The Spencer House. Morning.

Laura wondered if Nikolas had planned on being absent for her arrival. Her son was very meticulous about most things. Although...

Somehow, in the middle of all of Nikolas and Laura's plans, they hadn't factored Luke in.

It wasn't as if Laura didn't know he was going to be there. In some ways, Luke was now the last person she wanted to see; in some ways, he was always the only person she wanted to see. It was very close to how their whole story began. Not in the very beginning, when he was charming her with tales of soup made from ketchup, hot water and pepper. Later, when he hurt her and loved her. When she couldn't stay away even when her mind was arguing with her that she should.

He insisted on staying for dinner. Then he insisted on staying on the couch all night. Tracy must have loved that. In the morning, over breakfast, she had the sinking feeling that she was being charmed again. Hopefully, she wouldn't be around long enough for it to stick. Right now, she had a promise to keep. So she carefully worked her way up to the family catching her up on everyone. And eventually, they came around to Sonny.

Nikolas was right. Lulu and Lucky did hate Claudia. Luke had shut them up by saying that no matter what kind of piece of work the woman was, there was no doubt she'd saved his life by bargaining with Sonny for Jason and Spinelli. He didn't go further in his story. But every look exchanged between Lucky and Lulu really brought home how they felt. And even if Laura had been blind, she would have noticed that every time one of them said Claudia's name it was as if it was in italics. Claudia. Her.

When everyone thinks you're sweetness and light, and has idealized you to the point of ridiculousness, it's easy to pretend that you don't hear things like hatred in their voices. Or that you believe everyone is good at heart.

And what do you know? It turned out Sonny's wife was pregnant.

"How wonderful!," Laura said. "I should really go over and congratulate him while I'm in town. Maybe after a trip to Kelly's?"

**************************************

GreyStone. Afternoon.

When Luke and Laura got to Sonny's house, Sonny was in. Which was good. Now she just had to make the trip up the stairs.

"Yeah, she spends a lot of time up there now. Things have been rough with the baby."

"I'm so sorry," Laura said. "But they're good now?"

"So far, so good," Sonny said.

"Well, tell her I said 'congratulations,'" Laura said. If Sonny took her up on her offer, this little plan was doomed. Laura absent-mindedly picked up a framed photo of Spencer from the credenza. "Oh my goodness! Spencer! He must be about one year old here."

Sonny looked at Luke, and then at Laura. "Hey, Laura," he said. "You know what? Why don't you go up and give your congratulations to my wife yourself. She might appreciate the company. She doesn't see many people these days."

"Really?," said Laura. "Are you sure? I don't even know her." This was way too easy. What was he up to?

"Sure," said Sonny. "I need to talk to Luke anyway. This would be a good chance for us to catch up."

At moments like these, Laura wished she and Luke were co-conspirators again. It was hard to feel triumphant when you were the only one who knew what you were up to. And it would be helpful to know what Sonny wanted from Luke. And also, she just missed Luke.

***************************************

GreyStone. Claudia's bedroom.

There was a knock on Claudia's door. She removed her headphones from her belly. "Come in!"

The door opened, and there was this blond, angelic, sweetness-and-light woman standing in her room, shutting the door behind herself.

"Hello, Claudia. I'm --"

"I know who you are."

Laura was taken aback.

"Nikolas has photos. At Wyndemere." He really went the other way with me as a bed partner. No Oedipal Complex there.

"I haven't been to Wyndemere in a very long time," Laura said. She sat down on Claudia's bed. "I don't know how much time we have, so I'm just going to have to jump into what I came here for. I'm usually a lot more friendly than this, I promise."

"Not to worry. I'm not friendly at all, so you're putting me right in my comfort zone."

"I came by with my ex-husband supposedly to wish Sonny well on his upcoming child. That's all Sonny knows. He sent me upstairs to wish you well personally. I think he wanted to speak to Luke privately."

"Got it."

