She felt completely embarrassed. This was not how she had seen her night going. It had all been fine until the confrontation. Lifting her fist to knock, she waited for Lucky to answer. How would she ever explain to him what had happened? Would he turn her away too?

"Lulu?" Lucky questioned as his younger sister appeared on his doorstep. She had been the last one he had imagined opening his door to. Elizabeth? Sure. Patrick? Why not. Robin? Outside chance right now but not entirely possible. Cruz? Actually a pretty good guess with him handling the press right now. But Lulu? They hadn't even really spoke to each other since the last confrontation in the hospital. "What are you doing here?"

"Dad dropped me off." Lulu pointed to the Post-It note pinned to the left sleeve of her yellow cardigan. As if things weren't bad enough, Lucky was at once surprised and annoyed. Well she would just have to make him see reason, wouldn't she? Aunt Bobbie's hormones were on the fritz Mom had told her, so this was her only viable option.

"Why?"

"Dad kicked me out." Lulu explained impatiently, gesturing to the note. "Didn't you hear him drive away like a bat out of Hell?"

"I thought that was Patrick driving through." Lucky shrugged. He leaned against the doorframe. "I'll repeat the question. Why?"

"Dad found out Bradley and I are still seeing each other and he didn't approve. So, that's why I'm here. Are you going to let me in, or are you going to explain to your son why he has a Popsicle for an aunt?" Lulu asked sharply, her eyebrows shooting up in question.

"Bradley? Who the hell is Bradley?" Lucky's brows knitted together in confusion as he stood aside just enough for Lulu to push her way through.

"We used to date...erm you met him remember? Dad wore that ridiculous outfit." Lulu reminded him, hoping she wouldn't have to write it out on a napkin for him.

"You mean Buford?"

"His name is Bradley. Think of Home Improvement if you have to, I don't care. But that's his name. Anyway, I was kicked out and I need a place to crash for a few days." When she saw he was about to refuse, Lulu pressed on, "You won't even know I'm here. I just started work at Kelly's. I'm either at work or school, almost never home."

Lucky snorted. If there was one thing his sister had inherited from their father, it was the inability to go unnoticed. He might not see her constantly, but he would be willing to bet he'd see her laundry, hear her music, and see other reminders to her presence all day long. "I'm calling mom. Obviously dad did this without her knowledge and she'll have this straightened out by now."

"Actually, they were in agreement." Lulu mumbled vaguely.

"Do I want to know the details of this?" If his mother agreed with this insanity, it had to be worse than just dad disapproving of whatever-his-name-is. He paused and held up one finger as he reconsidered his question. "No. Wait. Scratch that. Details may send me straight to therapy. Do I want to know the bare outlines of this?"

"Not really." Lulu assured him. She was already in debt with her therapist.

"If I call dad right this second will he tell way more than I would ever fathom caring about?"

"Do you want a rundown of my sex life?" Lulu asked directly to get him to quit prying.

Lucky closed his eyes in horror. Not the mental images he wanted. "Why me?" he sighed.

"You wanted to know. Can I or not? If not, I really need to find a motel to sleep in for the next few days and it's getting dark..." She glanced warily toward the front door.

Damn her for playing the guilt card. She was almost as good as their mother at that one. He was still months away from seeing her without wanting to throttle her and seeing her near Cameron was going to be a constant reminder of why his son still had a cast on him for another week. On the other hand, the motels had never really improved their reputations after years of being used for shootouts and housing the various mob cronies of Sonny and Jason. He wouldn't want his biggest rival to stay there much less his sister. "What about staying at Aunt Bobbie's? She probably needs help with the baby and all." He suggested hopefully.

"I'd rather have a shootout with members of the mob to a pop song than stay there. She's absolutely insane on hormones. She cries at the tiniest thing." Lulu emphasized, shaking her head.

That was true. And he had gotten the distinct impression from Cruz that something was going on between the two of them. He may be getting accustomed to the idea of his best friend dating his aunt but that didn't mean he was going to press for details for relationship problems. Besides, they were guys. They didn't talk about that stuff. "I suppose there is a reason Lucas and Dillon are out?"

"Dillon and I never got along. I don't want to cause problems for Lucas and Lance." Lulu clarified.

Even if he wanted to, Lucky wasn't about to suggest Patrick. The other man was dealing with enough lately. And Lulu's presence would do serious damage to intense birthday planning he was doing lately. It was actually amusing to watch Patrick sweat details such as reservations and finding the perfect flower, the stuff his cousin used to routinely give him shit for. He was completely defeated. It really was him or a motel for Lulu. "Define a few days." he demanded.

"A week. Two tops." Lulu promised with an affirmative nod.

"Is that from you, Dad, or Mom?"

"Why does that matter? I give you my word." Lulu snapped.

"Oh well why didn't you say so? If you give me your word, then everything will be fine then." Lucky rolled his eyes as the sarcasm rolled off of him in waves. He crossed his arms in front of his chest as he sat down in his overstuffed chair.

"Oh my God, you're acting as if I've taken away your favorite Teddy Bear." Lulu grumbled, walking over to the window so that her back was to her brother. "I need a little time to get on my feet. This wasn't exactly...planned."

