~~ Swift as a shadow, short as any dream;
Brief as the lightning in the collied night,
That in a spleen unfolds both heaven and earth,
And ere a man hath power to say, "Behold!"
The jaws of darkness do devour it up:
So quick bright things come to confusion. ~~ William Shakespeare

"All I want…is this…Elizabeth…"

Slowly, the namesake of the song fluttered her eyelids. His face began to come into focus even in the narrow shaft of moonlight that lit the room. Crossing it in diagonal.

Just like in her dream, he was singing her name.

"You ok, Baby?" Lucky asked gently. Pulling back the covers as he slid in beside her. Not having bothered to remove his clothes. It was all he could do to get his heart rate back to normal, let alone remember to undress.

She shut her eyes tightly for a moment, trying to recall what day it was…what time it was. She’d asked him to come over…that’s right.

Yes, she had asked him. And as soon as he’d walked into the apartment, he’d heard her moaning from the bedroom. Walking briskly past Audrey’s sleeping form on the couch pull-out, he’d hurried to her side.

The sight of her had stopped his heart only to send it into overdrive a second later.

His brow creased with worry even as she slowly began to calm down. Seeing her toss and turn was becoming commonplace once again, and he hated it. Even now as he lay next to her, soothing her hair away from her forehead he could see the remnants of her dream, etched across it.

She nodded finally, in answer to his earlier question. Quickly moving into the circle of his arms. "You’re here," she sighed heavily. "I dreamt about you…about all of us…and you were singing…but you’re really here."

Lucky kissed her forehead and tightened his grip around her waist. Bringing her to his chest. She was grinning a bit. He hadn’t expected that…but…

"You fell asleep so quickly…I just talked to you on the phone about 20 minutes ago…and when I walked in – you were moaning in your sleep. I thought -

Sniffling slightly, she held him close. "Nothing to worry about. It was just…weird that’s all. I didn’t dream about…him again," she whispered. Tightening her grip around Lucky. Not wanting to even think that man’s name.

"I was lying here, waiting for you…but it seems I should stay away from pillows if I hope to have any chance of staying conscious lately."

Seconds of silence passed and she looked up into his eyes. Remembering the real reason she’d wanted him to come over so quickly anyway. The way his voice had sounded. The way the silence sounded now…

"Lucky are you ok? You sounded so distant on the phone –

"I’m fine," he nodded quickly. Too quickly for someone who had fallen into deep thought in a matter of seconds. "All I wanna do right now is hold you...that always makes me feel better…I just think maybe it’s a lack of sleep you know – not being able to be in the same bed with you every night, will do that to a man."

Biting down on her lower lip, she nodded quietly. Knowing that it wasn’t a complete lie, but that it wasn’t the complete truth either. Going to break into her medical records and reading about the miscarriage had done more to him than he was willing to admit.

It would do more to her if she were willing to allow herself to think about it for more than a split-second.

She reached up and combed her fingers through one side of his hair. It was getting a little long. But she was glad for it. After he’d first heard about Luna……

"You’re here with me now," she whispered. Interrupting her own thoughts, before they became too much to bear. She’d wanted him to come over so that she could take care of him…not the other way around. "That’s all that matters."

That was true wasn’t it? He didn’t have to pay any attention to that sickly feeling brewing in the pit of his stomach did he? All he needed was to be with her. To touch her, hold her, feel her. Just be near her…as near as possible.

Slowly and gently he rolled her over. Letting his hand travel all the way from her precious face, down to her preciously swelled tummy. He eased the blanket down to kiss that perfect swell. Three times for each child inside. Just as slowly, he eased his way back up to her face. Treating her mouth to one of the gentlest, most tender kisses imaginable.

"I love you," he murmured. Continuing to show that love with his slow, wandering hands.

"Thank you…" she sighed when he pulled away for just a moment to take a breath. "Thank you for being here…and for singing me awake…I didn’t know I needed that so much."

She really had heard him. It was amazing. She’d seemed so deep into her dream…it’d been so hard to pull her out. That was the main reason he’d begun singing in the first place.

He kissed her now in response. Needing to feel every second of love and warmth she had to offer.

"Are you tired?" He whispered suddenly, as the kiss intensified. As if remembering that he couldn’t just think of his needs now, or even hers. That he had to think of what was best for his family. And if his family needed sleep…

Elizabeth let her hands travel through his hair as her body began to ache in all the right places, beneath his weight. She eased her leg along his denim-clad thigh and kissed him deeply. Letting him know that the question was mute.

There had been something hungry not only his kiss, but in his voice. And she would very willingly fulfill his every need tonight. Every night.

Her body seemed to sense that there was something inside of him that needed to be with her even more than she needed to be with him tonight.

"No," she sighed breathlessly. "I’m not too tired to make love with you…never ever too tired."

