Chapter Nine
As soon as Bree had eaten those cookies she knew she had to have the recipe, and no matter what it took she was going to get it. As soon as everyone left Katherine's house Bree took the house key for Katherine's house she had in her cupboard and broke in. At first she looked in Katherine's recipe box to see if they had combined their recipes, but couldn't find it anywhere. That's when she headed upstairs and decided to look through Lucy's room for her recipe box. She opened the door to Lucy's room and looked inside. It was immaculate, she noticed the gaming desktop computer with several monitors, the art on the walls all drawn by Lucy. She was amazed at how talented Lucy was.
Every piece of art drawn to perfect detail. She noticed one in particular. It was of Katherine, her messy hair and the look on her face, as if she was looking at something. She saw that Katherine had been holding onto something, it looked like a newborn, even though all she saw was a cloth, or a blanket. But the thing she noticed most was the date. It was signed a long time ago. Three years ago to be precise. Even then her art was still good. But she had only met Katherine a week ago, how did she know about Katherine then? If she was the baby in that picture then how could she possibly remember Katherine?
"Looking for something in particular Bree?" Katherine asked her. Bree had been staring for so long that she didn't even notice they had came home. "I thought I had heard something and wanted to check it out." Bree lied. "Uh huh, you wouldn't be happening to looking for Lulu's recipe would you?" Katherine asked her. Bree pretended to look shocked. "I would never steal a recipe from Lucy. How could you suggest I would do such a thing?" Bree asked her. "Bree..." Katherine said, her arms were crossed. "Hey mom, what's going on?" Lucy asked as she walked into her room.
"Bree here was trying to steal your recipe." Katherine told her. However the reaction Lucy gave was not one anyone was expecting. Lucy burst out laughing, finding the whole thing absolutely ridiculous. "What's so funny Lulu?" Katherine asked her, worried that her daughter was actually insane. "It's just that...this is not the first time someone's tried to steal my recipes, and the funny thing is that I don't actually write my recipes down." Lucy said as she continued to laugh. "You don't write your recipes down?" Bree asked her. "But how do you know what ingredients to use?" Bree asked. "I keep everything up here." Lucy said as she tapped her head. Bree was confused. How could she memorize everything like that?
"You're confused. Let me explain. See I have an eidetic memory. Do you know what that is Mrs. Weston?" Lucy asked her. "No, I'm afraid I don't." Bree replied. "It used to be called a photographic memory. See I can remember everything I see, smell, touch, hear, taste with exact detail. So I have no need to write down any of my recipes Mrs. Weston." Lucy told her. "Though I am extremely flattered that you think my recipes are worth breaking and entering for." Lucy giggled. "Is that how you were able to draw this picture?" Bree asked Lucy, once again looking at the drawing.
"It is. I drew that three years ago. It kept bothering me, I kept seeing her in my mind, and I had to get it out on paper, because it was really bugging me. I didn't know why I kept seeing it, because I thought...I thought that woman was...but she wasn't...and as I started to get older I saw that I looked like her more than anything. Then I thought that maybe she wasn't my mother and that my real one gave me up for adoption, because I didn't look anything like the one I was told was mine. I used to daydream that I would have a good mother that actually loved me, and I finally got one." Lucy said as she dried her tears. "Oh Lulu..." Katherine said as she hugged her daughter.
"Please, I really need that recipe." Bree begged. "I'm sorry, I can't. You see that recipe is special to me. It was the last recipe my grandmother and I worked on before she died of cancer. We made it last Christmas together, before she got sick, and it's really, really special to me. The only reason I'm sharing it with my mom is because it reminds me of when I used to make them with my grandmother. It's something that we can share together because I haven't spent hardly any time with her because I was taken. I really just want to share one thing with my mother. And I hope you can understand that." Lucy said as she walked out of the room.
"I'm sorry, I never knew." Bree said to Katherine. "I didn't either. I knew they were close because they saved her from Marina and Wayne, and I knew they worked on recipes together, but I didn't know that it was the last recipe they worked on before she passed." Katherine told her. It was an honor that Lucy trusted her enough with her recipe, something that was so precious to her. "I think I'd better go, again I am so sorry, will you tell Lucy for me?" Bree asked her. "I think you should tell her yourself." Katherine told her. "Yes, I'll go do that." Bree said as she walked out of Lucy's room. She walked downstairs and saw Lucy in the kitchen preparing to make brownies with her mother. "Lucy, can I speak to you for a moment?" Bree asked her.
