Luke and Reid and John and Lucinda - a fanfic
Title: Luke and Reid and John and Lucinda
Author: nancygrew
Rating: PG
Disclosure: Characters belong to ATWT
Notes: AU after Reid drives off to Bay City to get the Tool a heart. Takes place after my stories Reid Has a Really Stupid Day and Reid Has a Not So Stupid Evening. Takes place before Chinatown and Bonnie and Clyde.
Summary: Reid and Luke run into John and Lucinda in the lobby of the Fairview.
Reid and Luke walked into the lobby of the Fairview Hotel. Luke’s hand was resting on Reid’s lower back beneath his suit jacket. Luke had reserved a suite for the night in hopes that he and Reid would spend the night together and make love for the first time. He had decided to reserve the bridal suite as it was the most romantic suite of the hotel that his mother co-owned. He had even gone as far as having ordered flowers, scented candles and a bottle of sparkling cider sent to the room. He knew that there was a good chance of Reid mocking him for his "Victorian maiden" sensibilities but he needed Reid to know that Luke felt that Reid was worth the effort of making the night special.
They had just entered the lobby when they came across the exquisitely tailored Lucinda Walsh and the dashing Dr. John Dixon.
"Luke, darling," Lucinda exclaimed delightedly after she gave him a resounding kiss on the cheek. "What an unexpected surprise running into you! Whatever are you doing here?"
"Reid and I came to have a drink in the bar," Luke hurriedly lied to his grandmother while avoiding eye contact with Reid. "John, it’s good to see you again. Grandmother, you remember Reid."
"Mrs. Walsh," greeted Reid as he silently moaned to himself that he was once again being prevented from "being alone" with Luke. Sometimes he felt that every resident in Oakdale was in some vast conspiracy to prevent him from doing absolutely delicious things with Luke. "Dr. Dixon."
"Please call me Lucinda," said Lucinda. "John and I were just headed to the bar ourselves. Why don’t the two of you join us? I would love to hear about the excitement about how Chris Hughes’ heart was obtained."
The four headed into the bar and sat at a booth. Given that Lucinda Walsh was the Lady Bountiful of Oakdale and Luke was the Dashing Prince of Oakdale, they received immediate service.
"So, let me guess," Reid said to John and Lucinda. "Since the two of you are residents of Oakdale, Illinois, you must be related in some bizarre way. I’m going to guess that you are half-siblings on your mother’s side and second cousins twice removed on your fathers’ sides."
"We’re not related in a bizarre way at all," replied John. "Unless you consider marriage to be bizarre and what sane person doesn’t?" Lucinda daintily shoved an elbow into John’s side.
"John and I were married for a brief but memorable time," explained Lucinda.
"You’ve been married to both Lucinda Walsh and Kim Hughes?" asked a surprised Reid.
"He was also married to my sort-of Aunt Carly," Luke gleefully advised Reid. "He also dated my grandma Emma, my aunt Iva and Lisa Grimaldi. John Dixon is a pimp daddy."
"No wonder you moved out of Oakdale," said Reid. "It’s probably safer for you out of state."
"He actually gets along with most of his exes," informed Lucinda. "It’s amazing given the fact that he is an obnoxious cad with the morals of an alley cat. No offense, John."
"None taken, my dear," said John. "How many husbands have you had by now?"
"That’s not important. Reid, darling, is it true that you went off to Bay City Memorial to storm the castle and to retrieve the heart that had been promised to Bob’s son?"
"Storm the castle sounds a little too white knight-ish to describe me," Reid shrugged. "It was more just saying cruel and cutting things, threatening lawsuits and promising future consults in exchange for them keeping their word that the heart be assigned to Doogie."
"White knights have always been a little too boring for my tastes," assured Lucinda. "But it was extremely noble of you to do everything you could for a man who shouldn’t even have been your patient. John explained to me that you had been treating Chris under duress due to his being an impossible numbskull regarding seeking treatment."