"Nikolas is planning to get you out of here alive with your baby." Laura caught a look of surprise on Claudia's face that was quickly replaced by an impassive look. "I don't know how. But he wanted me to ask you how far along you are in your plans for his custody of the baby."

"I just started."

"Can you give him an idea of how much longer you'll need?"

Claudia thought things over. "I'm sorry," she said to Laura. "I thought I'd have the whole pregnancy to do this, so I'm just trying to figure out in my head how quickly I could get it done while still being safe about it."

Laura found herself both impressed and depressed by how matter-of-fact Claudia was. She nodded, and looked around the room. "You have your own room?"

"Two months -- that's how much longer I'll need," Claudia said. "And yes, I've always had my own room here. Which turned out to be a blessing, since your son seems to have ruined all other men for me." The last remark seemed to be a bit much for Laura, and Claudia added, "Too much information?"

"It takes a lot to shock me," Laura said.

Claudia looked relieved. "You're probably not going to like me," she said bluntly, "It's okay. Most people don't."

"You shot Helena. I already like you."

Claudia laughed, but sobered up quickly. "Your other son hates me. Your daughter hates me too."

"I wouldn't worry about that," Laura said. "Luke's sister hated me for a very long time."

There was something very easy about this conversation, Claudia thought. She tried to put her finger on why, tried to remember the last conversation she had where she wasn't on her guard, and she suddenly blurted out her realization: "You're like Nikolas."

Laura smiled. "Out of all my children, Nikolas is the most like me. Which is strange because, you know, I had Nikolas under circumstances very much like yours are right now. I never loved Nikolas' father; I was his prisoner. And then I lost Nikolas for a very long time."

"You left him."

"I was always going to come back. But the Cassadines wanted him for themselves. So the very first time I tried to get him back, they killed my mother. As a warning."

Claudia got up from the bed, pacing and shaking her head. "This is a mistake." She stopped and looked Laura in the eye. "You understand. You have to make Nikolas see. Nikolas and Spencer, if anyone thought I ... Do you understand? The people I care about, the people who care about me -- nothing good comes of it. These people die, or are hurt, or are used as leverage," Claudia said. "And when that happens, it's dangerous for me to have feelings."

"It's dangerous for everyone else for you not to. People are easier to destroy when you don't care about them. Helena taught me that."

"Do you --" Claudia stopped herself, and then couldn't hold back. "Do you know if Helena's been stopped? Are Nikolas and Spencer all right?"

"I don't know. What do you mean?"

"He didn't tell you?"

"He'll tell me now," Laura said, almost to herself.

"Do you think he'll hate me for letting this slip? Enough to leave me alone?"

"No. Nikolas is very stubborn. He gets that from both sides."

****************************************

GreyStone. Living Room.

"Mind if I smoke?," Luke said, pulling out a cigar.

"I got a pregnant wife upstairs, Luke. I wouldn't advise it."

Luke disappointedly tucked the guitar back in his jacket. "Thanks for the reinforcements. With Helena."

"Yeah, that was Claudia. No one would tell me what was going on." Sonny picked up the photo of Spencer and then put it back down. "Mind if I ask you something?"

"It depends."

"What went on with your stepson and my wife?"

"You worried?"

"Not really. I'm just curious. He stormed in here her first day back and wrote her off. Haven't seen him since."

Luke laughed bitterly.

"What's so funny?"

"He may be my stepson, man, but I'd watch out for him. Cassadines don't give up. They can spend years under the radar just waiting to swoop in on your woman."

Sonny made a mental note to put a tail on Nikolas.

****************************************

GreyStone. Claudia's bedroom.

"Thank you for saving Luke's life," Laura said.

"I just made a phone call."

"What did that phone call cost you? I'm no stranger to the Life, Claudia. I wish I was, but Luke and I took Frank Smith down. We spent a summer on the run, and even when it was finally over, it was never really over."

"So what are you doing?"

"Well, now I'm living in France."

