Author's Note: Well, that's the story. I'm gonna be in a world of hurt at work tomorrow but I'm glad I finally got this done. Of course, the last chapter is of epic lengths because I just couldn't shut up. Thanks for reading and I hope I gave you a worthy ending for your time spent indulging my silliness.
Much love to all my reviewers--Katy, Kayla, MahoganyMiss and lol. Thanks for the feedback! I'll get the first chapter of that sequel up by the end of the week.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Kate looked like she had gotten into a fight with her wine bottle with the bottle being the definitive winner. She had huge bags under her eyes and her hair was haphazardly shoved into a sloppy bun. Apparently she wasn't too messed up since she seemed to exert plenty of energy shooting daggers in Sami's direction.
Sami contentiously returned the evil stare and reached for her coffee. She dropped her fork next to her half eaten pancakes causing a dramatic clanging sound. "Well, Philip, it looks like you don't have to worry about me eating all of this food since I've conveniently lost my appetite." Lucas frowned and gave her the 'don't make trouble look.'
"Hi Mom," Philip replied. "What brings you out here?"
Kate guided her attention to her son, offering him a pinched smile. "I was just out running some errands when I looked in the window and noticed this lovely little domestic display." Her off-handed sentiment came out sounding like bitter sarcasm which wasn't going to win her any fans at the table. "It's lovely to see you here with Belle," she said a little too conspicuously for his liking. "Hello sweetheart," she said to Lucas giving him a kiss on the cheek. Finally, with a forced smile and clenched fists she reluctantly acknowledged her future daughter-in-law. "Sami," she replied barely able to contain the utter contempt she felt for the woman. Although she had promised Lucas she would be civil, he didn't have the power to stop the evil thoughts she harbored about her long-time enemy. 'Actually, I would be more than happy to run into my children under normal circumstances. Too bad their little party includes that conniving slut who is intent on worming her way into my family,' Kate thought to herself.
"Kate," Sami responded with equal enthusiasm. Even though she was willing to bite her tongue for Lucas' sake, it didn't mean she couldn't still harbor hateful thoughts for Kate—especially when she was standing in front of her looking so sanctimonious. 'Looks like you had a bad night. I guess the ice cream coupled with a nice round of playing the nosy, meddling bitch didn't work to lift your spirits.' To Sami's delight, she actually didn't have to do anything to aggravate Kate on this particular occasion. Her antics from the night before were enough to elicit a few snide comments from her sons.
Surprisingly, it was Philip who struck the first blow. "Mom, you look terrible. Didn't you get any sleep last night?" He snapped his fingers and looked around in mock confusion. "Oh, that's right, you were too busy getting into my business to get some sleep." Just because he had been in Lucas' body when his mother decided to pop up at his apartment unannounced looking to interfere, didn't mean that she was going to get off the hook.
"What did 'she' and Lucas tell you? I only stopped by really quick to, uh, drop something off to Belle for work."
Belle was still amused at having told her off a few short hours ago so she had no qualms about giving Kate a hard time. "Uh, Kate, you had snacks and a movie with you. Plus, it was like one o'clock in the morning."
"God Lucas, I didn't know you shared every little detail of your life with your brother. As a matter of fact Belle, I did not have snacks and a movie with me. I don't know what Sami told you but it's obviously a lie. Why would I want to hang out with the two of you in the middle of the night. I mean, really!" None of them were buying her attempts to lie her way out of the situation. Kate figured she should move on and focus on something else. "I thought you'd be awake after eating all of those M&M's last night, Belle? I bet all that sugar kept you up for quite a while." She laughed nervously trying to get back into Philip and Lucas' good graces.
Sami had resumed eating her food despite Kate's presence and almost chuckled thinking about the M&M incident at the gas station. She wasn't going to let that wicked witch ruin her yummy meal. 'Maybe you stopped by because you are a lonely, pathetic hag who can't leave your kids alone for two seconds.' Sami appeared to be enjoying her food so as not to give away to Lucas the tenor of her evil thoughts about Kate.
Belle idly picked up a french-fry and popped it in her mouth. "Um, I don't know. I don't even like M&M's."
"Yeah, she's more of a Skittles kind of girl." Belle smiled at Philip, thinking it cute that he knew her favorite candy. Kate looked at the two in confusion and was about to ask them about their scene at the gas station until Lucas quickly intervened.
