Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with General Hospital.

To Choose Life

Chapter 6

We emerged from the exam room where I'd had my sonogram and I saw Georgie standing at the nurses station, wearing her blue volunteer uniform. I watched Dillon tense when he saw her and I assumed he felt guilty about kissing me when she had only been outside of the room. He turned to look at me. "Go talk to her," I said softly.

"I wanted to talk to you first," he said gently.

My mother nodded. "I'll wait over here," she said delicately.

I turned my attention back to Dillon. "Why did you tell my Mom?" I asked sullenly.

"You deserve to have your mother with you through this."

"What if she had have freaked out?"

"Lucky knows I did it. I called him first and he took me to her room. He was with me when I told your mother that you were pregnant."

"What exactly did you tell her?" I asked nervously, afraid to hear his answer.

"That you and I were together back in the summer and you got pregnant. I revealed nothing else," he promised.

"Thank you Dillon," I said, as I breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

"Anytime Lulu."

"Can my mom and I be alone now?" I asked gently, hoping to persuade him to talk to Georgie, so I would stop feeling so guilty about the kiss.

"Of course. Can we maybe try and get together a little more often?"

"I'd like that."

"Good. I'll see you later?"

"Okay," I agreed and watched him walk towards Georgie. I turned my attention to my mother so that I wouldn't see her smile.

"You want to tell me what is going on between you and Devan?"

"Dillon?"

"That's what I meant."

"How about over lunch?" I suggested, feeling extremely hungry all of a sudden.

"Sounds good," she agreed.

XXXXX

We arrived at a small coffee shop, where I hoped no one would recognize us. Especially since I was pretty sure my mother was supposed to still be in Shady Brook. "So are you ready to tell me?" my mother prodded.

"Dillon and I got together back in the summer and I got pregnant. However, we had broken up before we knew that I was pregnant. He ended up with Georgie Jones," I said evasively, leaving out the part where I lied and destroyed their marriage. I was still too cautious to upset her. "He offered to marry me when he found out about the baby, but I didn't want to marry him when he didn't love me."

"Do you love him?"

Her question hit me hard. I hadn't faced this question since he went back to Georgie. I had avoided it, not wanting to accept the truth and have to process the pain. Tears filled my eyes but I still looked up and met her gaze. I couldn't form the words, so all I did was nod.

"Oh Honey, I'm so sorry," she said gently. "Although, I'm a firm believer that love will win out in the end."

"Well that makes one of us," I revealed. "He loves Georgie and who am I to take that away from him?"

"Are you sure he doesn't love you too? Why did you guys break up?"

I felt my heart skip a beat. I didn't know how to possibly avoid this question. Thankfully, the waitress interrupted us. "What can I get for ya?"

She took our orders and then left the table. My mother eyed me suspiciously and then opened her mouth to speak. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

I searched for an excuse so that I wouldn't have to tell her the truth. "We had different interests," I covered.

My mother nodded. "I see. So how are you feeling physically?"

"I'm okay. My morning sickness is mostly gone."

"That's good."

"I just wish I still fit all of my clothes," I admitted.

"You will again one day. How far along are you now?"

"Four months."

"It must have been pretty scary to find out that you were pregnant."

"It was but Dad, Lucky, Nikolas and Carly were all there for me."

"I'm glad to hear that. I wish I could have been there for you Lulu."

"Me too but you're here now and that is all that matters."

"And I'm not going anywhere," she said, as she reached out and touched my face. I smiled at her but that did nothing to stop the tears from spilling down my reddened cheeks. Finally after all these years, my mother was back and by my side. I had forgotten how safe I felt in her presence. I forgot the love that radiated from her. My life felt complete when my mother was in it. Having her around, gave me hope that maybe my child and I could survive after all.

After lunch my mother suggested we stop off and visit her mother, Grandma Lesley. I nodded in agreement but wondered if my father knew at all about Mom's absence at Shady Brook.

XXXXX

I walked with my mother up the front steps of Grandma Lesley's home. I watched as she leaned over the porch, probably reliving a favourite memory. She found the key and we went inside. I watched my mother take in her surroundings and smiled as she looked at pictures.

Suddenly we heard the key in the lock and the door opened. We turned at the sound and I watched Grandma Lesley register that her daughter was standing in her living room. "Laura?" she exclaimed, her groceries plummeted to the floor as she raced across the room. She wrapped my mother in her arms and sobbed. "You're back."