"Oh sure, what's up?" Lucy asked her as she got out the ingredients. "I would like to apologize for what I have done. It wasn't right for me to break into your room and try to steal a recipe that meant so much to you. I completely understand. I won't pry for your recipe anymore. I hope you can forgive me." Bree told her. "It's cool." Lucy replied with a smile. "Well I'd better take my leave, I hope your still willing to help us for the neighborhood Christmas party?" Bree asked her. "I'd love to." Lucy replied with a smile. "I will see you two tomorrow then." Bree told her before taking her leave.
Katherine was upstairs looking at the gift that she got Lucy for Christmas. She had one exactly like it. It was something she purchased herself as a reminder of what she had lost. She had never shown anyone what it was, but it was something she had loved more than anything, at least until she found what it was that had been taken from her. Katherine opened the box and examined it, smiling at what was inside. "Mom! You coming?" Lucy called out from downstairs. "I'll be right down!" Katherine replied before shutting the box and putting it away. Katherine went downstairs and decided to help her daughter make the brownies she promised she would bake with her.
"Hey whatcha guys up to?" Dylan asked them. "Making some brownies, would you like to help?" Katherine asked Dylan. "Sorry baking isn't my thing, but I do request walnuts in my brownies." Dylan told them. "What about you Lila?" Katherine asked her granddaughter. "No, I'm going to go text my friends." Lila told her and walked out of the room. "Well it looks like it's just you and me kiddo." Katherine said as she smiled at Lucy. "I'll handle the nuts, we'll make some with and some without alright?" Katherine told her. "Sounds like a plan." Lucy said as they got started on baking some brownies.
About halfway through making the brownies Lucy got a phone call. She didn't even bother to look at the caller ID, but she placed it on speaker phone. "Hello?" Lucy asked as she continued to add ingredients to a bowl for the nutless batch of brownies. "Hey sis. I've got a surprise for you." the voice said. Lucy's face grew pale. "Lulu? Who is it?" Katherine asked her. "Lulu? Wait...this is Rachel right?" the voice said. "Ummm well sorta Amelia..." Lucy told her. "What do you mean sorta Rachel? Either it's you or it's not." Amelia replied over the phone. "I'll tell you later, what's the surprise?" Lucy asked her.
"Okay so you're not going to believe this. I convinced dad to come up to Idaho for Christmas! That way we can spend Christmas together! Isn't that great?" Amelia said. "Ummm that's great!" Lucy lied. "Lulu, you need to tell her the truth." Katherine told her. "Who is that and why do they keep calling you Lulu? What's going on Rach?" Amelia asked her. "It's my mom..." Lucy admitted. "Rach, you mean OUR mother? And why are you seeing her? She abandoned us!" Amelia told her. "No, not OUR mother. Just mine. Amelia I have something to tell you, and I've been putting it off for days." Lucy said with a sigh.
"There is no easy way to say this. I'm not really Rachel...I'm not your sister either..." Lucy started. "You remember that woman...the one who called herself our mother?" Lucy continued. "She killed the real Rachel...your dad was right, I wasn't his daughter...I was a replacement. She kidnapped me from the hospital. I'm living with my real mother Amelia." Lucy finished. "Wait? You're not my real sister? Are you playing another prank Rachel?" Amelia asked her. "No Amelia, she's not. I'm her mother." Katherine admitted. "I'm sorry Amelia...if you hate me I'll understand." Lucy told her.
"I don't believe you. This isn't funny Rachel!" Amelia said. "I can prove it Amelia. Do you remember that sketchbook I had titled Memories?" Lucy told her. "Yeah why?" Amelia asked her. "If I take a picture of one of the sketches and one of us together, will you believe me?" Lucy asked. "I mean I suppose that would be real proof. Cause honestly Rachel you did look a LOT like her, so yeah I would believe it." Amelia replied. "Okay gimme a sec." Lucy told her. She quickly ran into her room and took a picture of the sketch that was hanging on the wall from three years ago. She then ran downstairs and took a picture herself and her mother together. Lucy then sent it. "Did you get them?" Lucy asked her.
