Chapters 115 & 116

 

 

Chapter 115 Protective Armor

 

"Yes, I've made my decision. I will marry you." After a brief pause, Laura adds, "With conditions."

Stefan grasps the back of a nearby chair tightly to keep his knees from buckling. Lasha saying yes?! Is he dreaming, or worse, hallucinating? His head swims with ramifications too dizzying to comprehend. Elation, terror, and disbelief surge through him, rendering him temporarily speechless. He stares at her face with burning intensity, silently demanding confirmation.

"Yes, I said yes to your proposal. I will marry you." Laura takes his hand and leads him to the couch, where they sit face to face. "Clearly, I surprised you."

"Frankly, any answer would have shocked me," Stefan admits once he finds his voice. "You said.... with conditions?" He asks, not able to bring himself to actually say the word marriage now that she's said yes.

Laura nods. "Yes, conditions... conditions that might make you withdraw your proposal once you've heard them. The first and most important condition is that we have separate bedrooms. We both know we aren't marrying for love, we are marrying for the children. I don't mean this to hurt you, but I buried my heart with Luke. What happened the night we made love can't happen again. I couldn't live with the shame... loving one man while making love to another. So outside of the children's needs, the only thing I can commit to for this marriage is friendship."

Laura's words act like ice water on Stefan's romantic haze, causing him to quickly snap back into reality. When he answers her, there is no anger, only a statement of fact. "I am a man, Laura. Not a robot. We are marrying for life."

Laura blushes slightly. "I.. I know that. I can only ask that you be very discreet as you've always been. But sharing a bed with you is not something I can do."

Stefan gets up and turns his back to Laura, not wanting her to see the pain and bitterness etched on his face. "I see. You are still in love with Luke and wish to remain faithful to him, even after his death, even after marrying me."

"In a nutshell, yes." Laura looks at the floor. "I know what I'm asking is unfair, probably too much to ask of anyone... maybe it would be better if we didn't marry. I can't be a true wife to you. The only thing I can promise you is that I will be faithful and loyal to you in my actions.."

"Even if you pine for another man in your heart." Stefan swallows the rising bile and reminds himself that forever is a long time, and that with lots of time and loving attention, she would rescind the ridiculous condition. Her attraction to him had been proven beyond a doubt the night of Nikolas' wedding. Having her tied to him by marriage would put him at an overwhelming advantage. He would win her love, it would just take longer than he planned. "What are your other conditions?"

Laura fiddles with the edge of her coat. "Your word that you will end the feud with my son and welcome him into our home and treat him as family."

Finally winning the battle to control his emotions, Stefan turns to face her, revealing none of his inner thoughts. "That is a given; he is your son. Any others?"

"My final condition is that you promise to be a father to Lulu and our child, even if our marriage fails."

Stefan joins her on the couch again and grasps Laura's hand firmly. "Our marriage will NOT fail, but you have my word that I will always be a father to them. And are there any concessions I can expect from you in return?"

Laura covers his hand with her other one. "I will be a loyal and faithful wife to you, Stefan. And I will always treat you with respect and consideration. Will you accept the conditions?"

Stefan looks down at her hand meaningfully. He is starting to feel the connection, the bond, between them already. "Yes, I will accept your conditions." He kisses her hand softly and with his free hand retrieves a small box out of his pocket. "The last time I presented this to you, you didn't look at it."

Laura smiles tremulously. "I didn't think I deserved to until I was sure that I would be marrying you."

"It is time to see it, don't you think?" Stefan asks.

"Please, I'm dying of curiosity," Laura admits, her smile widening. "You open it; my hands are shaking too much as it is."

Stefan smiles with mild amusement. "Very well." He removes his hand from her grasp and opens the small jewelry box and turns it to face her. Inside is a ring with one large glittering emerald in the middle, surrounded by smaller diamonds. It's obvious from the setting it's a designer original. Stefan watches her reaction carefully.

Laura mouth opens with wonder. "It's.. it's beautiful," She marvels softly. "But such extravagance isn't necessary. It's too much."

"Don't you like it?" Stefan asks.

"Yes, of course I do. It's truly beautiful, but the ring is meant for a marriage that lasts forever, not.."

"Lasha, our marriage will be forever," He counters quietly. Stefan frees the ring from the box and takes her hand, slipping it into place. "I want the ring you wear to be made especially for you to my specifications. Neither of us need further reminders of my family. There will be plenty as it is."

