Part 6 ~ Truth...

 “Well,” Laura said, standing as Carly and Luke exited his office, “What has the two of you looking so sedate?”

 “It’s a long story.” Carly explained, “And I think we’re going to get into it after dinner.” She sat in the chair that Luke pulled out for her, and turned to Lulu, “Why hello Lu. You look very pretty tonight.”

 The pretty girl blushed, “Thank you Carly.”

 “Hello Carly.” Nikolas stated warmly.

 “Hello Nik.” Carly took a sip from her water glass, “And hello Emily and Lucky.”

 Lucky grinned, and Emily nodded, “Hello.”

 Sonny noticed Carly searching for a topic for the whole group to discuss, “School’s out now, isn’t it?”

 Lulu nodded, “Yesterday in fact.” She turned to her brother and his girlfriend, “But Lucky and Em have been off for over three weeks!”

 Luke laughed and patted Lu’s head, “You’re out now too, baby doll, you’re out now too.”

 She pouted at her father, “But still....”

 Nikolas laughed, “But nothing.”

 Sonny reached under the table and squeezed Carly’s hand, “So Laura, how is the Outreach program?”

 She instantly sat up straighter, “Well, it’s wonderful actually. We’ve had four new enrollments this week. Plus, all of the kids are doing very well, in fact, all passed this school year with a ‘B’ or better average.”

 “That’s wonderful, Laura.” Carly complimented.

 Lucky wrapped an arm around his mother, “That’s our star. Always shining.”

 “Lucky!”

 He laughed as Claude set down a plate of cheese fries in front of him, “Thanks, man!”

 Claude nodded, and continued setting down plates, “Miss Benson, are these okay for Michael?”

 Carly nodded, “A few should be okay, right Michael?”

 “Right. Thanks Claude!”

 Claude returned to the bar and the came back with a pitcher of Pepsi. He poured Lulu another glass, but set it down in front of Michael, “If you don’t mind me saying, your son looks remarkably like Bobbie.”

 Carly sifted in her seat, “It’s that just wonderful....”

 “Claude!” Luke snapped, “Get back to work.”

 Lucky watched as Claude went back to the bar, “Dad...”

 “Please don’t Luck.” Luke said, “You don’t know the whole story....”

 Laura’s head snapped up, “The whole story? I think I’d like to know that...”

 Carly and Luke shared a look over the table, “Go ahead Luke.” Carly offered, “It’s your story.”

 “It’s yours too.” Luke pointed out.

 She smiled, “But I don’t know all the details.”

 Luke sighed, “Fine woman, fine.” He signaled to Claude to refresh his drink, “When I was ten, my parents died, so I took Bobbie, who was seven to Atlanta where Ruby was living.”

 “I thought you grew up in Florida?” Emily questioned.

 Luke made eye contact, “Bobbie grew up in Florida. I’ll get to that in a minute.” He picked up his glass, and drain his vodka in one swallow, “When I was fifteen, a new family moved in across the block. The Law’s. And they had a daughter that was twelve. Her name was Amanda.”

 Sonny placed his arm around Carly, “Amanda? What a pretty name...”

 Luke laughed, “Isn’t it? By the end of our first school year in Atlanta, Bobbie had gotten into some trouble with fights, and Ruby decided to send her to Florida with some of her friends from college. Bobbie was excited to leave, and all that summer, I spent every free moment with Amanda. Amanda and Bobbie had gotten to be best friends, and Amanda knew how much I missed my sister.”

 “What does this have to do with Carly?” Nikolas asked, watching Carly’s face carefully for any signs of emotion.

 “Then,” Luke continued as if he hadn’t heard Nikolas, “About two years later, I fell in love with Amanda, and when she graduated from high school, we were married.”

 Lucky, Emily, and Laura’s eyes all shot up, “Married?” they asked in unison.

 Luke nodded, “Married. And we soon found out that Amanda was pregnant with twins. But in her third month, we lost the babies. We were so lost for along time. And then Amanda found out she was pregnant again. But we lost that baby too. I couldn’t handle it, and I moved out and down to Florida with Bobbie. She was turning tricks, and living with Virginia Benson.”

 Luke was eying Carly carefully, and jumped when her head snapped up, “My mom? Why didn’t you tell me that part?” He reached across the table to touch her hand, but she snatched it out of his reach, “Luke...”

 “I couldn’t. You weren’t ready to know.”

 Carly crossed her arms, “Shouldn’t that be my decision? It seems that you and Bobbie are making every decision about when I’m ready, but then just turn and spring the truth on me when you feel like it. I’m tired of being kept in the dark damnit!”

 “Amen.” Lucky mumbled under his breath, “I know the feeling.”

 Luke silenced his son with a look and continued, “It turned out that Amanda had introduced Virginia to Bobbie. That’s how she knew where to get in touch with me. Amanda had a medical condition that unenabled her to carry to term. Bobbie and I were heartbroken when we found out. And then, a few days later, Bobbie offered to carry a child for us.”

 “A child that turned out to be me.” Carly whispered.

 Nikolas heard her first, “Excuse me?”

 She looked up, “I’m sorry. Go ahead Luke...”

 “No.” Laura insisted, “What did you say?”

 Carly looked to Luke for permission, took a deep breath, and then jumped in headfirst, “I was that baby. Bobbie isn’t my mother, because Luke is my father.”