"Mom, of course, I don't tell Philip the details of my life but when I know you're meddling in his affairs, I try to give him the heads up." Although he wanted to back his brother up, he was having a hard time concentrating on the conversation and keeping an eye on Sami at the same time. You had to be careful with her since she could blow up at any minute, especially when it came to his mother.
"I'm tired of dealing with you two. I'm glad that you're bonding over your lovely little brunch. I'm sure my invitation was accidentally forgotten in the last minute planning. I'll try not to take it personally." Philip and Lucas just rolled their eyes. "I saw that. You're not too old to be reprimanded for being disrespectful. Maybe you've conveniently forgotten but I sacrificed so much to give you what—"
Both sons groaned as they waited for the customary guilt trip to play itself out. While the men were distracted, Sami decided to add her usual insult to injury. "—you know Kate," she said interrupting the endless flow of blubbering, maternal nonsense, "we thought we 'young' people would get together over brunch and bond. Of course you're welcome to join us." Kate's shock at Sami's invitation was evident as she stood there open-mouthed and speechless. She couldn't believe that her arch nemesis would be more considerate than her own flesh and blood.
"Uh, that's a very . . . unexpected . . ." Kate couldn't even find the right words to respond to her.
Sami beamed as she reveled in Kate's discomfort. Although it was fun tormenting her, she had serious doubts that she could keep her food down if she was forced to share a meal with the mother-in-law from Hell. "Pull up a chair Katie. We were just discussing how beautiful our wedding is going to be. I can't seem to stop talking about how perfect my life is going to be once Lucas and I tie the knot. Will, Lucas and I are going to be a family for the rest of our lives. That means that we're going to be together forever and ever and—"
Kate waved her hands in front of her as if she were warding off a swarm of killer bees. "I get the picture, Sami," she spat out. Composing herself, she added, "Thank you for your generous offer but I think I'm going to be on my way."
"Oh, what a shame. Well, goodbye, see you later, ciao—"
"Okay. That's enough, Sami," Lucas said even though he was silently relieved that his mother was leaving. "I'll call you later, Mom."
"Me too," Philip echoed. Belle simply waved being the only one more interested in her food rather than in the conversation with Kate. Kate looked at the four of them suspiciously and then walked briskly out of the restaurant shaking her head as she went.
"That was fun," Sami said toying with a piece of fruit before popping it in her mouth.
"You would think so," Philip snorted.
"Yeah, that's why I said it." Sami rolled her eyes at Philip and returned to her food. "Although I have to admit that driving her nuts was a lot funnier when I was in Belle's body. You should have seen Kate when I started gushing about the wedding. I thought she was going to implode." Sami simulated a mini-explosion with her hands and made a loud explosion sound as she laughed at her own, personal mental image. Belle giggled as well, picturing the same thing happening during her encounter with Kate.
Lucas leaned over and tried to steal some food from Sami since he had finished his meal a long time before. Sami was quick to slap his hand away but not before he snagged a piece of bacon from her plate. "So that's what had her so steamed when I came back from the gas station store. And it explains why you looked so smug."
"Yeah, among other things. I'm telling you that woman needs a hobby or something." Sami decided not to protest when Lucas picked up his fork and started helping himself to her pancakes. She was getting a little full and he knew it.
"I think she just needs a vacation. I tried to tell her as much last night but she bit my head off," said Belle. Sami gave her a knowing look.
"Belle, I didn't see you having any problem biting back," Philip exclaimed. Sami looked over at her sweet little sister with surprise. "You were obviously out of control. I'm sure it was because of some innate, biological function of Sami's body."
Belle couldn't believe such an incredulous statement had come out of Philip's mouth. She really didn't want to open up this particular can of worms but she didn't think that he was being fair at all. "I was out of control? Your mother was the one who showed up at your apartment in the middle of the night with every intention of butting into our business. Did you hear her lame pretext? You know, I'm starting to think that your mother is a little off, if you know what I mean."
"I think you two have gotten the final taste of being me and Sami if you're fighting about Mom." Lucas and Sami casually switched plates and Lucas began polishing off Sami's pancakes while Sami picked at Lucas' coleslaw. "Whatever Belle said, I don't think it had anything to do with being in Sami's body. I know it sounds crazy but there was once a time, long, long ago where Mom and Sami actually got along."
Sami looked thoughtfully down at her new plate thinking about how long ago that seemed. It was like they were two completely different people back then. So much had happened throughout the years and things had gone too far for them to ever return to anything resembling their former relationship. "Ancient history," Sami said with conviction. "I'm curious, what did you say to her Belle?"
