Chapter Twenty-One
Georgie walked up behind him, extending a cup
of hot chocolate.
"Here," she said quietly, testing the
waters. He turned around, smiling slightly.
"You're talking to
me?" She offered a half-smile.
"Yeah Lucas, I'm talking to
you." He took the proffered cup.
"Thanks." He turned back to
stare at the fireplace. "Remember when we were little, how we used
to beg to stay up on Christmas Eve?"
She laughed. "Yeah, we
used to drive Mom and Bobbie crazy, running around, all high on the
cookies-"
"-that we'd leave out for Santa." He finished.
He shook his head at her, smiling, then turned back to the mantle,
fingering the stockings.
"Hey Georgie," Lucas
said.
"Yeah?"
"What happened to us?" His voice was
quiet, strained.
"What do you mean?" Her voice was as quiet as
hers. He looked sidelong at her.
"We used to count on each
other. We've barely spoken in the last few months. How
come?"
Georgie exhaled. "Do you really want to do this here?
Now? On Christmas Eve?" She looked in his eyes and conceded.
"Okay." She took a breath. "The reason we haven't spoken
recently, Lucas, is because we got to the point when I could only
count on you to be around when I didn't need you to be so much. And
it never had anything to do with you being protective, or caring
about me-"
"I do care about you, Georgie," he protested,
looking weak. She softened a bit.
"I know you do," she
conceded. "I know you always will. But when I wanted to be around
you more than anything, you only looked my way when Maxie didn't
find you convenient. Then when Dillon came along, and he wanted to
spend time with me, no matter who else was around, suddenly that
wasn't convenient for you. What was it, Lucas? You didn't want me
but you didn't want anyone else to have me? That's not fair to
me."
"But Georgie," Lucas objected. "Dillon is-"
"-Dillon
is a teenage boy who thinks he's invincible," Georgie interrupted
with brutal honesty. "He flies by the seat of his pants, he does
stupid things, he breaks rules, and he's way too enamored by the
desire to be some cinematic hero. But," she emphasized, looking
Lucas right in the eye, "no matter what dumbass move he's
pulling, whether it's taking off to a hotel or risking his own life
by driving a car into a tree, he always does it with me in mind. He
makes me his priority, Lucas. Do you understand that? Even if what he
does is dumb, he does it thinking of me. I can trust that I'm the
uppermost thing on his mind at some point of every day. Was I ever
that for you, Lucas?"
He hung his head. "No," he whispered.
"I'm sorry." Georgie reached out and pushed up his chin so he
was forced to look at her.
"Don't be," she replied. "It's
fine. But don't try to tell me that Dillon isn't right for me
just because you're mad that he turned out to be what you
couldn't."
"What?" he asked. "Your boyfriend?
Georgie..." his voice let Georgie know that he was going to try to
let her down gently. She didn't give him the chance, because he
didn't need to. She knocked into his shoulder, a little
playfully.
"No," she said, the hint of a laugh in her voice,
"My white knight." Lucas raised his eyebrows. "Come on," she
laughed ruefully. "Ever since we were little, you've always
wanted to be mine and Maxie's hero."
"I used to be," he
whispered in a tiny voice. She smiled.
"Yeah..." Georgie said
slowly. "Things changed."
"I didn't want to lose you to
Dillon," Lucas confessed. "I still don't."
"Lose me to
Dillon?" She repeated. "How? Do you want me, Lucas? Have you
ever?" Again, he shook his head, eyes downcast.
"No," he
confessed. "But I don't want to lose you, Georgie. I want us to
be friends." She laughed at the irony of the statement, remembering
the conversation she had once had with Dillon.
"Friends is a
totally evil way of saying you're ugly."
"God," she
smiled, "I used to hate that term - friends. It felt like such a
cheap letdown."
"And now?" He asked, hesitantly.
"I
like the sound of it." She paused. "But we can't go back to how
we were, Lucas. Not if you're going to badmouth Dillon."
Lucas
sighed. "He's good to you?"
"Yes."
"And he makes
you happy? Truly?"
"Truly."
"Okay," Lucas nodded.
"I'll try. I really will."
Georgie smiled. "Thank you."
They regarded one another, the air between them more relaxed then
it had been in a long time. Then, with a slight hesitation, Lucas
extended his arms. Georgie hesitated a second herself, then stepped
into them, wrapping her arms around his neck. He put his arms around
her waist, hugging her tightly, relieved that they'd cleared the
air.
"Merry Christmas, Georgie."
"Merry Christmas,
Lucas."
"Look at you guys, all holly jolly," a voice teased.
Georgie and Lucas looked over and smiled.
"Hey Maxie." Georgie
noted the slightly wistful tone in Lucas's happy voice. He had
never really gotten over Maxie. Herself, she was happy to finally be
getting along with her sister. Maxie draped her arms over Georgie and
Lucas's shoulders, shifting them into a three way hug.
"Three
Musketeers," Georgie joked.
"Yup," cracked Lucas. "Keeping
up with the Joneses."
"Aw," groaned Maxie, "how much
eggnog have you been drinking?"
"Hey!" Lucas protested. He
and Maxie pushed each other playfully. Georgie started to slip
away.
"Georgie!" Maxie called. She turned back.
"Don't
go." Lucas smiled at her. She smiled back.
"I'm just gonna
go get some cider," she hedged. "You guys have fun." She turned
to leave again, but Lucas called after her.
