RATING: PG
SUMMARY: Carter and Lucy go to Mark and Elizabeth's wedding.
AUTHORS NOTE:  I put a lot of work into this fanfiction and would appreciate
no plagiarising.  Thank you.  And like every other author, I deeply
appreciate feedback.
DISCLAIMER: I am making no profit from this fanfic.  The only character I
own in this story is Katherine Carter.  The rest belong to NBC, Warner
Brothers, Constant C. and Micheal Crichten (I think I spelt that right).
ARCHIVES: Please email me first @ lizzyknightlight@hotmail.com

A Few Steps Forward p.9
By: Lizzy Knight

~~~~~~April 26 2001, 7:00 PM

Closing her car door carefully, Lucy looked in through the window to make
sure it was locked.  Holding her umbrella over her head, she walked away
from the vehicle, and looked up at the church in awe, "John, this place is
beautiful!  Lets cancel our reservations and have our wedding here."

"Sure, there's an idea," Carter said sarcastically.  They hadn't been on
best terms lately.  Or he hadn't.  It was kind of stupid actually, but he
was planning on standing his ground.  John and Lucy had an understanding. 
They had decided that Katy would sleep in her crib and the same night she
went back on their deal and brought her into their bed.  Maybe if she had
expressed how she felt, he would of agreed.

"Are you *still* mad at me?" Lucy asked.  Getting silence in return, Lucy
went on, knowing what he was thinking, "Come on.  It isn't that big of a
deal.  I feel better when she is there with me.  And I would of said
something, but it wouldn't of mattered.  I know you and I know how you would
react.  Once you have made up your mind, you don't change it.  I won't
change mine either.  We're both stubborn, but I think that is why we are so
perfect for each other," Lucy grinned at him, hoping to get a smile in
return, but only got the same straight face he carried whenever they talked
about the subject.

"Look, I don't see why we have to talk about this now," Carter opened the
door for her, still a gentlemen amongst their fighting.

Lucy closed her umbrella, shaking off the rain.  She grabbed his arm,
holding him back from walking away, "Because I don't want to go to my best
friends wedding fighting like this.  We are going to have fun and enjoy
ourselves!"

Carter tried to walk away from her lecturing, but she grasped onto his arm
again, "So, if I apologise, will you forgive me?"

Taking a second to think it over, he flung his arms in the air, "Fine."

"I'm sorry John," she repented sincerely.

"Does this mean she won't sleep in our bed?"

"I didn't say that!  I said that I would apologise for going back on my
word."

"Look, I'm tired of fighting with you..."

"Your the only one fighting."

Carter continued what he was saying, ignoring her interruption, "So forget
it."

"What?!" Lucy asked as she walked with him down the corridor.

"Forget it.  It's stupid anyway.  We're fighting over the dumbest things."

"We're not fighting.  We're... debating."

"Sure," Carter huffed, "Whatever.  Lets just forget about it.   You want her
to sleep in our bed, let her sleep in our bed.  Do whatever you want."

"John, don't be like that."

"Well, it doesn't matter what I say anyway, and I don't know why I try.  So
starting know, I don't care anymore," walking past her, Carter walked into
the large room of the church, leaving Lucy at the end of the ail.  She
watched him as he took as seat in one of the pews beside Dave and his
girlfriends.  Shaking her head, Lucy went off to find Elizabeth.

Having to ask a few people, Lucy eventually found herself in a well
furnished room with sofas, a mirror and make-up table, two wide windows and
pictures decorating all of the walls.  Sneaking over to Elizabeth, she took
a seat beside her.

"Hello Lucy," she said glumly.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Lucy glanced up at Elizabeth's parents, while they
bickered, then back to the bride.

"Mark isn't here yet."

"He's probrely just running late because of the rain.  It is treacherous
out there."

"I hope he's okay."

"I'm sure he is," comforted Lucy.

Elizabeth turned to a happier note, "How is Katherine?"

Lucy grinned, "She's fine, but I had a really hard time finding a
babysitter.  I had to go to all desperate measures and call Millicent."

Elizabeth giggled, "You must be ecstatic.  I mean, leaving her with her
great grandmother!"

"Don't remind me," Lucy laughed, "It was John's idea anyway.  I thought I
would be more likely to just bring her then leave her with Millicent, but I
was trying to get on his good side."

"How have things been between you two?"

"Same as they have been, but he'll get over it.  He's just stubborn right
now."

Elizabeth nodded, "Oh I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce you.  Lucy, this is
my mother, Isabelle Corday and my father, Charles Corday," Lucy shook their
hands.

"Nice to meet you," they both said.

Hearing a knock at the door, all four of them look up.  Dr. Ramono enters
and explains (in his own way) that Dr. Greene had just got a ride on an
ambulance *back* to the hospital in the aid of a pregnant woman.

After criticising how he wasn't on his way to the church yet, Elizabeth
sighed in relief, knowing he was okay.

"I told you he would be okay," Lucy looked at her watch.  "John will be
looking for me, I should go."  Giving Elizabeth's hand a squeeze, she
offered her luck and left.

Walking through the maze of corridors, Lucy found herself in the same
