this time?"

"It was as close to my family as I could get," Lucas replied.

"But weren't you taking a big risk, carrying it around like this?" Jenna asks. "You weren't supposed to have anything on you that identified you as Lucas, were you?"

"It was the only way I could see you. All of you," Lucas replies, looking around. "That made it worth any risk. That picture is all I had of you and your mother and your sister for so long. I had to give you up, but I still kept you with me. The picture was a concrete reminder."

"But you could have been found out at any time, like if somebody stole your wallet," Dean said. "How would you have explained the picture?"

"I'm Dean Frame's biggest fan of...let's say a certain age," Lucas replied.

Jenna was trying not to sob now. "You saved this," she said, "and you carried it with you all these years."

"It's part of the promise I made to myself, that I would come home to all of you someday," Lucas replied. "You were a beautiful bride, Jenna. And I'm sorry I wasn't there to walk you down the aisle. I'm sorry for everything I missed, everything I did that hurt you, even though I didn't want it to. You and your mother and your sister...It was the three of you that kept me going while I was gone, and the three of you are why I was so determined to make it home as soon as I could."

"Oh, Daddy," Jenna says. Then Luke opened his arms with a hopeful expression on his face, and Jenna, smiling through her tears, flew into her father's arms and hugged him fiercely. He returned the hug and then looked to Felicia and Lorna. Felicia joined Luke and Jenna's hug, and then held out an arm out to Lorna, who joined her parents and sister in the hug.

"I don't think this day could possibly get any better," Lorna said.

"Oh, I think it could," Luke replied as they broke the hug.

"How?" Lorna asked.

Wordlessly Felicia held up her left hand. When Lorna and Jenna saw the ring on her finger, they let out twin shrieks at the tops of their lungs.

"You're getting married again?" Lorna asked.

"We're getting married again," Felicia replied, "and you're all invited!"

"Technically, since Lucas isn't dead, and you never got divorced, you're still married," Cass piped up. At the 'you've-GOT-be-kidding; you're-going-into-lawyer-mode-NOW?' look Frankie aimed in his direction, he hastily added, "But you can always renew your vows."

"Then we're renewing our vows, and you're all invited!" Luke exclaimed. Everyone milled around them, all talking at once.

"I missed your first wedding," Lorna said.

"Well, you're not missing this one," Felicia replied. "I can't very well get married without both of my matrons of honor there. What do you girls say? Will you stand up for me?"

"Try and stop me!" Lorna exclaimed.

"I'd love to!" Jenna exclaimed.

"Dean, would you be one of my best men?" Luke asked.

"I would be honored," Dean replied.

"Lorna, do you think Joe would be my other best man?" Luke asked Lorna.

"I'm going to call him right now and tell him to get over here, and you can ask him yourself, Daddy!" Lorna replied, digging her cell phone out of her purse and hitting the speed dial to reach Joe at the station house.

"What about me? What about me?" little Lucas asked.

"You can be the ringbearer, like you were for Auntie Lorna and Uncle Joe," Felicia told her grandson. "How would that be?"

"YAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!" little Lucas cheered.

After returning her cell phone to her purse, Lorna shouted, "Okay, Joe will be here in 15 minutes! And everyone, thank you for helping me with this! I'd say we definitely succeeded!"

"Well, I think this calls for a celebration," Paulina said. "Everyone to the bar for sparkling grape juice on the house!"

As everyone began to adjourn from the alcove outside the storeroom to the bar, Felicia said, "Oh, Iris, could I talk to you for a moment, please?"

"Daddy?" Jenna called.

"Your mother and I will be right there. Pour a couple of glasses of sparkling grape juice for us," Luke said.

Soon only Luke, Felicia, and Iris remained in the alcove. "What is it, Felicia?" Iris asked. "It's bad form to keep a celebration in your honor waiting."

"I only have one question," Felicia replied. "Why?"

Iris's expression changed, became more serious, and more earnest than Felicia had seen in years. "Because I didn't want Lucas to live the rest of his life filled with regret for not being able to make up to the person...the people that he loves more than anything for the pain he caused you."

Felicia nodded. Luke looked back and forth between the two women, the one true love of his life, and his one-time fiancee and good friend both years ago and in the present. "He would be proud of you for doing this, Iris."

"I hope so," Iris said.

"I know so," Felicia replied firmly.

Anything else that might have been said was lost when Lorna and Jenna returned to the alcove. "Everybody's waiting for you two...three," Lorna hastily corrected herself. "We have a wedding--"

"Vow renewal, Lorna. A vow renewal," Jenna corrected. Lorna shot her sister a look. Jenna just smiled mischievously at Lorna.

"I'm surrounded by jokers," Lorna muttered. "Fine, we have a vow renewal to plan, and a lot to celebrate. Joe's here too. Are you going to join us at the bar, or are you going to stand here talking for the rest of the day?"

"We're right behind you," Felicia promised. She threaded her fingers through Luke's, and they followed Iris and their daughters to the bar at the Paradise to begin celebrating the reclaiming of their forever.

TO BE CONTINUED

"Reclaiming Forever" part 15

2009-05-06T08:42:00.000-07:00

Reclaiming Forever," Part 15

While Dean made little Lucas his lunch, played with him for a while, and then put him down for his afternoon nap, Jenna sat alone in their living room, lying on the couch, staring up at the ceiling, her hands folded and resting on her stomach. But it wasn't blank white ceiling she saw; it was a hundred thousand memories of her life as Lucas's daughter.

That first night, that Christmas that felt like a million years ago, when Felicia and Lucas had come to the convent to tell her that Gloria had died. She hadn't thought of Gloria as her mother in years. Her birth mother, the woman who gave birth to her, yes, but her mother, her mom? No. That was Felicia. She hadn't even asked if she could call Felicia 'Mom.' She just started doing it one day, because it felt right. Felicia was the one to support and encourage her dreams, get her through Gloria's death and starting a new life in Bay City, the end of high school, the beginning of college, and everything that had come after. It was Felicia who gave her advice on relationships and clothes and guys.

And then there was Lucas. As Jenna thought back on it, she realized that there were so many times that Lucas had been there for her too, had willingly, and usually happily, taken on the role of instant dad, and he'd been a natural. Even at the times that could have been awkward, like when Felicia had gone to Africa because she thought her ex-husband Mitch Blake had sent her a telegram, and Jenna had been dating Matt Cory and really needed some advice. Lucas had been honest with Jenna, and because of that there was no awkwardness. A small smile played on Jenna's lips as she remembered Lucas telling her that he really didn't know much about guys and relationships, that in his day people "went together." But when she was agonizing over what to wear on a date with Matt, Lucas had patiently sat through three complete wardrobe changes, ignored her stereotypical teenage girl "I look awful, don't I? I look like a little girl in this!" plaintive wails, and assured and reassured her that she looked beautiful, even joking to Olivia Matthews when Olivia had stopped by to return a skirt she had borrowed from Jenna that Felicia had at least three wardrobe crises a week and Jenna had inherited that from Felicia.

Before her prom, it was Lucas who, after getting the details about it from Olivia, had gone out and bought her the dress of her dreams, the one that she had refused to buy when Felicia had given her a credit card and her blessing to buy a prom dress because Jenna felt it was too expensive. And he'd had the video camera out that night too. The small smile grew a little wider as she remembered she and Felicia both telling him to turn it off, because Jenna was still in her bathrobe, with a towel wrapped around her freshly washed hair like a turban.

It had only been a few months since Jenna had come to live with Felicia, and Felicia and Lucas had gotten engaged. Jenna still wasn't used to having parents 24/7, to having people who cared about her and loved her and wanted her around. So when she had tried to throw the gift of the dress back in Lucas's face, he had stood his ground and explained that he wanted her to have it not because he was trying to buy her off, but because it was what she really wanted. Jenna also recalled a lecture on her behavior towards Felicia, who was going all out in every effort she made to prove to Jenna that she wanted to be Jenna's mother. Before she left the house for the prom that night, she had mended fences with both Felicia and Lucas. And then at the prom, by herself, having been stood up by Matt, she was about to walk out the door when Dean arrived, tuxed to the max in his own inimitable style--black jacket, pants, and shirt, and colorful patterned vest. They had danced...

"Focus," she murmured aloud to herself. Making a mental note to look for the CD that had that song on it she and Dean had danced to at the prom about love coming when you least expect it, she returned her thoughts to Lucas.

The first Valentine's Day she had spent in Bay City, she was staying with the Corys while Felicia was on a short book tour. Lucas had surprised her by showing up at the Cory Mansion with a box of chocolates for her and wishing her a happy Valentine's Day. It was the first time in Jenna's life she had ever received anything for Valentine's Day from anyone.

She remembered the day she had told Felicia and Lucas that she wanted them to adopt her after they got married...the tears in Lucas's eyes. He may have been a bit rough around the edges as a young man, but deep down he was a man who loved deeply, who only wanted to be husband and father to the kind of family he'd never had himself growing up. In that way, he was like Dean, Jenna thought. Maybe there really was something to the old cliche about girls marrying men who were like their fathers.

Not long after the day she'd told them she wanted them to adopt her had come Felicia and Lucas's wedding, in which she served as maid of honor. Theirs was the first wedding she'd ever been to in her life.

Jenna's thoughts continued to wander over her early life with Felicia and Lucas, and they landed next on the car accident she and Dean had had after Carl Hutchins had the brakes cut on Lucas's car. Jenna had only had her license for three weeks, and she had just been humiliated by Matt, and then had an argument with Dean when she found him at the Old Mill, where she'd gone to think. She and Dean had straightened everything out on the ride home, and then she lost control of the car because there were no brakes. Dean had told the police he was driving because he didn't want to risk Jenna wrecking her adoption. But Jenna couldn't let Dean take the blame, especially after the way Lucas had torn into him. So she 'fessed up. Lucas had been disappointed and hurt that she had lied to him, and he had responded as any truly loving father would: he had grounded her. He had also forbidden her to see Dean, claiming Dean was a bad influence on her.

Those had been difficult times, as Jenna had realized that she was falling in love with Dean, and Dean finally got up the courage to confess to Jenna that he was in love with her. Lucas and Felicia didn't approve. Every time Dean came around, Lucas would yell at him, and try to throw him out of the apartment. But Dean wouldn't leave without making it perfectly clear that he loved Jenna, and he wasn't going to stay away from her.

It had been Lucas who had first discovered Jenna's talent for dancing. She closed her eyes, and she could see the look of pride mixed with wonder on his face when he had walked into D&M and found her dancing alone to "Ladykiller." He had bragged on her to Jake McKinnon, who was directing the video to "Ladykiller," and to Matt. When she had been terrified the day of the video shoot and locked herself in her bedroom, Lucas patiently mediated as Jenna and Felicia argued back and forth about whether or not Jenna was even going to go to the shoot. And when she did go, Lucas was there with Felicia...until Felicia decided that their presence was making Jenna too nervous, and they left.

Other memories surfaced in rapid fashion: the dinner out she and Lucas had had, just the two of them; their first Christmas as a real family, when she had surprised him and Felicia with stockings she made herself and filled with gifts that had significant personal meaning, including a picture of herself and Lucas from their dinner out in Lucas's stocking; the way Lucas had stood by her after that horrifying doctored porno tape of her got played on Felicia's show; she and Dean double-dating with Lucas and Felicia to the Valentine's Ball; the four of them celebrating with Cass and Frankie when they returned from their first trip to Venice, Italy, finally engaged to be married again after all the turmoil they'd suffered through; Lucas finally accepting Dean as the man Jenna loved.

The horrible night at the hospital when they had thought Lucas was dying. Jenna had tearfully called him "Daddy" and told him that she and Dean were going to get married and she wanted him to walk her down the aisle. Lucas had asked her to take care of them for him. She hadn't understood what he meant until a short time later, when Felicia had broken the news to her that Lorna was Felicia and Lucas's biological daughter. "Take care of them..." Lucas had trusted her to take care of Felicia and Lorna.

As with Felicia before him, there was never any discussion about when or whether Jenna would call Lucas "Daddy" or "Dad." She just did it. And it just felt right. Even after he had died...correction, disappeared...she still thought of him as her father. When Sally Madison was caught and arrested, Jenna had blurted out to her mother that Sally had killed Daddy.

Lucas had been there for her at every turn, when she needed him...and when she tried to convince him, and herself, that she didn't need him at all.

When she was pregnant the second time, after making it through the first trimester and realizing that she and Dean were going to have a healthy baby this time, she knew in her heart that if the baby was a boy, she wanted to name him after Lucas. It was the only boy's name she ever seriously considered. She recalled nervously asking Lorna, when they were sitting around TOPS finishing off the punch from Jenna's baby shower after everyone else had left and Felicia was on the phone, if Lorna would mind if she and Dean named the baby Lucas if he was a boy. Lorna had given her blessing. And the day that Lucas Winthrop Frame finally made his long-awaited entrance into the world, while Cass and Frankie were marveling at the fact that Dean had chosen 'Winthrop' for their son's middle name, Lorna and Felicia were both teary-eyed upon hearing that this baby boy would be known as Lucas.

And she and Dean had named their son "Lucas" because Jenna had loved the only father she'd ever known so much that she wanted to honor him by naming her and Dean's son for him. Getting Lorna's blessing had only solidified a decision that had been purely instinctual.

Jenna thought back to her convent days, before Lucas and Felicia had adopted her...the years of intensive study of the Holy Bible... specifically, the passage in 1 Corinthians that said "Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends." Lorna had read that passage at Jenna and Dean's wedding. It was most often associated with romantic love.

But it didn't specifically say that it only referred to romantic love.

It could also refer to the love between a father and a daughter.

And it was in that moment that Jenna finally admitted to herself that she still loved her father, had always loved her father. Beneath the confusion, the hurt and the betrayal she felt at being lied to, wondering WHY Lucas had lied, had left her and Felicia and Lorna the way he did, she still loved her dad.

Then she remembered another part of that verse: "Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth."

Jenna had learned a long time ago that you can be angry at someone, or feel hurt by someone, but still love them.

As she sat up on the couch, she realized that the time had come for the truth. The truth that Jenna still loved her father, had missed him terribly all these years, and wanted him to be a part of her life, and Dean's life, and little Lucas's life...and the truth, whatever it was, about why Lucas had left, why he had let them think that he was dead.

"The little man's asleep," Dean said softly. "Has been for almost an hour, so he should be waking up soon. But until he does, is it okay if I join you?"

Jenna turned to look and found Dean standing next to the overstuffed chair nearest the couch. She nodded and held out her hand to him. He took her hand and sat down beside her on the couch, still holding her hand.

"You looked like you were doing some heavy-duty thinking, so I wanted to give you your space," Dean said.

"I have been thinking," Jenna replied. "Remembering, mostly. How it was when Lucas and Felicia and I were a family."

"I have something important I need to say to you now," Dean said, and Jenna wondered at the serious look on his face.

"What is it?" she asked, now holding Dean's hand in both of hers.

Dean took a deep breath, let it out, and then looked at his wife as he said, "Jen, I'm sorry."

"For what?" Jenna asked, slightly puzzled.

"When Lucas came back, I automatically compared it to what Kathleen did years ago," Dean continued.

"I was there for that," Jenna reminded her husband. "I know how hard that was for you...how hurt you were when Cass and Frankie broke up for that span of time."

"I never liked her, you know. I can admit that," Dean continued. "I thought she was selfish. She basically ditched Cass to further her career. Leapfrogging all over Europe to meet Signet, and Cass never had a clue! And then she let him think she was dead for four years, but then she came back and played dirty because she decided she wanted Cass and the life she gave up back, and she didn't care at all that Cass had found somebody who WASN'T selfish, and somebody who WASN'T going to up and leave him like she did....." He trailed off.

"And somebody who had come to look at Cass and Frankie as parental figures. Or at least as the older sister and brother-in-law you never had," Jenna finished for him, squeezing his hand.

"They were my family, Jenna. They ARE my family. I mean, yeah, so are Sharlene and John, and Jamie and Marley, and all of their kids. But you're right. Cass and Frankie...they're the closest thing to parents that I had. Although it's nicer, I guess, to say the older sister and brother-in-law that I never had. Doesn't make them sound as old. And it did hurt. A lot. It took me a while to forgive Cass, but I did." Dean paused for a moment before continuing. "In all seriousness, though, I've been wrong, Jenna. At least, I've been partly wrong. Kathleen left Cass and let him think she was dead for selfish reasons. I didn't know Lucas as well as you and Felicia did before he disappeared, but I knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't have walked out on you and Felicia without a damn good reason." Dean raked his hand through his hair. "What I'm trying to say is that Lucas left and went into the Witness Protection Program like Kathleen did, but he's not like Kathleen because he didn't do it for selfish reasons. I don't know what his reasons are, but I know that he didn't do it for selfish reasons. It had to be something major to take him away from you and Felicia, and even Lorna."

"I agree," Jenna replied. "That's what I've been thinking about. Actually, I've been remembering, like I said. Lucas stepped up to be a dad to me pretty much from day one, that first night at the convent. He wasn't as obvious about it at first, but once Felicia decided to adopt me, he got on board with it right away. He wanted to be my father as much as he wanted to be her husband. And at first, when I was so unsure about everything, I thought that they were looking to me to replace the daughter they lost...before we knew about Lorna, I mean. Even when I didn't know how I felt about the whole thing, and even when I wasn't sure how to behave because I'd never had a family before, he and Felicia didn't give up on me. And we did become a real family, partly thanks to you." She smiled.

"All I've ever wanted is for you to be happy," Dean replied seriously. "And I knew that you and Felicia and Lucas wanted to be a family. I just wanted to help if I could by talking to the social worker, so I did."

"Yes, you did," Jenna said. She leaned closer and touched a finger to Dean's lips. "He's my father, Dean. And I'm ready to forgive him, and to listen to his side of the story."

"I am too," Dean replied, his words slightly muffled by Jenna's finger.

"Are you sure?" she asked, dropping her hand to his shoulder. "You have to be able to forgive him for yourself, Dean, not just for me and little Lucas."

"Honey, I told you, I was wrong about him. He's not like Kathleen. Cass and Frankie have put that whole thing far behind them, and if they can do it, I can do it. Besides, I admire Lucas, because he did the one thing my old man never did," Dean said.

"What's that?" Jenna asked.

Dean looked intently into her eyes. "He came back," Dean replied.

"Yeah, he did," Jenna said, and for the first time since she had seen her father at Lorna and Joe's wedding, Jenna smiled, a real smile.

Little Lucas came running into the room then, and he had overheard the last part of his parents' conversation. "Who came back?" he asked.

"Gampa Luke," Jenna replied, ruffling Lucas's hair as he jumped into her lap. "Did you have a good nap, sweetie?"

"Uh huh," little Lucas replied.

"Good," Jenna replied. "Then I think we shouldn't wait another minute. I think that all three of us should go right now and see Gampa Luke."

"Really?" little Lucas shrieked happily.

"Really," Jenna said. She stood up, perching her son on her hip. Dean rose as well.

"But we don't know where he is right now, do we?" Dean asked.

"Details," Jenna said. "Lorna said something about Daddy moving into his old apartment, where he lived before he and Mom got married. We'll go there first. If he's not there, we'll go to TOPS and see if Franco has seen him. If he's not at TOPS, we'll go to Cory Publishing. He's working with Iris again. He's somewhere, Dean. He's somewhere right here in Bay City, and we're going to go to him right now, wherever he is, and find him, and set everything right."

"YAY!!!!!" little Lucas cheered.

"Then let's go," Dean said. He tousled little Lucas's hair, leaned down to give Jenna a quick kiss, and the trio then headed out their front door in search of their father, father-in-law, and grandfather.
**************************************************************************************************** *****

Meanwhile, Felicia and Lucas were still locked in the storeroom at the Paradise, now seated on the floor, leaning against a couple of large, unopened crates of food, Felicia's ankle propped up on Luke's balled-up sports jacket. They looked at each other for a long, silent moment. Hope and anguish mingled in Luke's eyes, while Felicia fought to stay calm. Felicia then broke the silence to ask, "What happened, Luke? Why did you leave me and the girls? Why did you let us think you were dead? Why didn't you take us with you?" She was proud of herself for managing to get that all out with her ankle in throbbing pain and without screaming it at Luke.

Luke took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled, never taking his eyes off Felicia the entire time. "I was looking for Jenna's biological father," he began.

Felicia's face clouded as she remembered all of the arguments they had about the late hours Luke kept back then, about the places he was going, the things he was doing, and the people with whom he was associating. "I remember," she said, although she wished she could forget. She had always hated fighting with Luke, and those were some of the most painful fights they'd ever had.

"I never found him," Luke continued, watching her intently to see how she would react to the whole truth now that he was finally getting his chance to tell it to her, "but I found a ton of evidence that showed that Rick Madison was part of a drug smuggling ring out of Chicago that was sending cocaine to and from South America. I also discovered that Rick was involved in a prostitution ring in Chicago. He was luring young women Jenna's age and Lorna's age into prostitution, and they were ending up murdered, or beaten so badly that they had to have surgery that left them unable to have children, or contracting sexually transmitted diseases, or with drug addictions so bad that they were yo-yoing in and out of rehab. I had stumbled onto it by accident, but when I found out what I found out, I couldn't leave it alone. Those girls were somebody else's daughters, Fanny. If that had been our daughters, I would have done whatever it took to get them out, and to get the bastards who did that to them. I couldn't stay quiet about it, not in good conscience. So I went to the Chicago police, and they in turn went to the Feds because the drugs were going in and out and of the country." He looked at Felicia, pleading with his eyes for her to understand.

Felicia said the first thing that came to mind. "Like that time at the gala that you shot Griffen Sanders because he was trying to kill Michael Hudson," she replied. "When I confronted you about it the next day, you told me that you were supposed to kill Michael because the people Griffen was involved with told you they had our daughter. But in the end, you couldn't go through with it."

"Because I knew that Griffen was a murdering scum who had already tried to kill Frankie more than once, and that Michael was a basically decent, honorable man who had a family. And I'd gotten to know Vicky a little bit. Forget the police--she would have had my head on a pole if I'd done anything to her father." Luke sighed. "Once a hood, always a hood, I guess. I just cooperated better with the police the older and the more established I got." He turned his head away from Felicia then and stared straight ahead.

"You were never a hood in my eyes, Luke," Felicia said firmly, earnestly. "Never." She paused, then said, "So because of all of this evidence that you found, or helped find, about the drugs and the prostitution ring that Rick Madison was involved in, the FBI offered you protection."

"Yes," Luke replied. Then he looked at her again. "Lorna asked me why I didn't take you with me. You, and her, and Jenna. I thought about it, Fanny. And I wanted to. You have no idea how much I wanted to. But I couldn't do that to any of you."

Felicia's ankle was still throbbing enough that she figured she didn't need to launch into another tirade against Luke and strain her vocal cords and make her head throb from the veins popping out as she screamed. "Why not?" she asked, trying to keep the bitterness out of her voice.

Luke gave her a sad smile. "If you had gone with me, Fanny, you would have had to give up everything: your writing, TOPS, your talk show...and you never would have been able to see or speak to Cass again. Jenna was in her freshman year of college, and she and Dean had just gotten engaged. Anywhere she went, he would obviously go too, but he would never have been able to resurrect his music career while in hiding. And we had just found Lorna, our PR whiz of a daughter. Guess she got something good from me after all. She wouldn't have been able to keep her career going either. And I couldn't just take you and leave our daughters behind, any more than I could take Jenna and Dean and leave you and Lorna, or take Lorna and leave you and Jenna and Dean. You and Lorna were always meant to be mother and daughter, Fanny. I wasn't going to be the one to take that away from you. I was never much of a praying man, but I prayed every day that you and Lorna and Jenna became a real family, that you were there for each other, that you were able to truly be mother and daughters, the way it was always supposed to be."

"Except it wasn't the way it was always supposed to be, Luke, because YOU were supposed to be there! You were supposed to be there as my husband, and Lorna's father, and Jenna's father!" Felicia exclaimed.

"So you wanted me to forget the whole thing? Forget about the drugs and the prostitution ring and nailing Rick Madison and his cronies?" Luke asked.

"Of course not!" Felicia replied. "But you could have told me, Luke! You could have told me and the girls what was going on!"

"I had to keep you safe," Luke replied. "That was the only way I could do it, Fanny! And even then, things didn't happen the way they were supposed to."

"What do you mean, 'things didn't happen the way they were supposed to'?" Felicia asked.

"I wasn't supposed to get shot!" Luke exclaimed. "And certainly not by Sally Madison. She was a wild card, the one thing that the Feds didn't factor in. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Felicia's face went slack with shock. "Oh my god," she breathed. "That's right. Sally wasn't in on it. She wouldn't have been in on it. Unless she was in on it with Rick? Did she know?" Felicia sat up, ignoring the pain in her ankle and grabbed Luke's shoulders, shaking him. "Did she know, Luke? Was she involved too?"

"She knew, but she wasn't involved," Luke said. He clamped his hands down on Felicia's, stilling her. "I never slept with her, Fanny. Not while we were married."

"I know," Felicia replied. Now tears came to her eyes. "Oh, Luke, that last day...that fight we had at TOPS, before you left and you were--" She cut herself off, unable to finish the sentence. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry that I accused you of that! I didn't really mean it! I knew deep down that you wouldn't cheat on me, I just, you were gone so much, and you always seemed to be with Sally, and I didn't know! I'm so, so sorry, Luke!" Her voice broke on a sob.

Luke pulled Fanny into his arms and held her tightly. "I know," he said. "Ssshhh, Fanny, it's all right. I knew you didn't really mean it. You were angry and confused and hurt, and all of that was my fault. And not just because of Sally. And we didn't have enough time in the hospital. I didn't have enough time with any of my girls, but least of all with you."

Felicia drew back. Luke, seeing a tear falling from the corner of her eye, hurriedly moved to her feet, rummaged in the breast pocket of his jacket and pulled out his hanky, and then returned to Felicia's head and gently wiped the tear away. "What happened, Luke?" she asked, her voice still shaking. "You flatlined. When Jenna and I came in..." She choked on another sob.

"Remember Dr. Beckett?" Luke asked.

"Yes," Felicia replied.

"He was on the FBI's payroll," Luke replied.

Then Felicia remembered something. "He said that you were in a light coma!" she exclaimed. "And that they didn't know if you would come out of it." Then she remembered something else. "Jamie Frame...He and Kelsey Harrison did your surgery. He said that there was a lot of damage to your heart. They didn't think you'd survive." She put a hand to her head as if to stem the tidal wave of thoughts welling up inside her. "Luke, what happened?"

"None of them were wrong," Luke began. "And Dr. Beckett was only partly lying. Sally shot me, and there was a lot of damage to my heart. For a while there, I thought I was really going to die. But then Dr. Beckett came into my room when none of the rest of you were there."

"I was in the chapel with Jenna, telling her that Lorna was our daughter," Felicia replied. "Lorna had left the hospital, and I guess she hadn't come back yet."

"Beckett told me that the FBI thought I could be saved," Luke continued. "But they would have to make it look like I had died. He injected something into my IV that would make it look like I had flatlined, and told me it would take effect in one hour. It did put me in an induced coma, and slowed my heartbeat down enough that I appeared to be dead and so I flatlined. But I wasn't really dead, obviously, just comatose."

Felicia wiped at her eyes with Luke's hanky. "So when they took you to the morgue, they didn't really take you there, did they? They sneaked you out of the hospital," she said.

"Yes, and transported me to a cardiac hospital in St. Louis under an assumed name," Luke replied. "I heard later that they dummied up an autopsy report on me."

"How long were you in the hospital?" Felicia asked.

"Almost a year," Luke replied. "Jamie wasn't exaggerating at all about my condition. I was very weak for about the first 7 months, and then I really started fighting. You can take the boy out of Gold Street, but you can't take Gold Street out of the boy," he said with a wry smile.

Felicia looked afraid. "But your heart..." she said worriedly. "If it was damaged that badly..."

"I had a heart transplant four years ago, Fanny," Luke replied. "One of the agents on my protective detail took a bullet that was meant for me. He was shot in the head. He died instantly. One of Rick's cronies got a little too close, but they got him after he killed Dexter. Freddy Dexter. He was a nice kid. Third-generation law enforcement. He was an organ donor, and we were compatible, so I got his heart. I can say without exaggeration that I have the heart of a 30-year-old man. Of course, that meant another hospital stay, this time in Georgia. A lot of rehab. But I'm all right."

"A heart transplant," Felicia echoed, having gone pale. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"I'm fine, Fanny, really," Luke replied.

Felicia shook her head as if to clear it. "I can't believe this," she said.

Luke's insides turned to ice. "You don't believe me?" he asked, bowing his head. "I guess I can't blame you for that. I certainly haven't given you any reason to."

"No, that's not what I mean," Felicia replied. "I *do* believe you, Luke." At this, Luke lifted his head. "I just...it's...I don't know the word, really, to describe how I feel about you getting all caught up in this...about losing you, and then having you come back all these years later."

"Can you forgive me, Fanny?" he asked urgently.

"I need to ask the same of you," Felicia replied, and now she was the one who bowed her head.

"What? Why?" Luke asked. "This one's all on me, Fanny. I screwed up. But as wrong as I was, I really was doing what I did for the right reasons, because all that mattered to me was protecting you and Jenna and Lorna, keeping you all safe, even though it meant I had to leave you. Not a day, not a moment went by that I didn't think of all of you. What do you think got me through all those months in the hospital, and then recovering from the transplant surgery a little over a year after that? Why do you think I fought so hard? I knew that I had to get back to you and our daughters, Fanny, somehow, someday. You and Lorna and Jenna kept me going."

Felicia's head was still bowed. "There are things you don't know, Luke," she said, her eyes burning with tears again, her cheeks flaming with embarrassment and shame. "Things that happened while you were...gone. And I just don't know if you'll be able to ever forgive me for them. Sometimes I think I haven't entirely forgiven myself."

Not letting on at all yet that Lorna had already filled him in on everything, and praying that he wasn't about to make another mistake, he gently tilted Felicia's chin up and made her look him in the eye. "You can tell me anything, Fanny," he said softly. "It won't change how much I love you, I swear it."

"This might," she said, "because when I thought you were dead, Luke, a part of me, the biggest part of me, wanted to die too, and I almost did." Felicia paused for only the space of one heartbeat before blurting out the painful truth. "I'm a drunk, Luke. The girl you loved, the strong woman that you so admired, she's just a broken-down former lush."

TO BE CONTINUED

2009-02-09T11:10:00.000-08:00

Reclaiming Forever," Part 14

"All right, then," Lorna said after she had finished outlining her plan. Cass and Frankie were on speakerphone by now since the Paradise was mostly deserted at this hour of the afternoon, Paulina was behind the bar, and Iris and Lorna were seated at the bar. "Does everyone have their parts straight?"

"We do," Cass and Frankie replied in unison.

"I know what I'm supposed to do," Iris added.

"You can count on me," Paulina agreed.

"Great!" Lorna said. "Then 'Operation: Reunite Felicia and Lucas' is officially underway." She grinned. "They're not gonna know what hit them!"

"I just hope we're not saying that at the conclusion of your grand plan, Lorna." Cass's voice came over the phone.

Lorna leaned over to speak directly into the speakerphone. "We won't be, Cass. I guarantee it," she assured him confidently.
********************************************************************************************************

Felicia was on a roll as she sat at the typewriter, the anguished confrontation between Sabrina and Lance pouring forth from her fingertips onto the keyboard and then to the paper at lightning speed when the phone rang. Without missing a beat, she yanked the cordless phone from its base, balanced it between her ear and shoulder, and continued typing. "Whoever this is, I'm in the middle of a chapter, so make it fast," she said.

"It's just me, honey," Cass replied. He looked to Frankie and mouthed "She's working."

"So she's distracted. Even better," Frankie whispered back. "Ask her."

"What is it?" Felicia was saying on the phone.

"Ah...Frankie and I were wondering if you'd like to meet us for lunch at the Paradise tomorrow," Cass replied. "We can catch up, have a grown-ups day out, kind of."

Felicia started a new paragraph. "Fine, what time?" she asked.

"What time?" Cass repeated. Frankie held up her index finger. "One?" Then she tapped the face of her watch. At Cass's puzzled look, she shoved her wrist right under his nose and tapped the number six. "Thirty!" Cass blurted. "1:30 at the Paradise tomorrow, does that work for you?"

"Yes," Felicia replied. "I'll see you then. Goodbye, Cass."

"Good--" Cass began, but Felicia hung up before he finished the word. "--bye."

"Why were you so nervous?" Frankie asked as Cass hung up the phone.

"Because this kind of scheming is not up my alley at all, Mary Frances," Cass replied. "This is more your area...and obviously Lorna's...and Wallingford would have been great at this, the way he kept trying to nudge Felicia and Mitch together."

"What do you think Wallingford would have thought of Lucas?" Frankie asked.

"I think he would have been suspicious of him at first like I was, but once he saw how happy Lucas makes Felicia, he would have been fine with it," Cass replied. "After he warned Lucas that if Lucas did anything to hurt Felicia, Wallingford would have kicked his butt to Chicago and back." Cass reached for the phone again and punched in another number.

"Lorna Devon Carlino," Lorna answered.

"It's Cass," Cass replied. "Felicia is meeting Frankie and me at the Paradise at 1:30 tomorrow afternoon."

"Perfect!" Lorna exclaimed. "Thank you, Cass, and thank Frankie for me too."

"I just hope you matchmakers know what you're doing," Cass said.

"We do," Lorna assured him confidently before disconnecting the call.
********************************************************************************************************

"Lucas, I want you to meet me at the Paradise tomorrow afternoon at 1:15 for lunch, and I won't take no for an answer," Iris said.

"Iris, I appreciate the effort, but you don't have to be the social director of my life," Lucas replied, settling back against the couch with a sigh in his voice that Iris could hear over the phone.

"Well, of course not," Iris replied. "I think it's time to overhaul Sophisticate and you were greatly responsible for getting the magazine off the ground in the first place. I want you to help me reinvent Sophisticate as we approach the 21st century."

Lucas raked a hand through his hair. He did need a job. He knew that he could work with Iris, because he'd worked with her before. And this would keep him in Bay City, not that he was going anywhere ever again without Fanny, and without Lorna and Jenna at least having knowledge of where he was if not accompanying him.

"All right, Iris, you talked me into it. 1:15 tomorrow at the Paradise," Lucas replied.

"I'll see you then, Lucas," Iris said.

Iris hung up the phone and looked to Paulina. "1:15 tomorrow. You heard it yourself," she replied.

"He certainly won't suspect anything," Paulina said. "Still, that's...well...Don't you think it's a little mean to get Lucas down here on the pretense of a job?"

"Who says it's a pretense?" Iris replied. "Sophisticate is long overdue for an overhaul, and Lucas is just the right person to help me make it cutting-edge and relevant for the millennium. We just won't get around to talking about it tomorrow, but Lucas doesn't have to know that. At least, not until it's too late."

Paulina picked up the phone. "Well, even if things don't work out with Felicia, at least Lucas will have a job," she said as she punched in a number.

"Oh, they'll work out," Iris said. "Felicia is many things, but she's not a fool. Personally, I admire Lorna for forcing the issue. Probably the only person who could get through Felicia's steel skull is Lucas, and tomorrow he'll finally have his chance." Sadness briefly flickered across Iris's face, and Paulina knew that Iris was thinking of their father.

"Iris--" Paulina began.

"Lorna Devon Carlino," Lorna answered, interrupting what Paulina had been about to say.

"Lorna, it's Paulina," Paulina replied. "Iris just called your dad. He'll be here at 1:15 tomorrow afternoon."

"Excellent!" Lorna exclaimed. "I just got off the phone with Cass. He and Frankie talked to Mom, and she'll be there at 1:30. I'll be there at 1, to meet the rest of you. You do know what to do tomorrow, right, Paulina?"

"Yes," Paulina replied. "Although I'm not sure Lucas is going to believe me. Felicia, sure, but Lucas..." She trailed off uncertainly.

"Leave Lucas to me," Iris said.

Lorna, overhearing that, couldn't hold back a scowl. "Tell your sister that's the only time I ever want to hear her talking about my father like that," she told Paulina.

Paulina silently thanked Lorna for giving Paulina the ammunition to stop Iris from sliding into a depression over Mac Cory and the one thing Iris had never been able to make up to him. "Iris, Lorna heard you a second ago, and she told me to tell you that that's the only time she ever wants to hear you talking about her father like that."

Now Iris looked disgusted. "Oh, for pete's sake!" she exclaimed, snatching the phone from Paulina's hand. "Lorna, I will tell you, as I have told your mother many times, I am NOT romantically interested in Lucas!" Paulina, leaning on the bar, raised an eyebrow at Iris in amusement. "Anymore," Iris added, glaring at Paulina, which only amused Paulina further. "I haven't been for years, and even if I were, it obviously would make no difference because the only woman your father wants is your mother, which is the purpose of this entire exercise, if I'm not mistaken, so stop wasting my time with meaningless jealousy!"

"I'm just making sure we're on the same page, Iris," Lorna replied coolly. "I'll see you at the Paradise tomorrow at 1:00."

"I'll be here!" Iris exclaimed, disconnecting the call. She looked at Paulina. "What are you smiling about?" she asked.

"Nothing," Paulina said as she began wiping down the counter. "Nothing at all."
*********************************************************************************************************

The next afternoon, Lorna watched from the alcove as Cass and Frankie arrived, followed literally two minutes later by Iris. Paulina brought them over to the alcove where Lorna was waiting. "Okay," Lorna said, checking her watch. "It's five after one. You all know what to do?" Murmurs of assent came from the group. "All right, then. Thank you all for helping me with this."

"We care about Felicia and Lucas too," Frankie assured Lorna. "We want them back together too."

"We just want them to be happy," Paulina added.

"Well, still, I appreciate your help very much," Lorna said. "And just so you all know, if one or both of my parents get angry about this whole thing, I'll take the rap. It was my idea, and I just recruited all of you to help me execute it."

"Please don't use words like 'execute,'" Cass muttered.

"Cass, relax. If anybody's getting thrown under the bus here, it's gonna be me," Lorna said. "I mean it. I'll take all the heat for this, if there's any heat to take. Mom and Daddy won't have any reason to be mad at any of you. Now, I think it's time we all move to our battle stations, don't you?"

"No last-minute huddle?" Cass asked.

"I wasn't aware we were playing football," Lorna replied.

Frankie grabbed Cass's hand. "Come on, Counselor," she said. "Where's your sense of romance?"

"I save that all for you," Cass replied as Frankie led him to an empty table set for three. Iris claimed an empty table set for two nearby, Paulina went back behind the bar, and Lorna stayed in the alcove, peeking out so that she could see the entrance to the restaurant but those entering the restaurant couldn't see her.

Lucas arrived promptly at 1:15. To lend credence to the charade that this was a working lunch, Iris had brought a few mock-ups of recent Sophisticate covers and a copy of the most recent quarterly advertising budget. Lucas greeted Cass and Frankie when he passed by their table, and they returned his greeting, not mentioning that they were there to meet Felicia. Right on cue, Paulina surreptitiously reached under the bar and killed the lights, causing everyone, including Lucas, to look up. Then she brought half the lights back on and, carrying a flashlight, hurried out from behind the bar. Lorna watched her head over to Lucas and Iris's table, waving the flashlight and gesturing towards the back, where the storeroom was located. "Come on, Daddy," Lorna said aloud softly. "Be a good sport and help Paulina with the fuses." Not 30 seconds later, Lucas rose from his chair and followed Paulina back to the storeroom. Lorna smiled to herself. As soon as Lucas and Paulina had disappeared from view of the restaurant proper, Lorna saw Felicia come through the door and head straight for Cass and Frankie's table, greeting them each with a hug before sitting down. Paulina returned a moment later, went straight to Cass and Frankie's table, and bent to ask Felicia a question. Felicia looked to Cass and Frankie, who exchanged a look, and then both looked at Felicia. This had to work. When Felicia got up and followed Paulina away from the table, headed for the storeroom, Lorna let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. As soon as they disappeared from view, Lorna left the alcove and walked as nonchalantly as possible behind the bar, then turned and headed for the hallway outside the storeroom. Once they saw Lorna heading towards the storeroom, Cass and Frankie, and Iris, abandoned their tables and followed after her.
*********************************************************************************************************

Lucas was in the storeroom of the Paradise, shining the flashlight on the fuse box and testing the breakers, when he heard the door open and heard Fanny saying, "What made you decide to change bread suppliers?"

