We Used To Be Friends

Chapter Twenty-Nine

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Enjoy!

Later that night, Lucy was in the kitchen. She wasn't looking for food though because dinner had been quite filling. It was quite possibly the best meal she had eaten in months. She was getting a glass of water before she went to bed. She heard footsteps and smiled when she saw her mother come into the kitchen. "Hi."

"Hi. Looks like we both needed some water." Barbara laughed, grabbing a glass from the cabinet.

"Yeah." Lucy chuckled.

After she filled up her glass and took a sip, she turned to face her daughter. "You know, I don't think I've said this to you yet but I want to you to know something. I was shocked by your announcement today, but you're my daughter. I love you and I'm proud of you. You're handling this pregnancy in a very responsible way. If there is anything that you need from me, any kind of support or help, I hope you know that you can call me. You're always going to be my baby girl no matter how old you get, but I guess it's time to start treating you like the grown up woman you've become. I never want to see anything or anyone hurt you. If I could, I'd put you in a bubble to keep you safe." She laughed. "Fortunately for you, I can't do that. But I can offer my help. Parenthood is the hardest thing I've ever had to do and I'm willing to do anything to make sure that you aren't as clueless as I was."

Lucy closed the distance between her and her mother, giving her a big hug. "Thank you mom. Having your support means a lot to me. I'm glad that I'm not doing this alone."

"Yes, you have me and you have Carter—assuming that he doesn't leave." Barbara commented.

Lucy pulled away from her mother and frowned. "Carter won't leave me." As she said those words though, she wasn't sure who she was trying to convince. Was she trying to convince herself or her mom?

"Lucy, I know that you don't want to think he will, but what's going to stop him—especially since he has another girlfriend."

"Another girlfriend?" Lucy asked, a little confused and angry.

"Yeah, that Abby woman. You do know about her, right?" Barbara asked.

Lucy smiled and laughed. "Oh! Carter isn't dating Abby anymore. He broke up with her." She continued to laugh until she realized something. "But wait! How did you know about Abby?"

"I…I called Millicent Carter earlier and we had a nice chat about a few things." Barbara confessed.

"You were up to something!" Lucy exclaimed. "I knew it!" She was proud that she knew her mother that well, but also a little curious and dreaded the answer to her next question. "What exactly did you two talk about?"

"Carter, you, Abby, and your pregnancy."

"You told her about it?" Lucy sighed. She wasn't exactly mad at her mother, but she didn't appreciate the fact that Millicent found out about the baby from her mother.

"Yes. You aren't mad at me, are you?" Barbara asked, hoping that she hadn't done anything to make her daughter upset.

"No." Lucy shook her head. "But I'm not thrilled about it. You, Shelby, and Dave are the only ones who we've told." She paused. "What was Millicent's reaction to the news?"

"She was shocked, but happy. I think she's going to like being a great-grandmother." She smiled.

Lucy smiled too, then narrowed her eyes. "Have you called anyone else today?"

"No." Barbara shook her head. "Just Millicent. I haven't told anyone else about the baby. I swear."

"Ok." Lucy nodded, accepting her mother's answer. She took a drink of her water.

"So when are you and Carter going to get married?" Barbara asked casually.

When Lucy heard her mother's question, she choked on her water and spit it out. "What?" She asked, covering her mouth and trying to regain her composure.

"When are you getting married?" She repeated.

"Um, well, we aren't." Lucy replied, still a little shocked by the boldness of her mother's question. "Why would you think that we're getting married?"

"Well you are having a child together. I was just wondering if you had any plans of marrying him." Barbara answered, gauging Lucy's reaction. "Why? Is there some reason why you wouldn't marry him?"

She wasn't sure what to say to this question. "It's just that we aren't together in that way. We're just friends."

"Ok." Barbara replied, knowing that she should back off for now. Her goal of implanting the marriage idea in Lucy's mind was a success. Besides, it was getting late and she was tired. "I'm going to go get some sleep. I suggest you do too."

"I will. I just want to finish my water." Lucy nodded.

"Goodnight Lucy."

"Goodnight mom." Lucy called after her as she left the kitchen. When she was gone, she stared at her glass. Her mother's words rang in her head. When are you and Carter going to get married? Honestly she hadn't thought about marriage before now, but the idea of being Carter's wife definitely made her smile. Sure Carter was going to be in her life forever now that he is going to be the father of her baby, but they weren't going to be a real family. Being his wife and forming a real family was a dream that wasn't going to come true. A year or two from now he may find the woman of his dreams and want to get married. She broke herself out of her thoughts and took one more drink of her water before pouring out the rest in the sink. She made her way back upstairs and stopped in front of Carter's room. She wasn't sure if he was asleep yet or not; she didn't want to wake him up, but thought that he should know about her mother's phone call. Gathering up her courage, she finally knocked on the door.

Carter was getting ready to go to bed. He still had his dress pants on and was unbuttoning his shirt when there was a knock on his door. Not knowing if it was Lucy or her mother, he buttoned his shirt back up before opening the door. He was happy to find Lucy there. "Hey."

