"Nathan, everything is ready at Chatton. They'll be expecting us tomorrow afternoon."
He nodded to Kristen. "Good, it gives Lucas some time with her."
"I hope he'll be alright," Kristen said, sounding worried.
He hoped so too. He really cared about Lucas, and had taken the boy under his wing when it was clear that his father would do nothing of the sort. Now, all in less than 24 hours, everything that Lucas had known about his world had been completely shattered and Nathan had the feeling that there was more to come.
He was happy to see Lucas finally have part of what he'd always secretly wished for: a mother who loved him. But how hard it must be for him to have that happiness tempered by the fact that he was likely about to lose her. Lucas knew what lay in store for Ellie, so did Ellie herself for that matter. What was going through their heads in these stolen moments?
"Lucas is a tough kid, he'll make it through whatever happens," Nathan replied.
"I'll go find them and tell them to be ready to go."
Nathan nodded and went back to his thoughts.
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"Full house boys, read 'em and weep!" Ellie called out, tossing her cards down on the table.
"Damn! She wins again! Ellie are you sure you aren't some poker shark?" Ben grumbled.
"Nope, just had some really good teachers. But you didn't believe me did you? Now I have your money!" Ellie said, snickering. "Actually, Lucas has your money, cause if I went home with this it wouldn't do me any good."
"Woo hoo!" Lucas yelled.
"Oh hell no Wolenczak, you are so not getting my money!"
"Hey man, it's hers to do with as she will."
"He's right. And I choose to give it to my darling son," Ellie said, pinching Lucas' cheek in jest.
"Hey hey, none of that now!" Lucas said, frowning.
"Aww, come on Lucas I was just playing." Ellie said, giving him a gentle shove.
Lucas grinned. "I know."
"You two are a bunch of hustlers!"
"Your mama," Ellie and Lucas said at the same time. Both looked up and at each other, then started laughing hysterically, along with Tim, Miguel and Sam. Ben looked less than pleased.
"Awww Ben," Ellie said through her laughter. "Don't look so pissed off. It's your turn to deal."
The laughter resumed as Ben collected the cards and started to shuffle the deck. Suddenly, Ellie gasped and let out a shriek of pain. Everything stopped as they all turned to see what was wrong. Lucas grabbed Ellie before she fell out of her seat.
"Mom," Lucas said, without even thinking twice. "What's wrong?! Are you okay?!"
Sam jumped up and ran around to the other side of the table. "Ellie?"
Ellie was in so much pain she couldn't even speak or cry out, but the tears streaming down her cheeks were enough to let everyone know something wasn't right. She was clutching her abdomen.
"Oh Christ," Sam said, running for the com just as Kristen came into the galley.
Seeing that something was wrong with Ellie, she ran over to see what the problem was. She felt the girl's stomach and abdomen, and realized that what she was experiencing was the first of many muscle stretchings to make room for the baby.
"Sam, run down to MedBay and get me the blue vial of the muscle relaxant, and hurry."
Sam nodded and took off. Kristen looked at Lucas, whose panic stricken face shocked her. "Lucas, she'll be ok," Kristen said.
"What's happening to her?"
"It's normal, her muscles are stretching to make room for…well…you. It can be quite painful, but she'll be fine."
Sam returned with the muscle relaxant, a syringe, and a sterile swab, handing them to Kristen. "Thanks Sam. Okay, Ellie, this is going to sting a bit, but it will make the pain subside."
Ellie nodded and did her best to hold still. Lucas held her close and watched carefully. Kristen slid the needle into a vein in Ellie's arm and injected the relaxant for the quickest effect. Slowly, Ellie's body relaxed and she began to breathe normally again.
"Thank you so much," she whispered. "I was scared."
"It's understandable," Kristen said. "Didn't your doctor warn you of this?"
Ellie shook her head. "It was Lawrence's pick of a doctor. I don't really like him that much."
Kristen frowned but said nothing else about it. She looked around at the others, who were worriedly looking on. "I think she's had enough excitement for one night. We're expected at Chatton tomorrow afternoon."
Lucas looked up quickly. "Tomorrow afternoon? Does it have to be so soon?"
Kristen felt for the boy, he wasn't ready to let go of these precious moments with Ellie. "Yes Lucas, I'm afraid so."
"But I'm not ready yet, I…I have stuff to do. It'll have to wait a couple of weeks at least," he said, making excuses.
"Lucas," Kristen started.
"No! Not yet!" he cried desperately.
"Lucas, please, it's okay," whispered Ellie.
He looked down at her. "No, it's not okay. Just stay a little longer."
Ellie shook her head. "And if I stay a little longer what then? Will it be a little longer after that? I can't stay forever Lucas, even though I want to."
Despite his best efforts, Lucas was losing his composure quickly. "I'll be alone again, they don't care about me," he whispered.
"Who doesn't honey?" Ellie asked, slipping in the endearment without even thinking about it.
Her calling him "honey" broke Lucas' heart, and a tear slid down his cheek. "Lawrence and Cynthia. They don't care about me, they don't remember my birthday, nothing! I'm as good as dead down here."
Ben stood by silently. As much as he wanted to watch this, he tapped Miguel and Tim on their shoulders and motioned that they should leave. All three filed quietly out of the room.
Ellie sat up. "Oh…baby…I'm sorry, I don't know what to do to make this better," Ellie whispered to him.
Her last words to him completely shattered the dam behind which he'd been holding everything he felt, and he burst into tears, not caring who saw him or what they thought. He knew nothing but his own pain and confusion.
Sam and Kristen's jaws dropped at seeing Lucas' display of tears. Neither was sure what to make of it. Ellie silently wrapped her arms around her son and pulled him close, not realizing that it was the first time anyone had held him as he cried. It caused his tears to fall even harder, and the moans of pain that escaped his throat were too much for anyone witnessing the scene to bear.
Sam backed away, her own tears threatening as she both witnessed and felt the extreme pain of her best friend. Kristen was looking down, her face unreadable. Ellie rocked softly back and forth, not saying anything, just letting him get out whatever he needed to. Lucas, his head on her shoulder, clung to her as if she would disappear at that very moment. For a split second he wished that this had never happened, that he had never known about her. But that quickly faded as he couldn't imagine not knowing about her now. Why did this have to be taken away from him? Why had he had to miss out on this, on her?
Slowly, his sobs eased and he felt emotionally drained, but he still didn't let her go. He knew that their time together was drawing to a close and there was nothing he could do to fight it.
Ellie pulled back and looked into his eyes. "Lucas, no matter what happens; I want you to know that I love you, and that I would never leave you by choice. If I had had a choice, I would have taken you away; we would have made our own way. I'll always be with you now Lucas, regardless of what happens." She kissed his forehead softly and then hugged him again.
Lucas nodded mutely, and stood up, wiping his face with the sleeve of his flannel shirt. He reached out his hand and helped Ellie to her feet.
"There isn't enough room in Lucas' quarters for you both so we've set up one of the guest quarters where there are two beds. I'll show you the way," Kristen said.
She walked out, Ellie following her and Lucas behind them both. Sam stood by the doorway, and grabbed Lucas' sleeve as he walked by her. He stopped and looked at her, face still streaked with tears.
"Lucas…I'm sorry, really."
"I know Sam," he said, squeezing her hand before he walked away.