"Oh well if you didn't plan it Lulu, that makes it all the better." Sometimes he wondered if his sister was 19 or 9. "Forgive me if I haven't forgotten what happened the last time you gave me your word."

"You're kicking me out, then?" She felt a tear slide down her cheek. She had screwed up royally with Lucky and now with her parents. Where would she go if her brother turned her away too?

"If I could think of anyone else who could take you right now I would." He answered honestly. "But I can't. And I know you. You would pick the worst motel in town just to guilt Dad into ending whatever this is about sooner. I may still be pissed at you but I don't want you there."

She did not remember pregnancy being this tiring, Bobbie mused as she walked through her front door. Granted she had been a teenager when she had Carly and that was decades ago, but certainly she would have remembered feeling this tired. Kicking off her shoes, she sank onto the couch, closing her eyes as she rested her head on the armrest.

Dr. Lansing had continued to tell her about limiting her stress load during her appointment today. If she heard the phrase "women in your age bracket" come out of his mouth one more time, Bobbie swore she was going to hit him the way Luke had taught her years ago. Her blood pressure was up and he had lectured her again about the risks of preclampsia, as if she needed another thing to worry about right now. She appreciated Dr. Lansing's continued candor about the possible complications she was facing, but today she had really just wanted him to keep it to himself.

It wasn't as if she wasn't trying to lower her stress level. She had already transferred all new clients to Robin for the time being. It had taken Laura and Lulu's supervision, but Luke and Lucky had done most of the major work in getting the nursery cleared out and ready. Lucas was trying to be positive, although Bobbie suspected Dillon was a major factor in that change in attitude. However she couldn't escape the fact that one person was decidedly causing her stress right now.

She hadn't heard from Cruz in three weeks. Ever since the night she screwed everything up. Unconsciously she rubbed her stomach. "I really stepped in it didn't I little one?" she asked softly. "I can't even really blame your dad for being mad at this one."

Logically she knew the past week he had been busy dealing with the press for Lucky. It made her smile to realize that while the two men more than likely hadn't completely worked out their issues, at least Lucky had trusted Cruz with this much. It was a huge step for both of them. And she knew how Cruz was when he had an important story. It consumed his every waking hour, much like the Brenda Barrett-Jasper Jacks' wedding consumed hers.

But on top of the two weeks before that, it was officially the longest time they had gone without speaking since they started dating. She missed him kissing her forehead before she fell asleep each night. She missed him trying to cook her meals. She even missed him putting his feet up on coffee table, no matter how many times she asked him not to.

It wasn't like she hadn't tried to contact him. But all she had gotten was his voice mail. She couldn't even get a message to him through Becca at The Insider. The poor girl was just as swamped with calls as Cruz was from larger media outlets. There had even been a few times when Bobbie had gotten a busy signal when she called the magazine's offices. She was relatively certain he wasn't home, or if he was he wasn't checking his machine.

Opening her eyes slightly, she saw the blinking red light indicating her own machine had a message for her. It was more than likely Laura, updating her on the latest on the Lulu-Luke-Bradley situation. Bobbie thought her brother was being ridiculous but agreed with Laura it was an opportunity to help her niece and nephew mend their own relationship. Sighing, she leaned over the back of the couch and pressed the play button.

"Hi...hello...it's Cruz as you can probably already guess from this stupid message. I got a few minutes to myself and thought I would call you, but I guess you aren't home. I know we haven't talked since that day at the hospital and I'm sorry about that. It's just, with all that has been going on, there hasn't been time—I know I should have made time. I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at myself. You were right: marriage is out of the question. I'll let you go. Oh and Bobbie? I love you." Cruz's voice bounced off of the quiet house like a mad drummer and, for a moment, Bobbie could feel as if he were right behind her. Of course, when she checked, his side of the bed was still empty.

Bobbie cupped her mouth with both of her hands to muffle the cry building at the base of her throat. She hit the play button a second time. His voice was just as uncertain and unyielding as it had been the moment before, but this time the tears on her cheeks didn't go unnoticed. The third time she punched the button, her hand started to throb. She could play this over and over; nothing would have changed. He was still gone. He would let her go? But she didn't want to be let go! She didn't want to raise their son or daughter all alone! She had done it before and she had thought, like the naïve fool she was, that this time would be different, that the father of her child cared more for her than he did his own pride.

She rocked back and forth trying to ignore the voice in her head that reminded her that this was her fault. She had caused this. If she had just believed he had really wanted to marry her or even just phrased her refusal differently, he would still be sitting there next to her, probably rubbing her aching feet. If she called him right this second and told him it was her fault would he even answer the phone? Did he want her to reach out to him? Was there room for him to change his mind? Or was that it? Was letting her go his last word on the situation?

She needed guidance. She needed someone to tell her what the next course of action should be. Or if there should even be a next course of action. She needed one person. With a shaking hand, she pulled the phone near to her, trying to calm her voice so she could at least speak clearly. Sniffing back her tears, Bobbie managed to keep her voice even the second the familiar hello hit her ears.

"Laura? Can you come over? I need you."