Reid huffed a laugh. "Doogie is always an impossible numbskull but yes, he was even more so than usual during this mess. The insane thing is that the people who should be infuriated at him for needlessly risking his life are being completely sympathetic to his ‘selfless but misguided’ attempt to protect them." Reid rolled his eyes. He looked at Luke. "Okay, is this one of those times when you’re going to lecture me about being polite?"
"Well, you should probably be polite to Katie and the Hughes herd regarding your feelings of antipathy for Chris’ and his trademarked brand of idiocy but I think you should feel comfortable to be yourself with my grandmother," said Luke.
"Is this a trick?" asked Reid. "You’ve seen me be myself. You don’t care if your grandmother likes me?""
"You and Grandmother are both . . . strong personalities," said Luke. "You’ll either be fast friends or mortal enemies."
"You don’t seem too perturbed about the possibility of Reid and myself being mortal enemies," said Lucinda thoughtfully while tapping her finger on her chin.
"Well, neither one of you seems to mind having mortal enemies," Luke shrugged. "Besides, each of you are more than capable of taking care of yourselves. I don’t have to protect either of you."
"That’s a little insulting to your grandmother," admonished John. "Lucinda has decades on Reid. She’ll wipe the floor with him and leave him a empty husk of a man if she decides to take offence to him."
"I don’t want to insult my grandmother," said Luke as he gave his grandmother an apologetic look. "But she’s . . . mellowed. It’s taken a lot of time to get used to it but since she hasn’t taken up needlepoint yet, we’ve decided to ignore it and move on with our lives. Don’t get me wrong, she could still destroy most human beings using just her sharp wit but Reid’s a tough nut."
"That’s kind of you to say, darling," cooed Lucinda. "So, are you going to be telling me that Reid is your new boyfriend or am I still supposed to pretend that I don’t know?"
"Oh, sorry, Grandmother," responded Luke. "I wasn’t trying to keep it a secret. It’s just brand new."
"Don’t try to pull that on me, young man," said Lucinda raising an eyebrow. "I’ve seen the two of you bicker during board meetings. There’s no way that the two of you haven’t been sleeping together for months."
"We haven’t!" insisted Luke. "Honest. I’m not exactly the secret lover type. Furtiveness has never been my strong suit."
"See, even your grandmother thinks that we should have been sleeping together months ago," Reid lightly complained to Luke.
"She didn’t say that she thought we should be sleeping together just that she assumed we were," said Luke.
"Actually, you’re both extremely good looking young men with amazing chemistry," considered Lucinda. "Is there a reason that the two of you didn’t jump into bed the first time you met?"
"Grandmother, you know that every time anyone who isn’t in a loving, committed relationship has sex, a unicorn dies," Luke solemnly informed his Lucinda.
"Darling, being a gay male is totally wasted on you," Lucinda sadly intoned.
"One time, friends from college invited Noah and me to a weekend house party with a bunch of people. They started talking about hot tubs and drugs and completely freaked me and Noah out," laughed Luke. "We made rather panicked excuses about why we couldn’t go."
"Have you even set foot inside a gay club?" asked Reid.
"Nope. I just turned 21 last May," replied Luke.
"A gay teenage boy an hour away from a big city like Chicago doesn’t get a fake id?" Reid asked incredulously.
"Well, a fake id would not have been a good idea back when I was drinking," answered Luke. "Plus, I’ve always kind of feared that gay clubs were like they are on Queer as Folk and complete strangers would want to have sex with me."
"Oh, I love that show!" exclaimed Lucinda. All three of the men looked at her in varying degrees of horror. "What? Once I found out Luke was gay, it felt like familiarizing myself with gay pop culture was an appropriate grandmotherly thing to do. I’ve been waiting years for Luke to bring gay culture up in conversation but alas he never has. I didn’t feel it was appropriate to be the first to broach the topic. I didn’t want him to think I was trying to put him in a ‘gay’ box."
"What forms of gay culture are you familiar with?" asked John while fearing Lucinda was about to ask to be her grandson’s fag hag.
"Well, I’ve bought Cher’s and Bette Midler’s entire oeuvres. And I own the DVDs of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar. I have to say, I’m a little disappointed that Luke’s never expressed any interest in drag. I think you would be so adorable dressed up in a corset and fishnets like one of those characters in the Rocky Horror Picture Show," Lucinda confided to her grandson.
