It was barely midnight, but still the house had been dark for hours. Everyone had warned her, Elizabeth remembered, that having a baby would change her sleep schedule from regular to sporadic. She supposed if they had told their families about the twins, the advice would have been changed from "sporadic" to "nonexistent." Padding down the steps, she cradled Gracie in her arms, the small girl just starting to settle down after her recent feeding. By the time Gracie fell back asleep, Jake would start his own wail, starting the cycle over again.
Although it was probably far too early to call it a routine, Elizabeth already knew what would happen next. Gracie would just start to drift off, and Jake would start to whimper. While she made her way back up the stairs, Lucky would go to the nursery and get Jake out of his bed. They would meet in the hallway and switch children, Lucky taking care of diapering and Elizabeth taking care of the feeding. By the time Jake fell back asleep, they would get roughly two, maybe three hours of sleep before Gracie would wake up again.
Not that she was complaining. It was exhausting and sounded bizarre even to her ears, but Elizabeth would swear before any court she got to know her children better under the light of the moon than she had so far during the day. It was at night she had first noticed the tiny birthmark Gracie had on the bottom of her right foot. And that Jake seemed to have a fondness for falling asleep during Time-Life CD compilation commercials.
During the day there were too many reminders of all the chaos that still surrounded them. In the sunlight, it was impossible to miss the blinking red light of the answering machine, the tape rapidly becoming full with the constant messages from her parents and sister. The messages never changed. First it was pleading with her to deal with the unreasonable Spencers, and then veiled insults about her own judgment followed by outright blame for the press finding out about the twins so quickly. During the night, it was easier just to ignore the blinking red light altogether.
Her family shouldn't bother her so much. Ever since she followed Steven's example and rejected her parents' carefully scripted plan for her life, it had been a variation of the same speech. She was incapable of running her life properly and one day she would need them to save her from the destruction she had brought upon herself. Looking down at Gracie, snuggling securely in her arms, Elizabeth lowered her head to kiss the top of her daughter's head. "I promise I am not going to become my mother Gracie. I'm not going to do this to you or your brothers."
Brothers. The one word echoed back to her in the silence of the darkened living room. Biting her lip she tried to keep from looking at the corner of the room where his toys still took residence. She hadn't the heart to clean up a single one of them, so they still littered the floor, exactly the way they had when he had left for Majandra's party. Once thrown to the side in excitement, now they were sad reminders of Cameron's absence.
Not that it had been hard to forget. Once again, it was only in the absence of his constant chatter that she really began to appreciate how much of the background noise of her day Cameron took up. After his accident, it was a reminder of just how sick he was. Now it was just how much he was missed. No one to complain that babies were boring and ask when exactly he could expect his brother to be able to play trains with him. No one staring at the twins quizzically, as if he was trying to figure out how to use one of them in one of elaborate games that only he ever understood.
Even the nighttime feedings weren't immune to the memories. More times than not, the exact spots in the hallway she would meet up with Lucky were directly in front of Cameron's door. On more than one occasion she knew she had to stop herself from making a plea to keep quiet so they didn't wake Cameron. The first night Cameron spent at the Grimes Lucky had made such a comment. Elizabeth wasn't positive, but she was pretty sure there had been no more sleep for him after that.
Lucky kept insisting he was fine…well not fine but close enough to function at any rate. He filled his days with meetings with Dara, playing with the twins, and strategy sessions with Ned. Even Cruz's phone call that he had "come into possession" of everything that reporter had on the twins hadn't seemed to ease his concerns about the press one small bit. Elizabeth knew he was devastated by Cameron's absence, but he refused to talk about it with her in anything other than surface conversation. It was a situation she would normally talk over and enlist Robin's help in, but her best friend was on her way to Paris and no help to her here in Port Charles.
She hated Robin's trip to Paris with every fiber of her being. Yes, she understood Robin's reasons, but she didn't have to like them. In the dark, she could admit selfishly that Robert Scorpio be damned, Robin was needed more in Port Charles than in Paris. Hadn't he been only on the edge of his daughter's life for years now? Why the sudden interest in being a father? Didn't he realize other people needed Robin more than he did right now? The second she would think this, guilt would automatically show up. Robin needed her father. She needed her family now during her pregnancy (not that she had told anyone about that just yet) and she needed to feel normal. Elizabeth got that, she truly did, but right now she really wished for a marathon girl talk session with her best friend.
A soft knock interrupted her thoughts. Elizabeth glanced at the clock confused. The number of people it could be at this hour was incredibly small and she had seen enough movies and TV shows to know a knock on the door in the middle of the night was rarely accompanied by good news. Holding Gracie close to her, Elizabeth made her way to the door, opening it just a small crack at first then wider when she realized who was standing on her front porch. "Steven?" she whispered.
Steven rubbed his weary eyes and offered his little sister a smile. "Hi baby." He muttered quietly.
She felt her eyes water immediately. Dr. Lansing had said her hormones would settle themselves after the birth, but it looked like it wasn't happening tonight. "I have never been so glad to see you."
"Trust me. The feeling has never been more mutual." Steven assured her, stepping over the threshold to wrap her and the tiny baby nestled in her arms in a hug.
"When did you get in? Why didn't you tell me? I would have come and gotten you or sent Lucky at least." Elizabeth shut the door behind him when Steven finally released her and ushered him into the living room, heading towards the couch.
