"Or damn near close to it." Gia said. She laid down a sleeping Caterina and then stretched out beside her. She grabbed the nearest pillow and stuffed it under her head then closed her eyes.
"I could have dropped you off at your mother's…" Lucky quirked an eyebrow.
"If I wasn't so tired I'd hurt you." Gia said around a yawn. "The bellhop is going to be back with the crib soon right?"
"Yeah, that's what he said. Once again it's all set up, I'm going to get out of your hair so you can have the happy reunion with your family."
Gia groaned. "Could you please stop reminding me? And you're not going anywhere. I'm taking at least a two hour nap before I call them to let them know I'm back."
Lucky started to sit down on the bed when a brief knock on the door interrupted them. Lucky got up to let in the bellhop. The man wheeled in a portable crib and positioned it next to the bed. Lucky tipped him and closed the door behind him. He stared at the crib dubiously.
Gia rolled over on her side and looked at the crib. She shifted her gaze towards Lucky and then back to the crib, "Oh this is not—"
"Going to work." Lucky finished for her. "I know."
"'Rina can just sleep with me. I'll put some pillows on the other side of her. It'll be fine." Gia shrugged. "You'd think the PC Hotel could afford something better. No way am I putting her in that."
"We should have brought the portable crib from Texas with us." Lucky said.
"We already had too much stuff and the rest is getting shipped. It'll be just for a few days anyway." Gia sat up and reached out her hand to Lucky. He took it and allowed her to pull him towards the bed. "I don't care how much traveling you're used to, you must be just as jetlagged as I am. Lay down."
"For a little while and then you're calling your mother." Lucky stretched out on the other side of Caterina. He propped himself up on his elbow and looked at her as she settled back down on her pillow.
"Can I ask why you're pushing me on this so much? Are you that eager to be rid of me and 'Rina?" Gia frowned.
"Of course not." Lucky immediately said. He reached over and cupped her cheek. She smiled at him. "I just thought the sooner you tell her, the better it'll be. You don't want Stefan showing up on her doorstep looking for the two of you and that's how she finds out."
"He would do something like that, wouldn't he?" Gia muttered.
"You never know."
"Alright, alright, you win, sort of." Gia said. "But really, I'm going to need at least a two hour nap before I face them."
"Sure thing. I think there's an alarm clock over here…" Lucky looked over his shoulder and found the alarm clock on the bedside table. He reached up and quickly set it. When he looked back at Gia she was wearing another frown.
"What's wrong now?" He asked.
"Nikolas." She said. "He doesn't know."
"You sure?"
"Stefan came to Texas alone. I'm almost positive he didn't tell Nikolas a thing about coming to see me because Nikolas would have definitely been with him."
"And if he'd known about Caterina…"
"He would have been there before Stefan." Gia sighed. "Stefan wants me to tell myself I bet."
"Are you going to?"
"Yeah, I have to. After I talk to my family."
~*~*~
"So how did your mom sound when you talked to her?" Lucky asked. Gia was nervously pacing the room as they waited for her family to come. He'd been out getting them dinner from Eli's when she called her mother and her brother.
"Excited. A little upset that I was gone so long and I barely wrote." Gia said.
"And Taggert?" Lucky spread out their dinner on the little table he had room service send up.
"I think Marcus knows something's up. He was all over my mention of a 'surprise'." Gia paused in her pacing and started wringing her hands. "Lucky, what ever you do, do not leave me here alone with him. He's going to kill me."
Lucky laughed. "You're exaggerating."
"You don't know Marcus the psycho overprotective big brother. You know Taggert, the tough cop. Take that attitude and multiply it by like, a thousand, and you get how he is with me." Gia said.
"You also probably have him wrapped around your pinkie finger." Lucky said.
"Lucky, this is not some small little thing I can get over on. I had a child without telling anyone. It's huge. It's an actual person."
"Sit down. Have something to eat." Lucky jumped up and stood behind her. He placed his hands on her shoulders and propelled her towards the table. Gia dug in her heels and shook her head.
"No, if I eat that, I'll get sick."
"What? Ribs are good for you. They'll cure whatever's ailing ya." Lucky said.
Gia glanced over her shoulder at his grinning face. "You definitely need a new diet."
"And you need to calm down some." Lucky said, squeezing her shoulders. He was slowly trying to work the tenseness out when someone knocked on the door.
"Show time." Gia murmured.
"Want me to get that?" Lucky suggested, dropping his hands to his sides.
