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Here's the next part in the Felicia and Lucas fic, which features them and several other characters, and concludes the day of Lorna and Joe's wedding, the day Lucas came home. And "Little Boy Mine," the song Dean mentions, is a song that he wrote for little Lucas, like he wrote "A Song for Jenna" for Jenna.

Amy

"Reclaiming Forever," Part 5

Paulina laughed so hard, she nearly fell off her stool and had to grip the edge of the bar for support. "Brunehilda Schnickelfritz?" she exclaimed through her laughter.

Wonder of wonders, Felicia was laughing now too. Seeing Paulina's reaction to her argument with Luke at Lorna and Joe's earlier, Felicia couldn't help but join in the laughter. She laughed until tears streamed down her cheeks, until she too had to grip the edge of the bar for support. The Paradise was pretty well cleared out by now, with only a few of the staff getting things set up for breakfast tomorrow or counting their tips, and Paulina and Felicia on opposite sides of the bar, and the staff knew and respected Paulina enough to not disturb, talk about, or bat an eye at their boss giggling like a schoolgirl with one of Bay City's biggest celebrities.

The laughter was a great release for Felicia, lifting the weight of anger from her shoulders and dissipating the fog of confusion surrounding her, and even the knowledge that this feeling was only temporary didn't upset her.

As their laughter gradually subsided, Felicia said, "That proves how angry I am at the jerk. I mean, I write romance novels for a living! I routinely give my heroines names like Sabrina, or Lorelai, or Genevieve. And I came up with a name like Brunehilda Schnicklefritz!" The name set off another round of giggles for the two women.

When they had recovered again, Felicia sighed and reached for her iced tea, taking another sip. She was on her third glass now, and Paulina was still on her second. "I think this is just what I needed," Felicia said, setting her glass aside. "I mean, I know that the kids, and Cass and Frankie, and Rachel, and Gary mean well, and that they're only being so annoying because they love me..."

"But right now, you need to get your own head together, without anyone else's involvement, even your family and closest friends," Paulina said.

"That's it exactly!" Felicia exclaimed. "Well, except for one friend." She reached across the bar and squeezed Paulina's hand. "Thank you for the tea and sympathy, Paulina."

"Anytime, Felicia," Paulina replied, squeezing her hand back. "If you don't mind a little advice you didn't ask for..." She trailed off uncertainly.

"From you, I'll allow it," Felicia said.

"Don't let Rachel or the others crowd you," Paulina told her. "If you need them to back off, tell them. They might have hurt feelings, or bruised pride, but this is about you and Lucas. Whatever happens or doesn't happen with the two of you has to be decided by the two of you, nobody else." She paused, rubbing at the back of her neck. "I guess it's a little more complicated for you because of Jenna and Lorna and little Lucas. Of course, who am I to talk about complicated? I didn't know who Mack's father was right away."

"Can I ask you something?" Felicia said then. "It's very personal, and you don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"From you, I'll allow it," Paulina replied with a smile, parroting Felicia's earlier words.

"Would it have made a difference if Joe had been Mack's father?" Felicia asked. "Would you have tried to make a go of it with him?"

Paulina didn't even have to think about it. "No," she said. "It would have a difference to Mack, obviously, but I had already made my decision before I went into labor. I loved Joe, but I'm IN LOVE with Jake. There's a big difference. The only thing that would have changed if Joe had been Mack's father would be that Mack would now be your stepgrandson, because I never would have kept Joe and Mack apart if Joe had been his father. But in the end, it was about me and Jake. Everything we'd been through together. Everything we felt for each other in the past, in the present, and that we knew we would feel for each other in the future. I loved Jake too much to walk away from him forever. He's the man that I was meant to spend my life with. Is it easy? No. But what marriage is? Jake and I had a lot to work through, but we did it. And we worked through all of it because it was what we both wanted. And I really have to hand it to my family, because as much as they drove me nuts, when I made a decision, when Jake and I made a decision, every one of them honored it, even though some of them weren't exactly thrilled. When Rachel and everyone found out that Jake and I were getting back together, all Jamie said was that as long as I was sure and happy, that was all that mattered. And I could tell by the look on Iris's face that it was killing her to bite back some smart remark, but she just wished us well, and without even adding that we'd need it."

"So who do you think got to Iris, Rachel or Carl?" Felicia asked knowingly.