Before Paulina could answer, he heard Iris saying, "Paulina, you have an urgent phone call!"

"Wait here for me, Felicia, I'll be right back," Paulina said.

The door closed and a few seconds later, the lights came on in the storeroom...and, Lucas strongly suspected, all over the rest of the Paradise.

Felicia turned around and saw Luke standing there with a flashlight in his hand and gasped in surprise, one hand flying to her pounding heart. "What are YOU doing here?" she demanded.

"Helping Paulina with the fuse box," Luke replied, holding up the flashlight. "What are *you* doing here, Fanny?"

"Leaving!" Felicia exclaimed. She tried the door, but it was locked. She rattled the doorknob several times, to no avail. "It's locked!" she exclaimed. She whirled to glare at Luke.

"Don't look at me," he said. "I had nothing to do with this. I was here to meet Iris for a business lunch."

"And I was here to meet Cass and Frankie for lunch," Felicia replied. "And Paulina certainly wouldn't lock me in the storeroom!"

"Well, Iris wouldn't lock me in the storeroom either!" Luke retorted.

Felicia and Luke looked at each other, and the answer came to them both in less than a minute. "Lorna!" they exclaimed in unison.

Felicia returned to the door and started pounding on it with her fist. "LORNA!" she called loudly. "Lorna, we didn't see you, but I KNOW you're out there! You open this door RIGHT NOW, young lady!"

Gathered in the alcove, Lorna and her band of conspirators exchanged looks. "Lorna," Cass said seriously, "that's a tone that I have only ever heard Felicia take with Cecile before today."

"Who's Cecile?" Lorna asked.

"You don't want to know," Frankie replied. "But Cass is right. Felicia is seriously ticked off."

"And she'll only get more seriously ticked off the longer she's locked in there with Lucas," Iris added.

But Lorna was unconcerned. "What can she do to me?" she asked the group. "Ground me? Send me to bed without supper? Forbid me to go to the Policeman's Ball with Joe? She's been mad at me before, and I'm sure she'll be mad at me again. I already promised all of you that if anyone's going to get thrown under the bus for this, I'll make sure it's me. Besides, I would rather have Mom mad at me than mad at Daddy."

"Then we're behind you," Paulina said, resting a hand on Lorna's shoulder for a moment.

"Especially once we let Felicia and Lucas out of there," Cass muttered.

Inside the storeroom, Felicia gave up her pounding and yelling. "She's not going to let us out," she said.

Luke fought his grin. "If I were her, I wouldn't let us out, either," he replied. "I really have to hand it to Lorna. She sized up the situation and then made sure to get us into a position where we have no other choice but to talk."

"You can talk. I'm getting out of here," Felicia told him.

"How, Fanny?" Luke asked. He gestured to the door. "There's only one door, which locks out from the outside. And you don't have long hair anymore like when we were kids, so you can't use a bobby pin to try and jimmy the lock from in here."

"I don't need a bobby pin. I'll use kickboxing!" Felicia exclaimed.

"Excuse me?" Luke asked, thinking he surely hadn't heard right.

Felicia was already slipping off her shoes. "Last year, when that maniac was running around town trying to kill people, one of the first people he tried to kill was Courtney Evans," she said.

"I don't know her," Luke replied.

"You wouldn't," Felicia said as she set her shoes aside and then did a few deep-knee bends and stretched first one leg and then the other. Luke watched her as she stretched and continued to talk. "She's married to Cass's brother Morgan. Anyway, after she was attacked in the hospital parking lot, Morgan insisted she take self-defense classes. When Courtney signed up for kickboxing, Frankie, Jenna, Lorna, Rachel, and I all signed up with her."

"You know how to kickbox," Luke said. It wasn't a question, but it was a statement of obvious disbelief, going by the tone in his voice.

"Yes, I do, and I'm going to break that door down and get out of here," Felicia replied. She stopped bending and stretching and then looked at him. "You don't think I can do it."

"Did I say that?" Luke asked.

"You didn't have to. I'll show you! I'm getting out of here RIGHT NOW!"

Luke then watched as Felicia faced the door, reared back, let out a yell, and slammed her right foot against the door so hard that she lost her balance and started to fall. He hurried forward and caught her before she could hit the ground.

"OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!" Felicia screamed.

"Are you all right, Fanny?" Luke asked anxiously, holding her up, her right foot off the ground so that she wasn't putting any weight on it.

"I just tried to kick down a solid oak door. What do YOU think?" she asked sarcastically.

Still holding Fanny, Luke carefully lowered them to the floor. When they were both sitting down, he gently scooted her off his lap, then took his foot carefully in both hands to see how bad the damage was. "Well, the good news is you didn't break any toenails," he began.

"No, just my ankle," Felicia replied. She hissed a breath through her teeth as Luke gently probed her ankle.

"I think it might be sprained, or more likely twisted," he said after a moment. "But I don't think anything's broken." He lifted his gaze from her foot to look into her eyes.

Felicia looked up at him through the tears of pain in her eyes. "If you laugh at me, Luke, I swear I'll kickbox you with my good foot!" she threatened.

"I'm not laughing, Fanny," he replied seriously, and even through the blur of pain-induced tears in her eyes, she could see how somber he looked. "I am ready to talk, though. And knowing Lorna, if we sit in here and say nothing for the next five days, she'll just lock us in somewhere else until we talk, so what do you say? Can we really talk now, about all of it?"

TO BE CONTINUED

2009-02-09T11:08:00.000-08:00

"Reclaiming Forever," Part 13

The day after she kissed and then smacked Luke, Felicia left TOPS after the lunch rush and went to the Paradise to talk to Paulina. The Paradise was also past their lunch rush and also quiet. Felicia walked up to the bar, and the woman behind the bar greeted her with a smile. "Hello, Ms. Gallant. What can I get you?"

"An iced tea would be great. Thank you...Annette," Felicia replied, reading her name badge.

"Lemon, sugar, mint?" Annette asked as she grabbed a glass and filled it with ice.

"Is a lemon wedge too much trouble?" Felicia asked, seating herself at the bar.

"No trouble at all," Annette assured her as she prepared the tea, floating the lemon wedge at the top of the glass with a flourish. "There you go."

"Thank you," Felicia said again. She took a sip, set her glass down, then paused and asked, "Is your boss around?"

"Mrs. McKinnon?" Annette asked. "Sure. In the back. Excuse me, and I'll go get her for you." Annette left Felicia sitting at the bar with her iced tea.

Paulina arrived a moment later. "Hi, Felicia," she greeted her. "Annette said you wanted to see me."

"Do you have time to talk, or is this a bad time?" Felicia asked.

"I've got time," Paulina replied. She took the seat next to Felicia. "Something pretty big happened with you and Lucas."

"Am I that obvious?" Felicia asked.

"No, but you have that dazed, 'what have I done and how do I get past it' look I had the morning Jake tore up the front lawn with his motorcycle," Paulina replied.

"Why did Jake tear up the front lawn with his motorcycle?" Felicia asked.

"Because he had come over, and we had talked, and one thing led to another..." Paulina trailed off. "The next morning, I freaked out. He wanted to talk, I refused to listen, we had one of our world-famous, knock-down, drag-out fights that ended with me throwing him and his clothes out the front door. And then the idiot didn't even put his clothes on! When I slammed the door in his face, all he had on were his briefs. When I heard him revving up the bike, I looked out the window, and do you know that he was on his Harley wearing nothing but his briefs, his boots, and his helmet? He'd stuffed the rest of his clothes inside the seat! I went outside and yelled at him to get dressed and get out of there, and his response was to tear the hell out of the lawn with his bike before racing off. I'm still surprised he didn't get pulled over on his way back to his place." Paulina folded her hands in front of her on the bar and regarded Felicia. "Bearing in mind that you're not only a good friend to me but you're also one of Rachel's best friends, and I consider Rachel my mother, I don't need or want a lot of details. But since you don't have a lawn for Lucas to tear up with his car, what did happen that's got you so shook up?"

"I kissed him and then I smacked him," Felicia replied. "And I really need to talk to you, Paulina, because you've been exactly where I am now, or pretty close to it. I can't go to the girls with this, because Lorna won't see past the kiss, and Jenna won't see past the smack, and I interrupted Cass and Frankie's romantic evening last night. I was so preoccupied over Luke and the kiss and the smack, I didn't even realize exactly what I'd interrupted for several minutes." She sighed. "Before you ask, I kissed Luke because he was trying to explain to me what had happened, why he left, why he let us all think he was dead...but that was only part of the reason. I wanted to kiss him, Paulina. It's been five years. And for those few seconds, it all felt so right."

"And then reality intruded and you realized that as much as you love him, you're still furious with him, and to let him know that, you smacked him," Paulina said.

"Exactly!" Felicia exclaimed.

Now it was Paulina's turn to sigh. "It's been almost a month since he came back, Felicia. Sooner or later, you're going to have to sit down with Lucas and hash everything out."

"Paulina, I'm afraid," Felicia replied, desperately searching the younger woman's eyes, willing her to understand where Felicia was coming from. "I'm afraid to trust Luke again. I'm afraid to tell him about what happened to me, and to the girls, while he was away. He'll blame himself, I know he will. Or he'll think I do, and honestly I don't."

"I know," Paulina said. "I believe you. And I understand your fears better than probably anyone else could. It was hard for me to trust Jake again." She paused, then looked Felicia right in the eyes. "If you let the walls drop, and you're not angry at Lucas anymore, then all you're left with is the fear."

"And it's a fear unlike any I have ever known," Felicia replied.

Paulina nodded. "No one can make the decision for you but you, Felicia. But even if you never trust him again, you're going to have to hash everything out with Lucas. You're going to have to get his side of things...and you're going to have to tell him yours."

Felicia ducked her head. "There's one other thing I'm afraid of....." she said softly, trailing off.

"What's that?" Paulina asked gently.

Felicia didn't look up at Paulina. "What he'll think of me when he finds out about my drinking. Luke blaming himself is only one problem. Him knowing what I did...what I said...how I hurt everyone, especially Lorna and Jenna..."

Paulina reached out and took one of Felicia's hands in both of her own. "It won't be easy," she agreed. "You and Lucas will have to forgive each other for a lot of things. I know that Jake and I had to forgive each other for a lot of things. But carrying all of this around by yourself isn't any good either, Felicia," she continued in the same gentle tone.

"I know," Felicia said. She finally looked up at Paulina. "But how do I get up the nerve to face Luke, and find the courage to hear him out and to tell him what I did and said, and what happened to our daughters, while he was gone?"

Paulina didn't know what to say to that, so she just squeezed Felicia's hand reassuringly.
**********************************************************************************************************

"This is very good for a first draft," Iris told Jenna, "but you need to tighten it up some, especially here," she pointed to the third paragraph, then shuffled pages, "and here," she pointed to another paragraph.

Jenna nodded. "What if I move this part," she tapped something on the second page with her pen, "to the third paragraph?"

"Very good, very good," Iris replied approvingly.

Suddenly the door to Iris's office flew open and Lucas burst in. "Iris, I have to talk to you right now, it's an emergency!" he exclaimed. He took three steps inside the office, then stopped short when he saw Iris and Jenna seated in Iris's visitors' chairs, looking up from a sheaf of papers that Iris was holding.

Carol, Iris's secretary, was right on Lucas's heels. "Sir, I told you, Mrs. Wheeler is in a story meeting with Mrs. Frame!" Carol then looked to Iris and Jenna. "I told him you were in a meeting, Mrs. Wheeler, but he just blew right past me and came storming in here."

"It's all right, Carol," Iris assured her.

Jenna's eyes narrowed. "Are you following me now?" she wanted to know.

"I had no idea you'd be here, I swear it!" Lucas exclaimed. "But I would like to talk to you, Jenna. Really talk, I mean."

"I have a deadline," Jenna replied. She took the papers from Iris, returned them to their file folder, then put the folder in her briefcase. "You'll have the rewrite on your desk by the end of business today," she told Iris. Then she picked up her briefcase and left Iris's office, brushing past Carol, who was still standing in the doorway, as she went.

"Carol, hold my calls," Iris said.

"Yes, Mrs. Wheeler," Carol replied, leaving Iris's office and closing the door behind her.

"I really didn't know Jenna was here," Lucas said. "I came to see you."

"I believe you," Iris replied, sitting behind her own desk again and motioning Lucas to one of the visitors' chairs. "What's happened? Have you made any progress with Felicia?"

"Yes and no," Lucas said as he sat down. "I had a great time with little Lucas yesterday, and Fanny kept her cool. So did I. But after Dean picked him up...well..."

"Well what?" Iris asked, leaning forward.

"I wanted to talk to Fanny, really talk," Lucas replied. "We started to argue, then the next thing I know she's kissing me, and then she smacks me and runs out on me." He sighed. "Jenna still isn't speaking to me, as you noticed. I can't go to Lorna with this, because I don't want her going to Fanny and the two of them getting into an argument about me. I interrupted Cass and Frankie's evening last night. Cass thought it was my payback for him and Frankie interrupting the honeymoon afternoon Fanny and I had after we got married--"

"Stop right there," Iris said. "I never need to hear about your honeymoon with Felicia, past or future. You do know why she smacked you, don't you?"

"She's scared," Lucas replied. "Cass and Frankie helped me see that." Now Lucas leaned forward in his chair. "I need to talk to her, Iris. I'm trying to be patient, but that kiss...It's been five years. I miss my wife. I miss my family. My whole family."

"I was in self-imposed exile from my family a lot longer than you were away from yours," Iris said. "And you're right, you do need to talk. But that's between you and Felicia."

Lucas sighed. "If I could just get her to listen to me, I think I could make her understand why I did what I did. I don't even care if she smacks me again. I really don't. I deserve that and worse. But we're not going to get anywhere until we really talk, and I honestly don't know how to get Fanny to talk to me, and to listen to what I have to say and really hear it."

Iris leaned back in her chair, knowing she had to tread lightly not only because of how Felicia and Lorna felt about her, but also because of her own past with Lucas, and the fact that Iris had no idea what, if anything, about Felicia's drinking Lucas knew. "Surely there were times in the past when you were together and Felicia was scared," Iris said.

"Two 17-year-olds from one of the roughest neighborhoods in Chicago who found out they were going to be parents...Our pictures should have been in the dictionary next to the word 'terrified,'" Lucas replied. "But we leaned on each other back then."

"What about more recently?" Iris inquired. "What about when you came back into Felicia's life? Or during your marriage?"

"It wasn't the same kind of fear," Lucas said, "but Fanny was worried about the kind of mother she'd be to Jenna when Jenna came into our lives. Worried about how I'd take having an instant teenage daughter. And of course everything with Lorna as soon as Fanny made the connection with the mercury dime..." Lucas trailed off then. "But there again, it was nothing we couldn't talk out. Right now, she's too scared to even talk to me. Cass and Frankie are right. So how do I get Fanny to stop being afraid long enough to talk to me?"

"If I knew, I'd tell you," Iris replied.

"Yeah," Lucas said, clasping his hands and resting his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward. "But you don't know, and I don't know...does anyone?"

Iris could only look at Lucas sympathetically in reply.
**********************************************************************************************************

Jenna was typing away at her keyboard--Dean had taken Lucas to the park to play so neither of them would be underfoot while Jenna was on deadline--when the doorbell rang.

"Just a minute!" Jenna called as she rose from her desk chair. She finished her paragraph, saved the document, then hurried to the door. "What, did my men forget something?" she asked as she threw the door open. The smile on her face abruptly died when she saw Lorna standing on the other side and not, as she had thought, Dean and little Lucas. "Did he send you over here?" she demanded.

"Who?" Lorna asked.

"Lucas," Jenna replied.

"No, he didn't," Lorna said. "Did you see him?"

"He showed up at Cory to see Iris in the middle of our story meeting," Jenna replied. "I'm on a deadline, so I have to get going." She started to close the door, but Lorna blocked it with her foot.

"You're going to have to talk to Daddy at some point," Lorna said.

"Well, it's not going to be today," Jenna replied.

"Well, when IS it going to be?" Lorna pressed as she threw her weight against the door and forced her way into Dean and Jenna's house.

"Get off my back, Lorna!" Jenna warned her angrily.

"You blew up at him at my wedding, and you haven't spoken to him since, have you?"
Lorna challenged.

"I would think that would thrill you," Jenna said, glaring at Lorna. "You get to be the good daughter now, because you're the one talking to him and having lunch with him and trying to push him and Mom back together, and I'm the heartless little brat who's giving him the silent treatment."

Lorna sighed as she closed the front door and then turned to face Jenna again. "You know, once upon a time, it would have thrilled me, Jenna. But not anymore. Because believe it or not, you're my sister, he's our father, I love both of you, and not having you in his life is hurting him. But he insists that the first move has to be yours. So the ball's in your court, little sister."

"I'll talk to him when I'm ready to talk to him, Lorna!" Jenna shouted.

"And will that be before or after Hell freezes over?" Lorna wanted to know.

In response, Jenna grabbed Lorna and shook her. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" she screamed.

"OW!" Lorna yelled in pain as Jenna caught hold of her hair and pulled at it. "What the hell--JENNA! LET GO OF MY HAIR!" Lorna managed to pry Jenna's hands off of her, then shove her backward and away from her. Jenna's face was red with anger, and Lorna's was pinched with pain. "Are you crazy?!" Lorna demanded to know. "If Lucas ever did that, you'd put him in a time out so fast..."

"Well, Lucas didn't pull your hair, Lorna! I DID!"

"Oh, VERY mature. A married mother of a two-year-old, pulling her sister's hair because she's mad." Lorna touched the back of her head. "I think you pulled out a chunk!"

"Oh, stop being so melodramatic!" Jenna said.

"I'M melodramatic?!" Lorna asked incredulously. "You're the one that's avoiding Daddy like the plague, and I'M melodramatic?"

"He LIED to us, Lorna! He let us think he was dead!" Jenna shouted.

"I know, Jenna. I was there! But he's BACK now." Lorna shouted right back.

"And you can just forgive him for that?" Jenna asked.

"Yes, I can," Lorna replied firmly. "I'm a little disappointed that you can't. Isn't that what the nuns preached to you all those years at the convent? Forgiveness? Turning the other cheek?"

" Well, I slept with my boyfriend, made a porn flick, and got pregnant out of wedlock, so stop with all the nun stuff already," Jenna replied. "As you can see, I didn't learn much from the convent."

"Oh, you want to drag the porn tape into this now?" Lorna asked. "That's just FINE! But if you would just talk to our father, you'd have a much better understanding about that whole thing, and the part it played in everything that's happened to our family both then and now."

"What are you talking about, Lorna?" Jenna asked, the glare on her face turning to a puzzled frown. "What does that tape have to do with why Lucas let us think he was dead for five years?"

"Oh no. You want to know, you're gonna have to to ask Daddy yourself!" Lorna exclaimed.

"NOW who's being immature?" Jenna retorted.

"I already told you, when it comes to you and Daddy, the ball is in your court," Lorna said. "If you want to go on hurting him--"

"ME hurt HIM?" Jenna asked incredulously. "That's it! Get out of my house! Right now! I have work to do, and I'm NOT going to talk about this with you anymore, Lorna!"

Lorna held up her hands. "You want me to leave? I'll leave," she said. But when she got to the front door, she turned back and looked at Jenna. "You know, even though Daddy's back now, you still had two years with him that I didn't have, and that I'm never gonna get. Both of us came into his life when we were more or less grown up, but he loved you from the start and he's always been proud of you, and he let you know that every chance he had. Doesn't that count for anything with you? Or are you that bitter that you can't realize what an incredible gift it is to have him back and to make that really count?" Lorna then stormed out of the house, slamming the front door behind her.

Jenna sank to the floor where she was as the impact of Lorna's words fully hit her. For the first time since Lucas's return, Jenna realized she had a serious decision to make. She could either go on punishing the only father she'd ever known--the father who taught her to drive, didn't blame her when she totaled his car only weeks after getting her driver's license, went out and bought her the prom dress she really wanted to surprise her after she initially passed it up because she thought it was too expensive, encouraged her dancing, and finally accepted Dean as the man she loved after all the times he tried to throw Dean out of her life, and did throw Dean out of their house.

Or she could let go of her anger and all the pain she'd learned to live with in the last five years, and let the father she had loved and missed all this time back into her life...and into the life of her son, whom she named for him.

Jenna never did know how long she sat there. When Dean and little Lucas came in from the park, she was still sitting on the floor. Lucas was riding on his father's shoulders. Dean stopped in his tracks and braced Lucas's legs against his chest with his hands when they saw Jenna sitting on the floor.

"Jen?" Dean asked anxiously.

"Mommy?" little Lucas asked, his tone of voice mirroring his father's.

Jenna looked up at her husband and son. "Lorna was here," she said. "I think...I mean, I... Well, first I have to finish this article, and then I have to..." She trailed off. Dean knelt down beside Jenna, little Lucas still on his shoulders. Jenna met his concerned gaze. "Have I been wrong, Dean? To not forgive my father, to not talk to him?"

"You're the only one who can answer that question, honey," Dean said gently. "I'm guessing Lorna thinks you've been wrong?"

"Yeah," Jenna said. "Only now she's got me thinking that maybe I've been wrong too."

Dean regarded his wife for a moment. "I'll take care of dinner," he said. "You finish your article and get it sent in, and after this guy," Dean lifted Lucas off his shoulders and set him on his feet next to him, "is tucked in, we can talk about this...if you want to talk about it, I mean."

"I do," Jenna said. "I really do." She leaned forward, kissed little Lucas, and then kissed Dean.
**********************************************************************************************************

"Felicia's definitely scared," Paulina confirmed. Shortly after Felicia had left the Paradise, Iris had come in, and she and Paulina were swapping details about their respective meetings with Felicia and Lucas.

"That seems to be the consensus," Iris agreed. "But until she talks to Lucas, they aren't going to get anything settled."

"That's what I told Felicia," Paulina replied. "But I couldn't tell her how to get past the feeling of being scared to open up to Lucas."

"I couldn't tell Lucas how to get Felicia to stop being scared long enough to talk to him, either," Iris said.

"Why are you two talking about my parents?" Lorna asked. Iris and Paulina both turned to look at Lorna, and she was staring at them with a frown.

"We've been trying to help them," Iris said. "You know that I've been a friend to your father, Lorna."

"And I've been here for Felicia," Paulina said. "I went through a very similar situation to hers myself, with Jake. And after what happened last night--"

"Paulina!" Iris said sharply.

"What happened last night?" Lorna asked, looking back and forth between the two women.

"It's not our place to tell you," Iris said.

"Iris is right," Paulina added quickly.

"If something happened with my parents, don't you think I have the right to know?" Lorna asked.

Iris and Paulina exchanged a look. Then Paulina looked to Lorna. "Your mother and father kissed last night," she said.

"They WHAT?!" Lorna exclaimed. "Who initiated it--Felicia or Lucas?"

"Your mother," Iris replied.

"Mom? Mom kissed Daddy? Why am I just now finding out about this? And finding out about it third-hand?" Lorna asked.

"Because after she kissed him, Felicia slapped him," Paulina said. "And Felicia knew if she told you, you'd only focus on the kiss, not the smack."

"And Lucas didn't want to get your hopes up," Iris added. "They both wound up going to Cass and Frankie's last night, interrupting some romantic evening the two of them were having. Lucas didn't come to see me, and Felicia didn't come to see Paulina, until today. In spite of the kiss, they obviously still have a long way to go."

"Maybe not as long as you think, Iris," Lorna said. The wheels began to turn in her mind, and she looked deep in thought but at the same a slow smile spread across her face as Paulina and Iris both regarded her.

"What's that look for?" Paulina asks suspiciously.

"She's plotting something," Iris said. "I know that look. I've seen it in the mirror a thousand times."

Lorna's smile grew wider as she continued to stare into the distance, talking all the while. "The whole problem is that they won't just sit down and hash everything out. Mom kissing Daddy PROVES that I've been right all along, and she DOES still love him! Now enough is enough. They obviously need a push, and who better to give it to them than me?" Then she looked at Paulina and Iris. "With a little help from both of you. Paulina, can I use the phone?"

Paulina placed the phone on the counter. Lorna picked it up and punched in a number. Iris and Paulina watched Lorna with interest as she opened her mouth and spoke. "Hello, Frankie? It's Lorna. Listen, I need you and Cass to help me out with something for Mom and Daddy, can I come over tonight to talk to you about it when Cass gets home from work?"

"He's home now, Lorna. He took the day off," Frankie replied.

"Great! Tell him to pick up the extension, or to share the phone with you. And hurry," Lorna replied.

"Lorna?" Cass asked a few seconds later.

"You still there too, Frankie?" Lorna asked.

"I'm still here," Frankie replied.

"How would you like to NOT have my mother and father interrupt another romantic evening for you two?" Lorna asked.

"What did you have in mind?" Cass asked.

"A complex yet simple plan that will require the two of you to help me, Paulina McKinnon, and Iris Wheeler make my parents talk everything out once and for all," Lorna replied. "Are you in?"

"What does it involve?" Frankie asked.

"And is it legal?" Cass added.

"Technically, yes, it's legal," Lorna replied. "But even if they would decide to press charges, Cass, you're a lawyer, and I'm married to the police captain, so I think we could get out of it."

"Let's hear it," Cass said.

Lorna leaned on the bar so that Paulina and Iris would be able to hear her too, and began, "Well, it's like this..."

TO BE CONTINUED

2009-02-09T11:05:00.000-08:00

Reclaiming Forever," Part 12

Cass checked the nightlight in the baby's room, then stood at the railing of the crib and watched Wally sleeping in the nightlight's dim, soothing glow. Just a little over two months old, and he was already in his crib and happier there than in the bassinet in Cass and Frankie's bedroom. It had been a week and a half since Wally had started sleeping in the crib every night, and he had made the adjustment easily. Thanks to Wally's own lung power, and the nursery monitor, the little lad's parents always came quickly when he needed them in the middle of the night. Frankie was taking the change in stride, but Cass was having a harder time with it, probably because of Charlie being so ill as a baby. Wally had been born perfectly healthy, without the heart defect Charlie had inherited from Cass, or anything else wrong with him either. But the four people on the planet that Cass was the most fiercely protective were Frankie, Charlie, baby Wally, and Felicia. Cass smiled at his sleeping son, who snuffled softly in his sleep. "Sweet dreams, Wally," he whispered, kissing his fingertips, then gently brushing them across the boy's forehead.

Cass exited the nursery, leaving the door ajar and carrying the listening end of the baby monitor with him, then ducked into Charlie's room to check on her. The little girl was sound asleep, her red hair, the exact same shade as Frankie's, fanned out across her white pillow, her picture-book copy of Beauty and the Beast, her new favorite story after the family's recent discussion about girls saving boys, at the foot of her bed. She was starting to recognize words from the story, and Cass had the feeling that Charlie was on track not only to look like her beautiful, intelligent mother, but to inherit Frankie's brains (Frankie's IQ was, after all, 162) as well. Charlie had kicked the covers off, so Cass recovered her, bent to kiss her still-slightly-chubby cheek, then tiptoed out of the room, also leaving her door ajar.

Then he went downstairs, nursery monitor in hand. "Okay, the kids are both sound asleep, and..." Cass trailed off as he entered the living room, which had been transformed while he was going through first Wally's and then Charlie's bedtime routines. Candles were lit all over the room, providing the only light. Cass recognized Jim Brickman's New Age piano instrumental sounds floating softly from the stereo. A bottle of champagne stood in an ice bucket next to the coffee table by the window seat, and on the table rested two empty champagne flutes waiting to be filled, and beside the flutes, a tray of fruit, bread, and cheese, including a big bowl of strawberries.

And standing next to a large quilt spread out on the floor adjacent to the coffee table, in her stocking feet, her hair down from the ponytail she'd been wearing all day, was Frankie. She beamed at her husband and held out her hand. Wordlessly, Cass crossed the room to her and took her hand. "Well, now I know why you wanted me to get the kids bedded down by myself tonight," he said. For one second, he looked panicked. "Did I forget something? I know it's not our August anniversary, that was two weeks ago."

"Relax, Counselor, you didn't forget anything," Frankie soothed, squeezing his hand. "I just thought it was time we had a Date Night. It has been a while, you know...our August anniversary being the one exception."

Cass bent to park the nursery monitor on the coffee table behind the tray of food. "That's true," he said as he straightened up. Then he took Frankie's other hand in his now-free hand. "Am I a jerk for not thinking of something like this for you?"

Frankie shook her head. "Next time, you'll surprise me. Tonight, I'm surprising you." She tugged gently on Cass's hands. "Let's sit down."

Cass toed off his loafers, then kicked each one to the corner of the living room, and he and Frankie settled themselves on the quilt. Cass popped open the champagne, quietly so the cork wouldn't wake the kids, and poured some into each flute. Frankie, meanwhile, plucked the bowl of strawberries from the tray, set it on the quilt, and when Cass turned to hand her her glass of champagne, she was waiting with a strawberry. Cass smiled as she fed him the strawberry. "Mmmm...." he murmured. "Organic?" he asked after swallowing.

"That's the only way to go," Frankie replied, accepting her champagne glass from Cass.

Cass grinned. "Indeed it is, Mary Frances," he said. He dipped a strawberry in Frankie's champagne glass, then fed it to her, and watched raptly as she closed her eyes, savoring the flavors of the berry and the champagne. "How is it possible?" Cass murmured, not even aware that he'd spoken the words instead of just thought them.

"How is what possible?" Frankie asked. Cass started as if coming out of a trance, and found Frankie looking at him, mild concern playing across her face, her strawberry eaten.

Cass leaned closer, setting his champagne on the table. "How is it possible after eight years of knowing you, and seven years of loving you and, for most of that time, being together, that you still amaze and surprise me, and you still make my heart pound and take my breath away, Mary Frances?" He paused for only a second, then continued, as Frankie set her champagne glass next to his on the table and turned to focus all of her attention on him once more, "I didn't even know I said it, I was just thinking it. I already know the answer."

"What is the answer?" Frankie asked softly, entwining her fingers with Cass's, bringing their joined hands to her lips, and gently, just barely, kissing the back of his hand.

"Love," Cass replied just as softly, tucking an errant strand of Frankie's hair behind her ear, and then closing his eyes and touching his forehead to hers. He knew that Frankie's eyes were also closed now, and he could feel her breath on his face, her fingers twined with his. "The longer we're together, the more I love you. I never stopped falling, and I never will."

"That's the same feeling I have," Frankie replied. She drew back, so Cass opened his eyes and watched Frankie watching him intently. "I look at you, when you're sleeping, or when you're poring over a case file, or when you're playing with Charlie, or rocking Wally to sleep, or doing any of a million other things...and it hits me all over again that I'm still falling in love with you, Cass. There's always some new, grand adventure, or some unexpected problem or crisis, and you're the one I want to live my life with, no matter what's going on, and I want that even more now than I did when we were first starting out. I mean, there was never a time I didn't want it, but it's all just so much..."

"Stronger," Cass said.

"Yes!" Frankie exclaimed softly. "And deeper."

"So much deeper," Cass agreed. He stroked Frankie's cheek gently with the back of his hand. "'Grow old along with me, the best is yet to be,'" he said.

"Robert Browning or Mary Chapin-Carpenter?" Frankie asked.

"I was actually thinking John Lennon," Cass replied. "But technically, all three of them said it, or sang it, at some point."

Cass scooted a little closer, and Frankie leaned a little further forward, and their arms went around each other, and they met in a kiss that quickly grew heated. Frankie was wearing a short-sleeved shirt unbuttoned over her tank top, and Cass managed to remove the shirt. Frankie gently pushed Cass backwards until he was lying flat on his back on the quilt, and he pulled her on top of them, and they continued kissing all the while, completely caught up in one another...

...which is why they didn't hear the four quick, sharp knocks at their front door.

It is also why they didn't immediately hear the click of the key in the lock, and why they were startled when they heard high heels clicking across the hardwood floor at a rapid pace.

Felicia, confused and uncertain and needing to talk to her best friend after what had just happened between her and Luke, was so preoccupied that she didn't even notice what Cass and Frankie were doing. She just walked up to the edge of the quilt and blurted out, "I kissed Luke! And then I smacked him one! I think I'm losing my mind!"

Frankie quickly rolled off of Cass, and Cass started frantically trying to rebutton his shirt and smooth out the wrinkles in it. "Felicia!" he exclaimed breathlessly. "How did you get in here?"

"I used my key, you know, the one you two gave me for emergencies? And THIS is an emergency!" Felicia exclaimed. She still didn't notice the candlelight, strawberries, champagne, or soft music, or the fact that Frankie was now fumbling to put her shirt back on.

"What emergency?" Cass asked. Then he noticed Frankie's shirt. "Frankie, your shirt's inside out," he said in a stage whisper.

Frankie yelped, then hurriedly started yanking her sleeves right-side-out again before donning the shirt.

Again, Felicia noticed none of this. "Didn't you hear what I said? I just kissed Luke! And then smacked him across the face! I mean, I kissed him! And the smack..." She looked down at Cass worriedly. "If he presses assault charges, will you be my lawyer?"

"This really isn't the best time, Felicia," Cass said, looking quickly from Felicia, to the nearest burning candles, to Frankie, and back to Felicia, hoping Felicia would connect the dots.

"Felicia," Frankie interjected, smoothing her hands through her tousled hair, "Lucas is not going to press assault charges against you."

"I don't even know why I hit him!" Felicia exclaimed.

"Well, why did you kiss him?" Frankie asked.

Cass just looked at his wife. "Frankie!" he exclaimed.

"We have to help her, Cass!" Frankie exclaimed right back.

"Now???!" Cass asked incredulously.

Felicia didn't seem to hear Cass, because she didn't acknowledge him, and she also didn't connect the dots about what she interrupted when she came barging in. "Why did I kiss Luke?" she asked, looking to Frankie. "Because he wanted to talk about why he left,

and I didn't want to hear it."

"Why didn't you want to hear it?" Frankie asked gently.

"I don't believe this," Cass muttered. Frankie nudged his leg with her foot, and he shut up.

Felicia looked at Frankie helplessly. "I don't know!" she wailed.

"I think you do," Frankie replied. "You didn't want to hear what Luke had to say because if you hear him out, you might not be angry at him anymore. And if you're not angry at him anymore, what are you left with?"

Felicia thought for a moment, and then her shoulders drooped. "Fear," she said. "If I'm not angry at Luke, then I'm afraid."

"Okay, we have a breakthrough!" Cass exclaimed. "Thanks for stopping by! And using your key without asking! Next time, call first. Please!"

Frankie gave Cass a dirty look and said, "Cass," through clenched teeth.

It was then that Felicia looked around and realized just what she had interrupted. Then she looked mortified. "Oh no!" she said. "Oh, I'm SO sorry, I had no idea...I should go. I'll call you tomorrow morning." Felicia turned and headed for the door.

Frankie arched an eyebrow at Cass. Cass did his best to conceal his sigh (and Felicia didn't hear it, but Frankie did), and called, "No, wait, Felicia. You need to talk, and you're here, so you might as well stay."

"No, I'll go. Really. It can wait until morning," Felicia insisted. "I know what the problem is now, or some of it anyway. You're right, Frankie. I'm afraid of not being angry at Luke anymore because if I'm not angry, then I'm afraid. I need to think about this some more. Alone. You two just--just go back to what you were doing. Forget I was even here. I'll talk to you tomorrow." And with that, Felicia left, and Cass and Frankie were alone again, listening to Felicia lock the front door and the sound of her high heels retreating down their front walk.

"Cass," Frankie said.

"I know, I know, I'm a terrible best friend," Cass replied, putting his hands up in surrender. "But it's been so long since I've had you all to myself--"

"Two weeks. Our August anniversary, remember?" Frankie interrupted.

"An eternity," Cass replied. "I wait for moments like this...daydream about them...plan for them. Okay, so you planned this one, but...what?" Cass asked, not finishing his original thought because Frankie was laughing.

"You know something, Counselor? You're kinda cute when you're desperate," Frankie said, a gleam in her eyes.

"Only 'kinda' cute?" Cass asked.

"Oh, what am I going to do with you?" Frankie asked, shaking her head, but with a smile on her face.

"Anything you want," Cass replied. Now he was the one with a gleam in his eyes.

Laughing softly, Frankie launched herself at Cass then, and they were once again wrapped in each other's arms, kissing passionately, Cass flat on his back on the quilt, Frankie lying on top of him, and Cass had one of her arms out of her sleeve, when they were interrupted again, this time by a flurry of ringing bells. Frankie sat up and tried to get her sleeve untwisted and her arm back in her sleeve as Cass, still flat on his back on the quilt, just grinned up at her and said, "You still make me hear bells when you kiss me, Mary Frances."

"That's the doorbell, Cass," Frankie replied, finally getting her arm through the sleeve and standing up, then heading toward the door.

Cass sat up. "Frankie, no!" he hissed. "Don't answer it! It's dark out there, it's dark in here except for the candles...Whoever it is will never know we're here, and they'll go away!"

"Whoever it is is gonna wake the kids in about two seconds!" Frankie hissed back as she looked over her shoulder at Cass. She opened the door. "Lucas!" she exclaimed.

Cass fell backward on the quilt again with a groan. "This is payback," he said, staring up at the ceiling.

"Frankie, I'm sorry to come by so late and so unexpectedly," Lucas said as Frankie stood aside so he could enter the house. "I didn't wake up your kids, did I?"

"No, but you're killing our evening," Cass grumbled. Then he sat up again and turned to frown at Lucas. "This is payback for when we interrupted your honeymoon afternoon, isn't it? You can level with me, Lucas."

"Payback?" Lucas asks, confused. Then he realized what Cass must mean. "Wait, Fanny was here?" he asked. "Then you know? What did she say?"

"Could I interest you in some leftover strawberries? Perhaps a glass of rapidly warming champagne?" Cass offered sarcastically.

"She kissed you and then she smacked you," Frankie told Lucas. They were standing just inside the door, and Cass was sitting on the quilt and glaring at Lucas.

"Did she say why?" Lucas asked anxiously.

"Why she smacked you?" Frankie asked.

"Why she kissed me! I mean, she kissed me, Frankie! I've been waiting for this!" Lucas exclaimed.

"Not nearly as long as I've been waiting for my wife to kiss me tonight without interruption," Cass said pointedly, still glaring at Lucas.

Then Lucas got it. "Ohhh," he said, drawing out the single syllable. "Oh. Oh, boy. Oh, I am sorry, Cass, Frankie."

"Don't worry about it," Frankie replied. "You're our friends and we're here for you."
.
"Did you hang out the 'Open 24 Hours' sign without telling me, Frankie?" Cass asked.

"Cass, they're in crisis!" Frankie exclaimed.

"Then let THEM talk it out, so you and I can...you know...not talk," Cass replied beseechingly.

Frankie looked at Cass. "Okay, the 'kinda cute when desperate' thing? It's starting to lose its appeal."

"I'll come back tomorrow," Lucas said then. "I had no idea you had...plans for this evening. Again, I'm sorry I interrupted you."

Cass sighed and stopped glaring at Lucas, relaxing his expression so that he was just looking at the older man. "She's scared, Lucas," Cass informed Lucas. "That's why she kissed you, and it's also why she smacked you one."

"She's scared," Lucas repeated. Then the light bulb went off for him. "She's scared!" he repeated in an "oh-I-get-it-now" tone of voice. "Of course! She thinks she's gonna lose me again."

"That would be my guess," Cass said.

"Mine too," Frankie added.

"But it's all over now," Lucas insisted. "Rick is dead, I didn't kill him--which I told everybody a million times five years ago--Sally's in jail, so are Rick's cronies, it's all over. I'm never going to leave Fanny again!"

"That's what you have to make her believe," Frankie said.

"You have to earn back Felicia's trust, Lucas," Cass added. "She has good reason to be scared."

Lucas nodded. "You're right. You're both right. I have to prove to Fanny that she can count on me and she can believe in me again, and that I'm never going to leave her for anything. Thank you." Then Lucas left.

Frankie closed and locked the front door behind Lucas. She returned to the quilt then, and Cass was sitting up, staring at his sock-clad feet stretched out in front of him. "I locked the door," Frankie said.

"What, there were no Amway distributors or Jehovah's Witnesses lurking in the bushes?" Cass asked. "No Avon ladies with insomnia or overzealous Girl Scouts wanting to get a jump on cookie selling season?"

"No," Frankie replied as she crossed the room, sat down beside him, and stretched her legs out in front of her too. "It's finally just you and me."

Cass looked up at the ceiling. Frankie followed his gaze, and after a long moment, she asked, "What are we looking at?"