Without question, he took her at her word. Quickly sitting up to remove his jeans and shirt and then slipping his hands into the waistband of the pajama pants that she wore. Tendering sliding them away from her body as he ran his hands back up her smooth legs.

It was funny the way memories came and went. The way as he let his hands journey over her now, he remembered dreaming of them – fantasizing about her legs – when he’d been away from her. He remembered watching her calves move down the street one afternoon as he’d sat and watched her come out of her gallery. The first time he’d seen her in person, in years.

So much had changed in only a few months.

Here they were together again. Here they were engaged to be married. Here they were awaiting the arrival of triplets.

Here they were making love again.

They both knew that tonight wouldn’t be like it had been a few times recently. It wouldn’t be the wild, sweaty, animal kind of sex that had become almost common between them. But it would be something else entirely. Something tender, and just as good. They would touch each other in ways that were unique and special to only them. Ways that only they understood.

It would be the slow, cool, dreamy kind of lovemaking that they’d done expertly well over the years. The kind that went for hours if you let it. The kind filled with long caresses and deep breathing that hitched now and again just before it returned to a modicum of normalcy. But it would return for only brief moments in time, only to be brought back to that supreme point time and time again, before the delicious end.

It would all be delicious though. Every second. Every thigh quivering moment of it would be.

And when he ran his hands down over her smoothness, they did in fact quiver. He was her every fantasy come true and when he touched her like this, she knew that she was his as well.

She felt the satin like skin of his penis brush against her already overanxious flesh as he moved to kiss her, and she reached down to touch him. To hold in her hands that gloriously miraculous flesh. He quivered for her as well.

It was nice not to feel anything between them anymore. No barrier created by a latex sheath, no worries of birth control what so ever. Only flesh entering flesh. Skin gloved by skin. Nothing could have felt more natural or right or ingeniously designed as the entering of his body into hers.

Just like they’d both predicted each of their breathing hitched. Stopping cold for a moment in their throats as they adjusted to the feel of each other once more. Like they’d done thousands of times

Maybe it should have been ‘stopping hot’ instead of ‘stopping cold,’ because his hands were everywhere when he began to move again…and her body was fire. That slow rhythmic rocking of his hips joined with hers, causing nothing less than an inferno.

His long, agile fingers traveled back down the legs he’d dreamt of and under her feet. Pushing them upwards and feeling her smile beneath his lips when he did so.

More traveling was to be had. To other sensitive parts and parts that were not so sensitive. Just wanting to touch every silken inch. Sliding up the under side of her arms all the way up to the place where her hands rested above her head. Lacing with her fingers and slowly drawing her hands down to the side of her face.

Though she wanted to touch him, suddenly wanted to take control of things the way she had earlier that afternoon in their hotel room, she knew that now wasn’t the time. She knew that right then he needed to be the one to lead things. He needed to give and take and guide her to places they’d been before – and some that they hadn’t.

The pressure to move towards their completion built within every muscle of Lucky’s body and he slowly pulled out of her heated core. Knowing that if he allowed himself to linger there, he wouldn’t be able to control how long this lasted.

Her legs shifted restlessly around his waist as his body slid against hers. His mouth hot and seeking out her breast with a moist, fervent passion.

Elizabeth twined her fingers in his dark locks. Catching the way the slight amount of moonlight made the ends glitter with gold. She couldn’t keep her eyes open, yet she couldn’t close them, the sensations of his mouth so blissfully intense.

She couldn’t and wouldn’t stop watching the way he moved or how beautiful he was when he made love to her. And he made love to her 24 hours a day.

"I love you," she moaned. And he answered her quickly in return, mouthing the words right against her heart.

She writhed beneath him. Wanting him back inside…deep inside.

Images of her dream came floating back to her, and she knew now that it had been just that. Her mind playing tricks on her.

They would always have this. There was no way they’d ever stop touching each other long enough to go days without making love…let alone endure the insanity that years suggested.

It just wasn’t fathomable, and when he touched her now, she could easily rid her mind of such unthinkable notions. All that mattered now was that she had him and that he took her again quickly…

Anxiously, her hands reached for him again. Feeling his hardness graze her belly as his mouth circled her equally wanting breasts time and time again.

"Insi…inside me Lucky…" she whimpered now. Half in ecstasy half in pain.

And he felt it too. The burning need to be inside her building with an even great force than before.

He quickly slid back down the length of her body and –

The sudden gasp from the other room caused them both to still. Elizabeth freezing beneath him just as Lucky readied himself to reclaim her.

A split-second passed and another loud gasp, echoed horribly from the living room. Audrey just feet away from them in her bed, struggled for breath.

Stuck somewhere worry and disappointment in one instant, Elizabeth sat up and grabbed the t-shirt that lay on the chair next to the bed. Hurriedly pulling it over her head even as she searched for pants.

Lucky jumped off the bed as well in search of his own covering even as his body throbbed with want. When Elizabeth glanced up at him in apology, he simply nodded for her to go.

