Lucky adjusted his three-year-old son on his shoulder as he fished in his pocket for the key to his mother's house. Cameron was dead to the world. His son did get up early, but he tended to crash just an hour or two after waking up. And just about nothing could wake Cameron up. Unless it was the smell of Laura Spencer's cooking.

Where was it? He could feel the key slip pass his fingers, sprinting away like Cameron did when they played catch in their own backyard. Lucky lived just a few streets over from his parents in a modest two-story brick home. It was a blessing and a curse to live so close. A blessing when it was necessary to find a baby sitter. A curse when his sister or his mother decided he needed to hear one of their many lectures on how he was in danger of making grave mistakes.

Success! He finally caught the loop of the key chain with his thumb and pulled out the key. "Thought you hid on me didn't you?" he whispered to it. "No one escapes me!"

"Oh Lord, you really have lost it" Lulu Spencer had chosen that exact moment to open the door. She grinned at her older brother and patted her sleeping nephew on his head. "Don't worry Cams. I'll take care of you when your dad ends up in the loony bin." she whispered conspiratorially.

"Don't you have a professor to stalk or something?"

Lulu glared at him, but said nothing in response. Lucky grinned triumphantly. He won this round. Of course that meant his sister would be spending the rest of the night plotting revenge. She could bring it on, he decided. He would be ready for her.

"Is that Lucky?" Patrick appeared behind Lulu. It was dinnertime at the Spencer house and he had decided to take Laura up on her offer tonight. Besides, it had been ages since he'd seen Cameron and he swore that kid grew a foot between visits.

"You two let him in this house right now." Laura's voice carried with it the voice of authority none of them had ever had the nerve to challenge. "Now you bring that baby to me and let me see him."

Lucky smirked. "Mom I promise I've done no lasting damage to him between this afternoon and now." He transferred his son to his mother's arms. "Look he's still breathing and everything."

Patrick laughed aloud at his cousin's wit, thanking God that Laura hadn't started in on him about settling down and starting a family. Born in New York City, Patrick's parents had dropped their sons off at Laura's every summer since he was ten and his brother was nine. After his mother's untimely death, Noah had gone MIA and stayed that way for the past few years.

Cameron stirred in his grandmother's arms. "Gramma?"

"Hello sweet boy. You were taking quite the nap there."

"Me go to the park with Daddy."

Cameron squirmed in Laura's arms and reached for Lucky. Lucky gratefully scooped up his son. He didn't see him as often as he should, a frequent discussion between himself and his mother, so he tried to make the most of the limited time they did have together. The park was a favorite destination with its swings and huge areas to run in.

"Yup, we were on the swings and the jungle gym until it was time to go."
Lulu tickled the small child under his chin, listening to him giggle. "I bet you followed your nose to Gramma's house, huh Cam?"

Cameron just laughed and Lulu took him from her brother's arms, continuing her tickle assault on her nephew.

Patrick jumped a foot in the air and immediately reached for his cell phone. "Sorry. Work." He explained, letting himself out the door. He glanced at the screen and grumbled a few unsavory words before answering. Lulu and Lucky hurried to set the table while Laura spied on Patrick from the living room window.

"Mom you know if you just ask him, Patrick will tell you what's talking about." Lulu waved her hand in dismissal as she helped Lucky place Cameron in his booster seat. "Besides that door is too thick to hear anything through anyway."

"And just how do you know that?" Laura fixed her stare on her youngest child.

"The same way I do." Lucky grinned at his mother. "Dad told us."

Lulu nodded in agreement. "You remember, instead of bedtime stories we got lessons in eavesdropping and lock picking."

"And don't forget poker."

Laura shook her head in mock exasperation. Her husband had made sure her children had a unique upbringing to say the least, but it was one neither one would change for anything.

"Daddy! Make car go vroom!" Cameron held up one of his toys car to Lucky, begging his father to play with him.

"Lulu come help me bring the dishes in."

"Lucky's closer! Why me?"

"Leslie Lu..."

Lulu sighed and walked towards the kitchen. "Don't think I don't know this is the whole cute kid factor." She shook her finger in Lucky's direction.

"Sucks to be replaced don't it?"

She stuck her tongue out at him as she disappeared into the kitchen. Lucky smiled. Won another point. He was so going to pay before the night was done. Lulu was not going to let him get away with this much longer. He busied himself with helping Cameron push the toy cars in a race around the dinner plate.

To say becoming a father this early in his life was a shock would have been an understatement. When his college girlfriend Jessalyn had told him she was pregnant a few months after graduation, Lucky had panicked. Pure and simple. He had asked the stereotypical stupid guy questions, they had fought, and he had run off for a drunken weekend with Patrick and Cruz in Atlantic City.

