Chapter 4 "Lucky wait!" Laura slipped out of Stefan's embrace, and limped after her son as he began to walk away. "Let me explain." "It's none of my business what you and Count Vlad-" "His name is Stefan." She grabbed his wrist. "Don't you let your father control how you view people." "I've got eyes, Mom. This has nothing to do with Dad. Count - oh sorry." He corrected himself sarcastically. " Stefan is manipulating you." "Lucky?" Liz stepped out of the parlor. "What going on?" "Nothing. My mother and Stefan were just getting ready to join us." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Laura lay in bed, trying to get to sleep. She hadn't had a chance to speak to Stefan again after Lucky had interrupted them. She desperately wanted to talk to him, but she was sure he would be asleep. It was almost 2:30 in the morning. Her thoughts drifted to opening the presents. Everyone had been so happy - except for Lucky. He had looked miserable through the entire event, and had excused himself soon after. The storm had still been raging at 10:30, so everyone had decided to stay the night. Elizabeth had called her grandmother and gotten permission, Emily's grandfather had been very upset, but in the end, he agreed to let her stay, and Leslie Lu had already been asleep in one of the rooms. Lucky had wanted to leave, storm or no storm, but Liz had convinced him to stay. Lucky hadn't spoken to Laura for the rest of the evening. She continued to toss and turn until she realized it was useless. She would never get to sleep tonight. She had too much on her mind. She worried about what Luke would do if he came back and found her with Stefan. She wished that there were something she could do to make Lucky understand how she felt. But most of all, she thought of Stefan. Of how much she loved him. She wanted to be with him now - to hold him and tell him that no matter what Lucky, or Luke, or anyone else said, she would always love him. She couldn't just lay there, so she decided to check on Leslie Lu. Maybe after she had checked on her daughter, she would read in the parlor. Laura lit a candle and hobbled to the closet that stood in her' room. There she found, as she had known she would, dresses, skirts, blouses, nightgowns, and robes that she recognized as if from another life. She chose the silky burgundy robe that matched her nightgown and grabbing a pair of slippers, she remembered to be especially comfortable from the closet floor, Laura crossed the hall, to Leslie Lu's room. As she had expected, Lulu slept peacefully. After sitting on the edge of her bed for a few minutes, Laura kissed her daughter on the forehead, and tiptoed out of her room. She also stopped by the room next to Lulu and opened the door a crack. Seeing that Lucky was awake, staring at the ceiling, Laura quickly and quietly closed it. "You honestly think I didn't see you?" Laura heard his voice and opened the door again. "I hoped." She smiled. "Do you want to -" "Talk?" Lucky asked. "No." Laura nodded. "Maybe in the morning. I just need to think right now." "Ok." Laura agreed. "Goodnight." "Night." She closed the door for the second time, and this time, continued down the stairs. It was completely dark, but Laura felt her way to the parlor. She entered the wrong room twice, but reached her desired destination in the end. Laura was surprised to see that Mrs. Lansberry had kept the fireplace burning. She had expected to have to light it. There was a bookcase at the far end of the room, and Laura hobbled to it. Suddenly, out of the corner of her eyes, she saw a movement. "Is anyone there?" She asked, suddenly frightened. "Lasha?" "Stefan! You scared me half to death." She breathed a sigh of relief. "You shouldn't be walking. You'll make your ankle worse." "It doesn't hurt much." She smiled at his concern. "What are you doing down here?" "I was having trouble sleeping. You?" "The same. I was going to look for a book to read… what's that you've got?" She noticed for the time that he was holding a book. "The book you gave me. It's been so long since I've read anything of Shakespeare's… I'm right in the middle of ‘Much Ado About Nothing'." "That was always my favorite. Have you seen the movie?" "I don't see many movies." Stefan stated. "All right. I don't see any movies." He confessed. Laura laughed. "The movie was good, but reading a play is almost always better than seeing it, at least in my opinion. Maybe we could… finish it together?" "Nothing would give me greater pleasure. However, we do have a lot to discuss…" "Not tonight, Stefan. We'll have enough to time to deal with our problems in the morning. Right now, I just want to be with you." Tears filled his eyes at the realization that she wasn't going to leave. She wasn't going to rush off to her room because she didn't want to be alone with him. The woman he had wanted to be with for so long actually wanted to be with him. She bit her lip in pain as she tried to walk to him. He quickly crossed the room, offering her his arm to lean on, then led her