"Casey," John said as he smiled. "It's good to see you. This can't be Luke Snyder."
"It's good to see you Dr. Dixon," Luke said as he shook the older man's hand.
"You too," John said as he got serious. "I assumed the two of you are here about Chris."
They nodded. "I was just about to brief everyone. Let's go to the waiting room."
Casey and Luke followed John to the waiting room. Casey sat beside his parents and Allison. Luke smiled a little when he saw Katie sitting next to Reid. He sat on her other side and both men took her hands.
John stood in front of them. "I've looked at Chris's chart and I've given him a through exam. I got an MRI and I've come to the conclusion that this is not a hopeless situation. The virus has caused some damage to Chris's heart, but not enough to warrant drastic measures. We have started treating the virus aggressively and once it is out of his system I expect Chris to make a full recovery."
"Will the virus come back again?" Katie asked softly.
"I don't think so. I think the reason it came back this time is because he didn't get proper treatment in Africa. I don't know how long he had been trying to self medicate before Dr. Oliver intervened."
"I'm just sorry I couldn't convince him to tell all of you he was sick himself," Reid sighed. "He knows I don't do families."
Luke gave Reid a small smile. He knew the doctor was just trying to get a little levity into the room.
"When can we see him?" Kim asked.
"He's resting now," John said. "Why don't you get some lunch and come back in an hour?"
Kim looked at Bob, who nodded. "Katie, are you coming with us?" she asked.
"Yeah, sure," Katie said as she let go of Reid and Luke's hands and got up to follow the Hugheses.
Casey looked at Luke. "I'll call Grandma and tell her what's going on. I'll take the hit for telling her Grandpa John is back. You get to tell your grandmothers though. Oh, and dude, don't forget about tea."
Reid waited until they had all left before he asked, "Okay, I have to know, how is Dr. Dixon connected to this crazy town?"
Luke laughed. "Okay, let's see. He's Margo's father, Casey's grandfather. He was married to Kim and they have a son named Andy and a granddaughter named Hope. He's the father of Aunt Iva's son MJ and he was engaged to Grandma Emma and Lisa. And he was married to Grandmother. Oh, and to Barbara. And he raised Dusty."
Reid just shook his head. "I need a beer."
"How about tea instead?"
Reid just gave him a look. Luke grinned. "Nancy Hughes is expecting us for tea. She wants to meet my new young man."
Reid groaned. "She really said it like that, didn't she?"
"Yep," Luke said as they headed to the doctor's lounge so Reid could drop off his lab coat. "Hate to tell you this Reid, but you live in a small town now. Nancy has known both my grandmothers for years. She watched my parents grow up. She even managed to keep me and Faith distracted when Mom had Natalie."
"How'd she do that?"
"It was Christmas Eve so she read us The Night Before Christmas."
"And now she wants to meet me over tea?"
"Think of it as a trial run for my grandmothers," Luke said as they left the hospital.
They went to tea at Nancy's while the Hughes family went to Al's for lunch. Barbara and Henry joined them. "I can't believe Chris would hide something like this from us," Tom said.
"Are you sure Dr. Oliver wasn't the one who wanted to hide this?" Henry asked.
"Henry, I swear, if you say that again…" Katie said as Margo reached out and took her sister's hand.
"Henry, it wasn't Reid's idea to cover this up," Bob said. "For whatever reason my son decided to keep us in the dark."
"Luke said Chris didn't want us to worry about him," Kim sighed. "I just don't understand that. He knows how much we love him."
"It's my fault," Katie said softly.
"Oh, honey, you can't think that," Margo said as she squeezed Katie's hand.
"Yes I can. He knows I'm still working through Brad's death. He kept this a secret and put his life at risk because of me."
She looked over at Bob and Kim. "I'm sorry. If Chris hadn't gotten involved with me, he would have gotten treatment sooner."
Kim smiled at her. "Katie, honey, I hate to tell you this, but you're wrong. Chris never has wanted to admit when he's sick. To top it off, he's a doctor. He will always try to treat himself before he admits he's ill."
Katie looked at them and nodded. They finished their lunch and went to the hospital to visit Chris. After he had been thoroughly scolded by his parents and brother, he apologized for keeping his illness from them. He promised that he would follow John's orders to the letter. Then he asked to speak to Bob privately.
