Giving Up the Ghost
"If you are just going to ignore me all night, we could have just stayed home." Dillon pointed out. "No sense in ruining everyone else's night." He had thought when Georgie had left for France, Lucas would begin to see reason, begin to be Lucas again instead of a jealous drama queen. But if anything Georgie's departure the other day seemed to make Lucas's mood worse. His normally placid other half had spent most their nights slamming doors, making accusations and giving glares worthy of Cameron. And for the life of him, Dillon could not figure it out.
A quick glance over to Lucas and Dillon realized that more than likely, he was planning on keeping up the silent treatment all night. This was going to be one fun dinner. "You know if you go in there all broody like your mother will know something is going on. Now that she and Cruz are back on track, she'll have no reason to not meddle."
Still nothing. This was bad. Normally the prospect of his mother interfering in his life was more than enough reason to get Lucas to talk. Dillon raised his hand to the door. "I'm knocking on the door now. Last chance to act like Lucas."
Lucas rolled his eyes. If it wasn't for his mother, he wouldn't have even left the house. And Dillon thought he could just forget that little stunt he pulled at the airport? Lucas settled back and gave his husband his best "go ahead" stare. Seeing Dillon keep his hand frozen in mid-air, Lucas leaned over and knocked himself.
"Cruz, can you get the door?" Bobbie asked her beau. Her voice was mumbled because her head was in the oven so she could do a final check on dinner. At the light scraping of a finger up her back, she tried to stand up too quickly, and banged the back of her head. "Nice." She fixed him with a semi-serious stare, rubbing her crown and frowning.
"I guess I should get that door." Cruz mumbled worriedly, making a flawless sprint out of the kitchen where Bobbie's face was almost the color of her hair. He had learned a lot in the last couple of days they had spent together—full days, not just the early morning hours and late evening nights), learned enough to know it'd be best to have witnesses. What was to stop Lucas for coming after him with a shovel and Dillon picking a burial plot? He needed a reality check if he was expecting these two to be a part of his family. Bobbie still hadn't said yes, but they were past that awful, indignant, "No!" It was a start. He'd have to chisel away at her just as he had done when it came time for his award's dinner.
Bobbie slowly pulled the fork away from the center of the crispy homemade pot pie she had spent the last hour preparing, noticing Lucas and Dillon cautiously step over the threshold. Something was going on there, but she would have to be patient while prodding at the same time. Her son was an open book—or at least Dillon was—and she would do whatever she had to get to the bottom of this.
"Something sure smells wonderful." Dillon announced as cheerfully as he could manage. Someone had to act like they had been around people before he decided
"Hi Mom!" Lucas greeted his mother as he walked over to give her a kiss on the cheek. Dillon tried to suppress the look of shock that crossed his features. It was the first time he had heard Lucas speak in a week.
"Hey Brat!" Bobbie called back, leaving the warmth of the kitchen for a chilly living room. She knew it had been stifling before her son and son-in-law had walked in, so she had to assume she was picking up on a different kind of cold. "Where is that grandson of mine?" She knew he was with Laura, but she wanted to make sure they understood how disappointed she was with them for not bringing him over.
"Laura just begged to see him." Dillon explained. It was probably closer to the truth to say Lance didn't want to spend yet another uncomfortable night trying to figure out which parent was the least mad. He made a mental note to add to his son's therapy fund the first second he got.
"Yeah she complained she hasn't seen him in forever." Lucas added. He couldn't rationally continue the silence treatment totally. Besides, he wasn't actually talking to Dillon; he was answering his mother's question. That was an entirely different matter.
"At this point, she sees him more than I do." Bobbie pouted, stepping away from Cruz when he tried to pull her into his arms. It would only calm her and she would forget what she was ranting about. She had very few inherent rights as a mother and this was one of them.
"Next time. I promise we'll bring him next time." Dillon swore.
"I should hope to get to see my grandson before I die. Will you try to be prompt then?" Bobbie goaded, tears automatically springing to her eyes.
"Oh now I see where he gets it from." Dillon muttered. "Cruz my friend, I hope you realize what you are signing up for."