place, at the end of the ail, again.  Stopping, she looked at everything and
everyone.  She wandered what her wedding would look like.  Would it be as
beautiful as Elizabeth's?  She shook off the thought.  Of course, it was
going to be more expensive, heavily decorated and have more guests
attending.  John's family was paying for almost all of it.

Shaking off her daydream, Lucy walked into the room.  Finding the pew John
had sat down in a few minutes earlier, she sat down beside him. 
Straightening out her loose, light blue, spaghetti strap dress, she waited
for him to acknowledge her presence.  He didn't even look at her.

For the next twenty five minutes, Lucy talked to Dr. Ramono in front on her
and Milik behind her while Carter chatted with Dave.

When Mark came running up to the alter from the side, the room went silent.
  Elizabeth entered from the back and everyone rouse from their seats. 
Looking at her, Lucy was glad she waited until after she gave birth to set
the date.  Not that Elizabeth didn't look good, she looked great.  Lucy just
couldn't imagine having to go through it all while carrying Katherine.

Lucy payed attention to ever detail looked at how happy Mark and Elizabeth
were together on their wedding day.  That would be her and John.

After the ceremony, everyone gathered for the reception.  There was nowhere
close to as many guests as Mark and Elizabeth were expecting.  Because of
the rain, many flights were cancelled and quite a few of their guests were
suppose to flight in from England.  Since the room was less then half full,
the dance floor was pretty empty.

Sitting at a round table beside Carter, Lucy ignored him until he was
willing to talk to her.  After the toasts were given, Mark and Elizabeth had
their first dance and dinner was served, then they all had the wedding cake.
  Only able to eat a little bit of her slice, she slided the plate over
towards Carter, "I can't eat this.  I need to go on a diet anyway.  You have
it."

Accepting the cake, he put the piece on his plate.  About to dig in, Carter
  froze and turned to her, "Luce, look..."

"I don't really want to fight over this anymore.  Let's just enjoy
ourselves."

"That is my point," he took in a breath, gathering his thoughts, "But, I
should admit that I have been a little hard to get along with lately."

"Yeah, and..."

"And... I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what exactly."

"Being a pain in the ass.  Not thinking about you.  Being difficult to
agree with, or even talk to."

"And you decided all of this when...?"

"Well, I was watching Mark and Elizabeth.  They were up there and they were
so happy... I guess I was picking a fight, because things were going so good
for so long, I was looking for a flaw.  And don't take that the wrong way.   
I am saying... you are the first serious relationship I have ever been in
and it is perfect.  Everything is.  But it scares me because... I don't know
why.  Maybe I was afraid something would go wrong and I wouldn't be able to
control it.  So I started finding things that could, and inadvertently, I
held them against you.  Against us..."

"John, you're babbling.  But I had a feeling you would be like this at one
point."

"Oh, so I'm that predictable?"

"Yup."

Carter smiled back at Lucy for the first time in nearly three weeks, "Good
or bad?"

Lucy grinned back at him enticingly.

"Wanna dance?" he asked, standing up and offering his hand.

"I'd love to," accepting his hand, they went out onto the dance floor and
danced to two slow songs before going back to their table.

After calling and checking on Katy for the second time that night, Lucy
watched Mark dance with Elizabeth again.  She remembered, that is how her
and John looked like back in January at his grandparents charity event.  She
and John danced a few times and back then, Lucy was positive they looked
like something to laugh about, with her huge stomach and him being so much
taller then her.  But she was wrong if her and John looked anything like
Mark and Elizabeth.  It was tranquil.  It was the bride, the groom, and
their baby.

'Maybe I made a mistake, waiting,' Lucy thought to herself, but knowing it
was too late.  Pushing aside her regret, Lucy thought about the ups instead
of the downs.

Finding her way through the dancing people, Lucy arrived at the table she
shared with Carter, Mark's cousin and her husband.  She sat down beside
John, "I think Millicent is getting a little annoyed, thinking I don't trust
her."

"Well, you don't."

"Should I?"

"She is Renee's great grandmother."

"But that's my point.  She is her *Great* grandmother.  Isn't she getting a
little... old for babysitting."

"Gamma isn't going to have a stroke from changing a diaper, Lucy."

"I'm only speculating."

"And even if something did happen, there are, like, nine other people in
the house."

"Give me some slack, this is the longest I have left her with someone else
besides you.  And even then I call every twenty minutes.  I'm trying to pace
myself, but I can't help the paranoia."

"What did Gamma say?"

"That everything was fine and to stop calling.  I only called twice,"
defended Lucy.

"To her, it's twice to many," Carter grinned.

"We are going to have to find a real babysitter."

"We will."

"When?  We can't rely on your grandparents every time we want to go out,
John."

"I know."

Standing up, Carter walked out onto the dance floor and asked Elizabeth to
dance with him.  Lucy repeated what he did, asking Mark, and danced with
him.