Gia rolled her head back, cracked her knuckles, mentally pysching herself up. "No, no, I got it."
Lucky moved over the side while Gia opened the door. She smiled brightly at her mother. "Hi Mom."
Florence immediately pulled her daughter into a tight hug. "You've been gone for months and all you can say is 'hi Mom?'"
Gia hugged her mother back. The hug went on until Gia started patting Florence on the back. "Mom, Mom, I can barely breathe."
Florence reluctantly let go and Gia took a step back. "Let me look at you. You look a little thin. Have you been eating well? She looks thin doesn't she Marcus?"
"She looks fine, Mom." Taggert said from behind her. He came around and hugged Gia also. "How've you been? Where have you been? And did you bring me anything?"
Gia heard something that sounded like choked laughter coming from Lucky. "Yeah, I uh…I brought back something."
Marcus finally noticed Lucky. He narrowed his eyes at him. "What's he doing here?"
"I'm back up." Lucky said helpfully.
"For what?" Florence looked sharply at Gia.
As if on cue, Caterina gurgled from her spot on the bed. Florence quickly looked at the bed. From where she stood all she saw was a bunch of pillows and a blanket in the center of the bed. "What was that?"
Caterina made another noise. Florence looked at Gia. "What was that?"
Gia calmly made her way over to the bed and pulled back the blanket covering Caterina. At the sight of her mother Caterina began gurgling again, reaching for her mother's braids. Gia obligingly leaned down so one could swing towards the baby's hands. Gia smiled hesitantly at Florence and Marcus.
"This is my daughter. Caterina. Your niece and your granddaughter."
Florence's mouth dropped open in shock. She stood still, barely able
to make herself move as she stared at Gia and Caterina.
Marcus on the other hand had no problems moving. He charged across
the room and shoved Lucky up against the wall. He roared. "I'm going to
kill you!"
"Marcus! Stop!" Gia cried. "He didn't do anything!"
"What do you call that?" Marcus said nodding towards the baby.
"Listen, man, I'm not the father." Lucky swore. "I wish I was but I'm not."
"Then I'm going to kill your brother." Marcus sneered. "Where is he?"
"Marcus would you stop?" Gia said, coming over to them and pulling at Marcus's arm. He let go of Lucky. Lucky quickly moved away from him. "Nikolas isn't the father either."
"Then who is?" Florence snapped. "Look, I want to exactly what is going on here."
"I can explain, really. But first I want you both to promise me that you won't freak out until after I'm done."
"Sorry, can't promise that." Marcus folded his arms. "Talk. Now."
"You know, maybe I should leave." Lucky said. He rubbed the back of his head at the spot where it'd been slammed against the wall. "This is a family matter…"
Gia turned to Lucky. She said between her teeth. "What did we just talk about before they got here?"
Lucky rubbed her arm. "Relax, he's not going to kill you."
"Don't be so sure about that." Marcus muttered.
"Enough!" Florence finally said. "I don't care who goes and who stays, I want the truth, now."
Lucky took Gia's hand and stared into her eyes. He swore. "I will be back later. I promise."
Gia waited until he'd gone before facing her family again. "Okay, you want to know the whole story? Remember last year when I was involved with that guy Lucien Cane. He turned out to be Stavros Cassadine…"
"Damn it, Gia." Marcus growled.
"I didn't know anything until after it all went down and he died. And then I found out that I was pregnant." Gia said.
"Why didn't you come to us?" Florence asked softly.
"I was scared." Gia admitted. "I didn't know what to do. The only thing in my mind was keeping her away from the Cassadines. I was going to go away, have her, then give her up for adoption."
"And you weren't going to say a word about? Just let us think you went on a year long vacation? Did you really think you could get away with it?" Marcus demanded.
"I told you! I wasn't thinking clearly." Gia said.
"What does Lucky have to do with all of this?" Marcus asked.
Gia hesitated then slowly walked over to the bed. She sat down next to the baby. "I went to him for help. I knew he could help me hide from the Cassadines while I waited out my pregnancy and decided for sure what to do about the baby."
"There was no reason you had to go into hiding." Marcus said. "I would have kept the Cassadines from you. They wouldn't even had any reason to suspect anything about the baby."
"Well…" Gia sighed. "Stefan knew about me and Stavros. And don't ask how, it's a story you don't want to hear, believe me. So when I started showing, Stefan would have suspected something and I didn't want his hands on her. She is not a Cassadine."