"No. I mean, what are you doing helping your son get mixed up in my mess?"

"Oh, Claudia, is that how you see it?"

"He's got a good life. I mean, aside from having a sociopath for a grandmother. Let him keep his good life."

"It's funny," Laura said, "Everyone wonders about what Luke would have been like without me. Maybe a life of petty crime. Maybe the neighborhood barfly with a good story and a beer and a cigar. Luke talks about me like I'm some kind of angel who came to save him. But no one ever thinks about what I would have been without Luke. Life probably would have been a lot more pleasant. But I don't think it would have really been a life."

Claudia didn't say anything.

"You know, my mother ended up being alive. She was being held by the Cassadines. I got her back," Laura said.

Claudia was silent a little bit longer. "I appreciate what you're saying. But my life has not had any fairytale endings in it so far," Claudia said. "I don't think it'll start to have any at this late date. In spite of the involvement of a prince."

Laura touched Claudia's hand. Claudia looked at her, resigned. Laura got up. "I should go before Luke comes to get me. How should I say our visit went? What if you offended me?"

"That would work. I'll be suspicious of you. Sonny relates to suspicion."

"Good. Good-bye, Claudia."

"Good-bye, Laura." As Laura reached for the door knob, Claudia added, "Thank you. I'm glad I got to meet you."

Laura turned to look at Claudia. Laura smiled. She left the room. She leaned against the closed door, closing her eyes. When she opened them again, she had a look of determination.

Inside her bedroom, Claudia was thinking, He even brought his mother in on this. He really is out of his mind.

******************************************

GreyStone. Living Room.

Luke and Sonny stopped talking as Laura came down the stairs.

"How is she?," Sonny asked.

Laura hesitated for just the right amount of time and said, as if taking care to be polite, "I just think she's a little hormonal. Side effect of pregnancy."

"Yeah," said Sonny. "No, she's always like that."

Laura laughed in relief. "Oh, good. I thought it was me."

Luke said, "No, the present Mrs. Corinthos has a reputation for nasty, darlin'."

Luke made his way outside to finally enjoy his cigar, and Sonny pulled Laura aside.

"You know, it's strange," Sonny said to Laura. "The only person who gets along with my wife is your son."

"Really?," Laura said, looking stunned. "She doesn't seem like Lucky's type."

******************************************

Outside the Spencer House. Evening.

After dinner, Nikolas and Laura went for a walk alone.

They waited until they were far enough from the house not to be overheard, and then Laura said, "She says she can be ready in two months. She had planned for more time, but she thinks she can shorten it to two months and still be safe."

"How did she look?"

"Well, I don't know how she usually looks, Nikolas, but she looked good to me. Although she seems to be stuck in her room."

Nikolas nodded.

"Nikolas. She has her own room. And she hasn't slept with Sonny since she's been back."

"She told you that?"

"She's a little blunt."

"A little?"

"A lot. She's worried about you."

"She's due to be murdered on the day she gives birth and she's worried about me." Nikolas shook his head, stopping in his tracks.

"Oh, Nikolas," Laura said, throwing her arms around him and hugging him. "She's your Luke."

She pulled back in time to see Nikolas roll his eyes.

"No, seriously. I had my Emily, too. My Emily was Scott Baldwin. Don't look at me like that -- you didn't know him before he was bitter."

"I can't say I'll take your word for it."

"Fine. Then maybe we can discuss why Claudia thinks Helena needs to be stopped. What has Helena done?"

********************************************

Claudia and Sonny sat through a silent dinner.

Making conversation with Claudia, he asked, "How'd your visit with Laura Spencer go?"

"Nice try," she said.

"What are you talking about?"

"I know what that was all about."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not keeping any secrets from you anymore, Sonny. Don't try sending your friends to me to get things out of me."

"I didn't send Laura to you."

"Right. And a complete stranger comes to my house to butter me up with congratulations. Like I said, nice try."

Claudia took another bite of her veal and shot one last look at Sonny.