"I'm sorry I'm not Tiffany," Nikolas said quietly, still standing by the door in the kitchen.
Laura ran to him, gave him a hug while saying, "Nikolas, I would rather see you any day." She was surprised that Nikolas was embracing her hug completely. She could feel that he was drawn so tight like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. "Do you want to see your sister and grandmother. They're both upstairs."
"I wanted to see you first and ask your opinion on something," Nikolas said, still barely above a whisper.
Laura led him to the table while she got him a glass of orange juice. Once she sat down, her full attention directed towards him, she said, "You can ask me anything, Nikolas. I hope you don't doubt that."
"And get the truth?" Nikolas almost jumped at his own response. He hadn't come here to get into a fight with Laura. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be, Nikolas. You have every right to question whether I can be truthful or not. Everyone has a right to question that now, and it seems everyone's agreeing on the same conclusion. That I can't be trusted anymore. All I can tell you is that my days of keeping secrets are over. I have no other skeletons hidden in my closet, and I don't intend on having anymore. What is it that you wanted to ask me?"
"Where do I go from here, Mother?"
"What do you mean?"
Nikolas got up and started pacing the small room. "It seems that the way I lived my life before cannot be the way I live it now. I don't have the same feelings about things anymore. I was raised as Stavros' only son. I was raised as the prince, the person to keep the family from falling apart in the future. I never liked being the prince, but it was a job I had accepted since I was the only one to fulfill it. Now I find out I'm not the prince, so where do I go from here?"
Laura thought over his words carefully. She could never fully understand all the pressures that were placed on her son because of some family legacy. She also didn't know what Nikolas wanted from her. Reassurance that he can make his own choices and she would support him? Direction in whatever choice he had to make? She didn't know what would benefit Nikolas the most because she still was getting to know him. Only Stefan would be able to answer this question, but obviously Nikolas had not come to terms with Stefan yet.
Nikolas paused long enough, seeing that Laura couldn't answer him yet, and decided to continue. "There's also the matter of perception. What I perceived to be true before doesn't necessarily make it true now."
"If you talking about thinking of Stefan as your uncle instead of your father before..."
"No. I'm talking about the way I chose to see things rather than the way people led me to see things. I had no choice to think of Stefan as my uncle because that was what I was always told. I'm talking about this feud, Mother. This feud that has nothing to do with what everyone is saying it does."
"What do you think has changed about the feud between the Spencers and the Cassadines?"
"I thought about it while I was coming over here. I used to have this complete loyalty and trust in Stefan, just like Lucky has to Luke. Whatever he said had to be so. This feud was about atonement for the crimes that Luke Spencer committed on our family. And he can list them too. From killing Mikkos to Stavros to taking you away from me. That's the code that Cassadines had to live by. But it's not like that. Stefan is glad that Stavros died, otherwise he would never have been able to see me growing up. This feud, if you want to know the truth, is about you, and only you."
"What do you mean?"
"Don't you see it, Mother? How it all started and why it's never going to end? You're the prize. Stefan and Luke will do battle over you until one wins the war. Lucky and I fought over your affection. Lesley Lu is unaffected so far, but she'll be taught how to fight the feud like the rest of us have."
Laura thought over what Nikolas had said, and while it made sense, she knew it wasn't completely true. Maybe in some way it was all about her, but not in the way that Nikolas had believed. She was scared to confront him with what she saw as the truth, scared that it would drive him away, but she had to say something. At least to make sure she kept her promise about no more secrets and lies. "Nikolas, I wish the feud were that simple, but it's not. If it were that simple, then the feud would be over."
"Why? Men fight over women all the time."
"Look around. Are you now going to tell me that everyone lost the feud? Other than yourself, do you see any men around the house? With all the key players you mentioned in this feud, you're the only one who can even stand the sight of me at the moment. Stefan and Luke aren't rushing to my door to see who can win me. Lucky is probably thinking that you can have all my affection. But despite the fact that no one is with me, they will still keep on fighting."
"I don't think you realize just how involved in this you are."
"I'm not saying I'm not involved in this, Nikolas. I know that in some way, your words are true. But, don't you see that no one can fight to win me because I'm already taken. Luke has no reason to fight Stefan for my love because Luke already has it and always will."
Luke wasn't looking forward to having to see Laura just so he could see his children, but he was away from his kids for too long and he was determined to change that. He wanted to reassure the both of them that no matter what was happening between him and their mother, he would always be there for them. He had to remind them that he still loved them just as much as he did while they were living under the same roof.
Luke got to the front door, and took a deep breath. He was trying to decide whether he should ring the doorbell or just walk right in. ‘This is still my house,' he thought, ‘but it doesn't feel like I belong here anymore.' He decided that he still had to prove to Laura that he was the one paying for this house that she lives in, so he took another deep breath before placing his key in the door and walking in.
Once Luke got inside, he closed the door quietly, noticing no one around. He saw Laura's car in the driveway, so he knew she was home. ‘Is it possible for me to sneak upstairs to see Lucky and Lulu and get out before Laura even takes notice?' He quickly brushed that thought away, knowing that between Laura and Lesley, he was bound to get caught. ‘It will just be easier for me to approach Laura about seeing my kids and then leaving her to whatever she has to do today.'