Kim gave him a kiss on the forehead before they left him alone with his father. Chris looked at Bob for a long time before he spoke. I've been thinking a lot about the Chief of Staff job. I was hurt when I found out you had offered the job to Reid. I always thought when you retired I would get the job. Not that I ever thought you'd retire."
They laughed a little and Chris continued. "I know I have screwed up in the past. I know that I have disappointed you. I don't think I deserve the Chief of Staff job. At least not yet. I know you've made the decision to retire and I know the hospital needs a leader. For better or for worse, that leader should be Reid."
Bob was surprised. "I never thought I would hear you say that. I know your rivalry with Reid goes back to medical school. In a lot of ways the two of you remind me of myself and John."
"Lord help us," Chris laughed. "Although I can guarantee that we'll never be romantic rivals."
"Somehow I can't picture you and Luke as a couple. Or Reid and Katie."
Bob looked at his son for a long moment after they laughed. His voice was serious when he continued. "Christopher, you are my son and I love you with all my heart. You and your brothers and sisters have brought great joy to my life. I know Andy isn't my son biologically but I love him just as if he were. I know I have been hard on you but that's because I see your potential. That's been unfair to you. I won't give Reid the job if you honestly want it. I'll leave it up to the board."
"No, Dad," Chris said as he shook his head. "I need to give myself time to truly recover from all of this. I need to work on my relationship with Katie. I kept her in the dark as well as you and Mom. I need to earn all of your trust back. I can't do that and worry about running the hospital at the same time."
Bob nodded. "I respect your decision. I'll let you get some rest."
Chris nodded as Bob left.
After Luke and Reid left Nancy's, they went to Lily's house. Luke got Reid a beer and a water for himself before he joined Reid on the couch. "See, that wasn't so bad, was it," he said as he smiled at Reid.
"It was interesting," Reid said as he sipped his beer. "Nancy Hughes is quite a lady."
"Yes, she is."
"I am curious about something though."
"What's that?"
"If your grandmother has that nice carriage house, why do you still live here? You could live there rent free."
Luke sighed. "It's a long story."
"I've got time."
Luke got up and went over to a photo album Lily had sitting on her desk. He picked it up and found the pictures he was looking for before he handed it to Reid.
"What's this?" Reid asked as he put down his beer.
"Noah's wedding," Luke said as he sat down in the chair.
Reid's eyes go big. "What do you mean his wedding?"
Luke closed his eyes for a minute. When he opened them again, Reid could see the lingering hurt in the younger man's eyes. "I told you about Noah's dad," Luke started. "When Reid nodded, he continued. "Not long after Colonel Mayer went to prison this girl showed up. Her name was Ameera and the Colonel had helped her and her mother while he was in Iraq. Long story short, her visa was about to expire. Grandmother had contacted an immigration lawyer but Immigration was going to deport her. Noah decided that the only way to make sure she could stay in the country was to marry her."
Reid looked at the pictures. "Was the wedding at the farm?"
Luke nodded and Reid noticed one picture in particular. "Tell me you weren't the best man."
"Wrote his vows too."
"Whose brilliant idea was that? No, wait, don't answer that. It was Mr. Mayer."
Reid closed the photo album and set it down. "They lived in the carriage house?"
"Not at first," Luke sighed. "They were staying at the farm until an ICE agent showed up to investigate the situation. They moved to the carriage house to make it look like they were a real couple. I wound up having to pretend Casey was my boyfriend to keep up the charade."
"I don't need to know all the details but I assume that he's not married to her anymore."
Luke shook his head. "They had the marriage annulled and she moved to California with some relatives."
Reid moved to the end of the coffee table in front of Luke. "Luke, look at me."
Luke lifted his head so he could look Reid in the eye. "I am not Noah Mayer. I'm not nice enough to marry some girl so she can stay in the country."
Luke laughed a little. "I know. I just thought you should know why I won't ever live in the carriage house. I did move out for a while though. Noah and I had an apartment."
"What happened?"
"Dad was presumed dead in Kentucky. Mom was a wreck and someone had to keep an eye on the kids."
"You are too noble for your own good Mr. Snyder," Reid said as he leaned over and kissed him. "But there will come a day when we move in together and your family's dramas will not overwhelm you. If we're going to do this and we're going to succeed, we have to make sure that we work together. That means I step up to help you with your family and you keep me from torturing nurses."
Luke smiled. "I think I can handle that."
