Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with General Hospital.
A/N: Sorry for the delay. This chapter took a lot of my attention and I didn't have a lot of time to give it that attention. This chapter is a pivotal moment in the story, so I had to make sure it was perfect.
To Choose Life
Chapter 20
By the time Friday rolled around, I was actually very excited about the party. Emily took me to get my hair done. I was excited to also spend the day with her.
The stylist put my hair up in a soft bun and then set gentle ringlets around my face. Then she gave me a manicure and pedicure, painting my nails a fiery red.
By the time we went back to Wyndemere I was pumped. Elizabeth met us there and she and Emily finished getting me ready. "You look beautiful," Emily whispered.
"You really do. Dillon is going to be speechless," Elizabeth agreed.
I hugged both women. "Thank you for being here for me."
"We're always going to be here for you."
I went downstairs where my brother was sitting with his son. "Lulu you look stunning," he offered.
"Thank you," I said gently.
Spencer looked up at me and smiled. "Hi little one," I cooed. He reached out for me and I took him from my brother's lap.
"Don't let him mess up your hair," Elizabeth warned.
"Spencer would never do something like that," I joked.
"Are you ready to go?" Emily asked as she entered the room.
I nodded, as I pressed a kiss to my nephews head and then handed him back to Nikolas. Emily and Elizabeth drove me over to the Quartermaines. Elizabeth told us about Cameron spending the day with Lucky. It was nice to hear that they seemed to be slowly moving towards one another again. At least my brothers could be happy.
As we pulled up to the mansion the two women bid me goodbye and good luck. I thanked them for everything and then got out of the car. Dillon was waiting for me in the yard, looking exceptionally handsome in the suit he was wearing.
"You look beautiful," he whispered, as he looked me over.
"You don't look too bad yourself," I responded with a gentle smile.
"Before we go, I got you this," he said, as he handed me a small velvet box.
"What is this?" I asked, as I took it from him.
"Well you are posing as my wife," he said as I flipped open the small container and looked at the wedding set inside.
"Dillon I can't accept this," I said, as I looked back up at him.
"Sure you can."
"No, this is ridiculous…"
"It's just for tonight," he insisted. I looked back down at the sparkling diamond rings that matched the white gold bracelet and necklace he had bought me only a few days before.
"We're not married," I muttered.
"I know but since you're posing as my wife, I wanted to get you something nice."
I dropped my gaze to the ground. My head was screaming at me to run away and be rational, but my heart knew that Dillon was being his sweet self and I owed him this much for wrecking his marriage. "Fine," I said, as I pulled the rings out of the box.
"Wait," Dillon said, as he took them from my hand. He lifted my left hand and slid both rings down my ring finger. I stared at them for a moment, taking in the beauty of such delicate jewellery. I hated how such simple moments made me love him so much more.
"Ready to go?" Dillon asked.
I nodded, and he led me over to the limo that was taking us to the party.
"Where did we meet? In case someone asks," I said while we sat in the back of the limo.
"School?"
"I'm not in school?"
"We met through family."
"So, you don't want me to tell people you knocked up your stepsister?" I asked, jokingly.
"Yeah right, my grandfather would have a heart attack."
I smiled. "So we met through family and how long have we been together?"
"We got married back in May."
"Got it. Anything else?"
"I think that's pretty much it."
We arrived at our location and the limo driver opened the door for us. I climbed out of the car and then Dillon held out his arm for me. I felt out of place as we entered the large room filled with ELQ employees.
"Mr. Quartermaine," a young woman called, as she approached us. "It's nice to see you." I smiled at her. "This must be your wife?" she said gently.
I nodded and reached out my hand. "Yes, this is my wife Lulu Quartermaine," he explained. I felt my stomach react to hearing my name with Quartermaine on the end. Not in my lifetime.
"Nice to meet you. My name is Lauren. I'm his assistant."
"It's nice to meet you too," I said, as she shook my hand.
Other guests came toward us and introduced themselves. I was beginning to feel overwhelmed and my feet hurt, but I kept smiling and shaking hands with everyone who approached us. I imagined I wasn't as graceful as Georgie probably would have been.
