The guest room door was closed, which was odd considering it had been opened the night before. There was a million explanations for it, Bobbie reasoned with herself. Cruz could have shut it the night before on his way up to bed. She had opened the windows to take advantage of the crisp fall weather and a breeze could have pushed it closed during the night. Of course if she didn't hear the rustling of sheets behind the door, Bobbie realized she would have a better chance of convincing herself. No the more logical explanation was one of the children had snuck in last night and took refuge in the comfortable room.
Over the years, Lucky, Lulu, Patrick and even recently Dillon had all found their ways to her brownstone when they needed to escape. She had lost count of the number of times broken hearts, angry words or a crushing disappointment had brought them to her door. Normally she could predict when she was going to see one of her unofficial children in the morning. A phone call from Laura was generally her fist clue. So this morning's guest was a true mystery. As far as she was aware, there were no fights going on. With the tension still present between Cruz, Patrick and Lucky, she doubted it was either one of her nephews. If it were Lucas or Dillon, the other would have called two seconds after the fight ended and one of them stormed off. As far as any one in the family knew, Lulu wasn't dating anyone. So the mystery remained. Who had spent the night?
Bobbie opened the door carefully, her curiosity burning and not wanting to wait until whoever it was, decided to grace her with their presence. If it was one of the boys, they were well capable of sleeping well into the afternoon. And there was no way she was going to alert Laura to trouble in the land of Spencer without knowing all the facts yet. Bobbie smiled when she spotted the familiar blonde bending over to straighten the sheets. "Lulu. Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?" Feed first, answers later was Bobbie's motto.
"Hey Aunt Bobbie." Lulu greeted her distractedly, tucking a loose blonde curl behind her ear. "You don't have a lot of groceries so I'll go and pick some up. Then I'll make breakfast or..." A quick glance at the clock proved it was closer to noon. "Or lunch."
"Not at all you know that." Bobbie took a seat on the freshly made bed. Patting it, she gestured for Lulu to sit down. If Lulu had come in at that time, she hadn't seen Cruz last night and probably missed his departure. He was spending the weekend with his family to tell them the news of his impending fatherhood and just who the mother was. She had wanted to come with him, but he refused, stating it was going to be far too stressful and he needed her to relax. "So did you use the key or did you climb in the window?"
"Oh I meant I lost the key to the Spencer house. I haven't had a key to this house since I was twelve years old." Lulu sighed, taking the seat offered to her. "I heard about Cruz leaving for the weekend, so I figured the chance of running into him was pretty slim." She added, meeting Bobbie's startled stare with her smug one.
"Who told you?" Bobbie questioned when she regained her breath. She had fully expected her young niece to throw one of her patented drama fits when she found out the news of who exactly her aunt was seeing.
"Told me?" Lulu looked confused. "Nobody had to tell me."
"Then why aren't you surprised or screaming at the top of your lungs?" If no one had to tell her...Bobbie shook her head. Her niece wasn't making much sense. She was sounding far too like her father right now for sense.
"I've known for six months, Aunt Bobbie." Lulu pointed out.
Six months? Bobbie stared at Lulu with widened eyes. Six months? "Explain. Now."
"You promise not to get mad?" Lulu bit into her bottom lip.
"Lulu. I am far too confused to be mad right now. I just want the truth."
"Brad and I have been sneaking around about that long." Lulu replied. "And, though this is totally disgusting, I happen to know Cruz's biggest appeal. Go Aunt Bobbie." She lifted her fist in a proud shake.
She was going to ignore the remark about Cruz's appeal. There was some things that were not discussed with your nineteen-year-old niece, no matter how close you were to her. And Lulu's explanation had done nothing to lessen her confusion. "Brad? I thought you two broke up."
"We're friends with benefits now."
"Do I really want to know about that?"
"I always wash the sheets." Lulu promised with a mischievous smile.
Bobbie jumped up from the bed with a quickness that probably would have scared Cruz senseless. "Leslie Lu..." she started in a threatening tone. "If you have been using my home for your..." Bobbie shudder, not wanting the mental image that came with her words.
