102 Ancient history
Word Soap: As The World Keeps Turning
Author: SYLnl
Title: #102 Ancient history
Rating: PG
Summary: “A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.” - Mahatma Gandhi
Big Thanks To: ltklo, for brushing up my grammar
Previously on As The World Keeps Turning:
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10 #11 #12 #13 #14 #15 #16 #17 #18 #19 #20
#21 #22 #23 #24 #25 #26 #27 #28 #29 #30 #31 #32 #33 #34 #35 #36 #37 #38 #39 #40 #41 #42 #43 #44 #45 #46 #47 #48 #49 #50 #51 #52 #53 #54 #55 #56 #57 #58 #59 #60 #61 #62 #63 #64 #65 #66 #67 #68 #69 #70 #71 #72 #73 #74 #75 #76 #77 #78 #79 #80 #81 #82 #83 #84 #85 #86 #87 #88 #89 #90 #91 #92 #93 #94 #95 #96 #97 #98
#99 #100 #101
The minute he walked into Memorial, he was addressed with several “I know you’re off duty, BUT…” and with a telling smile Luke kissed him, making a ‘go on’ movement with his hand. When Danny protested, Luke squeezed the little chin.
“We’ll meet daddy later. Let’s visit grandma Lily.”
Danny’s face made very clear he didn’t like the deal, but then he leaned back to Luke’s shoulder and let the world happen.
The little brown eyes lit up a little when they spotted a familiar face near the bed. Lucinda jumped up when they walked in and after kissing Luke, she softly caressed Danny’s chin.
“Hello my dear boy. How are you today?”
“Okay.” Danny gave a vague smile.
“Well, that doesn’t sound very convincing,” Lucinda teased and Luke grinned.
“The minute Reid showed his face, he was showered with requests for his input, so Danny feels a little bummed out.”
“Ah yes, I can imagine that,” Lucinda smiled.
“But after this visit we’ll kidnap daddy and take him home with us, right Danny?”
Danny grinned at Luke and nodded. “Right.”
They all turned when a soft voice asked “Can I say hi too?” and Luke’s surprise was evident.
“I didn’t know you were awake!” He put Danny on the bed and leaned over to kiss his mother on the cheek. “Hi Mom.”
“Yeah, I’m in and out, basically,” her voice sounded weak. “So I’m grateful I’m awake so I can see you two. Hello Danny.”
Danny gave her a shy smile. When he looked at Luke, his eyes made Luke pick him up again and hold him close.
“Don’t take it personal, dear.” Lucinda whispered, softly tapping Lily’s hand, “He’s very wary with everybody. Well, except with his daddies.”
“Yeah,” Luke lovingly moved a lock from Danny’s forehead - it made Lily smile, because she had done that a billion times to Luke - “We’re doing okay, aren’t we buddy?”
Danny gave him the full smile, making Lily and Lucinda gasp for a moment.
Luke pulled out a chair and sat close to the bed, placing Danny on his lap in a way his mother could see the boy’s face.
“This is your grandma Lily. My mother.”
Danny nodded, looked from Lily at Lucinda and frowned. “Are you Reid’s mommy?”
Lucinda grinned. “I wish. No, I’m not. I’m your grandma Lily’s mommy.”
The frown deepened. “So you’re daddy’s grandmother.”
“Yes. Luke’s grandmother.”
“So that makes you my…” Danny tried to remember the right word and smiled when Luke whispered “Great-grandmother.”
Lucinda groaned. “Oh dear boys, that makes me sound ancient!”
“You are, mother,” Lily teased and Lucinda pulled a face at her, internally cheering the relaxed atmosphere.
“You’re not helping,” the great-grandmother faked indignation, “but I happened to be very proud of my age.”
“As you should,” Luke smiled, grateful his grandmother had survived her battle with cancer. “But great-grandmother is quite a mouthful…” he remembered Faith’s solution and his smile broadened. “How about GG Lucinda?”