"Yeah, I got it. Wow...so you really aren't my sister. I can't believe she exists. This is so weird..." Amelia told her. "Yeah, I know." Lucy replied. "So your real name is Lulu huh?" Amelia asked her. Lucy laughed "No, it's Lucy, Lulu is just a nickname my mom gave me." Lucy smiled as she looked at her mother. "Will you still be my sister anyway?" Amelia asked her. Laughing once more she smiled "Of course." Lucy told her. "Okay well, I guess there's going to be a change of plans. Mind if I still come visit you? I mean obviously your not in Idaho anymore. I can book a flight, well my dad can." Amelia asked her. "Of course Amelia, we would be happy to have you." Katherine told her. "Thanks Ms?" Amelia said. "Mayfair." Katherine told her. "Okay so Lucy right? Send me your address so I know where to fly to...oh hold on just a second." Amelia said. She went to explain what happened to the real Rachel.
"Lucy, he wants to talk to your mom." Amelia told her as she handed the phone to her father. "Hello, my name is Elijah Russo, and who do I have the pleasure of speaking with?" he asked. "My name is Katherine Mayfair. I'm Lucy's mom." Katherine replied. "Lucy sent my daughter your address. You're lucky I have some business in Fairview coming up right around Christmas. We will be flying there tomorrow. We have important things to discuss Ms. Mayfair." Elijah told her. "Really? And what sorts of important things do we have to discuss?" Katherine asked him. "You will find out when we discuss them. We will see you tomorrow evening Ms. Mayfair." he said as he hung up on them.
Lucy looked incredibly worried. For the first time in eight years the person who ignored her and emotionally abused Lucy would be here. She sat down and tried to calm down, but it was hard. "Lulu? What's wrong?" Katherine asked her. "I really don't want him here, I would rather have a flesh eating virus then see him." Lucy told her as a panic attack started to set in. "He's the one who favored Amelia and ignored you right?" Katherine asked her. "That's only the beginning. He always told me that I wasn't good enough and that I would never amount to anything. How I wasn't even worthy to shine his shoes." Lucy groaned.
"I won't let him do that, and neither will Mike. They will be joining us tomorrow night for dinner with MJ, I forgot to tell you. So we'll just add two more to our guest list. Now you need to take some deep breaths and calm down before you get another asthma attack." Katherine told her. "Come on, let's finish up these brownies." Katherine told her. "Who is MJ?" Lucy asked. "He's your older brother, well half-brother. This dinner was for you two to meet each other." Katherine informed her. "I have a brother?" Lucy asked her. "Yes, he's about five years older than you are. This is his senior year of high school." Katherine replied.
The next day Lucy and Katherine went to the test kitchen to work on some finishing touches for the neighborhood Christmas party tomorrow. "Lulu, have you ever done any floral arrangements?" Katherine asked her. "No, but I'd love to learn." Lucy said to her with a smile. "Well come over here and I'll teach you." Katherine smiled. Lucy walked over to her mother who had beautiful flowers surrounding her with tons of already done arrangements, but she would never get them done in time if Lucy wasn't helping her. Bree had brought out a couch for Lucy whenever she had a seizure while they were working for her to lay on so she could recover, and she actually liked having Lucy help out, she was so talented and a great helper.
Katherine started to teach her daughter how to do the arrangement, showing her examples so that she could get the hang of it quicker. Lucy followed what she did with an arrangement of her own. "Well you're a quick learner Lucy, it looks great." Bree told her. "I know, she's really got the hang of it huh?" Katherine told her. "Thank you, but I wouldn't be anywhere near decent at this without you teaching me mom." Lucy complimented. "Thanks Lulu." Katherine told her as she gave her a hug. Once the arrangements were finished they put everything away. "Lulu, we'd better go, we have that dinner to work on." Katherine told her. "Alright. Bye Mrs. Weston!" Lucy told her as they left.
