Author's Note: Tell me what you think! School starts next week so updates will be a LOT less frequent on all of my stories. There will be intentional typos in Lola's speech. Not so sure where this is going, so any requests?
Chapter 1: Police Escort
"Mama, mama, mama!" Lola Spencer, three year-old daughter of Lulu Spencer shouted. "Look-it!"
Lulu looked up from the park bench to see her daughter pointing towards the grassy field next to the playground. Walking over, she bent down to her daughter's level and pulled her close.
"What is it, baby?" she asked.
"Look-it the pretty butterfly!" she said excitedly.
"I see it, sweetie!" Lulu replied.
"Can I go catch it?" she asked.
"You can try," Lulu told her as she watched her daughter run over and try to catch it. She felt her heart flutter at the sight of her child, her obsession, her life. As a result of a drunken one-night stand with some random stranger, she was a complete accident, but Lola was the best thing that had ever happened to Lulu. She had planned on eventually finding her baby's father, but a few months after they had gotten together she learned he had been killed in a mob war. He turned out to be a total dirtbag: addicted to drugs, cigarettes, and alcohol. He was a mob prince who had raped and/or murdered dozens of people and committed countless other crimes. At first she had been ashamed to be carrying the child of a man like him, but once she had gotten around to the idea of being a mother she knew she had to keep her baby.
Lulu was pulled out of her reverie by a clap of thunder overhead. Her head snapped up and she noticed that the sky had turned a dark gray. You've got to be kidding me, she thought, grabbing her purse running in her mile-high heels to Lola.
"Lola, we have to go home now. It's about to rain, see?" she asked, pointing to the sky.
Lola gasped. "Oh, no, mama! Let's go!" she exclaimed, grabbing her mother's hand and pulling her away. Lulu couldn't help but chuckle at the responsible behavior of her daughter. Sometimes Lulu thought Lola tried to be the mother instead of her.
"Mama! I feeled a raindrop!" Lola said slapping her hand to her head to cover the drop of water.
"Me, too," Lulu said. "We better hurry if we don't want to get wet!"
In just a few minutes it had started to downpour. Lulu and Lola were soaked to the bone, trying to see through the rain as they ran back to their apartment. Lulu stopped to gather Lola into her arms, holding her close as she ran. Why did we have to walk to the park? she asked herself.
"Mama," Lola whined, "I'm r-r-really cold!" she said over-dramatically.
"I know, baby, we'll be home..." she trailed off, not really knowing where they were. Glancing up at the street sign, she could just make out the words 'Ridgewood Avenue'. Where the hell is that? she asked herself. Looking closer, she read, 'Berkley Heights, New York'.
"Berkley Heights?" she whispered to herself. They were in Port Charles just a few minutes ago, how did they end up two towns away?
"Mama, where are we?" Lola cried.
"I don't know, honey, but we'll be safe soon, okay?" she reassured her.
Lola nodded against her mother's shoulder as Lulu pulled her closer.
Dante Falconeri tried to navigate his police car through the torrential downpour in Berkley Heights.
"Why did it have to be today?" he muttered to himself. He was stuck out here an hour from home all because the police officers of Berkley Heights were inexperienced and lazy, he had to come out here just because of a stupid thrift store robbery.
Peering through the windshield, he thought he could make out a person walking down the street through the rain. Getting closer, he saw he or she wasn't carrying an umbrella, but a child. He drove faster so he could catch up with them.
Lulu looked behind her and saw a police car pulling up behind her. "What did I do?" she whispered to herself.
As Dante got closer, he noticed it was a woman, and a pretty one at that. She was wearing impossibly high stilettos and carrying a designer purse. He noticed the child in her arms was also a girl. He rolled down his window and leaned out.
"Can I help you get anywhere?" he called out.
Lulu looked at his car and noticed it was from the PCPD. "Sure," she called back. Dante leaned back to open the back door so they could get in. "Thanks," she said when she had gotten in.
"No problem," Dante replied. "Do you live around here?" he asked.
"I actually live in Port Charles. Is that where you're headed?"
"Yeah," Dante replied. "I'm Dante Falconeri, by the way."
"Lulu Spencer," she said. "This is my daughter, Lola."
"Hi!" Lola said. She stood up to and her head through the window in the plastic wall that separated the front seat from the back. "I'm three years old!" she announced proudly.
Dante chuckled and said, "Wow, you're getting pretty old, huh?"
"Lola, sit down," Lulu said, pulling her daughter back onto her lap. Dante glanced up into the rearview mirror, staring at Lulu for a few seconds before turning his eyes back to the road. God, she's the most beautiful thing in the world.
