Hi guys!
Like I promised a long time ago, here is the first part of the new My Boys multichapter. This one follows up with the events of Bright Future, a few years after the latest installments. I won't give any details of the plot because I think half the fun will be to slowly figure out what everyone is up to.
Now, I have to point out that this story will be more like a multiple arc story than strictly an Omelia fanfiction. Writing about Owen and Amelia is and will always be my favorite thing to do but I am saying this in advance because my main goal with this piece is to keep the promise I made to the many readers who've asked me to write a sequel to the stories of Lucas and Emily, Thomas and Kate, Megan, the twins, etc. But of course Owen and Amelia will be a part of everything too, and I am going to include a lot of Omelia scenes!
Just a heads up for those who may not be familiar with sports teams: I often point out how the Hunts are fans of the Seahawks, a Seattle based American football team. The Seahawks share their stadium (and fans too) with the Sounders, which are a soccer team. I just thought I'd point that out so that people won't get confused with the events about to unfold.
Anyway, enough talking, let's get to the point. Thank you everyone of you who's helped me somehow by suggesting prompts, supporting this sequel and taking your time to give me feedback!
Merry Christmas, everyone :)
My Boys: Beyond the Horizon - Chapter 1
"Are you sure you're all set?"
"Yes, Addie, don't worry," Lucas flashed his most adorable smile, following his godmother to the living room of his own house. "I'll be fine."
"You know… How am I going to adapt to this new reality of not having you here anymore?" Addison asked, trying to contain stubborn tears from gathering in her eyes.
"I guess you're just going to have to visit me often," Lucas replied with a supportive expression.
Addison turned around one last time and wrapped the young man in a tight embrace before finally leaving for a work conference out of town.
As soon as she left, Lucas made his way to the back porch at the same time he took a sip from an overpriced beer. The sun was starting to set at the horizon, sending a vibrating orange shade to the full extension of the pool with an infinite border at his home. From a distance, he could hear Rachel's excited voice, probably talking to one of her friends on the phone. He smiled to himself with satisfaction at the realization that the house wasn't empty as he'd previously imagined and focused again on the street outside.
He watched as Addison got inside a city cab to make her way to the airport. Lucas couldn't contain a smile when he remembered how worried about him she always was. He was really thankful that, while living distant from his mother, Addison had stepped up to play a maternal role in his life in a very natural way.
When Lucas had moved to Los Angeles, five years before, she had been fundamentally important in his adaptation away from his family and everything he knew. Back then, Lucas had been a naïve, gullible nineteen year old with a lot of promises in his heart and the innocence of a young man brought up in a household surrounded by love and support.
It didn't take Lucas long to find out that the world wasn't exactly that kind or generous. Outside the security of his home, he'd come to find viciousness, excessive competitiveness and even cruelty. Being a professional athlete wasn't at all easy and he'd struggled with loneliness and unkindness during the beginning of the process. Several times, Lucas had thought about dropping everything and running back home.
But something inside of him had prevented Lucas from doing so. He couldn't explain what it was, but there was a force within his heart that moved the boy in a way he couldn't understand it himself. While to most people soccer was just a game, to Lucas it meant much more. Where most athletes saw consternation, he saw new possibilities. While the well established tactics were followed like the law by his coaches, Lucas had dared to question them. And when they had put his capacity to follow orders and lead into question, he'd proved to them that talent, innovation, creativity and hard work were the most basic secret to success.
At first, it had been a real struggle but now, at twenty four, Lucas was not only extremely successful as an a professional athlete, he was also charming, handsome and had more money than he would need in a lifetime, added to an indecent amount of charisma and the attractive liveliness he'd inherited from his mother, making him an irresistible combination.
"There is someone in the living room waiting for you," Rachel went outside, distracting his thoughts. "Also, which one do you prefer?" she asked while holding a different dress with each hand.
"They look the exact same," Lucas replied with casualty, putting the beer bottle back on the table beside the pool. "Who is there?" he asked with a puzzled expression, wondering why security hadn't called to notify him that he had a visitor.
"They are so not the same," Rachel followed him into the living room, wiggling the two midnight blue dresses. "This one is a Cartier and it's made out of silky fabric," she cheerfully explained, pointing to the piece with her eyes. "While this baby here is made entirely of satin."
"This one," Lucas randomly pointed to the first dress he saw. "Looks expensive," he added, uninterested. At least he knew Rachel would like to hear that.
"You should know," the young woman winked at him before they finally made it inside the house. "You paid for it."