"It's not like we aren't being safe. You should talk...mommy." She pointed to Bobbie's growing belly.
"I was wondering when you were going to get around to that." Bobbie wondered. She would let her brother and sister-in-law deal with Lulu and her "beneficial" friend. At least Laura. There was no telling what Luke would do if he even suspected his little Sweet Pea was capable of this.
"Brad's terrified of Dad, but he told me he loves me anyway." Lulu whispered, standing up and fluffing her pillow.
"That wasn't exactly what I was referring to." Bobbie mused quietly. "But I'm not surprised by his reaction."
"But I don't know if I love him." Lulu didn't care if she was being selfish. There was no one else talk to about it. Lucky was too into his son and new girlfriend. Patrick no longer saw her as his little sister because he was always with Robin and Morgan and had their welfare well at hand. She was the redheaded stepchild and it was only now starting to hurt. "He keeps me from being all alone."
Bobbie pulled Lulu closer to her. "I can understand that." Placing a small kiss on the top of the young girl's blonde hair, she continued. "When it's love, you'll know."
"Is it love with you and Cruz?" Lulu couldn't say it had been an easy realization. Finding out her old crush was doing her aunt...at least she had something to discuss with her therapist.
"Yes. Yes it is." Bobbie looked down at her niece's blue eyes. "And it took me awhile to realize it, but I did."
"Are you going to get married? And, if so, can you tell Patrick and Lucky on different days so I can do some damage control?" Lulu begged, falling off of the mattress dramatically.
"Get off the floor Lulu. In the first place we haven't discussed marriage and if we do, then when we tell people will fall on our time table." Bobbie arched her eyebrows at her niece. "Does that offer mean you and your brother have made peace?"
"I don't know." Lulu sat Indian-style and chewed on her fingernail. "He's coming to dinner this week. I miss seeing him and Cam, but he's made it quite clear that he doesn't trust me where his son is concerned."
"Give him some time. He'll come around." Bobbie counseled. She could understand Lucky's stance in this matter and she doubted Lulu would be allowed to baby-sit unsupervised ever again. But even if it was awkward and stilted, he was at least trying with Cruz, something she had been afraid wouldn't happen. Lucky could very well surprise her.
Lulu scanned the guest room with a critical eye, trying to see it from a stranger's point of view. She had a feeling this would be where Aunt Bobbie and Uncle Cruz--she had to giggle at that--would set up their nursery. Looking at it now with boxes stacked to the ceiling and dust tickling her nose, she knew her aunt was in grave need of someone with a little experience at this. If she hadn't stepped in Lucky that brother of hers would have left the walls white and cracked, left Cameron in the corner on a large pillow, and that would have been the end of it. "Have you thought about how the nursery will look?"
Bobbie shook her head. "Not yet. We're still debating on whether or not to find out if the baby is a boy or a girl."
"What do you think it'll be?" Lulu asked pryingly.
"Boy. Cruz is convinced it's a girl"
"He does have a sixth sense about certain things. Are you going to find out from the doctor or be surprised?"
"I think we'll find out. This pregnancy has been enough of a surprise for everyone I think."
"Can I help with the nursery? I did it for Cam and I'd really like to help with this baby." Lulu met Bobbie's eyes begrudgingly.
Bobbie smiled appreciatively. Maybe Lulu really was growing up. Instead of acting like a heartbroken teenager, she was actually acting like an adult about this situation, something her brother and cousin were still struggling to manage. "Of course, darling. I would love your help. We can't have the men be in charge of something this important."
"Oh God no, because you know the first person Cruz will ask for help is Lucky, or God help us Patrick, and they have no mind for this sort of thing." Lulu shook her head and smiled.
Bobbie shook her head. "No child of mine will have a nursery decorated to look like the inside of Jake's.
"So I guess Dad can't help us."
"No. I will not scar my child with naked pictures of Helena Cassadine."
"How about I clear out some of these boxes and then stop by the grocery store to pick up something for us to eat?" Lulu offered, blowing a breath over a box creating a large cloud of dust.
"That sounds like a plan."