Laura smiles hesitantly as she admires the engagement ring on her finger. "It's exquisite and very thoughtful, Stefan. Thank you." Impulsively, she reaches out to embrace him. "I will treasure it."

Stefan closes his eyes, enjoying the rare pleasure of holding her. "You have made me very happy today, Lasha. I will be a good husband for you."

"I know you will, I wouldn't marry you if I wasn't certain of it." Laura pulls away self-consciously, half wondering at her emotional reaction to what should have been matter of fact. "Now we have to figure out how to tell the children. Lulu and Nikolas won't pose a problem..."

Stefan finishes her thought for her. "Lucky is another matter, he will be furious. I don't want you face him alone, I will come with you and we can tell him together."

"No, it will only be worse if you're there, Stefan. I need to tell him alone, I want to tell him alone. There are things I must to tell him that he won't hear if you're there," Laura explains. "Please, I promise I will be fine."

Stefan frowns unhappily. "He could lose his temper, I couldn't forgive myself if anything happened to you or the baby."

"Lucky would never hurt me, no matter how angry he is. I have to do this alone." Seeing how worried Stefan is, she smiles encouragingly and squeezes his hands with hers. "If it will make you feel better, I'll call you as soon as I'm done."

Stefan sighs. "Only slightly. I can see I have no choice in this, so go do what you must and call me once you've spoken to him."

Laura gathers her things. "If it's okay with you, can we discuss the details of our wedding afterwards? Now that I've made my decision I'm anxious to get this conversation with Lucky over with. He's been kept in the dark too long."

---

Alexis' penthouse is quiet, with Cassidy off to see her brother and Stone taking his nap. Alexis reclines on the couches, and continues to reminisce about Sonny.....



Alexis sits on a kitchen stool while an aproned Sonny prepares dinner at the farmhouse. From the well stocked shelves and fridge, it's obvious Sonny is prepared for a long stand off. Periodically Sonny asks her to find something in the fridge, which she complies with. Otherwise he continues chatter at her.

"You know, you and Brenda have a few things in common," Sonny begins with a twinkle in his eye.

"Oh really? Do tell me how I'm similar to dear sweet Brenda." Alexis says in a sarcastically sweet voice.

Sonny continues, apparently oblivious to Alexis' annoyance. "For one, neither of you can cook worth a damn. You could both find a way to ruin the simple act of boiling water. Maybe it's something about me," he says, now grinning impishly.

"That's not true!" Alexis denies with mock vehemence. "I can operate a microwave with the best of them."

They break out laughing; afterwards Sonny says, "I think you're safe with cutlery. Why don't you set the table? The silverware is over there." He points to a drawer.

Alexis starts setting the table. "I'm probably going to hate myself for asking this, but what else do darling Brenda and I have in common?"

"You both hurt me in the worst possible way, by betraying me." Sonny pauses to put some vegetables into a skillet. "But that's where the similarity ends. You see, Brenda betrayed me by accident, she didn't know what she was doing. You on the other hand, you planned it... in the most cold and calculating way possible."

Alexis tries to speak but Sonny puts up his hand to stop her. "Let me finish, Alexis. You know what attracted me to you at first? Besides being a knockout... It's that you're sharp as a tack, nothing gets past you, and you can think on your feet. I knew anyone who could get the jump on Luke Spencer would have to be sharp, and that you'd be someone who would watch my back if I could win your loyalty. And as a team, we'd be virtually unstoppable. So that's why it hurt so damn much when instead of watching my back, you stabbed me in it."

Alexis lips tremble slightly, and she looks down to hide her shame.

Sonny's voice softens further. "And I was so angry, so furious, that it took me a while to realize that's exactly what you were doing. You WERE watching my back."

Alexis looks up, startled by his words. "Sonny, that's--"

Sonny cuts off her denial. "Looks like dinner's ready. Enough serious talk, let's eat." He quickly dishes up the food and sets them at one corner of the table. Alexis joins him, smiling weakly when he pours the wine.

Alexis takes a bite, and closes her eyes blissfully while she chews. "Mmmmm, delicious. I've missed your cooking."

"Why didn't you ever learn to cook?" Sonny asks curiously between bites.