Paulina laughed again. "I've always suspected it was Carl, but he wouldn't tell me either way. I did ask him once." She drained her iced tea glass, then set it aside. "All I'm really trying to say, Felicia, is that whatever the future of your relationship with Lucas, the only two people who can make that decision are you and Lucas. I'm sure everyone will have an opinion, and those opinions will range from 'Dump the bum' to 'Why aren't you two back together already?' I got it from my family and friends, and you'll get it from yours, I'm sure. But it's not about them. It's about you and Lucas. And if they won't give you the space you need, you let me know and I'll have a word with them."

"Knock a few heads together if necessary?" Felicia asked.

"Well, hey, us Gold Street girls have got to stick together," Paulina said.

Felicia smiled. "Thank you, Paulina. For everything."

"Like I said, Felicia, anytime," Paulina replied.

"Well, I think I'm going to powder my nose and then head home," Felicia said. "It's been a long day."

"Good night," Paulina said.

Felicia looked surprised. "That's it? You're not going to tell me to call you the second I get home, or that whatever I need, you'll be there for me any hour of the day or night?" she asked.

"You know where to find me if you need me," Paulina said. "And having been in your shoes myself, I know when not to push."

Felicia smiled at Paulina. "Thank you, Paulina. Good night."

"Good night, Felicia," Paulina said. She watched Felicia head for the ladies' room, and when she was out of earshot, Paulina grabbed the phone and hurriedly punched in a number, keeping one eye on the corridor leading to the ladies' room the whole time. "Hello? Carl? It's Paulina....Yes, I'm fine....Yeah, we were all at the house when Rachel and the others got home and she told me. Speaking of Rachel, could you put her on, please? And hurry?" Paulina waited a few seconds, and was then greeted by Rachel. "Rachel, hi, it's me. Listen, I wanted to let you know that Felicia's getting ready to leave the Paradise. She's been here for the past few hours and we've been talking....No, nothing stronger than iced tea. I made sure of that....I don't think she's going to be returning any phone calls tonight, but she mentioned that she had a lot of messages from a lot of people, so could you let Cass and Frankie, Dean and Jenna, and Gary Sinclair know that Felicia is all right and she'll probably call everybody tomorrow? She didn't say for certain that she would, but she should be cooled down enough by tomorrow to call all of you herself....No, she doesn't know I'm calling. I just didn't want you and the others worrying all night....I have to go, here she comes, I'll call you tomorrow, Rachel." Paulina hurriedly hung up the phone, then started looking over her ledger again. She looked up and waved at Felicia as Felicia headed out of the Paradise.
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Cass had just finished brushing his teeth and was turning down his and Frankie's bed, Charlie was fast asleep in her room, and Frankie had just burped Wally and was settling him in his bassinet at the foot of the bed when the phone rang. Cass snatched it up before one full ring had completed. "Felicia?" he asked breathlessly.

"No, Cass, it's me," Rachel Cory Hutchins replied on the other end of the line.

"Oh. Hello, Rachel," Cass said. Frankie looked up from the baby to Cass and saw his disappointment and worry. She kissed her fingertips and brushed them across Wally's cheek before walking the few steps to Cass's side. "I don't suppose you've heard from Felicia, have you?"

"Not directly," Rachel replied, "but Paulina just called. Felicia has been with her at the Paradise for the past few hours. They've been talking over iced tea. Felicia doesn't know Paulina called me, but Paulina said that Felicia told her about all the messages all of us left, and Paulina didn't want us to worry all night. Could you call Dean and Jenna and let them know, and I'll call Gary Sinclair?"

"Yes," Cass replied. He paused. "How did Felicia seem to Paulina?"

"Paulina couldn't really get into specifics," Rachel explained. "But at least we know Felicia's safe, and she hasn't been drinking. Paulina did say that Felicia probably would have cooled off enough to call us all herself tomorrow."

"I hope so," Cass said. "Thank you for letting us know, Rachel. Good night."

"Good night, Cass. Give my best to Frankie," Rachel said before ringing off.

Cass hung up the phone. "Rachel sends her best," he said.

"Felicia's all right?" Frankie asked, putting her arms around Cass. His arms went around her too, and they stood there in a loose embrace.

"Really steamed at all of us, apparently, but yeah," Cass replied.

"Well, even I thought seven messages was overkill," Frankie said.

"Hey, Dean and Jenna left ten!" Cass protested.

