Me: Hey everybody..Sorry I've been keeping Chapter 17 so long from you but
schools really cramping my style..but today it SNOWED! And the school's
were closed for the day plus it's a Friday anyway so I got a bit of free
time on my hands to type this Chappy up..hope you like it...
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Two weeks after everyone had learned about Marc's illegal secrets, Lu decided to send him to a rehabilitation center in Northern Philly. Everything was depressing about Lu now. Her work and patients suffered, just like when Mickey died. Everybody including Dr. Jackson tried to cheer her up but there was no use. Marc would be in rehab for about a month. The suffering doctor hadn't been to visit her addicted son yet and Peter had promised her that he would take her up the 3rd weekend that he was there. Turns out that Marc had been doing drugs even before he met Carry Baxtor. At work the Thursday before their trip up to see Marc, Peter asked if he could talk to Lu in private so they went into her office.
"What's going on?"
"I can't take you to see Marc this weekend Lu."
"What? Peter!" She paused and looked at her feet growing angry. "Why not?"
"Something's come up and I just can't make it."
"What could possibly be more important?"
"A lot of things I can think of." He said quietly not looking at her.
"Peter, I told you that I didn't want to do this with out you. I can't face him alone. I need you to be there with me."
"I'm sorry Lu, I just can't come. Not now." Lu fell silent and looked at her feet again. "Listen. You can do this by your self. You're a strong independent women and you'll be fine."
"NO! I won't be..I don't want to do this by myself. Not this time."
"Yes you can."
"No."
"Yes."
"Peter!"
"Lu!"
"PETER!" Lu stomped her foot and looked into his eye evilly.
"I know you. You can do this on your own and you'll be fine when you do. There is nothing I can do to help anyway. I just can't come with you."
"What are you going to do instead?"
"That doesn't matter." He said quickly. "Tell Marc I said 'Hi' and that I hope he gets better soon and he can come home."
"Come on Peter. He really likes you and I think it would be good if you saw him."
"Well then I'll visit him another day, just not this weekend."
"So you're not going to change your mind?" Peter nodded and Lu sighed. "Fine.. I'll go alone. I don't need you anymore Peter." Lu stormed out of the office on the verge of tears.
***
Meanwhile, at the Campbell household, everybody had different feelings about Les coming back to Philly. While Lizzy was getting more and more excited, Andy was getting more and more nervous and Jessie was still in between emotions. Milo spent a lot of time with the family now, mostly to comfort Andy. It was three days that Thursday before Les's return, Andy needed a bit more comfort than usual so she asked Milo to stay with her for the night and had Jessie and Lizzy go to their friends houses. After they ate dinner, Milo helped her clean the dishes while discussing more of their wedding.
"So you have Lu, Lana, Jessie and Lizzy for your bridesmaids?" He asked again.
"Yep. And you have your two brothers, Jared and Michael, Riggs, and..wait that's only three."
"Umm.I could get my dad."
"Ok." Milo smiled at her while drying a plate and then decided to flirt so he shoved his body against hers gently. She noticed what he was doing and shoved back. "So..chicken or beef?" Andy laughed.
"Chicken, everybody likes chicken. Well, except Riggs."
"Well, he's a vegetarian. That doesn't count." Andy dried her hands and walked to the other side of the kitchen to put a dish away. Milo followed her and when he was close enough he grabbed her butt-cheek.
"Excuse you!" She looked at him wide-eyed.
"You know you liked it. Now kiss me."
"And what if I don't?" She asked teasing him.
"Well then I'll just have to..." He ran a finger down her cheek. "Have to...Tickle you!" Andy screamed as he reached for the sides of her stomach and got out of his reach before he could.
"Don't even think about it Milo Morton!" He slowly walked towards her. "Milo!" He didn't stop so she turned and ran into the living room and he followed her. She screamed again as he tackled and pinned her on the couch. Laughter emerged from her body as his hands moved all around her stomach. The only person she let tickle her was him and even though she screamed and acted like she hated it, she really loved it when he did this. After awhile he stopped but still had her pinned. "You know just how to pin me! That's not fair!" She said.