"It’s ok…it’s ok…"

She was flicking on the lamp next to the bed before she even realized her feet had carried her down the hall and into the next room.

"Gram…" Elizabeth panted sitting upon the edge of the bed. Her eyes widened as her grandmother rocked herself and continued to gasp. "Gram…are you ok?…What is it –

But she couldn’t answer. Couldn’t speak as she searched for breath.

The look of panic that flickered through Elizabeth’s eyes, had Lucky crossing to the phone that sat inside kitchen in seconds. Talking to Audrey’s doctor after a quick instant of arguing with a night nurse on duty.

Elizabeth wrapped her hand tightly around her grandmothers in an effort to calm the both of them. "It’s ok Gram…we’re gonna take you to the doctor…it’s ok…everything’s gonna be fine."

She was helping her grandmother up, before Lucky could drop the phone in back inside its cradle. And before he could reprimand her for taking on all of her grandmother’s weight before he was next to her to help.

"Ok," he said quickly. Rapidly moving to the other side of Audrey, and taking most of the weight. "We’re gonna drive her over to GH…Not waiting for an ambulance."

Trying to stop herself from crying, Elizabeth simply nodded and turned to grab the pair of shoes and the jacket that Lucky had brought into the living room for her.

He watched her move. Knowing that if she kept moving, and doing menial tasks such as putting on shoes and her jacket that she wouldn’t slip into all out panic mode yet…Not yet.

~~~~~~~

Audrey had begun to hyperventilate on the way to the hospital and the pain in her chest had only increased. Hours later, there still wasn’t much information to be had.

They’d called it a severe Asthma attack, when Elizabeth knew for a fact that her grandmother had never been diagnosed with Asthma. Sure, she’d had a few episodes of shortness of breath, but nothing as badly as this had been.

She raked her fingers through her hair and bent over her grandmother’s limp body. The only sounds in the room, the slow beep of various monitors. She was so tired of seeing her weak. So tired of seeing her with tubes and needles sticking in her skin.

She wanted her grandmother back. She wanted her healthy and strong. This woman had been the only family she’d ever had that had ever cared. That had ever given her any credit what so ever.

And all of this…all of this torture was because of Alex. Because of some stupid drug he’d pumped into her system years before. And because of what? Because she’d learned the truth? That Helena was his long lost mother. That Helena was the mastermind behind all the evil that had come into their lives? Because he knew that her grandmother would tell her the truth. That she wouldn’t keep the fact that she was living a lie, away from her?

God, she hated him. She thought that she’d hated before, as a hurt and angry teenager, but this was different. It felt more personal. It felt more like betrayal, than the hate had when it was aimed at Tom. This time – this person – had committed a crime not against her, but against someone that she loved.

She was tired of thinking about him. Tired of being afraid of what he’d do next. Tired of being angry over what he’d done before. It was time to stop thinking about him, and to take action. She was to the point where she was sick of her own thoughts, and knew that other had to be sick of the never-ending saga as well.

Especially Lucky.

He tried not to show her how much her still being married to Alex bothered him…but she knew. She knew that with everyday that passed, his insides were torn up just a little bit more.

If the divorce didn’t go through soon…if it didn’t go through soon…what would she do? She could no longer be married to him. She could no longer write checks that had the words Elizabeth Hart written on the top of them. She could no longer listen to herself referred to like that. The name alone was like hearing nails scraped along a chalkboard.

Startled, she jumped a little when Lucky’s fingers pressed into her shoulders. She hadn’t even heard him come in.

He bent to place his lips atop her head, calming the rapid ascent of her heartbeat.

"Hey…she’s gonna be ok."

Elizabeth nodded even when she didn’t know if she could truly believe it. "I know that. I know she is. She has to be. She’s made it this far…nothing’s going to happen to her now."

"Exactly," he said softly. Standing to his full height once more to massage her shoulders.

And he’d thought HE was tense. It was nothing compared to the knots he felt in her shoulders. "I don’t suppose there’s anyway you’d go home if I asked you to."

He hadn’t formed the request like a question because he already knew the answer.

She shook her head slowly back and forth. "Lucky, I can’t do that. I can’t leave her like this. She has to know someone is here…That I need for her to get better."

"How ‘bout if that someone is me? Will I do?" He asked. Turning her chair around to smile softly at her and secretly to get her grandmother out of her line of sight. As long as she sat here staring, she’d never leave.

"Come on," he whispered. Rubbing a hand along her knee. "I just want you to go home and get some rest. You look tired Babe."

A reluctant grin tugged at one corner of her mouth. "Thanks a bunch."

"You know what I mean," he challenged. "You know you look supremely eatable 24 hours a day…I’m just concerned about the bambinos here," he whispered. Slowly easing his hands around her swollen abdomen as he bent in front of her.

Elizabeth couldn’t help the smile that overtook her. Even when her grandmother was sick…there was Lucky – making her happy - all the time. Taking care of her – all the time.

