We Used To Be Friends

Chapter Thirty-Eight

A/N: Yay, I still have readers! Whoo-hoo! Thank you for the feedback. Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

"So Millicent didn't tell us that you were living here…" Eleanor informed Lucy, "and she certainly didn't tell us about your pregnancy. Congratulations."

"Thank you." Lucy replied, hoping that Carter wasn't going to be late. She wasn't sure how much longer she could stand being left alone in a room with his parents.

"If you don't mind my asking, who is the father?" Eleanor asked.

Before Lucy had a chance to reply, a familiar voice entered the room. "I am, mother."

Lucy looked over and was very relived to see Carter standing in the doorway. Her relief was short-lived though when she realized that there would be a confrontation between Carter and his parents.

Eleanor smiled at her son and got up from the couch. When she reached the place he was standing in the doorway, she gave him European air kisses on both cheeks and embraced him in a hug. "John, darling, how are you?"

"I'm fine." Carter replied, unsure why his parents were standing in his house and very unsure about why his mother was actually hugging him. She never seemed to show any real affection towards him and this new display was making him quite uncomfortable. He looked over at Lucy while his mother was hugging him and gave her a smile.

"Well you look tired. Are you getting enough sleep?" Eleanor asked as she released him from the hug and examined him with her eyes.

"I'm fine mother." Carter replied testily. He had been looking forward to coming home and spending a quiet evening with Lucy, but instead now it seemed he had to deal with his parents. The fact that they had completely ignored his admission about being the father of Lucy's baby had not escaped him. He knew that they would try and pretend that they didn't hear him because they always did that when he said something they didn't like. When he told them that he wanted to be a doctor, they tried for months to pretend that they hadn't heard him.

"Your mother is right son, you are looking a little tired." Jack interjected.

"I'm fine dad, really." He decided to change the subject. "What are you two doing here?"

"Do we need a reason to visit our son?" Eleanor asked.

"Most parents don't, but you two aren't most parents." Carter commented.

Eleanor started to get angry. "And just what does that mean?"

"Nothing." Carter sighed, not wanting to get into an argument. "So this is a social visit?"

"Well your grandmother told us that you've been making some changes in your life and we thought that we would come by and check up on you." Jack explained.

"Millicent wouldn't tell us what kind of changes you were making. We were curious and thought that maybe you had decided to drop out of med school." Eleanor elaborated.

He knew that they really wanted him to drop out of med school and felt the vultures circling around him. "Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not dropping out of med school." Carter told them as he walked over to where Lucy was now standing.

"Oh, well…then what are these changes?" Eleanor asked, still hoping against hope that Carter was joking when he stated that he was the father of Lucy's baby. She didn't want to have Lucy as a permanent feature in her family. She had nothing against Lucy personally, but she had always pictured her son with someone more…high class.

Carter stood next to Lucy and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Lucy and I are having a baby."

Jack and Eleanor exchanged glances again and then looked back at their son and Lucy. "Oh." Jack was the first to reply.

"When did you two start dating?" Eleanor asked suspiciously. The last time she checked, Carter and Lucy were barely even speaking to each other—let alone committed enough to have a child together. Her eyes scanned Lucy's left hand and noticed that there was no engagement ring. That was a relief to her, but she was still upset by this news.

"We…" Carter was trying to come up with a believable lie when Lucy spoke up.

"We've always had a special friendship. You know that. I guess somehow our friendship just turned into something more romantic." Lucy explained.

"Well, um…." Eleanor was at a loss for words. She knew that she couldn't openly oppose this or else risk alienating her son. But she also couldn't stand by and watch Lucy insinuate herself into the Carter family. Getting rid of Lucy would take careful planning.

"Congratulations." Jack smiled, finishing his wife's sentence for her. He could tell that the gears in her head were already starting to turn and think of a way to get Lucy away from their son.

"Yes, congratulations." Eleanor smiled.

"Thanks." Carter and Lucy replied.

"Do you have any other surprises for us?" Eleanor asked.

"No." Carter replied. He recognized the look that was on his mother's face right now. It was her polite smile, which she only used to portray a look of happiness while her mind started plotting various schemes. "How long are you two staying in town?"

"Well, we have business to attend to back in New York…but now that we have a grandchild on the way, we'll be sure to come back and visit more often." Eleanor replied with her polite smile.

"Great." Lucy replied, plastering on her own polite smile.

"It's getting late, so I think we'll just head back to the mansion for the night. We're leaving tomorrow afternoon, but maybe we could have lunch tomorrow?"

"I'm not sure. I think I'm going to be working tomorrow." Carter lied.

"Well then we'll just see you next time we come to Chicago." Jack replied, knowing that his wife would want some time with Carter while Lucy wasn't around in order to pound some common sense into him. But it looked like they wouldn't get that chance yet. "Let's go dear." He lightly grabbed his wife's arm.

"Ok." Eleanor agreed. "Congratulations again. I'll be in touch."

"Sure you will." Carter replied sarcastically. "Bye."

"Goodbye son, Lucy. Goodnight." Jack and Eleanor let themselves out of the house and stood on the doorstep for a moment.