"Wait, Georgie!"
She turned again.
"Yeah?"
"Are we..." he made
questioning gestures. She smiled, nodding.
"Yeah, we're good."
He tossed her a wink and a smile and she drifted off to the window.
She looked at the snow swirling around outside, her mind drifting to
the moments outside Kelly's, clasped in Dillon's arms. Closing
her eyes, she could nearly feel his lips against hers. Georgie
sighed, content, yearning. She wrapped her arms around herself,
feeling a shiver.
"Penny for your thoughts." She whirled
around.
"Hey Lucky." He came over and slung an arm over her
shoulder, squeezing her.
"Hey there, kiddo." She smiled up at
him, the wistfulness evident in her face. He chuckled. "Where is he
tonight?"
She grinned ruefully. "Ned promised to bail him out
if the Quartermaine shindig got to be too much." Lucky
laughed.
"And God knows, no Quartermaine party has ever been any
less than too much..."
"Yeah..." Georgie trailed off. Lucky
smoothed her hair.
"But you wish he was here." She smiled,
almost ironically.
"Not really." He nodded, understanding.
"You going to the thing tomorrow?"
"At the hospital?"
she asked.
"Yeah. Em told me that Ned and Alan are setting up
the traditional mechanical train in her hospital room."
"The
mechanical train?" Georgie asked.
"Yeah, the Q's have this
old model train. They spend every Christmas fighting over how to set
it up."
Georgie laughed. She could practically hear Dillon's
teeth grinding and smiled softly, missing him.
Lucky noticed and
kissed her forehead in a comforting gesture.
"Lucky!" Bobbie
called from across the room, gesturing him over. He headed toward
her, as she motioned everyone else in. Georgie drifted into the
living room, where people were gathering. She looked around at the
mix of people who somehow made up parts of a family. Lucky had swept
Lulu up into his arms on his way over to Bobbie and now moved toward
his aunt, holding his little sister. Leslie stood with them, looking
proudly at her grandchildren, but desperately missing her daughter.
The absence of Laura, and Luke, was palpable. So was Felicia's
absence. She had called, telling the girls and Mac how sad she was
that she wouldn't be able to make it home for Christmas, but that
Mariah simply couldn't be left. Lucas was talking animatedly to his
father. Georgie caught Maxie's eye and smiled.
Across the room,
Bobbie handed a parcel to Lucky. He smiled, knowing what it was as he
unwrapped it. He hugged his aunt tightly, and placed Lulu on the
floor next to Leslie, walking over to the stepladder that stood near
the tree.
At the same time, a hush came over the room. Mac came
over and put his arms around Maxie and Georgie. Georgie and Maxie
leaned against Mac. Georgie caught Maxie's look. She knew that even
though her sister loved Mac and thought of him as their father,
sometimes she couldn't help but miss Frisco. Georgie was sometimes
jealous that she had never known her real dad, but also figured that
she was lucky not to feel like anything was missing. She squeezed
Maxie's hand. Mac kissed the top of Maxie's head,
understanding.
Georgie watched as Tony led Lucas over to Bobbie.
Bobbie and Tony exchanged looks. So much had happened between them,
so much hurt, but an understanding had grown. Their eyes drifted to
the candle burning on the mantle - for B.J. Lucas watched his
parents, blinking in the light of the flame. His eyes drifted to
Maxie, knowing that she had seen the candle too. Unconsciously, her
hand had drifted up to her chest and was placed over her heart. They
locked sad but grateful eyes.
Across the room, Lucky was ascending
the stepladder.
"Look," said Lulu in awe. "The angel."
They
all looked as Lucky placed the coveted angel atop the Christmas tree.
In the absence of Luke and Laura, Lucky, barely in his twenties, had
become the head of the Spencer family. Putting the angel on the tree
had become his job. He paused, making sure it was on correctly, then
descended the ladder. They looked on at the tree, seeing the angel
sitting on top, keeping them safe. Georgie felt warm, wondering what
angel had kept Dillon safe in that car, and if it was the same one
who had brought him into her life. She flushed. She wasn't
typically so reverent, but there was something about what they'd
all been through, what they'd all overcome. There was something,
despite the cheesiness of the sentiment, about Christmas.
"Here
we are as in olden days, happy golden days of yore..." Tony's
voice rang out.
"Faithful friends who are dear to us, gather
near to us once more," they all responded.
"Through
the years, we all will be together, if the fates allow, hang a
shining star upon the highest bough. And have yourself a merry little
Christmas now..."
Later on that evening, Georgie was
curled up on the couch in her white flannel nightgown that Felicia
had sent her , a blanket over her lap. In one hand, she held a cup of
hot chocolate with a candy cane. In the other, was a copy of her
favorite book, "Little Women." Mac had retired for the evening
and Maxie was upstairs, talking on the phone, to Kyle, Georgie
presumed.
As Georgie turned the softened pages and sipped her
peppermint accented hot cocoa, Laurie and Jo talked easily at the
Gardiner's party. Georgie smiled at the familiar words.
The
doorbell rang.
Startled, Georgie looked at the clock. It was
eleven fifteen at night. Who could possibly be ringing the doorbell
at this hour? She waited a second, wondering if Mac was going to come
down. When nothing happened, she put the book and the cup on the
table and rose, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders. Georgie
walked to the door and opened it. Her face broke out in a huge smile.
"Dillon!"