She laced her fingers through his. Both of them, holding their children. "Do you think they realize what’s going on? Do you think they know how badly we want to be a family, and just begin our lives together?…Lucky what if she’s not here by the time they get here? They won’t know that there was this wonderful woman and…

"God, Lucky I try not let him get to me," she said. Sniffling and suddenly to even pinpoint what it was she was truly upset about anymore. Unable to hold back her emotion. "But he’s everywhere…I feel like he’s in this room right now. I feel like he’s never going away."

He closed his eyes. How could he reassure her when he felt the same sensation in his gut? When he felt like every time he turned around, Alex was there. Taunting him, emotionally if not in the physical. That he loomed over them like some phantom always ready to strike when they least expected.

The same feeling that had eased like a poisonous snake through his body yesterday still resonated in the deepest recesses of his mind. It felt like something was waiting. Like something was waiting to unfold before his very eyes.

And when it did…when it did, he’d be lost forever.

It was the same sick feeling he’d gotten when he realized that he’d had a child and that his child had died before he ever got a chance to hold her.

The sense of agitation ricocheted through him with so much intensity and fear that he quickly dropped to his knees in front of her. "Listen to me……Everything that we want – everything that we want for our kids…it’s gonna happen. He’s NOT going to be in our lives for much longer. I can promise you that. No matter what it takes Elizabeth…no matter what it takes – I’ll make sure of it………

"I’m gonna make you so happy…and safe. I’m gonna make…them," he sighed. Placing his hands on her tummy once more. "Happy and safe."

Elizabeth bit her lip. She hadn’t meant to make him feel this way. She didn’t want him constantly carrying this burden around. Like he had to protect her from everything. It was she that had made the mistake of marrying such an evil man.

"You already make them happy," she said softly. Trying to reassure him. "You make US very happy and safe, Lucky," she whispered. Touching his face.

But he didn’t feel that way. He didn’t feel like he’d done any of that yet. None of them were safe. Not while Alex still wandered around. Not while Leopold was still snooping through their private business. Not while she was still married to that bastard! Not when her grandmother was still suffering from the effects of what that asshole had done to her!

No, he’d let Helena and Alex ruin their lives once before. It wouldn’t happen again.

Lucky licked his lips quickly and rose. Suddenly needing her to go home and rest. Needing to know that she was someplace that was theirs, and safe.

"Elizabeth. Please, I just want to know that –

"I’m going home," she interrupted. Knowing what he wanted before he even had to ask again. "I’ll get some rest…But only if you promise me that you’ll call as soon as she wakes up. I’d like to be able to speak with her."

He nodded quickly. "Of course I’ll do that…Why don’t I call my dad now though? Or Nikolas? Yeah…he can come pick you up and take you -

"No," she said shaking her head. "I think I need to walk Lucky…clear my head a little. I think it’ll do me some good…and by the time I get home maybe I’ll even be tired enough to sleep."

Lucky nodded after a moment and leaned in to kiss her cheek before she headed for the door. "Listen, I’m expecting the results of that lab test done on the prescription bottle from Alex’s desk any time now…So if all goes well, maybe once we know what kind of drug he used on your grandmother - the doctors will be able to get a better handle on whatever’s going on with her…ok?"

She bit her lip and nodded once more. Tears clouding her eyes again. The hours were catching up with her. Something told her it wouldn’t be too difficult falling asleep once she arrived home.

He closed the distance between them with a fierce hug. "She’s going to be ok," he whispered. Brushing her hair aside to speak near her ear. "We’re going to be ok.

"Just think," he added. Trying to get her to smile as she pulled away just a bit. "In a few days, we’re going to be coming to this hospital for a completely different reason…to see our kids – for the first time."

The sparkle in his eyes infected her own in no time flat. And her tears seemed to glitter with that sudden reminder. She nodded before he kissed her cheek and then bent from the waist to kiss her stomach. "Bye…I’ll see you soon…get some rest – all of you."

When she closed the door behind her, Lucky turned back towards Audrey and shoved his hands in his pockets. Inhaling deeply through his nose.

Were they all lies? All the ‘we’re going to be okays,’ and the ‘she’s going to be okays’? Were they all just the same kind of false promises he’d made to her the first time around in Greenwich? The first time when he’d mistakenly thought he could protect her from everything. When he’d thought they could be happy for a lifetime?

It was fear that had made him strong in the beginning. Made him determined to live life differently this time. To make things work. But now the fear was beginning to make him weak.

He was about to have a wife to make happy. A family to support. A home to make for them with more than just lumber and nails…

And all the while there was a predator…circling…waiting, to bring that house tumbling down before it even got a chance to stand.

~~~~~~~

Dr. Barty Kellerman had cleared out, and cleared out in a hurry. That much was certain.

Yes, the furniture was still there in his posh little office. Right behind the front office door, was a fully furnished and polished desk, along with various book shelves and file cabinets. All of them sparkled the way the furniture that resided in a top specialist’s office always sparkled. It sparkled from ceiling to floor.

