Where Will All Come Home?

Chapter 2
Lesley Lu sighed with satisfaction as Laura finished the story.
Before her mother could close the book she said, "Just one more."

"It's really late, honey."

"I will not be here tomorrow night. Please, mommy."

"I hope you're not trying to take advantage of the situation..." Laura hesitated as she looked into the child's huge blue eyes.

"Maybe. But I miss you so much when I'm gone. Please. Just one. This one. Just part of it."

Laura sighed. "It's important that you and your daddy have some time together. I don't want you to get all grown up some day and realize you don't know your dad at all. It wouldn't be fair to either of you."

"You didn't know your father, and you turned out okay."

Laura smoothed her hair, and tucked the pale pink coverlet around her once more.

"Thanks for your vote of confidence! Part of one more it is! Close your eyes and make pictures in your mind while I read." She kissed Lulu's forehead and settled herself in the rocking chair close by the bed.

Lulu opened her eyes, and watched her mother open the book. Laura's hair glowed in the light cast by the bedside lamp, as familiar lines from A Child's Garden of Verse filled the room:


"Dark brown is the river,
Golden is the sand.
It flows along for ever,
With trees on either hand."


Lulu's eyes closed as her mother's voice lulled her to sleep. Laura left the nightlight shining and slipped out into the hall. She walked quickly down the hallway into the nursery to check Sergei.

He was sleeping soundly with no sign of the sniffles that had kept the two of them awake for the past several nights. She stood in the dim light of his room, and gently touched his chest. She knew it was silly, but she always checked to make sure he was breathing. It was hard to believe that after having four children, she was still so paranoid. She chuckled to herself as she thought how Sergei slept in the same position Lucky always had. Luke had said he looked like a frog, because he rolled himself onto his stomach and pulled his knees up under him, small bottom high in the air, arms bent at the elbows, hands flat on the mattress near his face. Sergei did, she decided, look a bit like a frog in his favorite position. Stefan slipped into the room beside her and surveyed their son with satisfaction.

"He seems to be sleeping comfortably tonight," he whispered. "I was growing concerned, but it appears that both of you will have the opportunity to sleep well tonight. And I also. I am no longer accustomed to sleeping alone." He kissed her right temple affectionately as he slipped an arm around her.

"I never fail to be amazed that he sleeps that way. It looks so uncomfortable, but at least he turns his face to the side so that there is no concern regarding smothering.

From the time he could roll over, Nikolas always slept on his right side. If anyone moved him, he rolled back again. He would never have tolerated this position."

"Lucky slept this way too..." Laura began. Sergei let out a sudden gusty sigh. His parents retreated quickly through the door into their own bedroom, fearful of waking him.

"Did Lesley Lu make any comment regarding this weekend?" Stefan asked as Laura untied her crimson velvet robe.

"She just wanted another story on the grounds that she would miss me, and I couldn't refuse." Laura paused for a moment, and looked down. " She also pointed out that I never knew my father."

Stefan hung up his own robe, and looked at her in surprise. "You have discussed your biological father with her?"

"No, but she is alarmingly insightful in some ways. I think that she is rather more like Luke than he knows. Sometimes she just knows things. He used to say information just came to him; he couldn't help it. She is also formidably tough in some ways, and she likes her life as it is. If he can't bring himself to claim her soon, it may be too late for him."

Laura sat down at her dressing table and traced the raised pattern on the handle of her hairbrush with one finger. Her eyes glistened. "But I think that she's doing as well as we can expect. Luke was really surprised by her last week. And he came to the conference with Mr. Welsh. Maybe Alexis will help him too, now that she's not traveling as much."

Stefan moved behind her, and removed the hairbrush from her hands. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head before brushing her hair carefully, slowly.

"Now," he said, completing the work to his own satisfaction, "Come to me."

"Consider me a boat coming ashore," Laura said in an unusually feeble attempt at humor as she leaned against her husband's chest.

"Stevenson again tonight?" he asked as she nestled her head against his neck.

"For the past several weeks."

"You are tired. You have not slept for the past two nights. Everything seems worse late at night when you are tired. I know that this is true. You, yourself taught me."

He stepped back, cupped her face in his hands, and looked into her eyes.

"I have faith in our daughter. Had we not chosen as we did over twenty years ago, Nikolas would not be alive today. She would not be alive today. Of all the things with which I reproach myself in the dark hours of the night, their existence is the counterbalance. A shining example of great good born of great pain. They both live because we loved, Laura. There is no shame in that."

