Fallen Angel - TOC

Chapter Thirty-Six

  Luke’s face betrayed his confusion as he turned to Laura. “Did he say dad?” he whispered.

 “I think so.”

 Frankie raised his left hand from the bed and tentatively extended his index finger toward Luke. His fierce blue eyes bore into his father. “Daaa,” he said so softly that it was hard to make out. His hand floated back down to the bed, and his eyes closed as his face turned toward his pillow.

 Luke grasped his son’s limp hand and rubbed it briskly. “It’s Luke,” he answered. “I’m here.” Frankie remained unresponsive, and Luke felt the panic rise within. “He’s not awake,” Luke said, stating the obvious out of fear and concern. “Why would he say dad? Is he asking for Frank?”

 “The doctor said that he’d be in and out of consciousness, remember?” Laura reminded gently, patting Luke on the arm. “Our ten minutes is up. We need to let our son rest.” Laura led a reluctant Luke from the room, and he turned his head to look back at Frankie as they exited the doorway.

 ~*~*~*~

 Bobbie picked up the ringing phone at the nurse’s station. “Surgical Nurse’s Station,” she answered abruptly and professionally.

 “Hi Bobbie,” the deeply masculine voice greeted her through the phone lines.

 Bobbie’s whole aspect softened, and she smiled delightedly. “Johnny,” she said excitedly. “It’s so good to hear your voice. What’s going on?”

 “That’s what I’m calling you about,” Johnny replied. “How is Frankie?”

Bobbie sighed. “That’s a loaded question, Johnny,” she said sadly. “He was in cardiac arrest recently. We almost lost him. He survived, but obviously it’s not good.”

Silence deepened on the other end of the line, and finally Johnny spoke again. “Do I need to notify people?” he asked with an emotion filled voice. “There are several people who would want to see him.”

 “You should let people know who are close to him,” Bobbie stated decisively. “We’re making sure that the children have a chance to visit with him at least once. They’re only allowing family in - two people at a time for a maximum of ten minutes per hour.”

 “This woman is as close to family as he was able to have,” Johnny explained. “God, Bobbie, what’s going wrong? Here I am separated from Frankie, playing every dirty trick in the book trying to unload Frank’s business. Something is misguided about that, but this is the way that Frankie is playing the game. I’m doing what he wants. I hope that it works out, and he’s able to start a new life. Me, too. Now about his guards. Has that been taken care of?”

 “Yes, Luke talked to Stefan Cassadine, and he’s providing several of his person guards that were hand picked from Russia. Apparently they speak no English and are loyal unto death.”

 “The Cassadines have a colorful history,” Johnny protested. “I’d still like the particulars on these guards –names, dates and places of birth, that type of personal information. I need to check them out. You have no idea how long the tentacles of the FBI and CIA extend.  And, Bobbie – please be careful. Don’t offer any information to strangers or even open your front door if someone is knocking. Be on alert. Can you send Lucas to stay with his father for a few weeks?”

 “I think so,” Bobbie said cautiously. “Is it really that serious? Are we in danger?”

 “It’s that serious,” Johnny replied firmly. “We’re all in danger.”

 ~*~*~*~

 Frankie moved restlessly on his bed, curling up a foot or flinging a hand to one side, unable to find a comfortable sleeping position that didn’t poke him or irritate some part of his body. His chest rose and fell evenly with the certain rhythm of the machinery that was keeping him alive, but he grew increasingly aware of his surroundings and the fact that his chest was aching and throbbing fiercely with the aftereffects of the chest compressions that had earlier saved his life. The life-giving expansion and contraction of his lungs was killing him in other ways.

 Frankie was insensibly floating in a choppy sea of impressions and random thoughts firing in his brain. His eyebrows rose eloquently as his mind recalled the place of beauty that he was missing – a place with plentiful air and light where nothing hurt anymore. He moaned dejectedly with the loss of that welcome feeling and with the death of something indefinable – was it innocence or the love of a father? He’d opened his eyes minutes ago to the sight of a tall man standing over him, and he’d spoken out of an intense desire to connect with that person. Only one word seemed to convey the complexity of his yearning, and he’d uttered it, hoping that his gift of purest intensity might be returned, not rejected and discarded as being useless.