"I'm just waiting for Wally to start crying, or Charlie to wake up wanting a glass of water," Cass replied, eyes still on the ceiling.

"If we're really quiet, I bet they won't even stir," Frankie said as she scooted closer to Cass's side.

"That would be a--" Cass began, but he was cut off when Frankie grabbed his face in her hands and kissed him long and hard. After several seconds, his arms went around her of their own accord, and the kiss continued until the need for oxygen overcame them.

After breaking the kiss, Frankie rested her forehead against Cass's again. "What was that for?" Cass asked breathlessly.

Her eyes still closed, their foreheads still touching, Frankie replied, equally breathlessly, "Just a little trick I picked up from this guy I'm crazy in love with." She drew back, and when Cass opened his eyes, she was looking at him and she continued with a smile, "I had to get you to shut up somehow."

Cass grinned, remembering the times he had used the same technique and the same words on Frankie when she had been upset, frustrated, or rambling about something. Then he recalled the first time he had done this with Frankie, and he eagerly asked, "Is it time for another moment of silence?"

Laughing, Frankie pulled Cass into her arms, and this time she was the one who fell backwards onto the quilt, Cass lying on top of her, and when they started kissing again, this time nothing and no one interrupted them for four whole hours, until Wally awoke needing his diaper changed.

TO BE CONTINUED

2009-02-09T11:02:00.000-08:00

Reclaiming Forever," Part 11

Lorna's eyes darted back and forth between Lucas and Felicia as they stood staring at each other in silence. Lucas finally broke the silence: "I meant what I said, Fanny. I'm not going anywhere. My being back in my old apartment is a big part of my proving that to you, to all of you."

Lorna's gaze swung back to Felicia, who looked disconcerted at Luke's announcement. She shook her head as if to clear it and said, "Lucas wants to see you."

"He does?" Luke asked hopefully. "And Jenna and Dean are okay with it?"

"With a few conditions," Felicia replied. "I have to be there, we can't fight, and you cannot lie to him."

"Why would I lie to our grandson?" Luke asked.

"I still don't know why you lied to ME!" Felicia exclaimed. Then, regaining control of herself, she continued, "But those are the conditions. Take it or leave it."

"I'll take it," Luke replied before Felicia had even finished speaking. "When and where?"

"When and where?" Felicia repeated. "Ah...tomorrow afternoon, 2:00, my apartment?"

"I'll be there," Luke said firmly. "I'll be there at 1:30." Lorna looked at her father again and saw hope and excitement mingling in his eyes. "Will Jenna and Dean be there too?" he asked.

"No," Felicia replied. "Jenna's not ready to see you yet."

Luke couldn't conceal his disappointment completely. "But she is letting Lucas see me," he said. It was half-question, half-statement.

"He asked to see you," Felicia said. "We went over to Cass and Frankie's today, and he thought that we were going to see you. You really have Dean to thank for this, because Dean promised Lucas that we would talk it over and get it set up and then he could see you. And Dean always keeps his promises to his family."

Luke knew that Felicia didn't add, "Unlike you," but he also knew she was thinking it. So did Lorna.

"I have to get upstairs to TOPS," Felicia said, pushing the button for the elevator then. "I'll call Jenna and Dean from there and arrange everything for tomorrow afternoon."

"I'll be there," Luke repeated as Felicia boarded the elevator.

"I'll call you later, Mom," Lorna added.

"Fine," Felicia said with a nod as the elevator doors slid closed.

After Felicia was on her way upstairs, Lorna turned to look at her father again. "Lucas wants to see me," he said in amazement.

Lorna grinned. "He's a great kid. You're gonna love him," she said.

"I already do," Luke replied. "And now I get to...I really get to spend some time with him, and get to know him."

Lorna put an arm around her father's shoulders. "See? It's a start. You've got me on your side, and little Lucas. The others will come around, Daddy."

Luke smiled, and inside, he prayed that Lorna was right, and that the others would come around...and sooner rather than later. He had already missed five years with his family and he didn't want to miss anything more.
*********************************************************************************************************

Iris sat on Lucas's couch the next afternoon, idly thumbing through the latest issue of Brava. "Well?" Lucas asked. She looked up to see him standing by the fireplace wearing tan linen slacks and a white oxford dress shirt with a coordinating yellow-and-tan-striped tie.

"Speaking as someone who's been a grandparent for almost five years, I strongly advise against wearing anything light-colored around anyone aged newborn to five," Iris replied. "And this is a two-year-old child, Lucas, not someone you're taking out for a business lunch. You really don't need to wear a tie."

Lucas fumbled with the knot of his tie, his palms slick with sweat. "You're right," he said. "But most of my wardrobe is light-colored. You really think the tan pants are a bad idea?"

Iris gestured to her own emerald green skirted suit. "I'm not wearing this because it's the height of summer fashion this year," she replied. "At least, that's not the main reason I'm wearing it. You don't have a pair of blue jeans?"

Lucas made a face. "I haven't worn blue jeans since I was 17," he said. Then he paused, considering. "Do you think I have time to go out and buy a pair?"

Iris shook her head with an amused smile. "I've never seen you so nervous," she said. "He isn't going to care what you're wearing, Lucas. He just wants to see you."

Lucas finally got his tie undone and yanked it off. He caught a look at his watch as his hand holding the tie came down. "It's already ten after one!" he exclaimed. "I'd better go change!" He hurried back into the bedroom.

Iris, still wearing her amused smile, was about to resume her seat when there was a knock at Lucas's front door. "I'll get it, Lucas!" she called. She strode to the door and opened it. "Lorna! Come in," Iris said.

Lorna entered her father's apartment. "Iris, what are you doing here?" she demanded.

Before Iris could answer, Lucas returned to the living room. "Okay, these are the darkest clothes I own that aren't black, because it's just too hot for--Lorna, hi." Lucas stopped and looked at Lorna and Iris uncertainly. He was wearing a pair of navy blue Dockers and a light blue button-down shirt with white stripes with the sleeves rolled to his elbows.

"Hi, Daddy," Lorna greeted her father. She could tell he was nervous, so, for the moment, she put aside thoughts of delivering a verbal smackdown to Iris Wheeler.

"How do I look?" Lucas asked, momentarily shifting his attention to Iris.

Iris smiled yet again, but this time it was with warmth, and no trace of amusement at all. "You look like a grandfather," she replied.

Lucas smoothed a hand down the front of his shirt. "So it's okay?"

"It's perfect," Lorna assured her father.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Lucas exclaimed. He hurried to the closet by the front door, opened it, retrieved something from the top shelf, and then turned to face Lorna and Iris again. "I got him this," he said, holding up a toy fire engine in a box. "You said he loves fire engines. I remembered that right, didn't I?"

Lorna's heart melted at the sight of her father so nervous about spending time with little Lucas. "Yeah, he does," she said. She crossed the room so that she was standing in front of her father.

"Okay, good," Lucas said. "Because I wouldn't want to get him something that he hates. I want him to--"

"Daddy!" Lorna exclaimed loudly. Shocked, Lucas trailed off and looked right at her. "Breathe," she said. Lucas nodded, swallowed hard, then took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Little Lucas will love this fire engine," Lorna said. "But...well..."

"What? What?" Lucas asked anxiously.

"Well, since Jenna and Dean are being...not the most reasonable people in the world right now, especially Jenna, I was just wondering if maybe...well, maybe they might think you were trying to buy little Lucas's affections," Lorna said haltingly.

The realization hit Lucas like a ton of bricks. "You're right," he said. "I would never do that! But I don't want Jenna and Dean to think I'm doing that. So okay, no fire engine today. I'll save it. For Christmas. Christmas is coming up in a few months, right?" Lucas went back to the closet and returned the fire engine to the shelf. "That's good thinking, Lorna," he said. "Your mother might see it that way too, and God knows she's angry enough at me as it is."

"But she's going to be there today," Lorna reminded him. "That's progress."

"She's going to be there because Jenna and Dean don't want me to be alone with my grandson. We both know that," Lucas said.

"But Mom is still going to be there," Lorna replied. "This is a good thing, Daddy. Besides, little Lucas has her wrapped around his little finger. She won't blow up at you in front of him. And who knows? Maybe she'll even take a lesson from the kid and remember why she adores you."

"My daughter the optimist," Lucas said, gesturing to Lorna but looking at Iris.

Iris approached them then. "I remember when Dennis came out of the delivery room in his scrubs, carrying that tiny pink-blanket-wrapped bundle," she said. "I was such a wreck, I was trembling. But he put her in my arms and stood behind me and wrapped his arms around me so he was holding both of us while I was holding my granddaughter for the first time, and he said, 'Mother, I'd like you to meet your granddaughter, Sarah Iris Wheeler.' And when I looked into her little face for the first time, I realized that I could do this, that I could be the kind of grandmother that that little girl deserved. And the same thing will happen for you and little Lucas today, I just know it." Iris smiled at Lucas encouragingly.

Lucas looked at his watch again. "Well, it's time I got upstairs," he said.

Lorna hugged her father fiercely. "Everything will be fine," she whispered in his ear. Then she drew back and straightened the collar of Lucas's shirt, which didn't really need straightening. "Call me later and let me know how it went, okay?"

"I will," Lucas promised.

"Have a good time with your grandson," Iris said.

Lucas smiled, but it was still tinged with nervousness. "My grandson," he said. "Okay, I'm off." He kissed Lorna's cheek, hugged Iris, then left.

Lucas wasn't out the door five seconds when Lorna turned on Iris. "I'm only going to say this once, Iris, so listen, and listen good. I don't know what kinds of romantic fantasies you may be harboring about my father, and I don't care. He and my mother are going to get back together eventually, and I will NOT let you ruin that, so you just stay away from him, or you'll have me to deal with, got it?"

Iris rolled her eyes. "Oh, good grief!" she exclaimed. "WHY does everyone think I'm on the prowl for Lucas?"

"Aren't you?" Lorna asked, arching an eyebrow.

"No, I am not!" Iris exclaimed. "I am being a friend to Lucas. That's all."

"You were engaged to him once," Lorna replied.

"Yes, seven years ago, and he still ended up with your mother. Why? Because Felicia is the woman that he is in love with. I never stood a chance, then or now. But I like to think I'm wiser now than I was back then, so I'm telling you, as I told Paulina, I am not romantically interested in Lucas."

"Then why are you hanging around him all the time? And why are you encouraging him?" Lorna wanted to know.

Iris stared Lorna down, but Lorna being Lorna, she didn't even blink. "I once hurt someone I loved more than my own life. And I never got the chance to make up for causing that pain. I was doing what I thought was the right thing at the time. But in my case, it was far more selfish than it was for Lucas. He was trying to keep Felicia--and you and Jenna--safe. I was just trying to prove a point that I learned too late never needed proving." Her expression and tone of voice turned wistful. "I've lived with that regret every day for the last eight years. Lucas has already been away from Felicia for five. That's more than enough in the way of penance, if you ask me, which, I know, you didn't," Iris hurried on as Lorna opened her mouth to say something. Lorna closed her mouth. "I'm not interested in Lucas as anything more than a friend, Lorna," she concluded.

"And I'm supposed to believe that," Lorna said dryly.

Lorna was surprised when Iris laughed. "You are very much your mother's daughter, Lorna, has anyone ever told you that?"

"Yeah," Lorna replied. "My father."

"I'm not a threat," Iris insisted. "And if you won't take my word for it, talk to Paulina. She'll vouch for me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to the office." Iris left then.

Lorna closed the closet door, which Lucas had left ajar after returning the fire engine to the top shelf. She caught sight of the fire engine in its box and smiled, then closed the door. "He already loves you, Daddy," she mused aloud. "And maybe he'll help Mom remember that she loves you too." Then Lorna left Lucas's apartment and went back to her own office.
*********************************************************************************************************

As he waited for Fanny to open the door, Luke rubbed his sweaty palms on his pants legs to dry them. The door opened, and there stood Fanny, beautiful as always in a purple pair of slacks and matching blouse. "Luke," she said, leaning against the door as he entered the apartment.

Luke took a good look around the apartment. Fanny hadn't changed much in the last five years. The couch had been recovered, and he noticed that all of the breakables and knick-knacks were now on the highest shelves, out of little Lucas's reach. Otherwise, he saw nothing drastically different from the way it had been five years ago. "Is he here yet?" Luke asked.

Fanny closed the door. "Not yet. Any minute now, though," she said. As if on cue, there was a knock at the door. Luke turned around to look as Felicia opened the door to reveal Dean standing on the other side, holding little Lucas.

"Gampa Luke!" Lucas exclaimed. He squirmed until Dean set him down, and then he ran into the apartment and straight to Luke, hugging his leg and looking up at him with a big, happy smile. "Daddy told me you'd be here! I'm glad ta see you!"

Luke bent, picked Lucas up, and hugged him fiercely, closing his eyes at the smell of baby shampoo and the feel of Lucas's chubby little arms going around his neck in a hug. He opened his eyes after a long moment, and Felicia and Dean could both see that his eyes were moist. "I'm glad to see you too, Lucas," Luke said in a husky voice.

Felicia and Dean exchanged a look, and Dean entered the apartment then and walked over to big Lucas and little Lucas. Big Lucas shifted his stance a bit and turned little Lucas in his arms so that the boy was facing his father, and Dean and Felicia could both tell that big Lucas still thought that Dean was going to take little Lucas away, and not let him stay. In that moment, Dean realized for the first time that Lucas respected his and Jenna's feelings, and that he was willing to give up time with his grandson if Dean said "No way."

But Dean just ruffled little Lucas's hair. "I'll be back in a couple hours, little man," he said. "You be good and have fun with Grammy and...Gampa Luke." The pause in between "Grammy" and "Gampa Luke" was only a few seconds, but still noticeable to big Lucas.

"I will!" little Lucas exclaimed. He reached out an arm toward Dean, and Dean stepped forward to hug his son and then kiss him on the forehead. "I love you, Lucas," he said.

"I love you too, Daddy," little Lucas said.

Felicia walked Dean to the door. "Everything okay?" Dean asked quietly.

"So far so good," Felicia replied.

"Unless you call first, I'll be back in two hours," Dean told her.

"That's fine," Felicia said.

"Dean?" big Lucas called. Dean turned and looked at his father-in-law, holding little Lucas. "Thank you," big Lucas said, his voice thick with emotion. Dean dipped his chin in a nod of acknowledgment, then left, and Felicia closed the door behind him.

"So, what should we do first?" big Lucas asked.

"Fire engines!" little Lucas exclaimed. He scrambled out of Luke's arms and hurried toward what had once been Jenna's bedroom. He returned two minutes later carrying two fire engines in his arms. For the next little while, Felicia watched as Fire Chief Lucas and Firefighter Luke raced the fire engines, made siren noises (Lucas even got Luke to do an admirable impression of a fire engine siren), and worked to put out imaginary fires. She had always known Luke was good with kids, even when they were little more than kids themselves back Gold Street. He'd been a wonderful father to Jenna in the short time they'd had together, and had even accepted Lorna. But it had been a long time since Felicia had seen Luke with a kid, and this wasn't just any kid--this was their grandson, who was named for Luke. She marveled at little Lucas's easy acceptance of his grandfather, and though Luke had been nervous when he had arrived at the apartment, his nerves had all but vanished the longer he played with and talked to little Lucas.

When Lucas tired of playing with the fire engines, he went to put them away and came back with a box of 64 Crayola crayons and a pad of paper. "Gampa Luke, will you draw with me?" Lucas asked.

"Sure I will," Luke replied. But he didn't; he watched as little Lucas bent over his sheet of paper and worked diligently. His profile already reminded Luke a great deal of Dean; his hair was the same dark brown, almost black, shade as both Dean's and Jenna's, and he had Dean's big brown eyes, but a little boy version of Jenna's nose, and he also had Jenna's smile. He was completely focused on his drawing, and when Luke looked at the paper, the figures Lucas was drawing were recognizable as actually people. No stick figures here. With two such artistic parents--Dean's music, and Jenna's dancing and writing--it was no surprise their child was such a budding Picasso.

Luke felt the familiar ache in his heart as he watched little Lucas, realizing that he had missed the first two years of his life. He had never seen or held him as a baby, hadn't been there to feel him kick while Jenna was carrying him, or been pacing the hospital halls the day, or was it night, he was born. But unlike most of the rest of his family, and with the resilience and innocence only a child possesses, little Lucas wasn't upset or disappointed or angry at Luke for what he had missed. He was just thrilled that he had his grandpa in his life now, and Luke silently vowed to never miss another important moment of his grandson's life.

Little Lucas looked up from his drawing then and laid his blue crayon aside, his face flushed with happiness and accomplishment. "Wanna see my picture, Gampa Luke?" he asked.

"Sure!" Luke exclaimed heartily. But as Luke leaned forward to more closely inspect little Lucas's drawing, he bumped his elbow on the edge of Felicia's coffee table, sucking in a hissing breath through his teeth at the painful tingling sensation of catching his funny bone, exposed by his rolled-up shirt sleeve, on the table's sharp edge.

Little Lucas heard the "thud" of his grandpa's elbow connecting with the edge of the table, and the boy and Felicia both looked at Luke as he sucked in his breath in pain. "Do you have an owie?" little Lucas asked solemnly.

Luke looked at his grandson, suddenly so somber. "I just hit my elbow on the edge of the table, that's all," he replied, trying to be reassuring.

"It hurt when you did that," Lucas said.

"A little," Luke admitted.

Luke and Felicia both watched in surprise as little Lucas gently took his grandpa's large arm in his two pudgy hands and turned it slightly so that Luke's bare elbow was facing out. Lucas then leaned down and kissed the bruise already forming on Luke's elbow. Then he let go of his "Gampa Luke"'s arm and straightened, smiling. "There," he said. "When I bump my arm or leg and get an owie, Mommy or Daddy give me a kiss to make it better. Is it better now, Gampa Luke?"

Felicia suddenly couldn't breathe, and her eyes flooded with tears. Little Luke and Big Luke had really hit it off, and then to see Little Luke kissing Big Luke's sore elbow to make his owie better....She would have had to be made of stone not to react.

Big Luke was struggling to keep his composure, touched beyond words to the core of his soul at his grandson being so open to him, and trying to make him feel better, even though it was just a stupid, clumsy bump of his funny bone against the edge of Fanny's coffee table. "It's much better, thank you, Lucas," Big Luke replied in a thick voice.

Lucas smiled. "You're welcome," he said. "Here's my picture." Luke leaned close to inspect it again, and Lucas pointed out everyone. "This is me," he said, pointing to the smallest figure in the picture. "And there's Mommy," he had drawn Jenna with a pen and notebook in her hand, "And Daddy." Dean seemed to be wearing a pair of headphones and carrying something that Luke assumed, from the alternating black and white lines, was supposed to be a portable keyboard. "There's Auntie Lorna." He pointed to a figure with a phone to her ear, "And Uncle Joe," who wore a shiny policeman's badge on his chest. "That's Grammy," he continued, although Luke would have known that was Fanny by the fact that Lucas had drawn her wearing a big floppy hat and with what he could only assume was a pink feather boa around her neck trailing down to her feet. "And that's you, Gampa Luke!" he finished, pointing at a tall figure standing next to Fanny, dressed all in blue, with gray hair. "Do ya like it?"

"I love it, Lucas," Luke said. "You're very talented."

"That's what Uncle Cass says," Lucas replied. "And Aunt Frankie says it's 'cause I'm the child of two such artistic souls." Luke had to stifle a laugh at Lucas's serious, earnest quoting of Frankie.

"Well, Uncle Cass and Aunt Frankie are right," Luke replied.

Lucas smiled, then picked up his picture from the coffee table and held it out to Luke. "This is for you," he said. "So you'll always have a picture of all of us with you."

Luke felt a new kind of ache in his heart, this time one of tenderness and fierce love for this little boy. He gently kissed Lucas's forehead and then hugged him again, being careful not to crush the drawing. "Thank you, Lucas," he said.

Hoping to head off any potential emotional moments that she wasn't ready to face quite yet, Felicia spoke up then: "How about if we call up to TOPS and have Franco make us some chocolate ice cream sundaes?" she asked eagerly.

"With hot fudge an' whipped cream an' rainbow sprinkles?" Lucas asked eagerly, jumping up from his place on the floor. "Call him, Grammy! Call him!"

"Yeah, call him, Grammy," Luke said, giving Fanny a hopeful smile. Fanny smiled at the two Lukes as she headed to the phone and called upstairs and ordered three sundaes from TOPS.
*********************************************************************************************************

When Dean returned to pick up little Lucas, Luke reluctantly said goodbye to his grandson. Dean, his dad radar fully intact, said, "You had ice cream, didn't you?"

"How did you know?" little Lucas asked.

With a grin, Dean pointed to little Lucas's shirt. "Rainbow sprinkles," he said. "I hope you're still going to eat dinner. It's your favorite."

"Chicken nuggets?" little Lucas asked hopefully.

"And fries. We're supposed to pick up enough for you, me, and Mommy on the way home, how does that sound?" Dean asked.

"YAY!" little Lucas cheered.

"We better hit the road, little man," Dean said.

"Okay," Lucas agreed. He went to Felicia first and she got down on his level so she could hug him. "Bye, Grammy."

"Bye, Lucas," Felicia said. She kissed him, and he returned the kiss. "Love you, pal."

"Love you too," Lucas said. Then he went to Luke. Luke too got down on the floor, and got another fierce hug from Lucas. "Bye, Gampa Luke," he said.

"Bye, Lucas," Luke replied. "I'll see you again soon. I promise." Luke looked up at Dean. "That is, if it's okay with your daddy and mommy."

Dean nodded again, as he had earlier. "We'll talk to Jenna and call you again tomorrow or the day after," he said.

"Thank you, Dean," Luke said.

"You have your picture, don't you, Gampa Luke?" Lucas asked anxiously.

"Right here," Luke replied. He picked it up from the coffee table and held it up for Dean to see. "Lucas drew a family portrait for me."

"Let me guess, Auntie Lorna's the one with the phone at her ear?" Dean asked with a smirk.

Little Lucas missed the humor in his father's remark. "'Cause she talks on the phone all the time," he said. "Gampa Luke's standing next to Grammy, and he's all in blue 'cause that's what he's wearing, see?"

"Yes, I do. Great job, Lucas," Dean replied. "Okay, we have chicken nuggets and fries to get, so we better take off."

Little Lucas hugged Luke one more time and kissed his cheek. "I love you, Gampa Luke," he said, "and I'm glad you're not playing hide-and-seek anymore."

"I love you too, Lucas, and so am I," Luke replied. He hugged Lucas back, kissed his cheek in return, and then Dean and little Lucas left.

And Fanny and Luke were alone together.

"He's amazing," Luke said.

"Isn't he, though?" Felicia asked with a smile. Lucas had left his crayons scattered all over the coffee table, so she sat on the edge of the couch and started to pick them up and return them to their box. Luke sat next to her on the couch and also started to pick up crayons and return them to the box. They worked in silence for a few minutes, but then Luke spoke.

"I think we should talk, Fanny."

"We are talking, Luke," Felicia replied as she fit three more crayons into the box. "Or we were."

"I mean REALLY talk," Luke replied as he stuffed a burnt orange crayon into an empty corner slot of the box.

"I'm not ready for that yet, Luke," Felicia replied, being careful to focus on the box of Crayolas and not even look at him.

"Okay, I can respect that," Luke replied.

Now Felicia did look up and over at Luke. "That's funny," she said dryly.

"I wasn't trying to be funny," Luke replied, wondering where she was going with this.

Felicia abandoned the crayons altogether to focus her full attention and glare on Luke. "You say you can respect that I'm not ready to talk yet, but you didn't bother to tell me the truth five years ago! And if you had..." She trailed off, leaving the sentence unfinished.

"If I had, what?" Luke wanted to know.

"Never mind," Felicia replied, returning her attention to little Lucas's crayons.

"No, finish your sentence," Luke challenged her, still staring at her.

"Are you TRYING to make me angry, Luke?" Felicia demanded, now abandoning the crayons for good and standing up.

"I was under the impression that these days, I don't have to try," he replied, also rising to his feet.

"I said I'm not ready to talk yet!" Felicia exclaimed.

"And I said I respect that!" Luke exclaimed right back.

"Oh, I'm supposed to believe that?" Felicia asked sarcastically.

"You think I don't respect you?" Luke asked, shocked.

"You tell me, Luke! Do you generally lie to people you respect?" Felicia wanted to know.

So they were back to that again, Luke thought. "Dammit, Fanny, I HAD to do it! I couldn't take you away from Lorna! Or from Jenna!" he yelled.

"What are you talking about? What do you mean, 'you couldn't take me away from Lorna or Jenna'? We all would have gone with you willingly!"

"And given up your entire lives and your entire careers in the process. You couldn't be a writer anymore, Fanny! Or a talk show host, or a restauranteur! Jenna couldn't have finished college, at least not under her own name, probably not at all! Dean would have given up his music to come with Jenna, because we both know neither of them would have gone anywhere without the other! And Lorna couldn't have continued working in music or PR! And you never would have seen Cass and Frankie, or Rachel. You think I didn't want you with me? You think I didn't want our daughters--BOTH of our daughters--with me? And even Dean? I did! Every second of every day for the last five years! But I couldn't rip your lives away from you!" Luke ran a hand through his hair after finishing his little speech.

Felicia was stunned speechless for a moment, never before having thought about or realized anything Luke had just said. "Then you knew this was going to happen. This was part of a plan," she said.

"A plan that went to hell in a handbasket when Sally Madison went off the deep end and shot me," Luke replied. "It wasn't supposed to happen like that, Fanny. Not at all."

"I don't want to hear anymore," Felicia said, turning her back to Luke and hugging herself.

But now that they had started talking, Luke didn't want to stop. He had to make Fanny understand why he'd done what he'd done. "Fanny, please--" he started.

"I SAID I don't want to hear anymore, Luke! Not now!" Felicia exclaimed, her back still to Luke. She felt her insides trembling. Luke had known he was going to have to leave her. And Jenna and Lorna. But it wasn't supposed to happen the way it did, with him getting shot. What did that even mean?

Luke knew better than to press his advantage right now. "All right," he said.

They stood there for a few silent moments, Felicia's back still to Luke. Then she spoke again. "You...What happened? Why did you leave me? Why did you leave US, Luke?"

For the time being, Luke decided to keep it simple. "Because I helped the Feds crack a very large, very profitable drug smuggling and prostitution ring that I found out Rick Madison was involved in. I had to do it, Fanny. And when I did, I had to go so far underground that everyone believed I was dead, because it was the only way I knew how to keep you and Lorna and Jenna and Dean safe."

Felicia whirled around and faced Luke now. "Rick Madison? Again? Or I guess I should say still. DAMN HIM!" she shouted.

"And damn me for bringing him into our lives, right?" Luke asked.

"I didn't say that!" Felicia replied.

"You were thinking it," Luke said.

"Don't tell me what I'm thinking!" Felicia said angrily.

"Why not?" Luke asked, taking a couple of steps closer to her until he was standing in front of her. "I know what you're thinking, Fanny, just like I knew what you were thinking when we were 17 and I knew what you were thinking five years ago at the hospital. You want to hate me, and part of you does probably hate me, but underneath it all, you still love me."

"Luke--"

But Luke kept right on going. "I saw it in your eyes the day of Lorna and Joe's wedding. That split second before the elevator doors closed, I saw it in your eyes, Fanny. You still love me. And I still love you. It's always been you. Only you. No matter how angry we make each other, no matter how much time passes, you love me and I love you." Felicia was no longer hugging herself, and Luke gently reached out and gripped her upper arms in his hands. She didn't move or even try to fight him. They stared into each other's eyes and Luke continued, "It's forever, Fanny. We were always supposed to have forever. And now we can, with no Rick or Sally or Feds or anything or anyone else to come between us ever again. That's why I came back, Fanny: to reclaim our forever."

A traitorous part of her brain registered the fact that Luke was touching her again, and it felt so good and so right, and that part of her brain was confusing the rest of her. "Luke," she said helplessly.

"I'll wait the rest of our lives for you if I have to," Luke vowed. Felicia had seen that look on his face before, and she knew he was being honest about that, and he would wait for her no matter how long it took. "I've waited for you before, Fanny, so many times before. When we were kids, I waited for you...and when I stepped out of that limo with those roses in the alley behind the police station...and every moment of every day of the last five years. If I have to wait longer, I will. That's all there is to it. I--"

Felicia couldn't take it any longer. Luke was touching her again, he was there with her, warm and alive and looking at her in the way that always made her melt, and without conscious thought, she cut off his stream of words by leaning forward and kissing him. Momentarily surprised, Luke stumbled a bit, but regained his footing and let his arms slide down to Felicia's waist to pull her into his embrace. Felicia wound her arms around his neck, and he finally responded to the kiss, kissing her back. And for those few seconds, everything felt right again.

But then Felicia realized what she had done, and she jerked back, away from Luke, breaking the kiss. They were both out of breath, and Luke had her lipstick smeared all over his mouth. Before he could say anything, Felicia smacked him one across the face, though not nearly as hard as she had when she saw him again for the first time at Lorna and Joe's wedding.

Stunned by first the kiss and then the slap, Luke was slow to react. Felicia, on the other hand, took off like she'd just been shot out of a cannon, scooping up her purse and keys from the desk by the front door and hurrying into the hall. It took Luke several seconds to get it together enough to go after her. He rushed into the hall. "Fanny!" he called. He saw her getting on the elevator, and even if he sprinted, he knew he'd never make it to the elevator in time to either stop her or get on board with her. "FANNY!" he called. But the elevator doors closed and Felicia was gone, and Luke was left standing alone in the hallway outside her apartment, wondering what to do next.

TO BE CONTINUED

2009-02-09T10:48:00.000-08:00

Reclaiming Forever," Part 10

"You are definitely your daddy's son, Wally," Frankie crooned to their baby boy as he nestled his little head against her shoulder with a soft sigh as she set his empty bottle aside, then brought her hand up to rub his back.

"Uh oh, what did he do now?" Cass asked as he entered the living room and sat next to Frankie and Wally on the couch. "He's usually only *my* son when he's being really stubborn or contrary."

Frankie looked at her husband and smiled. "Not this time," she replied. "He's like you because he likes to snuggle with me, don't you, baby boy?" Wally's answer was to give another soft sigh as he burrowed deeper into her shoulder, his little hands resting palms flat so that his chin was perched on the backs of his little hands. Frankie continued to rub his back in an effort to get him to burp.

Cass smiled as he laid his head on Frankie's other shoulder, nuzzling her cheek. "When the kid has a great idea, he has a great idea," he said softly, his breath causing Frankie's hair to stir and tickling her neck.

Charlie came downstairs then and stomped over to the couch where her parents and baby brother sat, a frown on her face and her arms folded over her chest. "Daddy, why do the boys always save the girls?" she demanded.

Cass stopped nuzzling Frankie's cheek, and he and Frankie both turned to look at their daughter. "What?" Cass asked, slightly confused. "I thought we were going to read a story, Charlie."

"The boys always save the girls in the stories!" Charlie exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. "Why don't the girls ever save the boys? Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, it's always the boys! And girls can save boys just as well as boys can save girls, right, Mommy?"

Frankie couldn't hide her smile. Wally burped, and Frankie lowered him onto her lap after he did so. "That's right, honey," she said. "But sometimes the girl does save the boy, like in Beauty and the Beast, remember?"

"Yeah!" Charlie exclaimed, her frown turning to a smile. "I like that! Belle saved the Beast at the end 'cause she loves him. And she helped him when he got hurt, even though he was mad."

"I did that with Daddy long before you were born," Frankie said with a smile. "He got hurt, and I helped him."

Charlie's eyes grew wide. "Daddy was like the Beast?" she asked. "You mean he had hair all over and a tail?"

Frankie couldn't stop herself from chuckling. "No, baby," she said. "He was just...well, snarly, like the Beast. He yelled and he growled--"

"I did NOT growl," Cass protested.

"Actually, Counselor, you did," Frankie replied. "And a lot of it was directed at me in the early days."

"But you still kept coming back to see me," Cass reminded her.

"To help Daddy?" Charlie asked eagerly.

"Yes, Charlie, to help Daddy, so that he didn't hurt anymore," Frankie replied. "Because I love your daddy very, very much, and I didn't want him to hurt."

"Like Belle loves the Beast!" Charlie exclaimed. "And the Beast loves her too, like Daddy loves you!" Then she scrambled up into Cass's lap.

"I do love you, Mary Frances, but we were nothing like Beauty and the Beast," Cass said, holding Charlie on his lap as he turned to look at Frankie and Wally again.

"Yes, you were!" Charlie insisted.

"Face it, Cass, we really were," Frankie said, her eyes sparkling. "I saw your heart beneath all of your growling and snarling and yelling."

"I'll show you growling," Cass said as he playfully leaned closer to Frankie to kiss her neck. She squealed from the ticklish sensation, which made Charlie laugh and made Wally gurgle in Frankie's arms as Cass wrapped both arms around his wife, daughter and son, smiling against Frankie's neck as he kissed her there.

The doorbell rang then, and Cass reluctantly pulled back from Frankie, still keeping his arms around his family, and called, "Who is it?"

"It's me!" Felicia called back.

"Come on in, the door's open!" Frankie called.

Felicia entered the house and smiled at Cass, Frankie, and her godchildren, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. "You think that girls can save boys just as well as boys can save girls, right, Aunt Felicia?" Charlie asked.

Felicia looked to Cass and Frankie, puzzled. "We've been talking about fairy tales," Cass supplied.

"And how girls can save boys, even though most of the stories have boys saving girls," Frankie added.

Felicia had left the door open, and little Lucas Frame came running inside, followed by Dean and Jenna, holding hands. They let go so that Dean could usher Jenna through the door ahead of him, and then Dean closed the door and took Jenna's hand again as they came into the living room. "Hey, guys," Dean greeted them as he and Jenna headed over near the fireplace, where Felicia was standing.

Greetings were exchanged all around, and Dean gently ruffled the curly hair on Wally's head and high-fived Charlie. Jenna hugged Felicia, then asked, "So what were you guys talking about when we came in?"

"Boys saving girls in fairy tales versus girls saving boys," Frankie replied.

Little Lucas, meanwhile, had gone running upstairs but came running right back down and went to his parents. "Mommy? Daddy?" he asked. He was frowning much as Charlie had been earlier.

Jenna knelt down so she was at eye level with her son. "What is it, little man? Why the frown?" she asked.

"I thought we were going to see Gampa Luke!" Lucas exclaimed. "When do I get to see him again?"

Jenna looked up at Dean helplessly, as Cass and Frankie exchanged a look and then looked to Felicia, who stood there looking uncomfortable at her grandson's question.
**********************************************************************************************************

"Paulina!" Iris exclaimed in surprise when she opened her front door to reveal her sister standing there. "Is something wrong?"

"I hope not," Paulina replied. "Can I come in?"

Iris wordlessly stood aside and allowed Paulina to enter her home, closing the door behind her. Paulina walked into the living room with Iris following her. "Are we alone?" Paulina asked, turning to face Iris.

"Yes," Iris said. "Vivien is at the market, and Dennis and Sarah have gone to surprise Kelsey by kidnapping her from her office to go to the zoo. I decided it was too nice a day to be cooped up in the office, so I brought some work home. What's going on?"

"You tell me," Paulina replied.

"You're going to have to be more specific," Iris said.

"I saw you and Lucas at the Paradise last weekend," Paulina informed her sister. "After Lucas nearly punched Carl's lights out?"

"Well, Lucas was shocked to learn that Rachel had married Carl. Sometimes it still shocks me that she married Carl, after all those years she spent with Daddy, and the things that Carl tried to do to him...to Rachel herself...even to the ever-absent Amanda," Iris said, flipping open the file folder in her hands again. "Now if that's all--"

Paulina yanked the folder out of Iris's hands. "Nice try," she said. "Felicia has to decide for herself if she wants to get back together with Lucas or not, and she needs time to do that."

"I completely agree," Iris replied.

Paulina's face reflected her shock. "You do?" she asked.

"Didn't you hear me at Rachel's the day they came home from Lorna's wedding and told us Lucas was alive and back in Bay City?" Iris inquired. "I said then that I knew that all Lucas wants is his precious Fanny. Jake tried to make a tasteless comment about my comment...."

"Then you meant that? You're not trying to start something romantic with Lucas yourself?" Paulina asked.

"I'm not in the habit of throwing myself at men who are obviously in love with another woman," Iris replied. At Paulina's look, she added, "Anymore."

"No, that's not what I was looking at you like that for," Paulina said. Iris reached out and took her folder back from Paulina. "I'm just surprised, that's all. I mean, I know that I'm there for Felicia--"

"You are? As a confidante, you mean?" Now it was Iris's turn to be surprised.

"Well, her family's driving her nuts about Lucas, I can relate, she needs someone to talk to, why shouldn't it be me?" Paulina challenged.

Iris laughed out loud.

"I don't think there's anything funny about it, Iris!" Paulina exclaimed.

"No, of course not," Iris replied, recovering herself but still smiling. "But do you realize this is the first time in our entire relationship that you and I have ever been on the same side of something, even though we're backing different people?"

"You mean you're being a friend to Lucas, and I'm being a friend to Felicia, because we want them to get back together?" Paulina asked.

"Exactly," Iris replied. She laid the file folder on the desk, then looked at Paulina. "Who would have thought it would take Felicia and Lucas to truly bring you and I together as sisters?"

Paulina relaxed a bit. "Well, after Jake came back, I started believing that anything is possible," she said. "Felicia needs time. Lucas has only been back a few weeks. I don't think they've really even talked yet. They need to talk before any decisions can be made."

"Well, we know what happened when Felicia thought she lost Lucas before," Iris said. "No one wants that to happen again."

"I really think Felicia is stronger than that now," Paulina replied. "But it's not easy. She has to be able to trust him again. I don't think loving him is a problem. But trusting him..." She trailed off, remembering her own struggle to trust Jake again, and how worth it that struggle had turned out to be.

"Then you think that Felicia just has to be able to trust Lucas again, and she'll take him back?" Iris asked.

Paulina frowned at her sister. "I forbid you to go to Lucas and quote me on that!" she exclaimed.

"Well, of course I'm not going to do that," Iris says. "Give me some credit, Paulina. It's just that you understand what Felicia's going through better than anyone could, and you did take Jake back--"

"If you're going to insult Jake, don't bother finishing that sentence."

"I already told you, this is about Lucas and Felicia. He loves her so much, and he really wants her back. He wants to make it all up to her, and he deserves that chance!"

Paulina looked at Iris speculatively. "You sure feel strongly about this, Iris," she said. "I know that you and Lucas are ancient history, but I'm surprised that you're actually trying to play Cupid for him and Felicia."

Iris stared at her desk, not seeing any of the contents on the desktop. "I just think that Lucas deserves the chance with Felicia that I never got..." She didn't finish the sentence.

"With Dad?" Paulina finished after a pregnant silence.

"Yes." Iris still didn't look up from the desk.

Neither Paulina nor Iris said anything for a moment. Then Paulina broke the silence. "I know that I never knew him...but I think, from what Rachel and the others have said, he would have forgiven you eventually."

Now Iris did look at Paulina. "I like to believe that he would have. But I'll never really know. Lucas shouldn't have to live with that uncertainty hanging over his head for the rest of his life," Iris replied. "If I can spare him this, I'll do whatever I can to help him and Felicia."

"Okay," Paulina said.

"Okay?" Iris asked.

"Yeah. I was just making sure that you weren't trying to compete with Felicia for Lucas's affections," Paulina began.

"I couldn't do it seven years ago. What makes you think I could do it now?" Iris asked.

"The point is, we're both on the same side here, like you said," Paulina continued. "So you be there for Lucas and listen to him and help him, and I'll be there for Felicia and listen to her and help her."

"And perhaps we could compare notes once in a while?" Iris asked.

"As long as it stays between us," Paulina said. "Nothing I tell you gets back to Lucas, and nothing you tell me gets back to Felicia. Deal?" She stuck out her hand.

"Deal," Iris agreed, and they shook on it, then smiled at each other.
**********************************************************************************************************

Since Felicia and Jenna were frozen in place after little Lucas asking when he could see his "Gampa Luke," Dean bent, picked up his son, and parked him on his hip.

"Lucas, d'you remember how I told you that Gampa Luke didn't really go to Heaven?" he asked.

The boy nodded solemnly. "'Cause you can't come back from Heaven. But isn't he tired of playing?"

"Playing what?" Dean asked.