"Love me now, please."

His lips closed on hers as they moved together. And, for a time, any world outside their embrace ceased to exist.
_ _ _

On Saturday afternoon Stefan sat at Kelly's balancing Sergei in his lap while he talked with Alexis. Sergei energetically gummed the teething ring his patient father supplied as soon as they sat down. Alexis looked on in some amusement as the baby grinned broadly at her while keeping the ring tucked in the corner of his mouth, chubby fingers gripping it tightly.

"I never get used to seeing your eyes staring at me out of Laura's face. You have to give her credit. She makes beautiful kids."

"Would you like to hold him a moment?"

Alexis settled Sergei on her lap with some hesitation, but the cheerful baby flashed another grin and gnawed away. He grinned at his father, babbling happily, while his father responded in kind, leaning forward to touch the baby's face and kiss his cheek.

"Do you think we were ever this happy as children?" Alexis asked suddenly. "I can't remember being happy after my mother died, but before that I think that I must have been like this."

"I can't remember much. I know I loved our nursemaid, but she, of course, had orders to give precedence to Stavros in all things."

"You were actually the one who brought me up," Alexis said. When you were sent to school, I was devastated."

"A frightened boy attempting to parent a frightened girl hardly constituted a suitable childhood for either."

"You never seemed frightened to me. You appeared unflappable. A veritable island unto yourself."

Stefan touched his younger son again, and grimaced. "Perhaps we should have been better off had we been brought up by wolves. They, at least, do not savage their young. I was always frightened, and with good reason. School was a haven. Once I knew that you too were at boarding school, I pretended that the island did not exist as much as was possible. Mother, of course, always knew my fear and reveled in it. I pretended to myself that it was not readily observable and worked diligently to overcome it."

"Others may have recognized it. I am surprised, Alexis, that you did not. Laura certainly did, almost immediately. She responded with a protectiveness and a fury such as I had never seen before. She was a prisoner, locked in her room except for the occasional guarded walk, terrorized on a regular basis by Helena and Stavros. She thought that she had lost everything she loved, but still..."

"She came to me, she comforted me." Stefan shrugged. "We comforted each other."

He drifted off briefly into memories, but returned to the present with a start.

"Shouldn't Luke have arrived with Lesley Lu by now? "Why did she spend the night with Bobbie again, rather than with the two of you?"

Alexis bounced Sergei on her knee and played with his tiny fingers. She then turned him so she could look into his face, and cooed to him before responding.

"I don't know any details, except that there was some problem at the club last night. I returned from London very early this morning. Sonny was out, or Luke probably would have left her with him."

Stefan snorted. She continued playing with Sergei, watching the baby's eyes grow larger as she talked to him.

"Alexis, this situation could be easily resolved. You are an attorney. You could act on Luke's behalf. A relatively simple procedure. He relinquishes parental rights. I adopt. The matter is settled to everyone's satisfaction. You and Luke are free to spend your days and nights as you please, and my family's life is no longer disrupted by these difficult weekends."

"Not so fast, Stefan. I'm not sure that what you suggest would be in my client's best interests." She smiled and nibbled at the baby's fingers resting on her lips.

Sergei reached for her hair, dropping his toy in order to taste a handful. Alexis laughed while she disentangled his hands from her hair, resettling him in her lap. She began to bounce him again.

"The serpent was said to be more subtle than all the beasts of the field. Have you discussed your desire for a child with Luke? Or do you hope to tempt him somehow by using Lesley Lu to create an instant family? And what becomes of her when she is no longer useful? You have always been jealous by nature, Alexis. What becomes of Lesley Lu when you no longer have need her as bait?"

"I always admired your devotion to Nikolas, Stefan. The unbelievable devotion of an uncle subordinating his own needs to those of his brother's son. Of course, your devotion was unbelievable, you fraud! Am I to believe that your motivations are pure now? What would you get out of adopting Luke's daughter? The satisfaction of having destroyed every vestige of his past life? Denying his child her own name?"

"I love her, Alexis, for many reasons, as I do Nikolas and Sergei. But you need not think well of me for it. I love her for the same reason he cannot. LesleyLu may be flesh of Spencer's flesh, but thanks to modern medicine, she is bone of my bone. How could I not love her?"

An unpleasant silence ensued, interrupted only when Tammy called Alexis to the phone. Returning Sergei to his father's arms, Alexis walked away. After a brief conversation, she returned.