 Frankie continued to moan and feel his pain, emotional and physical. The ICU nurse that looked in on him noted his seeming despair and talked gently to him while she tended to his needs. “You’re not alone,” she said reassuringly. “There are all kinds of people out in that waiting area. They’re patiently waiting their turn to see you. You’re a popular guy.” She changed out an empty IV bag for a fresh one and checked his IV sites to make sure they were working properly and not irritated. “You’ve had a good rest for a couple of days,” she teased him. “Now its time to get back to school. You don’t want all of that homework to pile up, do you?” She checked his monitor leads to ensure they were positioned correctly. “What happened to all of your dark hair?” she asked. “You scared me when I started my shift. I thought you were a different person. But I like the haircut. It’s nice. Looks good on you.”

 Frankie heard the voice talking to him on some level of his consciousness and began settling down, ceasing his sad vocalizations. He rested quietly, neither content nor upset.

~*~*~*~

 “Maria? It’s Johnny. I have some news for you.”

 “What’s going on?” Maria asked with a sigh. “More mob drama? I’m sick of it, Johnny.”

 “Well, I’m sick of it, too. I need you to listen to me closely and do what I say for your protection and for the children.”

Maria caught the urgency of his tone and switched the phone to her right ear to listen more intently. “Johnny?” she asked with a tremulous voice.

 “Frank is dead, as you know, but it’s not over. Frankie has reactivated the business so he can sell it off, but he’s been shot. He’s in the hospital and may not make it,” Johnny’s tense voice reported.

 “I’m sorry about dat,” Maria said softly. “He didn’t deserve none of dis. He had a hard life with dat no-good Frank.”

 “No disagreement here,” Johnny stated bitterly. “But while all of the arrangements are being made to free us of the business, it’s dangerous. We’ve eliminated one of the leaders that was left over from the rival faction, but others will spring up in his place faster than we can deal with them. I need for you to take the kids to the safe house and wait until I contact you.”

 “But they have school,” Maria protested.

 “They won’t be going to school if they’re dead, Maria. Do as I say. I’m the front man for this operation, and I don’t want my family to be used as targets or blackmail.”

 “Well, it won’t be da first time I’ve homeschooled ‘em,” Maria complained. “When is all of dis gonna be over?”

 “As soon as humanly possible,” Johnny replied.  “There’s one more thing, Maria. I’m going to visit your mother and ask her to come see Frankie.”

 “What?” Maria yelled. “Don’t you involve my mama in dis!”

“She’s already involved. She treated Frankie like family, and she needs to see him, especially if he…um, anyway, Frankie has a new family now, but he needs to see people from his old life so he’s not feeling abandoned, you know?”

 “I don’t want my mama’s life to be in danger because of no mobster junior,” Maria spat out.

 “If she’s with me, she won’t be in danger,” Johnny promised. “Besides, you try to keep her from one of her babies. You know how she is.”

 Maria sighed. “Yeah, I know my mama. She took it hard when Frankie stopped comin’ by.”

 “Exactly,” said Johnny.   “She’s going to want to see him if he’s in trouble. She won’t be pleased if we don’t give her the opportunity.”

 “Dat’s my mama,” Maria agreed with a chuckle.

 ~*~*~*~

 “Sly!” Luke walked up to his nephew and hugged him tightly. “I’m so glad to see you,” he said with a trace of weariness.

 “I called Alexis,” Ruby stated. “We came as soon as we could. How is he?” Her eyes shone with a buildup of tears, and her face was drawn and worried.

 Luke stood with his arm draped around Sly’s shoulder. “He survived,” Luke stated. “They got his heart started again, thank God. But it was touch and go. Laura and I just spent ten minutes with him. He can only have family as visitors and for only ten minutes per hour. You’ll have to wait to see him unfortunately.”

 Ruby’s sharp eyes caught the desperation that lay underneath Luke’s surface calm and knew that he’d need to talk it out without Sly being nearby. Luke would never say anything to upset his nephew unnecessarily. “Sly and I will visit the cafeteria while you wait for Alexis to arrive,” she stated decisively. “We’ll bring you back something to eat or drink.”

