They Came Back
Part Three
February 2015
"Moving in the middle of winter," Emily muttered as she carried a box while walking over snow covered sidewalks "remind me to never do this again."
"Remind me to hire movers next time," Lucky said. "My aching back!"
"Oh, stop it. You're making yourself sound ancient."
"I'm an old, frail man now. Once I hit thirty, I fell to pieces. Everything went, just like that." He snapped his fingers.
She burst into giggles. He loved hearing that sound. He lived for it. The last few months had been hard on her but she seemed to be rallying lately- hence the move into a house of her own, her first.
A fresh start. She felt it was time. He couldn't agree more. Seeing her take back her life, it made all the pain, loss and heartbreak worth it.
He had given up his life, just to give her back hers, and he would never regret that he did. What good was a best friend if not to come get you out of that dark, cold place you couldn't get out of alone?
That was the kind of friend Emily had always been to him, and the kind he would always strive to be for her.
XXXXXXXXXX
"I know it's crazy. I can't believe I did it..." Georgie confessed her secret to Jason.
"Do you regret it?"
"Not yet."
"Good."
"You told me to wait until I was sure and I should have listened, I know that. The settlement from the Cassadine family was supposed to be fund my education, not make me an unwed mother but-"
"You did what felt right. You don't have to explain it to me."
"I'm pregnant by a sperm donor and for the first time since we woke up, I finally feel like I have a reason to get out of bed tomorrow. A reason to make a life for myself again. Danny keeps you going, right?"
"You didn't do this because I told you that, did you?"
"No. Maybe. I don't know. I am not sure of anything anymore, except that I'll be twenty seven next month and I didn't spend my twenties going to school, starting a career, dating and having fun, meeting a guy I could marry and have a kid with, I spent it unconscious. It's gone and I can't do a damn thing about that. But I can find a reason to go on: my baby is my life now."
He put his hand on top of hers, as they sat on the park bench. She leaned against his side, turned her hand over and held his hand.
They leaned on each other, so neither one would break under the weight of a past that left them with no way to get back all the time it had stolen away.
XXXXXXXX
It was crazy. It was reckless. Something Georgie Jones would have never done before.
But she wasn't that girl from before now. At least she wasn't just that girl. She hadn't lived a moment of those seven years that she spent in deep freeze, and yet they changed her in ways she as still trying to understand.
Made her angrier, made her bitter, made her desperate for anything that could take the anger and bitterness away. Her sister seemed so happy with baby Georgie. And Jason lit up around Danny. Lucky was like a changed man whenever he was around Aidan.
Spinelli was such a cute Daddy to her niece. Lulu and Dante adored their little Rocco.
Everywhere Georgie looked people were filled with joy over their children. She ached for that for herself. And she didn't want to wait for some guy to come along who would put a ring on her finger and make promises he might break anyway.
She might not have seven more years of life to waste. So she did it on her own. And to hell with anyone who judged her for it. The only person she would answer to was her baby when he or she asked: why don't I have a Daddy?
She knew it was selfish to bring a baby into the world without a father but some days she thought she would die (kill herself so she didn't have to face living without meaning anymore), and the moment she decided to have a baby that feeling had disappeared.
This baby was saving her life. She did what she had to do in order to survive.
XXXXXXXXXX
"Oh, God, this feels like heaven," Lucky said, as he lay down on Emily's couch.
"Thank you for all your help today. The pizza should be here in twenty minutes. You work cheap."
"Pizza and soda. I'll strike if I don't get my soda."
She giggled. She had been laughing more today that in all the months since she came home. At first there had been nothing to laugh about: her body fought back from it's weakened state, she faced physical therapy and psychological examinations. She had learned that Nikolas was living with someone else now and that her grandfather was dead.
It took months to feel like she wasn't in some kind of living nightmare.
The worst guilt came when she found out that Lucky had left Port Charles for over three years in order to look for her. He had missed the majority of Aidan's life, and grew distant from Cameron. Jake-poor, sweet baby Jake- was dead because Luke drove drunk. Yet Luke was still drinking and no one seemed to be pissed about it. Michael had spent more than a year in a coma and time in prison after that. Morgan had gone away to boarding school and come home a grown man. Brook Lynn and Dillon were no longer teenagers. They had amazing careers of their own now.
Everyone and everything had moved on. But Emily.
Finally, today, she was staking her claim on a new piece of life to call her own, in this home, with her best friend by her side.
"Thank you for everything, Lucky. Thank you for coming-"
"You never have to say that again," he gently whispered. Their eyes held. "You know I wouldn't have it any other way but to be the one who comes for you."
A smile graced her lips. It felt good to smile for real again- after months of barely being able to force a fake one.
She was grateful to have something to smile about. Grateful to have this home. To have her best friend with her, supporting her every step of the way.
Things with Nikolas were a mess but Emily was not about to sit around and wait for him to figure out which fiancee to keep his commitment to. No, she was moving on.
And moving on started now.