[LH1] DISCLAIMER:
Don't own any of the familiar characters…
CHILD'S PLAY
Abby awoke on Friday morning to the bed shifting as her
boyfriend slid from under the covers.
"Wha…" her sleep-filled voice mumbled.
Luka paused, his shirt halfway put on, and said softly, "Go
back to sleep. It's just someone
knocking on the door. We can start our
vacation when I get back, okay?" He
raised his eyebrows suggestively and Abby giggled as he headed for the door.
An entire weekend.
Abby stretched contentedly. She
could still hardly believe that Weaver had given them both the entire weekend
off. Three whole days to spend alone,
with Luka. She smiled to herself as she
listened to his low voice in the front hall.
He was speaking too softly for her to hear what he was saying. After several minutes, the door closed and
she heard his footsteps coming back to bed.
She looked up to see him leaning against the wall, looking sheepish and
a bit worried.
"Come back to bed, Luka," Abby said, holding out her hand to
him. He didn't respond, and for the
first time Abby noticed someone – a child – standing just in back of Luka. As she watched, a little girl, maybe three
years old, came out from behind Luka and stood in the middle of the room
looking at Abby. "Luka, what?" Abby was astonished, and not too pleased.
He held up a hand.
"Wait, Abby. Her mother is
staying just down the hall. Her
babysitter backed out for today, and she had nowhere else to bring her."
Abby sat up in bed, quickly pulling the sheet up when she
realized that what she was wearing – or not wearing – was probably not
appropriate for a little child to be seeing.
She shook her head. "Whoa, whoa,
whoa, wait a minute. You're telling me
that this woman just dumped her daughter on a total stranger for the day? You mean we're stuck taking care of a kid on
our day off?"
Luka bent down and whispered something to the little girl,
who left the room. He turned to Abby. "The hotel manager recommended that the
mother ask me to take her." He spread
his arms in a helpless gesture. "I'm
sorry, Abby. She had nowhere else to
go. I couldn't turn her away. I'm sorry."
Blowing her breath out exasperatedly, Abby exclaimed, "Always
trying to save the world, huh, Luka. God. This was supposed to be our weekend." She looked away, fuming.
Luka sat on the edge of the bed and kissed Abby's
shoulder. "It's just for one day. We will have the rest of the weekend. I wish we could have today too, but…" He trailed off. "Her name is Emma.
Please, just give her a chance."
Abby sighed. "I'm
going to take a shower." She slid off
the bed, still avoiding her boyfriend's eyes.
Luka watched her head to the bathroom, shaking his head.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Done with her shower, Abby leaned against the wall, watching
Luka and Emma. Neither one noticed she
was there. Luka had the little girl on
his shoulders and was crawling on his hands and knees. Emma was squealing with laughter. Abby felt a tenderness enter her heart, her
anger dissipating. He looked so…perfect
with a child – this is how he was meant to be.
Abby's heart squeezed painfully as she realized that Luka deserved so
much more than her. He deserved a woman
who could give him children of his own – healthy children, ones that he could
play with and teach and love, just as he longed to do.
Luka turned and saw Abby watching them. He set Emma on the floor and stood up, his
eyes pleading with Abby. She took a
deep breath. Kneeling in front of the
girl, she said, "Hi, Emma, I'm Abby."
She smiled tentatively and Emma grinned back. Luka kissed her lightly, whispering, "thank you."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Abby was certainly seeing a new side of her boyfriend
today. He was more energetic,
playful…he had even suggested that they take Emma to the park. Sitting on a nearby bench, Abby watched the
two playing in the sandbox. Every so
often, Luka would stop digging in the sand to touch the little girl's head, or
shoulder, or just to smile at her gently.
Emma chattered away at him, oblivious to the conflict going on in Abby's
mind and heart. Once again, she was
struck by what a wonderful father Luka would be and how much he needed
children in his life. Stop it,
she admonished herself, there's no use in getting yourself all depressed
over this.
Just then, Luka looked over at her and winked. She broke herself out of her reverie and
gave him a bright smile. She stood up
and made her way over to the sandbox.
Sitting down on the edge, she picked up a shovel and started digging. Emma turned to her and immediately started
chattering to both the adults, and Abby was left marveling at how accepting
children were. She finally started to
relax.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
After a busy day of playing at the park, having a picnic
lunch, and getting fudge bars from the ice cream truck, little Emma was
exhausted, and quite ready for a nap.
Luka watched from across the room as Abby sat in bed with the little
girl, reading her a book they had found in Emma's knapsack. Emma was cuddled up on Abby's lap, her short
arms wrapped around the older woman's waist and her eyelids drooping. Luka could hardly breathe watching his
girlfriend with the three-year-old.