 Luke’s face flooded with gratitude. His aunt always seemed to be able to read him and give him what he needed. “That’s great,” he said. “Sly, I’ll talk to you later? Okay?” Luke’s blue eyes searched his nephew’s face for any indication of distress, but Sly seemed to be holding his own, comfortable to be with his Aunt Ruby. Luke reached out to stroke his nephew’s hair and give him a smile. “Thanks for coming. We’ll get you in to see Frankie soon.”

 Sly smiled in return and nodded. “I’ll see you in a few minutes,” he stated confidently.

 Luke walked over to the waiting area and dropped into a chair, grateful to be off of his feet and alone for a minute. He felt like he’d been through World War Three. He slouched down in his chair and closed his eyes, rubbing them tiredly with his right hand. Life was becoming very complicated. Tomorrow, he’d be a married man again. If everything worked out all right, he’d be a true father to two sons soon. His thoughts turned to his wilder bachelor days with the string of lovely young women that had populated his bed. He chuckled and then sighed. He really preferred the intimacy of a monogamous relationship with someone as wonderful as Alexis. And, to be honest, at one time he had enjoyed being married to Laura. He was confident that his impending marriage to Alexis would work out splendidly – after all, they’d known each other for five years. But, he was less confident about his relationship with his “boys.”

 Sly was so skittish that Luke wondered how he’d respond to his suggestion of adopting him. Luke hadn’t known Bill for very long at all – he only had the impressions that he’d made from several interactions with the man. Bill had seemed a little cold and standoffish. Luke knew that Sly loved his father, but the boy never mentioned fun activities that he’d shared with Bill – details like fishing trips, vacations or games shared at a ballpark. Luke supposed that disappointment littered Sly’s relationship with his father and perhaps the boy expected the same from Luke – that he’d let him down in much the way Sly’s father had.

 Luke reflected on his own father/son relationship. There weren’t too many happy memories there. On the rare occasions that he wasn’t drunk or feeling mean, Tim had spent a few quality moments with his son. Was that worse than no good moments? Luke wondered. The uncertainty of the father and son relationship had set up a yearning in Luke, a yearning for a scrap of kindness or a gesture of goodwill and generosity from an older man. A young Luke had lived from moment to moment, as if he were trying to cross a raging river with only a few stepping stones that were positioned too far apart for his legs to successfully navigate. More often than not, Luke fell into the raging river and drowned.

And what about Frankie? Did he truly have an opportunity to build a relationship with his son? For a second, Luke had almost dared to hope that Frankie was calling out for him when the boy had extended his hand and called out “Dad.” Luke shook his head. But that was stupid. The kid had been tight with his adoptive, kidnapping father even if he was a no good louse. He wouldn’t even discuss Frank or his death with Luke, preferring to shut him out of that part of his life. Because of the life-threatening nature of Frankie’s illnesses, Luke hadn’t been able to hold important conversations with his son – ones that talked about names, families, life styles and expectations. Would Frankie be receptive to taking his legal name or would he balk and insist on remaining Frank’s son if only by name. Luke didn’t think that he could handle raising someone named Frank Smith, just as Frank hadn’t wanted to raise a Lucas Spencer. But then everything seemed to hinge on the courts now and what they decided. He’d be lucky to have any say in his son’s life at all.

 “Luke.”

 Luke’s eyes fluttered open at the sound of Alexis’ soft voice, and he smiled appreciatively at the sight of her warm, brown eyes.

 “Darlin,’” he said with obvious relief.

 “I came as soon as Ruby called me. She sounded frantic, which is unusual for her. I haven’t talked to a nurse or anyone. I wanted to find you right away. What’s wrong?”