The next morning, Luke decided he would head to his office to get some work done for the foundation. He also wanted to set up a meeting with Lucinda and Dusty about the future of Grimaldi Shipping. He knew he couldn't run that massive of an operation by himself but he didn't trust any of Damian's people to run it for him.
He had been at work for an hour when he heard a knock on the door. "Come in," he said as he heard the door open. He finished reading the file he had opened and look up. "Noah," he said surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"I made an appointment," Noah said bitterly. "It seems like that's the only way I can talk to you anymore."
"Noah, that's not fair," Luke said as he closed the file and stood up. "You didn't want to talk to me for a long time after we broke up and now you're desperate to see me. I can't be at your beck and call. I have responsibilities to deal with, not to mention a boyfriend."
"Oh, yeah, the boyfriend," Noah glared. "The reason you couldn't give me five minutes of your time yesterday."
"I told you I was dealing with something that demanded my full attention."
"But you could talk to Casey about it."
"Because it involved him and his family," Luke argued, then he sighed. "You're probably going to hear about this soon anyway. Chris Hughes is sick, very sick. I was involved in telling his family. I came to find Casey yesterday so I could tell him and help him break the news to his great-grandmother."
"And Dr. Oliver's Chris's doctor," Noah assumed.
"Reid was treating him, yes. But he's turned the case over to Dr. John Dixon."
"Because it was too boring for him."
"No, Noah, because he's not a cardiologist. Chris is fighting a virus that's attacking his heart. Dr. Dixon is one of the best cardiologists in the country. He also has a history with the Hugheses. Now, what do you want to talk to me about?"
"I'm leaving for LA soon and I want you to go with me."
"Excuse me?" Luke asked.
"I want you to go with me," Noah repeated.
"Are you forgetting about the fact that we broke up and I'm in a relationship with someone else?"
"I made a mistake when I pushed you away, I admit that. But we had something special. You still love me, I know you do. Dr. Oliver can't give you what I can."
"What's that?"
"Love. I don't think Dr. Oliver is capable of that."
"And you are Mr. Mayer?" Reid asked from the doorway. Neither man had heard him come in. "Is that what caused you to ask him to be your best man and write your wedding vows? Love? Cause I don't call that love."
"Luke understood why I married Ameera," Noah said as he glared at Reid. "Not that this is any of your business anyway."
"I'm pretty sure you made it my business when you asked my boyfriend to go to Los Angeles with you," Reid argued.
"I still love Luke."
"So do I," Reid said as Luke looked up at him. "I love Luke more than anything in my life."
Noah laughed. "You don't love anything more than you love your precious career."
"If, for some reason, I couldn't pick up a scalpel again it would change my life, yes," Reid acknowledged. "But it wouldn't hurt nearly as much as it would if I lost Luke."
"Do you really mean that?" Luke asked.
"You know me, Luke," Reid said as he looked his boyfriend straight in the eye. "I never say anything I don't mean. This was not the time or the place I planned on telling you that I love you, but I love you. There, I said it, and I'm not taking it back."
Luke just smiled as Noah turned to face him. "Luke, you know how I feel about you. Come with me to LA. We can make this movie together."
Luke laughed a little. "Yeah because our last collaboration worked so well. Noah, I can't go to LA with you. I have responsibilities here. No, it's not that I can't go with you, I don't want to. My life is here. The man I am hopelessly in love with is standing right over there. You were my first love, and what we had was special, but it's over. It's been over for a long time. I think you know that deep down."
"Lily said you would agree to come with me," Noah muttered.
Luke looked at Reid then back at Noah. "What did you just say?"
"Your mother wants you to go to LA with the good boy," Reid growled.
"Noah, I don't know what my mother told you but the two of you need to accept the fact that I am in a relationship with Reid and nothing either of you does is going to change that.. I was hoping we could be friends. That's something you're going to have to decide. But right now you need to go. Goodbye Noah."
Noah looked like he was about to say something but he saw the look on Luke's face. He just nodded and turned to walk out of Luke's office. He paused at the door and looked at Reid. "You better not hurt him."
"I'll do my best not to Mr. Mayer," Reid said as Noah left.
Reid turned to Luke and saw the anger in the younger man's eyes. "Okay, can I just say I'm glad I'm not your mother right now?"
"I can't believe she sent Noah over here to take me to LA," Luke said angrily.
"She likes him," Reid shrugged. "And I don't always make a good first impression."
Luke laughed a little. Then he sighed. "What am I going to do? I don't think I can live in her house knowing that she basically sent Noah here to break us up. There are way too many people at the farm right now and there's no way I'm living with Grandmother."