"Felicia knows we're worried about her," Frankie said. "But I guess she just needed some space tonight."

"She spent the evening at the Paradise, talking to Paulina," Cass said. "Does that sound to you like she needed space?"

Frankie realized the problem. "Are you hurt that she didn't come to you?" she asked gently.

"A little," Cass admitted, ducking his head.

"She probably didn't want to bring up the bad memories of when this happened to us," Frankie replied, rubbing circles between Cass's shoulder blades with the palm of her hand.

"The situations are different," Cass said, lifting his head and meeting Frankie's gaze again.

"I know you've been thinking about when Kathleen came back since we left Felicia's, Cass," Frankie said.

"So have you," Cass replied.

"Touche," Frankie admitted. "And it was the worst time of my life."

"Mine too," Cass said. He sighed. "I keep thinking that this might not have happened."

"This?" Frankie asked, a bit puzzled.

"This," Cass said, releasing her long enough to gesture expansively with his arms. "Us. Our hundred-year-old house. The kids. Our life together." He wrapped his arms around Frankie and pulled her close again. "Did I ever tell you enough how sorry I was for what I did to you back then, Mary Frances? How much I still hate myself for not being there for you when you really needed me?" Cass didn't need to specifically mention Frankie's miscarriage of their first child, or the explosion on the set of Dean's "Ladykiller" video that rendered her clinically dead for a few moments. She knew what he meant.

"Yes," she replied, smoothing his furrowed brow. "That's in the past, Cass. And I know it's hard to leave it there after what happened today with Lucas coming back, but we got through it, Counselor. That's all that matters."

Cass looked into Frankie's eyes. "I love you, Mary Frances," he said earnestly. "I love our kids. Our house. And I love our life."

"So do I," Frankie said with a smile. "That's the key. When bad things happen, we face them together. No matter what. We always have, and we always will. Face it, Counselor, you're stuck with me forever."

"I don't even want to think about what my life would be like if you weren't in it, if you weren't the center of it," Cass said.

"Then don't," Frankie said, framing his face in her hands. "I mean it, Cass. Really. We made it through that time, and we're stronger than ever. And everything that's come after, we go through as a team, and that'll never change." She saw the relief in Cass's eyes as what she said sank in. She paused for a moment, letting her hands drop to rest on Cass's shoulders, then continued as he laced his fingers together at the small of her back, since his arms were wrapped around her waist. "Felicia has just as difficult a time ahead of her as we did. But at least there's not another man that she's married to or engaged to."

"No, but there are Jenna and Lorna," Cass said. "Not to mention little Lucas. You saw what happened today, Frankie. Jenna hates Lucas right now, and Lorna has already literally welcomed him back with open arms. We thought it was bad when they were at odds in the D&M days? This is their family, their mother and father. Lorna's probably all set to play matchmaker when she and Joe get back from their honeymoon, and Jenna and Dean all but told Lucas to go to hell today. And little Lucas wanted to stay with his grandpa. Felicia's going to have all of them pulling her in different directions. This will make Lorna and Jenna's feud over the sleazy video on Felicia's talk show all those years ago look like a day at the beach."

"Lorna will be urging Felicia to forgive Lucas and get back together with him, and Dean and Jenna will be telling her to steer clear of Lucas and not have anything to do with him. And Dean and Jenna have just as big a problem," Frankie said.

"Because Lucas' namesake is chomping at the bit to get to know him," Cass said.

"Exactly," Frankie replied. "Speaking of Dean and Jenna, was Rachel going to call them too?"

"No, I told her we would," Cass said. He turned to reach for the phone again, then stopped, turned back and kissed Frankie.

"Mmm...what was that for?" Frankie murmured when Cass broke the kiss to reach for the phone again.

"Because I love you, and because, as selfish as this will sound, I'm glad that this time it's not happening to us," Cass said as he picked up the phone, checked for a dial tone, and punched in Dean and Jenna's home number.

"Not selfish," Frankie whispered, resting her chin on Cass's shoulder. "I'm glad it's not happening to us, too. But it's not going to be easy watching Felicia go through this," she said softly.