"Hey. I didn't wake you, did I?" Lucy asked.

"No. I haven't gone to bed yet. Do you want to come in?" He offered.

"Sure, thanks." Lucy agreed, coming into the room and sitting on the chair in the corner.

"What brings you by?" He asked. He could tell that something was on her mind.

"My mom told me something that I thought you would be interested in hearing." Lucy replied. "Remember earlier I told you that she was up to something?"

"Yeah." He nodded.

"Well I was right." She paused. "When she left here, she called your grandmother."

He laughed. "She called Gamma? Why?"

"I don't know exactly. But your Gamma told her about Abby. Apparently you didn't tell her that you were breaking up with Abby and my mom thought that you were still dating her." Lucy explained.

"Bet she wasn't too happy about that. She already seems to have a bad opinion of me. That news probably only fueled her dislike." Carter guessed. "Did you set her straight about Abby?"

"Yeah." Lucy nodded. "She knows now that you aren't dating her."

"That's good." He took a good look at her. "There's something else though, right?"

"Yeah. My mom went ahead and told her about the baby."

"Did she say how Gamma took the news?" Carter asked. He had totally forgotten about telling Gamma about the baby. He was so busy trying to convince Lucy to go along with his plan and then trying to convince her mother that he wasn't scum that he forgot about having to tell Gamma.

"I guess she was happy about it." Lucy shrugged.

"Of course she's happy about it. She's been trying to get us together for a while now." Carter replied.

Lucy laughed. "Yeah, ever since the fundraiser."

"At least that's one less person we have to tell." Carter spoke up, looking for a positive to this situation.

"Yeah." Lucy replied.

"Are you ok? You look kind of distracted. Is there something else?" Carter asked.

Truthfully, she was distracted. Her mother's words about marrying Carter kept ringing in her head. But she couldn't tell him that, right? "I'm fine." She got up and started towards the door, put Carter lightly grabbed her arm and moved to stand in front of her.

"You're not fine. Something else is bothering you." He stated, looking her in the eyes. "You know you can tell me anything, so why not go ahead and tell me? You'll feel better." He put on a huge smile. "I promise."

She smiled and rolled her eyes. "It's nothing. I swear."

"Um, that's not good enough. C'mon Luce. Share with me." He urged.

She sighed. "Ok, fine. My mom asked me a question that threw me for a loop, ok?"

"What was the question?" He asked curiously.

She could feel her cheeks start to blush and really didn't want to tell him, but she knew that he would keep asking her until she relented. "She asked me when we were going to get married." She laughed, trying to alleviate the embarrassment that she felt. Carter wouldn't want to marry her, and this whole situation was making her uncomfortable—especially since Carter wasn't saying anything. She laughed again. "You know, the whole idea of you and me getting married is just…silly. We're just…friends."

Carter wasn't saying anything because he was thinking. Marriage was a good idea, but only if Lucy wanted to get married. However, after the way she just reacted to her mother's question dashed any hopes he had of making Lucy his wife. She seemed to be totally against the idea. He decided to play along and pretend that he was against the idea too so that he didn't have to deal with the embarrassment. "Yeah, we're just friends."

Lucy heard him say that and felt her heart break. She knew that she had to get out of there before she said something she might regret. If she stayed in his room much longer, she would most likely tell him that she loved him. That would definitely be a bad idea. "I'm getting tired. I think I'm going to go to bed. I'll see you in the morning." She walked around him and over to the door.

"Goodnight Luce." He said without turning around to face her. "I hope you sleep well tonight." It would be nice if the nightmares that haunted her would take a night off so that she could get a decent nights' sleep. She deserved at least that much.

"Thanks." She replied with a small smile. She took one last look at him before leaving his room. As soon as she closed his door, she lightly rested her head up against the door and sighed. She loved him; she probably has loved him her whole life. So why, when she was finally able to admit that she loved him, did everything have to be so complicated? Why couldn't she have figured it out and told him before New Year's Eve? If she had, the rape wouldn't have ever happened and she wouldn't be in this situation. Was life trying to play some cruel practical joke on her? Or was this a sign that she should just remain only friends with Carter and bury her true feelings deep inside? It seemed like a million thoughts were running through her mind, but only one was clear. Life wasn't fair.

When she was gone, he turned around and lightly rested his head up against the door. Surprisingly, he hadn't thought much about marrying Lucy until she just brought it up moments ago. But the more he thought about it, the more he wanted her as his wife. Sure he was going to be a permanent fixture in her life now because of the baby, but that wouldn't stop Lucy from finding someone else to share her life with. Eventually, she would be ready to move on from the rape and what if she found another guy? What would he do if she fell in love with some other guy? What about if she ended up marrying someone else? This thought disturbed him greatly. He remembered that she said she would only marry someone she loved and who loved her back. So of course that meant only one thing. He was going to have to find a way to get her to fall in love with him. The only question was how was he supposed to do that? She's recovering from a rape, she's pregnant, and romance is the last thing on her mind right now. This was going to be harder than he imagined. As these thoughts swirled through his mind, one thought seemed to be repeating over and over again. Life wasn't fair.