He smiled as he got to Katie's. This was a new start for him and he was happy about it. He grabbed his laptop case, suitcase and box of CD's and made his way to the door. When he got there he laughed as he remembered that Reid hadn't given him a key. He rang the doorbell.
Katie smiled when she answered. "Reid forgot to give you a key didn't he?" she asked as she let him in.
"I think we should be grateful he let you know I was coming," Luke said.
"I ran into him at the hospital when I went to see Chris," she said as Luke set his things down. "He told me what happened with Noah. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," he said as he sat down on the sofa. "I think the thing that's bothering me the most is that my mother sent Noah to break up me and Reid. I could have handled it if he had come on his own."
"Yeah I don't know what I would do if my mother suddenly decided to mess with my love life."
"Well, I don't know about your mother, but mine should figure out her love life before she starts messing with mine. Did you know she's started seeing your brother?"
"What?" Katie asked shocked. "Craig is seeing Lily?"
"That's what they told Carly when she saw them together."
"I think I'm going to have a long talk with my brother after Chris gets out of the hospital."
"How is he doing?"
Katie sighed. "John says he's starting to respond to the treatment. Kim brought Nancy to see him today. She told him off for keeping this a secret."
"Good for her," Luke laughed. "I know I wouldn't want to be on the bad side of Nancy Hughes."
Luke's phone rang. "I have to take this. It's Abigail. She's coming in for Dad and Molly's wedding next week."
Katie nodded as Luke answered his phone. He talked to his sister for a few minutes then hung up. He sighed. "I have to tell Dad that Aaron's not going to make it."
"Why not?" she asked concerned. She knew Aaron's history with Chris and Allison and hoped he wasn't missing his father's wedding because of that.
"Aunt Julie had another relapse," Luke explained. "I'm not sure he wanted to come anyway. He and Molly have never really gotten along. He thinks Mom and Dad should get back together. At least that's what he said when I called to tell him Dad was alive."
"He never wanted your dad to get back together with his mom?"
"Dad and Aunt Julie were never really together. Aaron knows that. He also knows that Uncle Caleb and Aunt Julie love each other very much. He just thinks Molly would be better off with someone who would love her heart and soul."
"Sounds like you feel the same way," Katie observed.
"I don't know," Luke sighed. "I like Molly. She's been really great with Natalie and Ethan. She helped Faith with her issues when Mom and Dad couldn't get through to her. I know that she and Dad love each other. I just think everything happened too quickly after that congressman died."
"So do you think they should get married?"
"I just finished telling my mom that I'm an adult and I should make my own decisions. I think it would look bad if I told my dad what to do with his love life. I do think it's good for my parents to be apart though. It's so confusing growing up not knowing if today is the day your parents are going to break up or get back together."
"Yeah, I didn't have to deal with that," Katie sighed.
"How old were you when your dad died?" Luke asked.
"I couldn't have been more than two or three. Margo and Tom named Casey after him."
"Yeah, I think he told me that once. I just thought of something. Your relationship with Chris has got to be a little strange for Casey."
"Why is that?" she asked as she gave him a look.
"Well, you're his aunt and Chris is his uncle."
Katie laughed. "You're right. I never thought about it like that. But hey, I did marry two brothers so this isn't the strangest relationship in my life."
"Or the strangest one in Oakdale. I think my parents might have that one."
"Yeah, run that one by me again," Katie said as the door opened and Reid walked in.
Luke got up and went over to him. "You forgot to give me a key."
"I didn't forget," Reid denied. "I just got distracted when we were interrupted by your grandmother."
"Do I want to know what you two were doing when Lucinda interrupted you?" Katie asked, grinning as she looked at them.
"We were just kissing," Reid glared at her. Then he looked at Luke. "Waiting for me before you take your things into the bedroom?"
"Not really," Luke grinned. "Katie and I were just talking."
"Uh oh, maybe having you two in the same house wasn't such a good idea after all," Reid said in mock horror.
"Behave Reid," Katie said as she got up. "I'm going to check on Jacob then I'll start dinner. You guys can get Luke's things put away."
"Yes Mom," Reid teased as he grabbed Luke's box of CD's. "Where are your books?"
"I didn't have time to grab them before my mom came home," Luke explained as he followed Reid. "Besides, I figured it could keep until we find a place of our own."
Reid smiled as he set the box on the bed and pulled Luke close. "Our own place. I like the sound of that."
"So does that mean I'm totally forgiven for blackmailing you into coming to this one horse town?" Luke grinned.
"You're getting there," Reid said as he kissed Luke.
They got Luke's things put away and went back out to the living room. Katie finished getting dinner ready and they joined her at the table. "So," Reid said in between bites, "what were you two talking about when I came home?"
Katie grinned as Luke rolled his eyes. "We were talking about Luke's parents and their strange relationship," she said.
"Oh you mean the fact they can't seem to decide if they want to be married to each other or not?"
"No, I mean the fact that technically he's her uncle," Luke said as Reid nearly chocked on his drink.
"Excuse me," Reid coughed.