Something just looked so right about Abby holding a child in her arms. He closed his eyes, imagining someday having
children with Abby. He continued
watching as she closed the book and smiled down at the now-sleeping girl. Abby gently moved Emma so that the girl was
lying on the bed, and covered her with the blanket. Then she did something that made Luka's heart swell and tears
come to his eyes. Abby leaned over
Emma, smoothed her hair away from her face, and tenderly kissed her
forehead. She stood next to the bed,
watching the girl sleep as she brushed tears from her own eyes.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Later that night, after Emma's mother had picked her up,
both Abby and Luka were quiet, lost in their own thoughts. Finally Abby spoke up. "Did it make you sad, taking care of Emma
today? Did it remind you of your own
children?" Luka didn't answer right away,
and Abby was afraid that she'd said the wrong thing. But then he responded.
"It didn't make me sad.
Most of the memories I have of Jasna and Marco are happy, anyway." He paused.
"But it did make me wonder if I'm ready to be a father again…" He hesitated again. "Abby, I have to know. Do you ever think about having children
someday? With me?" She looked shocked, and he hurried to
explain. "I watched you with Emma
today, and I know you would be a wonderful mother."
Abby's head was spinning.
She wanted so badly for him to understand. "Emma's a sweet girl. I
like kids, Luka. I used to work in OB,
for heaven's sake. But that doesn't
mean that I'm ready or able to be a good mother. There's a huge difference between babysitting a toddler or helping
deliver a baby and actually raising a child.
I didn't exactly have the greatest model of motherhood growing up. And, Luka, you know…about my…baby…" Her voice trailed off and she couldn't meet
Luka's eyes.
Luka moved to sit closer to Abby on the couch. He touched her shoulder and she let him pull
her against his chest. Stroking her
hair, he said, "I love you, Abby. I
know that you don't want to risk having a sick baby. But, Abby, we would love any child no matter what. And you would never have to deal with
anything alone. I will always be here
and we would raise our children together.
And Abby, you know that it would be just as likely that we would have a
bipolar child as it would be to have a child with mental retardation, or
cancer, or anything else. And it is
even more likely that our children would be healthy. No matter what, Abby, I will be here for you. I love you," he repeated.
Abby leaned against Luka, her heart finally accepting his
declarations of love and faithfulness.
Making a decision, she got up from the couch, pulling Luka with
her. "I need to show you something,"
she said, somewhat nervously. She
retrieved her purse from the table and pulled out a small package, wordlessly
handing it to Luka.
"What…" he murmured, reading the package. His eyebrows shot up and he grabbed onto the
wall to steady himself. "Abby, are you
telling me you're…"
She shook her head.
"I haven't taken the test yet. I
didn't want to. I haven't really been
sick at all, just those couple days last week when I didn't feel so well. But I'm late. And I thought…"
Luka still looked shocked, and he asked, "Do you want to
take the test now?"
She nodded. "Come
with me?" They went into the bathroom
and Abby took the test.
Squeezing her hand, Luka asked, "Now what?"
"It says it takes five minutes. Blue for yes and pink for no."
She began pacing the bathroom.
"Ohh, I can't just stand here waiting…"
Luka followed Abby back into the bedroom where she sat on the bed,
nervously running her hands up and down her jeans.
It was the longest five minutes of their lives. Finally, Luka looked at his watch and kissed
her. "Five minutes," he whispered.
Abby jumped up, and promptly sat down again. "Oh, God, I'm terrified!" Luka kissed her again and led her to the
bathroom. With shaking hands, she
picked up the test. She shut her eyes,
and finally looked. "Ohh…"
Luka took the test from Abby, looked at the indicator, and
echoed Abby's reaction. "Ohh…"
"It's blue." Abby
stated the obvious in a whisper. "Oh,
God, Luka. I'm pregnant." Unconsciously, she placed her hand on her
abdomen where their child grew. "What
are we going to do?"
Luka let his feelings bubble over in a burst of happy
laughter. "What are we going to do?" he
repeated, "Abby! We're going to be parents!" He stopped his exclamations as he noticed
Abby's troubled face. He pulled her to
him, hugging her gently. "I love you,
Abby. And I love that you are going to
be the mother of my child. We're going
to do this together, okay?"
Abby held onto Luka as her heart slowed its erratic
beating. She allowed a measure of
excitement to come over her. "We're
really going to have a baby, Luka. We
created another life." She shook her
head in amazement as Luka lowered his lips to hers.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Later, as they lay together in bed, Luka kissed Abby's
stomach. "Hey, little one," he
whispered lovingly, "I'm your daddy.
Take care of your mommy, okay?
We love you." Abby lay back as
Luka continued talking to their child, basking in the wonder of it all.
THE END