But the desk was barren. And there no old medical records in those cabinets. None of the current medical journals could be found on the shelves.

Not even an empty file folder remained. Not a scrap of paper lingered in any corner. Not a pretentiously displayed diploma in sight…Absolutely nothing.

Leopold made one final sweep though. Refusing to give up. His flashlight slicking it’s way across cabinets. The man couldn’t have simply disappeared into thin air. He had patients. Very high profile patients that paid him big money to treat them.

Yet across the board…he was gone. No one had heard from him in weeks.

And Leopold didn’t want to think of the implications of that fact.

Maybe it was a good thing that the man had disappeared. A good thing he hadn’t stumbled upon any more information about Alex’s involvement with this man.

For what would he have done with the information anyway once he had found it? Lucky wouldn’t want it. Spencer was absolutely finished with him. He wanted him nowhere around himself or Elizabeth. And he couldn’t blame the young man for that.

In the empty, dead office, the sound that his flashlight made when it fell startled him half out of his mind. The electricity had been shut off and the dreariness of the cloudy day outside cast moving shadows everywhere.

The flashlight rolled slowly to the edge of the area rug that covered the hardwood floor, and Leopold slowly got down to his knees. His fingers tangled with some of the outer fringe on the rug as it clutched around the steel butt of the flashlight and they pulled it backwards as he rose.

He found himself sinking back down to his knees as a small silver latch in the midst of hard wood came into focus. It was the only thing that seemed to give off it’s own light in the dark room.

"What is this…"

Leopold tugged on the small latch, watching in curiosity as it slid a small, square piece of the wood floor back inside of itself. Revealing a shallow hole. Leopold shifted the light so that it shown down inside of the space.

All that lay inside was a mini-cassette recorder.

The old man reached inside. Pulling it from its depths. He turned it over in his hands, and inspected it as he rose slowly to his feet. Moving behind the desk where Kellerman must’ve sat before vacating so quickly.

For reasons he didn’t understand yet, his hands shook as he pressed the ‘play’ button.

A voice that Leopold had never heard before came filtering through the small recorder. He assumed it to be the doctor…explaining something to someone. But why would he have taped the conversation? Stored it secretly inside the floor?

"If I were you, I'd wait about a week and then begin trying again," the doctor began.

"A week?"

He may not have recognized the first voice right off, but he knew the second. There was no mistaking this voice. The question had come from Alessandro.

Leopold brought the recorder closer to his ear. Listening with a growing sense of dread as Alex sighed and continued. His voice thick with frustration. He’d heard the tone many, many times before.

"What if I don’t have that much time?"

"Mr. Hart, your wife has been taking birth control for over three years. The body takes time to get used to new set of circumstances. Even with the special drugs that I prescribed."

"But, like I said," the doctor continued rapidly. "If she started on these pills about a month ago, things should be fine soon."

"And no difficulties? I mean fertility wise?" Alex seemed to ask almost frantically. "After what happened..."

"Not at all. As of Mrs. Hart’s last check up she was perfectly healthy...I suppose a few months from now we’ll just be passing this off as a modern day miracle," the doctor seemed to chuckle nervously. Everything in his voice wanting to please his patient.

Or in this case – the patient’s husband.

Alex’s laughter in response was obviously forced. "I suppose so. Thank you for your time Doctor Kellerman."

"You’re quite welcome Mr. Hart. I’m sure I’ll be seeing much more of you and your wife soon. Good luck."

"Thank you...see you soon."

That’s when the conversation ended. The sharp clicking sound a clear indication that Kellerman had stopped taping. Leopold was about to hit the off switch, when another conversation abruptly began.

"Mr. Hart."

It was Kellerman again. His voice more agitated this time. Alessandro must have been hounding him.

"Mr. Hart you said this was what you wanted. You said you wanted your wife to be able to become pregnant even after the birth control she was –

"I know damn well what I said!" Alex growled. Interrupting the obviously frightened doctor. "But there was an indiscretion…at least – I believe that there was a…I think she fucked that boyfriend of hers. I think it was right after we switched her over to the drug. It couldn’t have worked that quickly could it have? She couldn’t possibly be pregnant already could she?"

"Mr. Hart…I don’t believe the drugs work that quickly. But I assure you that if you and your wife are now having regular sexual relations that –

"I didn’t ask any advice about the sexual habits of my wife and I! I didn’t ask for your opinion! I’m asking if she could already be……No," he seemed to change his mind immediately. As if having some sort of schizophrenic episode. "No…she couldn’t be. She wouldn’t do that. My wife loves me."

Leopold sank even further down in the chair behind the desk. Pressing a hand to his head. This must have been recorded when Elizabetta had been pretending to love him. Setting him up to get the better of him.

"I’m sure that your wife loves you, Mr. Hart."

