Author's Note: This is the love story of Luke and Laura. This story will be submitted in several parts and is based off the hit soap General Hospital. The story is AU but also contains a great deal of canon.

Also, I'd like to note that I do not own ABC, General Hospital, or the characters and I will NOT be receiving any payment whatsoever for writing this story. It is intended for entertainment purposes only.

~*~The Introduction~*~

"Daddy, do you think Mommy will like the cookies we baked her?" asked his first-born, four-year-old Staci.

"Sure, she will, darlin'," Luke chuckled as he lifted Staci off the counter. The child was covered with flour from head to toe and pink strawberry-flavored sprinkles. He kissed her nose as he set her on her feet.

"We better get you cleaned up and get you to bed now. You can show your mommy the cookies in the morning," Luke told his daughter.

"Daddy, do I have to go to bed now?" Staci grumbled. She wanted to wait up for her mommy, but Laura always came home late as she was taking evening classes at the university.

"Yeah, it's past time for all little princesses to go to bed," Luke stated. He took Staci's hand and lead her to the bathroom. He washed her little face and hands with a wash cloth and cleaned her up the best he could. In the morning she would have to take a nice warm bubble bath.

A few minutes later, Staci crawled into bed holding her floppy-eared pink bunny. "Tell me a story, Daddy," she whispered.

Luke was accustomed to telling the twins Staci and Lucky stories of all his and Laura's adventures before they were married, but tonight he was far too tired to recount the tales. "Sorry, darlin'. The stories will have to wait till tomorrow night."

He kissed Staci's cheek and tucked her in. "Love you," he said as he switched off the light.

He headed down the hallway to the second bedroom that belonged to Staci's twin, Lucky. Staci and Lucky had been born on a cold winter's night, and Luke had barely had the chance to get his wife to the hospital before the first baby came. She was pink and precious and they had named her Stacia Leigh. Soon after, her brother had been born and they had named him Lucas Lorenzo Junior. For a year and a half after their birth they'd had a wonderful life, but then abruptly it all had changed.

Luke stood over Lucky's bed, staring down at his handsome little son. Both twins were blond and blue-eyed, just like their parents. Staci had Luke's midnight- blue eyes, and Lucky's were a softer shade of blue like his mother's. "Good night, Cowboy," Luke said as he grinned at his son. Lucky had conked out early and had missed the baking of the cookies. He was the light of his mother's life. She had cried when they had to cut off his fat little baby curls. Now enrolled in preschool with his twin sister, their baby boy was becoming a little man.

After tucking in his son, Luke walked down the hallway and slowly approached yet a third bedroom. A heavy sigh left his lips as he entered the nursery and stood over the crib. There on a blue blanket lay a tiny tot with dark hair, bronzed skin, and ebony eyes. He was sleeping peacefully, his little fist in his mouth.

Nikolas.

The twins had been babies, just 18 months old when the Cassadines had kidnapped Laura. Luke had been heartbroken without the love of his life. He had struggled to care for the twins without their mother. His sister Bobbi had moved in to help him care for the babies, and his best friend Robert Scorpio and his ex-wife Anna had helped out as well. Laura's mother, Lesley Webber did everything she could for her grandchildren even though she was distraught over the disappearance of her daughter.

Laura came back to Luke just before the twins 2nd birthday, but she wasn't the same. She had escaped Cassadine Island where she had been held captive by Helena, Stavros, and Stefan Cassadine. Only twice had she ever spoken to Luke about the horrors she had encountered while on the island.

When he asked her if Stavros Cassadine had hurt her, she had looked deep into his eyes. Her hands were clasped in his and her voice came out to him in just a whisper.

"He forced me, Luke. Stavros Cassadine forced me to have sex with him against my will," she said as tears hung in her eyelashes.

Luke had kissed them away, telling her he would never, ever let Stavros hurt her again. When Stavros showed up not even two months later, intent on taking Laura away from him, Luke had been forced to kill him. In the end, Stavros lay dead at the bottom of the staircase.

But it wasn't the end. Luke and Laura hadn't been able to go on in peace. It was only days later that Laura came to him with devastating news.

"I'm pregnant."

They both knew that the baby wasn't Luke's. Luke hadn't touched her since she had been kidnapped. She had been too afraid. She was fragile, and Luke hadn't pushed her. At night he would hold her and soothe her, but he never attempted to make love.

Now she was pregnant and the baby couldn't possibly be his.

Somehow they had made it through it, and Nikolas had been born. But he wasn't like the others... Not all. He was like an intruder in their home. When Laura attended her classes, Luke would care for Nikolas, but he was only going through the motions. He felt no emotion at all for the toddler lying in the crib.

It wasn't the child's fault. Nikolas couldn't help how he had come into being. He was a part of Laura, and she loved him just as much as she loved the other children. Luke was in awe of her and her great strength. She had gone through so much pain, but she never let it break her. She was a wonderful mother and he loved her more and more every day.

Nikolas was different from the others. The twins had been walking and talking by age two, but Nikolas didn't speak. Even so, he seemed to be an old soul, studying everything around him. Although he wasn't verbal, Luke knew he was intelligent. He'd often seen Nikolas group his blocks by color and shape and place them into patterns. He always played by himself and didn't seem to bond with his siblings. Luke knew that Nikolas's odd behavior often worried and baffled Laura. She had a tendency to worry about her children. She coddled them. That was just one of many things Luke loved about her.

"Nikolas," Luke whispered as he stared down at the dark-haired child.

Hate seethed up inside him, but it wasn't hate toward the baby. No - never him. Luke hated himself with a growing passion. The hate inside nearly consumed him as it tore at his soul. It kept him from bonding with Nikolas, and it had the potential to destroy his marriage. There was so much that went unspoken between him and Laura and it was just bubbling up under the surface, ready to burst. Luke feared what would happen when it finally did explode. Would he and Laura be able to survive it's aftermath?

Luke left the nursery and walked into the master bedroom. He stripped down to his t-shirt and boxers and crawled into bed. An evening of playing Mr. Mom after a long day of running the disco had worn him out. He was exhausted, so he decided to clean up the kitchen in the morning. He reached for Laura's pillow, hugging it against his face. He inhaled her scent as he missed his angel and her arms wrapped around him so tight. She was everything he had ever wanted, and the one he hoped he would never lose.