Lucas chewed on his thumbnail instantly regretting it. He would have to return to the salon less than twenty-four hours after leaving it due to this nasty habit. It had taken ten minutes but he and his mother had finally gotten through their pleasantries and he could finally tell her what was going on. Dillon had suggested grounding Lance to his room until his suspension was over, but Lucas wasn't sure that would do any good what with all of the toys and distractions up there. They had come to a compromise and, at the moment, Lance was outside raking leaves and taking rocks out of the flowerbed at the front walkway.
Lance was a pretty good kid—he knew he was still biased enough to believe his boy was perfect—so this idea of punishing him was almost completely foreign to he and Dillon. Their son was kind and courteous and was an excellent student at school. They spent half their weekends listening to his teacher talk about how wonderful he was, how attentive, and Lucas wondered if all of that was going to have to change now. What kind of school suspended a six-year-old for defending himself? This wasn't high school; there were no weapons involved. He still didn't know what had set him son off because Lance refused to even discuss it. For his little boy to be quiet—well it just wasn't natural. Dillon had called it his way of picking up bad habits from his Spencer-Jones side and, for once, Lucas couldn't argue the point.
"Do you think we have any chance of having a white Christmas this year?" Bobbie wondered idly. Something was bothering Lucas, he only ever bit his nails when something was nagging at him. Sooner or later he would tell her. She just had to be patient. Bobbie rubbed her stomach absentmindedly. "It's a shame the snow from the other day didn't stick."
"We always have a white Christmas," Lucas reminded her pressing his lips into a tight smile. "It's about the only thing we can count on." She had picked up on his subtle signals whether he meant for her to or not. How was he going to explain that his son, her grandson, assaulted a boy almost twice his age?
"That is true. And if there wasn't any snow I wouldn't put it pass Dillon to create it for effect."
"He hopes to be finished with production before the holiday." Lucas said, peeling the fingernail away from his thumb. He might as well get started on the rest. He was going to get it from Brenda when she saw the mess he had made of them especially since their outing had been her first free day from wedding planning. He had insisted and she hadn't turned down the offer. She still didn't have any idea when the wedding would take place. Poor girl. Every time she and Jax agreed about something, there would be some external force, mainly their families, who would create more drama.
"I'm sure he will." She cast a sidelong look in her son's direction. "Is that why Lance is so quiet? Because he's worried Dillon won't make it back in time?"
"It might be part of the reason." Lucas answered awkwardly. He was here so he might as well spill. It was why he had invited her over—to pick her brain, to figure out what the hell he was supposed to do and if doing so would make him a bad father. He worried about that all the time—that his and Dillon's decisions over the last seven years had been erroneous in some way and they were actually ruining Lance's life instead of making it better.
"Care to enlighten me on the rest of it?" Bobbie had figured Lucas's mood had something to do with Lance. It had not missed her attention her grandson had missed several days of school last week. Sometimes, she was sure Lucas forgot Morgan went to the same school as Lance. And the boy was full of stories about his younger cousin this week.
Lucas decided to take the plunge. "Lance got in a fight with an older boy at lunch. The school suspended him for six weeks."
"Does that time include Christmas break?"
Lucas' eyes shot to hers. Here he was, freaking out over the time his son would miss from school, over how this incident would affect his son when it came time to scout for colleges, without even figuring in Christmas break! "Oh, yeah." He felt about two inches tall. "He's supposed to be grounded."
"Darling I've seen his room. Grounding wouldn't work."
"That's why he's raking leaves. It keeps him away from the TV and all his toys until his little arms get tired." Lucas felt like a monster subjecting his only child to such work when the rake was twice his size, but he honestly didn't know what else to do. His threats were all empty and he knew he wouldn't be able to punish him properly. If Lance would just speak up about what had happened, what had made him attack the other boy, then Lucas could come up with something fair.
Glancing over, Bobbie saw the look of guilt flash across his face. "Don't do it." She warned him. "You are not going to feel guilty about giving him a consequence."
"I wish he would just let me in, but he's the strong, silent type." Lucas tried to laugh, but his voice cracked at his attempt to do so. "And Dillon and I have been trading him back and forth while he's been out of school hoping he would open up. He doesn't even argue when we give him extra chores to do. I'm really worried about him, Mama."
"Sweetie." Bobbie wished she could help him more but she couldn't. Morgan didn't even seem to know what had caused the fight. All the little boy knew was suddenly he was being called "Lance's cousin" instead of "Kristina's little brother" and he liked it. "Lance will talk when he's ready. You can't force it out of him."
"But how else am I supposed to know?" Lucas asked impatiently. "It's not like he's keeping a journal or talking to his friends about it on the phone. I'm years away from that."
"Did you talk to the teachers?"
"They saw him kick the boy, but none of them were close enough to hear what words were exchanged and none of the kids that witnessed it are saying anything. He kicked a bully. How am I supposed to punish him for that?" Lucas wanted to know.
"The same way your dad and I had to punish you when you hit that kid for making fun of BJ."