Lucas furrowed a brow, processing the information but before his mind could focus on what Rachel had said, his eyes captured the image of a young man who was almost as tall as him. The visitor's eyes had the same shade of baby blue as Lucas' father and his slim, athletic physique contrasted with his intelligent exterior.
"Tommy!" Lucas' face transformed into a wide, heartfelt smile before he excitedly jumped forward, unceremoniously hugging his brother, "what are you doing here?"
Thomas hugged Lucas back just as warmly and only when the two young men pulled apart, he was finally able to explain with his usual serenity.
"I wanted to surprise you."
"So you flew all the way from Boston to do that?" Lucas asked with a jovial grin, clearly knowing there was more to it.
"Well, not really," Thomas confessed a bit awkwardly. His eyes went from his brother to the unknown companion in the room, the reason of his hesitation to talk more openly about his reason to be there.
"Oh," Lucas belatedly realized how rude he was being. "Sorry. This is Rachel."
"Hi," Rachel leaned forward and in a clearly flirtatious manner, shook Thomas' hand.
"That's my brother Tom," Lucas explained to her.
"Oh, the one who's a doctor?" Rachel excitedly spoke, looking at Thomas with a whole new glance of interest. "Damn, Luke, you never said he was this handsome."
"It's the family genes," Lucas gloated with a lazy smile.
Thomas frowned in confusion, obviously having a hard time figuring out what was going on.
"Anyways, I got to go get ready for the party tonight," Rachel blew the two brothers a kiss and grabbed the dresses she'd left on the couch. "See you later, Tom," She winked at him one last time before leaving.
Thomas waited until the gorgeous woman had made her exit before turning to his brother with the heaviest frown he ever remembered having.
"What the hell is going on?" he asked, torn between amusement and confusion. The woman had flirted with him in front of his brother and hadn't even bothered hiding it. "Who is that?"
"Rachel," Lucas replied with simplicity, going over to the mini fridge and grabbing two bottles of beer.
"Yeah but who is she?" Thomas asked, reluctantly accepting the bottle his brother was offering.
"A friend," Lucas said like it was obvious. "She lives here."
"Oh, she lives here?" Thomas shook his head in denial, ironically repeating Lucas' words as if now they made sense. "So she's not your girlfriend?"
The way Lucas mischievously smiled, without denying or confirming, made Thomas give up trying to understand his brother.
"Jesus Christ, will you ever change…" Thomas finally took a sip of his beer and sat down on the couch opposite to Lucas. "Anyway, nice place you have here."
"I feel personally offended you haven't come to visit me before."
"I was in med school!" Thomas justified, not believing the act Lucas was putting. "When would I ever have time to catch a flight to Los Angeles while Harvard was whipping my ass every day?"
"Well, no one forced you to enroll in an accelerated program," Lucas threw a couch pillow at him, clearly finding it hard to get rid of old habits. "How's Kate?"
The silence that followed the question and his brother's hesitation let Lucas know that something was wrong.
"She is fine, doing very well," Thomas broke eye contact with his brother, uncomfortable with the subject.
"Why isn't she here with you?" Lucas pushed.
"She went to London to visit a friend," Thomas swallowed hard and took a deep breath before finally looking his brother in the eye again. "I mean, can you blame her?" He scoffed, trying to sound as natural as possible. "We spent the past years working our asses off, taking back to back courses… Now that we've just graduated, she wanted some time to breathe."
Lucas studied his brother's features, looking for the things that were left unsaid. He knew both his brother and Kate Karev had succeeded remarkably at Harvard, having just graduated at the young age of twenty-three. Lucas remembered from childhood how his brother and Kate had always been friendly competing with each other, challenging each other to do better, from kindergarten all the way through med school. Kate and Thomas' relationship had always been steady as it could be and the fact that his brother had randomly showed up alone at his door made Lucas very alarmed.
"Anyways…" Thomas picked up on the uncomfortable lingering silence and tried his best to maintain a normal conversation. "I have news."
"So do I," Lucas smiled, having fun at how his brother sucked at hiding his feelings. "You go first," he teased with a wicked smile.
Thomas took a deep breath and his eyes regained some of its usual brightness when he confessed:
"I applied for residency programs all over the country over the past year. In March I got my match results back. But yesterday I just made my final decision of where I want to go," he saw the happiness and pride in Lucas' eyes growing as his brother clearly reached the obvious conclusion, "I chose Grey Sloan."
"You're going there?" Lucas got up, excitedly celebrating. "What the hell, Tom, this is the best news!" Thomas could see how visibly happy his brother was for him. "Wait, does this mean you're working under mom and dad now?!"
Thomas confirmed with an embarrassed head nod and Lucas had the time of his life mocking the younger one.