"Thanks for your help Lucy!" Bree told her as she waved them goodbye. Katherine and Lucy then went home so they could go to the store to buy ingredients for tonight's dinner. Lucy was a nervous wreck in the store, she inspected every ingredient for any damage. Elijah would except nothing but perfection and if there was a tiny thing off she knew he would berate her. Katherine sighed, no matter what she did she couldn't calm her daughter down. Lucy wasn't only afraid for herself, she feared that he would insult her family as well.
Once they were finished shopping they went home to start on dinner, where Lucy was even more of a wreck. "Will you relax Lulu? It's just dinner." Katherine said to her. "I...I can't...if it's not perfect he will start with the insults, beginning with me, and ending with everyone else. And they are those kinda that sound witty, until you realize what he truly means kinds of insults." Lucy said to her. "I'm sure everything will be fine sweetheart." Katherine told her. Once dinner was ready the guests started to arrive, first Dylan and Lila, followed by Mike, Susan, and MJ, and then arriving at seven in the evening sharp arrived Amelia and Elijah.
"You must be Amelia, and you must be Elijah, it's very nice to meet you." Katherine told them as she welcomed them in. They all sat at the table with Lucy sitting next to her mother. "You said you had something to discuss with me?" Katherine asked Elijah. "I think we should be introduced to the other guests first, don't you agree Ms. Mayfair?" Elijah asked. "Oh, I'm sorry, how rude of me." Katherine replied. "This is my daughter Dylan and her daughter Lila, then we have my friend and neighbor Susan Delfino, her son MJ, and her husband Mike." Katherine introduced as everyone introduced each other. Elijah was wearing an expensive suit and Amelia was wearing an expensive dress.
"I do not think we should discuss our business in front of your guests Ms. Mayfair, this is a family discussion." Elijah told her. "I'm Lucy's father, I am her family." Mike chimed in. "I see, so you are Ms. Mayfair's ex-husband?" Elijah asked. "No, I'm her ex-fiance." Mike told him. "So Lucy is a bastard." Elijah said as he took a bite of his salad. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't call my daughter that." Mike told him. "Oh mom? I think we got our salad's mixed up. This one has nuts." Lucy told her. "Oh you're right Lulu, sorry about that." she said as she switched salad's with Lucy.
"Still avoiding nuts Lucy? You know you'll never get over this aversion if you don't eat them." Elijah told her. "Lucy isn't avoiding them, she's deathly allergic." Susan chimed in. "Allergies...are you still blaming your dislike for nuts on that Lucy? You're weak as always." Elijah told her. No one said anything, but Mike was starting to get rather angry at this man insulting his daughter. Lucy started to eat her salad. "Lucy did you prepare this meal?" Amelia asked her. "I had some help." Lucy smiled at her mother.
"Still trying to do this whole cooking and baking thing Lucy? You couldn't even cook a meal by yourself? And how are you going to do this if you avoid certain ingredients? You will just fail, you should try to do something more productive with your time." Elijah told her. Lucy looked down at her salad and set her fork down. "Lucy is excellent at what she does, she doesn't need my help for anything." Katherine informed him.
"Tell me Mr. Delfino, Ms. Mayfair, what do you do for work?" Elijah asked them. "I'm part owner at a catering company with a dear friend of mine." Katherine told him. "I'm a plumber." Mike informed him. "So this is where Lucy gets her inability to succeed at life from. A plumber and a caterer. I suppose both of you encourage the failure of this weak excuse for a human being. Really, I would have left her to die in the middle of the road if I were you. She is a worthless piece of scum, never will amount to anything. She will live a failure and die as a failure. I'm glad I abandoned her when I did, after all, she's as useless as her parents." Elijah laughed.
Lucy stood up and ran upstairs to her room in tears. Mike had had enough. He stood up, walked over to Elijah and punched him right in the face. He then grabbed him and threw him against the wall, repeatedly punching him over and over. Susan stood up and tried to stop the fight. "Mike! Stop it!" Susan told him as she tried to grab him away and MJ stood up as well to try to restrain him. "You son of a bitch! If you ever even look at my daughter again I swear to god you're dead!" he said as he was restrained. "Come along Amelia, I do not want you in the same room as this filth, and you are to never speak to that useless girl again. I don't want her tainting you." Elijah said. Amelia mouthed the word sorry to them all as they left.
