A new face after the race
Chapter 8
Lucky sat on the top porch stair and watched Emily's form disappear around the corner with a smile. He had offered to drive her, but Emily said she needed the exercise. That she needed to walk off the weight she gained from the dinner his mom had served. Lulu had eaten a lot, as he said, but left that there was enough for Emily. Lulu had been so happy to see Emily again, she made Emily tuck her in and say good night instead of his parents or him. He had to make sure she came more often.
Luke watched from the doorway as Lucky sat there and daydreamed. He had done that too when he and Laura was dating. And here they were married blessed with two kids; a grown-up son and a beautiful, intelligent, young daughter. Who could wish for more?
Laura walked up behind Luke from where he was standing at the door. Lulu was sleeping peacefully and the dishes were done, from help by Emily. She would make a wonderful mom and housewife one day. With that thought she wrapped her arms around Luke's waist and laid her head on his left shoulder. "Everything okay?" She murmured.
"Yeah. Just look at Lucky. He's so protective and in love with Emily, it brings back so many memories." Luke said dreamily.
"Makes sense; I mean were his parents. He may look like me, but he's your son beyond that." Laura said, stating the obvious. They had a wonderful son sometimes it was unbelievable.
"Too true." Luke agreed and continued to watch Lucky. He was still sitting on the top porch step looking into the darkness.
"I think he needs to talk to someone." Laura observed. She sensed he was preoccupied a few days ago. Had been for a while.
"Is that a hint for me to speak to him?" Luke joked and looked over at Laura. She had a look that screamed yes!
Laura unwrapped her hands from his waist and walked away as Luke opened the door and approached Lucky.
"She gone yet?" Luke asked as he took a seat next to Lucky.
"Has been." Lucky answered as he still stared out into the darkness.
"You miss her already." Luke commented. He saw the look in Lucky's eyes, even if they weren't making eye contact at the moment.
"Am I that transparent?" Lucky asked as he turned to look at Luke.
"Nah, you're just in love." Luke stated. And a great thing it is, he thought.
"It's a great feeling isn't it?" Lucky said with a happy sounding sigh.
"I can't disagree." Luke agreed. It felt good years beyond first falling in love. Sometimes it may hurt, but somehow it was always worth it.
"I didn't think you would. I mean you and moms have been married for years." Lucky noted and turned to stare into the darkness again.
"And we have two kids to show for it." Luke said, and watched as Lucky fidget at the mention of kids. "Something wrong?"
Lucky bit back a lie. His dad was only trying to help. "I and Emily were in the park today and she mentioned going there with our kids, I assume she meant our kids anyway."
"What's wrong with that? It doesn't hurt to think about the future. Besides your mom would love a grandchild to spoil." Luke, commented, not seeing the problem.
"Mom has Lulu to take care of first, and that a handful in itself." Lucky observed. He loved his sister but she was an attention seeker. Food seeker was another possibility.
"True enough, but your mom loves it. You never said what was wrong with the future and children though." Luke noted not dropping the subject. He was interested in what he had to say.
"I never said there was nothing wrong with it, but let's look at the present. I have a steady job which pays well enough to have a family and I am in a serious relationship." Lucky started but his dad interrupted him.
"I sense some buts." Luke stated not sure if he wanted to hear them. Lucky can be too reasonable sometimes.
"But I still live with my parents! Besides I would like to marry before children even start being in the picture. I don't have an interest in having illegitimate children." Lucky argued, what turned out to be a lovely one turned into a confusing one. The thought of a future between them kept prodding his head, but there were limitations and doubts.
"That's your choice. We never made you stay here. You're free to go rent an apartment or get your own space." Luke said, even though the option felt sour in his mouth. He enjoyed Lucky living with them still.
"I know, but I couldn't leave. I wanted to be a good brother and son; mom has enough chores to do around the house." Lucky murmured, but finding that need now seemed childish. It didn't last year though.
"Your mom would be fine, and you could stop by and see your sister anytime you'd like. Money wouldn't be a problem, you just said your job was paying fine, and considering you have been working a lot, you should have plenty. This makes me suspicious." Luke said, thinking out loud.
"Why's that?" Lucky asked, now confused. Why did him working more than lately go under the genre of suspicious?