"An extremely unpleasant story," Alexis replies. When Sonny looks at her expectantly, she gives in. "When I was a little girl, I grew up under Helena's ever watchful eye on the Cassadine Island. She lived to punish those more powerless than her. Isolated on the island, there weren't many opportunities for me to make friends, certainly no girls there who were of appropriate social standing. But there was a little girl my age who was the daughter of the cook. Her name was Ariana. I knew better than to risk being seen playing with her, so I tried to be careful. I would steal away when Helena was out visiting friends, to keep her from finding out. This worked for several months and Ariana and I became very close. Then one day, Helena came home unexpectedly and found me in the kitchen playing with Ariana." Alexis stops to take a sip of water, her hand trembling.

Sonny grabs her hand. "Did she beat you?"

Alexis laughs bitterly. "Not that time. No, what she did was worse than any beating she could have ever given me. It's not that she wanted to spare me, but she knew beating me wouldn't really touch me. She wanted to break my heart..." She closes her eyes to the pain of remembering.

"What did she do, Alexis?" Sonny prods gently, his meal forgotten.

"She beat Ariana in front of me. She forced me to watch and told me that it was my blatant disobedience that caused Ariana to be punished so severely. Ariana sobbed and sobbed. You see, her parents had never hit her. Never." By this time, Alexis's voice is quavering with sadness. "There was nothing I could do, I begged Helena to punish me instead, but she scoffed at me. By the next day, Ariana and her family were gone. I never saw her or the kitchen again."

With a swift motion, Sonny pulls Alexis off her chair and into his lap and his arms. "I'm sorry, Baby. I know doesn't change anything, but I'm sorry."

 

Chapter 116 No More Words

 

"Hey Mom! Welcome back! Did you have a nice vacation?" Lucky hugs his mother warmly in the doorway. "Where's Lulu?"

"She's.. uh, at Bobbie's. I asked her to take care of Lulu tonight." When Lucky and Laura part, she retains a firm hold on his hand and leads him to the couch.

Lucky looks baffled by Laura's explanation and her odd behavior. "Why? What's wrong? Your hand's shaking and you're holding on to me for dear life... did something happen?"

Once they are seated on the couch, a desperate looking Laura holds his hands tightly in hers. "I have something very important to tell you, I want you to promise me that you'll hear me out. Please."

Lucky's brow furrows at her seriousness. "Sure, Mom. Just tell me what's wrong."

Laura kisses each of his hands and tousles his hair lovingly like she used to do when he was a small boy, her eyes moist and sad. "First I want you to know I love you. Whatever happens, no matter what, I love you with all my heart. Nothing and no one can ever change that."

Lucky pales at her passionate vow. "Now you're really scaring me, Mom. JUST TELL ME what's going on."

"I'm... I'm going to marry Stefan." Once the first sentence is out, Laura rushes forth in an attempt to stop an inevitable explosion. "Please, I need to explain to you why I'm doing this--"

Lucky cuts her short. "WHAT?! Say that again? I thought I just heard you say..." He shakes his head in complete bafflement. Her words don't compute.

"Yes, I'm marrying Stefan," Laura confirms gently."But there are--"

Lucky bolts off of the couch like a rocket, causing Laura to flinch with alarm. "OVER MY DEAD BODY!!" He bellows angrily. "What the hell is wrong with you? Did you lose your mind while you were gone?! Is he brainwashing you? Threatening you? If he is, by God I'm going to kill him!"

Laura struggles to make Lucky understand and to calm him at the same time. "No! It's nothing like that! He's not forcing me to marry him; it's my choice! Please, just sit down and let me explain it to you. If you'll give me a chance, maybe you can understand why I'm doing this."

Lucky grows angrier by the second, every muscle taut and ready for physical battle. "Sit down?!! Sit down and listen to this crap spewing from your mouth? You have to be kidding! The only way I'll listen to you is if you tell me it's some practical joke and you have no intention of marrying him! Tell me you're not serious."

Laura fights to stay calm herself in the face of his growing rage, but she's finding it harder and harder. "I.. I can't! Please, please just let me explain!"

"Explain why you're marrying Count Vlad? What possible reasonable explanation could there be? So what did he do to coerce you to marry him, Huh? What? You haven't been sleeping with him, so it's not like he could have gotten you pregnant."

