Author's Note: There was a bit of concern that I was going to put Lawrence and Kristin together. No, I'm not, sorry if I made it sound like that! It was the furthest thing from my mind.

"Actually..." Lucas paused in the bedroom hallway, "I think I really just need some time alone right now. I have to go over some of the reports the Doc sent me anyhow. I'll talk to you later. And maybe I'll even get to have a civil discussion with my dad." He shot a hopeful smile to Ben.

"Ok, that's fine." Ben responded, "if you need me for back up or anything, just shout 'banana' and I'll come running."

"Uh... banana? Where did that come from?

Ben smirked, "you always need a safe word, don't forget that, kid." Lucas looked him utterly confused. "You'll figure it out some day." Ben walked into his room laughing and left Lucas in the hallway staring after him.

"Safe word?" Lucas asked himself as walked in the bedroom. "Why would anyone need a... oh... oh! Geez Ben..." He flushed darkly and was glad no one could see him.

Hoping to rid himself of the mental image, Lucas opened his suitcase and pulled out his laptop. He flipped it open and settled on the bed, waiting for it to start up. After he connected to the bed and breakfast's wi fi, he opened his email to find the reports. There was a message from his father at the top labeled 'Please don't delete this.' With a sigh, he clicked on it and read.

Lucas,

I can't tell you how very sorry I am about how our conversation went earlier. Some how, everything came out wrong. Please come see me after dinner and I hope we can talk without scaring the neighbors. I love you.

Dad.

Lucas drummed his fingers on the base of his laptop deciding what was safe to feel. He was glad his dad seemed to want to work things out, but he was apprehensive it would just be the same thing again. Every other time his father said he would change and put his son first, things just went back to what they were after a short period. He closed the computer with a snap and tossed it on his bed. He slowly stood up and exited his room.

After several moments of standing outside his father's door, Lucas finally knocked. "Come in."

"Um, hey..." Lucas walked inside and closed the door quietly. "So, I uh... got your email."

Lawrence tossed down a book he couldn't concentrate on. "Oh, hey buddy. I didn't think I'd see you so soon. I was worried I'd have to chase you down."

Lucas looked around the room with a smirk. "Wow, did they get you the wrong place." It was styled after a hunting cabin, there were several taxidermied animals on the walls and skins covering the floor. Their glassy eyes stared at the two humans. What wasn't a dead thing was made out of rustic cut wood. "Creepy," Lucas shuddered. He reluctantly sat in a chair that was fabricated of different animals. Antlers stuck out of the arm rests and there was a bear's head as part of the seat. He adjusted uncomfortably and fidgeted with one of the pelts.

Lawrence twisted on the bed until he was sitting on the edge, facing his son. "So, um... where do we start?"

"I don't want to leave the SeaQuest... please. It's very important to me, I love it there." Lucas responded immediately. He needed to get out what he wanted to say clearly and quickly, in case they started shouting again.

"I know that. I guess I didn't understand just how important it was. And... I guess I may have been a little jealous of what you've formed with Captain Bridger and the rest of the crew." He grasped his hands between his knees. "I... I just don't want to lose you, Lucas."

"You won't, not if you don't push me away or ignore me."

Lawrence nodded, "I am sorry. I wish I explained everything better... you just got so mad so fast, I felt blindsided. I've never seen you like that."

"Well, I was pissed." Lucas said with a shrug. His father narrowed his eyes at the mild curse but said nothing. "I shouldn't have yelled at you like that, it... it just felt like you were taking everything I cared about away from me. And I didn't understand why." He paused a few beats, "I'm sorry too."

Lucas played with a furry part of his chair until he realized there were several hairs coming off in his hand. With distaste, he rubbed them off on his jeans. "Dad, can... can I ask you something? Will you be honest?"

"Of course, I don't want to hide anything from you. But if you ask me where babies come from, I'm afraid that is a different conversation." He chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.

Lucas offered a half smile, but anyone could see his heart wasn't in it. "Um, what did you mean... about paying off mom?" He stared hard at a fox skin draped over the foot of the bed as he spoke.

"Oh... shit... I mean..." Lawrence winced. "This is going to be hard to explain. I just didn't know where she would end up. I thought if she had custody of you, I may never get to see you. And I didn't know if you would be left in a hotel room some where in a different country. I wanted you with me, so I funded her trips and her fun." His voice went quiet, "she was more interested in seeing the world than you most of the time."

"I don't remember anything like that," Lucas admitted.

Lawrence shrugged, "I didn't want you to view your mother like that. She became the parent that got to come back when ever she wanted to and shower you with gifts. You were always so happy as a child when she did."

"What about high school?" Lucas asked, trying not show how much the questions were affecting him. Having his father open up like this was jarring, but it was what he needed. "Why did everything change so much?"

"I just didn't know how to deal with you." Lucas looked up sharply at the statement. "No, it wasn't anything you could help." Lawrence assured him. "In grade school, we knew you were smart, after you tested completely out and got into computers... it was like nothing I ever expected or understood." He leaned over and put a hand on his son's knee. "Lucas, you need to understand something. When I was a teen, they told my parents I was smart, very smart. I got use to everyone just taking whatever I said as true. If the brainiac said it's right, it must be."

He shook his head and raised his eyes to the ceiling. "When you came a long... you just blew me out of the water." He laughed shortly. "I mean, one moment you would be lecturing to the best minds of my generation about protecting the Stock Exchange computers, and the next, you were yelling at me that I made your mac n' cheese wrong!"

"You never put enough cheese in it." Lucas snorted. His father looked at him and they both started to laugh. "Come on, it's mac n' cheese, not mac n' mac." Their laughter softened and Lucas grew morose looking again. "I'm sorry I'm such a freak."

"You're not a freak buddy, you are a gift." Lawrence said softly. "I just didn't know what to do with it."

Lucas scowled, "you really need to stop calling me that. I'm not a kid anymore."

"You'll always be a kid to me, no matter how old you are or how many degrees you earn." The father smiled at his son's softening scowl. "Nothing is going to change that."

"Do you remember when you started calling me that?" Lucas asked sheepishly.

"Of course I do, the weekend you destroyed my car."

"We put it back together," Lucas retorted, then smiled widely. "That was a great weekend."

"That it was buddy."

Ben resisted the urge to sneak up on Kristin. She was leaning against Lawrence's door listening intently. If she suddenly screamed, they would both be caught. He quietly cleared his throat, "What's the verdict?" She jumped back a little guiltily and put a finger to her lips. Kristin waved Ben down the hall into her room.

He looked around in horror at the decor. It was completely covered in dolls, on shelves, the bed, seated on the floor. There were even pictures of old dolls hanging on the walls. "That is so not right." He choked out. "Why would some one do this on purpose?" He finally turned to Kristin to find her staring at him in confusion. "You can sleep in my room, I'll take the floor. I can't subject you to this." He gestured around the room expecting something to jump out and grab him.

"I picked this room, Lieutenant, I like it."

"Oh..." Ben shuddered visibility. "So how much did you hear?"

"Not much, which is a good thing, they aren't yelling. And I heard quite a bit of laughter. I think Lucas and his father will be ok." Kristin reported happily.

"Great, good job Doc." Ben raised his hand in a high five formation but only got the very British look of annoyance in return.

Author's Note: Ug... dolls... Can't stand them, they freak me out. The B n' B is biased on one owned by our family friends, I'm exaggerating a bit, but it is themed. And they did have an old peep show in a box. Hopefully the mush is over for awhile.