"Yes…even after what I did. Even after what WE…did…she loves me."

There was a silence on the tape and Dr. Kellerman mumbled quickly. "I don’t know what you’re talking about Mr. Hart. I didn’t DO anything."

"You know damn well what we did," Alex continued. Ignoring the man’s panic. "You know damn well why my mother hired you in the first place. You were the only place she could find that damn experimental drug…No one else had the balls to…"

Alex broke off half way and then continued rambling. "My mother gave me those drugs to use on the…on that baby….and then you came…you came to the hospital…and God, she was already so close to dying…I still can’t believe we saved her. I still can’t believe it."

Leopold listened with closed eyes. Shut tight against what he was hearing. As if it would help.

Nothing would help this.

His son spoke as if on a high and Kellerman’s breathing sped up. His voice caught dryly in his throat.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about. Mr. Hart, I think it’d be best if we ended this conversation right now."

"You bastard. I won’t be alone in this," Alex hissed. "I will not be alone in this…my mother left me – you won’t. You’re still alive. If anyone ever finds out, I’ll know exactly who to blame. I’ll know exactly who to come looking for…do you understand?

"She already thinks you performed some stupid Salping…Salpingosto…" he stumbled over the word. Not able to say it.

"Salpingostomy," the doctor finished. "Yes, I performed that procedure on your wife in the nick of time. It was a miracle that I got there. And with these new drugs it will be another miracles that she actually conceives."

Alex laughed out loud. Laughed like a mad man on speed. "You quack! You didn’t perform any procedure! You made a few incisions and made it LOOK like you’d done some work. But you barely even touched her! You were in and out in a few minutes! There are no miracles…there’s only us," he laughed. "There’s only us…fucking with the order of things."

Leopold let his head fall on the desk. The coolness of it quieting the burn of his skin. There was a sudden fumbling with the tape recorder, and Kellerman’s quickly uttered goodbye’s over the phone.

Then the line went dead…Leopold felt like he had as well.

~~~~~~~

Alexis knew something was off before she even flicked on the light switch. She felt it. Just like she knew when one of her clients was lying to her…she knew that someone had been in her office.

And when the lights confirmed it, she felt the sensation of violation prickle over her skin in goosebumps of disgust. Everything lay in heaps. Overturned lampshades and chairs. A music box that her mother had given her, laying helplessly in the corner.

Though she knew better, she moved to pick it up. Holding it close to her chest as she moved behind her desk. The drawers obviously having been pried open by someone who desperately wanted inside.

She didn’t have to think too hard to know who it was. She knew exactly who’d want to get inside her office. She knew exactly who would think that maybe she’d have something hidden here that would help his case.

Not his divorce case of course, but the other one. The one he had yet to stand trial for. The one, in which he would most assuredly go to jail for once he did.

Alexis licked her lips and carefully used a tissue to sift through certain items. Not wanting to mar any evidence with her own fingerprints.

She’d left notes in the locked drawer the night before. Notes from her meeting with Elizabeth and Lucky only a few days prior. The drawer sat open. A breath hitched in her chest as she leaned forward and nudged the folder marked ‘Hart vs. Hart,’ open with her knuckles.

The breath she’d been holding suddenly expelled itself from her lungs.

It was still there. All the notes she’d taken…still very much in their place. Maybe the ass had realized that what he was looking for wasn’t here.

But it had indeed been Alex. None of her other clients had any ax to grind. Or vengeance on the brain…and Helena – please God – was dead.

No…It was no one else but Alex.

~~~~~~~

She’d thought the nice brisk walk from the hospital, in the cool morning hours, would definitely lull her back to sleep. But it hadn’t. She’d been restless again. Dreaming…

A dreamless sleep was all she wanted these days. And if she could get one, she’d be one happy camper. Maybe Lucky had been right about his guess the other day though. Maybe it was a side effect of pregnancy, or all the pre-natal vitamins she suddenly found herself on.

At her next doctor’s appointment she’d have to bring it up, because she couldn’t go on like this for another 6 months.

Her next doctor’s appointment…The mere thought of it made her giddy as she padded slowly into the kitchen. Running a hair through her mussed hair she tried to imagine what it would be like to see her babies for the first time. She stifled a giggle as she thought of Lucky possibly passing out again.

Pulling open the refrigerator door, she slowly inspected things. The only full proof method of putting her to bed was Lucky…but maybe just this once she’d try one of Gram’s solutions…A glass of warm milk.

Even the sound of it was enough to turn her stomach, but since she was supposed to be drinking milk for the babies anyway – this was the perfect opportunity. And wouldn’t it be perfect gift, if when Gram got better she were actually able to tell her that she’d been right all along?

It would make her grandmother smile, and one of her top priorities from this point on was going to be making her grandmother smile.

"You could always get a shake from Kelly’s though," Elizabeth commented quietly to herself. Smiling even as she pulled the carton of milk out and set it on the countertop. The carton that Lucky had graciously stopped drinking straight out of when Gram came to stay there.

