In the six weeks after Caroline's birth, the Thornhart household began to finally settle into a routine. Danny was still very possessive of Lucy and it took some time to convince him to like his little sister. But there were too many things to do for a little boy to stay mad for long. He was soon just as happy with his baby sister as everyone else in the family. It was a busy time for the whole family as school had started just a few days after they came home from the hospital. Christina was excited about going to kindergarten, and Danny was going to a new pre-school. Serena tried not show how excited she was about her sophomore year of high school, but didn't fool anyone.
After staying home for a couple of weeks, Lucy sent Ian back to work. It seemed that he was always underfoot, and she knew that the children needed some normalcy. Although he went back to the hospital and clinic reluctantly, it wasn't long until he was immersed in his work. Ian had been approached by Chris to start a trauma practice separate from the hospital, with the intention of contracting back to GH and Mercy. It seemed like an interesting idea and Ian was seriously considering it. Fewer and fewer doctors were hospital employees, but Ian was still on a work visa and he didn't know how leaving the hospital would affect his status in the country. After more than four years in Port Charles, he thought that maybe it was time to make his status permanent. After all, he wasn't going anywhere. Without telling Lucy, he had Chris draw up the partnership paperwork while he applied for citizenship.
Lucy had been doing some business as well. She had loved owning and running her cosmetics company, but it just didn't matter to her like it once had. Her heart hadn't really been in it since Julie had kidnapped Christina, and she had basically hired people to run the company for the past couple of years. She felt that it was unfair to the employees and customers to keep herself as a figurehead CEO when she really had no desire to do anything but be mommy for a while. She had agreed on a lucrative buy-out offer, and was free to raise her family.
Already a wealthy woman, she realized another fortune with the sale of the company. She didn't need the money, but she knew that money might become a problem between the children when they were older. Both Serena and Christina had significant trust funds from their biological mothers, large enough that they would each be independently wealthy as adults. With the proceeds from the sale of her company, Lucy set up another trust for Danny, Caroline and any other children that she and Ian might have. She decided that their trust should mirror the girls' and made Ian the Trustee, just as Scott was Trustee for Serena and Christina. Money had never been an issue between her and Ian, but she worried that he might be upset with her, so she kept it to herself for the time being.
Despite these issues, Ian and Lucy were enjoying a period of serenity that they had never known. Their love for each other and the children made their lives happy and fulfilled, and there were no dragons to slay or damsels to rescue. Happiness had eluded them both for long stretches of their lives, and they relished each peaceful moment. Deep down, though, neither one believed it would last—they were too conditioned to obstacles in their lives. Unfortunately, they didn't share these concerns with each other, and the secrets between them were multiplying.
Ian entered the living room with Caroline draped across his left shoulder, "She's all changed and ready to see…"
The telephone rang and Lucy smiled at Ian, shrugged her shoulders, and answered, "Hello…Why hello there stranger! …Moved on again? You'll have to wait for me to get my book and a pen…Oh, you're still there…uh-huh…you did? Just to check on me, huh? …No I'm not still pregnant, silly! Ian and I have an adorable daughter…yes, Cousin, I told you we were having a girl…Well I would have told you, but the number you left didn't work…He's right here…I think Ian wants to tell you…hold on just a minute…"
Ian laid the baby in the small crib they kept in the living room and sat next to Lucy on the couch. He smiled when he heard her say Cousin, because he'd been looking forward to Rafe's call. He had made Lucy promise to let him tell Rafe the baby's name. Lucy gave the phone to Ian, saying, "I'm going to get some paper and a pencil so we can get his REAL phone number this time!"
"Hi, there, Rafe. How're you doing?" Ian said into the phone. "Uh-huh…she's a beauty, takes after her ma! … I'm sure she'd love to meet her Cousin Rafe, but we won't be traveling anytime soon…Here! … You're coming for a visit? Why? …"
"Tell him its fine to visit, but Alison still doesn't want to see him," Lucy said to Ian. "I don't want him upsetting her; she's doing so much better."
