Date Night, The Blues and Stupid Weakened Immune Systems - a fanfic - Chapter 3/7
Title: Date Night, The Blues and Stupid Weakened Immune Systems
Author: nancygrew
Disclaimer: characters belong to atwt
Rating: pg-13 for a few swears in an upcoming chapter
Characters: Luke/Reid, Lucinda, Half of Oakdale. A small percentage of Malta.
Warning: The title probably gives away the fact that there’s hurt/comfort ahead.
Notes: Futurefic. Takes place June 2015. Takes place between my story Luke and Casey Have a Chat and my story Amnesia and Realizations. And Maple-Glazed Turkey. The latter story mentioned that Luke had been seriously ill about six months prior to that story and there was a request to see that story so I thought I’d give it a shot. You don’t have to read my other fic in order to understand this one. AU after Reid drives off to Bay City on some long-forgotten errand.
Summary: Reid hangs out with Lucinda and Luke’s been working too hard.
Chapter Three - Reid and Lucinda chow down
When Lucinda and Reid arrived at The Juke Joint, they walked towards the front of the stage where they knew they would find their reserved table. The fact that Reid and Lucinda always had a reserved table on their nights at The Juke Joint had once been surprising for a couple of reasons. The first reason being that The Juke Joint didn’t accept reservations. It was a hard-and-fast rule that the co-owner Carly Snyder had insisted upon. She could be a hard-ass that way. The second reason being that neither Reid nor Lucinda had even attempted to reserve a table for their visits. They had already butted heads with Carly about her no-delivery policy. Neither Lucinda nor Reid were used to losing battles and were still licking their wounds over losing the battle over the no-delivery policy. They hadn’t yet geared up for a battle about the no-reservations policy.
The first time that they had arrived to find a table reserved for them, Lucinda had asked Carly about it. Carly had claimed that Luke had made the reservation. Reid knew that Luke hadn’t. Carly always knew when her business partner, Luke, was going to be out of town so it was simple for Carly to know when he and Lucinda would be painting the town red. But Luke had never asked her for a reservation for Reid and Lucinda. Reid had realized immediately that the reserved table had been the result of a conversation that he and Carly had once had shortly after The Juke Joint had opened. Reid had exited the rest room to find an open-mouthed Carly standing near the back of the room, gaping at a Lucinda Walsh who was clearly enraptured by the blues performer on stage. Carly had noticed Reid and poked him in the arm to get his attention.
"Ouch," Reid had muttered. "What do you want, you big poker?"
"What is going on with Madame Walsh?" Carly had asked Reid.
"What do you mean?" Reid questioned.
"You don’t find it odd that the wealthy, pearls-wearing, Lady of the Manor is getting off listening to the blues?" Carly had asked Reid.
"She relates to the blues. You’ve been in Oakdale long enough to have seen the tabloid exposes about her beginnings as Mary Ellen Walters. You know that she grew up poor and hungry," Reid had shrugged, not getting Carly’s point.
"She might have been poor and hungry when she was a kid but it’s been a mighty long time since then. Continents have shifted and stars have died out since then."
"She was the type of poor and hungry that you don’t ever forget. Even if she hadn’t been poor, she still would be more ‘entitled’ to enjoy the blues than anyone else in here."
"How do you figure?" asked a suprised Carly.
Reid had been in Oakdale for years and was still astonished that he had to spell out everything to everybody. All the freaking darn time. "She’s the grandmother of a dead, beloved grandson. Her sister Neal was murdered. Her brother Royce has spent the last couple of decades in a posh insane asylum. Her sister Samantha and brother-in-law Kirk disappeared decades ago. She grieves for all of them. Every single day."
It was during their next visit to The Juke Joint that Reid and Lucinda had found a table reserved for the Walsh-Oliver party. Every visit afterwards found a reserved table for them.
Tonight, however, was different. There was a table for four instead of a table for two. This did not bode well for anyone.
Reid held out Lucinda’s chair for her and then sat down. He picked up the ‘Reserved For’ card. It read ‘Reserved For the Walsh-Oliver-Hughes Party.’
"Which Hughes’ did you invite?" Reid asked Lucinda. "If it’s Humorless Tom, I’ll have to break up with you."
"I didn’t invite anyone, I assumed you did," replied Lucinda.
