Chapter 34

"Help Me Heal These Wounds"

After the holidays the family had to meet with the court appointed therapist. Lucas was dreading the meeting; he hated talking about his feelings with strangers. He nervously paced the waiting area as they waited to be called in.

"I think the floor needs a break," Dan stated as he watched Lucas.

"I'm sorry," Lucas replied, "I'm just nervous."

"There's no need to be nervous," Dan assured him.

"What if I say the wrong thing?" Lucas asked.

"What do you mean?"

"What if I say the wrong thing and they take me away again?"

Dan put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "They can't take you away, Lucas; the judge already awarded Deb and me full custody. This meeting is to make sure that we work out all our problems."

"Dr. Cooney is ready to see you," the nurse sitting at the welcome desk stated. "You can go right back."

Lucas was surprised when he entered her office; he was expecting it to be cold and unwelcoming like the interrogation room at the detention center, but it was just the opposite. The room was decorated with warm colors, and instead of hard metal chairs there were comfortable leather couches. Dr. Cooney appeared to be a lot nicer than Janet and Donna from social services.

She extended her hand to Dan. "Hello…my name is Liz Cooney."

Dan shook her hand as he said, "Dan Scott."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Dan," she said. Then she turned to Deb. "You must be Deb."

Deb shook her head. "It's nice to meet you."

She looked at the two boys. "Which one of you are Nathan, and which one is Lucas?" she asked.

"I'm Nathan."

She turned to Lucas. "That must make you Lucas." He simply nodded his head. "Please make yourselves comfortable," she said as she pointed to the couches.

The first part of the session was Dr. Cooney getting to know the family. She asked each person to describe themselves, and then she asked about some of their interests. She noticed that basketball seemed to be a common interest among the guys. Tension began to build when she brought up the subject of Karen.

"Dan, can you tell me about Karen?" she asked.

Dan noticed the Lucas was looking at him with wide eyes. "Karen was my first love," he stated. "We began dating our freshman year of high school, and my parents didn't approve. They didn't think she was good enough for me because she came from the other side of town. We kept our relationship a secret for a long time. "He smiled as he thought back to those days. "At the end of our senior year I found out that Karen was pregnant. I was so excited, but my parents had other ideas. My dad forced me to go to college and break Karen's heart."

Dan rose to his feet and walked over to the window. He stared out it as he continued to speak. "I went to college, and I met Deb. She ended up getting pregnant with my child too. When I held Nathan for the first time I thought about Karen, and our baby. I hoped they were happy. I returned home a few months later, and Karen wanted nothing to do with me. She wouldn't even let me see our baby. I found out later that my father had gotten to her. He turned her against me…so I did what I thought was right, and I left her alone.

Every time I saw Lucas it was a painful reminder of what I could have had with Karen. When I looked into his eyes I saw what my father had done and I began to resent Lucas. I needed someone to blame, and he was the easiest one."

Dan looked at Lucas and saw tears streaming down his face. Lucas now knew the truth, and Dan felt better because of it. Then he looked at Deb and saw understanding. She didn't look upset or disappointed by his admission; she didn't even look surprised.

"I always knew that you still loved Karen," she said/

"I'm sorry, Deb," Dan whispered. Then he turned to Lucas. "Now you know the truth. I hope you can forgive me."

Lucas was speechless. He didn't know what to think or feel, let alone say. One thing he did know was that his life made a lot more sense. He looked at Dan and simply nodded his head.

A cool breeze blew in off the water as Lucas walked through the cemetery. He was there to bring his mother some more roses. As he approached her grave he was surprised to see Dan standing there. Dan turned around and laughed a little when he saw the look of surprise on Lucas' face.

"I bet you never thought you'd see me here," Dan said.

"You can say that again," replied Lucas.

Dan watched as Lucas placed the roses in the vase that was next to the stone. "Those are beautiful…your mother always loved roses."

Lucas nodded his head. "She kept a beautiful garden. We planted roses in front of our old house, and together we took care of them."

"I think our front yard needs some color. Would you be willing to help me?"

"Can I plant roses?" Lucas asked with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

"It's a deal," Dan replied. "I'm glad that I got everything out into the open today."

"You really did love my mother all those years?" Lucas asked.

"I never stopped loving her."

"I'm sorry," said Lucas.

"For what?"

"For hating you all of those years…I should have known that there were two sides to the story."

"I should have stood up to my father, and I should have loved you the way you deserved to be loved. What do you say we start over new, Lucas?"

"I think that's a good idea."

"Would you like to grab something to eat with me at the café…my treat?"

Lucas smiled. "I'd love to."

"We can talk, and get to know each other better."

"Yeah…sounds good…Dad."

Dan was caught of guard when he heard Lucas call him dad, but he liked it. He knew it was a step in the right direction, and it would only push them closer as father and son. Lucas was in the middle of the healing process, and that day Dan made a promise to help him heal his wounds.

The End

Author's Note

I would like to thank everyone who had read this story and reviewed it. Your reviews have inspired me to continue writing this story, and get the chapters out faster. I really enjoyed writing this story, and I plan on writing another. I have the idea in my head…I just have to put it on paper.

If you liked this story, please check out some of my other stories that I posted on my message board. http/jamiebaby45.

Feel free to post some of your own fics.

Thanks again!

Love,

Joelle