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Lucky Spencer had to admit it as he stepped up to the door of Bobbies and peered through the window into the restaurant's warm interior. It felt good to be home. He remembered the last time he had been in Port Charles. How he had stood on Elizabeth’s porch and watched her and the man he had thought to be Jason with Jake. He had been certain that he was doing the right thing, leaving them to the man inside, knowing that “Jason” would take care of them and that he wasn't needed.
Guilt again pushed at him, remembering how he had found out that the man wasn’t Jason after all, but Nikolas had assured him that he would look after Elizabeth and the boys...then Nikolas had… “died” yet he still didn’t return. He couldn’t. When he thought back on it, it had seemed like a good idea at the time to stay away. Allow his mother to look after Elizabeth and the boys. Besides, it was long over between him and Elizabeth and the boys seemed to be thriving without him. He did try to keep in contact with Aiden somewhat...but he had let that connection fade away some time ago and now...he regretted it. He regretted everything. He should have been here...not only for Lulu and his mother but for Aiden and Cam and Jake too. Now, standing in front of Bobbies, all of his reasons for staying away seemed hollow and stupid.
Spotting Elizabeth at the counter, he felt his heart skip a beat just as it always had whenever he saw her back in the day. Something else that hadn’t changed. Elizabeth had been his first real love and the mother of his child. Yes, things had grown toxic between them and it had probably been for the best that he had walked away from her, but he’ll always love her. She’ll always be family. Not only because they shared a child, but because of how big of a part they had in each other's lives. She was one of the main people that he owed an apology to and it was time to stop putting it off and do so. So he entered and stopped in his tracks when she turned to face him. Her eyes widened a little in shock and he felt his voice disappear. She was still beautiful and hadn’t changed a bit from the last time he had seen her.
He didn’t know what to say at first as they stared at each other, but he had to say something to break the ice.
“Do you know that coffee will stunt your growth?” The line was full of poignant history, taking them both back to their first meeting. When they had been just kids. When she had been trying so hard to be the bad girl next door and he had been trying so hard to be the second coming of his eccentric father at the time.
“What’s your name?” The girl with the cigarette asked, giving him a coy smile, her eyes sparking with interest.
“Lucky,” He answered, not sure what to think about this girl who seemed so forward, yet something was interesting about her that he couldn’t bring himself to just walk away.
Her expression was suggestive as she gave him an amused smirk. “We’ll see.”
Elizabeth had been a mystery to Lucky back then, who had just started his foray into dating and girls and had an unrequited crush on Elizabeth’s sister, who wasn’t even pretty and had a rather dry personality when he thought about it.
“I think you mean cigarettes,” Elizabeth simply stated, showing that she too remembered that first meeting. Yet, she wasn’t that same teenage firecracker any longer. She hadn’t been that girl in a long long time. So much has changed. She has changed...and so has he.
“I think it’s the caffeine because you gave up cigarettes a long time ago, but you never gave up coffee,” He paused, losing his words. What else could he say to keep the conversation going? He needed to keep it going. He had so much to say, so much to apologize for…to be held accountable for. This probably wasn’t the time...but there needed to be a start at least. “You haven’t changed a bit.”
That was when all the awkwardness between them faded, and instead of it being two former lovers standing face to face, it was two old friends who hadn’t seen each other for a long long time and it felt as if no time had passed at all as she stepped forward and hugged him.
Elizabeth pulled away and smiled, also feeling the warmth of friendship and family return. She was by no means happy with Lucky after his decade-long absence, but she was still happy to see him home safe and sound. Out of the danger he had been in. She was always going to care about him. Unlike with Ric, she and Lucky were connected not only by their intense history but their son. Her sons had been seamlessly accepted into the Spencer family by Laura and Lulu and Lucky when he had been in PC and wanted to be a father...before everything had gone sideways between them. Thankfully, her boy’s status in Laura’s eyes had never wavered, despite the status of Elizabeth and Lucky’s relationship. The boys were and always would be family and so was Elizabeth and that would never change.
“You must be exhausted. Did you sleep on the plane?”
“A little. Sleep has been in short supply lately.”
“I can imagine.”
“Yeah, I’m actually hungrier than I am tired,” He confessed.
“Well, you came to the right place.”
“Yeah, I love the new name,” Lucky pointed out, it not being lost on him that the name of the place they had first met was no longer Kelly’s. He felt sad about that. Not just because of who the name belonged to, but the fact that such an important landmark in their story had changed all on its own.
