Alexis sat in the park watching the children play and thinking about her own Little One. She could not wait to see her, to watch her grow and play, to see her smile for the first time. She wondered briefly if she would have her fathers smile and if she did, would he notice? It was then that she spotted the little girl, sitting alone on the bench. Lesley Lu Spencer looked heartbroken. Seeing the little girl Alexis remembered a promise she had made to Laura. It was not the promise she made two days ago when she visited Laura at the hospital. It was a promise that had been made years before.
"Are you all right? Oh, I'm Alexis, I know your Mom and Dad." She added quickly not wanting to frighten the child.
"I know, you're Nicky's aunt." The little girl replied solemnly.
"That's right, do you mind if I sit down?" Lesley Lu shrugged and so Alexis sat down.
"Are you here all by yourself?" Alexis asked looking around for Leslie or Bobbie.
"Are you going to tell on me."
"Nope."
"You're not?"
"No, but I think you might want to call your grandma and let her know you're okay, she's probably really worried about you."
"Maybe." Lu Lu shrugged.
"Definitely."
"Well, I would call but I don't have a phone." This was definitely Luke Spencer's daughter Alexis thought smiling.
"Luckily for you I do." She told her handing her the cell phone. Do you know the number.
"Of course, I'm not a baby."
"Right."
A minute later Lesley Lu was on the phone with her grandmother.
"Yes, I'm fine, Alexis let me use her phone. Alexis Davis, you know the lady Daddy calls Legs. Yeah her. Okay. Grandma wants to talk to you."
She told Alexis handing her the phone. After assuring Lesley that her granddaughter was fine Alexis promised to bring her home hinting that she might have a little talk with her first.
"So how long have you known my Mom and Dad?" The little girl asked once Alexis hung up the phone. Alexis recognised a stall tactic when she heard one but decided to play along.
"Well, I've known your Mom for a long time." Alexis answered deciding her first meeting with Luke was probably not a good story to tell his young daughter.
"Really, how long?"
"We knew each other before your brother Nikolas was born."
"Wow, that's a long time."
"Were you best friends?"
"For a little while yes, we were."
It wasn't an exaggeration, for one month, over twenty years ago they had been. Alexis was on a school holiday and instead of going to one of her friends summer houses she was going back to Greece. The decision had been hers but still she was nervous. Stefan had assured her that Helena was preoccupied with some new project and was barely around. The fact that Stavros was now married also played a part in her decision. She had been in awe of Laura from the first. Laura reminded her of something she could not name, looking back she could see now that Laura's fair beauty and gentle voice had probably reminded her of her mother. The night after she arrived Alexis had run into Laura in one of the hallways.
"Hi," she whispered.
"Hi."
"I couldn't sleep."
"Neither could I. Follow me," Alexis said leading Laura towards the far end of the hallway.
They came to the end and Laura looked questioningly at the girl. The only thing there was a huge portrait of some ancient Cassadine ancestor. Alexis quickly glanced down the hallway to make sure no one was there then reached behind the portrait and pressed something. An instant later Laura was shocked to see the wall beside her open and reveal a passage way. Before she could say anything Alexis stepped inside motioning for her to follow. As soon as Laura was inside the wall behind her closed as though it had never been opened.
"Its on a timer," Alexis explained. "It only stays open for twenty seconds."
"How did you know about this," Laura asked?
"Stefan showed it to me years ago, there are tons of hiding places in this house, if you know where to look." Laura looked at the girl before her and her heart ached. It was hard enough being here as an adult, she could not imagine a child being raised here. Quickly pushing the thought aside she hurried to catch up to Alexis who was leading her though a labyrinth of passageways.
"Where are we going?" Laura asked.
"Does it matter?" The girl shrugged and Laura realised she was right. There was no escape from this place, but any hiding place was better than her bedroom. Eventually they came to what appeared to be a dead end, but by now Laura knew better. She waited patiently as Alexis felt for a loose panel in the wall and soon the wall split, just as the one in the hallway had done. Laura realised immediately they were in the kitchen.
"I thought you might be hungry," Alexis explained, "you didn't eat very much at dinner."
"Thank you I am a little hungry." The two young women raided the fridge and soon found enough food for a small feast. They sat down at the table, and began to talk. Alexis looked nervously at Laura.
"Are you afraid of him?" No explanation was needed they both knew who she meant.
"Yes, Are you?"
"Yes." Neither of them spoke of him again during that entire month.
Their trips though the passageway occurred almost nightly. Usually they went to the kitchen. A few times Alexis had taken her to the library, explaining how she used to sneak there as a child to read the beautiful books Helena had forbidden her to touch. It was in the library, almost a month after they had met that Laura had confided her secret to Alexis.
"I'm pregnant."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm over two months late. What am I going to do? If its a girl Helena might let me stay, to see if I can give Stavros a boy next time. If it's a boy Helena will take him from me. She might try to take the child, even if it is a girl. I couldn't bear the idea of that woman raising my child Alexis." Alexis shuddered at the image, she knew just how cruel Helena could be to an unwanted child.
"That won't happen, Stefan will protect the baby, just as he protected me." Or tried to, she thought.
"I need you to promise me something Alexis." Laura began almost frantically. "I know that Stefan will do everything he can to protect my children from Helena but I need you to promise me that you will tell them how much I love them. I'm so afraid Helena will take them away from me eventually. Promise me you will tell my children I loved them."
"Laura calm down, Helena won't take your children from you, Stavros wouldn't allow it."
"We don't know what will happen Alexis. Promise you will show my child a mother's love if I can't."
"Laura I'm really not the right person to ask. I'm like the least maternal person ever. I don't even remember my mother, Helena is the closest thing I have to one and she hates me."
"Alexis you will make a great mother someday, you're kind and caring, in spite of this place. I believe it, I believe it enough to trust you with my own children."
Later Alexis wondered if Laura had been planning to escape even then, knowing she would not be able to take the child with her. Alexis had always felt in someway as though she had failed Laura. Once Laura was gone she didn't dare return to the island. After Stavros' death she tried to be there for Nikolas but Helena had kept them at a distance. By the time Stefan took all control from Helena Alexis was living in New York, she had finally made a life apart from the Cassadines and she couldn't just walk away from it. Now she couldn't help but feel fate was offering her a second chance.
"My Mommy went away." Lesley Lu told Alexis sadly.
"I know sweetie, but I also know that she loves you more than anything and she's going to do everything she can to find her way back to you."
"How do you know?"
"She told me, a long time ago and she asked to be there for you if you need anything. So if you ever need to talk or anything, I want you to call me. This is my card, see that's my number and anytime you want to talk about your Mom or anything else, you can call me."
"You know I wasn't gonna run away forever."
"I know, sometimes you just need to get away for a while."
"Do you ever run away?"
Alexis thought about her recent move out of the penthouse, her decision to not tell Sonny about the baby, most of the decisions she had made recently.
"Sometimes." She answered sadly realising she had not come all that far from the little girl who was trying to hide from the things that scared her. Only this time it was love that scared her the most. But a long time ago your Mom taught me that a friend can make even the really hard things a bit easier. So do me a favour, next time you feel like running away give me a call first and we'll see what we can do, okay?
"Okay," Lesley Lu agreed smiling. "Um, Alexis are you going to have a baby?" She asked looking at Alexis' expanding waistline.
"Yes I'm having a little girl."
"Really? I like babies, do you think maybe I could come see her once she's born?"
"I would love that." Alexis told the little girl smiling.