"Oh my God, you're going to be mom's little bitch!"
"Luke!"
"You are," Lucas laughed heartily. "You're still focused on the brain thing, right?"
"Yeah…" Thomas rolled his eyes with pretend impatience. "I still want to be a neurosurgeon."
"That is perfect!" Lucas celebrated, making his brother wonder why he was so happy. Thomas expected Lucas to be supportive and happy for him but the oldest one's reaction seemed a little exaggerated for what Tom's news meant. "I haven't told mom and dad this yet because I was going to surprise you all but…" The soccer player cheerfully confessed with a wide grin. "For the past two weeks my manager has been going back and forth with several contract proposals… Some dude flew in from Spain and offered us more money than you could possibly imagine for a two year contract."
"Did you sign it?" Thomas' eyes shone with excitement for his brother's career.
"No, I did not," Lucas swiftly turned around and opened the minibar again, trying to avoid his brother's eyes. He didn't want to be asked why he hadn't signed with the prestigious Spanish team. "Instead, we got a new contract drafted. LA Galaxy can afford the difference but this time, it was me who didn't want to sign again with them."
"Why?" Thomas asked with interest. His brother had played there during his entire professional career. He was the biggest idol in the team and never before had Lucas mentioned anything that slightly made Thomas believe his brother wasn't happy in Los Angeles.
"Because I got a new contract with the Sounders instead."
It took Thomas a fraction of a second longer than usual to process the information.
"What?" he cheerfully celebrated, still finding it hard to believe. Now Lucas's reaction made perfect sense. "You're kidding me, right…? You're not…?"
"I am," Lucas interrupted him with a wide grin. The Seattle Sounders were their childhood soccer team. Lucas, Thomas and their siblings had gone to their games countless times and ever since he was a little boy, the oldest brother had dreamed of playing for them one day. "You can stick around to help me pack because I'm coming back home too, little brother."
.
"Hey guys."
Amelia lazily dumped her handbag on the couch and made her way to the back of the house after seeing that her husband and daughter were in the kitchen.
"Hey mom," Megan gave her a smile at the same time Owen leaned over to give her a kiss on the head.
"Something smells good," Amelia's face was vivid with excitement as she went sniffing around the stove. "What is it?"
"It's a new recipe dad and I are trying," Megan explained with good humor, showing her mother a spoonful of the sauce but getting it out of her reach when Amelia tried to taste it. "You have to wait for dinner, no spoilers."
Amelia laughed and left the two of them to do their usual cooking while she showered. About half an hour later, they had dinner together while casually talking about their days.
"Hey, the premiere of the new season of Jungle Survival is tonight, right?" Owen looked at Megan expectantly as Amelia got up to collect the dishes. They had always watched the show together on Friday nights since his daughter was barely a teenager. "Let's go turn on the TV before your mom hides the remote."
Amelia let out a chuckle at her husband's playful attack at the same time her daughter's smile slowly faded as she explained:
"Sorry, dad, I can't," the neurosurgeon noticed how the teenager looked away before adding. "I am going to the movies with my friends tonight."
"Oh," Owen tried not to sound too disappointed. "That's okay," he said with consternation but Amelia could tell how let down he was. They were in the first days of summer and it wasn't surprising that Megan wanted to spend some time in the company of her friends after tough weeks of final exams in school, "we can save it to watch later."
"Thanks, dad," Megan blew him a kiss and hurried to the top floor through the kitchen stairs. "I already took Peanut for a walk earlier this afternoon and changed his bowl, so he should be good for the night."
Amelia nodded assertively. The dog had been with them for years now and since her brothers had all left for college already, it was up to Megan to do most of the caretaking. The neurosurgeon waited a few minutes until Owen was distracted enough and followed her daughter upstairs.
"Hey," she knocked on Megan's room twice before entering, instantly noticing the girl was changing her outfit from yoga pants to something more appropriate to go out, "that shirt looks good on you."
"Thank you, mom."
"So," Amelia stood behind her daughter, purposefully looking at her reflection in the mirror. "Now that we've established how good you look, will you care to tell me why you were lying to your dad?"
Megan swallowed hard, void of any reaction to be caught in the act. Slowly, she turned around and faced her mom.
"Was it that obvious?" the girl asked with an embarrassed grin.
"Well," Amelia shrugged playfully, "not to your father, apparently," she let out a chuckle before resuming the conversation. "So, what's really going on?"
"I didn't exactly lie," Megan carefully explained, "I am going to the movies," she reinforced, letting her mom know she hadn't meant to break her parents' trust. "But I'm not going with friends," the teenager smiled with amusement before clarifying, "I'm going with a friend."
