To my reviewer, pixieballerina, thank you for another great review!
And now without further delay, here are the next two chapters
Chapter Seven
One Week Later
Zander hobbled around his hospital room on crutches and was getting better at doing so. He was glad he now had a way to get around. And he was glad to be where he was.
He sat back down on is bed as Bobbie came into the room. "How are you doing today? Getting better on your crutches?"
"Yeah, aunt Bobbie. I am. And I am feeling better today." Zander told his aunt with a smile.
"Good. The better you feel, the sooner you will be released," Bobbie told her nephew.
"Good. I don't like being in the hospital," Zander said.
Bobbie laughed at that. "That's your Spencer attitude speaking right now."
"That's what dad and Lucky tell me," Zander said with a smile. He had easily adjusted to being a Spencer and got along well with his father and brother. He loved getting to know Lulu and his cousin Lucas. He and Carly were trying to act like cousins, though it wasn't easy for either one of them.
So far he hadn't met his mother, but Luke had called her with the news that they had a son. Holly had been surprised to find out that the child she believed that she miscarried was actually alive and had been joyous to when Luke had told her to come to Port Charles ASAP.
"Any news?" Zander asked his aunt.
Bobbie shook her head sadly. "No. No news on Nikolas."
Zander sighed. The past few days he had spent a lot of time thinking about his stepbrother. He thought about how they had treated each other and it made him feel ashamed. Nikolas was his brother as much as Lucky is and he hoped he would get the chance to change his treatment of his brother.
The door opened and a woman with dark, long, curly hair came into the room.
Bobbie noticed her first. "Hello, Holly. We were wondering when you would arrive."
"I got here as soon as I was able to," Holly Sutton says to her old friend. She, though, wasn't looking at her friend. She was staring at the young man sitting on the bed.
Zander stared up at his birth mother in wonder. Luke had told him that some of his traits came from Holly and now he could see that it was true. "Hi mom!"
"Hi Zander," Holly said, tears filling her eyes as she moved toward the side of her son's bed. The mother and son quickly embraced happily. Holly loved the fact that her child was alive, the child she was believed to have lost all those years ago.
The door to the room opened again and both mother and son turned to see a young woman standing in the doorway. She had short brown hair and brown eyes, very similar to Zander himself.
"Alexia, is that you?" Zander asked.
"Yes, my dear twin. It is me. Tell me bro, what is our new last name?"
"Spencer," he answered. He turned to his mother and smiled. "Mom, this is my twin sister Alexia Marie."
Holly's tears spilled over more at the introduction of her son. The young woman was her child as well. "My darling daughter! Oh, my darling!"
"Mom!" Alexia exclaimed as she launched herself into her mother's arms. "Oh mom!"
Both women teared up. Zander rose from the bed and hobbled over to his sister and mother and joined in the happy embrace. The Spencer family was even closer to being whole now compared to the distance that had been there through the preceding years.
Lucky and Theresa both came into the room at that moment and smiled at the group hug. Lucky was glad to see the joy his older brother and sister and almost-stepmother displayed in their embrace.
The three parted and face the two people just inside the door. "Mom, Lexi, this is Lucky and Theresa."
"It is good to see you, Lucky. It's been a while," Holly said, giving Lucky a warm hug.
"It has, Holly. I haven't seen you since before Sly's dad died," Lucky said, welcoming the hug.
"That's very true. How is Sly?" Holly asked as they parted.
"He's in LA working for a record company. He says he might come and visit soon. He told me earlier that he has too many new family members to meet that to stay away," Lucky told her.
"That's wonderful. It will be nice to see him," Holly said. She then turned to Theresa. "And I remember you as well. On your visits when you were younger, you always joined Sly and Lucky on their escapades."
Theresa chuckled. "Yes I did. Growing up with three brothers kind of makes you a tomboy," She said as she embraced Holly.
Holly returned the embrace. "Not so much of a tomboy any more though. You definitely grew up," she told Theresa.
"Being a mother kind of helps you do that. I'm still growing up as Ethan Martin is," Theresa said as they parted.
"That's a good name for a little boy," Holly said.
"Named for the man I used to love at one time. We used to call him little Ethan, but now he is Ethan Martin," Theresa told her.
At the same time the women were talking, Lucky was getting to know his older half-sister.
"Well, Lexie, it's about time you got home. Lulu has been waiting to meet her older half-sister and dad is really looking forward to teaching you how to be a Spencer," Lucky said chuckling.
Alexia chuckled with him. "Well, it took me a while to find out where my family was. It took me a lot of research to find where Alex and Cameron were. And I had to have the money to come here from where I was."
Lucky laughed at his sister. "I understand. I was just teasing you."
"I know. I was teasing you right back," Alexia said with a laugh.
Lucky reached out to Alexia and the two of them embraced tightly. "Welcome home Lex."
Alexia smiled from the crook of her brother's shoulder. "Thank you, Lucky, thank you. It's good to be home."
Take, me, make me
All You want me to be
That's all I'm asking, all I'm asking
Welcome to this heart of mine
I've buried under prideful vines
Grown to hide the mess I've made
Inside of me
Come decorate, Lord
Open up the creaking door
And walk upon the dusty floor
Scrape away the guilty stains
Until no sin or shame remain
Spread Your love upon the walls
And occupy the empty halls
Until the man I am has faded
No more doors are barricaded
Come inside this heart of mine
It's not my own
Make it home
Come and take this heart and make it
All Your own
Welcome home
Take a seat, pull up a chair
Forgive me for the disrepair
And the souvenirs from floor to ceiling
Gathered on my search for meaning
Every closet's filled with clutter
Messes yet to be discovered
I'm overwhelmed, I understand
I can't make this place all that You can
Come inside this heart of mine
It's not my own
Make it home
Come and take this heart and make it
All Your own
Welcome home
I took the space that You placed in me
Redecorated in shades of greed
And I made sure every door stayed locked
Every window blocked, and still You knocked
Come inside this heart of mine
It's not my own
Make it home
Come and take this heart and make it
All Your own
Welcome home
Take me, make me
All You want me to be
That's all I'm asking, all I'm asking
(Welcome home by Shaun Groves)
Hours later, the united Spencer family had gathered in Zander's room for an impromptu party welcoming both Zander and Alexia into the Spencer family. Alexia enjoyed meeting her family. She loved the fact that she had two loving brothers and a loving sister in the family now. She was also looking forward to finding her stepbrother and one day, she hoped, meet her stepmother.
Lucky lifted his wine glass, filled with cider at Theresa's insistence, and began to speak. "Weeks ago, we discovered a new family that should have always been, a family we were happy that we did not lose. We are happy that Zander and Alexia are with us now. We hope that one day we can add my mom to the list and we are working together to bring Nikolas back into the fold. To the united Spencer family!"
"To our family!" Everyone exclaimed as they all raised their glasses to join in the toast. They all took a drink just as Mac was wheeled into the room.
"Mac, it is good to see you," Holly said as she walked toward her former brother-in-law.
"Holly, it is good to see you too. And now I know why Zander did some things. That was the Sutton attitude peeking itself through," Mac said with a smile.
Zander gave a smile to his onetime stepuncle. "Glad to see you are doing better, Mac."
"Thank you, Zander. If I had known that you had, at one time, been my stepnephew, I would have helped you all those times that you were brought into the PCPD," Mac said.
"It's alright, Mac. We only found out about the truth. Though, if it hadn't been Helena wrecking havoc on our family, we would have never had this problem," Zander said.
"Too true, Zander, too true," Mac said with a sigh.