Luke was about to go upstairs to find Laura when he heard a voice from the kitchen. As he got closer, he heard Laura telling someone that he didn't have to fight for her love because he already had it. ‘Yeah, babe, but do I have your trust?' he thought. He waited to hear the response, but there was none. ‘What is she doing, talking to herself now? There's only one way to find out.' Luke opened up the door to the kitchen, only to find the next to the last person in the world he would want to see at this moment, especially in his house.
Laura looked up at the sound of the kitchen door opening, shocked to see Luke standing there. She quickly got up and headed for him, but he backed away from the door, allowing it to close before him. Nikolas just looked at her and mumbled, ‘The war continues.' Laura gave him a look as to say ‘don't start' before following Luke out of the kitchen.
Luke was just standing in the living room, staring into nothing. Laura tried to approach him, but every time she came almost within arms reach, he backed away a few steps. He couldn't believe that the kid who was the cause of all their problems was in his house. ‘MY HOUSE,' he thought angrily. "What is HE doing here?" Luke asked quietly, but the anger was still evident.
Laura didn't know how to reason with Luke, so she decided just to do the thing she should have done a long time ago. "He's my son, Luke. He wanted to talk to me so he came over."
"He came over just like that. He was willing to come to my house."
"No, Luke. He came over to OUR house. This is my house also, and he is my son. He has every right to be here as our kids do, and I'm not going to turn him away just because he isn't yours. Especially since you've decided that it's better to not live here at all anymore."
Luke approached Laura slowly and stopped when he was only inches away from her. Her reflexes almost made her back up a little, but she stood her ground, not allowing Luke to intimidate her. ‘He might have every right to be angry at my secrets, but I have a right to be angry at having to choose him over my own son,' Laura thought. "If you came here to just start another fight Luke..."
"No. There's no point in fighting anymore, Laura. What do I have to fight for? Our kids? Well, you seem to think that the spawn in there has every right to influence our kids in any way he chooses. Who am I to argue with the motherly Laura Webber Spenc?" Luke stopped before saying her full last name. He didn't even want to think of her as his wife at this moment.
"No, Luke. You're the one who wants to influence our kids into believing the worst about their own brother. If Lucky chose to actually get to know Nikolas, what would you have done, Luke? How would you have reacted? Would you have given him an ultimatum like you gave me once... it's either him or us? Or should I say it's even him or you? And Lulu, is she going to have to make that same choice when she gets older? Are you going to disown her like you disowned Bobbie once? It's you who are influencing them into thinking that Nikolas is the son of the devil," Laura said angrily, still trying to keep her temper in check, but it was becoming more impossible by the second.
"Well, isn't he, babe? Didn't you notice the ‘666' birthmark on Stefan's body when you slept with him?"
Laura slapped Luke hard, but Luke didn't flinched at all. Laura knew that Nikolas could hear every word that was coming out of Luke's mouth, and she wished that she was able to do stop it. She wished she still had the same influence over Luke like she once had. She was sure that Luke would have done anything to prevent her from hurting, yet he was the one causing all the pain at this moment. She couldn't allow it to continue. Not when she did have one son willing to be with her. "Why did you come here, Luke? I mean, do you have any other reason for being here besides insulting me and my son?"
"The insults were just a bonus. I only came here to see my children. You know, the ones who are hurting because of all your lies? Remember those two kids, or does Nikky boy take up all your time now?"
"They wouldn't be hurting if you would just get over your hurt pride and come home?"
"Hurt pride? Is that the reason I'm not here? And all along I thought it was because I couldn't trust the woman I used to consider my partner."
"STOP IT!!!" Nikolas screamed, as he stood by the open kitchen door.
"Nikolas, it's okay," Laura said quietly.
"No, it's not, Mother. Don't tell me you're going to defend him after everything he's doing to you right at this moment. I can't allow him, the man who said he loved you, just tear your heart up like this."
"Isn't this sweet. The boy is defending his little momma," Luke said, laughing.
"Luke, if you came to see your children, Lulu is upstairs with my mother and Tiffany," Laura said in a tone that meant that this conversation was over.
"What about my other child? The one you let believe was your first born for how many years?"
"I don't know where he is. He left before I even got up this morning and probably won't be back till late. Like you, he feels it's better to runaway from his problems than to actually face them and move on."
"Well, I can understand why he doesn't feel very welcomed in his own house anymore," Luke said, staring at Nikolas the entire time.
"Why don't you just go see your daughter before she forgets who the hell you are!" Nikolas yelled.
Luke looked back and forth between Laura and Nikolas, getting a sick feeling in his stomach by the mother/son bond they had created, and quickly retreated upstairs to fetch Lulu and take her away from here for the day. If he couldn't keep Laura away from the Cassadines, at least he was going to do his best to keep Lulu from them.
Nikolas looked back over to his mother, seeing that she was on the verge of tears, before apologizing.
"There's nothing for you to apologize about, Nikolas. Luke's just angry and he says things he doesn't entirely mean when he gets this angry."
"How can you keep on defending him? Don't you see him for who he is?"
"You don't know him like I do. He has to vent like he did just now, otherwise he'll explode inside. I have to allow him to vent his anger and his hurt before he'll ever be able to move past it. I owe him that much."
"Why? Why do you have to let him hurt you like that?"
Laura just shook her head, knowing that Nikolas could never understand. She wish she could explain it to him in terms that he could understand, but no one could understand. No one, but she and Luke, could ever understand this at all.
