"Helena has taken my son."
Luke held onto Laura tighter, gently rubbing her back and trying to calm her down a little. He hated Helena more than he could possibly hate anyone in his life for what she had done to Laura and what she was doing to her now. But Luke pushed back his thoughts of hatred and concentrated only on trying to comfort his wife.
Laura still clung to Luke tightly, knowing she needed his strength right now. She didn't even think about what that one statement might have made Luke feel. All she knew was that she needed her husband and he was here. She didn't fear his reaction because she knew that Luke had vowed to keep Laura from pain, and even if he had caused some pain of his own, he would die before he allowed someone else to do so.
Laura had managed to calm down just a little from the comfort of her husband's arms. Luke started to let go a little, but Laura was still weak and went limp without his support to hold her up. Instead, he scooped Laura up into his arms and walked her into the house, lying her on the couch in the living room. He looked at Laura and saw that she still appeared to be in shock, so he ran upstairs quickly, grabbed a blanket, and was back downstairs, putting the blanket around her before Laura could even noticed that he was gone.
Luke was going to go make a phone call to Alexis, knowing that Nikolas was living with her now. When he was about to walk to the phone, Laura grabbed his hand, begging him not to leave her. Her touch was so familiar and her eyes were completely filled with fear that Luke decided the phone call could wait. He slid behind her on the couch, his head resting on top of hers, as he wrapped his arms around her. They remained there for a while, in completely silence, each taking in the comfort that they had needed so much.
Lucky took a peak downstairs after not hearing anything from his parents. He was scared that Luke took off before taking him and Lulu out to breakfast. But to his surprise he had just walked in on a sight that he had seen so many times before. He had decided to go back upstairs and leave his parents alone when Laura snapped out of her shock long enough to notice Lucky on the stairs. "Lucky?"
Luke turned quickly towards the stairs and saw his son just standing there. He then looked towards Laura and asked quietly enough for only her to hear, "Do you mind if I go upstairs for a moment? I need to tell Lulu that our plans have been changed."
"You don't have to change your plans, Luke. She was looking forward to going out to breakfast with you," she said, but the lack of energy she had was evident in her voice.
"Well, something more important has come up."
Luke carefully slipped out from behind Laura and headed up the stairs. As he reached Lucky, he placed a hand on his shoulder, whispering in his ear, "Do me a favor and go to your mother. I don't want her to be alone right now." Lucky nodded and headed down the stairs as Luke rushed upstairs to see his daughter.
Lucky sat on the coffee table across from Laura. She looked up into her son, reminded of how much like his father he actually was. She forced herself to put on a smile as she said, "Thank you, Lucky."
"Dad said you shouldn't be alone right now, and over the years, I have come to trust his judgement."
Laura nodded as she said, "Your father has always known what I've needed."
Lucky knew that he didn't have to only trust his father's judgement to know that something was definitely wrong. Laura was never good at hiding her feelings, and this looked too big for anyone to be able to hide. He took his mother's hand and asked, "What's wrong?"
Laura didn't want to hurt Lucky, knowing that anytime she had ever mentioned Nikolas, he was torn up inside. But she also decided that the secrets had to end and even if the truth isn't good, it's better than a lie. "Helena has taken Nikolas," she said quietly.
Laura had prepared to see an angry response from Lucky, but was surprised to see that he looked completely worried, the same type of worry Luke had shown. She also could tell that Lucky's mind had just kicked into double-time, analyzing the one statement that she had just made. "Are you sure that it was Helena?" Lucky asked carefully, hoping he wouldn't upset his mother more.
"It fits her M.O., Cowboy," Luke said from the stairs. He came down the stairs, quickly and went back to Laura's side. "She takes what she wants and this time it was Nikolas."
"How?" Lucky asked.
"We don't know," Laura said, a little confidence had peaked in as she noticed that both her son and husband appeared to be concerned. "Alexis called and told me that Nikolas had not come home last night, and this morning, Helena left port. The last time she saw Nikolas was early yesterday afternoon, and so Helena could have taken him anytime after that."
"I saw Nikolas just before dropping Lulu back here yesterday," Luke said. Laura looked at him in confusion and Luke started to rub her arm. "I brought Lulu to the park and while I was pushing her on the swing, Nikolas came by. He said hi to her and told her that he had something else to do so he couldn't stay. Then he left and we came home."
"Did you notice if anyone was following him?" Laura asked.
"No, and I was keeping my eye on him for reasons that I don't want to get into right now. But I did hear a car screeching away really quickly. I assumed it was some person who got drunk in the park who had decided to leave, so I didn't pay that much attention."
"I'm going to the park," Lucky said, as he ran to the closet to get his jacket.
"NO!" both Luke and Laura screamed.
"Why not? If that's the last place anyone has seen Nikolas..."
"Lucky, Helena doesn't leave evidence behind. She doesn't leave her calling card for someone to find. I know that better than anyone," Luke said, as he looked at Laura. He then turned back to Lucky saying, "Plus, if that's the place that she grabbed Nikolas, then it might not be safe for you. Even if she's not in town right now, you can bet her people still are. What better revenge on your mother than to take another child of hers away."
"You think that this is revenge?" Lucky asked.
"That's what she lives by," Luke said. "Imagine her anger when she found out that her beloved Stavros did not produce an heir and that your mother had outwitted her by having an affair with the son she hated, without her even knowing. Grabbing Nikolas would be the best way to get revenge on the both of them. And once she's in revenge mode, she won't stop, which means that she won't pass up an opportunity to try to get back at me. And taking a child of mine would hurt me and your mother both in the process."
"So what are we going to do?" Laura asked.
"First thing I'm going to do is to take you upstairs so you can get some rest," Luke said. Laura started objecting, but Luke held his ground. "Honey, you need a level head at a time like this and rest is the only way you are going to get that. I know you're worried and want to do something right now, but until we get all of the facts, we can't do anything. Let me make a few phone calls and see what I can find out, but you have to agree to rest in the meantime." Laura still looked ready to object, but stopped as soon as Luke said, "Compromise, Baby."
Laura nodded, as she was about to get up from the couch. Luke refused to let Laura walk upstairs, so he picked her up and carried her to their bedroom, tucking her into bed. He bent down and kissed her forehead, saying "Sleep for a while, and when you wake up, I'll have some answers." Laura smiled, knowing that everything was going to work out now that Luke was involved. She closed her eyes, the image of Luke standing before her, protecting her, remained vivid in her mind as she tried to get some sleep.
