A few weeks have gone by. Luke has visited Lucky in the hospital every day around the time he knew the others had jobs to go to or errands to run. Lucky enjoyed the time his father spent with him in the hospital. He had learned that Luke had been in charge of a casino in South America for a while before moving to Europe and becoming in charge of a few dance clubs over there. But mainly the time went by with Lucky telling Luke about himself. Lucky told Luke of his alcohol problem and because of it, he decided not to take the shares of the club his mother offered him on his 21st birthday. He confessed that he still went to AA meetings secretly when the temptation would come back, but were less frequent now. He also told him that he was in college studying computers, but his real passion was in music, and he secretly wrote songs under a separate name and began trying to sell them. One song was bought by a small group, and Luke had told him of how popular that group had become in Europe with that song.
Luke was about to go back to the Brownstone after visiting with his son, but he decided to grab some food at Kelly's first. He entered and sat down at a corner table. Elizabeth came up to him and handed him a menu. Luke looked up and said, "Can you take a break for a minute? I'd like to talk to you."
Elizabeth looked around and noticed that it was slow at the time so she wasn't needed. She took off her apron and sat down across from Luke. "Hello, Mr. Spencer."
"Please, call me Luke. I just need to thank you for everything you've done for my son."
"It hasn't been a problem. He helped me when I needed him the most, and I did the same for him. You can say returning the favor, but I would have done it for him even if he hadn't helped me after I was raped."
"I know that. I also know that you make him very happy, so I'd like to thank you for that too. He needs all the happiness he can get," Luke said.
"Yes, he does," Elizabeth responded. She once was amazed by Lucky's father, but ever since he was able to leave everyone, her view of him changed.
"I understand he's due to leave in a week. I wanted to know if you still have a honeymoon planned. I'd like to help pay for it, if you'll let me."
"I'd have to talk to him about that, Mr. Spencer. I’d rather just get him out of the hospital first and into our apartment before we decide if we're going to go away for a honeymoon."
"But when you come to that decision, please know that you can come to me for any help."
"Personally, Mr. Spencer, I don't think I'd feel comfortable coming to you for any help. I'm sorry to be so blunt, but I'd rather not trust someone to help me out for anything, even something as small as that, if that man was capable of leaving his family without a second thought. Lucky went through hell for a long time after you pulled off your disappearing act, and even if he's able to forget it, I can't. I was with him the entire time, and you have no idea what you did to him at all. The worst thing of all is you didn't even consider it once, otherwise you would have come back for him."
"Elizabeth, I know what it's cost my son. He's told me about the alcoholism. And I'm grateful he had someone like you in his corner at that time. But you saw him before I left. Did you think that would change if I stayed?"
"Yes, sir, I do. A family is worth going through hell for, but obviously you don't feel the same. But, before you get the wrong impression, I do thank you for having some part in bringing Lucky into this world and raising him for however long you stayed. And I do thank you for coming back now because that's been Lucky's greatest wish for a long time now. I know my husband won't have to look back anymore, won't have the constant nightmares back to the night you left, and will be able to move on and enjoy the family that we'll build together in the future."
"I thank you for speaking your mind. Lucky sure got lucky by finding you," Luke said.
"I'm the lucky one because he took after his mother," Elizabeth said. She stood up and placed the apron back on her before asking, "Have you decided on what you like to order, sir?"
"I think I've gotten all I can chew on right now, thank you. It was a pleasure, Mrs. Spencer," Luke said, extending his hand.
"I wish I could say the same, Mr. Spencer," Elizabeth said without taking Luke's hand, as she went back to the other customers in the diner.
Luke ran his hand through his gray hair and walked out of Kelly's. He hoped Elizabeth was right that Lucky did take after his mother.
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Laura walked into Lucky's room and found him reading one of his text books for school. He looked up when he saw his mother and smiled, saying, "Hey, Mom. What brings you by at this time?"
Laura went over to Lucky and gave him a hug, and said, "The club can run without me, so I thought I'd see how my son was doing. How are you feeling?"
"I'm a little edgy to be stuck here, but other than that, I feel fine. Maybe a little weak, but nothing that time won't help."
"You're like your father in that way. He's always felt hospitals were more like prisons," Laura said, laughing.
"Yeah, I know. They still don't make him feel very comfortable, but he's still coming by every day. Have you talked to him?" Lucky asked.
"No. I haven't seen him at all since your wedding day," Laura said, the sadness coming out through her eyes.
"I thought he'd try to at least see how you were doing and Lu. I guess he's still trying to decide whether to stay or not."
"What do you mean?" Laura asked.
"I asked him to stay in town, but the only thing I got him to agree to was to think about it. I guess I know what his decision is going to be if he hasn't even tried to contact you yet," Lucky whispered.
"You're really hoping he'll stay."
"You know that before any of this happened, I would have told you that I would have been happy just to see him again, or at least just to speak to him again. But the time we've spent with each other in here has been greater than I even imagined in my dreams. I guess I was hoping he felt the same."
"I know he does, Lucky."
"No, he doesn't. He obviously doesn't if he's prepared to leave again. Mom, I will accept his decision to leave this time, but it doesn't mean I'll ever like it. I had him for a large portion of my life. The saddest thing of all is that Lu hasn't had any of it. She has no idea what she's missed out on. No matter what he thinks of himself, I know I couldn't have asked for a better father for the time he wanted to be one."
Laura nodded. She felt the same way. She didn't want to try to encourage Luke to stay because it would open her up to the pain in seeing him leave again, but she knew it would hurt anyway. And like Lucky, she was saddest for her daughter, who had no idea who her father even is.
"Can you talk to him, Mom?" Lucky asked.
"I can try. I'm not sure if he'll listen to me, though," Laura said.
"The try is all I need from you. The rest will be up to him."
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Luke had spent a lot of time on the docks, thinking everything over. After the cold started to get to him, he headed back to the Brownstone. Luke walked inside and found Laura waiting for him on the couch. "I came here to talk, whether you want to or not," Laura said.