"Yes I do, and in more ways than one." He leaned down to kiss her but she fooled him and ended up throwing him on the floor. Then she fled to the hallway for safety. "Oh, that was good Andy. But you're not getting away that easy." He ran towards her and she darted up the stairs. When they reached the bedroom, she was on one side of the bed and he was on the other. "I'm going to get you women."
"I'd like to see you try man." He jumped on the bed as she ran around it and back down the stairs. When he ran after her down the stairs she was no where in site. "Andy? Oh Andy..come out come out where ever you are." He stopped walking when he heard a laugh come from inside the closet below the stairs. He opened the door to the closet and called her name again. When there was no response but he knew that she was in there he stepped inside and closed the door behind him. Andy sighed heavily, not knowing that he was in there, and stepped out from behind a bunch of coats and boxes. The closet light was off so she couldn't see where she was going and bumped straight into him. "Boo."
"Ahh!!" She responded still breathing heavily.
"Got you."
"Yes you did." She stated in between laughs. Then she searched through the dark for his lips and they finally connected.
"Well now that I got you, can I do anything I want to you?" He asked very flirty-like.
"Mm..hmm." Andy mumbled in the dark closet. As he kissed her again she stepped towards him and tripped over another box. "Um..Milo. Can we get out of the closet?" He laughed at her.
"Yeah." Milo opened the door and let her step out first. Once out of the closet and back in the light he cornered her by the stairs and they kissed passionately. After a few minutes of that she pulled away.
"What happened to discussing our wedding?"
"Well.we can do both at the same time, can't we?" He grabbed her butt- cheeks again and led her to the living room.
"Ok. What flavor cake for the reception?" She asked while kissing his neck.
"I like vanilla."
"And I like chocolate..and I'm not just talking about cake." He smiled at her and enjoyed her lips sucking on his neck.
"How about half and half?"
"That works." She said making her way down his body while pulling his shirt off.
***
Saturday morning Lu made her way to Northern Philly to see Marc. She was still upset that Peter wouldn't come with her but she wasn't going to let it keep her from going. As her car pulled up she saw a lot of people standing around talking and visiting. Before the doctor went inside she sighed and thought 'God, I never thought I'd be here to see my own son.' Once inside she saw Marc standing around the stairs waiting for her. "Marc." She called from the entry doors.
"Mom!" He ran to her and hugged her tight. "I'm so glad you're here."
"Me too sweetie. Me too." She whispered while giving him another hug. After that they sat down in some chairs near by. "So how are you doing here?"
"I'm ok. The people here are nice and they help a lot."
"They treating you ok?"
"Yeah, it's fine."
"Are you sure? Because I can get you moved-"
"Mom." He interrupted her. "It's cool. I'm fine here. It's nice."
"O-ok. You get out in a week so you really have nothing to worry about."
"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about mom." Lu looked at him wondering what was going on. "This is a nice place, and.." He hesitated. "And even though I wish that I was here for different reason, I think that..I should.umm.."
"What is it Marc?"
"I think I should stay another month."
"What?" Lu asked shocked. "Why?"
"I just don't trust myself enough yet to go back home and not use anymore. I have a problem and I'm admitting that I need help. More help that is."
"You want to stay here?" Marc nodded and his eyes didn't leave hers. After awhile, she realized that he was concerned about his well being and that he needed more help. "Ok. I'll make the arrangements. I'll take care of it."
"Thank you. I really need you right now Mom. I do."
"And I'm here for you Marc. No matter what happens. I'm here for you. You're my son and I love you more than life itself. I'm here." Marc wrapped his arms around his mother as tears spilled from the young mans eyes.
That night after Lu got home she called Lana and told her what was going on with Marc.
"He's going to stay another month?"
"Yes."
"Won't that cost a lot of money?"
"Yes but money doesn't matter as much as money Lana."
"Don't you be talking to Lana about safety." Lu chuckled at her friend.
"So have you seen Peter today?"
"Umm.he left Rittenhouse about five in a really, really sexy tux with his hair all slicked back and he was smelling all good."
"He was smelling all good? Where was he going?"