"You're kidding? I've had everything laminated." Seeing that his joke had fallen flat, he decided to swiftly change the subject. "Did Lance have fun trick-or-treating?" Cruz wondered, uncertain if this was a safe subject or not. He and Bobbie had had to leave the party early due to an unexpected wave of nausea that had stayed with them until the following morning.
Lucas cast a dark look over to Dillon. Dillon had stormed out of the party after their conversation with Edward and Georgie had followed close behind him. Nothing happened his foot. "He had a good time." he managed tersely, glaring at his husband the entire time.
"Can you believe we forgot our costumes?" Again, he saw that his words were taken wrong, and bowed his head. Bobbie, apparently feeling sorry for him, pressed her hands to his back and kneaded away at the unseen stress he held there. He just wanted to make a good impression, wanted to make sure everyone knew he was here for the long haul.
"I heard pregnancy makes you forget everything." Dillon tried to agree, ignoring the dirty looks Lucas was shooting his way. "So when are we eating?"
Bobbie beamed. "I just set it on the stove to cool. Dillon, why don't you and Cruz set the table while I have a talk with my son?" Her tone stripped away any sincerity. She wasn't asking.
"Right. Ready willing and able to help." Dillon saluted following Cruz toward the dining room. He recognized the tone in her voice and look in Bobbie's eyes. As frustrated as he was with Lucas, he shook his head in sympathy over what he was about to face.
"Lucas, I have some boxes upstairs I prepared for you to take home when you head home. I can't lift them." Bobbie's gaze never left her son's nervous one.
"Okay. I'll get them before we leave." Lucas managed to stutter out.
"No, now. I won't be able to get through the meal without thinking about them and I'd rather start fresh." Bobbie shook her head purposefully and refrained from tapping her foot.
"Alright I'll go get them now." He walked slowly toward the stairs, making his way up the stairs. Turning to face his mother, who was standing right behind him, he looked down at her. "What room are they in again?"
"The nursery. I wanted to see if you had any ideas on how we should do it. Other than the crib, the room is mostly plain." Bobbie explained as she unconsciously placed her hand over her stomach.
Oh this wasn't going to be awkward at all. He wasn't completely convinced Cruz wasn't going to pull another disappearing trick. Dillon more than likely was downstairs right now planning out another proposal scenario, bigger and better than the last one he planned. Yet another topic they had been fighting about. It had been just fun times in the Quartermaine-Jones house this week. No wonder Lance had begged for Aunt Lulu to baby sit him. "I'm sure whatever you two decide will be fine Mom."
"But I want you involved. You're my son." She gestured toward her stomach. "And this is your sister."
"So it's a girl for sure? Cruz was right?"
"God...yes." She grumbled good-naturedly, smacking his shoulder lightly. "I don't know how I'll get up and down these stairs. I'm so tired." Bobbie wasn't known for whining and it seemed to surprise, maybe even concern, her son, so she smiled and directed him to the nursery.
"What about that chair lift Grandma Spencer has in her house? Should we borrow it for you?" Lucas tried to keep the laugh out of his voice.
Narrowing her eyes at her son, Bobbie reached behind her and flipped on the light. She hadn't been lying about the room: it was the plainest of plains. The paint was a scraggly white color, the drapes were torn and full of holes having been victimized by moths over the years, and the only thing accompanying the crib was the rocking chair Tony had bought for her when they had brought Lucas home.
"Who let Lucky decorate this place?" Lucas announced when he entered in the room.
Bobbie snorted. "The boxes are at the top of the closet. I've been putting together a scrapbook for you, Dillon, and Lance." She had needed something to do with all of the spare time that had been thrust upon her via doctor's orders. "And the other is a couple of old scripts of Dillon's I found. I wanted to make sure you took them home."
"Mom you didn't have to do that." Lucas protested. With his luck the scripts were probably from when he was dating Georgie.
Bobbie startled her son by rubbing his back soothingly. He still pouted like he had at five. "Has something happened? Things seem...tense between you and Dillon. Does it have to do with why you didn't bring Lance?"
"What child wouldn't want to spend another night trying to figure out which parent is mad the least?" Lucas laughed bitterly
Bobbie waited for him to carry the boxes out into the hall and led him into her bedroom, preferring the mattress over the cold floor of the nursery. "Darling, tell me." She insisted. He sounded as if his entire world was coming down on top of him. "I can help." She added, ignoring the incredulous huff her words brought about. Resting her hand over his, she used her touch as a way to anchor him to the safety this house had always provided him.
