ONE
One year earlier
Lucky
"It'd be a shame, Lucky.."
"What would, Helena?"
"If you just write off what I said as a lie. Your daughter needs you. She needs guidance at the very least. Trust me on that." Helena offered him the folder one last time and warily, Lucky took it. And then he quickly took Jake and loaded him onto the plane they'd flown to the island to get Jake.
His father eyed him once they were on the plane and asked quietly, "You gonna look into that, Cowboy? We all know how hard it hit you when Summer was murdered and ya couldn't find Pixie."
"It's Helena, dad. She's either lying so she feels like she's holding all the cards or she's lying to fuck with my head. Summer and our daughter died. If Amber were still alive, Dad.. I'd have found her by now.. They were my reason for getting into law enforcement, remember?" Lucky responded quietly, but even then, the words Helena said to him back at her private mansion were already taking root.
Almost as soon as he landed, he took everything he'd gotten from her and he turned it over to Sam. And when the search turned up almost nothing, he took it as a sign that nothing was holding him in town and he left, going to Ireland to finish working his end of a long running case with the DEA. And he'd pretty much forgotten about it.
Present Day
Lucky
He wasn't sure why but the 20 year old blonde felt familiar to him. She looked similar enough to his mother and to his former lover Summer that he had to stop and do a double take. She was at the park with the Kovich kid and they seemed happy, pushing a little girl with a head full of dark hair and these dancing and bright blue eyes in a swing set. The ringing of his cell phone had him tearing his eyes off of the little scene and he raised a brow when Sam explained breathlessly, "We might have a lead.. On that thing you had me looking into?"
"About Amber?"
"Mhmm.. And if what Molly is saying is true, then she's been right here, under your nose, for almost a year and a half now.."
"What do you mean?"
"Molly and TJ got married yesterday.. And Rafe was there.. With Amber, the girl he married after he left town.. and according to Molly, she knows you're her father but she also knows that you assume she's dead so she can't and won't say anything."
"Wait.."
Lucky's eyes darted back to the playground but it was empty now, Rafe and the blonde were pushing the stroller towards a hot chocolate stand nearby. "And you're sure?"
"I'm about to have a go at her sealed records now, Lucky. If she wasn't ever adopted, which Rafe said himself she wasn't, then it should be easy and I should know something before the end of lunch." Sam told Lucky as Lucky took a few deep breaths, told her to let him know how it turned out and then hung up.
And he found himself sort of covertly shadowing them… This whole thing was a shock to him, even more so that his daughter was apparently married and a mother herself now. And he really wasn't sure how he felt about his son in law being Rafe Kovich Jr, either.
Amber
"I cannot believe Halloween is almost here." I muttered as I wrapped my jacket around me tighter and cuddled our daughter closer to my chest to keep her warm. Rafe chuckled and took Aurora, settling her into his jacket instead, sliding his arm around me. "Yeah, it is.. And Molly was asking if we were taking Rory to the Halloween carnival this weekend."
"Duh… It's Halloween." I replied, making him laugh and shake his head. "How'd work go today?" I asked as we walked towards the stand selling hot chocolate. You know it's getting cold in a hurry when they start selling cocoa on the sidewalk by the park, but given the nip in the air I was really glad to see that cocoa stand. Rafe was telling me about this horror movie he and Dillon are filming at an old summer camp right outside of town and how the script, which they both wrote if I can brag about my man for a minute here, it was based on some local urban legend about a massacre at the camp back in the 60's.
I rubbed my neck and my eyes darted around. I felt like I was being watched, but I put it down to paranoia because of recent events here in town. Rafe was looking around too and I noticed that he was inching me closer to him, ultimately fixing it so that Aurora was bundled up in her stroller, I was pushing the stroller and Rafe was walking behind me, pushing the stroller also, his arms around me.
"Everything okay?"
"It was weird, I thought I saw.. Nevermind." Rafe muttered, shaking his head and laughing. "Everybody is just keyed up because the body count in Port Charles is getting a little too high for anybody's comfort. How did your exam go today, babe?" he asked, his lips on my neck. I bit my lip and answered, "You know that thing you do that I really love? In the shower?"