It had been an awful big sacrifice.

The thought of him gulping from the milk carton made her smile even more as she poured herself a mug. She spilled a bit as she got caught up in the vision. The image of his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down in that yummy neck was enough to get her all hot and bothered.

"Ok…if you’re start thinking about THAT, you’re seriously never gonna get any sleep," she muttered. Walking the mug over to the microwave. She popped it inside.

"And we need our sleep, right babies?" She asked. Looking down as the milk spun around slowly on the glass circle in the middle of the microwave. It dinged and she took it out. Screwing her face up at the now warm liquid. It didn’t look the LEAST bit appetizing. Especially with the like…skin stuff on top.

"Ewww…" she sighed. "You see how much your mother loves you?" She continued, talking to her stomach. "Just look at what I’m willing to do.

"And in turn," she giggled. Bringing the mug with her to the couch. She sat down slowly, so as not to spill. "In turn, I expect all of you to eat your vegetables when I put them on your plate…it’s the least you could do…with me drinking warm – nasty - milk."

With her nose still scrunched she leaned back and took one long gulp.

"Well…"

It actually wasn’t as bad as she’d imagined. Not nearly as horrible as it had been the first time around. When she’d forced herself to drink milk while pregnant with…Luna.

Images of herself came flooding back so quickly that she had to sit her mug down on her knee. Unable to hold the weight of it in her hand anymore. For she trembled as the first vision came hurtling through her mind at record pace.

The glass of milk, the sunny day light that flickered in patterns across the stone ground of the outdoor café. A beautiful New York day…just as clear as it had ever been. The kind of day she and Lucky would have spent ditching work and school. The kind of day spent having a picnic at Miller’s Pond. But he hadn’t been there…only Alex had.

There she sat, drinking from a tall glass of milk because she had to for the sake of her baby. A baby that she’d just recently named and vowed to be a good mother to. Just a couple of days before she’d decided to try and provide the kind of family that her parents hadn’t – even if she had to do it alone. She’d promised Luna that she would be a good mother. So now – getting out and about – taking care of her self better…it was the start of keeping that promise.

Eating better. Taking vitamins…drinking milk. All of it was part of her promise.

A promise that never came to fruition.

Sitting outside with Alex, he’d made funny faces when her overactive bladder had sent her to the bathroom various times during lunch. She’d come back to another full glass of milk, even after saying she didn’t want anymore. But Alex had insisted that she needed one. Needed it to stay healthy for her baby. He’d adamantly insisted that she drink the entire glass.

And once it was gone. They’d had to leave. In a hurry, he’d demanded the check from the waiter. Saying he had a meeting to get to. It seemed the only reason he hadn’t hauled her over his shoulder in his haste, was the fact that she was pregnant.

He’d been in such a rush. Checking his watch as he’d driven her back to her lonely old apartment on Horatio St.

A few hours later the only thing she could remember seeing were his shoes. Shoes she’d thought were Lucky’s but had been Alex’s instead – running towards her as she lay bleeding on her carpet. As she lay losing a life.

The image dissipated just as quickly as it had emerged, and Elizabeth shivered violently. So violently that the mug she held, slipped from her hand and landed on the carpet with a thud.

