"I didn't mean for you to find out this way." Steven assured his wife as she continued to pace from one end of the living room to the other. Grams had finally gone to bed with the excuse that Georgie's constant movement was making her dizzy.

"But finding out because my father called to let me know was better?" Georgie asked.

"No. I don't know. I didn't want to say anything until it was a certainty."

"When was that going to be? When Lulu was sentenced?"

"Georgie, stop it." Steven told her softly. "The fact is, she's in jail right now and I've got every Spencer in a hundred-mile radius begging me to drop the charges."

"I know." Georgie sighed as she sat down on the sofa next to him. "It's just…it's Lulu. I was in Brownies with her. She always copied my stuff for the badges."

"Not you too." Steven groaned. "Please, not you too."

"I'm not trying to pressure you. I'm mad as hell that she almost killed you, but I can't ignore the fact that I've known her my whole life. And I know this isn't her. Not the real her."

"Then maybe someone should have stepped in before the accident. You can't expect me to let it go. Especially not now."

"I don't expect you to do anything. And I agree she needs something." Georgie reached over and grabbed his hand. "I'll support you in whatever you'll decide, but I just want to make sure you know all the outcomes here. You didn't grow up in Port Charles. You don't know what a situation like this is like."

"What does that mean? In Port Charles attempted murder doesn't get people's attention?"

"Serial murder didn't get the people in this town's attention." Georgie laughed. "You forget we were mob run for most of my life."

"And all I'm doing is trying to make sure the police force in this town doesn't be made to look like a joke. If Lulu gets away with this, that's exactly what will happen...and the mob will be the least of our problems."

"My dad doesn't take anything as a joke. Maxie couldn't even get away with going to traffic school for speeding tickets. And that's not what I'm talking about."

"Then enlighten me."

"For all the talk, this is still a small town, one where everyone knows everything you did. It's part of the reason why it took me so long to tell my dad about you. No matter how long we are married, how many children we have, they are always going to see me as little Georgie Jones, the commissioner's sweet, bookish daughter. And they will always see Lulu as the daughter of Luke and Laura, trailing after her brother wanting to do everything he does. Steven it doesn't matter if she swears in court that she did it, the town is going to come down harder on you than her. I'm not saying it's right but that's Port Charles."

"Then what would you have me do?"

"I love you. I just want you to think about this."

"Think about what? She has to deal with some kind of consequence. Don't you realize that if I had died that night, we wouldn't be having a baby? Doesn't that bother you at all?"

"Of course it does." Georgie sighed. "And I agree she needs some sort of consequence for that. I don't ever want to imagine life without you. Or our baby."

"What do you think she deserves?"

"Treatment. Rehab. Give her a chance to get clean. Steven, please. She came in and confessed. She didn't know they had her car. Give her credit for that much at least. She's a Spencer. She could have run and we would have never found her."

"Fine. I'll make the call to your dad." Steven agreed, walking over to the phone and picking it up. "I hope one of these days you love me as much as you love the people in this town."

"I love you more." Georgie promised him as she kissed his shoulder. "I'll be glad to show you how much."

"That's not necessary. I don't want pity sex from my wife." Steven countered.

"What about thank you sex?"

"Nope."

"Can I tempt you with you are the sexiest most compassionate man on Earth and there is nothing more I want than to be with you right now?"

"Have I mentioned just how much I love pregnancy hormones?" Steven asked rhetorically, bending down to kiss her.

"Not lately but you feel free to tell me all about it."

"I have something else in mind."

"What's that?"

"Come upstairs and I'll show you."

"Lead the way husband."

*****

Lucas glanced at the overhead clock wondering how much longer he could sit here before his head spontaneously combusted. Dillon sat beside him, pretending to look over a script for an upcoming movie he was directing, but he noticed the subtle signs of anxiety in his husband's face. He assumed he looked far less calm, possibly even close to hysterical, but he knew there was nothing he could do about it.

Two hours ago, Robin had brought Morgan in, telling everyone that AJ was not the biological father and that she was able to retain sole custody of her son. It was Morgan who said that Patrick and Robin had explained to him about Lance being sick. Lucas would never forget the way his nephew had put his own assessment of the situation: "I have something special inside me that will make Lance better, right?" The question and all that it implied had all but knocked him and Dillon over. Here was a boy, a child, who understood exactly what was going on and willing to help despite the danger.

He stared unobtrusively in Robin's direction. Beside her, Patrick held Nathan, something she had admitted she didn't think she could manage right now. Her hands hadn't stopped shaking since she had signed the consent form to allow the doctors to go through with the transplant. She'd shown no other sign of anguish since that moment and seemed almost as serene as Dillon was trying to appear.

Part of him wanted to walk the halls until he found every dead-end, but what would that really accomplish? Here sat three people who were just as worried as he and he couldn't think of a single thing to say to any of them. Dillon handled the support stuff but right now he looked too fragile to depend on. So Lucas stayed where he was, his mind ambushing him from every angle.

Fifteen years ago they had all been sitting in these exact places, only the room had been busier. Per his and Dillon's request, all extended family was asked not to come. They would be notified just as soon as the four of them knew anything, but for now it was too hard to face their penetrating questions. He couldn't put on a brave face today, not when he was already coming apart at the scenes. Dillon held his hand and he offered the love of his life a smile, wishing it was for real.

"He'll be fine Lucas. I know he'll be fine." Dillon whispered.

"I know." Lucas lied. "That's what I want to believe too."

"It's what we have to believe." Dillon reminded him. "Lance deserves nothing less."

"I just want him to be okay. I want to be able to take him home and read him Harry Potter until he's begging us to stop." Lucas couldn't keep the tremble out of his voice.

"He will. He and Morgan will come out this fine and beg us to take them for ice cream before we know it."

Not so long ago, two cousins had laid side-by-side, but only one had survived. Would Fate be so cruel as to repeat every hideous detail of history? Would he lose Lance how he had lost BJ? "I can't lose him." He muttered aloud. "I refuse to live in a world that he's not a part of."

"We're not going to lose him." Dillon whispered fiercely. "He's stronger than both of us. Lance is going to fight."

"Lucas?" His head jerked up when he realized it was Robin who had spoken to him this time. He hadn't even seen her approach him and yet there she was, mere feet away.

"Yes?"

"I know you're scared, okay? We're all scared." She blinked back sudden tears and forced herself to continue. "You have to believe that everything will work out because at the end of the day, all we have is our faith. I do not—" She wiped away the unwelcome tears. "I do not believe we were brought to this place a second time for no reason. This time both of them will come home with us."

"How do you know?" Lucas inquired sadly.

"Because we refuse to have it any other way." Robin answered. "And our children are fighters. We raised them to be that way. Do you really think either of us would have made it this far if we were meant to give them up? We've been up against worse odds than this before and you know what? We're still here. And we'll still be here when this is over and done with. The only difference is that Lance will come home and be healthy and Morgan will too. You've got to believe that. Tell me you believe that." She demanded adamantly.

"I believe that." Lucas responded after a long pause. "I believe that."

Noticing that he had started to cry as well, she reached over and brushed his tears away. "You've got to trust me on this."

Dr. Wexler came down the hall toward the four of them. "There you are. The surgeries are done. You can go see your children if you like."