 “Alexis, Frankie is hanging on by a thread, and so am I,” Luke said resignedly. He reached out his arms and pulled Alexis as close to him as possible with the two sitting in chairs next to one another. Alexis lay her head on his shoulder, and he distractedly stroked her hair as if to comfort himself as he spoke. “Frankie basically died in Laura’s arms two hours ago,” he choked out. “He went into cardiac arrest, and they had a hard time reviving him. The docs said that his blood loss and surgery weakened him to the degree where he was losing the fight with his other problems. Laura and I visited with him for ten minutes. He’s in and out of it – mostly out. He did reach out and call for dad while he was looking me in the eye. It must have been a fluke, though – him calling me dad.”

 Alexis shifted in her seat and ran her hand over Luke’s hair. “I’m sorry,” she said simply and empathetically. “I know he means the world to you. We’ll have to hope that he keeps fighting and recovers.”

 “Yeah,” Luke agreed tiredly with a small nod of his head. “I can’t lose him again. I just can’t. It would destroy me.”

 Alexis took Luke’s hand. “Where are Ruby and Sly?” she asked curiously.

 “In the cafeteria,” Luke stated with a monotone.

 Alexis raised an eyebrow. That Ruby is a smart one. She knew he needed to talk about this without Sly as a scared audience.

 “I thought he might be an engineer,” Luke said out of the blue with a distant voice. “Lucky was so quick to learn, and it seemed like he grasped mechanical things so rapidly. He was months ahead of other babies in much of his development. I used to daydream about his future success in life. He had so much promise.”

 “He still does,” Alexis reminded him.

 Luke sat up straighter in his chair and made a disgusted sound. “I don’t even know him, babe. How can I speculate on a stranger’s behavior? Does he even want a relationship with me? Am I father material or am I a failure there, too? Would anyone want me to be one?”

 Alexis recognized those comments as coming from Luke’s extreme fatigue and emotional overload. “Do you want to discuss some legalities as a change of pace?” she suggested. Luke needed to change his mindset if only for a few minutes.

 “I suppose we should,” Luke agreed. “What’s the status of the custody hearing?”

 “The hearing is set for next Thursday,” Alexis commented. She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly as she placed her hands around her knees. She looked at Luke sideways, trying to determine how he’d react to her next statement. “The social workers are coming,” she spit out. “They’ll be interviewing you, me, Laura, Stefan, and Frankie to determine what type of living environment and family relationships we can provide him. And, since he’s fifteen, they want his opinion as well.”

 “So who’s worse – the FBI or the social workers?” Luke asked tersely. “Are we ever going to get a break?”

 “I’d say that the FBI is infinitely more unpredictable,” Alexis stated firmly. “We know what the social workers are looking for, and we can provide them with it.”

 “What about Sly?” Luke asked. “Do they want to talk to him?”

 Alexis nodded. “If he’ll be living with Frankie, then yes, I’m sure they do. They may want to talk to Nikolas, too.”

 “Are you going to file the other paperwork?” Luke asked hesitantly. “I want to adopt Sly, but I’m afraid to ask him. I’m afraid he’ll say no.”

 Alexis squeezed Luke’s hand. “Why don’t we discuss it with him together?” she suggested. “I want to adopt him, too. All we can do is ask and let him know how much he’s loved.”

 Luke’s blue eyes fired up again with hope and determination. “Let’s take him to dinner tonight. Let’s do it.”

 ~*~*~*~

 Laura sat cross-legged in the nursery, wanting to be close to her baby daughter while she was working on her latest project. Photographs were spread out all around her, and five boxes full of old photos were stacked on the floor. Lulu was placed in a mini bassinet beside Laura so that mother could see and talk to daughter while she concentrated on selecting photos.

 “I had a hard time locating these boxes, Lesley Alexandra,” Laura said conversationally. “It must be three years since I’ve even looked through them. But now, it’s a celebration. Your older brother is back, and we’re going to prepare a surprise for him. Hopefully, it will raise his spirits and show him how much we love him.” Laura reached out and rubbed Lulu’s belly, making the baby squirm and chortle with contentment at the attention her mother was bestowing on her.