"Mhmm.."
"I'm gonna need that. That exam was brutal. Speaking of, it ran overtime.. And I didn't get time to cook anything.. And we have no more frozen burritos." I admitted sheepishly. Rafe chuckled. "So I'm going to guess that was a hint to go to Kelly's before we go back to our apartment, hmm?"
"It was."
"I think I can manage that, kitten." his lips were dangerously close to my ear now and I bit back a small moan and leaned against him just a little, teasing him. His hand gripped my ass and he muttered in my ear, "And maybe when we get Rory to sleep.."
"Definitely."
We were walking past the benches when I saw her and I froze for a few seconds.. It's hard, living in the same town as my birth father and the family I should have grown up with and been raised by but not being able to tell them who I am or reach out because they think I died with my mom.. Seeing my grandmother had me wanting to go over, to hug her, to tell her who I was.. But I knew I couldn't. It's not worse than the time I waited the table my grandfather was sitting at while pregnant with Aurora and I burst into tears and Molly had to console me in the alley behind the diner. .
I'm worried about my dad, though.. I keep up with his coming and going and I knew he was between here and Ireland, wrapping up a 6 year long case he had with the DEA.
"Baby, you okay?" Rafe asked and I sighed quietly and nodded, my mood deflated for the moment. He realized what had made me freeze and his arms wrapped around me a little tighter. "Maybe one day we can figure out how to tell them you're not dead."
"It'll never happen, Rafe.. But I'm close to them and I have you and Rory and Molly and TJ.. I'm gonna have to be okay with it." I told him. We were stepping into the diner when I saw my father sitting in a booth by himself, staring into a cup of coffee as if it held all the answers to the mysteries of life.
I could practically feel the mood he was in from where Rafe and I chose to sit. I made my way over to the table my father was sitting at and quietly, I got the high chair sitting at the end so that Rory could sit in it while we were all eating.. And when my father spoke to me, I froze and turned.
"You remind me of my daughter.. What she'd have been like if she hadn't died."
My heart was thumping like crazy in my chest but I gave a smile and told him that I was sorry for his loss and that I'd lost my father, my entire family too. He nodded to the bench seat across from his and I sat.
"Pretty sure your father would have been really proud of you."
"Thank you, sir." damn it was hard, not just blurting out the truth, seeing how hurt and how much pain my father was in at the moment. He nodded to Rafe and called out, "You better take care of her." as he stood and made his way out of the diner's double doors.
I made my way back over to Rafe on my shaky legs and sat down, not mentally and emotionally drained. Rafe leaned in and pulled me into a kiss and then muttered quietly, "It's okay, babe.. It's okay."
"It's hard not telling him."
"I'll figure something out." he promised and I shook my head.
"Maybe it's supposed to be this way.. Besides, baby, you do enough for me and Rory.. and we love you for it." I smiled at him as he nodded and then smiled at me.
Little did I know, he'd already started working on doing something to reunite me with the family I thought I'd never get to be a part of.
FOOTNOTE:
IF YOU WANT MORE INFORMATION ON THIS SERIES OF 7 LOOSELY CONNECTED STORIES OR ON THE OC FOR THIS ONE, AMBER, GO TO MY USER BIO ON HERE AND READ. IT'S PROBABLY A GOOD IDEA TO DO THAT ANYWAY. THIS STORY WASN'T EVEN GOING TO HAPPEN UNTIL I GOT INSPIRED WHILE WRITING THE STORY BEGINNING FOR DIEGO AND ADELE. WHEN I STARTED WRITING IT, I STARTED WRITING THIS ONE ALSO. SO HOPEFULLY THERE WERE RAFE JR FANS OUT THERE WHO WERE DISAPPOINTED WHEN THEY KILLED OFF THE CHARACTER. I KNOW I WAS.
I WANNA THANK EVERYONE READING THESE, YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING AND AWESOME AND I LOVE YOU ALL SO VERY MUCH FOR PUTTING UP WITH MY 'FANTASIES AND WHIMS' AS THEY COME TO ME.