"He didn't say. Just left in a hurry." Lana answered and Lu's mind raced at the possibilities.
***
Meanwhile while Jessie and Lizzy waited anxiously for their dad to arrive, Andy paced in the kitchen while on the phone with Milo.
"Andy, are you sure you don't want me there?" He asked from his office phone at Rittenhouse.
"Umm.no but you're working and even if you were here, it would just make things worse."
"How? He can't touch you if I'm there."
"He can't touch me even if you're not here Milo. I won't let him do that again, especially in front of the girls."
"You're right. You can take care of yourself. I'm just worried."
"Thank you. For being worried. It makes me feel like I'm not the only one." She said while getting a glass of water and peering into the living room every now in then. "I don't know what I would do without you."
"Same here." There was silence between the two. All that was heard was the television in the living room.
"Ok, waiting is killing me here Milo. Talk to me. Keep me busy, please."
"Umm.ok..the wedding..let's talk about the wedding."
"All right."
"Um..."
"Yeah." Andy waited impatiently for him to talk.
"Umm."
"Say something Milo!" She raised her voice slightly.
"Ok, ok. I'm sorry. Let's see. I was thinking about the reception food."
"What about it?"
"I don't think we should do sit down dinner type things. I think we should do a buffet."
"A buffet?"
"Yeah. We could have a bunch of different foods."
"Well, I guess we could-" The doorbell rang and interrupted their conversation. "I have to go."
"Why? Is he there?"
"Yep." She fell silent as Lizzy and Jessie opened the door and she heard Les's voice.
"Andy?"
"Yeah?"
"I love you." She fell silent again as she heard more re-uniting.
"I love you too Milo." She said and then hung up the phone. Andy sighed and took in two deep breaths before entering the front hallway. When she did, he was standing there in front of the door holding both daughters in his arms.
"Hi Andy."
"Hey Les." He let go of Jessie and Lizzy and walked to her. After a pause he took her in his arms and squeezed her body tight. Les was home. He was back in Philly, to stay.
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Me: What will happen between Les and Andy now that he's home? Will Marc be ok another month in rehab? Will Lu ever find out what's up with Peter? Stay tuned for Chapter 18 and see what happens. And one more thing, review my pizzeeps!
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Two weeks after everyone had learned about Marc's illegal secrets, Lu decided to send him to a rehabilitation center in Northern Philly. Everything was depressing about Lu now. Her work and patients suffered, just like when Mickey died. Everybody including Dr. Jackson tried to cheer her up but there was no use. Marc would be in rehab for about a month. The suffering doctor hadn't been to visit her addicted son yet and Peter had promised her that he would take her up the 3rd weekend that he was there. Turns out that Marc had been doing drugs even before he met Carry Baxtor. At work the Thursday before their trip up to see Marc, Peter asked if he could talk to Lu in private so they went into her office.
"What's going on?"
"I can't take you to see Marc this weekend Lu."
"What? Peter!" She paused and looked at her feet growing angry. "Why not?"
"Something's come up and I just can't make it."
"What could possibly be more important?"
"A lot of things I can think of." He said quietly not looking at her.
"Peter, I told you that I didn't want to do this with out you. I can't face him alone. I need you to be there with me."
"I'm sorry Lu, I just can't come. Not now." Lu fell silent and looked at her feet again. "Listen. You can do this by your self. You're a strong independent women and you'll be fine."
"NO! I won't be..I don't want to do this by myself. Not this time."
"Yes you can."
"No."
"Yes."
"Peter!"
"Lu!"
"PETER!" Lu stomped her foot and looked into his eye evilly.
"I know you. You can do this on your own and you'll be fine when you do. There is nothing I can do to help anyway. I just can't come with you."
"What are you going to do instead?"
"That doesn't matter." He said quickly. "Tell Marc I said 'Hi' and that I hope he gets better soon and he can come home."
"Come on Peter. He really likes you and I think it would be good if you saw him."
"Well then I'll visit him another day, just not this weekend."
"So you're not going to change your mind?" Peter nodded and Lu sighed. "Fine.. I'll go alone. I don't need you anymore Peter." Lu stormed out of the office on the verge of tears.