"What are you doing here?" Tracy asked me, when she saw me.
"She's my wife," Dillon muttered, so that only she and I could hear.
I watched the smile that broke out across her face; it wasn't a cheerful one by any means. "Is that so? Well I guess as a Spencer, you can pull off any lie."
I let her words bounce off of me. "Nice to see you again too. Your grandchild is fine by the way," I muttered.
When Dillon and I were finally able to sit down, I breathed a sigh of relief. "How are your feet?" Dillon asked.
"They feel like they were stomped on by an elephant."
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I should have brought you to a seat when we arrived."
"It's okay Dillon. I'm here to make you look good, not seem antisocial."
"Have I thanked you for doing this for me?" he asked.
"Yes, with the jewellery."
He smiled and looked down at the ground. "I really appreciate this. You are so much more than the mother of my child. You are my best friend."
"And you are mine."
"So how's the new job going?" he asked delicately.
"It's going well. I really enjoy it."
"I'm glad," Dillon said.
"Mr. Quartermaine," a cheerful feminine voice said as a woman approached our table. "I was hoping you'd bring your wife."
I held out my hand for her. "My name's Lulu."
"Wow you are looking good for being pregnant," she exclaimed.
"Thank you."
"How far along are you?" she asked gently.
"Five months."
"Wow, you don't look a day over four months. I'm actually two months along too."
"Really congratulations," I said to her.
"Thank you." She continued talking about her pregnancy for several more minutes and I found for the first time in this ocean of people, someone I could relate to.
When she did finally leave, I turned to find Dillon smiling at me. "What?"
"See you don't hate pregnant women."
"I'm not signing up for birthing classes."
He smiled at my remark. "Fine," he said in defeat.
As the night wore on, I had found myself a group of people who I truly appreciated talking to. For once I didn't mind acting like I belonged in the Quartermaine family.
Dillon approached me with a drink in his hands. "Here," he said softly.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Orange juice."
"Hi Mr. Quartermaine," the girl who was standing next to me said.
"Dillon this is Rebecca," I introduced him.
"Nice to meet you Rebecca. What department are you in?"
"I work in finance," she explained.
Dillon spoke with her for a few minutes and then Edward approached us. "Lulu dear, it's so nice to see you," he greeted me. "Dillon, I'd like you to make a speech."
"Me?" Dillon exclaimed, absolutely dumbfounded.
"You want to run this company; then you need to start with your head below water and then learn to swim."
"Okay, I'm sure I can handle it," Dillon insisted.
Dillon prepared himself to get up on stage. "What do I say?" he asked, as I adjusted his tie.
"Whatever comes to mind. Look, think of yourself as a director whose film just won best picture at the academy awards. What would you say?"
"They have a tendency to just thank the world."
"So thank the room," I offered.
"Want to come up?" he asked.
"Yeah right. Not a chance Quartermaine. You're on your own."
Dillon grimaced and pulled on his tie as if it were a noose. "Don't do that," I scolded, as I reached over and fixed it again. Dillon grabbed onto my arms and ran his hands along them.
"Thank you for doing this."
"You're thanking the wrong person."
"No I mean it. You didn't have to come tonight but you did."
"I don't mind being there for you. Now get up there and show everyone what you're made of."
Dillon let go of me and slowly made his way onto the stage. I wrapped my arms around my waist. "Daddy's about to make a speech, to secure your future, little one. You think he can handle the pressure?" I whispered, as I watched a panicked stricken Dillon standing on stage.
Dillon stared out at the crowd for a moment. He looked like he was going to collapse. I almost felt bad for not going up with him. "I… On behalf of my family, I want to thank you all for being here tonight. There is nothing more important to ELQ than its workers. You have kept us running with all your hard work and determination. We couldn't thank you enough for coming in everyday and keeping us afloat. This party doesn't give our gratitude justice. We do though, really appreciate it and hope that you do have a good time tonight."