"Nuh-uh! I'm not that old. My cousin Spencer, he's fourteen. That's old," Lola told him, not bothering to answer her mother.
Dante laughed again. "So, any chance you're related to Lucky Spencer?" he asked.
"Yeah! He's my uncle! And he's also my mama's brother. And Cam and Jake and Aiden are my cousins. Those are his kids," Lola said before Lulu could answer. "Do you have any kids? Or a wife?"
"Lola! That is none of your business!" Lulu said.
"Oh, it's okay. No, I don't have a wife or kids."
"Do you have a girlfriend?" Lola asked.
Dante chuckled. "No, I don't."
"Really? Cause I don't have a daddy. Or a husband or a boyfriend for my mama," Lola said. "I never gotted to meet my daddy."
"I'm sorry," Dante said.
"It's okay! My mama's real nice, and she gives me candy sometimes. So it's okay," Lola said.
Lulu and Dante both laughed at Lola's comment, and he glanced up to look at her again. Lulu noticed she should have stopped her when she had asked about his family, but she had been staring at the part of Dante she could see for the past fifteen minutes.
"And she reads me stories every night," Lola continued. "Wanna know somethin'? she asked.
"Sure, what?" Dante asked.
"Yesterday, my mama read me a story about a princess and a dragon! Did ya know that? And then guess what? The princess told the dragon he was being very not nice and then he said sorry and they had a tea party!" she said, erupting into giggles. "But the dragon eated all the cookies!"
Dante smiled and said, "That sounds like a good story."
"Uh-huh. It was. I like stories about princesses and dragons cuz I like princesses and I wanna be a princess when I grow up. But I don't wanna have a mean dragon in my story. That would be bad. And wanna know what else?"
"What?" Dante asked, taken by the little girl.
"We're about to move to a new apartment and we're gonna paint my room pink! I really like the color pink. It's pretty. We're gonna live in apartment number C14!"
"It's 14C, baby," Lulu corrected.
Dante found himself staring at her through the mirror for what must have been the millionth time that day, captivated by her beauty. He admired the love she showed for her daughter... and everything else about her. Could I really be falling for her after just meeting her?
"Sounds like fun," Dante said. "Did you just move here?" he asked.
"No, we've lived here for a while, we just needed more space," Lulu told him.
"My mama was born here!" Lola said.
"Really? Well, I just moved here a few months ago," Dante shared with Lola.
"For real? Wow!" Lola exclaimed. "Mama, are we almost home yet?"
"Almost, sweetie. Just a few more minutes," Lulu replied, once again unable to take her eyes off him.
"Mr. Police Officer?" she asked.
"You can call me Dante," he said.
"Ah-kay. Thanks for driving me and my mama home. It was getting really cold out there in the rain," she said.
"Well, you're very welcome, Lola," Dante said.
"Is there anything I can do to repay you?" Lulu asked, pulling out her wallet.
"Oh, no, I couldn't. I was going this way, anyway, and it was nice hanging out with you and Lola," Dante said.
"No, really, if it wasn't for you, we would have had to walk a good two or three hours to get home. And I probably would have broken my heels, so at least let me pay you for that."
"Nope, sorry," Dante denied her.
"Gas money?" asked Lulu.
"No," Dante said.
"Oh, come on, if you don't take it I'll find out where you live from Lucky and you'll just get it in the mail," Lulu told him.
"I'm not going to take your money, really. It was worth it," Dante said.
"That's our apartment!" Lola interrupted, pointing through the rain at the brick building.
"Are you sure?" he asked, and Lola nodded. "Because this is where I live, too."
"Really? Woah!" Lola said.
Dante pulled into the parking lot and took out an umbrella before getting out of the car. Lulu reached for the door handle, but before she could open it Dante was there, helping them get out. They huddled under the umbrella and ran into the building.
"Thank you so much. Really, this is one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me," Lulu said honestly once they had gotten in the elevator.
"It was my pleasure, really," he said.
"Thanks!" Lola said, running up to him and giving him a hug. Dante returned the embrace before leaning down to ruffle her blonde curly hair.
"No problem, kiddo," Dante replied. The elevator reached the third floor and the trio stepped out. "See you around," he said, placing a hand on Lulu's shoulder. He felt an unexpected shiver run down his spine, as did Lulu. They both tried to hide it as they turned toward each of their apartments.
"See you," Lulu said quietly.
"Bye-bye!" Lola said, waving her hand frantically.
Dante smiled and unlocked his door, but looked over his shoulder first to find out where the two girls lived. He saw Lulu glance back and smile, and he grinned in return.
He entered his apartment and leaned back against the door. He had never in his life met a woman who had that effect on him.
Lulu walked inside and sank down on the couch. She had never in her life met a man who had that effect on her.