"Please stop," said Luke. He tried to move the conversation with his grandmother away from sex. "John, how are you enjoying Johns Hopkins? Is it wonderful living somewhere where everyone doesn’t know every single thing about you?"
John had fond memories of Luke as a small child but that didn’t stop him from being amused by the way Lucinda had unintentionally discomforted her grandson. He decided to join in on the fun. "Luke, you’re a good looking young man. And let’s not forget rich. Why are you dating some crabby old guy instead of having lots of meaningless, no-strings sex with random hot gay beefcake?"
Reid shot a deadly glare John’s way. "Luke," Reid said to his boyfriend. "It’s important that you understand that meaningless, no-strings sex with random hot gay beefcake is an empty and hollow experience. You should thank me every day for being willing to save you from a life of amazing sex with a vast array of hot strangers."
"Thank you, Reid," Luke said dutifully,
"How long have you been dating?" asked Lucinda.
"I’m not quite sure," answered Luke. "Possibly since tonight."
"I’m counting our first date as being a couple of months ago when you convinced me that riding a mechanical bull was a good idea," said Reid.
"I think the two of you should split the difference and consider your first date as last month when Reid gave up his job rather than give up Luke," said John.
"My goodness, you gave up your job for Luke? How do I not know this and John does? Why would you even have to give up your job for Luke?" asked Lucinda.
"I don’t know how John knows," said Reid.
"Kim told me the other day when I arrived in town," John bragged. "She thinks it’s the most romantic thing she’s ever heard done by someone who is a complete ass. I’m sure she meant ‘ass’ in the best possible way."
"Ha," smirked Reid. "That woman hates me. I’d feel kind of bad about it but she’s really fun when she’s mean. I hope she doesn’t start to like me just because I called you in to save her idiot son."
"Kim is one of the sweetest women in the world," said John. "The fact that you’ve managed to piss her off says a lot about you." Reid nodded proudly.
"Let’s get back to the story of why Reid had to sacrifice his job for my grandson," demanded Lucinda.
"When Bob was trying to sell the hospital to Invicta, he felt that it was a conflict of interest for the head of the neurology wing to date one of the major donors to the wing," explained Reid. "He explained I had to choose one and since your grandson wasn’t willing to be my dirty little secret, I eventually chose him."
"We didn’t start to date until we started working together on the wing," Luke said defensively. "We didn’t like each other at all until after we started working together. I thought he was an arrogant jerk and he thought I was a spoiled brat. Well, I still think he’s an arrogant jerk and he still thinks I’m a spoiled brat but we like each other anyway. Usually."
"I’m sure no one thinks you’ve done anything inappropriate," soothed Lucinda. "However, I feel Bob was rather hypocritical about calling you out on a potential conflict of interest."
"I know," huffed Reid. "His hospital employs every Hughes in town and he’s the type of Chief of Staff to let his grandson’s ex-girlfriend operate on his son. I admire the man but I don’t think he understand the meaning of the phrase ‘conflict of interest’."
"Not to mention that Alison isn’t only Casey’s ex, and possibly present, girlfriend but she was also once engaged to Chris," said Luke.
"He let Doogie’s ex fiancee assist on his operation?" exclaimed a shocked Reid.
"He did," advised Lucinda. "However, I was actually referring to the fact that Bob slept with Susan Stewart. It wasn’t appropriate for the Chief of Staff to have an extramarital affair with one of the doctors who worked for him so his trying to pretend to be piously concerned with the reputation of the hospital at my grandson’s expense is infuriating. I’m going to have to decide whether to destroy his miserable excuse for a life."
"Dr. Bob cheated on Kim?" asked an upset Luke. Lucinda nodded at her grandson. "I really wish I didn’t know that. It’s like finding out Santa Claus cheated on Mrs. Claus. Grandmother, you can’t destroy Bob. He’s one of the few people in town that actually likes Reid."
"It’s nice that you don’t feel the night to protect my feelings," said Reid to his boyfriend. Luke gave Reid a 1000 watt grin. Then he became serious and looked at his grandmother.