He continued his speech by making several announcements about the staff and then I felt a sense of dread when he opened his mouth again. "My wife and I are also expecting our first child. It was unplanned but we are very excited. It's funny how everything changes when you discover you're going to be a parent. You wonder if you're good enough, if you can really give this child all the love it deserves and then you reach a point when you realize, all you can do is try."
I looked over to see horrified expressions on Tracy and Edward's faces. I knew they hadn't expected him to begin a motivational speech on the hardships of parenting. I suddenly felt responsible for saving him. I would later rationalize that I did it so our child had a secure future as a Quartermaine heir. I climbed the several steps onto the stage and approached the podium.
"What my husband is trying to say, is thank you everyone for trying your hardest and giving ELQ you're loyal support. We thank you for your words of congratulations about the baby and we congratulate all of you that are also expecting a child. It's a wonderful experience. So Merry Christmas everyone. Enjoy your time with your families and friends and we'll see you all in the new year."
As I closed my speech, the audience began to applaud and then I led a very shaken Dillon off the stage. "Public speaking isn't your strong suit, is it?" I asked gently.
"Well miss head of public relations, I haven't had to make too many speeches."
I laughed, and we turned to see Tracy and Edward approaching us. "Dillon what happened up there?" Tracy demanded.
"I told you to make a speech, not an after school special on the joys of parenting," Edward said gruffly.
"I got nervous," Dillon admitted.
"Well you won't have any future at ELQ if you can't even make a speech at a Christmas party," Edward reprimanded him.
"I wasn't prepared," Dillon confessed.
"It was a test," Edward retorted.
"It wasn't that bad," I defended. "He can only get better and he started out well."
"Who knows what would have happened if you hadn't have gone up there," Tracy said.
"Hey," I exclaimed. "Dillon is just trying to prove to you that he is a part of this family. He did fine. He can only get better so leave him alone."
Tracy glared at me. "Well Ms. Pretending to be married to my son, I think I know exactly what he's doing. If he wants a future at ELQ, he needs to learn to handle situations like this."
"Yeah, who made the speech about the defective condoms to the press," I said in a low voice. "Dillon has bent over backwards to impress you. I don't care if he's your son or not, half the time you forget he exists."
"But you don't. You're always there hanging on," Tracy muttered bitterly.
I lowered my eyes at her. "You are the ones that made me keep the baby. Now I'm not good enough to be around your son."
"That's not what she's saying Dear," Edward interrupted. "She's just jealous that your child is going to be the next heir."
"Can we not fight here?" Dillon asked.
"Why don't we sit down?" I offered, as I slid my hand into his and led him away from his bickering family members.
As the night finally came to an end, Dillon and I went out to wait for the limo. Suddenly I felt movement inside my stomach. I grabbed my abdomen in surprise. "Is everything okay?" Dillon asked.
"The baby's kicking. Give me your hand." I grabbed his wrist and placed his hand against my swollen belly. I watched the smile form on his face as he felt his baby kicking for the first time.
"Wow, that's amazing," he exclaimed. "I think the baby had fun tonight."
"Definitely," I said sarcastically.
Suddenly our lips met and he pushed me back into the wall. His tongue explored my mouth, as our lungs began to burn for oxygen.
The limo arrived and I followed Dillon inside. Neither of us knew what to do for a moment and then his lips met mine again and I slowly fell back on the seat.
By the time, we'd reached the Quartermaines, I was desperate for his touch. I followed him inside and up to his room. As soon as his door closed, he kissed me again and together we backed up to the bed. I fell back on it and he lay down beside me. "Will this hurt the baby?" he asked gently.
I shook my head before rolling over to him and pressing my lips to his. He slowly removed one strap from the dress and his lips grazed my shoulder blade. He let the dress slide off my body and he looked me over once, before returning his mouth to mine.
We removed the rest of our clothes quickly and came together again for the first time since I got pregnant. Nothing had ever felt more right and more wrong in the same moment. I knew I should have run then, and not looked back, but I stayed the night with him in his bed, reliving for only a moment, how much I loved him.
As we began to drift off to sleep together, he whispered three words that shocked me to the core. "I love you," spilled off of his tongue softly. I didn't respond. I was too horrified. This was not how I wanted this night to go.