"Dad's coming back into town tomorrow night," Lucky tells me two days later over lunch. He'd come by Kelly's on his break, so I'd taken advantage of my own break and sat down to a decent meal with my brother.
"I guess I'll be telling him in a few days, then," I grumble, looking down at the turkey sandwich emotionlessly.
My brother smiles reassuringly at me, reaching across the table to pat my hand. "He'll take it all in stride, Lu."
"And if not, I've always got Bobbie as a back up. We're telling her and Lucas tonight," I explain. "I kind of feel bad that she doesn't already know, but there have been so many people we've had to tell."
"She'll understand. You know Aunt Bobbie, she'll be worried but supportive," Lucky remarks. "I'll be there to support you, too. I know how Dad can be, but usually, he'll come through. It's not like you're becoming a cop or something."
"This is true," I laugh. "And he likes Dillon."
"I just don't know how much he's going to like the idea of Dillon deflowering his little girl," he counters, shuddering at the thought. "Speaking of which, when are you two moving into the house?"
"This weekend."
"Well, Liz and I don't have the money to buy you a house, but we do have the time and ability to help you do any maintenance to it. Your sister-in-law happens to be a very talented painter, and I can fix about anything."
"Thanks, Luck, I'm sure I will need help fixing up the nursery. I want to start on it as soon as we find out if we're having a little Lucca or a little Lorelai."
"Lucca? Lorelai?"
"Those are the names we picked out. Lucca Spencer, after all the Lucas men in my life, and Spencer because I figured Dad would have a fit otherwise," I explain, causing my brother to laugh. "Lorelai is for Mom and Dillon's grandmother. The two greatest women either of us has ever known. Dillon picked Grace for a middle name, saying that I remind him of Grace Kelly."
"The names are beautiful, Lu. Mom would love them. And don't worry too much about Dad, he can't really do anything other than make a few useless threats and go on one of his tirades."
"Hey, Cousins," Carly calls loudly as she sits in the vacant chair at the table.
"Well, look what the cat dragged in," Lucky taunts.
I elbowed him in the ribs and threw him a dirty look. "Hey, Carly. Are you on for dinner tonight?"
"You invited her?" Lucky asks.
"I want all the Spencers there, including Carly and the boys. She's bringing Jason, and we're all going to sit down and have dinner like a normal family. Well, as normal as we can manage."
"Oh, goody, Saint Elizabeth will be there."
"Carly," I warn her. "Please, can't everyone just pretend to like each other for one night? For me and for Aunt Bobbie?"
"Fine," they mumbled in unison.
"Anyway, yes, I'll be there, that's why I stopped by actually. Just wanted to make sure that it's still at seven at Mama's house, is that right?"
I nod and smile at my cousin as Lucky stands up. "Well, I will see you ladies tonight. Until then, I have to get back to finding the bad boys."
"Give 'em hell, Detective," I tell him as he heads out the door.
"So, Mama says that Luke is on his way back to town. Nervous?"
"Actually, yeah," I admit. "I've tried to convince myself that it'll be easy and that my dad won't care. But I know deep inside that he will care. He actually has a somewhat normal protective side, probably the only way he is like most fathers."
Carly smiled at me, a small smile playing across her lips. "That's how it was like with my father. Every once in awhile, his agenda would fall by the wayside and I would get this rare glimpse into how much he actually loved me."
"I know that my father never wanted to be a parent, but my mother wanted children. When she got sick, he kind of abandoned ship with me, but over the past year, we've built our own version of a relationship."
"Your dad should thank his lucky stars that he got you two, no pun intended," Carly tells me. "Lucky and you were both great kids from what I saw. For the most part you guys let him off easy."
"Until now."
"Lulu, you can't think of things that way."
"I'm not, I promise. Actually, I've never been happier in my entire life. Dillon wants to be a father. He's told me so many times that he is looking forward to our life together. I think it'll start to feel real once we go for the first sonogram and move into the house."