"Move in with me," Reid said as he looked Luke in the eye. "Get your things and come home with me."
"Reid, you live with Katie," Luke laughed.
"Yes, I do," Reid confirmed. "We can move your things in there for now and look for a place together."
Luke just looked at him. "Are you sure?"
"I've never been more sure about anything in my life," Reid said as he kissed Luke.
They were still kissing when they heard someone clear their throat. Luke laughed as he said, "Hello Grandmother."
Reid winced a little before he turned around. "Hello Mrs. Walsh, Mr. Donovan."
"Dr. Oliver," Lucinda said with an amused smile on her face. "Are we interrupting something?"
"No, I was just leaving," Reid said. "I have to check in with Dr. Dixon anyway. I'll see you later Luke."
Luke just nodded as he took in the look on Lucinda's face. "I was going to tell you that Dr. Dixon is in town," he said after Reid left and they went to his desk.
"I assumed you would," Lucinda said as they took their seats.
"I assume John's here to see a patient," Dusty said.
"Yeah, he's treating Chris Hughes," Luke stated. "He only got into town yesterday and he was at the hospital most of the day. He's staying at the Lakeview."
"I'll give him a call later," Dusty said with a nod. "So, what is this about Grimaldi Shipping?"
Luke explained to them that he didn't feel comfortable running the corporation on his own. He felt it would benefit everyone involved if he sold the company to Worldwide. Lucinda was practically salivating at the idea of getting her hands on the shipping company. Dusty said he would have Worldwide's lawyers draw up an agreement that would be beneficial to Luke as well as Worldwide.
After the meeting, Luke went to his mother's house. He went straight to his bedroom and packed his clothes. He put his journal in his laptop bag and took everything downstairs. He was getting his CD's packed when Lily walked in. He looked up at her. "I thought you were supposed to pick Ethan and Natalie up from school."
"Your dad's taking them to the farm today," she said as she took in the scene before her. "What's going on?"
"I'm moving out," Luke said as he straightened up.
"You're going to LA with Noah?" Lily asked hopefully.
"No, Mother, I'm not," he said as he glared at her. "I'm moving in with my boyfriend. You remember him, he saved your latest project's life."
You're moving in with Dr. Oliver?" she said surprised.
"His name is Reid. And yes, I am moving in with him. In fact, he's probably expecting me. I need to get this stuff to my car."
He picked up the box with his CD's in it and started to walk past her. "Luke, wait," she said as she reached out and touched his arm.
"Why should I?" he asked. "You made it perfectly clear whose side you're on when you told Noah that I would go to LA with him. I'm surprised you haven't already shipped my stuff to California."
"That's not fair."
"Neither is sending Noah to convince me to go to LA with him. It's like you have no clue what's going on in my life. I am in a relationship with Reid. I love him and he loves me. And you know what Mom, he doesn't care who knows. He doesn't care if I kiss him in front of people. He's not afraid to actually tell me how he feels. Noah and I have been over for months. We were in trouble before his accident. If you can't accept that Reid is in my life now, that's your problem."
He took his CD's out to his car then came back fro the rest of his things. Lily had moved to the couch and there were tears in her eyes. He had just shouldered his laptop bag when she spoke.
"You would really choose Dr. Oliver over your family."
He sighed and he turned and looked at her. "I'm not choosing Reid over my family. I'm just not letting you dictate who my boyfriend should be, just like you've done for years with Grandmother. You have to understand that I'm an adult now. I can make my own decisions. I fell in love with Reid and no matter how many times you throw Noah in my face that's not going to change. You need to decide if you're going to be able to accept Reid in my life. You need to realize that you can't make decisions for me anymore. I'm not Ethan's age."
"I know you're an adult, Sweetie," she said as she got up and walked over to him.
"You haven't been acting like it lately. Wait, I take that back. You haven't been acting that way where Reid and Noah are concerned. But if you need someone to take care of the kids while you chose between Dad, Damian and Craig, then I'm an adult."
"That's not fair."
"No, it's not. But neither is how you've been treating Reid. You have a lot of thinking to do and Reid's expecting me. Goodbye Mother."
He left Lily standing there, put his things in the car, and left. He stopped at the first corner and sighed. He wondered if he had been too hard on his mother. He knew she was wrong in sending Noah to see him. He just hoped she could see that in time."Casey," John said as he smiled. "It's good to see you. This can't be Luke Snyder."