"Megan," Amelia tried to contain her laughter, "when will you tell your father you are going on a date with a boy?" she asked trying to keep serious. "He is a grown man, sweetheart. He can take it."
"Can he?" Megan raised one eyebrow, obviously doubting her mother.
Amelia couldn't help the fit of laughter that followed her daughter's line and much to her own dismay, she agreed with Megan.
"Yeah, maybe you are right…" the neurosurgeon finally caved. "But just remember this the day you show up here with a boyfriend. It's going to be much worse if you don't give him at least a heads up first."
"Don't worry about it, mom," Megan winked with an adorable smile. "I have a plan."
.
Amelia waited until Megan was out to go join her husband in the living room. Owen was idly running through the channels on TV when she quickly got past him and sneakily stole the remote from his hands.
"You little…" Owen bent over her in an attempt to get it back but Amelia swiftly got it out of his reach.
"No jungle show tonight," she interrupted him before her husband could finish his sentence. Amelia had spent the entire day in the OR and could use something to distract her mind. "Let's watch something decent."
"Amelia," Owen growled, trying to regain the object from her hands, but his wife kept using all her four limbs to stay away from his reach.
Ultimately, Owen lost his patience and with a very mischievous grin easily wrapped both arms around her, keeping her tightly trapped inside his arms without any chance to free herself.
"You can hold onto the remote if you want," he calmly told her while firmly keeping her in his grasp. "But I'll also hold you so you can't change the channel."
Amelia blew her hair from her face in a clear sign of antagonism.
"You'll tire out eventually," she dared him.
Owen didn't bother replying; instead he looked deeply into her eyes and suggestively raised one eyebrow. His wife still couldn't move her arms and the way she angrily stared back at him, incapable of making any movements, was absolutely adorable. Amelia could say a lot with her eyes, especially when she was irritated.
"Oh, shut up," she groaned after seeing the annoying smirk on his face.
"Are you ready to give me back the remote now?" Owen asked with a patronizing tone, provoking her.
"You're not getting it back," Amelia's stubborn side got the best of her.
"Fine," Owen dodged her attempt to bite him and tightened his grasp around her, leaning over to steal a kiss much to Amelia's dismay. "We'll just spend the rest of the night like this. Not that I'm complaining," he looked at her with a playful grin. "I am very comfortable."
The way her husband looked at her as if daring her to say the same annoyed Amelia more than she would imagine.
"Alright…" Amelia let out a breath through her nose, "I'll give it back as long as you promise no football channel."
"Fine," he replied a little too quickly.
"Owen!" Amelia looked at him in disbelief.
"Alright, okay, I promise," he finally gave his wife a genuine smile and slowly let go of his grasp around her.
Amelia caved and gave back the remote, settling for lying back on the couch with her feet propped on his lap while they watched the news. She thought about suggesting they put on the jungle survival show, but she knew that for Owen, watching it without their daughter wouldn't be the same.
While the reporter went on about the most important news of the day, Amelia thought back about Megan and with a curious smile on her face, wondered how Owen would react when he finally found out that the teenager had gone out on a date with a guy.
.
Emily Spencer heard the buzz of her cell phone at the same time her notebook beeped with notifications. Reaching out, the young woman checked the small screen and dismissed the few emails she had yet to read.
Her mind was racing with the big change that was about to happen. Looking out the window, Emily caught a glimpse of the Central Park lawn, where tourists walked back and forth enjoying a carefree, fun afternoon. For a minute, she envied them but quickly the scattered objects around her brought Emily back to reality and she focused on the open bag on the bed.
She was going to miss New York. The vibration, the liveliness, the way the city never slept and how rushed life there always was. In New York, every new minute brought new information, countless opportunities and there was never time for distractions. Each day came with a new challenge and the crazy rhythm made Emily feel more alive than she could put in words.
But now, after two years of working for The Wall Street Journal, the Yale graduated journalist was finally leaving the city.
Shaking her head to clear those depressing thoughts, Emily heard the click of the front door and moments later, her fiancé walked into the room.
"Hey, you ready to go?"
"Yeah, I am just double checking if I got everything," Emily coyly smiled.
Turning around, she took one last look through the window of the apartment she'd come to love and then left, hoping with all her heart that this wasn't goodbye. Maybe someday soon, she would be able to come back. But right now, it was time to go. Thinking about her career and the fiancé she adored, Emily was sure that her entire future was there in that city, but sadly, for now it was going to stay on hold. Because at that moment, her past needed her the most.
And after so many years of staying away, it was finally time to go back to Seattle.