"You said Gampa Luke was playing hide-and-seek wif the Feds. If he's been playing hide-and-seek all this time, isn't he tired of it yet, Daddy?" little Lucas asked with the wide-eyed innocence young children possess.

Dean winced, and behind him, he heard Felicia's sharp intake of breath, and beside him, Jenna remained frozen while on their couch, Cass and Frankie remained silent, their own children in their arms. "Uh..." Dean began. "Well, son, yeah, I think he would be tired of playing hide-and-seek."

"That's why he came back, I bet," little Lucas said.

Cass and Frankie exchanged a look at how perceptive their godson unknowingly was.

"I think you're right, little man," Dean said. "But you know how sometimes grown-ups have to take a lot of time to talk and we can't just run out and do things right away like kids can?"

"You and Mommy and Grammy need ta talk ta Gampa Luke?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah, we do," Dean replied.

Lucas considered this for a moment. "Well, can I see him after you talk to him?" he asked. "I won't ask him to play hide-and-seek. Could I show him my fire trucks instead?"

"We'll talk to him, and then we'll get it all figured out so you can see him," Dean promised. "Okay?"

"Okay, Daddy," Lucas said. Then he hugged Dean around the neck, and Dean hugged him back. "I love you, Daddy."

Dean closed his eyes and squeezed his son extra hard. "I love you too, Lucas," he said. Then he set Lucas down. "Why don't you and Charlie go upstairs and play for a while, huh?"

"C'mon, Lucas, the grown-ups wanna talk," Charlie said. "You can be the Prince who's locked in the tower, and I'll be the Princess who saves you."

"Girls don't save boys!" Lucas protested as he and Charlie hurried toward the stairs.

"Belle saved the Beast!" Charlie exclaimed triumphantly.

"No running in the house!" Frankie shouted after the kids. Their footsteps obediently slowed on the stairs. When they were upstairs, Frankie said, "I'm proud of you, Dean. You handled that really well."

"You're a terrific father, Young Dean," Cass added.

"Yeah, well, I learned from the best," Dean replied, sharing a significant look with Cass. Then he turned to face his wife and mother-in-law. "I promised our boy the day he was born that I'd never lie to him," he said.

"I remember," Jenna replied.

"I'm not saying I forgive the guy," Dean continued, "but he's Lucas's only grandfather. And our boy really wants to see him, Jen."

"So he can fill Lucas's head with lies too?" Jenna asked angrily. "I made a promise the day our son was born too, Dean. I promised myself that my child would never be subjected to the lies that I was subjected to! Lucas lying about being dead is as bad as Gloria lying about my entire existence to everyone but the nuns!"

"Jenna, as difficult as this is, ignoring Lucas isn't going to make him go away," Frankie said.

"Frankie's right." Everyone turned to look at Felicia, who had spoken those two fateful words.

"Mom," Jenna said, a note of pleading in her voice.

"Jenna, honey, we're going to have to talk to him sooner or later," Felicia replied, reaching out and clasping Jenna's hands in hers.

"I can't," Jenna said softly. "I'm not ready. Not yet."

"I understand," Felicia replied. "But will you and Dean let me take Lucas to see Luke? I'll be there the whole time. I won't let Luke say or do anything to spoil Lucas or to hurt him or lie to him in any way."

Dean put his hands on Jenna's shoulders. "It's okay with me, Felicia."

Jenna looked at Felicia uncertainly. "You won't let him lie to Lucas? About anything?" she asked.

"I promise," Felicia replied solemnly.

"And you won't fight with him in front of Lucas?" Jenna asked.

"I'll be on my best behavior," Felicia vowed.

Jenna looked over her shoulder at Dean. He squeezed her shoulders encouragingly. Then Jenna looked back at Felicia. "You set it up with him and then get back to us," she said.

"All right," Felicia said.

Dean kissed the top of Jenna's head. Cass put his arm around Frankie and pulled her against his side. Wally was almost asleep in her arms. "We're just going to go put Wally down for his nap," Cass said.

"And check on Charlie and Lucas," Frankie added as she rose from the couch. Cass followed Frankie and Wally upstairs.

"It'll be okay," Felicia tried to assure Jenna...but Felicia was worried herself. She would stay in control of her emotions for her grandson's sake, but the thought of being around Luke again made her very nervous for reasons she didn't want to consciously explore yet.
**********************************************************************************************************

When Felicia arrived back at Love Tower, she was surprised when the elevator doors opened on the ground floor and Lorna and Luke emerged, Lorna's arm through her father's, the two of them laughing about something.

"Mom!" Lorna blurted when she saw Felicia standing next to the up and down buttons.

"Fanny!" Luke blurted in the breath after Lorna's.

"What are you doing here?" Felicia demanded of Luke.

"I live here," Luke replied coolly.

"Mom--" Lorna began.

But Felicia cut her off. "Not now, Lorna." Felicia didn't take her eyes off Luke. "No, you don't live here. Not anymore."

"Yes, I do," Luke retorted, a patient smile on his face.

"Uh, Daddy..." Lorna tried again.

"Not now, Lorna," Luke said. Although Lorna was standing there, her eyes going back and forth between her parents as if she were a spectator at a heated Wimbledon match, Felicia and Luke were staring only at each other.

"Even if you still had your keys, I've had the locks changed in the last five years. And I'm certainly not going to let you camp out on my couch, or in Jenna's old room," Felicia informed Luke.

"I don't need the couch OR Jenna's old room," Luke said. "I have my own place."

"What?" Felicia asked.

"Mom--" Lorna tried again.

"Not now, Lorna," Felicia repeated. "What do you mean, you have your own place?"

"Daddy--"

"Not now, Lorna," Luke said. "Well, Fanny, it turns out that my old apartment was vacant."

"Your old apartment," Felicia repeated.

"Yes, the suite one floor directly below yours, the place where I lived when I first came to Bay City," Luke replied. "You remember it, don't you, Fanny?"

"You got your old apartment back?" Felicia asked incredulously.

"Yes, he did," Lorna interjected. "You and Daddy are living in the same building again, Mom. How about that?"

Felicia and Luke both turned to just look at their daughter.

"I know," Lorna said, correctly reading the looks from her parents. "Not now, Lorna."

TO BE CONTINUED

Part 9

2009-02-09T10:46:00.000-08:00

And we'll be revisiting Felicia, Cass and Frankie, Dean and Jenna, and Iris and Paulina in part 10, which I'm still brainstorming.

Amy

"Reclaiming Forever," Part 9

"Lorna, I can explain," Lucas said, realizing belatedly that he should have phrased it better.

"Explain what? How you lied to me? What..." Lorna pushed her hair off her forehead, stood up, and began angrily stalking about Lucas's living room, talking as she stormed around the room. "Do you have ANY idea what a nightmare it was for me? When we found out that we were parents and daughter, I tried to play it off like I didn't need you and Mom, like I didn't care what you thought of me. I pushed Mom away and tried to get her to drop the whole thing, only she wouldn't. I guess even then, she knew me better than I knew myself, because she saw past the tough girl facade, and she saw how much I wanted, how much I needed, my mother.

"But you...God, I remember telling my grandmother how much I wanted you to accept me, but you couldn't. I really believed that you hated me, that you could never forgive me for what I did to Jenna. And Jenna!" Lorna laughed bitterly, fighting the tears in her eyes as she stopped walking, whirled around, and stared at her father. "The night we thought you died, even though I had no idea what I was doing, I really tried to be a big sister to her for the first time. I told her that she was your pride and joy, that you loved her more than anything on this Earth, and that you chose her over your own flesh and blood. As much as it hurt me to admit that, it helped her that night. And for that one moment, I actually felt like I was a part of the family.

"But you, and how you felt about each of us...that was a thing between us for a long time. It wasn't really until she and Dean came home and got married and Lucas was on his way that we buried the hatchet. We just finally made our peace with it, and accepted the fact that as far as Daddy's feelings went, Jenna was the favored, beloved daughter who could do no wrong, and Lorna was the black sheep, the vindictive bitch who tried to wreck Fanny and Luke's happy little family when all I ever wanted was to be a part of it!"

"I never saw you that way, and I never wanted to make you feel that way!" Lucas said desperately. He hurried to Lorna's side, but she pulled back from his grasp. "Lorna, I did it to protect you, don't you see? You were mixed up with Carl Hutchins back then. And Rick Madison was working for Carl. I had no way of knowing if you were a link between them or not."

"So, what, you decided to run a head game on me to punish me, because I wasn't your good little girl like Jenna?" Lorna asked angrily.

"No!" Lucas exclaimed. "It all started with the tape, that damn tape. Rick was into a lot of very sick, very illegal things. That tape of Jenna was his private obsession, and it was also his downfall. I was looking for Jenna's biological father back then. I never found him, but I found a ton of evidence that showed that Rick Madison was part of a drug smuggling ring out of Chicago that was sending cocaine back and forth between the States and Colombia. He was also involved in a prostitution ring in Chicago. He was luring young women your age, and Jenna's age, into prostitution, and they couldn't get out. They were ending up murdered, or beaten so badly by johns or pimps that they had to have surgery that left them unable to have children, or contracting sexually transmitted diseases, or with drug addictions so bad that they were yo-yoing in and out of rehab. I had stumbled onto something bigger than all of us purely by accident, but when I found out what I found out, I couldn't leave it alone. Those girls were somebody else's daughters. If it had been you or Jenna, I would have done whatever it took to get you out, and to get the bastards who did that to you. I could not, in good conscience, stay quiet about it. So I went to the Chicago police, and they in turn went to the Feds because the drugs were going in and out and of the country."

"Why couldn't you be honest with me?" Lorna wanted to know. "Why couldn't you have told me five years ago, 'Hey, I hate what you did to Jenna with that damn tape on Felicia's show, but you're my daughter and I love you anyway'? Huh?" She angrily swiped at the tears that were sliding from the corners of her eyes of their own accord.

"I couldn't take that chance," Lucas said urgently. "Your freedom was at stake. They knew about Rick, only Sally killed him before they could get him. They got all the guys that he was in with, but it took five years to get them all. And back then, they were still investigating Carl. I had no way of knowing at that point if you were involved in any way."

"You really thought I was capable of that?" Lorna asked. She tried to hide the pain she felt at believing her own father could think she was capable of something like that, but Lucas saw the flash of pain in Lorna's eyes, and it felt like a punch to his stomach.

"No, I never believed you were capable of smuggling drugs," Lucas replied firmly. "But I believed that Carl was capable of it, and if Carl was involved, and you knew anything about it, you would have been guilty by association. They would have put you away too, Lorna, and I was not ABOUT to let that happen! Not just for your sake, but for Fanny's, and even for Jenna's." Lorna said nothing, so Lucas ran his fingertips around his mouth and continued. "When Fanny told me that you were our daughter, I was happy that we had finally found you, or really, it was more that you had found us. We had looked for you for so long, and we kept coming up empty, and you'd been right under our noses all that time. But you were mixed up with Carl Hutchins. Not that I ever blamed you for that--"

"Oh, gee, thanks," Lorna muttered sarcastically.

"But I knew that you WERE mixed up with Carl, and I also knew that Rick was working for Carl. I had no way of knowing what, if anything, you knew about Rick's illegal activities, or if Carl was also involved in what Rick was doing, and I didn't have time to find out. I was already in too deep with the Feds and nailing Rick and his cronies by that point. All I could think about was keeping you out of the whole mess, Lorna. And the only way I knew of to do that and make it convincing was to behave as if I wanted nothing to do with you. Because of the tape on Fanny's show, I had a reason that made sense to everyone. But I meant what I told you a few weeks ago, sweetheart: I was angry at you for that tape at first, but I forgave you for it long before I disappeared."

"Did you think I couldn't keep it quiet?" Lorna asked angrily. Concentrating on the anger let her keep the hurt of this newly revealed truth buried a little longer. "If you had taken me into your confidence and been honest with me about how you really felt about me, I wouldn't have said a word to anyone, not even to Mom or Jenna, especially if I'd known what you were really doing and that your life was at stake! Why didn't you trust me?"

"It was never about trusting you," Lucas replied. "It was always about keeping you safe. If I had accepted you publicly, if I had acknowledged you as my daughter to everyone, if I had even acknowledged you in my will, then one of two things would have happened: if Carl was involved with Rick and the drugs and the prostitutes, and you knew anything at all about it, you would have gone to jail too, and I refused to let that happen under any circumstances! The other option would have been to take you with me, and that would have meant taking you away from Fanny, and I just couldn't do that to the two of you again!"

"I was under the impression you didn't have anything to do with it the first time, or was that another lie?" Lorna asked coldly.

Lucas walked over to Lorna, his emotions plainly showing in his face and in his body language as he stood before her, speaking with a voice trembling with emotion. "I saw you the night you were born, Lorna." Lucas held up his arms. "I held you in my arms. I looked into your little face. I talked to you, told you I loved you, gave you the mercury dime on the chain. Fanny never even had that much. She didn't see you or hold you even once. Her family lied to both of us and split us up and stole you out from under us, gave you away, against our wishes. THAT was the only lie about your birth." Lucas grasped Lorna's shoulders then and looked her right in the eyes, eyes that were so like his own, and at this moment, so filled with pain, anger, and a defiance Lucas recognized from years of looking in the mirror. "You and Fanny were always meant to be together, to be mother and daughter, to have the kind of relationship that I know you have now," he said. "I couldn't take that away from her, or from you, when you had just finally found each other. And I couldn't ask you to lie to Fanny about my death. It wouldn't have been fair to you, or to her, and that is the only reason I didn't take you into my confidence. I was trying to spare you more pain."

"Well, guess what? You failed!" Lorna shouted.

"The ONLY thing that got me through these last five years was knowing that you and Fanny and Jenna had each other!" Lucas shouted back.

"I would have gone with you!" Lorna cried. "For that matter, so would Mom! And Jenna!"

"You think I didn't think about that?" Lucas asked. "You think I didn't want that? But I couldn't do that to you. I couldn't rip your lives out from under you. You wouldn't have been happy."

"We would have been together! We would have been the family that you're claiming you always wanted us to be!" Lorna exploded.

Lucas looked at Lorna sadly and released her, but continued to look into her eyes. "If you had gone with me, Lorna, you couldn't have continued in the music business or done anything else with PR. It was too high-profile. And Dean was just getting started in his career, but he had already made it abundantly clear that Jenna was, and would always be, his first priority. He bailed out on his own 4th of July concert to go after Jenna when Hutchins took her, and he paid dearly for that careerwise. If Jenna had gone, Dean would have gone too. They had just gotten engaged, and neither one of them would have gone anywhere without the other. But if they had gone with me, Dean couldn't have continued with his music. He would have had to give it up. He would have, I'm sure, but Jenna would never have wanted that, and I didn't want that for him either. And I couldn't ask Jenna to give up school. She was in college, she wouldn't have been able to graduate, at least not under her own name. Your mother wouldn't have been able to write anymore, certainly not as Felicia Gallant. But even with a pen name, her style is so distinctive, the publishing world would have known it was her in about two seconds, and then we all would have been in danger, and then what?

"This was not something that I took lightly or something that I did without a LOT of thought. The only way I could keep all of you safe was to leave you. And then because Sally Madison went off the deep end and shot me in a jealous rage, I didn't even have the rest of the time I was supposed to have with all of you. I was supposed to have another six weeks. Then I was going to go out of town on a business trip, and Fanny would be notified that I'd been in a car accident where I was burned beyond recognition and identified by dental records, and then I would go into hiding and stay there until it was safe enough for all of us for me to come back. Instead I got yanked away from you and your mother and your sister before it was time, I spent eight months in a cardiac hospital, and I had heart transplant surgery and the physical therapy and rehabilitation that comes after that." He paused and ran a hand through his hair before continuing. "Maybe the original plan wouldn't have been any better. And you and I weren't able to cram a lifetime of missed opportunities into that one hour that we did have. But whether you like it or not, whether you like me right now or not, Lorna, I am your father, and Jenna's father, and Fanny's husband, and it will always be my job to protect the three of you with my very life as long as I am breathing!"

"Well, the way you did it stinks!" Lorna exploded. "And no, in that one hour, I thought that you were making peace with me because you thought you were dying. I didn't know your buddy Dr. Beckett had made arrangements with a cardiac hospital and had given you some wonder drug that would keep you alive but make it look like you were dead." The tears started again and she angrily brushed them away again. "FOR GOD'S SAKE, LUCAS, YOU DIED IN MY ARMS! DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT DID TO ME?" Lorna screamed. She sniffled, letting the tears fall like they hadn't fallen from her eyes since that night as she continued, "I was in that hospital bed, holding you, talking to you, trying to will you to stay with me, to fight, TO LIVE, so that I could have a real relationship with my father, and..." Lorna trailed off, then shook her head. "I have to get out of here," she said, backing away from Lucas and then moving forward, heading for the door.

Lucas didn't try to stop her, but when she got to the door, he called, "Lorna!" She stopped, her hand on the doorknob, but didn't turn around. "I did what I did out of love. I needed to know that you and Fanny and Jenna were safe, no matter what happened to me. And I did fight, Lorna. If I hadn't fought, I wouldn't be here now. And I'm not going anywhere. Not ever again."

Lorna didn't acknowledge Lucas's words. She just turned the doorknob, opened the door, and walked out, slamming the door behind her. After she was gone, Lucas sank down on the couch, buried his head in his hands, and wept, for all that his family had gone through without him there, and for the pain that he had caused them all, especially Fanny and Lorna.
**************************************************************************************************** *******

Lorna had stopped crying by the time she arrived at the police station, but she still had a good head of steam worked up as she stormed into the station house and headed toward Joe's office.

"Um, excuse me, you can't go back there, miss!" Lorna whirled around and found herself looking at a baby-faced, brown-haired, beefy uniformed officer wearing a uniform so new she could still smell the starch on it. Just what I need right now, an overzealous rookie, Lorna thought grimly.

"I'm the Captain's wife, and I need to see him immediately," she said briskly. She turned to leave again, but was stopped by the rookie's voice.

"You're Cap'n Carlino's wife?" he said with a friendly smile. "The Cap'n just got back from his honeymoon today. It's nice to meet you, Mrs. C."

Lorna rounded on the rookie again, her patience gone and her nerves shot. "Does this look like a rerun of Happy Days to you?" she demanded.

The rookie blinked, then gulped. "N-no, ma'am," he said.

"Ma'am!" Lorna shouted. "I'm not even 30 years old yet, so don't you 'Ma'am' me, kid!"

"I--I--I was just t-trying to show some respect to my captain's wife," the rookie said, squirming uncomfortably.

The door to Joe's office opened then, and he stuck his head out. "Hey! I thought I told you guys to stop hazing the rookie!" he exclaimed. Then he saw his wife glaring at the aforementioned rookie. "Lorna?" he asked, surprised to see her.

"Will you call off Officer Krupke here?" Lorna asked her husband impatiently, waving a hand at the young officer.

"It's all right, Sullivan," Joe said, addressing the rookie. "Get back to work."

"Right away, Cap'n!" Officer Sullivan exclaimed and rushed back to his desk.

Lorna walked into Joe's office without a word. He followed, closing the door behind him. "What's wrong?" he asked, setting the file folder he'd been holding on his desk and walking over to stand behind his wife, who was staring out his office window unseeing. He settled his hands on her shoulders and kissed the top of her head.

"He lied to me," Lorna said. She couldn't keep the tears at bay any longer and started crying again. "My father lied to me." She turned to look at Joe, her love, her husband, her best friend, her anchor. "He never hated me, Joe. He just pretended he did to keep me safe, he says."

"Because you were mixed up with the pre-Ryan Carl," Joe surmised. He and Lorna knew all about each other's pasts.

"According to him, yes," Lorna said. "But he didn't hold it against me. That's supposed to make everything okay?" Resting her palms flat on her husband's chest, Lorna looked up at Joe, her big brown eyes shining with tears. "I thought he died in my arms, Joe. I thought he only forgave me because he thought he was dying. I didn't care about the money or anything in the will, Jenna made sure I got my fair share of his estate, I just...He loved me all the time, but he let me think he hated me. He lied to me!"

Joe wrapped his arms around Lorna and let her cry herself out, which didn't take long considering all of the tears she'd already shed. When she was finished, he gave her his handkerchief and then reached back to his desk for the file he had put there when Lorna came in. "There's something you need to see, babe," he said, handing her the file. After wiping at her eyes and blowing her nose, Lorna took the file folder from Joe and opened it. Joe flipped through four pages, and then jabbed a finger at the fifth page. "Right there."

Lorna read silently, then looked up at Joe with wide eyes. "Oh my god," she breathed. "The FBI investigated me?"

"Very thoroughly," Joe replied. "And look here..." He turned the page.

Lorna started reading from the top. "And I thought Kevin was an S.O.B. when he tried to convict Frankie of a murder she didn't commit," she said after she read the paragraph. "We were still dating, and he actually filed a motion against me as an accessory to counterfeiting because of Carl? That jerk!"

"Keep reading," Joe said.

Joe knew when Lorna had read the passage he was waiting for her to read by her gasp. "My father had my record expunged," she said, looking up at Joe in surprise.

"They were never able to nail Carl for the counterfeiting, so, as your dad pointed out, it made no sense to nail you as an accessory when they didn't even get the perp," Joe replied.

Lorna read aloud from the file quietly: "'Mr. Castigliano maintains that his daughter Lorna Devon's association with Carl Hutchins was a combination of youthful indiscretion and a lack of strong family ties in her life. Ms. Devon has, since the beginning of this investigation in August 1992, been an upstanding, law-abiding citizen who resides in Bay City, Illinois, and has close relationships with her mother Felicia Gallant, nee Fanny Grady, and her adoptive sister Jenna Norris. Ms. Devon's association with Mr. Hutchins was terminated several months prior to the beginning of this investigation, and no evidence has been found to link Ms. Devon to Richard Madison, the drug smuggling ring, or the prostitution ring either as an individual, or as an accessory to Richard Madison or Carl Hutchins. Therefore, it is the conclusion of the Bureau that Lorna Devon is not now, and never was, involved with Richard Madison, the drug smuggling ring, or the prostitution ring. Mr. Castigliano continues to improve following his heart transplant of November 4, 1993, and continues to provide full cooperation in exchange for his protection as part of the Witness Relocation Program.'"

"Wow," Lorna said after a long moment, looking up at Joe again.

"That was my reaction when I read it," Joe replied.

Lorna sat on the edge of Joe's desk, still holding the file folder. He sat beside her. "He really did do it out of love," she said. Then she looked at Joe in horror. "I screamed at him and walked out on him! I was horrible to him!"

"You reacted," Joe replied. "It was perfectly natural. I mean, look at your mom and Jenna, and even Dean. The only difference is that you were happy first, and then you got angry. They were angry first and they're still angry."

"I have to fix this," Lorna said, rising. "I have to fix this right away." Before Joe could say another word, Lorna quickly kissed him and hurried out of his office.

"I love you too, babe," Joe said, smiling. Then he looked at the file again, which Lorna had left open on his desk. "And I'm looking forward to getting to know you, Lucas."
**************************************************************************************************** ******

Lucas was sitting alone in the dark when his doorbell rang. He had no idea who it could be, since none of his family was speaking to him, and he had told Iris he would call her later in the week, plus she had mentioned something about dinner with Dennis, Sarah, and Kelsey Harrison tonight the last time they'd talked. He figured it was another family member coming to give him hell. Looking and feeling like a whipped puppy, Lucas turned on a lamp and trudged to the door. "Lorna!" he exclaimed in surprise when he saw her standing there, holding a gift bag with two handles and looking nervous.

"Can I come in?" Lorna asked.

"Of course," Lucas said, standing aside. Lorna entered his apartment, and Lucas closed the door, confused as to why she was there.

"This is for you," Lorna blurted, holding the gift bag out to him.

Lucas took the bag, poked through the layers of tissue paper, and removed a cherry-wood picture frame. He looked at Lorna questioningly. "You said you had two copies of Dean and Jenna's wedding picture. I thought maybe you'd like to frame one and put it on the coffee table or something," she replied, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Thank you," Lucas replied. He was still confused, though. "I...wasn't expecting you to come back here so soon," he said.

"I had to, Daddy," Lorna said. "I read your file. The case Joe was checking on? He got your file somehow, and he showed me some of the things in it. You probably shouldn't let that get around though, okay? Anyway..." She trailed off. "I'm really sorry about before. I was a real bitch to you, and here you stuck your neck out for me, even from the Witness Relocation Program." She paused. "The FBI investigated me because you're my father and they thought you might be trying to cover for me, didn't they?"

"Yes," Lucas admitted cautiously. "But I didn't TELL them to investigate you, Lorna, I--"

"No, I know it wasn't you," she assured her father. "It was Kevin Anderson. The jackass. What did I ever see in him? We were dating, and he has me investigated by the FBI without even telling me!"

"He's the one that you said prosecuted Frankie for a murder she didn't commit?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah," Lorna replied.

"'Jackass' is being kind," Lucas said.

Lorna laughed a bit at that. "Yeah, I guess it is," she said. She looked at the floor, then looked up at Lucas again, her expression serious. "Can you forgive me for the way I acted before, and the things I said?"

"I had it coming," Lucas replied. "There's nothing you need to be forgiven for. I'm the one who should be down on my knees after what I did to you and Fanny and Jenna."

"Down on one knee in front of Mom would be good," Lorna said with a little smile.

"I want that too, but I'm not going to push anything," Lucas replied. "I need to get her to talk to me first."

Lorna then rushed to Lucas, much as she had on her wedding day, and hugged him tightly. "I love you, Daddy," she said, her words muffled because her face was buried in Lucas's shoulder.

Lucas, still holding the picture frame in one hand and the empty gift bag in the other, hugged Lorna back. "I love you too, my darling daughter," he replied, closing his eyes and offering a silent prayer of thanks. "And today has been a very emotional day for both of us, with everything each of us has learned from the other."

Lorna broke the embrace and took a step back, then looked at her father. "But it's going to get better from here," she said.

"It's got to get better from here," Lucas replied.

"It will," Lorna said confidently. "We're all going to be a family. You and Mom and me and Joe and Jenna and Dean and little Lucas."

"That's what I want more than anything," Lucas replied, seeing the first bit of light at the end of the tunnel since that brief look in Fanny's eyes the day he came back, when he announced he was back to stay...the look that told him that as angry and hurt as Fanny was right now, she still loved him. Now all he had to do was remind her of that, and work as hard as he could to prove to her that he was worthy of her love, and that he would never hurt her like he had hurt her by leaving her and their daughters, even though it had been for their own safety, ever again.

TO BE CONTINUED

Part 8

2009-02-09T10:39:00.000-08:00

Hey, everybody!

I'd like to thank Nettie for the background on Felicia's alcoholism and reading my first draft of the part of this chapter that deals with that, and Suzanne for the clips she posted about Lorna's rape. Any errors in this chapter are purely mine. Also, I have no idea if Cindy had anything to do with Gabe's death, but I wrote it that she did just so she wouldn't be on the canvas, because Grant's off in prison, so Cindy doesn't need to be around torturing anyone. This part is a long one, and it's all about Lucas finding out about what happened to his family while he was gone, and I set up what's coming up in the next part of "Reclaiming Forever" at the end of this part. I hope you like it.

Amy

"RECLAIMING FOREVER," PART 8

Lorna swallowed hard. "I don't really know where to start," she said. "I mean, do I go in order of what happened, or do I start with the...well, I don't want to say 'easy' because none of it was easy, but some things were...They were all difficult situations, and they all did affect all of us, but certain things that happened affected one or two of us a lot more directly than the others in the family. Or do I just start with me and get all of that out of the way, and then tell you about Mom, and about Jenna and Dean? I really don't know what to do here," she confessed, wiping her suddenly sweaty palms on her tan linen slacks.

Lucas reached out and took Lorna's damp hands in his own. "You start wherever you want to start, and you take your time," he said.

Lorna had never been a crier, but now she felt tears pricking at her eyelids. "I don't want to be the one to tell you all of this, Daddy," she admitted in a whisper, and Lucas was stung by the sight of tears in her eyes, but he was even more stung by her next words, also spoken in whispered tones. "Because it's going to break your heart, I know it is, because Mom always said I have your heart...and you even said that inside I'm like you...and when all of these things happened, they broke my heart. And I never want to break your heart, Daddy." She took another deep breath and shakily exhaled, pulling one hand from her father's grasp, and spoke again at a normal volume. "But I know I have to do this. Because you're right. You need to know. I'm just...I'm sorry I'm the one that has to tell you." She used her free hand to swipe at the tears in her eyes.

Lucas fought to keep his own emotions under control. His mind was racing with all of the horrible possibilities of what might have befallen his girls when he wasn't there to keep them safe, and he feared hearing what Lorna had to say, but he had to hear her say it.

"Start where I want to," she said, looking at Lucas questioningly. He squeezed her hand reassuringly, and she squeezed his hand in reply before speaking again. "Um, okay. Ah, I guess...I guess I'll start with Jenna and Dean."

"They broke up for a while. Dean cheated on her. Her stalker kept coming after her. Or there was another one!" Lucas blurted.

"No, no, no!" Lorna said hastily. "None of the above. They nailed her stalker, it was some creepy kid from one of her classes, and she never had another stalker. She and Dean never broke up, and Dean would never cheat on Jenna. She's it for him, and he's it for her. It's always been that way."

"They were going to get married before I..." Lucas said. "But I saw the picture and the article in Rolling Stone. They didn't get married until 1994."

"That first holiday season without you, it was just too hard," Lorna replied. "Dean didn't want their wedding to be overshadowed by the grief that Jenna...that all of us...felt after losing you. Jenna wasn't too happy with him at first, but he turned out to be right. And when they did get married, at Christmas 1994, it was everything they both wanted. It was a celebration, with family and close friends only, and Jenna had the dress with the 50-foot train that she always wanted."

"50-foot train?" Lucas asked.

"I was the maid of honor. Who do you think had to unfurl that stupid 50-foot-train before Mom walked Jenna down the aisle? I hated that thing!" Lorna exclaimed. She ducked her head slightly, but Lucas just laughed, because this was so like Lorna and Jenna, only with a lot less venom than he recalled. Lorna managed a laugh too, and then said, "But Jenna loved it, and she took Dean's breath away when he saw her. That's all that mattered. It was perfect...well, except for you not being there."

"Okay, enough stalling," Lucas said. "Tell me what happened to Jenna and Dean."

Lorna squeezed Lucas's hand to give herself courage. "Well, a few months after we lost you, they moved in together. I was shocked--Jenna the Convent Queen shacking up with her boyfriend even though the boyfriend was Dean." Lucas looked shocked at this too. "I see it surprises you too. But they weren't just playing house. They were very much committed to each other. So committed, in fact, that they started a family."

Lucas's shocked face turned to a frown. "But I've met little Lucas. He's only two." Then he realized what Lorna was saying. "Jenna had a miscarriage."

"Ah, not exactly," Lorna said. "It was early in 1993. The baby was an unexpected surprise, but Dean and Jenna both really wanted that kid. I was even looking forward to being an aunt. But there was a problem...." She trailed off.

"What happened?" Lucas asked urgently, gripping her hands so tightly that Lorna could feel her fingers starting to cramp.

"Jenna and Mom had gone to Matthew Cory's cabin," Lorna began, "and I'll explain why later, but while they were there, Jenna started having pains. It was way too early. Mom was in no condition to drive Jenna to the hospital, and by the time the ambulance got them there, and Dean got there, and me, and Cass and Frankie, Jenna was in surgery. The pregnancy was ectopic."

"Ectopic?" Lucas asked. "I--I don't know what that means."

"The baby wasn't growing in the uterus where it was supposed to," Lorna explained. "It was growing somewhere else, in one of Jenna's fallopian tubes. She never would have been able to carry the baby to term. They had to operate in order to save Jenna's life, and they did...but because it was an ectopic pregnancy, the baby didn't make it. We never even knew if it was a boy or a girl."

Lucas's eyes shone with tears. "One of my daughters lost a baby, and I wasn't here," he said softly. He dropped his head into his hands. Lorna leaned closer, wrapping her arm around her father's shoulders and touching her forehead to his temple. "She and Dean must have been so devastated," he said, his voice breaking.

"They were. We all were," Lorna said, her own voice choked. She remembered that horrible night all too well...remembered Dean's tears and Jenna's sobs, the grim explanations from John Hudson and Kelsey Harrison, Cass and Frankie reliving their own miscarriage but trying so hard to stay strong for Dean, and Lorna's own anger at God, and at Felicia. "And we mourned, and we grieved, especially Jenna and Dean. But they left for Dean to go on tour several months later. Jenna came back for a couple of months that fall, and then she left with Dean on Christmas Eve. They spent the next year going all over the world, and then they came home here to Bay City at Christmas '94 to get married. And none of us knew it at the time, but Jenna was seven weeks' pregnant with Lucas at the wedding. She and Dean were terrified when they first found out. But they didn't stay that way for long. And we were all so happy about the baby. After Jenna's baby shower, she got me alone at Mom's, where we had it, and she asked me if I'd be okay with her and Dean naming the baby for you if it was a boy. They decided to be surprised, so none of knew he was a he until he got here. At that point, I didn't think I'd ever have kids, much less get married, so I told her to go for it. And Lucas Winthrop Frame was born on July 8, 1995 at Bay City General. Seven pounds, 10 ounces, 20 inches long, dark hair of course, and Dean's brown eyes. And he's an amazing kid. We all love him so much. And we've all told him about you, especially Mom. And now he gets to know you for real! So see? There was tragedy and sadness, but it ended up okay. That's how it went for all of us, Daddy. You saw Jenna and Dean and little Lucas at my wedding. They're a happy little family. They have a house on the outskirts of Bay City. Dean has his own recording studio. He doesn't really tour much anymore, but he still writes and sings his own music, and he's even started producing albums for other artists. Jenna has a column in the Bay City Herald. Lucas loves music and fire trucks and ice cream and going to the park and his family, and he can already write his name and count to 50. So it's all good now."

Lucas lifted his head from his hands, his eyes still moist. "Why couldn't Fanny drive Jenna to the hospital?"

"What?" Lorna asked, stalling again.

"You said that Fanny and Jenna were at Matthew Cory's cabin when Jenna started having pains, but Fanny couldn't drive Jenna to the hospital. Why not?" Lucas persisted.

Lorna looked away from Lucas then. "Mom had a lot of problems after we lost you, Daddy," she began. "A lot of problems that none of us could help her with. We tried, we all tried...me, Jenna, Cass, Rachel Cory, but it just..." She trailed off, still staring at the floor, knowing she couldn't look her father in the eye when she told him what had happened with Felicia. "She needed something to dull the pain. So she started drinking."

Lucas turned white. "Oh my god," he breathed.

"Mom became an alcoholic," Lorna said. Father and daughter were both silent for a long moment before Lorna turned and looked at Lucas, whose complexion was pale and whose face registered pure anguish. As hard as it was for her to look her father in the eye, she had to for the rest of this part, so she began talking again. "I wasn't able to keep my promise to you, Daddy, about never fighting with Mom again. I fought like hell trying to pull her out of that damn vodka bottle. Cass and Rachel fought with me. Jenna refused at first to see that there was a problem, even though there so obviously was. That's why they were at the cabin in the first place. I had staged an intervention, along with Cass and Rachel. All it did was make Mom angry. Jenna insisted on going away with Mom and talking about her drinking calmly, so they went to the cabin, but before they could really get anywhere in the conversation, Mom was drunk, and Jenna was in real medical trouble."

A lone tear fell from the corner of Lucas's eye and ran in a salty trail down his cheek. "I'm sorry, Daddy," Lorna whispered, feeling the pain roll over her like a wave as she relived those awful months. "I know it hurts. It hurt all of us," she continued quietly. "You know, the first time I actually called her 'Mom,' we were arguing about her drinking? How's that for irony?" She paused and then said, "The one good thing that came out of Dean and Jenna losing their baby was that that was the night Mom finally admitted she was an alcoholic. From there, she went on and got the help she needed. And she's clean and sober today. She takes it one day at a time, and she goes to AA meetings, and you remember at my wedding, when Gary Sinclair told Mom he'd be there for her if she needed him, no matter what? He said that because Mom is his AA sponsor. Gary is one of Joe's officers on the force. You remember him, right? He's engaged to Josie Watts. Mom helped Gary, and he'll be there to help her if she needs him to."

Lucas wiped at his eyes and then looked away from Lorna. "I did this to her," he said brokenly. "I did this to Fanny."

"No, Daddy, you didn't! It wasn't your fault!" Lorna insisted. "Jenna didn't start drinking after you died. I didn't start drinking after you died. And Mom was really clever about it. I mean, when you think about alcoholics, you think about a person who's stumbling through every day, with slurred speech and rumpled clothes and falling down. That's not what Mom was like when she was drunk. Well, almost never. There was that birthday party of mine..." Lorna trailed off, uncertain if she should continue.

"Your birthday party?" Lucas asked bleakly.

"Yeah. Frankie was on trial for a murder at the time," Lorna began.

"Frankie? Frankie Frame? Winthrop? Frankie's no murderer!" Lucas insisted.

"Of course she's not," Lorna said, rubbing Lucas's back, trying to calm him down. "And we all knew that. Unfortunately, I happened to be dating Kevin Anderson at the time. He was prosecuting Frankie. So Mom had, uh, tied one on before arriving at the party, and made a big scene telling Kevin off on Frankie's behalf. And she did this laughing thing when she was sitting at the table with me and Jenna. That's the only time we really saw her stereotypically drunk. It took all of us months to catch on and realize that she really had a serious problem. Once we did, we arranged the intervention, which didn't work. Then Jenna and Dean lost their baby shortly after that, and Mom finally admitted she had a problem and got help."

"I wasn't here for any of that," Lucas said numbly. "And maybe if I had been, Fanny wouldn't have turned to the bottle, and--"

"Daddy, don't do this to yourself!" Lorna ordered sternly. "We can't spend our time on 'what if's and second-guessing the past. It's over and done with, and all we can do now is get on with the present and the future. We survived it, Daddy, because that's who we are.
The three of us became a family while you were gone. Jenna and I became real sisters, and Mom and I became a real mother and daughter. We all mourned you, Daddy, but as painful as it was, as hard it was, we all survived it, because Fanny Grady and Luke Castigliano are survivors, and that was born and bred in me, even though we didn't find each other until I was grown, and Jenna learned it from the two years she had with both of you, and continued to learn it from Mom after Mom got sober. We are strong as individuals, and strong as a family."

Lucas still said nothing, but his look of anguish had turned to a look of shame, and he bowed his head with the weight of that shame. Lorna scooted closer to him and took his hands in hers, holding them tightly, bending her own head so she could look at her father's profile. "Daddy, please, don't blame yourself for Mom's drinking. Cass, Rachel, Jenna, me...we all blamed ourselves at first too. But Mom drank because she wanted to. She drank to try and escape the pain of losing you. And when she finally realized that it wouldn't work, and that it only made things worse, and that it put her at risk for losing the rest of us, she found the strength inside to stop. It wasn't your fault, Daddy. Please believe that."

Lucas took a deep breath and lifted his head from his hands once more to look at Lorna. Despite her assurances, he was blaming himself for Fanny's drinking, and he was alternately angry at himself and devastated at having lost a grandchild and not being there when Jenna and Dean were mourning the loss of their first baby. And Lorna still hadn't told him what had happened to her. Part of Lucas dreaded hearing what had happened to Lorna, and the rest of him feared it; Fanny had become an alcoholic, and Jenna had suffered the loss of a child. Lucas knew firsthand the pain of losing a child. But knowing that Fanny had developed such a serious drinking problem after losing him hurt worse than everything else that had ever hurt him, worse than letting go of Lorna the night she was born, and worse even than walking away from his family five years ago to keep them safe. As much as he was hurting right now, though, Lucas still took a moment to silently thank the God he had become much better acquainted with in the last five years for Dean Frame. Fanny had been right about Dean being a stand-up guy and being there for the family. No wonder Dean had told Lucas off. Everything the family had been through, and by all accounts Dean had been there for all of it, been there for Jenna, for Fanny, even for Lorna. Lucas only respected Dean more for having told him off, even though Dean didn't have the whole story yet about why Lucas chose to leave. Had he been in Dean's shoes, Lucas couldn't promise that he wouldn't have followed up the verbal telling-off with a punch in the mouth.

With one more fortifying deep breath, Lucas wiped at his eyes, then took Lorna's hands in his, turned to face her, and quietly said, "Well, I know now what happened to Fanny, and to Jenna," he said. "What happened to you, Lorna?"

