"Wonderful"
By: NocturnalFerri
Disclaimer: I don't own SeaQuest. TPTB of that universe do. "Wonderful" is an Everclear song. I just borrowed it for my own pleasure. Muah ha ha ha…
Be nice please! It's my first SeaQuest Lucas fic.
This started out as a song fic, but them it kinda got a bit…not song fic-ish. It's more like clips of scenes inspired from the song. I dunno.
Slight AU cuz I have both Westphalen and Smith. I don't really like smith, so…imagine Westphalen stayed for another tour, kay?
I wrote this a LONG time ago and never had the courage to post it 'til now. I figure, why the hell not?
* * *
"Are you going to be all right, Luke?"
Four-year-old Lucas Wolenczak scowled at the bus driver. "Why do you gotta call me that?" he asked. "I'm gonna be okay." Gabby was always worried about him. She was Lucas' most favorite person in the whole wide world. Everyday except weekends, she drove her little yellow school bus to pick him and a couple of other kids up and took them over to the "special school".
Gabby smiled. "All right Lucas. You've been kinda sad lately."
"It's nothin'," assured Lucas. "Bye! See ya Gabby!" He hopped off the bus and skipped up the long walkway to his house. He jumped up and pressed his palm against the reader. The door clicked open and let him in. In typical four-year-old fashion, he stripped off his book bag and jacket and left them piled on the floor by the door. "Mommy! Daddy! I'm home!" He walked further into the large and lavish house. He carefully inched around the "Don't touch, Lucas! That's priceless" playthings his parents left lying around. "Mommy? Daddy?" Walking into the kitchen he clambered on top of a stool and snagged a cookie from the box. He heard noises coming from the patio and went to investigate.
"You're kidding me!"
"I'm not. You can't go to work tonight."
"What do you mean, I can't! You can't tell me what to do."
"Someone has to stay home tonight and watch over the boy."
"Why don't you?"
"I already made plans!"
"Well so have I! My company needs me. We're on the brink of discovering-
"You're always on the brink of discovering something! Why don't you think of someone else for a change? What about your family?"
"What about our family! I provide for you!"
"I'm not talking about money."
"What else could you need?"
"You're impossible, Lawrence."
"What a-
With a choked back sob Lucas dropped his cookie and ran. Reaching a little room in the farthest corner, he yanked the door open and slammed it shut. His parents were fighting again.
His mom and dad always fought. It was always over little things, or at least, things Lucas couldn't exactly understand quite yet. He hated it. Why couldn't they just be nice again? They used to be. At least, Lucas thought they used to be. His mom would always be home waiting for him. His dad would come home from work early and played with Lucas. It used to be fun. Then his dad got promoted to the head of his company and his mom got a big boss lady job. They weren't home any more and when they were, they argued. They rarely played with him any more. They never had dinner together and they didn't go out much. What really upset Lucas was his parents' constant fighting.
Lucas sniffled and forced himself not to cry. He was a big boy now. At least, that's what his dad said. Last week he had fallen from the monkey bars and started crying. It hurt a lot. His dad was there to pick him up and brush him off. He told him big boys shouldn't cry. Lucas would to anything to make his dad happy. It was hard.
He stepped away from the wall and crawled under his desk. It had a small cubbyhole, just big enough for Lucas to curl up into. It was his favorite place. He went there every time he felt sad. Lately, he seemed to be there a lot. He closed his eyes and pulled his knees to his head. "Maybe if I lock them up in a room and made them be nice to each other," thought Lucas. "I could make them take a time out, just like what my teacher makes me do sometimes. Or I could run away." He shook his head. "Nuh uh. Bad thoughts. They'd just fight more."
Lucas sniffled and wiped his nose with his sleeve. Why cant they just stop?
Whenever his teacher felt mad or annoyed at someone in his class, she always closed her eyes and counted to ten. Usually, by the time she had reached ten, the class had heard her and calmed down. Maybe if I did that, my parents would stop yelling at each other and play nice.
1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10."
"You stupid-
Lucas clamped his hands over his ears. That was his mom. I guess it didn't work. Lucas opened his eyes and looked around his room. It was his room. Besides the little broom closet in the basement, this was the one place the sounds of screaming didn't reach. He liked his room. It was a pale blue, just like the color of the ocean on a sunny day.