****

 Carly sat on the couch inside the back room of the club, “That went well, don’t you think?”

 Luke and Sonny looked up from the pool table, “There wasn’t bloodshed.” Sonny pointed out.

 “No, just a lot of broken dishes.”

 Luke leaned down to take a shot, and swore when he missed, “Laura will get over it, I promise you. She had accepted you as a Spencer. You were already family. Hear that, family. That won’t change.”

 Carly stretched her feet out and laid back against the pillows, “But I went from a niece to a step-daughter. Don’t you think we should have told her before everyone else?”

 There was a knock on the door that kept Luke from answering, “What?”

 Nikolas poked his head in the door, “Laura left right after Carly ran in here, and Lucky and Em are playing with the children. May I talk to Carly? Alone?”

 Luke and Sonny put down there sticks after Carly shot them an ‘okay’ look. She waited until after they had left to invite Nikolas to sit with her, “I guess I should be requesting admission into the club.”

 “The club?” Nikolas asked confused.

 “The ‘Unknown child of the Spencer’s’ club.” Carly reached down and let her hand trail on the floor, “Is there a secret handshake that I should know?”

 Nikolas laughed, “No. But there’s one thing that comes in handy.”

 “And that’s...?” Carly asked, intrigued.

 “A friend.”

 “Who should I call?”

 “Me.” Nikolas paused while Carly laughed, “Think about it. We’re almost friends. You were my step-sister before, and you are now, for real. I can help you get onto Laura’s good side.”

 “How?”

 Nikolas stood up and began to pace, “No matter how Laura acted, she hated choosing Luke over me, because I’m her son. I can make her see that you’re not bad, and it’s not your fault that she didn’t know. It was Laura’s fault that she didn’t tell Luke. He found out; you decided to come clean.” He stopped pacing and looked at his sister, “How long have you known?”

 “I found out this morning. I’ve only been back in town five days. I asked Bobbie this morning, and then sort of confronted Luke. We Spencer’s move fast, you know?”

 “I know. Let me work on her. It will help things in the long run.”

 Carly looked him over, trying to decide if he was for real, “Why do you want to do this for me?”

 “Two reasons, and both benefit me in a backwards way. One:  As mad as you are at Bobbie, she’s still my step-mother, and I love her. Maybe I can help smooth things over for my whole family.”

 “Wishful thinking, prince. What’s next on your agenda? World peace? An end to hunger?” Carly looked him in the eye and sighed, “Okay, I’ll bite, what’s the second reason?”

 “And two:  If I’ve learned anything from my father and Luke, it’s how important family is.” he held out his hand, palm up, and motioned to her to place hers on his, “Family takes care of family.”

 “For real?”

 “For real.”

 Carly shrugged, “Then what have I got to lose? Here’s to family.”

****

 Carly looked very comfortable walking out of the back room with Nikolas’ arm around her. Sonny fought down the jealousy in him, reminding himself that Nikolas was Carly’s brother, “Are you ready to leave, doll?”

 Carly nodded, “Sure, but Luke, can I take Lulu for the night? She can play with Michael, and I’ll get a chance to learn all about me sister. Plus, you can work things out with Laura.”

 Luke shrugged, “Okay by me.” he looked over his shoulder, “Lu?”

 “Cool!” She exclaimed running over, “It’ll be like a sleepover!”

 Carly bent down to her sister’s level, “I bet that if you asked Sonny really nice, he’d let Emily stay too. And Nikolas and Lucky.”

 “Mr. Corinthos....”

 “It’s Sonny, Lulu, and that would be wonderful.”

 “Yea!” She exclaimed, “I’m going to go ask Lucky and Em.”

 Carly stood up, “Are you up for a party at the Corinthos pad, bro?”

 He smiled, “As long as you call me Nikolas.”

 “Nikky.” She compromised.

 “Nikolas is public. Nikky as long as it’s not in front of Lucky.”

 “Deal.” Carly stuck out her hand and they shook.

 Lulu came running back over with Emily and Lucky trailing behind her, “Emily would love to, but Lucky didn’t want to. Emily said that he would though.”

 Sonny groaned, “That hurts.”

 Luke nodded in reply, and Carly laughed, “That’s my girl.”

 Emily picked up Lu, “Lucky and I will take everyone out to the limo.” she offered, “Michael looks about dead anyway.”

 Carly reached out and touched her son’s head, “Thanks Emily.” She touched Lucky’s arm, “I know this is hard. I’m still getting used to it, but we can be friends, I know it.”

 Lucky nodded curtly, “I’ll try. No promises.”

 Carly leaned over and impulsively kissed his cheek, “That’s better than anything.”

 Nikolas placed a hand on Emily’s waist, and led them out to the car, “Take time saying good-bye Car.”

 She nodded and leaned against Sonny’s solid chest, “This is my second family meal today, and neither has gone the way I planned.” she sighed, “Promise me that after two o’clock tomorrow, I won’t have to eat with any family that doesn’t live with me for a long, long time.”

 “Promise.” Sonny said.

 “What’s happening tomorrow at two?” Luke inquired.

 Carly sighed, “I like to live dangerously. I’m going to take Laura out to lunch tomorrow and work things out if it kills me, her, or both of us....”