"Bobbie is bringing Lesley Lu here. Apparently the basement of the club flooded last night due to some sort of broken water pipe. Luke can't leave until the city workmen finish pumping out the basement and give approval to restore electrical power to the building. I'll take Lulu with me and Luke will meet us at the penthouse later. He said they should be here anytime now." She glanced at her watch.

"Is there any particular reason that you're waiting here? Do you want me to relay a message to Lesley Lu?"

"She called home and asked for a few things. She expected to come here for lunch, and I agreed to meet her. Sergei and I can wait a little longer before we pick Laura up at the hospital."

"As you like."

The door opened suddenly and Bobbie rushed in with Lucas, Lulu and Michael trailing behind her. Stefan rose to greet Bobbie courteously, shifting his son to a more comfortable position as he stood.

"Sorry we're so late. We were waiting for Luke, but we just heard from him. Sounds like the club is a mess!" Bobbie exclaimed to Alexis. The two women began quietly sharing what little information they had.

"Papa, you came!" LesleyLu danced over to Stefan. "And you brought Sergei!"

"Of course. Here is a bag containing the items you requested. There is a surprise from your mother at the very bottom. For bedtime."

"Sergei and I also have a surprise for you. Come see. You need no longer fear that he will begin kindergarten with dentures."

"Four teeth at once! When did he get them?"

"Last night. I knew you would be excited. They are coming in quickly. I was pleased by your call, because it gave me an excuse to bring him to you. You have anticipated this moment for so long!"

"Precious baby, you have teeth!." Lesley Lu hugged her baby brother. He responded by engulfing her nose in a sloppy baby kiss, and patting her shoulders and arms with excitement.

Michael Quartermaine who had silently followed Lulu into the restaurant, spoke for the first time. "I'm your baby, Lulu. Not him."

Lesley Lu's eyes rolled heavenward as if seeking strength. "Michael, sweetie, that was just a game. Sergei really is my baby. My little brother."

"No, no," Michael wailed. "You're the mommy. I'm Lulu's baby." A tear trickled down one cheek.

"Carly is your mommy, not me. Please, Michael, quit crying."

"What's wrong with Michael?" Bobbie turned around. " Did someone upset him?"

She looked inquiringly at Stefan.

"Perhaps he is in need of a nap," suggested a baffled Stefan. As if on cue, the cooperative Sergei yawned hugely. "As is Sergei. Lesley Lu, we will take our leave now. Your Aunt Alexis will take you to your father later. Enjoy lunch with your aunts and cousins. Remember to thank your Aunt Barbara for your stay at her home."

"Yes, Papa. I will."

"Wenders has orders to pick you up at noon tomorrow, so that you may join us for lunch. In the afternoon we will ride together, if that is agreeable to you."

"Yes, Papa." Lesley Lu looked steadfastly at the toes of her shoes. Before they left, Stefan bent to kiss her, smoothed her hair and whispered, "We love you. Tomorrow will come soon."

On his way out he could hear Michael's singsong voice. "Lulu sits by Michael.

Lulu sits by Michael."
_ _ _

A weary Luke Spencer walked in the door at 10:30 p.m. Alexis was curled up on the couch reading the latest Anna Quindlen novel. She took off her glasses, stood up, and stretched.

"Wow, am I in luck! I didn't expect you home this early!" She moved across the room to kiss him.

"Hi, baby. Lucky I had a change of clothes at the club." He set a package down gingerly near the door. "I can't decide whether these need to be washed, or burned."

"Most of your clothes would be improved by burning." Alexis's eyes sparkled with mischief. "What makes these any different from the others?" She wrapped her arms around him and started to bite his neck.

"Well," said Luke conversationally. "They and I have been in far closer contact with a backed-up sewer than you probably..." Alexis squealed and jumped backwards.

"It has been one incredible weekend!" He kicked the couch to emphasize his point.

"I think I slept about two hours in between manning the pumps and waiting for various city workmen to come in and express their shock that I really expected them to fix the mess they made!"

"Then two guys just didn't show up for work at all. This band we had booked came with the name of some chick they wanted to work the door. They said another band that had played Port Charles insisted she was the best, so the idiots demanded her! Claude finally located her, and the show went on - and a bad one, I might add. They reeked!"

"You're on a roll! Don't stop now." Alexis smirked.

"So, there I was standing behind the bar and that picture of Helena was really getting on my nerves. Did you ever count her teeth? I think she has too many."

Alexis looked puzzled.