 Laura held up a photo to the light to view it better. “Look at this, Lulu. Your brother is the same age as you.” She held the photo in front of the baby’s face. Lulu reached out a tiny hand and batted at the baby in the photo. It was baby Lucky with a proud and smiling mother and father. Laura was more slender, and Luke had much more hair in this nearly fifteen-year-old portrait. Laura smiled as she reached for the fabric-covered board that was crisscrossed with bright red ribbons. She had taken a white and green fabric remnant from the Laura Ashley fabric that decorated Lulu’s nursery and constructed a photo board to hold memories for Frankie. She purposefully selected the color of fabric and ribbon in order to provide a cheery object for her son to look at while he recovered.

 The board would hold twelve photos, and Laura had a hard time selecting which ones to include. She wanted to show Frankie the breadth of his family and the degree of his support, so she had asked Luke to give her at least six photos of himself, Alexis, Sly, Bobbie, Lucas and Ruby. Laura would provide several mementos of Frankie’s early life with his mother and father. However, she wondered what she should place on the board regarding her new family. Of course, there was Lulu’s baby portrait. Finally, she decided on a candid father and son photo of a young Nikolas and Stefan and a more formal family portrait with Stefan, Nikolas and Laura together by the family hearth at Christmas.

 Laura ran across a photo of her deceased mother, and the tears welled up in her eyes. Lesley had died thinking that her grandson was dead. Laura held the photo to her chest and wished with all of her might that Lesley could have seen a returned Lucky and brand new baby Lulu. Lesley had been gone for ten years, yet Laura still missed her every day. Rick had died even longer ago – it had been about a dozen years since his single passenger aircraft had descended into the ocean after an electrical storm had rendered his controls useless. Laura refused to fly on anything except the Cassadine jet for this very reason, and she had denied Nikolas permission to earn his pilot’s license.

 Laura’s thoughts drifted to her eldest son. Her relationship with Nikolas had become increasingly more distant over the last three years. At first, Laura had thought that it was normal teenage boy behavior and that Nikolas merely wanted more space. But, when he’d started calling her mother instead of mom, she’d become worried. She wished that she’d raised him differently, a little less formally. Stefan indicated that Nikolas had complained about “not fitting in” with his high school friends, that their lifestyle prevented him from feeling a part of the community. Stefan hadn’t been terribly sympathetic with his son, regarding his upbringing as being so much less formal and restrictive than his own. He didn’t feel that it was necessary for Nikolas to be a cookie cutter teenager, a boy like any other boy. He wasn’t – pure and simple. Stefan’s travel schedule had become more strenuous over the last two years, and Nikolas had started keeping to himself more and more, rejecting the company of his mother for a ride with Sheba or a stroll on the grounds. Laura knew that Nikolas was popular at school. She saw the boys that joked with him during soccer games, and she’d accidentally intercepted more than one phone call from a girl wanting to know if Nikolas were home.

 Laura picked up Lulu and rocked her gently. Something was definitely going on with Nikolas and the Greek Island. She wondered why he constantly asked to go there over the last year, but neither mother nor father had been able to pry any information out of him. Finally, they’d given up, allowing Nikolas the privacy and seclusion that he seemed to crave. As long as he brought home decent grades and behaved respectfully, they didn’t push the issues. Still, Laura longed for the closer relationship that they’d had when her son was younger. Back when he was five or six, he’d been positively clingy. Laura knew that he was afraid that she’d disappear like she did each year after Christmas or his birthday when he’d been an infant and toddler. She wondered if he’d ever gotten over those earlier years of deprivation.

 Laura held Lulu close to her breast as she thought about Frankie and the deprivation that he had suffered. Luke had told her that Frankie never had a mother figure in his life except for a woman that used to keep him when Frank was out of town. It hurt her heart to think of her baby suffering without a mother and loving father. She wanted so desperately to have a relationship with her son, but would he want one with her? And, what in the world could be done to reduce the nearly biblical animosity between her two boys?

 Laura breathed in deeply, and her throat constricted with the memory of Frankie’s near death. Holding him in her arms like that cemented the feelings of grief and anguish in her mind and heart. Had those feelings been as strong fourteen years ago? How had she survived? What did fate hold in store for them?