Florence left out a slow breath. She took a seat next to Gia and took her hand in hers. "Okay. I think I've comprehended all of that. Is there anything else we should know?"
Gia shook her head. "That's…that's everything."
Florence took another breath. "Right now I am so furious with you. One, for not telling us. Two, letting yourself go through all that alone—"
"Lucky was there. He was really great. He took me to Texas and he stayed with me the whole time. He was even my Lamaze coach though he missed the birth by accident." She smiled slightly.
"Not the point." Florence said. "We're your family. You know you can come to us for anything. Don't ever let a thing like this happen again."
"Don't worry. This is the last time I get knocked up by my ex-boyfriend's presumed dead father." Gia mumbled.
"It's not a joke." Marcus snapped.
"I know." Gia snapped back. "I'm living it."
"Both of you, calm down." Florence said. "Before I lose it myself."
"So what are you going to do about the kid?" Marcus tilted his towards the baby.
"I'm keeping her of course." Gia said. "And her name is Caterina. You want to hold her?"
"Let me." Florence said, reaching for the baby and scooping her up. She laid her against her chest. "After all, this is my only grandchild." She cast a look in Marcus's direction.
Marcus groaned. "Don't even start with the guilt trip, Mom."
"I'm just saying it would be nice for my first born to get himself married and have a few kids." Florence said as she gently stroked Caterina's downy hair. Marcus rolled his eyes and glared at Gia for putting their mother on a baby kick. Gia smiled serenely at him and shook her head.
"She looks a lot like you did." Florence remarked in surprise.
"Really?" Gia scooted closer to peer at the baby. "I didn't think so."
"I'm positive. She's practically the spitting image of you." Florence suddenly frowned. "Oh, I think someone needs a change."
Caterina threw her head back and began crying loudly. Marcus popped his fingers in his ear. "Yeah and she sounds like her also!"
~*~*~
Lucky walked into Luke's figuring that it was close enough to opening
time for his dad to be there. He already stopped at his mother's to let
her know he was back in town and to give Lulu some presents from Texas.
After that he'd gone over to the Quartermaines but Emily was out somewhere
with Zander. Instead of tracking her down he decided to check in with his
dad. He left himself in through the front door. He nodded at Claude who
was setting up behind the bar.
"My dad in?"
"Follow the stench of cigars." Claude said good-naturedly.
"Thanks man." Lucky rapped his knuckles on the bar before ambling towards the office. He knocked once before pushing the door open without waiting for Luke's okay.
Luke barely glanced up at him. He said around the cigar in his mouth. "You're back again. You're getting worse than me. How long are you here for this time?"
Lucky took a seat, stretching out his legs in front of him. "For good, I think."
Luke looked up in interest. "So you bought the girl back with you this time?"
Lucky looked at his dad in surprise. He didn't bother asking how he knew about Gia though. "Yeah, she's back."
"Mind telling me what you two were up to?"
Lucky didn't hesitate. "Nope."
"Eh, like I care." Luke took the cigar out of his mouth and tapped the ash into the ashtray on the desk. "But whatever you were up to, it drove Nikky boy crazy. I thought you two were getting along?"
"We are. We were." Lucky amended. "This thing with Gia though…"
"So you stole his girl. He'll get over it." Luke shrugged.
"It wasn't like that. I didn't steal her. I was just helping her out. It's complicated." Lucky sighed. He glanced at his watch. He wasn't sure how long he should give Gia and her family. He didn't want to go back too early. But he didn't want to leave her there by herself.
"Got somewhere else you'd rather be?" Luke asked.
"I'm supposed to go back to the hotel soon." Lucky said.
"So you got her stashed at the hotel?"
"I don't have her stashed anywhere. Geez, Dad, would you just lay off."
Luke sat back and smirked. "Touchy, touchy. The guilt's starting to get to you?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about you feeling guilty for screwing over Nikolas and taking his girl."
"I didn't take his girl." Lucky corrected. "No one takes Gia."
"Ok, you didn't take her…but you want to and you feel guilty." Luke said.
Lucky stood up. "Dad, don't ever try to get a job as a mind reader cause frankly you suck at it."
"I'm just messing with you." Luke grinned. "Don't get all bent out of shape."
"I gotta go, Dad." Lucky was already halfway to the door.
"Can't wait to get back to her, huh?" Lucky replied to that by slamming
the door loudly behind him.