"I survived it," Lorna reminded him. "All of it."

"Survived what?" Lucas asked gently.

Lorna couldn't hold her father's gaze, and she looked down at her lap. "This is so hard," she murmured. "Not that it was easy telling you about Mom, and about Jenna, but I'm just...I'm afraid that you're going to see me differently when you know, at least when you know the first thing."

Lucas gently hooked a finger under Lorna's chin and tilted her face up so she had to look at him. "Nothing and no one will change the way I see you, or how much I love you, Lorna," he said. "You take as much time as you need to tell me, but please, I need to know about you too."

Lorna nodded. But she couldn't look at her father, so she turned her head away and, looking at the floor, she spoke. "I was..." she began. She choked on the words, then began again. "I was raped."

A long silence followed those three words. Lorna finally chanced a look at Lucas. He looked as though he'd been punched in the stomach. The pale complexion and look of shock was back on his face. "Daddy?" Lorna asked fearfully.

Lucas surged to his feet. "I'll kill him," he rasped. "I'll kill the bastard who did this to you! With my bare hands, I'll kill him! How dare he violate my daughter! I'll rip his head off!"

Lorna jumped to her feet too. "Daddy, Daddy, calm down," she pleaded.

"Calm down?" Lucas asked. "Calm down?! My baby girl was..." Then he couldn't continue and he broke down sobbing. Lorna cried too, and she couldn't help herself. She grabbed her father and pulled him into a fierce hug. Father and daughter clung tightly to each other for a few moments as the storm of emotion and tears raged from the two of them. When Lucas's sobs petered out to regular tears, he drew back just enough to frame Lorna's face in his hands. "God, Lorna, I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I should have been here. I should have been here for all of you. I should have--"

"Daddy, you couldn't have stopped it. Even if you'd been here, I still would have been raped, and Jenna and Dean still would have lost their first baby, and for all we know, Mom still would have started drinking. I mean, there was a lot going on between you two back then, arguing over me, and the Madisons..." Lorna trailed off.

"My baby girl," Lucas said on a sob. "Who did this to you? Did they catch that lowlife piece of scum? What prison is he in? I'm gonna go there and get up in his face and make him answer to ME for what he did to you!"

"He's dead, Daddy," Lorna said. Lucas started to say something again, but Lorna said, "Can I please just get the rest of it this out? It's not something that we talk about anymore, and it happened years ago. I just...I need to tell you all of it, okay, Daddy? If you want to know, I mean."

Lucas could only nod. "I was having an argument with the guy I was dating at the time," she began.

"Kevin Anderson?" Lucas asked quietly.

"No, I'd broken up with Kevin. I was dating a man named Victor at the time. Victor Rodriguez. Anyway, we were at Sassy's, he was flirting with a woman, he was already mad at me because he saw me talking to Grant Harrison, even though that was just business, so I smiled at this guy at the end of the bar and bought him a drink. The guy had a friend. I invited them back to my place. There was pizza, and way too much gin and beer, and dancing. When I told them the party was over, the one guy didn't want to leave." She paused, swallowed, took a deep breath, then continued. "I passed out. When I woke up, I was on my couch, pinned down, and he was on top of me. He was holding me down, tearing at my stockings. I tried to push him off of me, Daddy, I swear to God I tried to push him off of me, but he had his shoulder in my face. I passed out again. When I woke up again, I was alone, and I went to Mom and told her what had happened, and she called Kelsey Harrison and Kelsey checked me out. You remember Kelsey, right? She's a doctor. She's dating Iris's son Dennis now."

"You're all right?" Lucas asked anxiously. "You didn't...this piece of scum didn't..." He couldn't even bring himself to say the words.

"I had all the tests done, Daddy. I don't have AIDS or HIV or anything," Lorna assured him, and Lucas let out a breath he hadn't even realized he was holding. "Jenna and Dean had left for a few weeks so Dean could start his tour. Jenna came back for a couple of months, and I told her what happened. Mom and Jenna kept pushing me to go to the police, and I didn't want to. Victor was pushing for it too. I thought it was my fault. I thought I was asking for it. I didn't even know those guys' names when I brought them back to my apartment, I mean how stupid was that?"

"It was NOT your fault! It was NEVER your fault!" Lucas fairly shouted.

"I know that now," Lorna assured him. "But at the time..." She trailed off. "One of the two guys was Cass's brother, Morgan Winthrop. I doubt you've met him yet. I dated him for a while after that whole ordeal, but that's another story. I thought it was Morgan, I really did. So I accused him. He went on trial. Cass defended him. It almost broke up Mom and Cass's friendship for good, because Mom was on my side, of course, and Cass and Frankie were on Morgan's side, of course. But Morgan was telling the truth. He didn't rape me. It was the other guy...Kyle Barkley."

Another silence. Then Lucas said, "And this Barkley is dead? Who killed him?"

"Well, at first we thought it was Mom," Lorna said. If it hadn't been so serious, Lucas's stunned look would have been comical. "She went into total Mama Bear mode. Kyle Barkley went after her, and she shot him. But it was in self-defense. I thought she did it to avenge me. Victor thought I did it. At first I thought Victor did it. So we were all kind of each other's alibi. But then it came out in the autopsy that Kyle Barkley had a head injury and would have died anyway, and that Mom shot him in self-defense, so she was never charged. She'd already been through all that once. She told me about it after the incident with Kyle Barkley. But this time, she said, it was different, because this time she did do it, and she would do it again, and if she had to go to jail...God, I was terrified she'd have to go to jail. I'd already lost my father. I couldn't lose my mother too. Thankfully, she didn't have to go to jail. And she was great, and so were Jenna and Dean. They were there for me. As busy as they were on the road, with Jenna starting to write her first columns for the Bay City Herald and a few essays for Brava about life on the road and touring with Dean, they still called every single day, even if it was just for five minutes. And Marley Frame testified at my trial, and she and I talked about what it was like to be survivors of rape, and she even took me to her old support group at the hospital. Well, not old, exactly; she hadn't gone there in quite a while, but she went with me because I didn't really want to go alone, only I didn't want to admit it."

"So strong, so brave," Lucas said, tucking a strand of Lorna's raven-black hair behind her ear.

"I take after my parents," Lorna replied.

Lucas wiped at his eyes. "Is that how you met Joe?" he asked.

"No," Lorna said. "Joe came later. Much later. After another loss." She paused again and resumed her seat on the couch, so Lucas sat beside her. "I was engaged once before I married Joe. His name was Gabe McNamara, and he was a cop too. Some creep stole my purse, I went barging into the police station complaining about it loudly, and Gabe was there. He was new to town. I took one look at him sitting there calmly while I was bitching about this creep who stole my purse, and I was amazed at how calm he could be. There I was, in full Hurricane Lorna mode--a mode that Mom, Jenna and Dean have all told me more than once to dial down from--and it didn't faze him at all."

"So what happened?" Lucas asked.

"We started dating," Lorna said. She stared off into space. "I wonder, if he hadn't died, if it would have lasted though. He'd been married before. His wife and son were killed in a fire. I was the first woman he got close to after losing them. He proposed, I accepted. But his ex-sister-in-law came to town. Cindy. The psychopath. He defended her to me at first, but when she knocked me out cold in the ladies' room at The Harbor Club and left me there, and the place caught fire and Gabe had to rescue me, he realized I was right about Cindy being a nut job. The fact that he could take her side over mine already had me doubting the future of our relationship, if I could really go the distance with him. To keep me safe from Cindy while a case was built against her, he arranged for me to go into hiding for my own protection." Lorna smiled sardonically. "Like father, like daughter, huh?" Her smile faded. "But shortly after I left, Gabe was shot and killed in the line of duty. Mom wanted to tell me in person but not even she knew where I was, and we both hated that. She finally convinced Ryan to let her call me. She cried when she told me Gabe was dead, and she kept apologizing for having to do it over the phone. Turns out Cindy hired somebody to kill him. So she got sent up for life, between what she tried to do to me and killing Gabe. With her gone, there was no reason for me to stay gone, and I just wanted to come home to my family, so I did. Little Lucas had just turned one. Mom and Jenna and Dean were all here. And I just wanted to be with my family."

She paused. "Shortly after I came back, Joe suffered a loss of his own. I knew him a little bit because he was a cop like Gabe. He was in love with Paulina Cory. He thought he might have been the father of her baby. But even before she had the baby, Paulina chose to go back to Jake, and then Jake turned out to be the father of Paulina's baby. I remember hearing it through the hospital grapevine. I found Joe on the hospital rooftop, crying. We became friends, best friends. And everything grew from there. I was still scared to death when he proposed to me, though." She looked at Lucas then. "I knew it was the real thing with Joe. Like you and Mom, and Jenna and Dean, and Cass and Frankie. That was what I'd wanted all along, but I was scared out of my mind to take it. Losing Gabe hurt, and I was having doubts about him. What if it didn't work out with Joe? But the family wouldn't let me run away from our love. Mom told me that even if she knew how it would all turn out the moment she saw you again with the limo and the roses the day she got out of jail, she still would have done it all again. I understood what she meant. So I went to Joe a few days later, and that's when we got engaged, and then we got married, which you were here for." She leaned back against the couch. "That's all of it, Daddy, everything, I swear. With all of us."

"No wonder Fanny and Jenna and Dean are so mad at me," Lucas said.

"But Daddy, didn't you hear what I just said?" Lorna asked. "When I was scared to accept Joe's marriage proposal, Mom told me that even if she knew how it would all turn out the day you two found each other again when you were all grown up, she would do it all again. I KNOW she still feels that way. We just have to remind her that she feels that way, that's all!"

"Well, I'm certainly not going to give up," Lucas said. "Not now, not ever." He reached into his back pocket for his wallet, removed it, opened it, pulled something out, and held it out to Lorna.

"This is the wedding picture of Dean and Jenna we released to Rolling Stone!" Lorna exclaimed.

"I have another copy in my wallet," Lucas replied. "I had them laminated. That's the closest I've been to all of you since I went away. But not a day has gone by that I haven't thought of all of you and hoped that you were safe and wished that I were here with you."

Lorna was touched to learn that Lucas had carried a picture of the whole family (including Cass, Frankie and Charlie) with him all that time. "We sure have come a long way," Lorna said. "You hated me for so long, and here you've been carrying a family picture that includes me for four years."

"I never hated you," Lucas said.

Lorna tore her eyes away from the picture to look at Lucas. "What?" she said. "Of course you did. You couldn't stand me. You didn't want me to be your daughter. You yelled at me, blamed me, ridiculed me, didn't want me anywhere near you or Mom or Jenna."

"Lorna, I had to do that to keep you safe," Lucas said. "You were involved with Carl Hutchins. So was Rick Madison. I had no way of knowing back then if you were a link between the two. The only way to keep you out of the line of fire was to deny you were my daughter, and make sure everyone in public knew that I supposedly hated you. But I've never hated you for a single second. I was angry about that tape of Jenna on Fanny's talk show, yeah, and I was disappointed in you for putting it on the air, but I could never hate you. I never have, and I never will."

"You never hated me," Lorna said. "You treated me like dirt beneath your feet after finding out I was your long-lost daughter, you let me believe that you favored Jenna over me, you let me believe that you died hating me in your heart of hearts, and that you only forgave me BECAUSE you were dying, and now you're telling me that all of that was a lie? How could you do that to me?!"

TO BE CONTINUED

Part 7

2009-02-09T10:29:00.000-08:00

Here, at last, is the next part of "Reclaiming Forever."
I decided to take a slightly different tack and split the big, emotional Lucas/Lorna scenes into two parts, so here's the first part of their conversation. I hope you enjoy it.

Amy

"Reclaiming Forever," Part 7

"Flight 1017 from O'Hare Airport, now arriving at Gate 14," the airport loudspeaker exclaimed. Lucas pitched his empty paper cup of coffee in a nearby trash can and headed closer to the gate. Lorna Devon Carlino, sunglasses hiding her eyes from both the bright summer sun of Bay City and the expression of the jet lag she was feeling, was walking beside her husband of 10 days, Joe Carlino. Her arm was around his waist, and his arm was around her shoulders. But as soon as they reached the terminal she began looking for her father. When she spotted Lucas, she pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head and called, "Daddy!" Lucas turned his head in the direction of Lorna's voice and smiled when he saw her waving at him. He started walking towards her, and she quickened her steps until they met in a big hug. "Welcome home, newlyweds!" Lucas exclaimed as he and Lorna hugged. He then stepped back from Lorna and extended his hand to Joe for a handshake. "How was Paris?" "Very romantic," Lorna replied. "We had a wonderful time," Joe said. The trio headed for the baggage claim, Lorna walking between Lucas and Joe, one arm linked through her father's arm, holding her husband's hand with her other hand. "And does my wife know how to shop!" "Well, we had to get souvenirs for everybody!" Lorna exclaimed. "Just so you didn't get me a beret," Lucas said. "Of course not, Daddy," Lorna said. "Mom gets the beret. And the feather boa." Lucas laughed appreciatively. "Smart girl," he replied. They had reached the baggage claim by now, and Joe started pulling his and Lorna's suitcases off the carousel as they came around. "Daddy, about Mom, and about setting the two of you up to meet at my apartment--" she began. "Your heart was in the right place, and I appreciate the effort," Lucas said. "I can't say the same for your mother right now, though." "Believe me, I know," Lorna said. "We already had words about it. But she has to realize, and so do Jenna and Dean for that matter, that not seeing you isn't going to resolve anything!" "Actually, speaking of your mother, and Jenna and Dean, I know that you're just back from your honeymoon, and if you're too tired to do it today, I completely understand, but I'd really like to talk to you about the family, Lorna," Lucas said. Joe heard this. "Actually, I need to go to the station house for a few hours, so if you'd like to catch up with your dad, sweetheart, now would be a good time," he said. "Ryan wants you to come in to work the day you get back from your honeymoon?" Lucas asked, frowning. That wasn't the Ryan Harrison he remembered. "No, sir...I mean, Lucas. I have some new developments in a case that I need to check on. Ryan...that is, Commissioner Harrison...doesn't even know we're back yet," Joe replied. "You're sure?" Lorna asked Joe. "I'm sure," Joe replied. "I'll catch a cab to the apartment, drop off the luggage, and pick up my car, and you can go with your dad. If you don't go back to our place, he can drop you there later, or I'll pick you up on my way home from the station house. Sound like a plan?" "Okay," Lorna agreed. She and Joe shared a lingering kiss. Lucas averted his eyes, smiling all the while. Joe flagged down a skycap, who helped him with all the luggage, and after he had left, Lorna smiled at Lucas. Lucas was struck again by how much she looked like Fanny. "Well, where to?" she asked. "I found a place while you and Joe were on your honeymoon," Lucas replied. "Would you like to see it?" "I would love to," Lorna said, putting her arm through Lucas's again. "Lead the way"
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"This is really in-your-face," Lorna observed as Lucas unlocked the front door of his suite. "I like it." "This is where I lived before Fanny and I got married," Lucas replied, opening the door and ushering her in ahead of him. "The furniture's different, but that's about the only thing that's changed." "Wow, you lived one floor down from Mom for, like, a year before you two got together?" Lorna asked. "I didn't know that." "It was a little over a year," Lucas replied as he removed his jacket and draped it over the back of the chair. "But when I found it was available again, I had to take it." "I think it's brilliant," Lorna replied. "You'll see Mom in the halls, on the elevator, and of course TOPS is right upstairs. I know you guys got married there. I saw the pictures. That's why Joe and I got married there. And so did Dean and Jenna. We wanted to get married in the same place that you and Mom did." She seated herself on the couch. Lucas sat down next to her. "Would you like some iced tea or lemonade or bottled water or anything?" Lucas asked. "I'm fine," Lorna said. "Now, what was it you wanted to talk to me about regarding the family? Have any of them cut you a break since I've been on my honeymoon?" "No, not really," Lucas replied. Lorna shook her head. "Well, I'm not really surprised by that. We're a stubborn group of people. But I'm back now, Daddy, and you don't have to face off against Mom or Jenna and Dean or anybody alone." "I know, sweetheart, and I appreciate that," Lucas said. He took Lorna's hands in his and held them. "The thing is, I..." He trailed off. "What?" Lorna asked. She looked at Lucas so earnestly, he thought his heart would crack wide open. "I have some questions," he said. "I have some questions too," Lorna said. "You flatlined when I was holding you. I climbed into the hospital bed with you because you were cold, and I was telling you how I was going to make things right with Jenna, and for Dean, and I wouldn't fight with Mom anymore, and I'd knit you a whole wardrobe, and put on a whole Christmas shabang, and...Obviously, and thank God, you didn't die, but how did that happen? How did you survive?" "Before you came in to see me, Fanny and Jenna were in the chapel," Lucas told Lorna. "Do you remember Dr. Beckett?" Lorna frowned. "Dr. Beckett..." she said. "No. I remember Jamie Frame rushing into the ER cubicle and seeing you'd been shot. I remember wanting to throttle Kelsey Harrison because she wouldn't tell me anything other than you were in surgery. And John Hudson came in when Mom and Jenna and I were just standing there after you...after we thought you...well, you know." She paused. "Wait a minute! Beckett...Was he the young guy that was with Jamie Frame? I remember this young doctor came out of your cubicle and said that they needed to find your family fast because you needed surgery, and I told him I'd sign whatever he wanted me to sign, just do whatever they had to do to save you, and he asked if I was family, and I told him I was your daughter. Was that him?" "Yes, that was Dr. Beckett," Lucas replied. "He was on the government's payroll. Sally wasn't supposed to shoot me. That's not how I was supposed to...disappear. Anyway, Beckett came in after Fanny and Jenna had left, and before you got there. He put something in my IV that would make it look like I died, and he told me I had one hour left to say my final goodbyes. After that, they'd be transporting me to a first-class cardiac hospital under an assumed name. So that last hour, I was with you." "That's why you kept telling me not to go," Lorna said, releasing one of her father's hands and putting her hand to her mouth. "I didn't know when I'd see you again," Lucas replied. "I was determined to cram as much into that one hour as I could." "Then your heart--" Lorna said. "Jamie Frame didn't lie to Fanny and Jenna. The damage was severe. But they saved my life at the cardiac hospital. I went through rigorous physical therapy and rehabilitation. The docs all said it was sheer force of will and stubbornness that kept me alive and kept me going," Lucas said. "But Jamie said there was irreparable damage to your heart," Lorna said. "There was," Lucas said. "But it's okay." He paused. "I had a heart transplant four years ago, after another close call. One of the agents guarding me took a bullet in the head that was meant for me. He was an organ donor, and we matched. So I can honestly say I have the heart of a 30-year-old man." Lucas rested his palm over his chest. "But even if I didn't have a new heart, I'd still be here, because I knew that I would do whatever it took, no matter how long it took, to get back to you and your mother and your sister." Lorna leaned back against the couch. "Wow," she said. "You being here really IS a miracle, Daddy, on so many levels!" "And I'm never going away again," Lucas vowed. "Not to where I don't come back, I mean." Lorna smiled. "You're really here, and you're really okay," she said. Impulsively, she hugged Lucas again. "And we're going to be a whole family again, Daddy, I promise you. Mom and Jenna and Dean can't stay mad at you forever. Especially Mom, especially after she finds out what you went through, with the cardiac hospital, and the heart transplant." "Don't say anything to your mother or Jenna and Dean for now," Lucas said as he drew back from Lorna. "I want to tell them myself, when the time is right. You can tell Joe, of course. But don't tell anyone else, all right?" "If that's what you want, that's what I'll do," Lorna replied. She brushed her hair behind her ear. "Well, I had my most immediate, burning questions answered, so I guess it's your turn. What do you want to know?" Lucas took a deep breath and then looked Lorna squarely in the eye. "Fanny and Dean have both said something to the effect of Dean being there for my family when I wasn't, and being there for the hell that all of you went through. What hell? What happened to you and Fanny and Jenna after I left, Lorna?" Lorna suddenly looked very uncomfortable. "I can tell you what happened to me," she said. "It won't be easy, but I can tell you what happened to me, Daddy. But Mom, and Jenna and Dean...You really should hear it from them." "Lorna, they won't talk to me," Lucas replied. "And I'm desperate and very worried. Bad things happened, didn't they?" Lorna looked down at her lap. "Yes," she murmured. "To all of you?" Lucas asked. "Yes," Lorna replied, still looking at her lap. Lucas ran his hand around his mouth, his old nervous habit resurfacing again. "What happened, Lorna?" he asked. Lorna looked at him. "Please," he said, "I need to know. You can tell me. Whatever it is, you can tell me." Now it was Lorna who took a deep breath. "We all survived, Daddy," she said. "You have to remember that and hold onto that, all right? We all survived." Lucas was scared now. "This is really serious, isn't it?" he asked. Lorna dipped her chin once in a nod. "Very serious," she replied. "Tell me," Lucas implored. "Please. I have to know." Lorna looked at her father for a long moment without saying anything, and then opened her mouth to speak.

TO BE CONTINUED:

Special Anniversary tribute for Cass and Frankie

2009-02-09T10:20:00.000-08:00

Hey, everybody!This may not be my best work, since I wrote it in between phone calls yesterday and then finished it at 2:00 this morning. But I realized yesterday that today, May 19, is the 15th anniversary of Cass and Frankie's wedding in the courtyard in Venice. I have yet to see that for myself, but I really wanted to somehow commemorate the occasion, so this is my take on their 15th legal anniversary, set in my parallel AW universe where none of the major mistakes happened. It's a little different, in that a lot of characters are mentioned, but the main focus is on Cass and Frankie, and hopefully it's in character and fitting for them.

Amy

"ANNIVERSARY WALTZ" by AmyMAY 19, 2008

"Wow, Mom, you look so gorgeous!" 14-year-old Charlotte "Charlie" Winthrop exclaimed, looking up from her place on the window seat, where she was reading her dog-eared copy of Walden. "Thank you, baby," Frankie Frame Winthrop replied, walking over to the window seat in her sapphire blue strapless satin sheath dress with matching shawl to hug her daughter. "And thank you for baby-sitting your little brother tonight so Daddy and I can go out to dinner." "It's your anniversary," Charlie replied, laying her book aside. "Well, your legal anniversary," she corrected herself. "And it's your 15th. That's pretty major!" The aforementioned little brother, Wallingford Winthrop, known to all as Wally, who had celebrated his 11th birthday the day before, came bounding into the living room then in jeans, t-shirt, and brand-new blue Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars, just like Cass's favorite pair of sneakers, his brand-new iPod plugged into his ears, singing along with Brad Paisley. Charlie cringed comically. "Dean obviously got all the singing talent in the family," she said. "Be nice," Frankie gently reproached her firstborn. Wally pulled the ear buds out of his ears. "You're beautiful, Mom!" he exclaimed. Before Frankie could reply, another voice piped up, "I'll second that!" Cass Winthrop entered the living room in a black tuxedo, his bow tie, cummerbund and pocket square matching the sapphire blue of Frankie's dress and shawl. Frankie beamed at Cass as he walked towards her and Charlie, pausing momentarily to tousle Wally's hair and thank his son for the compliment on how sharp he (Cass) looked before reaching Frankie's side and stopping. "You look amazing, Mary Frances," Cass said softly. Frankie smiled at Cass and reached to straighten his bow tie, which didn't need straightening. "So do you, Counselor," Frankie replied softly. Frankie and Cass were so wrapped up in gazing at each other that they missed the look that passed between Charlie and Wally. "Well, you two kids don't want to be late," Charlie said. "Yeah," Wally added. Cass looked at the children speculatively. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you were trying to get your mom and me out of here." Charlie laughed, a high-pitched, nervous giggle. "It's not that," she said. "It's just that it's your anniversary. You're all dressed up, you have reservations at TOPS, go out and celebrate. We'll be fine." "We'll be home by 10," Frankie said as Cass draped her shawl over her shoulders. "We'll come up and say good night then. Lock up before you go upstairs, okay?" "We will, Mom," Charlie promised. She hugged Cass, then kissed Frankie's cheek. "Have a great time." "Yeah, happy anniversary," Wally added, high-fiving Cass and hugging Frankie. Cass and Frankie walked out their front door. As soon as they were outside, Cass said, "You're right, they're up to something." Frankie nodded. "Definitely. The only question is, what?" "We could try to figure it out over dinner," Cass offered, extending his arm to Frankie. "Sounds great to me," Frankie replied, linking her arm with Cass's as they headed to Cass's car. Meanwhile, inside the house, Wally was shaking his head. "Real smooth, sis," he said. "Any more laughing and you'd be down at the lake with the loons." "I just want tonight to go well," Charlie said. "And that means you have to go upstairs, take a shower, and change." "But I took a shower this morning!" Wally protested. "And you played baseball this afternoon," Charlie reminded him. "You stink. Go hit the showers." The doorbell rang then. "Saved by the bell," Wally gloated, sprinting to answer it. "Aunt Felicia, Uncle Luke, Charlie's trying to boss me around!" he tattled when he opened the door to reveal Felicia and Lucas. Felicia met Charlie's gaze across the room. "Let me guess, she told you to take a bath?" Felicia inquired. "I'm 11 years old, I don't take baths anymore," Wally informed his godmother and honorary aunt. "Wallingford Cass Winthrop, go take a shower!" Charlie exclaimed. Lucas laughed out loud then. "Charlie, you are your mother's daughter, and Wally, you are your father's son," he said. "Mom and Daddy didn't see you guys, did they?" Charlie fretted. "Nope, we waited until the coast was clear," Felicia replied. She looked at Wally. "Wally, would you please go and take a shower? We have a lot to do yet, and a lot of people coming, before your parents get home. They're only going to be at TOPS for two hours. Franco's going to call the minute they get on the elevator so we can get ready for them." "What is it with girls always wanting guys to take a shower or a bath?" Wally grumbled as he shuffled toward the door leading to the upstairs. After he had disappeared, and they heard the shower running, Charlie looked at her godmother and honorary aunt gratefully. "Thank you, Aunt Felicia," she said. "I've had years of practice with your dad, honey," Felicia replied as she and Lucas entered the house. They were about to close the front door when they heard someone calling, "Hey, hold the door! We're here too!" Dean Frame was the one doing the calling, and his wife, Felicia and Lucas's youngest daughter Jenna Norris Frame, was holding his hand. After greeting Felicia and Lucas, and Charlie, Dean and Lucas went out to Lucas's car to get the candles and the cake out of the trunk. Charlie went upstairs to change while Felicia and Jenna manned the front door. By the time Charlie returned to the living room, several more people had arrived, including Rachel Cory Hutchins, who brought several bouquets of roses from her late mother Ada Hobson's rose garden; Bay City Police Commissioner Ryan Harrison and his wife Vicky, who came bearing several bottles of sparkling cider and ginger ale; Frankie's aunt Sharlene Hudson and her husband Dr. John Hudson, who brought streamers and large paper wedding bells that Charlie, Rachel, and Dean started putting up all over the living room; Bay City P.D. Captain Joe Carlino and his wife, Felicia and Lucas's oldest daughter, Lorna Devon Carlino; and Frankie's cousins Josie Sinclair and Jamie Frame with their respective spouses Gary Sinclair and Marley Frame. Sharlene, Josie, Jenna, Lorna, and Marley joined Felicia with supervising the set-up of the hors d'eouvres and the three-tiered, recreated wedding cake. Cass's brother Dr. Morgan Winthrop and his wife Dr. Courtney Evans Winthrop arrived with the huge banner that Charlie and Wally had pooled their allowances to have specially made, and once they arrived, Vicky supervised the hanging of the banner. By the time the surprise guest had arrived and been greeted and briefed on what to do and what to expect, Charlie was pacing around the living room from nerves, looking very grown-up in her emerald green dress with cap sleeves and, after much protesting, Wally was in his good black suit, white button-down shirt, and necktie festooned with the Looney Tunes characters. Then the phone rang, and Felicia answered it. Sure enough, it was Franco, reporting that Cass and Frankie had just gotten on the elevator and left TOPS. "Okay, places everyone!" Felicia directed after ringing off. "Hey, Charlie, you okay?" Dean asked when he saw her wringing her hands nervously. "I just want everything to go well," Charlie replied worriedly. "It will," Dean assured her. Wally was watching the door and he suddenly called out, "I see headlights! They're pulling into the driveway!" "Get the lights!" Felicia said. Lucas turned out the lights and everyone stood or crouched, waiting silently in the darkened living room. "Maybe the kids didn't really have something planned after all," Frankie mused as Cass slid his key into the front door. "But the way they were acting before we left, especially Charlie..." She trailed off. "Oh, well. This is our night anyway." "Indeed it is," Cass agreed, turning from the door to sweep Frankie into his arms, dip her, and then dramatically kiss her. When they were both upright again, and very much out of breath, he said, "Shall we continue this inside?" "That's the best idea I've heard all day," Frankie said with a grin. Cass turned back to the door, turned his key, and swung the door open. Then Cass reached for the light switch, and as soon as the lights came on, everyone stood or jumped up and yelled out, "SURPRISE!" Charlie and Wally hurried forward so that they were standing in the middle of the living room, with the rest of the assembled family and friends gathered around the room behind them. "Happy anniversary!" Charlie and Wally chorused. Cass and Frankie turned to look at each other, then hurried forward to have a group hug with their kids. "Look at all this," Frankie said in amazement after she and Cass drew back from the kids and looked around. "Flowers, candles, food, a cake, decorations." "Where'd the banner come from?" Cass asked. The giant banner proclaimed "HAPPY 15th ANNIVERSARY, CASS AND FRANKIE!" in flowing script letters, and the words were flanked by graphics of two intertwined hearts on each side. "We had it made special," Charlie replied. "Uncle Morgan and Aunt Courtney picked it up on their way over here," Wally added. "And we have another surprise for you," Charlie said. Before Cass and Frankie could ask what their other surprise was, Charlie shouted, "May I have everyone's attention, please? Your attention, please!" When the room fell silent, Charlie smiled. "First, I'd like to thank all of you for being here tonight to help our parents," here she put her arm around Wally's shoulders, "celebrate their fifteenth legal wedding anniversary. As I'm sure all of you know, our mom and dad have two wedding anniversaries: August 1, 1990, when they were married right here in this house, in this very room, and May 19, 1993, when they were married in a courtyard in Venice, Italy...or as they refer to them, their August anniversary, and their legal anniversary. "When Wally and I first got to thinking about what to do for Mom and Dad's legal anniversary this year, we talked to just about everyone who's here tonight, and we found out that only two people were at both of their weddings: Aunt Felicia, and Mrs. Hutchins. So, in honor of this, their fifteenth legal wedding anniversary, we thought that maybe they might like to renew their vows. Reverend?" White-haired, 70ish Reverend Stanley stepped forward then, wearing his clerical collar and holding his Bible. "Your children are very persuasive young people," he told Cass and Frankie. "But we don't want to put you on the spot, so if you'd rather not renew your vows, then I'll only be here as a guest." Frankie looked from her children to the reverend to the gathered family and friends all smiling happily, and then to Cass. "What do you say, Cass?" she asked. "Will you marry me again in front of our family and friends?" "You're asking me?" Cass asked, surprised. "Well, it's my turn to ask you, isn't it? You asked me so many times," Frankie said. Cass just looked at Frankie in wonder. 19 years after their first meeting, 18 years after their first wedding, 15 years to the day that they were finally legally joined in matrimony, and she could still surprise, delight, amaze, and excite him like no one else on the planet. "Yes," Cass said simply. Frankie's eyes danced with joy. "Yes?" she repeated, a smile lighting up her whole face. In that instant, Cass was whirled back in time to the moment in the courtyard in Venice 16 years before when Frankie had finally agreed to be his wife again, after numerous proposals following the debacle of Kathleen's return and then, several months later, her permanent departure from both Bay City and Cass's life. Cass knew that Frankie was remembering that night too, and his own smile lit up his entire face as he parroted the words Frankie had spoken on that night: "Yes. Yes, I will marry you." "YES!" Frankie exclaimed, throwing her arms around Cass's neck. "YES!" Cass echoed, wrapping his arms around her waist and catching her up in his arms, then kissing her. "You guys aren't supposed to do that yet!" Wally announced, which made everyone laugh. "You tell him, Wally," Felicia called from her place beside Lucas. "Just for that, I'm not asking you to be my best man," Cass informed Felicia after he set Frankie on her feet again, his arms still around her. "Well, if it's not Aunt Felicia, then who's gonna stand up for you, Dad?" Wally asked. "I was hoping you would," Cass said. "Me? Really? Me?" Wally asked excitedly. Then he looked at Charlie. "You were right, sis, I did need a shower. I'm gonna be Dad's best man! Cool!" "Charlie, will you be my maid of honor?" Frankie asked her daughter. "You bet I will!" Charlie exclaimed happily. Dean had made his way over to the stereo and was flipping through the short stack of CDs he had pulled out of Cass and Frankie's CD cabinet earlier. Rachel gave Cass and Wally each a rose for their boutonniere--Cass's was red, and Wally's was white--and hurriedly assembled small bouquets of roses for Frankie (a mixture of white and red roses) and Charlie (a mixture of white, red, and pink roses), explaining as she did so that red roses stand for deep, passionate, everlasting love, and also respect, courage, and passion; white roses by themselves stand for purity, innocence, and peace, and communicate that love is spiritual and soulful; and white and red roses mixed together symbolize unity, while pink roses carry the message of happiness, gentleness, and gracefulness. As the strains of Clarke's Trumpet Voluntary filled the room, Charlie walked down the makeshift aisle first and then stopped when she was standing across from her father and brother, caught her father's eye, and smiled at him. The music reached a crescendo as Frankie appeared, carrying her bouquet of red and white roses, and made her way down the aisle, only having eyes for Cass. When she reached his side, Dean stopped the music, and Frankie handed her bouquet to Charlie before turning to face Cass, wink at Wally, and then take both of Cass's hands in hers as they stood looking into one another's eyes before Reverend Stanley. "Dear family and friends," Reverend Stanley began, "it is my honor and privilege to stand here today and officiate as Cass and Frankie renew their wedding vows." He paused, then said, "Would you like the traditional vows, or would you prefer to say your own?" "We've never exactly been traditional, Reverend," Cass said with a laugh. "And there is something I'd like to say to Frankie." "I'd like to say something too," Frankie replied. "But you go first, Cass." "Okay," Cass agreed, gently squeezing Frankie's hands before opening his mouth to speak. "Mary Frances, you are the best thing that ever happened to me, and the mother of the other two best things that ever happened to me. When I think about my life, there is a very clear dividing line. There is my life before you, and there is my life after you. The life I had before you...well, it wasn't really much of a life. I had the two most incredible friends anyone could ask for, and I still have them...one in this room, the other forever in my memories. I had wild adventures, some really crazy times. I knew how to get into trouble, and most of the time I knew how to get out of it. But all those years, something was missing. I knew something was missing, but I didn't know what, exactly, that something was. "And then you came into my life. And when you did, all the lights came on, and the whole world just opened up like it never had before. I saw the man I was, and I saw the man I wanted to become. I realized that you were what was missing from my life, and I fell in love with you with a depth and a certainty that I never knew I was capable of. I know that I am meant to be by your side forever. You are my heart, my best friend, my partner, my soulmate. I will love and cherish you eternally, and I will be your strength when you falter, your comfort when you are sad, your reassurance when you are scared. I wasn't really living until you came into my life, and you've given me a better, richer life than I ever dreamed was possible. Thank you for loving me, and for marrying me, and for being exactly who you are: my Mary Frances." All of the women were misty-eyed, and Dean, Ryan, and Lucas all had telltale bobbing Adam's apples from swallowing hard to hold back their own tears. "For so long, I wondered if I would ever find you," Frankie began. "Deep down, I believed that you were out there somewhere, but part of me was really scared that I wouldn't find you. And then I did, and I realized that you were the one I'd been looking for all that time, the man I was meant to be with for all time. And then THAT scared me, because I wondered if you would be able to love me for who I am. That didn't happen a lot in my life...until you. You have always accepted me unconditionally for who I am, and loved me unconditionally just for being me, and that is a gift beyond measure. "We have been through so much together, Cass, some of it tragic, some of it scary, and most of it so incredibly wonderful. When I found you, I found the home I had looked for all of my life. You are my heart, my home, my best friend, my confidant, my only love, and the father of my children, and I will love you and cherish you, comfort and defend you, and always be by your side, forever." All was silent for a moment, and then Reverend Stanley said, "Cass, do you take Mary Frances to be your lawful wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, honor, and cherish, for as long as you both shall live?" "And beyond," Cass said. "I do." "Mary Frances, do you take Cass to be your lawful wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, honor, and cherish, for as long as you both shall live?" "And beyond," Frankie replied. "I do." "Then by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife again," Reverend Stanley said. "You may--" He stopped suddenly because as soon as the words "I now pronounce you husband and wife" were out of his mouth, Cass and Frankie were kissing. "--go on kissing the bride," he finished. As caught up as they were in the kiss, Cass and Frankie still heard all of the applause from everyone. After Sharlene had taken a few pictures of Cass and Frankie together and as a family with Charlie and Wally, Dean, Lucas, Ryan, and Jamie, who had been pouring glasses of sparkling cider and ginger ale while the pictures were being taken, started passing out the glasses. When everyone had a glass, Felicia spoke. "Although Wally was the best man, I've been elected to give the toast," she began. "Cass, Frankie, everyone here tonight loves you and celebrates this milestone with you. I had the privilege of seeing the two of you fall in love, the frustration of watching you fight your feelings, and the joy of watching you let your love flourish and rule your life, and find your way back to each other during the tough times. I'm proud to be your friend, and I think I speak for everyone here when I say that we all wish you many, many more years of love and happiness with each other and your children. If ever there was a match made in Heaven, it's the two of you. To Cass and Frankie." "To Cass and Frankie," everyone echoed, raising their glasses. After the cake (a low-carb carrot cake) had been cut and served, and everyone had congratulated Cass and Frankie, their friends and family members all said their good nights and left. Finally, only Charlie, Wally, Felicia and Lucas remained. Cass and Frankie were surprised when Charlie and Wally returned with backpacks slung over their shoulders. Before either of them could ask what was going on, Charlie said, "We're spending the night with Aunt Felicia and Uncle Lucas so you two will have the house to yourselves." "You don't have to do that," Frankie said. "It's the other part of your anniversary present," Charlie said. "Yeah, I get to sleep on the couch!" Wally said. "You're sure you don't mind?" Cass asked Felicia and Lucas. "It was our idea," Felicia assured Cass. She and Lucas said their good nights, Charlie and Wally both hugged and kissed both of their parents, and then Cass and Frankie were alone in the house. "Alone at last," Cass said. He loosened his bow tie, and then headed over to the stereo. He shuffled through a few CDs, and after finding the one he wanted, putting it in the stereo, and hitting the play button, he returned to Frankie's side. "May I have this dance?" he asked her. Frankie recognized the song. "Cass," she said. She moved into his arms. "It's true that '(Everything I Do) I Do It for You' and 'The Best of My Love' have special meaning for us, but tonight I want to dance with you again to the very first song we ever slow danced to," Cass said as he and Frankie slowly swayed to the music. "'What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?'" Frankie said on a happy sigh. "Spending it with you," Cass replied seriously. "Happy anniversary, Frankie." "Happy anniversary, Cass," Frankie replied as she rested her forehead against his and closed her eyes, and they lost themselves in the music and in each other's arms. It was a very happy 15th legal wedding anniversary for the Winthrops, indeed.