 ~*~*~*~

 Luke placed one hand on Sly’s shoulder and used the other hand to tilt his nephew’s face to meet his eyes. “You’ll go in to see Frankie with your Aunt Ruby. Now, you can only stay for ten minutes, okay? He’ll probably be asleep and won’t be able to talk to you, but he might move or make sounds. That’s normal, so don’t be scared. He has a lot of medical equipment surrounding him, and he’s on a respirator to breathe for him. It’s a bit overwhelming when you see it for the first time – even for adults. If you have any questions, Aunt Ruby will be there to answer them for you. Do you have any questions for me before you go in?”

 Sly looked numb, but shook his head no.

 “Have a good visit with your cousin, then,” Luke said gently as his eyes met his aunt’s. Take care of him, Luke’s eyes communicated silently. Ruby gave Luke and small smile and guided Sly into Frankie’s room. Ruby and Sly walked up to the side of Frankie’s bed and leaned over the bed rail to gaze at him. “Hi Frankie,” said Ruby happily as she stroked the side of his cheek. “Your Aunt Ruby and Sly are here to see you.” Ruby bent over and kissed Frankie on the forehead. She patted Sly on the back to encourage him to say something.

 “Hi Frankie. I’ve missed you. Everybody is asking about you at school,” Sly said shyly as he looked down at his friend. “I’ve been real worried about you. I hope I didn’t hurt you too badly when I grabbed you at the bar. I’m sorry.” Sly’s eyes blinked rapidly in confusion at Frankie’s lack of response. Frankie lay still on his back with his head turned away. A blanket was up to his chest, and Ruby was grateful that the majority of his injuries were effectively hidden from the vulnerable boy who looked on.

 “What happened to his hair?” Sly asked incredulously. “It’s all chopped off and a different color.”

 “Frank Smith made him dye it before he came to Port Charles,” Ruby explained. “He thought that would disguise him from his real family, but of course it didn’t work. His hair was cut so that it would be neater while he was lying in bed.”

 Sly nodded. “Okay,” he said, accepting Ruby’s quick explanation. “Did somebody beat him up?” he asked tentatively. “His face and eye are messed up and bruised.”

 “He fell and hit his head,” Ruby said. “No one hit him on the face.” Not then, Ruby thought ruefully. That bastard Frank only kicked him where it wouldn’t show. Ruby picked up Frankie’s hand and patted it. “I’ve been talking to that girlfriend of yours,” she said brightly. “Maxie’s still crazy about you. You’d better hurry up and get well so you can go on that date.”

 “Yeah,” said Sly. “I have a date with Emily tomorrow. I need advice – bad. I wish you’d wake up so I could ask you a zillion questions.”

 Ruby stroked Sly’s blond hair. “You’ll do just fine, Sly. Emily likes you plenty. I can tell by the way she looks at you.”

 Sly shook his head. “I don’t know. Frankie has all of the answers.”

 “You don’t need a coach or a textbook, Sly,” Ruby reprimanded. “Just follow your heart and be respectful. Treat her like the young lady that she is. You can’t go wrong there.”

 Sly smiled. But Aunt Ruby doesn’t know about going to the mall, he thought. Sly’s eyes hit on the Cookie Monster puppet that was lying beside Frankie’s pillow. “Oh, Cookie,” he said happily. “I used to love him when I watched Sesame Street.” Sly picked up the puppet and placed it on his hand, mimicking the monster’s gruff voice. “Wake up, Frankie,” he growled as he made the ravenous monster’s mouth bite at Frankie’s arm. “We need cookies, real bad,” he added. Frankie moved toward the sound of Sly’s voice, twisting his torso slightly and turning his head on the pillow. He moaned through the tubing in his throat, and Sly jumped back in surprise. “I didn’t mean to bother you,” he apologized.

 “It’s okay,” Ruby said reassuringly as she placed a hand on Sly’s shoulder. “He’s just responding to your voice. That’s a good thing. Keep talking to him.”

 “Okay,” Sly said tentatively. He maneuvered the puppet near the metal bed rail. “Oh, I don’t like the bed,” he growled. “Don’t taste like cookies.”

 Frankie moaned and said something that sounded like, “Caaa.” Sly frowned, but kept talking and waving the puppet around. “Cookie, cookie,” he said. “Look at me! I’m blue. So blue. I like it that way. Hehe.”

