The Lucky Ones

Chapter Ten

A/N: In this story, for storyline purposes, Carter gets along with his grandparents and they are very close. I just thought that I should point that out. Also, thank you to everyone reviewing my story!

Two weeks later

"Do you have any plans for next Friday night?" Carter asked as they were getting ready to go to bed after a long day of work.

"No, why?" Lucy asked, setting the alarm clock.

"Well, I wanted to take you to dinner at my grandparents' house. I want you to meet them. I'd have you meet my parents first, but I'd rather start you off with family members that I actually like." He got under the covers and adjusted his pillow.

Lucy also got under the covers. "You want me to meet your grandparents?" she had heard lots of good things about them, especially his gamma, but was she ready to meet his family?

"Well yeah. They wanted us to come to Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas dinner, but we were working Thanksgiving and I avoided them on Christmas since you were visiting your mother."

"Ok, sure. I'd love to meet your grandparents." She agreed, even though she was very nervous. She snuggled up closer to Carter and tried not to worry about meeting his family.

The next week went by fairly quick and suddenly it was Friday night. "If you don't hurry up, we're going to be late." Carter called as he looked at his watch.

Lucy came running out of the bedroom, still putting on her earrings. "What do you think of this?" she asked, twirling around. She was wearing a simple black dress that had a conservative neckline and came down to about her knees.

"I think you're gorgeous." He smiled, walking over and kissing her.

"Is it really ok? 'Cause I have this other dress that would probably look..."

"Luce, you look beautiful. Relax. Let's go before we're late."

"Ok." Lucy replied, taking a deep breath. "I'm just so nervous. I really want them to like me."

"All you have to do is be yourself and I guarantee that they will love you as much as I do." Carter replied, grabbing her hand to show his support.

After about twenty minutes of driving, they finally reached the Carter family estate. "Wow." Lucy said as she noticed how big the estate they had.

"I know it can seem intimidating, but don't worry. These are my nice relatives."

Lucy laughed until she realized that he was being serious. "Oh, sorry."

He opened up her side of the jeep and grabbed her arm, leading her to the front door. He noticed that she still seemed nervous. "You'll be fine." He whispered in her ear.

The door opened and they were greeted by the butler. "Hello Mr. Carter." He greeted in a very British manner.

"Hello Niles. How are you?" Carter asked.

"Very well, thank you. And you?" Niles asked.

"Wonderful. This is Lucy Knight. Lucy, this is Niles. He's been with the family since before I was even born." Carter introduced them.

Lucy shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine I assure you." Niles replied. "I'll go tell your grandparents that you have arrived."

"He seems like a nice guy. But he's kind of formal, isn't he?" Lucy asked after he was gone.

"Niles? Yeah, but it's part of his charm." Carter smiled and kissed her on the forehead.

"John! It's so good to see you!" A voice came from the hallway.

"Gamma!" John greeted. "How are you doing?"

"Oh I'm fine. I do wish you'd stop by more often though. We missed you this holiday season." Millicent Carter replied as she gave her grandson a hug. "But I know that you're busy saving lives at the hospital."

"Gamma, this is Lucy Knight. Lucy, this is my gamma." John introduced.

"It's very nice to meet you Mrs. Carter. John's told me a lot about you." Lucy smiled. She extended her hand out to her, but was instead greeted with a hug. It surprised her, but she quickly returned the hug.

"John's told me a lot about you too dear, and I'm very glad that he has you in his life. I was so worried about him for a while there, but now...now he's happier than I think I've ever seen him. And please, call me Millicent. There's no need for you to use formalities."

"Well thank you...Millicent." Lucy finally managed to say. She wasn't expecting John's grandmother to be so nice to her. After all, she wasn't even close to being in the same social class as the Carter's.

Millicent took John and Lucy's arms and led them to the dining room. She had seated Lucy and John next to each other. "Your grandfather will be right down. He had some business that he needed to take care of. But he said to go ahead and start eating without him." The food was already out on the table. "Well, go ahead you two. Don't let it get cold!"

After they had passed around all of the food, John's grandfather came into the room. "John! How are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm fine grandfather, and you?" John asked.

"Well I won't lie to you. Getting older isn't as much fun as you might think. But I'm doing good." John Carter Sr. replied with a smile. Then he pointed at Lucy. "So is this the infamous Lucy Knight I've been hearing about for so long?"

"Yes, it is." Carter nodded.

"Well welcome Miss Knight. I applaud you for being able to put the smile back on my grandson's face." Mr. Carter smiled.

"Thank you Mr. Carter. But please, call me Lucy."

"Only if you'll call me John."

"Ok." Lucy smiled. Maybe I have nothing to worry about after all.

The rest of dinner went well. Lucy was starting to feel very comfortable around his grandparents. As the dishes were being cleared, John's grandfather asked Carter to go into his study to get his opinion about something. That left Lucy with Millicent. "Thank you so much for dinner. I don't know when I've had such a wonderful meal."