"Because you don't need to be saving, unless you have your eye on something you want." Luke answered. He had no idea where Lucky kept it either. It wasn't in a bank; Lucky learned long ago that they were unreliable.
"And if I do?" Lucky asked vaguely. He hated to admit it, but he was caught. It made him wonder if anyone else had figured it out as well.
"Then that's your business, but let me tell you, I'm interested to find out what it is." Luke said, obviously happy with his answer, but also catching his interest more.
"Emily had her eye on something when we went window shopping, and after doing what I did, I figured I owed her." Lucky explained, still speaking vaguely. He didn't want anyone to look anymore into the issue. He couldn't share anymore either.
"What did you do?" Luke asked, still looking into the issue, as Lucky figured he would.
"You remember last Monday?" Lucky asked in return knowing his father would use this as blackmail.
"Vaguely, but I remember you getting a call that evening, something about an emergency from work." Luke answered. And if he was mistaken he was suppose to have a date with Emily that night as well, but he didn't say that.
"Yeah, I also had a date with Em, which I had to cancel, which may I note was a bad thing to do." Lucky said, more to himself than Luke.
"Why's that? I mean you cancelled several dates before that." Luke said, he admits it, he was eavesdropping, but he couldn't help it. He liked to know what was making Lucky tick at the moment.
"Yeah, but apparently it was our anniversary, little did I know." Lucky stated and Luke's expression showed surprise.
"You forgot your anniversary?" Luke asked, not believing it for a minute. How could a guy, any guy, including his son do that? Lucky usually had good memory.
"Yeah and boy do I regret it." Lucky admitted sheepishly, running his hands through his hair.
"You should." Luke snorted. His boy could be an idiot at moments. "So what I'm getting is you are saving up to buy Emily this thing to make things better between your selves." Lucky nodded. "It doesn't make sense to tell you the truth. I mean you and Emily seemed fine tonight."
Lucky frowned. "We were I barely lucked out. I cornered Emily in her room and we had a heart to heart and the only reason we didn't break up was she was tired of arguing and getting angry. So now I'm doing my best to make up for my forgetfulness. And that thing Emily wants is part of it, I guess." He explained, the guilt still lying heavily above his head. He hated to partially lie about the gift he was long in planning in getting it. Now it was just more needed.
"It's a good thing your name is Lucky." Luke said. "Or you would have been dead by now."
"Thanks, dad for the kind words." Lucky answered sarcastically. It's so nice to hear such words from your father.
"No problem." Luke said as he dusted himself off and walked up the porch steps. He opened the door, closing the conversation. "Lock the door when you come in." He called as he entered the house and Lucky went back to his place on the porch.
His mind went back to the night he and Emily had the heart to heart. It was one of the hardest conversations of his life. He had been angry about something as well; he just couldn't remember it like their anniversary.
A big mistake on his part. He would be sure to never do that again. He could only imagine what Emily felt at that knowledge. Probably betrayal, hurt and who knows what else. He certainly wasn't going to ask Emily. He wasn't going to bring it up until he knew Emily and him were okay. He had a feeling that they were fine, but after his mistake who knows? He wouldn't be surprised to see Emily leave him without a thought.
Bad thought. But Emily had all rights to do just that, and he was comforted that Emily wouldn't. They needed each other, they were connected like that. If he was happy, she was happy. If she was sad or angry, he was. It was strange, but he found that connection comforting. He hoped it was that way until his death, but who knew what would happen between that time? He had plenty of time and youth on his side, as did Emily. They would have a lifetime together and nothing could stop it. Not Sara and her interest, nor Elizabeth and Jason getting into their personal issues. Their love was stronger than that, thank god, or else they would have been over years ago. That thought was sour, but very true. But he would do all he could so that didn't happen. Within reason of course. Reason was needed in this time of day, too needed sometimes that it was scary.
Author's note: Hey, more reviews! You have my thanks and appreciation. I wanted to continue, but I had nothing to say anymore, but it should be fine. Not a bad number of words either. I updated It could take years to find you, so I have done as asked. Next update: sooner than later? Depends really. As for this story, I need to get an idea for the next chapter, so that's another question. No preview this time, sorry. Hope you liked the chapter though. I had some trouble, but here it is! More reviews would be appreciated.