Luke sighed. "Okay, let's see if I can explain this. Dad's sister Iva was sent to Grandpa's brother's farm. They had done it before with Uncle Seth. Kind of a rite of passage, I guess. Anyway, Josh, Dad's cousin, raped Aunt Iva. She ran away from the farm and couldn't bring herself to come home, especially after she found out she was pregnant. She gave birth to twin girls. Grandmother adopted Mom and Joe DeAngelo and his wife adopted Aunt Rose. When Mom and Dad met, Aunt Iva realized Mom was one of the babies she had given up. Then Josh showed up. Somehow Aunt Iva confessed that she and Josh were Mom's biological parents. Mom and Dad had been dating and that led Grandma Emma to make a confession of her own. Aunt Iva was adopted. And it turned out Josh wasn't Dad's biological cousin either. His Mom had an affair with Cal Stricklyn."
"The oil guy?" Reid asked.
"Yeah, why?"
"You really are a trust fund baby."
"Are you saying you know my great-grandfather?"
"He donated to the hospital in Dallas I worked for a few years ago. Specifically the pediatrics unit. He made sure they had new dialysis equipment. Said his great-grandson had a kidney transplant. When he made the donation to the hospital, he was joined by his son. I thought his son looked too young to be a grandfather."
"Aunt Iva was 14 that summer," Luke said. "I think Josh was fifteen. He had been abused by his step-father and didn't know not to use violence. He went through therapy with the help of Frannie Hughes and Aunt Meg. He and Mom have become pretty close. It took Aunt Rose longer to forgive both Aunt Iva and Josh."
Reid just shook his head. "I knew this town was strange."
Luke just laughed. "At least I didn't send you running for the hills."
"I don't scare that easily," Reid said as Katie got up.
"I'm going to go by the hospital and see Chris. Do you two mind watching Jacob for me?"
"Not at all," Luke said as he got up and started to clear the table. "Does he still need his dinner?"
"Yeah. He got his nap late so he'll be hungry soon."
"I'll take care of it," Luke promised as Katie left.
Reid watched Luke as he cleared the table. "So what should we do until the drool patrol wakes up?"
Before Luke could answer, Jacob started to cry. Luke just laughed as Reid hung his head in defeat. "You go get him while I get his bottle ready."
"You know she's started feeding him that baby food crap," Reid said as he got up.
"Yeah, I know. The bottle will help keep him calm while I get the rest of it ready."
Reid just nodded and went to get Jacob. Luke got the bottle ready and gave it to Reid as he came back in with the baby. Luke picked out some baby food and turned to face Reid and Jacob.
"Give him to me and I'll feed him."
"I've fed him before."
"You've fed him this stuff?" Luke asked as he held up the jars of baby food.
Reid sighed as Luke put the jars down and took Jacob from him. He watched as Luke sat down and put Jacob in the crook of one arm and started to feed him. "How do you know how to do that?"
"I had to take care of Ethan a lot when he was a baby," Luke said as he shrugged a little. "Mom and Dad had a lot they were going through and Faith and Natalie were too little to help."
"You've spent a lot of time taking care of other people," Reid observed.
"They're my family. What was I supposed to do?"
"Not have the responsibility of three kids when you were just a kid yourself. We've talked about this."
"I know," Luke said, not taking his eyes off of Jacob. "Maybe now that Dad's marrying Molly all three of them can focus on being parents again."
"As long as they remember you're their son, not their nanny, I'll be a happy man," Reid said as he sat there and watched Luke with Jacob. "You really are great with him."
"Yeah, well, like I said, I helped take care of Ethan."
"You ever thought about it?"
"Thought about what?" Luke asked as he looked up at Reid.
"Thought about having kids someday," Reid said softly.
"Have you?"
"Let's just say I've been giving it some actual thought recently."
Luke smiled a little. "I have to admit, I hadn't really given it much thought until recently myself."
"You and Mr. Mayer never…"
"Reid, Noah and I barely talked about our relationship. Kids never came up. And besides, can you picture Noah as a father?"
"Not really. Of course I never pictured myself as a father either."
"Yeah, I guess you have a point," Luke said as Jacob indicated he was finished eating.
Luke got Jacob cleaned up while Reid cleaned up the kitchen. After they played with the baby a little bit, Reid put Jacob to bed.
As the days passed, Katie, Reid and Luke got into a routine. Reid and Luke were looking for a place to live but didn't mind helping Katie with Jacob in the meantime. After Chris was released from the hospital he started coming over to spend time with Katie and Jacob.
Luke had dragged Reid to Holden and Molly's wedding, which went off without a hitch. Reid had actually been able to bond with Ethan and Natalie a little. He was impressed with the way Abigail stood up to Lily when she tried to crash the ceremony and he took Faith's side when she insisted on remaining at the farm while Holden and Molly were on their honeymoon.
"There are plenty of adults living here, Ms Walsh," he had argued. "Not to mention the fact that her cousin is here and her older sister. She is old enough to make this decision for herself."
Holden had thanked Reid for stepping forward to support Faith. He was relieved to hear that Luke was finally moving on with his life. "Don't get me wrong," he had told Reid. "At first I wasn't sure about you seeing my son. But I see something in Luke when he's with you that I haven't seen in a long time. He's happy with you. He hasn't been happy in a long time. However, I'll tell you something right now, if you hurt him…"
"I think I know what you're going to say," Reid had stopped him. "I will do everything in my power not to hurt him."
Holden had nodded and rejoined Molly for the reception.