Lucas loved he ocean. Ever since his dad had taken him to Sea World, he had been fascinated with water animals. Especially dolphins. Just looking at dolphins made him happy. He smiled at the memory of the dolphins talking in their squeaky language. There was only one other thing that made him smile no matter what. He looked up at the poster on his bedroom door then frowned. He used to have a really cool glossy Star Wars poster there. It had all of his favorite characters and a bunch of X-Wings scattered around them on it. It wasn't there anymore. His dad told him to take it down. He said it was childish and unrealistic. Dad had said it was a waste and he should focus more on his studies. Lucas pouted, remembering the day his dad had rolled up his poster and hid it in the attic. It's not fair! Thought Lucas miserably. He squeezed his eyes shut after another round of screaming began. This time, there were very colorful words Lucas didn't quite know the meaning of yet. He knew they were bad words because he had heard his dad yell them each time he couldn't fix a computer problem or when the older kids at school got mad he knew something they didn't. Each time he heard them, something bad was happening, or would happen. It hurt.
* * *
"G'night mom. G'night dad." They hadn't even heard him. They were too busy yelling at each other about who was supposed to take out the trash. He didn't think it was all that important enough to yell and scream about. He'd do it, just to keep them from fighting, but they didn't want their precious 7-year-old genius to get his hands dirty. Plus, it was past his bedtime. Lucas rolled his eyes at the thought then retreated to his room,
Changing into his pajamas, he climbed into bed and stared at the ceiling. It was a dull cloudy gray. It wasn't shiny, it wasn't a light shade, and it wasn't a dark one either. It was just gray. Just looking at it made him depressed. He closed his eyes. Even the dark of his eyelids felt more promising than the yucky gray of his ceiling.
Lucas called up his most favorite dream. Angels. They flew around him, enveloping him in their warm light and embrace. A soft peaceful smile spread onto Lucas' face. He reached a small hand into the shirt of his pajamas and clutched at a small silver angel pendant hanging at his neck. His mom and dad had given it to him four Christmases ago. They were still a happy family back then. He remembered ripping the glossy green and red wrapping off the box and finding the smiling little angel glittering up at him.
"That's an angel, honey." His mom has said. "They'll look after you and be there for you when you're sad."
He remembered rushing into their arms and getting hugs and kisses. A tear rolled down Lucas' cheek. They were really happy then. Why couldn't they be now? The angels in his mind's eye smiled at him, whispering soft words. "Everything will be wonderful someday". He believed them.
***
"Lucas?" His mom poked her head into his bedroom. "Baby, your dad and I have to talk to you."
"'Kay mom." Lucas quickly saved his work on the computer and snapped the screen off. He dashed into the dining room where his parents sat at the table. "What's up?"
His mom and dad looked at each other, silently deciding who should speak first. "Lucas, your mom and I want to apologized."
That's a first. Lucas cocked his head to the side. "Whaddaya mean? What for?"
"We haven't been very fair to you Lucas," said his mom. "Your dad and I have been fighting a lot and things haven't been…wonderful lately."
Don't I know it.
"Your mom and I have resolved our differences and have decided to compromise on the issues we have found to be in disagreement," said his dad.
He sounds like he's at one of his board meetings.
"Your dad and I have promised to stop fighting," said his mom, needlessly paraphrasing.
Hah. That'll last a week"We promise if we ever have any differences in the future, we'll discuss them in a calm rational manner," continued his mom.
You mean the exact opposite of what you've been doing for the past five years?
"I promise I'll take more time off from work to be with you and your mom," said his dad.
'You and your mom'. She's not just my mom. She's your wife too, ya know.
"Lucas, we're so sorry we weren't able to go to your little junior high graduation ceremony," apologized his mom.
Little graduation ceremony? It was the biggest thing to happen to me in all of my eight years! "It's okay mom. I know you had a lot of work to do and couldn't come."
"I promise we'll never put work ahead of you, Lucas," said his mom. "We promise we'll always be there for you."
Hah. It's not like I didn't see the hesitant look in dad eyes. I could almost hear him thinking about what if his company needed him during one of my 'special things'. "Thanks mom. That means a lot." Not!
She smiled and took his hand. Her eyes were tearing up. "Everything's wonderful now."
"Go on now," said his dad. "Get back to your homework, Lucas."
"Yes sir." Lucas ran back to his room and shut the door. He shook his head sadly thinking over the little talk. Promises mean everything when you're little. He knew they wouldn't keep their promise. They never did. He wasn't stupid. He may have been an eight year old, but he was also a child prodigy not to mention already used to hearing them break their promises only minutes after making them.
Lucas looked at his door, as if he was actually looking at his parents. "I just don't understand how you can smile with all those tears in your eyes and tell me everything is wonderful now." He wiped away a couple of tears from his eyes.
He knew it wasn't wonderful now. Would it ever be wonderful?. "Please don't tell me everything is wonderful now."