THE END

2009-02-09T10:17:00.000-08:00

Reclaiming Forever," Part 6

The next day, Lucas walked into the Cafe Paradise and was instantly struck by how little the place seemed to have changed since he'd been gone. Even TOPS had looked a bit different to him yesterday; Fanny had obviously redecorated. But the Paradise was the same as it was the night six years ago that he had had a diamond ring burning a hole in his pocket and Fanny had chattered nervously on about adopting Jenna if Jenna was willing. He wondered if Rachel's mother Ada Hobson still ran the place, or if she had retired. Surrounded by the familiar atmosphere, Lucas relaxed as he took a seat at a table and a young waitress approached. He ordered a mushroom omelet, a plate of melon, and coffee. He was just about to take his first sip of coffee when he heard a familiar voice: "Well, fancy meeting you here, Lucas." Lucas looked up to see Iris Wheeler, resplendent in a pastel pink jacket, shell, and skirt with matching bag, standing by the empty chair at Lucas's table. "Iris," Lucas said cautiously. Iris gestured to the empty chair. "May I?" she inquired. "All right," Lucas agreed, still cautious. Iris seated herself across from Lucas. "Relax, Lucas," she said as she set her bag on the table. "I'm not going to faint, slap you, or tell you off." "You don't seem surprised to see me," he said, leaning back in his chair. "I was over at Rachel's when she and the others arrived home from the wedding yesterday," Iris explained. The waitress brought Lucas's plate of melon, and Iris said, "Could I get a cup of coffee, please? Thank you." "Iris Wheeler being nice to waitresses? When did this happen?" Lucas asked after the waitress left to get Iris's coffee. "Or are you just trying to avoid trouble with Ada?" A shadow crossed Iris's face. "A lot has changed in the last five years, Lucas. Including me. As for Ada, she passed away four years ago. She left the Paradise to Paulina, and she runs it now," Iris explained. "I'm sorry," Lucas said. The waitress brought Iris her coffee, and she thanked the woman, added sugar, and took a sip. "It isn't that I don't appreciate you talking to me, Iris, because right now the only people who are talking to me nicely are in France on their honeymoon, but I'm not..." he began, then trailed off, uncertain how to tell Iris that he was not interested in rekindling their romance. Iris rolled her eyes. "If I didn't know better, I'd swear you've been talking to Jake," she said. "I am here only as a friend, Lucas. I know that you want Felicia back. You've always wanted her. Rachel refused to divulge any juicy details, but I know you came back for her and for your daughters, and not for me. But that doesn't mean that we can't be friends, does it?" Lucas ran his fingertips and the tip of his thumb around the corners of his mouth, a nervous habit that he hadn't indulged in in years. "What's in it for you?" he asked. "Given our history, I'll overlook your cynicism," Iris replied, replacing her coffee cup on its saucer. "But I'm not the same woman you knew back then, Lucas." At Lucas's intense look, Iris said, "Oh, all right, yes, there's something in it for me. But it's not what you might think." Iris met Lucas's gaze and the look in her own eyes became just as intense. "You have the chance I never got, and I want it to work out for you. The greatest regret of my life is that my father died before I could truly make it up to him for being 'the Chief,'" she continued, referring to her attempted anonymous takeover of Cory Publishing the year before Mac's sudden, unexpected death from a heart attack; it was Iris's misguided way of trying to prove to Mac that he needed her in his life after their long estrangement, but only after Mac's death did Iris realize that Mac had always wanted and needed her in his life, and she didn't need to save the day for her father to make him feel that way. "Felicia may be angry now, but she still loves you, Lucas, I know she does. You have the chance I never had. You have the opportunity to make up for the betrayal, the lies, the unspeakable pain you've caused her all these years...and Jenna and Lorna as well." "I think you missed your calling, Iris. With a pep talk like that, you should have gone into coaching sports teams," Lucas remarked dryly. "Do you want my help or not?" Iris asked archly, reaching for her coffee cup again. "You said yourself that your only current allies are in France on their honeymoon. They'll be gone, what, one week? Two? You've never been a man who lets grass grow under his feet, Lucas." "Don't tell me you and Fanny have become best friends in the last five years?" Lucas asked, shocked. "Yes, Lucas, Felicia and I are bosom buddies now. We regularly have lunch together and go on shopping sprees, and we include Donna Hudson in them as well," Iris said. "Seriously?" Lucas asked. "Of course not," Iris said, disgusted. "And that will never happen, not even if the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse were to come galloping through Bay City tomorrow!" "Well, at least that much hasn't changed," Lucas said, cracking a brief smile. "I could use a friend, Iris. But I will NOT use you to make Fanny jealous." "And I don't think that would help any of us now," Iris replied. "Although it would be fun to get Felicia all riled up...." "Iris," Lucas said warningly. Iris just smiled at him devilishly in reply. "I hope I don't regret this," Lucas murmured as the waitress set his mushroom omelet and his melon before him.
************************************************************************************************************************************************ Frankie answered the doorbell's ring to reveal Dean, with little Lucas clinging to his back, having been given a piggyback ride from the car to the Winthrops' front door, with Jenna standing beside them. "Come on in," she greeted her cousin and his family. "Felicia's not here yet, but everyone else is." Frankie closed the door behind Dean, little Lucas, and Jenna. Cass was sitting on the window seat, holding Wally aloft and making funny faces at him. Charlie sat beside her father, also making funny faces at her baby brother. Rachel and Gary were seated in chairs, talking quietly. Dean knelt down and little Lucas scrambled off his father's back. "Are the kids staying in the room when Mom gets here?" Jenna asked Frankie quietly. "I wanna see Grammy!" little Lucas piped up. Cass looked to Frankie, Dean and Jenna. "All I know is that Felicia won't yell at me in front of her godchildren," he said. "Smart thinking," Dean said. But then, looking at his own son, he said, "But I don't know..." The doorbell rang then. "That must be Felicia," Rachel said, rising from her seat. "Cass, Frankie, would you like me to get the door?" "If you wouldn't mind, Rachel, thanks," Cass replied. Rachel nodded and headed to the door. Gary also stood up, but remained near his chair. Felicia entered Cass and Frankie's house. "Grammy!" Lucas exclaimed, running to his beloved grandmother. Felicia bent to scoop up her grandson and deposit him on her hip. "There's my favorite guy!" she said, giving him a genuine smile and kissing the top of his head. She had worked out a lot of her frustration and exasperation during her marathon writing session. She was still plenty angry at Luke, and she would definitely have to have a talk with Lorna when Lorna and Joe got home from their honeymoon, but her talk with Paulina the night before had helped her immensely as well. She would just tell everyone that while she knew they meant well, she wasn't looking for the first opportunity to swan dive into a bottle of vodka. She already knew all too well what would happen if she did that, and it wasn't even something that crossed her mind. After accepting Lucas's fierce little-boy hug around her neck and returning it, she continued to hold onto him as she walked across the room and closer to the window seat, where Cass sat now holding Wally on his lap, with Charlie sitting on one side of them and Frankie on the other. Dean and Jenna stood off to Frankie's side, Gary behind them, and Rachel followed Felicia and little Lucas over to the windowseat. "Well, all of you had quite a busy night last night," Felicia began, sweeping her gaze over all the adults in the room. "Some more than others." "Overkill," Frankie muttered to Cass. Cass inclined his head in Dean and Jenna's direction. "They beat us by three calls," he reminded her. "Actually, Rachel beat you by two," Felicia said. "I believe the final tally was ten messages from Jenna and Dean, nine from Rachel, seven from Cass and Frankie, five from Gary, and even one from Lorna, although that was a 'don't be mad at me for setting you and Daddy up to run into each other at my apartment' message instead of a 'don't do what everyone else is afraid you're going to do' message." "Lorna called you?" Jenna asked, surprised. "On her wedding night?" Dean asked incredulously. "Ouch. I doubt the Captain appreciated that too much," Gary said. "What guy would?" Cass asked. All of the women in the room except for Charlie fixed all of the males except Wally and little Lucas with "Shut up now, you insensitive pig" looks. "Actually, she called me from O'Hare before they changed planes to go to Paris," Felicia said. "But that's not why I'm here." "Honey, in our defense, we only called so much because we were worried about you," Cass said. "Mom," Jenna said, "Dean and I weren't trying to be annoying. None of us were. It's just that we all...well, except for Gary, because he wasn't here when it happened..." She trailed off. She was still having a hard time with what she perceived as Lucas's abandonment of her, Felicia, and Lorna. Dean wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders and gently pulled her against his side. "I think what Jenna is trying to say," Rachel spoke up, "is that we all know what happened when Lucas d--when he went away, and none of us want to see you go through that again." "Rachel is right," Frankie added. "You're our family, Felicia. We're just tryin' to look out for you, that's all," Dean said. "The temptation is always there," Gary said. "That's why we take it one day at a time." "I understand and appreciate your concern," Felicia told them. "Truly, I do. But it never even crossed my mind, I swear to you. And if it ever does, I will pick up a phone instead of a bottle. I have way too much to lose now. I have even more than I had back then," she said, her gaze going to Wally and Charlie, her precious godchildren, and then meeting the solemn brown-eyed gaze of her beloved grandson, who didn't understand what the grown-ups were talking about but who knew that it was something serious, and that whatever it was had Mommy very upset. Little Lucas was a bright, precocious child, and he knew that it was better not to mention Gampa Luke in front of Mommy and Daddy, because it would just make Mommy cry and Daddy look like he didn't know what to do, so he had decided that he would only talk to Uncle Cass and Aunt Frankie, and Auntie Lorna and Uncle Joe, about Gampa Luke for now. "I'm not going to do anything that puts any of this, that puts my relationships with any of you, at that kind of risk again." Jenna broke away from Dean's side and went to her mother. Little Lucas, already sensing that his mommy needed a hug from Grammy, scrambled out of Felicia's arms and went to stand with his daddy. Jenna hugged Felicia tightly. "I'm so glad you're okay, Mom," she said, her voice muffled. Felicia looked at Dean over Jenna's shoulder. Dean bit his lower lip and sort of shrugged at Felicia in reply, which made her realize that Dean didn't know how to help Jenna deal with this. "We're family," Felicia reminded her. "And family sticks together, no matter what, right?" She drew back and cupped Jenna's chin in her hand. Jenna's eyes were filled with tears. "Right," Jenna said. "We'll find our way through this, I promise," Felicia said. "I don't know how yet, but we will." Cass, Frankie, Rachel, and Gary exchanged looks of relief all around. Dean, one hand on little Lucas's shoulder, watched his wife and mother-in-law and relaxed for the first time since he had laid eyes on the elder Lucas the day before. He was just as much a part of this family as Jenna and Lorna and Felicia. They had survived terrible, tragic, painful, confusing situations before, and they would again...somehow, even if, as Felicia said, they didn't know how just yet.
************************************************************************************************************************************************* "She's beautiful, Iris," Lucas said. Iris had her wallet out and was showing Lucas pictures of her son Dennis and his daughter, her granddaughter Sarah. "She gets her blonde hair from me," Iris said proudly, "but those eyes are Dennis's eyes. She's going to be five years old next month. She starts kindergarten this fall. I can hardly believe it. They grow up so fast. You'll be finding out about that soon, though, won't you?" Then Iris's smile faded. "Oh, Lucas, I'm sorry!" she exclaimed. "Did you even know that--?" "I have a grandson, yes," Lucas said. "I met him very briefly yesterday. Dean and Jenna named him after me." "Yes, they did," Iris said. "He was happy to see me," Lucas replied. "So I guess that makes three people I have in my corner. But I have the very strong feeling that Jenna and Dean aren't going to let me anywhere near him until and unless they forgive me." Iris squeezed Lucas's forearm in a gesture of comfort. "Dennis and I went years without talking," she said. "I never dreamed that I would be so much a part of his life that I would be actively involved in helping to raise my granddaughter. It was more than I ever hoped for, and probably more than I deserve. But if Dennis can forgive me, and he did, then I know Jenna can forgive you, Lucas. She just needs some time." Lucas was about to answer Iris when Carl Hutchins walked into the Paradise, casually dressed in a tan linen jacket and trousers with a white banded-collar shirt, his flowing mane of gray hair pulled back into a neat ponytail, his hands tucked in his trouser pockets. He stopped to chat with a waitress. Iris followed Lucas's gaze as Lucas shot out of his chair so fast he knocked it over. "Lucas, wait!" Iris called, but Lucas ignored her and went charging over to Carl. Carl was surprised when he felt two hands grab him and spin him around. "YOU!" Lucas exclaimed. "Why aren't you locked up in a jail cell somewhere?" "Lucas," Carl said. "I heard that you were back in town. I should have known that someone like you could fake his own demise, although the Witness Protection Program is a rather trite way of doing it." Lucas's face darkened, and Carl's smile grew wider. "Would you mind removing your hands from my jacket? Linen wrinkles so easily, especially in this humidity." "I asked you a question," Lucas said through clenched teeth. "Why aren't you in prison?" Iris rushed up to them then. "Lucas--" she began. "Not now, Iris," Lucas said tersely. Carl pried Lucas's hands from the lapels of Carl's jacket and smoothed the fabric down. "Ah, but fate is a strange thing, isn't it, Lucas? For so very many years, I was on the outside looking in, despised by all, and now I have the most incredible son in the world, and a wife whose inner beauty rivals her outer beauty...while you are the despised one with your nose pressed up against the glass, staring at what you want most, what cannot be given to you, at least not yet." "Carl," Iris said, figuring she would have an easier time appealing to Carl than to Lucas at this point. "You have a wife and a son?" Lucas asked. "Yeah, right." Carl held up his left hand to show off his wedding band. "As cliched as it is, I have truly reformed, Lucas, I swear it. The love of a good woman does indeed make all the difference in a man's life. And when you become a parent, you want your children to be proud to call you their father. You remember what that was like, don't you? Only a few short years ago, you and Felicia (Carl pronounced her name "Fel-lee-sea-uh" as he always had) were happily married, you had the lovely Jenna to make you proud, and then you learned that Lorna was your long-lost daughter." When Carl mentioned Lorna's name, Lucas lost the last thread of control keeping his temper at bay. "You aren't fit to speak any of their names," he rasped, his face turning bright red with anger as he lunged at Carl and threw him up against the nearest wall, his hands clutching Carl's shirt front in a white-knuckled grasp. He heard Iris shouting both his name and Carl's but didn't bother to acknowledge her. "And whatever kind of sick past you had with Lorna, you stay the hell away from her now, or I'll make you wish you were in prison, because you won't like the alternative!" "Lucas, let him go!" "Carl? Lucas? Iris, what's going on here?" "Whoa. I'm glad the boys wanted to go to the park with Bridget instead of come here with us." Ryan Harrison, the one who had ordered Lucas to let Carl go, stepped forward then and pulled Lucas off of Carl. Lucas made a move to try and break free of Ryan's grip, but Ryan held him firmly in place. "Enough!" Ryan shouted. Then he looked to Carl. "Dad, are you okay?" "I'm fine, Ryan, really," Carl said. "Just catching up with Lucas here." "You're Carl Hutchins' son?" Lucas asked, looking at Ryan in disbelief. "Yes, I am," Ryan replied, and Carl beamed at the pride in Ryan's voice, at how far they had come since learning they were father and son. Lucas was thunderstruck. "But you're the police commissioner, and he's a master criminal!" he exclaimed. "Youthful indiscretions," Carl said, waving a hand dismissively. "Besides, you're not exactly in a position to cast stones, Lucas." "I'm warning you--" Lucas began, trying to lunge at Carl again, but Ryan once again stopped him. "Carl, stop baiting Lucas," Rachel Cory Hutchins said sternly. She had been the one to ask what was going on, and Vicky had been the one to remark with no small relief that she was glad Steven and Kirk had gone to the park with Bridget instead of coming to the Paradise for brunch with their Grandma Rachel and Grandpa Carl. Carl sighed good-naturedly. "Yes, my dear," he said. Lucas's eyes bulged with so much surprise that they nearly popped out of his head. "No," he said. "Oh no. You didn't. Rachel, you couldn't have! He tried to kill you! More than once! He made you lose your eyesight temporarily! He hired someone to try and kill you on the set of Felicia's talk show!" "Love changes everything," Rachel said. "I know that you know that, Lucas." Lucas shook off Ryan's grip, then took a step back and looked from Carl to Rachel to Ryan. "You married HIM?" Lucas asked Rachel. And when he looked to Ryan, he asked, "You're HIS son?" "And he's given me a grandson," Carl added proudly. "Two, really. I do consider Steven just as much my grandson as Kirk, since I'm married to Steven's grandmother, as Ryan is married to Steven's mother. Grandchildren are the joy of a man's life. You have a grandchild, too, Lucas. A namesake grandson." Lucas made another attempted lunge at Carl, and Ryan caught him again. "You stay away from my family!" Lucas ordered Carl. "You are destructive and evil!" "I WAS destructive and evil," Carl said. "Past tense. Now I am simply a law-abiding, upstanding citizen and a loving husband, father, and grandfather." "And I'm Benjamin Franklin," Lucas said sarcastically. "If you so much as breathe in the direction of any member of my family, Hutchins, so help me--" "Okay, that's enough," Ryan said, staring Lucas down. "Lucas, I know that we don't know your whole story yet, but a lot has happened in the last five years. And I'm warning you right now to stop threatening and trying to attack my dad, because if you keep it up, I'll have to arrest you, and I think we can all agree that's the last thing you need right now." "I know this is all a big shock to you, Lucas," Vicky said, finally addressing Lucas directly for the first time. "But it really does all make sense in its own way." Lucas just shook his head. "Lucas, let's go back to our table," Iris said. "I mean it, Carl. You stay away from my family or else!" Lucas said as Iris began propelling him back to their table. Ryan, Vicky, Rachel and Carl went to their usual booth. Back at their table, Iris said, "I should have told you. About Rachel and Carl." "You let Rachel marry him?" Lucas asked. Iris laughed. "Rachel and I do get along much better now, but never once since we've known each other has Rachel said or done anything because I asked, suggested, or ordered her to. There was no stopping her and Carl. We weren't exactly doing handstands over the prospect at first, except for Ryan and Paulina, but I think that's because Ryan and Paulina didn't know Daddy. Ryan just knew that his father was happy, and Paulina just knew that Rachel was happy, and their parents' happiness was all that mattered to them. It wasn't that the rest of us didn't want Rachel to be happy, because we did. We do. But it was more difficult for Jamie, Matthew and even for me. At least we all showed up for the wedding, though. Jamie and Matthew both walked Rachel down the aisle and gave her away, Paulina was the maid of honor, and Ryan was the best man. Amanda didn't even bother to come home, but then we don't see much of her anymore. Anyway, Rachel and Carl have been married for three years, and as hard as it is for you to believe, Lucas, Carl really has changed. I think it was because he wanted Ryan to be proud of him. He and Rachel didn't expect to fall in love, but when they did, they took the next logical step." Lucas just shook his head. Iris again squeezed his forearm in a gesture of comfort. Paulina watched Iris and Lucas with a frown. She had arrived at the Paradise just a couple of minutes after the brawl that had been brewing between Lucas and Carl was broken up. After greeting Rachel, Carl, Ryan, and Vicky, she had noticed Iris and Lucas sharing a table, and Iris with her hand on Lucas's forearm, leaning in close to talk to him. "Oh no you don't, Iris," she murmured. "You're not going to mess things up for Felicia and Lucas. I'm not gonna let that happen." She continued to watch her sister and Lucas, frowning all the while.

TO BE CONTINUED :

2009-02-09T10:14:00.001-08:00

Here's part 5 of the story.
And "Little Boy Mine" is the song that Dean wrote for little Lucas, like he wrote "A Song for Jenna" for Jenna. (I'll explain this further in the Dean and Jenna story when I get to writing that one.) Hope you enjoy this!
Amy

"Reclaiming Forever," Part 5

Paulina laughed so hard, she nearly fell off her stool and had to grip the edge of the bar for support. "Brunehilda Schnickelfritz?" she exclaimed through her laughter. Wonder of wonders, Felicia was laughing now too. Seeing Paulina's reaction to her argument with Luke at Lorna and Joe's earlier, Felicia couldn't help but join in the laughter. She laughed until tears streamed down her cheeks, until she too had to grip the edge of the bar for support. The Paradise was pretty well cleared out by now, with only a few of the staff getting things set up for breakfast tomorrow or counting their tips, and Paulina and Felicia on opposite sides of the bar, and the staff knew and respected Paulina enough to not disturb, talk about, or bat an eye at their boss giggling like a schoolgirl with one of Bay City's biggest celebrities. The laughter was a great release for Felicia, lifting the weight of anger from her shoulders and dissipating the fog of confusion surrounding her, and even the knowledge that this feeling was only temporary didn't upset her. As their laughter gradually subsided, Felicia said, "That proves how angry I am at the jerk. I mean, I write romance novels for a living! I routinely give my heroines names like Sabrina, or Lorelai, or Genevieve. And I came up with a name like Brunehilda Schnicklefritz!" The name set off another round of giggles for the two women. When they had recovered again, Felicia sighed and reached for her iced tea, taking another sip. She was on her third glass now, and Paulina was still on her second. "I think this is just what I needed," Felicia said, setting her glass aside. "I mean, I know that the kids, and Cass and Frankie, and Rachel, and Gary mean well, and that they're only being so annoying because they love me..." "But right now, you need to get your own head together, without anyone else's involvement, even your family and closest friends," Paulina said. "That's it exactly!" Felicia exclaimed. "Well, except for one friend." She reached across the bar and squeezed Paulina's hand. "Thank you for the tea and sympathy, Paulina." "Anytime, Felicia," Paulina replied, squeezing her hand back. "If you don't mind a little advice you didn't ask for..." She trailed off uncertainly. "From you, I'll allow it," Felicia said. "Don't let Rachel or the others crowd you," Paulina told her. "If you need them to back off, tell them. They might have hurt feelings, or bruised pride, but this is about you and Lucas. Whatever happens or doesn't happen with the two of you has to be decided by the two of you, nobody else." She paused, rubbing at the back of her neck. "I guess it's a little more complicated for you because of Jenna and Lorna and little Lucas. Of course, who am I to talk about complicated? I didn't know who Mack's father was right away." "Can I ask you something?" Felicia said then. "It's very personal, and you don't have to answer if you don't want to." "From you, I'll allow it," Paulina replied with a smile, parroting Felicia's earlier words. "Would it have made a difference if Joe had been Mack's father?" Felicia asked. "Would you have tried to make a go of it with him?" Paulina didn't even have to think about it. "No," she said. "It would have a difference to Mack, obviously, but I had already made my decision before I went into labor. I loved Joe, but I'm IN LOVE with Jake. There's a big difference. The only thing that would have changed if Joe had been Mack's father would be that Mack would now be your stepgrandson, because I never would have kept Joe and Mack apart if Joe had been his father. But in the end, it was about me and Jake. Everything we'd been through together. Everything we felt for each other in the past, in the present, and that we knew we would feel for each other in the future. I loved Jake too much to walk away from him forever. He's the man that I was meant to spend my life with. Is it easy? No. But what marriage is? Jake and I had a lot to work through, but we did it. And we worked through all of it because it was what we both wanted. And I really have to hand it to my family, because as much as they drove me nuts, when I made a decision, when Jake and I made a decision, every one of them honored it, even though some of them weren't exactly thrilled. When Rachel and everyone found out that Jake and I were getting back together, all Jamie said was that as long as I was sure and happy, that was all that mattered. And I could tell by the look on Iris's face that it was killing her to bite back some smart remark, but she just wished us well, and without even adding that we'd need it." "So who do you think got to Iris, Rachel or Carl?" Felicia asked knowingly. Paulina laughed again. "I've always suspected it was Carl, but he wouldn't tell me either way. I did ask him once." She drained her iced tea glass, then set it aside. "All I'm really trying to say, Felicia, is that whatever the future of your relationship with Lucas, the only two people who can make that decision are you and Lucas. I'm sure everyone will have an opinion, and those opinions will range from 'Dump the bum' to 'Why aren't you two back together already?' I got it from my family and friends, and you'll get it from yours, I'm sure. But it's not about them. It's about you and Lucas. And if they won't give you the space you need, you let me know and I'll have a word with them." "Knock a few heads together if necessary?" Felicia asked. "Well, hey, us Gold Street girls have got to stick together," Paulina said. Felicia smiled. "Thank you, Paulina. For everything." "Like I said, Felicia, anytime," Paulina replied. "Well, I think I'm going to powder my nose and then head home," Felicia said. "It's been a long day." "Good night," Paulina said. Felicia looked surprised. "That's it? You're not going to tell me to call you the second I get home, or that whatever I need, you'll be there for me any hour of the day or night?" she asked. "You know where to find me if you need me," Paulina said. "And having been in your shoes myself, I know when not to push." Felicia smiled at Paulina. "Thank you, Paulina. Good night." "Good night, Felicia," Paulina said. She watched Felicia head for the ladies' room, and when she was out of earshot, Paulina grabbed the phone and hurriedly punched in a number, keeping one eye on the corridor leading to the ladies' room the whole time. "Hello? Carl? It's Paulina....Yes, I'm fine....Yeah, we were all at the house when Rachel and the others got home and she told me. Speaking of Rachel, could you put her on, please? And hurry?" Paulina waited a few seconds, and was then greeted by Rachel. "Rachel, hi, it's me. Listen, I wanted to let you know that Felicia's getting ready to leave the Paradise. She's been here for the past few hours and we've been talking....No, nothing stronger than iced tea. I made sure of that....I don't think she's going to be returning any phone calls tonight, but she mentioned that she had a lot of messages from a lot of people, so could you let Cass and Frankie, Dean and Jenna, and Gary Sinclair know that Felicia is all right and she'll probably call everybody tomorrow? She didn't say for certain that she would, but she should be cooled down enough by tomorrow to call all of you herself....No, she doesn't know I'm calling. I just didn't want you and the others worrying all night....I have to go, here she comes, I'll call you tomorrow, Rachel." Paulina hurriedly hung up the phone, then started looking over her ledger again. She looked up and waved at Felicia as Felicia headed out of the Paradise.
************************************************************************************************************************************************* Cass had just finished brushing his teeth and was turning down his and Frankie's bed, Charlie was fast asleep in her room, and Frankie had just burped Wally and was settling him in his bassinet at the foot of the bed when the phone rang. Cass snatched it up before one full ring had completed. "Felicia?" he asked breathlessly. "No, Cass, it's me," Rachel Cory Hutchins replied on the other end of the line. "Oh. Hello, Rachel," Cass said. Frankie looked up from the baby to Cass and saw his disappointment and worry. She kissed her fingertips and brushed them across Wally's cheek before walking the few steps to Cass's side. "I don't suppose you've heard from Felicia, have you?" "Not directly," Rachel replied, "but Paulina just called. Felicia has been with her at the Paradise for the past few hours. They've been talking over iced tea. Felicia doesn't know Paulina called me, but Paulina said that Felicia told her about all the messages all of us left, and Paulina didn't want us to worry all night. Could you call Dean and Jenna and let them know, and I'll call Gary Sinclair?" "Yes," Cass replied. He paused. "How did Felicia seem to Paulina?" "Paulina couldn't really get into specifics," Rachel explained. "But at least we know Felicia's safe, and she hasn't been drinking. Paulina did say that Felicia probably would have cooled off enough to call us all herself tomorrow." "I hope so," Cass said. "Thank you for letting us know, Rachel. Good night." "Good night, Cass. Give my best to Frankie," Rachel said before ringing off. Cass hung up the phone. "Rachel sends her best," he said. "Felicia's all right?" Frankie asked, putting her arms around Cass. His arms went around her too, and they stood there in a loose embrace. "Really steamed at all of us, apparently, but yeah," Cass replied. "Well, even I thought seven messages was overkill," Frankie said. "Hey, Dean and Jenna left ten!" Cass protested. "Felicia knows we're worried about her," Frankie said. "But I guess she just needed some space tonight." "She spent the evening at the Paradise, talking to Paulina," Cass said. "Does that sound to you like she needed space?" Frankie realized the problem. "Are you hurt that she didn't come to you?" she asked gently. "A little," Cass admitted, ducking his head. "She probably didn't want to bring up the bad memories of when this happened to us," Frankie replied, rubbing circles between Cass's shoulder blades with the palm of her hand. "The situations are different," Cass said, lifting his head and meeting Frankie's gaze again. "I know you've been thinking about when Kathleen came back since we left Felicia's, Cass," Frankie said. "So have you," Cass replied. "Touche," Frankie admitted. "And it was the worst time of my life." "Mine too," Cass said. He sighed. "I keep thinking that this might not have happened." "This?" Frankie asked, a bit puzzled. "This," Cass said, releasing her long enough to gesture expansively with his arms. "Us. Our hundred-year-old house. The kids. Our life together." He wrapped his arms around Frankie and pulled her close again. "Did I ever tell you enough how sorry I was for what I did to you back then, Mary Frances? How much I still hate myself for not being there for you when you really needed me?" Cass didn't need to specifically mention Frankie's miscarriage of their first child, or the explosion on the set of Dean's "Ladykiller" video that rendered her clinically dead for a few moments. She knew what he meant. "Yes," she replied, smoothing his furrowed brow. "That's in the past, Cass. And I know it's hard to leave it there after what happened today with Lucas coming back, but we got through it, Counselor. That's all that matters." Cass looked into Frankie's eyes. "I love you, Mary Frances," he said earnestly. "I love our kids. Our house. And I love our life." "So do I," Frankie said with a smile. "That's the key. When bad things happen, we face them together. No matter what. We always have, and we always will. Face it, Counselor, you're stuck with me forever." "I don't even want to think about what my life would be like if you weren't in it, if you weren't the center of it," Cass said. "Then don't," Frankie said, framing his face in her hands. "I mean it, Cass. Really. We made it through that time, and we're stronger than ever. And everything that's come after, we go through as a team, and that'll never change." She saw the relief in Cass's eyes as what she said sank in. She paused for a moment, letting her hands drop to rest on Cass's shoulders, then continued as he laced his fingers together at the small of her back, since his arms were wrapped around her waist. "Felicia has just as difficult a time ahead of her as we did. But at least there's not another man that she's married to or engaged to." "No, but there are Jenna and Lorna," Cass said. "Not to mention little Lucas. You saw what happened today, Frankie. Jenna hates Lucas right now, and Lorna has already literally welcomed him back with open arms. We thought it was bad when they were at odds in the D&M days? This is their family, their mother and father. Lorna's probably all set to play matchmaker when she and Joe get back from their honeymoon, and Jenna and Dean all but told Lucas to go to hell today. And little Lucas wanted to stay with his grandpa. Felicia's going to have all of them pulling her in different directions. This will make Lorna and Jenna's feud over the sleazy video on Felicia's talk show all those years ago look like a day at the beach." "Lorna will be urging Felicia to forgive Lucas and get back together with him, and Dean and Jenna will be telling her to steer clear of Lucas and not have anything to do with him. And Dean and Jenna have just as big a problem," Frankie said. "Because Lucas' namesake is chomping at the bit to get to know him," Cass said. "Exactly," Frankie replied. "Speaking of Dean and Jenna, was Rachel going to call them too?" "No, I told her we would," Cass said. He turned to reach for the phone again, then stopped, turned back and kissed Frankie. "Mmm...what was that for?" Frankie murmured when Cass broke the kiss to reach for the phone again. "Because I love you, and because, as selfish as this will sound, I'm glad that this time it's not happening to us," Cass said as he picked up the phone, checked for a dial tone, and punched in Dean and Jenna's home number. "Not selfish," Frankie whispered, resting her chin on Cass's shoulder. "I'm glad it's not happening to us, too. But it's not going to be easy watching Felicia go through this," she said softly. "No, it's not," Cass agreed as he waited for Dean or Jenna to answer their phone. ************************************************************************************************************************************************** Dean walked into his and Jenna's bedroom, stripping off his t-shirt and tossing it onto the chair in the corner, then raking his fingers through his hair to smooth it down. "That kid of ours is one demanding audience. 'Sing me my song again, Daddy.' I wonder where he got that from?" Dean smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. Jenna was sitting cross-legged on her side of their bed, staring at the cordless phone, which was resting in front of her on the comforter. Dean, now wearing nothing but his pajama bottoms, climbed into his side of the bed. "It took four choruses of 'Little Boy Mine' to get him to sleep. John and Sharlene said he only had one ice-cream cone, so I don't think it was sugar that was keepin' him awake. I guess he sensed that somethin' pretty big's goin' on and he doesn't understand why Mommy's not happy about it." Jenna said nothing. Dean cautiously moved closer to her. "Jen? It's impossible to explain it to a 2-year-old, but I understand. How are you holdin' up, huh?" Jenna looked at Dean. "Right now I'm really worried about Mom. We left ten messages, Dean! She should have called by now! She hasn't even called Cass and Frankie!" Just then the phone rang. Jenna grabbed for it, but fumbled it. Dean quickly picked it up and answered it. "Hello?" "Young Dean." "Cass." Dean looked at his wife's panicked expression. "Have you heard from Felicia?" "Indirectly," Cass replied. "Rachel called a few minutes ago. Felicia is fine. She hasn't been drinking. She was at the Paradise with Paulina this evening, and Paulina didn't want us to worry about Felicia. She said Felicia will probably call all of us tomorrow." "Felicia is fine," Dean repeated, looking at Jenna. She literally sagged against Dean with her relief at the news. He wrapped his arm around her and held her against his side. "Good. That's all that matters right now." "How are you and Jenna?" Cass asked. "Still processing," Dean said. "Listen, man, thanks for callin'. It's been a very long, very weird day, and I think we're gonna try and get some sleep now. Say hi to Frankie for me." "Will do," Cass promised. "And if you and Jenna need anything..." "Gotcha," Dean said. "Later, Cass." "Good night, Young Dean." Dean disconnected the phone, then stretched to put the handset on his bedside table before turning back and gathering Jenna in his arms. She rested her head in the crook of his neck. "Felicia's okay," he said. "She went to the Paradise and Paulina was there, and Paulina didn't let her drink. And Cass said that Felicia'll probably call us tomorrow." "She's not fine," Jenna said dully. "None of us are fine." "I know," Dean said. "But she's not drinking. That's important." "How could he do this to us, Dean?" Jenna asked. "How could he lie to us and abandon us like that?" "I don't know," Dean replied. "I didn't know why my old man did it to me, and I don't know why Lucas did it to you and Felicia and Lorna. I wish I did, honey. I wish I could tell you and that I could make you feel better about all of this." "I just don't know what I'm supposed to do or say," Jenna said, her voice breaking on a frustrated sob. "You don't have to figure it out tonight," Dean said softly, kissing the top of her head. "And you don't have to figure it out alone." Jenna broke down crying then, and Dean, not sure himself exactly what to do or say, just held Jenna and stroked her hair while she cried. She eventually cried herself to sleep, and Dean watched her sleeping in his arms, and kept an ear out for little Lucas, until sleep finally claimed him around 3 AM.
************************************************************************************************************************************************* When Paulina arrived home, she went to turn off the light Jake had left on for her in the living room and discovered Jake asleep on the couch, with Mack sleeping stretched out on his chest. Jake was in a gray tank top and boxer shorts, and Mack was in a lightweight Chicago Cubs sleeper handed down from Steven and Kirk. Jake's arms were wrapped protectively around the boy, and 15-month-old Mack looked perfectly peaceful and content lying there in his daddy's arms. Smiling, Paulina bent, smoothed her fingers through Mack's downy blond hair, and kissed his forehead. Then she lightly ran her fingertips down Jake's cheek, causing him to stir slightly. "Ja-ake," she whispered in a singsong voice, drawing out his name. "Hmm?" Jake murmured, blinked his eyes a few times, then opened them. He looked up at Paulina's smiling face, then down at Mack's sleeping one. "We conked out on you?" he asked in a whisper. "Looks like it," Paulina said. "Here, let me take him." She carefully took the sleeping Mack from Jake, putting him up over her shoulder. He didn't even stir. He was just as sound a sleeper as his daddy. Jake sat up, stretched, and rolled his head to work the kinks out of his neck. "Mack Attack decided he wasn't so sleepy around 10," Jake explained softly as he stood and then moved to turn out the light. "So I brought him down here with me. He's a great listener. I bounced some ideas for my pitch off of him. Although if Iris doesn't buy the talking kangaroo, I'm blamin' it all on Mack. He got really excited at that part." Jake smiled at the sleeping baby. "Probably because you got really excited at that part," Paulina said. She looked from Jake to Mack and back again. "Everything go okay tonight?" he asked. "What?" Paulina asked, momentarily distracted. "Oh. Yeah. Books are balanced, we're in the black. It's good." Then she leaned up and gently kissed him on the lips. "I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I'm really exhausted, honey," Jake said. "That wasn't what that was for," Paulina said, amused. "It was for you being you, and loving me, and loving Mack." "You and Mack are my heart and soul, Paulina," Jake said. "And you and Mack are mine," Paulina said. "I'll lock up," Jake said as he headed for the front door. Paulina carried the sleeping Mack upstairs to his room and settled him in his crib, then headed to her and Jake's room to get ready for bed herself. When she climbed between the sheets and spooned up next to Jake, who was already asleep again, she kissed his jaw. "I hope Felicia and Lucas are as lucky as we are," she whispered before closing her eyes and falling asleep herself.
************************************************************************************************************************************************** Sleep eluded Lucas. He stood in his bathrobe and slippers, looking out at the view from Lorna and Joe's greenhouse window. The baseball bat Fanny had thrown down in anger still remained in the middle of the living room floor. He'd known that she'd be angry. He knew that he deserved her anger. But for the first time since he'd been told that he could finally come home, he was worried that maybe she might not forgive him. And Jenna... Jenna was just as angry as Fanny. But she was also hurting deeply. Feeling betrayed. Lucas remembered the night he and Felicia had gone to the convent to tell then-17-year-old Jenna that her mother had died. Jenna hadn't even known her mother was sick. And then, in the ensuing months, the three of them became a family. It wasn't easy. But Lucas had barely managed to hold back the tears of joy when Jenna had told him and Felicia that she wanted them to adopt her after they got married, and make their family real in every sense. And now Jenna was married to Dean and they had a child of their own, a child they'd named after Lucas...a child Lucas feared he might never get to know, since Jenna was as unforgiving as Fanny right now. And Dean. Dean had looked like he wanted to punch Lucas's lights out at TOPS, and Lucas couldn't blame him for that. The rock 'n' roll rebel had certainly stepped up for Lucas's family. He remembered Fanny's words from their argument earlier, telling Luke not to dare to criticize Dean, because Dean had been there for Luke's family when Luke wasn't. Dean had said something similar at TOPS--that he'd been there for Lucas's family when Lucas was off playing hide and seek with the Feds. And then there was Lorna. The only one happy to see him. The only one who didn't hate him right now. Off on her honeymoon with a man Luke barely knew but already liked. A cop. Luke Castigliano's baby girl married to a cop. The old Gold Street gang would laugh their heads off if they knew that. There were so many things to explain. And Lucas knew he had to do most of the explaining. He had to explain to all of his girls, as well as Dean and now Joe, why he'd done what he'd done. Probably Cass and Frankie too, he mused. They're practically family. He had to explain to Lorna why he'd treated her the way he had when Fanny had confirmed to him that Lorna was indeed the baby that was stolen from them by Fanny's aunt. He'd been angry at Lorna for what she put Jenna through, but he had never hated her, had never, as he had repeatedly insisted to Fanny, felt nothing for Lorna. He only hoped that Lorna would understand that he'd done what he'd done to save her, to save them all. Fanny, Jenna and Dean would be harder to convince, he knew. He kept coming back to Fanny's and Dean's separate pronouncements that Dean had been there when Lucas's family was going through hell. What did they mean by that? He had to find out. He stared out into the night, unseeing. He had questions to answer, and questions he needed answered. He was a man who wanted his family back, and he prayed that there was at least a chance that could still happen.
************************************************************************************************************************************************ Felicia resigned herself to the fact that she wasn't going to be getting any sleep that night, and sat up at her typewriter (which she refused to replace no matter how many times Lorna and Frankie, the computer wizards, insisted that a computer was much easier and less unwieldy). The story came pouring out. A mother and her daughters--Sabrina, Lorelai, and Genevieve--learning that the beloved husband and father they thought was dead, Lance, was alive and had come back for them. The story flowed from her fingers like water from a sieve, and she was barely able to keep up with all the thoughts crashing together in her head. Everything she had felt and seen that day and night poured out of her and onto the typewritten pages, including Sabrina's heart-to-heart with a new friend, Marisol. She wrote until sunup and then tossed her feather boa to the floor and promptly crashed on the couch, sleeping a dreamless sleep until noon.