Reid noticed Bob Hughes and his wife,Kim, headed towards their table. Their progress was slow as Kim was still getting used to walking with a cane. Her health problems over the past year had been of great concern to her loved ones.
Reid stood up. "I take it that you two are our mystery dates tonight?"
Reid shook hands with the man who insisted upon being his mentor regardless of how much Reid figuratively kicked and screamed about not wanting a mentor. He shook hands with the woman who insisted upon being his arch-nemesis regardless of how much Reid . . .oh, yeah. Reid had totally earned her arch-nemetude. Lucinda stood and exchanged air-kisses with the pillar-of-society Hughes.
After everyone sat back down, Reid turned towards Bob. "Is there a reason why you didn’t mention during our weekly lunch today that we were also going to be having dinner together tonight? I don’t mind spending two meals in one week with you but I don’t want all of Oakdale gossiping about whether you and I are ‘going steady.’"
"I’ll be sure to explain to everyone that you and I are both free to see other doctors," said Bob. "I actually didn’t know this afternoon that we would be forming a foursome. I called Carly today to see if she would make an exception to the ‘no reservations’ policy for Kim and me this evening and she informed me that Kim and I were going to be sitting with you and Lucinda this evening. I’d be disturbed by her bossiness if I wasn’t so happy and surprised that she was breaking her ‘no reservations’ policy for us."
One of the highly trained servers approached the table and took their orders. Reid ordered the pulled pork with a tomato-based barbecue sauce with a side of corn pudding and a biscuit. Lucinda ordered ribs with a mustard-based sauce with cole slaw and cornbread. Kim ordered the chicken with a honey and soy-based sauce with baked beans and a biscuit. Bob ordered the brisket with a curry and peanuts-based sauce with macaroni and cheese and a biscuit. They all ordered a DeWitt Pear & Fig Soda. The DeWitt Cereal Company had recently started a beverage subsidiary and the pear and fig-flavored soda was a very popular local flavor.
"Andy’s over at the house socializing with his father and siblings," Lucinda said to Kim. "With Frannie, Sabrina and Andy all moving back to town during the last year, you must be pretty happy that most of your children are back in Oakdale."
"I am," said Kim. "Although Reid must be relieved that Christopher hasn’t returned to Oakdale."
"I am," said Reid. "Whenever he’s around, I’m in a constant state of worry that he won’t be able to support that gigantic head of his and that he’ll tip over."
"Reid! Don’t talk about my son that way in front of Kim," ordered Bob.
Kim smiled. She placed her hand upon Bob’s arm. "It’s okay, kiddo. I like the fact that Reid treats me like I’m still me instead of some fragile, helpless old woman."
Reid shrugged. "Your body may be feeling frail right now but you’re still a bad-ass and the only Hughes that’s even a little bit scary."
"Are you hitting on me, Reid?" asked Kim.
Reid opened his mouth to say something. He closed it. He opened it again. He closed it again.
"You have Dr. Reid Oliver at a loss for words!" said a delighted Bob to his wife. They high-fived one another. Lucinda tried to protect her grandson-in-law’s tender feelings but hiding her laughter in a napkin. His glare said that she hadn’t fooled him.
"You know, it’s very difficult to sleep in a hospital," Kim said to Reid.
"I know. That’s why we don’t rent the spare rooms out like a hotel," replied Reid.
"Sometimes during my recent stays, I’ve awakened in the middle of the night to see you reviewing my medical charts," Kim said to Reid.
"I’m a doctor, that’s sort of what they pay me to do," huffed Reid.
"I’m not your patient but you always follow up on what my care entails anyway. I appreciate the fact that I have a doctor of your caliber who is looking out for me," said Kim.
"Great. Just great. You’re going to change the whole tone of our relationship without any warning whatsoever," grumbled Reid.
"Oh, I still think you’re a schmuck," Kim assured him.
"I appreciate that," said Reid.
Their server returned with their beverages. Bob, being the sentimental old fool that he was, insisted on making a toast.
"To a night out on the town with my beautiful wife and with our dear friends. I feel truly blessed."
They toasted.
"So which exotic port is your young man in tonight, Reid?" asked Kim.
"He’s in Malta right now. I believe he’s there attempting to convert the Maltese Corleones into the Maltese Von Trapps," said Reid.
