Chapter 31: The Favor

"So, you're Lukas?" Aiden asks the stranger who greets him outside the Bedlington mansion.

"The boss is waiting for you inside," Lukas answers with a nod toward the house.

She's not my boss anymore, Aiden thinks, but says nothing as he heads toward the door. He still has to jump when Patricia Bedlington calls him, so she might as well be his boss.

"Patricia, I'm not comfortable with taking a criminal into my home, with my children," Aiden says.

Patricia laughs, "Do you even listen to yourself? You were raised by a criminal, one of the best. And you were a criminal yourself, albeit not as skilled as your illustrious father."

Aiden sometimes wonders if Patricia had a crush on Tobin Archer. It's pretty well known in the town that her own marriage has never been a happy one. "Yes, I was a criminal raised in a criminal family. Emphasis on 'family'. This guy is a stranger."

"Well, I'm sure Lukas has a mother that loves him and all that rubbish," Patricia pooh-poohs his concerns. "You want assurances of your family's safety? I own his sorry ass the way I own yours. The boy won't do anything to cross me, not if he wants to get out of this town. I only need to hide him out here for a couple of days, then I'm sending him along."

"Why can't he stay with you? You have this whole mansion..." Even when her son Carl still lived here there was more than ample room for a house guest; now that Carl has moved in with his girlfriend Maisy Miller there's just Patricia and her husband here.

Patricia gives him a hard stare and snorts derisively, "Have an underling stay in my house? You aren't serious. Now, take the boy and be glad this is all I've asked of you since I let you go."

So Aiden reluctantly brings his house guest home. The kitten approves of the newcomer, that at least is a good sign.

Aiden reminds himself that he was once in Lukas' position, on the run from the law, needing a place to hide out. He won't comletely let down his guard, but he relaxes enough to let him have a controller.

Kelsey ran into Rickie Bird at the pet shop while she was turning in some snakes and lizards she'd caught in the wild.

"I'm going to ask Aimee to marry me," Rickie confides.

Kelsey tries not to groan, "Rickie, maybe you should give it some time. Aimee isn't in a big rush to be married."

"I know," Rickie sighs, "She says she never wants to marry. But she can't mean that. And I love her. Maybe if you talked to her?"

"I talk to her all the time," Kelsey answers, "And I'm telling you that asking her to marry you now is not a good idea." There's no way Kelsey is going to try to convince Aimee to accept his proposal. She understands her friend's reasoning perfectly and shares her desire to live a little before hitching up and starting a family.

Lukas puts the controller aside when Kelsey comes in. Bedlington didn't tell him that Bowman had a hot daughter. But that's just the kind of important detail Patricia wouldn't bother with.

"You must be the guest Dad said would be staying here," Kelsey says when he gets up to greet her.

"Lukas," he introduces himself, his eyebrow raised seductively.

"Kelsey," she answers, very glad that she's completely single and unattached at the moment.

They all sit down for a family dinner.

Lukas is on his best behavior here and helps to clear the plates, all the while wondering if he can get the lovely Kelsey alone somewhere outside the house, away from her father's watchful gaze.

It turned out to be easier than he anticipated, as Kelsey asked him if he wanted to come out dancing with her.

"I was going to meet my friend Aimee here tonight, but her boyfriend is going to propose. So, she's meeting him at her place instead to spare him the humiliation of being turned down in public. Which is uncharacteristically nice of her, actually. Normally she'd take it as an opportunity to gloat."

Lukas just smiles and dances.

If Lukas thought he'd have to work hard to seduce this girl, he was wrong. Kelsey takes the lead, flirting with him before he makes his first move.

"You know I'm only going to be in town for a couple of days," he warns her as he takes her into his arms.

"I'm not looking for a long term relationship," Kelsey says, "Let's just have fun while you are here."

After the bar closes, the fun moves into Kelsey's bedroom.

When Jacy wakes the next morning, he immediately notices the spare bed in his room that their guest was supposed to use had not been slept in.  Knowing that Lukas went out dancing with Kelsey,  the young future police officer makes a quick deduction about where he did spend the night.

After he showers and dresses, Jacy finds his twin in her room.

"He slept with Kelsey!" he hisses between clenched teeth.

"I know," Jinx replies, "I heard them come in."

"He's a criminal. I can feel it," Jacy complains, "We should arrest him, or something."

"He does seem a bit...shady," Jinx agrees, "But we can't arrest him. For one because we're teens, not cops. But even when we are cops, you can't arrest people without evidence. We don't even have a crime to accuse him of, let alone evidence."

"What kind of justice is that? I just want to put away bad guys."

After they wake in the late morning, Kelsey takes Lukas to the local tattoo parlor. She's getting her second tattoo, and has convinced him to get his first.

The first one is always the hardest.

On the way out, they run into Aimee Fox, and Kelsey introduces him to her friend.

After the introductions, Aimee launches into a tirade against Rickie Bird. "He knocked me up!" she complains, "I should have just dealt with it quietly, but I told my parents like an idiot. And now I've had to hear about the fucking sacred wheel of life over and over until I promised to keep it."

"Does Rickie know?" Kelsey asks.

"No way I'm telling him. You know that will just make him pester me even more about marrying him. As if I'd marry a Bird. I'm a Fox. But you know what really blows? Bedlington is making me take maternity leave. And she put your brother in my spot for tonight's job."

"My...brother?" Kelsey asks.

"Yeah, Bedlington recruited Rory. I guess she didn't tell your Dad. Or he didn't tell you? Anyway, I'm telling you. Because, you know, no secrets between us. And I'm expecting full disclosure on this one, later," Aimee says with a leer at Lukas, "I want details."