 Frankie’s right arm flew up and hit and the bed. His hand grasped as he moaned. His eyes opened as mere slits, but Ruby noticed that he was awake. “Hi there,” she said. “We just stopped by to say hello.”

 “Hi,” said Sly as he waved the puppet at Frankie. “I’m playing with your Cookie Monster puppet.” Frankie’s eyes opened more, and he stared at Sly. His eyes crinkled at the corners, and his mouth raised a fraction. “Slyyyyy,” he said slowly in a low, raspy voice. Sly removed the puppet from his hand and placed it over Frankie’s extended right hand. “There,” said Sly. “I’m giving you back your puppet.” Frankie’s eyes moved towards the toy, and he flexed his hand so that the puppet head wiggled.

 Sly laughed. “That’s pretty good, his eyes are bobbing. I’d forgotten how much fun Cookie Monster is. I bet Uncle Luke gave you that. He’s such a big kid. He’s a lot of fun.”

 Frankie continued to stare hard at Sly. “Yaaa,” he said to confer agreement with Sly’s statement.

 Ruby whispered in Sly’s ear. “Our ten minutes are over. You need to wrap it up.”

 “I have to go now,” Sly said. “But I hope you get better soon. I miss you. See you. Okay?” Sly playfully punched at the puppet before he turned to leave. Ruby leaned over Frankie and said, “I’ll tell your father and Alexis that you’re awake. Be good, sweetie.” She patted Frankie on the arm, and the boy’s eyes followed her all the way out the room.

 ~*~*~*~

 “I don’t think I’ve ever been out to dinner with both of you at the same time,” Sly observed as he, Luke and Alexis entered the darkly lit seafood restaurant and were led back to a private table that Luke requested. “Except for on the island,” he added.

 Luke looked at Alexis and smiled. Sly seemed to be in a good mood after his visit with Frankie. When he’d walked out of Frankie’s room in the hospital, he’d said, “Frankie is going to get better. I can tell.” For some reason, Luke had relaxed upon hearing Sly say that. It was almost as if Sly had a sixth sense or maybe he was just more removed from the situation and could see things more clearly.

 Sly contentedly dipped several appetizer shrimp into cocktail sauce while they waited for their dinners. “That was a nice gift you gave Frankie,” he commented to Luke. “I’d forgotten how much fun Cookie Monster was. I was playing with the puppet, making a racket, and Frankie woke up. I told him that you must have given that to him because you’re a big kid at heart.”

 “Oh yeah,” Luke challenged. “How do you know that?”

 “You watch Scooby Doo whenever it’s on,” Sly explained. “You walk around the house making Scooby voices. If you drop a plate or a glass, you go, “Ruh-roh!”

 Alexis raised her right eyebrow and smirked. “So now I find out,” she said. “Were you planning to marry me without giving me full disclosure?”

 “Attorneys,” Luke muttered under his breath. “You’re not supposed to tell tales on me, dear nephew,” he protested, waving a finger at Sly.

 Sly shrugged and popped another shrimp in his mouth. “I think it’s neat. You’re not some boring old person.”

 “Just an interesting old person?” Luke asked.

 “Sure,” Sly replied as he took a sip of his iced tea.

 “Oh! I forgot. I have some real estate photos to show you two. The realtor and I have narrowed it down to three homes, and I want you fellows to help me pick the house.” Alexis laid out three data sheets with bright photos at the top. Luke shuffled through the sheets first, not spending a long time debating the room sizes and features. He handed them off to Sly who cautiously sipped his tea and read them over carefully.

 “Well, what do you think?” Alexis asked brightly.

 “They’re all nice and similar in price,” Luke hedged.  “Why don’t you tell me what you like?”

 “This one,” Sly said definitely as he pushed the sheet toward Alexis. “It’s close to the high school, not far from Wyndemere or Kelly’s. It has large room sizes, room to expand if you want to, a nice yard but not overly large. I like the porch, too.” He glanced back and forth from Luke to Alexis.

 Alexis laughed. “I admire your decisive mind,” she stated as she poked Luke in the ribs. “Would you like to take a tour before I place an offer on it?”