"It's good to see you Dr. Dixon," Luke said as he shook the older man's hand.
"You too," John said as he got serious. "I assumed the two of you are here about Chris."
They nodded. "I was just about to brief everyone. Let's go to the waiting room."
Casey and Luke followed John to the waiting room. Casey sat beside his parents and Allison. Luke smiled a little when he saw Katie sitting next to Reid. He sat on her other side and both men took her hands.
John stood in front of them. "I've looked at Chris's chart and I've given him a through exam. I got an MRI and I've come to the conclusion that this is not a hopeless situation. The virus has caused some damage to Chris's heart, but not enough to warrant drastic measures. We have started treating the virus aggressively and once it is out of his system I expect Chris to make a full recovery."
"Will the virus come back again?" Katie asked softly.
"I don't think so. I think the reason it came back this time is because he didn't get proper treatment in Africa. I don't know how long he had been trying to self medicate before Dr. Oliver intervened."
"I'm just sorry I couldn't convince him to tell all of you he was sick himself," Reid sighed. "He knows I don't do families."
Luke gave Reid a small smile. He knew the doctor was just trying to get a little levity into the room.
"When can we see him?" Kim asked.
"He's resting now," John said. "Why don't you get some lunch and come back in an hour?"
Kim looked at Bob, who nodded. "Katie, are you coming with us?" she asked.
"Yeah, sure," Katie said as she let go of Reid and Luke's hands and got up to follow the Hugheses.
Casey looked at Luke. "I'll call Grandma and tell her what's going on. I'll take the hit for telling her Grandpa John is back. You get to tell your grandmothers though. Oh, and dude, don't forget about tea."
Reid waited until they had all left before he asked, "Okay, I have to know, how is Dr. Dixon connected to this crazy town?"
Luke laughed. "Okay, let's see. He's Margo's father, Casey's grandfather. He was married to Kim and they have a son named Andy and a granddaughter named Hope. He's the father of Aunt Iva's son MJ and he was engaged to Grandma Emma and Lisa. And he was married to Grandmother. Oh, and to Barbara. And he raised Dusty."
Reid just shook his head. "I need a beer."
"How about tea instead?"
Reid just gave him a look. Luke grinned. "Nancy Hughes is expecting us for tea. She wants to meet my new young man."
Reid groaned. "She really said it like that, didn't she?"
"Yep," Luke said as they headed to the doctor's lounge so Reid could drop off his lab coat. "Hate to tell you this Reid, but you live in a small town now. Nancy has known both my grandmothers for years. She watched my parents grow up. She even managed to keep me and Faith distracted when Mom had Natalie."
"How'd she do that?"
"It was Christmas Eve so she read us The Night Before Christmas."
"And now she wants to meet me over tea?"
"Think of it as a trial run for my grandmothers," Luke said as they left the hospital.
They went to tea at Nancy's while the Hughes family went to Al's for lunch. Barbara and Henry joined them. "I can't believe Chris would hide something like this from us," Tom said.
"Are you sure Dr. Oliver wasn't the one who wanted to hide this?" Henry asked.
"Henry, I swear, if you say that again…" Katie said as Margo reached out and took her sister's hand.
"Henry, it wasn't Reid's idea to cover this up," Bob said. "For whatever reason my son decided to keep us in the dark."
"Luke said Chris didn't want us to worry about him," Kim sighed. "I just don't understand that. He knows how much we love him."
"It's my fault," Katie said softly.
"Oh, honey, you can't think that," Margo said as she squeezed Katie's hand.
"Yes I can. He knows I'm still working through Brad's death. He kept this a secret and put his life at risk because of me."
She looked over at Bob and Kim. "I'm sorry. If Chris hadn't gotten involved with me, he would have gotten treatment sooner."
Kim smiled at her. "Katie, honey, I hate to tell you this, but you're wrong. Chris never has wanted to admit when he's sick. To top it off, he's a doctor. He will always try to treat himself before he admits he's ill."
Katie looked at them and nodded. They finished their lunch and went to the hospital to visit Chris. After he had been thoroughly scolded by his parents and brother, he apologized for keeping his illness from them. He promised that he would follow John's orders to the letter. Then he asked to speak to Bob privately.