"I brought him into my house and before one night is over, he's sleeping with daughter!" Aiden complains to his wife.

"She's a grown woman now," Tearney says gently, "We have to let her make these decisions for herself."

"But he's a criminal," Aiden protests, "He's a wanted man."

Tearney looks at him and says nothing.

"I know," Aiden sighs, "But it was different with us; we're together, forever. He's not even going to be here tomorrow night."

"We only got to the 'together forever' point after being forced into hiding together. If I didn't come with you, I'd be in prison for assaulting a police officer. They're just having fun, he's not going to get her into any trouble," Tearney reasons.

Kelsey and Lukas say their final goodbyes the next morning.

After having one final shower together.

When he leaves, Kelsey goes back to her normal routine.

Knowing how much Kelsey loves animals, Tearney paints something special for her.

The years start to show in Aiden's gray hair and wrinkled face. Tearney assure him that he's still her man.

After Lukas is long gone, Kelsey discovers she's pregnant.

"Bedlington must know where he is," her father says, "I'll ask her to get him back into town."

"Don't, Dad, please," Kelsey says, "We just had a good time together, it wasn't serious. I can handle this baby on my own, he doesn't even need to know."

Aiden wants to say something about Lukas' right to at least know he has a child coming, but he remembers Caren and the daughter he took from her when he went on the run, and finds he has nothing to say, after all. "Your mother and I will be here for you," he promises, "Do whatever you think is best."

After their little moment of bonding, Kelsey decides to confide in him about what Aimee told her about Rory working for Bedlington.

Aiden goes to the park to meet with Tennyson and her family.

Jason is a toddler now, and growing fast.

As the sun sets he goes to visit Rory.

"You're working for Bedlington," Aiden gets right to the point, "Is that why Regina left you? Because you've taken up the criminal life."

"Dad, Regina left because she has serious issues. She's already broken up with two other guys after me."

"Why, son? Why Bedlington? You could do anything with your life..."

"She told me about you," Rory says, "How you and Mom came here, on the run."

"And you want to follow in my footsteps?" Aiden asks in disbelief.

"It's not that, it's just...look, I know what I'm doing. I can handle my own life."

That's the second time today one of his children told him they could handle something he'd rather they weren't doing. In his mind, he can hear Tearney whispering to him that he has to let them make their own decisions. "Be careful, son. Never let yourself get distracted. And if you ever get in any trouble, your Mother and I will be there for you," he says, hoping for the best.

"Hello, moth," Kelsey says to the insect that landed on her outstretched hand.

"Hello, dragon," she hears a small voice say. Kelsey turns to see who spoke, but no one is there. The moth flies away while her attention is elsewhere.

Both graduation and prom are coming up fast. Jacy decides to ask Kyla Meeks, a new freshman, to the prom.

Jinx has had a crush on Ted Midden-Langford for quite some time, but he'd been going steady with Rosemary Loveland. Until recently, that is. The couple had just broken up in time for Jinx to ask Ted to the prom. He's a genius, like she is, surely he can see how much better she is for him than silly Rosemary.

Kelsey goes into labor late at night. She doesn't bother to wake her family, and goes to the hospital on her own.

In the morning, Aiden discovers his new grandson, Logan, in the nursery.

The twins rush eagerly to their prom.

Prom night was also their last day of high school and the twins have their birthdays right after the dance is over. Jinx becomes a young woman. Ted's father, Kenji, died while they were at the prom, leaving Ted alone with his insane older brother Willard, who immediately throws the teen out of the house. Jinx invites him to move into her new house. Ted will be an adult himself in just three more days.

Jacy becomes a young man. His plan is to move in with his brother Rory, who has a huge house to himself since he and Regina broke up. The sharp instincts that made Jacy aware of Lukas' criminal status don't work as well when it comes to his relations, and the young police officer remains blissfully unaware of the criminal activity in his own family.

Tearney is overcome with emotion as she watches her youngest graduate and prepare to leave the nest. "You look so much like my father," she sighs wistfully at Jacy, "If you had long hair, you'd be identical."

That's the first Jacy had ever heard about his mother parents before, both Tearney and Aiden have never spoken about their lives before coming to Appaloosa Plains. "Tell me about him," Jacy urges.

"My father was a dragon, and a warrior," Tearney says, fighting tears. Thinking of father always makes her cry.

"Oh-kay," Jacy says to that unexpected answer.

_____________________________________
Challenge Notes:
Lukas is cloned from Lukas Sperie in the Sperie Random Legacy.
I actually kept Lukas in the neighborhood until Logan was born, so there'd be his genetics in t mix. After that, though, I moved him out of town. Because of Lukas fertility record in Maddie's legacy, I was kind of afraid that I'd be getting twins, lol. But thankfully I got just the one. Because I have other ideas for where Kelsey will get her second required child and I didn't want twins scrubbing the need for one.

SP broke Rory and Regina up pretty much immediately. And she has hooked up with and broken up with a couple of other guys since. Much like her father Zac Whipsnake. SP also put Rory in the crime career. Probably because he didn't have a career LTW or any traits to drive him toward a particular career, so it chose his father's former career for him.
Jinx and Jacy both went into law enforcement. As children they both rolled LTWs for law enforcement jobs. Hers in forensics and his to be International Super Spy. I thought that was cute and locked those wishes in early. So it's funny that Jacy will live with criminal Rory until SP says otherwise.

Aimee Fox had a baby girl named Whitney. She has declared Rickie Bird her nemesis.

And finally, all the kids are out of the house. I hate dealing with huge families.