TO BE CONTINUED:

2009-02-09T10:12:00.003-08:00

"Reclaiming Forever," Part 4

Felicia slowly lowered the baseball bat but didn't let go of it. She and Luke stood staring at each other. Luke slowly lowered his arms, then clasped his hands in front of him, deciding it would probably be wise if he kept his hands where Fanny could see them. Felicia finally broke the silence. "So help me, Luke, if you're using Lorna to try and get to me just because she's the only one you left behind who DIDN'T express the sentiment that you can go to hell..." "I would never do that, Fanny! You know me better than that!" Luke exclaimed. "I thought so too. But I was wrong," Felicia replied stonily. Luke hung his head. "Well, I'm guessing you didn't come here to see me, since you didn't know I was here," he said. "What ARE you doing here?" Felicia asked. Luke lifted his head and looked at Felicia again. "I took Lorna and Joe to the airport to catch their flight, and Lorna insisted that I stay here while she and Joe are on their honeymoon," he replied. "I'm supposed to water the plants and get the mail." "Oh, really, that's interesting," Felicia replied. "I'M supposed to water the plants and get the mail." Luke was genuinely surprised. "She didn't mention that, Fanny, I swear she didn't," he said. "And you didn't put her up to this?" Felicia demanded. "I know that you think I'm lower than scum right now," Luke said. "Rightfully so. But I swear to you, Fanny, I would never use either of our daughters to get to you." "I guess I should have figured that out for myself, since you had no trouble letting all of us think you were dead for five years," Felicia snarked. "Now you sound like Dean," Luke said. "Don't you DARE criticize Dean!" Felicia exclaimed. "He is a wonderful young man, and he is completely devoted to Jenna and little Lucas, and he's been there for this family, which is more than I can say for you!" "I wasn't criticizing Dean, I was just making an observation," Luke said. "Well it was just brilliant! Did you honestly expect me to just fall back into your arms like no time had passed and nothing had ever happened? Did you think just showing up would mean all was forgiven? You LIED to us, Luke! You let us believe you were DEAD! We had a funeral for you, we had a wake for you, we mourned and grieved for you! We all went through HELL after losing you! Don't you EVER get angry at me for keeping secrets again, because you kept the biggest secret of all and didn't care how much it hurt your family!" "You think I didn't want to take you with me?" Luke said. Now he was getting angry. "You think I didn't want you there with me, Fanny? And Jenna, and Dean, and even Lorna? But I couldn't do that!" "You didn't even ASK us!" Felicia shouted. "Did you think we wouldn't go?" "I didn't want to take you away from your life!" Luke shouted back. "YOU were my life!" Felicia exploded. "You were the center of my entire world. The man I have loved since I was 16 years old. The father of my children. I would have lived in a tent in the Sahara Desert and changed my name to Brunhilda Schnickelfritz if it meant we could be together! Damn you, Luke Castigliano! Damn you for letting me fall even more in love with you than I was when we were kids, damn you for leaving me and our girls behind and letting us think you were dead, and most of all, damn you for not believing in me, in our love, enough to trust me enough to even ask me to go with you!" Felicia savagely threw the bat down; it landed with a clatter on the floor. Then she stormed out of Lorna and Joe's apartment. "Fanny!" Luke called after her as he followed her. She whirled and looked at him, standing there framed in the doorway. "Not one more word, Luke. And don't come after me, or I'll go back and get that bat and I really WILL knock your head off!" Then she stomped away, leaving Luke clutching the door frame and staring after her. ************************************************************************************************************************************************** When Felicia walked into her apartment after going for a two-hour drive, the first thing she noticed was the blinking light on the answering machine. Sighing, she rewound the message tape and played it. *BEEP* "Mom, it's me. Dean and Lucas and I are home now, so you can call anytime. Dean's giving Lucas his bath, so I'll just wait for you to call, okay? We love you, Mom."*BEEP* "Honey, I'm just calling to let you know that Frankie and I picked up the kids and we're home, so you can call us whenever you want."*BEEP* "Felicia, it's Rachel. Please call me and let me know how you're doing, all right?"*BEEP* "Felicia? Gary Sinclair here. I'm off duty tonight, and Josie's on, so if you want me to come over, or if you'd like to come to our place, or if you want me to come to TOPS or something, just let me know. Or you can just call me and we can talk on the phone too. Whatever you want. Hang in there. I'm here for you."*BEEP* "Mom, I only have a minute before Joe and I have to board our flight, but I'm going to guess that you know by now Daddy is staying at our place. It was all my idea, he had nothing to do with it, and, you know, you could go a little easier on him. Okay, I gotta run or we'll miss our flight. I'll see you when we get back. I love you, Mom." "Oh, you better BELIEVE you'll see me when you get back!" Felicia called to the answering machine. But the messages didn't stop there. *BEEP* "Felicia, it's Rachel again. I just wanted to make sure you got my first message. I think maybe the tape cut me off. Anyway, call me."*BEEP* "Felicia, it's Frankie. Cass doesn't want you to think he's nagging you--" "Frankie!" "Well, that IS why you asked me to call this time, isn't it, Cass? He's worried about you, Felicia. I am too. I know that today was a big shock to you. Call us when you get a minute, okay? We love you, and we're here for you."*BEEP* "Felicia? Felicia, are you there? It's Dean. Well, you probably already knew that. Jenna's reading Lucas a bedtime story, and I know she's kinda freaked that you haven't called yet. Actually, so am I. So could you just give us a buzz? We're taking the cordless phone to our bedroom, so you don't have to worry about waking the kid, all right? Just please, call."*BEEP* "Felicia, it's Rachel again. No one has heard from you yet, and we're all starting to get worried. Could you please just call one of us so we know that you're not...All right, we've been friends too long and been through too much for me to treat you with kid gloves. I've talked to Cass and Frankie, and to Jenna and Dean, and you haven't called any of them yet. We all hope that it's not because you're drinking, but even if it is, we understand, and we're here for you. Call one of us, please, as soon as you get this."*BEEP* "Felicia, it's Gary again. Rachel Cory Hutchins called Commissioner Harrison, who called me. I don't know where you are right now, but call me when you get this, okay? Please? I'm starting to get worried."*BEEP* "Mom, it's me again. Rachel called here, and she said that she hasn't heard from you, and then Dean called Frankie and Cass, and they haven't heard from you either. I'm officially worried about you now. So could you please call me as soon as you get this."*BEEP* "Felicia, it's Rachel again--" "Oh, for crying out loud!" Felicia exclaimed to the machine. "I TOLD you people I wasn't going to drink, and I meant it! Can't I just have a few hours to myself?" Felicia walked out of her apartment in the middle of Cass and Frankie's third message, letting the answering machine tape continue playing. She loved her family and friends dearly (even though she was angry at Lorna at the moment), but they were smothering her, and that was just about the last thing she needed right now. *********************************************************************************************************************************************** Paulina McKinnon sat perched on a stool behind the bar of the Cafe Paradise, double-checking the books. With tomorrow being the last day of the month, she had to make sure all of the accounts were in order. Mack was sound asleep, and Jake was at home with him, working on his next proposal for Brava; Jake always insisted on making pitches to the board for his jobs at Cory Publishing, and not automatically getting them because he was part of the family. It was something that Paulina admired a great deal about him, and that she knew Rachel admired about him too. Felicia walked into the Paradise and let the air-conditioning, and the reggae music coming over the speakers, soothe her frazzled nerves. When Paulina had inherited the Paradise from Rachel's mother Ada Hobson after Ada's death in 1993, she had decided to keep the restaurant virtually unchanged as a tribute to both Ada, who ran the place for several years before her passing, and Paulina's father Mac, who had gifted Ada the restaurant when she was retired and at loose ends, since Ada was not the type of person to be a lady of leisure, having worked for a living all of her life. Mac would have been so proud of the daughter he'd never known, Felicia reflected as she watched Paulina bent over a ledger and writing in it with pencil in hand, a calculator at one elbow, a half-full glass of iced tea with a lemon wedge on the rim of the glass at her other elbow. Felicia found herself missing her old friend right now. Mac always had a calming effect on the people around him, and she could sure use some of that perspective and calming influence right about now. Felicia tentatively approached the bar, not wanting to disturb Paulina, but Paulina happened to glance up as she was reaching for her iced tea and notice Felicia standing there. "Hi, Felicia," Paulina greeted her. Paulina's mind raced--she wanted to be of help to Felicia, but she didn't want to push her. Although Paulina's relationship with Vicky was much better now, there had been a few times after Jake had returned after his accident, presumed death, and amnesia, when Vicky had gotten up in Paulina's face to plead her best friend's case and it had taken all of the restraint Paulina possessed not to haul off and slap Vicky just to get her to shut up. And then there had been Rachel, Matt, and even Jamie and Iris, all of whom seemed to be constantly reminding her that they were there for her anytime no matter what, and Rachel and Matt, especially, had spent a good deal of time hovering and smothering her. And when she wasn't dealing with her well-meaning family, or Vicky listing all the reasons that Paulina needed to forgive Jake, Jake himself was showing up and annoying the hell out of her while she was trying to process everything. Paulina noticed the defensive set to Felicia's shoulders, the anger and confusion warring in her eyes, and the tired lines edging her face. She guessed that Felicia's loved ones had been doing to Felicia what her loved ones had done to her when Jake first returned. They meant well, just as the Corys had meant well, but sometimes you just needed some space from everything and everyone, and if anyone needed some space from everything and everyone right now, it was Felicia Gallant. "Hello, Paulina," Felicia greeted her. "You're here kind of late." "Well, you know, tomorrow's the thirty-first, gotta have the books done," Paulina said. "I gave Mack his bath and put him to bed. Jake's working on a pitch at home, so he'll wait up for me. You know how it is in the restaurant business." "Yep, I do that," Felicia agreed. She paused for a long moment, and Paulina said nothing, looking back at her ledger instead. "I'm guessing Rachel told you about what happened at the wedding?" Felicia said when Paulina didn't say anything. "She did," Paulina said. "But I'm not here to pry. If you want to talk, I'll listen. And if you want to talk about anything but you-know-who, I'm up for that too." "You-know-who?" Felicia asked. Paulina nodded. "When Jake first came back, just hearing his name made me want to scream. And when I first saw Jake, I went from being thrilled that my prayers that this had all been some horrible mistake were answered to wanting to rip his head off with my bare hands in about 30 seconds." "Bless you," Felicia said. She sat down at the bar. "I nearly knocked Luke's head off with a baseball bat tonight." "I know the feeling," Paulina said. "Can I get you anything?" "That iced tea looks good," Felicia said, gesturing to Paulina's glass. "Comin' right up," Paulina said as she poured a glass of tea for Felicia. "You know--thank you," Felicia said as she accepted sugar and lemon from Paulina and finished fixing her glass of tea. "You know, I forgot that you'd been through something similar with Jake." She paused. "I know this sounds terrible, but Jenna and Dean, Cass and Frankie, Rachel, and Gary Sinclair have all been calling me repeatedly and wanting me to call them back, and Lorna even called from the airport before the plane took off. THAT is what made me want to scream!" "Been there," Paulina said. "When Jake came back, Iris was even being nice to me for real. And you know that there was never any love lost between Jamie and Jake, that they have managed to peacefully coexist pretty much for my sake, and Steven's and Jessie's sakes, and then Mack's sake when he was born, but even Jamie was always checking up on me. Matt practically became my shadow. Iris was the one that surprised me the most, though. She'd never had much use for Jake, or so I thought, and suddenly she became, for the first time in our relationship, the supportive big sister. Talk about throwing me for a loop." "You poor thing," Felicia said sympathetically. She sipped her tea. "Just out of curiosity, how long did the 'I want to rip his head off' phase last for you?" "A couple of months," Paulina replied. "So it's not strange that I'm glad he's alive but at the same time so mad I was ready to take a baseball bat to the back of his head earlier?" Felicia asked. "Not at all," Paulina assured her. "That's good to know," Felicia said. She smiled, a tired but genuine smile. For the first time since she saw Luke at TOPS, she was starting to feel better, thanks to Paulina's understanding.

TO BE CONTINUED:

2009-02-09T10:00:00.000-08:00

Here's part 3 of the Lucas and Felicia fanfic, "Reclaiming Forever."
Just a couple things in this chapter that actually don't have anything to do with Lucas and Felicia, since the Corys are heavily featured in the middle segment:--As I said, it's still Anne as Vicky and Marley, not Jensen. Marley and Jamie are married and have a daughter Jessica, known as Jessie. And Ryan is Kirk's father.--Iris never went to jail and is still living in Bay City.--Olivia wasn't the mother of Dennis's baby. It was some random one-night stand who decided she didn't want the baby, so Dennis took full custody of Sarah Iris Wheeler, and he and Sarah live in Bay City with Iris. --Matt is still single.

And here we go.

"Reclaiming Forever," Part 3

After the elevator doors had closed, Lucas was still staring at the elevator. Lorna approached him and put her hand on his arm. He turned to look at her. "They'll come around," she assured him. "Just give it some time, Da--Lucas." Lucas looked at Lorna and was struck by how much she looked like Felicia. "I am your father. You can call me 'Dad,' or even 'Daddy,' if you want." Lorna's face lit up much like her nephew's on Christmas morning. "Really?" she asked. "Really," Lucas said. He looked over to Joe. "And you, young man, can call me Lucas. At least until we get to know each other better." "All right, Lucas," Joe agreed. He paused. "Sir...I mean, Lucas...It's in my nature, being a cop and all, but why were you in the Witness Protection Program?" "I knew too much about certain people and their activities," Lucas replied. "Oh god, Rick Madison," Lorna moaned. "Only partly," Lucas replied. "There was a lot more to it than that." Lorna spoke aloud then, but she was speaking more to herself than to Lucas. "Dean and Jenna will REALLY hit the ceiling when they find out Rick Madison is part of the reason you had to go away." "I think they already DID hit the ceiling, my brown-eyed girl," Joe replied. Lorna shook her head. "You weren't here when Rick Madison was terrorizing Jenna," she told her husband. "Dean got mad today, but he was really keeping his anger in check because of little Lucas, and then because Jenna got upset. When he finds out about Madison..." She trailed off. Then she looked uncertainly at Lucas. "Dad, are you sure you forgive me? You were so angry at me for that tape." Joe stood silent; he knew about the tape, since Lorna had filled him in on her background and her family history, and the things she'd done long before they met that she was not proud of. Lucas clasped both of Lorna's hands in his. "Yes, back then, I was angry at you," he said. "I felt like I'd failed Jenna as a father, like I'd let her down. And then when your mother told me about you, I was still so worried about Jenna, because Madison was still on the loose then, plus she had that kid from campus stalking her. And all along, I felt like I'd failed you and your mother, because I didn't realize what was really going on the night you were born, that that witch Abigail deliberately took you away from Fanny and me, and then split us up. And on top of all of that, I was working with the FBI, and no one could know about it. But don't think for one second that I'm angry at you now, Lorna. Even though I didn't say the words, I forgave you in the hospital. And I understood why you did it." Lorna was on the verge of tears again. "You did?" she asked. "Do you remember what I said to you in the hospital?" Lucas inquired. "I told you that you looked just like Fanny, but on the inside--" "I was just like you," Lorna finished in a wavery voice. "Yes," Lucas told her. He squeezed her hands. "We were both young and ambitious and anxious to make a name for ourselves in our chosen professions, and we didn't care if we had to take shortcuts or do things that we would later regret to get to the top. I did it when I was young, and so did you. I understand why you did what you did with that tape. I was still furious with you, and I didn't approve of what you did, but I got it, Lorna. I got why you did it." Lorna ducked her head. "If I had known then," she said in a choked voice. "If I had known then that you and Felicia were my parents, I don't know if I would have even gone through with what I did." She looked up. "I really did try to stop it. You didn't believe me then, and you didn't have any reason to, but I really did try to stop the tape from airing that day." "I know you did," Lucas said. "All is forgiven, honey. Your mother and Jenna and Dean, they all forgave you for it, right?" Lorna could only nod. "I forgive you too." Lorna swiped at her eyes. "I've missed you so much," she said, her voice still choked. "I didn't know how much until today." "We have a lot of lost time to make up for," Lucas said, reaching into his jacket pocket for a handkerchief and then wiping Lorna's tears away with it before pressing it into her hand. "And we will. But first, you're going on your honeymoon with your new husband over there." "Where are you staying?" Lorna asked, clutching Lucas's handkerchief. "I hadn't gotten that far yet," Lucas admitted. "I came straight here. I figured I'd get a hotel room until I can find something more permanent." "You can stay at our place while we're gone," Lorna replied. "Someone needs to get the mail and water the plants anyway." "Sir, I just want you to know, I haven't actually moved in yet," Joe piped up then. "I do have several boxes of my possessions at the apartment, and some of my clothes in the closet, and a toothbrush and razor in the bathroom, but I'm not fully moving in until we get back from our honeymoon." "Joe, we're two grown, consenting adults over the age of 25 who just got married," Lorna said, amused. "He's your father!" Joe exclaimed. "I don't want him thinking I was shacking up with his daughter before the wedding!" Lorna rolled her eyes, her amusement now gone. "You were spending half your nights at my place, and I was spending the other half at yours," she said. "Lorna!" Joe exclaimed, horrified. Lucas smiled. "I appreciate your respect for my feelings, Joe," he said, "and I'm glad to know that you respect my daughter so much. But surely you know that Felicia and I were teenagers when Lorna was born. I know how it is, especially in this day and age." "I do respect Lorna, Lucas," Joe said. "And I love her more than life itself, and I will always take care of her and protect her. She'll never want for anything." "What is this, 1955?" Lorna asked. "Or is it just Italian men who are old-fashioned and borderline chauvinistic? You know damn well that I can take care of myself, Joseph Carlino!" "Yes, I know," Joe replied, "but I thought your father would like to know that my intentions toward you are honorable--" "Like the wedding wasn't a big enough clue about that? He's not an idiot, Joe!" Lorna said. Lucas laughed then, and the newlyweds stopped their bickering to look at him. "Every father wants to know that his daughter is being taken care of, Italian or not," he said. "But I think that Joe and I both know that you are certainly very capable of taking care of yourself, Lorna." "Well, as long as we have that straight," Lorna said firmly. Joe just looked at Lucas, who gave a barely perceptible nod of understanding for what Joe was trying to say. "What time do you have to leave for your honeymoon?" Lucas asked. Joe looked at his watch. "Actually, we should head back to the apartment to change, and then our flight leaves in two-and-a-half hours, so we'll need to get to the airport and get checked in," he said. "Come back to the apartment with us, Daddy," Lorna said. "I will," Lucas said, pushing the button for the elevator. "And then I'll take you to the airport. I insist," he said when Lorna started to say something. "And if you're sure you don't mind, it would be a lot easier for me to stay at your place. I'll try to find something by the time you get back." Lucas missed the look Joe gave Lorna, and her mouthing, "Go with it," because she knew why he was looking at her that way. Then they got on the elevator and left for Lorna and Joe'sapartment.
************************************************************************************************************************************************ The Cory contingent arrived back at the Cory Mansion after the wedding, and Lucas's surprise appearance, in very subdued moods. Ryan and Jamie had loosened their ties and unbuttoned their collars. Rachel was trying to figure out how to tell both Iris and Carl that Lucas was alive and back in Bay City. Vicky and Marley were also both silent. The doors leading to the patio were open, and they could hear all of the noise coming from the pool. Just as Rachel, Jamie and Marley took seats on the couch, and Ryan sat in a chair with Vicky perched on the arm, Paulina, wearing a white cover-up over her purple one-piece bathing suit came in, carrying her and Jake's one-year-old son Thomas Mackenzie McKinnon, known to all as Mack. Mack was wearing little black swim trunks over his diaper and a small floppy sun hat in khaki. "You're back already?" Paulina asked, not bothering to hide her surprise. "The wedding did happen, didn't it?" She had always felt badly about hurting Joe, even though she knew that Jake was the man for her, and had known that even before they learned he was Mack's father. "It was a lovely wedding," Rachel said. "And yes, Lorna and Joe are married, and they're very happy." "Then how come you're already back? I figured the reception would go on for hours," Paulina replied, shifting the squirming Mack in her arms. "There was an unexpected guest who crashed the wedding," Vicky said. "Who?" Paulina asked. "It couldn't have been Matt, because he's out at the pool. He, Jake and Dennis are teaching the kids to play Marco Polo. And why would Morgan Winthrop have crashed? He's happily married to Courtney Evans himself." "It wasn't an ex," Jamie said. "Then who was it?" Paulina persisted. "Lucas," Vicky said. "Lucas?" Paulina asked. "That's impossible. Lucas died five years ago." "No, he didn't," Ryan said. "We just saw him at TOPS not half an hour ago, and he is very much alive." "Are you serious?" Paulina asked. "Very serious," Jamie replied. "Wow," Paulina said. "That's one way to put it," Rachel said. They were all silent for a moment, the only noises being the voices of Steven, Kirk, Jamie and Marley's daughter Jessie, Dennis and his daughter Sarah, Matt, and Jake as they came trooping into the living room in swimsuits, carrying beach towels. "We won!" five-year-old Sarah Wheeler was insisting. "Jessie didn't get me!" eight-year-old Steven Frame insisted. "No, she didn't," four-year-old Kirk Harrison added. "I got Uncle Matt," five-year-old Jessie Frame said. "Oh, no, you didn't!" Matt Cory exclaimed. Jake and Dennis exchanged an amused look. "Is Uncle Matt being a sore loser?" Dennis teased. "I got you fair and square, Uncle Matt," Sarah insisted. "She did," Jake added. "And if we hadn't lost our refs here, maybe Matt wouldn't be pitching a fit right now. What, did the kid need a juice break?" Jake, his hair slicked back from being in the pool with the kids, wrapped his towel around his red swim trunks and approached Paulina and Mack, making a face at Mack, who grinned at his daddy. Then he noticed the others had returned. "What are you guys doing here?" he asked. "I live here," Rachel replied dryly. "I think Jake meant why aren't you still at the wedding, Rachel?" Dennis asked. He noticed Sarah shivering and pulled off his own beach towel, revealing his teal swim trunks, and wrapped it around his daughter, then picked her up and held her close to him to help her get warmed up. "We'll go upstairs and get cleaned up in a minute, sweetie," he promised Sarah as she wound her arms around his neck. "An unexpected guest showed up," Jamie said. "I thought Lorna and Joe had that 'no ex-anythings at the wedding' policy going on," Jake said. "It wasn't an ex, Jake," Vicky said. "It was a parent." "What?" Matt asked, confused. "Lucas is alive, and he showed up at the wedding," Ryan said. "Seriously?" Dennis asked. "Seriously what?" a voice piped up from behind Ryan's chair. Everyone turned to look at Iris Wheeler, who had come to the mansion because she knew Dennis and Sarah were there. "The front door was unlocked," Iris said. "You're back rather soon, aren't you?" "Grandmother! We played Marco Polo, and Jessie and I were on Daddy's team, and we won! Jessie got Uncle Matt, and we won!" Sarah exclaimed. "That's wonderful, darling," Iris said, smiling at her granddaughter. "What else is going on?" "Sarah's getting cold, Mother, so I'll let the others explain," Dennis said. "Come on, honey, we're gonna get cleaned up and dressed." He and Sarah headed upstairs. "You guys should go get changed too," Vicky told Steven and Kirk. "Do we have to?" Kirk groaned. "Yes, you have to," Ryan said. "Okay, Daddy," Kirk said. He and Steven trudged past Iris and headed upstairs. "Jessie, baby, do you want some help?" Marley asked. "Yes, please," Jessie said. Marley rose from her place on the couch and headed upstairs with Jessie to help her get changed. "Well? Is someone going to tell me what's going on?" Iris said. "I didn't expect all of you to be back from the wedding so soon." "We didn't expect Lucas to show up at the wedding, but he did," Vicky said. "Excuse me?" Iris said. "Lucas is alive, Iris," Rachel said. Iris's jaw dropped. "What?" she asked. "He was at TOPS, he showed up for the wedding," Rachel replied. "He didn't know it was happening, but he was there. Dean and Jenna's son found him in the coat-check area, and then we all saw him." "Lucas is alive?" Iris said. Numbly she sank into the spot on the couch that Marley had vacated. "Where has he been all this time, then?" "The Witness Protection Program," Paulina and Jake said in unison, thinking of Kathleen. "That's our guess," Ryan said, "although how he pulled it off, I have no idea." Jake shrugged. "No one knew when Kathleen did it years ago, either. It's not so impossible for Lucas to have had a similar arrangement," he said. "Felicia must be in shock," Paulina said. "They all must be in shock--Jenna, Dean, Lorna." "I'm worried about Felicia," Rachel admitted. "This will be hard on all of them, but it will be hardest on her." "You'd think she would be happy to have her precious Lucas back," Iris said. "Part of her is, I'm sure, Iris," Paulina said. "But the rest of her is roaring mad. He let her think he was dead for five years!" Jake looked uncomfortable then. Paulina, sensing her husband's discomfort, turned to look at him. "That's all water under the bridge for us, Jake," she assured him. "Besides, you had amnesia. It doesn't sound like Lucas did. I'm just saying that I understand how Felicia feels, because I've been there." "And look at us now," Jake said, putting an arm around Paulina. "We got through it. It was he--it was hard," he hurriedly corrected himself. Now that Mack was starting to talk, Jake was trying to curb his temper so that his son didn't yell at people when he got angry, or use any curse words. "But we made it." "Felicia's going to need a lot of understanding and support," Paulina said. "You're right, Paulina," Rachel said. "Well, Lucas is going to need someone on his side too," Iris interjected. "No offense, Iris, but I don't think Lucas came back for you," Vicky said. "Good grief, I've known for years that all Lucas wants is his precious Fanny!" Iris exclaimed. Jake couldn't help himself and started to laugh then. Iris whipped her head around to glare at him. "And just WHAT do you find so funny, Jake?" she wanted to know. "Your choice of words," Jake hooted. "'All Lucas wants is his precious Fanny'? I never realized you had such a dirty mind, Iris." "JAKE!" The exasperated shout came from Paulina, Rachel, Vicky, and Iris all four at almost the same time. Ryan faked a coughing fit to smother his grin, Matt couldn't keep from snorting and chuckling, and Jamie just shook his head but wasn't entirely unamused. "Da!" Mack squealed, smiling and reaching his arms out toward his father. "Are you siding with the ladies against your old man, Mack?" Jake asked with a grin. Then he reached to take the baby from Paulina. "Why don't I take him upstairs and we'll get dressed?" Paulina kissed Mack's hand as Mack went to Jake. "Make sure he behaves himself," she called as Jake and Mack headed for the stairs. "He's a perfect angel," Jake said over his shoulder as he paused at the foot of the stairs. "I was talking to Mack about you," Paulina retorted. Jake just smirked at Paulina before heading upstairs with Mack. After the McKinnon men had departed, Paulina looked at Rachel, and she could see how worried Rachel was for Felicia. Everyone knew what had happened when Felicia thought Lucas was dead, how she had started drinking. It was a long, tough road for her to get sober and stay that way. Paulina remembered how hurt Rachel had been after Rachel, Cass and Lorna had staged an intervention with Felicia that had failed. "I'm just going to go and get changed too," Paulina told the others. As she headed upstairs to change out of her swimsuit and join Jake and Mack, she resolved to be there for Felicia, and for Rachel. Paulina was the only person in Bay City who knew exactly what Felicia was going through, having gone through a similar situation herself with Jake a couple of years earlier. And if anything that Paulina had gone through with Jake could help Felicia and keep her on the wagon and set Rachel's mind at ease regarding her dear friend, then Paulina would be only too happy to share her experience and her feelings about that confusing time in her life withFelicia.
*********************************************************************************************************************************************** If ever the oxymoron "deafening silence" applied, Frankie reflected to herself, it had to be the very definition of the group of people, including herself, gathered in Felicia's living room. Frankie was seated by Cass on Felicia's couch, rubbing small, soothing circles with her palm between his very tense shoulder blades as he sat somewhat hunched forward, his hands folded between his knees, struggling to figure out how to help his best friend and not be overwhelmed with painful memories of when his life had been turned upside down by a similar situation. Frankie knew she and Cass would have to talk this out after they got Charlie and Wally home and settled in bed. Felicia was sitting on the other end of the couch, leaning heavily against the arm, her head in her hands, trying to process the fact that Lucas was alive and had returned. Jenna, still radiating hurt, was sitting in the stuffed chair adjacent to the couch, hugging a throw pillow to her chest tightly. She, Dean and Felicia were still in their wedding clothes; Felicia was even still wearing her corsage. Dean, his tie and collar button undone, his boutonniere hanging from his lapel about to fall to the floor at any moment, his hair nearly standing on end from all the times he had raked his fingers through it, was pacing in a rectangle around the living room, starting behind Jenna's chair, going around the couch where Felicia, Cass and Frankie were seated, around the empty chair across from the coffee table that matched Jenna's, and past the coffee table back to Jenna's chair, muttering angrily. "Unbelievable!" Dean shouted, finally breaking the silence. "He lets us all think he's dead for FIVE YEARS, we all go through hell, and he just steps off that elevator like nothing happened!" He was still pacing. "Dean, it was little Lucas who found him," Frankie reminded her cousin. "And he was hiding in the coat check area. It's not like he barged into the middle of the wedding and objected." "What is this?" Dean said, looking at Frankie. "First Lorna, and now you, Frankie? Why are you defending that creep?" "We don't have all the facts yet," Frankie said. "I wasn't expecting this reaction from you after what that woman did to YOU six years ago!" Dean exclaimed. Then he saw the pained look on Cass's face. "Ah, jeez. Cass, I'm sorry, man. This has gotta be hard on you. I didn't mean to make it worse." "It's all right, Dean," Cass said. Dean gave him a "give me a break" look. "Okay, it's not all right at the moment, but it will be." Cass reached out for Frankie's hand, and she grasped his hand in both of hers. "But this isn't about me and Frankie and Kathleen. It's about Lucas and all of you." "I trusted him," Jenna said with absolutely no emotion. "I loved him and I trusted him and I believed in him when he said he'd always be there for me." Now she did get emotional. "And he lied to me! He lied to all of us!" Dean stopped his pacing and went to Jenna then, standing behind her and placing his hands on her shoulders. "I know, honey," he said. "And it stinks. Everything about this stinks." He sighed. "And we have a big problem on our hands, because how are we going to explain to our Lucas that his grandfather is a lying creep? He's already crazy about him." Jenna closed her eyes and slumped back in her chair. "I can't even think about that right now," she said. "I know we're going to have to, but I'm just so...Didn't he realize we would have gone with him? He didn't even bother to ASK us!" "And now he says he has reasons," Dean said sarcastically. "Reasons for lying. Please. Everybody knows that the only reason you lie about something THAT big is because you're trying not to get caught and get thrown in jail or worse!" Felicia stood up then. "I have to go," she said. Cass, Frankie, and Jenna were all on their feet in an instant. "Go where?" Cass asked. Felicia sighed. "I'm not going to go out and get drunk, if that's what you're worried about," she said. "I just...I really need some time alone, all right? I'm going to go over to Lorna's...well, now it's Lorna and Joe's, really...and water the plants. I promised I'd do that while they were gone, and they should be on their way to Paris by now." Seeing how worried they all were, she went to each of them individually to give them big hugs, starting with Jenna. "I'm not going to drink," she vowed. "I am not going to fall apart again. I will call all of you--and Rachel--later tonight. I just need to be by myself for a little while right now, all right?" Jenna and Cass exchanged a concerned look. "If you need anything, honey..." Cass said. "I know. Thank you," Felicia replied. She hugged Cass again, then hugged Frankie, and then she hugged Dean and then Jenna. Jenna held on for an extra moment. "Mom, Dean and I could come with you to Lorna and Joe's," Jenna offered. "We don't have to talk." But Felicia was already getting her bag. "I'll be okay, honey," she promised. "I'll call you the minute I walk back in this door." She laid her palm flat on the front door. "You need to go and pick up your kids. And Jenna, Dean...be patient with little Lucas. He doesn't understand what's going on." "He can join the club," Jenna murmured. "We won't blow our stacks about Lucas to the kid," Dean promised. Felicia nodded. "Good. I'll call you all in a while. Really, I just need a little alone time to start to clear my head." And then she left her apartment, and Cass and Frankie, and Dean and Jenna, left a few moments later to pick up their children from the farm and head home themselves.
************************************************************************************************************************************************** The short drive to Lorna and Joe's apartment made Felicia feel like she was in control of something, even if it was only her own car. After parking the Mercedes, she headed up to their apartment and let herself in with her key. She managed a smile when she noticed several boxes stacked near the greenhouse window overlooking downtown Bay City; Joe had already begun the moving-in process, although it didn't look like he'd unpacked much, if anything, before the wedding. Then Felicia heard someone moving around upstairs. Without taking time to wonder or think at all, she frantically searched the room for the first object she could find that would pass for a weapon: a baseball bat undoubtedly belonging to Joe. Picking it up, and remembering that you hold the skinny end instead of the fat end, she lifted the bat over her shoulder and then whirled around when she heard footsteps on the stairs coming down to the living room. "I'll knock your head off with this, I swear I will!" she shouted. She brought the bat back to swing it and was bringing it forward when she realized who was standing there: Luke! At the exact instant she realized it was him, Luke put his arms up in the universal gesture of surrender and jumped back, saying, "It's only me, Fanny! It's only me!" But the momentum propelled the baseball bat in her hands forward, and the bat connected with a lamp, sending it flying halfway to the front door. The lampshade fell off in mid-air, and the sound of breaking glass heralded the lamp's demise. And Felicia just stood there, still holding that Louisville Slugger, looking from Luke to the shattered lamp, and wondering what, why, and how Luke was at Lorna and Joe's apartment with her.