“I wanted to suggest Great Lucinda, but GG sounds pretty good to me too,” Lucinda admitted and Danny smiled at her.
“So it’s GG Lucinda and GG Emma,” Luke summarized and his son nodded. He had finally figured it out and was obviously relieved about that. He leaned back to Luke’s chest.
“So, how do you feel?” Luke turned the attention to his mom.
“Weird,” Lily answered calmly. “Nothing seems real…”
Luke frowned. “How’s that?”
“For some reason it feels like it’s all a dream. Me, in this hospital. And I have dreams about being home. With Holden and you kids. But it confuses me, because I can’t tell what’s a dream and what’s reality.”
“We already talked to Dr. Morgan about it,” Lucinda tapped Lily’s hand again. “Apparently it has to do with the part of her brain that was hit.”
“Is it temporary?”
“We don’t know,” Lucinda said as calm as possible, but her concern was in her eyes.
“Can you remember what happened?”
Lily nodded. “Vividly. Well, it feels like a dream too, but the images are very clear. After I left Dr. Michaels’ office, I was grabbed from behind and forced to open my car. I did, but I didn’t want to step in. Never let yourself be taken to a second location. That’s what I’ve learned from an Oprah show, a long time ago. Anyway, he must have hit me on the head, because when I woke up, I was in a dark room.”
She stopped when she saw Danny look at her with fear in his eyes.
“Maybe this is not the right time to tell…”
Luke looked at Danny and nodded. “You’re right. Just tell me who it was.”
“One of those guys Damian escaped with. He was convinced Damian had ratted him out and I was his payback. When I tried to make a run for it, he shot me.”
Lucinda looked at Danny. “But we don’t have to worry, because this bad man is in jail now.”
The boy nodded. “That’s good.”
“It is,” Lucinda agreed and gave him a wink. He giggled.
“Did Dr. Morgan mention anything about prognoses?”
“Not much to tell. I’m still sedated to recover from the surgery and they’re reducing the dose day by day. In a few days it will be more clear if there’s damage and what it is.”
Lily smiled, closing her eyes.
“Thank you, Luke,” she whispered and after a few seconds she was clearly sleeping again.
“That’s what she meant with being in and out,” Lucinda sighed, “I can only hope this isn’t permanent, but at this point everything is possible.”
Luke nodded. His mother looked very peaceful. It had been months since he’d seen her this relaxed and he absorbed the image. Then he lifted Danny up, rose to his feet, walked over to his grandmother and gave her a hug.
“Thanks for watching over her.”
Lucinda kissed him. “I’m her mother. I couldn’t be anywhere else.” She looked at Danny. “You know how that works now. Your child is your world.”
While Luke nodded, Danny surprised both adults by putting his hand on Lucinda’s cheek. The woman smiled.
“Thank you, dear boy.”
“Wanna find your daddy?” Luke smiled away his emotion and Danny bounced on his arm.
“Yeah!”
Grandson and grandmother blew each other a kiss and when Luke walked to the door, Danny looked over Luke’s shoulder and waved.
Lucinda tried real hard to keep her tears in. It made it impossible to speak, so she just waved back. That second she knew. She had made it into Danny’s inner circle. And boy, was she happy about that.
Reid looked happy too. A visit with Lily hadn’t been appealing to him in any shape or form, but he had joined Luke anyway. Simply because he knew Luke would like that. Especially when Luke’s appointment with Dr. Michaels had been canceled due to an emergency, Luke needed some support. And making Luke happy was still the thing he loved the most. But when Luke had given him the go-ahead to be a doctor for a while, he had jumped at that chance.
Honestly, none of the questions had really required his personal input. It had been more like a confirmation thing. But he felt connected to the daily routine and he liked that. Control freak, much? Reid grinned.
His grin grew bigger when he heard a low voice say “Dr. Oliver, this is your stomach speaking. I need food and I need it now.”
Reid slapped his belly. “Shut up, stomach. I can’t eat if I don’t have my son and his hot daddy with me.”