"And a sorrier group of lost souls never leaned on my bar before in all the years I've been pouring drinks...,I'm wondering , ya know, where these people's fathers were when they were kids. Maybe they'd've turned out better, or at least different somehow...."

" Then one of the guys finally came in, and I left Claude with it and came home."

This time the chair took the brunt of his wrath, but his vicious kick caught the wooden frame. Luke collapsed in the chair cursing his wounded foot.

"It's not funny, woman!" Alexis stopped laughing and attempted sympathy.

"Okay, I can see you're worn out. Hop over here and sit with me. Do you want some food?"

"Nah. Thanks. Where's Lulu?"

"In bed."

"What did you two do?"

"We went to the park. She played with a little girl, I think from her old neighborhood. I read the paper. Then we ate dinner at McDonald's. Afterwards we came back here. By the way, when did you give her a key?"

"I didn't. Why?"

"I left my keys at the office, I think. Anyway, I went to Sonny's place thinking that one of the guys would have a set, but no one was there, and when I got back, the door was open. I asked her and she said she opened it. She must have a key."

Luke's eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

"I bet Sonny gave her one when she was here before. I should have thought of that. Anyway, I let her choose a video to watch. I was ready for Disney, but she chose Gandhi so we watched the whole thing from beginning to end.

"When it was over, she said 'Thank you. That was excellent. May I be excused to take my bath and work on some projects in my room?' I looked in on her later and asked if she needed any help with her work, and she said no, thank you. I came out here to read."

"Too polite." Luke scratched his head thoughtfully. "What do you think?"

"Call an exorcist," suggested Alexis. "She resembles a porcelain doll, but appears to be possessed by my brother's spirit."

"Hmm," was his only response.

"Luke, seriously, I don't know her very well, and she's not helping me. Do you think I should have done something differently tonight?"

"No. Assuming you didn't hiss or slither on your belly across the carpet, she was probably favorably impressed."

Alexis stared at him. "Practicing attorneys can't afford to be overly sensitive, but this is the second time today someone has alluded to my serpentlike nature. What's the deal?"

"I've only been out of town three weeks, but I seem to have missed something significant. And the rules posted on the refrigerator - they don't even make sense. Some of them were clearly drafted by Stefan, like number eight. 'Prepare people for surprises.' There's no sense to it."

"You haven't made toast, have you?" Luke started across the room.

"No, but.... Where are you going now?"

"To check on my kid."

Alexis stood in the living room reviewing their conversation. Sewers, teeth, losers, kicking, hissing, slithering, rules, toast.

"I'm not getting anywhere with logic," Alexis said aloud. "Maybe I should make some toast." She went toward the kitchen.

Luke quietly opened the door to the guest bedroom and looked around. He had never really paid much attention to the room before. It looked sterile. He fought back the memories of Lucky's bedroom filled with toys, books, and worm farms, with smelly old Foster sprawled anyhow all over the bed. The bedside light was still on, and Lulu lay on her side, her face to the light holding a stuffed animal close to her chest. She looked small and lonely in the queen-sized bed.

There was an unexpected thud from the kitchen and a muffled scream. He shook his head. Curiosity always got the best of Alexis.

Lulu popped up. "Hi, Daddy. Did you get your club fixed up?

"Yeah. It's fine. Listen, Princess. I'm sorry that I haven't seen you this weekend." Luke pulled a chair over and sat near the bed.

"I'm fine, Daddy. You were busy. I had projects."

"What were you doing?"

"Papa brought me all my Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books. I've been looking for a cure for boringness. Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle is magical, but I'm sure not."

"Do I want to know who you're gonna cure?"

"Michael Quartermaine. Am I really his relative?"

"Afraid so."

"Well, Lucas says he's adopted and I'm not, so that makes Michael my responsibility, not his. Michael is a great resonsibility. Even when we played Swiss Family Robinson, I had to be Michael's mommy."

"But the other kids played too?"

"Yeah, but it's not like you think. Aunt Bobbie goes, 'oh, how nice all the children are playing together.' But, Lucas, Maxie and Georgie went outside and pretended adventures, and made me stay inside with Michael."

"They dumped him on you, huh?"

"He doesn't understand pretending at all! He thinks I'm his new mommy. I tried reading him Curious George books, because he likes the jungle, but he cried when the man with the yellow hat took George away from Africa. George loves the man with the yellow hat. He is his best friend. But Michael cried.

"Then when we met Papa and Sergei at Kelly's he cried some more, because he didn't want Sergei to be my baby brother!"