I watched the two women weep as they held one another. "Why didn't anyone tell me?" my grandmother asked, turning to look at me.

"Dad, just hasn't gotten around to it," I covered. "He's had a lot on his mind."

"I had a right to know," she said sullenly.

"Well you know now," my mother said gently.

"How long have you been back?"

"Only a few days. I left Shady Brook today to attend Lulu's first songram."

"You know about the pregnancy?"

"Yes I do."

I smiled at them and rested my hand against my stomach, subconsciously.

"I've seen pictures of Spencer. Lucky told me Elizabeth is expecting and now so is Lulu. It's a wonderful time to come back," my mother exclaimed cheerfully.

"And we're glad to have you back," I said, placing my hand on her shoulder. I looked to my grandmother who was watching the scene with some concern. Her eyes met mine and we nodded at one another, assuring each other that now was not the time, to elaborate on the stories we had told her.

The door to the house opened and my father stood on the other side. "Laura I was worried sick about you."

"I was with Lulu."

"Nobody told me."

"Well Lucky knew."

"Luke, how could you keep this from me?" Grandma Lesley shouted at him.

"I meant to call. I was just so worried that something would go wrong but it hasn't and she's back."

"Are you all hiding something from me?" My mother asked suddenly, her voice low.

"Not at all," my father defended. "Everything's fine. You're fine now."

My mother looked at each one of us, looking for the lies that we were trying to conceal. Finally she inhaled deeply. "I'm sorry, it's just a lot for me to take in."

"Why don't you go take a nap and rest, Angel?" my father asked soothingly.

"No, I don't want to take a nap. I want to see everyone that I haven't seen in four years," she insisted.

My father nodded. "I just don't want you to push it."

"I'm going out for a bit," she said again. "I'll be back in a few hours."

We all nodded and watched her leave. My father then turned to me. "Why didn't you call Lesley Lu?"

"I didn't know she'd escaped. Dillon brought her to my appointment."

"What appointment?"

"My sonogram," I spat.

"She knows you're pregnant?"

I nodded.

"How did she take the news?"

"I wasn't there. Lucky and Dillon told her, ask them."

"So Dillon knows she's awake?"

"Yeah, what's the big deal?"

"I haven't told Tracy."

We let his words hang in the air. The loveless marriage that he'd entered with Tracy had never really been too much of a concern. Now however, I worried about my mother finding out that my father had moved on while she was trapped in her own mind. "Maybe you should do that," I suggested.

"I've got to go. I'll contact you guys later."

I waved and turned to my grandmother. "Are you really okay?" she asked me softly.

"I'm fine," I lied. I wasn't actually fine. I was worried and I couldn't get what had happened between Dillon and myself out of my mind. "I've got to go to."

My grandmother nodded. "Lulu?"

"Yes?"

"I'm glad you're mother is around to be there for you during this pregnancy," she offered.

"Thank you." I waved at her and she waved back. I needed to get away for a while and think.

I found myself at Lucky's door. I knocked and he called out to come in. "Hey Lulu is everything okay?"

I nodded and came further into the room. "I'm scared we're going to lose Mom again."

"Why? Is everything okay?"

I nodded. "So far. She came to my appointment."

"I know. Did that go okay?"

"The baby's healthy and developing properly. It went fine. I'm just worried that if Mom finds out the truth about my contemplating abortion or my lies to Dillon, that she'll be so disappointed that she'll slip away again."

"First of all, most teen mothers consider abortion. I'm sure the thought crossed her mind. Second of all, she would not be disappointed in you. You made mistakes Lulu. We all did. I'm in rehab, but we're working to fix those mistakes and that is all that Mom would ask for. Mom isn't going to leave because of a few things that you've done. Everything is going to be okay."

I smiled at him. "I got to see my baby," I revealed, as the tears finally spilled down my cheeks.

Lucky's smile grew large and his face lit up. "How was it?"

"Really special. I can't believe I almost killed my child."

"But you didn't. That's all that matters now." He came toward me and slid his arms around my shoulders. "You're going to be a great mother Lulu. You'll see."

"I wish I could believe that."

"You will one day. If I can be a father, you can be a mother." I hugged him back tightly.

"You will make a great father. I know you will. I've seen you with Cam. What experience do I have?"

"You have Mom's years of experience to use to your advantage. She'll be there for you every step of the way."

I smiled. "I am so glad she's back."

"So am I."