~~~~~~

On the car ride to pick up Katy, Lucy never took her eyes off Carter,
"Luce, I can understand how I can be nice for eyes, but your starting to
scare me," John laughed.

She grinned, "I love you."

"Okay, what's up?" asked Carter.

"Nothing, I just love you."

"Something else is up.  What is it?"

"I'm happy, is that a problem?"

"You're never this happy."

"I was just thinking about our wedding."

"Excited?"

"Uh huh.  I just can't believe that we have to wait until July."

Carter scratches her jaw, "Well, we don't necessarily have to..."

"John, don't go getting any ideas!  We are not spending all of this money,
*especially* since it is your families money, to buy a cake, a beautiful
dress, rent the place for the ceremony and the reception, and find a wedding
planner so that we could instead elope!"

"It's not like they will miss the money.  This is like pocket change."

"Oh, so because your mom and dad have the cash, we should just waste it?"

"I didn't say that.  I was saying that if we got married now instead of
waiting another three months, they might not care."

"Of course they would care.  Wouldn't they even want to be there?"

"Have you, *not* met my parents!?  We'll be lucky if they are kind enough
to even show up, let alone ask for a picture if they don't."

"As hollow as you think they are, you are underestimating them.  If we
*did* just run out and elope right now, then called them up tomorrow to tell
them we got married, they would be a little bit more then disappointed. 
They are not putting in all this energy to make our day perfect so that they
could miss it when we skip out."

"Now I'm almost positive that you haven't met my parents.  Them paying is
just their way of saying, 'Have a nice life'.  They want to tell us, 'Yes,
we do care, but paying you off is the only thing we have to give you'."

"John... Is something wrong?"

He sighed, "Never mind."

"Tell me."

"Nothing is wrong," he insisted.

"Yes there is!" exclaimed Lucy.  Realising that yelling wasn't helping, she
lowered her voice, "I just want to help."

"There's nothing to help with."

"John..." she prided.

Carter took in a deep breath, taking a moment to think, "They wouldn't give
a rats ass what I did.  They have been like this since... a long time,"

"Since Bobby died?" Lucy asked quietly under her breath, knowing it wasn't
something John liked to talk about.

"Yeah.  Gamma raised me more then my parents.  They would go off on
business or vacation, leaving me with my grandparents, sometimes boarding
school.  Then they would come back and buy Barbera and I off with money or
gifts.  My parents were only distant after Bobby's funeral.  I think that is
when it started really sinking in and they realised that they had lost their
son.  I don't know, maybe they were worried about losing another child so
they just stayed away from us as much as possible as not to get attached, in
case they lost another."

"How do you think they would feel if they heard you say that?  You give
them no credit for raising you.  I think you turned out pretty damn good, so
they couldn't of done to bad of a job," Lucy grinned, trying to rise his
spirits.

"The credit goes to my grandmother," he reminded her as he turned into Oak
Park and headed towards his grandparents house.

"Okay..." Lucy accepted his point of view, but spoke on when she got
another thought, "But, you have to give them some credit.  One, they gave
you life.  And two, they lost a child.  How would you react if something
ever happened to Katy?"

How would he react?  He didn't know.  It was the unthinkable.  Bringing a
life into the world and then having it taken away, "It's been a long time. 
Yes, they do get to grieve, but they can't walk around in this bubble they
have built around themselves for the rest of their lives........"

Lucy watched him as he lost himself in his thoughts.  It was amazing how he
could still drive in his own lane and not even miss the right turns.  But
aside from his awareness, he just wasn't happy anymore.  The smile was
erased from his face and he sunk back into the memories of his brother.  She
hated seeing him depressed.  Lucy would of done anything to make him happy
again.  Out of nowhere, Lucy spoke, "You know what, lets get married.   Right
now.  Tonight," she regretted it the moment she said it.  Their wedding was
suppose to be their special day.  It is not something you do just to make
someone feel better.  She should of known better then to involve his parents
into their conversation anyway.  Especially mention his brother.  She should
of backed off after he got nervous.  It was her fault she was in this mess
anyway.