TO BE CONTINUED

2009-02-09T09:52:00.000-08:00

Reclaiming Forever," Part 2

All of the commotion by the coat check area had gotten the attention of the rest of the wedding guests, and they all turned to look over there. Josie Watts gasped so loudly, her fiance and fellow police officer Gary Sinclair thought she was going to collapse a lung. A stunned silence washed over everyone gathered for Joe and Lorna's wedding, since most of them had known Lucas before, and those who didn't, including Gary, Joe's father and sister, and a few of the police officers in attendance, were too confused by the reactions of those who did recognize Lucas to ask for clarification. After a long, tense pause, during which no one said anything, and Felicia, Jenna, and Lorna all stared in shock at their husband and father, Vicky Hudson Harrison broke the silence as only she could. Standing there with her arm through Ryan's, she piped up, "Wow. First Sharlene came back from the dead, then Jake, and now Lucas. If this keeps up, Bay City's going to get quite the reputation. Let's all just hope my grandfather Reginald has enough sense to stay dead." By the time Vicky was talking about Reginald Love, Lucas had shifted his gaze to look at her. She smiled warmly at him, seemingly not as shocked as everyone else to see him five years after he was supposedly killed. "How are you, Lucas?" she asked. "Besides being alive, I mean." "I'm...all right, I guess," Lucas replied. "How are you, Vicky?" Vicky proudly held up her left arm, with the back of her hand extended toward Lucas so he could see her wedding and engagement rings, and she left her right arm threaded through Ryan's arm. "Married," she replied, her smile growing wider. "To Ryan. He's the Commissioner of the Bay City Police now. Youngest Commissioner in the whole history of the department. We're very happy. We have a son, Steven has a little brother. Kirk. He and Steven are over at the Cory Mansion. Little boys and weddings usually don't mix. Oh, and if you're wondering where Grant is, he's in prison. Long story. I'll tell you about that some other time. It's good to see you, Lucas." Despite all of the tension, Lucas smiled a genuine smile at Vicky. "It's good to see you too, Vicky. Congratulations on...everything. And Ryan, I'm sure you're the best Commissioner the Bay City Police have ever known." "Of course he is," Vicky said, looking proudly at Ryan. Ryan was still as shocked as everyone else, but he managed to find his voice long enough to ask, "Lucas, how...I mean, you, uh..." He trailed off. Lucas looked to Rachel then. "What's the saying, Rachel? 'The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated'?" Rachel blinked, then said, "Mark Twain." "I thought so," Lucas replied. "I hope everything's going well at Cory Publishing and Brava. I haven't kept up with the news much since I've been...away." Lucas looked next to Sharlene and John. "I see the rumors of your death have been greatly exaggerated too, Sharlene. I'm glad you found your way home." "Thank you," Sharlene said. She didn't know what else to say. John shook his head as if to clear it. "I was the one who told them to move you," he said. "I heard you," Lucas replied. "But the heart monitor--" John said. "I'm telling you, he pulled a Kathleen!" Dean interrupted angrily. "Didn't you, Lucas? DIDN'T YOU?" Jenna laid her palm over her husband's heart. "Dean, calm down," she said. "No, I will NOT calm down!" Dean exclaimed. He glared at Lucas. "Do you have ANY idea what you put these women through, man? DO YOU? ALL of the hell they all went through, and there we were, trying to pick up the pieces, and the whole time you were out there! You were alive!" "Daddy said a bad word," two-year-old Lucas piped up from his place standing next to Dean. Sharlene moved forward then. "Maybe we should take the kids back to the farm," she suggested quietly to Frankie, who was still holding baby Wally, and Cass, who now had three-year-old Charlie perched on his hip. "You can come and get them there after...well, after." Frankie and Cass exchanged a look. Frankie caught Jenna's eye, since Dean was still glaring at Lucas, and Jenna nodded. "If you're sure you don't mind," Frankie said. "Not at all," Sharlene said. She looked over her shoulder at John, Josie and Gary, who were standing together. At her raised eyebrow look, they all came forward. Cass had taken his keys out of his pocket and given them to Sharlene. "Frankie and I will catch a cab out to the farm," he said. But Sharlene had opened her small clutch purse. "John and I brought his truck. We'll take your car and take Charlie and Wally out to the farm, since their car seats are already in your car, and we'll leave you the truck, and you can bring it back to the farm when you're done here," she said. She and Cass swapped keys, while Josie and Gary approached Jenna and Dean. Little Lucas was still standing next to his daddy. "Jenna, Dean, we'll take Lucas out to the farm with Charlie and Wally," Josie offered quietly. "Do you need to swap keys with us?" Jenna asked. Josie shook her head. "We caught a ride with Donnelly and Shanks," she replied. "Mama or John can give us a ride home later. They have to go over to John's mom's to pick up Gregory anyway. But if we could take your car, since it has Lucas's car seat in it, and you could catch a ride to the farm with Cass and Frankie..." "Sure," Jenna said. "Dean, give Josie your keys." Dean was still glowering at the elder Lucas. "Dean!" Jenna said sharply. He finally looked at his wife. "Give Josie your keys," she repeated. "She and Gary are taking Lucas out to the farm. We'll pick him up there later." Dean dug into the pocket of his tuxedo pants, pulled out his keys, and handed them to his cousin. The elder Lucas, meanwhile, had noticed Josie. "Josie, is that you?" he asked. "Yes," Josie replied. "Hello, Lucas." "You're a cop," Lucas said, surprised. Josie, like Gary and the other uniformed officers (except Ryan, who was wearing a regular suit and tie), was wearing her Bay City P.D. dress uniform. "I think that's terrific." "I like police work," Josie replied. "And this is my fiance, Gary Sinclair. Gary, um...this is Lucas." The light bulb went off for Gary then. "Lucas?" he said. "You're THAT Lucas? Felicia's dead husband?" Then he looked to Felicia, who was looking pale. "Felicia?" he asked. Felicia had been staring at Lucas, and she turned to look at Gary when he called her name. "Oh. Gary," she said. Gary reached over and squeezed her shoulder. "Josie and I are taking Lucas to the farm," he told his dear friend, inclining his head in the direction of Felicia's grandson. Felicia nodded. "I think that's a very good idea," she said. "If you need anything...anything at all, day or night, no matter what time it is, I want you to call me, Felicia. Promise me you'll call me if you need anything," Gary said seriously. Lucas frowned at this; what was with Josie's fiance, who was young enough to be Fanny's son, being so worried about Fanny? "I will," Felicia promised, resting her hand atop Gary's hand on her shoulder. "I promise, Gary." "You're not alone," Gary reminded her. "Whatever I can do to help you, just name it." Felicia managed a wan smile. "I will," she said. Then she bent to kiss her grandson's forehead. "Honey, you're gonna go out to the farm with Officer Gary and with Josie." "But I wanna stay here with Gampa Luke!" Lucas exclaimed. "I'll see you later," Lucas promised his namesake grandson. "You listen to your...uh...Grammy now, okay?" He remembered little Lucas referring to Felicia as "Grammy" so he used that term so as not to confuse or upset the boy, or Fanny. Jenna picked up her son, smoothed his hair back, and pulled him to her for a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Charlie and Wally will be there too," she said. "You be a good boy for Aunt Sharlene and Uncle John, okay?" "He'll be fine," John assured Jenna. "Do I have to?" little Lucas asked. Dean focused on his son. "Yeah, little man, but it's only for a little while." He tousled the boy's hair, then accepted the hug that the little boy practically leapt out of Jenna's arms to give him. Dean squeezed his son tightly and kissed the top of his head, and little Lucas kissed Dean's forehead. "What about the cake?" little Lucas asked after Dean had set him on his feet, referring to Lorna and Joe's wedding cake. He'd been promised a big piece, and it was chocolate cake. "How about if we stop for ice cream on the way to the farm?" Josie suggested. She looked to Jenna and Dean. "Would that be all right?" Jenna and Dean exchanged a quick look. "Sure," Jenna said. "I want chocolate!" Lucas piped up. "I want strawberry!" Charlie Winthrop added. Cass and Frankie nodded their agreement that Charlie could have ice cream too, as Sharlene looked to John, who quietly murmured that they too would stop for ice cream on the way to the farm. Little Lucas started to go to Officer Gary, but stopped, turned back, and went to Joe and Lorna instead. Lorna was still standing there with one hand to her mouth, and Joe was right beside his bride, his arm around her shoulders. Little Lucas tugged on Joe's pant leg, and Joe looked down. "Can I call you 'Uncle Joe' now?" he asked. Joe smiled down at the little boy. "Yup," he said. "Now that your Auntie Lorna and I are married, you can officially call me 'Uncle Joe.'" Lucas smiled at Joe. "Yay!" he cheered. Then he looked at his family, each one in turn, as he said their names. "Bye, Uncle Joe! Bye, Auntie Lorna! Bye, Uncle Cass! Bye, Aunt Frankie! Bye, Grammy! Bye, Gampa Luke! Bye, Mommy! Bye, Daddy!" Then he turned and ran to Gary and Josie. "Ice cream!" he exclaimed. Gary extended his hand to little Lucas, who took it. Sharlene was carrying Wally Winthrop and had his diaper bag slung over one shoulder; Josie was holding Charlie Winthrop's hand. Cass was bent down so he was at eye level with Charlie, and the elder Lucas watched as the little girl hugged Cass fiercely around the neck and kissed his cheek and he returned the hug and kiss. Frankie, meanwhile, was talking quietly to Sharlene, and then she leaned down and pressed a kiss to the sleeping Wally's forehead. Then she and Cass switched places, and Cass kissed their baby boy's forehead, while Frankie bent to give Charlie a hug and a kiss. John, Sharlene, Josie and Gary headed to the elevator with the kids. "You go ahead and take this one. We'll get the next one," Vicky assured them. She and Ryan were standing with Jamie, Marley, and Rachel by the bar. After Gary and the Hudsons had departed with the kids, Vicky said, "Who's telling Carl?" "I will," Rachel said. Rachel and Carl had been married for three years. "Someone needs to tell Lucas," Marley said. "About Carl, I mean." "I think it's more important that someone tell Iris about Lucas," Jamie replied. "I don't want her being brought into the hospital with a heart attack because she saw her ex-fiance walking around town five years after he supposedly died." "I don't know how he did it," Ryan said. The others looked at him questioningly. "Lucas. I didn't know anything about this. And Joe and Gary and Josie weren't in town at the time, so they couldn't have known." Rachel sighed. "This isn't going to be easy for anyone," she said. "But it's going to be hardest for Felicia and the girls." "Dean's not handling it too well," Vicky remarked. "Dean didn't handle it well when Kathleen came back," Ryan reminded her. "Who did?" Vicky replied. "Almost everyone was on Frankie's side, including you. Even I was on Frankie's side." "Because you were jealous of the time I spent with Frankie," Ryan said. "True," Vicky said. "But I was still on her side and wanted her and Cass to get back together, even if my motives weren't exactly selfless." She gave Ryan a saucy smile. He shook his head but returned her smile. "And as much as Dean loves Frankie," Jamie said, "Jenna and little Lucas are his entire life. Dean's not going to give the elder Lucas much of a break here." "I'll go and say our goodbyes to Felicia and the others," Rachel said, and she headed over to tell Felicia goodbye. "We'll wait right here for you, Mom," Jamie replied. "Vicky," Marley said, "you WERE just kidding about Reginald, right?" "Of course I was!" Vicky assured her sister. "Now that I think about it, they never found Sharlene's body, and she came back. They never found Jake's body, and he came back. And the only proof anyone had of Lucas's death was that the heart monitor flatlined, which was apparently staged. So no one ever really saw Lucas's body. Therefore, like Sharlene and Jake, Lucas wasn't really dead, and now he's back. Plenty of people saw Reginald's body, so we KNOW he's dead." "Which Donna and Michael are still undoubtedly grateful for," Marley said. "You're making me glad I never met the man," Ryan said. "Honey, our grandfather makes Carl before he reformed for you and Rachel look like an altar boy," Vicky told Ryan. Marley nodded her agreement with her twin. Meanwhile, as Joe was saying goodbye to his sister, father, and the rest of his fellow officers who had attended the wedding and then putting them on the elevator to leave, Rachel got Felicia's attention by touching her arm. "Felicia, we're going to leave now," she said. "Call me later, all right?" Felicia could only nod, glancing at Rachel, and then looking back at Luke. "Lorna, Joe, congratulations," Rachel said, turning her attention to them. "Thank you, Mrs. Hutchins," Joe replied. "And thank you for coming." Rachel nodded. "Dean, Jenna, it's always nice to see you," she said. They murmured acknowledgments. Then Rachel turned to leave, but when she got to Cass and Frankie she stopped. "Take care of Felicia," she told them. "She's had a terrible shock. Of course, we all have, but no one more than Felicia." "Either Frankie or I will call you later and let you know what happened," Cass promised Rachel. "Please do," Rachel urged. "I'm not sure if Felicia will call me. I'd understand if she didn't, of course, but I'd just...like to know how she's doing." "We'll call, Rachel," Frankie promised. "Give our regards to Ryan and Vicky, and to Jamie and Marley." "I will," Rachel replied. Then she took her leave, and after she, Ryan and Vicky, and Jamie and Marley had boarded the elevator for the trip down to the garage, it was just the eight of them there: Cass and Frankie; Dean and Jenna; Lorna and Joe; Felicia; and Lucas. They all stood in silence for a long moment, and then Frankie spoke. "Dean is right. You were in the Witness Protection Program, weren't you, Lucas?" Frankie asked. "Yes," Lucas replied. "I knew it. Man, I KNEW IT!" Dean raged. "I didn't have a choice!" Lucas shouted back at Dean. "It was the only way I could protect Fanny and Jenna and Lorna!" "You know, I didn't buy that garbage when Kathleen was spewin' it years ago, and I'm not buyin' it now either!" Dean retorted. "You walked away. You bailed on your family and you damn near destroyed them in the process!" "Destroyed? What? What happened?" Lucas asked as a sinking feeling took hold of his gut. "Dean, I don't think now is the time to get into all of that," Lorna said, finally speaking but not taking her eyes off her father. "You're gonna stand there and defend him?" Dean asked, shocked, as he looked at Lorna. "You lied!" Jenna exclaimed, having left Dean's side to face the man she had considered her father. "You lied and you abandoned me, abandoned all of us! You're just like Gloria!" Jenna was referring to her biological mother Gloria Norris. "She lied to me all my life, she abandoned me at that convent...I didn't know anything! All because she was supposedly trying to protect me! Well, it didn't work. I still got hurt. And then I found a real family with you and Felicia...and Lorna and I even made peace eventually. But you left us! You lied, you let us think you were dead, and you abandoned us! You're just like Gloria!" she repeated angrily. "Jenna--" Lorna began. "Don't EVEN!" Dean yelled at Lorna. "It WAS a tear," Felicia said then. The others turned to look at her, but she was looking at Luke. "You were still alive, so you heard everything I said to you in that room. I thought I saw a tear roll down your cheek, but I convinced myself it was wishful thinking because you were dead. But you weren't dead. You were alive. You were alive, and you heard what I said, and you let me think you were dead." SLAP! The sound of Felicia's open palm making hard, violent contact with Luke's cheek and causing his head to snap back from the impact seemed to echo throughout the eerily silent TOPS like the cracking of a whip. "I never thought you had it in you to be THAT cruel, especially to me," Felicia said angrily. Luke's cheek was tingling. Fanny could pack a real wallop when she was angry enough, and Luke didn't think he'd ever seen her this angry before, not even back on Gold Street when they were trying to stand up to Noah Grady. He might even have a welt on his face, but it was no less than he deserved. "I HAD to do it," he said urgently, suddenly filled with a desperation to make them understand. "Fanny, come on! You know that I never would have left if I had had any other choice!" "But you DID have a choice!" Dean shouted. "Just like Kathleen. She coulda told Cass the truth, and she didn't. Then she came back years later and thought she had a right to the life she left behind. But she didn't. And everything she put Frankie and Cass through..." Dean trailed off and raked a hand through his hair. "And now you're tryin' to do the same thing to Jenna and Felicia and Lorna? No way, man! NO WAY! I couldn't stop Kathleen, but I CAN stop you and I will!" "It's not your call to make, Dean," Luke said sharply. "The hell it's not!" Dean shouted. "Jenna and I are married, and we've been married for almost three years, and we even have a kid that we named after you! And while you were off playin' hide-and-seek with the Feds, I was there with your wife and your daughters! I was there for all of it, for every single thing that went down with Jenna and with Felicia, and when Jenna and I came back, we were there for some of the stuff that Lorna went through. And even when I wasn't here years ago for Lorna 'cause I was on tour, Jenna was! Don't stand there and tell me I don't get a say, Lucas, because these women are MY FAMILY, and they've BEEN my family for a long time, and I was there for them when you weren't!" "But I had REASONS!" Luke exclaimed. "I don't want to hear your reasons," Jenna said angrily, turning her back on Lucas. Dean put his arms around her and glared at Lucas over Jenna's head. "Satisfied now?" Dean asked sarcastically. Felicia's hands were balled into fists at her sides and she was staring at the floor. She wouldn't look at or speak to Luke. Luke looked at Lorna then. "Well, I guess it's your turn," he told her. "Your mother, your sister, Dean, they've all let me have it. So whatever you have to say, Lorna, go ahead." Lorna dropped her bouquet, which Joe darted forward to catch before it could hit the floor, and dashed as best she could in her wedding gown and heels to Lucas, throwing her arms around him and squeezing him tightly. Shocked, Lucas wrapped his arms around Lorna to maintain his balance, because otherwise they both would have fallen on the floor. Lorna's shoulders were shaking and when Lucas heard her sobbing, he drew her away from him to find tears streaming down her face. "I'm so sorry for ruining your wedding," he said, and he felt awful in that moment for having ruined Lorna's big day and for knowing that his apologies were inadequate. But Lorna looked at him and smiled through her tears. "Ruining my wedding? You didn't ruin anything!" "But you're crying," Luke replied. "These are tears of joy!" Lorna assured him. She wiped at her eyes, then placed her trembling hands on Luke's shoulders and, certain that her father was indeed standing there solid and alive, she smiled as she felt tears welling up again. Looking into her father's eyes, so like her own, she said, "You're my wedding present. You're the wish I made five years ago in the hospital that I thought would never come true, but somehow it did, because you're here. And I'm SO different now than I was back then, Daddy! I'm not that same girl that did all those horrible things back then. I'm gonna make you so proud of me. I didn't think I'd ever get the chance." Then Lorna threw her arms around Lucas and hugged him again, which startled him. After a moment, he hugged her back, but then Lorna backed up and, sniffling a bit, said, "Oh, I'm sorry, should I not have hugged you? Should I call you 'Lucas' instead of 'Daddy' or 'Dad'? I just...I've thought of you as 'Daddy' all these years, and...Joe! You have to meet my Joe!" Lorna turned and held out her hand to her groom, and Joe went to her, still holding her bouquet in one hand. When Joe was standing beside her, Lorna took his free hand in hers, looked from Joe to Luke and said, her voice shaking with the overwhelming emotion she was feeling, "Captain Joe Carlino of the Bay City Police Department, this is my father, Lucas. Daddy...I mean, Lucas...this is my husband, Joe Carlino." "She has GOT to be kidding!" Jenna said to Dean. Dean just shook his head. Joe released Lorna's hand to shake Luke's hand. "I've heard a lot about you from Lorna, and from your family, sir," he said. "It's good to meet you, Joe," Luke said. Then he looked at Lorna. "So let me get this straight: you're NOT mad at me?" "No!" Lorna exclaimed. "We can sort out all the whys and wheres later." She touched Luke's cheek (the one Felicia hadn't slapped) and then started to really cry again. "I can't believe I'm standing here with my father and my husband both. And I promise you, Da--I mean, Lucas--you're going to be so proud of me. The one thing I've always regretted is that I didn't have a relationship with my dad, but now we have a second chance, and I hope you want to get to know me, because I'd really like to get to know you." "I'd like that too. In fact, I'd love it," Luke replied. He smiled and swallowed hard past a lump of emotion in his throat as he really looked at Lorna. "And you are such a beautiful bride." "I'm so glad you were here for my wedding," Lorna said. She looked at Joe with a smile, and he smiled back at her. As long as Lorna was happy, he was happy. Behind Lorna and Joe, Felicia, Jenna, and Dean were all about to explode from keeping their anger and incredulousness bottled up. Cass and Frankie exchanged a look. "Um, guys?" Frankie said to the trio. "Obviously this is a huge shock, and you have every right to be angry and upset right now," Cass began. "Thank you for stating the obvious, Cass," Felicia said sharply. Cass was hurt by Felicia's tone. Lucas's appearance, and the words "Witness Protection Program" and what Lucas had said about having no other choice so that he could protect his wife and daughters, were bringing up bad memories for Cass, memories of a time when he had been in Felicia's shoes and his entire world had collapsed at his feet, nearly causing him to lose the woman beside him, his beloved Mary Frances. Just by looking at her, Cass could tell that Frankie wasn't as rattled by all this as he was, but he pushed his own feelings down, since he'd have to sort them out with Frankie and only Frankie anyway, and a more pressing matter was at hand. "I'm just saying that I've been where you are right now, Felicia. I'm not being patronizing," Cass said. Felicia sighed. "I know you're not, honey. And I'm sorry for snapping at you like that. I just..." She never finished the sentence. She had too many conflicting feelings rushing through her. Jenna was radiating hurt, her shoulders slumped as she stood in the loose circle of Dean's embrace. Dean, his arms wrapped protectively around Jenna and holding her close to him, her palms resting flat on his chest, hadn't wanted to put someone's head through a wall for hurting Jenna this much since he had gone after that lowlife scum Rick Madison after the porn tape incident years ago. Frankie, Cass, and Felicia could see this, too, and they all recognized that "put-his-head-through-a-wall" look in Dean's eyes. "So what happens now?" Lorna asked. "Why don't you go back where you came from, Lucas?" Dean said angrily. "I'm not going anywhere," Lucas replied firmly. Then he looked at Lorna and Joe. "But I'm guessing that you two are? I mean, it is traditional for the bride and groom to go on a honeymoon." "The honeymoon!" Lorna exclaimed. She had honestly forgotten about it. She shifted her gaze from Lucas to Joe. "Ah..." "Where are you going?" Lucas asked. "We were supposed to go to Paris for a week," Joe replied. He and Lorna held a quick conversation with their eyes. "But we can postpone it--" "Absolutely not!" Lucas exclaimed. "You two are going on your honeymoon, and that's that." "But you just got here," Lorna said. "Really, sir, we can go some other time," Joe added. "But you've already made reservations and plans. And I meant what I said a minute ago. I'm not going anywhere," Lucas reassured Lorna. "You two go to Paris, and I'll be here when you get back." At Lorna's uncertain look, he added, "I promise." "Believe it when I see it," Dean muttered. Frankie silenced him with a raised-eyebrow look. Jenna still had her back to Lucas, and Felicia was still staring a hole in the floor. "We're going to get through this," Lucas announced then. "All of us. I don't know how yet, but we are, because I'm back, and I'm staying, and the one thing that hasn't changed for me in the last five years is my love for all of you. I deserved that smack, Fanny. I deserve worse. And Jenna, Dean, you can be as angry at me as you want. You're entitled." Jenna whirled around to glare at her father. "I don't need your permission to be mad at you, and neither does Dean!" she exclaimed. "No, you don't," Lucas agreed. "And I know that anything I say right now doesn't carry a lot of weight with any of you, except maybe Lorna." He glanced at his firstborn briefly before returning his gaze to the group at large. "But I'm back, and I'm here to stay, and sooner or later, you're going to have to deal with that, and deal with me." "Dean, I want to get out of here," Jenna said then. "I think that's a good idea," Dean said. "I'll come with you," Felicia added. "Honey," Cass said, taking hold of Felicia's arm and stopping her. "Not now, Cass," Felicia said. "I'll call you later. And Rachel. I really will. But right now..." She didn't finish the sentence. Felicia hugged Lorna and then Joe. "Welcome to the family, Joe," she said. "Thank you, Felicia," Joe replied. "Thanks, Mom," Lorna added. "Congratulations," Dean said. He shook Joe's hand, flicked a glance at Lorna, and then headed for the elevator with Jenna. Felicia followed them, and Cass and Frankie followed Felicia. When they were in the elevator, right before the doors closed, Lucas said, "I'll prove it to all of you. I'm back, and I'm staying. For good." And Lucas got one glimmer of hope as the doors slid shut: the quick flash of joy he knew he saw in Fanny's eyes before the anger and pain fell like a curtain and the doors closed completely, taking Felicia, Jenna and Dean, and Frankie and Cass downstairs.

TO BE CONTINUED

"Reclaiming Forever" Part One

2009-02-09T09:40:00.000-08:00

The story takes place in July 1997. Frankie never dies and neither does Ryan. I still see Anne Heche as Vicky and Marley; Vicky married Ryan and he's Kirk's father; Marley's married to Jamie and they have a little girl; I still see Alicia Coppola as Lorna; and the Felicia and John thing never happened. Everything else will be explained as the story unfolds. I hope you enjoy it.

"Reclaiming Forever," Part 1

The last words he'd heard from the man he'd reported to for the past five years rang in his ears and played on a continuous loop in his mind: "It's all over. You can go home now, and no one will be in any danger." So many times in the past five years, he had thought he'd never hear those words. But he finally had, less than 24 hours ago, and with expedited paperwork, the activation of a new credit card, and a change in legal status from "Died August 1992" to "Very Much Alive Here in July 1997, Thank You Very Much" (okay, those weren't the exact words, but as far as he was concerned, they might as well have been), he was in a rented BMW tooling down the highway, headed for home. Five years. He was just world-weary enough, and just cynical enough, to know that everything wouldn't magically be all right the moment they saw him again. But he had hungered to see each of their faces for so long, to know for himself that they were healthy and happy, that the decision he had made five years ago had done what he had hoped and prayed it would: ensured their individual and collective safety. What were they like now? He'd never been able to risk buying or even checking out of the library any Felicia Gallant novels, much as he'd wanted to. He only knew about Frankie and Cass thwarting that serial killer almost a year ago because the story had been picked up by the Associated Press and gone national. He remembered the waves of relief that washed over him when he realized that none of his girls were named in the article as people that bastard had terrorized or tried to kill. He knew that Felicia was still writing; he also knew that as of a year ago, Cass and Frankie were still a lawyer and a P.I., respectively, still married, and had a little girl, all of which he was certain were still true. But news about Jenna and Lorna was much harder to come by. He knew that Jenna and Dean had had a Christmas wedding three years ago; Dean was still on the charts then. But in the last 18 months, he had disappeared. Had he given up his music? Had something happened to him? There weren't even any "Where Are They Now?" reports on Dean, and the only time Jenna had been mentioned had been in the wedding article. Because there had been one photo released to the press a month after the wedding, he had taken the risk of buying two copies of the issue of Rolling Stone magazine with the press release about the wedding in it. He had always wondered if Lorna had had anything to do with drafting the press release, since the article had been titled "'Ladykiller' Dean Frame Marries Longtime Girlfriend Jenna Norris in Christmas Eve Ceremony"; now he'd get the chance to ask her. He had the wedding photograph--a group shot of Jenna and Dean surrounded by Lorna (the maid of honor), Felicia (the mother of the bride), Cass (the best man), Frankie, and Cass and Frankie's baby daughter Charlie (the ceremonial flower girl, since, at a little over 10 months old, she was too young to walk down the aisle by herself), all of them smiling for the camera, even the baby--that he had cut from one of the copies of Rolling Stone laminated and he carried it in the hidden compartment in his wallet. It was a risk, to be sure; but it was the closest to his family he'd been in years, and to him, that made it a risk worth taking. When he noticed the sign on the right side of the highway, he pressed his foot down on the accelerator (after making sure there were no police in sight), and, shaken out of his musings, concentrated not on the past, but on his very near future as he flew past the sign, which read

WELCOME TO BAYCITY..

."*********************************************************************************************************************************************** Felicia Gallant glanced at her watch. "Girls, we're going to be late!" she called. "We'll be right out, Mom!" the younger of her two daughters, Jenna Norris Frame called back. Felicia straightened the silk dupioni top in cream that she wore, then took a couple of steps to make sure that her flowing teal skirt billowed properly. She paused in front of her desk and looked at the picture of Luke she kept there. "Our baby girl is getting married today, Luke," she said softly. "I wish you could be here to see it." Jenna emerged from the bedroom then, gorgeous in her satin A-line tea length halter dress, also in teal, her sister's matron of honor for the day. She crossed the room to Felicia, then, standing beside her mother, turned and called, "Okay, Lorna, you can come out now!" Felicia held her breath as Lorna Devon, her firstborn daughter, emerged in her wedding gown, her raven locks touching her shoulders, a simple wreath of baby's breath and white ribbon pinned to the crown of her head ("Mom, you know I love you, but hats are not my thing, so no one is wearing hats at my wedding, least of all me!" she had said months ago when they had started planning this day), a smile of beatific joy on her face. She looked radiant in her wedding gown, a princess line dress in white, net over satin, re-embroidered lace, sequins, and pearls ("The sequins are for you, Mom, and your flamboyance," she had said when they found the dress), a halter neckline and lace-up corset back (which Lorna had declared were for her), and a semi-cathedral train ("Longer than chapel-length, but still short enough that I won't trip over it, besides which the lace-up corset back will probably be a bit much for Father Don, and I don't want to make a bad impression on the priest, especially since Joe and I still have to break it to him that we're getting married at TOPS instead of the church, and that we don't want the long version of the Catholic wedding ceremony," Lorna said). Lorna looked at her mother, who was on the verge of becoming weepy, and at the sister she had once resented so deeply but now considered her best friend next to her beloved Joe, smiling proudly but with tears in their eyes and said, "Well, somebody say something. Is it too much?" Jenna laughed out loud at this. "For you, Lorna? It's just right. You are so beautiful." Lorna smiled at her sister, then shifted her gaze to Felicia. "Mom?" she asked. Seeing the tears pooling in Felicia's eyes, Lorna said, "Oh, no you don't. If you start crying, then I'LL start crying, and we'll have to do my makeup all over again, and then we'll have to do your makeup all over again." Felicia sniffled. "I'll behave, I promise," she said, fighting to get herself under control. "You just...You're..." At a loss for words, Felicia walked to Lorna and carefully hugged her. Lorna hugged her back, and then Jenna got in on it, making it a group hug. "I'm so glad you're here," Lorna whispered. "Both of you." She drew back, one hand on Felicia's shoulder, the other on Jenna's. "For so long, I never thought that this day would come, much less that I'd have my mother and my sister to share it with me." "Well, Joe's as stubborn as you are, so no way he was giving up on you," Jenna said. "It didn't exactly hurt his case that he had you and Mom on his side," Lorna replied. "Is that a complaint?" Jenna asked. "No," Lorna said. "That's my awkward way of saying thank you." She squeezed Jenna's shoulder, then Felicia's. "Thank you for not letting me run away and hide from love, for encouraging Joe not to give up on me and for encouraging me to let Joe in, and to take a chance on love." Lorna had been engaged once before, to Gabe McNamara, a Bay City Police Captain who was killed in the line of duty. The entire police department, from Commissioner Ryan Harrison on down to then-rookie Officer Josie Watts, had been as devastated by Gabe's loss as Lorna was. Ryan himself had cleared out Gabe's locker and given the contents, and the folded flag from Gabe's casket, to Lorna. But it was Joe Carlino, the man that Ryan had appointed to the captaincy after Gabe's death, that became Lorna's best friend. Joe had suffered a loss of his own; he had fallen hard for Paulina McKinnon after her husband Jake's presumed death, but when Jake returned, he and Paulina ultimately reconciled and had a son. Paulina and Jake's happiness was Joe's misery, and though he wanted Paulina to be happy, he was too proud to let her see him cry, but not so with Lorna. When Lorna, who worked at Bay City General Hospital in the Administration office with the Chief of Staff's wife Sharlene Hudson (Sharlene was the head of administration, and Lorna was the head of PR), had heard through the hospital grapevine that the paternity test proved that Jake and not Joe was the father of Paulina's baby boy Mack, Lorna was the one who found Joe crying on the hospital roof. And for all the times that Lorna had cried on Joe's shoulder and leaned on him after losing Gabe, she returned the favor that afternoon a little over a year ago when she was Joe's shoulder to cry on. Slowly, their friendship turned to love. Fear held both Joe and Lorna back for a while, but Joe got past his fear first, and brought Lorna to the hospital roof ("The place that you started to put my heart back together again," he'd told her) and then, down on one knee, he asked Lorna to marry him. Lorna panicked, blurted "I can't!" and ran, leaving Joe still on one knee on the hospital roof on that freezing January day. While screening her calls for the next three days, Lorna learned, from the messages everyone left, that Joe wasn't giving up on her (from Joe himself), that he had asked her mother for her hand in marriage (from Felicia), that love outweighs fear (from Frankie and Cass), and that she would be crazy to run away from a great guy like Joe who was so obviously in love with her (from Jenna and Dean). At dinner time on the third day, Felicia showed up at her oldest daughter's apartment, let herself in with her key ("Remind me to have my locks changed after you leave," Lorna had greeted her), and gotten Lorna to admit that she loved Joe but was terrified of losing him the way she lost Gabe. The tear-filled conversation that ensued had brought a lot of memories to the surface--of Gabe, of Lucas, of lost chances, and of what was here and now. "No one knows what the future holds," Felicia had told Lorna that day, "but if I could go back to the day I saw Luke again, outside the police station with that bouquet of roses, and that same smile that I remembered from Gold Street, even knowing how it would end, I wouldn't change one thing, I wouldn't trade one moment of the time we had together. Time is too precious to waste, Lorna. If you didn't learn anything else from your dad and me, I hope that we at least taught you that much!" Felicia's words gave Lorna a lot to think about, and think she did. Two days after Lorna's talk with Felicia, when Joe walked into his office at the police station, Lorna was perched on the edge of his desk waiting for him. "Is it too late to change my mind about my answer to your question from the roof the other day?" she had asked. In response, Joe had pulled the small velvet box containing Lorna's engagement ring out of his pocket and said, "If we're doing this over, we're gonna do it right." Then he dropped to one knee right there, reached for Lorna's left hand as she perched on the edge of his desk, looked up at her, and said, "Lorna Devon, will you marry me?" "Yes," she said. Joe slipped the ring on her finger, stood, and they never were sure how long they kissed before the applause and cheers from outside Joe's office reached them. Ryan gave Joe the rest of the day off to tell Lorna's family. Now here they were six months later: Joe and Lorna's wedding day. As Lucas and Felicia, and Dean and Jenna, before them, Joe and Lorna were getting married at TOPS, the restaurant Felicia had owned and run for so long. Dean would be Joe's best man, and Jenna, Lorna's matron of honor. The doorbell rang then. "Who is it?" Felicia called. "Flower guy," came the reply. Jenna, recognizing Dean's voice, opened the door to her husband, who was juggling a small box with Felicia's corsage in it, and a large box with Jenna's and Lorna's bouquets in it. He no longer wore his hair long, as he had when he and Jenna had first met and gotten together, but he still wore one small earring in his left ear. He was dressed for the wedding in his crisp black single-breasted tuxedo, black bow tie tied, red rose and sprig of baby's breath pinned to his lapel, and white pocket square peeking out of his breast pocket. "Wow," Dean said when he saw his wife. "I thought the bride was supposed to be the most beautiful woman in the room." "I'll let that slide since you're married to her," Lorna quipped dryly. Jenna greeted Dean with a kiss. "Where's Lucas?" she asked, referring to their almost-2-year-old son, Lucas Winthrop Frame, named for Jenna and Lorna's father, and the man that Dean most admired, his cousin-in-law Cass Winthrop. "He's downstairs with Cass and Frankie and the kids," Dean replied. He looked at Lorna. "Lookin' good, Lorna," he said. "Gee, thanks, Dean," Lorna replied. "Joe's eyes will pop out of his head when he sees you," Dean said. "You are a vision. You'll take his breath away." "That's more like it," Lorna said. Dean smiled and carefully hugged his sister-in-law. "In all seriousness, I'm happy for you and Joe. He's a great guy, and I wish you two all the best. You deserve it." Lorna hugged him back. "Thanks, Dean," she said. "We're ready whenever you ladies are," Dean said. "Just a few more minutes," Lorna said, catching Jenna's eye when they noticed Felicia looking at the picture of Lucas again. Dean followed their gazes and nodded before leaving, quietly closing the door behind him. Everything was quiet for a long moment after Dean left, and then Lorna said, "I've been thinking about Daddy a lot lately too. Wishing he could be here." "He'd be so proud of you," Felicia said in a choked-up whisper. "Of both of you," she added, looking at Jenna. Lorna had never been entirely certain of that, since Lucas had died before she was able to prove to him that she was worth being proud of, but she didn't want to dwell on what could never be on this, the happiest day of her life. "Well, I'm glad that you agreed to walk me down the aisle, Mom," Lorna said. "Speaking of that, here's your corsage, Mom," Jenna piped up. She pinned the pink and white rose corsage to Felicia's top as Lorna removed her bouquet from the big box. "Okay," Lorna said. "Mom's pearl earrings are my something old, my shoes are my something new, Jenna, your necklace is my something borrowed, and my garter is my something blue. So I think that's it." "Are you ready?" Jenna asked, gathering her own bouquet in her arms. "I'm ready," Lorna said. "Let's go get me married!" Jenna held the door open and Felicia followed Lorna into the hall. On her way out the door, Lorna looked at the picture of Lucas. I love you, Daddy, she thought. And I wish you could be here, but maybe Mom's right. Maybe if you were, you'd be proud of me. Then the three of them got on the elevator and rode up to TOPS, then took their places in the powder room while Dean and Joe came in off the balcony and the small group of guests--Cass and Frankie and their 3-year-old daughter Charlie and two-month-old son Wally Winthrop; Rachel Cory Hutchins; Ryan and Vicky Harrison; Jamie and Marley Frame; John and Sharlene Hudson; Josie Watts and Gary Sinclair; Joe's father Tony and sister Sophia; and a few of the officers of the Bay City P.D., wearing their dress uniforms--stood in a loose circle. (Joe and Lorna had agreed on "No ex-anythings at our wedding," which is why Paulina McKinnon, Matt Cory, and Morgan Winthrop were not in attendance; Paulina and Morgan were married to Jake McKinnon and Courtney Evans, respectively, and Matt was still looking for his one true love.) Joe and Dean stood at the front with the priest. A string quartet hired by Cass (part of a running joke between him and Frankie that no one else but the two of them understood--something having to do with string quartets and Elvis impersonators) played Pachelbel's Canon in D Major as Jenna walked down the makeshift aisle formed, mouthing "I love you" to Lucas, who was standing with Cass, Frankie, Charlie, and Wally. Frankie was cradling the sleeping 2-month-old Wally in her arms, while three-year-old Charlie stood between her parents, solemnly holding her daddy's hand. Lucas stood on Cass's other side, holding his other hand. Jenna reached her place, winked at Dean, smiled at Joe, and then the string quartet shifted into The Wedding March, and Lorna and Felicia appeared. Dean was right; Joe's eyes nearly did pop out of his head at the sight of his bride, and his breath was taken away. Lorna only had eyes for her groom as she walked beside her mother, squeezing Felicia's hand (they were walking hand in hand instead of arm in arm) when they reached Joe. Felicia kissed Lorna's cheek, then hugged Joe and said, "Take good care of my baby girl." "I will," Joe promised. Then Felicia placed Lorna's hand in Joe's and stepped back slightly. Just then, the elevator doors slid soundlessly open, but no one noticed because all eyes were on the bride and groom. Lucas, Felicia's husband, Jenna and Lorna's father, the man everyone thought had died five years ago after being shot by Sally Madison, stepped off the elevator...and realized that he had walked in on a wedding. He was about to get back on the elevator and go downstairs again when he heard the priest say, "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today, in the sight of God and the presence of family and friends, to witness and bless the union of Lorna Devon and Joseph Carlino in holy matrimony." Lucas whipped his head around so fast, he was surprised he didn't give himself whiplash. This was Lorna's wedding! His and Fanny's Lorna! Lucas could only see everyone from the back, but his heart began to pound as his eyes roamed over the scene before him. The bride obviously was Lorna, and her groom, Joseph Carlino...Lucas didn't know that name. Then he looked to Lorna's left and saw Jenna standing there, holding two bouquets of red roses and baby's breath. A glance to the groom's left revealed Dean standing up for him. And there were Cass and Frankie with...THREE children? They'd been busy. And that was John and Sharlene Hudson...Sharlene wasn't dead either, Lucas mused. Interesting. Ryan Harrison, with Vicky Hudson on his arm. Had they ever gotten married? No sign of Grant Harrison anywhere. Over there was Rachel Cory, standing with Jamie and Marley, who were standing with their arms around each other, so obviously they were still together. And right there, standing behind and to the left of both Lorna and Jenna, was Felicia...his Fanny. Lucas was living what he once thought was an impossible dream: he was at Lorna's wedding! "...therefore if anyone here can show just cause why these two should not be married, let him speak now or forever hold his peace," the priest said. The room was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop. The priest then moved on. "Who gives this woman to be married?" "I, her mother, do," Felicia said, and then she stepped back to stand with Cass and Frankie and their children. The little boy who'd been holding Cass's hand dropped the lawyer's hand and went to stand in front of Felicia then. Fanny looked down at the boy, who had tipped his head back to look up at her, and they smiled at each other. This obviously was not the time to make his presence known. But as tears sprang to his eyes, Lucas swiftly, silently, moved back and into the coat-check booth (July in Illinois, no one needs a coat), and from there, he had a bird's-eye view of Lorna and Joe's wedding, and no one would see him. Through the blur of tears, Lucas watched his family, his girls, and watched as Lorna and Joe pledged their lives to each other. Lorna looked so happy. So did Jenna, and Dean. And Lucas just knew that Fanny was bursting with love and pride about Lorna. Lorna's groom looked at Lorna the way that Lucas remembered looking at Felicia. "I now pronounce you husband and wife," the priest intoned. "You may kiss the bride." Joe and Lorna reached for each other, and sealed their vows with a kiss. "Ladies and gentlemen," the priest said after Joe and Lorna broke the kiss, "I now present for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph and Lorna Carlino!" The string quartet began to play again, and everyone applauded. Lucas wasn't even aware of the little boy who had been standing with Fanny until the kid was at his feet, looking up at him with wonder and awe in his big brown eyes. "Gampa Luke!" the boy said. Lucas looked down at the boy, and then his words registered. "Gampa Luke?" he repeated. Gampa...Grandpa? Grandpa Luke? "Yeah!" the boy said. "I knew you'd be here! I told Mommy an' Daddy that you'd come fwom Heaven for Auntie Lorna's wedding!" Lucas was still reeling from "Gampa Luke," but then the boy said "Auntie Lorna." Swallowing hard, Lucas somehow found the breath to say, "What is your mommy's name?" "Jenna!" the little boy replied. "Like Daddy's song fwom a long time ago." "'A Song for Jenna,'" Lucas thought. "And your daddy is...Dean?" he asked. The boy nodded. "Yup!" he said. Lucas realized this boy was his grandson! Dean and Jenna had a son! Lucas looked at that little face, with Jenna's brilliant smile and Dean's brown eyes looking up at him. He wanted nothing more than to pick the boy up and gather him in a huge hug, but he fought every instinct that screamed at him to do so. Then Lucas heard Jenna's voice. "Lucas?" For one long moment, Lucas thought that Jenna had seen him and tried to prepare himself for any number of possible reactions from her. "Here I am, Mommy!" the boy said. Lucas thought he might fall over at that point. Not only did Dean and Jenna have a son, but the boy had been named for him! Little Lucas scrambled out from behind the coat-check counter. "Lucas Winthrop Frame," Jenna said sternly, "you know that you're not supposed to run off like that!" "Yeah, that's not cool, Lucas," Dean added. "Mommy and I have to be able to see you at all times. You know that." "I was with Gampa Luke!" Lucas said. "Lucas, honey, we talked about this," Jenna said gently. "Gampa Luke is in Heaven. He can't be here." "He is!" Lucas insisted. "Grammy showed me his pictures. I know it's him! He gots more gray hair now, but it's really him, Mommy!" Before Jenna or Dean could say a word, their son ran back to where Lucas was hiding. "Come on, Gampa Luke!" he said, tugging on Lucas's hand. "Lucas--" Jenna started to say. Then she and Dean both saw the elder Lucas, and both stopped in their tracks. Dean's eyebrows shot up high enough to part his hair. "What the--?" he asked. Jenna went very pale. "Lucas?" she whispered. He nodded. "It's really me, Jenna," he said softly. "Dad?" she said. Then it was too much for her, and she fainted. "Jenna!" Dean cried, moving forward swiftly and just managing to catch his wife before she hit the floor behind the coat-check counter. "Mommy!" little Lucas said worriedly. Dean eased himself and Jenna down to the floor, cradling Jenna's head in his lap. He looked up at the man who was his father-in-law, blinked, and then looked over at his son. "Mommy will be okay," he assured the child. "Can you go get Aunt Frankie and Uncle Cass, please? Don't tell them about...uh...Gampa Luke, but bring them back here. And JUST get them, Lucas, okay? Don't get Grammy or Auntie Lorna or Uncle Joe yet." "Okay, Daddy," little Lucas said and ran off to get Cass and Frankie. "Is she all right?" Lucas asked anxiously after little Lucas had left. "The father she buried five years ago is standing here, Lucas, what do YOU think?" Dean replied. He stroked Jenna's cheek then. "Jenna? Jen? Honey, it's okay. Wake up. Please wake up for me." "What's the big emergen---Lucas?" Frankie said. Lucas looked up from Dean and Jenna to find Frankie and Cass standing there, Frankie still holding the baby, identical looks of shock on their faces. "Oh my god," Cass said. They all stood staring at each other for a moment, and then Cass said, "Frankie, you do see Lucas, right?" "Lucas our godson, or Lucas Felicia's husband?" Frankie asked. "Lucas Felicia's husband," Cass replied. "Yes," Frankie said. "Okay, then I know I'm not hallucinating," Cass said. He looked Lucas in the eye. "What...how..." But Dean, who was growing more angry by the second, figured it out and voiced it before Cass could. "I know what and how," he said angrily. "You son of a--" "Dean!" Frankie cut him off sharply; little Lucas was standing right there, and Charlie Winthrop had left her Aunt Sharlene and come over to be with her parents and baby brother. "You pulled a Kathleen!" Dean exclaimed. Just then, Lorna and Joe came over, hand in hand, and laughing. "Hey, why's the party over here? We have the whole restaurant," Lorna said. Then she saw Jenna unconscious in Dean's lap. "Jenna? Dean, is she all right? What happened?" Without waiting for an answer, Lorna looked over her shoulder and called, "Mom! Come quick! Jenna passed out!" "Uh oh," Cass said. "You said it, Counselor," Frankie replied. Then Lorna looked up from Jenna lying in Dean's lap and into her father's face. Her jaw dropped and her bouquet slipped from her nerveless fingers. "Daddy?" she whispered. She shook her head as if to clear it. Jenna started to stir then. "Dean?" she said. "I'm right here, honey," Dean said soothingly. Felicia arrived then, with a bottle of water. "I brought Jenna some water, I--" Her voice was cut off as if a switch had been flipped when she saw Lucas, the love of her life, the father of her children, the man she thought had died five years ago, standing there. His hair was a little more gray, his clothes were a little more casual (a summer weight gray jacket over a solid black shirt open at the neck with no tie and black twill pants), but there was no doubt that it was Lucas...her Luke. Felicia dropped the bottle of water, spilling it everywhere. Jenna sat up, and Dean carefully helped her stand, supporting her with both his arms about her waist. Cass and Frankie stood together, Cass with one arm around Frankie and his other hand holding Charlie's, both of them watching the scene in disbelief. Lorna had pressed her left hand to her mouth and was squeezing the life out of Joe's arm with her right hand. "Luke?" Felicia whispered, her lower lip quivering. "It's really me," Luke said. "I'm alive, Fanny...and I've come home.

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