"Grandmother, there’s something that I’ve been wanting to ask you but I’ve been afraid of you taking action about it. Can I ask you something without you involving yourself in it?" asked Luke.
"Probably not," said Lucinda. "Why don’t you tell me about whatever it is and we can discuss our options."
"Never mind," said Luke.
"Darling," cajoled Lucinda. "You can ask me anything but I can’t promise not to try to fix something if something is wrong."
"I know I can depend on you when I need it," said Luke. "But I don’t want to be Damian Grimaldi’s son and inadvertently get you to interfere and twist arms over something that you should stay out of."
"Lucinda," encouraged John. "This is the perfect opportunity for you to practice being a concerned grandmother instead of a Robo-Grandmother. It’ll probably be an exciting new experience for you."
"Fine," sighed Lucinda. "You can ask me whatever you want and I promise not to interfere."
"Okay, you know how Reid and Chris are both being considered for the COS job?" Luke asked. Lucinda nodded. "And you know that I wouldn’t want you to vote or campaign for Reid unless you thought he was the best man for the job, right?" Lucinda nodded. "Can you tell me, if you don’t feel you’re breaking any confidences, if Chris is actually seriously being considered for the job?"
"He is considered a viable candidate for the job but it’s mostly because he’s Bob’s son and is personable," Lucinda said with distaste. "Are you concerned that Reid may not get the job? In my opinion he has the advantage of being renowned in his field while Chris is merely an adequate doctor. There’s also the fact that Reid ran his own neuro unit previously and Chris has no administrative experience. Reid has also designed our new neuro wing with such cutting edge technology and practices that it interested The Evil Empire in trying to buy Memorial."
"If Reid wants the job, then I want it for him," said Luke. "But I’m not sure how anyone can be considering Chris for the job. He sexually harassed a nurse and then lied about it. How isn’t that a slap in the face to every woman who works at Memorial and a lawsuit waiting to happen?"
"It’s Oakdale, Luke," moaned John. "Short memories and the beatification of The Family Hughes."
"I can remind the rest of the board about Chris’s colorful history and remind them that sexual harassment is a form of misogyny that could financial cripple Memorial," said Lucinda.
"No, you can’t," sing-songed Luke. "You promised to stay out of it. Reid is more than capable of earning the position on his own merits. There’s no need for him to fight a dirty campaign."
"Actually," said John. "It’s a really valid point that should be addressed. The only reason Chris wasn’t fired after that incident is because he’s the Beloved Bob Hughes’ son. Any other doctor would have been let go and then escorted from the building carrying a sad cardboard box with his labcoat, stethoscope and a coffee mug emblazoned with ‘Doctors Don’t Do It With Patience’"
"Luke, darling, perhaps Reid should be the one who should decide whether I bring up Chris’ indiscretions to the board members," Lucinda pointed out to her grandson.
"Yeah, you’re right," said Luke. "Reid, I’m sorry that I just went ahead and made the decision to not have Grandmother interfere. Do you want her to bring the matter up with the other board members?"
"I don’t think it would be campaigning dirty to bring it up," said Reid. "If he really sexually harassed a nurse he doesn’t belong in management. But, I would hate to have it brought up during the running for the COS job. It would really hurt Bob and he doesn't deserve that no matter how much of a tool his son is."
Reid sighed. He gave Luke an annoyed look. "You know, this caring business really inconvenient!"
"I know it is," soothed Luke as he kissed Reid on his temple and rubbed his hand down Reid’s arm.
"Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?" Lucinda asked Luke.
"Hmm?"
"You left a voicemail for me this afternoon stating that you wanted to talk to me," reminded Lucinda.
"Oh, that!" Luke remembered. "I was wondering if you would let me move into the cottage on your estate until I get my own place. Would that be okay?"
"I would love to have you living at the cottage," said Lucinda.
"You’re going to move from your mommy’s house to your grandmommy’s house?" teased Reid.
"Don’t be ridiculous," smiled Luke. "The cottage is at least 50 yards from my grandmommy’s house. Besides, the cottage would be a great place to live while I hunt for my swinging bachelor pad. Well, my ‘I could be swinging if I wanted to’ pad. You’ll like the cottage."