Lucas beamed. He had enjoyed kicking that kid even if it meant he was grounded from everything for two months afterwards. It had been worth it! But that didn't mean he could praise his son for doing the same thing even if it had been for the right reason, which he figured it was. Lance was not prone to violence. "Next thing we know, he'll be giving up his education to be a professional wrestler!" Lucas fretted, glancing down at his ruined nails.
"I thought Dillon was the dramatic one, not you."
Lucas shook his head. "Oh, that husband of mine is already fitting Lance for the costume in his spare time I bet."
Bobbie laughed outright. She couldn't argue the point. "My point is that Lance will tell you when he is ready. And even if it is for the right reasons, he still needs a consequence, just like you did." Bobbie paused and looked over at Lance. "If I remember correctly you never did tell us what caused that fight. BJ eventually broke down and told us everything, but I don't think we ever heard a word about it from you."
Lucas sighed. What if Lance did the same thing? What if he never knew the cause of the fight? What if the punishment wasn't severe enough or what if it was too much so? Would Lance really regret it after it was all said and done? "What should I do?"
"Be patient. Just be his father."
"How can you be so calm and still call yourself a Spencer?" Lucas probed, tucking a piece of wild red hair behind his mother's left ear.
"Someone had to try to calm you down." She joked.
Lucas scooted over and hugged her. "Don't tell Dillon I asked. One of us has to appear knowledgeable and he's just as lost as I am. I have a reputation you know."
Blocking her exit route with his body, Lucky rested his hands on her shoulders lightly. "You can't change your mind."
"Yes I can. He can just find out when the baby gets here. In fact we don't have to tell anyone. It can be a secret."
"It can't be a secret when Patrick and Robin know already." Lucky pointed out. "Sooner or later people would begin to ask questions."
Lucky laughed and began rubbing her arms lightly. "It's just an audience of one. And he's already in a good mood with all those new toys he just got." Cameron had just returned from his Christmas visit with Tony and Lisa. Looking over her shoulder, Lucky could clearly see his son playing with his new collection of Transformers. "It will be fine."
He didn't have the heart to tell her Cameron was probably going to be the easiest family member to break the news to. Outside of Cruz, Patrick, and Robin, he honestly didn't see this going over all that well. Steven was making clear he barely tolerated him. Lucky had yet to meet her parents officially but he couldn't imagine combining first meeting with announcing you were pregnant would endear any boyfriend, let alone him, to them. Audrey might be fine at first, but he doubted the rest of their announcement would go over well. Although he knew the circumstances were different this time around, he well remembered what happened the last time he made this announcement. Even though his friends laughed at him, Lucky swore he still had the bruise from where his mother hit him that day. Laura Spencer could pack a punch.
"I believe you insisted we tell Cameron first." He pointed out.
"Obviously I'm hormonal and not thinking straight already." Elizabeth muttered under her breath. She knew they had to do this. As much as she might wish it, there was no way she was going to conceal this much longer. It just would have been easier if she had been able to stick to her plan, then she wouldn't feel like she was about to destroy Cameron's Christmas. With a sigh she finally gave in. "Ok let's do it. But if we are back to glares o' death, it's your fault."
Smiling Lucky led her out to the family room and motioned for her to sit down on the couch. Sitting next to her, he caught Cameron's eye and motioned for Cameron to come closer. "Hey Champ, come over here for a minute will you?"
Cameron crossed the room, carrying Optimus Prime and UltraMagnus tightly in his little hands. Sitting down at his father's feet, he immediately began trying to transform from their car form to the robots.
Lucky scooped Cameron off the ground and placed him in his lap. Removing the toys from his hands, he placed them down on the coffee table in front of them. "You can play with them in a bit. We have to talk to you about something right now."
Catching the "we", Cameron looked back and forth between Lucky and Elizabeth, trying to puzzle out exactly what was going on. "Ok." He said nervously.
Lucky took a deep breath and caught Elizabeth's eye. She nodded for him to go ahead. It was her idea to tell Cameron first, but she had also insisted it would probably go better if he took the lead in this. As much as he had wanted to make fun of her theories on this, he had to admit she probably had a point. "Well something has happened and that means there will be a change in our family," he started out.
"Are we moving?" Cameron wondered.
"Moving?" Elizabeth finally found her voice. "No sweetie you're not moving."
"Yeah we're staying put." Lucky promised. "No see what happened is..."
"Are you having a baby?" Cameron blurted out suddenly.
They couldn't contain their shock at his question. Lucky looked wide-eyed, with his jaw open over at Elizabeth, who wore a similar expression. Cameron looked between the two of them with patience, waiting for his question to be answered. Blinking furiously, Elizabeth managed to speak. "How...what..." She paused and took a breath. "Cameron why would you ask that?"
The little boy shrugged. "Kristina said that's what happened when daddies date. And Grandma said something was going on. She hoped it was a baby." He looked up at his father expectantly. "Is it a baby?"
"Oh God, your mother suspects." Elizabeth leaned back on the couch.