"I'm really happy for you both," Carly replies genuinely. "I don't really know Dillon, but from what I do know of him, he's your Jason. Other than my two children, there is no one in this world that means more to me than that man. I hope you have found the same in Dillon."
I'm about to respond when two palms fall flat against my eyes. In the darkness, I know the familiar scent of the skin, the recognizable feeling of the touch. "Dillon."
"In the flesh, how'd you guess?" he inquires.
"I know you," I answer as he takes his hands away and Carly stands up. He leans down to kiss me and blows a kiss to my womb.
"Well, I'm out of here. I have to go get the boys from Sonny's. I'll see you two kids tonight."
"Bye," we reply in unison, barely noticing her departure as we cannot take our eyes off each other.
"I missed you this morning," he says once we are alone again.
"Only two more nights, and you won't ever have to miss me again."
"I always miss you when you go away."
"You certainly have a way with the lines."
He winks at me. "So, tonight we tell Bobbie and Lucas."
"And we'll tell my dad in a few days."
"Your dad's back?"
"In two days time, actually. Lucky just told me a bit ago."
"On the up side, that will be our last big reveal."
"We should have just taken out an ad in the Port Charles Herald, it would have been easier."
"Oh, yeah, my family would have loved the public scandal element of that."
I yawn deeply as a wave of nausea washes over me. Looking down at my plate, the thought of consuming another bite disgusts me. "Do you want the rest of this?"
"You should eat it."
"I had half plus the fruit salad. I'm full, and if I eat anything else, I might throw it back up."
"Sexy," he retorts, reaching across the table for the sandwich. "So, what is the dress for tonight?"
"Casual, it's just a dinner at Bobbie's."
"Oh, I thought maybe I could take you to buy a new dress this afternoon, but if it's casual then that seems unnecessary."
"Well, as much as I would love a dress, it does seem unnecessary," I answer. "However, I would like to go look at some baby things."
"Whatever you want," he says. There is mayonnaise on the corner of his lip, which he licks off. The very sight makes me want to kiss him, so I do.
"What was that for?"
"Nothing. Everything." I raise my hand to call for the check. Looking around the diner, I realize that Penny has disappeared, only to be replaced with Georgie. "Oh, great."
"Hmm?" he murmurs, looking up at me in confusion.
"Penny's shift ended. Georgie is on."
"Oh, great," he echoes. "Let's just pay the check and get out of here." Georgie comes over and smacks the slip of paper down on the table. Dillon reaches for it, beating me, and drops a twenty on the table wordlessly.
"Let me pay, it was my family's lunch."
"Lu, your family is my family now. My money is your money now. It doesn't matter who pays, it's all coming from the same place," he remarks kindly.
"Well, isn't that just quaint," Georgie snips.
Dillon ignores her and focuses all his attention on me. "Let's start out at Wyndham's. I'd like to look at a few things for our new house."
"Your new what?" Georgie asks.
I look at Dillon and then at her. "Our new home."
"Since when can you afford a house?" she asks Dillon.
"Ned bought it as a gift."
"When we were married, we lived in a tiny room above this hole. You get that skank pregnant, and your brother gives you a house?"
"Guess Ned prefers me over you," I jeer. "Kind of like your husband."
Dillon covers his mouth, trying to fight the laughter as Georgie throws me yet another death stare. "You are such a witch."
"Don't you know any other names, Georgie?" I ask bored. "Whatever, this is lame. Let's go, Dillon."
"Sure thing, baby," he replies, sliding out of his seat and walking around the table to help me up. Georgie stands in the same place, refusing to move out of our way. "Excuse me, Ms. Jones, we need to get through."
"It's Ms. Quartermaine," she corrects.
"Cool!" I exclaim over my shoulder as we walk out of the restaurant. "Soon we'll have the same last name."
Once the door slams shut behind us, Dillon gathers me in his arms and turns me around in a circle. "You're so bad."
"I know, don't you just love it. Sorry I got so nasty, I'm just tired of her being so self-righteous. I shouldn't have made it seem like we're getting married."
"Don't worry about it, I loved every minute of it," he laughs. "Besides, who knows what'll happen?"