Belle told her and Lucas the story with an irritated Philip keeping silent throughout. Sami then told her and Philip about what happened at the gas station. Even Philip laughed a little when she explained how she gave Kate and Lucas the slip using the M&M's as her accomplice.
After hearing about what happened, Philip asked, "What exactly happened between you two? I know most of the story about Austin and Carrie and the situation with Will but that doesn't explain everything about how you got to this place where you can't even stand the sight of each other."
"I've always wondered too," Belle chimed in. "I guess we were too young to know what was going on when all that stuff happened but I've always been curious about it too."
Lucas could see the rapid shift in Sami's mood from happy and carefree to restless and brooding. He focused his attention on her knowing how quickly things could get ugly for both of them when it came to that subject. Sami had so many thoughts running through her mind. She thought of her obsession with Austin that led to so many betrayals finally leading to one of the most painful memories in her life. She thought of how she had wronged both Lucas and Will by not being honest from the beginning and by trying to keep father and son apart for so long. Deep down, she had no illusions about how difficult she had made things between her and Lucas. But Kate, that was another story. Sami may hate Kate to her core and want her destroyed but actual murder was way beyond anything Sami realistically contemplated. However, it seemed that Kate had no problem with trying to kill her—several times—and for that, Sami would never, ever let her guard down around her even for Lucas. Being civil for the sake of him and her son was as far as she was willing to go. But these things weren't for Belle to know. It was quite clear that she and Kate hated each other but Belle and Kate had a different kind of relationship. Plus, she didn't particularly want to reveal the extent of her own treachery over the years. The actual details of Kate's evil nature and her own mistakes were something she wanted to spare her kind, innocent sister.
Sami tried smiling over at Belle, but it was forced and unconvincing. "Belle, honey, I don't really want to talk about that. Can't we just finish enjoying our brunch? Why don't you tell me about how school's going?" Belle looked a little disappointed but she could tell that it was an extremely unpleasant subject for her and this wasn't the place to discuss it.
Philip could tell that Sami didn't want to talk about it too but he really did want to know. Maybe the whole experience between the four of them would help them come clean about their past with his mother. "I'm sure it's a hard thing to talk about but it would really help us understand your relationship." Philip looked back and forth between his brother and the woman that had caused so much trouble in both his brother's life and his mother's life. They had both stopped eating and Lucas had put his arm protectively around Sami. Philip turned his attention to Sami and continued. "You and Lucas were enemies for a long time too but you managed to put the past behind you and look what's happened. Why can't the same thing happen for you and Mom? That's not such a hard thing to ask."
Lucas didn't even know where to begin explaining what had happened with Sami and his mother. There were too many schemes and too much backstabbing over the years to even touch the tip of the iceburg. How could he ever explain what had happened in Italy—especially the role that Victor played in all of it. How could he explain what happened with Franco and how disastrously far it had gone. God, he couldn't imagine having that conversation with Sami even anywhere in the room. "Maybe it is too much to ask, Philip," Lucas said rubbing Sami's arm gently in his embrace. "We've all done some terrible things to each other over the last few years but now we're trying to move on from that." Lucas lifted his head from where it rested against Sami's and softly kissed her on the forehead. "Personally, I'm just happy she's forgiven me and allowed me to love her. Everything else will work itself out." Sami gazed at him with gratitude and he knew the feeling was entirely mutual. He let Sami go and returned his attention to Philip and Belle. "Why don't we just let it go, guys, okay?"
"Sure," Belle said looking at Philip meaningfully. She knew they shouldn't have gone there but maybe someday, when some of the old wounds had healed, they would get the whole story.
Sami let out a huge sigh. "Talk about a buzzkill," she said lightly. "Why don't we get the check and get out of here." She finally threw her napkin across her plate in surrender and gave her brunchmates the brightest smile she could muster. "Lucas and I have a little gift for you and we've got to do some things before we head out to see Will."
Philip and Belle were glad the tension had lifted among them. "Are you sure you can move after eating all that food," Philip joked.
Sami smiled at Philip and shrugged her shoulder. "It was a little close for a while. I mean, with your mother showing up, I got a little nauseous there for a minute but I think I'll manage. Besides, if there's a problem then Lucas can just carry me, right sweetheart?"