 Sly and Luke said, “Okay,” simultaneously and then laughed.

 “There are a few other items we wanted to discuss with you,” Luke stated.

 Sly shrank a bit in his seat. Uh-oh, here it comes. They’re going to tell me they don’t want me to move in with them. His eyes looked sad and his hand tensed around his drink.

 “Alexis and I have decided to go to the courthouse and get married tomorrow. It’s more sudden than we’d originally planned, but the circumstances dictated the date.”

 “Luke doesn’t officially have custody of Frankie,” Alexis explained. “He’s filed for custody, but it looks better to the courts if he is married, settled and stable within a relationship. We were planning to marry anyway, so it makes no difference to us.”

 “What happens after you’re married?” Sly asked with a sense of growing dread.

 “We’ll live in our separate apartments until we buy the house,” said Alexis. “The house that you like isn’t occupied, which makes it more attractive. We could probably buy it and move in within two weeks.”

 “Me too?” Sly asked with a small voice. He bit hard on his lower lip waiting for the response to his question.

 “Sure, you, too,” Alexis replied heartily. “We’re not moving anywhere without you.” Sly visibly relaxed upon hearing her words.

 “In fact, that leads us to the second topic we wanted to discuss with you,” Luke stated. “We have a question for you. You don’t have to answer right away. I know you may need time to process it to make a decision.” Luke drew in a deep breath and looked to Alexis for support. Alexis placed her hand over Luke’s, and Luke continued. “Sly, Alexis and I have been talking, and we would love to adopt you as our son if you’d allow us. This in no way replaces Bill in your life as the man who fathered you, but we both feel like you are a son to us – more than a nephew. We’d like to make it official.  Any initial thoughts or questions?” Luke’s face seemed open and vulnerable as he looked at his nephew and searched his face for clues as to how he was feeling.

Sly’s face was tense, and he kept his emotions under cover as his brain churned and tried to make sense of what Luke had just told him. He looked down at the wood table and fiddled with the candle placed in the center of it. He stared into the light and felt the warmth on his fingers while clearing his throat.

 “What about Frankie?” he asked hesitantly.

 Luke’s face betrayed his confusion. “I don’t understand your question. What about Frankie?”

 “He’s your son, not me,” Sly said quietly.

 “A man can have more than one son,” Luke explained patiently. “You would be my younger son, and Frankie would be my older one. Frankie would be your older brother.”

 “Frankie’s my cousin,” Sly said as his brow creased with tension and confusion.

 “Frankie will always be your cousin by blood,” Alexis said. “But legally and emotionally, you’d be brothers within one family. I’m certainly looking forward to being your stepmother, and a second mother if you’re comfortable with that. By blood, Luke is your uncle, but within our new family, he could also be your father. With adoption, it’s a choice. It’s very special because you choose someone to be your child or your parent. With nature, you don’t get a choice. Does that make sense?”

 “So you want me like you want Frankie?” Sly asked. His hand shook slightly as he gripped his napkin-wrapped silverware tightly. He looked down at the table as his heart raced, and he blinked back the tears that were building in his eyes. He held his breath and waited for Luke and Alexis to answer.

 “Yes!” Luke answered quickly and vigorously. “Oh definitely,” Alexis chimed in.

 “Okay,” Sly replied in a small voice. He cleared his throat again. “Bill’s still my dad even if he’s dead,” he affirmed. “I need to talk to him first to see how he’d feel about it.”

 Luke’s brow creased as he strived to understand his nephew’s assertion. “Do you mean you’d like to visit his grave – to talk to him there?” he asked gently.

 Sly nodded wordlessly. His lips swelled and turned pink with his strong emotions. “Yeah,” he finally said. He hurriedly glanced up at Luke and Alexis and then returned his eyes to the table. “I want this,” he said. “I want a family.” Sly held his breath to prevent himself from crying any further. “But I need my dad’s permission.”

 Alexis reached out her hand to place it gently on top of Sly’s. “That’s fine, honey. You take the time that you need to seek Bill’s advice. We’ll be here waiting for you.”

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