Probably the most ironic part in the whole story was the fact that his commitment-phobic cousin and his skirt chasing best friend were the two who forced him to grow up and face his impending fatherhood. When he finally confessed to them at the end of the weekend, they hadn't said a word but threw him in the car, dropped him off directly at Jess's parent's house and promised to not return until he had talked to her. When Jess decided to keep the baby, Patrick had gone with him to tell his parents. And it was Cruz who had driven to the hospital the night Cameron was born.

"Daddy! I make them go crash!" Cameron clapped in delight as he knocked the toy tractor off with his motorcycle.

"Good job buddy!"

"Let's get this show on the road people. I brought apple pie." Patrick announced, closing the front door behind him. He returned the phone to his pocket, silencing it with a quick flick of his hand, and joined his family at the table. Lulu had a mouth full of food, so it kept her from commenting about his secret phone call. Lucky, however, must have been fed-up with Laura's constant nagging about how much time he spent with his son, because he instantly turned his attention to Patrick.

The look Lucky gave him was one of mischief. "Was that Cynthia? I know she was anxious to get in touch with you."

"Veronica?" Laura's love life radar had picked right up on that one. "Who's Veronica?"

"She's no one, Aunt Laura. Lucky just wants to stir up trouble." Patrick assured her, giving Lucky a withering glance.

Lucky ignored the glare. "She didn't look like no one to me." He happily took a big bite out of his potatoes.

The phone rang. Patrick immediately got to his feet since he was closest. "Spencer residence." He told the caller. "Wha--how did you even get this number? Stop calling me!" With that, he slammed the phone down so hard it should have shattered.
Lulu shifted in her seat, but again Lucky beat her to the punch. "And that was?"

"A wrong number." Patrick mouthed to his family, joining them at the table. He couldn't taste the food, he realized, taking a bite. In fact, his left hand was starting to tremble. It was a habit he had picked up after he broke up with her...oh six months ago! Perhaps "broke up" was the wrong explanation, because he had barely dated her. Discovering that he enjoyed her in bed, he might have stayed with her a lot longer than he should have.

"A wrong number that is calling you all the time?" Lulu arched her eyebrow at him.

"Can it, Leslie Lu." Patrick warned, wagging a finger at her. He looked to his aunt. "This is delicious, Aunt Laura. I saw the new work you've done on the garden. Are you entering this year?"

"She's already been nominated" Lucky never passed an opportunity up to brag on his mother.

Laura beamed with pride. "Yes. I just found out yesterday."

"I still think Ms. Simmons was cheating last year. She didn't deserve first place. I bet she bought those plants beforehand." Patrick insisted.

"Completely cheated. But this year, she's not getting away with it." Lulu leaned forward. "Mom's bought the special plant food."

"You broke out the 'special plant food' huh? Not that you need it. You are a born gardener." Patrick proclaimed, smirking when he noticed the beautiful smile on his aunt's face. She was positively beaming!

"Well thank you."

"I'm thinking maybe you should get caller ID Aunt Laura." Patrick suggested, stabbing his fork into a small chunk of meatloaf.

"Those of us without stalkers don't need it." Lucky pointed out.

"She's not a stalker. She's just a little crazy." Patrick argued, taking a bite.

Lucky rolled his eyes. "You're the one dating your clients and she's the crazy one. Yeah that makes sense."

"You're dating your clients?" Lulu almost screeched at a level only dogs could hear her at.

"We broke up six months ago, and I haven't dated any since her." Patrick defended sharply.

"Yeah. And I wouldn't even really call it dating. It was extremely casual." Lucky added, trying to help.

"Casual?" Laura didn't look pleased.

"Lucky? Stop helping." Patrick barked at him

"What do you mean, casual? As in casual sex?" Laura guessed, causing all three remaining adults to choke.

"MOM!" Lulu blushed a deep red. Lucky covered his mouth in an attempt to keep from spraying the table with partial chewed food and setting a fine example for his way too curious three year old.

"I--I..." Patrick attempted speech, but found it to be impossible.

Cameron, oblivious to the discomfort around him, picked up his piece of meatloaf with his fork. He made a few experimental lifts with his small hands and finally put his entire weight into making his food fly off the fork. With a loud "UP!" the meatloaf piece flew off the fork and landed right in the middle of the ceiling.

"Look Daddy! Loaf go fly!" Cameron pointed proudly.

"And that is what I call Spencer timing." Patrick laughed to himself.