“Yeah, me too,” the warmth in Elizabeth’s smile reached her eyes, telling him that the name change meant a lot to her. That Bobbie had meant a lot to her.
The warmth in her eyes...it wasn’t something that Lucky felt he deserved to witness. After all that he had done to her...she should be giving him nothing but the cold shoulder, not this warmth and friendliness she was exuding. He tore his gaze away from hers and walked over to the counter to pick up a menu. “I hope the menu hadn’t changed…”
“Oh...you know...Carly would never…” Elizabeth watched him pick the menu up and glance at it. Things felt so familiar. She remembered back when they were teens and Lucky had lived above Jason’s bike shop. How they would always order food from a stack of menus that Lucky had always kept on hand. She remembered their feasts. Ribs from Eli’s with cheese fries. Chinese food...brownies, the only thing that she had known how to cook at that time. Of course, meals from Kelly’s...suddenly, she grabbed a waitress who was heading for another table, just knowing what Lucky would like to eat. “Excuse me. Can you bring us out a BLT with extra pickles? Thank you…”
Lucky paused, shocked. She remembered! He didn’t know why he was so surprised, but he was. Surprised and pleased.
“You haven’t turned vegetarian on me, have you?” Elizabeth gave a nervous laugh. She wasn’t sure how he would react to that, or even if Lucky still had the same taste in food. It just felt….right to do that for him.
“No, I’m still a carnivore,” He chuckled.
“Good.”
Things were falling into a more relaxed pace, they both could feel it.
“How was your flight?” She asked, not wanting the conversation to return to the uncomfortable awkwardness that had been there a few minutes ago.
“A few bumps on the way out, but nothing that flying on the WSB’s dime couldn’t fix.”
There was a pause. A brief break. For a minute, Elizabeth didn’t know what to say, then decided to just soldier through. This was Lucky after all. Their conversations used to be so easy and it was becoming easier. But she couldn’t stand these pauses, where she didn’t know what to say or how to respond. It just felt so unfamiliar to her...reminded her that despite the familiarity, there were still some things that had changed.
“You know what, let’s get your food to go. I can let you into your mom’s so you could crash.”
“That’s fine. I’m too keyed up to sleep anyway,” Lucky staved off the offer, not wanting her to go to any extra trouble, especially for him.
Seeing his reluctance to accept the offer, Elizabeth backed off. “Ok. Just let me know if you change your mind.”
“I’m just glad that I ran into you. I thought that I’d run into you at GH earlier.”
“I’m on my way in now.”
Again he’s surprised. Elizabeth usually always had day shifts so she could spend the evening at home with the boys. “It’s a little on the late side, isn’t it?”
“Making your own schedule is one of the perks of being head nurse,” Elizabeth chuckled, secretly pleased at the impressed look in his eyes. She was really showing how she had changed and grown since the last time they had seen each other and it pleased her to see his reaction.
“Congratulations,” He smiled that Lucky Spencer smile that she had loved so much and still caused butterflies to flutter around in her belly, despite everything.
“Thank you.”
“Nobody better for the job.”
“Well, I can think of one or two,” Elizabeth blushed, still admiring his smile and the way his eyes lit up. First loves. There was always going to be something about him for her.
“Aunt Bobbie would be proud.”
Elizabeth’s blush intensified. He had no idea how much that meant to her. Bobbie Spencer had been one of the reasons she had gotten into nursing and she had always strived to make the woman that had shown her so much compassion proud. “Well, she won’t be proud if I miss my staff meeting...so…” Elizabeth grabbed her coffee, realizing that she had somewhere to be, even though she would like to talk a little bit more.
“Elizabeth...um…,” Lucky stammered, not ready for the conversation to end just yet. There was still something he had to say...to apologize for and he couldn’t let her go until he did so. “I was hoping that we could talk…”
She should really go...she did have that meeting...but she couldn’t leave it like this...not yet. “Yeah...ok. I guess my nurses can wait a few minutes.”
“Um...good...because we have a lot of catching up to do.”
They found a table and as Lucky ate his meal, they talked. They talked about his time in Sidwell’s camp and they talked about Isaiah, but finally, the conversation turned to the one subject that kept them both connected, no matter how far apart they grew.
“And then Jason showed up...and then...here I am. No big deal,” Lucky finished his story.
Elizabeth had sat and listened with real interest, but she knew that she couldn’t let any more time go by without mentioning Aiden. No matter how much her son tried to act all chill about his father’s return, she knew that he felt some kind of way and she wanted to prepare Lucky so they both could make this as easy on Aiden as possible.