Mike tried to punch him again, but was stopped. Katherine went upstairs to calm Lucy down while Susan glared at her husband. "Mike are you kidding me? That man could press charges! You could go to jail again Mike!" Susan yelled at him. "I wasn't going to just sit there and let him insult us! Especially Lucy! She doesn't deserve that!" Mike yelled back. They continued to argue downstairs with MJ attempting to get them to stop.
"Lulu? Can I come in?" Katherine asked her. "Y-Yes..." Lucy told her softly as she sobbed. "Lulu, he's gone, he and Amelia left. Why don't we go eat dinner with everyone else?" Katherine suggested as she walked into the room and sat next to Lucy on her bed as she continued to cry. "I-I'm not hungry..." Lucy told her. It was a lie, Lucy was starving, but right now she was too upset to eat. Lucy remembered the time that Elijah had left her in the woods for five days as a little girl to fend for herself. He had become so disgusted at her for missing a spot while cleaning that he slapped her and then abandoned her in the woods, stating that if she was going to clean like an animal then she should live like one too. It was only until she was found by the park ranger five days later, starving, dehydrated and covered in mud that she was able to go back to her grandparents house. He didn't smack her as often as Marina did, but when he did it hurt.
Katherine hugged her daughter and tried to calm her down as best as she could. "He left me to die once...not in the middle of the road...but in the woods. Because I missed a spot while cleaning...he slapped me and told me that if I was going to clean like an animal then I was to live like one. So he left me in the woods for five days to fend for myself. It would have been longer if the park rangers hadn't found me...I was five. It's why I will never ever go camping..." Lucy said as she cried.
"I just kept thinking. Why doesn't daddy like me? What did I do wrong? But it wasn't until I was older that I learned he thought I wasn't his. Finally he washed his hands of me and for the first time I felt free. I've always feared him, he was the final straw for me, he was the other half of the reason why I could never trust men again..." Lucy told her. Mike had overheard everything. "You don't have to worry about that anymore Lucy, he won't ever bother you again." Mike told her as he came in. Lucy looked over at him. "Thank you..." she said to him.
"I wasn't going to let him insult you anymore Lucy, you don't deserve it, that man is a monster for what he did to you. And he won't ever lay a finger on you again." he told her. Katherine heard Lucy's stomach growl. "Come on Lulu, let's go eat dinner before it gets cold." she smiled at her. Lucy nodded and went back downstairs. They all sat there and ate their dinner with MJ looking at his younger sister the whole time. He now knew part of what Lucy had to put up with most of her life and even he was angry. He hated her at first, but now he felt that he needed to help protect her.
"I hope you don't mind, but I brought ice cream for dessert." Susan said. "No that will be fine, we can make brownie sundaes now." Katherine had said. Dylan started to clear the plates from dinner with Lila while Katherine and Lucy prepared the sundaes. Once they were finished they served them up. "Wow, the brownies are great in these." MJ said. "Well thank you MJ, Lulu and I made them together." Katherine replied. "Speaking of Lulu, she is going to be singing Christmas carols in the neighborhood Christmas party. Tom recommended her." Katherine told them. "Oh wow Lucy, I didn't know you could sing?" Susan said to her. "I-It's nothing." Lucy told her as she blushed.
"It's not nothing Lucy, Bree is quite picky about who sings and who doesn't." Susan said. "Susan's just jealous that Bree won't let her sing." Mike told them. "She said I sounded like I was strangling cats." Susan said somewhat sadly. "I'm sure it's not that bad." Lucy said to her. "No, it really is..." MJ replied. Mike was debating on telling them all something, something Susan wasn't going to like, but decided to keep it a surprise at the last second.
The next morning Lucy decided to finish her Christmas presents to her parents. She still had to take them to be framed. She got up early to finish the last details on their presents, finishing the colors in the pictures. Katherine came down the stairs where Lucy was working on the couch. "Hey Lulu, what are you working on?" Katherine asked. Lucy jumped and immediately hid what she was working on. "Oh ummmm...nothing." she smiled. "I didn't know you were up." Lucy said. "Yeah, I thought I would work on breakfast." she told Lucy.