"Sounds like you've had about all the Spencer family fun you could stand for one weekend."

"Daddy, can I just lay my cards on the table?"

"Please do."

"You're a busy man. You don't enjoy adjusting me and I sure am tired of being adjusted. Our big problems here are Mrs. Tatum, that lady at my school who got you started with this adjusting business, and Mommy, who has a problem with daddies."

"Go on."

"Papa will take care of Mrs. Tatum, if I ask him. He doesn't want me at school anyway. He says I would learn more at home."

"What about you? Do you want to leave school?

" Actually, I like it, except for Mrs. Tatum. But Papa will fix it one way or the other. What I need your help with is Mommy."

"How can I help with Laura?"

"Well, she never knew her own daddy. That's why she thinks everyone else should know theirs. Did you know yours?"

"Yes."

"Did you like him?"

"No," Luke responded honestly. "Bobbie and I ran away. We never went back."

"What happened to him?"

"I don't know."

"Papa didn't like his daddy either. Did you know that?"

"Can't say I'm exactly surprised." Luke pulled a cigar out of his pocket, and looked at it, then put it back in again.

"So you see what I'm thinking, Daddy?"

"Not yet. Explain."

"Help me with a big project. Help me find Mommy's daddy."

"Oh. So we find her dad. She realizes he's like, a big jerk, and gets over the idea that children should see their fathers?"

"Exactly." Lulu nodded with satisfaction.

"Well, we need to think this through a little more carefully. What if we find him and she likes him? Then she'll want the two of us to spend even more time together. That's one possibility we have to consider. Also, we don't even know if the guyi s alive. Where will we start? We don't even have a name."

"Grandma Lesley may already have started. She is very smart, but she does not know how to do this kind of project. I think maybe you do."

"How do you know she's looking?"

"I asked her lots of questions. Then she got sad. And last week she started making phone calls and all the calls were about the same person."

Lulu rummaged in the backpack lying next to her on the bed. "Here." She handed Luke a scrap of paper with a name carefully printed on it.

"So you think that we should work on this together. For our mutual benefit?"

Lulu nodded.

"Well, I haven't worked with a partner in a long time. It's important to know your partner. You have to be able to trust 'em. For a while we'd need to spend more time together, not less, getting to know each other. When you partner up with somebody, you have to learn how to work with them."

"Okay."

"Probably, for a while I'd need to pick you up after school a couple days a week to make our plans. That shouldn't be a problem, because your Mom will think we're getting along real well, and she'll be pleased. It'll be a great cover."

"Okay, Daddy." Lesley Lu stifled a yawn.

"Looks like you need some sleep. Are you comfortable there?"

"Yessir."

"Does that horse thing have a name?"

"Dimitri."

"Do you sleep with him every night?"

"Yes, I have two sleep friends. Well, I used to have two. She paused momentarily.

"But Dimitri is the only one I really need. I am getting too old for it anyway. "

Luke's sharp eyes noticed her casual hand movement as she pushed a scrap of something under her pillow.

"I need to think. Do you mind if I just sit here for a while?"

"I'm not afraid."

"Sure, I know. I sit in here at night and rest sometimes. It's quiet."

"Well, okay. Do you mind if I listen to my tape? Mommy made it for me. It helps me to sleep."

"Sure."

Lesley Lu pulled a small tape recorder out from under the covers and pushed the play button. She lay down again, pulling Dimitri close to her chest.

Luke leaned back in the chair and listened as Laura's disembodied voice floated in the air.

"I tried to get as many of your favorites as possible. I knew you wouldn't want me to forget this one. Remember to close your eyes and make pictures in your mind."


"Dark brown is the river,
Golden is the sand.
It flows along for ever,
With trees on either hand.
Green leaves a-floating,
Castles of the foam,
Boats of mine a-boating -
Where will all come home?"


Luke dozed. When he woke, Lesley Lu was sound asleep with Dimitri in one arm, and her other hand under the pillow. He smoothed her covers, and very carefully slid a hand under the pillow. He pulled out a battered, stuffed puppy and tucked it in place next to Dimitri, then stooped and kissed her forehead before crossing the room to plug in the night light.

On his way out, he paused in the doorway for one last look at the sleeping child.

He smiled. "I'm still a babe magnet," he whispered to himself. "I think I can pull this off."
_ _ _


Quotations in this story are all excerpts from Robert Louis Stevenson's Where Go the Boats?, published originally in "A Child's Garden of Verse."