“I suggest that you make it a big deal. It’ll make your son feel better knowing that you were away for good reasons. That it wasn’t just easier to be there than here.”
Lucky knew this was coming and he had been prepared. He wanted Elizabeth to tear into him. Tell him that he was a horrible father, that Luke was an even better father than he had ever been, which was true. Luke Spencer was a lot of things, he had done a lot of things...but he had never outright abandoned his teenage son...not even when Lucky had wanted him to. He had always been there, whether it was to take more of his son’s angry abuse or be ignored. Luke had never been a hands-off father, at least not when Lucky was a kid. Sadly, Lucky couldn’t say the same for himself, even though he had never meant to be an absentee father. When he had stepped up for Cam and then Jake all those years ago...he had been so determined to be the kind of father that Luke never was. Instead, he had dropped the ball completely. How Elizabeth could even be cordial to him was beyond his understanding, but here she was, treating him with friendship and compassion. Yet, the momma bear was there, ready to make an appearance if need be. He couldn’t help but admire that. She had always been so much better than him when it came to forgiveness and second, third, fourth, and fifth chances than he had ever been.
“I’m not on his side! I’m on yours!” She had once yelled at him when he had been at his most angriest at Luke, knowing that Lucky would someday want that relationship with his father back, refusing to let him close the door completely.
Elizabeth’s voice brought him back to the present.
“You don’t owe me an explanation. In fact, you don’t owe me anything.”
“But Aiden’s a different story.”
“He’s a good kid, Lucky. He’s growing up to be a really special young man. But he’s not bulletproof. All I ask is that you handle him with care.”
“How else do you think I’d handle him?”
Elizabeth had to make Lucky understand. She just couldn’t leave this between Lucky and Aiden. As Aiden’s mother, it was up to her to somewhat smooth the way. “You don’t know your son. I’m not saying that to make you feel guilty….”
“It’s true,” Lucky admitted. What else could he say, it was the truth and it was his own fault.
“You didn’t come back here for Aiden. You came for Lulu.”
But he did come back for Aiden. Before he had even known about Lulu, spending those days locked up, even dreaming about his family, he had made up his mind to stop running and come back and actually reconnect. But he could see why Elizabeth thought that. “Elizabeth…”
“It’s fine! Really, I get it. I think it’s wonderful, it’s wonderful for her, she has hope. But I’m not going to assume that means you’re staying and I definitely don’t want Aiden to assume that either.” There. She said it. She put it out there and hoped that he got what she was telling him.
“I won’t make him any promises that I can’t keep.”
“Thank you.”
“That’s the least I owe you.”
“Thank you. So...when are you going to see him?”
Lucky took a deep breath, feeling anxious and unsure, but determined. “Today. But first, I’m due back at the hospital for more tests,” Lucky stood from his chair and dug in his pockets for money to pay for his food. “I don’t suppose that the head nurse would want to accompany me?”
Elizabeth’s smile was teasing. “Needles still freak you out, don’t they?”
“Very much,” he admitted, unashamed.
They walked outside together, the comfortable camaraderie still there. They stopped outside as Lucky began to talk again, a tinge of nervous curiosity in his voice. “So, what can you tell me about Aiden?”
Elizabeth was tempted to tell him all about Aiden, but doing so would take away something from both Aiden and Lucky and she didn’t want to do that. “It’d be more rewarding if you found out about your son yourself.”
“Fair enough,” Lucky nodded, his eyes drifting to the new sign that he just knew that Elizabeth had created. “Nice job on that by the way.”
“Thanks. Did Carly tell you that I painted it?”
“No.”
Elizabeth frowned, confused. It’s been forever since Lucky had seen any of her paintings and that one wasn’t even one of her best. “Well then how did you…”
“Oh, I know your brush stroke anywhere,” He simply stated before heading for her car that was to take them to GH.
Elizabeth stood there for a second, feeling both stunned and touched. After all this time, Lucky still remembered things like her painting style. It made her feel warm and happy, to know that he obviously hadn’t forgotten a thing about her, just as she hadn’t forgotten a thing about him.
It was obvious that there was always going to be something between them, reminding them of each other and their likes and dislikes. Hopefully, it’ll be that fact that will lead to a comfortable co-parenting situation and even a rebuilding of a friendship that had taken on a lot of damage. Only time will tell.
One thing was important for them both though. Aiden and making sure that the return of his father in his life would be a smooth, uncomplicated one, despite the length of Lucky’s absence from their lives.