"You’re going to invite me over?" smirked Reid.
"Well, I’m going to ask you if you want to move in with me. I know it’s way too fast in a Fatal Attraction, I Boil Bunnies kind of way but you could have died yesterday and I hate to think about how me being afraid to commit to us could have been what our whole relationship consisted of. Plus Grandmother has stables and as your boyfriend, it’s my responsibility to ensure you get a hobby so you don’t die of a stroke by the time you’re forty. And you don’t have to say you want to move in with me if you don’t want just to protect my feelings because I want us to be honest with each other-" Reid placed his hand over Luke’s mouth.
"I’d like for us to try living together," said Reid.
"Really?" grinned Luke happily.
"Yeah. And you don’t have to worry about moving too fast. I’ve been ahead of you for awhile now," said Reid.
"Okay, that’s cool. Have you given any thought to what we should name the Cambodian orphan we’re going to adopt in ten years?" Luke joked.
"Olivia Snyder," Reid said without hesitation. Luke laughed in delight and leaned forward to kiss Reid when he remembered the presence of his grandmother and ex-stepgrandfather. Luke leaned back and blushed while his grandmother tipped her glass to him.
"You’ll love the horses, Reid," said Lucinda.
"I don’t think I’m a horse type of guy," confided Reid uncomfortably.
"If you’re afraid to try riding, I can still teach you about horses and you can feed them apples and brush their coats. Horses are amazing," said Luke.
"I’m assuming that horseback riding is something you did with the woobie. Probably during moonlit nights while fireflies spelled out, ‘Luke and Noah Forever,’ in the sky," said Reid.
Luke snorted. "Noah and I did ride but it’s not some romantic memory or anything. My dad’s a horse trader. I grew up riding. I helped teach my younger siblings how to ride. I taught my ‘0 on the Kinsey scale’ friends Casey Hughes and Will Munson how to ride. I think you should consider it for awhile and we can discuss it again after I’ve introduced you to the horses. Is that okay?"
"It’s a deal," said Reid.
"Holy Moses, I just realized that the name of that recent patient that won you all sorts of attention was Noah," said John. "Is that Noah the same Noah that is apparently Luke’s ex-boyfriend?"
"Reid and I didn’t start dating until long after Noah and I broke up," Luke said defensively while scrunching his shoulders.
"How did Noah take his ex-boyfriend dating his doctor?" asked John with morbid curiosity.
"It could have been worse," replied Reid.
"He punched you in the face," exclaimed Luke.
"It could have been worse. He could have punched you in the face," said Reid. Luke gazed at Reid with a ‘Nancy Reagan gazing at Ronnie’ look of complete adoration on his face.
"Have you mentioned wanting to move into the cottage on my estate with your mother?" Lucinda suddenly asked.
"No," replied Luke. "I wanted to check with you that it was okay. I don’t think Mom would mind me moving out. She still has a full house with the felon staying there."
Lucinda huffed out a laugh. "Not a big fan of Gabriel staying at the Lilypad?"
"I know Mom has a soft spot for Craig but I’m not sure how that ended up us living in the Walsh Home for Wayward Boys."
"The reason I’m asking about whether you’ve told your mother about moving into the cottage is because she is quite upset with me at the present time. In fact, she isn’t speaking with me," confessed Lucinda. "I wouldn’t want her to think that you’re taking my side against hers."
"What did you do?" Luke asked with narrowed eyes.
"I destroyed her perfume company," explained Lucinda hurriedly. "It was wrong of me and I wish I hadn’t done it but at the time I actually thought that it was the right thing to do."
"Hurting Mom doesn’t really sound like something that you would do," said Luke. "Do you have a brain tumor? Should Reid take a look at you?"
"I wish I could blame it on a tumor," said Lucinda. "I decided that Craig Montgomery needed to be destroyed for the good of the universe and since your mother decided to randomly start a perfume company with him as her backer, I ruined their chances of succeeding."