Carter managed to continue staring ahead and pay great attention to the
road, while he shook his head, "I changed my mind.  Lets wait until July."

'Thank god,' Lucy silently said to herself.  Relief!  What was she
thinking?  She was denying it one minute and praising the idea the next. 
She would do almost anything for John, but this is one thing she wasn't
willing to do.  If he had said that they would go ahead and do it, she knew
she would find some way of getting out of it.  There day was going to be
special, and traditional and shared with their friends and family, not
something that just 'happens' in a courthouse, with two witnesses and the
Justice of the Peace.

Their conversations about eloping ceased and Carter drove into the driveway
of his grandparents house.  Pulling right up to the house, he stopped the
car, and took the keys out of the ignition.  Opening his door, he slammed it
shut behind him and walked up the stairs to the front door, Lucy in toe. 
After knocking and getting led in by the doorman, the couple were surprised
to see the Millicent Carter had actually stayed up with her
great-granddaughter instead of going to bed and leaving her with someone
else from the house.  She was not the type to stay up past midnight.

Seeing his daughter asleep in her car seat, John went over to her, "Thanks
for watching her for us, Gamma.  We really appreciate it," he picked up the
car seat by the handle and passed her over to Lucy who made sure she was
wrapped tightly in her blanket.

"Oh, it wasn't a fuss.  She is a great baby.  Slept almost the whole time,"
Millicent pushed her tired body up from the red sofa she had rested on and
picked up the diaper bag which was on top of a nearby arm chair, "You
grandfather even helped," the elderly woman grinned.

"We would of found a babysitter, but everyone we could think of to ask was
either at the wedding or working to cover for the people at the wedding,"
commented Lucy.

"Really, it was no trouble.  It was nice to spend some time with her
anyway.  Not many people would trust an old woman like me to watch their
young child."

Lucy giggled in her head.  She was one of those people.

"Well, I hope that you would know who to call in a diaper emergency," John
teased his grandmother.

Millicent Carter patted her grandson on the back and yawned.  Looking at a
clock above the fireplace, she realised the time, "It's getting late.  If it
were earlier, I would ask you to stay for a cup of tea."

"Yeah.  I have an early shift tomorrow anyway."

"I hope you had fun though."

Lucy picked up Katy's diaper bag Millicent had set beside Lucy, "It was
great.  We haven't been out together since Katy was born so it was really
good to get out and spend sometime with some friends."

Millicent started to escort them to the door, "Must make you think about
your own wedding?"

"Oh yeah.  Makes me even more excited, nervous and anxious.  Unlike John,"
she nudged him with her elbow, "He just wants to do it and get it over
with."

"Well, we fit the stereotypes."

Millicent laughs at their bickering, "I'll be excited enough for everyone."

Reaching the door, Millicent Carter waved to them as they walked outside
and towards their car.  While Lucy was settling her daughter safely into the
backseat, Millicent went back inside and John got into the drivers seat. 
Getting into the passenger side, they drove home.

~~~~~~

After putting Katy down in her crib, beside her and John's bed, Lucy bent
down and kissed her head.

"It can't be that bad," commented Carter.

"Right, I mean, she is only two feet away from me.  I can do this," Lucy
said, more to her self that John.

"It isn't that big of a deal anyway."

She nodded, "She'll be okay," Pulling back the covers, she fit between the
sheets.  Before turning off the light on the table beside her bed, looked at
John, "You know, I wanted to apologise for mentioning your parents earlier. 
I know you don't like to talk about your relationship with them and your
brother and all..."

"It's fine.  Lets face it.  It's real and it's there.  I have to face it
sometimes.  The topic is bound to turn up in conversation.  I just have to
learn to react better."

"But it *is* them that have a problem.  They need to learn to let go.  I
can just imagine how difficult it must be to have to live with parents that
are so distant..." Lucy froze, looking at the expression on his face, "I'm
doing it again, aren't I?"

"Yeah," they laughed together.

"So we're cool?"

He laughed with her, "Yeah, we're cool."

"Good, because I hate fighting with you." Sinking farther down, from a
sitting position to laying down, Lucy reached up and turned off the light,
"Good night, John."

"Good night, Luce."

~Wednesday, October 10, 2001

I know, it didn't exactly have a plot, but I felt that I needed to have
something on Mark and Elizabeth's wedding.  The next part will hopefully be
more eventful.
Thank you to everyone is reading and especially to those who send feedback. 
I am very thankful, lizzyknightlight@hotmail.com