"No, it's not," Cass agreed as he waited for Dean or Jenna to answer their phone.
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Dean walked into his and Jenna's bedroom, stripping off his t-shirt and tossing it onto the chair in the corner, then raking his fingers through his hair to smooth it down. "That kid of ours is one demanding audience. 'Sing me my song again, Daddy.' I wonder where he got that from?" Dean smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. Jenna was sitting cross-legged on her side of their bed, staring at the cordless phone, which was resting in front of her on the comforter. Dean, now wearing nothing but his pajama bottoms, climbed into his side of the bed. "It took four choruses of 'Little Boy Mine' to get him to sleep. John and Sharlene said he only had one ice-cream cone, so I don't think it was sugar that was keepin' him awake. I guess he sensed that somethin' pretty big's goin' on and he doesn't understand why Mommy's not happy about it." Jenna said nothing. Dean cautiously moved closer to her. "Jen? It's impossible to explain it to a 2-year-old, but I understand. How are you holdin' up, huh?"

Jenna looked at Dean. "Right now I'm really worried about Mom. We left ten messages, Dean! She should have called by now! She hasn't even called Cass and Frankie!" Just then the phone rang. Jenna grabbed for it, but fumbled it. Dean quickly picked it up and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Young Dean."

"Cass." Dean looked at his wife's panicked expression. "Have you heard from Felicia?"

"Indirectly," Cass replied. "Rachel called a few minutes ago. Felicia is fine. She hasn't been drinking. She was at the Paradise with Paulina this evening, and Paulina didn't want us to worry about Felicia. She said Felicia will probably call all of us tomorrow."

"Felicia is fine," Dean repeated, looking at Jenna. She literally sagged against Dean with her relief at the news. He wrapped his arm around her and held her against his side. "Good. That's all that matters right now."

"How are you and Jenna?" Cass asked.

"Still processing," Dean said. "Listen, man, thanks for callin'. It's been a very long, very weird day, and I think we're gonna try and get some sleep now. Say hi to Frankie for me."

"Will do," Cass promised. "And if you and Jenna need anything..."

"Gotcha," Dean said. "Later, Cass."

"Good night, Young Dean."

Dean disconnected the phone, then stretched to put the handset on his bedside table before turning back and gathering Jenna in his arms. She rested her head in the crook of her neck. "Felicia's okay," he said. "She went to the Paradise and Paulina was there, and Paulina didn't let her drink. And Cass said that Felicia'll probably call us tomorrow."

"She's not fine," Jenna said dully. "None of us are fine."

"I know," Dean said. "But she's not drinking. That's important."

"How could he do this to us, Dean?" Jenna asked. "How could he lie to us and abandon us like that?"

"I don't know," Dean replied. "I didn't know why my old man did it to me, and I don't know why Lucas did it to you and Felicia and Lorna. I wish I did, honey. I wish I could tell you and that I could make you feel better about all of this."

"I just don't know what I'm supposed to do or say," Jenna said, her voice breaking on a frustrated sob.

"You don't have to figure it out tonight," Dean said softly, kissing the top of her head. "And you don't have to figure it out alone." Jenna broke down crying then, and Dean, not sure himself exactly what to do or say, just held Jenna and stroked her hair while she cried. She eventually cried herself to sleep, and Dean watched her sleeping in his arms, and kept an ear out for little Lucas, until sleep finally claimed him around 3 AM.
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When Paulina arrived home, she went to turn off the light Jake had left on for her in the living room and discovered Jake asleep on the couch, with Mack sleeping stretched out on his chest. Jake was in a gray tank top and boxer shorts, and Mack was in a lightweight Chicago Cubs sleeper handed down from Steven and Kirk. Jake's arms were wrapped protectively around the boy, and 15-month-old Mack looked perfectly peaceful and content lying there in his daddy's arms. Smiling, Paulina bent, smoothed her fingers through Mack's downy blond hair, and kissed his forehead. Then she lightly ran her fingertips down Jake's cheek, causing him to stir slightly. "Ja-ake," she whispered in a singsong voice, drawing out his name.

"Hmm?" Jake murmured, blinked his eyes a few times, then opened them. He looked up at Paulina's smiling face, then down at Mack's sleeping one. "We conked out on you?" he asked in a whisper.

"Looks like it," Paulina said. "Here, let me take him." She carefully took the sleeping Mack from Jake, putting him up over her shoulder. He didn't even stir. He was just as sound a sleeper as his daddy.

Jake sat up, stretched, and rolled his head to work the kinks out of his neck. "Mack Attack decided he wasn't so sleepy around 10," Jake explained softly as he stood and then moved to turn out the light. "So I brought him down here with me. He's a great listener. I bounced some ideas for my pitch off of him. Although if Iris doesn't buy the talking kangaroo, I'm blamin' it all on Mack. He got really excited at that part." Jake smiled at the sleeping baby.