"That’s not logical at all," said a confused Luke. "Mom’s always been naïve about Craig but Carly would never go into business with Craig again. He got away with it but everyone knows he burnt down their last business."
"Your mother didn’t tell Carly that Craig was their secret partner," explained Lucinda.
"So, Mom’s upset with you for betraying her even though she was betraying Carly?" questioned Luke.
"Yes, that’s it," Lucinda happily agreed. "Now, that you’ve mentioned it, she behaved just as badly as I have during this mess. I’m so glad that you can see my side."
"Grandmother," said Luke, "If Mom really betrayed her partner, she behaved in a dishonorable fashion. But you’re not blameless. You’re ten times smarter than Craig and a hundred times meaner. If you decided to destroy him, you could have found a way to not hurt Mom in the process. Why didn’t you just tell Carly what you knew about Craig being Mom’s secret partner? Carly would have ended the perfume partnership and Craig would have to have go on to his next scheme. Hopefully one that didn’t involve Mom."
"You’re really wasted as a white hat, darling," said Lucinda.
"I’m concerned that the two of you aren’t getting along. Ethan and Natalie don’t need this type of tension. Are you willing to meet with Mom to discuss this whole matter?"
"Of course, darling," said Lucinda. "Do you really think that you can get your mother to speak with me?"
"I can try. Excuse me, while I go make a quick phone call," said Luke.
Luke walked out to the lobby and pulled out his cell phone. He dialed his mother’s number and waited for her to pick up the phone.
"Mom," said Luke. "I’m calling to set up a meeting between you and grandmother so that you can draw up a truce."
"I cannot believe that Mother has involved you in this," Lily said angrily. "If you’re taking her side, then she hasn’t told you the whole story. Did she mention the part that she destroyed my perfume company?"
"Mom," Luke said angrily. "I am extremely concerned that you were willing to go into business with Craig and that you were willing to lie to everyone about it. You have a right to be mad at Grandmother for betraying you but you behaved towards Carly in a dishonorable fashion and have no right to be throwing stones at Grandmother."
"Luke," said Lily. "I had to lie to Carly-"
"No," said Luke interrupting his mother. "You should have been honest with Carly because she had the right to decide who she wanted to do business with."
"Luke, you don’t understand," said Lily. "Mother betrayed her own family by-"
Luke interrupted his mother again. "You’ve betrayed family by getting into business with Craig. Carly is family and he burned her business to the ground. Parker and Bryant are family and Craig stole their trust funds. Lucy is family and he had her kidnapped which resulted in Alan’s death. He stole Worldwide from you when you were addicted to drugs and needed help. He did this while Grandmother was recovering from cancer. He swapped Gwen’s baby and got away with it. Gwen isn’t family but Faith is and Hope was and he did to that baby’s family the same thing someone else did to ours." By the time Luke was done with his tirade he was shaking with anger.
"I don’t know what to say, Luke," began Lily.
"You can say that you’re willing to talk to Grandmother and straighten this out," answered Luke.
"I’m still angry at her but I’m willing to talk to her if you want me to," said Lily. "I’m at WOAK right now but will be home in an hour. You can tell her to meet me at our home then. You have to know that I didn’t look at this as betraying Carly."
"How could you not?" asked Luke. "Was this some way to pay her back for sleeping with Dad?"
"No, baby," cried Lily. "I just tried to do what I thought was right."
"That’s what Grandmother said," said Luke sadly. "Thank you for being willing to speak with Grandmother. I’m going to be staying with Reid tonight so I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Bye."
"Bye, baby."
Luke walked back into the bar and noticed how cozy Reid and his grandmother seemed. He wasn’t sure whether having his soon-to-be lover and grandmother behaving like best friends was sweet or terrifying. Luke sat down.
"Mom will be home in an hour. She’s looking forward to hashing this out with you," Luke informed his grandmother.
"I thank you for convincing your mother to talk to me."
"It’s not a problem. It’s important to keep the family from falling apart just because you and Mom are both angry. By the way, are the kids’ and my trust funds safe regardless of anything Craig might trick Mom into doing?"