"I didn't want to inconvenience you. If you'll remember, there are enough years between us that allow me to remember you as a newborn. I figured you would be awake. Who is this?" He wanted to know.
"You are never an inconvenience. A pain maybe." She teased gently before holding Gracie towards her brother. "Steven, meet your niece. Lauren Grace, but she seems to like Gracie."
Steven carefully took the baby from his sister and held her up so that their eyes met. "Are you a Gracie?" He asked quietly.
"Yes. Don't go changing her name now Uncle Steven."
"I'm going to call her Squirt no matter what her name is." Steven nodded with a grin.
"And that would that make Jake's nickname…?"
"I'll have to meet him first. The last thing we want is to give the little tyke a name that doesn't suit him." Steven explained.
Elizabeth smiled softly. "In that case you'll be able to figure that out in about fifteen minutes when he wakes up."
"You mean I can't wake him up now? God, you're no fun at all." He stuck out his tongue at her.
"You wake him up now and I officially no longer include you on the list of family I like." Elizabeth stuck her tongue out right back at him and moved closer to him to hold onto Gracie's small hand with one finger.
"We'll break her, won't we Gracie?" Steven prompted his niece as he carried her across the living room. He glanced half-heartedly at the pictures in their frames on the mantle, wondering how he could miss a little boy that he had barely known. The house seemed too quiet, expectant almost, like it was waiting for him to return home. Elizabeth moved toward him and rested her head on his shoulder, having to stand on tiptoe to do even that.
"God it is so good to have you back home." Elizabeth sighed.
You're going to love it when I move here, Steven thought wryly. Of all of his family, he knew Elizabeth would, after a little bit of time, come to accept Georgie as her sister-in-law. He didn't see any reason to even tell the rest of his family, save Grams. They would only alienate her as they had tried to do to Lucky too many times. No, he was not comparing them. He wasn't. Using his free hand, he lightly stroked Elizabeth's hair as he had when she was a baby. "It's good to be here."
"You and Grams are officially the only Webbers to see her you know."
"I think Mom, Dad, and Sarah were all abducted by aliens and these are the pods left in their place." Steven reasoned.
"I hear that is very common in upstate New York."
"I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner. Are you okay?"
"I've been better." Elizabeth answered honestly. "I knew Mom, Dad, and Sarah were going to be pains about this. And I figured you and Grams to be the only ones to really want to see the twins, but with the press and Cameron..." Elizabeth shook her head. "It just wasn't supposed to be like this Steven."
"I know. Sometimes life doesn't care about our plans."
"True enough. Speaking of plans, what are yours? Where are you staying? How long?"
"I thought I'd stay at the Metro Court. Other than diffusing the situation, I don't have any definite plans."
Elizabeth shook her head. "No. Mom and Dad are staying there and they will think that means you are siding with them. You can't stay at the Metro Court. If we had the space I would say stay here, but that's out." She paused long enough to tilt her head before the solution hit her. "I know. You can stay at Gram's house. You won't waste money and Grams would feel better knowing someone was there to keep an eye on the place."
"That's a great idea." Steven agreed with a nod. "Can I meet my nephew before you shove me out the door?" He taunted.
"Why not?" Lucky's voice, barely above a whisper, startled them both as it came down the steps. "Little man here woke up a bit early," he explained as he neared the siblings.
Looking over at Gracie, Elizabeth smiled. "They must have radar or something because she fell asleep early too." She reached for her son and nudged Steven to give Gracie to Lucky.
"Hi Steven." Lucky offered. "You just get in?"
"Just now." Steven responded.
"Good." Lucky tried to hold back the yawn as he adjusted Gracie on his shoulder. "I'm going to put the princess here to bed. I'll be much better at conversation in the morning."
"I'll be up soon." Elizabeth promised. "Steven is probably dead on his feet."
"Jet lag is nothing compared to newborn twins." Steven waved off her concern.
"Give us two more days and we'll have these two on a schedule." Lucky joked.
"You seem to be doing a great job. I don't hear any crying." Steven pointed out.
"Give Jake here about two more minutes without getting fed. He'll wake the entire neighborhood." Lucky promised
"Well say that's just to make sure you don't forget you have two babies instead of a set of twins." Steven replied, carefully taking his nephew from his sister. "Hello there Jake."
"Decided on a nickname yet?" Elizabeth teased.
"Not yet. It's going to take some definite consideration. I was expecting Gracie so I had more time." Steven held out Jake and smiled down at him. "At least they got the good genes. Remember Aunt Elsie's giant nose?"
Seeing Lucky's back going up the stairs, Elizabeth laughed. "Don't say that too loudly or Lucky will try to take credit for those good genes."
Noting the exhaustion in his sister's eyes, Steven leaned closer and kissed her cheek, handing over the baby in the process. "I think I'm going to head over to Gram's. Tell her I'll be by to see her in the morning, won't you?"
"I will. And Steven?"
"Yeah?" Steven asked, stopping halfway out the door.
"Welcome home big brother."
Previews:
"I'm almost out of the plane. I should be there in about twenty minutes." He wanted to add in how thankful he was that she had come, but that was a slippery slope.
"I'll meet you in the lobby." Kate decided.