"Of course, honey. I'll give you a piggyback ride all the way to the car. You can just hop on my back and we'll hit the road." Sami giggled and thought that she might take him up on his offer. Lucas signaled the server again and made a gesture requesting the check. The server nodded with a broad smile and scurried away to comply.
"What kind of present do we get?" Belle asked practically jumping up and down in her seat. "I love presents! Is it for both of us or did you get us something separately? Is it big? Did you bring it with you?"
Philip put his hand on her shoulder to still her excited gestures. "Calm down, Belle. Take a deep breath." He laughed while she followed his instructions with excitement still in her eyes. "That's nice of you guys. I can't wait."
Sami and Lucas smiled enigmatically and with amusement. "You'll see. You'll have to wait until you get home to open it but all in good time," Lucas hinted. "Besides, it's the least we could do after you pay for our meals." Philip gave him a questioning look and was about to protest. However, Lucas added, "How did you get here again? It must have been nice not having to stop for gas when you were already running so incredibly late." His classic smirk was painted triumphantly across his face. Philip grinned back and reluctantly pulled out his wallet.
With the check so generously paid by Philip, they left the restaurant feeling full and satisfied. They all agreed that they should get together more often and hang out. Philip wasn't parked very far so Lucas and Sami followed them over to the nearby parking lot to say their goodbyes. Sami gave Belle a big hug and quickly caressed her sister's cheek. "I guess, it wasn't so bad being you for a little while. I had forgotten what it was like to have people be nice to me even if it was only stupid, old Kate. And I guess, it's not so bad being nice to people who call you in the middle of the night asking to borrow your car."
Belle laughed and grabbed her hand. "Yeah, it has its perks, sometimes. You should give it a try." She looked down quickly and then returned her gaze back to her sister. "I really am sorry about . . . you know. We didn't mean to offend you or anything. But it was a really beautiful experience and I'm glad that you were there for me—indirectly, you know."
Sami smiled warmly back at her sister and stroked her hair. "It's okay Belle, really. We're just teasing you," she said pointing over at Lucas too. "I'm glad your first time was with someone like Philip and that it was something you both enjoyed."
"Thanks Sami," Belle replied and gave her another hug.
"Save some for me," Lucas said and moved to hug Belle too. "Just make sure you watch where you're putting your hands," he joked. Belle laughed at him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"Don't worry. It'll be hard but I'll try to behave myself," Belle said. "Now where's our present?" Lucas winced at Belle's squeal. She was obviously excited about the surprise so he looked over in Sami's direction to see if she was ready to go get the gift from his car. He was just in time to see Philip with his arm loosely around Sami as he chastely kissed the top of her head. He quickly dropped his arm and looked away when he met Lucas' scowl. "Luuucaaaas," Belle whined tugging his arm. "Present . . . surprise . . . remember? Where is it?"
Sami pulled Lucas towards his car a few feet away. "Yeah, come on Lucas. I want to get on the road so we can see Will and tell him the good news." Lucas allowed himself to be dragged over to their car anxious to get rolling as well.
"Alright, alright. Keep your pants on . . . for now." He smirked over at her and unlocked the door. He pulled the big box from the back seat and headed back over to Philip and Belle. Of course, Sami wasn't volunteering to carry the box insisting that she was strictly the navigator, especially if he wouldn't let her drive.
Belle and Philip looked a little surprised at the big package but both were curious what could be inside. "I can't wait to open it! Can we have a hint about what it is?" Belle asked.
"No clues!" Lucas stated. "And don't even think about opening it before you get home—it'll ruin the poignancy of it."
"God forbid," Philip said laughing at Lucas. "When did you learn a word like 'poignancy,' much less use it in real life." He took the box from Lucas and went to put it in the back seat of his car.
"Enjoy kids! We're off," Sami said walking away with Lucas on her arm. "You can thank us later," she threw back.
"Those two are so weird sometimes. Why can't they just tell us what it is? I bet it's not even that 'poignant' and Lucas is just being melodramatic." Philip pushed the box farther into the car and almost hit his head backing out due to Belle's excited squeal. "What was that for?" Philip said backing out of the car completely. He followed the finger that Belle was pointing in the direction Sami and Lucas had gone. She had stars in her eyes gazing at the adorable scene in front of them.