He heard Danny giggle and when he looked up, both blonds were grinning at him.
“Hey,” Reid winked at the boy, “I was just talking about you.”
When he pushed his chair back, Luke frowned. “Are you really ready to go?”
“Excuse me? It’s my day off,” Reid put his arm around him, “Let’s go. How was your mom?”
“Awake long enough to see Danny and talk a bit.”
After Janet filled their plates, they found a seat near the window and Luke looked at his land. It looked bare and desolate, even with the blanket of snow.
“You can’t wait, can you?” Reid teased, taking a bite of his sandwich.
“Nope,” Luke agreed, “I love winter, but I’m looking forward to spring so the building can start.”
Reid nodded. He admired Luke’s vision. There was already a lot of interest for the houses that only existed in a virtual cyberspace some wiz kid had created. Behind Luke’s laptop they had walked around in the accommodations and visited Reid’s Diner. Luke had shown him the hotel and the whole area looked modern and inviting.
“It will be great,” Reid winked at Danny, “your daddy will have his own restaurant.”
“Really?” Danny’s eyes grew big, “Cool!”
“Well, the restaurant will be named after your daddy. There is a slight difference.” Luke teased and Reid shrugged.
“Still pretty cool,” he murmured and his son nodded.
With his arm behind Danny, Luke leaned back.
“So guys, what do you want to do today?”
Reid smiled. “You answer that.”
“What?” Luke frowned.
“You heard me. Is there anything you would like to do?”
For a minute Luke turned into seduction on legs, giving Reid some eye-sex, but then he cleared his throat and shrugged.
“I’d like to take Handsome out for a ride…” he saw Danny look up, his eyes full of expectation, and Luke continued, “so if you could look after Danny for a while…”
The disappointment on the young face wrung Luke’s heart, but he needed some time on his own. And Reid understood. Of course Reid understood.
“Of course. Maybe Danny and I can come to the farm too. Is Holden there?”
Luke nodded. “Yeah. Why?”
“Maybe he can convince me it’s safe enough to let Danny ride that small horse thing.”
“Pony,” Luke said patiently.
“Whatever. Him.”
“Her.”
“What?”
“Daisy. The pony. She’s a little lady.”
Reid pulled a face and Danny chuckled, but didn’t say anything. He liked where this conversation was going. Would he really be riding today?
“And Daisy is a sweetheart. Ethan rides her too. She’s very gentle. And Holden is a very good riding instructor.”
“Yeah yeah yeah,” Reid rolled his eyes, “I know you’re a supporter of the equestrian society…but I want Danny to be safe.”
Luke smiled, putting his hand over Reid’s. “I understand. So do I, remember? I wouldn’t encourage this if I had doubts about his safety. But on the other hand… we must realize he will hurt himself along the way. Falling down, scratching himself, whatever. He’s a little boy, Reid. We can’t…” Luke swallowed the ‘lock him up’ just in time, “…clip his wings.”
Reid nodded. Reluctantly. He knew Luke was right, but the thought of Danny getting hurt simply took his breath away.
“I know,” Reid sighed, looking at Danny’s hopeful face. “So let’s give it a try then…”
And if the boy’s face was any indication, those words made his kid the happiest child alive. So he swallowed to suppress his anxiety about the whole horse thing and smiled.
“Okay cowboys, let’s head 'em up and move 'em out.”
His reward came in the shape of two small arms reaching out for him and with a gracious swoop Reid tilted the boy to his chest. So dazzled by the love on his son’s face, that he didn’t notice the touched, friendly and approving gazing around them. But Luke did and it made him smile. Almost a year ago, this doctor had set foot in Memorial and first impressions hadn’t be great. The second one hadn’t be that good either. If anybody would have told him then and there that within a year they would live together, raising a child, he would have laughed. Hysterically. Luke emptied the trays, put his arm around Reid’s waist and laughed. Ecstatically.