"Daddy?"
Lucky shook himself back to reality. He really need to have a conversation with Alexis about her daughter's view on parental dating. He also made a mental note to talk with his parents about making sure Cameron wasn't around when they decided to map out his future. Smiling down at Cameron, he ruffled the three-year-old's hair. "Yeah. Elizabeth is having a baby and you're going to be a big brother. What do you think of that?"
Cameron screwed his face up in concentration. "Do babies cry?"
"Yes. They all do. But not always." Elizabeth answered, still leaning back on the couch.
"Do I have to share my room with the baby?"
"No." Lucky responded. "But eventually you'll have to share toys."
Nodding at the information, Cameron pursed his lips together in thought. Slowly he smiled. "Cool."
"Cool?" Lucky questioned. "You think having a baby brother or sister will be cool?"
Cameron nodded. "Yeah. Cool."
"I don't understand why we have to decorate my place when I'm clearly going to be at yours for the holiday." Cruz mused, watching Bobbie wrap another strand of lights around the banister. She had come over, decorations stuffed in two large boxes, less than an hour ago and already his townhouse looked like the inside of a catalog. He had been about to scold her for dragging the boxes into her car in the first place but she quickly explained that Lucas had helped her, that she hadn't lifted a finger.
Really, he didn't mind her showing up unannounced, and it wasn't like she had asked him to help her, but of course he had felt roped into the whole prospect, terrified that her little project was going to cause her stress or worse. He'd rather his townhouse was the least festive on the block if it meant she wouldn't exhaust herself. But he couldn't tell her that without asking for a fight.
"I told you. I can't have you looking like the Grinch." She stood back to look at her work. Perfect. She had agreed with his silly protestations about not having a tree but not decorating at all? Bobbie shook her head as turned her attention back to one of the box she had brought with her. She had the perfect ribbon somewhere in here for a bow.
Cruz watched her head disappear into one of her gargantuan boxes and fingered the string of icicle lights that now hung above the entrance to the patio door. She had a knack for this, but then he figured he shouldn't have been surprised. She was constantly having to come up with new designs for her business catalog to "keep up with the times" so she had a natural talent for sorting out colors and objects that complimented each other.
"Do you have any strange Christmas habits I should know about before you raise our child to have them too?" This would be their first Christmas together since last year it had been impossible to spend any time with each other due to their own familial obligations. His mama had insisted on coming down to visit them this Christmas meaning that she would be accompanied by all ten of his cousins, Aunt Teresa, Uncle Vincenzo, and probably Grandma Maria. He hadn't found the right time to tell Bobbie about this, nor had he given his mother and the rest of his family any indication that he accepted their offer. Everything was at a standstill until he was able to determine what Bobbie felt the most comfortable doing.
"It's all fairly typical. The hospital party, presents with Lucas, Dillon and Lance in the morning. I suspect Morgan and Michael will probably drop by at some point in the afternoon." She pulled out the ribbon roll, finally locating it at the bottom of the box. "We save all the truly crazy traditions for St. Patrick's Day."
Coming up behind her, Cruz wrapped his arms around her stomach, sighing when she relaxed against him. "Let's just run off and not tell anybody. We could get as far as Vegas without anyone noticing."
"And what would we do once we got there?" she teased. "Take in a show? Lounge by the pool?"
"Why not? It'd be way less complicated than blending our families." He pointed out, moving his mouth to her left ear. "I could be at your beck and call."
"Tempting." She sighed as she felt his mouth descend on her skin. She twisted their fingers together and squeezed them.
"What do you say we take a break and sit down?" It wasn't actually a question and if he had to carry her over to the couch he would. Her face was almost as red as her face proving that she was working too hard whether or not she would ever admit it.
"You just don't want me stringing ribbon all over your place." She accused as she made her way over to the leather sofa.
"We won't miss the holidays if we take a little rest." He assured her, lightly massaging the back of her neck and shoulders. "I got an interesting call last night." Cruz's expression was stoic as he caught the nervous glance Bobbie sent him. "It seems you've been working with Robin against doctor's orders."
"I have not." Bobbie protested.
Cruz narrowed his eyes at her. "Barbara Jean Spencer."
"I told Dr. Lansing I wouldn't take on any more clients and I haven't." She defended herself. "Did you really think I was going to pass Jax and Brenda's wedding off on Robin without helping her?"
"Yes, actually that's what I thought when you told me you would." Cruz whispered. "Why do you have to push yourself so hard? Robin is more than capable of handling the business until you can come back."
"I know Robin is. But this business is mine and Brenda and Jax's wedding is finally going to make it pay off." After all the years of sacrificing and working impossibly long hours, her dream business was finally going to take off in the way she had always secretly imagined. She couldn't quit now so close to seeing her dream realized.
Cruz knew he didn't have it in him to fight with her. She just had to be so logical, didn't she? "Can you cut it down to an hour a day? I know that's asking a lot, but I sure would sleep better knowing that you're not straining yourself."
"I can do that." She promised.