to the sofa. There they sat, their arms each other, reading of Benedick, Beatrice, Hero, and Claudio's problem strewn road to wedded bliss. As she began to feel sleepier, Laura lay her head on Stefan's shoulder. "You need sleep." Stefan commented, brushing her hair out of her eyes. " Would you like me to take you back to your room?" "No. Not yet." She shook her head. "Just… just hold me like this a little bit longer." His arms tightened around her, holding her close to him. "I love you so much. No matter what happens, I'll always love you." She murmured. He kissed her on the forehead. "I love you, too." She looked up at him, thinking. Why did he love her? She had never brought him anything but pain and suffering. She didn't deserve his love. The very sight of her should repel him, yet instead, just being with her made him happy. She knew that she had always counted on him - always gained confidence from the fact that he worshiped her. Even when she hadn't known where he was, she had known, deep down inside, that he still adored her. She had taken advantage of him and used him but he had always been there when she needed him. "Oh, Stefan." She cried. "I'm so sorry." "What's wrong, Lasha." He asked, alarmed at her sudden distress. "I've been so terrible to you. How can you ever forgive me?" "Shh." He put his figure to her lips. "You've always done what you thought was best. No one can blame you for that." "Thank you, Stefan." She looked into his eyes, silently showing him the deep gratitude she felt. "You're going to be so tired tomorrow." He warned after a time. "You know, if there weren't so many children in the house…" her voice trailed off, suggestively. Almost immediately she felt his lips on hers. Quickly deepening the kiss, Laura caressed his face with one hand, and pulled him closer with the other. "More than anything I want you to make love to me." She breathed, breaking the kiss and standing up. "And if I don't go upstairs right now, I won't be able to control myself." She took a deep breath and kissed him once more, this time on the cheek. "We've waited so many years. Sometime soon…" "Very soon." Stefan nodded in agreement. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alexis sat up in bed. There was an insistent knocking at her door. "What sane person would be at my door this time of morning?" Alexis groaned, glancing at the clock by her bed, which read 3:30AM. "I swear, if Ned is here for sex, I'm going to break his neck." She crawled out of bed and made her way to the door, flinging it open. "Hey there, Princess." Alexis closed the door in Luke's face. "Oh, God." She sighed, hoping against hope she was having a nightmare. Slowly, she reopened the door. "Boo." "Have you completely lost your mind?" Alexis shrieked at him. "Do you know what time it is?! Why on earth couldn't this wait till morning." "Maybe I just wanted to see you in your night gown." Luke whistled, looking her up and down. "You are the most… oh, never mind. It's too early for me to think of an appropriate insult. What do you want, Luke?" "Would you buy that I just wanted to come by and see an old partner in crime." "No." "Ok. I did have another reason for coming." "You don't say." Alexis said sarcastically. "I've got a plan, Natasha." He smiled evilly. "I'm taking her down. I'm taking her all the way down." "Who?" "Helena." "Thank God. For a moment, I thought you were serious. "I am. She's got to go. And I don't care if I accomplishing it. I've got nothing else to live for." "Ah, poor Luke." Alexis rolled her eyes. "And in your crazed state you actually thought I would help you?" "Open your eyes, Natasha. Don't you want revenge for everything Helena ever did to you?" "Of course. But it's just to dangerous." "I really hate to blackmail you, darlin'." "I'll bet." Alexis sneered. "Still, desperate times call for desperate measures. I need a partner and you're the only person I trust… well, trust is a strong word. But you're the only person I come close to trusting." "What do you have me, Luke?" She asked. "I'm really very curious. Did you bribe a police man for a record of my speeding tickets? Did you find out that time I had TWO candy bars in the same day, or… God forbid, did you figure out the secret I've been keeping all of these months?… that I love you?" She put her hand to her forehead and fainted' onto the couch. "I'm ruined. Done with. I'll never work again…" "Are you through?" Luke asked. "I suppose." She sat up. "Then here." He reached into his jacket and pulled out a manila envelope. A sense of foreboding filled Alexis, but she forced herself to remain calm. "What is that?" "Well, if what Helena has done to you isn't enough, maybe what she did to your dear brother will push you over the edge." Luke suggested. She took the envelope from him and cut it open with a nearby knife. Inside she found, not only pictures but documents. "Oh my God." her eyes grew wide, staring at the pictures. She realized that she was shaking, but was powerless to stop. "Where did you get these?"