Chapter 3

Carly stared out her bedroom window. It was Saturday thank God; she didn't have to deal with school and the perfect teenagers that oozed out of the walls there. Weekends weren't perfect though. Bobbie always had some emergency come up and Carly had to watch Lucas. The truth was that Carly didn't mind looking after him, Jason was always working and it felt good to look out for someone.

Bobbie had jus left, she had to work again, Carly hadn't even blinked. It was amazing how often Bobbie worked. Of course before Bobbie had left they'd had a huge fight. Bobbie had found out that Carly had left school early the day before. Carly was surprised Bobbie noticed or even cared. Bobbie confused Carly to know end, just when she thought that there was no hope for a relationship Bobbie would do something, something parent like and Carly would start to believe that she cared, but it never lasted.

Carly walked out into the kitchen; Lucas was watching cartoons and colouring. Carly glanced at the clock. Half past twelve. She should make him lunch. If there was one thing she didn't do well it was cook.

Carly turned to Lucas and smiled at him "Get your coat squirt, were gong to Luke's for lunch."

Lucas jumped up excitedly and ran to get his coat. "Cool."

Carly laughed, he was so easy to please. Besides he loved Luke's cheese fries. She would have preferred going to Kelly's but Bobbie was there. At least Hannah and Roy were away on their trip so they wouldn't be at Luke's.

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Sonny had been working on the books at Luke's all morning. Luke was insane when it came balancing a checkbook. He would pawn the job off on anyone who would do it. Sonny didn't mind even though Luke made it more trouble than it needed to be. Sonny finally threw down the calculator in frustration. He'd been at this for a few hours, he needed a break. Sonny headed out into the main club area and sat down at the bar.

He smiled at Claude as he began fixing Sonny his drink without him even asking. "Thanks."

Sonny turned surprised when he heard a child's laughter. He became even more surprised when Carly walked into Luke's with Lucas on her shoulders, piggyback style. They were both laughing at something and Sonny was struck by how happy Carly looked. He didn't think he'd ever seen her laugh like that.

Carly hadn't spotted Sonny yet, she was to busy with Lucas.

Sonny slipped off his stool and went back my Luke's office. He didn't want Carly to see him. He was amazed at how she was being with her brother. Sonny had never seen her so open and loving. He knew instinctively that if she saw him she would go back to normal.

Lucas put his hands over her eyes and Carly stopped walking.

"Hey squirt, I can't see."

Lucas let out a laugh. "I know, sing it PLEASE."

Carly pretended to be confused. "Sing what?"

Lucas sighed and stumbled over the name of the song. "Carly, you know the nessicities song. The one your mom taught you, Lisa."

Carly immediately stiffened at the mention of Lisa. "She wasn't my mom."

Lucas nodded and stopped smiling, he felt bad, he shouldn't have said her name. Carly always got upset when he did that. "I'm sorry Carly; you lived with her though right?"

"Yes, I did." Carly said in a small voice.

Lucas twisted around Carly so he could see the expression on her face. "Don't be sad, please sing it."

Carly smiled and brought Lucas around so she was holding him in her arms. "I'm not sad."

She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek and then looked around the club. When she saw that no one she knew was around she began to sing.

Look for the bare necessities The simple bare necessities Forget about your worries and your strife I mean the bare necessities Old Mother Nature's recipes That brings the bare necessities of life

Sonny stared at Carly; this was a side of her he had never seen hell he never even thought it existed. What was even more surprising though was that Carly had a pretty good voice.

Wherever I wander, wherever I roam I couldn't be fonder of my big home The bees are buzzin' in the tree To make some honey just for me When you look under the rocks and plants And take a glance at the fancy ants Then maybe try a few

Carly was dancing around the club with Lucas in her arms. Lucas for his part was half laughing hysterically and half trying to sing with Carly.

The bare necessities of life will come to you They'll come to you! Look for the bare necessities The simple bare necessities Forget about your worries and your strife I mean the bare necessities That's why a bear can rest at ease With just the bare necessities of life

Carly loved this song. Lisa had taught it to her. They'd spent hours singing it. The movie hadn't been available really when Carly was little but she knew the song by heart. When she'd first come to live with Bobbie she had sung it all the time. Lucas had grown to love it and he was always begging her to sing it.

Now when you pick a pawpaw Or a prickly pear And you prick a raw paw Next time beware Don't pick the prickly pear by the paw When you pick a pear Try to use the claw But you don't need to use the claw When you pick a pear of the big pawpaw Have I given you a clue ?

Lucas was in heaven; he loved it when Carly was fun. She mostly was whenever their mom wasn't around. Which was a lot. Carly always made him feel special. Lucas had his dad, his mom and the rest of his family, but Carly was different. She treated him like a grown up. Lucas knew Carly probably didn't want to spend all her time babysitting her little brother. He tried to stay out of her way, but she had never taken her anger at mom out on him.

The bare necessities of life will come to you They'll come to you! So just try and relax, yeah cool it Fall apart in my backyard 'Cause let me tell you something little britches If you act like that bee acts, uh uh You're working too hard

Carly looked at Lucas, his eyes were lit up, and he was full of life and completely innocent. Or as innocent as any kid could be with Bobbie Spencer for a mother. Carly was going to make sure he stayed that way. She loved the way he looked at her. He loved her unconditionally; not very many people had done that in Carly's life.

And don't spend your time lookin' around For something you want that can't be found When you find out you can live without it And go along not thinkin' about it I'll tell you something true The bare necessities of life will come to you

Carly finally put Lucas down and collapsed into one of the chairs nearby. "Happy now?"

Lucas nodded and hugged Carly.

Carly laughed. "Good, let's order."

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After they'd eaten Carly led Lucas to Luke's office. She knew if they didn't say hi to Luke, she'd never hear the end of it. Carly knocked on the door to Luke's office, and when there was no answer she figured Luke was just being difficult again. She opened the door expecting some sarcastic comment from Luke to come flying at her. She stopped abruptly when she saw Sonny behind Luke's desk.

Lucas however was not frozen. Since the Spencer's had pretty much adopted Sonny into their family Lucas knew Sonny.

"Sonny, hi."

Sonny looked from Carly to Lucas. "Hey little man."

Carly immediately went into protective mode. "What are you doing here?"

Sonny looked back at Carly and he couldn't believe he ever thought there was another side to Carly Spencer. "I'm working; some of us have to do that, you know?"

Carly glared at him. In the back of her mind she hoped he hadn't seen her sing, but she doubted he had. He would have mentioned it by now, hell he would have said something as soon as she was done. "Where's Luke?"

Sonny rolled his eyes. "He's camping; he took LuLu and went with Roy and Hannah."

Carly's eye's bulged out. "HE WHAT?"

Sonny smiled, he'd obviously hit a nerve. "What, jealous you weren't asked to go Spencer?"

Carly starred daggers at Sonny. She couldn't let him know how much not having a real family hurt. Every time something happened it made Carly feel so stupid. How dumb do you have to be to keep beating your head against the wall? She should just graduate and get the hell away from her family.

"No Sonny, I was just surprised. Come on Lucas, we have to go."

Lucas nodded and walked to the door. "Bye Sonny,"

Sonny gave Lucas a small smile. "Bye little man."

With that Carly stormed out of Luke's office, holding Lucas's hand and slamming the door after them. Sonny sat back for a minute. Something was bothering him, but he couldn't place it. Granted it had been a strange day with Carly singing that song some Lisa person had taught her, but something...

That was it, what Lucas had said. He'd called this Lisa person Carly's mom, Carly had said she wasn't her mom, but admitted that she lived with her. What was that about? Carly had the perfect family, didn't she?