"Oh it's no problem dear. Why don't you come with me to the library where we can talk?"

"Ok." Lucy replied. As she followed her to the library, she started having bad thoughts. 'Uh-oh. She doesn't like me and now that John's not here, she's going to tell me how much she doesn't like me.' She sat down on the couch while Millicent sat in a nearby chair.

"I hope you don't think that I'm being too noisy, but can I ask you a question?"

"Sure. Feel free to ask away." Lucy smiled nervously.

"It hasn't been easy for you, has it?"

"Excuse me?" Lucy asked, not sure what Millicent was talking about.

"The aftermath of the attack. It hasn't been easy for you, has it?"

Lucy got quiet for a moment and took a deep breath. "No, it hasn't."

"I know that it hasn't been easy for John. Especially when you were still in the coma. But now, I hear that you've gotten him into therapy. Congratulations on that one by the way. His grandfather and I had been telling him to do that for months but he always refused. Kept saying that he didn't need it, even though it could help him. I'm glad that he at least listened to you."

"Well therapy can really make a difference. I know it's making a big difference in my life. I'm just really sorry that he got hurt too. I don't know what I would've done if he had...well, I don't even want to think about that."

"Neither do I dear." Millicent smiled warmly. "You know, John has told me several times that you are incredibly special, and know that I have had a chance to talk to you I realize he is right."

"Well John is incredibly special too. I'm not sure where I'd be right now if it wasn't for him."

Just then, the phone rang. Millicent reached over and grabbed the telephone. "Hello?...Oh hello Beverly. What's wrong?...Oh. Hold on a moment." She covered the phone with her hand. "Lucy, I hate to do this, but I have to take this phone call."

"Oh don't worry. I'll go. Is it ok if I look around the house?" Lucy asked, getting up.

"Oh yes of course. Feel free to look around all you want." Millicent replied.

Lucy left the library and started to explore the rest of the house.

Meanwhile, in the study, Carter was continuing to talk with his grandfather. "What do you think of Lucy?" he asked.

"She's wonderful. I think you've done well." John replied.

"I really love her."

"And I can tell that she really loves you."

Just then Lucy was walking by. The doors to the study weren't closed all the way and Lucy was intrigued when she heard voices coming from inside.

"I knew she had to be special in order for you to risk your entire medical career just to be with her." John replied.

"She is well worth the risk. She's one in a million." Carter replied.

Lucy smiled at Carter's last comment but felt bad about putting his medical career at risk. The worst they could do to her if they found out about her relationship with Carter was kick her out of med school, and she could easily get into another school. But Carter, he would no doubt be fired and probably wouldn't be able to find a job with another hospital in the area. She thought about this as she walked away from the door.

"I want to marry Lucy." Carter told his grandfather.

"Right now?" he grandfather laughed.

"No." he shook his head. Then he decided to re-phrase his answer. "Well, I wouldn't mind marrying her right now, but I'm not sure that's a very good idea. We've already broken enough hospital policy for now. But when the time is right, I want to ask her to marry me." He explained.

"You really are serious about her, aren't you?"

"I've never been so serious about anyone in my life." Carter smiled.

"Then you better not tell your grandmother about that right now or else she'll have your entire wedding all planned out before you can even ask Lucy!" he laughed.

Carter laughed too, knowing that it was true. "It will be our little secret then." He looked at his watch. "Oh. We better get going. We have an early shift tomorrow."

"It was good seeing you John. I hope we'll get to see more of you and Lucy around the house."

Carter gave his grandfather a hug. "I'll see what I can do. I'll just go find Lucy and say goodbye to gamma."

"Bye John." His grandfather said as Carter left the study.

A few minutes after Carter had left the study looking for Lucy, she passed by the study again.

"Lucy? Is that you?" John Carter Sr. called out as he approached her.

"Hi John. I'm looking for Carter. Wasn't he with you earlier?" Lucy asked.

"Yes, but he went out looking for you. But since you're here, why don't you come in and sit for a minute? John's bound to figure out where you are sooner or later."

"Oh, ok." Lucy replied as she went into the study with him and sat down in the chair across from his desk.

"I know that you and John have had a rough time lately. But I'm glad that at least some good came out of that horrible experience." John smiled.

"So am I." Lucy replied. "We've been very lucky."

"There you are!" Carter exclaimed, walking over to the chair where Lucy was sitting. He kissed her forehead. "I've been looking for you everywhere!"

"Sorry." Lucy apologized.

"Ready to go?" Carter asked.

"Sure."

"Bye grandfather." Carter smiled.

"Yes goodbye John. It was great meeting you." Lucy smiled.

"The pleasure was all mine Lucy. Feel free to come by for dinner sometime—and bring my grandson along too." John joked.

"Night." Carter and Lucy said at the same time as they left the study.

"So, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Carter asked as he wrapped his arm around her waist while they were walking.

"No. You're grandparents are wonderful John. Thanks for letting me meet them."

"Thanks for coming with me."