GH2011.5 MOVING ON WITH LIFE In the middle of the night, Lu waits patiently at the guest house on Spoon
Island. Even with the loss of the summer vegetation, it was hard to see it
from Wyndemere. She sits in front of the fireplace, watching the glow.
It isn't long before she hears the door open behind her. She looks up
expectantly as Dylan walks through the door. He smiles as he sees her.
She jumps up and into his waiting arms. He swings her around before
planting kisses all over her face, "Lu, I have missed you," he says
breathlessly after a few minutes.
"Me too," she says softly. "Did Georgie have any trouble getting you
here?"
He shakes his head, "Nah, she's really great at this sort of thing. She'll
probably be a professional sneak or something when she gets older."
They sit down in front of the fire, watching it. Dylan is behind Lu, his arms
wrapped tightly around her. "How are you?" he asked.
"Fine. I saw you on TV at Emily's wedding. It was a shame about her
baby."
"You heard about that?"
She nods, but doesn't say anything further about it.
Dylan turns her around to face him, "Lu, there's something I have to tell
you."
Her eyes widen, "What's wrong?"
His eyes were sad, looking downwards, he says, "I have to go back to
Bensonhurst tomorrow."
"Why?"
He shrugs, "I don't know. My brother called earlier. I guess something's
wrong, but he wouldn't tell me over the phone. But I had to see you
before I left."
"When do you leave?"
"10am."
She nods slowly, "It's midnight now, so we have about 8 hours. Don't
leave me tonight, Dylan. I love you."
She has tears in her eyes. He leans forward and kisses them away gently,
"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I love you too, Lu." He pulls her
towards him and gently leans her back against the floor.
*****
Jason and Lucky sit in his office, despite the lateness of the hour.
"What the hell do I know about raising a kid?" Lucky asks.
Jason smiles, "You'll do fine. You were around for your kid sister and
niece, how much harder could this be?"
Lucky frowns, "This is a 14 month old boy that's never seen me before in
his life. He'll scream his head off all night long. What kind of position am
I in to raise a kid, anyway? I run the clubs, it's a night job. Requires me to
be in and out and traveling some, I'm in no position to do this right."
Jason sits back, "Lucky, you're acting like Lisa's dead already. If she
makes it, you don't have anything to worry about. You can just be the
kid's uncle. You've got experience at that."
"What if Lisa doesn't make it, Man? Then what do I do?"
Jason sighs, "RELAX! Don't make this thing bigger than it is. Just pick
up the kid tomorrow. I'm sure seeing her son will bring Lisa right back."
Lucky sighs too, "I hope you're right. And then I could always ask Mom
for advice. She did a good job with me and Lu."
Jason nods, "And you can ask Robin anything. She loves kids. Besides,
Zack could be the perfect playmate for Anna."
Lucky laughs, "Yep, the gummy bear mob. Sitting in the playpen learning
all the fine techniques of the business."
Jason joins in Lucky's laughter, "Something like that."
*****
Nikolas and Gina stand in Staci's bedroom doorway, watching her sleep.
"I'm just so glad that she's home safe," Gina says.
"Me too. I don't know what we would have done if anything had
happened to her," Nikolas agrees.
Gina wraps her arms around Nikolas' waist, "We could go celebrate."
Nik smiles, and kisses her quickly. "I would like that more than almost
anything in the world. But the thing I would like most of all is to watch
our daughter sleep a little longer."
Gina returns his smile, "We owe Lucky and Lisa a lot."
"How is Lucky handling his sister's condition?"
Gina shrugs, "I don't know, I haven't seen him since the surgery."
Staci starts to toss and turn, like she's having a nightmare. Next thing Nik
and Gina know, she sits up screaming. They both rush over to her to
console her, "It's okay, baby, it's okay. Mommy and Daddy are both
here," Gina says comfortingly.
"I don't wanna be by myself," Staci cries through her tears.
Nikolas pulls his daughter protectively towards him, "We won't leave you,
Princess. Your mother and I will be right here, all night. You just try to
get some sleep." He silently gives Gina a look that asks if this is okay. She
nods.
"I'll get a couple of blankets out of the other room," she says before
heading off.
"Don't worry, Anastacia," Nikolas says as he continues to hold Staci
tightly, "Nobody will ever take you away from us again." Nikolas rocks
his daughter gently until she falls back to sleep.