Kim gave him a kiss on the forehead before they left him alone with his father. Chris looked at Bob for a long time before he spoke. I've been thinking a lot about the Chief of Staff job. I was hurt when I found out you had offered the job to Reid. I always thought when you retired I would get the job. Not that I ever thought you'd retire."
They laughed a little and Chris continued. "I know I have screwed up in the past. I know that I have disappointed you. I don't think I deserve the Chief of Staff job. At least not yet. I know you've made the decision to retire and I know the hospital needs a leader. For better or for worse, that leader should be Reid."
Bob was surprised. "I never thought I would hear you say that. I know your rivalry with Reid goes back to medical school. In a lot of ways the two of you remind me of myself and John."
"Lord help us," Chris laughed. "Although I can guarantee that we'll never be romantic rivals."
"Somehow I can't picture you and Luke as a couple. Or Reid and Katie."
Bob looked at his son for a long moment after they laughed. His voice was serious when he continued. "Christopher, you are my son and I love you with all my heart. You and your brothers and sisters have brought great joy to my life. I know Andy isn't my son biologically but I love him just as if he were. I know I have been hard on you but that's because I see your potential. That's been unfair to you. I won't give Reid the job if you honestly want it. I'll leave it up to the board."
"No, Dad," Chris said as he shook his head. "I need to give myself time to truly recover from all of this. I need to work on my relationship with Katie. I kept her in the dark as well as you and Mom. I need to earn all of your trust back. I can't do that and worry about running the hospital at the same time."
Bob nodded. "I respect your decision. I'll let you get some rest."
Chris nodded as Bob left.
After Luke and Reid left Nancy's, they went to Lily's house. Luke got Reid a beer and a water for himself before he joined Reid on the couch. "See, that wasn't so bad, was it," he said as he smiled at Reid.
"It was interesting," Reid said as he sipped his beer. "Nancy Hughes is quite a lady."
"Yes, she is."
"I am curious about something though."
"What's that?"
"If your grandmother has that nice carriage house, why do you still live here? You could live there rent free."
Luke sighed. "It's a long story."
"I've got time."
Luke got up and went over to a photo album Lily had sitting on her desk. He picked it up and found the pictures he was looking for before he handed it to Reid.
"What's this?" Reid asked as he put down his beer.
"Noah's wedding," Luke said as he sat down in the chair.
Reid's eyes go big. "What do you mean his wedding?"
Luke closed his eyes for a minute. When he opened them again, Reid could see the lingering hurt in the younger man's eyes. "I told you about Noah's dad," Luke started. "When Reid nodded, he continued. "Not long after Colonel Mayer went to prison this girl showed up. Her name was Ameera and the Colonel had helped her and her mother while he was in Iraq. Long story short, her visa was about to expire. Grandmother had contacted an immigration lawyer but Immigration was going to deport her. Noah decided that the only way to make sure she could stay in the country was to marry her."
Reid looked at the pictures. "Was the wedding at the farm?"
Luke nodded and Reid noticed one picture in particular. "Tell me you weren't the best man."
"Wrote his vows too."
"Whose brilliant idea was that? No, wait, don't answer that. It was Mr. Mayer."
Reid closed the photo album and set it down. "They lived in the carriage house?"
"Not at first," Luke sighed. "They were staying at the farm until an ICE agent showed up to investigate the situation. They moved to the carriage house to make it look like they were a real couple. I wound up having to pretend Casey was my boyfriend to keep up the charade."
"I don't need to know all the details but I assume that he's not married to her anymore."
Luke shook his head. "They had the marriage annulled and she moved to California with some relatives."
Reid moved to the end of the coffee table in front of Luke. "Luke, look at me."
Luke lifted his head so he could look Reid in the eye. "I am not Noah Mayer. I'm not nice enough to marry some girl so she can stay in the country."
Luke laughed a little. "I know. I just thought you should know why I won't ever live in the carriage house. I did move out for a while though. Noah and I had an apartment."
"What happened?"
"Dad was presumed dead in Kentucky. Mom was a wreck and someone had to keep an eye on the kids."
"You are too noble for your own good Mr. Snyder," Reid said as he leaned over and kissed him. "But there will come a day when we move in together and your family's dramas will not overwhelm you. If we're going to do this and we're going to succeed, we have to make sure that we work together. That means I step up to help you with your family and you keep me from torturing nurses."
Luke smiled. "I think I can handle that."