Lucas and Sami were several feet away headed towards some of the shops on the other side of the restaurant. All of a sudden, Lucas helped Sami up onto one of the benches lining the walkway and she seemed to be arguing with him playfully about something. Lucas then turned his back to her and grabbed for her legs as Sami wrapped her arms around his neck. Before they knew it, he had lifted her up and they were walking away with Sami on his back. Lucas stumbled down the walkway and they were both giggling like children as Lucas gave Sami her piggyback ride. As they turned the corner, Sami let out a huge laugh before kissing Lucas on the top of the head.
Belle had the sappiest look on her face as she sighed at the sight. "Aren't those two just so cute? I can't wait until they get married." Philip just chuckled and turned his attention back to the lovely creature by his side. "Don't you think they're cute."
Philip wasn't as excited as Belle but he hated to admit that he too thought they were cute. "If you say so, beautiful, but they're certainly not as cute as you." He lightly tapped her nose with his finger and watched a brilliant smile spread across her face. "Let's go home so we can find out what those two maniacs gave us." He opened the front door for her, guiding her inside before getting in himself and driving towards the loft.
Belle could hardly contain herself, she was so excited. She loved getting presents and figured that whatever Sami and Lucas had given them would be good since it came in such a big box. Philip made fun of her the whole way telling her that he was glad the windows were up or else she would have bounced right out of the car. She looked back at the box and reached out for something. "Belle, they said not to open it until we got home. You wouldn't want to ruin the surprise would you?"
"Exactly, Philip. They said not to 'open' it until we got home. This card was attached to the top on the OUTSIDE so I don't see why we can't read it. We're not technically opening it." She grabbed the envelope and ripped it open.
"I think you got a little too comfortable in Sami's body. Now you're sounding just like her." He glanced at her quickly trying to hide his curiosity and failing miserably. "So what does it say—I mean, you might as well tell me since you've already opened it up."
"See! You're just as anxious as I am." She cleared her throat and began reading the note out loud for some clue as to what lay inside.
Dear Loving Siblings (and future siblings-in-law),
We thought we'd give you a little something to remember the experience by. We know we've been giving you a hard time, but we really are happy that you two have FINALLY found each other. We hope that you will be as happy as we are. Of course, this doesn't mean that we'll stop teasing you guys for getting caught engaging in unauthorized activities in our bodies. We'll pretty much keep doing it until it stops being funny or we find something else to make fun of. In other words, be prepared to keep hearing about it for a long, long time. But anyway, thanks for sticking by us and reminding us of our love for each other even when we were too stubborn to do it for ourselves. And don't worry about Mom/Kate, we've got your back.
Love your wise, caring, amazingly attractive brother and sister,
Lucas and Sami
P.S. Don't "spend" it all at once. Save some for later. As for the other stuff, we just couldn't resist. Think of it this way, we just saved you a lot of time and trouble.
While they appreciated the sentiments in the note, they were now more curious than ever. Finally, they reached their apartment and Philip carried the box over to the couch so they could open it. Belle was hopping up and down on the couch, hardly able to contain herself.
"Well, whatever it is, it's not all that heavy. He leaned over to smell what was inside and then awkwardly tried to shake the big box.
Belle was having none of it. She pushed Philip out of the way and ripped open the box to see what treasures lay inside. The first thing that caught her attention was the thick layer of tissue paper and a small bag laying on top of it. "What's up with this? Look at this," she said motioning for Philip to re-join her. She opened the back and spilled the contents on her lap. What came out was a value pack of condoms conveniently ribbed for her pleasure. Philip picked up the box, tossed it in the air and caught it again in his open hand. "What a couple of sweethearts," he said sarcastically.
Belle thought it was kind of funny even though it was a little embarrassing to be given prophylactics by your sister and her future brother-in-law, the latter having seen her naked numerous times in the past 24 hours. "It's a nice gesture, I guess."
"Three guesses why they wanted us to wait until we got home to open the box." He gave her a lascivious grin and kissed her soundly.
Belle pushed him away a bit reluctantly, promising with her expression, more of the same later on. "Philip, that can't be the only thing in this huge box. Let's see what else they gave us." She clawed at the tissue paper and quickly pulled out the soft objects that lay underneath it. When they realized what it was they looked at each other and burst out laughing. "I guess we're back in Sami's good graces. They were right, this does save us a lot of time and energy."
Folded neatly inside the box were the sheets from Sami's bed including the comforter—the very same sheets that she had made such a fuss of them "soiling" earlier.