***
Meanwhile, at the Campbell household, everybody had different feelings about Les coming back to Philly. While Lizzy was getting more and more excited, Andy was getting more and more nervous and Jessie was still in between emotions. Milo spent a lot of time with the family now, mostly to comfort Andy. It was three days that Thursday before Les's return, Andy needed a bit more comfort than usual so she asked Milo to stay with her for the night and had Jessie and Lizzy go to their friends houses. After they ate dinner, Milo helped her clean the dishes while discussing more of their wedding.
"So you have Lu, Lana, Jessie and Lizzy for your bridesmaids?" He asked again.
"Yep. And you have your two brothers, Jared and Michael, Riggs, and..wait that's only three."
"Umm.I could get my dad."
"Ok." Milo smiled at her while drying a plate and then decided to flirt so he shoved his body against hers gently. She noticed what he was doing and shoved back. "So..chicken or beef?" Andy laughed.
"Chicken, everybody likes chicken. Well, except Riggs."
"Well, he's a vegetarian. That doesn't count." Andy dried her hands and walked to the other side of the kitchen to put a dish away. Milo followed her and when he was close enough he grabbed her butt-cheek.
"Excuse you!" She looked at him wide-eyed.
"You know you liked it. Now kiss me."
"And what if I don't?" She asked teasing him.
"Well then I'll just have to..." He ran a finger down her cheek. "Have to...Tickle you!" Andy screamed as he reached for the sides of her stomach and got out of his reach before he could.
"Don't even think about it Milo Morton!" He slowly walked towards her. "Milo!" He didn't stop so she turned and ran into the living room and he followed her. She screamed again as he tackled and pinned her on the couch. Laughter emerged from her body as his hands moved all around her stomach. The only person she let tickle her was him and even though she screamed and acted like she hated it, she really loved it when he did this. After awhile he stopped but still had her pinned. "You know just how to pin me! That's not fair!" She said.
"Yes I do, and in more ways than one." He leaned down to kiss her but she fooled him and ended up throwing him on the floor. Then she fled to the hallway for safety. "Oh, that was good Andy. But you're not getting away that easy." He ran towards her and she darted up the stairs. When they reached the bedroom, she was on one side of the bed and he was on the other. "I'm going to get you women."
"I'd like to see you try man." He jumped on the bed as she ran around it and back down the stairs. When he ran after her down the stairs she was no where in site. "Andy? Oh Andy..come out come out where ever you are." He stopped walking when he heard a laugh come from inside the closet below the stairs. He opened the door to the closet and called her name again. When there was no response but he knew that she was in there he stepped inside and closed the door behind him. Andy sighed heavily, not knowing that he was in there, and stepped out from behind a bunch of coats and boxes. The closet light was off so she couldn't see where she was going and bumped straight into him. "Boo."
"Ahh!!" She responded still breathing heavily.
"Got you."
"Yes you did." She stated in between laughs. Then she searched through the dark for his lips and they finally connected.
"Well now that I got you, can I do anything I want to you?" He asked very flirty-like.
"Mm..hmm." Andy mumbled in the dark closet. As he kissed her again she stepped towards him and tripped over another box. "Um..Milo. Can we get out of the closet?" He laughed at her.
"Yeah." Milo opened the door and let her step out first. Once out of the closet and back in the light he cornered her by the stairs and they kissed passionately. After a few minutes of that she pulled away.
"What happened to discussing our wedding?"
"Well.we can do both at the same time, can't we?" He grabbed her butt- cheeks again and led her to the living room.
"Ok. What flavor cake for the reception?" She asked while kissing his neck.
"I like vanilla."
"And I like chocolate..and I'm not just talking about cake." He smiled at her and enjoyed her lips sucking on his neck.
"How about half and half?"
"That works." She said making her way down his body while pulling his shirt off.
***
Saturday morning Lu made her way to Northern Philly to see Marc. She was still upset that Peter wouldn't come with her but she wasn't going to let it keep her from going. As her car pulled up she saw a lot of people standing around talking and visiting. Before the doctor went inside she sighed and thought 'God, I never thought I'd be here to see my own son.' Once inside she saw Marc standing around the stairs waiting for her. "Marc." She called from the entry doors.