"Yes," assured Lucinda. "Your trust funds are all safe. Luke, you’re shaking. I’m so sorry for getting you involved in this mess between your mother and me. I shouldn’t have mentioned it at all. I promise I’m going to do everything I can to make it up to your mother."
"I’m okay. I just was going over everything that Craig’s done and I started thinking about how Craig switching Gwen’s baby with Jennifer’s was so similar to Hope and Faith being switched. And I’m angry with Mom because of it."
"I didn’t know that you remembered Hope," said Lucinda. "You were so young."
"I was five," Luke said impatiently. "Of course I remember." Luke felt Reid’s hand stroke his back. Luke turned towards Reid and took a deep breath.
"When I was a kid, my mom brought my sister Hope home from the hospital. She was so tiny and beautiful and I was so proud that I was her big brother. My mom had trouble bonding with Hope. I heard her tell my dad that Hope wasn’t her daughter. I don’t know if she really somehow knew that Hope wasn’t her biological daughter or if she was suffering postpartum depression. But months later, my parents brought home my sister Faith."
Luke paused and took a long drink of soda. Reid kissed Luke’s temple.
"Anyway, my parents explained that there was a mistake before but Faith and Hope were both going to be my sisters. I was afraid that they were going to give Hope away and I was scared. Then they did. Hope’s biological mother decided that she wanted Hope back and my parents had to give her back. Now I understand what happened but back then all I really understood was that my parents gave away my sister. And I blamed Faith for them sending Hope away. It took me a long time to start loving Faith. I don’t mean to be so dramatic about this. Hope is okay. She’s actually John and Kim’s granddaughter and she’s being raised by a mother that loves her. And Faith and I are really close when she’s not being all angst-filled, rebel without a plan."
Reid had no idea at all of what to say. Lucinda had tears in her eyes when she reached for Luke’s hands.
"Darling Luke, I am so sorry. I had no idea of how hard all of that was for you. I should have. Everyone always says how resilient children are and people assume that if they’re not telling you something is wrong then nothing’s wrong."
"It’s nobody’s fault that I didn’t understand what was going on. I think people did explain things to me but I just didn’t understand how to express what I was feeling and thinking," Luke said to his grandmother. He got up and walked to her and kissed her on the cheek while she wrapped her arms around him. "I’m so sorry I brought this up."
"Please don’t apologize or I might start sobbing," whispered Lucinda. Luke smiled shakily at her and she smiled shakily back.
"Hope is doing really well," John said to Luke in a quiet voice. "She’s in a magnet school that specializes in science. She’s thinking about becoming a doctor."
"I know," Luke said. "I ask Kim about her every once in awhile. From what Kim says, she sounds like an amazing kid."
"She is," said John proudly.
"Okay, this evening did not end up how I was hoping it would," said Luke. "John, it was good to see you again. Grandmother, I’ll talk to you tomorrow about the rapprochement between you and Mom. Reid and I are going to hit the road." Luke and Reid shook hands with John. Lucinda kissed both Reid and Luke on the cheek. Luke and Reid walked out into the lobby.
"Reid, if you’re overwhelmed by everything, I can take you home."
"I’m pretty sure that boyfriends don’t run away when the person they love is upset," said Reid. "I’ve seen movies."
"You don’t have to be a perfect boyfriend right away," said Luke. "You can work up to it."
"There’s no point in being mediocre at anything," said Reid. "I get it if you’re not in the mood for sex anymore but I still want to be with you. I can’t believe I’m actually saying this, but we could just talk and then go to sleep."
Luke smiled at his very understanding boyfriend. "Let me show you my etchings. I just happen to have them upstairs in a suite that I’ve reserved."
"Sadly, I put the estimate of you actually having etchings to show me at 65%," said Reid while shaking his head.
Luke pulled Reid onto the elevator. After depressing the button for their floor, he stepped close to Reid and wrapped his arms around him. Luke kissed Reid gently. Then he stepped back in horror just as the elevator stopped at their floor. "You don’t think Grandmother and John were in the lobby because they were about to go to John’s room for sex, do you?"
"Don’t worry. I’m pretty sure John was just going to show your grandmother his etchings."