"Probably because you got really excited at that part," Paulina said. She looked from Jake to Mack and back again.

"Everything go okay tonight?" he asked.

"What?" Paulina asked, momentarily distracted. "Oh. Yeah. Books are balanced, we're in the black. It's good." Then she leaned up and gently kissed him on the lips.

"I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I'm really exhausted, honey," Jake said.

"That wasn't what that was for," Paulina said, amused. "It was for you being you, and loving me, and loving Mack."

"You and Mack are my heart and soul, Paulina," Jake said.

"And you and Mack are mine," Paulina said.

"I'll lock up," Jake said as he headed for the front door. Paulina carried the sleeping Mack upstairs to his room and settled him in his crib, then headed to her and Jake's room to get ready for bed herself. When she climbed between the sheets and spooned up next to Jake, who was already asleep again, she kissed his jaw.

"I hope Felicia and Lucas are as lucky as we are," she whispered before closing her eyes and falling asleep herself.
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Sleep eluded Lucas. He stood in his bathrobe and slippers, looking out at the view from Lorna and Joe's greenhouse window. The baseball bat Fanny had thrown down in anger still remained in the middle of the living room floor. He'd known that she'd be angry. He knew that he deserved her anger. But for the first time since he'd been told that he could finally come home, he was worried that maybe she might not forgive him.

And Jenna... Jenna was just as angry as Fanny. But she was also hurting deeply. Feeling betrayed. Lucas remembered the night he and Felicia had gone to the convent to tell then-17-year-old Jenna that her mother had died. Jenna hadn't even known her mother was sick. And then, in the ensuing months, the three of them became a family. It wasn't easy. But Lucas had barely managed to hold back the tears of joy when Jenna had told him and Felicia that she wanted them to adopt her after they got married, and make their family real in every sense. And now Jenna was married with a child of her own. To Dean. The rock 'n' roll rebel had certainly stepped up for Lucas's family. He remembered Fanny's words from their argument earlier, telling Luke not to dare to criticize Dean, because Dean had been there for Luke's family when Luke wasn't .Dean had said something similar at TOPS--that he'd been there for Lucas's family when Lucas was off playing hide and seek with the Feds.

And then there was Lorna. The only one happy to see him. The only one who didn't hate him right now. Off on her honeymoon with a man Luke barely knew but already liked. A cop. Luke Castigliano's baby girl married to a cop. The old Gold Street gang would laugh their heads off if they knew that.

There were so many things to explain. And Lucas knew he had to do most of the explaining. He had to explain to all of his girls, as well as Dean and now Joe, why he'd done what he'd done. Probably Cass and Frankie too, he mused. They're practically family. He had to explain to Lorna why he'd treated her the way he had when Fanny had confirmed to him that Lorna was indeed the baby that was stolen from them by Fanny's aunt. He'd been angry at Lorna for what she put Jenna through, but he had never hated her, had never, as he had repeatedly insisted to Fanny, felt nothing for Lorna. He only hoped that Lorna would understand that he'd done what he'd done to save her, to save them all. Fanny, Jenna and Dean would be harder to convince, he knew.

He kept coming back to Fanny's and Dean's separate pronouncements that Dean had been there when Lucas' family was going through hell. What did they mean by that? He had to find out.

He stared out into the night, unseeing. He had questions to answer, and questions he needed to answer.

He was a man who wanted his family back, and he prayed that there was at least a chance that could happen.
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Felicia resigned herself to the fact that she wasn't going to be getting any sleep that night, and sat up at her typewriter (which she refused to replace no matter how many times Lorna and Frankie, the computer wizards, insisted that a computer was much easier and less unwieldy). The story came pouring out. A mother and her daughters--Sabrina, Lorelai, and Genevieve--learning that the beloved husband and father they thought was dead, Lance, was alive and had come back for them. The story flowed from her fingers like water from a sieve, and she was barely able to keep up with all the thoughts crashing together in her head. Everything she had felt and seen that day and night poured out of her and onto the typewritten pages, including Sabrina's heart-to-heart with a new friend, Marisol. She wrote until sunup and then tossed her feather boa to the floor and promptly crashed on the couch, sleeping a dreamless sleep until noon.

TO BE CONTINUED
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