"Mom!" He ran to her and hugged her tight. "I'm so glad you're here."
"Me too sweetie. Me too." She whispered while giving him another hug. After that they sat down in some chairs near by. "So how are you doing here?"
"I'm ok. The people here are nice and they help a lot."
"They treating you ok?"
"Yeah, it's fine."
"Are you sure? Because I can get you moved-"
"Mom." He interrupted her. "It's cool. I'm fine here. It's nice."
"O-ok. You get out in a week so you really have nothing to worry about."
"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about mom." Lu looked at him wondering what was going on. "This is a nice place, and.." He hesitated. "And even though I wish that I was here for different reason, I think that..I should.umm.."
"What is it Marc?"
"I think I should stay another month."
"What?" Lu asked shocked. "Why?"
"I just don't trust myself enough yet to go back home and not use anymore. I have a problem and I'm admitting that I need help. More help that is."
"You want to stay here?" Marc nodded and his eyes didn't leave hers. After awhile, she realized that he was concerned about his well being and that he needed more help. "Ok. I'll make the arrangements. I'll take care of it."
"Thank you. I really need you right now Mom. I do."
"And I'm here for you Marc. No matter what happens. I'm here for you. You're my son and I love you more than life itself. I'm here." Marc wrapped his arms around his mother as tears spilled from the young mans eyes.
That night after Lu got home she called Lana and told her what was going on with Marc.
"He's going to stay another month?"
"Yes."
"Won't that cost a lot of money?"
"Yes but money doesn't matter as much as money Lana."
"Don't you be talking to Lana about safety." Lu chuckled at her friend.
"So have you seen Peter today?"
"Umm.he left Rittenhouse about five in a really, really sexy tux with his hair all slicked back and he was smelling all good."
"He was smelling all good? Where was he going?"
"He didn't say. Just left in a hurry." Lana answered and Lu's mind raced at the possibilities.
***
Meanwhile while Jessie and Lizzy waited anxiously for their dad to arrive, Andy paced in the kitchen while on the phone with Milo.
"Andy, are you sure you don't want me there?" He asked from his office phone at Rittenhouse.
"Umm.no but you're working and even if you were here, it would just make things worse."
"How? He can't touch you if I'm there."
"He can't touch me even if you're not here Milo. I won't let him do that again, especially in front of the girls."
"You're right. You can take care of yourself. I'm just worried."
"Thank you. For being worried. It makes me feel like I'm not the only one." She said while getting a glass of water and peering into the living room every now in then. "I don't know what I would do without you."
"Same here." There was silence between the two. All that was heard was the television in the living room.
"Ok, waiting is killing me here Milo. Talk to me. Keep me busy, please."
"Umm.ok..the wedding..let's talk about the wedding."
"All right."
"Um..."
"Yeah." Andy waited impatiently for him to talk.
"Umm."
"Say something Milo!" She raised her voice slightly.
"Ok, ok. I'm sorry. Let's see. I was thinking about the reception food."
"What about it?"
"I don't think we should do sit down dinner type things. I think we should do a buffet."
"A buffet?"
"Yeah. We could have a bunch of different foods."
"Well, I guess we could-" The doorbell rang and interrupted their conversation. "I have to go."
"Why? Is he there?"
"Yep." She fell silent as Lizzy and Jessie opened the door and she heard Les's voice.
"Andy?"
"Yeah?"
"I love you." She fell silent again as she heard more re-uniting.
"I love you too Milo." She said and then hung up the phone. Andy sighed and took in two deep breaths before entering the front hallway. When she did, he was standing there in front of the door holding both daughters in his arms.
"Hi Andy."
"Hey Les." He let go of Jessie and Lizzy and walked to her. After a pause he took her in his arms and squeezed her body tight. Les was home. He was back in Philly, to stay.
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Me: What will happen between Les and Andy now that he's home? Will Marc be ok another month in rehab? Will Lu ever find out what's up with Peter? Stay tuned for Chapter 18 and see what happens. And one more thing, review my pizzeeps!