"What are we going to do about this?" Eleanor exclaimed, the polite smile being replaced by a scowl. "If we don't do something, and soon, we'll be stuck with Lucy as a member of this family."

"I know dear, but we have to be careful. Whatever we do, we must make sure that we can't get blamed for it or else John will never forgive us." Jack reasoned.

"You're right." She sighed. "This is going to be difficult."

"But we can do it." Jack assured her. "We must rid Lucy from John's life…"

"…While still keeping control of our grandchild." Eleanor smirked.

Back inside the house, Carter released the arm that he had draped around Lucy's waist. "I can't believe they actually showed up here."

"How long has it been since you've seen them?" Lucy asked curiously.

"Two years." Carter replied. "But I did talk to them for a few minutes about a year ago. So how long did you have to be alone with them?" He asked.

"Not too long. You showed up right in time." Lucy assured him.

"I actually think that went pretty well."

She looked at him strangely. "Are you serious? Your mother looked like she was being punched in the stomach when you told her about this baby."

"Yeah, I know, but she'll get over it."

"And your father didn't look too pleased either." She pointed out.

"Well it doesn't matter. Their opinions of me and how I should run my life have never had any kind of control over me."

"I had almost forgotten what your parents were like and how much they disliked me."

"I'm sorry about them." He apologized. "They're idiots."

Lucy laughed. "Perhaps."

"Oh there is no perhaps!" He exclaimed with a chuckle. "You're just being nice. My parents are complete and total idiots. They leave me alone for months and then all of a sudden come in here to our home and attempt to make me feel guilty for not keeping them informed about my life. All of a sudden they want to pretend like they are parents. Well it doesn't work that way. They stopped being real parents to me the day that Bobby died."

She walked over to him and put her arm around his shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault they aren't good parents." Carter replied, putting his arm around her waist again. "Look, I don't really want to talk about my parents all night. So let's just change the subject. Ok?"

"Ok. We'll change the subject. How was work?"

"I had a wonderful patient that vomited on me. Twice."

Lucy made a disgusted face and moved to get out of Carter's grasp. "Gross!" She laughed.

He loved to watch her laugh. "I cleaned up after that. You don't have to stand on the other side of the room."

Lucy, who had released herself from his grasp and walked across the room, smiled.

"Have you eaten dinner yet?" He asked. He hadn't, and was getting hungry.

"Yeah, but I'm hungry enough to eat again." She replied sheepishly. "Even after your talk of vomit."

He chuckled. "Pizza?"

"Sure." Lucy nodded in agreement. "Sausage and pepperoni?"

"Ok." Carter nodded, picking up the phone. After ordering from a nearby pizza place, he put down the phone and turned to look at Lucy. She was sitting on the couch and reading a book. He walked over to the couch and sat down next to her. "Are you still reading that pregnancy book?"

She looked at the cover and then back at him. "Actually, I've finished that one. This is a different one."

"Aren't they all the same?" He asked.

"Not really." Lucy shook her head. "You wanna read one?"

"Oh no thanks. I'll let you do the reading." He smiled.

"Why? You afraid you'd learn something?" She teased.

He laughed. "No."

"Whatever." She joked, playfully poking him on the shoulder.

"I ran into Dave at the end of my shift and he was writing a letter to Shelby. He said it was for his wedding present to her, but he wouldn't tell me what it was."

"He wouldn't?"

"No. I was wondering if you would tell me." Carter asked.

"Who says I know what it is?" Lucy asked coyly.

"Dave told me." Carter smiled.

Lucy put her book down and then looked over at him. "Why didn't he tell you what his present was himself?"

"I don't know. I think he just wanted to keep me in suspense. If he really didn't want me to know, he wouldn't have let me know that you know what it is." He reasoned.

"Ok." Lucy replied after a few seconds of thought. "His present to Shelby is a scrapbook of their lives before they met each other. He made his own scrapbook about his life and I helped him make a scrapbook about Shelby's life. Then we combined them into one big scrapbook. The idea being that their lives were separate, but now that they are getting married, their lives are combined into one life—one scrapbook."

"Wow." Carter reflected. "That's a great gift. It's thoughtful and heartfelt. I didn't know that Dave had that kind of an idea in him."

She swatted his arm and shook her head. "He doesn't want anyone to know this, but he is a closet romantic when it comes to Shelby."

"There's nothing wrong with being a romantic and doing romantic things for someone you love." Carter told her.

"I know, but he has to protect the carefree, joker reputation that he has crafted for himself." Lucy smiled.

"I guess he does." Carter smiled. "So that letter he was writing…"

"That was the introduction to the scrapbook. He's been trying to write it for over a month and hasn't been able to come up with a draft that he is happy with. He's actually being a little too anal retentive about it. Shelby is going to be so floored by the scrapbook itself that it won't matter to her what the introduction says." Lucy explained.

"He probably just wants it to be perfect for her." Carter told her. "I know I would if I was in his position."

"You're probably right." Lucy smiled. "But he's running out of time for perfection."