Katherine quickly tried to grab what Lucy was working on, but Lucy took it away from her. "Oh come on Lulu! Let me see it!" Katherine begged as she tried to take it out of her hands. "No way! You will have to wait!" Lucy told her. "Oh come on, just a little peek?" Katherine asked her. "Nope! It's a surprise." Lucy grinned at her. "Oh really?" Katherine asked her. She walked over to Lucy and started to tickle her. Lucy started to laugh uncontrollably again. "H-Hey! S-Stop that!" Lucy laughed. "Let me see it Lulu." Katherine told her. "N-No! I-It's a surprise!" Lucy giggled. "Okay then..." Katherine said as she tickled her even more. Lucy continued to laugh, unable to stop. Now it was actually hurting. "Okay! I will show you someone else's surprise. How does that sound?" Lucy said.
"Okay, well show me that then." Katherine smiled as she let up. Lucy hid the other picture and showed her the one she was working on of her father. "Wow, that's really good. Is that a Christmas gift for your father?" Katherine asked her. "Yup...hence why you can't see the other one, you'll spoil the surprise." Lucy grinned. "Okay, okay, I won't look at it." Katherine told her. "It's only for two more days." Lucy replied. "Okay, I'll be patient and wait." Katherine said as she went to go prepare breakfast. Lucy finished the finishing touches on her father's picture before finishing her mother's. She then placed the drawings upstairs. She had many finished drawings for a lot of people up there. Even one Lynette had requested of her family in exchange for taking Lucy to get the pictures framed.
Once they finished breakfast and her mother left for work so they could set up the neighborhood Christmas party Lucy snuck over to her neighbor's. "Hi Mrs. Scavo. Here is the drawing you requested." Lucy told her as she handed her a folder with the finished piece. "Oh Lucy, this is beautiful. You are so talented." Lynette said to her. "Alright you have everything ready?" Lynette asked her. "Yeah of course." Lucy said. "You know framing is really expensive, how are you paying for all of this?" she asked Lucy. "Well, don't tell anyone, but I'm a YouTuber and a streamer. I'm actually one of the most popular YouTubers on the platform. I get paid in ad revenue and sponsorships, and I kinda have a lot of money." Lucy informed her. "How much is a lot?" Lynette asked her. "Oh, like two hundred million?" Lucy said as she showed Lynette her bank account.
"Wow...that is really impressive." she told Lucy. "Thanks, but can you promise to keep this between us? I don't really want my mom or dad to find out. It might make them feel bad." Lucy told her. "Your secret is safe with me Lucy. Now come on, let's go before your mom finds out you're gone." Lynette said as she drover Lucy to the framers. She couldn't help but be jealous of Lucy, and she's right, if they found out she was a millionare they might not be so thrilled with it.
"You know, your step-mom is an artist too." Lynette told Lucy. "She is?" Lucy asked her. "Yeah, she's a children's book illustrator." Lynette replied. "Are you getting used to having your dad near you?" Lynette asked her. "Yeah...he saved my life...I'm not afraid of him anymore...but other guys are still a hit or a miss..." Lucy admitted. "You'll get there Lucy. It will just take time." Lynette told her. Once they arrived at the framers Lucy picked out frames for each of the drawings and waited with Lynette as she too waited for the drawing Lucy had made for her finished getting framed. Once they were finished Lynette helped her load them into the car and took her home. She then helped her take them inside and hide them under her bed. "Thank you Mrs. Scavo, I really appreciate this." Lucy told her. "You are welcome Lucy, and thank you for this, Tom will be so surprised." Lynette said to her. "I'll see you at the Christmas party." Lynette added before leaving.
Lucy then took each framed drawing out and wrapped them along with labeling who each of them was for. Then she got ready for the Christmas party in the outfit Bree had given her. She sighed and couldn't believe she was going to be singing on stage, she usually only sang to herself and rarely in front of an audience. She walked out of the house and over to Bree's house where they would all be meeting. "Lucy there you are, we were worried you wouldn't show." Bree said to her. "Oh sorry I'm late, I was finishing wrapping presents." Lucy told her. "It's quite alright." Bree said to her. They were to go out any minute now. The neighborhood was waiting after all.