The next morning, Luke decided he would head to his office to get some work done for the foundation. He also wanted to set up a meeting with Lucinda and Dusty about the future of Grimaldi Shipping. He knew he couldn't run that massive of an operation by himself but he didn't trust any of Damian's people to run it for him.
He had been at work for an hour when he heard a knock on the door. "Come in," he said as he heard the door open. He finished reading the file he had opened and look up. "Noah," he said surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"I made an appointment," Noah said bitterly. "It seems like that's the only way I can talk to you anymore."
"Noah, that's not fair," Luke said as he closed the file and stood up. "You didn't want to talk to me for a long time after we broke up and now you're desperate to see me. I can't be at your beck and call. I have responsibilities to deal with, not to mention a boyfriend."
"Oh, yeah, the boyfriend," Noah glared. "The reason you couldn't give me five minutes of your time yesterday."
"I told you I was dealing with something that demanded my full attention."
"But you could talk to Casey about it."
"Because it involved him and his family," Luke argued, then he sighed. "You're probably going to hear about this soon anyway. Chris Hughes is sick, very sick. I was involved in telling his family. I came to find Casey yesterday so I could tell him and help him break the news to his great-grandmother."
"And Dr. Oliver's Chris's doctor," Noah assumed.
"Reid was treating him, yes. But he's turned the case over to Dr. John Dixon."
"Because it was too boring for him."
"No, Noah, because he's not a cardiologist. Chris is fighting a virus that's attacking his heart. Dr. Dixon is one of the best cardiologists in the country. He also has a history with the Hugheses. Now, what do you want to talk to me about?"
"I'm leaving for LA soon and I want you to go with me."
"Excuse me?" Luke asked.
"I want you to go with me," Noah repeated.
"Are you forgetting about the fact that we broke up and I'm in a relationship with someone else?"
"I made a mistake when I pushed you away, I admit that. But we had something special. You still love me, I know you do. Dr. Oliver can't give you what I can."
"What's that?"
"Love. I don't think Dr. Oliver is capable of that."
"And you are Mr. Mayer?" Reid asked from the doorway. Neither man had heard him come in. "Is that what caused you to ask him to be your best man and write your wedding vows? Love? Cause I don't call that love."
"Luke understood why I married Ameera," Noah said as he glared at Reid. "Not that this is any of your business anyway."
"I'm pretty sure you made it my business when you asked my boyfriend to go to Los Angeles with you," Reid argued.
"I still love Luke."
"So do I," Reid said as Luke looked up at him. "I love Luke more than anything in my life."
Noah laughed. "You don't love anything more than you love your precious career."
"If, for some reason, I couldn't pick up a scalpel again it would change my life, yes," Reid acknowledged. "But it wouldn't hurt nearly as much as it would if I lost Luke."
"Do you really mean that?" Luke asked.
"You know me, Luke," Reid said as he looked his boyfriend straight in the eye. "I never say anything I don't mean. This was not the time or the place I planned on telling you that I love you, but I love you. There, I said it, and I'm not taking it back."
Luke just smiled as Noah turned to face him. "Luke, you know how I feel about you. Come with me to LA. We can make this movie together."
Luke laughed a little. "Yeah because our last collaboration worked so well. Noah, I can't go to LA with you. I have responsibilities here. No, it's not that I can't go with you, I don't want to. My life is here. The man I am hopelessly in love with is standing right over there. You were my first love, and what we had was special, but it's over. It's been over for a long time. I think you know that deep down."
"Lily said you would agree to come with me," Noah muttered.
Luke looked at Reid then back at Noah. "What did you just say?"
"Your mother wants you to go to LA with the good boy," Reid growled.
"Noah, I don't know what my mother told you but the two of you need to accept the fact that I am in a relationship with Reid and nothing either of you does is going to change that.. I was hoping we could be friends. That's something you're going to have to decide. But right now you need to go. Goodbye Noah."
Noah looked like he was about to say something but he saw the look on Luke's face. He just nodded and turned to walk out of Luke's office. He paused at the door and looked at Reid. "You better not hurt him."
"I'll do my best not to Mr. Mayer," Reid said as Noah left.
Reid turned to Luke and saw the anger in the younger man's eyes. "Okay, can I just say I'm glad I'm not your mother right now?"
"I can't believe she sent Noah over here to take me to LA," Luke said angrily.
"She likes him," Reid shrugged. "And I don't always make a good first impression."
Luke laughed a little. Then he sighed. "What am I going to do? I don't think I can live in her house knowing that she basically sent Noah here to break us up. There are way too many people at the farm right now and there's no way I'm living with Grandmother."
