Chapter 12 

The Spencer house, the morning before the trial. 

Laura woke up to an empty bed. She quickly donned her robe and went downstairs 
to find Luke staring out the window. She went up to him, wrapping her arms 
around him. At first he jumped, but then he quickly let down his guard and let 
her comfort him. She laid her head against his back, feeling how tense he was. 
She wished there was something she could do to help him lift this weight off of 
his shoulders, but she knew there was nothing she could do. This was taking a 
toll on everyone, but Luke most of all. No matter how many times she tried to 
convince him that none of this is his fault, he wouldn't allow himself to 
believe her. 

“Is there anything interesting out there?” Laura asked, trying to break the 
silence. 

“A whole world that I'm not allowed to see. My son who I'm not allowed to be 
with,” Luke replied, with almost no emotion at all. 

“You'll be able to see all those things again. Once Alexis gets you off…” 

Luke turned around to face Laura. “Once she gets me off? How do we even know 
that's going to happen? Did you read the morning paper?” Luke handed her the 
front page. “They've pretty much already have convicted me and I haven't even 
gone on trial yet.” 

“I know. But that's how the press works. Remember when I was on trial for 
Damian's murder?” Laura said, hoping that her trial would give him a little 
hope. 

Luke wasn't convinced. “Your trial was different. No jury in their right mind 
would have ever convicted you. Look at my past, Laura. It screams of violence 
and trouble. Who would actually believe that I might be a decent father?” 

“Anyone who knows you, Luke,” Laura said confidently. 

“Whatever,” Luke said, as he moved away from the window and headed for the 
couch. He sat down and stared at the floor for a little while. Laura wanted to 
comfort him, but she knew he needed this time alone before the trial, so she 
went to the kitchen to start breakfast. She really couldn't begin to imagine 
what was going through his mind right now. She wasn't the one that was being 
denied access to her son. She couldn't begin to imagine what it must be like to 
have her father, the one she never knew, call her an unfit parent… let alone a 
child abuser. 

Luke sat still for a long time before Lulu came downstairs. She jumped up on her 
father's lap, trying to convince him to take her to the park. Luke hated letting 
her down, but since the trial was today, he figured he should actually show up 
to that before they arrest him again. He didn't want Lulu to notice the fear in 
him, but it was getting harder to keep in bottled up, so he sent her in the 
kitchen with Laura, while he went back upstairs to get dressed. 

Lulu ran into the kitchen and demanded to know what was wrong with her father. 
Laura didn't know how to explain everything that was happening, and she didn't 
want to either. It wasn't something that a four-year-old should know about. She 
tried to say that Luke was only very tired, but Lulu knew Laura was lying. 
“Daddy's not feeling bad because he's tired. What's wrong?” 

“He's going through something right now that is painful,” Laura said, hoping her 
daughter would let the subject drop. 

To Laura's dismay, Lulu wouldn't let it drop. “Is it about Lucky? Is it because 
Lucky doesn't live here anymore? Maybe if Daddy could tell Lucky that he would 
never hurt him again, he'll come home.” 

“What do you know about Lucky?” Laura demanded. 

Lulu realized she said something bad and tried to back out of the kitchen. As 
she was backing away, Luke came through the door and ran right into her. “I'm 
sorry. I didn't mean to say it?” 

“Say what?” Luke asked, confused by the scene he just walked in on. 

“What do you know, Lulu? What have you heard?” Laura asked again, quietly this 
time. 

“I heard that Daddy hit Lucky and that is why Lucky won't live here anymore.” 
Lulu looked at Luke and said, “I promise I won't be bad like Lucky.” 

Luke felt both anger and hurt by Lulu's accusations. He wanted to either put his 
fist through the wall or collapse to the ground and cry at the sight of his 
daughter fearing him. Instead, he gave her a hug and kissed her cheek before 
speaking. “Lulu, I would never lay a hand on anyone in this family. You know 
that don't you? I could never live with myself if I ever did that.” 

“But the man said…” 

“What man?” Luke asked. 

“The man that looks like you,” Lulu quickly replied. 

Luke got up and started to pace. Laura went over to Lulu and said, “That man was 
lying, Lulu. He's the one who hurt Lucky. Not Daddy. Where did you see this 
man?” 

“I saw him when I was in the backyard one day. He said that he was going to 
protect me and Lucky because Daddy hit him and he's really hurt.” 

Luke banged his fist against the counter. “If he ever comes near this family 
again, I swear I'll kill him.” 

Laura gave Luke a cold stare, even though she understood his feelings. She 
wanted to kill him too, but this wasn't the time to voice those opinions. Not 
with Lulu in the room, questioning whether Luke could hurt her or not. 

Laura brought Lulu upstairs to get dressed before they would leave for court. 
She thought that Luke would be better venting out his anger in solitude. She 
wanted to stay with Luke, but her first priority had to be Lulu. She had no idea 
that Lulu was so scared right now, and that frightened her more than anything. 
She also knew that if Lorenzo scared Lulu on purpose, then he was probably going 
to use that against them too. That's all they needed now… a child of Luke's 
thinking he was capable of such an act. 

------------------- 

Lucky got dressed for court and went downstairs to find Sonny studying some 
paper work. He didn't want to disturb him, so he went into the kitchen to get a 
cup of coffee. As he was pouring it, the image of Lorenzo came to him mind, and 
he dropped the pot of coffee. Sonny heard the crash and came running into the 
kitchen. Lucky stared at him and then back at the floor and apologized, like he 
was a kid that just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. 

Sonny got to spend a lot of time with Lucky lately, and he noticed more than 
ever that the young man that stood before him didn't resemble the old Lucky in 
any way. He told Lucky it was okay, left the mess as it was, and led Lucky to 
the living room. They both sat on the couch before either one mentioned what was 
on their mind. 

“I want this to be over. I want the nightmares to end. I want to go home to my 
family where I belong,” Lucky said. 

“It will happen, Lucky. I promise you that. I will do everything in my power to 
help get your father off and to make sure Lorenzo doesn't touch you again. You 
do believe me, don't you?” Sonny asked. 

“I want to believe you. I know you mean what you say, but then I remember what I 
lived through for 2 months, and what Will has lived through his whole life. If 
this man couldn't be stopped before, what's to say he can be stopped now?” Lucky 
asked, while he started to shake a little. 

“Lorenzo didn't meet his match before. He just bullied children, but he made a 
mistake in trying anything with you. Your father won't let anything else happen 
to you, and I won't either. We make a pretty good team, your father and I, and 
Lorenzo won't be able to do anything about that.” Sonny hoped that the mention 
of Luke would give Lucky some strength. 

“I know that in my heart, Sonny. I'm just having a hard time convincing my mind 
to think the same thing. If I had just told Dad to stay when I wanted him to, 
none of this would have happened, “Lucky said quietly. 

Sonny placed his hand on Lucky's shoulder. “Don't blame yourself for what 
happened. No one could have predicted the outcome before it happened. Luke would 
never have left if he thought you would have been in any danger. He regrets that 
choice now. He is taking on all the blame himself, so don't let him see you like 
this. It will only crush him more. He really needs the one constant in his life 
right now… the one thing he holds dear… and that is his family. Do you think you 
can do that?” 

“I can do anything for Dad,” Lucky said, trying to sound strong. 

Sonny smiled and said, “Now that's what I want to hear. Make sure Will is 
getting ready and we'll head to the courthouse. I know your parents are going to 
want to see you before the trial, and I think they both need that right now. And 
so do you. Everything will turn out okay. I won't allow for anything else.”