Spilled milk…everywhere. Spreading just like her blood had…on the carpet.

~~~~~~~

Lucky slammed the car door and trained his eyes on the front door. Focused solely on getting inside. If he focused on just that – on just that one simple task – maybe he’d be ok. Maybe he wouldn’t feel how fast the world had started to spin.

Or that he was about to fall off.

‘It was an experimental abortion drug at the time…it wasn’t even available to physicians… A few institutions carry it now of course. But – wow…this would have been an extremely dangerous drug to prescribe in the ‘90’s - not to mention illegal. Wow, man where’d you get your hands on this stuff?’

‘Where’d you get your hands on this stuff?’ An innocent enough question. From an innocent guy. A young lab tech that didn’t know he’d just shattered a few lives.

He’d been chalked full of answers to questions and questions for answers he had to have. He’d paid simply to analyze the drugs Lucky thought had been for Audrey…for Audrey…

For Audrey…

Seconds circulated into minutes and minutes into seemingly long hours as Lucky’s brain sifted through everything at warp speed. And all of it happened as he bounded up the stairs of his parents porch.

‘An experimental abortion drug…an experimental abortion drug…an experimental abortion drug…extremely dangerous drug to prescribe in the ‘90’s….an extremely dangerous drug to prescribe in the ‘90’s…’

"What can I do for you Cowboy?"

Were there words being spoken? By his father? Father…he could have been…

"Where is it? Where’s the chest? I need to see it," Lucky rambled the words quickly. Shoving past Luke and into the living room. Not seeing the world around him. Only a visitor in some new dimension.

He had to get to it. Had to see it with his own eyes. How had he missed it? All this time…how had he missed it?

"Lucky what are you talking about? Where’s wh –

"The CHEST!" Lucky shouted violently. Not noticing how Lulu jumped from her sitting position on the couch. Not even noticing she’d been there. Her eyes got huge when Lucky screamed again. "Where the Hell is the chest?! With all the fucking papers from Alex?! I need to see them Dad!"

He would have told him to watch his mouth in front of his sister, but right at that moment, Luke wasn’t entirely certain that he wouldn’t get hit. He took a breath and watched his son’s wild eyes shift from object to object.

They couldn’t or wouldn’t stay still for anything. Jesus, if he didn’t know better he would have said his son was high on something.

"Lu," Luke called towards his daughter without taking his eyes off of his son. "Honey, go on upstairs and get that chest from under my bed will ya?"

On any other day, Lulu would have questioned why she had to be left out of the loop once again, but one look in her brother’s eyes and the tone of her father’s voice told her that it wouldn’t have been a wise debate to take on just then.

Shakily she pushed off the couch and ran upstairs to grab the chest that she only knew had something to do with that crazy man that Lizbet was married to.

Luke licked his lips and waited a beat until he was sure his daughter was out of sight and earshot. "What the Hell is wrong with you? You just scared your sister half to death."

"I need to see the chest," he repeated. His voice controlled now. Almost as if a tape recorder had been turned on. One that had recorded his voice, but without any inflection.

"Yeah, so you said," Luke nodded stoically. "What’s going on son? What’s happening? What the Hell did Mr. FancyMansion do now?"

Lucky shook his head back and forth. His voice still vacant. So absent that it shot what felt like the personification of fear towards Luke, and wrapped it’s way around his neck. "I just need to see the chest Dad. I just need to see –

His words ended abruptly as Lu bounded back down the stairs with the chest in hand. For someone who’d been so hot to see whatever the Hell was in there, he seemed to stop cold as she brought it closer.

Luke watched as his son simply stood there and stared at it as Lu sat it on the couch. Gently, he asked his daughter to leave the room, and timidly opened it for himself.

He knew almost everything that was inside of it. Of course Lucky had left out some of the details, but he had a good guess as to what Helena had gotten off on. What the Hell could have shown up now? What had Lucky so spooked all of a sudden?

Calmly he asked the question as he turned to his son. "What are we looking for here Lucky?"

It was then that he snapped out of it. Practically shoving Luke out of the way once more as he stepped in front of the opened box and searched frantically through various documents that he’d read a thousand times already. There was nothing. There wasn’t a damn thing that documented the loss of his child as anything other than a horrible accident!

"Where is it…where is it," he mumbled harshly under his breath. His hands becoming so frantic that they stumbled over pieces of paper and then had to turn back to examine them further. Only records of their life together. Sex, work, school, social activities…sex…

He didn’t even feel the sting as the paper nicked his hands in various places.

"Lucky, what are you looking for?" Luke asked again. Trying to stay as patient as he could. But he wasn’t a patient man. He never had been. "If you tell me, maybe I can help you find whatever is that’s got you so –

"Where else could it be?!" Lucky shouted in a panic. Looking up at his father. "Did you take anything out? Could something be in your room? Under your bed? We should check and see if –

Luke cut him off. Remembering Elizabeth lying on this very couch when she’d stayed with them a couple of weeks prior. She’d had all the documents spread out everywhere, and when she’d fallen asleep they were on the floor.

His eyes floated to the floor and to the side of the couch. "Come on," he gestured towards Lucky. "Help me lift the couch. Maybe there’s something beneath here…Elizabeth was looking at them and –

Before Luke could even get his full explanation out, Lucky was on the other end of the couch. Lifting before Luke could even get a firm hold on it. After getting his bearings, he hunkered down and helped him lift it fully from the ground.

Lucky saw the white piece of paper hugging the corner of the couch before he even had a chance to think. It was by his father’s foot. "Kick it out from underneath there."

Luke couldn’t see what he was referring to and grunted as he followed his son’s gaze. Easing it out from under the couch leg with his foot. He grunted loudly once again when they placed the couch back down with a great thud. Lucky, having dropped his end, prematurely.

His hands were on the document before Luke could get himself together. And his face had gone the exact color of the sheet.

God…in all his life he’d never seen Lucky’s face look like that…and in all his life he’d never want to see it again.

He hesitantly reached out to touch his son’s shoulder. "Lucky –

"I have to go."

"Lucky wait a minute," Luke said. Trying to catch his breath as he followed his son to the door. But he couldn’t keep up. His feet started to move at a pace faster than lightening. "Lucky wait just a damn minute! What the Hell did you just –

He was down the sidewalk and in his car before Luke made it off of the porch. "Lucky!"

As the tires squealed against the pavement and he screeched down the street, Luke knew it was too late. Whatever decision Lucky had just made in his mind, would be done.

However fate had decided to step in…it was now sealed.