"Move in with me," Reid said as he looked Luke in the eye. "Get your things and come home with me."
"Reid, you live with Katie," Luke laughed.
"Yes, I do," Reid confirmed. "We can move your things in there for now and look for a place together."
Luke just looked at him. "Are you sure?"
"I've never been more sure about anything in my life," Reid said as he kissed Luke.
They were still kissing when they heard someone clear their throat. Luke laughed as he said, "Hello Grandmother."
Reid winced a little before he turned around. "Hello Mrs. Walsh, Mr. Donovan."
"Dr. Oliver," Lucinda said with an amused smile on her face. "Are we interrupting something?"
"No, I was just leaving," Reid said. "I have to check in with Dr. Dixon anyway. I'll see you later Luke."
Luke just nodded as he took in the look on Lucinda's face. "I was going to tell you that Dr. Dixon is in town," he said after Reid left and they went to his desk.
"I assumed you would," Lucinda said as they took their seats.
"I assume John's here to see a patient," Dusty said.
"Yeah, he's treating Chris Hughes," Luke stated. "He only got into town yesterday and he was at the hospital most of the day. He's staying at the Lakeview."
"I'll give him a call later," Dusty said with a nod. "So, what is this about Grimaldi Shipping?"
Luke explained to them that he didn't feel comfortable running the corporation on his own. He felt it would benefit everyone involved if he sold the company to Worldwide. Lucinda was practically salivating at the idea of getting her hands on the shipping company. Dusty said he would have Worldwide's lawyers draw up an agreement that would be beneficial to Luke as well as Worldwide.
After the meeting, Luke went to his mother's house. He went straight to his bedroom and packed his clothes. He put his journal in his laptop bag and took everything downstairs. He was getting his CD's packed when Lily walked in. He looked up at her. "I thought you were supposed to pick Ethan and Natalie up from school."
"Your dad's taking them to the farm today," she said as she took in the scene before her. "What's going on?"
"I'm moving out," Luke said as he straightened up.
"You're going to LA with Noah?" Lily asked hopefully.
"No, Mother, I'm not," he said as he glared at her. "I'm moving in with my boyfriend. You remember him, he saved your latest project's life."
You're moving in with Dr. Oliver?" she said surprised.
"His name is Reid. And yes, I am moving in with him. In fact, he's probably expecting me. I need to get this stuff to my car."
He picked up the box with his CD's in it and started to walk past her. "Luke, wait," she said as she reached out and touched his arm.
"Why should I?" he asked. "You made it perfectly clear whose side you're on when you told Noah that I would go to LA with him. I'm surprised you haven't already shipped my stuff to California."
"That's not fair."
"Neither is sending Noah to convince me to go to LA with him. It's like you have no clue what's going on in my life. I am in a relationship with Reid. I love him and he loves me. And you know what Mom, he doesn't care who knows. He doesn't care if I kiss him in front of people. He's not afraid to actually tell me how he feels. Noah and I have been over for months. We were in trouble before his accident. If you can't accept that Reid is in my life now, that's your problem."
He took his CD's out to his car then came back fro the rest of his things. Lily had moved to the couch and there were tears in her eyes. He had just shouldered his laptop bag when she spoke.
"You would really choose Dr. Oliver over your family."
He sighed and he turned and looked at her. "I'm not choosing Reid over my family. I'm just not letting you dictate who my boyfriend should be, just like you've done for years with Grandmother. You have to understand that I'm an adult now. I can make my own decisions. I fell in love with Reid and no matter how many times you throw Noah in my face that's not going to change. You need to decide if you're going to be able to accept Reid in my life. You need to realize that you can't make decisions for me anymore. I'm not Ethan's age."
"I know you're an adult, Sweetie," she said as she got up and walked over to him.
"You haven't been acting like it lately. Wait, I take that back. You haven't been acting that way where Reid and Noah are concerned. But if you need someone to take care of the kids while you chose between Dad, Damian and Craig, then I'm an adult."
"That's not fair."
"No, it's not. But neither is how you've been treating Reid. You have a lot of thinking to do and Reid's expecting me. Goodbye Mother."
He left Lily standing there, put his things in the car, and left. He stopped at the first corner and sighed. He wondered if he had been too hard on his mother. He knew she was wrong in sending Noah to see him. He just hoped she could see that in time.