Lucky watches with growing horror as his mother nods her head sadly and says, "I'm sorry, Lucky. I--"

"NO!" Lucky screams at the top of his lungs, her betrayal causing his rage to grow to overwhelming proportions. In one swift motion, Lucky overturns the end table next to the couch, sending the contents, including the table lamp and family pictures crashing to the ground in a million pieces.

"STOP this instant!" Laura screeches back, with a mixture of fear and anger. Reflexively she puts her hands over her head in a defensive posture.

Lucky takes several deep breaths, forcefully restraining the violence of his rage. "YOU lied to me! YOU stood in this living room and slapped me in the face for accusing you of sleeping with him! You're nothing but a hypocritical---"

"I was NOT lying!" Laura retorts hotly. "I know you won't believe me, but I wasn't... with Stefan at that point. It only happened one night ..."

Lucky's sudden presence towering over her causes her to gasp with fright. "You not only betrayed me, you betrayed Dad!" Lucky accuses. "You betrayed this family by sleeping with that bastard. How could you?!" Lucky turns away in disgust. "Don't even bother answering that, just thinking of the answer makes me want to hurl."

Laura pleads with Lucky's unrelenting back. "I didn't do this to hurt you or to hurt your father. Please, that's the last thing I wanted. I love you. You know I loved your father more than life. I would do anything for this not to have happened this way..."

Lucky turns back to look at her cruelly. "Then have an abortion. If you're too weak willed for that, then keep the damned demon spawn and raise it by yourself. Anything but marry that bastard."

Laura recoils like he just punched her in the gut. She covers her stomach with her hands as if to block the venom from reaching her baby. "How dare you suggest I have an abortion?! You have no right asking that of me. Or calling an innocent baby demon spawn. You've gone too far!"

Lucky pushes on relentlessly. "I have the right as the only person who seems to remember what you meant to Dad and what he supposedly meant to you. You marry the Bat and you cease to be a Spencer."

"You do not decide whether I'm a Spencer or not, Young Man!" Laura shoots back, her eyes blazing, any attempt to calm Lucky gone after his brutal attack. "I am the head of this family. You do not order me around or pass judgment on me! I'm marrying Stefan, and I'm having this baby. I will love this baby as I have loved all my babies, with my whole heart. And there's not a thing you can do about it!"

"Like hell there isn't!" Lucky shouts back. "I will not have my sister grow up being poisoned against her own family by the Cassadines!"

Laura throws her hands up in derision. "Now you're just talking crazy. You know as well as I do no one could poison Lulu against you or your father. I would never let it happen."

"And I'm supposed to believe you? Take your word for it after you betrayed us so easily? After you betrayed yourself?" Lucky shakes his head. "If you marry Cassadine, I won't ever be able to trust you again."

Laura walks towards him, trying one last time to reach him. "It doesn't have to be this way, Lucky. The feud can end with us. If we choose to. Stefan will not fight you, I have his word. All you have to do is let go of the anger and the hatred. Your father wouldn't want you to be consumed by it."

Laura's hands touches his sleeve and Lucky wrenches his arm away violently. "DON'T you dare touch me and don't you dare try and tell me what Dad wanted for me!" He snaps. "Steffin really has you brainwashed, doesn't he? Handing you some lame story about us all being one big happy family? You know, he's finally won. He may not have killed Dad, but he sure benefited from it. And now he's getting what he's always wanted.... you and Lulu. I just never expected you to roll over for him so easily, you didn't even wait a year before throwing Dad's memory away like yesterday's garbage. And now... there's a little baby on the way. Steffin must be thrilled beyond belief. Tell me, have you told him you love him yet?"

For the first time in the argument, Lucky's cruelty causes Laura to cry. "Lucky, it's not like that at all...."

"It's exactly like that, MOM!" Lucky says, now crying himself. "It's exactly like that. I think I finally understand how Nikolas felt all those years when Dad was alive and we were a family and he was on the outside looking in. I just never figured you'd turn your back on me. But why not? You've done it to one son, why not the other?"

"Nooo, Lucky! It's not like that at all!" Laura reaches out to hold Lucky but he dances out of her reach.

"No more words! I can't stand any more of your lies or excuses!" Making several large leaping bounds, Lucky reaches the front door. As he barrels his way out of the house, he slams the door open with such force it slams into the wall and shudders.

A sobbing Laura kneels by the end table and begins to pick up the shattered mementos of her family.