"I think Dillon is going to leave me for Georgie." Lucas let out in one huge breath. He glanced sideways at his mother trying to gauge her reaction.
Bobbie laughed, giving his hand a tough squeeze. "What are you talking about?" She made it a point to run her thumb over his gold wedding ring to further emphasize her disbelief.
"Ever since her farewell party he's been spending all this time with her. They talked at Lance's birthday party."
"Lucas..." She took a breath before continuing. "Is that all you're basing this on? Dillon loves you with all of his heart. He wouldn't have turned his back on his entire family if he didn't. They weren't exactly understanding in the beginning, remember?"
She had a point, but Lucas was reluctant to give Dillon the benefit of any doubt right now. "They would have come around if he actually had gone and sold all his ELQ stock to Carly like he threatened."
"What brought this on? It couldn't have been a simple talk between old friends." Bobbie chose her words carefully not wanting to send her suspicious son off the edge.
Lucas took a deep breath and tried to keep back the tears that were forming in his eyes. "He kissed her Mama. He kissed her."
"What do you mean, he kissed her?" Bobbie's eyebrows lifted. She couldn't believe that Dillon had waited this long to start being unfaithful. She just couldn't. If there had been a time to get out of the relationship it had before the surrogacy drama with Sage Alcazar...or maybe even sooner, like the night her son called and told her he was in love.
"He went to the airport to tell her goodbye and he kissed her, right there at the security check point."
"He was probably just telling her goodbye. She is overseas you know. And we both know how Dillon hates to fly." She worried she might have taken it a step too far with that last comment.
"She can stay there." Lucas grumbled darkly. "I hope she gets into medical school and doesn't return for at least a decade."
"Has she shown any interest in the medical professional? I thought she wanted to be a writer?" Bobbie was taking this piece by piece, trying to diffuse the situation before it could get any worse. Her son was in tears and now she was the cause. She couldn't let him downstairs until she made him feel better.
"That's not the point. The point is she's been waiting for years to steal Dillon back and now she has."
"I think that overactive imagination is playing tricks on you. Remember when you thought the mailman was really Superman?"
"Mom I was four." Lucas protested. "I also thought Kermit was a real person. This is totally different."
"To you, he was." She whispered, patting his hand. "Darling, have you tried asking Dillon about this? Straightforward is the only way you're ever going to get the answers you're seeking. I think you're being a bit unfair believing your husband could be capable of something like this, but you are my first priority."
"He denied it every other time I've brought it up. Why would this time be any different?" Lucas crossed his arms defensively. Even his own mother was siding with Dillon. Wasn't there a law that your parent sided with you no matter what?
"This isn't like calling him a name: this is a serious accusation Son. You need to be upfront about it. I know you think I'm taking his side over you, but I'm not. I'm simply trying to keep you from getting hurt. Carly thought she was justified in ruining her and her sons' lives every time she got angry. Are you going to do that to Lance? Are you going to take away his security because you suspect something without even the slightest bit of evidence?"
"I saw him kiss her Mom! What more evidence do I need? It's a hell of a lot more than Carly had most of the time."
"A kiss goodbye. Did she stay? No. Has she called him? I'm guessing no. Has he mentioned her once?" Bobbie challenged, folding her arms in front of her.
Why did his mother always have to make a good point? Lucas turned away and stared at the carpet in the bedroom. "You are going to redecorate so Cruz feels more comfortable in here?"
"Yes and no. I shared this house with your father. If it didn't have so many memories, I'd like to think Cruz and I would move into a new place." Bobbie admitted. How many times had she walked past Lucas' old room since he had moved out and gotten his own place?
"Well whatever you decide, I'll support you." He smiled at her. "Eventually."
"And I'll let it go that you didn't bring my grandson to see if me if you'll go downstairs and give your husband a hug. Despite his faults, he does love you, and I know you love him. Work it out. Get past your pride. It's awfully lonely by yourself." Bobbie knew what she was talking about. If Cruz hadn't found her when he had, she would still be crying herself to sleep.
"I hate it when you are right."
"I love you." She pulled him toward her and kissed his forehead. "I love you so much."