"It's true that I am feeling a little sentimental about them. Why don't we go try them out?" Belle didn't look like she favored that idea so he decided to backtrack. "What I meant was we could try out part of it. This part here," he said pointing to the comforter.
Belle seemed more pleased about that. Even considering the circumstances, she had to agree with Sami that it wasn't pleasant to think of rolling around on dirty sheets. At least now they wouldn't have to wash and return them. "That's sounds okay. We'll have to be sure to thank them for such a lovely gift—later." She gave him a smoldering look. "Right now, we've got some important business to attend to." She leaned over to kiss him and at that moment, their present was completely forgotten.
"So, it's been enough time for them to get home. Do you think they liked their present?" Lucas asked his beautiful companion. He was still a little winded from the piggyback ride—Philip hadn't been kidding about all that food weighing her down. But hearing her laugh like that was worth the backache.
Sami chuckled thinking about Belle and Philip's reaction to the sheets. "I'm sure they got a kick out of it. Besides, them liking it was not my concern. I wanted to distance myself from the trauma of what they did on those sheets. I don't think I could stand even looking at those things without thinking about what they did on them, much less sleeping on them."
"Well, I'm sure they found a good home over there. That means we can go out and buy new stuff for your bed. It gives you another reason to shop." She seemed especially excited about that part. "I'll even foot the bill, what do you say?"
"What I say," Sami said grabbing his arm, "is that we better hurry or we'll never got down to Will's camp. We've got some big news to tell him, remember?"
"How could I forget something like that? I'm still getting rave reviews for my solo. The calls from record companies have been pouring in and I've got an album in the works." Sami giggled at his silliness. First the piggyback ride and now this. He was such a character. They were actually crossing the shopping center on their way back to their car. They had stopped by a few places in order to put together a care package for Will. They were sure that the news of their engagement was the biggest present he could hope for but a little something extra wouldn't hurt.
"Oh Lucas, the last 24 hours seem so surreal to me. It's like it's all an amazing, wonderful yet insanely bizarre dream." She stared at the engagement ring that Lucas had given her and sighed in contentment.
Lucas noticed her staring at her engagement ring. "Sami, that part isn't a dream. All the other stuff, well, I just don't know. But this ring," he said grasping her hand and running his fingers across the ring, "this is the real deal. My love for you is the real thing."
"I know it is. I won't ever doubt that again. I've waited too long to experience this and to see what love really feels like to take it for granted." They walked a few paces in silence and Sami said at last, "you know what else?"
"What's that?"
"I'm pretty crazy about you." She uttered the words softly and with meaning. It nearly melted his heart to hear such affection directed at him. It still amazed him everyday that he had her in his life again.
Lucas grinned down at her, his eyes matching the affection in hers. "You bet you're crazy about me—and it's a good thing that you are."
Sami gave him a disbelieving look. "And why is that? You're a driving snob, you are in serious need of a pedicure and you are way too cute for your own good."
"There's no arguing with that last part but that's not the reason."
"Okay, I'll bite. So why is it a good thing that I'm crazy about you," Sami asked impatiently.
He put his arm around her causing her to do the same and leaned into her. "The reason is simple. It's a good thing you're crazy about me because I'm completely and utterly crazy about you too." He knew he had said the right thing because he was rewarded with her lovely smile and a sweet kiss. He could see his car from where they were walking but made no move to hurry. He liked strolling down the street with her in his arms. "Why so serious all of a sudden?" he asked noticing her fading smile. "Is it my breath?" He blew a gust of air her way to test out his theory.
Sami playfully moved away and laughed. "Ewww, gross! Next time, skip the onions! You definitely need a Tic Tac, General." She could hear him grabbing for his keys in his pocket even though his car was across the parking lot. They put their arems back around each other and continued walking. "I was just thinking that it's going to be a long road for us. So much has happened to us in the past that I'd be a fool not to be skeptical of us living happily ever after."
"Hey, let's not think about the past. We've got great things happening for us. We're finally going to be a family with Will." He rubbed her back soothingly and pulled her closer.
"I know, I know. I also know that you can't promise me that everything will be perfect for the rest of our lives." She reached around and placed her hand in his. "I just always want to be as happy as I am right now." She gazed up at him with love. "Let's see where life takes us."
Lucas gave her a squeeze. "That sounds like a great idea. But first, let's go see our son."
"You bet," she replied with conviction. "I love you."
"I love you too. Forever." They continued to leisurely stroll down the tree-lined walkway comfortable in their silence and headed towards their future together.