Ian nodded at Lucy while listening to Rafe on the phone, "Okay, okay…I know you can hear her…SHE knows you can hear her…her motherly instincts are on overdrive right now…hormones, boyo, hormones…Okay, just call and let us know when your plans are definite…she's right, Alison's in no shape to see you…of course, WE want to see you…uh-huh…now back to discussing' my beautiful daughter! Do you want to know her name? … We've named her Caroline Grainne … I know you know them, that's why I wanted to tell you myself! Do you think they like it? …Yeah, life is good…No, no! Don't get off yet…what's your number…Lucy'll have my head if I don't get it right this time…okay…okay…got it. Call us when you know what your doing…and Rafe…Lucy says be careful…okay…Bye!"
"Well, that's a surprise!" Lucy said to Ian. "I never expected that he'd even WANT to come back if he couldn't see Alison. You know I'm right, don't you? She and Jamal are so good together. I love my cousin, but I can't go through another nightmare with him…I hate to admit it, but I'm not so sure I want him to come, even if it's only for a visit. What do you think?"
"I think that we're the only family he has, and he's lonely. What does he have in his life but regrets? He's grown up a lot in the last year, and I know you're right about Alison. But the boy needs his family…we can't turn him away," Ian answered her. He drew her to him and kissed her on the forehead.
Lucy pulled his head down so she could kiss him on the lips and laid her head on his shoulder, "I love you, Ian Thornhart. Have I told you lately just how beautiful you are?"
Ian laughed and gave Lucy a look of disbelief, but his eyes were twinkling, "Well, not in the conventional sense. That's reserved for my girls! But you are the most beautiful person that I have ever known, and if you want to say the same about me, who am I to argue? I love you, sweet Lucy. I wish I had the words to tell you, but that's my brother's department."
"Speaking of Patrick," Lucy said, "how is he doing? Was he able to arrange his classes so they can come for a visit? I can't wait until they get here! Can you imagine the looks that you and he are going to get? It's going to be so much fun to have them staying here!"
"Aye, and if it works out we'll have them for most of December, and right into the new year. Margaret says we'll be good and sick of them long before they leave, but she wants to help out at the clinic—get some new ideas and such—and I know Patrick is going to visit with his New York publisher. We may have to keep the wee ones for them while they travel separately, and I don't know…how are you going to manage six children!"
"We'll manage just fine, and you know it!" Lucy replied. "I'd love to keep the kids for them, but why will they be traveling separately? Is something wrong?"
"No, nothing's wrong, it's just that Margaret needs to take a short trip to Llanview, and Patrick doesn't want to be seen there. He left under kind of a cloud, you know. There's no way he can manage to meet with his publisher and take care of the children, so I told him that we'd take care of them while they took care of their business. Margaret has to make some sort of financial arrangements while they're in the states, but she's only planning to be gone for two or three days at the most."
"It's going to be fine. I wasn't sure that they would really come—but I'm so glad that it's going to work out. I'd like to tell those idiots in Llanview just what I think of them!" Lucy said. At Ian's look of concern she laughed, "But I'm not going to! You know that! I just get all excited when someone I love is being treated badly." She reached up and smoothed the furrows from his brow and kissed him again, laying her hand suggestively in his lap, "You know…I really miss you…and I'm seeing Dr. Neuman next week…do you think we could move it up just a few days?"
"Lucy! I…can't…could you please…now see what you've done! You can make a grown man blush!" Ian stammered as his face suffused with color. Lucy just laughed low in her throat and kissed him again, long and lingeringly. Ian was amazed at his wife. After all she went through having Caroline he was convinced that she'd take a long while to let him touch her again. He had resolved to be patent, but as usual, Lucy didn't do patient.
"Why don't you call her office, and see what you can do," Ian answered after a few minutes. "I think I'm going up to take a shower—a COLD shower!"