"If anyone can do it, it’s Luke," said Bob. "Lucinda, I’m surprised that you haven’t talked Luke into giving up Grimaldi Shipping in order to take over Worldwide, Incorporated."
Lucinda sighed and patted her heart dramatically. "I’ve always been so controlling with my daughters that I’ve really tried not to interfere with my grandchildren’s lives."
"It must be very painful for you," said Bob solicitously.
"It was so much easier when Luke wanted to be a writer. I was happy that he enjoyed writing so much and had such an ability for it. But then when he decided to enter the business world but not follow in my footsteps at Worldwide, it became a constant struggle not to try to bribe, coerce or guilt him into coming to Worldwide."
"I thought you said that Paul was doing an excellent job as CEO," said Reid.
"Oh, he is," said Lucinda. "But he’s not family, darling. Worldwide is my legacy and I just wanted it to remain in the hands of family."
"You sure have an overabundance of legacies," Reid mentioned to Lucinda.
Lucinda airily waved her hand. "Luke’s the only one who’s shown an interest in the business world so it’s so difficult not to do everything I can to bring him into Worldwide. Sometimes, I truly detest those Grimaldis for ‘stealing’ Luke away for their business."
"Well, Lucy’s pretty happy with being a doctor, but you still have Faith, Natalie and Ethan to groom for Worldwide even if Luke stays with Grimaldi," said Reid.
"I’m very proud of Faith for getting into law school but her heart seems set upon becoming a children’s advocate instead of going into business law. And Natalie is definitely going to end up in the Science field. My darling little Ethan is a possibility but he certainly seems convinced that he wants to be a children’s therapist."
Reid valiantly forbore mentioning the fact that the reason Faith and Ethan were so interesting in fields where they could help children was because they had often felt such powerlessness growing up. The Snyder siblings had often been buffeted by the storms caused by the on-off relationship of their parents, Lily and Holden Snyder.
"I can relate to how disappointed you must be that Luke won’t be taking over Worldwide anytime soon," sympathized Bob.
"At least Christopher followed your footsteps," said Lucinda.
"When my son, Tom, and grandchildren, Lien and Casey, became lawyers, I couldn’t have been prouder. The fact that they were following in the footsteps of my father and my brother Don touched my heart. But when Christopher decided to follow in my footsteps and become a doctor, I developed all of these unfair expectations of him. It wasn’t enough that he wanted to become a doctor. I wanted him to want to be the same kind of doctor that I was. To have the same goals and to believe in the same sort of medicine that I did. I wanted him to be my clone instead of being himself."
"Baboon-heart is an idiot in many ways," said Reid. "But if he was here, I’m sure he’d tell you that you are exactly the type of doctor that he, and every doctor, aspires to be. Having expectations of your children is natural."
"Thank you, Reid," said a pleased Bob.
"Yeah, whatever," Reid said as the food was being delivered to the table.
A few minutes later, Bob excused himself to go say hello to one of his golfing buddies.
After Bob had left, Kim placed her hand upon Reid’s arm.
"In many ways, you’re like a son to my husband," Kim told Reid. "He gets a real kick out of you. He also takes a lot of pride in you."
"Should I start calling you Mom?"
"I’d have to kill you. No jury would convict me."
"If you killed me, you’d feel bad about."
"Eventually. Maybe."
"Look," said Reid. "I know that I’m an arrogant ass and that I probably don’t show it enough, but I truly admire your husband. He’s a good man and a good doctor and I’m very lucky that he took an interest in me. I’ve learned as much from him as I’ve learned from anyone."
"Thank you for telling me that," said Kim. "Of course, I knew all of that but it was nice to hear you say out loud how much he’s appreciated."
Reid sighed. "Okay, when I first moved to town, I once called Luke and Noah ‘The Gay Bob and Kim.’ I actually meant it as a compliment because you and Bob are so solid and permanent. There. Let’s never talk about our feelings again."
"Deal," Kim said dryly.
"Hey, I want to talk about my feelings," said Lucinda.
Reid’s phone rang. The ring tone was Sex Bomb by Tom Jones. He had forgotten to switch his phone to vibrate before coming into the place. He ignored Carly’s glare. Hey, the band hadn’t even started yet.
"Hey, Luke," he said before realizing that someone else was using his husband’s phone.
He listened for a moment before hurriedly standing up and striding out of the restaurant. He didn’t notice that he had knocked over his chair.